JP4375007B2 - Excimer light irradiation equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an excimer light irradiation apparatus, and more particularly to an excimer light irradiation apparatus provided with a heater mechanism that is provided with a window portion that transmits excimer light and heats the window portion.

  In recent semiconductor and liquid crystal manufacturing processes, excimer light-based cleaning and light processing have been frequently used. As a light source for the excimer light, for example, an excimer lamp in which a dielectric and a discharge gas are arranged between electrodes and a high frequency high voltage is applied between the electrodes is widely used. Particularly, a large area is processed with excimer light. An excimer light irradiation device in which the excimer lamp is disposed is useful. Usually, in the excimer light irradiation apparatus, a light transmissive window is provided between a lamp house in which the excimer lamp is disposed and an object to be processed by irradiation with excimer light.

  However, when the temperature of the window portion of the excimer light irradiation device is low, for example, a substance floating on the irradiated object side adheres to the window portion in a light cleaning process such as liquid crystal, and the transmission property of excimer light is deteriorated. It was necessary to provide heating means such as a heater in the window.

  For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-295500 discloses a device provided with heating means such as the heater. This publication discloses an irradiation apparatus in which a dielectric barrier discharge lamp, which is an excimer lamp, is disposed as a light source of an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus, which is an excimer light irradiation apparatus, and a film thickness heater or a linear heater is disposed in a window portion. .

A schematic diagram of a conventional excimer light irradiation apparatus is shown in FIG. The excimer light irradiation apparatus 101 includes an excimer lamp 103 disposed in a lamp house 102, a reflector 104 is provided on the back surface of the excimer lamp 103, and a window portion 105 is provided on the front surface of the excimer lamp 103. ing. The window portion 105 is provided with a heater 106 as a heating means for heating the window portion 105. Excimer light emitted through the window 105 is irradiated to the irradiation object 107. The irradiated object 107 is placed on the irradiated object fixing base 108 and irradiated. When the object 107 is irradiated with excimer light, the window surface 105 is a reaction product generated by the reaction between the organic material scattered from the object 107 or the organic metal floating in the processing space. Adhere to. Such a problem is suppressed by heating the window portion 105 by the heater 106.
JP-A-11-295500

  The conventional excimer light irradiation apparatus has a problem in that the transmittance of the window surface is reduced due to adhesion of organic substances or the like during light irradiation. In order to solve the problem, a heater is provided on the window surface, but in the case of irradiating the irradiated object with vacuum ultraviolet light, the distance from the window surface to the irradiated object is very short. By providing the heater, there is a problem in that the heater is shaded and uniform treatment of the irradiated object is not performed.

  Therefore, in the excimer light irradiation apparatus in which a heater is provided in the window portion in order to eliminate a decrease in transmittance due to adhesion of organic substances or the like to the window surface of the excimer light irradiation device, the temperature of the window portion is made uniform. It is another object of the present invention to provide an excimer light irradiation device in which variation in the amount of light irradiated to the irradiated object is reduced.

The excimer light irradiation apparatus of the present invention is an excimer light irradiation apparatus having a window portion that transmits excimer light between an excimer lamp and an object to be irradiated, and a heater for heating the window portion provided on the window portion. A transport means for performing light irradiation processing while transporting the irradiated object is provided, and an arrangement pattern of the heater provided in the light transmitting portion of the window portion is substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the irradiated object. Direction or the direction of conveyance of the irradiated object, and the width of the light transmission part of the window when the irradiation direction of the irradiated object is A and the direction orthogonal thereto is B. When the sum of the lengths in the A direction of the heater arrangement pattern at each position in the B direction is S, the maximum value Smax of the sum S is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the sum S. It is characterized by that.

  According to the excimer light irradiation apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a transport means for performing the light irradiation process while transporting the irradiation object, and the heater arrangement pattern in which direction B is the direction perpendicular to the transport direction A. Even in the place, the arrangement pattern is configured within a certain range of variation, so that the light irradiation process to the irradiated object can be stably performed.

  In the heater, the effect when the total length S in the A direction of the arrangement pattern changed was confirmed by measuring the contact angle of water with respect to the glass. Specifically, the heater is manufactured such that the sum S of the lengths in the A direction of the arrangement pattern is 20 mm in width at the central portion in the B direction, and the center in the B direction. The side where the arrangement pattern becomes thinner than the part and the side where it becomes thicker are produced. Using an excimer light irradiation apparatus provided with the heater, a sample, which had been precision-cleaned in advance, was left in a room (in the atmosphere) for 24 hours, and irradiated with excimer light of 172 nm in an ozone atmosphere. Then, the contact angle with respect to water was measured at each position in the B direction of the sample. In addition, the distance from the window part of an excimer light irradiation apparatus to a glass sample was 5.1 mm. Further, the contact angle was measured in the same manner when irradiation was performed with the same arrangement pattern at a distance from the window portion to the sample of 2.3 mm.

  In FIG. 4, the total sum S of the lengths in the A direction of the arrangement pattern is increased by 5% on the thinning side with respect to the portion having a width of 20 mm, and the water of each portion changed in 5% increments on the thickening side. And the deviation (%) with respect to the contact angle of water in the reference width. Further, the irradiation distance was measured for both 5.1 mm and 2.3 mm. At both irradiation distances of 5.1 mm and 2.3 mm, the deviation of the reference width with respect to the contact angle when the width of the heater is increased to + 10% from the reference width is within 10%. It cannot be distinguished from illuminance variation. However, when the width of the heater is increased by + 15% or more from the reference width, the contact angle changes greatly, indicating that sufficient cleaning has not been achieved. Further, the deviation of the reference width with respect to the contact angle when the width of the heater is decreased to −10% from the reference width is within 10% as in the case of increasing the width of the heater.

  By the way, in the process of removing impurities such as glass cleaning, it is sufficient that the contact angle is simply reduced. However, when the process is performed by irradiating a certain amount of light as in the exposure process or the like. Then, it is required that the deviation of the amount of light to be irradiated from the reference value, that is, the deviation is small. Also in the cleaning process, the TFT element may already be formed on the substrate before the cleaning, and the TFT element itself is damaged if the light is irradiated for too long. For this reason, it is desirable to reduce the portion that is irradiated with light as uniformly as possible. That is, it is desirable to reduce the deviation with respect to the contact angle at the reference width. From this point of view as well, the heater width is within 10% on the increasing side with respect to the reference width and within 10% on the decreasing side. It can be said that stable irradiation processing can be performed by comprising. In other words, the sum S of the lengths in the A direction of the arrangement pattern of the heaters on the irradiated object is within the width of the irradiated object in the B direction and is the maximum value Smax of the total S. Is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the sum S, stable processing is possible. More preferably, when the total length S in the A direction of the arrangement pattern of the heater is within ± 5%, due to variations in the length of the arrangement pattern in the A direction during the light irradiation process on the irradiated object. The effect can be almost eliminated.

  The excimer light irradiation apparatus of the present invention is provided with a light transmissive window portion, and in the case where a heater is disposed in the window portion, the irradiation object is conveyed in order to reduce the influence of the shadow of the irradiation object by the heater. However, a conveying means for performing a light irradiation process is provided, and the arrangement pattern of the heater is precisely manufactured. Also, it is shown that uniform light irradiation processing is possible if the maximum value Smax of the total sum S of the lengths in the A direction of the arrangement pattern is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the total S. is there. A specific configuration will be described in the following examples.

  A cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the excimer light irradiation apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. In the excimer light irradiation device 1 of the present invention, an excimer lamp 3 is disposed in a lamp house 2, a reflector 4 is provided on the back surface of the excimer lamp 3, and a window portion 5 is provided on the front surface of the excimer lamp 3. Is provided. The window portion 5 is provided with a heater 6 as a heating means for heating the window portion 5. Excimer light emitted through the window portion 5 is irradiated to the irradiated object 7. Further, the irradiated object 7 is placed on a conveying means 8 and can be conveyed by, for example, a roller 9 or the like. When the object 7 is irradiated with excimer light, an organic substance scattered from the object 7 or an organic metal floating in the processing space adheres to the window surface 5 as a reaction product generated by reaction with light. This is suppressed by heating the window portion 5 with the heater 6.

  Moreover, the arrangement pattern 10 of the heater 6 provided in this window part 5 is shown to FIG. An arrangement pattern 10 is formed on the window portion 5, and power supply portions 11 are provided at both ends of the arrangement pattern 10. Further, there is a portion 12 (shaded portion) held by the lamp house 2 around the window portion, and a light transmitting portion 13 is inside the held portion 12. Further, the arrangement pattern 10 is arranged in a direction B substantially orthogonal to the conveyance direction A of the irradiated object 7. In the figure, the A direction which is the transport direction is indicated by an arrow A, and the B direction which is a direction orthogonal to the transport direction A is indicated by an arrow B.

  Here, for example, virtual lines C, D, and E will be described as the positions in the direction B. The intersections of the imaginary line C and the arrangement pattern 10 of the heater 6 are defined as o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, and z, respectively, from the left side of the figure. All of the line segments op, qr, st, uv, wx, and yz that intersect the virtual line C and the arrangement pattern 10 of the heater 6 are added. The total sum of the lengths of the arrangement pattern 10 across the conveyance direction A is defined as c1. Similarly, for the other virtual lines D and E, the total lengths d1 and e1 of the arrangement pattern 10 crossing the transport direction A are calculated. The heater 6 is configured such that the maximum value Smax of each value of the sums c1, d1, e1 is within 1.1 times the average value Save with respect to the average value Save of the values of the sums c1, d1, e1. An arrangement pattern 10 is formed. As a result, the irradiated object can be irradiated with highly uniform light, and an organic substance that is scattered from the irradiated object side to the window 5 or an organic metal that floats in the processing space reacts with the light and is generated. Product adhesion can be suppressed.

  When the arrangement pattern 10 is formed on the surface of the window portion 5, it is preferably formed in the lamp house 2 which is the surface side on which the excimer lamp 3 is arranged. Thereby, the arrangement pattern 10 is contaminated by the reaction product produced by the reaction of the organic matter scattered from the irradiated object side or the organic metal floating in the processing space with the light, or the arrangement pattern 10 is thinned by oxidation or the like. Etc. can be suppressed.

  The window portion 5 shown in the present embodiment is made of synthetic quartz glass that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 172 nm emitted from the excimer lamp 3, and for example, the length in the transport direction A of the irradiated object 7 is 30 cm. A window material having a width of 100 cm and a thickness of 0.6 cm in the direction B perpendicular to the transport direction is used. Further, the heater 6 provided in the window portion 5 is manufactured by performing screen printing on the window surface using gold paste as a conductive heating material, and baking it at 600 ° C. for 60 minutes after the screen printing. As the arrangement pattern 10 of the heater 6, as shown in FIG. 1-b), it is arranged in a direction B substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction A of the irradiated object 7, and is a tubular excimer long in the B direction. The lamp 3 is arranged substantially in parallel with the lamp tube axis direction. By heating the temperature of the window portion 5 by 100 ° C. or more by the heater 6, the adhesion of the reaction product to the window portion 5 is suppressed.

  FIG. 2 shows another arrangement pattern of the heater 6 formed in the window portion 5. In FIG. 2A, a sawtooth pattern is provided as the arrangement pattern 21 along the B direction substantially orthogonal to the conveyance A direction of the irradiated object. As described above, the maximum value Smax of the total sum S of the lengths in the A direction, which is the transport direction of the placement pattern 21, is set to 1. of the average value Save of the sum S at each position in the B direction as described above. It is formed within 1 time. As a result, the integrated amount of light irradiated by the irradiated object is made uniform at each position in the B direction, and stable light processing without irradiation unevenness becomes possible. FIG. 2B shows a pattern partially different in thickness and shape as the arrangement pattern 22. Even in such a pattern, the maximum value Smax of the total sum S of the lengths in the A direction which is the transport direction of the arrangement pattern 22 is formed within 1.1 times the average value Save of the total S. The integrated amount of light emitted from the irradiated object is made uniform at each position within the processing width in the B direction, and stable light processing without irradiation unevenness is possible. In addition, it is preferable to use metals, such as gold | metal | money, nickel, and a silver palladium alloy, as a material which comprises this arrangement | positioning pattern, A heater can be formed by screen printing by using this metal as a paste.

  FIG. 3A shows a case where the arrangement pattern 23 of the heater 6 formed in the window portion 5 is formed in a substantially oblique direction with respect to the B direction substantially orthogonal to the third embodiment. Even if it is the shape, if the maximum value Smax of the total length S of the arrangement pattern in the A direction that is the transport direction of the irradiated object is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the total S Uniform light irradiation is possible.

  FIG. 3B shows a case where the arrangement pattern 24 in which the heater is formed is configured as a point-symmetric figure on the window as a fourth embodiment. The arrangement pattern 24 of the heater 6 formed in the window portion 5 is a point-symmetrical figure with respect to the center point P of the glass, and the pattern connection portion 25 which is a portion connecting the arrangement patterns is formed slightly thicker than the periphery. Has been. Even in this configuration, if the maximum value Smax of the total length S of the arrangement pattern in the A direction that is the transport direction of the irradiated object is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the total S Uniform light irradiation is possible. Further, according to this configuration, since the arrangement pattern is arranged as a point-symmetric figure on the window portion, the arrangement pattern of the heater can be easily formed even in the case of a large glass window. For example, when the arrangement pattern 24 is created by screen printing, printing can be easily performed by rotating the glass or the printing original plate side with respect to the center point P of the glass, and the printing original plate can be made small.

  As a fifth embodiment, the arrangement pattern in which the heater is formed is divided into a plurality of zones on the window, and the arrangement pattern shape of the heater in each zone is the same as the arrangement pattern shape of other zones. A case where Although this embodiment is not particularly illustrated, similarly to the case of the fourth embodiment, the heater arrangement pattern 26 formed in the window portion can be easily configured by repeating the same pattern, for example, by screen printing or the like. . Also in this case, uniform light irradiation is possible if the maximum value Smax of the total length S of the arrangement pattern in the transport direction of the irradiated object is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the total sum S. It is. Moreover, according to this structure, the original used at the time of screen printing can be comprised with a small original with respect to glass, and a heater can be easily comprised in the whole large window part by transferring this original several times. . In addition, the heater input may be independently controlled for each zone. Thereby, it is possible to rationally perform irradiation processing according to the shape and size of the irradiated object.

The schematic sectional drawing of the excimer light irradiation apparatus in this invention, and the figure which shows the heater arrangement pattern of a window part The figure which shows the 2nd Example in this invention The figure which shows the 3rd, 4th Example in this invention Water contact angle showing the effect of changing the heater arrangement pattern in the present invention Schematic diagram for explaining a conventional excimer light irradiation device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Excimer light irradiation apparatus 2 Lamp house 3 Excimer lamp 4 Reflector 5 Window part 6 Heater 7 Irradiated object 8 Conveyance means 9 Roller 10 Arrangement pattern 11 Feeding part 12 Holding part 13 Light transmission part A Conveyance direction B direction
C virtual line
D virtual line
E Virtual line o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z Intersection 21 Arrangement pattern 22 Arrangement pattern 23 Arrangement pattern 24 Arrangement pattern 25 Pattern connection part P Glass center point 101 Excimer Light irradiation device 102 Lamp house 103 Excimer lamp 104 Reflector plate 105 Window portion 106 Heater 107 Irradiation object 108 Irradiation object fixing base

Claims (1)

In an excimer light irradiation apparatus having a window portion that transmits excimer light between an excimer lamp and an object to be irradiated, and a heater for heating the window portion provided on the window portion,
A transport means for performing a light irradiation process while transporting the irradiated object, and a direction in which the heater arrangement pattern provided in the light transmitting portion of the window portion is substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the irradiated object Or formed in a substantially oblique direction with respect to the conveying direction of the irradiated object, and when the irradiated object conveying direction is A and the direction orthogonal to this is B, it is within the width of the light transmitting portion of the window portion. Assuming that the sum of the lengths in the A direction of the heater arrangement pattern at each position in the B direction is S, the maximum value Smax of the sum S is within 1.1 times the average value Save of the sum S. Excimer light irradiation apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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