JPH11274283A - Transporting method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transporting apparatus which prevents the substrate surface and transport arms, etc., from contamination, and can carry substrates quietly. SOLUTION: A main transport unit 3 has pincettes 60, 61, 62 having support members 70 capable of supporting the periphery of a wafer W, and the pincettes 60, 61, 62 have support members 80 capable of supporting the back side of the wafer W. When a device forming face directs down or up, the wafer W is held by the pincette 61 or 62, respectively. The pincette 60 or pincettes 61, 62 hold the periphery of the wafer W with the support member 70 and back side of the wafer with the support member 80s, respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer method and a transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a photoresist processing step in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, a resist liquid is applied to a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as "wafer") to form a resist film, and a predetermined pattern is formed. After the exposure, a developing solution is supplied to the substrate to perform a developing process. In performing such a series of processing, a coating and developing processing apparatus has been conventionally used.

This coating / developing apparatus includes a series of processing necessary for coating / developing processing, for example, a hydrophobic treatment (adhesion treatment) for improving the fixability of a resist, a resist coating treatment for applying a resist liquid, a resist liquid Heat treatment for heating the coated wafer, the exposed wafer, etc.
A processing unit for individually performing each processing such as a development processing for developing a wafer after exposure is provided.

A transfer device provided in a coating and developing apparatus is used for transferring a wafer between the processing units, and the transfer apparatus holds the wafer,
For example, three tweezers are provided as holding members for loading and unloading wafers into and from each processing unit.
These tweezers have substantially the same configuration as each other, and are configured such that when holding the wafer, the back surface of the wafer is supported by a support member provided on each tweezer.

[0005]

However, the coating and developing apparatus may be provided with a scrub cleaning apparatus for cleaning, for example, the back surface of the wafer or both surfaces of the wafer. In this case, when performing scrub cleaning on the wafer, it is necessary to invert the front surface and the back surface of the wafer. However, when the wafer is inverted, the front surface of the wafer, that is, the device formation surface faces the lower side. When the tweezers receives the wafer in this state, the support member supporting the back side of the wafer comes into contact with the device forming surface of the wafer, and there is a possibility that the device forming surface is contaminated or damaged. is there.

In order to prevent such contamination of the device forming surface, tweezers provided with a supporting member capable of supporting the peripheral portion of the wafer have been used in some cases. According to such tweezers, even when the device forming surface faces downward, the tweezers do not contact the support member of the tweezers, so that the device forming surface can be prevented from being contaminated. However, in the case of holding a wafer on which resist liquid has been applied in a resist coating apparatus using the tweezers, for example, the resist liquid in the vicinity of the periphery of the wafer adheres to the support member of the tweezers, causing contamination and causing a yield. May be reduced.

Further, the use of tweezers having a support member for supporting the peripheral portion of the wafer has a smaller contact area with the wafer than the use of tweezers having a support member for supporting the back surface of the wafer. A loud noise was generated when transferring the wafer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a new transfer method and a new transfer device capable of preventing contamination of a device forming surface of a substrate.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer method for transferring a substrate while holding the substrate by a holding member. When is facing downward, the substrate is held by a holding member that holds the peripheral portion of the substrate,
When the device formation surface of the substrate faces upward, the substrate is held by a holding member that holds the back surface of the substrate.

According to this transfer method, the holding member for holding the peripheral portion of the substrate and the holding member for holding the back surface of the substrate are transported separately. By this proper use, the device forming surface facing downward does not come into contact with the holding member and is not contaminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer method for transferring a substrate by a holding member for holding the substrate.
When the device forming surface of the substrate faces downward, the substrate is held by a holding member that holds a peripheral portion of the substrate, and the device forming surface of the substrate faces upward and the device forming surface of the substrate is processed. When a liquid coating film is formed, the substrate is held by a holding member that holds the back surface of the substrate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the device forming surface facing downward as in the first aspect is not contaminated by contact with the holding member. Further, when the coating film of the processing liquid is formed on the device formation surface facing upward, the processing liquid on the substrate does not adhere to the holding member because the holding member holds the back surface of the substrate. Therefore, the holding member is not contaminated by the processing liquid.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a coating film made of a resist solution is formed on the device forming surface of the substrate, the substrate can be held by a holding member for holding the back surface of the substrate. preferable.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the holding member holds the back surface of the substrate, the resist liquid on the substrate does not adhere to the holding member. Therefore, contamination of the holding member due to the adhesion of the resist liquid can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the transfer apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, the transfer speed when transferring the substrate while holding the peripheral portion of the substrate is such that the back surface of the substrate is set at the same speed. The transfer speed is set to be lower than the transfer speed when the substrate is transferred while being held.

According to the transfer method of the fourth aspect, it is possible to reduce noise generated when the substrate is transferred while the substrate is held at the peripheral portion. Therefore, the substrate can be transported more quietly.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer device including two or more holding members for holding a substrate, wherein the holding member includes a support member capable of supporting a peripheral portion of the substrate and the back surface of the substrate. And a holding member having a support member that can be supported.

According to this configuration, it is possible to selectively use a holding member capable of holding the peripheral portion of the substrate and a holding member capable of holding the back surface of the substrate. Therefore, the method described in claim 1 can be suitably performed.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. An embodiment of the present invention is embodied as a main transfer device that is provided in a coating and developing processing apparatus and transfers a wafer to each processing apparatus. FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a coating and developing apparatus having a main transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At one end of the coating and developing apparatus 1, a cassette station 2 is arranged. A plurality of cassettes C accommodating, for example, 25 wafers W are placed in the cassette station 2, and the wafers W are transported and positioned on the front side of the cassette C (the loading / unloading side of the wafers W). And a transfer mechanism 4 for transferring the wafer W to the main transfer device 3. Various processing apparatuses for performing predetermined processing on the wafer W are arranged on both sides of the transfer path 5 of the main transfer apparatus 3.

That is, a hydrophobizing device 8 for improving the adhesion between the wafer W and the resist solution, a cooling device 9 for cooling the wafer W to a predetermined temperature, a heating device 10 for heating the wafer W, and rotating. Resist coating devices 11 and 11 for applying a resist solution to the surface of wafer W, developing devices 12 and 12 for performing a predetermined developing process on wafer W, back surface cleaning device 13 for high pressure jet cleaning of wafer W, and back surface cleaning A scrubber cleaning device 14 for scrub cleaning the processed wafer W and a reversing device 15 for reversing the front and back surfaces of the wafer W are arranged with the transfer path 5 interposed therebetween.

The scrubber cleaning device 14 is provided with a spin chuck 16 as shown in FIGS. The spin chuck 16 includes a motor 17 and a motor 1
7 and the rotating shaft 1
The mounting table 19 includes a mounting table 19 attached to an upper portion of the mounting table 8 and a wafer holding unit 20 arranged on a peripheral portion of the mounting table 19. A cup 21 is provided on the outer periphery of the spin chuck 16.
A cleaning liquid supply device 22 is provided above the spin chuck 16 and supplies a cleaning liquid to the surface of the rotating wafer W mounted on the mounting table 19. In addition,
The cleaning liquid supply device 22 is connected to an appropriate moving means (not shown), and the cleaning liquid supply device 22 is rotated around the shaft 22a from the peripheral portion of the wafer W to the center by the moving means (not shown). It is formed freely. Therefore, the cleaning liquid supplied to the rotating wafer W from the nozzle 23 provided in the cleaning liquid supply device 22
Is supplied over the entire surface of the vehicle.

Further, a surface scrub cleaner 25 for scrubbing the surface of the rotating wafer W mounted on the mounting table 19 is provided above the spin chuck 16. A cleaning member 26 such as a brush or a sponge is attached to the tip of the surface scrub cleaning machine 25. The surface scrub cleaner 25 has moving means (not shown).
The surface scrub cleaner 25 is formed to be rotatable around the shaft 25a from the peripheral portion of the wafer W to the center, similarly to the cleaning liquid supply device 22, by this moving means (not shown). . Further, the cleaning member 26 is formed so as to be rotated by an appropriate motor (not shown) while the surface scrub cleaner 25 rotates. Therefore, it is configured such that particles and the like adhering to the surface of the rotating wafer W can be scraped off and removed.

The reversing device 15 is provided adjacent to the scrubber cleaning device 14. As shown in FIG. 4, the reversing device 15 has a casing 30 composed of a top plate 27, a bottom plate 28, and side plates 29, 29.
A partition plate 36 is provided between the partition plate 8 and the partition plate 8.

In the casing 30, a pair of wafer reversing mechanisms 37 and a base 38 are vertically provided via a partition plate 36, respectively. Wafer reversing mechanism 3 arranged vertically
7 and the base 38 are substantially the same, so the following description will be made on the structure of the upper wafer reversing mechanism 37 and the base 38.

The wafer reversing mechanism 37 includes left and right symmetrical gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 for gripping the wafer W and the respective gripping mechanisms 41 and 4.
2 and is mounted on a mounting member 44. The driving device 43 has a built-in motor (not shown). By driving the motor (not shown), the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 can be separated and approached in the horizontal direction, and can be freely rotated. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 5, gripping members 50, 50 are attached to the distal ends of the gripping mechanisms 41, 42, and the peripheral edge of the wafer W is inserted into the side surface of each gripping member 50. An arc-shaped insertion groove 51 is formed. Therefore,
As the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 move horizontally in a direction approaching each other, the peripheral portion of the wafer W supported on the upper surface of the elevating member 47 is inserted into the insertion groove 51.

On the other hand, for example, six support pins 46 are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the base 38 to support the back surface of the wafer W. The base 38 is provided with an elevating member 47 that moves up and down by driving a motor (not shown). The upper surface of the elevating member 47 has a wafer W supported by the support pins 46.
Is formed in a shape capable of supporting horizontally. Therefore, the wafer W is configured to be able to move up and down by the vertical movement of the elevating member 47.

As shown in FIG. 6, an inclined portion 52 is provided above the support pin 46, and the peripheral portion of the wafer W is supported by the inclined portion 52. Thus, the delivery of the wafer W in the reversing device 15 is all performed via the peripheral portion of the wafer W.

The scrubber cleaning device 14 and the reversing device 15 are configured as described above. Next, a description will be given of a configuration of a main transfer device that loads and unloads wafers W from and to various processing devices such as the scrubber cleaning device 14. As shown in FIG. 7, for example, three tweezers 6
Reference numerals 0, 61, and 62 are provided on a transport base (not shown). These tweezers 60, 6 as holding members
Each of the reference numerals 1 and 62 is configured to be freely movable in a front-rear direction indicated by a reciprocating arrow in FIG. 7 by a drive motor (not shown) or the like built in a transfer base (not shown). I have.

Of these tweezers 60, 61 and 62, the uppermost tweezer 60 has a substantially 3/4 annular holding portion 64 for holding the wafer W, as shown in FIGS. The holding portion 64 is formed integrally with a central portion thereof, and is constituted by a supporting portion 65 connected to the holding portion 64. The support 65 is connected to a transfer base (not shown) via a connection member 66.

The holding portion 64 of the tweezers 60 has a wafer W
And three supporting members 70 which are formed to be substantially the same as each other and to directly support the peripheral edge portion. As shown in FIG. 9, each support member 70 is provided with the holding portion 64 and the support member 7.
0, for example, two screw holes 71 are drilled, an inclined surface 73 connected to the upper surface 72 and sliding down the wafer W, and a peripheral edge of the wafer W supporting the peripheral portion of the wafer W. The support unit 74 includes a fall prevention unit 75 that prevents the wafer W from falling.

As shown in FIG. 10, each of the tweezers 61 and 62 comprises a substantially ／ annular holding portion 77 and a supporting portion 78 connected to the holding portion 77. The holding portion 77 is provided with three support members 80 that support the rear surface of the wafer W and are formed substantially identical to each other.
As shown in FIG. 11, the support member 80 is in contact with an upper surface 82 in which, for example, two screw holes 81 for fixing the holding portion 77 and the support member 80 are formed, a wafer W and a peripheral portion thereof, and The wafer W has an inclined surface 83 for sliding down the wafer W, a side wall 84 with which the peripheral portion of the wafer W does not contact, and a wafer supporting portion 85 for directly supporting the back surface of the wafer W.

The tweezers 60, 61, 6
The forward and backward operations of the second tweezers are controlled by a control device (not shown), and are configured so that another tweezer can be advanced while one tweezer is being retracted. Further, by this control device (not shown), the transfer speed when transferring the wafer W whose peripheral portion is held by the tweezers 60 is set to the transfer speed when transferring the wafer W whose back surface is held by the tweezers 61 and 62. It is set to be slower than the speed.

Main transfer device 3 according to the embodiment of the present invention
Is configured as described above. Next, the operation and operation of the main transport device 3 will be described.

When one unprocessed wafer W is unloaded from the cassette C mounted on the cassette station 2 of the coating and developing treatment apparatus 1 by the transfer mechanism 4, the wafer W is held by the tweezers 62 of the main transfer apparatus 3. And alignment is performed. Then, the wafer W held by the tweezers 62 is carried into the back surface cleaning device 13. The wafer W that has been subjected to the predetermined back surface cleaning processing in the back surface cleaning device 13 is again held by the tweezers 62, transported to the scrubber cleaning device 14 by the main transfer device 3, and carried into the scrubber cleaning device 14 by the tweezers 62. Is done.

As shown in FIG. 12, the wafer W held by the tweezers 62 is
Directly supported by At this time, the device forming surface W _a which the device is formed an upper, a device-forming surface W _b
Are facing down.

The wafer W carried into the scrubber cleaning device 14 is held by the wafer holding unit 20 and then rotated together with the mounting table 19 by driving the motor 17. And
Wafer W rotating from nozzle 23 of cleaning liquid supply device 22
After the cleaning liquid has been supplied, the scrub cleaning for the device forming surface W _a of the wafer W are made to.

The wafer W which the scrubbing device forming surface W _a is completed, is conveyed to the reversing device 15 by the main carrier unit 3 after being held in forceps 62, provided in the base 38 of the reversing device 15 below the Supported by the supporting pins 46. Next, after the wafer W is lifted by the lifting member 47, the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 are moved closer to each other. Then, after the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 grip the peripheral portion of the wafer W, the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 are rotated to invert the wafer W. This reversal, device formation surface W _a of the wafer W comes to face downward.

Next, the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 are separated from each other so that the inverted wafer W
Support on top. Then, the wafer W is moved together with the lifting member 47.
To lower the support pins 46 provided on the lower base 38.
To support. Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
The peripheral portion is conveyed to the scrubber cleaning apparatus 14 in a state of being held with the wafer W to the tweezers 60 for holding a predetermined scrubbing against the device-forming surface W _b facing upward, i.e. the so-called back surface cleaning performed.

[0041] After the above scrubbing relative to the upper device-forming surface W _b facing is completed, scrubber cleaning apparatus in a state of being held with the wafer W to the tweezers 60 14
Remove from Then, the wafer W is transferred to the upper base 38.
After being supported on the support pins 46 provided in the above, the lifting mechanisms 47 are lifted to be gripped by the gripping mechanisms 41 and 42 and inverted. Note that, by reversing the operation of the wafer W once by gripping mechanism 41 and 42 respectively disposed above and below at this point, the device forming surface W _a of the wafer W is in a state of facing upward.

Then, after transferring the wafer W to the elevating member 47, the elevating member 47 is lowered and the upper base 3
The wafer W is supported on the support pins 46 provided on the wafer 8. Next, the wafer W having been subjected to the scrub cleaning on both sides is completed.
Is carried out from the upper base 38 while being held by the tweezers 62. Then, it is conveyed to the next hydrophobizing apparatus 8 and carried into the hydrophobizing apparatus 8 via tweezers 62.

[0043] In this embodiment mode can be used depending on the orientation of the device formation surface W _a of the wafer W, the tweezers 60 for holding the peripheral portion of the wafer W, and a forceps 62 for holding a rear surface of the wafer W . And the wafer W
When the device formation surface W _a is facing the lower in order to hold the tweezers 60 instead tweezers 62, the device forming surface W _a facing lower is not in contact with the wafer support 85. Thus, contamination of the device formation surface W _a is prevented.

In the present embodiment, the transfer speed when the wafer W is transferred while being held by the tweezers 60 is controlled by a control device (not shown) in a state where the wafer W is held by the tweezers 61 or 62. Can be made slower than the transport speed at the time of transport. Therefore, the wafer W can be transported more quietly.

The wafer W that has been subjected to the predetermined hydrophobic treatment in the hydrophobic treatment device 8 is carried out to the tweezers 62 and is transferred by the main transfer device 3 to the next cooling treatment device 9.

The wafer W which has been subjected to the predetermined cooling processing in the cooling processing apparatus 9 is carried out by the tweezers 61,
While it is transported by the main transport apparatus 3 to the resist coating unit 11, the supply of the resist solution to the device forming surface W _a is performed. The wafer W on which the predetermined resist coating process has been completed by the supply of the resist solution is placed in a pair of tweezers 6.
1 is carried out.

In the resist coating apparatus 11, a resist solution is supplied to the rotating wafer W in order to form a resist film having a uniform thickness. Due to such spin coating, the resist liquid in the vicinity of the periphery of the wafer W may protrude outward as shown in FIG.

[0048] However, since in this embodiment it is selectively used with the tweezers 60 and the tweezers 61, when the device formation surface W _a is directed upward, the tweezers 60
Instead, the back surface of the wafer W can be held by the tweezers 61. As described above, since the tweezers 61 hold the back surface of the wafer W, the resist liquid protruding from the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the wafer W does not adhere to the support member 80, so that the contamination of the support member 80 can be prevented. .

Thereafter, the wafer W after the completion of the resist coating process is transferred by the main transfer device 3 to the heating device 10 and the development processing device 12, and is subjected to each predetermined process.

The main transfer device according to the present embodiment includes one set of tweezers for supporting the peripheral portion of the wafer W,
Although an example in which two tweezers are provided to support the back surface of the wafer W has been described, the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, two tweezers supporting the peripheral portion of the wafer W may be used. , And one tweezer for supporting the back surface of the wafer W may be provided in the main transfer device.

The tweezers 60 for supporting the wafer W at the peripheral edge are arranged at the top, and the tweezers 61 and 62 for supporting the wafer W at the back are arranged at the bottom.
The order of arrangement of the tweezers 60, 61, and 62 in the main transfer device 3 may be changed as appropriate. Furthermore, although an example in which a wafer is used as a substrate has been described, the present invention is not limited to such an example, and can be effectively applied to, for example, a case where an LCD substrate is used.

[0052]

According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the device forming surface of the substrate is directed downward by using a holding member for supporting the peripheral portion of the substrate and a holding member for supporting the back surface of the substrate. When facing, the substrate can be held by a holding member that holds the peripheral edge of the substrate. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent contamination of the device formation surface, and to prevent a decrease in yield.

In particular, according to the second and third aspects of the present invention,
When a coating film of the processing liquid is formed on the device forming surface, the processing liquid does not adhere to the holding member because the holding member holding the back surface of the substrate holds the substrate. Therefore, contamination of the holding member can be prevented, and the yield can be improved. In particular, according to the invention described in claim 3,
It is possible to prevent the holding member from being contaminated by the resist solution.

In particular, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be more quietly transferred.

In particular, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the holding member provided in the transfer device can be properly used according to the direction of the device forming surface. Therefore, the method according to claim 1 can be suitably performed, and contamination of the device formation surface can be effectively prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a coating and developing apparatus provided with a main transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a scrubber cleaning device provided in the coating and developing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the scrubber cleaning device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a reversing device provided in the coating and developing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a gripping mechanism and a gripping member formed in the reversing device of FIG. 4;

6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of support pins formed in a wafer holding mechanism provided in the reversing device of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the main transfer device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of tweezers capable of holding a peripheral portion of a wafer.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a support member provided in the tweezers of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a pair of tweezers capable of holding a back surface of a wafer.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a support member provided in the tweezers of FIG. 10;

12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the back surface of the wafer is held by the tweezers of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a peripheral portion of a wafer is held by the tweezers of FIG. 8;

14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a resist solution or the like is supplied to the wafer held by the tweezers in FIG. 10;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 coating / developing apparatus 3 main transport apparatus 14 scrubber cleaning apparatus 15 reversing apparatus 25 surface scrub cleaning machine 37 wafer reversing mechanism 38 base 41, 42 gripping mechanism 50 gripping member 60, 61, 62 tweezers 70, 80 support member 74 wafer periphery Support 85 Wafer support C Cassette W Wafer

Claims (5)

[Claims] In a transfer method for transferring a substrate while holding the substrate by a holding member, when the device formation surface of the substrate faces downward, the holding member for holding a peripheral portion of the substrate is used to hold the substrate. And a holding member for holding the back surface of the substrate when the device forming surface of the substrate faces upward. 2. A transfer method for transferring a substrate by a holding member for holding the substrate, wherein when the device forming surface of the substrate faces downward, the substrate is held by a holding member for holding a peripheral portion of the substrate. When the device forming surface of the substrate faces upward and a coating film of the processing liquid is formed on the device forming surface of the substrate, it is necessary to hold the substrate by a holding member that holds the back surface of the substrate. Characteristic, transport method. 3. The substrate according to claim 2, wherein when a coating film made of a resist liquid is formed on a device forming surface of the substrate, the substrate is held by a holding member that holds a back surface of the substrate. Transportation method. 4. A transfer speed when transferring the substrate while holding the peripheral portion of the substrate is set to be lower than a transfer speed when transferring the substrate while holding the back surface of the substrate. The transport method according to claim 1, 2, or 3. 5. A transfer device having two or more holding members for holding a substrate, the holding device having a support member capable of supporting a peripheral portion of the substrate, and the support member capable of supporting a back surface of the substrate. A transfer device comprising a holding member.