JPH1143221A - Substrate processing device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing device and its method which are capable of reducing swinging of a substrate conveying device when it is moved, without enhancing the rigidity of a moving mechanism or torque of a driving system. SOLUTION: A substrate conveying robot TR is moved vertically downward up to a specified height using a Z direction driving mechanism 30, without moving it horizontally. Then, while the specified height is maintained, an X direction driving mechanism 20 is operated to move the substrate conveying robot TR from a position of acceptance and delivery of a hot plate HP9 to a perpendicular line to a moving line along which a base member 55 is moved by the X direction driving mechanism 20. Then, immediately before or after the movement of the substrate conveying robot TR by the X direction driving mechanism 20 is stopped, the Z direction driving mechanism 30 is operated to move the substrate conveying robot TR vertically upward up to a position of acceptance and delivery of the hot plate HP9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for transferring a thin plate-like substrate (hereinafter, simply referred to as "substrate") such as a semiconductor substrate or a liquid crystal glass substrate between predetermined processing units using a substrate transfer apparatus. And methods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the above-mentioned substrate is sequentially subjected to various processes such as a resist coating process, an exposure process, a developing process, and a heating process and a cooling process associated therewith, so that a desired substrate process is performed. ing. Then, the substrate to be processed is circulated and transported by the substrate transport robot in accordance with a predetermined processing procedure between the processing units performing the above-described processing.

In the substrate processing apparatus, among the processing units for performing the above-mentioned processes, the processing units for performing the resist coating process and the developing process are often arranged in a plane, but the heat processing units for performing the heating process and the cooling process are often arranged in a plane. Usually, they are arranged in a multi-layered arrangement. Therefore, the substrate transport robot that transports the substrate to these processing units is configured to be able to move not only horizontally but also vertically.

[0004]

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional substrate transfer robot. The substrate transfer robot TR includes a transfer arm 91 and an arm support base 92.

[0005] The arm support base 92 is arranged in a vertical direction (Z direction).
The moving mechanism 93 is vertically movable. The vertical movement mechanism 93 is provided on a base 94. The base 94 is horizontally movable by a horizontal (X-direction) moving mechanism 95. Therefore, with the movement of the base 94, the vertical movement mechanism 93 and the substrate transfer robot TR also move in the horizontal direction.

With such a configuration, the substrate transfer robot TR can perform vertical movement and horizontal movement while holding the substrate on the transfer arm 91.

When the conventional substrate transport robot TR moves from the position indicated by the solid line in the figure to the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line, the movement time has been minimized. That is, the movement in the horizontal direction and the movement in the vertical direction are performed in parallel, and the movement is performed so that the movement time as a whole becomes the shortest.

In recent years, the diameter of a substrate has been increased, and a substrate having a diameter of 300 mm or more is being processed. Along with that, the substrate transport robot TR
And its mass had also increased. Therefore, the moment of inertia of the substrate transport robot TR around the base 94 also increases, and when the substrate transport robot TR starts or stops moving at a high position in the vertical direction, the substrate transport robot TR may be largely shaken. there were.

In order to reduce such large shaking, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of the vertical movement mechanism 93 and increase the torque of the drive system of the horizontal movement mechanism 95.

[0010] However, the above measures naturally cause an increase in cost, and when a drive system with a high torque is provided, a large installation space is required. Since a clean room in which a substrate processing apparatus is usually installed requires a lot of cost to maintain the environment, it is not preferable to increase the installation space of the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing a swing of a substrate transfer apparatus during movement without increasing rigidity of a moving mechanism and torque of a driving system. And a method.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus provided with a substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between predetermined processing units.
A moving means for moving the substrate transfer device from a first transfer position for transferring the substrate to the processing unit and a second transfer position, including a predetermined drive unit, and (b) a moment of inertia around the drive unit. Moving the substrate transfer device to a position at which the inertia moment of the substrate transfer device is smaller than the inertia moment of the substrate transfer device at the first transfer position, and then moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position. Control means for controlling the moving means as described above.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the moving means includes:
A first moving means for moving the substrate transfer device along a first line, and (a-2) a second moving means for moving the first moving means along a second line orthogonal to the first line. Moving the substrate transfer device closer to the second line than the first transfer position by causing the movement control unit to control the first moving unit. To move the substrate transfer device from the second position to the second position.
And moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position by controlling the first moving unit immediately before or after stopping the movement by the second moving unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus of the second aspect, the first line is a line extending in a vertical direction, and the second line is a line extending in a horizontal direction. And

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a driving force from a predetermined driving unit is transmitted to a substrate transfer device from a first transfer position for transferring a substrate to a predetermined processing unit to a second transfer position. A substrate processing method for transferring a substrate by moving the substrate transfer device, wherein (a) a moment of inertia around the drive unit is smaller than an inertia moment of the substrate transfer device at the first transfer position. A first movement step of moving the substrate transfer device to a position at which the moment of inertia of the value is obtained; and (b) a second movement step of moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first moving step, the first transfer step includes moving the substrate transfer device along a first line.
A step of approaching a second line orthogonal to the line (b) from the first transfer position, and (b-1)
Moving the substrate transfer device along the second line from the second position to a position perpendicular to the second line;
(b-2) moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position immediately before or after stopping the movement along the second line.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing method of the fifth aspect, the first line is a line extending in a vertical direction and the second line is a line extending in a horizontal direction. And

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

<A. Overall Configuration of Substrate Processing Apparatus> FIG.
1 is a schematic plan layout view of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. Note that FIGS. 1 and 2 and the following drawings are given an XYZ rectangular coordinate system in order to clarify the directional relationship.
Here, the horizontal plane parallel to the floor is defined as the XY plane, and the vertical direction is defined as the Z direction. And (+ X) direction and (-X)
When the direction is not distinguished, it is simply called “X direction” (the same applies to “Y” and “Z”).

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus includes an indexer ID for carrying in / out a substrate, a transport path R for carrying the substrate, a first processing unit group A, and a second processing unit group B. And

The indexer ID is provided with a substrate transfer device for mounting a substrate storage cassette (not shown) and dispensing or storing substrates from the cassette. The unprocessed substrate is supplied to the first processing unit group A and the second processing unit group B, and plays a role of accommodating the processed substrate. A control unit 10 is provided in the indexer ID, and the control unit 10 manages and controls operations of the substrate transport robot TR, which will be described later, and various operations of the substrate processing apparatus such as heat treatment and chemical liquid processing. In FIG. 2, the indexer ID is omitted for convenience of illustration.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer path R is provided with a substrate transfer robot TR. The substrate transport robot TR includes an indexer ID, a first processing unit group A, a second
Responsible for circulating and transporting substrates between the processing units included in the processing unit group B. Here, the substrate transport robot TR is movable in the X direction, and is further configured to be capable of driving in the height direction (Z direction) and rotating. The operation mechanism and movement of the substrate transport robot TR will be described later.

The first processing unit group A and the second processing unit group B are provided to face each other with the conveyance path R interposed therebetween. The first processing unit group A includes a plurality of hot plates for performing a heating process on the substrate, a plurality of cool plates for performing a cooling process, a temperature and humidity control unit, a spin coater (rotary resist coating device) SC1, SC2, and a spin developer (rotating). This is a multi-stage processing unit group in which chemical liquid processing unit groups consisting of SD1 are arranged in a multi-stage manner. Similarly, the second processing unit group B includes a plurality of hot plates, a plurality of cool plates, a temperature and humidity control unit, a spin coater (rotary resist coating device) SC1, SC2, and a spin developer (rotary developing device) SD1. Is a multi-stage processing section group in which chemical processing sections are arranged in a multi-stage manner.
The chemical cabinet CB is a base portion of the entire first processing unit group A, the second processing unit group B, and the transport path R, and collects a chemical solution tank for storing a chemical solution such as a resist and a developing solution, and collects a waste liquid after the process. This is the space where the waste liquid collection unit to be installed is disposed.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus viewed from the position VV in FIG. 1 in the (+ X) direction. As shown, at this position, the hot plates HP1, HP2, HP3, the cool plate CP1, the temperature and humidity control unit F, and the spin coater SC1 are arranged in this order from the top in the first processing unit group A. Similarly, at this position, the second processing unit group B includes hot plates H in order from the top.
P4, HP5, HP6, cool plate CP3, temperature and humidity control unit F, and spin coater SC3 are arranged. A substrate transport robot TR is provided between the two processing unit groups. Here, the temperature and humidity control unit F is disposed immediately above the chemical processing unit group.
It has a function of supplying clean air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted to the respective chemical processing units such as the spin coaters SC1 and SC3.

<B. Configuration of Substrate Transfer Robot> FIG.
It is a perspective view for explaining the operation mechanism of the substrate transport robot TR. The operation mechanism of the substrate transport robot TR will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present specification, the substrate transfer robot TR includes an arm base 42 and a transfer arm 51.

The substrate transfer robot TR includes a rotation mechanism 40 and an arm slide mechanism 50, and is configured to be movable by an X-direction drive mechanism 20 and a Z-direction (vertical direction) drive mechanism 30. X direction drive mechanism 20
Are provided on a lower surface of a base member 55 of the substrate transport robot TR and a pair of guide rails 21 arranged in parallel along the X direction, a screw shaft 22 arranged along the X direction, and The nut member 23 screwed, the motor 25 installed on the lower surface of the base member 55, and a timing belt 24 connecting the nut member 23 and the motor 25.
It is composed of The guide rail 21 and the screw shaft 22 are fixedly supported at both ends of a transport path R (not shown). The base member 55 is slidably supported on the guide rail 21 in the X direction. Therefore, by rotating the motor 25 in the forward and reverse directions, the rotation is transmitted to the nut member 23 via the timing belt 24, and the base member 55 moves on the guide rail 21 in the X direction by rotating the nut member 23. Will be moved to.

The Z-direction drive mechanism 30 is a drive mechanism having a pantograph structure (see FIG. 4). That is, the screw shaft 33 is rotated by the forward / reverse rotation of the motor 32, and the connection support member 34 screwed to the screw shaft 33 moves back and forth (moves in the X direction). Then, with the forward and backward movement of the connection support member 34, the pair of pantograph links 31 connected to both ends of the connection support member 34 are bent and extended. A support 4 is provided at the upper end of the pair of pantograph links 31.
1 is connected and supported, and as a result, the forward / reverse rotation of the motor 32 is converted into the elevation drive (drive in the Z direction) of the support base 41 via the bending / extension drive of the pantograph link 31.

An arm base 42 is provided on the support table 41, and a rotating mechanism 40 is constituted by them. That is, the arm base 42 rotates in the θ direction about the axis parallel to the Z direction as the rotation axis by the rotational drive of the motor built in the arm base 42.

The arm base 42 includes an arm slide mechanism 50, and a pair of upper and lower transfer arms 51 provided on the arm base 42 are independently moved in the front-rear direction (front and rear with respect to the arm base 42). (In the direction).

The substrate transport robot TR can access each processing unit by each of the above-described driving mechanisms, and can transfer a substrate to and from each processing unit. Specifically, X is set to a position facing the target substrate processing unit.
It is moved by the directional drive mechanism 20 and the Z-direction drive mechanism 30, and one of the transfer arms 51 is inserted into the substrate processing unit using the rotation mechanism 40 and the arm slide mechanism 50. Thereafter, the substrate transport robot TR receives the substrate from the processing unit (or passes the substrate to the processing unit) by vertically moving up and down by a small amount using the Z-direction drive mechanism 30, and pulls back the transport arm 51 by the arm slide mechanism 50 again. Performs a delivery operation.

<C. Moving Operation of Substrate Transfer Robot> As described above, the substrate transfer robot TR moves in the horizontal direction (X
Direction) and a vertical direction (Z direction). FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the movement operation of the substrate transport robot TR in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Here, the substrate transfer robot TR moves from the transfer position with the hot plate HP1 (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5A) to the transfer position with the hot plate HP9 (the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 5C). The case will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the substrate transfer robot TR is moved vertically downward to a predetermined height using the Z-direction drive mechanism 30 without being moved horizontally (FIG. 5A). (A) Move to the position indicated by the dashed line).

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the X-direction drive mechanism 20 is used while maintaining the predetermined height, that is, without operating the Z-direction drive mechanism 30. X from the transfer position with the hot plate HP9
Line of movement of the base member 55 by the directional drive mechanism 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as “line of movement by the X-direction drive mechanism 20”)
5) (moved to the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 5B).

Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, immediately before or after the movement by the X-direction drive mechanism 20 stops,
Operate the Z-direction drive mechanism 30 to move the substrate transfer robot TR
Is moved to a position above and below the hot plate HP9 for transfer (to a position indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 5C). Thus, the hot plate HP
A series of movement operations are performed from the transfer position with the hot plate 1 to the transfer position with the hot plate HP9.

In the manner described above, the substrate transfer robot T
After bringing R closer to the movement line by the X-direction drive mechanism 20, the drive unit of the substrate transfer robot TR, that is, the inertia moment around the base member 55, which is a reference for considering the moment of inertia, at the transfer position with the hot plate HP1. Since the substrate transfer robot TR is moved to a position where the moment of inertia is smaller than the inertia moment of the substrate transfer robot TR, the substrate transfer robot TR is moved to a transfer position with the hot plate HP9. Shaking can be reduced. In this case, the rigidity of the X-direction drive mechanism 20 and the Z-direction drive mechanism 30 and the torque of the drive system of each moving mechanism may be unchanged.

Incidentally, the lowering position of the substrate transport robot TR in FIG.
The above effect is more likely to be obtained by lowering to the limit of the downward movement by the X-direction drive mechanism 20 as much as possible. However, the substrate transport robot TR
Is moved to the lower limit, the moving time becomes longer. Therefore, the lowering position of the substrate transport robot TR may be determined in consideration of both the above effects and the moving time.

<D. Modifications> Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described example. That is, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes:
With respect to the moment of inertia around the base member 55, the substrate transfer robot TR is moved to a position at which the inertia moment of the substrate transfer robot TR is smaller than the inertia moment of the substrate transfer robot at the initial position, and then the substrate transfer robot is moved to a target position. Any form may be used. For example, in the above embodiment, the substrate transport robot TR moves by combining horizontal movement and vertical movement. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Any robot can be used.

Further, each drive mechanism of the substrate transport robot TR is not limited to the above embodiment. For example,
Regarding the X-direction drive mechanism, the nut member 23 (or the nut member 63) is fixed so as not to rotate, and each substrate transfer robot is driven in the X direction by rotating the screw shaft 22 (or the screw shaft 62). Alternatively, instead of using a screw shaft and a nut member, a belt feed mechanism using a pulley and a belt may be used, and other known means can be applied. .
Furthermore, the Z-direction drive mechanism is not limited to the pantograph structure, but may be a screw feed mechanism using a ball screw or the like, or another telescopic elevating mechanism, for example, a winding interlocking mechanism using a pulley and a wire.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With respect to the moment of inertia around the predetermined drive unit, the substrate transfer device is moved to a position at which the inertia moment of the substrate transfer device is smaller than the inertia moment of the substrate transfer device at the first transfer position, and then transferred to the second transfer position. Since the apparatus is moved, the swing of the substrate transfer apparatus during movement can be reduced without increasing the rigidity of the moving mechanism and the torque of the drive system. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and an increase in installation space due to strengthening of the moving mechanism and installation of a new drive system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the substrate processing apparatus viewed from a position VV in FIG. 1 in a (+ X) direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining an operation mechanism of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a movement operation of the substrate transport robot TR in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional substrate transfer robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 control unit 20 X-direction drive mechanism 30 Z-direction drive mechanism TR Substrate transfer robot

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Tsuji 322 Hazukashi Furukawacho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inside the Rakusai Office (72) Inventor Yoichi Nishimura 322 Habushishi Furukawa-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiko Morita 322 Hashinashi Furukawacho Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Rakusai Office

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus provided with a substrate transport device that transports a substrate between predetermined processing units, comprising: (a) a first processing unit that includes a predetermined driving unit and transfers a substrate to and from the processing unit. Moving means for moving the substrate transfer device from the transfer position to the second transfer position; and A movement control unit that controls the movement unit so as to move the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position after moving the substrate transfer device to a position at which a moment of inertia of a value is obtained. Substrate processing apparatus. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving means includes: (a-1) first moving means for moving the substrate transfer device along a first line; (a-2) Moving the first moving means in a second direction orthogonal to the first line;
Second movement means for moving the substrate transfer apparatus along the second transfer position from the first transfer position by controlling the first movement means.
And moving the substrate transfer device from the second position to a line perpendicular to the second line by controlling the second moving unit, and immediately before stopping the movement by the second moving unit. Alternatively, the substrate processing apparatus controls the first moving unit after the stop to move the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first line is a line extending in a vertical direction, and the second line is a line extending in a horizontal direction. Processing equipment. 4. A driving force from a predetermined driving unit is transmitted to a substrate transfer device from a first transfer position for transferring a substrate to a predetermined processing unit to a second transfer position to move the substrate transfer device. (A) a position where the moment of inertia around the drive unit is smaller than the moment of inertia of the substrate transfer device at the first transfer position. A first moving step of moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position; and (b) a second moving step of moving the substrate transfer device to the second transfer position. 5. The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein, in the first moving step, the substrate transfer device is moved along a first line, and is moved to a second line orthogonal to the first line. A step of moving the substrate transfer device closer to the second transfer position from the second position than the first transfer position.
(B-2) immediately before or after stopping the movement along the second line, moving the substrate transfer device to the second line. Moving the substrate to a delivery position. 6. The substrate processing method according to claim 5, wherein the first line is a line extending in a vertical direction, and the second line is a line extending in a horizontal direction. Processing method.