Hereinafter, a substrate alignment method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.
The facility of this embodiment is used to perform a photolithography process on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a flat panel display panel. In particular, the equipment of this embodiment is used to perform a coating process, a developing process, and a pre-exposure treatment process required before and after the liquid immersion exposure to the substrate.
1 to 4 schematically show a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a view of the substrate processing equipment 1 from above. FIG. 2 is a view of the installation 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the AA direction. 3 is a view of the installation 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the BB direction. 4 is a view of the installation 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the CC direction.
1 to 4, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a load port 100, an index module 200, a first buffer module 300, an application and development module 400, and a second buffer module 500. ), The pre-exposure processing module 600, the interface module 700, and the alignment module 800. The load port 100, the index module 200, the first buffer module 300, the application and development module 400, the second buffer module 500, the pre-exposure processing module 600, and the interface module 700, Are sequentially arranged in one direction in a single direction. The alignment module 800 may be provided in the first buffer module 300. In addition, the alignment module 800 may be provided within the interface module 700.
Hereinafter, the load port 100, the index module 200, the first buffer module 300, the coating and developing module 400, the second buffer module 500, the pre-exposure processing module 600, 700 are referred to as a first direction 12 and a direction perpendicular to the first direction 12 as viewed from above is referred to as a second direction 14 and a direction in which the first direction 12 and the second And a direction perpendicular to the direction 14 is referred to as a third direction 16.
The substrate S is moved in the state accommodated in the cassette 20. At this time, the cassette 20 has a structure that can be sealed from the outside. For example, a front open unified pod (FOUP) having a front door may be used as the cassette 20.
The load port 100 has a mounting table 120 on which the cassette 20 containing the substrates S is placed. The mounting table 120 is provided in plurality. The mounting tables 200 are arranged in a line along the second direction 14. In Fig. 1, four placement tables 120 are provided.
The index module 200 transfers the substrate S between the cassette 20 placed on the mounting table 120 of the load port 100 and the first buffer module 300. The index module 200 has a frame 210, an index robot 220, and a guide rail 230. The frame 210 is generally provided in the shape of an empty rectangular parallelepiped, and is disposed between the load port 100 and the first buffer module 300. The frame 210 of the index module 200 may be provided at a lower height than the frame 310 of the first buffer module 300 described later. The index robot 220 and the guide rail 230 are disposed within the frame 210. The index robot 220 drives four axes so that the hand 221 which directly handles the substrate S can be moved and rotated in the first direction 12, the second direction 14, and the third direction 16. This has a possible structure. The index robot 220 has a hand 221, an arm 222, a support 223, and a pedestal 224. The hand 221 is fixed to the arm 222. The arm 222 is provided with a stretchable structure and a rotatable structure. The support base 223 is disposed along the third direction 16 in the longitudinal direction. The arm 222 is coupled to the support 223 to be movable along the support 223. The support 223 is fixedly coupled to the pedestal 224. The guide rails 230 are provided so that their longitudinal direction is arranged along the second direction 14. The pedestal 224 is coupled to the guide rail 230 so as to be linearly movable along the guide rail 230. In addition, the frame 210 is further provided with a door opener (not shown) for opening and closing the door of the cassette 20.
The first buffer module 300 has a frame 310, a first buffer 320, a second buffer 330, a cooling chamber 350, and a first buffer robot 360. The frame 310 is provided in the shape of an inner rectangular parallelepiped and is disposed between the index module 200 and the application and development module 400. The first buffer 320, the second buffer 330, the cooling chamber 350, and the first buffer robot 360 are located within the frame 310. The cooling chamber 350, the second buffer 330, and the first buffer 320 are sequentially disposed in the third direction 16 from below. The second buffer 330 and the cooling chamber 350 are located at a height corresponding to the coating module 401 of the coating and developing module 400 described later and the coating and developing module 400 at a height corresponding to the developing module 402. [ The first buffer robot 360 is spaced apart from the second buffer 330, the cooling chamber 350 and the first buffer 320 by a predetermined distance in the second direction 14.
The first buffer 320 and the second buffer 330 temporarily store the plurality of substrates S, respectively. The second buffer 330 has a housing 331 and a plurality of supports 332. The supports 332 are disposed within the housing 331 and are provided spaced apart from each other in the third direction 16. One substrate S is placed on each support 332. In the housing 331, the index robot 220, the first buffer robot 360, and the developing unit robot 482 of the developing module 402, which will be described later, move the substrate S to the support 332 in the housing 331. An opening (not shown) is provided in a direction in which the index robot 220 is provided, a direction in which the first buffer robot 360 is provided, and a direction in which the developing unit robot 482 is provided to be able to carry in or take out. The first buffer 320 has a structure substantially similar to that of the second buffer 330. The housing 321 of the first buffer 320 has an opening in a direction in which the first buffer robot 360 is provided and in a direction in which the application unit robot 432 located in the application module 401 described later is provided. The number of supports 322 provided in the first buffer 320 and the number of supports 332 provided in the second buffer 330 may be the same or different. For example, the number of supports 332 provided in the second buffer 330 may be greater than the number of supports 322 provided in the first buffer 320.
The first buffer robot 360 transfers the substrate S between the first buffer 320 and the second buffer 330. The first buffer robot 360 has a hand 361, an arm 362, and a support base 363. The hand 361 is fixed to the arm 362. The arm 362 is provided in a stretchable configuration so that the hand 361 is movable along the second direction 14. The arm 362 is coupled to the support 363 so as to be linearly movable along the support 363 in the third direction 16. The support base 363 has a length extending from a position corresponding to the second buffer 330 to a position corresponding to the first buffer 320. The support member 363 may be provided longer in the upward or downward direction. The first buffer robot 360 may be provided so that the hand 361 is simply driven in two directions along the second direction 14 and the third direction 16.
The cooling chamber 350 cools the substrate S, respectively. The cooling chamber 350 has a housing 351 and a cooling plate 352. The cooling plate 352 has an upper surface on which the substrate S is placed and cooling means 353 for cooling the substrate S. As shown in FIG. As the cooling means 353, various methods such as cooling with cooling water and cooling using a thermoelectric element can be used. In addition, the cooling chamber 350 may be provided with a lift pin assembly (not shown) for positioning the substrate S on the cooling plate 352. The housing 351 has an index robot 220 so that the developing robot 482 provided to the index robot 220 and the developing module 402 to be described later can carry or unload the substrate S into the cooling plate 352. The provided direction and developing part robot 482 has an opening (not shown) in the provided direction. In addition, the cooling chamber 350 may be provided with doors (not shown) for opening and closing the above-described opening.
The coating and developing module 400 performs a process of applying a photoresist on the substrate S before the exposure process and a process of developing the substrate S after the exposure process. The application and development module 400 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape. The application and development module 400 has an application module 401 and a development module 402. The application module 401 and the development module 402 are arranged so as to be partitioned into layers with respect to each other. As an example, the application module 401 is located above the developing module 402.
The application module 401 performs a process of applying a photoresist such as photoresist to the substrate S and a heat treatment process such as heating and cooling of the substrate S before and after the photoresist application process. The application module 401 has a resist application chamber 410, a bake chamber 420, and a transfer chamber 430. The resist application chamber 410, the bake chamber 420, and the transfer chamber 430 are sequentially disposed along the second direction 14. [ The resist application chamber 410 and the bake chamber 420 are positioned apart from each other in the second direction 14 with the transfer chamber 430 interposed therebetween. A plurality of resist coating chambers 410 are provided, and a plurality of resist coating chambers 410 are provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. In the figure, six resist coating chambers 410 are provided. A plurality of bake chambers 420 are provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. In the drawing, six bake chambers 420 are provided. Alternatively, however, the bake chamber 420 may be provided in a greater number.
The transfer chamber 430 is positioned in parallel with the first buffer 320 of the first buffer module 300 in the first direction 12. In the transfer chamber 430, a dispenser robot 432 and a guide rail 433 are positioned. The transfer chamber 430 has a generally rectangular shape. The applicator robot 432 includes the baking chambers 420, the resist application chambers 400, the first buffer 320 of the first buffer module 300, and the first of the second buffer module 500 described later. The substrate S is transferred between the cooling chambers 520. The guide rails 433 are arranged so that their longitudinal directions are parallel to the first direction 12. The guide rails 433 guide the applying robot 432 to move linearly in the first direction 12. The applicator robot 432 has a hand 434, an arm 435, a support 436, and a pedestal 437. The hand 434 is fixed to the arm 435. The arm 435 is provided in a stretchable configuration so that the hand 434 is movable in the horizontal direction. The support 436 is provided so that its longitudinal direction is disposed along the third direction 16. The arm 435 is coupled to the support 436 so as to be linearly movable in the third direction 16 along the support 436. The support 436 is fixedly coupled to the pedestal 437 and the pedestal 437 is coupled to the guide rail 433 so as to be movable along the guide rail 433.
The resist coating chambers 410 all have the same structure. However, the types of the photoresist used in each of the resist coating chambers 410 may be different from each other. As an example, a chemical amplification resist may be used as the photoresist. The resist coating chamber 410 applies a photo resist on the substrate S. The resist application chamber 410 has a housing 411, a support plate 412, and a nozzle 413. The housing 411 has a cup shape with an open top. The support plate 412 is located in the housing 411 and supports the substrate S. The support plate 412 is rotatably provided. The nozzle 413 supplies the photoresist onto the substrate S placed on the support plate 412. The nozzle 413 has a circular tubular shape and can supply the photoresist to the center of the substrate S. FIG. Optionally, the nozzle 413 has a length corresponding to the diameter of the substrate S, and the discharge port of the nozzle 413 may be provided as a slit. In addition, the resist coating chamber 410 may further be provided with a nozzle 414 for supplying a cleaning liquid, such as deionized water, to clean the surface of the substrate S on which the photoresist is applied.
The bake chamber 420 heat-treats the substrate S. For example, the bake chambers 420 may be a prebake process or a photoresist that heats the substrate S to a predetermined temperature and removes organic matter or moisture from the surface of the substrate S before applying the photoresist. A soft bake step or the like performed after coating on S) is performed, and a cooling step or the like for cooling the substrate S is performed after each heating step. The bake chamber 420 has a cooling plate 421 or a heating plate 422. The cooling plate 421 is provided with a cooling means 423 such as a cooling water or a thermoelectric element. The heating plate 422 is also provided with a heating means 424, such as a hot wire or a thermoelectric element. The cooling plate 421 and the heating plate 422 may be provided in a single bake chamber 420, respectively. Optionally, some of the bake chambers 420 may include only the cooling plate 421, and the other portions may include only the heating plate 422.
The developing module 402 includes a developing process of supplying a developing solution to obtain a pattern on the substrate S to remove a part of the photoresist, and a heat treatment process such as heating and cooling performed on the substrate S before and after the developing process. Perform. The developing module 5402 has a developing chamber 460, a baking chamber 470, and a conveying chamber 480. The development chamber 460, the bake chamber 470, and the transfer chamber 480 are sequentially disposed along the second direction 14. The development chamber 460 and the bake chamber 470 are positioned apart from each other in the second direction 14 with the transfer chamber 480 therebetween. A plurality of developing chambers 460 are provided, and a plurality of developing chambers 460 are provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. In the drawing, six development chambers 460 are provided. A plurality of bake chambers 470 are provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. In the drawing, six bake chambers 470 are provided. Alternatively, however, the bake chamber 470 can be provided in greater numbers.
The transfer chamber 480 is positioned in parallel with the second buffer 330 of the first buffer module 300 in the first direction 12. In the transfer chamber 480, the developing robot 482 and the guide rail 483 are positioned. The transfer chamber 480 has a generally rectangular shape. The developing unit robot 482 includes the bake chambers 470, the developing chambers 460, the second buffer 330 and the cooling chamber 350 of the first buffer module 300, and the second buffer module 500. The substrate S is transferred between the second cooling chambers 540. The guide rail 483 is arranged such that its longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction 12. The guide rail 483 guides the developing robot 482 to linearly move in the first direction 12. The developing sub-robot 482 has a hand 484, an arm 485, a supporting stand 486, and a pedestal 487. The hand 484 is fixed to the arm 485. The arm 485 is provided in a stretchable configuration to allow the hand 484 to move in a horizontal direction. The support 486 is provided so that its longitudinal direction is disposed along the third direction 16. The arm 485 is coupled to the support 486 such that it is linearly movable along the support 486 in the third direction 16. The support 486 is fixedly coupled to the pedestal 487. The pedestal 487 is coupled to the guide rail 483 so as to be movable along the guide rail 483.
The development chambers 460 all have the same structure. However, the types of developers used in the respective developing chambers 460 may be different from each other. The developing chamber 460 removes a region to which light is irradiated from the photoresist on the substrate S. FIG. At this time, the area of the protective film irradiated with the light is also removed. Depending on the type of selectively used photoresist, only the areas of the photoresist and protective film that are not irradiated with light can be removed.
The development chamber 460 has a housing 461, a support plate 462, and a nozzle 463. The housing 461 has a cup shape with an open top. The support plate 462 is located in the housing 461 and supports the substrate S. The support plate 462 is rotatably provided. The nozzle 463 supplies the developer onto the substrate S placed on the support plate 462. The nozzle 463 has a circular tubular shape and can supply the developer to the center of the substrate S. FIG. Optionally, the nozzle 463 has a length corresponding to the diameter of the substrate S, and the discharge port of the nozzle 463 may be provided as a slit. In addition, the developing chamber 460 may further be provided with a nozzle 464 for supplying a cleaning solution such as deionized water to clean the surface of the substrate S to which the developing solution is supplied.
The bake chamber 470 heat-treats the substrate S. For example, the bake chambers 470 are heated after each baking process and a hard bake process for heating the substrate S after the developing process is performed and a post bake process for heating the substrate S before the developing process is performed. And a cooling process for cooling the finished substrate. The bake chamber 470 has a cooling plate 471 or a heating plate 472. The cooling plate 471 is provided with a cooling means 473 such as a cooling water or a thermoelectric element. Or the heating plate 472 is provided with a heating means 474 such as a hot wire or a thermoelectric element. The cooling plate 471 and the heating plate 472 may be provided in one bake chamber 470, respectively. Optionally, some of the baking chambers 470 may have only a cooling plate 471 and others may have only a heating plate 472.
As described above, in the application and development module 400, the application module 401 and the development module 402 are provided to be separated from each other. In addition, the application module 401 and the development module 402 may have the same chamber arrangement as viewed from above.
The second buffer module 500 is provided as a passage through which the substrate S is transported between the coating and developing module 400 and the pre-exposure processing module 600. In addition, the second buffer module 500 performs a predetermined process on the substrate S, such as a cooling process or an edge exposure process. The second buffer module 500 includes a frame 510, a buffer 520, a first cooling chamber 530, a second cooling chamber 540, an edge exposure chamber 550, and a second buffer robot 560 I have. The frame 510 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The buffer 520, the first cooling chamber 530, the second cooling chamber 540, the edge exposure chamber 550, and the second buffer robot 560 are located within the frame 510. The buffer 520, the first cooling chamber 530, and the edge exposure chamber 550 are disposed at a height corresponding to the application module 401. The second cooling chamber 540 is disposed at a height corresponding to the development module 402. The buffer 520, the first cooling chamber 530, and the second cooling chamber 540 are sequentially arranged in a row along the third direction 16. The buffer 520 is disposed along the first direction 12 with the transfer chamber 430 of the application module 401. [ The edge exposure chamber 550 is spaced a certain distance in the second direction 14 from the buffer 520 or the first cooling chamber 530.
The second buffer robot 560 transports the substrate S between the buffer 520, the first cooling chamber 530, and the edge exposure chamber 550. A second buffer robot 560 is positioned between the edge exposure chamber 550 and the buffer 520. The second buffer robot 560 may be provided in a structure similar to that of the first buffer robot 360. The first cooling chamber 530 and the edge exposure chamber 550 perform a subsequent process on the substrates S on which the process is performed in the application module 401. The first cooling chamber 530 cools the substrate S on which the process is performed in the application module 401. The first cooling chamber 530 has a structure similar to the cooling chamber 350 of the first buffer module 300. The edge exposure chamber 550 exposes the edge of the substrates S on which the cooling process is performed in the first cooling chamber 530. The buffer 520 temporarily stores the substrate S before the substrates S processed in the edge exposure chamber 550 are transferred to the pretreatment module 601 described later. The second cooling chamber 540 cools the wafers W before the substrates S processed in the post-processing module 602, which will be described later, are transferred to the developing module 402. The second buffer module 500 may further have a buffer added to the height corresponding to the development module 402. In this case, the substrates S processed in the post-processing module 602 may be temporarily stored in the added buffer and then transferred to the developing module 402.
When the exposure apparatus 900 performs the liquid immersion exposure process, the exposure before and after processing module 600 may perform a process of applying a protective film that protects the photoresist film applied to the substrate S during the liquid immersion exposure. In addition, the pre and post-exposure processing module 600 may perform a process of cleaning the substrate S after the exposure. In addition, when the coating process is performed using the chemically amplified resist, the pre-exposure treatment module 600 may perform a post-exposure bake process.
The pre-exposure post-processing module 600 has a pre-processing module 601 and a post-processing module 602. The pretreatment module 601 performs a process of processing the substrate S before performing the exposure process, and the post-processing module 602 performs a process of processing the substrate S after the exposure process. The pre-processing module 601 and the post-processing module 602 are arranged so as to be partitioned into layers with respect to each other. As an example, the pretreatment module 601 is located on top of the aftertreatment module 602. The preprocessing module 601 is provided at the same height as the application module 401. The post-processing module 602 is provided at the same height as the developing module 402. The pretreatment module 601 has a protective film application chamber 610, a bake chamber 620, and a transfer chamber 630. The protective film application chamber 610, the transfer chamber 630, and the bake chamber 620 are sequentially disposed along the second direction 14. The protective film application chamber 610 and the bake chamber 620 are positioned apart from each other in the second direction 14 with the transfer chamber 630 therebetween. A plurality of protective film application chambers 610 are provided and are arranged along the third direction 16 to form layers. Alternatively, a plurality of protective film application chambers 610 may be provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. A plurality of bake chambers 620 are provided and are disposed along the third direction 16 to form layers. Alternatively, a plurality of bake chambers 620 may be provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively.
The transfer chamber 630 is positioned in parallel with the first cooling chamber 530 of the second buffer module 500 in the first direction 12. In the transfer chamber 630, a pre-processing robot 632 is located. The transfer chamber 630 has a generally square or rectangular shape. The pretreatment robot 632 is provided between the protective film applying chambers 610, the bake chambers 620, the buffer 520 of the second buffer module 500, and the first buffer 720 of the interface module 700 described later. The substrate S is transferred. The preprocessing robot 632 has a hand 633, an arm 634, and a support 635. The hand 633 is fixed to the arm 634. The arm 634 is provided with a retractable structure and a rotatable structure. The arm 634 is coupled to the support 635 so as to be linearly movable along the support 635 in the third direction 16.
The protective film applying chamber 610 applies a protective film on the substrate S to protect the photoresist film during the liquid immersion exposure. The protective film application chamber 610 has a housing 611, a support plate 612, and a nozzle 613. The housing 611 has a cup shape with its top opened. The support plate 612 is located in the housing 611 and supports the substrate S. The support plate 612 is rotatably provided. The nozzle 613 supplies a protective liquid for forming a protective film onto the substrate S placed on the supporting plate 612. The nozzle 613 has a circular tubular shape and can supply a protection liquid to the center of the substrate S. As shown in FIG. Optionally, the nozzle 613 has a length corresponding to the diameter of the substrate S, and the discharge port of the nozzle 613 may be provided as a slit. In this case, the support plate 612 may be provided in a fixed state. The protective liquid includes a foamable material. The protective liquid may be a photoresist and a material having a low affinity for water. For example, the protective liquid may contain a fluorine-based solvent. The protective film applying chamber 610 rotates the substrate S placed on the support plate 612 to supply the protective liquid to the center area of the substrate S. FIG.
The baking chamber 620 heat-treats the substrate S on which the protective film is applied. The bake chamber 620 has a cooling plate 621 or a heating plate 622. The cooling plate 621 is provided with a cooling means 623 such as a cooling water or a thermoelectric element. Or heating plate 622 is provided with a heating means 624, such as a hot wire or a thermoelectric element. The heating plate 622 and the cooling plate 621 may be provided in a single bake chamber 620, respectively. Optionally, some of the bake chambers 620 may have only the heating plate 622, while others may only have the cooling plate 621.
The post-processing module 602 has a cleaning chamber 660, a post-exposure bake chamber 670, and a delivery chamber 680. The cleaning chamber 660, the transfer chamber 680, and the post-exposure bake chamber 670 are sequentially disposed along the second direction 14. Accordingly, the cleaning chamber 660 and the post-exposure baking chamber 670 are positioned apart from each other in the second direction 14 with the transfer chamber 680 therebetween. A plurality of cleaning chambers 660 are provided and may be disposed along the third direction 16 to form layers. Alternatively, a plurality of cleaning chambers 660 may be provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively. A plurality of post-exposure bake chambers 670 are provided and may be disposed along the third direction 16 to form layers. Alternatively, a plurality of post-exposure bake chambers 670 may be provided in the first direction 12 and the third direction 16, respectively.
The transfer chamber 680 is positioned in parallel with the second cooling chamber 540 of the second buffer module 500 in the first direction 12 as viewed from above. The transfer chamber 680 has a generally square or rectangular shape. A post processing robot 682 is located in the transfer chamber 680. The post-processing robot 682 includes cleaning chambers 660, post-exposure bake chambers 670, a second cooling chamber 540 of the second buffer module 500, and a second of the interface module 700 described below. The substrate S is transported between the buffers 730. The postprocessing robot 682 provided in the postprocessing module 602 may be provided with the same structure as the preprocessing robot 632 provided in the preprocessing module 601. [
The cleaning chamber 660 cleans the substrate S after the exposure process. The cleaning chamber 660 has a housing 661, a support plate 662, and a nozzle 663. The housing 661 has a cup shape with an open top. The support plate 662 is located in the housing 661 and supports the substrate S. The support plate 662 is rotatably provided. The nozzle 663 supplies the cleaning liquid onto the substrate S placed on the support plate 662. As the cleaning liquid, water such as deionized water may be used. The cleaning chamber 660 supplies the cleaning liquid to the center area of the substrate S while rotating the substrate S placed on the support plate 662. Optionally, while the substrate S is rotated, the nozzle 663 may linearly or rotationally move from the center region of the substrate S to the edge region.
The post-exposure bake chamber 670 heats the substrate S on which the exposure process is performed using ultraviolet rays. The post-exposure bake process heats the substrate S to amplify an acid generated in the photoresist by exposure to complete the change of the properties of the photoresist. The post-exposure bake chamber 670 has a heating plate 672. The heating plate 672 is provided with a heating means 674 such as a hot wire or a thermoelectric element. The post-exposure bake chamber 670 may further include a cooling plate 671 therein. The cooling plate 671 is provided with a cooling means 673 such as a cooling water or a thermoelectric element. Further, a bake chamber having only the cooling plate 671 may be further provided.
As described above, the pre-processing module 601 and the post-processing module 602 in the pre-exposure processing module 600 are provided to be completely separated from each other. The transfer chamber 630 of the preprocessing module 601 and the transfer chamber 680 of the postprocessing module 602 are provided in the same size and can be provided so as to completely overlap each other when viewed from above. Further, the protective film application chamber 610 and the cleaning chamber 660 may be provided to have the same size as each other and be provided so as to completely overlap with each other when viewed from above. Further, the bake chamber 620 and the post-exposure bake chamber 670 are provided in the same size, and can be provided so as to completely overlap each other when viewed from above.
The interface module 700 transfers the substrate S between the pre- and post-exposure processing module 600 and the exposure apparatus 900. The interface module 700 has a frame 710, a first buffer 720, a second buffer 730, and an interface robot 740. The first buffer 720, the second buffer 730, and the interface robot 740 are located within the frame 710. The first buffer 720 and the second buffer 730 are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance and are stacked on each other. The first buffer 720 is disposed higher than the second buffer 730. The first buffer 720 is positioned at a height corresponding to the preprocessing module 601 and the second buffer 730 is positioned at a height corresponding to the postprocessing module 602. The first buffer 720 is arranged in a line along the first direction 12 with the transfer chamber 630 of the preprocessing module 601 while the second buffer 730 is arranged in the postprocessing module 602, Are arranged in a line along the first direction 12 with the transfer chamber 630 of the transfer chamber 630. [
The interface robot 740 is spaced apart from the first buffer 720 and the second buffer 730 in the second direction 14. The interface robot 740 transports the substrate S between the first buffer 720, the second buffer 730, and the exposure apparatus 900. The interface robot 740 has a structure substantially similar to that of the second buffer robot 560.
The first buffer 720 temporarily stores the substrates S processed in the pretreatment module 601 before they are moved to the exposure apparatus 900. The second buffer 730 temporarily stores the substrates S processed in the exposure apparatus 900 before moving to the post-processing module 602. The first buffer 720 has a housing 721 and a plurality of supports 722. The supports 722 are disposed within the housing 721 and are provided spaced apart from each other in the third direction 16. One support S is placed on each support 722. The housing 721 is a direction and pretreatment robot provided with the interface robot 740 so that the interface robot 740 and the pretreatment robot 632 can bring in or take out the substrate S into the support 722 into the housing 721. 632 has an opening (not shown) in the direction provided. The second buffer 730 has a structure substantially similar to that of the first buffer 720. However, the housing 4531 of the second buffer 730 has an opening (not shown) in the direction in which the interface robot 740 is provided and in the direction in which the post-processing robot 682 is provided. The interface module may be provided with only the buffers and the robot as described above without providing a chamber for performing a predetermined process on the substrate.
The alignment module 800 may be disposed in the first buffer module 300. In addition, the alignment module 800 may be disposed in the second buffer module 500. The alignment module 800 may also be disposed within the interface module 700. The alignment module 800 aligns the direction of the flat zone or notch of the substrate S.
5 is a structural diagram of the alignment module of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 5, the alignment module 800 includes a support part 810, a lifting part 820, a driving part 850, a sensor part 870, and a control part 890. The support part 810, the lifting part 820, the driving part 850, the sensor part 870, and the control part 890 may be disposed in a case (not shown).
The support part 810 supports the substrate S. For example, the support part 810 may support the substrate S by vacuum suction.
The lifting part 820 moves the substrate S in the third direction 15 on the support part 810 when the substrate S is aligned. The lifting unit 820 may be provided as a plurality of pins.
The driver 850 includes a first driver 851, a second driver 853, and a third driver 855. One of the drivers 851, 853, 855 provides a driving force to move the support 810 in the first direction 12. One of the other two provides a driving force for moving the support 810 in the second direction 14, and the other provides a driving force for rotating the support 810. Hereinafter, a driver for providing a driving force for rotating the support 810 is called a rotation motor.
The sensor unit 870 measures the position of the substrate S. The sensor unit 870 has a light emitting unit 871 and a light receiving unit 873. For example, the light emitting unit 871 may be provided as an LED, and the light receiving unit 873 may be provided as a CCD sensor having a plurality of pixels arranged in a line. When the substrate S, which is eccentric in the center of the support portion 810, rotates between the light emitting portion 871 and the light receiving portion 873, the amount of light received by the light receiving portion 873 is changed, and the light receiving portion 873 changes the amount of such light. The measured data is transmitted to the controller 890 to be described later.
The controller 890 calculates the amount of eccentricity and the direction of the notch or flat zone of the substrate S on the support 810 by using the data provided from the sensor unit 870, and the lifting unit ( The substrate S is aligned by operating the 820 and the driving unit 850.
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a change in rotation angle of a support when data is acquired on a substrate in the alignment module of FIG. 5.
5 and 6, when the substrate S is placed on the support 810, the sensor 870 rotates the support 810 to obtain data on the position of the substrate S. The rotation angle of the support 810 draws a graph as shown in FIG. 6 by the time constant of the rotating motor. That is, in an ideal case, the rotation angle of the support 810 increases with a linear function IG as time passes, but the rotation angle of the actual support 810 is an exponential function due to a time constant of the rotation motor. RG). Therefore, when the support part 810 is rotated one time (0 ° to 360 °) and the data on the position of the substrate S is sampled to the sensor part 870, the acceleration of the rotation motor is performed based on the same time interval. Data obtained in each of the sections (sec1, 0 to T1), the constant velocity section (sec2, T1 to T2), and the deceleration section (sec3, T2 to T3) includes an error according to the time constant of the rotating motor. There is a problem that the calculation of the eccentricity of the substrate S and the position of the notch or flat are incorrect. In order to solve this problem, the present invention rotates the support 810 by more than 360 °, and the sensor unit 870 samples the data on the position of the substrate S and transmits the data to the controller 890. The controller 890 selects only data in which the rotational speed of the support 810 corresponds to the constant velocity section and transmits the eccentricity of the substrate S. For example, the sensor unit 870 samples the data about the position of the substrate S while the support unit 810 rotates from 0 ° to 450 ° and transmits the data to the control unit 890, and the control unit 890. Eccentric amount and notch of the substrate S by selecting data whose rotation angle of the support 810 is from 80 ° to 440 ° among the transmitted data as the data of the constant velocity sections sec2 and T1 to T2. Used to calculate the flat zone position. As such, the controller 890 selects data for a section in which the support 810 rotates at constant speed, thereby reducing errors when calculating the eccentricity of the substrate S and the direction of the notch or flat zone. Can be.
The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.
Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.
