JP2013235870A - Substrate processing apparatus, adjustment method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus and others capable of mounting a substrate on a correct mounting position within a processing module by means of a simple method.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus comprises: a processing module including a mounting table 43 for horizontally mounting a circular substrate W on a mounting position 430; a conveyance mechanism including movable holding members 23A and 23B horizontally holding the substrate W and allowing the holding members to move toward the processing module to deliver the substrate to the mounting table 43; guide parts 45 provided so that, when the substrate W whose horizontal position is fixed with respect to the mounting position 430 on the advancing holding members 23A and 23B comes into contact with the guide parts 45, a position of the substrate W with respect to the holding members 23A and 23B is shifted in accordance with a shift amount between a delivery start position and a temporary delivery start position; and a control unit allowing the holding members 23A and 23B to move so that the substrate W comes into contact with the guide parts 45, and calculating the delivery start position for substrate processing on the basis of a detection result of a position of the substrate W after the contact.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for adjusting a delivery position of a substrate delivered to a processing module.

  In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of processing modules for performing various processes on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer), which is a circular substrate, and loading / unloading of wafers to / from each of these processing modules are performed. A substrate processing apparatus provided with a transport mechanism for performing is used. In such a substrate processing apparatus, wafers are sequentially transferred to a plurality of processing modules by a transfer mechanism, and predetermined processing corresponding to the processing modules is performed.

  At this time, for example, if each wafer is not placed at an appropriate position in the processing module, there is a possibility that uniform processing may not be performed within the wafer surface, or processing results may be different between wafers. For this reason, the transport mechanism is configured to exhibit high transport accuracy.

  However, for example, after installing the substrate processing apparatus in the factory or after performing maintenance on the transfer mechanism, the wafer was transferred to a position preset at the time of design due to the effect of deviation during assembly of each device. However, the wafer may not be transferred to an appropriate placement position.

  For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a wafer on which a detector such as a capacitance sensor or an acceleration sensor is mounted is used as an adjustment jig, and the adjustment jig is transferred by a substrate transfer device to detect the detector. A technique is described in which a deviation from a predetermined reference position is obtained based on the obtained position, and an operation (teaching work) for correcting the deviation is performed. However, if the mounting position of the wafer can be adjusted by a simpler method without using such a special adjustment jig, inspection and calibration of the adjustment jig can be omitted, resulting in handling errors. Can also be avoided.

JP 2009-54665 A JP 2008-109027 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of mounting a substrate on a correct mounting position in a processing module by a simple method, and a substrate transfer position. Adjustment method and a storage medium storing this method.

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a mounting table for horizontally mounting a circular substrate at a predetermined mounting position, and a processing module for processing a substrate on the mounting table;
The substrate is horizontally held at a preset holding position, and has a holding member that can be moved forward and backward by the drive unit and movable in the left and right directions with respect to the forward and backward direction, and the holding member faces the processing module. A transport mechanism that delivers the substrate from the holding member to the mounting table by moving the processing module from the start position toward the processing module;
The position in the horizontal direction is determined with respect to the mounting position, and the substrate on the advancing holding member abuts, and according to the amount of deviation between the delivery start position and the temporary delivery start position, A positioning guide that is set to be displaced, and
A position detector for detecting the position of the substrate held by the holding member;
The holding member holding the substrate is moved by a predetermined amount from the temporary delivery start position, the substrate is abutted against the guide portion, and the substrate is based on the detection result of the position detecting portion after the abutting. And a control unit for obtaining the delivery start position at the time of processing.

The above-described substrate processing apparatus may have the following features.
(A) The guide portion is disposed on the left and right of a line that passes through the center of the substrate when the substrate abuts and that is along the traveling direction of the substrate. Further, at this time, the guide portion is composed of two cylinders arranged at positions that are separated by a preset distance with the central axis thereof directed in the vertical direction, and the holding member is a side wall surface of these cylinders. Place the side of the board against the board.
(B) The drive unit includes a height detection unit that moves the holding member in the vertical direction and detects a height position at which the holding member delivers the substrate to the mounting table. The position in the vertical direction with respect to the mounting position is determined, and the control unit detects the height position at which the holding member delivers the substrate to the mounting table before abutting the substrate against the guide unit. To obtain a height position at which the substrate is brought into contact with the guide portion. At this time, the processing module is provided in a housing having a substrate loading / unloading port, and the guide portion is provided at a position shifted in the vertical direction of the loading port on the outer wall surface of the housing. .
(C) The control unit obtains the delivery start position at the time of substrate processing based on the detection result of the position detection unit, and then uses the delivery start position as a new temporary delivery start position, and again sets the substrate The operation of determining the delivery start position at the time of substrate processing is repeated until the displacement amount specified by the detection result of the position detection unit is not more than a preset threshold value by abutting against the guide unit.

  Since the present invention corrects the delivery start position during substrate processing by holding the substrate against the guide portion while holding the substrate on the holding member of the transport mechanism, a large position adjustment mechanism is required. The substrate can be placed at the correct placement position in the processing module.

1 is a plan view of a coating and developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the coating and developing apparatus. It is a vertical side view of the coating and developing apparatus. It is a perspective view of the conveyance arm provided in the coating and developing device. It is a side view of the transfer arm. It is an enlarged plan view of the fork provided in the transfer arm. It is a perspective view of the hydrophobic treatment module provided in the coating and developing apparatus. It is a vertical side view of a hydrophobic treatment module. It is a cross-sectional top view of the said hydrophobic treatment module. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement which detects the height position which delivers a wafer to the said hydrophobic treatment module. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement which detects the deviation | shift amount of the wafer on a fork. It is the 1st explanatory view of operation which performs position adjustment of a fork using a guide part. It is the 2nd explanatory view of the position adjustment operation. It is the 3rd explanatory view of the position adjustment operation. It is a cross-sectional top view of the hydrophobization process module from which the installation position of a guide part differs. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the said guide part. It is the 1st explanatory view of the hydrophobic treatment module from which the installation direction of a guide part differs. It is the 2nd explanatory view of the hydrophobic treatment module from which the installation direction of a guide part differs.

  An example in which the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a coating and developing apparatus will be described. First, an outline of the entire coating and developing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. This apparatus is configured by linearly connecting a carrier block S1, a processing block S2, and an interface block S3. An exposure station S4 is further connected to the interface block S3. In the following description, the arrangement direction of the blocks S1 to S3 is the front-rear direction.

  The carrier block S1 has a role of loading and unloading a carrier C including a plurality of wafers W, which are substrates of the same lot, into and out of the apparatus, and the carrier block S1 is provided via the mounting table 111, the opening / closing unit 112, and the opening / closing unit 112. And a transfer mechanism 113 for transporting the wafer W from the carrier C.

  The processing block S2 is configured by laminating first to sixth unit blocks B1 to B6 for performing liquid processing on the wafer W in order from the bottom (FIGS. 2 and 3). For convenience of explanation, “BCT” is a process for forming a lower antireflection film on the wafer W, “COT” is a process for forming a resist film on the wafer W, and a process for forming a resist pattern on the exposed wafer W is performed. In some cases, “DEV” is expressed, and in the following description, the unit block is expressed as “layer” to avoid complication of description.

  In this example, two BCT layers, COT layers, and DEV layers are stacked from the bottom, and the configuration of the COT layers (B3, B4) will be described with reference to FIG. Shelf units U1 to U6 are arranged in the front-rear direction on the left and right sides of the transport region R3 from the carrier block S1 to the interface block S3, and a resist coating module 124, which is a liquid processing module, and a protective film are formed on the other side. Modules 125 are provided side by side.

  The resist coating module 124 includes two cup units 121. The wafer W is held in the cup unit 121, and a resist solution is supplied onto the wafer W from a chemical nozzle so that spin coating is performed. . Further, the protective film forming module 125 is configured so that the treatment is performed using the cup module 122 in the same manner with a chemical solution for forming the protective film.

  In the transfer region R3, a transfer arm A3 for transferring the wafer W is provided. The transport arm A3 is a drive for moving the forks 23A and 23B constituting the holding member and the forks 23A and 23B so that the forks 23A and 23B can move forward and backward, freely move up and down, rotate about the vertical axis, and move in the length direction of the transport region R3. The wafer W can be transferred between the modules of the unit block B3.

  Further, the shelf units U1 to U6 are arranged along the length direction of the transfer region R3, and the shelf units U1 to U5 are configured by, for example, two layers of heating modules 126 that perform the heat treatment of the wafer W. ing. The shelf unit U6 includes the peripheral edge exposure modules 14 stacked on each other. The peripheral edge exposure module 14 is for exposing the peripheral edge of the wafer W after resist application.

  The other unit blocks B1, B2, B5 and B6 are configured in the same manner as the unit blocks B3 and B4 except that the chemicals supplied to the wafer W are different and the heating module 126 is provided instead of the edge exposure module 4. Is done. The unit blocks B1 and B2 include an antireflection film forming module instead of the resist coating module 124 and the protective film forming module 125, and the unit blocks B5 and B6 include a developing module. In FIG. 3, the transfer arms of the unit blocks B1 to B6 are shown as A1 to A6.

  Here, for example, the transfer arms A1 and A2, which are transfer mechanisms for transferring the wafer W in the unit blocks B1 and B2, include the center of the wafer W held on the forks 23A and 23B and the wafer W in the forks 23A and 23B. Sensors 32A to 32D that constitute position detection units for detecting the amount of deviation from the center of the holding position and the direction of deviation are provided. The detailed configuration will be described later.

  On the carrier block S1 side in the processing block S2, a tower T1 that extends vertically across the unit blocks B1 to B6 and a transfer arm 130 that is a liftable transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer W to the tower T1. And are provided. The tower T1 is composed of a plurality of modules stacked on each other.

  These modules actually include a delivery module provided at the height position of each unit block, a temperature control module for delivering the wafer W, a buffer module for temporarily storing a plurality of wafers W, a wafer A hydrophobization module for hydrophobizing the surface of W is provided. In this example, in order to simplify the description, a transfer module TRS for transferring the wafer W between the transfer arm 130 and the transfer arms A1 to A6 of the unit blocks B1 to B6 is used. However, with respect to the hydrophobic treatment module provided with the guide unit 45 for correcting the position where the transfer arms A1 and A2 transfer the wafer W, the symbols ADH1 to ADH4 are used in the tower T1 of FIG. Special mention.

  The interface block S3 includes towers T2, T9, and T10 extending up and down across the unit blocks B1 to B6, and is an interface that is a transfer mechanism that can be moved up and down to transfer the wafer W to the tower T2 and the tower T9. An arm 3A, an interface arm 3B which is a transfer mechanism that can be moved up and down for transferring the wafer W to the tower T2 and the tower T10, and an interface for transferring the wafer W between the tower 2 and the exposure apparatus S4. An arm 3C is provided. The tower T2 is configured by stacking delivery modules TRS on each other. Although T9 and T10 are also towers, description thereof is omitted here.

  The outline of the transfer path of the wafer W in the normal time of the system including the coating and developing apparatus and the exposure station S4 will be briefly described. Wafer W is transferred from carrier C → transfer mechanism 113 → tower T1 delivery module TRS → tower T1 hydrophobic treatment module ADH1, 2 (or ADH3, 4) → tower T1 delivery module TRS → unit block B1 (B2) → Tower T1 delivery module TRS → unit block B3 (B4) → interface block S3 → exposure station S4 → interface block S3 → unit block B5 (B6) → tower T1 delivery module TRS → transfer mechanism 113 → carrier C in this order. It will flow.

  The flow of the wafer W in the processing block S2 will be described in more detail. The unit blocks B1 and B2 for forming the antireflection film, the unit blocks B3 and B4 for forming the resist film, and the unit blocks B5 and B6 for developing are duplicated. A plurality of wafers W in the same lot are distributed to these duplicated unit blocks, that is, alternately transferred to the unit blocks. For example, when the wafer W is transferred to the unit block B1, among the transfer modules TRS of the tower T1, the transfer module TRS1 corresponding to the unit block B1 (the transfer module capable of transferring the wafer W by the transfer arm A3). Then, the wafer W is delivered by the delivery arm 130. The module from which the transfer arm 130 is received in the tower T1 is the transfer module TRS0 carried in by the transfer mechanism 113.

  If the transfer module corresponding to the unit block B2 is TRS2, the wafer W of the transfer module TRS0 is transferred to the transfer module TRS2 by the transfer arm 130. Accordingly, the transfer modules for the wafers W in the same lot are alternately distributed to the TRS 1 and TRS 2 by the transfer arm 130.

  The wafer W on which the antireflection film has been formed in the unit block B1 or B2 corresponds to the transfer module TRS3 corresponding to the unit block B3 and the unit block B4 by the transfer arm 30 through the transfer module TRS1 or TRS2, for example. It is distributed and conveyed alternately with the delivery module TRS4.

The delivery module indicated by TRS and TRSn (n = natural number) includes a structure that can hold a plurality of wafers W.
Furthermore, the delivery module TRS is not limited to one configured with one module, and may be configured with a plurality of modules.
Furthermore, the wafer W that has been exposed is alternately transferred to the unit blocks B5 and B6 via the transfer module TRS of the tower T2 by the transfer arm of the interface block S3.

Next, the configuration of the transfer arms A1 and A2 provided in the unit blocks B1 and B2 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the transfer arms A1 and A2 have two forks 23A and 23B, a base 231, a rotary shaft 232, advance / retreat portions 233A and 233B, and an elevator base 234 (see FIG. 1). Is provided.

  The forks 23A and 23B are supported by the advancing / retreating portions 233A and 233B, and are arranged so as to overlap each other with a space therebetween. The advancing / retreating portions 233A and 233B include a motor and a ball screw mechanism housed in the base 231, It is connected to a drive mechanism including a timing belt. As shown in FIG. 1, the lifting platform 234 that supports the rotating shaft 232 from below is supported by a lifting rail 235 that lifts the lifting platform 234 in the vertical direction, and the base end of the lifting rail 235 is positioned horizontally. By moving along the rail 236, the forks 23A and 23B can be moved in the front-rear direction (y direction shown in FIG. 1). Furthermore, the rotating shaft 232 that extends upward from the lifting platform 234 and supports the base 231 from the lower surface side supports the forks 23A and 23B in the left-right direction that is perpendicular to the advancing / retreating direction of the forks 23A and 23B. Fine adjustment to move the position can be performed. The advancing / retreating portions 233A, 233B, the transmission mechanism in the base 231 connected thereto, the lifting mechanism of the lifting rail 235 and the lifting base 234, and the mechanism for moving the rotating shaft 232 to the left and right are the transfer arms A1, A2 according to this example. This corresponds to the driving unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, each of the forks 23A, 23B has an arcuate tip portion surrounding the periphery of the wafer W to be transferred, and four retaining claws 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D is provided. The holding claws 24 </ b> A to 24 </ b> D protrude inward from the inner edges of the front ends of the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B, and are provided at intervals along the inner edges. In the illustrated example, four holding claws 24A to 24D are provided. However, if three or more holding claws are provided, the wafer W can be held.

  As shown in the enlarged plan view of FIG. 6, the holding claws 24 </ b> A to 24 </ b> D of the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B surround the suction holes 241 and the circumferences of the suction holes 241 and are made of a material having elasticity such as rubber. Shaped pad 242 is provided. The suction hole 241 is connected to the vacuum exhaust unit 240 via a vacuum pipe 243 formed in the forks 23A and 23B or on the lower surface.

  The suction holes 241 and the pads 242 provided in the holding claws 24A to 24D constitute a vacuum chuck mechanism, and when the vacuum evacuation unit 240 performs vacuum evacuation while holding the wafer W on the holding claws 24A to 24D. The wafer W is sucked and held by the holding claws 24A to 24D. The wafer W is held and released by opening and closing the open / close valves V1 and V2 provided in the vacuum pipe 243.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the vacuum pipe 243 is provided with a pressure detector 251. By detecting the pressure in the vacuum pipe 243 during the operation of the vacuum exhaust part 240, the fork 23A, 23B It is possible to detect whether or not the wafer W placed on the substrate is sucked and held. The output of the pressure detection unit 251 is input to the control unit 5 described later.

  The transfer arms A1 and A2 described above are provided with a position detector that detects the position of the wafer W held on the forks 23A and 23B. As an example of the position detection unit, sensors 32A to 32D for detecting the position of the peripheral edge of the wafer W held by the forks 23A and 23B are disposed above the fork 23A that has been retracted to the base 231 side.

  As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 6, when viewed from the upper surface side of the forks 23A and 23B, these sensors 32A to 32D are provided at intervals from each other along the arcs of the tips of the forks 23A and 23B. . Further, for example, the sensors 32A to 32D are constituted by elongated CCD line sensors, and are directed radially inward of the arc formed by the tips of the forks 23A and 23B so as to cross the periphery of the wafer W held by the forks 23A and 23B. It is growing.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sensors 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D are supported by a support member 33 that rises from the base end side of the base 231, bends in the horizontal direction, and extends above the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B. ing.

  On the other hand, light sources 31A, 31B, 31C, and 31D are provided below the sensors 32A to 32D supported by the support member 33. The light sources 31 </ b> A to 31 </ b> D are provided on the upper surface of the base 231, for example, and are arranged so that light emitted upward from each of the sensors 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D is incident on the sensors 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D arranged above them. . The light sources 31 </ b> A to 31 </ b> D in this example are configured by, for example, a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged linearly.

  Each of the light sources 31A to 31D and the sensors 32A to 32D are connected to a control unit 5 described later via an LED control unit that drives the LED, a digital analog converter (DAC), and an analog digital converter (ADC). The LED control unit, DAC, and ADC are not shown. Each light source 31A-31D emits light linearly, and the light emitted from the light source 31A is received by the sensors 32A-32D. The sensors 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D that have received the light can output to the control unit as a detection signal which light is received by which CCD based on the timing of the control signal from the LED control unit and the amount of light received. it can. The sensors 32A to 32B, the light sources 31A to 31D, the LED control unit, and the DAC / ADC described above constitute the position detection unit of this example.

  Next, as an example of a processing module in which the wafer W is carried in and out by the transfer arms A1 and A2 including the position detection unit described above, a configuration of the hydrophobization processing modules ADH1 to ADH4 provided in the tower T1 is illustrated in FIG. Description will be given with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the hydrophobic treatment modules ADH <b> 1 to ADH <b> 4, for example, divide the space inside the rectangular parallelepiped housing 41 into upper and lower parts by a bottom plate 431, and a resistance heating element is formed at the center of the bottom plate 431. It has a structure in which a disk-shaped hot plate 43 is fitted. The hot plate 43 is connected to a power supply unit (not shown), and can heat the wafer W placed horizontally on the hot plate 43 to 90 ° C., for example. As shown in FIG. 9, the wafer W to be processed is placed on the hot plate 43 in a placement position 430 indicated by a broken line, whereby the wafer W is uniformly processed. The hot plate 43 corresponds to a mounting table for the hydrophobizing modules ADH1 to ADH4.

  In the space below the hot plate 43, for example, three support pins 441 supported by the lifting mechanism 442 are arranged. Then, the wafer W can be transferred to and from the forks 23A and 23B by projecting and retracting these support pins 441 from the plate surface of the hot plate 43 through the through holes 432 provided in the hot plate 43. it can.

  On the other hand, a gas supply line 414 is connected to the ceiling of the space above the hot platen 43 (processing space 40). The gas supply line 414 branches upstream and HMDS supply unit 461 and nitrogen The gas supply unit 462 is connected. The HMDS supply unit 461 supplies HMDS (hexamethyl disilazane) vapor, which is a gas for hydrophobizing the surface of the wafer W, into the processing space 40, and the nitrogen gas supply unit 462 supplies nitrogen gas for replacement. The supply and disconnection of HMDS and nitrogen gas is performed by the open / close valves V3 and V4.

  Further, inside the three side walls of the housing 41, an inner wall 411 arranged in parallel with these side walls is provided so that a gap is formed between the inner surfaces of the side walls. A slit 413 is formed between the lower end portion of each inner wall 411 and the bottom plate 431, and HMDS or nitrogen gas supplied to the processing space 40 passes through the slit 413 between the inner wall 411 and the side wall of the casing 41. It is discharged into the gap (exhaust space 412).

  The exhaust space 412 is connected to an exhaust pipe 463 provided with an exhaust part 464 made of a vacuum pump or the like, and HMDS and nitrogen gas flowing into the exhaust space 412 are exhausted to the outside through the exhaust pipe 463. . In FIGS. 12 to 16, descriptions of the inner wall 411, the exhaust space 412, the exhaust pipe 463, and the like are omitted.

  On the other hand, a loading / unloading port 42 for loading / unloading the wafer W is provided on the side wall of the casing 41 where the inner wall 411 is not provided. The transfer arms 24 </ b> A and 24 </ b> B holding the wafer W enter the processing space 40 through the loading / unloading port 42. The loading / unloading port 42 is opened and closed by the lid member 421, and the wafer W can be processed in a state where the processing space 40 is sealed by the lid member 421. For convenience of illustration, the description of the lid member 421 is omitted in the drawings other than FIG.

  After the wafer W is loaded into the hydrophobic treatment modules ADH1 to ADH4 configured as described above, the wafer W is placed on the hot plate 43, the lid member 421 is closed, and the wafer W is heated to steam HMDS from the gas supply line 414. Is supplied, the surface of the hydrophilic wafer W changes to hydrophobic. As a result, a hydrophobization process is performed to improve the adhesion between the surface of the wafer W and the antireflection film formed by the unit blocks B1 and B2. After the hydrophobization processing is completed, the gas supplied from the gas supply line 414 is switched to nitrogen gas to replace the HMDS in the processing space 40, and then the lid member 421 is opened and the wafer W is unloaded.

  As described above, in the hydrophobizing modules ADH1 to ADH4 that perform the hydrophobizing process while heating the wafer W placed on the hot plate 43, if the position where the wafer W is placed deviates from the placing position 430, In some cases, sufficient heating is not performed in a part of the wafer W, and the state of the hydrophobic treatment may be different from other areas. On the other hand, as described in the background art, the wafer W is transferred to a position set in advance at the time of design after installing the coating and developing apparatus or after performing maintenance of the transfer arms A1 and A2. However, the wafer may not be transferred to the proper placement position 430.

  Therefore, in the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4 according to the present embodiment, a guide unit for correcting the relative displacement between the mounting position 430 of the hot plate 43 and the forks 23A and 23B into which the wafer W is loaded. 45 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the guide portion 45 of this example is made of, for example, a cylindrical member, and is supported on the outer surface of the casing 41 below the loading / unloading port 42 via a support plate 451 for position adjustment. Has been. The guide portion 45 is disposed, for example, with the central axes of two cylinders having the same diameter in the vertical direction and spaced apart from each other.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the distance D between the two guide portions 45 is such that the center O of the wafer W that abuts the side surface of the guide portion 45 against the side surface of the wafer W forks the center P ′ of the mounting position 430. It is set to coincide with the position horizontally moved forward by a distance L in the forward and backward direction of 23A and 23B.

  As a result, when there is no shift in the forward / backward direction and the horizontal direction at the transfer start position with the forks 23A, 23B facing the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4, the center O of the wafer W and the forks 23A, 23B The center P of the correct holding position matches. In this state, by moving the forks 23A and 23B forward by L in the forward / backward direction, the wafer W can be placed at the correct placement position 430.

  On the other hand, when the delivery start positions of these forks 23A and 23B are deviated from the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4, position correction using the guide unit 45 is performed, but the detailed operation will be described later. It will be described in the explanation of operation. The guide unit 45 may be provided in each of the four hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4. For example, the hydrophobization modules ADH1 and ADH2 of the unit block B1 and the hydrophobization modules ADH3 and ADH4 of the unit block B2 may be provided. One set may be provided.

  The coating / developing apparatus having the above-described configuration is connected to the control unit 5 as shown in FIGS. For example, the control unit 5 includes a computer including a CPU and a storage unit (not shown). The storage unit operates the coating and developing device, that is, while transporting the wafer W taken out from the carrier C along the transport path described above. A program in which a group of steps (commands) for the control from the formation of the antireflection film, the application of the resist film, the development process after the exposure to the unloading of the wafer W is recorded. This program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnetic optical disk, or a memory card, and installed in the computer therefrom.

  In particular, the control unit 5 of this example is connected to the transfer arms A1 and A2 and the sensors 32A to 32D as shown in FIG. 5, and detects the position of the wafer W held on the forks 23A and 23B, and the forks 23A, When the position of 23B is shifted with respect to the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4, a function for correcting the position is provided. Hereinafter, a method for correcting the displacement of the forks 23A and 23B will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, alignment of the forks 23A and 23B is corrected before the processing of the wafer W is started, for example, after the coating and developing apparatus is installed or after the transfer arms A1 and A2 are maintained.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the guide portion 45 of this example is provided below the loading / unloading port 42, so that the side surface of the wafer W held by the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B is brought into contact with the guide portion 45. For this, it is necessary to lower the forks 23A, 23B below the entry position to the carry-in / out port 42. At this time, if the heights of the forks 23A and 23B are deviated from the height position of the guide portion 45, the wafer W cannot be correctly abutted against the guide portion 45, and the subsequent position correction cannot be performed. Therefore, an operation for grasping the height positions of the forks 23A and 23B is executed.

  First, the transfer arms A1 and A2 are moved to a position preset at the time of design so that the forks 23A and 23B come to a position facing the loading / unloading ports 42 of the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4. This set position has been roughly adjusted so that the forks 23A, 23B can pass through the loading / unloading port 42.

  Thereafter, the forks 23A and 23B for grasping the height position are entered into the housing 41 through the loading / unloading port 42. As shown in FIG. 10, the casing 41 is on standby in a state where the support pins 441 protrude from the upper surface of the hot plate 43. When the forks 23A and 23B reach above the support pins 441, the suction holding of the wafer W through the suction holes 241 of the holding claws 24A to 24D is released, and the forks 23A and 23B start to descend.

  At this time, as indicated by a downward arrow in FIG. 10, the amount of lowering of the forks 23A, 23B is divided into small steps, for example, lowered by 0.1 mm and then stopped. Thereafter, the vacuum evacuation unit 240 is activated to determine whether or not the wafer W is placed on the holding claws 24A to 24D based on the output of the pressure detection unit 251. When the wafer W is held, the reduced pressure state in the vacuum pipe 243 is maintained, so that the pressure corresponding to this reduced pressure state is detected (the plot of the position of “reduced pressure” in the graph on the right side of FIG. 10). Equivalent to

  When it is detected that the wafer W is placed on the holding claws 24A to 24D in this way, the vacuum evacuation unit 240 is stopped, the forks 23A and 23B are further lowered by one step, and then the holding claws are again formed. The presence or absence of the wafer W on 24A-24D is detected.

  When the lowering of the forks 23A and 23B and the detection of the wafer W are repeated in this way, the wafer W eventually reaches the upper end of the support pins 441 and is delivered to the support pins 441. At this time, if the wafer W on the holding claws 24A to 24D is detected, since the suction hole 241 is not covered with the wafer W, the inside of the vacuum pipe 243 is not decompressed and a pressure close to the atmospheric pressure is detected ( This corresponds to a plot of the position of “atmospheric pressure” in the graph on the right side of FIG. 10).

  As a result, the first height position where it is detected that the wafer W is not placed on the holding claws 24A to 24D is the delivery position where the wafer W is delivered from the forks 23A, 23B to the support pins 441. Is detected. The transfer arms A1 and A2 store the delivery position as an encoder value. This delivery position corresponds to a height position for delivering the wafer W between the forks 23A, 23B and the support pins 441. From this point of view, the encoder that grasps the amount of elevation of the pressure detection unit 251 and the forks 23A and 23B provided in the vacuum pipe 243 detects the height position for delivering the wafer W to the hot plate 43. As a role.

  On the other hand, the guide portion 45 is disposed at a position lowered by a preset distance downward from the delivery position, and the transfer arms A1 and A2 have a predetermined distance from the delivery position stored in the above operation. , 23B is lowered, the wafer W held by the forks 23A, 23B can be correctly abutted against the guide portion 45.

  Here, the method of specifying the height position for transferring the wafer W between the forks 23A, 23B and the support pins 441 is not limited to the above. For example, the fork 23A, 23B may be raised stepwise from the lower side of the wafer W supported by the support pins 441, and the receiving position where the wafer W is detected on the holding claws 24A to 24D may be set as the height position.

  After storing the height position that is a reference for the raising and lowering operations of the forks 23A and 23B, the side surface of the wafer W held by the forks 23A and 23B is abutted against the guide portion 45, and the forks 23A for the hydrophobizing modules ADH1 to ADH4. , 23B is grasped.

  Before describing the operation for grasping the deviation amount, a method for grasping the deviation amount of the wafer W on the forks 23A and 23B using the sensors 32A to 32D will be described. When light is emitted upward from the light sources 31A to 31D provided below the forks 23A and 23B, the light is received by the upper sensors 32A to 32D.

  As described above, the sensors 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D are CCD line sensors in which CCDs are linearly arranged along the radial direction of the wafer W. Based on the detection value of each CCD, the received light is not received by the CCD. The position of the boundary with the CCD can be determined. As a result, the position of the peripheral edge of the wafer W can be measured.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the angles formed by the directions in which the four sensors 32A to 32D extend and the Y axis are θ1, θ2, θ3, and θ4, and the forks 23A and 23B are in the correct positions (positions that are not displaced). When the wafer W is held on the wafer 32 (the wafer W is indicated by a one-dot chain line), the positions of the peripheral portions of the wafer W on the sensors 32A to 32D are a point, b point, c point, and d point, respectively. . Further, the positions of the peripheral portions of the wafer W on the sensors 32A to 32D (the wafer W is indicated by a broken line) at the (actual) positions of the wafers W held on the forks 23A and 23B are indicated by points a ′ and Let b ′ point, c ′ point, and d ′ point.

In each of the sensors 32A to 32D, the distance between points a and a ′ is Δa, the distance between points b and b ′ is Δb, the distance between points c and c ′ is Δc, and the distance between points d and d ′. If the distance is Δd, the distances Δa, Δb, Δc, Δd are
Δa [mm] = {(number of pixels at point a ′) − (number of pixels at point a)} × pixel interval [mm]
... (1)
Δb [mm] = {(number of pixels at point b ′) − (number of pixels at point b)} × pixel interval [mm]
... (2)
Δc [mm] = {(number of pixels at point c ′) − (number of pixels at point c)} × pixel interval [mm]
... (3)
Δd [mm] = {(number of pixels at point d ′) − (number of pixels at point d)} × pixel interval [mm]
... (4)
It can be expressed as. The number of pixels at point a is the number of pixels from the start point to the point a on the center side of the wafer W of the sensors 32A to 32D.

The coordinates of points a to d and points a ′ to d ′ are expressed as follows.
Point a (X1, Y1) = (X-Rsin θ1, Y-Rcos θ1) (5)
a ′ point (X1 ′, Y1 ′) = (X1−Δasinθ1, Y1−Δacosθ1)
= (X− (R + Δa) sin θ1, Y− (R + Δa) cos θ1) (6)
b point (X2, Y2) = (X−Rsin θ2, Y + R cos θ2) (7)
b ′ point (X2 ′, Y2 ′) = (X2−Δbsinθ2, Y2 + Δbcosθ2)
= (X− (R + Δb) sin θ2, Y + (R + Δb) cos θ2) (8)
c point (X3, Y3) = (X + Rsinθ3, Y + Rcosθ3) (9)
c ′ point (X3 ′, Y3 ′) = (X3 + Δcsinθ3, Y3 + Δccosθ3)
= (X + (R + Δc) sinθ3, Y + (R + Δc) cosθ3) (10)
d point (X4, Y4) = (X + Rsinθ4, Y−Rcosθ4) (11)
d ′ point (X4 ′, Y4 ′) = (X4 + Δdsin θ4, Y4−Δdcos θ4)
= (X + (R + Δd) sin θ4, Y− (R + Δd) cos θ4) (12)
Therefore, the points a ′ (X1 ′, Y1 ′), b ′ points (X2 ′, Y2 ′), c ′ points (X3) are obtained by the equations (6), (8), (10), and (12). ', Y3'), the coordinates of d 'point (X4', Y4 ') can be obtained.
In the above formula, X is the X coordinate of the center of the wafer W when the wafer W is at the proper position, and Y is the Y coordinate of the center of the wafer W when the wafer W is at the proper position. Further, the X axis coincides with the forward / backward direction of the forks 23A and 23B, and the Y axis coincides with the left / right direction in which the rotary shaft 232 is moved during fine adjustment.

Next, the coordinates (X ′, Y ′) of the center position O of the wafer W at the actual position are calculated from any three of the points a ′, b ′, c ′, and d ′. For example, from the three points of a ′ point (X1 ′, Y1 ′), b ′ point (X2 ′, Y2 ′), and c ′ point (X3 ′, Y3 ′), the center position o ′ of the wafer W at the actual position is changed. The coordinates (X ′, Y ′) can be obtained from the following equations (13) and (14).

  By the above method, the coordinates O (X ′, Y ′) of the center position of the wafer W placed at a position shifted from the coordinates P (X, Y) of the center position of the wafer W placed at the correct position. ) Is identified. The deviation amount of these centers in the X-axis direction is ΔX = X′−X, and the deviation amount in the Y-axis direction is ΔY = Y′−Y.

  As described above, when the sensors 32A to 32D can be used to grasp the deviation amount between the correct placement position of the forks 23A and 23B and the actual placement position of the wafer W, the transfer arms A1 and A2 are used. Grasps the shift amounts of the forks 23A and 23B with respect to the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4 by the following method.

  First, as shown in FIG. 12, the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B holding the wafer W are opposed to the guide portion 45 with reference to a position preset at the time of design. This position corresponds to the provisional delivery start position of the present embodiment. Further, the height positions of the forks 23A and 23B are correctly adjusted with reference to the above-described delivery position specified using FIG.

  Further, in order to ensure that the side surface of the wafer W held on the forks 23A, 23B can be brought into contact with the guide portion 45, the wafer W is previously ΔX ′ only in the X-axis direction from the correct holding position of the forks 23A, 23B. It is held at a position shifted by (for example, several mm). It should be noted that the actual center position O of W and the correct holding position P coincide with each other in the Y-axis direction. These adjustments are performed using the sensors 32A to 32D.

At this time, when there is a deviation between the forks 23A and 23B with respect to the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4, in other words, when there is a deviation between the correct delivery start position and the temporary delivery start position described above, depending on the amount of deviation, the wafer W center position of which is guided by the guide portion 45 (in FIG. 12 shows the P _0.) and, displacement between the center P of the fork 23A, the correct holding position 23B (FIG. 12). Incidentally, one-dot chain line shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, X-axis relative to the center position _{P 0} of the wafer W is guided by the guide portion 45, it indicates the Y-axis, two-dot chain line, the fork 23A, 23B of the right The X axis and the Y axis with reference to the center P of the holding position are shown.

  When the forks 23A and 23B are advanced in this state, the side surface of the wafer W comes into contact with one side peripheral surface of the two guide portions 45 as shown in FIG. At this time, if the forks 23A and 23B continue to move forward with the wafer W attracted and held released, the wafer W at the position in contact with the guide portion 45 stops moving, while the pad 242 Therefore, the wafer W starts to rotate around the contact position with the guide portion 45.

  As a result, the wafer W rotates until the side surface of the wafer W comes into contact with the side peripheral surface of the other guide portion 45, and the movement stops when the guide portions 45 come into contact with each other (the outline of the wafer W in FIG. 13). It is indicated by a dashed line).

Then, the forks 23A and 23B are further moved forward, moved forward by a preset amount from the temporary delivery start position, and the forks 23A and 23B are stopped. As a result of the above-described operation, the center O of the wafer W abutted against the two guide portions 45 is in a state of being coincident with the center position P _{0 of the} wafer W guided by the guide portion 45. On the other hand, as a result of the position of the wafer W on the forks 23A, 23B being displaced by the force received from these guide portions 45, the center O of the wafer W is in the X-axis direction with respect to the center P of the correct holding position of the forks 23A, 23B. Are placed on the forks 23A and 23B in a state shifted by ΔY in the Y-axis direction (FIG. 14).

  As described with reference to FIG. 9, when there is no deviation between the hydrophobizing modules ADH1 to ADH4 and the forks 23A and 23B, the forks 23A and 23B are moved to the positions where they abut against the guide portion 45. When set, the center P of the correct holding position and the center O of the wafer W are set to coincide. Therefore, the shift amounts ΔX and ΔY between the centers OP are grasped as the shift amounts of the forks 23A and 23B with respect to the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4. As described above, these shift amounts are detected by the sensors 32A to 32D. Can be identified.

  The control unit 5 corrects the encoder value of the drive mechanism connected to the advance / retreat units 233A, 233B by an amount that cancels out the shift amount ΔX in the advance / retreat direction of the forks 23A, 23B. Further, the rotation shaft 232 is moved by an amount that cancels out the shift amount ΔY in the left-right direction that is orthogonal to the advancing / retreating direction, and the delivery start position at the time of processing the wafer W is determined.

  Thereafter, the operation described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14 is performed again using the transfer start position at the time of wafer W processing determined by the above-described operation as a new temporary transfer start position, and the values of ΔX and ΔY are set in advance. This operation is repeated until the value is within the set threshold value. Here, the process of repeating the above-described operation is omitted until ΔX and ΔY become values within the threshold value, and the delivery start position at the time of wafer W processing is determined by one wafer W abutment and position detection operation. You can finish it.

  The coating and developing apparatus according to this embodiment has the following effects. With the wafer W held on the forks 23A and 23B of the transfer arms A1 and A2, the forks 23A and 23B facing the hydrophobizing apparatuses ADH1 to ADH4 move by abutting the side surfaces of the wafer W against the guide portion 45. Therefore, the wafer W can be mounted on the correct mounting position 430 in the hydrophobization modules ADH1 to ADH4 without requiring a large position adjustment mechanism.

  Here, the position where the guide portion 45 is arranged is not limited to the case where it is provided below the loading / unloading port 42 provided in the casing 41 of the hydrophobization module ADH1 to ADH4 as shown in FIGS. It may be provided above the carry-in / out port 42. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the forks 23 </ b> A and 23 </ b> B may be provided on the inner wall surface of the casing 41 located on the far side in the traveling direction.

  Further, the shape of the guide portion 45 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, and a semi-cylindrical shape may be used, or a curved surface corresponding to the shape of the side surface of the wafer W to be guided is provided as shown in FIG. The member may be the guide portion 45a.

  In addition, the amount of lateral displacement that can be detected using the guide portion is not limited to the advancing / retreating direction of the forks 23A, 23B or the direction that is horizontally orthogonal to the advancing / retreating direction. For example, the guide portion 45b shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 has the forks 23A and 23B around the point Q (rotation shaft 232 in FIG. 5) that is the center of rotation of the base 231 with respect to the advancing and retreating direction of the forks 23A and 23B. A correct delivery start position (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 17) and a temporary delivery start position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 17) that occur when moving (rotating) in the left-right direction. Is provided to detect the amount of deviation between the two.

  17 and 18 is provided at a position in front of the forks 23A and 23B when the forks 23A and 23B at the correct delivery start position described above are rotated 90 ° counterclockwise around the Q point. It has been. Here, as shown in FIG. 17, it is assumed that the temporary delivery start position is shifted from the correct delivery start position by an angle φ (corresponding to the shift amount in this example) to the right around the Q point. .

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 18, from the temporary delivery start position, the forks 23A, 23B are rotated by 90 ° to the left around the Q point, and then the forks 23A, 23B are advanced by a preset amount to guide Wafer W is abutted against portion 45b. Here, the holding position of the wafer W on the forks 23A, 23B may be shifted from the correct holding position to the front side so that the side surface of the wafer W can be reliably abutted against the guide portion 45b. To the example shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the forks 23A, 23B are rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the temporary delivery start position, and the orientation of the forks 23A, 23B after the side surface of the wafer W is abutted against the guide member 45b is correct. It is shifted by an angle φ with respect to the direction rotated 90 ° from the start position. In this state, when the forks 23A and 23B are advanced to a predetermined position and the side surface of the wafer W is abutted against the guide portion 45b, the holding position of the wafer W is shifted by an amount corresponding to the angle φ.

  Then, by detecting the shift amount and the shift direction between the center of the wafer W and the center of the holding position on the forks 23A and 23B, a straight line connecting the rotation center Q point and the center of the wafer W (two points in FIG. 18). An angle φ formed by a chain line (shown by a chain line) and a straight line connecting the point Q and the center of the holding position (shown by a chain line in FIG. 18) can be obtained.

  Further, the configuration of the position detection unit is not limited to the above-described CCD line sensor. For example, the wafer W on the forks 23A and 23B is imaged by a CCD camera provided on the ceiling of the transfer region R3, and image analysis is performed. Thus, the center O of the wafer W and the center P of the correct holding position may be obtained.

  The processing modules to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to the examples of the above-described hydrophobizing modules ADH1 to ADH4, but include a resist coating module 124, a protective film forming module 125, a heating module 126, and the like. It can be applied to various modules.

  Here, a method of correcting the positional deviation of the forks 23A and 23B with respect to the mounting position of the wafer W in each processing module 124 to 126 depends on the positional relationship between the processing modules 124 to 126 and the transfer arms A1 to A6. A suitable one can be selected. For example, in the unit block B3 shown in FIG. 1, the resist coating module 124, the protective film forming module 125, and the heating module 126 are arranged on the horizontal rail 236 that moves the transfer arm A3 in the front-rear direction (y direction in FIG. 1). It is lined up along the extending direction. In this case, the correction of the deviation amount ΔY shown in FIG. 14 may be performed by moving the transport arm A3 along the horizontal rail 236 instead of the movement of the rotary shaft 232 described above.

  Furthermore, the type of the substrate processing apparatus is not limited to the coating and developing apparatus. Various substrates that require wafer W to be placed and processed at the correct placement position, such as a cleaning module of a single wafer cleaning apparatus, an etching module of a plasma etching apparatus, or a film forming module of a film forming apparatus The present invention can be applied to a processing apparatus.

W Wafers A1, A2 Transfer arms ADH1 to ADH4
Hydrophobization module 23A, 23B
Forks 32A-32D
43 Heat Plate 430 Placement Position 45 Guide Part 5 Control Part

Claims (11)

A processing module comprising a mounting table for horizontally mounting a circular substrate at a predetermined mounting position, and processing the substrate on the mounting table;
The substrate is horizontally held at a preset holding position, and has a holding member that can be moved forward and backward by the drive unit and movable in the left and right directions with respect to the forward and backward direction, and the holding member faces the processing module. A transport mechanism that delivers the substrate from the holding member to the mounting table by moving the processing module from the start position toward the processing module;
The position in the horizontal direction is determined with respect to the mounting position, and the substrate on the advancing holding member abuts, and according to the amount of deviation between the delivery start position and the temporary delivery start position, A positioning guide that is set to be displaced, and
A position detector for detecting the position of the substrate held by the holding member;
The holding member holding the substrate is moved by a predetermined amount from the temporary delivery start position, the substrate is abutted against the guide portion, and the substrate is based on the detection result of the position detecting portion after the abutting. And a control unit that obtains the delivery start position during processing.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide portion is disposed on the left and right of a line that passes through a center of the substrate and extends in a traveling direction of the substrate when the substrate abuts.   The guide portion is composed of two cylinders disposed at positions separated by a preset distance with the central axis thereof directed in the vertical direction, and the holding member is disposed on the side wall surface of the substrate on the side wall surface of these cylinders. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is abutted against the substrate processing apparatus. The drive unit moves the holding member also in the vertical direction,
The holding member includes a height detection unit that detects a height position at which the substrate is transferred to the mounting table.
The guide portion has a vertical position determined with respect to the placement position described above,
The control unit detects a height position at which the holding member delivers the substrate to the mounting table before abutting the substrate against the guide unit, and based on the detection result, the height at which the substrate is abutted against the guide unit 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position is obtained.   The processing module is provided in a housing having a substrate loading / unloading port, and the guide portion is provided at a position shifted in the vertical direction of the loading port on an outer wall surface of the housing. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4.   The control unit obtains the delivery start position at the time of substrate processing based on the detection result of the position detection unit, and then uses the delivery start position as a new temporary delivery start position, and again places the substrate in the guide unit. The operation of determining the delivery start position at the time of substrate processing is repeated until the displacement amount specified by the detection result of the position detection unit is not more than a preset threshold value. Item 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 5. A method for adjusting a substrate delivery position for placing a substrate on a preset placement position for placing a circular substrate horizontally and performing the treatment, provided in a processing module for processing the substrate. And
Provided to move the substrate from the delivery start position facing the processing module toward the processing module to deliver the substrate to the mounting position, and can be moved forward and backward, and movable in the left and right directions with respect to the forward and backward directions. A step of horizontally holding the substrate at a preset holding position of the member;
The position in the horizontal direction is determined with respect to the mounting position, and the substrate on the advancing holding member abuts, and according to the amount of deviation between the delivery start position and the temporary delivery start position, The holding member is moved by a predetermined amount from the temporary delivery start position to the alignment guide portion set so as to be displaced, and the substrate held by the holding member is pushed into the guide portion. A step of detecting the position of the substrate held by the holding member after the contact and the contact,
And a step of obtaining the delivery start position at the time of substrate processing based on the detection result.   The adjustment method according to claim 7, wherein the guide portion is disposed on the left and right of a line that passes through a center of the substrate and extends in a traveling direction of the substrate when the substrate abuts. The guide portion has a vertical position determined with respect to the placement position described above,
Detecting the height position at which the holding member delivers the substrate to the mounting table before the substrate is abutted against the guide portion;
The adjustment method according to claim 7, further comprising: obtaining a height position at which the substrate abuts against the guide portion based on the detection result. After obtaining the delivery start position at the time of the substrate processing, a step of setting the delivery start position as a new temporary delivery start position;
A step of abutting the substrate against the guide portion again and detecting the position of the substrate held by the holding member after the abutting until the deviation amount is equal to or less than a preset threshold value. 10. The adjustment method according to claim 7, wherein these steps are repeated. A storage medium storing a computer program used in a substrate processing apparatus including a processing module for horizontally processing a circular substrate at a predetermined mounting position on a mounting table.
A storage medium characterized in that the program includes steps for executing the adjustment method according to any one of claims 7 to 10.

Images