JPH07297155A - Substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean a substrate efficiently in a short time by processing the substrate being gripped rotatably at a gripping part having a plurality of rollers abutting against the peripheral edge of the substrate. CONSTITUTION:A rear surface cleaning system 2 comprises a mechanism 80 for oscillating a wafer W while gripping, a brush cleaning mechanism 81 touching and cleaning the rear surface of the wafer W, and a surface cleaning nozzle 82 for jetting pure water to the rear surface of the wafer W. The wafer gripping mechanism 80 turns the wafer W idly in the direction of an arrow A and the gripping parts 83, 84 thereof comprises rollers 201, 202 disposed along the outer periphery of the wafer W while being spaced apart from each other, and gripping arms 87, 88 for supporting the rollers 201, 202 rotatably. This structure prevents the processing of substrate from being missed at the part where the roller abuts on the substrate thus cleans the substrate effectively in a short time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate taken out from a substrate storage section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-162426 as a substrate processing apparatus for performing a substrate processing such as a cleaning processing on a semiconductor substrate and a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal or a photomask. . This apparatus includes a loader carrier that mounts a cassette containing a large number of wafers vertically, a loader transfer robot that takes out a substrate from a substrate storage section on the loader carrier, and a rotating brush mechanism that simultaneously cleans both front and back surfaces of the substrate. And a rotation drying mechanism for rotating and drying the cleaned wafer.

In this substrate processing apparatus, the loader transfer robot takes out the substrates one by one from the substrate storage section placed on the loader carrier. At this time, the substrate housing portion and the substrate are exposed to clean air. Both ends of the substrate taken out by the loader transport robot are supported by the rotating brush mechanism, and the front surface and the back surface are simultaneously cleaned. The cleaned wafer is rotated and dried by the rotary drying mechanism while supporting both end surfaces. The dried wafer is placed on the unloader carrier.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional configuration,
Both sides of the substrate are cleaned at the same time, but in this case, the cleaning efficiency becomes poor. That is, the particles removed from the back surface wrap around to the front surface, and the particles removed from the front surface reattach to the surface, resulting in poor cleaning efficiency.
In order to improve the cleaning efficiency, it is necessary to separately clean the back surface and the front surface, but in order to clean the back surface and the front surface separately, not only a complicated reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back of the wafer is required, It takes a long time to invert the wafer, and the substrate cleaning time becomes long.

The backside of the substrate is cleaned by holding the peripheral edge of the substrate by a wafer holding mechanism having a plurality of holding claws, and in this state, a rotating brush is brought into contact with the backside of the substrate from below. Therefore, it becomes difficult to clean the substrate portion held by the gripping claws, and particles may remain on the back surface and the periphery of the substrate. An object of the present invention is to improve the cleaning efficiency of a substrate and clean the substrate in a short time.

Another object of the present invention is to ensure gripping of the substrate. Still another object of the present invention is to quickly grasp and release a substrate. Still another object of the present invention is to ensure the cleaning of the back surface of the substrate. Still another object of the present invention is to simplify the structure of the device.

[0007]

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for processing a disk-shaped substrate and comprises a gripping section and a processing section. The grip portion has a plurality of rollers that are in contact with the peripheral edge of the substrate, and grips the substrate in a rotatable state. The processing unit processes the substrate held by the holding unit.

Here, it is possible to adopt a structure in which a roller supporting member is horizontally opposed to the grip portion and the roller is rotatably supported by the roller supporting member. In this case, a biasing member that biases the roller support member in the substrate gripping direction can be provided in the gripping portion. Further, it is possible to provide a horizontal moving means for contacting and separating the roller supporting member in the grip portion.

Further, it is preferable that the roller is provided with an annular groove that abuts the peripheral edge of the substrate. Furthermore, it is preferable that the processing section is configured to clean the lower surface of the substrate from below. In this case, it is preferable that the processing unit includes a brush, a rotating unit that rotates the brush, and a swinging unit that relatively swings the substrate and the brush. The brush at this time is
It is preferable that the lower surface of the substrate gripped by the grip portion can be brought into contact with the lower surface of the substrate so that the rotation center axis intersects with the lower surface of the substrate.

Further, it is preferable to use a brush having a treatment liquid supply unit provided in the treatment unit and having a treatment liquid discharge hole connected to the treatment liquid supply unit. The processing unit is provided with a container for accommodating the gripping unit, and the swinging means swings the link that swings laterally from the gripping unit to the outside of the container and extends downward, and is linked to the lower end of the link. It is preferable that the structure has a part.

[0011]

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the disk-shaped substrate is held by the plurality of rollers provided in the holding portion, and the processing portion performs the processing. Since the roller holds the disk-shaped substrate so that it can rotate, the substrate rotates during processing by the processing unit. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the contact position between the grip portion and the substrate from being unprocessed.

When the roller is provided with an annular groove that comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the substrate, the annular groove can be used to reliably hold the peripheral edge of the substrate. When the roller support member that rotatably supports the roller is biased in the substrate gripping direction by the biasing member, the substrate can be gripped with an appropriate pressure at all times, and the substrate can be gripped reliably. Further, it is not necessary to perform the moving stroke of the roller supporting member with high accuracy when gripping the substrate.

When the horizontal moving means for contacting and separating the roller supporting member is provided, the substrate can be grasped and released quickly. When the processing unit is configured to clean the lower surface of the substrate from below, it is possible to prevent the particles on the rear surface and the peripheral edge of the substrate from remaining. In the case where the brush that is rotated by the rotating unit and the swinging unit that swings the substrate and the brush relatively are provided, the entire lower surface of the substrate can be reliably washed, and the brush is gripped by the rollers of the gripping unit. It is possible to prevent the particles from remaining at the roller contact position of the substrate by slightly rotating the substrate as the brush rotates.

When a brush having a treatment liquid discharge hole connected to the treatment liquid supply section is used, particles adhering to the brush surface can be efficiently removed. A link that extends laterally outside the container that houses the grip and extends further downward,
When the rocking means having the rocking portion connected to the lower end of the link for rocking the link is used, the sealing of the container can be simplified.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A substrate processing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a semiconductor wafer W (an example of a substrate).
The washing and drying process is performed. In these figures, the substrate processing apparatus is shown as a cassette C (an example of a substrate storage unit).
An underwater loader 1 for immersing a large number of wafers W housed in a wafer into pure water, a back surface cleaning device 2 for cleaning the back surface (lower surface) of the wafer W taken out of the cassette C with a brush,
Surface cleaning device 3 for brush-cleaning the surface (upper surface) of the wafer, a water cleaning / drying device 4 for cleaning and drying the wafer W, and an unloader 5 for accommodating and discharging the processed wafer W in another cassette C. And are arranged in this order.

Between the loaders 1 and 5 and the devices 2 to 4,
A transfer device 6 having an articulated robot 7 is arranged. The transport device 6 and the loaders 1 and 5 and the devices 2 to 4 may be blocked by a shutter (not shown). Also,
Pure water is supplied to the loader 1 and the devices 2 to 4 and 6 from the pure water supply device 8 through the control valve 9. The drainage from the loader 1 and the devices 2 to 4 and 6 is collected by the drainage recovery device 10.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the submersible loader 1 stores a pure water therein, and a water tank 11 for immersing the cassette C in the pure water, and a vertical movement of the cassette C in the water tank 11. And a cassette elevating device 12 for moving the cassette.
In this elevating device 12, at least the position where the uppermost wafer W stored in the cassette C is completely immersed in pure water, and the lowermost wafer W stored in the cassette C is pure. Move it up and down to a position where it floats above the water. The cassette C has a hollow shape, and an opening 13 for loading and unloading the accommodated wafer W is provided on the right front side in FIG.
Are formed.

The water tank 11 is made of synthetic resin and is a side surface opposite to the side surface on which the opening 13 of the cassette C is opposed (see FIG. 4).
On the left side, a weir 14 whose vertical position can be adjusted is provided. The height of the liquid surface in the water tank 11 is determined by the weir 14. Further, a pure water supply port 15 is formed on the bottom surface of the water tank 11 near the opening 13 of the cassette C.
Pure water is supplied to the water tank 11 through the supply port 15. Further, the supplied pure water overflows from the weir 14 and is discharged. Therefore, during the supply of pure water, a water flow from the opening 13 of the cassette C to the inner side is formed at least near the liquid surface in the water tank 11. A liquid level gauge 17 using a capacitance sensor 18 is arranged on one side surface of the water tank 11.

The cassette lifting device 12 includes a lifting frame 19
Is equipped with. The elevating frame 19 is supported by two guide shafts 20 arranged vertically so as to be vertically movable. A ball nut 21 is arranged at the center of the elevating frame 19. The ball nut 21 is screwed onto a ball screw 22 extending vertically. The ball screw 22 is rotatably supported by a guide frame 23 that supports the guide shaft 20. Ball screw 22
Is a toothed pulley 24 and a toothed belt 2 arranged at the lower end.
It is rotationally driven by the motor 26 via 5. As a result, the elevating frame 19 is driven up and down.

At both ends of the elevating frame 19, a pair of elevating members 27 made of stainless thin plate members and a vertical member 31 connected to the elevating members 27 are arranged. Each vertical member 3
At the lower end of 1 is a cassette stand 3 made of a synthetic resin flat plate member.
2 is attached. Positioning members 33 for positioning the four corners of the cassette C are mounted on the cassette table 32.

The upper end of each lifting member 27 is connected to the connecting member 3.
0 is connected to the center of the connecting member 30. When the cassette C is immersed in the water tank 11, the floating preventing member 44a for preventing the cassette C from rising.
Is provided. The lifting prevention member 44a is
The bearing 45a is fixed to the connecting member 30, and the stopper 47a is rotatably connected to the bearing 45a via a shaft 46a.

In the transfer device 6 shown in FIG. 2, a nozzle 34 for injecting pure water is provided above the three articulated robots 7 on the upstream side in the transfer direction, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The nozzle 34 sprays pure water onto the wafer W adsorbed and held by the articulated robot 7, prevents the wafer W from drying, and suppresses contact between the wafer W and air. The nozzle 34 sprays pure water in a cone shape having a diameter slightly larger than that of the wafer W.

The articulated robot 7 has a vertical column 41 attached to a frame 40 of the substrate processing apparatus, and a base 42 supported on the vertical column 41 so as to be horizontally rotatable.
And a transfer arm 43 supported by the tip of the base 42 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The articulated robot 7 can take a standby posture shown by a solid line in FIG. 7, a carry-out posture shown by a chain double-dashed line, and a carry-in posture shown by a dotted line. The standby position is a position in which the transfer arm 43 is folded on the base 42. In the carry-out posture, the base 42 turns 90 degrees counterclockwise in FIG.
3 and 3 are in a posture in which they are arranged so as to extend in a straight line. The carry-in posture is a line-symmetrical posture with respect to the carry-out posture with respect to the standby posture.

The vertical column 41 is made of stainless steel and has a substantially cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. Inside the vertical column 41, a rotating shaft 44 rotatably supported by stainless steel bearings 45 and 46 is arranged. A rotary lever 49 made of synthetic resin is fixed to the upper end of the rotary shaft 44, and a rotary drive mechanism including a motor (not shown) is connected to the lower end side. The rotating lever 49 is fan-shaped as shown in FIG. 10, and its outer edge is fixed to the base 42. Therefore, the base 42 and the rotating shaft 44 rotate integrally.

A spur gear 50 made of synthetic resin is fixed to the upper end of the vertical column 41. Therefore, the spur gear 50 rotates integrally with the vertical column 41. Bearings 47 and 48 made of stainless steel are arranged on the outer periphery of the upper end of the vertical column 41. The bearings 47 and 48 are for rotatably supporting the base 42. The base 42 is
It is made of aluminum and has an outer surface coated with tetrafluoroethylene resin. The base 42 has a generally oval shape,
The base has a bearing housing 51 for housing the bearings 47 and 48. Further, fixed shafts 52 and 53 made of synthetic resin are erected at the tip and the intermediate portion of the base 42.
An intermediate gear 54 made of synthetic resin that meshes with the spur gear 50 is rotatably supported on the fixed shaft 53 at the intermediate portion. The intermediate gear 54 is a gear having a two-piece structure that can be adjusted to remove backlash. A pinion 55 made of synthetic resin is rotatably supported on the fixed shaft 52 at the tip.
The pinion 55 has a boss portion 56 on the upper portion, and the base end of the transfer arm 43 is fixed to the upper end of the boss portion 56.

Incidentally, these rotary lever 49 and spur gear 5
0, the intermediate gear 54 and the pinion 55 are covered with a synthetic resin cover 57 screwed around the base 42. The transfer arm 43 is made of a thin plate member made of stainless steel, and inside the transfer arm 43, a suction hole 58 is formed which opens to the upper surface of the tip of the transfer arm 43 and extends from there to the fixed shaft 52. Further, suction holes 59 and 60 are also formed in the shaft centers of the fixed shaft 52 and the fixed shaft 53. A suction hole 61 is also formed in the base 42 so as to connect the suction holes 59 and 60. Further, a suction hole 62 is also formed in the axis of the rotating shaft 44, and the suction hole 62 and the suction hole 60 are connected by a suction pipe 63.

As shown in FIG. 11, one end of a negative pressure pipe 64 is connected to the base end of the rotating shaft 44. The suction holes 58 to 62, the suction pipe 63, and the negative pressure pipe 64 constitute a suction path 65. The other end of the negative pressure pipe 64 is connected to the negative pressure generator 66. The negative pressure generator 66
It is an aspirator system, and negative pressure is generated by high-pressure air from an air source 67 connected to the negative pressure generator 66. A vacuum gauge 69 with a lower limit contact is connected to the negative pressure generator 66 via a measurement pipe 68. An open pipe 70 open to the atmosphere is connected near the vacuum gauge 69 in the measuring pipe 68. An electromagnetic control type on / off valve 71 is arranged in the open pipe 70. The open pipe 70 is for removing pure water that has entered the measurement pipe 68 from the adsorption path 65.

A steam / water separator 72 is connected to the downstream side of the negative pressure generator 66. The air / water separator 72 is for separating the water contained in the air from the air. The downstream side of the steam separator 72 is connected to an exhaust pipe 73 and a drain pipe 74. Here, when the wet wafer W is adsorbed by the tip of the transfer arm 43, water enters the adsorption path 65. The invaded water is separated from the negative pressure generation unit 66 by the steam separation unit 7
It flows to 2. The air separated by the steam separator 72 is discharged to the exhaust pipe 73, and the water is discharged to the drain pipe 74. In addition, part of the water also enters the measurement pipe 68. When pure water stays in the measurement pipe 68, the measurement by the vacuum gauge 69 becomes impossible. Therefore, the on / off valve 71 is opened immediately before the measurement by the vacuum gauge 69, the measurement pipe 68 is opened to the atmosphere, and the pure water in the measurement pipe 68 is opened. Is discharged to the negative pressure generating portion 66 side.

The backside cleaning device 2 is, as shown in FIG.
A wafer gripping mechanism 80 for gripping and swinging the wafer W;
It has a brush cleaning mechanism 81 that contacts the back surface of the wafer W to clean the back surface of the wafer W, and a surface cleaning nozzle 82 that sprays pure water onto the front surface of the wafer W. Wafer holding mechanism 8
0 is for rotating the wafer W in the direction of the arrow A as a planet, and has a pair of gripping portions 83 and 84 arranged to face each other. The grips 83, 84 have rollers 201, 202 arranged at intervals along the outer periphery of the wafer W, and grip arms 87, 88 for rotatably supporting these rollers 201, 202. . The grip arms 87 and 88 are fixed to the cover members 203 and 204. The cover members 203 and 204 are supported by sliding brackets 207 and 208 arranged outside. The gripping arm 88 and the cover member 204 on one side include a sliding bracket 208.
20 provided between the cover member 204 and the cover member 204
6, the wafer 6 is always urged in a direction of pressing the wafer W. The sliding brackets 207 and 208 are fixed to the piston rods 211 and 212 of the air cylinders 209 and 210, and can be brought into contact with and separated from each other as the air cylinders 209 and 210 are driven. As a result, the gripping arms 87 and 88 can come into contact with and separate from each other.

This back surface cleaning device 2 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
The holding arms 87 and 88 including 1, 202 are processing tanks 301.
Is located inside. Openings 302 and 303 are provided on the side of the processing tank 301. Openings 302 and 303
Is a cylindrical shape projecting inward of the processing tank 301, and the cover members 203 and 204 have openings 302 and 303 from the inside.
It is arranged so as to cover. In addition, the air cylinder 20
The piston rods 211 and 212 of 9, 210 and the sliding brackets 207 and 208 are movable through the openings 302 and 303.

As shown in FIG. 15, the rollers 201 and 202 are rotatably supported by the tip of the gripping arm 87 (88) via a vertically extending support shaft 213.
An annular groove 214 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller 201 (202), and the wafer W can be inserted into the annular groove 214. The air cylinders 209 and 210 are fixed to the swing frames 304 and 305, respectively. As shown in FIG. 16 (the swing frame 305 is not shown), the swing frames 304 and 305 are connected to the lower swing frame 95 via connecting members 306 and 307. Bearings 100 and 101 are arranged at intervals on the back surface of the lower swing frame 95. The bearings 100 and 101 rotatably support the tip ends of rocking shafts 102 and 103 each having an eccentric cam 104 at the top. This swing shaft 102, 10
When 3 rotates, the lower swing frame 95 performs an eccentric swing motion in the direction of arrow B by the action of the eccentric cam 104. As a result, the wafer W held by the rollers 201 and 202 swings.

The swing shafts 102 and 103 are eccentric cams 104.
Upper elevating frame 106 arranged below the lower part and lower elevating frame 1 arranged below the swing shafts 102, 103.
It is rotatably supported by 08. Further, it is supported rotatably and vertically movable by an upper fixed frame 107 arranged between the upper lift frame 106 and the lower lift frame 108.

A swinging motor 111 fixed to a bracket 110 extending downward from the lower elevating frame 108 is connected to the lower end of the swinging shaft 102 on the left front side in FIG. The driving force of the swinging motor 111 is transmitted to the other swinging shaft 103 via a pulley 112, a timing belt 113 and a pulley 114 arranged between the lower lifting frame 108 and the motor 111. Therefore, the swing shaft 102 and the swing shaft 103 rotate in the same direction in synchronization with each other.

The upper fixed frame 107 and the lower fixed frame 109 are connected by guide shafts 115 and 116. The guide shafts 115 and 116 are the lower lifting frame 1
08 is supported so that it can be raised and lowered. A screw shaft 117 is arranged between the guide shaft 115 and the guide shaft 116. The screw shaft 117 is rotatably supported by the upper fixed frame 107 and the lower fixed frame 109. The screw shaft 117 is screwed into a female screw (not shown) provided on the lower elevating frame 108, and is rotationally driven by an elevating motor 118 fixed to the lower fixed frame 109. The lower lifting frame 108 is driven by the rotation of the motor 118.
Is driven up and down. As a result, the wafer W can be moved up and down in the direction of arrow C.

The brush rotating mechanism 81 is provided with a brush section 120, as shown in FIG. The brush part 120 is
It is fixed to the upper end of the rotary shaft 121. Rotating shaft 121
Is a cylindrical shaft support 1 arranged concentrically with the rotating shaft 121.
It is rotatably supported by 22. Shaft support part 122
The lower end of is fixed to the device frame 40. Rotating shaft 1
The driving force of the motor 124 is transmitted to the motor 21 via a transmission mechanism 123 including a pulley and a timing belt. As a result, the brush section 120 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow D with respect to the wafer W.

The brush portion 120 has a structure in which a large number of nylon fibers are planted, and a pure water supply nozzle 127 communicating with the upper end of the water flow hole 126 is arranged in the center thereof. When the pure water is discharged from the nozzle 127 during cleaning, the discharged pure water flows toward the outer peripheral side of the brush section 120 due to the centrifugal force. Thus, the particles removed by the brush section 120 can be efficiently removed. In addition, the nozzle 12 during standby
When pure water is discharged from 7, the discharged pure water flows toward the outer peripheral side of the brush portion 120 due to the centrifugal force. As a result, the particles attached to the brush portion 120 can be reliably removed,
Further, it is possible to prevent the brush portion 120 from drying during standby.

The brush portion 120 may have a configuration in which nylon brushes are planted in a circular shape so as to correspond to the wafer W, but may have a shape as shown in FIGS. 18 to 20. In FIG. 18, fibers are planted in a cross shape passing through the center to form a planting portion 308, and the other portions are non-planting portion 3
It has been set to 09. In FIG. 19, a plurality of radial planting portions 310 extending from the center to the outer periphery are formed, and the other portions are non-planting portions 311. In FIG. 20, a large number of circular planting parts 312 are arranged, and the other parts are non-planting parts 31.
3 is set. In FIGS. 18 to 20, a pure water supply nozzle 127 is arranged in the central portion. By using the brush having the shape shown in FIGS. 18 to 20, the wafer W
The particles removed from the brush can be prevented from adhering to the fibers of the brush and causing clogging.

The surface cleaning device 3, as shown in FIG.
Wafer elevating / rotating mechanism 130 for gripping wafer W to raise / lower and rotate it; brush cleaning mechanism 131 for contacting the surface of wafer W to clean the surface of wafer W;
A pure water injection mechanism 132 for injecting pure water onto the surface of the. The wafer lifting / lowering rotation mechanism 130 has a plurality of grip claws 133 that grip the side surface of the wafer W. The grip claw 133 is raised and lowered and rotated by the wafer raising and lowering rotation unit 134.

The brush cleaning mechanism 131 has an arm 135. The arm 135 is configured such that the tip thereof swings from the center of the wafer W toward the outer periphery. A downward circular brush 136 is rotatably arranged at the tip of the arm 135. With the arm 135 placed at the standby position shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure, the circular brush 1
A cleaning nozzle 137 for cleaning the circular brush 136 is arranged at a position facing 36. The cleaning nozzle 137 can remove particles attached to the circular brush 136. As the circular brush 136, one in which nylon fibers are planted can be used, and in addition to this, vinyl chloride (PVA) sponge, mohair, or the like can be used.

The pure water injection mechanism 132 has a nozzle support arm 138 that moves up and down and swings. An ultrasonic nozzle 139, which injects pure water vibrated by ultrasonic waves, is arranged at the tip of the nozzle support arm 138 so as to inject pure water obliquely downward toward the center of the wafer W. The injection angle can be adjusted. On the lower surface of the wafer W, a back surface cleaning nozzle 140 for removing particles that go around from the front surface to the back surface during cleaning is arranged. The back surface cleaning nozzle 140 sprays pure water on the back surface of the wafer W in two directions.

As shown in FIG. 22, the washing and drying device 4 is
A wafer lifting / lowering rotation mechanism 141 similar to the surface cleaning apparatus 3,
The wafer W has a rinse nozzle 142 that can project and retract in the radial direction with respect to the surface of the wafer W, and a gas nozzle 143 for injecting nitrogen gas to the center of the wafer W. The wafer elevating / rotating mechanism 141 has a plurality of grip claws 144 for gripping the side surface of the wafer W. This grip claw 144 is the wafer W
Then, the wafer elevating and rotating mechanism 141 rotates the wafer W at a low speed and sprays pure water from the rinse nozzle 142 to wash the wafer W, and then rotates the wafer W at a high speed to drain and dry the wafer.

Further, the water washing / drying device 4 is also provided with a back surface cleaning nozzle 145 for removing particles that go around from the front surface to the back surface. The reason why the rinse nozzle 142 can be projected and retracted is to prevent the wafer W from getting wet due to dripping when not in use. In the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above, pure water is always supplied between the underwater loader 1 and the water washing / drying apparatus 4 during transportation and processing, so that the wafer W can be prevented from being dried and the wafer W It is possible to suppress contact with air.

Next, the operation of the above substrate processing apparatus will be described. Cassette C containing a large number of wafers W vertically
Is positioned by the positioning member 33, the cassette base 3 of the underwater loader 1.
When it is positioned and placed at 2, the elevating frame 10 descends and the cassette C is immersed in the water tank 11. At this time, pure water is being supplied from the pure water supply port 15. The supplied pure water overflows from the weir 14. As a result, the aquarium 11
In the vicinity of the liquid surface of, a water flow is formed from the opening 13 of the cassette C toward the inner side. Therefore, when the elevating frame 19 descends, each wafer W receives the urging force of the water flow,
The wafer W does not slide out of the cassette C.

When the wafer W is supplied to the back surface cleaning device 2 side, the immersed cassette C is moved to the cassette lifting device 1.
Increases by 2. Then, the cassette lifting device 12 is stopped in a state in which the wafer W to be carried out is positioned slightly above the take-out position. Subsequently, the rotation shaft 44 of the articulated robot 7 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 10 by a motor (not shown), and the base 42 is rotated counterclockwise via the rotation lever 49. Then, the spur gear 50 fixed to the base 42 rotates together with the base 42, and rotationally drives the pinion 55 via the intermediate gear 54. When the pinion 55 rotates, the transfer arm 58 turns. And base 4
When 2 rotates 90 ° in the counterclockwise direction, the base 42 and the swing arm 43 are brought into a carry-out posture (the posture indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 7) aligned. And slightly cassette lifting device 12
The wafer W is received on the transfer arm 43 of the articulated robot 7 by lowering.

Here, the inside of the suction path 65 is set to a negative pressure to hold the wafer W by suction. Further, the on / off valve 71 is instantly opened to open the measurement pipe 68 to the atmosphere. As a result, water that has entered and accumulated in the measurement pipe 68 is discharged, and the vacuum gauge 6
9 allows the negative pressure to be confirmed. Then, it is checked whether or not the lower limit contact of the vacuum gauge 69 is turned on. When the lower limit contact is on, the negative pressure is not sufficient and the device is stopped.

When a normal negative pressure is detected and the wafer W is suctioned normally, the rotary shaft 44 is rotated in the reverse direction (clockwise in FIG. 10) to move the base 42 in the reverse direction. 9
Rotate 0 °. As a result, the transfer arm 43 is moved to the base 4
It becomes the standby position which is located on 2. Here, when the wafer W is taken out from the underwater loader 1 and taken out, the wafer W does not come into sliding contact with the transfer device 6 and the cassette C. Therefore, generation of particles due to wear can be prevented.

The standby posture of the articulated robot 7 is maintained until the conveyance request is received from the back surface cleaning device 2. During this time,
Pure water is sprayed from the nozzle 34. Therefore, the wafer W
Does not dry during transportation and standby, and can prevent oxidation caused by contact with air and adhesion of particles and chemicals. When a conveyance request is issued from the back surface cleaning device 2, the rotating shaft 4
4 further rotates 90 ° clockwise. Then, the transfer arm 43 extends to the back surface cleaning device 2 side and is brought into the carrying-in posture, and the tip thereof is arranged at the center position of the back surface cleaning device 2. At this time, on the side of the back surface cleaning device 2, the air cylinders 209, 21
0 advances and grips the wafer W by the rollers 201 and 202. Further, the articulated robot 7 returns to the standby posture. At this time, the gripping arm 88 on one side and the cover member 2
04 is biased in a direction of pressing the wafer W by a spring 206 provided between the sliding bracket 208 and the cover member 204, and the rollers 201 and 202 securely hold the wafer W with an appropriate pressing force. To be done.
In addition, the gripping arm 8 by the air cylinders 209 and 210
The movement strokes of 7 and 88 do not need high precision as long as they are within the expansion and contraction allowable range of the spring 206.

Subsequently, the wafer gripping mechanism 80 is moved to the motor 11
Then, the back surface of the wafer W is brought into contact with the rotating brush portion 120. In this state, the motor 124 is rotationally driven to swing the wafer W so that the peripheral edge of the brush portion 120 is inscribed in the peripheral edge of the wafer W. At this time, the surface cleaning nozzle 82 also supplies pure water to the surface of the wafer W to prevent the surface of the wafer W from drying and preventing particles from adhering.

Here, the wafer W is loaded on the rollers 201, 20.
It is rotatably held by 2. However,
The wafer gripping mechanism 80 makes an eccentric swing motion as the swing shafts 102 and 103 rotate. Therefore, the roller 2
Wafer W held by 01 and 202 and brush unit 1
The rotation center of 20 is relatively eccentrically oscillated, and the wafer W does not rotate integrally with the brush section 120. However, the eccentric oscillation of the wafer W and the rotation of the brush portion 120 cause the brush portion 120 to slightly rotate the wafer W. Therefore, the gripped portion of the wafer W by the rollers 201 and 202 is exposed as the wafer W rotates, and the back surface and the entire periphery of the wafer W can be reliably cleaned. Further, since the wafer W does not slip on the rollers 201 and 202, the wafer W is not damaged or particles are generated.

Moreover, since the pure water discharged from the nozzle 127 flows to the outer peripheral side of the wafer W by the centrifugal force, the particles can be washed out more efficiently and the effect of preventing the particles from re-adhering is high. The particles that go around from the back surface to the front surface are removed by the nozzle 82. When the cleaning of the back surface of the wafer W is completed, the wafer gripping mechanism 80 moves up. Subsequently, the articulated robot 7 arranged between the back surface cleaning device 2 and the front surface cleaning device 3 receives the wafer W and transfers it to the front surface cleaning device 3. In addition, during the waiting time,
Pure water is sprayed onto the wafer W from the nozzle 34, and the oxidation and drying of the wafer W are prevented.

In the surface cleaning apparatus 3, the wafer elevating and rotating mechanism 130 moves up and the holding claws 133 hold the wafer W.
Then, the wafer W rotates, and the ultrasonic nozzle 139 jets pure water onto the surface of the wafer W while swinging the nozzle support arm 138. At the same time, while the circular brush 136 rotates, the arm 135 swings and cleans the surface of the wafer W.

At this time, the arm 135 descends near the center of the wafer W to bring the circular brush 136 into contact with the surface of the wafer W. In this state, the arm 135 moves in the outer peripheral direction of the wafer W. When the circular brush 136 reaches the outer peripheral portion,
The arm 135 moves up. The wafer W is cleaned by repeating this cycle during cleaning. During the cleaning, the back surface cleaning nozzle 145 sprays pure water onto the back surface of the wafer W. As a result, particles that go around from the front surface to the back surface are removed. Further, when the arm 135 is at the standby position (two-dot chain line in FIG. 21), the cleaning nozzle 1
Pure water is sprayed from 37 toward the circular brush 136. As a result, the particles attached to the circular brush 136 can be removed.

Here, the circular brush 136 is brought into contact with the center of the surface of the rotating wafer W, and the circular brush 136 is moved in the radial direction. By this movement and rotation of the wafer W, particles generated by the circular brush 136 rubbing the wafer W are efficiently discharged to the outer peripheral side of the wafer W. The circular brush 136 and the ultrasonic nozzle 139 do not have to be operated at the same time. If one of them is sufficient, it is possible to operate them independently. Moreover, since the ejection angle of the ultrasonic nozzle 139 can be adjusted, particles can be removed more efficiently.

When the cleaning of the surface of the wafer W is completed, the articulated robot 7 arranged between the surface cleaning device 3 and the water washing / drying device 4 receives the wafer W and conveys it to the water washing / drying device 4. Pure water is sprayed from the nozzle 34 onto the wafer W even during the standby period, so that the wafer W is prevented from being oxidized and dried. In the water washing / drying apparatus 4, the wafer lifting / lowering rotation mechanism 141 moves up, and the grip claws 144 grip the wafer W. Then, the rinse nozzle 142 advances and injects pure water,
The back surface cleaning nozzle 145 sprays pure water onto the back surface. The wafer W is rotated in this state. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the injection of pure water from the nozzles 142 and 145 is finished, and the water washing is finished.

Then, the wafer W is rotated at a high speed. As a result, the moisture adhering to the front surface and the back surface of the wafer W is blown in the outer peripheral direction of the wafer W, and the water draining and drying processing of the wafer W is performed. Finally, nitrogen gas is injected from the gas nozzle 143 to remove the water remaining in the center of the wafer W. The nitrogen gas may be jetted while the wafer W is rotating. Further, the jetting may be performed not only on the central portion of the wafer W but also on the entire surface.

When the draining and drying of the wafer W is completed, the articulated robot 7 arranged between the washing / drying device 4 and the unloader 5 receives the wafer W and transfers it to the unloader 5. The unloader 5 stores the received wafer W in another cassette C. When all the wafers W in the supply-side cassette C have been processed and accommodated in the accommodation-side cassette C, the cassette C on the unloader 5 is ejected.

Here, in the steps up to the water washing / drying apparatus 4, the wafer W is always in a wet state during transportation and processing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the wafer W from being dried, and to prevent the wafer W from being oxidized due to contact with air, particles from being fixed to the wafer W, and the like. Other Embodiments (a) The present invention can be similarly implemented in a substrate processing apparatus for processing a glass substrate for liquid crystal or photomask. (B) In the configuration of FIG. 16, the brush may be swung instead of swinging the wafer gripping mechanism. Alternatively, both may be rocked. (C) When cleaning the wafer W with the brush part 120, control may be performed to intermittently stop the biasing of the air cylinders 209 and 210 in the gripping direction. Thus, by allowing a slight rotation of the wafer W, the edge of the wafer W can be reliably cleaned over the entire circumference. (D) In the vicinity of the liquid surface of the side wall facing the opening 13 of the water tank 11, a nozzle or slit for ejecting pure water is provided separately from the pure water supply port 15 so that a water flow is formed from the opening 13 to the back side. Good. In addition, the pure water supply port 15 itself is connected to the water tank 1.
It may be provided on the side wall of No. 1 to form a water stream. Further, a water flow may be formed by providing a forced drainage hole instead of the weir 14 on the side surface on the weir 14 side.

[0058]

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, since the peripheral edge of the substrate is gripped and processed by the plurality of rollers, the substrate can be rotated while being gripped, and at the position where the substrate and the roller come into contact with each other. It is possible to prevent the substrate from being untreated. When the roller is provided with an annular groove that comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the substrate, the substrate can be reliably gripped.

When the roller supporting member for supporting the roller is biased in the substrate gripping direction, the substrate can be gripped more reliably. When the horizontal moving means for contacting and separating the roller supporting member is provided, it is possible to quickly grasp and release the substrate. When the processing unit is configured to clean the lower surface of the substrate from below, it is possible to improve the cleaning efficiency without leaving particles on the back surface and the peripheral edge of the substrate.

When the rotating brush and the swinging means for swinging the substrate and the brush relative to each other are provided, the substrate slightly rotates with the rotation of the brush, and the entire lower surface and the peripheral edge of the substrate are surely secured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the particles from remaining on the gripped portion of the substrate. When the treatment liquid discharge hole is provided in the brush, the particles attached to the brush can be quickly removed.

When the swinging means including the link extending outside the container for accommodating the gripping part and the swinging part for swinging the link is used, the sealing required for the container can be simplified. Becomes

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective partial view of an underwater loader.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of an underwater loader.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the underwater loader.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a water tank.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the transfer device.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the transfer device.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view of the articulated robot.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway plan view of the articulated robot.

FIG. 11 is a piping diagram of an articulated robot.

FIG. 12 is a perspective partial view of a back surface cleaning device.

FIG. 13 is a partially broken plan partial view thereof.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway side view thereof.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the roller.

FIG. 16 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the back surface cleaning device.

FIG. 17 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the brush rotating mechanism.

FIG. 18 is a perspective partial view of an example of a brush section.

FIG. 19 is a perspective partial view of another embodiment of the brush section.

FIG. 20 is a perspective partial view of another embodiment of the brush section.

FIG. 21 is a perspective partial view of the surface cleaning device.

FIG. 22 is a partial perspective view of the washing and drying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Underwater loader 2 Back surface cleaning device 3 Surface cleaning device 6 Transfer device 7 Multi-joint robot 80 Wafer gripping mechanism 81 Brush cleaning mechanism 82 Surface cleaning nozzle 87,88 Grasping arm 201,202 Roller 203,204 Cover member 205,206 Spring 207, 208 Sliding bracket 209,210 Air cylinder 211,212 Piston rod

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masami Sawamura 2426-1 Kuchinogawara, Mikami, Yasu-machi, Yasu-gun, Shiga Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Yasu Plant

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a disk-shaped substrate, comprising: a plurality of rollers that are in contact with a peripheral edge of the substrate; and a gripping portion that grips the substrate in a rotatable state, A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit configured to perform processing on a substrate held by a holding unit. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gripping portion further includes a roller supporting member that is horizontally opposed to the holding portion, and the roller supporting member rotatably supports the roller. . 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller has an annular groove that comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the substrate. 4. The gripping portion further includes a biasing member that biases the roller support member in the substrate gripping direction.
Alternatively, the substrate processing apparatus according to item 3. 5. The gripping portion further includes horizontal moving means for moving the roller supporting member into and out of contact with the roller supporting member.
The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of 1. 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit cleans the lower surface of the substrate from below. 7. The processing unit is capable of abutting on a lower surface of the substrate gripped by the gripping unit, and a brush arranged so that a rotation center axis intersects with the lower surface of the substrate, and rotates the brush. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a rotating unit; and a swinging unit that swings the substrate and the brush relative to each other. 8. The processing section further has a processing liquid supply section,
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the brush has a processing liquid discharge hole connected to the processing liquid supply unit. 9. The processing section further includes a container for accommodating the grip section, and the swinging means includes a link extending laterally from the grip section to the outside of the container and further extending downward, and the link. 9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a swinging unit that is connected to a lower end of the swinging unit and swings the link.