JP2000223557A - Substrate holder and substrate treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate holder which is capable of appropriately treating a substrate, while preventing occurrence of particles and properly receiving and passing the substrate. SOLUTION: This substrate-holding part (substrate holder) is constituted by mounting a left guide 62, right guide 64 and central guide 66 on a back plate 60 and connecting end portions of these guides by using an end plate 68. The central guide 66 comprises a frame 80 and a support member 82 mounted thereon. The support member 82 has a substrate-holding groove W 84 and a protrusion 86 provided on the front surface side and the rear surface side, respectively. The support member 82 is fixed to the frame 80 by engaging the protrusion 86 to a mounting hole 81 in the frame 80. Other guides 62, 64 are also constituted in the same way as the central guide 66. Furthermore, the support members 74, 78, 82 of the guides 62, 64, 66 are made of a resin material having a hardness lower than that of a substrate W and other portions are made of quartz.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an FPD (Flat Panel) for a semiconductor substrate, a substrate for a liquid crystal display or a plasma display.
The present invention relates to a substrate holder suitable for holding a substrate such as a substrate for display and a glass substrate for a photomask, and a substrate processing apparatus provided with the substrate holder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate is held by a substrate holder, and the substrate is integrally immersed in a processing solution stored in a processing bath together with the substrate holder to perform processing. Substrate processing apparatuses are generally known.

In this type of apparatus, for example, grooves for holding substrates are formed at regular intervals in the substrate holder, and a plurality of substrates are erected in a standing posture, and the substrates are arranged parallel to each other at regular intervals. They are arranged and held in a line.

Since the substrate holder holds a plurality of substrates as described above, it must have sufficient rigidity. In addition, since the substrate holder is immersed in the processing liquid integrally with the substrate, it is chemically resistant. It is also necessary to have excellent heat resistance and heat resistance. for that reason,
Generally, the substrate holder is made of quartz which satisfies these conditions and is relatively easily available.

[0005]

However, in the conventional substrate holder made of quartz, there is a problem that the substrate and its holding portion are rubbed to generate particles or cracks in the substrate. Therefore, in recent years, it has been considered that the entire substrate holder is made of a resin material so that particles are not generated or cracks are not generated in the substrate even when the substrate and the holding portion are rubbed.

However, a substrate holder made of a resin material is deformed by thermal expansion. For example, when the substrate holder is immersed in a high-temperature processing liquid, the pitch of the groove for holding the substrate fluctuates. May fluctuate and adversely affect the processing quality of the substrate, or may hinder delivery of the substrate to a subsequent process.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can prevent the generation of particles and cracks due to the rubbing between a substrate and a holding portion thereof, so that the substrate can be properly treated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate holder and a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing good transfer of a substrate.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a substrate holder according to the present invention comprises: a holder main body; a support member attached to the holder main body to support a plurality of substrates;
Fixing means for fixing the support member to the holder main body, the support member being made of a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate to be supported and having a plurality of guide portions for arranging the substrates, The means is configured to fix the support member to the holder main body at one or a plurality of positions in the arrangement direction of the substrate by the guide portion (claim 1).

According to this substrate holder, the substrate is supported by the supporting member, but since the hardness of the supporting member is lower than the hardness of the substrate, particles and cracks in the substrate are generated even if the substrate and its supporting portion are rubbed. Difficult to do.

Further, since only the portion for supporting the substrate can be formed of a resin material, such a configuration allows the portion for supporting the substrate to be formed as compared with the case where the entire substrate holder is formed of a resin material. Deformation due to thermal expansion is reduced. In addition, since the support member is restrained by the holder body at one or a plurality of positions in the arrangement direction of the substrates, and the deformation at the restrained portion is suppressed, the deformation due to the thermal expansion of the support member is suppressed. Thus, the position of the guide portion is prevented from being changed. Therefore, even when the substrate is immersed in a high-temperature processing solution or the like integrally with the substrate holder, the arrangement of the substrates is maintained well.

In the above arrangement, the support member is constituted by a plurality of unit members separable in the direction in which the substrates are arranged by the guide portion, and the fixing means is constituted so that each unit member is fixed to the holder body. (Claim 2).

When the support member is subdivided in this way, the deformation of the support member due to thermal expansion is smaller than when the entire support member is integrally formed.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the support member is constituted by a plurality of guide pieces arranged in a line, and the guide portion is formed by a pair of adjacent guide pieces. The fixing means may be configured to fix each guide piece to the holder body (claim 3).

Also in this case, since the support member has a finely divided structure, deformation due to thermal expansion of the support member is smaller than when the entire support member is integrally formed. In addition, since the position of each guide piece is restricted, displacement of the guide portion is reliably prevented.

Further, in the substrate holder according to the first to third aspects, the fixing means is constituted by a perforated portion and a projection provided opposite to the holder main body and the support member,
The support member may be fixed to the holder body by fitting the protrusion into the perforated portion (claim 4). With this configuration, the support member can be fixed to the holder body with a simple configuration.

In the case of a substrate holder in which the guide portion is formed of a groove for supporting the edge portion of the substrate, and the substrates are arranged in a standing posture and the adjacent substrates are arranged in parallel with each other, It is important to properly maintain the distance between the substrates in order to ensure the processing quality of the substrate or to perform good delivery of the substrate. Therefore, it is effective to adopt any one of the above-described configurations of the first to fifth aspects to the substrate holder having such a configuration (claim 5).

In the substrate holder according to the first to fifth aspects, it is preferable that the holder body is made of quartz or silicon carbide (claim 6).

On the other hand, the guide member has a durometer hardness D
It is preferable to use a resin material of 90 or less (claim 7). Specifically, a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer or polytetrafluoroethylene can be used as a material (claim 8).

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention provides a substrate holder according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and supplies a processing liquid to the substrate held by the substrate holder. And a transfer means for transferring the substrate between the substrate holder and the processing liquid supply means.

According to this apparatus, even when a high-temperature processing liquid is supplied to the substrate to perform the processing, the arrangement of the substrates held by the substrate holder does not easily change. Therefore, the processing quality of the substrate can be kept good, and the substrate can be satisfactorily transferred between the substrate holder and the transfer means.

In an apparatus in which a processing tank for storing a processing liquid is provided as processing liquid supply means and the processing liquid is supplied to the substrate by immersing the substrate in the processing liquid together with the substrate holder, a plurality of processing tanks are provided. Since the substrates are immersed in the processing liquid while being held parallel to each other at regular intervals, it is effective to adopt the configuration of claim 9 in such an apparatus (claim 10).

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Here, in order to clarify the directional relationship, XYZ rectangular coordinate axes are also shown.

In this figure, a substrate processing apparatus 10 is an apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate W), and includes a cassette loading / unloading stage 12, a cassette transport robot 14, a substrate transfer section 16, , A substrate transport robot 18, a substrate processing unit 20, a substrate drying unit 22, and a cassette cleaning unit 24.

The cassette loading / unloading stage 12 has a front side (+
(In the Y direction), a loading unit 3 in which two transport cassettes C (hereinafter, simply referred to as cassettes C) in which a plurality of substrates W before processing are stored in an upright posture are loaded from outside and placed.
0, and an unloading unit 32 that is located on the rear side (−Y direction) and on which two cassettes C storing a plurality of substrates W processed in the substrate processing unit 20 in an upright posture are mounted. . It is to be noted that, for example, 25 substrates W in each cassette C in the cassette loading / unloading stage 12 are each stored in the cassette C, and are arranged in a line in the left-right direction (X direction) as shown in the figure. ing.

The cassette transport robot 14 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction (Y direction) and the vertical direction (Z direction), and to be capable of being flipped 180 degrees, while holding the cassette C loaded into the loading section 30. The cassette C is turned 180 degrees and transported to the substrate transfer unit 16 while the substrate transfer unit 1
6, the cassette C in which the processed substrate W is stored is inverted by 180 degrees while being held, and the cassette C is unloaded to the unloading section 32.

The substrate transfer section 16 takes out the unprocessed substrate W in the cassette C transported from the carry-in section 30 above the cassette C, and places the substrate W processed in the substrate processing section 20 into the cassette C. It is stored from above.

That is, the substrate transfer section 16 has the opening 3
Turntables 34, 3 having 4a, 36a respectively
6 and the turntable 3
Substrate access members (not shown) are disposed below the table 4 and 36 so as to be able to move up and down, respectively. These substrate access members protrude above the table through the openings 34a and 36a, and a driving position below the table. It can move up and down over the evacuation position. Then, when the two cassettes C each storing the substrate W before processing are mounted on each of the turntables 34 and 36, the respective turntables 34 and 36 are rotated 90 degrees in the opposite directions to each other, and The substrates W in the cassette C are set so that the directions of the substrates W are lined up in a line in the front-rear direction, and the substrate access member is driven through the opening (not shown) formed below the cassette C by the drive. The substrate W is taken out of the cassette C and upward. The substrate processing unit 20
The substrate W processed in the above-described manner is transferred to each cassette C by the operation reverse to the above.
Is stored inside.

The substrate transfer robot 18 is configured to be movable in the left-right direction. The substrate transfer unit 16 removes a plurality of substrates W which are taken out of the two cassettes C by the substrate loading / unloading member and aligned in a line. The substrates W are held together and transferred to a lifter 48 of the substrate processing unit 20 which will be described later.
And transfers it to the substrate transfer member of the substrate transfer section 16. The substrate transfer robot 18 also transfers the substrate W between the plurality of lifters 48 of the substrate processing unit 20.

The substrate transfer robot 18 has, for example, a pair of substrate chucks 42 and 44 attached to a pair of arms 38 and 40, respectively, as shown in FIG. The substrate W is held between them.

The substrate chucks 42 and 44 are
0, each of which is rotatable, and has a holding portion for the substrate W on both front and back surfaces thereof. Substrate chuck 42,
In the holding portion of the substrate W in 44, holding grooves are formed at a constant pitch in the front-rear direction, and each substrate W is held in a state where the substrate W is interposed in the holding groove.
Are held at equal intervals in the front-rear direction. For example, when transferring the substrate W from the substrate transfer unit 16 to the substrate processing unit 20, the substrate W is held on each surface of the substrate chucks 42 and 44, and is transferred from the substrate processing unit 20 to the substrate transfer unit 16.
When the substrate W is transported, the substrate W is held on the back surfaces of the substrate chucks 42 and 44. That is,
The substrate W before processing and the processed substrate W are bonded to the substrate chuck 4.
By holding the substrates W on different surfaces, contamination of the processed substrate W is prevented.

The substrate processing section 20 processes the substrate W taken out of the cassette C by the substrate transfer section 16, and includes a plurality (three in the figure) of processing tanks 46 in which processing liquids are stored.
The substrate W is disposed so as to be able to move up and down in each of the processing tanks 46, while entering the processing tank while holding the substrate W to immerse the substrate W in the processing liquid, and exiting from the processing tank to complete the processing. A lifter 48 for lifting the substrate W from the processing liquid. Then, the substrate transfer robot 18 and each processing tank 4
The predetermined processing is performed on the substrate W in each processing tank 46 sequentially while transferring the substrate W to and from the lifter 48 corresponding to 6. The configuration of the lifter 48 will be described later in detail.

The substrate drying section 22 lifts the substrate W processed by the substrate processing section 20 by the substrate transport robot 18.
And a drying process of the received substrate W. The cassette cleaning unit 24 is for cleaning the empty cassette C after the unprocessed substrate W is taken out before storing the processed substrate W.
The empty cassette C at 6 is transported by the cassette transport robot 14 to the cassette cleaning section 24 for cleaning.

FIGS. 2 to 5 show the lifter 4 of the substrate processing unit 20.
8 shows a specific configuration. As shown in FIG. 2, the lifter 48 has an elevating shaft 50 that can move in the vertical direction. A head 52 is provided at the upper end of the elevating shaft 50, and a substrate holder 54, which is a substrate holder according to the present invention, is provided on the head 52.

The board holding portion 54 includes a back plate 60 attached to the head portion 52 and extending downward, a left guide 62 and a right guide 64 attached to left and right lower end portions of the back plate 60 and extending in the front-rear direction. And a center guide 66 similarly attached to the back plate 60 and extending in the front-rear direction, and an end plate 68 connecting the tip ends of the guides 62, 64, 66. W is held in an upright posture (the state shown in FIG. 3) and at predetermined intervals in parallel with each other in the front-rear direction.

The configuration of each of the guides 62, 64 and 66 will be described in detail by taking the above-mentioned center guide 66 as an example. The center guide 66 is mounted on a frame 80 as shown in FIG. And a supporting member 82.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the support member 82 is elongated in the front-rear direction, and has a plurality of holding grooves 84 (guide portions) formed at an upper portion thereof at a constant pitch in the front-rear direction. In other words, the substrate W is held at regular intervals in the front-rear direction by supporting the edge of the substrate W with each holding groove 84 interposed therebetween.

On the other hand, a plurality of protrusions 86 are provided on the back surface of the support member 82 at a constant pitch in the front-rear direction. The projection 86 is fitted into a mounting hole 81 formed in the frame 80, so that the support member 82
It is fixed to. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the frame 80 is formed by fastening a pair of left and right unit plates 80a and 80b to each other with bolts and nuts 85. A plurality of V-grooves are formed in the unit plate 80a on one side in the front-rear direction at a pitch corresponding to the protrusions 86. When the two unit plates 80a and 80b are fastened and fixed, the mounting holes 81 are formed by the V-grooves. Is formed. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the mounting hole 81 is a hole having a triangular cross section, and although not clearly shown, the projection 86 is formed in a triangular prism shape so as to be able to fit into the mounting hole 81. ing.

The configuration of the central guide 66 has been described above.
The left guide 62 and the right guide 64 are also basically the same as the center guide 66, and have frames 72, 76, and support members 74, 7 mounted on the upper ends of the frames 72, 76.
8 and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the substrate holding portion 54, the portion for directly supporting the substrate W, that is, the support members 74, 78, 82 of the guides 62, 64, 66 are made of a resin material, and the other portions (the holding tool of the present invention) A portion corresponding to the main body), specifically, the back plate 60, and the frame 7 of each of the guides 62, 64, 66.
2, 76, 80 and the end plate 68 are made of quartz.

As the material of the support members 74, 78 and 82, a material having a lower hardness than the substrate W (semiconductor substrate) to be processed by the substrate processing apparatus 10 is used. In the present embodiment, the durometer hardness is used. D90 or less, specifically, PFA (tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer; durometer hardness D
60) or PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene; durometer hardness D55). The durometer hardness is defined as ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
It refers to hardness measured according to Test Method D1706.

According to the substrate processing apparatus 10 configured as described above, the substrate W is loaded into the loading section 30 of the cassette loading / unloading stage 12 while being stored in the cassette C, and is loaded by the cassette transport robot 14. The sheet is transferred to the substrate transfer section 16 integrally with the cassette C. Then, here, the substrate W is taken out to the upper part of the cassette C and transferred to the substrate transfer robot 18 and then transferred to the substrate processing unit 20.
The lifter 4 corresponding to the first processing tank 46 of the substrate processing unit 20
8 passed. Specifically, the substrate transfer robot 18
Is set above the lifter 48, the lifter 48 rises, thereby supporting the substrate W from below by the lifter 48. Then, the substrate chucks 42, 44 of the substrate transfer robot 18 are moved.
Is released. As a result, the substrate W is transferred to the lifter 48.

When the substrate W is delivered, the lifter 48 descends and the substrate W is immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing tank 46, whereby the substrate W is processed by the processing liquid. When the processing in the first processing tank 46 is completed, the substrate processing robot 18 controls the next processing tank 46.
When the processing in the processing tank 46 is completed, the substrate W is further transferred to the lifter 48 of the next processing tank 46 by the substrate transport robot 18 and the processing is sequentially performed.

When the processing in all the processing tanks 46 is completed, the substrate W is transferred to the substrate drying unit 22 by the substrate transfer robot 18. Next, after the drying process is performed here, the substrate W is transferred by the substrate transfer robot 18 above the cassette C set in the substrate transfer unit 16 and stored in the cassette C. Then, the cassette transport robot 1
4 and is transported integrally with the cassette C to the unloading section 32.
Thus, a series of processing of the substrate W by the substrate processing apparatus 10 is completed.

In such a series of processing operations, in the substrate processing apparatus 10, since the substrate holding portions 54 of the respective lifters 48 in the substrate processing section 20 are configured as described above, the following operational effects are obtained. be able to.

That is, in the substrate holding section 54, a portion for directly supporting the substrate W, that is, the supporting members 74, 78, 8
2 is made of a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate W, so that the support member 74 and the like
Even when the substrate W is rubbed, there is almost no occurrence of particles or cracks on the substrate W as in the related art.

Further, most of the substrate holding portion 54 is made of quartz, and only the portions (support members 74, 78, 82) for supporting the substrate W are made of a resin material as described above. The deformation of the portion supporting the substrate W due to thermal expansion is extremely small as compared with the case where the entire portion 54 is formed of a resin material, and the substrate holding portion 543 is immersed in the high-temperature processing liquid integrally with the substrate W as described above. However, the fluctuation of the pitch generated in each holding groove 84 is extremely small so as to be negligible. Moreover, as described above, each of the support members 74, 78, 8
2 are fixed to the frames 72, 76, 80 at a plurality of positions in the front-rear direction, so that the holding grooves 84
Is effectively prevented. In other words, at the fixing positions of the support members 74, 78, and 82, that is, at the positions where the projections 86 are fitted into the mounting holes 81, the support members 74 and 78
Since the frames 78, 82 are restrained by the frames 72, 76, 80, deformation due to thermal expansion hardly occurs. Therefore, in each of the support members 74, 78, 82 in which such restrained portions are provided at a plurality of positions in the front-rear direction, each of the support members 74, 7
8, 82 is hardly deformed in the front-rear direction, thereby preventing the pitch of the holding groove 84 from fluctuating.

Therefore, the substrate W by the substrate processing unit 20
In the processing, the generation of particles due to the rubbing of the substrate W or the cracking of the substrate W can be effectively prevented, and even when the substrate W is immersed in a high-temperature processing solution, the distance between the supported substrates W Can be properly maintained. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the processing quality from deteriorating due to the change in the interval between the substrates W, and to perform the transfer of the substrates W between the lifter 48 and the substrate transport robot 18 in a favorable manner.

The above-described substrate processing apparatus 10
An embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention,
The specific configurations of the substrate processing apparatus 10 and the substrate holding unit 54 can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the substrate holding section 54 of the above embodiment
In the embodiment, the entire support member 82 is integrally formed. However, the support member 82 has a structure that can be separated into a plurality in the longitudinal direction.
The projections 86 may be provided on each of the separated bodies (unit members). With such a structure in which the support member 82 is formed in detail, the deformation of the entire support member 82 due to thermal expansion is reduced as compared with the case where the support member 82 is integrally formed, so that the pitch fluctuation of the holding groove 84 can be more effectively reduced. Can be prevented. In the configuration in which the holding groove 84 is formed in the support member 82 as described above, it is preferable that the thickness of the bottom of the holding groove 84 (indicated by reference numeral h in FIG. 5) is sufficiently thin. By doing so, when the support member 82 expands, the side wall portion of the holding groove 84 protrudes into the groove, whereby deformation of the support member 82 in the longitudinal direction is suppressed, and the pitch of the holding groove 84 is reduced. Fluctuation is less likely to occur.

Further, instead of the structure of the support member 82,
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a conical guide piece 88 made of a resin material such as PFA or PTFE is attached to the frame 72,
A holding groove 89 for holding the substrate W by a guide piece 88 provided adjacently, which is mounted in a line on the upper ends of 76 and 80.
(See FIG. 8). In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a shaft 88a is integrally formed below the guide piece 88, and the shaft 88a is fitted into the mounting hole 81 of the frame 80 or the like, thereby forming the guide piece 88. May be fixed to the frame 80 or the like. In this case, the shaft 88a is passed through the mounting hole 81 as shown in FIG.
It may be welded to 0 or the like. According to such a configuration, since the position of each guide piece 88 is completely constrained, the pitch of the holding groove 89 does not fluctuate even if each guide piece 88 thermally expands, and the interval between the substrates W is appropriately adjusted. Can be kept. The shape of the guide piece 88 is not limited to the above-described conical shape, and may be appropriately selected in shape so that the substrate W can be favorably held.

By the way, in the substrate processing apparatus 10 described above,
Although the configuration of the substrate holder according to the present invention is applied to the lifter 48 of the substrate processing unit 20, the substrate chucks 42 and 44 of the substrate transfer robot 18 and the substrate access members of the substrate transfer unit 16 are also included in the present invention. The configuration of such a substrate holder can be adopted.

In this type of substrate processing apparatus,
There is also an apparatus for accommodating the substrate W in a processing cassette, and immersing the substrate W in a processing liquid to process the substrate W integrally with the processing cassette. In such an apparatus, the substrate according to the present invention is provided in the processing cassette. You may make it employ | adopt the structure of a holder. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, a box-shaped case main body 90 having an upper opening made of quartz is provided, and guide pieces 92 made of a resin material are attached at regular intervals inside the case main body 90. A holding groove 93 for holding the substrate W may be formed in the case 90 by a guide piece 92 provided next to the case 90. In this case, the guide piece 92 includes
As shown in FIG. 10, a mounting projection 94 is protruded, and a mounting through-hole 91 is formed in the case body 90, and the projection 94 is passed through the through-hole 91 and welded from the opposite side. As a result, the guide piece 92 is
It should just be attached to. According to such a configuration, even when the substrate W is stored in the processing cassette and immersed in the processing liquid, the processing cassette and the substrate W rub against each other to generate particles or cracks in the substrate W. In addition, it is possible to favorably move substrates in and out of the processing cassette. That is, the configuration of the substrate holder according to the present invention can be applied to various parts that hold the substrate W.

In the above embodiment, the support member 7
4, 78, 82 are made of PFA or PTFE, but of course, a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate W and other resin materials if the above-mentioned conditions such as chemical resistance are satisfied. It is also possible to configure. In this case, in the above embodiment, it is desirable to use a resin material having a durometer hardness D90 or less in order to process a semiconductor substrate as the substrate W. When the substrate W is a substrate other than a semiconductor substrate, the resin material forming the support members 74, 78, and 82 is a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate, depending on the material of the substrate. What is necessary is just to select suitably within the range which satisfy | fills the starting conditions.

[0054]

As described above, in the substrate holder of the present invention, the supporting member for supporting the substrate is made of a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate to be supported. There is almost no occurrence of rubbing particles or cracks on the substrate. Also, since only the portion supporting the substrate can be made of a resin material,
With such a configuration, the deformation of the portion supporting the substrate due to thermal expansion is reduced as compared with the case where the entire substrate holder is made of a resin material. Moreover, the support member is fixed to the holder main body at one or a plurality of locations in the arrangement direction of the substrates,
Accordingly, the deformation of the support member in the arrangement direction is prevented, so that the displacement of the guide portion formed on the support member due to thermal expansion is favorably prevented. for that reason,
Even when the substrate is immersed in a high-temperature processing liquid or the like integrally with the substrate holder, the arrangement of the substrates is maintained well, and the deterioration of the processing quality due to a change in the distance between the substrates is prevented. Also,
The transfer of the substrate can be performed well.

In the substrate holder as described above,
If the support member is composed of a plurality of unit members that can be separated in the arrangement direction of the substrates by the guide portion, the deformation due to the thermal expansion of the support member is smaller than when the entire support member is integrally formed. Can be more effectively prevented. Further, the support member is configured from a plurality of guide pieces arranged in a line, and the support member is similarly subdivided even when the guide portion is formed by a pair of adjacent guide pieces, The displacement of the guide portion can be effectively prevented.

In the above-described substrate holder,
If the fixing means is constituted by a perforated portion and a protruding portion provided opposite to the holder main body and the support member, and the protruding portion is fitted into the perforated portion, the support member is fixed to the holder main body. With such a configuration, the support member can be fixed to the holder main body.

In the case of a substrate holder in which the guide portion is formed of a groove, and the substrates are arranged in an upright posture and the adjacent substrates are arranged in parallel with each other, it is necessary to maintain an appropriate distance between the substrates to ensure processing quality. It is important in doing so. for that reason,
It is effective to adopt each of the above-described configurations to the substrate holder having such a configuration.

In the above construction, the holder body is made of quartz or silicon carbide, and the support member is made of a material having a durometer hardness D90 or less, specifically,
Good results can be obtained by using a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylvinyl ether copolymer or polytetrafluoroethylene as a material.

On the other hand, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a substrate holder, a processing liquid supply means for supplying a processing liquid to the substrate held by the substrate holder, and a substrate holding device. And a delivery unit for delivering the substrate, there is almost no occurrence of particles or cracks in the substrate even if the substrate held by the substrate holder rubs against the supporting portion. In addition, even when processing is performed by supplying a high-temperature processing liquid to the substrate, the gap between the substrates held by the substrate holder can be appropriately maintained. Of the substrate can be prevented beforehand, and the transfer of the substrate between the substrate holder and the transfer means can be performed well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a substrate holding unit applied to the lifter.

FIG. 3 is a view (partial cross-sectional view) taken along arrow A of FIG. 2 showing a substrate holding unit.

FIG. 4 is a view on arrow B of FIG. 3 showing a center guide.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 4 showing the center guide.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 5 showing the center guide.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating another configuration of the substrate holding unit.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a center guide of the substrate holding unit shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example in which the configuration of the substrate holder according to the present invention is applied to a processing cassette.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a processing cassette showing a mounting structure of a guide piece.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Substrate processing apparatus 18 Substrate transfer robot 20 Substrate processing part 46 Processing tank 48 Lifter 50 Elevating shaft 52 Head part 60 Back plate 62 Left guide 64 Right guide 66 Central guide 68 End plate 72,76,80 Support member 74,78,82 Guide member 84 Holding groove W Substrate

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoji Maekawa 4-chome Tenjin Kitamachi 1-chome, Horikawa-dori-Terauchi, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto F-term (reference) in Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. 5F031 CA02 CA05 DA01 DA17 EA02 EA06 FA01 FA09 FA11 FA15 GA15 GA48 GA49 HA73 PA20 PA26

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A holder main body, a support member attached to the holder main body to support a plurality of substrates, and fixing means for fixing the support member to the holder main body, wherein the support member supports It has a plurality of guide portions formed of a resin material having a lower hardness than the substrate to be arranged, and has a plurality of guide portions for arranging the substrates. A substrate holder fixed to a holder main body. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support member is composed of a plurality of unit members separable in a direction in which the substrates are arranged by the guide portion, and the fixing means fixes each of the unit members to a holder body. The substrate holder according to claim 1. 3. The support member is configured such that the guide portion is formed by a pair of adjacent guide pieces, a plurality of guide pieces arranged in a row. The substrate holder according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holder is fixed to the holder main body. 4. The fixing means comprises a piercing portion and a projecting portion provided opposite to the holder main body and the supporting member,
The substrate holder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the support member is fixed to the holder body by fitting the protrusion into the perforated portion. 5. The guide portion is a groove for supporting an edge portion of a substrate, wherein the substrates are arranged in an upright posture and the adjacent substrates are parallel to each other. Item 5. The substrate holder according to any one of Items 1 to 4. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holder body is made of quartz or silicon carbide.
A substrate holder according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The support member has a durometer hardness of D9.
The substrate holder according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the substrate holder is made of a resin material of 0 or less. 8. The substrate holder according to claim 7, wherein the support member is made of a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylvinyl ether copolymer or polytetrafluoroethylene. 9. A substrate holder according to claim 1, further comprising: a processing liquid supply unit configured to supply a processing liquid to the substrate held by the substrate holder; And a delivery unit for delivering the substrate by using the substrate processing apparatus. 10. The processing liquid supply means includes a processing tank for storing the processing liquid, and supplies the processing liquid to the substrate by immersing the substrate in the processing liquid together with the substrate holder. Item 10. The substrate processing apparatus according to item 9.