JP7377659B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to substrates such as semiconductor wafers, substrates for liquid crystal displays and organic EL (Electroluminescence) display devices, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, ceramic substrates, and solar cell substrates (hereinafter simply referred to as The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs cleaning processing such as front surface cleaning and back surface cleaning on a substrate (referred to as a substrate).

Conventionally, there is a device of this type that includes an indexer block, a processing block that includes a front surface cleaning unit and a back surface cleaning unit, and a reversal pass block that is installed between the indexer block and the processing block ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

The indexer block includes a carrier mounting section on which a carrier containing a plurality of substrates is placed, and one indexer robot that transports the substrates between the carrier and the reversing path block. The reversing pass block includes a plurality of shelves on which substrates are placed, and includes a reversing pass unit that transfers the substrates to and from the processing block and reverses the substrates. The processing block has a first processing section row with a 4-layer structure with four surface cleaning units from the bottom on the left side when viewed from the indexer block, and a back surface cleaning unit with four surface cleaning units from the bottom on the right side when viewed from the indexer block. It includes a second processing section row with a four-layer structure including a cleaning unit, and one main robot that transports the substrate between the front side cleaning unit, the back side cleaning unit, and the reversing path unit. The reversing pass block includes an upper reversing pass unit in the upper stage corresponding to the upper two layers, and a lower reversing pass unit in the lower stage corresponding to the lower two layers, spaced apart in the vertical direction. The indexer robot transports unprocessed substrates to the processing block via only the upper reversing pass unit, and receives processed substrates from the processing block via only the lower reversing pass unit. receive.

In this device, there is one main robot per processing block, but recently, in order to improve throughput, two main robots have been installed, one for the upper processing unit and the lower processing unit in the processing block. Some devices are equipped with such devices (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-166369 (Figures 1 and 2) JP2016-201526A (Figure 10)

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
That is, in the conventional apparatus, one indexer robot needs to access the upper reversing pass unit to transport unprocessed substrates and the lower reversing pass unit to receive processed substrates. Therefore, when cleaning a substrate, there is a problem that the vertical movement distance of one indexer robot becomes long, and the throughput may decrease due to the operating status of one indexer robot. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and by devising the transport from one indexer robot to the reversing path unit, the throughput caused by the operating status of one indexer robot can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can suppress the decrease.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, the invention according to claim 1 provides a substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate, which includes a carrier mounting section on which a carrier accommodating a plurality of substrates is placed, and the carrier of the carrier mounting section and The indexer block is equipped with one indexer robot that transports substrates between the upper and lower tiers; Each of the processing blocks is provided with the processing unit, and the processing block is disposed between the indexer block and the processing block, and includes a plurality of shelves on which substrates are placed, and also has a reversing function for reversing the front and back of the substrate. a reversing path block having a plurality of reversing path sections in the vertical direction; For each of the lower stages, the reversing pass block includes an upper reversing pass unit including a plurality of reversing pass sections corresponding to the upper stage, and a lower reversing pass unit comprising a plurality of reversing pass sections corresponding to the lower stage. The indexer robot includes a plurality of reversing path sections of the upper reversing path unit and a plurality of reversing path sections of the lower reversing path unit that are close to the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage in the vertical direction. The present invention is characterized in that the substrate is delivered to the reversal path portion with priority given to the substrate.

[Operation/Effect] According to the invention described in claim 1, when one indexer robot transports a substrate between the processing block and the substrate through the reversal path block, the plurality of reversals of the upper reversing pass unit Among the plurality of reversing path sections of the pass section and the lower reversing pass unit, the one closest to the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage in the vertical direction is given priority, and the substrate is delivered to the reversing path section. In this way, by devising the transport from one indexer robot to the reversing path block, the vertical movement distance of one indexer robot can be shortened, so that It is possible to suppress the decrease in throughput.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the indexer robot transfers the substrate to the reversing path section, giving priority to a shelf near the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage with reference to the rotation axis in the reversing path section ( Claim 2).

With the rotation axis in the reversing path section as a reference, the indexer robot delivers substrates to the reversing path section, giving priority to shelves near the boundary between the upper and lower tiers. Therefore, even if the one closest to the boundary among the plurality of inversion path sections cannot be used, the shelf located as close as possible to the boundary between the upper and lower tiers is preferentially used. As a result, the vertical movement distance of one indexer robot can be reliably shortened.

Further, in the present invention, the center robot may select one of the plurality of reversal path sections of the upper reversal path unit and the plurality of reversal path sections of the lower reversal path unit for the substrate processed in the processing block. It is preferable that substrates are delivered to the reversing path section with priority given to those near the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage (Claim 3).

The center robot receives the substrate in the reversing path section, giving priority to the reversing path section of the upper reversing path unit and the reversing path section of the lower reversing path unit, which is closest to the boundary between the upper and lower stages. hand over. This allows the indexer robot to reduce the vertical movement distance when receiving a substrate from the reversing path block, thereby suppressing throughput degradation caused by the indexer robot's operating status when returning the substrate after processing. .

Further, in the present invention, the indexer robot includes a guide rail that is erected with a fixed horizontal position, a base that moves up and down along the guide rail, and a multi-layer robot that is arranged on the base. an articulated arm; and a hand that supports a substrate on an arm on the distal end side of the multi-jointed arm, and in a standby state before accessing the reversal path block, the hand is located at the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage. It is preferable to do so (Claim 4).

One indexer robot includes a guide rail, a base, a multi-joint arm, and a hand, and raises and lowers the base with respect to the guide rail, and drives the multi-joint arm with respect to the base. to move the hand freely. In the standby state before accessing the reverse path block, the hand is located at the boundary between the upper and lower stages. Therefore, the travel distance when accessing the upper reversing pass unit and the lower reversing pass unit can be shortened.

Further, in the present invention, when only the surface cleaning unit is used to perform surface cleaning processing of the substrate, it is preferable that the reversing pass block only places the substrate without reversing it (Claim 5). ).

By placing and transferring the substrate without inverting the substrate, the reversing pass block allows the surface cleaning unit to perform only the surface cleaning process of the substrate.

Further, in the present invention, when the front surface cleaning unit and the back surface cleaning unit are used to perform front and back cleaning processing on the front and back sides of the substrate, the reversing pass block is configured to perform the front and back cleaning before being carried into the back surface cleaning unit. It is preferable to invert the substrate twice before transporting it into the unit (Claim 6).

By inverting the substrate twice, the reversing pass block can perform a front surface cleaning process using a front surface cleaning unit and a back surface cleaning process using a back surface cleaning unit.

According to the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, when one indexer robot transports a substrate to and from the processing block via the reversing path block, the indexer robot moves the plurality of reversing path portions of the upper reversing path unit and the lower reversing path unit to the processing block. Among the plurality of reversal path sections of the pass unit, those closest to the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage in the vertical direction are given priority and the substrate is delivered to the reversal path section. In this way, by devising the transport from one indexer robot to the reversing path unit, the vertical movement distance of one indexer robot can be shortened. It is possible to suppress the decrease in throughput.

1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an example. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus, showing an upper layer in the upper stage of the processing block. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus, showing the lower layer in the upper stage of the processing block. FIG. 2 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire indexer robot. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the hands of the indexer robot, in which (a) shows four hand bodies, and (b) shows two hand bodies. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the reversal path block when the indexer block is viewed from the back. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the indexer block and the inversion path block as viewed from the left side. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the reversing pass unit. (a) to (d) are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the inversion pass unit. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the state of the substrate processing apparatus during transportation. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the transport block. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between an indexer robot and a processing block in front and back surface cleaning processing. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between an indexer robot and a processing block in surface cleaning processing. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between an indexer robot and a processing block in backside cleaning processing.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Note that FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus, showing an upper layer in an upper stage of a processing block. 4 is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus, showing the lower layer in the upper stage of the processing block, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is an apparatus that can perform a front surface cleaning process for cleaning the front surface of a substrate W and a back surface cleaning process for cleaning the back surface of the substrate. This substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an indexer block 3, a reversal path block 5, a processing block 7, a transport block 9, and a utility block 11.

The indexer block 3 transfers the substrate W to be processed to and from the reversal path block 5 . The inversion path block 5 is arranged between the indexer block 3 and the processing block 7. The reversing path block 5 transfers the substrate W between the indexer block 3 and the transport block 9 as it is without reversing the front and back of the substrate W, or transfers the substrate W between the indexer block 3 and the transport block 9 by reversing the front and back of the substrate W. Handing over W. The transport block 9 transports the substrate W between the reversing path block 5 and the processing block 7 . The processing block 7 includes a front surface cleaning unit SS that cleans the front surface of the substrate W, and a back surface cleaning unit SSR that cleans the back surface of the substrate W. The utility block 11 includes a configuration for supplying a processing liquid such as a chemical solution or pure water, or a gas such as nitrogen gas or air to the processing block 7 .

In the substrate processing apparatus 1, an indexer block 3, a reversing bus block 5, a processing block 7, a transport block 9, and a utility block 11 are arranged in this order.

In the following description, the direction in which the indexer block 3, the reversal path block 5, the processing block 7, the transport block 9, and the utility block 11 are lined up will be referred to as the "back-and-forth direction X" (horizontal direction). In particular, the direction from the utility block 11 to the indexer block 3 is defined as "forward XF", and the direction opposite to the forward XF direction is defined as "backward XB". The direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction X in the horizontal direction is defined as the "width direction Y." Further, when the indexer block 3 is viewed from the front, one direction in the width direction Y is appropriately referred to as "right side YR", and the other direction opposite to right side YR is referred to as "left side YL". Further, the vertical direction is referred to as the "vertical direction Z" (height direction, vertical direction). Note that when simply described as "side" or "lateral direction", it is not limited to either the front-rear direction X or the width direction Y.

The indexer block 3 includes a carrier mounting section 13, a transfer space AID, and one indexer robot TID. The substrate processing apparatus 1 in this embodiment includes, for example, four carrier mounting sections 13. Specifically, four carrier mounting portions 13 are provided in the width direction Y. A carrier C is placed on each carrier placement section 13 . The carrier C stacks and stores a plurality of substrates W (for example, 25 substrates W), and each carrier mounting section 13 is, for example, an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport: also called an automatic guided vehicle that travels over the ceiling) (not shown). ), the carrier C is delivered to and from the carrier C. The OHT transports the carrier C using the ceiling of the clean room. An example of carrier C is FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod).

The transport space AID is arranged at the rear XB of the carrier mounting section 13. An indexer robot TID is arranged in the transport space AID. The indexer robot TID transfers the substrate W to and from the carrier C, and also transfers the substrate W to and from the reversing block 5. Only one indexer robot TID is placed in the transfer space AID.

Reference is now made to FIG. Note that FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire indexer robot.

As shown in FIG. 5, one indexer robot TID includes a guide rail 15, a base portion 17, a multi-joint arm 19, and a hand 21. The guide rail 15 has its longitudinal direction arranged in the vertical direction Z, and guides the base part 17 in the vertical direction Z when the base part 17 moves up and down as driven by a drive unit (not shown). The position of the guide rail 15 in the front-rear direction X and the width direction Y is fixed. Specifically, the guide rail 15 is arranged in the width direction Y at a position that does not overlap with the mounting position of the substrate W in the reversing path block 5 when viewed from the carrier mounting part 13 side of the indexer block 3. ing. Further, it is arranged on the inner wall side of the indexer block 3 on the reverse path block 5 side. Here, in plan view, a virtual line VL is defined that connects the center of the indexer block 3 in the width direction Y and the center of the reversal path block 5 in the width direction Y (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The guide rail 15 and the base part 17 are arranged at positions shifted from the virtual line VL to the side, in this embodiment, to the right YR. The base section 17 is arranged with a space SP from the back surface of the indexer block 3 toward the carrier mounting section 13 side in plan view. This space SP has a size that allows accommodation of at least a portion of the reversal path block 5.

The base portion 17 includes a base body 17a movably disposed on the guide rail 15, and a fixed arm 17b extending laterally from the base body 17a. The fixed arm 17b is arranged so as to extend forward from the base main body 17a so that its tip side is located at the center of the four carrier placement sections 13 in the width direction Y, that is, on the above-mentioned imaginary line VL. ing. The multi-joint arm 19 is composed of a first arm 19a, a second arm 19b, and a third arm 19c. The base end of the first arm 19a, which is the base end side, is attached to the distal end side of the fixed arm 17b.

The multi-jointed arm 19 has a rotation axis P1 on the base end side of the first arm 19a, a rotation axis P2 on the base end side of the second arm 19b, and a rotation axis P3 on the base end side of the third arm 19c. The first to third arms 19a, 19b, and 19c are configured to be rotatable, and the hand 21 is configured to be freely movable in the front-rear direction X and the width direction Y. The hand 21 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction Z by the base portion 17 moving up and down along the guide rail 15. Further, in the multi-joint arm 19, the rotation axis P1 of the first arm 19a on the base end side is deviated from the guide rail 15 toward the reversing path block 5 side in the width direction Y when viewed from the carrier mounting section 13 side. It is arranged as follows. That is, the rotation axis P1 is located on the virtual line VL. Further, the rotation axis P1 is located on the left side YL with respect to the base portion 17. The indexer robot TID configured in this manner can access four carriers C and a reversal path block 5, which will be described later, by means of the multi-jointed arm 19.

Refer now to FIG. 6. Note that FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the hands of the indexer robot, in which (a) shows four hand bodies, and (b) shows two hand bodies.

The indexer robot TID described above includes a hand 21, and the hand 21 includes, in order from top to bottom, a hand main body 21a, a hand main body 21b, a hand main body 21c, as shown in FIG. 6(a). The hand main body 21d is also provided. The four hand bodies 21a to 21d of the hand 21 are attached to the third arm 19c. Among these four hand bodies 21a to 21d, the uppermost hand body 21a and the lowermost hand body 21d are configured to be movable up and down in the vertical direction Z, as shown in FIG. 6(b). There is. When the indexer robot TID transports the substrates W to and from the carrier C, for example, when 25 substrates W are stored in the carrier C, the indexer robot TID uses four hand bodies 21a to 21d to transport the substrates W. When four substrates are sequentially conveyed and only one remains, for example, one substrate W is conveyed by the hand bodies 21a and 21b, which are integrated with the hand bodies 21a and 21b, and transferred to the next carrier. One substrate W of C is conveyed by hand bodies 21c and 21d, which are integrated into a hand body 21c and a hand body 21d. Thereby, the indexer robot TID equipped with the four hand bodies 21a to 21d can efficiently transport the carrier C in which 25 substrates W are stored.

Note that one indexer robot TID having the above-described configuration is controlled so that the hand 21 is located at the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF in the vertical direction Z in a standby state before accessing the reversing path block 5. It is preferable to

Reference is now made to FIGS. 7 and 8. Note that FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the inversion path block when the indexer block is viewed from the back, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the indexer block and the inversion path block as viewed from the left side.

The reversal path block 5 is integrally attached to the indexer block 3 on the processing block 7 side of the indexer block 3. Specifically, the indexer block 3 has a mounting frame 25 extending from the indexer block 3 toward the processing block side 7, a mounting suspension frame 27, and a suspension frame 29 on its back side (rear XB). We are prepared. The reversing pass block 5 includes a reversing pass unit 31. On the back side of the indexer block 3, an upper access port 3a and a lower access port 3b are formed which communicate with the transport space AID. The reversing pass unit 31 includes an upper reversing pass unit 33 and a lower reversing pass unit 35. The upper stage reversing pass unit 33 is arranged at a position corresponding to the upper access port 3a, and the lower stage reversing pass unit 35 is arranged at a position corresponding to the lower access port 3b. The lower reversing pass unit 35 has a lower portion fixed to the mounting frame 25 with screws, and an upper portion fixed to the mounting suspension frame 27 by a fixture 37. Further, the upper inverted pass knit 33 has a lower portion fixed to the placement suspension frame 27 with screws, and an upper portion fixed to the suspension frame 29 by a fixture 39.

The upper stage reversing pass unit 31 and the lower stage reversing pass unit 33 are arranged overlapping each other without shifting in the front-rear direction X and the width direction Y in plan view. Therefore, the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

The reversing path block 5 is configured integrally with the indexer block 3, but the reversing path block 5 is configured such that at least a portion of the reversing path block 5 can be stored inside the indexer block 3 when the substrate processing apparatus 1 is transported. .

Specifically, after removing the screws fixing the lower parts of the upper reversing pass unit 33 and the lower reversing pass unit 35 and removing the fixtures 37 and 39, the upper reversing pass unit 33 is inserted into the indexer block from the upper access port 3a. 3 into the space SP inside the indexer block 3, and push the lower reversing pass unit 35 into the space SP inside the indexer block 3 from the lower access opening 3b. Thereby, at least a portion of the reversal path block 5 can be reliably stored inside the indexer block 3.

The upper reversing path unit 33 includes a reversing path housing section 33a and a housing section partition 33b. An upper reversing path section 33U is arranged in the upper part partitioned by the casing partition 33b, and a lower reversing path part 33D is arranged in the lower part partitioned by the casing partition 33b. Further, the lower reversing path unit 35 includes a reversing path housing section 35a and a housing section partition 35b. An upper reversing path section 35U is arranged in the upper part partitioned by the casing partition 35b, and a lower reversing path part 35D is arranged in the lower part partitioned by the casing partition 33b.

Here, details of the inversion pass unit 31 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. Note that FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the reversing pass unit, and FIGS. 10(a) to 10(d) are explanatory views of the operation of the reversing pass unit.

The reversing path unit 31 includes an upper reversing path unit 33 and a lower reversing path unit 35, and the upper reversing path unit 33 and the lower reversing path unit 35 each include upper reversing path sections 33U and 35U and lower reversing path sections 33D and 35D. ing. In the following description, the upper inversion path section 33U will be taken as an example, but the upper inversion path section 35U and the lower inversion path sections 33D and 35D have similar configurations.

The upper reversing path section 33U includes a guide section 41 for placing the substrate W, and a rotation holding section 43 for rotating the substrate W placed on the guide section 41 so that the front and back sides of the substrate W are reversed. . Note that a similar guide portion 41 and rotation holding portion 43 are arranged facing each other on the right YR side, but are omitted for convenience of illustration. The guide section 41 includes shelves 45 in a plurality of stages (for example, 5 stages + 5 stages, a total of 10 stages) spaced apart in the front-rear direction X for holding a plurality of substrates W stacked in a horizontal position. This guide portion 41 is driven by a drive portion (not shown) between a placement position (not shown) protruding to the right YR and a retracted position retracted to the left YL shown in FIG. The retracted position is diagonally downward from the bottom surface of the substrate W to the left YL. This prevents the guide portion 41 from sliding on the lower surface of the substrate W during retraction. Note that the guide portion 41 (not shown) is driven between a placement position protruding to the left YL and a retracted position diagonally downward to the right YR.

The rotation holding part 43 is arranged between the guide parts 41 and includes the same number of shelves 47 as the guide parts 41 (10 stages in total). The height position at which the shelves 47 are arranged in the vertical direction Z is the same as each shelf 45 of the guide section 41 when the guide section 41 is located at the placement position. Each shelf 47 includes a gripping member (not shown) that weakly grips the front and back surfaces of the substrate W, thereby preventing the substrate W from falling from each shelf 47 when rotated. The rotation holding part 43 is attached to the rotation member 49, and the shelves 47 are arranged spaced apart in the front-rear direction X. In this embodiment, the rotating member 49 has an alphabetical H shape, and each shelf 47 is arranged in an I-shaped portion. The rotating member 49 is connected to a rotation drive section and a forward/backward drive section (not shown). The rotating member 49 is rotated around a rotation axis P4 along the width direction Y. Further, the rotating member 49 is driven forward and backward between a gripping position protruding to the right YR shown in FIG. 9 and a retracted position (not shown) retracted to the left YL. Through these operations, each shelf 47 is rotated or moved forward or backward. Note that the rotating member 49 (not shown) is driven forward and backward between a gripping position where it protrudes to the left YL and a retracted position where it retracts to the right YR.

The above-mentioned upper reversing path section 33U may be left in the state shown in FIG. 10(a), and a plurality of substrates W may be placed thereon and transferred in that state without being reversed, or as shown in FIG. 10(a). By operating as shown in ~(d), a plurality of substrates W are turned over and transferred.

When reversing the front and back sides of the substrate W, the guide section 41 and the rotation holding section 43 are driven as follows, for example.

In the initial state, it is assumed that the guide parts 41 are moved to a mounting position spaced apart from each other by about the diameter of the substrate W in the width direction Y, and the rotation holding part 43 is moved to a retracted position (FIG. 10(a)). . In this state, a plurality of substrates W are placed on the guide section 41. Next, the rotation holding part 43 is placed in the gripping position (FIG. 10(b)), and then the guide part 41 is moved to the retracted position (FIG. 10(c)). Furthermore, the rotation holding part 43 is rotated by half a rotation around the rotation axis P4 (FIG. 10(d)). Through these series of operations, the front and back sides of the plurality of substrates W are simultaneously turned over.

Note that the above-described upper inversion path section 33U and lower inversion path section 33D, as well as the upper inversion path section 35U and lower inversion path section 35D, respectively correspond to "a plurality of inversion path sections" in the present invention.

Return to FIGS. 2 to 4. Further, refer to FIG. 11. Note that FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing the state of the substrate processing apparatus during transportation.

A processing block 7 and a transport block 9 are arranged behind the reversing path block 5 XB. The processing block 7 is arranged to face the left side YL and the right side YR with the transport block 9 in between.

Each processing block 7 includes, for example, two layers of processing units PU in an upper stage UF and a lower stage DF, respectively. Further, each processing block 7 includes two processing units PU in the front-rear direction X. That is, one processing block 7 includes eight processing units PU, and two processing blocks 7 include 16 processing units PU in total. In addition, in the following explanation, when it is necessary to distinguish between each processing unit PU, as shown in FIG. The four processing units PU are respectively referred to as processing units PU11 to PU14, and the four processing units PU arranged from top to bottom of the front XF processing unit PU on the right side YR are respectively referred to as processing units PU21 to PU24. , the four processing units PU arranged from top to bottom of the processing unit PU in the rear XB on the left YL are respectively processing units PU31 to PU34, and on the right YR from above the processing unit PU in the rear XB. The four processing units PU arranged toward the bottom are referred to as processing units PU41 to PU44, respectively.

Also, on the left YL, the four processing units PU11 to PU14 in the front XF are called tower unit TW1, on the right YR, the four processing units PU21 to PU24 in the front XF are called tower unit TW2, and on the left YL, the four processing units PU21 to PU24 in the front XF are called tower unit TW2. The four processing units PU31 to PU34 in the rear XB are referred to as a tower unit TW3, and the four processing units PU41 to PU44 in the rear XB on the right side YR are referred to as a tower unit TW4. The two processing units 7 are composed of four tower units TW1 to TW4, and each tower unit TW1 to TW4 is controlled and managed, and electrical wiring and fluid pipes are connected to the tower units TW1 to TW4. The configuration is such that each TW4 can be easily separated and connected.

In the upper layer of the upper stage UF of the processing block 7, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a surface cleaning unit SS is arranged. The surface cleaning unit SS performs a cleaning process on the surface of the substrate W (generally the surface on which an electronic circuit pattern or the like is formed). The surface cleaning unit SS includes, for example, a suction chuck 51, a guard 53, and a processing nozzle 55. The suction chuck 51 attracts the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate W by vacuum suction. The suction chuck 51 is rotationally driven by an electric motor (not shown), thereby rotationally driving the substrate W within a horizontal plane. The guard 53 is arranged to surround the suction chuck 51 and prevents the processing liquid supplied to the substrate W from the processing nozzle 55 from scattering around. The processing nozzle 55 cleans the surface of the substrate W by, for example, supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate W using a jet stream.

In the lower layer of the upper stage UF of the processing block 7, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a back surface cleaning unit SSR is arranged. The back surface cleaning unit SSR performs a cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W (generally the surface on which no electronic circuit pattern or the like is formed). The back surface cleaning unit SSR includes, for example, a mechanical chuck 57, a guard 59, and a cleaning brush 61. The mechanical chuck 57 abuts and supports the periphery of the substrate W, and supports the substrate W in a horizontal position without contacting most of the lower surface of the substrate W. The mechanical chuck 57 is rotationally driven by an electric motor (not shown), thereby rotationally driving the substrate W within a horizontal plane. The guard 59 is arranged to surround the mechanical chuck 57 and prevents the processing liquid from being scattered around by the cleaning brush 61. The cleaning brush 61 includes, for example, a brush that rotates around a vertical axis, and cleans the back surface of the substrate W by applying the supplied processing liquid to the back surface of the substrate W using the rotational force of the brush.

The lower DF of the processing block 7 in this embodiment has, for example, the same configuration as the upper and lower layers of the above-mentioned upper stage UF. That is, the upper layer of the lower DF of the processing block includes the front surface cleaning unit SS, and the lower layer of the lower DF of the processing block includes the back surface cleaning unit SSR. That is, a total of 16 processing units PU of the processing block 7 include 8 front surface cleaning units SS and 8 back surface cleaning units SSR.

Here, reference is made to FIG. 12 in addition to FIGS. 2 to 4. Note that FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the transport block.

In the transport block 9, center robots CR1 and CR2 are arranged at positions corresponding to the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, respectively. In the transport block 9, no partition plate or the like is disposed at the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, and the downflow within the apparatus can flow from the upper stage UF to the lower stage DF. The center robot CR1 transports the substrate W between the upper reversing pass unit 33 in the reversing pass block 5 and each processing unit PU in the upper stage UF. Further, the center robot CR2 transports the substrate W between the lower reversing pass unit 35 in the reversing pass block 5 and each processing unit PU in the lower stage DF. In this way, the substrates W can be distributed to the processing blocks 7 of the upper stage UF and lower stage DF via the upper stage reversing pass unit 33 and the lower stage reversing pass unit 35 of the reversing pass block 5, respectively, by the central robots CR1 and CR2. Throughput can be improved.

Since the center robot CR1 and the center robot CR2 have the same configuration, the center robot CR1 will be explained here as an example.

The center robot CR1 includes a fixed frame 63, a movable frame 65, a base portion 67, a rotating base 69, and an arm 71. The fixed frame 63 includes an opening that extends to all processing units PU in the upper stage UF. The movable frame 65 is attached within the fixed frame 63 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction X. The base portion 67 is attached to the lower frame of the four frames that constitute the movable frame 65. A swing base 69 is mounted on the top of the base section 67, and is configured to be able to pivot relative to the base section 67 within a horizontal plane. An arm 71 is mounted on the upper part of the swing base 69 so as to be movable forward and backward relative to the swing base 69. The arm 71 has an arm body 71b overlaid on an arm body 71a. The arm 71 is configured to be movable back and forth between a first position overlapping the swing base 69 and a second position protruding from the swing base 69. With this configuration, for example, when accessing the processing unit PU, the central robot CR1 receives the substrate W processed by the processing unit PU with the arm main body 71a with the rotation base 69 facing the processing unit PU, and It is possible to transfer the unprocessed substrate W supported by the arm body 71b to the processing unit PU.

The transport block 9 is configured as described above, and there is no common frame with two processing blocks 7 adjacent in the width direction Y. Therefore, the transport block 9 can be separated from the adjacent processing block 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above-mentioned configuration includes, during transportation, an indexer block 3 to which the reversing path block 5 is integrally attached, a processing block 7, a transport block 9, and a utility block. It can be separated into 11. Further, the processing block 7 can be further divided into four tower units TW1 to TW4. Therefore, it is possible to overcome restrictions on height, width and depth that occur when transporting by aircraft. Further, the reversing path block 5 that is integrally attached to the indexer block 3 can be partially housed inside the indexer block 3, as shown in FIG. Therefore, in addition to the height, width, and depth restrictions that occur when transporting by aircraft, it is possible to overcome volume restrictions.

Here, an example of transporting the substrate W in the substrate processing apparatus 1 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15.

As described above, one indexer robot TID included in the indexer block 3 is configured to be able to transport up to four substrates W at a time. However, in the following description of the transportation example, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, a case where one substrate W is transported will be explained as an example. Further, attention is focused only on the transport between the separation path block 5 and the processing block 7, and the operations of the central robots CR1 and CR2 are omitted from illustration. In the drawings, the steps of each operation are indicated by a parenthesized symbol S (number--number) for easy distinction from other symbols. The orientation of the substrate W is represented by an upwardly convex triangle when the front side is facing up, a downwardly convex triangle when the back side is facing upwards, an uncleaned state is shown in black, and a cleaned state is shown in white. represent. Further, the left half of the triangle represents the cleaning state of the front surface, and the right half represents the cleaning state of the back surface.

Transport example 1: Front and back cleaning treatment

See FIG. 13. Note that FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between the indexer robot and the processing block in front and back surface cleaning processing .

In the cleaning process of the substrate W, for example, the indexer robot TID sequentially transports the substrate W from the top to the bottom of the carrier C and performs the process. This is because the cleaned substrate is returned to the same position on the same carrier C, but if there is an uncleaned substrate W on top at that time, particles may fall from the uncleaned substrate W, resulting in This is to prevent the substrate W from being contaminated again. In the cleaning process for the front and back sides of the substrate W, first, the back side of the substrate W is cleaned, and then the front side of the substrate W is cleaned. Note that, in a standby state before accessing the reversal path block 5, one indexer robot TID controls the height position of the hand 21 in the vertical direction Z to be located at the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, for example. has been done.

Here, it is assumed that the substrate W is processed in the lower stage DF of the processing block 7. The indexer robot TID transports the substrate W to the reversing pass unit 31 of the reversing pass block 5, for example. Specifically, the indexer robot TID transports it to the upper reversing path section 35U of the lower reversing path unit 35 of the reversing path unit 31, which is close to the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF. More specifically, the substrate W is transported to the uppermost shelf in the upper reversing path section 35U (step S1-1). Further, this shelf is located near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF with respect to the rotation axis P4 of the upper reversing path section 35U. The upwardly convex black triangle represents a substrate W whose front and back surfaces are both uncleaned and whose front surface is facing upward.

Next, the upper reversing path section 35U is rotated so that the upper and lower sides are reversed. As a result, the substrate W placed on the uppermost shelf in the upper reversing path section 35U is moved to the lowermost shelf, and the substrate W is reversed to a position with the back surface facing upward (step S1-2 ). A downwardly convex black triangle represents a substrate W whose front and back surfaces are both uncleaned and whose back surface is facing upward.

Next, the central robot CR2 transports, for example, the substrate W to the backside cleaning unit SSR of the processing unit PU44 (step S1-3). The back surface cleaning unit SSR performs a cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W facing upward using a cleaning brush 61.

The center robot CR2 transports the substrate W whose back surface has been cleaned to, for example, the second shelf from the bottom of the lower reversing path section 35D (step S1-4). The downwardly convex triangle whose right half is white indicates that the substrate W is in an orientation with its back side facing upward, and only the back side has been cleaned.

The lower reversal path portion 35D is rotated so that the upper and lower sides are reversed. As a result, the substrate W placed on the second shelf from the bottom in the lower reversing path section 35D is moved to the second shelf from the top, and the substrate W is placed in a posture with its surface facing upward (step S1-5). The upwardly convex triangle whose right half is white indicates that the substrate W is in a position with its back side facing upward, and only the back side has been cleaned.

Next, the central robot CR2, for example, transports the substrate W to the surface cleaning unit SS of the processing unit PU13 (step S1-6). The surface cleaning unit SS performs a cleaning process on the upwardly facing surface of the substrate W using the processing nozzle 55.

The substrate W whose front and back surfaces have both been cleaned is transported by the center robot CR2 to the fourth shelf from the bottom of the upper reversing path section 35U (step S1-7). Then, the indexer robot TID transports the substrate W placed on the fourth shelf from the bottom of the upper reversing path section 35U and returns it to the original position of the original carrier C where the substrate W was stored ( Step S1-8). Note that, as in step S1-7, the center robot CR2 moves the substrate W processed in the processing block 7 to the upper reversing path section 33U, the lower reversing path section 33D, and the lower reversing path unit 35 of the upper reversing path unit 33. Of the upper reversing path section 35U and lower reversing path section 35D, it is preferable to give priority to the one closest to the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, and transfer the substrate W to the upper reversing path section 35U. As a result, the distance the indexer robot TID moves in the vertical direction when receiving the processed substrate W from the reversing path block 5 can be shortened. Decrease in throughput caused by the operating status of TID can be suppressed.

According to the above transport example, the substrate processing apparatus 1 inverts the substrate W twice in the lower reversing pass unit 35 to perform the cleaning process on the front and back sides.

Transport example 2: Surface cleaning treatment

Refer to FIG. 14. Note that FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between the indexer robot and the processing block in the surface cleaning process.

The indexer robot TID transports it to the upper reversing path section 35U of the lower reversing path unit 35 of the reversing path unit 31, which is close to the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, for example. More specifically, the substrate W is transported to the fourth shelf from the bottom in the upper reversing path section 35U (step S2-1). The upwardly convex black triangle represents the substrate W with the front surface facing upward, and the front and back sides are uncleaned.

Next, the central robot CR2 transports, for example, the substrate W to the surface cleaning unit SS of the processing unit PU13 (step S2-2). The surface cleaning unit SS performs a cleaning process on the upwardly facing surface of the substrate W using the processing nozzle 55.

The center robot CR2 transports the substrate W whose surface has been cleaned to, for example, the fourth shelf from the bottom of the upper reversing path section 35U (step S2-3). The upwardly convex triangle whose left half is white indicates that the substrate W is in a position with its surface facing upward, and only the surface has been cleaned. The indexer robot TID transports the substrate W placed on the fourth shelf from the bottom of the upper reversing path section 35U and returns it to the original position of the original carrier C where the substrate W was stored (step S2 -4). Note that, as in step S2-3, for the substrate W processed in the processing block 7, the center robot CR2 gives priority to the upper reversal path section 35U near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, and It is preferable to transfer the substrate W to and from the substrate. As a result, the vertical movement distance when the indexer robot TID receives the substrate W from the reversing path block 5 can be shortened, so that the indexer robot TID can also operate when transporting the processed substrate W back to the carrier C. Decrease in throughput caused by the situation can be suppressed.

According to the above transport example, the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs the cleaning process on the surface of the substrate W in the lower reversing pass unit 35 without reversing the substrate W.

Transport example 3: Back side cleaning treatment

Refer to FIG. 15. Note that FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of transportation between the indexer robot and the processing block in the backside cleaning process.

The indexer robot TID, for example, transports it to the upper reversing path section 35U of the lower reversing path unit 35 near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF. More specifically, the substrate W is transported to the uppermost shelf in the upper reversing path section 35U (step S3-1). Further, this shelf is located near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF with respect to the rotation axis P4 of the upper reversing path section 35U. The upwardly convex black triangle represents the substrate W with the front surface facing upward, and both the front and back sides are uncleaned.

Next, the upper reversing path section 35U is rotated so that the upper and lower sides are reversed. As a result, the substrate W placed on the uppermost shelf in the upper reversing path section 35U is moved to the lowermost shelf, and the substrate W is reversed to a position with the back surface facing upward (step S3-2 ). The downwardly convex black triangle represents the substrate W with its back side facing upward, and the front and back sides are uncleaned.

Next, the central robot CR2 transports, for example, the substrate W to the backside cleaning unit SSR of the processing unit PU24 (step S3-3). The back surface cleaning unit SSR performs a cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W facing upward using a cleaning brush 61.

The center robot CR2 transports the substrate W whose back surface has been cleaned to, for example, the lowest shelf of the lower reversing path section 35D (step S3-4). The downwardly convex triangle whose right half is white indicates that the substrate W is in an orientation with its back side facing upward, and only the back side has been cleaned.

The lower reversing path section 35D rotates to reverse the upper and lower sides of the substrate W. As a result, the substrate W placed on the lowermost shelf in the lower reversing path section 35D is moved to the uppermost shelf, and the substrate W is placed in a posture with its surface facing upward (step S3-5). . The upwardly convex triangle whose right half is white indicates that the substrate W is in a position with its back side facing upward, and only the back side has been cleaned.

According to the above transport example, the substrate processing apparatus 1 inverts the substrate W only once in the lower reversing pass unit 35 to perform the cleaning process on the back surface.

Note that in the above-mentioned transport examples 1 to 3, transport examples in the lower stage DF, that is, transport examples using only the lower stage reversing pass unit 35, have been described, but the case where only the upper stage reversing pass unit 33 is used in the upper stage UF is explained. However, by using a shelf near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, the cleaning process can be performed as described above.

As described above, when performing the cleaning process on the substrate W, one indexer robot TID transports the substrate W to and from the processing block 7 via the reversing path block 5. At that time, among the upper reversing path section 33U and lower reversing path section 33D of the upper reversing path unit 33 and the upper reversing path section 35U and lower reversing path section 35D of the lower reversing path unit 35, the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF is The substrate W is delivered giving priority to the closest one. In this way, by devising the transport from one indexer robot TID to the reversing path block 5, the moving distance in the vertical direction Z in one indexer robot TID can be shortened. As a result, it can be expected that the travel time required for raising and lowering the hand 21 of one indexer robot will be shortened, and that the positioning accuracy when transferring the substrate W between the hand 21 and the reversing path block 5 will be improved. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in throughput caused by the operating status of one indexer robot TID.

Furthermore, the indexer robot TID is located at the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF in the vertical direction Z when its hand 21 is in a standby state before accessing the reversal path block 5. Therefore, the moving distance in the vertical direction Z when accessing the upper reversing pass unit 33 or the lower reversing pass unit can be shortened.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified as described below.

(1) In the embodiment described above, the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF each include two reversing path sections (upper reversing path section 33U, lower reversing path section 33D, upper reversing path section 35U, lower reversing path section 35D), The upper inversion path section 35U near the boundary between the upper UF and the lower DF is preferentially used (first priority rule). However, for example, a lower inversion path portion 33D close to the boundary between the upper UF and the lower DF may be used.

(2) In the embodiment described above, the upper reversing pass unit 33 in the reversing pass block 5 includes the upper reversing pass section 33U and the lower reversing pass section 33D, and the lower reversing pass unit 35 includes the upper reversing pass section 35U and the lower reversing pass section. It is equipped with 35D. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. In other words, the upper reversing pass unit 33 and the lower reversing pass unit 35 may include three or more reversing path sections. When the reversing path unit 31 is configured with three reversing path sections in the upper stage UF and lower stage DF, that is, the upper stage UF is composed of an upper reversing path section, a center reversing path section, and a lower reversing path section. If the lower DF is composed of an upper inverted path section, a central inverted path section, and a lower inverted path section, preferential use may be performed as follows (second priority rule). For example, in the lower DF, not only the upper inversion path section but also the center inversion path section is closer to the boundary between the upper UF and the lower DF than the lower inversion path section, so the center inversion path section may also be used preferentially. In other words, since the central inversion path section is next to the upper inversion path section and closer to the boundary between the upper stage UF and lower stage DF than the lower inversion path section, they are used in order of proximity.

Furthermore, when using the central reversing path section preferentially, the indexer robot TID receives the substrates W with priority given to the shelf near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF, with reference to the rotation axis P4 in the central reversing path section. Make sure to pass it on. Therefore, even if the one closest to the boundary cannot be used among the upper inversion path section, center inversion path section, and bottom inversion path section, the shelves located as close as possible to the boundaries of the upper and lower tiers should be used preferentially. become. As a result, the vertical movement distance of one indexer robot can be reliably shortened.

(3) In the embodiment described above, the hand 21 of one indexer robot TID is located at the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF in the standby state, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the hand 21 may be placed on standby at a position close to the lower DF of the upper UF or a position close to the upper UF of the lower DF, instead of at the boundary.

(4) In the embodiment described above, the substrate W processed by the center robot CR2 in the processing block 7 was preferentially delivered to the lower reversal path portion 35U near the boundary between the upper stage UF and the lower stage DF. However, for example, a lower inversion path portion 33D close to the boundary between the upper UF and the lower DF may be used. Further, the present invention does not require this configuration, and only the indexer robot TID may preferentially use the reversal path section as described above.

As described above, the present invention is suitable for a substrate processing apparatus that performs cleaning processes such as front surface cleaning and back surface cleaning.

1... Substrate processing device 3... Indexer block 5... Reversing pass block 7... Processing block 9... Transfer block 11... Utility block W... Substrate SS... Front side cleaning unit SSR... Back side cleaning unit 13... Carrier mounting section TID... Indexer robot C ... Carrier 15 ... Guide rail 17 ... Base part 17a ... Base part main body 17b ... Fixed arm SP ... Space 19 ... Multi-joint arm 19a ... First arm 19b ... Second arm 19c ... Third arm P1 to P3 ... Rotation axis 21...Hand 21a to 21d...Hand body VL...Virtual line 25...Placement frame 27...Placement suspension frame 29...Suspension frame 31...Reversing pass unit 33...Upper stage reversing pass unit 35...Lower stage reversing pass unit 37, 39...Fixed Tools 41...Guide part 43...Rotation holding part 45, 47...Shelf 49...Rotating member P4...Rotating shaft UF...Upper stage DF...Lower stage PU...Processing unit PU11-14, PU21-24, PU31-34, PU41-44...Processing Units TW1 to TW4 … Tower units CR1, CR2 … Center robot CTS … Transfer space

Claims (6)

In a substrate processing apparatus that cleans a substrate,
an indexer block comprising a carrier mounting section on which carriers accommodating a plurality of substrates are placed, and one indexer robot that transports substrates between the carriers of the carrier mounting section;
A processing block including a front surface cleaning unit for cleaning the front surface of the substrate and a back surface cleaning unit for cleaning the back surface of the substrate as the processing unit, and each of the upper stage and the lower stage has the processing unit;
A plurality of reversing path sections are disposed in the vertical direction between the indexer block and the processing block, and are provided with a plurality of shelves on which substrates are placed, and have a reversing function for reversing the front and back sides of the substrates. an inverted path block having ;
Equipped with
The processing block includes a center robot at each of the upper stage and the lower stage, which transports the substrate between each of the processing units and the reversing path block,
The reversing path block includes an upper reversing pass unit including a plurality of reversing path sections corresponding to the upper stage, and a lower reversing pass unit including a plurality of reversing path sections corresponding to the lower stage,
The indexer robot is configured to give priority to a plurality of reversing path sections of the upper reversing path unit and a plurality of reversing path sections of the lower reversing path unit, which are closer to the boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage in the vertical direction. , A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that a substrate is transferred to the reversing path section. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the indexer robot transfers substrates to the reversing path section, giving priority to a shelf close to a boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage with reference to a rotation axis in the reversing path section. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The center robot is configured to perform processing on the substrate processed in the processing block by using the upper and lower reversing path sections of the upper reversing path unit and the lower reversing path unit. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that substrates are delivered to the reversal path part with priority given to those near the boundary. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The indexer robot includes a guide rail that stands upright with a fixed position in the horizontal direction, a base that moves up and down along the guide rail, a multi-joint arm disposed on the base, and a multi-joint arm that moves up and down along the guide rail. The arm on the distal end side of the articulated arm is equipped with a hand that supports the board,
The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that, in a standby state before accessing the reversal path block, the hand is located at a boundary between the upper stage and the lower stage. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reversing path block only places the substrate without reversing it when only the surface cleaning unit is used to perform surface cleaning processing of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
When the front side cleaning unit and the back side cleaning unit are used to perform front and back cleaning processing on the front and back sides of the substrate, the reversing pass block is installed before being carried into the back side cleaning unit and before being carried into the front side cleaning unit. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by inverting the substrate twice.

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