JP2023134070A - Substrate processing device and scale correction method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate processing device and a scale correction method capable of ascertaining an actual movement amount of a substrate even in the case that a scale has undergone thermal expansion, and suppressing degradation in positional accuracy on the substrate.SOLUTION: A substrate processing device includes: a stage where a substrate, for which at least two reference points are set, is placed; a substrate processing unit for performing prescribed processing on the substrate placed on the stage, a movement unit for relatively moving the substrate on the stage and the substrate processing unit on the basis of scale reading information; and a control device for controlling them. The substrate processing device is configured to use the control device to perform scale correction in accordance with a deviation between a set distance between the reference points set for the substrate and an actual distance between the reference points set for the substrate conveyed onto the stage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a scale correction method that perform predetermined processing by relatively moving a stage on which a substrate is placed and a substrate processing unit based on a scale.

2. Description of the Related Art A substrate processing apparatus, such as a mounting apparatus or a coating apparatus, in which a predetermined process is performed on a substrate, is configured such that a substrate processing unit can be moved to an arbitrary position on the substrate. For example, an inkjet coating device that forms a predetermined film pattern on a substrate includes a stage on which the substrate is placed and a head unit that ejects ink onto the substrate, and as the stage moves relative to the inkjet head, It is configured so that droplets can be ejected to any point on the substrate.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, this inkjet coating apparatus includes a floating stage section 100 for floating a substrate W, a coating unit 101, a substrate holding unit 102 for sucking and holding the substrate W in a floating state, and a substrate holding unit 102 for sucking and holding the substrate W in a floating state. It has a transport drive section 103 that moves the holding unit 102 in the transport direction of the substrate W, and by driving the transport drive section 103 and moving the substrate holding unit 102, the substrate W moves on the floating stage section 100. The substrate W is transported in a floating state in the transport direction, and a coating film is formed on the substrate W by discharging droplets from the coating unit 101.

The conveyance drive unit 103 is provided with an encoder 104 that generates a drive pulse signal. Then, as the substrate holding unit 102 moves, the reading head 104a of the encoder 104 reads the scale 104b, thereby transmitting a drive pulse signal from the encoder 104 to the control device. That is, when positional information at which droplets should be ejected is input from the control device to the transport drive unit 103, a drive pulse signal from the encoder 104 that reads the scale 104b is input to the control device, thereby controlling the amount of movement of the substrate. This makes it possible to accurately discharge droplets to the position on the substrate W where they should be discharged (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-058484

However, the above-described substrate processing apparatus has a problem in that the position on the substrate cannot be accurately determined. That is, heat is emitted because a large number of CPUs, control boards, etc. are used in the substrate processing apparatus. The heat also affects the scale 104b, causing hot elongation in the scale 104b. When hot elongation occurs in the scale 104b, the pitch interval of the scale 104b is extended, so even if a drive pulse signal emitted from the encoder 104 is input, the actual amount of movement cannot be determined, and an error occurs in the movement distance. As a result, there is a problem in that the positional accuracy on the substrate W is reduced and the quality of the processed substrate W is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a substrate that can grasp the actual amount of movement of the substrate even when the scale is hot-stretched, and can suppress a decrease in positional accuracy on the substrate. The present invention aims to provide a processing device and a scale correction method.

In order to solve the above problems, the substrate processing apparatus and scale correction method of the present invention include a stage on which a substrate is placed, on which at least two reference points are set, and a substrate on which a predetermined process is performed on the substrate placed on the stage. A substrate processing apparatus comprising a processing unit, a movement unit that relatively moves the substrate on the stage, and the substrate processing unit based on scale reading information, and a control device that controls these, The control device determines that the scale is corrected based on the amount of deviation between the set distance between the reference points set on the substrate and the actual distance between the reference points set on the substrate carried into the stage. It is a feature.

According to the above substrate processing apparatus and scale correction method, the scale is corrected based on the amount of deviation between the set distance of the reference point set on the substrate as a preset value and the actual distance of the reference point of the substrate carried into the stage. Therefore, even if hot elongation occurs in the scale, a decrease in positional accuracy can be suppressed. That is, the control device stores reference points set in advance on the substrate, for example, the distance between alignment marks (set distance) as known information. Then, when the distance (actual distance) between the alignment marks attached to the substrate that is brought into the stage for processing is measured, if hot elongation has occurred in the scale, the measured actual distance will be A discrepancy occurs between the stored set distance and the set distance. By correcting this amount of deviation, it is possible to suppress the difference between the actual distance obtained from the hot-stretched scale and the set distance. In other words, by correcting the scale, it is possible to determine the exact amount of movement close to the set distance even with a hot-rolled scale, thereby suppressing the drop in position accuracy and reducing the quality of the board. It can be suppressed.

Further, the control device may have a plurality of correction patterns for performing the reading correction, and the scale correction may be performed by selecting a correction pattern according to the amount of deviation.

According to this configuration, since the correction pattern is selected according to the magnitude of the deviation amount of the actual distance, it is possible to appropriately correct the scale regardless of the magnitude of the deviation amount.

Further, a threshold value may be provided for the amount of deviation, and the correction pattern may be switched when the amount of deviation exceeds the threshold value.

According to this configuration, even if the amount of deviation changes over time, appropriate correction can be performed on the scale in real time by switching the correction pattern.

According to the present invention, even when the scale is hot-stretched, the actual amount of movement of the substrate can be determined, and a decrease in positional accuracy on the substrate can be suppressed.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an inkjet coating apparatus that is a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the inkjet coating device. It is a flowchart which shows the scale correction processing operation of the said inkjet coating device. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventional inkjet coating device.

Embodiments of a substrate processing apparatus and a scale correction method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an inkjet coating apparatus will be described as an example of the substrate processing apparatus, but other substrate processing apparatuses such as a mounting apparatus may be used, and the present invention is not limited to the inkjet coating apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an inkjet coating apparatus 1, which is a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the inkjet coating apparatus 2 in FIG. 1.

1 and 2, an inkjet coating device 1 for transporting a substrate W is combined with a coating unit 2 (substrate processing unit of the present invention) for forming a coating film on the transported substrate W, and performs a series of substrate processing. forming a device. This inkjet coating apparatus 1 has a floating stage section 10 (stage of the present invention) extending in one direction, and a substrate W is transported along the direction in which this floating stage section 10 extends. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the floating stage section 10 is formed to extend in the X-axis direction, so that the substrate W is transported from the upstream side (pre-process side) to the downstream side (post-process side) in the X-axis direction. It has become. Then, by discharging the coating liquid from the coating unit 2, a coating film is formed on the substrate W.

Specifically, a coating film having a uniform thickness is formed on the substrate W by discharging a coating liquid from the coating unit 2 while the substrate W is being transported in the X-axis direction while being floated on the floating stage section 10. It is beginning to form.

In the following description, the direction in which the substrate W is transported is referred to as the X-axis direction, and the X-axis direction corresponds to the transport direction. Further, the direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction on the horizontal plane is the Y-axis direction, and in particular, the Y-axis direction is also referred to as the river width direction. The explanation will be continued with the direction perpendicular to both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction as the Z-axis direction.

Further, the coating unit 2 is for applying ink, which is a coating material, onto the substrate W by landing it on the substrate W, and includes an inkjet head section 21 that discharges the coating material, and a gantry section 22 that supports this inkjet head section 21. have.

The gantry section 22 is formed in a substantially gate-like shape, and includes leg sections 22a arranged on both sides of the transport rail section 31a in the Y-axis direction, and a beam member 22b connecting these leg sections 22a and extending in the Y-axis direction. It has The inkjet head section 21 is attached to this beam member 22b, and the gantry section 22 is attached so as to straddle the floating stage section 10 in the Y-axis direction.

Moreover, the beam member 22b is a columnar member that connects both legs 22a. The inkjet head section 21 is attached to this beam member 22b. Specifically, the inkjet head section 21 is attached to the center position of the beam member 22b in the X-axis direction, and the inkjet head section 21 is attached with a nozzle (not shown) provided in the inkjet head section 21 facing toward the floating stage section 10. It is being Then, when the substrate W is located directly below the inkjet head section 21 with the gantry section 22 located at the coating position, ink as a coating material is ejected, thereby forming a coating film on the substrate W.

Further, a rail (not shown) extending in the Y-axis direction is provided on the beam member 22b, and the inkjet head section 21 is slidably attached to this rail. By driving and controlling the servo motor, it can be moved to any desired position and stopped. That is, the inkjet head section 21 is capable of slight movement in the Y-axis direction, and can accurately make ink, which is a coating material, land on the substrate W at a predetermined position in the Y-axis direction. As a result, the inkjet head section 21 moves in the Y-axis direction while the substrate W moves in the X-axis direction, so that the inkjet head section 21 and the substrate W move relatively, and the nozzles of the inkjet head section 21 By discharging the ink, the ink can be landed at a predetermined position on the substrate W on the stage unit 1 with high precision.

Further, the inkjet coating device 1 is configured to transport the substrate W in one direction (in the present embodiment, the X-axis direction) while floating the substrate W. The inkjet coating apparatus 1 includes a floating stage section 10 that floats a substrate W, and a moving unit 3 that holds and transports the substrate W floated on the floating stage section 10.

The levitation stage section 10 levitates the substrate W, and has an air levitation mechanism in this embodiment. The floating stage part 10 is formed by providing a flat plate part 12 on a base 11 (see FIG. 2), and a plurality of flat plate parts 12 are arranged along the X-axis direction. That is, the flat plate portion 12 has a smooth substrate floating surface 12a, and the substrate floating surfaces 12a are arranged so as to have a uniform height. An air layer is formed between the substrate floating surface 12a and the substrate W to be transported, so that the substrate W can be floated to a predetermined height position. Specifically, the flat plate part 12 is formed with a minute jet port (not shown) and a suction port (not shown) that open to the substrate floating surface 12a, and the jet port and the compressor are connected by piping. , the suction port and the vacuum pump are connected by piping. By balancing the air ejected from the ejection port with the suction force generated at the suction port, the substrate W can be floated in a horizontal position to a predetermined height from the substrate floating surface 12a. . This makes it possible to transport the substrate W while maintaining its planar posture with high precision.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the moving unit 3 moves the substrate W in a floating state, and includes a substrate holding unit 30 that holds the substrate W and a transport drive that moves the substrate holding unit 30. 31.

The transport drive section 31 is configured to move the substrate holding unit 30 in the transport direction, and includes a transport rail section 31a extending in the transport direction along the floating stage section 10, and a base that runs on the transport rail section 31a. 31b. Specifically, base stands 31c (see FIG. 2) provided to extend in the transport direction (X-axis direction) are arranged on both sides of the floating stage section 10 in the river width direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction). A conveyor rail portion 31a is provided on each base pedestal 31c. That is, on both sides in the river width direction, the conveyance rail portions 31a are continuously provided along the floating stage portion 10 without interruption.

Moreover, the base part 31b is a plate-like member formed in a concave shape, and is provided so as to cover the upper surface of the conveyance rail part 31a, as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Specifically, the base part 31b is provided so as to cover the transport rail part 31a via an air pad (not shown), and by driving a linear motor (not shown), the base part 31b is connected to the transport rail part 31a. 31a. That is, by driving and controlling the linear motor, the base portion 31b can run on the conveyance rail portion 31a without contacting it and can stop at a predetermined position.

Further, the substrate holding unit 30 holds the substrate W, and can attract and hold the substrate W. That is, the substrate holding unit 30 has a plurality of suction parts 30a, and these suction parts 30a can move up and down. That is, the suction section 30a can move toward and away from the back surface of the substrate W, and can move up and down between a suction position where the substrate W is held and a standby position where it is spaced apart from the substrate W. When the suction section 30a is located at the suction position, the top surface (suction surface) of the suction section 30a is set to be flush with the height position of the bottom surface (back surface) of the floated substrate W. By generating suction force in the suction section 30a in this state, the substrate W can be held on the upper surface (suction surface) of the suction section 30a.

Further, the transport drive unit 31 is provided with a linear encoder 40 for determining the amount of movement of the substrate W. The linear encoder 40 has a scale 40b with graduations and a reading head 40a that reads the graduations, and the amount of movement of the substrate W can be grasped by reading the graduations with the reading head 40a. . In this embodiment, the scale 40b is provided on the transport rail portion 31a, and is attached so that the direction in which the scale 40b extends is the transport direction (X-axis direction). Further, the reading head 40a is provided on the base portion 31b, and is attached so as to face the scale 40b. As a result, when the base portion 31b is moved to transport the substrate W, the reading head 40a and the scale 40b move relatively, and the reading head 40a reads the scale 40b. The linear encoder 40 outputs this read information as a drive pulse signal to a control device, which will be described later, so that the amount of movement of the substrate W can be determined.

Further, a camera unit 6 is provided in the substrate floating transfer device. This camera unit 6 is for taking an image of the alignment mark M attached to the substrate W. The camera unit 6 has a gate-shaped frame part 61 provided on the base part 31b and a camera part 62. In this embodiment, two camera parts 62 are attached to the gate-shaped frame part 61 in the river width direction. It is being In this embodiment, the gate-shaped frame portion 61 is provided with a rail (not shown) extending in the Y-axis direction, and the camera portion 62 is slidably attached to this rail. By driving and controlling the servo motor, it can be moved and stopped at any desired position. Thereby, any alignment mark M can be placed within the imaging range of the camera unit 62, and the alignment mark M can be appropriately captured. Further, an encoder (not shown) is attached to the camera unit 6, and the amount of movement of the camera section 62 can be determined by a drive pulse signal of the encoder. That is, when the alignment mark M on the substrate W is imaged, the encoder read information is taken into the control device along with the imaged data, so that the control device can grasp the image and position information of the alignment mark M.

Further, the inkjet coating device is provided with a control device, and the inkjet coating device is centrally controlled by the control device. That is, the control device drives and controls the drive device of each unit in order to execute a series of conveying operations and coating operations according to a pre-stored program, and also performs various calculations necessary for the conveying operations and coating operations. .

In this embodiment, a correction function is provided for the scale 40b, so that even if the scale 40b is hot-stretched, the actual movement amount of the substrate W can be grasped and a decrease in the positional accuracy of the substrate W can be suppressed. It has become.

The correction function of the scale 40b is to correct the information read by the encoder. That is, the reading correction function is configured to perform correction according to the amount of deviation in the distance between the reference points, in this embodiment, the distance between the alignment marks M. Specifically, the control device stores design distance information between the alignment marks M, that is, in this embodiment, the distance between the alignment marks M in the X-axis direction as a set distance, and this set distance and The amount of deviation is calculated by calculating the distance between the alignment marks M actually imaged by the camera unit 6, that is, the difference from the actual distance. Furthermore, the control device stores a plurality of correction patterns for correcting this amount of deviation. In this embodiment, the scale 40b corrects the read information by 0.5% (correction pattern 1), 1.0% (correction pattern 2), 1.5% (correction pattern 3), etc. Correction patterns are stored every 0.5%. Then, the read information of the scale 40b is corrected using this correction pattern. For example, if 1000 pulses are required to move 1000 mm in the X-axis direction, if correction pattern 1 is selected, correction is made to read 995 pulses. That is, by reading 995 pulses due to the effect of hot elongation of the scale 40b, the actual amount of movement is 1000 mm.

Further, these correction patterns are set to be switched by a threshold value. That is, in this embodiment, the threshold value is set to 5 μm, and if the difference between the set distance of the alignment mark M and the actual distance exceeds 5 μm, the correction amount is one step larger than the correction amount of the current correction pattern. It is set to adopt a pattern. Note that the correction amount and threshold value of this correction pattern can be freely set by the user.

Next, the substrate position correction method in this embodiment will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, a substrate loading process is performed in step S1. That is, when the substrate W is carried onto the floating stage section 10 by a robot hand or the like, it is temporarily fixed in a positioned state by a positioning member (not shown). Then, the suction section 30a of the substrate holding unit 30 rises from the standby position to the suction position, whereby the substrate W is suction-held in a temporarily positioned state and floating above the floating stage section 10.

Next, an alignment process is performed in step S2. That is, when the substrate W is transported to the camera unit 6, the four alignment marks M on the substrate W are imaged and recognized by the camera unit 6. That is, the image data of the alignment mark M obtained by the camera unit 6 and the position information of the alignment mark M obtained by the encoder are acquired by the control device. Then, after being positioned by a positioning member (not shown) in a state where suction and holding by the suction part 30a is released, the substrate W is suctioned and held again by the suction part 30a, and the alignment of the substrate W is completed.

Next, a shift amount calculation process is performed in step S3. That is, the actual distance in the X-axis direction is calculated from the position information of the alignment mark M acquired in the alignment process. Then, the difference from the set distance of the alignment mark M stored in advance is calculated, and the calculated deviation amount and the threshold value are compared.

Then, in step S4, it is determined whether the amount of deviation exceeds a threshold value. As a result, if the threshold value is not exceeded, that is, if the deviation amount is less than 5 μm, the error due to the hot stretching of the current scale 40b is within the allowable range, so the process proceeds to step S4 in the direction of No. A coating process is performed in step S10. That is, droplets are discharged onto the substrate W by the coating unit 2, and a coating film is formed on the substrate W.

On the other hand, if the amount of deviation exceeds 5 μm, the process proceeds to step S4 in the direction of Yes, and a correction pattern selection process is performed in step S5. That is, since no correction pattern is currently being used, correction pattern 1 is adopted. As a result, the information (number of pulses) read by the scale 40b has been corrected by 0.5%, and the corrected distance is recognized as the true amount of movement, and the position of the substrate W is determined by this amount of movement after correction. is controlled.

Next, an alignment process is performed in step S6. That is, similar to the alignment process in step S2, the control device acquires image data of the alignment mark M and positional information of the alignment mark M by the encoder based on the movement amount obtained by taking into account the correction pattern 1. Ru. After being positioned by a positioning member (not shown), the substrate W is sucked and held again by the suction section 30a, and the alignment of the substrate W is completed.

Next, a shift amount calculation process is performed in step S7. That is, the actual distance in the X-axis direction is calculated from the positional information of the alignment mark M after correction by the correction pattern 1 acquired in the alignment process of step S6. Then, the difference from the set distance of the alignment mark M stored in advance is calculated, and the calculated deviation amount and the threshold value are compared.

Then, in step S8, it is determined whether the amount of deviation exceeds a threshold value. As a result, if the threshold value is not exceeded, that is, if the deviation amount is less than 5 μm, the error due to the hot stretching of the current scale 40b is within the allowable range, so the process proceeds to step S8 in the direction of No. A coating process is performed in step S10. That is, droplets are discharged onto the substrate W by the coating unit 2, and a coating film is formed on the substrate W.

On the other hand, in step S8, if the amount of deviation exceeds 5 μm, it is determined that the steady state is not achieved because the amount of deviation is not improved even if correction is performed, and Yes is determined in step S8, and a warning is issued in step S9. is issued and the inkjet coating device is stopped.

As described above, according to the above-described inkjet coating apparatus and scale 40b correction method, the set distance of the alignment mark M set on the substrate W as a set value in advance and the alignment mark M of the substrate W carried into the floating stage section 10 can be adjusted. Since the scale 40b is corrected based on the amount of deviation of the actual distance, even if hot elongation occurs in the scale 40b, a decrease in position accuracy can be suppressed. That is, the distance between the alignment marks M set in advance on the substrate W (set distance) is stored in the control device as known information. Then, when the distance (actual distance) between the alignment marks M attached to the substrate W carried into the floating stage section 10 for processing is measured, if hot elongation has occurred in the scale 40b, , a discrepancy occurs between the measured actual distance and the stored set distance. By correcting this amount of deviation, it is possible to suppress the difference between the actual distance obtained from the hot-stretched scale 40b and the set distance. In other words, by correcting the scale 40b, it is possible to determine the accurate movement distance close to the set distance even with the hot-rolled scale 40b, thereby suppressing the drop in position accuracy and improving the quality of the board. The decline can be suppressed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the alignment mark M is used as an example of the reference point, but it may be other than the alignment mark M. For example, the corner of the substrate W may be used as the reference point, and at least two reference points may be provided at positions spaced apart in the direction of the scale 40b that performs correction.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which there are multiple correction patterns, but if the amount of deviation is limited to a certain range, there is only one correction pattern that can correct the certain range. There may be.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the scale 40b in the X-axis direction is corrected has been described, but the correction may be performed not only in the X-axis direction but also in the Y-axis direction. In this case, at least two reference points may be provided not only in the X-axis direction but also in the Y-axis direction, and the deviation amount in the Y-axis direction may be corrected separately from the X-axis direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the inkjet coating apparatus has been described as having the floating stage section 10 on which the stage floats the substrate W, but the inkjet coating apparatus may have a stage on which the substrate W is simply placed without floating it. . Moreover, the coating unit 2 may be a coating device having a slit nozzle, regardless of the inkjet type, and the coating type of the coating unit 2 is not particularly limited.

Further, in the above embodiment, the substrate W is moved relative to the coating unit 2, but the substrate W may be stopped and the coating unit 2 may be moved.

1 Inkjet coating device 2 Coating unit 3 Movement unit 6 Camera unit 10 Floating stage section 30 Substrate holding unit 40 Linear encoder 40a Reading head 40b Scale

Claims (4)

a stage on which a substrate is placed, on which at least two reference points are set;
a substrate processing unit that performs a predetermined process on the substrate placed on the stage;
a moving unit that relatively moves the substrate on the stage and the substrate processing unit based on scale reading information;
A control device that controls these;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
The control device determines that the scale is corrected based on the amount of deviation between the set distance between the reference points set on the substrate and the actual distance between the reference points set on the substrate carried into the stage. Features of substrate processing equipment. 2. The control device has a plurality of correction patterns for correcting the scale, and the scale correction is performed by selecting a correction pattern according to the amount of deviation. substrate processing equipment. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a threshold value is provided for the amount of deviation, and the correction pattern is switched when the amount of deviation exceeds the threshold value. a stage on which a substrate is placed, on which at least two reference points are set;
a substrate processing unit that performs a predetermined process on the substrate placed on the stage;
a moving unit that relatively moves the substrate on the stage and the substrate processing unit based on a scale;
A scale correction method for a substrate processing apparatus having:
A scale correction method, characterized in that the scale is corrected based on the amount of deviation between a set distance between reference points set on the substrate and an actual distance between the reference points of the substrate carried onto the stage.

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