CN209766371U - Substrate cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate cleaning apparatus includes: a 1 st suction holding part for sucking and holding a region of the back surface of the substrate not overlapping with the central part horizontally; a 2 nd suction holding part for sucking the central part of the back surface of the substrate and holding the central part horizontally; a 1 st cleaning member and a 2 nd cleaning member which are arranged to be separated from each other in a lateral direction; a rotation mechanism arranged below the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component; the lifting mechanism is arranged below the slewing mechanism; and a cleaning liquid supply part provided in the vicinity of the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, wherein the pivot is arranged to be positioned to overlap the substrate at least when cleaning a region including the back surface of the substrate in the central part, and the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part are arranged to: when the substrate is held and rotated by the 2 nd suction-holding part, the 1 st cleaning member positioned on one of the left and right sides rotates and moves toward the other side when the rotation shaft of the 2 nd suction-holding part is viewed from the rotation shaft.

Description

Substrate cleaning device

Technical Field

the present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the back surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate (LCD substrate) for liquid crystal display.

Background

In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a process of cleaning a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) is provided before and after each manufacturing process or a processing process as necessary in order to keep the wafer clean.

Such wafer cleaning is accompanied by the miniaturization of circuit patterns, and it is necessary to perform the wafer cleaning on the back surface as a countermeasure against defocus. Defocus is a phenomenon in which a focus is dispersed during exposure due to wafer warpage, and is generated, for example, by particles attached to the back surface of a wafer entering between a stage on which the wafer is placed and the wafer and being directly exposed.

With regard to such cleaning of the back surface of the wafer, patent document 1 proposes a technique of supporting and holding the back surface of the substrate and cleaning the back surface of the substrate with a brush. In this method, the substrate is exchanged between the 1 st substrate holding means for holding the edge region of the back surface of the substrate and the 2 nd substrate holding means for holding the central region of the back surface of the substrate, and the back surface of the substrate is cleaned. In addition, since a space for performing the substrate inverting operation is not required, the device can be miniaturized.

However, in recent years, as wiring techniques such as immersion exposure and double patterning have been further miniaturized, the number of steps included in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device has increased. Therefore, the risk of particles adhering to the back surface of the wafer also becomes large, and further improvement of the cleaning force is required. Further, further diameter enlargement of the wafer size from 300mm to 450mm is also under study, and a device as small as possible is preferable. Therefore, it has been studied to improve the cleaning force by using a plurality of brushes and to miniaturize the apparatus in 1 cleaning apparatus.

Patent document 2 proposes a structure in which when the substrate is cleaned by two cleaning brushes attached to 1 support arm while rotating the substrate about a vertical axis, the tip assembly of the support arm is formed in an arc shape and rotates about the vertical axis. Since this method cleans the upper surface of the substrate, the cleaning brush must be moved to the outer peripheral portion through the rotation center of the substrate in order to clean the central region of the substrate. Further, since the drive mechanism of the support arm is provided outside the cup body covering the periphery of the substrate, the radius of gyration of the support arm of the cleaning brush becomes larger than the radius of the substrate, and it is difficult to miniaturize the apparatus. Further, since the cleaning brush moves to the outer peripheral portion through the rotation center of the substrate, the moving distance of the cleaning brush becomes long, and the processing time becomes long.

Patent document 3 proposes a technique for cleaning the surface of a substrate using two cleaners having different functions, but since the cleaners are provided on different arms and the arms are provided outside the wafer, it is difficult to miniaturize the apparatus. Further, since each arm is moved from one end side to the other end side of the wafer at the time of cleaning, the moving distance (moving time) of the arm becomes long, and the processing takes much time. Accordingly, patent documents 2 and 3 are not apparatuses for cleaning the back surface of the substrate, and even when these apparatuses are used, it is difficult to miniaturize the apparatuses, and therefore the problem of the present invention cannot be solved.

Patent document 1 Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2008-177541

patent document 2, Japanese patent laid-open No. 10-308370: FIG. 8, FIG. 12, paragraphs 0044, paragraph 0058, etc

Patent document 3 Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2002-66467

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus which can reduce the size of the substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the back surface of a substrate and improve the cleaning power for the substrate cleaning process.

Therefore, the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the back surface of a circular substrate, and includes: a 1 st suction holding part which sucks and holds a region of the back surface of the substrate which is not overlapped with the central part, is horizontal, and can freely move in the horizontal direction; a 2 nd suction holding part which sucks the central part of the back surface of the substrate, holds the central part horizontally, and can rotate around a vertical axis; a 1 st cleaning member and a 2 nd cleaning member which are provided so as to be laterally separated from each other, and which, when the substrate is held by the 1 st suction-holding portion, contact and clean a region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate, and when the substrate is held by the 2 nd suction-holding portion, contact and clean a region other than the central portion on the back surface of the substrate; a rotation mechanism disposed below the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, for rotating the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part in a horizontal direction through a common rotation shaft when cleaning the back surface of the substrate; a lifting mechanism arranged below the rotating mechanism and used for lifting the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component; and a cleaning liquid supply portion provided in the vicinity of the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member, and configured to supply a cleaning liquid to the back surface of the substrate when the back surface of the substrate is cleaned by the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member, wherein the pivot is disposed so as to be positioned to overlap the substrate at least when a region of the back surface of the substrate including the central portion is cleaned, and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member are disposed so as to: when the substrate is held and rotated by the 2 nd suction-holding part, the 1 st cleaning member positioned on one of the left and right sides of the rotation shaft of the 2 nd suction-holding part is rotated and moved toward the other side as viewed from the rotation shaft, whereby the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member clean the entire region of the back surface of the substrate except the central part.

further, the present invention provides a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect, comprising: when the 1 st cleaning member starts to rotate from the one side to the other side, the 2 nd cleaning member is positioned on a straight line connecting the rotation shaft and a rotation shaft of the 2 nd suction holding part, and when the rotation is finished, the 1 st cleaning member is positioned on the straight line.

Further, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the radius of gyration of the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member is smaller than the radius of the substrate.

Further, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the rotation mechanism includes a planar body provided to extend in a circumferential direction at the rotation axis, and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member are provided to the planar body.

the utility model discloses a substrate cleaning device of second form is the substrate cleaning device who washs the circular shape base plate back, and its characterized in that possesses: a 1 st suction holding part which sucks and holds a region of the back surface of the substrate which is not overlapped with the central part, is horizontal, and can freely move in the horizontal direction; a 2 nd suction holding part which sucks the central part of the back surface of the substrate, holds the central part horizontally, and can rotate around a vertical axis; a 1 st cleaning member and a 2 nd cleaning member which are provided so as to be laterally separated from each other, and which, when the substrate is held by the 1 st suction-holding portion, contact and clean a region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate, and when the substrate is held by the 2 nd suction-holding portion, contact and clean a region other than the central portion on the back surface of the substrate; a rotation mechanism disposed below the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, for rotating the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part in a horizontal direction through a common rotation shaft when cleaning the back surface of the substrate; a lifting mechanism arranged below the rotating mechanism and used for lifting the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component; and a cleaning liquid supply part which is provided in the vicinity of the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part and supplies a cleaning liquid to the back surface of the substrate when the back surface of the substrate is cleaned by the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, wherein the pivot is arranged so as to be positioned to overlap the substrate at least when a region of the back surface of the substrate including the central part is cleaned, and the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part are different in kind from each other.

further, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the radius of gyration of the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member is smaller than the radius of the substrate.

In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the rotation mechanism includes a planar body provided to extend in the circumferential direction at the rotation axis, and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member are provided to the planar body.

According to the utility model discloses a substrate cleaning device owing to be provided with 1 st cleaning member and 2 nd cleaning member, consequently, can improve the cleaning force with only setting up the condition of single cleaning member. The 1 st cleaning unit and the 2 nd cleaning unit are configured to rotate in the horizontal direction by a common rotation shaft. The region including the central portion of the back surface of the substrate is cleaned by sucking the substrate, holding the substrate on the 1 st substrate holding part, and moving the substrate in the horizontal direction, and the rotation axis is arranged to be positioned to overlap the substrate when the region including the central portion is cleaned. Since the pivot shaft is provided by utilizing the moving region of the substrate, the device can be miniaturized.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a longitudinal section of the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a longitudinal section of the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an air knife provided in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 6a is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

fig. 6b is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

Fig. 7a is a process diagram for explaining a cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 7b is a process diagram for explaining the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 7c is a process diagram for explaining the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 7d is a process diagram for explaining the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 7e is a process diagram for explaining the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 7f is a process diagram for explaining the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 8a is a side view in vertical section for explaining a cleaning apparatus in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 8b is a vertical sectional side view for explaining a cleaning apparatus performed in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 9a is a side view in vertical section for explaining a cleaning apparatus in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 9b is a vertical sectional side view for explaining a cleaning apparatus performed in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional side view for explaining a cleaning apparatus performed in the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 11a is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

Fig. 11b is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

Fig. 12a is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

Fig. 12b is a plan view showing the wafer and the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and the rotating plate.

Fig. 13a is a process diagram for explaining another example of the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 13b is a process diagram for explaining another example of the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 13c is a process diagram for explaining another example of the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 13d is a process diagram for explaining another example of the cleaning process performed by the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 14 is a plan view showing the coating and developing apparatus incorporated with the cleaning apparatus.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view showing a coating and developing apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a side view in vertical section showing the coating and developing apparatus.

Detailed Description

In the embodiments described below, a cleaning apparatus of a type installed in a coating and developing apparatus is described as an example of a substrate cleaning apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a cleaning apparatus). As will be described later, the cleaning apparatus is provided, for example, near the outlet of the coating and developing apparatus, and has a function of cleaning the back surface of the wafer on which the resist film is formed and then sending the wafer to the subsequent exposure apparatus.

first, the structure of the cleaning apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 4. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning apparatus 1, fig. 2 and 4 are longitudinal sectional views thereof, and fig. 3 is a plan view thereof.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the cleaning apparatus 1 includes: an adsorption pad 2 which adsorbs the wafer W and is held substantially horizontally; a rotary chuck 3 which receives the wafer W from the suction pad 2, and which is similarly sucked and held substantially horizontally; and a cleaning mechanism 5 for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W. The suction pad 2 forms a 1 st substrate holding portion, the spin chuck 3 forms a 2 nd substrate holding portion, and the suction pad 2, the spin chuck 3, the cleaning mechanism 5, and the like are attached to a lower cup 43 having a box shape with an open upper surface. For example, the lower cup 43 includes side walls formed in a rectangular shape in plan view and opposed to each other, and a direction in which two side walls 43a and 43b opposed to each other toward the front side and the back side in fig. 1 extend is described as an X direction.

First, the adsorption pad 2 is explained. The adsorption pad 2 is constituted by: the back surface of the wafer W is held horizontally by suction in a region not overlapping the central portion, and is movable in the horizontal direction. The cleaning device 1 includes two adsorption pads 2, and each adsorption pad 2 is constituted by, for example, a slender member. The two suction pads 2 are arranged so as to be able to support and hold the edge-near portion (1 st region) of the back surface of the wafer W in a substantially parallel manner. The suction pad 2 is connected to a suction tube, not shown, and functions as a vacuum chuck for holding the wafer W while being sucked through the suction holes 2a shown in fig. 3. Each of the suction pads 2 is attached to a substantially central portion of a pad support portion 21 having a long and thin rod shape, and both end portions of the two pad support portions 21 are attached to two truss portions 22, respectively, thereby forming a well truss 20 formed of the pad support portion 21 and the truss portions 22.

both ends of the two truss portions 22 are fixed to two belts 23 which are laid along the side walls 43a and 43b outside the side walls 43a and 43b facing the lower cup 43. Each belt 23 is wound around a pair of two reels 24, and each reel 24 is attached to two side plates 26 disposed in parallel with the two side walls 43a and 43 b. One of the reels 24 is connected to a drive mechanism 25, and is configured to move the truss section 22 via the reel 24 or the belt 23, thereby moving the entire well boom 20 freely in the X direction as shown in fig. 1 to 3.

As shown in fig. 1, each side plate 26 is fixed to a bottom surface of a casing, not shown, of the cleaning apparatus 1 while supporting the bottom surface by two sets of elevating mechanisms 27 each including a slider 27a and a guide rail 27 b. A drive mechanism, not shown, is provided in one of these lifting mechanisms 27, and the entire well boom 20 can be lifted and lowered in the Z direction in the drawing by lifting and lowering the slider 27a in the guide rail 27 b.

an annular upper cup 41 for suppressing scattering of the cleaning liquid is provided over the well boom 20. An opening 41a having a larger diameter than the wafer W is provided in the upper surface of the upper cup 41, and the wafer W can be transferred between a transfer mechanism of a coating and developing apparatus, which will be described later, and the suction pad 2 or the spin chuck 3 through the opening 41 a. The upper cup 41 straddling the well boom 20 is configured to move in the X direction and the Z direction in accordance with the operation of the well boom 20.

Next, the rotary chuck 3 will be described. The spin chuck 3 is configured to attract and hold a central portion (2 nd region) of the back surface of the wafer W horizontally, and is rotatable about a vertical axis. The spin chuck 3 is formed in a disk shape, is provided between the two suction pads 2 arranged substantially in parallel, and is provided so that the 1 st region and the 2 nd region of the back surface of the wafer W supported by the substrate holding portions (the suction pads 2 and the spin chuck 3) do not overlap. As shown in fig. 2, the rotary chuck 3 is connected to a drive mechanism (rotary chuck motor) 33 via a rotary elevating shaft 3b, and the rotary chuck 3 is configured to be rotatable and elevatable by the drive mechanism 33. Similarly to the suction pad 2, the spin chuck 3 is also connected to a suction tube not shown, and functions as a vacuum chuck for holding the wafer W while being sucked through the suction holes 3a shown in fig. 3.

A support pin 32 connected to an elevating mechanism 32a is provided on a side of the spin chuck 3 so as to be able to elevate and lower the wafer W while supporting the back surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W can be transferred from the transfer mechanism to the suction pad 2 or from the spin chuck 3 to the transfer mechanism by cooperating with an external transfer mechanism.

As shown in fig. 3 and 5, an air knife 31 is provided around the rotary suction cup 3 or the support pin 32 so as to surround these devices. The gas knife 31 is formed of, for example, a cylindrical surrounding member, and has gas ejection ports 31a formed in the circumferential direction at the upper end thereof, and the gas ejection ports 31a are configured to eject gas such as compressed gas toward the back surface of the wafer W. For example, the air knife 31 is formed of double cylinders, and a gas supplied from a supply unit, not shown, can be supplied to the ejection port 31a through a hollow portion between the double cylinders. The air knife 31 has a function of blowing and drying the cleaning liquid on the back surface of the wafer W toward the outside of the cylinder when the wafer W is transferred to the spin chuck 3 in order to dry the front surface of the spin chuck 3 and the back surface (region 2) of the substrate supported by the spin chuck 3.

Here, the height position of the wafer W is explained. As described later, the wafer W is transferred from an external transfer mechanism to the suction pad 2 and is held by the suction pad 2, and is moved in the right X direction shown in fig. 2, and the central portion (2 nd area) of the back surface of the wafer W is cleaned. Fig. 2 and 4 show a state in which the height position of the wafer W is located at a cleaning position where the back surface of the wafer W is located above the front end of the air knife 31 and the back surface of the wafer W does not interfere with the air knife 31 when the wafer W is moved in the X direction in a state where the wafer W is held by the adsorption pad 2.

Next, the cleaning mechanism 5 for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W will be described. The cleaning mechanism 5 is composed of, for example, a circular plate, and includes: a rotating plate 51 formed in a planar shape and disposed to face the wafer W held by the suction pad 2 or the spin chuck 3; and a plurality of cleaning members 6 provided on the rotating plate 51. The rotating plate 51 is configured to rotate around a vertical free axis by a driving mechanism 53 through a rotating shaft 52 provided on the rear surface side thereof, and for example, the rotating shaft 52 is provided at the center of the rotating plate 51. Therefore, the center of the rotating plate 51 coincides with the center of the rotating shaft 52 when viewed in a planar direction, and this center becomes the rotation center O1. In this example, a rotation mechanism is formed by the rotating plate 51, the rotating shaft 52, and the driving mechanism 53.

Fig. 6a and 6b show the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3 and the spin plate 51. Thus, the radius R1 of the rotating plate 51 is set to be smaller than the radius R2 of the wafer W. As will be described later, when cleaning the region including the central portion of the rear surface of the wafer W, the wafer W is held by the suction pad 2 and moved in the right X direction, but the rotation shaft 52 is provided in the movement region of the wafer W. That is, the spindle 52 is disposed so as to overlap the wafer W when cleaning the region including the central portion. The rotation shaft 52 of the rotating plate 51 and the rotation elevating shaft 3b of the rotary chuck 3 are arranged in parallel in the X direction when viewed in a planar direction. A lid 54 is provided below the rotating plate 51 so as to surround the periphery of the driving mechanism 53. The lid 54 is formed of, for example, a cylindrical body, and has an opening 54a formed in the upper surface thereof so that the pivot shaft 52 can move.

The cleaning mechanism 5 of this example includes a plurality of cleaning members 6(6A, 6B) different in type from each other, for example, and one 1 st cleaning member 6A is used for cleaning and the other 2 nd cleaning member 6B is used for polishing. Here, the polishing process of the back surface of the wafer W is also included in one stage of the cleaning process. The 1 st cleaning unit 6A and the 2 nd cleaning unit 6B are constituted by, for example, columnar brushes, and are connected to driving mechanisms 62A and 62B for moving up and down and rotating the cleaning units 6A and 6B around a vertical axis via driving shafts 61A and 61B, and these driving mechanisms 62A and 62B are attached to the rotating plate 51. The side surfaces of the drive mechanisms 62A, 62B and the cleaning members 6A, 6B are covered with, for example, cylindrical brush covers 63A, 63B, and openings 64A, 64B are formed in the upper surfaces of the brush covers 63A, 63B so that the cleaning members 6A, 6B can move. In fig. 1, the brush covers 63A and 63B are omitted.

Fig. 2 shows a state in which the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 3 and positioned at the cleaning position, and the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned at the waiting position. Fig. 4 shows a state in which the wafer W is held by the suction pad 2 and positioned at the cleaning position, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned at the waiting position, and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned at the cleaning position. Thus, when the cleaning members 6A and 6B are positioned at the standby position, the upper surfaces of the cleaning members 6A and 6B are positioned below the wafer W at the cleaning position, and when the wafer W is polished or cleaned, the cleaning members 6A and 6B are raised, and the upper surfaces of the cleaning members 6A and 6B can be pressed against the back surface of the wafer.

The cleaning members 6A and 6B are made of, for example, PVC sponge, urethane sponge, nylon fiber, or the like, and the brush is made of a material selected as appropriate for each of the first cleaning member 6A for polishing and the second cleaning member 6B for cleaning. The 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are disposed so as to be laterally separated from each other on the rotating plate 51 as shown in fig. 6A and 6B. The 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are arranged such that: by rotating in one direction when the wafer W is held and rotated by the spin chuck 3, all regions of the back surface of the wafer W except the central portion can be cleaned using both the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B. The rotation in one direction means that the rotation elevating shaft 3b of the rotary chuck 3 is viewed from the rotation shaft 52 of the rotary plate 51, and one of the left side and the right side is rotated and moved toward the other side, in this example, toward the right side by the first cleaning member 6A positioned on the left side in this example.

In this example, when viewed in a planar direction, the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3 is provided with: the 1 st cleaning part 6A is located at the edge while the 2 nd cleaning part 6B is located at the center, and the 1 st cleaning part 6A is located at the edge while the 2 nd cleaning part 6B is located at the center. The term "at the edge" means that the cleaning members 6A and 6B are positioned at positions where the outer edge of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3 can be cleaned (polished), and the term "at the center" means that the cleaning members 6A and 6B are positioned on a line L connecting the rotation center O2 and the rotation center O1 of the spin chuck. Fig. 6A shows a state where the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned at the edge and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned at the center, and fig. 6B shows a state where the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned at the center and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned at the edge.

Accordingly, when the 1 st cleaning member 6A positioned on the left side starts to swing to the right side, the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned on the straight line L connecting the swing shaft 52 of the swing plate 51 and the rotation elevating shaft 3B of the rotary suction cup 3, and when the swing is completed, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned on the straight line L. Since the radius R1 of the rotating plate 51 is shorter than the radius R2 of the wafer W, the turning radii of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are shorter than the radius R2 of the wafer W. The radius of gyration is a length of a line connecting the centers of the cleaning members 6A and 6B and the gyration center O1 of the rotating plate 51.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the rotating plate 51 is provided with a cleaning solution nozzle 55 and a blowing nozzle 56. The cleaning liquid (e.g., DIW) for washing the particles removed from the back surface of the wafer W by the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzle 55, and the gas such as nitrogen (N2) for accelerating the drying of the cleaning liquid adhering to the back surface of the wafer W after the cleaning is finished is supplied from the blowing nozzle 56.

As shown in fig. 2 and 4, the lower cup 43 has, at its bottom: a drain pipe 16 for discharging the cleaning liquid stored in the lower cup 43; and two exhaust pipes 15 for exhausting the air flow in the cleaning apparatus 1. In order to prevent the cleaning liquid accumulated in the bottom of the lower cup 43 from flowing into the exhaust pipe 15, the exhaust pipe 15 extends upward from the bottom surface of the lower cup 43. The inner cup 42 is covered so that the cleaning liquid dropping from above does not directly enter the exhaust pipe 15, and the inner cup 42 is formed of an annular lid attached to the periphery of the air knife 31. In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes an air blowing nozzle for blowing compressed gas or the like from above to the vicinity of the outer edge of the wafer W after the cleaning of the wafer W is completed to assist the drying of the remaining cleaning liquid, and reference numeral 14 denotes a cleaning liquid nozzle for supplying the cleaning liquid to the back surface of the wafer W together with the cleaning liquid nozzle 55 provided in the cleaning mechanism 5. The air blowing nozzle 13 is provided with an unillustrated elevating mechanism and is retracted upward so as not to interfere with the wafer W being transported or the transport mechanism when the wafer W is carried in and out.

Further, a lamp box 11 for housing the UV lamp 12 is attached to a side wall 43c of the lower cup 43 on which the belts 23 are not laid. The wafer W to be processed is carried into and out of the cleaning apparatus 1 from the left X direction, and passes above the UV lamp 12 at this time. The UV lamp 12 has a function of irradiating ultraviolet light to the back surface of the wafer W carried out after cleaning and contracting particles remaining on the back surface of the wafer W.

The drive mechanisms 25 and 53, the UV lamp 12, and a pressure adjustment unit, not shown, provided in the exhaust pipe 15 are controlled by a control unit 100 that controls the operation of the entire coating and developing apparatus. The control unit 100 is constituted by a computer having a program storage unit (not shown), for example, and stores a computer program including a group of steps (commands) related to the transfer of the wafer W received from an external transport device between the suction pad 2 and the spin chuck 3, the cleaning operation by the cleaning mechanism 5, and the like. Then, the control unit 100 reads the computer program to the control unit 100, whereby the control unit 100 controls the operation of the cleaning apparatus 1. The computer program is stored in a program storage unit in a form of being stored in a storage means such as a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a memory card.

With the above-described configuration, the operation of cleaning the back surface of the wafer W will be described with reference to fig. 7a to 12 b. Fig. 7a to 7f are plan views for explaining the process for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W, and the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B and the turning path thereof are shown by broken lines. Fig. 8a to 10 are vertical sectional views for explaining the respective operations of the cleaning apparatus 1. Fig. 11a, 11b, 12a, and 12b are plan views schematically showing the cleaning region of the wafer W held by the suction pad 2 or the spin chuck 3. In these drawings, for convenience of illustration, the lid 54, the brush cover 64, the inner cup 42, the exhaust pipe 15, the UV lamp 12, the air blowing nozzle 13, and the like are omitted as appropriate as necessary.

For example, a horseshoe-shaped transfer mechanism (transfer arm F3 described later) transfers the wafer W to be processed into the cleaning apparatus 1, stops above the opening 41a of the upper cup 41, and the support pin 32 rises from below the spin chuck 3 to stand by below the transfer mechanism. The transport mechanism descends from above the support pins 32, delivers the wafer W to the support pins 32, and exits the cleaning apparatus 1. At this time, the suction pad 2 waits to hold the surface of the wafer W higher than the cleaning positions of the upper surfaces of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B, and the spin chuck 3 is retracted to a position lower than the upper surfaces of the 1 st cleaning members 6A and 6B. With such a positional relationship, when the support pins 32 are lowered, the wafer W is first transferred to the suction pad 2, and the wafer W is sucked and held by the suction pad 2 so as not to move even if the cleaning members 6A and 6B are pressed from the back surface of the wafer W (fig. 7a and 8 a).

next, as shown in fig. 7b and 8b, a polishing process is performed on a region (central region) including the central portion of the back surface of the wafer W. The central region is a region including a region held by the spin chuck 3 on the back surface of the wafer W. In this process, the second cleaning member 6B for polishing is moved up to be pressed against the back surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W is moved from the 1 st position shown in fig. 8a so that the suction pad 2 sucking and holding the wafer W is moved in the right X direction, thereby starting polishing the back surface of the wafer W. Next, the wafer W is conveyed to the predetermined 2 nd position (for example, the right end of the wafer W is positioned slightly to the right of the right end of the rotating plate 51). At this time, the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is rotated about the vertical axis by the driving mechanism 53, and the rotating plate 51 is rotated. Thus, the movement of the wafer W by the suction pad 2 and the rotation movement of the 2 nd cleaning member 6B by the rotating plate 51 are combined to polish the back surface of the wafer W.

Fig. 11a shows a start position of the rotation of the rotating plate 51, and fig. 11b shows an end position of the rotation of the rotating plate 51. The start position and the end position are set so that the cleaning member 6B extends over the entire central region to be polished, thereby setting the rotation angle of the rotating plate 51 from the start position to the end position. In this example, the turning angle is set to the turning start position and the turning end position so as to form an angle θ formed by, for example, a line connecting the turning center O1 and the center of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and a line connecting the turning center O1 and the center of the 2 nd cleaning member 6B as viewed in the plane direction.

Accordingly, the rotating plate 51 is rotated clockwise by θ degrees from the position shown in fig. 11a to the position shown in fig. 11B, and the center of the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is moved from the position P1 to the position P2, for example, as shown in fig. 11a and 11B, thereby performing polishing. Thus, the 2 nd cleaning member 6B can polish the region T1 marked with diagonal lines on the left in fig. 11B without omission. After the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is moved to the position P2 and polishing is finished, the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is lowered to the waiting position. At this time, the center of the 1 st cleaning component 6A is located at the position P1.

Next, as shown in fig. 7c and 9a, the central region of the back surface of the wafer W is cleaned. In this cleaning, the 1 st cleaning member 6A for cleaning is moved up and pressed against the back surface of the wafer W, and the suction pad 2 sucking and holding the wafer W is moved in the left X direction from the 2 nd position to the 1 st position. Further, the air knife 31 is operated to prevent the cleaning liquid from flowing back and adhering to the surface of the spin chuck 3, and the cleaning liquid is supplied through the cleaning liquid nozzle 55. Then, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is rotated about the vertical axis, and the rotating plate 51 is rotated clockwise by θ degrees. Whereby the center of the 1 st cleaning part 6A is moved from the position P1 to the position P2.

In the cleaning process, the entire rear surface of the wafer W is covered with the liquid film of the cleaning liquid, and the particles removed by the 1 st cleaning member 6A are flushed down to the lower cup 43 together with the cleaning liquid flowing down from the rear surface of the wafer W. Further, the gas is jetted from the jetting port 31a of the air knife 31 toward the back surface of the wafer W, and the cleaning liquid is blown off toward the outside of the air knife 31, whereby the back surface of the wafer W facing the air knife 31 is kept in a dry state. With such a configuration, the cleaning liquid covering the rear surface of the wafer W can be prevented from flowing back to the inside of the air knife 31. As a result, the surface of the spin chuck 3 is always kept in a dry state, and contamination or water marks caused by the treated cleaning liquid can be prevented. Thus, by combining the movement of the wafer W by the suction pad 2 and the turning movement of the 1 st cleaning member 6A by the rotating plate 51, the region T1 can be cleaned by the 1 st cleaning member 6A without fail. After the 1 st cleaning member 6A is moved to the position P2 and cleaning is finished, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is lowered to the waiting position.

After the cleaning of the region T1 is completed, the wafer W is transferred from the suction pad 2 to the spin chuck 3. The wafer W is transferred by, for example, stopping the movement or rotation of the cleaning mechanism 5 and the supply of the cleaning liquid while keeping the air knife 31 in operation, releasing the adsorption of the wafer W by the adsorption pad 2, raising the retracted spin chuck 3 to the height position of the cleaning position to support the back surface of the wafer W, and then retracting the adsorption pad 2 downward.

Next, as shown in fig. 7d, 7e, and 9b, polishing and cleaning of the region (edge region) of the wafer W other than the central portion are performed. Specifically, as shown in fig. 12a, after the rotating plate 51 is rotated to a rotation start position where the 1 st cleaning member 6A for cleaning is positioned at the edge and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B for polishing is positioned at the center, the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are raised and pressed against the back surface of the wafer W. Then, while the wafer W is rotated about the vertical axis by the spin chuck 3, the spin board 51 is rotated to the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B, and as shown in fig. 12B, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned at the center and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned at the edge area. At this time, the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are rotated, respectively, and the cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzle 55.

Thus, in the edge region of the back surface of the wafer W, the rotation of the wafer W by the spin chuck 3 and the turning movement of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B by the rotating plate 51 are combined, whereby polishing and cleaning are performed simultaneously. By rotating the wafer W and moving the cleaning member 6A from the edge toward the center and the cleaning member 6B from the center toward the edge gradually, the cleaning member 6A and the cleaning member 6B are brought into contact with the region of the wafer W and move the back surface of the wafer W while drawing concentric tracks, respectively. This enables the area T2 marked with diagonal lines on the upper right in fig. 12b to be polished and cleaned without omission.

Here, the area formed by combining the area T1 and the area T2 includes the entire back surface of the wafer W as shown in fig. 12b, and the size and the moving range of each apparatus are adjusted so that no dead space that cannot be cleaned is generated. In addition, during the cleaning process of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3, the cleaning liquid is supplied not only from the cleaning liquid nozzle 55 but also from the cleaning liquid nozzle 14 provided on the left side of the air knife 31. Since the wetting region and the drying region, if mixed, on the front surface of the wafer W cause water marks when the cleaning liquid is dried, the cleaning liquid is scattered without fail to suppress the water marks. Thus, in the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid nozzle 55 and the cleaning liquid nozzle 14 constitute a cleaning liquid supply unit. However, the cleaning liquid supply unit may be constituted by either one of the cleaning liquid nozzle 55 and the cleaning liquid nozzle 14.

When the cleaning of the entire back surface of the wafer W is completed, as shown in fig. 7f and 10, the rotation of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is stopped and lowered, the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped, and the process proceeds to the spin-drying operation of the cleaning liquid. The spin-drying process is performed by rotating the spin chuck 3 at a high speed to spin off the cleaning liquid adhering to the back surface of the wafer W. As described above, the wafer W that has been left wet without any loss is dried by spin-drying it in one stroke, thereby suppressing the generation of water marks. At this time, the rotating plate 51 is moved so that the air blowing nozzle 56 is positioned at the edge of the wafer W while the air blowing nozzle 13 retracted upward is lowered, and the spin-drying process is accelerated by blowing gas from the upper surface and the lower surface of the edge of the wafer W. Further, although the spin-drying treatment cannot be performed on the 2 nd region held by the spin chuck 3, the air knife 31 comes into contact with the spin chuck 3 in a dry state, and therefore, water marks are hardly generated.

After the cleaning and drying of the entire back surface of the wafer W are completed by the above-described operation, the wafer W is transferred to the transfer mechanism and carried out in the reverse operation to that in the carrying-in operation. At this time, the UV lamp 12 is turned on, and ultraviolet rays are irradiated from below the horseshoe-shaped conveyance mechanism toward the back surface of the wafer W. Thus, even if particles are adhered, for example, organic matter is decomposed by irradiation of ultraviolet rays, and therefore, such particles can be shrunk to reduce the influence of defocus and the like.

on the other hand, the suction pad 2 or the spin chuck 3 moves to the position shown in fig. 8a simultaneously with the carrying-out operation of the wafer W, and waits for the carrying-in of the next wafer W. Then, the operations described with reference to fig. 8a to 12b are repeated to sequentially clean the plurality of wafers W.

According to the above embodiment, since the back surface of the wafer W is held and directly cleaned in this state, it is not necessary to provide a space for a reversing machine for reversing the wafer W or a space for performing a reversing operation of the wafer W other than the cleaning apparatus 1. As a result, the coating and developing apparatus provided with the cleaning apparatus 1 can be made smaller than the conventional type of cleaning apparatus. Further, since the cleaning apparatus 1 holds the wafer W between the two substrate holding mechanisms (the suction pad 2 and the spin chuck 3), no dead space is generated which cannot be cleaned due to being covered with the suction pad 2 or the spin chuck 3.

Further, since the back surface of the wafer W is cleaned by the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B, the contact area between the wafer W and the cleaning members becomes large, and the cleaning force can be improved compared to a cleaning member alone. The 1 st cleaning unit 6A and the 2 nd cleaning unit 6B are configured to rotate in the horizontal direction by a common rotating shaft 52, and the rotating shaft 52 is disposed so as to be positioned to overlap the wafer W when cleaning the central region of the substrate. Thus, the spindle 52 is provided by utilizing the movement region of the wafer W, and therefore, the device can be miniaturized.

Further, in the present invention, the back surface of the wafer W is divided into the central region and the edge region and cleaned, and therefore, each cleaning region is smaller than the case where the whole back surface of the wafer W is cleaned at once. Therefore, even if the turning radius of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is made shorter than the wafer W, the entire back surface of the wafer W can be cleaned. Thus, since the radius of the rotating plate 51 is smaller than that of the wafer W and the rotating shaft 52 of the rotating plate 51 is provided below the moving area of the wafer W, when the wafer W is slid and moved while cleaning the central area of the back surface of the wafer W, the wafer W overlaps the rotating plate 51 as viewed in the planar direction. Therefore, even if the rotating plate 51 is provided on the side of the rotary chuck 3, it is not necessary to secure an installation space outside the movement area, and the cleaning apparatus 1 can be further downsized.

In contrast, when the back surface of the wafer W is not divided into the center region and the edge region and cleaned, the cleaning member must be moved to the outer edge of the wafer W through the center of the wafer W. Therefore, when the drive mechanism of the cleaning member is provided outside the wafer W, the radius of rotation of the cleaning member is larger than that of the wafer W, which leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus.

Further, as described above, since the back surface of the wafer W is cleaned by dividing the back surface into the center region and the edge region, the cleaning regions are small, and therefore, the moving distance of the cleaning members 6A and 6B is short. Since the moving distance is directly reflected in the cleaning time, the cleaning time is shortened as compared with a case where the brush is moved from the center to the outer edge of the wafer W (the moving distance is long), and thus the throughput is improved.

When cleaning the edge region of the back surface of the wafer W except the central portion, the cleaning members 6A and 6B are arranged so that the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B clean the edge region of the back surface of the wafer W by rotating the 1 st cleaning member 6A in one direction from the rotating shaft 52 of the rotating plate 51. Therefore, by cleaning the entire edge region of the back surface of the wafer W by rotating the cleaning members 6A and 6B in one direction, the movement time of the cleaning members 6A and 6B can be shortened, and the throughput can be improved.

Further configured to: when the 1 st cleaning member 6A starts to rotate in the one direction, the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is positioned on a straight line L connecting the rotating shaft 52 of the rotating plate 51 and the rotating/elevating shaft 3B of the rotary suction cup 3, and when the rotation is completed, the 1 st cleaning member 6A is positioned on the straight line L. That is, in the cleaning using both the cleaning members 6A and 6B, the entire edge region of the back surface of the wafer W can be cleaned without omission by moving one of the cleaning members 6A (6B) from the center to the edge. Therefore, the cleaning members 6A and 6B can be cleaned without rotating them over a wide range, which is effective for improving the throughput.

In addition, even in the cleaning using the two cleaning members 6A and 6B one by one, when one cleaning member 6A is moved from the center to the edge in a clockwise direction, for example, since the other cleaning member 6B is positioned at the center, the other cleaning member 6B is moved from the center to the edge in a counterclockwise direction or a clockwise direction, and thus the entire edge region of the wafer W can be cleaned without omission.

Thus, by adjusting the arrangement of the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B, the rotation movement of the rotating plate 51 is not moved inefficiently, and therefore, the processing time can be shortened, and the throughput can be improved.

Further, since the 1 st cleaning unit 6A is for cleaning and the 2 nd cleaning unit 6B is for polishing, and the types are different from each other, 2 types of processes of polishing process and cleaning process can be performed in 1 apparatus, and therefore, the entire coating and developing apparatus can be downsized compared to the case where different apparatuses are incorporated into the coating and developing apparatus. The 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are attached to a planar rotating plate 51, and a driving mechanism 53 is provided on the rear surface side of the rotating plate 51. Therefore, even in an environment in which the cleaning liquid is supplied to the back surface of the wafer W from below and the cleaning liquid is scattered, since the rotating plate 51 is present between the wafer W and the driving mechanism 53, the cleaning liquid can be prevented from adhering to the driving mechanism 53. Further, since the periphery of the drive mechanism 53 and the periphery of the drive mechanism of the brush are covered with the lid body 54 and the brush cover 64, respectively, the drive mechanisms 53 and 64 can be waterproofed.

In the above example, an example of a cleaning method is described, and the movement of the cleaning member during cleaning is not limited to the above example. For example, as shown in fig. 13a to 13d, after the steps shown in fig. 7a to 7f are performed in their entirety, polishing and cleaning of the edge region of the wafer W (the steps of fig. 13a and 13 b) may be repeated in the same manner as in fig. 7d and 7e, and then the wafer W may be re-cleaned (the step of fig. 13 c). The steps of fig. 13a and 13b are as described above. In the step of fig. 13c, during the re-cleaning of the wafer W, only the 1 st cleaning member 6A for cleaning is raised to the cleaning position while the 2 nd cleaning member 6B for polishing is held at the waiting position. Then, the wafer W is rotated by the spin chuck 3, and the cleaning member 6A is rotated from the center to the edge while the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is rotated, thereby cleaning the edge area on the back surface of the wafer W. Then, as shown in the step of fig. 13d, for example, the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B are retracted to the outside of the wafer W, the rotation of the 2 nd cleaning member 6B is stopped, the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped, and the spin chuck 3 is rotated at a high speed to perform the spin-drying process.

The steps may be performed in the order of loading the wafer W (step of fig. 7 a) → polishing the central region of the wafer W (step of fig. 7 b) → cleaning the central region of the wafer W (step of fig. 7 c) → polishing and cleaning the edge region of the wafer W (step of fig. 13a, step of fig. 13 b) → re-cleaning the wafer W (step of fig. 13 c) → drying the wafer W (step of fig. 13 d). The respective steps are as described above.

In the step of fig. 13a, the 1 st cleaning member 6A for cleaning does not necessarily have to be brought into contact with the wafer W, and in this case, the step of fig. 13a is polishing by the 2 nd cleaning member 6B.

As described above, the 1 st cleaning member 6A and the 2 nd cleaning member 6B can improve the cleaning force as long as they are provided so as to be separated from each other in the lateral direction, and are configured to clean the region including the central portion of the back surface of the wafer W held by the suction pad 2 and to clean the region other than the central portion of the back surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3. Therefore, the arrangement of the 1 st cleaning part 6A and the 2 nd cleaning part 6B is not limited to the above example. Since the apparatus can be downsized as long as the rotating shafts 52 of the 1 st cleaning unit 6A and the 2 nd cleaning unit 6B are located in the movement region of the wafer W, the rotating radii of the 1 st and the 2 nd cleaning units 6A and 6B do not have to be smaller than the radius of the wafer W. The 1 st and 2 nd cleaning members 6A and 6B may be the same type as each other, or may be different from each other. The same type means the same material or the same aperture size. Depending on the type of cleaning process, the 1 st and 2 nd cleaning members 6A and 6B may be simultaneously brought into contact with the back surface of the wafer W to clean the central region of the back surface of the wafer W, or one of the 1 st cleaning members 6A and 6B may be brought into contact with the edge region of the wafer W to clean the edge region of the wafer W.

The cleaning member may be a cleaning member that cleans the back surface of the wafer W without contacting the back surface of the wafer W, or may be a cleaning member of a type that removes particles by spraying a cleaning liquid or the like, such as a two-fluid nozzle, a spray nozzle, or a mechanical nozzle. Further, in the embodiment, the rotary cleaning members 6A and 6B are exemplified, but a vibration type cleaning member (brush) may be used instead. The type of the cleaning liquid is not limited to the DIW, and other cleaning liquids may be used. The rotation mechanism may be provided with a planar body provided on the rotation shaft and extending in the circumferential direction, and the planar body is not limited to the disk.

Further, the substrate holding mechanism provided in the cleaning apparatus is not limited to only 2 types (the suction pad 2 and the spin chuck 3) as described in the embodiment. For example, 3 or more types of substrate holding mechanisms may be provided, and the substrate may be exchanged and held between the substrate holding mechanisms 2 or more times. The number of types of cleaning members 6A and 6B is not limited to only 2, and for example, 3 or more types of cleaning members may be provided. In this case, a type of cleaning member for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W in contact with a type of cleaning member for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W in non-contact may be provided in combination.

as described above, the cleaning of the substrate according to the present invention includes a process of polishing the back surface of the substrate using a cleaning member, a cleaning process of removing the adhesive attached to the substrates after peeling the substrates bonded to each other, and the like. For example, a process of cleaning substrates after peeling the substrates from each other will be briefly described. In order to suppress warpage or breakage of the wafer W when the back surface of the wafer W is polished as the diameter of the wafer W serving as a substrate increases, the wafer W is reinforced by bonding the wafer to be processed to a support substrate with an adhesive. At this time, the surface to be processed of the wafer W is bonded to the support substrate with the back surface of the wafer facing upward, and the surface to be processed of the wafer is a bonding surface. Then, the back surface of the wafer is polished while facing upward, and then the wafer to be processed and the support substrate are peeled off, and the surface to be processed of the wafer to be processed is cleaned. Since the wafer to be processed is peeled in a state where the surface to be processed faces downward, the surface to be processed is directly cleaned by the cleaning apparatus 1 of the present invention while the surface to be processed faces downward. Therefore, in this cleaning process, the surface to be processed of the wafer to be processed corresponds to the back surface of the substrate. For example, a type of cleaning member that cleans a wafer by contacting the wafer, or a type of cleaning member that cleans a wafer without contacting the wafer, such as a two-fluid nozzle.

Fig. 14 to 16 show an example of a coating and developing apparatus incorporated in the above-described cleaning apparatus 1. Fig. 14, 15 and 16 are a plan view, a perspective view and a schematic vertical cross-sectional side view of the coating and developing apparatus 7, respectively. The coating and developing apparatus 7 is configured to linearly connect the mounting module D1, the process module D2, and the interface module D3. The interface module D3 is also connected to an exposure device D4. In the following description, the arrangement direction of the modules D1 to D3 is referred to as the front-rear direction. The mounting module D1 has a function of carrying in and out a carrier C (the carrier C is a wafer W including a plurality of substrates in the same lot) to the coating and developing apparatus 7, and includes a mounting table 71 for the carrier C, an opening and closing unit 72, and a transfer mechanism 73 for transferring the wafer W from the carrier C through the opening and closing unit 72.

The processing module D2 is configured by stacking 1 st to 6 th unit modules B1 to B6 for performing liquid processing on the wafer W in this order from below. For convenience of description, the process of forming the lower anti-reflection film on the wafer W will be referred to as "BCT", the process of forming the photoresist film on the wafer W will be referred to as "COT", and the process of forming the photoresist pattern on the wafer W after exposure will be referred to as "DEV". In this example, as shown in fig. 15, 2 BCT layers, 2 COT layers, and 2 DEV layers are stacked from below, and wafers W are transported and processed in parallel with each other in the same unit block.

A unit cell represented by the COT layer E3 is described herein with reference to fig. 14. On one side of the left and right sides of the conveyance area 74 from the placement module D1 toward the interface module D3, a plurality of shelf units U are arranged in the front-rear direction, and on the other side, a photoresist film forming module COT and a protective film forming module ITC as liquid processing modules are arranged in the front-rear direction. The photoresist film forming module COT supplies photoresist to the wafer W to form a photoresist film. The protective film forming module ITC supplies a predetermined processing liquid to the photoresist film to form a protective film for protecting the photoresist film. The rack unit U includes a heating module and a cleaning device 1, and the cleaning device 1 is disposed on the interface module D3 side, for example. In the transfer area 74, a transfer arm F3 as a transfer mechanism for the wafer W is provided.

The unit modules E1, E2, E5, and E6 have the same configuration as the unit modules E3 and E4 except that the chemical solution supplied to the wafer W is different. The unit modules E1 and E2 include an antireflection film forming module instead of the photoresist film forming module COT, and the unit modules E5 and E6 include a developing module. In fig. 16, the transfer arms of the unit modules E1 to E6 are denoted as F1 to F6.

A column T1 extending vertically across the unit modules E1 to E6 and a transfer arm 75 for transferring the wafer W to the column T1 are provided on the mounting module D1 side of the processing module D2, the column T1 extending vertically across the unit modules E1 to E6. The tower T1 is composed of a plurality of modules stacked on each other, and the modules provided at the respective heights of the unit blocks E1 to E6 can transfer the wafers W between the transfer arms F1 to F6 of the unit blocks E1 to E6. These modules include: a transfer module TRS, a temperature adjustment module CPL for adjusting the temperature of the wafer W, a buffer module for temporarily storing a plurality of wafers W, and a hydrophobization module for hydrophobizing the surface of the wafer W.

the interface module D3 includes towers T2, T3, and T4 extending vertically across the unit modules E1 to E6. The tower T2 and the tower T3 transfer the wafer W via the interface arm 76 that can be raised and lowered; the tower T2 and the tower T4 transfer the wafer W to and from each other by the interface arm 77 that can be raised and lowered. Further, an interface arm 78 for transferring the wafer W is provided between the tower T2 and the exposure apparatus D4.

A transfer module TRS, a buffer module for storing a plurality of wafers W before exposure processing, a buffer module for storing a plurality of wafers W after exposure processing, a temperature adjustment module for adjusting the temperature of the wafers W, and the like are stacked on the tower T2. The towers T3 and T4 are also provided with modules, respectively, but the description thereof is omitted here.

The transport path of the wafer W constituted by the coating and developing apparatus 7 and the exposure apparatus D4 will be described. The wafers W are carried out from the carrier C in accordance with each lot. That is, after all the wafers W set as one lot are carried out, the wafers W of the other lot are carried out from the carrier C. Before being carried out from the carrier C, the transfer path of each wafer W is set in advance, and as described above, the wafer W is transferred to a unit cell set in advance among the duplicated unit cells.

The wafer W is transferred from the carrier C to the transfer module TRS0 of the tower T1 in the processing module D2 by the transfer mechanism 73. The wafers W are distributed and transported from the transfer module TRS0 to the unit modules E1 and E2.

For example, when the wafer W is transferred to the unit cell E1, the wafer W is transferred from the TRS0 to the transfer module TRS1 (transfer module for transferring the wafer W by the transfer arm F1) corresponding to the unit cell E1 among the transfer modules TRS of the tower T1. When the wafer W is transferred to the unit cell E2, the wafer W is transferred from the TRS0 to the transfer module TRS2 corresponding to the unit cell E2 among the transfer modules TRS of the tower T1. The transfer of these wafers W is performed by the transfer arm 75.

Thus, the assigned wafers W are conveyed in the order of TRS1(TRS2) → the anti-reflection film forming module → the heating module → TRS1(TRS2), and then assigned to the delivery module TRS3 corresponding to the unit module E3 and the delivery module TRS4 corresponding to the unit module E4 by the delivery arm 75.

Then, the wafer W distributed to the TRS3, TRS4 is conveyed in the order TRS3(TRS4) → the photoresist film forming module COT → the heating module → the protective film forming module ITC → the heating module → the cleaning apparatus 1 → the transfer module TRS of the tower T2. The wafer W transferred to the transfer module TRS is carried into the exposure apparatus D4 by the interface arms 76 and 78 through the tower T3. The exposed wafer W is transferred between the towers T2 and T4 by the interface arm 77, and is transferred to the transfer modules TRS5 and TRS6 of the tower T2 corresponding to the unit modules E5 and E6, respectively. Then, the carrier C is conveyed to the transfer module TRS of the heat module → developing module → heat module → tower T1, and then returned to the carrier C via the transfer mechanism 73.

Thus, the cleaning apparatus 1 is installed in, for example, the shelving unit U of the unit modules E3 and E4, but the position where the cleaning apparatus 1 is installed in the coating and developing apparatus 7 may be the tower T2 of the interface module D3. In this case, for example, the wafer W on which the resist film and the protective film are formed is transported to the interface module D3, subjected to a cleaning process, and then transported to the exposure apparatus D4.

AI: artificial intelligence

The control unit 100 may further include an AI (Artificial Intelligence). The AI includes a machine learning module that performs machine learning using accumulated data obtained by associating processing recipe data including various parameters, results of substrate processing performed based on the processing recipe data (inspection results of processed wafers W, etc.), sensor values acquired from various sensors during substrate processing, and the like, for example.

Thus, the AI can output, for example, processing method data that optimizes parameters so that a better test result can be obtained. Examples of parameters that can be optimized are: the temperature, flow rate, and supply time of each treatment liquid; temperature, humidity, air pressure and exhaust flow rate within the device; the transport speed, the standby time, etc. of the wafer W.

The control unit 100 can optimize a series of substrate processes by using the optimized processing method data. For example, the proportion of the wafers W determined to be defective in the inspection process can be reduced, or the processing accuracy of the wafers W can be improved.

As the mechanical learning, for example, a known algorithm such as deep learning, SVM (Support Vector Machine), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), Random Forest (Random Forest) or the like can be used.

Claims (7)

1. A substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the back surface of a circular substrate, comprising:

A 1 st suction holding portion which sucks and holds a region of the back surface of the substrate which does not overlap with the central portion, is horizontal, and is movable in a horizontal direction;

a 2 nd suction holding part which sucks the central part of the back surface of the substrate, holds the central part horizontally, and can rotate around a vertical axis;

A 1 st cleaning member and a 2 nd cleaning member which are provided so as to be laterally spaced from each other, and which contact and clean a region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is held by the 1 st suction-holding portion, and contact and clean a region other than the central portion on the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is held by the 2 nd suction-holding portion;

A rotation mechanism disposed below the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, for rotating the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part in a horizontal direction through a common rotation shaft when cleaning the back surface of the substrate;

A lifting mechanism arranged below the rotating mechanism and used for lifting the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component; and

A cleaning liquid supply part which is provided in the vicinity of the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and supplies a cleaning liquid to the back surface of the substrate when the back surface of the substrate is cleaned by the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member,

the rotating shaft is arranged to be positioned to overlap the substrate at least when cleaning a region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate,

the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part are configured to: when the substrate is held and rotated by the 2 nd suction-holding part, the 1 st cleaning member positioned on one of the left and right sides is rotationally moved toward the other side by the rotation shaft of the 2 nd suction-holding part as viewed from the rotation shaft, whereby the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member clean all regions of the back surface of the substrate except the central portion.

2. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate cleaning apparatus is configured to:

When the 1 st cleaning member starts to rotate from the one side to the other side, the 2 nd cleaning member is positioned on a straight line connecting the rotation shaft and a rotation shaft of the 2 nd suction-holding portion, and when the rotation is completed, the 1 st cleaning member is positioned on the straight line.

3. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 and claim 2, wherein:

The radius of gyration of the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component is smaller than the radius of the substrate.

4. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 and claim 2, wherein:

The rotating mechanism is provided with a planar body which is arranged on the rotating shaft and extends along the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft,

The 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member are provided on the planar body.

5. A substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the back surface of a circular substrate, comprising:

A 1 st suction holding portion which sucks and holds a region of the back surface of the substrate which does not overlap with the central portion, is horizontal, and is movable in a horizontal direction;

A 2 nd suction holding part which sucks the central part of the back surface of the substrate, holds the central part horizontally, and can rotate around a vertical axis;

A 1 st cleaning member and a 2 nd cleaning member which are provided so as to be laterally spaced from each other, and which contact and clean a region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is held by the 1 st suction-holding portion, and contact and clean a region other than the central portion on the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is held by the 2 nd suction-holding portion;

A rotation mechanism disposed below the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part, for rotating the 1 st cleaning part and the 2 nd cleaning part in a horizontal direction through a common rotation shaft when cleaning the back surface of the substrate;

A lifting mechanism arranged below the rotating mechanism and used for lifting the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component; and

A cleaning liquid supply part which is provided in the vicinity of the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member and supplies a cleaning liquid to the back surface of the substrate when the back surface of the substrate is cleaned by the 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member,

The revolving shaft is configured as follows: at least the region including the central portion on the back surface of the substrate is cleaned and positioned to overlap the substrate,

The 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component are different in type from each other.

6. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

the radius of gyration of the 1 st cleaning component and the 2 nd cleaning component is smaller than the radius of the substrate.

7. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

The rotating mechanism is provided with a planar body which is arranged on the rotating shaft and extends along the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft,

The 1 st cleaning member and the 2 nd cleaning member are provided on the planar body.