JPS6322448A - Substrate conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the time required for automatic exchange by taking out a substrate based on the information from a substrate information means, taking out reticules from a cassette in a first delivering place and, after inspecting and treating said reticules, housing said reticules into said cassette in a second delivering place. CONSTITUTION:A library 2 for cassettes 4 housing reticules 6 is brought into contact 15 with an exposing device 1, and a substrate information stored in a memory means 21 is read by a reading means 16. A desired cassette 4 is selected and pulled out of the library 2 to an elevator position P2 and lifted up and down. The cassette 4 is opened at a cassette housing position P3, and the reticules 6 are taken out and transferred to a first delivering position P4 in a clean box 8b. The empty cassette 4 is moved to a stand-by position P8. The reticules are inspected P5 in an inspection room 8a and, returned to an original position when there is any abnormality, while normal reticules are treated by exposure and transferred to the cassette 4 in stand-by via a second delivering place P6, and housed into the library 2. During the inspection of the preceding reticules, the following cassette is kept in stand-by P2. Thereby, the treating time of the substrates can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a substrate used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, particularly a device that automatically exchanges thin plate-shaped objects such as masks and reticles (hereinafter referred to as substrates). Regarding a conveyance device.

Such a substrate transfer device is used, for example, in an automatic substrate exchange device equipped with a cassette library that stores a plurality of cassettes that individually store exposure substrates (masks or reticles). The board is taken out from the cassette and sent to the dust inspection device, and the board inspected for dust is sent to the exposure position, and when replacing the board, unnecessary boards are stored in the cassette. It is suitably used as a device for returning this cassette to the original library.

[Conventional technology j Conventionally, this type of device extracts a desired substrate from a plurality of cassettes stored in a cassette library fixed to the device body, and inspects the substrate for dirt by following a long transport path. The structure is such that the substrate inspected for dust is sent to the apparatus again along a long transport path to the exposure position within the main apparatus. In addition, in the conventional device, after the substrate is sent to the exposure position, it detects the alignment mark drawn on the substrate and aligns it with the position reference mark engraved at the exposure position. It was set in the position. Furthermore, information about the substrate, such as exposure process conditions, is usually written on the substrate, but conventionally, this information has either been manually written in advance, or read at the exposure position in fully automated equipment. It was common.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, the conventional device has the disadvantage that it takes a lot of time to replace the board, and the device is in a waiting state for the board for a long time.

In general, semiconductor manufacturing lines include lines for mass production of a small number of products and lines for production of a large number of products in small quantities.In the case of the latter line, board replacement is performed frequently, and the time required for the board replacement is There is a problem in that the long waiting state of the device for the substrate significantly reduces productivity.

The present invention is intended to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional examples, and in particular to provide a substrate transport device that can be applied to a substrate exchange device of an exposure device to make the exposure device compatible with a high-mix, low-volume production line. purpose.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses means for positioning and transporting substrates based on external dimensions as a substrate transporting means,
Moreover, it is characterized in that means for detecting a pattern at one point within the conveyance path is added.

[Operations and Effects] According to the present invention configured as described above, during substrate transportation,
By checking the position of the pattern drawn on the board and/or the board information written as the pattern, it is possible to read the manufacturing errors and characteristics of the board and transfer the data to the main body of the device. Mechanical initial settings of the main device can be completed before setting it to the exposure position. Therefore, the present invention is particularly applicable to a board replacement device, and has the effect of shortening the automatic board replacement time.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a reduction projection exposure apparatus (
The overall external view of the stepper is shown. In the figure, 1 is a general air conditioning chamber, and 2 is a Muqin type reticle cassette library.

FIG. 2 is a partially transparent view of the entire air conditioning chamber 1 of FIG. 1. FIG. In the same figure, 10 is the stepper main body, 11
and 12 are an imaging lens and an illumination device, respectively, which constitute the stepper body 10, and 13 is an object to be exposed, such as a semiconductor wafer, on which the pattern of the reticle 6 is printed by the stepper body 10.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the reticle conveyance system. In the figure, 4 is Japanese Patent Application No. 80-214591 and Japanese Patent Application No. 60-21.
4592 and Japanese Patent Application No. 80-293630, 5 is the cassette holder presented in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 60-293630, 6 is a reticle, and 7 is a barcode reader/pattern position detection. It is a device. Pl is a first cassette storage position, which corresponds to the library 2 position. P2 is an elevator position where the cassette holder 5 taken out from the cassette storage position Pl is raised and lowered to a predetermined position, and P is a reticle extraction position (second cassette storage position), P4 is the delivery position (first delivery position) with the mechanism that sends the reticle 6 upward, P5 is the reticle foreign object inspection position %PIll is the delivery position (first delivery position) with the mechanism that transports the reticle 6 to and from the exposure position. 2 delivery position),
P7 is an exposure position, and P8 is an aerodynamic set standby position where the reticle 6 that has completed the exposure process is stored in the cassette 4.

In the above configuration, the reticle cassettes 4 arranged in a stacked manner in the reticle cassette library 2 (first cassette storage position P1) are moved from the cassette storage position P1 by the elevator mechanism in response to a command from the console of the exposure apparatus main body. The holder 5 is moved to the elevator position P2, raised and lowered to a predetermined height, and then sent to the reticle extraction position P3 (second cassette storage position) and stored. When the reticle cassette 4 and cassette holder 5 are stored in the second cassette storage position P3,
A drive source for opening and closing the cassette located at this position P3 (not shown)
operates, the cassette 4 is opened, and the reticle 6 inside can be taken out.

Due to the shapes of the upper and lower lids of the cassette 4, in this open state, the presence or absence of the reticle 6 inside the cassette 4 can be detected from the lateral direction.

Next, a reticle extraction mechanism (not shown) operates, and the opened cassette 4 is moved to the reticle extraction position P3.
Pull out the reticle 6 from the. The extracted reticle 6 passes through the first delivery position P4 and enters the reticle foreign object inspection position P5, where it is scanned by the extraction mechanism under the foreign object inspection light to determine the presence or absence of foreign objects on the reticle 6 and its location. is confirmed. The reticle 6 determined to be unusable for the process at this stage is returned to the original reticle cassette library 2 by the reverse operation to that described above.

Reticle 6 determined to be usable for process as a result of foreign object inspection
is sent to the first delivery position P4, where it is delivered to the vertical conveyance mechanism waiting below, and then raised to the second delivery position P6.

At this position, the reticle 6 is delivered to the feeding mechanism that feeds it into the exposure apparatus, and is transported to the exposure position P7. During this transport, the reticle barcode league/pattern position detection unit 7 scans the reticle 6 being fed, It is detected how much the pattern position of the reticle 6 is manufactured to be deviated from the end face of the reticle. At the same time, the exposure process conditions related to the reticle are read using the barcode pattern written on the reticle.
The data is sent to the console of the exposure equipment main body, and the reticle 6
Mechanical settings related to the exposure process are completed before the image is transported to the exposure position P7.

On the other hand, the reticle 6 is placed in the second cassette storage position P3 mentioned above.
The removed cassette 4 is closed by the opening/closing mechanism, and is sent to the reticle storage position P8 during the vertical transportation and feeding of the reticle 6 to the exposure position P, and the reticle 6 is returned when the exposure process is completed. Waiting in this position.

The reticle 6 that has completed the exposure process is transported to the second delivery position P6 by the above-mentioned feeding mechanism, and is delivered to the reticle storage mechanism waiting at this position. Then, the cassette opening/closing mechanism drive source located at storage position P6 is activated.
The cassette 4 waiting at the storage position P8 is opened. In this state, the reticle storage mechanism moves the reticle 6 to the cassette 4.
The opening/closing mechanism operates again to close the cassette 4.

The cassette 4 containing the reticle 6 is returned to the reticle extraction position P by the cassette exchange mechanism, and
The elevator mechanism waiting at this position returns the reticle cassette library 2 to the original reticle cassette library 2 via the elevator position P2.
It is returned to the storage position P1 inside.

The aforementioned cassette exchange mechanism can accommodate two cassettes. For this reason, if the reticle for the next process is commanded in advance, the reticle for the next process will be inspected for foreign matter before the reticle that has completed the process is returned, and the reticle for the next process will be transferred from the first transfer position P4 to the second transfer position P6. The reticle from the previous process was ejected from (reticle storage position P
The next reticle can be sent immediately after the reticle is stored in the waiting cassette.

By the way, in a conventional automatic reticle exchange device, a reticle is taken out from a cassette in a library and reciprocated along a long path to an exposure position. For this reason, there is a high probability that dust will adhere to the reticle during transportation, and in particular, in devices such as steppers that repeatedly print reticle patterns on multiple locations on a single wafer, dust may adhere to the reticle for each shot or The major drawback of high defective product rates due to dust on each chip was eliminated. In this example,
As mentioned above, library 2 (cassette storage position P,)
By conveying the reticle 6 together with the cassette 4 between the cassette extracting position P2 (or the cassette standby position pa) of the air conditioning chamber 10 and the cassette extracting position P2 of the air conditioning chamber 10, the above-mentioned major drawback is solved.

FIG. 4 is an external view of the mobile cassette library 2 shown in FIG. 1 seen from the back side, that is, an external view of the side where the reticle cassette 4 to be fed into the exposure apparatus by the automatic exchanger is carried out together with the cassette holder 5. . In the figure, a storage means 21 is attached to the library main body 2, which includes a readable and writable storage element in which the names of the cassettes stored in the library 2, parameters indicating the identity of the reticles, etc. are stored. Reference numeral 22 denotes a door of the cassette storage section of the library, which is arranged on the front and back surfaces of the library main body 2.

Arrow A in the figure indicates the direction in which the reticle cassette 4 is removed by the automatic exchanger.

This mobile cassette library covers the entire air conditioning chamber 1.
or can be freely connected to and disconnected from the stepper body, and
The library 2 has good compatibility with each other or with other reticle-related devices, and is of a movable type so that the library 2 containing a predetermined number of cassettes can be sequentially replaced according to the process or product type.

Therefore, in order to support a high-mix, low-volume production line, each cassette library that stores a variety of substrates can be replaced online, etc. When replacing the reticle cassette that is fed into the exposure equipment main body, the temperature-controlled chamber allows the exposure equipment to It is possible to prevent temperature fluctuations in the temperature control chamber and the exposure apparatus due to manual replacement work by opening the window of the temperature control chamber when the temperature is stable.

In addition, if the above configuration is adopted, as shown in FIG. 11, maintenance of the reticle area such as a pattern generator 1a, a stand-alone dust inspection device 1b, a reticle cleaning device 1c, or a veritaru gluing device (not shown) can be performed. It is easy to connect to an inspection machine, eliminates the need for human intervention during reticle replacement, maintenance, inspection, etc., and increases redundancy in a dust-free environment.

In FIG. 4, the storage means 21 records parameters necessary for device operation, such as the name and storage position of the reticle in the reticle cassette stored in the library 2, and initial setting items around the reticle in the stepper. A memory element that can be freely written and erased is configured, and is in a positional relationship that allows it to be connected to a reading means configured in the general air conditioning chamber 1 or the stepper main body, and when the connected state is established, the parameters are sent to the stepper main body console 3. is now possible.

FIG. 5 shows the storage status of the cassette holder 5 in the library 2 and the operations when taking it in and out manually (arrow B in the figure) and taking it in and out by an automatic machine (arrow A in the figure). In the figure, 4 is the aforementioned reticle cassette, and 5 is a cassette holder. 23 and 25 are roller rows, 24 is a movable roller row frame, and 26 is a library casing and guide rail. , 27 is a stopper mechanism constructed on the roller row frame 24, which prevents the cassette holder 5 from shaking within the library. 28 is Koro,
29 is a stopper for holding the holder 5 on the roller row frame between 24 and 24. This cassette library 2
The left and right stages of are configured in the same way.

The moving direction and stroke of the cassette holder 5 in the library 2 correspond to the cassette setting indicated by the arrow B by a human hand and the loading/unloading operation indicated by the arrow A by the automatic transport machine. , a stroke that allows the holder 5 to be inserted and removed in the direction of the back surface is required. Furthermore, since the library 2 is connected to and separated from the overall air conditioning chamber 1 or the stepper body, there is no actuator in the library 2 that serves as a driving source for movement, and the holder 5 can only be put in and taken out by humans. by hand or by power transmitted from an automatic machine.

The second stage in FIG. 5 shows a state in which the cassette holder 5 is removed from the library 2. In other words, the elevator mechanism (not shown) of the automatic conveyance machine can hold the desired cassette holder 5.
When facing the position, the actuator of the elevator mechanism grasps the stopper 29, pulls out the roller row frame 24 to the illustrated position, and then releases the stopper 29. Next, a pull-out hook configured in the elevator mechanism catches the claw 5a attached to the cassette holder 5, and
Pull out the cassette holder 5 to the position shown. As a result, the cassette holder 5 comes out of the library 2.

In addition, when the holder 5 shown in the second stage is pulled out, the stopper mechanism 27 is attached to the rail 26 as shown in the figure.
Since the cassette holder 5 is in a supported state, it functions as a stopper for the cassette holder 5 that has returned, and the cassette holder 5 can always be stored in a fixed position with respect to the roller row frame 24.

The third row in FIG. 5 shows the state when the cassette is replaced manually. In this state, the stopper mechanism 27 comes off the supporting rail 26 and is in the released state, and the cassette holder 5 is stopped when the claw 5a comes into contact with the stopper member 24a fixed to the roller row frame 24. It becomes easy to change the cassette from any direction.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 2 viewed from the right side.

In the figure, the reticle cassette library 2 is in contact with the exposure apparatus chamber (general air conditioning chamber) 1, and in this state, the locking member 15 configured on the exposure apparatus chamber side,
Catching roller 2a configured on the cassette library 2 side
coupling occurs, and the relative positions of chamber 1 and library 2 are fixed.

The data stored in the storage means 21 configured in the reticle cassette library 2 is read by the reading means 16 configured in the exposure apparatus chamber 1, and the storage stage position of each reticle stored in the library 2 is determined. Data such as parameters of various processes related to the reticle are sent to the main body and pooled in the main body's storage means.

The reticle extracted according to the instructions from the main body is conveyed to the second cassette storage position P3 by an elevator mechanism at the elevator position P2. This position is located in the middle of the reticle cassette library 2, and minimizes the difference in transport time due to height difference between each cassette position in the reticle cassette library 2. Also, when manually installing a cassette without using the reticle cassette library 2, if you place the cassette at the reticle extraction position P3, the reticle extraction position P3 will be located from the floor where the exposure device is installed. Since the height is about 1 m 20 cm, manual operation and setting are easy due to the positional relationship.

The main aim of the mechanism and each function of this embodiment is to prevent dust from adhering to the reticle while it is being transported, especially when transporting a single reticle from the outside. In order to prevent the adhesion of floating dust, the foreign object inspection unit 8 is made into a clean box, and the transfer area for the reticle that comes out of the cassette is made into a clean box.
This is realized by heavy boxes 8a, 8b, door 8c, air conditioner, etc. In other words, in order to prevent dust and floating dust from the cassette exchange mechanism and the cassette opening/closing mechanism from entering the reticle transport area, the air pressure of each part is highest in the foreign object inspection unit 8 (inside box 8a), and then in the reticle transport area (box 8a). 8b), chamber interior 1 (outside box 8b), and outside the chamber. In FIG. 6, 8c is a door that blocks floating dust from flowing into the reticle foreign object inspection unit 8 from the reticle transport area. Further, 101 is an air conditioning unit, 102
103 is a cooling machine, 103 is a feeding machine, 104 is a heating machine, 10
5 is a filter, and 10B is a temperature sensor.

21b is a sealing material.

FIG. 7 is an external view of each operating mechanism of the basic configuration shown in FIG. 3 from a reticle extraction position P3 to a reticle storage position P8 fixed to the exposure apparatus.

In FIG. 7, the cassette 4 extracted from the cassette library 2 along with the holder 5 is sent to the reticle extraction position (second cassette storage position) ps, and placed and fixed on the vertically movable holder support stand 71. At this position P3, a cassette opening/closing mechanism that separates the upper and lower lids that make up the cassette 4 is configured, and when it is confirmed that the holder 5 is fed into the vertically movable holder support 71 and fixed. Thereafter, this cassette opening/closing mechanism is activated, the upper lid of the cassette 4 is opened, and the reticle 6 inside can be taken out from outside the cassette 4. When this state is reached, the reticle extraction fork 30 extracts the reticle 6 from the cassette 4 and feeds it at a constant speed into the reticle foreign object inspection unit 8 (FIG. 6) located on the extension in the extraction direction. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the reticle 6 has come out of the cassette 4, the cassette opening/closing mechanism is activated and the cassette 4 is closed.

Two holder support stands at the reticle extraction position P3 are provided above and below the vertically movable holder support stand 71 and the posture holding type holder support stand 72, and are closed after confirming that the cassette 4 is empty. The vertically movable holder support base 71 in the lower position and the posture holding type holder support base 72 in the upper position can be exchanged in vertical position. As a result, the empty cassette 4 described above is sent to the upper position (reticle storage position pa), and at this position P8, the reticle conveyed to the exposure position P7 described above is returned to the reticle upon completion of the exposure process. It waits until it is carried into the storage position P8.

Referring to FIG. 6, the reticle 6 extracted from the cassette 4 is normally fed into the reticle foreign object inspection unit 8 as it is. However, if a pellicle dust-proof film is attached to the reticle 6, due to the configuration of the current reticle foreign object inspection unit, the area inside the frame of the reticle 6 that cannot be inspected (reticle 6 and the pellicle dust-proof film There is a joint corner of the frame). In order to inspect this area, the reticle 6 is rotated 180 degrees in plane, and then the reticle inspection unit 8 inspects that area again. θz!, located at the delivery position P4, has this plane rotation mechanism. It is m structure 40.

Returning to FIG. 7, when the reticle 6 completes the foreign object inspection by the reticle foreign object inspection unit and returns to the delivery position P4, the θZ mechanism 40 moves the reticle extraction fork 3
0, take out the reticle 4 from the fork 30 by scooping it up from below, rotate it by θ in accordance with the reticle setting direction of the exposure device, and move it to the transfer position P by the upward movement by the Z mechanism.
Send to 8.

The amount of θ rotation by the θZ mechanism 40 can be set up to 3/4 rotation at a 1/4 rotation pitch for each board based on input from the console or read data from the storage means 21. With this θZ mechanism 40, this device can be used in a wide variety of reticle cassettes used in various devices and in the setting direction of the reticle in the cassette without the troublesome task of manually aligning the reticle in the cassette. It is possible to exchange reticles between various devices in an unmanned online manner while maintaining the cleanliness of the reticle cassette and the reticle. In other words, machine compatibility can be improved.

At position P6, reticle hands 52 and 53, which are configured in the reticle transport mechanism 50 and have opening/closing operations, are waiting in an open state and receive the reticle 6 by positioning it and supporting it at the lower side. The reticle conveying hand 51, which received the reticle 6 at the delivery position P6, moves the reticle 6 at the 2@
It is linearly conveyed to the exposure position P7 in the exposure apparatus while supporting the lower surface with the surfaces abutting each other. A barcode reader/pattern position detection unit 7 is configured at one location during this linear transportation, and while the reticle 6 is being transported at a constant speed, it can confirm the designated reticle, read the reticle-related parameters of the exposure device, and This is to detect how far the pattern of the currently gripped reticle 6 is deviated from the center of the exposure device, and to finish setting the exposure device by the end of conveyance.

The reticle transport hand 51 that has arrived at the exposure position P opens the reticle hands 52 and 53 and transfers the reticle 6 at that position.
is released and the reticle 6 is placed on a pedestal (not shown) of the exposure device. Thereafter, the reticle conveying hand 51 waits for the exposure process to end while keeping the reticle hands 52 and 53 open.

The reticle 6 that has completed the exposure process is transferred to the reticle transport hand 5
1, it is transported from the exposure position P7 to the delivery position P6. At the delivery position P6, the aforementioned θZ mechanism 40 is lowered and retracted to the lower initial position, and the reticle storage fork 90 has completed preparations for reticle delivery.

When the reticle transport hand 51 places the reticle 6 on the reticle storage fork 90 at the delivery position P6, the reticle hands 52 and 53 are in an open state. As a result, the reticle storage fork 90 can store a reticle in the empty reticle cassette waiting at the reticle storage position P8, without interference between the mechanisms (51 and 90).

The reticle extraction position P is also located at the reticle storage position P8.
There is an opening/closing mechanism drive source similar to that in 3. Its operation opens the cassette 4 waiting at position P8, and after confirming that there is no reticle in the cassette 4, the reticle storage fork 90 is operated to remove the reticle 6. is stored in the cassette 4. After storing, the reticle storage fork 90 moves to the cassette 4.
When the user goes outside, the cassette opening/closing mechanism drive source operates, and the cassette 4 becomes open.

Thereafter, the holder support base performs the vertical switching operation again to move the cassette 4 to the lower position (reticle extraction and examination position) P3.
Please wait at. This cassette 4 is returned to the reticle library by a cassette unloading mechanism.

In response to these series of operations, the operation of the cassette transport mechanism,
Reticle extraction operation, reticle foreign object inspection, θZ operation,
If the reticle conveyance operation, reticle storage operation, cassette vertical exchange operation, cassette storage into the library, and supply operation are performed in series, the reticle exchange time for each process will take about 3 to 4 minutes. In contrast, in this embodiment, two holder support stands 71 are provided at the second cassette storage position.
゜72 is installed and the cassette 4 is carried out from the library 2.
After the reticle is extracted by the reticle extraction fork 30 at the reticle extraction position P3 and becomes empty, the upper cover is closed and the cassette is exchanged up and down, and the reticle is sent to the reticle storage position P8, and the cassette is moved to the posture holding type holder support stand instead. 72 is brought to the reticle extraction position P3, and a reticle cassette required for the next process can be transported and placed on this posture holding type holder support stand 72. Therefore, in this embodiment, the replacement timing is calculated in advance based on the time when the exposure device finishes the current process or the processing time for the number of urchins to be exposed. If each transport operation of the next process reticle is started in anticipation of the required time, the next process reticle can be kept on standby on the θZ mechanism 40, and the previous process reticle can complete the exposure process and move to the reticle storage position P8. When the reticle is sent, the θZ mechanism 40 carrying the reticle for the next process moves upward to the delivery position P.
If a sequence program such as that shown in step 6 is added, the above exchange time can be reduced to 30 seconds or less.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cassette exchange mechanism 70 shown in FIG. 7.

Next, the cassette exchange mechanism 70 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In the figure, 71.72 is a holder support base, 73.73 is a pulley fixed to the holder support base 71.72, and 74 is an arm that rotatably supports the shaft of the pulley 73.73 at a specified interval. The arm 74 is mounted on the horizontally moving slider 7 at a midpoint position 75 between the pulleys 73 and 73.
6, and upper and lower pulleys 73 are connected by a belt 77. For this reason, the support arm 74 has a center of rotation 7
Although the holder support bases 71 and 72 can be rotated relative to 5, the holder support bases 71 and 72 can be moved up and down without changing their parallel postures. The vertically movable holder support base 71 is restrained by a vertical guide 79 and three rollers 78 supporting the vertical guide 79 so that it can move up and down only in the Z direction in a horizontal position.

The horizontal movement slider 76 is a vertically movable holder support base 71
As the arm moves up and down, it can move horizontally while supporting the arm center 75, and the entire weight is transferred to the two ends of the shaft 80
It is supported in several places. 81 indicates f [1180, which fixes the arm center 75, to the arm 7 relative to the horizontal movement slider 76.
This is a rotary type actuator that rotates 4.

When a counterclockwise rotational input is applied to the arm 74 in the state shown in FIG.
rises in the Z direction while remaining horizontally supported. In addition, since the attitude holding type holder support stand 72 has a horizontal attitude of the vertical eight movement type holder support stand 71, the pulleys 73, 73 and the belt 7
7, it moves in an arc around the shaft 80 while maintaining the same horizontal posture. However, since the shaft 8o is supported by the horizontal movement slider 76, it moves horizontally toward the left in the figure as the holder support base 71 moves, and therefore the holder support base 72 moves as shown in FIG. It moves by drawing a trajectory that is a combination of circular motion and horizontal motion. That is, in FIG. 8, when the arm 74 is rotated 180'' counterclockwise from the same state as in FIG.
At the same time, the holder support base 72 rotates through the position 72' and moves vertically to the position 72. As a result, the positions of holder support stands 71 and 72 are swapped. To return to the original state, arm 74
Now rotate it 180 degrees clockwise.

Since the attitude holding type holder support base 72 operates substantially horizontally at the end of the movement, it can be operated with less impact by operating a damper and a fixing mechanism as shown at 82 in FIG. The movement of the vertically movable holder support stand 71 is based on the axis 8.
Due to the rotational movement around the rotation center of 0, it becomes a deceleration mechanism at the end of the movement.

Furthermore, while the arm 74 rotates around the center of rotation of the shaft 80, the holder support bases 71 and 72 are counterbalanced around the shaft 80, so the force required for the rotation is too large. do not have.

Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram of the reticle feeding mechanism.
) is the state in which the reticle is grabbed and transported to the exposure position P7,
FIG. 9(b) shows a state in which the reticle is opened at the second delivery position P6.

In the figure, 52 is a hand with a positioning XY reference roller, and 53 is a Y
A hand with a reference roller, 56 is an opening/closing operation actuator, 6
0 is a slider, 61 is a rotating shaft, 62 is a lever, 63 is a roller, 82a is a lever rotating shaft, 62b is a spring, 65 is a flat belt, 66 is a slider stopper, 67 is an outer cover, 6
8 is a driving pulley, 69 is a driven pulley, and 70a is a slide rail.

The slider 60 fixes both ends of the flat belt 65 and
5 is stretched around a lever rotation shaft 62a via a roller 63 supported by a lever 62, and the lever 62 is stretched around a belt 65.
The lever 62 and spring 62b are tensioned by a spring 62b to take up slack in the slider 60.
It is configured on the left and right. The belt 65 is stretched to a driving pulley 68 via driven pulleys 69 on the left and right sides. As shown in FIG. 9(a), the slider 60 that has reached the exposure position P7 hits the slider stopper 66 fixed on the slide rail 70a, which is its trajectory, and from this state, when the drive pulley 68 is rotated a small amount, , the tension T on the left side as shown.

increases and the tension T2 on the right side decreases, so the difference numerator
, T2 press the slider 60 against the slider stopper 6B. If this pressing force is stable, the reproducibility at this position will be high.

This principle is the same for both left and right positions.

The flat belt 65 has a width equal to the thickness of the sliding portion of the reticle conveying hand 51 in the height direction, and the outer cover 67 covers all of the parts except for the sliding portion of the reticle conveying hand 51 of the reticle feeding mechanism 51. The aforementioned window of the sliding portion substantially closes the opening. When configured in this way, exhaust (
(not shown), the inside of the space becomes negative pressure, dust generated by the sliding operation is discharged to the outside, and dust generated by the transport mechanism is prevented from adhering to the reticle being transported.

The reticle transfer hand 51 that has come to the second delivery position P8 shown in FIG. 9(b) is also pressed against the slide stopper 66 in the same manner as described above to improve reproducibility at this position (stop position).

When the opening/closing actuator 59 operates at these stop positions, its point of action moves the coupling shaft 58. The XY-base l roller hand 52 and the Y-base roller hand 53 are levers each having the left and right rotating shafts 61 formed on the slider 60 as their fulcrums, and are connected by the coupling shaft 58, so that they can be rotated as shown in the figure. The hand is in a closed state, and a reticle can be exchanged with the θZ mechanism 40 or the reticle storage fork 90.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the reticle being positioned and handled, and shows the principle of alignment of the reticle substrate while the reticle is being gripped.

As described above, the hands 52 and 53 are brought into the closed state as shown in the figure by the operation of the opening/closing actuator.

54, 55, and 56 are rollers, two of which are attached to the hand 52 and one to the hand 53. Since a reticle is generally square, the outer circumference of the reticle 55 and 56 is in contact with the end face of the reticle, and the outer circumference of the other roller 54 is pressed so that the other end is in contact with the outer circumference of the reticle. It becomes possible.

57, 57 are eccentric rollers with a high friction coefficient on the outer periphery whose center of rotation is eccentric from the center of the circle, and a built-in spring is inserted so that the reverse forces F, F2 shown in the figure are constantly applied to the reticle. In the state without , it stops at position 57a. When the reticle is held between the hands in the closed state, the hand 52 with the XY reference roller and the hand 53 with the Y reference roller move in the same direction as F in the drawing, and apply a force F to the reticle. The eccentric rollers 57 configured on both hands 52 and 53 are
Rotate as shown in b. At this time, if the relationship F) F2>Fl is created and the closed positions of both hands 52 and 53 are fixed by the stroke regulation of the connecting shaft 58, the movement of the left and right eccentric rollers 57 and their outer periphery and the end face of the reticle are Due to the friction coefficient of F and the force of the eccentric roller 57 to return to 57a,
Forces l and F2 are generated, and their component forces are 54.5
The end face can be aligned on the reticle hand by generating a force to press the reticle against the outer periphery of 5.56, f+f)ll+fy2.

In this state, if a barcode reader/pattern position detector 7 is placed on the path of transport from the delivery position P6 to the exposure position P7 and the pattern position of the reticle being transported is measured, it is possible to determine how far this pattern position is from the alignment end face of the reticle substrate. This can be used as mechanical setting data for the main unit to deal with manufacturing errors in the reticle.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are external views of a projection exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a reticle conveyance system of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a rear view of a mobile cassette library. External view, Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of the inside of the library, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram as seen from the right side of the device, and Figure 7 is an external diagram of the implementation of each operating mechanism at the reticle extraction position or reticle storage position within the device. , Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cassette exchange mechanism, Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the reticle feeding mechanism, Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the matching principle of the reticle handling mechanism, and Fig. 11 is an illustration of the operation of the mobile cassette library. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection arrangement with peripheral devices. 1 = Entire air conditioning chamber of stepper 2: 8 dynamic cassette library 4: Substrate storage case 5: Cassette holder 6: Reticle 7: Barcode reader/pattern position inspection device PI =
First cassette storage position F2: Elevator position F3: Second cassette storage position F4: First delivery position F5 Elm particle foreign object inspection position F6: Second delivery position F7: Exposure position F8: Aerodynamic set standby position 15: Chamber Memory content reading means attached to the side 21: Storage means 21b = sealing material 22 Library door 23: Roller 24: Roller row frame 25 Guide roller 26: Rail 27: Stopper 29: Stopper 30 Niticle extraction fork 40: θZ mechanism 50 Niticle Feed mechanism 51 Ni reticle transfer hand 52: Positioning XY reference roller hand 53: Y reference roller hand 54, 55.56: Roller 57: Eccentric roller 58: Connection shaft 59: Opening/closing operation actuator 60 Nilever 61: Rotating shaft 62 Nilever 62a Nirever single rotation shaft 62b: Spring 63: Roller 64: Stopper 65: Flat belt 66: Slider stopper 67: Outer cover 68: Drive pulley 69: Followed pulley 70a Ni slide rail 70: Cassette exchange mechanism 71: Vertically movable holder support Base 72: Posture holding type holder support base 73 Nib-rif 4: Support arm 76: Horizontal movement slider 77: Belt 78: Roller 79 Ni guide 80: Shaft 81: Rotary actuator 82: Damper 101: Air conditioning unit 102: Cooler 103: Blower 104: Individual heater 105: Filter 106: Temperature sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate between a first transfer position and a second transfer position, comprising an arm that supports the substrate, and a substrate that is provided on the arm and supported by the arm. means for externally positioning the substrate to be transferred relative to the arm; a driving means for moving the arm along the transport route between the first and second transfer positions; and a drive means disposed at one location within the transport route. 1. A substrate conveyance device comprising: board information detection means. 2. The substrate conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate information detection means measures the amount of positional deviation of a pattern drawn on the substrate from a reference position of the outer shape of the substrate. 3. The substrate conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate information detection means reads information regarding the substrate from a pattern drawn around the substrate. 4. The substrate transport apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the substrate information detection means is a barcode reader.