JPH0729869A - Substrate treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a substrate treatment apparatus wherein heat can be remove efficiently by excluding a bad influence by remove heat. CONSTITUTION:A high-temperature gas at the inside of a casing 1 is evacuated forcibly by utilizing an ejector-type evacuation device 10. Thereby, the high- temperature gas at the inside of the casing 1 is discharged to the outside in a state that its temperature is lowered together with a gas supplied to the ejector-type evacuation device 10. As a result, heat does not affect an apparatus at the circumference.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a thin substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate") such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for liquid crystal or photomask in a heated state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a photolithography process for manufacturing a liquid crystal substrate, in order to dry the resist applied on the surface of the glass substrate, the substrate is heated at a high temperature by a heating device having a heating element such as a hot plate. A step of heat treatment is included. For safety, the substrate is heated in a state of being housed in the casing, and heat is exhausted by ventilating the casing as needed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a heat treatment apparatus as an example of a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

As shown in the figure, a hot plate 2 which is a heating element is housed in a casing 1, and an exhaust pipe 3 having a rectangular cross section is arranged on the side of the hot plate 2. A slit-shaped suction hole 3a is provided on the upper surface of the exhaust pipe 3, and both exhaust pipes 3 communicate with each other at their lower portions and are connected to a discharge pipe 4 penetrating the casing 1. The gas inside the casing 1 is exhausted to the outside from the opening (exhaust port) 5 of the exhaust pipe 4.

In such a conventional heat treatment apparatus,
If necessary, heat is exhausted by natural exhaust, an automatic valve 7 that is opened and closed by a motor 6 is provided in the middle of the exhaust pipe 4, and a manual valve 8 for finely adjusting the exhaust amount is attached. Was there.

[0006]

However, in the exhaust structure of the conventional heat treatment apparatus, the high temperature gas flows in the exhaust pipe 4, so that the exhaust pipe 4 itself becomes high temperature, especially the casing. The high temperature exhaust pipe 4 outside 1 has a bad influence on the electronic parts in the control device built in the heat treatment apparatus and on the temperature control in the adjacent heat treatment treatment, which is a problem.

In order to avoid such an adverse effect, it is conceivable to wind a heat insulating member around the discharge pipe 4, but this requires a large piping space, and the entire apparatus becomes large. Moreover, in order to improve the ventilation efficiency by natural exhaust, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the discharge pipe 4, and the above-mentioned harmful effect becomes more serious.

Further, even if the heat insulation member is used for heat insulation as described above, the temperature of the exhaust heat from the exhaust port 5 cannot be lowered, resulting in a considerable influence on other devices.

The present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of efficiently exhausting heat while eliminating the adverse effects of exhaust heat.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for heating a substrate to perform processing, and heating means for heating the substrate and the heating means. A casing forming a space for accommodating a substrate to be formed, an exhaust port opening in the space, and a diffuser-type vacuum generating means connected to the exhaust port,
Gas supply means for supplying gas to the diffuser type vacuum generating means, and the exhaust of the inside of the casing is performed by the diffuser type vacuum generating means.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The gas supply means according to claim 1 comprises a flow rate control means,
The amount of exhaust gas from the casing is adjusted by adjusting the flow rate of the gas supplied to the vacuum generating means by the flow rate control means.

In this specification, the "diffuser type vacuum generating means" is a general term for a vacuum generating means for supplying gas to a nozzle-like flow path and sucking it by utilizing a decrease in atmospheric pressure generated at that part. Is.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the exhaust of heat in the casing is performed by the diffuser type vacuum generating means, so that the high temperature gas inside the casing together with the gas supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means is external to the casing. Is discharged to. The high temperature gas inside the casing mixes with the gas supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means, and the temperature drops.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the flow rate of the gas supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means is controlled by the flow rate control means, so that the amount of heat exhausted in the casing can be adjusted.

[0015]

Embodiments of the heat treatment apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the heat treatment apparatus.
In the drawings to be described below, the components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a first embodiment of a heat treatment apparatus. As shown in the figure, a hot plate 2 is housed in a casing 1, and an exhaust pipe 3 having a rectangular cross section is arranged on the side of the hot plate 2. Electric power is supplied to the hot plate 2 from a power supply source (not shown) to heat the substrate W at a predetermined temperature.

A slit-shaped suction hole 3 is provided on the upper surface of the exhaust pipe 3.
a is provided, and both exhaust pipes 3 are connected to the connecting pipe 9 so as to communicate with each other below. The connecting pipe 9 is connected to an ejector type vacuum generating device 10, which is one type of diffuser type vacuum generating means, and gas, for example, air is supplied from the gas supplying device 11 to the ejector type vacuum generating device 10. The high temperature gas in the casing 1 is sucked into the casing 1 through the exhaust pipe 13 and is discharged into the atmosphere through the discharge pipe 13 through the opening 13a.

When the organic solvent in the resist is evaporated in the casing 1 due to the heating of the substrate W to generate a harmful gas, the harmful gas is not directly discharged into the atmosphere but a gas treatment device (not shown). It is released into the atmosphere after being processed by.

The structure of the above-mentioned ejector type vacuum generator 10 is shown in FIG. Ejector type vacuum generator 10
Forms a flow path as shown in the main body 101,
The gas pressure-fed from the gas supply device 11 and passing through the gas supply pipe 12 has an increased flow velocity in the nozzle 102, and the atmospheric pressure decreases on the rear side thereof. The high-temperature gas in the casing 1 is absorbed from the connection pipe 9 connected to this low-pressure portion, and together with the pressure-fed gas of the gas supply device 11, passes through the diffuser portion 103 and is discharged to the outside from the discharge pipe 13. It has become so.

According to such a configuration, the gas inside the casing 1 passing through the discharge pipe 13 is mixed with the gas supplied from the gas supply device 11 and its temperature is lowered,
There is no possibility that the discharge pipe 13 is heated and has a bad influence on other devices as in the conventional case. According to an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present application, when the temperature inside the casing 1 is 100 ° C. and air at room temperature is supplied from the gas supply device 11, the exhaust temperature is lowered to about 50 ° C. Had almost no effect on.

The gas supply device 11 comprises a compressor 111, a pressure control valve 112, a solenoid valve 113, and a pressure gauge 114. The gas supply is turned on and off by operating the solenoid valve 113. The gas supply pressure is adjusted by adjusting the pressure control valve 112 while observing the pressure gauge. The exhaust amount in the casing 1 is determined according to the magnitude of the pressure of the supply gas, so that the exhaust amount can be easily adjusted by this method. In this case, the pressure control valve 112 is a flow control valve, and
13 can be replaced by air valves.

When the ejector type vacuum generator 10 is forced to evacuate the inside of the casing 1 in this way, the internal pressure gradually decreases, but there is no particular problem when the exhaust time is short. However, when the heat exhaust is performed for a long time, the degree of vacuum inside increases and the exhaust efficiency deteriorates. Therefore, a small air hole or a gap is provided at an appropriate place of the casing 1, or an appropriate nitrogen gas or the like is provided. It is desirable to supply gas.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the second embodiment of the heat treatment apparatus. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the ejector type vacuum generator 10 is installed inside the casing 1, but in the embodiment of FIG. 3, since it is installed on the side wall outside the casing 1, the connection with the gas supply device 11 is made. It's getting easier. In this case, if the ejector-type vacuum generator 10 is too far away from the casing 1, the connection pipe 9 in a high temperature state will protrude from the casing 1 to the outside, which is not desirable.

When the diffuser type vacuum generating means is forcedly evacuated in this way, it is not necessary to increase the diameter of the exhaust pipe as in the case of conventional natural exhaust, and a heat insulating member is wound around the exhaust pipe. Since it is not necessary, a large space saving can be achieved in the discharge part. In addition, compared with the conventional exhaust control by the auto damper 7 and the manual valve 8,
Since the exhaust amount can be delicately and easily adjusted by the pressure control valve 112, the accuracy of temperature control in the casing 1 is improved.

Although the ejector type vacuum generating device 10 is used as the diffuser type vacuum generating means in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and the Coanda type vacuum generating device based on the similar suction principle. Alternatively, a transvector type vacuum generator may be used. In general, an ejector type vacuum generator is suitable for a small displacement, and a Coanda type or a transvector type vacuum generator is suitable for a large displacement, and they are used according to their respective applications.

Further, according to the present invention, not only the heat treatment apparatus for the substrate but also, for example, a coating apparatus for coating the surface of the substrate with HMDS before resist coating, the substrate is housed in a casing, processed in a high temperature state, and thermally discharged. It is applicable to all necessary substrate processing apparatuses.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the diffuser type vacuum generating means exhausts heat from the inside of the casing, so that the high temperature gas is supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means. The gas is discharged to the outside of the casing together with the generated gas. The gas inside the casing is discharged in a state of being mixed with the gas supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means, so that the temperature is lowered and there is no possibility that the control device and other devices are adversely affected by heat.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the flow rate of the gas supplied to the diffuser type vacuum generating means is controlled by the flow rate controlling means, the heat exhaust amount in the casing can be easily adjusted, and the casing can be easily adjusted. It is possible to accurately control the temperature inside.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing a configuration of an ejector type vacuum generator.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 casing 2 hot plate 3 exhaust pipe 9 connection pipe 10 ejector type vacuum generator 11 gas supply device 12 gas supply pipe 13 discharge pipe 13a exhaust port W substrate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for heating a substrate for processing, heating means for heating the substrate, a casing forming a space for housing the substrate to be heated, and an exhaust port opening in the space. And a diffuser type vacuum generating means connected to the exhaust port, and a gas supplying means for supplying gas to the diffuser type vacuum generating means, so that the diffuser type vacuum generating means exhausts the inside of the casing. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above. 2. The gas supply means includes a flow rate control means, and the flow rate of the gas supplied to the vacuum generation means is adjusted by the flow rate control means to adjust the amount of exhaust gas from the casing. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: