JP4633524B2 - Soft X-ray static eliminator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a soft X-ray neutralizing apparatus that neutralizes static electricity by irradiating, for example, a liquid crystal substrate or a large glass substrate charged with static electricity with soft X-rays.

  For example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal panel, there is a rubbing treatment process in which a glass substrate is rubbed with a buff to align the liquid crystal, and since the treatment substrate is large in size and insulative, the charging potential becomes very high. When the glass substrate is charged in this way, suspended particles adhere to it or electrostatic discharge occurs due to electrostatic force, leading to disconnection of the elements formed on the substrate, short circuit, lack of vision of image elements, etc., and lowering the yield. I will let you. Thus, in the field of liquid crystal panel manufacturing, a static eliminator is used to prevent the glass substrate from being charged.

  Various types of static eliminators are conventionally known, and among them, soft X-ray static eliminators that perform static erasure by irradiating with soft X-rays in the atmosphere or atmospheric pressure gas atmosphere are known. For example, Patent Document 1 previously disclosed by the present applicant shows a system for neutralizing an electronic device such as a semiconductor wafer with a soft X-ray neutralization apparatus in a handling chamber provided in a clean room.

JP 2001-44089 A

  In general, in a soft X-ray static eliminator that irradiates soft X-rays to neutralize charged objects, the temperature inside the apparatus rises to about 40 to 60 ° C. during use. Along with this, the air expanded inside the soft X-ray static eliminator leaked to the outside. Inside the equipment, there are many gaseous impurity generating members that affect the production of electronic devices such as silicon sealants, printed circuit boards, insulating resins, capacitors, resistors, coils, and other electrical parts. There was a risk that these gaseous impurities would adversely affect the manufacturing of electronic devices. In particular, most of the gaseous impurities that leak from the inside of the device are organic substances, and boiling points of 100 ° C or higher are generated. If these adhere to the surface of a semiconductor substrate (Si wafer) or liquid crystal substrate (glass substrate) during the manufacturing process. This may cause various problems such as film formation failure and contact resistance failure.

  Recently, so-called mini-environment has been developed to reduce the size of electronic device handling chambers, enclosures, SMIFs, etc., and when a soft X-ray static eliminator is installed in such a miniaturized space, it is generated from inside the device. The effects of the gaseous impurities that have been made are becoming ignorable.

  As countermeasures against such gaseous impurities, it is conceivable to place a chemical filter in the manufacturing equipment. However, such measures cannot completely eliminate the influence of contamination, and Cost increases due to use. In particular, with the recent improvement in performance of electronic devices, the emergence of means that can easily avoid the influence of such gaseous impurities is desired.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a means capable of discharging gaseous impurities generated in a soft X-ray static elimination apparatus without affecting an electronic device or the like.

  According to the present invention, a soft X-ray static eliminator for irradiating with soft X-rays, wherein a soft X-ray tube for irradiating soft X-rays is housed in a sealed casing, and an atmosphere in the sealed casing is desired. A soft X-ray static eliminator is provided, characterized in that a flexible tube to be discharged at the location is connected to a sealed casing.

  In this soft X-ray static eliminator, a suction pump may be attached to the tube. Further, various indications made on the outer surface of the sealed casing may be made by any one of baking painting, laser processing, and marking.

  According to the present invention, gaseous impurities generated in the sealed casing of the soft X-ray static eliminator can be discharged to a desired location through the flexible tube without leaking around the soft X-ray static eliminator. it can.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a processing unit 2 including a soft X-ray neutralizing device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The processing unit 2 is configured to remove electricity from the glass substrate 12 as an example of a charged body in the processing space 11 surrounded by the partition wall 10.

  The glass substrate 12 is supported substantially horizontally by the support member 13 at a substantially central height of the processing space 11. A fan filter unit 15 is mounted on the upper surface of the partition wall 10 surrounding the processing space 11. The fan filter unit 15 has a configuration in which a fan 16 and a filter 17 are vertically stacked, and supplies clean air downward in the processing space 11. The filter 17 is composed of, for example, a ULPA filter or a combination of a ULPA filter and a chemical filter.

  The lower surface of the partition wall 10 surrounding the processing space 11 is formed on a surface having air permeability such as grating, and after the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 15 passes through the processing space 11 downward. The down flow is formed in the processing space 11 by exhausting from the lower surface.

  In the processing space 11, the soft X-ray static eliminating devices 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention are arranged in pairs on both sides of the glass substrate 12 supported by the support member 13. The soft X-ray static eliminator 1 is connected to a wiring 21 for supplying power from the controller 20 and a tube 22 for exhausting the atmosphere in the soft X-ray static eliminator 1.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the soft X-ray static eliminator 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the soft X-ray static eliminator 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. This soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1 has a configuration in which a soft X-ray tube 25 that irradiates soft X-rays is housed in a sealed casing 26.

  In this embodiment, an extremely soft X-ray tube that irradiates an extremely soft X-ray having a wavelength of 0.5 to 20 angstroms is used as the soft X-ray tube 25. A wiring 21 is connected to the soft X-ray tube 25, and power is supplied from the controller 20 through the wiring 21, so that the soft X-ray tube 25 emits soft X-rays (extremely soft X-rays). ing.

  A beryllium transmission window 27 that transmits soft X-rays is provided on the front surface of the soft X-ray static elimination device 1 (front surface of the sealed casing 26). The pair of soft X-ray static elimination devices 1 shown in FIG. Also, the transmission window 27 is disposed in a posture facing the inner glass substrate 12. The soft X-rays irradiated from the soft X-ray tube 25 inside the hermetic casing 26 pass through the transmission window 27 and are irradiated toward the glass substrate 12 so that static electricity on the glass substrate 12 is eliminated. Yes.

  The above-described tube 22 has a hollow structure with both ends opened, and air can be circulated therein. The distal end of the tube 22 is closely connected to an opening 28 formed on the rear surface of the sealed casing 26 (the surface opposite to the surface having the transmission window 27 serving as a lamp head) via a tube joint or the like. For example, the tube 22 is connected by a method such as bringing the tip of the tube 22 into close contact with the opening 28 or covering the opening 28 with the tip of the tube 22. The opening 28 is formed as close as possible to the soft X-ray tube 25 that is a heat generation source. The sealed casing 26 is a sealed structure that is jointed with a sealant or the like except for the opening 28. For this reason, the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 is discharged to the outside only through the inside of the tube 22 from the opening 28. In other words, the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 is not discharged from the portion other than the open end portion 22 ′ of the tube 22. In this case, by forming the opening 28 as close as possible to the soft X-ray tube 25, the thermal atmosphere generated by the soft X-ray tube 25 can be quickly discharged to the outside. In addition, as an example of a sealing material that seals the inside of the hermetic casing 26, Hamatite YG-61R (trade name) with a small degassing amount can be used. However, as long as the degassing amount is small, the product is not specified.

  The tube 22 is made of a flexible material, and the open end portion 22 ′ of the tube 22 can be disposed at a desired location by being arbitrarily deformed. The tube 22 is made of, for example, a fluorine resin such as Teflon (registered trademark). The length of the tube 22 is determined by moving the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 to a desired location and discharging the atmosphere in the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1 (the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26) to the desired location. It is set to a length sufficient to

  On the outer surface of the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1 (the outer surface of the sealed casing 26), various displays 30 such as a product name, a product number, a serial number, a cautionary note, an instruction for use, and various other information are made. These various displays 30 are made by any one of baking painting, laser processing, and marking. Baking coating is a coating method in which a coating film coated with a printing paint by silk printing or the like is dried at a high temperature of about 100 to 200 ° C. Laser processing is a method of performing printing processing on the outer surface of the sealed casing 26 using a laser. The scribing is a method of drawing a line on the outer surface of the sealed casing 26 using a Toscan or other instrument, and may be either machine processing or handwriting.

  In the processing unit 2 shown in FIG. 1, soft X-rays are irradiated toward the glass substrate 12 from the soft X-ray neutralization apparatus 1 disposed on both sides of the glass substrate 12, and the electric molecules are ionized to cause the glass substrate. 12 static electricity is removed. Soft X-rays are in the X-ray region with a low transmission ability so that they are easily absorbed by a thin air layer, and their wavelengths are generally several angstroms to several hundreds angstroms. Such soft X-rays have a low transmission ability, a high photon absorption rate of gas molecules, and a property of easily ionizing gas molecules. In addition, neutral oxygen atoms (radicals) are hardly generated in the ionization process, and ozone is not generated. As in this embodiment, generation of ozone can be more reliably suppressed by using extremely soft X-rays having a wavelength of 0.5 to 20 angstroms.

  On the other hand, the soft X-ray neutralization apparatus 1 that performs soft X-ray irradiation in this way is, for example, a product A × V of an electron acceleration voltage V and an electron current A, heater heat generation for generating electrons, The temperature inside the sealed casing 26 rises to about 40 to 60 ° C. due to loss of a transformer or the like. Along with this, gaseous impurities are generated from the resin or the like disposed inside the sealed casing 26, which expands to increase the pressure inside the sealed casing 26. The internal atmosphere of the hermetic casing 26 having a high pressure in this manner is discharged from the open end portion 22 ′ through the tube 22 from the opening portion 28.

  Therefore, when this soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1 is used, the open end portion 22 ′ of the tube 22 is arranged at a place where there is no influence on the glass substrate 12, and the internal atmosphere of the sealed housing 26 is applied to the glass substrate 12. By discharging at a place where there is no influence, the influence of the gaseous impurities generated in the sealed casing 26 on the glass substrate 12 is avoided. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 1, if the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 is arranged below the glass substrate 12 in the processing space 11, the sealed housing that protrudes from the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 will be described. The atmosphere in the body 26 rides on the downflow formed in the processing space 11 and is directly discharged from the lower surface of the partition wall 10 to the outside of the processing space 11 without touching the glass substrate 12. As a result, it is possible to avoid adverse effects of gaseous impurities generated in the sealed casing 26 on the glass substrate 12. When air containing the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 discharged from the lower surface of the partition wall 10 to the outside of the processing space 11 is supplied from the fan filter unit 15 to the processing space 11 again, the fan filter unit 15 The filter 17 is preferably a combination of a ULPA filter and a chemical filter.

  As described above, by connecting the tube 22 for discharging the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26, an atmosphere including a gaseous atmosphere generated in the sealed casing 26 with a rise in temperature due to the soft X-ray irradiation can be obtained. It can be discharged to a position, and it can be discharged to a place where there is no influence on the charged body such as the glass substrate 12 to be neutralized. Further, the temperature rise can be suppressed by releasing the heat in the sealed casing 26 to the outside. For this reason, it becomes possible to provide an environment suitable for manufacturing electronic devices and the like that do not contaminate the charged body. Note that the length of the tube 22 is such that the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 is moved to a desired location, and the atmosphere in the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1 (the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26) is a charge removal target. What is necessary is just to set to length sufficient to exhaust to the location which does not affect the glass substrate 12 grade | etc.,.

  Further, in this soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 1, since various indications 30 formed on the outer surface of the hermetic casing 26 are made by any one of baking coating, laser processing, and scribing, the gaseous impurities are removed from these various indications 30. Is not substantially generated, and there is no concern that the various displays 30 may adversely affect the glass substrate 12 or the like that is the object of charge removal.

  Next, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a processing unit 2 'provided with a soft X-ray neutralizing apparatus 1' according to another embodiment of the present invention. Also in this embodiment, the glass substrate 12 as a charged body is supported substantially horizontally by the support member 13 in the processing space 11. However, in this embodiment, in the soft X-ray static eliminator 1 ′ arranged on the side of the glass substrate 12, the suction pump 35 is attached to the flexible tube 22 connected to the sealed casing 26. Is different. In this embodiment, the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 is disposed outside the processing space 11 at a position facing the suction opening 36 ′ of the exhaust duct 36. The other points are the same as those in the embodiment described above with reference to FIG.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 can be forcibly exhausted by the operation of the suction pump 35 attached to the tube 22. As a result, the atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 containing gaseous impurities can be more reliably prevented from leaking into the processing space 11. The atmosphere in the sealed casing 26 exhausted from the open end 22 ′ of the tube 22 by the operation of the suction pump 35 is then exhausted through the exhaust duct 36.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was illustrated, this invention is not limited to the form demonstrated here. For example, the soft X-ray neutralization apparatus is not limited to the one that irradiates ultra-soft X-rays having a wavelength of 0.5 to 20 angstroms, but may be one that irradiates soft X-rays having a wavelength of about several hundred angstroms. The soft X-ray neutralization apparatus of the present invention can be used for neutralization of various charged bodies such as a semiconductor wafer and other electronic devices in addition to a glass substrate.

  The present invention can be applied to a soft X-ray static eliminator that neutralizes an electronic device or the like.

It is explanatory drawing of the processing unit provided with the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the processing unit provided with the soft X-ray static elimination apparatus concerning another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Soft X-ray static elimination apparatus 2 Processing unit 10 Partition wall 11 Processing space 12 Glass substrate 13 Support member 15 Fan filter unit 16 Fan 17 Filter 20 Controller 21 Wiring 22 Tube 22 'Open end 25 Soft X-ray tube 26 Sealed housing 27 Transmission window 28 Opening 30 Various displays 35 Suction pump 36 Exhaust duct

Claims (3)

A soft X-ray static eliminator that performs static elimination by irradiating soft X-rays,
A soft X-ray tube that irradiates soft X-rays is housed in a sealed casing, and a flexible tube that discharges the atmosphere in the sealed casing to a desired location is connected to the sealed casing. Wire static eliminator. The soft X-ray static eliminator according to claim 1, wherein a suction pump is attached to the tube. The soft X-ray static eliminator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein various indications made on an outer surface of the sealed casing are made by any one of baking painting, laser processing, and marking.

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