JP3698398B2 - Rotating cup, coating apparatus and coating method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotating cup, a coating apparatus, and a coating method for coating a treatment agent on a substrate used in a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, the liquid crystal display device is abbreviated as “LCD”).
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in an LCD manufacturing process, in order to apply a processing agent such as a resist agent to a substrate to be processed such as an LCD glass substrate, the processing agent is dropped near the center of the substrate while the substrate is rotated at a high speed. A rotary type coating apparatus called a spin coater of the type is used.
[0003]
FIG. 12 is a plan view of a typical rotary coating apparatus, and FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of the coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, in the conventional rotary coating apparatus, the center part on the lower surface side of the glass substrate G for LCD (hereinafter, “LCD glass substrate” is simply abbreviated as “substrate”) is a disc. It is adsorbed and held by the spin chuck 201. The substrate G and the spin chuck 201 are accommodated in a rotating cup CP as a container, and a lid 202 is put on the rotating cup CP.
[0004]
In order to apply the treatment agent onto the substrate G with this rotary type coating apparatus, the lid 202 of the rotary cup CP is lifted by the lift arm 204 of the lid lifting mechanism 203, the upper part is opened, and the substrate G is rotated. Is dropped to wet the entire surface, and then a processing agent is dropped from the resist nozzle 205 near the center of the substrate G, and the processing agent is diffused throughout the substrate G by centrifugal force. Next, the lid 202 is lowered to seal the rotary cup CP, the substrate G is rotated at a high speed, and excess solvent and processing agent are shaken off by centrifugal force to form a thin film of processing agent on the surface of the substrate G.
[0005]
An inner cup (not shown) in the rotating cup CP and an inner lid (not shown) disposed below the lid 202 rotate together with the spin chuck 201 and the substrate G, and the rectangular substrate G The turbulence does not occur in the space sealed by the rotating cup CP and the lid even if the is rotated.
[0006]
Therefore, only the centrifugal force from the center of the upper surface of the substrate G during rotation to the outer peripheral edge acts on the substrate G held in the space sealed by the rotating cup CP and the lid, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, an opening (not shown) is provided around the rotary cup CP, and an airflow flowing from the inside to the outside of the rotary cup CP is formed in combination with the negative pressure supplied to the rotary coating apparatus main body 200. It has become so. Accordingly, most of the solvent and the processing agent that is rotated at a high speed by the substrate G and spun off by the centrifugal force is carried by the airflow flowing from the inside to the outside of the rotating cup CP and discharged to the outside of the rotating cup CP.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Incidentally, a gap is formed between the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP and the lower surface of the substrate G. This gap is provided in order to prevent the lower surface side of the substrate G from being contaminated with a solvent or a processing agent. In order to prevent the lower surface side from being stained, a gap of a certain size or more is required. On the other hand, if this gap is too large, an air current will flow into this gap, and the solvent and the processing agent will adhere to the lower surface side of the substrate G. It has been confirmed that if the processing agent adheres to the lower surface side, the film thickness of the coating film formed on the substrate G in the subsequent processing steps will fluctuate, leading to a decrease in yield and an increase in manufacturing cost. Must be maintained at an appropriate size.
[0008]
However, since the substrate G is a thin glass plate and only the central portion is supported by the spin chuck 201, the substrate G is bent, and the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G has a smaller gap with the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP. There is a problem that it is difficult to keep this gap constant. In particular, in recent years when there is a high demand for larger screens, there is a high demand for larger substrates G, and there is a pressing need to solve this problem immediately.
[0009]
The present invention has been made to solve this problem. That is, the present invention provides a rotating cup, a coating apparatus, and a coating method that can maintain a constant gap between the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup and prevent a film thickness defect of a coating film formed on the surface of the substrate G. With the goal.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, claim 1 is provided.The rotating cup described is a perforated disk-shaped bottom surface portion having an opening adjacent to the outer peripheral edge of the spin chuck, a side surface portion extending in the direction of the rotation axis from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface portion, and the bottom surface portion. And a support pin disposed at a position of the bottom surface portion facing the outer peripheral edge portion of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck.The support pins are arranged such that the support pins at the four corners of the substrate to be processed are farthest from the peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed.
[0013]
  Claim2The rotating cup as claimed in claim1The rotary cup according to claim 1, wherein a height of the support pin is 0.2 to 0.5 mm.
[0016]
  Claim3The coating apparatus described above includes a spin chuck for holding a substrate to be processed, a perforated disk-shaped bottom surface portion having an opening adjacent to the outer peripheral edge of the spin chuck, and a rotation axis direction from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface portion. An extended side surface portion and a protruding portion having a predetermined height from the bottom surface portion are disposed at the position of the bottom surface portion facing the outer peripheral edge portion of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck. A rotating cup provided with a support pin; means for supplying a processing agent onto the substrate to be processed; and means for opening and closing the rotating cup.The support pins are arranged such that the support pins at the four corners of the substrate to be processed are farthest from the peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed.
[0017]
  Claim4The applicator as claimed in claim3The height of the said support pin is 0.2-0.5 mm.
[0019]
  Claim1Or claims2In the rotary cup described in (2), a support pin having a protrusion with a predetermined height from the bottom surface is provided at a position of the bottom surface facing the outer peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck. Therefore, the gap between the bottom surface of the rotating cup and the substrate to be processed is always kept constant, and the film thickness defect of the coating film due to the processing agent adhering to the lower surface side of the substrate to be processed is prevented.
[0021]
  Claim3Or claims4The coating apparatus described in (1) further includes a support pin having a protrusion having a predetermined height from the bottom surface at a position of the bottom surface facing the outer peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck. Therefore, the gap between the bottom surface of the rotating cup and the substrate to be processed is always kept constant, and the film thickness defect of the coating film due to the processing agent adhering to the lower surface side of the substrate to be processed is prevented.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Details of embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0023]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coating / developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.
[0024]
The coating / developing apparatus 1 includes a carrier station C / S on one end side thereof.
Further, an interface unit for delivering the LCD glass substrate G (hereinafter, the LCD glass substrate is abbreviated as “substrate”) to the other end side of the coating / developing apparatus 1 with the exposure apparatus EXP. I / F is arranged.
[0025]
On this carrier station C / S, a plurality of, for example, four sets of cassettes 2 containing substrates G such as LCD substrates are placed. On the front side of the cassette 2 of the carrier station C / S, an auxiliary arm 4 for transferring and positioning the substrate G, which is a substrate to be processed, while holding the substrate G and transferring it to and from the main arm 3. Is provided.
[0026]
The interface unit I / F is provided with an auxiliary arm 5 that transfers the substrate G to and from the exposure apparatus EXP. In addition, the interface unit I / F is provided with an extension unit 6 for transferring the substrate G to and from the main arm 3 and a buffer unit 7 for temporarily waiting the substrate G.
[0027]
Three main arms 3 are arranged in series so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction in the central portion of the coating / developing apparatus 1, and the first processing unit group A, A second processing unit group B and a third processing unit group C are arranged. Between the first processing unit group A and the second processing unit group B, a cooling unit COL2 that temporarily holds the substrate G and also serves as a cooling device is disposed. Similarly, the second processing unit group B And a third processing unit group C are provided with a cooling unit COL5 for holding and cooling the substrate G.
[0028]
In the first processing unit group A, two cleaning processing units SCR for cleaning the substrate G are arranged in parallel on the side of the carrier station C / S. Further, on the opposite side of the cleaning processing unit SCR across the conveyance path of the main arm 3, two sets of heat treatment units HP1 and HP1 arranged in two stages up and down, and an ultraviolet treatment unit UV arranged in two stages up and down, The cooling unit COL1 is arranged next to each other.
[0029]
In the second processing unit group B, coating processing units CT / ER for performing resist coating processing and edge removal processing are arranged. In addition, on the opposite side of the coating processing unit CT / ER across the transport path of the main arm 3, an adhesion unit AD and a cooling unit COL3 that hydrophobically embed a substrate G arranged in two stages above and below, The heat treatment unit HP2 and the cooling unit COL3 arranged in two stages and the two sets of heat treatment units HP2 and HP2 arranged in two stages above and below are arranged adjacent to each other. When the heat treatment unit HP and the cooling unit COL are arranged in two stages in the vertical direction, the thermal interference between the heat treatment unit HP and the cooling unit COL is avoided by arranging the heat treatment unit HP on the top and the cooling unit COL on the bottom. Thereby, more accurate temperature control becomes possible.
[0030]
The main arm 3 includes an X-axis drive mechanism, a Y-axis drive mechanism, and a Z-axis drive mechanism, and further includes a rotation drive mechanism that rotates about the Z-axis. The main arm 3 appropriately travels along the central passage of the coating / developing apparatus 1 and conveys the base slope G between the processing units. And the main arm 3 carries in the board | substrate G before a process in each process unit, and carries out the processed board | substrate G from each process unit.
[0031]
  In the coating / developing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the processing units are integrated and integrated in this way, thereby saving space.AndProcessing efficiency can be improved.
[0032]
Next, a procedure for processing the substrate G using the coating / developing apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the coating / developing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
[0033]
In the coating / developing apparatus 1 configured as described above, a cassette 2 in which a plurality of substrates G are horizontally stored by a loader / unloader L / UL (not shown) is placed and set on a carrier station C / S. (Step 1).
[0034]
Next, when the coating / developing apparatus 1 is started, the substrate G in the cassette 2 is first transported to the ultraviolet processing unit UV via the auxiliary arm 4 and the main arm 3 and subjected to ultraviolet irradiation processing. The substrate G on which the ultraviolet irradiation processing has been completed is transferred from the ultraviolet processing unit UV to the cooling unit COL1 by the main arm 3, and is cooled until it reaches a predetermined temperature (step 2).
[0035]
The cooled substrate G is transported to the cleaning processing unit SCR by the main arm 3 and cleaned (step 3).
[0036]
Next, the substrate G is heated (dehydrated) by the heat treatment unit HP1 and then cooled by the cooling unit COL2 (step 4).
[0037]
Thereafter, it is transported to the adhesion unit AD via the main arm 3, the cooling unit COL2, and the main arm 3 and subjected to a hydrophobic treatment. Thereby, the fixability of the resist is improved. Next, it is conveyed to the cooling unit COL via the main arm 3 and cooled (step 5).
[0038]
Thereafter, the resist is applied by being conveyed to the coating processing unit CT / ER via the main arm 3, and then an edge removing process is performed (step 6).
[0039]
Next, the substrate G is transferred to the heat treatment unit HP2 via the main arm 3 and subjected to a pre-baking process. Then, after being transferred to the cooling unit COL4 through the main arm 3 and cooled (step 7), the main arm 3, the extension unit 6 and the interface unit I / F (step 8) are transferred to the exposure apparatus EXP. Then, a predetermined pattern is exposed.
[0040]
Then, the exposed substrate G is carried into the apparatus 1 through the interface unit I / F, and carried into the titler TL, where a title is written (step 9). Next, it is carried to the development processing unit DEV by the main arm 3 and developed (step 10).
[0041]
Subsequently, it is transported to the heat treatment unit HP3 through the main arm 3 and subjected to post-baking treatment. Thereafter, the substrate G is carried into the main arm 3 and the cooling unit COL5 and cooled (step 11).
[0042]
The cooled substrate G is transported in the order of the main arm 3 of the processing unit group B, the cooling unit COL2, the main arm 3 of the processing unit group A, and the auxiliary arm 4, and again in a predetermined state on the carrier station C / S. It is accommodated in the cassette 2 (step 12).
[0043]
Next, the coating processing unit (CT / ER) according to the present embodiment will be described. 4 is a plan view of the coating processing unit (CT / ER) according to the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view.
[0044]
As shown in FIG. 4, in this coating processing unit (CT / ER), a coater cup 20 and an edge remover 60 as a resist coating device are disposed adjacent to each other.
[0045]
CoThe coater cup 20 is a device for applying a processing agent such as a resist solution to the surface of the substrate G that has been subjected to a pre-treatment such as a cleaning treatment. G is an apparatus that cleans and removes the outer peripheral edge (edge) that does not require resist coating and the resist coating on the back surface. A transfer device is disposed between the coater cup 20 and the edge remover 60, and the substrate G is transferred between the coater cup 20 and the edge remover 60 by a transfer arm 62 that moves on rails 61, 61 of the transfer device. It is a mechanism to convey.
  Next, the periphery of the coater cup 20 will be described.
[0046]
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which the lid 22 of the coater cup 20 according to the present embodiment is opened. In FIG. 7, for the purpose of illustrating the inside of the coater cup 20, the lid 22 and a part of the lid lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the lid 22 are omitted.
[0047]
In the space in the coater cup 20, a spin chuck 23 that rotatably holds the substrate G and a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the spin chuck 23 are disposed.
[0048]
A resist nozzle 57 for accessing the inside of the coater cup 20 and discharging a resist solution onto the substrate G set on the spin chuck 23 is disposed near the coater cup 20.
[0049]
A disk-shaped rotating cup CP is disposed inside the coater cup body 21, and a spin chuck 23 is disposed inside the disk-shaped rotating cup CP. The spin chuck 23 is configured to rotate by the rotational driving force of the drive motor 25 in a state where the substrate G is fixed and held by vacuum suction.
[0050]
The drive motor 25 transmits a rotational driving force to a rotary shaft 27 via a drive mechanism 26 composed of a belt and a pulley. The rotary shaft 27 is moved along a lift guide means 32 by a lift drive means 28. It is attached so that it can move up and down in the figure.
[0051]
At the time of resist application, as shown in FIG. 5, the spin chuck 23 is lowered to a position lower than the upper end of the rotary cup CP. On the other hand, when the substrate G is transferred between the spin chuck 23 and the main arm 4 when the substrate G is taken in and out of the coater cup 20, the lift drive means 28 moves the rotary shaft 27 and the spin chuck 23 upward. The spin chuck 23 is displaced to a position higher than the upper end of the rotary cup CP.
[0052]
The resist nozzle 57 that discharges the resist solution onto the substrate G is attached to the turning mechanism 56 via the resist nozzle scan arm 55, and turns around the fulcrum 56a in the horizontal plane and near the center of the coater cup body 21. Can be accessed.
[0053]
A resist pipe (not shown) is attached to the resist nozzle 57, and a resist solution is supplied to the resist nozzle 57 from the resist solution supply mechanism (not shown) via the resist pipe.
[0054]
In the coater cup 20, the upper opening of the coater cup body 21 that performs the coating process on the substrate G is covered with a lid 22, and the lid 22 is held by a holding member 41.
[0055]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the holding member 41 is disposed between the two arms 41 a and 41 a that sandwich the lid 22 at the tip thereof, and the two arms 41 a and 41 a. It is comprised by the connection members 41b and 41b which connect the arms 41a and 41a. The base side of the holding member 41, that is, the side opposite to the side holding the lid 22 extends into the cup lifter 42, and the lid 22 is moved in the vertical direction by a lid lifting mechanism arranged inside the cup lifter 42 described later. It has become.
The cup lifter 42 is disposed at a position opposite to the edge remover 60 with respect to the coating apparatus main body 21.
[0056]
As shown in FIG. 4, the front surface of the cup lifter 42, that is, the surface facing the coater cup body 21, is provided with grooves 42a and 42a extending in parallel to each other in the vertical direction, and is held via these grooves 42a and 42a. The base side portion of the member 41 extends from the front side of the cup lifter 42 to the inside of the cup lifter 42.
[0057]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, linear protrusions 41 c and 41 c extending in the vertical direction in the drawing are formed on the outer sides of the two arms 41 a and 41 a of the holding member 41. The projections 41c, 41c are movably engaged with guide rails 43, 43 disposed in the vertical direction in the figure on the inner surface side of the side housings 42, 42 of the arm lifter 42, respectively. Thus, the holding member 41 can move up and down in the vertical direction along the guide rails 43 and 43.
[0058]
As shown in FIG. 5, a cylinder 44 for moving the holding member 41 up and down in the vertical direction is disposed below the holding member 41. The cylinder 44 is attached so as to penetrate the bottom plate 24, and almost half of the lower side of the cylinder 44 protrudes below the bottom plate 24.
[0059]
A rod 45 enters and exits from the upper portion of the cylinder 44, and the upper portion of the rod 45 is fixed to the holding member 41. On the other hand, the lower portion of the rod 45 is fixed to a piston (not shown) that moves up and down by the pressure of air in the cylinder 44.
[0060]
Next, the rotating cup CP according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the rotating cup CP mounting portion of the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the vicinity of the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP according to the present embodiment.
[0061]
As shown in FIG. 8, in the rotary cup CP of the present embodiment, a plurality of support pins 70, 70 are provided at the bottom.
[0062]
These support pins 70, 70,... Are arranged at portions located below the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G when the substrate G is attracted and held on the spin chuck 23. It supports from below the part bending and bending downward due to gravity.
[0063]
7, these support pins 70, 70,... Are the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G when the substrate G is attracted and held on the spin chuck 23, more precisely, the four corners and each side. Are arranged at positions that form a rectangle as a whole along the inner periphery of the substrate G attracted and held on the spin chuck 23 as a whole.
[0064]
As shown in FIG. 9, the support pin 70 has an alphabet “T” -shaped vertical section whose head diameter is larger than the body part below the head, and the head protrudes from the bottom of the rotating cup CP. Arranged in a state. The lower surface side of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G adsorbed on the spin chuck 23 is held by contacting the upper surface of the head of the support pins 70, 70,. Accordingly, the height h of the head is a gap between the lower surface of the substrate G adsorbed on the spin chuck 23 and the upper surface of the rotary cup CP.
[0065]
As shown in FIG. 9, the height h of the head is preferably equal to the difference h between the upper surface of the spin chuck 23 and the upper surface of the bottom of the rotary cup CP. By keeping the vicinity of the center of the substrate G and the vicinity of the outer periphery equally at a distance h from the top surface of the bottom of the rotating cup CP, the substrate G is kept horizontal, and the distance between the bottom surface of the substrate G and the top surface of the bottom of the rotating cup CP is increased. This is because it can be kept constant.
[0066]
The height h of the head of the support pin 70 is a distance at which an airflow containing a processing agent or a solvent does not enter between the lower surface of the substrate G and the inner bottom surface of the rotating cup CP, and at the same time, The distance is such that the inner bottom surface of the CP is not connected by the treatment agent or solvent droplets.
[0067]
The specific value of the height h of the head of the support pin 70 is a so-called design item, and the coating conditions such as the shape of the rotating cup CP, the dimensions, thickness, material, rotational speed, and coating temperature of the substrate G are used. Since it is a value determined by the above, it cannot be determined in general.
[0068]
However, as an example, in the rotary cup CP according to this embodiment, the value of the height h of the head of the support pin 70 is preferably in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm.
[0069]
The reason why the upper limit of the height h of the head is set to 0.5 mm is that if this value is exceeded, there is a problem that the resist adheres to the back surface.
[0070]
On the other hand, the lower limit of the head height h is set to 0.2 mm. When the head height h is below this value, when it is made of resin, it is cracked when attached to the rotating cup CP, or the substrate G and the rotating cup CP This is because a problem such as contact occurs.
[0071]
These will be described below with reference to Table 1 of FIG. 14 showing the visual evaluation results. As shown in Table 1 of FIG. 14, when the lower limit of the head height h is 0.2 mm below, contamination of contact with the cup occurs, and the upper limit of the head height h is set to 0. If the thickness is 5 mm or more, the coating liquid wraps around the back surface of the substrate although there is no contact contamination with the cup. Therefore, the value of the height h of the head of the support pin 70 is preferably in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm.
[0072]
As described above, in the rotating cup CP according to the present embodiment, when the substrate G is set, the support pins 70, 70,... Are disposed at positions corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the lower surface of the substrate G. Is provided with an appropriate thickness as described above, so that a gap having an accurate distance h is formed between the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotary cup CP. Therefore, the substrate G is kept almost horizontal in the coater cup 20, and the bottom surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotary cup CP are kept in a non-contact state. Therefore, a solvent or a resist solution enters between the lower surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP, and the lower surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP are prevented from being connected by droplets of the solvent or the resist solution. .
[0073]
Further, since the distance h of the gap is an appropriate value, it is possible to prevent an air stream containing a solvent or a resist solution from entering the gap. As a result, the film thickness failure caused by the resist solution adhering to the lower surface of the substrate G is prevented in advance.
[0074]
Next, the operation of the coating / developing apparatus for the glass substrate for LCD configured as described above will be described.
[0075]
After the cassette 2 containing the substrate G is placed on the carrier station C / S of the coating / developing apparatus of this embodiment, the auxiliary arm 5 accesses the cassette 2 when the coating / developing apparatus is turned on and started. The substrate G accommodated inside is taken out and delivered to the main arm 4. The main arm 4 that has received the substrate G moves on the rail, and in a processing unit that performs processing before resist coating, such as a brush scrubber, a high-pressure jet cleaning unit SCR, a heating unit HP, an adhesion unit AD, and a cooling unit COL. Set to, and apply the necessary processing. When a series of necessary processing is completed, the substrate G is taken out from the processing unit, moved on the rail, and accessed to the coater cup 20 of the coating processing unit (CT / ER).
[0076]
In the coater cup 20, the lid 22 is lifted corresponding to the movement of the main arm 4 to open the upper part of the coater cup body 21. The main arm 4 on which the substrate G is placed enters between the released upper part of the coater cup body 21 and the lifted lid 22, and the substrate G is delivered to the upper surface of the spin chuck 23 exposed on the upper part of the coater cup body 21. Upon receiving the substrate G, the spin chuck 23 holds the substrate G by applying a negative pressure to the suction opening 29 disposed at the center of the upper surface thereof. In this state, the spin chuck 23 descends vertically downward to draw the substrate G into the coater cup body 21.
[0077]
As shown in FIG. 8, when the spin chuck 23 is lowered to the lowest position, the upper portion of the spin chuck 23 is slightly protruded from the bottom surface of the rotary cup CP. The difference in height between the top surface of the spin chuck 23 and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP is h as shown in FIG.
[0078]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of support pins 70, 70,. The support pins 70, 70,... Are arranged at positions where the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G attracted and held on the spin chuck 23 approaches when the spin chuck 23 is lowered to the lowest position. Are disposed at positions forming a rectangle along the line. These support pins 70, 70,... Have a head having a diameter larger than that of the body portion as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the rotation cup CP has a thickness h. Projects upward from the bottom.
[0079]
Therefore, the vicinity of the center of the substrate G is held by the spin chuck 23 and is maintained at a height h from the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP, and the vicinity of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate G is held by the support pins 70, 70,. To the height of h, and the entire substrate G is kept horizontally at the height of h from the bottom of the rotary cup CP. Thus, the substrate G is set in the coater cup 20 in the state shown in FIGS.
[0080]
When the setting of the substrate G to the coater cup 20 is completed, the turning mechanism 56 is operated to move the resist nozzle scan arm 55, and the resist nozzle 57 is moved to a position substantially at the center of the substrate G held on the spin chuck 23. It is.
[0081]
The resist nozzle 57 is provided with a thinner nozzle (not shown) for dropping the solvent. The thinner nozzle is used to drip a solvent before the resist is dropped to wet the top surface of the substrate G (pre-wet), and to promote the diffusion of the dropped resist thereafter. When the solvent is dropped onto the rotating substrate G and diffused to complete the pre-wetting, a predetermined amount of resist is dropped from the resist nozzle 57 next. It is preferable to stop the rotation of the substrate G once when the resist is dropped. In other words, when the resist is dropped while the substrate G is rotating, the above-mentioned solvent is present on the substrate G, so that the range of scattering of the resist solution is expanded, thereby suppressing the generation of dust such as mist. This is because the yield of the substrate G can be improved. Further, it is possible to suppress wraparound to the back surface of the substrate G.
[0082]
Next, the lid 22 is lowered to cover the top of the coater cup body 21, and the inside of the coater cup body 21 is sealed.
[0083]
Next, the spin chuck 23 and the rotating cup CP are rotated at a high speed for a predetermined time to diffuse the resist that has been dripped over the entire substrate G and to remove and remove the excess resist to form a thin resist solution film on the substrate G. .
[0084]
When the spin chuck 23 is rotated at a high speed, the solvent and the resist are spun off by the centrifugal force, so that the solvent vapor, small droplets, resist and the like are placed in the space inside the coater cup 20 covered with the rotating cup CP and the lid 22. Small particles of liquid are floating. On the other hand, when the rectangular substrate G rotates, an air flow is generated in the inner space of the coater cup 20.
[0085]
At this time, in the rotary cup CP according to the present embodiment, support pins 70, 70,... Are arranged at positions corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the set substrate G on the bottom surface. The outer peripheral edge of the substrate G is held at a height h from the bottom of the rotary cup CP by the thickness of the head of. A gap of a distance h is formed between the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP in combination with the spin chuck 23 that stops at the lowest position protruding upward by a height h from the rotating cup CP.
[0086]
The distance h of the gap is too small for the airflow generated by the rotation of the substrate G to enter, and is too large for the solvent or resist solution to adhere to connect the bottom surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP. .
[0087]
Therefore, an airflow due to the rotation of the substrate G enters the gap between the bottom surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP, and the resist solution adheres to the bottom surface of the substrate G, or between the bottom surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP. Solvent and resist liquid droplets are connected to prevent the resist liquid from adhering to the lower surface of the substrate G.
[0088]
The state on the lower surface side of the substrate G here is a state where the substrate G is dried to such an extent that no transfer mark remains on the contact portion even when it is set on the spin chuck 23 or the edge remover 60.
[0089]
As described above, according to the coating processing unit according to the present embodiment, when the substrate G is set in the coater cup 20, the support pins 70, 70,... Are arranged at positions corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the lower surface of the substrate G. Since the head of the support pin has the appropriate thickness h as described above, an accurate gap h is formed between the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotary cup CP. Therefore, the substrate G is kept almost horizontal in the coater cup 20, and the bottom surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotary cup CP are kept in a non-contact state. As a result, the solvent or resist solution enters between the lower surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP, and the lower surface of the substrate G and the bottom surface of the rotating cup CP are prevented from being connected by droplets of the solvent or resist solution. The
[0090]
Further, since the width h of the gap is an appropriate value, it is possible to prevent an air stream containing a solvent or a resist solution from entering the gap. As a result, the film thickness failure caused by the resist solution adhering to the lower surface of the substrate G is prevented in advance.
[0091]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 10A shows the arrangement of the support pins at positions corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the set substrate G. FIG. According to this arrangement drawing, the support pins 70a arranged close to the four corners of the substrate G have a distance x1 from the edge of the substrate G in the horizontal direction in the drawing, for example, a distance y1 in the vertical direction in the drawing to 70 mm ± 10 mm, For example, it is arranged at 70 mm ± 10 mm. The other support pins 70b are arranged at a distance of x2 from the edge of the substrate G in the horizontal direction in the figure, for example, 25 mm ± 10 mm. This relationship is set so that the distance of x1 ≧ the distance of x2. This is because the rotation of the substrate G makes it easier for the coating liquid to concentrate at positions farthest from the center of the substrate, that is, at the four corners of the substrate G, and the influence of the wraparound to the back surface of the substrate G is greater than in other departments. Because.
[0092]
Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), by arranging the substrate G in the direction of the center of the substrate G rather than the position arranged in the other department, the deflection amount T of the substrate G is made larger than that in the other department. Yes. The deflection amount T is set to a predetermined interval Ga, that is, a range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm, as can be seen from the above-described Table-1.
[0093]
Therefore, an air stream containing a solvent or a resist solution is prevented from entering the gap. As a result, the film thickness failure caused by the resist solution adhering to the lower surface of the substrate G is prevented in advance. In addition, since the four corners are different from the other sections, it is possible to prevent the air from flowing into the back of the four-sided substrate. Is prevented.
[0094]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 11A shows a support member 170 formed of a bank-like material, for example, Teflon, instead of the support pins at a position corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the set substrate G. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11B, the back surface of the substrate G is configured to suppress the penetration of the coating liquid into the back surface inside the support member 170 by the support member 170.
[0095]
FIG. 11C shows another embodiment of the support member 170 in which the contact portion with the substrate G has an acute shape so that the contact with the substrate G becomes a stranded contact. By doing so, it is possible to further prevent transfer.
The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
[0096]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, an apparatus for applying a resist to a glass substrate for LCD has been described as an example. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to an apparatus for applying a resist to a silicon wafer.
[0098]
【The invention's effect】
  As detailed above, claims 1, 2, 3 or 4According to the present invention, the support pin having a protrusion with a predetermined height from the bottom surface is provided at the position of the bottom surface facing the outer peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck. Therefore, the gap between the bottom surface of the rotating cup and the substrate to be processed is always kept constant, and the film thickness defect of the coating film due to the processing agent adhering to the lower surface side of the substrate to be processed is prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an LCD glass substrate coating / developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of an LCD glass substrate coating / developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the coating / developing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a coating processing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a coating processing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a coating processing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of the coating processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of a vertical cross section of the coating treatment unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of a plane of the coating processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a support pin according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a support member according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged view of a plane of a conventional coating processing unit.
FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional coating unit.
FIG. 14 is a table showing evaluation results performed to confirm the effects of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
20 Coater Cup
21 Coater cup body
22 Lid
23 Spin chuck
CP rotating cup
G substrate
70 Support pin

Claims (6)

A perforated disc-shaped bottom surface with an opening adjacent to the outer periphery of the spin chuck;
A side surface extending in the direction of the rotation axis from the outer periphery of the bottom surface;
A protrusion having a predetermined height from the bottom surface, and a support pin disposed at the position of the bottom surface facing the outer peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck;
The rotating cup is characterized in that the support pins are arranged such that the support pins at the four corners of the substrate to be processed are located farthest from the peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed . The rotating cup according to claim 1 ,
A rotating cup, wherein the support pin has a height of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. A spin chuck for holding a substrate to be processed;
A perforated disk-shaped bottom surface having an opening adjacent to the outer peripheral edge of the spin chuck, a side surface extending in the direction of the rotation axis from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface, and a predetermined height from the bottom surface And a support pin disposed at the position of the bottom surface portion facing the outer peripheral edge portion of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck,
Means for supplying a treatment agent onto the substrate to be treated;
Means for opening and closing the rotating cup ,
The coating apparatus is characterized in that the support pins are arranged such that the support pins at the four corners of the substrate to be processed are located farthest from the peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed . The coating apparatus according to claim 3 ,
The height of the said support pin is 0.2-0.5 mm, The coating device characterized by the above-mentioned. A spin chuck for holding a substrate to be processed, a perforated disk-shaped bottom surface portion having an opening adjacent to the outer peripheral edge of the spin chuck, and a side surface portion extending in the rotation axis direction from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface portion And a support pin that has a protruding portion having a predetermined height from the bottom surface portion and is disposed at the position of the bottom surface portion that faces the outer peripheral edge portion of the substrate to be processed held by the spin chuck. An application method in an apparatus,
A step of supporting the substrate to be processed by a plurality of support pins arranged at positions farthest from the peripheral edge of the substrate to be processed, and holding the substrate on the spin chuck;
Rotating the held substrate to be processed;
Supplying a solvent to the processing surface of the substrate to be processed;
Supplying the coating liquid to the processing surface of the substrate to be processed after stopping the rotation of the substrate to be processed;
Thereafter, the step of rotating the substrate to be processed and diffusing the coating liquid on the processing surface of the substrate to be processed;
The coating method characterized by comprising. The coating method according to claim 5 ,
The coating method, wherein a height of the support pin is 0.2 to 0.5 mm.

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