JPH10107115A - Substrate treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a mechanism, regarding the transportation of a substrate by laminating and arranging a cassette placement part and a substrate treating part in the height direction and reducing an occupation area. SOLUTION: A processing device has a substrate treating part 10 for treating substrates W and a substrate carrying part 40 for carrying the substrates W to the substrate treating part 10. In this case, a cassette placement part 30 for placing a cassette C for laminating and storing a plurality of substrates W is laminated and arranged in the height direction Y of the substrate treating part 10, and at the same time, the traveling distance of the height direction Y of the substrate carrying part 40 is constituted to be variable, this enabling the substrates W to be passed to the cassette C of the cassette placement part 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cleaning, coating, developing, and the like of a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a substrate for an optical disk (hereinafter, simply referred to as a substrate). The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing processing, and more particularly to a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate processing unit and a substrate transport unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional substrate processing apparatus of this type, for example, there is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning an upper surface of a substrate. This device will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG.

The substrate processing unit 10 mechanically performs a cleaning process on the substrate W using a brush or the like. In this apparatus, two substrate processing units 10 are provided side by side, and further two substrate processing units 10 are provided side by side at a position facing the substrate transfer unit TR for transferring the substrate W. The substrate transport section TR is provided with a substrate W between all the substrate processing sections 10.
It is configured to be movable along the left-right direction in the figure so that it can be delivered and transported. The cassette C is for stacking and storing a plurality of substrates W. In this apparatus, four cassettes C are mounted on the cassette mounting portion 30. All the cassettes C are placed with the transport direction, which is the insertion / removal direction of each substrate W, directed to the indexer robot ID side so that the substrates W can be transferred to and from the indexer robot ID. . The indexer robot ID is
It is configured to be movable in the vertical direction in the figure so that all cassettes C and substrates W can be transferred.

[0004] The substrate W transferred from the cassette C to the indexer robot ID is transferred to a substrate transfer section TR that can move in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the indexer robot ID moves. Then, the substrate is transported to any one of the substrate cleaning units 10 by the substrate transport unit TR to perform a cleaning process. This substrate transport section TR has an indexer robot ID
The substrate W can be transferred between the substrate processing unit 10 and the substrate processing unit 10 which is disposed so as to be able to transfer the substrate W between the substrate processing unit 10 and the vertical direction in the figure.
Is configured to be able to turn so as to be transported.

[0005]

Usually, such an apparatus is installed in a clean room. However, since the cost for maintaining the cleanliness is reflected in the production cost, many apparatuses are installed in the clean room. It is desired to have as small an occupation area as possible. However, the conventional apparatus as described above uses the indexer robot ID for transporting the substrate W between the cassette C and the substrate transport section TR.
However, there is a problem that the occupied area of the apparatus is increased due to the interposition of the transfer path and the fact that the cassette mounting section 30 and the substrate processing section 10 are arranged in a plane.

Further, since it is necessary to cause the substrate transport section TR to perform a turning operation for the same reason as described above, there is a problem that a mechanism relating to transport is complicated. Such a turning operation causes torsion of the wiring and the like, so that an obstacle such as disconnection is likely to occur, and the reliability of the device is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a cassette mounting section and a substrate processing section are stacked and arranged in the height direction to reduce an occupied area and convey a substrate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of simplifying the mechanism according to the above.

[0008]

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate processing unit that performs processing on a substrate, and a substrate transport unit that transports the substrate to the substrate processing unit, a plurality of substrates are vertically moved. A cassette mounting portion on which a cassette for storing in the cassette is placed, stacked in the height direction of the substrate processing unit, and a movable distance in the height direction of the substrate transfer unit is configured to be variable; It is characterized in that the substrate can be transferred to and from the cassette of the mounting portion.

The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the substrate processing apparatus according to the above, in a transfer direction for transferring the substrate between the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting portion, the height direction, and a horizontal direction orthogonal to the transfer direction in three directions Only a driving means for moving the substrate transfer section is provided.

[0010]

The operation of the first aspect of the invention is as follows. Since the cassette mounting portions are stacked and arranged in the height direction of the substrate processing portion, a three-dimensional configuration can be achieved. further,
The substrate transport unit is configured so that substrates can be directly transferred to and from the cassettes of the cassette mounting units stacked in the height direction, so that the indexer robot does not intervene between them. The substrate can be directly transferred from the cassette to the substrate processing section. Therefore,
The substrate can be transferred between the cassette of the cassette mounting section and the substrate processing section only by linear movement.

Further, since the moving distance of the substrate transfer section in the height direction is configured to be variable, the transfer of the substrate to and from the cassette in which a plurality of substrates are stored is performed by the substrate transfer section at the transfer position. This can be done by moving to a corresponding desired height. Therefore, the cassette is kept stationary in the cassette mounting portion, and the substrate stored in the cassette is kept stationary in the cassette.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the driving means arranges the substrate transport section in the transport direction in which the substrate is transported to and from the cassette, and stacks the cassette mounting section and the substrate processing section. The substrate can be transferred between the cassette and the substrate processing unit only by performing linear movement in only three directions, that is, the height direction and the horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus which is an example of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This apparatus is configured to remove dirt attached to the upper surface of the substrate W by brush cleaning.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a substrate processing unit for performing a cleaning process on the upper surface of the substrate W by brush cleaning. The substrate processing unit 10 includes a rotation mechanism 10a for driving the substrate W to rotate in a substantially horizontal posture, and a rotation mechanism 10a.
The apparatus is provided with a scattering prevention cup 10b for preventing the cleaning liquid from scattering around the periphery of a, and a cleaning mechanism 10c for cleaning the substrate W. The cleaning mechanism 10c is configured to be swingable, and a rotating cleaning brush 10d is attached to a tip portion directed downward. The substrate processing unit 10 is closed at its near side by a plate member (not shown).

At the top of the substrate processing section 10, a cassette mounting section 30 on which two cassettes C for stacking and storing the substrates W can be mounted is provided. The front side of the cassette mounting portion 30 is open, and the operator can mount the cassette C storing the unprocessed substrates W or take out the cassette C storing the processed substrates W from this portion. ing. Each of the cassettes C is placed with the transport direction, which is the insertion / removal side of the substrate W, facing the back side so that the substrate W can be transported to and from the substrate transport unit 40 described later. ing.

By arranging the cassette mounting sections 30 in the height direction of the substrate processing section 10 in this manner, the apparatus can be formed into a three-dimensional structure, and the occupied area of the apparatus can be reduced.

Further, a substrate transport unit 40 for transporting the substrate W between the substrate processing unit 10 and the cassette mounting unit 30 is provided behind the substrate processing unit 10 and the cassette mounting unit 30. This substrate transport section 40
Is a transfer direction for transferring and transferring the substrate W to and from the cassette C (the direction indicated by the symbol X in the figure), and a height at which the substrate processing unit 10 and the cassette mounting unit 30 are stacked and arranged. It is configured to be movable only in three directions, that is, a direction (direction indicated by reference numeral Y in the drawing) and a horizontal direction (direction indicated by reference numeral Z in the drawing) orthogonal to the transport direction X.

The substrate transport section 40 will be described with reference to the perspective view of FIG. The substrate transport section 40 includes a support section 41 for supporting the substrate W in a horizontal posture, a moving mechanism 43 for moving the support section 41 along the horizontal direction Z, and a support section 41 for moving the support section 41 in the height direction Y. Elevating mechanism 45 for elevating and lowering along
And an advance / retreat mechanism 47 for moving the support section 41 along the transport direction X. The driving of the moving mechanism 43, the elevating mechanism 45, and the reciprocating mechanism 47 is controlled by a control unit including a microcomputer (not shown).

The supporting portion 41 has a thin plate-like arm 41b having an upper surface formed with a suction port 41a for sucking the lower surface of the substrate W, and a column 41c having an upper end fixed to the base end of the arm 41b. And a base 41d provided at a lower end of the support column 41c. The support portion 41 configured as described above can be integrally moved in three directions by respective mechanisms described later.

The movable base member 43a of the moving mechanism 43
A pair of guide rails 43b arranged side by side on a base (not shown)
Is slidably fitted to the boss. Movable base member 43
a is screwed into a screw shaft 43c provided in parallel with the guide rail 43b. By rotating and driving a motor (not shown) connected to one end of the screw shaft 43c, the movable base member 43a moves in the horizontal direction Z.

The movable base member 43a of the moving mechanism 43
Has a lifting mechanism 45 mounted thereon. A portal frame 45a is provided upright on the movable base member 43a, and a pair of guide shafts 45b is provided over the portal frame 45a in the vertical direction. An elevating member 45c is slidably fitted into the pair of guide shafts 45b. Further, the elevating member 45c is screwed to a screw shaft 45d provided in parallel with the guide shaft 45b, and is moved up and down by driving a belt with a motor 45e. The amount of rotation of the motor 45 is variably controlled by the above-described control unit, and the amount of elevation of the elevating member 45c is varied. Further, an advancing / retracting mechanism 47 is provided on the elevating member 45c.

A guide rail 47b is laid on a base plate 47a of the reciprocating mechanism 47 in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction Z, and a base 41d of the support portion 41 is slidably fitted on the guide rail 47b. I have. Further, an endless belt 47c is provided on the base plate 47a via a pulley along the guide rail 47b. Belt 47
The base 41d of the support part 41 is connected to one part of c, and the support part 41 is driven forward and backward along the transport direction X by driving the pulse motor 47d.

The moving mechanism 43, the elevating mechanism 45, and the advancing / retracting mechanism 47 correspond to driving means in the present invention.

Next, the cleaning process of the substrate W by the above-described apparatus will be described. First, the operator places a cassette C in which unprocessed substrates W are stacked and stored in the cassette mounting section 30. In this example, two cassettes C containing unprocessed substrates W are placed. One cassette C stores unprocessed substrates C, and the other cassette C is left empty. Alternatively, the processed substrate W may be collected in the other cassette C.

When the processing start is instructed, the moving mechanism 43 moves the supporting portion 41 along the horizontal direction Z. For example, when the support unit 41 moves to a position facing the cassette C on the left side when viewed from the near side, the movement is stopped, and then the lifting mechanism 4
5 moves up and down the support portion 41 along the height direction Y. The movement is stopped when the support portion 41 has risen to the height of the substrate W at the predetermined position of the cassette C, and the advance / retreat mechanism 47 advances and moves the support portion 41 along the transport direction X. And
After the suction port 41a of the arm 41b sucks the lower surface of the substrate W, the advance / retreat mechanism 47 moves out of the support portion 41. The elevating mechanism 45 moves down the support unit 41 to move the substrate W to the height of the substrate processing unit 10. Thereafter, the reciprocating mechanism 47 operates to transfer the substrate W to the rotating mechanism 10a protruding upward from the scattering prevention cup 10b.

The substrate processing unit 10 that has received the substrate W accommodates the rotation mechanism 10a in the scattering prevention cup 10b, rotates the rotation mechanism 10a, and swings the cleaning mechanism 10c on the upper surface of the substrate W. At this time, the cleaning brush 10d is rotated while the cleaning liquid is supplied onto the substrate W from a cleaning liquid supply unit (not shown) to mechanically clean the upper surface of the substrate W. When the cleaning process for a predetermined time is completed, the cleaned substrate W is stored in the original position of the original cassette C by the substrate transfer unit 40 in a manner reverse to the above-described operation. In this manner, the cleaning process is sequentially performed on each substrate W. Since each substrate W is stored in the cassette C in the vertical direction, the substrate W corresponds to the transfer position of each substrate W in the cassette C. By controlling the amount of elevation of the elevating member 45c and changing the moving distance of the substrate transport unit 40 in the height direction, the transfer of the substrate W between the cassette C and the substrate transport unit 40 is performed.

As described above, since the cassette mounting section 30 can be formed in a three-dimensional configuration by stacking the cassette mounting section 30 in the height direction Y of the substrate processing section 10, a conventional apparatus (FIG. 4), the occupied area can be greatly reduced. Further, since the substrate transport section 40 can directly transfer the substrate C and the substrate W of the cassette mounting section 30, there is no need to interpose an indexer robot between them as in the conventional apparatus, and the occupied area is reduced. can do. Further, since it is not necessary to consider the cooperative operation between the indexer robot and the substrate transfer unit unlike the conventional apparatus, the control program can be simplified. Further, since the moving distance in the height direction of the substrate transfer unit 40 is configured to be variable, the transfer of the substrate to and from the cassette C in which a plurality of substrates W are stored is performed by the substrate transfer unit 40 side. By moving to a desired height corresponding to. Therefore, cassette C
Is kept stationary in the cassette mounting portion 30, and the substrate W stored in the cassette C is also kept stationary in the cassette C. Therefore, the substrate W is scraped off by moving the cassette C up and down. Does not occur, and the substrate W can be stored in the cassette C in a clean state.

The substrate transport section 40 moves linearly only in the three directions of the transport direction X for transferring the substrate W, the height direction Y, and the horizontal direction Z orthogonal to the transport direction X. Since the C and the substrate processing unit 10 can be accessed, the turning operation of the support unit 41 is unnecessary. Therefore, as described above, the substrate transport unit 40 is moved in the transport direction X
Reciprocating mechanism 47 that moves linearly along
Lifting mechanism 45 that moves linearly along
And the moving mechanism 43 that moves linearly along the line, so that the mechanism related to transport can be simplified. As a result, the twisting of the wirings due to the turning operation is eliminated, and the reliability can be improved.

It is sufficient that the cassette mounting sections 30 are stacked and arranged in the height direction Y of the substrate processing section 10, and the cassette mounting section 30 may have a stacking arrangement reverse to the above configuration. That is, the cassette mounting section 30 may be arranged in a stacked manner below the substrate processing section 10.

<Second Embodiment> Next, referring to FIG.
An example will be described. This apparatus is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate similarly to the apparatus of the first embodiment. In the figure, components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are the same as those in the above-described configuration, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the substrate cleaning apparatus, a cassette mounting section 30 for mounting a cassette C is provided above the substrate processing section 10 as in the first embodiment. Further, a total of four heat treatment units 50 in two layers and two rows are provided above the cassette mounting unit 30.
Has been deployed. Each of the heat treatment units 50 heats the substrate W to dry the substrate W after the cleaning process. The heat treatment unit 50
It corresponds to the substrate processing section of the present invention.

The substrate transporting section 40 includes the moving mechanism 43, the elevating mechanism 45, and the reciprocating mechanism 47 shown in FIG. 2 as in the first embodiment. It is configured so that the substrate W can be transferred.
The support unit 42 is provided in the reciprocating mechanism 47. The support unit 42 has a different arm shape from the support unit 41 of the first embodiment. That is, in the first embodiment, the substrate W is held by suction, but in the present embodiment, the substrate W is abutted and supported without using the suction force. Specifically, a supporting member 4 having an arc shape in plan view and a downwardly inclined vertical cross section is provided at each of the distal end portion of the arm 42a and a position away from the proximal end portion by about the diameter of the substrate W.
2b is attached. Since the substrate W is supported by the supporting member 42b of the supporting portion 42 at the peripheral edge of the lower surface by point contact, the contact area can be significantly reduced as compared with the suction support, and the substrate W due to the adhesion of particles can be used. Pollution can be prevented.

As described above, by arranging the heat treatment units 50 in the height direction Y of the substrate processing unit 10 in the same manner as the cassette mounting unit 30, the occupied area is increased as compared with the case where these are arranged in a plane. It can be significantly reduced. In addition, even when the above-described components are stacked and arranged in the height direction Y, since the cassette mounting portion 30 is arranged at the intermediate position, there is no inconvenience that the operation of replacing the cassette C by the operator is hindered. It does not happen.

In the above configuration, the cassette mounting portion 3
0 is stacked between the substrate processing unit 10 and the heat treatment unit 50, but the heat treatment unit 50 may be stacked above the substrate processing unit 10 and the cassette mounting unit 30 may be stacked above the substrate processing unit 10. Good.

In each of the above embodiments, a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate has been described as an example. However, a substrate coating apparatus for coating a substrate with a coating liquid may be configured as described above. The same effect can be obtained. Further, the present invention may be applied to a substrate developing apparatus that performs a developing process after exposing a coating film to a predetermined pattern, and the present invention can be applied to an apparatus that performs various processes.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a three-dimensional configuration is achieved by arranging the cassette mounting portions in the height direction of the substrate processing portion. Therefore, the occupied area can be reduced as compared with a conventional device arranged in a plane. Further, since the substrate can be directly transferred between the cassette and the substrate processing section only by linear movement, there is no need for the substrate transfer section to perform a turning operation, and the mechanism can be simplified.

Further, since the moving distance in the height direction of the substrate transfer unit is configured to be variable, the transfer of the substrate to and from the cassette in which a plurality of substrates are stored is performed by the substrate transfer unit at the transfer position. This can be done by moving to a corresponding desired height. Therefore, the cassette is kept stationary in the cassette mounting portion, and the substrate stored in the cassette is also kept stationary in the cassette. Therefore, when the cassette is moved up and down, the substrate is scraped and particles are generated. Such a situation does not occur, and the substrate can be stored in a clean state in the cassette.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be transferred only by performing linear movement in only three directions of the transfer direction, the height direction, and the horizontal direction. In addition, the mechanism for transporting the substrate transport unit and the driving unit for driving the substrate transport unit can be simplified. Therefore, the twisting of the wiring and the like due to the turning operation is eliminated, and the reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a substrate transport unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W ... Substrate 10 ... Substrate processing unit 10a ... Rotating mechanism 10b ... Scattering prevention cup 10c ... Washing mechanism 30 ... Cassette mounting part C ... Cassette X ... Transfer direction Y ... Height direction Z ... Horizontal direction 40 ... Substrate transfer unit 41, 42 support part 43 moving mechanism 45 elevating mechanism 47 advance / retreat mechanism 50 heat treatment part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cassette for storing a plurality of substrates in a vertical direction in a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate processing section for processing a substrate and a substrate transport section for transporting the substrate to the substrate processing section. The cassette mounting part on which is mounted is stacked and arranged in the height direction of the substrate processing part, and the moving distance in the height direction of the substrate transfer part is configured to be variable. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that it is configured to be able to deliver a substrate. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transfer direction in which the substrate is transferred to and from a cassette mounted on the cassette mounting portion, the height direction, and the transfer direction are orthogonal. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a driving unit that moves the substrate transport unit only in three directions, that is, a horizontal direction and a horizontal direction.