JP2004306035A - Thin film removing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the amount of solvent to be discharged in a device for dissolving and removing a film by discharging the solvent on a useless film on a substrate. <P>SOLUTION: A concave part 65 and a metal-made sheet 66 on an upper head 63 and a lower head 64 constitute a solvent holding part X. A discharge nozzle 67 is molded in the sheet 66. In the case of the pressure feed of the solvent from a solvent supplying source 71 to the solvent holding part X, the solvent is discharged from the nozzle 67 molded in the sheet 66 to the peripheral part of a substrate G in which a useless resist film R is dissolved and removed. There is little pressure loss in getting through the nozzle 67. The solvent can be discharged under a stable pressure even if the nozzle 67 is small, by which the amount of the solvent to be used can be reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a thin film removing apparatus used for removing an unnecessary resist film at an edge of a rectangular LCD substrate having a resist film formed on a surface, for example.

  In general, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a thin film or an electrode pattern of, for example, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is formed on a surface of a glass substrate by photolithography, similarly to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Predetermined processing is performed by technology. For example, a resist solution coating process of applying a resist solution to the surface of a substrate, an exposure process of exposing a formed resist film to a circuit pattern, and a developing process of developing the exposed substrate are performed.

  Here, when performing the resist liquid coating process, a so-called spin coating method is widely adopted. In this method, a substrate is held on a spin chuck provided in a processing container, and the substrate is rotated by the spin chuck in this state, whereby a resist solution comprising a solvent and a photosensitive resin supplied to the substrate surface is centrifuged. The resist is diffused by force to apply a resist film on the substrate surface with a uniform thickness.

  However, when the resist coating process is performed by the spin coating method, even if the film thickness is uniform immediately after the coating, the spin chuck stops rotating and the centrifugal force stops working. Due to the influence of the tension, the resist liquid at the peripheral portion of the substrate may be thickened so as to swell, or the resist liquid may flow to the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate to form an unnecessary film. If a non-uniform film is formed on the peripheral portion of the substrate as described above, the resist on the peripheral portion is not completely removed at the time of development of a circuit pattern or the like and remains, which adversely affects subsequent processing, In addition, there is a possibility that the remaining resist is peeled off during transportation and particles are generated.

  Therefore, conventionally, a process for removing an unnecessary film on the peripheral portion of the substrate using an apparatus called an edge remover for removing an unnecessary film on the peripheral portion of the substrate after the application of the resist solution is performed.

  The conventional removing device has a configuration as shown in FIG. The removing device 101 includes, for example, a nozzle head 102 having a substantially U-shaped vertical section formed by vertically facing an upper head component 102a and a lower head component 102b having an angle, and a base side of the nozzle head 102. And a suction port 103 provided at the bottom. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the edge of the substrate G is positioned in the processing space S between the upper head component 102a and the lower head component 102b. At this time, a needle nozzle 104 for discharging a solvent toward a portion from which an unnecessary film is removed is fixed. A solvent is supplied to each of the needle nozzles 104 at a predetermined pressure from a separately provided solvent supply source such as a tank 105 by pressure feeding with nitrogen gas.

The conventional needle nozzle 104 has a hollow structure in which a flow portion (not shown) having the same diameter as the discharge port is formed in a thin wire, and the diameter of the discharge port of the generally used needle nozzle 104 is used. Is about 260 μm. The pressure of the nitrogen gas applied to the tank 105 is about 1 kg / cm ² , whereby a solvent of about 40 cc / min is discharged from the needle nozzle 104 to the periphery of the front and back surfaces of the substrate G, and unnecessary resist is removed. The film was dissolved and removed. The discharged solvent and dissolved resist liquid are sucked from the suction port 103 and discharged to the outside.

  Then, when actually removing the unnecessary film on the peripheral portion of the substrate G, as shown in FIG. 13, the removing devices 101 are arranged at the four edges of the substrate G, respectively, and along the longitudinal direction of each side. The solvent is discharged from the needle nozzle 104 to the peripheral portion while moving the removing device 101 to remove unnecessary films on the peripheral portion on all sides.

  By the way, since the solvent used is highly volatile and its vapor diffuses to the surroundings, it is necessary to minimize the amount of the solvent from the viewpoint of safety. Reducing the amount of solvent used also reduces running costs, and is desirable from this point as well.

In this regard, in order to reduce the amount of the solvent used by the conventional technique, for example, the pressure of nitrogen gas is reduced to reduce the discharge amount. However, in the conventional needle nozzle 104, the flow in the needle nozzle 104 is reduced. The pressure loss due to the internal resistance of the road is large,
If the pressure of the pressurization by the nitrogen gas is reduced, the discharge pressure is greatly reduced, and the discharge from the suction port 103 cannot be performed to a predetermined edge by suction. There is a possibility that the unnecessary film may not be removed at a right angle by discharging in a state of being pulled obliquely to the side.

  Even if the diameters of the flow portion and the discharge port in the needle nozzle 104 are reduced, there is a limit to the reduction in processing, and the problem of pressure loss due to internal resistance still remains. It was difficult.

  From the above points, it has been difficult to simply reduce the amount of the solvent used in the conventional technique. The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and the solvent is applied to a predetermined peripheral portion of the substrate without changing the suction configuration from the suction port or changing the supply system itself by pressurizing nitrogen gas. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel thin film removing apparatus that can discharge at a right angle and that can significantly reduce the amount of solvent used to solve the problem.

  The major problems in the conventional technique are a pressure loss due to the use of the needle nozzle and a processing problem of forming a discharge hole having a small diameter. Therefore, the inventors have adopted a configuration in which the solvent is discharged without using such a needle nozzle.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a method for discharging a solvent from a solvent discharging member that covers at least a part of the peripheral portion of the unnecessary film on the peripheral portion of the substrate on which the thin film is formed. A solvent reservoir for storing a solvent supplied from a solvent supply source, wherein the solvent reservoir is formed in the solvent discharge member and an opening is formed in the substrate. A concave portion facing the substrate, and a metal thin plate which is closed in a liquid-tight manner and which faces the substrate in parallel with the opening, and a discharge hole communicating with the solvent reservoir is formed by drilling the thin plate. A thin film removing apparatus characterized in that:

  In this thin film removing apparatus, for example, the discharge member itself such as the nozzle head is provided with a solvent reservoir, so that the solvent supplied from the solvent supply source is buffered in the solvent reservoir and discharged from the discharge hole. Is done. Therefore, even if the distance between the discharge hole and the solvent reservoir is set short, the solvent is discharged at a stable pressure, and the pressure loss can be largely suppressed.

The solvent reservoir has a concave portion formed in the solvent discharge member and having an opening facing the substrate, and a metal thin plate facing the substrate in parallel with the substrate by closing the opening in a liquid-tight manner. Since the discharge hole communicating with the solvent reservoir is formed by drilling in the thin plate, a solvent reservoir having the above-mentioned effects can be easily realized. In addition, since the discharge hole is formed by drilling in a thin plate, the length of the discharge hole is equal to the thickness of the thin plate, and pressure loss due to resistance inside the discharge hole at the time of discharge can be almost eliminated. is there. Moreover, in forming the discharge hole, it is only necessary to form a hole in a metal thin plate, so that the process of forming the discharge hole is easy, and it is possible to form a discharge hole having an extremely small diameter as compared with the conventional case. is there. Therefore, even if the diameter of the discharge hole is reduced under the conventional discharge pressure to reduce the discharge amount of the solvent, the discharged solvent is not drawn to the suction port side.
If the diameter of the discharge hole is set to 200 μm or less, the effect of the present invention can be more remarkably enjoyed.

  Further, if the thin plate is made detachable with respect to the solvent discharging member, maintenance and replacement can be easily performed.

  By the way, since this kind of solvent has a high volatility, it evaporates to some extent when it is ejected. At that time, latent heat of evaporation lowers the surrounding temperature. In this case, temperature unevenness occurs in the peripheral portion of the substrate, and as a result, there is a possibility that the temperature unevenness causes transfer to the substrate. However, in this case, if at least a part of the thin plate facing the substrate and a part or all of the part except the discharge port is covered with a resin cover, the resin has a higher thermal conductivity than metal. , It is possible to suppress a decrease in temperature near the discharge port due to the latent heat of evaporation. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the transfer.

  If a plurality of discharge holes are formed, that is, if a plurality of discharge holes are connected to the solvent reservoir, the solvent can be discharged from each discharge hole at the same discharge pressure. Therefore, when a solvent discharging member such as a nozzle head is provided with a solvent storing portion, only one solvent storing portion is required. In other words, the solvent can be discharged from the plurality of discharge holes to the edge of the substrate from the plurality of discharge holes by one solvent reservoir, and the film can be more reliably removed.

  If the solvent discharging member is provided in a moving mechanism that moves along the periphery of the substrate, unnecessary films on the peripheral portion of the substrate can be removed in a straight line parallel to the sides of the substrate by moving the moving mechanism. is there.

  In this case, when forming a plurality of discharge holes, a plurality of discharge holes may be formed in the moving mechanism along the moving direction. That is, a plurality of ejection holes may be formed, and the plurality of ejection holes may be provided at predetermined intervals from the front to the rear in the moving direction of the moving mechanism. By moving the solvent ejecting member in and out of the peripheral edge of the substrate by the moving mechanism, for example, an unnecessary film region having a certain width is sequentially removed from the inside to the outside of the edge portion. It is possible to continue. Of course, even in the case of a single discharge hole, it is possible to remove unnecessary films sequentially from the inside to the outside by moving the solvent discharge member in and out of the periphery of the substrate, but it is possible to remove the film more reliably. It is possible.

  Further, in each of the above thin film removing apparatuses, if a back surface cleaning mechanism facing the back surface of the substrate is provided, the back surface of the substrate can be simultaneously and individually cleaned.

According to the present invention, the pressure loss at the time of solvent discharge can be greatly suppressed, so that it is possible to reduce the amount of solvent used by reducing the diameter of the discharge hole while maintaining the discharge pressure at the same level as before. It is. Further, even if there is a suction port near the discharge port, it is possible to prevent the discharge direction from being pulled toward the suction port. Further, it is possible to almost eliminate the pressure loss due to the resistance inside the ejection hole at the time of ejection. In addition, it is easy to form a discharge hole having a very small diameter. When covered with a resinous cover, it is possible to suppress the temperature drop around the ejection holes and suppress the occurrence of transfer on the substrate based on the temperature difference. In addition, one solvent reservoir can be used to discharge a solvent from a plurality of discharge holes to the edge of the substrate at the same discharge pressure, or to remove unnecessary films on the periphery of the substrate in a straight line parallel to the sides of the substrate. It is possible.
For example, by moving the solvent ejection member in and out of the peripheral edge of the substrate by the moving mechanism, it becomes possible to remove an unnecessary film having a width along the peripheral edge.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment is provided in a removing section in a coating / peripheral portion removing device incorporated in a coating and developing apparatus. FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the coating and developing apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the coating and developing apparatus as viewed from above.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the coating and developing apparatus 1 includes, for example, a loader unit 2 for loading and unloading a rectangular LCD substrate G, a first processing unit 3 for processing the substrate G, and a first processing unit 3 for processing the substrate G. A second processing unit 5 connected via the processing unit 3 and the interface unit 4; and an interface for exchanging the substrate G between the second processing unit 5 and an exposure apparatus (not shown). And a unit 7.

  The loader unit 2 is provided with a cassette mounting table 10. The cassette mounting table 10 includes, for example, cassettes 11 for storing unprocessed substrates G, cassettes 12 for storing processed substrates G, Numerals 12 can be placed in a line with the entrance of the substrate G facing the first processing unit 3 side. Further, the loader unit 2 is provided with a sub-transport device 13 capable of transporting a substrate.

  The sub-transport device 13 is movable in the direction along the transport rail 13a (Y direction) and in the direction of storing the substrate G in each of the cassettes 11 and 12 (Z direction; vertical direction), and is also rotatable in the θ direction. It is configured so that

  In the first processing unit 3, various processing apparatuses for performing a predetermined processing on the substrate G are arranged on both sides of the transport rail 16 of the main transport unit 15. That is, on one side of the transport rail 16, a scrubber cleaning device 17 for cleaning the substrate G taken out of each of the cassettes 11, 11 and a developing device 18 for performing a developing process on the substrate G are arranged side by side. On the other side of the transport rail 16, an ultraviolet ozone cleaning device 19, cooling processing devices 20 and 21 for cooling the substrate G, and a heat processing device 22 for heating the substrate G are appropriately arranged in multiple stages. The loading and unloading of the substrate G to and from these various processing apparatuses is performed by a transfer arm 15 a provided in the main transfer device 15. The interface unit 4 formed between the first processing unit 3 and a second processing unit 5 described later is provided with a transfer table 23 on which the substrate G can be placed.

  In the second processing unit 5, a coating / periphery removing unit 27 is disposed on one side of the main transport unit 25 across the transport rail 26, and on the other side of the substrate G on the other side across the transport rail 26. A hydrophobizing device 28 for performing a hydrophobizing process, a cooling device 29 for cooling the substrate G, and heating devices 30 and 30 are arranged in multiple stages. The main transfer device 25 is provided with a transfer arm 25a for transferring the substrate G into and out of various processing devices belonging to the second processing unit 5.

  In order to adjust the tact time between the coating and developing processing apparatus 1 and an exposure apparatus (not shown), cassettes 31 and 31 for temporarily storing and waiting the substrates G, and the substrates G can be placed on the interface section 7. A transfer table 32, a cassette 31, 31, a transfer table 32, and a sub-transport device 33 capable of transporting the substrate G to the exposure apparatus are provided.

  The coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 is configured as described above. Next, details of the coating / peripheral portion removing device 27 will be described. In the coating / periphery removing unit 27, a resist coating unit 41 and a peripheral removing unit 51 are arranged adjacent to each other in a casing 27a. The resist coating unit 41 supplies a resist liquid by moving a resist nozzle 44 above the center of the substrate G sucked and held by the spin chuck 43 in a rotating cup 42 serving as a processing container, and rotates the substrate G by the spin chuck 43. Thereby, the resist liquid on the substrate G is diffused and applied. The substrate G coated with the resist liquid in this manner is transported to the peripheral edge removing unit 51 by a pair of transport arms 46 that move along the transport rail 45.

  The peripheral portion removing unit 51 has a mounting table 52 on which the transported substrate G can be mounted, and is arranged so that the vicinity of each corner of the substrate G mounted on the mounting table 52 is set as a home position. And a thin film removing device 61 according to the present embodiment. Basically, each of the thin film removing devices 61 has the same configuration. Each thin film removing device 61 is attached to a moving mechanism M that can move along each side of the substrate G, that is, along each peripheral edge.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the thin film removing apparatus 61 according to the present embodiment includes a substantially angled upper head 63 and a lower head 64 serving as a solvent discharging member sandwiching a suction member 62 having a suction port 62a vertically. Are opposed to each other, and a space sandwiched between the upper head 63 and the lower head 64 forms a processing space S. On the lower surface side of the upper head 63, a concave portion 65 is formed which is open to a surface facing the lower head 64, that is, a portion facing the processing space S into which the substrate G is inserted later.

  A thin plate 66 made of metal, for example, stainless steel, which closes the opening of the concave portion 65 in a liquid-tight manner is attached to the lower surface of the upper head 63, and the lower surface side of the thin plate 66 except for a discharge hole 67 formed in the thin plate 66. A cover 68 made of a synthetic resin is attached to cover the portion. Since the thin plate 66 and the cover 68 are fixed to the upper head 63 by bolts 69a and embedded nuts 69b, the thin plate 66 and the cover 68 are detachable from the upper head 63.

  In the present embodiment, the thickness of the thin plate 66 is 0.2 mm, and the discharge hole 67 is a circular hole having a diameter of 50 μm. The shape of the discharge hole 67 is not limited to such a circular hole, and any shape such as a triangular shape, a square shape, or another polygonal shape can be adopted. In addition, the discharge holes 57 are formed in a row at a predetermined pitch D along the side direction of the substrate G, that is, a total of four discharge holes are formed in the direction along the periphery of the substrate G. In the present embodiment, D is set to 4 mm. Of course, the number of the ejection holes 67 and the pitch D can be arbitrarily set.

  The space formed by the concave portion 65 and the thin plate 66 constitutes a solvent reservoir X. The solvent is supplied to the solvent reservoir X from a solvent supply source 71 such as an external tank by pressurizing nitrogen gas or other inert gas so that the solvent passes through the flow path 72 and the solvent reservoir X. It is supplied under a predetermined pressure through the section 73. The supply section 73 can be set at an arbitrary position of the upper head 63 as long as it can supply the solvent to the solvent storage section X.

  The lower head 64 also has exactly the same configuration as the upper head 63. The solvent reservoir X is formed by a thin plate 66 in which a concave portion 65 and a discharge hole 67 are formed. 68. The solvent reservoir X is pressurized with a nitrogen gas or the like from a solvent supply source 71 and the solvent is sent under a predetermined pressure through a flow path 72 and a supply unit 73.

  The suction member 62 communicates with a suction means (not shown) such as a vacuum generator, and the atmosphere in the processing space S is suctioned and exhausted from the suction port 62a by suction by the suction means.

  As described above, the four thin film removing devices 61 according to the above configuration are movable along the edges of the respective sides of the substrate G by driving the moving mechanism M, and are further movable in the vertical direction and the front and rear directions with respect to the substrate G. It can be moved in any direction.

  The thin film removing apparatus 61 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, the operation and the like will be described. First, the substrate G to be processed is loaded from the cassette 11 of the cassette mounting table 10 in the coating and developing apparatus 1. Is taken out by the sub-transport device 13, and then the substrate G is transferred to the transport arm 15 a of the main transport device 15. Thereafter, the substrate G is sequentially transported to the ultraviolet / ozone cleaning device 19, the scrubber cleaning device 17, and the hydrophobizing device 28, where predetermined processing is sequentially performed. Then, the substrate G that has been subjected to the hydrophobizing process is transferred to the coating / periphery removing unit 27 by the transfer arm 25a.

  In the coating / peripheral part removing device 27, first, a resist liquid is applied to the substrate G by a spin coating method in the resist coating unit 46. Thereafter, the substrate G on which the film made of the resist solution, that is, the resist film is formed, is transferred by the transfer arm 46 to the mounting table 52 of the peripheral edge removing unit 51.

  When the substrate G is mounted on the mounting table 52, each thin film removing device 61 moves one end of the edge of each side of the substrate G to each processing space S by the movement of the moving mechanism M as shown in FIG. And move it to the predetermined start position. Taking the thin film removing apparatus 61 on the near side shown in FIG. 4 as an example, the apparatus moves to the START position shown in the figure.

Thereafter, when the solvent is supplied from the solvent supply source 71 to the solvent reservoir X at a predetermined pressure, for example, a pressure of 1 kg / cm ² in a state where the atmosphere in the processing space S is sucked from the suction port 62a, FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the solvent is discharged from the discharge holes 67 of the upper head 63 and the lower head 64 to the unnecessary resist films on the front and back surfaces of the peripheral portion of the substrate G in a right angle and in a thin thread form, and the unnecessary resist films are formed. R is dissolved away. The discharged solvent, dissolved resist solution, mist of each solution and the like are discharged from the suction port 62a. Then, by moving each thin film removing device 61 along each side of the substrate G by the moving mechanism M, unnecessary resist films on the periphery of each side of the substrate G are dissolved and removed linearly along the thin film removing device 61. It is being done. According to the example shown in FIG. 4, by moving the thin film removing device 61 along the periphery from the START position to the END position, the unnecessary resist film R on the periphery is removed.

  The removal of the resist film may be performed by reciprocating the thin film removing device 61 several times while shifting the solvent discharge position toward the edge of the substrate G. In this case, in FIG. 4, after the resist film is separated by moving the thin film removing device 61 from the START point to the END point, the discharge of the solvent is shifted several times in the direction indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG. The operation to move from to the END point is performed. That is, every time the movement from the START point to the END point is performed, the discharge position of the solvent is appropriately shifted in the direction indicated by the dotted arrow. In this case, for example, in the case of the thin film removing device 61 on the near side in FIG. 4, an operation of shifting the thin film removing device 61 itself for each of the movements may be performed toward the near side in the X direction.

  In such dissolution and removal, the solvent to be discharged is discharged from the solvent reservoir X through a discharge hole 67 formed in the thin plate 66 in a direction perpendicular to the resist film of the substrate G. Since there is almost no discharge, the liquid is discharged at the stable predetermined pressure. Therefore, even if the atmosphere is suctioned from the suction port 62a, the resist is discharged almost vertically, so that the unnecessary resist film R can be dissolved and removed in a suitable shape.

  Moreover, since the solvent reservoir X also functions as a header, the same amount of solvent is discharged at the same pressure from each of the discharge holes 67 formed at four locations in the upper head 63 and the lower head 64, respectively. . Accordingly, the dissolving and removing operation of the unnecessary unnecessary resist film R can be performed from this point.

In addition, since the diameter of the discharge hole 67 is 50 μm, which is much smaller than the conventional one, the amount of the solvent to be discharged under the same discharge pressure as the conventional one is naturally reduced. According to the knowledge of the inventors, when a conventional needle nozzle having a diameter of 260 μm was used, a solvent of 40 cc / min was discharged at a discharge pressure of 1 kg / cm ^2. According to the discharge hole 67 having the diameter, the amount of the solvent to be discharged can be reduced to about 1/10 at the discharge pressure of 1 kg / cm ² .

  By the way, in the present embodiment, since stainless steel is used as the thin plate, it is possible to form the discharge hole 67 having an extremely small diameter. However, since stainless steel has a high heat transfer coefficient, it has a high heat transfer coefficient. It is conceivable that the solvent is easily cooled by the latent heat of evaporation when the solvent evaporates, and sometimes the surrounding atmosphere in the processing space S is cooled to generate a temperature difference from the atmosphere, and the temperature difference causes transfer to the substrate G. Can be However, in the present embodiment, since the cover 68 made of synthetic resin covers the thin plate 66, the transfer based on the temperature difference due to the latent heat of evaporation is prevented.

  Further, since the thin plate 66 and the cover 66 are fixed by bolts 69, they can be freely attached to and detached from the upper head 63 and the lower head 64, so that maintenance, cleaning, replacement and the like can be easily performed. In addition, in terms of structure, the solvent reservoir X can be simply configured by forming the concave portions 65 in the upper head 63 and the lower head 64 and closing the opening liquid-tightly with a thin plate 66 having a discharge hole 67 formed therein. Manufacturing is also easy.

The present invention is, of course, not limited to the above embodiments, and various embodiments can be proposed without changing the gist of the invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the discharge holes 67 are provided at predetermined intervals on a straight line along the moving direction of the thin film removing device 61, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration as shown in FIG.

  That is, in the configuration shown in FIG. 9, the first to fourth discharge holes 67 a to 67 d are provided so as to gradually approach the outer edge 74 of the substrate G as going from the front to the rear in the traveling direction of the thin film removing device 61. ing. In such a configuration, first, the resist liquid film is cut by discharging the solvent from the first discharge holes 67a, and then the outer edge of the substrate G is discharged by discharging the solvent from the second to fourth discharge holes 67a to 67d. 74 can be removed. That is, by moving once from the START point to the END point, it becomes possible to remove unnecessary wide resist films in a lump.

  According to such a configuration, since the solvent is not sprayed only on the same portion, it is possible to prevent the edge of the residual resist film from rising due to swelling. That is, in a case where the solvent is hard to evaporate from the resist liquid film as in the case of the LCD substrate G, if the solvent is continuously sprayed on the same portion, the solvent is absorbed by the resist liquid film in this portion, which may cause swelling. On the other hand, the above configuration can prevent such a phenomenon from occurring. Further, it is not necessary to move the thin film removing device 61 itself in a direction orthogonal to the side of the substrate G as in the above-described embodiment.

  In order to prevent this swelling, it is effective to provide a reduced-pressure drying device 80 (DV) between the resist coating unit 41 and the peripheral part removing unit 51 as shown in FIG. The reduced-pressure drying device 80 receives the LCD substrate G coated with the resist solution from the resist coating unit 41 via the arm 46, and reduces the atmosphere around the LCD substrate G to remove the solvent contained in the resist solution. Has the function of volatilizing and drying this resist solution

  The substrate G dried under reduced pressure by the reduced-pressure drying device 80 is transferred to the peripheral portion removing unit 51 by the arm 46. Since the resist film on the substrate G has already been dried to some extent, when the resist film is removed using the thin film removing device 61, there is an effect that swelling is less likely to occur.

  In the above-described embodiment, the upper and lower heads 63 and 64 are formed in the same shape. However, it is not necessary that the upper and lower heads 63 and 64 have the same shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, only the lower head 64 may be formed to protrude longer, and the ejection holes 83 and 84 may be added to the protruding side. According to such a configuration, the back surface of the substrate G can be cleaned in a wider range.

  Further, the solvent does not have to be discharged from the upper head 63 and the lower head 64 at the same timing. For example, for the back surface cleaning, the START point and the END point in FIG. The solvent may be discharged from the lower head 64 toward the back surface of the substrate G only near the point.

  Although the above embodiment has been embodied as an apparatus for removing an unnecessary resist film on the periphery of an LCD substrate, the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of thin film formed on other types of substrates may be used. Can be applied to an apparatus that removes the solvent by discharging a solvent, that is, a solution for dissolving the thin film.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a coating and developing apparatus employing a thin film removing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the coating and developing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the inside of a coating / peripheral-portion removing device having the thin-film removing device according to the present embodiment. It is a perspective view of a peripheral part removal part explaining operation of a thin film removal device concerning this embodiment. It is a longitudinal section of a thin film removing device concerning this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the thin film removing apparatus according to the present embodiment when an unnecessary resist film on the substrate is removed. FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a main part of the thin film removing apparatus of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the positions of the ejection holes are shifted from the front to the rear in the moving direction of the thin film removing apparatus toward the edge of the substrate. It is a top view which shows the inside of a peripheral part removal apparatus which has a reduced-pressure drying apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the longitudinal cross section of the thin film removal apparatus of the structure in which the lower head protruded from the upper head. It is a longitudinal section of a thin film removing device concerning a conventional technology. It is explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of the thin film removal apparatus concerning a prior art. You.

Explanation of reference numerals

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 coating / developing device 27 coating / peripheral portion removing device 51 peripheral portion removing portion 61 thin film removing device 62 suction member 62 a suction port 63 upper head 64 lower head 65 concave portion 66 thin plate 67 discharge hole 68 cover 69 bolt 71 solvent supply source 72 flow Road 73 Supply unit G Substrate S Processing space X Solvent reservoir

Claims (8)

An apparatus for removing an unnecessary film by discharging a solvent from a solvent discharging member covering at least a part of the peripheral portion of the unnecessary film on the peripheral portion of the substrate on which the thin film is formed,
The solvent discharging member is provided with a solvent reservoir for storing a solvent supplied from a solvent supply source,
A recess formed in the solvent discharging member and having an opening facing the substrate;
A metal sheet facing the substrate in parallel with the opening closed in a liquid-tight manner,
A thin film removing apparatus, wherein a discharge hole communicating with the solvent reservoir is formed by drilling in the thin plate. 2. The thin film removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin plate is detachable from the solvent discharging member. 3. The thin film according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the thin plate facing the substrate and a part or all of the part excluding the discharge holes is covered with a resin cover. Removal device. 4. The thin film removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the discharge hole is 200 [mu] m or less. 5. The thin film removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of discharge holes are formed. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the solvent discharging member is provided in a moving mechanism that moves along a peripheral edge of the substrate. 7. The thin film removing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of discharge holes are formed, and the plurality of discharge holes are provided at predetermined intervals from the front to the rear in the moving direction by the moving mechanism. . 8. The thin film removing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a back surface cleaning mechanism facing the back surface of the substrate.

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