KR20060020057A - Rinsing appraratusand etching apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a cleaning apparatus and an etching apparatus having the same for preventing the remaining of the etchant. The cleaning apparatus includes a shower rod which is fastened to one side of the cleaning vessel and supplies a cleaning liquid, and a spray nozzle which is positioned on one side of the shower rod to spray the cleaning liquid substantially in parallel with the data line of the substrate to be cleaned. Accordingly, the undercut of the data line can be suppressed by spraying the cleaning liquid in parallel with the data line to prevent the cleaning liquid including the etching liquid from remaining under the sidewall of the data line.

Data line, undercut, etchant, cleaning device

Description

Cleaning apparatus and etching apparatus including the same {RINSING APPRARATUSAND ETCHING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME}

1 is a perspective view illustrating a cleaning apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an etching apparatus having a cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an etching apparatus shown in FIG. 2.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: cleaning device 11: cleaning container

12: shower rod 13: spray nozzle

14 roller 15 substrate outlet

20: substrate 25: data line

100: etching apparatus 110: cleaning unit

120: etching part 230: drying part

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and an etching apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus and an etching apparatus having the same for preventing the remaining of the etching liquid after the cleaning process.

In recent years, information processing devices have been rapidly developed to have various forms and functions, and faster information processing speeds. Such information processing apparatuses require display devices for displaying processed information. CRT monitors have been mainly used as information display apparatuses until now, but recently, with the rapid development of semiconductor technology, flat panel display apparatuses that are lightweight, small, and occupy small space are rapidly increasing.

Among the flat panel display devices developed to date, a liquid crystal display device having a small size, light weight, low power consumption, and having an image display ability close to a CRT is most widely used.

In general, a liquid crystal display device is a display device that uses a difference in transmittance of light generated by a change in a driving signal applied from an external structure of an array of liquid crystal molecules between an upper substrate and a lower substrate. In order to meet the demand for increasing the display area, active research and development for active matrix liquid crystal display devices (hereinafter referred to as AMLCDs), which individually apply driving signals to all pixels constituting the screen, is being conducted. In particular, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display device (TFT-LCD) using a thin film transistor as an active matrix switching element for controlling driving signals of each pixel can be applied to a large area glass substrate in a low temperature process, and even at a low voltage. It is the most widely used AMLCD because it has the advantage of being driven.

The TFT-AMLCD is a liquid crystal panel assembly including a liquid crystal panel for displaying image data using optical properties of liquid crystal and a driving circuit for driving the same, a backlight unit for supplying light for display, a liquid crystal panel assembly and a backlight. It consists of a mold frame for fixing and accommodating the unit.

The liquid crystal panel forms a plurality of liquid crystal cells by forming and polymerizing an alignment layer and a spacer on two glass substrates (hereinafter, referred to as mother substrates) on which electrode patterns are formed, and then cutting each liquid crystal cell using various cutting tools. Is produced.

In this case, the electrode pattern constituting the liquid crystal panel is formed through a cleaning process, a cleaning process, a film forming process and a patterning process, and the liquid crystal cell containing the liquid crystal is sealed with an alignment layer forming process including a rubbing process. It is formed by a process and a spacer arrangement process.

The patterning process is mainly a wet etching method is used. The substrate is immersed in a container filled with an etchant of strong acid to etch the surface of the substrate by the etchant. The etched substrate is loaded into the cleaning unit to remove impurities or residual etching solution on the surface of the substrate after etching in the etching unit using distilled water in the cleaning unit. After cleaning, the substrate is moved to a drying part and dried. This completes the wet etching process.

In particular, in the cleaning process of removing impurities or etching liquid of the substrate, the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid is perpendicular to the data line of the substrate. When the cleaning solution is sprayed, a vortex of the sprayed etching solution occurs around the sidewall of the data line thicker than the gate line, and the etching solution remains longer than the other parts. Mouse biting occurs because the remaining etchant etches around the sidewall of the data line. This causes a problem in that a signal of a data line is delayed or further failed to be transmitted.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for preventing the remaining of an etchant.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an etching apparatus having the cleaning apparatus described above.

The cleaning apparatus for realizing the above object of the present invention includes a cleaning container, a shower rod fastened to one side of the cleaning container to supply a cleaning liquid, and positioned at one side of the shower rod to be substantially parallel to a data line of a substrate to be cleaned. And a spray nozzle for spraying the cleaning liquid.

In addition, the etching apparatus for realizing another object of the present invention, the etching portion for etching the substrate containing the etching liquid, the etching portion is separated from the etching portion, by spraying the cleaning liquid substantially parallel to the data line of the substrate to be cleaned And a cleaning portion for rinsing the substrate.

According to the cleaning apparatus and the etching apparatus having the same, the etching of the data line may be prevented by spraying the etching solution in parallel with the data line of the substrate in the cleaning process for removing the etching solution, thereby preventing the remaining of the etching solution.                     

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail the present invention.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a cleaning apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus 10 performs a cleaning process to remove an etchant remaining on a substrate subjected to a wet etching process. The cleaning device 10 includes a cleaning container 11, a shower rod 12, a spray nozzle 13, and a roller 14.

The shower rod 12 is generally fastened to the left and right side walls of the upper portion of the cleaning container 11 in the form of a rod to supply a cleaning liquid. The cleaning solution generally uses de-ionized water (sometimes supplying nitrogen or oxygen gas at the same time). The shower rod 12 is connected to the cleaning liquid storage tank (not shown) through the cleaning liquid supply pipe (not shown) to receive the cleaning liquid. In addition, the cleaning liquid control valve (not shown) is fastened to one side of the cleaning liquid supply pipe to adjust the flow rate of the cleaning liquid.

The shower rod 12 is preferably fixed to the upper portion of the cleaning container 11 does not rotate. This is because, when the shower rod 12 rotates, the pressure of the cleaning liquid positioned in the shower rod 12 and injected through the injection nozzle 13 depends on the position of the substrate. This is to prevent vortex generation. Accordingly, the fixed shower rod 12 that does not rotate can prevent abnormal etching at a specific position by preventing the remaining of the cleaning liquid including the etching liquid.

The spray nozzle 13 is coupled to the outer surface of the shower rod 12 in the cleaning container 11 to spray the cleaning liquid flowing out of the shower rod 12. The spray nozzle 13 is adjusted such that the cleaning liquid to be sprayed is sprayed substantially parallel to the data line of the substrate. This may prevent the undercut of the lower end of the side wall of the data line, which may occur when spraying the cleaning liquid in a direction perpendicular to the data line.

In addition, it is preferable to spray so that the sprayed cleaning liquid maintains a constant angle with the substrate. This is to prevent vortex generation of the cleaning liquid including the etching liquid at a specific position as the injection angle is changed according to the position of the substrate. The injection angle may be appropriately adjusted according to the type and residual amount of the etching liquid and the distance between the injection nozzle 13 and the substrate.

The roller 14 is disposed under the substrate to be cleaned in the cleaning container 11 to move the substrate. The roller 14 is connected to a driving controller (not shown) to adjust the moving speed and direction of the substrate.

After the etching process, the substrate is introduced through the outlet 15 of the cleaning container 11 to remove the remaining etching solution. The substrate is moved at a predetermined speed and direction using the roller 14. At this time, the injection nozzle 13 positioned above the cleaning container 11 and fastened to the shower rod 12 injects deionized water, which is a cleaning liquid. At this time, the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid is sprayed in substantially parallel with the data line of the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to suppress that the etching liquid is not removed from the specific portion of the substrate and the time remaining is long. Subsequently, the substrate on which the cleaning process is completed using the roller 14 is discharged through the outlet 15.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an etching apparatus having a cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1.                     

Referring to FIG. 2, the wet etching apparatus includes a loader unit for loading a substrate, a buffer unit in which a substrate loaded from the loader unit is moved and waiting, and a substrate moved from the buffer unit is etched. The etching unit 120 to be processed, a rinse unit for cleaning the substrate etched in the etch unit 120, a dry unit for drying the substrate cleaned in the cleaning unit 110, and the drying unit ( And an unloading part for unloading the substrate dried at 130.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an etching apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, the etching apparatus 100 includes an etching unit 120 for performing an etching process, a cleaning unit 110 for removing an etching solution or sludge, and a drying unit 130 for drying the substrate after cleaning. Equipped.

The etching unit 120 fills an etchant in an etching bath (not shown) for forming a pattern on the substrate, and soaks the substrate to form a predetermined pattern. The etching bath is connected to an etchant supply discharge unit (not shown). The etchant supply discharge unit is connected to an etchant storage tank (not shown) to supply and discharge the etchant to the etchant, and to control the concentration and flow rate of the etchant.

The cleaning unit 110 is an etching process using the cleaning solution to remove the sludge generated by the etching liquid remaining on the substrate or the chemical reaction of the etching process after the etching process in the etching unit 120 The subsequent substrate is washed.

The cleaning unit 110 includes a cleaning container, a shower rod 112, a spray nozzle 113, and a roller 114.                     

The shower rod 112 is generally fastened to the left and right side walls of the upper part in the form of a rod to supply de-ionized water (sometimes supplying nitrogen or oxygen gas at the same time). The shower rod 112 is connected to the cleaning liquid storage tank through the cleaning liquid supply pipe to receive the cleaning liquid.

The shower rod 112 is preferably fixed to the upper portion of the cleaning container does not rotate. This is because, when the shower rod 112 rotates, the pressure of the cleaning liquid which is positioned in the shower rod 112 and sprayed through the injection nozzle 113 varies depending on the position of the substrate. This is to prevent vortex generation. Therefore, the fixed shower rod 112 that does not rotate can prevent the residual etching of the cleaning liquid including the etching liquid to suppress abnormal etching at a specific position.

The spray nozzle 113 is fastened to the outer surface of the shower rod 112 in the cleaning container and sprays the cleaning liquid flowing out of the shower rod 112. The spray nozzle 113 is adjusted such that the cleaning liquid to be sprayed is sprayed substantially parallel to the data line of the substrate. This may prevent the undercut of the lower end of the side wall of the data line, which may occur when spraying the cleaning liquid in a direction perpendicular to the data line.

In addition, it is preferable to spray so that the sprayed cleaning liquid maintains a constant angle with the substrate. This is to prevent vortex generation of the cleaning liquid including the etching liquid at a specific position as the injection angle is changed according to the position of the substrate. The injection angle may be appropriately adjusted according to the type and residual amount of the etchant, the distance between the injection nozzle and the substrate.                     

The roller 114 is disposed below the substrate to be cleaned in the cleaning container to move the substrate. The roller 114 is connected to a driving controller (not shown) to adjust the moving speed and direction of the substrate.

After the etching process, the substrate is introduced through the outlet of the cleaning container to remove the remaining etching solution. The substrate is moved at a predetermined speed and direction using the roller 114. At this time, the injection nozzle 113 positioned on the upper portion of the cleaning container and fastened to the shower rod 112 injects deionized water, which is a cleaning liquid. At this time, the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid is sprayed in substantially parallel with the data line of the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to suppress that the etching liquid is not removed from the specific portion of the substrate and the time remaining is long. Subsequently, the substrate on which the cleaning process is completed is discharged through the outlet through the roller 114.

The drying unit 130 dries the substrate using an air knife or the like to remove a cleaning solution such as deionized water remaining on the substrate.

As described above, according to the present invention, in order to suppress the undercutting of the data line of the liquid crystal display device, the cleaning liquid is sprayed substantially in parallel with the data line on the substrate of the liquid crystal display device, whereby the cleaning liquid containing the etchant is used to Mouse biting can be reduced by suppressing the residue on the lower side.

Although described with reference to the examples, those skilled in the art can understand that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below. There will be.                     

In other words, the embodiment of the present invention has been described by providing a cleaning solution on the substrate, for example, it will be very easy for those skilled in the art to adopt and practice the present invention to provide a composition liquid other than the cleaning solution.

Claims (9)

A cleaning container for containing a cleaning liquid; A shower rod which is fastened to one side of the cleaning container and supplies a cleaning liquid; And And a spray nozzle disposed on one side of the shower rod and spraying the cleaning liquid substantially in parallel with the wiring formed on the substrate to be cleaned. The method of claim 1, wherein the shower rod is located above the cleaning vessel, And the spray nozzle sprays the cleaning liquid at a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the substrate. The cleaning device for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the shower rod is fixed. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a roller positioned below the substrate to move the substrate. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the roller moves the substrate in a direction substantially parallel to the wiring of the substrate. The method of claim 1, Cleaning liquid storage tank; A cleaning solution supply pipe connecting the shower rod and the cleaning solution storage tank to supply a cleaning solution; And The cleaning device further comprises a cleaning liquid control valve coupled to one side of the cleaning liquid supply pipe to control the flow rate of the cleaning liquid. Etching unit for etching the substrate containing the etchant; And And a cleaning part spaced apart from the etching part and rinsing the substrate by spraying the cleaning liquid substantially in parallel with the wiring formed on the substrate. The method of claim 7, wherein the cleaning unit, Cleaning vessel; A shower rod which is fastened to one side of the cleaning container and supplies a cleaning liquid; And And an injection nozzle disposed on one side of the shower rod and spraying the cleaning liquid substantially in parallel with the wiring formed on the substrate to be cleaned. The etching apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a drying unit adjacent to the cleaning unit and drying the cleaned substrate.

Images