JPH0969503A - Board processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the running cost while enhancing the quality of a processed wafer through a simple system by adjusting the relative position of a board at first and second delivery positions such that a second group of substrates are inserted into the gap of first group of substrates without touching. SOLUTION: A pair of slide cables 21, 22 can be moved reversely with respect to Y direction by means of a slide mechanism and an air cylinder for driving the slide mechanism provided for each slide table. First and second delivery positions are adjusted relatively by adjusting the relative position of carriers C for respective slide cables 21, 22. When a carrier CTR receives a first water group by means of a chuck 72 at the first delivery position and carries the first wafer group to the second delivery position, a second wafer group can be shifted to the second delivery position by means of a second elevating/ lowering member 22a and inserted into the gap of first wafer group.

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 in which a thin substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) such as a semiconductor substrate or a liquid crystal glass substrate is immersed in a treatment liquid and various treatments such as cleaning are performed on its surface. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-175179 discloses an apparatus for inserting a second wafer group between first wafer groups to form a half-pitch third wafer group, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, the following three types are disclosed.

The apparatus disclosed in FIG. 1 of the above publication discloses a carrier transfer apparatus for transferring a pair of carriers for storing wafers to a wafer loading / unloading section, and taking out a wafer from each carrier transferred to the wafer loading / unloading section. And a second transfer device for transferring wafers aligned at a half pitch in the wafer pitch conversion unit to the wafer processing unit.
And a transport device.

The apparatus disclosed in FIG. 4 of the above publication discloses a carrier transfer device for transferring a pair of carriers for storing wafers to a wafer loading / unloading section, and a wafer from one carrier transferred to the wafer loading / unloading section. A first transfer device that takes out and transfers the wafer to the wafer pitch conversion unit, and a wafer that is taken out from the other carrier transferred to the wafer insertion / removal unit and transferred to the wafer pitch conversion unit, and is aligned at a half pitch in the wafer pitch conversion unit. And a second transfer device for transferring the existing wafer to the wafer processing section.

The apparatus disclosed in FIG. 7 of the above publication discloses a carrier transfer device for transferring a pair of carriers for storing wafers to a wafer loading / unloading section and a wafer from both carriers transferred to the wafer loading / unloading section. And a wafer transfer device that transfers the wafers aligned in the half pitch to the wafer processing unit.

[0006]

However, each of these three techniques has the following problems.

In the technique disclosed in FIG. 1 of the above publication, three carrier devices, that is, a carrier carrier device, a first carrier device, and a carrier device are provided, and the device configuration becomes complicated. further,
Since the device configuration is complicated, the operation required for wafer pitch conversion is also complicated. In addition, since the wafers are once aligned at a half pitch and then received by the second transfer device, the time required for the transfer becomes long and the throughput decreases.

The apparatus disclosed in FIG. 3 of the above publication also has three carrier apparatuses, ie, carrier carrier apparatus, first carrier apparatus, and second carrier apparatus, which complicates the apparatus configuration. further,
Since the device configuration is complicated, the operation required for wafer pitch conversion is also complicated. In addition, since the wafers are once aligned at a half pitch and then received by the second transfer device, the time required for the transfer becomes long and the throughput decreases.

In the apparatus disclosed in FIG. 7 of the above publication, only two transfer devices, a carrier transfer device and a wafer transfer device, are necessary. However, since the chuck for holding the wafer in the wafer transfer device moves on the processing tank, this is the case. It is exposed to the vapor of the treatment liquid in the treatment tank. Here, the chuck for holding the wafer has a member such as a piezoelectric element for holding the wafer. When such a member is exposed to the vapor of the processing liquid,
The deterioration becomes faster, and it becomes necessary to replace parts frequently, and particles are generated from here.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus which can reduce running costs and improve the quality of processed wafers with a simple apparatus configuration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing the running cost without lowering the throughput and improving the quality of processed wafers.

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus, wherein a pair of carriers received by a carrier stage pitches the substrates, which are set up and stored at equal pitches, at a half pitch. In a substrate processing apparatus that performs conversion processing and arranges and arranges substrates arranged at a half pitch in a processing bath filled with a processing liquid, a pair of carriers conveyed from a carrier stage can be mounted and mounted. A first moving member for moving the first group of substrates housed in one placed carrier to a first delivery position on one carrier in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch; and in the other placed carrier. A carrier mounting table having a second moving member that moves the accommodated second group of substrates to the second delivery position on the other carrier in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch, and a carrier carrier. A carrier holding portion for holding the carrier when moving the carrier platforms from the stage,
A first substrate holding part capable of holding the first group of substrates moved to the first delivery position by the first moving member in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch, and the second group moved to the second delivery position. Of the first group held by the first substrate holding unit and the transporting unit having a chuck mechanism provided with a second substrate holding unit capable of holding the substrates in the same pitch. When the substrate is transported to the second delivery position side and the second group of substrates in the other carrier is moved to the second delivery position by the second moving member, the second group of substrates is the first group of substrates. Position adjusting means for adjusting the relative positions of the first and second transfer positions in the board alignment direction so that the first and second transfer positions are inserted without contacting the gap.

According to a second aspect of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the position adjusting means guides the lower ends of the pair of carriers which are transported by the transport means and descend onto the carrier mounting table, and the pair of carriers are carriers. It is characterized in that it has a positioning portion into which the lower ends of the pair of carriers are respectively fitted when they are placed on the placing table.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention, the substrates housed in a pair of carriers received by the carrier stage at equal pitches are arranged at a half pitch by pitch conversion and arranged at a half pitch. In a substrate processing apparatus for immersing a processed substrate in a processing tank filled with a processing liquid,
Carrier transfer means for transferring a carrier, a first position for receiving a pair of carriers transferred from the carrier stage by the carrier transfer means, and a second position for taking out a first group of substrates in one of the received carriers onto the carrier. And the second in the other carrier I received
The third position where the substrates of the group are taken out onto the carrier, and the taken-out substrates of the second group are displaced by a half pitch with respect to the substrate arrangement direction with respect to the substrates of the first group taken out at the second position. A first moving member that is movable between the first group and the second group of substrates accommodated in the one carrier in the second position and arranged on the one carrier in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch; , The second stored in the other carrier when in the third position
A carrier mounting table having a second moving member that moves the substrates of the group to the other carrier in a state where they are arranged at an equal pitch; and the carrier mounting table is fixed on one carrier when the carrier mounting table is in the second position, A first substrate holding part capable of holding the first group of substrates moved on one carrier in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch and a second moving member when the carrier mounting table is at the third position. Fixed chuck means having a substrate insertion part that allows the second group of substrates to be inserted without coming into contact with the gap between the first group of substrates, and the second moving member is held by the first substrate holding part. First done
It is characterized in that the substrates of the group and the substrates of the second group inserted without coming into contact with the gap between the substrates of the first group are moved to the substrate transfer position above the chuck means.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, the substrate processing apparatus moves to a substrate transfer position above the fixed chuck means to receive the first and second groups of substrates and the first and second groups of substrates to the processing bath side. It is characterized by further comprising a substrate carrying means for carrying.

[0016]

1 is a view for explaining a planar structure of a substrate cleaning apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, this substrate cleaning apparatus has a carrier stage 10 for receiving a pair of carriers for accommodating wafers from the outside of the apparatus, a carrier transfer apparatus CTR as a transfer means for transferring the received carriers, and a wafer from the carrier. And a wafer lifter 3 for temporarily holding wafers aligned at a half pitch in the wafer insertion / removal section 20.
0, and a wafer transfer device WTR that receives and transfers a wafer held at a half pitch by the wafer lifter 30,
A single tank type processing tank 40 that stores wafers of a half pitch transferred by the wafer transfer device WTR and performs processing such as cleaning by sequentially supplying various chemicals and pure water, and a processed wafer. Drying section 50 for drying
And other maintenance area 60.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. In this part, career stage 1
The wafers W, which have been set up and stored at equal pitches in the two carriers C received at 0, are pitch-converted to a half pitch, aligned, and transferred to the wafer transfer device WTR.

The carrier C is placed on the carrier stage 10.
Is provided with a protrusion 11 which engages with a corner at the lower end of the carrier to position the carrier C.

The carrier transporting device CTR is provided with a head 70 which reciprocates in the vertical Z direction and the horizontal X direction, and makes a rotary motion in a horizontal plane. And this head 70
A chuck 72 including a pair of hands for holding the carrier C and moving it from the carrier stage 10 to the wafer loading / unloading section 20 is provided.

The wafer loading / unloading section 20 is provided with a first slide table 21 and a second slide table 22, and each of the slide tables 21 and 22 is a protrusion that engages with a corner at the lower end of the carrier C and positions the carrier C. 11 respectively. An opening 21b is opened in the center of the first slide table 21. Also, the first slide table 2
A first elevating member 21a (see FIG. 1) having a wafer holding groove formed on the upper surface is provided below 1 as a moving member and moves integrally with the first slide table 21 in the Y direction. Similarly, the opening 2 is also formed in the center of the second slide table 22.
2b is open and the second slide table 22
A second elevating member 22a having a wafer holding groove formed therein is provided as a moving member below and moves integrally with the second slide table in the Y direction. First lifting member 21
a (see FIG. 1) reciprocates in the Z direction at an appropriate timing to hold the lower end of the first wafer group housed in the carrier C placed on the first slide table 21. The wafer group is moved to the first delivery position above the carrier C. Further, the second elevating member 22a also reciprocates in the Z direction at an appropriate timing to move the second slide table 2
The second wafer group housed in the carrier C placed on the carrier 2 is moved to the second delivery position above the carrier C in the array state as it is.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
A wafer holding groove 73a extending in the vertical direction is formed in the chuck 72 provided on the TR, and the first wafer group moved to the first delivery position by the first elevating member 21a is arranged at an equal pitch. And hold at the first delivery position. As will be described later in detail, the chuck 72 is also provided with a mechanism for holding the second wafer group moved to the second delivery position at the second delivery position in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch. .

Here, a pair of slide tables 21, 2
2 is relatively movable in the opposite direction with respect to the Y direction by a slide mechanism provided for each and an air cylinder (not shown) for driving the slide mechanism. Adjusting the position adjusts the relative position of the first and second delivery positions. As a result, when the carrier transfer device CTR that has received the first wafer group is moved to the chuck 72 at the first transfer position and the first wafer group held by the carrier transfer device CTR is transferred to the second transfer position side, If the second wafer group is moved to the second delivery position by the elevating / lowering member 22a, the second wafer group is inserted without coming into contact with the gap between the first wafer group. At this time, a wafer passage groove 73b is formed in the chuck 72 provided in the carrier transfer device CTR, and the first wafer group arranged at the first delivery position is kept in the state of being arranged at an equal pitch, The second wafer group is inserted without contacting the gap between the first wafer group. The chuck 72 is provided with an advancing / retreating member 15 that is capable of advancing / retreating in the wafer passage groove 73b, and is inserted without contacting the gap of the first wafer group and moved to the second delivery position. The separated second wafer group is arranged in a second array in the state of being arranged at an equal pitch.
Hold in the delivery position. As described above, the first and second wafer groups housed in the pair of carriers C placed on the pair of slide tables 21 and 22 at equal pitches are arranged as a third wafer group in which they are aligned at a half pitch. Obtainable.

The wafer lifter 30 comprises a turntable 32 provided with a third elevating member 31 in which a wafer holding groove for temporarily holding the wafers arranged in a half pitch is provided. After receiving the wafer group from the carrier transfer device CTR to the third elevating / lowering member 30, the turntable 32 is rotated 90 ° to raise the third elevating / lowering member 31 in the Z direction, and the third half-pitch wafer transfer device WTR is provided. Transfer wafers. It is of course possible to rotate the turntable 32 by 90 ° after raising the third elevating member 31 to transfer the half-pitch third wafer group to the wafer transfer device WTR side.

The wafer transfer device WTR has its head 80.
In addition, a chuck 82 for holding the third wafer group held by the third elevating member 31 of the wafer lifter 30 is provided. The third wafer group held by the chuck 82 is the single-tank type processing tank 40.
(See FIG. 1) and is subjected to predetermined processing.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the structure of the chuck 72 provided in the carrier transfer device CTR. Chuck 72
Is composed of a pair of hands 73, 73, and these hands 73, 73 are fixed to a pair of rotary shafts 74, 74 connected to a drive source housed in the head 70,
The opening / closing operation is performed as the rotary shafts 74, 74 rotate. Grooves 79, 79 extending in the horizontal direction are cut on the inner surfaces of the lower ends of the pair of hands 73, 73.
With the opening and closing of the carrier C, the carrier C is held by being engaged with the protrusion at the upper end of the carrier C. Further, on the inner surfaces of the pair of hands 73, 73 facing each other, a large number of wafer holding grooves 73 are arranged at an equal pitch.
a is engraved, and the first wafer group moved to the first delivery position above the carrier C on the slide table 21 of FIG. 2 according to the opening and closing of the hands 73, 73 is arranged at an equal pitch. Hold in the state. Also, the wafer holding groove 7
Wafer passing grooves 73b are engraved at equal intervals between 3a, and the second wafer group is moved from the lower side of the first wafer group while the first wafer group is held by the wafer holding grooves 73a. It can be inserted into the gap.
Moreover, on the inner surfaces of the pair of hands 73, 73 facing each other,
Advancing / retreating members 75, 75, which are substrate holding members, are formed, and wafer holding grooves 75a aligned with the wafer passage groove 73b are engraved on the opposing surfaces of these advancing / retreating members 75, 75. With the protrusion of the advancing / retreating members 75, 75, the gap between the first wafer group held in the wafer holding groove 73a, that is, the second wafer group inserted in the wafer passage groove 73b is held. The forward / backward movement of the forward / backward members 75, 75 is adjusted by an air cylinder 76 which is an actuator.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view for explaining the structure of the hand 73. Along with the operation of the air cylinder 76, the advancing / retreating member 75 reciprocates in the AB direction via a transmission member 77 composed of a shaft or the like. When the advancing / retreating member 75 moves to the limit in the B direction, the second wafer group moves to the wafer passage groove 73.
Entry into b is allowed. When the advancing / retreating member 75 moves to the limit in the A direction, the second wafer group in the wafer passage groove 73b is cut into the advancing / retreating member 75 by the wafer holding groove 75.
held by a.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining modified examples of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. This variant is
In the wafer loading / unloading section 20, the pair of slide tables 21 and 22 shown in FIG. 2 are replaced with a fixed table 25. In this modification, the fixed table 25
The pair of carriers C carried by the carrier carrying device CTR is automatically aligned by its own weight.

On the fixed table 25, there are provided first and second projections 28 and 29 for positioning the carrier C by engaging the corners at the lower ends of the pair of carriers C and C. The first protrusion 28 and the second protrusion 29 have a half pitch (p / 2) with respect to each other in the X direction, which is the direction in which the wafers are arranged.
They are staggered. Further, slopes 28a, 29a, which are guide portions, are provided on the upper portions of the first and second protrusions 28, 29.
Is formed, and when the carrier C is placed on the table 25, the lower part of the carrier C has the slopes 28a, 29.
It descends while hitting a. In this way, both carriers C,
Since C is guided to the slopes 28a and 29a, both carriers C and C are positioned with a half pitch (p / 2) offset. That is, the first and second protrusions 28,
By appropriately setting the size of the inclined surface of 29, the pair of carriers C can be shifted from each other by a half pitch (p / 2) without a complicated device configuration. Here, the normal pitch p is 4.76 mm for a 6-inch wafer,
In the case of an 8-inch wafer, it is 6.35 mm, and the wafers are stored in the carrier at this pitch P. Although not shown in the drawing, an opening 21b is formed in the center of the portion surrounded by the four first protrusions 28, and the first elevating member 21a (see FIG. 1) is formed through the opening 21b.
(See) goes up and down. Similarly, an opening 22b is opened in the center of the portion surrounded by the four second protrusions 29, and the second elevating member 22a (see FIG. 1) moves up and down through the opening 22b.

FIG. 6 is a side view for explaining the structure of the first protrusion 28. The inclined surface 28a, which is a guide portion provided on the upper portion of the first protrusion 28, guides the lower portion of the carrier C when the carrier C is placed on the table 25. First protrusion 2
Positioning surface 28b which is a positioning portion provided in the lower portion of 8
Holds the lower part of the carrier C when the carrier C is placed on the table 25.

Further, a positioning member for contacting the lower end of the carrier C and a pressing means such as an air cylinder for pressing the carrier C toward the positioning member to position the carrier C are provided on the table 25, and the first delivery is performed. The relative position between the position and the second delivery position may be adjusted.

As is apparent from the above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the first embodiment, the pair of carriers C are received on the carrier stage 10 and the substrates C which have been set up and stored at equal pitches in these carriers C are half. A single carrier transporting device CTR is only required as a transporting device when the pitches are converted into pitches and arranged. Therefore, the mechanism for pitch conversion can be simplified.
That is, it suffices to use the conventional carrier transfer device CTR almost as it is and provide the chuck 72 with the advancing / retreating member 75 for pitch conversion. Further, since the chuck 72 of the carrier transfer device CTR does not move to the single tank type processing tank 40 side, the advancing / retreating member 75 provided on the chuck 72 is disposed.
It is possible to prevent a situation in which, for example, is exposed to a chemical solution and deterioration progresses rapidly, resulting in an increase in running cost. further,
By not moving the carrier transfer device CTR to the single-tank processing tank 40 side, it is possible to prevent particles from entering the single-tank processing tank 40 and adhering to the wafer, thus improving the quality of the processed wafer. be able to. In addition, since the function of arranging the substrates by converting them into a half-pitch and arranging them is mostly concentrated in the carrier transfer device CTR, it is possible to simplify the structure of other parts and easily change the specifications thereof. Will be things.

The substrate processing apparatus of the second embodiment will be described below. In the second embodiment, the wafer loading / unloading section 20, the wafer lifter 30, and the carrier transfer device CT of the first embodiment are used.
It is a modification of R. Therefore, other parts are common, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the structure and operation of the substrate processing apparatus of the second embodiment. Here, FIG.
FIG. 7B shows a planar structure of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 7B shows a method of arranging the substrates, which have been set up and stored in a pair of carriers C at equal pitches, by performing pitch conversion into a half pitch. It is a figure explaining.

In FIG. 7A, the carrier transfer device CTR of the substrate processing apparatus of the second embodiment transfers only the carrier C, unlike the case of the first embodiment. Therefore, although not shown, the chuck provided in the carrier transfer device CTR has a pair of hands 73, 7 unlike the case of FIG.
Only a pair of horizontally extending grooves 79, 79 for holding the upper portion of the carrier C are cut in the inner surfaces of the lower end 3 facing each other.

The interface section IF is a section for taking out the wafer from the carrier C, converting the pitch to a half pitch, and transferring the wafer whose pitch has been converted to the half pitch to the wafer transfer device WTR.

The slide table 90 provided in the interface section IF is movable in the X direction as appropriate, and has a first position (a dotted line in the figure) for receiving the pair of carriers C transported from the carrier stage 10 by the carrier transport device CTR. , A second position (one-dot chain line in the figure) where the first wafer group in one of the pair of received carriers C is taken out onto the carrier C, and the pair of received carriers C
The second wafer group in the other one moves to and from the third position (solid line in the drawing) taken out onto the carrier C. The second wafer group taken out at the third position is a position shifted by a half pitch with respect to the wafer arrangement direction (X direction) with respect to the first wafer group taken out at the second position.

The slide table 90 includes a pair of turntables 91 and 92 on which a pair of carriers C are placed and which rotate in a horizontal plane. By the carrier transfer device CTR, the carriers C placed on both turntables 91 and 92 in a state where the wafers are arranged in the Y direction are rotated by 90 ° in the horizontal plane, and the arrangement direction of the internal wafers is shown in the figure. Convert from Y direction to X direction.

At the center of the turntable 91, there is provided a first elevating member 91a which is provided with a wafer holding groove and which moves integrally with the slide table 90 in the X direction. The first elevating member 91a moves upward in the Z direction when the slide table 90 is in the second position, and the first wafer groups housed in the carrier C on the turntable 92 are arranged at equal pitches. The carrier C is moved above. At this time, the fixed chuck 95 as the fixed chuck means holds the first wafer group moved onto the carrier C on the turntable 92 in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch. The fixed chuck 95 is provided with a wafer holding groove similar to the wafer holding groove 73a in FIG. 3 for holding the first wafer group.

In the center of the turntable 92, a wafer holding groove is provided, and a second elevating member 92a is provided which moves integrally with the slide table 90 in the X direction. The second elevating member 92a moves up in the Z direction when the slide table 90 is in the third position, and the second wafer groups housed in the carrier C on the turntable 91 are arranged at an equal pitch. The carrier C is moved above. At this time, although the first wafer group is held on the fixed chuck 95, the second lifting member 92a inserts the substrate of the second wafer group in a state where the substrate of the second wafer group does not come into contact with the gap between the substrates of the first wafer group. In order to allow the above, a wafer passage groove similar to the wafer passage groove 73b of FIG. 3 is formed as a substrate insertion portion.

Here, the second elevating member 92a arranged in the center of the turntable 92 has a wafer holding groove formed at intervals of a half pitch. Therefore, when the second elevating member 92a continues to rise, the substrates of the second wafer group are inserted into the gaps of the first wafer group held by the fixed chuck 95 without contacting them, and the first and second wafer groups are As a third wafer group which is alternately arranged at a half pitch, the third wafer group is integrally lifted together with the second elevating member 92a.

FIG. 7 (b) is a diagram for explaining the steps from obtaining the first and second wafer groups having a normal pitch to obtaining the third wafer group having a half pitch. When the slide table 90 is in the third position, the fixed chuck 95 already holds the first wafer group WG1 from the first carrier C. When the second elevating member 92a moves up, the substrates of the second wafer group WG2 in the carrier C are inserted without coming into contact with the gaps between the substrates of the first wafer group WG1. When the second elevating member 92a further rises, the first and second wafer groups WG1,
WG2 rises integrally as a third wafer group WG3 in which these are alternately arranged at a half pitch. The wafer transfer device W is provided at the substrate transfer position above the fixed chuck 95.
The TR chuck 82 is on standby. Therefore, the second
Third wafer group WG3 raised together with the lifting member 92a
Is held by the chuck 82 and conveyed to the processing tank side.

As is clear from the above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the second embodiment, the pair of carriers C are received by the carrier stage 10 and the substrates C which are set up and stored at regular pitches in these carriers C are halved. When the pitch is converted into pitches and arranged, the carrier means such as the carrier carrier CTR is not used. Therefore, the mechanism and operation for pitch conversion can be made simple and accurate.

Further, since the fixed chuck 95 does not rotate, move, or vertically move up and down in the horizontal plane, the wafer holding groove of the fixed chuck 95 can be reliably positioned only by positioning the slide table 90. WG
1 and can hold the second wafer group WG2
Can be passed through the wafer passage groove which is the substrate insertion portion. Therefore, the positioning is easy, and the mechanism,
The operation can be simplified.

Since the wafer transfer device WTR moves above the fixed chuck 95, the operation of inserting the second wafer group WG2 into the gap between the wafers forming the first wafer group WG1 and the first wafer group Since the operation of moving the third wafer group WG3, which is composed of the WG1 and the second wafer group WG2 and aligned at a half pitch, to the position where the third wafer group WG3 is transferred to the wafer transfer device WTR is performed at once by the second elevating member 92a, the wafer It is possible to prevent an increase in the time required for the transportation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the first embodiment, the advancing / retreating members 75, 75 incorporated in the chuck 72 of the carrier transfer device CTR.
Therefore, not only the second wafer group but also the first wafer group may be held.

Further, in the modification shown in FIG. 5, the first and second protrusions 28 and 29 are installed so as to correspond to the four corners of the carrier C, but instead of this, they are placed on the table 25. At the lower ends of the paired carriers C, for example, the carrier C
It is possible to use a positioning member that abuts from the + X direction side and a pressing member that presses the pair of carriers C against the positioning member. At this time, the positioning member uses the slopes 28a, 29 provided on the first and second protrusions 28, 29.
does not need a.

[0048]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect, the substrates, which are set up and stored at equal pitches in the pair of carriers received by the carrier stage, are pitched at a half pitch. When converting and arranging, only a single conveying means is required. Therefore, the mechanism for pitch conversion can be simplified.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the second aspect, the position adjusting means has the guide portion for guiding the lower end of the carrier and the positioning portion into which the lower end of the guided carrier is fitted.
Positioning is performed by lowering the carrier by its own weight. Therefore, the relative positions of the first and second transfer positions in the substrate arrangement direction can be adjusted without taking a complicated device configuration.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the third aspect, when a pair of carriers received in the carrier stage and arranged and stored in a set at equal pitches are arranged after being pitch-converted into a half pitch, a single transfer is performed. It just needs means. Moreover, since the positioning when inserting the second group of substrates into the gap between the first group of substrates can be performed only by moving the carrier mounting table, the positioning is simple and the mechanism and operation required for pitch conversion are provided. Will be easy.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the substrate transfer means moves above the fixed chuck means, the second group of substrates is inserted into the gap between the substrates forming the first group of substrates. The operation and the operation of moving the third group of substrates, which are composed of the first group of substrates and the second group of substrates and are aligned at a half pitch, to the position where they are transferred to the substrate transfer means are performed once by the second moving member. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the time required for carrying the substrate from becoming long. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a planar structure of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main part of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a main part of the carrier transport device CTR shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a hand 73 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a main part of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the structure and operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Carrier Stage 11 Protrusion 20 Wafer Inserting / Removing Part 21 Carrier Placement Part 21 Slide Table 30 Wafer Lifter 32 Turntable 40 Single Tank Type Processing Tank 50 Drying Part 70 Head 72 Chuck 73 Hand 73a Wafer Holding Groove 73b Wafer Passing Groove 75 Advancing / Retracting Member 75a Wafer holding groove 76 Air cylinder 77 Transmission member 79 Groove 80 Head 82 Chuck C Carrier CTR Carrier transfer device W Wafer WTR Wafer transfer device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pair of carriers received on a carrier stage are arranged and arranged at equal pitches in a pair of carriers, and the substrates are arranged with a pitch converted into a half pitch, and the substrates arranged at the half pitch are filled with a processing liquid. In a substrate processing apparatus for immersion treatment in a processing tank, a pair of carriers conveyed from a carrier stage can be placed, and the first group of substrates stored in one of the placed carriers can be placed at an equal pitch. A first moving member that moves the first carrier to the first delivery position on the one carrier in the arranged state, and a second moving member housed in the other carrier that is placed.
A carrier mounting table having a second moving member that moves the substrates of the group to the second delivery position on the other carrier in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch; and moving the carrier from the carrier stage to the carrier mounting table. A first substrate holder capable of holding the carrier holding portion that holds the carrier when carrying out the operation, and the first group of substrates that have been moved to the first transfer position by the first moving member in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch. Means and a transfer mechanism including a chuck mechanism having a second substrate holding part capable of holding the second group of substrates moved to the second transfer position in a state of being arranged at an equal pitch; In the other carrier by the second moving member when the first group of substrates held by the first substrate holding part is transported to the second delivery position side by the moving means. The first and second substrates are arranged so that when the second group of substrates is moved to the second delivery position, the second group of substrates is inserted without contacting the gap between the first group of substrates. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a position adjusting unit that adjusts a relative position of the transfer position in the substrate arrangement direction. 2. The position adjusting means guides the lower ends of the pair of carriers, which are conveyed by the conveying means and descend onto the carrier mounting table, and the pair of carriers on the carrier mounting table. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning portion into which the lower ends of the pair of carriers are fitted when mounted on the substrate. 3. A pair of carriers received on a carrier stage are arranged and arranged at equal pitches in a pair of carriers, and are arranged at a pitch converted into a half pitch, and the substrates arranged at the half pitch are filled with a treatment liquid. In a substrate processing apparatus for performing immersion treatment in a processing tank, a carrier transfer unit for transferring the carrier, a first position for receiving the pair of carriers transferred by the carrier transfer unit from the carrier stage, and one of the received positions. The second position in which the first group of substrates in the carrier is taken out onto the carrier, and the second group of substrates in the other received carrier are taken out onto the carrier and the taken out second group of substrates is the above-mentioned second position. The position is shifted by a half pitch with respect to the substrate arrangement direction with respect to the first group of substrates taken out in two positions. The substrate of the first group, which is movable between the third position and the second position and is accommodated in the one carrier, is arranged on the one carrier while being arranged at an equal pitch. A second moving member for moving the first moving member, and a second moving member for moving the second group of substrates housed in the other carrier on the other carrier in the third position while being arranged at equal pitches; A carrier mounting table having a moving member, and the first group of substrates fixed on the one carrier when the carrier mounting table is in the second position and moved to the one carrier at an equal pitch. A gap between the first group of substrates that can be held in an array state and the second group of substrates is separated from the first group of substrates by the second moving member when the carrier mounting table is in the third position. Fixed chuck means having a substrate insertion part that allows the substrate to be inserted in a state where the second moving member is held by the first substrate holding part and the first group of substrates. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the second group of substrates inserted without contacting the gap between the first group of substrates is moved to a substrate transfer position above the chuck means. 4. A substrate transfer that moves to the substrate transfer position above the fixed chuck means to receive the first and second groups of substrates and transfers the first and second groups of substrates to the processing bath side. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means.