KR100937703B1 - Slit coater and photoresist coating device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A slit coater and a photoresist coating apparatus comprising the same are disclosed. A plurality of slit coater bodies are provided to form a slit coater so that the discharge holes are located at a portion corresponding to the plurality of unit substrates formed on the mother substrate, or a unit substrate is formed by forming a number of discharge holes corresponding to each unit substrate in one slit coater body. Only apply photoresist. Accordingly, the consumption of the photoresist is reduced, and there is an advantage of not having to perform an exposure process of removing the photoresist formed around the unit substrates.

Slit coater, photoresist thin film, unit board, photoresist coating device

Description

SLIT COATER AND PHOTORESIST APPARATUS USING THE SAME {SLIT COATER AND PHOTORESIST COATING DEVICE USING THE SAME}

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the concept of a slit coater according to the present invention.

2A is a perspective view of a slit coater according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2A.

3A is a perspective view of a slit coater according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3A.

4 is a perspective view of a slit coater according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view of a slit coater according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a perspective view of a photoresist application apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a perspective view of a photoresist application apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a slit coater and a photoresist coating apparatus including the same, and more particularly, to a slit coater for selectively coating a photoresist thin film on at least two or more unit substrates formed on a mother substrate and a photoresist coating apparatus using the same. It is about.

In general, the spin coating method is mainly used as a method of coating a sensitive material in the form of cotton.

The spin coating method coats the photosensitive material by dropping the photosensitive material onto a high-speed rotating substrate. That is, the spin coating method coats the photosensitive material by centrifugal force acting on the substrate. Such a spin coating method is particularly suitable for coating a photosensitive material on a small substrate such as a wafer.

However, such a spin coating method is not suitable for coating a photosensitive material on a large and heavy substrate, for example, a substrate having a relatively large size compared to a wafer such as a mother substrate on which liquid crystal display panels are formed.

This is because a large-capacity motor must be designed in order to rotate a large and heavy mother substrate at a high speed of 1000 RPM or higher, and a space for rotating the mother substrate must be secured.

In addition, when the mother substrate is rotated, the edge portion of the mother substrate where the centrifugal force acts greatly is cracked or cracked due to the stress caused by the centrifugal force.

In order to solve this problem, recently, a technique of coating a photoresist thin film on a mother substrate using a slit coating method has been disclosed.

The slit coater coats the photoresist material on the substrate in the form of cotton. To realize this, the slit coater is composed of a slit coater body, an inlet and an outlet.

The storage space for storing the photoresist in the slit coater body, the inlet is formed in the slit coater body, the discharge port is formed on the side facing the mother substrate of the slit coater body. The discharge port has a slit shape having a length longer than the width.

However, since the discharge port length of the conventional slit coater has a length similar to that of the mother substrate, when the photoresist process is performed using the slit coater, the entire photoresist thin film is coated.

The mother substrate has a plurality of unit substrates. Each unit substrate is later cut into a TFT substrate or a color filter substrate forming a liquid crystal display panel. In this case, since the thin film process for manufacturing the TFT substrate or the color filter substrate is performed only on the unit substrate, the photoresist thin film unnecessarily applied around the unit substrate should be removed.

Therefore, in order to form a photoresist thin film on a unit substrate using a conventional slit coater, it is composed of a photoresist coating step and a peripheral exposure step for removing unnecessary portions.

As a result, the conventional slit coater has a problem that the overall process time for the photoresist coating process is increased, and expensive photoresist is wasted.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a slit coater for selectively coating a photoresist thin film only on each unit substrate formed on a mother substrate.                         

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a photoresist coating apparatus for coating a photoresist thin film only on each unit substrate formed on a mother substrate.

The present invention for realizing the first object of the present invention is disposed on the slit coater body to receive the photoresist and the slit coater body for coating the photoresist thin film only on the unit substrate formed at least two spaced apart from the mother substrate To provide a slit coater comprising a recessed inlet.

The present invention for realizing the second object of the present invention is to receive a base body on which the mother substrate is mounted, a slit coater body and a photoresist for coating the photoresist thin film only on the unit substrate formed at least two spaced apart from each other A slit coater including an inlet disposed in the slit coater body, a supply device for supplying a photoresist to the slit coater, and a photoresist applying apparatus including a transfer device for transferring the slit coater relative to the base body.

According to the present invention, the photoresist thin film is applied only to each unit substrate formed on the mother substrate to reduce the photoresist consumption, and the peripheral exposure process of exposing the photoresist thin films formed around the unit substrates is not performed.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the concept of a slit coater according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the slit coater 100 includes a slit coater body 110 and an inlet 140.

The slit coater body 110 selectively coats the photoresist on the unit substrate 10 formed on the mother substrate 1.

The unit substrate 10 is spaced apart from the large mother substrate 1 so that at least two or more are formed in a matrix shape, and when the unit substrates 10 are cut from the mother substrate 1, the unit substrate 10 is formed on the unit substrate 10. According to the formed thin film, it becomes a TFT substrate or a color filter substrate.

The inlet 140 is formed in the slit coater body 110 to receive a photoresist from the outside.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the slit coater according to the present invention will be described.

Examples of Slit Coaters

Example 1

2A is a perspective view of a slit coater according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2A.

2A and 2B, the slit coater 100 includes a first slit coater body 110, a second slit coater body 110a, a first inlet 140, a second inlet 140a, and a spacer block ( 150).

The first slit coater body 110 has a first accommodating space 120, a first discharge port 130, and a first inlet port 140. The first discharge port 130 is formed on a surface of the first slit coater body 110 that faces the mother substrate 1. The first discharge port 130 is formed in a slit shape longer than the width, the length of the first discharge port 130 is formed to be the same as the length L1 of the unit substrate 10.

The second slit coater body 110a has a second accommodation space 120a, a second discharge port 130a, and a second inlet port 140a. The second discharge port 130a is formed on a surface of the second slit coater body 110a that faces the mother substrate 1. The second discharge port 130a is formed in a slit shape having a length longer than the width, and the length of the second discharge port 130a is formed to be the same as the length L2 of the unit substrate 10.

According to the present embodiment, at least two first slit coater bodies 110 and second slit coater bodies 110a are spaced apart from each other, and the number of unit substrates 10 formed in the mother substrate 1 is increased. Determined by the number of. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2A, the number of slit coaters 100 formed on the mother substrate 1 has the same number as the number of unit substrates 10 formed on the mother substrate 1.

When the plurality of first slit coater body 110 and the second slit coater body 110a are connected and used as in this embodiment, the number of slit coater bodies can be easily added or subtracted according to the number of unit substrates 10. By using the spacer block 150, the spacing of the respective slit coater bodies can be easily adjusted. Therefore, even if the mother substrate 1 of any specification is introduced into the photoresist process, the process may be performed without replacing the slit coater 100.

In addition, since the photoresist may be independently supplied to each of the plurality of slit coater bodies, the photoresist thin film 20 may be applied only to the selected unit substrate 10. For example, if there is a defective unit substrate in the mother substrate 1 in the process, the supply of photoresist to the slit coater body (for example, 110a) passing over the defective unit substrate is stopped to prevent defects. The photoresist thin film 20 is not coated on the generated unit substrate.

Example 2

3A is a perspective view of a slit coater according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3A.

3A and 3B, the slit coater 100 includes a slit coater body 110b and an inlet 140b.

The main storage space 120b and the first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a are formed in the slit coater body 110b. The main storage space 120b is formed inside the slit coater body 110b.

At least two first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a have a slit shape longer than a width and are formed on one surface of the slit coater body 110b facing the mother substrate 1. The length of each of the first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a is the same as the width L1 and L2 of the unit substrate 10 as shown in FIG. 3B.

The number of first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a is determined by the number of unit substrates 10 formed in the mother substrate 1. In other words, the slit coater body has the same number of first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a as the number of unit substrates 10 formed in the portion corresponding to the portion where the slit coater 100 is located in the mother substrate 1. It is formed in a line at 110b.

The inlet 140b is formed in the slit coater body 110b to be connected to the main accommodating space 120b. The photoresist to be used in the process is introduced into the main accommodating space 120b through the inlet 140b.

As shown in FIG. 3B, when a plurality of first and second discharge holes 130 and 130a are formed in the slit coater body 110b to correspond to each of the unit substrates 10, the photoresist thin film is formed only on the unit substrate 10. By applying (20), the amount of photoresist used is reduced, and the peripheral exposure step does not have to be performed.

Example 3

4 is a cross-sectional view of a slit coater according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the slit coater 100 includes a slit coater body 110c and an inlet 140b.

Except for the separating partition wall 125 installed in the slit coater body 110c in the slit coater 100 according to the present embodiment, since it is the same as the slit coater 100 described in the second embodiment, the separating partition wall 125 in the present embodiment The remaining components will be described with reference to).

In the slit coater body 110c, a main accommodation space 120b, a separation partition 125, and first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a are formed.

The separation partition 125 is formed to have a predetermined height from the bottom surface of the main storage space 120b in which the first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a are formed, toward the inlet 140b, and the main storage space due to the separation partition 125. 120b is divided into at least two sub receiving spaces 122 and 124.

The separation partition 125 separates the main storage space 120 only from a base surface of the main storage space 120b to a predetermined height instead of completely separating the main storage space 120b. Therefore, photoresist flows into the sub storage spaces 122 and 124 through the main storage space 120b.

The first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a are formed at the bottom surfaces of the sub storage spaces 122 and 124, respectively.

The inlet 140b is formed in the slit coater body 110c to be connected to the main receiving space 120b.

When the main storage space 120b is separated into at least two sub storage spaces 122 and 124 using the separation partition 125 as in the present embodiment, the photoresist introduced into the main storage space 120b is separated into the separation partition wall ( 125 causes the flow to split and enter the respective sub receiving spaces 122 and 124.

The photoresist introduced into the sub receiving spaces 122 and 124 is discharged through the first and second discharge ports 130 and 130a to form the photoresist thin film 20 on the unit substrate 10 formed on the mother substrate 1.

Example 4

5 is a cross-sectional view of a slit coater according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the slit coater 100 according to the present embodiment, at least two or more first and second accommodating spaces 120 and 120a are formed in the slit coater body 110d independently of each other. Except that the first and second inlets 140 and 140a are formed in each of the second storage spaces 120 and 120a, the detailed description thereof will be omitted since it has the same configuration as the slit coater 100 described in the third embodiment. .

As in this embodiment, a plurality of mutually independent, for example, first and second storage spaces 120 and 120a are formed in the slit coater body 110d, and each of the first and second storage spaces 120 and 120a is formed. When the first and second inlets 140 and 140a are formed in each receiving space so that the photoresist may be introduced, the photoresist thin film 20 may be applied only to the selected unit substrate 10. For example, when a unit substrate in which a defect occurs in the mother substrate 1 in which a process is in progress, the photoresist is introduced into a storage space (for example, 120a) formed in a portion corresponding to the defective unit substrate. The photoresist thin film 20 is not applied to the unit substrate on which the defect is generated by stopping.

Hereinafter, the configuration, operation and effects of the photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

Embodiments of Photoresist Coating Apparatus

Example 1

6 is a perspective view of a photoresist application apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the photoresist coating apparatus 200 includes a base body 210, a slit coater 100, a supply apparatus 220, and a transfer apparatus 230.

The base body 210 is mounted with a mother substrate 1 on which unit substrates 10 are formed.                     

Since the slit coater 100 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as the first embodiment of the above-described embodiments of the slit coater, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The slit coater 100 is fixed by the fixing bracket 160.

The fixing bracket 160 is installed to cross the width of the base body 210, and one surface of the fixing bracket 160 facing the upper surface of the base body 210 is spaced apart from the base body 210 by a predetermined distance. Then, both ends of the fixing bracket 160 facing the width side surface of the base body 210 is installed in the conveying device 230.

The supply device 220 is composed of a storage tank 222, a supply pipe 224, a pump 226, and a flow rate control device 228.

The photoresist is stored in the storage tank 222, and the photoresist is supplied to the slit coater 100 through the supply pipe 224.

The supply pipe 224 connects the storage tank 222 and the respective slit coater bodies 110 and 110a. One end of the supply pipe 224 is connected to the pump 226 and the other end is connected to the inlets 140 and 140a of the respective slit coater bodies 110 and 110a.

The pump 226 is installed in the storage tank 222 and pressurizes the inside of the storage tank 222 to supply the photoresist stored in the storage tank 222 to the slit coater 100.

The flow rate control device 228 is provided at a predetermined portion of the supply pipe 224. The flow rate control device 228 finely adjusts the open area of the supply pipe 224 to supply the correct amount of photoresist to each of the slit coater bodies 110 and 110a.

The transfer device 230 is composed of a motor 232, a guide rail 234, and a stationary piece 236.

The motor 232 rotates the guide rail 234 to transfer the fixing bracket 160.

The guide rails 234 are installed on both side surfaces of the base body 210 in the width direction. One end of the guide rail 234 is inserted into the motor 232, the other end is inserted into the fixing piece 236, and the fixing bracket 160 is inserted into the guide rail 234.

Example 2

7 is a perspective view of a photoresist application apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the photoresist coating apparatus 200 includes a base body 210, a slit coater 100, a supply apparatus 220, and a transfer apparatus 230.

Since the slit coater 100 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as the first embodiment of the above-described embodiments of the slit coater, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, since the base body 210, the supply device 220 and the transfer device 230 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as in the first embodiment of the photoresist coating device, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the operation of the photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

First, the mother substrate 1 on which the preceding process is completed is mounted on the base body 210. Then, the supply device is operated to supply the photoresist stored in the storage tank 222 to the slit coater bodies 110 and 110a through the supply pipe 224 by the pressure of the pump 226.                     

Thereafter, the motor 232 rotates at a predetermined speed, and the fixing bracket 160 to which the slit coater 100 is fixed starts to move in the direction of the arrow along the guide rail 234. At this time, the photoresist thin film 20 is formed only on the unit substrates 10 formed at the positions corresponding to the respective ejection openings 130 and 130a by discharging the photoresist through the ejection openings 130 and 130a of the slit coater bodies 110 and 110a. It begins to form.

As described in detail above, if the discharge ports of the slit coater are formed in the number corresponding to the unit substrates at the positions corresponding to the unit substrates, the photoresist thin film is applied only to the unit substrates, thereby reducing the photoresist consumption. have.

In addition, since the exposure process of removing the photoresist thin films formed around the unit substrates is not performed, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device is simplified.

In the detailed description of the present invention described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art or those skilled in the art having ordinary knowledge in the scope of the invention described in the claims to be described later It will be understood that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (17)

A slit coater body for selectively coating a photoresist on a unit substrate formed with at least two or more spaced apart from each other on a mother substrate; And An inlet disposed in the slit coater body to receive the photoresist, At least two discharge holes are formed in the slit coater body at a base storage space and a base surface of the main storage space. The slit coater, characterized in that the partition wall is formed between the discharge port in order to divide the main storage space into a plurality of sub storage space in the slit coater body. delete delete delete delete delete The slit coater according to claim 1, wherein the inlet is formed in the slit coater body to be connected to the main receiving space. A slit coater body for selectively coating a photoresist on a unit substrate formed with at least two or more spaced apart from each other on a mother substrate; And An inlet disposed in the slit coater body to receive the photoresist, The slit coater, characterized in that at least two or more storage spaces are arranged in a line in the slit coater body independent of each other, the discharge port for discharging the photoresist formed on the base surface of each of the storage spaces. The slit coater according to claim 8, wherein the inlet is formed in the slit coater body to be connected to each of the receiving spaces. A base body on which a mother substrate on which at least two unit substrates are formed is mounted; A slit coater including a slit coater body for coating a photoresist only on the unit substrate and an inlet disposed in the slit coater body to receive a photoresist; A supply device for supplying the photoresist to the slit coater; And A conveying device for conveying said slit coater relative to said base body, And at least two or more storage spaces are formed in a line in the slit coater body independently of each other, and discharge ports for discharging the photoresist are formed on the bottom surface of each storage space. delete delete delete delete delete The photoresist coating apparatus of claim 10, wherein the inlet is formed in the slit coater body to be connected to each of the receiving spaces. The flow rate of the photoresist of claim 10, wherein the supply device is formed in a storage tank for storing the photoresist, a supply pipe connecting the storage tank and the respective inlets, a pump for extruding the photoresist, and a supply pipe. Photoresist coating apparatus comprising a flow rate control device for adjusting the.

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