Decompression dryer

Abstract

To suppress generation of uneven drying of a coating film by making a gap during decompression drying uniform within a substrate surface.SOLUTION: A decompression dryer includes: a top plate part having an opposing surface opposing to an upper surface of a substrate supported by a substrate support part; a top plate lifting / lowering part for lifting / lowering the top plate part between a lower position where the opposing surface comes close to the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support part and an upper position above the lower position in a processing space; and a plurality of pressing pins mounted to the opposing surface and abutting on a peripheral edge region on one main surface to correct warp of the substrate when the top plate part is located at the lower position. A distance between the upper surface of the corrected substrate and the opposing surface (gap during decompression drying) can be made uniform within the substrate surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vacuum drying apparatus for drying a coating film formed on a substrate.

Background Art

[0002] As one of the manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices, there is a process of forming a functional film such as a resist film or a protective film on the substrate surface by applying a coating liquid on the substrate surface to form a coating film and drying it. In recent years, in the field of semiconductor devices, the demand for miniaturization and thinning of devices has been increasing significantly. To meet such demands, panel-level fan-out packaging technology (FOPLP) for manufacturing semiconductor packages using substrates has attracted attention. Even when manufacturing a semiconductor package using FOPLP technology, the coating film formed on the substrate surface is dried before the substrate is subjected to an exposure and development process. As an apparatus for performing such a drying process, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a vacuum drying apparatus that reduces the pressure in the surrounding space of the substrate on which the coating film is formed and volatilizes the solvent component is used as an example of a substrate processing apparatus. In this apparatus, the substrate is placed on the upper surface of a substrate mounting stage, and a rectifying plate is arranged at an upper position of the substrate. By controlling the distance from the lower surface of this rectifying plate (corresponding to the "opposing surface of the top plate portion" of the present invention) to the upper surface of the substrate (substrate surface) (hereinafter referred to as the "gap during vacuum drying"), the evaporation rate of the solvent component from the coating film formed on the substrate is uniformly adjusted within the substrate surface.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Here, due to the influence of the material of the substrate for the semiconductor package, etc., warpage tends to increase. Therefore, when the substrate is placed on the substrate mounting stage, the peripheral portion of the substrate may be in a posture where it is located above the central portion. Also, in other substrates, such warpage has come to be regarded as a problem. Due to the warpage of these substrates, the gap becomes non-uniform within the substrate plane during vacuum drying. As a result, uneven drying of the coating film occurs.

[0005] This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vacuum drying apparatus capable of making the gap uniform within the substrate plane during vacuum drying and suppressing the occurrence of uneven drying of the coating film.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of this invention is a vacuum drying apparatus, which includes a chamber having a processing space capable of accommodating a substrate having a coating film formed in a central region of one main surface, a substrate support portion that supports the substrate in a posture with the coating film facing upward within the processing space, an exhaust portion that evacuates the processing space, a top plate portion having a facing surface that faces the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion, and a top plate elevating portion that elevates and lowers the top plate portion between a lower position where the facing surface approaches the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion and an upper position above the lower position within the processing space. It is characterized by including a plurality of pressing pins that are attached to the facing surface and contact the peripheral region of one main surface when the top plate portion is in the lower position.

[0007] In this invention, the top plate portion has a facing surface that faces the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion. For this reason, by controlling the distance from the facing surface to the upper surface of the substrate, that is, the gap during vacuum drying, the evaporation rate of the solvent from the coating film formed on the substrate can be controlled. Here, when the peripheral portion of the substrate is warped upward, the gap during vacuum drying within the substrate plane becomes non-uniform. Therefore, in this invention, when the top plate portion provided with a plurality of pressing pins at the peripheral portion of the facing surface descends to the lower position, the pressing pins contact the peripheral region of one main surface of the substrate to correct the warpage of the substrate.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] As described above, in the present invention, the top plate portion having a facing surface facing the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion is configured to correct the warp of the substrate by a plurality of pressing pins provided at the peripheral edge of the facing surface. Therefore, the distance (gap during vacuum drying) between the upper surface of the corrected substrate and the facing surface can be made uniform within the substrate plane.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3A

Figure 3B

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6A

Figure 6B

Figure 6C

Figure 6D

Figure 7A

Figure 7B

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the vacuum drying apparatus according to the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 1 is a diagram combining a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the main part of the vacuum drying apparatus 1 which is the first embodiment of the present invention, and a block diagram of the control system for them. In addition, in order to clarify the arrangement relationship of each part of the apparatus in the following figures, a right-handed XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set as shown in FIG. 1. The XY plane shown in this coordinate system represents the horizontal direction, and the Z direction represents the vertical direction. In particular, the (-Z) direction represents the vertically downward direction.

[0011] This vacuum drying apparatus 1 is applicable, for example, to a part of the manufacturing process of a panel level package (PLP; Panel Level Package), and a rectangular substrate S having a coating film F formed by a treatment liquid on its surface is the object to be treated. Specifically, the vacuum drying apparatus 1 receives the substrate S in a state where the coating film F is not dried, heats the substrate S, and reduces the pressure of the surrounding space, thereby volatilizing the solvent component in the coating film and drying and curing the coating film. Hereinafter, such substrate treatment is referred to as "heating and vacuum drying treatment".

[0012] As the substrate S, for example, a glass substrate for a semiconductor package having a rectangular shape in plan view and having semiconductor chips, wirings, etc. laminated on its surface can be applied. Further, as the coating film F, for example, a photoresist film exists. Note that the material of the substrate and the type of the coating film are not limited to this, and for example, a substrate used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or display devices other than semiconductor packages may be the object to be treated.

[0013] The main components of the vacuum drying apparatus 1 are a chamber 10, a substrate support part 20, an exhaust part 30, a top plate part 40, a top plate elevating part 50, It is provided with a pressing pin group 60 and a control unit 90. The chamber 10 receives a substrate S having a coating film F formed on its upper surface Sa therein and performs a predetermined process. The exhaust unit 30 is connected to the processing space (reference sign SP in FIGS. 6B to 6D described later) of the chamber 10 and exhausts the processing space. The control unit 90 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91, and the CPU 91 executes a predetermined control program to control the operations of each part of the apparatus and realize various processes described below. Note that the dotted arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the flow of control signals from the control unit 90 to each part of the apparatus.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the arrangement relationship between the chamber and the substrate support part in the vacuum drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The chamber 10 forms a processing space (reference sign SP in FIGS. 6B to 6D) for reducing the pressure around the substrate S, prevents the solvent components volatilized by the process from scattering to the surroundings, and has a function of suppressing heat dissipation and improving energy efficiency by covering the surroundings of the heated substrate S. For these purposes, the chamber 10 has a box-shaped structure in which a cover part 11 and a bottom plate part 12 are combined via a seal member 13. More specifically, a cover part 11 having a cavity with an open bottom closes the upper part of a substantially flat bottom plate part 12, and a processing space is formed between the cover part 11 and the bottom plate part 12. The cover part 11 and the bottom plate part 12 are formed of a metal material such as stainless steel or aluminum, for example. Also, the seal member 13 is formed of an elastic material such as rubber.

[0015] The cover part 11 is supported by a support mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction (Z direction), and a chamber drive part 93 provided in the control part 90 moves the cover part 11 up and down in the Z direction. Thereby, the chamber 10 is opened and closed. Specifically, when the cover part 11 is positioned downward as shown in FIG. 1 by the chamber drive part 93, the chamber 10 is closed, and a processing space is formed inside. On the other hand, when the cover part 11 is moved upward by the chamber drive part 93, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cover part 11 and the bottom plate part 12 are separated, and the processing space is opened. Processing on the substrate S is executed in the closed state (FIGS. 6B to 6D) of the cover part 11, while it is possible to take in and out the substrate S and perform maintenance work on internal parts, etc. in the open state (FIGS. 1, 2, 6A).

[0016] Also, a planar heater H is attached to the outer surface of the cover part 11. Each heater H is electrically connected to a heater drive part 92 of the control part 90. For this reason, when the heater H is operated by the heater drive part 92, it becomes possible to heat the substrate S in the closed state of the cover part 11. In the present embodiment, a so-called panel heater is used as the heater H, but a strip-shaped or linear heater may be used. Further, the attachment position of the heater H is not limited to the outer surface of the cover part 11, and it may be attached to the inner surface or built into the cover part 11.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a substrate support part 20 is provided on the upper surface of the bottom plate part 12. The substrate support part 20 has a plurality (four in the present embodiment) of base support members 21 standing upright from the upper surface of the bottom plate part 12 so as to surround an exhaust through hole 12a provided in the central part of the bottom plate part 12. A base member 22 is supported by these base support members 21. The base member 22 has a planar size wider than that of the substrate S, and a plurality of support pins 23 stand upright from its upper surface. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, 16 support pins 23 are arranged in a 4×4 matrix in a plan view from above, and it is possible to horizontally support the substrate S from below with the coating film F facing upward.

[0018] An exhaust pipe 31 of the exhaust unit 30 is connected to the above-described exhaust through-hole 12a. In addition to the exhaust through-hole 12a, a purge through-hole 12b is provided in the bottom plate portion 12. And a purge pipe 32 of the exhaust unit 30 is connected to the purge through-hole 12b. The exhaust pipe 31 is connected to an exhaust line (not shown) via an exhaust valve 33 and a pump 34. Also, the purge pipe 32 is connected to a purge gas source (not shown) via a purge valve 35.

[0019] The exhaust unit 30 is controlled by an atmosphere control unit 94 of the control unit 90. Specifically, the exhaust valve 33 and the pump 34 operate according to a control signal from the atmosphere control unit 94, so that the gas in the chamber 10 is exhausted and the processing space is depressurized. Also, the purge valve 35 operates according to a control signal from the atmosphere control unit 94, so that purge gas is introduced into the processing space from an external gas source. In this way, the atmosphere in the processing space is controlled by the operation of the exhaust unit 30 according to a control signal from the atmosphere control unit 94. And under the situation where the atmosphere is controlled, a vacuum drying process is executed. Also, in order to adjust the evaporation rate of the solvent from the coating film F formed on the substrate S when performing the vacuum drying process in this way, in this embodiment, a top plate portion 40 is provided.

[0020] FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the top plate portion and the substrate viewed obliquely from above. FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the top plate portion viewed obliquely from below. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3A, the top plate portion 40 is arranged so as to cover the substrate S having the coating film F formed in the central upper surface region Sa2 except for the upper surface peripheral region Sa1 from above. The top plate portion 40 has a lower top plate 41 that functions as an opposing surface 41a whose lower surface faces substantially parallel to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, and an upper top plate 42 disposed directly above the lower top plate 41. The opposing surface 41a of the lower top plate 41 is larger than the planar size of the substrate S, and when positioned directly above the substrate S by the top plate elevating portion 50, it covers the entire substrate when viewed from above.

[0021] An upper top plate 42 is disposed directly above the lower top plate 41. As shown in FIG. 3A, the upper top plate 42 has the same planar size as the lower top plate 41. In order to reduce the weight of the upper top plate 42, punching portions are provided in regions of the upper top plate 42 other than the central portion and the peripheral portion. At the central portion of the upper surface of the upper top plate 42, a lifting shaft 51 of the top plate lifting portion 50 is connected. Further, the upper top plate 42 and the lower top plate 41 are interconnected and integrated by four connecting members 43 in a state of being separated from each other by a minute distance in the vertical direction Z. Moreover, the lifting shaft 51 is attached to the cover portion 11 so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction Z, and a lifting mechanism 52 for lifting and lowering the lifting shaft 51 is fixedly attached to the cover portion 11. Therefore, when the cover portion 11 is lifted and lowered by the chamber driving portion 93 of the control portion 90, the top plate lifting portion 50 and the top plate portion 40 are integrally lifted and lowered accordingly. For example, when the cover portion 11 moves upward, as shown in FIG. 1, the top plate portion 40 is positioned at a position separated upward from the substrate support portion 20 and the substrate S supported by the substrate support portion 20. Conversely, when the cover portion 11 moves downward, the top plate portion 40 approaches the substrate S.

[0022] Further, in the present embodiment, a pressing pin group 60 and a top plate lifting portion 50 are provided in order to achieve a function of correcting the warp of the substrate S and a function of precisely adjusting the distance between the substrate S and the lower top plate 41 in the vertical direction Z. The pressing pin group 60 is composed of a plurality of pressing pins 61 and protrudes downward from the opposing surface 41a of the lower top plate 41. In the present embodiment, in order to press the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface of the substrate S, ten pressing pins 61 are detachably attached to the lower surface (opposing surface 41a) of the lower top plate 41 so as to face the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface of the substrate S for one side of the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface. Therefore, a total of 40 pressing pins 61 are provided facing the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface of the substrate S.

[0023] In the top plate lifting portion 50, the lifting mechanism 52 operates in response to a lifting command from the top plate position control portion 95 of the control portion 90, and shifts the lifting shaft 51 in the vertical direction Z.

[0024] The upper top plate 42, the lower top plate 41, the connecting member 43, and the top plate elevating unit 50 configured as described above move up and down in the vertical direction Z integrally with the cover unit 11. Therefore, even when the top plate elevating unit 50 is stopped, for example, when the cover unit 11 is lowered by the chamber driving unit 93, the top plate unit 40 approaches the substrate S and stops. Here, when the peripheral edge of the substrate S is warped upward relatively largely, some pressing pins 61 may contact the peripheral edge of the substrate S on the way and press the peripheral edge of the substrate S to correct the warp (see FIG. 6B described later). Also, when the amount of warp of the substrate S is relatively small, all the pressing pins 61 may be separated upward from the peripheral edge of the substrate S at the time when the lowering of the cover unit 11 stops.

[0025] After the lowering of the cover unit 11 stops, when only the top plate unit 40 (= lower top plate 41 + upper top plate 42 + connecting member 43) descends in response to a lowering command from the top plate position control unit 95, the distance between the lower top plate 41 and the substrate S narrows, and the central region of the opposing surface 41a of the lower top plate 41 approaches directly above the upper surface Sa of the substrate S to cover the coating film F from above. Moreover, since all the pressing pins 61 press the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate S downward over the entire circumference, the distance between the lower top plate 41 and the substrate S coincides with the downward protruding amount of the pressing pins 61 from the opposing surface 41a, and the warp of the substrate S can be corrected over the substrate surface.

[0026] Also, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent the connecting member 43 from interfering with the substrate S during the up and down movement of the top plate unit 40, the four connecting members 43 are attached near the peripheral corner portions of the lower top plate 41 and the upper top plate 42 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. More specifically, the four connecting members 43 are respectively provided in an outer region outside the overlapping region (the region surrounded by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3B) where the substrate S overlaps in a plan view from above. Moreover, one of the four is a fixed connecting member 43a that connects the lower top plate 41 and the upper top plate 42 with a collar (not shown) disposed between them, while the remaining three are push-pull bolts 43b for adjusting the distance between the lower top plate 41 and the upper top plate 42 with respect to the upper top plate 42. Therefore, the horizontal posture of the lower top plate 41 can be easily and highly accurately adjusted by the operator. This adjustment operation will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the posture adjustment procedure of the lower top plate. As shown in the (a) column of FIG. 4, when the lower top plate 41 is inclined with respect to the upper top plate 42 in the top plate portion 40, the gap during the drying process, that is, the gap during reduced-pressure drying, is different within the plane of the substrate S, making it difficult to perform a uniform reduced-pressure drying process. Such an inclination of the lower top plate 41 may occur at the initial stage of the assembly of the apparatus or due to aging changes. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a horizontal adjustment process is executed at a timing when the reduced-pressure drying apparatus 1 is not operating, such as during the assembly stage of the reduced-pressure drying apparatus 1, the factory installation stage of the reduced-pressure drying apparatus 1, and the maintenance stage of the reduced-pressure drying apparatus 1. More specifically, by an operator operating three push-pull bolts 43b, as shown in the (b) column of the same figure, the lower top plate 41 can be adjusted to a horizontal posture. In the reduced-pressure drying apparatus 1 having the lower top plate 41 adjusted in this way, the heat-vacuum drying process is executed in the order described below.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the heat-vacuum drying process by the reduced-pressure drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 6A to 6D are diagrams schematically showing the operations of the respective parts of the apparatus in the heat-vacuum drying process. This process is realized by the CPU 91 of the control unit 90 executing a control program prepared in advance to cause the respective parts of the apparatus to perform predetermined operations. In advance, the cover portion 11 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the operation of the heater H (step S11).

[0029] Also, as shown in FIG. 6A, the cover portion 11 is lifted integrally with the top plate elevating portion 50 and the top plate portion 40 by the chamber driving portion 93, and a loading / unloading space for loading and unloading the substrate S is formed. Subsequently, the untreated substrate S (i.e., the substrate S carrying the undried coating film F) held by the hand HD of an external transfer robot is moved to a position above the support pin 23 through the loading / unloading space. Thereafter, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6A, the substrate S is delivered to the support pin 23 by the hand HD descending (step S12). Note that the loading and unloading of the substrate S are not limited to being performed by a transfer robot, and may be any method using an appropriate transfer mechanism capable of transferring in a horizontal posture.

[0030] When the loading of the substrate S is completed as described above, the hand HD retracts from the loading / unloading space. Subsequently, the cover portion 11 is lowered integrally with the top plate elevating portion 50 and the top plate portion 40 by the chamber driving portion 93 (step S13). Thereby, the cover portion 11 comes into close contact with the bottom plate portion 12 via the seal member 13, forming a processing space SP in a closed state. At this time, the top plate portion 40 is located at an upper position Pup spaced upward from the substrate S supported by the support pin 23. This upper position Pup is a position suitable for reduced-pressure drying later, and means a height position vertically upward from the upper surface Sa of the substrate S by the gap GP during the reduced-pressure drying.

[0031] The peripheral portion of the substrate S may be warped upward. When the warpage amount is zero or relatively small, the pressing pin 61 of the top plate portion 40 does not contact the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate S. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the warpage amount is relatively large, a part of the pressing pin 61 may contact the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate S and push down the peripheral portion of the upper surface. However, even in this case, most of the pressing pins 61 are spaced upward from the substrate S.

[0032] Next, only the top plate portion 40 (= lower top plate 41 + upper top plate 42 + connecting member 43) descends from the upper position Pup to the lower position Pdw in response to the lowering command from the top plate position control unit 95. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6C, all the pressing pins 61 abut on and press the upper surface peripheral region Sa1 of the substrate S, thereby correcting the warp of the substrate S (step S14). In parallel with this, the decompression of the processing space SP by the atmosphere control unit 94 is started (step S15).

[0033] In the present embodiment, in order to prevent the drying quality of the coating film F from deteriorating due to the rapid volatilization of the solvent component in the coating film F during the correction of the substrate S and the initial stage of vacuum drying (hereinafter, these are referred to as the "initial drying period"), the atmosphere control unit 94 adjusts the exhaust amount. That is, during the initial drying period, the drying speed of the coating film F is suppressed, and the exhaust speed (the exhaust amount per unit time) is suppressed until the amount of the solvent component in the coating film F falls below a predetermined value and reaches a state called so-called semi-dry or raw-dry. In this specification, the exhaust in the state where the exhaust amount by the exhaust unit 30 is suppressed in this way is referred to as "slow exhaust", and the exhaust amount in the slow exhaust corresponds to an example of the "first exhaust amount" of the present invention. On the other hand, as will be described later, exhausting at an exhaust speed larger than that of the slow exhaust in order to increase the vacuum drying speed is referred to as "main exhaust", and the exhaust amount in the main exhaust corresponds to an example of the "second exhaust amount" of the present invention.

[0034] When the initial drying period elapses ("YES" in step S16), as shown in FIG. 6D, only the top plate portion 40 (= lower top plate 41 + upper top plate 42 + connecting member 43) is lifted up to the upper position Pup by the top plate position control unit 95 (step S17). This process corresponds to an example of the "top plate lifting process" of the present invention. As a result, the gap GP during reduced-pressure drying becomes a preset value. Also, by the above correction process, the gap between the opposing surface 41a of the lower top plate 41, that is, the gap GP during reduced-pressure drying, is uniform within the plane of the upper surface Sa. And in this state, the atmosphere control unit 94 switches from slow exhaust to main exhaust, and the remaining solvent component of the coating film F rapidly evaporates (step S18). As a result, it is possible to adjust the evaporation rate of the solvent relatively high and with excellent in-plane uniformity. As a result, the coating film F on the substrate S can be dried with excellent quality while shortening the reduced-pressure drying time.

[0035] When the period (hereinafter referred to as the "main drying period") until the solvent concentration in the coating film F reaches a predetermined value or less by performing the reduced-pressure drying process by main exhaust while positioning the lower top plate 41 at the desired upper position Pup as described above elapses ("YES" in step S19), the exhaust unit 30 stops exhausting. Subsequently, by introducing the purge gas (step S20), the reduced-pressure state of the processing space SP is released. Then, when the cover unit 11 moves upward to a position where the substrate S can be loaded and unloaded (the position shown in FIG. 6A), the substrate S in the processing space SP is opened. Subsequently, the dried substrate S is carried out to the outside by receiving an external transfer robot (step S21).

[0036] If there is a next substrate S to be processed ("YES" in step S22), the process returns to step S12 to receive a new substrate S and the same process as above is performed. On the other hand, if there is no new substrate S ("NO" in step S22), the process can be terminated after a predetermined end operation.

[0037] As described above, according to the first embodiment, a plurality of holding pins 61 are provided at the peripheral portion of the opposing surface 41a of the lower top plate 41. Before performing vacuum drying while keeping the opposing surface 41a facing the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, by positioning the top plate portion 40 at the lower position Pdw, the warpage of the substrate S is corrected by the plurality of holding pins 61. Therefore, the distance between the corrected upper surface Sa of the substrate S and the opposing surface 41a, that is, the gap GP during vacuum drying, can be made uniform within the substrate surface. As a result, even for a substrate S including warpage, a drying process involving vacuum and heating can be favorably executed.

[0038] Further, in the present embodiment, as the four connecting members 43, one fixed connecting member 43a and three push-pull bolts 43b are provided at mutually different positions within the plane of the lower top plate 41. Therefore, as shown in the (a) column of FIG. 4, even if the lower top plate 41 is in a tilted posture with respect to the horizontal plane, by adjustment with the three push-pull bolts 43b, as shown in the (b) column of the same figure, the lower top plate 41 can be adjusted to a horizontal posture. Therefore, the above-mentioned warpage correction can be favorably performed, and the gap GP during vacuum drying can be made uniform within the substrate surface.

[0039] Note that, in the present embodiment, three push-pull bolts 43b are used as the connecting members for adjusting the distance between the upper top plate 42 and the lower top plate 41, but it may be configured to be adjusted by a connecting member other than the push-pull bolts 43b. Further, the number of the connecting members is not limited to "3".

[0040] Further, when the top plate portion 40 is viewed from above, the connecting member 43 is located outside the substrate S supported by the substrate support portion 20. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the connecting member 43 from interfering with the substrate S during the lifting and lowering movement of the top plate portion 40.

[0041] Further, each pressing pin 61 is detachable from the lower top plate 41. Therefore, a plurality of types of pressing pins 61 having different protruding amounts protruding downward from the lower top plate 41 may be prepared in advance, and the type of the pressing pin 61 attached to the lower top plate 41 may be changed according to the thickness of the substrate S. Thereby, it is possible to correspond to the type of the substrate S, a plurality of types of recipes, etc., and the versatility of the vacuum drying apparatus 1 can be enhanced. Further, instead of changing the type of the pressing pin 61, the lower position Pdw of the top plate portion 40 may be appropriately changed by the top plate position control unit 95.

[0042] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the vacuum drying process is executed in two stages, an initial vacuum drying process (steps S14, S15) and a main vacuum drying process (steps S18, S19). Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent problems such as the uniformity of the coating film F being impaired due to the rapid evaporation of the solvent from the coating film F during the correction process, and the coating film F can be vacuum dried with excellent quality.

[0043] As described above, in the first embodiment, the upper surface Sa of the substrate S corresponds to the "one main surface" of the present invention, and the upper surface peripheral region Sa1 and the upper surface central region Sa2 correspond to the "peripheral region" and the "central region" of the present invention, respectively. Also, the initial drying period and the main drying period correspond to examples of the "first predetermined time" and the "second predetermined time" of the present invention, respectively.

[0044] Figs. 7A and 7B are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of a second embodiment of the vacuum drying apparatus according to the present invention, viewed from below. The main difference between this second embodiment and the first embodiment is that two additional pairs of alignment pins each consisting of two alignment pins 45 are provided, and the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. One pair of alignment pins is provided at one corner portion of the overlapping region (the region surrounded by the dashed-dotted line in Fig. 7B) where the substrate S overlaps in a plan view from below, and the other pair of alignment pins is provided at the corner portion in the diagonal direction with respect to the above corner portion. Further, when comparing the amount of protrusion downward from the opposing surface 41a between each alignment pin 45 and the pressing pin 61, the amount of protrusion from each alignment pin 45 is larger than that of the pressing pin 61, and the tip of the alignment pin 45 is finished in a tapered shape downward. Therefore, when the top plate portion 40 is lowered in step S17, the alignment pins 45 also descend together with the top plate portion 40. And before the pressing pin 61 contacts the substrate S, the tip of the alignment pin 45 contacts the corner portion of the substrate S, and the substrate S is positioned in the substrate posture defined by the two pairs of alignment pins. Thereafter, the substrate S is pressed by the plurality of pressing pins 61, and the warp is corrected. Therefore, the vacuum drying process can be executed with the substrate S always at a predetermined position and in a state where the warp is corrected, and the vacuum drying process can be performed more stably and with higher quality. In this second embodiment, two pairs of alignment pins are used, but three or more pairs of alignment pins may be used. Also, although the alignment pins 45 are arranged corresponding to the corner portions of the substrate S, alignment pins that engage with other portions to position the substrate S may be used.

[0045] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made other than those described above without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, in the above embodiment, the top plate portion 40 is constituted by the lower top plate 41 and the upper top plate 42. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the top plate portion 40 may be constituted by only the lower top plate 41 (Third Embodiment). That is, the lower surface of the lower top plate 41 may function as the "opposing surface" of the present invention, and the upper surface of the lower top plate 41 may be connected to the elevating shaft 51.

[0046] Further, in the above embodiment, the lower surface of the substrate S is supported by 16 support pins 23, and the peripheral edge region Sa1 of the upper surface of the substrate S is pressed by 40 pressing pins 61. However, the number and arrangement of the support pins 23 and the pressing pins 61 can be appropriately modified and applied.

[0047] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the opening and closing of the processing space SP are switched by the elevation of the cover portion 11. However, the switching may be configured to be performed by the elevation of the bottom plate portion 12 or the elevation of both.

Industrial Applicability

[0048] This invention relates to a vacuum drying apparatus for drying a coating film formed on a substrate.

Explanation of Signs

[0049] 1... Vacuum drying apparatus 10... Chamber 20... Substrate support portion 23... Support pin 30... Exhaust portion 40... Top plate portion 41... Lower top plate 41a... (Of the lower top plate) Opposing surface 42... Upper top plate 43... Connecting member 43a... Fixed connecting member 43b... Push-pull bolt 45... Alignment pin 50... Top plate elevating portion 60... Pressing pin group 61... Pressing pin 90... Control unit F... Coating film GP... Gap during vacuum drying SP... Processing space Pdw... Lower position Pup... Upper position S... Substrate Sa... (Upper surface of the substrate) Sa1... Upper surface peripheral region Sa2... Upper surface central region

Claims

1. A chamber having a processing space capable of accommodating a substrate with a coating film formed in a central region on one main surface, a substrate support portion that supports the substrate in a posture with the coating film facing upward within the processing space, an exhaust portion that evacuates the processing space, a top plate portion having a facing surface that faces the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion, a top plate elevating portion that elevates the top plate portion between a lower position where the facing surface approaches the upper surface of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion and an upper position above the lower position within the processing space, a plurality of pressing pins attached to the facing surface and contacting the peripheral region of the one main surface when the top plate portion is located at the lower position, A vacuum drying apparatus characterized by comprising the above.

2. The vacuum drying apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the top plate portion has an upper top plate connected to the top plate elevating portion, has the facing surface and a lower top plate disposed below the upper top plate, and has a plurality of connecting members that connect the upper top plate and the lower top plate at different positions within the plane of the lower top plate, and at least a part of the plurality of connecting members is capable of adjusting the distance between the upper top plate and the lower top plate.

3. The vacuum drying apparatus according to Claim 2, wherein when the top plate portion is viewed from above, the plurality of connecting members are located outside the substrate supported by the substrate support portion.

4. The vacuum drying apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the top plate portion is composed only of a lower top plate, the lower surface of the lower top plate functions as the facing surface, and the upper surface of the lower top plate is connected to the top plate elevating portion.

5. The vacuum drying apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein the plurality of pressing pins are detachable from the lower top plate.

6. The vacuum drying apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, further comprising a control portion that controls the top plate elevating portion, the plurality of pressing pins are detachable from the lower top plate, and the control portion adjusts the descending amount of the top plate portion from the upper position according to the protruding amount by which the plurality of pressing pins attached to the lower top plate protrude downward from the facing surface.

7. The vacuum drying apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, Further comprising a plurality of alignment pins suspended from the opposing surface toward the end face of the substrate supported by the substrate support portion, Regarding the amount of protrusion downward from the opposing surface, the alignment pins are longer than the pressing pins, A vacuum drying apparatus that adjusts the position of the substrate in the horizontal plane by engaging the tip of the alignment pin with the end face of the substrate prior to the pressing pin contacting the peripheral region of the one main surface when the cover portion and the top plate portion integrally descend by the chamber driving portion.

8. The vacuum drying apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, Further comprising a control unit that controls the top plate elevating unit and the exhaust unit, The control unit, Controls the top plate elevating unit so that the peripheral region of the one main surface comes into contact with the plurality of pressing pins, and while controlling the exhaust unit so that the exhaust amount per unit time from the processing space becomes a first exhaust amount, an initial vacuum drying process of continuing the vacuum drying of the coating film for a first predetermined time, After the initial vacuum drying process, a top plate ascending process of controlling the top plate elevating unit so that the top plate portion ascends to the upper position, and a main vacuum drying process of continuing the vacuum drying of the coating film for a second predetermined time while controlling the exhaust unit so that the exhaust amount per unit time from the processing space becomes a second exhaust amount greater than the first exhaust amount, A vacuum drying apparatus that executes.

9. The vacuum drying apparatus according to claim 8, The control unit executes the main vacuum drying process after the top plate ascending process. A vacuum drying apparatus.

10. The vacuum drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Further comprising a plurality of alignment pins that are attached at different positions from each other around the opposing surface and that are in sliding contact with the end of the substrate that is movably supported horizontally by the substrate support portion while the top plate portion is moving to the lower position to adjust the position of the substrate in the horizontal plane. A vacuum drying apparatus.

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