1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate drying device and a substrate processing method.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, there has been adopted a technique of spraying a dry gas from an air knife to a substrate to dry a substrate surface while transferring the substrate in one direction at the time of drying the substrate in a step of cleaning a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display or a semiconductor wafer in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device or a semiconductor device. Such technique is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-180205 and 8-288250.
Referring to
Such drying system has a problem in that after the rinse water 3 is brown off, a water droplet 4 of the rinse water tends to remain at the end of the substrate 2 surface. As a solution to this problem, in the conventional system, the air knife 1 is placed at an angle 12 with respect to the transfer direction of the substrate 2, or the air knife 1 is placed at an angle 13 to the substrate 2 surface, for example. Alternatively, these countermeasures are taken in combination.
If this problem cannot be overcome with the above method of placing the air knife at the angle 12 or 13, the problem should be solved by increasing an air pressure of the dry gas sprayed from the air knife 1. However, if the air is sprayed from the air knife 1 at a too high pressure, the rinse water 3 is evaporated in the form of mist 5 in some cases, the mist 5 readheres to the substrate 2 to cause a strain. Accordingly, there is a limitation on improvements in drying efficiency by increasing a pressure of the air sprayed from the air knife 1.
The present invention has been made with a view to solving such problems, and it is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a substrate drying device capable of securely removing a water droplet remaining on a substrate without increasing an air pressure.
A substrate drying device according to an aspect of the invention includes: a nozzle ejecting a fluid to a substrate to be processed, wherein the substrate is moved relative to the nozzle while the nozzle is spraying the fluid to dry the substrate, a parallel component to a surface of the substrate in an ejection direction of the fluid is inclined with respect to a moving direction in which the substrate moves relative to the nozzle, and an angle between the parallel component and the moving direction is changed at a changed portion in a predetermined position of the nozzles. Thus, it is possible to provide a substrate drying device capable of securely removing a water droplet remaining on a substrate without increasing an air pressure.
Here, an arrangement direction of the nozzles may be bent at the changed portion to change an angle between the arrangement direction of the nozzles and the moving direction to change the component of the ejection direction parallel to the surface of the substrate and the moving direction.
Further, the arrangement direction of the nozzles may be bent at the changed portion. Thus, it is possible to suppress a decrease in air pressure due to the change in ejection direction.
Further, the changed portion may be formed in a plurality of positions. The changed portion may be formed substantially throughout the nozzles. Thus, the air pressure may be decreased more evenly due to the change in ejection direction.
Furthermore, preferably, the substrate has a substantially rectangular shape, and in a state where the changed portion is formed above the substrate, and the nozzle is arranged above a side as a downstream side of the substrate in the moving direction and an adjacent side of the side on the downstream side, the fluid is sprayed such that an angle between the parallel component to a surface of the substrate in the ejection direction of the fluid from the nozzle above the side on the downstream side and the side on the downstream side of the substrate is smaller than an angle between the parallel component to a surface of the substrate in the ejection direction of the fluid from the nozzle above the adjacent side and the side on the downstream side of the substrate.
According to another aspect of the invention, a substrate processing method for moving a substrate to be processed with respect to a nozzle ejecting a fluid to process the substrate, includes: processing the substrate with a liquid; and spraying a fluid to the substrate from the nozzle and moving the nozzle and the substrate relative to each other to dry the substrate; the spraying the fluid includes: setting an angle between a parallel component to a surface of the substrate in an ejection direction of the fluid and a moving direction of the substrate relative to the nozzle; and drying the substrate by spraying the fluid from nozzle with a changing portion which is formed in a predetermined position of the nozzle and in which the angle between a parallel component and the moving direction is changed. It is accordingly possible to securely remove a water droplet remaining on a substrate without increasing an air pressure.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate drying device and a substrate processing method capable of securely removing a water droplet remaining on a substrate without increasing an air pressure.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered as limiting the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment of the present invention is accomplished such that in a substrate drying device having an air knife drying system, an angle at which an air is sprayed from an air knife is changed, by which a dry gas is sprayed as in parallel to the substrate side as possible at the substrate end portion to thereby improve a drying efficiency to prevent a water droplet from remaining without draining off.
An air knife 110 is placed on the substrate 120 surface. A dry gas is sprayed from an air nozzle of the air knife 110 in the direction of an arrow B in
The air knife 110 of this embodiment has a long and narrow shape as shown in
As shown
In the plane parallel to the substrate surface, the ejection direction B of the dry gas from the air nozzle 112 is vertical to the arrangement direction of the air nozzle 112. Thus, a component of the dry gas ejection direction B parallel to the substrate surface is changed at the bending portion 111. Accordingly, an angle between the component of the dry gas ejection direction B parallel to the substrate surface and the moving direction A is changed at the midpoint of the air nozzle 112 (bending portion 111). That is, the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112a and the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112b form the angle G. The bending portion 111 may be set in an arbitrary position of the air nozzle 112.
Here, provided that an area where the air nozzle 112 sprays the dry gas is an ejection area, the ejection area shape corresponds to the shape of the air nozzle 112. Accordingly, the ejection area on the substrate 120 surface, that is, a dry gas spraying area has a dog-leg shape similarly to the shape of the air nozzle 112. The substrate 120 crosses the ejection area to thereby execute the drying process of the substrate 120. The ejection area is formed throughout entire substrate in the direction parallel to the short side of the substrate 120, that is, in the direction vertical to the moving direction A as substrate transferring direction. In other words, the ejection area is set to have the length larger than the substrate 120 width, that is, the length of the right side 120b if projected in the direction vertical to the substrate surface, that is, to the plane parallel to the substrate 120.
As shown in
Detailed description thereof is described below. In the plane parallel to the substrate surface, the air knife 110 is inclined with respect to the moving direction A of the substrate 120. Accordingly, the air nozzle 112a is provided on the upstream side of the air nozzle 112b in the moving direction A of the substrate 120. The air nozzle 112a out of the air nozzle 112 is arranged on the upstream side in the moving direction A of the substrate 120, and the air nozzle 112b is arranged on the downstream side in the moving direction A of the substrate. The bending portion 111 is formed, so an angle between the arrangement direction of the air nozzle 112 and the moving direction A of the substrate 120 is different between the upstream side and the downstream side of the bending portion 111. As shown in
The moving direction A is parallel to the lower side 120a of the substrate 120, so the angle between the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 and the air nozzle 112a is the angle C. Further, the angle between the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 and the air nozzle 112b is the angle D.
Consider such a state that the air nozzle 112a is arranged above the lower side 120a of the substrate 120, and the air nozzle 112b is arranged above the right side 120b continuous from the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 as shown in
An angle between the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 and the air nozzle 112a above the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 is an angle C. An angle between the lower side 120a with the air nozzle 112a and the air nozzle 112b arranged above the right side 120b is an angle D. Here, the angle G is set such that the angle C is smaller than the angle D. Thus, an angle F between the lower side 120a of the substrate 120 and the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112a above the lower side 120a can be made smaller. As a result, at the substrate end 122 near the lower side 120a, the component of the ejection direction B parallel to the substrate surface can get close to parallel to the lower side 120a. Further, the angle E between the right side 120b of the substrate 120 and the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112b above the right side 120b can be made smaller. Thus, at the substrate end 121 near the right side 120b, the component of the ejection direction B parallel to the substrate surface can get close to parallel to the right side 120b.
In the present invention, the bending portion 111 for changing the component of the ejection direction B parallel to the substrate surface is provided at the midpoint of the air nozzle 112. Thus, a dry gas ejection direction adequate for not only the right side 120b as the downstream side of the substrate 120 but also the lower side 120a continuous from the right side 120b can be realized. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably dry the substrate 120. In this way, the ejection direction at the substrate end gets close to parallel to the substrate side, by which the rinse water 130 at the substrate end can be efficiently dried.
The reason why the ejection direction B at the substrate ends 121 and 122 gets close to parallel to the sides 120a and 120b to thereby efficiency dry the rinse water 130 is described in brief. In some cases, in a step of rinsing the substrate 120 with the rinse water 130, the rinse water 130 cannot sufficiently the substrate ends 121 and 122. In this case, as shown in
Further, on the downstream side of the substrate 120, the rinse water 130 near the right side 120b is moved from the right side 120b to the substrate center by spraying the dry gas. That is, the dry gas is sprayed from the outer side to the inner side of the substrate 120 near the right side 120b on the downstream side in the moving direction A of the substrate 120. Then, the substrate end 121 is highly hydrophilic for the above reason, so the substrate end near the right side 120b is more difficult to dry.
Moreover, also at the substrate end 122, the dry gas is sprayed from the air nozzle 112a from the outer side to the inner side of the substrate 120. Thus, as in the portion around the right side 120b, the substrate end 122 is difficult to dry. That is, the substrate ends 122 and 121 around the lower side 120a and the right side 120b are less dried than the substrate ends around the upper side and the left side.
In the present invention, the bending portion 111 is formed, by which the component of the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112b parallel to the substrate surface gets close to parallel to the right side 120b. That is, the angle E is decreased. Hence, the rinse water 130 left around the substrate end 121 is moved along the right side 120b of the substrate 120. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the rinse water from moving to the substrate center from the substrate end 121, and the substrate can be surely dried. Furthermore, the component of the ejection direction B of the air nozzle 112a parallel to the substrate surface gets close to parallel to the lower side 120a. That is, the angle F is decreased. Thus, the rinse water 130 remaining around the substrate end 122 is moved along the lower side 120a of the substrate 120. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the rinse water 130 from moving from the substrate end 122 to the substrate center, and the substrate 120 can be surely dried. Thus, the substrate ends 121 and 122 where water droplets tend to remain can be efficiently dried.
Further, in the state as shown in
The air knife 110 is arranged/formed such that the angle D on the downstream side is smaller than the angle C on the upstream side, by which the angle E between the dry gas ejection direction B of the substrate 120 and the lower side 120a of the substrate 120, and the angle F between the dry gas ejection direction B of the substrate 120 and the right side 120b can be decreased. Thus, the dry gas ejection angles at the substrate ends 121 and 122 are set to be close to parallel to the substrate side. Incidentally, the angle C preferably ranges from 45° to 60°.
Here, if the angle G of the bending portion 111 is too large, the angle D is too small. For example, if the angle D is 0°, the air knife 110 cannot pass through the entire substrate end 121. The air knife 110 passes through only the substrate end 121 from the substrate end 122 side to the bending portion. In this case, the dry gas is not sufficiently sprayed in some portions of the substrate 120 surface. This is undesirable. Accordingly, as shown in
Further, if the angle G is too large, the angle of the ejection direction B is abruptly changed around the bending portion 111, and the air ejection pressure in the direction of an arrow H of
In this structure, the substrate 120 is transferred in the moving direction A of
With the above structure, a drying process can be executed without increasing a dry gas pressure, and it is possible to suppress a splash of the rinse water 130 due to the application of the dry gas and suppress the generation of mist. Further, a consumed amount of dry gas can be reduced, and a running cost of the drying step can be saved. Accordingly, the substrate 120 can be efficiently dried.
As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to a substrate drying device and a substrate drying method that can preferably remove water droplets remaining on the substrate without increasing an air pressure.
Incidentally, in the above description, an example of spraying a gas from the air knife 110 is demonstrated, but it is possible to spray a volatile liquid, for example, to blow off the rinse water 130. That is, a liquid and such other fluid may be used for drying the substrate 120 in place of the gas. Further, the pure water is used as the rinse water 130 in the above description, but the rinse water may be, for example, an etchant, a washing solution, a chemical solution, and other such liquids. The substrate moving direction is not limited to a direction parallel to the substrate side but may be inclined to the substrate side. Moreover, the air knife, not the substrate, may be moved.
Referring to
In the embodiment of
Referring to
A feature of this embodiment is to change the angle of the air knife 110 at plural positions. The number of positions is not limited to two as shown in
Referring to
As shown in
Incidentally, in the modes described in the above embodiments, the air knife is provided with the bending portions to change the dry gas ejection direction. However, instead of changing the air knife itself, the ejection direction of the air nozzle of the air knife is changed to thereby obtain beneficial effects similar to the above embodiments. Further, this is effective for the drying step in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor or liquid crystal display device. Further, the present invention is applicable to removal of liquids such as an etchant as well as the rinse water.
From the invention thus described, it will be obvious that the embodiments of the invention may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended for inclusion within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-330062 | Nov 2005 | JP | national |