CN1577738A - Single-line arrangement development processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an in-line developing treatment device which does not increase the length of the conveying line and does not cause uneven development. For the substrate (W) on which the exposed resist film is formed on the surface, the developer is supplied to the surface in the developer supply part (2), and the development reaction is carried out while being transported, and then the developer is recovered in the developer recovery part (4). ), the developer is recovered in the rinse solution supply and recovery unit (6), and the cleaning solution is recovered in the rinse solution supply and recovery unit (6), and finally sent to the drying unit (8). In the process of this series of development processing, when the substrate enters the processing part on the downstream side, the standby part before the processing part, for example, in the case where the processing part is the developer solution recovery part (4), before it In the standby part (3), the roller (10a) is repeatedly rotated forward and reverse, and the substrate (W) moves back and forth. As a result, on the back surface of the substrate (W), the portion in contact with the roller (10a) always moves without stopping at one position, and the temperature distribution of the substrate is uniform.

Description

In-line developing processing device and developing processing method

technical field

The present invention relates to an in-line developing treatment device and method for continuously performing processes such as supplying developing solution, recovering developing solution, and rinsing a substrate such as a glass substrate.

Background technique

When forming a resist film of a predetermined pattern on a glass substrate such as a liquid crystal substrate, the resist film formed on the surface of the glass substrate is exposed to a predetermined pattern, and only the predetermined pattern is left (or removed) by development. resist film.

When performing the above-mentioned development treatment, firstly, a developer is supplied and applied to the exposed resist film surface, and a development reaction is carried out within a predetermined time period. After the reaction is completed, the developer is collected or discarded, and then dried after a rinsing process. Furthermore, an in-line developing method in which the above-mentioned developing step is carried out while conveying the substrate by rollers is known (Patent Document 1).

In addition, it has been proposed to dispose nozzles for ejecting temperature-regulated air at intervals in the front, rear, left, and right sides of the front and rear surfaces of the glass substrate (Patent Document 2).

[Patent Document]

Patent Document 1: Paragraph [0002] of JP-P11-204411 Bulletin

Patent Document 2: Paragraphs [0002] to [0006] of JP-A-2002-72492

Contents of the invention

In the above-mentioned development process, the time required for the supply of the developer, the time required for the development reaction, the time required for the recovery of the developer, and the time required for rinsing are different from each other. , the process with the longest time needs to be allocated with other processes. For this reason, tact time is adjusted once the substrate stops at a predetermined position on the transport line.

The rollers do not rotate while the substrate is stopped. For this reason, a state in which the rollers are in contact with a predetermined position on the back surface of the substrate and not in contact with other positions is continued for a predetermined time. If the surface temperature of the roller is different from the ambient air temperature, a temperature difference is generated on the surface of the substrate between the part that is in contact with the roller and the part that is not in contact with it, so that the volatilization speed of the developer changes locally, and under its influence, the surface There are differences in the speed of resist development chemistry, resulting in non-uniform development.

In particular, as the rollers, there may be used a transfer line in which rollers whose length in the axial direction is shorter than the width of the substrate are arranged in a staggered manner. water droplets, so development unevenness is more noticeable.

Furthermore, in the method provided by Patent Document 2, a new problem of rolling up particles and adhering to the substrate surface arises. In particular, with the current increase in the size of glass substrates, occurrence of unevenness has become a major problem.

Conversely, even when the temperature of the roller is the same as that of the surrounding air, the problem of uneven development occurs due to the difference in heat transfer coefficient between the air and the roller.

In addition, if the substrate is not stopped, the problem caused by the roller contacting the specific position of the substrate for a predetermined time can be eliminated, but the transfer line of this part must be increased, so the scale of the device is large.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a kind of one-and-row type development treatment device is provided, and a developer solution supply part for applying developer solution to the substrate surface is provided in the middle of a conveying line composed of a plurality of rollers, and the developer solution supply part Compared with setting the developer recovery, rinsing or drying on the downstream side along the conveying line, a standby section is provided between the developer supply section and the next process section, and the parts that constitute the standby section can be rotated forward and reverse. scroll wheel.

The rollers have the same diameter in the axial direction so as to continuously contact the back surface of the substrate in the axial direction.

With the above structure, according to the in-line development processing method of the present invention, even if the processing time of each process is different, the development can be performed while continuously changing the contact position of the roller and the back surface of the substrate without stopping the substrate.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1(a) is an overall plan view of a developing device according to the present invention, and Fig. 1(b) is a side view thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of a standby unit.

Fig. 3(a) is an overall plan view of another embodiment of a developing device according to the present invention, and Fig. 3(b) is a side view of the other embodiment.

The reference signs are explained as follows:

1: Conveying line, 2: Developer supply section, 3, 5, 7: Standby section, 4: Developer recovery section, 5: Standby section, 6: Rinse supply and recovery section, 8: Dryer section, 10, 10a : Roller, W: Substrate

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b) are a plan view and a side view thereof, respectively, of a developing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a standby portion, and FIG. 3(a) and FIG. 3(b) are A plan view and a side view thereof according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The in-line developing device is arranged in sequence from the upstream side along the substrate conveying line 1 with a developer solution supply unit 2, a standby unit 3, a developer solution recovery unit 4, a standby unit 5, a rinse solution supply/recovery unit 6, and a standby unit 7. In the drying section 8, a plurality of rollers (cylindrical rollers) 10 constituting the conveying line 1 are spaced at equal intervals and their axes are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the substrate.

In addition, in the illustrated example, a standby unit is provided before various components such as the developer solution recovery unit 4, the rinse solution supply unit/recovery unit 6, and the drying unit 8, but the standby unit may not be provided before all the processes. , and set the standby section before one of the processes.

A pair of slit nozzles 21 for supplying the developer are arranged on the developer supply unit 2 , a slit nozzle 41 for sucking and recovering the developer is arranged on the developer recovery unit 4 , and a rinser is arranged on the rinse solution supply and recovery unit 6 . Liquid supply nozzle 61 and recovery nozzle 62. In addition, instead of providing the slit nozzle 41 for recovering the developer, a mechanism for dropping the developer applied on the surface by slightly inclining or bending the substrate may be provided.

The roller 10 is a continuous type roller provided slightly longer than the width of the substrate W and has the same diameter at all locations along the axis, and is in contact with the rear surface of the glass substrate W. Furthermore, the rollers 10a provided on the standby parts 3, 5, and 7 among the rollers can rotate forward and reverse.

As described above, the substrate W on which the exposed resist film is formed on the surface is supplied with the developer solution to the surface of the resist film in the developer solution supply part 2, and the development chemical reaction is carried out while being transported, and then the developer solution recovery part 4 The developing solution is recovered in the rinsing solution supply and recovery section 6, and the cleaning and cleaning solution are recovered in the rinse solution supply and recovery section 6, and finally sent to the drying section 8.

In the course of this series of development processes, when the substrate enters the processing section on the downstream side, the standby section before the processing section, for example, when the processing section is the developer solution recovery section 4, waits before it. In the section 3, the roller 10a is repeatedly rotated forward and reverse, and the substrate W moves back and forth as shown in FIG. 2 . As a result, on the back surface of the substrate W, the portion in contact with the roller 10a always moves without stopping at one position, and the temperature distribution of the substrate is uniform.

Since the temperature distribution of the substrate is uniform, development can be performed uniformly.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , in order to change the development start position according to the length of the development time. On the other hand, a plurality of developer solution supply parts are arranged in parallel. For example, when the developing time needs to be 120 seconds, the developer is filled in the developer supply part 2, and the developer is directly passed through the developer supply part 2' to the developer recovery part 4 as it is. In addition, when the developing time needs to be 60 seconds, the developing solution is filled in the developing solution supplying part 2' directly through the developing solution supplying part 2. Since there is no need to worry about development unevenness at the time of the end of the development process, in another embodiment, a new standby unit is not provided, and the roller 10a of the developer solution recovery unit 4 is rotated forward and backward so that the standby unit is also used. With such a configuration, the overall size of the processing device may be small.

As described above, according to the in-line developing device of the present invention, since the contact position between the back surface of the substrate and the roller is changed by always rotating the roller, the temperature distribution on the back surface of the substrate is uniform, and development unevenness and line width variation can be performed. High-precision development processing.

In addition, since the rollers can be rotated forward and backward in the standby section, that is, since the substrate is reciprocated without stopping the substrate, an efficient in-line developing device can be configured compactly and efficiently without extending the entire length of the production line.

Furthermore, if the developer solution recovery unit and the standby unit are used together, further miniaturization of the apparatus can be achieved.

Claims (4)

1, a kind of word order formula development processing apparatus, in this word order formula development processing apparatus, the developer solution supply unit that developer solution is put on substrate surface is set in the way of transporting line that constitutes by a plurality of rollers, compare with this developer solution supply unit along transporting line and survey in the downstream time operation handling part is set, it is characterized in that, between described developer solution supply unit and inferior operation handling part, standby portion is set, can positive and negative rotation constitutes the roller of this standby portion.

2, a kind of word order formula development processing apparatus, in this word order formula development processing apparatus, the developer solution supply unit that developer solution is put on substrate surface is set in the way of transporting line that constitutes by a plurality of rollers, compare with this developer solution supply unit along transporting line time operation handling part is set in the downstream, it is characterized in that, described operation handling part is the developer solution recoverer, can positive and negative rotation constitutes the roller of this developer solution supply unit.

3, word order formula development processing apparatus according to claim 1 and 2 is characterized in that described roller has identical diameter on direction of principal axis, so that contact with substrate back continuously on direction of principal axis.

4, a kind of word order formula developing method, in word order formula developing method, the line that transports that constitutes by a plurality of rollers transports substrate and supplies with developer solution simultaneously, when side is transported substrate downstream, reclaim developer solution then, it is characterized in that during the recovery of the supply of carrying out described developer solution, developer solution and rinsing, substrate being moved continuously and not stopping.

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