JP3386655B2 - Coating device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for forming a coating film such as a photoresist solution on various substrates such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for liquid crystal displays.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional coating apparatus of this type includes a stage 101 for vacuum-adsorbing a substrate W and a slit-shaped supply port 102 that moves along the substrate W on the stage 101. The coating head 103 is provided, and the coating film is formed on the substrate W by moving the coating head 103 at a constant speed while supplying the coating liquid from the slit-shaped supply port 102.

A solvent pot 104 containing a solvent S for drying prevention is vertically movable at a standby position on the terminal side in the moving direction of the coating head 103, and the work of forming the coating film is completed. When the coating head 103 moves to the standby position, the solvent pot 104 rises and the side of the supply port 102 of the coating head 103 is placed in the solvent atmosphere so that the coating liquid existing in the supply port 102 is prevented from drying. Has become.

In the case where the solvent pot 104 is not provided, the coating solution existing in the supply port 102 of the coating head 103 is dried and the supply port 102 is dried when the waiting time becomes long.
Since the supply of the coating liquid from the hindrance may be hindered, for example, the scraping member 105 made of resin or the like as shown in FIG.
Scraping member 1 immediately before actuating 3 to form a coating film
05 is moved along the supply port 102 of the coating head 103 so that the coating liquid in the semi-solidified or solidified state of the supply port 102 can be scraped off so that the coating liquid can be supplied from the supply port 102. To be done.

[0005]

In the above coating apparatus, the solvent pot 1 is provided on the supply port 102 side of the coating head 103.
In the case of arranging in the solvent atmosphere of 04, the solvent for drying prevention enters the inside of the supply port 102 of the coating head 103 and the coating liquid is diluted in the vicinity thereof, so that immediately before forming the coating film. It is necessary to temporarily discharge the coating liquid to discharge the mixed portion of the solvent, and as a result, there is a problem that the discharge region and the receiving portion are separately required and the coating liquid is wasted.

Further, the scraping member 105 is used for the coating head 1.
When the coating liquid in the semi-solidified state or the solidified state of the supply port 102 of No. 03 is scraped off, the coating liquid inside the supply port 102 is partially semi-solidified or solidified when the standby time of the coating head 103 becomes long. As a result, the coating solution may not be completely scraped off, resulting in a problem that it becomes difficult to form a normal coating film.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when operating a coating head in standby to form a coating film on a substrate, the coating liquid is not wasted and a proper thickness is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus capable of forming a different coating film.

[0008]

A coating apparatus according to claim 1 is a coating apparatus for forming a coating film on a surface of a substrate, the substrate holding means for holding the substrate, and a coating liquid supplied to the substrate. A coating liquid supply unit having a slit-shaped supply port for moving the substrate holding unit and the coating liquid supply unit so that the surface of the substrate and the supply port relatively move. No. 1 moving means, an elongated member that can be in contact with the supply port and is for cleaning the supply port, a supply roller around which the elongated member is wound, and the supply roller to the length. A second means for relatively moving the coating liquid supply means and the cleaning means while bringing the cleaning means having a take-up roller for drawing out the long member and the supply port and the long member into contact with each other. Transfer means and solvent to the long member A solvent supply means for supplying, in which with a.

In the coating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, before the coating liquid is supplied to the substrate from the supply port of the coating liquid supply unit to form the coating film on the surface of the substrate, the second moving unit serves as the supply port. While contacting the elongated member of the cleaning means, the coating liquid supply means and the cleaning means are relatively moved, and the elongated member to which the solvent is supplied by the solvent supply means wipes off the supply port. Therefore, the semi-solidified or solidified coating liquid adhering to the periphery of the supply port is reliably removed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coating device according to the first aspect, wherein when the substrate holding means and the coating liquid supply means are in a standby state, the supply port is opened. A closing member for closing, and a third moving unit for relatively moving the coating liquid supplying unit and the sealing member in the contacting and separating direction in a state where the supply port and the sealing member face each other. , Are provided.

In the coating apparatus according to the second aspect, when the substrate holding means and the coating liquid supply means are in the standby state, the third
Since the coating liquid supply unit and the sealing member are brought close to each other by the moving unit and the supply port of the coating liquid supply unit is closed by the sealing member, the drying of the coating liquid is prevented.

A coating apparatus according to a third aspect is the coating apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the cleaning means further has a guide plate, and the supply roller is provided on one surface side of the guide plate. The winding roller is disposed on the other surface side of the guide plate, and the elongated member pulled out from the supply roller on the one surface side is turned over at the tip of the guide plate. And the second moving means brings the sealing member and the cleaning means into contact with each other while bringing the sealing member and the elongated member into contact with each other. To move it.

In the coating apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the long member drawn out from the supply roller on one surface of the guide plate is turned around at the tip of the guide plate and wound on the winding roller on the other surface. Since the second moving means relatively moves the sealing member and the cleaning means while the second moving means makes the sealing member and the elongated member in contact with each other, not only cleaning the supply port but also sealing the supply port. The stop member is also cleaned at the same time.

A coating apparatus according to a fourth aspect is the coating apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein the sealing member is formed of an elastic member and can contact the supply port. It is provided with a sealing portion.

In the coating apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the sealing portion that comes into contact with the supply port is formed of the elastic member, the supply port is elastically closed to reliably prevent the coating liquid from drying. It

[0016]

1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of a coating apparatus according to the present invention. This coating apparatus includes a stage 10 that sucks and holds a substrate W, a coating head 20 that supplies a coating liquid such as a photoresist liquid onto the substrate W that is sucked and held by the stage 10, and a coating head 20 that runs along the substrate W. A head horizontal moving means 30 for moving the coating head 20, a head vertical moving means 40 for moving the coating head 20 in a vertical direction orthogonal to the surface of the substrate W, and a headrest arranged on the end side in the moving direction of the coating head 20. A sealing member 50, a head cleaner 60 as a cleaning means disposed on the same end side as the sealing member 50, and a cleaner movement for moving the head cleaner 60 in contact with the coating head 20 and the sealing member 50. A means 70 and a solvent supply means 80 for supplying a solvent to the head cleaner 60 are provided.

The stage 10 has a mounting portion 11 for mounting the substrate W formed in the central portion thereof, and a slide body 32 of the head horizontal moving means 30 formed on both sides of the mounting portion 11, which will be described later. , Guide rails 12 for moving 33
3 and 3. The mounting portion 11 is formed with a plurality of through holes 14 penetrating in the vertical direction. The substrate W is mounted on the mounting portion 11 of the stage 10 by a transfer robot (not shown), and is vacuum-sucked from the lower surface side through the through holes 14 to be fixed on the mounting portion 11. There is.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coating head 20 has a pair of facing walls 21 and 22 butted against each other, has a supply passage 23 for the coating liquid therein, and has a slit-like supply on the lower surface which is continuous with the supply passage 23. The mouth 24 is configured to be open and is arranged in the width direction of the substrate W. Further, a feed pipe 25 is attached to the central portion of the upper surface of the coating head 20, and a coating liquid such as a photoresist liquid is applied from the coating liquid supply tank (not shown) through the feeding pipe 25 at a constant pressure. It will be delivered within 20.

The horizontal head moving means 30 is used for the stage 10.
Which moves on the rails 12 and 13 at both side ends of the base 31 and is arranged below the stage 10 in the width direction.
And the sliding portions 32, 33 formed by bending both sides of the base portion 31 upward and further bending the upper ends inward.
And a screw shaft 34 screwed into a female screw formed in the center of the base 31 in the same direction as the rails 12 and 13.
And is fixed to the body frame (not shown), and the rotating shaft is the screw shaft 3
4 and a coating head moving motor 35 including a stepping motor and the like. As a result, when the coating head moving motor 35 is rotationally driven and the screw shaft 34 rotates, the base 31 moves in the front-rear direction, so that the sliding bodies 32 and 33 move on the rails 12 and 13 of the stage 10.

The head vertical moving means 40 is used for the coating head 2.
0 are fixed to support bodies 41 and 42 for fixedly supporting the fixed shafts 26 and 27 projecting from both side ends in the longitudinal direction, and female screws threaded downward from the upper surfaces of the support bodies 41 and 42, respectively. At the same time, the tip ends are fixedly mounted on the sliding bodies 32 and 33 by screw shafts 43 and 44 whose axes are supported by the sliding bodies 32 and 33, and the rotary shafts are connected to the screw shafts 43 and 44, respectively. The coating head raising / lowering motors 45 and 46 including a stepping motor and the like are provided. Accordingly, when the coating head elevating motors 45 and 46 are driven to rotate simultaneously and the screw shafts 43 and 44 rotate, the support bodies 41 and 42 are rotated.
The coating head 20 moves up and down by moving up and down with respect to the sliding bodies 32 and 33.

The sealing member 50 is an elongated sealing portion 51 which is preferably made of an elastic material such as silicon rubber for sealing the supply port 24 by pressing the supply port 24 of the coating head 20, and It is composed of a long holding member 52 having a U-shaped cross section and made of an inelastic member such as a resin or a metal that stores and holds a portion of the sealing portion 51 facing the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 in an exposed state. The sealing portion 51 is arranged along the width direction of the substrate W so that the surface of the sealing portion 51 facing the supply port 24 is located on substantially the same plane as the substrate W on the mounting portion 11 of the stage 10. There is. The sealing portion 51 is formed such that the longitudinal dimension thereof is equal to or slightly larger than the dimension of the slit-shaped supply port 24 in order to reliably close both ends of the supply port 24. The supply port 24 of the coating head 20 is connected to the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50.
By pressing it against, the air is blocked and the coating liquid existing in the supply port 24 is prevented from drying.

Even if the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 is not directly pressed against the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50, the supply port 24 is closed by the sealing portion 51 in the same manner as described above by the following. It is possible to prevent the coating liquid from drying. That is, the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 is made to face the sealing portion 51 with a slight gap, and a small amount of the coating liquid is leaked from the supply port 24 to form a dry film with the sealing portion 51. . This coating covers the supply port 24, and as a result, air is blocked and the coating liquid existing in the supply port 24 is prevented from drying.

The head cleaner 60 includes a support body 61, a guide plate 62 that horizontally projects from the support body 61, and an upper surface side (one surface side) of the guide plate 62.
And a take-up roller 64 arranged at a position close to the support 61, and a take-up roller 64 arranged at a position on the lower surface side (other surface side) of the guide plate 62 close to the support 61. And a take-up motor 65 including a stepping motor as a driving means for rotating the take-up roller 64, and an elongated wiping member 66 wound around the supply roller 63.

The wiping member 66 is made of a long material such as felt and tetrafluoroethylene polymer material, and is taken up from the supply roller 63 by being wound by the winding roller 64 and is also guided by the guide plate. The direction of the guide plate 62 is reversed at the tip of the guide plate 62.
It is designed to move along both sides of. The guide plate 62 is positioned so that the wiping member 66 on the lower surface side is at a height position where it contacts the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50. In addition, a rounded portion is formed at the tip of the guide plate 62 so as not to hinder the reversal of the direction of the wiping member 66. A roller may be provided instead of this roundness.

The cleaner moving means 70 is screwed into a horizontal female screw formed in the support 61, and the substrate W
And a wiping motor 72, which is fixed to a main body frame (not shown) and has a rotating shaft connected to the screw shaft 71, and which includes a stepping motor and the like. The head cleaner 60 reciprocates between the retracted position on one end side and the other end side by the rotation of the screw shaft 71 due to the rotational driving of the motor 72. In the retracted position of the head cleaner 60, although a part of the wiping member 66 overlaps the end of the sealing member 50 in the drawing, it may be completely separated from the sealing member 50.

The solvent supply means 80 stores a solvent suitable for wiping off the coating liquid, and a solvent tank 81 arranged at an upper position of the head cleaner 60, and the solvent in the solvent tank 81 to the wiping member 66 side. Supply pipe 8 to discharge to
2, a supply port 83 connected to the tip of the supply pipe 82 for supplying the solvent to the wiping member 66, and the supply pipe 8
The solvent supply port 8 of the solvent tank 81 is disposed in the middle of
3 and a solenoid valve 84 for controlling the supply to the No. 3 unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main control configuration of the coating apparatus configured as described above. Control unit 90
Is a CPU 91 for controlling the overall operation of the apparatus,
RO storing a predetermined control program therefor
The M92 and the RAM 93 for temporarily storing data generated during the control process are included.

That is, the CPU 91 receives a predetermined signal from a start switch SW, a position sensor, or the like (not shown), so that the motor drive circuits 35a, 45a, 46.
The operations of the coating head moving motor 35, the coating head elevating motors 45 and 46, the winding motor 65, the wiping motor 72, and the electromagnetic valve 84 are controlled via a, 65a, 72a, and the valve drive circuit 84a, respectively.

Although not shown, the CPU 91
Controls the transfer robot that transfers the substrate W via the transfer robot drive circuit, and controls the vacuum device that sucks and holds the substrate W on the stage 10 via the vacuum device drive circuit.

The coating apparatus constructed as described above operates as follows. First, based on a command from the control unit 90, when the substrate W is placed on the stage 10 by the transfer robot, the substrate W is sucked and held on the stage 10 by the vacuum device, and the coating head 20 moves the coating head lifting motor 45, Four
A predetermined height position on the substrate W is set by driving 6 and the coating head moving motor 35 is driven to move the starting end position on the front side in FIG.

Simultaneously with the start of movement of the coating head 20,
The coating liquid is supplied to the inside of the coating head 20 from a coating liquid tank (not shown) at a constant pressure, and the coating head 20 moves to the end position while supplying the coating liquid from the supply port 24 at a constant supply pressure onto the substrate W. To do. As a result, a coating film is formed on the substrate W, and the substrate W on which the coating film is formed is transferred to the next step by the transfer robot. After that, the next substrate W is sequentially placed on the stage 10 and held by suction, and the coating head 20 returns to the starting end position to form a coating film on the substrate W in the same manner as above.

When the work of forming the coating film is completed, the coating head 20 is moved to the position of the sealing member 50 which is the standby position by driving the coating head moving motor 35, and is supplied by driving the coating head elevating motors 45 and 46. The mouth 24 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the sealing member 51 of the sealing member 50 is lowered to a position where it is lightly pressed. As a result, the supply port 24 is shielded from the air by the sealing portion 51, and the coating liquid existing in the supply port 24 is prevented from drying. In this state, the coating head 20 stands by until the next coating film forming operation.

When the control unit 90 issues a command for the next work of forming the coating film, the coating head 20 that was in contact with the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50 is driven by the coating head lifting motors 45 and 46. The drive moves upward from the position of the sealing member 50, and the supply port 24 stops at a height position equal to that of the wiping member 66 located on the upper surface side of the guide plate 62 of the head cleaner 60.

On the other hand, when the forming operation command is issued, the electromagnetic valve 84 of the solvent supply means 80 is actuated, the valve is opened, and the solvent is removed from the solvent tank 81 via the supply pipe 82 and the supply port 83. 66. Then, the winding motor 65 is driven while the solvent is being supplied, and the wiping member 66 is wound around the winding roller 64. As a result, the wiping members 66 to which the solvent is supplied are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the guide plate 62. At this point, the electromagnetic valve 84 is closed and the supply of solvent is stopped. The solvent supplied to the wiping member 66 is absorbed by the wiping member 66 at the supply position.

Then, the wiping motor 72 is driven,
The head cleaner 60 at the retracted position on the one end side reciprocates between the head cleaner 60 and the other end side. At this time, the wiping member 66 on the upper surface side of the guide plate 62 has the supply port 2 of the coating head 20
4 and the wiping member 66 on the lower surface side of the guide plate 62 is in the position of contacting the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50, the head cleaner 60 has the wiping member 66 as shown in FIG. Supply port 24 of coating head 20
And the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50 are in contact with each other.

Therefore, even when the coating liquid adheres to the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 and the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50 in a semi-solidified or solidified state while the coating head 20 is on standby, the coating liquid is wiped off. It is dissolved by the solvent supplied to the member 66 and is wiped off by the wiping member 66 by frictional force, and the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 and the sealing member 5 are removed.
Both zero seals 51 will be cleaned at the same time.
Since the wiping member 66 is arranged along the surface of the guide plate 62, the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 is provided.
When contacting the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50, the guide plate 62 is lightly pressed, and the supply port 24 and the sealing portion 51 can be reliably cleaned.

When the head cleaner 60 reciprocates to return to the original retracted position or when the forward movement is completed, the coating head lifting motors 45 and 46 and the coating head moving motor 35 are driven, and the coating head 20 moves to a predetermined height. Then, the work of forming the coating film on the substrate W is started. In the coating head 20, the sealing member 50 prevents the coating liquid from drying at the supply port 24 during standby,
Since the supply port 24 is cleaned by the head cleaner 60 before the start of the coating film forming operation, the coating liquid can be normally supplied from the supply port 24 to form a coating film of a predetermined thickness on the substrate W. become.

Although the coating film is formed on the substrate W by moving the coating head 20 with respect to the substrate W in the above embodiment, the coating head 20 is fixed and the substrate W is fixed. To move
Both the coating head 20 and the substrate W may be moved in opposite directions. That is, it suffices that the coating head 20 and the substrate W move relative to each other.

Further, in the above embodiment, the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 and the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50 are cleaned by moving the head cleaner 60 with respect to the coating head 20 and the sealing member 50. However, the head cleaner 60 is fixed and the coating head 20 and the sealing member 50 can be moved, or the head cleaner 60 and the coating head 20 and the sealing member 50 are in opposite directions. It may be configured so that it can be moved to. That is, it suffices that the head cleaner 60 and the coating head 20 and the sealing member 50 move relative to each other.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the coating head 20 is moved in the vertical direction by the coating head lifting motors 45 and 46, but instead of this structure, the sealing member 50 can be moved in the vertical direction. It may be configured.
According to this, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, it is possible to prevent the coating liquid existing in the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 from being dried by the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50 during standby, and thus the coating film. Before the start of the work of forming (1), the wiping member 66 of the head cleaner 60 can simultaneously clean both the supply port 24 of the coating head 20 and the sealing portion 51 of the sealing member 50. That is, the coating head 20 and the sealing member 5
It suffices that it is configured such that 0 and 0 relatively move in the contact and separation directions.

[0041]

As described above, according to the coating apparatus of the first aspect, the long member, to which the solvent is supplied by the solvent supplying means, adheres to the periphery of the supply port by wiping the supply port. The coating liquid in the semi-solidified state or the solidified state can be surely removed, and the coating liquid can be normally supplied from the supply port. Further, unlike the conventional coating apparatus, there is no need to discharge the mixed portion due to the mixing of the solvent for drying prevention into the supply port, so that there is an effect that the coating liquid is not wasted.

According to the coating apparatus of the second aspect, when the substrate holding means and the coating liquid supply means are in the standby state,
By closing the supply port of the coating liquid supply means with the sealing member, it is possible to prevent the coating liquid around the supply port from drying.

According to the coating apparatus of the third aspect, the second
The moving means moves the sealing member and the cleaning means relative to each other while bringing the sealing member and the elongated member into contact with each other. Can be cleaned at the same time.

According to the coating apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the sealing portion that comes into contact with the supply port is formed of the elastic member, it is possible to effectively prevent the coating liquid from drying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of a coating head used in the coating apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a coating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a contact state between a coating head and a sealing member of the coating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a contact state between the coating head, the sealing member, and the head cleaner of the coating device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional coating device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a scraping member used in a conventional coating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 stages (substrate holding means) 11 Placement section 14 through holes 20 coating head (coating liquid supply means) 21,22 opposite wall 24 supply port 30 Head horizontal moving means (first moving means) 40 head vertical moving means (third moving means) 50 sealing member 51 Sealing part 52 holding unit 60 head cleaner 61 Support 62 Guide plate 63 supply roller 64 winding roller 65 winding motor 66 Wiping member 70 cleaner moving means (second moving means) 80 Solvent supply means 90 Control unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP 64-8621 (JP, A) JP 6-20936 (JP, A) JP 7-29789 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027 G03F 7/16 B05C 5/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A coating apparatus for forming a coating film on a surface of a substrate, comprising: a substrate holding means for holding the substrate; and a coating liquid supply means having a slit-shaped supply port for supplying the coating liquid to the substrate. A first moving unit that relatively moves the substrate holding unit and the coating liquid supply unit so that the surface of the substrate and the supply port move relative to each other; And a cleaning means having a long member for cleaning the supply port, a supply roller around which the long member is wound, and a winding roller for pulling out the long member from the supply roller, A second moving unit that relatively moves the coating liquid supply unit and the cleaning unit while bringing the supply port and the long member into contact with each other; and supplying a solvent to the long member. And a solvent supply means for Applicator to collect. 2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing member that closes the supply port when the substrate holding unit and the coating liquid supply unit are in a standby state, A third moving unit that relatively moves the coating liquid supply unit and the sealing member in the contacting / separating direction with the supply port and the sealing member facing each other. Coating device. 3. The coating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning means further has a guide plate,
The supply roller is disposed on one surface side of the guide plate, the winding roller is disposed on the other surface side of the guide plate, and the elongated member is pulled out from the supply roller on the one surface side. To reverse the direction at the tip of the guide plate to be taken up by the take-up roller on the other surface side, the second moving means, while contacting the sealing member and the elongated member, An applicator characterized in that the sealing member and the cleaning means are moved relative to each other. 4. The coating apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the sealing member includes a sealing portion formed of an elastic member and capable of contacting with the supply port. Characteristic coating device.