JP3653418B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for applying a resist on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD substrate and developing the resist.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a photoresist processing step in manufacturing a semiconductor device, a resist solution is applied to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as “wafer”) to form a resist film. After exposing a predetermined pattern on the resist film, a developing solution is applied to the substrate and developed. Conventionally, such a resist coating process and a developing process are performed by a processing system in which a plurality of processing units are integrated and a substrate is transferred between these units by a transfer device. Loading of the substrate into and out of the processing system is performed using a placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates.
[0003]
The processing unit in the above processing system includes, for example, a spinner type resist coating unit and a development processing unit, a heating processing unit, a cooling processing unit, and the like. It is carried in and out of the processing unit and accommodated in the mounting portion again.
[0004]
In the processing system configured as described above, the wafer may not be processed normally by the processing unit, that is, may be processed abnormally. For example, the supply of the liquid is interrupted in the resist coating unit or the development processing unit, the wafer is not placed at a normal position in the heating processing unit or the cooling processing unit, or an abnormal processing notification is received from the exposure apparatus side. . In such a case, in order not to waste an expensive wafer, if an abnormally processed wafer is passed to the subsequent process to check whether it can be handled in the same way as a normally processed wafer, Needs to continue processing.
[0005]
For such inspection, for example, a wafer that has been abnormally processed is selected from a plurality of wafers that have been processed and accommodated on the mounting unit, and the selected wafer is transported to an inspection apparatus, and normal by inspection by the inspection apparatus. When it is determined that the wafer can be handled in the same manner as described above, the wafer is returned to the mounting portion, and the other wafers are peeled off and processed again from the beginning or discarded.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, selecting a wafer that has been abnormally processed from a plurality of wafers that have been processed and accommodated in the mounting portion is very time-consuming, and if the wafer is not accurately selected, the subsequent wafer is not selected. There is a problem that processing is wasted. In particular, in a processing system having a plurality of mounting units, abnormally processed wafers are scattered in each mounting unit, and in that case, it is not easy to accurately select the abnormally processed wafers. Absent.
[0007]
  It is an object of the present invention to accurately take out an abnormally processed wafer for inspection.AndIt is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of accurately taking out a substrate that has been previously processed prior to normal processing and performing inspection or the like.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve the above object, the substrate treatment of the present invention is performed.ScienceThe position isThe preceding processing includes a first placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates before and after processing, a process unit that processes the substrate, and the substrate that has been subjected to preceding processing prior to normal processing in the process unit. The substrate is transported between the second placement unit that is temporarily accommodated before the processing status after the inspection is completed, and between the first placement unit, the process unit, and the second placement unit. Means.
  According to an aspect of the present invention, based on the inspection result of the substrate once accommodated in the second placement unit, the substrate is moved from the second placement unit by the transport unit. A means for inputting an instruction as to whether or not to transfer the substrate to the placement section; and the instruction for inputting the substrate from the second placement section to the first placement section based on the command input by the input means. And a means for conveying.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further includes means for detecting whether the substrate is processed normally in the process unit or whether the substrate is processed abnormally, and the second mounting unit includes the second mounting unit, The substrate processed abnormally in the process unit is also temporarily stored.
Another substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes a first placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates, a second placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates, a process unit that processes the substrates, and the first Means for transporting the substrate between the mounting unit, the process unit and the second mounting unit, a substrate processed normally in the process unit, and a preceding process prior to normal processing in the process unit Means for transporting the processed substrate from the process section to the first placement section by the transport means, and the substrate that has been subjected to the preceding process in the process section among the substrates accommodated in the first placement section. , A means for inputting whether or not to transfer from the first mounting section to the second mounting section by the transporting means, and based on the command input by the input means, the transporting means A substrate that has been pre-processed is Before testing for physical conditions, further characterized by comprising a means for conveying from the first mounting portion to the second mounting portion.
[0018]
  The substrate processing method of the present invention comprises:A process of transferring a substrate from a first placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates to a process unit that processes the substrate, a step of processing the substrate by the process unit, and a normal process in the process unit A step of pre-processing a prior substrate and a step of temporarily processing the pre-processed substrate from the process unit to a second placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates before inspecting the processing status after the pre-processing is completed. A step of transferring, a step of inputting an instruction as to whether or not to transfer the substrate accommodated in the second placement portion to the first placement portion, and the second instruction based on the inputted command. And a step of transporting the substrate accommodated in the placement unit to the first placement unit.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the process unit detects whether the substrate is processed normally or whether the substrate is processed abnormally, and when the normal processing is detected, the substrate is Transporting the substrate from the process unit to the first mounting unit, and transporting the substrate from the process unit to a second mounting unit containing a plurality of substrates when the abnormal process is detected; Is further provided.
Another substrate processing method of the present invention includes a step of transporting a substrate from a first placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates to a process unit that processes the substrate, and a step of processing the substrate in the process unit. A step of pre-processing a substrate prior to normal processing in the process unit; a step of transporting the substrate subjected to the normal processing and the substrate subjected to the pre-processing to the first placement unit; An instruction as to whether or not to transfer at least the previously processed substrate among the substrates accommodated in one placement unit from the first placement unit to a second placement unit containing a plurality of substrates. Based on the input step and the input command, the second placement unit is temporarily inspected before the substrate accommodated in the first placement unit is inspected for the processing status after the preceding process is completed. And a step of transporting to the surface.
[0024]
In the present invention, a plurality of substrates abnormally processed in the process unit in addition to the first placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates before and after processing, or a plurality of substrates that have been processed prior to normal processing are provided. Since the second placement unit is provided, and the abnormally processed substrate or the previously processed substrate is collected by the second placement unit, the abnormally processed substrate is accurately taken out. An inspection or the like can be performed, and an inspection or the like can be performed by accurately taking out a substrate that has been subjected to a prior process prior to a normal process.
[0025]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a coating and developing treatment system of a coating and developing treatment system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. It is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 1, in this coating and developing treatment system 1, a plurality of wafers W as a substrate to be processed are accommodated in the wafer placement section CR, and for example, 25 wafers are carried into and out of the system from the outside. Or a loading unit station 10 for loading / unloading the wafer W to / from the wafer loading unit CR, and various types of single wafer processing for performing predetermined processing on the wafer W one by one in the coating and developing process. An interface unit 14 for transferring the wafer W between the processing station 12 in which processing units are arranged in multiple stages at a predetermined position and an exposure apparatus 13 disposed adjacent to the coating and developing processing system 1 are integrally connected. Has been.
[0027]
  The mounting unit station 10 is provided with a mounting table 20 whose mounting surface is L-shaped, and a positioning projection 21 is provided on the mounting surface of the mounting table 20. The wafer mounting portion CR is placed in a state where the positioning projection 21 is positioned, and the positioning projection 21 is provided.WasThe positions constitute the mounting portions 20a to 20e, respectively. Each of the placement units 20a to 20e on which the wafer placement unit CR is placed is provided with a sensor (not shown) for detecting the presence or absence of the wafer placement unit CR.
[0028]
The mounting table 20 is provided with five mounting units 20a to 20e, and a total of five wafer mounting units CR can be mounted.
[0029]
Among these placement units, four wafer placement units CR are placed on the placement units 20a to 20d in a row in the X direction with their wafer loading / unloading surfaces facing the processing station 12 side. The remaining one is 90 degrees away from the four wafer placement units CR, and is placed on the placement unit 20e with the wafer inlet / outlet facing the back side toward the front side of the coating and developing treatment system 1. It is arranged. The number and arrangement of the placement units are not limited to those described above. For example, the number of placement units may be 6 or more, or 4 or less. A placement unit may be provided.
[0030]
The placement unit station 10 is movable in the placement unit arrangement direction (X direction) and the wafer arrangement direction (Z direction: vertical direction) of the wafer W stored in the wafer placement unit CR. A wafer transfer mechanism 22 that is rotatable in the θ direction is provided. The wafer transfer mechanism 22 selectively accesses each wafer mounting section CR and, as will be described later, a third on the processing station 12 side. Processing unit group G₃The wafer W is transferred by accessing the alignment unit (ALIM) and the extension unit (EXT) arranged in the multi-stage unit.
[0031]
Of the five wafer placement units CR described above, the four wafer placement units CR placed on the placement units 20a to 20d arranged in a line in the X direction are the unprocessed wafers W and the processed wafers. In the case where the normal processing at the time of this processing is performed, the unprocessed wafer W is taken out from any of these four wafer mounting portions CR, The processed wafer W is also accommodated in any of these four wafer mounting parts CR. In this case, the processed wafer W may be returned to the original wafer mounting unit CR (wafer mounting unit CR in which the wafer W was accommodated before processing).
[0032]
In addition, the remaining one wafer placement unit CR arranged on the front placement unit 20e precedes the wafer W abnormally processed by the processing station 12 as the process unit and the exposure apparatus 13 and the normal processing. This is a collection mounting unit for collecting the processed wafer W.
[0033]
The preceding process executed prior to the normal process is performed for confirming the status of the process prior to the normal process. Then, after performing the preceding process, the recovery mounting unit is taken out, the processing state of the wafer W that has been subjected to the preceding process accommodated therein is confirmed, and the wafer W is processed satisfactorily. After the above is confirmed, normal processing is executed, thereby preventing defective processing on a large number of wafers W.
[0034]
The processing station 12 is provided with a vertical transfer type main wafer transfer mechanism 24 equipped with a wafer transfer device, and all the processing units are arranged in multiple stages around one set or a plurality of sets.
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 2, the first processing unit group G_lIn the cup CP, two spinner type processing units, for example, a resist coating unit (COT) and a developing unit (DEV) that perform predetermined processing by placing the wafer W on a spin chuck in a cup CP are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. Yes. Second processing unit group G₂In this case, two spinner type processing units, for example, a resist coating unit (COT) and a developing unit (DEV) are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. These resist coating units (COT) are preferably arranged at the lower stage in this manner because the drain of the resist solution is troublesome both in terms of mechanism and maintenance. However, it is of course possible to arrange them in the upper stage as needed.
[0036]
As shown in FIG. 3, in the main wafer transfer mechanism 24, a wafer transfer device 42 is provided inside the cylindrical support 40 so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction (Z direction). The cylindrical support 40 is connected to a rotating shaft of a motor (not shown), and is rotated integrally with the wafer transfer device 42 around the rotating shaft by the rotational driving force of the motor, whereby the wafer is transferred. The device 42 is rotatable in the θ direction. In addition, you may comprise the cylindrical support body 40 so that it may connect with another rotating shaft (not shown) rotated by the said motor.
[0037]
The wafer transfer device 42 is provided with a plurality of holding members 46 that are movable in the front-rear direction of the transfer base 44, and these holding members 46 enable the transfer of the wafer W between the processing units. ing.
[0038]
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in the coating and developing processing system 1, five processing unit groups G are used._{l ,}, G₂, G₃, G₄, G₅Can be arranged, and the first and second processing unit groups G₁, G₂Are arranged on the front side of the system, and the third processing unit group G₃The multi-stage unit is arranged adjacent to the placement station 10 and is arranged in the fourth processing unit group G.₄The multi-stage unit is arranged adjacent to the interface unit 14 and is connected to the fifth processing unit group G.₅The multi-stage unit can be arranged on the back side.
[0039]
As shown in FIG. 3, the third processing unit group G₃Then, an open type processing unit that carries out a predetermined process by placing the wafer W on a holding table (SP shown in FIG. 1), for example, a cooling unit (COL) that performs a cooling process, and so-called water proofing for improving the fixability of the resist. Adhesion unit (AD) for processing, alignment unit (ALIM) for alignment, extension unit (EXT), pre-baking unit (PREBAKE) for performing heat treatment before exposure processing, and heat treatment after exposure processing The post-baking units (POBAKE) to be performed are stacked in, for example, eight stages in order from the bottom. Fourth processing unit group G₄However, open processing units such as cooling units (COL), extension / cooling units (EXTCOL), extension units (EXT), cooling units (COL), pre-baking units (PREBAKE) and post-baking units (POBAKE) Are stacked in, for example, eight steps from the bottom.
[0040]
Thus, the cooling unit (COL) and the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) having a low processing temperature are arranged in the lower stage, and the baking unit (PREBAKE), the post-baking unit (POBAKE) and the adhesion unit (AD) having a high processing temperature are arranged. ) In the upper stage can reduce the thermal mutual interference between the units. Of course, a random multistage arrangement may be used.
[0041]
As shown in FIG. 1, in the interface unit 14, the depth direction (X direction) has the same dimensions as the processing station 12, but the width direction (Y direction) is a smaller size. A portable pickup type wafer mounting unit CR and a stationary buffer mounting unit BR are arranged in two stages on the front part of the interface unit 14, and a peripheral exposure device 28 is arranged on the back side. It is installed.
[0042]
A wafer transfer device 26 is disposed at the center of the interface unit 14. The wafer transfer device 26 moves in the X direction and the Z direction to access both the placement units CR and BR and the peripheral exposure device 28.
[0043]
Further, the wafer transfer device 26 is also rotatable in the θ direction, and the fourth processing unit group G on the processing station 12 side.₄It is also possible to access an extension unit (EXT) disposed in the multi-stage unit and a wafer transfer table (not shown) on the side of the adjacent exposure apparatus.
[0044]
In the coating and developing processing system 1, as described above, the fifth processing unit group G indicated by the broken line in FIG.₅Multi-stage units can be arranged, but this fifth processing unit group G₅The multi-stage unit is movable in the Y direction along the guide rail 32. Therefore, this fifth processing unit group G₅Even when the multi-stage unit is provided as shown in the figure, a space is secured by moving along the guide rail 32, so that the maintenance work can be easily performed from the back of the main wafer transfer mechanism 24.
[0045]
As shown in FIG. 4, in the coating and developing treatment system 1, a display / input unit 101 including a display device and an input device is connected to the control unit 100 that controls each unit described above. The control unit 100 is connected to a plurality of detection units 102 that detect whether the wafer W has been processed normally in each unit described above or whether the wafer W has been processed abnormally.
[0046]
Here, as a case where the wafer W is processed abnormally, for example, the supply of liquid is interrupted in a resist coating unit or a development processing unit, or a heating processing unit or a cooling unit such as a baking unit (PREBAKE) or a post-baking unit (POBAKE). In (COL), the wafer may not be placed at a normal position. In addition, the control unit 100 includes an input terminal 103 for receiving a notification of abnormal processing from the exposure apparatus 13 side. Further, the control unit 100 is connected to a storage unit 104 that stores each information output from the detection unit 102 or the input terminal 103 corresponding to each wafer W accommodated in the collection mounting unit. .
[0047]
Next, basic operations in the coating and developing treatment system 1 configured as described above will be described.
[0048]
First, in the placement unit station 10, the wafers were placed on the placement unit placement table 20 on the four placement units 20 a to 20 d arranged in a line in the X direction with the respective wafer entrances facing the processing station 12 side. The wafer carrying mechanism 22 accesses the wafer placing unit CR that contains the unprocessed wafer W, and takes out one wafer W from the wafer placing unit CR. Thereafter, the wafer transfer mechanism 22 moves to the third processing unit group G.₃The wafer W is delivered to the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 on the processing station 12 side through the alignment unit (ALIM).
[0049]
The main wafer transfer mechanism 24 takes out the wafer W that has been subjected to orientation flat alignment and centering by the alignment unit (ALIM), and takes the third processing unit group G.₃The wafer W is loaded into the adhesion unit (AD) and subjected to a hydrophobic treatment.
[0050]
The wafer W that has been subjected to the hydrophobization process is then loaded into a predetermined pre-baking unit (PREBAKE) by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 and baked, and then transferred into a predetermined cooling unit (COL). In this cooling unit (COL), the wafer W is cooled to a set temperature before the resist coating process, for example, 23 ° C.
[0051]
When the cooling process is completed, the wafer W is carried into a predetermined resist coating unit (COT) by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24, and the resist coating on the surface of the wafer W is performed in the resist coating unit (COT).
[0052]
When the resist coating process is completed, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 takes out the wafer W from the resist coating unit (COT) and carries it back into the predetermined pre-bake unit (PREBAKE). The wafer W is heated here at a predetermined temperature, for example, 100 ° C. for a predetermined time, whereby the residual solvent is evaporated and removed from the coating film on the wafer W.
[0053]
Thereafter, the wafer W is carried into the extension / cooling unit (EXTCOL) by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24. Here, the wafer W is cooled to a temperature suitable for the next process, that is, the peripheral exposure processing by the peripheral exposure apparatus 28, for example, 24 ° C.
[0054]
Thereafter, the wafer transfer device 26 provided in the interface unit 14 takes out the wafer W from the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL), whereby the wafer W is delivered to the wafer transfer device 26.
[0055]
Next, the wafer transfer device 26 carries the wafer W into the peripheral exposure device 28 in the interface unit 14. With this peripheral exposure device 28, the wafer W is subjected to an exposure process at the peripheral edge thereof.
[0056]
When the peripheral exposure processing is completed, the wafer transfer device 26 carries the wafer W out of the peripheral exposure device 28 and transfers it to a wafer receiving table (not shown) on the adjacent exposure device 13 side. In this case, the wafer W may be temporarily stored in the buffer mounting portion BR as needed before being transferred to the exposure apparatus 13.
[0057]
As described above, after the wafer W is delivered to the exposure apparatus 13, the exposure apparatus 13 performs an exposure process, for example, an exposure process using a reticle. When the exposure process on the entire surface of the wafer W in the exposure apparatus 13 is completed, the wafer W is transferred to the wafer transfer apparatus 26 of the interface unit 14 again.
[0058]
Then, the wafer W is further delivered from the wafer transfer device 26 to the processing station 12 side. In this case, the wafer W may be temporarily stored in the buffer mounting part BR in the interface unit 14 as necessary before being transferred to the processing station 12 side.
[0059]
Thereafter, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 of the processing station 12 carries the received wafer W into a predetermined post-baking unit (POBAKE). In this post-baking unit (POBAKE), the wafer W is placed on a hot plate and baked for a predetermined time.
[0060]
Thereafter, the baked wafer W is loaded into one of the cooling units (COL) by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24, and the wafer W is returned to room temperature in the cooling unit (COL). Subsequently, the wafer W is carried into a predetermined developing unit (DEV) by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24.
[0061]
In the developing unit (DEV), the wafer W is placed on a spin chuck, and development is performed by uniformly applying a developing solution to the resist on the surface of the wafer W by, for example, a spray method. After the development, a rinsing liquid is applied to the surface of the wafer W to wash off the developer, and then the wafer W is rotated at a high speed and dried.
[0062]
Thereafter, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 unloads the wafer W from the developing unit (DEV), and then loads the wafer W again into a predetermined post-baking unit (POBAKE). In this post-baking unit (POBAKE), the wafer W is heated at, for example, 100 ° C. for a predetermined time, whereby the resist swollen by development is cured and chemical resistance is improved.
[0063]
When the post-baking is completed, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 unloads the wafer W from the post-baking unit, and then loads the wafer W into a predetermined cooling unit (COL) to perform a cooling process.
[0064]
After the wafer W returns to the normal temperature, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 delivers the wafer W to the placement unit station 10 side, and the wafer transfer mechanism 22 on the placement unit station 10 side places the received wafer W on the placement unit mounting. In the four wafer placement sections CR placed on the placement stage 20 with the wafer entrances facing the processing station 12 side in the four placement sections 20a to 20d arranged in a line in the X direction. Put in.
[0065]
The above is the normal processing. In this coating and developing system 1, as shown in FIG. 5, several wafers W are experimentally processed prior to such normal processing, and it is confirmed whether or not the processing result is a desired result. A preceding process is performed (step 501). The wafer W that has been subjected to the preceding process in this manner is accommodated in the collection mounting unit mounted on the mounting unit 20e through the path shown in FIG. 6A (step 502).
[0066]
Next, the display / input unit 101 displays a selection screen as to whether or not to return the wafer W accommodated in the collection mounting unit to the wafer mounting unit CR mounted on the mounting units 20a to 20d ( Step 503). When the display / input unit 101 is selected to return the wafer W to the wafer mounting unit CR mounted on the mounting units 20a to 20d (step 504), the wafer transfer mechanism 22 sets the recovery mounting. The wafer W accommodated in the part is transferred to the wafer placement part CR placed on the placement parts 20a to 20d as shown by the path B in FIG. 6 (step 505). Note that C in FIG. 6 shows the path of the wafer W processed normally.
[0067]
Thereafter, when the control unit 100 receives information on the occurrence of an abnormality from the detection unit 102 or the input terminal 103 after the normal processing is started (step 506), the abnormally processed wafer W is routed through a path shown in FIG. It accommodates in the collection | recovery mounting part mounted in the street mounting part 20e (step 507).
[0068]
Here, in the display / input unit 101, information stored in the storage unit 104, that is, each information output from the detection unit 102 or the input terminal 103 corresponding to each wafer W accommodated in the collection mounting unit is displayed. Further, the display / input unit 101 displays a selection screen as to whether or not to return the wafer W accommodated in the collection mounting unit to the wafer mounting unit CR mounted on the mounting units 20a to 20d. (Step 508). When the display / input unit 101 is selected to return the wafer W to the wafer mounting unit CR mounted on the mounting units 20a to 20d (step 509), the wafer transfer mechanism 22 sets the recovery mounting. The wafer W accommodated in the part is transferred to the wafer placement part CR placed on the placement parts 20a to 20d as indicated by the path B in FIG. 6 (step 510).
[0069]
In addition, when a processing abnormality occurs, an alarm is generated from the display / input unit 101 or a speaker, and the processing of the entire system 1 is stopped so that the processing abnormality continuously occurs. Can be prevented.
[0070]
As described above, in the coating and developing processing system 1, the wafer W that has been processed in advance and the wafer W that has been processed abnormally are temporarily stored in the collection platform. The wafer W that has been processed prior to the normal processing can be accurately taken out for inspection and the like can be taken out accurately. Further, since it can be returned to the original mounting portion by the user's selection thereafter, it is possible to reduce the labor for returning when these wafers are handled in the same manner as the normally processed wafer W. it can.
[0071]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, as shown in the path D of FIG. 7, the wafer W that has been previously processed and the wafer W that has been abnormally processed and the wafer W that has been abnormally processed are all once mounted on the mounting portions 20 a to 20 d in the same manner as the wafer W that has been processed normally. It may be accommodated in the placement part CR and then accommodated in a collection placement part placed on the placement part 20e by the user's selection, as shown in the path E of FIG. Further, the wafer W accommodated in the recovery placement part placed on the placement part 20e in this way is again accommodated in the wafer placement part CR placed on the placement parts 20a to 20d by the user's selection. You may comprise as follows.
[0072]
As described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can take various forms. For example, the substrate is not limited to the wafer W, but may be an LCD substrate, a glass substrate, a CD substrate, a photomask, a printed substrate, a ceramic substrate, or the like.
[0073]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, an abnormally processed substrate can be accurately taken out and inspected, and moreover, a substrate previously processed prior to normal processing can be accurately taken out and inspected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a coating and developing treatment system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG.
3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1;
6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of a coating and developing treatment system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Placement station
20a-20d placement part
12 Processing station
24 Main wafer transfer mechanism
CR wafer mounting part
W wafer

Claims (7)

A first placement unit for accommodating a plurality of substrates before and after processing;
A process unit for processing the substrate;
A second placement unit that temporarily accommodates the substrate that has been subjected to a preceding process prior to a normal process in the process unit before inspecting a processing status after the preceding process is completed ;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: means for transporting the substrate among the first placement unit, the process unit, and the second placement unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
  An instruction as to whether or not to transport the substrate from the second placement unit to the first placement unit by the transport unit based on the inspection result of the substrate once accommodated in the second placement unit. A means for entering
  Means for transporting the substrate from the second placement section to the first placement section by the transport means based on a command input by the input means;
  A substrate processing apparatus, further comprising: In the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
  Means further comprising means for detecting whether the substrate has been processed normally in the process section or whether the substrate has been processed abnormally;
  The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the second placement unit temporarily stores the substrate that has been abnormally processed by the process unit. A first placement unit for accommodating a plurality of substrates;
A second placement unit for accommodating a plurality of substrates;
A process unit for processing the substrate;
Means for transporting the substrate between the first placement unit, the process unit, and the second placement unit;
Means for transporting the substrate processed normally in the process unit and the substrate processed in advance prior to normal processing in the process unit from the process unit to the first placement unit by the transport unit;
Whether the substrate processed in the process unit out of the substrates accommodated in the first placement unit is transported from the first placement unit to the second placement unit by the transport unit. Means for inputting the command,
Based on the command input by the input unit, the second substrate is inspected from the first mounting unit before the substrate processed by the transport unit is inspected for the processing status after the preceding process is completed. And a means for transporting the substrate to the mounting portion . Transporting a substrate from a first placement unit containing a plurality of substrates to a process unit for processing the substrate;
Processing the substrate in the process unit;
In the process unit, a step of pre-processing the substrate prior to normal processing;
Transporting the previously processed substrate from the process unit to a second placement unit that accommodates a plurality of substrates before inspecting the processing status after the preceding process is completed ;
Inputting a command as to whether or not to transfer the substrate accommodated in the second placement unit to the first placement unit;
And a step of transporting a substrate accommodated in the second placement unit to the first placement unit based on the input command. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5,
  Detecting whether the substrate is normally processed in the process unit or whether the substrate is abnormally processed;
  When the normal processing is detected, the substrate is moved from the process unit to the first placement unit. Transporting and transporting the substrate from the process unit to a second placement unit containing a plurality of substrates when the abnormal process is detected;
  And a substrate processing method. Transporting a substrate from a first placement unit containing a plurality of substrates to a process unit for processing the substrate;
Processing the substrate in the process unit;
In the process unit, a step of pre-processing the substrate prior to normal processing;
A step of transporting the substrate subjected to the normal processing and the substrate subjected to the preceding processing to the first placement unit;
Whether to transfer at least the previously processed substrate out of the substrates accommodated in the first placement unit from the first placement unit to a second placement unit containing a plurality of substrates. Inputting a command;
A step of transporting the substrate accommodated in the first placement unit to the second placement unit once before inspecting the processing status after the preceding process is completed based on the input command; The substrate processing method characterized by comprising.

Images