JP2005005439A - Substrate treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide substrate treatment equipment in which the throughput of a heat treatment can be improved without increasing a foot print. <P>SOLUTION: A heat treatment section 16 has two hot plates 17 (17a and 17b), one cool plate 18, a second carrying mechanism 12a carrying substrates W between the hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18, and a second carrying mechanism 12b carrying the substrates W between the hot plate 17b and the cool plate 18. In the heat treatment, a time T4 obtained by adding the cooling treatment time of the substrates W on the cool plate 18 and a time required for carrying the substrates W to the outside of the heat treatment section 16 is set in the half or less of a time obtained by adding a heat treatment time T1 on the hot plate 17 and a time T2 required for carrying the substrates W between the hot plate 17 and the cool plate 18. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for heating and cooling a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”). In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement for improving the throughput of the entire heat treatment while preventing an increase in the size of the heat treatment unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent manufacturing of semiconductor wafers, circuit patterns formed on a semiconductor wafer are required to be miniaturized with the demand for higher density and higher integration. In order to control the heat treatment temperature and heat treatment time in the heat treatment for heating / cooling the substrate with higher precision in response to the demand for miniaturization, a hot plate for performing heat treatment, a cool plate for performing heat treatment, the hot plate and the cool plate There has been proposed a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of heat treatment units integrally configured with a local transport apparatus for transporting a substrate between them (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-270307
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the heat treatment unit of Patent Document 1, the hot plate, the cool plate, and the local transfer device are integrally configured as described above. Therefore, if the number of the heat treatment units is increased in order to further improve the throughput of the heat treatment, the size of the entire substrate processing apparatus is increased, resulting in a problem that the footprint is increased and the cost of the substrate processing apparatus is increased.
[0005]
Therefore, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus having a heat treatment unit in which a heating unit and a cooling unit are integrally formed, and capable of improving the throughput of the heat treatment without increasing the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus. For the purpose.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate, comprising: a heat treatment unit for performing a heat treatment on a substrate delivered by a transfer robot; Are arranged separately on the basis of the cooling unit for cooling the substrate, the plurality of heating units for heating the substrate, and between the cooling unit and the plurality of heating units. A plurality of transfer units that respectively transfer the substrates along a plurality of specified transfer paths, and the heat treatment unit can perform heat treatment on the plurality of substrates in parallel with the plurality of heating units. Each substrate subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment unit is transferred from the transfer robot to a heating unit selected for each substrate among the plurality of heating units, and heated. Each board management is completed, characterized in that it is passed to the transport robot from the cooling unit.
[0007]
The invention according to claim 2 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat treatment unit is disposed in the vicinity of the plurality of transfer paths, and a preceding substrate of the series of substrates is the cooling substrate. A plurality of auxiliary cooling units that receive a subsequent target substrate to be transported to the cooling unit after finishing the heating process and perform a cooling process on the target substrate when a situation that cannot be started from the unit occurs. Furthermore, it is characterized by having.
[0008]
The invention according to claim 3 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of auxiliary cooling units are above an installation level to which the cooling unit and the plurality of heat processing units belong. And it is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the said cooling part corresponding to each of these several conveyance paths, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
[0009]
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein each of the plurality of auxiliary cooling portions has a heat pipe structure.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
<1. Configuration of substrate processing apparatus>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention with the heat treatment portion 16 removed, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the vicinity of the heat treatment portion 16. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the heat treatment section 16.
[0011]
This substrate processing apparatus 1 carries out the substrate W to be processed one by one from the cassette 10 in which a plurality of substrates W are stored, and the indexer unit 19 for loading the processed substrate W into the cassette 10 again. And four chemical processing units 15 for performing chemical processing on the substrate W, a heat treatment unit 16 for performing heat treatment on the substrate W, and transporting the substrate W between the chemical processing unit 15 and the heat treatment unit 16. A first transport mechanism 11 for transporting the substrate W and the third transport mechanism 13 for transporting the substrate W between the indexer unit 19 and the first transport mechanism 11. Further, an interface IF for transporting the substrate W to an exposure apparatus for performing exposure on the substrate W is installed on the side of the substrate processing apparatus 1.
[0012]
Of the four chemical processing units 15 described above, the two chemical processing units 15a are development processing units for developing the substrate W with the developing solution. The remaining two chemical processing units 15 b are resist application units for applying a resist to the substrate W. In this specification, when these are collectively referred to, they are referred to as a chemical processing unit 15, and when they are distinguished, they are referred to as a development processing unit 15a or a resist coating unit 15b. In addition to the development processing unit 15a and the resist coating unit 15b, a cleaning processing unit for cleaning the substrate W with a cleaning liquid may be provided.
[0013]
The third transport mechanism 13 disposed on the side of the indexer unit 19 takes out the substrate W to be processed from the cassette 10 placed on the indexer unit 19 and is disposed at the center of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The substrate W is transported to the first transport mechanism 11 or is received from the first transport mechanism 11 and stored in the cassette 10 mounted on the mounting table. Further, the first transport mechanism 11 disposed in the central portion of the substrate processing apparatus 1 accesses each of the chemical solution processing units 15 and the hot plate 17 and the cool plate 18 of each heat treatment unit 16, and communicates with them. This is for transferring the substrate W between them.
[0014]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the first transport mechanism 11. This first transport mechanism 11 holds a pair of upper and lower substrate transport arms 5a and 5b for holding and transporting the substrate W, and these substrate transport arms 5a and 5b move in the horizontal direction (X direction) independently of each other. A horizontal movement mechanism for moving the substrate transfer arms 5a, 5b in the vertical direction (Z direction), and the substrate transfer arms 5a, 5b around the vertical axis (θ A rotation drive mechanism for rotating in synchronization with the direction).
[0015]
The telescopic lifting mechanism described above has a telescopic multi-row structure that can be accommodated in the cover 24 in the cover 23, the cover 23 in the cover 22, and the cover 22 in the cover 21. When lowering the substrate transfer arms 5 a and 5 b, the cover 24 is stored in the cover 23, the cover 23 is stored in the cover 22, and the cover 22 is stored in the cover 21. Further, when the substrate transfer arms 5 a and 5 b are raised, the cover 24 is pulled out from the cover 23, the cover 23 is pulled out from the cover 22, and the cover 22 is pulled out from the cover 21.
[0016]
Further, the above-described rotational drive mechanism has a configuration in which a telescopic expansion / contraction lifting mechanism is rotated in the θ direction with respect to the base 25. A cover 26 is attached to the base 25.
[0017]
As described above, the first transport mechanism 11 holds the pair of upper and lower substrate transport arms 5a and 5b for holding and transporting the substrate W, and moves these substrate transport arms 5a and 5b in the horizontal direction independently of each other. A horizontal movement mechanism for moving the substrate transfer arms 5a, 5b in a vertical direction in synchronization with each other, and a rotation mechanism for rotating these substrate transfer arms 5a, 5b around the vertical axis in synchronization with each other. And a rotation drive mechanism for transporting the substrate W held by the substrate holding unit 51 to an arbitrary substrate processing unit.
[0018]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the third transport mechanism 13. The third transport mechanism 13 is different from the first transport mechanism 11 described above only in that a single substrate transport arm 5c is provided instead of the pair of upper and lower substrate transport arms 5a and 5b in the first transport mechanism 11 described above. . The third transport mechanism 13 can reciprocate along a pair of guide members 30 disposed along the indexer portion 19 by the action of a ball screw 20 that is rotated by driving a motor (not shown).
[0019]
In the substrate processing apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the substrate W is transported as follows. One of the substrates W in the cassette 10 placed on the indexer unit 19 is taken out by the third transport mechanism 13 and transferred to the first transport mechanism 11. The first transport mechanism 11 transports the substrate W to one of the two hot plates 17 included in the heat treatment unit 16. The first transport mechanism 11 transports the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment and the cooling processing in the heat treatment unit 16 from the cool plate 18 to the resist coating unit 15b, and the heat treatment unit 16 transfers the substrate W on which the resist coating has been completed. It conveys to either one of the two hot plates 17 it has. Then, the first transport mechanism 11 delivers the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment and the cooling processing in the heat treatment unit 16 to the interface IF for transporting the substrate W from the cool plate 18 to the exposure apparatus.
[0020]
The first transport mechanism 11 receives the substrate W that has been exposed from the interface IF, and transports the substrate W to one of the two hot plates 17 included in the heat treatment unit 16. In addition, the first transport mechanism 11 transports the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment and cooling processing after exposure in the heat treatment unit 16 from the cool plate 18 to the development processing unit 15a, and also transfers the substrate W after the development processing to the heat treatment unit. It conveys to any one of the two hot plates 17 which 16 has. Then, the first transport mechanism 11 delivers the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment and the cooling process in the heat treatment unit 16 from the cool plate 18 to the third transport mechanism 13. The third transport mechanism 13 stores the substrate W received from the first transport mechanism 11 in the cassette 10 for unloading. In addition, you may add the washing | cleaning process which wash | cleans the board | substrate W with a washing | cleaning liquid between each process mentioned above.
[0021]
As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the first transport mechanism 11 loads the substrate W into one of the two hot plates 17 included in the heat treatment unit 16 and unloads the substrate W from the cool plate 18. . That is, in the heat treatment unit 16, the substrate W transferred from the first transport mechanism 11 to the hot plate 17 is subjected to heat treatment, and the substrate W after the heat treatment is transferred from the cool plate 18 to the first transport mechanism 11. . Then, the transfer of the substrate W from the hot plate 17 to the cool plate 18 in the heat treatment unit 16 is executed by the second transfer mechanism 12 shown in FIG.
[0022]
The heat treatment unit 16 is a heat treatment unit that performs post-exposure baking on the substrate W on which pattern exposure has been completed by an exposure apparatus, for example, depending on the number of treatment processes such as heating before and after resist coating and heating before and after development. Laminated. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat treatment unit 16 mainly includes a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) hot plates 17 (17a and 17b) that heat-treat the substrate W and a cool that cools the substrate W. Plate 18 and a plurality of (two in this embodiment) auxiliary cool plates 40 (40a, 40b) and a second transport mechanism 12 (12a, 12b) for transporting the substrate W in the heat treatment section 16, Heat treatment is sequentially performed on a series of substrates delivered by one transport mechanism 11.
[0023]
The two hot plates 17 (17 a, 17 b) are heating units that heat the substrate W at a preset temperature for a predetermined time, and transmit heat of a heating unit such as a heater (not shown) to the substrate W. As a result, the temperature of the substrate W is raised. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the two hot plates 17 are arranged separately on both sides or radially with respect to the cool plate 18. That is, one hot plate 17a is disposed on the opposite side of the other hot plate 17b with the cool plate 18 in between.
[0024]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the hot plate 17 is provided with a plurality of (six in this embodiment) support pins 100. The plurality of support pins 100 are lifting mechanisms that lift and lower the substrate W while supporting the peripheral edge of the substrate W. In other words, the support pin 100 has a transfer position (a position above the hot plate 17) for transferring the substrate W to and from the first transfer mechanism 11 and the second transfer mechanism 12 (12a, 12b) and a heating position of the hot plate 17. The substrate W is moved up and down.
[0025]
In addition, by disposing a sphere that protrudes from the upper surface on the upper surface of the hot plate 17, the substrate W is closely supported on the hot plate 17 while maintaining a minute interval called a so-called proximity gap. In this state, the substrate W may be heated.
[0026]
The cool plate 18 is a cooling unit that cools the substrate W at a preset temperature for a predetermined time, and removes heat transferred from the substrate W to the cool plate 18 by a cooling structure such as a Peltier element (not shown). The temperature of the substrate W is lowered.
[0027]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the cool plate 18 is provided with a plurality of (six in the present embodiment) support pins 100 as an elevating mechanism, similarly to the hot plate 17. Therefore, by raising and lowering the support pin 100, the delivery position (above the cool plate 18) for delivering the substrate W to the first transport mechanism 11 and the second transport mechanism 12 (12a, 12b), and the cool plate 18 The substrate W can be moved between the cooling positions.
[0028]
In addition, like the hot plate 17, a sphere projecting a minute height from the upper surface is arranged on the upper surface of the cool plate 18, so that a minute interval called a so-called proximity gap is provided on the cool plate 18. The substrate W may be cooled in a state where the substrate W is supported in the proximity.
[0029]
FIG. 6 is a side view of the second transport mechanism 12 (12a, 12b), and FIG. 7 is a plan view thereof. FIG. 8 is a front view showing the lifting mechanism 75 in the second transport mechanism 12. The second transport mechanism 12 includes a substrate holding unit 71 that holds the substrate W, a support unit 72 that supports the substrate holding unit 71, and a rotation mechanism 73 that rotates the support unit 72 about an axis that faces in the vertical direction. And the support portion 72 between the transfer position of the substrate W separated from the rotation center of the support portion 72 that rotates the substrate holding portion 71 by the drive of the rotation mechanism 73 and the rotation position close to the rotation center of the support portion 72. A moving mechanism 74 that reciprocates relative to the substrate, an elevating mechanism 75 that raises and lowers the support portion 72, and a substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 71 when the support portion 72 rotates about an axis that faces the vertical direction. The clamping mechanism 76 is provided.
[0030]
The substrate holding portion 71 holds two substrates 80 from the lower surface thereof in contact with the side surface of the substrate W, and holds the substrate W from the lower surface on the opposite side of the two holding members 80. One holding member 81 is provided. The substrate holding part 71 is held by a guide mechanism 82 so as to be movable with respect to the support part 72. In addition, the support portion 72 is configured to rotate around an axis that faces the vertical direction by a rotation mechanism 73.
[0031]
A driving pulley 84 and a driven pulley 85 that are rotated by a motor 83 are disposed on the support portion 72, and a synchronous belt 86 is wound between the driving pulley 84 and the driven pulley 85. Further, a connecting portion 87 that is connected to a base portion 88 of the substrate holding portion 81 is fixed to the synchronization belt 86. For this reason, the substrate holding unit 71 is driven between the transfer position of the substrate W separated from the rotation center of the support unit 72 rotated by the driving of the rotation mechanism 73 and the rotation position approaching the rotation center by driving the motor 83. Then, it reciprocates with respect to the support portion 72. The motor 83, the drive pulley 84, the driven pulley 85, the synchronization belt 86, and the like constitute the moving mechanism 74 described above.
[0032]
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, a rack member 89 is attached to the support portion 72. On the other hand, on the rotating mechanism 73 side, a pinion 92 that rotates by driving of the motor 91 is disposed, and the pinion 92 meshes with a rack member 89 attached to the support portion 72. For this reason, the support part 72 moves up and down together with the substrate holding part 71 by rotating the pinion 92 by driving the motor 91. In addition, the code | symbol 93 shown in FIG. 6 is a pair of guide member which guides the raising / lowering operation | movement of the support member 72. As shown in FIG. The rack member 89, the motor 91, the pinion 92, and the guide member 93 constitute an elevating mechanism 75 that elevates and lowers the support portion 72.
[0033]
In the vicinity of the holding member 81 in the substrate holding portion 71, a holding portion 94 for holding the substrate W with the substrate holding portion 71 is disposed. The clamping portion 94 is configured to be slidable with respect to the main body of the substrate holding portion 71 by the action of the guide mechanism 95. Further, the clamping portion 94 is urged in the direction in which the clamping portion 94 and the holding member 81 approach each other by the action of the spring 96.
[0034]
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in a state where the substrate holding portion 71 is disposed at the transfer position of the substrate W, the contact member 97 (see FIG. 7) connected to the holding portion 94 is connected to the support portion 72. 98 abuts. As a result, the holding portion 94 is pressed in a direction away from the holding portion 80 against the biasing force of the spring 96 via the contact member 97. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the distance between the pair of holding portions 80 and the sandwiching portion 94 is larger than the outer diameter of the substrate W. On the other hand, when the substrate holding unit 71 starts moving toward the rotation position by the moving mechanism 74, the contact member 97 connected to the holding unit 94 is separated from the stopper 98 connected to the support unit 72. As a result, the pair of holding portions 80 move in the direction approaching the holding portion 94 by the action of the spring 96, and the substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94. The holding unit 80, the holding unit 94, the spring 96, the contact member 97, the stopper 98, and the like constitute a holding mechanism 76 that holds the substrate W held on the substrate holding unit 71.
[0035]
FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the auxiliary cool plate 40 (40a, 40b) viewed from the second transport mechanism 12 (12a, 12b) side. FIG. 10 is a top view of the lifting mechanism 150 as viewed from the second transport mechanism 12 side. FIG. 11 is a side view of the lifting mechanism 150. In FIG. 10, for convenience of explanation, the substrate W and the substrate holder 71 of the second transport mechanism 12 are indicated by a two-dot chain line.
[0036]
The lifting mechanism 150 is a member that lifts and lowers the substrate W between the substrate holding portion 71 of the second transport mechanism 12 and the auxiliary cool plate 40, and mainly includes the guide mechanism 47, the support pins 130, and the support pins 130. And a cylinder 43 that moves up and down.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 11, the guide mechanism 47 includes a guide part 47a extending in the vertical direction and having a lower end attached to the base part 49, and a sliding part provided slidably on the guide part 47a. 47b. Further, a connecting member 48 having an L shape is attached to the side surface of the sliding portion 47b opposite to the surface facing the guide portion 47a.
[0038]
The connection member 48 is a member for connecting the sliding portion 47 b and the support base 44, and a lower end portion thereof is attached to the upper surface of the support base 44. In addition, a rectangular protrusion 48 a that protrudes on the opposite side of the guide portion 47 a is provided near the upper portion of the connection member 48. Further, the lower end portion of the protrusion 48 a is connected to the upper end portion of the movable portion 43 a provided so as to be movable up and down by a cylinder 43 fixed to the base portion 49. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) support pins 130 provided to support the substrate W are attached to the support base 44.
[0039]
Accordingly, when the movable portion 43a of the cylinder 43 is moved up and down, the support base 44 moves in the vertical direction along the guide portion 47a and can move the plurality of support pins 130 up and down. While receiving the substrate W gripped by the mechanism 12, the substrate W is moved up and down between the second transport mechanism 12 and the auxiliary cool plate 40, and the upper surface of the substrate W is brought close to the cooling surface 40 c of the auxiliary cool plate 40. Can do.
[0040]
The two auxiliary cool plates 40 (40a, 40b) bring the upper surface of the substrate W heated by the hot plates 17a, 17b and the cooling surface 40c close to each other at a predetermined interval so that the temperature of the substrate W is about 20 to 20 °. This is an auxiliary cooling unit that cools the temperature by 50 degrees and temporarily cools it, and is provided separately from the cool plate 18.
[0041]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, the auxiliary cool plate 40a is located near (directly above) the transport path 110a of the substrate W defined between the hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18 by the second transport mechanism 12a, that is, The hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18 are disposed above the installation level to which the hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18 belong. Further, the auxiliary cool plate 40b is located near (directly above) the transport path 110b of the substrate W defined between the hot plate 17b and the cool plate 18 by the second transport mechanism 12b, that is, the hot plate 17b and the cool plate 18 are It is arranged above the installation level to which it belongs. As described above, the auxiliary cool plates 40a and 40b are arranged in correspondence with the transport paths 110a and 110b, respectively.
[0042]
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the auxiliary cool plate 40 (40a, 40b) mainly includes a cooling pipe 41 that is a flow path of the cooling medium and a heat radiating portion 42 that radiates heat of the heated cooling medium. Has been.
[0043]
The cooling pipe 41 is made of a heat conductive material (for example, metal or alloy), and passes substantially the entire area inside the auxiliary cool plate 40 substantially horizontally with the cooling surface 40c as shown in FIG. It is arranged like this. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the cooling pipe 41 is arranged in a meandering manner so that the inside of the auxiliary cool plate 40 is folded back multiple times in order to increase its surface area. One end 41 a of the cooling pipe 41 is an inflow pipe 45 disposed outside the auxiliary cool plate 40, and the other end 41 b of the cooling pipe 41 is an outflow pipe 46 disposed outside the auxiliary cool plate 40. Are connected to each other.
[0044]
Accordingly, when a cooling medium such as pure water is introduced from the inflow pipe 45 toward the one end 41a of the cooling pipe 41, the heat transferred from the substrate W through the cooling surface 40c flows through the cooling pipe 41 and After heat exchange, the refrigerant flows out from the other end 41 b of the cooling pipe 41 to the outflow pipe 46. That is, the heat of the substrate W is transmitted toward the cooling medium flowing through the cooling pipe 41. Therefore, the temperature of the substrate W brought close to the cooling surface 40c of the auxiliary cool plate 40 by the elevating mechanism 150 can be lowered.
[0045]
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the inflow pipe 45 and the outflow pipe 46 are connected in communication with the heat radiating section 42. Here, the heat radiating unit 42 is a member that radiates heat of the cooling medium, for example, heat of the cooling medium flowing inside to the outside by a heat sink, or removes heat of the cooling medium by a Peltier element.
[0046]
As a result, the cooling medium heated by receiving heat from the substrate W is cooled by passing through the heat radiating section 42. Then, the cooling medium cooled by the heat radiating unit 42 flows into the one end 41 a of the cooling pipe 41 through the inflow pipe 45 and is used for cooling the substrate W. Therefore, in the auxiliary cool plate 40, the cooling medium is circulated in the inflow pipe 45, the cooling pipe 41, the outflow pipe 46, and the heat radiating portion 42, so that the substrate W adjacent to the cooling surface 40 c and the cooling medium flowing through the cooling pipe 41 Heat exchange can be performed efficiently between the two. Thus, the cooling unit using the auxiliary cool plate 40 has a heat pipe structure.
[0047]
By the way, each heat treatment unit of Patent Document 1 includes one hot plate, one cool plate, and one transport device for transporting the substrate, and the heat treatment unit is one sheet at a time. Heat treatment and cooling treatment can be performed on the substrate W. Therefore, two heat treatment units, that is, two hot plates, two cool plates, and two transfer devices are required to perform the heat treatment and the cooling treatment on the two substrates.
[0048]
On the other hand, the heat treatment unit 16 of the present embodiment includes two hot plates, one cool plate, and two second transfer mechanisms 12 (12a, 12b) inside thereof, which will be described later. By using the heat treatment procedure to be performed, the heat treatment unit 16 can perform heat treatment on the two substrates W at a time. That is, when heat treatment is performed on two substrates W at a time, two cool plates are required for the heat treatment of Patent Document 1, but one cool plate 18 is used in the heat treatment section 16 of the present embodiment. Thus, heat treatment can be performed on two substrates W at a time. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the heat treatment unit 16 does not increase the footprint required by the heat treatment unit 16 as compared with the case where the heat treatment is performed on the two substrates W in the heat treatment unit of Patent Document 1. Throughput can be improved.
[0049]
The auxiliary cool plates 40a and 40b are provided separately from the cool plate 18 as described above, the auxiliary cool plate 40a is located above the transport path 110a of the substrate W, and the auxiliary cool plate 40b is the substrate. Each is disposed above the W transport path 110b.
[0050]
As a result, a situation in which the preceding substrate W placed on the cool plate 18 cannot start from the cool plate 18 toward the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 occurs, and the preceding substrate W is placed on the cool plate 18. Even in this case, the succeeding substrate W to be subjected to the cooling process after the heat treatment is completed is received by the auxiliary cool plate 40, and the target substrate W to be subjected to the subsequent cooling process can be supplementarily cooled. . Therefore, in the heat treatment unit 16, for example, a heat treatment that needs to be accurately performed with the cooling temperature and the cooling time after the heat treatment is completed, such as the heat treatment performed on the substrate W using the chemically amplified resist. It is possible to perform well.
[0051]
That is, when pattern exposure is performed by an exposure apparatus such as a stepper on a substrate on which a resist film is formed using a chemically amplified resist, and a heating / cooling process is performed in a heat treatment unit, a fine pattern formed on the resist film In order to set the dimensional accuracy such as line width within a predetermined range, it is necessary to accurately control the heating temperature and heating time of the substrate by the hot plate and the cooling temperature and cooling time by the cool plate. In addition, the temperature of the substrate W is raised by accurately controlling the time from the completion of the heat treatment by the hot plate to the start of cooling by the cool plate (hereinafter also referred to as “delay time after heating”). Therefore, it is necessary to prevent overbaking in which a chemical reaction proceeds in the resist film.
[0052]
In the heat treatment unit of the present embodiment, when the cooling process is performed after the heat treatment is completed on the substrate W using such a chemically amplified resist, an unexpected situation such as a failure of the first transport mechanism 11 occurs. Even if the cooling process cannot be performed by the cool plate 18 because the substrate W cannot be unloaded from the cool plate 18, the auxiliary cool plates 40 a and 40 b can be used to The temperature can be lowered. Therefore, even if an unexpected situation occurs, overbaking can be prevented and the substrate W can be heat-treated satisfactorily.
[0053]
<2. Heat treatment procedure>
As described above, the heat treatment unit 16 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can perform heat treatment on two substrates W at a time. Here, with regard to the heat treatment performed by the heat treatment section 16, first,
(1) Usually performed in the heat treatment unit 16 when each unit such as the chemical solution processing unit 15 and the first transport mechanism 11 constituting the substrate processing apparatus 1 operates normally according to a processing procedure predetermined by a recipe or the like. The heat treatment procedure of
(2) The substrate W cannot be unloaded from the cool plate 18 of the heat treatment unit 16 due to an unforeseen situation such as a chemical discharge failure or a failure of the first transport mechanism 11 in the chemical processing unit 15, and the hot plate 17a or hot plate A heat treatment procedure when an unexpected situation occurs in the heat treatment unit 16 when the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment in 17b cannot be cooled in the cool plate 18 will be described.
[0054]
<2.1. Normal heat treatment procedure>
Here, a heat treatment procedure performed in the heat treatment unit 16 when each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1 operates normally will be described. FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing operation states of the two hot plates 17 (17a, 17b), the cool plate 18, and the two second transport mechanisms 12 (12a, 12b) in the heat treatment in the heat treatment section 16.
[0055]
In FIG. 12, a straight line parallel to the time axis t indicates the operating status of the hot plate 17 (17a, 17b) and the cool plate 18. That is, a solid line part shows the period when the heat processing and the cooling processing are performed in the hot plate 17 and the cool plate 18, respectively. Moreover, the dotted line part of the straight line parallel to the time axis indicates a period during which the hot plate 17 and the cool plate 18 are not processed.
[0056]
An oblique solid line connecting the straight line indicating the operating condition of the hot plate 17 and the straight line indicating the operating condition of the cool plate 18 indicates the operating condition of the second transport mechanism 12a, and is indicated on the oblique solid line. The substrate W is transported in the direction indicated by the arrow. For example, an oblique solid line portion of the broken line 151 from time t3 to t4 indicates that the substrate W is transported from the hot plate 17a to the cool plate 18 by the second transport mechanism 12a.
[0057]
In the following description, the substrate W is placed on each of the hot plate 17b and the cool plate 18 before the time t1 (the time when the heat treatment is started on the first substrate described later by the hot plate 17a). It is not placed.
[0058]
First, the heat treatment performed on the substrate W by the hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18 will be described. A broken line 151 in FIG. 12 shows a heat treatment state applied to the substrate W by the hot plate 17a and the cool plate 18.
[0059]
At a time prior to time t1, a substrate W that has not been subjected to heat treatment from the first transport mechanism 11 on the hot plate 17 selected for each substrate W according to the treatment status of the heat treatment unit 16 (hereinafter referred to as ( 2.1. Normal heat treatment procedure) is called “first substrate”). In the present embodiment, the hot plate 17a is selected as indicated by the broken line 151. Specifically, the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17a are raised to the raised position, and the first substrate carried into the hot plate 17a by the first transport mechanism 11 is placed on the support pins 100 at the raised position. The Subsequently, the first substrate W is placed on the surface of the hot plate 17a as the support pins 100 are lowered. Then, as shown by the broken line 151, the first substrate is subjected to the heat treatment only for the time T1 from the time t1 to the time t3.
[0060]
Next, when the heat treatment of the first substrate W is completed in the hot plate 17a at time t3, the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17a are lifted while supporting the first substrate W, and the first substrate W is moved to the hot plate. It arrange | positions in the position A1 (refer FIG. 3) above 17a. Then, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved to the transfer position below the first substrate W disposed at the position A1 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12a.
[0061]
Subsequently, the substrate holder 71 is raised by the lifting mechanism 75 in the second transport mechanism 12a. As a result, the first substrate W supported by the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17 a is held by the substrate holding unit 71. In this state, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved toward the rotation position toward the position B1 in the rotation center direction of the support unit 72 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12a. At this time, the first substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94.
[0062]
In a state where the substrate holding part 71 is moved to the rotation position, the first substrate W is arranged at the position B1 shown in FIG. And the support part 72 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 73 in the 2nd conveyance mechanism 12a. As a result, the first substrate W is disposed at the position C1 shown in FIG. Unlike the horizontal movement, the rotation operation of the support portion 72 is performed quickly. When the support portion 72 is rotated, the first substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94, so that the first substrate W does not fall off the substrate holding portion 71.
[0063]
When the first substrate W is transported from the hot plate 17a toward the cool plate 18, the substrate W that has not been heat-treated by the first transport mechanism 11 is loaded into the hot plate 17, and the first substrate W is loaded. The same heat treatment is performed (for example, a broken line 153 in FIG. 12).
[0064]
Next, the substrate holder 71 is moved to the delivery position by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12. Thus, the second substrate W is disposed at the position D above the cool plate 18 shown in FIG. In this state, after raising the support pin 100 in the cool plate 18, the substrate holding part 71 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 75 in the second transport mechanism 12a. Thereby, the second substrate W held by the substrate holding part 71 is supported on the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18. Subsequently, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved again to the rotational position by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12.
[0065]
Thereafter, the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18 are lowered to place the first substrate W on the surface of the cool plate 18. Then, as shown by the broken line 151, the cooling process is performed on the first substrate W from time t4.
[0066]
When the cooling process of the first substrate W is completed, the first substrate W is transferred from the support pin 100 of the cool plate 18 that has moved to the raised position to the first transport mechanism 11, and is subjected to the heat treatment unit 16 for the next processing step. The heat treatment in the heat treatment section 16 is completed at time t6 when it is transported outside. That is, at time T4 from time t4 to t6, the first substrate W is cooled, and the first substrate W is unloaded from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 by the first transport mechanism 11. The
[0067]
Next, the heat treatment performed on the substrate W by the hot plate 17b and the cool plate 18 will be described. A broken line 152 in FIG. 12 indicates a heat treatment state applied to the substrate W by the hot plate 17 b and the cool plate 18.
[0068]
At a time before time t2, the hot plate 17a is subjected to the heat treatment on the first substrate, and as indicated by the broken line 152, the hot plate 17b is not subjected to the heat treatment. Therefore, the substrate W that has not been subjected to the heat treatment on the hot plate 17b (hereinafter referred to as “second substrate” in this section (2.1. Normal heat treatment procedure)) is carried in. Specifically, the support pin 100 of the hot plate 17b is raised to the raised position, and the second substrate carried into the hot plate 17b by the first transport mechanism 11 is placed on the support pin 100 at the raised position. The Subsequently, the second substrate W is placed on the surface of the hot plate 17b as the support pins 100 are lowered. Then, as shown by the broken line 152, the heat treatment is performed on the second substrate only for the time T1 from the time t2 to the time t5.
[0069]
Next, when the heat treatment of the second substrate W on the hot plate 17b is completed at time t3, the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17b rise while supporting the second substrate W, and the second substrate W is moved to the hot plate. It arrange | positions in position A2 (refer FIG. 3) above 17b. Then, the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12b moves the substrate holding portion 71 to a delivery position below the second substrate W arranged at the position A2, and holds the second substrate W by the substrate holding portion 71. .
[0070]
Subsequently, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved toward the rotation position toward the position B2 in the rotation center direction of the support unit 72 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12b. At this time, the second substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94. In a state where the substrate holding part 71 is moved to the rotation position, the second substrate W is disposed at the position B2 shown in FIG. Subsequently, the support portion 72 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 73 in the second transport mechanism 12b, and the second substrate W is disposed at the position C2 shown in FIG. Then, the second substrate W is placed at a position D above the cool plate 18 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12.
[0071]
When the second substrate W is transported from the hot plate 17b toward the cool plate 18, the substrate W that has not been subjected to the heat treatment by the first transport mechanism 11 is carried into the hot plate 17b. The same heat treatment is performed (for example, a broken line 154 in FIG. 12).
[0072]
Here, in the present embodiment, a time T4 (a sum of a cooling processing time T5 applied on the cool plate 18 and a time T6 until the first substrate W is transferred from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16). = T5 + T6: For example, the time from the time t4 to the time t6 is the time T1 (for example, the time from the time t1 to the time t3) required for the heat treatment performed on the hot plates 17a and 17b of the heat treatment unit 16. A time T3 (= (T1 + T2) obtained by halving a time T2 (for example, a time from time t3 to t4) required for transporting the first or second substrate W from 17a, 17b to the cool plate 18 ) / 2) (ie, T4 <T3).
[0073]
In the present embodiment, the time when the substrate W is loaded into the hot plate 17a and the heat treatment is started (for example, time t1), and after the heat treatment is started in the hot plate 17a, the substrate W is placed on the hot plate 17b. Is set so as to have a relationship of t2 ≧ t1 + T3 (eg, time t2). Accordingly, as indicated by broken lines 151 and 152 in FIG. 12, the first substrate W is unloaded from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 before the second substrate W is loaded into the cool plate 18. It will be.
[0074]
Subsequently, the second substrate W is delivered to the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18 by the second transport mechanism 12b in a state where the first substrate W is unloaded from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16. Subsequently, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved again to the rotational position by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12.
[0075]
Thereafter, the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18 are lowered to place the second substrate W on the surface of the cool plate 18. Then, as shown by the broken line 152, the cooling process is performed on the first substrate W from time t7.
[0076]
When the cooling process of the second substrate W is completed, the second substrate W is transferred from the support pin 100 of the cool plate 18 that has moved to the raised position to the first transport mechanism 11 and is subjected to the heat treatment unit 16 for the next processing step. At the time t8 when it is transported outside, the heat treatment in the heat treatment section 16 ends. That is, at time T4 from time t7 to time t8, the second substrate W is subjected to the cooling process, and the second substrate W is unloaded from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 by the first transport mechanism 11. The
[0077]
As described above, in the heat treatment in the heat treatment section 16, a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) hot plates 17 are used (two in the present embodiment) as shown by the broken lines 151 and 152 in FIG. The heat treatment can be performed on the substrate W in parallel. In the cool plate 18, the first substrate W is the cool plate before the cooling plate 18 starts the cooling process on the second substrate W. It will be carried out of the heat treatment part 16 from 18. Thereby, in the cool plate 18, it is possible to perform a cooling process on both the first substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment by the hot plate 17a and the second substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment by the hot plate 17b. It becomes.
[0078]
That is, in the heat treatment section 16 of the present embodiment, the two hot plates 17 (17a, 17b) are not provided with two cool plates 18 corresponding to the two hot plates 17 (17a, 17b), but are subjected to heating and cooling processes. The cooling process is performed by using one cool plate 18 in common for the substrates W that have been subjected to the heating process.
[0079]
As a result, the throughput can be improved as compared to the case where the heating and cooling processes are performed by the heat treatment unit having one hot plate and one cool plate as shown in Patent Document 1.
[0080]
More specifically, the heat treatment time T11 required to heat and cool the two substrates W in the conventional heat treatment unit is equal to the heat treatment time T1 in the hot plate, the hot plate and the cool plate. Only the time (T11 = 2 × (T1 + T2 + T4)) that is the sum of the time T2 for transporting the substrate W between them and the time T4 for carrying out the cooling process with the cool plate and transporting to the outside of the heat treatment part is doubled. It was necessary.
[0081]
On the other hand, the time T12 required for performing heat treatment on the two substrates W in the heat treatment unit 16 of the present embodiment is from time t1 to time t8 as indicated by the broken lines 151 and 152 in FIG. (T12 = T3 + (T1 + T2 + T4) = (T1 + T2) / 2 + (T1 + T2 + T4)). That is, the heat treatment time T12 in the heat treatment part 16 of the present embodiment can be shortened by (T3 + T4) as compared with the heat treatment time T11 of the heat treatment part disclosed in Patent Document 1, thereby improving the heat treatment throughput. Can do.
[0082]
<2.2. Heat treatment procedure for unexpected situations>
As described above, the heat treatment unit 16 can place the substrate W on each of the two hot plates 17 and the cool plate 18, and perform heat treatment and cooling treatment on the respective substrates. However, if an unexpected situation such as a failure of the first transport mechanism 11 occurs, the substrate W placed on the cool plate 18 cannot be carried out of the heat treatment unit 16. Therefore, the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment by the hot plate 17 cannot be transported to the cool plate 18, and the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment cannot be subjected to the cooling treatment.
[0083]
This is because, for example, a chemically amplified resist is used as a resist, and a heat treatment and a cooling treatment are performed as in the case of performing exposure processing and heat treatment on a substrate coated with this chemically amplified resist as a resist film. This is a problem in heat treatment that requires precise control of the timing.
[0084]
Therefore, in the following, a procedure for performing a cooling process with the auxiliary cool plate 40a on the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat process with the hot plate 17a when an unexpected situation such as a failure of the first transport mechanism 11 occurs. explain.
[0085]
When the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment by the hot plate 17b is subjected to the cooling treatment by the auxiliary cool plate 40b, the same procedure as that for the case where the cooling treatment is performed by the auxiliary cool plate 40a is performed. Therefore, in the following description, only the cooling process by the auxiliary cool plate 40a will be described.
[0086]
For convenience of explanation, in this section (2.2 Heat treatment procedure when unexpected situation occurs), the substrate W placed on the cool plate 18 without being carried out of the heat treatment unit 16 is referred to as “first substrate W”. And the substrate W that has been subjected to the heat treatment in the hot plate 17a is referred to as a “second substrate W”. In the following description, heat treatment of the second substrate W among the first substrate W and the second substrate W will be mainly described.
[0087]
First, when the heat treatment is completed in the hot plate 17a, the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17 rise while supporting the second substrate W, and the second substrate W is positioned above the hot plate 17 shown in FIG. Arranged at A1. Then, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved to the delivery position below the second substrate W arranged at the position A1 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12.
[0088]
Subsequently, the substrate holder 71 is raised by the lifting mechanism 75 in the second transport mechanism 12a. As a result, the second substrate W supported by the support pins 100 of the hot plate 17a is held by the substrate holder 71 of the second transport mechanism 12a. In this state, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved toward the rotation position toward the position B1 in the rotation center direction of the support unit 72 by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12a. At this time, the second substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94.
[0089]
In the state where the substrate holding part 71 has moved to the rotational position, the second substrate W is disposed at the position B1 shown in FIG. And the support part 72 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 73 in the 2nd conveyance mechanism 12a. Thereby, the second substrate W is disposed at the position C1 shown in FIG.
[0090]
Note that the rotation operation of the support portion 72 is performed quickly unlike the horizontal movement. Further, when the support portion 72 is rotated, the second substrate W is held between the pair of holding portions 80 and the holding portion 94, so that the second substrate W does not fall off from the substrate holding portion 71.
[0091]
Subsequently, with the second substrate W moved to the position C1 and moved below the auxiliary cool plate 40a, the support pins 130 of the elevating mechanism 120a are raised. As a result, the second substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 71 rises while being supported by the support pins 130 of the elevating mechanism 120a, and the upper surface of the second substrate W and the cooling surface 40c of the auxiliary cool plate 40a are close to each other. To do. Thereby, the temperature of the second substrate W is cooled, and the substrate temperature can be lowered by 20 to 50 degrees as compared with the heat treatment.
[0092]
Thus, even when the first substrate W is placed on the cool plate 18 in the heat treatment of the present embodiment and the cooling treatment of the second substrate W cannot be performed on the cool plate 18, The temperature of the second substrate W that has been heated by the heat treatment of the plate 17a can be lowered by the auxiliary cool plate 40a.
[0093]
As a result, when the cool plate 18 cannot be used in a heat treatment in which the timing of the heat treatment and the cooling treatment needs to be accurately controlled, such as when the exposure treatment and the heat treatment are performed on the substrate coated with the chemically amplified resist. Even so, the second substrate W can be supplementarily cooled at the timing of the cooling process set in advance by the auxiliary cool plate 40a. Therefore, even when a failure or the like of the first transport mechanism 11 occurs, the heat treatment time after the exposure process / the delay time after the heating can be made substantially the same, and the fine pattern formed in the resist film Dimension sizes such as line width can be made substantially the same. As a result, it is possible to satisfactorily perform the heat treatment on each of the two substrates W carried into the heat treatment section 16 including when an unexpected situation occurs, and to improve the heat treatment throughput.
[0094]
Until the first substrate W placed on the cool plate 18 is transported to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 by the first transport mechanism 11 after the problem such as the failure of the first transport mechanism 11 is resolved, the lifting mechanism 120 The support pins 130 are maintained in the raised state, and the upper surface of the second substrate W is maintained in a state of being close to the cooling surface 40c of the auxiliary cool plate 40. Thereafter, when the first substrate W placed on the cool plate 18 is carried out of the heat treatment unit 16 by the first transport mechanism 11, the second substrate W adjacent to the cooling surface 40 c supports the lifting mechanism 120. When the pin 130 is lowered, the pin 130 is sandwiched between the substrates.
[0095]
Next, the substrate holder 71 is moved to the delivery position by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12. Thereby, the 2nd board | substrate W is arrange | positioned in the position D above the cool plate 18 shown in FIG. In this state, after raising the support pin 100 in the cool plate 18, the substrate holding part 71 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 75 in the second transport mechanism 12. Thereby, the second substrate W held by the substrate holding part 71 is supported on the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18. Subsequently, the substrate holding unit 71 is moved again to the rotational position by the moving mechanism 74 in the second transport mechanism 12.
[0096]
Subsequently, when the support pins 100 of the cool plate 18 are lowered, the second substrate W is placed on the surface of the cool plate 18 and a cooling process is performed. The second substrate W that has been subjected to the cooling process is transferred from the support pin 100 moved to the raised position to the first transfer mechanism 11 and transferred to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 for the next processing step. The heat treatment in is completed.
[0097]
<3. Advantages of substrate processing equipment>
As described above, in the heat treatment of the present embodiment, the time T4 that is the sum of the cooling time of the substrate W by the cool plate 18 and the time for transporting the substrate W from the cool plate 18 to the outside of the heat treatment unit 16 is determined by the hot plate 17. By making the sum of the time T1 and the transport time tube T2 in which the substrate W is transported between the hot plate 17 and the cool plate 18 by the second transport mechanism 12 smaller than the value divided by 2, The heat treatment unit 16 can perform heat treatment on the plurality of substrates W at the same time. Therefore, the throughput of the heat treatment can be improved.
[0098]
In addition, since the heat treatment unit 16 includes the auxiliary cool plate 40, a cooling process can be performed on the cool plate 18 on the substrate W that has undergone an unexpected situation such as a failure of the first transport mechanism 11 and has been heat treated. Even if it is not possible, the temperature of the substrate W can be lowered by the auxiliary cool plate 40. For this reason, even when such an unexpected situation occurs, the substrate W can be heat-treated satisfactorily.
[0099]
<4. Modification>
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above examples.
[0100]
In the present embodiment, the case where the chemical processing unit 15 includes two development processing units 15a and two resist coating units 15b has been described. However, the chemical processing unit 15 that uses other chemicals is employed. May be.
[0101]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, in the heat treatment unit, the plurality of substrates can be subjected to heat treatment by the plurality of heating units and one cooling unit. Therefore, it is possible to improve the throughput of the processing in the heat treatment unit while preventing the overall size of the substrate processing apparatus from increasing and preventing the footprint from increasing.
[0102]
In particular, according to the second aspect of the invention, even if a situation where the preceding substrate cannot start from the cooling unit occurs, the subsequent substrate to be transported to the cooling unit after the heat treatment is cooled by the auxiliary cooling unit. be able to. Thereby, even in the case of heat treatment in which it is necessary to accurately control the time from the completion of the heat treatment to the start of the cooling treatment, the heat treatment can be performed satisfactorily.
[0103]
In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of auxiliary cooling units are arranged above the installation level to which the cooling unit and the plurality of heat treatment units belong, and in the vicinity of the cooling unit, the plurality of transport paths. It can be arranged corresponding to each. Therefore, each of the plurality of auxiliary cooling units can be provided in the heat treatment unit without increasing the size of the heat treatment unit.
[0104]
In particular, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, each of the plurality of auxiliary cooling units has a heat pipe structure, so that the substrate can be satisfactorily cooled in the auxiliary cooling unit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, with a heat treatment section 16 removed.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the vicinity of a heat treatment section 16 of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a heat treatment part.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the first transport mechanism.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of a third transport mechanism.
FIG. 6 is a side view of a second transport mechanism.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a second transport mechanism.
FIG. 8 is a front view showing a lifting mechanism in a second transport mechanism.
FIG. 9 is a top view of the auxiliary cool plate.
FIG. 10 is a top view for explaining an elevating mechanism for bringing a substrate close to an auxiliary cool plate.
FIG. 11 is a side view for explaining an elevating mechanism for bringing a substrate close to an auxiliary cool plate.
FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing operation states of two hot plates, a cool plate, and two second transport mechanisms in the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Substrate processing equipment
11 First transport mechanism
12 (12a, 12b) Second transport mechanism
13 Third transport mechanism
15 Chemical processing section
16 Heat treatment part
17 (17a, 17b) Hot plate
18 Cool plate
40 (40a, 40b) Auxiliary cool plate
40c Cooling surface
41 Cooling pipe
42 Heat dissipation part
45 Inflow pipe
46 Outflow pipe
51, 71, 81 Substrate holder
100, 130 Support pin
110a, 110b Transport route
120 Lifting mechanism
130 Support Pin
W substrate

Claims (4)

A substrate processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing on a substrate,
(A) a heat treatment unit for performing heat treatment on the substrate delivered by the transfer robot;
With
The heat treatment unit includes:
(A-1) a cooling unit that cools the substrate;
(A-2) A plurality of heating units that are separately arranged on the basis of the cooling unit and each heat-treat the substrate;
(A-3) a plurality of conveyance units that respectively convey the substrate along a plurality of conveyance paths respectively defined between the cooling unit and the plurality of heating units;
Have
In the heat treatment unit, heat treatment for a plurality of substrates can be performed in parallel with the plurality of heating units,
Each substrate subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment unit is delivered from the transfer robot to a heating unit selected for each substrate among the plurality of heating units,
Each substrate after heat treatment is transferred from the cooling unit to the transfer robot. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The heat treatment unit includes:
(A-4) Arranged in the vicinity of each of the plurality of transfer paths, and when a situation occurs in which a preceding substrate out of the series of substrates cannot start from the cooling unit, the heating process is finished and transferred to the cooling unit. A plurality of auxiliary cooling units for receiving a subsequent target substrate to be processed and performing a cooling process on the target substrate;
The substrate processing apparatus further comprising: The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The plurality of auxiliary cooling units are arranged above the installation level to which the cooling unit and the plurality of heat treatment units belong, and in the vicinity of the cooling unit, corresponding to the plurality of conveyance paths, respectively. A substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein
Each of the plurality of auxiliary cooling units has a heat pipe structure.

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