JPH05182900A - Method and apparatus for cooling of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cool a substrate as quickly as possible without generating a strain caused by a cooling operation. CONSTITUTION:A substrate W which has been conveyed onto a plate 5a for substrate cooling use is held by substrate raising and lowering pins 42 in their raised position; it is maintained and cooled in a position a prescribed distance above the surface of the plate 5a for substrate cooling use; after that, the substrate raising and lowering pins 42 are lowered by using a sixth air cylinder 47; the substrate W is lowered and placed on the plate 5a for substrate cooling use; the substrate W is vacuum-sucked by a suction operation from a suction hole; it is brought into close contact with the surface of the plate 5a for substrate cooling use. Thereby, the substrate W is cooled quickly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photoresist in a step of applying a photoresist to a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a photomask, a printed wiring board, etc., drying, and baking a predetermined pattern for etching. Prior to the coating, the substrate is cleaned by heating and drying to completely remove surface moisture, and the substrate is placed on the surface of the substrate cooling plate directly to cool it to room temperature. A substrate cooling method for cooling a substrate by bringing it into surface contact with a substrate, and a substrate cooling plate for placing the substrate on the surface and directly bringing it into surface contact for cooling; The present invention relates to a substrate cooling device provided with a suction hole for vacuum-sucking a placed substrate and a substrate transporting device for transporting the substrate onto a substrate cooling plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique for cooling a substrate as described above, there has been a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-48925. According to this conventional example, a cooling plate that cools by flowing a coolant such as cold water or calcium chloride solution is provided, and the substrate after the heat-drying process is placed on the cooling plate and vacuum-adsorbed to cool the substrate. It cools by directly contacting the surface of the plate, which allows the substrate to be rapidly cooled to a predetermined temperature such as room temperature, avoiding too long cooling for the drying time, and improving the production efficiency. Is configured as follows.

[0003]

However, in the conventional example, the temperature of the substrate after the heat-drying treatment (for example, 200 ° C.)
Temperature difference between the cooling plate and the surface temperature of the cooling plate is large, and when the substrate is placed on the cooling plate with such a large temperature difference, the lower surface side of the substrate that comes into contact with the cooling plate does not come into contact with the upper surface. There is a drawback that a contraction force larger than that on the side acts to generate a strain due to a temperature difference, a part of the thin substrate is bent in a convex shape, and the thin substrate is separated from the surface of the cooling plate and cannot be cooled uniformly.

Further, as a result of the distortion as described above,
When the substrate is taken out and carried by the substrate carrying means after the cooling processing, there is a possibility that a carrying failure may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the substrate cooling method according to the first aspect of the present invention cools the substrate as rapidly as possible without generating distortion due to cooling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate cooling apparatus of the invention according to claim 2, and an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus capable of suitably implementing the substrate cooling method of the invention according to claim 1. An object of the substrate cooling device of the invention according to item 3 is to make it possible to reduce the installation space and efficiently perform cooling processing.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate cooling method of the invention according to claim 1 places the substrate on the surface of the substrate cooling plate and directly makes surface contact. In the substrate cooling method of cooling the substrate by the above, the substrate is cooled for a predetermined time while being held above the substrate cooling plate prior to being placed on the surface of the substrate cooling plate.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the substrate cooling apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention includes a substrate cooling plate for placing a substrate on a surface and directly bringing the substrate into surface contact with the plate for cooling. In a substrate cooling device provided with a suction hole for vacuum-sucking a substrate which is dispersedly formed on the surface of the substrate cooling plate and placed thereon, and a substrate transfer means for transferring the substrate onto the substrate cooling plate, The substrate on the plate,
It comprises substrate elevating means for elevating and lowering between a position where it is placed on the substrate cooling plate and cooled, and a position where it is floated a predetermined distance above it and cooled.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a substrate cooling device according to a third aspect of the present invention is provided with a plurality of substrate cooling plates according to the second aspect in a multi-step manner in the vertical direction. An elevating means for elevating the conveying means is provided.

[0009]

According to the structure of the substrate cooling method of the first aspect of the present invention, the temperature of the whole substrate is lowered by cooling the high temperature substrate after being heated and dried away from the surface of the substrate cooling plate. The surface of the substrate can be directly brought into contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate to rapidly cool the substrate in a state where the temperature difference between the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate is small.

According to the structure of the substrate cooling device of the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate conveyed onto the substrate cooling plate is maintained at a position where it is levitated by a predetermined distance from the surface of the substrate cooling plate. After cooling, the substrate is lowered by the substrate elevating means and placed on the substrate cooling plate, and the substrate is vacuum sucked by suction from the suction holes to bring the substrate into close contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate, thereby rapidly moving the substrate. Can be cooled to.

According to the structure of the substrate cooling device of the third aspect of the invention, the substrate is conveyed to the multi-stage substrate cooling plate by elevating the substrate conveying means by the elevating means, for example, heating and drying. Even when the cooling process takes more time than the pre-treatment, the time difference can be absorbed.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a substrate cooling apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, in which 1 is an inlet conveyor and 2 is an outlet conveyor. As shown, first and second substrate transfer means 3a and 3b are provided on both sides of the entrance conveyor 1, while first and second substrate unloading means 4 are on the other side of the exit conveyor 2.
a and 4b are provided.

First and second substrate transfer means 3a, 3b
Respectively, first and second substrate unloading means 4a, 4b
Between them, first and second substrate cooling plates 5a ..., 5b ... Are provided in three stages in the vertical direction.

Each of the inlet conveyor 1 and the outlet conveyor 2 is constructed by arranging rollers 7 driven and rotated by an electric motor 6 for driving the conveyor in parallel, and at the central portion thereof, substrate elevating pins 8 are provided. , The substrate elevating pins 8 ... Are configured to be driven up and down by the first air cylinder 9.

The first and second substrate transfer means 3a,
3b, and first and second substrate unloading means 4a,
Each of the columns 4b is provided with a column 11 which can be horizontally moved by the horizontal moving means 10, a support table 12 is provided on the column 11, and a substrate support arm 13 is provided on the support table 12 so as to be rotatable around an axis in the vertical direction. Is configured. Further, the support base 12 is provided on the column 11 so as to be able to move up and down via the elevating means 14.

The horizontal moving means 10 is a plan view of FIG.
As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, the pair of fixed guide rails 15 and 15 are each fitted with an engaging member 16 provided at the lower portion of the support column 11, and the rodless cylinder extends over the support column 11 and the fixed side. 17 are linked and connected. In FIG. 1, 10a indicates a shock absorber.

As shown in the partially cut-away side view of FIG. 5 and the plan view of FIG. 5 viewed from below, the support shaft 18 with the substrate support arm 13 attached thereto is rotatable on the support base 12. A third air cylinder 20 is interlockingly connected to an arm 19 which is provided and is integrally rotatably connected to the lower portion of the support shaft 18, and the substrate support arm 13 is driven to rotate in the range of about 90 ° to rotate the entrance conveyor 1 or The posture can be changed between the posture facing the exit conveyor 2 side and the posture facing the first substrate cooling plate 5a or the second substrate cooling plate 5b side. Reference numeral 19a in the figure denotes a shock absorber.

The elevating means 14 is a front view of FIG. 7 and
As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 8, a fourth air cylinder 22 and a fifth air cylinder 23 are attached to a mounting plate 21, and the tip of the cylinder rod of the fourth air cylinder 22 is located at the bottom of the column 11. Connected, while the fifth
The tip of the air cylinder 23 is connected to the support base 12,
Then, a pair of fixed guide rails 24, 24 is attached to the pillar 11.
Is provided, and both fixed guide rails 24, 24 are provided.
An engaging member 25 provided on the support base 12 is externally fitted to each of them, and the fourth and fifth air cylinders 22 and 23 are shortened, only the fourth air cylinder 22 is extended, and the fourth air cylinder 22 is extended. And a fifth air cylinder 22,
By switching 23 to the extended state, the substrate is placed at a position corresponding to the lowermost one, the middle one, and the uppermost one of the first and second substrate cooling plates 5a ..., 5b. The support arm 13 is configured to be displaced up and down.

With the above-described structure, the substrate W carried to the predetermined location by the entrance conveyor 1 is raised by the substrate lifting pins 8, and below the substrate W, the substrate supporting arm of the first or second substrate carrying means 3a, 3b. 13 is displaced, and then the substrate W is moved down by the substrate elevating pins 8 and transferred to the substrate support arm 13 side. Then, the substrate support arm 13
90 ° and then at that position or ascending / descending means 14
Is moved up to select the first or second substrate cooling plate 5a, 5b in a predetermined stage, and in that state, the horizontal moving means 1 is used.
0 to move horizontally to select the first or second selected
Substrate upper and lower pins 42 of the substrate cooling plates 5a and 5b
(See FIG. 10) Hand over. After cooling the substrate W described later, the first or second substrate unloading means 4a, 4
b, the above-mentioned first or second substrate transfer means 3
By the operation opposite to the operations of a and 3b, the substrate support arm 13
The substrate W placed on the substrate is conveyed to the exit conveyor 2, the substrate W is transferred onto the substrate lifting pins 8 of the exit conveyor 2, the substrate support arm 13 is retracted, and then the substrate lifting pins 8 are lowered to exit. It is placed on the conveyor 2 and carried out by the exit conveyor 2.

First and second substrate cooling plates 5a
..., 5b ... Plate housing 26 accommodating each
9 is a partially cutaway front view of the main part of FIG. 9, a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. 10, a cross-sectional view of FIG. 11, and a plan view of the main part of FIG. 12 (for the first substrate cooling in these drawings). As will be described with reference to the plate 5a), the plate support frame 27 is provided so as to be able to be pulled out via slide rails 28, 28.
As shown in the partially omitted front view of FIG. 3, the plate housings 26 ... Are drawn out so that the first substrate cooling plates 5a.
Reference numeral 29 in the drawing indicates a pulling handle.

As shown in FIG. 3, the plate housing 2
6 ... An opening 30 for taking in and out the substrate W is formed on each of both side surfaces orthogonal to the respective drawing directions, and
As shown in FIG. 9, the air ejection holes 31 for supplying dry clean air to the ceiling portion of the plate housing 26.
Of the plate support frame 2 so as to correspond to the air supply ports 32 communicating with the air ejection holes 31 ...
7, an air supply pipe 33 is provided, and the plate housing 2
As the 6 is pushed in, the air supply port 32 is automatically moved to the air supply pipe 3
3 is connected to communicate.

Adsorption holes 34 ... Are formed on the plate mounting surface side of the first substrate cooling plate 5a, and communication holes 35 are formed to connect the adsorption holes 34 ... to each other. Vacuum pump (not shown) at a specified location
The suction pipe 36 connected to the above is connected and configured to hold the substrate W by vacuum suction.

In the first substrate cooling plate 5a, as shown in FIG. 10, a zigzag-shaped cooling water passage 37 for flowing cooling water as a cooling medium is formed, and the cooling water passage 37 is formed. The plate side water supply pipe 39 is connected to the water supply port 38 on one end side of the
A water supply pipe 40 is provided in the plate support frame 27 so as to correspond to the tip of the plate support frame 27, and the plate side water supply pipe 39 is naturally connected to the water supply pipe 40 as the plate housing 26 is pushed in. On the other hand, the cooling water flow path 3
Although not shown, the plate side drain pipe is connected to the drain port 41 on the other end side of the plate 7, and the plate support frame 27 is provided with the drain pipe so as to correspond to the tip of the plate side drain pipe. As the housing 26 is pushed in, the plate side drain pipe is automatically connected to the drain pipe.

Substrate upper and lower pins 42 are provided so as to be capable of moving up and down through predetermined four places on the center side of the first substrate cooling plate 5a, and the substrate upper and lower pins 42 ... Are the first pin supports 43.
Is integrally attached to the first pin support 43, and the second pin support 44 is attached to the first pin support 43.
As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of guide rods 45, 45 integrally attached to the second pin support body 44 are slidably fitted in the guide cylinder 46, respectively, and the second pin support body 44 is The sixth air cylinder 47 is interlocked and connected, and the expansion and contraction of the sixth air cylinder 47 causes the substrate upper and lower pins 42 to float above the substrate mounting surface of the first substrate cooling plate 5a and the pre-cooling position. Board W
Is configured to be moved up and down to a quenching position where it directly contacts the substrate mounting surface. Reference numeral 48 in the figure denotes a thermocouple 5 for measuring the temperature of the first substrate cooling plate 5a by contacting it.
Reference numeral 8 denotes an optical fiber for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate W on the first substrate cooling plate 5a. The substrate up-and-down pins 42 ... And the sixth air cylinder 47 which is linked to the pins and drives and moves up and down the substrate W are referred to as substrate elevating means.

Next, a substrate cooling method using the substrate cooling device will be described. FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway front view of an essential part for explaining the substrate cooling method according to the present invention, in which the substrate is conveyed from the inlet conveyor 1 by the first substrate conveying means 3a.
In addition, as shown in (a) of FIG. 14, the substrate W introduced into the plate housing 26 by the substrate support arm 13 is lifted to the pre-cooling position above the first substrate cooling plate 5a to lift the substrate upper and lower pins. 42 is mounted on the plate housing 26 and maintained in that state, and cooling air is supplied into the plate housing 26 from the air ejection holes 31 to precool for a predetermined time. When the cooling temperature of the substrate W is about room temperature, it is also possible to precool the substrate W at the ambient temperature without supplying cooling air.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14B, the substrate upper and lower pins 42 are lowered to bring the substrate W into direct surface contact with the upper surface of the first substrate cooling plate 5a, and the thermocouple 48. Cool until the temperature measured by ... reaches the set temperature. At this time, the substrate W is transferred to the first substrate cooling plate 5a by vacuum suction through the suction holes 34 (see FIG. 9).
Adsorbed and held on the upper surface of the intimate contact. The thermocouple 48 ...
The temperature is measured by the first substrate cooling plate 5a without directly contacting the substrate W with the purpose of avoiding adherence of contaminants such as particles to the substrate W due to such direct contact. This is because the temperature of the substrate W can be detected practically without any problem by measuring the temperature of the first substrate cooling plate 5a by conduction.

After the cooling is completed, the substrate up / down pins 42 ... Are raised to displace the substrate support arm 13 of the first substrate unloading means 4a below the substrate W, and then the substrate up / down pins 42 ... The substrate W is transferred to the substrate support arm 13 and is unloaded from the first substrate unloading means 4a via the exit conveyor 2.

This cooling method is performed by the second substrate unloading means 3
The same applies to the case of using b, the second substrate cooling plate 5b, and the second substrate unloading means 4b.

In the above embodiment, two rows of first and second substrate transfer means 3a and 3b, first and second substrate cooling plates 5a and 5b, and first and second substrate unloading means 4a are provided. , 4b share the inlet conveyor 1 and the outlet conveyor 2 respectively, and this configuration has the advantage that the device space can be reduced and the configuration can be simplified. It may be configured in one row.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first and second substrate unloading means 4a and 4b dedicated for taking out the substrate W from the first and second substrate cooling plates 5a and 5b are provided. , First and second substrate transfer means 3a, 3
The substrate W may be taken out by b.

Further, the control means (not shown) stores the order of the substrates W supplied to the respective substrate cooling plates, and the cooled substrates W are sequentially discharged from the substrate cooling plates in the stored order. It may be configured to do so.

[0033]

According to the substrate cooling method of the first aspect of the present invention, the temperature of the entire substrate is lowered in advance, and then the surface is directly brought into contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate for cooling.
During the rapid cooling due to the surface contact, the temperature difference between the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate can be reduced, and the substrate can be cooled as quickly as possible while preventing distortion of the substrate due to the temperature difference.

Further, according to the substrate cooling device of the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate conveyed onto the substrate cooling plate is
The substrate is moved up and down by a predetermined distance from the surface of the substrate cooling plate and the position of surface contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate is displaced by the substrate elevating means, and the substrate is cooled while being maintained at each position. The substrate is brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate by vacuum suction in the state of being in surface contact with the surface of the substrate cooling plate.
It is now possible to provide an apparatus capable of suitably implementing the substrate cooling method of the invention according to the above.

According to the substrate cooling device of the third aspect of the present invention, the cooling treatment of a plurality of substrates by the multi-stage substrate cooling plate requires more time than the pretreatment such as heating and drying. Even in such a case, since the time difference can be absorbed, the installation space can be reduced and the cooling process can be efficiently performed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a substrate cooling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of horizontal moving means.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of horizontal moving means.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing a rotation structure of a substrate support arm.

FIG. 6 is a plan view seen from the lower side of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a configuration of a lifting means.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a lifting means.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing a configuration of a substrate cooling plate.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of FIG.

11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a main part.

FIG. 13 is a partially omitted front view.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway front view of an essential part for explaining the substrate cooling method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3a ... 1st board | substrate carrying means 3b ... 2nd board | substrate carrying means 5a ... 1st board | substrate cooling plate 5b ... 2nd board | substrate cooling plate 14 ... Elevating means 34 ... Adsorption hole 42 ... Comprising board elevating means. Substrate up / down pins 47 ... Sixth air cylinder W ... Substrate elevating means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kenji Fukuda Inventor Kenji Fukuda 1 at 480 Takamiya-cho, Hikone City, Shiga Dai Nippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone District Office (72) Inventor Kenichi Morishita At 480 Takamiya-cho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone District Office (72) Inventor Masaaki Hirata 1 480 Takamiyacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone District Office

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate cooling method for cooling a substrate by placing the substrate on the surface of a substrate cooling plate and directly contacting the surface of the substrate cooling plate, the method comprising the steps of: A method of cooling a substrate, characterized in that the substrate is cooled for a predetermined time while being held above the substrate cooling plate. 2. A substrate cooling plate for placing a substrate on a surface and directly bringing the substrate into surface contact to cool it, and a suction hole for vacuum-adsorbing the substrate that is dispersedly formed on the surface of the substrate cooling plate and placed thereon. A substrate transporting device that transports the substrate onto the substrate cooling plate, and a position for mounting the substrate on the substrate cooling plate and cooling the substrate on the substrate cooling plate. And a substrate elevating means which elevates and lowers over a position where it is levitated by a predetermined distance and cooled. 3. A substrate cooling apparatus comprising a plurality of substrate cooling plates according to claim 2, which are vertically arranged in multiple stages, and provided with an elevating means for elevating said substrate carrying means.