JP2559617C - - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate such as a wafer, for example, an apparatus for generating a resist film for photolithography by coating in a semiconductor manufacturing process, The present invention relates to a device for developing a film, a device for forming a film for doping impurities on a wafer by coating, and a device for forming an interlayer insulating film or a passivation film of an element on a wafer by coating. [Prior Art] FIG. 8 is a plan view of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a coating section, an oven section, a developing section or a wafer cassette mounting section is arranged in a plane. In the figure, SE1,
SE2 is a wafer cassette mounting section on the wafer sending side, PEB is an oven section for strengthening the resist film after exposure, DB is an oven section for removing moisture on the wafer before coating, DEV is a developing section, and CT is a developing section. Resist coating section, DPB: oven section for tightening the developed resist, CPB: resist drying oven section after coating, RE1
, RE2 indicate a wafer cassette mounting portion on the wafer storage side, and OP indicates an operation panel. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in this type of conventional substrate processing apparatus, the components of the apparatus are arranged in a plane, and the floor area occupied by an expensive clean room in a semiconductor manufacturing factory becomes large. was there. Further, since the units are arranged in a line in accordance with the processing procedure, each unit is occupied, and there is a drawback in that it is not possible to reduce the price of the device and reduce the size of the device by common use. Furthermore, since the configuration depends on the processing procedure, there is a problem that flexibility for a plurality of processing steps is lacking. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and has a floor occupied area that is reduced, the overall apparatus can be reduced in price and the size and size can be reduced, and the apparatus can cope with various processing steps. An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible substrate processing apparatus. At the same time, the substrate processing equipment has a structure that can send clean air or temperature-controlled clean air to each component of the equipment, and only the part that transfers substrates to and from other equipment in the clean room is opened in the clean room. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to be installed outside a clean room, and to remarkably reduce the occupied area inside the clean room. [Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a resist coating unit,
Some of the equipment components such as the resist development part, oven part, cleaning part, deep ultraviolet light irradiation part, film thickness measurement part, development result measurement part, substrate identification symbol reading part, substrate cassette mounting part, etc. Having a plurality of the plurality of device components arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the floor surface, and a plurality of the device configuration portions arranged side by side in the direction along the floor surface. A front and rear, left and right, and a transport hand that can be moved in each of up and down directions for holding and transporting the substrate when loading and unloading the substrate to and from any device component of the apparatus. It is characterized in that the order of loading and unloading substrates with respect to the above-mentioned several device components can be arbitrarily set by a series of combined processing procedures. A plurality of this series of treatment procedures may be set and operated simultaneously or by switching. Further, clean air that has passed through a clean filter may be sent to some of the above-mentioned device components. According to this, a plurality of device components arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the floor surface are arranged in a plurality along the floor surface, and a plurality of device component portions are arranged in the direction along the floor surface. When carrying the substrate in and out of any of the device components, the substrate has a transport hand that can be moved in each of the front, rear, left, right, and up and down directions for holding and transporting the substrate. Since the order of loading and unloading substrates from and to some apparatus components can be arbitrarily set by a series of combined processing procedures, the apparatus can be made compact, the price of the apparatus can be reduced, and the cleanliness of the apparatus can be increased. Become. Further, as for the processing step, flexibility is increased, and multi-product small-lot production becomes easy. Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. This is an example in which the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In the figure, AD is a duct for feeding clean air or temperature-controlled air, AF is a filter for further purifying the sent air, RD is a collection or exhaust duct for clean air, HD is a wiring piping duct, CA is a carrier, and IDX. Denotes a wafer cassette mounting portion. Note that the carrier CA has a mechanism for rotating the stage. Further, the wafer cassette mounting portion IDX may be a cassette elevator. Alternatively, the wafer stored in the carrier at each stage of the wafer cassette mounting portion IDX may be directly taken out by the hand WH of the hand portion WHU described later. SC is wafer cleaning unit, CT
Reference numeral 1 and CT2 denote a coating device, and OV1 and OV2 denote oven units. In this embodiment, four independent hot plates are provided in the oven units OV1 and OV2. One of these can be used as a forced wafer cooling plate.
DEV1 and DEV2 are development devices, WW and WW1 to WW4 are wafer loading / unloading ports to each component, and CW is a carrier loading / unloading port. Each of the above components is arranged vertically from the floor on which the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed. Next, WHU indicates the entire hand unit that moves the wafer between the components. The hand unit WHU is arranged so as to face each of the above-described vertical arrangement units as indicated by a dashed line. WH is a hand for taking a wafer in and out of a component, and moves back and forth, left and right, and up and down as shown by arrows A, B and C. When a plurality of hands WH are provided, the structure is such that there is no mechanical interference of the hands. The operation of the hand WH in the front-back direction (the direction of arrow A) is performed by a hand mechanism WHB, which is a box capable of further storing a wafer. WHD1 is a hand drive mechanism that moves the hand WH in the left-right direction (the direction of arrow B). The hand drive mechanism WHD1 operates the hand WH along the slide SR with the drive ball screw DS. WHD2 is a vertical drive mechanism that moves the hand WH in the vertical direction (the direction of arrow C) together with the slide SR and the drive ball screw DS. The wafer take-out port of each unit faces one direction in the hand direction.
However, if there is a wafer transfer device on the left and right sides of the left and right end units, the takeout port can be provided there as well. In addition, each component can always obtain a certain degree of cleanliness by the duct AD, the filter AF, and the exhaust duct RD. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the duct AD, the filter AF, the exhaust duct RD, and the like of the apparatus shown in FIG. Air (or temperature-controlled air) is sent from the duct AD through the air filter AF into the unit as shown by the arrow. At this time, a fan motor DM may be provided on the air filter AF as shown in the figure. The air is designed to pass through the unit in a laminar flow. Further, the air is collected in the exhaust duct RD. Furthermore, the wiring piping duct is a duct AD / R
D is provided at the rear of the duct AD / RD so as to be isolated from D, and this portion is not particularly subjected to ventilation and exhaust. Furthermore, in the oven sections OV1 and OV2, the temperature of each oven (heater) can be freely set, and two heaters can be used for prebaking and the other two can be used for postbaking. Hereinafter, procedures of a coating process and a developing process by the apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. First, in the wafer coating process, the wafer is taken out of the carrier CA placed on the wafer cassette mounting portion IDX by the hand WH. When wafer cleaning is required, the wafer is carried to the wafer cleaning unit SC and cleaned. Thereafter, the wafer W is taken out of the wafer cleaning unit SC by the hand WH, transported to the oven OV2, and dried. In this way, the wafers are sequentially transferred to the respective processing units by the hand WH of the hand unit WHU, and after the drying, the coating is sequentially performed by the coating device CT1 and the oven OV
The coating is performed by the coating apparatus CT2 if necessary, and is again fired by the oven OV1 and returned to the carrier CA. Thereafter, the wafer is taken out of the carrier CA, exposed by an exposure unit outside the apparatus, and returned to the carrier CA again. Next, for the development processing, the exposed wafer is again taken out by the hand WH, carried to the development unit DEV1 or DEV2, and developed. After the development, the wafer is again carried into the oven OV1 or OV2 by the hand WH and baked, and thereafter returned to the final carrier CA, and all the steps are completed. Although the present embodiment has been described as an example based on a unit layout such as a spin apparatus and a baking apparatus in photolithography, the present invention can be applied to other units such as a unit layout such as etching and CVD. Can be established. 1, the cleaning unit SC, the coating unit CT, the oven units OV1 and OV
2 and the developing units DEV1 and DEV2 have been described, but they may be configured as shown in FIG. 3, for example. In the configuration shown in the figure, first, the first wafer is taken out from the carrier CA1 and put into the board identification symbol reading section READ1. Then, the content of the identification symbol of the first wafer is read, the wafer is recognized as a test wafer, and the wafer enters the film thickness measuring unit SP1 from the coating unit CT1 via the oven unit OV1. In this way, the film thickness is measured, and if the film thickness is within the reference value, the process may proceed to the processing of the second wafer as it is. If the film thickness of the test wafer is not within the reference value, the rotation speed of the coating section CT1 is automatically changed, and the process proceeds to the processing from the second wafer. Also, when the process starts from the second wafer, whether the wafer passes through CT1 → OV1 → CT2 → OV2 or CT1 → O by reading in the substrate identification symbol reading unit READ1.
It recognizes whether the data is transmitted via V1 or CT2-OV2, and thereby processes the wafer. Further, in the case of the configuration as shown in FIG. 4, first, the first wafer is taken out from the carrier CA1, and put into the board identification symbol reading section READ1. Then, the content of the identification symbol of the first wafer is read, and the wafer is changed to DEV1 or DEV2 →
OV1 or OV2 → Process via DUV1 or DUV2, or DEV
1 or DEV2 → Determine whether to perform only OV1 or OV2 processing, and proceed with the processing. Here, DUV1 and DUV2 are far ultraviolet irradiation units for improving the heat resistance of the pattern after the development processing. Further, the developing units DEV1, DEV2
Has a built-in development result measurement unit (development end point detection unit), and has a part that can be optically detected so that development of each wafer is appropriate. In the apparatus of the present embodiment, a series of combined processing procedures can be arbitrarily set by an operator's operation. According to this processing procedure, the host computer
Controls the order of loading and unloading wafers. For example, the following processing procedures can be specified by the operator. The wafer in the carrier CA placed on the indexer IDX is moved and processed as follows. Carrier CA → coating section CT1 → oven section OV1 → carrier CA This designates a process of only baking after coating. The wafer in the carrier CA placed on the indexer IDX is moved and processed as follows. Carrier CA → Coating section CT1 → Oven section OV1 → Coating section CT2 → Oven section OV2 → Carrier CA The wafer in the carrier CA placed on the indexer IDX is moved and processed as follows. Carrier CA → Cleaning part SC → Oven part OV2 → Coating part CT1 → Oven part O
V1 → Carrier CA The wafer in the carrier CA placed on the indexer IDX is moved and processed as follows. Carrier CA → Developing unit DEV1 or DEV2 → Oven unit OV1 or OV
2 → Carrier CA As described above, the process order of wafers is designated by the operation of the operator, and the host computer processes the wafers according to the designated process. Further, in the apparatus of this embodiment, a plurality of series of processing procedures can be set and operated simultaneously or by switching. For example, when a plurality of carriers are installed, the wafer of the A carrier is processed from the coating unit CT1 through the oven unit OV1.
If the wafer of the B carrier is set to be processed from the developing unit DEV1 or DEV2 via the oven unit OV2, the hand computer automatically determines the ready or busy state of each unit and the hand WH automatically processes the wafer of each carrier. It is possible to proceed with the processing while moving the object. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a central control monitor HC for centrally controlling each part of the apparatus of this embodiment is connected to a host CPU in a control room (a room different from the place where the apparatus is located). It can also be used for control monitoring. Each component can have a sub-hand. Fig. 6 (a), (b), (c)
3 is a perspective view and a sectional view of a main part showing a state where a sub-hand is provided in a coating apparatus CT1 of the apparatus shown in FIG. In the figures (a), (b) and (c), HD is a hand, CH is a chuck, CP is a cup,
CBH indicates a sub hand, SR indicates a slide rail, RG indicates a rack gear, PG indicates a pinion gear, CY1 to CY3 indicate cylinders, and W1 and W2 indicate wafers. The cylinder CY2 is fixed to the base as shown in FIG.
Y2 is link-fixed. This subhand has a wafer centering function and a wafer buffer function. That is, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the upper part of the sub-hand CBH serves as a buffer area, which can hold the processed wafer W2.
The centering can be performed when placing on the H. This operation will be described. First, the processed wafer W placed on the chuck CH
2 is pushed up above the paper surface by the chuck CH. Thereafter, the cylinder CY1 is contracted, and the sub-hand CBH 2
The width of one arm. Then, the wafer W2 is placed on the sub hand CBH by lowering the chuck CH. When this is completed, the sub-hand CBH is raised above the paper surface by the cylinder CY3. As a result, the wafer W2 is buffered. Next, the unprocessed wafer W1 is carried onto the cup CP by the hand HD. Then, the chuck CH is moved up again to receive the wafer W1 on the chuck CH. The hand HD escapes from the cup CP once. At this time, the arm of the hand CBH slightly narrows due to the contraction of the cylinder CY2, and the center of the wafer W1 and the chuck center completely match. FIG. 6 (b) shows the state at this time. Next, the chuck CH sucks the wafer W1 by vacuum. Then, the cylinder CY2 operates again to slightly open the sub-hand CBH, and the chuck CH descends while holding the wafer W1. The hand HD is inserted again on the cup CP, and then the cylinder CY
3, the sub-hand CBH is lowered to transfer the wafer W2 onto the hand HD, and the hand HD contracts again and shifts to the next processing. At the same time, the cylinder CY1 is opened and the sub-hand CBH escapes from above the cup CP, and enters a state in which processing of the wafer W1 is started. FIG. 7 shows an oven part of the apparatus of FIG. 1, for example one unit of OV1.
This is an example in which a subhand is provided in an oven, and the wafer is taken out from the heating chamber provided with a hot plate after a certain time so that the wafer is not overbaked. In the figure, when a wafer is received from the hand HD to the oven chuck CHO, the cylinder CY4 is driven to move up the entire unit and receive the wafer on the sub-hand SBH. The sub hand SBH operates to the left by driving the motor M1, loads a wafer onto the oven OV, and places the wafer on the oven OV when the entire unit is down by the cylinder CY4. Then, the sub hand SBH returns to the original position by driving the motor M1 again. After a certain period of baking in the oven OV, the sub-hand SBH can return the wafer to the oven chuck CHD by performing the above-described reverse operation. When the application process and the baking process by the spin-type processing device overlap, it is necessary to take an extremely large device occupation area as shown in FIG. However, according to the apparatus as shown in the above embodiment, since the apparatus is extended vertically, it can be arranged in a limited area, and the area occupied by the apparatus is reduced. Further, since the conventional arrangement is a row arrangement, for example, when only the SOGCT (SPIN ON GLASS coater) is to be used in a device arrangement as shown in the plan arrangement diagram of FIG.
There is a restriction that B ₃ and B ₄ must be used as senders and B ₅ and B ₆ must be used as receivers. However, according to the apparatus shown in the above embodiment, there is no such restriction, and the wafer can be taken out from the same carrier station even when the process needs to be changed on the way. According to the apparatus of this embodiment, useless buffer stations (B _{1 to} B _{8 in} FIG. 9)
Is eliminated, and a hand is not required between units (for example, between S and CT in FIG. 9), so that the cost can be reduced. Further, since the apparatus itself can increase the cleanliness, the price of the user clean room can be reduced. Furthermore, in each unit, a portion requiring cleanness and temperature control can be locally controlled, so that constant conditions can always be realized. Also,
Since the wafer being handled is always transported in the storage case, there is no risk of foreign matter getting on the wafer. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the respective components of the substrate processing apparatus are arranged in the vertical direction, the floor occupied area can be reduced, and the apparatus as a whole can be reduced in cost and shape and dimensions. Can be reduced. Further, even in a clean room where the cleanliness is relatively low, the cleanliness can be kept high in the apparatus according to the present invention, and the contamination on the wafer can be reduced. Further, the flexibility of the processing process is greatly improved, and it is possible to use the semiconductor device in a laboratory, a factory, or a factory for small-scale production of various kinds, for example, for performing trial manufacture and research of semiconductors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a duct AD, a filter AF and an exhaust of the apparatus shown in FIG. Duct R
3 and 4 are front views showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a centralized control monitor HC in a control room. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of arrangement, FIG. 6 is a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state where a sub-hand is provided in the coating apparatus of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is an apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are plan layout views of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which respective components are flatly arranged. [Description of References] AD, RD: Duct, AF: Filter, HD: Wiring Duct Duct, CA: Carrier, IDX: Wafer Cassette Placement Unit, SC: Wafer Cleaning Unit, CT1, CT2: Coating Device, OV1, OV2: Oven section, DEV1, DEV2: developing apparatus, WW, WW1 to WW4: wafer loading / unloading port, CW: carrier loading / unloading port, WHU: entire hand section, WH: hand HC: centralized control monitor HD: hand, CH: chuck, CP: Cup, CBH: sub-hand, SR: slide rail, RG: rack gear, PG: pinion gear, CY1 to 4: cylinder, W1, W2: wafer, CHO: oven chuck, SBH: subhand, OV: oven, M1: drive motor.

Claims (1)

Claims: (1) A resist coating section, a resist developing section, an oven section, a cleaning section, a deep ultraviolet light irradiating section, a film thickness measuring section, a development result measuring section, a substrate identification symbol reading section, a substrate cassette mounting section. It has several device components among the device components, etc., and a plurality of the device components arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the floor surface is arranged in a plurality along the floor surface. When carrying out a substrate to or from any device component of the several device components arranged side by side, before and after for holding and transporting the substrate, left and right,
It has a transfer hand that can move in each of the up and down directions, so that the order of loading and unloading substrates to and from the several device components via the transfer hand can be arbitrarily set by a series of combined processing procedures. Characteristic substrate processing equipment. (2) The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of series of treatment procedures are set and operated simultaneously or by switching. (3) The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for sending clean air that has passed through a clean filter to the some of the apparatus components.