JPH0697067A - Equipment for washing edge of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to improve the washing efficiency by enlarging the treatment region without increasing the consumption of a solvent. CONSTITUTION:A square type substrate with the surface formed with a thin film is retained by substrate retaining means, and first solvent discharging means 24a for dissolving unnecessary thin film by discharging a solvent is installed at the surface side of the edge of the square type substrate. On the other hand, second solvent discharge means 24b for dissolving an unnecessary thin film by discharging a solvent is installed at the rear side, each of these first and second solvent discharge means 24a and 24b is organized by a plurality of solvent supply pipes 27 along with the edge of the square substrate, which move linearly along the edge of the square substrate while discharging a solvent from many discharge outlets 27a, and unnecessary thin films on the edge of the square substrate are removed with the solvent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer having a thin film such as a photoresist coating solution, a photosensitive polyimide resin, and a dyeing agent for a color filter formed thereon, a glass substrate for liquid crystals, and a glass substrate for a photomask. For square type substrates such as ceramic substrates for manufacturing thermal heads and
After the thin film is formed, the solvent is ejected to the edge of the rectangular substrate to dissolve and remove the unnecessary thin film on the edge of the rectangular substrate. The present invention relates to a substrate edge cleaning device including a means and a solvent discharge means for discharging a solvent to at least one of the front and back surfaces of the edge of a rectangular substrate held by the substrate holding means to dissolve an unnecessary thin film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a substrate edge cleaning device as described above, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-78777. According to this known example, the first substrate is provided so as to face the upper surface and the lower surface of the peripheral portion of the rectangular substrate on which the thin film is formed.
And a second pipe are provided, and the first and second pipes are provided.
A third tube is provided in the gap between the tubes of the rectangular substrate and on the extension of the end of the rectangular substrate, and the solvent is supplied from the first and second tubes to the upper surface and the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the rectangular substrate. The solvent and the unnecessary thin film dissolved and removed can be sucked and discharged from the third pipe.

[0003]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned known example, since it is composed of the first and second cylindrical pipes, one for each of the front and back surfaces of the substrate, the supply is performed from there. The solvent discharge area is reduced,
There is a drawback that it takes time to clean the entire circumference of the substrate edge.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the discharge pressure of the solvent from each of the first and second pipes to expand the processing area and improve the cleaning efficiency, but the consumption of the solvent increases and it is uneconomical. There was a drawback.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to claim 1 expands the processing area without increasing the consumption amount of the solvent. It is an object of the present invention to improve cleaning efficiency, and the substrate edge cleaning apparatus of the invention according to claim 2 is capable of favorably removing an unnecessary thin film dissolved by a solvent. The substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to claim 3 is intended to collect the discharged solvent and the dissolved unnecessary thin film without scattering, and the substrate edge cleaning device according to claim 4 of the invention. Substrate edge cleaning device
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to claim 5, wherein the edge of the rectangular substrate can be efficiently and satisfactorily cleaned regardless of the type of the rectangular substrate. It is an object of the present invention to adjust the discharge state suitable for each thin film to be formed so that the thin film at the edge of the substrate can be dissolved and removed well.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention mounts and holds a square substrate having a thin film formed on its surface. In a substrate edge cleaning device including a holding means and a solvent discharge means for discharging a solvent to at least one of both front and back surfaces of an edge of a rectangular substrate held by the substrate holding means to dissolve an unnecessary thin film The solvent discharge means is provided with a plurality of discharge ports along the edge of the rectangular substrate,
The solvent ejecting means is provided with a moving means for relatively moving along the edge of the rectangular substrate.

As the solvent to be used, ketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, diisobutyl ketone, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, acetic acid-n-amyl acetate, in the case of dissolving the photoresist coating solution, are used. Esters such as methyl formate, ethyl propionate, dimethyl phthalate, and ethyl benzoate, aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene, xylene, benzene, and ethylbenzene, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, chloroform, 1,1,1 -Halogenated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethane, monochlorobenzene, and chloronaphthalene; ethers such as tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, and ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate; Or the like can be used Le formamide or dimethyl sulphoxide. Further, when the dyeing agent is dissolved, warm water of 30 to 60 ° C., lower alcohol such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, acetone, etc. can be used, and the rectangular substrate is mixed with these liquids. A surfactant may be added to improve wetting.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention has a structure in which the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent from the solvent ejecting means is ejected with a gas to form a rectangular substrate. And a moving means for moving the gas nozzle relative to the solvent discharge means along the edge of the rectangular substrate. As the gas supplied from the gas nozzle, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or air can be used.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate edge cleaning apparatus of the invention according to claim 3 sucks and discharges the unnecessary thin film blown off by the solvent from the solvent discharging means or the gas from the gas nozzle. And a moving means for moving the sucking member together with the gas nozzle and the solvent discharging means along the edge of the rectangular substrate.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to claim 4 is the distance between the discharge port of the solvent discharge means and the plate surface of the rectangular substrate, and the discharge. Each solvent discharge angle from the outlet is adjustable.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate edge cleaning device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention has a plurality of ejection openings of the solvent ejection means, and a solvent ejection angle from the ejection openings. It is configured to be individually adjustable.

[0012]

According to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the rectangular substrate having a thin film uniformly formed on the surface thereof is placed and held on the substrate holding means, and the rectangular substrate is moved along the edge of the rectangular substrate. Accordingly, while relatively moving, the solvent can be discharged from each of the plurality of discharge ports of the solvent discharge means to at least one of the front and back surfaces of the square substrate to dissolve the unnecessary thin film on the edge of the square substrate.

According to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning device of the second aspect of the present invention, the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent is discharged from the gas nozzle to the outside of the edge of the rectangular substrate. Can be blown away and removed.

Further, according to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning device of the third aspect of the present invention, the solvent and the unnecessary thin film blown away from the edge of the rectangular substrate can be sucked and discharged by the suction member. .

According to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to the fourth aspect, when the type of the rectangular substrate to be cleaned is changed, the solvent is discharged according to the type of the rectangular substrate. The ejection state from the ejection port of the means to the edge of the rectangular substrate can be adjusted.

According to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning device of the fifth aspect of the invention, for example, when the thickness of the thin film formed on the rectangular substrate is large, the solvent is concentrated in a predetermined region from each ejection port. To increase the amount of solvent discharged per unit area, and when the thin film is thin, adjust so that the solvent is dispersed and discharged from each discharge port and discharge solvent per unit area. It is possible to obtain a discharge state according to the thin film, such as reducing the amount.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic plan view of a substrate edge cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall schematic side view of a partly cutaway structure, which is a square type having a thin film formed on its surface by spin coating. The substrate edge cleaning tool 3 is provided at four locations around the substrate holding means 2 for mounting and holding the substrate 1, and the substrate edge cleaning device 4 is configured.

A cylinder support 7 is provided on the base B so as to be able to move up and down through a first air cylinder 5 and a pair of first guides 6 and 6, and a second air cylinder is mounted on the cylinder support 7. 8 is provided, and the second air cylinder 8 is integrally provided with a substrate placing plate 9 for placing and holding the rectangular substrate 1 by vacuum suction, and the substrate holding means 2 is configured.

The substrate edge cleaning tool 3 comprises a cleaning tool body 10
A moving means 11 for linearly moving the cleaning tool body 10 along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 and a position adjusting means 12 for displacing the cleaning tool body 10 with respect to the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. There is.

Support base 13 attached to the base B
Then, the rectangular substrate 1 is provided through the pair of second guides 14, 14.
The movable table 15 is provided so as to be movable in the direction along the edge of
Further, the driving pulley 16 and the driven pulley 17 are attached to the support base 13, the belt 18 is wound around both pulleys 16 and 17, and the electric motor 19 is interlockingly connected to the driving pulley 16 and the belt 18 is Mobile stand 1
5 is integrally attached to the cleaning means main body 10 so that the cleaning tool main body 10 is linearly moved along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1.
1 is configured.

A pair of third guides 20, 2 are provided on the movable table 15 as shown in an enlarged side view of a part of the movable table 15 shown in FIG.
0 and the third air cylinder 21, the square substrate 1
A supporting member 22 is provided so as to be movable in a direction approaching and away from the cleaning tool body 10 so that the cleaning tool body 10 can be displaced linearly along the edge of the cleaning tool body 10 according to the size of the rectangular board 1. The position adjusting means 12 is configured.

A suction member 23 is attached to the support member 22, and a first solvent discharge means 24a and a first gas nozzle 25a are provided on the upper side in the vertical direction with the suction port 23a of the suction member 23 interposed therebetween. The second solvent discharge means 24b and the second gas nozzle 25b are provided on the lower side.

First and second solvent discharging means 24a, 2
4b, a plurality of solvent supply pipes 27 are provided in the recesses 26 of the support member 22 formed at predetermined intervals in the direction along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1, as shown in the front view of the main part of FIG. Is inserted and held, and the solvent is discharged along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 from the discharge ports 27a at the tips of the plurality of solvent supply pipes 27 to the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. Each of the solvent supply pipes 27 is attached to the support member 22 by sandwiching the nuts 28, 28 in a state of being fitted in the recess 26, and each of the discharge ports 27a ... With respect to the horizontal direction, the mounting position can be adjusted in the horizontal direction, and the mounting angle can be adjusted around the pipe axis of the solvent supply pipe 27, whereby the discharge ports 27a ... The distance and the solvent discharge angle from the discharge port 27a are adjusted to obtain a suitable solvent discharge state in accordance with the properties of the rectangular substrate 1 to be cleaned such as the thickness and size of the thin film. It is configured.

First and second gas nozzles 25a, 25
Each of b is rotatably attached around a horizontal axis P, and a fixing member is adjustable so that a fixed position can be adjusted by tightening a screw member (not shown) passing through the elongated hole 29 with a nut (not shown). It is attached to 22.

Although not shown, a vacuum source is connected to the suction member 23 through an exhaust pipe, and each of the first and second solvent nozzles 24a and 24b is applied to the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. A solvent supply pipe for supplying a solvent capable of dissolving the unnecessary thin film is connected, and further, the first and second gas nozzles 2
A gas supply pipe for supplying nitrogen gas as a gas is connected to each of 5a and 25b, and any of the exhaust pipe, the solvent supply pipe, and the gas supply pipe is allowed to allow the cleaning tool body 10 to move. It is made of a flexible material.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a backing plate which comes into contact with the end face of the rectangular substrate 1 placed on the substrate placing plate 9, and a fourth air cylinder 31 is interlockingly connected to the backing plate 30 to form a corner. The die substrate 1 is brought into contact with the backing plate 30 and is placed on the substrate placing plate 9 in a predetermined positioning state. Alternatively, the square substrate 1 may be placed on the substrate placing plate 9 and then the contact plate 30 may be brought into contact with the square substrate 1 for predetermined positioning.

With the above structure, the rectangular substrate 1 having a thin film formed on its surface by spin coating is held by the substrate holding means 2, and the cleaning tool body 10 is moved so as to correspond to each side of the rectangular substrate 1. In that state, the cleaning tool body 10 is moved along each side while discharging the solvent and gas and exhausting, and the unnecessary thin films on both the front and back surfaces and the peripheral end surface of each side of the rectangular substrate 1 are dissolved. Can be removed.

As the solvent discharging means, various configurations can be adopted as shown in the perspective view of another embodiment of FIG.

In another embodiment shown in the perspective view of FIG. 5A, a box-shaped head 32 is connected to the tip of a solvent supply pipe (not shown), and the tip surface of the head 32 has a rectangular shape. A large number of ejection ports 33a are formed at predetermined intervals in the direction along the edge of the substrate 1.

Another embodiment shown in the perspective view of FIG. 5B is that the end of the rectangular substrate 1 is attached to the tip surface of a box-shaped head 32 connected to the tip of a solvent supply pipe (not shown). A large number of ejection openings 33b are formed at predetermined intervals in the direction along the edge and in the vertical direction.

In another embodiment shown in the perspective view of FIG. 5C, the box-shaped head 32 connected to the tip of the solvent supply pipe 34 has a tip end surface in a direction along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. Is connected to a small-diameter solvent nozzle 35 ... Having a discharge port 33c at its tip at a predetermined interval.

In the above-described embodiment, the substrate edge cleaning device is constructed separately from the spin coating device for forming a thin film with a photoresist coating solution or the like so as to improve the throughput. For example, it may be incorporated in the spin coater so that the substrate holding means of the spin coater is also used as the substrate holding means 2 of the substrate edge cleaning device.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cleaning tool body 10 is moved with respect to the substrate holding means 2, but the cleaning tool body 10 is fixed and the substrate is held with respect to the cleaning tool body 10. The means 2 may be configured to move,
In short, the first and second solvent ejection means 24a, 24
Any configuration may be used as long as it is configured to linearly move relative to the b-square substrate 1.

Further, in the above embodiment, four cleaning tool bodies 10 are provided as a whole so as to correspond to the four sides of the rectangular substrate 1, but according to the present invention, one or two cleaning tool bodies 10 are provided. Alternatively, the rectangular substrate 1 may be rotated to clean different side portions.

In the above embodiment, the solvent is discharged onto both the front and back surfaces of the edge of the rectangular substrate, but for example, the solvent is supplied to the lower side of the rotatably held rectangular substrate 1. Then, in the back surface cleaning type spin coating apparatus configured to dissolve and remove the thin film formed around the back surface of the square substrate 1, the square substrate 1 on which the thin film is formed by spin coating is The solvent may be discharged only to the front surface side of the edge of the mold substrate 1, or the solvent may be discharged only to the rear surface side of the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 and wrap around to the front surface due to surface tension. For example, the solvent may be discharged onto at least one of the front and back surfaces of the edge of the rectangular substrate 1.

When the solvent is discharged onto both the front and back surfaces of the rectangular substrate 1 as in the above-described embodiment, the following case is compared with the case where the solvent is discharged onto only one side and is wrapped around by the surface tension. It has a special effect. In other words, when the solvent is discharged to each of the front and back sides, it is not necessary to consider the wraparound by the surface tension. Therefore, the solvent is not discharged at a gentle flow rate to each surface of the square substrate 1. May be. Therefore, the solvent is discharged onto the rectangular substrate 1 in such a state that the solvent does not stay on the surface of the rectangular substrate and fresh solvent is supplied one after another, so that the edge of the rectangular substrate can be efficiently processed in a short time. The thin film can be removed with. Therefore, at the edge on the surface of the rectangular substrate, there is no possibility that the thin film slightly inside the edge will be swollen by the solvent and the film thickness uniformity on the surface of the rectangular substrate will be reduced.

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the substrate edge cleaning device of the invention of claim 1, a plurality of solvent ejecting means of the solvent ejecting means are relatively moved along the edge of the rectangular substrate. Since the solvent is ejected from each ejection port to at least one of the front and back surfaces of the rectangular substrate, even if the ejection amount as a whole is small, it can be vigorously ejected from each ejection port without increasing the consumption amount of the solvent. The processing area can be expanded to improve the cleaning efficiency.

According to the substrate edge cleaning device of the second aspect of the present invention, the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent is blown away to the outside of the edge of the rectangular substrate by the gas discharged from the gas nozzle. Therefore, the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent is prevented from remaining and adhering to the rectangular substrate, and the edge of the rectangular substrate can be efficiently and favorably cleaned.

According to the substrate edge cleaning device of the third aspect of the present invention, the solvent and unnecessary thin film blown away from the edge of the rectangular substrate are sucked and discharged by the suction member. It has become possible to efficiently and satisfactorily clean the edge of the rectangular substrate by preventing the thin film from scattering to the outside.

Further, according to the substrate edge cleaning device of the invention of claim 4, the discharge state of the solvent to the edge of the rectangular substrate can be adjusted according to the type of the rectangular substrate to be cleaned. Regardless of the type of rectangular substrate, the edge of the rectangular substrate can be cleaned efficiently and satisfactorily.

Further, according to the substrate edge cleaning device of the fifth aspect of the present invention, since it is possible to obtain a discharge state corresponding to the thin film formed on the rectangular substrate, regardless of the thickness of the thin film, etc. The edge of the rectangular substrate can be cleaned efficiently and satisfactorily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic plan view of a substrate edge cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a partially cutaway whole.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway enlarged side view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a solvent discharging unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rectangular substrate 2 ... Substrate holding means 11 ... Moving means 23 ... Suction member 24a ... 1st solvent discharge means 24b ... 2nd solvent discharge means 25a ... 1st gas nozzle 25b ... 2nd gas nozzle 27a ... Discharge port 33a, 33b, 33c ... Discharge port

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate holding means for placing and holding a rectangular substrate having a thin film formed on its surface, and a solvent on at least one of both front and back surfaces of an edge of the rectangular substrate held by the substrate holding means. In the substrate edge cleaning device including a solvent ejecting unit that ejects the solvent to dissolve the unnecessary thin film, the solvent ejecting unit is provided with a plurality of ejection ports along the edge of the rectangular substrate, and the solvent A substrate edge cleaning device comprising a moving means for relatively moving the discharging means along the edge of the rectangular substrate. 2. A gas nozzle for blowing an unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent from the solvent discharging means according to claim 1 to the outside of the edge of the rectangular substrate by discharging gas, and the gas nozzle is used for the solvent. A substrate edge cleaning device provided with a moving means that relatively moves along an edge of the rectangular substrate together with a discharging means. 3. A suction member for sucking and discharging an unnecessary thin film blown off by the solvent from the solvent discharge means or the gas from the gas nozzle according to claim 2, and the suction member together with the gas nozzle and the solvent discharge means. A substrate edge cleaning device provided with a moving means that relatively moves along the edge of a rectangular substrate. 4. The distance between the ejection port of the solvent ejection means according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and the plate surface of the rectangular substrate,
Also, a substrate edge cleaning device configured such that each solvent discharge angle from the discharge port can be adjusted. 5. A substrate edge cleaning device, wherein each of the plurality of ejection openings according to claim 4 is configured such that a solvent ejection angle from the ejection opening can be individually adjusted.