JP2005123642A - Transfer mechanism and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transfer mechanism and a transfer method which enable the efficient transfer of a substrate and a sheet film. <P>SOLUTION: A substrate handle 24 is provided with a hand body 243 consisting of a laminate of two upper and lower plates 241, 242. A wing section 244 is formed at the top and center of the hand body 243. Substrate support blocks 245 are bonded onto the upper surfaces of each wing section 244, a substrate W can be mechanically retained by the upper side of the hand body 243 by engaging the external side of the substrate W. In addition, three chucking holes 246 to 248 are provided at the central section of the lower plate 242, and a groove 249 for connecting three chucking holes 246 to 248 is formed at the lower side of the upper plate 241. The groove section 249 is connected to vacuum chucking mechanism such as vacuum pump, a negative pressure is given to the groove section 249 by actuating the vacuum chucking mechanism, and the substrate W can be chucked and retained at the lower side of the hand body 243. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport mechanism and a transport method that can be used in a thin film forming apparatus that forms a thin film on a substrate using a sheet film.

  In recent years, with an increase in the diameter of a wafer used for manufacturing an LSI and an increase in the area of a liquid crystal panel or the like, a thin film forming method suitable for the large area has become necessary. In addition, in the field of multilayer wiring technology in LSI manufacturing technology, it is necessary to planarize the surface of the insulating film with high accuracy in order to realize multilayer wiring. In addition to increasing the area, planarizing the surface in thin film formation The demand for technology is also increasing. Accordingly, in order to satisfy these requirements, a thin film forming technique for forming a thin film on a substrate by a pressure transfer method has been proposed.

  As this thin film forming apparatus, there is an apparatus described in Patent Document 1, for example. In this apparatus, a thin film is formed on a substrate by the thin film forming procedure shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the electrode wiring 111 formed on the surface of the substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel is placed on the sample stage so that it faces upward. Here, the surface 112 on which the electrode wiring 111 is formed is a thin film forming surface on which a thin film is to be formed by the procedure described below.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a sheet film F having an insulating film 121 formed in advance on the surface thereof is mounted on a transfer plate disposed to face the upper side of the sample table. Here, the insulating film 121 is a thin film to be transferred to the substrate W, and the insulating film 121 is disposed to face the thin film forming surface 112 of the substrate W placed on the sample stage. Then, the sample stage is moved toward the transfer plate, and the substrate W and the sheet film F are brought into contact with each other. Then, a load is applied to each other as indicated by an arrow in FIG. At the same time, the substrate W is heated to a predetermined temperature. By doing so, the sheet film F and the substrate W are in close contact with each other with the insulating film 121 interposed therebetween, and an adherent is formed.

  The adhered material formed in this way is taken out from the thin film forming chamber, and the sheet film F is peeled off as shown in FIG. 4C, whereby the substrate W on which the insulating film 121 as shown in FIG. obtain.

JP 2001-135634 A ([0030], [0031], FIG. 4)

  By the way, in order to form a thin film by the above-described apparatus, the substrate before the transfer process is taken out from the substrate cassette and placed on the sample stage, while the unused sheet film F is taken out from the film cassette and is applied by the coating apparatus. After the insulating film 121 is applied and formed on the surface of the sheet film F, it is necessary to place the sheet film F on a transfer stand of a thin film forming apparatus. In addition, after the transfer process, the thin film transferred adherent (the substrate W and the sheet film F bonded together via the insulating film 121) is taken out from the thin film forming apparatus, and the peeling film is removed from the adherent by the sheet film F. Only need to peel off. As described above, the sheet film F and / or the substrate W are transported between the apparatuses. Conventionally, the sheet film F and the substrate W are transported manually by an operator. For this reason, the processing efficiency is poor, and this is one of the main causes of throughput reduction, and there has been a strong demand for efficient sheet film supply and handling (holding / conveying) technology.

  In addition, if the sheet film is transported manually, there is a problem that particles adhere to the sheet film or the heat of the sheet film is dissipated, making it difficult to manage the heat history, resulting in poor thin film quality, and product yield. Will be reduced. Furthermore, there is a problem that a large floor area is required to install the apparatus. In order to solve these problems, automation of sheet film conveyance is indispensable, but conventionally, no handling technology suitable for this automation has existed.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at providing the conveyance mechanism and conveyance method which can convey a board | substrate and a sheet film efficiently.

  The present invention provides a transport mechanism for transporting while holding a substrate. To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hand main body, an upper holding mechanism for holding a substrate on the upper surface side of the hand main body, and a lower surface side of the hand main body. A lower-side holding mechanism that holds the substrate and a drive unit that moves the hand main body to convey the substrate are provided.

  In the invention configured as described above (transport mechanism), the transport means can transport the substrate while holding the substrate in two holding modes, and the holding mode can be switched according to the state of the substrate. It is possible to adapt the substrate condition and efficiently carry the substrate. Here, the lower holding mechanism is configured to suck and hold the substrate by the suction hole formed on the lower surface side of the hand body (Claim 2), or the substrate is supported by the substrate support member provided on the upper surface side of the hand body. The upper holding mechanism may be configured to support and mechanically hold (claim 3).

  Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention (transport method) holds the substrate on the upper surface side of the hand body and transports the substrate, and holds the substrate on the lower surface side of the hand body. A second transfer mode for transferring the substrate, and the substrate is transferred in one of the first and second transfer modes according to the state of the substrate. For this reason, similarly to the above-described transport mechanism, the holding mode can be switched according to the state of the substrate, and it becomes possible to adapt the substrate state and efficiently transport the substrate.

  By the way, in a thin film forming apparatus that forms a thin film on a substrate using a sheet film, the thin film formed on the surface of the sheet film is transferred to the thin film forming surface of the substrate by the transfer means, and the sheet film and the substrate are connected via the thin film. It is known to peel the sheet film from the adherent by the peeling means after forming the integrated adherent, but even if the above transport method is applied to transport the substrate in this thin film forming apparatus. Good. In this apparatus, in order to reduce or prevent damage to the substrate and the thin film, the adherent is transported from the transfer unit to the peeling unit in the second transport mode, while the substrate on which the thin film is formed is stripped in the first transport mode. It is desirable to carry out from the means (claim 5).

  According to the substrate transport mechanism and the transport method according to the present invention, the substrate can be transported while being held in different modes, and the holding mode can be switched according to the state of the substrate. In addition, the substrate can be efficiently transferred in accordance with the state of the substrate.

A. Apparatus Layout FIG. 1 is a layout diagram showing an embodiment of a thin film forming apparatus equipped with a transport mechanism according to the present invention. In this thin film forming apparatus, an indexer part ID is provided on the upper side (left side in FIG. 1) as shown in FIG. 1, while a sheet film is used on the lower side (right hand side in FIG. 1) of the indexer part ID on the substrate. A process part PP for forming a thin film is provided.

  In this indexer unit ID, four substrate storage cassettes 11 for storing substrates are arranged in a row in the X direction, and the substrate transfer robot 12 that has been frequently used in the past moves along the arrangement direction X, The substrate before the thin film formation accommodated in one substrate accommodation cassette 11 is taken out and transported to the process part PP, or the thin film formed substrate is received from the process part PP and accommodated in the substrate accommodation cassette 11. For convenience of explanation below, each drawing shows XYZ rectangular coordinate axes in which the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction Z and the arrangement direction X of the substrate storage cassette 11 is the “Y direction”.

  In the process part PP arranged on the (+ Y) side of the indexer part ID, a coating unit 3, a drying unit 4, a transfer unit 5, a peeling unit 6, a film supply unit 7 and a reversing unit 8 are arranged around the center robot 2. It is installed. In this embodiment, two transfer units 5 are provided in order to perform transfer processing by the transfer unit 5 in parallel. Further, as described later, the substrate received from the indexer unit ID is reversed by the reversing unit 8 and then conveyed to any of the transfer units 5, so that the substrate adjacent to the indexer unit ID in the process unit PP has 2 These are arranged in the X direction so that the reversing unit 8 is sandwiched by the transfer unit 5. In addition, the drying unit 4 is arranged so as to overlap each transfer unit 5 to reduce the footprint of the apparatus. In addition, a coating unit 3 and a peeling unit 6 are arranged on the opposite side of the process part PP from the indexer part ID. Further, a film supply unit 7 for supplying a sheet film is interposed between the coating unit 3 and the transfer unit 5. As described above, in the process part PP, the processing units 3 to 8 are arranged radially with the center robot 2 as the center, and the center robot 2 is fixed to substantially the center of the process part PP as described below. The substrate can be conveyed between the transfer unit 5, the peeling unit 6 and the reversing unit 8 by extending and contracting the hand, while the coating unit 3, the drying unit 4, the transfer unit 5 and the film supply unit by extending and contracting the film hand. It is possible to convey a sheet film between 7.

B. Center robot (conveyance mechanism) 2
2A and 2B are views showing the center robot. FIG. 2A is a plan view seen from above, and FIG. 2B is a side view. The center robot 2 is a multi-joint robot corresponding to the transport mechanism according to the present invention, and includes a robot body 21 and two multi-joint arms 22 and 23 attached to the top of the robot body 21. The robot body 21 rotates around the rotation axis AX1 while being fixedly arranged at the center of the process part PP, and is further extendable in the Z direction.

  Further, a substrate hand 24 that functions as a substrate holding unit for holding the substrate W is attached to the tip of the multi-joint arm 22, and a control unit (in FIG. The substrate W is carried out from each of the units 5, 6 and 8 by controlling the expansion / contraction drive of the articulated arm 22, the rotation of the robot body 21 around the rotation axis AX1 and the Z direction drive according to the operation command from the reference numeral 9). Conversely, the substrate W held by the substrate hand 24 is carried into each of the units 5, 6, and 8. Thus, in this embodiment, the robot main body 21 and the articulated arm 22 function as a drive unit that moves the substrate hand 24 corresponding to the “substrate holding unit” of the present invention and transports the substrate W. .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the substrate hand. FIG. 3A is a plan view of the substrate hand as viewed from above, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. As shown in the figure, the substrate hand 24 includes a hand body 243 formed by superposing two upper and lower plates 241 and 242. Wing portions 244 extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the hand main body 243 are formed at the front end portion and the central portion of the hand main body 243. Then, the substrate support block 245 is fixed to the upper surface of each wing 244, and the substrate W is secured on the upper surface of the hand body 243 by locking the outer surface of the substrate W, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Can be mechanically held. Thus, in this embodiment, the substrate support block 245 functions as the “upper side holding mechanism” of the present invention.

  In addition, three suction holes 246 to 248 are provided in the central portion of the lower plate 242, and a groove portion 249 is formed on the lower surface side of the upper plate 241, and the groove portion 249 is formed by integrating the upper and lower plates 241 and 242. The three suction holes 246 to 248 are communicated with each other. Further, the groove 249 is connected to a vacuum suction mechanism such as a vacuum pump (not shown). By operating the vacuum suction mechanism, a negative pressure is applied to the groove 249, which is indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. As shown, the substrate W can be sucked and held on the lower surface side of the hand main body 243. As described above, in this embodiment, the suction holes 246 to 248 and the groove 249 provided in the hand main body 243 and the vacuum suction mechanism function as the “lower holding mechanism” of the present invention.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the center robot 2 can transport the substrate while holding the substrate W in two holding modes, that is, a mode in which the substrate W is mechanically held on the upper side and a mode in which the substrate W is attracted and held on the lower side. The holding mode can be switched according to the state of the substrate W, and the substrate can be transferred efficiently in accordance with the state of the substrate W. It is also possible to transfer two substrates W at the same time.

  At the tip of the other articulated arm 23 is attached a film hand 25 that sucks and holds the peripheral edge of the surface of the sheet film F. In accordance with an operation command from the control unit, By controlling the rotation of the robot body 21 about the rotation axis AX1 and driving in the Z direction, the sheet film F is unloaded from each of the units 3 to 5 and 7, or conversely, the sheet film F held by the film hand 25 is removed. Carry into each unit 3-5. Thus, in this embodiment, the robot main body 21 and the articulated arm 23 function as a drive unit that moves the film hand 25 corresponding to the “film holding unit” of the present invention and conveys the sheet film F. ing.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the film hand, wherein FIG. 4A is a bottom view of the film hand viewed from below, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. It is. In this film hand 25, a ring member 252 having an outer diameter comparable to that of the sheet film F is attached to the lower end of the hand main body 251, and has substantially the same shape as the sheet film F on the lower surface side of the ring member 252. A plate member 253 is attached and the hand body 251 and the ring member 252 form an internal space 254. In order to reinforce the central portions of the hand main body 251 and the plate member 253, six strut members 255 are provided in the internal space 254.

  In addition, 18 through holes 253a are formed in the peripheral portion of the plate member 253, and the plate member 253 has substantially the same outer diameter as the sheet film F via a packing sheet 256 formed of rubber or resin. A ring plate 257 is attached. Here, the packing sheet 256 is formed with a through hole 256a corresponding to the through hole 253a of the plate member 253, and is disposed so as to correspond to the through hole 253a on a one-to-one basis. Six suction holes 257a straddling the three through holes 253a are formed, and one suction hole 257a is arranged for each of the three through holes 253a. In this way, the lower surface side of the ring plate 257 and the internal space 254 are communicated with each other via the suction holes 257a and the through holes 256a and 253a.

  On the other hand, a communication hole 251a is provided on the upper surface of the hand main body 251, and is connected to an exhaust blower (not shown) via an exhaust pipe 258, as shown in FIG. For this reason, by operating the exhaust blower, a negative pressure is applied to the internal space 254, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the entire lower surface of the ring plate 257 serves as the “contact area” of the present invention. While contacting the peripheral edge, the peripheral edge of the surface can be held by suction.

C. Film supply unit (film supply mechanism) 7 and film storage cassette 71
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a film supply unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. In the film supply unit 7, a film storage cassette 71 that stores a sheet film F is detachable from a cassette mounting table 72. The cassette mounting table 72 is moved up and down in the vertical direction Z by a lifting mechanism (not shown) so that the film storage cassette 71 mounted on the cassette mounting table 72 can be positioned in the vertical direction Z. In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, three cassette mounting tables 72 are provided, and a maximum of three film storage cassettes 71 can be mounted at the same time. The number is not limited to “3” and is arbitrary.

  FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the film storage cassette provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. Each film storage cassette 71 can store a plurality of sheet films F in the cassette body 711 with the release sheet SH interposed between the sheet films F. In addition, three positioning pins 712 are provided upright on the cassette body 711 and engage with the peripheral portions of the sheet film F and the release sheet SH accommodated in the cassette body 711 so as to engage with the sheet film F and the separation film SH. The shaped sheet SH is positioned with respect to the cassette body 711. Thereby, in the cassette body 711, the sheet film F and the release sheet SH are always accommodated in an aligned state, and the sheet film F removal process and the release sheet SH removal process are excellent as will be described later. Can be done.

  In addition, a protective cover 713 is provided to the cassette body 711 so as to be openable and closable. More specifically, the protrusions 714 are attached to the four positions on the lower peripheral edge of the protective cover 713, and the insertion holes 715 are provided in the cassette body 711 corresponding to the protrusions 714. The protective cover 713 is closed by attaching the protective cover 713 to the cassette body 711 while inserting each of the protrusions 714 into the corresponding insertion holes 715, and the sheet film F accommodated in the cassette body 711 and The release sheet SH is covered and protected from above. Thereby, contamination of the sheet film F can be reliably prevented. On the other hand, when the protective cover 713 is moved upward from the cassette body 711, the protective cover 713 is opened so that the sheet film F and the release sheet SH accommodated in the cassette body 711 can be carried out from above. Become.

  In order to open and close the protective cover 713 in this way, in the film supply unit 7 according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the cover opening / closing drive mechanism 73 is disposed above the cassette mounting table 72. . The cover opening / closing drive mechanism 73 includes a rotation arm 731 that is rotatable about a rotation axis AX2, and a gripping portion 732 attached to the tip of the rotation arm 731. The moving arm 731 rotates in the direction of a one-dot chain line arrow P1. Then, the cover opening / closing drive mechanism 73 rotates after gripping the handle portion 716 provided on the protective cover 713 of the film storage cassette 71 positioned at a predetermined cover opening / closing position (FIG. 8A) by the grip portion 732. The arm 731 is configured to move to the retracted position in FIG. 5 by rotating in the (−P1) direction. When the protective cover 713 is closed, the reverse operation is performed.

  A release sheet removing mechanism 74 for removing the release sheet SH is disposed below the cover opening / closing drive mechanism 73. In the release sheet removing mechanism 74, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, two rotating arms 741 and 742 are arranged at a wider interval than the outer diameter of the sheet film F and the release sheet SH. ing. Further, a connecting beam 743 extending in the horizontal direction is stretched over the tops of the rotating arms 741 and 742. Further, a suction plate 744 that sucks the release sheet SH is attached to the central portion of the coupling beam 743, and the lower surface of the suction plate 744 is connected to the suction surface 744a at the suction position as shown in FIGS. It has become. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the cassette mounting table 72 is lifted with the suction surface 744 a directed in the (−Z) direction, the film storage cassette 71 mounted on the cassette mounting table 72. The release sheet SH positioned at the uppermost part contacts the suction surface 744a and is held by suction on the suction plate 744 as shown in FIG. The vertical interval between the film storage cassettes 71 placed on the cassette placement table 72 is sufficient for the protective cover 713 to pass through when the cover opening / closing drive mechanism 73 attaches / detaches the protective cover 713. It is an interval.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, shaft members 745 and 746 extending in the (+ Y) direction and the (−Y) direction are attached to the rotation arms 741 and 742, and the rotation axis AX3 is the center of rotation. It can be freely rotated. Then, the rotation arms 741 and 742 can be rotated in the direction of a one-dot chain line arrow P2 by a drive unit (not shown). For this reason, when the release sheet SH is sucked and held by the suction plate 744 as described above, when the rotating arms 741 and 742 are rotated in the arrow direction (+ P2) shown in FIG. Is positioned at the removal position. Then, when the suction by the suction plate 744 is released, the release sheet SH falls from the suction plate 744 downward.

  Further, in this embodiment, a release sheet collection box 76 for collecting the release sheet SH is disposed on the bottom surface portion of the film supply unit 7 and the release sheet SH falling as described above is released. Guide members 77 and 78 for guiding the sheet collection box 76 are further provided. Thus, the release sheet collection box 76 and the guide members 77 and 78 constitute the “release sheet collection means” of the present invention, and the release sheet SH can be reliably collected in the release sheet collection box 76. It has become. For this reason, scattering of the release sheet SH around the film supply unit 7 can be effectively prevented.

  On the other hand, by removing the release sheet SH from the film storage cassette 71, the sheet film F is exposed at the uppermost portion and can be carried out from the cassette 71. Therefore, the film hand 25 moves to the film supply unit 7 at an appropriate timing and sucks and holds the uppermost sheet film F ((b) in the figure). Then, it is transported to the next processing unit, that is, the coating unit 3.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an ionizer 79 is provided in the vicinity of the release sheet removing mechanism 74. When the sheet film F is unloaded from the film storage cassette 71 or the release sheet SH is removed. This effectively prevents the occurrence of peeling electrification.

D. Application unit 3
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a coating unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. The coating unit 3 applies a disk-shaped stage 31, a rotating shaft 32 of a motor (not shown) that rotates the stage 31, and a thin-film coating liquid, for example, SOG (Spin-on-Glass) liquid. SOG liquid discharge nozzle 33 for cleaning, cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 34 for discharging the cleaning liquid to the peripheral portion of the sheet film F to perform edge rinsing, and prevention of scattering of coating liquid, cleaning liquid, etc. around the coating unit 3 The anti-scattering cup 35 is provided.

  A plurality of suction holes (not shown) are provided on the entire upper surface of the stage 31 and are connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Then, after the sheet film F is conveyed from the film supply unit 7 to the coating unit 3 by the film hand 25 and placed on the stage 31 as described above, the sheet film F is moved to the stage 31 by operating the vacuum pump. Is firmly vacuum-adsorbed. Note that the anti-scattering cup 35 surrounds the stage 31 thus configured.

  In the coating unit 3 configured as described above, when the sheet film F is set on the stage 31 and the preparation for the coating process is completed, a motor (not shown) provided in the coating unit 3 operates, as shown in FIG. The rotating shaft 32 starts to rotate at the same time, and the stage 31 and further the sheet film F are rotated around the rotating shaft AX4 with this rotation. Further, the SOG liquid is supplied from the SOG liquid discharge nozzle 33 toward the center point of the sheet film F at the same time as the rotation or slightly delayed. Then, the SOG liquid is applied in a thin film shape from the center of the sheet film F to the entire surface by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the sheet film F. At this time, the SOG liquid scattered outside the sheet film F is discharged to the outside of the coating unit 3 through the scattering prevention cup 35 and a discharge pipe (not shown).

  And after supplying SOG liquid with respect to the whole surface of the sheet film F, edge rinse is performed. That is, the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 34 toward the peripheral portion of the sheet film F. Again, since the rotation of the sheet film F is continued, the coating liquid adhering to the peripheral portion of the sheet film F is removed by this rotation.

  When the coating process on the sheet film F is completed in this way, the film hand 25 enters the coating unit 3 and sucks and holds the sheet film F, while the vacuum pump stops and the vacuum suction by the stage 31 is released. Then, the sheet film F on which the SOG film (thin film) is formed by the film hand 25 is unloaded from the coating unit 3 and conveyed to the next processing unit, that is, the drying unit 4.

  In the coating unit 3 in this embodiment, the SOG liquid is used as the coating liquid, but the thin film to be formed on the substrate W is configured as exemplified by a photoresist liquid used for semiconductor photolithography. The coating liquid is not particularly limited as long as it is a coating liquid. In this embodiment, after the coating process, the sheet film F is transported to the drying unit 4 described below and subjected to the drying process. However, the sheet film F may be directly transported to the transfer unit 5 without performing the drying process. .

E. Drying unit 4
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a drying unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. The drying unit 4 includes a processing container 41 having a processing chamber 411 inside, and a hot plate (stage) 42 disposed on the inner bottom of the processing chamber 411. Note that reference numeral 121 in the figure denotes an SOG film (thin film) formed on the surface of the sheet film F by the coating unit 3.

  Two nitrogen gas inlets 412 and 413 are provided at the bottom of the processing container 41, and nitrogen gas (N 2 gas) is supplied from a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) through the inlets 412 and 413. It is supplied into the chamber 411. Further, an exhaust port 414 is provided in the ceiling portion of the processing container 41 so that the gas component in the processing chamber 411 can be exhausted from the processing chamber 411. Therefore, the processing chamber 411 is filled with a nitrogen gas atmosphere, and the drying process is performed in this atmosphere.

  The hot plate 42 has a built-in heater 421 so that the heater 421 generates heat in response to an electric signal supplied from the control unit. Further, like the stage 31 of the coating unit 3, the hot plate 42 is provided with a plurality of suction holes (not shown) on the entire upper surface of the hot plate 42 and connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Yes. Then, after the sheet film F is transported to the drying unit 4 by the film hand 25 and placed on the hot plate 42 as described above, the sheet film F is firmly attached to the hot plate 42 by operating the vacuum pump. Vacuum adsorption. Further, the drying process is started in a state where the vacuum suction is performed by the hot plate 42 in this way.

  When the sheet film F is heated for a predetermined time and the drying process is completed, the film hand 25 enters the drying unit 4 and sucks and holds the sheet film F, while the vacuum pump is stopped and the vacuum by the hot plate 42 is stopped. Adsorption is released. Then, the sheet film F that has been dried by the film hand 25 is unloaded from the drying unit 4 and conveyed to the next processing unit, that is, the transfer unit 5.

F. Transfer unit 5
FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a transfer unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. In this figure, the transfer unit 5 can be evacuated, and includes a processing container 51 for forming a chamber 511 for executing a transfer process of an SOG film (thin film). An exhaust port 512 is provided in the side surface of the processing container 51, and a vacuum pump 52 is connected to the exhaust port 512. The vacuum pump 52 is electrically connected to a control unit 9 that controls the entire apparatus, and operates in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 9 to evacuate the chamber 511 through an exhaust port 512. It can be done.

  In the chamber 511, the first and second plates 54 and 55 and the inclination of the first plate 54 with respect to the second plate 55 are automatically corrected to form the substrate W and the sheet film F, which are thin film formation targets. A mechanism 58 (hereinafter referred to as an inclination correction mechanism) is provided so that the SOG film can be pressed with the same pressure over the entire surface.

  The first plate 54 is suspended above the second plate 55 via an inclination correction mechanism 58 so that the axis coincides with the second plate 55, and the substrate W is mounted on the surface (lower surface) facing the second plate 55. This constitutes a substrate plate. For this reason, a quartz plate (not shown) polished to ensure flatness is provided on the lower surface of the first plate 54, and the substrate W is fixed to the quartz plate. The reason why the quartz plate is used in this way is that the quartz does not contain a substance that contaminates the substrate W, and the flatness required for good workability is easily obtained. Because it is excellent as. Moreover, the 1st plate 54 is equipped with the heater 541 as a heating means inside. The heater 541 is electrically connected to the heater controller 542, is controlled by the heater controller 542 that operates based on the substrate temperature information from the control unit 9, and is controlled to be heated between 25 ° C. and 300 ° C. .

  The other plate, that is, the second plate 55 is disposed below the first plate 54, and a sheet film F is mounted on the upper surface to constitute a film plate. The second plate 55 is composed of a quartz stage on which the sheet film F is placed and a heating table for heating the sheet film F, and a heater 551 as a heating means inside the heating table. Is built-in. The heater 551 is electrically connected to the heater controller 552 and is controlled by the heater controller 552 that operates based on the substrate temperature information from the control unit 9 and is controlled to be heated between 25 ° C. and 300 ° C. . Further, a shaft 553 is integrally suspended at the center of the lower surface of the heating table. The shaft 553 is supported by a bearing 591 so as to be movable up and down, and is configured to be moved up and down along a moving direction Z by a weighting motor 592 as a weighting mechanism.

  Next, the configuration of the tilt correction mechanism 58 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the tilt correction mechanism. In this embodiment, the inclination correction mechanism 58 is disposed so as to surround the outer periphery of the first plate 54, and is first via a first shaft member 581 that extends in a first direction X substantially orthogonal to the movement direction Z. A ring-shaped first support 582 connected to the plate 54 and rotatably supporting the first plate 54 about the first rotation axis AX5, and disposed on the outer periphery of the first support 582. The first support body 582 is connected to the first support body 582 via a second shaft member 583 extending in a second direction Y substantially perpendicular to Z and the first direction X, and the first support body 582 is centered on the second rotation axis AX6. And a second support 584 that is rotatably supported. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the first and second rotation axes AX5 and AX6 are present on the surface of the substrate W mounted on the first plate 54, that is, in the plane of the thin film forming surface 112. As described above, the shaft members 581 and 583 are provided.

  In the tilt correction mechanism 58 configured as described above, the first plate 54 is supported by the first support member 81 so as to be rotatable around the first rotation axis AX5, and is rotated second by the second support member 583. The first plate 54 can be tilted with respect to the movement direction Z by pivoting around the axis AX6.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the second support 584 of the tilt correction mechanism 58 includes two column portions 584a and 584b extending in the direction Z so as to sandwich the first support 582 in the Y direction, and both column portions. It is comprised with the beam part 584c which connects the upper part of 584a and 584b. A support column 584d extends upward from the center of the beam 584c and is suspended in the chamber 511. More specifically, the column portion 584d is pivotally supported by a bearing 593 so as to be movable up and down, and a flange 594 for preventing a downward drop is integrally provided at the upper end. Note that reference numeral 595 in FIG. 12 denotes a weight sensor provided corresponding to the flange 594, which detects a weight applied between the substrate W and the sheet film F and gives the weight to the control unit 9. .

  Next, a transfer processing procedure using the transfer unit 5 will be described. In the present embodiment, from the reversing unit 8 to be described later, the substrate W is placed on the substrate hand 24 with the thin film formation surface 112 (the surface on which the electrode wiring or the like is formed and the thin film is to be formed) facing downward. The substrate W is transported to the transfer unit 5 while being mechanically held by the substrate support block 245, and the substrate W is mounted on the lower surface of the first plate 54 with the thin film forming surface 112 facing down. Further, on the second plate 55, a sheet film F in which the SOG film 121 (see FIG. 11) is previously formed on the surface by the coating unit 3 is mounted with the SOG film 121 facing upward. Then, the control unit 9 controls each part of the apparatus as follows to transfer the thin film on the thin film sheet F to the substrate W.

  First, the heater controller 542 energizes the heater 541 to heat the first plate 54 to heat the substrate W to a desired temperature, and the heater controller 552 energizes the heater 551 to heat the second plate 55. The sheet film F is heated to a desired temperature.

  Further, the vacuum pump 52 evacuates the chamber 511 so that a desired degree of vacuum is obtained. Then, after the inside of the chamber 511 reaches a desired degree of vacuum, a driving signal is sent from the control unit 9 to the weighting motor 592 to start the weighting operation. As a result, the second plate 55 rises along the movement direction Z and presses the sheet film F against the substrate W. At this time, the first plate 54 and the tilt correction mechanism 58 are pushed up together by the second plate 55.

  When the first plate 54 is tilted with respect to the second plate 55 at the time of the push-up, the tilt correction mechanism 58 automatically tilts the first plate 54 when the second plate 55 hits the first plate 54. Corrected. That is, since the first plate 54 is held so as to be tiltable with respect to the moving direction Z by the tilt correction mechanism 58, for example, assuming that the first plate 54 is tilted by a small angle to the left in FIG. The side contacts the first plate 54 and pushes up the first plate 54. For this reason, the first plate 54 rotates clockwise around the first rotation axis AX5 existing in the surface of the substrate W, and the contact area between the substrate W and the sheet film F gradually gradually moves to the right. It spreads. When the inclination of the first plate 54 is completely corrected and becomes parallel to the second plate 55, the substrate W and the sheet film F are pressed with the same pressure over the entire surface.

  When the weighting is continued by the weighting motor 592 and a desired weighting is detected by the weighting sensor 595, the control unit 9 controls the weighting motor 592 so that the weighting is continued for a certain time. In the meantime, the substrate W and the sheet film F are heated to a predetermined temperature.

  When the series of weighting operations described above is completed, the control unit 9 sends a signal to the weighting motor 592 so that the weighting state becomes zero. At this time, the evacuation is also controlled to stop.

  When the transfer of the SOG film 121 to the substrate W is completed in the transfer unit 5 as described above, the substrate W is integrated with the sheet film F with the SOG film (thin film) interposed therebetween and enters the transfer unit 5. The substrate W is sucked and held in the integrated state by the suction holes 246 to 248 of the substrate hand 24. That is, a substrate W and a sheet film F which are in close contact with each other using the lower side holding mechanism of the substrate hand 24 (shown by the symbol M in FIG. ) Is adsorbed and held. Then, the substrate hand 24 conveys the adhered object from the chamber 511 to the peeling unit 6 in the suction holding state.

G. Peeling unit 6
FIG. 15 is a view showing a peeling unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. The peeling unit 6 vacuum-adsorbs the processing container 61 whose inside is the processing chamber 611 and the sheet film F of the adherent M formed by the transfer unit 5 disposed below the processing chamber 611. In the suction plate 62 and the processing chamber 611, the substrate W of the adhered object M provided on the suction plate 62 and placed on the suction plate 62 can be sucked in the vertical direction (Z direction) and the X direction. And a substrate suction portion 63 that rotates about the axis AX7 along the axis. In the figure, reference numeral 111 denotes an electrode wiring formed on the thin film forming surface 112 of the substrate W.

  In addition, a rotation mechanism 64 using a rotary air cylinder or the like is connected to the substrate suction portion 63 in order to rotate the substrate suction portion 63 about the axis AX7. Further, the substrate suction part 63 is provided with an elevating mechanism 65.

  The elevating mechanism 65 has a pin 67 that moves forward and backward with respect to the contact surface with the substrate W in the substrate suction portion 63 by a driving member 66 such as an air cylinder. And when the board | substrate adsorption | suction part 63 rotates so that the board | substrate W may face in the upward direction, it is possible to raise the board | substrate W above the board | substrate adsorption | suction part 63 by raising the pin 67. FIG.

  The processing chamber 611 of the processing container 61 is provided with a static eliminator (not shown) so that an ozone (O 3) atmosphere can be formed in the processing chamber 611.

  Next, operation | movement of the peeling unit 6 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. The substrate W on which the sheet film F is bonded by the transfer unit 5 via the SOG film 121, that is, the adhered object M, is carried into the processing chamber 611 of the peeling unit 6 while being adsorbed and held by the substrate hand 24 of the center robot 2. . At this time, the substrate suction portion 63 is retracted upward. Then, the substrate hand 24 retreats out of the processing container 61 after placing the contact M on the suction plate 62 so that the sheet film F comes into contact with the suction plate 62.

  Then, while the suction plate 62 sucks the sheet film F, the substrate suction portion 63 that has been retreated upward moves down to suck the back surface (non-thin film forming surface) of the substrate W. Further, the processing container 61 is sealed, and the static eliminator is operated to bring the processing chamber 611 into an ozone atmosphere. By adsorbing the sheet film F in this way, the solvent in the SOG film 121 is discharged through the sheet film F and the SOG film 121 is dried. By this drying process, the drying of the SOG film 121 is promoted at the interface between the sheet film F and the SOG film 121 and is more easily peeled off than the interface between the substrate W and the SOG film 121. Then, when the substrate adsorbing part 63 rises after a predetermined time, the interface between the sheet film F and the SOG film 121 is peeled off, and the SOG film is transferred from the sheet film F to the substrate W.

  Next, the raised substrate suction portion 63 is rotated about the axis AX7 by the rotation mechanism 64, and is stopped in a state where the thin film forming surface 112 of the substrate W is in the horizontal position facing upward, that is, in a face-up state. . Thereafter, the substrate suction unit 63 releases the suction of the substrate W, and the lifting mechanism 65 raises the substrate W. That is, the pins 67 are raised by the driving member 66 to raise the substrate W from the contact surface with the substrate suction portion 63.

  The raised substrate W is transported to the reversing unit 8 described below by the substrate hand 24, and further stored in the substrate storage cassette 11 by the substrate transport robot 12 of the indexer ID.

H. Inversion unit 8
16 is a diagram showing the configuration of the reversing unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 16 (a) is a plan view of the reversing unit as viewed from above, and FIG. It is the DD sectional view taken on the line of (a). The reversing unit 8 has a pair of substrate chucks 81 and 81 for delivering the substrate W to and from the substrate hand 24 of the center robot 2. The substrate chuck pairs 81 and 81 are spaced apart from each other. Each substrate chuck 81 is attached to the tip of the rod 83 of the rotary cylinder 82, moves in the X direction as the rod 83 moves in the X direction, and 180 ° around the rod 83 as the rod 83 rotates. Rotate.

  For this reason, when the unprocessed substrate W is transported between the pair of substrate chucks 81 and 81 which are spaced apart from each other by the substrate transport robot 12 of the indexer ID, both rods 83 are extended and shown in FIG. Thus, after the substrate chuck pair 81, 81 holds the substrate W, the substrate transport robot 12 retreats. Then, both rods 83 rotate 180 °. As a result, the substrate W transported in a face-up state, that is, in a state where the electrode wiring 111 formed on the thin film formation surface 112 is directed upward, is inverted to a face-down state.

  On the other hand, when the thin film-formed substrate W is transported to the reversing unit 8 by the central robot 2 while being mechanically held by the substrate hand 24 in the face-up state from the peeling unit 6 as described above, both rods As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate chuck pair 81 and 81 hold the substrate W as shown in FIG.

I. Operation FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an overall operation of the thin film forming apparatus configured as described above, in which solid line arrows indicate the transport order of the substrates W, and alternate long and short dashed arrows indicate the transport order of the sheet films F. The white arrow indicates the conveyance of the adhered object M. In this thin film forming apparatus, the substrate W on which the electrode wiring 111 is formed is accommodated in the substrate accommodating cassette 11, while the sheet film F is accommodated in the film accommodating cassette 71. Then, the sheet film F positioned at the uppermost part of the film storage cassette 71 is conveyed to the coating unit 3 by the film hand 25, and the SOG film 121 is coated on the surface of the sheet film F (step S1: coating process). . Here, when the release sheet SH is positioned at the uppermost part of the film storage cassette 71, the operation procedure described in the above section "C. Film supply unit (film supply mechanism) 7 and film storage cassette 71" is used. After removing the uppermost release sheet SH and positioning the sheet film F at the uppermost position, the sheet film F is transported to the coating unit 3 and the coating process by the coating unit 3 is performed.

  In parallel with the unloading and coating process of the sheet film F, the indexer unit ID takes out the substrate W accommodated in the substrate accommodating cassette 11 by the substrate conveying robot 12 in the face-up state and conveys it to the reversing unit 8. To do. Then, the substrate W is reversed by the reversing unit 8 to be in a face-down state (step S2: reversing process). Then, the substrate support block 245 of the substrate hand 24 receives the substrate W from the reversing unit 8, transports it to the transfer unit 5, and attaches it to the lower surface of the first plate 54 of the transfer unit 5. As described above, in this embodiment, the substrate W is held by the upper holding mechanism of the substrate hand 24 and conveyed from the reversing unit 8 to the transfer unit 5.

  On the other hand, when the coating process is completed, the sheet film F is conveyed from the coating unit 3 to the drying unit 4 by the film hand 25, and the SOG film 121 on the sheet film F is dried in the drying unit 4 (step S3: drying process). ). Here, when the drying process is not required, the sheet film F is directly conveyed from the coating unit 3 to the transfer unit 5 by the film hand 25, and the sheet film F is mounted on the second plate 55.

  Thus, when the substrate W and the sheet film F are set on the first and second plates 54 and 55 in the transfer unit 5, respectively, the operation procedure detailed in the section “F. Transfer unit 5” described above is applied to the substrate W. The SOG film 121 is transferred (step S4: transfer process).

  Next, the substrate hand 24 is moved into the transfer unit 5, and the substrate W is sucked and held on the lower surface side of the hand main body 243, and then the adhered object M is conveyed to the peeling unit 6 in the sucked state. As described above, the lower holding mechanism of the substrate hand 24 is used for transporting the adhered object M from the transfer unit 5 to the peeling unit 6.

  And only the sheet | seat film F is selectively peeled from the adhesion | attachment M conveyed by the peeling unit 6 (step S5: peeling process). By doing so, a substrate W in which only the SOG film 121 is formed on the thin film formation surface 112 can be obtained. Then, the substrate W is transported to the reversing unit 8 while being held face-up by the substrate support block 245 of the substrate hand 24. That is, the substrate is transported using the upper holding mechanism of the substrate hand 24. On the other hand, the peeled sheet film F is discarded.

  The thin film-formed substrate W thus returned to the reversing unit 8 is accommodated in the substrate accommodating cassette 11 using the substrate transport robot 12 with the indexer unit ID.

J. et al. As described above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) In the thin film forming apparatus configured as described above, in the process unit PP, the center robot 2 functioning as “conveying means” of the present invention applies the sheet film F and / or the substrate W to the coating unit 3 and the drying unit (drying unit). Means) 4, the transfer unit (transfer means) 5 and the peeling unit (peeling means) 6 are transported to form a thin film on the substrate W using the sheet film F. Therefore, the thin film formation using the sheet film F is possible. Further, since the film supply unit (film supply means) 7 is provided in the process part PP and the sheet film F is directly supplied to the process part PP, the conveyance efficiency of the sheet film F can be improved, and the throughput of the apparatus Can be improved.

  (2) The center robot 2 is fixedly arranged at substantially the center of the process part PP, and around the center robot 2, a coating unit (coating means) 3, a drying unit (drying means) 4, a transfer unit (transfer means) ) 5, A peeling unit (peeling means) 6, a film supply unit (film supply means) 7 and a reversing unit 8 are arranged, and the substrate hand 24 or the film hand 25 is directly attached to each unit 3-8. Since it is configured to be accessed, there is no need to provide a transfer path for the center robot 2, which is advantageous for making the apparatus compact.

  (3) The center robot 2 has an upper side holding mechanism and a lower side holding mechanism, and can transport the substrate W while being held in two holding modes. The holding mode is switched according to the state. In this way, it is possible to efficiently carry the substrate while adapting to the state of the substrate W.

  (4) As transfer means for transferring the SOG film 121 on the sheet film F to the thin film forming surface 112 of the substrate W, various apparatuses conventionally proposed other than the transfer unit 5 according to the above embodiment, for example, patent documents The apparatus described in 1 may be used. However, in this embodiment, as described in detail in the section “F. Transfer unit 5”, the tilt correction mechanism 58 is moved in the vertical direction Z by the axis rotation about the two rotation axes AX5 and AX6. In contrast, since the transfer unit 5 in which the first plate 54 is tiltable is used, the drying unit 4 and the transfer unit 5 can be arranged in the vertical direction Z as shown in FIG. The occupied floor area, that is, the footprint required for installing the thin film forming apparatus can be reduced. Here, the reason is as follows. That is, in order to press the entire surface of the substrate W against the sheet film F with a uniform load pressure, for example, the tilt correction mechanism described in the above publication, that is, the first plate is rotated along the spherical surfaces of the convex plate and the concave plate. Conventionally, it has been proposed to incorporate a tilt correction mechanism into the transfer unit. However, in this proposed example, there is a problem that the size increases in the vertical direction Z, and it is a fact that the transfer unit and the drying unit are arranged in a stacked manner. It was difficult. On the other hand, according to the transfer unit according to the above embodiment, the height of the transfer unit 5 can be significantly reduced compared to the conventional transfer unit, and the drying unit 4 is superposed on the transfer unit 5 in the vertical direction. To reduce put prints.

  (5) Since the sheet film F is accommodated in the film accommodating cassette 71 with the release sheet SH interposed between the sheet films F, the sheet films F can be prevented from closely contacting each other. Can be reliably separated and used. And since the release sheet SH is located in the uppermost part in the film accommodation cassette 71, the contamination of the sheet film F can be effectively prevented. Further, in this embodiment, the release sheet removing mechanism 74 is provided and is configured to remove the release sheet SH located at the uppermost part, so that the sheet film F is placed at the uppermost part in the film storage cassette 71. The sheet film F can be easily taken out from the film storage cassette 71. As a result, the sheet film F can be supplied as needed without using an operator, and the sheet film F can be supplied efficiently. The sheet film F is a resinous thin plate or thin film. The release sheet SH is a thin plate or thin film sandwiched between the sheet films F in order to protect the sheet film F and suppress charging. As the material, dust-free paper is preferable in terms of suppressing charging and suppressing dust generation, and other materials such as paper and resin can be used.

  (6) Since the film storage cassette 71 is detachable from the thin film forming apparatus, the film storage cassette 71 that stores the sheet film F in advance is prepared, and the film storage cassette 71 is prepared as necessary. Is attached to the apparatus, the sheet film F can be replenished, and the supply of the sheet film F can be made more efficient.

  (7) The internal space 254 formed inside the film hand 25 is brought into a negative pressure state by a blower so that the film film 25 is adsorbed and held by the film hand 25, that is, the exhaust flow rate is increased to apply a negative pressure to the adsorbing holes. Therefore, even if a leak occurs in a part of the exhaust path from the suction holes 246 to 248 to the blower, the negative pressure is reduced by an amount corresponding to the leak amount, but the sheet film F is held by suction. Therefore, it is possible to generate a sufficient negative pressure, the sheet film F can be conveyed with excellent stability, and efficient sheet film conveyance can be performed.

K. Others The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the processing units 3 to 8 are arranged radially around the center robot 2, but the arrangement layout of the center robot 2 and each processing unit 3 to 8 is limited to this. The center robot 2 is configured to be movable along a predetermined transfer path, and the processing units 3 to 8 are arranged on both sides or one side of the transfer path along the transfer path. Also good.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the coating unit 3 which performs a coating process, the drying unit 4 which performs a drying process, the transfer unit 5 which performs a transfer process, and the peeling unit 6 which performs a peeling process as a unit which performs the process with respect to the sheet film F. In addition to these units, another processing unit, for example, a hydrophilic processing unit for applying a hydrophilic surface treatment to the sheet film F is further incorporated, or conversely, some units are deleted. The present invention can be applied to all thin film forming apparatuses provided with a unit for handling the sheet film F.

  In the above embodiment, the transfer unit 5 corresponding to the transfer unit and the release unit 6 corresponding to the release unit are configured as separate units. However, instead of these units 5 and 6, the transfer unit 5 You may make it apply this invention with respect to the thin film forming apparatus which provided the unit which has both and the peeling means.

  In the above embodiment, the drying units 4 are stacked in the vertical direction Z of the transfer unit 5. However, the drying units 4 are stacked on other processing units, or the drying units 4 are disposed independently. Even if the drying units 4 are arranged independently, a plurality of drying units 4 may be stacked and arranged together. Needless to say, the arrangement of the drying unit 4 may be omitted when the drying process is not required.

  Further, the center robot 2 has two holding modes, and is characterized in that the substrate can be transferred while switching the holding mode according to the substrate W, or two substrates can be transferred simultaneously. This corresponds to the transport mechanism of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the center robot 2 is applied to the thin film forming apparatus in order to use such characteristics. However, the transfer mechanism according to the present invention can be applied to all apparatuses involving substrate transfer. The effect (3) described above, that is, the effect of adapting to the state of the substrate and efficiently carrying the substrate can be obtained.

  Moreover, this invention is suitable for the process which crimps | bonds a thin film without making a space | gap in the recessed part of the board | substrate which has an uneven | corrugated pattern, and makes the surface of a thin film flat. For example, a case where an SOD film or an SOG film is formed as an interlayer insulating film on a substrate having a wiring pattern such as metal, or a case where a conductive thin film is embedded in a substrate having a hole or groove shape such as a contact hole. .

  In addition to semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for liquid crystal panels, the present invention is not only used for forming thin films on substrates such as glass substrates for photomasks, glass substrates for plasma displays, and substrates for optical disks, but also IC cards and solar cells. It can also be applied to the manufacture of devices.

It is a layout figure which shows one Embodiment of the thin film forming apparatus equipped with the conveyance mechanism concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows a center robot. It is a figure which shows the structure of the board | substrate hand which comprises the center robot of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the film hand which comprises the center robot of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the film supply unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the film storage cassette provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the release sheet removal mechanism provided in the film supply unit of FIG. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the film supply unit of FIG. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the film supply unit of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the coating unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the drying unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the transfer unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an inclination correction mechanism provided in the transfer unit of FIG. 12. It is a figure which shows the peeling unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the inversion unit provided in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the whole operation | movement of the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the thin film formation procedure in the conventional thin film formation apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... Center robot (conveyance mechanism)
5. Transfer unit (transfer means)
6 ... Peeling unit (peeling means)
22, 23 ... Articulated arm (drive unit)
24 ... Substrate hand (substrate holder)
112 ... Thin film forming surface 121 ... SOG film (thin film)
243 ... Hand body 245 ... Substrate support block (upper side holding mechanism)
246 to 248 ... Adsorption hole (lower side holding mechanism)
249 ... Groove (lower side holding mechanism)
F ... Sheet film M ... Adherence W ... Substrate

Claims (5)

In the transport mechanism that transports while holding the substrate,
The hand body,
An upper holding mechanism for holding the substrate on the upper surface side of the hand body;
A lower side holding mechanism for holding the substrate on the lower surface side of the hand body;
A transport mechanism comprising: a drive unit that transports the substrate by moving the hand body.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lower holding mechanism sucks and holds the substrate by a suction hole formed on a lower surface side of the hand body.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper holding mechanism mechanically holds a substrate by a substrate support member provided on an upper surface side of the hand body.   A first transport mode for transporting the substrate while holding the substrate on the upper surface side of the hand body, and a second transport mode for transporting the substrate while holding the substrate on the lower surface side of the hand body, A transport method comprising transporting a substrate in one of the first and second transport modes according to a state. The thin film formed on the surface of the sheet film by the transfer means is transferred to the thin film forming surface of the substrate to form an adhesive material in which the sheet film and the substrate are integrated through the thin film, and then the peeling means The transport method according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is transported in a thin film forming apparatus that peels the sheet film from an adherent.
A transport method in which the adherent is transported from the transfer unit to the peeling unit in the second transport mode, and the substrate on which the thin film is formed in the first transport mode is unloaded from the stripping unit.

Images