KR20060010104A - Wet etching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a wet etching apparatus including a gas supply means for injecting a hot gas in order to prevent the formation of stains caused by the falling water of the deionized water condensed on the substrate formed with metal wiring by etching with a high temperature etchant. The wet etching apparatus includes an etching unit including an etching unit where etching is performed, and a cleaning unit for removing the etchant remaining on the substrate etched in the etching unit, and a gas supply unit located in front of the cleaning unit and spraying hot gas. .

Wet Etching Equipment, Cleaning Units, Gas Supply Means

Description

Wet etching apparatus

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wet etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of an etching portion and a cleaning portion included in the wet etching equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4 are perspective views of the gas supply means included in the wet etching equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: wet etching equipment 110: loading unit

120: buffer unit 130: etching unit

131: substrate 132: etching solution supply means

133: roller 134: liquid-reducing means

140: cleaning unit 141: cleaning means

142: gas supply means 150: drying unit

160: unloading unit 301, 401: opening

The present invention relates to a wet etching apparatus, and in particular, comprising a gas supply means for injecting a hot gas to prevent the formation of stains by falling water of deionized water condensed on a substrate with a metal wiring formed by etching with a high temperature etching solution It relates to a wet etching equipment.

Recently, according to the trend of large-sized televisions, instead of cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), organic EL display (Organic ElectroLuminiscent Display; OELD) A flat panel display device such as) is being developed. Among such flat panel display devices, a liquid crystal display device capable of being lighter and thinner is particularly attracting attention.

In the liquid crystal display, a liquid crystal material having anisotropic dielectric constant is injected between an upper substrate on which a common electrode, a color filter, and the like are formed, and a lower substrate on which a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode are formed. The display device expresses a desired image by adjusting the intensity of an electric field formed in the liquid crystal material by applying a potential, thereby changing the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal material, and controlling the amount of light transmitted through the substrate. In the liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) using a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element is mainly used.

In order to increase the high precision, large area, and high opening ratio of the liquid crystal display device, it is essential to thin and lengthen the signal line of the TFT, that is, the gate and the data line. In addition, in order to eliminate waveform distortion of the pulse signal, it is necessary to lower the resistance of the wiring sufficiently.

The metal wirings such as the gate wiring and the data wiring are formed by patterning using photolithography technology, and the patterning is composed of deposition or coating, photolithography, and etching processes. .

The etching process may be divided into dry etching and wet etching. Dry etching further includes plasma dry etching, ion beam milling etching, and reactive ion etching.

In general, in the patterning process using a photo process in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, a material layer forming a pattern to be obtained is first formed on a transparent substrate.

The material layer may correspond to any one of a metal material, a semiconductor material, and an insulating material. For example, the liquid crystal display may include a metal material forming a gate and a data line, a semiconductor material forming an active layer, and an insulating material forming a protective layer. Can be mentioned.

Next, in the photolithography process, a photoresist material, which is a photosensitive material that causes a chemical reaction upon receiving light, is applied onto the material layer, and then light is selectively exposed to the photoresist material by using a mask. A photoresist pattern is formed by removing the photoresist of the portion (or the portion not receiving) the light using the developer.

Next, in the etching step, when the dry etching method is used, after the reaction gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber in which the substrate is placed, the exposed material layer on the substrate is etched using the plasma formed of the reaction gas.

In the case of using the wet etching method, the exposed material layer is etched by dipping the substrate into an etching solution or by spraying the etching solution onto the substrate.

The wet etching process has the advantage of higher equipment cost or productivity than the dry etching method, and the metal pattern or the semiconductor pattern is mainly formed by the wet etching process during the array process.

In forming the metal wiring by the wet etching process as described above, in the case of using the conventional wet etching equipment, the remaining etching liquid is removed by using an etching part for forming the metal wiring by using a high temperature etchant and deionized water. As the deionized water condensed by the temperature difference between the cleaning parts is dropped on the substrate on which the metal wiring is formed, the etching of the metal wiring is rapidly performed by the exothermic reaction with the residual etchant present on the substrate.

This problem is particularly acute in the case of Mo / Al / Mo wiring. Mo / Al / Mo wiring is used as one of the low-resistance metal wirings, but the chemical resistance of the upper Mo is lower than that of conventional Al, so that the wet etching process is difficult. This is because the metal is vulnerable to staining when the etchant is used.

Accordingly, there is a need for a wet etching apparatus capable of solving the problem of staining while using a low resistance metal wiring for satisfying the demand for high precision, large area, and high opening ratio of the liquid crystal display.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a wet etching equipment for preventing the occurrence of stains on the substrate on which the metal wiring is formed.

Technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Wet etching equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the technical problem is located in front of the cleaning means and the cleaning means for removing the etching portion remaining in the etching portion and the substrate etched in the etching portion And a cleaning section including gas supply means for injecting hot gas.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various forms. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.                     

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wet etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wet etching apparatus 100 may include a loading part 110, a buffer part 120, an etching part 130, and a rinse part. The part 140, the dry part 150, and the unloading part 160 are continuously connected to each other.

The loading unit 110 of the wet etching apparatus 100 includes a conveying roller for conveying the substrate to convey the substrate.

The buffer unit 120 located next to the loading unit 110 is for the stability of the etching process.

The etching unit 130 located next to the buffer unit 120 is for etching the exposed deposited film on the substrate to form a metal line. In the etching unit 130, the substrate on which the metal film is formed may be dipped in the etching liquid or the etching liquid may be sprayed on the substrate to form the metal wiring. In FIG. 3, the etching line is sprayed on the substrate to form the metal wiring. A cross section of the corresponding etching unit 130 is illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 2, the etching unit 130 included in the wet etching apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an etching solution supply means 132 or a substrate in which a nozzle or a shower is sprayed onto the substrate 131. A liquid knife in the form of an air knife is installed at the exit side of the roller 133 and the etching unit 132 for conveying and sprays air to remove the etching liquid on the substrate 131 on which the metal wiring is formed. Means 134). The etchant injected from the etchant supply means 132 uses an etchant of a high temperature form. This is to improve the etching rate, and in general, when the 40? Etching solution is used, the etching time of about 10 seconds can be shortened than that of the 35? Etching solution.

The cleaning unit 140 located next to the etching unit 130 is for cleaning the substrate to remove the etching liquid from the substrate. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning unit 140 included in the wet etching equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the cleaning unit 140 is a cleaning unit 141 for removing the etching liquid remaining on the etched substrate 131 and a gas supply in front of the cleaning unit 141 to inject a gas at a high temperature. And a roller 133 for conveying the means 142 and the substrate.

The cleaning means 141 may be in the form of an aqua knife or a shower. In the cleaning unit 140, deionized water is supplied from the cleaning unit 141 to the substrate 131 on which the metal wiring is formed to remove the etchant remaining on the substrate 131.

The gas supply means 142 which injects high temperature gas is located in front of the cleaning means 141 as described above. From such a gas supply means 142, a high temperature and unreactive gas can be supplied, and preferably air or N ₂ can be supplied onto the substrate on which the metal wiring is formed.

Referring to FIG. 2, after the metal wires are formed on the substrate 131 by using the etching solution of the high temperature in the etching unit 130, the substrate 131 is supplied from the cleaning unit 141 of the cleaning unit 140. Deionized water, which has a relatively low temperature, may flow into the space until the deionized water is washed with the deionized water, and when the condensed deionized water falls on the substrate on which the metal wiring is formed, the etchant remaining on the substrate and the exothermic reaction By etching the metal to form a metal wiring is rapidly made. In particular, in the case of Mo, which has a weak chemical resistance, the problem becomes more serious. As described above, the gas supply unit 142 for injecting a high temperature gas is placed in front of the cleaning unit 141 so that the etching unit 130 and the cleaning unit ( Increasing the temperature of the section between 140) increases the overall atmosphere, thereby suppressing a drop of water caused by condensation of deionized water, thereby preventing occurrence of stains on the substrate.

The gas supply means 142 is not particularly limited in shape, but may be in the form of a tube as shown in FIG. 3, and the surface of the tube includes a plurality of openings 301. The shape in which the opening 301 is formed on the tube surface is not particularly limited. Hot gas is supplied onto the substrate 131 through the opening 301 as described above.

In addition, the gas supply means 142 may be in the form of a nozzle as shown in FIG. Hot gas is supplied onto the substrate 131 through the opening 401 formed in the lower part of the nozzle.

The drying unit 150 located next to the cleaning unit 140 is for drying the cleaned substrate. The drying unit 150 may include a drying means such as an air knife, but is not limited thereto.

The unloading unit 160 located next to the drying unit 150 is for transferring the substrate on which the etching process is completed to a subsequent process.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

According to the wet etching equipment of the present invention as described above has one or more of the following effects.

First, the wet etching apparatus according to the present invention may include a gas supply means for supplying a high temperature gas, thereby preventing the occurrence of stains on the substrate on which the metal wiring is formed.

Second, the wet etching apparatus according to the present invention prevents spots on the substrate on which the metal wirings are formed, thereby lowering the defective rate of the final liquid crystal display.

Claims (4)

Etching unit is performed etching; And And a cleaning unit including cleaning means for removing an etchant remaining on the substrate etched by the etching unit, and a gas supply unit positioned in front of the cleaning unit to inject hot gas. The method of claim 1, Wet etching equipment, characterized in that the hot gas is air or N ₂ . The method of claim 1, Wet etching equipment, characterized in that the gas supply means in the form of a tube or a nozzle. The method of claim 3, wherein When the gas supply means is in the form of a tube, the wet etching equipment, characterized in that a plurality of openings are formed on the surface of the tube.

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