JP6751735B2 - Substrate processing equipment and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

A coater / developer device having a plurality of processing devices is known. For example, in the coater / developer device described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of substrates taken out from a cassette placed on an indexer section are sequentially put into a cleaning device, and then a dehydration baking device, a resist coating device, and a prebaking device are used. , The exposure device, the developing device, and the post-baking device in order, and the cassette is stored again.

The following two types of processing devices are mixed in this coater / developer device. That is, a sequential processing device and a variable transfer type processing device coexist. Substrates are carried into this sequential processing device one by one. The sequential processing apparatus sequentially conveys these substrates in one direction and processes the substrates one by one. Examples of this sequential processing device include a cleaning device and a developing device.

Substrates are also carried into the variable transport type processing device one by one. The variable transfer type processing device has a plurality of processing units and a substrate transfer means for transporting a substrate to the plurality of processing units. The substrate transporting means has a hand for receiving the substrate and a moving mechanism for moving the hand to each processing unit. This substrate transporting means receives the substrates one by one from the device on the upstream side and delivers the substrates to the processing unit. Further, the substrate transporting means can also transport the substrate between the processing units. An example of this variable transport type processing device is a dehydration baking device. In this dehydration baking device, a heating unit and a cooling unit are provided as a plurality of processing units.

In such a conventional coater / developer device, board data unique to each board is handled. This board data includes various information such as identification information for identifying the board, recipe information for performing processing on the board, and error information indicating whether or not the processing on the board has been completed normally. ..

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-156426

In order to improve the throughput of substrate processing, it is conceivable to transport a plurality of substrates as a group between devices. Specifically, a plurality of substrates are collectively transported to a sequential processing apparatus, and the plurality of substrates are sequentially transported one by one in the sequential processing apparatus for processing, and the plurality of processed substrates are collectively transported. To the variable transfer type processing device. According to this, since a plurality of substrates are collectively conveyed between the devices, the throughput can be improved.

It is also conceivable to process a plurality of substrates at the same time in a variable transfer type processing apparatus. For example, it is conceivable to heat a plurality of substrates at the same time in a dehydration baking apparatus. This also makes it possible to improve the throughput of substrate processing.

However, the handling of substrate data, which enables each apparatus to appropriately process a substrate while transporting a plurality of substrates as a group between devices, has not been studied. The board data referred to here is data assigned corresponding to the board, and includes information about the board, specifically, identification information for identifying the board and recipe information indicating processing for the board. I'm out.

An object of the present application is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of appropriately transporting and processing a plurality of substrates in a sequential processing unit and a simultaneous processing unit while transporting them between processing units as a group. ..

The first aspect of the substrate processing apparatus is a substrate processing apparatus, in which unique identification information for identifying a plurality of substrates, position information indicating a positional relationship between the plurality of substrates in a transport direction, and processing contents are provided. A receiving unit that accepts a plurality of substrates to which overall substrate data including recipe information common to the plurality of substrates for defining is assigned, a sequential processing unit that sequentially transports and processes the plurality of substrates, and the above. The control unit includes a simultaneous processing unit and a control unit that simultaneously process a plurality of substrates, and the control unit is data unique to each of the plurality of substrates, and is an individual data including the identification information, the position information, and the recipe information. A plurality of board data are generated based on the whole board data, the transport and processing of each of the plurality of boards in the sequential processing unit are controlled based on the individual board data, and the plurality of boards are processed by the sequential processing unit. When the boards are aligned at the outlet position, the whole board data is generated based on the individual board data, and the transfer and processing of the plurality of boards in the simultaneous processing unit are controlled based on the whole board data.

A second aspect of the substrate processing apparatus is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an error occurs in one of the plurality of substrates in the sequential processing unit, the control unit causes an error. The first error information is added to the individual board data for the one of the plurality of boards.

A third aspect of the substrate processing apparatus is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit causes an error in the plurality of substrates in the simultaneous processing unit. , The second error information is added to the whole board data.

The first aspect of the substrate processing method is a substrate processing method, in which unique identification information for identifying a plurality of substrates, position information indicating a positional relationship between the plurality of substrates in a transport direction, and processing contents are provided. A receiving step of accepting a plurality of substrates to which overall substrate data including recipe information common to the plurality of substrates for defining is assigned, a sequential processing step of sequentially transporting and processing the plurality of substrates, and the above-mentioned The sequential processing step includes a simultaneous processing step of simultaneously processing a plurality of substrates, and the sequential processing step is data unique to each of the plurality of substrates, and is individual substrate data including the identification information, the position information, and the recipe information. When the process of generating the data based on the entire substrate data, the process of controlling the transport and processing of each of the plurality of substrates based on the individual substrate data, and the process of processing the plurality of substrates are aligned at the outlet positions. The simultaneous processing step includes a step of generating the whole board data based on the individual board data, and the simultaneous processing step includes a step of controlling the transfer and processing of the plurality of boards based on the whole board data.

According to the first aspect of the substrate processing apparatus and the first aspect of the substrate processing method, a plurality of substrates are appropriately conveyed and processed in the sequential processing unit and the simultaneous processing unit while being conveyed between the processing units as a group. be able to.

According to the second aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, when an error occurs for each substrate, the first error information is added to the individual substrate data for the substrate on which the error occurred. Therefore, it is easy to understand which board the error occurred on.

According to the third aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, when an error occurs in a plurality of substrates, the second error information is added to the entire substrate data. Therefore, the amount of information of the entire board data can be reduced as compared with the case where the second error information is added to each of the boards.

The objectives, features, aspects and advantages of the technology disclosed herein will be further clarified by the detailed description and accompanying drawings set forth below.

It is a top view which shows typically an example of the structure of the substrate processing apparatus. It is a side view which shows typically an example of the structure of the sequential processing part. It is a top view which shows the example of the structure of the simultaneous processing apparatus schematicly. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the structure of the control part schematicly. It is a figure which shows an example of the whole substrate data schematicly. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation of a control part. It is a figure which shows an example of individual substrate data schematicly. It is a figure which shows an example of individual substrate data schematicly.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Also, for the purpose of easy understanding, the dimensions and number of each part are exaggerated or simplified as necessary.

<1. Overall configuration / operation of board processing equipment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1. In the example of FIG. 1, the substrate processing device 1 is a coater / developer device, and is mainly a cleaning device 12, a dehydration baking device 13, a coating-related device 14, a prebaking device 15, a developing device 17, and a post-baking device 18. To be equipped. Further, on one side of the substrate processing device 1, an indexer unit 11 for loading and unloading the substrate to and from the substrate processing device 1 is arranged. Further, the exposure apparatus 16 is arranged on the other side of the substrate processing apparatus 1 via an interface portion (not shown).

A cleaning device 12, a dehydration baking device 13, a coating-related device 14, and a pre-baking device 15 are arranged in this order on the going line from the indexer section 11 to the exposure device 16. The developing device 17 and the post-baking device 18 are arranged in this order on the return line from the exposure device 16 to the indexer section 11.

A plurality of cassettes for accommodating a plurality of substrates are placed on the indexer unit 11. The substrate is, for example, a rectangular glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device. An indexer robot as a substrate transporting means is arranged in the indexer unit 11. The indexer robot takes out the substrate from the cassette and conveys the substrate to the cleaning device 12. In the cleaning device 12, the substrate is cleaned. The washed substrate is conveyed to the dehydration baking device 13. In the dehydration baking apparatus 13, a dehydration treatment (dehydration baking treatment) is performed by heating. The dehydrated-baked substrate is conveyed to the coating-related apparatus 14, and various treatments including the resist coating treatment are performed. The substrate on which this treatment has been performed is conveyed to the prebaking device 15 and heat-treated. The heat-treated substrate is conveyed to the exposure apparatus 16 and exposed.

The substrate on which these treatments have been performed is conveyed to the developing apparatus 17 for development processing. The developed substrate is conveyed to the post-baking device 18 and heat-treated. After that, the substrate is housed in a cassette placed on the indexer section 11 by the indexer robot. By these series of treatments, a resist pattern is formed on the surface of the substrate.

<2. Processing device type>
In this substrate processing device 1, the following two types of processing devices are mixed as the types of processing devices. That is, a sequential processing device (flat flow processing device) that sequentially transports the boards in one direction and processes the boards one by one, and an N (integer of 2 or more) boards collectively. Simultaneous processing devices that process at the same time are mixed. The processing periods of the N substrates by the simultaneous processing apparatus do not have to be completely the same, and at least a part of each processing period may overlap. In short, the term "simultaneous" here is used in contrast to the state in which the processing periods do not overlap at all. Examples of the sequential processing device include a cleaning device 12 and a developing device 17, and examples of the simultaneous processing device include a dehydration baking device 13, a coating-related device 14, a pre-baking device 15, and a post-baking device 18.

<2-1. Sequential processing device>
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the sequential processing device 30. The sequential processing device 30 includes a processing device main body 32 and a substrate lead-out unit 33, and a substrate introduction unit (accepting unit) 31 is provided immediately before the sequential processing device 30. The board introduction unit 31 collectively receives a plurality of (N sheets) of boards W transported from the upstream device. The processing device main body 32 sequentially receives a plurality of substrates W transported from the substrate introduction unit 31 one by one, and while transporting the substrate W along one direction (conveying direction), various processes are performed on the substrate W. I do. The processed substrate W is conveyed from the processing apparatus main body 32 to the substrate lead-out unit 33. The board lead-out unit 33 sequentially receives a plurality of boards W conveyed from the processing device main body 32. The board lead-out unit 33 can hold a plurality (N sheets) of the boards W received in sequence. The plurality of substrates W are collectively taken out from the substrate lead-out unit 33 and transported to a downstream device. The substrate introduction unit 31 may be considered to be included in the sequential processing device 30. The substrate introduction unit 31 can function as an inlet position of the sequential processing device 30, and the substrate lead-out unit 33 can function as an exit position of the sequential processing device 30.

<2-1-1. Board introduction unit 31>
The substrate introduction unit 31 has a plurality of rollers 311 and a plurality of rollers 313 as a transport mechanism. The cross section of the rollers 311, 313 has a circular shape, and the rollers 311, 313 are provided so that the central axis thereof is substantially perpendicular to and substantially horizontal to the transport direction of the substrate W. The transport direction referred to here is the transport direction of the substrate W in the sequential processing device 30. The plurality of rollers 311 are provided side by side at intervals along the transport direction. Each roller 311 can rotate about its own central axis as a rotation axis. Both ends of each roller 311 on the central axis are rotatably fixed to a support plate (not shown). The pair of support plates are plate-shaped members extending along the transport direction, and are fixed to a predetermined pedestal 312 provided on the floor surface. The plurality of rollers 313 are provided side by side at intervals along the transport direction. The roller 313 is located on the downstream side of the roller 311 and is provided at the same height as the roller 311. Each roller 313 can rotate about its own central axis as a rotation axis. Both ends of each roller 313 on the central axis are rotatably fixed to the support plate.

The plurality of rollers 311 are driven by a drive unit (not shown) and rotate (synchronously rotate) in the same predetermined direction at substantially equal rotation speeds. The drive unit has a motor. The substrate W is placed on the plurality of rollers 311. The substrate W is placed so that the normal direction of its main surface is along the vertical direction. In this state, the plurality of rollers 311 rotate synchronously in the same direction, so that the substrate W moves on the rollers 311 to the processing apparatus main body 32 along the transport direction. The plurality of rollers 313 are also driven by a drive unit (not shown) to rotate synchronously. The rollers 311, 313 are controlled independently.

The substrate W is placed one by one on the rollers 311, 313. For example, two substrates W1 from the indexer portion 11 may be placed on the rollers 311, 313. By synchronously rotating only the roller 313 in this state, the substrate W on the roller 313 can be conveyed to the processing apparatus main body 32. Next, both the rollers 311, 313 rotate synchronously, so that the substrate W on the rollers 313 can be conveyed to the processing apparatus main body 32.

Hereinafter, one of the two substrates W is also referred to as a substrate W1, and the other is also referred to as a substrate W2. Here, it is assumed that the substrate W1 is located on the upstream side of the substrate W2.

<2-1-2. Board lead-out unit 33>
The board lead-out unit 33 can hold a plurality (N sheets) of boards W that are sequentially conveyed from the processing device main body 32. The number of substrates W that can be held by the substrate lead-out unit 33 is the same as the number of substrates W that are processed by the next simultaneous processing device 40 (for example, the dehydration baking device 13). Here, as an example, it is assumed that the substrate lead-out unit 33 holds two substrates W, and the simultaneous processing device 40 simultaneously processes the two substrates W.

The substrate lead-out unit 33 includes a plurality of rollers 331 and a plurality of rollers 332 as a transport mechanism, and sensors 334 and 335. The cross sections of the rollers 331 and 332 have a circular shape. The rollers 331 are arranged at intervals along the transport direction so that the central axis thereof is perpendicular and horizontal to the transport direction of the substrate W. The roller 332 is arranged on the downstream side of the roller 331. The rollers 332 are arranged in the same posture as the rollers 331 at intervals along the transport direction. Both ends of the rollers 331 and 332 on the central axis are rotatably fixed to support plates (not shown). The plurality of rollers 331 are synchronously rotated by the drive unit (not shown), and the plurality of rollers 332 are synchronously rotated by the drive unit (not shown). Since the rollers 331 and 332 are driven by different drive units, they can be controlled independently of each other. Each drive unit has, for example, a motor.

The rollers 331 and 332 are provided at the same height as each other. The substrate W is conveyed from the processing apparatus main body 32 to the roller 331, and is appropriately conveyed from the roller 331 to the roller 332. As will be described later, one substrate W stops on the roller 331, and one substrate W stops on the roller 332. As a result, the substrate lead-out unit 33 can hold the two substrates W.

The sensor 334 detects whether or not the substrate W exists at the stop position on the roller 331. The sensor 335 detects whether or not the substrate W exists at the stop position on the roller 332. The sensors 334 and 335 are, for example, optical sensors, and detect the substrate W when the reflected light from the substrate W is received. The detection results of the sensors 334 and 335 are output to the control unit 60.

The board lead-out unit 33 can sequentially receive two boards W from the processing device main body 32 and hold them. First, the first substrate W is conveyed to the stop position on the roller 332 by the synchronous rotation of the rollers 331 and 332. Specifically, when both the sensors 334 and 335 do not detect the substrate W, the rollers 331 and 332 are synchronously rotated to convey the substrate W from the processing apparatus main body 32 to the substrate lead-out unit 33. Then, when the sensor 335 detects the substrate W, the synchronous rotation of the roller 332 is stopped. As a result, the first substrate W is stopped and supported on the roller 332. For the second substrate W, the roller 332 is not rotated, but the roller 331 is rotated synchronously to convey the substrate W to the stop position of the roller 331. Specifically, when the sensor 334 detects the substrate W, the synchronous rotation of the roller 331 is stopped. That is, when both the sensors 334 and 335 detect the substrate W, the synchronous rotation of the roller 331 is stopped. As a result, the second substrate W is stopped and supported on the roller 331. In this way, the substrate lead-out unit 33 can hold the two substrates W.

<2-1-3. Processing device body 32>
The processing device main body 32 has a plurality of rollers 321 as a transport mechanism. The plurality of rollers 321 have the same shape as the roller 311 and are arranged in the same posture as the roller 311. Both ends of the roller 321 on the central axis are rotatably fixed to support plates (not shown). The plurality of rollers 321 are arranged at intervals along the transport direction. The plurality of rollers 321 are provided at the same height as the rollers 311 of the substrate introduction portion 31, and the substrate W can move from the rollers 311 to the rollers 332 via the rollers 313, 321 and 331 in this order.

The processing apparatus main body 32 appropriately processes the substrate W flowing on the roller 321 at each position in the transport direction. Here, the cleaning device 12 will be described as an example of the sequential processing device 30. For example, the processing device main body 32 has a chemical solution unit 34, a water washing unit 35, and a draining unit 36. The chemical solution unit 34, the water washing unit 35, and the draining unit 36 are provided in series in this order from upstream to downstream. Further, the plurality of rollers 321 are provided over the chemical solution portion 34, the water washing portion 35, and the draining portion 36. The plurality of rollers 321 are driven by a drive unit (not shown) and rotate synchronously. As a result, the substrate W can be conveyed along the conveying direction, and the chemical solution portion 34, the washing portion 35, and the draining portion 36 can be passed in this order.

The chemical solution unit 34 is a device for cleaning the substrate W by supplying the chemical solution to the substrate W on the roller 321. The chemical solution unit 34 supplies the chemical solution to the nozzle 341 via a plurality of nozzles 341 for discharging the chemical solution, a chemical solution tank 342 for storing the chemical solution, a supply pipe 343 connecting the chemical solution tank 342 and the nozzle 341, and a supply pipe 343. It is equipped with a pump 344. The nozzles 341 are provided on both sides of the substrate W in the vertical direction, and supply the chemical solution to both sides of the substrate W. The chemical solution unit 34 may have a brush (not shown) for brushing the substrate W or the like. The cleaning effect can be enhanced by brushing while supplying the chemical solution to the substrate W. The chemical solution supplied to the substrate W mainly falls from the peripheral edge of the substrate W and is collected in the chemical solution tank 342.

The water washing unit 35 is a device for washing away the chemical solution remaining on the substrate W by supplying washing water to the substrate W. The flush unit 35 has a first water tank 355 and a second water tank 356 for storing wash water. Further, the flush unit 35 has a low-pressure water supply unit 351, a high-pressure water supply unit 352, an ultrasonic cleaning water supply unit 353, and a pure water supply unit 354 arranged in this order from upstream to downstream. Like the chemical solution section 34, each section 351 to 354 includes a nozzle for discharging the liquid to the substrate W, a supply pipe connected to the nozzle, and a pump for supplying the liquid to the nozzle via the supply pipe. ing. The pump of the low-pressure water supply unit 351 is a low-pressure pump, which draws wash water from the first water tank 355 at a low pressure and supplies it to the nozzle. As a result, the low-pressure water supply unit 351 can supply the washing water to the substrate W at a low pressure. The pump of the high-pressure water supply unit 352 is a high-pressure pump, which draws wash water from the first water tank 355 with high pressure and supplies it to the nozzle. As a result, the high-pressure water supply unit 352 can supply the washing water to the substrate W at high pressure. The wash water supplied by the low-pressure water supply unit 351 and the high-pressure water supply unit 352 mainly falls from the peripheral edge of the substrate W and is collected in the first water tank 355.

The nozzle of the ultrasonic cleaning water supply unit 353 is provided with an ultrasonic vibrator that applies ultrasonic vibration to the cleaning water from the second water tank 356. The ultrasonic cleaning water supply unit 353 supplies cleaning water in a vibrating state to the substrate W. The cleaning water supplied by the ultrasonic cleaning water supply unit 353 is mainly collected in the second water tank 356. Pure water is supplied toward the substrate W from the nozzle of the pure water supply unit 354. This pure water is mainly recovered in the second water tank 356.

The draining portion 36 is a device that blows water from the substrate W by flowing a high-pressure air flow to the substrate W. The draining unit 36 has an injection unit 361 that injects gas onto the substrate W, a gas supply unit 362 that supplies gas, and a pipeline 363 that connects the injection unit 361 and the gas supply unit 362. The gas supply unit 362 is a gas source provided as factory equipment (utility).

As described above, in the processing apparatus main body 32, the substrate W is conveyed along the conveying direction, and various processes are performed at each position. The substrate W that has been completely processed by the processing apparatus main body 32 is conveyed to the substrate lead-out unit 33.

<3. Simultaneous processing device 40>
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the simultaneous processing device 40. Here, the dehydration baking device 13 will be described as an example of the simultaneous processing device 40. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of the configuration of the dehydration baking device 13.

<3-1. Dehydration baking device 13>
The dehydration baking device 13 includes a heating unit HP and a cooling unit CP. The dehydration baking device 13 receives the two substrates W that have been cleaned by the cleaning device 12 from the transfer robot (board transfer means) TR1, and simultaneously processes the two received substrates W.

<3-1-1. Transfer robot TR1>
The transfer robot TR1 has a hand H1, a moving mechanism 51, an elevating mechanism 52, and a rotating mechanism 53. The moving mechanism 51 can move the hand H1 in a horizontal plane. For example, the moving mechanism 51 has a pair of arms. Each arm has a plurality of elongated connecting members, and the ends of the connecting members are rotatably connected to each other. One end of each arm is connected to the hand H1 and the other end is connected to the elevating mechanism 52. By controlling the connecting angle of the connecting member, the hand H1 can be moved in the horizontal plane. The elevating mechanism 52 raises and lowers the hand H1 by raising and lowering the arm along the vertical direction. The elevating mechanism 52 has, for example, a ball screw mechanism. The rotation mechanism 53 can rotate the elevating mechanism 52 around a rotation axis along the vertical direction. As a result, the hand H1 rotates along the circumferential direction. By this rotation, the direction of the hand H1 can be changed. The rotation mechanism 53 has, for example, a motor.

The two substrates W are placed side by side in one horizontal direction on the hand H1. The hand H1 has, for example, a plurality of finger-shaped members F1 and a base end member P1 that connects the base ends of the finger-shaped members F1. One end of the arm is connected to the base end member P1. The finger-shaped member F1 has an elongated shape, and the substrate W is placed on the upper surface thereof. The two substrates W are placed side by side along the longitudinal direction of the finger-shaped member F1. Therefore, the length of the finger-shaped member F1 in the longitudinal direction is set according to the length of two substrates W and the distance between the substrates W.

By appropriately moving and rotating the hand H1, the transfer robot TR1 moves the hand H1 to the heating unit HP, the cooling unit CP, the substrate lead-out unit 33 of the cleaning device 12, and the coating-related device 14 in the next process (not shown in FIG. 5). Can be moved to each of. The transfer robot TR1 collectively takes out the two substrates W from each of the substrate lead-out unit 33, the heating unit HP, and the cooling unit CP, or collectively removes the two substrates W from the heating unit HP, the cooling unit CP, and the cooling unit CP. It can be handed over to each of the coating-related devices 14.

For example, the transfer robot TR1 collectively takes out two boards W from the board lead-out unit 33 as follows. That is, the transfer robot TR1 moves the hand H1 to the board lead-out unit 33 in order to position the hand H1 below the two boards W held by the board lead-out unit 33.

The rollers 331 and 332 are configured to avoid collision with the hand H1 of the transfer robot TR1. Then, the transfer robot TR1 raises the hand H1 vertically upward, so that the two substrates W are lifted by the hand H1. As a result, the two substrates W are separated from the rollers 331 and 332, respectively. The two substrates W will be placed side by side on the hand H1 at intervals along the longitudinal direction thereof. The two substrates W are placed on the hand H1 in a posture in which the normal direction of the main surface is along the vertical direction.

Next, the transfer robot TR1 moves the hand H1 away from the board lead-out unit 33, so that the two boards W are collectively taken out from the board lead-out unit 33.

A plurality of suction ports may be formed on the upper surface of the finger-shaped member F1 (the surface on which the substrate W is placed). This suction port is provided at a position facing the two substrates W, and air is drawn from the suction port to suck the substrate W. Thereby, the holding force for holding the substrate W can be improved.

The transfer robot TR1 takes out two substrates W from each of the heating unit HP and the cooling unit CP at once by the same operation as the above operation. On the other hand, the transfer robot TR1 collectively delivers the two substrates W to each of the heating unit HP, the cooling unit CP, and the coating-related device 14 (hereinafter referred to as each unit) in the reverse procedure of the above operation. That is, the transfer robot TR1 moves the hand H1 on which the two boards W are placed to the inside of each part, lowers the hand H1 and collectively puts the two boards W on the upper surface of the board holding part of each part. Place it. The substrate holding portion of each portion is configured so as not to collide with the hand H1 when the two substrates W are carried in and out. Then, the transfer robot TR1 moves the hand H1 from the inside to the outside of each part. As a result, the two substrates W are collectively passed to each part.

As described above, the transfer robot TR1 holds N (2) substrates W of the plurality of substrates processed by the cleaning apparatus 12 which is a sequential processing apparatus side by side in one horizontal direction (D1 direction). , The N (2) substrates are collectively transported to the dehydration baking apparatus 13 which is a simultaneous processing apparatus. As a result, the throughput of the transport operation can be improved as compared with the case where the substrates W are transported one by one.

<3-1-2. Heating part HP>
Two substrates W are collectively delivered from the transfer robot TR1 to the heating unit HP. The heating unit HP includes a substrate holding unit 91 that holds the two substrates W side by side in the horizontal direction, and a heating means 92 that simultaneously heats the two substrates W at the same time. .. In other words, the heating unit HP heat-treats the two substrates W at the same time.

The substrate holding portion has a member that supports the lower surfaces of the two substrates W. The two substrates W are held by being placed on this member. The two substrates W are placed in a posture in which the normal direction of the main surface is along the vertical direction. For example, the substrate holding portion 91 includes a plurality of lift pins (not shown). The plurality of lift pins move up and down between an upper position in which the tip of the lift pin protrudes from the upper surface of the substrate holding portion 91 and a lower position retracted below the upper surface. The transfer robot TR1 passes the two substrates W to the plurality of lift pins protruding upward, and then retracts the two boards. The plurality of lift pins descend while supporting the two substrates W, and the two substrates W are placed on the upper surface of the substrate holding portion 91.

The heating means 92 is, for example, a heater or the like, and simultaneously heat-treats the two substrates W held by the substrate holding portion 91 at the same time. By this heat treatment, for example, the pure water remaining on the substrate W can be evaporated (dehydration treatment). Since the heat treatment is simultaneously performed on the two substrates W at the same time, the throughput of the heat treatment can be improved as compared with the case where the heat treatment is performed on the substrates W one by one.

<3-1-3. Cooling unit CP>
Two substrates W heated by the heating unit HP are collectively delivered to the cooling unit CP from the transfer robot TR1. That is, the transfer robot TR1 holds the two substrates W processed by the heating unit HP after being processed by the cleaning device 12 which is a sequential processing device in a horizontal direction while holding the two substrates W. Collectively convey to the cooling unit CP. The cooling unit CP includes a substrate holding unit 93 that holds the two substrates W side by side in the horizontal direction, and a cooling means 94 that collectively cools the two substrates W. In other words, the cooling unit CP simultaneously cools the two substrates W.

The substrate holding portion 93 has a member that supports the lower surfaces of the two substrates W. The two substrates W are held by being placed on this member. The two substrates W are placed in a posture in which the normal direction of the main surface is along the vertical direction. The structure of the substrate holding portion 93 is the same as that of the substrate holding portion 91.

The cooling means 94 is, for example, a cooling plate for flowing cold water through a liquid passage formed inside the metal plate, and collectively performs a cooling process on the two substrates W held in the substrate holding portion. The cooling means 94 is controlled by the control unit 60. By this cooling treatment, the two substrates W are cooled, and the temperature of the two substrates W can be set to a temperature suitable for the processing device (coating-related device 14) on the downstream side. Since the two substrates W are simultaneously cooled at the same time, the throughput of the cooling process can be improved as compared with the case where the two substrates W are cooled one by one.

The cooling unit CP may cool the two substrates W by natural cooling. The natural cooling means that the heated substrate W is not cooled by using power (electric power), but the substrate W is left to cool. In this case, the cooling means 94 as a configuration such as a cooling plate is unnecessary.

<3-1-4. A series of processes of the dehydration baking device>
Next, a series of processes by the dehydration baking apparatus 13 will be briefly described. The transfer robot TR1 collectively takes out two substrates W from the substrate lead-out unit 33 of the cleaning device 12 on the upstream side, and collectively delivers the two substrates W to the heating unit HP. Even in this heating unit HP, the two substrates W are held in a horizontally aligned state. The heating unit HP collectively heats the two substrates W. The two substrates W after the heat treatment are collectively taken out by the transfer robot TR1 and collectively passed to the cooling unit CP. Even in the cooling unit CP, the two substrates W are held in a horizontally aligned state. The cooling unit CP collectively cools the two substrates W. The two substrates W that have been cooled are collectively taken out by the transfer robot TR1 and collectively conveyed to the coating-related device 14.

<Control part>
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 1 has a control unit 60 that controls processing in each processing apparatus and transfer of the substrate. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the control unit 60.

The control unit 60 is a control circuit, and as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 62, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 63, a storage device 64, and the like are included. It is composed of general computers interconnected via a bus line 65. The ROM 62 stores a basic program and the like, and the RAM 63 is provided as a work area when the CPU 61 performs a predetermined process. The storage device 64 is composed of a flash memory or a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk device.

Further, in the control unit 60, the input unit 66, the display unit 67, and the communication unit 68 are also connected to the bus line 65. The input unit 66 is composed of various switches, a touch panel, or the like, and receives various input setting instructions such as processing recipes from the operator. The display unit 67 is composed of a liquid crystal display device, a lamp, and the like, and displays various information under the control of the CPU 61. The communication unit 68 has a data communication function via a LAN (Local Area Network) or the like.

Further, each robot (such as a transfer robot such as an indexer robot) and each of the above-mentioned processing devices are connected to the control unit 60 as control targets. That is, the control unit 60 can function as a transfer control unit that controls the transfer of the substrate W.

The storage device 64 of the control unit 60 stores a processing program P for controlling each device constituting the board processing device 1. When the CPU 61 of the control unit 60 executes the processing program P, the transfer operation and the processing operation of the substrate are controlled. Further, the processing program P may be stored in the recording medium. By using this recording medium, the processing program P can be installed in the control unit 60 (computer). Further, a part or all of the functions executed by the control unit 60 do not necessarily have to be realized by software, and may be realized by hardware such as a dedicated logic circuit.

The control unit 60 can handle the board data corresponding to each board W. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the entire substrate data D1. The entire board data D1 includes board data corresponding to N boards (here, 2 boards) that are simultaneously conveyed. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the entire board data D1 includes information such as identification information Da1, position information Db1, recipe information Dc1, and error information Dd1.

The identification information Da1 is information unique to the substrate W for identifying the substrate W. In the example of FIG. 5, the identification information Da1 of the substrate W1 indicates “A”, and the identification information Da1 of the substrate W2 indicates “B”. Since the substrate W is accommodated in different accommodation positions (slots) in the indexer portion 11, the information indicating each accommodation position is information unique to the substrate W. Therefore, as the identification information Da1, information (slot number) indicating the accommodation position of the substrate W in the indexer unit 11 may be adopted. However, two boards W are housed in each slot in the cassette. That is, one slot number is assigned to a set of two boards W. Therefore, a slot number may be adopted as the identification information Da1 of one substrate W, and a dummy slot number (that is, a number different from the slot number) may be adopted as the identification information Da1 of the other substrate W.

The position information Db1 indicates the positional relationship of N (two in this case) substrates W in the transport direction. Here, since the substrate W1 is located on the upstream side with respect to the substrate W2, in the example of FIG. 5, the position information Db1 with respect to the substrates W1 and W2 indicates "upstream" and "downstream", respectively. This position information Db1 is mainly used for transport control in the sequential processing device 30. Specifically, the sequential processing device 30 first conveys the substrate W2 to which the "downstream" position information Db1 is attached, and then conveys the substrate W1 to which the "upstream" position information Db1 is attached.

The recipe information Dc1 includes information indicating the processing to be performed on the substrates W1 and W2 (for example, the recipe number) and information on the processing conditions in the processing. As the treatment conditions, for example, in the case of a cleaning treatment, conditions such as the type of the chemical solution to be used, the flow rate of the chemical solution and the treatment time (that is, the transport speed) can be adopted. For example, in the case of dehydration baking treatment, conditions such as heating temperature, heating time, cooling temperature and cooling time can be adopted as treatment conditions. Since the same processing is performed on the substrates W1 and W2, the recipe information Dc1 is information common to the substrates W1 and W2. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 5, the recipe information Dc1 does not correspond to each of the substrates W1 and W2, but corresponds to a set of the substrates W1 and W2.

The error information Dd1 is information indicating an error that has occurred in the processing for the substrates W1 and W2. Since the sequential processing device 30 processes the substrates W1 and W2 individually, an error may occur in only one of the substrates W1 and W2 in the sequential processing apparatus 30, and errors different from each other occur in the substrates W1 and W2. Sometimes. On the other hand, since the simultaneous processing device 40 simultaneously processes the substrates W1 and W2, a common error may occur in the substrates W1 and W2. Therefore, the error information Dd1 includes individual error information Dd11 indicating an error that occurs individually for the substrates W1 and W2, and common error information Dd12 indicating an error that occurs commonly for the substrates W1 and W2. The individual error information Dd11 corresponds to each of the boards W1 and W2, and the common error information Dd12 corresponds to a set of boards W1 and W2.

Although the error information does not need to be particularly limited, for example, the following error can be exemplified. That is, an error in which the processing time is out of the specified range can be exemplified. The specified range is specified for each process, and is included in, for example, recipe information Dc1. The control unit 60 has, for example, a timer circuit or the like, and the processing time can be measured by the timer circuit. The control unit 60 can detect an error in the processing time based on the measured value. In addition, as the error information, an error in which a plurality of substrates W to which the same identification information Da1 is assigned is included in the same device can be exemplified. Although the identification information Da1 is usually different for each substrate W, the same identification information Da1 may be given to a plurality of substrates W due to a human error of an operator or the like. The control unit 60 confirms the position of the substrate W to which the identification information Da1 is attached, and can detect the above error. Although not shown, each device may be provided with various sensors for detecting various errors.

Further, the countermeasure corresponding to the error information may be included in the error information Dd1. For example, depending on the type of error, it may be necessary to discard the substrate W, or it may be possible to return to the original state by performing a restoration process on the substrate W and perform the process again. Information indicating such measures (discard, return processing) may be included in the error information Dd1.

<Operation of control unit>
Next, an example of the operation of the control unit 60 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the control unit 60. Here, a case where the two substrates W are sequentially processed by the cleaning device 12 (sequential processing device 30) and the dehydration baking device 13 (simultaneous processing device 40) will be described.

First, in step S1, two boards W are carried into the board introduction section 31 from the indexer section 11. In other words, the substrate introduction unit 31 receives two substrates W. The entire board data D1 is attached to these two boards W. The term "grant" as used herein means that the entire board data D1 is associated with a set of two boards W.

Next, in step S2, the control unit 60 acquires the entire board data D1 for the two boards W carried into the board introduction unit 31. The entire substrate data D1 may be transmitted from, for example, an upstream device. The entire substrate data D1 may be transmitted from the indexer unit 11 or a device on the upstream side of the indexer unit 11. The entire board data D1 does not necessarily have to be transmitted from the device on the upstream side, and the operator may input the entire board data D1 using the input unit 66.

Next, in step S3, the control unit 60 generates individual board data D21 and D22 based on the entire board data D1. The individual board data D21 and D22 are board data unique to the boards W1 and W2, respectively. 7 and 8 are diagrams schematically showing an example of individual substrate data D21 and D22, respectively. The control unit 60 extracts data related to the substrate W1 from the entire substrate data D1 and generates individual substrate data D21 for the substrate W1. Conversely, the control unit 60 deletes the data relating only to the substrate W2 from the overall substrate data D1 to generate the individual substrate data D21. That is, the individual board data D21 includes the identification information Da1 of the board W1, the position information Db1, the recipe information Dc1, and the error information Dd1.

Similarly, the control unit 60 extracts data related to the substrate W2 from the entire substrate data D1 and generates individual substrate data D22 for the substrate W2. Conversely, the control unit 60 deletes the data relating only to the substrate W1 from the overall substrate data D1 to generate the individual substrate data D22. The individual substrate data D22 includes identification information Da1, position information Db1, recipe information Dc1 and error information Dd1 of the substrate W2.

Next, in step S4, the control unit 60 controls the cleaning device 12 based on the individual substrate data D21 and D22. For example, first, in order to process the substrate W2 whose position information Db1 is "downstream", the control unit 60 derives the substrate introduction unit 31, the processing device main body 32, and the substrate based on the recipe information Dc1 of the individual substrate data D22. It controls the transport mechanism of the unit 33 and also controls the processing mechanism at each position. Specifically, the control unit 60 controls the rotation speed of the roller 321 based on the recipe information Dc1 so that the processing times in the chemical solution unit 34, the water washing unit 35, and the draining unit 36 are suitable for each, and the chemical solution The flow rate of the chemical solution in the part 34, the flow rate of the washing water in the washing part 35, the flow rate of the gas in the draining part 36, and the like are controlled based on the recipe information Dc1.

As a result, the substrate W2 is stopped at the substrate lead-out unit 33 after the processing is performed by the processing apparatus main body 32. Further, when an error occurs in the substrate W2 in the cleaning device 12, the control unit 60 adds the error information to the individual error information Dd11 of the individual substrate data D22.

Similarly, in order to process the substrate W1 whose position information Db1 is "upstream", the control unit 60 derives the substrate introduction unit 31, the processing device main body 32, and the substrate based on the recipe information Dc1 of the individual substrate data D21. It controls the transport mechanism of the unit 33 and also controls the processing mechanism at each position. As a result, the substrate W1 is stopped at the substrate lead-out unit 33 after the processing is performed by the processing apparatus main body 32. Further, when an error occurs in the substrate W1 in the cleaning device 12, the control unit 60 adds the error information to the individual error information Dd11 of the individual substrate data D21.

As described above, in the cleaning apparatus 12 (that is, the sequential processing apparatus 30), one substrate data (individual substrate data) is assigned to one substrate W, and the processing is performed. As a result, the cleaning device 12 can appropriately process each of the two substrates W1 and W2.

Next, in step S5, when the substrates W1 and W2 processed by the cleaning device 12 are aligned with the substrate lead-out unit 33, the control unit 60 generates the entire substrate data D1 based on the individual substrate data D21 and D22. Specifically, the control unit 60 has information specific to the substrate W1 in the individual substrate data D21, information specific to the substrate W2 in the individual substrate data D22, and information common to the substrates W1 and W2 in the individual substrate data D21 and D22. And are extracted and integrated into the whole board data D1. If the error information is written in the individual error information Dd11 in step S4, the error information is also written in the overall board data D1.

Next, in step S6, the control unit 60 controls the dehydration baking device 13 based on the overall substrate data D1. That is, in order to perform processing on the substrates W1 and W2, the control unit 60 controls the transfer robot TR1 and controls the processing mechanism of the dehydration baking device 13 based on the recipe information Dc1 of the entire substrate data D1. More specifically, the control unit 60 causes the transfer robot TR1 to collectively transfer the substrates W1 and W2 to the substrate holding unit 91 based on the recipe information Dc1, and causes the heating means 92 to transfer the substrates W1 and W2 to the substrate holding unit 91 for the heating time specified in the recipe information Dc1. The substrates W1 and W2 are heated. When the heating is completed, the control unit 60 collectively conveys the substrates W1 and W2 to the substrate holding unit 93 by the transfer robot TR1 based on the recipe information Dc1, and causes the substrate 94 to the cooling means 94 for the cooling time specified in the recipe information Dc1. W1 and W2 are cooled. When the cooling is completed, the control unit 60 causes the transfer robot TR1 to transfer the substrates W1 and W2 to the next device (coating-related device 14) based on the recipe information Dc1.

Further, when an error occurs in the dehydration baking device 13, the control unit 60 adds the error information to the common error information Dd12 of the entire board data D1.

As described above, in the dehydration baking apparatus 13 (that is, the simultaneous processing apparatus 40), one substrate data (whole substrate data) is assigned to a set of two substrates W, and processing is performed. As a result, the dehydration baking apparatus 13 can appropriately process both the two substrates W1 and W2.

In short, the control unit 60 sequentially performs processing on the substrates W1 and W2 by controlling the transfer mechanism and the processing mechanism using the individual substrate data D21 and D22 in the sequential processing apparatus 30, respectively. On the other hand, in the simultaneous processing device 40, the control unit 60 controls the transfer mechanism and the processing mechanism based on the entire substrate data D1 to simultaneously perform processing on the substrates W1 and W2. As a result, the sequential processing device 30 and the simultaneous processing device 40 can be appropriately controlled.

Further, in the above example, the error in the sequential processing device 30 is added to the entire board data D1 as individual error information Dd11 unique to the boards W1 and W2. Therefore, error information can be managed appropriately. On the other hand, the error in the simultaneous processing device 40 is added to the entire board data D1 as common error information Dd12 common to the boards W1 and W2. For example, as a comparative example, a case where error information common to the substrates W1 and W2 is added to the individual error information Dd11 for the substrate W1 and the individual error information Dd11 for the substrate W2 will be considered. In this case, the amount of information of the entire board data D1 is unnecessarily increased. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, such an increase in the amount of unnecessary information can be avoided.

In the above example, the entire board data D1 transmitted from the device on the upstream side in step S1 includes the identification information Da1 of the boards W1 and W2. As a specific example, "A" and "B" were included as the identification information Da1 of the substrates W1 and W2. However, in the device on the upstream side, the identification information Da1 may not be determined for at least one of the substrates W1 and W2. In this case, in step S1, the control unit 60 may automatically determine the identification information Da1. Alternatively, the operator may operate the input unit 66 to input the identification information Da1.

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus and the substrate processing method have been described in detail, but the above description is exemplary in all aspects, and the disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, the various modifications described above can be applied in combination as long as they do not contradict each other. And it is understood that a large number of modifications not illustrated can be assumed without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

1 Substrate processing device 30 Sequential processing unit (sequential processing device)
31 Receiving part (board introduction part)
33 Exit position (board lead-out part)
40 Simultaneous processing unit (simultaneous processing device)
60 Control unit

Claims (4)

It is a board processing device
Overall including unique identification information for identifying a plurality of substrates, position information indicating a positional relationship between the plurality of substrates in a transport direction, and recipe information common to the plurality of substrates for defining processing contents. A receiving unit that accepts multiple boards to which board data is attached,
A sequential processing unit that sequentially transports and processes the plurality of substrates,
A simultaneous processing unit and a control unit that simultaneously process the plurality of substrates are provided.
The control unit
Individual board data including the identification information, the position information, and the recipe information, which is data unique to each of the plurality of boards, is generated based on the whole board data.
Based on the individual substrate data, the transfer and processing for each of the plurality of substrates in the sequential processing unit are controlled.
When the plurality of substrates processed by the sequential processing unit are aligned at the outlet positions, the entire substrate data is generated based on the individual substrate data.
A substrate processing apparatus that controls the transfer and processing of the plurality of substrates in the simultaneous processing unit based on the entire substrate data. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
When an error occurs in one of the plurality of substrates in the sequential processing unit, the control unit adds the first error information to the individual substrate data for the one of the plurality of substrates. Processing equipment. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
The control unit is a board processing device that adds second error information to the entire board data when an error occurs in the plurality of boards in the simultaneous processing unit. It is a substrate processing method
Overall including unique identification information for identifying a plurality of substrates, position information indicating a positional relationship between the plurality of substrates in a transport direction, and recipe information common to the plurality of substrates for defining processing contents. The acceptance process that accepts multiple boards with board data attached,
A sequential processing step of sequentially transporting and processing the plurality of substrates, and
It is provided with a simultaneous processing step of simultaneously processing the plurality of substrates.
The sequential processing step is
A step of generating individual substrate data including the identification information, the position information, and the recipe information, which is data unique to each of the plurality of substrates, based on the entire substrate data.
When the steps of controlling the transfer and processing of each of the plurality of substrates based on the individual substrate data and the processed substrates are aligned at the outlet positions, the entire substrate data is generated based on the individual substrate data. Including the process of
The simultaneous processing step is
A substrate processing method including a step of controlling transport and processing of the plurality of substrates based on the entire substrate data.

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