JPH07326571A - Processing method and processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive to uniformize a coat film of coat liquid to a substrate surface to be processed, enhance a manufacturing yield and improve throughput. CONSTITUTION:There are provided a coat mechanism 1 for applying a resist solution to the surface of a rectangular substrate G and an edge part removing mechanism 2 for spraying removal liquid on both surfaces of an edge part of the resist liquid coated substrate G to remove a coated film adjacent to each other. Further, there is provided a carry mechanism 3 for carrying the substrate G from the coat mechanism 1 to the edge part removing mechanism 2. Thus, after the resist liquid is applied on a surface of the substrate G, it is possible to remove the unwanted resist film on both surfaces of the edge parts of opposing two sides of the substrate G.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus for applying a coating liquid to a rectangular substrate to be processed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a liquid crystal display (LC
D) In the manufacturing process of the device, for example, ITO (Indium Tin Oxi) is formed on the LCD substrate (glass substrate).
In order to form a thin film, electrode pattern, etc. of de), a circuit pattern etc. is reduced using a photolithography technique similar to that used in the semiconductor manufacturing process, transferred to a photoresist, and then developed. Processing is performed.

For example, a rectangular LCD which is a substrate to be processed
After the substrate is washed by a washing device, the LCD substrate is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment by an adhesion treatment device and cooled by a cooling treatment device, and then a photoresist, that is, a photosensitive film is applied and formed by a resist applying device. Then, the photoresist is heated by a heat treatment device to be subjected to baking treatment, and then a predetermined pattern is exposed by an exposure device. And
The exposed LCD substrate is coated with a developing solution by a developing device and developed, and then the developing solution is washed away with a rinse solution to complete the developing process.

In the case of performing the above-mentioned treatment, a treatment of applying a resist solution to the surface of a substrate to be treated such as an LCD substrate by a spin coating method or a spray method is carried out. Although the film thickness is uniform, after the rotation is stopped and the centrifugal force stops working, and as time passes, the resist solution becomes thicker so that the resist solution rises at the peripheral edge of the LCD substrate due to the influence of the surface tension. A phenomenon occurs in which an unnecessary film is formed by wrapping around to the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate. If a thick non-uniform film is formed on the peripheral portion of the LCD substrate in this way, the resist film on the peripheral portion is not completely removed during development of the integrated circuit pattern or the like, and the remaining LCD film is not formed. The remaining resist is peeled off during the step of transferring the substrate, which causes the generation of particles.

Therefore, conventionally, after applying a resist solution or the like to the surface of the LCD substrate, a process of removing an unnecessary coating film on the peripheral portion of the LCD substrate is performed. By this coating film removing step, a removing liquid such as a solvent can be sprayed onto the peripheral portion of the LCD substrate after the coating film forming step to remove the unnecessary coating film on the peripheral portion of the LCD substrate.

[0006]

However, in order to remove the coating film on the peripheral portion of the rectangular substrate to be processed, a solvent discharge nozzle or the like for removing the coating film is relatively placed along each side of the substrate to be processed. Since the coating film has to be removed by moving it, there is a problem that it takes much time and labor to remove the coating film.

Further, since the substrate to be processed has a rectangular shape such as a rectangular shape, when the substrate to be processed is spun at a high speed after the coating liquid such as a resist liquid is applied to shake off the coating liquid, centrifugal force is applied. There is a problem in that the coating liquid that scatters from the periphery of the processing substrate may adhere to the back surface of the corner of the rotating substrate to be processed, and the coating liquid that adheres may dry and cause particles to be generated. It was

Further, by incorporating the coating film removing mechanism into the coating / developing processing system, there is a problem that not only the coating / developing processing system becomes large, but also the processing capacity is lowered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. It is possible to easily remove an unnecessary coating film on the peripheral portion of a substrate to be processed, improve the product yield, and improve the throughput of the coating / developing process. It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing method and a processing device which are capable of achieving a compact size of the device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the processing method of the present invention comprises a coating step of coating a coating liquid on the surface of a square substrate to be processed, and a coating film is formed by the coating. And a first removing step of removing the coating film on the edge by spraying a removing liquid on both sides of the edge on the first side of the substrate to be processed, and on both surfaces of the edge of the second side of the substrate to be processed. And a second removing step of spraying a removing liquid to remove the coating film on the edge portion (Claim 1).

A first processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a coating mechanism for coating a coating liquid on the surface of a square substrate to be processed, and removal on both sides of the edge portion of the substrate to be processed on which a coating film has been formed. An edge removing mechanism for spraying a liquid to remove the coating film is disposed adjacent to the edge removing mechanism, and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism is provided. (Claim 2).

The second processing apparatus of the present invention includes a coating mechanism for coating the surface of a rectangular substrate to be coated with a coating liquid.
An edge removing mechanism that sprays a removing liquid on both sides of the edge of the substrate having a coating film formed by the coating to remove the coating film, and the substrate to be processed is transferred from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism. And a transport mechanism for
It is characterized in that it comprises a holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed, and a nozzle that moves along the side of the substrate to be processed and sprays a removing liquid onto both edge portions of the substrate to be processed. (Claim 3).

Further, a third processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a coating mechanism for coating the coating liquid on the surface of a square substrate to be processed,
An edge removing mechanism that sprays a removing liquid on both sides of the edge of the substrate having a coating film formed by the coating to remove the coating film, and the substrate to be processed is transferred from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism. And a transport mechanism for
Holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed; front and back surface cleaning nozzles that move along the sides of the substrate to be processed and spray a removing liquid onto both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed; The auxiliary cleaning nozzle extends outward and sprays a removing liquid onto the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed (claim 4).

Further, a fourth processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a coating mechanism for coating the coating liquid on the surface of a square substrate to be processed,
An edge removing mechanism that sprays a removing liquid on both sides of the edge of the substrate having a coating film formed by the coating to remove the coating film, and the substrate to be processed is transferred from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism. And a transport mechanism for
Holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed, a nozzle for moving along the sides of the substrate to be processed and spraying a removing liquid onto both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed, and a nozzle provided on the lower side of the holding means. It is constituted by an auxiliary cleaning nozzle for spraying a removing liquid on the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed (claim 5).

In the present invention, as long as the nozzles of the above-mentioned edge portion removing mechanism can jet the removing liquid onto both sides of the edge portion of the substrate to be processed, at least two nozzles may be provided with any nozzles in any direction. It is preferable to provide the removing liquids ejected from the nozzles of the nozzle of the edge removing mechanism for ejecting the removing liquids on both sides of the edge of the substrate to be treated in the vicinity of the nozzles so as not to interfere with each other (claim 6).

[0016]

According to the present invention, after the coating liquid is applied to the surface of the rectangular substrate to be processed, both edge portions of the first and second sides of the substrate to be processed on which the coating film is formed are formed. At the same time, the removing liquid can be jetted to remove the coating film on the edge portion (Claim 1).

Further, according to the processing apparatus of the present invention, a coating mechanism for coating the surface of the rectangular substrate to be coated with the coating liquid,
An edge removing mechanism for spraying a removing liquid to remove the coating film is disposed adjacent to both sides of the edge of the substrate having the coating film formed by the above-mentioned coating, and the coating mechanism transfers the edge removing mechanism to the edge removing mechanism. By providing the transfer mechanism for transferring the processing substrate, the apparatus can be downsized, and the unnecessary coating film on the end portion of the processing target substrate can be removed promptly after the coating processing (claim 2). .

Further, the edge removing mechanism includes a holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed, a nozzle for moving along the sides of the substrate to be processed, and a nozzle for ejecting a removing liquid to both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed. By removing the coating film on the edge of one side of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means,
The holding means can be rotated to remove the coating film on the edge of the other side of the substrate to be processed (claim 3).

Further, by providing the edge removing mechanism with an auxiliary cleaning nozzle for injecting a removing liquid to the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed, the coating film attached to the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed can be removed. (Claims 4 and 5).

Further, by providing at least two nozzles for ejecting the removing liquid on both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed, and by providing the removing liquids ejected from the ejection holes in positions in the vicinity of the nozzles so as not to interfere with each other, It is possible to prevent collision of the ejected removing liquid, and prevent the removing liquid scattered by the collision from adhering to the coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed and adversely affecting it (claim 6). .

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Here, the processing device of the present invention is used as an LCD.
A case where the present invention is applied to a substrate resist coating apparatus will be described.

The processing apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, has a rectangular substrate to be processed, for example, a rectangular LCD substrate G.
A coating mechanism 1 that coats the resist liquid by supplying a coating liquid, for example, a resist liquid from the coating liquid supply nozzle 1a to the surface of the substrate (hereinafter referred to as a substrate), and removes an unnecessary coating film formed by coating on the peripheral portion of the substrate G. The edge removing mechanism 2 is provided adjacent to, for example, integrally in the same atmosphere, and a transport mechanism 3 for transporting the substrate G coated by the coating mechanism 1 to the edge removing mechanism 2 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the coating mechanism 1 holds the substrate G by a vacuum device (not shown) by suction and spins it in the horizontal direction (θ direction), and the spin chuck 10. A rotary cup 12 having a cylindrical shape with a low opening, which has a processing chamber 20 surrounding the upper part and the outer peripheral part and has an opening in the upper part, and an opening 12 of the rotary cup 12.
A main part is composed of a lid 16 that is attached (detachable) such that a can be opened and closed, and a hollow ring-shaped drain cup 14 that is arranged so as to surround the outer peripheral side of the rotary cup 12.

The spin chuck 10 can rotate (rotate) in the horizontal direction via a rotating shaft 22 that is rotated by the drive of a drive motor 21 arranged below, and an elevating cylinder connected to the rotating shaft 22. It can move up and down by driving 23. in this case,
The rotating shaft 22 has a bearing 2 on the inner peripheral surface of the fixed collar 24.
It is slidably connected to a spline bearing 27 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of a rotating inner cylinder 26a rotatably mounted via 5a. The spline bearing 27 has a driven pulley 28a.
Is mounted on the driven pulley 28a.
The belt 29a is stretched between the drive pulley 21b mounted on the first drive shaft 21a. Therefore, the rotation of the rotary shaft 22 via the belt 29a by the drive of the drive motor 21 causes the spin chuck 10 to rotate. The lower side of the rotary shaft 22 is arranged in a cylinder body (not shown), and the rotary shaft 22 is connected to the lifting cylinder 23 via the vacuum seal portion 30 in the cylinder body. Can move up and down.

The rotary cup 12 has the fixed collar 2
4 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cup 4 via a bearing 25b and a connecting cylinder 31 fixed to the upper end of the rotating outer cylinder 26b, and between the bottom 12b of the rotary cup 12 and the lower surface of the spin chuck 10. A bearing 32 having a sealing function is interposed therebetween to be rotatable relative to the spin chuck 10. The drive from the drive motor 21 is transmitted to the rotary cup 12 by the driven pulley 28b attached to the rotary outer cylinder 26b and the belt 29b that is stretched around the drive pulley 21b attached to the drive motor 21. Is rotated. In this case, the diameter of the driven pulley 28b is formed to be the same as the diameter of the driven pulley 28a mounted on the rotating shaft 22, and the belts 29a and 29b are stretched over the same drive motor 21. The spin chuck 10 rotates the same. A labyrinth seal portion 33 is formed on the facing surface of the fixed collar 24 and the rotating inner cylinder 26a and the rotating outer cylinder 26b to prevent dust from entering the rotary cup 12 from the lower drive system during rotation processing. (See FIG. 4). The driven pulleys 28a and 28b have different diameters,
You may make it rotate at a different rotation speed.

The side wall 12c of the rotary cup 12 has a tapered surface 12e whose diameter is reduced upward,
An inward flange 12d is formed from the upper end of the side wall 12c toward the inner side. Further, air supply holes 34 are formed in the upper peripheral portion of the rotary cup 12, that is, the inward flange 12d at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction, and exhaust gas is provided at an appropriate circumferential position on the lower peripheral portion, that is, the lower side of the sidewall 12c. A hole 35 is provided. By providing the air supply hole 34 and the exhaust hole 35 in this manner, when the rotary cup 12 rotates, the air flowing from the air supply hole 34 into the processing chamber 20 flows from the exhaust hole 35 to the outside, so that the rotary cup 12 rotates. At times, it is possible to prevent the pressure inside the processing chamber 20 from becoming unnecessarily negative, and after the processing, the rotation cup 12 to the lid 16 can be prevented.
The lid 16 can be easily opened without requiring a large force when opening the lid.

Although the air supply hole 34 is provided in the peripheral portion of the rotary cup 12 in this embodiment, the air supply hole 34 may be provided in the central portion of the rotary cup 12, that is, the central portion of the lid 16. . For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of air supply holes 34A are provided around the lower end of the bulging head 18 so that the sum of the opening areas is equal to the sum of the air supply holes 34. In addition, a plate-shaped body 34B having a size larger than that of the substrate G attached to the lid 16 at the central portion is arranged at an intermediate position between the lid 16 and the substrate G. Then, the air flowing in from the air supply hole 34A flows toward the outer peripheral direction above the plate-shaped body 34B,
The gas may be exhausted from the exhaust hole 35 through the periphery of the substrate G.

On the other hand, an annular passage 14a is provided inside the drain cup 14, and an exhaust port connected to an exhaust device (not shown) is provided at appropriate places (for example, four places in the circumferential direction) on the outer peripheral wall of the annular passage 14a. 36 is provided,
A radial exhaust passage 37 communicating with the exhaust port 36 is formed in the upper portion on the inner peripheral side of the drain cup 14 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). In this way, by providing the exhaust port 36 on the outer peripheral portion of the drain cup 14 and forming the exhaust passage 37 communicating with the exhaust port 36 on the upper inner peripheral side of the drain cup 14, the inside of the processing chamber 20 during rotation processing is formed. The mist scattered by the centrifugal force and flowing into the drain cup 14 through the exhaust hole 35 can be prevented from flying up to the upper side of the rotary cup 12, and can be discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 36.

The annular passage 14a is formed in the drain cup 14
The outer wall 14b standing up from the bottom of the drain cup 14 and the inner wall 14c hanging from the ceiling of the drain cup 14 are detoured so that exhaust can be performed uniformly.
Drain holes 14e are provided in the bottom portion 14d located between b and the inner wall 14c at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the drain pipe 14f having the drain hole 14e is provided with a column 38 for supporting the drain cup 14.
Is attached to a joint 38b attached to a bracket 38a attached to the drain cup 14 so as to be removably engaged with the drain pipe 14g, and at the time of cleaning and repairing the drain cup 14,
The drain cup 14 can be easily removed from the joint 38b.

Further, the drain cup 14 has an inner peripheral surface formed with a tapered surface 14h having a diameter reduced upward so as to be close to the tapered surface 12e of the rotary cup 12, and the tapered surface 12e of the rotary cup 12 is formed. A minute gap S is formed between and the tapered surface 14h of the drain cup 14. By forming the taper-shaped minute gap S that expands downwards in this way, the circumference generated between above and below the minute gap S between the rotary cup 12 and the drain cup 14 when the rotary cup 12 rotates. A pressure difference is induced from the speed difference, and this pressure difference promotes an air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the minute gap S on the outer peripheral portion of the rotary cup 12, so that the exhaust mist in the drain cup 14 passes through the minute gap S. It is possible to prevent scattering to the outside of the rotating cup 12.

Further, even if there is a mist that is directed upward through the minute gap S and is scattered outside the rotary cup 12, it is sucked by the exhaust passage 37 and discharged into the drain cup 14 from the exhaust port 36.

Since the lid 16 needs to be fixed to the opening 12a of the rotary cup 12 and integrally rotated during the rotation process, for example, a fixing pin (not shown) protruding above the rotary cup 12, The lid body 16 can be fixed to the rotary cup 12 by fitting a fitting recess (not shown) fitted to the fixing pin to each other.

When the lid 16 is opened and closed, as shown in phantom in FIG. 2, the robot arm 40 is inserted under the bulging head 18 projecting from the upper surface of the lid 16, and the bulging head is bulged. This can be performed by engaging the locking pin 41 protruding from the robot arm 40 with the locking groove 18a provided in the portion 18 and then moving the robot arm 40 up and down.
The locking groove 18a of the bulge head 18 and the locking pin 41 of the robot arm 40 are aligned when the lid 16 is opened, and the fixing pin and the fitting recess are aligned when the lid 16 is closed. Can be performed by controlling the rotation angle of the drive motor 21 formed by a servo motor or the like.

When the resist solution is applied to the surface of the substrate G carried into the processing chamber 20 configured as described above, the resist solution shaken off from the substrate G will be removed unless the exhaust hole 35 is provided. There is a possibility that the film may stay in the peripheral portion inside, the resist atmosphere in the peripheral portion inside the processing chamber 20 may become thick, the drying may become slow, and the resist film thickness may become uneven. Also,
The thickness of the coating film is influenced by the rotation speed of the rotating cup 12, the gap between the processing chamber 20 and the substrate G, the gap between the rotating cup 12 and the drain cup 14, and the like. is there. Therefore, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the rotary cup is 500 to 2000 rpm, and the diameter of the exhaust hole 35 provided around the rotary cup 12 is 4 m.
In order to promote the drying and the replacement of the atmosphere in the cup by providing 24 pieces of m in the circumferential direction, the depth of the space of the rotary cup 12, that is, the height H of the processing chamber 20 is 10 to 50 mm, and the height of the rotary cup 12 is 10 mm. The distance A between the bottom surface and the substrate G is 2 to 10 m.
m, the distance B between the inner peripheral surface of the rotating cup 12 and the periphery of the substrate G
30 to 50 mm, rotating cup 12 and drain cup 14
The gap S between and is 1 to 10 mm.

By disposing the cup cleaning nozzle 42 in the connecting cylinder 31 which is fixed on the lower side of the rotating cup 12 and does not rotate, the inner surfaces of the rotating cup 12 and the lid 16 can be cleaned. That is, the cleaning liquid supply pipe 44 that holds the cup cleaning nozzle 42 by the bracket 43 attached to the rotary shaft 22 and is connected to the cup cleaning nozzle 42
Is connected to an external cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) through a passage (not shown) provided in the fixed collar 24, so that the spin chuck 10 is lifted and lifted as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. The cleaning liquid can be sprayed onto the inner surfaces of the rotating cup 12 and the lid 16 which are rotated by facing the cup cleaning nozzle 42 from between the bottom and the bottom of the rotating cup 12.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the edge removing mechanism 2 holds the substrate G by a vacuum device (not shown) and holds it by a mounting table 50 which is a holding means that can rotate 90 degrees or more in the horizontal direction. A pair of nozzles 51 for injecting a resist removing liquid, for example, a resist solvent, form a main portion on the upper and lower surfaces of the edge portions of the two opposite sides of the substrate G held by the mounting table 50.

The table 50 is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees or more by a driving device 52 having a rotating mechanism such as a motor and an elevating mechanism such as an elevating cylinder and a ball screw (not shown), and is movable up and down. The mounting table 50 configured in this way is switched between a delivery position of the substrate G and a coating film removal processing position by raising and lowering, and a standby position.
Two opposing sides of the set can be switched and moved to the removal nozzle 51 side.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the removing nozzles 51 are provided on the upper horizontal piece 53a and the lower horizontal piece 53b of the nozzle head 53 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, which covers the upper and lower surfaces of the edge of the substrate G, respectively. Solvent supply path 5 for removing the resist on the exposed surface
3c and a needle-shaped front surface cleaning nozzle 51a and a back surface cleaning nozzle 51b connected to the back surface resist removing solvent supply path 53d. In this case, the nozzle 51
The nozzle a is hung downward, the nozzle 51b is hung downward, and the nozzles of the nozzle 51a and the nozzle of the nozzle 51b do not interfere with each other in the ejected removing liquid in the vicinity of each nozzle. It is arranged so as to be shifted in position. The reason why the nozzles of the nozzle 51a and the nozzles of the nozzle 51b are displaced from each other in this way is that when the solvent ejected from the nozzles 51a and 51b collides in the vicinity of the nozzle, the solvent scattered by the collision causes the solvent to be scattered on the surface portion of the substrate G. This is to prevent adverse effects such as adhesion to the film and non-uniformity of the film thickness of the resist film.

An exhaust port 53f is provided in a vertical portion 53e on the nozzle side inside the nozzle head 53 of the removal nozzle 51, and an exhaust pipe 54 connected to an exhaust device (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 53f. The solvent sprayed from the nozzle 51 and used for removing the resist film is discharged to the outside through the exhaust pipe 54.

In the above embodiment, the case where the nozzle 51a is drooped straight has been described, but it is not always necessary to have such a shape, and as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. It may be bent in a slanted manner from the inner side to the outer side. By bending in this manner, the removing liquid ejected from the nozzle 51a is directed to the peripheral direction of the substrate G, and therefore it is possible to prevent the removing liquid from adhering to the resist film on the center side. Further, similarly, the injection port of the nozzle 51b may be bent in an inclined manner from the inside of the substrate G toward the outside thereof.

The pair of removal nozzles 51 having the above-described structure are arranged on the first side, for example, the long side and the second side, for example, the short side, of the substrate G facing each other by the position adjusting mechanism 55. It is arranged so that its position can be adjusted, and vertically moved to the resist film removal position and the standby position at the edge of the substrate G by the vertical movement mechanism 56, and can be moved along the edge of the substrate G by the horizontal movement mechanism 57. Is configured. In this case, it is possible to provide a plurality of pairs of the removal nozzles 51 at appropriate intervals in the moving direction, and it is possible to further improve the removal performance.

In this case, the position adjusting mechanism 55 has a cylinder body 59a connected to the nozzle head of one of the opposing removal nozzles 51 through a mounting member 58a, and this cylinder body 59a.
Telescopic rod 5 slidably mounted on a and connected to the nozzle head 53 of the other removal nozzle 51 via a mounting member 58b.
When the telescopic rod 59b of the air cylinder 59 extends, the mounting members 58a and 58b collide with each other and the outer stopper 60a that positions the removal position of the removal nozzle 51 on the long side of the substrate G side. When the telescopic rod 59b of the air cylinder 59 contracts, the two mounting members 58a and 58b collide with each other to position the removal position of the removal nozzle 51 on the short side of the substrate G on the inside stopper 60.
and b. Both removing nozzles 51 are supported by a supporting member 61 to which a cylinder body 59a of an air cylinder 59 is attached.

Further, the vertical movement mechanism 56 includes a support member 61.
And an elevating member 64 that is attached to the lower surface of one end of the elevating member and that can elevate and lower along an elevating guide rail 63 provided on a traveling plate 62 that can be moved in the horizontal direction (Y direction) described later. And a telescopic rod 65b slidably mounted on the cylinder body 65a and attached to the traveling plate 62. Further, the traveling plate 62 is movably mounted on the standing wall 67, which is horizontally arranged on the side surface of the standing wall 67 standing upright from the base plate 66, and is mounted on the standing wall 67. The left and right moving mechanism 57 is configured by fastening a timing belt 69a, which is wound around a pulley 69 and a drive pulley (not shown) mounted on the drive shaft of a drive motor (not shown), to the traveling plate 62.

An auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A for removing the resist film adhering to the back surface of the corner of the substrate G is arranged below the mounting table 50 (see FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51A are attached one by one at diagonal positions of the mounting table 50 by the supporting member 4a so that the ejection direction can be adjusted.
A tank 4b containing A and a thinner T as a solvent is connected via a solvent supply tube 4c. In addition, in order to remove the resist film attached to the back surface of the corner of the substrate G from the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A, for example, a nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas supply source 4d supplies a pressure-feeding gas into the tank 4b and a solvent supply tube. The valve 4e provided on the substrate 4c is opened, and the thinner T is transferred from the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A to the substrate G.
Spray toward the back of the corner. In this case, as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 8, the solvent is sprayed from the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A by connecting the tank 4b and the N ₂ gas supply source 4d to the solvent supply tube 4c through the three-way switching valve 4f. After removing the resist film adhering to the back surface of the corner of the substrate G, the three-way switching valve 4f is switched to inject (supply) N ₂ gas from the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A to accelerate the drying of the back surface of the corner. it can.

In this case, when the substrate G has a rectangular shape (for example, a rectangular shape), as shown in FIG. 9A, when the resist solution coated on the surface of the substrate G is spun off by the rotation of the spin chuck 10, a centrifugal force is applied. The resist solution adhered to the long side of the substrate G is scattered to the outside by the force, but the resist solution adhered to the short side of the substrate G is scattered to the outside from the side portion of the substrate G and is then adjacent. It collides with the corner portion and reattaches to the back surface of the diagonal corner portion of the substrate G. This adhesion amount increases as the rotation speed of the substrate G increases, the dimension of the substrate G increases, the ratio of the short side to the long side increases, and the amount of the applied resist solution increases. Therefore, if the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A is arranged on the lower side of the diagonal position of the mounting table 50 corresponding to the corner of the diagonal position of the substrate G to which the resist liquid adheres, the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A sprays. The thinner allows the resist film attached to the back surface of the corner of the substrate G to be easily removed.

When the substrate G has a square shape,
Although the redeposition amount is originally reduced as compared with the case of a rectangle, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the resist solution applied to the surface of the substrate G is shaken off by the rotation of the spin chuck 10, Since the resist solution scattered from each side reattaches to the back surface of each adjacent corner, it is sufficient to dispose a total of four auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51A on the lower side of each corner of the mounting table 50.

Instead of providing the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51A, it is possible to use a structure in which the above-mentioned removal nozzle 51 is improved. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the lower horizontal side 53a of the jet nozzle 53 of the removal nozzle 51 is extended outward, and the needle-shaped first or second needle-shaped first to third portions are provided outside the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b at appropriate intervals. When the fourth auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c, 51d, 51e, and 51f are extended upright and the removal nozzle 51 is located at the corner of the substrate G,
The front surface cleaning nozzle 51a, the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b, and the first
Or, a solvent such as thinner is sprayed from the fourth auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f to remove the resist film attached to the front and back surfaces of the corners of the substrate G. When the removal nozzle 51 moves in the center of each side of the substrate G, the thinner injection from the first to fourth auxiliary nozzles 51c to 51f is stopped,
A thinner is sprayed only from the nozzles 51a and 51b to remove the resist film adhering to both sides of the edge of the substrate G.

In addition to the solvent supply passage 53b of the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b, a solvent supply passage 53c of auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f is provided. Also, the solvent supply path 53c
A valve (not shown) is provided between the auxiliary cleaning nozzles to sequentially open or close the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f to gradually increase or decrease the solvent sprayed from the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f. You can also let it.

Auxiliary cleaning nozzle 5 constructed as described above
1c to 51f are on the outer side of the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b (substrate G).
However, since the solvent sprayed from the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f may be sprayed in the form of a fountain and scattered around,
As shown in FIG. 11, the blast head 53 is connected to the side surface of the blast head body 53A having a front surface cleaning nozzle 51a and the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b and having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and is outside the blast head body 53A. The auxiliary jet nozzle 53B having a substantially U-shaped cross section protruding toward one side is provided. The auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f are provided on the lower horizontal piece 53g of the auxiliary jet nozzle 53B, and sprayed from the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f. It is preferable that the upper horizontal piece 53h of the auxiliary jet 53B receives the solvent. The upper surface of the auxiliary jet head 53B and the lower horizontal pieces 53g and 53h facing each other have arcuate cross-sectional surfaces, so that the sprayed solvent can be more reliably prevented from splashing around.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the transfer mechanism 3 is provided with a pair of transfer arms 70 for locking the lower surfaces of the peripheral portions of the two opposite sides of the substrate G.
Is guided by the linear guide 71 and is driven by the arm driving motor 75 transmitted by the tamming belt 72, the pulley 73, and the shaft 74 to show an arrow X.
It is configured to be movable in any direction. In this case, the transport arm 70 and the timing belt 72 are fastened by the fastening member 76. Further, the arm drive motor 75 is
It is controlled by a control device 77 formed of a central processing unit (CPU) or the like, and if desired, the reciprocating motion is repeated in the carrying direction so that the substrate G coating process and coating film removal process can be performed for a predetermined time. Is configured.

Next, a procedure for applying a resist on the substrate G and removing an unnecessary resist film on the side by using the processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the substrate G conveyed onto the spin chuck 10 of the coating mechanism 1 is suction-held by the spin chuck 10. Then, after dropping the resist solution from the coating solution supply nozzle onto the surface of the substrate G, the lid 16 of the rotating cup 12
And the spin chuck 10 and the rotary cup 12 are simultaneously rotated to apply the resist solution to the surface of the substrate G (see FIG. 13).
(See (a)). Next, the substrate G is transferred onto the mounting table 50 of the edge removing mechanism 2 by the transfer arm 70 of the transfer mechanism 3,
The substrate is suction-held on the mounting table 50 (see FIG. 13B). The transfer arm 70 of the transfer mechanism 3 that has transferred the substrate G retracts to the standby position, and then the removal nozzle 5 of the edge removal mechanism 2
1 is set on both sides of the long side of the substrate G, and a removing solution such as a resist solvent (eg, thinner) is sprayed on both sides of the edge of the substrate G while moving along the long side, so that the long side of the substrate G. The unnecessary resist film is dissolved and removed in a width of about 5 mm from the end (first removing step; see FIG. 13C). On this occasion,
The next substrate G is carried into the coating mechanism 1 and the coating process is performed. After removing the unnecessary resist film on the long side of the substrate G, the mounting table 5
0 is rotated, for example, 90 degrees clockwise to position the short side of the substrate G on the removal nozzle 51 side. In addition to the 90 degree rotation, 270 degrees, 450 degrees, ... And counterclockwise,
You may rotate. At this time, the air cylinder 59 of the position adjusting mechanism 55 is extended to set the removal nozzle 51 on the short side of the substrate G (see FIG. 13D). Then, while moving the removal nozzle 51 along the short side of the substrate G, the solvent is sprayed on both edges of the short side of the substrate G to remove the unnecessary resist film on the short side of the substrate G. The resist application and the work of removing the unnecessary resist film on the short side are completed (second removing step; see FIG. 13E). After that, the substrate G is unloaded and carried to the next step. As described above, immediately after the resist film is applied and formed, the substrate G can be transported to remove the peripheral edge resist.

The corner back surface of the substrate G is sprayed with thinner from the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51A; 51c to 51f during the first or second removing step or before or after these removing steps. The resist film attached to can be easily removed. For example, FIG. 10 (b)
When removing the resist liquids R1 and R2 attached to the back surface of each part of the substrate G as shown in FIG.
Control the injection of 1c to 51f.

Assuming that the left and right removing nozzles 51 are first moved in the direction indicated by the arrow, first, the right removing nozzle 51 is moved.
Will be described.

When the resist liquid R1 adheres to the triangular region such that the short side Gs side is up to the distance LS1 and the long side GL side is up to the distance LL1, the nozzle is located near the edge of the short side GS. Auxiliary cleaning nozzle 5 together with the front surface cleaning nozzle 51a and the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b so that it can sufficiently clean up to LS1.
The solvent is sprayed from all 1c to 51f.

As the removal nozzle 51 moves in the direction of the arrow, the width of the resist solution R1 adhered becomes smaller than LS1. Therefore, the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51f, 51e, 51d are sequentially arranged.
Stop the solvent injection of. When the nozzle moves to the vicinity of the distance LL1 along the long side GL, the back surface of the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51c is stopped because the resist solution R1 does not adhere to the back surface. After that, only the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b sprays the solvent on the back surface side. In this state, the removal nozzle 51 moves along the long side GL.

On the other hand, the removal nozzle 51 on the left side is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), since the resist solution does not adhere to the back surface of the corner at the beginning of movement, the front surface cleaning nozzle 51a
Then, the solvent is sprayed from the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b and the solvent spray from the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f is stopped.

The removal nozzle 51 further moves to approach the resist liquid R2 attached to the back surface of the corner, and the distance LL2 from the short side GS.
When it is near, the solvent is first sprayed from the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 51c. Similar to the resist solution R1, when the resist solution R2 adheres to the triangular area, the auxiliary cleaning nozzle 5
The solvent is sprayed from 1d, 51e, and 51f to dissolve and remove the portion up to the distance LS2.

When the removal of the resist on the long side GL is completed by the left and right removal nozzles 51, the solvent injection from each nozzle is stopped so that the left and right removal nozzles 51 do not interfere with the rotation of the substrate G. Evacuate. Next, the substrate G is rotated 90 ° counterclockwise or rightward, and the resist solution on the short side GS side is removed. In this case, since the resist solutions R1 and R2 attached to the back surface of the corner have already been removed, it is only necessary to spray the solvent from the front surface cleaning nozzle 51a and the back surface cleaning nozzle 51b.

As described above, by controlling the solvent injection of the auxiliary cleaning nozzles 51c to 51f within a predetermined range corresponding to the place / area where the resist solution adhered to the back surface side, the minimum required amount of solvent is used. Depending on the amount, unnecessary resist can be dissolved and removed. This is also because the temperature of the substrate G changes due to the temperature of the solvent and evaporation, and the film thickness of the resist film on the surface is not changed more than necessary.

It goes without saying that the processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above can be used as an independent apparatus.
It can be incorporated and used in the coating / developing processing system for LCD substrates described below.

As shown in FIG. 14, the coating / developing system has a loader section 90 for loading / unloading the substrate G,
The substrate G is mainly configured by a first processing unit 91 and a second processing unit 92 connected to the first processing unit 91 via a relay unit 93. An exposure device 95 for exposing a predetermined fine pattern on the resist film can be connected to the second processing section 92 via a transfer section 94.

The loader section 90 has a cassette 96 for accommodating an unprocessed substrate G, a cassette mounting table 98 for mounting a cassette 97 for accommodating the processed substrate G, and a cassette 96 on the cassette mounting table 98. , 97 to substrate G
Substrate loading / unloading tweezers 9 capable of moving and rotating (θ) in horizontal (X, Y) and vertical (Z) directions for loading / unloading
It is composed of 9 and 9.

The first processing section 91 is a transport path 102 for the main arm 80 which is movable in X, Y and Z directions and is rotatable by θ.
On one side, a brush cleaning device 120 for brush cleaning the substrate G, a jet water cleaning device 130 for cleaning the substrate G with high-pressure jet water, an adhesion treatment device 105 for hydrophobicizing the surface of the substrate G, and a substrate A cooling processing device 106 for cooling G to a predetermined temperature is arranged, and a coating processing device 107 including the resist coating mechanism 1 and the edge removing mechanism 2 which are the processing devices of the present invention on the other side of the transport path 102. A coating film removing device 108 is arranged.

In this case, the main arm 80 is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 16, upper and lower two-tiered U-shaped arm bodies 81a and 81b each have a double structure capable of independently moving forward and backward in the horizontal direction. That is, both sides of the upper arm body 81a are supported by the pair of outer frames 83 which are slidable along the outer linear guides 82 arranged to face each other, and are driven by the first drive motor 84 via the transmission pulley 85a. A timing belt (not shown) that is wound around the outer pulley 85 is fastened to the outer frame 83, and the upper arm body 81a is configured to be movable forward and backward by the forward and reverse rotation of the first drive motor 84. The lower arm body 81b is supported by an inner frame 87 movable along a pair of inner linear guides 86 arranged inside the outer linear guide 82, and is driven by a second drive motor 88 via a transmission pulley 89a. A timing belt (not shown) and an inner frame 87 that are hung around the inner pulley 89.
And the lower arm body 81b can be moved forward and backward by the forward and reverse rotations of the second drive motor 88.
A holding claw 81c for holding the substrate G is erected on the arm bodies 81a and 81b. In addition, the presence or absence of the substrate G placed on the arm bodies 81a and 81b of the main arm 80 is configured to be detected by the sensor 150 (see FIG. 16).

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the brush cleaning device 120 is provided with a substrate transfer arm 121 that locks the substrate G and transfers it linearly (left and right in the drawing). A large number of front surface cleaning brushes 122 and back surface cleaning brushes 123 and a rinse liquid supply nozzle (not shown) are provided so as to sandwich the transfer path of the substrate G by the substrate transfer arm 121. Further, at the transfer position of the substrate G, the substrate G is sucked and held by the vacuum chuck to move up and down and 90.
A substrate holding mechanism 124 that is configured to be rotatable is provided. The transfer mechanism of the substrate transfer arm 121 is configured similarly to the transfer mechanism 3. On the other hand, the jet water cleaning device 130 has a container 132 having a drainage port 131.
A substrate holding mechanism 133 that is arranged in the container 132 to hold the substrate G so that it can rotate and move up and down; a disk stage 134 that is rotatably arranged on the outer peripheral side of the substrate holding mechanism 133; A rinse liquid supply nozzle 1 disposed on both sides above the holding mechanism 133 and the disc stage 134, connected to a rinse liquid supply source or a wash water supply source (not shown) and movable by a moving mechanism 138.
35 and the cleaning water supply nozzle 136.
In this case, a holding member 137 that abuts on the end surface of the substrate G is erected on the disc stage 134.

Brush cleaning apparatus 1 having the above-described structure
In order to clean the substrate G by the 20 and the jet water cleaning device 130, the following procedure is performed. That is,
The substrate transfer arm 121 transfers the substrate G between the front surface cleaning brush 122 and the back surface cleaning brush 123, and sprays a rinse liquid such as pure water while rotating these brushes 122 and 123. Then, the arm drive motor (not shown) is alternately rotated in the forward and reverse directions to move the substrate G back and forth to clean the substrate G. Next, after transferring the substrate G to the jet water cleaning device 130 and transferring the substrate G onto the disk stage 134 via the substrate holding mechanism 133, the cleaning water supply nozzle 136 is moved to above the substrate G, and the high pressure jet is supplied. A cleaning process is performed by spraying a water stream on the substrate G. At this time, the cleaning process is performed while rotating the substrate G at a low speed. Next, the cleaning water supply nozzle 136 may be retracted, and instead the rinse liquid supply nozzle 135 may be moved onto the substrate G, and a rinse liquid, for example, pure water, may be sprayed from the rinse liquid supply nozzle 135 for rinsing.

On the other hand, the second processing section 92 has a main arm 80a which is movable in the X, Y and Z directions and can be rotated by the same as the first processing section 91, and the transport path 102a of the main arm 80a. A heat treatment device 109 that heats the substrate G before and after applying the resist solution to perform pre-baking or post-baking is arranged on one side, and a developing device 110 is arranged on the other side of the transport path 102a.

The upper portions of the first processing section 91 and the second processing section 92 configured as described above are covered with a cover so that purified air is supplied into the processing section. This air supply mechanism will be described by taking the first processing unit 91 of FIG. 19 as a representative, and the cover 1 covering the processing unit will be described.
A duct 141 is formed on the upper portion of the duct 40.
A suction fan 143 and a filter 144 are provided in a communication passage 142 that communicates the inside of the processing unit with the cleaning unit 1 and the cleaned air is supplied into the processing unit. Also,
An exhaust passage 145 is provided at the bottom of the transfer passage in the center of the processing portion, and an exhaust fan 146 is arranged in the exhaust passage 145 so that the clean air supplied into the processing portion is transferred to the transfer passage 102 and cooled. After being supplied to the apparatus 106, the adhesion processing apparatus 105, and the coating mechanism / edge removing mechanism, the apparatus 106 is exhausted.

Further, the relay section 93 has a structure in which casters 93d are provided on the bottom surface of a box body 93c having a transfer table 93b on which support pins 93a for supporting the substrate G are provided upright. The relay unit 93 is pulled out from the first processing unit 91 and the second processing unit 92, and the first processing unit 91
Alternatively, a worker can enter the second processing section 92 to easily perform repairs and inspections (see FIG. 20).

The transfer section 94 has a cassette 111 for temporarily holding the substrate G, and the cassette 1
Transport tweezers 1 for moving the substrate G in and out of
12 and a transfer table 113 for the substrate G are provided.

In the coating / development processing system configured as described above, the unprocessed substrate G accommodated in the cassette 96 is taken out by the carry-in / take-out tweezers 99 of the loader section 90, and then the first processing section 91. It is delivered to the main arm 80 and then conveyed into the brush cleaning device 120. The substrate G brush-cleaned in the brush cleaning device 120 is subsequently cleaned in the jet water cleaning device 130 with high-pressure jet water. After that, the substrate G is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment by the adhesion treatment device 105 and cooled by the cooling treatment device 106, and then the photoresist, that is, the photosensitive film is applied by the coating mechanism 1 of the resist coating device 107 according to the present invention. Is formed by coating, and then the unnecessary resist film on the side of the substrate G is removed by the edge removing mechanism 2 of the coating film removing apparatus 108 according to the present invention. Therefore, after this, when the substrate G is carried out, the resist film on the edge is removed, so that the resist does not adhere to the main arm 80. Then, after the photoresist is heated by the heat treatment device 109 to be subjected to a baking treatment, a predetermined pattern is exposed by the exposure device 95. Then, the exposed substrate G is conveyed into the developing device 110, is developed with the developing solution, and is rinsed with the rinse solution to complete the developing process.

The processed and processed substrate G is housed in the cassette 97 of the loader unit 90, then carried out and transferred to the next processing step.

In the above embodiment, the coating processing apparatus 107 having the coating mechanism 1 according to the present invention and the coating film removing apparatus 108 having the edge removing mechanism 2 according to the present invention are provided on the LCD substrate. The coating / developing system has been described.
It is also possible to provide more than one set. In this case, the coating processing apparatus 107 and the coating film removing apparatus 108 may be installed in parallel, but in order to reduce the installation space, as shown in FIG. 21, the coating processing apparatus 107 and the coating film removing apparatus 108 are provided. It is also possible to have a laminated structure. In the structure in which the coating processing apparatus 107 and the coating film removing apparatus 108 are stacked in this manner, the main arms 80 and 80a are arranged in the upper layers of the respective devices 10.
Since it is the same as the above-mentioned embodiment except that it can be raised up to 7, 108, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

Further, in the above embodiment, the resist film at the unnecessary end portion on the long side of the substrate G is first dissolved and removed by the pair of left and right removal nozzles 51, and then the substrate G is rotated by 90 °. Although an example of dissolving and removing the unnecessary resist film on the short side has been described above, for example, four removal nozzles are provided,
The unnecessary resist films on the four sides of the substrate G may be simultaneously dissolved and removed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 22, removal nozzles 151A, 151B, 151C and 151D are provided. Since the four removing nozzles have the same configuration, moving mechanism, and the like, only the removing nozzle 151A will be described here, and the other detailed description will be omitted.

The removing nozzle 151A is attached to a slide member 153A slidably attached to a guide rail 152A provided so as to extend in the Y direction in the figure. The slide member 153A is reciprocally movable in the Y direction by a moving mechanism (not shown) using a wire, a chain, a belt, a ball screw, a stepping motor, an air cylinder, an ultrasonic motor, a superconducting linear motor, or the like. There is.

As shown in FIG. 23, the removal nozzle 151A has substantially the same structure as the removal nozzle 51 shown in FIG. 6, and therefore the different parts will be mainly described here.
Nozzle 151a for front surface cleaning, nozzle 15 for back surface cleaning
In addition to 1b, an end surface cleaning nozzle 151g for cleaning the end surface (side surface) of the substrate G is provided inside,
Each nozzle is configured such that the on / off valve (not shown) inserted in each solvent supply path can independently control the on / off of the solvent supply and the supply amount.

Further, a gas injection nozzle 154 is provided on the upper surface side of the substrate G, a gas injection nozzle 155 is provided on the lower surface side of the substrate G, and the injection direction thereof is the direction of the injection head 153, in front of the end portion of the injection head 153 on the substrate G side. That is, they are arranged so as to be in the outer peripheral direction of the substrate G. Then, the injected gas passes through the inside of the injection head 153 and is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 156.

Further, as shown in FIG. 22, the removing nozzle 1
On both sides of 51A, drying gas injection nozzles 157A and 158A for injecting gas from the central direction of the substrate G of the long side A of the substrate G toward the peripheral portion of the upper surface are provided, for example, the removal nozzle 151.
It is provided by a mounting member (not shown) so as to be movable in the Y direction together with A. Although the drying gas nozzles 157A and 158A are shown on the outside of the substrate G in FIG. 22, they are arranged at arbitrary positions that do not hinder the loading and unloading of the substrate G.

Other removal nozzles 151B, 151C, 15
1D has the same configuration as the removal nozzle 151A, and the reference numeral is assigned to each part of the removal nozzle 151A. The nozzles are nozzles for dissolving and removing unnecessary resist on the edges of the short side B, the long side C, and the short side D of the substrate G, respectively.

Next, the procedure for removing unnecessary resist will be described. The substrate G having a resist film formed on the upper surface by the coating mechanism 1 shown in FIG. 1 is placed on the mounting table 159 of the edge removing mechanism 2A by the transfer arm 70 so that the long side is parallel to the Y direction and the short side is parallel to the X direction. It is placed so that it is adsorbed and held.

After the transfer arm 70 retracts to the standby position,
Each removal nozzle 151A, 151B of the edge removal mechanism 2A,
151C and 151D are set at the edges of the four sides, and the resist solvent is sprayed to the edges while simultaneously moving along the edges to dissolve and remove the unnecessary resist film.

At the time of this removal, the injection of the solvent from each cleaning nozzle may be controlled in accordance with the resist adhesion state at the edge of the substrate G. For example, when the resist does not adhere to the end surface and the peripheral portion of the back surface of the substrate G and there is no need to dissolve and remove the resist, the solvent is sprayed only from the front surface cleaning nozzle 151a.

When the resist is also attached to the end face, the solvent is jetted from the end face cleaning nozzle 151g, and when the resist is attached to the peripheral portion of the back face, the back face cleaning nozzle is used. The solvent is also jetted from the nozzle 151b.

In addition, when the place where the resist film is attached to the peripheral portion of the end face and the rear surface of the substrate G is known in advance, when the removal nozzle 151A moves near this place, the end face cleaning nozzle is used. 151g and backside cleaning nozzle 1
You may control so that a solvent may be sprayed from 51b. This makes it possible to reduce the consumption of the solvent.
Further, as described above, it is possible to prevent the fluctuation of the resist film thickness on the surface.

Furthermore, when nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas, for example, is jetted from the gas jet nozzles 154 and 155 during the above-mentioned dissolution and removal, N ₂ which is sucked into the jet head 153 toward the periphery of the substrate G.
Since there is a gas flow, the nozzle 151 for surface cleaning
a, the solvent 151 ejected from the end surface cleaning nozzle 151g, and the back surface cleaning nozzle 151b, bubbles generated, etc.
Even if it is attempted to scatter toward the center of the substrate, it is possible to prevent the N ₂ gas from discharging toward the jet head side and flying and adhering to the surface of the substrate G.

Further, for example, heated N ₂ gas is sprayed from the drying gas nozzle 157A toward the resist film in the peripheral portion of the substrate G and dried before being dissolved and removed by the solvent in the removal nozzle 151A. It is also possible to suppress the rise of the resist at the edge portion of the resist film after dissolution and removal.

Furthermore, the substrate G and the resist film are dried by injecting, for example, heated N ₂ gas from the drying gas nozzle 158A onto the peripheral portion of the substrate G after the resist film is dissolved and removed. By this drying, the solvent immediately evaporates and the edge portion of the resist film is dried, so that there is no unnecessary dissolution and the resist film on the edge portion is also stable.

In the above description, only the removal nozzle 151A has been described, but the other removal nozzles 151B and 151B.
Since the same can be said for C and 151D, description thereof will be omitted.

Further, the removal nozzles 151A, 151B,
Although an example in which an independent moving mechanism is provided as the moving mechanism of 151C and 151D has been described, other mechanisms may be used as long as they can simultaneously dissolve and remove four sides, for example, the removing nozzles 151A and 151C, 151B and 151D, respectively. It may be attached to a common mechanism and configured to be movable by two moving mechanisms. Further, the removal nozzles 151A, 151
All of B, 151C and 151D may be configured to be movable by one common moving mechanism.

In the case of the above-mentioned independent moving mechanism, each moving speed may be set and controlled independently depending on the resist adhesion state on each side.

Further, in FIG. 22, the long side of the substrate G is held so as to be parallel to the Y direction, but the short side is held so as to be parallel to the Y direction, and the respective removal nozzles 151A and 151 are held.
B, 151C and 151D may be arranged correspondingly. For example, by using an air cylinder etc. for each removal nozzle or making the stroke adjustable structure,
Stretch to accommodate.

Further, the temperature of the substrate G, the solvent and the N ₂ gas may be adjusted to the optimum temperature for dissolution to promote dissolution and removal of the resist film. As the temperature control of the substrate G, for example, a temperature controlled atmosphere is provided around the substrate G, temperature controlled clean air or N ₂ gas is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate G, temperature controlled clean air on the back surface of the substrate G, or the like. N ₂ gas is supplied, the temperature is adjusted by the mounting table 159, or the temperature is adjusted by infrared rays, microwaves, or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which one removal nozzle is provided for one side of the substrate G has been described.
A plurality of, for example, two may be provided to shorten the moving distance, or may be dissolved and removed twice. In this case, the type of solvent may be different. Further, the melting and removing position may be different.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the example of the constitution in which the substrate G is fixed and the respective removal nozzles are moved has been described. However, the substrate G is rotated and the respective removal nozzles are expanded / contracted in the X and Y directions correspondingly. It may be configured such that the four sides are simultaneously melted and removed while being moved to.

Further, in the above embodiments, the case where the processing method and the processing apparatus of the present invention are applied to the coating processing of the LCD substrate has been described. However, the coating liquid is applied to the rectangular substrate other than the LCD substrate and the coating is performed. Of course, it can be applied to a method and apparatus for removing an unnecessary coating film on the edge of the processed substrate.

[0098]

As described above, according to the coating apparatus of the present invention, since it is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the processing method of claim 1, after the coating liquid is applied to the surface of the rectangular substrate to be processed, the coating film on both sides of the two opposite edges of the substrate to be processed is removed. Therefore, the coating film can be uniformly processed and the product yield can be improved.

2) According to the processing apparatus of the second aspect, the coating mechanism for coating the coating liquid on the surface of the rectangular substrate to be processed, and the both edges of the substrate to be processed on which the coating film is formed. Since the edge removing mechanism for spraying the removing liquid to remove the coating film is disposed adjacent to the substrate and the transport mechanism for transporting the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism is provided, the apparatus is downsized. In addition, the throughput can be improved.

3) According to the processing apparatus of the third aspect, after removing the coating films on the edges of the two opposite sides of the substrate to be held held by the holding means, the holding means is rotated to rotate the substrate to be processed. Since the coating film on the edge portions of the other two sides can be removed, the unnecessary coating film on the edge portion of the substrate to be processed can be removed quickly and reliably, and the product yield and throughput can be improved. Can be planned.

4) According to the processing apparatus of the fourth or fifth aspect, the edge removing mechanism is provided with an auxiliary cleaning nozzle for injecting a removing liquid to the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed, whereby the above 3) is provided.
In addition, the coating film attached to the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed can be removed, and the removal of the coating film can be further ensured.

5) According to the processing apparatus of the sixth aspect, it is possible to prevent the collision of the removing liquid ejected from the opposing removing nozzles of the edge removing mechanism for ejecting the removing liquid to both edge portions of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the removing liquid scattered by the collision from adhering to the coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed, and to make the film thickness uniform.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a coating mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing a drive unit of the coating mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an edge removing mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a cross section of a part of the removal nozzle according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a removal nozzle.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of an auxiliary cleaning nozzle according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing a different mounting state of the auxiliary cleaning nozzle.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a part of another form of the auxiliary cleaning nozzle in cross section and an explanatory view of a specific example of cleaning.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing still another form of the auxiliary cleaning nozzle.

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view showing a carrying mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing the procedure of the processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of an LCD substrate coating / developing system to which the processing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a main part of a main arm in a coating / developing system.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a drive mechanism of the main arm.

FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cleaning device in the coating / developing processing system.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing unit in the coating / developing system.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the coating / developing system.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the coating / developing system.

FIG. 22 is a schematic plan view showing another embodiment of the edge removing mechanism.

FIG. 23 is a side view showing in cross section another form of the removal nozzle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 G LCD substrate (substrate to be processed) 1 coating mechanism 2 edge removal mechanism 3 transport mechanism 50 mounting table (holding means) 51 removal nozzle 51a nozzle (front surface cleaning nozzle) 51b nozzle (back surface cleaning nozzle) 51A, 51c to 51f auxiliary cleaning Nozzle 55 Position adjustment mechanism 56 Vertical movement mechanism 57 Horizontal movement mechanism

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G03F 7/16 501 (72) Inventor Tatsuya Iwasaki 2655 Tsukyu, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Tokyo Electron Kyushu Kumamoto office

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A coating step of coating a coating liquid on the surface of a rectangular substrate to be processed, and a removing liquid is sprayed on both sides of an edge of the first side of the substrate to be processed on which a coating film is formed. And a second removing step for removing the coating film on the edge by removing the coating film on the edge of the substrate to be processed. And a processing method comprising: 2. A coating mechanism for coating a coating liquid on the surface of a rectangular substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid by spraying a removing liquid onto both edges of the substrate on which a coating film is formed by the coating. A processing apparatus, which is disposed adjacent to an edge removing mechanism to be removed, and is provided with a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism. 3. A coating mechanism for applying a coating liquid onto the surface of a rectangular substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid by spraying a removing liquid onto both edges of the edge of the substrate to be processed where the coating film is formed by the coating. An edge removing mechanism for removing and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism, and a holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed by the edge removing mechanism. And a nozzle that moves along a side of the substrate to be processed and sprays a removing liquid on both sides of an edge of the substrate to be processed. 4. A coating mechanism for applying a coating liquid onto the surface of a rectangular substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid by spraying a removing liquid onto both edge portions of the substrate to be processed on which a coating film is formed. An edge removing mechanism for removing and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism, and a holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed by the edge removing mechanism. A front and back surface cleaning nozzle that moves along the side of the processing target substrate and sprays a removing liquid on both edges of the processing target substrate; and the processing target substrate that extends outside the back surface cleaning nozzle. And a supplementary cleaning nozzle that sprays a removing liquid onto the back surface of the corner of the processing apparatus. 5. A coating mechanism for applying a coating liquid onto the surface of a rectangular substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid by spraying a removing liquid onto both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed on which a coating film has been formed by the coating. An edge removing mechanism for removing and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate to be processed from the coating mechanism to the edge removing mechanism, and a holding means for rotatably holding the substrate to be processed by the edge removing mechanism. And a nozzle that moves along the side of the substrate to be processed and sprays a removing liquid on both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed,
A processing apparatus, comprising: an auxiliary cleaning nozzle, which is disposed on the lower side of the holding means and sprays a removing liquid onto the back surface of the corner of the substrate to be processed. 6. At least two nozzles of an edge removing mechanism for ejecting the removing liquid are provided on both sides of the edge of the substrate to be processed, and the removing liquids ejected from the respective ejection holes are provided at positions where they do not interfere with each other near the nozzles. The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: