WAFER EDGE CLEANING APPARATUS AND MANUFACTURE OF LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY APPARATUS USING THE APPARATUS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer edge cleaning apparatus in which the distance between a wafer and nozzles for discharging a dissolution liquid does not change even by the deformation of the wafer, thereby ensuring stable cleaning of the edge portion of the wafer. SOLUTION: A wafer 1 is chucked and moved by a chucking stage 2 to a close proximity of an area to be cleaned where an unnecessary thin film should be removed. Next, a moving mechanism 6 incorporating an upper nozzle 7 for discharging a liquid for dissolving a thin film on the upper edge portion of the wafer 1 linearly moves along the edge portion of the wafer 1. At this time, a roller 8 provided on the lower portion 6b of the moving mechanism sequentially presses switches 5 for valves provided under the wafer table 2. The valves are respectively provided at a plurality of subdivided discharge ports of a lower nozzle 3. As the roller 8 presses the switches 5 for those valves one after another, the dissolution liquid is discharged from the discharge port whose valve is opened. At this time, the dissolution liquid after dissolution of the unnecessary thin film is sucked from the surface of the wafer 1 through an exhaust port 9 provided in the moving mechanism 6.