JP3246890B2 - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus such as a heating apparatus or a pre-heating apparatus incorporated in a semiconductor manufacturing system for manufacturing a semiconductor device by using, for example, photoengraving technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a semiconductor manufacturing system using photoengraving technology, various processing units such as a resist coating unit, a drying unit, and a heating unit are incorporated in one system, and the various processing units are sequentially moved. A series of processing is performed while performing this.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view of a typical heat treatment unit 200.

In this heat treatment unit 200, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as “wafer”) W is placed on heat treatment board 20.
1, the wafer W is placed on the heat treatment board 201
Heat treatment by the heat released from the This heat treatment board 2
A heating mechanism (not shown) is incorporated in 01, and the heat treatment board 201 is heated by the amount of heat supplied from the heating mechanism. A plurality of small protrusions (not shown) are provided on the upper surface of the heat treatment board 201, and the wafer W is mounted on the tops of these small protrusions. To prevent scratches and dust from adhering to the lower surface. Therefore, a minute gap is formed between the lower surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the heat treatment plate 201, and heat is supplied from the upper surface of the heat treatment plate 201 to the lower surface of the wafer W via the gas in the gap, for example, nitrogen gas. Since the gas heated by the heat treatment plate 201 and the wafer W has a lower specific gravity than the surrounding lower-temperature air, the heat treatment unit 20
The pressure rises in the inside of the heat treatment plate 201 and is collected by the cover body 202 arranged opposite to the heat treatment board 201 and exhausted through a pipe 204 connected to the top 203 of the cover body 202.

Incidentally, the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W is previously determined depending on the type of the process, such as a preheating process and a drying process after resist application. Therefore, when another heat treatment step is performed after heat treatment at the same temperature for the same manufacturing lot is completed, it is necessary to adjust the temperature of the heat treatment board to a processing temperature according to the heat treatment to be performed.
At this time, if the heat treatment is performed at a higher temperature after the heat treatment at a lower temperature, the temperature of the heat treatment plate only needs to be raised, so that the temperature can be adjusted relatively easily.

On the other hand, when heat treatment is performed at a low temperature after the heat treatment step at a high temperature, the temperature of the heat treatment board must be lowered.

However, since the heat treatment board is made of a metal disc having a thickness of about 16 mm and has a large heat capacity, it is difficult to easily adjust the temperature to the low temperature side.

For example, in the conventional heat treatment board as described above, the apparatus is configured to wait until the temperature is lowered by natural cooling by air cooling. However, it takes a considerable time to lower the temperature to a desired temperature. , Low efficiency.

For this reason, a mechanism that incorporates a plurality of heating devices (hot plates) and adjusts the temperature to different processing temperatures has been conceived. However, as the number of hot plates increases, the size of the entire device increases, and the manufacturing cost increases. There is a problem that costs increase.

In a heat treatment apparatus having a structure in which one hot plate is used for heat treatments at different temperatures, a structure in which a cooling medium is circulated inside the heat treatment board to rapidly cool the heat treatment board so that the heat treatment board can be cooled in a short time may be considered. However, there is a problem that the structure of the heat treatment board becomes complicated and the production cost increases.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of lowering the temperature of a heat treatment board in a short time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing the heat treatment temperature without increasing the size of the entire apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing the heat treatment temperature without complicating the structure of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing the heat treatment temperature by minimizing the increase in the manufacturing cost of the apparatus and making minimal changes using an existing apparatus. .

[0016]

[0017]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus for heating a substrate to be processed, a cooling unit for cooling the heating unit, and a substrate for the substrate.
And at least one cooling body that is conveyed between the heating means and the cooling means to cool the heating means.

The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention described in claim 2, substantially the same shape and heating means for heating the target substrate, and the substrate to be processed for cooling the heating means apart contact with said heating means
Comprising Jo of the cooling body, the cooling means for cooling the cooling body to a predetermined temperature, and a conveying means for conveying the cooling body between the cooling means and the heating means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus comprising: a heating means for heating a substrate to be processed; and a cooling body for cooling the heating means by coming into contact with and separating from the heating means. A cooling unit that cools the plurality of cooling bodies to a predetermined temperature; and a cooling unit that contacts the heating unit from the plurality of cooling bodies based on a temperature of the heating unit and a heat treatment temperature of the substrate to be processed. Means for selecting, and transport means for taking the selected cooling body in and out between the heating means and the cooling means.

[0020]

The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention described in claim 4, 請
4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a time for controlling a contact time between the cooling body and the heating means is controlled based on a temperature of the heating means and a heat treatment temperature of the substrate to be processed.
It has a step .

[0022] The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention according to claim 5 is a contractor.
Motomeko 2-4 A thermal processing apparatus according to any one, the temperature and the of the heating means based on the heat treatment temperature of the substrate comprises a means to control the cooling temperature of the cooling means.

[0023]

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects , wherein the cooling means is a thermoelectric cooling type cooling apparatus utilizing the Peltier effect. It is characterized by.

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

In the heat treatment apparatus of the first aspect , the temperature of the heating means is cooled to a desired temperature by bringing the cooling body cooled by the cooling means into contact with the heating means. Can be cooled.

Further, since the temperature of one heating means is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased.

Further, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact with the outside of the heating means for cooling, the apparatus is constructed as follows. A heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with minimal modification to an existing apparatus without complicating or significantly increasing a manufacturing cost is provided.

In the heat treatment apparatus of the second aspect , the cooling body cooled by the cooling means is brought into contact with the heating means to cool the temperature of the heating means to a desired temperature, so that the cooling is performed in a short time. be able to.

Further, since the temperature of one heating means is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased.

Further, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact from the outside of the heating means to cool the apparatus, the apparatus is constructed as follows. A heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with minimal modification to an existing apparatus without complicating or significantly increasing a manufacturing cost is provided.

[0034]

[0035]

In the heat treatment apparatus according to the third aspect , the cooling body cooled by the cooling means is brought into contact with the heating means to cool the temperature of the heating means to a desired temperature. be able to. Further, since the temperature of one heating unit is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased. Furthermore, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact with the outside of the heating means for cooling, the apparatus becomes complicated or There is provided a heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with a minimum modification to an existing apparatus without significantly increasing a manufacturing cost.

In addition, the most appropriate cooling body is selected from a plurality of cooling bodies having different heat capacities based on the temperature of the heating means and the heat treatment temperature of the substrate to be processed, and is used for cooling the heating means. Therefore, cooling can be performed efficiently in the shortest time .

[0038]

[0039]

[0040] In the heat treatment apparatus of claim 4, since the pre-Symbol cooling body and the heating means employs a configuration for controlling the time to contact can be most quickly and efficiently cooled.

[0041]

[0042] In the heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5, based on the temperature and the heat treatment temperature of the target substrate of the heating means, because it uses a that Gyosu control constitutes a cooling temperature of said cooling means, the fastest And can be cooled efficiently.

[0043]

[0044]

According to the heat treatment apparatus of the sixth aspect , the first to fifth aspects are as follows.
In the heat treatment apparatus described above, since a thermoelectric cooling type cooling device utilizing the Peltier effect is employed as the cooling means, the structure as the cooling means is simple, and the cooling temperature can be easily and accurately adjusted. Can be.

[0046]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor wafer provided with a resist coating unit (COT) according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as a “COT”).
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire coating and developing processing system 1 of “wafer”).

In the coating and developing system 1, a plurality of wafers W as objects to be processed are loaded into and unloaded from the system in units of, for example, 25 wafer cassettes CR, or the wafers W are loaded into the wafer cassette CR. A cassette station 10 for loading and unloading, a processing station 11 in which various single-wafer processing units for performing predetermined processing on the wafers W one by one in a coating and developing process are arranged at predetermined positions in multiple stages, and An interface unit 12 for transferring a wafer W to and from an exposure apparatus (not shown) provided adjacent to the processing station 11 is integrally connected. In this cassette station 10,
At the position of the positioning projection 20a on the cassette mounting table 20,
A plurality of, for example, up to four wafer cassettes CR are placed in a line in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) with their respective wafer entrances facing the processing station 11 side. The wafer carrier 21 that can move in the wafer arrangement direction (Z direction; vertical direction) of the wafers W stored in the wafer CR selectively accesses each wafer cassette CR.

The wafer transfer body 21 is rotatable in the θ direction, and is moved to the third side of the processing station 11 as described later.
Access to the processing unit group G ₃ of the multi-stage unit section disposed in the alignment unit (ALIM) and an extension unit (EXT).

The processing station 11 is provided with a main wafer transfer mechanism 22 (main arm) of a vertical transfer type equipped with a wafer transfer device, around which all the processing units are arranged in one or more sets. They are arranged in multiple stages.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing system 1.

In the first processing unit group G ₁ , the cup C
Two spinner type processing units, for example, a resist coating unit (COT) and a developing unit (DEV), which perform a predetermined process by placing the wafer W on the spin chuck in the P, are stacked in two stages from the bottom. In the second processing unit group G _2, two spinner-type processing units, for example, the resist coating unit (COT) and a developing unit (D
EV) are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. These resist coating units (COT) are preferably arranged in the lower stage as described above because drainage of the resist solution is troublesome both mechanically and in terms of maintenance. However, it is of course possible to appropriately arrange the upper stage as needed.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing system 1.

In the main wafer transfer mechanism 22, the cylindrical support 4
9, the wafer transfer device 46 is moved vertically (in the Z direction).
It can be moved up and down freely. The cylindrical support 49 is connected to a rotation shaft of a motor (not shown), and is rotated integrally with the wafer transfer device 46 about the rotation shaft by the rotation driving force of the motor, whereby the wafer transfer is performed. The device 46 is rotatable in the θ direction. Note that the cylindrical support 49 may be configured to be connected to another rotating shaft (not shown) rotated by the motor. The wafer transfer device 46 is provided with a plurality of holding members 48 movable in the front-rear direction of the transfer base 47, and these holding members 48 enable the transfer of the wafer W between the processing units. ing.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the coating and developing system 1, five processing unit groups G ₁ , G ₂ , G
₃ , G ₄ , G ₅ can be arranged, and the multi-stage units of the first and second processing unit groups G ₁ , G ₂ are arranged on the system front (front side in FIG. 1) side, and the third processing unit multistage unit group G ₃ are cassette station 10
, And the multi-stage unit of the _fourth processing unit group G ₄ is disposed adjacent to the interface unit 12,
Multistage unit of the fifth processing unit group G ₅ is capable of being disposed on the rear side.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the third processing unit group G ₃ , an oven-type processing unit for performing a predetermined process by placing the wafer W on a holding table (not shown), for example, a cooling system for performing a cooling process Unit (COL), adhesion unit (AD) for performing so-called hydrophobic treatment for improving the fixability of resist, alignment unit (ALIM) for positioning, extension unit (EXT), heat treatment before exposure processing Prebaking unit (PREBAKE) for performing the heating process and post baking unit (Post Exposure) for performing the heating process after the exposure process
Bake Hereinafter, it is described as “PEB”. ) Are stacked in, for example, eight stages from the bottom. Even the fourth processing unit group G _4, oven-type processing units, for example, a cooling unit (COL), an extension and cooling unit (EXTCOL), extension unit (EX
T), a cooling unit (COL), a pre-baking unit (PREBAKE), and a post-baking unit (PEB) are stacked, for example, in eight stages from the bottom.

As described above, the cooling unit (COL) and the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) having a low processing temperature are arranged in the lower stage, and the pre-baking unit (PREBAKE), the post-baking unit (PEB) and the heating unit having the high processing temperature are arranged. By arranging the John units (AD) in the upper stage, thermal mutual interference between the units can be reduced. Of course, a random multi-stage arrangement may be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the interface unit 12
In the depth direction (X direction), the processing station 11
But has a smaller size in the width direction (Y direction). A portable pickup cassette CR and a stationary buffer cassette BR are arranged in two stages at the front of the interface unit 12, while a peripheral exposure device 23 is arranged at the rear, and a central exposure unit is further arranged at the center. Is provided with a wafer carrier 24. This wafer carrier 24
Moves in the X and Z directions to access both cassettes CR and BR and the peripheral exposure device 23.

The wafer transfer body 24 is also rotatable in the θ direction, and includes an extension unit (EXT) provided in the multi-stage unit of the fourth processing unit group G ₄ on the processing station 11 side and an adjacent exposure unit. The wafer delivery table (not shown) on the apparatus side can also be accessed.

In the coating and developing system 1, the multi-stage unit of the _fifth processing unit group G5 shown by the broken line in FIG. 1 can be arranged on the back side of the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 as described above. The multi-stage unit of the _fifth processing unit group G ₅ is movable in the Y direction along the guide rail 25.
Therefore, even when provided as a multi-stage unit of the fifth processing unit group G ₅ shown, by moving along the guide rail 25, the space portion can be secured, to the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 Maintenance work can be easily performed from behind.

Next, the baking unit (PREBA) included in the multistage units of the third and fourth sets G ₃ and G _{4 at} the processing station 11 in FIGS.
KE), (PEB), cooling unit (COL),
The configuration and operation of a heat treatment unit such as (EXTCOL) will be described.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, showing the structure of the heat treatment unit U according to this embodiment.
In FIG. 5, the horizontal shielding plate 55 is omitted for illustration.

The processing chamber 50 of this heat treatment unit is formed by both side walls 53 and a horizontal shielding plate 55, and the front side (main wafer transfer mechanism 24 side) and the rear side of the processing chamber 50 become openings 50A and 50B, respectively. ing. A circular opening 56 is formed in the center of the shielding plate 55, and a hollow heat treatment medium 58 is sealed in the opening 56 as a mounting table SP. Can be

The heat treatment board 58 is provided with, for example, three holes 60, and a support pin 62 is inserted in each hole 60 in a loosely fitted state. When the semiconductor wafer W is loaded and unloaded, each of the instruction pins 62 is inserted. The wafer W is projected or raised above the surface of the heat treatment board 58 to transfer the wafer W to and from the holding member 48 of the main wafer transfer mechanism 22.

On the outer periphery of the heat treatment board 58, there is provided a shutter 66 made of a ring-shaped band plate having a large number of ventilation holes 64 formed at intervals of 2 ° in the circumferential direction. The shutter 66 is normally retracted to a position below the heat treatment plate 58, but rises to a position higher than the upper surface of the heat treatment plate 58 during the heat treatment as shown in FIG.
A ring-shaped side wall is formed between the cover member 68 and the cover member 68, and a gas such as an inert gas typified by down-flow air or nitrogen gas supplied from a gas supply system (not shown) is provided through the vent hole 64.
It is designed to flow more evenly in the circumferential direction.

An exhaust port 6 for exhausting gas generated from the surface of the wafer W during the heating process is provided at the center of the cover 68.
8a is provided, and an exhaust pipe 70 is connected to the exhaust port 68a. The exhaust pipe 70 communicates with a duct 53 (or 54) on the front side of the apparatus (on the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 side) or a duct (not shown).

Under the shielding plate 55, a machine room 74 is formed by the shielding plate 55, the side walls 53 and the bottom plate 72, and a heat treatment board support plate 76, a shutter arm 7
8. Support pin arm 80) A shutter arm up / down drive cylinder 82 and a support pin arm up / down drive cylinder 84 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of, for example, four wafer W guide support projections 86 are provided on the surface of the heat treatment board 58 on which the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W is to be mounted.

A plurality of small projections (not shown) are provided on the wafer W mounting portion on the upper surface of the heat treatment board 58, and the lower surface of the wafer W is mounted on the top of these small projections. Therefore, a minute gap is formed between the lower surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the heat treatment plate 58, and the lower surface of the wafer W is prevented from directly contacting the upper surface of the heat treatment plate 58. It is not damaged or damaged.

As described above, a cavity is provided inside the heat treatment panel 58, and the heat medium vapor generated by heating the heat medium in the cavity is circulated in the cavity to form the heat treatment panel 58. The predetermined temperature is maintained.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing the structure of the heat treatment board 58 and its periphery. As shown in FIG. 6, a conical concave portion 68b is formed on the lower surface side of the cover body 68, and an exhaust port 68a is provided at a portion corresponding to the apex of the cone, and an exhaust pipe is provided in the exhaust port 68a. The lower end of 70 is connected. The other end of the exhaust pipe 70 is connected to an exhaust system (not shown), and the heated gas that has been heated by the heat treatment board 58 and rises is collected in the conical concave portion 68b and passes through the exhaust port 68a and the exhaust pipe 70. Exhaust.

As shown in FIG. 6, the inside of the heat treatment board 58 is a closed cavity 58a, and a heat medium reservoir 58b formed so as to have a V-shaped cross section is provided at a part of the bottom thereof. Is provided. A heater 93 such as a nichrome wire is disposed in the heat medium reservoir 58b in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 6, and power is supplied to the heater 93 from a power supply device 95 controlled by a control device. It is supposed to be.

When power is supplied from the power supply device 95 to the heater 93, the heater 93 starts to generate heat, and the heat medium condensed by the heater 93 and stored in the heat medium reservoir 58b is heated. The heated heat medium is vaporized and evaporated to form a cavity 58.
Circulate in a. When the heat medium vapor comes into contact with the cooled portion in the cavity 58a, the heat medium vapor condenses and liquefies while applying heat to the cooled portion. At this time, the amount of heat given from the heat medium to the heat treatment plate 58 is the heat of vaporization of the heat medium, and is a value determined by the type of the heat medium. Therefore, if a series of cycles from the evaporation of the heat medium to the condensation of the heat medium stably reach a steady state, the temperature of the heat treatment board can be maintained at a substantially constant temperature.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing the structure of the cooling device 103 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view schematically showing the structure of the cooling device 103.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cooling device 103 has a structure in which a cooling board 102 is disposed substantially at the center of a box-shaped housing 100 having an opening 101 that can be opened and closed. The main wafer transfer mechanism (main arm) 22 accesses the inside of the housing 100 through the opening to insert and remove the wafer W and a cooling body 110 to be described later.
0 is mounted or lifted.

The cooling board 102 has a built-in coolant conduit (not shown) for circulating a coolant inside a disc-shaped member made of a material having good heat conductivity such as aluminum or copper. In addition to the conventional cooling plate for cooling the cooling plate 102, the known cooling plate such as a thermoelectric cooling plate utilizing the Peltier effect is used, in addition to the conventional cooling plate for cooling the cooling plate 102. be able to.

[0077] Figure 9 is a diagram showing the outline of the cooling body 110 according to this embodiment, FIG. 9 (a) is a plan view, FIG. 9
(B) has shown the vertical cross section respectively.

As shown in FIG. 9, this cooling body 110 has a cylindrical outer shape, and the radius of the wafer W to be heat-treated is
And the shape is such that only the thickness of the wafer W is increased. The reason why the cooling body 110 is formed in the same shape as that of the wafer W is to allow the main arm to move in and out of the heat treatment unit and the cooling device in the same manner as the wafer W. Therefore, the cooling body 1
Similarly to the wafer W, the thickness of the wafer 10 is formed so that it can be taken in and out of the heat treatment unit and the cooling device by the main arm.

As the cooling body 110, two or more kinds of cooling bodies having different heat capacities are prepared in advance, and are appropriately selected and used based on the temperature of the heat treatment board 58 before cooling and the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W. It is preferable to shorten the time until cooling and to improve the efficiency. This cooling body 11
As a method of changing the heat capacity of 0, a cooling body made of the same material and having a different thickness may be prepared, or a cooling body containing a heat insulating material therein may be used. Further, in order to increase the contact area between the heat treatment panel 58 and the upper surface of the cooling plate 102, a fine fin or an elastic material layer is provided on the surface to transfer heat between the heat treatment plate 58 and the upper surface of the cooling plate 102. It is also effective to improve the efficiency of the system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a control system of the heat treatment system according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, in this heat treatment system, the heat treatment board 58, the cooling board 102, and the drive motor M of the main arm are connected to the control device 120, respectively, and are controlled by the control device 120 as a whole. .

That is, in the heat treatment system according to the present embodiment, the cooling body 110 is cooled by the cooling device 103 based on the temperature of the heat treatment plate 58 before cooling and the temperature of the heat treatment to be performed on the wafer W in the subsequent heat treatment step. Controlling the cooling temperature and the time during which the cooling body cooled by the cooling device 103 is placed on the heat treatment panel 58 and the heat treatment panel 58 is cooled,
The cooling is performed efficiently in the shortest time.

As a control method other than the above, a cooling device capable of accommodating a plurality of cooling bodies having different heat capacities is employed.
Based on the temperature of the heat treatment board and the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W, a cooling body to be brought into contact with the heat treatment board can be appropriately selected and used.

A method of appropriately selecting and using a cooling body to be brought into contact with the heat treatment board based on the temperature of the heat treatment board and the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W among the plurality of types of cooling bodies, A control method for controlling the temperature at which the cooling body 110 is cooled by the cooling device 103 based on the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W, and the cooling body cooled by the cooling device 103 based on the temperature of the heat treatment board and the heat treatment temperature of the wafer W It is also possible to use a combination of two or three of the three control methods of controlling the time during which the heat treatment panel 58 is cooled by being placed on the heat treatment panel 58, and any of these can be used. It is preferable as an effective control method.

Next, this heat treatment unit is combined with a baking unit (PREBAKE) and a cooling unit (C
The operation when using as (OL) will be described below.

First, wafer W is taken out of wafer cassette CR set on mounting table 20 by wafer carrier 21, and then wafer W is delivered from wafer carrier 21 to main wafer transport mechanism 22. The main wafer transfer mechanism 22 transfers the received wafer W to a resist coating unit (C
The wafer W is transferred and set in the OT), and the resist is applied to the wafer W here. Next, the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 takes out the wafer W from the inside of the resist coating unit (COT), transfers the wafer W to the inside of the heat treatment unit, and sets the wafer W on the heat treatment board 58.

At this time, the heat treatment board 58 is maintained at a predetermined temperature, for example, 120 ° C., and while the heat treatment is performed on the wafer W of the same manufacturing lot, the heat treatment board 58 is kept at 120 ° C.
Is kept.

On the other hand, the cooling device 103 starts cooling at the same time when the power is turned on. A cooling body is mounted on a cooling board of the cooling device, and is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, 10 ° C. Here, the temperature of 10 ° C. is a temperature obtained from a time table previously input based on the temperature of the heat treatment board 58 before cooling and the temperature of the heat treatment to be performed on the wafer W in the subsequent heat treatment step. This is a temperature at which the temperature of the heat treatment panel 58 can be cooled most efficiently to the target temperature of 90 ° C.

Next, when the above-mentioned heat treatment at 120 ° C. is completed for the wafer W of one production lot, another heat treatment step, for example, preparation for heat treatment at a different temperature, eg, 90 ° C., for the wafer W of another production lot is performed. to go into.

In preparation for the next heat treatment, the heat treatment plate 58 maintained at 120 ° C. in the previous heat treatment step is cooled to 90 ° C., which is the next heat treatment temperature. To perform this cooling, a command signal is sent from the control device 120 to a drive system (not shown) of the main wafer transfer mechanism 22. Upon receiving the command signal, the drive system of the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 moves the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 to the cooling device, extends the arm, and is placed on the cooling plate 102 and cooled to 10 ° C. The cooling body 110 is taken out and moved to the heat treatment unit while holding the cooling body 110.
Then, the transported cooling body 110 is placed on the upper surface of the heat treatment panel 58, and the cooling of the heat treatment panel 58 is started. After a lapse of a predetermined time, the cooling body 110 is taken out again by the arm of the main wafer transfer mechanism 22, and the cooling device 103 placed first is mounted.
Back on the cooling board 102.

The time for bringing the cooling body 110 into contact with the upper surface of the heat treatment panel 58 depends on the temperature of the heat treatment panel 58 before cooling,
This is a time previously obtained from a time table input in advance based on the temperature of the heat treatment to be performed on the wafer W in the subsequent heat treatment step.
Is cooled to near the target temperature of 90 ° C. and soon stabilizes at this temperature.

The temperature of the heat treatment panel 58 is cooled to the target temperature of 90 ° C., and it is confirmed that the temperature is stable.
Then, the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 starts operating based on a command from the control device, and starts setting the wafer W of the next production lot. After the wafer W of this production lot is heat-treated at 90 ° C., it is subjected to subsequent processing. As described above, in the apparatus according to the present embodiment, the cooling device 103 is provided in addition to the heat treatment panel 58. When cooling the heat treatment board 58, the cooling body 110 previously cooled in the cooling device 103 is placed on the heat treatment board 58 for a predetermined time.
Therefore, the temperature of the heat treatment board can be reduced in a short time.

In the apparatus according to the present embodiment, the heat treatment panel 58 mounted on the conventional apparatus is used as it is, and the cooling apparatus 103 is added to the conventional apparatus. Has become. Therefore, unlike the case where a plurality of heat treatment units are mounted, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased.

Further, the cooling body 110 is not fixed to the apparatus, but is merely mounted on the heat treatment board 58 or the cooling board 102 just like the wafer W.

Moreover, since the cooling body 110 can be transferred between the heat treatment unit and the cooling device 103 by the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 just like the wafer W only with a difference in heat capacity, the main wafer transfer mechanism 22 is also conventional. The same type can be used as is.

Therefore, a cooling mechanism can be provided simply by adding a necessary minimum device such as the cooling device 103 to the conventional device and changing the setting contents of the control device.
Thus, a cooling mechanism can be provided with minimal modification using an existing device without complicating the structure of the device or significantly changing the structure of the device, thereby minimizing the increase in manufacturing cost of the device. be able to.

Further, in the apparatus according to the present embodiment, in particular, the cooling body 11 is determined based on the temperature of the heat treatment panel 58 before cooling and the temperature of the heat treatment to be performed on the wafer W in the subsequent heat treatment step.
0 is cooled by the cooling device 103 and the cooling device 1
Since the cooling body cooled at 03 is placed on the heat treatment panel 58 and the time for cooling the heat treatment panel 58 is controlled, the cooling can be efficiently performed in the shortest time. .

The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above embodiment.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the apparatus for heating the wafer W using the heat treatment board which is uniformly heated by circulating the heat medium vapor inside has been described. A hot plate that controls the temperature with a sensor or the like may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a device having a structure for cooling one cooling body 110 is provided as the cooling device 103, but a structure capable of cooling two or more cooling bodies simultaneously may be used. The cooling bodies having different heat capacities are cooled, and a plurality of types of cooling bodies are appropriately used according to various conditions such as the temperature of the heat treatment board before cooling and the temperature of the heat treatment to be performed on the wafer W in the subsequent heat treatment step. The selective use is preferable because efficient cooling can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the coating and developing system 1 for the wafer W has been described as an example. However, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to other processing apparatuses, for example, an LCD substrate processing apparatus. No.

[0101]

[0102]

[0103]

[0104]

As described above in detail , according to the first aspect of the present invention, the temperature of the heating means is brought to a desired temperature by bringing the cooling body cooled by the cooling means into contact with the heating means. Because it is cooled down, it can be cooled in a short time.

Further, since the temperature of one heating means is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased.

Further, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact with the outside of the heating means for cooling, the apparatus is constructed as follows. A heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with minimal modification to an existing apparatus without complicating or significantly increasing a manufacturing cost is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cooling body cooled by the cooling means is brought into contact with the heating means to cool the temperature of the heating means to a desired temperature. Can be cooled.

Further, since the temperature of one heating unit is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased.

Further, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact from the outside of the heating means to cool the apparatus, the apparatus is constructed as follows. A heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with minimal modification to an existing apparatus without complicating or significantly increasing a manufacturing cost is provided.

[0110]

[0111]

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the cooling means cooled by the cooling means is brought into contact with the heating means to cool the temperature of the heating means to a desired temperature. Can be cooled. Further, since the temperature of one heating unit is changed and used for heat treatment at different temperatures, the size of the entire apparatus is not increased. Furthermore, since the structure of the heating means itself is not changed and the cooling body cooled by the cooling means provided separately from the heating means is brought into contact with the outside of the heating means for cooling, the apparatus becomes complicated or There is provided a heat treatment apparatus capable of easily changing a heat treatment temperature with a minimum modification to an existing apparatus without significantly increasing a manufacturing cost.

In addition, the most appropriate cooling body is selected from a plurality of cooling bodies having different heat capacities based on the temperature of the heating means and the heat treatment temperature of the substrate to be processed, and is used for cooling the heating means. Therefore, cooling can be performed efficiently in the shortest time .

[0114]

[0115]

[0116] In the heat treatment apparatus of claim 4, since the pre-Symbol cooling body and the heating means employs a configuration for controlling the time to contact can be most quickly and efficiently cooled.

[0117]

[0118] In the heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5, based on the temperature and the heat treatment temperature of the target substrate of the heating means, because it uses a that Gyosu control constitutes a cooling temperature of said cooling means, the fastest And can be cooled efficiently.

[0119]

[0120]

According to the present invention described in claim 6 , according to claim 1,
The heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the cooling means includes:
Since the thermoelectric cooling type cooling device using the Peltier effect is adopted, the structure as the cooling means is simple, and
The cooling temperature can be adjusted easily and accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a coating and developing processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of a heat treatment unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a heat treatment unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing a heat treatment board according to the embodiment of the present invention and a structure around the heat treatment board.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing the structure of the cooling device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically showing the structure of the cooling device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a structure of a cooling body according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the heat treatment apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional heat treatment unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W wafer 93 heater 58 heat treatment board 103 cooling device 110 cooling body 22 main transfer mechanism (main arm) 120 control device

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A heating unit configured to heat the substrate to be processed; a cooling unit configured to cool the heating unit; and a heating unit configured to have substantially the same shape as the substrate to be processed. And at least one cooling body which is conveyed to cool the heating means. 2. A heating means for heating the target substrate, wherein the cooling the heating means apart contact with said heating means
A cooling unit having substantially the same shape as the processing substrate ; a cooling unit configured to cool the cooling unit to a predetermined temperature; and a transfer unit configured to transfer the cooling unit between the heating unit and the cooling unit. Characteristic heat treatment equipment. 3. A heating means for heating the substrate to be processed, a cooling body which comes into contact with and separates from the heating means and cools the heating means, wherein a plurality of cooling bodies having different heat capacities; Cooling means for cooling to a temperature, means for selecting a cooling body to be brought into contact with the heating means from the plurality of cooling bodies based on a temperature of the heating means and a heat treatment temperature of the substrate to be processed; And a transporting means for taking the selected cooling body in and out of the cooling means. 4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
Te, the temperature of the heating means and on the basis of the heat treatment temperature of the substrate, a heat treatment apparatus characterized by comprising a means to control the time during which the cooling body and said heating means is in contact. 5. The heat treatment according to claim 2, wherein
An apparatus, wherein the temperature of the heating means and on the basis of the heat treatment temperature of the substrate, a heat treatment apparatus, characterized in that the ingredients <br/> Bei a means to control the cooling temperature of the cooling means. 6. A thermal processing apparatus according to claim 1 to 5 any one of claims, wherein the cooling means is a heat treatment apparatus which is a thermoelectric cooling type cooling device utilizing the Peltier effect.