JPH1197508A - Substrate treater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treater capable of accurately discriminating the right and wrong of the posture of a substrate held by a substrate holding part regardless of the diameter enlargement of the substrate, being unrelated to a problem such as the difficulty of the optical axis adjustment of a light receiving part and performing accurate detection at all times without being affected by the surface state of the substrate just by providing a single sensor. SOLUTION: This processor is provided with an ultrasonic wave sensor 22 constituted of an ultrasonic wave irradiation part of irradiating the surface of the substrate W held by the substrate holding part 10 with ultrasonic waves and an ultrasonic wave reception part for receiving the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic wave irradiation part and reflected on the surface of the substrate. Whether or not the posture of the substrate is normal is judged depending on whether or not the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic wave irradiation part and reflected on the surface of the substrate are received in the ultrasonic wave reception part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
Glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices or photomasks,
An apparatus for processing a substrate such as an optical disk substrate, for example,
A substrate rotation type processing apparatus that holds a substrate in a horizontal position and performs required surface treatment on the substrate while rotating it around a vertical axis, such as a spin coater, spin developer, or spin scrubber. Substrate processing equipment such as a substrate transport device that transports substrates to and from the substrate processing units and transfers substrates into and out of each substrate processing unit, and a heat treatment device that places a substrate on a hot plate or cool plate in a horizontal position and performs heat treatment on the substrate More particularly, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus provided with a mechanism for determining whether a substrate is properly held in a horizontal posture.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A substrate rotary processing apparatus such as a spin coater, a spin developer, or a spin scrubber has a substrate holder for holding a substrate in a horizontal position, and a motor connected to a rotating shaft for supporting the substrate holder. By rotating the substrate holding unit by rotating the substrate held by the substrate holding unit around a vertical axis, a processing liquid such as a coating liquid, a developing solution, and a cleaning liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate to apply the coating liquid. Performs surface treatment such as development and cleaning. In such a substrate rotation type processing apparatus, the substrate holding unit (mechanical chuck) is provided on a rotation table supported rotatably about a vertical axis in a horizontal posture via a rotation support shaft, and provided on an upper surface of the rotation table. A plurality of, for example, six support members, each of which is in contact with the peripheral portion of the substrate and supports the substrate in a horizontal position, and a substrate integrally formed on the upper end of each of the support members and supported by the support member And six positioning pins that contact the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate and restrict the horizontal movement of the substrate.

In a substrate rotation type processing apparatus, a substrate is rotated at a high speed, and if the substrate is not properly held in a horizontal posture and tilted without being held by a mechanical chuck, the substrate falls off the mechanical chuck with the rotation and is damaged. Or the substrate detached from the mechanical chuck jumps vigorously to the surroundings to hurt the operator. For this reason, after the substrate is held on the mechanical chuck, it is determined whether or not the posture of the substrate is proper before rotating the substrate.

Conventionally, as a mechanism for determining whether or not the posture of a substrate held by a mechanical chuck is appropriate,
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-316290, in addition to a substrate presence / absence sensor for detecting whether or not a substrate is held by the substrate holding unit, a substrate holding unit is provided around the substrate holding unit in a plan view. A plurality of light projecting sections each having a plurality of light projecting trajectories overlapping and intersecting with the substrate held by the substrate and projecting light in a horizontal direction toward the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate with a vertical width equal to or greater than the thickness of the substrate. , And a plurality of light receiving units respectively receiving the light projected from each light emitting unit are arranged, and whether the amount of light received by each light receiving unit decreases in a state where the presence of the substrate is detected by the substrate presence / absence sensor Is known to determine whether or not the substrate is normally held. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-641
No. 55 discloses that a light beam is emitted from a light projector toward a substrate held by a substrate holding unit and reflected on the surface of the substrate.
There is disclosed a substrate holding state checking device that determines whether the substrate holding state is normal based on whether the reflected light beam is received by a light receiver.

[0005]

However, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-316290, it is determined by a light transmission method whether or not the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion is appropriate. In the mechanism, the distance between the light emitting part and the light receiving part must be increased with the increase in the diameter of the substrate,
For this reason, there is a problem that the detection accuracy decreases as the distance between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit approaches the limit distance at which the decrease in the amount of received light at the light receiving unit can be detected. Also, with an increase in the distance between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit,
There is also a problem that it is difficult to adjust the optical axis of the light emitting / receiving unit, and it takes time to adjust the optical axis. Further, the discrimination mechanism based on the light transmission method requires at least two sets of sensors each including a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit.

On the other hand, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-64155, a mechanism for judging whether or not a posture of a substrate held by a substrate holding portion is normal by a light reflection method is as follows.
There is a problem that the light reflectance of the substrate surface changes depending on the surface state (film type, film thickness, etc.) of the substrate, which causes erroneous detection.

[0007] There are various devices which require a mechanism for judging whether or not the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion is appropriate, in addition to the above-described substrate rotary processing device. For example, in a substrate transfer apparatus (substrate transfer robot) that transfers a substrate while sequentially moving to a plurality of substrate processing units such as a heat treatment unit, a coating processing unit, and a development processing unit, and takes in and out a substrate in each substrate processing unit, If the substrate is not always held in a proper posture by the holding unit, the substrate may drop or be damaged when the substrate is delivered. Also, in the heat treatment apparatus, if the substrate is not properly placed in a horizontal position on a hot plate or a cool plate, the temperature of the substrate will not be uniform over the entire surface,
For example, the heat treatment quality is reduced. Therefore, these substrate processing apparatuses have the same problem as the above-described substrate rotary processing apparatus.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and regardless of whether the substrate has a large diameter or not, whether the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion is appropriate or not. Can be accurately determined, and it is irrelevant to the problem of difficulty in adjusting the optical axis of the light emitting / receiving unit. Further, it is only necessary to provide a single sensor.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of always performing accurate detection regardless of the surface state of a substrate.

[0009]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate in a horizontal position; and a position checking unit that determines whether the position of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is normal. An ultrasonic irradiation unit that irradiates ultrasonic waves toward the front surface or the back surface of the held substrate, and an ultrasonic reception unit that receives ultrasonic waves irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate. Constituting posture checking means,
Whether or not the ultrasonic waves irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate are received by the ultrasonic receiving unit, depending on whether the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is normal. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not it is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the substrate processing apparatus comprises a rotary table supported rotatably about a vertical axis in a horizontal posture, and a rotary table of the rotary table. A plurality of support members disposed on the upper surface for supporting the substrate in a horizontal position in contact with a peripheral portion of the substrate, and positioning for restricting horizontal movement of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members; The above-mentioned substrate holding part is constituted by a member, and the substrate holding part is rotated about a vertical axis by a rotation driving means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect is a substrate transfer apparatus, wherein the arm is supported in a horizontal posture so as to be reciprocally movable in a horizontal direction, and is provided on an upper surface of the arm. The substrate holding portion is composed of a supporting portion that contacts the back surface of the substrate and supports the substrate in a horizontal posture, and a positioning member that regulates horizontal movement of the substrate supported by the supporting portion. The substrate holding unit is reciprocated in a horizontal direction by a reciprocating drive unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect is a lifting / lowering plate supported to be reciprocally movable in a vertical posture in a horizontal posture, and A plurality of support pins, each of which penetrates the heat treatment plate and whose upper end contacts the peripheral portion of the substrate to support the substrate in a horizontal position, are formed at the upper end of each of the support pins, and are supported by the support pins. The substrate holding portion is constituted by a positioning portion for restricting horizontal movement of the substrate, and the substrate holding portion is reciprocated in the vertical direction by reciprocating drive means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic receiving unit are integrally formed.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic irradiation unit are reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. When the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is normal, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate is received by the ultrasonic receiving unit. On the other hand, when the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is not normal, that is, when the substrate is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate is not received by the ultrasonic receiving unit. in this way,
Whether or not the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is normal depends on whether or not the ultrasonic wave radiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate is received by the ultrasonic receiving unit. Is determined. In this substrate processing apparatus, the ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic irradiation unit are irradiated toward the front surface or the back surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. The detection accuracy does not decrease, and it is possible to accurately determine whether the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is appropriate. Also, since the ultrasonic reflection method is used, there is no relation to the difficulty of adjusting the optical axis of the light emitting / receiving part. Further, only a single sensor needs to be provided, and the surface condition of the substrate , The detection can always be performed accurately.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention,
The substrate is supported in a horizontal position by a plurality of support members disposed on the upper surface of the turntable supported in the horizontal position, and is positioned while being restricted from moving in the horizontal direction by a positioning member. The substrate supported by the plurality of support members on the upper surface of the turntable depends on whether the ultrasonic wave irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the surface of the substrate on the turntable is received by the ultrasonic receiver. It is determined whether the posture is normal.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention,
The substrate is supported in a horizontal position by a support portion disposed on the upper surface of the arm supported in the horizontal position, and is positioned while being restricted from moving in the horizontal direction by a positioning member. The posture of the substrate supported by the support on the upper surface of the arm depends on whether the ultrasonic wave radiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the front or back surface of the substrate on the arm is received by the ultrasonic receiver. It is determined whether or not it is normal.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus,
The substrate is supported in a horizontal position by a plurality of support pins which are vertically suspended on the upper and lower plates supported in a horizontal position and penetrate through the heat treatment plate, and are restricted from moving in the horizontal direction by a positioning portion for positioning. Is done. Then, the posture of the substrate supported by the plurality of support pins depends on whether the ultrasonic wave irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit and reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate on the support pin is received by the ultrasonic reception unit. Is normal or not.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus,
Since the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic reception unit are integrally formed, and the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic reception unit do not need to be separately adjusted in position, the position can be easily adjusted.

[0019]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, in which the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus such as a spin coater. The spin coater has a mechanical chuck 10 for holding the substrate W in a horizontal posture, and the mechanical chuck 10 is supported by a rotating shaft 12 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis.
The motor 14 is rotated around a vertical axis by a motor 14 connected to the rotary support shaft 12. The mechanical chuck 10 is fixed to an upper end of a vertical support shaft 12 and is supported in a horizontal posture. The rotating table 16 is fixed to an upper surface of the rotating table 16. A plurality of, for example, six support members 18 supporting the posture, and integrally formed on the upper end of each of the support members 18, are brought into contact with the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W supported by the support members 18, and the substrate W is It is composed of six positioning pins 20 for regulating movement in the horizontal direction and positioning the substrate W. Although not shown, around the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10, a cup having an open upper surface is provided so as to surround the substrate W, and a coating liquid scattered from the substrate W to the periphery is provided. They are collected in a cup.

The spin coater is provided with an ultrasonic sensor 22 in which an ultrasonic irradiation unit and an ultrasonic reception unit are integrally formed. The ultrasonic sensor 22 is movably supported between a detection position (position shown) facing the surface of the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10 and a standby position outside the cup (ultrasonic sensor). The support mechanism and the moving mechanism 22 are not shown). The distance between the ultrasonic sensor 22 and the substrate W at the detection position is adjusted according to the output of the ultrasonic irradiation unit of the ultrasonic sensor 22, and is set to, for example, about 4 to 5 cm. Further, at the detection position, the ultrasonic sensor 22 is in such a posture that the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic irradiation section of the ultrasonic sensor 22 hit the surface of the substrate W held horizontally on the mechanical chuck 10 at right angles. Will be retained. Only one ultrasonic sensor 22 needs to be provided.

The detection of the correctness of the posture of the substrate W by the ultrasonic sensor 22 is carried out by loading the substrate W to be processed into a spin coater by a substrate transfer robot (not shown), and holding the substrate W on the mechanical chuck 10. After that, the substrate W
Is performed prior to rotating. At this time, the ultrasonic sensor 22 moves from the standby position outside the cup to the detection position after the substrate W is held on the mechanical chuck 10. Then, as a result of detection by the ultrasonic sensor 22, when it is determined that the substrate W is not properly held in the horizontal position on the mechanical chuck 10, the processing is interrupted at that point. Substrate W held by mechanical chuck 10
The determination as to whether or not the posture is appropriate is performed as follows.

As shown schematically in FIG. 2A, when the substrate W is properly held in the horizontal position by the mechanical chuck 10, the ultrasonic beam irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation section of the ultrasonic sensor 22 is superposed. The sound waves strike the surface of the substrate W at right angles, and are reflected by the surface of the substrate W. Then, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the surface of the substrate W proceeds in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate W,
The light enters the ultrasonic receiver of the ultrasonic sensor 22 and is received. As described above, when the ultrasonic wave irradiated from the ultrasonic wave irradiating unit of the ultrasonic sensor 22 and reflected on the surface of the substrate W is received by the ultrasonic wave receiving unit, the posture of the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10 is changed. It is determined to be appropriate.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the substrate W
When the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10 is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, for example, a part of the peripheral portion of the The sound waves strike the surface of the substrate W at an angle other than a right angle, and are reflected by the surface of the substrate W. Then, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the surface of the substrate W travels in a direction different from that of the ultrasonic sensor 22. Therefore, the reflected ultrasonic wave does not enter the ultrasonic receiving unit, and a received signal is output from the ultrasonic receiving unit. Not done. As described above, when the ultrasonic wave irradiated from the ultrasonic wave irradiating unit of the ultrasonic sensor 22 and reflected on the surface of the substrate W is not received by the ultrasonic wave receiving unit, the posture of the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10 is appropriate. It is determined that it is not. Regardless of the direction in which the substrate W is tilted, the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic irradiation unit of the ultrasonic sensor 22 and reflected on the surface of the substrate W is not received by the ultrasonic receiving unit. It is enough to install only one.

As shown in FIG. 2C, when the substrate is not present on the mechanical chuck 10, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic irradiation section of the ultrasonic sensor 22 are transmitted to the upper surface of the turntable 16. , And is reflected on the upper surface of the turntable 16. The ultrasonic waves reflected on the upper surface of the turntable 16 travel in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the turntable 16, that is, in the direction of the ultrasonic sensor 22, but disappear before reaching the ultrasonic receiver. . Therefore, the reflected ultrasonic wave does not enter the ultrasonic wave receiving unit, and no reception signal is output from the ultrasonic wave receiving unit. As described above, when the substrate W is not present on the mechanical chuck 10, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the upper surface of the turntable 16 does not enter the ultrasonic wave receiving unit. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. The distance between the ultrasonic sensor 22 and the substrate W and the ultrasonic irradiation unit are set such that the ultrasonic waves reflected on the surface of the substrate W enter the ultrasonic receiving unit when the substrate W is properly held by the chuck 10. It is necessary to adjust the output appropriately. In addition, when the posture of the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 10 is not appropriate as shown in FIG. 2B, and when the substrate does not exist on the mechanical chuck 10 as shown in FIG. In any of the above, the ultrasonic receiving unit of the ultrasonic sensor 22 does not receive the reflected ultrasonic waves, but in any of these cases, the processing is interrupted because it is determined that the situation is abnormal, and there is no special situation. As long as there is no need to determine whether the posture of the substrate W is defective or the substrate is absent.

In the above-described embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor 2 in which the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic receiving unit are integrally formed.
2 was used, but an ultrasonic sensor in which the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic reception unit were separately configured was used, and each of the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic reception unit was moved from the ultrasonic irradiation unit to the ultrasonic sensor. The ultrasonic waves irradiated and reflected on the surface of the substrate W appropriately held by the mechanical chuck 10 may be arranged in a positional relationship such that the ultrasonic waves enter the ultrasonic receiving unit.

Next, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a substrate supporting mechanism of the substrate transfer apparatus (in FIG. 3, a self-propelled mechanism of the substrate transfer apparatus is shown). FIG. 4 is a plan view of a substrate holding unit of the substrate support mechanism. FIG. 3 is similar to FIG.
Corresponds to a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.

The substrate supporting mechanism is provided with a pair of upper and lower substrate holders 24, 24, each of which is supported by a supporting / moving mechanism 28 provided on a base 26 in a horizontal position. , Are reciprocated in the horizontal direction by the support / movement mechanism 28. The support / movement mechanism 28 is provided on both left and right sides of the base 26, but FIG. 3 shows only the right support / movement mechanism 28. The supporting / moving mechanism 28 includes a slide rail 30 fixed to the base 26,
A support member 32 slidably engaged in the horizontal direction, a motor 34 disposed below the base 26, a drive pulley 36 fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor 34, and a slide rail 3.
The driven pulleys 38 and 3 are disposed below the vicinity of the front end and the rear end, respectively, and rotatably attached to the base 26.
8, a guide roller 40 arranged near the drive roller 36 and rotatably attached to the base 26, and the drive roller 36, both driven pulleys 38, 38, and the guide roller 4
It consists of a wire 42 wound between zero. The substrate holding unit 24 is integrally fixed to the support member 32, and a part of the wire 42 is fixed to the support member 32. With such a configuration, when the motor 34 is driven to rotate forward and backward, the support member 32 linearly reciprocates in the horizontal direction along the slide rail 30, and the substrate holding portion fixed to the support member 32. 24 moves forward and backward in the horizontal direction. 44 in the figure is the other substrate holder 24
Is a motor for driving.

The substrate holding portion 24 is connected to the support member 32 and is supported in a horizontal posture, and has a U-shaped arm 46 in plan view.
A plurality of support pins 48 formed on the upper surface of the arm 46 and supporting the substrate W in a horizontal position by making point contact with the peripheral edge of the back surface of the substrate W, three support pins 48 in the illustrated example, and these three support pins Abuts against the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W supported by the substrate 48 to prevent the substrate W from moving in the horizontal direction.
Are positioned on the arm 46 at three positions.

In the substrate transfer apparatus as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the transfer of the substrate between the indexer section, the heat treatment unit, the coating processing unit, the substrate processing unit such as the development processing unit, the interface section and the like is also performed. There is a possibility that a part of the substrate W transferred to the substrate holding unit 24 rides on the positioning member 50 and the substrate W held by the substrate holding unit 24 is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. . If the substrate is transported and is taken in and out of the substrate processing unit or the like while the substrate W is held by the substrate holding unit 24 in an inclined state, the substrate may fall or be damaged. The substrate transport device includes a substrate W held by a substrate holding unit 24.
Ultrasonic sensor 52 for determining whether the posture of the user is proper or not
Is provided. The ultrasonic sensor 52 includes an ultrasonic irradiation unit and an ultrasonic receiving unit integrally formed. The ultrasonic sensor 52 is fixed at a position facing the back surface of the substrate W held by the substrate holding unit 24. The ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic wave irradiating unit is held in such a posture that it strikes the back surface of the substrate W held horizontally on the substrate holding unit 24 at right angles.

The ultrasonic sensor 52 detects whether the posture of the substrate W is correct or not, after receiving the substrate W from the substrate processing unit or the like with the substrate holding portion 24 protruding forward, as shown in FIG. This is performed when 24 is retracted rearward. The determination as to whether the posture of the substrate W is appropriate is made in the same manner as in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 (however, in this substrate transfer apparatus, ultrasonic waves are emitted from the ultrasonic irradiation unit toward the back surface of the substrate W). However, when the substrate W does not exist on any of the substrate holding units 24, the ultrasonic wave does not reflect and is not received by the ultrasonic receiving unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the present invention is applied to a substrate heat treatment apparatus, for example, a substrate heat treatment apparatus. This substrate heating apparatus has a hot plate 54 in which a plurality of, for example, three microspheres 56 are buried on the upper surface so that a part thereof is exposed. The substrate W having the surface coated with the coating liquid is placed on the upper surface of the hot plate 54 at a slight interval due to the presence of the microspheres 56 between the lower surface and the upper surface of the hot plate 54. It has become. A plurality of, for example, three through holes 58 are formed in the hot plate 54.
Lift pins (support pins) 60 are slidably inserted in the vertical direction. At the upper end of the lift pin 60, an inclined surface that contacts the peripheral edge of the substrate W and supports the substrate W from below is formed, and the inclined surface has a continuous vertical surface. A positioning portion 62 that abuts on the outer peripheral end surface to restrict the horizontal movement of the substrate W and position the substrate W is integrally formed. The lower ends of the three lift pins 60 are vertically fixed to the upper surface of the lift plate 64. These three lift pins 6
A substrate holding unit is constituted by the positioning unit 62, the positioning unit 62, and the elevating plate 64, and a driving mechanism (air cylinder) 66 for reciprocating the substrate holding unit in a vertical direction is provided.

Then, the lift plate 64 is driven by the drive mechanism 66.
, Each lift pin 60 is made to protrude from the upper surface of the hot plate 54, and the three lift pins 6
0 supports the substrate W in a horizontal posture. Further, while the substrate W is supported by the three lift pins 60, the lift plate 64 is lowered by the drive mechanism 66 so that each lift pin 60 is
4, the substrate W is transferred from above the lift pins 60 to the upper surface of the hot plate 54. At this time, in order to prevent the substrate W from slightly moving in the horizontal direction when the substrate W is transferred onto the upper surface of the hot plate 54, as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. The lowering operation of the lift pin 60 is stopped in a state in which the lift pin 60 protrudes from the upper surface of the device. Such lifting operation of the lift pins 60 is repeatedly performed when the substrate W is carried out of the apparatus and when the substrate W is carried in the apparatus. Although not shown, a bake cover is provided above the hot plate 54 so as to cover the hot plate 54, and a heat treatment space is formed between the bake cover and the hot plate 54. I have.

In the substrate heat treatment apparatus as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a part of the substrate W transferred to the three lift pins 60 rides on the positioning portion 62, for example.
The substrate W supported by the three lift pins 60 may be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. When the lift pins 60 are lowered and the substrate W is transferred onto the hot plate 54 while the substrate W is supported by the lift pins 60 in an inclined state, the positioning portion 62 at the upper end of the lift pins 60
Since the substrate W remains protruding from the upper surface of the hot plate 54, the substrate W is placed on the hot plate 54 in a state of being inclined with respect to the horizontal plane (the upper surface of the hot plate 54). If the substrate W is not properly placed in a horizontal position on the hot plate 54, when the substrate W is subjected to the heat treatment, the temperature of the substrate W is not uniform over the entire surface, and the heat treatment quality is deteriorated. become. In order to prevent such a situation, the substrate heating apparatus is provided with one ultrasonic sensor 68 for determining whether the posture of the substrate W supported by the three lift pins 60 is appropriate. I have. The ultrasonic sensor 68 has an ultrasonic irradiation unit and an ultrasonic receiving unit integrally formed, and the ultrasonic sensor 68 has a detection position (shown in the drawing) facing the surface of the substrate W supported by the lift pins 60 at the ascending position. ) And a standby position outside the bake cover (the supporting mechanism and the moving mechanism of the ultrasonic sensor 68 are not shown), and is irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit at the detection position. The ultrasonic waves are held in such a posture that they hit the surface of the substrate W supported horizontally on the lift pins 60 at right angles. The distance between the ultrasonic sensor 68 and the substrate W at the detection position is adjusted according to the output of the ultrasonic irradiation unit of the ultrasonic sensor 68, but when the substrate W does not exist on the lift pins 60, the upper surface of the hot plate 54 The ultrasonic wave reflected on the substrate does not enter the ultrasonic receiving unit, and the ultrasonic wave reflected on the surface of the substrate W enters the ultrasonic receiving unit when the substrate W is properly held on the lift pins 60. Need to adjust.

The detection of the correctness of the posture of the substrate W by the ultrasonic sensor 68 is carried out by a method in which a substrate W to be subjected to a heat treatment is carried into the apparatus by a substrate transfer robot (not shown).
This is performed after the substrate W is transferred onto the lift pins 60 and before the lift pins 60 descend. At this time, the ultrasonic sensor 68 moves from the standby position outside the bake cover to the detection position after the substrate W is supported on the lift pins 60. The determination as to whether the posture of the substrate W is appropriate is made in the same manner as in the apparatus shown in FIG.

[0036]

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether or not the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is appropriate regardless of whether the substrate has a large diameter or the like. Can always be performed with high accuracy, and the problem of difficulty in adjusting the optical axis of the light emitting / receiving unit is irrelevant. Further, it is only necessary to provide a single sensor. In addition, accurate detection is always performed without being affected by the surface condition of the substrate.

The invention according to claim 2 is applied to a substrate rotary processing apparatus such as a spin coater, a spin developer, a spin scrubber and the like, and the above-mentioned effect of the invention according to claim 1 is exhibited.

The invention according to claim 3 is applied to a substrate transfer device, and the above-described effect of the invention according to claim 1 is exhibited.

The invention according to claim 4 is applied to a substrate heat treatment apparatus, and the above-described effect of the invention according to claim 1 is exhibited.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus,
Since it is not necessary to separately adjust the position of the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic reception unit, the position adjustment of the sensor is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a principal part showing a first embodiment of the present invention and showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a substrate rotary processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for determining whether or not the posture of a substrate held by a mechanical chuck (substrate holding unit) in the substrate rotary processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is appropriate;

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and is an example in which the present invention is applied to a substrate transfer device, and is a longitudinal sectional view of a substrate support mechanism of the substrate transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a substrate holding unit of the substrate support mechanism of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a principal part showing a third embodiment of the present invention and showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a substrate heating apparatus.

6 is a partially enlarged front view of the substrate heating apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mechanical chuck (substrate holding | maintenance part) 12 Rotating spindle 14 Motor 16 Turntable 18 Supporting member 20 Positioning pin 22, 52, 68 Ultrasonic sensor 24 Substrate holding | maintenance 26 Base 28 Supporting / moving mechanism 46 Arm 48 Supporting pin 50 Positioning member 54 Hot Plate 58 Through Hole 60 Lift Pin (Support Pin) 62 Positioning Portion 64 Elevating Plate 66 Drive Mechanism W Substrate

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate in a horizontal posture; and a posture confirmation unit that determines whether the posture of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit is normal. The posture confirmation unit, an ultrasonic irradiation unit that irradiates ultrasonic waves toward the front surface or the back surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and reflected from the front surface or the back surface of the substrate irradiated from the ultrasonic irradiation unit The ultrasonic wave receiving section configured to receive an ultrasonic wave, and the ultrasonic wave irradiated from the ultrasonic wave irradiating section and reflected on the front surface or the back surface of the substrate is received by the ultrasonic receiving section. A substrate processing apparatus configured to determine whether a posture of the substrate held by the unit is normal. 2. A rotary table, wherein the substrate holding section is rotatably supported about a vertical axis in a horizontal posture, and is disposed on an upper surface of the rotary table, and contacts the peripheral portion of the substrate to move the substrate horizontally. A plurality of support members that support the posture; and a positioning member that restricts horizontal movement of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is rotated around. 3. An arm in which the substrate holding unit is supported so as to be reciprocally movable in a horizontal direction in a horizontal posture, and is provided on an upper surface of the arm, and contacts the back surface of the substrate to support the substrate in a horizontal posture. 2. The device according to claim 1, comprising a support portion, and a positioning member for restricting horizontal movement of the substrate supported by the support portion, wherein the substrate holding portion is reciprocated in the horizontal direction by reciprocating drive means. Substrate processing equipment. 4. An elevating plate supported by said substrate holding portion so as to be reciprocally movable in a vertical direction in a horizontal posture; A plurality of support pins for supporting the substrate in a horizontal position in contact with the portion, and a positioning portion formed at an upper end portion of each of the support pins and for restricting horizontal movement of the substrate supported by the support pins. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holding unit is vertically reciprocated by a reciprocating drive unit. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic irradiation unit and the ultrasonic receiving unit are integrally formed.