JPH09138256A - Method for alignment of board to be inspected - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method in which a prealignment operation is executed in a state that a board to be inspected is placed on a robot arm for conveyance and in which the dislocation of a liquid-crystal board is hardly generated when the board to be inspected is moved to a measuring part from a prealignment region. SOLUTION: A liquid-crystal board 50 inside a cassette 48 is placed on a robot arm 58 so as to be transferred to a prealignment region 44. The robot arm 58 is moved to the Y-axis direction, and the angle of inclination with reference to the X-axis of of an X-side 74 of a liquid-crystal board 50 is found by using two Y-position sensors 66, 68. The liquid-crystal board 50 is shifted so as to be placed on four chuck pins 64, a rotating base 56 is turned by the angle α to the clockwise direction, the liquid-crystal board 50 is sucked again by the robot arm 58, and the rotating base 56 is returned by the angle α to the counterclockwise direction. The position in the Y-direction of the liquid- crystal board 50 is decided, a robot body 54 is moved to the X-axis direction along a rail 60, and a Y-side 76 of the liquid-crystal board 50 is detected by an X-position sensor 70. Thereby, a prelaignment operation is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of aligning a rectangular substrate to be inspected with a probe device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an alignment method characterized by a method of prealigning a substrate to be inspected in a prealignment region.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the structure of a conventional device for inspecting a liquid crystal display panel substrate (hereinafter referred to as "liquid crystal substrate"). The alignment method of the liquid crystal substrate in this conventional device will be described. Cassette stand 10
Many liquid crystal substrates 11 are housed in the upper cassette 12. The robot 14 takes out the liquid crystal substrates 11 one by one from the cassette 12 and transfers them to the pre-alignment unit 16. The robot 14 can move along rails 18, and the robot arm 20 can rotate about a vertical axis.
The pre-alignment unit 16 pre-aligns the liquid crystal substrate 11 to preliminarily position the liquid crystal substrate 11. When the pre-alignment is completed, the identification code on the liquid crystal substrate 11 is read using the CCD camera. Next, the robot 14 is moved along the rail 18 to move the liquid crystal substrate 11
On the measuring stage 22. Next, the measurement stage 22 is moved to bring the liquid crystal substrate 11 under the probe device 24, and pattern recognition using the two alignment marks on the liquid crystal substrate allows fine adjustment between the liquid crystal substrate and the probe device. Perform alignment. Thereby, the electrodes of the liquid crystal substrate are correctly positioned with respect to the probe needle of the probe device. Generally, the alignment accuracy of the liquid crystal substrate is about ± 0.5 mm in pre-alignment, and the positioning accuracy is ± 5 μm in fine alignment.
It is about.

In the above-mentioned conventional method, it is conceivable to omit the pre-alignment, directly place the liquid crystal substrate 11 on the measuring stage 22, and align the liquid crystal substrate and the probe device only by fine alignment. . However, in this case, when the two CCD cameras provided above the probe device are used to photograph the two alignment marks on the liquid crystal substrate, the alignment marks may not necessarily be within the field of view of the two cameras. Not necessarily. That is, the position of the liquid crystal substrate may be significantly displaced. If you cannot find the alignment mark,
Before performing fine alignment, it is first necessary to move the measurement stage or probe device so that the alignment marks are within the field of view of the camera. Such an alignment mark search operation is time-consuming and causes a long alignment. Therefore, the pre-alignment is performed as described above, the liquid crystal substrate is preliminarily aligned to such an extent that the alignment mark is within the field of view of the camera for fine alignment, and then the liquid crystal substrate is placed on the measurement stage. There is.

Another object of carrying out the prealignment is that it is convenient to read the identification code on the liquid crystal substrate in the prealignment area. A unique identification code is printed on the liquid crystal board during the manufacturing process,
In the subsequent manufacturing process and inspection process, this identification code is used for managing each liquid crystal substrate. This recognition code is
Generally, it is printed on the outside of the outer peripheral electrode of the liquid crystal substrate. In this recognition code, the height of the characters forming the code is 0.
It is as small as about 3 to 0.5 mm, and the number of characters is generally 8 to 20. Take this with a CCD camera and OCR
(Optical code reader) Characters are recognized by the device. FIG. 12 shows an example of the recognition code 28 that is in the field of view 26 of the camera. In this way, the recognition code has small characters and a long width. Therefore, unless the liquid crystal substrate is accurately positioned with respect to the CCD camera, the recognition code is out of the field of view of the camera and cannot be read well. If the liquid crystal substrate is pre-aligned, the identification code of the liquid crystal substrate can be read on this pre-alignment area.

By the way, instead of reading in the pre-alignment area, it may be possible to read the identification code of the liquid crystal substrate in the measuring section of the liquid crystal substrate. Since the liquid crystal substrate is finely aligned in the measuring section, the liquid crystal substrate is accurately positioned, and from this viewpoint, it seems that there is no problem in reading the recognition code. However, the identification code is printed on the outside of the electrode to be measured, so if you perform fine alignment in such a positional relationship that the probe needle can come into contact with the electrode to be measured, the identification code will be on the lower side of the probe unit or frame of the probe device. There is a problem that it cannot be read by the camera because it is hidden in. Therefore, it is convenient to read the identification code of the liquid crystal substrate in the pre-alignment area as described above.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the pre-alignment unit 16 and the robot 14 shown in FIG. 11, and FIG. 14 is a side view thereof. The liquid crystal substrate 11 in the cassette 12 is vacuum-adsorbed on the upper surface of the robot arm 20. The robot arm 20 rotates 180 degrees in the horizontal plane and then extends to convey the liquid crystal substrate 11 above the four chuck pins 32 of the pre-alignment stage 30. When the robot arm 20 is lowered, the liquid crystal substrate 11 is sucked by the suction pad on the upper end of the chuck pin 32. The pre-alignment stage 30 can move in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and can further rotate by θ around the Z-axis. That is, it has an X stage, a Y stage, and a θ stage. Two Y position sensors 34 and 36 and one X position sensor 38 are provided outside the rectangular pre-alignment stage 30 when viewed from above.
There is. In the pre-alignment stage 30 on which the liquid crystal substrate 11 is placed, the Y stage is first moved in the Y axis direction, and the two Y position sensors 34 and 36 are arranged on the X side 39 (X side) of the liquid crystal substrate.
Detect the position of each side (parallel to the axis). From this detection result, the tilt angle α of the X side 39 of the liquid crystal substrate with respect to the X axis can be obtained. Next, the θ stage has an inclination angle α
Rotate the same angle in the opposite direction to correct the θ deviation of the liquid crystal substrate so that each side of the rectangular liquid crystal substrate coincides with the directions of the X axis and the Y axis. After the Y stage is moved again to complete the positioning in the Y direction so that the X side 39 of the liquid crystal substrate is detected by the Y position sensors 34 and 36, the X stage is moved to move the Y side 40 (Y X is almost parallel to the axis
The position sensor 38 can be used for detection, and the positioning in the X direction is completed. This completes the pre-alignment. In this state, the identification code on the liquid crystal substrate 11 is read using the CCD camera 42.

After reading the recognition code, the liquid crystal substrate 11
Is moved from the chuck pin 32 onto the robot arm 20 and is moved to the measurement stage 22 shown in FIG.

[0008]

In the conventional alignment method described above, it is necessary to provide an expensive XYθ stage in the pre-alignment section. Also, when transferring the pre-aligned liquid crystal substrate to the measurement stage, first replace it on the robot arm from the pre-alignment stage,
Further, since the robot arm is to be replaced on the measurement stage, the position of the liquid crystal substrate is likely to be misaligned with the replacement work performed twice.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to simplify the mechanism of the pre-alignment region when a rectangular substrate to be inspected is aligned with the probe device. Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment method in which the displacement of the substrate to be inspected is unlikely to occur when the substrate to be inspected is moved from the pre-alignment region to the measuring section.

[0010]

According to the alignment method of the present invention, pre-alignment of a substrate to be inspected is completed while the substrate to be inspected is still mounted on the robot arm, and the robot arm is used in this state. The inspection board is replaced with the measuring section. That is, the alignment method of the present invention is a method of aligning a rectangular substrate to be inspected with a probe device, the method comprising:
It is provided with each stage of (wa). (B) When the rectangular arm to be inspected is correctly positioned in the pre-alignment area, and the robot arm that can move parallel to the orthogonal X and Y axes and that can rotate about the Z axis perpendicular to the XY plane. The first and second Y position sensors capable of detecting one side (hereinafter, referred to as “X side”) of the substrate to be inspected and the other side (hereinafter, “Y”) perpendicular to the one side of the substrate to be inspected.
The side. ) Is prepared, and the two Y position sensors are arranged parallel to the X axis and separated from each other by a predetermined distance D. (B) Transferring the substrate to be inspected to the pre-alignment region by the robot arm. (C) The robot when the substrate to be inspected is held by the robot arm and the robot arm is moved in parallel with the Y axis so that the X side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the first Y position sensor. Obtaining the arm coordinate Ya. (D) Obtaining the coordinate Yb of the robot arm when the X side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the second Y position sensor by moving the robot arm in parallel with the Y axis. (E) A step of calculating an inclination angle between the X side of the substrate to be inspected and the X axis based on the difference ΔY between the coordinates Ya and Yb and the predetermined distance D. (F) A step of replacing the substrate to be inspected from the robot arm on the supporting device arranged in the pre-alignment region. (G) Rotating the robot arm around the Z axis in the same direction as the tilt angle and by the same angle. (H) A step of holding the substrate to be inspected on the supporting device again by the robot arm. (I) Rotating the robot arm about the Z axis in the direction opposite to the tilt angle by the same angle. (Nu) Performing steps (c) and (d) above to obtain the coordinates Ya and Yb, and confirming that the difference between Ya and Yb is within the allowable range. (L) A step of moving the robot arm in parallel with the X axis so that the Y side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the X position sensor, and pre-alignment is completed. (W) The step of placing the substrate to be inspected on the measurement stage by the robot arm. (W) A step of moving the measurement stage on which the substrate to be inspected is placed to the position of the probe device and then performing fine alignment between the probe device and the substrate to be inspected.

According to the present invention, it is not necessary to mount the substrate to be inspected after the completion of prealignment on the robot arm, and therefore, when the substrate to be inspected is moved from the prealignment area to the measuring section, the displacement of the liquid crystal substrate hardly occurs. Also, since the substrate to be inspected is moved by the transfer robot arm for pre-alignment, XY for pre-alignment is required.
The θ stage becomes unnecessary.

When carrying out the method of the present invention, it is preferable to read the recognition code of the substrate to be inspected in that state after the completion of prealignment.

The substrate to be inspected according to the present invention is rectangular, and is typically a liquid crystal substrate. The substrate to be inspected may be a substrate other than the liquid crystal substrate as long as it is rectangular, and may be, for example, another display panel substrate such as a plasma display panel, or a substrate other than the display panel.

[0014]

1 is a plan view showing a pre-alignment region 44 and a robot 46 in a liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus for carrying out an embodiment of the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. Is. The cassette 48 houses a plurality of liquid crystal substrates 50. A robot 46 is arranged between the cassette 48 and the pre-alignment area 44. The robot 46 includes a robot body 54 and a turntable 5.
6 and a robot arm 58. The robot body 54 can move in the X-axis direction along the rail 60. The turntable 56 can rotate about the Z-axis 52 with respect to the robot body 54 and can move up and down. The robot arm 58 can slide on the turntable 56 in its longitudinal direction. A suction groove for vacuum-sucking the liquid crystal substrate is formed on the upper surface near the tip of the robot arm 58. The coordinate axes will be described. The X axis is parallel to the moving direction of the robot body 54 and the Y axis is perpendicular to the X axis. The X and Y axes are in the horizontal plane. Then, the Z-axis 52 (the rotation axis of the turntable 56) is X-axis.
It is perpendicular to the Y plane.

A pre-alignment table 62 is provided in the pre-alignment area 44, and four chuck pins 64 and two Y position sensors 6 are provided on the upper surface of the pre-alignment table 62.
6, 68 and one X position sensor 70 are fixed.
A vacuum suction pad is provided on the upper end of the chuck pin 64. Y
The position sensor and the X position sensor each have a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a pair, and when the light emitted from the light emitting element hits the liquid crystal substrate, the reflected light is detected by the light receiving element. The two Y position sensors 66 and 68 are arranged so that the straight line connecting them is parallel to the X axis,
They are separated by a distance D. X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50
When (the side parallel to the X axis) is detected by the Y position sensors 66 and 68, the liquid crystal substrate 50 is aligned with the Y axis direction, and the Y side 76 (parallel to the Y axis) of the liquid crystal substrate 50. The liquid crystal substrate 50 is aligned in the X-axis direction when the X position sensor 70 detects the edge. In each of the light receiving elements of the position sensors 66, 68, 70, when the amount of received light exceeds a predetermined set value (that is, when the reflected light from the liquid crystal substrate is confirmed), each side of the liquid crystal substrate reaches the position sensor. It is judged that it did. As the position sensor, a transmissive sensor may be used instead of the above reflective sensor. In this case, it is determined that each side of the liquid crystal substrate has reached the position sensor when the amount of received light falls below a predetermined set value. A CCD camera 72 for reading the identification code of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is arranged above the pre-alignment table 62. Then, when the liquid crystal substrate 50 is in a predetermined alignment state, the identification code on the liquid crystal substrate 50 enters the field of view of the CCD camera 72.

Pre-alignment area 44 and robot 46
Since the device configuration other than the above is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 11, the description thereof is omitted.

Next, a pre-alignment method for the liquid crystal substrate 50 will be described. In FIG. 1, first, the robot 46 is moved along the rail 60 to face the cassette 48 from which the liquid crystal substrate 50 is to be taken out. In FIG. 1, the cassette 4
Although 8 is drawn so as to face the pre-alignment region 44, a plurality of actual cassettes 48 are arranged along the rail as shown in FIG. 11, so that the cassette where the liquid crystal substrate is to be taken out is located. It is necessary to move the robot 46 up to.

When the robot 46 faces the cassette 48, the rotary table 56 is moved up and down so that the robot arm 58 is located below the liquid crystal substrate 50 to be taken out, and then, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the rotary table 56 is rotated clockwise to bring the robot arm 58 toward the cassette 48. Then, after adjusting the expansion and contraction of the robot arm 58, the liquid crystal substrate 50 is suction-held on the upper surface of the tip of the robot arm 58.

Next, the robot 46 is moved along the rail 60 so as to face the pre-alignment region 44 and the turntable 56 is rotated counterclockwise by 180 degrees to move the robot arm 58 as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal substrate 50 at the tip of is brought above the pre-alignment table 62. At this time, the stop angle position of the turntable 56 is set so that the expansion / contraction direction of the robot arm 58 is parallel to the Y axis.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the robot arm 58 is moved in the Y-axis direction so that the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 can be detected by the first Y position sensor 66. The slide position of the robot arm 58 at this time is set to Y.
Store as a. Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the robot arm 58 is moved again in the Y-axis direction so that the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is detected by the second Y position sensor 68. The sliding position of the robot arm 58 at this time is stored as Yb. Since the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is generally not strictly parallel to the X axis,
The coordinates Ya and Yb are different. In the control device connected to the robot 46, the difference ΔY between Ya and Yb,
Using the distance D between the two Y position sensors 66 and 68, the tilt angle α of the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 with respect to the X axis is calculated. That is, α is obtained from the following equation (1).

[0021]

## EQU1 ## tan α = ΔY / D (1)

In FIG. 6, the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is inclined clockwise by an angle α with respect to the X axis.

Next, the rotary table 56 is lowered, the suction of the liquid crystal substrate 50 by the robot arm 58 is released, and the liquid crystal substrate 50 is placed on the four chuck pins 64. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the turntable 56 is rotated clockwise (that is, in the same direction as the tilt angle α) by the angle α. After that, the rotary table 56 is raised, and the robot arm 58 sucks and holds the liquid crystal substrate 50 again. In this state, the sliding direction of the robot arm 58 is also inclined by the angle α with respect to the Y axis.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the rotary table 56 is rotated counterclockwise by the angle α with the liquid crystal substrate 50 placed on the robot arm 58. That is, the rotary table 56 is returned to the original angular position. As a result, the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 becomes parallel to the X axis. The sliding direction of the robot arm 58 is also parallel to the Y axis.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the robot arm 58 is moved in the Y-axis direction so that the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 can be detected by the first Y position sensor 66. The slide position of the robot arm 58 is stored as a new Ya. Further, the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is the second
The slide position of the robot arm 58 when detected by the Y position sensor 68 is stored as a new Yb. By the way, since the correction work as described above is carried out for the first inclination angle α, the X side 74 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is substantially parallel to the X axis, and the difference ΔY between Ya and Yb becomes very small. ing. This difference ΔY is within an allowable range (for example, 0.5 m
If it is in m), move to the next stage. If it is not within the allowable range, the work of correcting the inclination angle is repeated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the robot main body 54 is moved along the rail 60 in the X-axis direction so that the Y side 76 of the liquid crystal substrate 50 can be detected by the X position sensor 70.

By the above work, the liquid crystal substrate 50 is brought into a predetermined alignment state, and the pre-alignment is completed.
And, the important point is that the liquid crystal substrate 50 is the robot arm 5.
That is, pre-alignment is completed in the state shown in FIG. In this state, the identification code on the liquid crystal substrate 50 is read by the CCD camera 72.

Next, the liquid crystal substrate 50 which is still mounted on the robot arm 58 is transferred to the measuring stage by the robot 46, and the liquid crystal substrate 50 is replaced on the measuring stage. Since the liquid crystal substrate 50 is correctly aligned with the three sensors 66, 68, 70 in the pre-alignment region 44, from this state, the robot body 54 is moved by a predetermined distance in the X-axis direction and the robot arm 58 is moved. The liquid crystal substrate 50 reaches a predetermined position on the measurement stage when it is moved in the Y-axis direction by a predetermined distance. In addition,
When the liquid crystal substrate is transferred from the pre-alignment region to the measurement stage, the device may be arranged such that the position of the liquid crystal substrate in the Y-axis direction is the same. In this case, the liquid crystal substrate can be placed on the measurement stage simply by moving the robot body 54 in the X-axis direction.

In this way, the pre-alignment is completed while the liquid crystal substrate remains on the robot arm, so that when the liquid crystal substrate is transferred from the pre-alignment area to the measurement stage, the liquid crystal substrate is replaced on the robot arm. This eliminates the need for work and makes it difficult for the liquid crystal substrate to be displaced when the liquid crystal substrate is moved from the pre-alignment region to the measurement stage.

After replacing the liquid crystal substrate on the measuring stage, the measuring stage is moved to the probe device to perform fine alignment of the liquid crystal substrate,
The probe needle of the probe device is brought into contact with the electrode of the liquid crystal substrate to inspect the liquid crystal substrate.

A concrete example of dimensions of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. A rectangular liquid crystal substrate has an X side 74 of 650 mm and a Y side 7
When 6 is 550 mm, the two Y position sensors 66, 6
The distance D of 8 is 450 mm. This distance is approximately equal to the arrangement interval of the chuck pins 64 in the X-axis direction. 4 to 7, each side of the liquid crystal substrate 50 is drawn so as to be largely inclined from the XY axes, but this is exaggerated in order to make the drawings easy to see. Then
The angle is less than α = 1 °. Explaining an actual measurement example, when the X side 74 is 650 mm, the difference ΔY between the detection values Ya and Yb by the two Y position sensors 66 and 68 was about 6 mm at maximum. When the pre-alignment of the present invention is performed, this difference ΔY falls within 0.5 mm or less, for example.

[0032]

According to the alignment method of the present invention, the pre-alignment is carried out with the substrate to be inspected placed on the transfer robot arm, so that the substrate to be inspected after completion of the pre-alignment needs to be placed on the robot arm. Is eliminated, and the displacement of the liquid crystal substrate is unlikely to occur when the substrate to be inspected is moved from the pre-alignment region to the measurement section. Also,
Since the pre-alignment is performed by moving the substrate to be inspected by the transfer robot arm, the XYθ stage for pre-alignment becomes unnecessary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a prealignment region and a robot in a liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus for carrying out an embodiment of a method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a first stage of a pre-alignment process.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a second stage of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a third stage of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a fourth stage of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a fifth step of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a sixth step of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a seventh stage of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an eighth stage of the pre-alignment process.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a conventional device configuration for inspecting a liquid crystal substrate.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view showing a recognition code in the field of view of the camera.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the pre-alignment unit and the robot shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a side view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 44 Pre-alignment area 46 Robot 48 Cassette 50 Liquid crystal substrate 52 Z-axis 54 Robot body 56 Rotating table 58 Robot arm 60 Rail 62 Pre-alignment table 64 Chuck pins 66, 68 Y position sensor 70 X position sensor 72 CCD camera 74 X side 76 Y Side

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location // H01L 21/66 G01R 31/28 J

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for aligning a rectangular substrate to be inspected with a probe device, the alignment method comprising the following steps. (B) When the rectangular arm to be inspected is correctly positioned in the pre-alignment area, and the robot arm that can move parallel to the orthogonal X and Y axes and that can rotate about the Z axis perpendicular to the XY plane. The first and second Y position sensors capable of detecting one side (hereinafter, referred to as “X side”) of the substrate to be inspected and the other side (hereinafter, “Y”) perpendicular to the one side of the substrate to be inspected.
The side. ) Is prepared, and the two Y position sensors are arranged parallel to the X axis and separated from each other by a predetermined distance D. (B) Transferring the substrate to be inspected to the pre-alignment region by the robot arm. (C) The robot when the substrate to be inspected is held by the robot arm and the robot arm is moved in parallel with the Y axis so that the X side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the first Y position sensor. Obtaining the arm coordinate Ya. (D) Obtaining the coordinate Yb of the robot arm when the X side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the second Y position sensor by moving the robot arm in parallel with the Y axis. (E) A step of calculating an inclination angle between the X side of the substrate to be inspected and the X axis based on the difference ΔY between the coordinates Ya and Yb and the predetermined distance D. (F) A step of replacing the substrate to be inspected from the robot arm on the supporting device arranged in the pre-alignment region. (G) Rotating the robot arm around the Z axis in the same direction as the tilt angle and by the same angle. (H) A step of holding the substrate to be inspected on the supporting device again by the robot arm. (I) Rotating the robot arm about the Z axis in the direction opposite to the tilt angle by the same angle. (Nu) Performing steps (c) and (d) above to obtain the coordinates Ya and Yb, and confirming that the difference ΔY between Ya and Yb is within the allowable range. (L) A step of moving the robot arm in parallel with the X axis so that the Y side of the substrate to be inspected is detected by the X position sensor, and pre-alignment is completed. (W) The step of placing the substrate to be inspected on the measurement stage by the robot arm. (W) A step of moving the measurement stage on which the substrate to be inspected is placed to the position of the probe device and then performing fine alignment between the probe device and the substrate to be inspected. 2. The alignment method according to claim 1, wherein the identification code of the substrate to be inspected is read between the steps (r) and (wo). 3. A method of aligning a rectangular substrate to be inspected with a probe device, the alignment method comprising the following steps. (A) A robot arm that can move parallel to the first coordinate axis and the second coordinate axis that intersect with each other and that can rotate about a third coordinate axis that is perpendicular to a plane that includes the first coordinate axis and the second coordinate axis; and a pre-alignment region. In the step of preparing a sensor capable of detecting that the rectangular inspection substrate is correctly positioned. (B) Transferring the substrate to be inspected to the pre-alignment region by the robot arm. (C) A step of completing the prealignment by moving the robot arm so that the substrate to be inspected held by the robot arm is correctly positioned on the prealignment region. (D) The step of placing the substrate to be inspected on the measurement stage by the robot arm. (E) A step of moving the measurement stage on which the substrate to be inspected is placed to the position of the probe device and then performing fine alignment between the probe device and the substrate to be inspected. 4. The alignment method according to claim 3, wherein the identification code of the substrate to be inspected is read between the steps (c) and (d).