TWI834399B - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a developing device that can effectively prevent bubbles generated during the development process from adhering to the surface of a substrate via a transport roller. The developing device includes a conveying roller having a cylindrical shape with an axial length equal to or greater than the length of the substrate in the axial direction; and a nozzle provided above the conveying path and downstream of the conveying roller and facing upward of the substrate. The developer is ejected from the surface; and the liquid receiving member is provided below the conveyance path and directly below the nozzle, and receives the developer ejected from the nozzle. The upper end of the liquid receiving member is a scraper finished into a thin plate shape. The scraper is disposed below the transfer path with a predetermined gap from the peripheral surface of the transfer roller. The surface of the liquid receiving member extends beyond the position directly below the nozzle and becomes an inclined surface having a downward slope from at least the position directly below the nozzle to the lower end.

Description

Developing device

The present invention relates to a developing device that transports a substrate using a transport roller and supplies a developer liquid to the surface of the substrate to coat the substrate surface with the liquid. In addition, the substrate includes a glass substrate for a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display device or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display device, a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photo mask, and a color substrate. Substrates for color filters, substrates for recording disks, substrates for solar cells, substrates for electronic paper and other precision electronic devices, substrates for semiconductor packaging (hereinafter referred to as "substrates"), etc.

A developing device that performs a development process on the substrate while the substrate containing the developer on the surface is transported by a transport roller may be incorporated into the substrate processing system as a component of the system. For example, in Patent Document 1, a developing device, a cleaning device, a dehydration baking device, a resist coating device, a reduced pressure drying device, a prebaking device, an exposure device, and a postbaking device are provided as a processing device for substrate processing. in the system. In addition, the substrate processing system includes these processing devices and an indexer unit that carries the substrate in and out of the device group.

In the transfer unit, a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates is placed. The substrate taken out from the cassette by the transfer robot installed in the transfer unit is first cleaned The device is being cleaned. The substrate that has completed the processing in the cleaning device is transported to the dehydration and baking device, and is subjected to dehydration and baking processing. The substrate that has been subjected to the dehydration baking process is then transferred to a resist coating device, and a resist coating process is performed. The substrate subjected to the resist coating process is then transported to a reduced pressure drying device, and the solvent of the resist liquid applied on the surface of the substrate is evaporated by reduced pressure, thereby drying the substrate. The substrate dried under reduced pressure is then transferred to a prebaking device, and heat treatment is performed to solidify the resist component on the surface of the substrate. The substrate that has been subjected to the heat treatment is then transported to an exposure device and exposed.

The substrate that has completed these processes is transported to a developing device, and developed. The substrate that has completed the development process is sent to a post-baking device and heat-processed. Thereafter, the substrate is stored in the original cassette placed on the transfer unit by the transfer robot.

[Prior Art Document] [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-167475

In the substrate processing system described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of conveying rollers are used to convey the substrate along the conveying path from the developing device to the rear baking device. That is, the substrate is supported from below by a plurality of transport rollers and transported in a horizontal posture with the surface of the substrate containing the developer facing upward. In recent years, a phenomenon has been observed during substrate transportation in which resist components are dissolved in the development process accompanying the development process. The shadow liquid bubbles, and part of it adheres to the conveying roller. When the bubbles attached to the conveyance roller are aggregated together and adhere to the peripheral surface of the conveyance roller in a piled-up state, the bubbles move to the conveyance path of the substrate while maintaining the accumulated state as the conveyance roller rotates. Therefore, the bubbles on the conveyance roller adhere not only to the back surface of the substrate but also to the surface. As a result, a problem may occur in which the development process becomes uneven, resulting in a decrease in development quality.

In addition, if the developer sprayed directly below the nozzle that sprays the developer toward the substrate falls to the bottom of the device while the substrate is not passing, splashes or bubbles may be generated, which may adhere to the conveyor roller, causing the same problem. problem.

The present invention was made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a developing device that can effectively prevent bubbles generated during the development process from adhering to the surface of the substrate via the transport roller.

One aspect of the present invention is a developing device that conveys a substrate and performs coating with a developer. The developing device includes a conveying roller having a cylindrical shape whose length in the axial direction is equal to or longer than the length of the substrate in the axial direction, and The nozzle is provided above the conveyance path through which the conveyance roller conveys the substrate and on the downstream side of the conveyance roller. position, and sprays the developer toward the upper surface of the substrate; and a liquid receiving member, which is provided below the conveyance path and directly below the nozzle, and receives the developer sprayed from the nozzle. liquid. Here, among the surfaces of the liquid receiving member, an upper surface facing the nozzle is configured as an inclined surface. The inclined surface is a position directly below the nozzle, from the position directly below the conveyance direction of the substrate. The upstream side of the device extends to the downstream side, and has a downward slope from the upper end of the upstream end toward the lower end of the downstream end. In addition, at the upstream side end, the liquid receiving member is configured as a scraper, the scraper being finely processed into a thin plate shape extending in the axial direction, and is located below the conveyance path. It is arranged with a predetermined gap from the peripheral surface of the conveyance roller, and removes bubbles adhering to the surface of the conveyance roller.

In the invention thus constituted, the liquid receiving member has both the function of removing bubbles adhering to the peripheral surface of the conveying roller and the function of suppressing the adhesion of droplets or bubbles generated by the developer flowing down from the nozzle to the conveying roller.

That is, the upper end of the liquid receiving member becomes a scraper arranged with a predetermined gap from the peripheral surface of the conveying roller, so that bubbles adhering to the peripheral surface of the conveying roller can be transferred to the scraper and removed. Here, it is not necessary to remove all the adhered bubbles, but it is sufficient to prevent bubbles from being accumulated on the peripheral surface of the conveying roller and spreading to the substrate surface. Therefore, there is no need to bring the scraper and the conveyance roller into contact.

On the other hand, regarding the surface of the liquid receiving member, the surface becomes an inclined surface at a position directly below the nozzle. Therefore, the developer flowing down from the nozzle when the substrate is not located directly under the nozzle is caught by the inclined surface of the liquid receiving member and guided further downward along the inclined surface. Accordingly, compared with a case where the developer drops directly to the bottom surface, it is possible to suppress the generation of droplets and bubbles, and to suppress these from adhering to the conveyance roller or the substrate.

As described above, according to the present invention, the liquid receiving member has the following functions: It has the function of removing bubbles adhering to the peripheral surface of the conveying roller, and the function of suppressing the generation of splashes or bubbles caused by the developer flowing down directly from the nozzle without being supplied to the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem of bubbles adhering to the surface of the conveyed substrate and deteriorating development quality. Furthermore, since the liquid receiving member is arranged without contact with the conveying roller, the conveying roller is not damaged by the liquid receiving member, and the substrate can be conveyed stably.

1:Developing device

2: Processing room

3:Substrate transport device

4:Developer nozzle (nozzle)

4a:Developer nozzle

4b:Developer nozzle

5:Developer supply part

6:Piping

7: Defoaming member (liquid receiving member)

7A: Defoaming components

7B: Defoaming components

8: Gap adjustment mechanism

21: Bottom

22: Discharge mechanism

23:tilt plate

31:Conveying roller

31a:Conveying roller

31b:Conveying roller

31c:Conveying roller

31d:Conveying roller

41:Spout

71: (the upper end of the defoaming member)

72: Surface (main surface) (of the defoaming member)

73: (The lower end of the defoaming member)

311:Shaft

312:UPE roller

313: Surround surface

AX: axis of rotation

B: bubble

G: Gap

L: developer

R: direction/rotation direction

S:Substrate

Sb: lower surface

Sf: Surface (of substrate)

V: velocity vector

V1: vector component

V2: vector component

W1: length

W2: length

W3: Width

W4: Width

X, Y, Z: coordinate axes

α: angle

β: tilt angle

γ: tilt angle

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the structure of an embodiment of the developing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the developing device.

3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams illustrating problems caused by bubble generation.

4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams showing the dimensional relationship between the conveyance roller and the defoaming member.

5(a) to 5(d) are diagrams showing the arrangement of the conveyance roller and the defoaming member.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example of the developing device.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the structure of an embodiment of the developing device of the present invention. In addition, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the developing device. In the following figures, in order to express directions uniformly, XYZ orthogonal coordinates are set as shown in Figure 1. Here, the XY plane is the horizontal plane, and the Z axis represents the vertical direction. More specifically, the (-Z) direction represents the vertical downward direction.

The developing device 1 is a device that supplies display to a substrate S such as a semiconductor wafer having an exposed resist film (not shown) formed on the surface Sf. After the developer solution is filled with the developer solution, the substrate S is transported to the next processing device (post-baking device) in a horizontal posture with the surface Sf facing upward. During the substrate transportation, a development process using a developer is performed. In the developing device 1 , the substrate S is horizontally conveyed from the left direction to the right direction in FIG. 1 . That is, the substrate S is conveyed in the (+Y) direction with the processing object facing upward.

The developing device 1 has a processing chamber 2 for performing development processing. The processing chamber 2 has a processing space inside, and an import port (not shown) is provided at the upstream end of the processing chamber 2 (left end in FIG. 1 ) for importing the developing device 1 The substrate S has been exposed using the exposure device on the upstream side. In addition, at the downstream end of the processing chamber 2 (the right end in FIG. 1 ), there is provided an unloading port for unloading the substrate S after the development process to the subsequent post-baking device. In addition, the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 is provided with a discharge mechanism 22 for discharging the developer used in the processing chamber. Furthermore, above the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2, a substrate transport device 3 for horizontally transporting the substrate S along the transport direction Y is provided.

The substrate transport device 3 includes a plurality of transport rollers 31 and a drive unit (not shown) that drives the transport rollers 31 to rotate. The plurality of conveyance rollers 31 are arranged along the conveyance direction Y of the substrate S, and convey the substrate S from the upstream side (left side in FIG. 1 ) to the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1 ) of the conveyance direction Y in the processing chamber 2 . In this specification, when it is necessary to distinguish these conveying rollers 31, it is appropriate to add lowercase letters of the alphabet as additional labels to the symbols 31.

Each conveyance roller 31 has a UPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene: Ultra High Molecular Weight Poly Ethylene) roller 312 embedded in a stainless steel shaft 311. It is a member formed and rotates around a rotation axis AX extending in the X direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (Y direction). The conveyance roller 31 supports the substrate S from below at its top and rotates in the rotation direction R, thereby conveying the substrate S in the Y direction.

The developer nozzle 4 is arranged above the conveyance path of the substrate S formed by the plurality of conveyance rollers 31 . In the above example, two developer nozzles 4 are provided at different positions in the conveyance direction (Y direction). In this specification, when it is necessary to distinguish between these developer nozzles 4, one of them located on the upstream side, that is, the (-Y) side in the conveyance direction of the substrate S is denoted by a symbol 4a, and the other one is denoted by a symbol 4b. In addition, the number of developer nozzles arranged is not limited to this and is arbitrary.

The developer nozzle 4 is arranged in the processing space of the processing chamber 2 so as to be positioned differently from the transport roller 31 in the Y direction. Specifically, the developer nozzle 4a is disposed above the gap space between the two conveyance rollers 31a and 31b that are adjacently arranged along the conveyance path. For example, the developer nozzle 4a is arranged above the intermediate position of the two conveyance rollers 31a and 31b. In other words, the conveying roller 31 does not exist at the position directly below the developer nozzle 4a. The developer nozzle 4b is similarly arranged above the gap space between the two conveyance rollers 31c and 31d adjacently arranged along the conveyance path.

The developer nozzle 4 sprays the developer onto the surface Sf of the substrate S conveyed toward the downstream side by the substrate conveyor 3 . The developer nozzle 4 extends in the X direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1 ), and is formed on its lower surface (the surface facing the substrate S) to elongate in the X direction. The narrow gap ejection port 41. That is, in this embodiment, a slit nozzle is used as the developer nozzle 4 . In the developer nozzle 4, the size of the ejection port 41 in the X direction is basically the same as that of the The size (width size) of the board S in the X direction is approximately the same or slightly larger.

A developer supply part 5 is connected to the developer nozzle 4 via a pipe 6 . The developer supply unit 5 has a pressure-feeding mechanism (not shown) such as a pump or tank pressure. By the operation of the pressurizing mechanism, the developer L is pressurized to the developer nozzle 4 via the pipe 6 . Thereby, the developer L is ejected from the discharge port 41 of the developer nozzle 4 in a curtain shape, and the developer L is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate S.

In the present embodiment, the surface Sf of the substrate S and the ejection port 41 of the developer nozzle 4 are arranged with a predetermined distance. When the substrate S passes directly under the ejection port 41, the entire upper surface of the substrate S becomes a state using surface tension. And the state containing the developer L (that is, the state in which a puddle of the developer L is formed). Thereafter, while being carried out to the post-baking device by the transport roller 31, the surface Sf of the substrate S, that is, the resist film, is developed. As such developer L, a developer containing tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and water as main components is used in this embodiment. Of course, other developing solutions can be used, such as a developing solution containing sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and water as main components.

In recent years, it has been found that, depending on the combination of a resist film and a developer, the developer is prone to foaming due to surfactants contained in the developer or resist materials dissolved in the developer during the development process. In particular, when the developer overflowing from the substrate S spreads between the conveyance roller 31 and the substrate S, the developer is stirred by the relative movement of the two, thereby generating a large number of bubbles. Bubbles may not only adhere to the lower surface of the substrate S, but may also adhere to the upper surface of the substrate S, that is, the surface Sf serving as the processing target surface, via the transport roller 31 as explained below.

3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams illustrating problems caused by bubble generation. As shown in FIG. 3( a ), the developer L entering between the lower surface Sb of the substrate S and the conveyor roller 31 becomes bubbles B and adheres to the lower surface Sb of the substrate S or the peripheral surface 313 of the conveyor roller 31 . As the conveyance roller 31 rotates, the bubble B is also conveyed and moves to the top portion in contact with the substrate S.

The bubbles B aggregate together and form large blocks, and thus may accumulate in large quantities on the peripheral surface 313 of the conveyance roller 31. When the substrate S is conveyed toward such a block of bubbles, part of the bubbles may spread to The upper surface (surface Sf) of the substrate S is attached. The bubbles adhered to the substrate surface Sf in this way cause uneven development and other causes of deterioration in development quality.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3( b ), the defoaming member 7 is disposed in close proximity to the peripheral surface 313 of each conveyance roller 31 below the conveyance path of the substrate S to scrape off the adhesion. The bubbles are removed by conveying the bubbles on the conveyor roller 31 . The upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 and the circumferential surface 313 of the conveying roller 31 are closely opposed to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and are used as a scraper to scrape off bubbles or lumps thereof accumulated on the circumferential surface 313 of the conveying roller 31 that are larger than the gaps. The board functions. The size of the gap can be adjusted by the gap adjustment mechanism 8 .

The bubbles scraped and moved to the surface of the bubble removing member 7 flow down along the surface. Since the defoaming member 7 is not in contact with the conveying roller 31 , some bubbles may remain on the peripheral surface 313 of the conveying roller 31 . However, small bubbles or small-scale bubble blocks do not spread to the upper surface Sf of the substrate S, but only adhere to the lower surface Sb, and do not become a big problem.

The structure of the defoaming member 7 is demonstrated in more detail with reference to FIG.2 and FIG.3(b). In the present embodiment, the defoaming member 7 has a cylindrical shape formed by bending a thin plate-like material around the X-axis, and is supported by a support member (not shown) connected to the gap adjustment mechanism 8 . The upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 extends linearly in a direction parallel to the rotation axis AX (direction X), and is disposed adjacent to and facing the peripheral surface 313 of the conveyance roller 31 with a predetermined gap to be described later. The upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 extends upward from below. On the other hand, the peripheral surface 313 of the transport roller 31 facing the upper end 71 moves from upper to lower as the transport roller 31 rotates in the direction R. That is, the defoaming member 7 has a so-called reverse arrangement in a direction opposite to the rotation of the conveyance roller 31 .

Among the main surfaces of the defoaming member 7 , the main surface 72 on the side opposite to the surface facing the conveyance roller 31 (in the following description, this surface is referred to as the “surface”) is a smooth curved surface having a downward slope. (inclined surface), the slope becomes smaller from the upper end 71 toward the lower end 73 . Therefore, the bubbles that have moved from the conveyance roller 31 to the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 first flow down at a high speed along the surface 72 with a large slope, and then the slope becomes gentle toward the lower end 73 and the speed decreases. Finally, it flows down from the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 toward the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 . Therefore, the bubbles scraped off from the transport roller 31 flow down toward the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 along the smooth surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 without remaining there. This prevents large bubbles or lumps of bubbles from being transported by the transport roller 31 and adhering to the surface Sf of the substrate S.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3( b ), the position directly below the developer nozzle 4 , more specifically as indicated by the dotted line, is the position directly below the ejection port 41 and the developer ejected from the ejection port 41 flows down. Path, in the substrate conveying direction (Y direction) When viewed, the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 is located upstream from the directly below position, while the lower end 73 extends to the downstream side from the directly below position. Therefore, when the substrate S is not present directly below the developer nozzle 4b in FIG. 3(b), the developer L sprayed from the developer nozzle 4 further falls through the conveyance path and lands on the defoaming surface. The slope of the surface 72 of the member 7 . In order to prevent the rebounding developer from adhering to the transport roller 31 , the position where the developer hits the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 is preferably below the lower end of the transport roller 31 .

The developer L further flows down along the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 and falls from the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 to the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 . When the developer sprayed from the developer nozzle 4 falls directly onto the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 , the developer may be sprayed and adhere to the transport roller 31 or the substrate S. In addition, new bubbles may be generated by stirring the waste liquid of the developer remaining on the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 . By using the inclined surface of the defoaming member 7 to receive the developer, reducing the flow rate, and then causing the developer to fall toward the bottom surface 21 at a low position, the generation of such droplets or bubbles can be suppressed.

In this sense, the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 is preferably extended as close as possible to the bottom surface 21 of the treatment chamber 2 . In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3( b ), by arranging the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 and the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 to have a slope greater than that of the surface 72 near the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 . The inclined plate 23 with a gentle slope can more effectively suppress the generation of droplets or bubbles.

The bubbles scraped from the transport roller 31 flow down the surface 72 of the bubble removal member 7 at a relatively low speed. On the other hand, the developer sprayed from the developer nozzle 4 has a higher speed. Speed and quantity. Therefore, the inclined plate 23 only needs to be located below the defoaming member 7 provided directly below the developer nozzle 4 , and it is not necessary for all the defoaming members 7 to satisfy this condition.

As described above, in addition to the function of removing bubbles adhering to the peripheral surface 313 of the conveyance roller 31 (the bubble removing function), the bubble removing member 7 of the present embodiment also has the function of catching the developer sprayed from the developer nozzle 4 and removing it. The function of the "liquid receiving member" that guides the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 stably (liquid receiving function). These functions all exert an effect of preventing bubbles adhering to the conveyance roller 31 from spreading to the surface Sf of the substrate S. This can prevent the bubbles from adhering to the surface Sf of the substrate as the surface of the object to be processed, causing uneven development and deteriorating the development quality.

Furthermore, among the plurality of conveying rollers 31 arranged along the conveying path, the conveying roller 31 that may generate bubbles caused by the developer is disposed further downstream in the conveying direction than the developer nozzle 4a on the most upstream side. . Regarding the conveying roller 31 located upstream of the developer nozzle 4a, it is not necessary to provide the defoaming member 7.

However, regarding the conveying roller 31a which is located upstream of the developer nozzle 4a but facing the downflow path of the developer, the developer supplied to the substrate surface Sf may spread, and it is necessary to receive the developer from the flow path. Since the developer flows down from the nozzle 4a, it is preferable that the defoaming member 7 is provided similarly to the conveyance roller 31b and the like further downstream. In this case, since the defoaming member 7 does not contact the conveyance roller 31a, there is no concern that the rotation of the conveyance roller 31a is affected or that the conveyance roller 31a is worn.

Hereinafter, based on the findings obtained by the inventor of the present application, referring to Fig. 4(a), Figure 4(b) and Figures 5(a) to 5(d) illustrate the dimensional relationship and arrangement of each part for making the above effect more reliable. 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams showing the dimensional relationship between the conveyance roller and the defoaming member. In addition, FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d) are views showing the arrangement of the conveyance roller and the defoaming member.

As shown in FIG. 4(a) , the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 and the circumferential surface 313 of the conveyance roller 31 are arranged with a gap G therebetween and not in contact with each other. In order to satisfy the condition that bubbles remaining attached to the transport roller 31 do not spread to the surface Sf of the substrate S, it is desirable that the size of the gap G is smaller than the thickness of the substrate S. Specifically, for example, the gap G can be set to 1 mm or less.

The gap G can be adjusted by moving the defoaming member 7 in the Y direction by the gap adjustment mechanism 8 as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 2 . The gap adjustment mechanism 8 can be manually operated by an operator, or can also automatically adjust a designated gap by using an actuator such as a motor.

Furthermore, the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 is preferably finished in a thin blade shape, but it needs to be able to prevent the developer from being attracted to the conveying roller 31 due to the surface tension of the developer interposed between the defoaming member 7 and the conveying roller 31 . The degree of rigidity of the side. Therefore, the thickness of the upper end 71 can also be set to about 1 mm, for example. Regarding materials, in the opinion of the inventors of the present application, no non-accidental difference in effects has been found between a metal plate such as stainless steel and a resin plate such as polyester.

Next, the width of each part, that is, the length in the X direction, is as shown in Fig. 4(b). That is, in order to completely supply the developer to the surface Sf of the substrate S, the length W1 of the discharge port 41 of the developer nozzle 4 is preferably the width of the substrate S. W3 or above. In order to transport the liquid-coated substrate S stably without deflection, the length W2 of the transport roller 31 (more strictly speaking, the length of the UPE roller 312 in contact with the substrate S) is preferably larger than the width W3 of the substrate S. Furthermore, in order to reliably remove bubbles from the conveyance roller 31 , the width W4 of the defoaming member 7 is preferably larger than the length W2 of the conveyance roller 31 , and the defoaming member 7 is preferably extended to the outside of both ends of the conveyance roller 31 .

The width of the defoaming member 7 does not necessarily need to be fixed, but it is ideal that at least the width directly below the ejection port 41 is greater than the length W1 of the ejection port 41 in order to reliably receive the ejected developer, and the defoaming member 7 extends to more than Both ends of the ejection port 41 are further outside. In addition, in order to reliably guide the developer to the lower end 73 , it is ideal that there is no portion where the width decreases from the position to the lower end 73 .

The arrangement form of the defoaming member 7 with respect to the conveyance roller 31 is as follows. As shown in FIG. 5( a ), the position (gap position) closest to the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 among the peripheral surfaces 313 of the transport roller 31 is preferably in the rotation direction from the top of the transport roller 31 in contact with the substrate S. The angle α around the rotation axis AX when viewed from R is in the range of 90 degrees or more and less than 180 degrees, and more preferably 135 degrees or less. When the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 is located within the above range, the transfer of bubbles from the conveying roller 31 to the defoaming member 7 can be most smoothly performed.

In addition, the slope of the surface 72 of the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 is as follows. As shown in FIG. 5( b ), it is preferable to define the slope of the surface 72 in such a way that the velocity vector V of the bubble B conveyed by the conveying roller 31 at the gap position is decomposed into a velocity vector V along the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 When there is a vector component V1 in the direction and a vector component V2 orthogonal to it, the size of the component V1 is larger than the size of the component V2. In addition, if the slope of the surface 72 is too small, the bubbles scraped off from the conveyance roller 31 may not flow down but may remain near the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 .

Based on these circumstances, as shown in FIG. 5(c) , the inclination angle β of the surface 72 of the upper end 71 of the defoaming member 7 with respect to the horizontal plane (double-dot chain line) is preferably in the range of 45 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less. as large as possible. On the other hand, at the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7, as shown in FIG. 5(d), the inclination angle γ with respect to the horizontal plane can be set to a value larger than 0 degrees and smaller than the inclination angle β.

As described above, in this embodiment, the bubble removal member 7 removes the portions of bubbles that are accumulated higher than the gaps G among the bubbles adhering to the conveyance roller 31 . Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the bubbles attached to the transport roller 31 from moving to the surface Sf of the substrate S. Furthermore, since the defoaming member 7 and the conveying roller 31 are arranged without contact, the conveying roller 31 is not damaged by the defoaming member 7 and the substrate S can be stably conveyed toward the post-bake device.

In addition, the lower end 73 of the defoaming member 7 extends to the downstream side beyond the position directly below the developer nozzle 4 (strictly speaking, the discharge port 41 ) in the substrate conveyance direction (Y direction). Furthermore, at a position directly below the developer nozzle 4 , the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 becomes an inclined surface having a monotonous downward slope toward the lower end 73 . Therefore, when there is no substrate S directly below the developer nozzle 4 , the developer sprayed from the developer nozzle 4 is caught by the defoaming member 7 , flows down along the surface 72 thereof, and is directed toward the processing chamber 2 The bottom surface 21 guides. This can suppress the generation of droplets or bubbles on the bottom surface 21 of the processing chamber 2 .

With these structures, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent The bubbles generated by the bubbles spread to the surface Sf of the substrate S via the peripheral surface 313 of the conveyance roller 31 . Therefore, deterioration in development quality such as uneven development due to bubble adhesion can be avoided in advance.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes other than the above-described embodiments can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, since the defoaming member 7 is formed by bending one plate-shaped body, the thickness of the defoaming member 7 is fixed, and the surface 72 and the main part of the side opposite to it and facing the conveying roller 31 The surface basically becomes the same shape.

However, in the present invention, although the upper end of the defoaming member is required to be a thin plate-shaped scraper, there is no such restriction at a position far from the conveyance roller 31 . Therefore, the cross-sectional shape of the defoaming member 7 is not limited to the above shape, and may be a portion having a different thickness, for example.

In addition, in the embodiment, the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 has a smooth curved surface that is continuous from the upper end 71 to the lower end 73 . However, for example, even if the surface is a flat surface, the defoaming function and the liquid receiving function can be obtained. In the present embodiment, the surface 72 of the defoaming member 7 is formed of a curved surface with a steep slope at the upper end 71 and a smaller slope toward the lower end 73 , thereby improving the effect of smoothly removing bubbles from the conveyance roller 31 It moves to the defoaming member 7 and at the same time catches the developer falling from the lower end 73 and weakens its flow. Furthermore, even if the surface of the defoaming member is flat in a portion between the upper end and the lower end, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

In addition, for example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the defoaming members 7 respectively provided in the plurality of conveying rollers 31 all have the same shape. This allows parts to be shared, but the original Conceptually, the liquid receiving function is not necessary for the defoaming member without the developer nozzle 4 disposed above. In this case, the following modifications can also be adopted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example of the developing device. In the modification, the structure other than the bubble member can be the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . Therefore, the same structures as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the developing device 1A according to the modified example shown in FIG. 6 , a defoaming member 7A similar to the defoaming member 7 of the above embodiment is arranged directly below the developer nozzle 4 , while there is no defoaming member 7A above. A smaller defoaming member 7B is arranged at the position of the developer nozzle 4 . In the case where there is no developer nozzle 4 above, it is sufficient for the bubble removal member 7B to have the function of scraping off bubbles adhering to the conveyance roller 31 and does not need the function of catching the developer flowing down from the developer nozzle 4 . Therefore, it is possible to use the defoaming member 7B with a specialized shape for the defoaming function. For example, by making it smaller than the defoaming member 7A, the amount of material used can be reduced.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the substrate S is transported using the transport roller 31 having the UPE roller 312 embedded in the shaft 311. However, the structure of the transport roller 31 is not limited to this, and all conventional transport rollers can be used.

As mentioned above, as the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, in the developing device of the present invention, the surface of the liquid receiving member may be located directly below the nozzle and below the conveying roller. According to this structure, the developer flowing down from the nozzle lands on the liquid receiving member below the transport roller. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the rebound developer from adhering to the conveyance roller or the substrate.

In addition, the surface of the liquid receiving member may be a smooth curved surface from the upper end to the lower end, and may be a cylindrical surface, for example. According to this structure, bubbles or developer attached to the surface of the liquid receiving member are smoothly guided to the lower end, thereby preventing them from remaining on the surface of the liquid receiving member.

In addition, the slope of the surface may be configured such that the slope monotonically decreases from the upper end toward the lower end. The "monotonically decreasing" described here is a so-called monotonic decreasing in a broad sense, and the slope can be fixed in a part of the interval from the upper end to the lower end. According to this structure, since the velocity of the developer flowing down is reduced by reducing the slope of the surface, it is possible to reduce the rebound of the developer when it falls from the lower end of the liquid receiving member.

In addition, the inclination angle of the upper end surface with respect to the horizontal plane may be 45 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less. According to the knowledge of the inventor of the present application, by having such a structure, the bubbles scraped off from the conveyance roller can be quickly flowed down without remaining in the upper end portion.

In addition, the upper end of the liquid receiving member may be configured to be closest to the peripheral surface of the conveying roller at a position where the angle around the rotation axis is 90 degrees or more and 135 degrees or less when viewed from the top of the conveying roller in the rotation direction. According to the findings of the present inventors, such a structure allows bubbles to move most smoothly from the transport roller to the liquid receiving member, thereby improving the defoaming effect of the transport roller by the liquid receiving member.

In addition, the length of the upper end along the axial direction is preferably greater than or equal to the length of the conveyor roller, and more preferably is greater than the length of the conveyor roller. According to this structure, the defoaming effect can be obtained in the entire peripheral surface of a conveyance roller.

In addition, it is preferable that the liquid receiving member extends to the outside in the axial direction with respect to the ejection port provided in the nozzle and ejecting the developer at a position directly below the nozzle. root According to this structure, the liquid flowing down from the nozzle can reliably land on the liquid receiving member.

In addition, the gap between the transport roller and the liquid receiving member is preferably smaller than the thickness of the substrate. Since the liquid receiving member is provided so as not to contact the conveying roller, bubbles or lumps of bubbles smaller than the voids are not removed but remain on the peripheral surface of the conveying roller. However, if the thickness of the substrate is greater than the height of such bubbles, the bubbles can be prevented from spreading to the surface of the substrate.

In addition, the liquid receiving member may be a plate-shaped body formed integrally from the upper end to the lower end. According to this structure, the surface of the liquid receiving member can be smoothed, and the bubbles or the developer can flow down smoothly. In addition, the surface shape is easy to adjust.

In addition, a gap adjustment mechanism that moves the liquid receiving member relative to the conveyance roller to change the gap may be further provided. According to this structure, the gap can be adjusted according to the use or purpose. For example, even when the thickness of the substrate changes, it can be flexibly responded to.

[Industrial availability]

The present invention can be applied to a developing device that carries out a development process by conveying a substrate using a conveying roller and coating the surface with a developer, and is suitable as a part of a process for forming patterns on various substrates by exposure.

7: Defoaming member (liquid receiving member)

8: Gap adjustment mechanism

31:Conveying roller

71: (the upper end of the defoaming member)

72: Surface (main surface) (of the defoaming member)

73: (The lower end of the defoaming member)

311:Shaft

312:UPE roller

313: Surround surface

AX: axis of rotation

R: direction/rotation direction

X, Y, Z: coordinate axes

Claims (12)

A developing device that conveys a substrate and performs coating with a developer, the developing device including: a conveying roller having a cylindrical shape with an axial length equal to or greater than the length of the substrate in the axial direction, and rotating around a horizontal axis Rotate and transport the substrate while supporting the substrate from below; a nozzle is provided above the transport path through which the transport roller transports the substrate and further downstream than the transport roller, and faces The developer is ejected from the upper surface of the substrate; and a liquid receiving member is provided below the conveyance path and directly below the nozzle, and receives the developer ejected from the nozzle, and at the Among the surfaces of the liquid receiving member, an upper surface facing the nozzle is configured as an inclined surface, and the inclined surface is a position directly below the nozzle from a position directly below the substrate in the conveying direction. The upstream side is extended to the downstream side and has a downward slope from the upper end of the upstream end toward the lower end of the downstream end, and at the upstream end, the liquid receiving member is The scraper is formed into a thin plate shape that extends along the axial direction and is disposed below the conveyance path with a predetermined gap from the peripheral surface of the conveyance roller, The bubbles adhering to the surface of the conveyance roller are removed. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the liquid receiving member is located directly below the nozzle higher than the conveying roller. Near the bottom. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper surface of the liquid receiving member is a smooth curved surface from the upper end to the lower end. The developing device according to claim 3, wherein the curved surface is a cylindrical surface. The developing device of claim 3, wherein the slope of the upper surface decreases monotonically from the upper end toward the lower end. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inclination angle of the upper surface of the upper end with respect to the horizontal plane is 45 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper end is located at a position where an angle around the rotation axis is 90 degrees or more and 135 degrees or less when viewed from the top of the transport roller in the rotation direction. The circumference is the closest. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the length of the upper end along the axial direction is equal to or longer than the length of the conveying roller. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the liquid receiving member extends to the shaft at a position directly below the nozzle with respect to an ejection port provided at the nozzle and ejecting the developer liquid. Upward outside. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gap is smaller than the thickness of the substrate. The developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the liquid receiving member is a plate-shaped body that is integrated from the upstream end to the downstream end. The developing device as described in claim 1 or 2, including: gap adjuster The adjusting mechanism moves the liquid receiving member relative to the conveying roller to change the gap.

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