JP2009000595A - Wet cleaning apparatus, and system for cleaning substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wet cleaning apparatus in which a substrate is cleaned effectively in a short time while reducing the amount of a cleaning liquid to be consumed. <P>SOLUTION: The wet cleaning apparatus, in which the substrate S is cleaned by supplying the cleaning liquid, is provided with: a liquid nozzle 20 having a hollow part 26 which has a supply port 24a of the cleaning liquid and is formed to have a pair of vertically opposed planes 22 arranged so that the substrate S can be made to pass through the hollow part 26; and a supply system for supplying a predetermined flow rate of the cleaning liquid to the liquid nozzle 20. The wet cleaning apparatus is constituted so that the space between the principal surface of the substrate S and any of the opposed planes 22 is kept in a liquid-tight state by the cleaning liquid to be supplied through the supply port 24a during the time to move the substrate S between the opposed planes 22. Ozone nanobubble water in the ozonic water of which minute air bubbles each having <10<SP>-6</SP>m diameter are incorporated is supplied from the supply system as the cleaning liquid. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wet cleaning apparatus that supplies a cleaning liquid to a substrate such as a thin film solar cell, an LCD, a glass substrate for PDP, and a semiconductor substrate to perform a predetermined cleaning process.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a wet cleaning apparatus that removes contaminants such as particles, organic contamination, and fats and oils generated in a manufacturing process by supplying a cleaning liquid to a substrate. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a wet cleaning apparatus of this type that cleans a substrate by supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate from a shower nozzle while transporting the substrate.
JP 2004-273984 A

  In an apparatus such as Patent Document 1, it is difficult to supply the cleaning liquid to the entire substrate without any spots at once. Generally, a large amount of cleaning liquid is supplied to the substrate while the substrate is stopped or while moving the substrate at a very low speed. To be done. Therefore, there is a problem that a large amount of cleaning liquid is consumed per substrate and the processing time is relatively long. In addition, in order to prevent the cleaning liquid from splashing outside, it is necessary to arrange the entire substrate in a sealed processing chamber, and thus there is a problem that the entire apparatus is easily increased in size.

  In recent years, a substrate cleaning system has been proposed in which a substrate is subjected to a process cleaning process including a combination of a plurality of types of processes including wet cleaning (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-209097). Is a potential issue. Therefore, it is necessary to solve this point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a first object thereof is a wet cleaning apparatus that can effectively clean a substrate in a short time while suppressing the consumption of cleaning liquid, and is advantageous for further downsizing. The second object is to reduce the size (space saving) of the substrate cleaning system including the wet cleaning apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a wet cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is a wet cleaning apparatus that performs a predetermined cleaning process by supplying a cleaning liquid to a main surface of a substrate transported in a horizontal posture, and includes a cleaning liquid supply port. And a nozzle member having an opposing surface that can be opposed to the main surface of the substrate at a predetermined interval, and supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid at a predetermined flow rate to the nozzle member. The cleaning liquid is supplied to a gap between the main surface and the opposing surface of the nozzle member to make the gap liquid-tight, and the supply means supplies the cleaning liquid containing microbubbles to the nozzle member. It is comprised so that it may supply (Claim 1).

  According to this apparatus, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the gap between the main surface of the substrate and the opposing surface of the nozzle member, so that the gap is liquid-tight. In this state, the main surface is moved by moving the substrate. The cleaning liquid is supplied to the whole. Therefore, the cleaning liquid can be supplied promptly without any spots on the entire main surface of the substrate. In addition, it is only necessary to supply a cleaning liquid that fills the gap between the facing surface and the main surface of the substrate. In addition, since the fine bubbles contained in the cleaning liquid exhibit a high particle removal effect, it is possible to reduce the amount of cleaning liquid used. It becomes possible. Further, since the cleaning liquid is supplied to the entire main surface of the substrate with the relative movement of the substrate with respect to the nozzle member, the size of the facing surface of the nozzle member is sufficient to face a part of the substrate in the substrate transport direction. The substrate can be cleaned with a compact configuration.

In this configuration, it is preferable that the cleaning liquid contains microbubbles having a diameter of less than 1 micron (10 ⁻⁶ m) as the microbubbles (Claim 2).

According to this configuration, the function of microbubbles (nanobubbles) having a diameter of less than 1 micron (10 ⁻⁶ m), that is, particles caused by pressure waves (shock waves) generated when microbubbles (nanobubbles) collapse (explode), etc. Effective for removing particles attached to the substrate by the function of removing bubbles, the function of capturing and agglomerating particles at the gas-liquid interface of bubbles, and the function of dispersion due to the electric repulsive force between the bubbles by aligning the polarities of the gas-liquid interface of bubbles And re-adhesion can be effectively prevented. Therefore, it is possible to dramatically improve the substrate cleaning effect.

In addition, it is more preferable that the cleaning liquid contains microbubbles having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁷ m (100 nm) as the microbubbles. When such a cleaning liquid is applied, the penetrating power to the substance is remarkably increased, and the internal pressure is increased as the bubbles are further miniaturized, and a higher energy pressure wave is generated at the time of collapse. Therefore, it becomes possible to further enhance the substrate cleaning effect.

  The cleaning liquid is preferably ozone water (Claim 3).

  According to this configuration, it becomes possible to effectively oxidize and decompose organic substances on the substrate surface. In particular, in the apparatus having the above-described structure for cleaning the substrate by setting the gap between the main surface of the substrate and the opposed surface of the nozzle member in a liquid-tight state with a cleaning liquid, the activity is maintained by the presence of ozone water in the gap. It becomes easy to obtain a high cleaning effect while maintaining the function of ozone water well.

  On the other hand, a substrate cleaning system according to the present invention applies a wet cleaning apparatus (described in any one of claims 1 to 3) as described above and a cleaning process different from the wet cleaning apparatus to a substrate. Thru | or other types of other washing | cleaning apparatuses (Claim 4).

  More specifically, when the wet cleaning apparatus is a first wet cleaning apparatus, as the other cleaning apparatus, a brush cleaning apparatus that performs brush cleaning on a substrate that has been cleaned by the first wet cleaning apparatus; By supplying a cleaning liquid different from the first wet cleaning apparatus to the substrate after the brush cleaning, a second wet cleaning apparatus for cleaning the substrate, and a cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate after the cleaning by the second wet cleaning apparatus is removed. And a liquid removal means (claim 5).

  According to such a configuration, the wet cleaning process (first), the brush cleaning process, the wet cleaning process (second process), and the liquid removal process are sequentially performed on the substrate transported in a horizontal posture. As a result of incorporating the above-described wet cleaning apparatus as the first wet cleaning apparatus, the wet cleaning process (first) can be efficiently performed, and the entire system is made into a substrate by taking advantage of its compact configuration. It becomes possible to make it compact in the transport direction. In this case, it is more preferable that the second wet cleaning apparatus further includes the above-described wet cleaning apparatus (described in any one of claims 1 to 3) (claim 6).

  According to the wet cleaning apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to effectively clean the substrate while suppressing the consumption of the cleaning liquid. In addition, since a compact configuration corresponding to a part of the substrate being transported can be achieved, it is advantageous in reducing the size of the apparatus.

  Further, according to the substrate cleaning system according to the present invention, since the above-described wet cleaning apparatus is incorporated, the substrate is subjected to process cleaning processing including a plurality of types of cleaning processing, while the entire system has a compact configuration. be able to.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a substrate cleaning system according to the present invention. The substrate cleaning system shown in this figure is a system incorporated in a production line for a glass substrate for a thin film solar cell, for example, and contaminates organic particles, oils and fats as well as particles adhering to a glass substrate S (hereinafter referred to as substrate S). Is to be removed.

  The substrate cleaning system has a chamber 1 that is substantially sealed for cleaning processing, and includes a plurality of cleaning units in the chamber 1. Specifically, a first wet cleaning unit 10, a brush cleaning unit 11, a second wet cleaning unit 12, and a liquid draining cleaning unit 13 are arranged in order from the upper process side (left side in the figure). In the chamber 1, transport rollers 2 are arranged at predetermined intervals. While the substrate S is transported in a horizontal posture along a transport path constituted by the transport rollers 2, the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S are arranged on the main surface ( That is, as a processing target surface), a predetermined cleaning process is sequentially performed in each of the processing units 10 to 13. In this example, the first wet cleaning unit 10 and the second wet cleaning unit 12 correspond to the wet cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

  The structure of each washing | cleaning part 10-13 is as follows. In the following description, “upstream side” and “downstream side” are based on the transport direction of the substrate S.

[1] First wet cleaning section 10
The first wet cleaning unit 10 includes a liquid nozzle 20 (nozzle member) for supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate S, an air nozzle 40 disposed on the downstream side thereof, a cleaning liquid supply system (supply means) for the liquid nozzle 20, And an air supply system for the air nozzle 40. As the cleaning liquid, ozone nanobubble water described later is used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid nozzle 20 has a hollow portion 26 having a rectangular section that is flat in the vertical direction and penetrates in the transport direction of the substrate S. By passing the substrate S through the hollow portion 26, the substrate S Is surrounded by a part (part in the transport direction), and ozone nanobubble water is supplied to the part.

  Specifically, a pair of upper and lower opposing surfaces 22 that can be opposed to each other with a predetermined gap between the substrate S and the upper and lower wall surfaces constituting the hollow portion 26 are provided, and the vicinity of the upstream ends of these opposing surfaces 22 Each is provided with a supply port 24a. These supply ports 24a communicate with the buffer portions 24 provided on both the upper and lower sides of the liquid nozzle 20, and thereby ozone water introduced into each buffer portion 24 is hollowed through the upper and lower supply ports 24a. It is the structure which can be supplied in 26.

  The interval h between the opposing surfaces 22 is more specifically determined so that the gap between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the opposing surface 22 is in a liquid-tight state during the passage of the substrate S due to the surface tension of ozone water. Is set based on the flow rate of ozone nanobubble water supplied to the liquid nozzle 20 so that a liquid pool is formed between the upper and lower opposing surfaces 22. In the embodiment, for example, the thickness t = 6 mm. The distance h with respect to the substrate S is set to 9 to 12 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ozone nanobubble water supply system includes a tank 30, a liquid supply pipe 32, and a liquid recovery pipe 33. Pure water stored in the tank 30 is supplied to the liquid supply pipe 32 by operating the pump 34. While the liquid is being fed through, ozone nano bubble water is generated on the way and supplied to the liquid nozzle 20, while the used ozone nano bubble water flowing down from the liquid nozzle 20 is returned to the tank 30 through the liquid recovery pipe 33. It has a configuration. The first wet cleaning unit 10 is separated from the brush cleaning unit 11 by the partition wall 1a described later. Therefore, the used ozone nanobubble water is a cleaning liquid (alkaline hydrogen water (alkaline hydrogen water (alkaline water)) used in the brush cleaning unit 11. It is recovered without mixing with hydrogen nanobubble water.

A gas dissolution module 35 and a nanobubble generator 36 are interposed in the liquid supply pipe 32 in this order from the tank 30 side. The gas dissolution module 35 is configured to dissolve pressurized ozone gas in pure water through a dissolution film (resin thin film), thereby generating ozone water in which ozone is dissolved to a saturation concentration with respect to pure water. On the other hand, the nanobubble generator 36 injects ozone gas into the ozone water generated by the gas dissolution module 35 to thereby generate nanobubbles (ozone gas nanobubbles; ozone bubbles having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁶ m, preferably less than 10 ⁻⁷ m. ). With this configuration, the first wet cleaning unit 10 supplies the substrate S with ozone nanovalve water (ozone water + ozone gas nanobubbles) containing tens of millions to millions of nanobubbles in approximately 1 ml as the cleaning liquid. Then, the substrate S is cleaned.

  A new liquid introduction pipe 37 and an old liquid outlet pipe 38 are connected to the tank 30, and pure water is constantly introduced into the tank 30 through the new liquid introduction pipe 37, while the pure water in the tank 30 exceeding a certain amount is supplied. The waste liquid is discharged through the old liquid outlet pipe 38 while allowing water to overflow.

  The air nozzle 40 simply removes ozone nanobubble water remaining on the upper surface of the substrate, and is disposed on the downstream side of the liquid nozzle 20 and above the transport roller 2. The air nozzle 40 has a slit-like air discharge port that extends continuously or intermittently in the width direction of the substrate S (direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction), and passes through the liquid nozzle 20 as shown in FIG. Then, high pressure air is blown obliquely downward from the upstream side to the downstream side of the upper surface of the substrate S coming out of the hollow portion 26.

  As an air supply system for the air nozzle 40, as shown in FIG. 1, an air supply pipe 42 communicating with an air supply source 44 is provided.

  The first wet cleaning unit 10 is isolated from other cleaning units 11 to 13 by a partition wall 1 a provided in the chamber 1 and is sucked by a suction means (not shown) through the liquid recovery pipe 33. Accordingly, the ozone generated due to the cleaning process in the first wet cleaning unit 10 is prevented from leaking to the outside.

[2] Brush cleaning unit 11
The brush cleaning unit 11 includes a roll brush 50 that is rotationally driven by a driving unit (not shown), a spray nozzle 52 that sprays cleaning liquid onto the roll brush 50, and a supply system of cleaning liquid to the spray nozzle 52. The roll brush 50 is brought into sliding contact with the substrate S to remove foreign matters such as particles adhering to the substrate S, thereby cleaning the substrate S. In the illustrated example, two roll brushes 50 are provided for cleaning the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate S, respectively.

  The spray nozzle 52 is disposed in the vicinity of each roll brush 50, and is configured to spray alkaline hydrogen water as a cleaning liquid onto the roll brush 50 to remove foreign substances (contaminants) attached to the roll brush 50. Yes. That is, the alkaline hydrogen water is mainly used for cleaning the roll brush 50 rather than cleaning the substrate S.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the supply system of alkaline hydrogen water to the spray nozzle 31 includes a tank 60, a liquid supply pipe 62, a liquid recovery pipe 63, etc., and hydrogen water stored in the tank 60 by the operation of the pump 64. Injecting a predetermined amount of ammonia water or alkali such as choline by an injection unit 66 interposed in the middle of the liquid supply pipe 62 while producing the alkali hydrogen water, While being supplied to the nozzle 52, the used alkaline hydrogen water is recovered in the tank 60 through the liquid recovery pipe 63 together with the later-described hydrogen water used in the second wet cleaning unit 12.

  An old liquid outlet pipe 68 is connected to the tank 60, and waste liquid is discharged through the old liquid outlet pipe 68 while the hydrogen water in the tank 60 exceeding a certain amount overflows. That is, a certain amount of hydrogen water that can be used for the production of the alkaline hydrogen water, that is, pH, is obtained by combining the hydrogen water used in the second wet cleaning unit 12 with the used alkaline hydrogen water and collecting it. Hydrogen water whose value is equal to or less than a predetermined value is stored in the tank 60.

  Although not shown, the tank 60 is provided with a pH sensor for detecting the pH value of the stored hydrogen water, and the injection unit 66 is configured to detect alkali water such as ammonia water based on the detection value of the pH sensor. Control injection volume. As a result, alkaline hydrogen water having a predetermined pH value is generated. In the present embodiment, the injection unit 66 is configured to generate alkaline hydrogen water having a pH of about 9 to 11, whereby the roll brush 50 is effectively cleaned. That is, in the brush cleaning of the substrate S, contaminants attached to the brush have a negative zeta potential. However, when alkaline hydrogen water (basic solution) is supplied to the roll brush 50 as described above, the charge on the brush surface is contaminated. To the same negative charge, the brush and contaminants repel and the contaminants attached to the roll brush 50 are effectively removed. Similarly, the substrate S is also negatively charged, and therefore, reattachment of the removed contaminants to the substrate S is effectively prevented.

  As will be described later, the second wet cleaning unit 12 uses hydrogen nanovalve water containing hydrogen nanobubbles as hydrogen water. Hydrogen nanobubbles have a relatively long life, and therefore, hydrogen water collected in the tank 60 after cleaning the substrate also includes many hydrogen nanovalves. Therefore, in the description of the brush cleaning unit 11, for the sake of convenience, the cleaning liquid has been described as alkaline hydrogen water, but actually, alkaline hydrogen nanovalve water including hydrogen nanovalves is used.

[3] Second wet cleaning section 12
The second wet cleaning unit 12 performs a finish cleaning process on the substrate S after the brush cleaning, and uses a liquid nozzle 70 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate S and a cleaning liquid supply system for the liquid nozzle 70. In the second wet cleaning unit 12, hydrogen nanobubble water is used as the cleaning liquid.

  Although not shown, the configuration of the liquid nozzle 70 is basically the same as that of the liquid nozzle 20 of the first wet cleaning unit 10. That is, the liquid nozzle 70 has a hollow section with a rectangular cross-section that is flat in the vertical direction and penetrates in the transport direction of the substrate S, and a part of the substrate S (in the transport direction) by passing the substrate S being transported through the hollow section. In this state, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the substrate S in the hollow portion. In the following description, the components common to the liquid nozzle 20 in the liquid nozzle 70 will be described using the same reference numerals as those of the liquid nozzle 20.

  As a supply system of the cleaning liquid to the liquid nozzle 70, a supply pipe 72 connected to a pure water supply source (not shown) is provided. Similar to the first wet cleaning unit 10, a gas dissolution module 73 and a nanobubble generator 74 are interposed in the supply pipe 72.

The gas dissolution module 73 generates hydrogen water by dissolving hydrogen gas in pure water through a dissolution film (resin thin film), and the nanobubble generator 73 generates hydrogen water in the hydrogen water generated by the gas dissolution module 73. It is a device that generates nanobubbles (hydrogen gas nanobubbles; microbubbles made of hydrogen gas having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁶ m, preferably less than 10 ⁻⁷ m) by injecting hydrogen gas. With this configuration, in the second wet cleaning section 12, hydrogen nanovalve water (hydrogen water + hydrogen gas nanobubble) in which tens of thousands to millions of nanobubbles are contained in approximately 1 ml as the cleaning liquid is applied to the substrate S. The substrate S is supplied and cleaned.

[4] Liquid drain cleaning unit 13
The liquid drain cleaning unit 13 includes a pair of air nozzles 80 for blowing high-pressure air from above and below the substrate S being transported, and an air supply system for supplying air to these air nozzles 80, and forms a so-called air knife. Thus, the cleaning liquid (hydrogen nanovalve water) remaining on the substrate S is removed.

  Each air nozzle 80 is provided on both upper and lower sides across the transport path of the substrate S, has a slit-like air discharge port continuous in the width direction of the substrate S, and the substrate S from the downstream side toward the upstream side. In contrast, the belt-like air is blown in an oblique direction (to form an air knife). The air supply system for the air nozzle 80 includes a supply pipe 82 communicating with the air supply source (not shown). The air supply pipe 82 is provided, for example, by branching from the air supply pipe 42 of the air nozzle 40 of the first wet cleaning unit 10.

  In the substrate cleaning system as described above, the substrate S is transported into the chamber 1 by driving the transport roller 2. When the front end of the substrate is detected by the substrate detection sensor 3 disposed at the chamber entrance as the substrate S is transported, the first wet cleaning unit 10 is driven. Thereafter, the first wet cleaning unit 10 is preset based on the transport speed of the substrate S. The cleaning units 11 to 13 are sequentially driven at the timing.

  When the first wet cleaning unit 10 is driven, the supply of the cleaning liquid (ozone nanobubble water) to the liquid nozzle 20 is started and the supply of air to the air nozzle 40 is started. As the substrate S is transported, the substrate S passes through the hollow portion 26 of the liquid nozzle 20 so that the cleaning liquid is supplied to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S from the supply ports 24a in the hollow portion 26. The substrate S is cleaned. Here, while the substrate S moves in the liquid nozzle 20, a liquid reservoir is formed between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the upper and lower opposing surfaces 22 of the hollow portion 26, as shown in FIG. As described above, the space between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the facing surface 22 is in a liquid-tight state. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid is promptly supplied to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S without any spots accompanying the movement. In particular, in the first wet cleaning unit 10 in which ozone nanobubble water is used as the cleaning liquid, ozone nanobubble water is supplied in a liquid-tight state to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S in this way, and thus the oxidative decomposition action of ozone can be achieved. The function of removing particles or the like of nanovalve water, which will be described later, is exhibited extremely effectively, and as a result, a high cleaning effect can be obtained in a short time passing through the liquid nozzle 20.

  In the liquid nozzle 20, the dimension in the width direction of the hollow portion 26 is set to be sufficiently larger than the substrate S. Therefore, while a liquid pool is formed between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the facing surface 22, the cleaning liquid is opened at the opening portion of the liquid nozzle 20 at both outer portions of the substrate S as shown in FIG. Will flow down through. That is, the activity of the liquid reservoir portions (ozone nanobubble water) formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S by flowing down from both ends of the opening portion of the liquid nozzle 20 while introducing a new cleaning liquid into the hollow portion 26 from the supply port 24a. Is maintained at a high level.

  Further, high pressure air is blown onto the upper surface of the substrate S through the liquid nozzle 20 by the air nozzle 40. As a result, the liquid is drained, and the flow of the cleaning liquid existing between the upper surface of the substrate S and the facing surface 22, that is, the flow to the downstream side in the transport direction accompanying the substrate transport, is suppressed. The liquid-tight state (liquid pool) between the opposing surfaces 22 is well maintained. In this embodiment, the air nozzle 40 is provided only corresponding to the upper surface side of the substrate S, but the air nozzle 40 may be similarly provided on the lower surface side.

  The substrate S that has been cleaned in the first wet cleaning section 10 is then carried into the brush cleaning section 11. In the brush cleaning unit 11, each roll brush 50 is driven to rotate, and the substrate S is cleaned by sliding the roll brush 50 against the upper and lower surfaces as the substrate S is transported. During the cleaning of the substrate S, alkaline hydrogen water (alkaline hydrogen nano-valve water) is sprayed from the spray nozzle 52 to each roll brush 50, thereby enhancing the effect of removing contaminants attached to the roll brush 50 as described above. The redeposition of the contaminated substrate S is prevented.

  The substrate S that has passed through the brush cleaning unit 11 is then carried into the second wet cleaning unit 12. Here, as in the first wet cleaning unit 10 described above, while the substrate S moves in the liquid nozzle 70, a cleaning liquid (between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the upper and lower opposing surfaces 22 in the liquid nozzle 70 is used. Hydrogen nanovalve water) is formed, whereby the gap between the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S and the facing surface 22 is brought into a liquid-tight state, and the substrate S is cleaned.

  The substrate S that has been cleaned by the second wet cleaning unit 12 is finally carried into the liquid draining cleaning unit 13 where high pressure air is blown onto the upper and lower surfaces thereof, so that the cleaning liquid adhered to the substrate S is discharged. (Hydrogen nanobubble water) is removed. Thus, a series of cleaning processes for the substrate S in the substrate cleaning system is completed.

  According to the substrate cleaning system as described above, since the wet cleaning units 10 and 12 are incorporated as the wet cleaning unit, the consumption of the cleaning liquid (ozone nano bubble water, hydrogen nano valve water) is effectively suppressed. The substrate S can be cleaned. That is, according to the wet cleaning unit 10 or the like, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the clearance between the main surface (upper and lower surfaces) of the substrate S and the facing surface 22 of the liquid nozzle 20, so that the clearance is liquid-tight. In this state, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the entire main surface by moving the substrate S. Therefore, as the substrate S moves, it is possible to supply the cleaning liquid promptly without any spots on the entire main surface of the substrate S, and the cleaning liquid sufficient to fill the gap between the facing surface 22 and the main surface of the substrate. Since it suffices to supply the cleaning liquid, the amount of the cleaning liquid used can be effectively suppressed as compared with the case where the cleaning liquid is supplied in a shower form.

In particular, the wet cleaning units 10 and 12 use a cleaning liquid containing nanobubbles that are microbubbles having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁶ m (preferably less than 10 ⁻⁷ m). ) Is a particle removal function by pressure waves (shock waves) generated when it collapses (explosion), a function of capturing and aggregating particles at the gas-liquid interface of the bubbles, and the polarity of the gas-liquid interface of the bubbles is aligned (the bubbles are negatively charged) By the function such as dispersion due to the electric repulsive force between the bubbles, particles adhering to the substrate are effectively removed, and the re-adhesion is effectively prevented, resulting in high in a short time. The cleaning effect is demonstrated. Therefore, this point greatly contributes to effectively cleaning the substrate S in a short time while suppressing the consumption of the cleaning liquid in the wet cleaning.

  In addition, the liquid nozzles 20 and 70 are compact because they suffice to surround a part of the substrate S in the substrate transport direction. Therefore, the liquid nozzles 20 and 70 occupy a small space compared to the case where the cleaning liquid is supplied to the entire substrate in a shower form. That's it. Therefore, the wet cleaning units 10 and 12 can be reduced in size, and the wet cleaning units 10 and 12 can be reduced in size, and the substrate cleaning system can also be reduced in size.

  The above-described substrate cleaning system is an example of a preferred embodiment of the substrate cleaning system according to the present invention, and the specific configuration thereof can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the first wet cleaning unit 10 of the above-described embodiment, ozone nanovalve water (ozone water + ozone gas nanobubbles) is generated as a cleaning liquid by providing the gas supply module 32 with the gas dissolution module 35 and the nanobubble generator 36. However, the gas dissolution module 35 may be omitted in order to simplify the apparatus configuration. The cleaning liquid in this case is nanobubble water (pure water + ozone gas nanobubble) in which ozone gas is injected into pure water. Actually, the ozone gas is dissolved in pure water, so that the concentration is low. Similar ozone nano valve water (ozone water + ozone gas nano bubbles) is generated and supplied to the substrate S.

The first wet cleaning unit 10 uses ozone water (ozone nanobubble water) as the cleaning liquid, and the liquid nozzle 20 uses hydrogen water (hydrogen nanobubble water) as the cleaning liquid. Of course, the type of cleaning liquid is other than this. It may be a thing. The wet cleaning units 10 and 12 use a cleaning liquid containing nanobubbles that are microbubbles having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁶ m. Of course, microbubbles other than nanobubbles, for example, microbubbles having a diameter of about 10 μm to several tens of μm. It is also possible to apply a cleaning liquid containing. However, according to the cleaning liquid containing nanobubbles that are microbubbles having a diameter of less than 10 ⁻⁶ m (preferably less than 10 ⁻⁷ m) as in the embodiment, when the microbubbles (nanobubbles) collapse (expand). A very high cleaning effect can be obtained by the generated pressure wave (shock wave), and in combination with functions such as capturing and agglomerating particles and dispersion due to the electric repulsive force between bubbles, a small amount of cleaning liquid can be used. The substrate S can be efficiently cleaned in a short time. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of the present application, it is effective to apply the cleaning liquid including the nanovalve as in the embodiment.

  The fine bubbles contained in the cleaning liquid may be fine bubbles of various gases such as air (air), oxygen, nitrogen, argon, chlorine, fluorine, etc. in addition to ozone and hydrogen. There is an effect. Further, for example, a cleaning liquid containing fine chlorine gas bubbles can be used for removing the metal thin film, and a cleaning liquid containing fine fluorine gas bubbles can be used for removing organic substances accompanying etching.

  Further, the substrate cleaning system of the embodiment has a configuration in which a first wet cleaning unit 10, a brush cleaning unit 11, a second wet cleaning unit 12, and a liquid drain cleaning unit 13 are provided. This is an example of a system for performing process cleaning, and the combination of cleaning units constituting the substrate cleaning system may be other than this. For example, a cleaning unit that performs dry cleaning such as ultraviolet irradiation processing and ionized gas spraying processing can be further incorporated as the cleaning unit.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the application example of this invention was demonstrated about the substrate cleaning system (wet cleaning apparatus) which targets the glass substrate for thin film solar cells, of course, the substrate cleaning system (wet cleaning apparatus) of this invention is demonstrated. Can also be applied as other substrate cleaning systems (wet cleaning devices) such as LCD and PDP glass substrates and semiconductor substrates.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a substrate cleaning system according to the present invention (a substrate cleaning system to which a wet cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is applied). It is sectional drawing of the liquid nozzle which shows the washing | cleaning state of the board | substrate in a 1st wet washing | cleaning part. It is a perspective view of the liquid nozzle which shows the washing | cleaning state of the board | substrate in a 1st wet washing | cleaning part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chamber 10 1st wet washing | cleaning part 11 Brush washing | cleaning part 12 2nd wet washing | cleaning part 13 Liquid removal washing | cleaning part 20,70 Liquid nozzle 40,80 Air nozzle 50 Roll brush 52 Spray nozzle S Substrate

Claims (6)

A wet cleaning apparatus that performs a predetermined cleaning process by supplying a cleaning liquid to a main surface of a substrate conveyed in a horizontal posture,
A nozzle member having a cleaning liquid supply port and having a facing surface that can be opposed to the main surface of the substrate at a predetermined interval; and a supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid at a predetermined flow rate to the nozzle member. The cleaning liquid is supplied to the gap between the main surface of the substrate and the facing surface of the nozzle member to make the gap liquid-tight, and the supply means includes the cleaning liquid containing microbubbles. Is supplied to the nozzle member. The wet cleaning apparatus according to claim 1,
The wet cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning liquid includes nanobubbles as microbubbles having a diameter of less than 1 micron. The wet cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The wet cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning liquid is ozone water. 4. A substrate comprising: the wet cleaning apparatus according to claim 1; and one or more types of other cleaning apparatuses that perform a cleaning process different from the wet cleaning apparatus on the substrate. Cleaning system. The substrate cleaning system according to claim 4, wherein
When the wet cleaning apparatus is the first wet cleaning apparatus, as the other cleaning apparatus, a brush cleaning apparatus that performs brush cleaning on the substrate cleaned by the first wet cleaning apparatus, and a substrate after brush cleaning On the other hand, there are provided a second wet cleaning apparatus for cleaning the substrate by supplying a cleaning liquid different from the first wet cleaning apparatus, and a liquid removing means for removing the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate after the cleaning by the second wet cleaning apparatus. A substrate cleaning system comprising: The substrate cleaning system according to claim 5, wherein
A substrate cleaning system comprising the wet cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 as the second wet cleaning apparatus.

Images