JP4486146B2 - Surface treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a surface of a workpiece by bringing the treatment gas into contact with the surface of the workpiece, and more particularly to a surface treatment apparatus suitable for treatment using a toxic or corrosive treatment gas.

  An apparatus for spraying a processing gas onto an object to be processed such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer and performing a surface treatment such as etching, cleaning, surface modification, and film formation is known. The processing gas used for this type of surface treatment often contains components that are unsafe or environmentally undesirable when leaked to the outside. Therefore, generally, the processing space is surrounded by a processing tank (chamber) to prevent the processing gas from leaking to the outside.

The surface treatment apparatuses of Patent Documents 1 and 2 are provided with an inlet for introducing a workpiece into a treatment tank (chamber) and an outlet for leading the workpiece. The inlet and outlet are slit-shaped. Relaxation chambers are provided at both ends of the treatment tank to alleviate the outflow of plasma generation gas and the inflow of outside air into the treatment tank. The gas inside the treatment tank is discharged from the exhaust port.
The surface treatment apparatus of Patent Document 3 includes an inner tank that surrounds the discharge plasma generation unit and an outer tank that surrounds the inner tank. The internal pressure of the space between the outer tub and the inner tub is lower than the inner pressure of the inner tub and lower than the external pressure. As a result, the processing gas flows out from the inner tank to the space between the outer tank and the inner tank, and the outside air flows into the outer tank.
Japanese Patent No. 4058857 (FIG. 9) Japanese Patent No. 3994596 (FIG. 7) JP 2003-142298 A

The treatment tank needs an opening for taking in and out the object to be treated. The processing gas in the processing tank may leak from this opening. In order to prevent such leakage, it is conceivable to connect an exhaust system to the treatment tank and exhaust the gas from the treatment tank. Thereby, the flow of the gas at the opening can be directed from the outside of the processing tank to the inside of the processing tank. However, the inflow gas from the opening tends to be turbulent. If it does so, the gas distribution in a processing tank will become unstable. Further, when the outside air outside the processing tank is disturbed, the disturbance may propagate to the inside of the processing tank through the opening. The inventor has confirmed a phenomenon in which when a vortex is formed outside the opening, the gas inside the opening becomes a vortex and exits from the opening.
This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The place made into the objective is to stabilize the flow of the gas in the opening for taking in / out of to-be-processed object provided in the processing tank for surface treatment. is there.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an apparatus for treating a surface by bringing a treatment gas into contact with the surface of an object to be treated.
Openings are formed in the upstream and downstream walls in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed, the object to be processed is carried in from the opening on the upstream side, carried out from the opening on the downstream side, and the surface treatment is performed inside. A processing tank in which the processing space to be performed is separated from the upstream opening to the downstream side in the transport direction and from the downstream opening to the upstream side in the transport direction ; and
Including a supply nozzle facing the inside of the processing tank, wherein the supply nozzle defines the processing space with the object to be processed carried into the processing tank, and processing from the supply nozzle to the processing space A supply system for supplying gas;
Downstream of the conveying direction from the opening of the upstream side in the treatment tank, and wherein the downstream outlet that is disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction than the opening of the gas discharged from the inside of the processing bath The exhaust flow rate is higher than the processing gas supply flow rate of the supply system;
The upstream and downstream openings are defined by a pair of rectifying plates facing each other at an opposing distance in an opposing direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and the upstream and downstream openings are transported depth along the direction state, and are more than twice the opposing distance, each of said pair of flow plates, characterized that you have had a portion projecting into the interior of the processing vessel from the wall.

  By the exhaust by the exhaust system, a gas flow from the outside toward the inside of the treatment tank can be formed at the opening. Thereby, it can prevent that process gas leaks outside from the said opening. In addition, the flow of the gas flowing into the processing tank from the opening can be stabilized by the pair of rectifying surfaces, the inflowing gas can be prevented from becoming turbulent, or the inflowing gas can be brought close to a laminar flow. Therefore, the gas distribution in the processing tank and thus in the processing space can be stabilized. Thereby, the stability of the surface treatment can be ensured. In addition, the inside of the treatment tank can be prevented from being affected by the outside. For example, when turbulence of gas such as vortex occurs outside the processing tank, the turbulence can be prevented from propagating to the inside of the processing tank through the opening, and the gas inside the processing tank becomes vortex or the like and the opening It is possible to prevent leakage through the outside. As a result, leakage of the processing gas and the processed gas can be prevented more reliably.

More preferably, the depth of the opening is 6 to 10 times the opposing distance. As a result, the gas flow at the opening can be more reliably stabilized.
The shape of the opening is preferably rectangular.
When the facing distance varies depending on the location, the facing distance is defined as an average value. It is preferable that the depth of the opening is twice or more the average value of the facing distance, and it is more preferable that the depth of the opening is 6 to 10 times the average value of the facing distance.

According to the present invention, the flow of gas in the conveyance direction upstream side of the opening and the downstream side of the opening of the workpiece can be stabilized. As a result, it is possible to prevent the gas distribution in the treatment tank from fluctuating and to secure the stability of the surface treatment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. Although the to-be-processed object 9 of this embodiment is comprised with the glass substrate for flat panel displays, this invention is not limited to this, For example, various things, such as a semiconductor wafer and a continuous sheet-like resin film, etc. It can be applied to any workpiece. The surface treatment content of this embodiment is etching of silicon (not shown) coated on the surface of the glass substrate 9, but the present invention is not limited to this, and etching of silicon oxide or silicon nitride is not limited thereto. It is also applicable to various surface treatments such as film formation, cleaning, water repellency, and hydrophilicity.

  In addition, the length (dimension in the left-right direction in FIG. 1) of the workpiece 9 made of the glass substrate for flat panel display is, for example, 1500 mm, and the width (dimension in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1) is, for example, 1100 mm. For example, the thickness is about 0.7 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the surface treatment apparatus 1 includes a treatment tank 10, a transport unit 20, a supply system 30, and an exhaust system 40.

  The processing tank 10 has a container shape with a size that allows the workpiece 9 to be disposed therein. A processing space 19 is formed at a substantially central portion inside the processing tank 10. In other words, the processing tank 10 surrounds the processing space 19. The processing space 19 is defined between a supply nozzle 33 which will be described later and a workpiece 9 to be disposed below the supply nozzle 33. In the drawing, the thickness (vertical dimension) of the processing space 19 is exaggerated. The actual thickness of the processing space 19 is about 0.5 to 5 mm.

  A carry-in opening 13 is formed in the wall 11 on one end side (right side in FIG. 1) of the processing tank 10. A carry-out opening 14 is formed in the wall 12 on the other end side (left side in FIG. 1) of the processing tank 10. The carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 extend in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The workpiece 9 can enter and exit the processing tank 10 through the loading / unloading openings 13 and 14. The carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 are always open. The processing tank 10 is not provided with a door for opening and closing the loading / unloading openings 13 and 14. The structure of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 will be described in detail later.

The conveying means 20 is constituted by a roller conveyor. A large number of rollers 21 of the roller conveyor are arranged at intervals on the left and right with the axis line oriented in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. A part of the roller conveyor 20 is disposed inside the processing tank 10. The workpiece 9 is placed on the roller 21 and is conveyed from right to left (conveying direction) in FIG. 1, is carried into the treatment tank 10 through the carry-in opening 13, and is disposed in the treatment space 19. It is unloaded from the processing tank 10 through the unloading opening 14.
The conveying means 20 is not limited to a roller conveyor, and may be constituted by a movable stage, a floating stage, a robot arm, or the like.

  The supply system 30 includes a source gas supply unit 31 and a supply nozzle 33. A supply path 32 extends from the source gas supply unit 31. A supply path 32 is connected to the supply nozzle 33. The supply nozzle 33 is disposed on the ceiling of the processing tank 10. Although detailed illustration is omitted, the supply nozzle 33 extends in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG.

The supply system 30 supplies the processing space 19 with a processing gas including a reaction component corresponding to the processing content, a raw material component of the reaction component, and the like. Process gas components (such as the above reaction components and raw material components) often have environmental impact, toxicity, and corrosivity. In the present embodiment relating to silicon etching, a fluorine-based reaction component and an oxidizing reaction component are used as reaction components. Examples of the fluorine-based reaction component include HF, COF ₂ and fluorine radicals. The fluorine-based reaction component can be generated, for example, by humidifying a fluorine-based raw material with water (H ₂ O) and then plasmatizing (including decomposition, excitation, activation, ionization, etc.). In this embodiment, CF ₄ is used as the fluorine-based material. Instead of CF ₄ as the fluorine-based raw material, other PFC (perfluorocarbon) such as C ₂ F ₆ , C ₃ F ₈ , C ₃ F ₈ may be used, and CHF ₃ , CH ₂ F ₂ , CH ₃ F may be used HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) _etc., may be used SF _6, NF 3, XeF fluorine-containing compounds other than PFC and HFC, such as _2.

The fluorine-based raw material may be diluted with a diluent gas. As the dilution gas, for example, a rare gas such as Ar or He or N ₂ is used. Instead of water (H ₂ O), an OH group-containing compound such as alcohol may be used as an additive to the fluorine-based raw material.

Examples of the oxidizing reaction component include O ₃ and O radicals. In this embodiment, O ₃ is used as the oxidizing reaction component. O ₃ can be generated by an ozonizer using oxygen (O ₂ ) as a raw material. The oxidizing reaction component may be generated by converting oxygen-based raw material such as O ₂ into plasma.

Plasma conversion of the fluorine-based material or oxygen-based material can be performed by introducing a gas containing the material into a plasma space between a pair of electrodes of a plasma generation apparatus. The plasmification is preferably performed near atmospheric pressure. Here, the vicinity of the atmospheric pressure refers to a range of 1.013 × 10 ^{4 to} 50.663 × 10 ⁴ Pa, and considering the ease of pressure adjustment and the simplification of the apparatus configuration, 1.333 × 10 ⁴ to 10.664 × 10 ⁴ Pa is preferable, and 9.331 × 10 ^{4 to} 10.9797 × 10 ⁴ Pa is more preferable.

In this embodiment according to the etching of the silicon, the raw material gas supply unit _31, CF ₄ fluorine raw material is diluted with Ar, and the addition of _{H 2} O, to obtain a fluorine-based material gas _{(CF 4 + Ar + H 2} O). This fluorine-based source gas is guided to the supply nozzle 33 through the supply path 32. The supply nozzle 33 is provided with a pair of electrodes. The fluorine-based source gas is turned into plasma between the electrodes. The supply nozzle 33 also serves as a plasma generation device. Thereby, fluorine-type reaction components, such as HF, are generated. Although not shown, O ₃ is separately generated as an oxidizing reaction component by an ozonizer, introduced into the supply nozzle 33, and mixed with the plasmaized gas. Thereby, the process gas containing a fluorine-based reactive components (HF, etc.) with an oxidizing reactant (O ₃ or the like) is generated. Of course, the processing gas also includes source gas components (CF ₄ , H ₂ O, Ar, O _2, etc.). This processing gas is blown into the processing space 19 from the outlet of the bottom surface (tip surface) of the supply nozzle 33. The supply flow rate of the processing gas is, for example, about 32 slm.

  Alternatively, a processing gas containing a fluorine-based reaction component and an oxidizing reaction component may be generated in the gas supply unit 31, and this processing gas may be sent to the supply nozzle 33 through the supply path 32 and blown out.

The processing gas blown from the supply nozzle 33 is blown to the object 9 to be processed in the processing space 19, and the object 9 is surface-treated. In the etching of silicon, silicon is oxidized by an oxidizing component (such as O ₃ ) in the processing gas, the silicon oxide reacts with a fluorine-based reaction component (such as HF) in the processing gas, and the volatile component SiF ₄ is changed. Generated. Thereby, the silicon layer on the surface of the workpiece 9 can be removed.

  Next, the exhaust system 40 will be described. An exhaust port 43 is provided at, for example, a substantially central portion of the bottom of the processing tank 10. An exhaust passage 42 extends from the exhaust port 43. In the exhaust path 42, a filter unit 45 and an exhaust pump 41 are sequentially provided. Although illustration is omitted, a local exhaust port is formed on the bottom surface of the supply nozzle 33 adjacent to the processing gas blowing port. A suction path connected to the local exhaust port is drawn from the upper part of the supply nozzle 33. This suction path joins the exhaust path 42 on the upstream side (exhaust port 43 side) from the filter portion 45. The local exhaust port and the suction path also constitute an element of the exhaust system 40.

The filter unit 45 removes dust and the like in the exhaust gas, a scrubber that removes HF and the like in the exhaust gas, a mist trap that removes H ₂ O in the exhaust gas, and O ₃ in the exhaust gas. Including ozone killer.

By driving the exhaust pump 41 (exhaust means), the gas in the processing tank 10 is sucked into the exhaust path 42 from the exhaust port 43. Further, the processing gas (hereinafter referred to as “processed gas”) after being sprayed on the object 9 to be processed in the processing space 19 is mainly sucked into the local exhaust port and passes through the suction path to the exhaust path 42. Join. Treated gas contains components of the processing gas _{(HF, O 3, CF 4} , H 2 O, Ar , etc.) and by-product by surface treatment reaction (SiF ₄ and the like). Part of the processed gas may leak from the processing space 19, and such processed gas is sucked from the exhaust port 43.

  The exhaust gas flow rate by the exhaust system 40 is set to a small amount so that the gas in the processing tank 10 does not leak from the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14. In order to prevent the gas from leaking out from the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14, the exhaust gas flow rate is made larger than the supply flow rate of the processing gas, and the atmospheric gas (air) outside the processing tank 10 passes through the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14. It flows into the inside of the processing tank 10. In the present embodiment, the supply flow rate of the processing gas is about 32 slm as described above, whereas the exhaust gas flow rate of the first exhaust system 40 is, for example, about 200 to 400 slm.

Therefore, most of the exhaust gas from the exhaust system 40 is air. Nitrogen is the largest component in the exhaust gas. The exhaust gas further contains components of processed gas (HF, O ₃ , CF ₄ , H ₂ O, Ar, SiF _4, etc.).

The surface treatment apparatus 1 further includes a reuse unit 50. The reuse unit 50 collects the reaction component of the processing gas from the gas exhausted by the exhaust system 40. More specifically, the reuse unit 50 includes a separation and recovery device 51. The separation / recovery device 51 is provided with a separation membrane 52. A separation membrane 52 divides the inside of the separation / collector 51 into a concentration chamber 53 and a dilution chamber 54. As the separation membrane 52, for example, a glassy polymer membrane (see Japanese Patent No. 3151151) is used. The speed at which the separation membrane 52 permeates CF ₄ (reaction component) is relatively small, and the speed at which nitrogen (impurities) permeate is relatively large. An exhaust passage 42 downstream from the exhaust pump 41 is connected to the concentration chamber 53. Exhaust gas from the exhaust pump 41 is introduced into the concentrating chamber 53, and is separated by the separation membrane 52 into recovered gas that remains in the concentrating chamber 53 and discharged gas that passes through the separation membrane 52 and enters the dilution chamber 54. The recovered gas has a high CF ₄ concentration (CF ₄ = 90 vol% or more) and a low flow rate. The released gas has a low CF ₄ concentration (CF ₄ = 1 vol% or less) and a high flow rate.

  Although only one separation / recovery device 51 is shown in the figure, the reuse unit 50 may have a plurality of separation / recovery devices 51. The plurality of separation and recovery devices 51 may be connected in series, may be connected in parallel, or may be connected so that the series and the parallel are combined.

  A recovery path 55 extends from the downstream end of the concentration chamber 53. The recovery path 55 is connected to the source gas supply unit 31.

  A discharge path 46 extends from the dilution chamber 54. The discharge path 46 is connected to the abatement equipment 47.

The structure of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 of the treatment tank 10 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an opening 16 is formed in the carry-in side wall 11. The opening 16 has a slit shape extending in the width direction of the carry-in side wall 11 (the left-right direction in FIG. 2 and the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3).

  A pair of rectifying plates 15 and 15 are attached to the carry-in side wall 11 in a pair. Hereinafter, when the upper and lower rectifying plates 15 are distinguished from each other, the upper rectifying plate 15 is denoted by “A” and the lower rectifying plate 15 is denoted by “B”.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the upper rectifying plate 15A is divided into two upper rectifying plate portions 15a and 15a. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the rectifying plate portions 15 a and 15 a has a thin flat plate shape extending in the width direction of the carry-in side wall 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the two upper rectifying plate portions 15a and 15a sandwich the portion above the opening 16 of the carry-in side wall 11 from the outside (right in FIG. 3) and the inside (left in FIG. 3). . The lower surfaces of the upper rectifying plate portions 15 a and 15 a are flush with the upper edge of the opening 16. The upper rectifying surface 17 is constituted by the lower surfaces of the upper rectifying plate portions 15 a and 15 a that are flush with each other and the upper edge of the opening 16. The upper rectifying surface 17 extends horizontally in the width direction of the carry-in side wall 11.

  The lower rectifying plate 15B is divided into two lower rectifying plate portions 15b and 15b. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the rectifying plate portions 15 b and 15 b has a thin flat plate shape extending in the width direction of the carry-in side wall 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the two lower rectifying plate portions 15b and 15b sandwich the portion below the opening 16 of the carry-in side wall 11 from the outside (right in FIG. 3) and the inside (left in FIG. 3). It is out. The upper surfaces of the lower rectifying plate portions 15 b and 15 b are flush with the lower end edge of the opening 16. The lower rectifying surface 18 is configured by the upper surfaces of the lower rectifying plate portions 15 b and 15 b that are flush with each other and the lower end edge of the opening 16. The lower rectifying surface 18 extends horizontally in the width direction of the carry-in side wall 11.

  The upper rectifying surface 17 and the lower rectifying surface 18 are parallel to each other, and are opposed to each other in the vertical direction (opposite direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the workpiece 9 (left and right direction in FIG. 3)). A carry-in opening 13 is formed between the pair of rectifying surfaces 17 and 18. The upper rectifying surface 17 defines the upper edge of the opening 13. The lower rectifying surface 18 defines the lower edge of the opening 13.

  The length L along the conveyance direction (left and right direction in FIG. 3) of the rectifying surfaces 17 and 18 and the depth L along the conveyance direction of the opening 13 are the distance D between the rectifying surfaces 17 and 18 and the opening 13. It is more than twice the upper and lower thickness D (L ≧ 2 × D), preferably more than 6 times (L ≧ 6 × D). The upper limit of the depth L of the opening 13 is appropriately set in consideration of the attachment property of the current plate 15 and the interference with the roller 21. The upper limit of the depth L of the opening 13 is preferably about 15 times the facing distance D, and more preferably about 10 times.

  In this embodiment, the facing distance D of the rectifying surfaces 17 and 18, that is, the thickness D of the opening 13 is, for example, about D = 5 mm. Therefore, the depth L of the opening 13 is L = 10 mm or more, preferably 30 mm or more.

  Although detailed illustration is omitted, the carry-out opening 14 has the same structure as the carry-in opening 13. That is, an opening 16 is formed in the carry-out side wall 12, a rectifying plate 15 is attached to the opening 16, and a pair of rectifying surfaces 17 and 18 that are vertically opposed to each other are formed, and between the rectifying surfaces 17 and 18. A carry-out opening 14 is defined. The depth L of the carry-out opening 14 is 2 times or more, preferably 6 times or more the thickness D.

  According to the surface treatment apparatus 1 configured as described above, the workpiece 9 is carried into the treatment tank 10 from the carry-in opening 13 by the conveying means 20 and introduced into the treatment space 19. Further, the processing gas is supplied to the processing space 19 by the supply system 30. This processing gas comes into contact with the workpiece 9 and surface processing such as etching is performed. The processed object 9 after processing is carried out from the processing tank 10 through the carry-out opening 14. A plurality of objects 9 to be processed are arranged in a line on the roller conveyor 20 at intervals, and sequentially carried into the treatment tank 10 and subjected to surface treatment, and then carried out of the treatment tank 10.

  In parallel with the supply of the processing gas, the exhaust system 40 discharges the gas in the processing tank 10 (including the processed gas in the processing space 19). By this exhaust, the gas outside the processing tank 10 flows into the processing tank 10 through the loading / unloading openings 13 and 14. Therefore, the gas flow in the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 can be directed from the outside to the inside (inside the treatment tank 10). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the processing gas in the processing tank 10 or the processed gas from leaking out from the loading / unloading openings 13 and 14.

  Moreover, since the depth L of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 is at least twice the thickness D (L ≧ 2 × D), and preferably at least six times (L ≧ 6 × D), The flow of gas flowing in from 14 can be stabilized, and the inflowing gas can be prevented from becoming turbulent. Alternatively, the state of the inflowing gas can be brought close to laminar flow. Therefore, the gas distribution in the processing tank 10 can be stabilized. As a result, the flow of the processing gas in the processing space 19 can be stabilized. Therefore, the stability of the surface treatment can be ensured. Moreover, the inside of the processing tank 10 can be prevented from being affected by the outside. For example, when turbulence of gas such as eddy current occurs outside the processing tank 10, the turbulence can be prevented from propagating into the processing tank 10 through the openings 13 and 14, and the gas inside the processing tank 10 can be prevented. It is possible to prevent leakage from the openings 13 and 14 due to a vortex or the like. As a result, leakage of the processing gas and the processed gas can be prevented more reliably.

The gas discharged from the processing tank 10 by the exhaust system 30 is filtered by the filter unit 45, compressed by the exhaust pump 41, and introduced into the separation / collector 51. In the separation / collector 51, the exhaust gas is separated into a high CF ₄ concentration recovery gas and a low CF ₄ concentration discharge gas. The recovered gas is sent to the raw material gas supply unit 31 through the recovery path 55. Thereby, the reaction component (CF ₄ ) recovered by the separation / recovery device 51 can be returned to the recovery path 55 and reused. Therefore, the total amount of CF ₄ used in the surface treatment apparatus 1 can be reduced, and the running cost can be suppressed. The released gas is sent to the removal equipment 47 through the release passage 46 and subjected to the removal treatment, and then released to the atmosphere.

  The exhaust flow rate of the exhaust system 40 is so small that the treated gas does not leak from the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14. Therefore, the load on the separation / recovery device 51 can be reduced. In addition, the load on the abatement equipment 47 can be reduced. Thereby, the separation recovery device 51 and the abatement equipment 47 can be reduced in size.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the drawings for the same configurations as those already described, and the description thereof is omitted.
Figure 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the patent does not charge the loading and unloading opening. In this modification, the upper and lower rectifying plates 15 are not divided into the rectifying plate portions 15a and 15b, but are formed as an integral flat plate. The upper rectifying plate 15 </ b> A is attached to the outer side surface of the upper side portion of the opening 16 of the carry-in side wall 11. The lower surface of the upper rectifying plate 15A and the upper edge of the opening 16 are flush with each other. The upper rectifying surface 17 is constituted by the lower surface of the upper rectifying plate 15A and the upper edge of the opening 16 that are flush with each other.

  The lower rectifying plate 15 </ b> B is attached to the outer side surface of the lower portion than the opening 16 of the carry-in side wall 11. The upper surface of the lower rectifying plate 15B and the lower end edge of the opening 16 are flush with each other. The lower rectifying surface 18 is configured by the upper surface of the lower rectifying plate 15B and the lower end edge of the opening 16 that are flush with each other.

Although illustration is omitted, the current plate 15 on the carry-out side wall 12 is the same as the current plate 15 on the carry-in side wall 11 shown in FIG.
The depth L of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 is not less than twice the thickness D (L ≧ 2 × D), preferably not less than 6 times (L ≧ 6 × D). The same. In addition, you may attach the baffle plate 15 so that it may protrude in the inside of the processing tank 10 from the inner surface of the walls 11 and 12 instead of the outer surface of the walls 11 and 12. FIG.

  FIG. 5 shows another modification of the carry-in / out opening. In this modification, the opening 16 of the carry-in side wall 11 is opened up and down larger than the above-described embodiment (FIGS. 3 and 4). Each of the upper and lower rectifying plates 15 has an integral flat plate shape. The central portion of the upper rectifying plate 15 </ b> A is attached to the upper end edge of the opening 16. The upper rectifying surface 17 is constituted only by the lower surface of the upper rectifying plate 15A. A central portion of the lower rectifying plate 15 </ b> B is attached to the lower end edge of the opening 16. The lower rectifying surface 18 is constituted only by the upper surface of the lower rectifying plate 15B. A carry-in opening 13 is defined between the upper and lower rectifying plates 15 and 15.

Although illustration is omitted, the carry-out opening 14 is also defined in the same manner as the carry-in opening 13 shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the length of the current plate 15 along the conveyance direction of the workpiece 9 is equal to the depth L of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14. The depth L of the carry-in / out openings 13 and 14 is at least twice the thickness D (L ≧ 2 × D), preferably at least six times (L ≧ 6 × D). Is the same.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the carry-in opening 13 and the carry-out opening 14 may be configured by one common opening. The conveyance means 20 carries the workpiece 9 into the treatment tank 10 from the common opening and arranges it in the treatment space 19, and after the surface treatment, carries the workpiece 9 out of the common opening to the outside. It may be. The worker 9 may carry the workpiece 9 into and out of the processing tank 10 in addition to using the conveying means 20.

  The positions of the outer end portions of the upper and lower rectifying plates 15 </ b> A and 15 </ b> B or the positions of the inner end portions may not be aligned in the conveyance direction of the workpiece 9. Either one of the upper and lower rectifying plates 15A and 15B may protrude outside the processing tank 10 or inside the processing tank 10 from the other. In this case, the depth (L) along the transport direction of the space (opening 13 or 14) between the portions where the both rectifying plates 15 and 15 overlap each other in the opposing direction is the opposing distance between the rectifying plates 15 and 15. It may be 2 times or more, preferably 6 times or more of (D).

  The present invention is applicable, for example, to the manufacture of flat panel displays (FPD) and semiconductor wafers.

It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the surface treatment apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the side view which looked at the processing tank of the said surface treatment apparatus from the direction in alignment with the II-II line | wire of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the carrying-in opening of the said processing tank, and follows the III-III line of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a carry-in opening of a processing tank, showing a second embodiment of the present invention. It is an expanded sectional view of a loading opening of a processing tub showing a 3rd embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Surface treatment apparatus 9 To-be-processed object 10 Processing tank 11 Carry-in side wall 12 Carry-out side wall 13 Carry-in opening 14 Carry-out opening 15 Current plate 15a Upper rectifier plate part 15b Lower rectifier plate part 16 Opening part 17 Upper rectifier surface 18 Lower rectifier surface 19 Processing space 20 Conveying means 30 Supply system 33 Supply nozzle 40 Exhaust system 50 Reuse part 51 Separation and recovery device D Opposite distance L of rectifying surface Depth of opening

Claims (2)

In an apparatus for treating the surface by bringing a treatment gas into contact with the surface of the workpiece,
Openings are formed in the upstream and downstream walls in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed, the object to be processed is carried in from the opening on the upstream side, carried out from the opening on the downstream side, and the surface treatment is performed inside. A processing tank in which the processing space to be performed is separated from the upstream opening to the downstream side in the transport direction and from the downstream opening to the upstream side in the transport direction ; and
Including a supply nozzle facing the inside of the processing tank, wherein the supply nozzle defines the processing space with the object to be processed carried into the processing tank, and processing from the supply nozzle to the processing space A supply system for supplying gas;
Downstream of the conveying direction from the opening of the upstream side in the treatment tank, and wherein the downstream outlet that is disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction than the opening of the gas discharged from the inside of the processing bath The exhaust flow rate is higher than the processing gas supply flow rate of the supply system;
The upstream and downstream openings are defined by a pair of rectifying plates facing each other at an opposing distance in an opposing direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and the upstream and downstream openings are transported surface treatment depth along the direction state, and are more than twice the opposing distance, each of said pair of flow plates, characterized that you have had a portion projecting into the interior of the processing vessel from the wall apparatus. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a depth of the upstream and downstream openings is six times or more of the facing distance.

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