JP6725374B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method in which a processing liquid for processing a substrate is sent from a pump to a nozzle and discharged from the nozzle onto the substrate. The above-mentioned substrates include semiconductor substrates, photomask substrates, liquid crystal display substrates, organic EL display substrates, plasma display substrates, FED (Field Emission Display) substrates, optical disc substrates, magnetic disc substrates, and optical substrates. A magnetic disk substrate and the like are included.

In the manufacturing process of electronic components such as semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices, a substrate processing apparatus that discharges a processing liquid onto the surface of the substrate and processes the substrate with the processing liquid is used. For example, the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 sends a processing liquid to a slit nozzle by a pump while transporting the substrate in a state where a gas is blown to the back surface of the substrate to float the substrate, and a discharge port of the slit nozzle. To the surface of the substrate to apply the treatment liquid to almost the entire substrate. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 is a substrate processing apparatus that sucks and holds a substrate on a stage while discharging the processing liquid sent from a pump toward the surface of the substrate from a discharge port of a slit nozzle. The processing liquid is applied to almost the entire substrate by moving the substrate relative to the substrate. As described above, the apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 execute the coating process as the substrate process.

JP, 2010-227850, A JP, 2005-66482, A

By the way, in these substrate processing apparatuses, when the coating process for one substrate is completed, various preparatory operations are executed before starting the coating process for the next substrate. For example, so-called suck back treatment may be performed in order to prevent the coating liquid from leaking from the ejection port of the nozzle. In this case, air bubbles may be trapped near the ejection port of the nozzle. Therefore, a bubble removing operation of sending a treatment liquid from a pump to remove bubbles from a discharge port of a nozzle may be performed as one of the above-mentioned preparatory operations.

In addition, a maintenance unit having a nozzle cleaning standby unit and the like is provided, and the discharge port of the slit nozzle is cleaned after the coating process is performed. Further, the following preliminary ejection operation is executed in the maintenance section. That is, when a certain amount of processing liquid is discharged from the discharge port with the slit nozzle being close to the outer peripheral surface of the roller, a pool of the processing liquid is formed at the discharge port. When the liquid pool is uniformly formed at the ejection port in this way, it becomes possible to perform the coating process on the next substrate with high accuracy. Therefore, in the above substrate processing apparatus, before the coating process, the pump is filled with the processing liquid to reach the filled state, and then the pump pumps a fixed amount of the processing liquid to the slit nozzle to initialize the discharge port. A so-called preliminary ejection operation of changing to a certain state may be performed as the preparatory operation.

However, in the prior art, the relationship between the above-described preparatory operation and the filling operation of the pump has not been sufficiently examined, and there is room for shortening the time required for the coating process for one substrate, that is, the so-called tact time. Was there. For example, since the preliminary discharge operation is performed after the pump is in the filled state, the takt time becomes long, and it has been desired to provide a technique for shortening the takt time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and while moving the nozzle, which has undergone maintenance in the maintenance section, relative to the substrate at the discharge position, the processing liquid is discharged from the pump in a filled state filled with the processing liquid. It is an object of the present invention to shorten the tact time in a substrate processing technique in which the liquid is sent to the substrate and the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle onto the substrate.

One aspect of the present invention, while moving the nozzle subjected to maintenance in the maintenance unit relative to the substrate at the discharge position, the processing liquid is sent to the nozzle from a pump in a filled state filled with the processing liquid, A substrate processing apparatus that discharges a processing liquid from a nozzle onto a substrate, wherein a replenishing unit that replenishes the processing liquid into a pump, a moving unit that relatively moves the nozzle to a maintenance unit and a discharging position, and a moving unit that discharges the processing liquid from the discharging position. And a control unit that performs a preparatory operation for discharging the processing liquid to the next substrate by sending the processing liquid from the pump toward the nozzle while moving the nozzle to the discharging position via the maintenance unit. The controller replenishes the pump with a first replenishing operation that replenishes the pump with the first amount of processing liquid before the preparatory operation, and replenishes the pump with the second amount of processing liquid after the preparatory operation. The second replenishing operation is performed by the replenishing unit, and the first amount is an amount larger than the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparatory operation and smaller than the amount of the processing liquid discharged onto the substrate. It is characterized by that.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, while moving the nozzle relative to the substrate at the ejection position, the processing liquid is sent to the nozzle from a filling pump filled with the processing liquid, and the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle. A method of processing a substrate to be discharged onto a substrate, wherein the pump sends the processing liquid toward the nozzle while the nozzle is moved from the discharging position to the discharging position via the maintenance section to the next substrate. A preparatory step of performing a preparatory operation for ejecting the liquid, and before the preparatory step, an amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparatory operation is larger than the amount of the processing liquid ejected onto the substrate; A first replenishing step of replenishing the pump with a predetermined amount of treatment liquid; and a second replenishing step of replenishing the pump with a second amount of treatment liquid to restore the pump to a filled state after the preparation step. I am trying.

In the invention thus configured, the preliminary discharge is executed when the first amount of the processing liquid is replenished in the pump. That is, the preliminary discharge is executed without waiting for the pump to recover to the filled state, and the preliminary discharge is executed earlier than the conventional technique in which the preliminary discharge is performed after waiting for the pump to be in the filled state. Then, after the preliminary discharge, the second amount of the processing liquid is replenished in the pump, the pump returns to the filling state, and the preparation for discharging the processing liquid to the next substrate is completed.

As described above, according to the present invention, after the pump is replenished with the first amount of the processing liquid that is larger than the amount of the processing liquid consumed in the preliminary discharge operation and smaller than the amount of the processing liquid discharged onto the substrate. The preliminary discharge is performed in the above step, that is, the preliminary discharge is performed without waiting for the pump to be in the filling state. As a result, the tact time can be shortened.

It is a figure which shows the coating device which is 1st Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is the top view which removed the coating mechanism from FIG. 1A. It is a block diagram which shows the control mechanism which controls the coating device shown in FIG. 1A. It is a top view of a levitation mechanism. It is a side view which shows typically the relationship between a floating mechanism and a coating mechanism. It is a side view of the coating device shown in FIG. 1A. It is a figure which shows operation|movement (embodiment) of the coating device shown in FIG. 1A, and a comparative example. It is a figure which shows operation|movement of each part of an apparatus typically. It is a figure which shows operation|movement of the coating device which is 2nd Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows operation|movement of the coating device which is 3rd Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows operation|movement of the coating device which is 4th Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention.

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a coating apparatus which is a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, and is a plan view seen from vertically above, and FIG. 1B is a plan view showing a coating mechanism removed from FIG. 1A. Is. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism for controlling the coating device shown in FIG. 1A. Note that in FIGS. 1A and 1B and in each of the drawings to be described later, in order to clarify the positional relationship of each part of the apparatus, the transport direction of the substrate W is set to the “X direction”, and the left-hand side to the right-hand side in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The horizontal direction toward the side is referred to as "+X direction", and the opposite direction is referred to as "-X direction". Further, in the horizontal direction Y orthogonal to the X direction, the front side of the device is referred to as "-Y direction" and the back side of the device is referred to as "+Y direction". Further, the upward direction and the downward direction in the vertical direction Z are referred to as "+Z direction" and "-Z direction", respectively.

The coating apparatus 1 is a slit coater that receives the rectangular substrate W in a horizontal posture conveyed from the roller conveyor 100 and coats the coating liquid on the front surface Wf of the substrate W. In this coating apparatus 1, a transfer mechanism 2 is provided adjacent to the roller conveyor 100. The transfer mechanism 2 receives the substrate W from the roller conveyor 100 and transfers it onto the levitation mechanism 3.

The levitation mechanism 3 has three levitation units 3A to 3C. These floating units 3A to 3C are arranged in the transport direction X of the substrate W, as shown in FIG. 1B. More specifically, the upstream levitation unit 3A is arranged adjacent to the transfer mechanism 2 on the most upstream side, that is, the (−X) direction side, and the downstream levitation unit 3C is arranged on the most downstream side, that is, the (+X) direction side. ing. Further, the central floating unit 3B is arranged between the upstream floating unit 3A and the downstream floating unit 3C.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the levitation mechanism, and FIG. 3B is a side view schematically showing the relationship between the levitation mechanism and the coating mechanism. In addition, in these drawings, all of the central levitation unit 3B and a part of the upstream levitation unit 3A and the downstream levitation unit 3C are schematically shown.

Both the upstream levitation unit 3A and the downstream levitation unit 3C are formed with a large number of air ejection holes 31 dispersed in a matrix over the entire surface of a single plate-shaped stage surface 32. Then, the compressed air is applied to each of the ejection holes 31, so that the substrate W is levitated by the gas pressure generated by the ejection of the compressed air from each of the ejection holes 31. As a result, in the upstream levitation unit 3A and the downstream levitation unit 3C, the substrate W floats above the stage surface 32 by a predetermined levitation height, for example, 10 to 500 micrometers. In addition, in order to supply the compressed air to each ejection hole 31, for example, the configuration described in Patent Document 1 can be used.

Although not shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the downstream levitation unit 3C has a plurality of lift pins and lift pin lifting mechanisms other than the ejection holes 31. The plurality of lift pins are provided so as to face the entire back surface Wb of the substrate W at predetermined intervals by sewing the gaps between the ejection holes 31. Then, the lift pins are vertically moved (Z axis direction) by a lift pin lifting mechanism installed below the stage surface 32. That is, the tip of the lift pin descends to the (-Z) direction side of the stage surface 32 of the downstream levitation unit 3C when descending, and the tip of the lift pin transfers the substrate W to the transfer robot (not shown) when ascending. Rise to. Since the lower surface of the substrate W is supported and lifted by the lift pins thus lifted, the substrate W moves up from the stage surface 32 of the downstream floating unit 3C. As a result, the transfer robot can unload the substrate W from the coating apparatus 1.

On the other hand, the central levitation unit 3B is configured as follows and has higher levitation accuracy than the upstream levitation unit 3A and the downstream levitation unit 3C. That is, the central levitation unit 3B has a rectangular plate-shaped stage surface 33. The stage surface 33 is provided with a plurality of holes dispersed in a matrix at a pitch narrower than that of the ejection holes 31 provided in the upstream floating unit 3A and the downstream floating unit 3C. Further, unlike the upstream levitation unit 3A and the downstream levitation unit 3C, in the central levitation unit 3B, half of the holes function as compressed air ejection holes 34a, and the other half function as suction holes 34b. That is, the compressed air is ejected from the ejection holes 34a toward the back surface Wb of the substrate W to send the compressed air into the space SP (FIG. 3B) between the stage surface 33 and the back surface Wb of the substrate W. On the other hand, the air is sucked from the space SP via the suction holes 34b. As the air is jetted and sucked into the space SP in this way, the air flow of the compressed air jetted from the jet holes 34a in the space SP spreads in the horizontal direction and then the jet hole 34a. Will be sucked from the suction hole 34b adjacent to the space SP, and the pressure balance in the air layer (pressure gas layer) spreading in the space SP will be more stable, and the flying height of the substrate W will be highly accurate and stable. Can be controlled. In addition, in order to supply the compressed air to the ejection holes 34a and suck the air from the suction holes 34b, for example, the configuration described in Patent Document 1 can be used.

The coating apparatus 1 is provided with a transport mechanism 4 for intermittently transporting the substrate W floated by the upstream levitation unit 3A in the transport direction X. Hereinafter, the configuration of the transport mechanism 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 4.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the coating device shown in FIG. 1A. The transport mechanism 4 has a function of transporting the substrate W in the transport direction X while floating the substrate W by the levitation mechanism 3 while sucking and holding both end portions in the Y direction of the substrate W supported by the levitation mechanism 3 in a floating state. have. As shown in FIG. 1B, the transport mechanism 4 includes a plurality of chuck portions 41 that suck and hold the substrate W. Here, two chuck members 41a are arranged in the X direction, and one chuck unit 41 that is movable in the X direction integrally is provided on each of the (+Y) side and the (−Y) direction side. However, each chuck member 41a may be provided as the chuck portion 41. In the present embodiment, the above-described two chuck portions 41 have a bilaterally symmetrical structure (symmetrical on the +Y side and the −Y side), and hold the substrate W by suction on each of the left and right sides. Further, the transport mechanism 4 includes a transport chuck travel guide 42, a transport chuck linear motor 43, a transport chuck linear scale 44, and a chuck lifting cylinder 45. The chuck unit 41 can be moved up and down by the operation of the chuck lift cylinder 45. Therefore, the chuck elevating cylinder 45 operates in response to the holding command from the control unit 9 that controls the entire apparatus, and the chuck unit 41 moves up to both ends of the (+Y) side and (−Y) side substrates W. The lower surface of the part is supported and adsorbed and held. Further, the transport chuck travel guide 42 is extended in the X direction on the base 10 of the coating apparatus 1, and the transport chuck linear motor 43 is operated in response to a transport command from the control unit 9 to cause the chuck unit 41 to move. Is reciprocated in the transport direction X along the transport chuck travel guide 42. As a result, the substrate W held by the chuck portion 41 is transported in the transport direction X. In this embodiment, the position of the substrate W in the transfer direction X can be detected by the transfer chuck linear scale 44, and the control unit 9 controls the transfer chuck linear motor 43 based on the detection result of the transfer chuck linear scale 44. Drive control.

The substrate W is transported in the transport direction X in the so-called face-up state with the front surface Wf facing vertically upward by the transport mechanism 4 described above. In order to apply the coating liquid to the front surface Wf of the substrate W during the transport, A coating mechanism 5 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the coating mechanism 5 includes a nozzle unit 51 that is movable in the transport direction X with respect to the base 10, and an upstream side of the nozzle unit 51 in the transport direction X (left-hand side in FIG. 1A). ) Has a nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 fixed to the base 10, a coating liquid supply unit 58 for supplying the coating liquid to the nozzle unit 51, and a coating liquid replenishing unit 59.

As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle unit 51 includes a slit nozzle 511 extending in the Y direction so as to face the front surface Wf of the substrate W, a nozzle support member 512 that supports the slit nozzle 511, and a transport mechanism in the Y direction. The lifting unit 513 is provided on the outer side of 4 and has a bilaterally symmetrical structure (symmetrical on the +Y side and the −Y side). In this embodiment, the slit nozzle 511 is configured to move up and down in the vertical direction Z via the nozzle support member 512 by the pair of lifts 513. More specifically, each elevating unit 513 includes a columnar member 514, a ball screw 515 attached to the columnar member 514 in a state of extending in the vertical direction Z, and a rotary motor 516 connected to an upper end of the ball screw 515. And a bracket 517 screwed onto the ball screw 515. When the rotation motor 516 operates in response to the rotation command from the control unit 9, the ball screw 515 rotates, and the bracket 517 moves up and down in the vertical direction Z according to the rotation amount. Both ends of the nozzle support member 512 are attached to the brackets 517 on the (+Y) direction side and the (−Y) direction side configured in this way, respectively, and are supported so as to be able to move up and down through the nozzle support member 512. ..

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, each elevating part 513 is reciprocally moved in the transport direction X by a moving mechanism 518 of the coating mechanism 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the moving mechanism 518 includes a base portion 518a that supports the elevating portion 513 from below, a traveling guide 518b, and a linear motor 518c. As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the traveling guide 518b is extended in the X direction on the base 10 of the coating apparatus 1, and the linear motor 518c operates according to a movement command from the control unit 9. The elevating part 513 is reciprocally moved in the transport direction X along the traveling guide 518b so that the slit nozzle 511 can be positioned at the maintenance position and the ejection position together with the elevating part 513. Here, the “maintenance position” means a position where the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 performs a maintenance operation including preliminary ejection, and the “ejection position” means a position where the coating liquid is ejected toward the substrate W, that is, This means the position directly above the central levitation unit 3B.

A slit nozzle 511 is attached to the lower end of the nozzle support member 512 with the discharge port 511a facing downward. Therefore, by controlling the rotary motor 516 by the control unit 9, it is possible to move the slit nozzle 511 up and down to bring the ejection port 511a closer to the front surface Wf of the substrate W transported by the transport mechanism 4, or conversely to separate it upward. Has become. Further, the control unit 9 controls the rotation motor 516 based on the output of a flying height detection sensor (reference numeral 53 in FIG. 3B), which will be described later, whereby the distance between the surface Wf of the substrate W and the ejection port 511a is controlled. It can be adjusted with high precision. Then, when the coating liquid is pressure-fed from the coating liquid supply unit 58 to the slit nozzle 511 with the ejection port 511a being close to the front surface Wf of the substrate W, it is ejected from the ejection port 511a toward the front surface Wf of the substrate W. .. The slit nozzle 511 includes a protective member (reference numeral 6B1 in FIG. 3B) for protecting the tip of the nozzle, a flying height detection sensor (reference numeral 53 in FIG. 3B), and a vibration sensor (reference numeral 6B2 in FIG. 3B). Is attached.

As shown in FIG. 4, the coating liquid supply unit 58 includes a pump 581, such as a tube pump or a bellows pump, which pumps the coating liquid by a volume change, as a pumping source for pumping the coating liquid to the slit nozzle 511. I am using. One end of the pipe 582 is connected to the output side of the pump 581. Further, the other end of this pipe 582 is branched into two, and as shown in FIG. 4, one pipe 583 is connected to the end of the slit nozzle 511 on the (−Y) direction side and the other end. The pipe 584 is connected to the end of the slit nozzle 511 on the (+Y) direction side. On-off valves 585 and 586 are inserted in these pipes 583 and 584, respectively, and they are opened and closed in response to an open/close command from the control unit 9, whereby the liquid feed and liquid feed of the coating liquid to the slit nozzle 511 are performed. The stop can be switched.

Further, the supply of the coating liquid to the slit nozzle 511 reduces the ratio of the coating liquid filled in the pump 581, that is, the pump filling ratio. Therefore, a coating liquid replenishing unit 59 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3B, the coating liquid replenishing unit 59 includes a storage tank 591 for storing the coating liquid, a pipe 592 for connecting the storage tank 591 to the pump 581, and an opening/closing valve 593 inserted in the pipe 592. Equipped with. The on-off valve 593 is opened in response to a replenishment command from the control unit 9 so that the coating liquid in the storage tank 591 can be replenished to the pump 581. On the contrary, the control unit 9 closes in response to a replenishment stop command to regulate replenishment of the coating liquid from the storage tank 591 to the pump 581. In the present embodiment, the replenishing operation of the coating liquid is performed while controlling not only the opening/closing valve 593 described above but also the opening/closing valves 585 and 586 of the coating liquid supply unit 58. That is, the open/close valve 593 is closed while the replenishment operation is not performed, and regulates the inflow of the coating liquid from the storage tank 591 to the pump 581. On the other hand, while the opening/closing valves 585 and 586 are closed and the opening/closing valve 593 is opened, the pump 581 operates to draw the coating liquid in the storage tank 591 into the pump 581 and fill it. In the present embodiment, the preliminary cleaning operation, which is one of the maintenance operations, is performed in the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 as a preparatory operation (operation for satisfactorily discharging the coating liquid onto the next substrate). As will be described in detail, the coating liquid is replenished into the pump 581 before and after the preparatory operation in two steps to recover the filled state in which the pump filling rate is 100% or almost 100%.

The nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 is a device that cleans and removes the resist liquid from the tip of the slit nozzle 511 that has supplied the coating liquid to the front surface Wf of the substrate W, and the discharge port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 is Is prepared in a state suitable for the coating process. As shown in FIGS. 3B and 4, the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 mainly includes a roller 521, a cleaning unit 522, a roller butt 523, and the like, and includes a cleaning standby unit 524 that performs nozzle cleaning and preliminary ejection. .. In the cleaning standby unit 524, the ejection port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 after the coating process is performed is cleaned. Further, when a constant amount of coating liquid is discharged from the discharge port 511a in a state where the slit nozzle 511 is close to the outer peripheral surface of the roller 521, a pool of the coating liquid is formed at the discharge port 511a (preliminary discharge operation). When the liquid pool is uniformly formed in the ejection port 511a in this way, the subsequent coating process can be performed with high accuracy. In this way, the discharge port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 is initialized and prepared for the next coating process. The roller 521 is rotated by driving a roller rotation motor (not shown) according to a rotation command from the control unit 9. Further, the coating liquid attached to the roller 521 is removed by immersing the lower end in the cleaning liquid stored in the roller butt 523 when the roller 521 rotates.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the slit nozzle 511 is brought close to the front surface Wf of the substrate W and the coating process is performed, when foreign matter is present on the front surface Wf, the slit nozzle 511 collides with the slit nozzle 511. May be damaged. Further, if an error occurs in the position of the slit nozzle 511 due to the collision, it becomes impossible to continue the coating process thereafter. Therefore, in this embodiment, two types of foreign matter detection mechanisms 6A and 6B are provided in order to detect foreign matter existing on the surface Wf of the substrate W.

The foreign matter detection mechanism 6A detects the foreign matter in a non-contact manner on the upstream side of the slit nozzle 511 provided in the coating mechanism in the transport direction X, and includes a light projecting unit 6A1 and a light receiving unit 6A2. As shown in FIG. 1B, the light projecting section 6A1 and the light receiving section 6A2 are arranged so as to sandwich the central floating unit 3B from the outside in the Y direction. The light projecting section 6A1 and the light receiving section 6A2 are attached to the upper ends of support members (not shown) that are provided upright in the vertical direction Z from the upper surface of the base 10, and the height positions of the light projecting section 6A1 and the light receiving section 6A2 are set. Has been adjusted. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B, the light projecting unit 6A1 and the light receiving unit are arranged so that the laser light emitted from the light projecting unit 6A1 passes over the surface Wf of the substrate W and enters the light receiving unit 6A2. 6A2 is provided. Then, the light projecting unit 6A1 irradiates the light receiving unit 6A2 with laser light. On the other hand, the light receiving unit 6A2 receives the laser beam emitted from the light projecting unit 6A1, measures the amount of the received light, and outputs it to the control unit 9. Then, the control unit 9 detects the foreign matter based on the received light amount.

The other foreign matter detection mechanism 6B detects the foreign matter by a contact method, and is attached to the slit nozzle 511 of the coating mechanism 5 in the present embodiment. The foreign matter detection mechanism 6B includes a protection member 6B1 attached to the slit nozzle 511 on the upstream side of the ejection port 511a in the transport direction X, and a vibration sensor 6B2 that detects vibration of the slit nozzle 511. The protection member 6B1 is a plate member that extends in the horizontal direction Y to protect the nozzle tip of the slit nozzle 511, and is arranged such that the plate surface is orthogonal to the front surface Wf of the substrate W. For this reason, when foreign matter is present on the substrate W when the substrate W is transported to a position directly below the nozzle unit 51, the protective member 6B1 causes the slit nozzle 511 to contact the nozzle tip and the foreign matter on the slit nozzle 511. Prevent damage. When a foreign substance is present, the protective member 6B1 comes into contact with the foreign substance, causing vibration to be generated in the protective member 6B1 and transmitted to the slit nozzle 511. The vibration sensor 6B2 detects this vibration and outputs it to the control unit 9. Then, the control unit 9 detects the foreign matter based on the vibration. In addition to the foreign matter detection mechanism 6B, the slit nozzle 511 has a flying height for detecting the flying height of the substrate W in a non-contact manner at a position where the slit nozzle 511 enters the upper region of the substrate W before the protection member 6B1. The detection sensor 53 is installed. With this flying height detection sensor 53, it is possible to measure the distance between the levitated substrate W and the upper surface of the stage surface 33 of the central floating unit 3B. Thus, the position where the slit nozzle 511 descends can be adjusted. As the flying height detection sensor 53, an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like can be used.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by providing the two types of foreign matter detection mechanisms 6A and 6B, the foreign matter can be reliably detected. Moreover, when detecting a foreign substance, the control unit 9 forcibly stops the conveyance of the substrate W to prevent damage to the slit nozzle 511, damage to the substrate W, and the like.

The controller 9 has a function of controlling each part of the coating apparatus 1 as described above. In the control unit 9, a CPU 91 that executes a predetermined processing program to control the operation of each unit, and a memory 92 that stores and stores the processing program executed by the CPU 91 and data generated during the processing. And a display unit 93 for notifying the user of the progress status of processing, detection of foreign matter, and the like as necessary. Then, in the coating apparatus 1, the CPU 91 controls the respective parts of the apparatus in the following manner according to the processing program to execute the coating processing.

Next, the operation of applying the application liquid to the front surface Wf of the substrate W by the application device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3B, 5, and 6A to 6F. Here, from the end of application of the application liquid to the nth substrate Wn (timing t11 in FIG. 5) to the application of the application liquid to the next (n+1)th substrate W(n+1) (timing in FIG. 5). The operation up to t16) will be described. Further, in order to clarify the technical significance of various operations in the present embodiment, the prior art is applied to the coating device 1 shown in FIG. 1A (the preliminary discharge is executed as a preparatory operation after the pump 581 is restored to the filled state). FIG. 5A shows a comparative example in which is intentionally applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation (first embodiment) of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1A and a comparative example. 6A to 6F are diagrams schematically showing the operation of each part of the apparatus. In FIGS. 6A to 6F, “CLOSE” and “OPEN” indicate the open/close states of the open/close valves 585, 586, 593 provided in the coating liquid supply unit 58 and the coating liquid replenishing unit 59. “Discharge” and “replenishment” indicate whether the coating liquid is being discharged by the pump 581 feeding the coating liquid or the coating liquid is being replenished. In addition, the percentages in parentheses indicate pump fill rates.

In the coating process for the n-th substrate Wn, the substrate Wn is levitation-transferred in the X direction, while the slit nozzle 511 is located directly above the central levitation unit 3B (ejection position). Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, the open/close valves 585, 586, 593 are opened, opened, and closed, respectively, and the pump 581 pumps the coating liquid to the slit nozzle 511 and the slit nozzle 511 transfers the coating liquid to the substrate Wn. Is discharged toward the surface of. As a result, the coating layer CL is formed on the surface of the substrate Wn. Then, when the application of the application liquid onto the substrate Wn is completed (timing t11), the pump filling rate is reduced to about 0% or several%.

In this way, when the coating process on the nth substrate Wn is completed, the opening/closing valves 585, 586, 593 are respectively closed, closed, and opened, and then the slit nozzle 511 is moved from the discharge position to the maintenance position. Be started. Here, by switching the open/close valves 585, 586, 593 as described above, replenishment of the coating liquid to the pump 581 while effectively preventing the coating liquid from leaking from the discharge port 511a during the movement of the slit nozzle 511. I do. Therefore, the pump filling rate gradually increases with the elapse of time, and for example, at timing t12, the pump filling rate rises to about 30% as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6B.

The comparative example is exactly the same in that the coating liquid is replenished in parallel with the movement of the slit nozzle 511 before performing the preliminary ejection as described above, but in the comparative example, the timing t03 at which the pump 581 recovers to the filled state. On the other hand, the preliminary discharge is started after waiting for the time, whereas in the present embodiment, the supplement of the coating liquid is interrupted at the timing t13 earlier than the timing t03, and the preliminary discharge is performed earlier by the time Δt (=t03−t13) than the comparative example. Start. The preliminary ejection operation and the movement operation of the slit nozzle 511 after the preliminary ejection are the same in the comparative example and the embodiment, and the time from the start of the preliminary ejection to the start of the coating of the next substrate W(n+1) in the comparative example and the embodiment. , That is,
Comparative Example: Time=t06-t03
Embodiment: Time=t16-t13
Are the same. However, as will be described later, in the present embodiment, the supplemental replenishment of the coating liquid is performed after the preliminary ejection, whereas the comparative example is different in that the supplementation is not performed at all.

The description will be continued by returning to the lower graph of FIG. In the present embodiment, the timing t13 at which the replenishment of the coating liquid is interrupted is the time when the slit nozzle 511 reaches the maintenance position, that is, the position where the discharge port 511a is close to the outer peripheral surface of the roller 521 of the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52. Further, as shown in the upper graph of FIG. 5B, the amount of the coating liquid M1 is replenished in the pump 581 during the time t13 from the start of the movement of the slit nozzle 511 to the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52, and the slit 581 Although the nozzle 511 has not reached the filling state, its pump filling rate has reached, for example, 80% (see FIG. 6C).

Then, at timing t13, the on-off valves 585, 586, 593 are switched to open, open and closed, respectively, and while the replenishment of the coating liquid to the pump 581 is interrupted, the pump is operated for a certain period of time (=t14-t13). A predetermined amount M3 of the coating liquid is pressure-fed to the slit nozzle 511 from 581. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6D, the coating liquid is discharged from the discharge port 511a, and the liquid pool LD of the coating liquid is formed at the discharge port 511a (preliminary discharge operation). Here, the pump filling rate is reduced from 80% to 70% by the preliminary discharge.

After performing the preliminary ejection using the roller 521 as described above, after the slit nozzle 511 is made to stand by while the ejection opening 511a is in the vicinity of the roller 521 for a certain time (=t15-t14). Then, the movement of the slit nozzle 511 to the ejection position is started.

On the other hand, the opening/closing valves 585, 586, 593 are switched to closed, closed and opened at the timing t14 when the preliminary discharge is completed, and the replenishment of the coating liquid to the pump 581 is restarted. Then, using the waiting period (t14 to t15) and the moving period (t15 to t16) of the slit nozzle 511 to the ejection position (t15 to t16), the pump 581 is replenished with the amount M2 (=100−M1+M3) of the coating liquid. (See FIG. 6E). In this embodiment, since the replenishment amount M2 of the coating liquid after the preliminary ejection is smaller than the replenishment amount M1 of the coating liquid before the preliminary ejection, as shown in FIG. ) Is set smaller than that before the preliminary discharge. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of cavitation due to the negative pressure of the coating liquid in the replenishment stage after the preliminary ejection.

Further, while the slit nozzle 511 is being moved to the discharge position (t15 to t16), the on-off valves 585 and 586 are both closed, so that the following operational effects can be obtained. In the present embodiment, the pump 581 is arranged at a position higher than the discharge port 511a as shown in FIG. 4, so that the leakage of the coating liquid from the discharge port 511a becomes a problem due to the head difference, but the on-off valve 585, By closing 586, it is possible to effectively prevent the leakage of the coating liquid.

When the pump 581 is restored to the filled state as described above and the slit nozzle 511 is positioned at the discharge position (timing t16), the on-off valves 585, 586, 593 are opened, opened and opened as shown in FIG. 6F. Switching to closing, the coating liquid is pumped from the pump 581 to the slit nozzle 511, and the coating liquid is discharged toward the surface Wf of the (n+1)th substrate W(n+1) that is floated and conveyed in the X direction, and the coating layer CL is formed.

As described above, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the coating liquid is equal to or more than the amount required to start the preliminary ejection operation as the preparatory operation (the amount M2 of the coating liquid used in the preliminary ejection operation). Is stored in the pump 581, the preliminary discharge is executed as a preparatory operation by a time Δt before the pump 581 recovers to the filled state (timing t03). Therefore, the takt time can be shortened by the time Δt as compared with the conventional technique (the technique of performing the preliminary discharge after waiting for the pump 581 to be in the filled state). This means that if the viewpoint is changed, the following effects can be obtained. In order to obtain the same takt time as in the present embodiment in the comparative example, it is necessary to increase the replenishment speed of the coating liquid. However, there is a risk that the coating liquid becomes negative pressure due to the increase in the replenishment rate, and cavitation occurs in the coating liquid. On the other hand, the present embodiment has an excellent effect that the coating liquid can be replenished at the same speed as the conventional technique, and the takt time can be shortened while avoiding the above list.

Further, since the opening/closing valves 585, 586 are inserted in the pipes 583, 584 connecting the pump 581 and the slit nozzle 511, and the opening/closing valves 585, 586 are closed during the movement of the slit nozzle 511, the opening/closing valves 585, 586 are closed during the movement. It is possible to effectively prevent the coating liquid from leaking from the ejection port 511a.

Furthermore, in the prior art, since the coating liquid cannot be replenished after the preliminary discharge, the pump filling rate at the start of the next coating liquid is 100% minus the consumption amount M3 in the preliminary discharge. That is, it was necessary to use a pump having a slightly higher capacity in consideration of the consumption amount M3. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the above consideration is not necessary, and the pump 581 smaller than the related art can be used, and the weight and cost of the device can be reduced.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 corresponds to an example of the “maintenance section” of the present invention. The moving mechanism 518 is equivalent to an example of the "moving part" of the present invention. The coating liquid replenishing unit 59 corresponds to an example of the "replenishing section" of the present invention. The amounts M1 and M2 of the coating liquid correspond to examples of the “first amount” and the “second amount” of the present invention, respectively. The on-off valves 585, 586 correspond to an example of the "switching unit" of the present invention. The replenishment operation executed from the timing t11 to the timing t13 in FIG. 5 corresponds to an example of the “first replenishment operation” and the “first replenishment process” of the present invention, and from the timing t13 to the timing t14. The preliminary ejection operation performed corresponds to an example of the “preliminary ejection step” and the “preparation step” of the present invention, and the replenishment operation executed from the timing t14 to the timing t16 is the “second replenishment step” of the present invention. It corresponds to an example of “operation” and “second replenishment process”.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described first embodiment, the present invention is applied to the coating apparatus 1 in which the ejection port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 is brought close to the roller 521 of the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 and the preliminary ejection process is performed as a preparatory operation. The present invention can be applied as it is to the coating apparatus 1 involving the scraper processing by the cleaning unit 522 at timings t14 to t15.

In the first embodiment, the pump filling rate is restored to 80% by the first refilling operation (timing t11 to t13), and the pump filling rate is reduced by 10% by the preliminary discharge operation (timing t13 to t14). 2 The pump filling rate is restored to the filled state (100%) by the replenishment operation (timing t14 to t16), but these numerical values are examples, and numerical values corresponding to the amount of the coating liquid to be applied and the physical properties are applied. Can be set to. However, as described above, in order to reliably perform the preliminary ejection, it is necessary to replenish the amount of the coating liquid of M3 or more in the first replenishment operation.

Further, in the first embodiment, the opening/closing valves 585 and 586 are closed in order to prevent the coating liquid from leaking from the discharge port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 when moving from the discharge position to the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52. However, the so-called suck-back operation can be executed at the timing t11 when the coating process on the nth substrate is completed, so that the leakage of the coating liquid can be further prevented. In this case, air bubbles may be trapped in the vicinity of the discharge port 511a of the slit nozzle 511 in accordance with the suck back operation. Therefore, when the suck back operation is also used, it is desirable to execute a bubble removing operation as a preparatory operation in addition to the preliminary ejection operation as described below (second embodiment).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the operation of the coating apparatus that is the second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the second embodiment, since the so-called suck back operation is executed at the timing t21 when the coating process on the nth substrate is completed, the bubble removing operation and the preliminary ejection operation are performed at the maintenance position as shown in FIG. It is executed as a preparatory operation in order. Note that the replenishment of the coating liquid itself is not directly related to the preparatory operation, but the replenishment of the coating liquid, that is, the intermediate replenishment is included in the preparatory operation by utilizing the time for shifting from the bubble removal operation to the preliminary ejection operation There is.

In the second embodiment, the timing when the slit nozzle 511 reaches the maintenance position, that is, the position where the discharge port 511a is close to the outer peripheral surface of the roller 521 of the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 is the timing t22 at which the replenishment of the coating liquid is interrupted. .. Further, while the coating liquid is replenished in the pump 581 while the slit nozzle 511 reaches the timing t22 from the start of the movement of the slit nozzle 511 to the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 and the slit nozzle 511 has not reached the filling state, bubbles are generated at the timings t22 to t23. The pump 581 stores more coating liquid than the amount necessary to execute the removing operation (the amount of the coating liquid sent to the slit nozzle 511 during the bubble removing operation).

Then, at timing t22, the on-off valves 585, 586, 593 are switched to open, open and closed, respectively, and while the replenishment of the application liquid to the pump 581 is interrupted, the pump is operated for a certain period of time (=t23-t22). Although a predetermined amount of the coating liquid is sent from the slit 511 to the slit nozzle 511 and the coating liquid is not discharged from the discharge port 511a, the coating liquid is present to such an extent that it oozes out to the discharge port 511a. Bubbles existing in the vicinity of 511a are removed from the ejection port 511a (bubble removal operation).

On the other hand, the opening/closing valves 585, 586, 593 are switched to closing, closing and opening at the timing t23 when the bubble removing operation is completed, and the replenishment of the coating liquid to the pump 581 is restarted (intermediate replenishment). Then, at the timing t24 at which the preliminary discharge becomes possible, the preliminary discharge operation is executed as in the first embodiment. In this way, when the preparation operation (=bubble removal operation+preliminary ejection operation) is completed (timing t25), the pump 581 is utilized by using the waiting period and the period during which the slit nozzle 511 is moved to the ejection position, as in the first embodiment. The replenishment of the coating liquid to the refill is resumed, and the pump 581 is restored to the filled state. Then, when the pump 581 is restored to the filled state and the slit nozzle 511 is positioned at the discharge position (timing t26), the on-off valves 585, 586, 593 are switched to open, open and closed, respectively, and the application from the pump 581 is performed. The liquid is pressure-fed to the slit nozzle 511, and the coating liquid is discharged toward the surface Wf of the (n+1)th substrate W(n+1) that is floated and conveyed in the X direction, and the coating layer CL is formed.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the bubble removing operation is performed as the preparatory operation in addition to the preliminary ejection operation. Therefore, the bubbles are reliably removed from the ejection port 511a of the slit nozzle 511, and the coating liquid is applied to the substrate W. Can be applied well. As described above, in the second embodiment, the operation executed at the timings t22 to t25 corresponds to an example of the “preparing step” of the present invention.

In addition, in the second embodiment, the bubble removing operation is executed at the maintenance position. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a period during which the slit nozzle 511 is moving from the discharge position to the nozzle cleaning standby unit 52 ( The bubble removal operation may be executed at timings t32 to t33). At the timing t32, although the pump filling rate is lower than that in the second embodiment, the application liquid in an amount equal to or more than the amount required to execute the bubble removal operation is already stored in the pump 581. In addition, reference numerals t31 and t34 to t36 in FIG. 8 indicate the same timings as the timings t21 and t24 to t26 in the second embodiment, respectively.

In the second and third embodiments described above, the preliminary ejection operation and the bubble removing operation are included as the preparatory operations, but even if only the bubble removing operation is executed as the preparatory operation as shown in FIG. 9, for example. Good (4th Embodiment). Note that reference numerals t41 to t43 and t46 in FIG. 9 indicate the same timings as the timings t21 to t23 and t26 in the second embodiment, respectively.

Further, in the above-described first to fourth embodiments, the present invention is applied to the coating apparatus 1 that coats the coating liquid as the processing liquid on the surface of the substrate W while floating and transporting the substrate W. .. The application target of the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses including the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, which discharges a processing liquid from a nozzle onto a substrate for processing. ..

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses and substrate processing methods in which a processing liquid for processing a substrate is sent from a pump to a nozzle and then discharged from the nozzle onto the substrate.

1 coating device (substrate processing device)
5... Coating mechanism 9... Control part 52... Nozzle cleaning standby unit (maintenance part)
59... Coating liquid replenishing unit (replenishing section)
511 (slit) nozzle 511a... Discharge port 518... Moving mechanism (moving part)
581... Pump 582-584... Piping 585, 586... Open/close valve (switching part)
M1... Replenishment amount (first amount)
M2... Replenishment amount (second amount)
W... substrate

Claims (10)

While moving the nozzle that has undergone maintenance in the maintenance unit relative to the substrate at the discharge position, the processing liquid is fed to the nozzle from a filling pump filled with the processing liquid, and the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle. A substrate processing apparatus for ejecting
A replenishing unit that replenishes the processing liquid to the pump,
A moving unit that relatively moves the nozzle to the maintenance unit and the discharge position;
While the nozzle is moved from the discharge position to the discharge position via the maintenance unit by the moving unit, the processing liquid is sent toward the nozzle from the pump to perform the processing on the next substrate. A control unit that performs a preparatory operation for discharging the liquid,
The control unit replenishes the pump with a first amount of the processing liquid before the preparatory operation, and replenishes the pump with a second amount of the processing liquid after the preparatory operation. A second replenishment operation for recovering the pump to a filled state is performed by the replenishment unit,
The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the first amount is larger than the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparatory operation and smaller than the amount of the processing liquid discharged onto the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The preparatory operation is a preliminary ejection operation of preliminarily ejecting the processing liquid from the nozzle in the maintenance unit,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparation operation is the amount of the processing liquid consumed in the preliminary ejection operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The preparatory operation is a bubble removing operation of removing from the discharge port bubbles existing in the vicinity of the discharge port of the nozzle by feeding the treatment liquid to the nozzle,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparation operation is the amount of the processing liquid sent in the bubble removal operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The preparatory operation includes a bubble removing operation for removing bubbles existing in the vicinity of the discharge port of the nozzle from the discharge port by feeding the processing liquid to the nozzle, and the nozzle in the maintenance unit after the bubble removing operation. And a preliminary ejection operation for preliminarily ejecting the processing liquid from
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparation operation is the amount of the processing liquid sent in the bubble removal operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the bubble removal operation is performed during or while moving from the discharge position to the maintenance unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The control unit is a substrate processing apparatus in which the nozzle is relatively moved by the moving unit during the first replenishing operation and the second replenishing operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
The control unit is a substrate processing apparatus in which the moving unit relatively moves the nozzle from the ejection position to the maintenance unit during the first replenishing operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein
The control unit is a substrate processing apparatus in which the moving unit relatively moves the nozzle from the maintenance unit to the ejection position during the second replenishment operation. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein
A pipe for guiding the processing liquid fed from the pump to the nozzle,
Further comprising a switching unit that is inserted in the pipe and switches between feeding and stopping feeding of the processing liquid from the pump to the nozzle,
The substrate processing apparatus wherein the control unit controls the switching unit according to the position of the nozzle to switch between feeding and stopping the feeding of the treatment liquid. A substrate in which the processing liquid is delivered to the nozzle from a filling pump filled with the processing liquid and the processing liquid is ejected from the nozzle onto the substrate while moving the nozzle relative to the substrate at the ejection position. A processing method,
To discharge the processing liquid to the next substrate by sending the processing liquid from the pump toward the nozzle while moving the nozzle from the discharging position to the discharging position via the maintenance unit. A preparatory step for performing the preparatory operation of
Before the preparatory step, the pump supplies a first amount of the processing liquid that is larger than the amount of the processing liquid required to start the preparatory operation and smaller than the amount of the processing liquid to be discharged onto the substrate. A first replenishment step of replenishing
A second replenishment step of replenishing the pump with a second amount of the processing liquid to restore the pump to a filled state after the preparation step;
A substrate processing method, comprising:

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