JPS60257833A - Light irradiation processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the stable supply of light in a specific wavelength region, by providing an antenna for generating discharge in a gas discharge chamber by emitting the microwave generated from a microwave generation source into the gas discharge chamber. CONSTITUTION:After a gas discharge chamber 5 is evacuated under the control of a pressure gauge 10 so as to bring the pressure therein to 10<-6>torr by operating an evacuation source 9, hydrogen gas is supplied into the gas discharge chamber 5 through a gas supply source 7 and the pressure of the gas in the gas discharge chamber 5 is adjusted to 0.1 - several torr by a mass flow controller 11. When a microwave generator 16 is operated in this state and a microwave is emitted into the gas discharge chamber 5 from an antenna 13 to generate discharge around a partition wall tube 15, generated ultraviolet rays are introduced into a treating case 27 through a pervious window 24 and oxygen receives ultraviolet rays to be converted to ozone.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a light irradiation treatment apparatus that uses ultraviolet rays and infrared rays to perform surface treatments and chemical reactions on various materials.

[Technical background of the invention]

In recent years, optical CVD (Chemical Vap.

With advances in technology, the workpiece is housed in a vacuum or a special gas atmosphere, and the workpiece is irradiated with light in a specific wavelength range, such as ultraviolet rays or infrared rays. Work such as chemically reacting the object to be treated and cleaning the surface is performed.

By the way, this type of work requires a light irradiation treatment device that irradiates the object with a specific light, and existing devices require a light source that generates light in the specific wavelength range and a light source that emits light in the specific wavelength range. The generator section is mainly composed of a processing section through which light is guided and objects to be processed are accommodated.

(Problems with the background technology) The light generation source of such a light irradiation treatment device is currently only at an experimental level, so a high-frequency coil is installed around the outside of a hollow container whose interior is maintained in a predetermined gas atmosphere. By winding the high-frequency coil and applying a high-frequency voltage to this high-frequency coil, a discharge is generated in the gas in the hollow container, for example, 20
It is a method that generates ultraviolet light of 0 nm or less.

However, with this method, the electromagnetic field generated in the high-frequency coil tends to leak outward, making it impossible to use the electromagnetic field effectively, and making it difficult to generate a discharge uniformly within the hollow container. There are problems with variations in wavelength and uneven brightness on the irradiated surface, and there is still room for improvement in stably supplying light in a specific wavelength range.

(Object of the invention) The present invention was made based on the above circumstances, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a light irradiation processing device that can stably supply light in a specific wavelength range, reduce uneven brightness on an irradiated surface, and enable light irradiation processing over a large area.

[Summary of the invention]

That is, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a light generation source that generates light in a specific wavelength range, a microwave generation source, a gas discharge chamber having an airtight structure and a transmission window for extracting light; an exhaust source and a gas supply source that replace the atmosphere in the gas discharge chamber, and an exhaust source and a gas supply source introduced into the gas discharge chamber,
The present invention is characterized by comprising an antenna for emitting microwaves generated by the microwave generation source into a gas discharge chamber to cause discharge within the gas discharge chamber.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

This embodiment shows an apparatus for cleaning and removing organic matter adhering to the surface of a liquid crystal display panel, and reference numeral 1 represents a light source. The light source 1 includes a hollow container 2, which has openings at both ends hermetically closed by lid members 3 and 4, respectively, to form a gas discharge chamber 5 therein.

The gas discharge chamber 5 is connected to a gas supply source 7 that supplies, for example, hydrogen gas via an on-off valve 6, and
It is connected to an exhaust source 9 such as a vacuum pump through an on-off valve 8, and after the inside of the gas discharge chamber 5 is evacuated to about 10° Torr by the exhaust source 9, the gas supply source 7 Hydrogen gas is introduced through the tube, and a hydrogen gas atmosphere of several Torr is maintained. Incidentally, reference numeral 10 denotes a pressure gauge 1 for detecting the gas pressure within the gas discharge chamber 5.
1 is a mass flow controller that adjusts the gas pressure within the gas discharge chamber 5;

By the way, in the center of one of the lid members 3, there is a connector 1.
A rod-shaped antenna 13 is supported through the cover member 2, and the antenna 13 is introduced into the gas discharge chamber 5 by passing through a through hole 14 formed in the lid member 3. Also, through hole 1
A hollow cylindrical bulkhead tube 15 made of quartz glass is airtightly attached to the opening of the gas discharge chamber 4, and this bulkhead tube 15 closes the through hole 14 to ensure airtightness within the gas discharge chamber 5. At the same time, the outer periphery of the antenna 13 is coaxially covered, and the periphery of the antenna 13 and the inside of the gas discharge chamber 5 are partitioned.

Note that, as a preferable example, gas for cooling the antenna 13 is made to flow through the partition tube 15.

The antenna 13 has a magnet in the microwave generator 16]-
Microwaves are supplied from Ron, and are transmitted to the antenna 13 via a waveguide 17, a coaxial cable converter 18, and a coaxial cable 19.

Therefore, the output of the microwave transmitted within the waveguide 17 is constantly monitored by a power meter 20, and a cable is installed at the end of the coaxial cable converter 18 to minimize the reflected waves of the microwave. A plunger 21 and a three-stub tuner 22 are installed to efficiently transmit microwaves to the antenna 13.

Therefore, when the microwave generator 16 is operated and microwaves are emitted into the gas discharge chamber 5 through the antenna 13 while the gas discharge chamber 5 is maintained in a hydrogen gas atmosphere of several Torr, the gas discharge chamber A discharge is generated in the hydrogen gas within U1, and ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of, for example, 200 nm or less are emitted.

A light extraction port 23 is provided on one side wall of the gas discharge v5, and this light extraction port 23 faces the antenna 13 and the tip of the partition tube 15.

A transmission window 24 for extracting ultraviolet rays is airtightly attached to the opening of the light extraction port 23. In the case of this embodiment, the material of the transmission window 24 is MQ, which has excellent ultraviolet transmittance. Alkali halide such as F2 palm IF is used. Note that a reflection plate 2 is provided in the gas discharge chamber 5 to reflect light emitted around the partition tube 15 toward the transmission window 24 side.
5 is provided, and measures are taken to efficiently extract light.

Further, a processing case 27 containing a processing object 26 such as a liquid crystal display panel is attached to the transmission window 24 so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the processing case 27, and the inside of this processing case 27 is maintained in an oxygen gas atmosphere. ing.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

First, the exhaust source 9 is activated and the gas discharge chamber 5 is evacuated under the control of the pressure side 10 until the pressure within the gas discharge chamber 5 reaches 10'' Torr.
At the same time, the mass flow controller 11 controls the gas pressure in the gas discharge chamber 5 from 0.1 to several T.
Adjust to orr.

When the microwave generator 16 is operated in this state and microwaves are emitted from the antenna 13 into the gas discharge chamber 5 to generate a discharge around the partition duplex 15, the ultraviolet and external rays generated by this discharge are is introduced into the processing case 27 through the transmission window 24, and the oxygen within the processing case 27 is exposed to ultraviolet rays and becomes ozone. Then, due to the oxidation reaction of ozone, the organic matter adhering to the surface of the object to be treated 2G (=1) is removed, and a predetermined light irradiation treatment is performed.

According to such an embodiment, a rod-shaped antenna 13 serving as an energy source for electric discharge is inserted into the gas discharge chamber 5, so that microwaves are uniformly radiated from this antenna 13 as shown in FIG. A uniform discharge (plasma) is generated around the partition tube 15 along the circumferential direction. Moreover, microwaves are all gas discharge chamber 5.
Since the microwave is emitted inward, there is no loss due to microwave leakage, and therefore light in a desired wavelength range (ultraviolet rays in this example) can be stably supplied. Also, mind
“Since the discharge within the body discharge chamber 5 occurs over the axial length of the anti-cuff 3, the length of the discharge can be increased, and the luminous efficiency is improved.

In addition, since the discharge within the gas discharge chamber 5 is concentrically equalized in the axial direction of the antenna 13 and in the circumferential direction a), unevenness in brightness on the irradiated surface of the object to be processed 26 is reduced. This has the advantage of enabling light irradiation treatment over a large area.

In addition, in this embodiment, the surroundings of the antenna 13 and the gas discharge chamber 5 are
Since the inside is divided by the partition wall duplex 15,
The antenna 13 does not need to be directly exposed to the discharge space, so the antenna 13 is not sputtered and has a long life.

In the present invention, the object to be treated is not limited to a liquid crystal display panel, and therefore the light used for treatment is not limited to ultraviolet rays, but may also be infrared rays.

It goes without saying that the gas introduced into the gas discharge chamber is not limited to hydrogen, but may be changed to krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), or a mixture thereof depending on the type of treatment and the object to be treated.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention described in detail above, microwaves are uniformly emitted radially from the antenna inserted into the gas discharge chamber, so that the microwaves are uniformly distributed around the antenna in the axial direction and concentrically along the circumferential direction. Moreover, since all the microwaves are emitted into the gas discharge chamber, there is no loss due to microwave leakage, and therefore light in the desired wavelength range can be stably supplied. I can do it. At the same time, the discharge in the gas discharge chamber is equalized in the axial direction of the antenna and concentrically in the circumferential direction, reducing uneven brightness on the irradiated surface of the object to be treated, allowing light irradiation of large areas. It has the advantage of being possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a light irradiation processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 1--2 in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Light generation source, 5... Gas discharge chamber, 7... Gas supply source, 9... Exhaust source, 13... Antenna, 1G.
...Microwave source (microwave generator), 24...
- Transmission window, 26... object to be treated. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A light generation source and a transmission window that guides light in a specific wavelength range generated by the light generation source toward the JIJI object, the light generation source includes a microwave generation source and an airtight a gas discharge chamber having a structure and having the above-mentioned transmission window; an exhaust source and a gas supply source for replacing the atmosphere in the gas discharge chamber;
This gas discharge is introduced into the gas discharge chamber and the microwaves generated by the microwave generation source are emitted into the gas discharge chamber! A light irradiation treatment HM characterized by being composed of an antenna that generates a discharge inside. (2) The light irradiation station 1 according to claim (1), characterized in that the gas discharge chamber and the surrounding area of the antenna are partitioned by a partition wall made of quartz glass! ! ! Device.