JP2002261148A - Treating system and preheating method of object to be treated - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treating system capable of efficiently performing degassing treating for the treating capability of an object to be treated. SOLUTION: The treating system is provided with a plurality of treating devices 32A-32F for performing prescribed treating for the object to be treated W, a common carrying chamber 34 connected commonly to the plurality of the treating devices, first and second two carrying means 40, 42 for carrying the object to be treated between the treating devices provided in the common carrying chamber, buffer parts 50, 52 having at least a degassing function installed in a range where respective carrying ranges of the two carrying means are overlapped in the common carrying chamber, load locking chambers 36A, 36B capable of evacuation connected to the common carrying chamber and having at least the degassing function, an introduction side carrying chamber 38 connected to the load locking chamber, and an introduction side carrying means 130 for carrying the object to be treated between a cassette housing a plurality of the objects to be treated and the load locking chamber. Thereby degassing treating is efficiently performed for the treating capability of the object to be treated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a processing system having a plurality of processing apparatuses for performing predetermined processing on an object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, and a method for preheating the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in order to manufacture a semiconductor integrated circuit, various processes such as film formation, etching, oxidation and diffusion are performed on a wafer. And, in order to improve throughput and yield by miniaturization and high integration of the semiconductor integrated circuit, a plurality of processing apparatuses performing the same processing,
Alternatively, a so-called clustered processing system device, in which a plurality of processing devices performing different processes are connected to each other via a common transfer chamber to enable continuous processing of various processes without exposing a wafer to the atmosphere, For example, JP-A-2000-
It is already known as disclosed in JP-A-208589 and JP-A-2000-293367.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of such a clustered conventional processing system. As shown, the processing system 2 includes three processing devices 4A,
4B, 4C, a first transfer chamber 6, and two load lock chambers 8A, 8B each having a preheating mechanism or a cooling mechanism.
Second transfer chamber 10 and two cassette storage chambers 12A, 12
B. The three processing devices 4A to 4C are commonly connected to the second transfer chamber 6, and the two load lock chambers 8A and 8B are connected to the first and second transfer chambers 6, 1 and 2 respectively.
0 intervenes in parallel. Further, the two cassette storage chambers 12A and 12B are connected to the second transfer chamber 10. A gate valve G which can be opened and closed in an airtight manner is interposed between the respective chambers.

Then, the first and second transfer chambers 6, 1
In FIG. 2, there are provided articulated first and second transfer arms 14 and 16 which can be bent and extended and pivoted, respectively. By holding and transferring the semiconductor wafer W, the wafer W is transferred. Transfer. Also, the second transfer chamber 10
Inside, there is provided a positioning mechanism 22 composed of a turntable 18 and an optical sensor 20. The wafer W taken in from the cassette accommodating chamber 12A or 12B is rotated to detect this orientation flat or notch and to perform the positioning. Is to be performed. Regarding the processing of the semiconductor wafer W, first, the second transfer arm 16 in the second transfer chamber 10 maintained at the atmospheric pressure of the N ₂ atmosphere causes the cassette in one of the cassette storage chambers, for example, the cassette in 12A. The unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is taken out from C and placed on the turntable 18 of the positioning mechanism 22 in the second transfer chamber 10. While the rotary table 18 is rotating to perform positioning, the transfer arm 16 is on standby without moving. The time required for this positioning operation is, for example, about 10 to 20 seconds. Then, when the positioning operation is completed, the transfer arm 16 that has been on standby waits again.
The wafer W after the alignment is held and accommodated in one of the load lock chambers, for example, 8A. In the load lock chamber 8A, the wafer is preheated as required, and the load lock chamber 8A is evacuated to a predetermined pressure. The time required for the preheating or evacuation is, for example, about 30 to 40 seconds.

After the preheating operation is completed, the gate valve G is opened to communicate the interior of the load lock chamber 8A and the interior of the first transfer chamber 6 which has been evacuated.
Holding the preheated wafer W with the first transfer arm 14,
This is transferred into a predetermined processing device, for example, 4A, and subjected to a predetermined process, for example, a film forming process for forming a metal film or an insulating film.
The time required for the processing at this time is, for example, about 60 to 90 seconds. The processed semiconductor wafer W is accommodated in the original cassette C in the cassette accommodating chamber 12A, for example, through the reverse path described above. In the path for returning the processed wafer W, for example, the other load lock chamber 8B is used.
Here, the wafer W is cooled to a predetermined temperature and transferred. The time required for the cooling and the time required for returning to the atmospheric pressure are about 30 to 40 seconds. Further, the processed wafer W
Before the cassette is accommodated in the cassette C, the positioning may be performed by the positioning mechanism 22 as necessary.

[0006]

By the way, as the tendency of semiconductor wafer processing to become finer, more highly integrated and thinner, the moisture and extra gas components adhering on the surface of the semiconductor wafer are heated to increase. It is necessary to perform the removal process, that is, the degassing process (preheat treatment) more sufficiently. For this reason, although the above-described processing system has two load lock chambers 8A and 8B having a function for performing the degassing process, the degassing process is sufficiently performed as described above. The degassing time (preheating time) for each time is required for each of the processing units 4A to 4C in the subsequent stage.
However, there is a problem in that the process time is too long as compared with the process described in the above, and the transfer of the wafer is stagnated due to the long-time degassing process, thereby lowering the throughput.

In this case, it is conceivable to improve the degas processing capacity by replacing a part of the three processing apparatuses 4A to 4C with a preheating apparatus having a degas processing function. On the other hand, the number of processing devices decreases, which not only reduces the processing capacity of the semiconductor wafer itself, but also connects to a port to which a processing device having a considerably larger size than the preheating device should be connected. In addition, there is a problem that connecting a preheater having a small size causes a large waste in space. The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems and effectively solving them. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing system and a preheating method of a processing object capable of efficiently performing degas processing with respect to the processing capacity of the processing object.

[0008]

According to the invention defined in claim 1, a plurality of processing devices for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed, and a common transporter commonly connected to the plurality of processing devices. Chamber, first and second transfer means provided in the common transfer chamber for transferring the object between the processing apparatus, and the two transfer means in the common transfer chamber. A buffer unit having at least a degassing function installed within a range where the respective transfer ranges of the means overlap, a load lock chamber connected to the common transfer chamber and capable of being evacuated and having at least a degassing function, and the load lock An introduction-side transfer chamber connected to a chamber, and an introduction-side transfer mechanism provided in the introduction-side transfer chamber and transferring the object to be processed between the cassette that stores a plurality of the objects to be processed and the load lock chamber. Provided with a door. Thereby, the object to be processed conveyed toward the processing apparatus can be preheat-treated in two stages in the load lock chamber and the buffer section on the way, and therefore, the conveyance of the object to be processed is not delayed. As a whole, not only a sufficiently long preheating time for the degassing process can be secured for the object to be processed, but also the degassing process can be performed efficiently.

In this case, for example, as defined in claim 2, the inside of the buffer section is made hermetic with respect to the common transfer chamber. Further, for example, two buffers and two load lock chambers are provided. In addition, for example, a positioning device for positioning the object to be processed is connected to the introduction-side transfer chamber.

Also, for example, as defined in claim 5,
Each of the processing devices is arranged so as to be accessed only by one of the two transport units. Also, for example, as defined in claim 6,
A holding table that temporarily holds the object to be processed is provided in a range where the respective transfer ranges of the two transfer units overlap. In this case, the object to be processed is temporarily held on the holding table, and during this time, the conveying means can convey another object to be processed, so that the degree of freedom of conveyance can be improved.

In this case, for example, a positioning device for positioning the object to be processed is provided in a range where the respective transfer ranges of the two transfer means overlap. . In this case, even if a large positional deviation occurs in the object to be processed in the middle of the conveyance, it is possible to perform the alignment again. Further, the positioning device also has a function as the holding table for temporarily holding the object to be processed. Further, for example, as defined in claim 8, the first and second two transport means and the introduction-side transport means each directly hold the object to be processed.
Have two picks.

Further, for example, as defined in claim 9,
The load lock chamber has a cooling function.
According to this, when the processed object is in a high temperature state, it can be quickly lowered to a predetermined temperature. The invention according to claim 10 is a method invention in which a preheating method performed during the transfer of the object to be processed in the processing system is defined, that is, when the object to be processed is transferred to the processing apparatus in the processing system. A first step of performing a first degassing process by introducing an object to be processed taken out of a cassette chamber into a load lock chamber and heating the object, and a step of performing the first degassing process. A second step of performing a second degassing process by introducing the body into the buffer and heating the second body;
Carrying in the object subjected to the degassing process into the processing apparatus.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a processing system and a method for preheating an object to be processed according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a processing system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a buffer unit having a preheating function and a cooling function (cooling function), and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the operation of the buffer unit. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of the buffer unit on the preheating function side, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the cooling function side of the buffer unit, and FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a load lock chamber having a preheating function and a cooling function. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a substrate holding ring in the load lock chamber. As shown
The processing system 30 includes a plurality of, for example, six processing devices 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D, 32E, and 32F;
It mainly has an elongated polygonal common transfer chamber 34, two first and second load lock chambers 36A and 36B, and an elongated introduction-side transfer chamber 38.

Specifically, the common transfer chamber 34 has a polygonal shape, here a flat hexagonal shape, in which only one pair of opposing sides is made longer than the other side.
The processing devices 32A to 32F are joined to four sides of the flat hexagonal common transfer chamber 34, and the first and second load locks are attached to the other two sides. The chambers 36A and 36B are respectively joined. Then, the first and second load lock chambers 36A, 36B
In addition, the introduction-side transfer chamber 38 is commonly connected. The space between the common transfer chamber 34 and each of the six processing devices 32A to 32F and the space between the common transfer chamber 34 and the first and second load lock chambers 36A and 36B can be opened and closed in an airtight manner. Gate valves G1 to G4, G20, G
21 and G5, G6 are joined together to form a cluster tool, and can be communicated with the common transfer chamber 34 as necessary. Gate valves G7 and G8, which can be opened and closed in an airtight manner, are also interposed between the first and second load lock chambers 36A and 36B and the introduction-side transfer chamber 38, respectively.

In the above-mentioned six processing units 32A to 32F,
The same or different types of processing are performed on the semiconductor wafer W to be processed. On one side of the common transfer chamber 34, the two load lock chambers 36A and 36B and the two processing devices 32E and 32
At a position accessible to F, there is provided a first transfer means 40 comprising an articulated arm which can be bent, raised, lowered and pivoted, and comprises two picks 40A which can be bent independently in opposite directions to each other, 40B, and can handle two wafers at a time. On the other side of the common transfer chamber 40,
At a position where one of the processing devices 32A to 32D can be accessed,
A second transport means 42 is also provided, consisting of an articulated arm which can also be bent, raised, lowered and pivoted, and has two holding picks 42A, 42B which can be bent independently in opposite directions. , Can handle two wafers at a time. It should be noted that the first and second transfer means 40 and 42 may have only one pick.

Then, within a range where the transport ranges of these two first and second transport means 40 and 42 overlap, specifically at a substantially intermediate position between the first and second transport means 40 and 42, A positioning device 44 for detecting an orientation flat, a notch, or the like of the semiconductor wafer W and performing positioning thereof is provided. This alignment device 44
Is a turntable 4 for rotating the wafer W while holding it.
6 and an optical sensor 48 that optically detects an orientation flat, a notch, and the like of the wafer W as described above. Therefore, both the first and second transfer means 40 and 42 can access the wafer W placed on the turntable 46.

In order to temporarily hold the wafer W, it is located on both sides of the positioning device 44 and within a range where the transfer ranges of the first and second transfer means 40 and 42 overlap. There are provided first and second two buffer units 50 and 52 having the same structure as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29367. Here, the two buffer units 50 and 52 include a preheating mechanism 54 for preheating the wafer W and a wafer W as shown in FIGS.
Has a cooling mechanism 56 for cooling. Since the first and second buffer sections 50 and 52 are configured in exactly the same manner, one of the buffer sections, for example, the first
The buffer unit 50 of FIG. The buffer section 50 is normally in communication with the inside of the common transfer chamber 34, but is normally in communication with the common transfer chamber 34 when preheating or cooling the wafer.
A space for accommodating the wafer W is partitioned from the inside to form a sealed space. Specifically, first, the preheating mechanism 54
An opening is formed in the upper partition wall 58 of the buffer unit 50, and an upper protruding container 60 is provided in the opening so as to protrude upward and airtightly attach. The ceiling of the upper protruding container 60 is opened, and a transmission window 64 made of quartz or the like is hermetically joined to the opening through a sealing member 62 such as an O-ring. A casing 66 is provided above the transmission window 64, and a plurality of heating lamps 68 are provided in the casing 66. In FIG. 4, the illustration of the casing 66 and the heating lamp 68 is omitted.

At the lower end opening of the upper projecting container 60, an upper opening / closing lid 68 is hermetically provided via a sealing member 70 such as an O-ring. More specifically, the upper opening / closing lid 68 is cantilevered by an upper air cylinder 72 fixed to the upper partition wall 58 side and can be moved up and down. When this is raised, as shown in FIG. The opening at the lower end of the upper protruding container 60 is closed to form a closed space therein. A plurality of, for example, three support pins 74 (two in the illustrated example)
(Only the book is described). The back surface of the wafer W is brought into contact with the support pins 74 to support the support pins 74. A ceiling is opened on the upper opening / closing lid 68, and two laterally elongated transport ports 7 are provided on the side wall.
4 and 6, a reinforcing member 78 is provided.
As shown in (1), the wafer W can be loaded and unloaded from two directions through the two transfer ports 76, 76.
Further, a first exhaust system 78 connected to a vacuum pump or the like (not shown) is connected to the side wall of the upper protruding container 60, and gas discharged from the wafer surface during wafer preheating (during degassing) is supplied to the first exhaust system 78. It can be discharged.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the cooling mechanism 46 has an opening formed in the lower partition wall 80 of the buffer section 50, and is protruded downward from this opening so as to be airtightly mounted. 82. A lower opening / closing lid 84 is hermetically provided at an upper end opening of the lower projecting container 82 via a sealing member 86 such as an O-ring. More specifically, the lower opening / closing lid 84 is cantilevered by a lower air cylinder 88 fixed to the lower partition wall 80 side and can be moved up and down. When this is lowered, as shown in FIG. The opening at the upper end of the lower protruding container 82 is closed to form a closed space therein. On the upper surface of the lower opening / closing lid 84, two horizontally long transport ports 90, 90 are provided on the side wall.
A reinforcing member 92 having the following configuration is provided, and as shown in FIG. 5, the wafer W can be loaded and unloaded from two directions through the two transfer ports 90, 90.

On the upper surface of the bottom of the reinforcing member 92, a plurality of, for example, three support pins 94 (only two are shown in the illustrated example) are provided upright. The back surface is abutted so that it can be supported. A cooling gas system 96 for selectively introducing a cooling gas such as a cooled N ₂ gas is connected to the bottom of the lower protruding container 82, and a _second pump connected to a vacuum pump or the like (not shown). The exhaust system 98 is connected so that a cooling gas can be introduced when the wafer is cooled and the introduced cooling gas can be exhausted. When the cooling mechanism 56 is unnecessary, only the preheating mechanism 54 may be provided. The common transfer chamber 34 is, of course, provided with a supply system 100 for supplying N ₂ gas as an inert gas and a vacuum exhaust system 102 (see FIG. 1).

Next, the load lock chambers 36A and 36B will be described with reference to FIGS. The load lock chambers 36A and 36B have substantially the same structure as that disclosed in JP-A-2000-208589, and the load lock chambers 36A and 36B have the same structure. Here, one load lock chamber, for example, 36A will be described as an example. This load lock chamber 36
A has both a preheating function of preheating a wafer and a cooling function of cooling a processed and heated wafer. Specifically, a circular cooling plate 104 also serving as a mounting table for the wafer W is arranged in the container main body 102 of the first load lock chamber 36A. The refrigerant circulation path 106 is formed so that the refrigerant at a temperature can be circulated, for example.

A transparent window 108 made of, for example, quartz is hermetically attached to the upper portion of the load lock chamber 36A via a seal member 110 such as an O-ring. Further, a heating lamp 114 is disposed above the transmission window 108 and mounted in the casing 112 so that the wafer W can be heated as required. Further, a ring-shaped substrate holding ring 116 capable of holding the wafer W is disposed in the container main body 102, and the substrate holding ring 116 is hermetically sealed by a bellows 118 that can expand and contract the bottom of the container main body. Is attached to the tip of an elevating rod 119 penetrating through the torch so as to be able to ascend and descend. As shown in FIG. 7, the diameter of the substrate holding ring 116 is set slightly larger than that of the cooling plate 104, and a plurality of, here three holding pins 120 are provided at substantially equal intervals so as to protrude inward. The holding pins 120 can support the peripheral edge of the wafer W.

The outer periphery of the cooling plate 104 is set so as to be further inward than the inner peripheral end of the holding pin 120 by a small distance. , So that the wafer W can be transferred to and from the cooling plate 104. The container body 102 has N inside.
A gas supply system 122 for supplying an inert gas such as _two gases as needed, and a vacuum exhaust system 124 for evacuating the internal atmosphere as needed are connected.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the introduction-side transfer chamber 38 will be described. The common transfer chamber 38 is formed of a horizontally long box through which an inert gas of N ₂ gas or clean air is circulated, and one or a plurality of cassette containers in the illustrated example is provided on one side of the horizontally long box. Cassette tables 12 for loading
6A, 126B and 126C are provided, and one cassette 128A to 128C can be placed on each of them. Each of the cassettes 128A to 128C can accommodate up to, for example, 25 wafers W in multiple stages at equal pitches and has a sealed structure filled with, for example, an N ₂ gas atmosphere. . Then, the cassette tables 126A to 126C are inserted into the introduction-side transfer chamber 38.
Gate valves G10, G11, G1 provided corresponding to
The wafer 2 can be loaded and unloaded through the interface 2. In the introduction-side transfer chamber 38, an introduction-side transfer means 130 for transferring the wafer W along its longitudinal direction is provided.
The introduction-side transfer means 130 is slidably supported on a guide rail 132 provided so as to extend along the length direction in the center of the introduction-side transfer chamber 38. The guide rail 132 incorporates, for example, a linear motor as a moving mechanism. By driving the linear motor, the introduction-side transport unit 130 moves in the X direction along the guide rail 132.

At the other end of the common transfer chamber 38, there is provided an orienter 134 as a positioning device for aligning the wafers. Lock chamber 36A, 36B
Gate valves G7, G8 each of which can be opened and closed
Is provided via The orienter 134 has a turntable 136 that is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), and rotates with the wafer W placed thereon. An optical sensor 138 for detecting the peripheral edge of the wafer W is provided on the outer periphery of the turntable 136, so that the notch and the orientation flat of the wafer W can be detected. In addition, the above-mentioned introduction-side transport means 130 is
It has two articulated transfer arms 140 and 142 arranged in stages. Each of the transfer arms 14
Picks 140A and 142A each having a bifurcated shape are attached to the ends of the picks 0 and 142, respectively.
The wafers W are directly held on 0A and 142A, respectively. Therefore, each transfer arm 140, 1
Reference numeral 42 is free to bend and extend in the R direction from the center to the radial direction.
The bending and stretching motions of can be individually controlled. The rotation axes of the transfer arms 140 and 142 are respectively attached to the base 14
4 so as to be coaxially rotatable with respect to the base 4 so as to be integrally rotatable, for example, in a θ direction that is a turning direction with respect to the base 144. Further, the respective rotation shafts can be integrally moved, for example, in the vertical direction around the base 144, that is, in the Z direction.

Next, a preheating method in the middle of conveyance performed by using the above-described processing system 30 will be described.
First, an unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is loaded from any one of the three cassette tables 126A to 126C, for example, from the cassette container 128C on the cassette table 126C.
By driving one of the transfer arms of the introduction-side transfer means 130, for example, 140, this pick 1
40A.
Is moved in the X direction to transfer the wafer W to the orienter 134.

Next, the orienter 1
The unprocessed semiconductor wafer W on the turntable 136 aligned at 36 is transferred to the other empty transfer arm 142.
By driving the pick-up 142A, it is picked up and held, thereby emptying the turntable 136. Next, the unprocessed wafer held by the pick 140A of the transfer arm 140 is placed on the turntable 136 that has been emptied earlier. This wafer will be aligned before another unprocessed wafer is transferred.
Next, the unprocessed wafer held by the other transfer arm 142 as described above is moved to the two load lock chambers 36A by moving the introduction-side transfer means 130 in the X direction.
36B, one of the load lock chambers, for example, 3
Moved to 6A.

On the cooling plate 104 in the load lock chamber 36A, a processed wafer, which has been subjected to a predetermined process, for example, a film forming process or an etching process, in the processing apparatus, is sufficiently loaded. The load lock chamber 36A, which has been cooled and is on standby, is opened by opening the gate valve G7 to adjust the pressure. Then, the empty transfer arm 140 is first driven to pick up and hold the processed wafer W waiting on the cooling plate 104A with the pick 140A. As a result, the cooling plate 104 becomes empty, and the other transfer arm 142 is driven to transfer the unprocessed wafer W held by the pick 142A onto the cooling plate 104 to replace the wafer. The processed wafer is returned to the original cassette by the introduction-side transfer means 130.

After the wafer W placed on the cooling plate 104 is closed in the load lock chamber 36A by closing the gate valve G7, the temperature of the wafer W is raised to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time. Preheating (preheating)
Then, a first degassing process is performed. Here, the method of the cooling process and the pre-heat treatment in the load lock chambers 36A and 36B will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, when cooling the semiconductor wafer W, a cooling medium is placed in the coolant circulation path 106 with the high-temperature wafer W placed on the cooling plate 104 in the container body 102. Through the cooling plate 104
The upper wafer can be cooled. When preheating the semiconductor wafer W, the wafer W is placed on the cooling plate 104 in a state where the substrate holding ring 116 is further lowered below the upper surface of the cooling plate 104.
The substrate holding ring 116 is moved upward from the cooling plate 104 by moving the substrate holding ring 116 upward.
The holding pins 120 of No. 6 hold and receive the peripheral portion of the wafer W, and bring the wafer W close to the heating lamp 114 on the ceiling. The state at this time is shown in FIG. Then, by turning on the heating lamp 114 in this state, the temperature of the wafer W can be rapidly raised to a predetermined temperature, and the wafer W can be preheated (degas processing). During this degassing process, the vacuum evacuation system 124 is driven to load the load lock chamber 36A.
The inside is evacuated, and the gas discharged from the wafer surface is evacuated out of the system.

The wafer W thus degassed for a predetermined time in this manner adjusts the pressure in the load lock chamber 36, and then opens the gate valve G5, thereby
It communicates with the inside of the common transfer chamber 34 which has been previously set in a vacuum atmosphere. Then, the wafer W subjected to the first degassing process is received by the first transfer unit 40 in the common transfer chamber 34. At this time, since the first transfer means 40 has two picks 40A and 40B, when the processed wafer is held, the processed wafer and the first degassing process are performed. The replacement with the completed wafer is performed. As described above, the wafer W on which the first degassing process has been completed is next transferred to one of the two buffer units 50 and 52 which is free, for example, the first buffer unit 50. Introduced for second degassing. At this time, if there is a processed wafer W that is being cooled in the first buffer unit 50, the wafer that is being cooled is replaced with a wafer W for the second degassing process. Here, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, a method of a pre-heat treatment (second degassing process) and a cooling process of the wafer W in the buffer units 50 and 52 will be described.

First, when the wafer is preheated (second degassing process) in the buffer unit, the first opening / closing lid 68 is lowered as shown in FIG. The wafer W is introduced into the upper opening / closing lid 68 via the transfer port 76 by extending the transfer means 40 of FIG. Then, the upper air cylinder 72 is driven to slightly move the upper opening / closing lid 68 upward, and the wafer W is transferred by supporting the wafer W with the support pins 74. Next, after the first transport means 40 is bent and retracted from the buffer section, the upper air cylinder 72 is further driven to raise the upper opening / closing lid 68 to the upper limit, and as shown in FIG. The lower end opening of the container 60 is sealed with the upper opening / closing lid 68 to make the inside of the upper protruding container 60 a sealed state.
When the heating lamp 68 is turned on in this state, the light energy passes through the transmission window 64 and the wafer W
The wafer W is preheated to a predetermined temperature to perform a second degassing process. The activated gas is discharged from the wafer surface by the preheating, and the activated gas is discharged from the first exhaust system 78 which is evacuated.
Is discharged out of the system, and does not flow out into the common transfer chamber 34.

On the other hand, when the wafer which has been heated to a high temperature of, for example, about 600 ° C. by the heat treatment of the wafer is cooled, unlike the preheating described above, the lower air cylinder 88 is driven to open and close the lower opening. With the lid 84 raised, the wafer W in a high temperature state is delivered to the support pins 94. When the transfer of the wafer W is completed, the lower air cylinder 88 is driven again to lower the lower opening / closing lid 84 to the lower limit, and the inside of the lower protruding container 82 is made a closed space. Next, the wafer W is cooled by flowing a cooling gas from the cooling gas system 96 into the closed lower protruding container 82, and at the same time, the cooling gas is discharged from the second exhaust system 98 to the outside of the system. In this way, the pre-heat treatment and the cooling process can be performed on the wafers, and the above-described processes can be simultaneously performed on different wafers.

When the preheating (second degassing process) is completed as described above, the upper opening / closing lid 68 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Is lowered again as shown in FIG. 5, and in this state, the second transfer means 42 is driven to transfer the preheated wafer W into a predetermined processing apparatus, for example, 32A, and perform predetermined processing, for example, a metal film or the like. A film forming process of an insulating film or the like is performed. Thereafter, when a plurality of processes are performed on one wafer, the wafers are transferred to each of the processing devices 32B to 32
Transferred between D. Further, when processing is performed by the two processing devices 32E and 32F on the load lock chamber side, the transfer is performed using the first transfer means 40. In this way, when all necessary processes are completed, the wafer W is unloaded by returning to the path reverse to the above. Processed wafer W
Is in a high temperature state of, for example, about 600 ° C., depending on the processing content, so that the first or second transfer means 40,
The wafer W is transferred to one of the buffer units, for example, the second buffer unit 52 by using, and the wafer is cooled, for example, as described above.

This wafer W is returned to the original cassette through the reverse path. That is, the wafer W in the second buffer unit 52 is taken out by the first transfer means 40, and the first and second load lock chambers 36A and 36B are taken out.
Is carried into one of the empty load lock chambers and is completely cooled here as described above. When the first and second buffer units 50 and 52 do not have a cooling function, each of the buffer units 50 and 52 is used as a mere wafer transfer point. Then, the wafer W completely cooled in the load lock chamber 36 </ b> A or 36 </ b> B is transferred to the introduction-side transfer unit 1 in the introduction-side transfer chamber 38.
30 will return to the original cassette.

As described above, when loading an unprocessed wafer W, the first degassing process is first performed in one of the two load lock chambers 36A and 36B which is vacant. Next, of the two buffer units 50 and 52,
Since the second degassing process can be performed in one of the vacant ones, it is very unlikely that the wafer loading / unloading path is completely closed and the wafer cannot be loaded / unloaded. In addition, the throughput of wafer processing can be greatly improved. For example, if the wafer needs to be degassed for a total of 60 seconds, the first degassing is performed for 30 seconds in the load lock chamber 36A or 36B. Alternatively, the second degassing process may be performed within 52 for 30 seconds. In this case, the load lock chamber 3
Since the inside of 6A or 36B is quickly vacated, the processed wafer can be cooled and transported by using this.

If there is a possibility that the position of the wafer W is shifted in the common transfer chamber 34, the wafer W is set in the common transfer area of the first and second transfer means 40 and 42. It can be placed on the positioning device 44 and the positioning can be performed again here. Furthermore, when the first and second buffer units 50 and 52 are both in use, a standby place where the wafer W is temporarily placed on the turntable 46 of the positioning device 44 and waits for time is provided. May be used. Alternatively, when cooling in the load lock chambers 36A and 36B without cooling in the buffer units 50 and 52 in order to cool the processed wafer W, in order to pass the processed wafer W, The wafer 46 may be temporarily used as a holding table on which the wafer is placed, and the wafer may be transferred from the second transfer means 42 to the first transfer means 40 here. In such a case, a simple holding table may be provided instead of the alignment device (orienter) 44. In the above embodiments, the semiconductor wafer W is described as an example of the object to be processed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to a glass substrate, an LCD substrate, and the like.

[0037]

As described above, according to the processing system and the method for preheating the object to be processed of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be obtained. Claims 1 to 5, 8
According to the invention defined in (1) to (10), it is possible to preheat the workpiece to be transported toward the processing apparatus in two stages in the load lock chamber and the buffer section on the way. Not only is it possible to ensure a sufficiently long preheating time for the degassing process as a whole, but also to efficiently perform the degassing process for the object to be processed without delaying the transfer. According to the invention defined in claim 6, the object to be processed is temporarily held on the holding table, and during this time, the conveying means can convey another object to be processed, so that the degree of freedom of conveyance can be improved. it can. According to the invention defined in claim 7, even if a large positional deviation occurs in the object to be processed during the transportation, the positional deviation can be adjusted again. Further, the positioning device can also have a function as the holding table for temporarily holding the object to be processed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a buffer unit having a preheating function and a cooling function (cooling function).

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation of a buffer unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of a buffer unit on a preheating function side.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cooling function side of the buffer unit.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a load lock chamber having a preheating function and a cooling function.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a substrate holding ring in a load lock chamber.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional clustered processing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 processing system 32A to 32F processing device 34 common transfer chamber 36A, 36B load lock chamber 38 introduction transfer chamber 40 first transfer means 40A, 40B pick 42 second transfer means 42A, 42B pick 44 orienter (alignment device) Reference Signs List 50 first buffer section 52 second buffer section 54 preheating mechanism 56 cooling mechanism 104 heating plate 114 heating lamp 130 introduction-side transport means 134 orienter (alignment device) W semiconductor wafer (workpiece)

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5F004 AA16 BA00 BC05 BC06 BC08 5F031 CA02 FA01 FA07 FA11 FA12 FA14 FA15 GA03 GA43 GA48 GA50 HA37 HA38 HA40 JA02 JA15 JA28 JA34 JA35 KA08 KA12 LA07 MA04 MA06 MA09 MA30 NA02 NA04 NA08 NA09 PA03 A03A BB20 DQ17 EB08 EN04 EN06 HA24

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of processing apparatuses for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed, a common transfer chamber commonly connected to the plurality of processing apparatuses, and a plurality of processing apparatuses provided in the common transfer chamber. A first and a second transporting means for transporting the object to be processed, and at least one of the two transporting means provided in the common transporting chamber within a range where the respective transporting ranges of the two transporting means overlap each other. A buffer section having a degas function, a load lock chamber connected to the common transfer chamber and capable of being evacuated and having at least a degas function, an introduction transfer chamber connected to the load lock chamber, and the introduction transfer section. A processing system, comprising: a cassette provided in a room, for accommodating a plurality of the objects to be processed, and an introduction-side transport unit for transporting the objects to be processed between the load lock chamber. 2. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the buffer section is made hermetic with respect to the common transfer chamber. 3. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein two buffer units and two load lock chambers are provided. 4. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein a positioning device for positioning the object to be processed is connected to the introduction-side transfer chamber. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the processing apparatuses is arranged so as to be accessed only by one of the two transport units. The processing system as described. 6. A holding table for temporarily holding the object to be processed is provided in a range where the respective transfer ranges of the two transfer means overlap each other. The processing system according to any one of the above. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a positioning device for positioning the object to be processed is provided in a range where the respective transport ranges of the two transport units overlap. The processing system according to any one of the above. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second transfer means and the introduction-side transfer means has two picks for directly holding the object to be processed. 8. The processing system according to any one of 1 to 7. 9. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the load lock chamber has a cooling function. 10. A preheating method for transporting an object to be processed to a processing apparatus in the processing system defined in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the object to be processed taken out of the cassette chamber is introduced into a load lock chamber. And performing a first degassing process by heating and then performing a second degassing process by introducing the object to which the first degassing process has been performed into a buffer and heating it. A preheating method for the object to be processed, comprising: a second step; and a carrying-in step of carrying the object to be processed, which has been subjected to the second degassing, into the processing apparatus.