JP3845585B2 - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a photolithography process in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a resist coating process for applying a resist solution to a substrate surface, a developing process for developing an exposed substrate, a heat treatment performed after the resist coating process or before and after the developing process, and the like are performed. , A predetermined circuit pattern is formed on the substrate.
[0003]
A series of these processes is performed by a coating and developing apparatus equipped with a plurality of various processing units. The coating and developing apparatus usually has a cassette station for carrying a substrate in and out of the apparatus, a processing station in which the various processing units are installed, an interface unit for transferring the substrate to and from the exposure apparatus, etc. It consists of
[0004]
The cassette station has a mounting table on which a cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates is placed, and a cassette that is placed on the mounting table is accessed to transfer the substrate between the cassette station and the processing station. Device. A cassette can usually accommodate a plurality of substrates in a vertical direction in multiple stages. The casing of the cassette has a form in which, for example, the six surfaces of the outer frame are covered with a plate so that the inside atmosphere can be sealed in order to maintain the contained substrate in a clean atmosphere. A door for loading and unloading the substrate is provided on one side of the cassette, and a door opener for opening the door is provided on the mounting table side on which the cassette is placed. This door opener can hold the cassette door by suction and open the door by lowering itself.
[0005]
Therefore, when the sealed cassette is placed on the placing table, the door of the cassette is opened by the door opener so that the transfer device can access the substrate in the cassette.
[0006]
By the way, when a cassette containing unprocessed substrates is placed on the placement unit, a so-called mapping operation is performed to detect the accommodation state such as the presence / absence of the substrate at each stage in the cassette and the accommodation posture. The access position for the cassette of the transport device is determined based on the mapping data of this mapping work.
[0007]
This mapping work is conventionally performed by optically detecting the accommodation state of the substrate by an optical sensor. Conventionally, this optical sensor is attached to a door opener of a mounting table, and when the door opener adsorbs and descends the cassette door, the optical sensor scans the inside of the cassette to perform mapping work.
[0008]
In addition, the optical sensor may be attached to the transfer arm of the transfer device. In this case, the mapping operation is performed by the transfer arm entering the cassette and the transfer arm scanning the cassette in the vertical direction. .
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the optical sensor is attached to the door opener as described above, many wirings of the door opener and wirings of the optical sensor are drawn in a complicated manner. In addition, it is necessary to mount the optical sensor so as not to interfere with the function of the door opener, and the mounting portion is narrow and complicated. For this reason, for example, when the optical sensor is damaged and the optical sensor is replaced, it takes time to remove the optical sensor, and the maintenance work of the optical sensor is not performed quickly. Thus, if the maintenance work takes a long time, the apparatus has to be stopped for a long time, which is a factor of lowering the operating rate of the coating and developing treatment apparatus. In addition, the door opener has to be provided with a drive mechanism capable of moving a relatively heavy door opener up and down and performing high-accuracy position control for mapping work, which makes the drive mechanism expensive.
[0010]
On the other hand, in the mapping work by the transfer arm, the transfer arm moves to the cassette every time the cassette is placed on the mounting table. In this case, other substrate conveyance of the conveyance arm, for example, substrate conveyance from another cassette to the processing station side is hindered, and the processing capability of the coating and developing treatment apparatus is lowered, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of throughput.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a processing apparatus that can quickly perform maintenance work involving replacement of an optical sensor and prevent a reduction in processing capacity of a processing apparatus such as a coating and developing processing apparatus due to mapping work. The purpose is to provide.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  According to the present invention, in order to carry a substrate into the apparatus, a mounting table on which a plurality of substrates are vertically aligned and a container that can be stored in multiple stages is mounted, and the substrate in the container on the mounting table is transferred. A processing apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising a transport body for carrying out the processing, wherein the container is a casing capable of sealing the inside, and a loading / unloading port for loading / unloading the substrate is provided on one side surface of the container. Provided with a mapping unit for detecting the accommodation state of the substrate in the container placed on the mounting table on the loading / unloading side of the container on the mounting table,A light emitting unit that emits linear light horizontally and a light receiving unit that receives the light,An optical sensor capable of optically detecting the accommodation state of the substrate by entering the accommodation body from the loading / unloading port of the accommodation body, a support member for supporting the optical sensor, and an elevating mechanism for raising and lowering the support member; A moving mechanism for moving the support member to the side of the container placed on the mounting table and moving the optical sensor to a detectable position in the container. A horizontal support member that is long in the horizontal direction to which the sensor is attached, and a vertical support member that supports the horizontal support member and that is long in the vertical direction, the vertical support member being detached from the front of the loading / unloading port of the container. The processing apparatus is provided, wherein the processing apparatus is disposed at a predetermined position, supports one end portion of the horizontal support member, and the elevating mechanism can raise and lower the horizontal support member to above the container.
  In addition, the processing apparatus includes a mounting unit including the mounting table and a transport unit including the transport body, and the container is provided with a door that opens and closes the loading / unloading port. , Provided in a casing that can be maintained in a predetermined atmosphere, and the placement unit and the transport unit are separated by a side wall of the casing, and the side wall of the casing holds and opens the door of the container. And the door opener which can open | release the inside of the said accommodating body in the said casing is provided, and the said mapping unit may be provided in the said casing.
  Further, the mapping unit may be provided so as to be removable from the device.
[0013]
  The mapping unit provided in the processing apparatus is provided with a moving mechanism for moving the optical sensor to the container side and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the optical sensor. The mapping unit is optically moved from a position adjacent to the mounting table. The mapping operation can be performed independently by inserting the sensor into the container and scanning the optical sensor in the vertical direction. Therefore, the mapping operation can be performed without impairing the processing capability of the processing apparatus without hindering the substrate transfer of the transfer apparatus as in the prior art.In addition, by inserting the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit so as to sandwich the substrate in the housing, for example, by raising and lowering the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a light shielding object between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. That is, when there is a light blocking object, no light is detected by the light receiving unit, and when there is no light blocking object, the light can be detected by the light receiving unit. Thereby, the presence or absence of the above-described substrate in the container and the apparent thickness of the substrate can be detected.
  Further, since the mapping unit can be removed from the processing apparatus, for example, the mapping unit main body can be removed from the processing apparatus at the time of maintenance involving replacement of the optical sensor, the drive unit, etc., and the entire mapping unit can be replaced with a new one. By doing so, the operation of the processing apparatus can be restarted at an early stage, and the operating rate of the processing apparatus can be improved. Also, the mapping unit can be removed from the narrow processing device, and all maintenance work related to the mapping unit can be performed in a better environment. Furthermore, since the door opener drive mechanism does not require strict position control for performing mapping work, the drive mechanism can be made inexpensive.
  Further, since the entire support member is substantially L-shaped and the vertical support member is disposed at a position shifted from the front surface of the container, it is possible to prevent the vertical support member from interfering with the loading / unloading of the substrate with respect to the container.
[0014]
The accommodation state of the substrate is the presence / absence of the substrate in each stage of the container and the housing posture of the substrate, and the optical sensor includes the presence / absence of the substrate in each stage in the container and the substrate accommodated in the container. It is also possible to detect the apparent thickness of the substrate when viewed from the side. In this case, since the optical sensor can detect the apparent thickness of the substrate, for example, when the substrate is excessively accommodated obliquely, the apparent thickness becomes thicker than the original substrate thickness, and the substrate accommodation posture Can be detected.
[0017]
  As a reference example,The vertical support member may support the central portion of the horizontal support member. In such a case, the bending of both ends of the horizontal support member is suppressed, and the detection accuracy of the accommodation state by the optical sensor can be improved.
[0018]
The processing apparatus may include the mounting table at a plurality of locations, and the mapping unit may be provided for each mounting table. In such a case, mapping operations for a plurality of containers can be performed at the same time, and the amount of substrates carried into the processing apparatus per unit time can be increased accordingly. As a result, the processing capacity of the processing apparatus is improved. Can be made.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 as a processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 1, the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 carries, for example, 25 wafers W in the cassette C unit from outside to the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1, and carries wafers W into and out of the cassette C. A cassette station 2, a processing station 3 in which various processing units for performing predetermined processing in a single-wafer type in the coating and developing processing step, and an exposure apparatus (not shown) adjacent to the processing station 3 are provided. And an interface unit 4 for transferring the wafer W between them.
[0021]
The cassette station 2 includes a placement unit 10 on which a plurality of cassettes C can be placed, and a transfer unit 11 for transferring the wafer W between the cassette C and the processing station 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the transport unit 11 side is covered with a casing 11 a in order to maintain the interior of the transport unit 11 in a predetermined atmosphere. Therefore, the conveyance part 11 and the mounting part 10 are separated by the side wall 11b of the casing 11a.
[0022]
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the cassette C placed on the placement unit 10 has a casing 20 that can be sealed inside, and has a loading / unloading port Q for allowing the wafer W to enter and exit on one side surface thereof. The door 21 is attached to the loading / unloading port Q. The door 21 has a lock function, and a key hole 22 for releasing the lock is provided on the outer surface of the door 21. By inserting a key 33 of a door opener 31 (to be described later) into the key hole 22 and releasing the lock, the door 21 is opened.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 4, the cassette C is provided with a plurality of, for example, 25 slots 23 that hold the outer edge of the wafer W and horizontally support the wafer W. The slots 23 are provided at equal intervals in the vertical direction, and the cassette C can accommodate 25 wafers W in multiple stages by inserting the wafers W into the slots 23.
[0024]
On the mounting part 10, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of, for example, three mounting tables 30 for mounting the cassette C are arranged in a line in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1). . The mounting table 30 is configured to mount the door 21 of the cassette C toward the conveyance unit 11 side (right direction in FIG. 1; Y direction negative direction side). A door opener 31 for automatically opening and closing the door 21 of the cassette C mounted on the mounting table 30 is provided on the side wall 11 b side of each mounting table 30. The door opener 31 is formed in, for example, a rectangular flat plate shape as shown in FIG. 2, and has a suction port 32 for sucking and holding the door 21 on its surface, a key 33 for unlocking the door 21, and Is provided.
[0025]
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the door opener 31 is attached to a ball screw 33 provided vertically in the mounting portion 10, and the door opener 31 is vertically moved by a driving unit 35 such as a motor or a cylinder. I can move. Therefore, the door opener 31 can be lowered from the placement unit 10 and accommodated in the placement unit 10. The door opener 31 includes a horizontal drive mechanism including a cylinder (not shown), for example, and can slide in the Y direction on the mounting table 30 side. Therefore, when the cassette C is mounted on the mounting table 30, the door opener 31 slides toward the cassette C on the mounting table 30, sucks and holds the door 21 of the cassette C, and then descends to open the door 21. Can be opened. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the door opener 31 is fitted into the side wall 11b of the casing 11a, for example, and also functions as a shutter for the loading / unloading of the casing 11a. The door opener 31 holds the door 21. When lowered, the wafer W in the cassette C is opened into the casing 11a.
[0026]
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the transfer unit 11 includes a mapping unit 40 that detects the accommodation state of the wafer W of the cassette C mounted on the mounting table 30, and a space between the cassette C and the third processing unit group G3. And a wafer transfer body 41 for transferring the wafer W. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the mapping unit 40 is a position facing each mounting table 30 with the door opener 31 interposed therebetween, and a position where an optical sensor 45 (to be described later) can enter the cassette C by the horizontal movement mechanism 50. Placed in. The mapping unit 40 is provided for each mounting table 30, and a mapping operation is performed for each mounting table 30. The mapping unit 40 is attached to the floor of the transport unit 11 by a detachable attachment member or the like, and can be removed from the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 as necessary.
[0027]
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the mapping unit 40 includes an optical sensor 45 that detects the mounting state of the wafer W in the cassette C using light, and a horizontal support member 46 that supports the optical sensor 45 and is long in the horizontal direction. A vertical support member 47 that supports one end of the horizontal support member 46 and that is long in the vertical direction, and a case 48 that supports the vertical support member 47 and serves as a base in which the drive mechanism of the vertical support member 47 is housed. The main part is composed.
[0028]
The optical sensor 45 includes, for example, a light emitting unit A that emits linear LED light in the horizontal direction and a light receiving unit B that receives the LED light. The horizontal support member 46 is arranged so that its longitudinal direction is in the X direction, that is, parallel to the surface of the door 21 of the cassette C. The light emitting part A and the light receiving part B are arranged on the cassette C side (Y direction positive) of the horizontal support member 46. It is fixed to the side of the direction side. As shown in FIG. 8, the light emitting part A and the light emitting part B face each other and are attached to the horizontal support member 46 at a predetermined distance D. The predetermined distance D is, for example, narrower than the lateral width of the cassette C and is flat when the light emitting unit A and the light receiving unit B enter the detection position P that is a specific distance F, for example, about 10 mm from the loading / unloading port Q side of the cassette C. The light emitting unit A and the light receiving unit B are determined so as to sandwich the end portion of the wafer W. For example, when the diameter of the wafer W is about 300 mm, the predetermined distance D is set to about 200 mm. Then, LED light is emitted from the light emitting unit A toward the light receiving unit B, and whether or not the wafer W as a light blocking object is present can be detected depending on whether or not the LED light is received by the light receiving unit B. The detection data of the light receiving unit B is output to the control unit H, for example.
[0029]
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the case 48 is arranged on the positive side in the X direction with respect to the corresponding door opener 31 so that the vertical support member 47 is not positioned in front of the loading / unloading port Q of the cassette C. Further, in the case 48, as shown in FIG. 9, there is an elevating mechanism 49 for elevating the vertical support member 47 and a horizontal moving mechanism 50 as a moving mechanism for horizontally moving the vertical support member 47 in the Y direction. Is provided.
[0030]
The elevating mechanism 49 includes, for example, a vertical ball screw 51 that holds the vertical support member 47 and a pulse motor 52 that can be rotated by pulse unit control. The elevating mechanism 49 rotates the ball screw 51 by the pulse motor 52. By doing so, the vertical support member 47 can be raised and lowered by a predetermined distance. In addition, the control of the pulse motor 52 is performed by the control unit H, and by this control unit H, the vertical movement amount of the vertical support member 47 can be controlled, and the position of the optical sensor 45 can be controlled. Accordingly, the control unit H scans the optical sensor 45 in the vertical direction while recognizing the position of the optical sensor 45 in the vertical direction, and causes the optical sensor 45 to detect the presence or absence of the light-shielding object in the cassette C. The presence / absence of the wafer W at each stage in C and the apparent thickness of the wafer W viewed from the side surface can be detected. For example, when the wafer W is supported obliquely in the slot 23, the apparent thickness is increased. Therefore, the control unit H stores the wafer W on the basis of the apparent thickness detection data. Can recognize posture. That is, the control unit H can recognize the presence / absence of the wafer W in each slot 23 and the accommodation state of the accommodation posture by scanning with the optical sensor 45. Instead of the pulse motor 52, the position of the optical sensor 45 may be controlled using a servo motor and a rotary encoder.
[0031]
The horizontal moving mechanism 50 is configured to slide a moving body 54 that slides on a rail 53 arranged along the Y direction while holding the entire lifting mechanism 49 such as a pulse motor 52, and the like. The horizontal movement mechanism 50 can move the moving body 54 in the Y direction by the cylinder 55 and move the entire vertical support member 47 in the Y direction. Thus, the optical sensor 45 fixed to the horizontal support member 46 via the vertical support member 47 can move horizontally to the cassette C side and enter the detection position P in the cassette C.
[0032]
The controller H can output mapping data indicating the accommodation state of the recognized wafer W to a controller (not shown) for controlling the operation of the wafer carrier 41, and the controller can output the wafer carrier 41 based on the mapping data. The access position (the operation recipe of the wafer carrier 41) for the cassette C can be changed. It is preferable that the control unit H is provided in the mapping unit 40. In such a case, since the wiring connected between the mapping unit 40 and the outside is reduced, the removal of the mapping unit 40 becomes easier. .
[0033]
On the other hand, the wafer transfer body 41 of the transfer unit 11 is an articulated transfer robot and can move the transfer arm 56 back and forth in the Y direction as shown in FIG. The wafer transfer body 41 can move on the transfer path 57 laid in the X direction, and can also move in the vertical direction (Z direction). Therefore, the wafer carrier 41 can selectively access the plurality of cassettes C placed on the placement unit 10 and can selectively access the plurality of wafers W in the cassette C. Further, the wafer transfer body 41 is rotatable in the θ direction (rotation direction centered on the Z axis), and can be changed in direction to the placement unit 10 side and the processing station 3 side.
[0034]
The processing station 3 adjacent to the cassette station 2 includes five processing unit groups G1 to G5 in which a plurality of processing units are arranged in multiple stages. As shown in FIG. 1, a third processing unit group G3, a fourth processing unit group G4, and a fifth processing unit group G5 are arranged in order from the cassette station 2 side on the back side (upper side in the drawing) of the processing station 3. Has been placed. A first transfer device 60 is provided between the third processing unit group G3 and the fourth processing unit group G4. The first transfer device 60 is installed so as to selectively access the first processing unit group G1, the third processing unit group G3, and the fourth processing unit group G4. In addition, a second transfer device 61 is provided between the fourth processing unit group G4 and the fifth processing unit group G5. The second transfer device 61 is installed so as to selectively access the second processing unit group G2, the fourth processing unit group G4, and the fifth processing unit group G5.
[0035]
A plurality of heat treatment units are arranged on the back side of the first transfer device 60. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the adhesion units 70 and 71 for hydrophobizing the wafer W and the wafer W are heated. The heating units 72 and 73 are stacked in four stages from the bottom. A peripheral exposure unit 74 that selectively exposes only the edge portion of the wafer W is arranged on the back side of the second transfer device 61.
[0036]
The third processing unit group G3 includes, for example, a temperature control unit 80, a transition unit 81 for delivering the wafer W, and high-precision temperature control units 82 to 84 that heat-treat the wafer W under accurate temperature control. In addition, high-temperature heat treatment units 85 to 88 for performing predetermined heat treatment on the wafer W are stacked in nine stages in order from the bottom.
[0037]
In the fourth processing unit group G4, for example, a high-accuracy temperature control unit 90, pre-baking units 91 to 94 that heat-treat the wafer W after resist coating, and a post-baking unit 95 that heat-processes the wafer W after development processing. ˜99 are stacked in 10 steps from the bottom.
[0038]
In the fifth processing unit group G5, for example, high-accuracy temperature control units 100 to 102, a transition unit 103, and post-exposure baking units 104 to 109 that heat-treat the wafer W after exposure are stacked in 10 stages in order from the bottom. Yes.
[0039]
As shown in FIG. 11, in the first processing unit group G1, liquid processing units for supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the wafer W and performing processing, for example, resist coating units 110 to 112 for applying a resist liquid to the wafer W, Bottom coating units 113 and 114 for forming an antireflection film for preventing reflection of light during exposure are stacked in five stages in order from the bottom. In the second processing unit group G2, liquid processing units, for example, developing units 120 to 124 for performing development processing on the wafer W are stacked in five stages in order from the bottom. In addition, chemical chambers 130 and 131 for supplying a processing liquid to the liquid processing units in the processing unit groups G1 and G2 are provided at the bottom of the first processing unit group G1 and the second processing unit group G2, respectively. ing. A gas supply unit U for supplying a predetermined gas into each block is provided above each block of the cassette station 2, the processing station 3 and the interface unit 4. The inside of the interface unit 4 is maintained in a predetermined atmosphere during processing.
[0040]
As shown in FIG. 1, the interface unit 4 includes a first interface unit 140 and a second interface unit 141. The first interface unit 140 corresponds to the fifth processing unit group G5. A wafer transfer body 142 is provided at a position to be used. For example, buffer cassettes 143 (the back side in FIG. 1) and 144 (the front side in FIG. 1) are installed on both sides of the wafer transport body 142 in the X direction. The wafer carrier 142 can access the processing units and the buffer cassettes 143 and 144 in the fifth processing unit group G5. The second interface unit 141 is provided with a wafer transfer body 146 that is movable on a transfer path 145 laid in the X direction. The wafer carrier 146 is movable in the Z direction and rotatable in the θ direction, and can selectively access the buffer cassette 144 and an exposure apparatus (not shown) adjacent to the second interface unit 141. Therefore, the wafer W of the processing station 3 can be transferred to the exposure apparatus via the wafer transfer body 142, the buffer cassette 144, and the wafer transfer body 146. The wafer W after the exposure process is transferred to the wafer transfer body 146, the buffer cassette. 144 can be transferred into the processing station 3 via the wafer transfer body 142.
[0041]
The operation of the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. First, a cassette C containing a plurality of unprocessed wafers W is placed on the placement table 30. When the cassette C is placed, for example, the door opener 31 moves horizontally to the cassette C side and sucks and holds the door 21 of the cassette C. At this time, the key 33 of the door opener 31 is inserted into the key hole 22 of the door 21 and the door 21 is unlocked. When the door opener 31 holds the door 21, the door opener 31 once retracts from the cassette C in the horizontal direction and then descends. Thus, the inside of the cassette C is opened to a predetermined atmosphere in the casing 11. Next, the vertical support member 47 of the mapping unit 40 moves to the cassette C side as shown in FIG. 12, for example, the optical sensor 45 enters the uppermost part of the cassette C. At this time, the light emitting part A and the light receiving part B are moved to the detection position P as shown in FIG.
[0042]
Subsequently, LED light is emitted from the light receiving portion A toward the light receiving portion B, and in this state, the light emitting portion A and the light receiving portion B are lowered along the wafer W arranged in the vertical direction. At this time, the presence / absence of the wafer W and the apparent thickness of each slot 23 are detected by the optical sensor 45 including the light emitting portion A and the light receiving portion B. This detection data is processed by the control unit H, for example, and the control unit H recognizes the presence / absence of the wafer W in each slot 23 and the accommodation posture.
[0043]
When the optical sensor 45 moves from the uppermost part to the lowermost part of the cassette C and the presence / absence and accommodation posture of each stage of the wafer W are recognized, the mapping data is transferred from the controller H to the controller (not shown) of the wafer carrier 41. ) And reflected in the operation recipe of the wafer carrier 41. For example, the operation recipe of the wafer carrier 41 is changed so that the slot 23 where the wafer W is not supported or the slot 23 where the wafer W is not supported horizontally is skipped and accessed.
[0044]
When the optical sensor 45 moves to the bottom of the cassette C and the mapping operation is completed, the vertical support member 47 moves in the Y direction negative direction side, and the optical sensor 45 moves away from the cassette C. Thereafter, for example, the optical sensor 45 moves to a position higher than the cassette C and waits until the next cassette C is placed.
[0045]
Subsequently, the wafer transfer body 41 accesses the wafer W in the predetermined slot 23 in the cassette C, and the wafers W are transferred one by one to the temperature control unit 80 of the third processing unit group G3. The wafer W transferred to the temperature control unit 80 is adjusted to a predetermined temperature, and then transferred to the bottom coating unit 113 by the first transfer device 60 to form an antireflection film on the surface. The wafer W on which the antireflection film is formed is sequentially transferred to the heating unit 72, the high-temperature heat treatment unit 85, the high-precision temperature control unit 90, the resist coating unit 110, and the pre-baking unit 91 by the first transfer device 60. Predetermined processing is performed in the unit.
[0046]
The wafer W that has been subjected to the pre-baking process is transferred to the peripheral exposure unit 74 by the second transfer device 61, subjected to the peripheral exposure process, and then transferred to the transition unit 103. Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the buffer cassette 144 by the wafer transfer body 142 of the first interface unit 140 and then transferred to an exposure apparatus (not shown) by the wafer transfer unit 146 of the second interface unit 141. The wafer W for which the exposure processing has been completed is transferred to the buffer cassette 143 via the buffer cassette 144 by the wafer transfer body 146 and the wafer transfer body 142. Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the post-exposure baking unit 104 by the wafer transfer body 142, and is sequentially transferred to the high-precision temperature control unit 101, the developing unit 120, and the post-baking unit 95 by the second transfer device 61. Predetermined processing is performed. The wafer W after the post-baking process is transferred to the transition unit 81 by the first transfer device 60 and then returned to the cassette C by the wafer transfer body 41. Thus, a series of coating and developing processes for the wafer W is completed.
[0047]
According to the present embodiment, since the independent mapping unit 40 is detachably provided to the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1, for example, when the optical sensor 45 is replaced, it is sufficient to remove and replace the entire mapping unit 40. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove only the optical sensor 45 from the wafer transfer body 41 and the door opener 31 installed in the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 as in the prior art, and it is necessary to remove complicated wiring or to perform removal work in a narrow portion. Therefore, the optical sensor 45 can be replaced quickly.
[0048]
Further, since the mapping unit 40 is disposed adjacent to the mounting table 30 and includes the horizontal moving mechanism 50, the optical sensor 45 can access the cassette C on the mounting table 30. Therefore, the optical sensor 45 moves to the detection position P in the cassette C, and the mapping operation can be performed appropriately. Further, since the mapping unit 40 includes the elevating mechanism 49, the optical sensor 45 can be scanned along the slot 23 of the cassette C. Further, since the elevating mechanism 49 can make the optical sensor 45 stand by in the vicinity of the upper part of the cassette C when the optical sensor 45 is not performing the mapping operation, the optical sensor 45 is placed at the top of the cassette C during the next mapping operation. Can move quickly.
[0049]
Further, since the light emitting part A and the light receiving part B of the optical sensor 45 are attached to the cassette C side of the horizontal support member 46 at a predetermined distance D, when the vertical support member 47 moves to the cassette C side, The light emitting part A and the light receiving part B are appropriately arranged on both sides of the wafer W, and the accommodation state of the wafer W between them can be detected by the light emitting part A and the light receiving part B.
[0050]
Since the vertical support member 47 supports one end of the horizontal support member 46, the vertical support member 47 can be arranged so as not to hinder the movement of the wafer transfer body 41 accessing the cassette C.
[0051]
Since the mounting unit 10 is provided with three mounting tables 30 and a mapping unit 40 is provided for each mounting table 30, the mapping operation can be performed regardless of the mounting table 30 on which the cassette C is mounted. It can be carried out. In addition, mapping operations can be performed on a plurality of cassettes C at the same time, and a larger number of wafers W can be loaded into the processing station 3 in a short time. As a result, the processing efficiency of the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 can be improved. Can be improved.
[0052]
  In the above embodiment, the light emitting part A and the light receiving part B are attached to the horizontal support member 46.As a reference example,Other types of optical sensors, for example, a CCD camera as an imaging means may be attached. Also in this case, as in the above-described embodiment, the CCD camera is scanned from the top to the bottom of the cassette C, and the obtained data is subjected to image processing, for example, so that the wafer W is accommodated in each slot 23. Is detected. When the CCD camera is used in this way, there is no need for strict alignment of the optical axis unlike the light emitting unit A and the light receiving unit B.,A cheaper one with less accuracy can be used.
[0053]
Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the vertical support member 161 of the mapping unit 160 may support the central portion of the horizontal support member 162. In such a case, since the bending of both ends of the horizontal support member 162 can be suppressed to the minimum, the light emitting part A and the light receiving part B can be accurately maintained horizontally. Therefore, mapping work can be performed under a strict optical system. Instead of the optical sensor described above, a sensor that detects the presence or absence of the wafer W or the apparent thickness of the wafer W by applying ultrasonic waves to the side surface of the wafer W or the like may be used.
[0054]
The type and number of processing units mounted on the processing station 3 of the above embodiment are not limited to this, and can be changed as needed. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1, but the present invention may be applied to other processing apparatuses such as an SOD film forming apparatus. Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the wafer W processing apparatus. However, the present invention is applicable to a transfer apparatus such as a substrate other than the wafer W, such as an LCD substrate, a mask substrate, or a reticle substrate. Applicable.
[0055]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the mapping operation can be performed without interfering with the operation of the transport device, the processing capability of the processing device can be improved. In addition, since the maintenance work can be performed quickly, the operating rate of the processing apparatus can be increased.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a coating and developing treatment apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a cassette station.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cassette.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the cassette with the door opened.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section showing a configuration around a door opener.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section showing a configuration around a mounting table to which a mapping unit is attached.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mapping unit.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a cross section of the cassette showing a state in which the optical sensor has entered the cassette.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section showing an internal configuration of the mapping unit.
10 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.
11 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a vertical section around the mounting table showing the operation of the mapping unit during mapping work.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing another configuration example of the mapping unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Coating and developing equipment
10 Placement section
30 mounting table
31 door opener
40 mapping units
45 Optical sensor
46 Horizontal support member
47 Vertical support member
48 cases
C cassette
W wafer

Claims (5)

In order to carry a substrate into the apparatus, the apparatus includes a mounting table on which a container that can accommodate a plurality of substrates in a vertical arrangement and a substrate that can be stored in multiple stages, and a carrier that transports the substrate in the container on the mounting table. , A processing apparatus for processing a substrate,
The container is a casing capable of sealing the inside, and a loading / unloading port for loading / unloading a substrate is provided on one side of the container,
A mapping unit for detecting the accommodation state of the substrate in the container placed on the mounting table is provided on the loading / unloading side of the container on the mounting table,
The mapping unit is
An optical sensor that includes a light emitting unit that horizontally emits linear light and a light receiving unit that receives the light , and is capable of optically detecting the accommodation state of the substrate by entering the accommodation body from a loading / unloading port of the accommodation body When,
A support member for supporting the optical sensor;
An elevating mechanism for elevating the support member;
A moving mechanism for moving the support member to the container placed on the mounting table and moving the optical sensor to a detectable position in the container;
The support member includes a horizontal support member that is long in the horizontal direction to which the optical sensor is attached, and a vertical support member that supports the horizontal support member and is long in the vertical direction.
The vertical support member is disposed at a position deviated from the front of the loading / unloading port of the container, and supports one end of the horizontal support member;
The processing apparatus, wherein the elevating mechanism can elevate the horizontal support member to above the container. A mounting section including the mounting table, and a transport section including the transport body;
The container is provided with a door for opening and closing the loading / unloading port,
The transport unit is provided in a casing capable of maintaining a predetermined atmosphere,
The placing portion and the conveying portion are separated by a side wall of the casing;
The side wall of the casing is provided with a door opener that holds and opens the door of the container and can open the inside of the container into the casing.
The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the mapping unit is provided in the casing.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mapping unit is provided so as to be removable from the apparatus. The accommodation state of the substrate is the presence / absence of the substrate at each stage of the container and the accommodation posture of the substrate,
The optical sensor is capable of detecting the presence / absence of a substrate at each stage in the container and an apparent thickness of the substrate when the substrate accommodated in the container is viewed from a side surface. The processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The above-mentioned mounting table is provided at multiple locations,
  The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mapping unit is provided for each mounting table.

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