CN108628106B

CN108628106B - Exposure device

Info

Publication number: CN108628106B
Application number: CN201810250735.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 名古屋淳
Original assignee: Aditech Engineering Co ltd
Current assignee: Aditech Engineering Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-26
Filing date: 2018-03-26
Publication date: 2021-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-26
Also published as: KR20180109045A; TWI779014B; JP2021113985A; CN108628106A; TW202248770A; JP6865609B2; JP7196222B2; KR102531997B1; JP2018163272A; TWI830349B; TW201903519A

Abstract

Provided is an exposure apparatus capable of performing optimum cleaning according to the type of a substrate. A cleaning roller (4) is attached to the tip of the carry-in hand (31) via an arm (41) provided with a telescopic mechanism (42), and when the carry-in hand (31) returns to a standby position after the substrate (W) is placed on the platen (1), the cleaning roller (4) is moved horizontally while contacting the substrate (W) to clean the substrate (W). By the input of an input part (64) of the controller (6), an arbitrary position which includes the edge of the substrate (W) placed on the platen (1) and is located inside from the edge can be set as a cleaning starting point (Ps), and the controller (6) can clean the cleaning roller (4) while avoiding the margin.

Description

Exposure device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate by irradiating the substrate with light having a predetermined pattern, and more particularly, to an exposure apparatus including a cleaning mechanism for removing foreign matter adhering to the surface of the substrate.

Background

Light exposure for irradiating a substrate with a predetermined pattern is widely performed as a main process in photolithography. Therefore, various exposure apparatuses are used.

Among exposure apparatuses, three types of apparatuses are mainly known. One type is projection exposure, another type is contact exposure, and yet another type is proximity exposure. In addition, DI (direct imaging) exposure using a spatial light modulation element, such as DM, is also known. In these exposure apparatuses, a substrate is placed on a table-like member called a platen and is processed.

In such an exposure apparatus, in the background of higher functionality, smaller size, lighter weight, and the like of products, miniaturization of an exposure pattern and improvement of exposure quality are required. Therefore, the exposure apparatus is often provided with a cleaning mechanism. The deterioration of the quality of the exposure treatment is often caused by the adhesion of foreign matter to the surface of the substrate during exposure. Therefore, an exposure apparatus including a cleaning mechanism for removing particles from a substrate is known.

Patent document 1 discloses an exposure apparatus provided with such a cleaning mechanism. The cleaning mechanism provided in the device of patent document 1 is a mechanism for removing dust by using an adhesive dust removing roller. The adhesive dust removing roller is attached to a hand for conveying the substrate.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2014-59494

Disclosure of Invention

In patent document 1, although the dust removal of the mask is described in detail, the cleaning of the substrate is not described in detail. As a result of the studies by the inventors, it has been found that there are unique cases concerning cleaning of substrates, and the cases vary depending on the kinds of substrates.

The present invention has been made based on this finding, and an object thereof is to provide an exposure apparatus capable of performing cleaning optimized according to the type of a substrate.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 of the present application has a configuration in which an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate by irradiating the substrate with light of a predetermined pattern includes:

a platen on which a substrate is placed during exposure;

a transport system for carrying the substrate into the platen and carrying the substrate out of the platen after exposure; and

a light irradiation unit for irradiating a substrate placed on the platen with light of a predetermined pattern,

the transport system includes a transport hand for holding the substrate during transport,

a cleaning roller for adsorbing and removing foreign matters by using adhesive force is arranged on the conveying hand part,

a controller is arranged for controlling the action of the conveying system,

the controller includes: a storage unit for storing control information for cleaning by the cleaning roller when the conveying hand performs one reciprocating movement between the standby position and the platen; an output unit for outputting the control information stored in the storage unit to the transport system to move the transport system; and an input section that inputs control information for cleaning by the cleaning roller,

the input unit of the controller can input information for setting a cleaning start point, which is a start point of movement when the cleaning roller moves to perform cleaning, and the controller can set an arbitrary position including an edge of the substrate placed on the platen and located inside the edge as the cleaning start point based on the information input from the input unit.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 2 has a configuration in which, in the configuration according to claim 1, the input unit is capable of inputting an amount of margin (margin) from an edge of the substrate placed on the platen,

the controller sets a position apart from the edge of the substrate by the inputted margin amount as a cleaning start point.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 3 has a configuration in which, in the configuration according to claim 2, the margin includes a region between an edge of a dry film covering the surface of the substrate and an edge of the substrate in a region smaller than the entire surface region of the substrate.

In order to solve the above problem, an invention according to claim 4 is configured such that, in any one of the configurations of claims 1 to 3, an output unit of the controller outputs a control signal of a moving speed of the transport hand to the transport system, and the output control signal is a control signal of a moving speed of the transport hand when the cleaning roller does not contact the substrate, which is higher than the moving speed of the transport hand when the cleaning roller contacts the substrate.

In order to solve the above problem, an invention according to claim 5 has a configuration in which, in the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the cleaning roller is provided at a carry-in hand for carrying in the substrate to the platen,

the cleaning starting point is set on a path where a substrate is carried in by a carrying-in hand, placed on the platen, and then returned to an initial position.

In order to solve the above problem, an invention according to claim 6 has a configuration in which, in the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a program including an operation of the transport system is installed in the controller,

the storage unit stores another control information for causing the cleaning roller to perform cleaning of the platen,

the other control information is control information in which one edge of the platen is set as a cleaning start point and the opposite edge is set as a cleaning end point,

the program is a program for performing cleaning of the platen by outputting another control information to the conveyance system after exposing a predetermined number of substrates by the conveyance system and the light irradiation unit.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

As described below, according to the invention described in

claim

1 or 2 of the present application, since an arbitrary position inside from the edge of the substrate placed on the platen including the edge can be set as a cleaning start point, the cleaning roller can clean only the substrate without contacting the platen, and can clean the substrate while preventing positional deviation of the substrate and the like.

In addition, according to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the above-described effects, the substrate can be cleaned while preventing the rolling-in of the dry film.

In addition, according to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the above-described effects, the substrate can be cleaned while preventing the production interval from being lengthened.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 5, since the substrate is cleaned in the circuit when the substrate is carried in by the carrying-in hand, the substrate can be cleaned while preventing the production interval from extending.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 6, since the platen is also cleaned, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the substrate via the platen.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing a schematic procedure.

Fig. 3 is a schematic front view showing control information of the cleaning roller.

Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view showing control information of the cleaning roller.

Fig. 5 is a schematic front view showing the meaning of cleaning while avoiding the margin area.

Fig. 6 is a schematic front view showing the meaning of cleaning while avoiding the margin area.

Fig. 7 is a schematic front view showing the operation of the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a schematic front view showing the operation of the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the speed of the carry-in hand.

Fig. 10 is a schematic front view showing the height control of the cleaning roller.

Description of the reference numerals

1 bedplate

2 light irradiation unit

3 conveying mechanism

31 carry-in hand

32 carry-out hand

33 carry-in side conveyor belt

34 carry-out side conveyor belt

4 cleaning roller

5 moving roller

6 controller

61 storage section

62 procedure

63 output part

64 input unit

Hr set roll height

Hp bedplate height

Ps cleaning starting point

Pe end point of cleaning

Detailed Description

Next, an embodiment (hereinafter, an embodiment) for carrying out the invention of this application will be described.

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment. The exposure apparatus shown in fig. 1 includes a platen 1, a light irradiation unit 2 that irradiates a substrate W placed on the platen 1 with light of a predetermined pattern to perform exposure, and a conveyance system 3 that carries the substrate W into the platen 1 and carries the substrate W out of the platen 1 after exposure.

The platen 1 is a general name of a table-like member on which a substrate W is placed during processing. In this embodiment, the platen 1 mounts the substrate W on a horizontal upper surface. The platen 1 includes a vacuum suction mechanism 12 for vacuum-sucking the substrate W on the upper surface.

The light irradiation unit 2 is selected and appropriately installed according to the exposure method. For example, in the case of the contact method, the light irradiation unit 2 is configured to include: a mask having a size substantially equal to that of the substrate W; a platen driving mechanism for bringing the substrate W placed on the platen 1 into close contact with the mask; and an irradiation optical system that performs light irradiation of a predetermined pattern through a mask. The proximity type is basically the same as the contact type except that the mask driving mechanism is configured to dispose the mask at a position slightly separated from the substrate W. In the case of the projection exposure system, the light irradiation unit 2 is provided as a projection optical system for forming an image of the light transmitted through the mask on the substrate W. In addition, a DI exposure method in which an irradiation pattern is directly formed without a mask using a spatial light modulation element such as a DMD may be used.

The transport system 3 includes

transport hands

31 and 32 that hold the substrate W during transport. In this embodiment, transport hands 31 and 32 (hereinafter referred to as a carry-in hand and a carry-out hand) are provided on the carry-in side and the carry-out side. The transport system 3 includes

drive mechanisms

310 and 320 for driving the

respective hands

31 and 32.

The conveying system 3 includes

conveyors

33 and 34 with the platen 1 interposed therebetween. The carry-in hand 31 picks up the substrate W from the carry-in side conveyor 33 and carries it into the platen 1, and the carry-out hand 32 picks up the exposed substrate W from the platen 1 and conveys it to the carry-out side conveyor 34. In fig. 1, the left side is a carrying-in side and the right side is a carrying-out side, but the opposite is of course possible.

The

hand portions

31 and 32 include

suction pads

311 and 321 for sucking the substrate W from above. The

suction pads

311 and 321 are vacuum suction pads in this embodiment. The

suction pads

311 and 321 are provided in a plurality in a uniform manner according to the size of the substrate W.

The apparatus includes an alignment mechanism for positioning the substrate W at a predetermined position on the platen 1. The alignment mechanism includes a camera, not shown, for capturing an alignment mark of the substrate W, a platen driving mechanism 11 for driving the platen 1 to adjust the position, and the like.

In the exposure apparatus of the embodiment, the cleaning roller 4 is provided in the transport hand in order to improve the quality of the exposure process. The cleaning roller 4 may be either the carry-in hand 31 or the carry-out hand 32, but is provided in the carry-in hand 31 in this embodiment. The cleaning roller 4 is a resin roller to which foreign matters such as a silicone rubber roller easily adhere in this embodiment.

Hereinafter, the direction of movement when the substrate W is carried in the carrying-in hand 31 is referred to as front, and the opposite side is referred to as rear. In addition, a horizontal direction (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of fig. 1) perpendicular to the front-rear direction is referred to as a depth direction.

As shown in fig. 1, the cleaning roller 4 is attached to the tip of the carry-in hand 31. An arm 41 extending downward is fixed to the front end of the cleaning roller 4. A pair is fixed on both sides in the depth direction. The arm 41 is provided with a telescopic mechanism 42. The telescopic mechanism 42 is a mechanism for adjusting the position of the cleaning roller 4 or retracting the cleaning roller 4 so as not to be an obstacle. As the expansion mechanism 42, for example, a fluid pressure cylinder such as an air cylinder can be used.

The cleaning roller 4 is supported by a pair of arms 41 so as to be rotatable in a driven manner with its longitudinal direction oriented in the depth direction. The cleaning roller 4 has a length slightly longer than the length of the substrate W to be processed in the depth direction (the width of the substrate W). Although the substrates W of different sizes are often processed by one exposure apparatus, the cleaning roller 4 slightly longer than the width of the largest assumed substrate W may be used.

In addition, the apparatus is provided with a transfer roller 5. The transfer roller 5 is provided for the purpose of transferring foreign matter adhering to the cleaning roller 4 and reducing the frequency of maintenance of the cleaning roller 4.

The transfer roller 5 is an adhesive roller having an adhesive layer on the surface. The transfer roller 5 has a structure in which an adhesive tape (adhesive paper) is wound, as in the case of a household garbage collecting adhesive roller, and when the amount of foreign matter adhering to the transfer roller 5 increases, the adhesive force is regenerated by peeling off one adhesive tape on the surface. The adhesion of the transfer roller 5 is considerably high compared to the adhesion of the cleaning roller 4.

In this embodiment, the transfer roller 5 is provided at a position between the platen 1 and the carry-in-side conveyor belt 33. The transfer roller 5 has a length similar to that of the cleaning roller 4, and is similarly disposed so that the depth direction is the longitudinal direction. The transfer roller 5 includes a transfer roller rotating mechanism, not shown, which actively rotates itself. When the transfer roller rotating mechanism, not shown, is operated in a state where the cleaning roller 4 is in contact with the transfer roller 5, the cleaning roller 4 is rotated in a driven manner, and the foreign matter on the cleaning roller 4 is efficiently transferred to the transfer roller 5. Further, a transfer roller lifting mechanism 51 is provided in the transfer roller 5. The transfer roller lifting mechanism 51 is a mechanism for adjusting the height of the transfer roller 5 to ensure a good contact state with the cleaning roller 4, or for retracting the transfer roller 5 so as not to hinder the conveyance operation of the substrate W.

As shown in fig. 1, the apparatus includes a controller 6 that controls each unit. The controller 6 is provided with a storage unit 61 that stores various control information used for controlling each unit, and a program 62 that operates each unit in a predetermined sequence is installed. The controller 6 may be a personal computer that operates by a general-purpose OS, and may include a control board mounted to control each part of the apparatus. Such a controller includes an output unit (including various interfaces) 63 that outputs control signals to each unit.

A schematic diagram of the procedure 62 will be described below. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing a schematic of the program 62.

As shown in fig. 2, the program 62 repeats the loading operation, substrate cleaning, exposure, and unloading operation for each substrate W of one lot. Then, when the platen cleaning cycle is reached, the platen 1 is cleaned. When the carry-out operation is completed for the last substrate W of one lot, the execution of the program for the lot is completed. The program 62 is programmed to act in this order.

In the exposure apparatus of the embodiment having the above configuration, when the carry-in hand 31 performs the operation of placing the substrate W on the platen 1 and then returning the substrate W to the carry-in-side conveyor 33, the carry-in hand 31 is horizontally moved with the cleaning roller 4 in contact with the substrate W to clean the substrate W. The cleaning roller 4 is driven to rotate by a frictional force with the substrate W, and at this time, the foreign matter on the substrate W is adsorbed.

The exposure apparatus according to the embodiment optimizes the configuration of the controller 6 for such cleaning in order to further improve the operation. This point will be explained below.

The controller 6 includes an input unit 64 for inputting arbitrary control information, and the controller 6 is provided with an input program, not shown, for inputting the control information from the input unit 64 and giving the control information as a variable to the program 62. The input unit 64 is, for example, a touch panel, and the input program is programmed to display an input screen on the touch panel and to incorporate a value input here as control information into the program 62.

The control information in the controller 6 also includes information for controlling the cleaning roller 4. The control information input from the input unit 64 also includes control information of the cleaning roller 4. Fig. 3 and 4 are schematic diagrams showing control information of the cleaning roller 4, fig. 3 is a schematic front view, and fig. 4 is a schematic plan view.

The control information of the cleaning roller 4 given to the program 62 includes information of a start point and an end point of movement for cleaning. This includes a start point and an end point of movement during cleaning of the substrate W. In addition, the start point and the end point of the movement of the platen 1 during cleaning may be included.

The height direction includes a height (hereinafter referred to as a platen height) at which the upper surface (substrate mounting surface) of the platen 1 is located at the time of cleaning and a height (hereinafter referred to as a set roller height) at which the cleaning roller 4 is located at the time of cleaning, in the control information.

The

transport hand

31 or 32 is set to a height (hereinafter, referred to as a transport height) at which the substrate W is horizontally moved during transport. In a state where the carry-in hand 31 is positioned at the conveyance height, the cleaning roller 4 is positioned higher than the set roller height. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the position reached by the cleaning roller 4 is the set roller height by extending the arm 41 to the limit position by the extending/contracting mechanism 42 in a state where the carry-in hand 31 is at the transport height.

In fig. 3, the platen height is denoted by Hp, the thickness of the substrate is denoted by t, and the set roller height is denoted by Hr. In addition, the cleaning start point is denoted by Ps, and the cleaning end point is denoted by Pe. The position of the surface of the substrate W during cleaning is the platen height Hp + the thickness t of the substrate W, but when the substrate W is thin, t may be regarded as zero. Further, although each position needs to be a reference position, for example, since the apparatus includes the platform 10 that supports the entire apparatus, the upper surface of the platform is set as a reference surface, and the center 10C thereof is set as a reference point in the horizontal direction.

Although not necessary, in fig. 3 and 4, the center of the platen 1 and the reference point 10C are on the same vertical line. Hereinafter, this perpendicular line is referred to as a central axis. The placement area of the substrate W is set with reference to the center of the platen 1, which is a point on the central axis. That is, the center of the substrate W is aligned with the center of the platen 1 in a plan view (fig. 4). The substrate W is square and is placed with one side aligned with the transport direction and the other side aligned with the depth direction.

For convenience of explanation, the transport direction is referred to as the X direction, the depth direction is referred to as the Y direction, and the vertical direction is referred to as the Z direction. As described above, the cleaning roller 4 is disposed in a state where the longitudinal direction coincides with the depth direction, and the length thereof is about the same as or slightly longer than the depth of the platen 1. The substrate W is not larger than the upper surface of the platen 1. Therefore, it is sufficient that the cleaning start point Ps is basically determined as the coordinates in the X direction and the Z direction. That is, the Y direction may be constant regardless of the type of the substrate W. The constant is set, for example, such that the center of the cleaning roller 4 in the longitudinal direction is located on the Y axis.

In the Z direction, although any of the above may be set at first, the platen height Hp is set with respect to the set roller height Hr, for example. That is, the cleaning roller 4 is located at the position of the set roller height Hr, and thereafter, when the platen 1 is raised, the height at which the substrate W on the platen 1 reliably contacts the cleaning roller 4 is set as the platen height Hp. In this case, since the cleaning roller 4 preferably slightly presses the substrate W on the platen 1, the set roller height Hr may be set to be slightly lower than the platen height Hp + the thickness t of the substrate W (Hp + t > Hr). In this case, since the cleaning roller 4 is slightly pushed up by the platen 1 during cleaning, the actual height of the cleaning roller 4 is slightly higher than the set roller height Hr.

As the structure in which the cleaning roller 4 presses the platen 1, it is conceivable to provide some elastic member on the cleaning roller 4 side, but it is simple to use a fluid pressure cylinder as a mechanism for moving the cleaning roller 4 up and down, and this structure is adopted in the embodiment. That is, the cleaning roller 4 is pushed up via the substrate W by the raising of the platen 1, and the fluid in the fluid pressure cylinder serving as the expansion and contraction mechanism 42 is slightly compressed.

On the other hand, the X direction is set according to the type of cleaning and the type of the substrate W. In this embodiment, the cleaning roller 4 is used not only for cleaning the substrate W but also for cleaning the platen 1, and therefore the types of cleaning are classified into cleaning of the substrate W and cleaning of the platen 1.

In the case of cleaning of the platen 1, the position in the X direction of the cleaning start point becomes the edge in the X direction of the upper surface of the platen 1. The position of the cleaning end point in the X direction is an edge on the opposite side of the X direction. That is, as shown in fig. 4, assuming that the length of the upper surface of the platen 1 in the X direction is PL, the Y coordinate of the cleaning start point is + PL/2, and the Y coordinate of the cleaning end point is-PL/2.

In the case of cleaning the substrate W, values corresponding to the type of the substrate are input, and the X coordinate of the cleaning start point and the X coordinate of the cleaning end point are acquired. The "value according to the type of the substrate" includes information on the shape and size of the substrate, but may include information on a region to be cleaned in the surface of the substrate.

Specifically, in fig. 4, the outline of the substrate W is denoted by S and SL₁The length of the substrate W in the lateral direction is shown. As will be described later, since the substrate W is pre-aligned, the substrate W placed on the platen 1 has the lateral direction aligned with the transport direction and the longitudinal direction aligned with the depth direction. As described above, since the substrate W is disposed such that the center of the substrate W is located at the position corresponding to the central axis, the region in the conveyance direction of the substrate W is ± SL with respect to the origin O₁/2。

In this case, when SL is input to the input unit 64₁The program 62 is given to the input program, and ± SL may be given in the program 62₁And/2 is programmed as cleaning control information. That is, the + SL may be switched₁A/2 is set as the X coordinate of the cleaning start point, and-SL₁The/2 is set as a cleaning end point.

As a more preferred embodiment, program 62 may be given a ratio SL₁The small size information is cleaned while avoiding a predetermined region (hereinafter referred to as a margin region) from the periphery of the substrate W. The meaning of this point will be described with reference to fig. 5 and 6. Fig. 5 and 6 are schematic front views showing the meaning of cleaning while avoiding the margin area.

One of the reasons why the avoidance of the margin region is preferable is to prevent the substrate W from being displaced. When cleaning the entire surface of the substrate W, +/-SL is provided as described above₁Will be + -SL₁The/2 is set as a cleaning start point and a cleaning end point. In this case, the lower end of the cleaning roller 4 rarely abuts on the edge of the substrate W in exact alignment, and there is a possibility that the lower end of the cleaning roller 4 may be slightly displaced due to a problem in the precision of the pre-alignment or a problem in the precision of the mechanism for lowering the cleaning roller 4.

At this time, as shown in fig. 5(1), when the cleaning roller 4 is lowered at a position shifted outward with respect to the substrate W and the cleaning roller 4 starts to move horizontally from this position, the cleaning roller 4 is in a state of pushing out the substrate W in the lateral direction. In this case, the substrate W is vacuum-sucked to the platen 1 as described above, but is likely to be displaced when a force in the lateral direction is applied. After cleaning, alignment of the substrate W is performed as described above, and exposure is performed in this state, but if the positional deviation becomes large, the alignment mark is shifted from the field of view of the camera, and alignment error (alignment failure) occurs.

The above problem is particularly significant in the case of a curved (warped) substrate W. For example, a rigid substrate W made of glass epoxy may be slightly bent, and even a bent shape may not be particularly regarded as a defective product. When the substrate W thus curved is placed on the platen 1 and vacuum-sucked, the vacuum suction hole may not be sufficiently sealed, and the vacuum suction force may be reduced. When a force in the lateral direction is applied in a state where the vacuum suction force is reduced as described above, a large displacement is likely to occur, and an alignment error is likely to occur.

As with + SL₁A further problem in the case of a cleaning start point,/2, hasThe foreign matter on the platen 1 is easily picked up. This is shown in fig. 5 (2). As shown in fig. 5(2), when the cleaning roller 4 comes into contact with a position slightly shifted from the edge of the substrate W due to a problem such as the pre-alignment accuracy, the cleaning roller 4 comes into contact with the surface of the platen 1. In this case, if foreign matter C is present in this location, the foreign matter C adheres to the cleaning roller 4, and in this state, the cleaning roller 4 moves horizontally and rotates on the surface of the substrate W. As a result, the foreign matter C is easily transferred to the surface of the substrate W.

Accordingly, in consideration of the pre-alignment accuracy and the like, it is preferable to start cleaning from a position slightly inside the edge of the substrate W.

Another point to avoid the margin region for cleaning is to prevent peeling of the dry film. This is shown in figure 6.

In the case of an exposure apparatus for a printed circuit board, exposure is often performed on a substrate whose surface is a resist layer covered with a dry film. In the case of cleaning a substrate with a dry film, the dry film is directly abutted by the cleaning roller 4, and foreign matter on the surface of the dry film is removed. According to the study of the inventors, when the substrate with the dry film is cleaned in this way, the dry film is likely to be peeled off.

That is, when the substrate W with the dry film is cleaned with the edge of the substrate W as the cleaning start point Ps as shown in fig. 6(1), the edge of the dry film F is caught up and the dry film F is easily peeled off as shown in fig. 6 (2). The peeled dry film F becomes a fragment to be released and becomes a generation source of new garbage. Although the dry film F may cover a region slightly inside from the periphery of the substrate W, in this case, problems such as peeling of the dry film F and generation of dust are likely to occur, and the frequency of occurrence of the problems is high.

In order to prevent such a problem, as shown in fig. 6(3), cleaning may be started from a position slightly inside the edge of the dry film F. That is, data of the covering position of the dry film F may be input as control information, and the X coordinate of the cleaning start point may be located closer to the origin side than the edge of the dry film F.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, the ratio SL is set₁Slightly smaller value SL₂At. + -. SL₂[ 2 ] as cleaningThe X coordinate of the start point Ps and the X coordinate of the cleaning end point Pe are given to the program 62. That is, the margin is determined in consideration of the above points and input to the input unit 64, and ± SL is set₂/2。

In addition, if the margin is set in this manner, although cleaning is not performed in this region, this region is not generally used for the purpose of forming a minute circuit or the like, and therefore there is no particular problem. In addition, since there is no problem even with the edge of the substrate W in the cleaning end point, it is possible to apply-SL in the cleaning end point₁The X coordinate is set to be/2.

Next, the overall operation of the exposure apparatus according to this embodiment will be schematically described with reference to fig. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 and 8 are schematic front views showing the operation of the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment. In the following description, a contact type exposure apparatus is taken as an example.

The substrates W of a certain batch are carried into the exposure apparatus by the carry-in side conveyor 33 one by one, and reach a standby position on the carry-in side conveyor 33. Thereafter, the pre-alignment is performed at the standby position on the carry-in conveyor 33. The prealignment is an operation of roughly aligning the position of the substrate W by using a prealignment pin mechanism. The precision of the pre-alignment is, for example, about one hundred to several hundred μm. The substrate W is picked up by the carry-in hand 31 as shown in fig. 7(1), and is placed on the platen 1 as shown in fig. 7 (2). The substrate W is vacuum-sucked to the platen 1 by the vacuum suction mechanism 12.

Next, once the carry-in hand 31 is raised to the transport height, it is moved horizontally until the X coordinate of the cleaning roller 4 becomes + SL ₁2 or + SL₂Position of/2. At this position, the telescopic mechanism 42 is operated, and the arm 41 is extended to lower the cleaning roller 4. The cleaning roller 4 is stopped by a stopper not shown, and is set at a position of a set roller height Hr. In this state, the platen driving mechanism 11 operates to push up the platen 1 to the platen height Hp. As a result, as shown in fig. 7(3), the cleaning roller 4 comes into contact with the substrate W. The X coordinate of the abutment position of the cleaning roller 4 is + SL set by the input from the input section 64₁2 or + SL₂/2。

Then, the carrying-in hand 31 carries in the water toward the X directionThe translation movement is, as shown in FIG. 7(4), X-coordinate of the cleaning roller 4 is-SL₁/2 or-SL₂The position of/2 stops. During this operation, the cleaning roller 4 is rotated by the frictional force with the substrate W, and the substrate W is cleaned.

Next, at the cleaning roller 4, at-SL₁/2 or-SL₂At the position of/2, the telescopic mechanism 42 is operated to raise the cleaning roller 4. Then, the carry-in hand 31 moves in the horizontal direction and returns to the standby position on the carry-in side. The standby position of the carry-in hand 31 is a position where the cleaning roller 4 is positioned above the transfer roller 5, and the transfer roller lifting mechanism 51 lifts the transfer roller 5 to contact the cleaning roller 4. In this state, the transfer roller rotating mechanism, not shown, rotates the transfer roller 5, and transfers the foreign matter on the cleaning roller 4 to the transfer roller 5. After a sufficient time has elapsed to transfer the garbage in the cleaning roller 4 to the transfer roller 5, the arm 41 is returned to the first contracted state by the telescopic mechanism 42 in the carry-in hand 31.

On the other hand, the substrate W is formally aligned on the platen 1, and the mask and the substrate W are superimposed in an accurate positional relationship. In this state, as shown in fig. 8(2), the light irradiation unit 2 irradiates light to expose the substrate W through the mask. Further, the movement of transferring the foreign matter on the cleaning roller 4 to the transfer roller 5 may be performed together with the exposure.

When the exposure is completed, the carry-out hand 32 picks up the substrate W from the platen 1 as shown in fig. 8 (3). Then, as shown in fig. 8(4), the sheet is carried out to the carry-in side conveyor 34. The carry-in side conveyor 34 carries out the substrate W to a not-shown rack or the like. On the other hand, the next substrate W is transported to a standby position on the carry-in-side conveyor 33, and the carry-in hand 31 picks up and carries in the substrate W. Then, the same sequence is repeated. Such operations are repeated to sequentially perform exposure processing on the respective substrates W.

When the exposure is completed for the number of times (number of sheets) of the platen cleaning cycle, the platen 1 is cleaned by the operation of the program 62. The carry-in hand 31 enters the platen 1 without holding the substrate W. Then, the carry-in hand 31 stops at a position where the X coordinate of the cleaning roller 4 becomes + PL/2, and thereafter, the cleaning roller 4 is lowered to a position where the roller height is set. Next, the carry-in hand 31 is moved horizontally in the X direction-side, and after stopping at a position where the cleaning roller 4 is at the position of-PL/2, the cleaning roller 4 is raised to the home position. After that, the carry-in hand 31 returns to the standby position on the carry-in side.

In the above operation, the moving speed of the carry-in hand 31 is set to a high speed except when the cleaning roller 4 contacts the substrate W. This point will be described with reference to fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the moving speed of the carry-in hand 31.

Fig. 9 shows the moving speed of the carry-in hand 31 when the hand returns to the standby position on the carry-in side after the substrate W is placed on the platen 1. In fig. 9, the horizontal axis represents the position in the X direction (conveying direction), and the vertical axis represents the moving speed.

In fig. 9, the carry-in hand 31 places the substrate W on the platen 1, and the speed at the time of horizontal movement until the X coordinate of the cleaning roller 4 reaches the cleaning start point Ps is represented by V₁It shows that the cleaning roller 4 reaches the cleaning end point Pe from the cleaning start point Ps at the moving speed V of the carrying hand 31₂And (4) showing. Then, after the cleaning roller 4 is raised to the original height at the cleaning end point Ps, the transport hand 31 moves at the moving speed and V when the cleaning roller 4 is positioned above the transfer roller 5₁To the same extent. As shown in FIG. 9, V₁Ratio V₂High, except when cleaning, make the transport hand move at a high speed, the production interval time becomes shorter. The speed control of the carry-in hand 31 is also programmed in the program 62, and is realized by a control signal sent from the controller 6 to the transport system 3, which is executed by the program 62.

Next, the height control of the cleaning roller is explained in more detail with reference to fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a schematic front view showing the height control of the cleaning roller.

In the above embodiment, the height at which the cleaning roller 4 contacts the substrate W may be controlled as a certain fixed value (constant) or may be controlled as a variable. For example, when the substrate W exposed by the exposure apparatus is thin in any lot and the cleaning of the substrate W can be performed at the cleaning height of the platen 1, the height of the cleaning 4 may be constant. For example, when the thickness of the substrate W is 0.1mm or less, the thickness can be set as described above.

As a simple configuration in the case of constant control, as shown in fig. 10(1), there is a configuration in which the stopper 43 is provided to be in contact with when the cleaning roller 4 is lowered, and the position of the stopper 43 is set to a predetermined fixed position in relation to the set roller height Hr. The above embodiment has this configuration.

On the other hand, the height of the cleaning roller 4 may be changed and controlled according to the thickness t of the substrate W, which may be a case where the substrate W is thin. As an example of this configuration, a position adjustment mechanism including a servo motor is provided on the arm 41 of the cleaning roller 4. In this case, a value (variable) that differs depending on the thickness t of the substrate W is given as the set roller height Hr, and the cleaning roller 4 is controlled by the controller 6 so as to be the set roller height Hr.

Although the above-described configuration is possible, the same can be performed with a simple configuration by using a servo system of the platen driving mechanism 11. The platen 1 is controlled by the platen drive mechanism 11, and the amount of upward movement of the platen 1 is controlled, thereby coping with various substrate thicknesses. In this case, the platen height Hp is input from the input unit 64 in accordance with the substrate thickness, and is given to the program 62 as a variable.

In such height control of the cleaning roller 4, it is preferable to confirm that the cleaning roller 4 reliably abuts on the substrate W. The structure of the sensor provided with this use is shown in fig. 10 (2). In order to detect that the cleaning roller 4 is reliably in contact with the substrate W, it is simple to detect the position of the arm 41 of the cleaning roller 4. That is, as shown in fig. 10(2), a detection target portion 44 is provided at a position of an appropriate height of the arm 41, and a sensor (proximity sensor, optical sensor, or the like) 45 for detecting the detection target portion 44 is provided. The detection section 44 and the sensor 45 are disposed in a positional relationship in which the cleaning roller 4 is brought into contact with the substrate W with an appropriate pressure.

The contact check of the sensor 45 with the cleaning roller 4 is particularly significant when the control of the contact height is a variable control, but is significant even when the contact height is constant. This is because, even in the case of a constant, if a substrate W thinner than a predetermined thickness is erroneously loaded into the apparatus, the cleaning roller 4 may not come into contact with the substrate W. In addition, in the case of merely checking whether or not the contact is made, a configuration may be adopted in which a change in pressure of the fluid in the fluid cylinder that drives the arm 41 of the cleaning roller 4 (a pressure increase of the fluid accompanying the pushing-up) is detected.

In short, according to the exposure apparatus of the embodiment, the cleaning start point Ps is selected according to whether the substrate W is cleaned or the platen 1 is cleaned, and the cleaning can be performed by setting an arbitrary cleaning start point Ps according to the type of the substrate W for cleaning the substrate W, so that the optimum cleaning can be performed according to the type of the substrate W.

At this time, since the margin can be set separately from the size of the substrate W, by setting the position slightly inside the edge of the substrate W as the cleaning start point, it is possible to prevent the substrate W from being deviated at the time of cleaning and prevent the entanglement of the dry film by the cleaning roller 4 in the case of the substrate with the dry film.

Further, while the speed of the carry-in hand 31 is slow while the cleaning roller 4 is in contact with the substrate W, the speed is fast in addition to that, so that the cleaning operation of the substrate W is introduced and the overall production interval time can be prevented from extending.

Further, the cleaning roller may be attached to the carrying-out hand 32 to perform cleaning. In this case, after the carry-in hand 31 carries in the substrate W and mounts the substrate W on the platen 1 and retreats, the carry-out hand 32 enters in replacement and brings the cleaning roller into contact with the substrate W. In this case, the cleaning roller is positioned at the end of the carrying-out hand 32 on the X-direction side, and the carrying-out hand 32 performs cleaning while moving horizontally on the X-direction side toward the + side.

However, when the cleaning roller is attached to the carrying-out hand 32 and cleaning is performed, the carrying-in hand 32 reciprocates separately from the carrying-out operation of the substrate W, and the production interval time becomes longer as compared with the case of the carrying-in hand 31. Therefore, it is preferable to perform cleaning by attaching a cleaning roller to the carry-in hand 31.

In the description of the operation of the above embodiment, the contact exposure is taken as an example, but other types of exposure such as the proximity exposure, the projection exposure, and the DI exposure are different only in the configuration and operation of the light irradiation unit 2, and other types can be performed similarly. The present invention can be applied to a liquid crystal substrate and various other substrates as well as a printed circuit board.

Claims

1. An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate by irradiating the substrate with light having a predetermined pattern, comprising:

a platen on which a substrate is placed during exposure;

a transport system for carrying the substrate into the platen and carrying the substrate out of the platen after exposure;

a light irradiation unit for irradiating a substrate placed on the platen with light of a predetermined pattern; and

a mechanism for performing pre-alignment, which roughly aligns the substrate before being placed on the platen,

a cleaning roller for adsorbing and removing foreign matters by using adhesive force is arranged on the conveying hand part, the cleaning roller is longer than the width of the supposed largest substrate,

a controller is arranged for controlling the action of the conveying system,

the controller includes: a storage unit for storing control information for cleaning by the cleaning roller when the conveying hand performs one reciprocating movement between the standby position and the platen; an output unit that outputs the control information stored in the storage unit to the transport system to move the transport system; and an input section that inputs control information for cleaning by the cleaning roller,

the input unit of the controller can input information for setting a cleaning start point that is a start point of movement when the cleaning roller moves to perform cleaning, and the controller can set, based on the information input from the input unit, a position inside from an edge of the substrate placed on the platen as the cleaning start point, the inside position being a position where the cleaning start point is inside of the edge of the substrate with accuracy of the pre-alignment in the mechanism that performs the pre-alignment.

2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1,

the input unit can input the margin from the edge of the substrate placed on the platen,

3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 2,

the margin includes a region between an edge of a dry film on the surface of the substrate and an edge of the substrate, the region being smaller than the entire surface region of the substrate, and the cleaning start point is located inward of the edge of the dry film.

4. The exposure apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

an output unit of the controller outputs a control signal of a moving speed of the transport hand to the transport system, and the output control signal is a control signal in which the moving speed of the transport hand when the cleaning roller does not contact the substrate is higher than the moving speed of the transport hand when the cleaning roller contacts the substrate.

5. The exposure apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the cleaning roller is provided at a carrying-in hand for carrying in the substrate to the platen,

6. The exposure apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the scrub roller is longer than the width of the platen,

the controller is provided with a sequence program including the operation of the transport system,

the sequence program is a program for performing cleaning of the platen by outputting another control information to the conveyance system after exposing a predetermined number of substrates by the conveyance system and the light irradiation unit.

7. The exposure apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the input portion of the controller may input information on a position of an edge on a side opposite to an edge of the substrate at the inner side position set as a cleaning start point of the substrate as a cleaning end point, the controller may set the position of the edge on the side opposite to the edge of the substrate as the cleaning end point according to the information input from the input portion, and the control information may move the cleaning roller while contacting the substrate from the cleaning start point to the cleaning end point.

8. The exposure apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the platen is used for placing a substrate on a horizontal upper surface,

an input part of the controller can input the position of the cleaning roller relative to the bedplate in the height direction during the cleaning according to the thickness of the base plate,

a position adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the position of the cleaning roller in the height direction is provided on the cleaning roller or a platen driving mechanism capable of adjusting the position of the platen in the height direction is provided on the platen,

the controller controls the position adjusting mechanism or the platen driving mechanism of the cleaning roller so that the cleaning roller is located at a different height from the platen when the cleaning is performed according to the thickness of the substrate, based on the position in the height direction input in the input unit.