JP3384701B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing various substrates to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display. 2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor device manufacturing process includes a process of performing a process using a chemical such as an etching solution on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”). The chemical solution processing unit that performs this step is provided with a processing chamber in which two openings for loading and unloading wafers are formed. The wafer loaded into the processing chamber by the predetermined transfer robot through the loading opening is held by the spin chuck and then rotated at a high speed. At this time, a chemical is supplied to the wafer from the nozzle. The wafer after the chemical solution treatment is performed in this manner,
It is unloaded from the processing chamber by a predetermined transfer robot through the unloading opening. As described above, in the chemical solution processing, the chemical solution is supplied to the wafer rotating at a high speed, and the chemical solution is shaken off by the wafer, and is applied to the inner wall surface of the surrounding processing chamber. Adhere to. At this time, the chemical liquid also adheres to the inner wall surface above the opening, so that the chemical liquid drips toward the opening and drops from the upper side of the opening. Therefore, the chemical liquid may adhere to the wafer passing through the opening or the transfer robot that transfers the wafer. As a result, the wafer and the transfer robot are contaminated. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing a processing liquid from dripping from an opening of a processing chamber. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing chamber surrounded by a side wall and configured to process a substrate with a processing liquid, and a processing chamber formed on the side wall. An opening through which the substrate passes when the substrate is unloaded or loaded into the processing chamber; and an inner side of the side wall provided above the opening and drawn when the substrate passes through the opening. have sufficient length to cover the trajectory, and the treatment liquid guide member having a guide surface formed inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, it is the treatment liquid guide member of the side wall
Is provided on the side provided with, and selectively closes the opening.
For selectively covering the treatment liquid guide member.
A substrate processing apparatus including a shutter mechanism . The shutter mechanism closes the opening, for example.
For opening and closing the processing liquid guide member.
Shutter with a guide member cover for
And a driving means for sliding the
Including. In the present invention, even if the processing liquid adhering to the side wall above the opening drops, the processing liquid is received by the guide surface of the processing liquid guide member above the opening. The received processing liquid is guided on a guide surface formed to be inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. On the other hand, the processing liquid guide member has a length sufficient to cover the trajectory drawn when the substrate passes through the opening, so that the destination where the processing liquid is guided is not on the passage space of the substrate. Therefore, even when a chemical is used as the processing liquid, the chemical does not drop onto the substrate or the arm that transports the substrate. When the processing liquid adheres to a portion other than the guide surface of the processing liquid guide member, the processing liquid drops as it is without being guided to a position shifted from the space where the substrate passes. In this case, the processing liquid may adhere to the substrate or the arm that transports the substrate. In the present invention, the processing liquid guide member can be selectively covered by the shutter mechanism. For example, if the processing liquid guide member is covered by the shutter mechanism when the processing is performed, the processing is performed by performing the processing. Even if the liquid scatters, the processing liquid does not adhere to portions other than the guide surface of the processing liquid guide member. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent the processing liquid from dripping onto the substrate or the arm that transports the substrate. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This substrate processing apparatus is a single-wafer processing type cleaning processing apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”), and includes various types of chemicals and pure water (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “processing”). A liquid processing unit MTC that performs processing such as contamination removal, dust removal, and corrosion processing on a wafer using a liquid, and cleaning with flowing water using pure water for a wafer that has been processed in the chemical processing unit MTC. And a cleaning unit DTC for performing ultrasonic cleaning and rotating the wafer for draining and drying. The chemical processing unit MTC and the cleaning unit DTC have processing chambers C1 and C2 surrounded on four sides by side walls 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The unprocessed wafer is transferred from the main transfer robot (not shown) to the sub transfer robot STR1 through the entrance 5. The sub-transfer robot STR1 is a scalar robot having a lower arm 11 and an upper arm 12 that rotates about one end of the lower arm 11 as a fulcrum. That is, the lower arm 11 is
The lower arm 11 and the upper arm 12 are unfolded (a state shown by a virtual line) or folded (a state shown by a solid line) by being rotated around a rotation axis line located near the front end of the second arm 2. Then, it expands and contracts. At the tip of the upper arm 12, a wafer holding unit 13 for sucking and holding the back surface of the wafer is provided. The above-described main transfer robot transfers the wafer to the contracted sub-transfer robot STR1. Then, the sub-transfer robot STR1 carries the wafer into the chemical solution processing unit MTC. The wafer processed by the chemical processing unit MTC is taken out by the sub-transfer robot STR2 and carried into the cleaning unit DTC. The configuration of the sub-transfer robot STR2 is the same as that of the sub-transfer robot STR1. The sub-transfer robot STR2 extends toward the chemical processing unit MTC to receive the wafer, then contracts, and further cleans the
The wafer extends into the cleaning unit DTC and is carried into the cleaning unit DTC. The wafer subjected to the cleaning process by the cleaning unit DTC is taken out by the sub-transfer robot STR3. The configuration of the sub-transport robot STR3 is the same as that of the sub-transport robot S described above.
Same as TR1. The wafer taken out by the sub-transfer robot STR3 is carried out by the above-mentioned main transfer robot through the outlet 6. On each side wall 1 of the processing chambers C1 and C2,
An opening 7 through which a wafer to be carried in is formed, and an opening 8 through which a wafer to be carried out is formed in each side wall 3. In connection with each of the openings 7 and 8, gutters 40 and 41, which are processing liquid guide members for receiving the processing liquid dripping from the side walls 1 and 3 above the openings 7 and 8, respectively, are provided on the side walls 1 and 4.
3 are provided inside. Further, shutters 21 and 22 are provided in association with the openings 7 and 8, respectively.
The shutters 21 and 22 slide up and down so as to selectively close the openings 7 and 8, respectively. In particular,
It is opened only when the wafer passes through the openings 7 and 8, and is closed during the remaining period. This prevents the leakage of the chemical atmosphere generated in the chemical processing unit MTC. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing the configuration near the chemical processing unit MTC, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the configuration near the chemical processing unit MTC. The chemical processing unit MTC includes a cylindrical processing cup 31 having an open upper surface and a spin chuck 32 disposed in the processing cup 31 in a processing chamber C1. The spin chuck 32 is for rotating the wafer W at high speed around its central axis while holding the wafer W. A splash guard 33 for preventing the processing liquid from scattering is provided above the processing cup 31 so as to be movable up and down. A plurality of nozzles 34 for supplying a chemical solution or pure water to the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 32 are provided on the side of the processing cup 31. These nozzles 34 are provided so as to be able to advance and retreat in an oblique vertical direction, and when supplying the processing liquid to the wafer W, the nozzles 34 advance forward obliquely upward through a notch 35 formed in the splash guard 33 and The processing liquid is supplied to almost the central position of the processing liquid. Inside the processing cup 31, there is provided a central axis nozzle 36 passing through the rotation axis of the spin chuck 32. The central axis nozzle 36 supplies a chemical solution or pure water from below toward the center of the back surface of the wafer W. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the processing chamber C1 as viewed from the inside;
FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the side wall 3 as viewed from the inside of the processing chamber C1. As described above, the opening 8 which is the passage of the wafer W is formed in the side wall 3. The opening 8 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape. More specifically, sides 8R and 8L of opening 8 are formed along the vertical direction, and upper side 8U
The lower side 8D is formed perpendicular to the side sides 8R and 8L. That is, the upper side 8U and the lower side 8D of the opening 8
Are formed along the horizontal direction. Above the opening 8 and inside the side wall 3,
A gutter 41 for receiving the processing liquid that has passed through the side wall 3
Is provided. The gutter 41 is substantially L when viewed from the side wall 2 side.
It is vertically attached to the side wall 3 and has a constant inclination with respect to the upper side 8U of the opening 8.
And a rising portion 43 that rises almost vertically upward from the periphery of the bottom portion 42 along the width direction H. That is, the bottom portion 42
(Hereinafter, referred to as a “guide surface”) 42a is sandwiched between the side wall 3 and the rising portion 43, so that the processing liquid 50 that has passed the side wall 3 is received by the guide surface 42a. The length of the gutter 41 along the width direction H of the opening 8 is
The length is sufficient to cover the trajectory drawn by the wafer W passing through the opening 8. That is, both ends 44, 45 of the gutter 41 in the width direction H are located closer to the side walls 2, 4 than the sides 8 R, 8 L of the opening 8. Therefore, the bottom part 4
2 (hereinafter, referred to as “discharge end”) 42.
b is located at a position shifted from the passing line of the wafer W in the width direction H. On the other hand, the bottom portion 42 is inclined so as to descend toward the side wall 2. As a result, the processing liquid 51 received by the guide surface 42a is guided to the side wall 2 side by its own weight, and is finally guided to the discharge end 42b shifted from the passing line of the wafer W in the width direction H. Thereafter, the liquid will drip from the discharge end 42b. As described above, the gutter 41 is configured so that the processing liquid is discharged outside the line through which the wafer W passes, so that the wafer W passing through the opening 8 and the sub-transfer robot STR2 for transporting the wafer W are provided. The processing liquid does not fall on the upper arm 12. Thereby, contamination of the wafer W and the upper arm 12 by the chemical solution can be prevented. The shutter 22 provided in association with the opening 8 has a function of preventing the processing liquid from hitting the gutter 41 in addition to the function of preventing the leakage of the chemical liquid atmosphere described above. That is, the shutter 22 is formed integrally with a rectangular first shutter portion (opening opening / closing portion) 23 for closing the rectangular opening 8 and at the upper end of the first shutter portion 23, and connects the gutter 41 inside the processing chamber C1. A second shutter section (guide member cover section) 24 for covering the cover from the spin chuck 32 (see FIG. 2). The second shutter section 24 is substantially L-shaped when viewed from the side wall 2 side, and is provided at the upper end of the first shutter section 23 with the processing chamber C1.
It has a bottom portion 25 extending substantially vertically toward the spin chuck 32 therein, and a rising portion 26 rising substantially vertically upward from the periphery of the bottom portion 25. A guide member 55 having a space between the side wall 3 and the inside of the side wall 3 below the opening 8 is attached. Shutter 22
Is slidably fitted in the space of the guide member 55 in the vertical direction. Next, the opening / closing operation of the shutter 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and FIG. 6 showing the configuration viewed from the direction of arrow V in FIG. The configuration in the vicinity of the shutter 21 is also substantially the same, and the portions corresponding to the respective portions related to the shutter 22 are indicated by adding the suffix A to the reference numerals assigned to the corresponding portions of the shutter 22. On the surface of the shutter 22 on the side facing the sub-transfer robot STR2, a pair of rack gear portions 60 and 61 are formed along the left and right sides of the shutter 22. The pinion gears 64, 61 are formed in the rack gear portions 60, 61 through through holes 62, 63 formed in the side wall 3.
65 mesh with each other. These pinion gears 6
4 and 65 are fixed to a common rotation shaft 66. The rotating shaft 66 has bearings 67, attached to the side walls 2, 4 on the side of the sub-transfer robot STR2 with respect to the side wall 3, respectively.
68 respectively. An end of the rotating shaft 66 on the side wall 3 side further penetrates a bearing 67, and a pinion gear 70 is fixed to a tip of the bearing 67. A rack gear 71 meshes with the pinion gear 70 from above. The upper part of the rack gear 71 is held by a guide rail 72 so as to be capable of horizontal sliding movement along the side wall 2. A rod 74 of an air cylinder 73 is connected to one end of the rack gear 71. Therefore, when the rod 74 of the air cylinder 73 is moved forward and backward, the rack gear 71 slides, whereby the rotating shaft 66 is rotated via the pinion gear 70. As a result, the pair of pinion gears 64 and 65 fixed to the rotating shaft 66 rotate, and the pair of rack gear portions 60 and 6 meshing with them.
The shutter 22 having the number 1 slides up and down. The upper limit of the sliding of the shutter 22 is such that the entire opening 8 is closed by the first shutter portion 23 and the entire gutter 41 is hidden from the spin chuck 32 by the second shutter portion 24 as shown by a solid line in FIG. Position. The sliding lower limit of the shutter 22 is such that the upper end of the shutter 22 is positioned at the lower end 8D of the opening 8 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
And the bottom portion 2 of the second shutter portion 24
5 is set at a position such that it is located near the upper end of the guide member 55. The shutter 22 is connected to the wafer W through the opening 8.
Is moved to the lower limit of the slide when passing through, and is kept waiting at the upper limit of the slide for the remaining period. Therefore, when the processing is performed in the chemical processing unit MTC, the opening 8 is closed and the
1 is covered by the second shutter section 24. Therefore, the processing liquid scattered due to the atmosphere of the chemical solution or the processing is used for opening 8.
The processing liquid does not leak to the outside through the processing, and the processing liquid scattered during the processing does not adhere to the gutter 41. As described above, according to this embodiment, the chemical solution that has dropped toward the opening 8 is received by the gutter 41 above the opening 8 and is guided to a position shifted from the line through which the wafer W passes. In addition, since the gutter 41 can be covered by the second shutter section 24, the chemical liquid is supplied to the processing chamber C1 during the processing of the chemical liquid.
Even if it scatters inside, the chemical liquid can be prevented from adhering to the gutter 41. Therefore, the wafer W or the wafer W passing through the opening 8
Can be prevented from dropping on the upper arm 12 and the lower arm 11 of the sub-transfer robot STR2 that transports the liquid. Therefore, the wafer W and the upper arm 12 and the lower arm 11 of the sub-transfer robot STR2 can be protected from the influence of the chemical. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the quality of the wafer W from deteriorating. The description of one embodiment of the present invention is as described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the chemical solution received by the gutter 41 is caused to drop from the discharge end 42b by its own weight. For example, as shown in FIG.
A drain discharge path 80 connected to a negative pressure source may be connected to the vicinity of the first discharge end 42b, a chemical solution may be sucked through the drain discharge path 80, and the chemical solution may be forcibly discharged. . According to this configuration, the medical solution can be discharged quickly and reliably. In the above embodiment, the guide surface 42a of the gutter 41 is inclined so as to linearly descend toward the side wall 2 side. For example, as shown in FIG. The side wall 2, with the substantially central position of the guide surface 42a as the vertex
4 may be inclined so as to linearly descend toward both sides of the side walls 2 and 4, as shown in FIG. It may be inclined to be curved. In short, any shape may be used as long as the processing liquid received by the guide surface 42a is discharged from the end of the gutter 41 in the width direction H. Further, in the above embodiment, an apparatus for processing a wafer is taken as an example. However, the present invention relates to an apparatus for processing another substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device. Is also applicable. In addition, it is possible to make various design changes within the technical scope described in the claims. As described above, according to the present invention, the chemical solution dripping toward the opening can be received above the opening, so that the substrate passing through the opening and the substrate can be transported. The chemical liquid does not drip and adhere to the arm of the robot that does it. Therefore, contamination of the substrate and the arm with the chemical solution can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the quality of the substrate. [0028] Particularly, since is provided with a shutter mechanism which can selectively cover the treatment liquid guide member, even if scattered processing solution by the process is performed, the guide of the process liquid treatment liquid guide member It can be prevented from adhering to places other than the surface. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the processing liquid from dripping from the processing liquid guide member to the substrate or the arm for transporting the substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration near a chemical processing unit. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration near a chemical solution processing unit. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a side wall of a processing chamber of the chemical solution processing unit as viewed from the inside of the processing chamber. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the side wall of the processing chamber of the chemical processing unit as viewed from the inside of the processing chamber. FIG. 6 is a front view as seen from the direction of arrow V in FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a side wall of a processing chamber of a chemical processing unit as viewed from inside the processing chamber in a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a view showing another example of the shape of the guide surface of the gutter. [Description of Signs] 1, 2, 3, 4 Side walls C1, C2 Processing chamber MTC Chemical treatment unit DTC Cleaning unit 7, 8 Opening 21, 22 Shutter 40, 41 Gutter 42a Guide surface 80 Drain discharge path

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Kurata 1 480 Takamiya-cho, Hikone-shi, Shiga Prefecture Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone district office (56) References JP-A-8-252545 (JP, A) JP-A-9-275089 (JP, A) JP-A-10-92709 (JP, A) JP-A-7-7141 (JP, U) JP-A-1-86233 (JP, U) JP-A-60 −31391 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304 H01L 21/306 B08B 3/00-3/14

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A processing chamber surrounded by a side wall and configured to process a substrate with a processing liquid; and a processing chamber formed on the side wall and carrying the substrate into or out of the processing chamber. An opening through which the substrate passes, provided above the opening and inside the side wall, and having a length sufficient to cover a trajectory drawn when the substrate passes through the opening, set on the side where the treatment liquid guide member having a guide surface formed inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, is the treatment liquid guide member of the side walls are provided
To selectively close the opening,
And a shutter mechanism for selectively covering the liquid guide member .