JP2007227984A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus of which space occupancy is suppressed with maintaining high substrate processing capability. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of processing routes with processing units are stacked so that a series of processes can be performed by reciprocation. This realizes reduction of space occupancy and improvement of substrate processing capability. Transfer robots R1 and R3 to R10 whose roles and operation regions are specified are operated simultaneously and in parallel so that processing can be performed without intermission at each processing unit and processing efficiency can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”).

  As is well known, products such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays are manufactured by performing a series of processes such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, interlayer insulation film formation, heat treatment, and dicing on the substrate. Has been.

  In order to increase the manufacturing efficiency and the manufacturing capability in a manufacturing line including a plurality of processes, a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing units in charge of each processing process has been developed and put into practical use.

  For example, among the above-mentioned various processes, a substrate processing apparatus (so-called coater & developer) that performs resist coating and developing processes includes a plurality of units each responsible for resist coating, development, heating, cooling, and the like. Therefore, the waiting time has been reduced to improve the manufacturing efficiency and the manufacturing capacity.

  In such a conventional substrate processing apparatus, the transfer of substrates between the processing units is often performed by a single transfer robot. Accordingly, as the number of processing units increases, the transfer robot is required to perform more complicated operations, and the structure thereof must be complicated accordingly. On the other hand, there is a limit to the transfer capability of a single transfer robot, and the arrangement of processing units that exceed the limit only causes a stagnation of the process flow. There were limits to efficiency and throughput.

  Further, as the number of processing units increases as described above, the substrate processing apparatus must be increased in size, but the substrate processing apparatus is arranged in a space with a limited area called a clean room. In light of this, it is desirable that the plane occupation area of the substrate processing apparatus be as small as possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus in which a plane occupation area is suppressed while maintaining a high substrate processing capability.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is a substrate processing apparatus, each of which includes a unit group including a plurality of processing units, and a plurality of process units for performing processing according to a predetermined substrate processing sequence. The plurality of process units have at least a first process unit that forms a chemical film as the substrate processing sequence and a second process unit that develops an exposure pattern formed on the substrate. Each of the plurality of process units is provided between a plurality of unit arrangement units each including at least one unit included in the unit group, and the plurality of unit arrangement units. It is characterized by comprising delivery means for delivering, and accommodation means capable of accommodating a substrate waiting to be processed in the process section.

  According to invention of Claim 1, the plane occupation area of a substrate processing apparatus can be suppressed.

<Device overview>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an indexer ID for transferring a substrate to and from the outside of the apparatus, a process module PM including a plurality of processing units for performing predetermined processing on the substrate, and an exposure apparatus. And an interface IF for transferring a substrate to and from a certain stepper STP. Note that FIG. 1 has an xyz three-dimensional coordinate system, where xy indicates a horizontal plane direction and z indicates a vertical direction. In the following description, the coordinate system will follow this in principle.

  The process module PM has a two-stage structure composed of two upper and lower process units that perform different processes. Hereinafter, the upper stage is the upper process module UPM, and the lower stage is the lower process module LPM. Further, both the indexer ID and the interface IF have a structure capable of delivering a substrate to and from the upper process module UPM and the lower process module LPM. Therefore, for the convenience of the following description, the portion corresponding to the upper process module in the indexer ID is the upper indexer UID, the portion corresponding to the lower process module LPM is the lower indexer LID, and the portion corresponding to the upper process module in the interface IF is the upper interface. A portion corresponding to the UIF and the lower process module LPM is a lower interface LIF. Furthermore, the upper indexer UID, the upper process module UPM, and the upper interface UIF are collectively referred to as an upper stage UF, and the lower indexer LID, the lower process module LPM, and the lower interface LIF are collectively referred to as a lower stage LF.

<Configuration of each part>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the lower stage portion LF of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the upper stage portion UF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part of the substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  In the indexer ID, a plurality of cassettes C that can store a plurality of substrates in multiple stages can be placed on each of the upper indexer UID and the lower indexer LID.

  Now, let the cassette C placed on the upper indexer UID be the upper cassette UC and the cassette C placed on the lower indexer LID be the lower cassette LC. In the lower cassette LC, unprocessed substrates W to be processed in the substrate processing apparatus 1 are stored. On the other hand, a substrate W that has been subjected to a predetermined process in the substrate processing apparatus 1 is stored in the upper cassette UC.

  The lower indexer LID has a transfer robot R1 that takes out the substrate from the lower cassette LC. The transfer robot R1 is provided with an arm AM1, and is appropriately combined with horizontal movement in the y direction, vertical movement in the z-axis direction, rotation about the z-axis, expansion and contraction of the arm AM1, etc. by a driving mechanism (not shown). Thus, it is possible to take out the substrate W from the lower cassette LC and to deliver the substrate W to the process module PM for subsequent processing. On the other hand, the upper indexer UID has a transfer robot R21 that is responsible for storing substrates in the upper cassette UC. The transfer robot R2 includes an arm AM2, and can operate in the same manner as the transfer robot R1. The transfer robot R2 receives the substrate W that has been subjected to predetermined processing by the process module PM, and transfers the substrate W to the upper cassette LC. Storage is possible.

  As described above, the process module PM includes the lower process module LPM and the upper process module UPM.

  The lower process module LPM (FIG. 2) is a part responsible for a chemical solution coating process before exposure, and includes eight transfer robots R3 to R10, six multistage heat treatment units 11 to 16, and four antireflections. It mainly comprises film coating processing units BARC1 to BARC4 and four resist coating processing units SC1 to SC4.

  On the other hand, the upper process module (FIG. 3) is a part responsible for development processing after exposure, and includes eight transfer robots R11 to R18, six multi-stage heat treatment units 17 to 22, and eight development processing. Units SD1 to SD8 are mainly provided.

  The central portion of the process module PM is a closed space, and is a maintenance area 41 common to the upper process module UPM and the lower process module LPM.

  In both the lower process module LPM and the upper process module UPM, two rows in which three multi-stage heat treatment units and two transfer robots are alternately arranged are formed in the x-axis direction. Further, in the multistage heat treatment units at both ends of each row, transfer robots are further arranged adjacent to each other in the y-axis direction perpendicular to the row. Further, adjacent to the latter transfer robot, any two of the antireflection film coating units BARC1 to BARC4 or the resist coating units SC1 to SC4 are developed in the lower process module LPM, and the developing process is performed in the upper process module UPM. Two units SD1 to SD8 are arranged.

  That is, in both the lower process module LPM and the upper process module UPM, since the arrangement of the processing units and the like in the two columns is exactly the same, the same processing sequence is performed independently and in parallel in each column. Is possible.

  The transfer robots R3 to R18 are provided with arms AM3 to AM18, respectively. All of the transfer robots R3 to R18 are arranged adjacent to each other by appropriately combining vertical movement in the z-axis direction by a drive mechanism (not shown), rotation around the z-axis, expansion and contraction of the arms AM3 to AM18, and the like. The substrate W can be exchanged with a processing unit or the like. However, the transfer robots R3 to R10 can move up and down only within the range of the lower process module LPM, and the transfer robots R11 to R18 can move up and down only within the range of the upper process module UPM. Since the transfer robots R3 to R18 do not move in the horizontal plane and carry the substrate W, the substrate holding time from receiving the substrate W in one unit to delivering it to the next unit is short. The substrates can be transferred one after another. Further, since a horizontal movement mechanism is not required, the structure can be simplified. In addition, about these transfer robots R3-R18, you may use what has the same structure.

  The multi-stage heat treatment units 11 to 22 include 22 heat treatment units H1 to H22, 16 cooling treatment units C1 to C16, 4 hydrophobization treatment units A1 to A4, and 12 pieces used for transfer of the substrate W. Some of the pass units P1 to P12 are combined and arranged in a stacked manner. Units are combined in different ways depending on the multistage heat treatment units 11 to 22. In each of the multi-stage heat treatment units 11 to 16, the units are actually arranged in layers, but in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the individual processing units are arranged in a plane for convenience of illustration. Is shown as Further, in order to emphasize that the layers are actually arranged in layers, the surroundings are hatched (the same applies hereinafter).

  2 and FIG. 3, arrows and the like attached to the reference numerals of the respective processing units represent the opening directions of the respective processing units by a notation according to the coordinate axis notation method. This indicates that the arm of the transfer robot located on the tip side of the arrow can access the processing unit and transfer the substrate to and from each processing unit. For example, the arm AM3 of the transfer robot R3 and the arm AM4 of the transfer robot R4 are accessible to the cooling processing unit C1 of the multistage heat treatment section 11, and the cooling processing unit C5 of the multistage heat treatment section 14 is accessible. Are accessible by the arm AM7 of the transfer robot R7 and the arm AM8 of the transfer robot R8. Further, for example, the arm AM3 of the transfer robot R3 can access all the units of the multistage heat treatment unit 11 and the pass unit P2 and the heat treatment units H3 to H4 among the multistage heat treatment unit 12.

  Among the processing units constituting the multi-stage heat treatment units 11 to 22, the pass units P1 to P12 transfer the substrate W between two transfer robots adjacent to the multi-stage heat treatment units 11 to 22 including the respective pass units. Is provided to do. As the pass unit, for example, three support pins are provided, the arm of one transfer robot places the substrate W on the support pin, and the other transfer robot takes out the substrate W. A mode of giving and receiving a substrate is conceivable.

  Each of the heat treatment units H1 to H22 includes a so-called hot plate that heats the substrate W to a predetermined temperature or maintains the substrate W at a high temperature state. The cooling processing units C1 to C16 include a so-called cool plate that cools the substrate W to a predetermined temperature or maintains the substrate W at a low temperature state. The cooling processing units C1, C3 to C5, C7 to C9, C11, C14, and C16 can be accessed from two directions and also have a function as a pass unit.

  Further, the hydrophobizing units A1 to A4 perform a process of hydrophobizing the surface of the substrate W for the purpose of enhancing the adhesion between the resist or antireflection film applied to the substrate W in the subsequent process and the substrate W. Unit.

  The antireflection film coating units BARC1 to BARC4 further provided in the lower process module LPM are units for coating an antireflection film for preventing reflection of UV light during exposure in the stepper STP on the substrate surface. The resist coating processing units SC1 to SC4 are so-called spin coaters that perform uniform resist coating by dropping a photoresist onto the main surface of the substrate while rotating the substrate.

  The development processing units SD1 to SD8 further provided in the upper process module UPM are so-called spin developers that perform development processing by supplying a developer onto the substrate after exposure.

  The interface IF includes two transfer robots R19 and R20 that can move up and down between the lower interface LIF and the upper interface UIF. In addition, the lower interface LIF includes two edge exposure units 31 and 32, and a buffer. A cassette BF1 and a transfer robot R21 are provided, and the post-multi-exposure heat treatment units 33 and 34, a buffer cassette BF2, and a transfer robot R22 are provided in the upper interface UIF.

  The transfer robots R19 and R20 have the same structure and function as the transfer robots R3 to R18 used in the process module PM. However, the transfer robots R3 to R18 are all the upper process module UPM or While the robot can move up and down only within the range of the lower process module LPM, the transfer robots R19 and R20 of the interface IF can freely move up and down between the upper interface UIF and the lower interface LIF. It is different. That is, the transfer robots R19 and R20 receive the substrate W before exposure subjected to the resist coating process in the lower process module LPM and deliver the substrate W exposed in the stepper STP to the upper process module UPM. It also has a role.

  Each of the edge exposure units 31 and 32 includes two edge exposure units E1 and E2, E3, and E4. The edge exposure units E1 to E4 are units for performing an edge exposure process for removing an unnecessary resist film on the edge portion of the substrate. The edge exposure unit 31 can be accessed only by the transfer robot R19, and the edge exposure unit 32 can be accessed only by the transfer robot R20.

  The buffer cassettes BF1 and BF2 are for storing the substrates W that are waiting for processing in the subsequent processing. The buffer cassette BF1 stores a substrate W waiting for exposure processing in the stepper STP, and the buffer cassette BF2 stores the substrate W after exposure processing in the stepper STP.

  The transfer robots R21 and R22 are robots for exchanging substrates with the stepper STP, and have the same structure and function as the transfer robots R1 and R2 provided in the indexer ID. The transfer robot R21 takes out the substrate W before exposure processing stored in the buffer cassette BF1 by the arm AM21, moves it appropriately in the y direction, and then delivers the substrate W to the stepper STP. The transfer robot R22 receives the substrate W subjected to the exposure process from the stepper STP and stores it in the buffer cassette BF2.

  The multi-stage post-exposure heat treatment units 33 and 34 are provided for performing a baking process and a subsequent cooling process on the substrate W exposed by the stepper STP. The multistage post-exposure heat treatment section 33 includes three post-exposure bake units B1 to B3 and three cooling processing units C21 to C23. Similarly, the post-exposure heat treatment section 34 includes post-exposure bake units B4 to B6 and cooling processing units C24 to C26.

  The post-exposure baking units B1 to B6 are units that perform a baking process for the purpose of promoting the catalytic reaction of the resist on the exposed substrate W. On the other hand, the cooling processing units C21 to C26 are units that cool the substrate W with a cool plate in order to quickly finish the baking processing of the substrate W. Development processing is performed in the upper process module UPM on the substrate W subjected to these processes.

  The process module PM and the interface IF are provided with a fan filter unit (not shown) so as to function in common with each processing unit or with several processing units. Converted air is supplied.

  By adopting the configuration as described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 has high processing capability and suppresses an increase in the plane occupation area.

<Substrate processing flow>
Hereinafter, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, in what processing sequence the circuit pattern is formed on the substrate W and how the substrate is transported at that time. explain. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of a series of processing performed in the lower stage LF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a series of processes performed in the upper stage UF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the reference numerals of the transfer robots that transfer between the processing units are attached in the vicinity of the arrows.

  The process in the lower part LF shown in FIG. 4 is a process performed before the exposure process in the stepper STP. First, the transfer robot R1 takes out the substrate from the lower cassette LC of the lower indexer LID and places it on the pass unit P1 or P4 (step S1). Thereafter, the processing unit that performs processing on the substrate W differs depending on which pass unit the substrate W is placed on, but the processing itself is exactly the same in either case. Only the case where the substrate W is placed on the pass unit P1 will be described.

  The substrate W placed on the pass unit P1 is transferred to the hydrophobic treatment unit A1 or A2 by the transfer robot R2, and subjected to the hydrophobic treatment (step S2). The substrate W that has undergone the hydrophobic treatment passes through the cooling processing unit C1 (step S3), and is then transferred to the antireflection film coating processing unit BARC1 or BARC2, and an antireflection film is applied to the back surface (step S4). .

  The substrate W coated with the antireflection film again passes through the cooling processing unit C1 (step S5) and is subjected to heat treatment (dehydration bake) for enhancing the adhesion of the resist in any of the heat treatment units H1 to H4. (Step 6). Then, after passing through the pass unit P2 and the cooling processing unit C3 or C4 (steps S7 and S8), it is placed on the resist coating processing unit SC1 or SC2 and subjected to resist coating processing (step S9).

  The substrate W on which the resist coating process has been performed passes through the cooling processing unit C3 or C4 again (step S10), and then aims to remove the solvent in the coating film or enhance the resist adhesion in any of the heat processing units H5 to H9. Heat treatment (pre-baking) is performed (step S11), and further, cooling processing is performed in the cooling processing unit C2 (step S12).

  The substrate W thus coated with the resist is transferred to the lower interface LIF via the pass unit P3 (step S13), and is subjected to edge exposure in the edge exposure unit E1 or E2 (step S14). ). The substrate W subjected to the edge exposure is once stored in the buffer cassette BF1 (step S15), and then transferred to the stepper STP by the transfer robot R21 to be subjected to an exposure process.

  The process in the upper stage UF shown in FIG. 5 is a process performed after the exposure process in the stepper STP. The exposed substrate W received by the transfer robot R22 from the stepper STP is first stored in the buffer cassette BF2 (step S21). Thereafter, the transfer robot R19 or R20 takes out the substrate W from the buffer cassette BF2. Thereafter, although the processing unit for processing the substrate W differs depending on which transfer robot the substrate W is taken out by, the processing itself is exactly the same in either case. Only when the substrate W is taken out will be described.

  The substrate W taken out by the transfer robot R19 is subjected to post-exposure baking in any of the post-exposure baking units B1 to B3 (step S22), and further cooled by the cooling processing unit (step S23).

  Thereafter, the substrate W is placed on the pass unit P7 (step S24). The substrate W is subjected to development processing by any of the development processing units SD1 to SD4, and in which development processing unit the development processing is performed. The subsequent processing flow differs depending on whether or not is performed.

  When development processing is performed in either the development processing unit SD1 or SD2, the substrate W taken out from the pass unit P7 by the transfer robot R11 passes through the cooling processing unit C9 (step S25), and then the development processing unit SD1 or It is transferred to SD2 and subjected to development processing (step S26).

  The substrate W that has undergone development processing passes through the cooling processing unit C9 again (step S27), and then undergoes heat processing (post-bake) for resist curing in the heat processing unit H19 (step S28).

  Thereafter, the substrate W that has been subjected to the cooling process in the cooling unit C10 (step S29) is passed to the upper indexer UID via the pass units P8 and P9 (steps S30 and S31), and is transferred to the upper cassette by the transfer robot R2. It is stored in one of the UCs (step S38).

  On the other hand, when the development processing for the substrate W is performed in either the development processing unit SD3 or SD4, the substrate W taken out from the pass unit P7 by the transfer robot R11 further passes the pass unit P8 and the cooling processing unit C11. Then (steps S32 and S33), the image is transferred to the development processing unit SD3 or SD4 and subjected to development processing (step S34). Then, after passing through the cooling processing unit C11 again (step S35), after the post-baking in the heating processing unit H20 (step S36) and further through the cooling processing in the cooling processing unit C12 (step S37), via the pass unit P9. It is delivered to the upper indexer UID and stored in one of the upper cassettes UC (step S38).

  As described above, the processing flows in the lower part LF and the upper part UF include processing flows in which two independent and identical processing sequences are performed in parallel. In the upper stage UF, each part is further branched into two parallel flows. As a result, the substrate W can be processed in the processable flow, the waiting time for processing the substrate W can be reduced, and the processing capability per unit time can be increased.

  In addition, each transfer robot that transfers a substrate between each processing unit has a limited role and operation range for each individual placement location, and can operate independently within that range. In the limit that does not saturate, the substrates W operate simultaneously and in parallel, and the substrate W can be transferred without interruption. Thereby, processing can be performed in parallel in each processing unit without interruption, and the processing efficiency per unit time can be improved.

<Modification>
The functions of the upper stage UF and the lower stage LF may be interchanged. That is, a configuration in which a resist coating process or the like is performed in the upper stage UF and a development process is performed in the lower stage LF may be employed. Alternatively, a processing path may be further provided, and these may be arranged in multiple stages.

  The number and arrangement of each processing unit and transfer robot are not limited to the above-described example, and may be appropriately changed according to the target processing. Or the processing unit provided with the test | inspection function may be arrange | positioned.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of a structure of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the lower stage part LF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the upper stage UF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow about a series of processes performed in the lower stage part LF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow about a series of processes performed in the upper stage part UF of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 11-22 Multistage heat treatment part 31, 32 Edge exposure part 33, 34 Heat treatment part after multistage exposure 41 Maintenance area A1-A4 Hydrophobization process unit AM1-AM22 Arm B1-B6 Post exposure bake unit BARC1-BARC4 Antireflection Film coating processing unit BF1, BF2 Buffer cassette C Cassette C1-C16, C21-C26 Cooling processing unit E1-E4 Edge exposure unit H1-H22 Heat processing unit ID Indexer IF interface P1-P12 Pass unit PM Process module R1-R22 Transfer Robot S1-S38 Step SC1-SC4 Resist coating unit SD1-SD8 Development unit W Substrate

Claims (1)

A substrate processing apparatus,
Each has a unit group including a plurality of processing units, and a plurality of process units that perform processing according to a predetermined substrate processing sequence are arranged in a stack,
The plurality of process units include at least a first process unit that forms a chemical film as the substrate processing sequence and a second process unit that develops an exposure pattern formed on the substrate,
Each of the plurality of process units is
A plurality of unit arrangement portions each including at least one unit included in the unit group;
A delivery means that is provided between the plurality of unit arrangement portions and delivers the substrate;
Storage means capable of storing a substrate waiting to be processed in the process section;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

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