KR101814365B1 - Method of spraying photoresist on substrate and apparatus used therein - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a chemical liquid application method for a substrate and a chemical liquid application device for a substrate to be used therefor, the chemical liquid application step of applying a chemical solution onto an area larger than the area of the application area to which the chemical solution is to be applied; A chemical liquid removing step of applying a plasma or ultraviolet ray to the chemical liquid applied outside the application area to remove the chemical liquid applied to the area other than the application area; The present invention also provides a method of applying a chemical liquid on a substrate and a chemical liquid application device for the substrate to be used thereon, wherein the chemical liquid application thickness of the application area to be used can be uniformly controlled without reducing the speed of applying the chemical liquid.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a method of applying a chemical liquid on a substrate,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a chemical liquid applying method for a substrate and a chemical liquid applying apparatus for use therein, and more particularly to a chemical liquid applying apparatus for applying a chemical liquid to a substrate, And a device used therefor.

In the process of manufacturing a flat panel display such as a CD, a coating process for applying a chemical liquid such as a resist solution to the surface of a substrate to be processed, which is made of glass or the like, is involved. Conventionally, a spin coating method for applying a chemical liquid to the surface of a substrate to be processed by rotating a substrate while applying a chemical liquid to a central portion of the substrate has been used.

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 schematic view of a conventional substrate coater apparatus. 1, in a conventional substrate coater apparatus, a chemical liquid such as a photoresist is supplied onto the surface of a substrate to be processed G in a state where the substrate to be processed G is mounted on a substrate chuck 10, Is applied to the surface of the target substrate (G) from the nozzle (30) by the supply nozzle (20).

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. Although it is possible to apply the chemical solution to the entire surface of the substrate G to be processed, in recent years, there has been a need to apply the chemical solution only to a small area for use in a small display mobile device such as E-paer or a flexible display device.

1, the slit nozzle 20 is controlled to intermittently control the discharge of the slit nozzle 20 while moving the transfer mechanism 25 in the direction indicated by reference numeral 20y. As a result, The chemical solution 55 is applied only to the coating area A of the substrate G as shown in FIG. 5A and the substrate G is cut after the chemical solution 55 is dried, .

However, in this way, the substrate to be processed is controlled to intermittently control the ejection of the slit nozzle 20 to apply the chemical solution to the application region A to be used in the display device, and to delay the movement speed of the nozzle 20 3, it is possible to control the discharge of the slit nozzle 20 by intermittently controlling the discharge of the slit nozzle 20 even after the preliminary discharge process, and at the start point 55x and the stop point 55x where the chemical liquid is applied, The problem of deterioration of the coating quality of the chemical liquid can not be avoided.

In addition, it is very difficult to accurately apply the chemical solution only to the coating area A of the chemical solution 55, and thus the moving speed of the slit nozzle 20 must be lowered more than in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pre-discharge mechanism of a substrate coater apparatus and a method of coating a substrate using the same, which can solve the above-described problems of the related art and enable a coating process of a substrate to be processed more quickly.

That is, it is an object of the present invention to allow a chemical solution to be applied with uniform coating thickness to each coating area when a chemical solution is to be applied to a plurality of coating areas spaced from each other on a substrate to be processed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of applying a chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed, the chemical liquid applying step comprising: a chemical liquid applying step of applying a chemical liquid to an area larger than an area of a coating area to which the chemical liquid is to be applied; A chemical liquid removing step of applying a plasma or ultraviolet ray to the chemical liquid applied outside the application area to remove the chemical liquid applied to the area other than the application area; The method for coating a chemical liquid on a substrate is also provided.

That is, when a chemical liquid is to be applied to a plurality of application areas on one substrate to be processed, it is not necessary to apply the chemical liquid only to the application area, but to apply the chemical solution to the outside of the application area so that the non- After applying the chemical solution sufficiently wide, the chemical solution applied in addition to the necessary application region is selectively applied to at least one of the plasma and the chemical solution to remove the chemical solution to be applied in a uniform thickness .

At this time, the chemical liquid can be applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed by the slit nozzle. The slit nozzles may be formed to have a length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed, but they may be arranged to be displaced in the width direction by arranging two or more sizes smaller than this.

The surface of the substrate to be processed is characterized in that the coating quality of the chemical solution can be effectively improved when two or more coating areas to which the chemical solution is applied are distributed.

The chemical liquid may be formed from a photoresist. Since the photoresist applied to the substrate can be removed while being burned by the plasma, it is possible to remove the chemical liquid applied to the area other than the coating area by controlling the electric current of the electrode generating the plasma. Further, although the removal time is somewhat longer than that of the plasma, the ultraviolet lamp is irradiated onto the selected region, so that the photoresist applied to the region other than the region to be coated can be removed from the surface of the substrate to be processed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chemical liquid applying apparatus for applying chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed, comprising: a substrate stage for fixing the substrate to be processed; A chemical liquid supply nozzle for applying a chemical liquid over a wider area than a coating area of the substrate to be processed while moving relative to the substrate to be processed; A chemical liquid remover which irradiates at least one of plasma and ultraviolet rays to remove the chemical liquid applied to the substrate to be processed on the substrate to be processed and moves on the substrate to be processed; The chemical liquid application device of the substrate is characterized in that the chemical liquid application device comprises the substrate.

At this time, the chemical liquid supply nozzle can apply the chemical liquid to the substrate to be processed while two or more slit nozzles move together. At this time, the slit nozzle is provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the substrate to be processed, and the chemical liquid can be applied to variously distributed coating areas of the substrate to be processed.

The coating quality of the chemical solution can be improved more remarkably on the surface of the substrate to be treated for each application region when two or more application regions to which the chemical solution is applied are distributed on the surface of the substrate.

The chemical liquid may be a photoresist.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, according to the present invention, when a chemical liquid is applied to a coating region of a substrate to be treated, a chemical liquid applied to a region other than the region to be coated is sufficiently wide, A plurality of spaced apart application areas to be used are coated with a uniform thickness of a chemical solution, and a device used therein.

Accordingly, it is possible to obtain an advantageous effect that the coating thickness of the chemical solution to be used can be uniformly adjusted without lowering the speed of applying the chemical solution on the surface of the substrate while moving the nozzle.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the chemical liquid applied to the region other than the region to be coated of the substrate is removed by the plasma, it is possible to accurately remove the chemical liquid in the region not to be used within a short period of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view showing the structure of a chemical liquid application device for a substrate for applying a chemical solution to a plurality of application areas distributed on the surface of a substrate to be processed
2 is a view showing a state in which the chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed by the apparatus of Fig. 1
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in Fig. 2
4 is a perspective view showing the structure of a chemical liquid application device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5A and 5B are views showing a state in which the chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed by the apparatus of FIG. 4
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Fig. 5
FIGS. 7A and 7B are views sequentially showing a structure for removing a chemical liquid applied in addition to a coating area using ultraviolet rays
8 is a schematic view showing a configuration for removing a chemical solution applied to a region other than a coating region using plasma
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic view showing a chemical liquid removal structure using plasma separated from the substrate stage of FIG. 4; FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a chemical liquid application apparatus 100 for a substrate 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.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of a chemical liquid application device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a state in which a chemical liquid is applied to the surface of a substrate to be processed by the device in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line VI-VI in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and FIGS. 7A to 7B sequentially show a structure for removing a chemical solution applied to a region other than a coating region using ultraviolet rays. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic view showing a structure for removing a chemical liquid using plasma separated from the substrate stage of FIG. 4; FIG.

4, the chemical liquid application device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate stage 110 for sucking a target substrate G by a plurality of suction holes and fixing the target substrate G firmly without swinging, A pair of slit nozzles 120 for applying a chemical solution 55 to the surface of the substrate G fixed to the stage 110 and a pair of slit nozzles 120 for applying a chemical solution 55 to the surface of the substrate G in the longitudinal direction A nozzle feed mechanism 125 for moving the slit nozzles 120 individually in the width direction 120x while simultaneously moving the slit nozzles 120y along the slit nozzle 120y, a chemical liquid supply unit 130 for supplying the chemical liquid to the slit nozzles 120, And a chemical solution removing unit 140 for removing the chemical solution applied to the outside of the coating area 50A of the substrate G from the slit nozzle 120. [

The slit nozzles 120 are formed as a pair and are formed with widths corresponding to the application areas 50A and 50A 'spaced apart from each other on the substrate G to be processed. The slit nozzle 120 starts to be applied slightly ahead of each of the application areas 50A and 50A 'and stops applying the chemical solution 55 at positions slightly beyond the boundaries of the application areas 50A and 50A' do. 5A and FIG. 5B, the chemical solution 55 is applied to the surface of the target substrate G over a wider area including the application areas 50A and 50A '.

5A, the width of the slit nozzle 120 may be formed to be slightly larger than the application area 5A as shown in FIG. 5A, and the application areas 5A 'and 5B' They may be formed to have the same size. This is because the coating thickness becomes uneven at the application start point and the stop point of the slit nozzle 120, so that the point 55x at which the coating thickness becomes uneven in the width direction of the slit nozzle 120 hardly occurs.

The nozzle feeding mechanism 125 not only feeds the slit nozzle 120 in the longitudinal direction 120y but also adjusts the position so that the pair of slit nozzles 120 can also move in the width direction 120x. Although the slit nozzles 120 are formed as a pair in the drawing, one or three or more slit nozzles 120 may be formed depending on the distribution of the application regions 50A and 50A 'of the substrate G to be processed.

The chemical solution removing unit 140 removes the chemical liquid applied to the outside of the application areas 50A and 50B from the glass substrate to be processed G by applying plasma or ultraviolet rays. The chemical solution removing unit 140 shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a slit for irradiating ultraviolet light to a size corresponding to the width of the slit nozzle 120 to remove the chemical solution other than the coating area 50A 'shown in FIG. 5B.

4 shows the structure of the chemical solution removing unit 140 for removing ultraviolet rays by irradiating the outside of the coated region 50A 'of the target substrate G in the front-rear direction. However, The chemical solution control unit may be configured so that the irradiation region of the ultraviolet ray is divided and controlled so as to irradiate the outer portion in the width direction of the target substrate G and the positive and negative electrodes The drug solution control unit may be configured to aerate the plasma while moving.

Here, the chemical solution removing unit for supplying the plasma may consist of only a pair of the chemical solution removing unit in the case where the outer portion in the front-rear direction of the chemical solution region 50A 'of FIG. 5B is to be removed, And in a case where the outer portion in the width direction is to be removed, it may be divided into a plurality of portions, and a configuration in which a current can be supplied separately (a form capable of generating plasma outside the width direction of the application region).

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the electrode unit 140 'which moves relative to the substrate G to be processed includes a side electrode (not shown) for removing the chemical liquid applied to the outside in the width direction of the application region 50A And a main electrode 140a 'for removing only the chemical liquid applied to the outside in the front-rear direction. Therefore, while the electrode 140 'is moved relative to the target substrate G in the direction indicated by reference numeral 140d', the chemical solution applied to the front and rear outer regions of the application region 50A passes through the main electrode 140a ' A current is simultaneously applied to the side electrode 140e 'to generate and remove plasma, and the chemical solution applied to both outer sides of the application region 50A applies a current only to the side electrode 140e' to generate and remove plasma . As described above, the chemical solution removing unit according to the present invention may apply plasma or ultraviolet rays to only one surface of the target substrate G, but it is also possible to apply plasma or ultraviolet rays to both surfaces of the target substrate G, You can give it. In other words, the chemical solution removing unit 140 is positioned facing the pair of electrodes 140 ', and can apply plasma or ultraviolet rays to both surfaces of the substrate G to be processed. In the drawing, "H", which is not shown, is a holder for gripping and transferring the substrate G to be processed.

In FIG. 4, the chemical solution is applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed in a state where the substrate to be processed G is fixed to the substrate stage 110. However, the present applicant has disclosed in Korean Patent Laid- The apparatus and method of the present invention can also be applied to a floating-type substrate coater apparatus of U.S. Patent No. 8,983, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. (In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-8983, Since the substrate is transported in a state in which the substrate is spaced apart from the substrate stage, the positive and negative electrodes are disposed on the upper and lower sides of the substrate to be processed to generate plasma to be applied to the outside of the coating regions 50A and 50A ' It can be effectively used to remove the chemical solution.

Even if the chemical liquid is applied while the target substrate G is closely fixed to the substrate stage 110, the target substrate G is lifted from the substrate stage 110 with the lift pins, The electrodes 140 'made of the positive and negative electrodes move along the substrate at the upper and lower sides of the electrodes G, G, thereby generating plasma. Alternatively, in the apparatus shown in Fig. 9 (this apparatus is also included in the chemical liquid application apparatus of the present invention) by moving the substrate G from the substrate stage 110 provided with the suction holes, G are gripped by the holder H and are transported in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, electric currents are applied to the positive and negative electrodes 140 'arranged on the upper and lower sides thereof, so that plasma can be applied to the substrate to be processed.

Hereinafter, a method of applying a chemical solution using the chemical liquid application device of the above-described substrate will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7C.

Step 1 : First, the chemical solution applying device 100 shown in FIG. 4 is used to apply the chemical solution to the coated areas 50A and 50A 'of the substrate G and its vicinity. As a result, the substrate G is in a state in which the chemical liquid is applied to a larger area 50E than the application areas 50A and 50A ', as shown in FIG. 5A or 5B.

Step 2 : Then, the nozzle feeding mechanism 125 is moved in a state in which the ultraviolet lamp (not shown) in the chemical solution removing unit 140 is turned on. The surface of the substrate G is irradiated with ultraviolet light 77 at the discharge port of the chemical liquid removing unit 140 by the ultraviolet lamp.

At this time, the ultraviolet rays 77 are selectively irradiated only to the chemical solution applied to the outside of the application regions 50A and 50A 'of the substrate G to be treated. 7A, ultraviolet rays 77 are irradiated through the chemical liquid removing unit 140 in the front region of the coated region 50A '. However, as shown in FIG. 7B, The ultraviolet light 77 is not irradiated to the chemical solution by the chemical solution removing unit 140 until the application region 50A 'to be used is moved while being relatively moved in the direction indicated by reference numeral 140d. 7C, the ultraviolet rays 77 are also irradiated through the drug solution removing unit 140 in the region behind the application region 50A '. Through this, both the starting point applied by the slit nozzle 120 and the chemical solution of the uneven thickness 55x at the stop point are all eliminated.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7C, only the coating area 50A 'intended for use remains on the surface of the substrate G to be coated with a chemical liquid of a uniform thickness.

On the other hand, when a current is applied to the electrode 140 'without irradiating the ultraviolet ray 77 to expose the plasma to the substrate G to remove the chemical solution located outside the application regions 50A and 50A' 8, the electrode 140 'is disposed on the transfer path of the substrate to be processed G and the target substrate G (see FIG. 8) ) According to the position of the light-emitting element. 4, when the chemical liquid is applied while the substrate G to be processed is fixed to the substrate stage 110, the electrode is passed through the substrate G in a state of being raised by the lift pins The target substrate G and the electrode 140 'may be moved relative to each other at a position deviated from the substrate stage 110 as shown in FIG. 140 'to remove the drug solution located outside the application areas 50A, 50A'.

As described above, in the apparatus and method for applying a chemical solution of a substrate according to the present invention, after the chemical solution is applied to a sufficiently wide area other than the application region, the chemical solution applied in addition to the required application region is selectively subjected to plasma or chemical solution The plurality of spaced apart application areas to be used can be uniformly coated with a uniform thickness, and in the process of applying the chemical solution by the nozzle 120, the application areas 50A and 50A ' The moving speed of the nozzle does not need to be lowered so much as to apply the chemical liquid. Therefore, even when a plurality of coated areas are distributed on one substrate to be processed, an advantageous effect of obtaining a better coating quality can be obtained without lowering the process efficiency .

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
100: substrate chemical liquid application device 110: substrate stage
120: slit nozzle 130: chemical liquid supply unit
140: chemical solution removing unit 50A, 50A ': dispensing area

Claims (9)

There is provided a method of applying a chemical solution to a surface of a target substrate having two or more application regions spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction which is a relative movement direction with respect to a slit nozzle,
Wherein the control unit controls the ejection of the chemical liquid while the slit nozzle passes over the upper side of the substrate to be processed while relatively moving at least one of the substrate to be processed and the slit nozzle from the slit nozzle And a stopping point for stopping the discharge of the chemical solution from the slit nozzle is formed at the outer rear side of the application area, wherein the stopping point is formed in a wider area than the application area Applying a chemical liquid;
A chemical liquid removing step of applying a plasma or an ultraviolet ray to the chemical liquid applied to the outside of the application area to remove the chemical liquid applied to the area other than the application area;
Wherein the chemical solution is applied only to a plurality of spaced-apart application areas in one substrate to be processed.
1. A chemical liquid application device for applying a chemical liquid to a surface of a substrate to be processed on which two or more application areas are disposed apart from each other,
Wherein at least two application regions are spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction which is a relative movement direction of the substrate to be processed and the slit nozzle;
Wherein a starting point at which the chemical liquid is discharged from the slit nozzle is formed at the outer side of the outer region of the coating area while being controlled intermittently while the chemical liquid is being passed through the upper side of the substrate to be processed, A slit nozzle that includes the application area and applies the chemical solution to a wider area than the application area so that a stop point where the discharge of the chemical solution is stopped is formed;
Wherein at least one of a plasma and an ultraviolet ray is applied to one side or both sides of the substrate to be treated by the slit nozzle with respect to a chemical solution including the starting point and the stopping point located outside the application region, A chemical liquid removing unit for removing the chemical liquid;
Wherein a chemical solution is applied only to a plurality of spaced-apart application areas in one substrate to be processed.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein at least two coating areas are formed in a width direction of the relative movement direction with respect to the slit nozzle, and the slit nozzles are formed in two or more so as to coat the chemical solution on the coating area, respectively.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the two or more slit nozzles are adjusted in position in the width direction. delete delete delete delete delete

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