JPH11145246A - Wafer processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer processor which can suppress the generation of particles in wafer processing. SOLUTION: A wafer processor 101, which functions to transfer a wafer and perform a series of processing operations over the wafer, includes a plurality of pivoting robots 104 to 108 and a plurality of units 110, 120, 130, 140, 160, 170, 180 and 190. The pivoting robots 104 to 108 each have body and arm parts. The body part is turnable and movable in a horizontal direction. The arm part, which is extended from the body part, can hold the wafer. The wafer is transferred into and out of the respective processing units by the turning robots 104 to 108.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs a series of processes on a substrate while transporting the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a glass substrate (FPD substrate) or a semiconductor wafer for a liquid crystal display device or a plasma display device, a substrate processing device for forming a resist film on the surface of the substrate and performing exposure and development is required. It is. This substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus (in-line system) that connects a plurality of processing units to enable consistent processing. For example, in a photolithography process, the substrate processing apparatus is connected to an exposure apparatus to perform cleaning from resist pre-coating to resist coating / exposure. There is a coater / developer device that can continuously perform development up to development.

[0003] Such a substrate processing apparatus is disclosed in a patent publication (Patent No. 2519096). This substrate processing apparatus includes a rotary cleaning unit (spin scrubber),
It has processing units such as a rotary coating unit (spin coater), a rotary developing unit (spin developer), a heating unit, and an exposure machine, and a carriage (transport robot) loads and unloads a substrate to and from each processing unit. Here, tweezers for holding the substrate are attached to the carriage, and the carriage moves in the horizontal direction to move between the processing units, and carries the substrate into and out of each processing unit by the tweezers. In other words, the carriage has both the function of loading and unloading substrates to and from each processing unit and the function of transporting substrates from one processing unit to another processing unit.

[0004]

In the above-described substrate processing apparatus, the substrate is transported by the carriage from one processing unit to another processing unit. Therefore, when the carriage moves in the horizontal direction, the surrounding gas is disturbed and wind is generated. The turbulence (wind) of the gas generates particles and easily causes contamination of the substrate and each processing unit. In particular, in the case of processing a large substrate required to be processed in the near future, for example, a glass substrate having a size close to 1 meter square or more than 1 meter square, the amount of particles generated when the carriage is moved in the horizontal direction is increased. Will increase.

In the above-described substrate processing apparatus, a spin scrubber or a spin developer is employed for cleaning or developing. However, as the size of the substrate increases, the power required to rotate the substrate increases dramatically. Therefore, the cost of a motor and the like for that purpose increases, and the running cost of energy for rotating them also increases. On the other hand, transfer robots for transferring substrates are also expensive, and the cost increases as the number of used substrates increases. Therefore, it is necessary to find an appropriate processing method and a transport method according to the characteristics of each processing unit, and to reduce the cost.

It is an object of the present invention to suppress generation of particles in substrate processing and to reduce the cost of substrate processing.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for performing a series of processes on a substrate to be processed while transporting the substrate. The robot includes a robot and a plurality of processing units. The turning robot has a trunk and an arm. The trunk is pivotable and immovable in the horizontal direction. The arm portion extends from the body portion and can hold the substrate to be processed.
The substrate to be processed is loaded into each processing section by a rotating robot.
It is carried out.

Here, a plurality of turning robots which do not move in the horizontal direction carry a substrate to be processed into each processing section.
Carry out. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the problem that the carriage holding the substrate to be processed moves horizontally over a long distance at high speed and generates particles as in the related art.
The amount of generated particles is reduced, and the contamination of the substrate to be processed and each processing unit is reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the first aspect, the plurality of processing units include one or a plurality of stationary processing units and one or a plurality of single-wafer processing units. is there. The stationary processing unit is a processing unit that performs processing without moving a substrate to be processed. The single-wafer processing unit is a processing unit including a step of moving a substrate to be processed. Here, the processing suitable for performing the processing without moving the substrate to be processed is performed by the stationary processing unit, and the processing that can include the step of moving the substrate to be processed is performed by the single-wafer processing unit. For example, the heating / cooling processing and the like are processing in a stationary processing unit, and the processing such as cleaning, application of a coating liquid, and development are processing in a single-wafer processing unit. As described above, by combining a single-wafer processing unit that can include a plurality of processes with a stationary processing unit, the number of processing units can be reduced, and the number of turning robots can be reduced. Can be achieved.

Specifically, for example, the processing of rotary coating, drying under reduced pressure, and cleaning of the end face are collectively made into a processing unit called one coating unit. The coating unit includes a carry-in section and a carry-out section, and a conveyor or a slider that moves the substrate to be processed from the carry-in section to the carry-out section through the rotary coating processing section, the reduced-pressure drying processing section, and the end face cleaning processing section. Is provided. As described above, when related processes are collectively formed as one processing unit, a transporting unit such as a conveyer that is simple and has low running costs and equipment costs can be adopted instead of transporting the substrate to be processed by the turning robot. In addition, the occupied space is reduced as compared with the case where the rotary coating, the drying under reduced pressure, and the end face cleaning are each a single processing unit, and a turning robot is arranged between the three processing units.

In addition, by adopting a single-wafer processing unit, when a substrate to be processed is enlarged, the probability of generation of particles due to damage to the substrate or splashing during washing is increased, and cleaning and developing characteristics are reduced. Inferior rotary processing method,
For example, instead of a spin scrubber or a spin developer, a brush scrubber or a spray developer can be easily adopted. This makes it possible to cope with an increase in the size of the substrate to be processed without increasing the cost.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the second aspect, the stationary processing unit has the same loading unit and unloading unit, and the single-wafer processing unit has different loading and unloading units. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the first to third aspects.
In any one of the above-mentioned devices, a delivery unit is further provided. The delivery unit is disposed between the turning robots, and delivers the substrate to be processed.

In this case, since the transfer section is provided, the substrate to be processed can be temporarily put on standby here, so that the transfer of the substrate to be processed becomes smooth and various transport controls can be performed. . As a result, the substrate to be processed can be efficiently processed, and the total processing speed can be improved. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the fourth aspect, the delivery unit has a first placement unit, a second placement unit, and a moving mechanism. The first mounting portion can mount the substrate to be processed. The second placement unit is located above the first placement unit, and can place the substrate to be processed. The moving mechanism moves the substrate to be processed from one of the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion to the other.

Here, the function of the transfer section as a buffer is strengthened while suppressing the plane occupied space of the transfer section. This makes it easier to control the adjustment of the time between the processing unit on the pre-process side and the processing unit on the post-process side of the delivery unit. Claim 6
In the substrate processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, in the apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the first mounting portion is a first support member that can move up and down. The second mounting portion is a second support member that can move horizontally. The moving mechanism has a vertical moving mechanism for moving the first support member up and down, and a horizontal moving mechanism for moving the second support member horizontally.

Here, first, the substrate to be processed placed on the first placement portion is raised to the height position of the second placement portion by lifting the first support member upward by the vertical movement mechanism. Next, the second support member is horizontally moved to a position where the lower surface of the substrate to be processed can be supported by the horizontal movement mechanism. Then, the first support member is lowered so as to be able to support another substrate to be subsequently transported to the first mounting portion.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the first to sixth aspects, the arm portion is capable of bending and extending and moving up and down. Here, the substrate to be processed is carried into and out of each processing unit by the bending and stretching movement and the vertical movement of the arm unit. In a substrate processing apparatus according to an eighth aspect, in the apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the plurality of processing units include a cleaning unit and a heating unit. The cleaning unit cleans the substrate to be processed. The heating unit heats the substrate to be processed.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate to be processed can be subjected to the cleaning process and the drying and dehydrating process of the substrate to be processed wet by the cleaning. Further, a pre-bake process or a post-bake process can be performed. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus of the eighth aspect, the plurality of processing units further include a coating unit, an exposure unit, and a developing unit. The application unit applies the application liquid to the substrate to be processed. The exposure unit exposes at least a part of the target substrate to which the coating liquid has been applied.
The developing unit develops the exposed substrate to be processed.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, a series of processes of cleaning, application of a coating solution, exposure, and development can be performed on the substrate to be processed. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10 is the apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the cleaning unit comprises:
It has a transport means for transporting the substrate to be processed. The cleaning unit is provided with a carry-in part and a carry-out part at different positions. The heating unit has the same loading unit and unloading unit, and performs processing on the substrate without moving the substrate.

Here, the cleaning unit generally performs single-wafer processing having higher cleaning power than rotary cleaning. The single-wafer processing sequentially processes the substrates to be processed conveyed by a conveyor or a slider. The substrate to be processed is washed while being carried in from the carry-in part and being carried to the carry-out part. By adopting the single-wafer processing as described above, a series of cleaning processing, for example, cleaning processing including ultraviolet ozone cleaning and pure water cleaning flows smoothly.

On the other hand, with respect to the heating unit, it is more advantageous from the viewpoint of heat efficiency and planar space saving to perform the processing while the substrate to be processed is stationary than in the single-wafer processing. The so-called one-chamber is equal. Further, a plurality of heating units can be configured in a multi-stage configuration to save space. Claim 1
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 is the apparatus according to claim 9,
Each of the coating unit and the developing unit has a transport unit for transporting the substrate to be processed, and is provided with a loading section and a loading section at different positions.

Here, single-wafer processing is performed for the coating unit and the developing unit. Thereby, the processing of the coating unit such as a series of rotary coating liquid coating, drying under reduced pressure, edge cleaning, and the like becomes smooth.

[0022]

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment (first embodiment) of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is a coater / developer apparatus that connects a plurality of processing units to enable consistent processing.
It is connected to the exposing machine 50 so that the steps from cleaning before resist coating to resist coating, exposure and development in the photolithography process can be performed continuously.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an indexer unit 2, a cleaning unit 10, a dehydration bake unit 20, a resist coating unit 30, a pre-bake unit 40, a titler 60, an edge exposure unit 70, a development unit 80, and a post-bake unit 90. A processing unit and turning robots 4 to 6 are provided. In the vicinity of the turning robots 4 to 6, a transfer unit 7 and a buffer 8 are provided as a transfer place or a temporary shelter for transferring a substrate between the processing units. The configuration of the delivery unit 7 will be described later in detail. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is of a uni-cassette type, and takes out a glass substrate to be processed (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) from a cassette 3 mounted on an indexer section 2 and sends out the glass substrate to each processing section, and completes each processing step. In the same cassette 3. The removal from the cassette 3 and the storage in the cassette 3 are performed by an indexer robot 2a which has a pivotable arm for holding the substrate and is movable along the rows of the cassette 3.

The cleaning unit 10 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a carry-in unit 11, a UV ozone cleaning unit 12, and a water cleaning unit 1.
3, a droplet removing section 14 and an unloading section 15. From the carry-in part 11 to the carry-out part 15, the cleaning process is performed while the substrate is being conveyed by the conveyor. In addition, a roller conveyor with low dust generation corresponding to the inside of a clean room is adopted.

The dewatering bake unit 20 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a carry-in unit 21, a heating unit 22, an adhesion strengthening processing unit 23, and a cooling unit 24. From the loading section 21 to the cooling section 24, the substrate is transported by a so-called intermittent transfer device which has a plurality of hands and sequentially transports the substrate to an adjacent processing section. The resist coating unit 30 is a single-wafer processing unit and includes a carry-in unit 31, a spin coater unit 32, a reduced-pressure drying unit 33, an edge rinse unit 34, and a carry-out unit 35. The substrate is carried from the carry-in part 31 to the carry-out part 35 by the same intermittent transfer device as the dehydration bake unit 20.

The pre-bake unit 40 has a plurality of stationary processing units stacked in multiple stages, and includes a plurality of heating units and cooling units. The developing unit 80 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a carry-in unit 81, a developing unit 82, a washing / drying unit 8
3 and an unloading section 84. From the loading section 81 to the unloading section 8
Up to 4, the substrate is transported by a conveyor.

The post-bake unit 90 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a carry-in unit 91, a heating unit 92, a cooling unit 93,
And an unloading section 94. From the loading section 91 to the unloading section 94
Until then, the substrate is transferred by an intermittent transfer device. The turning robots 4 to 6 are so-called cluster type robots which can turn but do not have a mechanism for moving in the horizontal direction. Each of the turning robots 4 to 6 has a trunk portion that is installed on the floor surface and can turn and move up and down, and two arm portions that extend from the trunk portion and that can hold a substrate at a distal end portion. For example, the turning robot 5 has a trunk 5a and an arm 5b. The two arms can be independently bent and extended and vertically moved. The turning robots 4 to 6 face the processing units and the transfer units stacked and stacked in multiple stages to face each other by turning and raising and lowering, and to perform the conversion or transfer operation of the substrate by moving the arm unit forward and backward and up and down. While transferring the substrate.

Next, the processing of the substrate by the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described in order. The substrate taken out of the cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a in the indexer unit 2 is transferred to the loading unit 11 of the cleaning unit 10.
The substrate is carried from the carry-in section 11 to the UV ozone cleaning section 12, where the organic contaminants on the surface are oxidatively decomposed and removed by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. Further, the substrate conveyed to the rinsing unit 13 by the conveyor is subjected to scrub cleaning with a roll brush, ultrasonic spray cleaning, and cleaning with pure water by high-pressure jet spray in the rinsing unit 13. In addition,
The cleaning here may be a treatment using, for example, an alkaline cleaning liquid or the like. Thereafter, in the droplet removing unit 14, the droplet of pure water remaining on the surface of the substrate is blown off by an air knife.

The substrate transferred to the unloading section 15 after the processing in the cleaning unit 10 is transferred to the loading section 21 of the dehydration bake unit 20 by a conveyor, further transferred to the heating section 22 by an intermittent transfer device, and then transferred to a hot plate. And is subjected to a process of removing moisture by heating. Next, the substrate is conveyed to the next heating section 22 by the intermittent transfer device and subjected to the same heat treatment. This is to obtain a sufficient heating time. Next, the substrate is carried to the adhesion strengthening processing unit 23 by the intermittent transfer device. In the adhesion strengthening processing section 23, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) is heated while applying heat to the substrate for the purpose of improving the adhesion between the resist film and the substrate.
Is applied in the form of a vapor. Thereafter, the substrate is further transported to the cooling unit 24 and cooled by the cool plate. The substrate subjected to the dehydration bake as a pre-process of the resist coating process as described above is loaded into the loading unit 3 of the resist coating unit 30.
It is carried to 1.

In the resist coating unit 30, first, the substrate is carried to the spin coater unit 32 by a slider, which is an intermittent transfer device, and the substrate is coated with a resist (coating liquid). Note that the slider refers to a device that slides the position of the substrate in one direction, for example, a device that slides the position of the substrate by a predetermined distance by a rectangular motion. The spin coater unit 32 includes a resist supply system, a spin motor, a cup, and the like, and forms a uniform resist film on the substrate by dropping the resist on a horizontal substrate and rotating the substrate. The substrate on which the resist film has been formed is carried to the reduced-pressure drying unit 33, and subjected to reduced-pressure baking. Here, baking is performed at such a low temperature as to reduce the sensitivity of the resist film by reducing the pressure of the space in which the substrate is taken. After that, the substrate is transferred to the edge rinsing unit 34. Edge rinse part 3
In step 4, in order to prevent the resist film on the end face of the substrate from being peeled off and generating dust, a process of removing the resist on the periphery of the substrate surface and the end face portion with a solvent is performed. The substrate that has been subjected to each of the processes related to the resist application is carried to the carry-out unit 35.

The substrate transported from the unloading section 35 to the transfer section 7 adjacent to the unloading section 35 by another slider is transferred to the pre-bake unit 40 by the turning robot 4.
In the pre-bake unit 40, heat treatment is performed for the purpose of evaporating the residual solvent in the resist film on the substrate and enhancing the adhesion of the substrate. Here, the loading and unloading of substrates are sequentially performed by the turning robot 4 with respect to each of the heating unit and the cooling unit of the one chamber. The substrate subjected to the heating and cooling processing is transferred to the buffer 8 adjacent to the turning robot 6 via the turning robot 5 and the turning robot 6 and the transfer unit 7.

The substrate is supplied to the buffer 8 by the turning robot 6.
Is transferred to an exposure machine 50, where an exposure process is performed. Specifically, the resist on the substrate is exposed to a pattern on the original image. The exposed substrate is taken out of the exposing machine 50 by the turning robot 6 and transferred from the buffer 8 to the transfer section 7 between the turning robots 5 and 6.

Next, the substrate is transferred to the titler 60 and the edge exposure unit 70 by the revolving robot 5, where printing is performed and edge exposure is performed, respectively. In the edge exposure, an exposure process is performed to remove the resist around the substrate except for the display unit on the substrate. Here, the edge exposure unit is arranged at this position, but a back surface exposure unit may be arranged here as needed. The substrate after these processes is transferred from the transfer unit 7 between the turning robots 4 and 5 to the transfer unit 7 adjacent to the unloading unit 35 and placed on the conveyor 79 by the slider. Then, the substrate is transported from the conveyor 79 to the carry-in section 81 of the developing unit 80.

In the developing unit 80, the substrate is conveyed from the carry-in section 81 to the carry-out section 84 by a conveyor. Then, in the developing unit 82, spray development is performed in which a spray-type developer is showered from the nozzle onto the substrate surface. The development here may be, for example, a so-called paddle development. In the washing and drying section,
The substrate after development is washed and dried. The substrate after these processes is transferred from the unloading section 84 to the loading section 91 of the post-bake unit 90.

In the post-baking unit 90, a developing solution or a rinsing solution remaining in or on the resist film on the substrate is removed by evaporation, and a heat treatment is performed for the purpose of hardening the resist and strengthening the adhesion to the substrate. Specifically, the substrate is heated by the hot plate of the heating unit 92, and the substrate is cooled by the cool plate of the cooling unit 93. Also here, the provision of a plurality of heating units 92 and cooling units 93 means that sufficient heating,
This is to obtain a cooling time. The substrate on which these processes have been performed is transferred to the unloading section 94, where the indexer robot 2a
Is stored in the original cassette 3.

Here, a plurality of turning robots 4 to 6 which do not move in the horizontal direction carry in / out the substrate to / from each processing unit (unit). Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the transfer robot holding the substrate does not move at a high speed in a horizontal direction over a long distance to generate particles, and the amount of generated particles is reduced, and the contamination of the substrate and each processing unit is reduced. Has become.

In this case, a pre-bake process suitable for performing the process without moving the substrate is performed by a stationary unit, and other processes that can include a process of moving the substrate are performed on a single wafer basis. This is done in a formula unit. By combining a stationary unit with a single-wafer unit that can include a plurality of processes, the number of units and the number of turning robots are reduced. Furthermore, by adopting a single-wafer unit, when the size of the substrate is increased, there is a high probability that the substrate will be damaged or particles will be generated due to water splashing during washing, and the cleaning process and developing process will be inferior in the rotation process. A method, for example, a brush scrubber or a spray developer having excellent characteristics can be adopted instead of a spin scrubber or a spin developer. Thereby, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can cope with a substrate that becomes large, for example, a large glass substrate of 1 m square or more.

Next, the configuration of the delivery unit 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. The delivery unit 7 includes an upper and lower pin (first support member) 7a and a laterally moving pin (second support member) 7b.
, And two sets of a unit structure including a vertical movement mechanism and a horizontal movement mechanism (not shown), which are arranged so as to be vertically stacked in two stages. The upper and lower pins 7a are a plurality of pins that can support the substrate W, and move up and down by a vertical moving mechanism. The lateral movement pin 7b
These are a plurality of pins that can support the substrate W, and move in the horizontal direction by a horizontal moving mechanism.

The substrate W carried to one unit configuration of the transfer section 7 is first placed on the upper and lower pins 7a (see FIG. 2). Here, the upper and lower pins 7a are lowered, and the substrate W
Is located at the position P1 of the unit configuration of the delivery unit 7. When the substrate W is placed on the upper and lower pins 7a as shown in FIG. 2, the upper and lower pins 7a are raised to a state as shown in FIG. Here, the substrate W is at the position P2 on the upper surface of the lateral movement pin 7b. Then, from this state, the lateral movement pin 7b
Is moved inward to support the substrate W with the laterally moving pins 7b, and then the upper and lower pins 7a are lowered to the original position (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, each unit configuration of the delivery unit 7 can receive another substrate at the position P1 while holding the substrate W at the position P2. That is, the delivery unit 7
By arranging two sets of such unit configurations in an upper and lower two tiers, four substrates can be made to stand by in a planar space for one substrate. This allows, for example,
The delivery unit 7 adjacent to the unloading unit 35 assigns each unit configuration to each of the side toward the pre-bake unit 40 from the unloading unit 35 and the side toward the conveyor 79 from the rotating robot 4 after exposure, so that The substrate processing apparatus 1 can hold and hold two substrates, and in the substrate processing apparatus 1, it is easy to control the time adjustment between the processing unit on the front process side and the processing unit on the post-process side of the delivery unit 7.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 5 shows one embodiment (second embodiment) of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 101 is an apparatus that can perform substantially the same processing as the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. In the following description, the same or similar components as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description of the same or similar components as those of the first embodiment is omitted.

The substrate processing apparatus 101 includes an indexer unit 2, a cleaning unit 110, a dehydration bake unit 120,
Resist coating unit 130, pre-bake unit 14
0, a titler 160, an edge exposure unit 170, a developing unit 180, and a post-bake unit 190, and turning robots 104 to 108. In the vicinity of the turning robots 104 to 108, a delivery unit 7 and a buffer 8 are arranged.

The cleaning unit 110 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a carry-in unit 111, a water washing unit 113, and a droplet removing unit 11.
4 and an unloading section 115. From the carry-in part 111 to the carry-out part 115, the substrate is carried by a conveyor. The dehydration bake unit 120 has a plurality of stationary processing units stacked in multiple stages, and includes a plurality of heating units, an adhesion strengthening processing unit, and a cooling unit.

The resist coating unit 130 and the pre-bake unit 140 are the same as the resist coating unit 30 and the pre-bake unit 40 of the first embodiment. The developing unit 180 is a single-wafer processing unit, and includes a loading unit 181, a developing unit 182, a washing unit 183, a drying unit 184,
And an unloading section 185. Unloading unit 1 from loading unit 181
Up to 85, the substrate is transported by a conveyor.

The post-baking unit 190 has a plurality of stationary processing units stacked in multiple stages, and includes a plurality of heating units and cooling units. The turning robots 104 to 108 have the same configuration as the turning robots 4 to 6 of the first embodiment. Next, substrate processing by the substrate processing apparatus 101 will be described in order.

The substrate taken out of the cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a in the indexer section 2 is
The cleaning unit 110 is placed on the delivery unit 7 adjacent to the indexer unit 2 and moved by the slider to the loading unit 111 of the cleaning unit 110. The substrate is carried from the carry-in section 111 to the washing section 113, where scrub cleaning with a roll brush, ultrasonic spray cleaning, and cleaning with pure water by high-pressure jet spray are performed. Thereafter, the droplets of the pure water remaining on the surface of the substrate are blown off by the air knife in the droplet removing unit 114. Although the UV ozone cleaning is not performed here, if the UV ozone cleaning unit is disposed at the position of the transfer unit 7 adjacent to the indexer unit 2, the indexer robot 2a transfers the UV ozone cleaning unit to the UV ozone cleaning unit and performs the UV ozone cleaning. It is also possible to provide a device capable of performing UV ozone cleaning by transporting from the section to the loading section 111.

The substrate transferred to the unloading section 115 after the processing in the cleaning unit 110 is transferred to the delivery section 7 adjacent to the unloading section 115 by the slider, and the rotating robot 10
By 4105, it is carried into the dehydration bake unit 120. Each processing (heating, adhesion strengthening, cooling) of the dehydration bake unit 120 is a one-chamber system, and when one processing is completed, the substrate is moved to the next processing by the turning robot 105. The substrate after the dehydration bake is turned on the resist coating unit 1 by the rotating robot 105.
The transfer unit 7 is moved to the delivery unit 7 adjacent to the carry-in unit 131 of the first embodiment. From the delivery unit 7 adjacent to the loading unit 131 to the loading unit 131,
The substrate is carried by the slider. In the resist coating unit 130, each process related to the resist coating similar to the first embodiment is performed on the substrate.

The substrate carried by the slider from the unloading section 135 to the transfer section 7 adjacent to the unloading section 135 is transferred to the pre-bake unit 140 by the turning robot 106. The substrate after the pre-bake is the turning robot 10
6, via the turning robot 107 and the turning robot 108, the data is transferred to the buffer 8 adjacent to the turning robot 108. Then, the substrate is moved from the buffer 8 to the exposing machine 50 by the turning robot 108 and subjected to exposure processing. The substrate after the exposure is taken out of the exposing machine 50 by the turning robot 108 and stored in the buffer 8.
After that, the robot is transferred to the transfer section 7 between the turning robots 107 and 108.

Thereafter, the substrate that has been processed by the titler 60 and the edge exposure unit 70 is
The transfer unit 7 between the transfer units 6 and 107 is transferred to the transfer unit 7 adjacent to the unloading unit 135, and the developing unit 1 is moved by the slider.
It is moved to the carry-in part 181 of 80. In the developing unit 180, the substrate is conveyed from the carry-in section 181 to the carry-out section 185 by a conveyor. Developing section 182, washing section 18
The substrate subjected to each of the processes related to the development in 3 and the drying unit 184 is transferred from the unloading unit 185 to the transfer unit 7 adjacent to the unloading unit 185 by the slider.

The substrate placed on the transfer section 7 adjacent to the unloading section 185 is transferred into the post-bake unit 190 via the transfer section 7 by the turning robots 105 and 104.
The substrate that has been subjected to the heat treatment in the post-bake unit 190 is transferred to the conveyor 199 from the transfer unit 7 adjacent to the turning robot 104, and is moved to the indexer robot 2a.
Transported to a position where it can be removed. Then, the substrate is stored in the original cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a.

Here also, the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment is used.
, A plurality of turning robots 1 that do not move in the horizontal direction
In steps 04 to 108, a substrate is carried in and out of each processing unit (unit). Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the transfer robot holding the substrate does not move at a high speed in a horizontal direction over a long distance to generate particles, and the amount of generated particles is reduced, and the contamination of the substrate and each processing unit is reduced. Has become.

In this case, the pre-bake process suitable for performing the process without moving the substrate is performed by a stationary unit, and the dehydration bake process and the post-bake process are also performed by the static unit. ing.
The dewatering baking unit and the post-baking unit are configured in a multi-stage configuration to save space in a plane as compared with the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. Further, for example, the dewatering bake unit 120 and the post bake unit 190
There is a space between them, but by arranging a bath of a resist solution or a rinsing solution or a control device in such a place, the space can be effectively used.

Third Embodiment FIG. 6 shows an embodiment (third embodiment) of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 201 is an apparatus obtained by removing the titler 160 and the edge exposure unit 170 from the substrate processing apparatus 101 of the second embodiment. The second embodiment is the same as the second embodiment except that the processes performed by the titler 160 and the edge exposure unit 170 are omitted.

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 7 shows one embodiment (fourth embodiment) of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 301 is different from the substrate processing apparatus 101 in the second embodiment.
The arrangement of the cleaning unit 110 (see FIG. 5) extending along the longitudinal direction of FIG. Specifically, the cleaning unit 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 101 and the conveyor 19
9 and the transfer unit 7 between them, the cleaning unit 310 is disposed so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the apparatus, and the transfer unit 7 is disposed in the cleaning unit 3.
The substrate processing apparatus 301 is disposed above the substrate 10. Accordingly, the length of the substrate processing apparatus 301 in the longitudinal direction is shorter than the length of the substrate processing apparatus 101 in the longitudinal direction.

The substrate processing apparatus 301 includes an indexer unit 2, a cleaning unit 310, a dehydration bake unit 320,
Resist coating unit 330, pre-bake unit 34
0, a titler 360, an edge exposure unit 370, a developing unit 380, and a post-bake unit 390, and turning robots 304 to 308. In the vicinity of the turning robots 304 to 308, a delivery unit 7 and a buffer 8 are provided.

The cleaning unit 310 is a single-wafer processing unit, extends in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus 301, and includes a carry-in unit 311, a washing unit 313, and a carry-out unit 315. From the loading unit 311 to the unloading unit 315, the substrate is transported by a conveyor. The dewatering bake unit 320, the resist coating unit 330, the pre-bake unit 340, the developing unit 380, the post-bake unit 390, the rotating robots 304 to 308, and the delivery unit 7 are the dewatering bake unit 1 of the second embodiment.
20, the resist coating unit 130, the pre-baking unit 140, the developing unit 180, the post-baking unit 190, the turning robots 104 to 108, and the delivery unit 7.

Next, the processing of the substrate by the substrate processing apparatus 301 will be described in order. The substrate taken out of the cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a in the indexer unit 2 is transferred to the loading unit 311 of the cleaning unit 310. The substrate is transported from the carry-in section 311 to the washing section 313, where the washing section 313 performs washing and droplet removal processing. After the processing in the cleaning unit 310 is completed,
The substrate transferred to 15 is transferred to the transfer section 7 above the cleaning unit 310 by the indexer robot 2a, and the dehydration bake unit 3 is turned by the rotating robots 304 and 305.
20.

The steps from the dehydration bake unit 320 to the post-bake unit 390 are the same as the steps from the dehydration bake unit 120 to the post-bake unit 190 of the second embodiment. The substrate that has been subjected to the heat treatment in the post-bake unit 390 is the rotating robot 3
At 04, the transfer unit 7 is moved to the transfer unit 7 above the cleaning unit 310. And, by the indexer robot 2a,
The substrates are stored in the original cassette 3.

In the above-described embodiment, the pre-bake units 40, 140, and 340 each include three heating units that perform heat treatment on one substrate in order to obtain a sufficient heating time per substrate. And heats the substrate in parallel in the respective heating units. Further, in order to obtain a sufficient cooling time for the heated substrate, two cooling units for performing a cooling process on one substrate are provided,
Similarly, cooling processing is performed in parallel. Here, the pre-bake units 40, 140, and 340 may have a thermal effect on the surrounding environment for performing the heat treatment. Therefore, in the pre-bake units 40, 140, and 340, three resist coating units 30, 130, and 330, which are likely to change in processing characteristics due to thermal influence, on the far side with respect to the turning robots 4, 106, and 306. The heating unit is disposed in an overlapping manner, and the two cooling units near normal temperature are disposed in an overlapping manner on the near side to prevent the occurrence of thermal influence on the coating process.

Similarly, the dehydration bake units 120 and 320 are provided with two cooling units, two heating units, and one adhesion strengthening processing unit. With respect to 130 and 330, the heating unit and the adhesion strengthening processing unit are arranged on the far side with the turning robots 106 and 306 interposed therebetween, and the cooling unit is arranged on the near side.

Also, post bake units 190 and 39
No. 0 has four heating units and two cooling units because the heating time needs to be relatively long. Also in this case, it is desirable to arrange four heating units on the side remote from the resist coating units 130 and 330. However, the post-bake units 190 and 390 are different from the dewatering bake units 120 and 320 in that
Because it is located far away from 0,330,
The thermal effect on the resist coating units 130 and 330 is small, and when it is difficult to stack four heating units due to restrictions such as the height of the apparatus, weight on the floor surface, and ease of maintenance work, heating is performed. It is also possible to arrange one of the sections on the side close to the resist coating units 130 and 330 so as to overlap with the two cooling sections.

[Fifth Embodiment] One embodiment (fifth embodiment) of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. The substrate processing apparatus 401 is an apparatus that can perform substantially the same processing as the substrate processing apparatus 201 of the third embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 401 includes an indexer unit 2, a cleaning unit 410,
Dehydration bake unit 420, resist coating unit 43
0, pre-bake unit 440, developing unit 480,
And each processing unit of the post-bake unit 490, and the turning robots 404 to 407.

The cleaning unit 410 is a single-wafer processing unit, extends in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus 401, and includes a carry-in unit 411, a washing unit 413, and a carry-out unit 415. From the loading section 411 to the unloading section 415, the substrate is transported by a conveyor. The dehydration bake unit 420 includes a first multi-stage unit 421 and a second multi-stage unit 422.
Consists of In the first multi-stage section 421, a one-chamber adhesion strengthening treatment section is arranged in a lower stage, and a one-chamber heating section is arranged in a middle stage and an upper stage. Second multi-stage section 422
In the figure, a conveyor connected to the resist coating unit 430 is arranged in a lower stage, and a cooling unit of one chamber is arranged in a middle stage and an upper stage.

The pre-bake unit 440 includes a first multi-stage portion 441 and a second multi-stage portion 442. First multi-stage section 44
In No. 1, a conveyor connected to the resist coating unit 430 is arranged in a lower stage, and a one-chamber cooling unit is arranged in a middle stage and an upper stage. The second multi-stage portion 442 includes
The lower stage, the middle stage, and the upper stage are each provided with a one-chamber heating unit.

The resist coating unit 430 and the developing unit 480 are the same as those of the first embodiment.
And the developing unit 80. The post-bake unit 490 includes a first multi-stage unit 491 and a second multi-stage unit 492.
Consists of The first multi-stage section 491 includes a developing unit 4
A conveyor connected from 80 is disposed, and a one-chamber cooling unit is disposed in the middle and upper stages. Second
In the multi-stage section 492, one-chamber heating sections are arranged at the lower, middle, and upper stages, respectively.

For the turning robots 404 to 407,
It has the same configuration as the turning robots 4 to 6 of the first embodiment. Next, processing of a substrate by the substrate processing apparatus 401 will be described in order. The substrate taken out of the cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a in the indexer unit 2 is transferred to the loading unit 411 of the cleaning unit 410.
The substrate is transported from the carry-in section 411 to the washing section 413, where UV ozone washing, scrub washing, and droplet removal are performed.

The substrate transferred to the unloading section 415 after the processing in the cleaning unit 410 is transferred into the adhesion strengthening processing section of the dehydration bake unit 420 by the turning robot 404. Thereafter, the substrate is sequentially processed in the heating unit and the cooling unit. Each of the processes (enhancement of adhesion, heating, and cooling) of the dehydration bake unit 120 is a one-chamber system. When one process is completed, the substrate is moved to the next processing unit by the rotating robot 404. The substrate that has been subjected to the dehydration bake processing is transferred to the lower stage of the second multistage unit, and is carried to the resist coating unit 430 by a conveyor.

The substrate on which the respective processes related to the resist application have been completed is carried to the lower stage of the first multi-stage section 441 of the pre-bake unit 440 by a conveyor. In the pre-bake unit 440, the substrate is transferred to each heating unit and cooling unit by the turning robot 405, and each processing is performed. The substrate after the pre-bake is waited in the buffer 8 if necessary, then transferred from the turning robot 405 to the turning robot 406, and transferred to the exposure device 50.

The substrate that has been exposed is taken out of the exposing machine 50 by the turning robot 406 and
6 and a developing unit 480 (buffer 8). Then, the substrate is thereafter transferred to the lower conveyor of the buffer 8 by the turning robot 406 and transported to the developing unit 480 by the conveyor. The substrate on which each process related to the development has been performed is carried to the lower stage of the first multi-stage unit 491 of the post-baking unit 490 by the conveyor.

In the post-bake unit 490, the substrate is moved to each heating unit and each cooling unit by the turning robot 407, and each processing is performed. The substrates that have undergone these post-baking processes are stored in the original cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a via the transfer unit (not shown) arranged above the cleaning unit 410 by the turning robot 407.

Here, the processing unit is arranged at a position where the turning robots 404 to 407 can carry in and out the substrate, for example, the first and second multi-stage units 42 with respect to the turning robot 404.
By adopting a configuration in which 1,422 are arranged, space saving is improved by effectively utilizing a planar space. As described above, the processing capability of each processing unit is improved while saving space by combining a stationary unit with a single-wafer unit and a cluster-type turning robot.

[Sixth Embodiment] One embodiment (sixth embodiment) of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. The substrate processing apparatus 501 is a coater / developer apparatus connected to a plurality of processing units to enable consistent processing. The substrate processing apparatus 501 is connected to the exposure apparatus 50, and performs resist coating, exposure, exposure, This is to enable continuous development up to development. The substrate processing apparatus 501 is an apparatus having a configuration in which each stationary processing unit is connected to a turning robot and a delivery unit. In the following description, the same or similar components as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description of the same or similar components as those of the first embodiment is omitted.

The substrate processing apparatus 501 includes an indexer unit 2, a UV ozone processing unit 512, and a cleaning unit 51.
3. Dehydration bake heating unit 523, dehydration bake cooling unit 524, resist coating unit 532, prebake heating unit 541, prebake cooling unit 54
2. Each processing unit of the titler 560, the developing unit 580, and the post-bake unit 590, and the turning robot 5
02 to 509. Also, the indexer unit 2
Between the swing robot 502 and the swing robots 502 to 5
Between 09, there is provided a transfer section 7 which is a transfer place or a temporary shelter when transferring a substrate between the processing sections.

The cleaning unit 513 is a one-chamber spin scrubber. Here, spin-drying using centrifugal force is performed after washing. The resist coating unit 532 is a one-chamber spin coater. The development unit 580 is a one-chamber unit that performs development, cleaning (rinsing), and drying by rotating the substrate.

The post bake unit 590 is a unit composed of a plurality of heating units and cooling units arranged in multiple stages. The UV ozone processing unit 512 has the same process function as the UV ozone cleaning unit 12 of the first embodiment. The dehydration bake heating unit 523 and the dehydration bake cooling unit 524 have the same functions as the heating unit 22 and the cooling unit 24 of the dehydration bake unit 20 of the first embodiment. In addition, the titler 560, the turning robot 502 and
509 and the delivery unit 7 have the same functions as the titler 60, the turning robots 4 to 6 and the delivery unit 7 of the first embodiment.

The substrate taken out of the cassette 3 by the indexer robot 2a in the indexer section 2 is
It is moved to the delivery unit 7 adjacent to the indexer unit 2. Next, the substrate is carried into the UV ozone processing unit 512 by the turning robot 502. The substrate after the UV ozone treatment is carried out of the UV ozone treatment unit 512 and carried into the cleaning unit 513 by the turning robot 502. Similarly, the substrates are sequentially dehydrated bake heating unit 523, dehydrated bake cooling unit 524, resist coating unit 532, pre-bake heating unit 54
1. After being processed in the pre-bake cooling unit 542, it is transferred to the exposure device 50.

After the exposure, the substrate is a titler 560,
Development unit 580 and post-bake unit 590
Are stored in the original cassette 3 by the turning robots 502 to 506 and the indexer robot 2a. Here, loading / unloading of substrates to / from the processing units and transfer of substrates between the processing units are performed by the turning robots 502 to 509 and the transfer unit 7 which do not move in the horizontal direction. This eliminates the need for the transfer robot holding the substrate to move a long distance in the horizontal direction and generate particles as in the conventional case, reducing the amount of generated particles and reducing the contamination of the substrate and each processing unit. ing.

[Other Embodiments] In each of the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to a coater / developer apparatus. Advantageous effects can be obtained even when the present invention is applied to an in-line apparatus including a processing unit and a stationary processing unit. Further, the present invention can be applied to an inline system in which a coater / developer device and an exposure machine are combined.

[0078]

According to the present invention, a plurality of turning robots that do not move in the horizontal direction carry in and carry out the substrate to be processed into and out of each processing unit. Less pollution. In another aspect of the present invention, by combining a single-wafer processing unit with a stationary processing unit, the number of processing units and the number of turning robots can be reduced, and the space of the apparatus can be reduced. In addition, by incorporating the single-wafer processing unit, it becomes possible to use a transportation means such as a conveyor with low cost. Further, by incorporating a single-wafer processing unit, a brush scrubber or a spray developer can be easily adopted instead of a rotary processing method, and it is possible to cope with an increase in the size of a substrate to be processed at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram of a delivery unit.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram of a delivery unit.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram of a delivery unit.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501 Substrate processing apparatus 4-6, 104-108, 304-308, 404-4
07,502-509 turning robot 5a trunk 5b arm 7 delivery part 7a vertical pin (first support member) 7b laterally moving pin (second support member) 10,110,310,410 cleaning unit 20,120,320, 420 Dehydration bake unit (heating unit) 30, 130, 330, 430, 532 Resist coating unit (coating unit) 40, 140, 340, 440 Prebake unit (heating unit) 50 Exposure machine 80, 180, 380, 480, 580 Development Unit 90, 190, 390, 490 Post bake unit (heating unit)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01L 21/30 564C 569C (72) Inventor Masami Nishida 1 480 Takamiyacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Hikone Area Business (72) Inventor Kazuo Kise 1 480 Takamiyacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a series of processing on a substrate to be processed while transporting the substrate to be processed, comprising: a body that is rotatable and cannot be moved in a horizontal direction; A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of turning robots having an arm extending from the arm and capable of holding the substrate to be processed; and a plurality of processing units to which the substrate to be processed is loaded and unloaded by the rotating robot. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing units include one or more stationary processing units that perform processing without moving the substrate, and one or more processing units that include a step of moving the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is a single-wafer processing unit. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stationary processing unit has an equal loading unit and unloading unit, and the single wafer processing unit has a different loading unit and unloading unit. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer unit that is disposed between said turning robots and transfers said substrate to be processed. 5. The transfer section includes a first placement section on which the substrate to be processed can be placed, a second placement section positioned above the first placement section, and the substrate to be processed. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a moving mechanism configured to move the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion from one to the other. 6. The first mounting portion is a first support member that can move up and down, the second mounting portion is a second support member that can move horizontally, and the moving mechanism is 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a vertical movement mechanism that moves the first support member up and down, and a horizontal movement mechanism that moves the second support member in a horizontal direction. 7. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arm portion is capable of bending and extending and moving up and down. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of processing units include a cleaning unit for cleaning said substrate to be processed, and a heating unit for heating said substrate to be processed. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 9. The processing unit further includes: a coating unit that applies a coating liquid to the substrate to be processed; an exposure unit that exposes at least a part of the substrate to which the coating liquid is applied; The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: a developing unit that develops the exposed substrate to be processed. 10. The cleaning unit has a transport unit for transporting the substrate to be processed, and is provided with a loading section and a loading section at different positions, and the heating unit has a loading section and a loading section that are equal, The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein processing is performed on the target substrate without moving the target substrate. 11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said coating unit and said developing unit have a transfer means for transferring said substrate to be processed, and are provided with a carry-in part and a carry-out part at different positions. .