JPH11307493A - Substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance processing efficiency or quality in each processing part in a substrate processing device which processes a substrate in the plurality of processing parts. SOLUTION: A substrate processing device is a device which processes a substrate in a plurality of processing parts 2 to 5, and comprises an etching process part 3 and a water cleaning process part 4. In the etching process part 3, the substrate is inclined at an inclined angle θ1 for a horizontal face, and a chemical solution is supplied to the substrate in the inclined state to perform an etching process for the substrate. In the water cleaning process part 4, the substrate is inclined at an inclined angle θ2 for a horizontal face, and pure water is supplied to the substrate in the inclined state to clean the substrate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing units, and more particularly, to etching a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a printed substrate, and a semiconductor wafer. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process for supplying a processing liquid such as a liquid or a developing solution, and a washing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of processing units for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate to perform processing, for example, a chemical cleaning unit,
It has a washing section, a drying section and the like. In this substrate processing apparatus, the substrate is transported to each processing unit by a transport unit such as a transport roller, and the processing is performed on the substrate in each processing unit.

In such a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate is usually held and transported in a horizontal state to perform processing in each processing section. The applicant of the present application discloses a technique in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-155307 in which the substrate is tilted. A technique for processing a substrate while holding or transporting the substrate has been proposed. Here, the rollers (transporting means) provided in the processing sections of the chemical washing section, the washing section, and the drying section are all inclined at the same angle, and the processing liquid is transferred to the substrate in each processing section while transporting the substrate in an inclined posture. Supplying.
As a result, the processing liquid stays on the surface of the substrate. The problem that the substrate processing is hindered and the processing time increases is suppressed.

[0004]

In the above-described substrate processing apparatus, since the processing is performed in a state where the substrate is inclined in each processing section, the processing efficiency in each processing section is improved. However, the processing of the substrate in each processing unit has characteristics according to each processing in each processing unit, and even if the processing is performed while the substrate is inclined, the processing efficiency and the quality of the processing are improved. The most suitable inclination angle of the substrate differs in each processing section. For example, the optimal substrate inclination angle in the chemical washing section is different from the optimal substrate inclination angle in the water washing section. On the other hand, since the above-described substrate processing apparatus adopts a structure in which the inclination angle of the substrate in each processing unit is the same, it is difficult to further improve the processing efficiency and the processing quality in each processing unit.

An object of the present invention is to improve processing efficiency or processing quality in each processing unit in a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing units.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing units, comprising a first processing unit and a second processing unit. . The first processing unit tilts the substrate at a first tilt angle with respect to a horizontal plane, and supplies the first processing liquid to the tilted substrate to perform processing on the substrate. The second processing unit tilts the substrate at a second tilt angle with respect to a horizontal plane, and supplies a second processing liquid to the tilted substrate to perform processing on the substrate.

Here, in the first and second processing units,
The inclination angle of the substrate is set to the first value according to the characteristics of each processing unit.
The inclination angle and the second inclination angle can be determined. For this reason, the processing efficiency or the processing quality in the first and second processing units can be improved. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising a transfer unit and a substrate inclination changing unit. The transport unit transports the substrate to a plurality of processing units including the first and second processing units. The substrate inclination changing means changes an inclination angle of the substrate with respect to a horizontal plane.

Here, the substrate is transported to a plurality of processing units by the transport means, and a series of processing is continuously performed. Since the inclination of the substrate is changed by the substrate inclination changing means, the first processing unit and the second processing unit in which the substrate is inclined at the first inclination angle are used.
The substrate is smoothly transported to each processing section including the second inclined section where the substrate is inclined at the inclination angle. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first or second aspect, the first processing unit is a chemical processing unit that supplies a chemical to the substrate and performs a chemical processing. The second processing unit is a rinsing unit that supplies pure water to the substrate to perform a rinsing process.

Here, in the chemical treatment section, the inclination angle (first inclination angle) of the substrate according to the characteristics of the chemical treatment is used, and in the rinsing treatment section, the substrate inclination angle (second inclination) in accordance with the characteristics of the rinsing treatment. Angle). By setting the inclination angle of the substrate suitable for each process in this way,
The processing efficiency or quality of the substrate in each processing unit can be improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus.
The first inclination angle is set to be greater than 0 ° and equal to or less than 45 °, and the second inclination angle is set to be greater than 0 ° and equal to or less than 45 °. Here, since the first inclination angle is set to be larger than 0 °, it is possible to prevent the fatigued chemical solution from remaining on the substrate more than necessary and extending the time of the chemical solution processing.

In addition, since the first inclination angle is set to 45 ° or less, a chemical having a sufficient degree of activity flows down from the substrate in a large amount, and the consumption of the chemical in the chemical processing increases more than necessary. Is suppressed. Also, the second
Since the inclination angle is set to be larger than 0 °, the problem that it takes too much time for pure water to stay on the substrate and to wash out the chemical solution from the substrate is suppressed.

Further, since the second inclination angle is set to 45 ° or less, the pure water quickly flows down on the substrate without being mixed with the chemical solution, and the washing process becomes insufficient.
Unnecessary increase in consumption of pure water in the washing process is suppressed.

[0013]

FIG. 1 shows a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus that performs an etching process on a thin film formed on a glass substrate W for a liquid crystal display, and mainly includes an entrance conveyor unit 2,
Etching unit 3, washing unit 4, and drying / unloading unit 5
And transport rollers 6 arranged in each of the sections 2 to 5. These parts 2 to 5 and the transport roller 6 are assembled on a gantry 9 installed on the floor F. In a space below each of the units 2 to 5, a chemical solution tank or a pipe for supplying a chemical solution to the etching processing unit 3, a pure water tank or a pipe for supplying pure water to the rinsing processing unit 4, a high-pressure air, exhaust / discharge, or the like. Various pipes for liquid and drainage, control devices, electric wiring, etc. are arranged.

When a substrate W having a thin film formed on its surface is carried to the substrate processing apparatus 1, the substrate W is first carried into the entrance conveyor 2. Thereafter, the substrate W is moved to the etching unit 3 by the transport roller 6. In the etching processing section 3, a chemical solution for etching is sprayed on the substrate W, and a thin film on the substrate surface is etched by a predetermined thickness. The substrate W thus etched is then sent to the water rinsing section 4, where the chemicals attached to the substrate W are washed away. Then, the substrate W that has been subjected to the water washing process is carried out after the drying process by air blowing is performed in the drying / unloading unit 5. Here, as described later, the substrate W is processed and transported in a predetermined inclined state in each of the sections 2 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, an upper spray 3 for spraying a chemical solution onto the substrate W
1, a lower spray 32, position sensors 33 and 34 used when the substrate W is rocked along the substrate transport direction by the transport roller 6, and an optical reflection type EPS (end point sensor) for detecting the end point of the etching. ) 35
Is arranged. In the etching processing section 3, E
The termination of the etching is automatically detected by the PS 35. Until that time, the substrate W is moved to the position sensors 33 and 3 respectively.
The liquid spray is received from both sprays 31 and 32 while reciprocating between the four sprays. The upper spray 31 and the lower spray 32 are, as shown in FIG.
Each of the substrates W is extended along the transport direction of the substrate W, and a plurality of components are arranged at equal intervals in the width direction of the substrate W. Further, each of the sprays 31 and 32 is reciprocatingly rotated by a predetermined angle,
The chemical liquid is supplied to the substrate W substantially uniformly.

The washing section 4 mainly includes an upper cleaning spray 41, a lower cleaning spray 42, and a position sensor 4.
3, 44 are arranged. The upper and lower cleaning sprays 41 and 42 spray pure water, which is a processing liquid for water cleaning, onto the substrate W. The position sensors 43 and 44 are provided in the washing section 4.
Is an optical fiber sensor for detecting the position of the substrate W in the substrate transport direction. When the substrate W having been subjected to the etching process with the chemical solution in the etching processing unit 3 and having the chemical solution attached thereto is sent to the water washing processing unit 4 by the transport roller 6, the substrate W is moved for a predetermined time to the position sensors 43 and 44. Repeat the rocking back and forth between
At this time, pure water is sprayed onto the substrate W from the upper and lower cleaning sprays 41 and 42. The pure water comes into contact with and collides with the substrate W, and the chemical solution attached to the substrate W is washed away from the substrate W. Pure water contaminated by cleaning the substrate W and mixing with the chemical solution is discharged from the lower portion of the water washing section 4.

The drying / unloading section 5 is provided with upper and lower air knives 51 and 52 for injecting dry air onto the substrate W. In the drying / unloading section 5, pure water remaining on the substrate W after the rinsing processing in the rinsing section 4 is removed by the two air knives 51, 5.
The substrate W is blown off by the dry air injected from Step 2 to dry the substrate W. The transport roller 6 is disposed so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate W, and has a roller shaft 60 rotatably supported on the side walls of each of the parts 2 to 5. A center roller 62 is fixed to the center of the roller shaft 60, and a pair of side rollers 64 are fixed to both ends (see FIG. 2). An O-ring 66 as a cushioning material made of a flexible material such as rubber is externally fitted to each of the rollers 62 and 64. The O of the side roller 64 of the roller shaft 60 is
A disc-shaped pressing member 68 is provided at an outer end of the ring 66.
Are formed. Side rollers 90 are provided between the transport rollers 6 in the transport direction. The side roller 90 has an axis in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the transport roller 6,
It has a support member 91 that is in contact with the side surface of the substrate W. As will be described later, the substrate W may be conveyed while being held by the conveyance roller 6 in an inclined state. At this time, the support member 91 suppresses the movement of the substrate W in a direction intersecting the substrate conveyance direction.

Next, how to tilt the substrate W in the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described. The entrance conveyor unit 2, the etching processing unit 3, and the drying / unloading unit 5 are connected to the substrate processing apparatus 1.
Axis of rotation OO along the longitudinal direction (left-right direction of FIG. 1)
(See FIG. 3). FIG. 2 shows a rotation mechanism of the etching unit 3. A plate-shaped fulcrum member 71 is fixed to a lower portion of one side surface of the etching section 3. A shaft member (not shown) that passes through a hole 71 a formed in the fulcrum member 71 is supported by the gantry 9, and the etching unit 3 can be tilted with respect to the gantry 9 around the rotation axis OO. . This rotation axis OO is parallel to the direction of transport of the substrate W. A support member 72 that supports the piston head of the hydraulic cylinder 82 is fixed to a lower portion of the other side surface of the etching unit 3. The hydraulic cylinder 82 is installed on the floor F, and changes the height level of the lower part of the other side surface of the etching unit 3. Thus, the etching processing unit 3 rotates about the rotation axis OO by the action of the hydraulic cylinder 82. When no oil pressure is applied, the inclination angle of the etching processing unit 3 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ2 (here, set at θ2 = 5 °). When oil pressure is applied, the inclination angle of the etching processing unit 3 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ1. (Here, θ1 = 10 °).

Similarly, the inlet conveyor unit 2 and the drying / unloading unit 5 are also provided with hydraulic cylinders 81,
83 allows tilting. When the oil pressure is not applied, the inclination angle of the inlet conveyor section 2 with respect to the horizontal plane is 0 °, and when the oil pressure is applied, the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane is θ1. When the hydraulic pressure is not applied, the drying carry-out unit 5 has an inclination angle of 0 ° with respect to the horizontal plane, and when the hydraulic pressure is applied, the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane is θ2.

The washing section 4 is fixed to the gantry 9 in a state of being inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and its inclination angle is θ2. Note that the transport roller 6 holds the substrate W in the same inclined state as the inclination of each of the parts 2 to 5. Next, FIGS.
, A series of processing of the substrate W will be described in consideration of the inclined state of the substrate W.

When the substrate W is carried into the entrance conveyor section 2, each section 2 to 5 is in the inclined state shown in FIG. The inclination angle of the entrance conveyor unit 2 is 0 °, the inclination angle of the etching unit 3 is θ1, and the inclination angles of the washing unit 4 and the drying / unloading unit 5 are θ2. As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate W in the entrance conveyor unit 2 is conveyed to the etching processing unit 3 having the same inclination angle after the entrance conveyor unit 2 is inclined to set the inclination angle to θ1. In FIG. 4, the inclination angle of the entrance conveyor unit 2 is θ1, the inclination angle of the etching processing unit 3 is θ1, and the inclination angles of the washing processing unit 4 and the drying / unloading unit 5 are θ2.
When the substrate W is sent out to the etching processing unit 3, the inclination angle of the entrance conveyor unit 2 is returned to 0 ° in preparation for carrying in the next substrate W.

When the etching of the substrate W in the etching unit 3 is completed, the inclination angle of the etching unit 3 is set to θ2 as shown in FIG. 5, and the inclination angles of the etching unit 3 and the washing unit 4 are equal. Become. Then, the substrate W is transported from the etching processing unit 3 to the washing processing unit 4. When the substrate W is sent out to the rinsing unit 4, the inclination angle of the etching unit 3 becomes θ in preparation for loading of the next substrate W.
Returned to 1.

When the rinsing process in the rinsing unit 4 is completed, the substrate W is transported from the rinsing unit 4 to the drying / unloading unit 5. At this time, the inclination angle of the drying / unloading section 5 is θ2 as in the water washing section 4. The transported substrate W is dried by blowing air from the air knives 51 and 52, and is transported to the rear of the drying / unloading section 5. When the drying process is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the inclination angle of the drying / unloading unit 5 becomes 0 °, and the substrate W is unloaded. When the substrate W is carried out, the inclination angle of the drying / unloading unit 5 is returned to θ2 in preparation for the drying process of the next substrate W.

Here, in the etching section 3 and the rinsing section 4, the inclination angles are set to θ1 and θ2 in accordance with the characteristics of each processing. That is, in the etching processing section 3, the etching processing is performed in a state where the substrate W is inclined by θ1, and in the washing processing section 4, the substrate W is tilted by θ1.
The water washing process is performed in a state of being inclined by two. By setting an appropriate inclination angle for each process in this way, the processing efficiency and quality of the substrate W in each of the processing units 3 and 4 can be optimized.

With respect to the setting of the inclination angles θ1 and θ2, the optimum value varies depending on the processing liquid such as a chemical solution or pure water, the state of the substrate W, and the like, but both the inclination angles θ1 and θ2 are larger than 0 ° and 45 ° or less. Then it is good. Further, the inclination angle θ1 is preferably larger than 0 ° and 15 ° or less, and the inclination angle θ2 is preferably larger than 0 ° and 5 ° or less. By setting the inclination angle θ1 to be larger than 0 °, it is possible to prevent the fatigued chemical solution from remaining on the substrate W more than necessary and extending the etching time. 7 and 8 show an example of a comparison between a case where the substrate W is subjected to the etching process for a predetermined period of time in the horizontal state and a case where the substrate W is subjected to the etching process for the same period of time while the substrate W is in the inclined state at the inclination angle θ1. The substrate W shown in FIG. 7 has been subjected to etching in a horizontal state, and the substrate W shown in FIG. 8 has been subjected to etching in an inclined state. As is clear from these figures, in the case of the etching treatment in the horizontal state (FIG. 7), unevenness appears, and the degree of etching greatly differs depending on the portion. On the other hand, in the case where the etching process is performed in the inclined state (FIG. 8), the etching state of each portion is substantially uniform as compared with the case where the etching process is performed in the horizontal state. For this reason, when performing the etching process in the horizontal state, if it is attempted to eliminate unevenness to the same level as in the case where the etching process is performed in the inclined state, it is understood that the etching processing time must be extended.

Further, by setting the inclination angle θ1 to 45 ° or less, preferably 15 ° or less, a large amount of the chemical having sufficient activity flows down from the substrate W, and the chemical in the etching process is Unnecessary increase in consumption is suppressed. Further, since the inclination angle θ2 is set to be larger than 0 °, it is possible to suppress a problem that it takes too much time for pure water to stay on the substrate W and to wash out the chemical solution from the substrate W.

Further, by setting the inclination angle θ2 to 45 ° or less, preferably 5 ° or less, pure water quickly flows down on the substrate W without being mixed with the chemical solution, and the washing process becomes insufficient. It prevents the consumption of pure water in the washing process from being unnecessarily increased. In addition,
Here, as described above, θ1 = 10 ° and θ2 = 5 °, which are the optimal substrate W in the processing of each processing unit.
The inclination angle is set.

Further, in the present embodiment, the inclination angle of the washing section is fixed. However, a rotating mechanism similar to the etching section may be provided in the washing section to make the inclination angle of the washing section variable. [Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus that mainly performs an etching process and a rinsing process. However, any one of a cleaning process, a developing process, a peeling process, and the like is used. The present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus by a combination of the above, and in these cases, each processing can be optimized and the effect is large.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the inclination angle of the substrate can be changed according to the characteristics of each processing unit, so that the processing efficiency or the processing quality in each processing unit can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an etching unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inclination of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an inclined posture view of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an inclined posture view of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a tilted posture of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a state diagram of a substrate after etching.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram of a substrate after etching.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 2 Inlet conveyor part 3 Etching processing part (chemical liquid processing part) 4 Rinse processing part 5 Drying and unloading part 6 Transport roller (transportation means) 81-83 Hydraulic cylinder (substrate inclination change means) θ1 inclination angle (first inclination) Angle) θ2 tilt angle (second tilt angle) W substrate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing units, wherein the substrate is tilted at a first tilt angle with respect to a horizontal plane, and a first processing liquid is supplied to the tilted substrate. A first processing unit for performing processing by a second processing liquid; and a second processing unit for performing processing by supplying a second processing liquid to the substrate in the inclined state at a second inclination angle with respect to a horizontal plane. Substrate processing equipment. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: transport means for transporting the substrate to a plurality of processing units including the first and second processing units; and substrate inclination changing means for changing an inclination angle of the substrate with respect to a horizontal plane. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The first processing section is a chemical processing section for supplying a chemical liquid to the substrate and performing a chemical processing, and the second processing section is a washing processing section for supplying pure water to the substrate and performing a washing processing. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first inclination angle is greater than 0 ° and 4 °.
4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second inclination angle is set to be equal to or less than 5 ° and equal to or less than 45 °.