JPH04305270A - Rotary device for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the operation for adjusting the discharging position of a nozzle by waiting for the specification as a temporary reference position for a discharging position which is stipulated by a substrate treating procedure at the time of substrate processing, when a mode for adjusting the nozzle position is selected on a main operating panel, and quickly moving the nozzle for discharging a treating liquid from a stand-by position to this specified temporary reference position. CONSTITUTION:When the mode for adjusting the nozzle position is selected on the main operating panel 5, the specification as a temporary reference position for a discharging position which is stipulated by a substrate treating procedure at the time of substrate processing is waited, and the nozzle for discharging the treating liquid is quickly moved from the stand-by position to this specified temporary reference position. Also, the adjustment of the discharging position reached by the nozzle for discharging the treating liquid is performed by the simple prescribed key operation on sub operating panels 31A, 32A, and the discharging position after the adjustment is reflected on the position of the nozzle for discharging the treating liquid at the time of the substrate processing. Consequently, the nozzle moving operation to preliminarily move the nozzle for discharging the treating liquid from the stand-by position to the discharging position and the adjusting operation of the discharging position to be reached by the nozzle are simplified.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention rotates a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass plate for a liquid crystal panel, and supplies the required processing liquid to the substrate to perform rotational processing such as substrate cleaning and thin film formation on the substrate. The present invention relates to a rotary substrate processing apparatus.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art This type of rotary substrate processing apparatus discharges various processing liquids such as photoresist, developer, or ultrapure water onto a substrate taken out from a cassette and performs rotational processing on the substrate. In addition to the rotating equipment that rotates the substrate and the processing liquid discharge nozzle that discharges the processing liquid to the rotating substrate, the substrate processing procedure includes data on processing conditions such as the substrate rotation speed, the type of processing liquid used, and the discharge amount. Equipped with a storage device etc. for storing data.

When the substrate processing procedure stored in the storage device is specified when starting the rotation processing of the substrate, the processing liquid is discharged from the processing liquid discharging nozzle in an amount specified in the substrate processing procedure. It will be done. At this time, the rotating device is driven to rotate the substrate at the rotation speed specified in the substrate processing procedure. In addition, when discharging the processing liquid, a control signal is output to the drive source (motor, cylinder, etc.) in the nozzle driving device that moves the processing liquid discharging nozzle, and the discharging according to the substrate processing procedure is performed from a standby position near the rotating device. The processing liquid discharge nozzle is moved to this position, and then the processing liquid is discharged from this processing liquid discharge nozzle.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Generally, when starting rotation processing on a substrate in a rotary substrate processing apparatus, for example, when restarting operation after a long period of stoppage of the rotary substrate processing apparatus, or when starting At the start of routine substrate processing, or when starting substrate processing after a change in processing procedure, etc., the following preliminary nozzle movement operation is performed to actually move the processing liquid discharge nozzle prior to substrate processing. There is.

This preliminary nozzle movement operation involves checking whether the processing liquid discharging nozzle can be moved to the discharging position specified in the substrate processing procedure without any trouble from the beginning of substrate processing, and whether the processing liquid discharging nozzle is in this discharging position. has been made to ensure that it is reached.

When performing this nozzle preliminary movement operation,
First, the operating mode of the rotary substrate processing apparatus is changed from an automatic mode in which controlled equipment such as nozzle moving equipment is automatically driven based on the substrate processing procedure and processing liquid is supplied to the substrate surface.
Switch to manual mode to drive each device individually to check the operation of each device to be controlled. Thereafter, a substrate processing procedure including all processing conditions for driving each device to be controlled is read from the storage device of the substrate processing apparatus and displayed on the display. Then, the processing conditions governing the drive control of the controlled device whose operation is to be confirmed are selected from the displayed substrate processing procedure, and the controlled device whose operation is to be confirmed is driven under the selected processing conditions.

Specifically, the processing conditions necessary for moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle are selected from among the various processing conditions included in the displayed substrate processing procedure, and the nozzle moving equipment is driven under the selected processing conditions. Then, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is moved to the discharge position.

[0008] However, not only does a substrate processing procedure include a wide variety of processing conditions including the discharge position, but also a plurality of substrate processing procedures are usually stored. In order to select the processing conditions related to this, considerable skill with respect to the rotary substrate processing apparatus is required, and the task of selecting the processing conditions is also complicated.

[0009] Furthermore, the following problems have also been pointed out. The quality of the processing liquid thin film formed by discharging the processing liquid onto the substrate surface (uniformity of film thickness, desired film thickness, etc.) depends not only on the processing liquid dispensing amount and substrate rotation speed, but also on the discharging position of the processing liquid. have a significant impact. For example, depending on the processing liquid, good uniformity may not be achieved unless the ejection center is located at a position off the center of the substrate. For this reason, it may be necessary to change the discharge position reached by the treatment liquid discharge nozzle when discharging the treatment liquid. In addition, when designing a rotary substrate processing device, even if the discharge position is designed to be at a desired position, such as the center of the substrate, during assembly, the discharge position may be adjusted to the substrate due to manufacturing errors of individual parts. There may be a slight deviation from the center, or the reproducibility when the processing liquid discharge nozzle moves to the discharge position may deteriorate due to changes in the parts over time.

[0010] When such a situation occurs, various measures as described below are taken in order to change the discharge position when moving the treatment liquid discharge nozzle based on the substrate processing procedure.

[0011] The first method is to change the installation position of the sensor for detecting the standby position where the processing liquid discharge nozzle waits near rotating equipment, or to curve the processing liquid discharge nozzle. The position has been adjusted. Furthermore, as a second measure, the discharge position is adjusted by changing the substrate processing procedure itself that defines the discharge position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle. Specifically, the storage device medium that stores the substrate processing procedure, such as a ROM, is replaced.

However, since the degree of change in the discharge position depends on the desired quality of the substrate, changes in the substrate processing procedure itself such as changing the sensor installation position in the first method, bending the nozzle, or replacing the ROM in the second method are necessary. Changes must be made frequently and are extremely complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and includes a preliminary nozzle movement operation itself performed prior to substrate processing and an adjustment operation of the discharge position reached by the treatment liquid discharge nozzle when discharging the treatment liquid. The purpose is to simplify the process.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object includes: a rotating device for rotating a substrate; a processing liquid discharge nozzle waiting at a standby position near the rotating device; a storage means for storing a substrate processing procedure that defines a position and a discharge position for discharging the processing liquid onto the substrate and a discharge amount of the processing liquid; and a storage unit that extends between the standby position and the discharge position in the stored substrate processing procedure; The apparatus includes a nozzle moving means for moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle, and a control means for controlling the nozzle moving means based on the stored substrate processing procedure, and supplies the processing liquid to the substrate rotated by the rotating device. A rotary substrate processing apparatus for processing the substrate, comprising temporary reference position input means for inputting a discharge position in the substrate processing procedure stored in the storage means as a temporary reference position, and control of the nozzle moving means by the control means. nozzle movement control procedure switching means for switching the procedure from a control procedure based on the substrate processing procedure stored in the storage means to a control procedure for directly moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle from the standby position to the input temporary reference position; , a nozzle re-moving means for driving and controlling the nozzle moving means to again move the processing liquid discharge nozzle that has reached the temporary reference position according to the switched control procedure; Changing the ejection position to the reached position to which the processing liquid ejection nozzle has been moved after being re-moved by the nozzle re-moving means, and storing the changed ejection position in the storage means as a new ejection position prescribed in the substrate processing procedure. The gist thereof is that a discharge position change storage means is provided.

[0015]

[Operation] In the rotary substrate processing apparatus of the present invention having the above structure, the control means controls the nozzle moving means based on the substrate processing procedure to move the processing liquid discharge nozzle from the standby position to the discharge position.

However, the newly provided nozzle movement control procedure switching means changes the control procedure of the nozzle movement means by the control means from the control procedure based on the substrate processing procedure.
This is a control procedure in which the processing liquid discharge nozzle is directly moved from a standby position near the rotating equipment to a temporary reference position input by the temporary reference position input means.

As a result, the preliminary movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle from the standby position to the temporary reference position prior to substrate processing is performed by inputting the temporary reference position from the temporary reference position input means and by using the nozzle movement control procedure switching means. This is performed by switching the control procedure of the nozzle moving means, and the position reached by the processing liquid discharge nozzle can be confirmed.

Furthermore, the nozzle re-moving means drives and controls the nozzle moving means to move the processing liquid discharge nozzle that has reached the temporary reference position again. Then, the ejection position change storage means changes the ejection position that was previously defined in the substrate processing procedure to the final position to which the processing liquid ejection nozzle has been moved after the above-mentioned re-movement, and stores the changed ejection position. and memorize the means.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a preferred embodiment of the rotary substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the outline of the rotary substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment will be briefly explained using FIG. 1, which is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus.

The rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for rotating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, and applying a photoresist or the like onto the surface of the substrate and subjecting it to heat treatment.As shown in FIG. 2 and a substrate processing section 3. In the following description, in order to clearly distinguish between the two, the former substrate supply section 2 will be referred to as the substrate transfer unit 2, and the substrate processing section 3 will be referred to as the process processing unit 3.
It will be called.

The substrate transfer unit 2 takes out the substrates W from the cassettes C1 to C4 storing the substrates W in multiple stages and transfers them to the substrate transfer position P, which is a substrate transfer position, and transfers the substrates W from the substrate transfer position P. Then, the substrate W is stored in any cassette that can accommodate the substrate. The process processing unit 3 includes a plurality of various types of processing equipment, including a rotational processing equipment that supplies the required processing liquid to the substrate and performs the rotational processing, as will be described later, and processes the substrate by driving each of these processing equipment, etc. do.

Next, each of the above units will be explained. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer unit 2 has two cassettes C1 and C2 storing substrates W in multiple stages and two cassettes C3 and C4 not storing substrates on the upper surface of the cassette installation stand 4.
Equipped with Further, a substrate transfer device 6 for taking out a substrate W from each cassette and supplying it to the process processing unit 3, and storing the substrate W in each cassette is located along the arrow D in the figure along the line of cassettes C1 to C4. It can be moved horizontally in any direction.

A main operation panel 5 is built into the front of the cassette installation stand 4 for giving various instructions to the substrate transfer unit 2 and the process processing unit 3, which will be described later. The main operation panel 5 includes a keyboard 5a (see FIG. 4) for making various settings and inputting numerical values, and a display 5b (see FIG. 4) for displaying various screens based on instructions from the keyboard 5a. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer device 6 includes a substrate suction arm 7 that sucks and adsorbs the substrate W on its lower surface.
It is movable up and down along the direction in which the substrates W are stacked in the cassette, and the arrow E in the figure extends between the standby position in front of the cassette and the take-out position shown in the cassette.
It is equipped to be able to move forward and backward in the direction.

For this purpose, the substrate transfer device 6 is moved horizontally in the direction of arrow D in the figure to the front of the desired cassette, and
After that, the substrate suction arm 7 rises to a height corresponding to the substrate storage groove of the desired stage in the cassette, the substrate suction arm 7 enters into the cassette, the substrate suction arm 7 rises slightly again, and the substrate suction arm 7 rises again. Retract, substrate suction arm 7
By sequentially lowering the substrates W, the removal of the substrates W from the cassette is completed. Also, by reversing this procedure, remove the substrate suction arm 7.
By moving the substrate W, storage of the substrate W into the cassette is completed.

In this way, the substrate taken out from the cassette is transferred to the substrate transfer position P by the substrate transfer device 6, and then transferred to the substrate transfer device 37 attached to the process processing unit 3, which will be described later. It is sequentially conveyed to a spin coating device and processed. Further, the processed substrate that has been processed is returned to the substrate transfer position P by the substrate transfer device 37, and then stored in a predetermined cassette by the substrate transfer device 6.

The substrate transfer device 6 has the substrate suction arm 7
In addition, in order to horizontally support the substrate W taken out from the cassette by the substrate suction arm 7, three support pins (not shown) are provided on the base 9 so as to be movable up and down. In addition, in order to align the center of the substrate W supported by each of these support pins, a position is provided with four guide pins protruding from each other in an arrangement that has approximately the same curvature as the outer diameter of the substrate W. A mating plate 10 is provided on both sides of the base 9 so as to be horizontally reciprocatable. Therefore, when each alignment plate 10 is horizontally reciprocated with the substrate W supported by each support pin raised from the base 9, each guide pin comes into contact with and separates from the outer periphery of the substrate W, so that the substrate The center alignment of W is completed.

Further, on the top surface of the cassette installation stand 4, there is a cassette for inputting information such as the procedure number numeric code necessary to identify the cassette containing the substrate to be processed, the substrate processing procedure, and the processing order for each cassette. A cassette control panel 18 (see FIG. 4) is provided. Further, a substrate detection optical sensor 24 (see FIG. 4) is provided to detect the presence or absence of a substrate W housed in each cassette. This optical sensor 24 is connected to the optical sensor elevating mechanism 2
5 (see FIG. 4), the presence or absence of substrates in the cassette is detected all at once in correspondence with the number of stages of substrate storage grooves in the cassette. Note that the correspondence with the number of stages of the substrate storage grooves is performed using pulses generated by the timing detection sensor 42 (see FIG. 4) based on the movement state of the slits having the same pitch as the substrate storage grooves of the cassette.

The process processing unit 3 that receives the substrate from the above-mentioned substrate transfer unit 2 and processes it is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, there are spin coating devices 31 and 32 that drop a processing liquid (chemical solution) onto the surface of a rotating substrate to form a thin film, and heat treatment that heats (heats and cools) the substrate before and after processing with the spin coating device. It includes devices 33, 34, and 35. Furthermore,
Each spin coating device 31, 32 and heat treatment device 33, 34,
35 and a substrate transport device 37 that is horizontally movable in the direction of arrow A in the figure. Note that, as shown in the figure, each heat treatment device includes a heating heat treatment device in the upper stage and a cooling heat treatment device in the lower stage.

The rotary coating devices 31 and 32 are movable up and down in the direction of arrow F in the figure from a standby position in which nozzle mechanisms 41 and 42 having three treatment liquid discharge nozzles are shown, and extend across the center of the rotary coating device. It is provided so as to be able to freely turn in the direction of arrow G in the figure. Then, the nozzle mechanisms 41 and 42 are moved from the illustrated standby position to a predetermined ejection position, as will be described later.
The treatment liquid is discharged from one of the treatment liquid discharge nozzles at the discharge position. Further, each of the rotary coating devices 31 and 32 displays various push buttons, which will be described later, for specifying the processing liquid discharge amount, processing liquid type, substrate rotation speed, etc., and various character strings, numerical values, etc. on the front thereof. Sub-operation panel 31A with display etc.
, 32A.

[0031] This sub-operation panel is normally housed within the main body of the process processing unit 3. In addition, by operating the main operation panel 5, the control of the spin coating equipment is changed from a substrate processing mode based on a predetermined substrate processing procedure to a maintenance mode in which the nozzle position etc. are checked in advance before starting substrate processing. By being instructed, the state becomes ready for input.

Next, the structure around the nozzle tips of the nozzle mechanisms 41 and 42 in the spin coating devices 31 and 32 will be explained using FIG. 2. Note that since both of these rotary coating devices have substantially the same configuration, the description will be limited to the rotary coating device 31. As shown in FIG. 2, a rotating body 44 holds the mounted substrate W by suction and rotates it by a motor 43.
A chamber 45 is provided around the substrate W so as to surround the substrate W. The bottom of the chamber 45 is connected to an exhaust pipe 46 for forcibly exhausting the air inside the chamber 45, and an exhaust pipe 47 for discharging excess processing liquid or used processing liquid accumulated at the bottom of the chamber 45. Note that a rotation speed sensor 4 is provided at the bottom of the motor 43 to detect the rotation speed of the motor 43.
3a is provided, and its detected rotational speed is output to a spin coating equipment controller 31B, which will be described later.

Further, a processing liquid recovery box 49 is provided below the discharge pipe 47 from which a storage container 48 for storing the processed processing liquid can be freely taken out, and the discharged processing liquid 50 flowing out from the discharge pipe 47 is collected into the storage container 48. to be stored. A processing liquid vapor exhaust pipe 51 is provided in the processing liquid recovery box 49 to exhaust processing liquid vapor from the surface of the discharged processing liquid 50 stored in the storage container 48 .

The processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 of the nozzle mechanism 41 is connected to the rotating body 4 by a nozzle driving device 40 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) consisting of an air cylinder, a rotating motor, etc., which will be described later.
It rises in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 2 from the standby position on the fourth side, turns in the direction of arrow G in the figure until it reaches above a predetermined discharge position, and then descends to the discharge position near the substrate surface. Then, due to the operation of the switching valve 53 that switches the processing liquid supplied to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 and the opening/closing valve 54 (see FIG. 5) that controls the opening and closing of the pipeline, the processing liquid is supplied to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 in a different manner. Different types of processing liquids are alternately supplied, and the substrate W
The processing liquid is discharged. Note that when the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 is located at the standby position, the processing liquid vapor rising inside the processing liquid vapor exhaust pipe 51 wets the nozzle tip, so that the processing liquid may deteriorate or the processing liquid may deteriorate at the nozzle tip. No solidification occurs. In addition, a processing liquid vapor exhaust pipe 51 and a switching valve 5
3 is provided for each treatment liquid discharge nozzle.

Next, the movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 by the nozzle driving device 40 will be explained using FIG. 3. The nozzle mechanism 41, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3,
Three treatment liquid discharge nozzles are provided: a treatment liquid discharge nozzle 52a on the left side as viewed in FIG. 3, a treatment liquid discharge nozzle 52b on the right side as viewed in FIG. 3, and a treatment liquid discharge nozzle 52c in the center. Each of these processing liquid discharge nozzles is assembled into a nozzle arm 55 that includes an on-off valve 54 for each nozzle. In addition, at the rotation center position of the nozzle arm 55,
Each processing liquid discharge nozzle along with the nozzle arm 55 is connected to arrow G in the figure.
a turning motor 56 (pulse motor) for turning in the direction;
An air cylinder 57 is provided for raising and lowering the rotation motor 56 together with the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle arm 55 in the front and back directions in the paper of FIG. 3 (in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 2). In other words, this swing motor 56 and air cylinder 57
These constitute the nozzle drive device 40 described above.

Accordingly, each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 52a to 52c repeats, in this order, rising in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 2, turning in the direction of arrow G in the drawing, and descending from the turning end position. They each move from a standby position H0 on the side of the rotating body 44 to a discharge position near the substrate surface. Also,
By moving in the reverse order, it returns to the standby position H0.

This discharge position is determined by each treatment liquid discharge nozzle 52.
Two types are prepared for each of a to 52c. Specifically, regarding the processing liquid discharge nozzles 52a and 52c,
As shown in the figure, a discharge position H1 (center discharge position) at the center of the substrate W and a discharge position H2 near the end of the substrate W at the end of rotation.
(end discharge position), and for the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52b, a central discharge position H1 and an end discharge position H3 from the standby position H0 are prepared. Note that the discharge position of each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles is defined by the substrate processing procedure as described later. Further, the respective end discharge positions H2 and H3 are determined according to the diameter of the substrate W to be processed.

[0038] These spin coating equipment and heat treatment equipment are as follows:
It is equipped with a separate controller (to be described later) that receives processing conditions (rotation speed, temperature, type of processing liquid used, discharge amount, nozzle position, etc.) in a substrate processing procedure from a main controller 60 (described later), a rotation speed sensor, a temperature sensor, etc. . Then, each spin coating device and heat treatment device is feedback-controlled by the controller attached to each processing device based on the detection signals of these sensors and the control command value (processing condition) in the loaded substrate processing procedure, which will be described later. There is.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transport device 37 includes:
A head 39 that can freely rotate in the direction of arrow B in the figure is provided on the upper surface of a stage 38 that is horizontally movable in the direction of arrow A in the figure by a drive system (not shown). It is composed of two stages, upper and lower. Further, each substrate support arm 37a, 37b is configured to be able to move in and out from the head 39.

The process processing unit 3 configured as described above controls the drive of the substrate transfer device 37 based on the transfer process in a predetermined substrate processing procedure, and moves the substrate transfer device 37 from the substrate transfer position P in the substrate transfer unit 2, such as the above-mentioned spin coating device. The substrates are sequentially transported to the necessary processing equipment among the plurality of processing equipment. Then, the substrate is processed by the spin coating equipment, etc. to which the substrate was transported, based on the processing conditions of the substrate processing procedure, and the processed substrate, which has been processed in each processing equipment, is returned to the substrate transfer position P. do.

Next, the control system in the above-mentioned rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 will be explained using the block diagrams shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This control system in this embodiment includes a main controller 60 that centrally controls the entire rotary substrate processing apparatus 1, and a substrate transfer unit controller 7 that controls the substrate transfer unit 2 as a sub-controller.
0, and a substrate transport equipment controller 37 that is a controller for each processing equipment that constitutes the process processing unit 3.
A and a spin coating device controller 3 for each spin coating device
1B, 32B, and heat treatment equipment controllers 33A, 34A, 35A for each heat treatment equipment.

The main controller 60 is configured as a logic operation circuit mainly including a well-known CPU 61 that executes logic operations, a ROM 62 that pre-stores various programs for controlling the CPU, and a RAM 63 that temporarily stores various data. It has a built-in storage disk 64 that can write and hold data at any time and stores a large amount of data in advance, which will be described later.

[0043] This main controller 60 is
An input/output port 66 interconnected with the CPU, etc. via a common bus 65 allows input/output with the outside, e.g.
Data is transferred between the main operation panel 5 described above, the substrate transfer unit controller 70, the substrate transfer equipment controller 37A, each controller 31B for each processing equipment, and the like.

The substrate transfer unit controller 70 is connected not only to the optical sensor 24 and the timing detection sensor 42, but also to the substrate transfer device 6, the cassette control panel 18, the optical sensor lifting mechanism 25, and the like. Then, signals from these sensors and the cassette control panel 18 as well as arithmetic operation data obtained by the controller are output to the main controller 60. The cassette control panel 18, optical sensor 24, timing detection sensor 42, optical sensor lifting mechanism 25, etc. are mounted on the cassette installation stand 4.
Each of the four cassettes C1 to C4 is provided on the upper surface of the cassette, and each is connected to the board transfer unit controller 70.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spin coating device controller 31B attached to the spin coating device 31 includes a well-known CPU 31B1, ROM,
31B2, RAM 31B3, etc. as a logic operation circuit. And input/output port 31B6
includes the main controller 60 and motor 43 described above.
, rotation speed sensor 43a, nozzle drive device 40, sub-operation panel 31A, switching valve 53 (5) for each processing liquid discharge nozzle.
3a, 53b, 53c), on/off valve 54 (54a, 5
4b, 54c), a processing liquid pressure pump 58 (58
a, 58b, 58c) are connected. Note that the spin coating device controller 32B attached to the spin coating device 32,
Heat treatment equipment controllers 33A and 34A attached to the heat treatment section
, 35A have the same configuration, so the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, a substrate processing procedure for driving and controlling each of the above-mentioned processing equipment will be explained. There are multiple types of substrate processing procedures, and as shown in FIG. It is written and stored on the disk 64.

To explain in more detail, as shown in FIG. 6, for each procedure number numerical code, for each necessary processing step, the process symbol representing the process in each process step, and the processing equipment that performs the process. , and processing conditions in that process are written.

In other words, the symbols in the column of process symbols for each processing step correspond to the respective process names, with the process code AD being the heating process before applying the treatment liquid, AC being the cooling process before applying the treatment liquid, and SC being the cooling process before applying the treatment liquid. SB represents a treatment liquid application step, and SB represents a heating step after application of the treatment liquid. Also, when multiple processing devices (processing devices 1, 2, etc.) are written in the same processing step (heating heat processing devices 33a, 34a of processing step 1 in procedure number numerical code 01)
indicates that processing can be performed with any processing device. However, the smaller the numerical value of the processing device, the more preferentially it will be used. For example, in the case of the procedure number numerical code 01, the heating heat treatment equipment 33a in the processing equipment 1 column is used with priority, and if the heating heat treatment equipment 33a is currently being processed and cannot be used, the processing equipment 2 The heating heat treatment equipment 34a in the column is used.

Processing steps other than processing step 3 are heat treatment steps before and after applying the processing liquid, as indicated by the process symbols AD, AC, SB, etc., and as described in the processing conditions column, the corresponding processing equipment is used. It includes numerical data representing control command values such as processing temperature and processing time when controlling the process.

Processing step 3 of each processing step is as follows:
As can be seen from the process symbol SC, this is a processing liquid application process using a rotary processing device, and since the processing liquid application is repeated, the processing step is further divided into the first step part, second step part, etc. It has separate data.

In other words, in processing step 3, which is a processing liquid application process, the processing liquid (chemical solution) is applied while rotating the substrate, so it is necessary to specify the plurality of types of processing liquids to be used, the processing rotation speed,
Rotational acceleration, processing liquid discharge time (discharge amount), substrate size (
The process is executed based on a number of processing conditions (control command values) such as diameter), discharge position, and distinction of the processing liquid discharge nozzle used, and rotation processing using different processing liquids is repeatedly performed. For this reason, there is much more condition data than in other processes, and by providing the data structure as described below, it is possible to store several types of process condition data. Note that the substrate size is initially set to, for example, 3 inches, 5 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, etc., depending on the substrate to be processed when the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rotational speed a1 to ai, the process time, and the processing liquid to be discharged are determined for each step from the first step to the i-th step (shown in the leftmost column of the figure) in processing step 3. Chemical data for specifying the type of (chemical solution) and data indicating processing conditions such as nozzle position data for specifying the processing liquid discharge nozzle and discharge position are stored for each substrate processing procedure.

[0053] The numerical values of processes 1 to 4 in the process time column (b1, c1, d1, e1
etc.) specify the time required to execute the corresponding first to i-th steps and processing liquid discharge time (discharge amount), etc., and C1 to C8 in the chemical data column specify the processing liquid (chemical liquid) that can be used. ). Further, the nozzle and discharge position in the nozzle position data column defines the processing liquid discharge nozzle to be used and its discharge position. Furthermore, C1 to C8 in the chemical data column
Numerical values such as 16, 15, 10, etc. written in are symbols (codes) that identify the processing liquid, and 52a, H1 written in the nozzle and discharge position in the nozzle position data column.
etc. represent the treatment liquid discharge nozzle and treatment liquid discharge position (see FIG. 3) used, respectively. Further, the value 0 in each column means that the processing liquid and the processing liquid discharge nozzle are not used and are not specified.

[0054] Regarding the nozzle position data, the data structure is based on the assumption that a required processing liquid is alternately discharged from a plurality of processing liquid discharge nozzles (two types in this embodiment). For example, in the first step portion, processing liquid discharge nozzles 52c and 52a are used. In this case, the distinction and ejection order of the processing liquids (processing liquids defined by numerical values such as 16, 15, 10, etc.) ejected from each nozzle are specified in the substrate processing procedure shown in FIG.

Therefore, based on such data, in the first step, the substrate is rotated at the rotation speed a1, and treatment liquids with chemical liquid symbols 16, 15, 10, etc. are discharged onto this substrate, and in the second step, , the substrate is rotated at a rotational speed a2, and processing is performed using only the processing liquid with chemical symbol 3. In other words, based on these conditions, chemical liquid symbol 16
, 15, 10, etc., the selection of the nozzle for discharging the same, the discharge amount, etc. are determined, and the processing liquid is pumped and supplied to each processing liquid discharge nozzle, and the selected processing liquid is applied to the substrate. It is discharged towards the target. At this time, the processing liquid discharge nozzle used is of course moved to a prescribed discharge position.

[0056] In this manner, the storage disk 64 records a plurality of types of substrate processing procedures including a huge amount of processing condition data. Then, when a certain procedure number numerical code, for example, a numerical code of 00, is specified, the substrate processing procedure at this time is to first start by heating the heat treatment equipment 33a before applying the treatment liquid.
(processing step 1), then cooling processing is performed using the cooling heat treatment equipment 33b (processing step 2), and then processing liquid application processing is performed using the spin coating equipment 32 (processing step 3). ), heat treatment after application of the treatment liquid is performed by the heating heat treatment equipment 35a (processing step 4)
It turns out. Of course, if data is created and stored for processing step 5 and subsequent steps, processing will be performed accordingly.

In addition to the data regarding the plurality of types of substrate processing procedures described above, the storage disk 64 also stores data for each processing liquid discharge position (center discharge position and end discharge position) defined in each substrate treatment procedure. A position correction data map is stored that has six types of ejection position correction amount data as shown in FIG. 8, in which the ejection position correction amounts of and each treatment liquid ejection nozzle are associated with each other. Note that this correction value for correcting the ejection position represents the amount of deviation along the direction of arrow G in FIG. 3 centered on the ejection position of each nozzle, which is the reference defined in the substrate processing procedure described above.

For example, in substrate processing based on the substrate processing procedure (first step section in FIG. 7), the processing liquid discharge nozzle 5
2c to the central discharge position H1, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52c is moved to a position shifted by the discharge position correction amount x3 from the central discharge position H1. During this movement, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 5
The actual rotation pulse of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52c is calculated from the number of pulses corresponding to the rotation angle between the standby position H0 and the central discharge position H1 regarding 2c, and the number of pulses calculated based on the discharge position correction amount x3. The determined number of swing pulses is output to the swing motor 56. Note that the turning angle between the standby position and the discharge position for each treatment liquid discharge nozzle is stored in the ROM of the controller attached to the spin coating device, as will be described later.

Data can be written to the storage disk 64 at the initial stage of operation of the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1, for example, by inputting data from the keyboard 5a of the main operation panel 5, or by using a magnetic tape, flexible disk, etc. This is performed by data transfer via an input/output port 66 from an external storage device 67 (see FIG. 4) that writes and stores data on a storage medium. Further, writing and storing of the position correction data map after movement is performed via data transfer from a controller attached to the spin coating device, as will be described later.

Furthermore, the instruction to select a desired substrate processing procedure from among the plurality of substrate processing procedures stored in this manner is as follows:
This is executed by operating the cassette control panel 18, the keyboard 5a of the main operation panel 5, etc. Note that the above operation for selecting and instructing a desired substrate processing procedure is an operation of inputting a numerical value of a procedure number numerical code.

[0061] When a procedure number numerical code is designated to start substrate processing, the processing conditions for each processing step of the corresponding substrate processing procedure are loaded from the main controller 60 to the controller attached to the corresponding processing equipment. . For example, when a numerical code of 00 is specified, the processing conditions in processing step 1 and processing step 2 are set by the heat processing equipment controller 3 attached to the heat processing equipment 33 having the heating heat processing equipment 33a and the cooling heat processing equipment 33b.
Loaded into 3A. Similarly, the processing conditions in processing step 3 are loaded into the spin coating device controller 31B attached to the spin coating device 31, and the processing conditions in processing step 4 are loaded into the heat treatment device 3 having the heating heat treatment device 35a.
5 is loaded into the attached heat treatment equipment controller 35A. At this time, the processing conditions for each processing step of the substrate processing procedure as well as each data in the position correction data map are simultaneously loaded into the controller attached to each spin coating device.

Each controller 31B, etc., which has received various data loaded in this way, performs substrate processing while performing feedback control on each processing device based on the control command value that is the loaded processing condition and the detection signal from the sensor. Let's do it. To explain the movement control of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle, the controller attached to the rotary coating device moves the treatment liquid discharge nozzle specified by the nozzle position data in the treatment liquid application process (processing step 3) to the discharge specified by the nozzle position data. When moving to the position, the nozzle is moved to a position that is shifted by the ejection position correction amount in the position correction data map from the ejection position defined by the nozzle position data.

On the other hand, the position correction data map is
It can be loaded into the controller attached to the spin coating device each time execution of a maintenance mode, which will be described later, is instructed.

Next, the nozzle position adjustment control (routine) performed by the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment having the above-described configuration will be explained based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10. This nozzle position adjustment control routine is executed every time the maintenance mode is selected by operating the mode changeover switch on the main operation panel 5.
, 32 attached to the spin coating equipment controller.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 9 shows the first half of the nozzle position adjustment control routine. First, when this maintenance mode is selected, preliminary processing is performed before starting substrate processing among various maintenance modes. Whether or not a nozzle position adjustment mode in which the liquid discharge nozzle is moved to the discharge position and the reached position (discharge position) is adjusted is selected is determined by whether or not a predetermined operation is performed on the main operation panel 5 (step 100 , hereinafter, step is simply written as S). For example, the above judgment is made depending on whether a predetermined value has been input, and if a maintenance mode other than the nozzle position adjustment mode is selected, the selected maintenance process is executed and the process moves to S250 (described later). ). On the other hand, when the nozzle position adjustment mode is selected, the movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52 is as follows.
That is, the nozzle movement procedure is switched from a control procedure based on a substrate processing procedure for performing substrate processing as described later.

In the main routine (not shown), after the power is turned on, the main controller 60 controls various maintenance-related previous control parameters (the position correction data map in FIG. 8 and the board rotational speed in maintenance modes other than the nozzle position adjustment mode). etc.) is loaded into the controller attached to each processing device such as spin coating device involved in maintenance mode. Then, the controller that receives this sends the control parameters such as the position correction data map to RA before executing various maintenance modes.
It is stored in a predetermined area of M.

When the nozzle position adjustment mode is selected in S100, a model board having so-called marking lines at three types of discharge positions (center discharge position H1 and end discharge positions H2, H3) is set on the rotating body 44. It is determined based on the output state of the board presence signal or the board absence signal based on the operator's operation of a predetermined key on the sub-operation panel (S110).

Then, if it is determined that the board is present, S1 described later
40. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no board, it is determined whether or not the board set key on the sub-operation panel has been operated to output a control signal for setting the model board to the rotating body 44 to the main controller 60 (S120), and if the key has been operated. wait until it is done. Here, if the board set key is operated, the above control signal is output to the main controller 60, and the board transport equipment 37 is driven via the board transport equipment controller 37A to rotate the model board at the board transfer position P. set on the body 44 (S130). Note that if it is determined in S110 that there is no board, a character string such as "Please press the board set key" is displayed on the display (not shown) of the sub operation panel in order to prompt the user to operate the board set key on the sub operation panel. .

After setting the model substrate in this way, or after determining that the model substrate has already been set in S110, the processing liquid discharge nozzle to be adjusted and the tentative arrival position for that nozzle are set. It is determined whether a certain temporary reference position has been designated based on whether or not a predetermined key on the sub-operation panel has been operated (S140). Then, the process waits until the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the temporary reference position to which the nozzle is to be moved are specified.

Here, if the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is designated and the central discharge position H1 is designated as the temporary reference position to which this nozzle is moved, the following processing is performed. In other words, the RO in the controller attached to the spin coating equipment
A discharge position data map as shown in FIG. 11 stored in advance in M and a position correction data map previously loaded from the main controller 60 and stored in the RAM are read, and the center discharge position H1 is set in the position correction data map. The rotation end position corrected by the discharge position correction amount x1 is calculated (S150). More specifically, the turning angle from the standby position H0 to the turning end position is calculated.

This discharge position data map is based on the standby position H.
0 to each discharge position (center discharge position H1 and end discharge positions H2, H3), the data corresponds to the rotation angle of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle and the treatment liquid discharge nozzle and the discharge position, and is set for each substrate size. Provided. When reading the ejection position data map, the ejection position data map for a substrate of a substrate size specified in the initial setting, for example, 3 inches, is to be read.

After reading the above data and calculating the rotation end position, it is determined whether or not to move the nozzle.
The process waits until a predetermined key that outputs a control signal to that effect, such as a start key, is pressed (S160). If this predetermined key operation is performed, the process moves to S170 shown in FIG. 10, which represents the second half of the nozzle position adjustment control routine, and S
The processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a specified in S140 is
The robot is moved from the standby position H0 to the turning end position determined in (S170).

Specifically, a control signal is output to the swing motor 56 and the air cylinder 57 that constitute the nozzle driving device 40, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is moved as follows. That is, first, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a and the nozzle arm 55 are raised from the standby position H0 shown in FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 2 via the air cylinder 57. Thereafter, the number of pulses sufficient to rotate the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a from the stop position above the standby position H0 to the rotation end position is calculated, and the calculated number of pulses is output to the rotation motor 56, which is a pulse motor. The processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is rotated from the above-mentioned stop position to the rotation end position along the direction of arrow G in FIG. Then, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is lowered to the vicinity of the substrate surface via the air cylinder 57 while remaining at the end position of the rotation.

When the movement of the specified nozzle to the specified discharge position, that is, the rotation end position, is completed, a signal is sent from a position sensor (not shown) that converts the number of pulses output to the rotation motor 56 into position display data. Based on this, the end position of the rotation is displayed on the display of the sub-operation panel (
S180). After that, the relevant turning end position (temporary reference position)
It is determined whether adjustment is necessary (S190).

The necessity of this determination is determined by whether a predetermined key (return key) on the sub-operation panel is pressed while the position is displayed in S180, or a predetermined key other than the key (temporary reference position adjustment amount input) is pressed. key) is pressed or not. Here, if the return key is pressed, it is determined that the specified temporary reference position does not require adjustment, and the process moves to S240, which will be described later. If the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key is pressed, the temporary It is determined that the reference position needs to be adjusted, and the process moves to the next step (S200). The temporary reference position adjustment amount input key is used in conjunction with the + or - key to change the rotation end position (arrival position) of the specified processing liquid discharge nozzle to the temporary reference position (center discharge position H1) specified in S140. ) on both sides.

Further, when the operator presses the return key or the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key, the discharge position of the specified processing liquid discharge nozzle displayed on the display of the sub-operation panel and the discharge position set on the rotating body 44 are determined. Of course, this is done based on the degree of deviation of the nozzle tip from the marking line on the model board.

If it is determined in S190 that the discharge position needs to be adjusted based on the pressing operation of the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key, the processing liquid is moved from the rotation end position to the adjusted discharge position after the operation of the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key. The number of pulses sufficient to rotate the discharge nozzle 52a (the number of pulses corresponding to the adjustment amount newly instructed by pressing the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key) is calculated, and the pulse motor is used to generate the calculated number of pulses. Output to the swing motor 56. In this way, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is rotated from the rotation end position to the adjusted temporary reference position (adjusted central discharge position) along the direction of arrow G in FIG. 3 (S200).

Thereafter, the adjusted temporary reference position reached by the processing liquid discharge nozzle after turning in S200 is displayed on the display of the sub-operation panel along with the amount of deviation from the designated center discharge position H1 (S210); Whether or not the above adjustment of the temporary reference position is to be performed again is determined based on whether a predetermined key (readjustment necessity determination key) on the sub-operation panel is pressed (S220). Here, if the readjustment necessity determination key determines that the discharge position needs to be readjusted,
The process moves to S190 described above, and the adjustment of the ejection position with respect to the temporary reference position specified in S140 is continued.

On the other hand, if the readjustment necessity determination key determines that readjustment of the discharge position is not necessary, the adjusted discharge position after the adjustment is completed and the provisional reference position (center discharge position H1) specified in S140. The deviation is stored as a new ejection position correction amount x11 for the processing liquid ejection nozzle 52a specified in S140 in place of the previous ejection position correction amount x1 in the position correction data map (S230). For this reason,
After this, move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a to the center discharge position H.
1, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a is
The central ejection position H1 is moved to the ejection position corrected by the ejection position correction amount x11. Note that this deviation is +
It corresponds to the sum of the adjustment amount newly instructed to be adjusted by pressing the temporary reference position adjustment amount input key in conjunction with the - key operation and the previous ejection position correction amount in the position correction data map read in S150.

[0080] If the return key is pressed in S190 and it is determined that adjustment of the turning end position (temporary reference position) is not necessary, the above adjustment process and provisional reference position correction amount update storage are performed. Since this is not performed, the ejection position correction amount in the previous position correction data map that has already been stored is held without being changed.

[0081] In this way, after updating and storing the new temporary reference position correction amount in S230, or after determining that adjustment of the temporary reference position is unnecessary in S190, the next discharge position adjustment is required. Determine whether or not. For example, for the processing liquid discharge nozzle 52a for which the temporary reference position has already been adjusted for the center discharge position, the discharge position of the end discharge position is adjusted, or for the other treatment liquid discharge nozzles 52b and 52c, the respective discharge positions are adjusted. It is determined whether or not (S240). This judgment is made based on whether a predetermined key (end key) on the sub-operation panel that outputs a control signal to end the discharge position adjustment is pressed. If the end key is pressed, the process moves to S250. . If the end key is not pressed, the process moves to S140, where the processing liquid ejection nozzle to be adjusted and the ejection position are specified, and the above processes are repeated. In other words, each discharge position of each nozzle is continuously adjusted.

When it is determined in S240 that the discharge position adjustment for each discharge position of all processing liquid discharge nozzles is completed based on the pressing operation of the end key, the processing liquid discharge nozzles are moved to the discharge position prior to substrate processing. Control parameters (processing liquid discharge time,
board rotation speed, etc.) to the main controller 60 (S
250), this routine ends. Note that the main controller 60 stores various control parameters including the position correction data map outputted in S250 each time, and controls the controllers attached to each processing equipment such as the spin coating equipment involved in the maintenance mode. In addition, it is reloaded each time maintenance mode is executed. Further, in response to the pressing operation of the end key, the processing liquid discharging nozzle is raised, rotated, and lowered to return the processing liquid discharging nozzle from the discharging position to the standby position.

As explained above, in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment, when the nozzle position adjustment mode is selected from among the various maintenance modes by the main operation panel 5, the substrate processing By setting the discharge position specified by the procedure as a temporary reference position and quickly moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle to that position, and moving the treatment liquid discharge nozzle to that movement position (temporary reference position), the substrate processing procedure is specified. With the position data, it is possible to check whether the processing liquid discharge nozzle can be moved to the intended position.

As a result, the processing liquid discharging nozzle can be moved as described above simply by inputting from the sub-operation panel the temporary reference position of the discharging position for discharging the processing liquid during substrate processing. Preliminary nozzle moving operations are simplified and facilitated.

Further, the temporary reference position adjustment after performing this preliminary nozzle movement operation can be carried out by simply operating a switch such as a predetermined key or button on the sub-operation panel. Since this can be reflected in the discharge position of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle during processing, this adjustment work performed in response to requirements such as substrate quality is also simplified.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the processing liquid discharging nozzle that is the target of the nozzle movement operation is specified, so that a plurality of processing liquid discharging nozzles can be used as in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment. It can also be easily applied to devices that have

Moreover, the operations necessary for preliminary nozzle movement can be performed using the sub-operation panels 31A, 3, which are independent from the main operation panel 5.
It is simpler because it can be done with only 2A.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment in any way, and can be implemented in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course. For example, in the above embodiment, the ejection position is corrected using the reference ejection positions (center ejection position H1 and end ejection positions H2, H3) and ejection position correction amounts (x1, x2, x3, etc.) to correct the reference ejection positions. Although the configuration is such that the amount is updated and stored each time the ejection position is adjusted, it is also possible to update and store the ejection position itself each time without distinguishing in this way.

[0089]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the rotary substrate processing apparatus of the present invention can process substrates by simply inputting the ejection position specified by the substrate processing procedure as a temporary reference position. The liquid discharge nozzle is quickly moved from the standby position to this temporary reference position, and the movement position can be confirmed. In other words, according to the rotary substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, preliminary nozzle movement prior to substrate processing, which was conventionally complicated, can be completed by simply inputting conditions, and the operation is simplified and easy. becomes.

Further, the temporary reference position adjustment after performing this preliminary nozzle movement operation can be performed by a simple predetermined key operation, and the adjusted temporary reference position can be adjusted to the discharge position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle during substrate processing. This adjustment work, which is performed due to requirements such as board quality, is also simplified.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a rotary substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the vicinity of the tip of a processing liquid discharge nozzle in the spin coating device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of a treatment liquid discharge nozzle in the spin coating device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system centered on a main controller 60 in the rotary substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system centered on a spin coating device controller in the spin coating device of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a substrate processing procedure when rotating a substrate in the process processing unit 3;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining details of processing step 3 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the correspondence between the discharge position correction amount for each treatment liquid discharge position defined in the substrate processing procedure and each treatment liquid discharge nozzle.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the first half of a nozzle position adjustment control routine performed by the spin coating device controller in the spin coating device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the second half of a nozzle position adjustment control routine.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a nozzle position adjustment control routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Rotary substrate processing device 2 Substrate transfer unit 3 Process processing unit 5 Main operation panel 31 Spin coating device 31A Sub operation panel 31B Spin coating device controller 32 Spin coating device 32A Sub operation panel 32B Spin coating device controller 40 Nozzle drive device 41 Nozzle Mechanism 43 Motor 44 Rotating body 52 (52a, 52b, 52c) Processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 Main controller C1, C2, C3, C4 Cassette W Substrate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating device that rotates a substrate, a processing liquid discharging nozzle waiting at a standby position near the rotating device, and a discharging position and a processing liquid discharging amount at which the processing liquid is discharged to the standby position and the substrate. storage means for storing a prescribed substrate processing procedure; nozzle moving means for moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle between the standby position and the discharge position in the stored substrate processing procedure; and the stored substrate processing procedure. and a control means for controlling the nozzle moving means based on the
A rotary substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate rotated by the rotating device to process the substrate, and a temporary reference position in which a discharge position in a substrate processing procedure stored in the storage means is input as a temporary reference position. A control procedure for the nozzle moving means by the input means and the control means is determined based on a control procedure based on the substrate processing procedure stored in the storage means, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle is moved from the standby position to the input temporary reference position. a nozzle movement control procedure switching means for switching to a control procedure for direct movement; and a processing liquid discharge nozzle that has reached the temporary reference position by the switched control procedure;
A nozzle re-moving means that drives and controls the nozzle moving means to move the nozzle again; and a nozzle re-moving means that controls the drive of the nozzle moving means to move the nozzle again. and a discharge position change storage means for storing the changed discharge position in the storage means as a new discharge position defined by the substrate processing procedure.