JPH10270529A - Device and method for carrying substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate carrying means, which can securely prevent the reattachment of contaminated material and the like to a substrate even if the structure is simple. SOLUTION: In a substrate carrying device 1, wherein an arm 21 is moved and a substrate W is fed and accepted for a processing unit 4 under the mounting state on the arm 21, a first supporting unit 41 arranged on the upper surface of the arm 21, and a second supporting arm 42 are provided respectively. Any one of the first supporting unit 41 and the second supporting unit 42 is constituted as extendible. A compressing means 43 is arranged at the lower side of the supporting unit, which is constituted extendible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus for carrying a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD glass substrate into and out of a processing section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices, photolithography is used to form circuits, electrode patterns, and the like on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. In this photolithography, cleaning and drying of the substrate, formation of a resist film on the substrate, exposure of the resist film,
A series of processing such as development is performed. In the processing apparatus for performing such cleaning and the like, the substrates taken out of the cassette placed in the cassette station are transported one by one to the processing section while being mounted on the arm, and each substrate is subjected to cleaning or the like. Are sequentially performed. In addition, the substrate that has been processed in the processing unit is transported again while being mounted on the arm, and returned into the cassette.

On the upper surface of the arm, for example, if the portion for supporting the substrate before cleaning is the same as the portion for supporting the substrate after cleaning, contaminants attached to the back surface of the substrate when the substrate before cleaning is mounted are removed. There is a problem that the contaminant adheres to the supporting portion via the upper surface of the arm and contaminates again on the back surface of the cleaned substrate when the cleaned substrate is transferred on the arm. Therefore, as means for solving this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-152266 discloses a substrate transfer device. That is, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-152266
In the substrate transfer device of No. 2, the substrate unloading arm that takes out the substrate before cleaning from the cassette and transports it to the cleaning unit, and the processed substrate storage arm that returns the cleaned substrate to the cassette in the cleaning unit are configured as separate mechanisms. And prevent re-adhesion of contaminants.

[0004]

However, in the case where the substrate unloading arm and the processed substrate storage arm are configured as separate mechanisms as in this substrate transfer device, the arm for unloading and the arm for storing are eventually required separately. In addition, the drive mechanism for switching between the take-out arm and the storage arm is relatively large and has a disadvantage that the structure is complicated. In addition, since the entire arm pivots in accordance with the switching operation, a considerably large space for moving the arm is required, and there is a problem that the device space cannot be effectively used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer apparatus and method capable of reliably preventing contaminants and the like from re-adhering to a substrate while having a simple structure.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate transfer apparatus for moving an arm and carrying a substrate in and out of a processing section while being mounted on the arm. , A first support portion and a second support portion disposed on the upper surface of the arm are provided, and one of the first support portion and the second support portion is configured to be swellable, and A pressure means is arranged below the swellable support portion. In the substrate transfer device according to the first aspect, as described in the second aspect, one of the first support portion and the second support portion is formed by an annular member formed on an upper surface of a support portion main body made of an elastic member. A pressurizing chamber may be provided inside the support body, with the protrusion serving as the upper surface of the support body located at the center of the annular protrusion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer apparatus for moving an arm and loading / unloading a substrate from / to a processing section while being placed on the arm. A support portion and a second support portion are provided, and one of the first support portion and the second support portion is configured to be contractible, and the pressure is reduced below the contractible support portion. The means is arranged. In the substrate transfer apparatus according to the third aspect, as described in the fourth aspect, one of the first support and the second support is
A depressurizing chamber is provided inside the support body, with the protrusion formed at the center of the upper surface of the support body made of an elastic member and the other as the upper edge of the support body surrounding the protrusion. Can be.

In the substrate transfer apparatus according to the first to fourth aspects, when the substrate before processing is transferred to the processing section, the lower surface of the substrate is supported by, for example, first support means. When unloading a substrate already processed in the processing section, the lower surface of the substrate is supported by, for example, the second support means. In this way, by supporting the substrate before processing and the substrate after processing on the upper surface of the same arm with different support means, re-adhesion of contaminants and the like to the substrate can be easily prevented.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer method for moving an arm and loading and unloading a substrate from and to a processing section while the arm is placed on the arm. A first support portion and a second support portion for supporting an existing substrate are arranged, and when loading or unloading of the substrate is performed, the support portion configured to be swellable is expanded. When the carrying-in or the carrying-out is performed in a state in which the supporting portion is extended, the supporting portion configured to be swellable is in a state in which the supporting portion is not bulged. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer method in which an arm is moved and a substrate is loaded and unloaded from a processing unit while being placed on the arm, wherein one of the arms is configured to be contractible on the upper surface of the arm. A first support portion and a second support portion for supporting the substrate, and when performing either loading or unloading of the substrate, the contractible supporting portion is contracted, When carrying in the other of carrying in and carrying out, the contractible supporting portion is not contracted.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described based on a cleaning apparatus 1 for cleaning a substrate W as an object to be processed. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cleaning apparatus 1 for cleaning a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD glass substrate. The cleaning apparatus 1 includes a substrate transfer device 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. On both sides of the substrate transfer device 2, a cassette station 3 and a cleaning unit 4 are arranged to face each other.

In the cassette station 3, a cassette C loaded by a transfer robot (not shown) or the like is placed. Inside the cassette C, a plurality of substrates W are accommodated in a state where they are arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals with a horizontal posture. The substrate W is, for example, a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer or a rectangular LCD glass substrate.

A transfer path 10 is formed at the center of the cleaning section 4, and the main transfer arm 11 moves along the transfer path 10. In the illustrated example, the transport path 10
On one side, chemical cleaning units 12, 13, and 14 for cleaning the substrate W using various chemicals such as an aqueous ammonia solution, an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution, and an aqueous hydrogen fluoride solution are arranged. A scrubber unit 15 for cleaning the substrate W with a brush and a rinsing drying unit 16 for rinsing the substrate W with pure water and drying the substrate W are arranged on the other side of the transfer path 10. ing. Each cleaning process is performed on the substrate W by transporting the substrate W to each of the units 12 to 16 in a predetermined order while the main transport arm 11 moves along the transport path 10.

The substrate transfer device 2 has an arm 21 mounted on the front surface of the base 20. As described below, in the substrate transfer device 2, the base 20 moves in the XY directions shown in FIG. 1 and moves up and down in the vertical direction.
It is configured to rotate around a vertical axis. In accordance with the movement of the base 20, the substrate W before cleaning is taken out of the cassette C placed on the cassette station 3, and the substrate W is transported while being placed on the arm 21. Hand over to 11
The substrate W already cleaned in the cleaning unit 4 is received from the main transfer arm 11 and transferred while being placed on the arm 21.
It is configured to return to the inside of the cassette C of the cassette station 3.

The base 20 has a reciprocating mechanism 22 for horizontally moving the base 20 in the X-axis direction in the posture shown in FIG.
A rotary elevating mechanism 23 that rotates and elevates the arm 21 by supporting the lower surface of the advancing / retreating mechanism 22 rotatably and vertically, and a rail 24 provided in the Y-axis direction to support the lower part of the rotary elevating mechanism 23 and support the lower part. And a lateral movement mechanism 25 that moves the arm 21 in the lateral direction by traveling along the road. The arm 21 is raised in a state where the arm 21 is fitted into the cassette C mounted on the cassette station 3 by the cooperation of the advance / retreat mechanism 22, the rotary elevating mechanism 23, and the lateral moving mechanism 25. The substrate W before cleaning can be taken out from inside C. And
The substrate W thus taken out is transported while being placed on the arm 21, and is delivered to the main transport arm 11 of the cleaning unit 4 which is waiting behind the substrate transport device 2. When returning the substrate W already cleaned in the cleaning unit 4 to the cassette C, the main transfer arm of the cleaning unit 4 which is standing by with the cleaned substrate W placed behind the substrate transfer device 2 is placed. 11 is inserted under the arm 11 and the arm 21 is raised from that state,
The cleaned substrate W is received from the main transfer arm 11. Then, the substrate W thus taken out is transported while being placed on the arm 21, and returned into the cassette C of the cassette station 3.

The upper surface of the arm 21 is provided with first support means 31 and second support means 32 arranged at least at three or more places. Although the specific configuration will be described later, these first support means 31 and second support means 32
Is a state in which the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the first support means 31 without being in contact with the second support means 32 on the upper surface of the arm 21 and the first support means 31 on the upper surface of the arm 21 The configuration is such that the state can be switched to a state in which the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the second support means 32 without making contact.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an arm 21 particularly suitable for carrying a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer having a disk shape. As shown, this arm 21 is
The first support means 31 and the second support means 32 which are arranged at three places are provided on the upper surface thereof, respectively. Further, guides 36 and 37 for positioning the periphery of a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer are provided at the distal end and the proximal end of the plate member 35. The lower surface of the substrate W positioned between the guides 36 and 37 is supported on the upper surface of the plate member 35 by only the first support means 31 and by the second support means 32 only. It is configured to be switched.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an arm 21 particularly suitable for transporting a substrate W such as an LCD glass substrate having a rectangular shape. As shown, this arm 21 is
The first support means 31 and the second support means 32, which are respectively disposed at three places, are provided on the upper surface thereof.
Are provided at six locations in total. The upper surface of these two arm members 38 can be switched between a state where the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the first support means 31 and a state where the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the second support means 32. I have.

As described above, the shape of the arm 21 can be freely configured such as, for example, one plate member 35 or two arm members 38. Further, the first support means 31 and the second support means 32 only need to be arranged at at least three places on the upper surface of the arm 21 so that the lower surface of the substrate W can be stably supported.

In the cleaning apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, first, the cassette C carried by the transfer robot or the like is placed on the cassette station 3. Inside the cassette C, unwashed substrates W are stored in a plurality of stages in a state of being arranged in parallel.

Next, the operation of taking out the substrate W from the inside of the cassette C is started by the arm 21 of the substrate transfer device 2. When taking out the unwashed substrate W from the cassette C, the upper surface of the arm 21 can be supported only by the first support means 31 on the lower surface of the substrate W. Then, the arm 21 is moved by the cooperation of the advance / retreat mechanism 22, the rotary elevating mechanism 23, and the lateral moving mechanism 25 described with reference to FIG. 2, and the arm 21 is fitted into the cassette C placed in the cassette station 3. The arm 21 is raised. Thus, the lower surface of the substrate W stored in the cassette C is
The substrate W is received by the arm 21 while being picked up from below. Then, the substrate W thus received on the arm 21 is taken out of the cassette C.

Next, while the state in which the lower surface of the substrate W thus taken out is supported on the arm 21 by only the first support means 31 is maintained, the cooperation of the advance / retreat mechanism 22, the rotary elevating mechanism 23 and the lateral moving mechanism 25 is performed. Transported by
The substrate W is transferred to the main transfer arm 11 of the cleaning unit 4 waiting at the rear of the substrate transfer device 2. The substrate W thus transferred is transferred to each of the units 12 to 16 of the cleaning unit 4 by a movement of the main transfer arm 11 in a predetermined order.
Each cleaning process is performed on the substrate W. Then, the substrate W after the cleaning processing in the cleaning unit 4 is placed on the main transfer arm 11 of the cleaning unit 4 and stands by behind the substrate transfer device 2.

Next, when returning the substrate W after the cleaning processing in the cleaning section 4 into the cassette C, a state in which the lower surface of the substrate W can be supported only by the second support means 32 on the upper surface of the arm 21 is set. I do. Then, the arm 21 is moved by the cooperation of the advance / retreat mechanism 22, the rotary elevating mechanism 23, and the lateral moving mechanism 25 described in FIG. 2, and stands by in a posture mounted on the main transfer arm 11 behind the substrate transfer device 2. After the arm 21 is positioned below the substrate W that is present, the arm 21 is raised. Thus, the lower surface of the substrate W placed on the main transfer arm 11 is supported only by the second support means 32, and the substrate W is picked up from below and received on the arm 21. The arm 21 is moved by the cooperation of the reciprocating mechanism 22, the rotary elevating mechanism 23, and the lateral moving mechanism 25, and the substrate W received on the arm 21 is transferred to the inside of the cassette C mounted on the cassette station 3. The substrate W is returned. Then, by repeating the above steps, when all the cleaning processes for the substrates W stored in the cassette C are completed, the cassette C is unloaded from the cassette station 3 by a transfer robot or the like.

Thus, according to the substrate transfer apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, when the substrate W is transferred between the cassette C mounted on the cassette station 3 and the main transfer arm 11 of the cleaning section 4, the substrate W is not cleaned. The substrate W of the first support means 31
Since the substrate W after cleaning is supported only by the second support means 32, even if contaminants adhere to the first support means 31 from the lower surface of the substrate W before cleaning, the substrate W is not removed. There is no need to worry about re-adhering to the substrate W after cleaning. Note that, in the substrate transfer device 2 of this embodiment,
The substrate W before cleaning is supported only by the second support means 32 and transferred from the cassette C to the main transfer arm 11, and the substrate W after cleaning is supported only by the first support means 31 and transferred from the main transfer arm 11. Even if it is configured to be conveyed to the cassette C, the re-adhesion of contaminants can be similarly prevented.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the first support means 31 and the second support means 32 suitably employed in the substrate transfer apparatus 2 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 shows a first supporting portion 4 formed of an annular projection on an upper surface of a supporting portion main body 40 formed on an upper surface of an arm 21.
1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which a first support portion 41 is formed and an upper surface of a support portion main body 40 at the center of the support portion 41 is used as a second support portion 42. Although only one first support part 41 and one second support part 42 are shown for the sake of explanation, the first support part 41 and the second support part At least three or more parts 42 are arranged.

The first support portion 41 and the second support portion 4
2 is integrally molded of an elastic material. As shown in FIG. 6, a fluid storage chamber 43 as a pressurizing means disposed below the second support section 42 is provided inside the support section main body 40. Is configured to be able to supply a fluid such as air through the circuit 44. When the fluid is not supplied to the fluid storage chamber 43, the first support portion 41 is higher than the second support portion 42 as shown by a solid line 42 in FIG. On the other hand, when the fluid is supplied into the fluid storage chamber 43, the dashed line 4 in FIG.
As shown by 2 ′, the second support portion 42 expands upward, and the second support portion 42 is higher than the first support portion 41.

In this embodiment, when the substrate W before cleaning is transported on the arm 21, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the first support portion 41 is made higher than the second support portion 42 without supplying the fluid to the fluid storage chamber 43, and the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the first support portion 41. On the other hand, when transporting the substrate W after cleaning, a fluid is supplied to the fluid storage chamber 43 via the circuit 44 as shown in FIG. The lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the second support portion 42.
As described above, by switching and supporting the lower surface of the substrate W between the first support portion 41 and the second support portion 42 before and after the cleaning, the contamination attached to the first support portion 41 from the substrate W before the cleaning is performed. The substance can be prevented from re-adhering to the substrate W after cleaning.

The substrate W before cleaning is transferred to the second support portion 42.
The substrate W after the cleaning is supported only by the first supporting portion 4.
Even if it is configured to be supported by only one, the re-adhesion of contaminants can be similarly prevented. Further, the fluid reservoir chamber 43 is disposed below the first support portion 41, and the second support portion 42 is higher than the first support portion 41 in a state where the fluid is not supplied to the fluid reservoir chamber 43. When the fluid is supplied into the fluid storage chamber 43, the first support portion 41 becomes the second support portion 42.
It can also be configured to be higher.

Next, FIG. 9 shows that a first supporting portion 51 having a protruding shape is formed at the center of the upper surface of a supporting portion main body 50 formed on the upper surface of the arm 21, and the supporting portion main body 50 surrounding the periphery of the supporting portion 51 is formed. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the upper end peripheral portion of the second embodiment is a second support portion 52. Similarly, only one first support portion 51 and second support portion 52 are shown for explanation.
On the upper surface of the arm 21, at least three or more of the first support portion 51 and the second support portion 52 having the same configuration are arranged.

The first support 51 and the second support 5
2 is integrally formed of an elastic material. As shown in FIG. 10, a decompression chamber 53 as a decompression means disposed below the first support portion 51 is provided inside the support portion main body 50. The pressure can be reduced by suction through the circuit 54. Then, in a state where the pressure inside the decompression chamber 53 is not reduced, as shown by a solid line 51 in FIG.
Is higher than. When the inside of the decompression chamber 53 is depressurized by suction through the circuit 54, the upper surface of the support portion main body 50 is depressed as shown by a dashed line 51 'in FIG. First support part 5
It is configured to be higher than 1.

In this embodiment, when the substrate W before cleaning is transported on the arm 21, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the first support portion 51 is made higher than the second support portion 52 without reducing the pressure in the decompression chamber 53, and the lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the first support portion 51. On the other hand, when the substrate W after cleaning is transferred, the inside of the decompression chamber 53 is depressurized by suction through the circuit 54 as shown in FIG. The lower surface of the substrate W is supported only by the second support portion 52. In this way, by switching the lower surface of the substrate W between the first support portion 51 and the second support portion 52 before and after the cleaning, the first support portion 51 is moved from the substrate W before the cleaning.
It is possible to prevent the contaminant adhered to the substrate W from being re-adhered to the cleaned substrate W.

The substrate W before cleaning is transferred to the second support 52
The substrate W after cleaning is supported only by the first support 5
Even if it is configured to be supported by only one, the re-adhesion of contaminants can be similarly prevented. Further, the decompression chamber 53 is arranged below the first support portion 51, and the second support portion 52 is higher than the first support portion 51 when the pressure inside the decompression chamber 53 is not reduced. It is also possible to configure the first support portion 51 to be higher than the second support portion 52 in a state where the pressure in the interior 53 is reduced.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described based on the cleaning apparatus 1 for cleaning the substrate W, the substrate transport apparatus of the present invention can be used for other purposes, such as drying of the substrate and application of a resist film. It is also possible to apply to various types of processing apparatuses that perform the above processing.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the substrate before processing and the substrate after processing can be supported by different supporting means by switching the supporting means without moving the arm itself. Therefore, there is a feature that a problem such as re-adhesion of a contaminant to a processed substrate can be surely solved while having a relatively simple structure. In addition, since the substrate transfer device can be configured to be small, the space can be effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cleaning device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the substrate transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an arm suitable for transporting a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an arm suitable for transporting a substrate such as an LCD glass substrate.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which a fluid reservoir is disposed below one of the first support and the second support;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the support portion main body according to the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a state of transporting a substrate before cleaning in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a state of transporting a substrate after cleaning in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which a decompression chamber is disposed below one of the first support portion and the second support portion.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a support according to the embodiment of FIG. 18;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a substrate before cleaning is transported in the embodiment of FIG. 18;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a state of transporting a cleaned substrate in the embodiment of FIG. 18;

[Explanation of symbols]

 W substrate C cassette 2 substrate transfer device 3 cassette station 4 cleaning unit 21 arm 41, 51 first support means 42, 52 second support means 43 fluid storage chamber 53 decompression chamber

Claims (6)

[Claims] A first support unit and a second support unit disposed on an upper surface of the arm, wherein the substrate is transferred to and from a processing unit while the arm is moved and the arm is placed on the arm. Parts are provided, and one of the first support part and the second support part is configured to be swellable, and the pressurizing means is disposed below the support part configured to be swellable. A substrate transfer device, characterized in that: 2. One of the first support portion and the second support portion is an annular protrusion formed on an upper surface of a support portion main body made of an elastic member, and the other is provided at the center of the annular protrusion. 2. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a pressurizing chamber is provided on the upper surface of the supporting portion main body located therein and inside the supporting portion main body. 3. A substrate transfer apparatus for moving an arm and loading and unloading a substrate from and to a processing section while being placed on the arm, wherein the first support section and the second support section disposed on the upper surface of the arm. And one of the first support portion and the second support portion is configured to be contractible, and decompression means is disposed below the contractible support portion. Substrate transfer device. 4. One of the first support portion and the second support portion is a protrusion formed at the center of the upper surface of a support portion main body made of an elastic member, and the other is a support portion surrounding the protrusion. 4. The substrate transfer device according to claim 3, wherein a decompression chamber is provided in an upper peripheral portion of the main body and inside the support portion main body. 5. A substrate transfer method for moving an arm and carrying a substrate into and out of a processing section while being placed on the arm, wherein a substrate having either one of which is swellable on an upper surface of the arm is provided. When the first support portion and the second support portion for supporting are arranged and one of the loading and unloading of the substrate is performed, the support portion configured to be swellable is set in an expanded state, and the loading is performed. Alternatively, when carrying out the other of the unloading, the substrate transporting method is characterized in that the swellable supporting portion is not expanded. 6. A substrate transfer method in which an arm is moved and a substrate is loaded and unloaded to and from a processing unit while being placed on the arm. When the first support portion and the second support portion are arranged and one of the loading and unloading of the substrate is performed, the contractible support portion is contracted, and the loading or unloading is performed. When performing the other method, the substrate transfer method is characterized in that the contractible supporting portion is not contracted.