JP3450138B2 - Substrate processing 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 substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate such as a glass rectangular substrate for a liquid crystal display or a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of conventional substrate processing apparatuses, a coating / developing apparatus for performing resist coating and developing processing on a substrate is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-222616.

This coating and developing apparatus has a plurality of transfer robots for transferring a substrate in a predetermined direction, and a processing section provided on one side of the transfer robot along the transfer path. This processing unit is provided with a spin scrubber for cleaning the substrate, a spin coater for applying a resist on the substrate, and a spin developer for developing the resist film on the substrate having a predetermined pattern baked by an exposure machine. ing.

Further, the spin scrubber provided in the above-mentioned coating and developing apparatus has a problem that it cannot sufficiently cope with an increase in substrate size. That is, for example, when the substrate is received in a liquid crystal display manufacturing factory, the surface of the substrate is dirty,
After forming various thin films on the substrate, it is not possible to sufficiently remove the metal powder and grease stains attached to the surface, and the back surface of the substrate is not sufficiently cleaned. A substrate cleaning device for cleaning the substrate has been required.

In this substrate cleaning apparatus, a plurality of transfer rollers arranged in parallel along the transfer direction of the substrate and a chemical solution such as an alkaline solution, for example, a special solution, are applied to both front and back surfaces of the substrate which are transferred by the plurality of transfer rollers. As disclosed in Kaihei 5-264942, high pressure pure water, pure water to which ultrasonic waves are applied, or the like is sprayed to clean the substrate. Further, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-6987, there is also known a substrate cleaning device which cleans a substrate by bringing a roll brush into contact with both front and back surfaces of the substrate transported by a plurality of transport rollers.

The substrate cleaned by the above-mentioned substrate cleaning device and accommodated in the cassette is conveyed by the AGV to the above-mentioned coating / developing device for resist coating and developing treatment.

In addition, ITO (Indium Tin O
(xide) film, etc., the substrate cleaning process is performed by the above-described substrate cleaning apparatus even as a pretreatment for the film forming process using the plasma CVD method or the sputtering method. The formed substrate is transported by AGV to a film forming apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus and subjected to a film forming process.

[0008]

However, as described above, for example, a coating / developing apparatus, a substrate cleaning apparatus, and a film forming apparatus are separately arranged on one floor of a manufacturing factory of liquid crystal displays, and the respective apparatuses are connected to each other. When the substrate stored in the cassette is transported by the AGV, it is necessary to secure a transport path for the AGV on the floor, and it is necessary to provide each device with an indexer unit for transferring the substrate between the cassette and a predetermined processing unit. Therefore, there is a problem that the total floor area where each processing device is installed increases.

Further, when the substrate stored in the cassette is transported by the AGV, another problem that the substrate in the cassette is contaminated occurs.

In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus in which the floor area where each apparatus is installed is reduced and the contamination of the substrate during the substrate transfer by AGV is suppressed.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the apparatus according to claim 1 is a substrate processing apparatus for subjecting a substrate to a predetermined processing, wherein the substrates transferred in cassette units are used.
One from the cassette for continuous processing after receipt
Take out the boards one by one and
The indexer part to be stored in the cassette and the indexer
The substrates taken out one by one from the cassette of the
Receiving a plurality of the received substrates
Transport rollers arranged in parallel along the transport path
The cleaning liquid is supplied to the main surface of the substrate while being supported in a substantially horizontal direction and continuously conveyed in a predetermined direction, and the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate by the cleaning liquid supply device is dried. and drying means is
The first processing unit der disposed at a predetermined position on the conveying path
A roller transfer type cleaning unit, a coating unit for coating resist on the main surface of the substrate, and a predetermined pattern are baked.
A plurality of processing units including a developing unit that develops the obtained resist film .
A robot that transfers the substrate to any of the processing units
Robot sequential transfer system resist coating, which is a second processing unit , for performing a series of processes on the substrate by sequentially transferring the substrates in a predetermined order
Between the developing unit and the first processing unit and the second processing unit ,
Buffer means for temporarily accumulating the transferred substrate, and the first processing section and the first processing means via the buffer means .
A substrate delivery section having a delivery means for delivering the substrate to and from the two processing sections .

According to the apparatus of claim 2, the substrate is subjected to a predetermined treatment.
The substrate processing equipment that processes
The received substrate is then received for subsequent processing.
Take out the substrates one by one from the set,
An indexer portion for storing a plate in the cassette;
The above-mentioned one by one taken out from the cassette of the dexter part
The substrate is received, and the plurality of received substrates are
A plurality of transfer rollers arranged in parallel along the transfer path of the board.
Supported almost horizontally by a roller and continuously specified
Supply the cleaning liquid to the main surface of the substrate while transporting it in the direction of
And the cleaning liquid supply means
Drying means for drying the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate
And a first processing unit arranged at a predetermined position on the transport path.
Roller transport type cleaning unit and a metal film is formed on the substrate
Film forming chamber and substrate to the film forming chamber
It is equipped with a transfer robot for transfer and is cleaned in the cleaning section.
Process for forming a predetermined electrode film on the main surface of the substrate
Between the film forming unit, which is a unit, and the cleaning unit and the film forming unit,
Buffer means for temporarily accumulating the transferred substrate
And the cleaning unit and the film forming unit via the buffer means.
And a delivery means for delivering the substrate to and from the substrate.
And a board delivery section.

The device of claim 3 is the device of claim 1 or
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the buffer
Means for delivering from the first processing unit to the second processing unit.
First buff for receiving and holding the substrate from the cleaning unit
And a substrate transferred from the first buffer means.
Second buffer means capable of accumulating, and said delivery means
Is connected to the first processing unit via the first buffer means.
The first transfer operation for transferring the substrate to and from the second processing unit.
And the first processing unit via the first buffer means.
The substrate received from the second buffer means is transferred to the second buffer means.
After storing the substrate, the substrate in the second buffer means is
Any of the second delivery operation of delivering to the second processing unit is possible
It is characterized as being Noh.

The apparatus of claim 4 is the same as that of claim 3.
In the substrate processing apparatus of the above, the delivery means includes the second delivery device.
Discharging the substrate to the second buffer means in the transfer operation
Inserting is done by the fight-in first-out method
It is characterized by The device of claim 5, claim 3
Or in the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said
2 The processing section has a substrate loading / unloading section, and the second transfer operation
In the operation, the delivery means is present in the board loading / unloading section.
The preceding substrate that was being used by the robot in the second processing unit
In response to being transported, the substrate in the second buffer means
It is characterized in that the plate is transferred to the substrate loading / unloading portion.

Further, in the apparatus of claim 6 , the first processing section is
It is characterized by comprising brush cleaning means for supporting the substrate substantially horizontally and transporting the substrate in a predetermined direction while bringing a brush into contact with the main surface of the substrate to clean the substrate.

The apparatus of claim 7 is characterized in that the cleaning liquid supplied by the cleaning liquid supply means is an alkaline solution. Further, the apparatus according to claim 8 has a predetermined treatment on the substrate.
In a substrate processing apparatus that applies
Support the substrate horizontally and transport the substrate in the specified direction.
While supplying the cleaning liquid to the main surface of the substrate
Means for supplying the cleaning liquid to the substrate.
A drying means for drying the washed cleaning solution.
A processing part, and (b) applying a resist on the main surface of the substrate.
Second processing having a plurality of processing units including a coating unit
Science Department and (c) the following elements (c-1) to (c-2), that is,
(c-1) Transfer from the first processing unit to the second processing unit
A first substrate that receives and holds the substrate from the first processing unit.
Cuffer means, and (c-2) transfer from the first buffer means
Second buffer means capable of accumulating the substrate to be processed, (c-3)
Before the first processing unit via the first buffer means
The first transfer operation for transferring the substrate to and from the second processing unit.
And the first processing via the first buffer means.
Transfer the substrate received from the second section to the second buffer means
And then temporarily store the substrate in the second buffer means.
Any of the second delivery operation of delivering to the second processing unit
And a board transfer part having a transfer means capable of
It is characterized by having.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a structure of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus, and FIG. 1B is a front view of the substrate processing apparatus.

As shown, this substrate processing apparatus is
An indexer unit 10 for receiving the substrates conveyed from V in cassette units and taking out the substrates one by one from the cassette for subsequent continuous processing, and a first processing unit for cleaning the taken-out substrates with a predetermined cleaning liquid. A cleaning unit 20 which is
A substrate transfer unit I that temporarily accumulates the substrate transferred between the cleaning unit 20 and the resist coating phenomenon unit 30 and transfers the substrate between the cleaning unit 20 and the resist coating and developing unit 30.
F, a resist coating / developing unit 30 that is a second processing unit for performing processing such as resist coating on the cleaned substrate, and an interface that performs peripheral exposure on the substrate after resist coating and transfers the substrate to the stepper 50. And a section 40.

The indexer unit 10 includes four cassettes CA.
Substrates stored in any of the indexer robots IN
The substrates are taken out one by one by D, and the substrates are transferred to the substrate loading / unloading part 21 of the cleaning part 20 which will be described later. At the same time, the cleaning process, the resist coating / developing process, and the exposure process are performed, respectively, and the substrate loading / unloading part 21 of the cleaning part 20 is present. The substrate is received by the indexer robot IND and stored in one of the four cassettes CA.

The cleaning section 20 is a conveyor-type processing section for successively cleaning the substrates before resist coating in the horizontal direction while successively cleaning the substrates one by one. The cleaning section 20 transfers substrates to and from the indexer section 10. Part 21, a UV processing part 22 for irradiating the received substrate with ultraviolet rays, and tilting the substrate from the horizontal position in the left-right direction toward the substrate transport direction within a tilt angle range of 3 ° to 40 ° with respect to the horizontal plane. Substrate tilting part 23 for displacing it in a tilted posture, and chemical cleaning part 24 for carrying out chemical treatment on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate while transporting the substrate in a tilted posture.
And a pure water cleaning unit 25 for cleaning the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate with pure water.
And an air knife drying unit 26 for drying the substrate after washing with water
With.

The delivery unit IF displaces the substrate dried in the air knife drying unit 26 and conveyed in the inclined posture from the inclined posture to the horizontal posture, and then temporarily stores it in the buffer unit described later. Then, the substrate once accumulated in the buffer unit is delivered to the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 of the resist coating / developing unit 30 by the transfer robot TR which is a delivery unit.

On the other hand, through the interface section 40,
The substrate that has been exposed by the stepper 50 and has completed the developing process in the resist coating / developing unit 30 is transferred from the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 to the shuttle transfer unit 29 via the transfer robot TR of the substrate transfer unit IF. The shuttle transport unit 29 transports the substrate and moves it to the substrate loading / unloading unit 21.

The resist coating / developing unit 30 is a processing unit of a robot sequential transfer system in which a transfer robot moves reciprocally and sequentially transfers substrates to arbitrary processing units among a plurality of processing units in a predetermined order. The resist is applied to the substrate cleaned by the cleaning unit 20 to form a resist film on the main surface of the substrate, and the resist film exposed by the stepper 50 and having a predetermined pattern baked is developed. . The resist coating / developing unit 30 is divided into a plurality of processing units that are arranged in the horizontal direction and stacked on each other in order to perform the series of substrate processing as described above. The transfer robots TR1 to TR3, which are a plurality of transfer means movable in the horizontal direction, are cyclically transferred between the processing units in a predetermined procedure. As the processing unit, on the lower side, a spin coater SC that is a coating unit that coats the resist on the main surface (upper surface) of the substrate, an edge cleaning unit EBR that removes the resist coated on the edge of the substrate, and a stepper 50 are provided. Spin developers SD1 to SD3, which are developing units for developing the resist film having the pattern printed thereon, are provided. Further, on the upper side, a dehydration bake unit DB for dehydrating and drying the substrate, an adhesion enhancing unit AP for performing an adhesion enhancing process for enhancing the adhesion of the resist to the substrate before applying the resist to the substrate, and a resist drying unit. A soft bake unit SB for performing heat treatment, a hard bake unit HB for drying the substrate after resist development, a post-exposure bake unit PEB for drying a substrate having a resist film having a predetermined pattern baked by the exposure device 50,
Cooling Plates CP1 to CP4 for Cooling the Substrate While cooling the substrate, the cooling plate IMC1, which functions as a substrate transfer unit between the transfer robot TR1 and the transfer robot TR2, cools the substrate,
A cooling plate IM that functions as a substrate transfer unit between the transfer robot TR2 and the transfer robot TR3.
C2 is provided.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the cleaning section 20 in more detail. In the substrate loading / unloading section 21, the indexer section 1
The substrates W1 taken out one by one from the cassette CA of 0 by the indexer robot IND are received. The substrate W1 received here has a plurality of transport rollers (not shown).
It is supported by, is sequentially transported horizontally, and moves to the UV processing unit 22. In the UV processing unit 22, the surface of the substrate W1 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to ash the oil and fat components on the surface of the substrate W1. The substrate W1 which has been subjected to the ultraviolet ray treatment advances straight by horizontal conveyance using a plurality of conveyance rollers (not shown),
With the posture as it is, the traveling direction is changed to the orthogonal direction and the substrate is moved horizontally to the inclined portion 23. In this substrate inclined portion 23,
For convenience of the subsequent cleaning process, the horizontal displacement substrate W1 is tilted in the horizontal direction toward the substrate transport direction by a posture displacement mechanism (not shown) within a tilt angle range of 3 ° to 40 ° with respect to the horizontal plane. It is displaced together with the transport roller R in the inclined posture. This is to form a flow in one direction in the cleaning liquid supplied onto the substrate W1 so as to efficiently replace the cleaning liquid on the substrate W1 and remove particles. In the chemical cleaning section 24, the alkaline solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate W1 which has been conveyed on a plurality of conveying rollers R described later while being inclined from the substrate inclination section 23 to perform the chemical cleaning. Pure water cleaning unit 2
In step 5, pure water is supplied to the surface of the substrate W1 that has been conveyed on the conveyance roller R in an inclined posture to perform pure water cleaning. In the air knife drying unit 26, the substrate W1 is dried by draining pure water attached to the surface of the substrate W1 with purified pressurized air.

FIG. 3 shows a chemical cleaning section 24 and a pure water cleaning section 25.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the processing in the air knife drying unit 26 in more detail. The plurality of transport rollers R are
The substrates are arranged in parallel along the traveling direction of the substrates to hold the substrates one by one in a tilted posture, and the above-described substrate tilting portion 2 is provided.
3, a chemical cleaning unit 24, a pure water cleaning unit 25, an air knife drying unit 26, and a substrate take-out unit 27 of a substrate transfer unit IF, which will be described later, sequentially convey a plurality of substrates. In the chemical cleaning unit 24, which is the brush cleaning unit, the alkaline solution is supplied from the nozzle 124, which is the first cleaning liquid supply unit, to the surface of the substrate W1 that has been conveyed from the substrate inclined unit 23 side, and the substrate W1 is supplied by the roll brush 224. Oil and fat components on the upper and lower surfaces are removed. Next, in the pure water cleaning unit 25, the alkaline solution or the like on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W1 is caused to flow by the curtain of pure water discharged from the pure water nozzle 125 which is the second cleaning liquid supply means. Further, the substrate W1 is subjected to high-pressure spray cleaning with high-pressure cleaning water from the high-pressure nozzle 225 which is the third cleaning liquid supply means, and ultrasonic cleaning is applied from the ultrasonic cleaning device 325 which is the fourth cleaning liquid supply means. It is further washed by supplying water. Finally, in the air knife drying unit 26 which is a drying means, the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W1 are drained by the pressurized air from the nozzle 126.

Returning to FIG. 2 again, the substrate W1 dried through the air knife drying section 26 is conveyed to the substrate take-out section 27 of the substrate transfer section IF by a plurality of conveying rollers R while keeping the inclined posture. The substrate W transported to the substrate unloading section 27
1, along with the plurality of transport rollers R, is displaced from an inclined posture to a horizontal posture by a posture displacement mechanism (not shown).
Then, the substrate W1 displaced in the horizontal posture is held by the fork-shaped lifter 28 and moves to the upper retracted position.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a lifter 28 which is a buffer means for adjusting the difference between the processing time (processing tact) of the substrate W1 in the cleaning section 20 or the resist coating / developing section 30 and the transfer timing of the transfer robot TR. FIG. From the main body portion 228 of the lifter 28, a pair of support bars 128, 128 extend on the substrate transfer path.
Each support rod 128 is provided with a plurality of tabs 128a for supporting the substrate W1. A drive mechanism (not shown) provided inside the main body portion 228 allows the support bars 128 to move up and down at the same time and to rotate simultaneously and in opposite directions. When the claws 128a provided on the respective support bars 128 are rotated in a direction in which they are separated from each other and brought into an open state, the respective support bars 128 are held horizontally by the plurality of transport rollers R provided on the substrate unloading section 27. It can move up and down without being interfered by. on the other hand,
When the claws 128a provided on the support rods 128 are rotated in a direction toward each other and brought into the open state, the tips of the claws 128a can support both ends of the substrate W1 from the lower surface side, so that the substrate W1 is held by the pair of support rods 128. Can be moved up and down.

In operation, the substrate W1 is held in an inclined posture by a plurality of transport rollers R, transported from the air knife drying unit 26 to the substrate unloading unit 27, and then stopped. Next, the substrate W1 is horizontally displaced together with the transport roller by an attitude displacement mechanism (not shown). At this time, the pair of support bars 128 are retracted to the retracted position above the transport roller R. Then, the pair of support bars 128 descends to the height positions (conveyance positions) at both ends of the substrate W1 in the horizontal posture with the claws 128a in the open state. A pair of support bars 128 lowered to the transfer position
Respectively rotate the claws 128a to the open state, bring the tips of the claws 128a into contact with the lower main surfaces of both ends of the substrate W1, and then move up to the retracted position, so that both ends of the substrate W1 are clawed from the lower main surface. The substrate W1 is transported to the retracted position while being supported by 128a.

Returning to FIG. 2, the transfer robot TR provided in the substrate transfer section IF moves in the Y direction of FIG. 2 so as to move back and forth with respect to the substrate unloading section 27 along a guide rail (not shown). A robot main body 72 that reciprocates along the robot main body 72, an articulated arm 71 that expands, contracts, rotates, and moves up and down with respect to the robot main body 72, and a hand 70 that holds the substrate W1 from the lower main surface.
And have. The transport robot TR transports the substrate W1 supported by the pair of support rods 128 at the retracted position of the substrate unloading unit 27 to the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 provided in the resist coating / developing unit 30. More specifically, first, the robot main body 72 advances to the position just before the substrate unloading section 27, then extends the arm 71 to move the hand 70,
It is inserted below the substrate W1 supported by the support rod 128 at the retracted position. Next, the arm 71 is raised to raise the hand 70.
After receiving the substrate W1 from the support rod 128 by, the arm 71 is retracted. Then, after holding the substrate W1 with the hand 70, the robot main body 72 retracts to the position immediately before the substrate loading / unloading part TRP1, and then rotates the arm 71 while extending it along the X direction in FIG. A substrate pedestal (not shown) provided in the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1
Insert above. Next, the arm 71 is lowered to move the substrate W
Transfer 1 to the board pedestal. In this way, the board loading / unloading part TR
The substrate W1 transported to the substrate pedestal P1 is transported by the transport robot TR1 (FIG. 1) provided in the resist coating and developing unit 30 to a predetermined processing unit of the resist coating and developing unit 30, for example, dehydration bake DB.

Before the substrate W1 which has been cleaned by the cleaning unit 20 as described above is transferred to the transfer robot TR,
The substrate W1 can be temporarily stored by temporarily holding it by the support rod 128. That is, even while the transfer robot TR is transferring the substrate W1, the next substrate (referred to as W2) is held by the support rod 128, so that the next substrate (referred to as W3) is transferred to the substrate. Extraction part 2
It is possible to accept the substrate (W1, W2, W) without interrupting the continuous cleaning process of the cleaning unit 20.
, ...) can be continuously conveyed from the cleaning unit 20 to the resist coating and developing unit 30.

A buffer cassette BCA (FIG. 2) capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates, for example, about 20 is provided above the retracted position of the support rod 128. In this buffer cassette BCA, the time (processing tact) for cleaning one substrate in the cleaning unit 20 is smaller than the processing tact in the resist coating / developing unit 30 which is a post process of the cleaning unit 20, and the difference therebetween. Is large, or a process subsequent to the cleaning unit 20, for example, the resist coating / developing unit 3
It is used when a failure occurs in 0 and the processing is interrupted. More specifically, when the difference between the processing tacts is large as described above, the substrate (which is referred to as W0) that has been subjected to the cleaning process before the substrate W1 held by the transfer robot TR of the substrate transfer part IF is registered. Coating and developing unit 30
The transfer robot TR of the resist coating / developing unit 30 stagnates because it is not received from the substrate receiving / receiving unit TRP1 of the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1, and the transfer robot TR of the substrate transfer unit IF cannot transfer the substrate W1 to the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1. In such cases,
After the substrate W1 held by the transport robot TR is stored in the buffer cassette BCA, the substrates W0 and W3 held by the support rod 128 are sequentially held until the substrate W0 in the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1 is transported by the transport robot TR1. ...) is received and stored in the buffer cassette BCA.

When the substrate W0 of the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1 is transported by the transport robot TR1, the transport robot TR
Is the next substrate W1 from the buffer cassette BCA to the substrate W0.
Is taken out and conveyed to the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1. Then, the transfer robot TR sequentially transfers the substrates (W2, W3 ...) From the buffer cassette BCA to the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1, so-called FIFO (first in / first out).
Transport by method.

As described above, the substrates that have undergone the cleaning process in the cleaning unit 20 are sequentially stored in the buffer cassette BCA, so that the cleaning process in the cleaning unit 20 can be performed even if the substrates are stagnant in the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1. It is possible to prevent the interruption on the way and solve the following problems. That is, if the cleaning process is interrupted in the cleaning unit 20, the transfer of the substrate by the transfer roller 20 is stopped, and, for example, in the chemical cleaning unit 24, an excessive alkaline solution is supplied to a part of the substrate and a predetermined amount of the alkaline solution is supplied. Since the roll brush 24 cleans only a part of the substrate for a longer time than the above, there is a problem that uneven cleaning and scratches occur on the substrate after the cleaning process after the interruption of the cleaning process is eliminated. Occurs. In order to solve this problem, a method of temporarily stopping the supply of the substrate from the indexer section 10 to the cleaning section 20 can be considered, but this method cannot cope with an unexpected failure of the resist coating and developing apparatus 30, for example. Since the cleaning process in the cleaning unit 20 is interrupted, another problem occurs that the processing capacity of the substrate is reduced.

On the other hand, the substrate WZ, which has undergone the developing process in the resist coating / developing unit 30, is transferred from the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 to the shuttle transport unit 2 via the transport robot TR on the cleaning unit 20 side.
Handed over to 9. Specifically, the transport robot TR receives the processed substrate WZ from the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1 and transfers the substrate onto a turntable 129 provided at one end of the shuttle transport unit 29. The substrate W2 is held on the turntable 129 by vacuum suction and rotates 90 ° with it, so that the substrate W2 can be transferred to the indexer unit 10. In this state, the turntable 129 rises and the substrate WZ is transferred to the slide hand 229. Specifically, when the slide hand 229 is moved to the position of the turntable 129, the slide hand 22
The substrate WZ moves relative to the body 9 directly below. In this state, when the turntable 129 is lowered to release the suction state, the hooks 22 provided at both ends of the slide hand 229 are provided.
The substrate WZ is held on 9a and 229a. The slide hand 229 holding the substrate WZ moves along the longitudinal direction of the shuttle transport unit 29 (-X direction in FIG. 2) to move the substrate WZ to the substrate loading / unloading unit 21. The substrate WZ moved to the substrate loading / unloading section 21 is delivered to the transfer robot IND provided on the indexer section 10 side. Transport robot IN
D has the same structure as the transfer robot TR and has four substrates WZ.
Store in one of the two cassettes CA.

[Second Embodiment] As a modification of the substrate processing apparatus of the first embodiment, it is possible to use a substrate processing apparatus in which the cleaning unit 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is arranged in the preceding stage of the film forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a substrate processing apparatus for film formation according to the second embodiment. This substrate processing apparatus is an indexer unit 10 having the same structure as in FIG. 1, a cleaning unit 20 having the same structure as in FIG. 1, and a second processing unit for forming an electrode film on a cleaned glass substrate for liquid crystal, for example. A film forming unit 90 using a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method is provided. The film forming unit 90 includes a film forming chamber 91 for forming a metal film such as ITO on the substrate, and a transfer robot TR4 for transferring the substrate received by the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 to the film forming chamber 91. To briefly explain the operation, the substrate taken out from the cassette in the indexer unit 10 is transferred to the cleaning unit 20 side, subjected to ultraviolet irradiation treatment in the UV processing unit 22, passed through the substrate tilting unit 23, and passed through the chemical cleaning unit 24. The chemical solution cleaning is performed in step 1, and the pure water cleaning unit 25 performs pure water cleaning. After drying, the substrate is transferred to the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 provided in the film forming unit 90 by the transport robot TR provided in the substrate delivery unit IF. The substrate received by the substrate loading / unloading section TRP1 is transferred to the film forming chamber 91 by the transfer robot TR4, and the film forming process is performed in the film forming chamber 91. The substrate after the film formation taken out from the film formation chamber 91 is transferred to the substrate loading / unloading part TRP1 by the transfer robot TR4. The substrate after film formation transferred to the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 is transferred to one end of the shuttle transport unit 29 by the transport robot TR, transported by the shuttle transport unit 29, and accommodated in the cassette in the indexer unit 10. It

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the configuration of the cleaning unit 20 is arbitrary, and the UV processing unit 22 and the chemical cleaning unit 24 do not necessarily have to be provided.
The configuration of the pure water cleaning unit 25 is also free.

Further, the posture of the substrate when the substrate W1 is transported by the plurality of transport rollers R in the cleaning section 20 may be a horizontal posture instead of the inclined posture. The substrate which is supported substantially horizontally in the present invention is supported in the range from the above-mentioned horizontal posture (inclination angle 0 ° to the horizontal plane) to inclination posture (inclination angle 3 ° to 40 ° relative to the horizontal plane). It is a substrate.

It is also possible to dispose a spin dryer instead of the air knife dryer 26.

Further, the shuttle transfer unit 29 is not essential, and the transfer robot TR can transfer the substrate from the substrate loading / unloading unit TRP1 to the substrate loading / unloading unit 21.

Further, in the second embodiment, the resist coating / developing section 30 can be arranged freely, and the number of transfer robots can be changed as required.

In the first embodiment, the processing using the resist coating / developing section 30 is not essential, and the processing using only the cleaning section 20 can be performed. In this case, the substrate taken out from the cassette in the indexer unit 10 is transferred to the cleaning unit 20 side, and is subjected to ultraviolet irradiation treatment, chemical cleaning,
Cleaning with pure water is performed. The substrate after cleaning is transferred to one end of the shuttle transfer unit 29 by the transfer robot TR provided in the substrate transfer unit IF after drying.
9 is conveyed and accommodated in the cassette in the indexer unit 10.

[0043]

As described above, in the apparatus according to the first aspect, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the main surface of the substrate while supporting the substrate substantially horizontally and transporting the substrate in the predetermined direction. And a plurality of processing units including a coating unit for coating the main surface of the substrate with a resist, and a first processing unit having a drying unit configured to dry the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate by the cleaning liquid supply unit. A processing unit, a buffer unit that temporarily stores a substrate to be transferred between the first processing unit and the second processing unit, and a substrate between the first processing unit and the second processing unit via the buffer unit. Since it is provided with a substrate delivery section having delivery means for delivering and receiving,
It is not necessary to provide a dedicated indexer section for loading and unloading a substrate in each of the first processing section for cleaning and the second processing section for resist coating, and the cassette is provided by AGV between such indexer sections. Need not be carried. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the floor area on which the apparatus is installed, and it is possible to suppress the contamination of the substrate when the substrate is transferred by the AGV.

[0044] Further, in the apparatus of claim 1, the first processing unit is a processing unit of the roller conveyor system, a second processing unit, so a processing unit of the robot sequential conveyance method, first from the first processing unit 2 It is indispensable to adjust the delivery timing of the substrate to the processing section, but by interposing the buffer means in the delivery of the substrate, the delivery of the substrate becomes reliable and efficient.

Further, in the apparatus of claim 1, one of the plurality of processing units is a developing unit for developing the resist film formed on the main surface of the substrate and having a predetermined pattern printed thereon. Part, the second processing part, and the resist exposure device are arranged in series, and it becomes possible to wash the substrate, apply resist, and develop the substrate with only one indexer part.
The floor area can be effectively reduced.

Further, in the apparatus of claim 2 , the substrate is supported substantially horizontally and the substrate is conveyed in a predetermined direction, and a cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the main surface of the substrate, and the cleaning liquid supply means. A first processing unit having a drying means for drying the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate by
A second processing unit having a film forming unit for forming a predetermined electrode film on the main surface of the substrate; a buffer unit for temporarily accumulating the substrate to be transferred between the first processing unit and the second processing unit; Since the substrate transfer unit having the transfer unit for transferring the substrate between the first processing unit and the second processing unit via the buffer unit is provided, the first processing unit for cleaning and the first processing unit for film formation are provided. Two
It is not necessary to provide an indexer unit for loading and unloading the substrate to and from each of the processing units, and it is possible to reduce the floor area for installing the apparatus.
It is possible to suppress the contamination of the substrate when the substrate is transferred by the GV.

Further, in the apparatus according to the sixth aspect , the first processing section supports the substrate substantially horizontally and conveys the substrate in a predetermined direction while bringing the brush into contact with the main surface of the substrate to bring the substrate into contact with the substrate. Since it has a brush cleaning means for cleaning the substrate, it is possible to effectively remove the contaminants strongly adhered to the main surface of the substrate.

Further, in the apparatus according to the seventh aspect , since the cleaning liquid supplied by the cleaning liquid supply means is the alkaline solution, the efficiency of removing the organic substances and the like adhering to the main surface of the substrate can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a front view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the cleaning unit of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a part of a cleaning process step in the cleaning unit in FIG.

4A and 4B are views for explaining the operation of a lifter provided in the cleaning unit of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a planar structure of a substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Indexer section 20 Washing department 21 Board entry / exit 22 UV processing unit 23 Substrate slope 24 Chemical cleaning section 25 Pure water cleaning section 26 Air knife drying section 28 Lifters 29 Shuttle transport section 30 Resist coating and development department 40 Interface part 50 stepper IF board delivery section TR, TR1 to TR4 transfer robots

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI H01L 21/30 569D (56) References JP-A-8-236498 (JP, A) JP-A-8-222616 (JP, A) JP-A-8-115967 (JP, A) JP-A-7-297258 (JP, A) JP-A-7-192992 (JP, A) JP-A-7-176507 (JP, A) JP-A-7-74133 (JP, A) JP 7-7067 (JP, A) JP 7-6987 (JP, A) JP 5-304112 (JP, A) JP 2-78243 (JP, A) (JP, A) 58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027 H01L 21/304 H01L 21/68

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a substrate, receives a substrate conveyed in a cassette unit, and then connects the substrates.
Removes the substrates one by one from the cassette for subsequent processing
At the same time, the substrate that has undergone development processing is stored in the cassette.
The indexer part to be stored and one from the cassette of the indexer part are taken out one by one.
Received the substrate and the received plurality of substrates.
A plurality of plates arranged in parallel along the transfer path of the substrate.
Continuous as well as substantially horizontally supported by the transport rollers
Manner while conveyed in a predetermined direction, and the cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the main surface of the substrate, drying means and said conveying line path for drying the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate by the cleaning liquid supply means coating unit and Tokoro to the coating and cleaning of the roller conveyor type is a first processing unit disposed in a predetermined position, the resist on the main surface of the substrate
Develop a resist film with a fixed pattern baked
Having a plurality of processing units including a developing unit that, prior to
Note Before any processing unit among multiple processing units
The substrate is sequentially transferred by a transfer robot in a predetermined order to
A robot that is a second processing unit that performs a series of processing on a substrate
A transfer type resist coating / developing unit, a buffer unit that temporarily stores the substrate transferred between the first processing unit and the second processing unit, and the first processing unit via the buffer unit. A substrate processing unit , comprising: a substrate transfer unit having a transfer unit for transferring the substrate to and from the second processing unit . 2. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate.
At that time, the board transferred in cassette units is received and
Removes the substrates one by one from the cassette for subsequent processing
In addition, the substrate after film formation is stored in the cassette.
Remove one from the indexer and one from the cassette in the indexer.
Received the substrate and the received plurality of substrates.
A plurality of plates arranged in parallel along the transfer path of the substrate.
Continuously supported and supported almost horizontally by the transport rollers
Cleaning the main surface of the substrate while transporting it in a predetermined direction
A cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a liquid, to the wash solution supply means
Therefore, the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate is dried.
And a drying means arranged at a predetermined position on the transport path.
A roller transport type cleaning unit which is one processing unit, a film forming chamber for forming a metal film on the substrate, and the substrate
It is equipped with a transfer robot that transfers the film to the deposition chamber.
A predetermined electrode film is formed on the main surface of the substrate cleaned by the cleaning section.
And a second film forming unit, which is a second processing unit, and the first film processing unit and the second film processing unit.
Buffer means for temporarily accumulating the substrate, and the buffer
Between the first processing unit and the second processing unit
Substrate receiving means for delivering and receiving the substrate between
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a transfer unit. 3. The substrate processing according to claim 1 or 2.
In the processing device, the buffer means transfers the substrate to be delivered from the first processing unit to the second processing unit.
First buffer means for receiving and holding from the cleaning section
And capable of accumulating the substrate transferred from the first buffer means.
Second buffer means, and the delivery means includes the first processing section and the first processing section via the first buffer means.
First transfer operation for transferring the substrate between the two processing units
And from the first processing unit via the first buffer means.
The taken substrate is transferred to the second buffer means and temporarily stored
Then, the substrate in the second buffer means is subjected to the second treatment.
It is possible to perform both the second delivery operation and delivery to the science department.
A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3.
Then, the delivery means is configured to perform the second delivery in the second delivery operation.
When loading / unloading the board to / from the buffer means,
Substrate processing characterized by first-out method
apparatus. 5. The substrate processing according to claim 3 or 4.
In the processing device, the second processing section has a substrate loading / unloading section, and the second receiving section is provided.
In the transfer operation, the transfer means is connected to the board loading / unloading section.
The existing preceding substrate is transferred to the robot in the second processing unit.
Thus, in response to being transported, the second buffer means
The inside substrate is transferred to the substrate loading / unloading part.
Substrate processing equipment. 6. The first processing unit holds the substrate substantially horizontally.
Support the substrate and transport the substrate in the specified direction.
First, wash the board by bringing a brush into contact with the main surface of the board.
2. A brush cleaning means according to claim 1 or 2.
6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5. 7. The cleaning liquid supply means supplies the cleaning liquid.
The cleaning liquid is an alkaline solution.
The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a substrate.
The substrate Oite, with substantially horizontally supporting the (a) said substrate
Of the cleaning liquid on the main surface of the substrate while conveying the cleaning liquid in a predetermined direction.
And a cleaning liquid supply means for supplying
To dry the cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate.
A first processing unit having a drying means, and (b) a coating unit for coating a resist on the main surface of the substrate.
A second processing unit having a plurality of processing units including a unit, and (c) the following elements (c-1) to (c-2), that is, (c-1) the first processing unit to the second processing unit. Should be handed over to the processing unit
A first substrate that receives and holds the substrate from the first processing unit.
Buffer means , and (c-2) storing the substrate transferred from the first buffer means.
A stackable second buffer means, and (c-3) the first processing via the first buffer means
First transfer for transferring a substrate between the processing section and the second processing section
A passing operation, and the first buffer means
1 The substrate received from the processing unit is stored in the second buffer means.
In the second buffer means, after transferring and once accumulating
A second transfer operation for transferring the substrate to the second processing section;
Substrate delivery section having delivery means capable of shifting
The substrate processing apparatus characterized by comprising a and.