KR101303453B1 - Preparatory photoresist discharging device having tensioned sheet plate for substrate coater apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus and a substrate coater apparatus having the same, which is a preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus for ejecting a chemical liquid from a discharge port of a nozzle to apply a chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed. A thin plate formed to a length corresponding to the width of the processing substrate; A tension unit for applying a tension force to pull the thin plate from one side or both sides so that the thin plate is flattened; A moving unit for moving the thin plate such that the thin plate is in proximity to or in contact with the substrate and the thin plate is positioned at a position away from the substrate; Even if the discharge port of the slit nozzle is formed long in accordance with the enlargement of the substrate to be processed, the tension unit introduces a tension force into the thin plate forming the preliminary discharge surface from the discharge port of the slit nozzle so that the thin plate is always taut in the horizontal state. As it is maintained, the preliminary ejection process can be performed uniformly over the entire ejection opening of the slit nozzle, thereby providing a preliminary ejection mechanism and a substrate coater apparatus having the same, which can consistently manage the nozzle state after the preliminary ejection process.

Description

Preliminary ejection mechanism of substrate coater device by thin plate which introduces tension force {PREPARATORY PHOTORESIST DISCHARGING DEVICE HAVING TENSIONED SHEET PLATE FOR SUBSTRATE COATER APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater device and a substrate coating method using the same, and more particularly, a preliminary form in which a thin plate is moved near a slit nozzle in order to perform a coating process of a substrate to be processed more quickly. A preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus and a substrate coater apparatus having the same, in which a preliminary ejection process is always performed by introducing a tension force to a thin plate so as to ensure operational reliability of the preliminary ejection mechanism in applying the ejection mechanism. will be.

In the process of manufacturing flat panel displays, such as LCD, the coating process of apply | coating chemical liquids, such as a resist liquid, to the surface of the to-be-processed substrate made from glass etc. is accompanied. Conventionally, when the size of the LCD was small, a spin coating method was used in which the chemical was applied to the surface of the substrate by rotating the substrate while applying the chemical to the center of the substrate.

However, as the size of the LCD screen becomes larger, the spin coating method is scarcely used, and a slit-shaped slit nozzle having a length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed and a slit nozzle A coating method of coating the surface of the substrate is used.

1 is a view schematically showing a conventional substrate coater apparatus. As shown in Fig. 1, the conventional substrate coater apparatus has a nozzle having a discharge port corresponding to the width of the substrate G in a state where the substrate G is mounted on the substrate chuck 10. The chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate G to be processed while moving 30) in the direction indicated by 30d.

Here, the substrate chuck 10 is generally formed in a rectangular shape larger than the glass substrate in order to mount the glass substrate G, and a plurality of vacuum holes (not shown) communicating with the vacuum pump for vacuum adsorption are formed on the substrate chuck 10 have. The preliminary discharge part 20 is provided at one side of the substrate chuck 10 and includes a cleaning tank 24 and a cylindrical priming roller 22 rotatably installed in the cleaning tank 24. The cleaning tank 24 is filled with the cleaning liquid w so that the lower portion of the priming roller 22 is immersed, and the upper portion of the priming roller 22 is exposed to the outside through an opening in the upper portion of the cleaning tank 24.

In addition, above the substrate chuck 10, the nozzle 30 movable in the longitudinal direction 30d of the substrate chuck 10 moves the preliminary discharge portion 20 and the upper portion of the substrate chuck 10 horizontally. Chemical solution such as photoresist is applied to G). That is, in the substrate coater device configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 2A, the discharge port of the nozzle 30 is primed while the nozzle 30 is horizontally moved and moved to the upper portion of the preliminary discharge part 20. The preliminary discharging step is performed by slightly discharging the chemical liquid 55 onto the rotating priming roller 22 by moving downward 30y so as to be close to the roller 22.

The chemical liquid 55 on the outer circumferential surface of the priming polarizer 22 is immersed in the cleaning liquid w in the cleaning tank 24 by the rotation of the roller 22 as shown in FIG. 2C. The priming roller 22 immersed in the cleaning tank 24 washes the chemical liquid 55 on the surface with the cleaning liquid w, then is dried by the drying air 26a of the dryer 26, and then dried. The preparation for carrying out the preliminary ejection step is completed. Generally, in addition to the cleaning liquid w, various cleaning units, such as a cleaning liquid dropping unit, a blade, a cleaning liquid injector, and a CDA (Clean Dry Air) dryer 26, are installed in the cleaning tank 24, but a detailed description thereof will be omitted. .

The reason for performing the preliminary ejection step is that the ejection opening of the nozzle 30 is contacted with air during the waiting time from the coating process of one substrate G to the next coating process of the substrate G. The photoresist concentration therein is raised to prevent the discharge of the photoresist having the increased concentration onto the substrate G. That is, when a photoresist having a higher concentration is applied to the substrate G, curing of the applied photoresist causes cracking of the coating film vertically or cutting of the coating film. .

After completing the preliminary discharge as described above, as shown in FIG. 2B, the nozzle 30 moves to the processing target substrate G in a state in which the discharge of the chemical liquid is temporarily stopped and moved to the upper portion 30y '. At the position spaced apart by the overlap length s from the end of the processing substrate G, the chemical liquid 55 is discharged while the nozzle 30 is moved downward 30y, and the slit nozzle with respect to the processing substrate G is processed. The chemical liquid 55 is apply | coated to the surface of the to-be-processed board | substrate G as 30 moves. This is because the nozzle 30 proceeds further by the overlap length (s) at the tip of the substrate G and starts coating the photoresist, depending on the process conditions in which a part of the tip and the end of the substrate G should not be coated. Done. As a result, the injection of the chemical liquid is stopped between the preliminary discharge part 20 and the substrate G, thereby causing a problem in that the process efficiency is lowered.

After finishing the preliminary discharge as described above, in order to match the initial coating failure and thickness uniformity in the state stopped at the tip of the substrate (G), various process factors should be adjusted. That is, factors such as bead formation conditions, acceleration of the photosensitive liquid discharge amount, acceleration in the traveling direction, and the like should be controlled. However, since it is very difficult for the amount of the chemical liquid 55 to be discharged from the discharge port of the nozzle 30 to exactly match the amount of the chemical liquid in progress, it is difficult to precisely control the chemical liquid at the point of the first discharge point even if the control factors are precisely controlled. ) Causes a problem that it is difficult to avoid the problem of non-uniformity because the application amount is less or more than other areas.

In addition, in the substrate coating apparatus having the preliminary ejection unit 20 according to the related art, a process time is long and the unit coating process is delayed because the slit nozzle always returns to the front end of the substrate and the preliminary ejection is performed. There is a problem.

The present invention solves the conventional problem that the coating process of the substrate to be processed is delayed by passing through the preliminary ejection process and the thin plate moves to the vicinity of the slit nozzle to perform the coating process of the substrate more quickly. It is an object of the present invention to provide a preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater device and a substrate coater device having the same, by which the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate to be processed can be performed in a shorter time.

In addition, the present invention, even if the discharge port of the slit nozzle is formed long in accordance with the size of the substrate to be processed, the tension is introduced into the thin plate forming the preliminary discharge surface from the discharge port of the slit nozzle, so that the thin plate is always kept taut in a horizontal state, It is an object to be able to perform the preliminary ejection process uniformly with respect to the whole discharge port of a slit nozzle, so that the nozzle state after a preliminary ejection process can always be managed consistently.

The present invention is a preliminary discharging mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus for discharging a chemical liquid from a discharge port of a nozzle to apply the chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate, in order to achieve the object described above, the length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed. A thin plate formed of; A tension unit for applying a tension force to pull the thin plate from one side or both sides so that the thin plate is flattened; A moving unit for moving the thin plate such that the thin plate is positioned at a first position where the thin plate is in close proximity to or in contact with the substrate and the second plate is at a second position away from the substrate stage holding the substrate; It provides a preliminary ejection mechanism of the substrate coater device, characterized in that it comprises a.

That is, in the present invention, the preliminary ejection mechanism of the substrate coater device is configured to allow the thin plate to reciprocate from the first position close to the substrate to the second position away from the substrate in applying the chemical liquid to the surface of the substrate. Accordingly, the preliminary ejection process of the nozzle can be performed in a state close to the substrate to be processed, thereby minimizing the moving distance of the nozzle, thereby improving the process efficiency of coating the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed. Effect is obtained. Moreover, after performing the preliminary ejection process of the nozzle, the thin plate moves away from the substrate to be processed to a second position where it can be cleaned by the cleaning mechanism to perform cleaning, thereby minimizing the moving distance of the nozzle and simultaneously The efficiency of the process can be further improved by cleaning the thin plate used in the preliminary ejection step during the chemical liquid coating step of the substrate to be processed.

Particularly, in the present invention, even when the discharge port of the slit nozzle is formed long as the substrate to be processed is enlarged, a tension unit is applied to the thin plate forming the preliminary discharge surface from the discharge port of the slit nozzle so that the thin plate is always in a horizontal state. As a result, the preliminary ejection process can be performed uniformly over the entire ejection openings of the slit nozzle, so that the state of the nozzles after the preliminary ejection process can always be managed consistently.

At this time, the first position where the thin plate is close to the substrate to be processed may be set such that the thin plate and the substrate to be processed are not adjacent to each other but are arranged side by side or adjacently contacted but not overlapped. However, it may also be set at a position where the thin plate overlaps with a part of the substrate to be processed. Through this, after the nozzle preliminarily discharges the chemical liquid onto the thin plate, it is possible to continuously apply the chemical liquid without stopping the discharge of the chemical liquid while the nozzle moves from above the thin plate to the upper side of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate can be completed in a shorter time period, while being able to prevent the chemical liquid coating from being applied even to a region where the chemical liquid coating is not applied for a predetermined distance from the end of the substrate. Even if it is not, the advantageous effect that can eliminate the problem that the thickness of a chemical | medical solution becomes nonuniform at the position of the to-be-processed substrate from which a coating starts is obtained.

On the other hand, in moving the thin plate from a first position where the thin plate overlaps with a part of the substrate to be spaced apart from the substrate, the thin plate is separated in an oblique direction with respect to the plate surface of the substrate to be processed. After moving away. That is, even if the chemical liquid is coated with a uniform thickness on the surface of the substrate to be processed, when the thin plate is moved vertically or horizontally, the thickness of the chemical liquid on the substrate to be in contact with the thin plate may be slightly changed according to the vertical movement of the thin plate. Therefore, the thin plate may be controlled to move away from the substrate in the oblique direction at an acute angle of approximately 25 degrees to 85 degrees with respect to the plate surface of the substrate to be processed. More preferably, when the thin plate moves away from the substrate with an angle greater than 40 degrees and less than 85 degrees with respect to the plate surface of the substrate, the thickness variation of the chemical liquid applied to the substrate can be minimized. have.

The 'diagonal direction' described in the present specification and claims is not necessarily limited to a straight path direction, but will be defined as including a curved path direction.

Meanwhile, the thin plate may be formed of various materials, but according to another embodiment of the present invention, the thin plate may be formed of a corrosion-resistant metal material, preferably, a stainless-based metal material by the chemical liquid discharged from the nozzle.

In addition, the thin plate is fixed while the upper side is wound around a pair of supports formed with a curved surface, thereby preventing local large stress from acting and minimizing the tearing in the process of installing the thin plate on the support. . And, the thin plate is fixed to the support pin or bolt, it is possible to install the thin plate more easily.

On the other hand, by adjusting the distance between the pair of supports for fixing the end of the thin plate further includes a tension unit for applying a tension force to the thin plate or to reduce the tension force. As a result, the thin plate formed to have a size that extends over the width of the substrate to be processed can be compensated for sagging due to its own weight, so that the preliminary ejection process can be performed uniformly over the entire discharge port of the nozzle.

At this time, when the tension force introduced by the tension unit is excessive, tensile rupture of the thin plate may occur, and when the tension force is insufficient, the problem that the deflection amount of the thin plate exceeds the allowable value occurs. Therefore, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the tension sheet may further include a tension force measuring unit for measuring the pulling force of the thin plate by the tension means, so that the thin plate may have an acceptable tension force to minimize the amount of deflection of the thin plate. It becomes possible.

On the other hand, the present invention is a substrate coater apparatus for applying a chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be discharged by the chemical liquid from the discharge port of the nozzle, comprising: a substrate stage for mounting the substrate to be processed; A nozzle for applying a chemical to a surface of the substrate to be fixed fixed to the substrate stage; Provided is a substrate coater device comprising the preliminary ejection mechanism described above.

Here, the substrate coater device further comprises a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the thin plate in a state where the thin plate is in a second position away from the target substrate, so that the nozzle from the upper side of the thin plate to the upper side of the substrate to be processed. During application of the chemical liquid while moving, it is possible to shorten the time required for the coating process of the unit substrate by moving the thin plate backwards so that the thin plate can be cleaned by the cleaning mechanism for use in the next chemical liquid coating process of the substrate to be processed. You can do it.

The nozzle may be formed as a slit nozzle having a discharge port having a slit shape corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed.

The substrate stage may be configured to apply a chemical liquid while moving the substrate to be processed, but may also be formed as a substrate chuck mounted in a state where the substrate is fixed.

As described above, the present invention is a preliminary discharging mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus for discharging a chemical liquid from a discharge port of a nozzle to apply the chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate, the thin plate having a length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed; ; A tension unit for applying a tension force to pull the thin plate from one side or both sides so that the thin plate is flattened; A moving unit for moving the thin plate such that the thin plate is positioned at a first position where the thin plate is in proximity to or in contact with the substrate and the second plate is at a second position away from the substrate; And the discharge port of the slit nozzle is formed long in accordance with the enlargement of the substrate to be processed, the tension unit introduces a tension force into the thin plate forming the preliminary discharge surface from the discharge port of the slit nozzle so that the thin plate is always taut in a horizontal state. As it is maintained, the preliminary ejection process can be performed uniformly over the entire ejection opening of the slit nozzle, thereby providing a preliminary ejection mechanism and a substrate coater apparatus having the same, which can consistently manage the nozzle state after the preliminary ejection process.

That is, the present invention is provided with a tension unit that pulls on both sides of the thin plate on which the preliminary ejection of the nozzle is made to tension or relieves the tension force, so that the thin plate formed to a size that spans the width of the large-sized to-be-processed substrate is sag due to its own weight. Compensation is made so that the preliminary ejection process can be uniformly carried out over the entire discharge port of the nozzle.

In addition, the present invention further includes a tension force measuring unit for measuring the force of pulling the thin plate by the tension means, it is possible to obtain an advantage that the appropriate tension can be introduced into the thin plate while minimizing the amount of deflection of the thin plate. .

In addition, the present invention is because the preliminary ejection process of the nozzle is made of a thin plate which is movable by the moving unit, and as the preliminary ejection process is performed in a state where the thin plate is close to the substrate, the movement distance of the nozzle is minimized to minimize the movement of the substrate. By reducing the time required for coating, process efficiency can be improved.

In addition, according to the present invention, after performing the preliminary ejection process of the nozzle, the process of cleaning the chemical liquid discharged from the nozzle can be performed by moving to a second position away from the substrate to be processed, so that the thin plate used in the preliminary ejection process of the nozzle. The cleaning can be performed during the chemical liquid coating step of the substrate to be processed to further improve the efficiency of the step.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, as the thin plate is set to a position overlapping with a part of the substrate, the nozzle is pre-discharged the chemical liquid on the thin plate, while the nozzle is moved from the upper side of the thin plate to the upper side of the substrate, discharge of the chemical liquid By continuously applying the chemical liquid without interruption, the problem that the thickness of the chemical liquid becomes uneven at the position of the substrate to be coated can be solved at once without the precise control of the discharge pressure of the nozzle or the moving speed of the nozzle. You can get the benefits.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of a conventional general substrate coater apparatus
2A to 2C are schematic views for explaining a preliminary ejection process and a substrate coating process using the substrate coater device of FIG.
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a substrate coater device according to an embodiment of the present invention
4 is an enlarged view of portion 'A' of FIG.
5 is a front view of the preliminary ejection mechanism of FIG.
6 is an enlarged view of a portion 'B' of FIG.
7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the preliminary ejection mechanism and the cleaning mechanism of FIG. 3 are arranged;
8 is a perspective view of portion 'C' of FIG.
9A to 9C are schematic diagrams showing the configuration according to the substrate coating process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a substrate coater apparatus having a preliminary ejection mechanism 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view showing a substrate coater device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion 'A' of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view of the preliminary ejection mechanism of FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of portion 'B', FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the preliminary ejection mechanism and the cleaning mechanism are arranged in FIG. 3, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of portion 'C' in FIG. 7, and FIGS. 9A to 9C are A schematic diagram showing a configuration of a substrate coating process according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the substrate coater apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate stage 10 for adsorbing the substrate G to be treated by a plurality of suction holes and firmly fixed without shaking, and the substrate stage 10. Slit nozzle 30 for applying the chemical liquid 55 to the surface of the substrate G to be fixed, and gantry for moving the slit nozzle 30 along the longitudinal direction 30d of the substrate stage 10. (Gantry, not shown) and the preliminary discharging mechanism 100 for discharging a small amount of chemical liquid 55 preliminarily before discharging the chemical liquid 55 onto the surface of the substrate G by the slit nozzle 30. ) And a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the chemical liquid on the preliminary discharge mechanism 100.

The preliminary ejection mechanism 100 is formed of a length corresponding to the width of the substrate G to be processed and is formed of a thin metal plate 110 formed to perform preliminary ejection in a state close to the ejection opening of the slit nozzle 30; Tension unit 120 to act on the tension or pull the tension from both sides of the thin plate 110, a tension force measuring unit 124 for measuring the tension force introduced by the tension unit 120, and the thin plate 110 It consists of the moving units 130 and 140 which move the thin plate 110 and the tension unit 120 together to reciprocate the 1st position which adjoins to the to-be-processed substrate G, and the 2nd position away from the to-be-processed substrate G. do.

Here, the thin plate 110 is a pin or bolt (111b) to a pair of support (111a) spaced apart to be set to a corresponding length slightly longer than the width of the substrate (G) as shown in Figures 5 and 6 Is fixed. And, the upper portion of the support (111a) is formed with a curved surface (111r) is installed while the thin plate 110 is wound around the pair of the support (111a), always in a constant length direction even in the synchronization control error of the tension unit 120 The tension force acts and not only causes the thin plate 110 to be automatically aligned in the arrangement direction of the support 110a, but also prevents local stress from acting on both ends of the thin plate 110.

In addition, the thin plate 110 is selected from a stainless-based metal material that is excellent in corrosion resistance and chemical resistance to chemical liquids and ensures ductility so as not to be damaged by tension, and has a thickness of about 1 μm to 1000 μm. In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the thin plate 110 may be used by coating with ceramic, quartz on the surface of the material to ensure ductility.

The tension unit 120 tensions the thin plate 110 in a taut state such that the entire discharge port of the slit nozzle 30 becomes a predetermined gap on the surface of the thin plate 110 in the preliminary discharging process. To this end, a fixing block 123y fixed to the body 111 fixed to the lower portion of the support 111a supporting the thin plate 110 is provided, one end of which is fixed to the fixing block 123y and the other end of the linear reciprocating motion. An actuating bar 123 connected to the actuator 122 for performing the operation is provided. As a result, the actuator bar 123 is reciprocated in the direction indicated by reference numeral 122d by the actuator 122, so that the distance between the pair of supports 111a may be close to each other, and thus, the thin plate 110 may be separated. In the direction indicated by 110x in the tension force may be introduced or the tension force may be alleviated.

The tension force introduced into the thin plate 110 by the tension unit 120 is measured and monitored in real time by the tension force measuring unit 124. When the tension force introduced by the tension unit 120 is excessive, tensile rupture of the thin plate may occur, and when the tension force is insufficient, a problem that the deflection amount of the thin plate exceeds the allowable value is generated, and thus, by the tension unit 120 The force pulling the thin plate 110 in the plate direction is measured by the tension force measuring unit 124 to introduce an appropriate tension force that minimizes the amount of deflection of the thin plate 110 with an allowable tension within the elastic limit of the thin plate 110. You can do it.

To this end, the operation bar 123 of the tension unit 120 is formed in the recess, the load cell is located in the recess as the tension force measuring unit 124, the operation unit 123 in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the operation bar 123 The pressing part 123x fixed to the pressurizes the load cell. Accordingly, the tension force introduced by the tension unit 120 is measured from the deformation amount of the load cell.

At this time, the tension unit 120 according to the present invention may be installed on one side of the thin plate 110 and the tension force measuring unit may also be installed on only one side of the thin plate 110 is installed, the embodiment of the present invention According to the preliminary ejection mechanism 100 of the substrate coater device, the tension unit 120 and the tension force measuring unit 124 may be installed at both sides of the thin plate 110. When the tension unit 120 and the tension force measuring unit 124 are respectively installed on both sides of the thin plate 110, it is possible to prevent excessive force from acting on one side in the course of introducing the tension force to the thin plate 110. .

In the process where the chemical liquid is slightly discharged from the discharge port of the slit nozzle 30 to the surface of the thin plate 110 and preliminarily discharged, the thin plate 110 reciprocates toward or away from the slit nozzle 30 to thereby slit the slit nozzle ( While 30 may perform the preliminary ejection process, the moving distance of the slit nozzle 30 is minimized, thereby reducing the time required for the process of coating the chemical liquid on the surface of one to-be-processed substrate G.

To this end, the support (111a) and the tension unit 120 of the thin plate 110 is fixed to the base (131; 131a, 131b) is moved in the vertical direction and the front and rear direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the thin plate 110 and the tension unit 120 are fixed to the upper base 131a, and the upper base 131a is attached to the drive actuator 132 installed in the lower base 131a. As a result, the lead screw moves in the vertical direction 130d with respect to the lower base 131a. Here, the lower base 131a has guide rails 134 for guiding the upper base 131b that moves up and down in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation of the rotation shaft 133 of the drive actuator 132, and both sides of the base 131. Are installed on each.

And, as shown in Figure 4, the lower base 131b is controlled to move in the front-rear direction along a pair of guide rails 141 provided on both sides of the bottom surface. To this end, when the lead screw motor 142 fixed to the ground rotates in the forward and reverse directions, a male screw thread formed on the rotation shaft 142a of the screw motor 142 is fixed to the fixing plate 143 fixed to the lower base 131b. The lower base 131b is moved in the front-rear direction 140d while being engaged with the formed female thread.

As described above, the preliminary ejection mechanism 100 of the substrate coater apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment may move the thin plate 110 in the vertical direction 130d and the front and rear directions 140d, respectively, and the driving actuator (tension unit). ) And the screw motor 142 may be operated at the same time to move along the inclined path with respect to the plate surface of the substrate G.

The cleaning mechanism 200 includes a chemical liquid 55 in which the slit nozzle 30 is buried in the thin plate 110 during the preliminary ejection process while the slit nozzle 30 applies the chemical liquid 55 to the surface of the substrate G. Clean. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning mechanism 200 includes a cleaning module 210 through which dry air and the cleaning liquid are discharged to remove the chemical liquid 55 adhered to the thin plate 110, and the cleaning module 210. A cleaning module moving unit 220 for moving the cleaning module 210 to clean the thin plate 110 having an elongated shape as a whole, a receiving tank 230 containing a cleaning liquid and a chemical liquid sprayed from the cleaning module 210, It consists of the support body 240 which supports them.

Thus, when the slit nozzle 30 moves from the surface of the thin plate 110 onto the surface of the substrate G, the thin plate 110 moves in the direction indicated by reference numeral 110d ", as shown in Fig. 9C. The opening is formed into the 'C' cross section of the cleaning module 210 is formed, the cleaning module 210 by the cleaning module moving unit 220 moves along the longitudinal direction of the thin plate 110, the cleaning The thin plate 110 is primarily cleaned with the cleaning liquid injected from the cleaning liquid nozzle 211 of the module 210. That is, the cleaning module 210 having the letter 'C' cross-sections rinses both sides of the thin plate 110 at once. Therefore, by completely cleaning the chemical liquid permeated to the bottom surface of the thin plate in the preliminary ejection process, the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate to be processed G can then be performed smoothly without contamination.

Then, the cleaning module 210 is moved by the cleaning module moving unit 220 along the longitudinal direction of the thin plate 110, and the thin plate by compressed dry air injected from the air nozzle 212 of the cleaning module 210. Dry the cleaning liquid on the surface of 110). At this time, the cleaning liquid and the chemical liquid are contained in the receiving tank 230 of the cleaning mechanism 200.

With this configuration, the thin plate 110 moves to a first position that is close to the processing target substrate G or overlaps a part of the processing target substrate G in the process of preliminarily discharging the slit nozzle 30, The preliminary ejection can be performed at a moving distance much shorter than the moving distance reaching the thin plate 110 at the slit nozzle 30 in a fixed position. In particular, when the thin plate 110 is positioned to overlap with the overlap length s of the end of the substrate G, the slit nozzle 30 performs preliminary ejection on the upper side of the thin plate 110 and the substrate coating direction. It moves to 30d, and the process of coating the chemical | medical solution 55 on the surface of the to-be-processed substrate G immediately without interruption | discharging can be continued continuously. By overlapping by the overlapping length s of the end of the substrate (G) by the thin plate 110, it is possible to simply adjust the length of the end of the substrate (G) to prevent the chemical liquid is coated. Therefore, the overlap length s of the thin plate 110 and the to-be-processed substrate G is set to 1 mm-2 mm.

At this time, the thin plate 110 is positioned so as to overlap by the overlap length s of the end portion of the substrate G, but the thin plate 110 may be positioned in contact with the substrate G to be covered. The thin plate 110 is spaced apart slightly from the surface of the substrate G to be overlapped but may be positioned in a non-contact state.

Through this, the conventional problem that the coating process of the substrate to be processed is delayed due to the preliminary ejection process of the slit nozzle 30 does not occur, and the process required for the coating process of the unit substrate to be processed G can be shortened. At the same time, the chemical liquid discharge of the slit nozzle 30 is not interrupted and is continuously applied from the surface of the thin plate 110 to the surface of the substrate G to be treated. The chemical liquid is applied in thickness. Therefore, the chemical liquid is applied to a uniform thickness throughout the substrate to be implemented to implement a coating of excellent quality.

Hereinafter, the substrate coating method according to the first embodiment of the present invention of the substrate coater device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A to 9C.

Step 1 : The substrate G is mounted on the surface of the substrate stage 10 and a negative pressure is applied to a plurality of suction holes (not shown) of the substrate stage 10 to firmly fix the substrate G. Let's do it.

Step 2 : And, as shown in Fig. 9A, the thin plate 110 is moved in the direction indicated by reference numeral 110d by the moving units 130 and 140 so that the thin plate 110 overlaps with a portion of the substrate G to be processed. Move it. At this time, the thin plate 110 is positioned to overlap by a predetermined overlap length s so as not to apply the chemical liquid 55 to the surface of the substrate G to be processed.

Step 3 : Then, the slit nozzle 30 is moved above the thin plate 110, and then moved downward 30y to bring the discharge port of the slit nozzle 30 into the thin plate 110. Then, the chemical liquid 55 is applied to the surface of the thin plate 110 by controlling a pump (not shown) controlling the slit nozzle 30 to discharge the cured chemical liquid 55 around the discharge port of the slit nozzle 30. By doing this, a preliminary ejection step is performed.

Step 4 : As soon as Step 3 is performed, as shown in Fig. 9B, the slit nozzle 30 proceeds in the direction indicated by reference numeral 30d without interrupting the discharge of the chemical liquid 55. Accordingly, the slit nozzle 30 continuously applies the chemical liquid 55 to the surface of the substrate G after the surface of the thin plate 110.

Therefore, the slit nozzle 30 can perform the preliminary ejection process even if the slit nozzle 30 does not move to the preliminary ejection portion, which is spaced apart from the substrate G for conventionally preliminary ejection. Then, the chemical liquid 55 can be coated continuously from the position spaced apart by the overlap length s on the surface of the substrate to be processed G without interrupting the chemical liquid discharge of the slit nozzle 30. In addition, since the portion 55x in which the thickness of the chemical liquid is not constant at the time of initial discharge of the slit nozzle 30 exists on the thin plate 110, even if the chemical liquid discharge pressure of the slit nozzle 30 is not fluctuately controlled, The thickness of the chemical liquid 55 applied to the substrate G to be processed is applied to a constant thickness.

Step 5 : When the slit nozzle 30 passes the surface of the thin plate 110 in the process of step 4, the angle θ of approximately 40 degrees to 85 degrees with respect to the substrate G as shown in FIG. 9C. ) And retracted in the diagonal direction indicated by reference numeral 110d ", and then moved to the cleaning space 210a of the cleaning module 210 of the cleaning mechanism 200. Thus, the thin plate 110 is processed substrate G As the retreat in the diagonal direction 110d ″ with respect to), the coating layer of the chemical liquid 55 continuously applied to the surface of the thin plate 110 and the substrate to be processed G is neatly separated without change in thickness.

Step 6 : By spraying the cleaning liquid and compressed dry air while the cleaning module 210 moves in the direction indicated by 210d, the chemical liquid 55 on the surface of the thin plate 110 moved into the cleaning module 210 is washed and dried. do. Step 6 is all performed during the process of step 4 in which the slit nozzle 30 applies the chemical liquid 55 while moving the surface of the substrate G to be processed. Therefore, the time required for cleaning the thin plate 110 does not delay the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate G to be processed.

When the process of step 4 is completed, steps 1 to 6 are repeated, and then the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate to be processed G is performed. As described above, as the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate G is performed, the time required for coating the chemical liquid of the substrate G is shortened, so that the productivity is improved, and the chemical liquid is applied to the substrate G. Since the thickness of the chemical liquid applied from the starting point to the end point is uniform, it is possible to obtain the advantageous effect of coating the chemical liquid with high quality.

Hereinafter, in the substrate coating method according to the second embodiment of the present invention of the substrate coater device configured as described above, the slit nozzle is moved to advance with respect to the thin plate, in that the slit nozzle and the thin plate move together toward the substrate to be processed. There is a difference from the configuration of the first embodiment described above. At this time, the slit nozzle is controlled to move at a slightly faster speed than the thin plate.

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When the thin plate reaches a position overlapped with the substrate by overlapping length, the movement of the thin plate is stopped, and the slit nozzle moves while continuously applying the chemical liquid to the surface of the thin plate without interruption of the chemical liquid discharge. Therefore, the slit nozzle can perform the preliminary ejection process even if it does not move to the preliminary ejection portion, which is spaced apart from the substrate for conventional preliminary ejection, and continuously stops the chemical liquid ejection of the slit nozzle. It is possible to coat the chemical liquid from a position spaced by overlapping lengths on the surface.

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While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
10: substrate stage 30: slit nozzle
100: preliminary discharge mechanism 110: thin plate
120: tension unit 124: tension force measuring unit
130, 140: mobile unit 200: cleaning mechanism
210: cleaning module 220: cleaning module moving unit
230: reservoir 240: support

Claims (10)

A preliminary ejection mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus for ejecting a chemical liquid from a discharge port of a slit nozzle to apply a chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed,
A thin plate formed at a length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed, and having both ends fixed to the pair of supports while the upper side is wound around the pair of supports formed in a curved surface;
A tension unit for exerting a tension force or releasing the tension force by adjusting a distance between the pair of supports on which the end of the foil is fixed;
A moving unit for moving the thin plate such that the thin plate is in proximity to or in contact with the substrate and the thin plate is positioned at a position away from the substrate;
A preliminary ejection mechanism of the substrate coater device, comprising a.
The method of claim 1,
And a tension force measuring unit for measuring a force for pulling the thin plate by the tension unit.
The method of claim 2,
The tension force measuring unit is a preliminary ejection mechanism of the substrate coater device, characterized in that the load cell.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The thin plate is a preliminary ejection mechanism of the substrate coater apparatus, characterized in that both ends are fixed to the pair of supports with pins or bolts.
A substrate coater apparatus for discharging a chemical liquid from a discharge port of a slit nozzle to apply a chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed.
A substrate stage for mounting the substrate to be processed;
A nozzle for applying a chemical to a surface of the substrate to be fixed fixed to the substrate stage;
A preliminary ejection mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3;
Substrate coater device comprising a.
6. The method of claim 5,
A cleaning mechanism for cleaning the thin plate while the thin plate is in a position away from the substrate to be processed;
Substrate coater device, characterized in that it further comprises.
6. The method of claim 5,
And the substrate stage is a substrate chuck mounted on the substrate to be fixed. delete delete delete

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