JPH0645334U - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a substrate processing apparatus having a processing tank which has a simple structure and is inexpensive and easy to maintain. An inner tank 1 for filling a surface of a substrate with a processing liquid and an outer tank 2 which is arranged separately from the processing tank 1 and collects the processing liquid L overflowing from the inner tank 1. Prepared, inner tank 1
The treatment liquid is ejected from the treatment liquid ejecting pipe 3 provided in the lower portion into the inner tank 1, and the treatment liquid overflowing from the inner tank 1 is recovered by the outer tank 2 and circulated by the circulation pump 7, and the filter 8 Reuse after cleaning with.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, particularly a processing tank in a substrate processing apparatus for surface-treating a thin substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”) such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal or a photomask. Regarding the configuration of.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Substrate processing of so-called overflow method, in which the substrate is immersed in the processing solution filled in the processing tank, the processing solution is supplied from the lower part of the processing tank to overflow from the upper edge of the processing tank, and the surface of the substrate is processed. In the apparatus, since a clean processing liquid is constantly supplied to the substrate surface, there is an advantage that the processing time can be shortened.

In such an overflow type substrate processing apparatus, usually, the processing liquid overflowing from the processing tank is collected and circulated by a pump for reuse, thereby reducing the maintenance cost. .

Conventionally, as an overflow type substrate processing apparatus for circulating such a processing liquid, for example, there is one as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, a quartz recovery tank 102 for recovering the processing liquid L overflowing from the upper edge portion 101a of the processing tank 101 is disposed above the outer periphery of the processing tank 101 made of quartz. It is formed integrally with the tank 101.

The treatment liquid L stored in the recovery tank 102 is discharged from the waste liquid pipe 103, forcibly sent to the filter 105 by the circulation pump 104 and purified, and then the treatment liquid L is supplied via the treatment liquid supply pipe 106. The liquid is supplied to the processing liquid jet pipe 107 provided in the lower portion of the processing bath 101, and jetted into the processing bath 101 from the jet hole 107a.

The substrates W arranged perpendicularly to the paper surface are carried by a substrate carrying device (not shown) while being held upright in a substrate carrying container (carrier) 108 and immersed in the processing bath 101. The processing liquid L jetted from the processing liquid jet pipe 107 flows along the surface of the substrate W, and eventually overflows from the upper edge portion 101a and is circulated.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a processing tank intermediate plate, and the flow of the processing liquid L ejected from the ejection holes 107 a is made uniform by passing through the holes 109 a of the processing tank intermediate plate 109 to form the substrate W. It is being supplied and will be installed for the purpose of uniform surface treatment.

[0009]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, the structure of the processing tank in the conventional substrate processing apparatus as described above has the following problems.

(1) As the treatment liquid L, a chemical liquid having a strong corrosive property such as sulfuric acid is often used. Therefore, the treatment tank 101 is made of quartz except when hydrofluoric acid is used. Normally, quartz has low strength, and since the processing tank 101 and the recovery tank 102 have an integral structure, the external shape is complicated and requires careful handling. When assembling the substrate processing apparatus or when processing the processing tank, There was a high risk of damage during replacement.

(2) Since the recovery tank 102 is integrally formed with the processing tank 101 as described above, the recovery tank is naturally made of quartz. However, quartz is used as a raw material to form such an integrated processing tank. Has the drawback of being expensive. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable that only the recovery tank is separately formed from a resin that is inexpensive and has corrosion resistance and is attached to the processing tank 101. However, a separate collection tank 102 is provided around the processing tank 101 in a sealed state. In order to attach it, there is a disadvantage that complicated processing is required and the cost is rather high, and the strength of the attachment portion of the processing tank 101 is weak.

(3) Recently, the substrate diameter tends to increase from 6 inches to 8 inches, and a compatible substrate processing apparatus capable of processing substrates of both sizes is desired. In this substrate processing apparatus, it is necessary to replace the integrated processing bath 101 with one having a different size. However, the conventional processing tank 101 is expensive and easily damaged as described above, and is inconvenient to handle.

(4) Particularly, in the overflow type substrate processing apparatus, when the processing liquid L is circulated and filtered and reused, it takes a long time to filter and the processing liquid L is stored in the recovery tank 102 for a while. A predetermined capacity is desired for the recovery tank 102. However, when the recovery tank 102 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the processing tank 101 as in the conventional case, its planar area must be increased in order to ensure the predetermined capacity. In that case, the plane area occupied by the integrated processing tank becomes larger. In general, a substrate processing apparatus is constructed by arranging a plurality of processing tanks in a line, so that the size of the entire processing apparatus is considerably increased.

(5) Further, since the recovery tank 102 is also made of quartz, it is easily damaged, and during the surface treatment, the recovery tank 102 is damaged due to some cause, for example, a trouble of the substrate transfer device, and the treatment liquid of the powerful drug. If it leaks to the outside, it may not only damage the substrate processing apparatus but also cause personal injury to workers.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a processing tank which has a simple structure and is inexpensive and easy to maintain. And

[0016]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for performing surface treatment by immersing a substrate in a processing solution stored in a processing tank, wherein the processing tank is filled with the processing solution. An inner tank for performing the surface treatment of the substrate, and an outer tank disposed outside the inner tank and separated from the inner tank, for receiving the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank and storing the same. And a treatment liquid supply means provided in the inner tank for supplying the treatment liquid into the inner tank, and a treatment liquid stored in the outer tank for being circulated and supplied again to the treatment liquid supply means. And a fluid circulation means.

According to a second aspect of the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect, the inner tank is made of quartz and the outer tank is made of a corrosion resistant resin.

[0018]

[Action]

 According to the invention of claim 1, since the outer tank for collecting the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank has a two-layer structure in which it is arranged separately from the inner tank, the inner tank and the outer tank are separated from each other. It can be formed of a member, and only the inner tank can be removed or replaced. The treatment liquid stored in the outer tank is circulated by the treatment liquid circulating means and supplied from the treatment liquid supply means provided in the lower portion of the inner tank to circulate and reuse the treatment liquid.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the inner tank is made of quartz, the surface treatment can be performed while maintaining sufficient corrosion resistance, and the outer tank is made of the corrosion resistant resin. It is easy to process and has sufficient strength.

[0020]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but it goes without saying that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a front vertical sectional view of a processing tank portion of a main part of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

Four cylindrical quartz rods 11 are welded as a support to the back side of the bottom of the inner tank 1 made of quartz, and the inside of the outer tank 2 made of a corrosion-resistant resin such as Teflon is used. Placed on. At this time, the lower end of the quartz rod 11 is positioned in the concave portion 21 (FIG. 2) provided on the bottom surface of the outer tank 2 to facilitate the installation of the inner tank 1 and to prevent the positional deviation even when vibration is applied from the outside. It does not happen.

In the lower part of the inner tank 1, two processing liquid ejection pipes 3 made of quartz are horizontally provided so as to penetrate the side surface of the inner tank 1 (FIG. 2). It is welded and fixed in a liquid-tight manner. The end portion 31 of the processing liquid jetting pipe 3 is closed, and one end portion 32 projects from the side surface of the inner tank 1 to be connected to the first processing liquid supply pipe 33, and the second processing portion via the joint 34. It is connected to the liquid supply pipe 35. On the side surface of the processing liquid jetting pipe 3, a plurality of processing liquid jetting holes 3a are provided in one row at a pitch equal to the arrangement interval of the substrates W to be immersed, and the processing liquid L is evenly distributed on the surface of the substrate W. Eject in the direction of the arrow in Fig. The jetted processing liquid L flows in the inner tank 1 and eventually overflows from the upper edge portion 12 and is collected in the outer tank 2.

When the processing liquid L is circulated and filtered and reused in the above-described overflow type substrate processing apparatus, a certain storage capacity is required for the outer tank 2 because a predetermined time is required for the filtration. In the embodiment, since a support for the quartz rod 11 is provided on the lower surface of the inner tank 1 and is placed in a state of being floated from the outer tank 2, the overflowing processing liquid L 1 is also stored in the lower portion of the inner tank 1. Therefore, the storage volume of the processing liquid L can be increased without increasing the planar area of the outer tank 2. As a result, the plane area occupied by the entire substrate processing apparatus can be made compact. Further, since the inner tank 1 can be removed, there is also an advantage that even if the heavy metal powder or the debris of the substrate that overflows together with the processing liquid L collect at the bottom of the outer tank, the inner tank can be easily removed and cleaned.

In order to uniformly perform the surface treatment of the substrate W, it is desired that the treatment liquid L jetted from the treatment liquid jet pipe 3 be uniformly circulated in the inner bath 1. For that purpose, the inner bath 1 It is required that the level of the upper edge portion 12 is the same and the processing solution L overflows uniformly from the upper edge portion 12. Therefore, in this embodiment, the level of the outer tank 2 is adjusted so that the inner tank 1 is leveled.

The outer tub 2 is held on the first butt 4 by four level adjusting screws 5 that support the lower surface of the outer tub 2. As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2, the level adjusting screw 5 includes an outer screw 51, an inner screw 52 screwed into a screw hole formed at the center of the outer screw 51, and a center of the outer screw 51. And a support member 53 that is rotatably inserted into the section and comes into contact with the tip of the inner screw 52. The tip of the support member 53 is positioned in the positioning recess 22 on the bottom surface of the outer tank 2. A thread groove is also engraved on the outer circumference of the outer screw 51 and is screwed into a screw hole formed in the bottom surface of the first bat 4.

For leveling with the level adjusting screw 5, first, the level adjusting screw 5 is rotated to set the heights of the tips of the supporting members 53 to be substantially equal, and then the outer tank 2 and the inner tank 1 are set. Is placed at a predetermined position, and while confirming the levelness of the upper edge portion 12 of the inner tank 1 with a leveler or the like, the inner screw 52 is rotated and finely adjusted.

A waste liquid hole 23 is provided on the lower side surface of the outer tank 2, and a first waste liquid pipe 24 is liquid-tightly connected to the waste liquid hole 23. The first waste liquid pipe 24 is pulled out to the outside through a slightly larger through hole 41 formed on the side surface of the first bat 4, and is connected to the second waste liquid pipe 26 via the connection joint 25. To be done. A cylindrical member 42 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the through hole 41, and a disc-shaped cover 43 is supported by a bolt 44 in the opening. A part of the connection joint 25 is fitted and retained in a hole provided in the center of the cover 43, but the hole provided in the cover 43 for penetrating the bolt 44 is slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt 44. The cover 43 and the connection joint 25 are slightly movable with respect to the cylindrical member 42 because the bolts 44 are only lightly fastened to the cylindrical member 42, and the level adjusting screw 5 is operated when the inner tank 1 is leveled. Even if the height is changed, the bending force is not applied to the first waste liquid pipe 24.

A seal member 45 made of silicon rubber or the like is interposed between the opening of the cylindrical member 42 and the cover 43 so that the processing liquid L flows out into the first vat 4. Even if you do, it will not leak outside.

The second processing liquid supply pipe 35 passes through the through hole 46 of the first butt 4 and is connected to the third waste liquid pipe 37 via the connection joint 36. The hand 36 is also supported in a sealed and movable state by the cylindrical member 47, the cover 48 and the like, just like the connection joint 25 described above.

Returning to FIG. 1, the substrate holding holder 6 is for holding a plurality of substrates W upright in the inner tank 1 at a predetermined pitch. On the base frame 61 below the substrate holding holder 6, three holding rods 62 are suspended in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the substrate holding holder 6 of FIG. 1, and each holding rod 62 has a cross section taken along a guide groove 63 for convenience of explanation. A plurality of guide grooves 63 are formed at equal pitches in the direction of contact with the substrate W on the side surface of each holding rod 62, and the orientation flat Wa of the substrate W is placed downward by a substrate transfer device (not shown). The substrate W is erected and held by the substrate holding holder 6 by grasping and lowering it and inserting the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W into the guide groove 63.

In this case, the substrate W is substantially supported by two of the three holding rods 62 at both ends, and the central holding rod 62 prevents the substrate W from falling back and forth, and also the inside of the processing bath. When the substrate W tries to rotate during the substrate processing in the above, it engages with the straight part of the orientation flat Wa and prevents the rotation, and enables stable substrate processing in the processing tank. .

As shown in FIG. 2, a mounting portion 64 extends horizontally in the upper part of the substrate holding holder 6, and is attached to the stays 65 and 66 mounted inside the first butt 4 with a bolt 67. It is screwed on. Since the substrate holding holder 6 is thus directly fixed to the first butt 4, the substrate holding holder 6 does not move when the inner tank 1 is leveled, and the positional relationship with the substrate transfer device is maintained. It is not necessary to adjust every time the level of the inner tank 1 is set.

In the two-layer structure treatment tank as described above, the inner tank 1 is only placed in the outer tank 2, and the inner tank 1 is filled with the treatment liquid L. When the processing liquid L in the tank 1 is discharged, the inner tank 1 may rise, so that it is preferable to provide a holding member as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

FIG. 5A is a partial cross-sectional view of the side surface of the inner tank 1, and FIG. 5B is a view of FIG. 5A viewed from above. Quartz contact members 13 are welded to the four corners of the outer periphery of the inner tank 1, and the holding member 24 is fixed to the stay 23 attached to the inner surface of the outer tank 2 with bolts 25. By screwing the holding screw 26 and tightening the holding screw 26, the abutting member 13 is held downward to prevent the inner tank 1 from rising.

The shape of the pressing member 24 is L-shaped as shown in FIG. 5B and is arranged at the corner of the inner tank 1, so that the inner tank 1 can be positioned in the horizontal direction. .

The jig for holding down the inner tank 1 is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, and such a holding jig is also provided on the inner surface of the first pad 4, and the level adjusting screw 5 is used. If the outer tub 2 is pressed against the lower layer after the height of the outer tub 2 is adjusted, the outer tub 2 will not fall down even if a vibration is applied from the outside.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to this embodiment. The second waste liquid pipe 26 is connected to the circulation pump 7. The circulation pump 7 is a bellows type pump, and the bellows formed of a flexible resin that is anticorrosive is expanded and contracted from the outside by a driving mechanism such as a motor or an electromagnet to perform a pump operation. It has become. The treatment liquid L sent out from the circulation pump 7 is sent to the filter 8 via the relay pipe 27 to remove foreign substances such as heavy metal fragments and dust generated as a result of the surface treatment, and then purify it. It is supplied to the processing liquid jetting pipe 3 through the second and first processing liquid supply pipes 37, 35, 33 to jet the processing liquid L into the inner tank 1, and the above circulation operation is repeated.

The filter of the filter 8 and the treatment liquid are replaced with new ones after being used for a predetermined time, and the surface treatment is continued.

The operation of the circulation pump 7 is controlled by the controller 9 according to the progress of the surface treatment operation. Further, the second vat 10 is for collecting the treatment liquid in the case of leakage from the circulation pump 7 and the filter 8 so as not to damage other devices.

6 and 7 are views showing an embodiment of another level adjusting mechanism for leveling. An engaging portion 400a is formed on the upper portion of the support base 400 attached to the inner surface of the first bat 4, and the engaging portion 400a is engaged with the engaging hole 400b of the first bat 4. The support base 400 is fixed to the first butt 4 with the bolts 401. On the other hand, L-shaped holders 402 are screwed to the four corners of the outer periphery of the outer tub 2 with bolts 403.

FIG. 7A is an enlarged perspective view showing the positional relationship between the holder 402 and the support base 400, and FIG. 7B is a view when viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 7A. It is a front view.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the horizontal portion 404 of the holder 402 is provided with a screw hole 404a and a through hole 404b, and a level adjusting screw 405 is screwed into the screw hole 404a. A fixing screw 406 is inserted into 404b. The fixing screw 406 is screwed into a fixing screw hole 400c provided on the upper surface of the support base 400.

In such a hanging type level adjusting mechanism, first, the fixing screw 406 inserted into the through hole 404b is lightly screwed into the fixing screw hole 400c of the support base 400 to perform horizontal positioning. Then, while checking the levelness of the upper edge 12 of the inner tank 1 with a leveler, etc., rotate each level adjustment screw 405 to adjust the screwing length and adjust the level. Finally, The outer tank 2 is fixed to the first butt 4 by tightening the fixing screw 406.

According to the second embodiment of such a level adjusting mechanism, unlike the first embodiment, leveling can be performed by operating the inner tank 1 from above, and leveling and fixing of the outer tank 2 are combined. There is an advantage that it can be done.

In the above-described embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus having only one processing tank has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a batch type substrate processing apparatus in which a plurality of processing tanks are arranged and processed. In this case, even if the shape of each inner tank changes depending on the type of surface treatment, the outer tanks are all formed with the same specifications, so the manufacturing cost can be kept low.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the so-called carrierless system in which the substrate W is taken out from the substrate transport container (carrier) and only the substrate W is held in the substrate holding holder 6 in the inner tank 1 for processing. However, the carrier type may be employed in which the carrier is placed in the carrier and immersed in the inner tank 1 for treatment.

A cover that can be opened and closed is provided above the opening of the outer tub 2 or above the opening of the first bat so that the cover is opened only when the substrate is taken in and out, and is not used during the surface treatment or when not in use. If it is closed during the time period, there is no risk that the processing solution will be scattered into the air during processing and the environment will deteriorate, and dust in the air will be scattered into the processing solution and the accuracy of substrate processing will deteriorate. There is nothing to do.

The material of the outer tank 2 may be PVC, PE, SUS, etc., in addition to the above-mentioned Teflon. Further, of the constituent elements of the substrate processing apparatus described above, even if the material thereof is not specified, as long as it is in contact with the processing liquid L, at least the corrosive material is used for the contact surface. Nor. At this time, depending on the type of surface treatment, it may be required to use quartz as a material for each tank, but the treatment liquid L stored in the outer tank 2 passes through the filter 8 and then the inner tank 1 Therefore, it is not necessary to use a quartz tank as the outer tank 2.

It should be noted that the filter 8 may be a filter using a membrane film, or may be a filter that purifies by electrical or other means in some cases, and the filter 8 may be omitted depending on the type of surface treatment. Is also possible.

[0052]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing tank of the substrate processing apparatus has the two layers of the inner tank for performing the surface treatment of the substrate and the outer tank for collecting the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank. Since it has a structure and the outer tank is provided separately from the inner tank, (1) the inner tank has a simple shape and there are almost no irregularities in the outer shape. Handling at the time of assembling the processing equipment is easy and the risk of damage is reduced.

(2) Since the inner tank and the outer tank can be formed separately, the manufacturing cost can be kept low.

(3) Even when processing substrates of different sizes, if the size of the outer tank is formed to match the largest substrate size, only the inner tank needs to be replaced, which is economical. Is.

(4) Since the inner tank and the outer tank are separated, the inner tank can be held in a state of being floated from the outer tank, and the treatment liquid can be stored below the bottom surface of the inner tank. The volume can be increased without changing the flow rate, and the storage capacity required for the filtration circulation overflow can be provided while making the substrate processing apparatus compact.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, since the inner tank is made of quartz and the outer tank is made of a corrosion resistant resin, (5) the inner tank stores the corrosive treatment liquid for a long time. Even if it is subjected to surface treatment, it can withstand enough and no foreign matter is generated, and the corrosion-resistant resin in the outer tank is inexpensive and easy to mold, and it has strong strength and is easily damaged even when an external impact is applied. Without doing so, there is no risk that the processing solution will flow out and an accident will occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an essential part of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

4 is a diagram showing the shape of a substrate holding holder in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view and a plan view showing a structure of a pressing member for preventing the inner tank from floating.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the level adjusting mechanism.

7 is a perspective view and a front view of the level adjusting mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view of a main part of a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Inner Tank 2 Outer Tank 3 Treatment Liquid Jet Pipe 4 First Vat 5,405 Level Adjusting Screw 6 Substrate Holding Holder 7 Circulation Pump 8 Filter 9 Control Device 10 Second Vat 11 Quartz Rod

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichiro Hashimoto Koichiro Hashimoto 2426-1 Kuchinogawara Mikami, Yasu-machi, Yasu-gun, Shiga Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Yasu Plant

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a surface treatment by immersing a substrate in a treatment liquid stored in a treatment bath, wherein the treatment bath comprises an inner bath for filling the treatment liquid to perform a surface treatment on the substrate. An outer tank, which is disposed outside the inner tank so as to be separated from the inner tank, receives the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank, and stores it.
And a treatment liquid supply means that is provided in the inner tank and that supplies the treatment liquid into the inner tank, and a treatment liquid that is stored in the outer tank and circulates again to the treatment liquid supply means. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a liquid circulating unit; 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inner tank is made of quartz and the outer tank is made of a corrosion resistant resin.