JP2003115523A - Method and apparatus for substrate treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate treatment apparatus whose occupation area is small and operation efficiency is high. SOLUTION: A plurality of reaction chambers 70 are provided to a wall 53 of a wafer carry chamber 50 separated apart each other stacked in the vertical direction. A plurality of wafer storage chambers 30 are provided to a wall 54 of the wafer carry chamber 50 apart mutually stacked in the vertical direction. A gate valve 93 is provided between a plurality of reaction chambers 70 and the wafer carry chamber 50, and a gate valve 92 is provided between a plurality of wafer storage chambers 30 and the wafer carry chamber 50. The wafer carry chamber 50 is constituted capable of being evacuated, and a wafer carry vacuum robot 60, which can carry a substrate in vacuum, in between the reaction chamber 70 and the wafer storage chamber 30, is provided in the inside thereof.

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 and a substrate processing method, and more particularly to a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus and a semiconductor wafer processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to reduce the area occupied by a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, for example, a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 14 has been proposed (JP-A-5-1).
See 52215. ).

In this semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2000, the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2 is constructed by stacking a plurality of reaction chambers 204 in a direction perpendicular to the installation floor surface.
000 has a smaller floor area.

[0004]

However, in this semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2000, since the wall is shared between the adjacent reaction chambers 204, it is necessary to perform maintenance when any one of the reaction chambers 204 requires maintenance. However, it is not possible to remove only the reaction chamber 204, and as a result, even when performing maintenance on any one of the reaction chambers 204, the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2000
There is a problem that the operation efficiency of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2000 is poor, because the entire operation must be stopped.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a small occupied area and high operating efficiency.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there are provided a substrate transfer chamber and a substrate processing chamber adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, which are vertically stacked and spaced from each other. A plurality of substrate processing chambers, and a substrate transfer device provided in the substrate transfer chamber, the substrate transfer device being capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers. The substrate processing is characterized in that each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers is provided with a vertical gap so that the other substrate processing chamber can be removed while another substrate processing chamber is attached to the substrate transfer chamber. A device is provided.

In the present invention, since a plurality of substrate processing chambers are vertically stacked, the area occupied by the substrate processing chamber in the clean room can be reduced, and the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced. As a result, the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced in size to reduce its occupied area, and the occupied area of the clean room of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

If the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber is reduced,
The manufacturing cost of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced, and the maintenance area in multiple directions can be reduced. Furthermore, the distance for connecting the substrate transfer chamber to other substrate transfer chambers can be shortened, and the substrate can be transferred between the substrate transfer chamber and other substrate transfer chambers without providing a substrate transfer machine at the connection part. As a result, the substrate processing apparatus has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of substrate processing chambers vertically stacked in this manner are provided separately from each other, when maintenance is required in any of the substrate processing chambers, Only the substrate processing chamber that requires maintenance can be easily removed, and other substrate processing chambers can be operated even when performing maintenance on that substrate processing chamber, resulting in a significant increase in equipment operating efficiency. Improve to.

The substrate processing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure is particularly suitably applied when the substrate transfer chamber is a substrate transfer chamber for transferring a substrate under reduced pressure.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus having the above structure is particularly preferably applied to the case where the substrate transfer chamber can be depressurized and the substrate transfer device can transfer the substrate under reduced pressure.

Preferably, between the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber, when closed, the space between the substrate processing chamber and the substrate transfer chamber can be made airtight, and when opened. Are each provided with a first valve through which the substrate can move.

With this configuration, the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be kept airtight, and each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be isolated from the others by a predetermined gas atmosphere. The substrate can be moved between each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber.

Further, it is preferable that the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber be vacuum-tightened between the substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber when closed. Each is provided with a first valve that is capable of moving the substrate through the interior when open.

With this configuration, the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be independently evacuated, and the substrates are respectively provided between the plurality of substrate processing chambers and the substrate transfer chamber. You can move.

Preferably, the substrate transfer chamber is vertically stacked on another side wall different from the one side wall,
It further has a plurality of substrate accommodating chambers provided apart from each other.

With this configuration, even if a plurality of substrate accommodating chambers are further provided, since the substrate accommodating chambers are vertically stacked, the area occupied by the substrate accommodating chambers in the clean room can be reduced, and Also, the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced to reduce the size of the substrate transfer chamber to reduce its occupied area, and thus the occupied area of the clean room by the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

If the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber is reduced,
The manufacturing cost of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced, and the maintenance area in multiple directions can be reduced. Furthermore, the distance for connecting the substrate transfer chamber to other substrate transfer chambers can be shortened, and the substrate can be transferred between the substrate transfer chamber and other substrate transfer chambers without providing a substrate transfer machine at the connection part. As a result, the substrate processing apparatus has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

Further, since a plurality of substrate accommodating chambers vertically stacked in this manner are provided apart from each other, when any one of the substrate accommodating chambers requires maintenance, the substrate accommodating chambers requiring maintenance are required. It is possible to easily remove only one, and it is possible to operate other substrate storage chambers while performing maintenance on that substrate storage chamber.
As a result, the operating efficiency of the device is significantly improved.

Preferably, between the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber, when closed, the substrate accommodating chamber and the substrate transfer chamber can be made airtight, and when opened. Each is provided with a second valve through which the substrate can move.

With this configuration, the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be kept airtight, and each of the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be separated from the others by a predetermined gas. An atmosphere or a vacuum atmosphere can be provided, and the substrate can be moved between each of the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber.

Further, it is preferable that the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber be vacuum-tightened between the substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber when closed. A second valve is provided, each of which is capable of moving the substrate through its interior when opened.

With this configuration, the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber can be independently evacuated, and the substrates are respectively provided between the plurality of substrate accommodating chambers and the substrate transfer chamber. You can move.

As the first and second valves,
A gate valve is preferably used.

Further, according to the present invention, the substrate transfer chamber and a plurality of substrate processing chambers adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber are vertically stacked and are separated from each other. A plurality of substrate processing chambers, each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers being evacuated by a vacuum pump provided outside the substrate processing chamber; and a substrate transfer machine provided in the substrate transfer chamber. Further, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a substrate transfer device capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers.

Further, according to the present invention, the substrate transfer chamber and the plurality of substrate processing chambers adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber are vertically stacked and spaced from each other. A processing chamber and a substrate transfer device provided in the substrate transfer chamber, wherein the substrate transfer device is capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers, and between the plurality of substrate processing chambers, Each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers is provided with a vertical gap so that the other substrate processing chamber can be removed in a state where the other substrate processing chamber is attached to the substrate transfer chamber. There is provided a substrate processing method, which is characterized in that the substrate is transferred from a transfer chamber to the substrate processing chamber, and then the substrate is processed in the substrate processing chamber.

According to the present invention, the substrate transfer chamber and the plurality of substrate processing chambers adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber are vertically stacked and spaced from each other. A plurality of substrate processing chambers, each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers being evacuated by a vacuum pump provided outside the substrate processing chamber; and a substrate transfer machine provided in the substrate transfer chamber. A substrate transfer device capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers,
A substrate processing method is provided in which a substrate is transferred from the substrate transfer chamber to the substrate processing chamber by the substrate transfer machine, and then the substrate is processed in the substrate processing chamber.

A semiconductor wafer is preferably used as the substrate, in which case the substrate processing apparatus functions as a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus.

As the substrate, it is possible to use a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display element or the like.

In the substrate processing chamber, preferably, an insulating film formed by various CVD methods such as plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor deposition) method, hot wall CVD method, photo CVD method, metal film for wiring, polysilicon, amorphous silicon, etc. Formation, heat treatment such as etching and annealing, epitaxial growth, diffusion and the like are performed.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment
Includes a process unit 700, a transfer unit 500, and a front unit 100.

The process section 700 comprises a plurality of process modules 701, and each process module 701 comprises a reaction chamber 70 and a gate valve 93. The transfer unit 500 includes a transfer module 501, and the transfer module 501 includes a wafer transfer chamber 50 and a wafer transfer vacuum robot 60. The front part 100 includes a plurality of load lock modules 300 and an atmospheric pressure part 200. Load lock module 3
00 includes a wafer storage chamber 30, a gate valve 92, and a front door valve 91. A cassette shelf 11 on which the cassette 10 is placed and a cassette carrier / wafer carrier 20 are provided in the atmospheric pressure section.

A plurality of reaction chambers 70 are vertically spaced apart from each other and stacked, and are provided on the wafer transfer chamber wall 53 of the wafer transfer chamber 50. A gate valve 93 is provided between each reaction chamber 70 and the wafer transfer chamber 50. Each reaction chamber 70 is configured so that it can be evacuated independently via an exhaust pipe 82. Reaction chamber 70
A wafer boat 75 capable of mounting a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) semiconductor wafers 5 is mounted therein, and a plurality of wafers 5 can be processed at the same time, which improves wafer processing efficiency. Can be increased. Also,
The pitch between the wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75 is set in consideration of the gas flow in the reaction chamber 70 and the like so that the film thickness uniformity is within a predetermined range if film formation is performed. It has been decided to be maintained.

In the reaction chamber 70, for example, various kinds of C such as plasma CVD, hot wall CVD, and photo CVD.
Formation of an insulating film by VD or the like, a metal film for wiring, polysilicon, amorphous silicon, or the like, heat treatment such as etching or annealing, epitaxial growth, diffusion or the like is performed.

Since the plurality of reaction chambers 70 are vertically stacked and provided on the wafer transfer chamber wall 53 of the wafer transfer chamber 50, the area occupied by the reaction chamber 70 in the clean room can be reduced and the wafer transfer can be performed. It is possible to reduce the number of sides of the chamber 50 to reduce the size of the wafer transfer chamber 50 to reduce the occupied area thereof, thereby reducing the occupied area of the clean room of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1.

Further, if the number of sides of the wafer transfer chamber 50 is reduced, the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced, and the maintenance area in multiple directions can be reduced. Further, the distance for connecting the wafer transfer chamber 50 to other wafer transfer chambers can be shortened, and the wafer transfer chamber 50 and other wafer transfer chambers can be connected to each other without providing a wafer transfer device at the connecting portion. The semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

Further, in the present invention, since the plurality of reaction chambers 70 stacked in the vertical direction are provided separately from each other, when any one of the reaction chambers 70 requires maintenance, Only the reaction chamber 70 requiring maintenance can be easily removed.
The other reaction chamber 70 can be operated even when the maintenance of 0 is performed, and as a result, the operation efficiency of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 is significantly improved.

The plurality of wafer accommodating chambers 30 are vertically stacked and separated from each other, and are stacked on the wafer transfer chamber wall 54 of the wafer transfer chamber 50. A gate valve 92 is provided between each wafer storage chamber 30 and the wafer transfer chamber 50. A front door valve 91 is provided between the right side of each wafer storage chamber 30 and the atmospheric pressure section 200. Each wafer storage chamber 30 is
It is configured such that the vacuum can be evacuated independently via the exhaust pipes 83, 81.

A wafer holder 40 is placed in the wafer storage chamber 30. FIG. 3 shows the wafer holder 40.
It is a schematic perspective view for explaining. Wafer holder 4
0 is two column-shaped support columns 4 provided at the top and bottom
1, 42, and two prismatic columns 43, 44 provided between the column support plates 41, 42.
A plurality of wafer mounting grooves 45 are provided inside the wafers 3 and 44 so as to face each other. Since both ends of the wafer mounting groove 45 are open, the wafer holder 4
Wafers can be loaded in from both sides of 0 and unloaded in both sides. The wafer holder 40 is made of quartz.

Wafer mounting groove 4 of wafer holder 40
The pitch between the wafers 5, that is, the pitch between the wafers 5 held by the wafer holder 40 is the same as the pitch between the wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75 in the reaction chamber 70. The pitch between the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40 is larger than the pitch between the wafer mounting grooves in the cassette 10.

Further, the number of the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40, that is, the number of wafers 5 which the wafer holder 40 can hold is determined by the number of wafers 5 which can be mounted by the wafer boat 75 in the reaction chamber 70. More than twice the number of sheets,
The number of wafers 5 that can be processed at once in the reaction chamber 70 is twice or more. In this way, the reaction chamber 7
The substrate can be efficiently transported between the cassette 0 and the cassette 10, and the throughput is improved.

Since the wafer holder 40 is made of quartz, impurities such as outgas will not be generated from the wafer holder 40 even if the inside of the wafer chamber 30 is evacuated. Can be kept clean.

Further, since the wafer holder 40 is made of quartz and has excellent heat resistance, the high-temperature wafer which has been processed in the reaction chamber 70 is treated by the wafer holder 40.
It can be cooled while being held at. in this way,
Since the wafer holder 40 can be used for cooling the wafer, the wafer accommodating chamber 30 functions as a wafer cooling chamber. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a cooling chamber for cooling the high-temperature wafer processed in the reaction chamber 70 on the side wall of the wafer transfer chamber 50, and the area occupied by the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 in the clean room is reduced accordingly. In addition, the number of sides of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced to reduce the size of the wafer transfer chamber 50 to reduce its occupied area, and the occupied area of the clean room by the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 can be reduced. You can
Further, the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced.

The wafer holder 40 temporarily stores the wafer 5 from the cassette 10 into the wafer processing chamber 70, temporarily stores the wafer 5 from the wafer processing chamber 70 into the cassette 10, or from the cassette 10. The wafer 5 is temporarily stored in the wafer processing chamber 70 and is transferred from the wafer processing chamber 70 to the cassette 10.
Since it is a wafer holder for temporarily storing
It is not necessary to provide a cassette chamber for storing 0 on the side wall of the wafer transfer chamber 50. As a result, the wafer transfer chamber 50
The number of chambers provided on the side wall of the wafer can be reduced, and the occupied area of the clean room by the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 can be reduced accordingly, and the number of sides of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced to reduce the size of the wafer transfer chamber 50. Therefore, the area occupied by the semiconductor wafer can be reduced, and the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1
The area occupied by the clean room can be reduced. Further, the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, since a plurality of wafer accommodating chambers 30 are provided on the wafer transfer chamber wall 54 of the wafer transfer chamber 50, while a wafer is being cooled in a certain wafer accommodating chamber 30, another wafer accommodating chamber is accommodated. Time can be saved, for example, a wafer can be loaded into the reaction chamber 70 using the chamber 30.
Further, two types of wafer storage chambers 30 for loading and unloading may be separately provided. In this way, the two types of wafer accommodating chambers 30 for loading and unloading can be alternately used, which saves time. Further, it is possible to use one wafer accommodation chamber 30 for a monitor wafer and another wafer accommodation chamber 30 for a process wafer which is an actual product.

Since a plurality of wafer storage chambers 30 are vertically stacked on the wafer transfer chamber wall 54 of the wafer transfer chamber 50, the area occupied by the wafer storage chamber 30 in the clean room can be reduced. Also, the number of sides of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced to reduce the size of the wafer transfer chamber 50 to reduce its occupied area, and the occupied area of the clean room of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 can be reduced. Further, the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced.

Further, in the present invention, since the plurality of wafer accommodating chambers 30 stacked in the vertical direction are provided so as to be separated from each other, if any of the wafer accommodating chambers 30 requires maintenance. In addition, only the wafer storage chamber 30 requiring maintenance can be easily removed, and other wafer storage chambers 30 can be operated even when the maintenance of the wafer storage chamber 30 is performed. The operation efficiency of the wafer processing apparatus 1 is significantly improved.

Wafer transfer chamber 50 and wafer storage chamber 30
Since a gate valve 92 is provided between the wafer transfer chamber 50 and
Can be returned to the atmospheric pressure, and the wafer 5 is naturally cooled while the inside of the wafer storage chamber 30 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, and the temperature of the wafer 5 is lowered at the stage of leaving the wafer storage chamber 30. You can Therefore, even if the wafer 5 is subsequently taken out to the atmospheric pressure, the wafer 5 is prevented from being contaminated by the atmospheric pressure atmosphere. In this way, the step of returning the wafer 5 to the atmospheric pressure in the wafer storage chamber 30 and the step of cooling the wafer 5 are simultaneously performed, the cooled wafer 5 is conveyed to the cassette 10 under the atmospheric pressure, and the cassette 1 containing the wafer 5 is transferred.
0 can be transferred to the outside of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1.

Further, in the present embodiment, the transfer of the wafer 5 between the wafer accommodating chamber 30 and the cassette 10 is performed by the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20 different from the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 in the wafer transfer chamber 50. Since it can be performed, the wafer transfer time can be shortened. Further, in the present embodiment, since the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20 is arranged in the atmospheric pressure section 200, the structure of the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20 is simpler than that in a vacuum. can do.

The wafer transfer chamber 50 has exhaust pipes 84, 81.
It is configured so that a vacuum can be drawn through. The plurality of reaction chambers 70, the wafer transfer chamber 50, and the plurality of wafer accommodating chambers 30 are configured so that they can be evacuated independently.

Since the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be depressurized and the wafer accommodating chamber 30 can also be depressurized, the oxygen concentration can be reduced to the limit, and the wafer 5 can be prevented from being oxidized in the wafer transfer chamber 50 or the wafer accommodating chamber 30. Can be suppressed.

Further, since the reaction chamber 70 can be evacuated independently, the reaction chamber 70 can be used as a reaction chamber in which processing is performed under reduced pressure. Further, after the pressure inside the reaction chamber 70 is once reduced, a predetermined atmosphere is obtained. The gas can be replaced with a gas, or a high-purity gas atmosphere can be used.

In the present embodiment, the plurality of reaction chambers 70 are all reaction chambers in which processing is performed under reduced pressure.
It is also possible to use a reaction chamber in which all 0 are treated under normal pressure,
Further, at least one reaction chamber 70 of the plurality of reaction chambers 70 is used as a reaction chamber for processing a wafer under normal pressure,
The remaining reaction chambers 70 of the plurality of reaction chambers 70
Can be used as a reaction chamber in which the treatment is performed under reduced pressure.

A wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 is provided inside the wafer transfer chamber 50. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60. The wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 is an articulated robot, and has arms 63, 65, 6 that rotate and move in a horizontal plane.
7, and a rotation shaft 62 that allows each arm to rotate,
64 and 66, a biaxial drive unit 69 that applies rotation to the rotary shaft 62, a gear mechanism (not shown) that transmits the rotation of the rotary shaft 62 to the rotary shafts 64 and 66, and the drive unit 69. The drive unit accommodating portion 61 is provided. The tip of the arm 67 is a wafer mounting arm 68 for mounting a wafer.
Function as. When the rotary shaft 62 rotates, the arm 6
The wafers 3, 65, 67 rotate and move in the horizontal direction, so that the wafer can be moved in the horizontal direction.

Arm 67 and wafer mounting arm 68
The pitch between the wafer mounting arms 68 is the same as the pitch between the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40 and the pitch between the wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75 in the reaction chamber 70. There is. Therefore,
Since two wafer mounting arms 68 are provided, the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 can transfer two wafers at the same time, but the wafer transfer vacuum robot does not need to change the pitch between the wafers 5 during transfer. The structure of 60 is simplified, and vacuum contamination can be prevented. Since two wafers can be transferred at the same time, the efficiency of wafer transfer is increased.

Since the drive portion accommodating portion 61 has an airtight structure and the drive portion 69 is accommodated in the airtight drive portion accommodating portion 61, the atmosphere in the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be kept clean.

The bottom surface 56 of the wafer transfer chamber 50 is provided with a convex portion 52 conforming to the outer shape of the driving portion accommodating portion 61. Therefore, the drive portion accommodating portion 61 can be accommodated in the convex portion 52. By doing so, the drive portion accommodating portion 61 of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 can be provided without enlarging the entire wafer transfer chamber 50.
Since only the convex portion 52 accommodating the wafer need to be projected from the wafer transfer chamber 50, the space of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced, and the time required for evacuation or the like can be shortened.

A through hole 57 is provided in the bottom surface 56 of the wafer transfer chamber 50. A screw shaft 561 is provided vertically below the outside of the wafer transfer chamber 50. A motor 566 is provided above the screw shaft 561, and the screw shaft 561 is rotated by the motor 566. Screw shaft 56
1, a nut 565 forming a ball screw is provided, and an elevating table 564 is fixed to the nut 565.
Wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 56 is mounted on the lift table 564.
3, one end of which is fixed, and a support rod 563 is vertically attached to the lift table 564. The other end of the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 has the wafer transfer vacuum robot 6
It is fixed to the upper end of the drive unit accommodating portion 61 of 0. The wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 is made of stainless steel. Through hole 5 in bottom surface 56 of wafer transfer chamber 50
One end of the bellows 562 is airtightly fixed to the bottom surface 56 around 7 and the other end of the bellows 562 is airtightly fixed to the upper surface of the lift 564. The bellows 562 is made of metal and is attached so as to cover the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563.

When the screw shaft 561 is rotated by the motor 566, the nut 565 moves up and down, which moves up and down the elevating table 564 fixed to the nut 565. When the elevating table 564 moves up and down, the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 vertically attached thereto also moves up and down, and the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 attached thereto also moves up and down.

In this embodiment, since the ball screw 560 composed of the screw shaft 561 and the nut 565 is used, friction can be reduced and mechanical efficiency can be increased. Since the ball screw 560 is provided outside the wafer transfer chamber 50, the inside of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be prevented from being contaminated, and as a result, the wafer 5 can be prevented from being contaminated. Further, since the ball screw 560 is provided below the bottom surface 56 of the wafer transfer chamber 50, it is possible to prevent the inside of the wafer transfer chamber 50 from being contaminated by particles generated from the bellows 562.

Further, since the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 is mechanically connected to the lift table 564 by the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 made of rigid stainless steel, the wafer transfer vacuum robot is moved according to the elevation of the lift table 564. The 60 surely moves up and down.

Further, the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 is covered with the bellows 562,
One end of 62 is the through hole 5 in the bottom surface 56 of the wafer transfer chamber 50.
7, which is airtightly fixed to the bottom surface 56 around 7,
Since the other end of 62 is airtightly fixed to the upper surface of the elevating table 564, the airtightness is maintained by the bellows 562, so that the airtightness is ensured and the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be evacuated. Since the movement of the transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 can be separated from the problem of maintaining airtightness,
The movement of the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 is also smooth and reliable.

Furthermore, since the tip end of the wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 563 is fixed to the upper end of the drive unit accommodating portion 61 of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60, the height of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be lowered, and thus the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be lowered. The overall height of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

The entire semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 is a housing 90.
It is housed at 0. A filter (not shown) and a fan (not shown) are provided on the ceiling surface of the housing 900 of the front part 100.
And are provided so that the inside of the housing 900 can be downflowed. A cassette 1 is provided inside the housing 900.
A cassette shelf 11 on which 0 is placed is attached to the housing 900. The cassette shelf 11 is arranged on the opposite side of the wafer storage chamber 30 from the wafer transfer chamber 50. The cassette shelves 11 are arranged at three positions in the plane direction, and vertically stacked in two stages. By providing the cassette shelf 11 in the housing 900, the wafer surface mounted on the cassette 10 can be kept clean. Also, in this way, a plurality of cassette shelves 11
By providing the above, it is possible to arrange the cassettes for each type of processing in accordance with a plurality of processings. It is also possible to arrange a cassette in which the monitor wafer and the dummy wafer are stored.

A cassette insertion port 13 is provided in the lower portion of the front surface 901 of the housing 900, and a cassette stage 12 is provided inside the housing 900 at substantially the same height as the cassette insertion port 13. The cassette stage 12
The cassette 10 loaded into the housing 900 of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 from the cassette loading port 13 is temporarily held first, and the processing is completed by the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 before the cassette 10 is unloaded from the housing 900. Used to hold the cassette temporarily.

The cassette stage 12 is provided in the lower part of the cassette shelf 11, and when the cassette is loaded into the cassette stage 12, particles or the like flowing from the outside of the housing 900 through the cassette loading port 13 are included in the cassette shelf 11. It is possible to reduce the influence on the wafer 5 in the cassette 10 placed on the.

Between the wafer accommodating chamber 30 and the cassette shelf 11, the cassette 10 can be loaded into the cassette shelf 11 and the cassette 10 can be unloaded from the cassette shelf 11, and the wafer 5 can be transferred between the cassette 10 and the wafer accommodating chamber 30. A cassette carrier / wafer carrier 20 capable of carrying is provided. The cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20 includes a screw shaft 29 provided vertically and a nut (not shown) that constitutes a ball screw, and by rotating the screw shaft 29, the cassette transfer / wafer transfer is performed. The machine 20 can be raised and lowered. Since the cassette transfer / wafer transfer device 20 is also provided in the housing 900, the surface of the wafer 5 transferred by the cassette transfer / wafer transfer device 20 can be kept clean.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the cassette carrying / wafer carrying machine 20.

The cassette carrier 21 is mounted on the bases 25 and 26.
A wafer carrier 23 is provided, and the cassette carrier 21 and the wafer carrier 23 can be independently moved in parallel in the direction of the arrow. The cassette carrying machine 21 includes a cassette carrying arm 22, and the cassette 10 is carried by mounting the cassette 10 on a cassette holder 27 attached to the tip of the cassette carrying arm 22. The wafer carrier 23 is provided with a plurality of tweezers 24, and the wafers 5 are mounted on the tweezers 24 to carry the wafers 5.

6A and 6B are views for explaining the pitch converting mechanism of the cassette carrying / wafer carrying machine, FIG. 6A is a side view, and FIG. 6B is a rear view taken along the line YY of FIG. 6A. .

In the present embodiment, the wafer carrier 23
Includes five tweezers 241 to 245. The tweezers 241 are integrated with the block 260. Nuts 23 are provided on the tweezers 242, 243, 244, and 245.
2, 233, 234 and 235 are fixed to each other. The nut 232 and the nut 234 are engaged with the screw shaft 210, and the nut 232 and the nut 234 form a ball screw with the screw shaft 210, respectively. Nut 2
The nut 33 and the nut 235 are meshed with the screw shaft 211, and the nut 233 and the nut 235 form a ball screw with the screw shaft 211. The upper end of the screw shaft 210 and the upper end of the screw shaft 211 are connected to the motor 220 via a gear mechanism (not shown), and the lower end of the screw shaft 210 and the lower end of the screw shaft 211 are rotatably attached to the block 250. It is installed. A nut 270 is attached to the blocks 250 and 260, and the nut 270 is provided so as to mesh with the screw shaft 280, and the nut 270 and the screw shaft 280 form a ball screw. When the screw shaft 280 rotates, the nut 270 moves left and right to move the tweezers 241 to 245 left and right.

The screw shaft 21 meshing with the nut 232.
A zero-pitch screw is formed in the region 212 of 0, and a double-pitch screw is formed in the region 213 of the screw shaft 211 that meshes with the nut 233, and a screw shaft that meshes with the nut 234. A region 214 of 210 is formed with a triple pitch screw, and a region 215 of the screw shaft 211 that meshes with the nut 235 is formed with a four pitch screw. Further, the vertical relative position between the block 250 and the block 260 does not change.
When the screw shaft 210 and the screw shaft 211 are rotated by the motor 220, the block 250 and the block 260 do not move up and down, but the nut 232 moves up and down by a predetermined distance, and the nut 233.
Moves up and down twice as much as the nut 232, the nut 234 moves up and down three times as much as the nut 232, and the nut 235 moves up and down four times as much as the nut 232. Therefore, the tweezers 241
Does not move up and down, the tweezers 242 move up and down a predetermined distance, the tweezers 243 move up and down twice as long as the tweezers 242, the tweezers 244 move up and down three times as long as the tweezers 242, and the tweezers 245 four times longer than the tweezers 242. Move up and down. As a result, the pitch between the tweezers 241 to 245 can be converted while keeping the pitch between the tweezers 241 to 245 uniform.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view for explaining the transfer operation of the wafer 5 in the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1, and the transfer and processing method of the wafer 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

The cassette 10 loaded into the housing 900 of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 from the cassette loading port 13 is
First, it is placed on the cassette stage 12. Next, the cassette transfer arm 22 of the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20
It is placed on the cassette holder 27 attached to the end of the box, transported to the upper part of the housing 900, and then placed on the cassette shelf 11. Next, the cassette carrier 21 moves to the left, and instead, the wafer carrier 23 moves to the right to mount the wafer 5 in the cassette 10 on the tweezers 24. At this time, the pitch between the tweezers 24 is the cassette 1
The distance between the grooves is 0. After that, the wafer carrier 23 is once retracted, the direction is changed by 180 degrees, and then the pitch between the tweezers 24 is converted to the pitch between the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40. Then, the tweezers 24 are moved to the left and the wafer 5 is mounted on the wafer holder 40 in the wafer storage chamber 30. In the present embodiment, five wafers 5 are transferred from the cassette 10 to the wafer holder 40 at one time by the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20. It should be noted that the cassette carrier / wafer carrier 2
When the wafer 5 is transferred into the wafer storage chamber 30 by 0, the gate valve 92 is closed and the front door valve 91 is opened.

Wafer holder 4 in the wafer storage chamber 30
After mounting wafer 5 on 0, front door valve 91
And the inside of the wafer storage chamber 30 is evacuated.

After evacuation, the gate valve 92 is opened.
The wafer transfer chamber 50 is evacuated in advance.

Thereafter, the wafer 5 is mounted on the wafer mounting arm 68 of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 in the wafer transfer chamber 50 in a vacuum, and the wafer 5 is transferred to the wafer storage chamber 30.
The wafer holder 40 in the inside is transferred to the wafer boat 75 in the reaction chamber 70. At this time, the gate valve 93 is opened and the reaction chamber 70 is also evacuated. Since the pitch between the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40 is the same as the pitch between the wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75, the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60
The pitch between the wafer mounting arms 68 of 1 is not changed and remains constant. In the present embodiment, two wafers are transferred from the wafer holder 40 to the wafer boat 75 at a time.
The wafer is transported by the vacuum robot 60.

After the transfer, the gate valve 93 is closed and the reaction chamber 70 is set to a predetermined atmosphere, and predetermined processing such as film formation is simultaneously performed on the two wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75 of the reaction chamber 70.

After the predetermined processing is performed, the reaction chamber 70 is evacuated and then the gate valve 93 is opened. The wafer 5 is transferred to the wafer holder 40 in the wafer storage chamber 30 by the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 in vacuum. At this time, the pitch between the wafer mounting arms 68 of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 does not change and remains constant. Also, two wafers are transferred at one time.

After that, the gate valve 92 is closed, and the inside of the wafer storage chamber 30 is brought to atmospheric pressure with nitrogen or the like, where the wafer 5 is cooled to a predetermined temperature.

Then, the front door valve 91 is opened,
Wafer carrier 2 of cassette carrier and wafer carrier 20
The wafer 5 is transferred into the cassette 10 by 3.
At this time, the pitch between the tweezers 24 is changed from the pitch between the wafer mounting grooves 45 of the wafer holder 40 to the pitch between the grooves of the cassette 10.

When a predetermined number of wafers 5 are loaded into the cassette 10, the cassette carrier 21 of the cassette carrier / wafer carrier 20 transfers the cassette 10 to the cassette stage 12 and then unloads it from the cassette loading port 13. To be done.

As described above, since two wafers are simultaneously processed in the reaction chamber 70, the efficiency of wafer processing is increased. Further, the wafer mounting groove 45 of the wafer holder 40.
The pitch between the wafers 5 mounted on the wafer boat 75 is the same as the pitch between the wafer mounting arms 68 of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60. Therefore, the structure of the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 is simplified, Vacuum contamination can also be prevented. And two wafers 5
Since wafers can be transferred at the same time, wafer transfer efficiency is also improved.

Then, the cassette carrier / wafer carrier 2
Although the pitch between the wafers 5 is variable by 0,
Since the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20 is used under the atmospheric pressure, even if the pitch between the wafers 5 is changed, the structure is simpler than that in the case of under vacuum, and the manufacturing cost is low. Can be suppressed.

As described above, if the pitch between the wafers 5 is variable under atmospheric pressure and the pitch between the wafers 5 is fixed under reduced pressure so that a plurality of wafers 5 can be transferred at the same time, The manufacturing cost can be reduced, the size of the transfer device can be prevented from increasing, and the generation of particles can be suppressed, so that the wafer 5 can be transferred in a clean environment. Further, since a plurality of wafers 5 are transferred at the same time, the throughput is improved and the pitch between the wafers 5 is variable, so that the wafers 5 can be converted into a pitch between the wafers 5 that allows highly accurate wafer processing in the reaction chamber 70.

In this embodiment, the wafer transfer chamber wall 53 and the wafer transfer chamber wall 54 of the wafer transfer chamber 50 are made to face each other, and the reaction chamber 70, the wafer transfer chamber 50, and the wafer storage chamber 30 are placed. And are arranged on a substantially straight line, and the wafer transfer chamber 50 has a rectangular shape in a plan view. When the wafer transfer chamber 50 has a rectangular shape, the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be reduced in size to reduce its occupied area, and the occupied area of the clean room of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 can be reduced. Further, the rectangular shape can reduce the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer chamber 50. The maintenance area can also be reduced. Furthermore, the distance for connecting the wafer transfer chamber 50 to other wafer transfer chambers can be shortened, and the wafer transfer chamber 50 and other wafer transfer chambers can be connected without providing a wafer transfer device at the connecting portion. The wafer 5 can be easily transferred, and the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 has a simple structure accordingly and can be manufactured at low cost.
Further, since the reaction chamber 70, the wafer transfer chamber 50, and the wafer storage chamber 30 are arranged on a substantially straight line, a plurality of semiconductor wafer processing apparatus units having such a configuration can be easily arranged in parallel to each other, and the exclusive use can be achieved. The area can be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment
The reaction chamber 70, the wafer transfer chamber 50, and the wafer storage chamber 30 are provided below the housing 900, and the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60, the screw shaft 561 for moving the wafer transfer vacuum robot 60 up and down, and the like are provided above the housing 900. Although the point is different from the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus of the first embodiment,
The other points are the same.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the six reaction chambers 70 are stacked vertically on the wafer transfer chamber wall 53 of the wafer transfer chamber 50 so as to be separated from each other, and the four wafer storage chambers 30 are stacked in the wafer transfer chamber 50. The wafers are stacked on the wafer transfer chamber wall 54 so as to be vertically separated from each other. In this way, the reaction chamber 7
0, since the number of wafer storage chambers 30 is increasing, the height of the wafer transfer chamber 50 is also high. In order to provide a large number of reaction chambers 70 and wafer accommodating chambers 30 in the housing 900 in this way, in the present embodiment, the convex portion 52 of the wafer transfer chamber 50, the screw shaft 561, the bellows 562, and the wafer transfer vacuum robot support. A part of the bar 563 is a housing 900
Protruding from. By projecting these from the housing 900, it is possible to project them downward from the floor surface of the clean room, and as a result, the height of the wafer transfer chamber 50 can be increased and more reaction chambers can be provided. 70 can be stacked vertically, and more wafer storage chambers 30 can also be stacked vertically, so that more wafers can be processed with a small occupied area.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the reaction chamber 70 (7
0 '), the wafer transfer chamber 50 (50'), the wafer storage chamber 30 (30 '), the cassette transfer / wafer transfer device 20 (20'), and the cassette shelf 11 (11 ') on a substantially straight line. The semiconductor wafer processing apparatus unit 2 (2 ′) having the configuration arranged in FIG. Reaction chamber 70
(70 '), the wafer transfer chamber 50 (50'), the wafer accommodating chamber 30 (30 '), the cassette transfer / wafer transfer device 20 (20'), and the cassette shelf 11 (11 ') are almost directly aligned. Since they are arranged on the line, the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus units 2 and 2'having such a configuration can be easily arranged in parallel, and the area occupied by the entire apparatus can be reduced.

The wafer transfer chamber 50 (50 ') is rectangular in plan view. Wafer transfer chamber 50 (5
If 0 ') is rectangular, the distance for connecting the wafer transfer chamber 50 and the wafer transfer chamber 50' can be shortened, and the wafer transfer chamber 90 provided at the connection portion does not need to be provided with a wafer transfer device. A wafer can be easily transferred between the wafer transfer chamber 50 and another wafer transfer chamber 50 '. Therefore, the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 1 has a correspondingly simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost. The wafer delivery chamber 90 can also be used as a cooling chamber for cooling the wafer or a preheating chamber for preheating the wafer.

Further, a large space can be secured between the reaction chamber 70 and the reaction chamber 70 ', which can be used as a common maintenance area 3 for the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus units 2 and 2'.

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the reaction chamber 70,
A wafer transfer chamber 50, a wafer accommodating chamber 30, a cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine 20, and a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus unit 6 according to the present invention having a configuration in which a cassette 11 shelf is arranged in a substantially straight line, as viewed from above. Hexagonal wafer transfer chamber 150, cassette chambers 131 and 132 provided on the sidewall of wafer transfer chamber 150, and reaction chamber 17
1, 172 and the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus unit 7 including the wafer cooling chamber 142 are connected to each other.

As described above, since the wafer transfer chamber 50 has a rectangular shape, it can be easily connected to the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus unit of another form through the wafer transfer chamber wall 51.

Also in this embodiment, the distance for connecting the wafer transfer chamber 50 and the wafer transfer chamber 150 can be shortened, and the wafer transfer chamber 90 provided at the connecting portion can be provided with no wafer transfer device. A wafer can be easily transferred between the transfer chamber 50 and the wafer transfer chamber 150. Therefore, the entire semiconductor wafer processing equipment
It has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost. The wafer delivery chamber 90 can also be used as a cooling chamber for cooling the wafer or a preheating chamber for preheating the wafer.

FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the wafer transfer chamber 55 is formed in an octagonal shape in plan view, and the reaction chambers 70 are laminated in multi-tiers on each of the seven sides.

FIG. 13 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the reaction chamber 70a shown in FIG.
The wafer transfer chamber 90 connects the one obtained by removing the wafer and the one obtained by removing the reaction chamber 70b in FIG. The wafer delivery chamber 90 can also be used as a cooling chamber for cooling the wafer or a preheating chamber for preheating the wafer.

[0105]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of substrate processing chambers are vertically stacked, the area occupied by the substrate processing chamber in the clean room can be reduced.
Further, the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced to reduce the size of the substrate transfer chamber to reduce its occupied area, and the occupied area of the clean room for the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

When the number of sides of the substrate transfer chamber is reduced,
The manufacturing cost of the substrate transfer chamber can be reduced, and the maintenance area in multiple directions can be reduced. Furthermore, the distance for connecting the substrate transfer chamber to other substrate transfer chambers can be shortened, and the substrate can be transferred between the substrate transfer chamber and other substrate transfer chambers without providing a substrate transfer machine at the connection part. As a result, the substrate processing apparatus has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, since the plurality of substrate processing chambers vertically stacked in this manner are provided separately from each other, when any one of the substrate processing chambers requires maintenance, Only the substrate processing chamber that requires maintenance can be easily removed, and other substrate processing chambers can be operated even when performing maintenance on that substrate processing chamber, resulting in a significant increase in equipment operating efficiency. Improve to.

Also, by arranging a plurality of substrate accommodating chambers vertically on another side wall different from the one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, and by providing them separately from each other, the area occupied by the substrate processing apparatus in the clean room is reduced. In addition, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and when maintenance is required for any of the substrate accommodating chambers, only the substrate accommodating chamber requiring maintenance can be easily removed. It is possible to operate other substrate storage chambers while performing maintenance of the storage chamber.
As a result, the operating efficiency of the device can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a wafer holder used in the first to seventh embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a wafer transfer vacuum robot used in the first to seventh embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a cassette carrying / wafer carrying machine used in the first to seventh embodiments of the present invention.

6A and 6B are views for explaining the pitch conversion mechanism of the cassette transfer / wafer transfer machine used in the first to seventh embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 6A being a side view, and FIG. 6B.
FIG. 6B is a rear view seen from the line YY of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a wafer transfer operation in the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view for explaining a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 2, 2 ', 6, 7 ... Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus unit 3 ... Maintenance area 5 ... Wafer 10, 10' ... Cassette 11 ... Cassette shelf 12 ... Cassette stage 13 ... Cassette loading port 20, 20 ' ... Cassette carrier / wafer carrier 21 ... Cassette carrier 22 ... Cassette carrier arm 23 ... Wafer carrier 24, 241-245 ... Tweezer 27 ... Cassette holder 29, 210, 211, 280, 561 ... Screw shaft 30, 30 '... Wafer accommodating chamber 40, 40 '... Wafer holder 41, 42 ... Strut support plate 43, 44 ... Strut 45 ... Wafer mounting groove 50, 50', 55, 55 '... Wafer transfer chamber 52 ... Convex portion 51, 51 ', 53, 54 ... Wafer transfer chamber walls 60, 60' ... Wafer transfer vacuum robot 61 ... Drive unit accommodating parts 62, 64, 66 ... Rotating shafts 8 ... Wafer mounting arm 69 ... Driving unit 70, 70 ', 70a, 70b ... Reaction chamber 75, 75' ... Wafer boat 81, 82, 83, 84 ... Exhaust pipe 90 ... Wafer transfer chamber 91, 191 ... Front door valve 92, 93, 94, 94 ', 192, 193 ... Gate valve 100 ... Front part 200 ... Atmospheric pressure part 220, 566 ... Motors 232-235, 270, 565 ... Nut 250, 260 ... Block 300 ... Load lock module 500 ... Transfer unit 501 ... Transfer module 560 ... Ball screw 562 ... Bellows 563 ... Wafer transfer vacuum robot support rod 564 ... Elevating table 700 ... Process unit 701 ... Process module 900 ... Housing 901 ... Front of device 902 ... Rear of device 910 ... Bottom of housing

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hisashi Yoshida             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichiro Watabiki             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuji Yoshida             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideo Shimura             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeshi Sugimoto             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yukinori Yukitani             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuto Ikeda             3-14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5F031 CA02 CA11 DA01 DA17 FA01                       FA03 FA07 FA09 FA11 FA12                       FA15 FA25 GA03 GA40 GA43                       GA47 GA49 LA12 LA14 MA02                       MA03 MA04 MA13 NA02 NA04                       NA05 NA07 NA18 PA06 PA26

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate transfer chamber, a plurality of substrate processing chambers adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, the substrate processing chambers being vertically stacked and separated from each other; A substrate transfer machine provided in a transfer chamber, comprising a substrate transfer machine capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers, and between the plurality of substrate processing chambers, the plurality of substrate processing chambers A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a gap is provided in the vertical direction so that each of the other substrate processing chambers can be removed while being attached to the substrate transfer chamber. 2. A plurality of substrate accommodating chambers, which are vertically stacked on another side wall different from the one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, and are provided so as to be spaced from each other. Substrate processing equipment. 3. A substrate transfer chamber, and a substrate processing chamber adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, the substrate processing chambers being vertically stacked and separated from each other. Each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers is a plurality of substrate processing chambers exhausted by a vacuum pump provided outside the substrate processing chamber, and a substrate transfer machine provided in the substrate transfer chamber. A substrate processing apparatus capable of transferring the substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers. 4. A substrate transfer chamber, a plurality of substrate processing chambers adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, the substrate processing chambers being vertically stacked and spaced from each other, and the substrate. A substrate transfer machine provided in a transfer chamber, comprising a substrate transfer machine capable of transferring a substrate to the plurality of substrate processing chambers, and between the plurality of substrate processing chambers, the plurality of substrate processing chambers A gap is provided in the vertical direction so that each of the other substrate processing chambers can be removed while being attached to the substrate transfer chamber, and the substrate is transferred from the substrate transfer chamber to the substrate processing unit by the substrate transfer machine. A method of processing a substrate, which comprises transporting the substrate to a chamber and then processing the substrate in the substrate processing chamber. 5. A substrate transfer chamber, and a substrate processing chamber adjacent to one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber, the substrate processing chambers being vertically stacked and separated from each other. Each of the plurality of substrate processing chambers is a plurality of substrate processing chambers that are evacuated by a vacuum pump provided outside the substrate processing chamber, and a substrate transfer machine that is provided in the substrate transfer chamber. A substrate transporter capable of transporting to the plurality of substrate processing chambers, the substrate transporting device transports a substrate from the substrate transport chamber to the substrate processing chamber, and then processes the substrate in the substrate processing chamber. A substrate processing method characterized by the above.