JP2021009877A - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit throughput from being reduced even in processing with a temperature rise of a substrate, and efficiently process a plurality of substrates.SOLUTION: A substrate S is supported by a support tray 15 and the support tray is carried in a processing space inside a processing chamber. A transfer mechanism for delivery of the substrate to/from the support tray outside the processing chamber includes: a plurality of lift pins 37 having an upper end that protrudes above a support surface 151 via a through hole 152 provided on the support tray and comes into contact with the substrate's undersurface to support the substrate; a base part 35 on which the plurality of lift pins are mounted; and a lifting and lowering part for lifting and lowering the base part. By the base part's top surface being lifted to a position close to or in contact with the support tray's undersurface, upper ends of the lift pins protrude above the support surface to support the substrate and the base part cools the support tray.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for performing a predetermined process on a substrate in a processing chamber, and more particularly to carrying in and out of a substrate to the processing chamber.

The processing process of various substrates such as a semiconductor substrate and a glass substrate for a display device may include processing performed in a state where the substrate is housed in a processing chamber. In this case, the transfer of the substrate between the chamber and the outside inevitably occurs before and after the processing. In order to smoothly deliver such a substrate, there is an apparatus configured to carry the substrate into the processing chamber in a state of being placed on a flat tray.

For example, the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is an apparatus for drying a substrate using a supercritical fluid. In this device, in order to take in and out the substrate through the slit-shaped opening provided on the side surface of the processing chamber, the substrate is carried into the chamber in a state of being placed on a flat plate tray-shaped holding plate.

JP-A-2018-082043 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-021806

Some processing in the processing chamber involves an increase in the temperature of the substrate. For example, even in the supercritical drying treatment described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to bring the inside of the chamber into a high temperature and high pressure state in order to realize the supercritical state. Therefore, the temperature of the substrate and the components in the processing chamber is high immediately after the processing. This can be a problem when processing a plurality of substrates continuously. This is because if an unprocessed board is brought into the device immediately after processing the previous board, the temperature of the board will rise by touching or approaching the high temperature components, which is part of the processing process. This is because it may have an adverse effect. In particular, when the untreated substrate is carried in a state of being covered with some liquid or solid surface layer, the surface layer may be warmed and deteriorated, or volatilized to expose the substrate surface.

In order to solve this problem, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, it is conceivable to provide a mechanism for cooling the processed substrate in the processing chamber. However, in this case, since the processed substrate is cooled and then carried out to the outside, there arises a problem that the processing time for one substrate becomes long and the processing throughput decreases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a technique capable of efficiently processing a plurality of substrates without causing a decrease in throughput even in a process involving a temperature rise of the substrate. The purpose.

In one aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a processing chamber for processing a substrate is formed, a processing chamber having an opening communicating with the processing space on a side surface, and the substrate whose upper surface is a processing target. A support tray having a flat plate shape as a support surface for supporting the vehicle in a horizontal posture and being able to be inserted into and removed from the processing space through the opening, and a support tray provided outside the processing chamber and pulled out from the processing chamber. It is a substrate processing apparatus including a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate to and from the support tray. Here, the transfer mechanism can support the substrate from below by having the upper end portion projecting upward from the support surface and abutting against the lower surface of the substrate through a through hole provided in the support tray. It has a plurality of lift pins, a base portion to which the plurality of lift pins are attached, and a lifting portion for raising and lowering the base portion, and the upper surface of the base portion is close to or lower than the lower surface of the support tray. The base is located between an upper position where the upper end of the lift pin rises to an abutting position and the upper end of the lift pin protrudes above the support surface and a lower position where the upper end of the lift pin retracts below the support surface. Move the part up and down.

Further, in another aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in a substrate processing method for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, the transfer mechanism makes the unprocessed substrate horizontal to the upper surface of the substrate. The step of placing the support tray on a support tray having a flat plate shape as a support surface for supporting the posture and the support tray entering the processing chamber through an opening provided on a side portion of the processing chamber. The step of bringing the substrate into the processing chamber, the step of executing a predetermined process on the substrate in the processing chamber, and the transfer mechanism are placed on the support tray taken out from the processing chamber. It is provided with a step of ejecting the processed substrate from the support tray to the outside. Here, the transfer mechanism transfers the substrate to and from the support tray by raising and lowering the plurality of lift pins through the through holes provided in the support tray, and the plurality of lift pins have a common base portion. When the treated substrate is discharged, the upper surface of the base portion approaches or comes into contact with the lower surface of the support tray to cool the support tray.

In the invention configured in this way, the substrate is placed in and out of the processing chamber while being placed on the flat plate-shaped support tray. Specifically, a plurality of lift pins capable of supporting the substrate are attached to a common base portion, and the lift pins are integrally raised and lowered by raising and lowering the base portion, so that the substrate moves up and down on the support tray. As a result, the substrate is transferred between the external device and the support tray via the lift pin. By attaching a plurality of lift pins to the integrated base portion, the lift pins can be mechanically and stably held. Further, since the plurality of lift pins are integrally raised and lowered, the substrate can be raised and lowered in a more stable posture than when the elongated lift pins are raised and lowered individually.

Then, when the processed substrate is discharged from the processing chamber to the outside, it is possible to cool the support tray in parallel with this. Specifically, when the transfer mechanism raises the lift pin and receives the substrate from the support tray, the base member to which the lift pin is attached rises integrally with the lift pin and approaches or comes into contact with the lower surface of the support tray. The heat energy of the support tray after processing is dissipated to cool the support tray. The base portion has a structure having mechanical strength for stably holding a plurality of lift pins and a substrate supported by the lift pins. Since such a structure necessarily has a relatively large heat capacity, it has the ability to deprive the warmed support tray after processing of heat energy.

That is, in the present invention, the operation for delivering the substrate from the support tray drawn out from the processing chamber to the lift pin is also an operation for cooling the support tray at the same time. Therefore, even if the temperature of the support tray rises in the process, the temperature can be lowered while the substrate is discharged. Therefore, it is possible to accept the untreated substrate immediately after the treated substrate is dispensed.

As described above, in the present invention, the substrate can be stably supported by a plurality of lift pins attached to the common base portion, and the substrate can be transferred to and from the outside. Since the support tray is cooled in parallel with the ejection of the substrate from the support tray, a new substrate can be accepted immediately after the ejection. Therefore, even when the temperature of the support tray rises due to the processing, it is possible to avoid the adverse effect of the temperature rise and efficiently process the plurality of substrates without lowering the processing throughput.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of one Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the state of delivery of a substrate. It is a figure which shows the shape and the positional relationship of each part involved in delivery. It is a side sectional view which shows the structure of a support tray and a base member in more detail. It is a figure which shows the modification of the transfer unit. It is a figure which shows the other modification of the transfer unit. It is a flowchart which shows the schematic operation of this substrate processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the modification of the transfer unit. It is a figure which shows the modification of the transfer unit.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The substrate processing device 1 is a device for processing the surface of various substrates such as a semiconductor substrate using a supercritical fluid. In order to show the directions in each of the following figures in a unified manner, the XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is set as shown in FIG. Here, the XY plane is a horizontal plane, and the Z direction represents a vertical direction. More specifically, the (-Z) direction represents vertically downward.

Here, the "board" in the present embodiment includes a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for plasma display, a substrate for FED (Field Emission Display), a substrate for an optical disk, and a magnetic disk. Various substrates such as substrates and substrates for photomagnetic disks can be applied. In the following, a substrate processing apparatus mainly used for processing a semiconductor wafer will be described as an example with reference to the drawings, but the same applies to the processing of various substrates illustrated above.

The substrate processing device 1 includes a processing unit 10, a transfer unit 30, a supply unit 50, and a control unit 90. The processing unit 10 is the main body that executes the supercritical drying process, and the transfer unit 30 receives the unprocessed substrate conveyed by an external transfer device (not shown), carries it into the processing unit 10, and processes it. The latter substrate is delivered from the processing unit 10 to an external transfer device. The supply unit 50 supplies the chemical substances and power required for processing to the processing unit 10 and the transfer mechanism 30.

The control unit 90 controls each part of these devices to realize a predetermined process. For this purpose, the control unit 90 includes a CPU 91 that executes various control programs, a memory 92 that temporarily stores processing data, a storage 93 that stores the control programs executed by the CPU 91, and a user or an external device. It is equipped with an interface 94 for exchanging information. The operation of the device, which will be described later, is realized by the CPU 91 executing a control program written in the storage 93 in advance to cause each part of the device to perform a predetermined operation.

The processing unit 10 has a structure in which the processing chamber 12 is mounted on the pedestal 11. The processing chamber 12 is composed of a combination of several metal blocks, and the inside thereof is hollow to form a processing space SP. The substrate S to be processed is carried into the processing space SP and undergoes processing. A slit-shaped opening 121 extending in the X direction is formed on the (-Y) side side surface of the processing chamber 12, and the processing space SP and the external space communicate with each other through the opening 121.

A lid member 13 is provided on the (−Y) side side surface of the processing chamber 12 so as to close the opening 121. A flat plate-shaped support tray 15 is attached to the (+ Y) side side surface of the lid member 13 in a horizontal posture, and the upper surface of the support tray 15 is a support surface on which the substrate S can be placed. The lid member 13 is supported so as to be horizontally movable in the Y direction by a support mechanism (not shown).

The lid member 13 can be moved back and forth with respect to the processing chamber 12 by the advancing / retreating mechanism 53 provided in the supply unit 50. Specifically, the advancing / retreating mechanism 53 has a linear motion mechanism such as a linear motor, a linear motion guide, a ball screw mechanism, a solenoid, and an air cylinder, and such a linear motion mechanism moves the lid member 13 in the Y direction. Move to. The advancing / retreating mechanism 53 operates in response to a control command from the control unit 90.

By moving the lid member 13 in the (−Y) direction, when the support tray 15 is pulled out from the processing space SP through the opening 121, the support tray 15 can be accessed. That is, the substrate S can be placed on the support tray 15 and the substrate S mounted on the support tray 15 can be taken out. On the other hand, as the lid member 13 moves in the (+ Y) direction, the support tray 15 is accommodated in the processing space SP. When the substrate S is placed on the support tray 15, the substrate S is carried into the processing space SP together with the support tray 15.

The processing space SP is sealed by the lid member 13 moving in the (+ Y) direction and closing the opening 121. Although not shown, a seal member is provided between the (+ Y) side side surface of the lid member 13 and the (−Y) side side surface of the processing chamber 12, and the airtight state of the processing space SP is maintained. To. Further, the lid member 13 is fixed to the processing chamber 12 by a locking mechanism (not shown). In this way, while the airtight state of the processing space SP is secured, the processing for the substrate S is executed in the processing space SP.

In this embodiment, a fluid supply unit 57 provided in the supply unit 50 supplies a fluid of a substance that can be used for supercritical treatment, for example, carbon dioxide, to the treatment unit 10 in a gas or liquid state. Carbon dioxide is a chemical substance suitable for supercritical drying treatment because it is in a supercritical state at a relatively low temperature and low pressure and has a property of well dissolving an organic solvent often used for substrate treatment.

The fluid is filled in the processing space SP, and when the inside of the processing space SP reaches an appropriate temperature and pressure, the fluid is in a supercritical state. In this way, the substrate S is processed by the supercritical fluid in the processing chamber 12. The supply unit 50 is provided with a fluid recovery unit 55, and the treated fluid is collected by the fluid recovery unit 55. The fluid supply unit 57 and the fluid recovery unit 55 are controlled by the control unit 90.

The transfer unit 30 is responsible for transferring the substrate S between the external transfer device and the support tray 15. For this purpose, the transfer unit 30 includes a main body 31, an elevating member 33, a base member 35, and a plurality of lift pins 37. The elevating member 33 is a columnar member extending in the Z direction, and is movably supported in the Z direction by a support mechanism (not shown). A base member 35 having a substantially horizontal upper surface is attached to the upper portion of the elevating member 33, and a plurality of lift pins 37 are erected upward from the upper surface of the base member 35. As will be described later, each of the lift pins 37 supports the substrate S in a horizontal posture from below by abutting the upper end portion thereof on the lower surface of the substrate S. In order to stably support the substrate S, it is desirable that three or more lift pins 37 having the same height of the upper ends are provided.

The elevating member 33 can be moved up and down by an elevating mechanism 51 provided in the supply unit 50. Specifically, the elevating mechanism 51 has, for example, a linear motor, a linear motion guide, a ball screw mechanism, a solenoid, an air cylinder, and the like, and such a linear motion mechanism moves the elevating member 33 in the Z direction. Move to. The elevating mechanism 51 operates in response to a control command from the control unit 90.

The base member 35 moves up and down as the elevating member 33 moves up and down, and a plurality of lift pins 37 move up and down integrally with the base member 35. As a result, as will be described next, the transfer of the substrate S between the transfer unit 30 and the support tray 15 is realized.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a state of delivery of the substrate. Further, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the shape and positional relationship of each part involved in delivery. More specifically, FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a configuration involved in the delivery of the substrate S, and FIG. 3B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the support tray 15. In addition, in FIG. 3A, in order to clarify the structure of each part, the distance between the members in the Z direction is enlarged from the actual one. As shown in these figures, the transfer of the substrate S is performed with the support tray 15 pulled out from the processing chamber 12. For this purpose, the transfer unit 30 is arranged at a position corresponding to the lower part of the support tray 15 in the pulled-out state.

The operation of each part in the delivery of the substrate S will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d). The initial state of the device is shown in FIG. From this state, when the substrate S carried in from the outside is received, as shown in FIG. 2A, the lid member 13 moves to the (−Y) side and the support tray 15 is pulled out from the processing chamber 12. The position of the support tray 15 at this time is hereinafter referred to as a "drawer position". Further, as the elevating member 33 rises, the lift pin 27 is in a state of protruding from the upper surface (support surface) 151 of the support tray 15.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a through hole 152 penetrating in the vertical direction is provided at a position of the support tray 15 corresponding to the arrangement position of the lift pin 27 in the horizontal direction. When the base member 35 is raised by raising the elevating member 33, the lift pin 37 projects above the support surface 151 through the through hole 152.

As shown in FIG. 3B, an annular sealing member 153 made of, for example, rubber, silicone resin, or fluororesin (for example, PTFE; poly-tetrafluoroethylene) is mounted in the through hole 152. The seal member 153 seals the gap between the lift pin 37 and the through hole 152. As will be described later, the substrate S is carried in with a liquid film formed on the upper surface, but even if some liquid may spill from the substrate S, it will pass through the through hole 152. It is prevented from falling downward. In addition, in order to make the figure easier to see, the illustration of the seal member 153 is omitted in each of the other drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the substrate S is conveyed in a state of being held by a hand H provided in an external conveying device. When the lift pin 37 projects above the upper surface of the hand H, the substrate S is handed over from the hand H to the lift pin 37. The shape and arrangement of the hand H and the lift pin 37 are determined so as not to interfere with each other. In this state, the hand H can be retracted to the side. As shown in FIG. 2B, the lowering member 33 lowers the substrate S supported by the lift pin 37.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 2C, the lower surface of the substrate S comes into contact with the support surface 151, and the lift pin 37 descends below the support surface 151, so that the substrate S moves from the lift pin 37 to the support tray 15. Handed over to. In this way, the substrate S is delivered from the external transfer device to the support tray 15. After that, as shown in FIG. 2D, the lid member 13 moves in the (+ Y) direction, so that the substrate S is housed in the processing space SP of the processing chamber 12 together with the support tray 15.

The removal of the substrate S after the treatment is the reverse of the above. That is, as shown in FIG. 2C, after the processed substrate S is pulled out from the processing chamber 12 together with the support tray 15, the elevating member 33 is raised, so that the lift pin 27 lifts the substrate S from the support tray 15. lift. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, the substrate S is held by the hand H by passing the substrate S from the lift pin 37 to the hand H entering from the outside. When the hand H carries out the substrate S to the outside, the substrate S is discharged from the substrate processing device 1.

The upper surface of the substrate S carried into the processing chamber 12 may be covered with a liquid or a solid. For example, when a fine pattern is formed on the surface of the substrate S, the pattern may collapse due to the surface tension of the liquid residually adhering to the substrate S. In addition, watermarks may remain on the surface of the substrate S due to incomplete drying. Further, when the surface of the substrate S comes into contact with the outside air, deterioration such as oxidation may occur. In order to avoid such a problem, the surface of the substrate S may be transported in a state of being covered with a liquid or solid surface layer.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned transfer process of the substrate S, in the process in which the substrate S carried in from the outside is accommodated in the processing chamber 12 via the transfer unit 30, the upper surface of the substrate S is covered with the surface layer. May be executed. For example, a semiconductor substrate having a fine pattern formed on its surface can be transported in a state where a liquid film is formed by a liquid having a relatively low surface tension and low corrosiveness to the substrate, for example, IPA (isopropyl alcohol) or acetone. Will be executed. On the other hand, in the process in which the substrate S is carried out from the processing chamber 12, the substrate S is in a dry state.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the support tray and the base member in more detail. Of these, FIG. 4A shows a state in which the base member 35 is lowered to the lowest position in the vertical movement during delivery of the substrate S described above. The position of the base member 35 at this time is referred to as a "lower position". Further, the position of the upper end of the lift pin 37 in the Z direction at this time is referred to as a “delivery position”.

Further, FIG. 4B shows a state in which the base member 35 is raised to the highest position in the vertical movement. The position of the base member 35 at this time is referred to as an "upper position". Further, the position in the Z direction of the upper end portion of the lift pin 37 at this time is referred to as a “retracted position”. Therefore, the base member 35 reciprocates in the vertical direction between the upper position and the lower position. Along with this, the upper end portion of the lift pin 37 reciprocates in the vertical direction between the delivery position and the retracted position.

The upper surface of the substantially flat plate-shaped support tray 15 is provided with a partially recessed recess, and the bottom of the recess is a flat support surface 151. The substrate S is placed in this recess. It should be noted that the substrate S can be supported even if the upper surface of the support tray 15 is a flat surface without such a recess.

On the other hand, the base member 35 is also a flat plate-shaped member, and its upper surface is substantially flat, but has a surface shape in which the peripheral edge portion is raised with respect to the central portion. In other words, the upper surface of the base member 35 is a concave surface having a recessed central portion. Therefore, the upper surface of the base member 35 can hold a certain amount of liquid. The reason for doing so is that when the surface layer is formed on the upper surface of the substrate S, even if a part of the surface layer is spilled from the substrate S due to vibration during delivery, it is received by the base member 35 and scattered around. This is to prevent. That is, the base member 35 has a function as a saucer for receiving the liquid or solid spilling from the substrate S. Such a falling object mainly flows down through the through hole 151 and the lift pin 37, but since the lower end of the lift pin 37 is attached to the upper surface of the base member 35, it can be reliably received by the base member 37.

The plurality of lift pins 37 are all attached to a single base member 35, and move up and down integrally with the vertical movement of the base member 35. In such a structure, mechanical strength can be increased by attaching an elongated lift pin to a highly rigid base member 35. Further, since the plurality of lift pins 37 are integrally raised and lowered, the relative heights of their upper ends do not change, and the substrate S is maintained in a stable horizontal posture as compared with the case where each lift pin is raised and lowered individually. It is possible. This is significant in that it is maintained, especially when the upper surface of the substrate S is covered with a liquid film.

As shown in FIG. 4A, when the base member 35 is in the lower position, the upper end portion of the lift pin 37 is in a state of being largely retracted downward from the support plate 15. It is more preferable that the lid member 13 is retracted downward from the lower end position shown by the broken line in the figure. In this way, it is possible to prevent the lid member 13 and the lift pin 37 from interfering with each other when the lid member 13 moves in the (+ Y) direction in order to accommodate the substrate S in the processing chamber 12.

On the other hand, at the upper position of the base member 35 shown in FIG. 4B, the lift pin 37 reaches further above the upper end position of the lid member 13 shown by the broken line, so that the lift pin 37 passes above the lid member 13 and of the substrate S. The hand H can be made to enter the lower part. As a result, the substrate S can be transferred between the hand H and the lift pin 37.

At this time, the upper surface of the base member 35 comes into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15. In order to bring the two into close contact with each other, the lower surface of the support tray 15 is processed into a shape that follows the curved surface of the upper surface of the base member 35, but this is not essential. The reason why the base member 35 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15 at the upper position in this way is as follows.

In the processing chamber 12, when a process involving a temperature rise of the substrate S is performed as in the supercritical drying process of the present embodiment, the substrate S and the support tray 15 carried out immediately after the process are heated to a high temperature. When a new substrate is received and the processing is executed after the processed substrate is carried out, a problem may occur due to the unprocessed substrate being placed on the high temperature support tray 15. For example, when an untreated substrate S is carried in with a liquid film or a volatile solid film formed on the surface, the substrate S may be heated to volatilize and expose the substrate surface. In order to prevent this, it is required to lower the temperature of the support tray 15 as much as possible prior to carrying in the new substrate S.

It is conceivable to perform cooling processing in the processing chamber 12 or to wait until the temperature of the drawn support tray 15 is sufficiently lowered by natural cooling, but during that time, the start of processing on the new substrate S is delayed. Therefore, the processing throughput is reduced.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the processed substrate S is discharged, the base member 35 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15, and the thermal energy of the support tray 15 is transferred to the base member 35 to support the substrate S. Cool the tray 15. For this purpose, it is desirable that the base member 35 is made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity, for example, a metal material such as aluminum, brass, or stainless steel, and has a heat capacity larger than that of the support tray 15. By doing so, the temperature of the support tray 15 drops sufficiently faster than in the case of natural cooling, and the processing on the next substrate S can be started earlier.

It is not necessary to take a special time to cool the support tray 15, and the lifting operation itself of the lift pin 37 for taking out the substrate S from the support tray 15 and delivering it to the external transport device brings the base member 35 into contact with the base member 35. It is also an operation for cooling the support tray 15. Therefore, it is possible to cool the support tray 15 without causing a decrease in processing throughput.

When the base member 35 comes into contact with the support tray 15 and takes heat energy, the temperature of the support tray 15 decreases, but the temperature of the base member 35 rises. With respect to such a temperature rise, the base member 35 is naturally cooled by touching the ambient atmosphere from the end of the transfer of the substrate S to the support tray 15 to the end of the processing in the processing chamber 12. It is expected to be resolved to some extent. Therefore, it can be said that it is not necessary to actively cool the base member 35. However, as will be described next, a configuration for positively cooling the base member 35 may be provided. In the following modification, the same reference numerals are given to the configurations having the same or corresponding functions as those in the above embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modified example of the transfer unit. As shown in FIG. 5A, the transfer unit 30 may be provided with a cooling mechanism 38 that abuts on the lower surface of the base member 35 at the lower position to cool the base member 35. As shown in FIG. 5B, the cooling mechanism 38 is attached to the upper surface of the main body 31 of the transfer unit 30, and when the base member 35 rises, it separates from the base member 35 and loses the cooling action. In such a configuration, the base member 35 previously cooled by the cooling mechanism 38 rises and comes into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15, so that the support tray 15 can be cooled more effectively. Further, the base member 35 whose temperature has risen due to contact with the support tray 15 at the upper position is cooled by the cooling mechanism 38 at the lower position, so that the cooling function can be continuously maintained.

As the cooling mechanism 38, for example, a heat exchanger using a refrigerant, a heat pump type, a Peltier element, or the like can be applied. The cooling mechanism 38 may be directly attached to the lower surface of the base member 35 and may move up and down together with the base member 35. In such a configuration, the cooling mechanism 38 makes it possible to constantly cool the base member 35.

Further, the cooling mechanism may be embedded inside the base member, or the cooling mechanism 39 may be attached to the upper surface of the base member 35 to directly cool the support tray 15 as shown in FIG. 5C. ..

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another modification of the transfer unit. In the modified example shown in FIG. 6A, the cooling gas G is blown out from the upper surface of the base member 35 toward the lower surface of the support tray 15. As the cooling gas G, for example, dry air cooled at room temperature or by passing through a heat exchanger or an inert gas can be used. In such a configuration, the support tray 15 is cooled by blowing the cooling gas G from the base member 35 toward the lower surface of the support tray 15. Therefore, in this case, it is not always necessary for the base member 35 to come into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15 at the upper position, and it is sufficient that the two are sufficiently close to each other.

Further, in the modified example shown in FIG. 6B, the cooling gas G is blown out from the upper surface of the main body 31. In such a configuration, the base member 35 is cooled by spraying the cooling gas G on the lower surface of the base member 35 when it is in the lower position, that is, when it is not involved in the delivery of the substrate S. When the base member 35 cooled in this way abuts on the lower surface of the support tray 15 at the upper position, the support tray 15 can be cooled in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Further, cooling by contact and cooling by gas blowing may be used in combination.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of this substrate processing apparatus. The operation of each part of the device in each process is as described above. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the support tray 15 is pulled out from the processing chamber 12 by moving the lid member 13 to the (−Y) side, and the transfer unit 30 is accessible in the drawer position. Positioned to (step S101). Subsequently, when the elevating mechanism 51 is operated, the lift pin 37 is raised, and the position of the upper end portion thereof is positioned at the delivery position protruding upward from the upper surface of the support tray 15 (step S102).

In this state, the substrate S held by the hand H of the external transport device is switched to the support by the lift pin 37. As a result, the substrate S is handed over from the hand H to the lift pin 37 (step S103). When the lift pin 37 that supports the substrate S is lowered, the substrate S is lowered and finally delivered to the support tray 15 (step S104).

After the lift pin 37 descends to a retracted position that does not interfere with the lid member 13, the lid member 13 moves to the (+ Y) side, and the support tray 15 that supports the substrate S is stored in the processing chamber 12 (step S105). .. In the processing chamber 12, a supercritical drying process is executed on the carried-in substrate S (step S106). Since the content of the supercritical treatment is known, the description thereof is omitted here.

After the processing is completed, the lid member 13 moves to the (−Y) side, so that the substrate S is pulled out together with the support tray 15 and is positioned at a pull-out position accessible to the transfer unit 30 (step S107). ). Subsequently, the elevating mechanism 51 operates to raise the base member 35 to the upper position (step S108). The lift pin 37 rises integrally with the base member 35, and the substrate S is located above the upper end position of the lid member 13, so that the substrate S can be carried out by the hand H of the transport device. In this way, the substrate S is discharged to the outside (step S109). Further, the support tray 15 is cooled by the base member 35 coming into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 15.

If there is a substrate S to be processed next (YES in step S110), the process returns to step S103 to accept a new substrate S, and the above processing is repeated. At this time, since the lower surface of the support tray 15 is cooled by the contact of the base member 35, various troubles caused by the temperature rise of the substrate S placed on the high temperature support tray 15 can be avoided in advance. .. If the processing is completed for all the substrates S (NO in step S109), the lift pin 37 is lowered to the retracted position (step S111), the support tray 15 is stored in the processing chamber 12 (step S112), and all of them are processed. Processing ends.

In the transfer unit 30 of the above embodiment, the handling of the unprocessed substrate S carried in from the outside and the handling of the substrate S carried out after the processing are performed by using the same lift pin 37. Instead of this, as described below, it is also possible to have a configuration in which the untreated substrate and the treated substrate are handled by different lift pins. In the following description, the same or corresponding configurations as those of the above-described embodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

8 and 9 are diagrams showing a modified example of the transfer unit. In these modifications, a lift pin for supporting the untreated substrate and a lift pin for supporting the treated substrate are individually prepared. Such proper use is performed mainly in order to prevent contamination of the treated substrate mainly due to sharing the lift pin before and after the treatment.

In the modified example shown in FIG. 8, a lift pin 37a for supporting the unprocessed substrate S1 and a lift pin 37b for supporting the processed substrate S2 are provided, respectively. In the figure, the lift pins 37b are arranged between the lift pins 37a, but this is for convenience to clearly distinguish between the two, and does not indicate the arrangement of the lift pins in a plan view. In an actual device, for example, the lift pins 37a and 37b can be arranged so as to support the peripheral edge portion of the substrate, and the lift pins 37a and the lift pins 37b can be arranged at different positions in the circumferential direction of the substrate. ..

The plurality of lift pins 37a are attached to the base member 35a. Further, the plurality of lift pins 37b are attached to the lift pins 35b which are configured separately from the base member 35a. The elevating mechanism 51 realizes these elevating operations in response to a control command from the control unit 90.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the base member 35a is arranged below the base member 35b, the lift pin 37a for the untreated substrate is longer than the lift pin 37b for the treated substrate, and the upper end thereof is In the initial state, it is formed so as to be above the upper end portion of the lift pin 37b for the processed substrate. The support tray 150 corresponding to the support tray 15 of the above embodiment is provided with a through hole 155 corresponding to the lift pin 37a and a through hole 156 corresponding to the lift pin 37b, respectively.

FIG. 8B shows an operation when the unprocessed substrate S1 is received from the outside. At this time, the base member 35a and the base member 35b are integrally raised. As a result, the lift pins 37a and 37b also rise, but since the upper end portion of the lift pin 37a is above the upper end portion of the lift pin 37b, the unprocessed substrate S1 to be carried in is supported by the lift pin 37a. Since the lift pin 37b does not come into contact with the substrate S1, it is possible to prevent the lift pin 37b from being contaminated by the deposits on the substrate S1 before processing. When the base member 35a and the base member 35b are integrally lowered from this state, the substrate S1 is delivered from the lift pin 37a to the support tray 150.

On the other hand, when the processed substrate S2 is discharged, only the base member 35b to which the lift pin 37b for the processed substrate is attached rises as shown in FIG. 8C. Therefore, the processed substrate S2 is supported only by the lift pin 37b and is finally discharged to the outside. At this time, since the lift pin 37a does not abut on the substrate S2, even if the lift pin 37a has deposits that have migrated from the unprocessed substrate S1, it is prevented from remigrating to the treated substrate S2.

It is necessary to cool the support tray 150 in parallel with the dispensing of the processed substrate S2. For this purpose, the upper surface of the base member 35b is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the support tray 150 to take heat energy. As described above, the mode may be such that the cooling gas is blown from a close position. The base member 35a that supports the lift pin 37a that receives the unprocessed substrate S1 does not require a special configuration for cooling.

In the modified example shown in FIG. 9, a lift pin 37c for supporting the unprocessed substrate S1 and a lift pin 37d for supporting the processed substrate S2 are provided, respectively. Also in this example, the lift pin 37c is arranged between the lift pins 37d in the figure, but this is for convenience to clearly distinguish between the two, and does not indicate the arrangement of the lift pins in a plan view.

A plurality of lift pins 37c provided corresponding to the unprocessed substrate S1 are attached to the ring-shaped base member 35c. Further, the plurality of lift pins 37d provided corresponding to the processed substrate S2 are configured separately from the base member 35c and are attached to the base member 35d arranged in the ring of the base member 35c. The elevating mechanism 51 realizes these independent elevating operations in response to a control command from the control unit 90. The structure of the support tray 150 is the same as that of FIG. Since the ring-shaped base member 35c does not have a function of receiving a falling object from the substrate, it is desirable that a saucer member 36 is separately provided below the base member 35c.

FIG. 9B shows an operation when the unprocessed substrate S1 is received from the outside. At this time, the lift pin 37c is raised by raising only the base member 35c to support the unprocessed substrate S1 to be carried in. When the base member 35c is lowered from this state, the substrate S1 is delivered from the lift pin 37c to the support tray 150.

On the other hand, when the processed substrate S2 is discharged, as shown in FIG. 9C, only the base member 35d to which the lift pin 37d for the processed substrate is attached rises. Therefore, the processed substrate S2 is supported by the lift pin 37d and is finally discharged to the outside. By forming the base members 37c and 37d so that they do not overlap each other in a plan view, the two types of lift pins can be raised and lowered independently of each other in this way, and the lift pins can be used properly. The shapes of the base members 37c and 37d are not limited to this, and are arbitrary as long as the condition that they do not interfere with the individual lifting operations in the required lifting range is satisfied.

Also in this case, the temperature of the warmed support tray 150 can be lowered by bringing the base member 35d that supports the lift pin 37d corresponding to the processed substrate S2 into contact with the lower surface of the support tray 150.

As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the problem that the support tray 15 supporting the substrate S is heated in the processing chamber 12 causes a problem in accepting a new substrate S is solved. Therefore, it has a configuration for cooling the support tray 15 in parallel with the dispensing operation of the substrate S. Specifically, a plurality of lift pins 37 that support the substrate S at the time of payout are attached, and the base member 35 that collectively supports them comes close to or abuts on the lower surface of the support tray 15 to the support tray 15. Dissipate the stored heat energy.

As a result, the temperature of the support tray 15 drops, and the next substrate S can be quickly received. Further, since the lifting operation of the lift pin 37 for feeding out the substrate S itself is also an operation for cooling the support tray 15 at the same time, it is possible to avoid a decrease in processing throughput due to cooling. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the processing of the substrate S and the cooling of the support tray 15 are performed in parallel, there is a problem that the substrate S is placed on the warmed support tray 15. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the throughput is not reduced due to the problem.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the transfer unit 30 corresponds to the “transfer portion” of the present invention, and the support mechanism (not shown) and the elevating mechanism 51 that support the lift pin 37 are the “elevation / lowering mechanism” of the present invention. It functions as a "department". Further, the base member 37 functions as the "base portion" of the present invention. Further, the cooling mechanisms 38 and 39 function as the "cooling unit" of the present invention. Further, in the modified examples of FIGS. 8 and 9, the lift pins 37a and 37c correspond to the "carry-in lift pin" of the present invention, and the lift pins 37b and 37d correspond to the "carry-out lift pin" of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the processing chamber 12 of the above embodiment executes supercritical drying processing in the internal processing space SP. However, the technical idea of the present invention can be applied to other substrate processing. In particular, the present invention is effective when the substrate to be processed is placed on a support tray and carried into the processing chamber, and the support tray is accompanied by a temperature rise in the processing.

Further, in the above embodiment, the base member 35 having the support function of the lift pin 37 and the cooling function of the support tray 15 further has a function as a tray for receiving the falling object from the substrate S. However, the function of receiving such a falling object may be omitted, or a separate saucer may be provided to separate the function from the function of the base member 35. Further, a configuration for discharging the fallen objects collected on the upper surface of the base member may be further provided.

Further, in the delivery of the substrate S in the above embodiment, the external transfer device conveys the substrate S in the Y direction. Therefore, the lift pin 37 needs to support the substrate S above the upper end portion of the lid member 13. Instead of this, for example, if the substrate is configured to be conveyed in the X direction, it is not necessary for the substrate S to pass above the lid member 13, and it is sufficient if the lift pin 37 can support the substrate S at a lower position.

Further, in the above embodiment, the support tray 15 is attached to the side surface of the lid member 13, and these move integrally, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the support tray may be movable independently of the lid member. In this case, the lid member may be a door-shaped member that can be opened and closed with respect to the opening of the processing chamber.

In addition, the various chemical substances used in the treatment of the above-described embodiment show some examples, and if they are consistent with the above-mentioned technical idea of the present invention, various chemical substances may be used instead. It is possible to use.

As described above by exemplifying a specific embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention may have a configuration in which the upper surface of the base portion abuts on the lower surface of the support tray at the upper position. Further, the substrate processing method according to the present invention may have a configuration in which the cooled base portion is brought into contact with the support tray to cool the support tray. According to such a configuration, the temperature of the support tray can be lowered by transferring the thermal energy to the base portion whose temperature is relatively low with respect to the support tray after the treatment. The temperature rise of the base portion due to this does not affect the treatment.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the transfer mechanism may have a cooling portion for cooling the base portion. For example, the cooling unit may cool the base portion at the lower position, or the cooling portion may be provided on the base portion. According to such a configuration, the base portion can be cooled in advance to enhance the cooling effect on the support tray, or the base portion warmed by the contact with the support tray can be cooled.

Further, the base portion may be configured to blow out the cooling gas toward the lower surface of the support tray in a state of being arranged close to the lower surface. According to such a configuration, gas can be blown onto the warmed support tray to dissipate heat energy and lower the temperature.

Further, the upper surface of the base portion may be a concave surface capable of holding the liquid. According to such a configuration, even when the substrate to be processed is carried in with the surface covered with liquid, the liquid falling from the substrate due to vibration during transportation is received by the base portion and moved to the surroundings. Can be prevented from scattering.

Further, the plurality of lift pins include a plurality of carry-in lift pins that support the substrate before being processed in the processing chamber, and a plurality of carry-out lift pins that support the substrate after the treatment, and the carry-out lift pin is a base portion. The lift pin for carrying in may be able to be raised and lowered independently of the base portion while being attached to the base portion and being integrally raised and lowered. According to such a configuration, by supporting the substrate before and after the treatment with another lift pin, it is possible to prevent the deposits adhering to the substrate before the treatment from re-adhering to the substrate after the treatment. Therefore, the quality of processing can be improved.

Further, in the substrate processing method according to the present invention, the base portion can be cooled while the processing is performed in the processing chamber. According to such a configuration, it is possible to avoid a decrease in processing throughput due to cooling of the base portion.

Further, the predetermined treatment may be a treatment involving an increase in the temperature of the substrate, and may be, for example, a treatment using a supercritical fluid. According to such a configuration, the support tray, which is in a high temperature state together with the substrate, is cooled in parallel with the operation for dispensing the substrate after processing. Therefore, when a plurality of substrates are continuously processed, it is possible to avoid the problem caused by placing a new substrate on the support tray that remains at a high temperature. In addition, this does not reduce the processing throughput.

Further, the untreated substrate may be carried into the processing chamber with a liquid film formed on the upper surface. According to such a configuration, the substrate is heated by placing the substrate on the high temperature support tray, which prevents the liquid from evaporating.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to all techniques for processing by accommodating a substrate in a processing chamber while being supported by a support tray. In particular, it is suitable for a treatment involving an increase in the temperature of the substrate, a treatment carried in with a liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate, for example, a supercritical drying treatment.

1 Substrate processing device 10 Processing unit 12 Processing chamber 15 Support tray 30 Transfer unit 35, 35b, 35d Base member 37 Lift pin 37a, 37c Lift pin for loading 37b, 37d Lift pin for loading 38, 39 Cooling mechanism 51 Lifting mechanism 121 Opening S board SP processing space

Claims (14)

A processing chamber that forms a processing space for processing the substrate and has an opening on the side that communicates with the processing space.
A support tray having a flat plate shape whose upper surface serves as a support surface for supporting the substrate to be processed in a horizontal posture and which can be inserted into and removed from the processing space through the opening.
A transfer mechanism provided outside the processing chamber to transfer the substrate to and from the support tray drawn out of the processing chamber is provided.
The transfer mechanism is
A plurality of lift pins capable of supporting the substrate from below by projecting the upper end portion upward from the support surface and abutting the lower surface of the substrate through the through holes provided in the support tray.
The base part to which the plurality of lift pins are attached and
It has an elevating part that elevates and elevates the base part.
The elevating portion rises to a position where the upper surface of the base portion approaches or abuts on the lower surface of the support tray, and the upper end portion of the lift pin protrudes upward from the support surface, and the upper end of the lift pin. A substrate processing device that raises and lowers the base portion with and from a lower position where the portion retracts below the support surface. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the base portion abuts on the lower surface of the support tray at the upper position. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transfer mechanism has a cooling portion for cooling the base portion. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooling unit cools the base unit located at the lower position. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooling unit is provided on the base unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the base portion is arranged close to the lower surface of the support tray and blows out a cooling gas toward the lower surface. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the upper surface of the base portion is a concave surface capable of holding a liquid. The plurality of lift pins include a plurality of carry-in lift pins that support the substrate before being processed in the processing chamber, and a plurality of carry-out lift pins that support the substrate after the treatment.
7. Substrate processing equipment. In a substrate processing method for processing a substrate in a processing chamber,
The transfer mechanism mounts the untreated substrate on a support tray having a flat plate shape in which the upper surface serves as a support surface for supporting the substrate in a horizontal posture.
A step of carrying the substrate into the processing chamber by allowing the support tray to enter the processing chamber through an opening provided on the side of the processing chamber.
A step of performing a predetermined process on the substrate in the process chamber, and
The transfer mechanism includes a step of ejecting the processed substrate placed on the support tray taken out from the processing chamber from the support tray to the outside.
The transfer mechanism transfers the substrate to and from the support tray by raising and lowering a plurality of lift pins through through holes provided in the support tray, and the plurality of lift pins are attached to a common base portion. To move up and down integrally with the base
A substrate processing method in which an upper surface of the base portion approaches or abuts on the lower surface of the support tray to cool the support tray when the treated substrate is discharged. The substrate processing method according to claim 9, wherein the cooled base portion is brought into contact with the support tray to cool the support tray. The substrate processing method according to claim 9, wherein the base portion is cooled while the processing is being performed in the processing chamber. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the predetermined treatment is a treatment involving a temperature rise of the substrate. The substrate treatment method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the predetermined treatment is a treatment using a supercritical fluid. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the untreated substrate is carried into the processing chamber with a liquid film formed on the upper surface thereof.

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