JP2001133149A - Drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drier which can uniformly dry a film applied on a substrate to form the film thereon with uniformity. SOLUTION: The apparatus has an enclosed container 101 provided with an exhaust port 101a centrally disposed on the upper surface of the container 101 and communicating with an exhaust means 104. The enclosed container 101 is also provided with a plurality of gas supplying ports 101b arranged at the bottom portion of the enclosed container 101 in close proximity to the edge portion thereof, allowing inert gases such as nitrogen, argon or the like to be introduced into the gas supplying ports 101b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drying apparatus for drying a coating film composed of a resin composition or the like dissolved and dispersed in a solvent applied on a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a resin composition containing an organic solvent applied on a substrate such as a substrate or a sheet film is dried, the organic solvent is volatilized by drying. The drying is performed in a predetermined container. To describe the drying device in which the volatile gas is not dispersed, first, as shown in FIG. 4, a hot plate 401 heated by a heater 401a is provided. On this hot plate 401,
When a substrate 402 such as a glass substrate or a sheet film to which the resin composition to be dried is applied is placed, the substrate 402
Is heated, the resin composition on the surface of the substrate 402 is heated, and the organic solvent is evaporated and dried.

[0003] A hot plate 401 is a container 403.
Is located within. Gas inlet 40 at the top of container 403
Dry nitrogen gas is supplied from 3a, and the internal gas is exhausted from a gas outlet 403b on the side of the container 403. The gas exhausted from the gas outlet 403a is subjected to processing such as removal of the organic solvent in the gas. Since the base 402 is subjected to heat treatment on the hot plate 401 inside the container 403, the gas of the organic solvent and the like generated as a result of heating the resin composition on the base 402 is exhausted from the gas outlet 403b to the outside. There is no separation.

[0004]

However, since the conventional drying apparatus is configured as described above, the resin composition formed on the base 402 in the vicinity of the exhaust port 403b and in a region apart from the exhaust port 403b. There is a problem that the film thicknesses of the films differ. In the above-described drying apparatus, a gas flow is formed inside the container 403 and the gas outlet 40 on the side of the container 401 is formed.
As shown in FIG. 4B, since the air is exhausted from 3b,
On the surface of the base 402 near the exhaust port 403b, a region 410 is generated which comes into contact with the gas flow. Since the temperature of the region 410 of the surface of the substrate 402 which is in contact with the gas flow decreases, the dry state of the resin composition changes and the film thickness changes with the other regions where the temperature does not decrease.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to form a uniform film by uniformly drying a film applied on a substrate.

[0006]

A drying apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
A closed container having an exhaust port in the center of the upper surface, and a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the closed container and a predetermined distance from the side surface of the closed container inside the closed container, and the upper surface of the object to be treated is A plate on which the base is placed, a heating unit for heating the plate, an exhaust unit for exhausting gas inside the closed container from an exhaust port, and a position lower than the plate upper surface of the closed container and provided outside the plate arrangement region. And a gas inlet. According to the present invention, when the internal gas is exhausted from the exhaust port on the upper portion of the closed container by the exhaust means, the gas is introduced from the gas inlet, and the gas introduced from the gas inlet rises along the inner wall of the closed container. Exhausted from the exhaust port.

[0007] A drying apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention further includes a plate-shaped exhaust flow dispersion plate having a plurality of openings disposed at a predetermined interval above the plate. According to the present invention, the rising gas flow of the gas above the base becomes uniform.
A drying apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes fixing means for fixing a substrate on a plate. The base is
Any one of a glass substrate, a sheet film, and a silicon substrate may be used.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the drying apparatus according to the present embodiment, first, a plate 102 is disposed in a closed container 101 as shown in FIG. The plate 102 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 102a, and heats the base 103 placed on the plate 102. The base 103 is, for example, a glass substrate, a resin sheet film, or a semiconductor substrate.

The side surface of the closed container 101 is
Has a shape that is gradually inclined inward toward the upper part from where the is arranged. Further, the upper surface of the sealed container 101 is configured to be farther from the plate 102 as it approaches the center. An exhaust port 101 a is provided at the center of the upper surface of the sealed container 101, and the exhaust port 101 a communicates with the exhaust unit 104. In addition, a gas inlet 101b is provided in the lower portion of the closed vessel 101 near the side of the closed vessel 101, and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or argon gas is introduced. Note that FIG. 1A schematically shows a cross-sectional state, and FIG. 1B shows a state viewed from above.

The gas in the closed vessel 101 is
The gas is exhausted by the exhaust means 104 through a. The evacuation unit 104 removes an organic solvent and the like from the exhaust gas. Further, by exhausting the gas by the exhaust means 104 to make the inside of the closed vessel 101 negative pressure, nitrogen gas is introduced into the closed vessel 101 from the gas inlet 101b.
The base 103 placed on the plate 102 is the base 10
3 is fixed by being pressed by ring-shaped fixing means 105. The fixing means 105 is fixed to the upper part of the closed container 101 by several pins 106. The base 103 may be fixed by another method. For example, the base may be fixed on the plate by vacuum suction.

In the drying apparatus having the above structure, the nitrogen gas introduced from the gas inlet 101b is supplied to the closed container 10b.
1 rises along the inner side surface and is exhausted from the exhaust port 101a. Therefore, the gas flow of the nitrogen gas introduced into the closed vessel 101 through the gas introduction port 101b and discharged through the exhaust port 101a does not come into contact with the surface of the base 103 placed on the plate 102. Some of the introduced nitrogen gas may come into contact with the surface of the base 103 by diffusing, but these are trace amounts. On the other hand, the plate 10 heated to, for example, 100 ° C. by the heater 102 a
On 2, as a result of heating the placed base 103, the organic solvent contained in the resin composition applied to the surface of the base 103 volatilizes. Further, the resin composition on the surface of the base 103 sublimates. The vaporized gas of the organic solvent and the sublimation gas of the resin composition rise with the rising airflow on the heated hot plate 102 and are exhausted from the exhaust port 101a.

As described above, according to the drying apparatus of the present embodiment, first, since the resin composition is dried in a closed container, the resin composition applied on the substrate is The gas generated by the sublimation of the vaporized gas of the contained organic solvent and the resin composition does not separate into the surroundings. In addition, an inert gas such as nitrogen is always introduced into the closed container, and the gas inside the closed container is exhausted from the upper portion of the closed container. It does not hinder drying.

The gas flow of nitrogen gas introduced from the bottom of the closed container moves along the side wall in the closed container and is forcibly exhausted from the outlet at the top of the closed container. Does not touch the substrate surface, and no temperature distribution is formed on the substrate surface. As described above, since the temperature distribution is not formed on the substrate surface, according to the present embodiment, a film of the resin composition on the substrate surface can be uniformly formed on the substrate. In addition, since a gas flow moving along the side wall in the closed container is formed, contamination of the inner wall of the closed container by gas generated by heating and drying the resin composition can be suppressed.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the drying device of the present embodiment
A plate 102 is arranged in a closed container 101.
The plate 102 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 102a, and heats the base 103 placed on the plate 102. An exhaust port 101 a is provided in the upper portion of the closed container 101, and the exhaust port 101 a is in communication with the exhaust unit 104. In addition, a gas inlet 101b is provided in the lower portion of the closed vessel 101 near the side of the closed vessel 101, and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or argon gas is introduced. Note that FIG.
2A shows the state of the cross section, and FIG. 2B shows the state viewed from the top.

The gas in the closed vessel 101 is
The gas is exhausted by the exhaust means 104 through a. Further, by exhausting the gas by the exhaust means 104 to make the inside of the closed vessel 101 negative pressure, nitrogen gas is introduced into the closed vessel 101 from the gas inlet 101b. The above is the same as the drying device shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a new exhaust flow distribution plate 201 provided with a plurality of openings 201 a is disposed above the base 103. The plate 1 of the base 103
A plurality of pins (fixing means) 202 are used to fix the exhaust gas distribution plate 201 to the upper portion of the plate 101 at a predetermined interval. Therefore, the exhaust flow distribution plate 201 and the base 103
Is open to the periphery at the side.

In the drying apparatus having the above structure, the nitrogen gas introduced from the gas inlet 101b is supplied to the closed vessel 1
01 rises along the inner side surface of the air outlet 01 and is exhausted from the exhaust port 101a. Therefore, the gas flow of the nitrogen gas introduced into the closed vessel 101 from the gas introduction port 101b and discharged from the exhaust port 101a does not contact the surface of the base 103 placed on the plate 102. On the other hand, the plate 102 heated to, for example, 100 ° C. by the heater 102 a
Above, as a result of heating the placed base 103, an upward airflow is generated above the base 103. Also, the base 103
The gas in the upper space is forcibly exhausted by the exhaust means 104 from the exhaust port 101a.

As described above, while the gas above the substrate 103 flows upward, the exhaust flow distribution plate 201 is disposed immediately above in the present embodiment. Flow becomes more uniform. Further, similarly to the embodiment, the flow of the gas in the closed vessel 101 exhausted from the exhaust port 101a does not touch the surface of the base 103. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the unevenness of the temperature distribution on the surface of the base 103 can be further improved as compared with the embodiment. Incidentally, in the above description, as shown in the top view of FIG. 2B, a plurality of small circular openings are provided in the exhaust flow distribution plate.
The present invention is not limited to this, and an arcuate slit or a radial slit may be provided as an opening as shown in FIGS.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, a sealed container having an exhaust port at the center of the upper surface, a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the sealed container inside the sealed container and a side surface of the sealed container are provided. A plate which is disposed at a more predetermined distance and on which the substrate to be treated is placed on the upper surface, a heating means for heating the plate, an exhaust means for exhausting gas inside the closed vessel from an exhaust port, and A gas inlet provided at a position lower than the plate upper surface and outside the plate arrangement region is provided. According to the present invention, when the internal gas is exhausted from the exhaust port on the upper portion of the closed container by the exhaust means, the gas is introduced from the gas inlet, and the gas introduced from the gas inlet rises along the inner wall of the closed container. Exhausted from the exhaust port. Therefore, the flow of gas in the closed container does not touch the substrate surface, so that the temperature distribution on the substrate surface becomes uniform, and the film applied on the substrate can be dried uniformly to form a uniform film.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration (a) and a planar configuration (b) of a drying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration (a) and a planar configuration (b) in another embodiment of the drying device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the exhaust flow distribution plate.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration (a) and a planar configuration (b) of a conventional drying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: airtight container, 101a: exhaust port, 101b: gas inlet port, 102: plate, 102a: heater, 103
... Base, 104 ... Exhaust means, 105 ... Fixing means, 106
…pin.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kuragi Billion 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Iseki Iori Horikawa-tsuji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Nouchi climb 4 chome 1 Tenten Kitacho 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Ueyama Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto City Hyokawa-dori Teranouchi 4 chome Metenjin Kita 1 1 Dainippon Screen F term (reference) in Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 3L113 AB05 AC08 AC23 AC28 AC48 AC49 AC53 AC56 AC63 AC67 BA28 BA32 BA34 CA08 CB05 CB24 CB34 DA11

Claims (6)

[Claims] An airtight container having an exhaust port in the center of the upper surface, and a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the airtight container and a predetermined distance from the side surface of the airtight container inside the airtight container. A plate on which a substrate to be processed is placed on an upper surface, a heating unit for heating the plate, an exhaust unit for exhausting gas inside the closed container from the exhaust port, and a position lower than the plate upper surface of the closed container. A drying apparatus, comprising: a gas inlet provided outside the plate arrangement region. 2. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a plate-shaped exhaust flow dispersion plate having a plurality of openings disposed at a predetermined interval above the plate. Drying equipment. 3. The drying device according to claim 1, further comprising fixing means for fixing the base on the plate. 4. The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate. 5. The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a sheet film. 6. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor substrate.