JP4381160B2 - Surface treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention blows a processing gas downward from the blowing means, and passes an object to be processed such as a semiconductor substrate below the blowing means by a roller conveyor, and performs surface treatment such as plasma surface treatment, thermal CVD, ozone ashing, etc. The present invention relates to a processing apparatus.

A so-called remote-type plasma surface treatment apparatus is known in which a processing gas is turned into plasma between electrodes and blown out and applied to an object to be processed disposed outside the electrodes.
For example, Patent Document 1 describes a remote-type plasma surface treatment apparatus that includes a plasma processing head (blowout means) and a roller conveyor disposed below the plasma processing head. The processing head accommodates a pair of electrodes. A processing gas is introduced between the electrodes to form plasma, and then blown downward. Then, the plasma surface treatment is performed on the object to be processed conveyed by the roller conveyor. This process is performed in a pressure environment near atmospheric pressure (substantially normal pressure).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-166065 (FIG. 6)

As in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, in a normal pressure surface treatment apparatus that performs surface treatment such as plasma treatment under a substantially normal pressure, in the treatment space between the treatment head, that is, the treatment gas blowing means and the roller conveyor, There is a problem that the atmosphere, particularly the atmosphere below the roller conveyor, comes in. For example, when an object to be processed enters the processing space, the atmosphere on the lower side of the roller conveyor is involved in this movement and rises to the processing space. If so, good processing is hindered. The entire processing head and roller conveyor can be accommodated in a large-volume chamber filled with an inert gas, but this results in a considerably large structure.

In order to solve the above problems, a surface treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes blowing means for blowing a processing gas downward, a roller conveyor for feeding an object to be processed across the lower side of the blowing means, and the blowing Cover means for covering the roller conveyor immediately below the means so as to expose the upper edge of the roller of the conveyor, and more preferably, the cover means accommodates the roller conveyor directly below the blowing means The inert gas reservoir container is provided with a top plate of the inert gas reservoir container disposed below the height of the object to be processed. A roller through hole is formed through the edge . Further, the plasma surface treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plasma blowing means for passing a processing gas between the electrodes into a plasma and blowing it downward, and a roller conveyor for feeding the object to be processed across the lower side of the blowing means. Cover means for covering the roller conveyor directly below the blowing means so as to expose the upper edge of the roller of the conveyor, and more preferably, the cover means is a height to which the workpiece is to be sent. And a plasma-resistant cover plate arranged at a distance below the roller, and a roller through hole through which the upper edge of the roller passes is formed in the cover plate .
Thereby, it is possible to prevent the surrounding atmosphere, particularly the atmosphere below the roller conveyor, from entering the processing space between the blowing means and the roller conveyor. Further, it is possible to prevent the gas flow and the state of the atmosphere from greatly changing immediately before the object to be processed reaches just below the blowing means and immediately after crossing. As a result, good processing can be performed. There is no hindrance to the transfer of the object to be processed by the roller conveyor.

The cover means is a cover plate (upper surface ) disposed below the height to be processed.
Serial has corresponding to the upper plate), to the cover plate, it is desirable that the roller through hole through which the upper edge of the roller is formed. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the atmosphere below the roller conveyor from rising into the processing space without hindering the conveyance of the object to be processed by the roller conveyor, and also to ensure fluctuations in the gas flow and atmosphere conditions. Can be prevented. Moreover, the roller conveyor can be protected from gas such as plasma by the cover plate.

In the case of plasma surface treatment, the cover plate is preferably made of a plasma-resistant material such as glass.
Thus, even if the cover plate is exposed to the plasma from the plasma blowing means, it can be prevented from being damaged, and as a result, the roller conveyor can be reliably protected from the plasma.

The cover means accommodates a roller conveyor directly below the blowing means, and is constituted by a container in which an inert gas is to be stored, and an upper plate of the inert gas reservoir container constitutes the cover plate. Is desirable.
As a result, the atmosphere below the cover plate can be changed to an inert gas atmosphere, and even if this atmosphere enters the processing space through the roller through hole, it is possible to reliably improve the processing quality. it can. The inert gas reservoir can be made compact, and an increase in the size of the apparatus configuration can be prevented.

It is desirable that the blowing means is capable of blowing an inert gas, and the inert gas from the blowing means is stored in the inert gas reservoir container through the roller through hole.
Accordingly, the blowing means can be used as the inert gas filling means, and the structure can be simplified.

It is desirable that the inert gas reservoir has the top plate, the bottom plate, and the side plate so that they can be disassembled and assembled together.
As a result, even when retrofitting to an existing roller conveyor, it can be easily performed and can be easily removed.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the bottom plate is divided into a plurality of bottom plate portions.
Accordingly, the bottom plate can be easily installed on the lower side of the roller conveyor, and the retrofitting operation can be easily facilitated.

It is desirable that the upper plate is divided into a plurality of upper plate portions, and the joint of the upper plate portions is shifted from a position directly below the outlet of the outlet means.
As a result, even if the area of the inert gas container and the upper plate is large, it is possible to prevent the upper plate from being bent and to prevent gas such as plasma from leaking from the joint of the upper plate part to the back side and entering the container. Can be prevented.

It is preferable that a plurality of supports for the upper plate are dispersedly arranged on the inner bottom surface of the inert gas reservoir.
Thereby, the bending of the upper plate can be prevented more reliably.

Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a height adjusting mechanism for the cover means.
Thereby, the distance between the cover means and the object to be processed can be adjusted as desired, and even if there is a manufacturing error, it can be corrected.

The height adjusting mechanism includes a base having an inclined guide surface, and a receiving member that can slide along the inclined direction of the guide surface and can be fixed at an arbitrary position. It is desirable that the cover means is supported so that its position can be adjusted in the sliding direction.
Accordingly, the height of the inert gas reservoir can be easily adjusted and the position of the inert gas reservoir can be adjusted so as to face the blowing means.

It is desirable that one of the cover means and the receiving member is formed with a screw hole for the other, and this hole is a long hole along the sliding direction.
Thus, the position of the cover means can be adjusted so as to face the blowing means with a simple configuration.

The present invention is particularly effective for surface treatment such as plasma treatment at a pressure near atmospheric pressure (substantially normal pressure). In the present invention, the pressure near atmospheric pressure (substantially normal pressure) is 1.013 × 10 ^{4 to} 50.6.
In the range of 63 × 10 ⁴ Pa, considering the ease of pressure adjustment and the simplification of the apparatus configuration, it is preferably 1.333 × 10 ^{4 to} 10.664 × 10 ⁴ Pa, more preferably 9 .
331 × a 10 ⁴ ~10.397 × 10 ⁴ Pa.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent an atmosphere such as the lower side of the roller conveyor from entering the processing space between the blowing means and the roller conveyor, and to perform a good process.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 3 show a remote atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus M that uses a glass substrate W having a large area as an object to be treated and performs plasma cleaning under a substantially ordinary pressure. The remote atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus M includes a roller conveyor 10 (conveying means) installed horizontally on the base B, and a plasma processing head 20 (blowing means) arranged above the roller conveyor 10. ing. As is well known, the roller conveyor 10 has a large number of shafts 11 and rollers 12 provided at intervals between the shafts 11. The shaft 11 extends in the left-right direction and is arranged in the front-rear direction. A glass substrate W is placed on the roller conveyor 10 and is sent in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plasma processing head 20 has an outer casing 21 and three plasma blowing nozzles 30 accommodated in the outer casing 21. The outer casing 21 has a rectangular hood shape that is long in the left and right sides, and has a lower end opened. An exhaust pipe 4 a extends from the upper end of the outer casing 21, and this pipe 4 a is connected to the exhaust pump 4.

The three plasma blowing nozzles 30 in the outer casing 21 extend in the left and right directions and are arranged at intervals in the front and rear directions. Note that the number of plasma blowing nozzles 30 is not limited to three, but may be two or four or more, and may be one without being limited to a plurality. Each plasma blowing nozzle 30 has a gas introduction part 31 and a discharge processing part 32 which are stacked one above the other. Although illustration is omitted, inside the gas introduction part 31 on the upper side, a chamber extending left and right,
A gas homogenization path is formed by connecting small holes distributed to the left and right. A processing gas source 2 is connected to the upstream end of the gas homogenization path via a gas supply pipe 2a. The processing gas source 2 stores a processing gas for plasma cleaning. This processing gas is sent to the gas introduction part 31 through the pipe 2a and is made uniform in the left-right longitudinal direction by the gas uniformizing path.

The discharge treatment unit 32 of the plasma blowing nozzle 30 has a pair of electrodes 33 and 34 facing front and rear.
And a holder 35 for holding these electrodes 33 and 34. The electrodes 33, 34 extend to the left and right, and the processing gas from the gas introduction unit 31 is uniformly introduced into a left and right elongated space formed between them. The electric field applying power source 3 is connected to one electrode 33 via a feeder line 3a, and the other electrode 34 is grounded via a ground line 3b. The electric field applying power source 3 supplies a pulse voltage, for example. As a result, the electrodes 33, 3
A pulse electric field is applied between the four electrodes, and the processing gas introduced into the space between the electrodes 33 and 34 is turned into plasma. The plasma-ized processing gas is blown out below the nozzle 30. The left and right elongated openings at the lower end of the space between the electrodes 33 and 34 constitute a blowout port 30 a of the plasma blowout nozzle 30.
At least one of the electrodes 33 and 34 is provided with a solid dielectric layer for preventing arcs on the surface facing the other.

A support structure of the plasma processing head 20 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 11, the atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus M is provided with a pair of left and right head support bases 70. The support base 70 has a plurality of support columns 71 erected on the base B, and a pedestal 72 provided at the upper end of the support columns 71. These columns 71 and pedestals 72 can be disassembled and assembled.

Each strut 71 is disposed between adjacent shafts 11 of the roller conveyor 10, and a lower end portion is bolted to the base B and an upper end portion is positioned at substantially the same height as the shaft 11.
The pedestal 72 has a flat plate shape that is long in the front-rear direction and is disposed above the shaft 11 of the roller conveyor 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the left and right pedestals 72, supported portions 22 on the lower left and right sides of the plasma processing head 20 are placed and supported. Thus, the plasma processing head 20 is stretched between the left and right head support bases 70 so as to cover the roller conveyor 10.
Steps 22 a are provided in the left and right supported portions 22 of the plasma processing head 20. The left and right steps 22a are caught on the inner end surface of the pedestal 72, whereby the plasma processing head 20 is positioned in the left-right direction. The pedestal 72 and the supported portion 22 are connected by a bolt (connecting member) 23, and as a result, the plasma processing head 20 is connected to the pedestal 7.
2 is fixed.

Between the pedestal 72 and the support column 71, a bolt 73 is interposed as a “height adjustment mechanism for the plasma processing head 20”. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 12, and FIG.
2, a plurality of female screw holes 72a penetrating in the vertical thickness direction are formed. These female screw holes 72 a are disposed at positions corresponding to the support columns 71. The upper part of the height adjusting bolt 73 made of a headless bolt is screwed into each female screw hole 72a. Height adjustment bolt 73
The lower side portion protrudes below the pedestal 72 and abuts against the upper end surface of the column 71.

In the height adjusting bolt 73, a hexagonal hole 73a that opens to the upper end surface and a stepped hole 73b that extends from the bottom surface to the lower end surface of the hexagonal hole 73a are formed in communication along the axis. A shaft bolt 74 (shaft member) is inserted through the stepped hole 73b. The head of the shaft bolt 74 is accommodated in the large diameter part on the upper side (side connected to the hexagonal hole 73a) of the stepped hole 73b, and the screw part passes through the lower small diameter part, and the screw hole in the upper end part of the column 71 It is screwed into 71a. As a result, the height adjusting bolt 73 is connected to the support 71 via the shaft bolt 74, and can be rotated around the shaft bolt 74 when the shaft bolt 74 is loosened.

The rotation operation of the height adjusting bolt 73 is performed by inserting a hexagon wrench into the hexagon hole 73a. FIG.
As shown by the two-dot chain line, when the height adjustment bolt 73 is turned in one direction, the pedestal 72 is raised,
As shown by the broken line, the pedestal 72 is lowered when turned in the opposite direction. By performing this for each of the plurality of height adjusting bolts 73, the pedestal 72 can be leveled while adjusting the height. Of course, the heights of the left and right pedestals 72 are aligned with each other. In this way, the plasma processing head 20 on the pedestal 72 is horizontally supported so that the height can be adjusted. As a result, the distance (working distance) between the outlet 30a of the plasma processing head 20 and the upper surface of the glass substrate W can be adjusted. The setting value of this working distance is, for example, about 5 mm.

A hexagonal hole 74 a is formed in the head of the shaft bolt 74. After the above height adjustment,
By inserting a hexagon wrench into this hexagon hole 74a and turning it, the shaft bolt 74 is tightened until the head hits the step of the stepped hole 73b. As a result, the height adjusting bolt 73 is prevented from rotating, and as a result, the height of the plasma processing head 20 is fixed.

The height adjusting bolt 73 may be rotatably connected to the pedestal 72 and screwed into the column 71, or the shaft bolt 74 may be screwed into the pedestal 72.

The characteristic part of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus M includes an inert gas reservoir container 50 as “a cover means for covering the roller conveyor 10”. The inert gas reservoir container 50 is disposed just below the plasma processing head 20 and accommodates this portion of the roller conveyor 10 therein.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inert gas reservoir 50 has a bottom plate 54, front and rear side plates 52 and 53, and an upper plate (cover plate, conveyor protective cover) 51, and is long to the left and right. It has a square shape in plan view. The left and right length of the container 50 is substantially the same as that of the outer casing 21 of the plasma processing head 20 and is, for example, about 1 to 3 m. The front and rear width is slightly smaller than the outer casing 21 and the electrodes 33 and 34 and the outlet 30a. Is substantially the same as the length of, for example, about 0.5 to 1 m.

As shown in FIG. 6, each plate 51-54 which comprises the inert gas reservoir 50 is assembled | attached with the screw | thread (not shown) so that decomposition | disassembly is mutually possible.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom plate 54 of the inert gas reservoir 50 is arranged below the roller 12 as well as the shaft 11 of the roller conveyor 10. 2, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the bottom plate 54 is divided into four (plural) bottom plate portions 54a along the front-rear width direction. The bottom plate portions 54a extend to the left and right, and are arranged one after the other. A joint plate portion 54b is provided at the edge of one bottom plate portion 54a between adjacent bottom plate portions 54a, and this joint plate portion 54b is put on the upper surface of the edge of the other bottom plate portion 54a and is screwed. Has been.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, an edge plate 53 b is provided on the lower edge of the inner side surface of the front and rear side plate 53 of the inert gas reservoir container 50 so that the edge plate 53 b is screwed to the bottom plate 54. It has become. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of vertical ribs 53 a are provided on the inner side surface of the front and rear side plates 53 at intervals in the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, edge plates 52 b and 52 c are provided on the lower edge and both front and rear edges of the inner side surface of the left and right side plates 52 of the inert gas reservoir container 50, and these edge plates 52 b and 52 c are Screwed to the bottom plate 54 and the front and rear side plates 53. On the upper edge of the left right plate 52, U
A plurality of (for example, six) letter-shaped recesses 52a are formed at intervals. As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft 11 of the roller conveyor 10 is passed through these recesses 52a. As a result, a plurality of (for example, six) shafts 11 penetrates the inside of the inert gas reservoir container 50 from side to side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the upper plate 51 of the inert gas reservoir 50 is covered with the six shafts 11 and slightly below the height at which the glass substrate W is to be fed. Are located apart. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper plate 51 is formed with a plurality of roller through holes 51d having a long rectangular shape in the front-rear direction and aligned in the front-rear and left-right directions. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper edge portions of the rollers 12 of the six shafts 11 are inserted into the through holes 51d. These rollers 12 protrude (expose) slightly upward from the upper plate 51. Accordingly, the glass base material W can be reliably transported at the location where the inert gas reservoir container 50 is disposed without interfering with the container 50. The amount of protrusion from the upper plate 51 of the roller 12 is set as small as possible within a range in which no interference occurs even if the glass substrate W or the upper plate 51 is bent, and is, for example, 3 to 5 mm. The lower surface of the glass substrate W and the upper plate 51 are separated from each other by the protruding amount.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upper plate 51 is divided into four (plural) upper plate portions 51a and 51b (divided covers). These four upper plate portions 51a and 51b are arranged in a 2 × 2 manner, and their joints are crossed. The front two upper plate portions 51a have a smaller front-rear width than the two rear upper plate portions 51b. As a result, the seam 51 c extending in the left and right direction at the boundary between the front plate portion 51 a and the rear plate portion 51 b is shifted forward from the front and rear center of the inert gas reservoir container 50. By doing so, as shown in FIG. 2, the seam 51c is shifted from a position directly below the air outlet 30a of the central plasma air outlet nozzle 30,
It is disposed below the middle between the central outlet 30a and the outlet 30a of the plasma outlet nozzle 30 on the front side. As a result, the seam 51c does not face any air outlet 30a. A rear upper plate portion 51b is positioned directly below the center and the rear outlet 30a, and a front upper plate portion 51b is positioned directly below the front outlet 30a.

Side plates 52 and 53 and a bottom plate 54 of the inert gas reservoir container 50 and an upper plate support 55 described later.
Is made of a resin such as vinyl chloride. On the other hand, the upper plate 51 is made of glass (plasma resistant material). Glass has higher plasma resistance than resins such as vinyl chloride.

A support structure of the upper plate 51 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of upper plate supports 55 (support members) are arranged on the upper surface of the bottom plate 54 so as to be aligned in the front-rear and left-right directions. As shown in FIG. 6, the support 55 has a vertical L shape, and a lower end portion thereof is screwed to the bottom plate 54. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
An upper plate 51 is placed on the upper end of the plate and screwed. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the edge part of the upper board 51 is mounted on the upper end part of the vertical rib 53a (FIG. 8) of the front-and-back side board 53, and is screwed. Further, the four corners of the upper plate 51 are placed on the upper end portions of the vertical edge plates 52c (FIG. 9) of the left and right side plates 52.

Next, a support structure for the entire inert gas reservoir 50 will be described. This support structure is the container 50
Equipped with a height adjustment mechanism.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A fixed base 61 is provided. The upper surface (guide surface) of the base 61 is inclined upward toward the front. Four (a plurality) of container receiving members 62 are provided on the upper surface of the base 61. The receiving member 62 is formed in a rod shape and extends in the front-rear direction, and is disposed at a distance from the left and right. The lower surface of the receiving member 62 is inclined upward in accordance with the inclination angle of the upper surface of the base 61. Thereby, the upper surface of the receiving member 62 is horizontal. The inert gas reservoir 50 is horizontally installed on the upper surface of the receiving member 62, and the bottom plate 54 is screwed to the receiving member 62.

As shown in FIG. 10, the receiving member 62 can slide in the front-rear direction along the upper surface of the base 61 and can be fixed at an arbitrary position by a fixing means (not shown). As shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, when the container receiving member 62 is slid forward and fixed thereto, the upper surface level of the member 62 rises, and consequently the arrangement position of the inert gas container 20 rises. . On the other hand, as shown by the broken line in the figure, when the container receiving member 62 is slid rearward and fixed thereto,
The upper surface level of the member 62 is lowered, and consequently the arrangement position of the inert gas container 20 is lowered.
As a result, the height of the inert gas reservoir 50 is adjusted. As a result, the distance between the lower surface of the glass substrate W and the upper surface of the upper plate 51 can be adjusted. As shown in FIG. 6, in the bottom plate 54 of the inert gas reservoir container 50, the hole formed for screwing the receiving member 62 is a long hole 54 c with the long axis facing forward and backward. Thereby, even if the receiving member 62 is shifted back and forth, the position of the inert gas reservoir 50 in the front-rear direction can be held at the normal position directly below the plasma processing head 20.

The screw may be configured to be screwed into the bottom plate 54 from the receiving member 62 side. In that case, the screw insertion hole on the receiving member side is a long hole with the long axis facing the front and rear like the long hole 54c. To do.
In FIG. 10, the inclination angle of the upper surface of the base 61 and the container receiving member 62 and the vertical movement range of the inert gas reservoir container 50 are exaggerated.

The inert gas reservoir 50 is filled with an inert gas.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus M includes an inert gas source 5 in addition to the processing gas source 2.
Is provided. In the inert gas source 5, for example, nitrogen is stored as an inert gas. The gas pipe 5a from the inert gas source 5 is joined to the gas pipe 2a from the processing gas source 2 via the three-way valve 2v. The three-way valve 2v selects one of the two gas sources 2 and 5 and is connected to the plasma blowing nozzle 30. If the inert gas source 5 is selected, nitrogen is blown from the plasma blowing nozzle 30. (In this case, the power supply 3 is turned off.) The nitrogen passes through the gap between the roller passage hole 51 d of the upper plate 51 and the roller 12 and enters the container 50.

In the remote atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus M having the above-described configuration, prior to passing the glass substrate W, the above-described nitrogen blowing is performed. The container 50 can be filled with nitrogen in about 3 minutes. Thereafter, the glass substrate W is conveyed to the lower side of the plasma processing head 20 by the roller conveyor 10. Further, the three-way valve 2v is switched so that the cleaning process gas from the process gas source 2 is supplied to the nozzle 30.
To supply. In addition, by turning on the power supply 3 and applying an electric field between the electrodes 33 and 34,
Process gas is turned into plasma. The glass substrate W can be subjected to a plasma cleaning process by blowing this plasma-ized processing gas downward from the blowing port 30a and applying it to the glass substrate W.

During this plasma cleaning process, the plasma processing head 2 is moved by the inert gas reservoir 50.
It is possible to prevent the lower atmosphere from rising into the processing space between 0 and the glass substrate W. As a result, good processing can be performed. Further, nitrogen in the container 50 only rises from the roller through hole 51d of the upper plate 51, and good processing is not hindered. Furthermore, since the gap between the base material W and the upper plate 51 is made as narrow as possible, the atmosphere of this gap hardly enters the processing space, and good processing can be performed reliably.

Furthermore, the roller conveyor 10 can be protected from plasma by the upper plate 51 of the inert gas reservoir 50. Since the upper plate 51 is made of glass having excellent plasma resistance, the upper plate 51 is hardly damaged even when directly exposed to plasma.
Since the upper plate 51 is divided into a plurality of plate portions 51a and 51b, the upper plate 51 can be hardly bent even if it has a large area as a whole. Moreover, since it is supported by the support 55 in the container 50, bending can be prevented more reliably.
Since the seam 51c due to the division is shifted from the outlet 30a of the nozzle 30,
It is possible to prevent the plasma from coming down from the joint 51c.

The inert gas reservoir 50 can be made compact, and it is not necessary to accommodate the entire roller conveyor 10 and the plasma processing head 20 in a large volume chamber filled with an inert gas, thereby preventing an increase in the size of the apparatus configuration.
Since the inert gas reservoir container 50 can be disassembled and assembled, the existing roller conveyor 1
Even when retrofitting to 0, it can be easily performed without disassembling the roller conveyor.
Removal is also easy. In particular, since the bottom plate 54 is divided into narrow bottom plate portions 54a, the bottom plate 54 can be easily inserted below the roller conveyor 10.

Since the apparatus M extends over several meters, manufacturing errors are likely to occur, and the glass substrate W and the upper plate 5
1 and the accuracy of several mm level such as working distance is likely to be affected. Therefore, the front and rear positions of the receiving member 62 at the lower part of the inert gas reservoir 50 are adjusted. by this,
The upper plate 51 can be adjusted to have an accurate height. As a result, the distance between the glass substrate W and the upper plate 51 can be set to a size as set, and manufacturing errors can be corrected.
Further, the height of the plasma processing head 20 is adjusted by the height adjusting bolt 73. As a result, the working distance can be set as set and the manufacturing error can be corrected.

By adjusting the height of the pedestal 72 of the left and right support bases 70, the horizontal inclination of the plasma processing head 20 can be corrected and the levelness can be ensured. In addition, by adjusting the plurality of height adjusting bolts 73 of each support base 70, the inclination of the plasma processing head 20 in the front-rear direction and the like can be corrected, and the levelness can be further ensured.

Since the plasma processing head 20 is mounted so as to be bridged on the left and right support bases 70, the configuration can be simplified and the installation work can be easily performed, rather than the structure of hanging from the ceiling. And can be easily retrofitted onto existing roller conveyor lines. In addition, the support 71 and the pedestal 72 can be disassembled / assembled freely, and the support 71 can be inserted and arranged between the adjacent shafts 11 without having to disassemble the roller conveyor 10.
It can be installed easily without interfering with it, and retrofitting can be further facilitated.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.
For example, the container 50 may be filled with an inert gas by directly connecting the pipe 5 a from the inert gas source 5 into the inert gas reservoir container 50.
As the cover means, not the entire container 50 but the upper plate 51, that is, only the cover plate may be provided.
The present invention is not limited to the cleaning treatment, and can be applied to various plasma surface treatments such as film formation, etching, surface modification, and ashing.
Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to any surface processing apparatus that blows a processing gas downward to process an object to be processed such as a semiconductor substrate, and is not limited to a plasma surface processing apparatus, but also to a thermal CVD apparatus or an ozone asher. Applicable.

It is a top view which shows the remote type atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and follows the II line | wire of FIG. It is side surface sectional drawing of the said remote type atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus which follows the II-II line | wire of FIG. FIG. 3 is a rear sectional view of the remote atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus taken along line III-III in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of the inert gas reservoir container of the said remote type atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus. It is a top view in the state where the upper plate of the above-mentioned inert gas reservoir container was omitted. It is a disassembled perspective view of a part of the inert gas reservoir. FIG. 3 is an exploded plan view of a bottom plate of the inert gas reservoir container. (A) It is the figure which looked the front-and-back side board of the said inert gas reservoir container from the inside of a container. (B) It is a top view of the said front-and-back side board. It is the figure which looked at the right-and-left side board of the said inert gas reservoir container from the inside of a container. It is explanatory side view which shows the mode of the height adjustment of the said inert gas reservoir container. It is a front view of the head support stand of the said remote type atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment apparatus. It is front sectional drawing which expands and shows the height adjustment mechanism part of the said head support stand. It is a top view of the height adjustment mechanism part of the said head support stand.

Explanation of symbols

M Remote type atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment equipment W Glass substrate (object to be treated)
10 Roller conveyor 12 Roller 20 Plasma processing head (blowout means)
30a Air outlet 33, 34 Electrode 50 Inert gas reservoir (cover means)
51 Upper plate (cover plate)
51a, 51b Upper plate portion 51c Joint 51d Roller hole 52, 53 Side plate 54 Bottom plate 54c Long hole (hole for screwing)
55 Upper plate support 61 base (component of height adjustment mechanism of cover means)
62 Receiving member (component of cover means height adjustment mechanism)

Claims (11)

Blowing means for blowing the processing gas downward;
A roller conveyor that feeds an object to be processed across the lower side of the blowing means;
Cover means for covering the roller conveyor immediately below the blowing means so as to expose the upper edge of the roller of the conveyor;
And the cover means accommodates a roller conveyor directly below the blowing means, and is constituted by a container in which an inert gas is to be stored, and an upper plate of the inert gas storage container is fed with an object to be processed. A surface treatment apparatus, characterized in that a roller through hole is formed at a distance below a power height and through which the upper edge of the roller passes . A plasma blowing means for passing a processing gas between the electrodes into a plasma and blowing it downward;
A roller conveyor that feeds an object to be processed across the lower side of the blowing means;
Cover means for covering the roller conveyor immediately below the blowing means so as to expose the upper edge of the roller of the conveyor;
And the cover means has a plasma-resistant cover plate disposed below the height to which the workpiece is to be sent, and a roller passage hole through which the upper edge of the roller passes. Is formed , a surface treatment apparatus. The cover means accommodates a roller conveyor directly below the blowing means, and is constituted by a container in which an inert gas is to be stored, and an upper plate of the inert gas reservoir container constitutes the cover plate. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 2 . Said blowing means is capable of blowing an inert gas, the inert gas from the blowing means, according to claim 1, characterized in that stored in the roller through the through hole inert gas reservoir vessel or 4. The surface treatment apparatus according to 3 . Said inert gas reservoir is the upper plate and the bottom plate and the side plate, a surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 3 and 4, characterized in that an exploded-assembly freely have mutually . The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the bottom plate is divided into a plurality of bottom plate portions. The said upper board is divided | segmented into the several upper board part , The joint line of these upper board parts has shifted | deviated from the position right under the blower outlet of the said blowing means, The any one of Claims 1-6 The surface treatment apparatus of Claim 1 . Wherein the inner bottom surface of the inert gas reservoir, a surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 3 to 7, characterized in that a plurality distributed the support for the upper plate. Surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claim 1 to 8, characterized in that with a height adjustment mechanism of the cover means. The height adjusting mechanism includes a base having an inclined guide surface, and a receiving member that can slide along the inclined direction of the guide surface and can be fixed at an arbitrary position. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the cover means is supported so that its position can be adjusted in the sliding direction. One of said receiving member and said cover means are formed holes for screwing the other, the holes, according to claim 10, characterized in that has a long hole along the sliding direction Surface treatment equipment.

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