KR100941688B1 - Substrate delivery apparatus, substrate processing apparatus, substrate delivery method - Google Patents

Abstract

Position shift of the horizontal direction of a board | substrate is corrected only by a board | substrate delivery apparatus, without using a carrier arm.

A plurality of support pins 132A to 132C which are disposed around the support shaft 114 of the mounting table 112 to support the substrate, for example, the wafer W at its lower surface, and a base to which the support pins are attached ( 134, the support pin is driven up and down through the base stand, and the vertical drive means (Z direction drive means 138Z) for raising and lowering the wafer W and the support pin are driven horizontally through the base stand, Horizontal drive means (X direction drive means 138X, Y direction drive means 138Y) which adjusts the position of the horizontal direction (X, Y direction) of this was provided.

Carrier arm, mounting base, base

Description

Substrate delivery apparatus, substrate processing apparatus, substrate delivery method {SUBSTRATE DELIVERY APPARATUS, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, SUBSTRATE DELIVERY METHOD}

The present invention relates to a substrate delivery device, a substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate delivery method.

Generally, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor integrated circuit, various process processes, such as a film-forming process, an etching process, and heat processing, are performed repeatedly on a to-be-processed board | substrate, for example, a semiconductor wafer (henceforth simply called a "wafer"). Integrated circuits are formed on the wafer. In addition, predetermined post-processing may be performed to the wafer which each said process process was performed. As post-processing, for example, a process for cleaning the wafer (e.g., removing a deposit adhered to the wafer, etc.), a process for measuring the result of the process (e.g., a film thickness measurement process, a particle measurement process, etc.) Can be mentioned.

Such wafer processing is performed by a substrate processing apparatus having a processing chamber configured to be able to execute predetermined processing such as, for example, plasma processing and measurement processing. The substrate processing apparatus includes, for example, a transfer robot that is free to pivot and retreat a transfer arm for transferring the wafer, and the wafer is transferred to the processing chamber by the transfer arm. In general, a mounting table on which a wafer is placed is formed in the processing chamber, and the wafer is guided between the mounting table and the transfer arm.

The delivery of such a wafer is conventionally known by receiving a wafer on a carrier arm with a support pin and placing it on a mounting table by vertically moving a plurality of support pins penetrating the mounting table (for example, Patent Document 1). Reference). In addition, a rotating arm may be formed between the transfer robot and the mounting table, and the rotating arm may move the wafer on the set of pins of the transfer robot to the mounting table and place it (see Patent Document 2).

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-97269

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-343500

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-8328

[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-280287

(Initiation of invention)

(Tasks to be solved by the invention)

By the way, in order to perform an appropriate process with respect to the wafer on a mounting base, it is necessary to place a wafer on a mounting base correctly so that there exists no positional shift of a horizontal direction. For this reason, conventionally, if there is a positional displacement in the horizontal direction on the wafer, the wafer on the mounting table is taken out by the transfer arm, the positional displacement is corrected by the transfer arm or the transfer robot, and then the wafer is placed again on the mounting stage. Was doing.

Specifically, for example, in carrying out a wafer by vertically moving a support pin as shown in Patent Literature 1, if there is a misalignment in the wafer, the wafer on the mounting table is lifted by the support pin, and a carrier arm is inserted. The wafer is received and taken out. After the carrier arm was moved to adjust the position of the wafer, the wafer was placed again on the mounting table.

In the case where the wafer alignment device is provided in the transfer robot itself as shown in Patent Document 2, after the position of the wafer is corrected on the pin set of the transfer robot, the wafer is moved and placed on the mounting table by the rotating arm. (See FIGS. 2 and 3 of Patent Document 2).

However, in correcting the position shift with the transfer arm or the transfer robot as described above, the transfer arm and the transfer robot cannot perform other operations (for example, transfer operations of different wafers) for the correction operation. For this reason, there exists a problem that the throughput of a wafer process falls.

It is also known to correct the positional shift in the horizontal direction of the wafer by moving the mounting table in the XY direction without using this point and the carrier arm. For example, Patent Document 3 rotates a wafer while placing the wafer on a mounting table, and detects the positional shift of the wafer by detecting the entire periphery of the wafer with a CCD linear sensor. Correction by moving in the direction is described.

For example, in Patent Document 4, a plurality of CCD cameras photograph the outer edges of the wafer while supporting the wafer with a rotating support (load arm) hung in the processing chamber, and the position of the wafer is determined based on the photographing result. It detects and corrects the position shift by moving a mounting base to XY direction.

By the way, in patent document 3, in order to detect the position shift of a wafer, a wafer must be put down on a mounting table by a wafer lift, and a wafer is lifted by a wafer lift in order to correct it when there exists a position shift in a wafer. After the lifting, the mounting table must be moved in the XY direction, and then the wafer must be lowered again on the mounting table. In this way, since the wafer must be raised and lowered many times, the misalignment correction takes time, and the throughput of the wafer processing decreases by that much.

In addition, in the patent document 4, when the position shift of a wafer is large so that the outer edge of a wafer cannot be detected by a CCD camera, for example, a position shift of a wafer cannot be detected and the position shift will be carried out. It cannot be corrected by the XY drive. In addition, since the rotational support (carrying arm) itself which supports the wafer does not move in the XY direction, the rotational support (carrying arm) cannot correct the XY direction.

Therefore, in such a case, the wafer must be taken out by the transfer robot or the transfer arm and placed on the rotating support (loading arm) again. In the meantime, as described above, the transfer arm and the transfer robot cannot perform other operations (for example, transfer operations of different wafers), so the throughput of the wafer processing decreases.

Therefore, this invention is made | formed in view of such a problem, and the objective is, after receiving a board | substrate with a support pin from a carrier arm, and carrying out a board | substrate in a horizontal direction with a support pin without using a carrier arm or a carrier robot. By driving, the position shift of a board | substrate can be corrected quickly, As a result, it is providing the board | substrate delivery apparatus etc. which can improve the throughput of a wafer process.

(Means to solve the task)

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, according to one aspect of this invention, the board | substrate delivery apparatus which guides a board | substrate between the conveyance arm which conveys a board | substrate, and the mounting table which mounts the said board | substrate, Around the support shaft of the mounting table A plurality of support pins provided apart from each other to support the substrate from the bottom surface thereof, a base stand to which the support pins are attached, and the support pins driven up and down through the base stand to raise and lower the substrate. And a horizontal drive means for horizontally driving the support pin through the base stand and adjusting the position in the horizontal direction of the substrate.

According to this invention, by supporting the support pin to be movable in the horizontal direction (XY direction), for example, after receiving the substrate with the support pin from the carrier arm, the substrate is supported by the support pin without using the carrier arm. It can be driven horizontally. Thereby, position shift of a board | substrate can be corrected quickly. In addition, the carrier arm can perform another operation immediately after passing a board | substrate to the support pin. Therefore, the throughput of the substrate processing can be improved.

Moreover, it is preferable to provide the board | substrate position detection means which detects the position of the said horizontal board | substrate supported by the support pin in the vicinity of the said mounting base. Thereby, while supporting a board | substrate with a support pin, it can detect the position of the board | substrate in the horizontal direction, and can detect whether the position shifted. In addition, according to the present invention, the mounting table is not driven in the horizontal direction, but the support pin is driven in the horizontal direction. For example, even if the position shift of the substrate is large, the substrate position detecting means cannot detect it. The substrate can be moved in the horizontal direction by the support pin to a position that can be detected by the substrate position detecting means while the substrate is lifted by the support pin. As a result, even when the substrate is largely shifted in position, the position of the substrate can be detected and the position shift can be corrected quickly.

Moreover, it is preferable to comprise so that the said board | substrate position detection means can detect the position of at least 2 or more places of the circumference | surroundings part of the said board | substrate, for example. If at least two positions of the circumference of a board | substrate can be detected, the center position of the board | substrate can be detected, for example, if it is a disk-shaped board | substrate like a semiconductor wafer.

Moreover, when the control part which performs a delivery process of a board | substrate, and raises the said support pin by a vertical drive means, and receives the said board | substrate from the said transfer arm, in the state which supported the said board | substrate with the said support pin, The substrate position detecting means detects the position in the horizontal direction of the substrate, and if there is a positional deviation of the substrate, the horizontal driving means drives the support pin in the horizontal direction to correct the positional misalignment of the substrate. An up-and-down driving means may cause the support pin to be lowered so as to perform a delivery process for placing the substrate on the mounting table.

According to this, the position of a board | substrate can be detected and position shift correction can be performed quickly, holding the said board | substrate with the support pin. For this reason, the position shift correction can be performed at a higher speed as compared with the case where the substrate is placed on the mounting table with the carrier arm or the support pin for detecting the position of the substrate or correcting the position shift of the substrate as in the prior art. Thereby, the throughput of substrate processing can be improved.

Further, when receiving the substrate from the carrier arm, the carrier arm may be lowered to receive the substrate while the support pin is raised. According to this, a board | substrate can be received with a support pin raised.

Further, the plurality of support pins are provided apart from the diameter of the mounting table, for example, around the support shaft of the mounting table, and each of the supporting pins is provided from the substrate placing surface of the mounting table through a through hole formed in the mounting table. The leading edge of the head is made possible to stand. According to such a structure, since the point of the center side of a board | substrate can be supported by each support pin, the process (for example, removal of the adhering substance attached to the board | substrate edge) to the edge part of the board | substrate to be mounted, for example In the case of performing a process), the substrate can be supported at a point as far as possible from the site of the process.

In the case where the mounting table is configured to rotate freely around the support shaft, for example, when the mounting table is rotated, the supporting pin is lowered so that the tip of the supporting pin is lower than the bottom of the mounting table. As a result, it is possible to prevent the through hole and the support pin from colliding when the mounting table is rotated.

Further, in the substrate delivery device, the plurality of support pins may be provided away from the diameter of the mounting table around the support shaft of the mounting table. According to this structure, a board | substrate can be supported by a support pin, without forming a through hole in a mounting base. In addition, since the movement amount of the support pin in the horizontal direction is not limited to the through hole, the substrate can be moved horizontally larger. Therefore, the movement amount which moves a board | substrate in a horizontal direction at once can be taken large.

In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for placing a substrate on a mounting table provided in a processing chamber to perform a predetermined treatment, the carrier arm carrying the substrate in and out of the processing chamber; A plurality of support pins arranged in the vicinity of the mounting table for guiding the substrate between the plurality of support pins, wherein the plurality of supporting pins are provided to be spaced around the support shaft of the mounting table to support the substrate from the bottom surface thereof. And a base stand to which the support pin is attached, a vertical drive means for driving the support pin up and down through the base stand, and a vertical drive to raise and lower the substrate, and horizontally drive the support pin through the base stand, Provided with a substrate processing apparatus comprising a horizontal drive means for adjusting the position of the substrate in the horizontal direction All.

According to this invention, a position shift can be corrected quickly by moving a board | substrate to a horizontal direction with a support pin, without using a conveyance arm. For this reason, the carrier arm can perform another operation immediately after passing a board | substrate to a board | substrate delivery apparatus. Therefore, the throughput of the substrate processing can be improved. In addition, since the substrate is placed on the mounting table without shifting the position, it is possible to stably perform a predetermined process on the substrate.

In order to solve the said subject, according to another viewpoint of this invention, the board | substrate is provided with the several process chamber which performs predetermined | prescribed process to a board | substrate, and carries out the process continuously to a board | substrate, conveying each said process chamber by a conveyance arm in turn. As the processing apparatus, at least one of the processing chambers is a post-processing chamber for carrying out post-processing by carrying a substrate subjected to process processing in another processing chamber, and the post-processing chamber is disposed between the mounting table and the transfer arm provided therein. And a substrate guiding device for guiding the substrate, wherein the substrate guiding device includes: a plurality of support pins for supporting the substrate at its lower surface; a base base to which the support pins are attached; Up and down driving means for driving up and down through the substrate to raise and lower the substrate, and the support pin is horizontal through the base It is provided with the substrate processing apparatus characterized by including the horizontal drive means which drives and adjusts the position of the said board | substrate in the horizontal direction.

Since the carrying in / out of the board | substrate conveyed by such a post-processing chamber is repeated through the other process chamber by a conveyance arm, it is highly likely that a position will shift | deviate largely. In this regard, according to the substrate delivery device according to the present invention, even when the positional displacement of the substrate is large, the substrate is supported by the support pin without taking out and reinserting the substrate or placing it back on the mounting table as in the prior art. By driving in the horizontal direction, the position shift can be corrected quickly and accurately. Therefore, the effect of applying the board | substrate delivery apparatus which concerns on this invention to such a post-processing chamber is large.

The post-treatment chamber may be a cleaning process chamber for removing deposits adhering to the circumference of the substrate. In this case, the plurality of support pins of the substrate delivery device are arranged inward from the diameter of the mounting table around the support axis of the mounting table, and the substrate mounting surface of the mounting table is placed from the substrate mounting surface through the through holes formed in the mounting table. It is preferable that the tip of the support pin is sunk. According to this, the center point on the back surface of a board | substrate can be supported by each support pin. For this reason, the deposit | attachment adhering to the circumference | surroundings of a board | substrate can be removed, without interrupting each support pin.

In order to solve the said subject, according to the other viewpoint of this invention, the board | substrate delivery method by the board | substrate delivery apparatus which guides a board | substrate between the conveyance arm which conveys a board | substrate, and the mounting base on which the board | substrate is mounted, The apparatus is arranged to be spaced around the support shaft of the mounting table, a plurality of support pins for supporting the substrate from the lower surface, the base base to which the support pin is attached, and the support pin to drive up and down through the base base. A vertical drive means, horizontal drive means for horizontally driving the support pins through the base base, and substrate position detection means for detecting a position in the horizontal direction of the substrate, and the support pins are driven by the vertical drive means. The support pin is raised to a step of receiving the substrate from the transfer arm and a horizontal position of the substrate received. The substrate is shifted from a predetermined reference position on the basis of the step detected by the substrate position detecting means and the position of the substrate detected by the substrate position detecting means while the substrate is supported. A step of judging whether or not the substrate is not misaligned in the judging step, and causing the support pin to be lowered and placed on the mounting table by the vertical drive means; and the judging step In the case where it is determined that the position of the substrate is shifted, the support pin is driven in the horizontal direction by the horizontal driving means to correct the positional shift of the substrate, and then the support pin is lowered by the vertical driving means. Provided is a substrate delivery method having a step of placing it on the mounting table The.

According to this invention, after receiving a board | substrate with a support pin from a conveyance arm, even if there exists a position shift in a board | substrate, the position of a board | substrate is driven by driving in a horizontal direction, without supporting a board | substrate and supporting a board | substrate with a support pin. The deviation can be corrected quickly. In addition, the carrier arm can perform another operation immediately after passing a board | substrate to the support pin. Therefore, the throughput of the substrate processing can be improved.

In the step of receiving the substrate from the carrier arm, the carrier arm may be lowered to receive the substrate while the support pin is raised. According to this, a board | substrate can be received with a support pin raised.

In the step of detecting the position of the substrate, when the substrate cannot be detected by the substrate position detecting means, the substrate can be detected by the substrate position detecting means by driving the support pin in a horizontal direction. It may be moved to. According to this, since the position shift of the board | substrate at the time of receiving by a support pin is large, even if a board | substrate cannot be detected by a board | substrate position detection means, since a board | substrate can be moved as it is with a support pin, the board | substrate position detection means of a board | substrate The position can be detected. Thereby, position shift can be corrected without putting a board | substrate again on a mounting table.

(Effects of the Invention)

According to the present invention, since the position shift can be corrected by moving the substrate in the horizontal direction in the substrate delivery apparatus without using the transfer arm, the transfer arm immediately transfers the substrate to the substrate delivery apparatus. For example, the conveyance operation | work of another board | substrate can be performed. In addition, since the position shift can be corrected before the substrate is placed on the mounting table, the position shift of the substrate can be corrected quickly. For this reason, the throughput of substrate processing can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view for demonstrating the board | substrate guide apparatus, board | substrate position detection unit, and mounting base unit which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the side of each device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the substrate delivery device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

4 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the substrate position detecting means included in the substrate position detecting unit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the state of each measurement visual field and the position of the wafer W, and is an example where all of the measurement visual fields are measured in a white state (bright state).

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the support pin and the wafer when the positional shift in FIG. 5A is corrected.

Fig. 6A is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the state of each measurement field and the position of the wafer W, where one of the measurement fields is determined to be (gray state) and the other state is determined to be white state (bright state). Is an example.

FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the support pin and the wafer when the positional shift in FIG. 6A is corrected.

Fig. 7A is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the state of each measurement field and the position of the wafer W. One of the measurement fields is determined to be (gray state), and the others are black state (dark state) and white state, respectively. This is an example when it is determined as (bright state).

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the support pin and the wafer when the positional shift in FIG. 7A is corrected.

8 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the delivery process of the wafer according to the embodiment.

9A is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the substrate delivery apparatus.

9B is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the substrate delivery device.

9C is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the substrate delivery device.

9D is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the substrate delivery device.

9E is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the substrate delivery apparatus.

10 is a perspective view showing another example of the configuration of the substrate delivery apparatus according to the embodiment;

11 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a substrate processing apparatus to which the substrate guide apparatus according to the embodiment is applicable.

12 is a side view illustrating an internal configuration example of a cleaning processing chamber to which the substrate delivery apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied.

(Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

110: mounting table unit

112: wit

113A-113C: through hole

114: support shaft

116: wit

130: substrate delivery device

132A ~ 132C: support pin

134: base stand

135: mounting plate

136: support plate

138: support pin drive mechanism

138X: X direction drive means

138Y: Y direction drive means

138Z: Z direction drive means

150: substrate position detection unit

152A to 152C: imaging means

153A to 153C: measurement field of view

154A-154C: light source for illumination

156: mounting table

157, 158: bracket

200: control unit

300: substrate processing apparatus

310: process processing unit

320: conveying unit

330: return room

331A to 331C: cassette holder

332A to 332C: cassette container

333A ~ 333C: Gate Valve

336: prealignment processing chamber

338: wit

339: optical sensor

340A-340F: Process Processing Room

342: wit

344A ~ 344F: Gate Valve

350: common transport room

354M, 354N: Gate Valve

360M, 362N: Load lock room

362M, 362N: Gate Valve

364M, 364N: Indian University

370, 380: conveying robot

373A, 373B: carrier arm

383A, 383B: Return Arm

384: guide rail

400: cleaning process chamber

402: container

404: carry-in and out

410 cleaning means

412 laser unit

414: Ozone Generator

500: control unit

W: Wafer

(The best form to carry out invention)

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Very preferred embodiment of this invention is described in detail, referring an accompanying drawing below. In addition, in this specification and drawing, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol about the component which has substantially the same functional structure.

(Substrate delivery device)

First, the board | substrate delivery apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated, referring drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an installation example of each device, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the side surface of each device shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the substrate delivery device 130 for guiding a substrate, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter also referred to simply as a "wafer") W between a carrier arm (not shown) and the mounting table 112, An embodiment is described.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, the board | substrate delivery apparatus (lifter unit) 130 which concerns on this base unit in the vicinity of the mounting base unit 110 provided with the mounting base 112 on which the wafer W is mounted. Is installed. In addition, the substrate position detection unit 150 for detecting the position of the wafer W is provided in the vicinity of the mounting table unit 110.

For example, the mounting table 112 is formed in a disk shape smaller than the diameter of the wafer W as shown in FIG. The wafer W is placed on the mounting surface on the upper side of the mounting table 112. The mounting table 112 is attached to the bottom surface of the processing chamber by a support shaft 114 with fastening members such as bolts, for example. In addition, the mounting table 112 may be configured to rotate. In the case where the mounting table 112 is configured to rotate, for example, a stepping motor is provided inside the support shaft 114, for example, and the mounting table 112 is rotated by driving of the stepping motor. In addition, you may make it adsorb | suck and hold the wafer W on the mounting surface 112, for example by the function of a vacuum chuck. Thereby, even if the mounting base 112 rotates at high speed, the fall of the wafer W from the mounting base 112 can be prevented. The mounting table unit 110 is connected to the control unit 200 as shown in FIG. 2, and the mounting table 112 is rotationally controlled based on the control signal from the control unit 200.

Here, the structure of the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 is demonstrated in detail, referring FIG. 1, FIG. FIG. 3 shows only the substrate delivery device taken out from FIG. In addition, in FIG. 3, in order to make the structure of a board | substrate delivery apparatus easy to understand, the mounting stand 112 is abbreviate | omitted and only the support shaft 114 of the mounting stand 112 is shown by the dashed-dotted line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate delivery device 130 supports a plurality of wafers W (for example, when the wafers W are guided between the carrier arm and the mounting table 112 not shown). Three) support pins (lifter pins) 132A to 132C. These support pins 132A-132C are arrange | positioned apart around the support shaft 114 of the mounting base 112, as shown in FIG. The support pins 132A to 132C are preferably arranged at equal intervals around the support shaft 114 so as to stably support the wafer W, for example. In addition, the number of the support pins is not limited to three, but it is preferable that they are at least three or more so that the wafer can be stably supported.

The support pins 132A to 132C are installed in the base stand (lifter base) 134, and through this base stand 134, all the support pins 132A to 132C can be moved simultaneously in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. have. The base stand 134 is comprised by the attachment plate 135 formed in substantially ring shape as shown in FIG. 3, and the support plate 136 which supports the attachment plate 135, for example. The support plate 132A to 132C is attached to the attachment plate 135 at predetermined intervals (for example, at equal intervals) along the ring shape, and the support plate 136 is a support pin drive mechanism 138 described later. Is attached to the stage constituting the X-direction driving means (138X).

Moreover, the opening part of the ring shape of the attachment plate 135 which can insert the attachment plate 135 from the side surface of the support shaft 114 is provided. Accordingly, even after the support shaft 114 is fixed to the bottom of the processing chamber, the attachment plate 135 is inserted into the support shaft 114 from the opening so that the support pins 132A to 132C are disposed around the support shaft 114. The board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 can be provided.

The base stand 134 is attached to the support pin drive mechanism 138 which can drive the support pins 132A-132C not only in a vertical direction but also in a horizontal direction. Specifically, for example, the support pin drive mechanism 138 is driven in the Y direction and the X direction drive means 138X capable of driving the support pins 132A to 132C in the X direction through the base stand 134. Y-direction drive means 138Y is provided. The X-direction driving means 138X is composed of, for example, a stage capable of linear driving in the X direction, and the Y-direction driving means 138Y is capable of linearly driving the X-direction driving means in the Y-direction perpendicular to the X-direction, for example. It may be configured as a stage. In addition, these X direction drive means 138X and Y direction drive means 138Y comprise a horizontal direction (XY direction) drive means.

Moreover, the support pin drive mechanism 138 is equipped with the Z direction drive means 138Z as an up-down direction drive means which can drive the support pins 132A-132C to Z direction (up-down direction) via the base stand 134. As shown in FIG. . The Z-direction driving means 138Z may be configured to vertically drive the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y in a stage capable of linear driving, for example.

As an actuator of each of these drive means 138X, 138Y, and 138Z, it is preferable to use a linear actuator, for example. By employing the linear actuator, repeat positioning accuracy of several micrometers or less is obtained, and each stage can be pushed at high speed. In addition to the linear actuator, for example, each stage may be driven by a combination mechanism of a ball screw and a stepping motor. In addition, the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 is connected to the control part 200, as shown in FIG. 2, and each drive means 138X, 138Y, 138Z controls drive based on the control signal from this control part 200. As shown in FIG. It is supposed to be.

According to such a support pin drive mechanism 138, the support pins 132A are driven up and down by the support pins 132A to 132C through the base stand 134, so that the wafer to the carrier arm or the mounting table 112 can be moved. Raise and lower of (W) can be performed. In addition, the support pins 132A to 132C are driven in the horizontal direction (XY direction) via the base stand 134 by the X direction drive means 138X and the Y direction drive means 138Y, and the support pins 132A to 132A. The position in the horizontal direction can be adjusted while raising the wafer W on 132C).

Accordingly, after receiving the wafer W from the transfer arm with the support pins 132A to 132C, the wafer W is placed on the support pins 132A to 132C without using the transfer arm or the transfer robot. Only by moving in the horizontal direction, the positional shift of the wafer can be corrected, and as a result, the throughput of the wafer process can be improved.

By the way, when the wafer is guided by the relatively large diameter mounting base 112 as shown in Fig. 1, the supporting pins 132A to 132C are provided inward of the diameter of the mounting base 112. Then, the end of each support pin 132A to 132C emerges from the placing surface of the placing table 112 through the through hole formed in the placing table 112. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, through-holes 113A-113C which pass through support pins 132A-132C, respectively, are formed in the mounting base 112. As shown in FIG.

According to this, the support pins 132A to 132C are driven up and down by the Z-direction drive means 138Z, so that the tips of the support pins 132A to 132C can rise and lower the through holes 113A to 113C. have. Further, by horizontally driving (XY driving) the support pins 132A to 132C by the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y, the front end of each of the support pins 132A to 132C passes through each through hole 113A. The inside of each through hole 113A-113C can be horizontally moved (XY movement), protruding from the mounting surface of the mounting base 112, passing through the inside of -113C).

According to such a structure, since the point of the center side of a wafer can be supported by each support pin 132A-132C, the process (for example, the cleaning process mentioned later) is applied to the edge part of the wafer on the mounting base 112, for example. In the case of implementation, the wafer can be supported at a point as far as possible from the site to be subjected to the processing.

The opening diameter of each of the through holes 113A to 113C is set depending on, for example, the diameter of the support pins 132A to 132C and the amount of movement in the horizontal direction (for example, the horizontal positioning position). It is preferable. Each through hole 113A-113C is formed, for example with a diameter of 10-20 mm.

In addition, when the mounting base 112 is rotatably comprised, when rotating the mounting base 112, the support pin 132A so that the front-end | tip of support pins 132A-132C may be lower than the bottom face of the mounting base 112. By lowering 132 C), it is possible to prevent the through holes 113A to 113C and the support pins 132A to 132C from colliding when the mounting table 112 is rotated.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the case where one support pin was inserted into each through-hole of a mounting base was demonstrated, it is not necessarily limited to this, In the case of increasing the number of support pins, the some through-hole of a mounting base is included. A plurality of support pins may be inserted into each.

(Substrate position detecting means)

Here, the board | substrate position detection unit provided with a board | substrate position detection means is demonstrated, referring FIGS. 4 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the substrate position detecting means. In FIG. 4, in order to make it easy to demonstrate the structure of a board | substrate position detection means, the mounting table 156 and the mounting table 112 shown in FIG. 1 are abbreviate | omitted.

The board | substrate position detection unit 150 is equipped with the board | substrate position detection means for detecting the position of the wafer W in the horizontal direction. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, the substrate position detecting means includes a plurality of imaging means 152A to 152C for detecting the circumference of the wafer W and three imaging means 152A to 152C. The light sources 154A to 154C are disposed to face each other.

As imaging means 152A-152C, it is comprised by the CCD camera which provided the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, the lens for focus adjustment, etc., for example. In addition, as illumination light sources 154A-154C, it is comprised by an LED unit, for example. Moreover, the illumination light sources 154A-154C are equipped with the diffuser plate in the light emission surface, and can make uniform the light intensity over the whole light emission surface.

The imaging means 152A-152C and illumination light sources 154A-154C which comprise a board | substrate position detection means are attached to the upright mounting stand 156 as shown, for example in FIG. The mounting table 156 is provided with the bracket 157 which protruded horizontally from the upper part, and the bracket 158 which protrudes horizontally below this bracket 157. Imaging means 152A-152C are attached to the upper bracket 157, and illumination light sources 154A-154C are attached to the lower bracket 157. As shown in FIG. In this way, the imaging means 152A-152C and the illumination light sources 154A-154C are provided so that the circumference | surroundings part of the wafer W may be pinched above and below the wafer W. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the optical axis of each illumination light source 154A-154C is adjusted so that it may face the light receiving surface of each imaging means 152A-152C, respectively. Further, the support pins 132A to 132C are raised above the mounting surface of the mounting table 112, and the height of the wafer W at the time of receiving the wafer W from the carrier arm is set to the receiving height, and the wafer ( When the position of the wafer W (the position of the wafer indicated by the dashed-dotted and dashed lines shown in FIG. 4) when the center of the wafer W and the center of the mounting table coincide with each other, the imaging means 152A 152 C) are each adjusted to focus on the circumference of the circumference of the wafer at the reference position Wst at the receiving height. Moreover, the site | part which can detect the circumference | surroundings part of the wafer of the reference position Wst is adjusted so that it may become the measurement visual field 153A-153C of each imaging means 152A-152C.

Specifically, the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C of the imaging means 152A to 152C are arranged at equal intervals along the circumference of the wafer at the reference position Wst, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A to be described later. It is. For example, considering the angle viewed from the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst, the angle from the measurement field 153A to the measurement field 153B and the angle from the measurement field 153B to the measurement field 153C are here. Are respectively 45 degrees (deg), and the angle from the measurement visual field 153A to the measurement visual field 153C is set to 90 degrees (deg). The angle of such measurement visual field 153A-153C is not limited to what was mentioned above, It can change freely by adjusting the attachment position of each imaging means 152A-152C.

Each imaging means 152A-152C is connected to the control part 200, as shown in FIG. 2, and the data of the image image | photographed with each imaging means 152A-152C is each part of the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130, etc. The control unit 200 is transmitted to the control unit 200. The control part 200 detects the circumference | surroundings of the wafer W based on the output image data of the measurement visual field 153A-153C picked up by each imaging means 152A-152C.

For example, when the circumferential circumference of the wafer W enters the measurement field of view 153A, the area in which the wafer W exists in the measurement field of view 153A is darkened by blocking light from the illumination light source 154A. , Other parts become brighter. Thereby, the presence or absence of the circumference | surroundings of the wafer W can be detected by the measurement visual field 153A. Therefore, this state is divided into a circumferential perimeter state (gray state), in which all of the measurement fields described later are in a bright state (white state) and all of the measurement fields are in a dark state (black state).

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, the boundary between the bright area and the dark area in the measurement field of view 153A is the shape of the circumferential circumference of the wafer W (for example, in the case of a disk-shaped wafer as in the embodiment, an arc shape). Therefore, the shape of the circumference of the wafer W can be detected from the output image of the measurement field of view 153A.

Based on the detected shape of the circumferential circumference of the wafer W, the control unit 200 calculates the center position of the wafer W. FIG. Then, the positional shift amount and the position shift direction in the horizontal direction of the wafer W from the center of the mounting table 112 (the rotation center when the mounting table 112 is rotated) are obtained. The horizontal direction of the wafer W is driven by driving the support pins 132A to 132C in the horizontal direction by driving the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y in accordance with this position shift amount and the position shift direction. You can adjust the position.

In addition, in addition to the above, in the horizontal position shift of the wafer W, the output image data of the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C when the wafer W is at the reference position Wst is previously used as the reference image data. In this case, the output image data of the measurement fields 153A to 153C obtained in order to detect the wafer position may be judged by comparing with the reference image data. For example, it is assumed that the wafer W is shifted from the reference position Wst and the position of the circumference of the circumference of the wafer W in the output image data of the measurement field of view 153A is shifted. At this time, for example, the ratio (contrast ratio) between the light region and the dark region of the output image data of the measurement visual field 153A is different from the case where the wafer W is shifted from the reference position Wst. The difference is the case at the reference position Wst. Therefore, the positional shift of the wafer W can be detected by comparing the contrast ratio with respect to the wafer W to be compared with the contrast ratio with respect to the wafer at the reference position Wst, and according to the contrast ratio The amount of position shift and the direction of position shift can be obtained.

In this case, the support pins 132A to 132C are driven in the horizontal direction in accordance with the position shift amount and the position shift direction so that the contrast ratio of the measurement field of view 153A is the same as the ratio in the case of the reference position Wst. The horizontal position of (W) can be adjusted.

In addition, in the horizontal position shift of the wafer W, in addition to the above, the peripheral pattern (reference pattern) of the wafer W when the wafer W is not shifted in position is stored in the storage means. By comparing the pattern of the peripheral shape of the wafer W actually detected with the reference pattern, it is judged whether or not there is a positional shift of the wafer W, and the difference between the pattern of the peripheral shape of the wafer W and the reference pattern differs. You may calculate a position shift direction and its quantity based on this.

By the way, in the case of receiving the wafer W by raising the support pin as in the substrate delivery device 130 according to the present embodiment, the wafer is placed on the arm such as the guide arm that hangs the end of the wafer W from above. As compared with the case where the position of W) is received by the guide member whose regulation is restricted, the positional deviation of the wafer W may be large.

For example, the position may shift large enough so that the circumference | surroundings of the wafer W do not exist also in the output image data of all the measurement visual fields 153A-153C. Specifically, the measurement field of view is a whole bright area (in this case, the measurement field is determined to be a white state (or bright state)), or the whole is a dark area (in this case, the measurement field is a black state ( Or a dark state), and the circumference of the wafer W cannot be detected. Since the position of the wafer W cannot be detected by this, the degree of position shift is not known, and a position shift of a wafer cannot be corrected.

Here, the relationship between the white black determination (contrast determination) of a measurement visual field and a wafer position is demonstrated. For example, when a measurement visual field is determined to be a white state (when the entire measurement visual field is a bright region), the wafer W does not exist in the measurement visual field. At this time, when the wafer W is present on the support pins 132A to 132C, the center of the wafer W is largely directed from the measurement field of view toward the center of the wafer (the center of reference) of the reference position Wst. Possibility of misaligned position is high. When a measurement field of view is determined to be black (when the entire field of view is dark), although the wafer W exists in the measurement field, the center of the wafer W is the reference position Wst. There is a high probability that the position is greatly shifted from the center of the wafer toward the measurement field of view.

Therefore, when a measurement field of view is determined to be in a white state, the support pins 132A to 132C are horizontally moved to move toward the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst from the determination field of view so as to shift the position of the wafer W. You can correct it. In addition, in the case where a measurement field of view is determined to be in a black state, the support pins 132A to 132C are horizontally moved so as to move away from the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst toward the measurement field, thereby shifting the position of the wafer W. You can correct it. In addition, when there existed white black determination in several measurement visual fields, the direction which a position shifts can be estimated by these combination. Therefore, the position shift of a wafer can be adjusted by determining a position shift adjustment direction according to the combination of these white black determinations. Thereby, even if the position of a wafer cannot be detected, the position of the wafer can be adjusted in the direction in which the positional shift is approximately corrected.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when all of the measurement fields 153A to 153C are determined to be in a white state, the center of the wafer W is moved away from all the measurement fields 153A to 153C (here, Y The position is largely shifted in the positive direction of the axis). In this case, the directions (directions) in which the center of the wafer W is close to all the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C, that is, from the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst to the respective measurement visual fields 153A to 153C. By shifting the support pins 132A to 132C horizontally in the combined direction (here, the negative direction of the Y axis), the position shift of the wafer W can be corrected as shown in FIG. 5B. Although not shown, in the case where all of the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C are determined to be in a black state, the direction of the center of the wafer W is away from all the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C, that is, each measurement visual field 153A. By shifting the support pins 132A to 132C horizontally in the combined direction (here, the positive direction of the Y-axis) from the direction of the wafer to the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst, the position shift of the wafer can be corrected. Can be.

For example, as shown in Fig. 6A, the circumferential circumference of the wafer W can be detected in the measurement field 153A, but the circumferential circumference of the wafer W cannot be detected in the measurement fields 153B and 153C. When it is determined in the white state, the center of the wafer W is greatly displaced in the direction away from the measurement visual fields 153B and 153C. In this case, the center of the wafer W is a direction away from the measurement fields 153B and 153C, that is, the direction in which the respective directions from the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst to the respective measurement fields 153B and 153C are synthesized. By shifting the support pins 132A to 132C horizontally, the position shift of the wafer W can be corrected as shown in Fig. 6B.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the circumferential circumference of the wafer W can be detected in the measurement field 153B, but the circumferential circumference of the wafer W can be detected with respect to the measurement fields 153A and 153C. If it is determined that the state is black in the measurement field of view 153A and is determined to be the white state in the field of view 153C, the center of the wafer W is in a direction closer to the field of view 153A. ), The position is shifted greatly in the direction away from (in this case, the negative direction of the X axis). In this case, the center of the wafer W is a direction away from the measurement field 153A, which is closer to the measurement field 153C, that is, the direction from the measurement field 153A to the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst. As shown in Fig. 7B, the support pins 132A to 132C are horizontally moved in a direction in which the directions from the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst to the measurement field of view 153C are combined (here, the positive direction of the X axis). Similarly, the positional shift of the wafer W can be corrected.

Thus, by detecting and correcting the positional shift of the wafer in accordance with the white black determination of the measurement field of view, the positional shift of the wafer is achieved even if the positional shift is so large that the circumferential circumference of the wafer W cannot be detected. You can correct it. In addition, the wafer W is moved by a predetermined amount in the position shift correction direction obtained by the white black determination, and at the time when the circumference of the wafer W enters all of the measurement fields 153A to 153C, the wafer W The peripheral position of the wafer may be detected to determine the center position of the wafer to detect the wafer position. As a result, even when the wafer W is largely displaced, the position of the wafer W can be detected more accurately.

As mentioned above, each part of the mounting base unit 110, the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130, and the board | substrate position detection unit 150 is controlled by the control part 200. FIG. The control unit 200 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) constituting the control unit main body, a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing data necessary for the CPU to perform the processing, and used for various data processing performed by the CPU. RAM (Random Access Memory) having a memory area and the like, a program for the CPU to control each unit, a hard disk (HDD) for storing various data, or storage means such as a memory.

(Wafer delivery processing)

Next, the specific example of the delivery process of the wafer performed by the board | substrate delivery apparatus mentioned above is demonstrated, referring drawings. The control part 200 controls each part of the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 and the board | substrate position detection unit 150 based on the predetermined program read from the memory | storage means, and performs a delivery process. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the delivery process when the wafer on the transfer arm is received and placed on the mounting table. 9A to 9E are operational explanatory diagrams for explaining an operation example of the substrate delivery device 130 in the wafer delivery process. 9A to 9E, Cw represents the center of the wafer W, and Ct represents the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst described above.

When guiding the wafer W on the transfer arm TA to the mounting table 112, as shown in FIG. 8, first, the support pins 132A to 132C are raised in step S110 to make the wafer ( Receive W) Specifically, as shown in Fig. 9A, when the carrier arm TA on which the wafer W is raised is inserted above the mounting table 112, the Z-direction driving means 138Z is driven to support the pins 132A to 132C. ) Is raised in the Z (vertical) direction to the receiving height of the predetermined wafer W. Then, the tip of each of the support pins 132A to 132C projects upward from the mounting surface of the mounting table 112 through the through holes 113A to 113C, respectively, and ascends further, as shown in Fig. 9B. The wafer W on the TA is lifted. In this way, when the wafer W is received at the tips of the support pins 132A to 132C, the carrier arm TA is drawn from the upper side of the mounting table 112 as shown in Fig. 9B, and as shown in Fig. 9C. do.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the wafer W is received from the transfer arm TA by the support pins 132A to 132C, the support pins 132A to 132C are raised to be received. It is not. For example, when the carrier arm TA is configured to be liftable, the carrier arm TA may be lowered so that the wafer W is placed at the tip of the support pins 132A to 132C. In this case, the carrier arm TA on which the wafer W is raised is placed on the mounting table 112 in a state where the Z-direction driving means 138Z is first driven to raise the support pins 132A to 132C in the Z-axis direction. Insert it on the upper side. Then, the carrier arm TA is lowered and received by the support pins 132A to 132C. According to this, the wafer W can be received with the support pins 132A to 132C raised.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 9A, when the upper side of the mounting table 112 is inserted into the carrier arm TA, the position shift in the horizontal direction of the wafer W (here, the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst) If the position shift of the center Cw of the wafer W with respect to the center (Ct) used as a reference | standard exists, the wafer W is lifted upward with the support pins 132A-132C as it is.

This positional shift of the wafer W is the horizontal direction of the wafer W while supporting the wafer W with the support pins 132A to 132C by the subsequent wafer positioning process (steps S120 to S140). The positional deviation of is detected and corrected by moving the support pins 132A to 132C in the horizontal direction. Thereby, since the transfer arm TA can start the next operation (for example, the operation of conveying another wafer) immediately after passing the wafer to the support pin, the throughput of the wafer processing can be improved.

In this wafer positioning process, the position of the wafer W is first detected by the substrate position detection unit 150 in step S120. Here, the position in the horizontal direction of the wafer W is detected while supporting the wafer W with the respective support pins 132A to 132C. Specifically, as described above, the position of the wafer W is based on the output image data of the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C obtained by emitting the light sources 154A to 154C for illumination and imaging with the imaging means 152A to 152C. Detect. For example, the center of the wafer W is detected as the position of the wafer W from the shape of the peripheral portion of the wafer W detected by the output image data.

Next, in step S130, it is determined whether or not there is a positional shift in the wafer W. FIG. Specifically, based on the detected position of the wafer W, the positional displacement amount in the horizontal direction of the wafer W is obtained, and when the positional deviation amount is within a predetermined allowable positional deviation range, it is determined that there is no positional deviation. When the position shift amount exceeds the predetermined allowable position shift range, it is determined that there is a position shift.

For example, when detecting the center of the wafer W as the position of the wafer W, the shift amount between the center of the wafer W and the center of the wafer (the center serving as a reference) of the reference position Wst is determined. It calculates as a position shift amount of the wafer W. As shown in FIG. In addition, calculation of the position shift amount of the wafer W is not limited to this, For example, as mentioned above, the ratio (contrast ratio) of a light region and a dark region is set, and the wafer W is the reference position Wst. The positional shift amount may be calculated by comparing with the contrast ratio in the case of, and the position shift amount may be calculated by comparing the pattern of the wafer circumferential shape with the pattern of the reference position Wst.

When it is determined in step S130 that there is no positional shift in the wafer W, the support pins 132A to 132C are lowered as they are in step S150 so that the wafer W is placed on the mounting table 112. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is a positional shift in the wafer W, in step S140, the support pins 132A to 132C are moved in the horizontal direction by driving the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y. The position of the wafer W is corrected. For example, as shown in Fig. 9C, when the wafer W is shifted in the negative direction of the X axis, only the X direction drive means 138X is driven to move the support pins 132A to 132C in the positive direction of the X axis. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 9D, the wafer W can be positioned so that the center Cw of the wafer W and the center Ct of the wafer at the reference position Wst coincide with each other.

In addition, when correcting the position of the wafer W, after calculating the position shift amount and the position shift direction of the wafer W in advance, the support pins 132A according to the position shift amount and the position shift direction of the wafer W; The support pins 132A to 132C may be moved by a predetermined amount in the horizontal direction, and the position of the wafer W may be moved by the imaging means 152A to 152C at each time. You may make it move the wafer W to a reference position, detecting and confirming.

In this way, when the positioning process (step S120-step S140) of the wafer W is complete | finished, the support pins 132A-132C are lowered in step S150, and the wafer W is placed on the mounting base 112. FIG. . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9D, the Z-direction driving means 138Z is driven to lower the support pins 132A to 132C, and the wafer W is placed on the mounting table 112. As a result, as shown in Fig. 9E, the wafer W on which the horizontal position is corrected is placed on the mounting table 112. As shown in Figs. In this way, the delivery process of the wafer W is complete | finished.

In addition, when lowering | supporting pins 132A-132C, it is preferable to evacuate the front end below the lower surface of the mounting base 112 through the through-holes 113A-113C. Thus, for example, when the mounting table 112 rotates, the support pins 132A to 132C can be prevented from interfering.

In addition, in step S120 shown in FIG. 8, when the position of the wafer W is shift | deviated so that the circumference of the wafer W cannot be detected from the output image data of the measurement visual fields 153A-153C, step S140. In this case, the position shift correction direction may be determined in accordance with the combination of the white black determination of each of the measurement fields 153A to 153C as described above, and the position shift of the wafer may be corrected. According to this, even if the position shifted so much that the circumference of the wafer W cannot be detected, the position shift of a wafer can be corrected. In addition, it is not limited to this, For example, in step S120, the wafer W is predetermined by a predetermined amount until the circumference of the wafer W enters all of the measurement visual fields 153A to 153C in the position shift correction direction by the white black determination. After moving, the peripheral circumference of the wafer W may be detected to perform subsequent processing.

In addition, in the process shown in FIG. 8, although the case where the wafer W was guide | induced from the carrier arm TA to the mounting base 112 using the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 which concerns on this embodiment was demonstrated, board | substrate delivery Even when the wafer W is guided from the mounting table 112 to the carrier arm TA using the apparatus 130, the wafer W on the mounting table 112 is lifted by the support pins 132A to 132C. If it is picked up and received, the position of the wafer W may be detected as it is, the position of the wafer W may be corrected, and then passed to the transfer arm TA. By doing so, for example, when the wafer W is deviated so much that it cannot be corrected even if it moves in the horizontal direction of the support pins 132A to 132C, the wafer W is taken out at least by the carrier arm TA. The wafer W can be moved to a possible position.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by configuring the support pins 132A to 132C to be movable in the horizontal direction (XY direction), for example, the wafer W is supported from the carrier arm TA by the support pins 132A to A. After receiving by 132C), it can drive in a horizontal direction, holding the wafer W with support pins 132A-132C, without using carrier arm TA. Thereby, position shift of the wafer W can be correct | amended quickly. In addition, the transfer arm TA can perform another operation (for example, the transfer operation of another wafer) immediately after passing the wafer to the support pins 132A to 132C. Therefore, the throughput of wafer processing can be improved.

In addition, since the positioning of the wafer W in the horizontal direction is performed by the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y having high resolution and capable of high speed operation, the wafer W is held in a short time. It can be mounted in the exact position (reference position) of the mounting surface of the mounting base 112. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the throughput of the wafer process can be further improved, and the wafer W placed on the wafer placing surface of the mounting table 112 can be reliably processed with high accuracy.

In addition, since the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 which concerns on this embodiment is comprised separately from the mounting base unit 110, it can be set as a simple structure. Moreover, since the freedom degree of installation in a process chamber also becomes high, it can apply to various process chambers. In addition, when the mounting base 112 rotates, the mounting base unit 112 and the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 are separated, and the mounting base 112 can be rotated at high speed. In addition, the substrate delivery device 130 also has a configuration in which the support pins 132A to 132C are driven in the horizontal direction by the X-direction driving means 138X and the Y-direction driving means 138Y. The position of the wafer W can be corrected with high accuracy.

In addition, the board | substrate guide apparatus 130 which concerns on this embodiment did not drive a mounting table horizontally and correct | amends a position shift, but drives the support pins 132A-132C to a horizontal direction, and correct | amends a position shift. Therefore, even if the position shift of the wafer W is large and cannot be detected by the substrate position detection unit 150, for example, the substrate position detection unit is carried out with the wafer W being lifted by the support pins 132A to 132C. The wafer W can be moved in the horizontal direction by the support pins 132A to 132C to a position that can be detected by 150. Thereby, even when the position of the wafer W is largely shifted, the position of the wafer W can be detected and the position shift can be corrected quickly.

By the way, the positioning of the wafer W may use the method of detecting the orientation flat, notch, etc. of the wafer W, for example. According to this method, it is necessary to rotate the wafer W at least one time. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, since the position shift of the horizontal direction of the wafer W is detected using imaging means 152A-152C, it is not necessary to rotate the wafer W. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the time required for position shift detection becomes very short. As a result, the throughput of the wafer process is improved.

In addition, according to this embodiment, after the wafer W is passed from the transfer arm TA to the support pins 132A to 132C, the wafer is immediately placed on the wafer placing surface of the mounting table 112. Since the positioning processing in the horizontal direction of (W) can be performed, the time taken until the positioning processing ends is shortened. As a result, the throughput of the wafer process is improved.

In addition, in the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 which concerns on this embodiment, the support pins 132A-132C make through-holes 113A-113C of the support pins 132A-132C by the Z direction drive means 138Z. Each of the through holes can be driven up and down so that the tip can be projected, and each of the support pins 132A to 132C protrudes from the mounting surface of the mounting table 112 through the through holes 113A to 113C. Although the inside of 113A-113C is comprised so that a horizontal drive can be performed by X direction drive means 138X and Y direction drive means 138Y, this invention is not limited to such a structure.

For example, like the board | substrate guide apparatus 130 shown in FIG. 10, each support pin 132A-132C is installed in the circumference | surroundings of the support shaft 114 of the mounting base 116 outside the diameter of the mounting base 116. You may do so. According to this, it becomes unnecessary to form the through-holes 113A-113C for passing each support pin 132A-132C in the mounting base 116. As shown in FIG. Further, the support pins 132A to 132C can be horizontally moved largely without being limited to the diameters of the through holes 113A to 113C. Therefore, when performing position shift correction and position adjustment of the wafer W, the movement amount for one time of the wafer W can be taken large.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, in the structure which arrange | positions support pins 132A-132C outward from the mounting base 116, each support pin is arrange | positioned near the edge part of the wafer W as the diameter of a mounting base is large. For this reason, when applying to the process chamber (for example, the cleaning process chamber 400) which performs a process to the edge part of the wafer W, the structure which arrange | positions the support pin 132A-132C inward rather than the mounting base shown in FIG. It is desirable to take

In addition, in this embodiment, although the case where the position shift of the horizontal direction of the wafer W is detected using three imaging means 152A-152C was demonstrated, it is not necessarily limited to this, One or two The image pickup means may detect the positional shift of the wafer W in the horizontal direction. As the imaging means 152A to 152C, various photoelectric sensors, ultrasonic sensors and the like can be used in addition to the CCD image sensor and the CCD camera. In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, since the support pins 132A-132C are attached to the attachment plate 135 formed in substantially ring shape, when the wafer W is shift | deviated, the attachment plate 135 is carried out. This inclination changes the moment of the support plate 136. Therefore, a moment sensor is attached to the support plate 136, and the position and position shift of the wafer W can be detected by the change of the moment.

(Application example of substrate delivery device)

Next, an example of the substrate processing apparatus which can apply the said substrate delivery apparatus is demonstrated, referring drawings. 11 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The substrate processing apparatus 300 includes a process processing unit 310 including a plurality of process processing chambers for performing various kinds of processing such as a film forming process, an etching process, and the like on a wafer W in a vacuum atmosphere, and the process processing unit. The conveying unit 320 which carries in and out the wafer W with respect to 310 is provided.

First, the structural example of the conveying unit 320 is demonstrated. A conveyance chamber 330 is provided for dispensing a plurality of wafers W (for example, 25 sheets) accommodated in the cassette container 332 to the substrate processing apparatus 300. For example, three cassette racks 331A to 331C are provided in the transfer chamber 330 via gate valves 333A to 333C, respectively, and cassette containers 332A to 332C are respectively provided in these cassette racks 331A to 331C. ) Can be set.

In addition, the transfer chamber 330 performs a pre-alignment processing chamber (orientator) 336 which performs alignment of the wafer W before the process treatment, and after removing the adhered matter attached to the wafer W after the process treatment. The washing process chamber 400 as an example of a process chamber is provided.

The prealignment processing chamber 336 includes, for example, a mounting table 338 rotatably provided in the processing chamber and an optical sensor 339 for optically detecting the circumference of the wafer W on the mounting table 338. The wafer W is rotated on the mounting table 338 to detect an orientation flat, notch, etc. formed on the circumference of the wafer W with the optical sensor 339 to perform the alignment of the wafer W. FIG. In addition, the specific structural example of the washing process chamber 400 is mentioned later.

In the conveyance chamber 330, the conveyance robot 370 comprised with the slide freely along the longitudinal direction (the arrow direction shown in FIG. 11) is provided. The transfer robot 370 is provided with transfer arms 373A and 373B for lifting and transporting the wafer W, for example. The transfer arms 373A to 373B are configured to be able to flex, lift and pivot, and the cassette containers 332A to 332C, the pre-alignment processing chamber 336, the cleaning processing chamber 400, and the load lock chamber (to be described later) The wafer W is withdrawn from the 360M and 360N. In addition, since the transfer robot 370 includes two transfer arms 373A and 373B, the transfer robot 370 can be used, for example, with respect to the load lock chambers 360M and 360N, the pre-alignment processing chamber 336, the cleaning processing chamber 400, and the like. The wafer W could be fed in and out so as to exchange the processed wafer W and the wafer W before processing.

Next, a configuration example of the process processing unit 310 will be described. The process processing unit 310 is configured, for example, in a cluster tool type as shown in FIG. That is, the process processing unit 310 is provided with the common conveyance chamber 350 formed in polygonal shape (for example, hexagon), and the predetermined process process with respect to the wafer W around this common conveyance chamber 350. A plurality (for example, six) of process processing chambers 340A to 340F which are configured to be connected to each other are connected via gate valves 344A to 344F, respectively.

Each of the process chambers 340A to 340F is provided with mounting tables 342 (342A to 342F) for placing the wafers W on the basis of processes and recipes previously stored in a storage medium of the control unit 500 or the like. The wafer W on the mounting table 342 is subjected to, for example, a film forming process or an etching process. In addition, the number of the process process chambers 340 is not limited to the case shown in FIG.

In addition, load lock chambers 360M and 360N that exchange wafers with the transfer chamber 330 are provided around the common transfer chamber 350. The first and second load lock chambers 360M and 360N temporarily hold the wafer W through the delivery stands 364M and 364N provided therein, and after the pressure adjustment, the common transfer chamber 350 on the vacuum pressure side. And the wafer W are passed between the transfer chamber 330 on the atmospheric pressure side. Therefore, for airtightness, the load lock chambers 360M and 360N are connected to the common transfer chamber 350 via the gate valves 354M and 354N, and the transfer chamber 330 and the gate valves 362M and 362N. Connected via

In the common conveyance chamber 350, the conveyance robot 380 comprised freely along the guide rail 384 provided along the longitudinal direction is provided. The transfer robot 380 is provided with transfer arms 383A and 383B for lifting and transporting the wafer W, for example. The transfer arms 383A and 383B are configured to be able to extend, lift and turn, and to take out and take out the wafer W to each of the process chambers 340A to 340F and the load lock chambers 360M and 360N.

For example, the transfer robot 380 is slid to the proximal end side of the common transfer chamber 350, and the wafer W is withdrawn to and from each of the load lock chambers 360M and 360N and the process processing chambers 340A and 340F. It slides toward the front end side of the common conveyance chamber 350, and the wafer W is withdrawn from the four process process chambers 340B-340E. In addition, since the transfer robot 380 is provided with two transfer arms 383A and 383B, for example, the transfer robot 380 is used to process the processed wafers with respect to the process processing chambers 340A to 340F and the load lock chambers 360M and 360N. The wafer W can be fed in and out so as to replace the wafer W before the processing.

In addition, the substrate processing apparatus 300 includes control of the transfer robots 370 and 380, the gate valves 333, 344, 354 and 362, the prealignment processing chamber 336, the cleaning processing chamber 400, and the like. The control part 500 which controls the operation | movement of the whole substrate processing apparatus is provided. The control unit 500 includes, for example, a CPU constituting the control unit main body, a ROM storing data necessary for the CPU to perform processing, a RAM providing a memory area used for various data processing performed by the CPU, and a CPU. In addition to storage means such as a hard disk (HDD) or a memory for storing a program or various data for controlling the data, a liquid crystal display for displaying an operation screen, a selection screen, etc., various data such as input or editing of a process / recipe by an operator. And input / output means capable of outputting various data such as processes, recipes, output of process logs, and the like to a predetermined storage medium, various controllers for controlling the respective parts of the substrate processing apparatus 300, and the like.

In such a substrate processing apparatus 300, the process chamber to which the board | substrate delivery apparatus which concerns on this embodiment is applied is demonstrated. In the substrate processing apparatus 300, process chambers 340A to 340F, prealignment chambers 336, and cleaning chambers 400 are provided as the process chambers that guide the wafers W between the transfer arm and the mounting table. Therefore, the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 which concerns on this embodiment is applicable to all these process chambers. In addition, although not shown, a measurement processing chamber (for example, a film thickness measurement processing chamber, a particle measurement processing chamber, etc.) for measuring the result of the process processing for the wafer W is provided in the transfer chamber 330 of the substrate processing apparatus 300. In this case, the substrate delivery device 130 can be applied to the measurement processing chamber in that case. In this embodiment, the specific structural example is demonstrated later about the case where the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 is applied to the washing process chamber 400 among these process chambers.

(Operation of Substrate Processing Unit)

Next, operation | movement of the substrate processing apparatus 300 is demonstrated. The substrate processing apparatus 300 is operated by the controller 500 based on a predetermined program. For example, the wafer W carried out from any one of the cassette containers 332A to 332C by the transfer robot 370 is carried into the prealignment processing chamber 336 to perform a positioning process. The positioning wafer W is carried out from the prealignment processing chamber 336 and carried into the load lock chamber 360M or 360N. At this time, if the wafer W in which all necessary process processing is completed exists in the load lock room 360M or 360N, the wafer W is carried out and the unprocessed wafer W is carried in.

The wafer W carried into the load lock chamber 360M or 360N is carried out from the load lock chamber 360M or 360N by the transfer robot 380, is carried in the predetermined process chambers of the process processing chambers 340A to 340F, and is predetermined. Process processing is executed. For example, when the wafer W is brought into the process processing chamber and guided to a mounting target constituting the lower electrode, for example, a predetermined process processing gas is introduced from the shower head constituting the upper electrode, and the predetermined process is applied to each of the electrodes. The high frequency power is applied to convert the processing gas into plasma, and predetermined plasma processing such as etching and film formation is performed on the wafer W by the plasma. And the wafer W in which the process process was completed is carried out from the process process chamber 340 by the transfer robot 380, and is conveyed to the next process process chamber 340 when a process remains.

Thus, when the process process using the plasma of a process gas is performed with respect to the wafer W, it may return to the lower part of the circumference of the wafer W on the mounting base 342, and unwanted adhesion may adhere. . For example, when a fluorocarbon gas (CF system) is plasma-processed and plasma etching is performed on the surface of the wafer W, a fluorocarbon polymer (CF system) is produced by a competition reaction (polymerization reaction). The by-product (depot) which consists of a polymer is produced | generated, and adheres to the edge part (for example, the back surface side of the edge part containing a bevel part) of the wafer W. As shown in FIG.

When the wafer W to which such deposit adheres is returned to any one of the cassette containers 332A to 332C, for example, the end portion of the wafer W contacts the holding portion in the cassette container, and the deposit is peeled off. There is a possibility of falling on the surface of another wafer W accommodated below the wafer W. In some cases, this causes a problem of the semiconductor device formed on the wafer W. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the deposit at the end of such a wafer W by cleaning.

Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment, the wafer W on which the processing in each process processing chamber 340 is completed is conveyed to the cleaning processing chamber 400 through the load lock chamber 360M or 360N, After performing the cleaning process of the edge part of the wafer W in the cleaning process chamber 400, it returns to original cassette containers 332A-332C. Since the deposit of the edge part of the wafer W is removed by this washing | cleaning process, when such a wafer W is returned, for example to the cassette container 332A, without depositing the deposit from this wafer W, The surface of the other wafer W can be kept clean.

(Configuration example of washing processing room)

Here, the structural example of the washing process chamber 400 is demonstrated. In the cleaning processing chamber 400 according to the present embodiment, a predetermined light is partially provided at an end portion of the wafer W while the wafer W is placed on the mounting table 112 that is freely provided to rotate. Irradiate to remove the deposit. For this reason, since it is necessary to make it place on the mounting base 112 exactly so that there exists no position shift of the wafer W in the horizontal direction, the case where the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 is applied to such a cleaning process chamber 400 is taken as an example. Listen and explain.

The washing process chamber 400 is specifically comprised as shown in FIG. 12, for example. As shown in FIG. 12, the cleaning processing chamber 400 includes the mounting table unit 110, the substrate delivery device 130, the substrate position detecting unit 150, and the cleaning means 410 in the container 402. Doing.

The cleaning means 410 includes a laser unit 412 and an ozone generator 414. As a laser light source (not shown) which comprises the laser unit 412, various lasers, such as a semiconductor laser, a gas laser, and a solid state laser, can be used, for example. The optical axis of the laser unit 412 is adjusted so that a laser beam may be irradiated to the deposit P which adheres to the back surface of the edge part of the wafer W mounted on the mounting base 112. The ozone generator 414 generates ozone (O ₃ ) as an oxygen-based reactive gas for decomposing deposits (P) attached to the back surface of the end of the wafer (W), and places the wafer on the mounting table 112. Discharge toward the rear surface of the end portion (W). The operation of the laser unit 412 and the ozone generator 414 is controlled by the control unit 200. In addition, exhaust means (not shown) for sucking and evacuating carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and fluorine (F ₂ ) generated by decomposition of ozone (O ₃ ) or deposit (P) at a position facing the ozone generator (414). You may provide it.

Next, the cleaning process of the wafer W to be performed in the cleaning processing chamber 400 will be described. Since the said washing | cleaning process chamber 400 is equipped with the said board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 and the board | substrate position detection unit 150, it is carried out through the carry-in / out port 404 by the transfer arm 373 of the transfer robot 370. The wafer W carried into the container 402 can be placed on the wafer device surface of the mounting table 112 without dislocation. If the wafer W is shifted from the carrier robot 370 to the support pins 132A to 132C, the support pins 132A to 132 may be used without using the transfer robot 370. Since the position shift can be corrected by horizontally moving 132C, the transfer robot 370 can perform the transfer process of another wafer W. FIG.

Next, the cleaning process of the back surface of the end part of the wafer W is performed using the cleaning means 410. For example, in the case where the CF-based polymer P is attached to the end of the wafer W, for example, when the CF-based polymer P is contacted with the oxygen-based reactive gas while causing the decomposition reaction by irradiation with light, You can remove this. Moreover, the kind of light and gas can be used separately, as follows.

For example, while irradiating the CF-based polymer P with ultraviolet rays while heating the end portion of the wafer W to a predetermined temperature (for example, about 200 ° C.), the CF-based polymer ( There is a method of forming a flow of an oxygen-based reaction gas (for example, oxygen (O ₂ )) near the surface of P). Accordingly, CF-based polymer (P) is decomposed into carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and fluorine (F ₂ ) to be removed.

In addition, while in contact with ozone (O ₃₎ as an oxygen-based reactive gas to the CF-based polymer (P), it may be to employ a method of irradiating laser light to the CF-based polymer (P). According to this method, since locally high energy is supplied to CF polymer P, decomposition reaction is accelerated | stimulated and CF CF polymer P can be removed efficiently.

By adopting these methods, it is possible to remove the deposit P adhering to the end of the wafer W without polishing the end of the wafer W, thereby reducing the labor of the dust generated by polishing. In addition, there is no problem of contamination by such dust. In addition, since the deposit P attached to the end of the wafer W can be removed without generating a plasma, a film (for example, a Low-K film) formed on the surface of the wafer W is damaged ( No damage). In this embodiment, the cleaning process using a laser beam is performed in the cleaning process chamber 400.

Specifically, the mounting table 112 is rotated in a state where the wafer W is placed, and the laser beam is emitted from the laser unit 412 toward the rear surface of the end portion of the wafer W, and the ozone generator 414 is provided. Ozone (O ₃ ) is discharged from the. Thereby, even if the deposit P adheres to the back surface of the end part of the wafer W, the deposit P can be chemically decomposed and removed. In addition, when the adhesion area of the deposit P is large with respect to the spot diameter of a laser beam, it is preferable to comprise the laser unit 412 so that the spot position of a laser beam may move to the radial direction of the wafer W, for example. In this way, the deposit P which adhered to a large area can be removed completely.

The wafer W on which the cleaning process has been completed is again lifted in the vertical direction by the support pins 132A to 132C, and is passed to the transfer robot 370 that enters from the inlet / outlet 404 of the container 402. The transfer robot 370 returns the wafer W of the cleaning process completed to the original cassette containers 332A to 332C via the transfer chamber 330. The deposit P does not fall from the wafer W of this cleaning process completion, and therefore the surface of the other wafer W can be kept clean.

However, when the wafer W is rotated while the center of the wafer W placed on the mounting table 112 and the rotation center of the mounting table 112 are shifted, the wafer W may rotate in an eccentric state. do. In the case of the cleaning processing chamber 400 in which the deposit P is removed from the end surface of the wafer W using the laser light, if the wafer W is eccentric, the spot diameter of the laser light may be narrow, and the deposit P ) May not be able to be removed completely. In this regard, according to the substrate delivery device 130 provided in the cleaning processing chamber 400, the wafer W can be positioned with high accuracy (for example, precision of several μm or less). Therefore, the washing process can be performed accurately.

In the substrate processing apparatus 300, the wafer W taken out from the cassette containers 332A to 332C is circulated through the prealignment processing chamber 336, the process processing chambers 340A to 340F, and the predetermined processing is performed. After that, it is carried into post-processing chambers, such as the washing process chamber 400 and a measurement process chamber. For this reason, since the carrying in / out of the conveyance arm is repeated by the some process chamber in the wafer W carried in to a post-processing chamber, there exists a high possibility that the position shift of the wafer W becomes large. In this regard, according to the substrate delivery device 130 according to the present embodiment, even when the position shift of the wafer W is large, the wafer W is taken out and put back in the conventional manner or placed back on the mounting table. Without this, the position shift can be corrected quickly and accurately by driving in the horizontal direction while supporting the wafer W with the support pins 132A to 132C. Therefore, the effect of applying the board | substrate delivery apparatus 130 to such a post-processing chamber is large.

As mentioned above, although the preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications or modifications can be made within the scope described in the claims, and they are naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

The present invention is applicable to a substrate delivery device, a substrate processing device, and a substrate delivery method.

Claims (14)

A board | substrate delivery apparatus which guides a board | substrate between the conveyance arm which conveys a board | substrate, and the mounting base which mounts the said board | substrate, A plurality of support pins spaced apart around a support shaft of the mounting table to support the substrate at its lower surface; A base stand to which the support pin is attached; Vertical driving means for driving the support pin up and down through the base to raise and lower the substrate; Horizontal driving means for horizontally driving the support pin through the base to adjust the position of the substrate in the horizontal direction Substrate delivery device comprising a. The method of claim 1, And a substrate position detecting means for detecting a position in the horizontal direction of the substrate supported by the support pin, in the vicinity of the mounting table. The method of claim 2, The substrate is a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer, The said board | substrate position detection means detects the position of at least 2 or more places of the circumference | surroundings of the said board | substrate, The board | substrate delivery apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 2, When the support pin is raised by the vertical drive means to receive the substrate from the carrier arm, the substrate position detection means detects the horizontal position of the substrate in the state where the substrate is supported by the support pin. If the position of the substrate is shifted, the support pin is driven in the horizontal direction by the horizontal driving means to correct the positional misalignment of the substrate, and then the support pin is lowered by the vertical driving means to lower the substrate. A board | substrate delivery apparatus provided with the control part which performs the delivery process which puts on a mounting base. The method of claim 4, wherein When receiving the substrate from the transfer arm, the substrate delivery device receives the substrate by lowering the carrier arm while the support pin is raised. The method of claim 1, The plurality of support pins are disposed apart from the diameter of the mounting table around the support shaft of the mounting table, and the tip of each supporting pin is formed from the substrate placing surface of the mounting table through a through hole formed in the mounting table. A board | substrate delivery apparatus characterized by making it possible to come and go. The method of claim 6, The mounting table is configured to rotate freely around the support shaft, And the support pin is lowered so that the tip of the support pin is lower than the bottom of the support table when the mounting table is rotated. The method of claim 1, And the plurality of support pins are disposed outside the diameter of the mounting table around the support shaft of the mounting table. A substrate processing apparatus for placing a substrate on a mounting table provided in a processing chamber and performing a predetermined process, A substrate delivery device for guiding the substrate between the carrier arm for carrying in and out of the substrate into the processing chamber and the placement table is disposed near the placement table, The board | substrate delivery apparatus is provided so that it may be spaced around the support shaft of the said mounting base, and the support pin which supports the said board | substrate from the lower surface, the base stand to which the said support pin is attached, and the said support pin through the said base stand Vertical drive means for vertically driving the substrate by raising and lowering and raising and lowering the substrate, and horizontally driving the support pin through the base to adjust the position in the horizontal direction of the substrate. Substrate processing apparatus comprising a. A substrate processing apparatus comprising a plurality of processing chambers for performing a predetermined processing on a substrate, and continuously processing the substrate while conveying the processing chambers sequentially by the transfer arm, At least one of the processing chambers is a post-processing chamber for carrying out post-processing by transporting a substrate subjected to process processing in another processing chamber, The post-processing chamber is provided with a substrate delivery device for guiding the substrate between the mounting table and the transfer arm provided therein, The substrate delivery device includes a plurality of support pins for supporting the substrate on its lower surface, a base stage to which the support pins are attached, and the support pins to be driven up and down through the base stage to raise and lower the substrate. And a vertical drive means and a horizontal drive means for horizontally driving the support pin through the base to adjust a position in the horizontal direction of the substrate. The method of claim 10, The post-treatment chamber is a cleaning process chamber for removing deposits adhering to the circumference of the substrate, The support pin of the said board | substrate guide apparatus is arrange | positioned apart from the diameter of the said mounting base about the support shaft of the said mounting base, and the front-end | tip of the said support pin from the board | substrate mounting surface of the mounting base through the through hole formed in the said mounting base. The substrate processing apparatus characterized in that this can be mounted. As a delivery method by a board | substrate delivery apparatus which guides a board | substrate between the conveyance arm which conveys a board | substrate, and the mounting table which mounts the said board | substrate, The substrate delivery device is disposed apart around a support shaft of the mounting table, the support pins supporting the substrate from the lower surface thereof, a base stand to which the support pins are attached, and the support pins through the base stand. A vertical drive means for driving up and down, horizontal drive means for horizontally driving the support pin through the base base, and a substrate position detection means for detecting a position in the horizontal direction of the substrate, Raising the support pin by the vertical drive means to receive the substrate from the carrier arm; Detecting the position of the substrate by the substrate position detecting means while supporting the received substrate with the support pins; Determining whether or not the substrate is shifted from a predetermined reference position based on the position of the substrate detected by the substrate position detecting means; If it is determined in the judgment step that the substrate is not misaligned, the step of lowering the support pin by the vertical drive means and placing it on the mounting table; In the determination step, when it is determined that the position of the substrate is shifted, the support pin is driven in the horizontal direction by the horizontal driving means to correct the positional shift of the substrate, and then the support pin is moved by the vertical drive means. Lowering and placing on the mounting table Substrate delivery method characterized by having a. The method of claim 12, In the step of receiving the substrate from the carrier arm, the substrate delivery method receives the substrate by lowering the carrier arm while the support pin is raised. The method of claim 12, In the step of detecting the position of the substrate, when the substrate cannot be detected by the substrate position detecting means, the substrate is moved until the substrate can be detected by the substrate position detecting means by driving the support pin in a horizontal direction. Substrate delivery method characterized in that.

Images