JPH04293578A - Washing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the washing effect of a brush and to also enhance manufacturing yield by preventing the re-adhesion of dust to a substrate 13 to be washed at the time of washing. CONSTITUTION:In a washing apparatus used before the coating of a resist in the photolithographic process of a TET color liquid crystal panel manufacturing process, handling operation is applied to the tips of the bristles of a roll brush 21 by a dust removing jig 26 composed of a stainless steel rod or a ceramic round rod in a brush standby station 18 and, in this state, pure water is injected from a brush washing solution jet nozzle 16 to wash the roll brush 21.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device used, for example, before resist coating in a photolithography process in the manufacturing process of TFT (thin film transistor) color liquid crystal panels.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A TFT color liquid crystal panel is provided with a thin film transistor (TFT) for each pixel on a glass substrate, and in the photolithography process in its manufacturing process, microfabrication of a pattern of 3 μm to 10 μm is performed. Therefore, foreign matter such as dust adhering to the glass substrate greatly affects the yield.

For this reason, for example, before applying resist in a photolithography process, the glass substrate is cleaned to remove as much of the above-mentioned dust and the like as possible. Referring to FIG. 4, a spin chuck 11 for fixing a glass substrate 13 by vacuum suction is provided at approximately the center of the main body 10, and a substrate cleaning liquid spray nozzle 15 for spraying pure water, A roll brush 21 for brush cleaning the glass substrate 13 suctioned and fixed onto the spin chuck 11 is provided.

[0004] In the cleaning apparatus having the above configuration, when brush cleaning with the roll brush 21 is completed while spraying pure water onto the glass substrate 13 suctioned and fixed onto the spin chuck 11, the cleaned glass substrate 13 is taken out. At the same time, a new glass substrate 13 is placed on the spin chuck 11, and the above cleaning operation is repeated. During such exchange of the glass substrate 13, the roll brush 21 is moved to a brush standby station 18 provided on the side of the spin chuck 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional brush standby station 18' is provided with a brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle 16' that sprays pure water, and continues to rotate the roll brush 21' while in the standby position. At the same time, pure water is injected from the brush cleaning liquid injection nozzle 16' to this roll brush 21', and this roll brush 21' is
It is designed to perform cleaning.

[0005]

However, as described above, the roll brush 21' cannot be moved to the brush standby station 18'.
Conventionally, in order to clean the roll brush 21' at each position, the operation of simply spraying pure water through the brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle 16' has been performed. The dust adhering to the glass substrate cannot be easily removed during the short time required for replacing the glass substrate, for example, 20 seconds to 60 seconds. For this reason, the amount of dust removed from the glass substrate that adheres to the roll brush 21' gradually increases, and as a result, the roll brush 2
As a result, the cleaning effect gradually decreases due to the re-adhesion of dust from No. 1, resulting in a problem that the manufacturing yield decreases.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a support stand that supports a substrate to be cleaned, and a brush cleaning of the substrate to be cleaned supported on the support stand. and a brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle for spraying brush cleaning liquid onto the brush that is moved to a brush standby position on the side of the support table while the substrate to be cleaned on the support table is replaced. The cleaning device is characterized in that it further includes a dust remover that comes into contact with the brush located at the brush standby position and causes bending deformation of the bristles of the brush.

[0007]

[Operation] According to the above structure, the brush located at the brush standby position is cleaned by spraying cleaning liquid from the brush cleaning liquid injection nozzle while bending and deforming the bristles of the brush with the dust remover. It will be done. As the dust remover bends the bristles of the brush as described above, the gap between the bristles changes and the cleaning liquid is sprayed while separating the bristles. It penetrates deep into the spaces between the hairs, thereby easily removing dust attached to the roots of the hairs. As a result, recovery to a state with no amount of dust adhering can be achieved in a shorter time, so when cleaning a substrate newly supported on the support stand using the brush that has finished cleaning the brush in the standby position. The influence of dust is also reduced by removing it during the previous cleaning, thereby improving the manufacturing yield.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

In the photolithography process in manufacturing TFT (thin film transistor) color liquid crystal panels,
A resist coating apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 5 is used. One end of this device is provided with a loader section 2 into which a delivery-side cassette for storing a plurality of glass substrates is installed.
At the other end, there is provided an unloader section 3 that sequentially stores glass substrates sent one by one from the loader section 2 into a receiving cassette.

Between the loader section 2 and the unloader section 3, a cleaning section 4 is provided from the loader section 2 side for performing brush cleaning while spraying pure water on the surface of the glass substrate, and a cleaning section 4 for drying the glass substrate after cleaning. A dehydration baking section 5, an HMDS processing section 6 for applying HMDS (hexamethylene disilazane), a resist coating section 7 for applying a resist, and a prebaking section 8 for heating and drying the resist are provided in this order. The glass substrates sent one by one from the loader section 2 toward the unloader section 3 pass through each of the processing sections 4 to 8 described above.
The cleaning process and the resist coating process are performed sequentially.

The cleaning section 4 incorporates a cleaning device configured according to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
A disc-shaped rotatable spin chuck (support stand) 11 is provided approximately at the center of the main body 10 of this cleaning device. A plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 11, and these suction holes are connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) through a rotating shaft 12 extending downward from the center of the back surface of the spin chuck 11. It is now possible to do so. As a result, when the glass substrate 13 (substrate to be cleaned) is placed on the spin chuck 11, the vacuum suction force acting through the suction hole causes the glass substrate 13 to
is suctioned and fixed to the spin chuck 11. Further, the rotating shaft 12 is connected to a rotational drive source (not shown).

On the other hand, the upper portion of the main body portion 10 is formed as a spin cup 14 that surrounds the spin chuck 11 over almost its entire circumference. At positions facing left and right in the figure across the spin chuck 11,
Substrate cleaning liquid injection nozzle 15 and brush cleaning liquid injection nozzle 1
6 are provided along the upper edge of the spin cup 14, respectively. The substrate cleaning liquid spray nozzle 15 is provided at a spray angle that sprays pure water toward the upper surface of the spin chuck 11, that is, toward the substrate cleaning position. On the other hand, an area facing the mounting position of the substrate cleaning liquid spray nozzle 15 is formed as a brush standby station 18 separated from the substrate cleaning position by an intermediate partition wall 17, and the brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle 16 is connected to the brush standby station 18. station 1
It is provided so as to spray pure water toward the roll brush 21 located at 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the roll brush 21 has a cylindrical base 23 fitted onto a shaft 22 made of stainless steel bar, and a large number of nylon or mohair bristles are implanted on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base 23. Hair transplanting section (hereinafter referred to as brush section)
24 was manufactured so that the outer circumferential shape thereof was approximately cylindrical. Such a cylindrical roll brush 21 is shown in FIG.
As shown in , they are arranged parallel to the feeding direction of the glass substrate 13 (vertical direction in the figure). This roll brush 21 has arm portions 25 at both ends of the shaft portion 22.
・The arm portions 25 are rotatably supported by the arm portion 25, and the arm portions 25 are connected to a moving mechanism (not shown).
This movement mechanism allows the roll brush 21 to move from a standby position located in the brush standby station 18 to a substrate cleaning position on the spin chuck 11 as shown in the figure. The shaft portion 22 of the roll brush 21 is also connected to a rotational drive mechanism (not shown) through the arm portions 25.

Since the roll brush 21 has a cylindrical shape as described above, the brush cleaning liquid injection nozzle 16 is connected to the straight pure water supply pipe 1 as shown in the figure.
6a is disposed parallel to the roll brush 21, and a plurality of nozzle pipes 16b are attached to the pure water supply pipe 16a at predetermined intervals, thereby supplying pure water over almost the entire length of the roll brush 21. Spraying is now being carried out.

[0015] Then, the brush standby station 18
As shown in FIG. 1, a dust remover 26 is provided below the roll brush 21 located at the standby position. As shown in FIG. 3, this dust remover 26 is made of a stainless steel round rod or a ceramic round rod, and separates the lower bristles of the brush part 24 of the roll brush 21 in the standby position and moves it slightly inward. It is located at the position where it enters.

Next, the operation of the resist coating apparatus having the above structure will be explained.

The glass substrate 13 sent from the loader section 2 toward the unloader section 3 is first sent to the cleaning section 4 and fixed on the spin chuck 11 with its center substantially aligned. Thereafter, the suction hole of the spin chuck 11 is connected to the vacuum pump, and the glass substrate 13 is suctioned and fixed onto the spin chuck 11. Next, the spin chuck 11 is rotationally driven, and the substrate cleaning liquid spray nozzle 1
Injection of pure water starts from 5. At the same time, the roll brush 21 is moved to the intermediate wall 1 at the brush standby station 18.
After being moved upward to a height exceeding 7, it is moved onto the spin chuck 11. And spin chuck 11
When the top is reached, the spin chuck 11 as shown in FIG.
It is lowered until it comes into contact with the glass substrate 13 which is also rotating. This roll brush 21 has a speed of, for example, 100 rpm~
It is rotated at a rotation speed of 200 rpm, and thereby the glass substrate 13 is cleaned with a brush.

After the brush cleaning has been carried out for a predetermined period of time, the roll brush 21 is returned to the brush standby station 18 by the reverse operation to the above, and the substrate cleaning liquid spray nozzle 15 is
At the same time, the rotation of the spin chuck 11 is also stopped. And spin chuck 11
The communication state of the suction hole with the vacuum pump is cut off, and the atmosphere is introduced into the suction hole, so that the glass substrate 13
The suction fixation of is released. Thereafter, the glass substrate 13 that has been cleaned as described above is taken out from the cleaning section 4, and is sent to the next dehydration baking section 5, while a new glass substrate 13 is removed from the loader section 2. The glass substrate 13 is then sent to the cleaning section 4, and the same operation as described above is repeated in the cleaning section 4 for this new glass substrate 13.

As described above, while the cleaned glass substrate 13 is taken out from the cleaning section 4 and a new glass substrate 13 is suctioned and fixed onto the spin chuck 11, the roll brush 21
is held in a standby position at a brush standby station 18. During this time, the roll brush 21 is cleaned at this brush standby station 18. That is, while the roll brush 21 continues to rotate, pure water is sprayed through the brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle 16.

As described above, the roll brush 21 at the brush standby station 18 rotates while its lower end is in contact with the dust remover 26. More specifically, the bristles whose bristles come into contact with the dust remover 26 from the rear side in the rotational direction are deflected backward, and a gap is created between the bristles and the bristles that have passed beyond the dust remover 26. Since such gaps are created sequentially in the circumferential direction of the brush portion 24 as the brush rotates, a so-called separation state occurs, so that not only the tips of the bristles but also the dust attached to the roots of the bristles are quickly removed.

Therefore, most of the dust attached to the brush portion 24 during cleaning of the glass substrate 13 can be removed within a short period of time, for example, 20 to 60 seconds, and a new one can be removed. When moving to the cleaning operation of the glass substrate 13, a new glass substrate 13 is cleaned in a state where there is no dust remaining from the cleaning of the previous glass substrate 13.
Therefore, a higher cleaning effect of the glass substrate 13 can be maintained, thereby improving the manufacturing yield of TFT color liquid crystal panels.

[0022] In the resist coating apparatus, the glass substrate 13 that has been brush-cleaned in the cleaning section 4 is then subjected to
In the dehydration bake section 5, heating and drying is performed to evaporate the moisture adhering to the glass substrate due to the cleaning. After that, it is sent to the HMDS processing section 6 and HMDS is applied to the surface.
(hexamethylene disilazane) is applied. Then,
In the resist coating section 7, resist coating is performed. The above-mentioned HMDS has a hydrophilic group and a hydrophobic group at both ends, and on the glass substrate 13, the hydrophilic group side binds to the adsorbed moisture of the substrate, which causes deterioration of the adhesion of the resist, and as a result, the hydrophobic resist Since the hydrophobic groups are located on the surface side to be coated, the adhesion of the resist is strengthened.

The glass substrate 13 coated with resist in the resist coating section 7 is then subjected to a pre-baking section 8 in which the solvent in the resist is evaporated to promote hardening of the resist and to increase its adhesion to the glass substrate 13. Heat treatment is performed. Thereafter, the glass substrates 13 are fed into the unloader section 3 and sequentially stored in a receiving cassette.

As described above, in the above embodiment, when cleaning the roll brush 21 while it is located at the brush standby station 18, the dust remover 26 is brought into contact with the brush portion 24 to deform into bristles of the brush. It is designed to spray pure water while giving As a result, the bristles of the brush are removed, and dust at the roots of the bristles, etc., which is difficult to remove only by spraying pure water, can be easily removed in a short time. Therefore, the deterioration of the cleaning effect of the glass substrate 13 is suppressed, so that the manufacturing yield of TFT color liquid crystal panels is improved.

In the above embodiments, a cleaning device incorporated in a resist coating device was explained as an example, but cleaning devices used in processes other than photolithography processes, and furthermore, other than TFT color liquid crystal panels, may be used. The present invention can also be applied to a cleaning device for a substrate to be cleaned.

[0026]

As described above, the cleaning device of the present invention sprays brush cleaning liquid onto the brushes that are moved to the brush standby position on the side of the support stand while the substrate to be cleaned on the support stand is being replaced. In this configuration, a brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle is provided, and a dust remover that comes into contact with the brush located at the brush standby position to cause bending deformation of the bristles of the brush is further provided.

[0027]Thereby, by cleaning the brush while it is in the standby position, it is possible to restore the brush to a state in which there is no amount of dust adhering to it in a shorter time. Therefore, even when the brush that has finished brush cleaning in the standby position cleans a substrate to be cleaned that is newly supported on the support stand, the influence of the dust removed during the previous cleaning is reduced, and as a result, This has the effect of improving manufacturing yield.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of main parts of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the shapes of a roll brush and a dust remover in the cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a glass substrate cleaning operation in the cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a resist coating device in which the cleaning device is incorporated.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a brush standby station in a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Spin chuck (support stand) 13 Glass substrate (substrate to be cleaned) 16 Brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle 21 Roll brush 26 Dust remover

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A support stand for supporting a substrate to be cleaned, and a brush for brush-cleaning the substrate to be cleaned supported on the support stand, and the substrate to be cleaned on the support stand is replaced. In a cleaning device that is provided with a brush cleaning liquid spray nozzle that sprays brush cleaning liquid onto the brush that is moved to a brush standby position on the side of the support base, the brush comes into contact with the brush that is positioned at the brush standby position. A cleaning device further comprising a dust remover that causes the bristles of the brush to bend and deform.