JPH09153538A - Substrate processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processor capable of putting in order of the directions of all substrates to be delivered to respective processing parts. SOLUTION: This substrate processor is provided with a wafer edge exposure device 20 as one of the processing parts. This wafer edge exposure device 20 is provided with a substrate holding base 22 rotatably holding the substrate and an edge sensor 30 detecting the periclinal positions of the substrate. The substrates fed to the wafer edge exposure device 20, after the whole rotatable reference parts are position-corrected to make the positions thereof put in order, are taken out of the wafer edge exposure device 20 to be fed to other processing parts. Through these procedures, the positions of the rotatable reference part of the whole substrates are controlled to be specified inside the title substrate processor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of substrate processing units for performing various kinds of processing on semiconductor substrates and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, in order to improve production efficiency, an apparatus for performing a series of mutually related processing is unitized and a substrate processing apparatus in which these are integrated is used. For example, in the resist process,
2. Description of the Related Art A substrate processing apparatus for continuously performing coating, cleaning, development, adhesion strengthening, heating and cooling is used. The substrate processing apparatus is divided into units for each processing, and the substrate transfer apparatus transfers the substrates between the units to transfer the substrates. With such a structure, a series of resist processes are continuously performed.

Usually, a wafer (substrate) is formed in a disk shape, and a linear cutout portion (orientation flat: hereinafter referred to as an orientation flat portion) or a concave cut portion is formed as a rotation reference portion on a peripheral portion thereof. A notch is formed. Therefore, the substrate does not have a perfect point symmetry with respect to the rotation center axis, but has a partially asymmetric shape. Therefore, for example, in a rotation processing apparatus such as a spin coating unit that spin-coats a resist on the substrate, if the orientation of the rotation reference portion at the start of the rotation processing varies from substrate to substrate, the processing atmosphere around the substrate at the start of rotation is Since the state of the air flow differs depending on the orientation of the substrates, unevenness of the resist film thickness occurs between the substrates.

Further, in the processing unit, the heat distribution differs depending on the orientation of the substrate, and processing unevenness occurs. Therefore, in the unit that performs the rotation processing, the orientation of the substrate is controlled so that the orientation of the rotation reference portion of the substrate is the same at the time of supply, at the time of completion of the rotation processing, and at the time of ejection in order to prevent the occurrence of film thickness unevenness. ing. Therefore, if the rotation reference parts of all the substrates are aligned in a fixed direction in advance, all the substrates are processed in the same direction in the same substrate processing apparatus.

[0005]

However, in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device, not only the resist process described above but also the exposure process and the thin film forming process are repeatedly performed. Therefore, the substrates are transferred from the substrate processing apparatus to another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for processing, either one by one or in units of a plurality of substrate storage cassettes. For example, a substrate on which a resist film has been formed by the substrate processing apparatus used in the above resist process is transported to another exposure apparatus, subjected to a predetermined exposure processing, and then returned to the substrate processing apparatus again. Then, it is conveyed to the development processing unit in the substrate processing apparatus and the development processing is performed.

Alternatively, the substrate for which the resist process has been completed is accommodated in a substrate accommodating cassette and then conveyed to another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus to form a thin film on the substrate. To be done. Then, the substrate on which the thin film is formed is stored again in the substrate storage cassette and supplied to the substrate processing apparatus.

In the above case, the exposure device or CV
Among other semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses such as the D apparatus, there is an apparatus in which the position control in the rotation direction of the substrate is not performed. Therefore, in the substrate returned from such a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the orientation of the rotation reference portion may be different for each substrate. On the other hand, as described above, in the rotation processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus, the directions of the rotation reference portions of the substrate are controlled to match before and after the processing. For this reason, when the substrates are supplied in different states, the variations in the orientation of the substrates remain as they are even after the processing.

Therefore, as described above, in a rotation processing unit such as a spin coating unit, the state of the air flow at the start of rotation differs depending on the orientation of the rotation reference portion of the substrate, and the film thickness of the coating liquid varies between the substrates. The unevenness occurs. Also,
In the heat treatment unit or the like, the state of the air flow around the substrates and the temperature distribution differ depending on the orientation of the rotation reference portion, which causes uneven processing between the substrates.

Further, when substrates supplied from other semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are accommodated in a substrate accommodating cassette, if the orientations of the rotation reference parts of the substrates differ from one substrate to another, the positions of the centers of gravity differ from each other. It is stored in a different direction. For this reason, the substrate tilted in a certain direction collides with the transfer arm of the substrate transfer robot, causing problems such as damage to the substrate and inability to take out the substrate. Further, for example, when the orientation flat portion of the substrate is stored in the substrate storage cassette with the orientation parallel to the inner surface of the substrate storage cassette, the linear orientation flat portion slides on the inner surface of the cassette and a large amount of resist is registered. Peeled off and particles (particles)
As a result, the problem of adversely affecting other substrates and the outside is also caused.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly aligning the orientations of substrates delivered to each processing section.

[0011]

A substrate processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of substrate processing units for respectively performing a predetermined process on a substrate, and is provided between each substrate processing unit. It is a substrate processing apparatus that performs a series of processing on a substrate while transferring the substrate by using a correction means for aligning a rotation reference part of the substrate in a specific direction when the substrate is supplied to each substrate processing part. .

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect, the correction means detects the orientation of the rotation reference portion of the substrate and the detection data of the detection portion. Based on the correction control unit that outputs correction data for aligning the rotation reference unit in a specific direction based on the
And a rotation positioning unit that rotates the substrate based on the correction data from the correction control unit.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the third invention, in the structure of the substrate processing apparatus of the first invention, one of the plurality of substrate processing units holds a substrate and rotates the substrate, and the substrate rotates. A peripheral exposure device having a rotation reference part detection part for detecting the reference part, the detection part of the correction means is composed of the rotation reference part detection part of the peripheral exposure device, and the rotation positioning part of the correction part is peripheral. The exposure apparatus is composed of a substrate holding unit.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first to third aspects of the invention, the position in the rotational direction of the substrate is such that the rotation reference portion of the substrate when being supplied to each substrate processing portion by the correction means always has a specific orientation. Is controlled. For this reason, in each substrate processing unit, the processing can be performed with the substrates always arranged in the same direction, so that the occurrence of uneven processing due to the variation in the orientation of the substrates is prevented and the manufacturing yield is improved. You can

Particularly, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, after the detection unit of the correction means detects the direction of the rotation reference unit for each substrate, the correction control unit determines the correction amount with the specific direction. The rotation positioning unit that has obtained the correction amount data rotates the substrate so that the rotation reference unit of the substrate is oriented in a specific direction. Therefore, even if the substrate supplied from the external semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is oriented in any direction, it can be accurately aligned in a specific direction.

Particularly, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, by utilizing the function of the peripheral exposure apparatus included as the substrate processing section, there is no need to newly provide the detecting section of the correction means or the rotational positioning section. It is possible to align the directions of the rotation reference parts of the substrate. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of processing unevenness due to the variation in the orientation of the substrates and to perform uniform processing among a large number of substrates.

[0017]

1 is a block diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus group including a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a first substrate processing unit area 101.
A second substrate processing unit region 102, a transport region 103 for transporting the substrate 5, and an indexer region 104 for loading and unloading the substrate 5.

In the first substrate processing unit area 101,
Spin coating unit (spin coater) SC that performs spin coating processing,
Rotational development unit (spin developer) SD for development processing
And peripheral exposure apparatus 2 for performing exposure processing on the peripheral portion of the substrate 5
0s are arranged side by side.

Further, the second substrate processing unit area 102
The substrate heat treatment unit (hot / cooling plate) BP that heat-treats the substrate 5 and the adhesion strengthening unit AH that performs the adhesion strengthening process are arranged side by side.

In the transfer area 103, a substrate transfer device 80 for holding and transferring the substrate 5 is movably provided. In the indexer area 104, a substrate storage cassette 10 that stores a large number of substrates 5 is placed. The substrates 5 stored in the substrate storage cassette 10 are the indexer areas 1
The transfer robot (not shown) provided in 04 transfers with the substrate transfer device 80. The substrate storage cassette 10 in which a large number of substrates 5 are stored is an external semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, for example, a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) apparatus 70.
Or is placed on the indexer area 104 again after the processing is completed.

On the opposite side of the indexer region 104 of the substrate processing apparatus 1, a substrate transfer section 50 for transferring the substrate 5 to / from another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided. The substrate transfer unit 50 transfers the substrates 5 one by one to an external semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, for example, the exposure apparatus 60, and receives the substrates 5 again after the exposure processing is completed.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a mechanism (substrate rotation reference position control mechanism) for aligning the directions of the rotation reference portions of the substrates 5 in a specific direction for all the substrates 5. In this embodiment, the substrate rotation reference position control mechanism is
A part of the mechanism of the peripheral exposure apparatus 20 is used. Therefore, first, the configuration of the peripheral exposure apparatus will be described.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the peripheral exposure apparatus 20. The peripheral exposure apparatus 20 has a substrate rotation control mechanism for holding and rotating the substrate inside the frame 21, and a light irradiation control mechanism for irradiating the substrate with light.

The substrate rotation control mechanism is provided with a substrate holder 22 which is a vacuum chuck for sucking and holding the substrate, and a motor 24 for rotating the substrate holder 22. An edge sensor 30 for detecting the edge position of the substrate is provided near the substrate holder 22.

The light irradiation control mechanism includes a moving plate 25 for moving the lens barrel 32. The moving plate 25 includes a vertical plate portion 25a extending in the vertical direction and a horizontal plate 25b extending in the horizontal direction. The lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 25b of the moving plate 25 is indicated by Y in the figure.
The rail 26 is engaged with a rail 26 extending in the axial direction, and the moving plate 25 reciprocates in the Y-axis direction along the rail 26. On the upper surface of the horizontal plate 25b of the moving plate 25, support plates 29a and 29b for rotatably supporting one end of the feed screw 28 extending in the Y-axis direction are provided. The other end of the feed screw 28 is connected to the motor 27.

When the motor 27 is rotated, the feed screw 28
Rotate in the same direction, and the entire moving plate 25 moves in the Y-axis direction along the rail 26 by the support plates 29a and 29b screwed onto the feed screw 28. Moving plate 2
The moving position of Y in the Y-axis direction is the origin position detecting member 43 and the origin sensor 4 for detecting the origin position in the Y-axis direction.
4 and a limit position detecting member 4 for detecting the movement limit
It is detected by 1 and a pair of limiters 42a and 42b.

An X-axis rail 33 extending along the X-axis direction is attached to the upper portion of the vertical plate portion 25a of the moving plate 25. A support plate 31 to which a lens barrel 32 is attached is engaged with the X-axis rail 33 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The support plate 31 is further connected to the belt 35. The belt 35 is a pulley (not shown) attached to the rotation shaft of the motor 37.
And a pulley 36 rotatably attached to the vertical plate portion 25a of the moving plate 25. When the motor 37 is rotated, the belt 35 is rotated, and the support plate 31 is moved along with the rotation of the belt 35.
Along the X axis. As a result, the lens barrel 32 connected to the support plate 31 reciprocates in the X-axis direction. The movement position of the support plate 31 in the X-axis direction includes a detection member 40 and an origin sensor 39b for detecting the origin position in the X-axis direction, and a pair of limiters 39a for detecting the movement limit position in the X-axis direction. Detected by 39c.

Next, the operation of the peripheral exposure apparatus will be described. Here, it is assumed that the substrate has an orientation flat portion as a rotation reference portion. In the peripheral exposure process, the substrate is first sucked and held on the substrate holding table 22. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a holding state of the substrate. When the substrate 5 is held, the substrate 5
The edge sensor 30 detects the peripheral position of the substrate 5. Thus, the eccentricity of the substrate and the position of the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate are confirmed, and the data regarding the peripheral area to be exposed is detected.

Next, after setting the substrate 5 at a predetermined rotation position, the substrate 5 is rotated, and exposure light such as ultraviolet rays is irradiated from the lens barrel 32 to expose the resist film on the peripheral portion of the substrate 5. Is exposed to perform peripheral exposure processing.

The substrate rotation reference position control mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is such a peripheral exposure apparatus 2
In the configuration of 0, it is configured by utilizing the functions of the substrate holder 22, the substrate rotation drive system such as the motor 24, and the edge sensor 30. Further, the substrate rotation reference position control mechanism has a correction controller that controls the operations of the edge sensor 30 and the rotation drive system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the substrate rotation reference position control mechanism. The correction control unit 45 receives the position data of the orientation flat portion from the edge sensor 30, calculates the rotation correction amount of the substrate 5 required to match the orientation of the orientation flat portion with a predetermined orientation, and outputs the rotation correction amount to the motor 24. The correction control unit 45 may be incorporated in the control unit of the peripheral exposure apparatus 20 or may be incorporated in the control unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the rotation reference position correction operation of the substrate rotation reference position control mechanism using the peripheral exposure apparatus. In the substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 5, the direction in which the linear orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 is parallel to the X-axis direction in the drawing is the regular direction of the substrate 5, and all the substrates 5 are in the regular direction. The rotational position of the substrate 5 is corrected so as to lead to.

In FIG. 5, it is assumed that the substrate 5 after the exposure processing is supplied from the external exposure apparatus 60 to the substrate processing apparatus 1. It is assumed that the supplied substrate 5 is supplied in an orientation different from the regular orientation of the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus 1. Then, the substrate processing apparatus 1 supplies the substrate 5 to the peripheral exposure apparatus 20 for the peripheral exposure processing (step S1).

When the substrate 5 is supplied, the peripheral exposure device 20
First, the edge sensor 30 (FIG. 2) first detects the current position of the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 (step S2).
Then, orientation flat positioning processing for aligning the orientation of the substrate 5 to the start position of the peripheral exposure is performed (step S3). afterwards,
The peripheral exposure process is started (step S4). When the edge exposure is completed, the substrate 5 is stopped in the same direction as when the edge exposure was started (step S5).

Thereafter, the rotational position correcting operation of the substrate 5 is performed (step S6). The correction control unit 45 (see FIG. 4) calculates the amount of deviation between the position of the orientation flat portion 5a at the end of exposure processing (or at the time of orientation flat positioning) and the predetermined normal position of the orientation flat portion 5a. Then, the rotation correction amount of the substrate 5 is calculated based on the deviation amount, and a rotation command is sent to the motor 24 (FIG. 2) for rotating the substrate 5, and the substrate holding table 2
2 is rotated to rotate the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 to a regular rotation position.

After the rotational position correction operation as described above, the substrate 5 corrected in the proper orientation is discharged from the peripheral exposure device 20. The substrate 5 ejected from the peripheral exposure device 20
After that, the orientation flat portion 5a with respect to the other processing units.
Are supplied in a state in which they are oriented in the normal direction. Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the processing in each processing unit is performed with all the substrates 5 in the same state.

Thereafter, the substrate 5 is transferred to the substrate storage cassette 10
And is supplied to another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70.
In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70, a predetermined process is performed with all the substrates 5 kept in the same direction. Therefore,
The orientations of the orientation flats 5a of the substrates 5 that have been processed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70 are all the same.

Next, a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 shows a peripheral exposure apparatus 2 according to this embodiment.
It is explanatory drawing of the rotational position correction operation | movement of the board | substrate which used 0. In this example, the orientation of the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 supplied before and after the processing is different in the other semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70a.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 supplies the substrate 5 together with the substrate storage cassette 10 to the external semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70a. In another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70a, each substrate 5 is subjected to a predetermined process, and then the substrate 5 is loaded again into the substrate storage cassette 10.
It is stored inside and returned to the substrate processing apparatus 1.

In the substrate storage cassette 10 returned from another semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 70a, the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 is placed.
The direction of may differ between substrates. Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, first, the substrate storage cassette 10 to the substrate 5 are transferred.
Is taken out and supplied to the peripheral exposure apparatus 20 to correct the position of the substrate 5 (step S11).

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the correction controller 45 (see FIG.
From the reference), a position detection command for the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 is issued to the peripheral exposure apparatus 20 (step S12).
Then, the correction control unit calculates the amount of deviation between the position of the orientation flat portion 5a and the position of the regular orientation flat portion given in advance based on the output from the edge sensor 30 (FIG. 2). And
The rotation correction amount of the substrate 5 is calculated based on the shift amount, and the motor 24 (FIG. 2) is rotated to rotate the substrate 5 in the normal direction. By such an operation, the orientation flat portion 5 of the substrate 5 is
It is corrected so that a is oriented in the normal direction (step S1).
3).

The substrate 5 whose rotational position has been corrected is subjected to heat treatment in the next processing unit, for example, the substrate heat treatment unit BP (see FIG. 1). Further, subsequently, each processing is performed in a state where the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 is kept in the normal orientation.

As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the orientation of the orientation flat portion of the substrate supplied to each substrate processing section is always supplied in a constant direction. Therefore, for example, in a rotary processing device such as the rotary coating unit SC or the rotary developing unit SD, the processing environment around the substrates becomes substantially equal, and the occurrence of uneven processing between the substrates is prevented.

Further, even in the substrate heat treatment section BP and the like, the posture of the substrate is always supplied in a constant state, so that the processing state becomes uniform and the variation in the processing state among the substrates is suppressed. Further, in the substrate storage cassette 10, all the substrates 5
The orientation flat portion 5a is stored so as to face a certain direction. Therefore, the inclination of all the substrates 5 in the substrate storage cassette 10 becomes constant, the collision of the transfer arm for taking out the substrates 5 and the like are prevented, and the loading and unloading operations of the substrates 5 can be stably performed. In addition, when the orientation flat portion 5a of the substrate 5 is stored so as to face the opening of the substrate storage cassette 10, the orientation flat portion 5a slides on the inner surface of the substrate storage cassette 10 to generate particles. Can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the case of using the mechanism of the peripheral exposure apparatus as the mechanism for correcting the rotational position of the substrate 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a substrate rotation reference position detection unit that detects the orientation of the substrate, a rotational positioning mechanism that rotationally moves the substrate to correct the position, and a correction control unit that controls these operations are configured as one unit, and the substrate processing apparatus 1 It may be incorporated into.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus group including a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a peripheral exposure apparatus included in the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a substrate position detection operation.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a substrate rotation reference position control mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a rotation reference position correction operation in the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the rotation reference position correction operation in the substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate Processing Device 5 Substrate 10 Substrate Storage Cassette 20 Peripheral Exposure Device 22 Substrate Support 30 Position Sensor 50 Substrate Transfer Unit 60 Exposure Device 70, 70a Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing system comprising a plurality of substrate processing units for performing a predetermined processing on each substrate, and performing a series of processing on the substrate while transferring the substrate to and from each substrate processing unit. The apparatus is provided with a correction means for aligning a rotation reference part of the substrate in a specific direction when the substrate is supplied to each of the substrate processing parts. 2. The correction unit includes a detection unit that detects the orientation of the rotation reference unit of the substrate, and correction data that aligns the rotation reference unit in a specific orientation based on detection data of the detection unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a correction control unit that outputs and a rotation positioning unit that holds the substrate and rotates the substrate based on the correction data from the correction control unit. . 3. Any one of the plurality of substrate processing units is configured by a peripheral exposure apparatus having a substrate holding unit that holds and rotates a substrate and a rotation reference unit detection unit that detects a rotation reference unit of the substrate. The detection unit of the correction unit is configured by the rotation reference unit detection unit of the peripheral exposure apparatus, and the rotation positioning unit of the correction unit is configured by the substrate holding unit of the peripheral exposure apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: