JPH0354818A - Photoresist coating equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the adherence of resist by a method wherein a substrate heating means, a substrate cleaning means and a substrate cooling down means are provided on the upstream side of a photoresist coating means. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 1 is shifted in the arrow A direction to be heated on a substrate heating part 2 for removing any water content adhering to the substrate 1. Next, the organisms such as any stains, etc., adhering to the substrate 1 surface are decomposed for removal by ultraviolet ray lamps in UV ozone processing part 3. Next, the substrate 1 is cooled dawn by a substrate cooling down part 4 to enhance the wettability of a photoresist in the next process. Next, the substrate 1 is coated with the photoresist using roll coaters 6, 7 in the resist coating chamber 5 wherein a gas sensor 8 to monitor the vapor pressure of the photoresist solvent is provided. Furthermore, a monitor 9 is provided in the coating chamber 5 to monitor the resist coating state on the substrate 1 surface for avoiding the successive developments of defects.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for coating a predetermined substrate with a photoresist (hereinafter abbreviated as resist), and particularly relates to an apparatus for coating a photoresist (hereinafter abbreviated as resist) on a predetermined substrate.
The present invention relates to a resist coating apparatus suitable for use in a film transistor type process.

[Conventional technology]

The conventional apparatus mainly includes a loader that supplies substrates from a cassette in which the substrates are stored, a roll coater section that applies resist to the surface of the substrate, a prebake section that preheats the substrate and evaporates the resist solvent, and a loader that takes out the substrate and removes the substrate. I was warned from the unloader section that stores it in the cassette.

Note that the resist coating device is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-9654.
It is known from the publication No.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional technology, resist defects such as holes and bottle holes in the resist caused by air bubbles caused by insufficient adhesion of the resist applied to the substrate are not taken into consideration, and resist defects are not considered. Problems sometimes occurred in patterning by the photolithography used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a resist coating device that can prevent resist defects.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the resist coating apparatus of the present invention includes a substrate heating means, a substrate cleaning means, and a substrate cooling means on the upstream side of the photoresist coating means that applies photoresist to the surface of the substrate. Features.

The invention is also characterized in that a photoresist application means for applying photoresist to the substrate surface is provided in a predetermined chamber, and means for measuring the vapor pressure (atmospheric gas concentration) of the resist solvent in the chamber and adjusting the vapor pressure is provided. shall be.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that it includes a roll coater that applies photoresist to the surface of the substrate, and means for observing at least one of the photoresist-coated surface of the substrate and the surface of the roll coater.

[Effect]

The resist coating apparatus of the present invention has a substrate heating means and a substrate cleaning means on the upstream side of the resist coating means, so that moisture and organic matter such as dirt attached to the substrate surface can be removed before resist coating. As a result, the vapor pressure of the resist solvent increases, thereby improving the wettability of the resist and reducing uncoated areas and peeling of the resist.

In addition, since the resist coating means has means for measuring and adjusting the vapor pressure of the resist solvent in the chamber where the resist coating means is shelled, the vapor pressure of the resist solvent can be adjusted to an appropriate level, and holes and pinholes in the resist caused by a decrease in concentration can be prevented. can reduce the occurrence of

Furthermore, since there is a means for detecting the photoresist coated surface of the substrate and the roll coater coated surface, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a substrate to which a resist is applied, 2 is a substrate heating section, 3 is a UV ozone treatment section equipped with an ultraviolet (UV) lamp, 4 is a substrate cooling section, 5 is a resist coating chamber, 6, 7
1 is a roll coater for coating the resist on the substrate 1; 8 is a gas sensor for checking the vapor pressure (atmospheric gas concentration) of the resist solvent in the coating chamber 7; 9 is a monitor consisting of a TV camera and a TV; 10 is a prebake for preheating the substrate. Department.

The substrate 1 is moved in the direction of arrow A, and each process is sequentially performed. Here, an example is shown in which TPT is formed on a transparent glass substrate when manufacturing a liquid crystal display device. First, the substrate 1 is heated in the substrate heating section 2 in order to remove moisture adhering to its surface.

As long as the substrate 1 can be heated to 120 to 150[deg.] C., various heating devices such as an infrared method and a hot plate method can be used.

If it is lower than 120°C, dehydration is insufficient, and if it is higher than 150°C, the surface of the Si semiconductor layer provided on the glass substrate 1 will be oxidized.

Next, organic substances such as dirt adhering to the surface of the substrate 1 are decomposed and removed using an ultraviolet lamp in the UV ozone treatment section 3.
The supply gas here may be ozone gas, but air is sufficient, and it is sufficient that ozone of about 200 ppm is generated. In addition to the UV ozone treatment device as the substrate cleaning device, an ultrasonic cleaning device or a cleaning device using water can also be used. However, the cleaning equipment using water shall be installed upstream of the substrate heating equipment. Next, the substrate 1 is cooled to 15 to 20° C. by the substrate cooling section 4. The purpose of cooling is to increase the atmospheric concentration of the resist solvent in the next resist coating step and improve the wettability of the resist.

Next, resist is applied using roll coaters 6 and 7 in the resist application chamber 5. Here, in order to reduce the occurrence of resist defects, after applying resist to the substrate 1 once using the roll coater 6, the resist is applied to the substrate 1. It is effective to change the first direction by 90 degrees and overcoat the resist using the second roll coater 7. A roll coater consists of three rollers whose axes are parallel to each other.The middle roller has grooves on its surface, and there are many grooves on the surface in the direction perpendicular to the long axis of the roller. Roll coaters 6 and 7 are installed in the coating chamber 5 to ensure the resist is supplied with the resist and the solvent concentration in the resist coating atmosphere. A gas sensor 8 is provided to monitor the vapor pressure of the gas.

ECA (ethylene cellosolve acetate) was used as the solvent here. The gas sensor 8 may be any sensor that can detect polyhydric alcohol gas. Calibrate the saturated vapor pressure value using the detected value in the closed room so that it is 40% or more.
It is better to increase the amount of resist dropped or reduce the exhaust amount.

Note that if control is difficult, it may be controlled by supplying N2 gas that bubbles the resist solvent.

In addition, the resist coating state on the surface of the substrate 1 is monitored using a TV camera and a monitor 9 from a TV.
If a resist defect is detected, the flow of the substrate is stopped to prevent the defect from occurring again. In this case, monitor 9
If you can see the entire board 1. 'A line sensor may be used instead of an RV camera. Further, it is desirable that the coated surfaces of the roll coaters 6 and 7 can also be viewed through the monitor 9. By observing the surface of the roll coater, it is possible to detect foreign matter or scratches on the surface of the roll coater.

Next, a pre-bake section 1 is prepared before the resist exposure and development process.
It is preheated to 0 and the resist solvent is blown off.

Since the resist coating apparatus of this embodiment has the substrate heating section 2 on the upstream side of the resist coating chamber 5, moisture adhering to the surface of the substrate 1 can be removed before resist coating. Also. UV
Since the ozone treatment section 3 is provided, organic matter such as dirt attached to the substrate surface can be removed before applying the resist. Therefore, the adhesion and wettability of the resist on the surface of the substrate 1 can be improved, bubbles can be prevented from forming between the substrate and the resist layer, and uncoated resist and peeling can be reduced. Furthermore, the substrate cooling section 4
Since the temperature of the substrate 1 is lowered before applying the resist, the vapor pressure of the resist solvent increases in the resist application chamber 5, thereby improving the wettability of the resist and reducing uncoated resist and peeling. In addition, the vapor pressure in the resist coating chamber 5 is measured by the gas sensor 8, and the amount of resist dropped or the amount of exhausted resist solvent is adjusted based on the measured value, so that the vapor pressure of the resist solvent is kept appropriate and the vapor pressure is reduced. It is possible to reduce the occurrence of holes and pinholes in the resist due to the generation of air bubbles. Further, the photoresist coated surface of the substrate 1, the roll coater 6
, 7 is equipped with a monitor 9 that detects the surface on which the resist flows, so that it can be seen that there is dust etc. adhering to the grooves of the coater roller, which has a groove in the middle surface of the roll coaters 6 and 7, and that the resist is Since it is possible to observe that the flow of the resist is stagnant, if such a state is found, the flow of the substrate 1 can be stopped to prevent defects from occurring in the resist coated on the substrate 1.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention, the adhesion of the resist is improved, the occurrence of holes and pinholes caused by bubbles in the resist can be reduced, and the resist coating surface, Since the surface of the roll coater can be monitored, resist defects can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention. 1... Substrate to be coated with resist 2... Substrate heating section 3... UV ozone treatment section 4... Substrate cooling section 5... Resist coating chambers 6, 7... Roll coater 8...・Gas sensor 9...Monitor 10...Prebake section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. On the upstream side of the photoresist application means for applying photoresist onto the surface of the substrate, a substrate heating means, a substrate cleaning means,
A photoresist coating apparatus characterized by being equipped with a substrate cooling means. 2. A photoresist coating apparatus, characterized in that a photoresist coating means for coating the surface of a substrate is provided in a predetermined chamber, and a means for measuring the vapor pressure of the resist solvent in the chamber and adjusting the vapor pressure is provided. . 3. A photoresist coating apparatus, comprising a roll coater for applying photoresist onto the surface of a substrate, and means for observing at least one of the photoresist-coated surface of the substrate and the surface of the roll coater.