JPH1133503A - Substrate-treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate-treatment device in which treatment of the substrate is more properly performed. SOLUTION: In the treatment device of a substrate, the substrate W is carried in a state tilted for a horizontal face by a carrier rollers 18 of a carrier mechanism and also a nozzle 22 equipped with slitlike discharge ports 22a is fixed oppositely to the substrate W. Pure water is sprayed on the surface of the substrate by the nozzle 22 to clean the substrate W. The nozzle 22 is formed in a state tilted so as to form an angle θ2 for the carrier direction so that the upper end part in the oblique direction of the substrate is positioned on the upstream side in the carrier direction than the lower end part. Further, the nozzle 22 is arranged in a state being tilted for the substrate W so that discharged flow is directed on the upper stream side in the carrier direction than just under the nozzle 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a printed circuit board, and a semiconductor wafer. Alternatively, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs processing by spraying a processing liquid onto a substrate while transporting the substrate in an upright state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a substrate processing apparatus such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a roller conveyor 51 has a rectangular substrate W inclined by an angle θ ₀ with respect to a horizontal plane. A so-called tilt type substrate that supplies various processing liquids, such as pure water and a cleaning liquid, to the substrate W while transporting the substrate W in a direction parallel to the horizontal plane and orthogonal to the tilt direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 8). Processing devices are known.

In such a substrate processing apparatus, the chemical supplied to the upper end of the substrate is caused to flow down along the surface of the substrate to perform the chemical processing on the substrate surface, and the chemical used for the processing is applied to the lower end of the substrate. Drop from and collect. For this reason, there is a feature that the excess chemical solution does not stay on the substrate surface and the drainage is good.

By the way, in the substrate processing, the substrate W is generally subjected to a cleaning treatment with pure water or the like every time the chemical treatment is completed. However, in the substrate processing apparatus as described above, as shown in FIG. A nozzle 52 having a slit-like liquid discharge port 52a extending in a direction perpendicular to the substrate W, that is, in a direction in which the substrate W is inclined, is provided so as to face the substrate W;
The pure water is discharged when passing through the substrate W, and the substrate W is subjected to a cleaning process at the water pressure.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the pure water sprayed on the substrate surface uses the nozzle 5
2, that is, flows down while widening in a circular arc on both sides in the transport direction of the substrate W (indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 9). It takes time for water to flow out of the substrate, and in a large-sized substrate, a phenomenon that particles or the like removed in the upper portion adhere to the substrate again in the lower portion is likely to occur. In particular, when such a phenomenon occurs on the downstream side of the nozzle 52 in the substrate transport direction (the right side in FIG. 9), the substrate W is sent to the next step in a state where the cleaning process is incomplete, which reduces the substrate quality. It is one of the causes of lowering.

Further, since a part of the pure water blown from the nozzle 52 onto the substrate W flows down along the nozzle 52, the liquid amount on the surface of the substrate becomes larger below the substrate W in the portion along the nozzle 52. (The liquid thickness becomes thicker), and it is difficult for the water pressure of the sprayed pure water to act evenly on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate W. That is, since the thickness of the liquid on the substrate W is relatively thick below the substrate W, it is difficult for the water pressure of the sprayed pure water to be transmitted to the substrate surface. Therefore, there is a problem that cleaning of the substrate is likely to be uneven.

[0007] Such a problem can be similarly applied to the development, etching, or peeling processing of the substrate W in addition to the cleaning processing of the substrate W as described above. A solution is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and is intended to perform processing by spraying a processing liquid while transporting a substrate in a state where the substrate is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane or in a state where the substrate is raised. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing substrate processing more appropriately in the above apparatus.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: tilting or raising a substrate in a substrate attitude direction at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane while maintaining the substrate attitude in the horizontal plane. In a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate surface from a liquid discharging unit disposed opposite to a surface of the substrate while transporting the substrate in a transport direction that is parallel to and perpendicular to the substrate posture direction, the liquid discharging unit includes: The upper end in the substrate posture direction is arranged at an angle to the transport direction such that the upper end is located upstream of the lower end in the transport direction (claim 1).

According to this apparatus, since the processing liquid sprayed on the substrate surface flows more linearly toward the lower side of the substrate, the processing liquid subjected to the processing can be more quickly compared to a conventional apparatus of this type. Can flow out of the substrate.

Further, since the processing liquid flows intensively in a portion upstream of the liquid discharging means in the transport direction, it becomes possible to supply abundant processing liquid per unit time to a specific portion of the substrate. . Therefore, for example, particles and the like easily flow out of the substrate in the cleaning process, and the effect of removing the particles and the like is enhanced. Conversely, the processing liquid is less likely to flow downstream in the transport direction than the liquid discharging means, so that reattachment of particles and the like to the portion where processing has been completed is effectively suppressed.

Further, since the liquid discharging means is provided at an angle with respect to the transport direction so that an upper end in the substrate posture direction is located upstream of the lower end in the transport direction, the substrate is provided at an angle. The processing liquid sprayed on the surface is difficult to flow down along the liquid discharging means. For this reason, a difference in the liquid amount (liquid thickness) on the substrate surface in the portion along the liquid discharge means is unlikely to occur, and the liquid pressure of the processing liquid can be applied uniformly to the entire substrate.

In particular, the liquid discharging means is provided at an angle to the substrate surface so as to discharge the processing liquid toward the upstream side in the transport direction (claim 2). The processing liquid can flow out of the substrate more quickly. Further, the processing liquid used for the processing can be surely caused to flow down to the portion on the upstream side in the transport direction from the liquid discharging means.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liquid discharging means comprises a plurality of unit liquid discharging means for dividing a processing liquid discharge area on a substrate in the substrate posture direction. If the upper end of the unit liquid discharging means on the lower side in the direction is arranged so as to be located upstream of the lower end of the upper unit liquid discharging means in the transport direction (claim 3), the liquid discharging means In the transport direction can be saved.

Further, in the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the liquid discharging means is configured to discharge the processing liquid from a slit-shaped liquid discharging port extending in the posture direction of the substrate. (Claim 4) The liquid pressure of the processing liquid can be applied to the substrate more evenly.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a water washing apparatus as a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, the water washing apparatus 10 has a box-shaped processing tank 12, and inside the processing tank 12, a transport mechanism 16 for transporting a rectangular substrate W, and a pure water A nozzle 22 (liquid discharging means) for spraying water.

The processing tank 12 is provided with a substrate receiving port 14 on a side surface thereof, and the inside of the processing tank 12 communicates with the inside of a chemical processing apparatus 13 which is adjacent through the substrate receiving port 14. I have. That is, the substrate W that has been subjected to the chemical processing in the chemical processing apparatus 13 is introduced into the processing tank 12 through the substrate receiving port 14.

The transport mechanism 16 is a roller conveyor and transport rollers 18 supported in parallel in the transport direction.
And a drive mechanism 20 for rotating these transport rollers 18 in synchronization with a motor as a drive source. Then, it receives the substrate W introduced through the substrate receiving port 14 and transports the substrate W in the direction indicated by the white arrow in the figure toward the next process while supporting the substrate W with the transport rollers 18. ing.

FIG. 2 shows the processing tank 12 from the substrate receiving port 14 side.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the inner nozzle 22 as viewed from the side. Transport roller 18
2 has an angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane as shown in FIG.
_In this state, the substrate W is inclined in the substrate posture direction D that forms an angle θ ₁ with respect to the horizontal plane, and the substrate W is inclined in the transport direction (vertical direction from the top to the bottom in FIG. It is designed to be transported. Here, the relationship between the substrate attitude direction D and the transport direction will be described in more detail. In the present embodiment, the substrate W is transported in a downward right direction when viewed in the traveling direction (the direction of the white arrow in FIG. 1). The direction parallel to the horizontal plane among the directions orthogonal to the substrate posture direction D is the transport direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the nozzle 22 is disposed above the transport mechanism 16 so as to be parallel to the substrate surface, and supplies pure water through a liquid supply pipe 24. It is connected to the stored water tank 26.

The nozzle 22 has a slit-shaped discharge port 22a (liquid discharge port) opened toward the transport mechanism 16, and a valve 28 provided in the liquid supply pipe 24.
Is configured to discharge pure water to the substrate W being transported in accordance with the opening and closing of the substrate W over the direction of its inclination.

Here, as a feature of this apparatus, the nozzle 2
2 is a state in which an angle is formed with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W as shown in FIG. 3, more specifically, the upper end in the tilt direction (substrate posture direction D) of the substrate W is upstream of the lower end in the transport direction. It is disposed at an angle θ ₂ with respect to the transport direction so as to be located on the side, and in this embodiment, the angle θ ₂ is set to 45 ° as one mode for maximizing the processing efficiency. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle 22 is provided at an angle θ ₃ with respect to the surface of the substrate being transported so that the discharge flow is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction from immediately below, and in this embodiment, This angle is set to 60 ° as one mode for maximizing the processing efficiency.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes a drain pan provided below the transport mechanism 16, and pure water discharged from the nozzle 22 and used for cleaning the substrate flows down and is collected in the drain pan 30. It has become so.

In the water washing apparatus 10 having the above-mentioned structure, the substrate W having been subjected to the chemical treatment is transferred to the processing tank 12 through the substrate receiving port 14.
When the substrate W is introduced into the chamber, the substrate W is transported by the transport mechanism 16 and sprayed with pure water by the nozzle 22, and the particles adhered to the substrate W and the residue of the chemical solution treatment are peeled off by the water pressure and removed and washed. .

Then, the separated particles and the like flow down along the substrate W together with the pure water, and flow down from the end of the substrate into the drain pan 30, whereby the particles and the like are removed from the substrate W.

At this time, as described above, in the above-described water washing apparatus 10, the nozzle 22 is moved with respect to the transport direction so that the upper end of the substrate W in the inclined direction is located upstream of the lower end in the transport direction. Te is disposed in a state inclined by an angle theta _2, moreover, the nozzle 22 as the discharge flow is directed in the conveying direction upstream side from just below is provided in a state inclined by an angle theta ₃ to the substrate surface As shown in FIG. 5, the pure water sprayed on the substrate W flows substantially linearly toward the lower side of the substrate W upstream of the nozzle 22 in the transport direction.

[0028] Therefore, compared with this type of conventional apparatus, the pure water sprayed on the substrate W flows out of the substrate very quickly. For example, even if the substrate W is a large substrate, As described above, it is possible to effectively suppress the particles and the like once separated from re-adhering to the substrate W. In addition, since the pure water supplied for processing flows down the upstream side in the transport direction from the nozzle 22, the pure water supplied for processing flows downstream from the nozzle 22 in the transport direction as in the related art.
That is, there is no possibility that particles or the like are reattached by flowing down the portion where the substrate cleaning is completed.

Further, since the nozzles 22 are arranged obliquely with respect to the tilt direction D of the substrate, the pure water sprayed on the substrate W does not flow down along the nozzles 22, but at the portions along the nozzles 22. The difference in the liquid amount (liquid thickness) on the substrate surface is unlikely to occur. Therefore, the water pressure of the pure water sprayed on the substrate W acts substantially evenly on the entire substrate, whereby a more uniform cleaning process can be performed on the entire substrate.

Therefore, according to the water washing apparatus 10, it is possible to effectively prevent the reattachment of particles and the like as described above, and to perform the washing by uniformly applying the pure water pressure to the entire substrate. Therefore, the cleaning process of the substrate W can be more appropriately performed as compared with a conventional apparatus of this type.

As described above, in the washing device 10, the nozzle 22 is moved with respect to the substrate transfer direction such that the upper end of the substrate W in the inclination direction D is located upstream of the lower end in the transfer direction. because it is provided in a state where an angle by an angle theta _2, there is also an advantage that it is possible to increase the blowing time of pure water per unit area while using a nozzle of this type of conventional device having the same configuration . That is, if the shape of the discharge port is the same, FIG. 6 (a), the (b), the more the transport direction length L ₁ of the discharge port in the case of arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the nozzle , it is longer in the conveying direction length L ₂ of the discharge port when placed tilting the nozzle. Therefore, the angle of the nozzle 22 with respect to the transport direction is θ _2.
In the above-described water washing apparatus 10 which is provided only at an inclined angle, even when a nozzle having the same structure as that of a conventional apparatus of this type is used, the time for spraying pure water per unit area becomes long, and the washing of the substrate W is accordingly improved. There is also an advantage that it can be performed reliably.

Incidentally, the water washing apparatus 10 is an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, and the specific configuration thereof can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the water washing apparatus 10, pure water is blown by one nozzle 22, but pure water may be blown by a plurality of nozzles.
For example, as shown in FIG.
0a, 30b (unit liquid discharging means) are provided.
The nozzles 30a and 30b each divide the spray area into two in the direction of inclination of the substrate W, and the upper ends of the nozzles 30a and 30b are located upstream of the lower ends in the transport direction, and the discharge flow is directly below. Alternatively, a nozzle configuration in which the nozzles are arranged in parallel with each other so as to face the upstream side in the transport direction may be employed. The nozzles 30a and 30b are connected to the substrate W
Are arranged such that the upper end of the lower nozzle 30b in the inclined direction is shifted to the upstream side in the transport direction from the lower end of the upper nozzle 30a.

According to this configuration, the space occupied by the nozzle in the transport direction is halved as compared with the nozzle 22 of the above embodiment, and thus there is an advantage that the space efficiency of the nozzle can be improved. In this case, the spray area is set to the substrate W
A plurality of nozzles may be provided so that the nozzles can be divided into three minutes or more in the inclination direction. In addition, in the case of this configuration, if pure water can be sprayed on the entire substrate, the nozzles do not necessarily have to have the same configuration.For example, nozzles having different discharge ports in the inclined direction of the substrate W may be used. You may.

In the water washing apparatus 10, the nozzle 22 is provided at an angle θ _{3 with} respect to the surface of the substrate being transported so that the discharge flow is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction from immediately below. Nozzle 2 so that the discharge flow is directed
2 may be provided. However, in this case, the force of the pure water flowing down along the substrate W is weaker than that of the washing device 10, and a part of the pure water sprayed on the substrate W is slightly more in the transport direction than the nozzle 22. Will flow downstream. Therefore, from the viewpoint of making the pure water used for washing flow out of the substrate more quickly and reliably preventing particles and the like from re-adhering to the portion where the substrate washing has been completed, the nozzle as in the washing apparatus 10 is used. 22 is preferably provided in a state of being inclined by an angle θ _{3 with} respect to the substrate surface.

Further, in the water washing apparatus 10, pure water is sprayed on the substrate W by the nozzle 22 having the slit-shaped discharge port 22a. Pure water may be sprayed on the substrate W by using a nozzle other than the nozzle 22 such as a shower nozzle that discharges pure water from a large number of arranged holes. In this case, a plurality of spot-shaped nozzles and the like may be arranged side by side along the tilt direction of the substrate W.

[0037] The inclination angle theta ₁ of the substrate W when transferring a substrate W, the inclination angle theta ₂ and the inclination angle theta ₃ specific value the above embodiments of the nozzle 22 relative to the substrate W with respect to the transport direction of the nozzles 22 However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be appropriately selected according to the type of the substrate W, the type of the cleaning liquid, and other various conditions so that the substrate W can be more appropriately cleaned. However, the nozzle 2 in the transport direction
The inclination angle θ ₂ of ₂ is in the range of 10 ° to 85 °,
Inclination angle theta ₃ of the nozzle 22 relative to the substrate surface is preferably set within a range of 5 ° to 85 °. According to the experiments conducted by the present inventors, the inclination angle theta ₁ of the substrate W 3 ° to 10
In the range of °, good results were obtained in the above ranges of θ ₂ and θ ₃ .

The above-described embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a water washing apparatus 10. However, the present invention is not limited to such a washing apparatus, but may be applied to other processing apparatuses such as a developing process, an etching process, and a peeling process. Can also be applied. In addition to the apparatus for performing the processing while transporting the substrate W while being inclined with respect to the horizontal plane as in the above-described washing apparatus 10, the substrate W may be erected so that the surface is parallel to the transport direction and vertical. It can also be applied to an apparatus that performs processing while transporting.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, a substrate inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane in a substrate posture direction is parallel to the horizontal plane and the substrate posture direction is maintained. In a substrate processing apparatus configured to supply a processing liquid to a substrate surface from a liquid discharging unit disposed opposite to the surface of the substrate while transporting the substrate in a transport direction orthogonal to the substrate, the liquid discharging unit may be configured such that the liquid discharging unit is positioned upward in the substrate posture direction. The end is positioned at an angle with respect to the transport direction such that the edge is located on the upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the lower end, so that the removed particles and the like quickly flow out of the substrate. At the same time, the liquid pressure of the processing liquid can be evenly applied to the entire substrate, so that the substrate can be more appropriately cleaned as compared with a conventional apparatus of this type.

In particular, if the liquid discharge means is provided at an angle to the substrate surface so as to discharge the processing liquid toward the upstream side in the transport direction (claim 2), The liquid can be made to flow out of the substrate more quickly, and the processing liquid used for processing can surely flow down to a portion on the upstream side of the liquid discharging means in the transport direction. Therefore, reattachment of particles and the like to the substrate can be more reliably prevented.

The liquid discharging means comprises a plurality of unit liquid discharging means for dividing a processing liquid discharge area on the substrate in the substrate posture direction, and the upper end of the lower unit liquid discharging means in the substrate posture direction. Is disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction from the lower end of the upper unit liquid discharge unit, it is possible to save space in the transport direction of the liquid discharge unit, and particularly for large substrates. An advantageous configuration can be provided in the device described above.

Furthermore, if the liquid discharging means is configured to discharge the processing liquid from a slit-shaped liquid discharging port extending in the substrate posture direction (claim 4), the processing liquid can be evenly applied to the substrate. For example, in a device such as a cleaning device in which the fluid pressure affects the quality of the process, the process can be performed more appropriately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a water washing apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a transport mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a relationship between a transport mechanism and a nozzle.

FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating a relationship between a transfer surface of a transfer mechanism and a nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the flow of pure water sprayed on a substrate.

6 (a) and 6 (b) are schematic diagrams for explaining a difference in time for spraying pure water on a substrate, FIG. 6 (a) is a diagram showing a conventional device, and FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modified example of the nozzle.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of pure water in a substrate shape in a conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Rinse apparatus 12 Processing tank 13 Chemical liquid processing apparatus 14 Substrate receiving port 16 Transport mechanism 18 Transport roller 20 Drive mechanism 22 Nozzle 22a Discharge port 24 Liquid supply pipe 26 Water storage tank 28 Valve W Substrate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate tilted or raised in a substrate attitude direction at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane is transported in a transport direction parallel to the horizontal plane and orthogonal to the substrate attitude direction while maintaining the substrate attitude. In a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate surface from liquid discharging means disposed opposite to the surface of the substrate, the liquid discharging means may be configured such that an upper end in the substrate posture direction has a lower end than a lower end. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is disposed at an angle to the transport direction so as to be located on an upstream side in the transport direction. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid discharge means is provided at an angle to a substrate surface so as to discharge the processing liquid toward an upstream side in the transport direction.
The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 3. The liquid discharging means comprises a plurality of unit liquid discharging means for dividing a processing liquid discharge area on a substrate in the substrate posture direction, and a lower unit liquid discharging means in the substrate posture direction. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper end of the substrate processing apparatus is located upstream of a lower end of the upper unit liquid discharge unit in the transport direction. 4. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liquid discharging means is configured to discharge the processing liquid from a slit-shaped liquid discharging port extending in a substrate posture direction. Substrate processing equipment.