JP3437559B2 - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain convenience when switching between retaining and holding is automated in the case that an object to be treated is transferred by using a transferring mechanism. SOLUTION: As a control means for switching between usage of a sucking part 64 and usage of pawls 61 in an arm 59 for transferring a wafer W, a film thickness sensor of an optical interference type or the like which measures thickness of a film formed on a surface of the wafer W or a peripheral part of the wafer W, and a control device like a microcomputer which judges a kind of the film on the basis of the measured result, are installed in the transferring mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for processing an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a series of processes for applying a photoresist to a semiconductor wafer, reducing a circuit pattern using a photolithography technique, transferring the photoresist to the photoresist, and developing the photoresist are performed. Is given.

As an example of a device that performs such processing,
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-120341 is disclosed. As a semiconductor wafer transfer technology of this technology, a semiconductor wafer transfer method using a belt or a vacuum suction method is widely known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 229290/1988.

[0004]

However, when the coating process is performed by using a high-viscosity processing liquid such as polyimide instead of the low-viscosity resist liquid that is usually used, the resist coating device is used to perform side coating. Even if the rinsing process is performed, the polyimide around the wafer edge is difficult to remove and easily remains.
If this processing liquid residue adheres to the contact portion of the transfer mechanism with the wafer, the wafer cannot be separated from the transfer mechanism, and the wafer cannot be transferred smoothly. There is also a problem that polyimide remaining on the periphery of the wafer is peeled off and adheres to the wafer as particles.

In addition, even in a resist liquid having a low viscosity which is usually used, a side rinse treatment cannot be performed in some cases, and in this case as well, the wafer is transferred inside the treatment apparatus in the as-coated state. Then, the resist solution contaminates the transfer mechanism and the like, which causes a problem that the dried resist is peeled off and adheres to the wafer as particles.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a mechanism for determining a film type of an object to be processed in a transfer mechanism and thereby to automatically switch support and holding during transfer. It is intended for the convenience of.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of processing mechanisms for performing processing on an object to be processed, and a transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed to these processing mechanisms. In the processing apparatus having:
A film thickness sensor for measuring the thickness of the film formed on the surface of the object to be processed is provided, and the type of the film formed on the surface of the object to be processed is determined according to the measurement result by the film thickness sensor. There is provided a processing device, further comprising a control means for

When the film thickness is about 10 μm as a result of the measurement, the control means determines that the film is polyimide, and the film thickness is 1
In the case of ˜2 μm, the photoresist may be determined to be a normal photoresist.

Further, the transfer mechanism has a supporting means for supporting the peripheral edge of the object to be processed, and a suction portion for holding the object to be processed by contacting the lower surface near the periphery of the object to be processed. Is configured to select the holding by the adsorption unit when the film type is determined to be polyimide, and to select the support by the supporting unit when the film type is determined to be a normal photoresist. You may

According to the present invention, since the film type of the surface of the object to be transferred by the transfer mechanism can be determined based on the measurement result of the film thickness sensor, for example, the transfer mechanism can detect the peripheral portion of the object to be processed. In the case where a supporting means for supporting the object and a suction part for holding the object to be processed by contacting with the lower surface in the vicinity of the object to be processed are provided, the switching between using one of them is automatically performed. Will be possible.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. When performing such processing, the processing system shown in FIG. 4 is used. This processing system includes a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter,
Loader unit 40 for loading / unloading W (simply called wafer)
A brush cleaning device 42 for cleaning the wafer W transferred from the loader section 40 with a brush; a jet water cleaning device 44 for cleaning the wafer W with high-pressure jet water; and an adhesion processing device for hydrophobicizing the surface of the wafer W. 46,
A cooling processing device 48 that cools the wafer W to a predetermined temperature, a resist coating device 50 that coats a resist on the surface of the wafer W and dissolves and removes the resist in the peripheral portion by a side rinse treatment, and heats the wafer W after the resist coating. Then, the heat treatment device 52 for performing pre-baking or post-baking, the developing device 54 for performing the developing process of the exposed wafer W, and the like are assembled to improve work efficiency.

A wafer transfer path 56 is provided in the longitudinal direction at the center of the processing system configured as described above, and the processing devices 40 to 54 are provided along the wafer transfer path 56.
Is arranged with the front side facing the wafer transfer path 56, and each device 4
A wafer transfer mechanism 58 that transfers the wafer W to and from 0 to 54 is provided movably along the wafer transfer path 56. The wafer transfer mechanism 58 includes an arm 59 for holding the wafer W by vacuum suction or supporting the lower surface of the peripheral portion. For example, three arms 59 are arranged in the up-down direction and can be independently moved to the wafer mounting positions of the respective devices 40 to 54 by a moving mechanism.

By using three such arms 59, the loading and unloading of the wafer W can be performed in parallel with respect to each of the devices 40 to 54, and the processing efficiency can be improved. Then, for example, one unprocessed wafer W stored in a wafer cassette (not shown) of the loader unit 40 is taken out and conveyed, and in order, cleaning, adhesion processing, cooling, resist coating, prebaking, and an exposure device (not shown). Exposure, development, and post-baking are performed, and the processed wafer W is transferred and stored in a wafer cassette (not shown) of the loader unit 40.

The transfer mechanism for the object to be processed, which is the most characteristic component of the processing apparatus of the present invention, will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an arm portion of a carrying mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the carrying mechanism. As shown in FIG. 3, in each arm 59, a wafer support frame 60 is formed in a partially cut-out annular shape, for example, a tip end cut-out annular shape, in order to stably support the transferred wafer inside the support frame 60. At least three places are provided with a plurality of support pieces, such as claws 61, which engage with the peripheral edge of the wafer W and support the wafer W at a plurality of places. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 5, each of the claws 61 is provided with an inclined surface 61a on the inner side thereof, and the wafer W is slid down along the inclined surface 61a, so that the wafer W being transferred is conveyed. This prevents misalignment and positioning.

These three arms 59 can be moved independently by a moving mechanism (not shown), and the horizontal direction (X, Y direction), vertical direction (Z direction) and rotation direction (θ).
Direction) can be moved. As the arm moving mechanism, for example, a rotating mechanism such as a stepping motor and a ball screw connected to the stepping motor, or a belt-driven slide mechanism is used.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, these three arms 59 are provided on the upper surface of the wafer support frame 60, and at least one, for example, two positions at both ends of the wafer support frame 60 from the upper surface of the support frame 60. A protruding wafer attracting portion 64 is formed. Each of the suction portions 64 has a suction hole 65 in the shape of an elongated hole along the circumferential direction. The suction holes 65 are formed by an air passage 66 formed inside the arm. It communicates with 67.

The transport mechanism 57 is a traveling block 72 movably provided along a transport rail 71 on the transport path 56.
In addition, the traveling block 72 is provided with three arms 59 that are vertically displaced from each other via support shafts 73, 74, and 75.

The intake port 67 is connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown) through an air passage 68 formed inside the support shafts 73, 74 and 75. Intake is performed simultaneously from one suction port 65. The distance between the wafer suction portions 64 and 64 in which the suction ports 65 are formed is set to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the wafer W, for example, about 2 to 10 mm. It is configured to be in contact with the lower surface in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of and to be held by suction.

That is, these arms 59 are
The wafer suction section 64 provided at each position is capable of holding the wafer W by suctioning two points on the lower surface near the periphery of the wafer W and supporting them at two points.

Next, the operation of the transport mechanism constructed as described above will be described. First, in the case of performing resist coating / developing processing of a resist liquid having a low viscosity which is usually used, the peripheral portion of the wafer W is supported by the claws 61 using the three arms 59, and the wafers for the respective devices 40 to 54 are supported. W
Carry in and out in parallel. This enables efficient processing. In this case, as the moving range of the arm 59 that advances toward the inside of each of the devices 40 to 54, the center of the wafer W supported by each of the pawls 61, that is, the center position between the pawls 61 is transferred to each of the devices 40 to 54. It is moved to the center position.

Next, even when a high-viscosity processing liquid such as polyimide is applied or a resist solution that cannot be subjected to the side rinse is applied, most of the transfer process is performed by the three arms 59. The peripheral portion of the wafer W is supported by the claws 61 using the claws 61. In particular, the transfer process in which the adhesion of the processing liquid residue 81 to the claws 61 of the arm 59 is a problem,
For example, the wafer W that has not been subjected to the side rinse treatment after applying the polyimide liquid or the resist liquid by the coating device 50 is transferred to the support pins 83 of the heat treatment device 52 is a wafer provided at two end portions of the arm 59. The suction portion 64 sucks the lower surface near the periphery of the wafer W, that is, two portions where the coating liquid is not adhered, and supports the wafer W at two points.
Hold and carry by holding. At that time, the transport mechanism 57 first moves the traveling block 72 to the front of the coating device 50, drives the arm 59, and inserts it into the coating device 50. In this case, the moving range of the arm 59 moving forward into the coating device 50 and the heat treatment device 52 is as shown in FIG.
Wafers W in a state of being sucked and held by each wafer suction unit 64 of
Is moved so that the center position thereof is the delivery center position in the coating device 50 and the heat treatment device 52. As described above, the holding means for adsorbing and holding the substrate to be processed, for example, the wafer W, provided on the arm 59 and the supporting means for supporting by the above-mentioned claw 61 are the state of the substrate to be processed, for example the wafer W, for example, the wafer W. The type of film formed on the wafer W, whether or not the film is formed up to the peripheral portion of the wafer W, the film thickness of the film formed on the wafer W, the processing step, and the like are selectable.

In the coating device 50, for example, the wafer W is lifted by a spin chuck (not shown) for rotating the wafer W, which is provided so that the wafer W spin-coated with a resist solution in a film shape can be lifted up and down. After waiting, the arm 59 is inserted to a predetermined position in the coating device 50, and then a spin chuck (not shown) is lowered or the arm 59 is raised to move the wafer support frame 60 of the arm 59.
The wafer W is delivered to. As a result, the two suction portions 64 of the arm 59 come into contact with the two lower surfaces of the wafer W in the vicinity of the periphery of the wafer W to suction-hold the wafer W.

Next, the transfer mechanism 57 moves the arm 59 from the inside of the coating device 50 to a fixed position on the traveling block 72, passes the wafer W to the other wafer transfer mechanism 58 via the relay mechanism 56A, and transfers the wafer W to the other traveling block. 2 heat treatment device 5
2 before moving the arm 59 to the heat treatment device 52.
Insert it inside and stop the drive of the vacuum suction device.

In the heat treatment device 52, when the arm 59 is inserted into a fixed position for delivery, the three support pins 83 shown in FIG.
Wafer W is delivered to.

In this case, even if the polyimide liquid or the resist liquid residue 81 is attached to the peripheral edge Wa of the wafer W, the peripheral edge Wa of the wafer W is not in contact with the arm 59. Therefore, the wafer W does not adhere to the arm 59 and becomes difficult to separate, and the wafer W can be delivered and received smoothly. Therefore, there is no risk that the wafer W will shift or drop during delivery.

In such a structure, the thickness of the film formed on the front surface of the wafer W or the peripheral edge portion Wa of the wafer W is used as control means for switching between the use of the suction portion 64 and the use of the claw 61. It can be automated by providing a film thickness sensor of an optical interference type or the like to be measured and a control device such as a microcomputer for judging the film type based on the measurement result in the transport mechanism 57.

For example, if the result of the measurement shows that the film thickness on the surface of the wafer W is as thick as about 10 μm, it is determined to be polyimide,
The wafer suction unit 64 is automatically selected and used as the wafer supporting means. When the film thickness is 1 to 2 μm, it is determined that the photoresist is normal, and the nail 6 is used as the wafer supporting means.
1 is automatically selected and used. And again, the wafer W
When the film thickness of the peripheral edge portion Wa is as thin as about 0.2 to 1 μm, it is determined that the side rinse process cannot be performed or is insufficient, and the wafer suction unit 64 is automatically selected and used. . When the film thickness is 0.2 μm or less, it is determined that the side rinse process is a normal process step, and the claw 61 is automatically selected and used. This film type determination is extremely effective when automatically selecting a transport member to be used. Note that the range of operation of the arm 59 may be automatically controlled at the same time when the support means is selected.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of the arm portion shown in FIG. In the configuration of the arm section shown in FIG. 7, the lower two-stage arm 59 has a substrate suction section 64 for holding the wafer W by vacuum suction and a claw 61 as a means for supporting the wafer W as described above. And the uppermost arm 59 is provided with only a claw 61 as a means for supporting the wafer W. In such a configuration of the arm portion, since the plurality of arms 59 are provided, it is needless to say that the wafer W can be simultaneously transferred and the throughput related to the transfer of the wafer W is improved, but only the uppermost arm 59 is provided. This arm 5 is provided with only the claw 61 as a means for supporting W, for example.
In FIG. 9, the wafer W is received from the loader unit 40 in FIG. 4 and used for transportation until a resist film as a coating film is formed on the wafer W by the resist coating apparatus 50.
The wafer W on which the resist film has been formed is transferred. That is, the uppermost arm 59 is used until the transfer that does not need to change the transfer mode depending on the state of the wafer W.
The lower two-stage arm 59 is used for the transfer which requires to change the transfer mode depending on the state of the wafer W. As a result, it is not necessary to provide the substrate suction part 64 for holding all the arms 59 by vacuum suction and the claw 61 as a means for supporting the wafer W, so that the cost of the arm parts can be reduced. it can. Further, the respective arms 59 can be combined according to the application, and the versatility can be improved.

In addition to this, the arm 59 is not limited to the uppermost stage, and the arm 59 having only the claw 61 as a means for supporting the wafer W is arranged at the lowermost part or the middle part. Alternatively, the arm portion may be configured by a combination with an arm having only a holding means for holding the wafer W by vacuum suction instead of the arm 59 having only the claw 61 as a means for supporting the wafer W. .

Next, another embodiment of the arm shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The arm 5 of FIG. 3 described above.
In FIG. 8, the upper surface of the wafer supporting frame 60 is provided with at least one, for example, two protruding substrate suction portions 64 projecting from the upper surface of the supporting frame 60 at both ends thereof. The substrate suction part 64 of the arm 59 is provided with a long hole-shaped suction port 65 along the circumferential direction at the base of the arm 59. The suction port 65 is formed by an air passage 66 formed inside the arm 59. It is configured to communicate with the suction port 67 of the arm base end portion 59a. Further, the suction port 65 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper surface of the support frame 60 is projected by the height of Y1. The distance Y1 is preferably maintained at a predetermined height in the range of about 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, in the vicinity of the intermediate portion of the arm 59, the wafer W held by the suction port 65 is supported and the wafer W is held by the arm 59.
The protrusions 100 are provided at both ends of the arm 59, for example, at at least two places, for example, so as not to come into contact with the support frame 60, and the protrusions 100 of the suction port 65 are provided as shown in FIG. The protrusion height Y2 is the same as the protrusion height Y1. In this case, the convex portion 100
Is preferably formed of a material that generates less dust. With this configuration, since the wafer W is transferred by the holding means by vacuum suction, each of the devices 40 to 40 shown in FIG.
The degree of freedom of the delivery position with 54 can be increased.

Next, an example of the state of the object to be processed is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and an example of detection of the state of the object to be processed will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and 12 show a substrate to be processed when selecting the object to be processed provided on the arm 59, for example, the holding means for adsorbing and holding the wafer W and the supporting means for supporting the claw 61, For example, this is an example of the state of the wafer W. FIG. 11 shows the resist coating apparatus 5 shown in FIG.
0 shows a state in which a resist film 101 as a coating film is formed over the entire surface of the wafer W, and FIG. 12 shows a cleaning liquid from a cleaning nozzle (not shown) or the like after the resist film 101 as a coating film is formed. Alternatively, the rinsing liquid is supplied in the direction of the wafer W and the resist film 1 attached to the peripheral portion of the wafer W
01a is removed.

The removal of the coating film adhering to the peripheral portion of the wafer W is not necessarily performed on all the wafers W. For example, when a high-viscosity polyimide resin is applied to the resist solution, it is impossible to completely remove the cleaning solution or rinse solution to the wafer W even if the cleaning solution or the rinse solution is supplied to the peripheral edge of the wafer W. When applying the polyimide resin, the peripheral portion of the wafer W may not be cleaned.

When it is not predetermined to determine whether the coating film remains on the peripheral portion of the wafer W or when confirmation is necessary, for example, as shown in FIG. Light is emitted from 103 at a predetermined wavelength. Then, while the optical sensor 102 is moved in the radial direction of the wafer W, the light receiving portion 104 of the optical sensor 102 detects the reflected light from the wafer W or the resist film, and a predetermined width X from the peripheral edge of the wafer W, for example, It is determined whether or not there is a resist film 101 remaining below 5 mm.
Based on the result of this judgment, when the remaining resist film 101 exists, the wafer W is held by the substrate suction portion 64 of the arm 59 shown in FIG. 1 or 8. Further, when the remaining resist film 101 does not exist, it is supported by the claw 61. Further, in the case where the means for holding or supporting the wafer W is previously determined to be either the substrate suction portion 64 or the claw 61, it is possible to detect whether or not the resist film 101 exists on the peripheral portion of the wafer W. If it is not necessary to perform it, it is necessary to register in advance whether the substrate suction unit 64 or the claw 61 is used for the control mechanism that drives the arm 59.

In the above embodiments, the case where the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer has been described, but the object to be processed is not necessarily limited to the semiconductor wafer, and may be, for example, an LCD substrate, a ceramics substrate, a compact disc, a printed circuit board, a paint. It is also applicable to a substrate coated with a treatment liquid, a substrate coated with a treatment liquid, and the like.

In the above embodiment, the case where the processing apparatus is applied to the resist coating / developing apparatus has been described.
In addition to this, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to, for example, an apparatus that performs an etching liquid coating process or a magnetic liquid coating process, a paint coating device, and the like. Further, the selection of the supporting means and the control of the operating range may be configured such that when the processing lot is known in advance, the film thickness is not measured and is set as one operation during the processing process. Good.

[0036]

According to the present invention, it is possible to automate the selection of either the supporting means or the holding portion of the transfer mechanism for each processing step.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an arm portion of a transfer mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the transport mechanism of the present invention.

3 is a plan view of an arm showing a main part of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a resist coating and developing treatment apparatus.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing an arm tip wafer suction part and a claw of FIG.

6A and 6B are views for explaining the transfer operation of the object to be processed in the processing apparatus of FIG.

7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the arm of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the arm shown in FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the arm shown in FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the arm shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of the target object according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of the target object according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating detection of the state of the target object according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

W wafer 40 Loader section 42 Brush cleaning device 44 Jet water cleaning device 46 Adhesion processing device 48 cooling system 50 Resist coater 52 Heat treatment device 54 developing device 58 Transport mechanism 59 arms 60 Wafer support frame 61 nails 64 Wafer suction part 65 Adsorption port

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G03F 7/16 501 H01L 21/68 A H01L 21/68 B 21/30 564Z 502J (56) Reference JP-A 1-278021 ( JP, A) JP-A-2-39520 (JP, A) JP-A-3-101247 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027 B05C 11/00 B05C 13/02 B65G 49/06 B65G 49/07 G03F 7/16 501 H01L 21/68

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A processing apparatus having a plurality of processing mechanisms for performing processing on an object to be processed and a transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed to the processing mechanisms, wherein the transfer mechanism is the object to be processed. Equipped with a film thickness sensor that measures the thickness of the film formed on the surface of the
The processing apparatus further comprising a control unit for determining the type of film formed on the surface of the object to be processed. 2. The control means is configured to judge as polyimide when the film thickness is about 10 μm as a result of the measurement and to judge as normal photoresist when the film thickness is 1 to 2 μm. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing device is provided. 3. The control mechanism includes: a supporting unit that supports a peripheral edge of the object to be processed; and a suction unit that holds the object to be processed by contacting a lower surface near the periphery of the object to be processed. The means is configured to select the holding by the adsorption unit when the film type is determined to be polyimide, and to select the support by the supporting means when the film type is determined to be a normal photoresist. The processing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.