JPH04305914A - Substrate carrying method in photoresist processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the degree of freedom in the arrangement of a processing equipment by simplifying the control of a carrying robot for carrying a substrate. CONSTITUTION:Carrying processes successively carrying substrates in the ascending order of numeric values are prepared including equipments (fourteen kinds), which must carry the substrates, at the sixteen positions of IND, HP1, CP1, SC1, HP2, CP2, IFA, EEW, IFB, HP3, CP3, SC2, HP4, CP4, IFA and IND as carrying processes. When the substrates are carried according to the carrying processes, the substrates carried and passed through each treating equipment in a pre-stage module M1 are not only passed simply in a post-module M2 but also edge-exposed by the edge exposure treating equipment EEW in the post-stage module M2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to substrate transportation in a photoresist processing apparatus that performs different photoresist processing steps and various accompanying steps before and after an external step performed by external equipment. Regarding the method.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of photoresist processing apparatus has, for example, resist coating equipment and heat treatment equipment used before an external process such as an exposure process, as well as processing equipment used in various processes associated therewith. One module is configured by arranging them together, and another module is configured by arranging development processing equipment and heat treatment equipment used after the external process, and each processing equipment used in various processes associated therewith. There is.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the front module M1 includes a resist coating device SC1, heat treatment devices HP1 and HP2 for performing heat treatment before and after the resist coating device SC1.
It includes cooling processing equipment CP1 and CP2 for performing cooling processing, and a developing processing equipment SC2 as a subsequent module M2.
And heat treatment equipment HP to perform heat treatment before and after this
3. HP4 and cooling processing equipment CP for performing cooling processing
3, CP4.

[0004] Also, a substrate storage unit IND that delivers the substrate to the front module M1 or stores the substrate received from the front module M1 in a cassette (not shown);
It includes an intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA that transfers substrates between the front module M1 and the rear module M2, and a terminal substrate transfer unit IFB that transfers substrates between the rear module M2 and the exposure processing equipment EP. Each of the above modules includes a transfer robot R1 for transferring substrates between each processing device in the front module M1 and transferring substrates to and from the substrate storage unit IND and the intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA, and a transfer robot R1 for transferring substrates between each processing device in the front module M1, and a transfer robot R1 for transferring substrates between each processing device in the front module M1 and transferring substrates to and from the substrate storage unit IND and the intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA, and each module in the rear module M2. Substrate transport between processing equipment and intermediate substrate transfer unit IF
A and a transfer robot R2 for transferring substrates to and from the terminal substrate transfer unit IFB.

[0005] When performing a predetermined process on a substrate using the photoresist processing apparatus having the above structure, the substrate is transferred according to a transfer process created for each module.

[0006] Specifically, the transport process of the pre-processing performed before the exposure process is as follows: M1-■ Substrate storage unit IND M1-■ Heating processing equipment HP1 M1-■ Cooling processing equipment CP1 M1-■ Resist coating equipment SC1 M1- ■Heating processing equipment HP2 M1-■Cooling processing equipment CP2 M1-■Create a transport process that includes the seven substrate transport target devices of the intermediate board transfer unit IFA, and in the order according to this transport process, from the board storage unit IND. By transporting the substrate to the intermediate board transfer unit IFA, the above-mentioned pre-processing is performed in the pre-stage module M1.

[0007] Furthermore, as a transport process for receiving the substrate subjected to the pre-processing and transporting it to the exposure process and performing the post-processing after the exposure process, an intermediate substrate transfer unit IFAM2-■ is used.
Termination board transfer unit IFBM2-■ Heat processing equipment HP3 M2-■ Cooling processing equipment CP3 M2-■ Development processing equipment SC2 M2-■ Heat processing equipment HP4 M2-■ Cooling processing equipment CP4 M2-■ 8 locations of intermediate board transfer unit IFA Create a transfer process that includes the devices to be transferred to the intermediate board transfer unit IFA in the order according to this transfer process.
The board is once transported from there to the terminal board transfer unit IFB. After that, while the substrate subjected to exposure processing by the external exposure processing equipment EP is transported from the terminal board transfer unit IFB to the intermediate board transfer unit IFA, the subsequent module M
The above-mentioned post-processing is performed in step 2.

[0008]

However, the conventional substrate transport method described above requires a further transport process for directly transporting the substrates that have undergone post-processing from the intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA to the substrate storage unit IND. Therefore, in order to transport the substrate from being taken out from the substrate storage unit IND to being returned to this substrate storage unit IND, it is necessary to control the transport robots R1 and R2 while using various types of transport processes. , is complicated.

[0009] Furthermore, while the substrate is being transported from the intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA to the exposure processing equipment EP after the completion of the first-stage processing, and while the substrate is being transferred from the intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA to the substrate storage unit IND after the completion of the second-stage processing, the Since this is simply a transport process in which the substrate passes between peripheral processing equipment, there are the following problems.

For example, after applying a photoresist solution, it becomes necessary to perform heat treatment at a heating temperature that cannot be achieved with the heat treatment equipment already installed, or when heat treatment is required for a longer period of time than before. New heat treatment equipment will be installed. However, if there is no room for installation of this new heat treatment equipment in the former module M1, but only in the latter module M2, the heat treatment equipment used for the new heat treatment that corresponds to the first stage treatment is It cannot be handled as a processing device in the preceding module M1. In other words, if the transport process is handled for each module, the degree of freedom in arranging the processing equipment will be reduced.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to simplify the control of a transport robot for transporting substrates and to increase the degree of freedom in the arrangement of processing equipment.

0012

[Means for Solving the Problems] The means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object is a pre-processing process and a post-processing process of a photoresist processing solution sandwiching an external process performed by an external device. , a substrate for transferring substrates between a plurality of processing equipment used for each process and the external equipment in order to subject the substrate to a pre-processing incidental process and a post-processing incidental process accompanying each processing process; The substrate is transported to the processing equipment for the pre-processing step and the processing equipment for the pre-processing incidental process for pre-processing, and the substrate subjected to the pre-processing is transported to the external substrate transfer equipment. In a photoresist processing apparatus, the substrate that has been subjected to the external process and delivered to the external substrate transfer device is transported to a processing device for a subsequent processing step and a processing device for an incidental process of the subsequent processing for subsequent processing. A substrate transport method, which collectively defines the order in which substrates are transported from a processing device for the first step in the pre-processing to a processing device for the final step in the post-processing via the substrate external transfer device. The gist is to transport the substrate according to the transport process.

[0013]

[Operation] The substrate transport method in the photoresist processing apparatus having the above configuration is based on a single transport process, from the processing equipment for the earliest process in the pre-processing to the processing equipment for the final process in the post-processing via the substrate external transfer equipment. The substrates are sequentially transported to each processing device up to the point where they are processed.

For this reason, when processing equipment for a certain process in the pre-processing is placed around the processing equipment in the post-processing, the area around the processing equipment in the post-processing is placed in order to transport the substrate to the external equipment for the external process. While passing by,
The substrate is transported to processing equipment for a certain step in the above-mentioned pre-processing. Similarly, if processing equipment for a certain process in the downstream process is placed around the processing equipment in the upstream process, while receiving the substrate from the external device for the external process and passing around the processing equipment in the upstream process, A substrate is transported to processing equipment for a certain step in processing.

[0015]

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment of a substrate transport method in a photoresist processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a photoresist processing apparatus. As shown in the figure, the photoresist processing apparatus of the embodiment includes a resist coating device SC1 that applies various resist processing solutions to a substrate, and a heat processing device HP1 that performs heat treatment before and after applying the resist processing solution. ,HP2
and cooling treatment equipment CP1, CP2 for performing cooling treatment.
The front-stage module M1 is configured by facing each other. Additionally, there is a development processing device SC2 that develops the exposed substrate, an edge exposure processing device EEW that pre-exposes only the edge of the substrate after resist processing, and a heat processing device that performs heat treatment before and after development. HP3, HP4 and cooling processing equipment CP3, CP4 for performing cooling processing face each other to constitute a subsequent module M2.

Further, a substrate storage unit IND for storing unprocessed substrates and processed substrates in a cassette is connected to the front module M1, and an intermediate board transfer unit for transferring substrates between the front module M1 and the rear module M2 is provided. Unit IFA, rear module M2 and exposure processing equipment EP
Terminating board transfer unit IFB that transfers and receives boards between
Equipped with. Each of the above-mentioned modules includes a transfer robot R1 for transferring substrates between each processing device in the front module M1 and transferring substrates to and from the substrate storage unit IND and intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA, and a transfer robot R1 for transferring substrates between each processing device in the front module M1, and each robot in the rear module M2. Substrate transport between processing equipment, intermediate board transfer unit IFA, and terminal board transfer unit I
Transfer robot R for transferring substrates to and from FB
2.

As a transport process in this photoresist processing apparatus, a transport process is prepared in which the following 16 locations (14 types) of substrate transport target devices are included and the substrates are sequentially transported in ascending numerical order. 1 Substrate storage unit IND 2 Heat processing equipment HP1 3 Cooling processing equipment CP1 4 Resist coating equipment SC1 5 Heat processing equipment HP2 6 Cooling processing equipment CP2 7 Intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA 8 Edge exposure processing equipment EEW 9 End substrate transfer unit IFB 10 Heating Processing equipment HP3 11 Cooling processing equipment CP3 12 Developing processing equipment SC2 13 Heat processing equipment HP4 14 Cooling processing equipment CP4 15 Intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA 16 Substrate storage unit IND

Therefore, when the substrate is transported according to this transport process, the period during which the substrate is transported from the first substrate storage unit IND to the eighth edge exposure processing device EEW via the seventh intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA is To,
A heating/cooling process before applying the resist solution, applying the resist solution, a heating/cooling process after applying the resist solution, and an edge exposure process are sequentially performed on the substrate to perform a preliminary process before the exposure process.

Furthermore, the ninth terminal board transfer unit I
Substrates are transferred to and from the external exposure processing equipment EP at the FB, and the substrates subjected to exposure processing at the exposure processing equipment EP are transferred from this 9th terminal board transfer unit IFB to the 15th intermediate board transfer unit. While being transported to IFA,
A pre-development heating/cooling process, a development process, and a post-development heating/cooling process are sequentially performed to perform post-processing after the exposure process on the substrate. After that, the 15th intermediate board transfer unit I
The substrate is transported from the FA to the 16th substrate storage unit IND. It goes without saying that the substrates are transported by drive control of the transport robots R1 and R2 via a control device (not shown).

As explained above, according to the substrate transport method of this embodiment, the substrate that has been transported and passed through the front module M1 to each processing device is transferred to the rear module until it reaches the exposure processing device EP (terminal board transfer unit IFB). While being transported within M2, it is transported to edge exposure processing equipment EEW and subjected to edge exposure processing. In other words, the substrate does not simply pass through the rear module M2, but is subjected to edge exposure by the edge exposure processing equipment EEW in the latter module M2, improving the degree of freedom in the arrangement of processing equipment. Furthermore, the transport process for defining the substrate transport destination by the transport robot is simple, as the single transport process described above is sufficient.

[0022] Furthermore, if one more step of heating/cooling treatment is added after development, and the heat treatment equipment (HP2, CP2) in the front module M1 cannot be avoided due to its temperature characteristics, for example, the additional heating/cooling treatment must be used. , the 15th intermediate substrate transfer unit I in the above transfer process
The steps after FA can be done as follows. 15 Intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA 16 Heat processing equipment HP2 17 Cooling processing equipment CP2 18 Substrate storage unit IND

[0023] In this way, the substrate does not simply pass through the front module M1 while passing through the rear module M2 and reaches the substrate storage unit IND, but also the heat processing equipment HP2 and the heat processing equipment HP2 in the front module M1 Heating and cooling processing will be performed in the cooling processing equipment CP2.

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, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate board transfer unit IFA is omitted and the front module M1 and the rear module M2 are directly connected, and one
It is also possible to use a single transfer robot R1 to transfer substrates to each processing device. Furthermore, the edge exposure processing device EEW may be placed to the right of the development processing device SC2.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
Of course, it is also applicable to a photoresist processing apparatus in which a heat treatment device capable of heat treatment at a higher temperature than the in-module heat treatment device is used as an external device in place of P, and this is connected to the terminal board transfer unit IFB. In this case, a first base layer coating device SC3 and a second base layer coating device SC4 that respectively apply a base conditioning treatment liquid to the substrate surface are arranged at the position of the resist coating device SC1, and a second base layer coating device SC4 is arranged at the position of the development processing device SC2. The resist coating equipment S
C1 is placed.

In the photoresist processing apparatus with such a processing equipment arrangement, the transport process is as follows. 1 Substrate storage unit IND 2 Heat processing equipment HP1 3 Cooling processing equipment CP1 4 First base layer coating equipment SC3 5 Termination board transfer unit IFB 6 Cooling processing equipment CP2 7 Second base layer coating equipment SC4 8 Heat processing equipment HP3 9 Cooling processing equipment CP3 10 Resist coating equipment SC1 13 Heat processing equipment HP4 14 Cooling processing equipment CP4 15 Substrate storage unit IND

[0027] In addition, processing equipment for the earliest step in the pre-processing (substrate storage unit IND or heat processing equipment HP1
) to the terminal board transfer unit IFB to the processing equipment for the final process in the subsequent processing (cooling processing equipment CP4 or intermediate substrate transfer unit IFA). From the processing equipment for the earliest step in processing (substrate storage unit IND or heat processing equipment HP1) to the terminal board transfer unit IFB
The processing equipment (
Cooling processing equipment CP4 or intermediate board transfer unit IFA)
It is also possible to prepare the transfer process separately and separately from the post-transfer process up to , and connect these two transfer processes with the terminal board transfer unit IFB as a boundary.

[0028]

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the substrate transport method in the photoresist processing apparatus of the present invention, the processing equipment for the first process is transferred to the processing equipment for the final process according to a single transport process. Since the substrates are sequentially transferred to each processing device up to the present time, control of the transfer robot for substrate transfer is simplified. Further, since the arrangement of processing equipment is not restricted due to process constraints, the degree of freedom in arrangement of processing equipment is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view used to explain a substrate transport method in a photoresist processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view when the device configuration of the photoresist processing apparatus of the embodiment is changed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view used to explain a substrate transport method in a photoresist processing apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view used to explain a substrate transport method in a conventional photoresist processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

CP1 Cooling processing equipment CP2 Cooling processing equipment CP3 Cooling processing equipment CP4 Cooling processing equipment EEW edge exposure processing equipment EP exposure processing equipment HP1 Heat treatment equipment HP2 Heat treatment equipment HP3 Heat treatment equipment HP4 Heat treatment equipment IFA Intermediate board transfer unit IFB Termination board transfer unit IND board storage unit M1 front module M2 rear module R1 Transfer robot R2 Transfer robot SC1 Resist coating equipment SC2 Development processing equipment SC3 First base layer coating equipment SC4 Second base layer coating equipment

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A pre-processing step and a post-processing step for photoresist processing sandwiching an external process performed by an external device, and a pre-processing incidental process and a post-processing incidental process accompanying each of the processing steps, on a substrate. In order to carry out the process, it is equipped with a plurality of processing equipment used for each process, and an external substrate transfer device that transfers substrates to and from the external equipment, and includes processing equipment for the pre-processing process and processing equipment for the pre-processing incidental process. The substrate is transferred to a processing device for pre-processing, the pre-processed substrate is transferred to an external substrate transfer device, and the substrate subjected to the external process and transferred to the external substrate transfer device is A method for transporting a substrate in a photoresist processing apparatus in which the substrate is transported to a processing device for a subsequent processing step and a processing device for an incidental process of the subsequent processing for subsequent processing, the substrate being transferred from the processing device for the earliest step in the preceding processing. Substrate transport in a photoresist processing apparatus, characterized in that the substrates are transported according to a transport process that collectively defines the transport order of the substrates via external transfer equipment to the processing equipment for the final process in the post-processing. Method.