JP5609744B2 - Substrate delivery apparatus, substrate delivery method, and substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field in which a substrate is transferred from a substrate transport mechanism to a mounting table via a lifting member.

  As a vacuum processing apparatus in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, there is a multi-chamber system in which a plurality of vacuum processing chambers are hermetically connected to a vacuum transfer chamber provided with a transfer arm. When transferring a substrate from the transfer arm to the mounting table in the vacuum vessel, the device stops the transfer arm on the mounting table and outputs an ON signal to the actuator of the lifting pin after the control unit receives the stop signal. To do. Then, the lift pins are lifted to push up and receive the wafer on the transfer arm, and after the transfer arm is retracted, the lift pins are lowered to place the wafer on the mounting table.

  By the way, the multi-chamber system was developed with the aim of obtaining a high throughput. However, there is a strong demand for higher throughput, and the time required for transferring the substrate between the transfer arm and the mounting table is further increased. It is desirable to shorten it. Further, not only in a vacuum processing apparatus but also in an apparatus that performs single wafer processing, for example, chemical processing for forming a resist film in an air atmosphere, it is effective to shorten the time required for transferring the substrate.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 describes a substrate processing system in which two substrates are simultaneously transferred into a vacuum container by a transfer arm of a multi-chamber system. This system is expected to have a high throughput in terms of the simultaneous transfer of two sheets. However, since the two wafers on the transfer arm are normally misaligned when received from the pre-processing module, the two substrates are It cannot be transferred to the two mounting tables at the same time, but is transferred to the mounting tables in order via the lifting pins. When the above-described delivery steps using the lifting pins are performed in order, the time required for delivery becomes long, and there is a problem that the advantage of simultaneous conveyance of two sheets cannot be fully utilized.

US Pat. No. 5,855,681

  The present invention has been made under such a background. The purpose of the present invention is to hold the substrate horizontally on the holding member of the substrate transfer mechanism and to transfer the substrate to the mounting table via the elevating member. The purpose is to provide a technique capable of reducing the time required.

The substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention is
In the substrate transfer apparatus for horizontally holding the substrate on the holding member of the substrate transfer mechanism and moving the holding member in the horizontal direction to transfer the substrate to the mounting table,
An elevating member that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down by an elevating mechanism to raise and lower the substrate between the upper position of the mounting table and the mounting table;
A position detection unit that detects a holding position of the substrate held by the holding member with respect to the holding member;
Based on the detection result detected by the position detection unit, a position calculation unit that calculates a position where the holding member delivers the substrate to the elevating member;
An arrival time point calculating unit that calculates the arrival time point at which the holding member reaches the delivery position of the substrate calculated by the position calculating unit, based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
And a controller that outputs a control signal so that the holding member moves and passes through the substrate delivery position and the lifting member pushes up and receives the substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival. And

The substrate delivery method of the present invention is:
A lowering member for holding the lower surface of the substrate, raising and lowering the substrate between the upper position of the mounting table and the mounting table, and a substrate transport for holding the substrate horizontally on the holding member and moving the holding member in the horizontal direction In a method of delivering a substrate from a holding member to the mounting table via the lifting member, using a mechanism,
Detecting a holding position with respect to the holding member with respect to the substrate held by the holding member;
Calculating a position where the holding member delivers the substrate to the elevating member based on the detection result of the holding position;
Calculating the arrival time at which the holding member reaches the calculated board transfer position based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
A step of pushing the substrate on the holding member and receiving the lifting member at the time of arrival while the holding member moves.

Another substrate delivery method of the present invention is:
A substrate transport mechanism for moving a holding member configured to hold the first substrate and the second substrate in the horizontal direction so as to be spaced apart from each other, and the first substrate and the second substrate are respectively mounted. A first mounting table and a second mounting table, and a first lifting member and a second mounting member which are provided corresponding to the first mounting table and the second mounting table, respectively, and which are lifted and lowered independently of each other. And a method of transferring the first substrate and the second substrate from the holding member to the first mounting table and the second mounting table, respectively,
Detecting a holding position with respect to the holding member for the first substrate and the second substrate held by the holding member;
Based on the detection result of the holding position, a position where the holding member delivers the first substrate to the first elevating member and a position where the holding member delivers the second substrate to the second elevating member are calculated. Process,
Calculating arrival times at which the holding member arrives at the calculated delivery position of the first substrate and the delivery position of the second substrate, respectively, based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
Reducing the conveyance speed of the holding member before the holding member reaches the delivery position of the first substrate;
Thereafter, while the holding member moves at a constant speed, the first elevating member pushes up and receives the first substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival;
Then, the second elevating member pushes up and receives the second substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival while the holding member moves at a constant speed.

The substrate processing apparatus of the present invention comprises:
In a substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of processing chambers for processing a substrate are connected to a substrate transfer chamber, and each processing chamber is provided with a first mounting table and a second mounting table for mounting a substrate. ,
In the substrate transfer chamber, a holding member configured to hold the first substrate and the second substrate spaced apart from each other in the horizontal direction is moved in the horizontal direction to mount the plurality of processing chambers. A substrate transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate to and from,
A first elevating member that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down by an elevating mechanism to raise and lower the substrate between an upper position of the first mounting table and the mounting table;
A second mechanism that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down independently of the first lifting member by a lifting mechanism to lift and lower the substrate between the upper position of the second mounting table and the mounting table; An elevating member;
A position detection unit that detects a holding position of the first substrate and the second substrate held by the holding member with respect to the holding member;
Based on the detection result detected by the position detection unit, the holding member transfers the first substrate to the first elevating member, and the holding member transfers the second substrate to the second elevating position. A position calculating unit that calculates a second transfer position to be transferred to the member;
Based on the movement trajectory and speed of the holding member, the first arrival time and the second arrival time at which the holding member reaches the first delivery position and the second delivery position calculated by the position calculation unit, respectively. A time point calculation unit for calculating
The holding member moves and passes the substrate transfer position, and the first elevating member pushes up and receives the first substrate on the holding member at the first arrival time, and then the second elevating member And a control unit that outputs a control signal so as to push up and receive the second substrate on the holding member at the second arrival time.

  In the present invention, the substrate is horizontally held by the holding member of the substrate transport mechanism, and when the substrate is transferred to the mounting table via the elevating member, the arrival time at which the holding member reaches the substrate transfer position is calculated in advance and held. As the member moves, it passes through the delivery position of the substrate, and when the elevating member reaches the substrate, the substrate on the holding member is pushed up and received. For this reason, the time required for delivery can be shortened.

It is a top view which shows the vacuum processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance arm and mounting base in the said vacuum processing apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the vacuum processing chamber and vacuum conveyance chamber in the said vacuum processing apparatus. It is a block diagram explaining the control part in the said vacuum processing apparatus. It is a flowchart explaining the effect | action of this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the holding member of the said transfer arm which received the wafer from the said mounting base. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view explaining the delivery of the wafer of the said holding member and a raising / lowering pin. It is a top view explaining the effect | action of this embodiment. It is a vector diagram explaining the movement locus of the holding member. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the said raising / lowering pin. It is a top view which shows the other holding member shape in this embodiment.

  As an embodiment of the present invention, a case where the substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention is applied to a vacuum processing apparatus will be described as an example. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of a vacuum processing apparatus forming a multi-chamber system to which a substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes an atmospheric transfer chamber. The atmospheric transfer chamber 11 is provided with a plurality of loading / unloading stages 12 for loading / unloading a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) W as a substrate. . In addition, a substrate transfer mechanism 13 is provided in the atmospheric transfer chamber 11, and two load lock chambers 14 and 15 are provided on the back side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 11. The wafer W is transferred to and from the load lock chambers 14 and 15. In the load lock chambers 14 and 15, two mounting tables 16a and 16b on which the wafer W is mounted are provided so as to be arranged horizontally. The vacuum transfer chamber 1 is provided on the back side of the load lock chambers 14 and 15, and the vacuum transfer chamber 1 includes the load lock chambers 14 and 15 and a plurality of vacuum processing chambers, for example, three vacuum processing chambers 301 and 302, 303 is hermetically connected. G1 to G3 are gate valves.

  In the vacuum transfer chamber 1, a transfer arm 20 that is a substrate transfer mechanism capable of simultaneously holding two wafers W is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer arm 20 includes a multi-joint arm including a lower arm member 21, a middle arm member 22, and an upper arm member 23. The upper arm member 23 is a holding member that holds the wafer W horizontally, and is divided into two forks at the tip to form a first holding portion 2a and a second holding portion 2b. The transfer arm 20 is operated so that the upper arm member 23 linearly moves by a linear movement motor (not shown), and the three arm members 21, 22, and 23 are simultaneously rotated by a rotation motor (not shown). be able to. Moreover, the upper arm member 23 can be moved along a desired locus by interlocking these motors. The two motors constitute a drive unit 27 of the transfer arm 20. The positions of the holding portions 2a and 2b are managed in the form of polar coordinates (r, θ) by a pulse encoder 28 connected to the two motors.

  The vacuum processing chambers 301 to 303 are constituted by processing containers of vacuum processing modules. In this example, preprocessing for removing organic substances and the like attached to the wafer W is assigned to the vacuum processing chamber 301, and the vacuum processing chamber 302 is assigned to the vacuum processing chamber 301. On the other hand, the former film forming process is assigned, and the latter film forming process is assigned to the vacuum processing chamber 303. In the vacuum processing chambers 301 to 303, two mounting tables 3 a and 3 b are provided so as to be lined up on the left and right with respect to the entering direction of the holding member 23. The structure of the vacuum processing chamber 302 will be briefly described as a representative. As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting tables 3a and 3b are provided at the bottom of the vacuum processing chamber 302 via insulators 34a and 34b, respectively. The mounting tables 3a and 3b are each provided with a high-frequency power source for plasma generation (not shown). Gas shower heads 35a and 35b are provided on the ceiling of the vacuum processing chamber 302 so as to face the mounting tables 3a and 3b, and a processing gas is supplied from a gas supply system (not shown) to the inside of the vacuum chamber 302 via them. Can be supplied to. An exhaust pipe 30 provided with a vacuum pump 39 is connected to the bottom of the vacuum processing chamber 302.

  In addition, on the mounting tables 3a and 3b, three lifting pins 37a and 37b, which are lifting members, are provided so as to protrude and be buried (not shown in FIG. 3). The group of three lifting pins 37a of the mounting table 3a and the group of three lifting pins 37b of the mounting table 3b can be lifted and lowered independently by the lifting mechanisms 38a and 38b, respectively. The wafer W can be transferred between the holding member 23 and the mounting table 3a (3b). The raising / lowering pins 37a and 37b are arranged so as not to interfere with the holding portions 2a and 2b in a plan view when the holding member 23 moves on a movement locus described later. In this example, as shown in FIG. 6, the lift pins 37 a on the left side as viewed from the holding member 23 face each other along a straight line Ka that is inclined to the right with a straight line parallel to the direction in which the holding member 23 advances from the home position. It consists of two raising / lowering pins 37a-1 and 37a-2 and the raising / lowering pin 37a-3 located in the back side of the straight line Ka. Further, the right lifting pin 37b as viewed from the holding member 23 includes two lifting pins 37b-1 and 37b-2 facing each other along a straight line Kb inclined from the parallel straight line to the left side, and the back side of the straight line Kb. And the lifting pins 37b-3 located at the center. The home position here refers to a state in which the transfer arm 20 is in a contracted state and is oriented toward a vacuum processing chamber where a transfer operation will be performed from now on, and the wafers Wa and Wb are held by the holding units 2a and 2b without being displaced. The position of the holding member 23 where the wafers Wa and Wb can be placed at ideal positions simply by moving the transfer arm 20 forward (without rotating).

  At the home position in the vacuum processing chamber 301 where the previous vacuum processing is performed, three line sensors 41 forming a part of the position detection unit 4 for detecting the position of the wafer W with respect to the holding member (upper arm member) 23. To 43 are provided. In FIG. 1, only the line sensors 41 to 43 corresponding to the vacuum processing chamber 301 are shown. For ease of explanation, if the wafers W held by the first holding unit 2a and the second holding unit 2b of the holding member 23 are the wafer Wa and the wafer Wb, respectively, three line sensors 41 to 41 are used. Two sets of 43 are provided corresponding to these wafers Wa and Wb. Since the position detection methods for the wafers Wa and Wb are the same as each other, the position detection of one wafer Wa will be described. Note that the reference numerals of the wafers are properly used according to the description items. As shown in FIG. 3, the line sensors 41 to 43 are configured by pairs of light emitting units 41 </ b> A to 43 </ b> A and light receiving units 41 </ b> B to 43 </ b> B. The light emitting units 41A to 43A are provided on the upper surfaces of light transmission windows 45A to 47A made of, for example, quartz provided on the ceiling of the vacuum transfer chamber 1, and the light receiving units 41B to 43B are vacuumed so as to face each other. It is provided on the lower surface of light transmission windows 45B to 47B made of, for example, quartz provided at the bottom of the transfer chamber 1. The line sensors 41 to 43 are disposed at positions corresponding to the peripheral edge of the wafer W when the line sensors 41 to 43 are held by the holding member 23 positioned at the home position at substantially equal intervals and the length thereof. The vertical direction is arranged toward the center of the wafer W, and three positions on the peripheral edge of the wafer W to be detected can be detected. Thereby, even if there is an error in the diameter of the wafer W, the center position of the wafer W can be calculated. Since the desired center position (ideal position) of the wafer W is known, the amount of deviation from there to the current center position of the wafer W can also be calculated. Information detected by the line sensors 41 to 43 is subjected to data processing by a position calculation unit 44 described later, and the displacement of the wafer W (on the coordinates of the drive unit 27 managed by the pulse encoder 28 related to the transfer arm 20). Displacement) is calculated. The position calculation unit 44 constitutes the position detection unit 4 together with the line sensors 41 to 43.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 5 is configured by a computer including a program storage unit 52 that stores a program 51 for transporting the wafer W, a CPU 53, a memory 54, a bus 55, and the like. The program 51 determines the center position of the wafer W with respect to the holding member 23 detected by the position detection unit 4 of the wafer W, more specifically, the center position of the wafer Wa with respect to the first holding unit 2a and the wafer with respect to the second holding unit 2b. Based on the center position of Wb, a step group for calculating the transfer position for transferring each wafer Wa, Wb to the lift pins in the vacuum processing chamber 302 and calculating the trajectory (movement trajectory) of the holding member 23 is provided. Have. The delivery position is the position of the transport arm 20, that is, the position of the holding member 23 represented by drive system coordinates managed by the drive unit 27 of the transport arm 20. In the present embodiment, a part of the step group and the CPU 53 correspond to a position calculation unit that calculates the transfer position of the wafer W.

  Further, the program 51 includes a group of steps for calculating a time point when each of the wafers Wa and Wb reaches the delivery position based on the movement locus of the holding member 23 and a preset speed. In the present embodiment, these step group and CPU 53 correspond to an arrival time calculation unit. The program 51 is installed via a storage medium such as a USB memory or a DVD-ROM. In FIG. 4, 38a and 38b are elevating mechanisms such as air cylinders for elevating the elevating pins. Reference numeral 27 denotes a drive unit of the transport arm 20, which includes a linear drive motor and a rotation motor, 28 is a pulse encoder connected to these motors, and the control unit 5 holds based on a pulse from the encoder 28. The position of the member 23 can be managed.

  Next, the operation in the above embodiment will be described. First, the flow of the wafer W in the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The wafer W in the FOUP 121 transferred to the carry-in / out stage 12 is received by the substrate transfer mechanism 13 in the atmospheric transfer chamber 11 and transferred to the mounting table 16 a in the load lock chamber 14 via the atmospheric transfer chamber 11. . Similarly, another wafer W is also transferred onto the other mounting table 16b of the same load lock chamber 14. Thereafter, the gate valve G1 is closed, and the load lock chamber 14 is depressurized to a predetermined pressure. Then, the gate valve G2 is opened, and the two wafers W (Wa) and W (Wb) placed in the load lock chamber 14 are respectively received by the holding portions 2a and 2b of the transfer arm 20 and are received in the vacuum processing chamber 301. Be transported. The position of the wafer Wa (Wb) on each holding part 2a (2b) is detected at the stage of this transfer, and it is transferred to the mounting table in the vacuum processing chamber 301 according to the detection result. Since this is the same as the transfer of the wafer W from the vacuum processing chamber 301 to the vacuum processing chamber 302 described later, it is omitted here.

  Vacuum processing is performed in the vacuum processing chamber 301, and then the wafers Wa and Wb on the mounting tables 3a and 3b are respectively received by the holding portions 2a and 2b of the transfer arm 20 (steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 5). The wafers Wa and Wb transferred to the transfer arm 20 may deviate from the ideal positions as shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the arrows starting from the centers of the holding parts 2a and 2b indicate the deviation of the wafers Wa and Wb. The position of the wafers Wa and Wb is deviated from the center position (ideal position) of the wafers Wa and Wb planned in the holding units 2a and 2b. Points to the state. This is because when the wafer moves due to the gas flow during vacuum processing or when an electrostatic chuck is used, the lift pins 37a and 37b receive the wafers Wa and Wb from the mounting tables 3a and 3b. In addition, there are factors such as the wafers Wa and Wb jumping due to adsorption due to residual charges when the electrostatic chuck is powered off.

  The holding units 2a and 2b that have received the wafers Wa and Wb move back toward the center of the vacuum transfer chamber 1 to the home position corresponding to the vacuum processing chamber 301 (step S3 in FIG. 5), and then correspond to the vacuum processing chamber 302. Move to the home position. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the home position corresponding to the vacuum processing chamber 301 is retracted. At the home position corresponding to the vacuum processing chamber 301, the center position of each of the wafers Wa and Wb is detected by the position detection unit 4 as described above. Next, based on the detection result, the position of the holding member 23 when the wafer Wa is transferred to the lifting pins 37 a of the vacuum processing chamber 302 and the holding member when the wafer Wb is transferred to the lifting pins 37 b of the vacuum processing chamber 302. 23 is calculated (step S4 in FIG. 5).

  When the respective center positions of the wafers Wa and Wb are ideal positions (preset center positions of the wafers W) in the respective holding portions 2a and 2b, the space between the holding portion 2a (2b) and the lift pins 37a (37b). Since the position of the holding member 23 when the wafer Wa (Wb) is transferred is previously written in the memory 54 of the controller 5, the amount of deviation between the center position of the wafer Wa (Wb) and the ideal position is determined. By obtaining the coordinate values of the X and Y coordinates, the position of the holding member 23 when the wafer W is delivered can be calculated. If the transfer positions of the wafers Wa and Wb thus determined are Pa and Pb, respectively, then the transfer arm 20 will be described in more detail so that the holding member 23 moves linearly in the order of the transfer positions Pa and Pb. A straight movement trajectory including a run-up section having a preset length L before and after the straight line connecting the delivery positions Pa and Pb is substantially reduced at a speed decelerated from the movement speed of the holding member 23 before and after the movement trajectory. Operates to move fast. This movement locus will be described later, but is shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flow of FIG. 5, in step S <b> 5, a trajectory that is a deceleration zone of the holding member 23 (the movement trajectory) is calculated. This movement trajectory, the time from the home position facing the vacuum processing chamber 302 with the holding member 23 retracted to the run start point P1, the wafer Wa transfer position Pa and the wafer Wb transfer from the start point P1. From the total time required to reach the position Pb, the time when the wafer Wa reaches Pa and the time when the wafer Wb reaches Pb are obtained. In this example, the holding member 23 decelerates the speed when moving along the movement locus with respect to the speed from the home position to the approach start point P1, and is set to a speed as slow as 10 m / s, for example. Therefore, if the home position, P1, Pa, and Pb positions are determined and each speed is known, the arrival time can be calculated. Since the acceleration of the transfer arm 20 is very large, there is no influence even if this time is not taken into consideration. Further, when the arrival time of the transfer position of the wafers Wa and Wb is obtained, the time from when the ascent start command is output to the elevating mechanism 38 of the elevating pins 37a and 37b until the tip reaches the receiving height of the wafers Wa and Wb. Is taken into consideration, the rising start time of the lifting pins 37a and 37b is calculated. In step S6 of FIG. 5, such a series of operations is performed. Then, the transfer arm 20 is extended to move the holding member 23 to the start point P1 (step S7 in FIG. 5).

  FIG. 7 shows the state of the holding member 23, the wafer Wa (Wb), and the lift pins 37a (37b) after focusing on only one wafer Wa, and the state of transporting the wafers Wa and Wb in a plane. The description will proceed with reference to FIG. The holding member 23 moved to the start point P1 decelerates and moves at a constant speed along the calculated trajectory toward the end point P2 (step S8 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7A and FIG. 8). b)). Thereafter, when the raising and lowering pins 37a and 37b calculated in step S6 are started, the raising and lowering pins 37a and 37b start to rise (FIG. 7B). When the holding member 23 reaches the delivery position Pa, the raising and lowering pins 37a reach the lower surface level of the wafer Wa while the holding member 23 continues to move at a constant speed, and the wafer Wa is pushed up. It is transferred from the first holding portion 2a to the lift pin 37a (step S9 in FIG. 5, FIGS. 7C, 7D, and 8C). Further, the holding member 23 continues to move at a constant speed. When the holding member 23 reaches the delivery position Pb, the lifting pins 37b reach the height of the lower surface level of the wafer Wb while the holding member 23 continues to move at a constant speed. The wafer Wb is pushed up and transferred from the second holding unit 2b to the lift pins 37b (step S10 in FIG. 5, FIGS. 7C, 7D, and 8D). Thereafter, the holding member 23 continues to move at a constant speed to the end point P2 (FIG. 8E), and then the transfer arm 20 retracts and returns to the home position (step S11 in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8F).

Calculation of the constant velocity motion start point P1, end point P2, and constant velocity motion trajectory from the start point P1 to the end point P2 of the holding member 23 in steps S4 and S5 described above with reference to FIG. explain. When the center position of the first wafer Wa and the center position of the second wafer Wb are at the positions (ideal positions) planned for the holders 2a and 2b, the lifting pins 37a and 37b are lifted from the holders 2a and 2b. Assume that the position P0 of the holding member 23 at the time of delivery to (X0, Y0).
As shown in FIG. 9, regarding the coordinates of the holding member 23, the direction in which the transfer arm 20 extends and the right side is “+”, the opposite side is “−”, and the center position of the wafer Wa is displaced from the ideal position. Assume that (+ Xa, −Ya) and the displacement of the center position of the wafer Wb with respect to the ideal position is (−Xb, + Yb). In this case, the transfer position Pa of the wafer Wa is calculated as {(X0−Xa), (Y0 + Ya)}, and the transfer position Pb of the wafer Wb is calculated as {(X0 + Xb), (Y0−Yb)}.

In this embodiment, as described above, a running section having a length L is set before and after a straight line connecting the delivery position Pa and the delivery position Pb. Therefore, the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the start point P1 and the end point P2 of the constant velocity movement of the holding member 23 are respectively expressed as follows.
X coordinate of the starting point P1: X0-Xa- [L / {(Xa + Xb) ² + (Ya + Yb) ² } ^1/2 ] · (Xa + Xb)
Y coordinate of the start point P1: Y0 + Ya- [L / {(Xa + Xb) ² + (Ya + Yb) ² } ^1/2 ] · (Ya + Yb)
X coordinate of end point P2: X0 + Xb + [L / {(Xa + Xb) ² + (Ya + Yb) ² } ^1/2 ] · (Xa + Xb)
Y coordinate of end point P2: Y0−Yb + [L / {(Xa + Xb) ² + (Ya + Yb) ² } ^1/2 ] · (Ya + Yb)

  What is necessary is just to set the distance which the constant velocity motion of the holding member 23 is stabilized for the run-up area of a front | former stage and a back | latter stage. Further, the rear run section (overrun section) may not have the same length as the front run section as described above. The movement from the start point P1 to the end point P2 can be executed by simultaneously driving the linear movement motor and the rotation motor.

  FIG. 10 shows how the height positions of the elevating pins 37a and 37b change when the holding member 23 moves from the start point P1 to the end point P2 of the movement locus. When the raising and lowering pins 37a and 37b start to rise (t1 and t2 in FIG. 10), the control unit 5 issues a raising command and starts to rise from the standby position to reach the wafer Wa and Wb delivery positions Ta, It can be calculated by checking Tb (Ta = t3-t1, Tb = t4-t2 in FIG. 10) in advance. That is, it is calculated by going back by the times Ta and Tb from the passing times (t3 and t4 in FIG. 10) of the delivery positions Pa and Pb determined when the holding member 23 starts at the starting point P1. The above operation is an example in which the wafer W is transferred from the vacuum processing chamber 301 to the vacuum processing chamber 302. However, the wafer W is transferred from the preceding module (including the load lock chambers 14 and 15) to the succeeding module. The same delivery operation is also performed for.

According to the above-described embodiment, when the wafers Wa and Wb held horizontally by the holding portions 2a and 2b of the holding member 23 are transferred to the mounting tables 3a and 3b via the lifting pins 37a and 37b, The positions of the wafers Wa and Wb are detected, the transfer arm 20 is operated based on the detection result, the rising timing of the lift pins 37a and 37b is obtained, and the lift pins are moved while moving the transfer arm 20 (holding member 23). 37a and 37b are pushed up to receive the wafers Wa and Wb. A decelerating section in which the wafers Wa and Wb are transferred to the elevating pins 37a and 37b is set at a constant speed so as to stabilize the operation, and in other sections, the transfer arm 20 is operated at a high speed as usual. Therefore, even if there is a deceleration zone, the delivery time can be shortened compared to the conventional delivery sequence described above. For this reason, the time required for delivery of the wafer W can be shortened, which contributes to the improvement of the throughput in the vacuum processing apparatus.
Further, the inventor moves the holding member 23 holding the wafers Wa and Wb to the delivery positions Pa and Pb at the delivery positions Pa and Pb, stops them, and then raises the lifting pins 37a and 37b to raise the wafer. When the time required to transfer two wafers W was calculated for the case of receiving Wa and Wb and the transfer method of the above-described embodiment, it was confirmed that the above-described embodiment was about 1 second earlier. This result means that the number of wafers W that can be processed per hour is increased by about 10%.

In the present invention, the movement trajectory of the holding member 23 is not limited to a straight line, and may be a curved line or a broken line. Further, the present invention is not limited to setting the above-described approach section and overrun section, but setting these sections is preferable because the movement operation of the holding member 23 is stabilized. Furthermore, in the overrun section after delivering the wafer W, the holding member 23 does not have to move at a constant speed.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where two wafers W are simultaneously transferred by one transfer arm 20 is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one wafer is transferred by one transfer arm. It may be used in some cases, or three or more wafers may be transferred. Further, the present invention is not limited to the articulated arm as the transport arm 20, but may be a slide-type transport mechanism in which the holding member 23 slides back and forth with respect to the transport base.

The holding portions 2a and 2b of the holding member 23 are not limited to the shape of the above-described embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 11 (a), the inverted triangle portion and the left and right ends of the portion extend forward. A structure having a belt-like portion or a horseshoe shape (FIG. 11B) for holding the wafer W at the peripheral edge may be used. In FIG. 11, reference numerals 201 to 203 denote lifting pins.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a multi-chamber system that performs vacuum processing is described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and processing in a normal pressure atmosphere, for example, a processing apparatus that forms a resist pattern (resist application and development) Apparatus), wafer cleaning apparatus, wafer inspection apparatus (prober), etc., may be applied to the case where the wafer is transferred to a processing module, a transfer table, or the like.
The present invention is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, and may be applied to a substrate processing apparatus using a glass substrate for a flat panel display or the like as a substrate to be processed.

W, Wa, Wb Wafer P1 Constant velocity start point P2 of holding member P2 End point of constant velocity movement of holding member P0 Wafer delivery ideal position Pa in holding member Wafer Wa delivery position Pb in holding member Delivery of wafer Wb in holding member Position 1 Vacuum transfer chamber 23 Holding member 2a First holding unit 2b Second holding unit 3 Vacuum processing chambers 3a and 3b Mounting tables 37a and 37b Lifting pins 4 Position detecting unit 5 Control unit

Claims (9)

In the substrate transfer apparatus for horizontally holding the substrate on the holding member of the substrate transfer mechanism and moving the holding member in the horizontal direction to transfer the substrate to the mounting table,
An elevating member that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down by an elevating mechanism to raise and lower the substrate between the upper position of the mounting table and the mounting table;
A position detection unit that detects a holding position of the substrate held by the holding member with respect to the holding member;
Based on the detection result detected by the position detection unit, a position calculation unit that calculates a position where the holding member delivers the substrate to the elevating member;
An arrival time point calculating unit that calculates the arrival time point at which the holding member reaches the delivery position of the substrate calculated by the position calculating unit, based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
And a controller that outputs a control signal so that the holding member moves and passes through the substrate delivery position and the lifting member pushes up and receives the substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival. Substrate delivery device.   The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the holding member to decelerate the conveyance speed before the holding member reaches the substrate transfer position.   The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit sets a deceleration position of the holding member in accordance with a substrate transfer position. The holding member is configured to hold the first substrate and the second substrate spaced apart from each other in the horizontal direction,
As the mounting table, a first mounting table and a second mounting table on which the first substrate and the second substrate are respectively mounted are provided.
The elevating member is provided corresponding to the first mounting table and the second mounting table, respectively, and is configured as a first elevating member and a second elevating member that are moved up and down independently of each other,
The control unit creates a movement locus of the holding member based on the delivery position of the substrate obtained for each of the first substrate and the second substrate,
The arrival time calculation unit is configured to calculate each arrival time at which the holding member reaches the delivery position of the first substrate and the delivery position of the second substrate based on the movement trajectory. The board | substrate delivery apparatus as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3. A lowering member for holding the lower surface of the substrate, raising and lowering the substrate between the upper position of the mounting table and the mounting table, and a substrate transport for holding the substrate horizontally on the holding member and moving the holding member in the horizontal direction In a method of delivering a substrate from a holding member to the mounting table via the lifting member, using a mechanism,
Detecting a holding position with respect to the holding member with respect to the substrate held by the holding member;
Calculating a position where the holding member delivers the substrate to the elevating member based on the detection result of the holding position;
Calculating the arrival time at which the holding member reaches the calculated board transfer position based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
A step of transferring the substrate, wherein the elevating member pushes up and receives the substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival while the holding member moves.   6. The substrate transfer method according to claim 5, wherein the holding member transport speed is reduced before the holding member reaches the substrate transfer position. A substrate transport mechanism for moving a holding member configured to hold the first substrate and the second substrate in the horizontal direction so as to be spaced apart from each other, and the first substrate and the second substrate are respectively mounted. A first mounting table and a second mounting table, and a first lifting member and a second mounting member which are provided corresponding to the first mounting table and the second mounting table, respectively, and which are lifted and lowered independently of each other. And a method of transferring the first substrate and the second substrate from the holding member to the first mounting table and the second mounting table, respectively,
Detecting a holding position with respect to the holding member for the first substrate and the second substrate held by the holding member;
Based on the detection result of the holding position, a position where the holding member delivers the first substrate to the first elevating member and a position where the holding member delivers the second substrate to the second elevating member are calculated. Process,
Calculating arrival times at which the holding member arrives at the calculated delivery position of the first substrate and the delivery position of the second substrate, respectively, based on the movement locus and speed of the holding member;
Reducing the conveyance speed of the holding member before the holding member reaches the delivery position of the first substrate;
Thereafter, while the holding member moves at a constant speed, the first elevating member pushes up and receives the first substrate on the holding member at the time of arrival;
And a step of receiving the second substrate on the holding member by pushing up the second substrate at the time of arrival while the holding member moves at a constant speed. . In a substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of processing chambers for processing a substrate are connected to a substrate transfer chamber, and each processing chamber is provided with a first mounting table and a second mounting table for mounting a substrate. ,
In the substrate transfer chamber, a holding member configured to hold the first substrate and the second substrate spaced apart from each other in the horizontal direction is moved in the horizontal direction to mount the plurality of processing chambers. A substrate transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate to and from,
A first elevating member that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down by an elevating mechanism to raise and lower the substrate between an upper position of the first mounting table and the mounting table;
A second mechanism that holds the lower surface of the substrate and moves up and down independently of the first lifting member by a lifting mechanism to lift and lower the substrate between the upper position of the second mounting table and the mounting table; An elevating member;
A position detection unit that detects a holding position of the first substrate and the second substrate held by the holding member with respect to the holding member;
Based on the detection result detected by the position detection unit, the holding member transfers the first substrate to the first elevating member, and the holding member transfers the second substrate to the second elevating position. A position calculating unit that calculates a second transfer position to be transferred to the member;
Based on the movement trajectory and speed of the holding member, the first arrival time and the second arrival time at which the holding member reaches the first delivery position and the second delivery position calculated by the position calculation unit, respectively. A time point calculation unit for calculating
The holding member moves and passes the substrate transfer position, and the first elevating member pushes up and receives the first substrate on the holding member at the first arrival time, and then the second elevating member And a control unit that outputs a control signal so as to push up and receive the second substrate on the holding member at the second arrival time.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller controls the holding member to decelerate the conveyance speed before the holding member reaches the first delivery position.

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