JPH08335336A - Spin coating method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To suppress the influence of the air flow generated according to the suction of the volatile components of a coating material and to form uniform coating films on a substrate by providing a cowl with plural suction pipelines for absorbing the volatile components of the coating material. CONSTITUTION: This apparatus has a turn table 3 horizontally rotating a substrate 2, the cowl 4 disposed to enclose the turn table 3 and the plural suction pipelines 5 which are disposed at the cowl 4 and suck the volatile components of the coating material in the rotating tangent direction on the outer periphery the substrate 2. A spin coating treatment is executed by setting the substrate 2 on the turn table 3, horizontally rotating the turn table and dropping the coating material onto the surface of the substrate 2 at the time of forming the coating film on the surface of the substrate 2. At this time, the volatile components of the coating material are sucked through plural suction pipelines 5 in rotating tangent direction on the outer periphery of the substrate 2. Then, the flow of the volatile components onto the rotating substrate 2 is surely suppressed and the incoming of the splashing coating material to above the substrate 2 is surely suppressed a well. The uniform coating film is thus formed on the surface of the substrate 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spin coating method and apparatus suitable for use in spin coating processing, particularly spin coating processing in the manufacturing process of a metal master of an optical disc such as a compact disc or a video disc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A metal master for producing an optical disc such as a compact disc or a video disc is produced as follows, for example. That is, first, a glass substrate having a smooth surface is coated with a positive photoresist to have a uniform thickness, and after drying, a laser beam is used to form a photosensitive portion according to an information signal on the photoresist layer. Then, by developing this with a developing solution, the photosensitive portion is dissolved to form information signal pits, and an information recording master is obtained. Next, electroless nickel plating is applied to the surface of the information recording master plate to make it conductive, and then about 60
The nickel layer is formed by electroforming by immersing it in a plating solution set to ℃. Then, after electroforming, pull up the substrate,
The plating solution is washed away, the nickel layer formed after drying is peeled off, and a predetermined coating treatment is performed to obtain the intended metal master.

As a prior art relating to an apparatus for performing such a mastering process in series, a mastering apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-195764 is known. In this mastering device, a plurality of units that perform the above-described metal master manufacturing steps for each step are arranged in one sealed housing, and a cleaner that keeps the inside of the housing dust-free and the unit An automatic transport mechanism for transporting the base material over the entire length is attached to save labor and improve productivity.

In the above mastering apparatus, a spin coater used for spin coat treatment in various steps such as a step of forming a photoresist layer on the surface of a substrate and an electroless plating step, as shown in FIG. A turntable 11 for horizontally rotating the turntable 10 and a cowl 12 arranged so as to surround the turntable 11 are provided. Further, a volatile component of the coating agent is sucked into one place of an outer peripheral edge portion of the cowl 12. This is a configuration in which a suction conduit 13 is provided. Then, during spin coating, the volatile components of the coating agent are forcedly exhausted through the suction conduit 13.

[0005]

By the way, in the above spin coater, the suction pipe line 13 provided in the cowl 12 is provided.
When the gas is exhausted by the air flow, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 5, an air flow is generated toward the suction pipeline 13 via the upper side of the substrate 10, so that the air is scattered to a portion of the cowl 12 facing the suction pipeline 13. Then, a part of the coating material that bounced back and flew over the substrate 10 on which the spin coating process was performed, and adversely affected the uniform formation of the coating film.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a spin coating method and apparatus capable of forming a uniform coating film on a substrate while suppressing the influence of the air flow generated by the suction of the volatile components of the coating agent. It is in.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spin coating method for forming a coating film on a board surface of a board by horizontally dropping the coating agent on the board surface of the board. The above object is achieved by providing a spin coating method characterized in that the volatile component of the coating agent is sucked in the rotational tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is, as an apparatus suitable for carrying out the spin coating method of the present invention, a turntable for horizontally rotating a substrate and a turntable surrounding the turntable. A spin coating apparatus including a cowl provided, wherein the cowl is provided with a plurality of suction conduits for sucking a volatile component of a coating agent in a rotational tangential direction on an outer periphery of the substrate. Is provided.

[0009]

In the spin coating method according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the volatile components of the coating agent are sucked in the direction of the tangential line on the outer periphery of the substrate, the volatile components of the volatile components on the rotating substrate are absorbed. The flow is surely suppressed. Therefore, the scattering of the scattered coating material above the substrate can be reliably suppressed.

In the spin coater according to the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate is set on the turntable and horizontally rotated, and the coating agent is dropped on the board surface of the substrate to perform the spin coat process. The volatile components of the coating agent that volatilize are
The suction is performed in the rotational tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate through a plurality of suction conduits provided in the cowl. Therefore, the flow of the volatile component onto the rotating substrate can be surely suppressed, and the scattering of the scattered coating agent above the substrate can be surely suppressed.

[0011]

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

1 to 3 show an embodiment of a spin coater according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1
Indicates a spin coater, and 2 indicates a substrate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the spin coater 1 comprises a turntable 3 for horizontally rotating the substrate 2 and a cowl 4 surrounding the turntable 3. . Further, the cowl 4 is provided with three suction pipe lines 5 at equal intervals for sucking the volatile component of the coating agent in the rotational tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate 2. Here, the rotational tangential direction means a tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate which is in front of the rotational direction of the substrate (for example, the direction of arrow D in FIG. 3).

The spin coater 1 will be described in more detail. The turntable 3 includes a shaft 30 that is rotated around an axis by a drive motor (not shown), and is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 30 together with the shaft 30. The rotating table 31 and a vacuum suction chuck (not shown) for sucking and fixing the substrate 2 on the table 31 are provided. Then, with the substrate 2 placed on the table 31 and suction-chucked, the substrate 2 to be spin-coated can be horizontally rotated clockwise in plan view at a constant rotation speed.

The cowl 4 has shatterproof wall portions 41 and 42.
And a main cowl 40 provided with a waste liquid groove 43 provided inside the scattering prevention wall portion 41, and a sub cowl 44 arranged below the peripheral portion of the table 31 to guide the scattered coating agent to the waste liquid groove 43. I have it.

The shatterproof wall 41 has an inclined portion 41a whose upper end is inclined toward the center. As shown in FIG. 2, a bulging portion 41b bulging outward at a position slightly higher than the height position of the upper surface of the rotating substrate 2 is formed in the middle of the inclined portion 41a. By guiding the coating agent scattered along with the rotation of 2 to the waste liquid groove 43 along the inner surface of the bulging portion, it is possible to surely suppress the rebound of the coating agent scattered to the scattering prevention wall portion 41. There is.

The shatterproof wall 42 is provided with three elliptical suction holes 42a at equal intervals, and the airflow is guided to the suction conduit 5 described later through these suction holes 42a. There is.

On the bottom surface of the waste liquid groove 43, three waste liquid pipes 45 leading to a waste liquid tank (not shown) are connected in series so that the scattered coating agent can be collected in the waste liquid tank. There is.

One end of the suction pipe 5 is connected at the position of the suction hole 42a in the shatterproof wall 42, and the other end is connected to a negative pressure source (not shown). It consists of The suction pipe 50 is horizontally extended by a predetermined length in the rotational tangential direction on the outer circumference of the substrate 2 from the suction hole 42a and then bent downward, whereby the coating agent passing through the suction pipe line 5 is formed. The volatile components of are sucked in stably.

Although not shown in the figure, the spin coater 1 has a dropping means for dropping the coating material onto the board surface of the substrate 2, a washing means for performing washing as necessary after spin coating, and a substrate holding means. Additional equipment such as the adsorption device is attached. Then, a predetermined coating agent is dropped onto the board surface of the substrate 2 at a constant dropping speed to form a uniform coating film, and various post-processes can be performed after the coating film formation as required.

Next, the procedure of the spin coating method according to the present invention will be described based on the procedure of the spin coating by the above spin coating apparatus 1.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate is placed on the turntable 3 and suction chucked.
Is horizontally rotated at a predetermined speed. Then, the negative pressure source (not shown) is actuated, and the airflow generated with the rotation of the substrate 2 is sucked through the suction pipe line 5 in the rotational tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate 2 (see FIG. 3).

When the rotation speed of the substrate 2 reaches a predetermined rotation speed, the dropping means (not shown) is activated to start dropping the coating agent. At this time, the volatile component of the dropped coating material is carried by the air flow in the tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate 2 and sucked and exhausted through the suction pipe line 5. Further, a part of the dropped coating material scatters on the scattering prevention wall 41 of the cowl 4 due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the substrate 2, but is guided downward through the inner surface of the bulging portion 41b, and the waste liquid conduit 5
Therefore, the scattering of the coating agent from the scattering prevention wall portion 41 due to the splashing of the coating agent over the substrate can be surely suppressed.

After forming a coating film having a predetermined thickness,
If necessary, post-treatment such as cleaning is performed, and the spin coating treatment is completed.

As described above, according to the spin coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment and the spin coating method of the present invention using the apparatus 1, the air flow generated by the suction of the volatile components of the coating agent A uniform coating film can be formed on the substrate 2 while suppressing the influence.

As the substrate and the coating material used in the spin coating method according to the present invention, those which have been conventionally used for spin coating can be used. For example, the present invention can be applied to a metal master of a compact disc or a video disc. In the case of applying to the spin coating treatment in the manufacturing process of 1., the substrate may be glass or the like, and the coating agent may be photoresist, surface treatment primer or the like.

In the spin coating method according to the present invention,
Although the rotation speed of the substrate is not particularly limited, for example, when the present invention is applied to various spin coating processes in the manufacturing process of the metal master of a compact disc or a video disc, the rotation speed of the substrate is 10-3
It is preferably about 00 rpm. Further, the suction speed at the time of sucking the volatile component of the coating agent in the rotation tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate is not particularly limited, but the present invention is a process for producing a metal master of a compact disc or a video disc. In the case of applying to various spin coat treatments in 1., it is preferable that the suction speed from each suction pipe line is about 2000 liters / minute.

The spin coater according to the present invention is not limited to the spin coater 1 of the above embodiment,
The dimensions, shape, and the like can be appropriately changed without departing from the object of the present invention.

For example, the spin coater 1 of the above embodiment
Then, the suction pipe lines 5 are arranged at three positions of the cowl 4, but the positions of the suction pipe lines are not limited to three, and the size of the substrate
Depending on the shape, the number of places to be arranged can be increased to four or more.

Needless to say, the spin coating method according to the present invention is not limited to the spin coating apparatus 1 of the above embodiment.

The spin coating method and apparatus according to the present invention is particularly suitable for spin coating in a manufacturing process of a metal master of an optical disc such as a compact disc or a video disc, as well as in a manufacturing process of coating on a disc. It is suitable.

[0032]

According to the spin coating method and apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. Claim 1
According to the spin coating method described in (1), it is possible to form a uniform coating film on the substrate while suppressing the influence of the air flow generated due to the suction of the volatile component of the coating agent.

According to the spin coater of the second aspect, it is possible to preferably carry out the spin coat method which achieves the above effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of a spin coater according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional shape of a main part of a cowl and its positional relationship with respect to a substrate in the spin coater of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an air flow in the spin coater of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional spin coater.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an air flow in a conventional spin coater.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 spin coater 2 substrate 3 turntable 4 cowl 5 suction line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A spin coating method of forming a coating film on a board surface of the board 2 while horizontally rotating the board 2 by forming a coating film on the board surface. The method of spin coating characterized in that suction is carried out in the rotational tangential direction. 2. A spin coater comprising a turntable 3 for horizontally rotating a substrate 2 and a cowl 4 surrounding the turntable 3, wherein a volatile component of a coating agent is applied to the cowl 4. A spin coater comprising a plurality of suction pipe lines 5 for sucking in a rotational tangential direction on the outer periphery of the substrate 2.