JP3535706B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention supplies a processing solution such as an etching solution or a developing solution for a negative resist to a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a printed circuit board, a semiconductor wafer, etc. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs the above process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of the processing steps for a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device as described above, an acidic etching solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate after the development treatment to supply the substrate. There is a so-called etching process in which the metal film formed on the surface is melted to form a desired pattern on the surface of the substrate.

As an apparatus (etching apparatus) for performing this treatment, a roller conveyor conveys the substrate in a horizontal posture while spraying an etching solution onto the substrate surface.

However, in this apparatus, when the size of the substrate is increased, the etching liquid easily stagnates (stagnates) on the substrate surface, and it is difficult to ensure the uniformity of the etching process, that is, it is difficult to uniformly perform the etching process on the entire substrate. In recent years, it has been considered that the etching liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate held in an inclined posture and caused to flow down, thereby causing the etching liquid to act on the substrate and quickly flow out of the substrate. This effectively improves the substituting property of the etching liquid with respect to the substrate, so that it is possible to enhance the uniformity of the etching process even for a large substrate.

[0005]

By the way, when the etching liquid is supplied to the substrate held in the inclined posture as described above, the inclination direction of the substrate and the substrate surface are provided at the end on the upper side in the inclination direction of the substrate. A slit nozzle extending in a direction orthogonal to the above is arranged, and a method of supplying an etching liquid by flowing it down onto the substrate from this slit nozzle, and a plurality of shower nozzles for ejecting the etching liquid are arranged facing the substrate, A method of spraying and supplying the etching liquid to the substrate with a shower nozzle can be considered.

Here, the method of supplying the etching liquid using the slit nozzle is characterized in that the etching liquid can be uniformly supplied to the entire substrate by the flow of the etching liquid along the substrate. However, since the etching liquid flows down from the upper side along the substrate, the activity of the lower side etching liquid is lower than that of the upper side etching liquid of the substrate, that is, the etching liquid deteriorates toward the lower side of the substrate. However, there is a problem that the processing on the lower side of the substrate W is slower than that on the upper side.

On the other hand, according to the etching liquid supply method using the shower nozzle, since the etching liquid is directly sprayed from each nozzle to the substrate, deterioration of the etching liquid does not pose a problem as described above, but There is a problem that process unevenness is likely to occur in the boundary portion of the etching liquid spraying area.

Each of the above problems is a negative factor in improving the uniformity of the etching process. Therefore, when the etching liquid is supplied to the substrate held in the inclined posture, these problems are solved. There is a need to. It is to be noted that such a problem needs to be similarly solved not only in the etching process but also in the case where the substrate is held in an inclined posture in the development process such as the negative resist development process.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and in an apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate held in an inclined posture to perform processing, the entire surface of the substrate is processed more uniformly. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing the above.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention performs a predetermined process by supplying a process liquid to a substrate held in an inclined posture that forms a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane. In the substrate processing apparatus, the processing liquid is supplied in a continuous and uniform flow along the upper end in the tilt direction of the substrate over the entire end, and the processing liquid flows down on the substrate surface in the tilt direction. And a second processing liquid supply unit that is disposed below the first processing liquid supply unit in the tilt direction of the substrate and sprays the processing liquid onto the substrate. (Claim 1).

According to this apparatus, the processing liquid supplied from the first processing liquid supply device flows along the substrate and flows down from the lower end in the tilt direction of the substrate. As a result, the processing liquid acts on the entire substrate and quickly flows out of the substrate. At this time, since the processing liquid is sprayed onto the substrate by the second processing liquid supply means, deterioration of the processing liquid (decrease in activity) on the lower side in the tilt direction of the substrate is suppressed.

Specifically, as the first processing liquid supply means, a slit nozzle having a liquid supply port on a slit which is orthogonal to the inclination direction of the substrate and extends parallel to the surface of the substrate is provided, and the second nozzle is provided. As the processing liquid supply means, it is desirable to provide a shower nozzle having a large number of liquid supply ports facing the substrate (claim 2). By doing this, the processing liquid can be made to flow evenly from the upper end in the tilt direction of the substrate, and the processing liquid can be appropriately sprayed over a wide area of the substrate when spraying the processing liquid. Becomes

Further, in the apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the first variable means for changing the supply direction of the processing liquid by the first processing liquid supply means to the tilt direction of the substrate is provided ( According to claim 3), the process unevenness caused by the continuous supply of the highly active processing liquid to the specific portion of the substrate from the first processing liquid supply means, that is, the processing at the specific portion is transferred to the other portion. In comparison, it is possible to effectively suppress a phenomenon that progresses abnormally fast.

Further, in the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a second variable means for varying the supply direction of the processing liquid by the second processing liquid supply means may be provided (claim 4). ), It is possible to spray the processing liquid over a wider area of the substrate with a rational configuration.

In the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, each processing solution supply means supplies the etching solution or the developing solution for negative resist to the substrate (claim 5). It is particularly useful as a resist developing device.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an etching apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the etching apparatus 10 has a box-shaped processing bath 12, and a transport mechanism 16 for transporting a rectangular substrate W inside the processing bath 12 and an etching on the substrate surface. And an etching solution supply means for supplying a solution.

The processing tank 12 is provided with a substrate inlet 14 on its side surface and a substrate outlet 15 on its opposite side surface. That is, after the substrate W is introduced into the processing bath 12 through the substrate introduction port 14 and subjected to the etching treatment, the processed substrate W is fed to the substrate ejection port 15
It is led to the next process through.

The transfer mechanism 16 is a roller conveyor, and the transfer rollers 18 are axially supported in parallel in the transfer direction.
And a drive mechanism (not shown) that rotates these transport rollers 18 in synchronization with a motor as a drive source, and receives the substrate W introduced through the substrate inlet 14.
The substrate W is configured to be transported while being supported by the transport rollers 18.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying roller 18 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane by an angle θ, and the processing tank 1 is
A roller shaft 20 is rotatably supported between the two side walls, and a central roller 22 is provided at the center of the roller shaft 20 and a pair of side rollers 24 is provided at both end portions. It has a mold roller structure. An O-ring 26 as a cushioning material made of a flexible material such as rubber is externally fitted to each of the rollers 22 and 24, and each side roller 24 is provided with a collar portion 24a on its outer side. Are integrally formed. Then, when the substrate W is transported, the substrates W are supported from the back surface by the rollers 22 and 24, and the substrate W slides down by the lower flange portion (left side in FIG. 2) of the transport roller 18 in the inclination direction. The substrate W is conveyed in an inclined posture while blocking the above.

The inclination angle of the substrate W, that is, the inclination angle θ of the roller shaft 20 is, in this embodiment, 5 ° to 20 ° as one mode in which the uniformity of the etching process is improved.
It is set within the range of.

As the etching liquid supply means, the slit nozzle 30 is arranged above the upper end of the substrate W positioned at the substrate processing position, which will be described later, in the inclination direction.
(First processing liquid supply means) and this slit nozzle 30
A large number of shower nozzles 40 (second processing liquid supply means) arranged to face the substrate W are arranged on the lower side.

The slit nozzle 30 includes a frame 32.
Is fixed to the side wall of the processing tank 12 via
It is connected via a liquid supply pipe 34 to a tank for storing an etching liquid (not shown). The slit nozzle 30 is formed with a slit-shaped discharge port 30a extending in the transport direction of the substrate W (hereinafter, simply referred to as the transport direction), and can be used, for example, for operating valve means provided in the liquid supply pipe 34. Accordingly, the etching liquid is discharged from the discharge port 30a and supplied to the substrate surface. The ejection port 30a of the nozzle 30 is formed so as to be able to supply the etching liquid over the entire upper end portion in the tilt direction of the substrate W when the substrate W is positioned at the substrate processing position.

On the other hand, the shower nozzle 40 is provided in the surge tank 36 provided above the transport mechanism 16 as shown in FIG. 1, and in the illustrated example, two surge tanks 36 are provided. Each of these surge tanks 36 is provided with a plurality of shower nozzles 40.

Each of the surge tanks 36 is a cylindrical tank extending in the carrying direction, and as shown in FIG. 2, with respect to the substrate W supported by the carrying mechanism 16, the surge tank 36 is provided at regular intervals in the tilt direction of the substrate W. Are arranged side by side in parallel with each other with a certain distance therebetween, and the processing tank 12 is disposed via the support shafts 38, respectively.
It is supported between the side plates. Each surge tank 36 has
A liquid supply pipe 42 is connected to each, and each surge tank 36 is connected to an etching liquid storage tank (not shown) via the liquid supply pipe 42.

The shower nozzle 40 is a so-called conical shower nozzle which has a large number of liquid ejection holes and ejects the etching liquid in a conical shape. The shower nozzle 40 is arranged facing the substrate W at regular intervals in the carrying direction. ing. Then, the etching liquid is jetted in accordance with the operation of, for example, a valve means provided in the liquid supply pipe 42, and thereby the etching liquid is sprayed onto the substrate W.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the shower nozzles 40 is oriented in the direction of a perpendicular line g drawn on the substrate W, and sprays an etching solution onto a predetermined area of the substrate W. There is. In this embodiment, as one mode in which the uniformity of the etching process is improved, a position of 30% to 40% from the upper end of the substrate W in the tilt direction,
That is, of the widthwise dimensions (horizontal dimension in FIG. 2) of the substrate W, the upper side in the inclination direction of the substrate W (left side in FIG. 2).
The etching liquid is sprayed from each of the shower nozzles 40 to the portion on the lower side of the position of 30% to 40%.

The etching apparatus 1 configured as described above
At 0, first, the substrate W, which has been subjected to the processing in the previous step, is transferred by the transfer mechanism 16 while being introduced into the processing bath 12 through the substrate introduction port 14. Then, when the front end of the substrate W reaches a predetermined position, the transport mechanism 16 is stopped, whereby the substrate W is positioned at a predetermined substrate processing position in the processing tank 12.

When the substrate W is positioned, the liquid supply pipe 3
By opening each of the valve means 4 and 42,
The supply of the etching liquid to the surface of the substrate W is started from 40. At this time, when the etching liquid is supplied to the substrate W from the slit nozzle 30, since the substrate W is held in the inclined posture as described above, the etching liquid is supplied from the upper end of the substrate W in the inclination direction to the substrate. It flows along W and flows down from the lower end to the outside of the substrate. Then, while the etching liquid flows along the substrate W in this manner, the etching liquid acts on the substrate surface to perform the etching process on the substrate W,
The etching liquid used for the treatment and the dissolved substance due to the etching liquid flow down together outside the substrate.

When the etching liquid is supplied for a predetermined time in this way, the valve means of the liquid supply pipes 34 and 42 are closed and the supply of the etching liquid is stopped. Then, the transfer mechanism 16 is driven again, and the processed substrate W is carried out to the next step, that is, a washing step with pure water in the present embodiment, through the substrate outlet 15.

According to the etching apparatus 10 as described above, the etching process is performed while the etching liquid is made to flow down along the substrate W held in the inclined posture, so that the etching liquid does not remain on the substrate at all and the etching process is performed. The liquid replaceability is significantly improved. Therefore, the etching liquid can be swiftly flowed out of the substrate while uniformly acting on the entire surface of the substrate, whereby the entire surface of the substrate can be uniformly etched.

Moreover, not only is the etchant supplied from the slit nozzle 30 onto the substrate flow down from the upper end of the substrate W in the tilt direction, but also the slit nozzle 3
Since the shower nozzle 40 is arranged on the lower side of 0 to spray the etching liquid onto the substrate W, there is a feature that the uniformity of the etching process can be achieved at a higher level. That is, as described in the related art, only by flowing the etching liquid down along the substrate W, the activity of the lower etching liquid is lower than that of the upper etching liquid of the substrate W, that is, the substrate W. Since the etching liquid is deteriorated toward the lower side of the substrate W, the progress of the processing on the lower side of the substrate W is slower than that of the upper side. Therefore, this is a negative factor in improving the uniformity of the etching process. However, like the above etching apparatus 10,
The shower nozzle 4 is provided on the lower side of the slit nozzle 30.
If the etching liquid is sprayed onto the substrate W by 0, the highly active etching liquid is supplied to the deteriorated etching liquid flowing down along the substrate W, and the deterioration of the processing liquid on the lower side of the substrate W occurs. Can be effectively suppressed.
Therefore, the etching process proceeds more uniformly over the entire substrate, which allows the etching process to be performed more uniformly.

By the way, as described above, the shower nozzle 4
When the etching liquid is sprayed on the substrate W by 0,
Although it is feared that processing unevenness may occur at the boundary of the spraying area of the etching liquid by each shower nozzle 40, the etching liquid from the shower nozzle 40 is supplied from the slit nozzle 30 onto the substrate and flows down. Since it is sprayed on the surface of the substrate, it is not sprayed directly on the substrate W. Therefore, process unevenness does not occur unlike the case where the etching liquid is supplied to the substrate only by the shower nozzle.

Therefore, the etching apparatus 10 can uniformly perform the etching process on the substrate W at an extremely high level as compared with the conventional apparatus of this type.

The etching apparatus 10 is an example of the etching apparatus according to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.
The specific configuration can be appropriately changed without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned etching apparatus 10, the supply direction of the etching liquid by the slit nozzle 30 is fixed, but the variable means (the first means for changing the supply direction of the etching liquid by the slit nozzle 30 to the inclination direction of the substrate W). 1 variable means) may be provided. In this case, for example, the slit nozzle 30 is swingably supported via a support shaft, and this support shaft is connected to a driving motor via a reduction gear, and the forward / reverse rotation drive of this motor is performed. The varying means can be configured to swing the slit nozzle 30. If such a variable means is provided to change the supply direction of the etching liquid by the slit nozzle 30 during processing, the adverse effect of the fixed supply direction of the etching liquid, that is,
It is effective to generate a situation in which a highly active etching liquid is continuously supplied to a specific portion of the substrate W, and the processing at that portion progresses extremely rapidly as compared with other portions to cause processing unevenness. Can be relaxed to Therefore, the slit nozzle 3
By varying the supply direction of the etching solution by 0, the uniformity of the etching process can be further improved.

Similarly, variable means (second variable means) for changing the supply direction of the etching liquid by each shower nozzle 40 to the tilt direction of the substrate W may be provided.
In this case, for example, the support shaft 38 is rotatably supported with respect to the processing bath 12, and a drive shaft extending in the tilt direction of the substrate W is provided, and each support shaft 42 is provided on the drive shaft via a worm gear and a worm wheel. The variable means can be configured by connecting the drive shaft and the drive shaft to the drive motor through the speed reducer. According to this, the surge tank 36 rotates forward and backward in response to the forward and backward rotation of the motor, and as a result, the supply direction of the etching liquid by the shower nozzle 40 changes. By providing such a variable means to change the supply direction of the etching liquid by each shower nozzle 40 during the processing,
Since the area where the etching liquid is sprayed can be enlarged, the etching liquid can be sprayed onto a wider area with a small number of shower nozzles 40. In addition,
The shower nozzle 40 is not limited to the tilt direction of the substrate W, but may be configured as a variable unit so that the supply direction of the etching liquid can be changed in various directions such as the transport direction of the substrate W. The number of surge tanks 36 is two in this embodiment, but the number can be increased or decreased according to the size of the substrate W or the like. Also, the first
Each of the second and second varying means is configured to swing the nozzles 30 and 40 with respect to the substrate W. However, for example, the nozzles 30 and 40 are fixed and the substrate W can be moved. The varying means may be configured to change the supply direction of the etching liquid to the substrate W.

Further, in the above embodiment, the inclination angle θ of the substrate W is set within the range of 5 ° to 20 °, but the specific inclination angle θ of the substrate W is concerned with this angle. First, various conditions such as the size of the substrate W and the properties of the etching solution may be taken into consideration so that the substrate W can be appropriately set so that the etching process can be performed more uniformly. Further, the supply direction of the etching liquid by the shower nozzle 40 does not have to be the perpendicular direction to the substrate W as in the above embodiment, and may be appropriately set so that the etching process of the substrate W can be performed more uniformly. Good. However, when the supply direction of the etching liquid by the shower nozzle 40 is directed to the upper side in the inclination direction of the substrate W with respect to the perpendicular direction of the substrate W, the etching liquid supplied from the slit nozzle 30 and flowing down along the substrate W. However, a so-called push-up phenomenon occurs in which the etching liquid is pushed up toward the upper side of the substrate W by the liquid pressure of the etching liquid from the shower nozzle 40. As a result, the swift flow of the etching liquid is hindered, and the replaceability of the etching liquid is deteriorated. May be disturbed. Therefore, the direction in which the etchant is supplied by the shower nozzle 40 is set to
Shower nozzle 40 so that the etching liquid is sprayed toward the vertical direction to the substrate W or to the lower side of the substrate W than the vertical direction.
Is preferably provided (for example, shown by a broken line in FIG. 3).

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the shower nozzle 40 sprays the etching solution onto the portion lower than the position 30% to 40% from the upper end in the tilt direction of the substrate W. The area where the shower nozzle 40 sprays the etchant may also be set appropriately so that the etching process of the substrate W can be performed more uniformly in consideration of the specific inclination angle θ of the substrate W and the property of the etchant. .

In the processing by the etching apparatus 10, the shower nozzles 40 of the lower surge tank 36 of the two surge tanks 36 spray the substrate W with the amount of etching liquid sprayed on the upper surge tank 36. The amount of the etching liquid sprayed per unit time may be controlled so as to be larger than the amount sprayed by the nozzle 40. Considering that the processing liquid flowing down along the substrate W tends to deteriorate toward the lower side, the etching process of the substrate W can be performed more uniformly by controlling the spray amount of the etching liquid in this way. Is possible.

Although not described in the above embodiment, it is not necessary to hold the substrate W in the inclined posture in all the steps of manufacturing the substrate, and it is necessary to hold the substrate W in the inclined posture at least in the etching process. do it. Therefore, when the substrate W is processed in a horizontal posture in a process step other than the etching process, the substrate W is inclined and introduced into the etching apparatus 10 immediately before the introduction into the etching apparatus 10.
The substrate W may be returned to the horizontal posture immediately after being taken out from the etching apparatus 10. Further, in the above embodiment, the etching liquid is supplied while the substrate W is fixed at the substrate processing position. However, for example, the etching liquid may be supplied while the substrate W is transported to the next step. .

The above embodiment is an example in which the invention of the present application is applied to the etching apparatus 10. However, the invention of the present application is applicable to not only such an etching apparatus but also an apparatus for development processing such as negative resist development. Can be applied.

[0043]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides
In a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate held in a tilted posture to perform a predetermined processing, the processing liquid is continuously applied along the upper end in the tilt direction of the substrate over the entire end. First processing liquid supply means for supplying a uniform flow to cause the processing liquid to flow down on the surface of the substrate in the inclined direction is provided, and the processing liquid is applied to the substrate on a lower side than the first processing liquid supply means. Second treatment liquid supply means for spraying the treatment liquid is provided so that the treatment liquid acts on the entire substrate and quickly flows out of the substrate, and the treatment liquid is deteriorated (active) on the lower side in the tilt direction of the substrate. Since the deterioration of the substrate is effectively suppressed, the substrate can be processed more uniformly as compared with the conventional apparatus of this type.

In this apparatus, as the first processing liquid supply means, a slit nozzle having a liquid supply port on a slit which is orthogonal to the inclination direction of the substrate and extends parallel to the substrate surface is provided, and the second processing liquid supply means is provided. If a shower nozzle having a large number of liquid supply ports facing the substrate is provided as the processing liquid supply means, the processing liquid can be made to flow uniformly from the upper end in the tilt direction of the substrate. In spraying the processing liquid, it becomes possible to spray the processing liquid appropriately over a wide range of the substrate.

Further, if the first changing means for changing the supply direction of the processing liquid by the first processing liquid supply means to the tilt direction of the substrate is provided, the first processing liquid supply means moves the substrate from the first processing liquid supply means to the substrate. It is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of processing unevenness caused by the continuous supply of the highly active processing liquid to the specific portion.

Further, if the second changing means for changing the supply direction of the processing liquid by the second processing liquid supply means is provided, the processing liquid can be sprayed over a wider area of the substrate with a rational structure. You can

The substrate processing apparatus described above is particularly useful when applied as an etching apparatus or a negative resist developing apparatus configured to supply an etching solution or a negative resist developing solution to a substrate. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an etching apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the internal structure of the etching apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a spraying direction of an etching solution by a shower nozzle.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Etching equipment 12 treatment tanks 14 Board inlet 15 Board outlet 16 Transport mechanism 18 Conveyor roller 22 Central roller 24 side rollers 34, 42 liquid supply pipe 30 slit nozzle 30a outlet 36 Surge tank 40 shower nozzle W board

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Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate held in an inclined posture forming a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane to perform a predetermined processing, the processing liquid is placed in an upper position in a substrate tilt direction. Along the side edge
In addition to the first processing liquid supply means, the first processing liquid supply means is provided to supply the processing liquid on the substrate surface in the inclined direction by supplying the processing liquid in a continuous uniform flow over the entire end portion. The substrate processing apparatus, further comprising second processing liquid supply means arranged on the lower side in the tilt direction of the substrate and spraying the processing liquid onto the substrate. 2. The first processing liquid supply means comprises a slit nozzle having a slit-shaped liquid supply port which is orthogonal to the tilt direction of the substrate and extends parallel to the surface of the substrate, while the second processing liquid is provided. as liquid supply means, the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a shower nozzle having a large number of liquid supply port facing the substrate. 3. A according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a first varying means for varying the feed direction of the processing liquid according to the first processing liquid supply means to the inclination direction of the substrate Substrate processing equipment. 4. A substrate processing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a second varying means for varying the feed direction of the processing liquid according to the second processing liquid supply means apparatus. Wherein said each processing solution supply means, a substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to supply an etchant or a negative resist developer to the substrate .