JPH0982673A - Substrate treatment system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect a low-pressure mercury lamp against cloudiness by a method wherein an ultraviolet transmission plate is provided between a lamp box where the low-pressure mercury lamp is housed and a substrate treatment section. SOLUTION: A substrate treatment system 1 irradiates a substrate with ultraviolet rays to produce ozone to decompose organic materials attached to the surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate treatment system 1 is equipped with a treatment chamber 5 where a substrate 3 is housed and a lamp box 9 where a low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is housed so as to be enhanced in cleaning effect. A quartz plate 13 is provided between the treatment chamber 5 and the lamp box 9. The treatment chamber 5 is separated from the lamp box 9 with the quartz plate 13. The substrate 3 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays emitted from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 through the intermediary of the quartz plate 13. Therefore, a quartz plate is required to be formed of material which transmits ultraviolet rays without attenuating them. For instance, synthetic quartz anhydride or the like can be used as the above material. A plate can be formed of material which is other than quartz but capable of transmitting ultraviolet rays without attenuating them.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus, or the like, which irradiates a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal glass substrate (hereinafter collectively referred to as a "substrate") with ultraviolet rays to perform processing. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a substrate processing apparatus of this type, an ultraviolet lamp is provided above a supporting means for supporting a substrate in a horizontal posture, and the ultraviolet lamp is turned on to convey the substrate onto the substrate supporting means. It is known to irradiate the surface of a substrate with ultraviolet rays. Then, for the ultraviolet lamp, for example, a wavelength of 254 nm is set as the maximum peak and
A low-pressure mercury lamp that emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength of nm as the next peak is generally used.

[0003]

In the substrate processing apparatus using such a low pressure mercury lamp, when the substrates are continuously processed, the surface of the low pressure mercury lamp gradually becomes clouded. That is, the ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 185 nm emitted from the low pressure mercury lamp decompose oxygen in the air to generate ozone. Further, ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 254 nm decompose ozone to generate activated oxygen. The product generated by the reaction of the activated oxygen with organic substances on the substrate and impurities in the atmosphere adheres to the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp, thereby causing the surface of the lamp to become cloudy.

When the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp becomes cloudy, it becomes impossible to irradiate the substrate with a necessary amount of ultraviolet rays. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently remove the lamp from the main body of the apparatus and then clean the surface of the lamp, which is a complicated work.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing clouding of a low-pressure mercury lamp.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays, the substrate processing section having a supporting means for supporting the substrate, A lamp box arranged to face the substrate processing section, a low-pressure mercury lamp housed in the lamp box and irradiating the substrate supported by the supporting means with ultraviolet rays, the substrate processing section and the lamp box. And an ultraviolet ray transmitting plate disposed between and.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In the substrate processing apparatus described in (1), a shutter made of an ultraviolet non-transmissive member that can be opened and closed is provided between the low pressure mercury lamp and the ultraviolet transmissive plate.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays, wherein the supporting means for supporting the substrate and the substrate supported by the supporting means are provided. A low-pressure mercury lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays,
Gas supply means for spraying gas onto the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp is provided.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention.

This substrate processing apparatus 1 irradiates a glass substrate for liquid crystal with ultraviolet rays to generate ozone, decomposes organic substances on the substrate surface, and hydrophilizes the substrate surface to enhance the cleaning effect in the subsequent processing. Is used for
A processing chamber 5 for housing a substrate 3 to be processed and a lamp box 9 for housing eight low-pressure mercury lamps 7 are provided.

A plurality of support pins 1 are provided on the bottom of the processing chamber 5.
1 is provided so as to project, and the substrate 3 is supported by these support pins 11. These support pins 11 support the substrate 3 by a lift drive source 13 and move up and down. The processing room 5
An exhaust port 1 for exhausting the inside of the processing chamber 5 is provided on the outer periphery of the bottom of the
0 is provided.

The low-pressure mercury lamp 7 generates a line spectrum when electrons collide with mercury molecules evaporated in the lamp, and irradiates ultraviolet rays having wavelengths having peaks at 185 nm and 254 nm. A reflector 16 is arranged between the lamp box 9 and the low-pressure mercury lamp 7, and the ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 are efficiently guided to the substrate 3 side. In addition, an inlet 12 for introducing clean air or a gas such as nitrogen gas is provided on the left side of the lamp box 9, and an outlet 14 for the gas is provided on the right side.

Between the processing chamber 5 and the lamp box 9,
A quartz plate 13 is provided, and the quartz plate 13 partitions the processing chamber 5 and the lamp box 9. Ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 are applied to the substrate 3 via the quartz plate 13. Therefore, it is necessary to employ, as the quartz plate 13, a quartz plate that allows ultraviolet rays to pass through without being attenuated. As such a material, for example, anhydrous synthetic quartz can be used. However, materials other than quartz may be used as long as they do not attenuate ultraviolet rays.

A shutter mechanism 15 is arranged at one end of the quartz plate 13. As shown in FIG. 2, the shutter mechanism 15 includes a shutter 19 made of a soft metal thin plate that does not transmit ultraviolet rays, and the shutter 1.
A shaft 17 for winding 9; a wire 21 for pulling the tip of the shutter 19; a shaft 23 for winding the wire 21;
And a guide shaft 25. When closing the shutter 19, the shaft 23 is rotated and the wire 21 is wound around the shaft 23, so that the shutter 19 is spread on the quartz plate 13 via the wire 21. When the shutter 19 is opened, the shaft 17 is rotated to wind the shutter 19 around the shaft 17 so that the shutter 19 is retracted from the quartz plate 13. The shutter mechanism 15 is not limited to such a winding type, but various mechanisms such as a system of guiding a bellows type shutter by a rail can be adopted.

Next, the substrate processing process in the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described.

Prior to processing the first substrate 3, the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is turned on in advance and waits for the ultraviolet rays emitted from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 to stabilize. Usually, it takes about 10 to 30 minutes for the light quantity of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 to stabilize.

Further, at this time, clean air is introduced from the inlet 12 and discharged from the outlet 14, so that the clean air is circulated in the lamp box 9. When impurities are present in the air, white turbidity on the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 also occurs due to a reaction product generated by the reaction of the impurities with ultraviolet rays. Therefore, by circulating clean air in the lamp box 9,
White turbidity on the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 due to the above reaction product is prevented. This circulation of clean air is continued even during the processing of the substrate 3 described later. When the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is a lamp that radiates ultraviolet rays having a shorter wavelength, the ultraviolet rays having a shorter wavelength are attenuated by oxygen molecules in the air, and therefore clean nitrogen is used instead of clean air. Gas or the like may be used.

When the quantity of light of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 becomes stable, the substrate 3 to be processed first by a carrier device (not shown).
Are carried into the processing chamber 5 and placed on the support pins 11. Then, the support pin 11 is raised by the lifting drive source 13,
As indicated by the chain double-dashed line in the figure, the substrate 3 supported thereon is brought close to the quartz plate 13. Thereby, the ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 are applied to the substrate 3 through the quartz plate 13, and the substrate 3 is processed.

At this time, activated oxygen generated from oxygen molecules in the air reacts with organic substances on the substrate 3 to generate a product, but the processing chamber 5 in which the substrate 3 is mounted and the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 are generated. Since it is partitioned by the quartz plate 13, this product is blocked by the quartz plate 13 and does not adhere to the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7.

When the time required for processing the substrate 3 elapses after the substrate 3 is loaded into the processing chamber 5 and the irradiation of the substrate 3 with ultraviolet rays is started, the shaft 23 of the shutter mechanism 15 is rotated to release the shutter. By spreading 19 on the quartz plate 13, ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 are blocked,
The substrate 3 is prevented from being irradiated with excessive ultraviolet rays.

The reason why the shutter mechanism 15 blocks the ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is as follows. That is, the substrate 3 is placed in the substrate processing apparatus 1 and continues to be irradiated with ultraviolet rays until a predetermined takt time elapses. This takt time is determined by the takt time of the entire processing of the substrate 3, and therefore does not necessarily match the irradiation time of the ultraviolet rays required for the processing of the substrate 3. For this reason,
Depending on the layer (film type) of the substrate 3, the substrate 3 may be placed in the substrate processing apparatus 1 longer than the time required for the processing, and thus may be damaged by the irradiation of excessive ultraviolet rays.
In order to prevent this, it is possible to turn off the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 when the substrate 3 is irradiated with a necessary amount of ultraviolet rays. Not realistic because it requires time. Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the shutter mechanism 15 is provided and the substrate 3
The shutter 19 is closed when the necessary amount of ultraviolet rays are irradiated to prevent the substrate 3 from being irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

The shutter 1 is provided above the substrate 3.
When 9 or the like is moved, particles generated by the movement are dropped onto the substrate 3, so such a shutter mechanism 15 is not usually used in this kind of apparatus, but according to this embodiment. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, since the quartz plate 13 separates the movement path of the shutter 19 or the like from the substrate 3 placed on the support pin 11, particles are prevented from falling onto the substrate 3. Therefore, the shutter mechanism 15 can be effectively used.

After that, when a predetermined takt time has elapsed, the support pins 11 are lowered and the substrate 3 is unloaded from the processing chamber 5 by a transfer device (not shown). When the discharge of the substrate 3 is completed, the shaft 17 of the shutter mechanism 15 is rotated to wind the shutter 19 around the shaft 17.

Then, the substrate 3 to be processed next is processed in the processing chamber 5
The substrate 3 is carried in by carrying in the same operation as above.
Continue processing.

When the substrate 3 is continuously treated, activated oxygen generated from oxygen molecules in the air and the substrate 3
Since the product of the reaction with the above organic substance adheres to the lower surface of the quartz plate 13, it is necessary to clean the lower surface of the quartz plate 13 at regular intervals. However, this cleaning is a simple operation such as wiping off the quartz plate 13, and is not a complicated operation like cleaning the low-pressure mercury lamp 7.

In the above embodiment, the shutter 19 is closed when the time required for processing the substrate 3 has passed after the substrate 3 was loaded into the processing chamber. However, the substrate is kept closed when the shutter 19 is closed. 3 and then board 3
You may make it open the shutter 19 only for the time required for the process of.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The same members as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the processing chamber 5 for accommodating the substrate 3 and the lamp box 9 for accommodating the eight low-pressure mercury lamps 7 communicate with each other through the opening. Then, around each low-pressure mercury lamp 7, a gas jet pipe 33 for jetting clean air to the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7.
Are arranged.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the gas ejection pipe 33, and FIG. 5 is a schematic front view thereof. As shown in these drawings, the gas ejection pipe 33 is constituted by a spiral hollow pipe surrounding the outer circumference of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7, and one end thereof is connected to an air supply source (not shown). In addition, a plurality of ejection holes 35 are formed in a portion of the gas ejection tube 33 that faces the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7. By supplying clean air from one end of the gas ejection pipe 33, air is ejected from the ejection port 35 toward the low pressure mercury lamp 7, and the surface of the low pressure mercury lamp 7 is covered with clean air.

Next, a substrate processing process in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described.

When the substrate 3 is processed in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the low pressure mercury lamp 7 is turned on, and the gas is ejected from the ejection holes 35 of the gas ejection pipe 33 toward the surface of the low pressure mercury lamp 7. Ejects clean air. As a result, the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is always covered with clean air. As in the case of the first embodiment, when the low pressure mercury lamp 7 is a lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a shorter wavelength, the ultraviolet rays having a shorter wavelength are attenuated by oxygen molecules in the air. Instead of air, clean nitrogen gas or the like may be used.

Next, the substrate 3 to be processed first is carried into the processing chamber 5 by a transfer device (not shown) and placed on the support pins 11. Then, the support pins 11 are raised by the lifting drive source 13, and the substrate 3 supported thereon is brought close to the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure. Thereby, the ultraviolet rays from the low-pressure mercury lamp 7
The substrate 3 is irradiated and the substrate 3 is processed.

At this time, activated oxygen generated from oxygen molecules in the air reacts with organic substances on the substrate to generate a product, but the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 has a gas ejection tube 3
Since the product is covered with the clean air ejected from the ejection holes 35 of No. 3, the product does not adhere to the surface of the low pressure mercury lamp 7.

After that, when a predetermined tact time elapses, the support pin 11 is lowered and the substrate 3 is unloaded from the processing chamber 5 by a transfer device (not shown). And
The substrate 3 to be processed next is carried into the processing chamber 5 and the same operation as described above is performed to continue the processing of the substrate 3.

In addition, instead of the gas jet pipe 33, the gas jet pipe 33 shown in FIG.
Also, a plurality of gas ejection pipes 43 as shown in FIG. 7 may be used. The gas ejection tube 43 is composed of three hollow tubes arranged at a certain distance from the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7, and a portion of each gas ejection tube 43 facing the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7. A plurality of ejection holes 45 are bored in this. Even when such a configuration is adopted, by supplying clean air from one end of each gas ejection pipe 43, air is ejected from the ejection port 45 toward the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 and the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp 7 is ejected. Is covered with clean air.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the substrate 3 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to generate ozone, the organic substances on the substrate surface are decomposed, and the substrate surface is made hydrophilic to enhance the cleaning effect in the subsequent processing. Substrate processing apparatus 1 used
However, the present invention can be similarly applied to other substrate processing apparatuses that irradiate the substrate 3 with ultraviolet rays.

[0038]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the ultraviolet ray transmitting plate is arranged between the lamp box accommodating the low-pressure mercury lamp and the processing part of the substrate, the oxygen molecules in the air can be removed. It is possible to prevent white turbidity on the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp, which is caused by the product of the reaction between the generated activated oxygen and the organic matter on the substrate being attached to the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the irradiation of ultraviolet rays onto the substrate can be blocked by the shutter when the substrate is irradiated with an appropriate amount of ultraviolet rays. Irradiation can be prevented. At this time, since the ultraviolet ray transmitting plate is arranged between the lamp box and the processing part of the substrate, it is possible to prevent particles generated by opening and closing the shutter from adhering to the substrate.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3,
Since the composition is such that gas is blown onto the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp, the low-pressure mercury generated when the product of the reaction between activated oxygen generated from oxygen molecules in the air and the organic matter on the substrate adheres to the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp It is possible to prevent white turbidity on the lamp surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a shutter mechanism 15.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a gas ejection pipe 33.

5 is a schematic front view showing a gas ejection pipe 33. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a gas ejection pipe 43.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view showing a gas ejection pipe 43.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 3 Substrate 5 Processing chamber 7 Low-pressure mercury lamp 9 Lamp box 11 Support pin 13 Quartz plate 15 Shutter mechanism 33, 43 Gas ejection pipe 35, 45 Ejection hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by irradiating a substrate surface with ultraviolet rays, comprising: a substrate processing section having a supporting means for supporting the substrate; and a lamp box arranged to face the substrate processing section. A low-pressure mercury lamp that is housed in the lamp box and irradiates the substrate supported by the supporting means with ultraviolet rays; and an ultraviolet transmitting plate disposed between the substrate processing unit and the lamp box. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter made of an ultraviolet non-transmissive member that can be opened and closed between the low-pressure mercury lamp and the ultraviolet transmissive plate. 3. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays, comprising: a supporting means for supporting the substrate; and a low-pressure mercury lamp for irradiating the substrate supported by the supporting means with ultraviolet rays. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a gas supply unit that sprays a gas onto the surface of the low-pressure mercury lamp.