JP2003100840A - Substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing system having a small footprint. SOLUTION: The substrate processing system 1 is provided with a carrying area 6 consisting of a bottom carrying area where a carrying robot TR can move horizontally, and a central carrying area 6b where the carrying robot TR can move vertically. A coating unit SC, cooling units CP1 and CP2, and heating units HP1 and HP2 are disposed while being stacked on one side of the central carrying area 6b whereas a developing unit SD, cooling units CP3 and CP4, and heating units HP3 and HP4 are disposed while being stacked on the other side of the central carrying area 6b so that the carrying robot TR can access to each unit from the central carrying area 6b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device or the like (hereinafter referred to as "substrate").

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, products such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays are subjected to a series of various treatments such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, interlayer insulating film formation, heat treatment, and dicing on the substrate. It is manufactured by applying. Further, in order to maintain the quality of the product and ensure the stability of the process capability, various inspections for confirming the quality are also performed after the process in which the above various processes are put together.

In order to improve the manufacturing efficiency in a manufacturing line including a plurality of such processes, a substrate processing apparatus has been conventionally put into practical use by incorporating a plurality of processing units, and a plurality of processing units can be continuously carried out. The optimization of the arrangement of the processing apparatuses has been performed with the aim of reducing the time required to transfer the substrate between the apparatuses.

On the other hand, in order to improve the production capacity, production facilities may be enhanced. At that time, of course, there are cases where measures are taken such as by establishing new factories, but first of all, improvement of manufacturing capacity per unit area in existing equipment, that is, miniaturization and high integration of manufacturing equipment is required as much as possible. In many cases. This is especially true in the case of manufacturing the semiconductor device or the like as described above, which needs to be manufactured in a clean room which requires a large amount of cost for construction.

[0005]

However, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus, since the respective processing units and apparatuses are laid out in a plane in most cases, a route for transferring the substrate should be secured. There was a limit to the reduction in device size. Also, because of the flat layout, in most cases,
It is general that the transfer of the substrate to the outside of the device and the transfer of the substrate inside the device are performed by different robots.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a small footprint.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 provides a processing unit in which a predetermined processing is performed on a substrate, a substrate is carried into the processing unit, and the substrate is transferred from the processing unit. Transporting means for carrying out,
A first transfer area in which the transfer means moves in one substantially horizontal direction, and the processing unit is disposed above the first transfer area.

The invention according to claim 2 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer means is provided before the processing is performed from a substrate storage portion provided in the substrate processing apparatus. The unprocessed substrate is taken out, and the processed substrate after the above-mentioned processing is stored in the substrate storage part.

The invention according to claim 3 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transfer means is connected to the first transfer area, and the transfer means is movable only in a substantially vertical direction. It is characterized in that it is provided with a second transport area.

The invention of claim 4 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is the second
It is arranged adjacent to the transfer area, and the transfer means transfers the substrate to the processing unit in the second transfer area.

Further, the invention of claim 5 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the processing units are provided.
It is characterized in that they are stacked in the vertical direction.

The invention according to claim 6 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit processes the main surface of the substrate with a predetermined processing liquid. And a heat treatment unit that heat-treats the substrate before and after the liquid treatment by the liquid treatment means.
It is characterized by including.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein the liquid processing section applies a resist onto the main surface of the substrate, and a resist coating means for coating the substrate. And a developing unit that performs a developing process on the main surface.

The invention according to claim 8 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit includes a cleaning means for cleaning the substrate. To do.

The invention according to claim 9 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit includes an inspection unit for performing a predetermined inspection on the substrate. It is characterized by

According to a tenth aspect of the invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the ninth aspect, wherein the inspection section measures a film thickness measuring unit for measuring the resist film thickness and a line for measuring the line width of the pattern. It is characterized by including either a width measurement unit, an overlay measurement unit that measures overlay of patterns, or a macro defect inspection unit.

Further, the invention of claim 11 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the inspection section includes a first inspection unit and a second inspection unit, and the first inspection unit. Performs resist film thickness measurement, pattern line width measurement, and pattern overlay measurement.
The inspection unit is characterized by performing a macro defect inspection.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.
Is a front view of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus 1. In addition, in FIGS.
XY with the Y plane as the horizontal plane and the vertical upward direction as the Z axis
The Z coordinate system is attached. It is assumed that the front surface of the substrate processing apparatus 1 faces the negative direction of the X axis. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is a substrate processing apparatus (so-called coater & developer) that performs resist coating processing and development processing on a substrate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the substrate processing apparatus 1
Is a mounting stage 10 for mounting the cassettes C1 and C2, a coating processing unit SC for performing resist coating processing on the substrate W, a developing processing unit SD for performing developing processing on the substrate W, and a constant temperature for the substrate W. Heating unit HP
1 to HP4, cooling units CP1 to CP4 for cooling the substrate W to a constant temperature, a transfer area 6, and a transfer area 6
And a transport robot TR arranged on the transport path 5 of FIG. Further, on the back surface of the substrate processing apparatus 1, for transferring the substrate W to an exposure device (so-called stepper) that performs the exposure process on the substrate W on which the resist coating has been performed, and the substrate W on which the exposure process has been performed. An interface IF for receiving the substrate W from the exposure machine is adjacently arranged to perform a developing process. Note that the substrate W may be directly delivered to the exposure machine without using the interface IF.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport area 6 has an inverted T-shape when viewed from the front. Hereinafter, in the transfer area 6, a space extending in the Y direction at the bottom of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is referred to as a bottom transfer area 6a, and a space extending in the Z direction at the center of the apparatus is referred to as a central transfer area 6b. The transfer robot TR moves along the arrow A on the transfer path 5 in the bottom transfer area 6a.
As shown by R1, it can be moved in the horizontal direction (Y direction) by expansion and contraction in the central transport area 6b in the vertical direction (Z direction) as shown by arrow AR2.

Further, the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD are arranged to face each other across the central transport area 6b. Four heat treatment units, a cooling unit CP1, a cooling unit CP2, a heating unit HP1, and a heating unit H are provided vertically above the coating processing unit SC.
P2 is stacked in order from the bottom. Similarly, above the development processing unit SD, a cooling unit CP3, a cooling unit CP4, a heating unit HP3, and
The heating unit HP4 is arranged in layers. However, Figure 1
In FIG. 2, the heat treatment units are arranged in a plane for convenience of illustration. Therefore, the heating units HP1 to HP4 and the cooling units CP1 to CP4 are also arranged to face each other, like the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD.

The two mounting stages 10 are provided along the transport path 5, and the cassettes C1 and C2 are mounted at predetermined positions on the respective upper surfaces. Each cassette C1, C2
Has a plurality of storage grooves engraved therein, and each of the grooves can accommodate one substrate W in a horizontal posture (with its main surface along a horizontal plane). Therefore, each cassette C1,
A plurality of substrates W can be housed in C2 in a horizontal posture and in a multi-tiered state with a plurality of layers spaced at predetermined intervals. In addition, as a form of the cassettes C1 and C2 of the present embodiment,
FOUP (front opening uni) to store the board in a closed space
Although a fied pod) is adopted, the present invention is not limited to this and may be an OC (open casette) that exposes the storage substrate to the outside air.

Each of the cassettes C1 and C2 is provided with a lid on the transport path side, and the lid is detachable so that the substrate W can be taken in and out. The lids of the cassettes C1 and C2 are attached and detached by a pod opener (not shown). By removing the lid from the cassettes C1 and C2, the opening 8 is formed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The substrate W is loaded into and unloaded from the cassettes C1 and C2 through the opening 8.

Further, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the cassette C1 stores the unprocessed substrate before the cleaning process and the cassette C2 stores the processed substrate after the cleaning process. The cassettes C1 and C2 are usually placed on the mounting stage 10 and carried out from the mounting stage 10 by an AGV (Automatic Guide).
d vehicle) or OHT (over-head hoist transport).

The coating processing unit SC is a so-called spin coater for uniformly coating the resist by dropping the photoresist on the main surface of the substrate while rotating the substrate. The development processing unit SD is a so-called spin developer that performs development processing by supplying a developing solution onto the exposed substrate.

The cooling units CP1 to CP4 are so-called cool plates that cool the substrate to a predetermined temperature and maintain it at a low temperature. Heating units HP1 to H
P4 is a so-called hot plate that heats the substrate to a predetermined temperature and maintains the high temperature. Strictly speaking, an air conditioning unit for supplying clean air to each processing unit is provided directly above the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD.
This is omitted in.

Each of the coating processing unit SC, the developing processing unit SD, the heating units HP1 to HP4, and the cooling units CP1 to CP4 is provided with an opening 9 which can be opened and closed between itself and the central transport area 6b. ing.

Next, the operations of the transfer robot TR and the transfer arm 45 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a transfer robot T
It is an appearance perspective view of R. The transport robot TR includes a telescopic body 4
An arm stage 43 having a transfer arm 45 on the upper part of 0
In addition to the above, the telescopic type multi-stage nested structure is realized by the expandable body 40.

The elastic body 40 is composed of four divided bodies 4 in order from the top.
0a, 40b, 40c, 40d. The divided body 40a can be accommodated in the divided body 40b, the divided body 40b can be accommodated in the divided body 40c, and the divided body 4b can be accommodated.
0c can be accommodated in the divided body 40d. Then, the expandable body 40 contracts by accommodating the divided bodies 40a to 40d sequentially, and conversely, the elastic body 40 extends by drawing out the divided bodies 40a to 40d sequentially. That is, when the stretchable body 40 contracts, the divided body 40a is accommodated in the divided body 40b, and the divided body 40b is divided into the divided body 40c.
The divided body 40c is accommodated in the divided body 40d. On the other hand, when the stretchable body 40 is extended, the split body 40
a is drawn out of the divided body 40b, divided body 40b is drawn out of the divided body 40c, divided body 40c is divided body 40d
Drawn from.

The expansion / contraction operation of the expansion / contraction body 40 is realized by an expansion / contraction elevating mechanism provided therein. As the expansion / contraction mechanism, for example, a mechanism in which a motor drives a combination of a plurality of belts and rollers can be adopted. The transport robot TR can perform a lifting operation along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) in the central transport area 6b by driving such a telescopic lifting mechanism.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the transfer robot TR
In the horizontal moving unit 41, the bottom transfer area 6a can be moved along the Y-axis direction by driving a Y drive mechanism that is a Y-axis direction drive mechanism including a male screw 52, a guide rail 51, and the like. Has become. That is, when the male screw 52 is rotated by an electric motor (not shown), the horizontal moving portion 41 screwed into the male screw 52 is
It can slide along the Y-axis direction.

Further, the transfer robot TR can also perform horizontal advancing / retreating movement and rotating operation of the transfer arm 45. Specifically, an arm stage 43 is provided above the divided body 40a, and the transfer arm 45 can perform horizontal advancing / retreating movement and rotation operation by the arm stage 43. In other words, the arm stage 43 bends and extends the arm segment of the transfer arm 45, so that the transfer arm 45 can move horizontally and backward, and the arm stage 43 itself rotates with respect to the telescopic body 40 to rotate. It can be carried out.

Therefore, the transfer robot TR can move the transfer arm 45 up and down in the height direction, horizontally move it along the Y-axis direction, rotate it, and move it forward and backward in the horizontal direction. That is, the transfer robot TR can move the transfer arm 45 three-dimensionally.

In the present embodiment, the units are arranged side by side in the Z direction across the central transport area 6b, but the transport robot TR includes the horizontal moving section 41, the telescopic body 40 and the arm as described above. By the operation of the stage 43, as shown by an arrow AR3, the transport arm 45 can access each unit through the opening 9, and the substrate W can be loaded and unloaded.

The elevating mechanism incorporated in the telescopic body 40 is not limited to the telescopic type mechanism, and any other mechanism can be used as long as it can raise and lower the arm stage 43 and the transfer arm 45 along the vertical direction. It is possible to adopt the well-known drive mechanism of. However, the telescopic lifting mechanism is suitable as a lifting mechanism for the transport robot TR in that it is compact and can have a large stroke.

As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the units such as the coating processing unit SC and the developing processing unit SD are arranged above the transport path 5 so that these units are disposed. The footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 1 (floor area occupied by the apparatus) can be reduced and the area occupied in the clean room can be reduced as compared with the case of laying out in a plane.

Further, in the present embodiment, the substrate W can be loaded into any of the cassettes C1 and C2, the interface IF and each unit by one transport robot TR, and the substrate W can be loaded from any of them. It can be carried out.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the transfer robot TR is provided below the coating processing unit SC and the developing processing unit SD, particles or the like generated by the driving operation of the transfer robot TR are applied to the coating processing unit S.
C. It becomes difficult to enter the development processing unit SD, and the processing of the substrate W can be performed in a cleaner atmosphere.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 2 according to a second embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 2 is a substrate cleaning apparatus (so-called scrubber) that cleans the substrate W to remove particles. It is assumed that the front surface of the substrate processing apparatus 2 faces the negative direction of the X axis.

As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate processing apparatus 2 is similar to the substrate processing apparatus 1 in the first embodiment in that the mounting stage 10 for mounting the cassettes C1 and C2 and the inverted T-shape. The transfer area 6 having the shape of 1 and the transfer robot TR arranged on the transfer path 5 of the transfer area 6 are provided. Further, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, two cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are arranged at positions corresponding to the positions where the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD were arranged. That is, the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are arranged in the central transport area 6
They are placed opposite to each other with b in between. Further, a reversal processing unit 30 for reversing the front and back surfaces of the substrate is provided above the cleaning unit SS1. However, in FIG. 5, the inversion processing unit 30 is arranged in a plane for convenience of illustration. The mounting stage 10, cassettes C1 and C
The configurations of 2, the transfer area 6 and the transfer robot TR are the same as those of the substrate processing apparatus 1 in the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

The cleaning units SS1 and SS2 spin the substrate W while gripping the edges of the substrate W and rotating the substrate W to supply pure water to the main surface (front surface or back surface) and remove particles adhering to the substrate W by a brush. It is a scrubber. In addition,
The cleaning units SS1 and SS2 are not limited to the spin scrubber, and various units can be adopted as long as they are units that remove particles adhering to the substrate W. For example, it may have a function of performing cleaning or a function of performing polymer removal processing by utilizing the etching action of a chemical solution.

The inversion processing unit 30 is a unit having a function of vertically inverting the front and back surfaces of the substrate W. In the substrate processing apparatus 2, the substrate W whose surface (upper surface) has been cleaned in the cleaning unit SS1 is the reversal processing unit 30.
It is carried in and is turned upside down. The substrate W is transported to the cleaning unit SS2 with the uncleaned back surface being the top surface, and undergoes the back surface cleaning process.

Although not shown, as in the case of each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment,
In each of the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 and the reversal processing unit 30, an opening 9 for loading and unloading the substrate W is formed toward the central transport area 6b, and a shutter for opening and closing the opening 9 and the like. Is also provided. Further, an air conditioning unit for supplying clean air to each processing unit is provided directly above each processing unit.

Since the structure of the transfer robot TR is the same as that of the first embodiment, the transfer robot TR also moves the transfer arm 45 up and down in the height direction in the present embodiment as well, along the Y-axis direction. Can be horizontally moved, rotated, and moved back and forth in the horizontal direction. That is, the transfer robot TR is configured to transfer the transfer arm 45.
Can be moved three-dimensionally.

By arranging the units as described above, the footprint can be reduced and the occupied area in the clean room can be further reduced in the substrate processing apparatus 2 according to this embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the substrate W can be carried in and out of the cassettes C1, C1 and each unit by one transport robot TR. Further, particles or the like generated by the driving operation of the transport robot TR can be prevented from entering the cleaning processing unit, and the substrate W can be kept in a cleaner state.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 6 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 3 according to a third embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 3 is a substrate inspection apparatus that performs an inspection for checking the state of the substrate W or the success or failure of a predetermined process on the substrate W. The front surface of the substrate processing apparatus 3 is X
It is assumed that the axis faces the negative direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, the substrate processing apparatus 3 is similar to the substrate processing apparatus 2 in the second embodiment in that the mounting stage 10 for mounting the cassettes C1 and C2 and the inverted T-shape. The transfer area 6 having the shape of 1 and the transfer robot TR arranged on the transfer path 5 of the transfer area 6 are provided. Further, in the substrate processing apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment, the first inspection unit 70 and the second inspection unit 80 are arranged at positions corresponding to the positions where the cleaning units SS1 and SS2 were arranged. That is, the first inspection unit 70 and the second inspection unit 80 are arranged to face each other across the central transport area 6b. Also in this embodiment, the configurations of the mounting stage 10, the cassettes C1 and C2, the transfer area 6 and the transfer robot TR are the same as those in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.
The same reference numerals are given and the description thereof will be omitted.

The first inspection unit 70 is an inspection unit (macro defect inspection unit) for performing macro defect inspection.
The “macro defect inspection” is an inspection for determining the presence or absence of a relatively large defect appearing on the substrate W, for example, particles. On the other hand, the second inspection unit 80 is an inspection unit that performs resist film thickness measurement, pattern line width measurement, and pattern overlay measurement. That is, the second inspection unit 80 has a function of performing three types of inspections.
The “resist film thickness measurement” is an inspection for measuring the film thickness of the resist applied on the substrate W. “Pattern line width measurement” is an inspection for measuring the line width of a pattern formed on the substrate W by exposure and development processing. “Pattern overlay measurement” is an inspection for measuring the deviation of the pattern formed on the substrate W by the exposure and development processes.

Although not shown, in the present embodiment as well, in each of the first inspection unit 70 and the second inspection unit 80, the opening 9 for loading / unloading the substrate W is provided in the central transport area 6b. And a shutter and the like for opening and closing the opening 9 are also provided.
Further, an air conditioning unit for supplying clean air to each processing unit is provided directly above each processing unit.

By disposing each inspection unit as described above, also in the substrate processing apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment, the footprint can be reduced and it can be used exclusively in the clean room as in the first and second embodiments. The area can be made smaller. In addition, since the configuration of the transport robot TR is the same as that of the first embodiment, even in the present embodiment, one transport robot TR can be used for the cassettes C1 and C.
2 and the substrate W can be loaded and unloaded. Further, particles or the like generated by the driving operation of the transport robot TR can be prevented from entering the cleaning processing unit, and the substrate W can be kept in a cleaner state.

<Modification> The structure of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, among the coating processing unit, the development processing unit, the cleaning unit, the reversal processing unit, and the inspection unit, a plurality of units in a combination different from the above-described embodiment may be stacked and arranged in multiple stages. Alternatively, the number of each unit may be different from that in the above-described embodiment.

The stacking position and order of each unit may be different from those in the above-described embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD may be stacked on one side and the heat treatment units may be stacked on the other side. It is desirable that the processing time in each unit, the transport operation between the units, and the transport time be the most efficient, depending on the units constituting the device.

Also, the number of cassettes that can be placed is not limited to two. When three or more cassettes can be placed, at least one of them may be a buffer cassette which is a substrate withdrawal location due to a processing time lag. Alternatively, a dedicated buffer cassette may be provided.

The transfer robot may include a plurality of transfer arms. By providing a so-called double arm,
Substrate processing throughput is improved. Further, the shape of the transfer arm may be different from the shape shown in FIG.

In the third embodiment, the functions of the first inspection unit 70 and the second inspection unit 80 are such that so-called photolithography-related inspection is performed, but the technique according to the present invention is not limited to this. Not something. For example, an inspection unit having an inspection function for measuring the amine or ammonia concentration may be adopted. In addition, SOD (Spin-on-Diele)
In an apparatus for forming an interlayer insulating film by applying ctronics), an inspection unit for inspecting the firing state of the interlayer insulating film may be arranged.

[0056]

As described above, according to the first to eleventh aspects of the present invention, the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced and the occupied area in the clean room can be reduced. It is possible to prevent particles such as particles generated in the transfer area from entering each processing unit,
The substrate can be kept cleaner.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 2 to 11, one substrate transfer robot can be used to subject the substrates accommodated in the cassette to a predetermined treatment, and the treated substrates can be accommodated again in the cassette. .

According to the inventions of claims 3 to 11, the transfer robot can move in a substantially vertical direction.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 4 to 11, the transfer robot can move in a substantially vertical direction to transfer the substrate to each processing unit.

According to the fifth to eleventh aspects of the present invention, even if the substrate processing apparatus includes many processing units, the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

Particularly, according to the inventions of claims 6 to 7, it is possible to reduce the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus relating to the development processing on the substrate.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 8, the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus for cleaning the substrate can be reduced.

Particularly, according to the inventions of claims 9 to 11, it is possible to reduce the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus relating to the inspection processing on the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a transfer robot TR.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 2 according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 3 according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3 substrate processing equipment 5 transport paths 6a Bottom transport area 6b Central transport area 10 Placement stage 30 Inversion processing unit 40 Stretchable body 40a-40d division body 41 Horizontal moving part 43 arm stage 45 transfer arm 51 Guide rail 52 Male screw 70 First inspection unit 80 Second inspection unit AR1-AR3 arrows C1, C1 cassette CP1-CP4 Cooling unit HP1 to HP4 heating unit IF interface SC coating unit SD development unit SS1, SS2 cleaning unit TR transport robot W board

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kenya Morinishi             4-chome Tenjin, which runs up to Teranouchi, Horikawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto             1 Kitamachi No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.             Inside the company F-term (reference) 5F031 CA02 CA05 GA43 GA49 MA02                       MA06

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A processing unit for performing a predetermined process on a substrate, a transport unit for loading the substrate into the process unit and unloading the substrate from the process unit, and the transport unit moving in a substantially horizontal direction. A first transfer area, wherein the processing unit is disposed above the first transfer area. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit takes out an unprocessed substrate before the processing from a substrate storage unit provided in the substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the processed substrate after the above-mentioned processing is stored in the substrate storage section. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second transfer area which is connected to the first transfer area and in which the transfer means is movable only in a substantially vertical direction. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is arranged adjacent to the second transfer area, and the transfer means transfers the substrate to the processing unit in the second transfer area. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the processing units are stacked and arranged in a vertical direction. 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit performs a processing with a predetermined processing liquid on the main surface of the substrate, A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a heat treatment unit that performs heat treatment on the substrate before and after the liquid treatment by the liquid treatment unit. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the liquid processing section applies a resist to the main surface of the substrate with a resist, and a developing process to the main surface of the substrate. Developing means to perform,
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: 8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes cleaning means for cleaning the substrate. 9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes an inspection unit that performs a predetermined inspection on the substrate. apparatus. 10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the inspection unit measures a film thickness of a resist, a film thickness measuring unit, a line width measuring unit that measures a line width of a pattern, and a pattern stacking unit. A substrate processing apparatus comprising either an overlay measurement unit for measuring alignment or a macro defect inspection unit. 11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the inspection unit includes a first inspection unit and a second inspection unit, and the first inspection unit is a resist film thickness measurement. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the line width measurement of the pattern and the overlay measurement of the pattern are performed, and the second inspection unit performs a macro defect inspection.