JP2004006854A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of keeping a time, which is required for cleaning a substrate after a film forming process is finished, constant, uniformly cleaning the substrate, and transferring the substrate subjected to a film forming process as keeping it clean. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate processing apparatus is equipped with a substrate cleaning device 1 for cleaning the substrate subjected to a film forming process through a CVD processing device 12 provided with a processing unit. Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus is equipped with cleaning units 6 and 7 for cleaning the surface of the substrate, a reversing/cleaning unit 8 for cleaning the rear of the substrate, an indexer unit 75 provided with a loading/unloading table 73 where a substrate transfer cassette 12 is mounted, the processing unit of a CVD processing device 12, and substrate transfer mechanisms 4 and 74 for transferring the substrates from the cleaning units 6 and 7 and the second cleaning unit 8 to the indexer unit 75. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a cleaning process after forming a film on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, or a mask substrate for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a film forming apparatus that performs a film forming process such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition), or sputtering, the substrate is liable to be contaminated particularly in the transfer process. For this reason, it is necessary to transport the substrate subjected to the film formation processing by the film formation processing apparatus to the substrate cleaning apparatus and perform the cleaning before performing the photolithography process.
[0003]
Conventionally, in order to perform such cleaning of a substrate, a substrate that is sequentially discharged after completing a film forming process from a film forming apparatus is stored in a substrate transport cassette that can store, for example, about 25 substrates. To the substrate cleaning device. That is, the substrates discharged from the film forming apparatus are sequentially stored in a substrate transport cassette provided in an indexer section of the film forming apparatus. When the substrate transport cassette is full of substrates, the substrate transport cassette is transported to the indexer section of the substrate cleaning device manually or by a cassette transport device. Thereafter, the substrates in the substrate transport cassette are sequentially taken out and loaded into the substrate cleaning apparatus, thereby cleaning the substrates.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to such a conventional configuration, the time from completion of the film forming process to cleaning is different for each substrate. That is, in the indexer section of the film formation processing apparatus, the substrate stored first in the substrate transfer cassette after the film formation processing is completed and the substrate stored last in the substrate transfer cassette after the film formation processing is completed. The time until cleaning is greatly different. Further, in the indexer section of the substrate cleaning apparatus, the substrate that is first taken out of the substrate transport cassette and subjected to the cleaning process and the substrate that is finally taken out of the substrate transport cassette and subjected to the cleaning process are separated after the completion of the film forming process. The time until cleaning is greatly different. Further, when a plurality of substrate transfer cassettes are collectively transferred from the film forming apparatus to the substrate cleaning apparatus, the time difference becomes more remarkable. When such a time difference occurs, the substrate cannot be uniformly processed. Such a problem is a problem that has arisen particularly with recent pattern miniaturization.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a first object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly processing a substrate by keeping the time until the substrate is cleaned after the film forming process is completed.
[0006]
Also, when transferring a substrate transport cassette containing substrates after film formation processing from an indexer section of a film forming apparatus to an indexer section of a substrate cleaning apparatus by a manual or cassette transport device, the entire transport path must be sufficient. If not kept clean, the substrate after film formation will be contaminated.
[0007]
A second object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of transporting a substrate after a film forming process from a film forming apparatus to a substrate cleaning apparatus in a clean state.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An invention according to claim 1 is a substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate, on which a film is formed by a film forming apparatus having a processing unit, by a substrate cleaning apparatus, wherein the first cleaning is performed for cleaning a surface of the substrate. A unit, a second cleaning unit for cleaning the back surface of the substrate, an indexer unit having a carry-in / carry-out table on which a substrate transport cassette is placed, a processing unit of the film forming apparatus, and a first cleaning unit. A unit, a substrate transport mechanism for transporting the substrate between the second cleaning unit, and the indexer unit.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the first cleaning units are provided, and the transport mechanism receives a substrate having completed the film forming process from the film forming apparatus. After that, the transport operation of the substrate transport mechanism is controlled so that the time required for transporting the substrate to the first cleaning unit and starting cleaning is the same between the first cleaning units. Control means for performing the operation.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus 1 together with a CVD processing apparatus 2.
[0011]
The CVD processing apparatus 2 includes an indexer unit 75 including a loading / unloading table 73 and a substrate transport mechanism 74.
[0012]
The carry-in / carry-out table 73 of the CVD processing apparatus 2 is configured such that a plurality of substrate transport cassettes 12 can be placed thereon. The substrate transport cassette 12 containing a large number of substrates is transported by a cassette transport device or the like from the preceding processing step, and is placed on the loading / unloading table 73. The substrate that has been subjected to the CVD processing by the CVD processing apparatus 2 and cleaned by the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 is stored in the substrate transport cassette 12 placed on the loading / unloading table 73.
[0013]
The substrate transport mechanism 74 of the CVD processing apparatus 2 is for transporting a substrate between the loading / unloading table 73 and a CVD processing unit (not shown) of the CVD processing apparatus 2 and the transfer unit 31. The substrate transport mechanism 74 includes a base 77 that can reciprocate along a carry-in / carry-out table 73, a support base 78 that can rotate and move up and down on the base 77, and can move in the front-rear direction with respect to the support base 78. A pair of upper and lower transfer arms (only the upper one is shown in FIG. 1) 79 is provided. For this reason, the substrate transport mechanism 74 moves to a position facing each of the substrate transport cassettes 12 and the transfer section 31 placed on the loading / unloading table 73, and at that position, a pair of upper and lower transport arms 79 is used. The substrate can be delivered. Further, the transfer mechanism 74 inverts the transfer arm 79 by 180 ° from the state shown in FIG. 1 so that the substrate can be connected to a CVD processing unit (not shown) of the CVD processing apparatus 2 or a transfer mechanism inside the CVD processing apparatus. Can be passed between.
[0014]
The substrate cleaning apparatus 1 includes a substrate transport mechanism 4 and a cleaning unit 9 including cleaning units 6 and 7 and a reverse cleaning unit 8.
[0015]
The substrate transport mechanism 4 is for transporting a substrate between the cleaning unit 9 and the transfer unit 31 of the CVD processing apparatus 2. The substrate transport mechanism 4 includes a base 13 that can reciprocate along the cleaning unit 9, a support 14 that can rotate and move up and down on the base 13, and an up-down movable that can move in the front-rear direction with respect to the support 14. A pair of transfer arms (only the upper one is shown in FIG. 1) 15 is provided. For this reason, the substrate transport mechanism 4 moves to a position facing each of the cleaning units 6 and 7 and the reverse cleaning unit 8 of the cleaning unit 9 and each of the transfer units 31 in the CVD processing apparatus 2, and at that position, a pair of upper and lower The substrate can be transferred by the transfer arm 15.
[0016]
More specifically, one of the upper and lower transfer arms 15 receives the substrate placed on the cleaning units 6 and 7, the reverse cleaning unit 8 or the transfer unit 31 by one of the transfer arms 15, and transfers the substrate to the other transfer arm 15. The substrate is transferred by placing the held substrate on the substrate transport cassette 12, the cleaning units 6, 7 or the transfer unit 31.
[0017]
The substrate transport mechanism 4 transports the substrate from the transfer section 31 of the CVD processing apparatus 2 to the cleaning unit 6 and transports the substrate from the transfer section 31 of the CVD processing apparatus 2 to the cleaning unit 7. The transfer operation is controlled so that the transfer time T7 required for the transfer is the same.
[0018]
More specifically, the transport time T6 to the cleaning unit 6 that requires no time for transport because the transport unit 31 is close to the transfer unit 31 of the CVD processing apparatus 2 is separated from the transfer unit 31 and the transport time T6. After the transfer arm 15 receives the substrate from the transfer unit 31, the base 13 of the substrate transfer mechanism 4 stops for a short time so that the transfer time T7 to the cleaning unit 7, which takes a long time, becomes the same as the transfer time T7. To the cleaning unit 6 to transport the substrate.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a main part of the cleaning unit 6. The cleaning unit 7 has the same configuration as the cleaning unit 6.
[0020]
The cleaning unit 6 includes a spin chuck 21 that rotates while holding the substrate W, and a brush mechanism 22 that cleans the surface of the rotating substrate W held by the spin chuck 21.
[0021]
The spin chuck 21 has a support 26 connected to a rotation shaft 25 of a motor 24. A plurality of substrate holding pins 27 that are in contact with only the edge of the substrate W are provided on the support 26. An inner cup 23 is provided around the spin chuck 21 to prevent the cleaning liquid scattered from the substrate W from scattering to the outside due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the substrate W. The inner cup 23 is configured to be movable in the up and down direction by a lifting means (not shown).
[0022]
The brush mechanism 22 has an arm 28 that can swing between a standby position indicated by a solid line and a cleaning position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 around a spindle disposed outside the inner cup 23. A cleaning brush 29 is provided at the tip of the arm 28 in a downward state. The cleaning brush 29 rotates around a vertical axis. Note that the arm 28 is configured to be vertically movable between a position where the lower end of the cleaning brush 29 contacts the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and a position where the lower end of the cleaning brush 29 is separated therefrom by a lifting unit (not shown). .
[0023]
When the substrate W is cleaned by the cleaning unit 6, the substrate W is rotated while being held by the spin chuck 21. Further, a cleaning liquid such as pure water is supplied to the surface of the substrate W from a nozzle (not shown). Then, the arm 28 is moved to the cleaning position and then lowered, so that the cleaning brush 29 is brought into contact with the rotating substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the cleaning brush 29 itself is rotated. Then, the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 is cleaned by moving the cleaning brush 29 to the edge of the substrate W. When the cleaning of the substrate W is completed, the substrate W is dried by blowing a nitrogen gas from a nozzle (not shown) onto the substrate W and rotating the substrate W at a high speed.
[0024]
The reversal cleaning unit 8 is for reversing the substrate W carried therein around the horizontal axis and cleaning the back surface thereof.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the reversing cleaning unit 8, FIG. 4 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing a main part of the reversing mechanism 42. The substrate reversing cleaning unit 8 includes a cleaning mechanism 41 and a reversing mechanism 42.
[0026]
The cleaning mechanism 41 has the same configuration as the cleaning unit 6 shown in FIG. That is, the cleaning mechanism 41 includes the spin chuck 21 that holds and rotates the substrate W, and the brush mechanism 22 that cleans the rotating substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 from above. 3 and 4, the same members as those of the cleaning unit 6 shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
[0027]
The spin chuck 21 has a support 26 connected to a rotation shaft 25 of a motor 24. A plurality of substrate holding pins 27 that are in contact with only the edge of the substrate W are provided on the support 26. An inner cup 23 is provided around the spin chuck 21 to prevent the cleaning liquid scattered from the substrate W from scattering to the outside due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the substrate W. The inner cup 23 is configured to be movable in the up and down direction by a lifting means (not shown).
[0028]
The brush mechanism 22 has an arm 28 that can swing between a standby position indicated by a solid line and a cleaning position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 around a spindle disposed outside the inner cup 23. A cleaning brush 29 is provided at the tip of the arm 28 in a downward state. The cleaning brush 29 rotates around a vertical axis. Note that the arm 28 is configured to be vertically movable between a position where the lower end of the cleaning brush 29 contacts the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and a position where the lower end of the cleaning brush 29 is separated therefrom by a lifting unit (not shown). .
[0029]
The reversing mechanism 42 has a pair of substantially arc-shaped chucks 51 for holding the edge of the substrate W. The bases of the pair of chucks 51 are supported by a pair of supports 53, respectively, and the chucks 51 are arranged at slightly different heights. Each of the chucks 51 is provided with two support members 52 made of fluororesin, which are in contact with only the edge portions of the substrate W. Further, the pair of supports 53 are configured to be movable in the horizontal direction along a guide member 55 attached to the rotating plate 54. These supports 53 are urged by springs (not shown) in directions approaching each other.
[0030]
As shown in FIG. 5, the rotating plate 54 has a pair of link mechanisms 50 symmetrically arranged. As shown in FIG. 3, the link mechanism 50 includes a first link 56 that rotates around an axis connected to the rotating plate 54, a first link 56 connected at one end to the first link 56, and a second support 56 at the other end. A second link 57 is connected to the first link 56, and a third link 58 is connected at one end to the first link 56 and at the other end to the other support 53. When the cylinder rod of the air cylinder 59 presses the connecting portion between the first link 56 and the third link 58, each of the links 56, 57, and 58 shifts from a bent state to an extended state. Of the chucks 51 move in a direction away from each other. Further, when the cylinder rod of the air cylinder 59 contracts, the pair of chucks 51 move in directions approaching each other by the action of a spring (not shown).
[0031]
A rotating plate 54 connected to a support 53 that supports the pair of chucks 51 is fixed to a rotating shaft of a motor 61. Therefore, by rotating the rotation shaft of the motor 61 by 180 °, the pair of chucks 51 can be rotated by 180 ° together with the substrate W held thereon. In addition, the pair of chucks 51 move up and down by driving an elevating air cylinder 62 shown in FIG.
[0032]
When the reverse surface of the substrate W is cleaned by the reverse cleaning unit 8, the substrate W transported upward by the transport arm 15 of the substrate transport mechanism 4 is once held on the spin chuck 21. Then, the pair of chucks 51 in the reversing mechanism 42 are lowered, and after holding the substrate W by the chucks 51, the chucks 51 are raised. When the chuck 51 rises to a predetermined height, the rotating plate 54 is rotated by 180 ° together with the chuck 51 by driving the motor 61. Thus, the substrate W held by the chuck 51 is turned upside down. Subsequently, after the chuck 51 is lowered to hold the substrate W on the spin chuck 21, the chuck 51 is retracted upward.
[0033]
Then, the arm 28 is moved to the cleaning position and then lowered, so that the cleaning brush 29 is brought into contact with the rotating substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the cleaning brush 29 itself is rotated. By moving the cleaning brush 29 to the edge of the substrate W, the back surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 is cleaned. When the cleaning of the substrate W is completed, the substrate W is dried by blowing the nitrogen gas onto the substrate W from the pair of nozzles 44 and rotating the substrate W at a high speed. The substrate W whose back surface has been cleaned is again inverted by the inversion mechanism 42 and received by the transfer arm 15 of the substrate transfer mechanism 4 with its front surface facing upward.
[0034]
Next, a cleaning operation by the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 will be described. Note that the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 includes a control unit not shown. The following cleaning operation is executed by a command from the control unit.
[0035]
The substrate transport cassette 12 transported by the cassette transport device or the like from the preceding processing step is placed on the loading / unloading table 73 of the CVD processing device 2. A large number of substrates W are stored in the substrate transport cassette 12.
[0036]
In this state, the transfer arm 79 of the substrate transfer mechanism 74 in the CVD processing apparatus 2 takes out the substrates W in the substrate transfer cassette 12 one by one, and inverts the transfer arms 79 by 180 ° to perform the CVD process on the substrates W. It is transported to a CVD processing section (not shown) of the apparatus 2.
[0037]
Note that, instead of using the substrate transport mechanism 74 that transports the substrates W in the substrate transport cassette 12 one by one to a CVD processing unit (not shown) of the CVD processing apparatus 2, a large number of substrates W in the substrate transport cassette 12 are removed. The substrate W in the substrate transfer cassette 12 may be transferred into the CVD processing apparatus 2 using a substrate transfer mechanism that transfers the substrates W collectively to the boat of the CVD processing apparatus 2.
[0038]
Further, before the substrate W is subjected to the CVD processing in the CVD processing apparatus 2, the cleaning may be performed in the cleaning unit 9 in advance.
[0039]
The substrate W after the CVD processing in the CVD processing apparatus 2 is placed on the support pins 32 of the transfer unit 31 by the transfer arm 79 of the substrate transfer mechanism 74 in the CVD processing apparatus 2. Then, the substrate W is transported to the cleaning unit 6 or 7 by the transport arm 15 of the substrate transport mechanism 4 in the substrate cleaning apparatus 1. The substrate W transported to the cleaning unit 6 or 7 is cleaned of contamination generated during the CVD process in the cleaning unit 6 or 7.
[0040]
At this time, since the substrate W after the CVD processing is immediately transported to the cleaning processing unit 6 or 7 for the cleaning processing, the time until the substrate W is cleaned after the CVD processing is constant. Therefore, it is possible to uniformly process the substrate W. Similarly, since the substrate W after the CVD process is immediately transported to the cleaning unit 6 or 7 for the cleaning process, particles or the like attached to the substrate W during the CVD process can be easily removed. Further, since the substrate W is directly transferred between the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 and the CVD processing apparatus 2, the substrate W is contaminated while being transported from the CVD processing apparatus 2 to the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 as in the related art. Can be prevented.
[0041]
The substrate W whose front surface has been cleaned by the cleaning unit 6 or 7 is transported to the reverse cleaning section 8 by the transport arm 15 of the substrate transport mechanism 4 in the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 and its back surface is cleaned. The substrate W whose back surface has been cleaned is placed on the support pins 32 of the transfer unit 31 by the transfer arm 15 of the substrate transfer mechanism 4. Then, the substrate W is stored in the substrate transport cassette 12 on the loading / unloading table 73 by the transport arm 79 of the substrate transport mechanism 74 in the CVD processing apparatus 2.
[0042]
In the above-described embodiment, the indexer unit 75 for transferring the substrate transport cassette 12 between the preceding processing step and the cassette transport device that transports the substrate transport cassette 12 is provided by the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 and the CVD process. Since it can be shared with the device 2, the configuration of these devices as a whole can be simplified.
[0043]
In the above-described embodiment, the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 and the CVD processing apparatus 2 are arranged in correspondence with each other, so that the cleaning of the substrate W and the CVD processing steps can be rectified.
[0044]
In each of the above-described embodiments, a case has been described in which the CVD processing apparatus 2 that performs the CVD processing on the substrate W is used as the film processing apparatus. However, for example, other components that perform the film processing such as PVD or sputtering are used. A membrane processing device may be used.
[0045]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the cleaning unit using the brush mechanism 22 is exemplified. However, the cleaning unit is not limited thereto, and a cleaning mechanism that discharges a high-pressure cleaning liquid to the substrate and performs cleaning. It is also possible to use a mechanism for discharging a cleaning liquid oscillated by ultrasonic waves onto a substrate to perform cleaning.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make the time required until the substrate is cleaned after the substrate film forming process is completed. For this reason, it becomes possible to process a substrate uniformly. Further, since it is not necessary to transfer the substrate after the film formation processing to the cleaning apparatus via another transfer apparatus, the substrate after the film formation processing can be transferred to the substrate cleaning apparatus in a clean state.
[0047]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when a plurality of cleaning units are used, the substrate can be more uniformly processed between the processing units.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus 1 together with a CVD processing apparatus 2;
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the cleaning unit 6.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a main part of the reverse cleaning unit 8;
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a main part of the reverse cleaning unit 8;
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a main part of the reversing mechanism 42.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 substrate cleaning device 2 CVD processing device 4 substrate transport mechanism 6 cleaning unit 7 cleaning unit 8 reversal cleaning unit 9 cleaning unit 12 substrate transport cassette 15 transport arm 21 spin chuck 22 brush mechanism 29 cleaning brush 31 delivery unit 36 control unit 41 cleaning Mechanism 42 Reversing mechanism 73 Loading / unloading table 74 Substrate transport mechanism 75 Indexer unit W Substrate

Claims (2)

A substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate on which a film is formed by a film forming apparatus including a processing unit by a substrate cleaning apparatus,
A first cleaning unit for cleaning the surface of the substrate;
A second cleaning unit for cleaning the back surface of the substrate;
An indexer unit having a loading / unloading table on which a substrate transport cassette is placed;
A processing unit of the film forming apparatus, the first cleaning unit, the second cleaning unit, and a substrate transport mechanism that transports a substrate between the indexer unit;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A plurality of the first cleaning units are provided,
After the transfer mechanism receives the substrate on which the film forming process has been completed from the film forming apparatus, the time required for transferring the substrate to the first cleaning unit and starting the cleaning is the first time. A substrate processing apparatus further comprising control means for controlling a transfer operation of the substrate transfer mechanism so that the cleaning units are the same.

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