KR100487393B1 - Process unit and processing unit structure by assembling thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The processing apparatus constructing body 1 of the present invention is constructed by continuously installing a plurality of processing units 2 in the horizontal direction, and is provided with a transport unit 3 at the top of each processing unit, and the transport unit 3 is provided. It is possible to transfer the plate-like workpiece between adjacent processing units by a transport device such as a shuttle SH installed therein. The processing unit 2 is constituted by a pair of processing blocks 4 and 4 and a transport robot R disposed between these processing blocks 4 and 4, and each processing unit 2 is a processing device construction. The sieve 1 is independent of each other so that the number of processing units can be increased or decreased.

Description

Processing unit structure by processing technology as assembling

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing unit that performs a series of processing on a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate, and the like, and a processing device constructing body in which the processing units are assembled.

In order to form an integrated circuit on a semiconductor wafer or to form an element such as a TFT on a glass substrate, many processes are required.

For example, an example of a process of forming an excimer resist film on the surface of a substrate includes dehydration baking, bottom anti-reflection coating (BARC) coating, baking, resist pretreatment, resist coating, and pre free Pre-baking, exposure, post-exposure baking (PEB), development and post-baking are required.

In order to carry out the processes as described above, conventionally, the devices for performing the respective processes are separated in the horizontal direction and arranged in line order according to the process order. In addition, as a line shape, it is not limited to a linear shape, According to the shape of a factory, there may be an L-shape or a square.

As mentioned above, in the conventional processing apparatuses, such as a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate, facilities are continued in the horizontal direction, and the occupation area becomes large.

In addition, in the conventional processing apparatus, it is difficult to remove a part of the processing apparatus or to connect another apparatus to a previously existing apparatus when omitting the process or adding a new process.

In order to solve the above problems, the processing unit according to the present invention performs a series of processing on a plate-like object such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, the processing unit is composed of a processing block and a transport robot The processing block is configured by stacking a plurality of processing apparatuses in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction, and the transport robot includes a lifting body capable of stopping at the position of the processing apparatus of each stage, and the processing apparatus of each stage. It was assumed that an arm provided on the lifting body was provided to allow the plate-like object to enter and exit.

Moreover, the processing unit of the other example which concerns on this invention performs a series of process with respect to plate-shaped to-be-processed object, such as a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate, and this processing unit comprises a pair of process block and this pair of process It is composed of a transport robot disposed between the blocks, the processing block is configured by stacking a plurality of processing devices in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction, and the lifting robot is a lifting body capable of stopping at the position of the processing device of each stage And an arm provided on the lifting body so that the plate-shaped object is allowed to enter and exit the processing apparatus at each stage, and a swing mechanism for turning the arm in a horizontal plane.

Further, the processing device construct according to the present invention is constructed by continuously installing the above processing units, and each processing unit is independent of each other so that the number of the processing units can be increased or decreased with respect to the processing device construct. And the plate-like workpiece between adjacent processing units.

In addition, about the conveying apparatus which conveys the plate-shaped object to be processed between processing units, it is provided in the uppermost part of each processing unit, for example. By taking such a configuration, it is easy to install a plurality of processing units continuously.

In addition, an indexer unit may be disposed on one side of the processing apparatus construct. The indexer unit is composed of an index block and a transport robot, and the index block separates and holds a cassette for storing a plate-shaped object in the vertical direction, and the transport robot can stop at the storage position of the cassette at each stage. And a lifting and lowering body, and an arm provided on the lifting and lowering body to allow the plate-shaped object to be inserted into and out of the cassette.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described based on an accompanying drawing. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an example of a processing device construct according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the processing device construct, and FIG. 3 is a view of a transport robot of a processing unit constituting a part of the processing device construct. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lower part of the transport robot.

The processing device constructing unit 1 is configured by continuously installing a plurality of processing units 2, 2,... In a horizontal direction, and each processing unit 2 is configured to increase or decrease the processing unit constructing unit 1. Are independent of each other.

In addition, a transport unit 3 is provided at the top of each processing unit 2 so as to enable the transfer of plate-like objects such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates between adjacent processing units 2. Transfer equipment such as plate-shaped objects between adjacent processing units is made possible by a transportation device such as shuttle SH provided in (3). Moreover, in the conveyance part 3, the mechanism which performs alignment of a plate-shaped to-be-processed object is also provided.

Each processing unit 2 consists of processing blocks 4, 4 and a transport robot R disposed between these processing blocks 4, 4, which processing block is, for example, a rotary cup type. Coating device (RC), open cup type coating device (SC), pressure reduction dryer (VD), cool plate (CP), hot plate (HP), back side cleaning device (BR), adhesive device ( It is composed by stacking processing units such as AD, UV irradiation apparatus, air processor (AP), developing apparatus (DEV), and post-exposure baking apparatus (PB) in several stages. .

Each said processing apparatus has the same longitudinal dimension and lateral dimension, and when stacked, constitutes one cube. In addition, the thickness (up and down dimension) of the processing apparatus is different for each processing apparatus.

In addition, an interface unit 5 and an exposure apparatus 6 through which the workpiece is sent through the interface unit 5 are disposed on one side of the processing apparatus constructing body 1.

In addition, the transport robot R includes a lifting body 10 capable of stopping at the position of the processing device of each processing block, and the lifting body 10 to allow the plate-shaped object to enter and exit the processing device at each stage. Arms 11 and 11 provided at the side are provided. These arms 11 and 11 extend and contract in opposite directions by the cylinder units 12 and 12, and the front end thereof has a hand 13 which holds the periphery of the plate-like object. .

The elevating body 10 is coupled to the guide rods 16 and 16 provided between the upper plate 14 and the lower plate 15, and runs on the chain 18 driven by the motor 17 installed on the lower plate 15. It can be moved in the up and down direction by.

In addition, the base plate 15 can be rotated 180 degrees in the horizontal plane by a separate motor 19, and the rotation of the arms 11 and 11 is performed by this rotation.

By the way, the lower part of the transport robot R is accommodated in the box 20, as shown in FIG. 4, and the inside of this box 20 is partitioned by the partition walls 21 and 21, and the upper space 22 and an intermediate part are shown. By dividing the space 23 and the lower space 24 and introducing air from the intermediate space 23, fine dust adhering to the chain 18 is recovered from the upper space 22 or the lower space 24. In addition, dust is prevented from entering a place where a plurality of processing devices are overlapped.

Next, a configuration example of the specific processing device construct will be described based on FIGS. 5 to 9. Here, FIG. 5 is an exploded plan view of a processing apparatus construct for performing a base antireflection film formation, resist coating, and developing process, FIG. 6 is a front view of the processing unit seen from the aa direction of FIG. 5, and FIG. The front view of the processing unit seen from the bb direction of 5, FIG. 8 is the front view of the processing unit seen from the cc direction of FIG. 5, FIG. 9 is the front view of the processing unit seen from the dd direction of FIG.

The processing device construct shown in Fig. 5 is a processing unit 2A for indexing, a processing unit 2B for applying an antireflection film as a base layer on the surface of a plate-shaped object, and a resist film for coating the antireflection film. It is comprised by the processing unit 2C and the processing unit 2D which develops the resist film after exposure.

In the index processing unit 2A, the cassette bases 30, 30, ... are liftable on both sides of the transport robot R1 in place of the processing block. These cassette bases 30, 30, ... can move up and down independently of other cassette bases, and can change the direction of each cassette 31 by 90 degrees.

Then, the operation of the index processing unit 2A will be described. First, the cassette base 30 is adjusted to the transport level of the automatic conveyor (conveyor) in the factory, and the cassette 31 is moved from the automatic conveyor. Receiving above, the cassette 31 is rotated in the direction from which the transport robot R1 can be taken out, and a plate-like object such as a wafer is removed from the cassette 31 by the transport robot R1. Thereafter, the plate-shaped object is moved from the transport robot R1 to the transport section 3, and transported to the adjacent processing unit 2B by a transport device such as a shuttle SH installed in the transport section 3. Send to wealth

The to-be-processed object sent to the conveyance part of the processing unit 2B is sent to the hot plates HP1 and HP2 by the transport robot R2 of the said processing unit 2B, and it dehydrates, and is sent to the to-be-processed object. After removing the contained water, it is cooled or temperature-controlled by the cool plate CP1, the anti-reflective coating liquid is applied by the rotary coating device RC1, dried to some extent in the reduced-pressure drying device VD1, and is open cup type. After the edge rinsing is performed by the cleaning device SC1, it is baked while passing through the hot plates HP3, HP4, and HP5, and then temperature-controlled by the cool plate CP2. Thereafter, the object to be processed with the antireflection film formed thereon is sent to the processing unit 2C by the transport robot R2 and the shuttle SH2.

The to-be-processed object sent to the conveyance part of the processing unit 2C is conveyed to the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus UV1, the adhesion apparatus AD1, and the cool plate CP4 one by one by the transport robot R3, and the resist preprocess is carried out. Is done. Subsequently, the resist coating liquid is applied to the workpieces subjected to the resist pretreatment by the rotary coating device RC2, dried to a certain extent by the vacuum drying device VD2, and backside rinsing by the open cup cleaning device SC2. After the back-side rinsing is carried out, it is baked by the hot plates HP6 and HP7 and again temperature-controlled by the cool plates CP3. Thereafter, the workpiece to which the resist film is formed is transferred to the processing unit 2D by the transport robot R3 and the shuttle SH1.

The to-be-processed object conveyed to the conveyance part of the processing unit 2D is sent to the interface unit of an exposure machine by the transport robot R4, passes through this interface unit, and is sent to an exposure machine, and exposure is performed by an exposure machine. The exposed object is returned to the processing unit 2D again, and is sent to the post-exposure baking apparatus PB1 or PB2 by the transport robot R4 of the processing unit 2D to perform post-exposure baking. Next, the temperature is adjusted by the cool plates CP5 and CP6, and then developed in the developing devices DEV1 and DEV2, and post-baked by the hot plates HP8 and HP9, and then again the cool plates ( The temperature is adjusted by CP7 and CP8, returned to the index processing unit 2A by the shuttle SH2 on one side of each processing unit 2A to 2D, and the predetermined cassette in the processing unit 2A is again provided. It is stored in 31.

Fig. 10 is an exploded plan view of a processing device construct that performs a base antireflection film formation, resist coating, surface antireflection film formation, and a development step, in which the processing unit 2C and the post-exposure process of the resist are applied. Between the processing units 2D for developing the resist film, a processing unit 2E for forming an antireflection film on the surface of the resist film is disposed.

Since the operation of the processing units 2A to 2D is the same as in the above embodiment, explanation is omitted and the operation of the processing unit 2E will be described below.

That is, the object to be transported to the transport robot R4 through the shuttle SH1 of the processing unit 2E is temperature-controlled by the cool plate CP9, and then applied to the anti-reflection film by the rotary coating device RC3. The liquid is applied, dried to some extent in the vacuum drying apparatus VD3, backside rinsing is performed by the open cup washing apparatus SC3, and then baked by the hot plates HP10 and HP11, and then again the cool plate ( Temperature is adjusted by CP10). Subsequently, the object with the antireflection film formed on the surface of the resist film is sent to the interface unit and the exposure unit through the transport robot R5 of the processing unit 2D, and the exposed object is returned to the processing unit 2D again. The development is carried out as described above.

Fig. 11 is an exploded plan view of a processing apparatus construct that performs a resist coating and developing step, wherein the processing apparatus construct performs standard resist coating and development, and from the processing apparatus construct, the base antireflection film The processing unit 2B for forming the film and the processing unit 2E for forming the surface antireflection film are removed.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a processing unit that performs a series of processing on a plate-like object such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, and a processing device construct configured by continuously providing the processing unit. Basically, since the process block which performs a single process is piled up in the vertical direction, the effective use of space is attained.

In addition, by setting the overall shape of the processing unit including a plurality of processing blocks to a predetermined dimension, the processing unit can be increased or decreased, and the construction of a processing apparatus that performs a series of processing can be easily performed.

1 is an overall perspective view of an example of a processing apparatus construct according to the present invention;

2 is a plan view of the processing device construct.

3 is a perspective view of a transport robot of a processing unit constituting a part of the processing apparatus construct;

4 is a cross-sectional view of a lower portion of the transport robot.

Fig. 5 is an exploded plan view of a processing device construct that performs a base antireflection film formation, resist coating, and developing processes.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the processing unit seen in the a-a direction of FIG. 5; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the processing unit seen in the b-b direction of FIG. 5; FIG.

8 is a front view of the processing unit seen in the c-c direction of FIG. 5;

9 is a front view of the processing unit seen in the d-d direction of FIG. 5;

10 is an exploded plan view of a processing apparatus construct that performs a base antireflection film formation, resist coating, surface antireflection film formation, and a developing step.

11 is an exploded plan view of a processing apparatus construct for performing a resist coating and developing step.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: Processing Unit Construct 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E: Processing Unit

3: transportation department 4: processing block

5: interface unit 6: exposure apparatus

10: lifting body R, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5: transport robot

RC: Rotary Cup Applicator SC: Open Cup Applicator

VD: Decompression Dryer CP: Cool Plate

HP: Hot Plate UV: UV Irradiator

DEV: Developer SH: Shuttle

PB: Post-Exposure Baking Apparatus AP: Air Processor

Claims (3)

A processing device construct constructed by continuously providing processing units that perform a series of processing on a plate-like object such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, wherein each processing unit includes a plurality of processing devices in a vertical direction. A pair of processing blocks that are stacked in stages, and a transport robot disposed between the pair of processing blocks, the transport robot comprising: a lifting body capable of stopping at a position of the processing apparatus of each stage; And an arm provided on the lifting body to allow the plate-shaped object to be inserted into and out of the processing apparatus at each stage, and a swing mechanism for turning the arm in a horizontal plane. It is configured independently of each other so that the number of processing units can be increased or decreased with respect to the processing device construct, and the plate shape between adjacent processing units Construction apparatus being disposed to enable the treatment water conveying member. The processing apparatus construct according to claim 1, wherein a transport apparatus for transporting the plate-shaped workpiece between adjacent processing units is provided at the top of each processing unit. An indexer unit is further disposed on one side of the processing device construct, and the indexer unit separates and holds a cassette for storing the plate-shaped object in the vertical direction. An index block and a transport robot, wherein the transport robot is provided with a lifting body capable of stopping at a storage position of the cassette at each stage, and an arm provided at the lifting body to allow the plate-shaped object to be inserted into and out of the cassette. A processing apparatus construct, comprising: a.

Images