Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Apparatus – Automatic controls
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-17
2002-03-05
Goudreau, George (Department: 1763)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Apparatus
Automatic controls
C134S094100, C134S095200, C134S095300, C414S225010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06352083
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate treating apparatus and a substrate treating method in which a substrate having a very small thickness such as a semiconductor substrate and a glass substrate for use in a liquid crystal display panel (hereinafter, merely referred to as a “substrate”) is immersed in a treating liquid such as a chemical liquid and de-ionized water (or refined water) filled in a treating bath to apply a certain treatment onto the substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
There have conventionally been conducted various surface treatments in which a substrate is immersed in a treating liquid in a process of producing a substrate for use in a precision electronic device. One of known substrate treating apparatus comprises a chemical bath filled with a chemical liquid such as etchant and photoresist film peeling liquid and a water bath filled with de-ionized water (or refined water).
More specifically, after a substrate is immersed in a chemical liquid in the chemical bath to apply a chemical treatment onto the substrate, then, the substrate is immersed in de-ionized water in the water bath to wash away the chemical liquid adhered to the substrate and particles generated and adhered to the substrate during the chemical treatment.
One method of washing off the chemical liquid and the particles is a mechanical rinsing treatment according to which the chemical liquid and the particles are quickly rinsed off. Hereafter, the mechanical rinsing treatment is described with reference to
FIGS. 1A
to
2
.
FIGS. 1A
to
1
E are diagrams showing a sequence of the mechanical rinsing treatment in a mechanical rinsing section of the conventional substrate treating apparatus. Specifically,
FIG. 1A
shows a state that a substrate applied with a chemical liquid has been transported to the mechanical rinsing section and is about to be immersed in de-ionized water in the water bath.
FIG. 1B
shows a state that the substrate has been immersed in the de-ionized water in the water bath, and the water bath is resultantly brought to an overflow state.
FIG. 1C
shows a state that a high speed drainage is performed spontaneously with actuation of a shower.
FIG. 1D
shows a state that the high speed drainage is suspended and the water bath is being replenished with de-ionized water with continuation of the shower.
FIG. 1E
shows a state that the water bath is brought to an overflow state again.
As shown in
FIG. 1A
, a group of semiconductor substrates
53
(hereinafter, merely referred to as “a substrate group” and in
FIGS. 1A
to
1
E, only one substrate is shown) held by a transport robot (not shown) is transferred from a chemical bath
52
to a water bath
51
and handed to a lifter
55
provided in a mechanical rinsing section
50
. When the substrate group is handed to the lifter
55
, the substrate group is held by a three-point support guide
54
at lower portions thereof in a state that all the substrates are held in an upright posture at a specified interval (e.g., normal pitch P=6.00 mm or half pitch {fraction (P/2+L )}). In this state, the substrate group is immersed together with the support guide
54
in de-ionized water filled in the water bath
51
(see FIG.
1
B).
At this stage, de-ionized water is continued to be replenished through water supply portions
56
provided at opposite ends of a bottom portion of the water bath
51
. When the substrate group is immersed with the support guide
54
in the water bath
51
with the continued replenishment of de-ionized water, the de-ionized water in the water bath
51
overflows from an upper rim
51
a
of the water bath
51
. Thus, the chemical liquid adhered to the substrate group and particles generated and adhered to the substrate group during the chemical treatment are washed away together with the overflowing water from the water bath
51
.
After continuation of the overflow state for a predetermined time, as shown in
FIG. 1C
, replenishment of de-ionized water through the water supply portions
56
is temporarily suspended in the case that the surface of the substrate group exhibits a hydrophillic state. Simultaneously, a drainage valve
57
provided at a lower portion of a side wall of the water bath
51
is opened to drain the de-ionized water mixed with the chemical liquid and the particles from the water bath
51
at a high speed. At the same time as the opening of the drainage valve
57
or after a duration of a certain time (before the substrate group is being exposed to the air owning to the high speed drainage), a nozzle (not shown) of each of shower pipes
58
provided opposingly above the upper rim
51
a
is operated to shower de-ionized water onto an upper portion of the surface of the substrate group. In this way, the surface of the substrate group is prevented from being exposed to the air, thereby suppressing deposition of an oxide film on the surface of the substrate group, which might have caused naturally due to exposure to the air.
Upon completion of the high speed drainage in a state that the shower of de-ionized water through the nozzles of the shower pipes
58
is continued, as shown in
FIG. 1D
, the drainage valve
57
is closed, and replenishment of de-ionized water through the water supply portions
56
starts. Thereby, the water bath
51
is filled with de-ionized water again, and thus, water replacement in the water bath
51
is performed.
The replenishment of de-ionized water through the water supply portions
56
is continued (see FIG.
1
D). Consequently, as shown in
FIG. 1E
, the de-ionized water in the water bath
51
overflows from the upper rim
51
a
of the water bath
51
again to wash off the chemical liquid and the particles adhered to the substrate group
53
along with the overflowing water.
The above sequence is executed in accordance with the timing shown in FIG.
2
. Specifically, as shown in
FIG. 2
, the following operations are executed at timings T
1
, T
2
, T
3
.
T
1
: Suspend supply of de-ionized water through the water supply portions
56
;
Start shower of de-ionized water through the nozzles of the shower pipes
58
; and high speed drainage starts by opening the drainage valve
57
.
T
2
: Start replenishment of de-ionized water through the water supply portions
56
; and
Suspend the high speed drainage by closing the drainage valve
57
(at this time, the shower continues).
T
3
: Suspend shower (at this time, the replenishment of purified water through the water supply portions
56
continues, and the drainage valve
57
is kept closed).
The above sequence is cyclically repeated for a predetermined number of times. Thus, the chemical liquid and the particles adhered to the substrate group are removed therefrom.
The conventional arrangement of holding the substrate group by the lifter
55
has suffered from the following problem. As shown in
FIG. 3A
, each substrate
53
is supported in each of support grooves
54
a
formed in the support guide
54
. Specifically, lower ends
53
a
of the substrates
53
are detachably fitted in the support grooves
54
a
of the support guide
54
at a specified interval, thereby restricting a movement of the lower portions of the substrates
53
. Thereby, the substrate group is supported in an upright posture at three lower portions thereof by the support guide
54
. However, an upper portion of the substrates
53
is set free without any support. Accordingly, what happens at the high speed drainage is an undesired contact of the adjacent substrates
53
as shown in
FIG. 3B
due to a turbulence of the water flow in the water bath
51
.
More specifically, at the start of the high speed drainage, accompanied with a drastic lowering of water surface
61
(or liquid level
61
in
FIG. 3B
) of the de-ionized water in the water bath
51
along with a gush of the de-ionized water drawn out through the drainage valve
57
, a turbulence or a swirling occurs in the de-ionized water in the water bath
51
. Thereby, the upper portion of the adjacent substrates
53
is tilt
Arai Kenichiro
Araki Hiroyuki
Yabuta Masaaki
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co,. Ltd.
Goudreau George
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