WO2011122029A1

WO2011122029A1 - Thermal treatment device and thermal treatment method

Info

Publication number: WO2011122029A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/001928
Authority: WO
Inventors: 西田光志; 神徳千幸; 長嶋靖
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社; 光洋サーモシステム株式会社
Priority date: 2010-03-31
Filing date: 2011-03-30
Publication date: 2011-10-06

Abstract

Disclosed is a thermal treatment device comprising: a treatment chamber; a heating source which is arranged in the treatment chamber and can emit an infrared ray; and a support member which is arranged in the treatment chamber and can support a material of interest so that the material faces the heating source. The material is thermally treated by a radiant heat generated by the action of the infrared ray emitted from the heating source. The support member is so arranged as to be overlaid only on a part of the material, and the material-side surface of the support member has multiple protrusions on which the material is to be supported.

Description

Heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment method

The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method for heat-treating an object to be processed such as a glass substrate used for a flat display panel or the like.

For example, a glass substrate used in a flat display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display panel is appropriately subjected to a heat treatment such as an annealing treatment, a coating treatment, or a baking of a polyimide film depending on the application. Conventionally, in order to perform such heat treatment, it is known to heat-treat a glass substrate by radiant heat of a heater (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In Patent Document 1, a heating source for heating a plate-like object to be processed (glass substrate) is arranged in a heating chamber, and the internal temperature distribution of the object to be processed is made uniform in this heating source. There is disclosed a heat treatment apparatus provided with a thin film heater in which a pattern for heating an object to be processed is provided, and first and second glass plates that sandwich the thin film heater 3 while covering the pattern.

JP 2003-194478 A

Here, in the heat treatment apparatus of Patent Document 1 described above, the entire surface of the thin film heater is covered with a glass plate. However, when infrared rays emitted from the heater are incident on the glass plate, the glass plate removes all of the incident infrared rays. It is not transparent. Therefore, the heat treatment apparatus of Patent Document 1 has a problem that infrared rays emitted from the heater cannot be used effectively when the object to be processed is heat-treated by radiant heat. Conventionally, since the area of the display panel was relatively small, it was not a problem. However, since the area of the display panel tends to increase in recent years, the above problem has been increased.

Therefore, the present inventor has conducted earnest research on supporting a workpiece such as a glass substrate on a heater by a plurality of quartz tubes arranged in parallel with each other. By so doing, the portion that is not supported by the quartz tube is exposed without being covered by the quartz tube, so that the utilization efficiency of infrared rays emitted from the heater can be increased.

However, the object to be processed such as the glass substrate is different in the amount of incident infrared rays in the region supported by the quartz tube and the region not supported by the quartz tube. A slight difference is inevitable. Further, since the quartz tube itself has a heat capacity, the quartz tube is heated by radiant heat from the heater if it is installed in a high-temperature furnace for a long time. As a result, when an object to be processed such as the glass substrate having a relatively low temperature is placed on the quartz tube having a relatively high temperature, the glass substrate is rapidly heated in a region supported by the quartz tube. As a whole, there is a risk of unevenness in the heat treatment.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is a heat treatment apparatus having a plurality of support members that support an object to be processed in a state of being opposed to a heating source that emits infrared rays. An object of the present invention is to make the heat treatment for the object to be processed as uniform as possible.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a plurality of protrusions for supporting the object to be processed are provided on the support member that overlaps only a part of the object to be processed.

Specifically, the present invention provides a processing chamber, a heating source provided inside the processing chamber for emitting infrared rays, and provided inside the processing chamber so that an object to be processed faces the heating source. And a support member that supports the heat treatment apparatus configured to heat treat the object to be treated by radiant heat generated by infrared rays emitted from the heating source. The support member is disposed so as to overlap only a part of the object to be processed, and a plurality of protrusions for supporting the object to be processed are provided on the surface of the support member on the object to be processed side. It is characterized by being.

-Action-
Next, the operation of the present invention will be described.

In the present invention, when the object to be processed is heat-treated, the object to be processed is carried into the processing chamber and supported by the support member. Since the support member is provided with a plurality of protrusions on the surface of the object to be processed, the lower surface of the object to be processed is supported by the plurality of protrusions. Then, when infrared rays are emitted from the heating source, the workpiece is heat-treated by the radiant heat.

At this time, since the support member is arranged so as to overlap only a part of the object to be processed, the region not supported by the support member on the lower surface of the object to be processed is exposed without being covered by the support member. Yes. Therefore, it is possible to increase the utilization efficiency of the infrared rays emitted from the heating source by directly entering the infrared rays emitted from the heating source.

Furthermore, since the object to be processed is supported by the plurality of protrusions provided on the support member, the contact area between the object to be processed and the support member is reduced, and the heat capacity of the support member has an effect on the object to be processed. Can be reduced. That is, even if the support member is at a high temperature in the processing chamber, since the contact area between the support member and the object to be processed is small, the heating of the object to be processed by the high temperature support member is suppressed. It becomes possible to make the heat treatment uniform.

According to the present invention, the contact area between the support member and the object to be processed is reduced while increasing the utilization efficiency of infrared rays emitted from the heating source so that the support member overlaps only a part of the object to be processed. The heat treatment for the processed product can be made uniform.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a schematic configuration of the heat treatment apparatus of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the appearance of the support member provided with the protrusions in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of the appearance of the support member provided with the protrusions in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a protrusion in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a holding portion that holds the end portion of the support member according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a graph showing a temperature change of the glass substrate according to the example. FIG. 7 is a graph showing a temperature change of the glass substrate according to the comparative example. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the protrusion in the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the protrusion in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the protrusion in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a part of the appearance of the support member provided with the protrusions in the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
1 to 5 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a schematic configuration of a heat treatment apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the appearance of the support member 20 provided with the protrusions 22. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of the appearance of the support member 20 provided with the protrusions 22. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the protrusion 22. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the holding portion 25 that holds the end portion of the support member 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a process chamber 10 that can be sealed, a heater 12 as a heating source provided in the process chamber 10, and a process chamber 10 that is also provided in the process chamber 10. And a support member 20 that supports a glass substrate 13 as an object to be processed. And the heat processing apparatus 1 is comprised so that the glass substrate 13 may be heat-processed by the radiant heat by the infrared rays radiated | emitted from the said heater 12. FIG.

Here, the object to be treated means not only a thin film (for example, a resin film or a semiconductor film) provided on the surface of a support such as the glass substrate 13 but also the whole including the glass substrate 13. To do. In the present specification, the object to be processed is also simply referred to as a glass substrate for explanation.

And the heat processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is comprised so that the polyimide film (not shown) apply | coated to the substantially whole surface of the glass substrate 13 may be heat-processed and baked, for example. The glass substrate 13 constitutes a liquid crystal display panel, and the baked polyimide film becomes an alignment film that regulates the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal display panel.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing chamber 10 is formed as a sealed space by a heat insulating container 15 in which the glass substrate 13 is accommodated and a heat insulating door 16 that opens and closes the heat insulating container 15. Further, a gas inlet (not shown) and a gas outlet (not shown) can be connected to the processing chamber 10. For example, N ₂ gas is introduced into the processing chamber 10 from the gas inlet, and the glass substrate 13 is heat-treated in an N ₂ gas atmosphere.

The heater 12 is provided, for example, in the entire lower part of the heat insulating container 15 inside the processing chamber 10 and is connected to a power source (not shown). Then, when energized from the power source, infrared rays 11 are emitted as shown in FIG.

A plurality of support members 20 are provided inside the processing chamber 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the support members 20 are each constituted by a cylindrical quartz tube and arranged in parallel to each other. For example, six support members 20 are provided at a pitch of about 600 mm. Each support member 20 has a length of, for example, about 3300 mm. The diameter of the support member 20 is about 20 mm, for example, and the thickness of the tube is about several mm.

Each support member 20 is held at both ends by Y-shaped holding portions 25 as shown in FIG. The end portion of the support member 20 is placed on the bifurcated portion of the holding portion 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the support member 20 supports the glass substrate 13 so as to face the heater 12. Thus, the support member 20 is disposed so as to overlap only part of the glass substrate 13.

A plurality of protrusions 22 that support the glass substrate 13 are provided on the surface of the support member 20 on the glass substrate 13 side. That is, the support member 20 includes a support body 21 made of a quartz tube, and a plurality of protrusions 22 projecting from the support body 21 at a predetermined interval. The distance between the protrusions 22 is, for example, about 100 mm, and the protrusion height of the protrusions 22 from the surface of the support body 21 is, for example, about 5 mm.

Further, each protrusion 22 is made of, for example, quartz, and is formed in a columnar shape and a tip thereof is formed in a curved surface as shown in an enlarged manner in FIG.

Each projection 22 is quartz welded to the support body 21 while being inserted into a through-hole formed in the support body 21. Thereby, a welded portion 23 made of quartz is formed at the base end of the protruding portion 22 over the entire circumference.

When the glass substrate 13 is heat-treated by the heat treatment apparatus 1, first, a polyimide film is applied to one surface of the large glass substrate 13 over the entire surface. Thereafter, the glass substrate 13 coated with the polyimide film is transported into the heat insulating container 15 and placed on the support member 20. Thus, the glass substrate 13 is supported by the support member 20 so as to face the heater 12 inside the heat insulating container 15. At this time, the polyimide film is applied to the upper surface of the glass substrate 13, and the lower surface of the glass substrate 13 is point-supported by the plurality of protrusions 22 of the support member 20.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the heat insulation door 16 is closed and the processing chamber 10 is sealed. Subsequently, power is supplied from a power source (not shown) to the heater 12, and infrared rays 11 are emitted from the heater 12. As a result, the glass substrate 13 supported by the support member 20 is heat-treated, and the polyimide film of the glass substrate 13 is baked by the radiant heat of the heater 12. Thereafter, the glass substrate 13 on which the polyimide film has been baked is carried out from the opened heat insulating container 15.

-Effect of Embodiment 1-
Therefore, according to the first embodiment, since the support member 20 is arranged so as to overlap only a part of the glass substrate 13, an area that is not supported by the support member 20 on the lower surface of the glass substrate 13 is defined in the support member 20. It can be exposed without being covered. Therefore, the infrared rays 11 emitted from the heater 12 can be directly incident on the glass substrate 13 and the polyimide film, so that the utilization efficiency of the infrared rays 11 emitted from the heater 12 can be increased.

Furthermore, since the glass substrate 13 is supported by the plurality of protrusions 22 provided on the support member 20, the contact area between the glass substrate 13 and the support member 20 can be reduced, and the heat capacity of the support member 20 can be reduced. The influence on the glass substrate 13 can be reduced. In other words, even when the support member 20 is at a high temperature in the processing chamber 10 such as when intermittently heat-treating the plurality of glass substrates 13, the contact area between the support member 20 and the glass substrate 13 can be reduced. Therefore, as a result of suppressing the heating of the glass substrate 13 and the polyimide film by the high temperature support member 20, the heat treatment for the glass substrate 13 can be made uniform. As a result, since the film quality of the alignment film (polyimide film) in the liquid crystal display panel can be made uniform, the display quality can be improved.

Moreover, since the tip of the projection 22 is formed into a curved surface, damage to the glass substrate 13 due to the tip of the projection 22 can be suppressed.

Furthermore, since the entire support member 20 including the protrusions 22 is made of quartz, the thermal conductivity of the N ₂ atmosphere in the processing chamber 10 is made to be approximately the same while increasing the transmittance of the infrared ray 11 in the support member 20. Can do.

Here, the graph of FIG. 7 shows the glass substrate region A supported by the support member and the glass substrate region B not supported by the support member for the comparative example in which the support member made of the quartz tube does not have a protrusion. The temperature change of the said glass substrate in is shown.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the glass substrate region B not supported by the support member, the temperature of the glass substrate rises in a relatively short time, whereas in the glass substrate region A supported by the support member, It has been found that the temperature rises quickly upon receiving heat from the high temperature support member, but it takes time for the temperature to rise immediately thereafter. That is, in the case of the comparative example, a large difference occurs in the temperature rise mode in each of the glass substrate regions A and B.

On the other hand, the graph of FIG. 6 shows that in the embodiment in which the support member 20 has the protrusion 22, the glass substrate region A supported by the support member and the glass substrate region B not supported by the support member. The temperature change of the said glass substrate is shown. As shown in FIG. 6, it was found that there is no significant difference in the temperature increase mode in each of the glass substrate regions A and B.

<< Embodiment 2 of the Invention >>
8 to 10 show Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

8 to 10 are cross-sectional views showing an enlarged part of the protrusions in the second embodiment. In the following embodiments, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 to 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the configuration of the protrusion 22 in the first embodiment is changed. For example, the protrusion 22 is made of quartz, for example, and is formed so as to enclose bubbles as shown in FIG.

In this way, in addition to obtaining the same effect as in the first embodiment, since the bubbles are included in the protrusion 22, the thermal conductivity of the protrusion 22 is set to the atmosphere in the processing chamber 10. You can get closer. Therefore, the heat treatment can be made more uniform in the region of the glass substrate 13 that is in contact with the protrusion 22 and the other region that is not in contact with the protrusion 22.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the protrusion 22 may have a fine uneven shape on the surface in contact with the atmosphere in the processing chamber 10. That is, a large number of convex portions 32 and concave portions 33 are formed on the surface of the protruding portion 22.

In this way, since the atmosphere in the processing chamber 10 stays in the concave portion 33 on the surface of the protruding portion 22, the thermal conductivity of the protruding portion 22 can be brought close to the atmosphere in the processing chamber 10. Therefore, the same effect as the example of FIG. 8 can be obtained.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the protrusion 22 has a plurality of solid layers 35 formed of a solid and a gas layer 36 provided between the plurality of solid layers 35 and in which a gas is disposed. You may comprise. The solid layer 35 is formed of a solid such as quartz. The gas layer 36 is filled with a gas such as an atmosphere in the processing chamber 10 or air.

In this way, the thermal conductivity of the protrusion 22 can be brought close to the atmosphere in the processing chamber 10 by the gas layer 36 in which the gas for heat insulation is enclosed. Therefore, the same effect as the example of FIG. 8 can be obtained.

<< Embodiment 3 of the Invention >>
FIG. 11 shows Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a part of the appearance of the support member 20 provided with the protrusions 22 in the third embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the support member 20 is configured by the cylindrical support portion main body 21 and the protruding portion 22 welded thereto. In the third embodiment, the support portion main body 21 and the protruding portion 22 are provided. It is formed integrally.

As shown in FIG. 11, the support member 20 in the present embodiment has an uneven ridgeline, and the protrusion 22 is constituted by a convex portion of the ridgeline.

That is, the support member 20 has, for example, a substantially triangular prism shape, and one of three ridge lines extending in the longitudinal direction (in other words, a ridge line constituting the apex portion of the triangular prism) extends along the ridge line. It is formed in an uneven shape. In this way, the convex portions are formed at equal intervals, so that the convex portions become the protrusions 22. The support member 20 and its protrusion 22 are made of quartz as in the first embodiment.

-Effect of Embodiment 3-
Therefore, also in the third embodiment, the glass substrate 13 can be supported inside the processing chamber 10 as in the first embodiment. About the holding | maintenance part 25, it is preferable to set it as the structure which has a planar support surface so that the triangular prism-shaped support member 20 can be hold | maintained stably.

And since the projection part 22 is comprised by the convex part of the ridgeline in the support member 20 in this way, the support member 20 which has the projection part 22 as a result of being able to form the some projection part 22 in the support member 20 integrally. Can be easily formed.

<< Other Embodiments >>
In the first to third embodiments, the plurality of support members 20 having the protrusions 22 are provided. However, the support members 20 may be connected to each other.

In the third embodiment, the substantially triangular prism-shaped support member 20 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the support member 20 may be formed in other polygonal column shapes.

Also, the heating source in the present invention is not limited to the heater 12, and other heating sources that emit infrared rays can be applied. In addition, the object to be processed in the present invention is not limited to the glass substrate 13 and other objects to be processed may be applied. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which combined each said embodiment suitably.

As described above, the present invention is useful for a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method for heat-treating an object to be processed such as a glass substrate used for a flat display panel or the like.

1 Heat treatment equipment
10 treatment room
11 Infrared
12 Heater (heating source)
13 Glass substrate (object to be processed)
15 Insulated container
16 Insulated door
20 Support member
21 Support body
22 Protrusions 31 Bubbles 35 Solid layer 36 Gas layer

Claims

A processing chamber;
A heating source provided inside the processing chamber for emitting infrared rays;
A support member provided inside the processing chamber and supporting an object to be processed so as to face the heating source;
The object to be processed is heat-treated by radiant heat from infrared rays emitted from the heating source,
The support member is disposed so as to overlap only a part of the object to be processed,
A heat treatment apparatus, wherein a plurality of protrusions for supporting the object to be processed are provided on a surface of the support member on the object to be processed side.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1,
The heat treatment apparatus, wherein the support member is made of a quartz tube.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The heat treatment apparatus characterized in that the projection is made of quartz.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The heat treatment apparatus characterized in that the tip of the protrusion is formed in a curved surface.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The protrusion is formed so as to enclose bubbles.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The protrusion has a plurality of solid layers formed of solids and a gas layer provided between the plurality of solid layers and in which a gas is disposed.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The heat treatment apparatus, wherein the protrusion has an uneven surface.
In the heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The support member has an uneven ridgeline,
The heat treatment apparatus, wherein the protrusion is constituted by a convex portion of the ridgeline.
In the inside of the processing chamber provided with a heating source that radiates infrared rays, a step of supporting the object to be processed by the support member so as to face the heating source;
Heat treating the workpiece supported by the support member by radiant heat from infrared rays emitted from the heating source,
In the step of supporting the object to be processed on the support member, the object to be processed is supported by a plurality of protrusions of the support member arranged so as to overlap only a part of the object to be processed.
In the heat treatment method according to claim 9,
The heat treatment method, wherein the support member is made of a quartz tube.
In the heat treatment method according to claim 9 or 10,
The heat treatment method, wherein the protrusion is made of quartz.
The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 11,
A heat treatment method, wherein the tip of the protrusion is formed in a curved surface.
The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 12,
The protrusion is formed so as to enclose air bubbles.
The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 13,
The said protrusion part has the several solid layer formed with a solid, and the gas layer in which gas is arrange | positioned between these solid layers and gas is arrange | positioned, The heat processing method characterized by the above-mentioned.
The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 14,
The protrusion has a concavo-convex surface, and the heat treatment method is characterized in that:
The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 15,
The support member has an uneven ridgeline,
The heat treatment method, wherein the protrusion is constituted by a convex portion of the ridge line.