KR20110063132A - Substrate treating apparatus including transfer robot with double arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A substrate processing apparatus including a transferring robot with a plurality of robot arms is provided to prevent the detecting errors due to diffused reflection by arranging a plurality of sensor modules on a transferring path. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of processing chambers is arranged an inline mode. At least one transferring chamber(130) supplies substrates into the processing chamber. The processing chambers are arranged around the transferring chamber. A buffer chamber(170) is arranged between transferring chambers. A carrier carrying the substrates is loaded on a load port. An index transfers the substrates between the load port and a load-lock chamber(120). The load-lock chamber is arranged between the index and the transferring chamber.

Description

Substrate processing apparatus having a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms {SUBSTRATE TREATING APPARATUS INCLUDING TRANSFER ROBOT WITH DOUBLE ARM}

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus for sensing a substrate during substrate transfer of a substrate transfer apparatus having a plurality of robot arms.

The semiconductor manufacturing process manufactures a semiconductor device by performing various unit processes such as deposition, etching, ion implantation, exposure, development, and cleaning on a substrate, for example, a wafer. A substrate processing apparatus for processing such a substrate process generally uses a transfer robot having at least one robot arm to transfer substrates between processing apparatuses (eg, chambers, etc.) processing the substrate. do.

At this time, the substrate processing apparatus must detect the state of the substrate being transferred to determine whether the substrate processing apparatus is correctly transferred to the processing apparatus. If the substrate is not normally transferred while the transfer apparatus transfers the substrate, the substrate is separated and broken. In particular, if the substrate is out of the set position during the transfer of the substrate to the process chamber for processing the substrate process, the collision with the peripheral equipment is damaged or incorrectly supplied to the process chamber, the process yield is lowered. In order to prevent this, the substrate processing apparatus is provided with sensors for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate. However, in the case of a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms disposed up and down, such sensors have diffuse reflection problems due to differences in top and bottom positions and film quality on the surface of the substrate, thereby frequently causing substrate detection errors.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus for sensing a substrate during substrate transfer of a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms for preventing a malfunction in sensing a substrate.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms for reducing manufacturing costs and improving productivity.

In order to achieve the above objects, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by providing a sensor module for sensing a substrate on a substrate transfer path of a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms. Such a substrate processing apparatus may provide a plurality of sensor modules on a substrate transfer path, thereby detecting whether a substrate is present, the position of the substrate, and whether or not the substrate is in motion during substrate transfer of the transfer robot.

The substrate processing apparatus of the present invention according to this aspect includes a plurality of chambers. The substrate processing apparatus includes a transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms disposed up and down on the same axis, and transferring substrates between the chambers using the robot arms; At least one sensor module disposed on a substrate transfer path of the robot arm to sense a substrate transferred by the robot arm.

In one embodiment, the sensor module; A first sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a substrate carried by each of the robot arms; At least one second sensor for sensing a position of the substrate to be transferred; And a third sensor for detecting whether or not the substrate being transferred collides with each other.

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention provides a plurality of sensor modules on a substrate transfer path of a plurality of robot arms, whereby detection errors caused by diffuse reflection problems caused by film quality differences on the substrate surface and a plurality of robot arms are provided. The recognition error due to the vertical axis (Z axis) movement can be prevented.

Further, since the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention detects the substrate during substrate transfer in the R axis instead of the home position of the transfer robot, the unit time throughput UPEH can be improved.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shapes and the like of the components in the drawings are exaggerated in order to emphasize a clearer explanation.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 100 of this embodiment has an inline platform in which a plurality of process chambers 160 are arranged in an inline manner. The substrate processing apparatus 100 includes at least one transfer chamber 130 for supplying the substrate W to the process chambers 160. Of course, in another embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 100 may be provided in a cluster type in which a plurality of process chambers 160 are disposed around the transfer chamber 130.

That is, the substrate processing apparatus 100 may include a plurality of transfer chambers 130 arranged in series, process chambers 160 disposed on both sides of the transfer chambers 130, and the transfer chambers 130. It is provided with a buffer chamber 170 and at least one load lock chamber 120 disposed in. In this embodiment, the load lock chamber 120 is provided in a multilayer structure in which two chambers are arranged up and down. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a load port 102 on which a carrier (for example, a cassette, a FOUP, etc.) on which the substrates W are loaded is mounted, and a transfer device 112. An index 110 is interfaced to transfer the substrate between the load lock chambers 120.

The index 110 is provided with, for example, an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM), disposed between the lot port 102 and the load lock chamber 120, and transfers the substrate W therein. A transfer robot 112 is provided to transfer the substrate W between the carrier and the load lock chamber 120.

The load lock chamber 120 is provided with a multi-layered chamber (not shown) up and down in one housing, and is disposed between the index 110 and the transfer chamber 130 to provide a slit valve and a gate. By using a valve (gate valve) or the like to form a vacuum state such as the transfer chamber 130 or an atmospheric pressure state such as the index 110 to transfer the substrate (W) between the index 110 and the transfer chamber 130.

The process chamber 160 receives the substrate W from the transfer chamber 130, processes a process, for example, an etching process, and provides the processed substrate W to the transfer chamber 130. To this end, the process chamber 160 is provided with an opening 162 between the transfer chamber 130. Of course, the buffer chamber 170 and the load lock chambers 120 are also provided with openings (not shown) between the transfer chambers 130.

The transfer chamber 130 is a space for transferring a substrate between the load lock chamber 120, the process chambers 160 or the buffer chamber 170, and the process chambers 106, and at least one transfer robot. Arm VTR) 140 is provided. In the transfer robot 140, two robot arms (142 and 144 of FIG. 2) are disposed up and down on the same axis vertically and vertically. Therefore, the transfer robot 140 moves the robot arms 142 and 144 using four axes of cylindrical coordinates to move the two robot arms 142 and 144.

The in-line substrate processing apparatus 100 has a structure in which a plurality of transfer chambers 130 are arranged in series. Therefore, each of the transfer chambers 130 has process chambers 160 disposed on both sides. In addition, since the substrate W may not be directly exchanged between the transfer robots 140 of each of the transfer chambers 130, the buffer chamber 104 temporarily holds the substrate W. Therefore, the transfer chamber 130 has one side on the movement path of the transfer robot 140 to transfer the substrate W between the process chamber 160, the load lock chamber 120, and the buffer chamber 170. Opening.

Specifically, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the transfer chamber 130 is provided with a double arm VTR 140 having a plurality of robot arms 142 and 144 inside the housing 132. The transfer robot 140 has robot arms 142 and 144 disposed up and down on the same axis. The robot arms 142 and 144 have an arm of articulated joint.

 A portion of the sidewall is opened in the housing 132 in correspondence to the process chamber 160 on both sides and the opening 162 between the load lock chamber 120 and the buffer chamber 170. An open portion of the side wall is disposed on the path that the substrate W transfers by the robot arms 142 and 144.

The transfer chamber 130 is provided with first to fourth sensor modules 150 (150a to 150d) for sensing the substrate W at a position corresponding to the opened part. That is, the first to fourth sensor modules 150 are installed in at least one of upper and lower positions of the transfer chamber 130 opposite to the opening 162. For example, the first to fourth sensor modules 150 are installed on the lower surface 134 of the housing 132 of the transfer chamber 130, as shown in FIG. 3.

Each sensor module 150 includes a first sensor 152 that detects the presence or absence of a substrate W seated on each of the robot arms 142 and 144, and a robot arm 142 and 144, respectively. A plurality of second position sensors (WPM Sensors) 154 for sensing the position of the seated substrate W and the substrate W being transported by the robot arms 142 and 144 collide with each other. And a third sensor (Protrusion Sensor) 156. The first sensor 152 is a substrate for the two robot arms 142, 144, with the transfer robot 140 picked on both the upper and lower robot arms 142, 144. To detect the presence or absence of (W), when the transfer robot 140 picks / places the substrate W for each chamber 120, 160, 170, each robot arm 142, 144. As the Extend (Arm Extend) progresses, the upper and lower positions of the robot arms 142 and 144 are detected to detect the presence or absence of the substrate W. FIG. That is, the first sensor 152 may be provided as one and detect the presence or absence of the substrate W with respect to the upper and lower robot arms 142 and 144. Therefore, since the substrate processing apparatus 100 senses the substrate W during the transfer of the substrate W to the R axis instead of the home position of the transfer robot 140 by the first sensor 152, the unit time throughput is increased. (UPEH) can be improved.

Since the sensing directions of the first to third sensors 152 to 156 are vertically vertically installed with respect to the substrate W, the problem of diffuse reflection due to the film quality difference on the surface of the substrate W is eliminated. 152 to 156 may prevent a detection error. In addition, the first to third sensors 152 to 156 may include, for example, a displacement sensor or an optical sensor. When the first to third sensors 152 to 156 are installed at upper and lower portions of the transfer chamber 130, the first to third sensors 152 to 156 may be disposed at upper and lower portions of the light emitting sensor and the light emitting sensor. Correspondingly, the lower part or the upper part may be provided as a light receiving sensor.

In addition, the first to third sensors 152 to 156 are electrically connected to a controller (not shown). The control unit is provided to a facility control unit (CTC) for controlling the overall operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 or a transfer module controller (TMC) for controlling the transfer robot 140 of the transfer chamber 130. Therefore, a hardware interlock (H / W interlock) for the presence or absence of the substrate (W) is applied between the first to third sensors 152 to 156 and the transfer robot 140 through direct communication. This is not processed by an application program of the controller, but by a firmware program of the controller, so that the presence or absence of a wafer can be detected more quickly and accurately.

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus 100 of the present invention provides the first to fourth sensor modules 150a to 150d on the substrate W transfer path, thereby providing a plurality of robot arms 142 and 144 on the same axis. During the transfer of the substrate W of the transfer robot 140 including), the presence or absence of the substrate W, the position of the substrate W and whether or not there is a collision may be detected.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention are shown in accordance with the detailed description and drawings, which are merely described by way of example, and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It is possible.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the transfer chamber shown in FIG. 1; FIG. And

3 is a side view illustrating the configuration of the transfer chamber shown in FIG. 2.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100: substrate processing apparatus 120: load lock chamber

130: transfer chamber 132: housing

134: lower surface 140: transfer robot

142, 144: robot arm 150, 150a ~ 150d: sensor unit

152: substrate presence sensor 154: collision detection sensor

156: substrate position sensor 160: process chamber

162: opening 170: buffer chamber

Claims (2)

In a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of chambers: A transfer robot having a plurality of robot arms disposed up and down on the same axis and transferring substrates between the chambers using the robot arms; And at least one sensor module disposed on a substrate transfer path of the robot arm to sense a substrate transferred by the robot arm. The method of claim 1, The sensor module; A first sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a substrate carried by each of the robot arms; At least one second sensor for sensing a position of the substrate to be transferred; And a third sensor configured to detect whether or not the substrate is collided.

Images