JPH0737804A - Cleaning device for substrate edge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the dissolved substance to be blown away from a specific position of a substrate surface and the title substrate edge to be cleaned without disturbing the evenness in the thickness of thin films coated on the substrate surface. CONSTITUTION:A square substrate 1 with a thin film formed thereon is held by a substrate holding means while a solvent is discharged from solvent nozzles 3a, 3b onto the surface and rear surface of the edge of the square substrate 1 to dissolve the needless thin film and gas is blown in spots against the surface of the square substrate 1 from gas nozzles 4a, 4b to blow away the dissolved substance from the edge of the square substrate 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal glass substrate, a photomask glass substrate, and a semiconductor wafer on which a thin film such as a photoresist coating solution, a photosensitive polyimide resin, or a dye for a color filter is formed. A substrate that holds a substrate with a thin film formed on its surface in order to dissolve and remove the unnecessary thin film adhering to the edge of the substrate by discharging the solvent to the edge of the substrate after the thin film is formed. A holding means, a solvent nozzle that discharges a solvent to at least one of the front and back surfaces of the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means to dissolve the unnecessary thin film, and the melted material dissolved by the solvent is sprayed with a gas. The present invention relates to a substrate edge cleaning device provided with a gas nozzle that blows the substrate outward from the edge.

[0002]

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

However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional example, although the open ends of the first and second pipes and the open end of the third pipe are close to each other, the suction force cannot be sufficiently exerted at the time of exhausting. , Also, in the third pipe, turbulence of the air flow is generated,
It is difficult to immediately discharge the solvent discharged from the first and second pipes, and it unexpectedly remains at a position near the edge of the substrate, and the remaining solvent adheres to the edge of the substrate and onto the photoresist coating surface. There is a drawback that it penetrates and reduces the uniformity of the film thickness applied to the substrate.

In order to solve such a drawback, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed a substrate holding means for holding a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface, and front and back surfaces of the edges of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. Equipped with a solvent nozzle that discharges the solvent on both sides to dissolve the unnecessary thin film, and a gas nozzle that blows the melted material dissolved by the solvent to the outside of the edge of the substrate by spraying the gas, the solvent nozzle and the gas nozzle are integrated In this state, a substrate edge cleaning device was proposed in which the substrate edge cleaning device is configured to move relative to the substrate edge so as to clean the substrate edge (see Japanese Patent Application No. 3-357131).

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned proposed substrate edge cleaning apparatus, the gas is blown out in a strip shape from the gas nozzle whose tip side is narrowed in a knife shape, and the blown out air is the surface of the substrate. As the pressure hits, the pressure drops and spreads widely, making it difficult to apply the gas to the desired location on the substrate surface at the desired pressure, and the uniformity of the film thickness of the thin film applied to the substrate surface due to the gas pressure. There was a drawback that disturbed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to accurately blow away a melted material at a desired position on the surface of a substrate and to control the film thickness of a thin film applied to the surface of the substrate. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate edge cleaning device that can clean the edge without disturbing the uniformity.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a substrate edge cleaning device of the invention according to claim 1 holds a substrate holding means for holding a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface, A solvent nozzle that discharges a solvent onto at least one of the front and back surfaces of the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means, and a solvent nozzle that dissolves the unnecessary thin film, and the dissolved material dissolved by the solvent is sprayed with a gas to the edge of the substrate. In a substrate edge cleaning device equipped with a gas nozzle that blows away from the edge, the gas from the gas nozzle is sprayed in a spot shape onto the surface of the substrate. The gas may be sprayed onto the surface of the substrate in a spot shape by forming the discharge portion at the tip of the gas nozzle into a needle shape (claim 2).

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

[0009]

According to the structure of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the substrate having the thin film uniformly formed on the surface thereof is held by the substrate holding means, and at least one of both ends of the front and back surfaces of the substrate is held. The solvent is discharged from the solvent nozzle to the edge to dissolve the thin film at the edge of the substrate, and the dissolved unnecessary thin film and solvent are sprayed from the gas nozzle to the desired location on the edge of the rectangular substrate in the shape of a spot on the substrate. Can be blown outside the edges of the.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with a part thereof being cut away, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the whole. Four solvent nozzles 3a ... Dissolving an unnecessary thin film by discharging a solvent to the edge of the surface of the rectangular substrate 1 at four locations around the substrate holding means 2 on which the substrate 1 is placed and held by vacuum suction. , Solvent and dissolved unnecessary thin film square substrate 1
Of the four gas nozzles 4a blown off the edges of the
One solvent nozzle 3b that discharges a solvent to the edge of the back surface of the rectangular substrate 1 to dissolve the unnecessary thin film, and one solvent nozzle 3b that blows the solvent and the dissolved unnecessary thin film to the outside of the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. The gas nozzles 4b and the exhaust pipes 5 for sucking the solvent and the dissolved unnecessary thin film are provided, and the substrate edge cleaning device 6 is configured.

A vacuum suction source 9 is connected to the exhaust pipe 5 via a connecting tube 7 and a drain tank 8 and, as shown in the enlarged sectional view of FIG. Upper and lower solvent nozzles 3a, ..., 3b each having a needle-shaped ejection portion S1 are attached.

Further, upper gas nozzles 4a having a needle-shaped discharge portion S2 and a pistol-shaped gas nozzle 4b are attached to the center of the rectangular substrate 1 closer to the solvent nozzles 3a, 3b, respectively. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, the solvent nozzle 3a is provided on the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 on the front surface side.
While supplying the solvent in a spot shape from the gas nozzle 4a, the solvent and the melted material dissolved by the solvent are blown off to the outside of the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 by the gas. It is configured.

The needle-shaped discharge portion S2 of the gas nozzles 4a.
Is about twice as large as the opening area of the needle-shaped ejection portion S1 of the solvent nozzle 3a ... And the solvent nozzle 3a.
And the gas nozzles 4a are arranged side by side so as to be located on the same straight line in the direction orthogonal to the edge of the rectangular substrate 1.

, 3b, the gas nozzles 4a, ..., 4b and the exhaust pipe 5 are integrally attached to a nozzle block 10, and a support arm 11 to which the nozzle block 10 is attached is attached to a fixed frame 12 and is attached to the upper and lower sides. It is movably provided along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 via a pair of guides 13, 13.

A motor bracket 15 provided with an electric motor 14 as a drive mechanism capable of forward and reverse rotations at a position corresponding to one corner of the rectangular substrate 1 held by the substrate holding means 2.
Is erected, and a drive pulley 16 is linked to the drive shaft of the electric motor 14.

One idler pulley 17 is provided at a position corresponding to one corner of the rectangular substrate 1 held by the substrate holding means 2.
However, two idling pulleys 17, 17 are provided at the positions corresponding to the other three corners, and a pair of wires 18, 18 are wound around the drive pulley 16 and the idling pulley 17 ... Turned, that wire 18,1
8, a support arm 11 is connected to each of four predetermined positions, and the electric motor 14 rotates forward and backward to reciprocally move each of the four nozzle blocks 10 along each side of the rectangular substrate 1. It is configured so that one edge can be washed.

With the above configuration, when cleaning the edge of the rectangular substrate 1, first, the discharge of gas from the gas nozzles 4a, 4b and the exhaust from the exhaust pipe 5 are started, and then the nozzle block 10 ... Start moving, nozzle block 10
The solvent is supplied from the solvent nozzles 3a, ..., 3b when a sensor (not shown) detects that the liquid has come to the end of the rectangular substrate 1. After that, the nozzle block 10 is moved back and forth a set number of times to clean the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 by supplying the solvent and gas, and the cleaning process is completed, and the nozzle block 10 is moved to the edge of the rectangular substrate 1. When the sensor (not shown) detects that the solvent nozzle 3a comes off, the solvent nozzle 3a
The gas nozzle 4a is stopped when the supply of the solvent from 3b is stopped and the nozzle block 10 is returned to the origin position.
.., 4b, and the exhaust from the exhaust pipe 5 are stopped, so that the cleaning processing can be performed at once on the four edges of the rectangular substrate 1.

FIG. 5A is a side view of the essential portions of a second embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning device according to the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is as follows. That is, the portion of the predetermined length near the opening end 5a of the exhaust pipe 5 is the rectangular substrate 1
Is parallel to the surface of the substrate and has the same length in the direction orthogonal to the surface of the substrate. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

FIG. 5 (b) is a side view of the essential portions showing a third embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. The difference from the second embodiment is as follows. A solvent nozzle 3a for ejecting a solvent only on the front surface side of the rectangular substrate 1 is inserted at a position near the opening end 5a of the exhaust pipe 5, and the solvent is ejected to the edge of the surface of the rectangular substrate 1 for cleaning processing. It is configured to be able to. The other structure is the same as that of the second embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

FIG. 5 (c) is a side view of the essential portions showing a fourth embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. The difference from the third embodiment is as follows. Gas nozzles 4a are provided near the opening end 5a of the exhaust pipe 5 so as to be located closer to the opening end than the solvent nozzles 3a. The other structure is the same as that of the third embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of an essential part showing a fifth embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning device according to the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is as follows. The number of solvent nozzles 3a for supplying a solvent to the surface of the rectangular substrate 1 is four, whereas the number of gas nozzles 4a for supplying a gas is eight. Further, the opening area of the needle-shaped ejection portion S2 of the gas nozzles 4a ...
It has a small diameter equal to the opening area of 1. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

FIG. 6B is a plan view of the essential portions showing a sixth embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning device according to the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is as follows. There are four solvent nozzles 3a for supplying a solvent to the surface of the rectangular substrate 1, whereas five gas nozzles 4a for supplying a gas are provided, and the gas nozzles 4a, 4a, ... Are adjacent to each other. Solvent nozzles 3a ... Are provided at corresponding positions.
Further, the opening area of the needle-shaped ejection portion S2 of the gas nozzles 4a is configured to have a small diameter equal to the opening area of the needle-shaped ejection portion S1 of the solvent nozzles 3a. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an essential part showing a seventh embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a line A--A of FIG.
9 is an enlarged view of the main part, and is different from the first embodiment in the following points. A solvent pipe 20 and a gas pipe 21 are mounted in a horizontal position inside the casing body 19. The solvent pipe 20 is connected to eight solvent nozzles 3a for supplying a solvent to the surface of the rectangular substrate 1 and a solvent supply pipe 22, while the gas pipe 21 supplies gas to the surface of the rectangular substrate 1. The eight gas nozzles 4a for supplying and the gas supply pipe 23 are connected.

The casing body 19 is detachably attached to the exhaust pipe 5 attached to the nozzle block 10, and eight solvent nozzles 3b for supplying a solvent to the back surface of the rectangular substrate 1 are attached to the exhaust pipe 5. It is installed.

Further, the relay block 24 is attached to the nozzle block 10, and the relay block 24, the solvent supply pipe 22, the gas supply pipe 23, the intake pipe 25 connected to the exhaust pipe 5, and the solvent nozzle on the back surface side. Each of the solvent supply pipes 26 for 3b ... Is connected via a tube 27. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted by giving the same drawing numbers.

According to the structure of the seventh embodiment, since the solvent nozzles 3a ... And the gas nozzles 4a ... Are integrally attached to the casing body 19, the solvent discharge position is different from the case where they are individually attached. This has the advantage that the relative positional accuracy between the gas discharge position and the gas discharge position can be increased.

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

In the above embodiment, the solvent nozzles 3a ... 3b, the gas nozzles 4a ... 4b, and the exhaust pipe 5 are provided corresponding to the four sides of the rectangular substrate 1 held by the substrate holding means 2.
However, according to the present invention, the rectangular substrate 1 is rotated by 90 ° or 180 ° in combination with the configuration in which it is provided so as to correspond to only one side or two sides, and the rectangular substrate 1 is held and rotated. It may be configured such that the edge thereof is cleaned while performing the cleaning.

In the above embodiment, the solvent nozzle 3a is used.
, 3b and gas nozzles 4a, 4b are provided so as to clean the edges of the front and back surfaces of the rectangular substrate 1. However, according to the present invention, one of the edges of the front and back surfaces is cleaned. It may be configured to be provided for cleaning. Further, the discharge portion of the gas nozzle 4b on the back surface side may be formed in a needle shape.

The present invention is not limited to the rectangular substrate 1, but can be applied to a substrate edge cleaning device for cleaning a circular substrate.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the substrate edge cleaning device of the first aspect of the present invention, the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent discharged from the solvent nozzle and the solvent are removed from the edge of the substrate. To blow it outward, since the gas is sprayed from the gas nozzle to the substrate surface in a spot shape, it is possible to spray the gas at a desired position on the substrate surface with sufficient pressure, and the pressure drop with hitting the substrate surface is small, The spread of gas on the substrate surface can be reduced, the melt can be accurately blown off at the desired position on the substrate surface, and the edge of the substrate can be removed without disturbing the uniformity of the film thickness of the thin film applied to the substrate surface. You can now wash.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the substrate edge cleaning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which some parts are cut away.

FIG. 2 is an overall schematic plan view.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part.

5A is a side view of a main part of a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a side view of a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. A side view of the main part, (c) is
It is a side view of the principal part of a substrate edge cleaning device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a main part of a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a plan view of a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view of essential parts showing a seventh embodiment of the substrate edge cleaning device according to the present invention.

8 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Square substrate 2 ... Substrate holding means 3a, 3b ... Solvent nozzle 4a, 4b ... Exhaust pipe S2 ... Gas nozzle discharge part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An unnecessary thin film by discharging a solvent onto at least one of a substrate holding means for holding a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface and both front and back surfaces of an edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. In a substrate edge cleaning device comprising a solvent nozzle that dissolves a solvent, and a gas nozzle that blows a melted material dissolved by a solvent outward from the edge of the substrate by blowing gas, wherein the gas from the gas nozzle is used as the substrate. A substrate edge cleaning device, which is configured to be sprayed on the surface of the substrate in a spot shape. 2. A substrate edge cleaning device in which the discharge portion at the tip of the gas nozzle according to claim 1 is formed in a needle shape.