JPH0720914Y2 - Substrate surface treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION << Industrial Application Field >> The present invention relates to a conveyor-conveying type surface treatment apparatus used for surface treatment of semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for photomasks, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as substrates). Is.

<< Prior Art >> As a surface treatment device of this type, for example,
The one disclosed in JP-A 1-16037 is known.

As shown in FIG. 8, it is provided with a roller conveyor 120 that horizontally conveys the substrate W, and a plurality of processing liquid ejection nozzles 110 that are arranged above the roller conveyor 120 and that eject the processing liquid 111 onto the surface of the substrate W. Comprised of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 110
Is a plurality of rotary nozzles 110b that repeats the ejection trajectory along the conveyance direction B of the substrate W and a plurality of rotation nozzles 110c that repeats the ejection trajectory along a direction C intersecting the conveyance direction. And is configured so as to uniformly disperse the processing liquid 111 on the surface of the substrate W.

In addition, in FIG. 8, each of the rotary nozzles 110b and 110c has a large number of injection holes 104 formed on the lower surface thereof at an equal pitch. Further, in the figure, reference numeral 102 is a liquid supply pipe, and 130 is a rotary drive device for repetitive operation.

<< Problems to be Solved by the Invention >> Although the above-mentioned conventional example is excellent, it still has the following drawbacks.

I. While the substrate W moves below the nozzle 110b that swings in the transport direction B, droplets ejected parallel to the swinging direction of the nozzle 110b are directly supplied to the substrate surface, and the new liquid constantly flows. The fluidized portion in the state and the liquid reservoir in which the supplied liquid drifts between the fluidized portions temporarily are formed.

In the fluidized portion, the surface treatment of the surface of the substrate, for example, the etching treatment is quickly performed, and the liquid pooling portion accumulates the liquid after the surface treatment, so that the surface treatment becomes relatively slow.
As a result, processing unevenness occurs parallel to the swinging direction of the nozzle.

Since the nozzle 110b swings in the transport direction B, the surface of the substrate W is
Processing unevenness occurs in parallel with the transport direction B.

Since the nozzle 110c swings in the direction C perpendicular to the carrying direction, when the carrying speed is slow, unevenness in the C direction occurs on the surface of the substrate W.

Especially when the size becomes large like a glass substrate for liquid crystal,
This processing unevenness cannot be ignored.

B. Further, since the rotating nozzles 110b and 110c are rotated and rotated, the structure is complicated and the cost is high.

C. Since the processing liquid is jetted vigorously from the jetting hole 104 of the rotating nozzle and the processing liquid is scattered on the substrate W, a large amount of the processing liquid mist is generated, and the progress of the substrate processing cannot be visually recognized due to the mist. Sometimes.

The present invention takes such a situation into consideration, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems (a) to (c).

<< Means for Solving the Problems >> The present invention is configured as follows to solve the above problems.

That is, the substrate according to claim 1 is a substrate surface treatment apparatus comprising a conveyer for horizontally conveying the substrate and a treatment liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a treatment liquid on the surface of the substrate, and above both end portions of the conveyer. At least one set of processing liquid discharge nozzles are arranged at intervals of the width of the substrate or more, and the discharge ports of the processing liquid discharge nozzles are opened in a slit shape and alternately arranged so as to be parallel to the substrate transport direction. The processing liquid is ejected while being inclined in a curtain shape in a direction intersecting the substrate transport direction.

Further, the invention described in claim 2 is, above the conveyor,
The processing liquid discharge nozzles are arranged at intervals of at least the length of the substrate in the substrate transport direction, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle's discharge port is opened in a slit shape with a width of at least the width of the substrate to discharge each processing liquid. The processing liquid discharged from the nozzles is inclined in a direction opposite to each other, the convey direction of the conveyor is reversed, and the substrate is reciprocated between the processing liquid discharging nozzles.

<Operation> In the invention described in claim 1, the processing liquid is discharged in a curtain shape alternately from at least one set of the processing liquid discharge nozzles which are arranged above both end portions of the conveyor so as to be separated from each other. To be done. Therefore, the surface of the substrate is covered with a uniform fluidized layer of the treatment liquid, and uniform surface treatment is performed.

It should be noted that the set of treatment liquid discharge nozzles are arranged at a distance of at least the width of the substrate, so that even if the treatment liquid drops when the treatment liquid is stopped from discharging, Avoid dripping.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the processing liquid is ejected in a curtain shape from the processing liquid ejection nozzle disposed above the conveyor in the substrate conveying direction or the opposite direction, the substrate surface is conveyed in the conveying direction or its direction. A uniform fluidized layer of the treatment liquid is formed in the opposite direction, and uniform and rapid surface treatment can be performed.

<< Embodiment >> FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surface treatment apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a treatment liquid discharge nozzle, and FIG. 3 shows one nozzle formed in a split shape. The view seen from the inner surface corresponds to the sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

This surface treatment apparatus comprises a roller conveyor 20 for horizontally conveying the substrate W and a set of treatment liquid ejection nozzles 10 and 10 'for ejecting and forming a fluidized liquid layer 11 of the treatment liquid on the surface of the substrate W.

The roller conveyor 20 has a large number of conveying rollers 2a ...
By interlocking with the interlocking drive means (not shown), the substrate W
Are sequentially conveyed horizontally. The shape of the transport roller 2a can be appropriately changed in consideration of the contact area with the substrate W.

The set of processing liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 'is the roller conveyor 20.
Of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 10.1 are arranged in a staggered manner above the both end portions of the substrate W at intervals of the width b or more of the substrate W.
The discharge port 4 of 0'is opened in a slit shape and the roller conveyor 2
It is arranged so as to be parallel to the transporting direction B of 0, and is configured to discharge the processing liquid while being inclined in a curtain shape in a direction C · C ′ intersecting with the transporting direction B to form a fluidized liquid layer 11.

Note that it is preferable that the one nozzle 10 and the other nozzle 10 'are arranged at positions slightly displaced from each other in the carrying direction.
This is because the fluid liquid layers 11 and 11 'are not directly opposed to each other on the surface of the base.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for example, the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 ′ have a slit communication chamber in the nozzle body 1 in which a liquid supply pipe 2 is connected to the central portion of an elongated nozzle body 1. 3, the slit-shaped discharge port 4 is opened over substantially the entire length of the nozzle body 1 in the longitudinal direction, and is fastened to a plurality of screw-type spacers 5 at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port 4. A pair of screws 6 are arranged in series in the front-back direction in the direction of the liquid flow A, and the opening width d of the discharge port 4 can be finely adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the screw-in type spacer 5 has a tip portion 5a which is in contact with one inner wall 1a of the nozzle body 1 formed in a split shape, and a tip portion 5a which is advanced and retracted so that the discharge port 4 A threaded portion 5b for finely adjusting the opening width d is integrally formed, and the threaded portion 5b is screwably attached to the other side of the nozzle body 1 formed in a split shape.

That is, by moving the screw-in spacer 5 back and forth,
The tip 5a is brought into contact with the inner wall 1a of the discharge port 4, the slit-shaped opening width d at the position corresponding to each spacer 5 is finely adjusted, and then the slit-shaped opening of the nozzle body 1 is fastened with the fastening screw 6. By doing so, the opening width d can be set appropriately.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, the slit-shaped opening width d is about 0.1 mm.
It is set to a degree and finely adjusted so that the liquid flow is uniform over the entire length. In this embodiment, since the spacer 5 and the fastening screw 6 are set as a set and are arranged in series in the front-back direction in the direction of the liquid flow A, the resistance received by the liquid flow A is small and a uniform liquid flow is formed. As a result, the treatment liquid is discharged from the discharge port 4 in a curtain shape, and no mist is generated.

The nozzle 10 forms a fluidized layer 11 in the C direction on the surface of the substrate, and the nozzle 10 'forms a fluidized layer in the opposite C'direction.
11 'is formed, and as a result, a uniform surface treatment can be performed.

When the set of processing liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 'are arranged with a space equal to or larger than the lateral width of the substrate W as described above, when the discharge of the processing liquid is stopped, the liquid droplets may drop. Even if it falls, the dropping on the substrate W is avoided.

As a modified example of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle, the liquid supply pipe 2 may be connected to both ends of the slit communication chamber 3 of the nozzle body 1 to form a more uniform discharge flow.

Further, the structure of the nozzle is not limited to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and may be any structure capable of forming a uniform laminar flow discharge liquid.

Reference numeral 10a in FIG. 1 denotes a discharge nozzle arranged in addition to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 ', which is added to the first invention. In this example, the slit-shaped discharge ports are formed to have a length equal to or larger than the width b of the substrate W, and the slit-shaped discharge ports are arranged in a direction C intersecting with the transport direction B of the substrate W so that the treatment liquid is curtain-shaped. And is discharged to form a uniform fluidized liquid layer 11 on the substrate. nozzle
The distance between the nozzle 10a and the nozzles 10 and 10 'is preferably equal to or longer than the length of the substrate W in the carrying direction. This is to obtain a uniform fluidized layer. Reference numeral 2a is a suction pipe for preventing the above liquid droplets from dropping.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an essential part showing an example in which one set of the discharge nozzles 10a is arranged in addition to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 '(not shown). In this example, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 10
-Even if the processing liquid 11 discharged from 10 'has a splinter, the processing liquid 2 will form a curtain from the discharge nozzle 10a in the subsequent stage.
Since it is applied twice, a uniform surface treatment is performed.

Note that the processing liquid discharge nozzle 10a may be appropriately inclined and arranged as indicated by an imaginary line in accordance with the transport speed of the substrate W and the like.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential part showing a modified example in which one set of discharge nozzles 10a is arranged in addition to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 10 and 10 '(not shown). In this example, the slit-shaped ejection ports are arranged so as to obliquely intersect the transport direction B of the substrate W.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the embodiment apparatus according to the second invention, and FIGS. 7A to 7D are operation explanatory diagrams of the embodiment apparatus.

In this embodiment, the conveyor 20 is provided with a plurality of forward / reverse rotatable transport rollers 62, a pair of processing liquid discharge nozzles 60, 61 arranged to face each other in the transport direction of the conveyor 20, and the nozzle 60. Substrate W is placed behind and in front of 61 respectively.
A set of substrate detection sensors 63 for detecting the rear and front edges
And 64.

The nozzles 60 and 61 make slit-shaped discharge ports having a width equal to or larger than the width of the substrate W orthogonal to the transport direction,
The substrates W are arranged so as to face each other in an inclined state, and are arranged with a space sufficiently larger than the dimension of the substrate W in the transport direction. This is to prevent the processing liquid from being simultaneously supplied to the surface of the substrate W as described below.

That is, in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the processing liquid is discharged from the processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 at the rear while the conveyor W is rotated forward and the substrate W is moved forward, and the flowing liquid layer of the processing liquid is formed on the upper surface of the substrate W.
Forming 11.

Next, in FIG. 6C, the treatment liquid is ejected from the front treatment liquid ejection nozzle 61 to form the fluid liquid layer 11 in the opposite direction.

In other words, the treatment liquid supplied from both the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 60 and 61 does not collide on the substrate W and the fluidized layer 11 stays, so that the treatment unevenness does not occur.

Next, in FIG. 4D, the front sensor 64 detects the front end of the substrate, so that the processing liquid is continuously discharged from the front nozzle 61 while reversing the conveyor and moving the substrate W backward. A fluid liquid layer 11 in the opposite direction is formed on the upper surface.

In this way, by inverting the drawings (A) to (D) a plurality of times, after the surface treatment of the substrate, the substrate W is discharged toward the subsequent cleaning process.

The fluid layer 11 is temporarily in a stationary state at the time of shifting from (B) to (C) in the figure or from (D) to (A) in the figure. This is not a case where unevenness is caused in performing uniform surface treatment.

The result of the test treatment by the above-mentioned embodiment apparatus (Fig. 6) shows that the treatment can be performed in about half the treatment time of the immersion treatment method while ensuring the same uniformity as in the case of the immersion type surface treatment method. It was possible and superior in uniformity compared to the spray method, and the processing time was about 60% of that of the spray method, and it was possible to process quickly.

The reason is that in the spray method, a liquid pool is likely to be generated on the surface of the substrate W, whereas in the present invention, such a liquid pool is not generated, and the surface treatment of the substrate is quickly and uniformly performed by the fluidized liquid layer. This is because. Further, in the immersion treatment method, the exhaust treatment liquid in the treatment tank needs to be replaced with a new liquid as appropriate, whereas in the present invention, the exhaust treatment liquid on the substrate is always replaced with a new liquid, so that As a result, quick processing becomes possible.

By the way, in the test process, the substrate used was a glass substrate for liquid crystal, on the surface of which a thin film of chromium (Cr) was deposited, and the treatment liquid was an etching liquid for chromium (about 26 ° C.).

In addition, in FIG. 6, two sensors 63 and 64 for detecting the substrate 1
Although the arrangement as a set is exemplified, a forward and reverse drive control of the conveyor may be performed by combining a single sensor as shown by 63a in the figure with a timer or the like.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the substrate W is subjected to the surface treatment while being reciprocated a plurality of times, but at least the reciprocating conveyance shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C is sufficient.

The substrate surface treatment apparatus according to the above-described embodiments can be widely applied in various processing steps such as developing, etching, and peeling, in which the processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate to perform processing.

<< Effect of Device >> As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, the processing liquid is ejected in a curtain shape from the processing liquid ejection nozzle, so that the following effects are achieved.

I. The surface of the substrate is covered with a fluidized liquid layer of a uniform treatment liquid, and a uniform surface treatment is performed. As a result, the yield in the substrate surface treatment process can be improved.

B. The surface treatment speed becomes faster than before by forming a uniform fluidized layer of the treatment liquid.

C. Since it is not necessary to oscillate and rotate the treatment liquid discharge nozzle, the support structure for the nozzle is simplified and the cost can be reduced.

D. Since the treatment liquid is ejected in a curtain shape, a large amount of mist is not generated unlike the conventional example, and thus the progress of the substrate treatment can be easily visually recognized.

E. When the processing solution is a developer, deterioration of the processing solution due to reaction with oxygen in the air due to conventional scattering, or inhalation of air,
The problem of generating bubbles and causing unevenness due to the bubbles is solved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surface treatment apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a treatment liquid discharge nozzle, and FIG. 3 is one nozzle formed in a split shape seen from the inside. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 2, Figs. 4 to 5 are enlarged views of a main part showing an arrangement example of the processing liquid discharge nozzles, respectively, and Fig. 6 is an embodiment according to the second invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example device, FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the example device, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a conventional example. W ... Substrate, 4 ... Discharge port, 10 ... Treatment liquid discharge nozzle,
11 …… Treatment liquid, 20 …… Conveyor, b …… Width of substrate.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H01L 21/306 H05K 3/06 G (56) References: Actual development Sho 59-177943 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A substrate surface treatment apparatus comprising a conveyer for horizontally conveying a substrate and a treatment liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a treatment liquid on the surface of the substrate, wherein at least one set or more is provided above both end portions of the conveyer. The processing liquid discharge nozzles are arranged with a space equal to or larger than the width of the substrate, and the processing liquid discharge nozzles are alternately arranged so that the discharge ports of the processing liquid discharge nozzles are opened in a slit shape and are parallel to the substrate transfer direction. A substrate surface processing apparatus, characterized in that the processing liquid is inclined and discharged in a curtain shape in a direction intersecting with the substrate. 2. A substrate surface treatment apparatus comprising a conveyer for horizontally conveying a substrate and a treatment liquid ejecting nozzle for ejecting a treatment liquid onto the surface of the substrate. The treatment liquid discharge nozzles are arranged at intervals of at least the length, and the discharge ports of the treatment liquid discharge nozzles are opened in a slit shape with a length longer than the width of the substrate, and the treatment liquid discharged from each treatment liquid discharge nozzle is The surface treatment of the substrate is configured such that the substrate is surface-treated while inclining in a direction opposite to each other, the conveyor transport direction is reversed normally, and the substrate is reciprocated between the processing liquid discharge nozzles. apparatus