JPH07333857A - Treatment method and treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to easy execute film thickness control of a coating film and substitution of air for the atmosphere in a treating vessel after treatment. CONSTITUTION:The treatment device is composed of a rotatable spin chuck 20 which holds an LCD substrate G, a hermetic rotary cup 30 which houses this LCD substrate G and a resist liquid supplying nozzle 10 which supplies a resist liquid to the surface of the LCD substrate G. A shaft part 34 disposed at a cap 33 to close the aperture 32 of the rotary cup 30 is provided with a spiral outdoor introducing passage 35 for introducing the outdoor air into the treating chamber 31 according to rotation of the rotary cup 30. As a result, the outdoor air is introduced from the outdoor introducing passage 35 into the treating chamber 31 by rotating the treating vessel during the coating treatment or after the coating treatment to suppress the adhesion of the mists of the coating liquid to the substrate to be treated and to uniformly dry the coating liquid to form the coating film having the uniform film thickness.

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 onto a 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, a spray method or the like is performed. One of the treatment methods is as follows. A known method is to apply a coating liquid to the surface of a substrate to be processed housed in a closed processing container, and then rotate the processing container and the substrate to be processed to form a coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed. ing. According to this processing method, by rotating the processing container and the substrate to be processed at the same time, the resist solution can be applied without directly exposing the surface of the substrate to be exposed to the outside air. Further, in this type of processing method, in order to control the film thickness of the resist film,
For example, the exhaust amount of the processing container is adjusted, the rotational force of the processing container is adjusted, or the supply amount of the resist solution is adjusted.

[0005]

However, the LCD is
In the case of a rectangular substrate such as a substrate, turbulent flow near the substrate during rotation and an increase in the demand for the use of safe solvents (solvents) may cause the coating film thickness to vary depending on the device driving conditions and the solvent used. Uniformity control is difficult.

For example, if the solvent has a high vapor pressure, it easily dries, and the film thickness distribution is different between the ECA type (ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate) and PGMEA type (propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate). There is a problem that it is extremely difficult to include the difference in film thickness at the outer peripheral portion.

Further, the residual resist concentration mist rises in the processing container during the coating process, and the residual resist mist is dried and changes into particles. Therefore, after the resist coating process, the internal air is replaced before opening the processing container. There was a problem that I had to do.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a processing method and a processing apparatus capable of easily controlling the film thickness of a coating film and performing air replacement.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the processing method of the present invention is such that after the coating liquid is applied to the surface of a substrate to be processed contained in a closed processing container, the processing container is treated. And a treatment method of rotating a substrate to be processed to form a coating film on the surface of the substrate to be treated, a step of introducing outside air into the processing container during a coating step of forming a coating film on the surface of the substrate to be treated And the step of replacing the atmosphere in the processing container with the outside air by introducing outside air into the processing container after completion of the coating step (claim 1).

The processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a rotatable holding means for holding a substrate to be processed, a rotatable hermetically-sealed processing container for housing the substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate to be processed. On the premise of a processing apparatus including a coating liquid supply means, the processing container is provided with a spiral outside air introduction passage for introducing outside air into the processing container as the processing container rotates. (Claim 2).

[0011]

According to the present invention, the outside air (air) is introduced into the processing container during the coating process for forming the coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed, so that the mist of the coating liquid adheres to the substrate to be processed. It is possible to form a coating film having a uniform film thickness by suppressing the above-mentioned problem and drying the coating liquid uniformly. Further, after the coating process is completed, by introducing outside air into the processing container and replacing the atmosphere inside the processing container with outside air, the concentration of the misted coating liquid remaining in the processing container can be diluted. . Therefore, the coating film can be made uniform, and the concentration of the residual coating liquid mist generated after the coating process can be reduced to prevent the generation of particles due to the drying of the residual coating liquid. (Claim 1).

Further, according to the processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the processing container is rotated during or after the coating process so that the outside air is positively introduced into the processing container through the outside air introduction passage. (Claim 2).

[0013]

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.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing apparatus of the present invention has a rectangular substrate to be processed, for example, a rectangular LCD substrate G.
A resist liquid supply nozzle 10 as a coating liquid supply means for supplying a coating liquid, for example, a resist liquid to the surface of a substrate (hereinafter referred to as a substrate) to apply the resist liquid; (Θ direction)
A spin chuck 20 that rotates in a vertical direction, a processing container 30 (hereinafter referred to as a rotating cup) in the form of a cylinder having a low opening and an upper portion having a processing chamber 31 that surrounds an upper portion and an outer peripheral portion of the spin chuck 20 and has an open upper portion; Opening 3 of cup 30
A main part is composed of a lid 33 that is attached (detachable) so as to be capable of opening and closing 2, and a drain cup 40 that is arranged so as to surround the lower portion and the outer peripheral side of the rotary cup 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the spin chuck 20 is formed of a frame body 20b having a substantially rectangular shape and having a window hole 20a on each side, and a corner portion of the frame body 20b. A tubular support piece 20c that supports two sides of the corner of the substrate G is rotatably attached in the horizontal direction. Further, the spin chuck 20 is rotatable (rotatable) in the horizontal direction via a rotary shaft 22 that is rotated by the drive of a drive motor 21 arranged below, and an elevating cylinder 23 connected to the rotary shaft 22. It can be moved up and down by driving.

In this case, the rotary shaft 22 is rotatably and slidably mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the fixed cylindrical body 24 via a bearing 25a. The rotary shaft 22 has a driven toothed pulley 26a.
Is attached to the driven toothed pulley 26a, and the driven toothed pulley 26a is attached to the drive shaft 21a of the drive motor 21.
The toothed belt 27a is stretched between the b and the b.

Therefore, when the drive motor 21 is driven, the rotary shaft 22 is rotated via the toothed belt 27a and the spin chuck 20 is rotated. Further, the lower side of the rotary shaft 22 is disposed in a cylinder body (not shown), and the rotary shaft 22 is connected to the elevating cylinder 23 via a vacuum seal portion 28 in the cylinder body and is driven by the elevating cylinder 23. Can move up and down.

The rotary cup 30 has the fixed cylindrical body 24.
Is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cup 30 via a rotary cylinder 29 that is mounted via a bearing 25b, and has a sealing function between the bottom 30a of the rotary cup 30 and the lower surface of the spin chuck 20 (not shown). ) Is interposed so that it can rotate relative to the spin chuck 20. Then, the driven toothed pulley 26b mounted on the rotating tubular body 29.
And a drive toothed pulley 21 mounted on the drive motor 21.
The drive from the drive motor 21 is transmitted to the rotary cup 30 by the toothed belt 29b that is wound around c, and the rotary cup 30 is rotated.

In this case, the diameter of the driven toothed pulley 26b is formed to be the same as the diameter of the driven toothed pulley 26a mounted on the rotary shaft 22, and the toothed belts 27a and 27b are wound around the same drive motor 21. Therefore, the rotating cup 30 and the spin chuck 20 rotate in the same direction. Further, the drive toothed pulleys 21b and 21c are respectively the clutch 21
It is mounted on the drive shaft 21a through the drive shafts 21d and 21e, and the pulleys 2 with drive teeth are driven by the operation of the clutches 21d and 21e.
It is configured that 1b and 21c can be driven independently. Therefore, the spin chuck 20 and the rotating cup 30
Can rotate at the same time, and the spin chuck 20 can be stopped and only the rotating cup 30 can be rotated. In such an operation, the toothed belts 27 are provided to different drive motors without using the same drive motor 21.
It can also be performed by connecting the driven pulleys 26a and 26b via a and 27b.

The pulleys 21b and 21c with the driving teeth are provided.
By forming the center portion of the driven toothed pulleys 26a and 26b into a medium height 50 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,
The pulley 21b, utilizing the tension of the belts 27a, 27b,
21c, 26a and 26b can be provided with an automatic centering function. Further, since it is not necessary to provide the pulley flange, it is possible to prevent the side portions of the belts 27a and 27b from being worn and to downsize the belt drive mechanism.

A labyrinth seal portion (not shown) is formed on the opposing surfaces of the fixed cylindrical body 24, the rotary shaft 22 and the rotary cylindrical body 29, so that dust can be removed from the lower drive system into the rotary cup 30 during the rotation process. Are prevented from entering. In addition,
The driven toothed pulleys 26a and 26b have different diameters,
You may make it rotate at a different rotation speed.

Further, the cover 33 attached to the opening 32 of the rotary cup 30 has a shaft portion 34 protruding upward from the central portion thereof, and the upper end portion of the shaft portion 34 and the shaft portion 3 are provided.
A spiral outside air introduction passage 35 is provided to communicate with the processing chamber 31 below 4 (see FIG. 4). Further, an exhaust hole 36 is formed at an appropriate position in the circumferential direction on the lower side of the side wall 30b of the rotary cup 30. In addition, the lid 33 and the substrate G
A baffle plate 3 formed of a perforated plate or the like having a size larger than that of the substrate G attached to the lid 33 at the central portion at an intermediate position between
7 are arranged. An auxiliary baffle plate 37a having a filter function is arranged near the opening of the outside air introduction passage 35 on the processing chamber 31 side.

On the other hand, a drain port 41 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the bottom of the drain cup 40, and an exhaust port 4 connected to an exhaust device such as a vacuum pump (not shown) is provided on the inner side of the drain port 41.
Two are provided.

With the above-described structure, when the drive motor 21 is driven, the rotary cup 30 moves in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
When the rotary cup 30 rotates, the outside air flows through the outside air introduction passage 35 into the processing chamber 31, and flows from the exhaust hole 36 toward the exhaust port 42.

In the above description, the bottom portion 4 of the drain cup 40 is
0a is provided with the drainage port 41 and the exhaust port 42, but it is not always necessary to have such a structure. For example, as shown in FIG. Of the drain cup 40A is provided, and an annular passage 43 is provided inside the drain cup 40.
A radial exhaust passage 44 communicating with the exhaust port 42 is provided at an upper portion on the inner peripheral side of the drain cup 40, while providing an exhaust port 42 connected to an exhaust device (not shown) at appropriate places (for example, four places in the circumferential direction) on the outer peripheral wall of May be formed.

As described above, the exhaust port 42 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the drain cup 40, and the exhaust passage 44 communicating with the exhaust port 42 is formed on the upper inner peripheral side of the drain cup 40. The mist scattered by the centrifugal force in 31 and flowing into the drain cup 40 through the exhaust hole 36 can be prevented from rising to the upper side of the rotary cup 30, and can be discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 42.

The annular passage 43 is detoured by an outer wall 43a standing upright from the bottom of the drain cup 40 and an inner side wall 43b hanging down from the ceiling of the drain cup 40 so that exhaust can be performed uniformly. The outer wall 43
The bottom part 43c located between a and the inner wall 43b is provided with a drainage port 41 at an appropriate interval in the circumferential direction.

Since the lid 33 needs to be fixed to the opening 32 of the rotary cup 30 and rotated integrally during the rotation process, for example, a fixing pin (not shown) protruding above the rotary cup 30, The lid 33 can be fixed to the rotating cup 30 by fitting a fitting recess (not shown) fitted to the fixing pin to each other.

When the lid 33 is opened and closed, the robot arm 50 is inserted under the bulging head portion 33a protruding from the upper surface of the lid body 33 as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. The robot arm 5 is provided in the locking groove 33b provided in the portion 33a.
This can be done by engaging the locking pin 51 protruding from 0 and then moving the robot arm 50 up and down. It should be noted that the locking groove 33b of the bulging head 33a and the locking pin 51 of the robot arm 50 are aligned when the lid 33 is opened, and the fixing pin and the fitting recess are aligned when the lid 33 is closed. Can be performed by controlling the rotation angle of the drive motor 21 formed by a servo motor or the like.

By disposing a cup cleaning nozzle (not shown) in the fixed cylindrical body 24 which is fixed on the lower side of the rotary cup 30 without rotating, the rotary cup 30 and the lid 3 are provided.
The inner surface of 3 can be cleaned. That is, the spin chuck 20 is lifted to face the cup cleaning nozzle between the spin chuck 20 and the bottom of the rotary cup 30, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the inner surface of the rotating cup 30 and the lid 33 to rotate the rotary cup 30. The inner surface of the lid 33 can be washed.

Next, the procedure of resist coating on the substrate G using the processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, with the lid 33 pulled up, the substrate G carried on the spin chuck 20 is adsorbed and held by the spin chuck 20, and then the resist is supplied from the resist solution supply nozzle 10 to the surface of the substrate G. The liquid is dropped (see FIG. 7 (a)). Next, the resist solution supply nozzle 10
When the spin chuck 20 and the rotating cup 30 are rotated with the lid 33 lowered to close the opening 32 of the rotating cup 30, the resist liquid dropped on the surface of the substrate G is subjected to centrifugal force. A resist film is diffused to form a resist film on the surface of the substrate G (see FIG. 7B). At this time, the outside air introduction passage 35 provided in the shaft portion 34 of the rotary cup 30
Outside air is introduced into the processing chamber 31 from the inside, and the introduced outside air, that is, air, flows from the central portion of the substrate G toward the outer peripheral portion and flows to the exhaust port 42 through the exhaust hole 36. It is possible to suppress the adhesion to the surface and to uniformly dry the resist and make the resist film thickness uniform.

After the spin chuck 20 is stopped from rotating after the coating process is performed as described above, and only the rotary cup 30 is rotated, the outside air introduction passage 35 provided in the shaft portion 34 of the rotary cup 30 as described above. Outside air (air) is introduced into the processing chamber 31 from the air, the atmosphere of the resist mist residing in the processing chamber 31 is replaced with air, and the resist mist is discharged to the outside through the drainage port 41 (FIG. 7C). )reference). After the coating process, the rotary cup 30 is rotated for a predetermined time, and then the coating process is completed.

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. 8, the coating / developing system described above includes a loader section 90 for loading / unloading the substrate G, a first processing section 91 for the substrate G, and a first processing section via a relay section 93. It is mainly configured with a second processing unit 92 that is provided in series with 91. 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 100 for the main arm 80 which is movable in the X, Y and Z directions and is rotatable by θ.
On one side, a brush cleaning device 110 for brush cleaning the substrate G, a jet water cleaning device 120 for cleaning the substrate G with high-pressure jet water, an adhesion treatment device 130 for hydrophobicizing the surface of the substrate G, and a substrate A cooling processing device 140 for cooling G to a predetermined temperature is arranged, and a coating processing device 150 and a coating film removing device 160 having the processing device of the present invention are arranged on the other side of the transport path 100.

In this case, the main arm 80 has the structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.
1a and 81b each have a double structure capable of independently moving forward and backward in the horizontal direction. That is, a pair of outer frames 83, which are slidable along the outer linear guides 82 arranged to face each other, support both sides of the upper arm 81 a, and are mounted on the drive shaft 84 a of the first drive motor 84. The outer frame 83 and the toothed belt (not shown) that is hung on the outer toothed pulley 85 that is driven by the transmission toothed pulley 85c that is connected by hung the toothed belt 85b on the toothed pulley 85a. The upper arm body 81a can be moved forward and backward by fastening the first drive motor 84 forward and backward. Further, 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 attached to a drive shaft 88a of a second drive motor 88. The toothed belt (not shown) and the inner frame that are hung on the inner toothed pulley 89 that is driven by the transmission toothed pulley 89c that is connected by the toothed belt 89b that is connected to the driven toothed pulley 89a. The lower arm body 81b can be moved forward and backward by the forward and reverse rotations of the second drive motor 88 by connecting with 87.

Main arm 80 constructed as described above
In the belt drive mechanism of, the toothed pulleys 85a, 85
By forming the c, 85; 89a, 89c, 89 in the middle height 50 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, it is not necessary to provide a flange on the toothed pulley, and the self-centering function can be provided. In addition, it is possible to prevent wear of the side portions of the toothed belt and also to prevent generation of dust caused by wear of the belt. Further, the belt drive mechanism can be downsized and the device can be downsized. It should be noted that the substrate G is attached to the arm bodies 81a and 81b.
A holding claw 81c for holding the is provided upright. Further, the presence or absence of the substrate G placed on the arm bodies 81a and 81b of the main arm 80 can be detected by the sensor 200 (see FIG. 10).

On the other hand, the second processing section 92 has a main arm 80A that is movable in the X, Y and Z directions and can rotate by the same as the first processing section 91, and the main arm 80A transport path 100a. A heat treatment device 170 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 the developing device 180 is arranged on the other side of the transport path 100a.

The transfer section 94 has a cassette 94a for temporarily holding the substrate G, and the cassette 9a.
Transport tweezers 9 for loading and unloading the substrate G with the 4a
4b and a transfer table 94c for the substrate G are provided.

In the coating / developing 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 110. The substrate G brush-cleaned in the brush cleaning device 110 is subsequently cleaned in the jet water cleaning device 120 with high-pressure jet water. After that, the substrate G is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment by the adhesion processing device 130 and cooled by the cooling processing device 140, and then a photoresist, that is, a photosensitive film is formed by coating with the resist coating processing device 160 according to the present invention. And subsequently the coating film removing device 160
Therefore, the unnecessary resist film on the sides of the substrate G is removed.
Then, after the photoresist is heated by the heat treatment device 170 and subjected to a baking treatment, the exposure device 95
A predetermined pattern is exposed at. Then, the exposed substrate G is conveyed into the developing device 180, developed by the developing solution, and then rinsed with the rinse solution to complete the developing process.

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

In the above embodiment, 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, the semiconductor wafer, or the like. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a method and apparatus for applying and removing an unnecessary applied film on the edge of the applied substrate.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the processing method of claim 1, since the outside air is introduced into the processing container during the coating step of forming the coating film on the surface of the substrate to be treated, the substrate to be treated with the mist of the coating liquid is treated. It is possible to form a coating film having a uniform thickness by suppressing the adhesion to the surface and drying the coating liquid uniformly. In addition, after the coating process is completed, external air is introduced into the processing container,
Since the atmosphere in the processing container is replaced with the outside air, the concentration of the misted coating liquid remaining in the processing container can be diluted. Therefore, the coating film can be made uniform, the concentration of the residual coating liquid mist generated after the coating process can be reduced, and the generation of particles due to the drying of the residual coating liquid can be prevented.

2) According to the processing apparatus of the second aspect, the outside air can be introduced into the processing container with the rotation of the processing container. Therefore, during the coating processing, the mist of the coating liquid is applied to the substrate to be processed. It is possible to form a coating film having a uniform thickness by suppressing the adhesion of the coating liquid and drying the coating liquid uniformly. In addition, after the coating process is completed, external air is introduced into the processing container,
By replacing the atmosphere in the processing container with the outside air, it is possible to prevent the generation of particles due to the drying of the misted coating liquid remaining in the processing container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a modification of the processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a spiral outside air introducing passage according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a belt driving unit of the processing device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a toothed pulley of a belt driving unit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of a processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 8 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. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of a main arm in a coating / developing system.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a drive mechanism of the main arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

 G LCD substrate (substrate to be processed) 10 Resist liquid supply nozzle (coating liquid supply means) 20 Spin chuck (holding means) 30 Rotating cup (processing container) 31 Processing chamber 33 Lid 34 Shaft 35 External air introduction passage

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A coating solution is applied to the surface of a substrate to be processed housed in a hermetically sealed processing container, and then the processing container and the substrate to be processed are rotated to form a coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed. In the processing method, during the coating step of forming a coating film on the surface of the substrate to be processed, a step of introducing outside air into the processing container, and after the coating step is completed, introducing outside air into the processing container, And a step of replacing the atmosphere in the processing container with outside air. 2. A rotatable holding means for holding a substrate to be processed, a rotatable hermetic processing container for housing the substrate to be processed, and a coating liquid supply means for supplying a coating liquid to the surface of the substrate to be processed. A processing apparatus comprising: a processing apparatus including a spiral outside air introduction passage that introduces outside air into the processing container as the processing container rotates.