JP2926703B2 - Substrate processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The disclosed technology belongs to the technical field of processing systems such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known to those skilled in the art, in the manufacture of semiconductor devices such as ICs, in order to form elements such as transistors on a semiconductor single crystal wafer such as silicon (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer). A number of fine processing steps are included, and among them, a PEP (photoengraving process) step of forming a predetermined resist pattern on the surface of the wafer occupies a very important position in the processing step.

The reason is that the resist pattern formed in the PEP process is used as an etching mask or the like and forms the basis of the current fine processing technology.

[0004] The formation of a resist pattern in the PEP process is performed by applying a photoresist solution to the surface of a wafer in the form of a thin film as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-27367. Forming a photoresist film having a large thickness, thereafter selectively exposing a predetermined area of the photoresist film, and subsequently developing the exposed photoresist film to form a desired resist pattern And a step of performing

[0005] Of these, the exposure step is, for example, a step
The step of forming a photoresist film on the surface of a wafer is performed using, for example, an apparatus described below, using an exposure apparatus such as an and repeated aligner (usually called a stepper). These are performed in a series, such as the former stage and the latter stage.

That is, the flowchart of FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a processing system in a photoresist film forming step generally called a track system of the series type, and the photoresist film forming step is, as shown in FIG. From the first stage to the second stage, there are a plurality of processing stations for performing the preheating step 4, the cooling step 5, the coating step 6, and the heating step 8 in series.

The wafers 1 having a photoresist film formed on the surface thereof are housed in a cassette 2, taken out one by one, introduced into a photoresist film forming process apparatus, and sequentially processed by a belt holding / transporting mechanism 3. It is transported to the station, which is to be subjected to predetermined respective processes.

[0008] In a preheating step 4, the wafer 1 is heated to remove moisture, and the preheated wafer 1 is heated.
Is cooled in a cooling step 5 in the next stage, and then sent to a coating step 6. In the coating step 6, a predetermined photoresist liquid is applied to the surface by a coating device such as a spinner coater. Uniformly applied to the set thin film thickness layer.

Next, the wafer 1 coated with the photoresist solution is sent to a heating step 8 via a walking beam type transfer mechanism 7 and subjected to a heating process, so that the photoresist 1 coated on the wafer 1 is heated. The liquid is stabilized in a film form.

Then, the heating process in the heating step 8 is completed, and the wafer 9 having a predetermined photoresist film formed on its surface is stored in the processed wafer storage cassette 10 by the belt holding and transporting mechanism 3. Is done.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above,
In the conventional photoresist film forming system, the stations of each processing step are arranged in series,
The wafer 1 to be processed must pass through each of these stations in a predetermined order and in a one-way mode of a forward feed method, regardless of whether or not the original processing is required by the design. It has to be.

Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the processing order once set in advance cannot be arbitrarily changed, and it is impossible to selectively pass only a certain processing station.

By the way, the processing steps necessary for forming semiconductor elements on the wafer 1, including the order thereof, differ depending on the type of the function, purpose and the like of the IC formed on the wafer 1.

Nevertheless, in the conventional photoresist film forming apparatus, all processing steps have to be performed even for a wafer that does not require a certain processing step, which hinders the incorporation of a so-called throughput processing step. There were difficulties.

Further, when the wafer 1 is transported from the cassette 2 to a predetermined processing step, the wafer 1 is transported to the processing section by a belt holding / transporting mechanism 3 such as a string belt conveyor of a forward feed type. There is a possibility that a displacement or the like occurs, which seriously affects the accuracy of products such as particles, and that dust adheres.

In this case, there is a disadvantage that the particles are more likely to be generated when an attempt is made to adjust the alignment of the wafer by causing a difference in relative speed between the pair of belts.

Therefore, according to the type of the wafer to be processed, a desired processing station is used in any order among the multi-stage processing stations provided in the photoresist film forming apparatus, including the case where only a single station is used. There is a strong demand for the appearance of a substrate processing apparatus such as a photoresist film forming apparatus capable of arbitrarily and independently changing the process.

Thus, the above-mentioned problems are not only present in the semiconductor wafer alone, but also in the substrate to be processed which is equivalent to the semiconductor wafer.

In order to take out the substrate to be processed from a storage cassette for storing the substrate to a station of a predetermined processing step and transfer it, for example, US Pat.
A system having tweezers that can be displaced in the front-rear direction and in the up-down direction has been developed as a holding / transporting mechanism as shown in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 81, but in such system technology, free movement in two directions is possible. degrees only without centering the station of predetermined processing steps of the substrate, the optimum posture adjusting the alignment, in the optimal state,
In addition, there is a problem that it is not possible to carry in and out in the shortest distance.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention of this application is to solve the problem of loading and unloading a substrate such as a wafer into a plurality of predetermined processing steps based on the above-mentioned prior art. An excellent substrate processing method and apparatus which can selectively change a plurality of processing steps for a substrate to be processed as necessary and can improve throughput of each processing, thereby benefiting a processing technology application field in various machine equipment manufacturing industries. Is to be provided.

[0021]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the structure of the invention according to the present invention, which is based on the above-mentioned claims, is to solve the above-mentioned problems. And a step of temporarily holding the substrate to be processed taken out by the step, and a first holding / transporting mechanism supported by a carriage to receive the substrate to be processed held by the step, and A step of transporting the substrate to a predetermined processing step, and taking out the substrate to be processed in the step by a second holding and transporting mechanism supported by the carriage, and holding the substrate by the first holding and transporting function A step of loading another substrate to be processed into the process, and after the step of loading, processing the processed substrate held by the second holding and transporting mechanism taken out by a predetermined processing program. And the step of storing the processed substrate that has been completed in the cassette for unloading and processing by the first or second holding / transporting mechanism is performed as a first core. , A plurality of processing means, a means for removing one unprocessed substrate stored in the cassette, an interface mechanism for temporarily holding the processed substrate taken out by the means, and a support for the carriage. And a transport unit having a first holding and transporting mechanism having tweezers and a transporting unit having a second holding and transporting mechanism, respectively. The transporting unit transports the substrate to be processed held by the interface mechanism via tweezers. The first holding and transporting mechanism receives and transports the substrate to be processed to a predetermined processing means, which has been processed by the processing means. The second holding / transporting mechanism takes out from the processing means via the processing means, then loads another substrate to be processed held by the first holding / transporting mechanism into the processing means, and after the loading, removes the second substrate. The processed substrate held by the second holding / transporting mechanism is transported to the next predetermined processing means, and the processing substrate which has completed the predetermined processing program by these processing means is subjected to the first or second processing. The second backing is to store in a cassette for carrying out processing by the holding / transporting mechanism, so that each of the tweezers is provided with a fulcrum for three-point support. In this case, a technical means is adopted in which a vacuum hole of a minute suction port is formed at the front end of the vacuum pump.

[0022]

In the meantime, in the above configuration, the transfer mechanism and
In each holding and transport mechanism, centering and alignment of the substrate to be processed are performed, and the wafer of the substrate to be processed is set by the holding and transport mechanism in an optimal posture in the next processing step. A first and a second holding and transporting mechanism having tweezers supported by a carriage in the transporting path are provided on both sides of the transporting path by a predetermined moving mechanism, and are thermally separated; Are carried into predetermined stations independently of each other in the upper and lower layers of the processing step, and the same predetermined processing such as heat treatment is performed in the station in an optimum posture. The processing is performed including the throughput, and then transferred to a station of the next processing step according to a predetermined program from each holding / transporting mechanism of the transporting path. In addition, the support device for the predetermined number of tweezers has three fulcrums such as a negative pressure type, so that the three-point support does not cause scratches or distortion on the substrate to be processed, and also prevents fine dust and the like from adhering. Further, another tweezers having the same displacement function as described above is provided in the loading / unloading mechanism so that the substrate to be processed from the cassette is baton-touched to the tweezers of the holding / transporting mechanism, so that the baton touching is performed smoothly. Further, an extended transport path of the transport path is provided, and further, in an added multi-stage processing unit system, desired processing is smoothly performed in series by an interface mechanism having a buffer function, or The processing is performed in parallel or in combination with each other so as to achieve the desired throughput according to a program. Mutually independently to emissions, also mutually disjoint manner, and, in which selectively processing is to be made to the design.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a processing system having a photoresist film coating and developing apparatus for a wafer as a substrate to be processed will be described with reference to FIGS. The following is a description with reference to FIG.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a photoresist film coating and developing apparatus 100. A main body base 101 is provided near one side of the center (upper part in the figure).
At the center of the main body base 101, an arrow Y direction (lateral direction)
Of the transfer path of the wafer W as the substrate to be processed
HMDS for heating the unprocessed wafer W to remove moisture and the like on one side.
(Hexamethyldisilazane) A preheating station 103 which involves or simply heats a process, and a cooling station 104 for cooling a preheated wafer W provided in parallel with the preheating station 103, and further, for example, a photoresist solution The first and second heating stations 105 and 106 each having two heating devices (not shown) in the vertical direction used for forming the dried photoresist film by heating the wafer W after applying the Adjacent to the side and along the passage 102.

On the other side of the passage 102, for example, the surface of the wafer W which has been subjected to the preheating and cooling processes is
The first used to apply the photoresist liquid, and
Second application stations 107 and 108 are provided along the passage 102 adjacent to each other.

In FIG. 1, the preheating station 103, the cooling station 104, and the first and second heating stations 105 and 106 are illustrated as being arranged in a plane for convenience of illustration. However, this is for the sake of convenience. In practice, the heating device of the pre-heating station 103 is provided on the cooling station 104 in a stacked structure in which two upper and lower heating devices are provided.

Thus, passage 102 has stations 103, 104, 105, 106, and 10 on either side thereof.
7, 108 are disposed in an opposed manner, so that they are thermally separated from each other, so that thermal management, control, and maintenance are facilitated.

Thus, the inside of the passage 102 is
For example, a handling unit that moves in the Y direction (lateral direction) by a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw, for example, a wafer holding and transporting mechanism 110 as a holding and transporting mechanism that transports the wafer W to a predetermined station is provided. The holding and transporting mechanism 110 has a carriage 111 as a transporting mechanism. Vacuum type tweezers, for example, two tweezers 112 and 113 for sucking and holding the wafer W are attached to the carriage 111 in a vertically stacked manner. ing.

The tweezers 112 and 113 can move independently of each other in the X direction (vertical direction) and the Y direction (horizontal direction), and at the same time, can selectively move in parallel in the Z direction (vertical direction). Further, it can be turned in the direction of a predetermined angle θ (plane).

In order to allow the tweezers 112 and 113 to perform such a parallel movement and a turning movement, the carriage 111 is provided with a stepping motor and an appropriate drive mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw connected thereto. Is provided.

Then, the tweezers 112 and 113 hold the wafer W with one of the tweezers, center the wafer W in an optimum posture at a predetermined processing station, adjust the alignment, and transport the wafer W. The processed wafer W is present at the processing station. At this time, the processed wafer W is
Pick up and back set.

Then, on the left side of the figure of the main body base 101,
Wafer unloading and input mechanism 120 is provided, the wafer cassette 122 for accommodating the wafer W _B of the pretreatment, and the wafer cassette 123 for accommodating the wafer W _F after the processing is provided, also adsorb the back surface of the wafer W A tweezers 121 is provided as a transfer mechanism for holding the object.

The tweezers 121 correspond to the tweezers 1 described above.
The X direction (vertical direction) and the Y direction
Direction (lateral direction), translated in the Z direction (vertical direction), and, theta direction pivotal movement of the (turning direction) are selectively enabled, pretreatment of the wafer W _B the wafer cassette 122
Removed from, also baton to wafer cassette 12 in accordance with the wafer W _F after processing each program
3.

The tweezers 121 of the carry-in / out mechanism 120
Is the wafer W _B pretreated baton to transition to the tweezers 112 and 113 of the holding transport mechanism 110, also,
The wafer W _F after processing are to receive to the tweezers 112 and 113 also baton, the later interface mechanism 30 as transfer device capable of consuming baton specific delivery is a passage 102 with the loading and unloading mechanism 120 Is provided at the boundary portion.

The tweezers 112 and 113 of the holding / transporting mechanism 110 are connected to the respective processing stations 103 to 108.
Delivery of the wafer W between the series or
The wafer W can be freely performed in parallel, in combination, and further in terms of throughput, so that the wafers W can be predetermined in each of the processing stations 103 to 108 in accordance with the order of the setting program. It can be processed.

The operation of the holding and conveying mechanism 110 is controlled and controlled in a predetermined manner by an appropriate control system (not shown).

Therefore, by changing the program of the control system, the processing at each of the processing stations 103 to 108 of the wafer W can be performed in series, in parallel, sequentially, in combination, or It can be set arbitrarily in terms of throughput and independently, in other words, in other words, each processing station 103-
It is possible to perform only some of the processes in 108 independently, or to change the order of the processes.

2 to 5, the tweezers 112, 113 and 121 are commonly shown in detail for convenience of illustration. In the drawings, reference numeral 21 denotes a fork-shaped tweezer body in plan view. And three fulcrums 22 and 2 on one side.
3 and 24 are formed by protruding in a triangular arrangement.
Are supported and conveyed at three points by these fulcrums 22, 23, and 24, and are supported in a floating manner above the tweezers main body 21 with a small interval therebetween to prevent dust from adhering to the surface of the wafer W. Is made possible.

Of the fulcrums 22, 23 and 24, the fulcrum 24 is provided with a suction port (not shown) for vacuum suction, which is opened on the fine top surface thereof, and is connected to a vacuum device (not shown).

Of course, it is within the scope of design change to use the same mechanism for the other fulcrums 22, 23.

An arc-shaped guide member 25 corresponding to the peripheral edge of the wafer W is provided on the front and rear portions of the tweezer body 21 in the longitudinal direction for centering and / or alignment of the wafer W. Stopper member 26
The wafer W is first placed on the fulcrums 22, 23, and 24 in the state shown in FIG. 3, but in this state, the wafer W is not centered or aligned, and It is not in the adsorption state.

[0042] In this posture, as shown in FIG. 4, the forceps body 21 are relatively moved horizontally toward the stopper member 26 is brought into contact with the orientation flat W _a of the wafer W to the stopper member 26.

Thereafter, the horizontal movement of the tweezers body 21 is further continued, so that the wafer W is moved to the tweezers body 2.
Lightly slide on the three fulcrums 22, 23 and 24 of 1
Eventually, the guide member 25 is brought into contact with the guide member 25, centered, aligned, and stopped.

Therefore, even if the position of the wafer W is shifted from the center of the tweezer body 21 in the state of FIG. 3, the wafer W is guided by the guide member 25 as shown in FIG. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5, centering and alignment can be performed at a predetermined position in the center of the tweezer body 21.

FIG. 6 shows an interface mechanism 30 as the transfer device provided at the boundary between the passage 102 and the wafer loading / unloading mechanism 120. The interface mechanism 30 includes the tweezers 121 and the tweezers 11
And a holding member 31 for holding the wafer W by a vacuum suction mechanism, and an air for moving the holding member 31 up and down. Drive device 3 such as cylinder
It consists of two.

When the tweezers 121 of the transfer mechanism of the loading / unloading mechanism 120 transports the wafer W to the position shown in the drawing, the holding member 31 rises via the driving device 32 and lifts and holds the wafer W. Then, the wafer holding / transporting mechanism 110 on the side of the resist film coating / developing apparatus 100 moves to the position of the interface mechanism 30 as a transfer device shown in the drawing.

Next, when the holding member 31 is lowered by the driving device 32, the wafer W held by the holding member 31 is moved.
Is placed on the tweezers 112 or 113 in a baton touch manner.

Then, the transfer of the wafer W from the tweezers 112 and 113 to the tweezers 121 in a baton touch manner is performed in the same manner as the above-described process.

The steps of forming a photoresist film on the surface of the wafer W by the resist film coating and developing apparatus 100 in the above configuration will be described in order.

Each step is processed based on a program which is input to the control system and stored in advance.

[0051] First, the tweezers 121 of metastasis mechanism of loading and unloading mechanism 120 takes out one sheet of wafer W _B before treatment from the cassette 122, is conveyed to the position of the interface mechanism 30.

Then, the transferred wafer W _B is
Via the interface mechanism 30, one of the tweezers, for example, tweezers 112, of the holding and transporting mechanism 110 which is waiting at the entrance of the passage 102 is passed by suction and held, set in the preheating station 103, and subjected to the preheating process Is done.

[0053] In the case where only the wafer W _B of the same type in one cassette 122 is housed, the cassette 1
An appropriate ID code may be displayed at 22, and the program of the manufacturing process may be selected by reading the ID code.

The preheating station 103, the cooling station 104, the first coating station 107,
A case where each process in the first heating station 105 is selected to be performed in this order will be described.

First, the first, ie, the first wafer W
Tweezers 112 that received the preheating station 1
03, the wafer W is centered at a predetermined position in the preliminary station 103, set in an aligned posture, and placed on a heater plate (not shown) provided therein to perform a preliminary heating process.

During this time, the wafer W is transferred by the transfer mechanism 121,
As described above, the vertical direction (X),
The position and orientation are adjusted so as to be selectively and selectively displaced in the horizontal direction (Y), the vertical direction (Z), and the turning direction (θ), and set in an optimal state for the processing step.

At this time, the wafer W is not brought into direct contact with the heater plate, and the three fulcrums 2
If the posture is set so that it is floated by about 0.3 mm by the transfer through the three-point support by 2, 23, and 24, the dust adhesion countermeasure is good.

During this time, the tweezers 121 are moved to
The second wafer W is taken out of the cassette 122 and kept in the interface mechanism 30 as a transfer device, and after the first wafer W has been carried into the preheating station 103, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 is moved from the interface mechanism 30 to the second Wafer W with tweezers 112
And hold it on the tweezers 112, and stand by until the processing of the first wafer W in the preheating station 103 is completed.

When the preliminary heating process for the first wafer W is completed, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 performs the following operation.

That is, first, by moving the tweezers 113 that does not hold the wafer W, the first wafer W for which the preheating process has been completed is taken out from the preheating station 103.

After the preheating station 103 is emptied in this way, the tweezers 112 holding the second wafer W is operated, and the second wafer W
Is set in the preheating station 103.

Next, the tweezers 112 and 113 are selectively moved in the Y, θ, and Z directions, moved to the cooling station 104, and tweezers 1 holding the wafer W.
13 is moved in the X direction, and the first wafer W is set in the cooling station 104.

From the above operation, two tweezers 112,
The advantage of providing 113 is fully utilized.

When there is only one tweezer, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 first takes out the first wafer W from the preheating station 103, sets it in the cooling station 104, and then sets the first wafer W to the interface mechanism 30. This is because the operation of receiving the second wafer W and setting it in the preheating station 103 must be performed.

During the above operation, the third wafer W to be processed next by the tweezers 121 is kept on standby in the interface mechanism 30 in the loading / unloading mechanism 120.

Next, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 transfers the third wafer W from the interface mechanism 30 to the tweezers 11.
2 and wait until the processing in the cooling station 104 is completed.

When the first wafer W cooling process is completed, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 uses the tweezers 113 that does not hold the wafer W to the cooling station 104.
Then, the wafer W is taken out, and then loaded into the first coating station 107 on the opposite side of the passage 102 for the programmed photoresist film coating process.

When the preheating process for the second wafer W in the preheating station 103 is completed during the coating process, the holding and transporting mechanism 110 transfers the wafer W by the tweezers 113 that does not hold the wafer W. Remove from the preheating station 103.

Then, the third wafer W held by the tweezers 112 is
At the same time, the second wafer W held by the tweezers 113 is carried into the cooling station 104 and set.

This operation is the same as in the above-described embodiment.

If the preheating process for the second wafer W is completed before the cooling process for the first wafer W is completed, the following processing operation may be programmed. It is possible.

That is, while the third unprocessed wafer W is held by the tweezers 112, the tweezers 1
Then, the second wafer W is taken out of the preheating station 103 by 13, and the third wafer W held by the tweezers 112 is set in the preheating station 103, and then stands by.

After the step of cooling the first wafer W in the cooling station 104 is completed, the first wafer W is taken out with tweezers 112 or 113 and loaded into the first coating station 107.

The application of the photoresist solution at the application station 107 is performed by, for example, a spin coating apparatus under a resist droplet known to those skilled in the art.

When the first coating process of the photoresist liquid on the wafer W is completed in the first coating station 107, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 transfers the wafer W to the first coating station 107 by the tweezers 113. Remove from

Subsequently, the wafer W is moved rightward in the figure along the Y direction, and the first wafer W taken out is carried into the first heating station 105 and set therein, where the first wafer W is heated.

When the cooling process of the second wafer W in the cooling station 104 is completed while the heating process is being performed, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 takes out the wafer W with the tweezers 113, and further removes the first wafer W. It is carried into and set in the coating station 107, and the coating process of the photoresist liquid is started.

When the processing of the first wafer W is completed in the first heating station 105 and a desired photoresist film is formed, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 transfers the first wafer W to the tweezers 113. Take out at.

Subsequently, the holding / transporting mechanism 110 moves to the left in the Y direction in the figure, and transfers the wafer W held by the tweezers 113 to the interface mechanism (transfer mechanism) 30 in a baton-touch manner.

The interface mechanism (transfer mechanism) 30
During the standby in the above, the wafer W is not directly contacted with the mounting portion,
As described above, placing the device in a slightly raised posture is effective in preventing dust adhesion.

It is further advantageous that the standby interface mechanism (transfer mechanism) 30 is constituted by a carrier cassette.

[0082] When the wafer W _F of already processed this way is wait interface mechanism (transition mechanism) 30,
The tweezers 121 of the loading / unloading mechanism 120 is used for the wafer W _F
And transported to the cassette 123 for storage.

A series of processing operations described above are performed in the cassette 1
Wafer W _B unprocessed 22 is continued until no.

In the above description of the operation, the first coating station 107 and the first heating station 105 are used.
8 and the second heating station 106 may be used.

Also, a photoresist film coating step and / or
Alternatively, when the heating step takes a longer time than the other steps, the two application stations 107 and 108 and / or the two heating stations 105 and 106 can be used simultaneously, and the transfer mechanism 30 can be used. It is also possible to transfer from a site to a desired processing step in a throughput manner for processing.

By the way, when performing the above-described photoresist film forming step, a test process is performed on one test wafer W in order to confirm whether or not the programmed process is appropriate. Is normal,
In this case, the test wafer W for which the trial process has been completed
_It is necessary to take out the _T from the cassette 123 for inspection. To facilitate this removal, as shown in FIG.
A handle 41 is provided once in the regiver 40, and a wafer mounting table 42 is provided therein. The test wafer W _T having been subjected to the trial processing is inserted from the opening 43 by the tweezers 121. It is mounted on the mounting table 42.

[0087] Thus, the test wafer W _T can be easily taken out by pulling out as illustrated receiver 40.

It should be noted that the number of tweezers of the holding / transporting mechanism 110 is not necessarily limited to two, but may be three or more.

As is apparent from the above description of the operation, according to the processing apparatus of the above-described embodiment, a plurality of processing steps required for forming a photoresist film on the surface of the wafer W are performed.
The best process can be programmed in any combination including the order.

Therefore, it is possible to select the most efficient combination of processing steps according to the type of the wafer W to be processed, and to obtain the best throughput.

Further, since the holding / transporting mechanism 110 has two tweezers 112 and 113 and operates independently of each other, the degree of freedom of each processing is high. For example, when the wafer W is present in the station of the next process. In this case, there is no inconvenience that the wafer W in the process cannot be replaced.

Further, a plurality of processing stations are connected to the passage 10.
2, the stations on both sides are thermally opposed to each other, so that heat management, heat control, and maintenance can be easily performed. The degree of freedom in changing the operation program is extremely high, and therefore, it is extremely easy to change the processing program.

Further, by arranging the preheating station 103 and the cooling station 104 one above the other,
The advantage is that the floor space required for installation is also reduced.

Thus, those skilled in the art can use the apparatus of the above embodiment as an apparatus for developing a photoresist film exposed in a predetermined pattern and forming a resist pattern without any difficulty.

In that case, the coating stations 107 and 10
An apparatus for applying a developing solution to 8 can also be provided.

The developing device may be configured to, for example, jet a developing solution onto the wafer W being rotated at a variable speed in a jet state to perform development.

Further, the two coating stations 107, 1
08 for application of a photoresist solution,
By using for the application of the other developer, it can be used as an apparatus for performing both formation and development of a photoresist film.

At this time, an interface mechanism 30 shown in FIG. 6 is also provided at the right end of the passage 102 in the drawing, so that the wafer W can be transferred to and from the exposure apparatus.
It is possible to perform a series of processes from a photoresist film coating process to a developing process as an integrated continuous process, or arbitrarily in parallel, and further, to perform throughput.

When a plurality of processing units are to be connected, a next passage is formed on the extension of the passage 102, and a standby mechanism for the wafer W, for example,
A carrier station may be provided.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
Unloads the wafer W in the cassette 2 or the cassette 1
Each process is performed by the above-described operation by the loading / unloading mechanism 120 having the arm 120a for loading into the inside 22, 22 and the first processing system 150 having the holding / transporting mechanism 110a for transferring the wafer W by the interface mechanism 30. .

For example, an HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) processing station 151, a first heating station 152, a first cooling station 153, a first layer A first coating station 154 for spin-coating a photoresist solution of the second layer, and a second coating station 155 for spin-coating the photoresist solution of the second layer. These stations are selectively, independently or independently provided. The wafer W is conveyed and processed, and a plurality of processing stations, for example, a second heating station 156, a second cooling station 157, and a photoresist for spinning light diffuse reflection in an exposure process. A third coating station 158 for coating and forming a surface coating layer such as a CEL film on the upper surface of the film is opposed to each other. In addition, a second processing system 159 having a holding and transporting mechanism 110b for transporting the wafer W is provided in these stations, and a standby mechanism 160 is provided between the second processing system 159 and the first processing system 150. The standby mechanism 160 is provided with a mounting table 161 on which one wafer W can be mounted, and an interface mechanism (transfer mechanism) 30 is provided.
In the same manner as the transfer of the wafer W in
, The holding and transport mechanism 110 of the first processing system 150
a and the transfer mechanism 110b of the second processing system 159, the transfer of the wafer W can be performed. The configuration of the standby mechanism 160 includes a buffer cassette (not shown) without the mounting table 161. The buffer cassette may have a structure in which a plurality of wafers W can be on standby.

The buffer cassette makes it possible to reduce the waiting time of one of the holding / transporting mechanisms even if there is a difference in the amount of work between the holding / transporting mechanism 110a and the holding / transporting mechanism 110b.

As described above, by using two transfer mechanisms via the standby mechanism 160, it is possible to easily cope with an increase in the number of processing stations in a multi-stage processing process and to perform high-throughput processing.

The number of the transport mechanisms is not limited to two, but may be two or more. The number can be increased as the standby mechanism is added.

In the above-described embodiment, the embodiment in which the manufacturing apparatus is applied to the coating and developing processing of a photoresist film has been described, but the invention of this application is not limited to this.
For example, not only a wafer but also a substrate equivalent to the substrate can be used as the substrate, and etching, CVD, ashing, and the like can be similarly performed.

[0106]

As described above, according to the invention of this application, in an apparatus for basically performing a process such as a photoresist film coating process and a developing process on a substrate such as a wafer, before and after processing the substrate. The tweezers of the substrate holding / transporting mechanism provided on the transport path are connected to the transport path connected to a predetermined plurality of processing steps from the substrate loading / unloading mechanism equipped with the storage cassette. By having a holding / transporting mechanism for a substrate to be processed, which has a degree of freedom for selectively performing displacement in four directions not only in the direction (Y) and the vertical direction (Z) but also in the turning direction (θ). The substrate to be processed can be directly or optimally provided to the optimal processing step depending on the conditions for processing the substrate to be processed, and as a result, the processing in each processing step can be performed under the optimal conditions. As a result By product performance is significantly increased with excellent effect also significantly improved reliability of the product are obtained.

Therefore, even if the processing apparatus is provided with a plurality of processing stations based on a plurality of programs from the design stage, which are vertically stacked on both sides of the transport path, the substrate holding and transporting mechanism can be moved from the storage cassette. Can take out the substrate to be processed from the storage cassette and connect it to the station of a desired processing step directly or indirectly selectively mutually independently or mutually reciprocally. An excellent effect is obtained that the optimal processing is performed on

In the loading / unloading mechanism for the substrate to be processed, a transfer mechanism for the holding / transporting mechanism of the transport path is provided, and similarly to the holding / transporting mechanism, the vertical direction (X), the horizontal direction (Y), the vertical direction (Z), In addition, by providing a transfer mechanism in which the four directions of the turning direction (θ) can be selectively displaced, it is possible to take out and store the substrate to be processed from and into the cassette as designed under the optimum conditions. And therefore
An excellent effect is obtained in that damage, distortion, adhesion of dust, and the like of the substrate to be processed during transfer are reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a photoresist film coating and developing apparatus for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the tweezers of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view before operation of the tweezers of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the same during operation.

FIG. 5 is a plan view after the operation.

FIG. 6 is a wall side view of the interface.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the structure of the cassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of an apparatus for applying a photoresist film to a wafer based on a conventional technique.

[Description of Signs] W (1) Substrate to be processed (wafer) 122, 123 (Storage) cassette 120 Loading / unloading mechanism 103, 108 Processing step (station) 102 Transport path 100 Holding mechanism 112 First holding / transporting mechanism 113 Second Holding and transporting mechanism 22 to 24 fulcrum 30 transfer mechanism 111 carriage

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Osamu Hirakawa 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture Inside Tel Kyushu Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshio Kimura 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture (56) References JP-A-63-13332 (JP, A) JP-A-59-208791 (JP, A) JP-A-62-19188 (JP, A) JP-A-58-33828 (JP, A A) JP-A-60-115216 (JP, A) JP-A-60-84819 (JP, A)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate to be processed before processing stored in a cassette.
Removing one of the substrates,
Temporarily holding the processing substrate; and
Holding the substrate to be processed supported by the carriage
The transport mechanism receives and performs predetermined processing steps
The transporting process and the substrate to be processed which has been processed in the process.
With the second holding and transporting mechanism supported by the carriage.
And then hold it by the first holding / transporting function.
Loading another substrate to be processed into the process,
After the step of carrying out, the taken-out second holding / transporting mechanism is held.
The processed substrate to be processed
The processed substrate after the completion of the gram
Into a cassette that has been unloaded by the second holding and transport mechanism
A substrate processing method having a step of storing.
Law. 2. A cassette for accommodating substrates to be processed, and a plurality of cassettes.
Processing means, and a processing target before processing stored in the cassette
Means for taking out one substrate, and the substrate taken out by the means
Interface mechanism and cap for temporarily holding the substrate to be processed
Supported by ridges, each having tweezers
Transport provided with one holding transport mechanism and second holding transport mechanism
Means, and the transport means has the interface mechanism.
The substrate to be processed held at
One holding and transport mechanism receives
Transported to a predetermined processing means, and processed by the processing means.
The substrate to be processed is held by the second holding / transporting machine via tweezers.
The structure is removed from the processing means, and then the first holding and transporting is performed.
Another substrate to be processed held by the mechanism is used as the processing means.
The second holding / transporting machine carried in and taken out after the carrying in
Pre-determined processed substrates to be
Transported to the next processing means
Up the processing board after completing the predetermined processing program
For unloading processing by the first or second holding and conveying mechanism
A substrate processing apparatus characterized by being housed in a cassette. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each tweezer is provided with a fulcrum for supporting three points. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a vacuum hole of a minute suction port is formed at a tip of each of the fulcrums.