JP2006019544A - Substrate transfer apparatus and substrate carrier system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate transfer apparatus performing noncontact transfer of a wafer automatically between a cassette and a tray. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate transfer apparatus comprises a cassette 2 containing a wafer W or capable of containing a wafer W, a tray 4 having a mounting section 41 for defining the containing position of the wafer W sectioned in the plane, and a substrate transfer robot 3 for transferring the wafer W between the cassette 2 and the tray 4. Substrate holding section 3A of the substrate transfer robot 3 comprises a Bernoulli chuck mechanism, and an alignment unit 50 aligns the tray 4 with a position where the mounting section 41 delivers the wafer W. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus and a substrate transfer system capable of automatically transferring a substrate to be processed between a cassette and a tray, and more specifically, transferring a substrate to be processed to the substrate to be processed. The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus and a substrate transfer system that can be performed in a non-contact manner.

  Conventionally, in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, a technique for transferring a plurality of wafers from a cassette to a tray (or susceptor) and performing a heat treatment, a film forming process, an etching process, or the like is known (for example, the following patent document). 1).

  9A and 9B are perspective views showing a configuration example of the tray 101 conventionally used. The tray 101 shown in the figure has a disk shape, and a plurality of mounting portions 102 (4 locations in the example shown in the figure) are defined and formed at equal angular intervals on one surface thereof. The mounting portion 102 is formed of a circular counterbore, and the depth thereof is approximately the same as the thickness of the wafer W. The clearance between the inner peripheral wall of the mounting portion 102 and the edge portion of the wafer W is so small that the edge portion is not damaged by the collision with the mounting inner peripheral wall due to vibration or the like during tray transfer. Is set.

  Conventionally, the transfer of the wafer W onto the tray 101 having such a configuration has been performed manually by an operator. For this reason, a part of each mounting part 102 is formed with a relief 103 for receiving the tip of a gripping tool (not shown) for gripping the periphery of the wafer W in the front and back direction.

  The tray 101 on which the wafers W are transferred is carried into a processing apparatus such as a heat treatment furnace, a film forming apparatus, or an etching apparatus by an operator. After processing, the tray 101 is carried out of the apparatus, and each processed wafer W is manually transferred to a predetermined position such as a cassette.

JP-A-7-238379 JP-A-6-32499

  However, in the conventional method in which the transfer of the wafer W from the cassette to the tray 101 or the transfer of the wafer W from the tray 101 to the cassette is performed manually, the operation is very troublesome and the placement portion of the tray 101 There is a problem that a transfer failure of the wafer W to the wafer 102 is likely to occur.

  This transfer failure corresponds to a case in which the transfer of the wafer W to the mounting unit 102 is inappropriate, such as a protrusion of the wafer W from the mounting unit 102, a transfer failure, or a different wafer type. In particular, the protrusion of the wafer W from the mounting unit 102 induces processing failures such as dropping of the wafer when the tray 101 is transported, heat treatment failure, film formation failure, or etching failure. For this reason, the operator is required to be careful, and this is a factor in reducing productivity.

  Further, since the holding operation of the wafer W using a gripper is accompanied when the wafer W is transferred, there is a problem that the wafer W is accidentally dropped or the edge of the wafer W is easily damaged. In particular, in a processed wafer, the processing surface may come into contact with the gripping tool and cause damage or contamination.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can automatically transfer a wafer between a cassette and a tray, and can perform transfer of a wafer in a non-contact manner with respect to the wafer. It is an object to provide a transfer apparatus and a substrate transfer system.

  The above-described problems are between a cassette that stores or can store a substrate to be processed, a tray in which a placement portion that defines a storage position of the substrate to be processed is partitioned in a plane, and the cassette and the tray. A substrate transfer robot for transferring the substrate to be processed, wherein the substrate holding portion of the substrate transfer robot is a Bernoulli chuck mechanism, and the tray is set so that the placement portion matches the delivery position of the substrate to be processed. This is solved by a substrate transfer apparatus comprising an alignment means for aligning.

  In addition, the above-described problems include a cassette storing or storing a substrate to be processed, a tray in which a placement portion that defines a storage position of the substrate to be processed is partitioned in a plane, and the cassette and the tray. A substrate transfer robot that transfers the substrate to be processed, a tray support unit that supports the tray, and a tray transfer robot that transfers the tray, and the substrate holding unit of the substrate transfer robot is a Bernoulli chuck mechanism. And the tray support portion is provided with alignment means for aligning the tray so that the placing portion matches the delivery position of the substrate to be processed. Solved.

  In the present invention, the transfer of the substrate to be processed between the cassette and the tray (also referred to as a susceptor) is performed by the substrate transfer robot, so that the transfer process of the substrate to be processed is automated and the work efficiency associated therewith is improved. And we try to improve productivity.

  In addition, since the Bernoulli chuck mechanism is used for the substrate holding part of the substrate transfer robot, it is possible to hold the substrate to be processed in a non-contact manner, thereby preventing damage and contamination during the transfer process of the substrate to be processed. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, by providing an alignment means, it is possible to reliably align the tray so that the tray mounting portion matches the delivery position of the substrate to be processed, and this allows a slight clearance from the substrate to be processed. An appropriate transfer action of the substrate to be processed with respect to the mounting portion can be ensured.

  A plurality of the above-described placement portions are formed on the tray, but a single number may be used. The number of forming portions, the forming position, and the forming interval can be set according to the size and shape of the tray or the specifications and requirements of the substrate processing system to which the present invention is applied. Moreover, the shape of a tray and a mounting part is not specifically limited, A circular shape or a rectangular shape etc. are employable. In particular, the shape of the placement portion is determined according to the shape of the substrate to be processed accommodated therein. The substrate to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon or gallium arsenide substrate, but may be a ceramic substrate such as a glass substrate or a sapphire substrate.

  The alignment means includes a support unit that supports the tray, an alignment mechanism that initially positions a predetermined position on the tray to a reference position of the support unit, and the tray so that the placement unit matches the delivery position of the substrate to be processed. It can be set as the structure provided with the guide mechanism to move.

  In particular, when a plurality of mounting portions are formed at equal intervals on the same circumference on the tray, the alignment mechanism positions the center position of the circumference to the reference position of the support portion, and The guide mechanism can be configured to rotationally move the tray so that the placement unit matches the delivery position of the substrate to be processed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the transfer of the substrate to be processed between the cassette and the tray can be automated, the efficiency of the transfer operation and the improvement of the productivity can be achieved. In addition, the adoption of the Bernoulli chuck mechanism can prevent damage and contamination during transfer of the substrate to be processed, and can always properly transfer the substrate to be mounted on the mounting portion on the tray.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate transfer system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate transfer system 1 includes a wafer cassette 2, a substrate transfer robot 3, a tray 4, a tray support unit 5, a tray transfer robot 6, a tray cassette 7, and a base 8 that supports these. The substrate transfer system 1 is installed, for example, in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere (clean room).

  A plurality of wafers W are stored in the wafer cassette 2, and these wafers W are held one by one by the substrate transfer robot 3 and transferred to the tray 4 disposed on the tray support 5. It has become. In the present embodiment, a plurality of wafer cassettes 2A, 2B, 2C,... Are prepared, and a predetermined number of wafers W are stored in each of them. The wafers W stored in each cassette are stored horizontally, but may be stored vertically.

  The substrate transfer robot 3 includes a substrate holding unit 3A, a telescopic articulated arm unit 3B, and a drive unit 3C. The drive unit 3C rotationally drives the multi-joint arm unit 3B around the drive shaft 3D and drives it up and down along the axial direction of the drive shaft 3D. The articulated arm 3B may be a frog-leg type.

  The configuration of the substrate holding unit 3A is shown in FIGS. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a holding state of the wafer W by the substrate holding portion 3A, FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part in FIG. 2, and FIG.

  A Bernoulli chuck mechanism is adopted for the substrate holding portion 3A. The Bernoulli chuck mechanism ejects air from an air ejection hole 33 formed on the lower surface of the plate-shaped main body 31 to create a balanced state of positive pressure and negative pressure between the plate-shaped main body 31 and the upper surface of the wafer W. The wafer W is suspended by a pressure balance between this and the atmospheric pressure acting on the lower surface of the wafer W, whereby the wafer W is held in a non-contact state with the lower surface of the plate-shaped main body 31.

  An air introduction passage 32 communicating with the air ejection hole 33 is formed inside the plate-shaped main body 31 and connected to an external air supply source (not shown). A negative pressure generating chamber 34 is recessed on the lower surface of the plate-shaped main body 31 so as to surround the air ejection hole 33, and the Bernoulli effect or ejector effect associated with the air ejection action from the air ejection hole 33 in the negative pressure generation chamber 34. To generate negative pressure. The ejected air is discharged to the outside along the upper surface of the wafer W. Note that the number of air ejection holes 33 is not limited to one, and a plurality of air ejection holes 33 may be provided. Further, the gas to be ejected is not limited to air, and, for example, dry nitrogen, argon or the like can be applied, and is appropriately selected depending on the use environment (atmosphere).

  The positioning of the wafer W held by the substrate holding portion 3A is performed by, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a pressing means (cylinder or actuator) 36 for pressing the edge portion of the wafer W toward the reference plate 35 is installed on the transfer path of the wafer W between the reference plate 35 and the reference plate 35. The contact position can be used as the reference position of the wafer W. The reference plate 35 may be formed in an arc shape corresponding to the peripheral shape of the wafer W, or may be installed at a plurality of locations so that the wafer W can be positioned.

  Next, the tray 4 on which the wafers W are transferred has a disk shape as shown in FIG. 1 and is made of, for example, a ceramic material such as quartz, alumina, silicon carbide, or a refractory metal. On the upper surface of the tray 4, a plurality of circular countersunk mounting portions 41 (six locations in the figure) that define the accommodation positions of the wafers W are formed at equal angular intervals on the same circumference. The center of the circumference corresponds to the center position of the tray 4.

  The depth of the mounting portion 41 is set to the same size as the thickness of the wafer W (for example, 50 to 200 μm) or to ± 20% of the thickness of the wafer W. The clearance between the inner peripheral wall of the mounting portion 41 and the edge portion of the wafer W is so small that the edge portion is not damaged by a collision with the mounting portion inner peripheral wall due to vibration or the like during tray transfer (for example, 1 mm). The following is set.

  Further, as will be described in detail later, a marker 42 is provided on the peripheral edge of the tray 4 so as to match the mounting portion 41 with the delivery position of the wafer W in the tray support portion 5. The formation position of the marker 42 can be arbitrarily set, but is formed at the same position with respect to the plurality of trays 4.

  In addition, the number of formation parts 41 and the formation position are not limited to the above example. For example, as shown in FIG. Of course, a tray 4 'formed at nine places is also applicable. Further, the shape of the tray is not limited to a circle, and may be a square shape, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the tray support unit 5 includes a circular support table 51 that supports the tray 4, and a placement unit 41 of the tray 4 that is supported on the support table 51. An alignment unit 50 for aligning the tray 4 so as to match the W delivery position is provided.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 6A, the alignment unit 50 further includes an alignment mechanism unit 50A for initial positioning of the center position of the tray 4 to the center position of the support table 51, and the placement unit 41 of the tray 4 as a wafer. And a guide mechanism 50B that rotates and moves the tray 4 so as to match the W delivery position.

  The positioning mechanism unit 50 </ b> A includes a plurality of pushers 52 arranged at equal angular intervals around the support table 51, and a drive unit 53 that moves the pushers 52 forward and backward in the direction of separating the support table 51. . The pushers 52 are arranged at least at three locations around the support table 51, and push the tray 4 placed on the support table 51 toward the center position (reference position) of the support table 51 by driving the drive unit 53. . The drive part 53 is comprised by the fluid pressure (hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure) cylinder, for example.

  The support table 51 is formed with a notch 56 into which a tray holding portion 6A of the tray transfer robot 6 described later enters, and the notch 56 is in a tray delivery position (position shown in FIG. 6A). As a reference, guide grooves 57 for guiding the forward / backward movement of the pusher 52 are formed in the peripheral portion of the support table 51 facing the pusher 52.

  On the other hand, the guide mechanism unit 50B includes a rotation shaft 54 that rotates the support table 51 around its center and a drive unit 55 that rotationally drives the rotation shaft 54. The drive unit 55 is configured by a precision feed drive unit such as a pulse motor or a servo motor, and the tray 4 centered (initially positioned) by the positioning mechanism is intermittently fed at the arrangement angle pitch of the placement unit 41. To do. The drive unit 55 may be configured by other drive mechanisms such as a belt drive and a gear mechanism as long as a predetermined accuracy can be obtained.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7E, a sensor 58 for optically detecting the above-described marker 42 formed on the peripheral edge of the tray 4 is disposed at a predetermined position outside the periphery of the support table 51. . The sensor 58 is disposed at a position facing the marker 42 at a rotational position where the predetermined placement portion 41 on the tray 4 matches the delivery position of the wafer W shown in FIG. 7F. The marker 42 is formed in a size (detection range of the sensor 58) that allows the mounting unit 41 to be aligned with a predetermined accuracy with respect to the wafer delivery position.

  As described above, the substrate transfer apparatus 10 according to the present invention is configured by the wafer cassette 2, the substrate transfer robot 3, the tray 4, and the tray support portion 5 described above.

  Next, the tray transfer robot 6 and the tray cassette 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The tray transfer robot 6 includes a plate-shaped tray holding portion 6A (see FIG. 6A) that supports the lower surface of the tray 4, a telescopic articulated arm portion 6B, and a drive portion 6C. The drive unit 6C rotationally drives the multi-joint arm unit 6B around the drive shaft 6D and drives it up and down along the axial direction of the drive shaft 6D. The tray transport robot 6 is configured to take the tray 4 in and out of the tray cassette 7.

  The tray cassette 7 is provided with a plurality of storage portions 71 that can horizontally store the trays 4 one by one in the height direction. In each storage portion 71, approximately the center of the shelf 72 that forms the support surface of the tray 4. The part is provided with a relief 73 having a shape into which the tray holding part 6A of the tray transfer robot 6 can enter.

  The substrate transfer system 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, an example of this operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Initially, a predetermined number of unprocessed wafers W are stored in the wafer cassette 2 (2A to 2C) with the processing surface facing upward, and the tray cassette 7 is empty (no wafer W is placed thereon). ) A plurality of trays 4 are respectively stored in the storage portions 71 with the formation surface of the placement portion 41 facing upward.

  The substrate transport robot 3 holds and takes out one wafer W from the wafer cassette 2 </ b> A and transports the wafer W toward the tray support unit 5. At this time, since the substrate holding unit 3A of the substrate transfer robot 3 is configured by the Bernoulli chuck having the above-described mechanism, the wafer W is transferred in a non-contact manner with respect to the substrate holding unit 3A.

  On the other hand, the tray transport robot 6 takes out one tray 4 from the tray cassette 7 and transports it toward the tray support section 5. In the tray support portion 5, as shown in FIG. 6A, the support table 51 is initially rotationally aligned at the angular position where the notch 56 is at the tray delivery position by the guide mechanism portion 50B, and the alignment mechanism portion. Each pusher 52 of 50A is located at a retracted position away from the support table 51. In this state, the tray transport robot 6 places the tray 4 on the support table 51.

  Next, an alignment step is performed by the alignment unit 50 to match the placement portion 41 of the tray 4 with the delivery position of the wafer W (FIGS. 6B, C, D, and FIG. 7E).

  In this step, first, centering (initial positioning) is performed on the tray 4 placed on the support table 51 by the alignment mechanism unit 50A. In this operation, each pusher 52 is caused to enter the tray 4 from the retracted position shown in FIG. 6A through the guide groove 57 (FIG. 6B), and finally press the peripheral edge of the tray 4 as shown in FIG. 6C. Is done by. Thereby, the center of the tray 4 is matched with the center position (reference position) of the support table 51. Note that after the centering of the tray 4 is completed, the pusher 52 moves again to the retracted position shown in FIG. 6A.

  After the centering of the tray 4 is completed, the placement unit 41 is subsequently aligned with the wafer delivery position. This operation is performed by driving the driving unit 55 of the guide mechanism unit 50B to rotate the support table 51 around the rotation shaft 54 (FIG. 6D), and as shown in FIG. 7E, the peripheral edge of the centered tray 4 The rotation of the support table 51 is stopped at a position where the sensor 58 detects the marker 42 formed on the surface. Thereby, the predetermined mounting part 41 is accurately aligned with the delivery position of the wafer W shown in FIG. 7F. Further, regardless of the initial rotation position of the tray 4, the predetermined placement portion 41 is adjusted to the wafer delivery position.

  Next, the transfer process of the wafer W with respect to the tray 4 is performed (FIG. 7F, G, H, FIG. 8I, J, K).

  The substrate transport robot 3 transports the wafer W to the wafer delivery position of the tray support 5 (FIG. 7F), and then places the wafer W on the placement part 41 of the tray 4 (FIG. 7G). In the wafer W mounting operation, the substrate transfer unit 3A is lowered until the distance between the lower surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the mounting unit 41 reaches a predetermined height, and then the air ejection operation is canceled. Thereby, the wafer W is appropriately accommodated in the mounting portion 41.

  Thereafter, the substrate transfer robot 3 moves to the cassette 2A, holds the next wafer W, and transfers the wafer W again to the wafer delivery position on the tray support 5 (FIG. 8I). On the other hand, in the tray 4, the support table 51 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a predetermined angle (60 ° in this example) by the guide mechanism unit 50B, and the adjacent mounting unit 41 is sent to the wafer delivery position (FIG. 7H). Then, the wafer W is accommodated in the placement portion 41 in the same manner as described above (FIG. 8J).

  By repeating the above operation, the transfer operation of the wafer W to all the placement units 41 on the tray 4 is completed (FIG. 8K).

  Thereafter, the support table 51 is rotated to a rotational position where the notch 56 matches the tray delivery position. The tray holding unit 6A of the tray transfer robot 6 supports the tray 4 on which the wafers W are transferred (FIG. 8L), and transfers the tray 4 from the tray support unit 5 to the tray cassette 7. The tray 4 is stored in the storage portion 71 that was initially stored. Then, after the next other empty tray 4 is transported to the tray support portion 5 by the tray transport robot 6, the wafer W is transferred to each placement portion 41 of the tray 4 by the same operations as described above. Is done.

  After all the trays 4 stored in the tray cassette 7 have been transferred to the wafer, the tray cassette 7 is transferred to the next process, while a plurality of empty trays 4 are stored. The next tray cassette 7 is installed instead. These tray cassettes 7 are transported by a robot (not shown) or an operator.

  When the wafer cassette 2A is empty, the substrate transfer robot 3 takes out the wafer W stored in the adjacent wafer cassette 2B. At this time, the wafer transfer path by the substrate transfer robot 3 can be made constant by adopting a configuration in which the wafer cassettes 2B and 2C are automatically slid to the position of the cassette 2A.

  In the above description, an example in which an unprocessed wafer W is transferred from the cassette 2 to the tray 4 has been described. However, heat treatment, film formation processing, etching processing, or the like was performed by performing an operation reverse to the above. The processed wafer W can be transferred from the tray 4 to the cassette 2.

  In this case, the tray 4 on which the processed wafers W are placed is stored in the tray cassette 7, and the tray 4 is transported to the tray support 5 by the tray transport robot 4. Then, an alignment operation of the tray 4 by the alignment unit 50 of the tray support 5 and an alignment operation of each mounting unit 41 with respect to the wafer delivery position are sequentially performed, and the empty wafer cassette 2 is transferred via the substrate transfer robot 3. The processed wafers W are transferred sequentially.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the transfer of the wafer W between the wafer cassette 2 and the tray 4 is performed by the substrate transfer robot 3. Automation can be achieved, and the work efficiency and productivity associated with this can be improved.

  In addition, since the Bernoulli chuck mechanism is employed in the substrate holding portion 3A of the substrate transfer robot 3, it is possible to hold the wafer W in a non-contact manner, thereby preventing damage and contamination in the transfer process of the wafer W. Can be prevented. In addition, it is possible to easily cope with transport of a substrate that is easily broken such as a thin wafer and is difficult to handle.

  In particular, since the wafer W can be taken out from the mounting portion 41 of the tray 4 in a non-contact manner, as in the prior art, a niger into which the tip of the gripper enters is formed around the mounting portion, or a lift pin is protruded. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a through-hole for the mounting portion on the bottom surface.

  Further, since the alignment unit 50 is provided on the tray support portion 5, the tray 4 can be reliably aligned so that the placement portion 41 of the tray 4 matches the delivery position of the wafer W. An appropriate transfer action of the wafer W with respect to the mounting portion 41 having a slight clearance from the wafer W can be ensured.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the centering (initial positioning) when the tray 4 is circular and the alignment of each mounting portion 41 to the wafer delivery position have been described as examples. As an alignment example, the alignment means is configured by an XY moving mechanism, and the position of the tray 4 is optically detected and aligned to the reference position of the tray support portion. Can be adopted.

  Further, instead of the configuration in which the alignment unit 50 is provided in the tray support unit 50, a Bernoulli mechanism similar to the substrate transfer robot 3 is adopted for the support mechanism of the tray 4 by the tray transfer robot 6. In a state where the tray 4 is held in a non-contact manner, the tray 4 may be aligned by, for example, bringing the tray 4 into contact with a separately prepared positioning reference surface.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the wafer transferred tray 4 is transported to the tray cassette 7 as the next process has been described. Instead, the wafer transferred tray 4 is transferred to the processing chamber. You may make it convey directly to a waiting room or a load lock room. Similarly, the tray on which the processed wafer is transferred can be directly transferred from the standby chamber or the load lock chamber of the processing chamber to the tray support section.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the board | substrate conveyance system 1 by embodiment of this invention. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a substrate holding unit 3A of the substrate transport robot 3. FIG. It is an enlarged view which shows typically the principal part of 3 A of board | substrate holding parts. It is principal part sectional drawing explaining the positioning mechanism of the wafer W with respect to 3A of board | substrate holding parts. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the configuration of the tray 4. FIG. 6 is a process diagram for explaining the operation of the substrate transfer system 1. It is another process drawing explaining operation | movement of the board | substrate conveyance system. FIG. 10 is still another process diagram for explaining the operation of the substrate transfer system 1. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional tray, A shows the state before the transfer of the wafer W, B shows the state after the transfer, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate transfer system 2 Wafer cassette 3 Substrate transfer robot 4 Tray 5 Tray support part 6 Tray transfer robot 7 Tray cassette 10 Substrate transfer device 31 Plate-shaped main body 32 Air introduction passage 33 Air ejection hole 34 Negative pressure generation chamber 41 Mount Placement unit 42 Marker 50 Alignment unit 50A Positioning mechanism unit 50B Guide mechanism unit 51 Support table 52 Pusher 53 Drive unit 54 Rotating shaft 55 Drive unit 58 Sensor W Wafer

Claims (9)

A cassette in which a substrate to be processed is stored or can be stored, a tray in which a placement portion for defining a storage position of the substrate to be processed is partitioned in a plane, and the substrate to be processed between the cassette and the tray. A substrate transfer robot for transfer,
The substrate holding part of the substrate transfer robot is a Bernoulli chuck mechanism,
An apparatus for transferring a substrate, comprising: alignment means for aligning the tray so that the placing section matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed.   The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the placement units are formed on the tray.   The alignment means includes a support portion that supports the tray, an alignment mechanism that initially positions a predetermined position on the tray to a reference position of the support portion, and the placement portion matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a guide mechanism that moves the tray so as to perform. A plurality of the mounting portions are formed at equal angular intervals on the same circumference on the tray,
The alignment mechanism positions a center position of the circumference to a reference position of the support portion,
The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the guide mechanism rotates the tray so that the placing portion matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed. A cassette that stores or can store a substrate to be processed, a tray in which a mounting portion that defines a storage position of the substrate to be processed is partitioned in a plane, and the substrate to be processed between the cassette and the tray. A substrate transfer robot for transferring, a tray support for supporting the tray, and a tray transfer robot for transferring the tray;
The substrate holding part of the substrate transfer robot is a Bernoulli chuck mechanism,
3. The substrate transport system according to claim 1, wherein the tray support portion is provided with alignment means for aligning the tray so that the placing portion matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed.   The alignment means moves the tray so that a predetermined position on the tray is initially positioned at a reference position of the tray support portion, and the placement portion matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed. The substrate transfer system according to claim 5, further comprising a guide mechanism. A plurality of the mounting portions are formed at equal angular intervals on the same circumference on the tray,
The alignment mechanism positions a center position of the circumference to a reference position of the tray support portion,
The substrate transport system according to claim 6, wherein the guide mechanism rotates the tray so that the placement unit matches a delivery position of the substrate to be processed. The tray is formed with a plurality of the above-mentioned placement portions,
The substrate transport robot transports the substrate to be processed before processing from the cassette toward the tray one by one, and accommodates the substrate to be processed in a mounting portion located at the transfer position,
The substrate transport system according to claim 5, wherein the tray transport robot transports a tray containing a plurality of substrates to be processed before the processing from the tray support unit to a next process. The tray is formed with a plurality of the above-mentioned placement portions,
The tray transport robot transports a tray containing a plurality of processed substrates to be processed to the tray support unit,
The substrate transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the substrate transfer robot transfers the processed substrates to be processed one by one from the tray to the cassette.

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