KR20210036324A - Cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber in which air and cleaning liquid are accommodated; a nozzle part connected to the chamber part to spread the air and the cleaning liquid; and a heating member installed on one side of the injection module to change the phase of the cleaning liquid into steam by applying heat to the chamber. The cleaning effect can be increased.

Description

Injection module system {CLEANING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to an injection module system.

A semiconductor device or flat panel display (FPD) is manufactured through various process treatments on a wafer or flat glass. A cleaning process is important because a substrate such as a wafer or flat glass is sensitive to performance degradation or errors due to contamination of organic matter, particulates, or metal/ion.

Recently, among them, a liquid crystal display device having low power consumption and volume and capable of low power driving has been widely used. The liquid crystal display device substantially includes a display panel for displaying an image. The display panel is usually manufactured by repeatedly performing various unit processes for forming a circuit pattern on the substrate using a large-area substrate made of glass, for example, a deposition process, a photo process, an etching process, an etching process, etc. .

After performing the unit processes, a cleaning process is involved. The cleaning process is generally a process of removing dust or organic matter adhering to the substrate, and a washing step using a washing solution such as DI water (deionized water), and a drying gas (e.g., air) after the washing process to the substrate It comprises a drying step of removing and drying the washing liquid remaining in the.

Among these, the cleaning process is to save time and cost by adopting a so-called in-line method that normally proceeds simultaneously with substrate transfer. This in-line method uses IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI (Deionized) liquid cleaning solution. Clean by spraying on the substrate.

However, the cleaning process of removing foreign substances on the substrate by spraying IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI (Deionized) cleaning liquid is not effective in removing fine foreign substances on the substrate. Accordingly, fine foreign matters that have not been cleaned remain on the substrate, and the remaining fine foreign matters cause product defects in subsequent processes.

Accordingly, the injection pressure of the IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI (Deionized) cleaning solution is increased to remove fine foreign matter on the substrate, but there is a problem that this causes damage to the film located under the substrate.

As conceived based on the above technical background, the present invention is to provide an injection module capable of increasing a cleaning effect even when a small amount of air and fluid is injected.

The injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body, a chamber part formed in the main body to receive air and cleaning liquid, a nozzle part connected to the chamber part to spray the air and cleaning liquid, and the chamber part. It may include a heating member installed on one side of the main body to change the phase of the cleaning liquid into steam by applying heat.

In addition, the chamber unit may include a first chamber in which the cleaning liquid is accommodated, and a second chamber formed to be spaced apart from the first chamber and in which the air is accommodated.

In addition, the heating member may be installed on one side of the main body adjacent to the first chamber so as to apply heat to the first chamber to phase-change the cleaning liquid into steam.

In addition, the heating member may be formed in the extending direction of the main body, and a plurality of the heating members may be arranged in a line.

In addition, the heating member may be formed perpendicular to the extending direction of the injection module, and a plurality of the heating members may be arranged in a line.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spray module system including the spray module described above and a first supply unit that adjusts the temperature of the cleaning liquid and supplies the cleaning solution to the spray module.

In addition, the first supply unit may include a storage unit for storing the cleaning liquid and a heating unit for preheating the cleaning solution supplied from the storage unit and supplying the cleaning solution in a high-temperature liquid state to the spray module.

In addition, the heating unit may maintain the cleaning liquid in a temperature range of about 80 to 90°C.

In addition, it may further include a second supply unit for storing and supplying the air to the injection module.

In the injection module system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a cleaning effect may be increased even when a small amount of air and fluid is injected.

1 is a schematic diagram of an injection module system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view showing the injection module system shown in FIG.
3 is a perspective view showing the injection module shown in FIG. 2.
4 is a first modified example of the injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a second modified example of the injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a cross-sectional view of the injection module shown in FIG. 5.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art may easily implement the present invention. The present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar components throughout the specification.

In the present specification, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features. It is to be understood that the presence or addition of elements or numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof, does not preclude in advance. In addition, when a part such as a layer, film, region, plate, etc. is said to be "on" another part, this includes not only the case where the other part is "directly above", but also the case where there is another part in the middle. Conversely, when a part of a layer, film, region, plate, etc. is said to be "below" another part, this includes not only the case where the other part is "directly below", but also the case where there is another part in the middle.

The terms used in the present specification will be briefly described, and the present invention will be described in detail.

In this specification, "substrate (S)" is a semiconductor manufacturing process, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), such as flat panel display (FPD), touch panel (Touch Panel) manufacturing, etc. In order to do this, it means a transparent conductive film such as an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) film in which a pattern of a specific shape is formed, and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or glass on which a wiring connected thereto is formed.

1 is a schematic diagram of an injection module system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the injection module system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cleaning unit 100 for cleaning a substrate S, and a substrate S transferred after being cleaned by the cleaning unit 100. ) May include a drying unit 200 in which a drying process is performed, and a transfer unit 300 through which a substrate is loaded and moved.

The cleaning unit 100 may include a cleaning chamber 110, an injection module 120, a first supply unit 130, a collection unit 150, and a second supply unit 170.

The cleaning chamber 110 provides a space for cleaning the substrate S, and the cleaning chamber 110 shields the substrate S from the outside so that it is not exposed to contaminants from the outside during the cleaning process. Can play a role.

In addition, a transfer unit 300 for transferring the substrate S in one direction and transferring it to the drying unit 200 may be installed inside the cleaning chamber 110. For example, the transfer unit 300 may include a plurality of rollers or conveyor belts installed along a substrate transfer path, and a substrate may be loaded onto the upper surface thereof.

The injection module 120 is disposed above or below the substrate S to be spaced apart from the substrate S by a certain distance, and sprays high temperature and high pressure steam and air onto the substrate S transferred in one direction on the transfer unit 300 Thus, the cleaning process can be performed.

For example, the injection module 120 may be an air knife. As another example, the injection module 120 is disposed on the upper side or the lower side, the upper side and the lower side in the interior of the cleaning chamber 110 and may be composed of a plurality, and the injection angle at an angle of about 30 degrees to 90 degrees depending on the type of the object to be cleaned. Can be adjusted.

Since the steam has a small particle diameter, it is possible to easily remove foreign matter having a finer particle diameter, and its cleaning efficiency is very excellent compared to a cleaning process in which ordinary washing water is sprayed. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the spraying pressure of the cleaning liquid in order to remove fine foreign matter, and thus it is possible to prevent damage to the film located under the cleaning liquid.

In other words, the existing cleaning process is to remove fine foreign substances on the substrate (S) by spraying IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI Water (Deionized water) cleaning solution in a liquid phase, but IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI Water (Deionized water) cleaning solution As the fine foreign matter is not completely removed by itself, the injection pressure of the IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI Water (Deionized water) cleaning solution is increased to remove the fine foreign matter, but this causes damage to the film located under the layer.

For example, when an alignment layer with a rubbing axis is formed on the substrate, and when an IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) or DI Water (Deionized Water) cleaning solution is sprayed at a high pressure to remove fine foreign matter on the top of the alignment layer, Even if the foreign matter is removed, the rubbing axis of the alignment layer is changed, thereby lowering the contrast characteristic.

However, the cleaning process of the present invention can prevent the above problems from occurring by removing fine foreign matters on the substrate S by using steam, which has very excellent cleaning efficiency compared to the cleaning process in which ordinary cleaning water is sprayed. have.

Meanwhile, the first supply unit 130 includes a storage unit 131 and a heating unit 133, and may supply the cleaning liquid to the injection module after adjusting the temperature or pressure.

The storage unit 131 is a device for storing the cleaning liquid, and may be continuously replenished with the cleaning liquid. For example, it is possible to store a cleaning solution such as DI Water (Deionized water).

The heating unit 133 may be supplied with a cleaning solution from the storage unit 131 to increase the temperature of the cleaning solution, thereby creating a temperature and pressure condition in which a liquid cleaning solution can be easily converted into gaseous steam. For example, the cleaning liquid in the heating unit 133 may be maintained at a temperature of about 80 to 90°C. The liquid cleaning solution raised in this way may be supplied to the injection module 120 to be described later according to the operation of the pump.

The collection unit 150 may flow in and transport the steam sprayed from the cleaning chamber 110 to separate the collected steam by gas-liquid separation. After the steam is converted to a liquid in the collection unit 150, the amount converted to the liquid may be recovered to the storage unit 131 and recycled.

The second supply unit 170 is a device for supplying air to the injection module 120 and may be continuously supplemented with air. For example, the air may be made of high-purity nitrogen (N2) gas, clean dry air (CDA), or the like.

2 is a front view showing the injection module system shown in FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the injection module shown in FIG. 2. 4 is a first modified example of the injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the injection module 120 includes a chamber unit including a first chamber 121 receiving a cleaning solution and a second chamber 122 receiving air, a first chamber and a second chamber 121 therein. , 122, a nozzle unit including a first nozzle and a second nozzle 126 and 128 respectively respectively injecting cleaning liquid steam and air, and a first heating member 129 for transferring heat to the chamber unit can do.

The first chamber 121 and the second chamber 122 may be formed to be spaced apart from the inside of the body of the injection module 120. At this time, the cleaning liquid contained in the first chamber 121 is phase-changed into steam and sprayed to the outside through the first nozzle 126, and the air contained in the second chamber 122 is transferred to the outside through the second nozzle 128. Can be sprayed.

At this time, the first nozzle 126 is located at the front end of the substrate (S) transport direction and sprays steam to remove fine foreign matter on the substrate (S), and the second nozzle (128) is the substrate (S) transport direction. It is located at the rear end of and can spray air.

Accordingly, the air injected from the second nozzle 128 prevents re-adsorption of fine foreign matter peeled off from the substrate S by the steam and at the same time prevents the scattering of steam, thereby improving the cleaning efficiency of the steam. I can.

The first heating member 129 may be installed on one side of the injection module 120 to apply heat to the chamber. For example, the first heating member 129 may be installed on the side of the injection module 120 adjacent to the first chamber 121.

At this time, referring to FIG. 3, the first heating member 129 is buried inside the injection module 120 and disposed adjacent to the first chamber 121, or the first chamber is disposed on the outer surface of the injection module 120. It may be installed by being inserted into a groove (not shown) that is recessed in the (121) direction. The first heating member 129 may be a heating element such as a heat transfer tube, and may be formed to extend in the extending direction of the injection module 120, so that a plurality of the first heating members 129 may be arranged in a row in the vertical direction. As another example, referring to FIG. 4, the first heating member 129 is formed to extend in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the injection module 120, so that a plurality of the first heating members 129 may be arranged in a line.

At this time, the cleaning liquid having a boiling point of 100°C is preheated to have a temperature of about 80 to 90°C in the heating part 133 of the supply part 130, and the high-temperature liquid cleaning liquid is supplied to the first chamber 121 through a pump. , The cleaning liquid inside the first chamber 121 is heated by the first heating member 129 to change the phase to vapor-phase steam having a temperature of 100° C. or higher, thereby being sprayed through the first nozzle 126.

That is, in the process of supplying the cleaning liquid from the supply unit 130 to the spray module 120, the cleaning liquid is heated close to the boiling point, so that a phase change does not occur even if heat loss occurs, so that a high-temperature liquid state can be maintained. Immediately before spraying from the injection module 120, the heat loss is corrected by using less energy through the first heating member 129 because it is heated to the boiling point or higher by the heat of the first heating member 129 and changes into steam. You can generate steam while doing it.

Accordingly, the inside of the first chamber 121 may be uniformly heated by the plurality of first heating members 129 arranged in a row.

5 is a second modified example of the injection module according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the injection module shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, the injection module may include a second heating member 129.

The second heating member 129 may be formed in a plate shape, and a protrusion 129b may be formed on one surface thereof. In this case, an insertion groove 120a that is recessed toward the first chamber 121 is formed on the outer surface of the injection module 120, so that the protrusion 129b may be inserted into the insertion groove 120a. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, the second heating member 129 may be installed on one surface of the injection module 120 by the protrusion 129b.

For example, in the second heating member 129, the body is made of a ceramic material, and a planar heating element (not shown) is installed in which a plurality of carbon fibers in a spiral shape, which is a carbon fiber material, are arranged in a row. Can be

In this case, while the second heating member 129 is installed in contact with the side surface of the injection module 120, the planar heating element is heated by supplying electric energy to heat the outer ceramic.

Accordingly, the first chamber 121 is installed on one side of the injection module 120 and the inside may be uniformly heated by the second heating member 129 having a planar heating element.

At this time, the cleaning liquid having a boiling point of 100°C is preheated to have a temperature of about 80 to 90°C in the heating part 133 of the supply part 130, and the high-temperature liquid cleaning liquid is supplied to the first chamber 121 through a pump. , The cleaning liquid inside the first chamber 121 is heated by the second heating member 129 to change the phase to vapor-phase steam having a temperature of 100° C. or higher, thereby being sprayed through the first nozzle 126.

That is, in the process of supplying the cleaning liquid from the supply unit 130 to the spray module 120, the cleaning liquid is heated close to the boiling point, so that a phase change does not occur even if heat loss occurs, so that a high-temperature liquid state can be maintained. Since it is heated to a boiling point or higher by the heat of the second heating member 129 immediately before spraying from the injection module 120 and changes into steam, the heat loss is corrected by using less energy through the second heating member 129. You can generate steam while doing it.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment presented in the present specification, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can add components within the scope of the same idea. It will be possible to easily propose other embodiments by changing, deleting, adding, etc., but it will be said that this is also within the scope of the present invention.

1: injection module system 100: cleaning unit
110: cleaning chamber 120: injection module
120a: insertion groove
121: first chamber 122: second chamber
126: first nozzle 128: second nozzle
129, 129a: heating member 129b: protrusion
130: first supply unit
131: storage unit 133: heating unit
150: collection unit 170: second supply unit
200: drying unit 210: drying chamber
220: air knife
300: transfer unit S: substrate

Claims (1)

main body;
A chamber unit formed in the main body and having a first chamber for receiving a cleaning solution and a second chamber for receiving air and spaced apart from the first chamber;
A nozzle unit including a first nozzle through which the cleaning liquid of the first chamber is sprayed to the outside and a second nozzle through which air of the second chamber is sprayed to the outside; And
It is coupled to one side of the main body adjacent to the first chamber to phase change the cleaning liquid into steam by applying heat to the first chamber,
The body has an insertion groove incorporated into a side surface of the first chamber,
It is formed in a plate shape along the extension direction of the main body, a plurality of protrusions are formed on one surface so as to fit into the insertion groove, and a heating member having a planar heating element therein,
Located between the supply of the cleaning liquid and the first chamber, in the process of supplying the cleaning liquid to the first chamber, the cleaning liquid is brought close to the boiling point so that the cleaning liquid can move to a high-temperature liquid state without causing a phase change. Includes a heating unit to preheat,
The air injected from the second nozzle,
An injection module that prevents re-adsorption of fine foreign matter peeled off on the substrate by the steam.

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