CN115145121A

CN115145121A - Information acquisition system and information acquisition method

Info

Publication number: CN115145121A
Application number: CN202210301606.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 牧准之辅; 东广大; 小西凌
Original assignee: Tokyo Electron Ltd
Current assignee: Tokyo Electron Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-31
Filing date: 2022-03-24
Publication date: 2022-10-04
Also published as: JP2022157344A; CN217606236U; KR20220136223A

Abstract

The invention relates to an information acquisition system and an information acquisition method. A member located in the vicinity of a substrate to be processed by a substrate processing apparatus is prevented from being disposed at an inappropriate position and causing a processing failure. An information acquisition system configured to acquire information relating to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate held by a substrate holding portion, the information acquisition system comprising: a base body held by the substrate holding portion in place of the substrate; interference detection units each including one end side fixed to the base body and the other end side movable to the base body; and a signal acquisition unit configured to acquire a signal that varies in accordance with deformation of the interference detection unit caused by interference between the periphery of the base body and the detection target member.

Description

Information acquisition system and information acquisition method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an information acquisition system and an information acquisition method.

Background

In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) is transported to a substrate processing apparatus in a state of being stored in a carrier and is processed. Examples of the treatment include liquid treatments such as coating film formation by supplying a coating liquid and development. In the liquid processing, a processing liquid is supplied from a nozzle to the wafer accommodated in the cup. Patent document 1 describes a developing device including a cup having an annular projection facing a lower surface of a wafer.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2020-13932

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The purpose of the present disclosure is to prevent a member located near a substrate processed by a substrate processing apparatus from being placed at an inappropriate position and causing a processing failure.

Means for solving the problems

The information acquisition system of the present disclosure is for acquiring information relating to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate held by a substrate holding portion, wherein,

the information acquisition system includes:

a susceptor body which is held by the substrate holding portion in place of the substrate;

interference detection portions each including one end side fixed to the base body and the other end side movable to the base body; and

and a signal acquisition unit configured to acquire a signal that varies in accordance with deformation of the interference detection unit caused by interference with a detection target member in the periphery of the base body.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

The present disclosure can prevent a member located near a substrate processed by a substrate processing apparatus from being disposed at an inappropriate position and causing a processing failure.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus constituting an information acquisition system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional front view of a resist film forming module included in the substrate processing apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the resist film forming assembly.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an inspection wafer and an arithmetic device constituting the information acquisition system.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the inspection wafer.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the inspection wafer.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the inspection wafer.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the 1 st beam-shaped body provided on the inspection wafer.

Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the 2 nd beam-shaped body provided on the inspection wafer.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of detection signals obtained from the inspection wafer.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an image of the annular protrusion acquired by the camera.

Fig. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an image of the nozzle acquired by the camera.

Detailed Description

(embodiment 1)

Fig. 1 shows an information acquisition system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The information acquisition system 1 includes a substrate processing apparatus 2, an inspection wafer 6, and a computing apparatus 9. First, an outline of each part constituting the information acquiring system 1 is explained. The substrate processing apparatus 2 transports a circular substrate, i.e., a wafer W, between the processing modules by the transport mechanism and processes the wafer W. The process includes supplying a resist to the wafer W stored in the cup 4 in a process module for forming a resist film to form the resist film.

The inspection wafer 6 is transported to the processing module (resist film forming module 3) by the above-mentioned transport mechanism instead of the wafer W. The wafer 6 for inspection is provided with an interference detection unit. The detection signal output from the inspection wafer 6 varies depending on whether or not the interference detection unit interferes with the annular projection 46 and/or the nozzle 51B, which are structural members of the cup 4. The detection signal is wirelessly transmitted to the arithmetic device 9, and the waveform of the detection signal is displayed on the display unit 95 included in the arithmetic device 9, so that it is possible to check whether or not the annular projection 46 and/or the nozzle 51B are disposed at an appropriate position when the wafer W is processed. The nozzle 51B is a nozzle for EBR (Edge Bead Removal). EBR is a process of removing a portion covering the peripheral edge of the wafer W in a film (resist film in the present embodiment) formed on the entire surface of the wafer W by discharging a solvent from a nozzle in a limited manner.

The inspection wafer 6 is further provided with

cameras

81 and 82 as imaging units for imaging the annular projection 46 and the nozzle 51B to acquire image data. The information acquiring system 1 can acquire, based on the image data, the distance (H0 described later) between the wafer W and the annular projection 46 and the distance (H1 described later) between the wafer W and the EBR nozzle 51B when the wafer W is placed on the resist film formation member 3. Although the above-described distance acquisition method is described in embodiment 2, a part of the configuration of a system for acquiring the distance will be described in the description of embodiment 1.

The substrate processing apparatus 2 will be described in detail below. The substrate processing apparatus 2 includes a carrier module D1 and a process module D2. Carrier module D1 and processing module D2 are arranged side by side and connected to each other. The wafers W are transported to the carrier module D1 by a transport mechanism for the carrier C, not shown, in a state of being stored in the carrier C serving as a transport container. The carrier module D1 includes a stage 21 on which the carrier C is placed. The carrier module D1 is provided with an opening/closing unit 22 and a conveying mechanism 23. The opening/closing unit 22 opens and closes a conveyance port formed in a side wall of the carrier module D1. The transfer mechanism 23 transfers the wafer W to the carrier C on the stage 21 through the transfer port.

The process module D2 includes a transport path 24 for the wafer W extending in the left-right direction, and a transport mechanism 25 provided on the transport path 24. The wafer W is transferred between the carrier C and each processing module provided in the processing module D2 by the transfer mechanism 25 and the transfer mechanism 23. A plurality of processing units are provided in a left-right arrangement on both the front side and the rear side of the conveyance path 24. The processing unit on the rear side is a heating unit 26 that performs a heating process for removing the solvent in the resist film. The processing module on the front side is a resist film forming module 3. Further, a transfer module TRS for temporarily placing the wafer W is provided in the conveyance path 24 at a position close to the carrier module D1. By means of the hand-over module TRS, the wafer W is handed over between the carrier module D1 and the process module D2.

Next, the resist film formation assembly 3 will be described with reference to a vertical sectional front view of fig. 2 and a plan view of fig. 3. The resist film forming module 3 includes a spin chuck 31 as a substrate holding portion, and the spin chuck 31 holds the wafer W horizontally by sucking the central portion of the back surface side thereof. The spin chuck 31 is connected to a rotation mechanism 33 via a shaft 32 extending in the vertical direction, and the wafer W held by the spin chuck 31 is rotated about the vertical axis by the rotation mechanism 33. A circular baffle plate 34 surrounding the shaft 32 is provided, and three lift pins 35 (only two lift pins are shown in fig. 2) extending in the vertical direction so as to penetrate the baffle plate 34 are provided. The lift pins 35 are moved up and down by the lift mechanism 36, and the wafer W is transferred between the spin chuck 31 and the above-described transfer mechanism 25.

A circular cup 4 is provided so as to surround the wafer W held by the spin chuck 31 from the lower side to the side of the peripheral edge of the wafer W, and the cup 4 includes a cup main body 41, a lower guide portion 42, an intermediate guide portion 43, and an upper guide portion 44. The cup body 41 is formed as an annular recess along the circumference of the wafer W, and receives the processing liquid (resist and solvent) dropped or scattered from the wafer W. The parts constituting the cup body 41 are shown as an outer cylindrical part 41A, a bottom body 41B, and an inner cylindrical part 41C. The outer cylindrical portion 41A and the inner cylindrical portion 41C are upright cylindrical members, and form side walls of the annular recess. The bottom body 41B is a horizontal annular plate connecting the lower end of the outer cylindrical portion 41A and the lower end of the inner cylindrical portion 41C, and forms the bottom of the annular recess. The bottom body 41B is provided with an exhaust pipe 45A for exhausting the inside of the cup 4, and a drain port 45B for discharging the processing liquid from the concave portion is opened.

Next, the lower guide portion 42 is described, and the lower guide portion 42 is an annular member formed to extend from the peripheral edge portion of the baffle plate 34 described above to the inner cylindrical portion 41C and to the outer cylindrical portion 41A, and is positioned below the wafer W held by the spin chuck 31. The upper surface of the lower guide 42 is formed with

inclined surfaces

42A and 42B, and the inclined surface 42A is located closer to the center of the cup 4 than the inclined surface 42B. The inclined surface 42A rises as it goes to the outside of the cup 4, and the inclined surface 42B falls as it goes to the outside of the cup 4, so that the vertical section of the lower guide portion 42 is formed in a mountain shape. The inclined surface 42B guides the processing liquid falling or scattering from the wafer W and adhering thereto to flow down toward the bottom body 41B.

The top of the mountain shape formed by the

inclined surfaces

42A and 42B protrudes upward to form an annular protrusion 46, and the annular protrusion 46 is located along the circumference of the wafer W placed on the spin chuck 31 and near the peripheral edge of the wafer W. The annular projection 46 prevents the processing liquid supplied to the front surface of the wafer W from spreading to the rear surface of the wafer W and adhering to a position near the center of the wafer W, or prevents mist of the processing liquid from adhering to a position near the center of the rear surface of the wafer W. The height of the lower guide 42 is adjustable relative to the baffle 34 and the cup body 41, and thus the height of the annular projection 46 is adjustable relative to the lower surface of the wafer W. In fig. 2, the distance between the annular projection 46 and the lower surface of the wafer W (as a cup separation distance) is represented as H0.

The intermediate guide portion 43 constituting the cup 4 includes a vertical wall 43A attached to the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical portion 41A, and an inclined portion 43B extending obliquely upward from the upper end of the vertical wall 43A toward the center side of the cup 4. Further, a through hole 43C for discharging liquid penetrates through the inclined portion 43B in the vertical direction. The upper guide portion 44 constituting the cup 4 includes a vertical wall 44A attached to the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical portion 41A, a horizontal portion 44B horizontally extending from an upper end of the vertical wall toward the center of the cup 4, and a cylindrical opening wall 44C extending vertically upward from a front end of the horizontal portion 44B. The vertical wall 44A is provided above the vertical wall 43A of the intermediate guide portion 43, and the horizontal portion 44B is located above the inclined portion 43B of the intermediate guide portion 43.

Next, the resist supply mechanism 5A and the EBR processing mechanism 5B provided in the resist film formation module 3 will be described. The resist supply mechanism 5A includes: a resist supply nozzle 51A, a resist supply portion 52A, an arm 53A, a moving mechanism 54A, and a standby portion 55A. The resist supply nozzle 51A discharges the resist, which is conveyed under pressure from the resist supply portion 52A, vertically downward. The arm 53A supports the resist supply nozzle 51A, and is configured to be vertically movable and horizontally movable by the movement mechanism 54A. A standby part 55A opened upward is provided outside the cup 4, and the resist supply nozzle 51A is moved by a moving mechanism 54A between the inside of the opening of the standby part 55A and the inside of the cup 4. The resist supply nozzle 51A moved into the cup 4 ejects a resist onto the center portion of the rotating wafer W, and a resist film is formed on the entire surface of the wafer W by spin coating.

The EBR processing mechanism 5B includes: a solvent supply nozzle 51B, a solvent supply portion 52B, an arm 53B, a moving mechanism 54B, and a standby portion 55B. The solvent supply nozzle 51B is a nozzle for EBR, and discharges the solvent, which is pressurized and transported from the solvent supply portion 52B, obliquely downward from the center side toward the peripheral side of the wafer W. That is, the solvent is discharged in a direction inclined with respect to the vertical direction. The arm 53B supports the solvent supply nozzle 51B, and is configured to be vertically movable and horizontally movable by the movement mechanism 54B. A standby unit 55B opened upward is provided outside the cup 4, and the solvent supply nozzle 51B is moved by the moving mechanism 54B between a processing position above the wafer W in the cup 4 and inside the opening of the standby unit 55B. Fig. 3 shows the solvent supply nozzle 51B in a state of being moved to the processing position by a solid line, and the EBR described above is performed by ejecting the solvent from the solvent supply nozzle 51B at the processing position to the rotating wafer W.

For example, the solvent supply nozzle 51B is attached to the arm 53B so that the height thereof can be freely adjusted. Therefore, the distance H1 between the solvent supply nozzle 51B and the surface of the wafer W at the processing position shown in fig. 2 (as the nozzle separation distance) can be freely adjusted, and the landing position of the solvent discharged from the solvent supply nozzle 51B on the wafer W is changed by changing the nozzle separation distance H1. Although only shown in fig. 3, an illumination unit 48 capable of irradiating light toward the cup 4 is provided near the cup 4. When the camera 82 photographs the solvent supply nozzle 51B, the illumination unit 48 irradiates the solvent supply nozzle 51B with light.

The substrate processing apparatus 2 includes a control unit 20 (see fig. 1) configured by a computer, and is equipped with a program stored in a storage medium such as an optical disk, a hard disk, a memory card, or a DVD. The program is programmed with instructions (steps) for outputting control signals to each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 2 by the installed program. Then, the control signal is used to transport the wafer W by the

transport mechanisms

23 and 25 and to process the wafer W by each processing module.

However, due to an error in assembling or adjusting the resist film forming module 3 by an operator, the cup separation distance H0 and/or the nozzle separation distance H1, which is the 2 nd distance, may be out of the appropriate range. When the wafer W is processed in a state where the cup separation distance H0 is not appropriate, the annular projection 46 may come into contact with the wafer W to damage the back surface of the wafer W, or the annular projection 46 may be too far away from the wafer W to sufficiently exert its function. When the wafer W is processed in a state where the nozzle separation distance H1 is not appropriate, the solvent supply nozzle 51B may contact the wafer W to damage the wafer W, or an abnormality in the width of the removal region of the resist film may occur due to an abnormality in the landing position.

The inspection wafer 6 is held by suction on the spin chuck 31 instead of the wafer W. The detection of the above-described interference with the detection target members (the annular protrusion 46 and the nozzle 51B) by the inspection wafer 6 is to acquire information on the height of the annular protrusion 46 and the height of the solvent supply nozzle 51B as to whether or not the cup separation distance H0 and the nozzle separation distance H1 are respectively smaller than the appropriate ranges. By acquiring the information of the height, it is possible to prevent contact between the wafer W and the annular projection 46, contact of the solvent supply nozzle 51B with respect to the wafer W, and abnormal landing positions.

The structure of the inspection wafer 6 will be described below with reference to the vertical sectional side views of fig. 4 and 5 and the plan view of fig. 6. Fig. 4 and 5 show longitudinal sectional side surfaces at different positions from each other. In fig. 6, some of the components shown in fig. 4 and 5 are omitted. The inspection wafer 6 includes a circular base body 61 and a substrate 62. The susceptor 61 is a substrate having the same size as the wafer W, and the lower surface thereof is configured to be flat as the lower surface of the wafer W. Therefore, the susceptor 61 can be transferred by the

transfer mechanisms

23 and 25 and sucked and held by the spin chuck 31, similarly to the wafer W. Fig. 4 to 6 show the susceptor 61 (that is, the inspection wafer 6 in the state of being sucked and held) in the state of being sucked and held by the spin chuck 31 in this way.

A substrate 62 is provided on the upper side of the base body 61 in a stacked manner. The substrate 62 includes a main body 63 provided at a central portion of the base body 61. In fig. 6 and fig. 7 described later, the main body 63 is shown as a circle for convenience of illustration, but is not limited to a circle, and may have any shape. Various circuit components and devices, collectively referred to as a component group 64 in the drawing, are provided on the main body portion 63.

As the components and devices constituting the component group 64, a CPU, a communication device that transmits and receives various data (including signals) by wireless, and the like are included. The data acquired by the sensors and the cameras can be wirelessly transmitted to the arithmetic device 9 by the communication device. Further, a signal serving as a trigger signal for acquiring the data can be transmitted to each camera and each sensor via the communication device. As described later, the

cameras

81 and 82 and the like are mounted on a board other than the board 62, but data can be transmitted to the arithmetic device 9 and a trigger signal can be received through the lead 60 connecting the boards. A battery 65 for supplying power to the component group 64, the sensors, the cameras, and an illumination unit 85 described later is provided in the center of the base body 61.

Referring to fig. 7, a substrate 62 on the base body 61 is further described, and a main body portion 63 of the substrate 62 is fixed to the base body 61. A part of the peripheral edge of the main body portion 63 extends toward the peripheral edge of the main body portion 63 to form an elongated beam-like body 66 extending in the radial direction of the base body 61. A through hole 67 penetrating the base body 61 in the thickness direction is formed in the peripheral edge portion of the base body 61 at a position overlapping the front end side of the beam-like body 66. The through hole 67 forms a connection path connecting one side (upper side) and the other side (lower side) in the longitudinal direction of the base body 61.

The portions around the through hole 67 are shown enlarged in front of the arrows in fig. 7. A projection 68 projecting downward and entering the through hole 67 is provided on the lower surface of the beam-like body 66 on the tip side. The front end (lower end) of the projection 68 is located below the lower surface of the body 63, and protrudes from the lower surface of the body 63 by, for example, about 1mm (see fig. 4). The projection 68 is located slightly further toward the base end side than the distal end of the beam-like body 66, and the distal end of the beam-like body 66 is located closer to the peripheral edge of the base body 61 than the through hole 67. By the arrangement of the projections 68 and the through holes 67, a portion of the beam-like body 66 on the base end side of the through holes 67 and a portion on the tip end side of the through holes 67 are supported by being in contact with the base body 61. That is, the beam-like body 66 is supported on the upper surface region of the base body 61 including the outer edge of the through hole 67.

The beam member 66 as the 1 st beam member is formed as a so-called cantilever, and constitutes a 1 st interference detection unit for acquiring information on the height of the annular projection 46. More specifically, the lower surface of the beam-like body 66 is not fixed to the base body 61, and has flexibility in the longitudinal direction (the thickness direction of the base body 61). As described above, since the main body portion 63 connecting the beam-shaped body 66 is fixed to the base body 61, the base end of the beam-shaped body 66 is fixed to the base body 61. Thus, the following structure is obtained: one end side of the beam-like body 66 is fixed to the central portion side of the base body 61, and the other end side extending toward the peripheral portion of the base body 61 is movable relative to the base body 61. A strain gauge (strain sensor) 69 is provided above the base end (one end) of the beam-like body 66. The strain gauge 69 forming the 1 st signal acquisition unit constitutes a wheatstone bridge circuit together with the members included in the above-described member group 64, and a voltage signal output from the circuit is wirelessly transmitted as a detection signal to the arithmetic device 9.

When the base body 61 is attracted to the spin chuck 31, the projection 68 of the beam body 66 is positioned above the annular projection 46. Since the lower surface of the wafer W and the lower surface of the susceptor 61 are flat surfaces, they have the same height when mounted on the spin chuck 31. Therefore, when the cup separation distance H0 (the distance between the wafer W and the annular projection 46) is equal to or less than the reference value and the wafer W interferes with the annular projection 46, interference occurs between the projection 68 of the inspection wafer 6 and the annular projection 46 as shown in fig. 8. As a result of the interference of the projections 68, the front end side of the beam-like body 66 is deformed so as to be pushed upward. The strain gauge 69 is also deformed in accordance with the deformation of the beam-like body 66, and the signal output from the wheatstone bridge circuit is varied in accordance with the change in the resistance of the strain gauge 69 caused by the deformation. Therefore, by monitoring this signal, the presence or absence of interference between annular projection 46 and projection 68 can be detected, and therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not interference occurs between wafer W and annular projection 46.

Further, a notch is provided in a peripheral edge portion of the upper surface of the base body 61 at a position different from the position where the beam-shaped body 66 is provided in the circumferential direction. A base end portion of a beam 71 which is the 2 nd beam is fixedly provided on the center portion side of the notch of the base body 61. The front end side of the beam-like body 71 is formed to be elongated so as to extend in the notch along the radial direction of the base body 61. Therefore, the distal end portion of the beam 71 is in a state of floating from the base body 61. That is, the gap formed between the base body 61 and the notch is denoted by reference numeral 72.

The beam member 71 is also formed as a cantilever in the same manner as the beam member 66, and is configured as a 2 nd interference detection unit for acquiring information on the height of the solvent supply nozzle 51B at the processing position. As described above, the beam 71 is provided in the gap 72, so that the front end portion thereof is vertically movable. A strain gauge 73 is provided above the base end of the beam 71. The strain gauge 73 as the 2 nd signal acquiring unit constitutes a wheatstone bridge circuit together with the members included in the member group 64, like the strain gauge 69, and a voltage signal from the circuit is wirelessly transmitted as a detection signal to the arithmetic device 9.

If the spin chuck 31 is rotated (the inspection wafer 6 is also rotated) with the inspection wafer 6 being adsorbed to the spin chuck 31, the beam 71 may interfere with the lower end of the solvent supply nozzle 51B as shown in fig. 9 when the nozzle separation distance H1 is equal to or less than the reference value. Due to such interference, the distal end side of the beam-like body 71 is pressed downward through the gap 72, and is deformed so that the gap 72 is narrowed. In accordance with the deformation of the beam 71, the strain gauge 73 is also deformed, and the signal output from the wheatstone bridge circuit including the strain gauge 73 fluctuates. Therefore, by monitoring this signal, the presence or absence of interference between the solvent supply nozzle 51B and the beam 71 can be detected, and whether or not the processing position of the solvent supply nozzle 51B is appropriate can be determined.

As shown in fig. 5 and 6, two base plates 80 are provided on the peripheral edge of the base body 61 at positions circumferentially spaced from the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71, and the two base plates 80 are also circumferentially spaced from each other. One of the substrates 80 is provided with a camera 81, and the other substrate 80 is provided with a camera 82, with the visual fields thereof directed toward the peripheral edge of the base body 61. The

cameras

81 and 82 are members for photographing the annular projection 46 and the solvent supply nozzle 51B, respectively. A mirror 83 is disposed on the optical axis of the camera 81, and a through hole 84 is formed in the base body 61. When the inspection wafer 6 is held by the spin chuck 31, the through hole 84 is located at a position above the annular projection 46, and the upper surface of a part of the annular projection 46 in the circumferential direction is mapped on the mirror 83 through the through hole 84. The camera 81 can photograph the upper surface of a part of the annular projection 46 projected on the reflecting mirror 83. Two illumination portions 85 are embedded in the base body 61. Each illumination portion 85 is disposed so as to sandwich the through hole 84 in the circumferential direction of the base body 61, and irradiates light downward. When the camera 81 performs imaging, light is irradiated from each illumination unit 85 to the object to be imaged downward.

The base body 61 is provided with, for example, a circular cover 86 having a side wall along the circumference of the base body 61, and covers the main body 63 of the substrate 62, the battery 65, the

cameras

81 and 82, and the mirror 83. An opening is provided in the side wall of the cover 86 on the optical axis of the camera 82 so as not to interfere with the imaging of the solvent supply nozzle 51B by the camera 82. Further, for example, the lower end portions of the side walls of the cover 86 are notched so as not to interfere with the deformation of the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71, and the distal end sides of the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71 protrude outward of the cover 86 through the notches. Further, in order to prevent interference with the solvent supply nozzle 51B, the side end of the cover 86 is located closer to the center of the base body 61 than the solvent supply nozzle 51B at the processing position.

In the example shown in fig. 4 and 5, the central portion of the cover 86 is formed to have a height higher than the peripheral portion of the cover 86, and a convex portion 87 is formed to face upward. In accordance with the structure of the cover 86, as described above, the battery 65 and the component group 64 can be arranged in the center of the base body 61, and the center of gravity of the base body 61 can be positioned in the center. Therefore, when the base body 61 is placed on the spin chuck 31, the base body 61 can be prevented from sagging due to its own weight. Therefore, the height of the beam-

like bodies

66, 71 and the

cameras

81, 82 can be prevented from being changed by the sagging, and the measurement result can be prevented from being affected. Therefore, the cover 86 having the convex portion 87 contributes to improvement of the accuracy of abnormality detection. However, the cover 86 may be formed to have a relatively large thickness and a flat upper surface.

For example, when the operator carries the inspection wafer 6 on the carrier C or performs maintenance or the like on the inspection wafer 6, the operator passes the inspection wafer 6 through a relatively narrow area. At this time, since the upper surface of the hood 86 is located higher than the beam-

like bodies

66, 71, even if the inspection wafer 6 collides with the wall defining the narrow region, the hood 86 collides with the wall, thereby preventing the beam-

like bodies

66, 71 from colliding with the wall. Thus, the beam-

like bodies

66, 71 are suppressed from being plastically deformed or broken. Therefore, the beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 can be effectively protected by the cover 86.

Next, the arithmetic device 9 will be described with reference to fig. 4. The arithmetic device 9 is a computer and includes a bus 91. The bus 91 is connected to the program storage unit 92, the wireless transmission/reception unit 93, the memory 94, the display unit 95, and the operation unit 96, respectively. The program storage unit 92 is loaded with a program 90 stored in a storage medium such as an optical disk, a hard disk, a memory card, or a DVD. The arithmetic device is configured as an information acquisition unit for calculating the separation distances H0 and H1.

The wireless transmission/reception unit 93 wirelessly transmits a signal as a trigger signal for acquiring data to the wafer 6 for inspection, and wirelessly receives detection signals from the circuits including the strain gauges 69 and 73 and image data acquired by the

cameras

81 and 82. The memory 94 stores data acquired from each sensor and camera. Reference data as a reference for determining the presence or absence of interference, which will be described later, is also stored in the memory 94. Further, for example, data for acquiring the separation distances H0, H1 from the image data in embodiment 2 is stored, which will be described in embodiment 2.

The operation unit 96 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and the user of the information acquisition system 1 can instruct execution of processing that can be performed by the program 90 via the operation unit 96. For example, the arithmetic device 9 is connected to the control unit 20 of the substrate processing apparatus 2, and after holding the inspection wafer 6 on the spin chuck 31, for example, a signal indicating that various data can be acquired is transmitted from the control unit 20 to the arithmetic device 9.

Next, the operation procedure of the information acquisition system 1 described above is explained. First, the carrier C storing the inspection wafer 6 is transported to the stage 21 of the substrate processing apparatus 2. The inspection wafer 6 is transported in the order of the transport mechanism 23 → the delivery module TRS → the transport mechanism 25 → the resist film forming module 3, and is placed on the spin chuck 31 via the lift pins 35, sucked and held. Thereafter, the solvent supply nozzle 51B moves from the standby unit 55B to the processing position.

When the operator gives a predetermined instruction from the arithmetic device 9, the spin chuck 31 rotates, and the inspection wafer 6 rotates once at a relatively low speed. During one rotation, the height of each part of the resist film formation assembly 3 is adjusted so that interference between the annular projection 46 and the projection 68 of the beam-shaped body 66 does not occur and interference between the solvent supply nozzle 51B and the beam-shaped body 71 does not occur. The detection signals from the circuits including the strain gauges 69 and 71 at the time of one rotation are transmitted to the arithmetic device 9 and stored as reference data. After the inspection wafer 6 rotates once, the solvent supply nozzle 51B returns to the standby portion 55B. Then, the inspection wafer 6 is transferred to the transfer mechanism 25 via the lift pins 35, and is returned to the carrier C via the transfer module TRS and the transfer mechanism 23 in this order.

Thereafter, at an arbitrary timing, the carrier C storing the inspection wafer 6 is conveyed to the stage 21 of the substrate processing apparatus 2. Then, similarly to the case of acquiring the reference data, the inspection wafer 6 is transferred to the resist film formation module 3, placed on the spin chuck 31, adsorbed and held, and the solvent supply nozzle 51B is moved to the processing position. Similarly to the case of acquiring the reference data, for example, when the operator gives an instruction, the inspection wafer 6 is rotated by one rotation by the spin chuck 31, and detection signals from the circuits including the strain gauges 69 and 71 during the one rotation are transmitted to the arithmetic device 9 and stored as interference detection data. The inspection wafer 6 after data acquisition is returned to the carrier C in the same manner as the inspection wafer 6 after reference data acquisition.

The operator displays the signal waveform of the acquired interference detection data and the signal waveform of the reference data on the display unit 95, and compares them to detect the presence or absence of interference. Fig. 10 shows an example of a signal waveform obtained from a circuit including the strain gauge 69. Examples of the signal waveform of the reference data are shown by solid lines, and examples of the signal waveform of the detection data when the interference shown in fig. 8 occurs are shown by broken lines and alternate long and short dash lines. The signal waveform of the dashed, one-dot chain line is acquired due to interference in a different manner as described later. As shown in the figure, the signal level does not change greatly at each time in data acquisition with reference to data. The detection data in the case of no interference has the same or substantially the same signal waveform as the reference data.

For example, when the lower guide portion 42 constituting the annular projection 46 is obliquely attached and interferes with only a part of the annular projection 46 in the circumferential direction, the signal level at a specific timing during the rotation of the inspection wafer 6 greatly differs from the signal level of the reference data as shown by the waveform of the broken line. When the annular projection 46 and the projection 68 are continuously in contact with each other during the rotation of the inspection wafer 6, the signal level at each time point in the data acquisition is greatly different from the signal level of the reference data as shown by the waveform of the one-dot chain line.

In this way, the presence or absence of interference can be determined from the difference in signal waveform. The operator determines the intervention, but the program 90 may be used to determine the intervention. In addition, although the signal waveform obtained from the circuit including the strain gauge 69 is shown, the same applies to the signal waveform obtained from the circuit including the strain gauge 73. That is, the signal level of the reference data does not change greatly at each time during data acquisition, and when the reference data interferes with the nozzle, the signal level changes greatly at a specific time as shown by a broken line in fig. 10.

When the operator determines that the height of the annular projection 46 or the solvent supply nozzle 51B needs to be adjusted based on the comparison between the reference data and the detection data, the operator performs the adjustment as described above. Thereafter, the carrier C storing the wafer W is transported to the stage 21 of the substrate processing apparatus 2. The wafer W is conveyed in the order of the conveying mechanism 23 → the delivery module TRS → the conveying mechanism 25 → the resist film forming module 3 → the conveying mechanism 25 → the heating module 26 → the conveying mechanism 25 → the delivery module TRS, and is returned to the carrier C by the conveying mechanism 23. In the resist film formation module 3, the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle 51A toward the center of the surface of the wafer W rotated by the spin chuck 31, and a resist film is formed on the entire surface of the wafer W by spin coating. Thereafter, the solvent supply nozzle 51B moves from the standby portion 55B to the processing position, and supplies the solvent to the peripheral edge portion of the rotating wafer W, thereby removing the resist film at the peripheral edge portion.

As described above, the inspection wafers 6 constituting the information acquisition system 1 are provided with the strain gauges 69 and 73, respectively, on the beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 fixed to the respective inspection wafers 6 at only one ends thereof. The beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 are configured to interfere with the annular projection 46 and the solvent supply nozzle 51B arranged at an abnormal height as interference detection members. With the above-described structure, the beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 are deformed relatively largely due to interference, and also deformed relatively largely in the strain gauges 69 and 73. Therefore, a relatively large signal fluctuation can be detected, and therefore, the interference can be detected based on the signal fluctuation. Then, based on the detection result of the interference, the worker can adjust the resist film formation assembly 3. Therefore, a processing failure of the wafer W by the resist film forming module 3 is prevented, and thus a reduction in the yield of semiconductor products produced from the wafer W can be prevented.

In addition, only one of the beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 may be provided, and only one of the interference of the annular protrusion 46 and the interference of the solvent supply nozzle 51B may be detected. In addition, when the above-described interference is detected, the inspection wafer 6 is rotated. If the annular projection 46 is abnormally high, interference occurs between the annular projection 46 and the beam-shaped body 66 when the lift pins 35 are lowered and the inspection wafer 6 is attracted to the spin chuck 31, and the interference can be detected. That is, when detecting interference with the annular projection 46, the inspection wafer 6 does not necessarily have to be rotated.

However, as described above, the beam-like body 66 is supported from below by the base body 61. The beam-like body 66 vibrates vertically when interfering with the annular projection 46, but if the support of the base body 61 is not provided, it is considered that the front end side of the beam-like body 66 is deformed so as to sag due to the vibration in the process of repeating the interference by repeatedly using the inspection wafer 6, for example. That is, the support of the beam-shaped body 66 from below can suppress such deformation of the beam-shaped body 66, and the lifetime of the inspection wafer 6 can be extended.

In addition, as in the case of obtaining the waveform example shown by the broken line in fig. 10, when the height of only a part of the annular projection 46 in the circumferential direction is abnormal, the annular projection 46 abuts on the projection 68 connected to the beam-like body 66 from the lateral direction due to the rotation of the inspection wafer 6. Since the interference is from the lateral direction, an upward force is generated on the distal end side of the beam-shaped body 66, and a downward force is generated on the proximal end side of the beam-shaped body 66. That is, the beam 66 generates a force in a torsional manner (rotation about an axis extending along the elongation direction of the beam 66) when viewed from the lateral direction. However, since the base end side of the beam-like body 66 is supported by the base body 61, downward deformation and twisting are suppressed, and upward deformation is promoted. That is, the beam-shaped body 66 is easily deformed in the upward direction at the initial stage of deformation, and thus the distal end thereof is largely bent upward.

When the interference from the lateral direction occurs as described above, the beam-shaped body 66 generates a force in the upward direction on the side of the interference and a force in the downward direction on the opposite side, when considered from the radial cross section of the inspection wafer 6. At this time, even on the side opposite to the interference side of the beam-like body 66, since the base body 61 supports the beam-like body 66 downward, the downward deformation and the twisting are suppressed and the upward deformation is promoted in the same manner as described above. Therefore, a large signal change due to interference can be obtained, and detection accuracy can be improved.

As described above, the portion of the base body 61 that supports the base end side of the beam-like body 66, specifically, the portion that is closer to the center of the base body 61 than the through hole 67 and overlaps the beam-like body 66, can be said to be a guide that bends the front end side of the beam-like body 66 upward more reliably. The portions of the base body 61 that support the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71 below are surfaces along the lower surfaces of the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71 in the present embodiment, but may be present at a plurality of different positions in the longitudinal direction of the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71 and/or in the circumferential direction of the inspection wafer 6. That is, the beam-

like bodies

66 and 71 may be supported from below at a plurality of points spaced apart from each other. The beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71 have a shape whose longitudinal cross section viewed in the extension direction is shorter in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) than in the lateral direction, and have a structure that is easily deformed in the longitudinal direction than in the lateral direction.

The projection 68 is configured to enter the through hole 67 which is a connection path connecting the upper and lower sides of the base body 61, but may be configured as follows: a notch facing the center side of the base body 61 is provided as the connection path in the peripheral edge portion of the base body 61, and the projection 68 enters the notch. By supporting the beam-like body 66 in the region including the outer edge of the notch, the region can function as the guide portion described above.

(embodiment 2)

As embodiment 2, the cup separation distance H0 is acquired using image data acquired from the camera 81, and the nozzle separation distance H1 is acquired using image data acquired from the camera 82. A method of obtaining the cup separation distance H0 will be described. Fig. 11 is image data at a part in the circumferential direction of the upper surface of the annular protrusion 46 photographed by the camera 81. The dashed boxes represent pixels of the image. The number of pixels of the width L3 of the annular projection 46 is detected from the image data thus obtained (step S1). The cup separation distance H0 is calculated based on the correspondence between the number of pixels of the width L3 and the cup separation distance H0 acquired in advance (step S2). As this correspondence relationship, an equation of arbitrary number of times having the number of pixels of the cup separation distance H0 and the width L3 as variables and showing the relationship that L3 decreases as H0 increases may be prepared in advance. Then, the user can use the device to perform the operation, the cup separation distance H0 calculated from the correspondence relationship is displayed on the display unit 95 of the computing device 9 (step S3).

A method of acquiring the nozzle separation distance H1 will be described. Fig. 12 is image data of the side surface of the solvent supply nozzle 51B photographed by the camera 82. In the image data, the number of pixels corresponding to the width L4 of the solvent supply nozzle 51B is detected (step T1). Next, in the image data, the number of pixels of the height H20 between the lower end of the solvent supply nozzle 51B determined in step T1 and the reference height H10 (in the image data, the height is set in advance) is detected (step T2). The nozzle reference height is set to H20. Then, the number of pixels corresponding to the width L4 of the solvent supply nozzle 51B obtained in advance/the width L4 obtained in step T1 is calculated, and the calculated value is taken as a distance of 1 pixel (step T3). Then, the number of pixels of the nozzle reference height H20 obtained in step T2 × the distance of 1 pixel obtained in step T3 is calculated. That is, the nozzle reference height H20, which is the number of pixels in the image data, is converted into an actual height (distance) (step T4).

A difference in height between the surface of the wafer W when the wafer W is held by suction by the spin chuck 31 and the reference height H10 in the image acquired by the camera 82 when the wafer for inspection 6 is held by suction by the spin chuck 31 is acquired in advance (referred to as H30). The nozzle separation distance H1 is calculated based on the difference H30 between the actual nozzle reference height H20 and the height obtained in step T4 (step T5). Specifically, as shown in fig. 12, the nozzle separation distance H1 is calculated so as to be H20+ H30 when the nozzles 51B are mapped to the upper side of the reference height H20 in the image, and H30-H20 when the nozzles 51B are mapped to the lower side of the reference height H20 in the image. The calculated nozzle separation distance H1 is displayed on the display unit 95 of the arithmetic device 9 (step T6). In addition, the difference H30 in height acquired in advance is used in this way because the field of view of the camera 82 is limited by being provided on the base body 61.

The above steps S1 to S3 and T1 to T6 are performed by the above-described routine 90. The correspondence relationship between the number of pixels of the width L3 and the cup separation distance H0 for executing the above-described steps, the height difference H30, and the actual width L4 of the solvent supply nozzle 51B are acquired in advance and stored in advance in the memory 94 of the arithmetic device 9.

The operation procedure of the information acquiring system 1 in the case of acquiring the cup separation distance H0 and the nozzle separation distance H1 will be described, and the inspection wafer 6 is transferred from the carrier C to the resist film formation assembly 3 and sucked and held by the spin chuck 31 as described in embodiment 1. Then, the nozzle 51B moves from the standby unit 55B to the processing position. When a user gives a predetermined instruction from the arithmetic unit 9, the spin chuck 31 is intermittently rotated at a predetermined angular interval, for example, and when the rotation is stopped, the

cameras

81 and 82 capture images to acquire image data. The acquired image data is sequentially transmitted wirelessly to the arithmetic device 9. When the inspection wafer 6 rotates once, the solvent supply nozzle 51B returns to the standby portion 55B, and the inspection wafer 6 returns to the carrier C.

The above-described steps S1 to S3 are executed for each image data acquired by the camera 81, and the cup separation distance H0 is calculated and displayed on the screen. Among the plurality of image data acquired by the camera 82, data on which the solvent supply nozzle 51B is mapped as shown in fig. 12 by, for example, the program 90 of the arithmetic device 9 is selected. Then, the above-described steps T1 to T6 are executed on the selected image data, and the nozzle separation distance H1 is calculated and displayed on the screen. The operator who sees the separation distances H0 and H1 displayed in this manner adjusts the height of the annular projection 46 and/or the nozzle 51B as needed.

The description has been given of selecting one of the detection of interference shown in embodiment 1 and the acquisition of the separation distances H0 and H1 shown in embodiment 2, but both of them may be performed. When only one of the distances is selected, if the distances H0 and H1 are obtained, various problems caused by the relatively large distances H0 and H1 can be prevented. In order to prevent the captured images from being shifted, the rotation of the inspection wafer 6 is stopped as described above when the images are captured by the

cameras

81 and 82. However, when the interference is detected, it is not necessary to stop the rotation of the inspection wafer 6. Thus, there is an advantage that the time required for the inspection is shortened.

In addition, in embodiment 2 described above, images of each region in the circumferential direction of the annular protrusion 46 are acquired by the camera 81 a plurality of times and the cup separation distance H0 is acquired from each image data, but only image data of one region may be acquired and the cup separation distance H0 of only the region may be acquired. In embodiment 1, the strain gauges 69 and 73 are not limited to use, as long as the output signal fluctuates due to interference with the

beam members

66 and 81. Specifically, the following configuration may be adopted: for example, a vibration sensor is provided instead of the strain gauges 69 and 73, and a detection signal of the vibration is output to the arithmetic device 9. Further, although the strain gauges 69 and 73 are provided on the base end sides of the beam-shaped

bodies

66 and 71, the present invention is not limited to this case as long as the change in signal can be detected.

In the information acquisition system 1 described above, the control unit 20 and the arithmetic device 9 are provided separately, but the control unit 20 may also function as the arithmetic device 9. In the above-described example, the data are transmitted to the arithmetic device 9 by radio, but for example, a detachable memory may be mounted on the base body 61 of the inspection wafer 6, and the data may be stored in the memory. In this case, the operator may detach the memory from the inspection wafer 6 which has finished acquiring data and returned to the carrier C, and transfer each data to the arithmetic device 9. Therefore, the inspection wafer 6 may not be configured to wirelessly transmit image data. Further, the following structure is also possible: the inspection wafer 6 and the arithmetic device 9 are connected by a wire, and various data are transmitted to the arithmetic device 9.

The camera 82 is configured to image the solvent supply nozzle 51B, but may be configured to image the resist supply nozzle 51A so as to obtain the distance between the resist supply nozzle 51A and the surface of the wafer W. The liquid processing module provided in the substrate processing apparatus 2 is not limited to the resist film formation module 3. The device may be a device for forming a film by supplying a treatment liquid for forming a coating film other than a resist film, such as an antireflection film or an insulating film, from a nozzle to the surface of the wafer W, or a device for supplying a cleaning liquid, a developing liquid, or an adhesive for bonding a plurality of wafers W to each other from a nozzle to the surface of the wafer W. In this way, the information on the height between the nozzle for supplying the processing liquid other than the resist and the front surface of the wafer W can be acquired by the method of the above-described embodiment.

The processing liquid supplied from the nozzle to the peripheral edge portion of the wafer W is not limited to the solvent, and may be a coating liquid for forming a coating film, for example. Information about the height between the nozzle and the surface of the wafer W can be obtained by the methods already described. The inspection wafer 6 is not limited to the case where it is transferred from the carrier C to the substrate processing apparatus 2 from the outside. For example, a module for storing the inspection wafer 6 may be provided in the substrate processing apparatus 2, and the wafer may be transferred between the module and the resist film forming module 3.

The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The above embodiments may be omitted, replaced, changed, and combined in various forms without departing from the claims and the gist thereof.

Claims

1. An information acquisition system for acquiring information relating to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate held by a substrate holding section,

the information acquisition system includes:

a base body held by the substrate holding portion in place of the substrate;

and a signal acquisition unit configured to acquire a signal that varies in accordance with deformation of the interference detection unit caused by interference with a detection target member in the periphery of the susceptor held by the substrate holding unit.

2. The information acquisition system according to claim 1,

the substrate holding portion is rotatable together with the base body,

information on the height of the detection target member is acquired based on the deformation of the interference detection unit during the rotation of the substrate holding unit and the base body.

3. The information acquisition system according to claim 1,

the interference detection unit is a beam-shaped body, one end side of which is fixed to a central portion side of the base body, and the other end side of which extends toward an edge portion of the base body.

4. The information acquisition system according to claim 3,

the base body is provided with a connecting path which connects one side and the other side of the base body in the longitudinal direction and is a notch or a hole,

the beam-shaped body is provided on one side in the longitudinal direction of the base body,

a projection that enters the connection path and projects toward the other side in the longitudinal direction of the base body and faces the detection target member located on the other side is provided on the other end side of the beam-shaped body,

the outer edge of the connection path of the base body is in contact with the beam-shaped body.

5. The information acquisition system according to claim 4,

the other side in the longitudinal direction is a lower side,

the base body is provided with an imaging unit for imaging the lower side of the base body to acquire image data,

the information acquisition system is provided with an information acquisition section that acquires information on a distance between the base body and the interference detection section based on the image data.

6. The information acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the interference detection part is arranged on the upper side of the base body,

a gap is interposed between the other end side of the interference detection unit and the base body.

7. An information acquisition method for acquiring information relating to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate held by a substrate holding portion,

the information acquisition method comprises the following steps:

holding the base body by the substrate holding portion instead of holding the substrate;

an interference detecting portion that includes one end side fixed to the base body and the other end side movable to the base body, and that interferes with the detection target member around the base body held by the substrate holding portion to deform the interference detecting portion; and

a signal varying according to the deformation of the interference detection unit is acquired.

8. The information acquisition method according to claim 7,

the information acquisition method comprises the following steps:

rotating the substrate holding portion together with the base body; and

9. The information acquisition method according to claim 7,

10. The information acquisition method according to claim 9,

the base body is provided with a connecting path which connects one side and the other side of the base body in the longitudinal direction and is a notch or a hole, the beam-shaped body is provided on one side of the base body in the longitudinal direction,

the outer edge of the connection path of the base body is in contact with the beam-shaped body,

the information acquisition method comprises the following steps: the beam-shaped body is deformed by causing the protrusion to interfere with the member to be detected.

11. The information acquisition method according to claim 10,

the other side in the longitudinal direction is a lower side,

the information acquisition method comprises the following steps:

capturing an image of a lower side of the base body by an imaging unit provided in the base body to acquire image data; and

information on a distance between the base body and the interference detection portion is acquired based on the image data.

12. The information acquisition method according to any one of claims 7 to 9,

the interference detection part is arranged on the upper side of the base body, the other end side of the interference detection part is arranged in a floating way from the base body,

a gap is interposed between the other end side of the interference detection unit and the base body,

the information acquisition method comprises the following steps: the interference detecting unit is deformed so that the gap is narrowed by interference between the interference detecting unit and the member to be detected.