KR20160065581A - Apparatus and Method for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are an apparatus and a method for treating a substrate with a treatment liquid. The apparatus for treating a substrate comprises: a substrate support unit for supporting a substrate; a liquid supply unit for discharging a treatment liquid to the substrate by an inkjet method; and an inspection unit for inspecting the state of the liquid discharged from the liquid supply unit. The inspection unit includes: a jig plate; an imaging member for photographing an image of the treatment liquid discharged from the liquid supply unit to the jig plate; and an image analysis member for receiving photographing data on the photographed image from the imaging member and analyzing the image to determine the state of the discharged treatment liquid. The landing state of the treatment liquid is measured before a process of treating the substrate with the liquid is performed. Accordingly, a worker can measure the landing state of the treatment liquid before the treatment liquid is supplied to the substrate.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TREATING SUBSTRATE [0002]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for liquid-treating a substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, liquid crystal display devices have been widely used in display portions of electronic devices such as portable telephones and portable computers. Such a liquid crystal display device is formed by injecting liquid crystal into a space between a black matrix, a color filter, a common electrode, and a color filter substrate on which an alignment film is formed, a thin film transistor (TFT), a pixel electrode and an array substrate on which an alignment film is formed, The image effect is obtained by using the difference in the refractive index of the light along.

An ink-jet liquid application device is used as an apparatus for applying a treatment liquid such as an alignment liquid or liquid crystal on the color filter substrate and the array substrate. The liquid application device includes a discharge head for applying a treatment liquid onto a substrate. The discharge head has 128 or 256 nozzles, and the treatment liquid discharged from each nozzle is deposited on the substrate.

However, the processing solutions deposited on the substrate are slightly different due to the equipment failure and the surrounding environment. Accordingly, the treatment liquids deposited on the substrate have different states. To solve this problem, an apparatus for measuring the state of the treatment liquid is used. 1 is a sectional view showing an apparatus for measuring the state of a treatment liquid in general. Referring to Fig. 1, the camera 4 measures the state of the treatment liquid by measuring the treatment liquid to be discharged. However, unlike the treatment liquid which is being discharged, it is difficult to grasp the position and shape of the treatment liquid which is deposited on the substrate S.

Prior Art Document 1: Korean Patent Publication No. 2008-0043233

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for precisely measuring the state of an ejection of a treatment liquid discharged onto a substrate.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for measuring the state of collision of a treatment liquid before a liquid treatment process of a substrate is performed.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus and a method for liquid-treating a substrate. The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate supporting unit for supporting a substrate, a liquid supply unit for discharging the processing liquid by an inkjet method on the substrate, and an inspection unit for inspecting the state of the liquid discharged from the liquid supply unit, The unit receives the image data of the image picked up from the image pick-up member, analyzes the image, and outputs the picked- And an image analysis member for determining the state of the treated liquid.

The state of the discharged treatment liquid may include a state of whether or not the deposited position of the discharged treatment liquid is normal. The state of the discharged treatment liquid may include a state of normality of the roundness of the discharged treatment liquid. The state of the discharged processing liquid may include a state of whether the size of the discharged processing liquid is normal or not. The imaging member may include a camera for capturing an image of the discharged processing liquid and a driving member for horizontally moving the camera on the jig plate. The surface of the jig plate may be provided with the same material as the substrate supported by the substrate supporting unit.

As a method of liquid-processing a substrate, a discharge head for discharging a treatment liquid by an ink-jet method discharges the treatment liquid onto a jig plate before supplying the treatment liquid onto the substrate, Capturing an image of the processing liquid, and analyzing the captured image to determine the state of the discharged processing liquid.

The state of the discharged treatment liquid may include a state of whether or not the deposited position of the discharged treatment liquid is normal. The state of the discharged treatment liquid may include a state of normality of the roundness of the discharged treatment liquid. The state of the discharged processing liquid may include a state of whether the size of the discharged processing liquid is normal or not. The surface of the jig plate may be provided with the same material as the substrate supported by the substrate supporting unit. The discharge angle of the discharge head can be adjusted when it is determined that the state of the discharged processing liquid is in an abnormal state.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the process liquid adhered to the jig plate is measured, it is possible to accurately measure the state of the process liquid.

Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the jig plate is provided with the same material as the substrate. Thus, the state of the processing liquid that is deposited on the substrate through the processing liquid deposited on the jig plate can be accurately measured.

In addition, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the state of collision of the treatment liquid is measured before the liquid treatment process of the substrate is performed. Accordingly, the worker can measure the state of collision of the treatment liquid before the treatment liquid is supplied onto the substrate.

1 is a sectional view showing an apparatus for measuring the state of a treatment liquid in general.
2 is a view showing a configuration of an inkjet type substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a perspective view showing the liquid crystal discharge unit of FIG.
4 is a cross-sectional view showing the gantry moving unit of Fig.
Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the head assembly of Figure 3;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the head moving unit and support body of FIG. 5;
7 is a cross-sectional view showing the liquid supply unit of Fig.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are process diagrams showing a process of performing the process liquid inspection step.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each drawing has been partially or exaggerated for clarity. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the respective drawings, the same constituent elements are shown to have the same reference numerals as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

In this embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus for applying a treatment liquid to an object by an inkjet method for ejecting droplets will be described. The object liquid may be a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate of a liquid crystal display panel. The liquid may be a liquid crystal, an alignment liquid, red (R) Green (G), or blue (B) ink. As the alignment liquid, polyimide may be used.

The alignment liquid can be applied to the entire surface of the color filter (CF) substrate and the thin film transistor (TFT) substrate, and the liquid crystal can be applied to the entire surface of the color filter (CF) substrate or the thin film transistor (TFT) substrate. The ink may be applied to the interior area of the black matrix arranged in a lattice pattern on a color filter (CF) substrate.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is an apparatus for applying liquid crystal (liquid crystal) to a substrate by an inkjet method for ejecting droplets.

The substrate may be a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate of a liquid crystal display panel, and the liquid crystal may be applied to an entire surface of a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate.

2 is a view showing a substrate processing apparatus of an inkjet method. 2, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a liquid crystal discharge unit 10, a substrate transfer unit 20, a loading unit 30, an unloading unit 40, a liquid crystal supply unit 50, and a main controller 90 ). The liquid crystal discharge portion 10 and the substrate transfer portion 20 are arranged in a line in the first direction I and can be positioned adjacent to each other. A liquid crystal supply part 50 and a main control part 90 are disposed at positions facing the substrate transfer part 20 with the liquid crystal discharge part 10 as a center. The liquid crystal supply part 50 and the main control part 90 may be arranged in a line in the second direction II. The loading unit 30 and the unloading unit 40 are disposed at positions facing the liquid crystal discharge unit 10 with the substrate transfer unit 20 as a center. The loading section 30 and the unloading section 40 may be arranged in a line in the second direction II.

Here, the first direction I is an arrangement direction of the liquid crystal discharge portion 10 and the substrate transfer portion 20, the second direction II is a direction perpendicular to the first direction I on the horizontal plane, (III) is a direction perpendicular to the first direction (I) and the second direction (II).

The substrate to which the liquid crystal is to be applied is brought into the loading section 30. The substrate transferring unit 20 transfers the substrate loaded into the loading unit 30 to the liquid crystal discharging unit 10. The liquid crystal discharge portion 10 receives the liquid crystal from the liquid crystal supply portion 50 and discharges the liquid crystal onto the substrate by an inkjet method. When the liquid crystal discharge is completed, the substrate transfer section 20 transfers the substrate from the liquid crystal discharge section 10 to the unloading section 40. The substrate coated with the liquid crystal is taken out of the unloading portion 40. The main control unit 90 controls the overall operations of the liquid crystal discharge unit 10, the substrate transfer unit 20, the loading unit 30, the unloading unit 40, and the liquid crystal supply unit 50.

3 is a perspective view showing the liquid crystal discharge unit of FIG. 3, the liquid crystal discharging portion 10 includes a base B, a substrate supporting unit 100, a gantry 220, a gantry moving unit 300, a head assembly 400, a head control unit 450, A cleaning unit 700, and an inspection unit 800.

The base (B) may be provided in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a constant thickness. A substrate supporting unit 100 is disposed on the upper surface of the base B. The substrate supporting unit 100 has a supporting plate 110 on which the substrate S is placed. The support plate 110 may be a rectangular plate. The rotation driving member 120 is connected to the lower surface of the support plate 110. The rotation drive member 120 may be a rotary motor.

The rotation driving member 120 rotates the support plate 110 around a rotation center axis perpendicular to the support plate 100. [ When the support plate 110 is rotated by the rotation drive member 120, the substrate S can be rotated by the rotation of the support plate 110. [ When the long-side direction of the cell formed on the substrate to which the liquid crystal is to be applied faces the second direction II, the rotation driving member 120 can rotate the substrate such that the long-side direction of the cell is in the first direction I.

The support plate 110 and the rotation driving member 120 may be linearly moved in the first direction I by the linear driving member 130. The linear driving member 130 includes a slider 132 and a guide member 134. The rotation driving member 120 is provided on the upper surface of the slider 132. [ The guide member 134 is elongated in the first direction I in the center of the upper surface of the base B. A linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the slider 132 and the slider 132 is linearly moved in the first direction I along the guide member 134 by a linear motor (not shown).

The gantry 220 is provided at an upper portion of a path through which the support plate 110 is moved. The gantry 220 is spaced upwardly from the upper surface of the base B and the gantry 220 is disposed such that its longitudinal direction is in the second direction II.

The gantry moving unit 300 moves the gantry 220 in a first direction I or moves the gantry 220 such that the longitudinal direction of the gantry 220 is inclined in the first direction I . 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the gantry moving unit of Fig. Referring to FIG. 4, the gantry drive unit 300 includes a first drive unit 310 and a second drive unit 320. The second drive unit 320 is provided at one end of the gantry 220 as a center of rotation and the first drive unit 310 is provided at the other end of the gantry 220.

The first drive unit 310 includes a guide rail 315 and a slider 317. The guide rail 315 is disposed in the other side edge of the upper surface of the base B with the guide member 134 of the substrate supporting unit 100 as the center, with the longitudinal direction thereof facing the first direction I. A slider 317 is movably coupled to the guide rail 315. The slider 317 is coupled to the bottom surface of the gantry 220. The slider 317 may include a linear motor (not shown). The slider 317 linearly moves in the first direction I along the guide rail 315 by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown).

The second drive unit 320 is positioned symmetrically with the first drive unit 310 about the center axis of the gantry. Since the second drive unit 320 has the same configuration as the first drive unit 310, a description thereof will be omitted.

The head assembly 400 supplies the processing solution to the substrate. A plurality of head assemblies 400 may be provided. In this embodiment, three head assemblies 400a, 400b, and 400c are provided, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The head assemblies 400 may be arranged in a line in a row in the second direction II and coupled to the gantry 220. For example, the treatment liquid may be provided as an ink containing a liquid crystal. The ink may be a liquid having viscosity. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the head assembly of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the head moving unit and the support body of Fig. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the head assembly 400 includes a head moving unit 500, a supporting body 560, a heater, and a liquid supply unit 600.

The head moving unit 500 includes a first moving unit 520 and a second moving unit 540. The first moving unit 520 linearly moves the liquid supply unit 600 in the longitudinal direction of the gantry 220 or in the second direction II and the second moving unit 540 moves the liquid supply unit 600 And is linearly moved in the third direction (III).

The first moving unit 520 includes guide rails 522, sliders 524, and a moving plate 526. The guide rails 522 may extend in the second direction II and be spaced apart from the gantry 220 in the third direction III. Sliders 524 are movably coupled to the guide rails 522, and a linear actuator such as a linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the sliders 524. The moving plate 526 is coupled to the sliders 524. The upper region of the moving plate 526 is coupled to the upper slider 524 and the lower region of the moving plate 526 is coupled to the lower positioned slider 524. The moving plate 526 linearly moves along the guide rails 522 in the second direction II by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown). Thus, as the liquid supplying members 600 are individually moved along the second direction II, the distance between the liquid supplying members 600 can be adjusted.

The second moving unit 540 includes a guide member 542 and a slider 544. The guide member 542 is engaged with the moving plate 526 of the first moving unit 520 and guides the linear movement of the slider 544 in the third direction III. The slider 544 is coupled to the guide member 542 so as to be linearly movable. A linear actuator such as a linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the slider 544. The support body 560 is engaged with the slider 544 and is moved in the third direction III by the linear movement of the slider 544 in the third direction III.

The support body 560 is linearly movable in the second direction II and the third direction III by the first moving unit 520 and the second moving unit 540. [ The support body 560 supports the liquid supply unit 600. The liquid supply unit 600 is seated on the support body 560. The support body 560 includes a support frame 570, an upper plate 580, and a lower plate 590. The support frame 570 is provided in a plate shape whose longitudinal direction faces the third direction III. The support frame 570 is fixedly coupled to the slider 544 of the second moving unit 540.

The upper plate 580 is provided in a region where the holder 610 of the liquid supply unit 600 is seated. The top plate 580 extends in a vertical direction from the support frame 570. The upper plate 580 is positioned on the opposite side of the slider with respect to the support frame 570. A supply hole 584 is formed in the upper surface of the upper plate 580. A gas supply member 586 is connected to the supply hole 584. The gas supply member 586 supplies gas to the supply hole 584. For example, the gas may be an inert gas. The inert gas may be nitrogen gas (N ₂ ).

The lower plate 590 is provided in a region where the reservoir 630 of the liquid supply member 600 is seated. The lower plate 590 extends in a vertical direction from the support frame 570. The lower plate 590 is positioned below the upper plate 580. The lower plate 590 is positioned opposite the upper plate 580.

The heater maintains the temperature of the processing liquid contained in the containing space 632 of the reservoir 630 at the processing temperature. The heater heats the reservoir 630 so that the temperature of the treatment liquid is maintained at the process temperature. Accordingly, the processing liquid contained in the accommodation space 630 can be maintained at the processing temperature. The heater is installed inside the lower plate 590. The heater is provided to have a bar shape.

The liquid supply unit 600 is detachably provided to the support body 560. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the liquid supply unit of Fig. 7, the liquid supply unit 600 includes a support 612, a holder 610, a bottle 620, a reservoir 630, a discharge head 640, and a pressure-sensitive member 650.

The support frame 612 is provided so as to have a plate shape corresponding to the support frame 570. The support base 612 is provided such that its longitudinal direction faces the third direction III.

The holder 610 is provided so that the upper portion thereof has an open cup shape. The holder 610 is provided extending from one surface of the support 612. The holder 610 is positioned to face the support body 560 at the support 612. The holder 610 is seated in the upper plate 580 of the support body 560. The inner space of the holder is provided with a seating space in which the bottle 620 is seated. The inner diameter of the seating space 616 may correspond to or slightly larger than the bottle 620. A gas supply passage 618 is formed in the holder 610. The gas supply passage 618 functions as a passage through which the gas supplied from the supply hole 584 is supplied. The gas supply passage 618 is provided extending from the bottom surface of the holder 610 to the upper surface. Therefore, the holder 610 is seated on the upper plate 580 such that the supply hole 584 and the gas supply passage 618 are opposed to each other.

The bottle 620 is provided in a cylindrical shape whose longitudinal direction faces the third direction III. Inside the bottle 620, a space filled with the processing solution is formed. The bottle 620 is inserted into the seating space 616 and its position is fixed to the holder 610. The inner space of the bottle 620 is connected to the gas supply passage 618. Accordingly, when the holder 610 is placed on the support body 560, the gas supplied from the supply hole 584 can be supplied to the interior of the bottle 620.

The reservoir 630 is provided to have a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The reservoir 630 is fixedly coupled to one surface of the support table 612. The reservoir 630 is positioned under the holder 610. [ The reservoir 630 is positioned facing the holder 610. [ The reservoir 630 is positioned so that the distance between the reservoir 630 and the holder 610 corresponds to the gap between the upper plate 580 and the lower plate 590. Accordingly, the reservoir 630 is seated on the lower plate 590 when the holder 610 is seated on the upper plate 580. In the interior of the reservoir 630, a containing space 632 for containing the process liquid is formed. The accommodating space 632 is provided in a space temporarily stored for supplying the processing liquid to the ejection head 640. The accommodating space 632 and the inner space of the bottle 620 are connected by a liquid supply line. Thus, when the inside of the bottle 620 is pressurized by the gas, the processing liquid can be supplied to the receiving space 632 along the liquid supply line 634 by the pressurized force.

The discharge head 640 is positioned at one end of the reservoir 630. The discharge head 640 is provided to extend downward from the reservoir 630. The ejection head 640 is positioned adjacent to the support 612. The ejection head 640 includes a plurality of nozzles 642. Each of the nozzles 642 is arranged along the second direction II. According to one example, each of the nozzles 642 may be arranged in two rows along the second direction II. The nozzles 642 may be provided with 128 or 256 nozzles. Two nozzles 642 adjacent to each other in the second direction II may be arranged at intervals of a predetermined pitch. Each of the nozzles 642 is provided to communicate with the accommodation space 632. The processing liquid contained in the reservoir 630 can be supplied to each nozzle 642. [ Each of the nozzles 642 can discharge the liquid crystal in an amount of μg. Each of the nozzles 642 may be provided with a corresponding number of piezoelectric elements and the process liquid discharge flow rate of the nozzles 642 may be independently controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements .

The pressure reducing member 650 prevents the liquid supply unit 600 from falling off the nozzle when the liquid supply unit 600 is separated from the support body. The pressure-reducing member 650 prevents the treatment liquid filled in the accommodation space 632 from being supplied to the nozzle 642 by gravity to prevent the treatment liquid from falling down. The pressure-reducing member 650 decompresses the accommodation space 632.

The head control unit 450 controls the liquid crystal discharge of each of the head assemblies 400a, 400b and 400c. The head control unit 450 can be disposed in the liquid crystal discharge portion 10 adjacent to the head assemblies 400a, 400b, and 400c. For example, the head control unit 450 may be disposed at the top of the gantry 220. In this embodiment, the case where the head control unit 450 is disposed at the upper end of the gantry 220 is described as an example, but the position of the head control unit 450 is not limited thereto. The head control unit 450 is electrically connected to the respective head assemblies 400a, 400b and 400c and applies control signals to the respective head assemblies 400a, 400b and 400c. Each of the head assemblies 400a, 400b and 400c may be provided with a number of piezoelectric elements (not shown) corresponding to the nozzles (not shown), and the head control unit 450 may control the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements So that the flow rate of the processing solution discharged from the nozzles can be controlled.

The cleaning unit 700 cleans the head assembly 400. The cleaning unit 700 provides negative pressure to each of the nozzles provided in the head assembly 400 to remove the treatment liquid remaining in the discharge end. For example, the cleaning unit 700 may be a suction nozzle 700.

The inspection unit 800 inspects the state of the processing liquid discharged from the head assembly 400. According to one example, the inspection unit 800 checks whether or not the position, the roundness, and the size of the discharged processing liquid are correct for each of them. The inspection unit 800 includes a seating plate 812, a jig plate 814, an imaging member 830, and an image analysis member 850.

The seating plate 812 is positioned on one side of the support plate 110. The seating plate 812 is provided as a rectangular plate. The seating plate 812 may be provided in a shape corresponding to the supporting plate 110. The upper surface of the seating plate 812 is provided as an area where the jig plate 814 is placed.

The jig plate 814 is provided in the same shape as the substrate S to which the processing liquid is supplied in this embodiment. The surface of the jig plate 814 is provided so as to have the same material as the upper surface of the substrate S. According to one example, the surface of the jig plate 814 can be chemically treated to have the same material as the substrate S. [ The surface of the jig plate 814 may contain fluorine (F). Alternatively, the surface of the jig plate 814 may be coated with a film having the same material as the upper surface of the substrate S.

The imaging member 830 includes a camera 832 and a driving member 834. The camera 832 captures an image of the treatment liquid discharged onto the jig plate 814 to acquire the image pickup data for the image. The camera 832 acquires the image pickup data of the processing liquid discharged at a position opposed to the upper surface of the jig plate 814. [ According to one example, the camera 832 can acquire the photographing data toward the third direction III. The driving member 834 moves the camera 832. The driving member 834 horizontally moves the camera 832 to photograph each of the treatment liquids discharged to the jig plate 814. [ The driving member 834 is installed in the gantry 220 and is linearly movable along the longitudinal direction of the gantry 220. The camera 832 is linearly movable in the second direction II by the driving member 834 and is linearly movable in the first direction I by the gantry moving unit 300. [ According to one example. The driving member 834 may be provided in the same manner as the first moving unit 520 of the head moving unit 500. Alternatively, the driving member 834 may move the camera 832 in the second direction II and the third direction III, respectively.

The image analysis member 850 receives the imaging data from the imaging member 830 and analyzes the image to determine the state of the discharged treatment liquid. The image analysis member 850 compares the photographed data of the image with the reference data to determine the state of the discharged process liquid. According to one example, the state of the treatment liquid may include the position of the treatment liquid, roundness, and whether or not each of the sizes is normal. Therefore, the reference data includes the reference location of the treatment liquid, the reference roundness, and the reference size, and the image provided from the photographing data can be compared and analyzed with the reference data.

Next, a process of processing the substrate S using the above-described substrate processing apparatus will be described. The method of processing the substrate S largely includes a process liquid inspection step, a substrate processing step, and a head cleaning step. In the process liquid inspecting step, an inspection process for the process liquid discharged from the inspection unit 800 is performed. FIGS. 8 and 9 are process diagrams showing a process of performing the process liquid inspection step. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the process liquid inspection step is proceeded and the head assembly 400 is moved to the inspection unit 800. The nozzles 642 of the head assembly 400 are positioned such that the discharge end thereof is opposed to the upper surface of the jig plate 814. Each of the nozzles 642 discharges the treatment liquid onto the upper surface of the jig plate 814. According to one example, the treatment liquid can be discharged in the same process as the substrate treatment step. When the treatment liquid is discharged onto the jig plate 814, the camera 832 is moved to the region where the treatment liquid is deposited. The camera 832 photographs the discharge regions in which the processing liquid has been discharged, and transmits the imaging data for the photographed image to the image analysis member 850. [ The image analysis member 850 compares the photographed data with the reference data to determine whether or not the position, the roundness, and the size of the process liquid are normal. If the state of the treatment liquid discharged through the image analysis member 850 is determined to be a normal state, the substrate processing step proceeds. Alternatively, if it is determined that the state of the discharged processing liquid is in an abnormal state, the substrate processing step is stopped and maintenance for the substrate processing apparatus is performed. For example, the operator can perform maintenance by various methods such as the discharge angle of the nozzle 642, the discharge amount, the position of the driving member 834, the viscosity of the treatment liquid, the moving speed of the gantry 220, When the state of the treatment liquid discharged through the maintenance is normalized to the steady state, the substrate processing step proceeds.

When the substrate processing step is performed, the head assembly 400 is positioned opposite to the substrate S placed on the support plate 110 to supply the processing solution onto the substrate S. When the substrate processing step is completed, the head cleaning step proceeds. The head assembly 400 is moved such that the discharge end is opposed to the cleaning unit. The cleaning unit provides negative pressure to the discharge end to suck and remove the residual process liquid. Then, when the process for the next substrate S proceeds, the jig plate 814 is replaced.

In the above-described embodiment, the state of the processing solution is analyzed and determined before supplying the processing solution onto the substrate S. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the treatment liquid from being discharged onto the substrate S in a defective state.

In addition, in this embodiment, the state of the processing liquid adhered to the jig plate 814 is analyzed and determined. This makes it possible to more accurately analyze and determine the state of the processing solution than to analyze and determine the processing solution that is being discharged in the past.

800: Inspection unit 812:
814: jig plate 830: imaging member
832: camera 850: image analysis member

Claims (12)

A substrate supporting unit for supporting the substrate;
A liquid supply unit for discharging the process liquid onto the substrate by an inkjet method;
And an inspection unit for inspecting the state of the liquid discharged from the liquid supply unit,
The inspection unit includes:
A jig plate;
An image pickup member for picking up an image of the treatment liquid discharged from the liquid supply unit onto the jig plate;
And an image analysis member that receives the image pickup data for the image photographed from the image pickup member and analyzes the image to determine the state of the discharged process liquid. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the state of the discharged processing liquid includes a state of whether or not the discharged position of the processing liquid is normal. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the state of the discharged processing liquid includes a state of whether or not the roundness of the discharged processing liquid is normal. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the state of the discharged processing liquid includes a state of whether or not the size of the discharged processing liquid is normal. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1,
A camera for photographing an image of the discharged processing liquid;
And a driving member for horizontally moving the camera at an upper portion of the jig plate. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the surface of the jig plate is provided with the same material as the substrate supported by the substrate supporting unit. A method for liquid processing a substrate,
A discharge head for discharging a treatment liquid by an inkjet method discharges the treatment liquid onto a jig plate before supplying the treatment liquid onto the substrate, images an image of the treatment liquid discharged onto the jig plate through the image pickup member, And the state of the discharged processing liquid is determined. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the state of the discharged processing liquid includes a state of whether or not the discharged position of the processing liquid is normal. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the state of the discharged treatment liquid includes a state of whether or not the roundness of the discharged treatment liquid is normal. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the state of the discharged processing liquid includes a state of whether or not the size of the discharged processing liquid is normal. 11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
Wherein the surface of the jig plate is provided with the same material as the substrate supported by the substrate supporting unit. 11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10,
And adjusting the discharge angle of the discharge head when it is determined that the state of the discharged processing liquid is in an abnormal state.

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