JP5439310B2 - Coating method and coating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating method and a coating apparatus.

  In recent years, solar cells have attracted attention in various applications. In the manufacturing process of the solar cell substrate, there is a step of applying a diffusion material to the surface of the semiconductor substrate. Such a solar cell coating apparatus is required to be an inexpensive and high-speed tact apparatus.

  Conventionally, when manufacturing a semiconductor device such as an IC, a spin coater is known as a coating device that rotates a wafer and applies a resist to the surface by centrifugal force (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Therefore, it is conceivable to use the above-described spin coater as an apparatus for applying a diffusing material to a solar cell substrate.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-20935

  However, for example, when the spin coater is applied as it is to the application of the diffusing material, the processing time is required, so that the solar cell substrate cannot be manufactured at a low cost and there is a problem that the practicality is low.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a coating method and a coating apparatus that can reduce the tact time and can stably apply a liquid material onto a substrate at low cost. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a coating method according to the present invention is a coating method in which a liquid material is spread on the surface of the substrate by rotating a chuck portion that holds the substrate. On the other hand, a placing step for placing a substrate, a moving step for moving the chuck portion, on which the substrate is placed, from a substrate placing position to a rotating position for performing a rotating operation, and the chuck portion at the rotating position, A dropping step of dropping the liquid material onto the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion between the placing step and the moving step. .

  According to the coating method of the present invention, since the liquid material is dropped on the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion between the placing step and the moving step, the tact time in the coating step can be shortened.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable to perform in the state which rotated the said chuck | zipper part in the said dripping process.
According to this configuration, the liquid material can be spread on the surface of the substrate in advance, and tact reduction can be realized.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that the rotational speed of the said chuck | zipper part in the said dripping process is set lower than the rotational speed of the said chuck | zipper part in the said rotation process.
According to this configuration, the liquid material can be satisfactorily spread within a range that does not protrude from the substrate.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that the rotational speed of the said chuck | zipper part in the said dripping process is set to 50 rpm or less.
According to this configuration, since the liquid material can be spread so as not to protrude from the substrate, it is possible to shorten the time of the rotation process in which the liquid material is shaken off.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that in the said rotation process, the said chuck | zipper part rotates within the scattering prevention cup which prevents scattering of the said liquid material.
According to this configuration, it is possible to reliably prevent the liquid material from scattering around during the rotation process.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that the rotation operation | movement of the said chuck | zipper part in the said rotation process is 4000 rpm or more, and is performed within 5 second.
According to this configuration, the liquid material can be reliably spread over the entire surface of the substrate.

In the coating apparatus, it is preferable that a nozzle for dropping the liquid material on the substrate is advanced and retracted with respect to the chuck portion.
According to this configuration, the configuration in which the nozzle advances and retreats with respect to the chuck portion is adopted, so that the nozzle does not hinder the process of carrying the substrate into the chuck portion.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that the advancing / retreating direction in the said nozzle is parallel to the carrying-in direction with respect to the said chuck | zipper part of the said board | substrate.
According to this configuration, the moving distance of the nozzle can be shortened, and the tact of the entire coating process can be shortened.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable to make the said nozzle face the said board | substrate simultaneously with the timing which mounts the said board | substrate in the said chuck | zipper part.
According to this configuration, since the nozzle faces the substrate simultaneously with the timing when the substrate is placed on the chuck portion, the waiting time when the nozzle moves to the chuck portion is eliminated.

Moreover, in the said coating apparatus, it is preferable to perform the back rinse process which wash | cleans the back surface of the said board | substrate in the said rotation process.
According to this structure, it can prevent that a liquid material wraps around to a back surface side by performing a back rinse process simultaneously at the time of a rotation process. Therefore, tact reduction can be achieved compared with the case where back rinse is separately performed after the rotation process.

In the coating apparatus, it is preferable to use a material having a viscosity of 20 cp or more as the liquid material.
According to this configuration, since the liquid material having a viscosity of 20 cp or more is used, it is possible to prevent the liquid material from flowing around to the back surface side of the substrate in the rotation process. Therefore, the back rinse treatment for cleaning the back surface of the substrate can be omitted, and the tact time can be shortened.

Moreover, in the said coating device, it is preferable that the said board | substrate is a board | substrate for solar cells.
If this invention is employ | adopted, since a diffusion material can be apply | coated to a solar cell substrate using a spin coat, for example, the solar cell substrate can be provided at low cost.

  The coating apparatus of the present invention is a coating apparatus that spreads a liquid material on the surface of the substrate by rotating the substrate, and is capable of rotating while holding the substrate with a nozzle for dropping the liquid material on the substrate. A chuck unit that moves up and down between a substrate mounting position on which the substrate is mounted and a rotation position that performs the rotation; and a timing before the chuck unit starts moving to the rotation position. And a control unit that controls the nozzle so that the liquid material is dropped onto the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion at the placement position.

  According to the coating apparatus of the present invention, the liquid material is dropped onto the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion at a timing before the chuck portion starts to move to the rotation position. A device capable of applying a stable liquid material can be provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a coating method and a coating apparatus that can reduce tact time and that can stably and inexpensively apply a liquid material onto a substrate.

(A), (b) is the top view and sectional drawing which show the structure of a substrate processing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a substrate processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of a coating device. It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of a nozzle part. It is a figure which shows the flowchart which shows the application | coating process of the diffusion material by a coating device. It is a figure for demonstrating the coating process in a coating device.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus including the coating apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 100. The substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment is for performing the process which apply | coats and dries the diffusion material for diffusing an impurity to the board | substrate for solar cells which comprises a solar cell, and a substrate coating apparatus is a board | substrate for solar cells ( Hereinafter, it is used to apply a diffusing material to a substrate).

  Hereinafter, in describing the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 100, directions in the drawing will be described using an XYZ coordinate system for the sake of simplicity of notation. The longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus 100 and the transport direction of the substrate are denoted as the X direction. A direction orthogonal to the X direction (substrate transport direction) in plan view is referred to as a Y direction. A direction perpendicular to the plane including the X direction axis and the Y direction axis is referred to as a Z direction. In each of the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction, the arrow direction in the figure is the + direction, and the direction opposite to the arrow direction is the-direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a substrate processing apparatus 100 is provided on a carry-in unit 1 for carrying in a substrate W as an object to be processed, and on the downstream side (+ X direction) of the carry-in unit 1. Coating apparatus 10, drying apparatus 3 provided on the downstream side (+ X direction) of coating apparatus 10, first transport apparatus 6 that transports substrate W from loading unit 1 to drying apparatus 3, and drying apparatus 3, a second transfer device 7 that transfers the substrate W.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a control unit 9 that controls driving of the carry-in unit 1, the coating device 10, the drying device 3, the first transport device 6, and the second transport device 7. Yes.

  The drying device 3 includes three hot plates 3a, 3b, and 3c arranged in order toward the downstream side (+ X direction). Each of the hot plates 3a, 3b, 3c is divided into three in a direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the substrate transport direction, and a gap 51 is formed between the hot plates 3a, 3b, 3c.

  The second transfer device 7 includes a thin plate-like substrate support member 52 capable of moving back and forth between the back surface side and the front surface of the hot plates 3a, 3b, 3c through the gap 51, and the substrate support member 52 in the X direction. And a cylinder unit 54 that moves the substrate support member 52 along the X direction along the guide rod 53. The drying device 3 is electrically connected to the control unit 9, and the drive of each hot plate 3 a, 3 b, 3 c is controlled by the control unit 9.

  The coating apparatus 10 accommodates a chuck unit 20 that holds a substrate W, a nozzle unit 21 that drops a diffusion material (liquid material) onto the substrate W held on the chuck unit 20, and a rotating chuck unit 20. And a cup part (scattering prevention cup) 22. The coating apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is a so-called spin coater. The coating apparatus 10 is electrically connected to the control unit 9, and the operation of the chuck unit 20 is controlled by the control unit 9.

  The first transfer device 6 includes a rail 60 provided along one end (−Y direction) side of the substrate processing apparatus 100, a plurality of moving bodies 61 that move along the rail 60, and the moving bodies 61. And a plurality of substrate support members 62 that can move up and down (in the + Z direction) and support the substrate W. The substrate support member 62 is provided with a plurality of support claws 63 for supporting the substrate W. The first transfer device 6 is electrically connected to the control unit 9, and the driving of the moving body 61 and the substrate support member 62 is controlled by the control unit 9.

  The first transport device 6 can drive a plurality of moving bodies 61 independently. These moving bodies 61 are provided at positions where they do not interfere with each other when moving along the rails 60. Accordingly, in the first transport device 6, for example, the substrate support member 62 provided on one moving body 61 carries out the substrate W after the application of the diffusion material 200 from the coating device 10 and carries it into the drying device 3. Simultaneously with the timing, the substrate support member 62 provided on the other moving body 61 can carry in another substrate W from the carry-in unit 1 into the coating apparatus 10. Thereby, the substrate processing apparatus 100 shortens the tact required for the coating process and the drying process of the diffusion material 200 on the substrate W.

  The second transport device 7 is electrically connected to the control unit 9, and the driving of the cylinder unit 54 is controlled by the control unit 9. The second transfer device 7 performs the extending operation in the Z direction by the cylinder unit 54 to lift the substrate W on the hot plate 3a by causing the upper end of the substrate support member 52 to protrude from the gap 51. In this state, the guide rod 53, the substrate support member 52 is moved downstream along with the cylinder unit 54, the cylinder unit 54 is then compressed, and the upper end of the substrate support member 52 is lowered from the upper surface of the hot plate 3a. Transfer to hot plate 3b. By repeating such an operation, the substrate W is sequentially transferred to the downstream hot plate 3c.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of the coating apparatus 10. The chuck portion 20 is rotatable while holding the substrate W by suction, and can be raised and lowered with respect to the cup portion 22 as shown in FIG. Specifically, the chuck unit 20 can be moved up and down between a placement position (substrate placement position) on which the substrate W is placed and a rotation position (rotation position) in which the rotation operation is performed in the cup unit 22.

  The cup portion 22 is for preventing scattering of the diffusing material dropped on the substrate W and includes a back surface cleaning nozzle 22 a for cleaning the back surface side of the substrate W. A cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) is connected to the back surface cleaning nozzle 22a. The cleaning liquid supply source pressurizes the cleaning liquid from the back surface cleaning nozzle 22a.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the nozzle portion 21.
As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle unit 21 includes a nozzle 23 in which an opening 23 a for dropping the diffusion material is formed, and a storage unit 24 that stores the nozzle 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the accommodating part 24 has a cover part 24a provided integrally with the nozzle 23, and a main body part 24b that forms a sealed space for accommodating the nozzle 23 together with the cover part 24a. Thus, the accommodating part 24 can prevent the opening part 23a from drying by accommodating the nozzle 23 in a sealed state. The lid portion 24 a moves together with the nozzle 23, and the main body portion 24 b does not move from the standby position of the nozzle portion 21.

  The nozzle 23 is provided with a moving mechanism 25, and the nozzle 23 can be moved back and forth with respect to the chuck portion 20 by the moving mechanism 25. Thereby, the nozzle 23 can advance and retreat in parallel with the carrying-in direction (X direction) of the substrate W with respect to the chuck portion 20. Thereby, the moving distance of the nozzle 23 can be reduced, and the tact of the whole coating process can be shortened.

  In addition, a flow passage (not shown) for allowing the diffusion material 200 to flow through the opening 23a is provided inside the nozzle 23, and a diffusion material supply source (not shown) is connected to the flow passage. The diffusion material supply source includes, for example, a pump (not shown), and the diffusion material is dropped from the opening 23a by pushing the diffusion material to the opening 23a with the pump.

Here, the diffusion material dropped from the nozzle 23 onto the substrate W will be described.
Impurity elements added to the diffusion material 200 used in the present embodiment include boron, gallium, etc. as group 13 elements, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, etc. as group 15 elements, and zinc, copper, etc. as other elements. Is mentioned. The impurity element can be added to the film-forming composition in the form of an inorganic salt such as an oxide, halide, nitrate or sulfate, or a salt of an organic acid such as acetic acid. Specifically, P ₂ O ₅ , NH ₄ H ₂ · PO ₄ , (RO) ₃ P, (RO) ₂ P (OH), (RO) ₃ PO, (RO) ₂ P ₂ O ₃ (OH) ₃ , phosphorus compounds such as (RO) P (OH) ₂ , boron compounds such as B ₂ O ₃ , (RO) ₃ B, RB (OH) ₂ , R ₂ B (OH), H ₃ SbO ₄ , (RO ) Antimony compounds such as ₃ Sb, SbX ₃ , SbOX, Sb ₄ O ₅ X, H ₃ AsO ₃ , H ₂ AsO ₄ , (RO) ₃ As, (RO) ₅ As, (RO) ₂ As (OH), Arsenic compounds such as R ₃ AsO, RAs = AsR, zinc compounds such as Zn (OR) ₂ , ZnX ₂ , Zn (NO ₂ ) ₂ , (RO) ₃ Ga, RGa (OH), RGa (OH) ₂ , R ₂ Ga _{[OC (CH 3) = CH-} CO- (CH 3) ] gallium of such (Wherein R represents a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group or an aryl group, and X represents a halogen atom). Among these compounds, boron oxide, phosphorus oxide and the like can be preferably used.

The diffusion material 200 according to this embodiment is an alkoxysilane represented by R ¹ _n Si (OR ² ) _4-n in order to form an insulating film, a planarizing film, or a protective film on the substrate simultaneously with diffusion. Hydrolysis / condensation polymerization products starting from at least one of them may also be included. (In the formula, R ¹ is a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group, R ² is a monovalent organic group, and n represents an integer of 1 to ^3. )

  Here, examples of the monovalent organic group include an alkyl group, an aryl group, an allyl group, and a glycidyl group. In these, an alkyl group and an aryl group are preferable. As for carbon number of an alkyl group, 1-5 are preferable, for example, a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group, a butyl group etc. can be mentioned. The alkyl group may be linear or branched, and hydrogen may be substituted with fluorine. As the aryl group, those having 6 to 20 carbon atoms are preferable, and examples thereof include a phenyl group and a naphthyl group.

  (I) When n = 1, monomethyltrimethoxysilane, monomethyltriethoxysilane, monomethyltripropoxysilane, monoethyltrimethoxysilane, monoethyltriethoxysilane, monoethyltripropoxysilane, monopropyltrimethoxysilane, and mono Monoalkyltrialkoxysilanes such as propyltriethoxysilane, monophenyltrialkoxysilanes, and monophenyltrialkoxysilanes such as monophenyltriethoxysilane.

  (Ii) When n = 2, dialkylalkoxy such as dimethyldimethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane, dimethyldipropoxysilane, diethyldimethoxysilane, diethyldiethoxysilane, diethylpropoxysilane, dipropylmethoxysilane, and dipropylethoxysilane Diphenylalkoxysilanes such as silane, diphenylmethoxysilane, and diphenylethoxysilane.

  (Iii) when n = 3, trialkylalkoxysilanes such as trimethylmethoxysilane, trimethylethoxysilane, trimethylpropoxysilane, triethylmethoxysilane, triethylethoxysilane, triethylpropoxysilane, tripropylmethoxysilane, and tripropylethoxysilane; Triphenylalkoxysilane such as triphenylmethoxysilane and triphenylethoxysilane.

  Among these, monomethyltrialkoxysilane such as monomethyltrimethoxysilane, monomethyltriethoxysilane, and monomethyltripropoxysilane can be preferably used.

  The diffusion material 200 according to the present embodiment preferably contains a solvent in order to improve the film thickness, the uniformity of the coating components, and the coating properties. In this case, a conventionally used organic solvent can be used as the solvent. Specifically, monohydric alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, 3-methoxy-3-methyl-1-butanol, and 3-methoxy-1-butanol; methyl-3-methoxypropionate, and ethyl Alkyl carboxylic acid esters such as -3-ethoxypropionate; polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and propylene glycol; ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol monopropyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, Propylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monoethyl ether, propylene glycol monopropyl ether, propylene glycol monobutyl ether, Polyhydric alcohol derivatives such as lenglycol monomethyl ether acetate, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate, and propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate; fatty acids such as acetic acid and propionic acid; and ketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and 2-heptanone Can do. These organic solvents may be used alone or in combination.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 will be described. Since the present invention has a feature in the method of applying the diffusion material 200, the process of applying the diffusion material onto the semiconductor substrate W by the application apparatus 10 will be mainly described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a diffusion material application process performed by the application apparatus 10.
The diffusion material coating process in the coating apparatus 10 includes a mounting process S1 for mounting the substrate W on the chuck unit 20 at the substrate mounting position, and the chuck unit 20 on which the substrate W is mounted from the substrate mounting position. It includes a moving step S3 that moves to a rotational position that performs a rotating operation in the cup portion 22, and a rotating step S4 that the chuck portion 20 rotates in the rotational position. Further, between the placing step S1 and the moving step S3 A dropping step S <b> 2 for dropping a diffusion material on the surface of the substrate W placed on the chuck unit 20 is provided.

Hereinafter, the coating process will be described with reference to FIG.
First, as shown to Fig.6 (a), the substrate processing apparatus 100 delivers the board | substrate W carried in the carrying-in part 1 to the coating device 10 by the 1st conveyance apparatus 6 (mounting process S1). At this time, the chuck unit 20 is raised to the placement position on which the substrate W transported by the substrate support member 62 is placed. At this time, the substrate processing apparatus 100 carries in another substrate W into the carry-in unit 1 in preparation for the next coating process.

  In the present embodiment, the nozzle portion 21 is made to face the substrate W simultaneously with the timing at which the substrate W is placed on the chuck portion 20. Thus, since the nozzle part 21 faces the substrate W simultaneously with the timing when the substrate W is placed on the chuck part 20, the waiting time when the nozzle part 21 moves to the chuck part 20 is eliminated.

  When the substrate W is placed, the control unit 9 drives the chuck unit 20 to suck and hold the substrate W, and the opening of the nozzle 23 with respect to the substrate W placed on the chuck unit 20 is controlled. The diffusion material 200 is dropped (dropping step S2).

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6B, the control unit 9 controls the chuck unit 20 to rotate when the diffusion material 200 is dropped from the nozzle 23. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the control unit 9 rotates the chuck unit 20 at 50 rpm or less. Thereby, the diffusing material 200 can be expanded to a range that does not protrude from the surface of the substrate W.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the control unit 9 lowers the chuck unit 20 while rotating it and moves it into the cup unit 22 (moving step S3). At this time, the control unit 9 retracts the nozzle 23 from the position facing the chuck unit 20 to the standby position. The nozzle 23 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 24 configured by the lid portion 24a and the main body portion 24b coming into contact with each other at the standby position (see FIG. 4).

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6D, the control unit 9 arranges the chuck unit 20 in the cup unit 22, and simultaneously rotates the rotation of the chuck unit 20 in the cup unit 22 at a rotation speed of 4000 rpm or more and within 5 seconds. (Rotating step S4). Thereby, the diffusion material 200 can be shaken off from the surface of the substrate W.

  For example, the chuck unit 20 accelerates within 1.0 seconds from a rotation speed of 50 rpm or less to a rotation speed of 4000 rpm or more, and within 0.5 seconds from a rotation speed of 4000 rpm or more to 0 rpm when the rotation operation is stopped. It is desirable to slow down. Thereby, the diffusion material 200 can be satisfactorily spread on the substrate W.

  In addition, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the moving step S3 is performed while gently accelerating from a rotation speed of 50 rpm or less to 4000 rpm so that the diffusion material 200 does not protrude from the substrate W. If it does in this way, transfer to transfer process S3 from rotation process S4 can be performed smoothly, and the tact of an application process can be shortened.

  In the present embodiment, a so-called back rinse process is performed in which alcohol is injected as a cleaning liquid from the back surface cleaning nozzle 22a onto the back surface of the substrate W simultaneously with the rotation of the chuck unit 20. The cleaning liquid is sprayed within 3 seconds from the start of rotation of the chuck portion 20. Examples of the alcohol as the cleaning liquid include alcohols having 1 to 5 carbon atoms such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, 3-methoxy-3-methyl-1-butanol, and 3-methoxy-1-butanol.

  Thereby, in the back surface of the substrate W, the cleaning liquid spreads to the outer peripheral end portion of the substrate W by the action of the centrifugal force, so that it is possible to prevent the diffusion material 200 from flowing around the back surface side of the substrate. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a process for cleaning the back surface of the substrate W after the rotation process. Therefore, the tact required for processing of the coating apparatus 10 can be shortened.

  After the end of the rotation process, the chuck unit 20 is lifted to retract from the cup unit 22. Subsequently, the control unit 9 drives the substrate support member 62 of the first transport device 6 to receive the substrate W from the chuck unit 20 and transport the substrate W into the drying device 3. Then, the diffusion material 200 on the substrate W is dried.

  In the present embodiment, after the substrate W coated with the diffusion material 200 is unloaded from the chuck unit 20, the control unit 9 delivers another substrate W from the loading unit 1 to the coating apparatus 10. At this time, the control unit 9 places the substrate W on the chuck unit 20 using the other substrate support member 62 of the first transfer device 6. Then, while the substrate W on which the diffusion material 200 has been applied is carried into the drying device 3, the diffusion material 200 is similarly applied to the substrate W in the coating device 10.

  Subsequently, the control unit 9 carries the substrate W into the drying device 3. In the drying apparatus 3, a single substrate W is subjected to a drying process at 150 ° C. for 10 seconds using hot plates 3 a, 3 b, 3 c. Based on such a configuration, the substrate processing apparatus 100 can carry the substrate W into the drying apparatus 3 every 10 seconds, and sequentially transfer the substrates W carried out from the coating apparatus 10 into the drying apparatus 3. By carrying it, the processing speed is greatly improved.

  Specifically, the substrate processing apparatus 100 first places the substrate W coated with the diffusing material 200 on the hot plate 3a positioned at the uppermost stream. The hot plate 3a dries the substrate W at 150 ° C. for 10 seconds. Thereafter, the controller 9 compresses the cylinder unit 54 and lowers the upper end of the substrate support member 52 from the upper surface of the hot plate 3a, thereby transferring the substrate W to the downstream hot plate 3b. The hot plate 3b dries the substrate W at 150 ° C. for 10 seconds. Thereafter, the control unit 9 compresses the cylinder unit 54 and lowers the upper end of the substrate support member 52 from the upper surface of the hot plate 3b, thereby transferring the substrate W dried by the hot plate 3b to the downstream hot plate 3c. The hot plate 3c dries the substrate W at 150 ° C. for 10 seconds. As a result, the substrate W can be dried at 150 ° C. for 30 seconds.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate W is moved from the hot plate 3a to the hot plate 3b, and the substrate support member 62 of the first transport device 6 places the substrate W unloaded from the coating device 10 on the hot plate 3a. One substrate W is moved from the hot plate 3 b to the hot plate 3 c and another substrate W is unloaded from the hot plate 3 c from the substrate processing apparatus 100.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the diffusion material 200 is dried by sequentially sending the substrates W between the hot plates 3a to 3c. Thereby, a diffusion film can be formed on the surface of the substrate W.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the coating device 10 places the substrate W on the chuck portion 20 between the placing step S1 and the moving step S3 in which the chuck portion 20 moves into the cup portion 22. Since the dropping step S <b> 2 for dropping the diffusion material 200 onto the substrate W from the nozzle 23 is performed, the tact time in the coating step for applying the diffusion material 200 to the substrate W can be reduced. Moreover, the thing of the structure similar to the conventional spin coater is employable as the coating device 10 by controlling the timing of dripping process S2. Therefore, the cost of the substrate processing apparatus 100 can be suppressed.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention, it can change suitably. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the cleaning liquid is supplied to the back surface of the substrate W simultaneously with the rotation of the chuck portion 20 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, by setting the viscosity of the diffusion material 200 dropped on the substrate W from the nozzle 23 to 20 cp or less, the diffusion material 200 dropped on the substrate W during rotation of the chuck portion 20 is prevented from flowing around the back surface of the substrate W. You may make it do. In this way, the diffusion material 200 has a low viscosity and does not wrap around the back side of the substrate when the substrate W is rotated, so that it is not necessary to spray the cleaning liquid.

W ... Substrate, S1 ... Placement step, S2 ... Dropping step, S3 ... Moving step, S4 ... Rotation step, 10 ... Coating device, 20 ... Chuck part, 22 ... Cup part (scattering prevention cup), 100 ... Substrate treatment Device, 200 ... diffusion material

Claims (13)

In the coating method of spreading the liquid material on the surface of the substrate by rotating the chuck portion that holds the substrate,
A placing step of placing a substrate on the chuck portion at the substrate placing position;
A moving step of moving the chuck portion on which the substrate is mounted from the substrate mounting position to a rotation position for performing a rotation operation;
A rotation step in which the chuck portion rotates at the rotation position,
A coating method comprising: a dropping step of dropping the liquid material onto the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion between the placing step and the moving step.   The coating method according to claim 1, wherein the dropping step is performed in a state where the chuck portion is rotated.   The coating method according to claim 2, wherein a rotation speed of the chuck portion in the dropping step is set lower than a rotation speed of the chuck portion in the rotation step.   The coating method according to claim 3, wherein a rotation speed of the chuck portion in the dropping step is set to 50 rpm or less.   5. The coating method according to claim 3, wherein, in the rotation step, the chuck portion rotates in a scattering prevention cup that prevents the liquid material from scattering.   The coating method according to claim 3, wherein the rotating operation of the chuck portion in the rotating step is performed at a rotational speed of 4000 rpm or more and within 5 seconds.   The coating method according to claim 1, wherein a nozzle for dropping the liquid material on the substrate is advanced and retracted with respect to the chuck portion.   The coating method according to claim 7, wherein a forward / backward direction of the nozzle is parallel to a loading direction of the substrate with respect to the chuck portion.   The coating method according to claim 7, wherein the nozzle is opposed to the substrate simultaneously with the timing of placing the substrate on the chuck portion.   In the said rotation process, the back rinse process which wash | cleans the back surface of the said board | substrate is performed, The coating method as described in any one of Claims 1-9 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The coating method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a material having a viscosity of 20 cp or more is used as the liquid material.   The said board | substrate is a board | substrate for solar cells, The coating method as described in any one of Claims 1-11 characterized by the above-mentioned. In a coating apparatus that spreads a liquid material on the surface of the substrate by rotating the substrate,
A nozzle for dropping the liquid material onto the substrate;
A chuck that is rotatable while holding the substrate, and that moves up and down between a substrate mounting position on which the substrate is mounted and a rotational position on which the rotation is performed;
The nozzle is controlled to drop the liquid material onto the surface of the substrate placed on the chuck portion at the substrate placement position at a timing before the chuck portion starts moving to the rotation position. And a control unit.

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