Substrate cleaning device

Abstract

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a substrate cleaning device that can curb the amount of cleaning solution used and also remove., through thorough cleaning of, objects of removal that have adhered to a cleaning surface of a substrate. In a substrate cleaning device (70) according to the present disclosure, a substrate-spraying mist gas (MG2) obtained by the convergence of a cleaning mist gas (MG1) and an air gas (AG0) is supplied to a surface (1s) of a substrate (1). A rotation mechanism (30) causes a rotation motor (35) to execute a stage rotation operation to rotate the substrate (1). At this time, rotation direction control processing for switching the rotation direction and rotation speed control processing for changing the rotation speed are executed together. Furthermore, it is possible to cause a vibration motor (34) to execute a stage vibration operation to impart vibration to the substrate (1).

Description

Substrate cleaning device

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a substrate cleaning device for cleaning a substrate, and more particularly, to a substrate cleaning device for cleaning a substrate used in, for example, a plating processing device for forming a metal film in the manufacture of electronic components.

[0002] As conventional cleaning devices for cleaning substrates and the like used in plating processing devices for forming metal films in the manufacture of electronic components and the like, for example, a closed cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a substrate liquid processing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, a substrate cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 3, a cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 4, and a cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 5 can be cited.

[0003] The cleaning devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 basically cleaned the cleaning target by directly spraying the cleaning liquid onto the cleaning target. The cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 4 performed cleaning in a mist atmosphere. The cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 5 performed cleaning by directly spraying the cleaning liquid onto the cleaning target placed in a mist atmosphere.

[0004] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional substrate cleaning device 78. An XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is shown in FIG. 8. Note that the substrate cleaning device 78 uses mist gas, similar to the cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 5.

[0005] As shown in the figure, the ultrasonic nebulizer 11 applies ultrasonic waves to the cleaning liquid accommodated therein to generate a cleaning liquid mist MT. The carrier gas TG is supplied to the ultrasonic nebulizer 11 through the carrier gas supply pipe 13.

[0006] Therefore, the cleaning liquid mist MT generated in the ultrasonic nebulizer 11 is carried by the carrier gas TG to become a cleaning mist gas MG9. This cleaning mist gas MG9 is supplied to the mist nozzle 61 through the mist supply pipe 62. Thus, the cleaning mist gas MG9 containing the cleaning liquid mist MT generated in the ultrasonic nebulizer 11 is supplied to the mist nozzle 61 through the mist supply pipe 62.

[0007] The mist nozzle 61 is positioned above the transport path of the substrate 1 along the substrate transport direction T1, and the mist nozzle 61 supplies cleaning mist gas MG9 downward from, for example, a slit-shaped mist outlet (not shown) provided on the bottom surface.

[0008] Therefore, by supplying a cleaning mist gas MG9 containing a cleaning liquid mist MT to the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the objects to be removed attached to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 are removed or decomposed, resulting in the cleaning of the objects to be removed.

[0009] Japanese Patent Publication No. 11-76962, International Publication No. 2018 / 501665, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-136742, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-18993, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-33730

[0010] Conventional substrate cleaning devices 78 locally supplied cleaning mist gas MG9 from a mist nozzle 61 in a fixed direction toward the surface 1s of the substrate 1. Figure 8 shows the case where the supply direction of the cleaning mist gas MG9 is the -Z direction.

[0011] On the other hand, in the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus 78, as shown in Figure 8, the substrate 1 to be cleaned is transported along the substrate transport direction T1 (X direction), which is perpendicular to the supply direction of the cleaning mist gas MG9 (-Z direction).

[0012] Here, we consider the case where multiple uneven regions 18 are provided on the surface 1s of the substrate 1, as shown in Figure 8. Each of the multiple uneven regions 18 is composed of a combination of a recess 1a and a protrusion 1b, and each extends in the Y direction. The multiple uneven regions 18 are provided along the X direction. That is, the direction of formation of each of the multiple uneven regions 18, the unevenness formation direction D18, is the Y direction, and the direction of arrangement of the multiple uneven regions 18 is the X direction.

[0013] When cleaning a substrate 1 having multiple uneven areas 18 on its surface 1s using a substrate cleaning device 78, there is a relatively high possibility that the cleaning mist gas MG9 cannot be supplied to the entire surface 1s of the substrate 1, which is the cleaning surface, as the multiple uneven areas 18 become an obstacle. In particular, as shown in Figure 8, this possibility increases when the direction D18 in which each of the multiple uneven areas 18 forms an unevenness is orthogonal to the substrate transport direction T1 of the substrate 1.

[0014] Thus, in the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus 78, which supplies cleaning mist gas MG9 to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 from one direction, there was a problem in that it could not remove any material attached to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 without any areas being missed during cleaning.

[0015] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus that can solve the above-mentioned problems, reduce the amount of cleaning solution used, and remove any material adhering to the cleaning surface of the substrate without any missed spots.

[0016] The substrate cleaning apparatus according to this disclosure comprises a rotating mechanism that performs a rotational operation to rotate the substrate along the direction of rotation; a mist gas supply mechanism that supplies a cleaning mist gas containing a cleaning liquid mist, which is a mist of the cleaning liquid; and an air gas supply mechanism that performs an air gas blowing process to obtain a substrate spray mist gas by blowing air gas onto the cleaning mist gas so as to merge with the cleaning mist gas. During the period in which the rotating mechanism performs the rotational operation, the substrate spray mist gas obtained by the air gas blowing process is supplied to the cleaning surface of the substrate, and the flow velocity of the air gas is set to be faster than the flow velocity of the cleaning mist gas.

[0017] The substrate cleaning apparatus of this disclosure includes a mist gas supply mechanism and an air gas supply mechanism to obtain mist gas for spraying the substrate, and the flow velocity of the air gas supplied from the air gas supply mechanism is set to be faster than the flow velocity of the cleaning mist gas supplied from the mist gas supply mechanism.

[0018] Therefore, the mist gas for substrate spraying, which is obtained by combining the cleaning mist gas and the air gas, is influenced by the air gas and flows in the same direction as the air gas, resulting in a flow velocity of the mist gas for substrate spraying that is approximately the same as the flow velocity of the air gas.

[0019] Therefore, by setting the air gas flow rate to the flow rate required for cleaning the substrate surface, the amount of cleaning liquid mist contained in the cleaning mist gas can be kept to the absolute minimum, and the mist gas for spraying the substrate can be efficiently supplied to the substrate surface.

[0020] Furthermore, since the substrate cleaning apparatus of this disclosure rotates the substrate by the rotational operation of the rotating mechanism, even if there are uneven areas on the cleaning surface of the substrate, the mist gas for spraying the substrate can be accurately sprayed over the entire cleaning surface without creating mist blind spots where the mist gas for spraying the substrate is not supplied.

[0021] As a result, the substrate cleaning apparatus of this disclosure can reduce the amount of cleaning liquid used and remove any material adhering to the cleaning surface of the substrate without any missed spots.

[0022] The purpose, features, aspects, and advantages of this disclosure will become clearer from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

[0023] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing the planar structure of the mist nozzle. This is a schematic diagram showing the planar structure of the air nozzle. This is a schematic diagram showing the generation system of the mist gas for substrate spraying in the substrate cleaning apparatus of this embodiment. This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the structure of the rotating mechanism. This is a schematic diagram (1) showing an example of cleaning using a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus. This is a schematic diagram (2) showing an example of cleaning using a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus. This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0024] <Embodiment> Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus 70 according to an embodiment of the substrate cleaning apparatus of the present disclosure. The XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is shown in Figure 1.

[0025] As shown in the figure, the substrate cleaning device 70 of this embodiment is equipped with a mist gas supply mechanism 2, an air gas supply mechanism 3, and a rotating mechanism 30 (not shown in Figure 1), which will be described later, as its main components.

[0026] The mist gas supply mechanism 2 mainly includes an ultrasonic atomizer 11, a mist supply pipe 12, a transport gas supply pipe 13, and a mist nozzle 21.

[0027] The ultrasonic atomizer 11 generates a cleaning liquid mist MT by applying ultrasonic waves to the cleaning liquid contained inside. The transport gas TG is supplied to the ultrasonic atomizer 11 via the transport gas supply pipe 13.

[0028] Therefore, the cleaning liquid mist MT generated in the ultrasonic atomizer 11 is transported by the transport gas TG to become cleaning mist gas MG1. This cleaning mist gas MG1 is supplied to the mist nozzle 21 via the mist supply pipe 12. In this way, the cleaning mist gas MG1, which includes the cleaning liquid mist MT generated in the ultrasonic atomizer 11, is supplied to the mist nozzle 21 via the mist supply pipe 12.

[0029] Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the planar structure of the mist outlet 22 provided on the nozzle bottom surface 21s of the mist nozzle 21. The XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is indicated in the figure.

[0030] As shown in the figure, the mist outlet 22 is provided in the shape of a vertically elongated rectangular slit with the Y direction, which is a predetermined direction, as its longitudinal direction.

[0031] Returning to Figure 1, the substrate 1 is rotated along either the rotational direction R1 or rotational direction R2 by the rotational operation of the rotating mechanism 30, which will be described later. The surface 1s of this substrate 1 becomes the cleaning surface. Rotational direction R1 is the first rotational direction, and rotational direction R2 is the second rotational direction, which is the opposite rotational direction to rotational direction R1.

[0032] Meanwhile, the mist nozzle 21 is positioned above the substrate 1 (in the +Z direction) such that the nozzle bottom surface 21s and the surface 1s of the substrate 1 face each other, and the mist nozzle 21 sprays cleaning mist gas MG1 downward (in the -Z direction) from the mist outlet 22.

[0033] Therefore, the mist gas ejection direction F21 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 is in the -Z direction. Also, the flow velocity VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 is determined by the flow velocity of the transport gas TG.

[0034] On the other hand, the air gas supply mechanism 3 includes an air gas supply pipe 14 and an air nozzle 23 as its main components.

[0035] The air gas AG0 supplied from an external source is supplied to the air nozzle 23 via the air gas supply pipe 14.

[0036] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the planar structure of the air outlet 24 provided on the nozzle bottom surface 23s of the air nozzle 23. The XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is indicated in the figure. Unlike Figure 1, Figure 3 shows the nozzle bottom surface 23s aligned with the XY plane.

[0037] As shown in the figure, the air outlet 24 is provided in the shape of a slit, which is a vertically elongated rectangle with the Y direction, which is a predetermined direction, as its longitudinal direction.

[0038] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the generation system of the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying in the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of Embodiment 1. Note that the shapes of the mist nozzle 21 and air nozzle 23 shown in Figure 4 are schematic representations and do not necessarily correspond to the actual shapes of the mist nozzle 21 and air nozzle 23.

[0039] As shown in the figure, the cleaning mist gas MG1 is ejected from the nozzle bottom surface 21s of the mist nozzle 21 in the -Z direction. Therefore, the nozzle bottom surface 21s of the mist nozzle 21 coincides with the XY plane in the figure, and the mist gas ejection direction F21 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 is along the -Z direction.

[0040] On the other hand, the air gas AG0 is sprayed from the air outlet 24 of the air nozzle 23 with an inclination that moves downward (-Z direction) towards (+X direction). Therefore, the nozzle bottom surface 23s of the air nozzle 23 is inclined with respect to the XY plane in the figure, and the air gas spraying direction FG1 of the air gas AG0 moves towards the +Z direction as it moves in the -Z direction.

[0041] And the inclination of the air gas blowing direction FG1 is set so that the air gas AG0 surely merges with the cleaning mist gas MG1 before the cleaning mist gas MG1 reaches the cleaning surface of the substrate 1.

[0042] Thus, the air gas supply mechanism 3 having the air nozzle 23 performs an air gas blowing process of blowing the air gas AG0 against the cleaning mist gas MG1 so as to merge with the cleaning mist gas MG1 and obtaining the substrate blowing mist gas MG2.

[0043] The particle diameter of the cleaning liquid mist MT generated by applying ultrasonic vibration in the ultrasonic nebulizer 11 is 15 μm or less, which is smaller than that of a general spray mist, and since the falling speed of the cleaning liquid mist MT is slow, it can be handled by riding on a gas flow having directivity in the mist gas ejection direction F21 as the cleaning mist gas MG1 containing the cleaning liquid mist MT.

[0044] The air nozzle 23 of the air gas supply mechanism 3 blows the air gas AG0 along the air gas blowing direction FG1 against the cleaning mist gas MG1, and obtains the substrate blowing mist gas MG2 by merging the air gas AG0 with the cleaning mist gas MG1. Air or nitrogen or the like is used as the air gas AG0. <0********>

[0045] Here, the flow velocity VA1 of the air gas AG0 is set to be higher than the flow velocity VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1. Specifically, the velocity ratio {VA1:VM1} between the flow velocity VA1 of the air gas AG0 and the flow velocity VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 is set to, for example, {10:1}.

[0046] Thus, since the flow velocity VA1 of the air gas AG0 is set to be higher than the flow velocity VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1, when the cleaning mist gas MG1 merges with the air gas AG0, the cleaning mist gas MG1 is greatly affected by the air gas AG0 by being involved in the flow of the air gas AG0.

[0047] Here, the supply direction of the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate is defined as the mist gas supply direction F23. As described above, since the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate is greatly affected by the air gas AG0, the mist gas supply direction F23 is the same as the air gas spraying direction FG1, and the flow rate VM2 of the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate is approximately the same as the flow rate VA1 of the air gas AG0. This is because the flow rate VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 is slower than the flow rate VA1 of the air gas AG0, resulting in the Coandă effect.

[0048] Thus, regarding the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate obtained by the confluence of the cleaning mist gas MG1 and the air gas AG0, the mist gas supply direction F23 is the same as the air gas spraying direction FG1, and the flow rate VM2 of the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate is approximately the same as the flow rate VA1 of the air gas AG0.

[0049] Note that the combination of the mist gas ejection direction F21 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 and the air gas spraying direction FG1 of the air gas AG0 is not limited to the combination shown in FIG. 2. Under the condition that the air gas AG0 and the cleaning mist gas MG1 merge above the substrate 1 and the mist gas MG2 for spraying on the substrate is supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the combination of the mist gas ejection direction F21 and the air gas spraying direction FG1 is arbitrary.

[0050] Furthermore, even if the mist gas ejection direction F21 and the air gas spraying direction FG1 are set in the same direction, when the flow rate VA1 of the air gas AG0 is sufficiently high compared to the flow rate VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1, the cleaning mist gas MG1 can be merged into the air gas AG0 due to the entrainment effect generated by the gas flow of the air gas AG0. At this time, it is desirable to arrange the nozzle bottom surface 21s of the mist nozzle 21 and the nozzle bottom surface 23s of the air nozzle 23 in close proximity.

[0051] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the rotation mechanism 30 that rotates along the rotation direction R1 or the rotation direction R2 of the substrate 1. An XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is shown in the figure.

[0052] As shown in the figure, the rotating mechanism 30 mainly includes a mounting stage 31, a plurality of vibration absorbing members 32, a rotating stage 33, a vibration motor 34, a rotating motor 35, and a motor control unit 36. It is desirable that the plurality of vibration absorbing members 32 be arranged at equal intervals in the relatively outer regions of the base material mounting portion 31a and the support surface 33a, respectively. Note that in Figure 5, two vibration absorbing members 32 are shown as the plurality of vibration absorbing members 32.

[0053] The mounting stage 31 has a substrate mounting section 31a and a vibration transmission section 31b. The substrate mounting section 31a has a surface for supporting the substrate 1 from the back surface, and the vibration transmission section 31b is provided extending downward from the center of the back surface of the substrate mounting section 31a. The mounting stage 31 stably supports the substrate 1 from the back surface on the surface of the substrate mounting section 31a.

[0054] The rotating stage 33 has a support surface 33a, a motor housing 33b, and a rotating shaft member 33c. The motor housing 33b houses the vibration motor 34 and most of the vibration transmission unit 31b. The rotating shaft member 33c is provided at the bottom of the vibration transmission unit 31b, and the rotating stage 33 is configured to rotate with the rotating shaft member 33c as the axis of rotation.

[0055] The vibration motor 34 is connected below the vibration transmission unit 31b and performs a stage vibration operation that applies vibration to the substrate mounting unit 31a and the substrate 1 via the vibration transmission unit 31b.

[0056] The substrate mounting portion 31a of the mounting stage 31 and the support surface 33a of the rotating stage 33 are connected via a plurality of vibration absorbing members 32. The plurality of vibration absorbing members 32 rotatably connect the mounting stage 31 and the vibration absorbing members 32 to each other and have a vibration absorbing function. For example, spring members such as springs can be considered as vibration absorbing members 32.

[0057] The rotation motor 35 is installed below the rotating stage 33 and connected to the rotating shaft member 33c, and performs a stage rotation operation that rotates the rotating stage 33 with the rotating shaft member 33c as the center of rotation.

[0058] The motor control unit 36 ​​controls the rotation of the stage by the rotating motor 35. When the rotating motor 35 performs the stage rotation operation under the control of the motor control unit 36, the rotating stage 33 rotates, and the mounting stage 31, which is connected to the rotating stage 33 via a plurality of vibration absorbing members 32, rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating stage 33 with the base material 1 mounted on it.

[0059] Thus, when the stage rotation operation is performed, the mounting stage 31, which is connected to the rotating stage 33 via a plurality of vibration absorbing members 32, rotates with the base material 1 mounted on it.

[0060] As shown in Figure 1, the rotational directions of the substrate 1 include rotational directions R1 and R2 which are opposite to each other. Rotational directions R1 and R2 are the first and second rotational directions.

[0061] The motor control unit 36, which functions as a motor rotation control unit, causes the stage to rotate. The stage rotation operation includes rotation direction control processing and rotation speed control processing. Rotation direction control processing and rotation speed control processing are processes that can be executed during the execution period of the stage rotation operation.

[0062] The rotation direction control process is the process of switching the rotation direction between rotation directions R1 and R2. The rotation speed control process is the process of changing the rotation speed along the rotation direction (rotation direction R1 or rotation direction R2).

[0063] The vibration motor 34 performs a stage vibration operation by applying vibration to the substrate mounting section 31a via the vibration transmission section 31b. The motor control section 36 also functions as a motor vibration control unit that controls the stage vibration operation performed by the vibration motor 34.

[0064] The motor control unit 36, which also functions as a motor vibration control unit, controls the vibration motor 34 together with the rotation motor 35 so that the stage vibration operation described above is performed in parallel with the stage rotation operation. The stage vibration operation includes a vibration frequency changing process that changes the vibration frequency per unit time applied to the substrate 1.

[0065] Thus, the motor control unit 36 ​​also functions as a motor rotation control unit and a motor vibration control unit, controlling the execution of stage rotation by the rotation motor 35 and stage vibration by the vibration motor 34.

[0066] A substrate cleaning apparatus 70 with this configuration performs a substrate cleaning process to clean the surface 1s of the substrate 1 to be cleaned, as described below.

[0067] The mist gas supply mechanism 2 ejects cleaning mist gas MG1 from the mist nozzle 21 along the mist gas ejection direction F21 at a flow velocity VM1.

[0068] Meanwhile, the air gas supply mechanism 3 performs an air gas blowing process to obtain the substrate spray mist gas MG2 by blowing air gas AG0 from the air nozzle 23 onto the cleaning mist gas MG1 so that it merges with the cleaning mist gas MG1.

[0069] As a result, the cleaning mist gas MG1 and the air gas AG0 merge above the substrate 1 before the cleaning mist gas MG1 reaches the substrate 1, and are supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 as the substrate spraying mist gas MG2.

[0070] Meanwhile, the rotating mechanism 30 causes the rotating motor 35 to perform a stage rotation operation under the control of the motor control unit 36, which functions as a motor rotation control unit, thereby rotating the base material 1 in the rotation direction R1 or rotation direction R2.

[0071] In this way, during the execution period of the stage rotation operation by the rotating mechanism 30, the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate, obtained by the air gas blowing process by the air gas supply mechanism 3 having an air nozzle 23, is supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 which will be the cleaning surface.

[0072] The motor control unit 36 ​​causes the rotating motor 35 to perform the stage rotation operation, which includes the rotation direction control process and rotation speed control process described above.

[0073] For example, during the period in which the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate is supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the rotation direction of the substrate 1 can be sequentially changed to rotation direction R1, rotation direction R2, rotation direction R1 and rotation direction R2, and the rotation speed can also be changed.

[0074] Furthermore, the rotating mechanism 30 can cause the vibration motor 34 to perform a stage vibration operation under the control of the motor control unit 36, which functions as a motor vibration control unit, thereby applying vibration to the base material 1. In this way, the rotating mechanism 30 has a vibration function that applies vibrations of an unspecified direction to the base material 1.

[0075] Therefore, the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of this embodiment can perform the supply of mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying to the surface 1s of the substrate 1, stage rotation operation, and stage vibration operation in parallel. Furthermore, the stage rotation operation includes rotation direction control operation and rotation speed control operation, and the stage vibration operation includes vibration frequency change operation that changes the vibration frequency per unit time applied to the substrate 1.

[0076] Furthermore, the substrate mounting portion 31a of the mounting stage 31 and the support surface 33a of the rotating stage 33 are connected via a plurality of vibration absorbing members 32, and each of the plurality of vibration absorbing members 32 has a vibration absorbing function, so that vibrations of the substrate mounting portion 31a caused by the stage vibration operation can be absorbed by the plurality of vibration absorbing members 32.

[0077] Therefore, the vibration transmission from the substrate mounting portion 31a of the mounting stage 31 to the support surface 33a of the rotating stage 33 is effectively suppressed by the multiple vibration absorbing members 32, so that the stage vibration operation does not affect the stage rotation operation.

[0078] (Effects) The substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of Embodiment 1 has a mist gas supply mechanism 2 and an air gas supply mechanism 3 to obtain mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate, and the flow velocity VA1 of the air gas AG0 sprayed from the air nozzle 23 of the air gas supply mechanism 3 is set to be sufficiently faster than the flow velocity VM1 of the cleaning mist gas MG1 ejected from the mist nozzle 21 of the mist gas supply mechanism 2.

[0079] Therefore, the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying, which is obtained by combining the cleaning mist gas MG1 and the air gas AG0, is affected by the air gas AG0. As a result, the mist gas supply direction F23 becomes the same direction as the air gas spraying direction FG1, and the flow velocity VM2 of the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying becomes approximately the same as the flow velocity VA1.

[0080] Therefore, by setting the flow rate VA1 of the air gas AG0 to the flow rate required for cleaning the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the amount of cleaning liquid mist contained in the cleaning mist gas MG1 can be kept to the absolute minimum, and the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate can be efficiently supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1.

[0081] Figures 6 and 7 are schematic explanatory diagrams showing an example of cleaning using the conventional substrate cleaning device 78 shown in Figure 8. As shown in the figures, the surface 1s of the substrate 1 has a plurality of uneven regions 18, and each of the plurality of uneven regions 18 is a combination of recesses 1a and protrusions 1b.

[0082] If the cleaning mist gas MG5 is supplied along an oblique direction (towards the -X direction as it moves downwards) without rotating the substrate 1, as shown in Figure 6, a mist blind spot region BR1 (shadow) will be generated near the boundary between the recess 1a and the protrusion 1b due to the presence of the protrusion 1b.

[0083] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, even if the cleaning mist gas MG6 is supplied along the vertical direction (-Z direction), the substrate 1 is transported along the substrate transport direction T1. Therefore, the effective supply direction of the cleaning mist gas MG6 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, similar to the cleaning mist gas MG5, and a mist blind spot area BR2 (shadow) is generated near the boundary between the recess 1a and the protrusion 1b.

[0084] Thus, in the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus 78, mist blind spots BR1 and BR2 inevitably occur, and cleaning mist gases MG5 and MG6 are not sufficiently supplied to mist blind spots BR1 and BR2, making it difficult to remove the materials to be removed that are present in mist blind spots BR1 and BR2.

[0085] On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the substrate cleaning device 70 rotates the substrate 1 in the rotational direction R1 or rotational direction R2 by the stage rotation operation of the rotation mechanism 30, so that the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate is supplied to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 from substantially multiple directions.

[0086] Therefore, even if multiple uneven areas 18 exist on the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying can be supplied accurately over the entire surface 1s of the substrate 1 without creating mist blind spots where the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying is not supplied.

[0087] As a result, the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of Embodiment 1 can reduce the amount of cleaning liquid used to generate the cleaning mist gas MG1, and remove any material adhering to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 without any missed spots.

[0088] The motor control unit 36 ​​included in the rotating mechanism 30 of the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of this disclosure functions as a motor rotation control unit and can perform stage rotation operations including rotation direction control processing.

[0089] Therefore, by performing a rotation direction control process when supplying the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying to the surface 1s, and changing the rotation direction between rotation directions R1 and R2, the cleaning efficiency of the surface 1s of the substrate 1 can be improved.

[0090] For example, depending on the shape of the uneven surface, such as the uneven region 18 formed on the surface 1s of the substrate 1, cleaning efficiency may decrease if only a single rotation direction is used. However, by changing the rotation direction, cleaning efficiency can be expected to improve.

[0091] In the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of Embodiment 1, the motor control unit 36 ​​included in the rotating mechanism 30 functions as a motor rotation control unit and can perform stage rotation operations including rotation speed control processing.

[0092] Therefore, by controlling the rotation speed, the rotation speed can be set relatively low at the start of supplying the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate onto the surface 1s of the substrate 1, thereby increasing the adhesion efficiency of the cleaning liquid mist MT contained in the mist gas MG2 to the surface 1s. On the other hand, by controlling the rotation speed, the rotation speed can be set relatively high during the latter half of the supply period of the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate, thereby removing liquid (cleaning liquid, etc.) adhering to the surface 1s of the substrate 1 by centrifugal force.

[0093] The above effects will be described in detail below. When supplying the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying to the surface 1s of the substrate 1, if the rotation speed of the substrate 1 is relatively fast, the adhesion efficiency of the cleaning liquid mist MT contained in the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying may decrease due to centrifugal force and airflow generation due to rotation.

[0094] To prevent this possibility, it is desirable to set the rotation speed of the substrate 1 relatively slow immediately after the start of mist spraying by using a rotation speed control process. Furthermore, in the latter half of the cleaning process, the rotation speed of the substrate 1 can be set high by the rotation speed control process to remove any adhering liquid (such as remaining cleaning liquid) by centrifugal force.

[0095] As a result, the substrate cleaning device 70 of Embodiment 1 can further improve the cleaning efficiency of the surface 1s of the substrate 1.

[0096] In the substrate cleaning apparatus 70 of Embodiment 1, the motor control unit 36 ​​included in the rotating mechanism 30 also functions as a motor vibration control unit, and can perform stage vibration operation in parallel with the execution of stage rotation operation.

[0097] Therefore, by circulating the cleaning liquid mist MT contained in the mist gas MG2 for spraying the substrate, or the cleaning liquid itself, on the surface 1s of the substrate 1, the cleaning efficiency of the surface 1s of the substrate 1 can be increased.

[0098] Furthermore, the mist outlet 22 provided on the nozzle bottom surface 21s of the mist nozzle 21 and the air outlet 24 provided on the nozzle bottom surface 23s of the air nozzle 23 each have a slit shape with the Y direction, which is a predetermined direction, as their longitudinal direction.

[0099] Therefore, by supplying the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying to the central region of the substrate 1, and by setting the longitudinal lengths of the mist outlet 22 and the air outlet 24 to be approximately the same as the longitudinal length of the substrate 1, the mist gas MG2 for substrate spraying can be supplied to the entire surface 1s of the rotating substrate 1.

[0100] <Other> In this embodiment, an ultrasonic atomizer 11 that utilizes ultrasonic vibration is shown as an atomizer for generating cleaning mist gas MG1. However, other atomizers that generate cleaning mist gas MG1 from the cleaning liquid by methods other than ultrasonic vibration may be used instead of the ultrasonic atomizer 11.

[0101] In this embodiment, a single motor control unit 36 ​​is shown as the motor rotation control unit and motor vibration control unit of the rotating mechanism 30, but the motor vibration control unit and the motor rotation control unit may be provided independently.

[0102] Although this disclosure has been described in detail, the above description is illustrative in all respects and the disclosure is not limited thereto. It is understood that countless variations not illustrated may be conceivable without falling outside the scope of this disclosure.

[0103] 1. Base material 2. Mist gas supply mechanism 3. Air gas supply mechanism 11. Ultrasonic atomizer 21. Mist nozzle 22. Mist outlet 23. Air nozzle 24. Air outlet 30. Rotation mechanism 31. Mounting stage 32. Vibration absorbing member 33. Rotation stage 34. Vibration motor 35. Rotation motor 36. Motor control unit

Claims

1. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a rotating mechanism that performs a rotational operation to rotate a substrate along the direction of rotation; a mist gas supply mechanism that supplies a cleaning mist gas containing a cleaning liquid mist formed by atomizing a cleaning liquid; and an air gas supply mechanism that performs an air gas blowing process to obtain a substrate spray mist gas by blowing air gas onto the cleaning mist gas so as to merge with the cleaning mist gas, wherein during the period in which the rotating operation by the rotating mechanism is performed, the substrate spray mist gas obtained by the air gas blowing process is supplied to the cleaning surface of the substrate, and the flow velocity of the air gas is set to be faster than the flow velocity of the cleaning mist gas.

2. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating mechanism includes: a mounting stage on which the substrate is mounted; a rotating stage connected to the mounting stage and rotating together with the mounting stage; a rotating motor that performs a stage rotation operation to rotate the rotating stage; and a motor rotation control unit that controls the stage rotation operation by the rotating motor, wherein when the stage rotation operation is performed, the mounting stage connected to the rotating stage rotates with the substrate mounted on it, the rotation direction includes a first and a second rotation direction which are opposite to each other, and the stage rotation operation includes a rotation direction control process which switches the rotation direction between the first and the second rotation direction.

3. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stage rotation operation further includes a rotation speed control process that changes the rotation speed along the rotation direction.

4. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the mounting stage includes a substrate mounting section for mounting the substrate and a vibration transmission section connected to the substrate mounting section, the rotating mechanism includes a vibration absorbing member connecting the rotating stage and the mounting stage and having a vibration absorbing function, a vibration motor that performs a stage vibration operation that applies vibration to the substrate mounting section via the vibration transmission section, and a motor vibration control unit that controls the stage vibration operation by the vibration motor, the motor vibration control unit controls the vibration motor so that the stage vibration operation is performed in parallel with the stage rotation operation.

5. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the mist gas supply mechanism includes a mist nozzle having a mist outlet, the air gas supply mechanism includes an air nozzle having an air outlet, the cleaning mist gas is ejected from the mist outlet, the air gas is ejected from the air outlet, and the mist outlet and the air outlet each have a slit shape with a predetermined direction as their longitudinal direction.

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