Substrate cleaning device, substrate processing device, and support structure of cleaning tool

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning device for cleaning a substrate such as a wafer, a glass substrate, and a liquid crystal panel. This substrate cleaning device includes a support structure that rotatably supports a cleaning tool (38), and a drive source that rotates the cleaning tool (38) supported by the support structure. The support structure comprises a connection member (68) for connecting the drive source to the cleaning tool (38), and a sealing member (69) for sealing the outer peripheral surface of the connection member (68). The connection member (68) is composed of a base material formed from a resin, and a hard material coating (80) applied to at least a sealing surface of the base material with respect to the sealing member (69). The connection member (68) to which the hard material coating has been applied has a Rockwell hardness of at least HRC55.

Description

Substrate cleaning apparatus, substrate processing apparatus, and cleaning tool support structure

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning substrates such as wafers, glass substrates, and liquid crystal panels. The present invention also relates to a substrate processing apparatus equipped with such a substrate cleaning apparatus. Additionally, the present invention also relates to a support structure for rotatably supporting a cleaning tool provided in the substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0002] In recent years, with the advancement of high integration in semiconductor devices, circuit wiring on substrates has become increasingly fine, and the distance between wirings has become narrower. However, during substrate processing, particles such as fine particles and dust may adhere to the substrate surface. Crystal-like protrusions may also remain on the substrate surface. The presence of particles larger than the distance between wirings on a substrate can cause problems such as short circuits in the wiring, so particles on a substrate must be sufficiently small compared to the distance between wirings. This situation is also true in the processing of glass substrates used for masks, or substrates such as liquid crystal panels. To meet these demands, cleaning technologies capable of removing even finer submicron-level particles from substrate surfaces are needed.

[0003] For example, a known substrate cleaning device for cleaning a polished substrate to a high degree of cleanliness is one that performs scrubbing (primary cleaning) by rubbing a cleaning tool made of a brush or sponge against the surface of the substrate to be cleaned, and then sprays high-pressure water (high-speed jet stream) toward the substrate to generate bubbles through cavitation to perform finish cleaning (secondary cleaning). Also known is a substrate processing apparatus that includes both a polishing apparatus that performs the polishing process and a cleaning apparatus that cleans the surface of the polished substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] In a substrate cleaning apparatus mounted on a substrate processing apparatus as described in Patent Document 1, a cleaning tool that is in sliding contact with the surface of a substrate to be cleaned is connected to a drive shaft of a drive source via a connecting member having a substantially cylindrical shape. When the drive source is driven, a driving force is transmitted to the cleaning tool via the drive shaft and the connecting member, and as a result, the cleaning tool in contact with the surface of the substrate is rotated, thereby cleaning the surface of the substrate.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-318149

[0006] In a substrate cleaning apparatus, a cleaning liquid (e.g., a chemical liquid) is used to clean the surface of a substrate. Therefore, the outer circumferential surface of the connecting member must be sealed with a sealing member to prevent the cleaning liquid from reaching the drive source. To reliably seal the outer circumferential surface of the connecting member, which rotates together with the cleaning tool, from the cleaning liquid, the sealing member must be pressed against the connecting member with a strong pressing force. Therefore, the connecting member must have a certain degree of hardness (e.g., a Rockwell hardness of HRC 55 or higher) to withstand the pressing force of the sealing member.

[0007] Furthermore, since the connecting member itself comes into contact with the cleaning solution during substrate cleaning, the connecting member is required to have chemical resistance. Additionally, to prevent metal ions eluted from the connecting member in contact with the cleaning solution from adversely affecting devices formed on the substrate, the connecting member must have elution prevention properties that prevent the elution of metal ions. To satisfy the above-mentioned hardness, chemical resistance, and elution prevention properties, conventional connecting members are made of ceramic (e.g., SiC).

[0008] With the recent increase in semiconductor demand, semiconductor-related equipment manufacturers have taken measures to secure parts, such as sourcing components from multiple suppliers. However, even when parts are sourced from multiple suppliers, procuring ceramic connecting members can be difficult. Furthermore, when ceramic connecting members are purchased from multiple manufacturers, the quality of the connecting members varies significantly. For example, depending on the quality of the connecting members, the connecting members may be prone to breakage (e.g., cracking or chipping) when fastening them to the drive shaft. Furthermore, ceramic connecting members are expensive, which contributes to increased manufacturing and operating costs of substrate cleaning apparatuses (and substrate processing apparatuses). In particular, if ceramic connecting members are prone to breakage, the frequency of breakage increases, potentially resulting in increased operating costs of substrate cleaning apparatuses (and substrate processing apparatuses).

[0009] Therefore, the present invention provides a substrate cleaning apparatus equipped with a connecting member that has stable quality, is low-cost, and is readily available on the market.The present invention also provides a substrate processing apparatus equipped with such a substrate cleaning apparatus.Furthermore, the present invention also provides a support structure for rotatably supporting a cleaning tool provided in such a substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0010] In one aspect, a substrate cleaning apparatus is provided, comprising: a substrate holder for holding a substrate; a cleaning tool that cleans the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder by sliding it against the surface of the substrate in the presence of a cleaning liquid; a support structure that rotatably supports the cleaning tool; and a drive source that rotates the cleaning tool supported by the support structure, wherein the support structure includes a connecting member that connects the drive source to the cleaning tool and a sealing member that seals the outer peripheral surface of the connecting member, and the connecting member is made of a base material made of resin and a hard material coating applied to at least the sealing surface of the base material with the sealing member, and the hard material coated portion of the connecting member has a hardness of at least HRC 55 or more in Rockwell hardness.

[0011] In one aspect, the base material of the connecting member is made of super engineering plastic. In one aspect, the hard material coating is DLC. In one aspect, the hard material coating is applied to the entire connecting member. In one aspect, the seal member is a lip seal having a lip that slides against the portion of the connecting member that is coated with the hard material.

[0012] In one aspect, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate; and a cleaning apparatus for cleaning the substrate polished by the polishing apparatus, wherein the cleaning apparatus is the cleaning apparatus described above.

[0013] In one aspect, a support structure is provided that rotatably supports a cleaning tool that cleans a substrate surface by sliding it against the surface in the presence of a cleaning liquid, the support structure including: a connecting member that connects a drive source that rotates the cleaning tool to one end of the cleaning tool; and a sealing member that seals the outer circumferential surface of the connecting member, wherein the connecting member is made of a base material made of resin and a hard material coating applied to at least the sealing surface of the base material with the sealing member, and the hard material coated portion of the connecting member has a hardness of at least HRC 55 or more in Rockwell hardness.

[0014] By applying a hard material coating to the resin base material of the connecting member, the hardness of the sealing surface can be increased to a Rockwell hardness of HRC 55 or higher. As a result, connecting members can be manufactured using resin as the base material that is inexpensive, readily available on the market, and guaranteed to be of consistent quality. The hard material coating can also be applied to a large number of connecting members in a batch process, reducing the manufacturing cost of each connecting member. Therefore, even if a hard material coating is applied to the base material of the connecting member, the manufacturing cost of the connecting member can be kept low.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a substrate holder of the substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2B is a schematic view showing a substrate being cleaned in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2C is a schematic view showing a substrate being cleaned in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a portion of the substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C in a cutaway. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a coupling member according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the coupling member shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an end of a shaft of a cleaning tool with which the coupling member shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 engages.

[0016] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, identical or corresponding elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus includes a substantially rectangular housing 10 and a load port 12 on which a substrate cassette for stocking a large number of substrates, such as wafers, is placed. The load port 12 is disposed adjacent to the housing 10. The load port 12 can be equipped with an open cassette, a Standard Manufacturing Interface (SMIF) pod, or a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP). SMIFs and FOUPs are hermetically sealed containers that house substrate cassettes and are covered with a partition wall, thereby maintaining an environment independent of the external space.

[0017] The housing 10 accommodates multiple (four in this example) polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d, a first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and a second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 that clean the substrates after polishing, and a substrate drying apparatus 20 that dries the cleaned substrates. The polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus, and the substrate cleaning apparatuses 16 and 18 and the substrate drying apparatus 20 are also arranged along the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus.

[0018] A first substrate transfer robot 22 is disposed in an area surrounded by the load port 12, the polishing apparatus 14a, and the substrate drying apparatus 20. In this embodiment, the first substrate transfer robot 22 has a substrate inversion function. A substrate transfer unit 24 is disposed parallel to the polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d. The first substrate transfer robot 22 receives unpolished substrates with their polished surfaces facing upward from the load port 12, and then inverts the substrates (i.e., turns the polished surfaces downward) and transfers them to the substrate transfer unit 24. The first substrate transfer robot 22 is also configured to receive dried substrates from the substrate drying apparatus 20 and return them to the load port 12. The substrate transfer unit 24 transports the substrates received from the first substrate transfer robot 22 and transfers them between the polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d.

[0019] A reversing / transporting machine (not shown) having a substrate reversing function and a temporary placement table (not shown) are provided at predetermined positions adjacent to the substrate transfer unit 24 and the second substrate transfer robot 26. The reversing / transporting machine receives the polished substrate from the substrate transfer unit 24, reverses the received substrate, and transfers it to the temporary placement table (not shown). The second substrate transfer robot 26, which will be described later, is configured to receive the substrate placed on the temporary placement table.

[0020] A second substrate transfer robot 26 is disposed between the first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18. The second substrate transfer robot 26 transfers substrates between the first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18. A third substrate transfer robot 28 is disposed between the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 and the substrate drying apparatus 20. The third substrate transfer robot 28 transfers substrates between the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 and the substrate drying apparatus 20. A control device 25 is provided in the housing 10. This control device 25 functions as an operation control device that controls the operations of the polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d, the first substrate transfer robot 22, the first substrate cleaning apparatus 16, the substrate transfer unit 24, the inverting / transfer machine (not shown), the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18, the substrate drying apparatus 20, the second substrate transfer robot 26, and the third substrate transfer robot 28.

[0021] In the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above, a substrate is removed from a substrate cassette in load port 12 and transported to one of polishing apparatuses 14a to 14d for polishing. The polished substrate is then cleaned (primary cleaning) in first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and then further cleaned (finish cleaning) in second substrate cleaning apparatus 18. The cleaned substrate is then removed from second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 and transported to substrate drying apparatus 20 for spin drying, after which the dried substrate is returned to the substrate cassette in load port 12.

[0022] In one embodiment, a substrate removed from a substrate cassette in load port 12 may be cleaned in first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and / or second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 before being polished in one of polishing apparatuses 14a-14d. In this case, the cleaned substrate is polished in one of polishing apparatuses 14a-14d.

[0023] 2A is a perspective view showing a substrate holder of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 2B and 2C are schematic views showing a substrate being cleaned in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment. The substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C is applied to the first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 and / or the second substrate cleaning apparatus 18 (see FIG. 1). An example in which the substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C is applied to the first substrate cleaning apparatus 16 will be described below.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2A , the substrate cleaning apparatus 16 has a substrate holder composed of multiple upright rollers 30 for holding a substrate. The rollers 30 constituting the substrate holder are mounted around the substrate W so as to be freely openable and closable, and a holding groove 32 is formed at the top of each roller 30. The substrate W is rotated by holding the edge of the substrate W with the holding groove 32 and rotating the rollers 30. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2B , a pair of cleaning tools 38 are provided on either side of the substrate W so as to be able to contact and retract from the substrate W. The cleaning tools 38 are roll cleaning tools composed of a hollow shaft 34 and a cleaning member 36 made of a sponge attached to the outer surface of the shaft 34. As shown in FIG. 2C , a cleaning tank 42 filled with cleaning liquid 40 is disposed at the retracted position of the cleaning tool 38. A cleaning liquid nozzle 44 is provided above the cleaning tank 42.

[0025] 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C. As shown in FIG. 3, the shaft 34 has a shaft bore 46 extending axially along substantially the entire length of the shaft 34. The end connected to a drive unit that rotates the shaft 34 is closed, while the opposite end (the open end) is tapered and opens outward. The shaft bore 46 is provided with a plurality of cleaning liquid ejection ports 48, which extend radially and have their tips open on the outer surface of the shaft 34, distributed along the axial direction. The shaft 34 is made of a material, such as Teflon (registered trademark), that has a predetermined degree of flexibility, slidability, and corrosion resistance.

[0026] The cleaning tool 38 is supported at both ends by a frame 50 arranged in parallel therewith. The frame 50 moves up and down by a vertical movement mechanism (not shown), allowing the cleaning tool 38 to contact or retract from the substrate W. A motor 52 and a pair of bevel gears 54 a, 54 b that convert the rotational output of the motor 52 into a horizontal direction are provided at one end of the frame 50, and the driven bevel gear 54 b is fixed to a transmission shaft 58 supported by a bearing 56. The transmission shaft 58 is connected to the closed end 51 of the shaft body 34 of the cleaning tool 38 via a connecting member 68, and rotates the cleaning tool 38 by rotation of the motor 52.

[0027] In this embodiment, the substrate cleaning apparatus has a gearbox 78 in which bevel gears 54a, 54b and a transmission shaft 58 are arranged to transmit the driving force of the motor 52 to the cleaning tool 38. In this embodiment, the motor 52, the pair of bevel gears 54a, 54b, the transmission shaft 58, and the gearbox 78 constitute a drive source for driving the cleaning tool 38. The transmission shaft 58 functions as a drive shaft for rotating the cleaning tool 38. Hereinafter, the transmission shaft 58 may be referred to as the "drive shaft 58."

[0028] The configuration of the drive source can be freely selected as long as it can rotate the cleaning tool 38 via the drive shaft 58. For example, the drive source may omit the pair of bevel gears 54a, 54b. In this case, the drive shaft (transmission shaft) 58 is directly connected to the motor 52. Furthermore, the drive source may have another gear mechanism composed of arbitrarily selected gears instead of the pair of bevel gears 54a, 54b.

[0029] A box-shaped shaft end holding section 60 is attached to the other end of the frame 50. A shaft end holding member 62 is housed inside this shaft end holding section 60 so that it can slide freely in the direction of the drive shaft 58 but is restricted from rotating. The shaft end holding member 62 is provided with a core pusher 66 having a tapered portion at the tip of its shaft, and the shaft of this core pusher 66 protrudes from a hole formed inside the shaft end holding section 60. A compression coil spring 64 is disposed between the shaft end holding member 62 and the rear wall of the shaft end holding section 60, urging the shaft end holding member 62 in the direction of the drive shaft 58. As a result, the shaft end holding member 62 is pressed in the direction of the drive shaft 58 by the compression coil spring 64, and the tip of the shaft of the tapered portion of the core pusher 66 is inserted into the shaft hole 46 of the shaft 34 to center it and rotatably support the cleaning tool 38.

[0030] The core stock 66 of the shaft end holding member 62 is made of a material that is hard and does not leach metal ions, such as ceramics, while the shaft 34, as mentioned above, is made of, for example, Teflon (registered trademark). This forms a sliding portion that maintains good sliding properties between the two, has excellent chemical resistance, and is capable of preventing metal contamination.

[0031] A cleaning liquid passage 70 is provided inside the shaft end holding member 62, opening at the tip of the shaft portion of the core pusher 66. A cleaning liquid supply joint 72 that communicates with the cleaning liquid passage 70 is attached to the upper end of the shaft end holding member 62. This allows cleaning liquid supplied from a pipe or the like connected to the cleaning liquid supply joint 72 to flow from the cleaning liquid passage 70 into the axial hole 46 of the shaft 34 of the cleaning tool 38 and be ejected from the cleaning liquid ejection port 48. The cleaning liquid supply joint 72 is flexible so that it does not hinder axial movement of the shaft end holding member 62. Furthermore, the cleaning tool 38 can be moved toward the shaft end holding member 62 and removed from the connecting member 68, allowing for easy replacement.

[0032] Fig. 4 is a side view of a connecting member according to one embodiment, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the connecting member shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the end of a shaft of a cleaning tool with which the connecting member shown in Figs. 4 and 5 engages.

[0033] 4 and 5 , the connecting member 68 is composed of a generally cylindrical main body 74 and a protrusion 73 protruding from the main body 74. A threaded hole 75 is formed at the end of the main body 74. In this embodiment, the threaded hole 75 is provided in a notch 74a formed at the end of the main body 74. A screw (not shown) provided at the end of the drive shaft 58 (see FIG. 3 ) on the connecting member 68 side is threadedly engaged with the threaded hole 75. The connecting member 68 is fixed to the drive shaft 58 by threading the screw into the threaded hole 75.

[0034] Both side surfaces 73 a, 73 a of the protrusion 73 of the connecting member 68 extend parallel to each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (axial direction) of the connecting member 68, and these two side surfaces 73 a, 73 a form torque transmission surfaces that transmit torque from the drive source to the cleaning tool 38. The longitudinal direction of the connecting member 68 corresponds to the longitudinal direction (axial direction) of the cleaning tool 38.

[0035] 6, a recess 81 and a groove 82 serving as an engaged portion that is disposed radially of the shaft 34 of the cleaning tool 38 and intersects with the recess 81 are formed in the closed end 51 of the shaft 34 of the cleaning tool 38. The protrusion 73 engages with the inner surface of the groove 82 at both side surfaces 73a, 73a.

[0036] By driving the drive source, the connecting member 68 fixed to the drive shaft 58 (see FIG. 3) rotates. The torque generated thereby is transmitted to the shaft 34 (i.e., the cleaning tool 38) via the groove 82 that engages with both side surfaces 73 a, 73 a of the protrusion 73, causing the cleaning tool 38 to rotate.

[0037] During cleaning of the substrate W, the outer periphery of the connecting member 68 is sealed by a sealing member 69 (see FIG. 3 ) to prevent the cleaning liquid supplied to the front and back surfaces of the substrate W from reaching the drive source. In this embodiment, the sealing member 69 is fixed to the gear box 78. The sealing member 69 seals the gap between the gear box 78 and the connecting member 68, preventing the cleaning liquid from reaching the drive source (e.g., the transmission shaft 58, the gears 54 a, 54 b, and the motor 52).

[0038] The bearing 56 that supports the drive shaft 58 is also disposed inside the gear box 78. In this embodiment, the frame 50, the shaft end holder 60, the connecting member 68, the seal member 69, and the gear box 78 form a support structure that rotatably supports the cleaning tool 38.

[0039] The seal member 69 is a seal that is readily available on the market, such as a DynaLipSeal. In one embodiment, the seal member 69 may be a seal other than a lip seal, such as an OmniSeal®. However, the seal member 69 is not limited to the examples of a DynaLipSeal or an OmniSeal®. The type and configuration of the seal member 69 can be freely selected as long as it can prevent cleaning liquid from passing through the gap between the rotating connecting member 68 and the seal member 69 and reaching the drive source.

[0040] Because the connecting member 68 rotates during cleaning of the substrate W, the sealing member 69 needs to be pressed firmly against the connecting member 68 in order to reliably prevent the cleaning liquid from entering the drive source. Therefore, the connecting member 68 needs to have a certain degree of hardness in order to prevent deformation and / or damage to the connecting member 68 due to the pressing force of the sealing member 69. For example, if the sealing member 69 is a DynaLipSeal or OmniSeal (registered trademark) as exemplified above, the connecting member 68 needs to have a Rockwell hardness of HRC 55 or higher.

[0041] Metals such as stainless steel are considered to be commercially available materials that have high hardness. However, if the connecting member 68 is made of metal, metal ions may be eluted from the connecting member 68 upon contact with the cleaning liquid, which may adversely affect devices formed on the substrate W. For this reason, the connecting member 68 cannot be made of metal.

[0042] In contrast, resin is an example of a material that does not leach metal ions, is inexpensive, and is readily available on the market. However, a connecting member 68 made of resin cannot achieve the required hardness of HRC 55 or higher on the Rockwell hardness scale. Therefore, the inventors conducted extensive research into materials for the connecting member 68 and discovered that by using resin as the base material for the connecting member 68 and further applying a hard material coating to at least the sealing surface of the connecting member 68 with the sealing member 69, a hardness of HRC 55 or higher can be achieved.

[0043] In the example of the connecting member 68 shown in Figures 4 and 5, the main body 74 is made of resin. Furthermore, in Figures 4 and 5, at least the sealing surface of the connecting member 68 with the sealing member 69 is hatched to facilitate understanding of the invention. Naturally, the entire connecting member 68 may be coated with the hard material coating 80. In this case, when applying the hard material coating 80, it is not necessary to mask the portions of the connecting member 68 other than the portions covered with the hard material coating 80. Therefore, the connecting member 68 that can withstand the pressing force of the sealing member 69 can be manufactured more inexpensively than when only the sealing surface is coated.

[0044] The base material of the connecting member 68 (the material constituting the main body 74 in this embodiment) on which the hard material coating 80 is applied is a super engineering plastic such as PEEK (polyether ether ketone) or PI (polyimide). Such super engineering plastics are widely used in various industrial fields, and therefore are not only readily available on the market but also have a consistent quality. Furthermore, super engineering plastics have a relatively high hardness compared to other resins. Therefore, even if the hard material coating 80 is applied relatively thinly to the main body 74, a hardness of HRC 55 or higher on the Rockwell hardness scale can be easily achieved.

[0045] The hard material coating 80 applied to the base material of the connecting member 68 also needs to be made of a material that does not elute metal ions when it comes into contact with the cleaning solution. An example of such a hard material coating 80 is diamond-like coating (DLC). The type and conditions of the hard material coating 80 can be freely selected as long as the material does not elute metal ions when it comes into contact with the cleaning solution and the connecting member 68 has a hardness of HRC 55 or higher on the Rockwell hardness scale when applied to the base material of the connecting member 68.

[0046] The resin that is the base material of the connecting member 68 does not have a Rockwell hardness of HRC 55 or higher, which is sufficient to withstand the pressing force from the sealing member 69. However, according to this embodiment, by applying the hard material coating 80 to at least the sealing surface, the hardness of the sealing surface can be increased to a Rockwell hardness of 55 or higher. As a result, it is possible to manufacture connecting members 68 using a resin that is inexpensive, readily available on the market, and of guaranteed quality as the base material. The hard material coating process can also be performed on a large number of connecting members 68 at once, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost per connecting member 68.

[0047] Furthermore, the hard material coating applied to at least the sealing surface of the connecting member 68 that seals with the sealing member 69 reduces the sliding resistance between the connecting member 68 and the sealing member 69. As a result, it is expected that the motor 52 can be operated with less energy, and further, torque management of the motor 52 can be easily performed.

[0048] In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning tool 38 is a cleaning tool (sometimes referred to as a "roll sponge") configured by attaching a sponge-like cleaning member 36 to the shaft 34, but the cleaning tool 38 is not limited to this example. For example, the cleaning tool 38 may be a cleaning tool configured by attaching an abrasive cloth to the shaft 34. Such a cleaning tool 38 is a cleaning tool for finish cleaning, sometimes referred to as a "buff roll," and is disposed in, for example, the second cleaning device 18. Examples of abrasive cloths include abrasive cloths made primarily of polyurethane with fine pores having a pore size of 10 to 200 μm, and abrasive cloths made of nonwoven fabric in which fibers are solidified with urethane resin.

[0049] The above-described embodiments have been described for the purpose of enabling a person of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Various modifications of the above-described embodiments would be obvious to a person skilled in the art, and the technical concept of the present invention may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but is to be interpreted in the broadest scope in accordance with the technical concept defined by the claims.

[0050] The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning substrates such as wafers, glass substrates, and liquid crystal panels. The present invention also relates to a substrate processing apparatus equipped with such a substrate cleaning apparatus. Additionally, the present invention can be used in a support structure for rotatably supporting a cleaning tool provided in a substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0051] 12 Load port 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d Polishing device 16, 18 Substrate cleaning device 25 Control device 30 Roller 34 Shaft body 36 Cleaning member 38 Cleaning tool 58 Drive shaft (transmission shaft) 60 Shaft end holder 69 Seal member 74 Main body 80 Hard material coating

Claims

1. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a substrate holder for holding a substrate; a cleaning tool that cleans the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder by sliding it against the surface of the substrate in the presence of a cleaning liquid; a support structure that rotatably supports the cleaning tool; and a drive source that rotates the cleaning tool supported by the support structure, wherein the support structure includes: a connecting member that connects the drive source to the cleaning tool; and a sealing member that seals the outer circumferential surface of the connecting member, the connecting member being made of a base material made of resin and a hard material coating applied to at least the sealing surface of the base material with the sealing member, and the hardness of the portion of the connecting member that is coated with the hard material has a Rockwell hardness of at least HRC 55 or more.

2. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material of the connecting member is made of super engineering plastic.

3. The substrate cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hard material coating is DLC.

4. The substrate cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hard material coating is applied to the entire connecting member.

5. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is a lip seal having a lip that slides against the portion of the connecting member that is coated with a hard material.

6. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate; and a cleaning apparatus for cleaning the substrate polished by the polishing apparatus, wherein the cleaning apparatus is the cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A support structure for rotatably supporting a cleaning tool that cleans by sliding contact with the surface of a substrate in the presence of a cleaning liquid, the support structure comprising: a connecting member that connects a drive source that rotates the cleaning tool to one end of the cleaning tool; and a sealing member that seals the outer circumferential surface of the connecting member, the connecting member being made of a base material made of resin and a hard material coating applied to at least the sealing surface of the base material with the sealing member, and the hardness of the portion of the connecting member that is coated with the hard material is at least HRC 55 or more in Rockwell hardness.

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