JP2022139941A - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate processing system equipped with a plurality of liquid processing units, which can improve throughput per footprint area.SOLUTION: A substrate processing system is equipped with: a plurality of batch-type liquid processing units which respectively have substrate holding parts which hold a plurality of substrates so that the substrates are in parallel with each other, which apply liquid processing to the plurality of substrates simultaneously; a container placement part on which a substrate conveying container is placed; at least one substrate delivering part having a substrate holding structure which holds the plurality of substrates so that the substrates are in parallel to each other; a first substrate conveying device that conveys the substrates between the substrate conveying container placed on the container placement part and the substrate delivering part; and a second substrate conveying device that simultaneously conveys the plurality of substrates between the substrate delivering part and the liquid processing units. The substrate processing system has at least two layers whose height positions are different from each other, where two or more of the plurality of liquid processing units are arranged in each of the layers and at least one of the plurality of liquid processing units is arranged above or below the substrate delivering part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

2. Description of the Related Art As an apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, there is known a batch-type liquid processing apparatus that performs liquid processing on a plurality of substrates at the same time. The batch-type liquid processing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200300 includes a rotor as a holding means for housing a wafer W, a slidable processing chamber housing the rotor, and wafers disposed in the processing chamber and held by the rotor. and a processing liquid supply nozzle for supplying a predetermined processing liquid to. A carrier containing a wafer mounted on the mounting table of the in/out port is conveyed to the carrier relay section by the first carrier conveying mechanism, and then transferred to the wafer delivery section by the second carrier conveying mechanism. A wafer transfer mechanism lifts the wafer from the carrier and transfers it to the rotor. The processing chamber then slides horizontally to accommodate the rotor. In this state, the wafer is subjected to liquid processing.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-151461

The present disclosure provides a technology capable of improving the throughput per footprint area (the number of processed sheets per unit time) in a substrate processing system having a plurality of liquid processing units.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there are a plurality of batch-type liquid processing units, each liquid processing unit having a substrate holding part for holding a plurality of substrates in parallel, and a plurality of liquid processing units configured to simultaneously perform liquid processing on the plurality of substrates held in the unit; and transferring the substrates between at least one substrate transfer section having a substrate holding structure for holding a plurality of substrates parallel to each other, and the substrate transfer container placed on the container mounting section and the substrate transfer section. A substrate processing system comprising a first substrate transport device and a second substrate transport device for simultaneously transporting a plurality of substrates between the substrate transfer section and the liquid processing unit, the substrate processing system comprising: At least two levels with different height positions are provided, two or more of the plurality of liquid processing units are arranged on each level, and at least one of the plurality of liquid processing units is located above the substrate transfer section. Or an underlying substrate processing system is provided.

According to the above embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the throughput per footprint area (the number of substrates processed per unit time) in a substrate processing system including a plurality of liquid processing units.

1 is a schematic longitudinal side view of a liquid processing unit according to one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a rotor and an operation mechanism of the liquid processing unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. Figure 3 is a side view of the rotor shown in Figure 2; 2 is a diagram showing a processing fluid nozzle provided in a processing container of the liquid processing unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a liquid processing unit; FIG. 10 is an action diagram for explaining attitude change of the rotor, delivery of substrates to the rotor, and movement of the processing container; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a liquid processing unit; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing yet another embodiment of a liquid processing unit; It is a piping system diagram which shows another example of a structure of a process fluid supply mechanism. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of a substrate processing system having a plurality of liquid processing units, and showing the planar layout of the first layer of processing blocks (corresponding to the X-X cross section in FIG. 11). 11 is a diagram showing a XI-XI cross section in FIG. 10 of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; FIG. FIG. 11 is a view showing the XII-XII cross section in FIG. 11 of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; 11 is a diagram showing a cross section of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10, taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 10; FIG. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIV-XIV in FIG. 11 of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; FIG. 12 is a front view of a configuration example of a substrate transfer section provided in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10, viewed from the direction of arrow XV in FIG. 12; FIG. 16 is a side view of the substrate transfer section shown in FIG. 15 as viewed from the direction of arrow XVI; 11 is a side view showing a first configuration example of a second substrate transport robot provided in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; FIG. 11 is a side view showing a second configuration example of a second substrate transport robot provided in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; FIG. 11 is a side view showing a third configuration example of a second substrate transport robot provided in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 10; FIG.

A batch-type liquid processing unit 10 as one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The substrate W to be processed by the liquid processing unit 10 is, for example, a semiconductor wafer, but is not limited to this. good.

The liquid processing unit 10 has a rotor (substrate holding portion) 18 that holds a plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W in a vertical posture and horizontally arranged at an equal pitch (also referred to as a “second equal pitch P2”). there is The second equal pitch P2 can be a suitable value within the range of 1-10 mm, for example 5 mm or 10 mm. Although the term "first equal pitch P1" is also used in this specification, this will be described later. In this specification, the number of substrates W simultaneously held by the rotor 18 when the substrates W are subjected to liquid processing by the liquid processing unit 10 is also referred to as the "specified processing number".

A rotating shaft 21 extends horizontally from a first side wall of the rotor 18 (corresponding to the first disk 181A shown in FIG. 2). The rotary shaft 21 is driven to rotate by a rotary drive unit 24 around a rotation axis Ax extending in the horizontal direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1), thereby rotating the rotor 18 and the substrates W held thereon around the rotation axis Ax. . This rotation axis Ax passes through the center of each substrate W held by the rotor 18 . Hereinafter, in the description of the liquid processing unit 10 in this specification, the direction parallel to the rotation axis Ax will also be referred to as the "axial direction" unless otherwise specified.

In this specification, for convenience of explanation, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set, and directions are sometimes explained based on this system. In FIG. 1, the rotation axis Ax extends in the horizontal direction, and this direction (axial direction) is also called "X direction". Another horizontal direction perpendicular to the X direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1) is called the "Y direction", and a vertical direction perpendicular to the X direction is called the "Z direction".

In the illustrated embodiment, the rotary drive 24 comprises an electric rotary motor (hereinafter simply referred to as "motor 24" for convenience), and the rotary shaft of the motor 24 is directly connected to the rotary shaft 21 of the rotor 18. In a modified embodiment, the rotary drive unit 24 can be configured by a combination of the motor 24 and a driving force transmission means (for example, a belt/pulley) (not shown) for transmitting the driving force from the motor 24 to the rotating shaft 21.

The liquid processing unit 10 has a movable processing vessel 11 that can be wrapped around a rotor 18 . The processing container 11 can be generally cylindrical as a whole, and the central axis of the processing container 11 can be concentric with the rotation axis Ax of the rotor 18 . Both ends of the processing container 11 in the axial direction (X direction) are open. In other words, the processing vessel 11 has a first opening 11A at the first end and a second opening 11B at the second end.

The processing container 11 is moved by the horizontal movement mechanism 12 between a first position (position indicated by a solid line (closed position)) where the rotor 18 is surrounded and a second position (position indicated by a dashed line) where the rotor 18 is exposed without being surrounded. (open position)) in the X direction. Note that FIG. 6(D) shows a state in which the processing container 11 is at the first position, and FIG. 6(C) shows a state in which the processing container 11 is at the second position. want to be

Horizontal movement mechanism 12 may comprise a suitable linear actuator, such as an air cylinder. A guide rail (not shown) that guides the processing container 11 in the X direction may be provided.

The relative positional relationship between the processing container 11 and the rotor 18 when the processing container 11 is at the first position is also referred to as the first positional relationship, and the relative positional relationship between the processing container 11 and the rotor 18 when the processing container 11 is at the second position. is also called a second positional relationship. This notation of the positional relationship is also applied when the rotor 18 is movable in the X direction and the processing container 11 is immovable in the X direction.

The liquid processing unit 10 has a first closure structure 15A and a second closure structure 15B. When the processing vessel 11 is in the first position shown in FIG. 1, the first closing structure 15A closes the first opening 11A of the processing vessel 11, and the second closing structure 15B closes the second opening of the processing vessel 11. Part 11B is closed.

The first closing structure 15A has two disc-shaped plates, namely a first plate 151 and a second plate 152, spaced apart in the axial direction of the rotor 18. As shown in FIG. The first plate 151 and the second plate 152 are firmly connected via a plurality of connecting members 153 (or spacers) and relatively immovable.

The second plate 152 of the first closing structure 15A is rigidly connected to the motor 24 via a fixing member 154. As shown in FIG. The fixing member 154 is firmly fixed to a frame (machine frame) (not shown) of the liquid processing unit 10 or the substrate processing system 1, or is firmly fixed to an arm 155 of a posture changing mechanism schematically shown in FIG. It is In the former case, the rotor 18 is always horizontal and cannot be changed. In the latter case, the arm 155 is rotated to connect the rotor 18, the first closing structure 15A, the rotating shaft 21, the motor 24 and the fixed member 154 (hereinafter referred to as "assembly AS" for convenience of description). ) are integrally moved (turned), the posture of the rotor 18 can be changed.

The rotating shaft 21 passes through the first plate 151 and the second plate 152 . A through hole 151</b>H having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the rotating shaft 21 is formed in the first plate 151 . A portion of the second plate 152 through which the rotating shaft 21 penetrates is sealed by a suitable sealing member or a sealing structure such as a labyrinth seal 25 .

The second closure structure 15B can be a generally cylindrical unitary member having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface that is substantially concentric with the process vessel 11 . The X-direction length of the second closing structure 15B is substantially equal to or longer than the X-direction movement distance of the processing container 11 (that is, the distance between the first position and the second position of the processing container 11).

The processing container 11 includes a processing container main body 11M having a cylindrical shape whose center axis is the rotation axis Ax, and a first ring protruding radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the processing container main body 11M at the first opening 11A. a second ring-shaped projection 111 and a second ring-shaped projection 112; have.

When the processing container 11 is at the first position (the position shown in FIG. 1), the axial positions (X-direction positions) of the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the second ring-shaped projection 112 are aligned with the first plate 151 and the second plate. 152 axial positions, respectively. A sealing member 16 is attached to the inner peripheral surfaces of the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the second ring-shaped projection 112 . The sealing member 16 seals between the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the first plate 151 and between the second ring-shaped projection 112 and the second plate 152 .

The third ring-shaped projection 113 and the fourth ring-shaped projection 114 face the outer peripheral surface of the second closing structure 15B when the processing container 11 is at the first position. A seal member 16 is attached to the inner peripheral surfaces of the third ring-shaped projection 113 and the fourth ring-shaped projection 114, and the seal member 16 is attached to the third ring-shaped projection 113 and the fourth ring-shaped projection 114 and the second ring-shaped projection 114 and the second ring-shaped projection 114. It seals with the closing structure 15B.

A pressurized fluid (for example, pressurized air) can be supplied to the four seal members 16 from a pressurized fluid source (not shown) through a pressurized fluid line (not shown). When the pressurized fluid is supplied, the seal member 16 expands and exhibits a sealing function. By supplying pressurized fluid to seal member 16 while processing vessel 11 is in the first position, processing vessel 11 and first closure structure 15A and second closure structure 15B are brought into sealing engagement. A processing chamber 11C, which is a substantially closed space in which the rotor 18 is housed, is formed.

When the processing chamber 11C is formed, the first end portion of the processing chamber main body 11M, the first ring-shaped projection 111, the second ring-shaped projection 112, the first plate 151 and the second plate 152 surround the second plate. 1 sub chamber 11S1 is formed. The first sub-chamber 11S1 is adjacent to the processing chamber 11C with the first plate 151 and the first ring-shaped projection 111 interposed therebetween.

When the processing chamber 11C is formed, it is similarly surrounded by the end of the processing container body 12M on the second end side, the third ring-shaped projection 113, the fourth ring-shaped projection 114, and the outer peripheral surface of the second closing structure 15B. A second sub chamber 11S2 is also formed. The second sub-chamber 11S2 is adjacent to the processing chamber 11C with the third ring-shaped projection 113 interposed therebetween.

When the seal member 16 is not supplied with pressurized fluid (or when the fluid is discharged from the seal member 16), the seal member 16 is deflated and the first closure structure 15A and the second closure structure 15A of the processing vessel 11 are closed. It does not interfere with the relative movement in the X direction with respect to the blocking structure 15B.

A communication passage (liquid communication passage) is provided in the first plate 151, and when the liquid level of the processing liquid stored in the processing chamber 11C exceeds the height of the communication passage, the liquid is discharged from the processing chamber 11C. The processing liquid can overflow (inflow) into the first sub chamber 11S1. This communication path can be the through hole 151H (the hole through which the rotating shaft 21 passes) of the first plate 151 described above.

Alternatively, one or more through holes (not shown) passing through the first plate 151 in the X direction may be provided as communication paths at different height positions from the through holes 151H. If the liquid level of the processing liquid in the processing chamber 11C is to be higher than that of the rotating shaft 21, a labyrinth seal is provided at the through hole 151H of the first plate 151 in the same manner as the second plate 152 so that the rotating shaft 21 A through hole as a communication path can be provided in the first plate 151 at a position higher than the above. The height and size (opening area) of the communication path can be determined according to the desired liquid level of the processing liquid in the processing chamber 11C during processing of the substrate W.

It is difficult to achieve a perfect seal with the type of sealing member 16 described above, and a small gap between the sealing member 16 and the member in contact therewith allows the flow from the processing chamber 11C to the first subchamber 11S1 and the second subchamber 11S1. Some leakage of liquid into chamber 11S2 may occur. The second sub-chamber 11S2 also has a role of collecting the leaked liquid.

By supplying pressurized fluid to the sealing member 16 while the processing container 11 is positioned at the second position (indicated by the dashed line), the inner peripheral surface of the processing container main body 11M and the outer periphery of the second closing structure 15B are closed. A first space 11S3 between the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the second ring-shaped projection 112, and a second space between the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the third ring-shaped projection 113. 11S4 and a third space 11S5 between the third ring-shaped projection 113 and the fourth ring-shaped projection 114 are partitioned.

Next, the supply of the processing fluid to the processing container 11 will be described.

A chemical liquid nozzle 28 for supplying a chemical liquid as a processing liquid into the processing chamber 11C is provided in the lower portion (bottom portion in the illustrated example) of the processing container 11 . A specific example of the chemical solution will be described later. The chemical liquid nozzle 28 may be composed of one or more holes provided in the bottom of the processing chamber 11, or may be formed from a nozzle body having one or more ejection ports provided near the bottom of the processing chamber 11C. may be configured.

At the bottom of the portion corresponding to the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 of the processing container 11, a circulation drain port for discharging the liquid in the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 is provided. 131, 132 and waste drains 133, 134 are provided. A disposal drain port 135 for discharging the liquid in the processing chamber 11C is also provided at the bottom of the portion of the processing container 11 corresponding to the processing chamber 11C.

A drain line 136 having an on-off valve V4 is connected to the drain ports 133, 134, and 135 for disposal. The drain line 136 is connected to a drain (DR) provided in a semiconductor device manufacturing factory. In addition, the word "for disposal" of the above disposal drainage port is for distinguishing from "for circulation", and the liquid discharged from the disposal drainage ports 133, 134, 135 to the drainage line 136 The liquid may be recovered in a recovery tank (not shown) and reused.

A chemical circulation mechanism (chemical supply mechanism) 50 is connected to the processing container 11 . The chemical circulation mechanism 50 includes a tank 51 that stores the chemical, an upstream circulation line 52 that exits the tank 51 and reaches the chemical nozzle 28, and a downstream circulation line that exits the circulation drainage ports 131 and 132 and returns to the tank 51. 53. A pump 54 , a heater 55 and a filter 56 are sequentially interposed in the upstream circulation line 52 from the upstream side. A chemical circulation system is constituted by the processing container 11 and the chemical circulation mechanism 50, and the chemical is circulated through this chemical circulation system.

The above-described circulating flow of the chemical liquid is continued while the substrate W is being processed in the processing chamber 11C using the chemical liquid. In the present specification, hereinafter, for the sake of simplification of explanation, the circulation of the chemical liquid in the chemical liquid circulation system as described above is also referred to as "normal circulation", and the path through which the chemical liquid flows at this time is called the "normal circulation path". Also called

The chemical liquid flowing out of the tank 51 by driving the pump 54 is temperature-controlled by the heater 55, passes through the filter 56, and after the particles are removed there, flows into the processing chamber 11C from the chemical liquid nozzle 28, where the chemical liquid on the substrate W is discharged. subjected to processing. The chemical liquid that has flowed from the processing chamber 11C into the first sub-chamber 11S1 through the above-described communication passage (for example, the through hole 151H of the first plate 151) flows out through the circulation drain port 131 into the downstream circulation line 53, It is returned to the tank 51. Also, as described above, a small amount of the processing liquid leaks from the processing chamber 11C to the first sub chamber 11S1 and the second sub chamber 11S2 through the seal member 16. FIG. The leaked treatment liquid also flows out to the downstream circulation line 53 through the circulation drainage ports 131 and 132 and is returned to the tank 51 .

A bypass line 57 can be provided that directly connects the upstream circulation line 52 (at a position downstream of the filter 56 of the upstream circulation line 52 ) and the downstream circulation line 53 . By opening the on-off valve V1 of the bypass line 57 and closing the on-off valve V2 of the upstream circulation line 52 and the on-off valve V3 of the downstream circulation line 53, the processing chamber 11C, the first auxiliary chamber 11S1 and the second auxiliary chamber 11S2 are closed. It is possible to circulate the chemical solution and control the temperature without passing it through.

By circulating the chemical through the bypass line 57 and adjusting the temperature as described above when the substrate W is not being processed in the processing chamber 11C using the chemical, the chemical processing process can be performed quickly and smoothly. can start. In this specification, hereinafter, for the sake of simplification of explanation, the circulation of the chemical liquid through the bypass line 57 as described above is also referred to as "standby circulation", and the path through which the chemical liquid flows at this time is referred to as "standby circulation." Also referred to as "route".

At the top of the processing container 11, at least one processing fluid nozzle 30 is provided for supplying processing fluid into the processing chamber 11C.

In one embodiment, the at least one processing fluid nozzle 30 includes a rinse nozzle 31 that supplies a rinse liquid toward the substrate W, a drying fluid nozzle 32 that discharges a drying fluid toward the substrate W, and the substrate W. A gas nozzle 33 for ejecting an inert gas (eg, nitrogen gas) or a low-oxygen gas (a gas having a low oxygen content) toward the substrate W or toward the space around the substrate W can be provided. The number of processing fluid nozzles 30 can be set according to the type of processing fluid supplied to the substrate W as described above. A plurality of types of processing fluids (eg, rinsing liquid and nitrogen gas) may be supplied from the same processing fluid nozzle 30 .

Pure water (DIW) or functional water is exemplified as the rinse liquid. Examples of the functional water include pure water in which a small amount of electrolyte components are dissolved in order to impart electrical conductivity to the rinse liquid, specifically carbonated water and dilute ammonia water.

The drying fluid is used to prevent the pattern from collapsing due to surface tension when the substrate W is dried. The drying fluid can be supplied in mist (liquid) or vapor form. An example of the drying fluid is an organic solvent such as IPA (isopropyl alcohol), which has a lower surface tension and higher volatility than the rinse liquid. By performing drying after replacing the rinsing liquid, such as DIW, in the recessed portions of the pattern with IPA, it is possible to prevent or at least greatly suppress collapse of the pattern.

The drying fluid may be a mixture of the above organic solvent and a hydrophobizing agent. Hydrophobizing agents include silylating agents or silane coupling agents, specifically trimethoxyphenylsilane, tetraethoxysilane, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, TMSDMA (trimethylsilyldimethylamine), DMSDMA (dimethyl silyldimethylamine), TMSDEA (trimethylsilyldiethylamine), TMADMA (tetramethylaminedimethylamine), HMDS (hexamethylzinlazane), TMDS (1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisilazane) and the like can be used. By hydrophobizing the surface of the recessed portion of the pattern with the hydrophobizing agent, the force for collapsing the pattern due to the surface tension is reduced, so that collapsing of the pattern can be further suppressed. Such a technique of surface modification (hydrophobization) and drying is also called SMD (Surface Molecular Dry).

As schematically shown in FIG. 4, the processing fluid nozzle 30 is a rod-shaped nozzle extending along the direction of arrangement (horizontal direction) of the substrates W directly above or substantially above the row of substrates W held by the rotor 18. can be A rod-shaped nozzle can be constructed, for example, by forming a plurality of discharge ports 35 in a hollow cylindrical body 34 having a horizontally extending fluid passage therein. Such a rod-shaped nozzle may have the same number of discharge ports 35 as the number of substrates W held by the rotor 18, preferably one more than that.

The processing fluid nozzle 30 is preferably provided directly above or almost directly above the row of substrates W held by the rotor 18 as described above, however, the processing fluid nozzle 30 is preferably provided above the liquid level of the processing liquid (chemical liquid) in the processing chamber 11C. position.

As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge ports 35 can be provided at the same pitch as the second equal pitch P2 (X-direction interval) that is the arrangement pitch of the substrates W held by the rotor 18 . The ejection port 35 can be provided at a position facing the space between the adjacent substrates W held by the rotor 18 (excluding the ejection ports at both ends). It is preferable that the processing fluid is discharged from each discharge port 35 under the same conditions (discharge flow rate, discharge angle). Each outlet 35 may be formed such that the processing fluid is discharged therefrom in a fan-shaped or cone-shaped (that is, diverging) manner. As a result, the processing fluid can be evenly supplied to the surface of the substrate W that is held and rotated by the rotor 18 .

In this specification, unless otherwise specified, the term "surface of the substrate W" means the front surface on which devices are formed and the back surface on which no devices are formed. It is a word that means both (back surface).

A processing fluid is supplied to each processing fluid nozzle 30 via a processing fluid supply mechanism. The process fluid supply mechanism includes a process fluid supply such as a tank, factory supply, etc., a supply line for supplying process fluid from the process fluid supply to the process fluid nozzles 30, and a supply line, as is well known in the art. It can be composed of a flow meter provided in the line, a flow control device such as an on-off valve and a flow control valve, and auxiliary devices such as a filter and a heater. In this embodiment, since the processing container 11 moves in the X direction, at least a part of the supply line may be made of a flexible tube so as to follow this movement.

In the illustrated embodiment, the processing fluid supply mechanism includes a rinse liquid supply mechanism 31S that supplies the rinse liquid to the rinse nozzle 31, a drying fluid supply mechanism 32S that supplies the drying fluid to the drying fluid nozzle 32, and a gas nozzle. A gas supply mechanism 33S for supplying gas (inert gas or low oxygen gas) to 33 is provided.

Since the rinse liquid can also be used to clean the processing chamber 11C, the rinse nozzle 31 is applied not only to the substrates W held by the rotor 18, but also to the inner wall surface of the processing chamber 11 facing the processing chamber 11C, the rotor 18, and so on. (Discs 181A and 181B to be described later) and the surface of the rotating shaft 21 are also preferably configured so that the rinse liquid can be discharged. However, the rinsing liquid scattering from the rotating rotor 18 (or the substrate W held by the rotor 18) should hit the discs 181A and 181B of the rotor 18, the surfaces of the rotating shaft 21 and the second rotating shaft 22, and the like. , the rinse nozzle 31 may be provided so as to discharge the rinse liquid only toward the substrates W held by the rotor 18 .

The ceilings of the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 are provided with exhaust ports 141 and 142 for discharging the atmosphere (gas) in the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2, respectively. . An exhaust line 143 is connected to each of the exhaust ports 141 and 142 . The exhaust line 143 is connected to an unillustrated gas-liquid separation device (also called an exhaust box or the like) that separates liquid (mist) contained in the exhaust. The liquid separated by the gas-liquid separator is connected to a drain line (not shown) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant, and the gas is connected to an exhaust duct (not shown) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant.

Since the inside of the exhaust duct is in a decompressed atmosphere, the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 are sucked (decompressed). The exhaust line 143 may be provided with a suction device such as an ejector or a vacuum pump for promoting the exhaust. In order to adjust the suction force acting on the first sub chamber 11S1 and the second sub chamber 11S2, the exhaust line 143 may be provided with a flow control valve such as a butterfly valve.

Ventilation paths (gas communication paths) 127 and 128 are provided above the first ring-shaped projection 111 and the third ring-shaped projection 113 . The height position of the ventilation passages (gas communication passages) 127 and 128 may be above the set liquid level of the processing liquid. Since the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 are sucked as described above, the atmosphere in the processing chamber 11C is transferred to the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 through the air passages 127 and 128. flows and is exhausted via vents 141 , 142 and exhaust line 143 . Therefore, the pressure inside the processing chamber 11C is slightly higher than the pressures inside the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2.

The cross-sectional shape of the air passages 127 and 128 may be a mountain shape with a high central portion so that the liquid does not stay in the air passages 127 and 128 .

Cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 for supplying cleaning liquid for cleaning the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 are provided in portions of the ceiling of the processing container 11 corresponding to the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2. is provided. A cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 from a cleaning liquid supply source through a supply line in which a flow control device or the like is interposed. A rinse liquid (for example, DIW) as a cleaning liquid may be supplied to the cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 by a rinse liquid supply mechanism 31S that supplies the rinse liquid to the rinse nozzle 31 . The cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 are configured to spray the cleaning liquid so as to clean all wall surfaces facing the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 and the surface of the rotating shaft 21. is preferred.

In order to control the temperature of the processing liquid in the processing chamber 11C of the processing container 11, a heater 129 is provided in a portion corresponding to the processing chamber 11C of the processing container 11, particularly the bottom thereof. The heater 129 may be embedded in the wall of the processing container 11 or attached to the outer surface of the processing container 11 .

[Rotor structure]
2 and 3, the structure of the rotor 18, shown schematically in FIG. 1, will now be described in detail.

The rotor 18 includes a pair of disks 181A (first side of the rotor 18) and 181B (second side of the rotor 18) and one or more (for example, 3 to 4) horizontally extending between the disks 181A and 181B. ) and a pair of movable holding bars 183 . A rotating shaft 21 is fixed to the disk 181A. Each of the fixed holding bar 182 and the movable holding bar 183 is provided with substrate holding grooves (details not shown) arranged in the horizontal direction at equal intervals at the same arrangement pitch as the second equal pitch P2 described above. A peripheral portion of the substrate W held by the rotor 18 is accommodated in each substrate holding groove.

The movable holding rod 183 is attached to a rotating shaft 185 rotatably provided on the discs 181A and 181B via a turning arm 184, and has a holding position for holding the substrate W and a release position for releasing the substrate W. It is possible to turn between

A weight 186 fixed to a rotating shaft 185 is provided on the outer surface side of the disk 181B. The weight 186 is arranged so that the movable holding bar 183 is pressed against the substrate W by centrifugal force acting on the assembly consisting of the movable holding bar 183, the swivel arm 184, the rotating shaft 185 and the weight 186 when the rotor 18 is rotating. is provided to However, a fixed stopper 187 that limits the displacement of the movable holding rod 183 is provided on the disk 181B in order to prevent the substrate W from being damaged when the rotor 18 rotates at a high speed where a large centrifugal force is generated.

A spring stopper 188 made of a leaf spring is attached to the outer surface of the disk 181B to maintain the movable holding rod 183 in the holding position. An end of the rotating shaft 185 or a surface of the weight 186 corresponding to the end of the shaft is formed with a groove 189 for operation such as that formed in the head of a slotted screw, for example.

The liquid processing unit 10 has an operating mechanism 19 . The operating mechanism 19 has a pressing mechanism 191 having a push rod that presses the spring stopper 188, and a rotating mechanism 192 that rotates the movable holding rod 183 by engaging with the groove 189 and rotating the rotating shaft 185. . An advancing/retreating mechanism 193 for advancing/retreating the pressing mechanism 191 and the rotating mechanism 192 toward the rotor 18 may be provided as necessary. Although two sets of the pressing mechanism 191 and the rotating mechanism 192 are actually provided, only one set is shown in FIG.

By pressing the spring stopper 188 toward the disk 181B with the push rod of the pressing mechanism 191, the weight 186 can turn without being hindered by the spring stopper 188. In this state, by engaging the tip 192b of the rotating shaft 192a of the rotating mechanism 192 with the groove 189 and rotating the rotating shaft 185, the movable holding rod 183 can be moved between the holding position and the releasing position described above. can. The tip 192b has a shape like a screwdriver bit for slotted screws, for example.

By withdrawing the push rod of the pressing mechanism 191 while the movable holding rod 183 is positioned at the holding position, the spring stopper 188 returns to its initial position and prevents the weight 186 from moving. Thereby, the movable holding bar 183 is maintained at the holding position.

When the posture of the rotor 18 is variable by a posture changing mechanism 80, which will be described later, the operation mechanism 19 operates when the rotor 18 is in an upright posture (see FIGS. 6A and 6B). and the rotating shaft 185 can be placed in an operable position (eg directly above the rotor 18). Needless to say, the rotor 18 can be stopped at a specific rotational angular position suitable for operation by the operating mechanism 19 by means of the angular position control function of the motor 24 .

When the posture of the rotor 18 is not variable, that is, when the rotation axis Ax of the rotor 18 is always oriented in the X direction (horizontal direction), the operation mechanism 19 is moved to the second position as schematically shown in FIG. It may be built in the 2-occlusion structure 15B. Furthermore, the motor 24 may also be built into the second closing structure 15B. In this case, although not shown in FIG. 5, the periphery of the push rod of the pressing mechanism 191 and the periphery of the rotating shaft 192a of the rotating mechanism 192 are arranged so that the driving parts of the pressing mechanism 191 and the rotating mechanism 192 are not adversely affected by the treatment liquid. is provided with a suitable sealing structure. Similarly, although not shown in FIG. 5, a suitable seal structure, such as a labyrinth seal structure, is also provided around the rotating shaft 21 of the rotor 18 to prevent the treatment liquid from entering the motor 24 . In this case, a passage may be provided in the second closing structure 15B to guide a small amount of liquid that has passed through the seal structure to flow down to the second sub-chamber 11S2. When this configuration is adopted, the through hole 151H provided in the first plate 151 of the first closing structure 15A is used simply to allow the processing liquid to overflow from the processing chamber 11C to the first sub chamber 11S1.

The structure of the rotor 18 used in this embodiment (especially the structure of the portion related to the operation of the movable holding bar 183) itself is based on the prior application of the present applicant (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-13194). et al.), and reference is made to these publications for further details.

Next, transfer of substrates to the rotor 18 will be described.

Here, the assembly of the rotor 18, the first closing structure 15A, the rotating shaft 21, the motor 24, and the fixing member 154 described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, it is rotatable about a rotation axis AR extending in the Y direction (perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 6) by a posture changing mechanism 80. FIG. In the case of the configuration of FIG. 6, when the rotation axis AR is viewed from the Y direction, it is at or near the intersection of the first disk 181 of the rotor 18 and the rotation shaft 21 . The posture changing mechanism 80 includes a rotary drive unit, for example, a stepping motor, and an arm (for example, the arm 155).

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, the starting point is a state in which the empty rotor 18 is in an upright posture (a posture in which the rotation axis Ax faces the vertical direction). At this time, the processing container 11 is positioned at the second position, and the movable holding rod 183 of the rotor 18 is positioned at the release position.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 6B, the substrate holder of the substrate transport robot holding a plurality of substrates W (for example, an end effector 3C6 of a second substrate transport robot 3C to be described later) moves in the X direction (horizontal direction). ) into the rotor 18 and insert the peripheral edge of the substrate W into the substrate holding groove of the fixed holding rod 182 of the rotor 18 . The end effector then exits the rotor 18. When the fixed holding bar 182 of the rotor 18 receives a predetermined number of substrates W, the movable holding bar 183 is moved to the holding position by the operating mechanism 19 (not shown in FIG. 6) arranged directly above the rotor 18 . The substrate W is thereby firmly held by the movable holding bar 183 . After the end effector of the substrate transport robot passes the substrate W to the movable holding rod 183 and moves the movable holding rod 183 to the holding position, the end effector may be withdrawn from the rotor 18 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the posture of the rotor 18 holding the substrate W is changed to a horizontal posture (a posture in which the rotation axis Ax faces the horizontal direction (X direction)) by the posture changing mechanism 80. be done.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, the processing container 11 is moved in the X direction from the second position to the first position. A pressurized fluid is then supplied to the seal member 16 to sealingly engage the processing vessel 11 with the first closure structure 15A and the second closure structure 15B. This state is the same as the state shown in FIG. 1, and in this state, it becomes possible to perform liquid processing on the substrate W within the processing chamber 11C.

When the processing of the substrate W in the processing chamber 11C is completed, the supply of the pressurized fluid to the seal member 16 is stopped (or the pressurized fluid is discharged from the seal member 16), and the above procedure is reversed. By doing so, the substrate can be taken out of the rotor 18 and put into the state shown in FIG. 6(A).

The pressurized fluid may be supplied to the sealing member 16 when the processing container 11 is at the second position (in the states shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C). By doing so, the members facing the first space 11S3, the second space 11S4, and the third space 11S5 (the inner peripheral surface of the processing container 11 and the surfaces of the first to fourth ring-shaped projections 111 to 114) are It is also possible to wash.

Next, liquid processing of the substrate performed by the liquid processing unit 10 will be described.

The following procedures executed by the liquid processing unit 10 are executed by controlling the operations of various components of the liquid processing unit 10 by a controller (control section) 100 (see FIGS. 1 and 9). The controller 100 has an arithmetic processing unit 101 and a storage unit 102 . The storage unit 102 stores programs for controlling various processes executed in the liquid processing unit 10 . The arithmetic processing unit 101 controls the operation of the liquid processing unit 10 by reading out and executing a program stored in the storage unit 102 . The program may be recorded in a computer-readable storage medium and installed in the storage unit 102 of the controller 100 from the storage medium. Examples of computer-readable storage media include hard disks (HD), flexible disks (FD), compact disks (CD), magnet optical disks (MO), and memory cards. Note that the controller 100 may be a host controller that controls not only the operation of the liquid processing unit 10 but also the overall operation of the substrate processing system 1 (details will be described later) in which the liquid processing unit 10 is incorporated.

[Substrate loading process]
As described above with reference to FIG. 6, the substrate W is loaded into the rotor 18 and then brought into the state shown in FIG. 6(D) and FIG.

[Chemical liquid treatment process]
Next, nitrogen gas (inert gas) is supplied from the processing fluid nozzle 30 (gas nozzle 33) into the processing chamber 11C. The atmosphere in the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 is sucked through the exhaust line 143, and the pressure in the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 is reduced. Atmosphere) flows out to the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 via the air passages 127 and 128 . Therefore, the atmosphere in the processing chamber 11C is replaced with a nitrogen gas atmosphere (non-oxidizing atmosphere). It is preferable that the flow rate of the nitrogen gas supplied from the processing fluid nozzle 30 and the exhaust flow rate through the exhaust line 143 are adjusted so that the pressure in the processing chamber 11C becomes slightly positive.

It is preferable that the inside of the processing chamber 11C is kept in a nitrogen gas atmosphere continuously until the drying process is finished. However, in order to reduce running costs, for example, an air atmosphere may be used during the rinsing process.

Next, the rotor 18 is rotated at a relatively low speed (eg, about 10-200 rpm). At this point, the chemical is circulating through the tank 51, the upstream circulation line 52, the bypass line 57, and the downstream circulation line 53 (bypassing the processing chamber 11C) while being temperature-controlled. That is, the above-described "standby circulation" is performed here.

Next, by closing the on-off valve V1 of the bypass line 57 and opening the on-off valves V2 and V3 provided in the upstream circulation line 52 and the downstream circulation line 53, the chemical does not pass through the bypass line 57 and is The nozzle 28 is supplied to the processing chamber 11C.

When the liquid level of the chemical liquid in the processing chamber 11C exceeds a predetermined liquid level, the chemical liquid in the processing chamber 11C flows through the communication path (for example, the through hole 151H provided in the first plate) to the first plate. It flows out (overflows) into the first sub-chamber 11S1. The chemical liquid that has flowed out to the first sub chamber 11S1 is discharged to the downstream circulation line 53 through the circulation drain port 131, returned to the tank 51, passes through the upstream circulation line 52 again, and is discharged from the chemical liquid nozzle 28 to the processing chamber. 11C. By appropriately adjusting the flow rate of the chemical liquid supplied from the chemical liquid nozzle 28 into the processing chamber 11C, the liquid level of the chemical liquid in the processing chamber 11C can be set to a desired liquid level (hereinafter also referred to as "liquid level during chemical liquid processing"). While being maintained, the chemical liquid circulates. That is, the above-described "normal circulation" is performed here. The chemical solution in the processing chamber 11C also flows out (leaks) to the second sub-chamber 11S2 through the sealing member 16, but this chemical solution also flows out to the downstream circulation line 53 through the circulation drainage port 132, and flows into the circulation path. circulate inside. During normal circulation, in order to prevent the temperature of the chemical in the processing chamber 11C from dropping, the wall of the processing container 11 facing the processing chamber 11C is heated by the heater 129 to a temperature approximately equal to the set temperature of the chemical, for example. is heated to

The liquid level at the time of chemical liquid processing can be, for example, a liquid level at which the lower half region of each substrate W is immersed in the chemical liquid stored in the processing chamber 11C. Since the substrates W are rotated by the rotor 18, the portions of the surfaces of the substrates W above the liquid surface of the chemical solution do not dry. Since the chemical liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate W above the liquid surface of the chemical liquid flows downward on the surface of the substrate due to gravity, depending on the viscosity of the chemical liquid and the wettability of the chemical liquid to the surface of the substrate W, the lower side 1 of the substrate W may be In some cases, it is sufficient if an area of about /3 is immersed in the chemical solution.

Submerging only a portion of each substrate W in the chemical solution reduces the rotational drive load of the rotor 18 and relatively increases the relative speed between the surface of the substrate W and the chemical solution, compared to the case where the entire substrate W is immersed. It is preferable to realize However, the liquid level during chemical liquid processing may be set to a liquid level such that the whole of each substrate W is immersed in the chemical liquid stored in the processing chamber 11C. Since the chemical in the processing chamber 11C is agitated by the rotating rotor 18 and the substrate W regardless of the liquid level during the chemical processing, the composition of the chemical in the processing chamber 11C is made uniform, and the surface of the substrate W being processed is improved. Intra-uniformity and inter-plane uniformity are improved.

The distance between the substrate W closest to the disk 181A among the plurality of substrates W held by the rotor 18 and the disk 181A is preferably equal to or substantially equal to the distance between the adjacent substrates W. It is also preferable that the distance between the disk 181B and the substrate W closest to it is equal or approximately equal to the distance between the adjacent substrates W. By doing so, the flow conditions of the chemical near the surfaces of the substrates at both ends become substantially the same as those of the other substrates, thereby improving the inter-surface uniformity of the substrate W processing.

In the chemical solution processing step, since the space above the liquid surface of the processing chamber 11C is a nitrogen gas atmosphere, oxygen in the processing chamber 11C dissolves in the chemical solution, which adversely affects the processing result and deteriorates the chemical solution due to oxidation. can be suppressed. Further, when only part of the substrate W is immersed in the chemical solution, it is possible to prevent the upper half of the substrate W from being oxidized.

For example, if the chemical treatment is a treatment of etching Poly-Si with TMAH, the substrate is held by a non-rotating substrate holding unit, and the atmosphere in the processing tank is an air atmosphere, oxygen in the air is removed by TMAH. The oxygen concentration in TMAH near the liquid surface increases, and the in-plane uniformity of etching may be impaired. Such a problem does not occur in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the processing chamber 11C is closed and generally sealed. Nitrogen gas is supplied into the processing chamber 11C, and the atmosphere in the processing chamber 11C is sucked through the air passages 127 and 128. The nitrogen gas supply flow rate and the suction flow rate of the processing chamber 11C are It is a small amount necessary to maintain the nitrogen gas atmosphere in the processing chamber 11C. Therefore, since the water vapor evaporated from the surface of the chemical in the processing chamber 11C cannot freely go out of the processing chamber 11C, the change in the concentration of the chemical circulating in the chemical circulation system is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress variations in etching rate (or reaction rate). This effect is remarkable when compared with a batch-type liquid processing unit that uses a processing chamber (processing tank) that is open to the atmosphere.

After the predetermined chemical solution processing time has passed, the processing chamber 11C shifts to a state in which there is substantially no chemical solution. Specifically, for example, the on-off valve V1 of the bypass line 57 is opened, the on-off valves V2 and V3 provided in the upstream circulation line 52 and the downstream circulation line 53 are closed, and the on-off valve V4 of the drain line 136 is opened. As a result, the supply of the chemical solution from the chemical solution nozzle 28 into the processing chamber 11C is stopped, and the chemical solution remaining in the processing chamber 11C, the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 is discharged. At this time, the "normal circulation" is changed to the "standby circulation".

When it is desired to reuse the chemical liquid remaining in the processing chamber 11C, the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2, a recovery line (not shown) is branched from the drainage line 136, and this recovery is performed. A configuration may be adopted in which the chemical solution can be returned to, for example, the tank 51 of the chemical solution circulation mechanism 50 via a line.

After almost all of the chemical solution is discharged from the processing chamber 11C, or after the liquid level of the chemical solution in the processing chamber 11C becomes lower than the bottom of the rotor 18, the rotor 18 is rotated at a medium speed of, for example, 500 rpm or less. By rotating the substrate W, the chemical solution adhering to the substrate W is shaken off and removed. This shaking off of the chemical solution may be omitted.

[Rinse process]
Next, while the rotor 18 is rotated at a relatively low speed of, for example, about 10 to 200 rpm, a rinse liquid (for example, DIW) is discharged from the processing fluid nozzle 30 (rinse nozzle 31) provided in the processing chamber 11C. Also, the rinse liquid as the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 of the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2. The rinse liquid may be at room temperature or may be heated.

As a result, the chemical liquid remaining on the surface of the substrate W is washed away by the rinsing liquid. Also, the surfaces of the components of the liquid processing unit 10 (processing container 11, rotor 18, rotary shaft 21, etc.) facing the inner space of the processing chamber 11C are also exposed to the rinse liquid discharged from the rinse nozzle 31 and the rotor 18. and washed away by the rinsing liquid splashed from the substrate W. The surfaces of the component parts of the liquid processing unit 10 facing the internal spaces of the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 are also washed away by the rinse liquid. The rinsing liquid (cleaning liquid) in the processing chamber 11C, the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 is discharged through the drain line 136 with the on-off valve V4 opened.

Next, the supply of the rinse liquid from the rinse nozzle 31 and the cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 is stopped, and the rotor 18 is rotated at a medium speed of, for example, 500 rpm or less. Shake off and remove to some extent (do not remove the rinse completely so as not to dry). While the rinse liquid adhering to the substrate W is being shaken off, the cleaning liquid (rinse liquid) may be continuously discharged from the cleaning liquid nozzles 37 and 38 . The shaking off may be omitted and the next step may be performed.

[Drying step (first step: pre-drying treatment)]
Next, the rotation speed of the rotor 18 is set to a medium speed of, for example, about 10 to 200 rpm, and any one of the following drying fluids is discharged from the drying fluid nozzles 32 .
(1) IPA mist or IPA vapor (2) Mixed fluid of IPA mist and SMD mist or SMD vapor The rinse solution (DIW) in is replaced with IPA. In the case of (2) above, the surface of the substrate W, particularly the surface of the concave portions of the pattern, is further hydrophobized.
Instead of (2) above, SMD mist or SMD vapor may be supplied after supplying IPA mist or IPA vapor.

[Drying step (second step: main drying treatment)]
Next, while the supply of nitrogen gas from the processing fluid nozzle 30 (gas nozzle 33) is continued, the discharge of the drying fluid from the drying fluid nozzle 32 is stopped in the main drying process. or (B) spin drying.

(A) When vacuum drying is performed, the pressure in the processing chamber 11C is reduced to about −20 kPa in gauge pressure, for example, by adjusting (for example, increasing) the exhaust flow rate through the exhaust line 143 . When the exhaust line 143 is provided with a suction device such as an ejector or a vacuum pump, the exhaust flow rate may be adjusted by adjusting the suction force of the suction device. In addition, if the exhaust line 143 is provided with a valve having a flow rate adjusting function such as a butterfly valve, the degree of opening of the valve may be adjusted. By continuing the reduced pressure state in the processing chamber 11C for about 5 minutes, the IPA evaporates and the entire surface of the substrate W including the recesses of the pattern is dried. (A) When drying under reduced pressure, the number of rotations of the rotor 18 may be maintained at the same as during the pre-drying treatment, or may be stopped.

(B) When rotary drying is performed, the rotation speed of the rotor 18 is increased to a relatively high rotation speed of, for example, about 100 to 1000 rpm (specifically, about 800 rpm). By continuing this state for about 5 minutes, the IPA on the substrate W is shaken off and evaporated, and the entire surface of the substrate W including the recesses of the pattern is dried. (B) The rotary drying may be performed while the pressure inside the processing chamber 11C is reduced to about −20 kPa in gauge pressure. That is, (A) vacuum drying and (B) rotary drying may be performed simultaneously.

Thus, the processing of one batch (for example, 25 substrates) of substrates is completed.

[Substrate unloading process]
Next, the supply of nitrogen gas from the gas nozzle 33 is stopped. Next, the substrate W is taken out from the rotor 18 by the reverse procedure from (D) to (A) in FIG. The removed substrates W are accommodated in the original substrate transfer container C, for example.

Examples of the chemical liquid processing and processing conditions performed by the liquid processing unit 10 are shown below.

<Example 1>
Purpose of chemical treatment: Poly-Si etching of channels Chemicals: Alkaline chemicals such as TMAH, TM-Y (trimethyl-2-hydroxyethyl ammonium hydroxide), SC1, etc. Chemicals temperature: 60-80°C
Processing time: ~60min

<Example 2>
Purpose of chemical treatment: W etching of W/TiN or Mo etching of Mo/TiN (metal etching)
Chemical solution: PAN (phosphoric acid + acetic acid + nitric acid)
Chemical liquid temperature: 20 to 80°C
Processing time: ~90min
(Remarks: Only organic acids (acetic acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, etc.) can be used as chemicals.)

<Example 3>
Purpose of chemical treatment: SiN etching (dummy word removal)
Chemical solution: phosphoric acid Chemical solution temperature: 150 to 165°C
Processing time: ~300min

Next, a modified embodiment of the liquid processing unit will be described.

[First modified embodiment]
In the above embodiment, the processing vessel 11 moves in the X direction, and the rotor 18, the motor 24, the assembly AS of the first closing structure 15A and the second closing structure 15B do not move in the X direction. It is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the processing container 11 may be fixed (not moved in the X direction), and the assembly AS and the second closing structure 15B may be moved in the X direction. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the rotor 18 is accommodated in the processing container 11 and the substrate can be subjected to liquid processing. In FIG. 7A, the positional relationship between the rotor 18 and the processing container 11 is the first positional relationship described above. 7B shows a state in which the rotor 18 is positioned outside the processing container 11 and the second closing structure 15B is positioned inside the processing container 11. FIG. In FIG. 7B, the positional relationship between the rotor 18 and the processing container 11 is the second positional relationship described above. In the state shown in FIG. 7B, the substrate can be transferred between the substrate transfer robot and the rotor 18. FIG. Also, the posture of the rotor 18 can be changed by a posture changing mechanism not shown in FIG. If the processing container 11 is movable, for example, the supply line must be constructed so as to allow the movement of the processing container 11 (e.g., use of a flexible tube). There is no need to adopt such a configuration.

[Second modified embodiment]
Although both ends of the processing container 11 are open in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown schematically in FIG. 8, only the first end of the processing vessel 11 may be open and the second end closed. In this second modified embodiment, the structure of the processing container 11 on the first end side is the same as that shown in FIG. Object 15B is not provided. In this second modified embodiment, the processing container 11 may be movable in the X direction, or the assembly AS including the rotor 18, rotating shaft 21, motor 24, first closing structure 15A, etc. may be movable in the X direction. do not have. A double wall consisting of a first wall 117 and a second wall 118 may be provided at the second end of the processing vessel 11, and the space between the two walls 117 and 118 may be used as the second sub-chamber 11S2'. The bottom of the second sub-chamber 11S2' can be provided with a circulation drain port and a waste drain port. If a through hole (liquid communication passage) is provided in the first wall 117, the chemical solution in the processing chamber 11C can overflow not only the first sub-chamber 11S1 but also the second sub-chamber 11S2'.

[Processing liquid supply mechanism capable of supplying multiple chemicals]
In the above embodiment, one type of chemical liquid is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and liquid processing may be performed using two or more types of chemical liquids. In this case, the first rinsing step is performed after the first chemical treatment step, and then the second chemical treatment step and the second rinsing step are performed (without transitioning to the drying step), and then the second rinse step is performed. It is sufficient to shift to the drying process immediately.

A liquid processing unit 10 capable of performing liquid processing using two types of chemical solutions, an acidic chemical solution and an alkaline chemical solution, will be described below with reference to FIG. Differences between the configuration shown in FIG. 9 and the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described below.

Two circulation mechanisms, an acidic chemical circulation mechanism 50A and an alkaline chemical circulation mechanism 50B, are provided. By appropriately switching the on-off valves provided in these circulation mechanisms 50A and 50B, the chemical liquid in one of the circulation mechanisms 50A and 50B flows through the chemical liquid nozzle 28, the processing chamber 11C, the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2. (corresponding to the above-mentioned "normal circulation"), and the other chemical liquid of the circulation mechanisms 50A and 50B circulates through the bypass line (57A or 57B) (corresponding to the above-mentioned "standby circulation"). be able to. Members with "A" after the number "50+N" (N is a single digit natural number) are members related to the acidic chemical liquid circulation mechanism 50A, and members with "B" are the alkaline chemical liquid circulation mechanism 50B. It is a member related to A member with a 50-series reference number (eg, 51A) with a suffix (A, B) is labeled with a 50-series reference number (eg, 51A) without the alphabet (A, B) in FIG. It is a member that plays the same role as the member that is attached.

The drainage line 136 can be selectively connected to the drainage pipeline of the semiconductor manufacturing plant, the downstream circulation line 53A of the acidic chemical circulation mechanism 50A, and the downstream circulation line 53B of the alkaline chemical circulation mechanism 50B. It has become. For this purpose, on-off valves are provided in the drainage line 136 and the downstream circulation lines 53A and 53B.

Specifically, the downstream end of the drain line 136 can be selectively connected to either the acid drain line or the alkaline drain line of the semiconductor manufacturing plant via a drain box. It's like On the upstream side of the drain box, a drain line 136 is connected to the downstream circulation line 53A of the acidic chemical circulation mechanism 50A and the downstream circulation line 53B of the alkaline chemical circulation mechanism 50B. The drain line 136 and the downstream circulation lines 53A and 53B are provided with on-off valves. and downstream circulation line 53B.

Recovery lines 53A1 and 53B1 branch off from the downstream circulation line 53A and the downstream circulation line 53B, respectively, and an acid recovery tank 53A2 and an alkali recovery tank 53B2 are interposed in the recovery lines 53A1 and 53B1. The recovery line 53A1 (53B1) does not discard the chemical liquid discharged from the first sub-chamber 11S1 and the second sub-chamber 11S2 when the chemical liquid is not circulating in the acidic chemical liquid circulation mechanism 50A (alkaline chemical liquid circulation mechanism 50B). It can be used for temporary storage in the acid recovery tank 53A2 (alkali recovery tank 53B2). The chemical stored in the acid recovery tank 53A2 (alkali recovery tank 53B2) can be returned to the tank 51A (51B) of the acid chemical circulation mechanism 50A (alkaline chemical circulation mechanism 50B) at an appropriate timing.

An exhaust box 144 is interposed in the exhaust line 143 to separate moisture (mist, etc.) contained in the exhaust from the exhaust (gas). On the downstream side of the exhaust box 144, the exhaust line 143 includes a line for acid exhaust (which is connected to the acid exhaust duct (Ac-EXH) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant), a line for alkali exhaust (which is used for semiconductor manufacturing). It is branched into a line for alkaline exhaust (Al-EXH) in the factory and a line for organic exhaust (which is connected to the organic exhaust duct (Or-EXH) in the semiconductor manufacturing plant). A drainage line 145 branching from the exhaust line 143 at the exhaust box 144 is a line for acid drainage (which is connected to an acid drainage pipe (Ac-DR) in a semiconductor manufacturing plant), an alkaline drainage. (This is connected to the alkaline drainage line (Al-DR) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant) and the organic drainage line (This is connected to the organic drainage line (Or-DR) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant. connected) line. By appropriately switching the on-off valves interposed in each of the lines, the exhaust gas and the waste liquid are discharged to a discharge destination according to the type of the exhaust gas and the waste liquid.

Unlike the processing container 11 shown in FIG. 1, the bottom of the processing container 11 shown in FIG. Instead, the drain line 136 connected to the waste liquid drain ports 133 and 134 can be communicated with the downstream circulation lines 53A and 53B as required. Various components provided in the upper part of the processing container 11 shown in FIG. 9 are the same as those provided in the upper part of the processing container 11 shown in FIG.

According to the embodiment of the liquid processing unit 10 described above, a plurality of substrates are horizontally arranged in a vertical posture, held by the rotor, and processed while being rotated around the horizontal axis. can be increased, and therefore the in-plane uniformity of the processing result can be increased. In addition, since the processing liquid is stirred by rotating the substrate, the state of the processing liquid can be made uniform at each location in the processing chamber. Further, by rotating the substrate, the processing liquid that has reacted with the substrate surface is immediately replaced, so that the in-plane uniformity of the processing of each substrate can be improved. In addition, since the substitutability of the processing liquid in the recesses of the pattern formed on the substrate surface is also improved, uniform etching can be performed even between the top and bottom of the pattern. Further, by rotating the substrate, the relative speed between the substrate surface and the processing liquid can be made uniform among the substrates. In this way, various measures (e.g., increasing the discharge flow rate from the processing liquid nozzle, discharging nitrogen gas, etc.) have been proposed to improve the uniformity of the processing within and between the surfaces of the conventional batch-type liquid processing apparatus that does not rotate the substrate. (due to the buoyant force acting on the bubbles)).

Further, according to the embodiment of the liquid processing unit 10 described above, the processing chamber is closed and generally sealed, so that the substrate surface is not exposed to the outside air, and the processing from the chemical liquid processing to the drying processing can be continuously performed. can be done. For example, by setting the processing chamber to an inert gas atmosphere, processing under an atmosphere oxygen concentration is not preferable (for example, a metal wiring material that oxidizes relatively easily, or a low oxygen concentration atmosphere such as SxP is required. processing of substrates with exposed chalcogenide) can be carried out without problems. Deterioration of the chemical solution due to oxygen can be suppressed by setting the processing chamber to, for example, an inert gas atmosphere. In addition, since the processing chamber is closed and generally airtight, it is possible to suppress changes in the chemical solution concentration due to evaporation of water in the chemical solution.

Next, the overall configuration of the substrate processing system 1 including the liquid processing unit 10 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 14. FIG. In the following, for convenience of explanation, an X'Y'Z' orthogonal coordinate system is set for the entire substrate processing system, and the explanation will be made with appropriate reference to this orthogonal coordinate system. The X' and Y' directions are horizontal directions orthogonal to each other, and the Z' direction is a vertical direction.

A substrate processing system 1 has a carrier block 2 and a processing block 3 .

The carrier block 2 is provided with a load port 2A and a first transfer space 2B. The load port 2A is provided with a plurality of container mounting bases 2A1 (container mounting portions) arranged along the Y' direction. A substrate transfer container C such as a FOUP (hereinafter simply referred to as "container C") can be placed one by one on each container mounting table 2A1. A plurality of, for example, 25 substrates W are accommodated in the container C in a horizontal posture at equal intervals (first equal pitch P1) in the vertical direction (Z' direction).

The load port 2A and the first transfer space 2B are partitioned by a partition having an openable opening. A first substrate transfer robot (first substrate transfer device) 2C is provided in the first transfer space 2B. The first substrate transport robot 2C can be configured as a multi-axis (having X, Y, Z, θ axes, etc.) transport robot or a multi-joint robot.

The processing block 3 includes an unprocessed substrate transfer unit (substrate transfer section) 3A, a processed substrate transfer unit (substrate transfer section) 3B, and a second substrate transfer robot (second substrate transfer device) 3C. , and a plurality of liquid processing units 10 are provided. Each liquid processing unit 10 has the configuration described above (for example, the configuration shown in FIG. 1). The construction of the delivery units 3A, 3B is substantially the same. The transfer units 3A and 3B serve as relay units that mediate transfer of the substrate W between the first substrate transfer robot 2C and the second substrate transfer robot 3C.

The first substrate transport robot 2C can transport the substrate W between the container C placed on any container table 2A1 of the load port 2A and the delivery units 3A and 3B. The first substrate transport robot 2C has an end effector (which has 25 forks, for example) capable of holding a plurality of substrates W, for example, 25 at a time. The first substrate transport robot 2C can collectively take out a plurality of, for example, 25 substrates W from the container C placed on the container mounting table 2A1 and collectively transfer them to the substrate holding structure 3A1 of the transfer unit 3A. . Further, the first substrate transport robot 2C can collectively take out a plurality of, for example, 25 substrates W from the substrate holding structure 3B1 of the transfer unit 3B, and store them in the container C placed on the container table 2A1. .

Next, the configuration of the delivery unit 3A provided in the processing block 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. The transfer unit 3A has a substrate holding structure 3A1, a moving mechanism 3A2, and a posture changing mechanism 3A3.

The substrate holding structure 3A1 includes a substantially box-shaped frame (frame body) 3A11 with an open front surface, a plurality of substrate support members 3A12 attached to the frame 3A11, and a pitch change mechanism 3A13 for changing the interval between the substrate support members 3A12. and The substrate support member 3A12 is formed, for example, so as to support the peripheral portion of the back surface of the substrate W from below.

The moving mechanism 3A2 can move the substrate holding structure 3A1 in the X direction between a first position (shown on the left side of FIG. 16) and a second position (shown on the right side of FIG. 16). The first position of the substrate holding structure 3A1 is a position suitable for transferring the substrate W between the substrate holding structure 3A1 and the first substrate transport robot 2C. The second position of the substrate holding structure 3A1 is a position suitable for transferring the substrate W between the substrate holding structure 3A1 and the second substrate transport robot 3C. The moving mechanism 3A2 can be composed of, for example, a guide rail 3A21 extending in the X direction and a traveling body 3A22 traveling along the guide rail.

The transfer of the substrate W between the substrate holding structure 3A1 and the first substrate transport robot 2C and the transfer of the substrate W between the substrate holding structure 3A1 and the second substrate transport robot 3C are performed at the same position (that is, the substrate The moving mechanism 3A2 can be omitted if it can be performed without any trouble (without moving the holding structure 3A1). As will be understood from the following description, in this embodiment, the function (horizontal movement range) of the second substrate transfer robot 3C is limited in order to make the second substrate transfer robot 3C compact, so the movement mechanism 3A2 is provided. is preferable.

The pitch change mechanism 3A13 is provided, for example, so as to be interposed between the plurality of substrate support members 3A12 and the frame 3A11. The pitch change mechanism 3A13 can change the arrangement pitch of the plurality of support members 3A12 of the substrate holding structure 3A1 between the first equal pitch P1 and the second equal pitch P2.

Various types of pitch change mechanisms, such as cam, air cylinder, and lazy tongue (multiple parallel pantograph links) types are already known. Here, for example, a cam type can be used. . The pitch change mechanism is commercially available under the names of pitch changer, pitch change mechanism, pitch change unit, etc., and a detailed description of the structure of the pitch change mechanism is omitted. Most of the known pitch change mechanisms are constructed so that the plurality of sliders are always arranged at regular intervals regardless of the pitch size. A slider (not shown) is integrally coupled with the substrate support member 3A12 described above, and by moving the slider, it is possible to change the arrangement pitch of the substrates W supported by the substrate support member 3A12.

The posture changing mechanism 3A3 includes, for example, an electric rotary motor (for example, a stepping motor) 3A31, a driving timing pulley 3A32, a driven timing pulley 3A33, a timing belt 3A34 stretched between the timing pulleys 3A32 and 3A33, and a rotating shaft 3A37. , and struts 3A36. An electric rotary motor 3A31 is attached to the traveling body 3A22 of the moving mechanism 3A2, and a drive timing pulley 3A32 is attached to the rotary shaft of the electric rotary motor 3A31. A rotating shaft 3A37 extends in the Y direction (horizontal direction) from the frame 3A11 of the substrate holding structure 3A1, and the rotating shaft 3A37 is supported by a column 3A36 via bearings or the like. A driven timing pulley 3A33 is provided at the tip of the rotating shaft 3A37. Therefore, by driving the electric rotary motor 3A31, the frame 3A11 of the substrate holding structure 3A1 can be rotated around the horizontal axis extending in the Y direction. Thereby, the posture of the substrate W held by the substrate support member 3A12 can be changed between the horizontal posture and the vertical posture.

The substrate supporting member 3A12 can be provided with means for detachably fixing the supported substrate W to the supporting member, for example, a suction pad 3A15. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the substrate W from falling off the substrate support member 3A12 when the substrate W is in the vertical posture.

Since the configuration of the delivery unit 3B is the same as that of the delivery unit 3A, illustration and description of the structure are omitted. Hereinafter, in this specification, the components of the delivery unit 3B are denoted by changing the reference numerals "A" of the same components of the delivery unit 3A to "B" (for example, "attitude changing mechanism 3A3" → "attitude changing mechanism 3B3").

An example of the configuration of the second substrate transport robot 3C will be described with reference to FIG. The second substrate transport robot 3C has a base 3C1, a turntable 3C2, a guide rail 3C3, an elevator 3C4, an arm 3C5, and an end effector 3C6.

The base 3C1 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the substrate processing system 1. As shown in FIG. The turntable 3C2 is attached to the base 3C1 so as to be rotatable about the vertical axis Ax1. By rotating the turntable 3C2, the longitudinal central axis of the arm 3C5 can be oriented in any direction. The guide rail 3C3 extends vertically at a position offset from the vertical axis Ax1. The lifting body 3C4 is lifted and lowered along the guide rails 3C3 by an elevation driving mechanism (not shown) incorporated in the lifting body 3C4. The arm 3C5 is horizontally moved by an arm driving mechanism (not shown) incorporated in the lifting body 3C4. The longitudinal central axis of the arm 3C5 is perpendicular to the vertical axis Ax1. In other words, the arm 3C5 can move back and forth in a radial direction orthogonal to the vertical axis Ax1 regardless of the rotational angular position of the turntable 3C2.

The end effector 3C6 is provided with a plurality of substrate holders 3C61, for example, 5 or 25 (only 5 are shown in FIG. 17 for simplification of the drawing). The plurality of substrate holders 3C61 hold the plurality of substrates W in a vertical posture at equal intervals (second equal pitch P2) in the horizontal direction. Each substrate holder 3C61 has a suction pad 3C62, and the suction pad 3C62 holds the upper peripheral portion of the substrate W in a state of being vacuum-sucked.

As shown in FIG. 18, the end effector 3C6 of the second substrate transport robot 3C may be configured to hold a plurality of substrates W in a horizontal posture at equal intervals in the vertical direction (second equal pitch P2). .

As shown in FIG. 19, the end effector 3C6 of the second substrate transport robot 3C can take a first posture for holding the substrate W in a horizontal posture and a second posture for holding the substrate W in a vertical posture. It may be. Such a function can be realized, for example, by connecting the arm 3C5 and the end effector 3C6 via the rotation mechanism 3C7.

Although not shown, the end effector 3C6 may be provided with a pitch change mechanism for changing the spacing between the substrate holders 3C61 (that is, the substrate arrangement pitch). In the field of substrate transport robots, an end effector capable of changing the arrangement pitch of substrates is well known, so the description thereof is omitted in this specification.

The configuration of the second substrate transport robot 3C can be determined depending on whether or not the rotor 18 has an attitude change function, whether or not the transfer units 3A and 3B have an attitude change function and a pitch change function, and the like.

In each of the above examples, the function of moving the arm 3C5 of the second substrate transport robot 3C is the function of moving the arm 3C5 vertically so that the arm 3C5 faces the object to be loaded/unloaded (for example, the rotor 18), and the function of moving the arm 3C5 vertically. It is limited to the function of rotating (swinging) around Ax1 and the function of moving the arm 3C5 horizontally with respect to the object to be loaded/unloaded. Therefore, the second substrate transport robot 3C can be formed compactly with a simple structure, and the footprint area can be reduced.

The configuration of the second substrate transport robot 3C is not limited to the one described above, and other configurations may be adopted as long as the desired transport of the substrate W within the processing block 3, which will be described later, can be realized. is also possible. For example, the column may be of a telescopic type, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the arm 3C5 around the vertical axis and a horizontal movement mechanism for advancing and retracting the arm 3C5 with respect to the loading/unloading object (for example, the rotor 18) may be provided at the upper end of the column. good too.

Further, for example, if the second substrate transport robot 3C is of a type that transports the substrate W in a horizontal posture, each substrate holder of the end effector 3C6 is replaced with a vacuum clamp type using a suction pad. , a mechanical clamp type using movable gripping claws or the like.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 to 14 again, the arrangement of the plurality of liquid processing units 10 and various devices within the processing block 3 will be described in detail.

In the processing block 3, in addition to the transfer units 3A and 3B, the second substrate transfer robot 3C and the liquid processing unit 10 described above, various devices for providing utilities are provided.

10 to 14, a rectangular parallelepiped box denoted by reference numeral 201 defines a region surrounded by the box with various processing fluids (chemicals, pure water, IPA, nitrogen, etc.) supplied to the liquid processing unit 10. 1 and 9) are arranged. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the box 201 will be referred to as a "fluid supply box 201".

In FIGS. 10 to 14, a rectangular parallelepiped box denoted by reference numeral 202 is provided within the area surrounded by the box to collect and dispose of various processing fluids discharged from the liquid processing unit 10. It means that equipment (for example, the exhaust line 143, the exhaust box 144, etc. shown in FIG. 9) is arranged. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the box 202 will be referred to as a "fluid discharge box 202".

A rectangular parallelepiped box with a reference numeral 203 allows a device for supplying electric power to the liquid processing unit 10 and a device for controlling the liquid processing unit 10 (for example, FIGS. 9) is arranged. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the box 203 will be referred to as an "electrical/control box 203".

Each box (201, 202, 203) is a virtual box that schematically outlines the area where the equipment is placed, and indicates that the equipment is placed in a single case or housing with a shape corresponding to the box. does not mean In each box (201, 202, 203), equipment may be placed in a single case or housing having a shape corresponding to the box, but exposed piping, wiring, devices, etc., not housed in the case may be placed in the region corresponding to the box.

The processing block 3 has multiple layers with different heights. In the illustrated example, the processing block 3 has a first layer L1 (bottom layer), a second layer L2 (middle layer) and a third layer L3 (top layer). For convenience of explanation, the Z' coordinate of the first layer L1 is defined as 1, the Z' coordinate of the second layer L2 is defined as 2, and the Z' coordinate of the third layer L3 is defined as 3.

Each hierarchy is roughly divided into nine partitions. In the plan view, the X' coordinate of the leftmost section is defined as 1, the X' coordinate of the rightmost section is defined as 3, and the X' coordinate of the middle section is defined as 2. Also, in the plan view, the Y' coordinate of the lowermost section is defined as 1, the Y' coordinate of the uppermost section is defined as 3, and the Y' coordinate of the middle section is defined as 2. In the following description, a partition (N,M) means a partition whose X' coordinate is N and whose Y' coordinate is M.

A fluid discharge box 202 is provided in compartment (1,1) and compartment (3,3) in all of the first floor L1, the second floor L2 and the third floor L3. The fluid discharge boxes 202 are provided continuously in the vertical direction through the first floor L1, the second floor L2 and the third floor L3.

A fluid supply box 201 is provided in the section (1,3) and the section (3,1) in all of the first floor L1, the second floor L2, and the third floor L3. The fluid supply box 201 is provided continuously in the vertical direction through the first floor L1, the second floor L2 and the third floor L3.

In all of the first layer L1, the second layer L2 and the third layer L3, the second substrate transport robot 3C is installed in the section (2, 2), that is, the central section, in the first layer L1, the second layer L2 and the third layer It is provided continuously in the vertical direction through L3.

In each of the second floor L2 and the third floor L3, there is one liquid processing unit 10 in the partition (1,2), the partition (2,1), the partition (2,3), and the partition (3,2). are provided one by one. In addition, one liquid processing unit 10 is provided in each of section (2, 1) and section (2, 3) of the first floor L1. The rotor 18 of each liquid processing unit 10 is provided on the side closer to the second substrate transport robot 3C, and the rotation axis Ax of the rotor 18 faces the second substrate transport robot 3C. The processing container 11 of each liquid processing unit 10 moves toward and away from the second substrate transport robot 3C in plan view. The first position (processing position) of the processing container 11 of each liquid processing unit 10 is on the side closer to the second substrate transport robot 3C, and the second position (retreat position) is on the side farther from the second substrate transport robot 3C.

Delivery units 3A and 3B are arranged in the section (1, 2) of the first layer L1. That is, in the illustrated embodiment, one of the plurality of liquid processing units 10 is arranged above the delivery units 3A and 3B. The delivery units 3A, 3B may be provided on the second level L2 or the third level L3, and one of the plurality of liquid processing units 10 may be arranged below the delivery units 3A, 3B. By arranging one of the liquid processing units 10 so as to overlap in the vertical direction in this way, the space in the processing block 3 can be effectively utilized.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a transfer unit 3A for handling unprocessed substrates W is provided above a transfer unit 3B for handling processed substrates W. As shown in FIG. In each of the transfer units 3A and 3B, the substrate holding structure 3A1 (3B1) moves in the X' direction so as to come into contact with and separate from the second substrate transfer robot 3C. The second position is on the side closer to the second substrate transport robot 3C.

Since the processing block 3 is configured as described above, the second substrate transport robot 3C can transfer substrates W to and from the rotors 18 of all the liquid processing units 10 in the processing block 3. . Furthermore, the second substrate transport robot 3C can transfer the substrate W between the substrate holding structures 3A1 and 3A2 at the second positions of the transfer units 3A and 3B.

Next, the flow of substrates W within the substrate processing system 1 will be described. The operations of various devices described below are controlled by a controller (for example, the controller 100 described above) that controls the operation of the substrate processing system 1 as a whole.

[First example of substrate flow]
First, the case where the orientation of the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 is variable will be described. In this case, the substrate W is transported while maintaining a horizontal posture from being taken out of the container C to being transferred to the rotor 18 . In this case, the posture changing mechanisms 3A3 and 3B3 are omitted from the delivery units 3A and 3B, and a second substrate transport robot 3C (for example, having the configuration shown in FIG. 18) that transports substrates in a horizontal posture is used. be done.

A first substrate transport robot 2C collectively takes out a plurality of, for example, 25 unprocessed substrates W accommodated at a first equal pitch P1 in the substrate transport container C placed on the load port 2A, and transports them to unprocessed substrates. It is transferred to the substrate holding structure 3A1 at the first position of the transfer unit 3A.

The arrangement pitch of the substrates W transferred to the substrate holding structure 3A1 is converted from the first equal pitch P1 to the second equal pitch P2 (for example, P1>P2) by the pitch change mechanism 3A13. After that, the substrate holding structure 3A1 is moved to the second position by the moving mechanism 3A2. The arrangement pitch may be converted during or after the substrate holding structure 3A1 moves from the first position to the second position.

Next, the second substrate transport robot 3C collectively takes out 25 substrates from the substrate holding structure 3A1, and transfers the substrates to the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 designated according to a predetermined processing schedule. For transfer of the substrate between the second substrate transport robot 3C and the rotor 18 and formation of the processing chamber 11C by movement of the processing container 11, see FIG. 6 and its description. Next, the substrate is subjected to a series of treatments (chemical treatment, rinse treatment, drying treatment, etc.) in the liquid treatment unit 10 .

After completion of the processing, the second substrate transport robot 3C collectively takes out the 25 substrates from the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 in the upright posture, and places them at the second position of the processed substrate transfer unit 3B. It is passed to a certain substrate holding structure 3B1. The arrangement pitch of the substrates W transferred to the substrate holding structure 3B1 is converted from the second equal pitch P2 to the first equal pitch P1 by the pitch change mechanism 3B13. Thereafter, the substrate holding structure 3B1 is moved to the first position by the moving mechanism 3B2. The arrangement pitch may be converted during or after the substrate holding structure 3B1 moves from the second position to the first position.

Next, the first substrate transport robot 2C collectively takes out 25 processed substrates W from the substrate holding structure 3B1 at the first position, and stores them in the original substrate transport container C. As shown in FIG.

In the above description, the first substrate transport robot 2C and the second substrate transport robot 3C collectively transport 25 substrates W (the specified number of substrates W to be processed), but the present invention is not limited to this. The substrates W may be transported, for example, five at a time (which is part of the specified number of substrates to be processed and a plurality of substrates). In this case, the transportation time is lengthened, but the structure of the end effector can be simplified.

[Second example of substrate flow]
Next, the flow of substrates W in the substrate processing system when the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 does not have a posture change function, in other words, when the rotor 18 is fixed in a horizontal posture will be described. In this case, the transfer units 3A and 3B are of a type having posture changing mechanisms 3A3 and 3B3 (having the configuration shown in FIGS. 15 and 16), and are of a type that transports substrates in a vertical posture. A second substrate transport robot 3C (for example, having the configuration shown in FIG. 17) is used.

It should be noted that providing the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 with the attitude changing function itself increases the manufacturing cost of the liquid processing unit 10 . In addition, if the rotor 18 is provided with a posture changing function, it is required to align the processing container 11 and the rotor 18 (for example, to seal between them), so that the movable members of each liquid processing unit 10 are required to have higher precision. This also increases the manufacturing cost of the liquid processing unit 10 . Therefore, when the number of liquid processing units 10 included in the substrate processing system 1 is large, the posture changing function of the substrate W can be performed by devices other than the liquid processing units 10 (the transfer units 3A and 3B or the second substrate transport robot 3C). ) is advantageous in terms of cost. When the number of liquid processing units 10 included in the substrate processing system 1 is small, it may be preferable in terms of apparatus cost to provide the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 with a posture changing function.

In this second example as well, the transfer of the substrate W from the substrate transfer container C on the load port 2A to the substrate holding structure 3A1 of the unprocessed substrate transfer unit 3A by the first substrate transfer robot 2C is the same as in the first example. are the same.

As in the first example, in the transfer unit 3A, when the substrate holding structure 3A1 is at the first position, after moving to the second position, or while moving from the first position to the second position, the pitch is changed. The change mechanism 3A13 converts the arrangement pitch of the substrates W to a second equal pitch P2 (for example, P1>P2).

Further, in this second example, the posture changing mechanism 3A3 of the transfer unit 3A moves from the first position to the second position when the substrate holding structure 3A1 is at the first position, after moving to the second position, or from the first position to the second position. On the way, the substrate holding structure 3A1 is rotated to change the attitude of the substrate W from the horizontal attitude to the vertical attitude.

Next, the second substrate transport robot 3C collectively takes out the 25 substrates W in the vertical posture from the substrate holding structure 3A1 at the second position. The second substrate transport robot 3C is positioned directly above the substrate W held by the substrate holding structure 3A1 and then descends. At this time, the substrate holder 3C61 (see FIG. 17) of the end effector 3C6 is inserted into the gap between the adjacent substrates W held by the substrate holding structure 3A1. Then, by slightly moving the end effector 3C6 in the arrangement direction of the substrates W, the suction pads 3C62 are brought into contact with the peripheral edge portion (preferably, the peripheral edge portion of the back surface) of the substrate W or close to each other with a small gap therebetween. Each substrate holder 3C61 is positioned. Next, the suction pad 3C62 sucks the substrate W. As shown in FIG. The end effector 3C6 is then raised to remove the substrate W from the substrate holding structure 3A1.

The second substrate transport robot 3C positions the end effector 3C6 holding the substrate W right above the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10. As shown in FIG. At this time, the rotor 18 is in an angular position in which the two movable holding bars 183 are positioned upward, and the two movable holding bars 183 are in the release position. From this state, the end effector 3C6 descends, inserts the substrate W into the substrate holding groove of the fixed holding bar 182 of the rotor 18, and then releases the adsorption of the substrate W by the adsorption pad 3C62. Next, the end effector 3C6 is slightly moved in the arrangement direction of the substrates W to separate the substrate holder 3C61 from the substrates W. As shown in FIG. Next, the end effector 3C6 is lifted and retracted from the rotor 18.

After that, the processing chamber 11 is slid to form a processing chamber 11C, and the substrate W is subjected to a series of processing.

When the processing of the substrate W is completed, the second substrate transport robot 3C takes out the substrate W from the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 and transfers the substrate W to the processed substrate transfer unit 3B by executing the above-described procedure in reverse order. give. In the delivery unit 3B, the arrangement pitch of the substrates W is changed to the first equal pitch P1, the substrates W are placed in a horizontal posture, and the substrate holding structure 3A1 is moved to the first position. Next, the first substrate transport robot 2C collectively takes out 25 processed substrates W from the substrate holding structure 3B1 at the first position, and stores them in the original substrate transport container C. As shown in FIG.

Also in the above second example, the first substrate transport robot 2C and the second substrate transport robot 3C may collectively transport 25 substrates W, or may transport, for example, five substrates at a time.

[Other Modifications]
As described above, the end effector of the second substrate transport robot 3C may be provided with a pitch change function, in which case the pitch change mechanisms 3A13 and 3B3 are omitted from the transfer units 3A and 3B. The second substrate transport robot 3C changes the arrangement pitch of the substrates W held by the end effector when transporting the substrates W between the delivery units 3A, 3B and the rotor 18. FIG.

As described above, the second substrate transport robot 3C may be provided with a posture changing mechanism for changing the posture of the end effector 3C6 (see FIG. 18). is omitted, and the posture changing mechanism is omitted from the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 . The second substrate transport robot 3C changes the posture of the substrate W held by the end effector when transporting the substrate W between the transfer units 3A, 3B and the rotor 18. FIG.

If the rotor 18 of the liquid processing unit 10 can be changed in posture, or if the second substrate transport robot 3C is provided with a function for changing the posture of the end effector, then the transfer unit 3A (3B) can change its posture. Function is not provided. In this case, the frame 3A11 (3B11) of the substrate holding structure 3A1 (3B1) of the transfer unit 3A (3B) is opened at the front and back so that the substrate W can be carried in and out from both the front and back. (Only the front side is open in the configuration example shown in FIGS. 15 and 16).

According to the embodiment of the substrate processing system 1 described above, the substrate processing system 1 is provided with at least two levels (three levels L1, L2, and L3 in the illustrated example) having different height positions. , two or more of the plurality of liquid processing units 10 are arranged. At least one (two in the illustrated example) of the plurality of liquid processing units 10 is arranged above or below (above in the illustrated example) the transfer units 3A and 3B (substrate transfer section). Therefore, more liquid processing units 10 can be arranged with respect to the same footprint area, and the processing throughput of the substrate processing system 1 as a whole can be improved.

Further, according to the embodiment of the substrate processing system 1 described above, in each of the floors L2 and L3, a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) liquid processing units 10 are provided so as to surround the second substrate transport robot 3C. It is The direction in which the substrates W are arranged on the rotor 18 of each liquid processing unit 10 coincides with the direction in which the second substrate transport robot 3</b>C loads the substrates into the rotor 18 . As a result, when the second substrate transport robot 3C carries the substrate in and out of each liquid processing unit 10, the arm 3C5 of the second substrate transport robot 3C does not need to move in a complicated manner. That is, when the substrate W is transferred between the second substrate transport robot 3C and one liquid processing unit 10, the height of the arm 3C5 of the second substrate transport robot 3C is set to the height of the liquid processing unit 10. The arm 3C5 of the second substrate transport robot 3C may be rotated around the vertical axis Ax1 to face the liquid processing unit 10 directly. The above operation is common to any liquid processing unit 10 to which the substrate W is loaded/unloaded. In addition, the above arrangement can reduce the number of operating axes of the second substrate transport robot 3C. In other words, the second substrate transport robot 3C has only the Z-axis for raising and lowering the arm 3C5, the θ-axis for rotating the arm 3C5 around the Z-axis, and the horizontal axis (H-axis) for advancing and retracting the arm 3C5 in a horizontal plane orthogonal to the Z-axis. (although it is possible to have more axes of motion). As a result, the footprint area required for the operation of the second substrate transport robot 3C can be reduced. In addition, this makes it possible to reduce the distance between the second substrate transport robot 3C and each liquid processing unit 10 (as viewed from above). In addition, this allows the liquid processing units 10 to be arranged at high density within one story, thereby reducing the footprint area of the substrate processing system 1 . In addition, by providing a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) liquid processing units 10 in one layer so as to face the second substrate transport robot 3C and surround the second substrate transport robot 3C, Although an empty space is created between the liquid processing units 10, this space can be effectively utilized for arranging various devices for providing utilities.

That is, according to the embodiment of the substrate processing system 1 described above, the throughput per footprint area (the number of substrates processed per unit time) can be improved.

It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The embodiments described above may be omitted, substituted, or modified in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 substrate processing system 10 liquid processing unit 18 substrate holding section 2A1 container mounting section 2C first substrate transfer device
3A, 3B Substrate transfer section 3C First substrate transfer device L1, L2, L3 Hierarchy

Claims (9)

A plurality of batch-type liquid processing units, each liquid processing unit having a substrate holding section for holding a plurality of substrates in parallel, wherein the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holding section has a substrate holding portion. the plurality of liquid treatment units configured to simultaneously apply liquid treatment to the
a container placement section on which a substrate transport container for storing a plurality of substrates is placed;
at least one substrate transfer section having a substrate holding structure for holding a plurality of substrates parallel to each other;
a first substrate transfer device for transferring substrates between the substrate transfer container placed on the container mounting portion and the substrate transfer portion;
a second substrate transfer device that simultaneously transfers a plurality of substrates between the substrate transfer section and the liquid processing unit;
A substrate processing system comprising
The substrate processing system has at least two floors with different height positions, and two or more of the plurality of liquid processing units are arranged in each floor,
A substrate processing system, wherein at least one of the plurality of liquid processing units is arranged above or below the substrate transfer section. When the liquid processing unit processes the substrates, the second substrate transfer device transfers the same number of substrates as a specified number of substrates held by the substrate holding section to the substrate transfer section and the liquid processing unit. or a plurality of substrates smaller than the prescribed number of substrates to be processed are simultaneously transported between the substrate transfer section and the liquid processing unit. substrate processing system. The substrate transfer section moves the substrate holding structure to a first position where the substrate can be transferred to and from the first substrate transfer device and a position to which the substrate can be transferred and transferred to and from the second substrate transfer device. 3. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a moving mechanism for moving between two positions. The substrate transfer section changes the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding structure to a horizontal posture at the first position, the second position, or a third position between the first position and the second position. 4. The substrate processing system according to claim 3, further comprising a posture changing mechanism for changing between a vertical posture and a vertical posture. The substrate transfer section has a pitch conversion mechanism that converts an arrangement pitch of the substrates held by the substrate holding structure between a first equal pitch and a second equal pitch, and the substrate transfer container has a plurality of substrates. at the first equal pitch, and the substrate holding section of the liquid processing unit is configured to hold the plurality of substrates at the second equal pitch. The substrate processing system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3. The substrate processing system includes a first substrate transfer section and a second substrate transfer section as the at least one substrate transfer section, wherein the first substrate transfer section is arranged above the second substrate transfer section. 6. The substrate processing system according to any one of claims 1-5. The substrate transport container is configured to store a plurality of substrates in a horizontal posture in parallel with each other at the first equal pitch,
7. The substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said first transfer device is configured to be able to collectively take out a plurality of substrates in a horizontal posture from said substrate transfer container. processing system. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each of said liquid processing units is installed such that a direction in which said substrates are arranged by said substrate holding portion coincides with a direction in which said second substrate transfer device carries said substrates into said respective liquid processing units. A substrate processing system according to any one of the preceding claims. 2. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein a region in which said plurality of liquid processing modules are arranged and a region in which equipment for supplying utilities to said plurality of liquid processing modules are arranged are adjacent to each other. 9. The substrate processing system according to any one of 8.

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