JP2002151404A - Peripheral edge removing and processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent vapor of a solvent used to dissolve and remove a processing solution from leaking into an ambient atmosphere. SOLUTION: The apparatus includes four nozzles 45, 46, 47 and 48 which are moved along four sides of a rectangular substrate S mounted on a mounting base 21 and have a function of supplying a solvent to edges to dissolve a processing solution attached to the edges of the substrate S, and sucking an atmospheric air in the vicinity of peripheral edges. The operation of a motor 80 causes two nozzles 46 and 48 to move the associated long sides of the substrate, while the operation of a motor 70 causes two nozzles 45 and 47 to move along the associated short sides.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a peripheral edge removing apparatus and a processing apparatus for removing a processing liquid from an edge of a substrate such as an LCD substrate or a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and semiconductors, a resist film pattern is formed on the upper surface of an LCD substrate or a semiconductor wafer as a substrate.
A so-called lithography process is performed. This lithography processing includes various processing steps such as cleaning of the substrate, drying of the substrate, application of a resist on the surface of the substrate, exposure and development of a photosensitive film. For example, a substrate is washed, subjected to a hydrophobic treatment, cooled, and then coated with a resist as a photoresist to form a photosensitive film on the surface of the substrate.
After heating and baking, the photosensitive film is exposed to a predetermined pattern by an exposure device. After applying and developing a developing solution on the surface of the substrate after exposure, the developing solution is washed away with a rinse solution to complete the developing process.

In the above lithography process,
As a process of applying the resist, a spin coating method, a spray method, or the like is employed. When a resist is applied by these methods, the film thickness is uniform immediately after the application, but after the rotation stops and the centrifugal force stops working or as time passes, the resist is applied at the periphery of the substrate due to the effect of surface tension. It will be thick as it rises. Further, the resist shaken off by the rotation may be scattered on the back surface of the substrate, and the resist may adhere to unnecessary portions. The uneven thick film formed on the peripheral edge of the substrate and the resist adhering to the back surface are used in the subsequent transport process of the substrate.
This causes particles to be generated. In addition, it may cause stains on equipment that transports the substrate.

Therefore, conventionally, after a resist is applied to the surface of a substrate, a process of removing unnecessary resist adhering to a peripheral portion or a back surface of the substrate has been performed. This removal process
This is performed by moving a nozzle along the periphery of the substrate, supplying a solvent for the resist from the nozzle, and sucking and removing the resist dissolved by the supply of the solvent.

[0005]

However, since a generally used solvent has a high volatility, if an unnecessary resist is removed by using such a solvent, the solvent evaporates into the surrounding atmosphere to deteriorate the environment. I am worried. Further, the solvent evaporated in the surrounding atmosphere may adversely affect other processing steps of the substrate. In a processing system for lithographic processing of a substrate, a fan filter unit or the like is arranged above to form a downflow in order to prevent such solvent vapor from leaking into the surrounding atmosphere. However, the leakage of solvent vapor cannot be completely prevented by merely placing the.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a peripheral edge removing apparatus and a processing apparatus which can prevent a solvent vapor used for dissolving and removing a processing solution such as a resist from leaking into a surrounding atmosphere.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a peripheral edge removing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for removing a processing liquid adhered to a peripheral edge portion of a rectangular substrate, on which the substrate is placed. A solvent is supplied to the mounting table and the substrate to move along each of the four sides of the substrate mounted on the mounting table, and to dissolve the processing liquid attached to the edge of the substrate. , Four nozzles for sucking the atmosphere near the periphery of the substrate, the nozzles being arranged so as to move along opposing long sides of the substrate, and the opposing short sides of the substrate. And two nozzles that move along the long side by operating one motor, and move along the short side by driving another motor. Two moving nose There has been characterized in that it is configured to move.

In this case, the two nozzles moving along the long side move in parallel in opposite directions, and the two nozzles moving along the short side move in parallel in opposite directions. May be.

Further, the operation of each of the motors described above results in 2
One endless belt may be configured to run, and each of the nozzles may be supported by a moving member, and each of the moving members may be connected to a corresponding endless belt.

[0010] The processing apparatus of the present invention includes a processing liquid application apparatus for applying a processing liquid to a rectangular substrate, the above-described peripheral edge removing apparatus, and a substrate between the processing liquid applying apparatus and the peripheral edge removing apparatus. And a transport means for transporting.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the vapor of the solvent used for dissolving and removing the processing liquid from leaking into the surrounding atmosphere. In particular, when a fan filter unit or the like is arranged above the substrate, a downflow can be formed around the substrate by simultaneously supplying air using the fan filter unit and exhausting air using the exhaust mechanism, and moving solvent vapor downward. It becomes possible to exhaust efficiently.

It is to be noted that the mounting table described above can be configured to be rotatable,
A plurality of suction members for holding the substrate by suction may be provided.

Each of the nozzles has a nozzle main body having a substantially L-shaped cross section that covers the upper and lower surfaces of the peripheral edge of the substrate. The nozzle main body includes a gap into which the peripheral edge of the substrate enters in a non-contact state, and a An upper blowout hole for spraying the solvent toward the upper surface of the peripheral edge of the substrate that has entered, and a lower blowout hole for spraying the solvent toward the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the substrate may be provided.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The resist processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a cassette station 3 at one end. A plurality of cassettes 2 accommodating a rectangular LCD substrate S (hereinafter, referred to as “substrate S”) are placed in the cassette station 3. An auxiliary arm 5 is provided on the front side of the cassette 2 of the cassette station 3 for transporting and positioning the substrate S and holding the substrate S and transferring the substrate S to and from the main arm 4. The two main arms 4 are arranged in series so as to be movable in the center of the processing system 1 in the longitudinal direction, and various processings for performing each processing on the substrate S are provided on both sides of the transfer path. The device is located.

In the processing system 1 shown in the drawing, a brush scrubber 7 for brush cleaning the substrate S and a high-pressure jet cleaning machine 8 for cleaning with high-pressure jet water are provided on the side of the cassette station 3. Are juxtaposed. Two developing devices 6 are arranged side by side on the opposite side of the transfer path of the main arm 4, and two heating devices 9 are provided next to each other in a stacked manner.

At the side of each of these devices, an adhesion device 1 for subjecting the substrate S to a hydrophobic treatment before applying a resist to the substrate S via a connection interface unit 10.
The cooling device 12 is disposed below the adhesion device 11. In addition, four heating devices 13 are arranged side by side on the adhesion device 11 and the cooling device 12 in such a manner that two heating devices 13 are stacked in two rows. On the opposite side of the transfer path of the main arm 4, a resist coating apparatus 14 for forming a resist film (photosensitive film) on the surface of the substrate S by applying a resist to the substrate S, and removing the resist on the peripheral portion of the substrate Peripheral resist removing devices 15 are arranged side by side. Although not shown, an exposure device or the like for exposing a predetermined fine pattern to a photosensitive film formed on the substrate S is provided on a side portion of the resist coating device 14 and the peripheral edge resist removing device 15.

The main arm 4 has an X-axis and a Y-axis
An X-axis drive mechanism, a Y-axis drive mechanism, and a Z-axis drive mechanism for moving in each direction of the Z axis and the Z axis are provided.
It has a θ rotation drive mechanism that rotates about an axis. The main arm 4 appropriately travels along the central passage of the resist processing system 1 and transports the substrate S among the processing devices 6, 9, 11 to 15. The main arm 4 carries the unprocessed substrate S into each of the processing devices 6, 9, 11 to 15, and unloads the processed substrate S from each of the processing devices 6, 9, 11 to 15.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mounting table 21 supported at the upper end of a column 20 is disposed in the center of the peripheral resist removing device 15. A plurality of suction members 22 are mounted on the upper surface of the mounting table 21, and the lower surface of the substrate S is suctioned by the suction members 22 to hold the substrate S on the upper surface of the mounting table 21.

The lower end of the column 20 penetrates a bearing 24 fixed to the apparatus frame 23. The column 20 slides in the bearing 24, so that the mounting table 21 moves up and down together with the column 20. However, the column 20 is connected to a piston rod 27 of a cylinder 26 fixed to the device frame 23 by a connecting member 28, and a cover 25 covering the bearing 24 and the cylinder 26 is connected to the piston rod 27. Therefore, the mounting table 21 moves up and down together with the cover 25 by the expansion and contraction operation of the cylinder 26.

When the substrate S is carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15 having the above configuration, the substrate S is carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15 by the main arm 4.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the main arm 4 holds the substrate 4, and carries the substrate S into the peripheral resist removing device 15.

The substrate S thus loaded is pushed up by the upper surface of the mounting table 21 which rises as the cylinder 26 extends. At this time, the lower surface of the substrate S is adsorbed by the adsorbing member 22, so that the substrate S
1 is placed and held on the upper surface. Thereafter, the mounting table 21 is lowered by the shortened operation of the cylinder 26, and the substrate S is carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15.

When the substrate S is carried out from the peripheral resist removing device 15, the substrate S in the peripheral resist removing device 15 is removed.
The mounting table 2 which has been raised according to the extension operation of the cylinder 26
1 is pushed up. FIG. 2 shows a state where the substrate S ′ and the mounting table 21 ′ represented by a dashed line are raised according to the extension operation of the cylinder 26. After the substrate S is lifted in this way, when the empty main arm 4 enters the inside of the peripheral resist removing device 15, the mounting table 21 is lowered in accordance with the shortening operation of the cylinder 26, and the substrate S is moved down during the lowering. Handed over to arm 4. Thereafter, the substrate S is carried out from the peripheral resist removing device 15 by the main arm 4 retreating from the peripheral resist removing device 15.

Below the substrate S mounted on the mounting table 21, the solvent or the resist used for removing the resist on the peripheral edge of the substrate S is received when the solvent or the resist falls as described later. Pan 30 is arranged. The illustrated drain pan 30 is disposed so as to surround the driving portion of the mounting table 21 such as the bearing 24 and the cylinder 26 described above. A drain pipe 31 for draining the solvent accumulated in the drain pan 30 and an exhaust pipe 32 for exhausting the atmosphere in the peripheral resist removing device 15 are provided on the bottom surface 29 of the drain pan 30.
Is connected. The upper end of the exhaust pipe 32 is opened at a position slightly higher than the bottom surface of the drain pan 30. The drain pipe 31 and the exhaust pipe 32 are connected to a drainage system and an exhaust system (not shown), respectively. The drainage system includes a liquid storage tank, and guides the solution stored in the drain pan 30 to the liquid storage tank. The drainage system is provided with a suction device such as a pump, and the operation thereof exhausts the atmosphere in the peripheral resist removing device 15 through a factory exhaust system. Further, the fine filter unit 110 is provided above the substrate S.
And a downflow is formed around the substrate S by the air supply from the fine filter unit 110.

In the illustrated example, the inner peripheral wall 35 of the drain pan 30 is formed higher than the outer peripheral wall 36, and the above-mentioned cover body 25 has an annular cover wall so as to cover the periphery of the inner peripheral wall 35. 37 are formed. By always covering the inner peripheral wall 35 of the drain pan 30 with the cover wall 37 of the cover body 25 as described above, the driving portion of the mounting table 21 such as the bearing 24 and the cylinder 26 is not hindered from freely moving the mounting table 21 up and down. Is prevented from being contaminated with a solvent or a resist.

In this embodiment, between the substrate S mounted on the mounting table 21 and the exhaust pipe 32, two diffusion plates 40, 4 are provided.
1 are arranged vertically. Each of these diffusion plates 40 and 41 is made of punched metal, and
As shown in FIGS.
2, 43 are respectively formed. In the illustrated example, the ventilation holes 42 of the diffusion plate 40 disposed on the upper side are formed as relatively large holes, and the interval between the ventilation holes 42 is relatively wide. On the other hand, the ventilation hole 43 of the diffusion plate 41 arranged on the lower side is formed as a relatively small hole.
The space between the ventilation holes 43 is relatively narrow. Also,
In order to obtain an effective dispersing effect, when the diffusion plates 40 and 41 are arranged up and down, the positions of the ventilation holes 42 and the positions of the ventilation holes 43 are alternated so that these ventilation holes are formed in the diffusion plates 40 and 41. 42 and a vent 43 are preferably formed.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are plan views showing modified examples of the diffusion plates 40 and 41. FIG. Diffusion plates 40 ', 4 according to this modification
In 1 ', ventilation holes 42 and 43 are not formed in the surface located directly above the exhaust pipe 32, respectively. The atmosphere of the peripheral resist removing device 15 forms a flow such that it is drawn into the exhaust pipe 32 from the surroundings while bypassing the upper part of the exhaust pipe 32, so that the diffusion plate 40 ',
The atmosphere at the periphery of 41 ′ is also exhausted to the exhaust pipe 32 without leakage. When the two diffusion plates 40 'and 41' are used, at the time of designing these diffusion plates 40 'and 41' in advance, the ventilation holes are provided just above the exhaust pipe 32 in consideration of the position of the exhaust pipe 32. 4
It is preferable that there are no 2 and 43. However, in the diffusion plates 40 and 41 described in FIGS. .

Further, a side wall member 38 is provided so as to surround the drain pan 30 in order to prevent the cleaning agent such as thinner that has fallen into the drain pan 30 from being gasified and leaking to the outside of the peripheral resist removing device 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48 that move along the four sides of the rectangular substrate S are arranged around the substrate S mounted on the mounting table 21. (For explanation, the nozzles 46 and 4 in FIG.
8 is omitted). In this embodiment, the nozzle 4
The nozzles 46 and 48 are opposed to each other so as to move along the long sides L2 and L4 of the substrate S, respectively. Have been placed. These nozzles 45, 46, 47,
48 is an L-shaped moving member 50,51,52,53.
Each is attached to the tip of. As shown
Guide rails 55 and 5 are arranged so as to surround the periphery of the substrate S.
6, 57, 58 are arranged, and these guide rails 55, 56, 57, 58 are supported by supporting members 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 6 fixed to the apparatus frame 23.
6, 67 respectively. Moving member 5
0, 51, 52, and 53, these guide rails 5
The nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48 are configured to be able to move along the four sides L1, L2, L3, and L4 of the substrate S by being slidably mounted on the respective substrates 5, 56, 57, and 58. ing.

The nozzles 45 and 47 moving along the short sides L1 and L3 of the substrate S will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 9. The motor 70 is mounted outside the support member 61, and its driving shaft is Reference numeral 71 extends to a support member 64 disposed opposite to the support member 61. The drive shaft 71 has a drive pulley 72 attached near the inside of the support member 61 and a drive pulley 73 attached near the inside of the support member 64. On the other hand, a driven pulley 74 is attached near the inside of the support member 60,
Similarly, a driven pulley 75 is mounted near the inside of the support member 65.

An endless belt 76 is wound around the driving pulley 72 and the driven pulley 74, and an endless belt 77 is wound around the driving pulley 73 and the driven pulley 75. Therefore, these two endless belts 76,
77 travels in the same direction.

The moving member 50 supporting the nozzle 45 is connected to the upper side of the endless belt 76 via the bracket 78, and the moving member 5 supporting the nozzle 47 is provided.
2 is connected to the lower side of the endless belt 77 via a bracket 79. Thus, by moving one moving member 50 above the endless belt 76 and moving the other moving member 52 below the endless belt 77, the nozzles 45 and 47 are opposite to each other by the operation of the motor 70. Is translated. That is, in FIG. 9, when the drive shaft 71 is rotated in the clockwise direction a by the operation of the motor 70, the nozzle 45 moves to the back side along the left short side L1 of the substrate S, and 47 moves to the near side along the right short side L3 of the substrate S. Also, in FIG.
When the drive shaft 71 is driven to rotate in the counterclockwise direction b by the operation of the motor 70, the nozzle 45 moves to the near side along the left short side L1 of the substrate S, and the nozzle 47 moves to the right of the substrate S. It moves to the back side along the shorter side L3.

The nozzles 45 and 47 moving along the short sides L1 and L3 of the substrate S have been described above.
The nozzles 6 and 48 also move along the long sides L2 and L4 of the substrate S in exactly the same configuration as the nozzles 45 and 47. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a motor 80 is attached to the outside of the support member 67, and a drive shaft 81 of the motor 80 is extended to the support member 62 arranged to face the support member 67. A drive pulley 82 is attached to the drive shaft 81 near the inside of the support member 67.
A drive pulley 83 is attached near the inside of the support member 62. On the other hand, the driven pulley 8
The driven pulley 85 is also mounted near the inside of the support member 63.

An endless belt 86 is wound around the driving pulley 82 and the driven pulley 84, and an endless belt 87 is wound around the driving pulley 83 and the driven pulley 85. Just like the nozzles 45 and 47 described above, these nozzles 4
6, 48 are driven by the motor 80 to operate the long side L of the substrate S.
2, so as to move in parallel in opposite directions along L4.

As described above, when the substrate S is carried into and out of the peripheral resist removing device 15 by lifting and lowering the mounting table 21, as shown in FIG. The nozzles 45, 46, 47, 4
8 is retracted away from the periphery of the substrate S,
There is no concern that the loading / unloading of the substrate S is hindered by the presence of the nozzles 45, 46, 47, 48.

Since the nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48 have the same configuration, the short side L1
The configuration of the nozzle 45 that moves along is described.
As shown in FIG. 10, the nozzle 45 includes a nozzle body 90 having a substantially L-shaped cross section that covers the upper and lower surfaces of the periphery of the substrate S. A gap 91 is formed in the nozzle body 90 so as to cover the vicinity of the periphery of the substrate S. As described above, the gap of the substrate S sucked and held on the upper surface of the mounting table 21 is kept in a non-contact state. 91 is inserted. An upper outlet hole 92 for spraying the resist solvent toward the upper surface of the periphery of the substrate S fitted into the gap 91 and a lower outlet hole 93 for spraying the solvent of the resist toward the lower surface of the periphery of the substrate S. , 94 are provided.

That is, on the upper surface of the gap 91, as shown in FIG. These upper outlet holes 92 are arranged in parallel with the short side L1 along the vicinity of the periphery of the substrate S. A solvent is supplied to these upper outlet holes 92 through a liquid passage 95 passing above the inside of the nozzle body 90, and the solvent is ejected downward from the upper outlet holes 92 to be sprayed on the upper peripheral edge of the substrate S. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 12, two lower blow holes 93 and four lower blow holes 94 are provided on the lower surface of the gap 91. The lower blow hole 93 is provided on the substrate S.
Are arranged in parallel with the short side L1 along the periphery of.
On the other hand, the lower blow-out hole 94 extends from the vicinity of the periphery of the substrate S
Are arranged orthogonal to the short side L1 so as to go inward. These lower blowout holes 93 and 94 have
The solvent is supplied via liquid passage holes 96 and 97 passing through the lower inside of the nozzle body 90, and the solvent is ejected upward from the lower ejection holes 93 and 94 to be sprayed on the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the substrate S. ing.

Further, as shown in FIG.
At substantially the center of 0, a suction hole 98 for sucking and exhausting the atmosphere near the periphery of the substrate S in the gap 91 to the outside is provided.

Although the configuration of the nozzle 45 that moves along the short side L1 of the substrate S has been described as a representative, the other nozzles 46, 47, and 48 have exactly the same configuration as the nozzle 45. , Other nozzles 46, 47, 48 will not be described in detail.

Now, the processing steps of the resist processing system 1 will be described step by step. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate S is taken out from the cassette 2 placed in the cassette station 3 by the auxiliary arm 5, and To the main arm 4. The main arm 4 carries the substrate S into the brush scrubber 7, and the brush scrubber 7 performs a brush cleaning process on the substrate S. The substrate S may be washed with high-pressure jet water in the high-pressure jet washing machine 8 according to the process. The substrate S thus cleaned
Is transported by the main arm 4 and subjected to heat treatment in the heating device 9. Substrate S after heat treatment in heating device 9
Is then subjected to an adhesion process in the adhesion device 11. Further, after the substrate S is cooled by the cooling device 12, a resist is applied to the surface of the substrate S by the coating device 14 by a spin coating method, a spray method, or the like. At this time, the resist may be thickened so that the resist swells at the periphery of the substrate due to the influence of the surface tension, or the resist shaken off by the rotation may be scattered on the back surface of the substrate, and the resist may adhere to unnecessary portions.

The substrate S on which the resist is applied by the coating device 14 is conveyed by the main arm 4 and carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15. At the time of loading, as shown in FIG. 3, the nozzles 45, 46,
Both 47 and 48 are retracted to positions away from the periphery of the substrate S.

As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the substrate S carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15 by the main arm 4 is first pushed up on the upper surface of the mounting table 21 which has risen in accordance with the extension operation of the cylinder 26, and is attracted. The lower surface of the substrate S is adsorbed by the member 22 so that the substrate S
It is placed on the upper surface. After this mounting, when the empty main arm 4 retreats out of the peripheral resist removing device 15, the cylinder 2
The mounting table 21 is lowered by the shortened operation of 6, and the substrate S is carried into the peripheral edge resist removing device 15.

When the substrate S is carried into the peripheral resist removing device 15 in this manner, the nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48 are next operated by the motors 70 and 80 so that the four sides L1, L2, L3, and L4 of the substrate S are moved. Start moving along each of the. By this movement, the peripheral edge of the substrate S is fitted into the gap 91 between the nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48 in a non-contact state. In this manner, the upper outlet hole 9 is inserted in a state where the peripheral edge of the substrate S is fitted in the gap 91 between the nozzles 45, 46, 47, and 48.
2 and the blowing of the solvent from the lower blowing holes 93 and 94 is started, and the suction and exhaust from the suction hole 98 is started. As a result, the unnecessary resist adhering to the peripheral edge of the substrate S is dissolved by the solvent, and the dissolved resist is sucked and exhausted from the suction holes 98 to thereby remove the substrate S.
Unnecessary resist on the periphery of is removed.

On the other hand, while the resist on the peripheral edge of the substrate S is being removed by the solvent as described above, the gas is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 32 below the substrate S, and the peripheral resist removing device 1 is removed.
The atmosphere in 5 is exhausted downward. This prevents the vapor of the solvent used when dissolving and removing the resist from leaking into the surrounding atmosphere. In this case, since the diffusion plates 40 and 41 are arranged between the substrate S and the exhaust pipe 32, uniform exhaust can be performed below the entirety of the substrate S. In order to perform such uniform exhaust, only one diffusion plate may be provided. However, in order to obtain a higher dispersion effect, it is necessary to provide two diffusion plates 40 and 41 as shown in the figure. Is preferred. Further, it is preferable to provide the fin filter unit 110 so that efficient exhaust can be performed.

After the unnecessary resist adhering to the peripheral edge of the substrate S is removed, the mounting table 21 is raised, and the main arm 4 receives the substrate S. As a result, the substrate S is carried out from the peripheral resist removing device 15. At the time of carrying out, as shown in FIG.
6, 47 and 48 are retracted to positions away from the periphery of the substrate S.

Next, after the substrate S is subjected to a heat treatment by the heating device 13, the resist film is subjected to an exposure treatment by an exposure device (not shown). The exposed substrate S is carried into the developing device 6 and is subjected to a developing process. After the completion of the developing process, the substrate S is carried out of the developing device 6 by the main arm 4, the substrate S is heated again by the heating unit 9, dried, and stored in the cassette 2 of the cassette station 3.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. For example, as shown in FIG.
4 and the peripheral resist removing device 15
The substrate S may be transported between the resist coating device 14 and the peripheral edge resist removing device 15 by the transport arm 101. FIG.
In the resist coating apparatus 14 shown in FIG. 3, the resist is supplied by moving the resist nozzle 104 above the center of the substrate S sucked and held by the spin chuck 103 in the cup 102, and the resist is supplied by rotating the substrate S. The entire surface of S is applied by centrifugal force. The substrate S coated with the resist by the resist coating device 14 is sandwiched by the arm 101, and the arm 101 is moved along the rail 105 so that
It is transported to the peripheral edge resist removing device 15. In the resist coating device 14, the resist nozzle 103 is immersed in a solvent bath 106 filled with a resist solvent except when the resist nozzle 103 is used.
03 prevents the solidification of the resist at the tip. Also,
The peripheral resist removing device 15 places the substrate S on which the resist is applied by the resist coating device 14 and is conveyed by the arm 101 on the mounting table 21, and the nozzles 45, 46, 47 along the four sides of the substrate S. , 48 are moved to remove unnecessary resist adhering to the periphery of the substrate S.

As described above, if the resist coating device 14 and the peripheral edge resist removing device 15 are arranged adjacent to each other and the substrate S is transported between them by the transport arm 101,
The transfer operation of the main arm 4 is simplified, and the throughput is improved.

The solvent supply line 107 to the solvent bath 106, which is generally used in the past, is connected to the solvent supply line 107 shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, piping is provided from the lateral direction of the solvent bath 106. Therefore, the conventional solvent bath 106
However, there was a concern that the solvent supplied into the solvent bath 106 did not flow smoothly to the drain 108 and flowed back to the supply line 107.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, it is better to change the supply line 107 for supplying the solvent to the solvent bath 106 so as to pipe the solvent bath 106 from above. Then, the backflow of the solvent to the supply line 107 can be prevented.

In addition, the resist coating device 14
And the peripheral resist removing device 15 are provided in the same unit 100, the loading and unloading of the substrate S into and from the unit 100 can be performed by holding the substrate S temperature-controlled by the cooling device 12 on the main arm 4 and removing the unnecessary resist on the peripheral edge. Receiving the processed substrate S from which the substrate has been removed, and adjusting the temperature of the substrate S
To the resist coating device 14. According to such an operation, a temperature difference is apparently generated between the first substrate S and the subsequent substrates S, and it is considered that the average film thickness is adversely affected. Therefore, first, it is preferable that three substrates S can be held in the unit 100. In some cases, the lateral dimension of the unit 100 may be slightly widened. Second, it is preferable that the substrate S received from the cooling device 12 be immediately conveyed to the resist coating device 14 and then changed to receive the substrate S of the peripheral resist removing device 15.

In the current resist coating device 14,
When the power of the apparatus is turned off and the utility is turned off (AIR), the chamber of the resist coating apparatus 14 is lowered before the spin chuck 103, and the chamber pushes down the spin chuck 103. If this state continues, the surface of the spin chuck 103 is scratched,
It is possible that mist adheres to the surface. Therefore, when the power supply of the resist coating device 14 is turned off,
It is preferable that the spin chuck 103 be lowered first.

[0054]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the base solvent vapor from leaking into the surrounding atmosphere. In particular, when a fan filter unit or the like is arranged above the substrate, a downflow can be formed around the substrate by simultaneously supplying air by the fan filter unit and exhausting air by the exhaust means, so that the solvent vapor can be reduced. It becomes possible to exhaust efficiently.

The solvent of the treating agent may be supplied to the front and back surfaces of the edge portion of the substrate by the nozzle, and the treating agent attached to the front and back surfaces of the substrate may be removed at the same time.

Further, according to the processing apparatus of the present invention, by providing each of the processing liquid coating apparatus, the peripheral edge removing apparatus and the transfer means with a substrate, three substrates can be simultaneously held inside the processing apparatus. The application of the processing liquid and the processing of removing the processing agent from the edge of the substrate can be performed continuously, and the processing time can be reduced. In addition, the temperature difference between the first processed substrate and the substrate to be processed thereafter is eliminated, and the processing is made uniform.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a resist processing system.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the peripheral edge resist removing device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the peripheral edge resist removing device.

FIG. 4 shows the loading and unloading of a substrate in a peripheral resist removing apparatus.
It is a perspective view explaining unloading.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an upper diffusion plate.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a lower diffusion plate.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the upper diffuser plate.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a modification of the lower diffusion plate.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a nozzle moving mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of a nozzle.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle showing the upper surface of the gap.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle showing the lower surface of the gap.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a unit in which a resist coating device and a peripheral resist removing device are arranged adjacent to each other.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a conventional solvent bath.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an improved solvent bath.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S substrate 14 resist coating device 15 peripheral resist removing device 21 mounting table 30 drain pan 32 exhaust pipe 40,41 diffusion plate 45,46,47,48 nozzle 101 transfer arm

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Murata 2655 Tsukure, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture F-term (reference) 2K09 AA25 AA27 DA10 JA02 LA02 4F041 AA02 AA05 AA18 BA01 4F042 AA02 AA06 CC03 CC04 CC10 5F046 JA02 JA05 JA08 JA09 JA15

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for removing a processing liquid attached to a peripheral portion of a rectangular substrate, said apparatus comprising: a mounting table on which said substrate is mounted; and four sides of said substrate mounted on said mounting table. And four nozzles for supplying a solvent to the edge for dissolving the processing liquid attached to the edge of the substrate and for sucking an atmosphere near the periphery of the substrate, The nozzle includes two nozzles arranged to move along opposing long sides of the substrate, and two nozzles arranged to move along opposing short sides of the substrate. Two nozzles moving along the long side move by operating a motor, and two nozzles moving along the short side move by driving another motor.
Peripheral removal device. 2. The two nozzles moving along the long side move in parallel directions opposite to each other, and the two nozzles moving along the short side move in parallel directions opposite to each other. The peripheral edge removing device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. Each endless belt is configured to run by operating each of the motors. Each of the nozzles is supported by a moving member, and each of the moving members is connected to a corresponding endless belt. 3. The peripheral edge removing device according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral edge removing devices are connected to each other. 4. A processing liquid application device for applying a processing liquid to a rectangular substrate, a peripheral edge removing device according to claim 1, the processing liquid applying device, and the peripheral edge removing device. And a transfer means for transferring the substrate between the processing devices.