JP2003142561A - Device for positioning substrate and substrate treatment unit comprising it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for positioning a substrate through a simple structure in which the chipping of the substrate and the generation of duct therefrom can be reduced. SOLUTION: The device 10 for positioning a substrate comprises a stage 14 having a prescribed region 18 for holding a substrate 12 on its upper surface, and at least one roller guide 20 having a roller 22 disposed in proximity to the prescribed region 18 and rotatable about a rotational axis parallel with the upper surface of the stage 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention aligns a substrate having various shapes and materials such as a rectangular glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device or a plasma display device or a circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer at a predetermined position. Then
The present invention relates to a substrate alignment device for holding the substrate, and a substrate processing system using the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacturing process of liquid crystal display devices and plasma display devices, various circuit patterns are formed on an insulating substrate such as glass by using photolithography technology. Also in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices such as LSIs, various circuit patterns and insulating films are formed on a semiconductor substrate (wafer) by using photolithography technology.

In these manufacturing processes, various manufacturing processes are performed on a plurality of substrates by single-wafer processing. For this reason, it is necessary to position the substrates so that the circuit pattern to be formed will not be displaced when the individual substrates are conveyed to the stage of the processing apparatus, and a fixed pin guide (positioning pin) or a movable alignment mechanism is used. Is provided in a conventional processing apparatus (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-163).
095).

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-91947 discloses a processing device having a robot arm equipped with a sensor for detecting the position of a substrate. According to this technique, the substrate can be placed at a predetermined position by controlling the movement amount of the robot arm and correcting the positional deviation based on the detected position information of the substrate.

[0005]

In the conventional technique of providing the fixed pin guide, the edge of the substrate is in contact with the fixed pin guide or the movable alignment mechanism. The photoresist or insulating film formed on the edge part is partially peeled off to generate dust.

When a chip is formed on the substrate, the chipped substrate itself poses a problem as a defective substrate. On the other hand, even if the chipped itself does not pose a problem, the substrate is likely to be broken from the chipped portion. .

Further, when the generated dust adheres to the surface of the substrate, the circuit pattern becomes defective at the portion where the dust adheres. On the other hand, when dust adheres to the back surface of the substrate, the substrate becomes oblique with respect to the light source in the photolithography process, and the focus shifts. As a result, a desired pattern cannot be formed.

When a robot arm equipped with a sensor for detecting the position of the substrate is used in the substrate processing apparatus, the fixed pin guide that comes into contact with the substrate is not used, so that the generation of dust is not a problem. However, when the substrate needs to be moved up and down, for example, in a photolithography process after the substrate is placed at a predetermined position by the robot arm, this apparatus easily shifts the position of the substrate after the up and down. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the position each time the elevator is moved up and down.
In addition, it is necessary to provide the robot arm with precision equipment such as a sensor that detects the position of the board and a mechanism that corrects the position, which requires a larger size of the robot arm and a space for ensuring the operation of the robot arm. To become. As a result, the entire device becomes large.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to align a substrate with a relatively simple structure and to reduce chipping and dust generation of the substrate. An object is to provide an apparatus and a substrate processing system using the apparatus.

[0010]

The substrate alignment apparatus of the present invention is rotatable with respect to a stage having a predetermined area for holding a substrate on its upper surface and a rotation axis parallel to the upper surface of the stage. , At least one or more roller guides having rollers provided adjacent to the predetermined area.

In the substrate aligning device, when the substrate is placed so that a part of the substrate comes into contact with the roller and another part comes into contact with a predetermined area of the stage, the weight of the substrate causes the substrate to move. Rollers rotate to push the substrate towards a predetermined area of the stage.

A mechanism for collecting foreign matter may be provided below the roller guide. The mechanism for collecting foreign matter may be a recess provided in the stage, or may have an exhaust mechanism connected to the recess. Further, a particle counter may be provided which is connected to the exhaust mechanism.

The substrate alignment apparatus may further include a roller guide moving mechanism for moving the roller guide in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis and parallel to the upper surface of the stage. In this case, the rotation axis of the roller is preferably above the upper surface of the stage.
The roller guide moving mechanism may have an air cylinder or may have a motor. In addition, the substrate alignment device may include an elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers the substrate in the predetermined area.

The predetermined area may be rectangular, and the roller guides may be provided near each side of the rectangle.

Further, the substrate processing system of the present invention, the substrate alignment apparatus, the substrate transfer mechanism for loading / unloading the substrate to / from the stage of the substrate alignment apparatus, and the substrate placed on the stage of the substrate alignment apparatus. On the other hand, a substrate processing apparatus for performing processing is provided.

The substrate processing apparatus may include a heater provided on the stage of the substrate alignment apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus may be a coating apparatus that coats a photoresist on the substrate.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a substrate alignment apparatus and a substrate processing system using the same according to the present invention will be described below.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b)
As shown in FIG.
Has a stage 14 for holding the substrate 12. A predetermined region 18 in which the substrate 12 is positioned and held is set on the upper surface 16 of the stage 14. A region 18 surrounded by a broken line is usually provided with a shape corresponding to the shape of the substrate 12 and has a size obtained by adding a margin to the outer size of the substrate 12. This margin is determined by a device for incorporating the substrate alignment apparatus according to the present invention, a device for performing processing such as heating applied to the substrate, and a required process accuracy.

The shape of the substrate 12 is not limited to a particular shape. In the present embodiment, it is rectangular, and therefore the shape of the region 18 is also rectangular.

Adjacent to the area 18, the substrate alignment apparatus 10 includes one or more roller guides 20. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), two roller guides 20 are provided on each side of the rectangle and near each vertex. The position and number of the roller guides 20 depend on the shape of the substrate 12 and the accuracy with which the positioning is performed with respect to the region 18. For example, side 1 of region 18
If the substrate 12 only needs to be positioned with respect to 8a, in other words, the substrate 12 is located in the area 1 rather than the side 18a.
If it is only necessary to position the roller guides 8 so that they are not held on the outer side of 8, the two roller guides 20 adjacent to the side 18a may be provided. When the side 18a is short, only one roller guide 20 need be provided near the center of the side 18a.

The roller guide 20, as shown in FIG.
It has a roller 22 and a support portion 24 that holds the roller 22 at a predetermined position with respect to the stage 14. Roller 22
Is held by the support portion 24 so that its rotation axis 26 is parallel to the upper surface 16 of the stage 14, and
The support portion 24 holds the roller 22 so that at least a part of the roller 22 is located above the upper surface 16. Therefore, a part of the roller guide 20 is housed in the recess 28 provided in the stage 14. A spring or the like may be provided on the support portion 24 so as to elastically hold the roller 22. The roller 22 is the roller 22 as shown by the arrow in FIG.
The surface above the upper surface 16 of the can be rotated toward the area 18.

Preferably, the rotary shaft 26 of the roller 22 is also arranged parallel to the side 18a of the area 18. The roller 22 is preferably adjacent to the area 18, and the side surface of the roller 22 is preferably in contact with the area 18.

In the case of this embodiment, for example, as the substrate,
A glass substrate having a size of 550 mm × 650 mm × 0.7 mm is used, and a roller 22 having a diameter of about 10 mm to 30 mm is used. It is preferable that the diameter of the roller 22 be a value three times or more as large as the alignment accuracy when the robot arm 38 described later places the substrate 12 on the stage 14. Further, the roller 22 is preferably made of PEEK (polyether ether ketone) or the like.

The rotary shaft 26 of the roller 22 is connected to the stage 14
It is preferable that the height is equal to or higher than the upper surface 16 of the substrate 16 by the thickness of the substrate 12. As a result, the stage 14
Even if the substrate 12 moves above and comes into contact with the roller 22, it is possible to prevent the substrate 12 from climbing up to the roller 22 or getting under the roller 22.

The substrate alignment device 10 includes an elevating device 3 for elevating and lowering the substrate 12 in the area 18 as required.
0 is provided. The lifting device 30 includes a pin 32 that holds the substrate 12 and a motor 3 that moves the pin 32 in the vertical direction.
4 and gear 36. Also, a robot arm 38 for transporting the substrate 12 to the area 18 of the stage 14 and to another location from the area 18 is typically used with the substrate alignment apparatus 10.

Next, the operation of the substrate alignment apparatus 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. First, the robot arm 38 conveys the substrate 12 from another place to above the area 18 of the substrate alignment device 10, and the substrate 12 is placed on the pins 32 of the lifting device 30 which is kept in the raised state.
Put. After that, the pins 32 descend and the substrate 12 is held on the upper surface 16 of the stage 14. At this time, the substrate 12
When the position of is shifted from the area 18, for example, FIG.
As shown in, a part of the substrate 12 rides on the roller 22 near the side 18a. However, roller 22
Can rotate in the direction of the arrow in the figure, so that the roller 22 rotates by the weight of the substrate 12 so as to push the substrate 12 toward the predetermined region 18.

When the pushed-out substrate 12 is separated from the roller 22, the whole surface contacts the upper surface 16 of the stage 14,
After that, it stops on the stage 14 without moving largely. As a result, as shown in FIG.
Moves the stage 14 to fit within the area 18. As a result, the substrate 12 is aligned within the region 18 on the stage 14. In the example shown in FIG. 3B, the roller 22 is also provided on the side 18b of the area 18 that faces the side 18a. Therefore, when the substrate 12 moves largely, it contacts the roller 22 near the side 18b. Then, the substrate 12 stops.

According to this embodiment, when the substrate 12 moves on the stage 14, the roller 22 rotates in response to the movement of the substrate 12. Therefore, the force applied to the portion of the substrate 12 that is in contact with the roller 22 is smaller than the friction that occurs when the substrate moves due to the contact with the conventional fixed pin guide, and the chipping of the substrate 12 or the roller of the substrate 12 occurs. The photoresist applied or adhered to the contacting portion of 22 is less likely to peel off. As a result, the generation of foreign matter such as dust is reduced. Further, since the force applied to the substrate 12 becomes small, the occurrence of chipping of the substrate 12 can be reduced.

Further, in the substrate alignment apparatus 10 of the present invention, a small amount of dust generated by the contact between the roller 22 and the substrate 12 falls into the recess 28 provided in the lower portion of the roller guide 20 as a mechanism for collecting foreign matter. Therefore, it does not adhere to the upper surface 16 of the stage 14. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent the generated dust from adhering to the back surface of the substrate 12 and adversely affecting the lithography process or the like.

Further, since the structure of the roller guide 20 having such an effect is not complicated, it is easy to maintain and inspect and the failure is unlikely to occur. Therefore, the reliability of the substrate alignment apparatus is high.

In the substrate alignment apparatus 10, the recess 2
If foreign matter such as dust collected in 8 is removed, there is no possibility that the collected dust will be scattered to the stage 14 for some reason. For this purpose, as shown in FIG.
An exhaust pipe 40 may be provided in the exhaust pipe 40, and an exhaust device 42 as shown in FIG. 4 may be connected to the exhaust pipe 40.

The exhaust device 42 comprises a control unit 44, an air operation valve 48 and a pump 50,
The air operation valve 48 is driven by the air controlled by the solenoid valve 46. Each roller guide 20
An exhaust pipe 40 connected to the lower recess 28 (not shown in FIG. 4) is connected to a pump 50 via an air operation valve 48. The control unit 44 uses the pump 5
0 and a control signal to the solenoid valve 46 to control the exhaust device 42 as a whole.

The exhaust device 42 is operated according to the amount of foreign matter such as dust collected in the recess 28 and the environment required for the manufacturing process in which the substrate alignment apparatus 10 of the present invention is used. For example, in order to remove foreign matter such as dust, the exhaust device 42 may be operated so that the exhaust pipe 40 constantly exhausts air. Alternatively, when the substrate 12 contacts the roller 22 and when the substrate 12 separates from the roller 22, dust is mainly generated. Therefore, the exhaust device 42 may be operated so that the exhaust pipe 40 exhausts gas only at these times. For example,
When the substrate coated with the photoresist is heat-treated to remove the solvent, there may be a problem that the evaporation of the solvent from the substrate becomes non-uniform due to the air flow generated in the atmosphere near the substrate. In such a case, as described above, the substrate 1
Exhausting gas only when the roller 2 and the roller 22 are in contact with each other can prevent the solvent evaporation from being adversely affected.

In addition to the exhaust device 42, a particle counter 52 may be provided in the exhaust device 42 to monitor the degree of dust generation in order to measure the number of foreign matters such as dust in the exhausted air. Based on the value measured by the particle counter 52, the exhaust timing, the exhaust time, etc. can be controlled. In addition, for example, increase in dust generation means that unnecessary dirt such as photoresist has adhered to the end surface of the substrate 12 or the roller 22 has become dirty. Therefore, the particle counter 52 is used. By monitoring the degree of dust generation, it is possible to manage the process performed on the substrate and the substrate alignment apparatus 10.

As described above, the exhaust device 42 is provided in the substrate alignment device 10 and foreign matter such as dust is removed to the outside of the substrate alignment device 10 to temporarily convey the substrate and position it on the stage. Even if foreign matter such as is generated, its adverse effect can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment,
The roller guide 20 was fixed to the stage 14 of the substrate alignment apparatus 10. However, the substrate 12 held on the stage 14 may be moved on the stage 14 using the roller guide 20 to perform more accurate positioning.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are enlarged views showing the vicinity of the roller guide 20 of the substrate aligning apparatus 60 having such a mechanism, and the substrate aligning apparatus 6 is shown.
0 is provided with a roller guide moving mechanism 62 that moves the roller guide 20 in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis 26 of the roller 22 and parallel to the upper surface 16 of the stage 14.
The roller guide moving mechanism 62 moves the robot arm 64 connected to the roller guide 20 and the robot arm 64 to move the roller guide 20 in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis 26 of the roller 22 and on the upper surface of the stage 14. It has a cylinder 66 that moves in parallel with 16.
The robot arm 64 is provided with a stopper 68, and the roller guide 20 for aligning the substrate 12 is provided.
Position and the standby position of the roller guide when not aligned.

The rotary shaft 26 of the roller guide 22 is the substrate 16
Is preferably located above the upper surface of. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably prevent the substrate 12 from riding on the roller 22 while the roller 22 pushes the substrate 12 to move the substrate 12. Further, in the portion where the roller guide 22 is provided, the end face of the substrate 12 is the upper surface 1 of the stage 14.
It protrudes from 6.

In addition, the direction 7 in which the roller guide 20 moves
0 is preferably provided with a roller guide 20 provided with a roller guide moving mechanism 62 that moves in a direction opposite to the direction 70 so as to sandwich the substrate 12. By being sandwiched by the two roller guides 20, it is possible to perform more accurate positioning with respect to the substrate 12 in the direction 70. One roller guide 20 may be a conventional fixed locating pin.

As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b),
The substrate 12 is transported from elsewhere to above the area 18 of the substrate aligner 60, and then the pins 32 are lowered,
The substrate 12 is held on the upper surface 16 of the stage 14. As described in the first embodiment, even if the position of the substrate 12 largely deviates from the region 18 and a part of the substrate 12 rides on the roller 22, the weight of the substrate 12 causes the roller 22 to move.
Rotates so as to push the substrate 12 toward the predetermined region 18, so that the substrate 12 is positioned in the predetermined region 18.

Subsequently, the roller guide moving mechanism 62 moves the roller guide 20 to the position of the roller guide 20 for aligning the substrate 12 while pushing the substrate 12 toward the center of the area 18. This allows the substrate 12 to be reliably aligned with the narrower region 19 of the region 18 with a smaller margin.

According to this embodiment, a more precise substrate 12
Can be positioned.

Although the roller guide moving mechanism 62 has a piston, it is not limited to the piston and various moving mechanisms may be used. For example, as shown in FIG.
The roller guide moving mechanism 80 has a robot arm 82 connected to the roller guide 20, a motor 84 to which a pulley having a protrusion is attached, and a gear 86, and the rotation of the motor 84 causes the gear 86 to rotate via the pulley. The robot arm 82 is moved. The roller guide 2 for aligning the substrate 12 by detecting the protrusion provided on the pulley by the two sensors 88.
The roller guide 20 can be moved to the position of 0 and the standby position of the roller guide when not aligned.

(Embodiment 3) The substrate alignment apparatus of Embodiments 1 and 2 can be incorporated into various substrate processing systems used in the manufacturing process of liquid crystal display devices and semiconductor devices.

The substrate processing system 100 shown in FIG. 8 is an apparatus for applying a photoresist to the substrate 12 and performing heat treatment. The substrate processing system 100 includes a substrate 12
Load / unload unit 102 for loading / unloading
And a heat treatment device 1 incorporating a coating treatment device 106 having a device for coating a photoresist on the substrate 12 and a heater for heat treating the substrate 12 coated with the photoresist.
08 and. Between the load / unload unit 102 and the coating processing apparatus 106 and the heat treatment apparatus 106,
A transfer table 104 for transferring the substrate 12 is provided, and the robot arm 110 transfers the substrate between the transfer table 104 and the load / unload unit 102. Similarly, the robot arm 112 conveys the substrate 12 between the transfer table 104, the coating processing apparatus 106, and the thermal processing apparatus 108.

The substrate alignment device 112 having the same structure as in the first or second embodiment is used as the substrate transfer table 10.
The heat treatment device 108 has two
A board substrate alignment device 112 is incorporated.

The robot arm 110 takes out the unprocessed substrate 12 from the substrate transfer cassette 114 held by the load / unload unit 102 and transfers it to the delivery table 104. The delivery table 104 rotates the substrate 12 by 90 degrees, then aligns the substrate 12 with the substrate alignment device 112, and leaves the substrate 12 as it is until it reaches room temperature (24 ° C.). After that, the robot arm 111 receives the substrate 12 on the transfer table 104, and the coating processing apparatus 10
The substrate 12 is transported to 6.

After the photoresist is applied to the substrate 12 in the coating processing apparatus 106, the robot arm 111 receives the substrate from the coating processing apparatus 106, and the heat treatment apparatus 1
The substrate 12 is transported to 08. Here, after the positioning is performed by the substrate alignment device 112, the substrate 12 is heated at a predetermined temperature (for example, 80 ° C. to 140 ° C.) to evaporate the solvent in the photoresist.

The substrate 12 on which the heat treatment is completed is transferred from the heat treatment device 112 to the transfer table 10 by the robot arm 111.
After being returned to No. 4 and rotated by 90 degrees, the robot arm 110 stores it in the substrate transfer cassette 114.

According to the substrate processing system 100, the substrate 12 is aligned by the substrate alignment device 112 before or after being transported by at least the robot arms 110 and 112. Therefore, even if the robot arms 110 and 112 have no control mechanism for correcting the alignment, the robot arms 110 and 112 are
Can deliver the substrate 12 to the correct position. Moreover, since the structure of the substrate alignment device 112 is relatively simple, it is highly reliable and easy to maintain and inspect.

Further, in the heat treatment apparatus 108, since the alignment is performed using the substrate alignment apparatus 112, even if the end surface of the substrate 122 is contaminated with unnecessary photoresist as described in the first embodiment, the photoresist is not used. The amount of dust generated by peeling off is small. Even if dust is generated, the foreign matter is removed by the exhaust mechanism so that foreign matter such as dust does not adhere to the stage of the heat treatment apparatus 112 as described in the first embodiment. This eliminates the need for maintenance such as cleaning for removing the generated dust, reduces the frequency of maintenance, and realizes a substrate processing system that is easy to manage.

[0052]

According to the substrate alignment apparatus of the present invention,
Since the roller is provided close to a predetermined area for holding the substrate on the stage, when the substrate is placed on the stage with a deviation from the predetermined area, a part of the substrate overlaps the roller. As a result, when the roller rotates due to the weight of the substrate, the substrate moves to a predetermined area, the substrate is set within the predetermined area of the stage, and the substrate is aligned with the predetermined area. At this time, since the roller rotates in response to the movement of the substrate, chipping of the substrate and peeling of the photoresist adhering to the portion of the substrate in contact with the roller are less likely to occur, and the generation of foreign matter such as dust is reduced. To do. The roller for alignment has a simple structure, and therefore has excellent reliability and maintainability.

Further, by providing a mechanism for collecting foreign matter below the roller guide, it is possible to prevent the foreign matter from scattering on the stage, and by providing an exhaust mechanism for removing the foreign matter, the foreign matter is completely removed from the vicinity of the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the influence of dust or foreign matter that may occur during alignment.

Further, by providing a roller guide moving mechanism, more accurate substrate position alignment becomes possible.

A substrate processing system incorporating such a substrate alignment apparatus produces less dust and is therefore easy to manage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an embodiment of an alignment apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a main part of the alignment device shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the alignment device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an exhaust mechanism that can be used in the alignment device shown in FIG.

5A is a side view showing a main part of a second embodiment of an alignment apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a plan view thereof.

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the alignment apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modified example of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a substrate processing system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 60, 112 Substrate alignment device 12 substrates 14 stages 16 Top 18 areas 20 Roller guide 22 Laura 26 rotation axis 28 recess 30 Lifting device 32 pins 38 robot arm 40 exhaust pipe 42 Exhaust device 62,80 Roller guide moving mechanism 66 cylinders 84 motor 100 Substrate processing system 102 Load / unload section 104 Delivery stand 106 coating device 108 Heat treatment equipment 110,111 robot arm

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H025 AB14 AB16 EA05                 5F031 CA02 CA05 FA02 FA07 FA12                       FA15 GA02 GA48 HA02 HA33                       JA01 JA22 JA43 KA01 KA02                       KA12 LA14 LA15 MA26 MA30                       NA14 PA26

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A stage having a predetermined area for holding a substrate on its upper surface, and a roller rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the upper surface of the stage and provided in proximity to the predetermined area. And at least one roller guide having. 2. When the substrate is placed on the roller so that a part of the substrate is in contact with the roller and the other part is in contact with a predetermined area of the stage, the roller causes the roller to move the substrate by the weight of the substrate. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate alignment apparatus rotates so as to push the stage toward a predetermined area. 3. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for collecting foreign matter below the roller guide. 4. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism for collecting the foreign matter is a recess provided in the stage. 5. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the mechanism for collecting the foreign matter further includes an exhaust mechanism connected to the recess. 6. The mechanism for collecting the foreign matter further includes a particle counter connected to an exhaust mechanism.
The substrate alignment device according to. 7. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a roller guide moving mechanism that moves the roller guide in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis and in parallel with an upper surface of the stage. 8. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the rotation axis of the roller is above the upper surface of the stage. 9. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the roller guide moving mechanism has an air cylinder. 10. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the roller guide moving mechanism has a motor. 11. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined region has a rectangular shape, and the roller guide is provided near each side of the rectangle. 12. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers the substrate in the predetermined area. 13. The substrate alignment apparatus according to claim 1, a substrate transfer mechanism for loading / unloading a substrate to / from the stage of the substrate alignment apparatus, and a substrate alignment mechanism mounted on the stage of the substrate alignment apparatus. With respect to the substrate
A substrate processing system including a substrate processing apparatus that performs processing. 14. The substrate processing system according to claim 13, wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes a heater provided on a stage of the substrate alignment apparatus. 15. The substrate processing system according to claim 13, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is a coating apparatus that coats a photoresist on the substrate.