JP3597285B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus having a rotary processing unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As is well known, various surface treatments such as a spin coating process of a resist and processes related thereto are performed on a semiconductor wafer, and a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus that automatically performs a series of these processes is used. In order to perform these series of processing efficiently, a plurality of processing units are arranged in two rows to form a processing unit group, and a semiconductor wafer as a substrate to be processed is processed one by one from the cassette. The semiconductor wafer is transferred between the processing units by a transfer robot (transfer means).
[0003]
The plurality of processing units constituting the processing unit group include a heat treatment unit that performs a heating process and a cooling process on the semiconductor wafer. In this heat treatment section, heat treatment is performed by placing a semiconductor wafer directly or at a predetermined interval on the upper surface of the plate. Here, it is difficult to make the heat distribution on the plate completely uniform due to factors such as individual differences in heaters and the plate installation environment. The characteristic heat history according to is reflected. For this reason, when the semiconductor wafer is placed on the heat treatment section, an orientation flat (hereinafter, referred to as “orientation flat”), which is a characteristic portion of the semiconductor wafer, is arranged so as to face a certain direction. It is desired to make the heat history the same.
[0004]
In addition, the processing unit group includes a rotation processing unit such as a spin coater (rotary resist coating device) for rotating and coating a resist by rotating a semiconductor wafer, and the same spin processing history is applied to each semiconductor wafer. There is a request to do it. This "spin processing history" is largely influenced by wind bleeding at the beginning of rotation. Prior to rotation, the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer is positioned so as to face a fixed direction, and rotation is started from that state, and the rotation of each semiconductor wafer is started. Can make the spin processing history the same.
[0005]
Further, when transferring a semiconductor wafer, there is a demand to suppress the vibration of the semiconductor wafer, and in order to satisfy this, the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer is transferred in a posture facing a certain direction, and the semiconductor wafer is moved between the semiconductor wafers. It is necessary to make the transport history at the same time.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the related art, no consideration has been given to adjusting the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer so that the orientation flat faces in a certain direction when unloading from the cassette and unloading to the processing unit group. For this reason, the above-mentioned histories cannot be made the same between the semiconductor wafers, and there is a problem that a variation in processing occurs between the semiconductor wafers and a stable substrate processing cannot be performed.
[0007]
Further, the spin processing history becomes a problem not only in a spin coater but also in a rotary developing device (spin developer) and the like.
[0008]
Therefore, the present applicant has proposed a proposal example for solving the above problem in a patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 7-178701) filed on Jul. 14, 2007. In this proposal example, as shown in FIG. 6, an indexer ID serving as a substrate loading / unloading section is provided with an orientation flat aligning section 101, and after positioning the semiconductor wafer 102 so that the orientation flat is oriented in a predetermined direction, the processing section groups 103 and 104 are disposed. Take it out. Further, the processing unit (the spin coater SC and the spin developers SD1 and SD2) for rotating the semiconductor wafer 102 has a second position for rotating and positioning the semiconductor wafer 102 so that the orientation flat is oriented in a certain direction when the rotation of the semiconductor wafer 102 is stopped. Two positioning mechanisms are provided. With this configuration, in the indexer ID, the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer 102 can be transferred to the processing unit group in a state where the orientation flat is oriented in a certain direction. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 105 denotes a cassette mounting portion, reference numerals 106, TH and TC denote transport robots, reference numeral CP4 denotes a cool plate, reference numeral SC denotes a spin coater (rotary resist coating apparatus), and reference numeral SD1 , SD2 denote a spin developer (rotary developing device), IFB denotes an interface unit (hereinafter referred to as “IF unit”), and LU denotes an exposure processing unit (stepper).
[0009]
However, as in this proposed example, even if the orientation is aligned with the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer in the orientation flat alignment unit 101 of the indexer ID and the lot is put in, the spin processing units such as the conventional spin coater SC and the spin developers SD1 and SD2 do not. In addition, since the rotary orientation function was not provided, depending on the combination of these processing units, the orientation of the orientation flat was not always constant when the lot was collected. In such a case, it is often necessary to align the directions of the substrates in a later process, or the angular position of the substrates is shifted in the unloader cassette, so that it is often difficult to handle the substrates. Further, it hinders the work of visually recognizing the number marked at a specific position on the substrate. Specifically, depending on the exposure processing unit LU used, for example, when a substrate is transferred between the IF unit IFB and the exposure processing unit LU, the substrate angle position is rotated by 90 degrees in the conventional handling mechanism. In this case, the substrate angular position is shifted by 90 degrees between the time of loading and the time of unloading. For this reason, a mechanism for adjusting the angular position of the substrate has been conventionally desired.
[0010]
As a method of detecting the position of the orientation flat and adjusting the angular position of the substrate, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-85536 discloses a technique for detecting a plurality of (three or more) photoelectric positions. There is a technique (known technique 1) in which, after detecting an outer peripheral position of a substrate using a device, a movable table is moved together with a spin chuck so as to be at a predetermined position. However, the method as in the prior art 1 requires a special mechanism for moving the movable table, so that a large space is required for this, and this has been against the demand for space saving.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of efficiently adjusting the angular position of a substrate with respect to each processing unit without requiring an extra space.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus having at least one rotation processing unit configured to perform a predetermined process on a main surface of a substrate by horizontally rotating the substrate while holding the substrate with the substrate holding device. A substrate holding member for holding the substrate horizontally, rotating means for horizontally rotating the substrate holding member, position input means for inputting information relating to rotation stop angle position adjustment of the substrate holding member, and the position input means Based on the information entered in,In a state where the substrate is held by the substrate holding member,A drive control unit that drives and controls the rotation unit so as to adjust a stop angle position of the substrate holding member before the substrate rotation process and a rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member after the substrate rotation process. Prepare.
[0013]
In such a configuration, for example, due to the convenience of handling of a substrate transport robot or the like and provision of a nonstandard device during the substrate rotation, the substrate angular position is changed in the middle and the substrate processing conditions are appropriate. If you do not meet the conditions,With the substrate held by the substrate holding member,Before performing the rotation processing of the substrate, input information about the rotation stop angle position adjustment from the position input means, and the stop angle position before the rotation processing of the substrate holding member holding the substrate carried in through the drive control means, and after the rotation processing. By adjusting the rotation stop angle position in, when the rotation processing is performed, the processing can be performed at an appropriate substrate angle. Further, even when the substrate is carried out from the rotation processing section, the substrate can be carried out at an appropriate substrate angle. In this case, there is no need to provide a space for a mechanism dedicated to substrate rotation adjustment other than the space in which the rotation processing unit is provided, so that it is not necessary to hinder miniaturization of the entire substrate processing apparatus.
[0014]
Preferably, the substrate processing apparatus further includes a storage device for storing information input by the position input unit.
[0015]
In such a configuration, once the information relating to the rotation stop angle position adjustment is input from the position input means, the information relating to the rotation stop angle position adjustment may be read out from the storage device to perform the adjustment. Can be omitted.
[0016]
More desirably, the substrate processing apparatus further includes a rotation angle detection unit that detects a rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member, and information input by the position input unit is a non-adjusted information of the substrate holding member. This is an angle deviation value with respect to the rotation stop angle position. Then, the drive control unit stops the rotation unit without adjusting the stop angle, and then detects the actual rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member by the rotation angle detection unit, based on the rotation stop angle position. The drive control of the rotation means is performed in consideration of the angle deviation value input by the position input means.
[0017]
In such a configuration, the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member can be adjusted based on the actual rotation stop angle position detected by the rotation angle detection means, and the rotation stop angle of the substrate can be accurately adjusted.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus having at least one rotation processing unit for performing a predetermined process on a main surface of a substrate by horizontally rotating the substrate while holding the substrate with the substrate holding device. A substrate holding member for holding the substrate horizontally, a rotating unit for horizontally rotating the substrate holding member, a position input unit for inputting information regarding rotation stop angle position adjustment of the substrate holding member, and the position Drive control means for driving and controlling the rotation means so as to adjust the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member based on the information inputted by the input means; and rotation angle detection for detecting the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member. The information input by the position input means is an angle deviation value with respect to the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member at the time of non-adjustment. Then, the drive control unit stops the rotation unit without adjusting the stop angle, and then detects the actual rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member by the rotation angle detection unit, based on the rotation stop angle position. The drive control of the rotation means is performed in consideration of the angle deviation value input by the position input means.
In such a configuration, the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member can be adjusted based on the actual rotation stop angle position detected by the rotation angle detection means, and the rotation stop angle of the substrate can be accurately adjusted.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
<Structure>
In the present invention, in each processing unit of the spin system in the processing unit, a predetermined angular position of the substrate transferred from the transfer robot is designated in advance, and the rotational angular position of the spin chuck is adjusted based on the predetermined angular position, so that a dedicated The substrate is efficiently transferred at an angular position suitable for each processing unit without requiring a movement adjusting mechanism. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the configuration of the entire substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an indexer 1, a processing unit 2, an interface unit (IF unit) 3, an exposure processing unit 4, and the like.
[0020]
The indexer 1 includes a loading / unloading table 11 for transferring a carrier C to and from an automatic carrier transporting device (Auto Guided Vehicle: hereinafter referred to as “AGV”) 5 and a carrier C mounted on the loading / unloading table 11. The apparatus includes a substrate transport robot 12 for transferring a substrate W to and from a substrate transport robot 23 in the processing unit 2 described below. As the indexer 1 of this embodiment, one having the positioning mechanism described in the above-mentioned proposal example (Japanese Patent Application No. 7-178701: see FIG. 6) is used.
[0021]
The processing unit 2 includes a first device disposition unit 21, a second device disposition unit 22, and a transfer path 24 for a substrate transfer robot 23. A plurality of spin coaters SC for performing resist coating, a plurality of spin developers SD for performing development, and the like are provided in the first apparatus disposing portion 21 along the X-axis direction in FIG. Further, the second device arrangement section 22 includes an adhesion unit AH for improving the adhesion between the resist film and the substrate, and a plurality of bake units BU for performing pre-bake, PEB, post-bake, and the like. Are arranged. The bake unit BU includes a hot plate HP (FIG. 4) for heating the substrate W to a predetermined temperature, and a cool plate CP (FIG. 4) for cooling the heated substrate W to around room temperature. A plurality of hot plates HP and cool plates CP are two-dimensionally arranged in the X-axis direction and the vertical direction (the vertical axis direction perpendicular to the X and Y axes and the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). It is configured.
[0022]
Here, the spin coater SC is an apparatus for dropping a resist on a horizontal substrate by a spin chuck (substrate holding member) of a suction type or the like and rotating the substrate to form a uniform resist film on the substrate. The spin developer SD performs development, washing and drying of the resist by rotating the substrate by a spin chuck of a suction type or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, a drive motor 30a (rotating means) for rotating the spin chuck 30 and a processing solution such as a resist solution, a chemical solution, a developing solution, and a cleaning solution are supplied to the spin coater SC and the spin developer SD. A processing liquid supply unit 30b and a cup 30c for preventing the processing liquid from scattering are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the spin coater SC and the spin developer SD is provided with a substrate rotation control unit 31 for controlling a stop angle position and a rotation speed of the spin chuck 30.
[0023]
The substrate rotation control means 31 controls the rotation stop position of the spin chuck 30 for each spin processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as “rotation processing unit”) such as the spin coater SC and the spin developer SD. Numerical value setting means 32 for numerically setting a rotation stop angle position and an appropriate rotation speed, and a drive control means for driving and controlling the stop angle position and rotation speed of the spin chuck 30 based on the set rotation stop angle position and rotation speed ( (A servo driver) 33 and a rotation angle detecting means 34 for feeding back the rotation angle position of the spin chuck 30.
[0024]
As the numerical value setting means 32, a general personal computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like is used, and all the operations are executed by software stored in advance. The numerical value setting means 32 includes a keyboard device (position input means) 36 as a spin rotation position input means for inputting numerical data on an appropriate rotation stop angle position of the spin chuck 30 and numerical data on an appropriate rotation speed by an operator. A storage unit (memory device) 37 for storing the input numerical data, a spin control circuit 38 for generating a control signal based on the input or stored numerical data, and a control unit for transmitting the generated control signal to an external device. And a communication control circuit 39 for controlling transmission and reception between them.
[0025]
The rotation stop angle position input by the spin rotation position input means 36 may be specified based on the position of the orientation flat of the substrate. Specifically, the rotation stop angle position when the rotation stop angle adjustment is not performed at all is performed. Specify the angle deviation (rotation offset value) for the angular position. This is because a general servo amplifier alone cannot accurately recognize the substrate angular position. Therefore, the current angular position of the substrate is recognized, and once the origin is searched, the offset is offset by a predetermined appropriate angle such as 90 degrees. This is because it is convenient to call. The control signal for positioning from the communication control circuit 39 is a digital signal. In addition to the angle of the board, various data such as rotation speed, normal rotation / reverse rotation, and acceleration are also provided as necessary. Shall be included.
[0026]
The drive control unit 33 includes a communication control circuit 41 that controls transmission and reception of control signals and the like to and from the communication control circuit 39 of the substrate rotation control unit 31, a control signal related to a stop angle position from the communication control circuit 41, and a rotation angle detection unit A position control unit for calculating an angle deviation to an appropriate stop position based on a signal about an actual rotational angle position detected in step 34; a control signal relating to a rotational speed from a communication control circuit 41; A speed calculation unit 43 for calculating an angle deviation to an appropriate stop position based on a signal about an actual rotation angle position detected in step 3, and speed control based on calculation results of the position control unit 42 and the speed calculation unit 43 A speed control unit 44 for generating a signal; a current command unit 45 for setting a current level corresponding to the speed control signal generated by the speed control unit 44; A current control circuit unit 46 that performs current control in accordance with the current level set in the above, a PWM generation circuit unit 47 that performs pulse width modulation by current control by the current control circuit unit 46, and an output pulse from the PWM generation circuit unit 47 And an output circuit section 48 for outputting to the spin chuck 30.
[0027]
As the rotation angle detection means 34, for example, an incremental encoder having 4000 pulses per rotation is used, and is attached to the drive motor 30 a of the spin chuck 30. Then, the rotation angle of the encoder is detected by a sensor fixed to the lower end.
[0028]
In this embodiment, a substrate for transferring a substrate W to and from a first substrate transport robot 51 in the IF unit 3 described later is provided near an end of the second device arrangement unit 22 on the IF unit 3 side. A delivery table 49 is provided. A plurality of substrate support pins 49a are fixedly provided upright on the substrate transfer table 49, and the substrate W is placed on the substrate support pins 49a to transfer the substrate W.
[0029]
The transfer path 24 of the substrate transfer robot 23 is provided between the first and second device arrangement sections 21 and 22. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the substrate transfer robot 23 moves the hand 23 b in a horizontal direction (XY plane) with a horseshoe-shaped hand 23 b having a plurality of protrusions 23 a for mounting and supporting the substrate W. The expansion / contraction part 23c for expanding and contracting, the rotating part including a motor (not shown) for rotating the hand 23b around the vertical axis via the expansion / contraction part 23c, and moving the hand 23b in the vertical axis direction via the expansion / contraction part 23c and the rotating part And a X-direction moving unit 23f that moves the hand 23b in the X-axis direction via the expansion / contraction unit 23e, the rotating unit, and the vertical-axis direction moving unit 23e. The expansion / contraction part 23c, the vertical axis direction moving part 23e, and the X direction moving part 23f are configured by a well-known one-axis direction moving mechanism including a screw shaft 23g, a motor 23h, and a guide shaft 23i.
[0030]
The substrate transfer robot 23 appropriately combines rotation of the hand 23b around the vertical axis, movement in the X-axis and vertical-axis directions, and expansion and contraction operations, and performs a spin coater SC, a spin developer SD, a bake unit BU, and an adhesion unit AH. Access to the processing apparatus (loading / unloading operation of the substrate W to / from each apparatus), loading / unloading of the substrate W to / from the substrate transfer table 49, transfer of the substrate W between the apparatuses in the processing unit 2, and the like. Do.
[0031]
The first substrate transfer robot 51 is driven to expand and contract the substrate support portion 51a by an expansion and contraction drive portion 51b, is driven to rotate around a vertical axis by a rotation drive portion (not shown), and is controlled to move up and down by a vertical axis direction drive portion (not shown). You. Further, the expansion / contraction drive unit 51b is located in front of the substrate transfer table 49 in the X-axis direction so that the substrate support unit 51a can expand and contract with respect to the substrate transfer table 49 in the processing unit 2 and a buffer unit 52 described later. It is arranged in front of the portion 52 in the Y-axis direction. With such a configuration, the first substrate transfer robot 51 performs loading / unloading of the substrate W to / from the substrate transfer table 49 in the processing unit 2 and storage / removal of the substrate W to / from an optional storage shelf 52a of the buffer unit 52 described below. Do.
[0032]
The buffer unit 52 is disposed at a position between the first substrate transfer robot 51 and a second substrate transfer robot 53 described later, and is supported on the inner surface of the IF unit 3. In the buffer section 52, a plurality of (for example, 50) storage shelves 52a are stacked and formed in multiple stages in the vertical axis direction. Each storage shelf 52a has an opening on a surface facing the first substrate transfer robot 51 and a second substrate transfer robot 53, which will be described later, and these first and second substrate transfer robots 51, 53 are provided. The substrate W can be stored / removed.
[0033]
The second substrate transport robot 53 is movably disposed between a front surface of the buffer unit 52 in the Y-axis direction and a front surface of the substrate loading table 54 described later in the X-axis direction. It is configured to be driven in the Y direction and the vertical axis direction by a drive mechanism that does not. With such a configuration, the second substrate transport robot 53 can exchange a substrate W with a substrate transport robot (not shown) that stores / extracts the substrate W to / from an arbitrary storage shelf 52 a of the buffer unit 52 and transfers the substrate to / from the exposure processing unit 4. Is delivered.
[0034]
A plurality of substrate support pins (not shown) are fixed in the vertical direction in the same manner as the substrate transfer table 49 in the processing unit 2, as in the substrate transfer table 54 and the substrate transfer table 55 disposed in the exposure processing unit 4. The substrate W is placed on the substrate support pins, and the substrate W is transferred to and from a substrate transfer robot in the IF unit 3 (not shown). Note that, in this embodiment, along the moving direction (Y-axis direction) of the Y-direction driving unit (one-axis direction moving means) of the second substrate transfer robot 53, the substrate unloading table 55, A substrate loading table 54 is provided. Although not shown, when the substrate W is transferred between the exposure processing unit 4 and the IF unit 3, an opening through which a substrate transfer robot (not shown) supporting the substrate W passes also has an opening. And the IF unit 3.
[0035]
The exposure processing unit 4 includes, for example, an exposure machine such as a reduction projection exposure machine (stepper) for performing exposure, an alignment mechanism for performing positioning for printing an exposure pattern by the exposure machine, and an exposure processing unit 4. A substrate transport robot (both not shown) for transporting the substrate W and the like are integrally unitized. The substrate transfer robot in the exposure processing unit 4 takes in the pre-exposure substrate W placed on the substrate carry-in table 54 into the exposure processing section, and removes the exposed substrate W after the exposure processing in the exposure processing section. An operation of carrying out and placing the substrate on the substrate carrying table 55 is also performed. The operations of taking out the substrate W from the substrate loading table 54 and placing the substrate W on the substrate loading table 55 by the substrate transport robot in the exposure processing unit 4 are performed by the substrate transport in the processing unit 2 described with reference to FIG. The operation is performed in the same manner as the operation of taking out and placing the substrate W on the substrate delivery table 49 by the robot 23.
[0036]
Reference numeral 58 in FIG. 1 indicates a door for setting and taking out the cassettes 56a and 56b from the table tables 57a and 57b.
[0037]
<Operation>
Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 shows an appropriate rotation angle position when a substrate W is carried in and out of each processing unit. In FIG. 3, the symbol PR indicates pre-bake, the symbol PE indicates PEB, the symbol PO indicates post-bake, the symbol ID indicates the indexer 1, and the symbol IF-B indicates the IF unit 3. Here, when the substrate W is loaded into the processing unit 2, the orientation mechanism of the substrate W positions the orientation flat of the substrate W so that the angle of the substrate W is constant. Further, it is assumed that the substrate W is shifted by 90 degrees due to a handling operation in the IF unit 3 when the substrate W is carried in and out of the exposure processing unit 4. The spin coater SC and the spin developer SD are shown as one each for convenience. FIG. 4 shows a predetermined rotation of the substrate W in such a substrate processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate W supplied from the indexer 1 is:
(A) Process of the adhesion unit AH
(B) Cool plate CP process,
(C) the process of the spin coater SC,
(D) hot plate HP process,
(E) After the process of the cool plate CP,
(F) Through the IF unit 3,
(G) It is sent to the exposure processing unit 4 and subjected to exposure processing. afterwards,
(H) returned to the IF unit 3 at an angle shifted by 90 degrees with respect to the loaded state, and further returned to the processing unit 2;
(I) hot plate HP process,
(J) Cool plate CP process,
(K) Spin developer SD process,
(L) Hot plate HP process,
(M) The processing is performed in the order of the steps of the cool plate CP,
(N) It is returned to the indexer 1 again.
[0038]
Here, the indexer 1, the IF unit 3, and the exposure processing unit 4 may be shifted by a certain angle. For example, depending on the standard of the exposure processing unit 4 to be used, the substrate may be carried in / out at an angle different from a predetermined angle depending on the manner of rotation of the transfer arm for carrying in / out the substrate in the exposure processing unit 4. . Then, after the exposure processing, the substrate returns at an unexpected angle on the processing unit 2 side. In this case, if the angle of the substrate is not adjusted in any of the steps in the rotation of the substrate, the angle of the substrate is changed in the middle, and if the rotation of the substrate is continued as it is, the condition is different from the condition planned in each processing unit. There is a possibility that a situation in which the substrate is processed may occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the angle of the substrate is adjusted in the spin developer SD which is the first spin processing after the exposure processing in the exposure processing unit 4. In this case, since the angle of the substrate cannot be accurately recognized only by a general servo amplifier, the current angle of the substrate is recognized, the origin is searched once, and then an offset is applied by a predetermined appropriate angle such as 90 degrees.
[0039]
In this embodiment, the servo drive motor is used by switching between a speed control mode and an angle positioning mode. In other words, using a servo drive motor capable of speed control and angle positioning, control in the speed control mode until just before the end of the rotation processing unit, and in the stage of detecting and positioning the last two phases, switch to the angle positioning mode. Migrate. Here, the description is limited to the angle adjustment flow in the angle positioning mode. FIG. 5 shows such a processing procedure.
[0040]
First, in step S <b> 1, the origin return is performed for all the components of the substrate processing apparatus. Next, in step S2, a rotation offset value of each axis of the spin system is input or teaching is performed by the keyboard device 36. Then, in the input step S3, the rotation offset amount corresponding to the rotation offset value is stored in the storage unit 37.
[0041]
Further, in step S4, the rotation offset amount is transmitted to the drive control means 33, and the spin chuck 30 rotates at a low speed by the rotation offset amount given in step S5.
[0042]
At this time, the position control unit 42 calculates a deviation between the angle of the spin chuck 30 detected by the rotation angle detection unit 34 and the control signal transmitted from the communication control circuit 39 of the numerical value setting unit 32, and corresponds to the deviation. The determined number of pulses is transmitted to the speed controller 44. Specifically, when the angle detected by the rotation angle detecting means 34 is rotated by 90 degrees more than the angle specified through the control signal from the communication control circuit 39, the pulse number corresponding to "minus 90 degrees" is set to " A signal of “minus 1000 (= 4000 pulses × 90 degrees / 360 degrees) pulse” is transmitted to the speed control unit 44.
[0043]
Thereafter, the spin process is started (step S6), and after the process is completed (step S7), the rotation offset amount is read from the storage unit 37 (load process: step S8). This is transmitted to the drive control means 33. The spin chuck 30 rotates by the rotation offset amount given in step S10. Thereafter, the substrate is taken out from the rotation processing unit (spin developer SD) and is transferred by the substrate transfer robot 23 to a processing unit for the next processing step.
[0044]
As described above, in this embodiment, when the substrate arrives at the first rotation processing unit in the processing unit, the substrate is already adjusted to an appropriate angle, and the substrate is rotated by the rotation processing. The substrate can be immediately transferred to the unit, and the entire substrate transfer time including the transfer operation can be reduced.
[0045]
Further, the angle can be arbitrarily adjusted only by controlling the spin chuck of each rotation processing unit. In particular, the numerical value setting unit 32 and the drive control unit 33 are provided for the rotation speed control which has been installed conventionally. Since the device can be used as it is, there is no need to newly install a specially expensive adjusting device. In other words, changes in substrate processing conditions can be easily prevented without providing a space for a dedicated angle adjustment mechanism, so that space efficiency of the entire substrate processing apparatus can be prevented from deteriorating and almost no extra installation cost is required. You don't have to.
[0046]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a rotation processing unit for performing each substrate processing in a photolithography process on a semiconductor wafer (substrate) is taken as an example. The present invention can be similarly applied to processing units for various substrates such as a glass substrate for a display.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the angle of the substrate is changed on the way due to, for example, handling of a substrate transfer robot or the like and provision of a nonstandard device during the substrate rotation. If the substrate processing conditions are not appropriate,With the substrate held by the substrate holding member,Before performing the rotation processing of the substrate, input information about the rotation stop angle position adjustment from the position input means, and the stop angle position before the rotation processing of the substrate holding member holding the substrate carried in through the drive control means, and after the rotation processing. By adjusting the rotation stop angle position in, when the rotation processing is performed, the processing can be performed at an appropriate substrate angle. Further, even when the substrate is carried out from the rotation processing section, the substrate can be carried out at an appropriate substrate angle.
[0048]
Moreover, since the angle adjustment processing can be performed during the substrate movement time with another mechanism such as a cup, an adverse effect on throughput can be prevented.
[0049]
In addition, when a plurality of rotation processing units are installed, information about the rotation stop angle position adjustment can be set for each axis of each rotation processing unit. The influence of the shape can be easily grasped, and the processing quality can be improved.
[0050]
In this case, there is no need to perform a substrate alignment process in a subsequent process, so that there is no need to provide a space for a dedicated substrate rotation adjustment mechanism other than the space where the rotation processing unit is provided, and the entire substrate processing apparatus is not required. Does not hinder the miniaturization of the device. In particular, as for the position input means and the drive control means, the apparatus for controlling the rotational speed which has been conventionally installed can be used as it is, so that it is necessary to newly install a specially expensive substrate angle adjustment apparatus. Absent. In other words, changes in substrate processing conditions can be easily prevented without providing a space for a dedicated angle adjustment mechanism, so that space efficiency of the entire substrate processing apparatus can be prevented from deteriorating and almost no extra installation cost is required. You don't have to.
[0051]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, once the information relating to the rotation stop angle position adjustment is input from the position input means, the information relating to the rotation stop angle position adjustment can be read out from the storage device and then adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of inputting information thereafter.
[0052]
Claim 3And claim 4According to the invention described in (1), the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member can be adjusted based on the actual rotation stop angle position detected by the rotation angle detection means, and the rotation stop angle of the substrate can be accurately adjusted. effective.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an entire substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a rotation processing unit, a numerical value setting unit, a drive control unit, and the like according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an appropriate angle when a substrate is carried in and out of each processing unit of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a processing flow of the entire substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an angle adjusting operation according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan cross-sectional view, a front view, and a side view showing an overall configuration of a substrate transfer apparatus and a processing unit incorporating the apparatus according to a conventional technique.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Indexer
2: Processing unit
3: IF unit
4: Exposure processing unit
5: AGV
11: Loading / unloading table
12: Robot for loading and unloading substrates
21: First device arrangement unit
22: second device arrangement unit
23: Substrate transfer robot
30: Spin chuck
30a: drive motor
31: substrate rotation control means
32: Setting means
33: drive control means
34: rotation angle detecting means
36: Spin rotation position input means
37: storage means
38: Spin section control circuit
39: Communication control circuit
41: Communication control circuit
42: Position control unit
43: Speed calculation unit
44: Speed control unit
45: current command section
46: current control circuit section
47: PWM generation circuit
48: Output circuit section
49: Board delivery table
49a: board support pin
51: First substrate transfer robot
53: second substrate transfer robot
54: Substrate carry-in table
54a: board support pin
55: Substrate unloading platform
56a: First cassette
56b: second cassette
57a: Table stand
57b: Table stand
58: Door
ID: Indexer
LU: exposure unit
SC: Spin coater

Claims (4)

A substrate processing apparatus having at least one rotation processing unit that performs predetermined processing on a main surface of the substrate by horizontally rotating the substrate while holding the substrate with the substrate holding apparatus,
A substrate holding member that holds the substrate horizontally,
Rotating means for horizontally rotating the substrate holding member,
Position input means for inputting information on rotation stop angle position adjustment of the substrate holding member,
Based on the information input by the position input means, in a state where the substrate is held by the substrate holding member, a stop angle position of the substrate holding member before the rotation processing of the substrate, and after the rotation processing of the substrate. Drive control means for controlling the rotation of the rotation means to adjust the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member,
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus further includes a storage device that stores information input by the position input unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
The substrate processing apparatus further includes a rotation angle detection unit that detects a rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member,
The information input by the position input means is an angle deviation value with respect to the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member at the time of non-adjustment,
The drive control unit, after stopping the rotation unit with the stop angle not adjusted, detects the actual rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member with the rotation angle detection unit, and based on the rotation stop angle position, A substrate processing apparatus for controlling the driving of the rotating unit in consideration of the angle deviation value input by the position input unit.   A substrate processing apparatus having at least one rotation processing unit that performs a predetermined process on a main surface of the substrate by horizontally rotating the substrate while holding the substrate with the substrate holding device,
A substrate holding member that holds the substrate horizontally,
Rotating means for horizontally rotating the substrate holding member,
Position input means for inputting information regarding rotation stop angle position adjustment of the substrate holding member,
Drive control means for driving and controlling the rotation means so as to adjust the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member based on the information input by the position input means;
Rotation angle detection means for detecting a rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member,
With
The information input by the position input means is an angle deviation value with respect to the rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member at the time of non-adjustment,
The drive control unit, after stopping the rotation unit with the stop angle not adjusted, detects the actual rotation stop angle position of the substrate holding member with the rotation angle detection unit, and based on the rotation stop angle position, A substrate processing apparatus for controlling the driving of the rotation unit in consideration of the angle deviation value input by the position input unit.

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