KR20200040670A - Substrate cooling apparatus and substrate cooling method - Google Patents

Abstract

An increase of warpage caused by cooling a substrate after heat treatment is suppressed, and time required for cooling the substrate is optimized. A substrate cooling apparatus cools the substrate after the heat treatment, and includes: a cooling arrangement part having a cooling device; and a support member directly receiving the substrate after the heat treatment and supporting the received substrate to lift the same on the cooling arrangement part.

Description

Substrate cooling device and substrate cooling method {SUBSTRATE COOLING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE COOLING METHOD}

The present disclosure relates to a substrate cooling apparatus and a substrate cooling method.

In Patent Document 1, a heating placement table capable of heating the placed substrate at a predetermined temperature and a cooling placement table capable of receiving and arranging the substrate after heating from the heating placement plate and cooling the placed substrate to a predetermined temperature are provided in the same casing. This is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Hei 11-274064

The technique according to the present disclosure appropriates the time required for cooling the substrate while suppressing an increase in warpage due to cooling of the substrate after heat treatment.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a substrate cooling apparatus for cooling a substrate after a heat treatment, a cooling arrangement having a cooling mechanism, a substrate after the heat treatment is directly received, and the substrate received is supported on the cooling arrangement. It has a support member for lifting.

According to the present disclosure, the time required for cooling the substrate can be appropriated while suppressing an increase in warpage due to cooling of the substrate after heat treatment.

1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a wafer processing system.
2 is a front view schematically showing the outline of the configuration of a wafer processing system.
3 is a rear view schematically showing an outline of the configuration of a wafer processing system.
4 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing an outline of the configuration of a heat treatment device according to the present embodiment.
5 is a plan view schematically showing an outline of the configuration of a heat treatment device according to the present embodiment.
6 is an enlarged view of a main part showing an enlarged configuration of a main part of the cooling unit according to the present embodiment.
It is explanatory drawing which shows typically operation | movement of the main process in a heat processing apparatus.
8 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing an outline of the configuration of a heat treatment device according to a second embodiment.
9 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of processing in the heat treatment apparatus according to the second embodiment.

The heat processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a heating table and a cooling table. In this heat treatment apparatus, cooling is performed by placing a substrate (hereinafter referred to as a "wafer") immediately after the heat treatment is performed on a movable cooling table.

By the way, in the wafer subjected to heat treatment, warpage is generated due to various factors such as, for example, the effect of pre-treatment such as film formation or etching, or the effect of laminating wafers such as recent 3D-NAND.

As described above, when a wafer in which warpage is generated, particularly a wafer whose central portion is convex upwardly curved (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a “convex wafer”) is placed on a cooling table and cooled, the warpage of the wafer increases. It may become. That is, when the convex wafer is placed on the cooling table, the peripheral portion of the wafer is close to the surface of the cooling table, while a gap (gap) is formed between the cooling table and the center portion. As a result, the peripheral portion of the wafer is rapidly cooled by approaching the cooling table, while the distance between the cooling table and the central portion is larger than that of the cooling table. It may be deformed in the rising (increasing warpage) direction.

When the warpage of the wafer is increased in this way, for example, it may not be possible to hold the main arm for conveyance in the wafer processing system, or there is a possibility that the warpage due to the subsequent vacuum adsorption may not be performed properly. In addition, a proximity pin (also referred to as a “gap pin”) having a height of about 0.1 mm is provided on the cooling table so that the back surface of the wafer does not directly come into contact with the cooling table to generate particles. Therefore, even if the wafer is placed on the cooling table and cooled, the wafer is actually placed on the proximity pin to cool the surface close to the cooling table. Under these phenomena, when the warpage of the wafer to be cooled increases, there is a possibility that particles may be generated because the back surface of the wafer, particularly the periphery is lowered from the position of the proximity pin and contacts the surface of the cooling table.

Therefore, by increasing the height of the proximity pin, and increasing the distance from the back surface of the wafer on the proximity pin and the surface of the cooling table, the rapid cooling point due to the approach to the surface of the cooling table is eliminated, and the whole is cooled gently. Is considered. By doing so, it can be expected to suppress the increase in warpage by uniformly cooling the entire wafer even though it is gentle.

However, when the distance from the back surface of the wafer and the surface of the cooling table is gently cooled as described above, when cooling a wafer without warpage or a wafer within an allowable range even when warpage occurs, the time to cool down to a predetermined temperature is conventional. It takes longer, and a problem that throughput decreases occurs.

Therefore, the technique according to the present disclosure is provided with a support member for lifting the wafer received after the heat treatment on the cooling arrangement, thereby freely adjusting the distance between the wafer and the cooling arrangement, thereby attempting to solve the problem.

Hereinafter, a wafer processing system as a substrate processing system provided with the cooling processing device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in this specification, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are given the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<Wafer processing system>

First, the configuration of the wafer processing system according to the present embodiment will be described. 1 to 3 are plan views, front views, and rear views schematically showing the outline of the configuration of the wafer processing system 1, respectively. In the present embodiment, the case where the wafer processing system 1 is a coating and developing processing system that performs photolithography processing on the wafer W will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer processing system 1 includes a cassette station 2 into which a cassette C accommodating a plurality of wafers W is carried in and out, and a plurality of wafers W which perform predetermined processes. It has a processing station 3 equipped with various processing devices. In addition, the wafer processing system 1 is an interface station for transferring the wafer W between the cassette station 2, the processing station 3, and the exposure apparatus 4 adjacent to the processing station 3 ( It has a structure in which 5) are integrally connected.

The cassette station 2 is divided into a cassette carry-in / out section 10 and a wafer transfer section 11. For example, the cassette carry-in / out section 10 is provided at the end portion of the wafer processing system 1 in the negative Y-axis direction (left direction in Fig. 1). A cassette placing table 12 is provided in the cassette carrying-in part 10. On the cassette placement table 12, a plurality of, for example, four cassette placement plates 13 are provided. The cassette placement plates 13 are arranged in a line in the X direction (up and down direction in Fig. 1) which is a horizontal direction. The cassette C can be placed on the cassette placement plate 13 when the cassette C is brought in and out of the wafer processing system 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer transfer unit 11 is provided with a wafer transfer device 21 that can move on the transfer path 20 extending in the X direction. The wafer transfer device 21 is also movable in the vertical direction and in the circumferential (theta) direction of the vertical axis, the cassette C on each cassette placement plate 13, and the third block G3 of the processing station 3 to be described later. The wafer W can be transferred between the transfer device.

The processing station 3 is provided with a plurality of blocks (G1, G2, G3, G4) having a plurality of processing devices, for example, first to fourth. For example, the first block G1 is provided on the front side (X-direction negative side in FIG. 1) of the processing station 3, and on the back side (X-direction positive side in FIG. 1) of the processing station 3. The second block G2 is provided. In addition, a third block G3 is provided on the cassette station 2 side (the Y-direction negative side in Fig. 3) of the processing station 3, and the interface station 5 side (Fig. 3) of the processing station 3 is provided. A fourth block G4 is provided on the positive side in the Y direction).

In the first block G1, as shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of liquid processing devices, for example, a developing processing device 30, a lower antireflection film forming device 31, a resist coating device 32, and an upper antireflection film forming device 33 are arranged in this order from the bottom.

For example, three developing processing devices 30, a lower antireflection film forming device 31, a resist coating device 32, and an upper antireflection film forming device 33 are arranged in a horizontal direction. In addition, the number and arrangement of these developing processing devices 30, the lower antireflection film forming device 31, the resist coating device 32 and the upper antireflection film forming device 33 can be arbitrarily selected.

In these developing processing devices 30, the lower anti-reflection film forming device 31, the resist coating device 32, and the upper anti-reflection film forming device 33, for example, spin applying a predetermined treatment liquid on the wafer W Coating is done. In spin coating, for example, the processing liquid is discharged from the application nozzle onto the wafer W, and the wafer W is rotated to diffuse the processing liquid on the surface of the wafer W.

For example, in the second block G2, as shown in FIG. 3, the heat treatment apparatus 40 according to this embodiment, which performs heat treatment such as heating or cooling of the wafer W, is arranged in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Has been prepared. Further, in the second block G2, a hydrophobization treatment device 41 that performs a hydrophobization treatment to increase the fixation property of the resist liquid and the wafer W, and a peripheral exposure apparatus that exposes the outer circumferential portion of the wafer W ( 42) is provided arranged in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The number and arrangement of these heat treatment apparatus 40, hydrophobization treatment apparatus 41, and peripheral exposure apparatus 42 can also be arbitrarily selected. In addition, the structure of the heat processing apparatus 40 is mentioned later.

For example, in the third block G3, a plurality of delivery devices 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 are provided in order from below. In addition, the fourth block G4 is provided with a plurality of delivery devices 60, 61, 62 in order from below.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wafer transfer area D is formed in an area surrounded by the first block G1 to the fourth block G4. In the wafer transfer area D, for example, a wafer transfer device 70 is disposed.

The wafer transfer device 70 has, for example, a transfer arm 70a that is movable in the Y direction, the front-rear direction, the θ direction, and the vertical direction. The wafer transfer device 70 moves within the wafer transfer area D, and thus, a predetermined device in the surrounding first block G1, second block G2, third block G3, and fourth block G4 The wafer W can be transported. A plurality of wafer transport devices 70 are arranged above and below, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and for example, the wafer W is transported to a predetermined device having the same height of each block G1 to G4. You can.

In addition, a shuttle transport device 71 is provided in the wafer transport area D to linearly transport the wafer W between the third block G3 and the fourth block G4.

The shuttle conveyance device 71 can be moved linearly, for example, in the Y direction in FIG. 3. The shuttle transfer device 71 moves in the Y direction while supporting the wafer W, and the transfer device 52 and the transfer device 52 of the third block G3 having the same height (4) The wafer W can be conveyed between 62).

As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer conveying device 72 is provided on the positive X-direction side of the third block G3. The wafer transfer device 72 has, for example, a transfer arm 72a that is movable in the front-rear direction, θ direction, and up-down direction. The wafer transfer device 72 may move up and down in a state where the wafer W is supported, and transport the wafer W to each of the transfer devices 50 to 56 in the third block G3.

The interface station 5 is provided with a wafer transfer device 80 and a transfer device 81. The wafer transport device 80 has a transport arm 80a that is movable in, for example, the Y direction, the θ direction, and the vertical direction. The wafer transfer device 80 supports the wafer W on the transfer arm 80a, for example, and transfers each of the transfer devices 60 to 62 in the fourth block G4, transfer device 81, and exposure device 4 ), The wafer W can be transferred.

The above-described wafer processing system 1 is provided with a control device 100. The control device 100 is a computer, for example, and has a program storage (not shown). A program for controlling the processing of the wafer W in the wafer processing system 1 is stored in the program storage unit. Further, in the program storage unit, starting with the heat treatment device provided with the cooling processing device according to the embodiment, the operation of the drive systems such as the above-described various processing devices or conveying devices is controlled to control the wafer processing system 1. Programs for realizing wafer processing are also stored. Moreover, the said program was recorded on the computer-readable storage medium H, and may be installed in the control device 100 from the storage medium H.

<Operation of wafer processing system>

The wafer processing system 1 is configured as described above. Next, wafer processing performed using the wafer processing system 1 configured as described above will be described.

First, a cassette C containing a plurality of wafers W is carried into the cassette station 2 of the wafer processing system 1, and is placed on the cassette placement plate 13. Subsequently, each wafer W in the cassette C is sequentially taken out by the wafer transfer device 21 and conveyed to the transfer device 53 of the third block G3 of the processing station 3.

The wafer W transferred to the transfer device 53 is transferred to the heat treatment device 40 of the second block G2 by the wafer transfer device 70 and subjected to temperature control processing. Subsequently, the wafer W is conveyed to the lower antireflection film forming apparatus 31 of the first block G1 by the wafer conveying device 70, and the lower antireflection film is formed on the wafer W. Thereafter, the wafer W is conveyed to the heat treatment device 40 of the second block G2, and after heat treatment is performed, it is returned to the transfer device 53 of the third block G3.

The wafer W returned to the transfer device 53 is transferred to the transfer device 54 of the same third block G3 by the wafer transfer device 72. Subsequently, the wafer W is conveyed by the wafer transfer device 70 to the hydrophobic treatment device 41 of the second block G2, and the hydrophobic treatment is performed.

The wafer W subjected to the hydrophobization treatment is conveyed to the resist coating device 32 by the wafer transfer device 70, so that a resist film is formed on the wafer W. Thereafter, the wafer W is transported to the heat processing device 40 by the wafer transport device 70, pre-baked, and transported to the transfer device 55 of the third block G3.

The wafer W conveyed to the transfer device 55 is conveyed to the upper anti-reflection film forming apparatus 33 by the wafer conveying device 70, so that the upper anti-reflection film is formed on the wafer W. Thereafter, the wafer W is transported to the heat processing device 40 by the wafer transport device 70, and the temperature is adjusted by heating. After the temperature is adjusted, the wafer W is conveyed to the peripheral exposure apparatus 42 and subjected to peripheral exposure processing.

The wafer W subjected to the peripheral exposure process is conveyed to the transfer device 56 of the third block G3 by the wafer transfer device 70.

The wafer W conveyed to the transfer device 56 is transferred to the transfer device 52 by the wafer transfer device 72, and the transfer device 62 of the fourth block G4 is transferred by the shuttle transfer device 71 ). The wafer W conveyed to the transfer device 62 is conveyed to the exposure apparatus 4 by the wafer transfer device 80 of the interface station 5, and subjected to exposure processing in a predetermined pattern.

The wafer W subjected to the exposure process is conveyed to the transfer device 60 of the fourth block G4 by the wafer transfer device 80. Then, it is conveyed to the heat processing apparatus 40 by the wafer transfer apparatus 70, and is baked after exposure.

The wafer W baked after exposure is conveyed to the developing processing device 30 by the wafer conveying device 70 and developed. After completion of the development, the wafer W is transferred to the heat processing apparatus 40 by the wafer transfer device 70 and post-baked.

Thereafter, the wafer W is conveyed to the transfer device 50 of the third block G3 by the wafer transfer device 70, and the cassette placement plate defined by the wafer transfer device 21 of the cassette station 2 It is conveyed to the cassette C of (13). In this way, a series of photolithography processes are finished.

<Heat treatment device>

Next, a detailed configuration of the heat treatment device 40 will be described. 4 and 5 are longitudinal cross-sectional views and plan views schematically showing the outline of the configuration of the heat treatment device 40, respectively.

The heat treatment apparatus 40 has a treatment container 140 that can be sealed inside. As a side of the cooling section 160 to be described later of the processing container 140, a carry-in / out port (not shown) of the wafer W is formed on the side of the wafer transfer area D side (positive direction in the X direction in FIG. 5). The opening / closing shutter (not shown) is provided at the carrying-in / out port.

The inside of the processing container 140 is provided with a heating unit 150 for heating the wafer W and a cooling unit 160 as a substrate cooling device for cooling the wafer W to a predetermined temperature. The heating unit 150 and the cooling unit 160 are arranged in the Y direction.

The heating unit 150 is placed on the upper surface of the wafer W to perform heat treatment, and the heating table 151 is located above the heating table 151 and is integral with the heating table 151 to process the chamber. It is provided with the cover body 152 which can move up and down which forms (R).

The heating table 151 is provided around the outer circumference of the annular holding member 154 and the holding member 154 to hold and receive the outer circumferential portion of the heating plate 153 having a substantially disc shape having a thickness, and the lower end is the above. It has a substantially cylindrical support ring 155 fixed to the bottom surface of the processing container 140.

On the upper surface of the heating plate 153, for example, a plurality of gap pins 156 for disposing the wafer W on the upper surface, for example eight, are arranged in a concentric shape with the heating plate 153. In addition, the arrangement and number of the gap pins 156 can be arbitrarily set as long as the wafers W can be evenly supported.

In addition, a heater 157 that generates heat by feeding, for example, is provided inside the heating plate 153. The temperature of the heating plate 153 is controlled by, for example, the control device 100, and heats the wafer W placed on the heating table 151, specifically on the gap pin 156, to a predetermined temperature. You can.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, for example, three lift pins 158 for supporting and lifting the wafer W from below are provided below the heating plate 153. In addition, a through hole 158a penetrating the heating plate 153 in the thickness direction is formed at a position corresponding to the lifting pin 158 of the heating plate 153 in plan view. The lifting pin 158 is configured to be able to move up and down between the wafer transfer position and the evacuation position, through the through-hole 158a inserted by the operation of the lifting mechanism 159.

The wafer transfer position is a position where the lifting pin 158 waits when transferring the wafer W between the wafer transfer device 70 or the cooling unit 160 to be described later, and the lifting mechanism 159 By this, the lifting pin 158 is the most raised position. When the lifting pin 158 is waiting at the wafer transfer position, the upper end of the lifting pin 158 is configured to protrude upward from the upper end of the gap pin 156.

On the other hand, the evacuation position is a position where the lifting pin 158 waits when the lifting pin 158 does not support the wafer W, and the lifting pin 158 is moved downward by the lifting mechanism 159. It is a descending position. When the lifting pin 158 is waiting in the retracted position, the upper end of the lifting pin 158 is configured to be located below the upper end of the gap pin 156. Thereby, the wafer W can be transferred from the lift pin 158 to the gap pin 156 by moving from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position while the lift pin 158 supports the wafer W.

The lid 152 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a lower surface open. An exhaust port 152a is provided at the center of the upper surface of the lid 152. The atmosphere in the processing chamber R is uniformly exhausted from the exhaust port 152a.

The cooling unit 160 has a cooling arrangement unit 161 in which a wafer W is disposed on an upper surface to perform cooling treatment. The cooling arrangement part 161 is provided with a cooling plate 162 having a substantially rectangular plate shape having a thickness, and a gap pin 163 provided on the cooling plate 162 and for placing the wafer W on the upper surface. Have For example, eight gap pins 163 are arranged in a concentric shape with the cooling plate 162. In addition, the number and arrangement of the gap pins 163 can be arbitrarily set as long as the wafers W can be evenly supported.

The cooling plate 162 has a flat plate shape with one end of a circular arc shape, and a cross section of the heating unit 150 side is formed in a circular arc shape. In addition, two slits 162a along the Y direction are formed in the cooling plate 162. The slit 162a is formed from the end face of the cooling plate 162 on the heating portion 150 side to the vicinity of the central portion of the cooling plate 162. In addition, a cooling mechanism 164 such as a Peltier element is provided inside the cooling plate 162. The temperature of the cooling plate 162 is controlled by, for example, the control device 100, and cools the wafer W disposed on the cooling arrangement 161, specifically on the gap fin 163, to a predetermined temperature. You can.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, for example, three lift pins 165 as support members for supporting and lifting the wafer W from below are provided below the cooling plate 162. In addition, a through hole 165a penetrating the cooling plate 162 in the thickness direction is formed at a position corresponding to the lifting pin 165 of the cooling plate 162 in plan view. Further, the through-hole 165a interferes with the lifting pin 158 on the heating section 150 side when the cooling plate 162 moves to the heating section 150 side by a driving mechanism 168 to be described later. It is provided in a location that does not.

The lifting pin 165 inserts and penetrates the through hole 165a by the operation of the lifting mechanism 166 integrally provided below the cooling arrangement 161 to enable vertical movement between the wafer transfer position and the evacuation position. Consists of. Since the lifting mechanism 166 is provided integrally with the cooling arrangement unit 161 in this way, when the cooling arrangement unit 161 moves to the heating unit 150 side by the driving mechanism 168 to be described later, the lifting mechanism 166 The 166 and the lifting pins 165 are also integrally moved to the heating part 150 side.

At least the top portion of the lifting pin 165 is made of an insulating material or a heat-resistant material, for example, PEEK, to appropriately thermally separate the wafer W and the cooling arrangement 161 disposed on the lifting pin 165. can do. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately prevent the wafer W from being rapidly cooled by the cold heat of the cooling arrangement unit 161.

As shown in FIG. 6 (A), the wafer transfer position is the lifting pin 165 when the wafer W is transferred between the wafer transfer device 70 or the cooling unit 160. The standby position is a position where the lifting pin 165 is lifted upward most by the lifting mechanism 166. When the lifting pin 165 is waiting at the wafer transfer position, the upper end of the lifting pin 165 is configured to protrude upward from the upper end of the gap pin 163.

In the following description, when the wafer W is cooled in the state shown in Fig. 6A, that is, the wafer W is not directly disposed on the cooling arrangement section 161, and the lifting pin ( Cooling performed in a state where the wafer W is disposed on 165) may be referred to as 'indirect cooling'.

On the other hand, the evacuation position is a position where the lifting pin 165 waits when the lifting pin 165 does not support the wafer W, as shown in Fig. 6B, the lifting mechanism 166 ) Is the position where the lifting pin 165 descends most downwards. When the lifting pin 165 is waiting in the retracted position, the upper end of the lifting pin 165 is configured to be positioned below the upper end of the gap pin 163. Thereby, the wafer W can be transferred from the lift pin 165 to the gap pin 163 by moving from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position while the lift pin 165 supports the wafer W.

In addition, in the following description, when the wafer W is cooled in the state shown in Fig. 6B, that is, the wafer W on the cooling arrangement unit 161, specifically, on the gap pin 163 In some cases, cooling performed in the state of being arranged may be referred to as 'direct cooling'. Also, the indirect cooling and the direct cooling may be referred to as a 'cooling process'.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 6A, for example, the height H1 of the lifting pin 165 when the lifting pin 165 is positioned at the wafer transfer position, that is, the upper surface of the cooling plate 162 The distance between the lower surface of the wafer W is set to 1 mm, for example. In addition, as shown in Fig. 6B, the height H2 of the gap pin 163, that is, the upper surface of the cooling plate 162 when the wafer W is disposed on the cooling arrangement portion 161 The distance between the back surface of the wafer W is set to 0.1 mm, for example. However, the heights of the lift pins 165 and the gap pins 163 are not limited thereto, and can be arbitrarily set as long as the wafer W can be properly cooled. For example, it is selected according to the type of wafer W, material, thickness, and type of processing.

The cooling plate 162 is supported by the support arm 167. In addition, a driving mechanism 168 is attached to the support arm 167. The driving mechanism 168 is mounted on two rails 169 and 169 extending in the Y direction. The rail 169 is provided extending from the cooling unit 160 to the heating unit 150, and the cooling plate 162 moves to the heating unit 150 along the rail 169 by the operation of the driving mechanism 168. It is possible.

<Operation of the heat treatment device>

Next, the heat treatment performed in the heat treatment apparatus 40 will be described. In the following description, the wafer W carried into the heat treatment device 40 is heated up to 500 ° C by the heating unit, and then cooled to 100 ° C in the cooling unit, and thereafter, the heat processing device ( 40) will be described as an example of carrying out.

7A to 7F are explanatory diagrams schematically showing operations of the heating unit 150 and the cooling unit 160 in the heat treatment device 40.

First, when the wafer W is carried from the carry-in / out port (not shown) by the wafer transfer device 70 to the heat treatment device 40, it is raised to the wafer transfer position in advance, and the cooling unit 160 is waiting. The wafer W is transferred to the lifting pin 165.

The wafer W transferred to the lifting pin 165 is disposed on the gap pin 163 by the drop of the lifting pin 165 from the wafer delivery position to the standby position. In addition, the lid 152 of the heating unit 150 rises with this. When the lid 152 of the heating unit 150 rises, the cooling arrangement unit 161 moves to the heating unit 150 side along the rail 169 by the driving mechanism 168.

When the cooling arrangement 161 enters the interior of the heating unit 150 by the driving mechanism 168, the lifting pin 158 rises from the standby position to the wafer transfer position, and the lifting pin (163) from the gap pin 163 158) The wafer W is transferred onto it. In addition, at this time, the lifting pin 158 rises to the wafer transfer position through the slit 162a of the cooling plate 162. That is, the wafer W can be transferred between the cooling arrangement 161 without interfering with the cooling arrangement 161.

When the wafer W is transferred to the lifting pin 158, the cooling arrangement unit 161 retreats to the cooling unit 160 side by the operation of the driving mechanism 168. When the cooling arrangement 161 is evacuated, the elevating pin 158 descends from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position, and the wafer W is transferred from the elevating pin 158 to the gap pin 156. At the same time, the cover body 152 also descends, and the processing chamber R is formed by contacting the heating table 151 (Fig. 7 (A)).

When the processing chamber R is formed, by heating the heater 157 built in the heating plate 153, the wafer W is subjected to a heating process, for example, the temperature is raised to 500 ° C.

When the heating process in the heating unit 150 ends, the lid 152 rises. Moreover, the raising / lowering pin 165 of the cooling part 160 rises, and preparation for receiving the wafer W from the heating part 150 is performed (FIG. 7B).

When the lid 152 is raised, the lifting pin 158 rises from the standby position to the wafer transfer position, and the wafer W disposed on the gap pin 156 is transferred to the lifting pin 158. When the lifting pin 158 rises to the wafer transfer position, the cooling arrangement 161 is driven inside the heating unit 150 by the driving mechanism 168, and the wafer lifted by the raising of the lifting pin 158 ( W), and enters downward (FIG. 7 (C)).

When the cooling arrangement unit 161 enters the interior of the heating unit 150, the lifting pin 158 of the heating unit 150 descends from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position. Thereby, the wafer W disposed on the lifting pin 158 is transferred onto the lifting pin 165 of the cooling arrangement section 161 (Fig. 7 (D)). In addition, since the lifting pin 165 is provided at a position that does not interfere with the lifting pin 158 as described above, the wafer W can be transferred without interfering with the heating unit 150.

When the wafer W is transferred onto the lifting pin 165, the cooling arrangement unit 161 retreats to the cooling unit 160 side by the operation of the driving mechanism 168. At the same time, the cover body 152 descends (Fig. 7 (E)).

The wafer W transferred to the cooling arrangement unit 161 is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, 100 ° C, by a cooling process in the cooling unit 160. The cooling process at that time will be described below.

First, when the cooling arrangement unit 161 is evacuated to the cooling unit 160 side, the lifting pins 165 are held for a predetermined time, for example, 50 seconds, in an elevated state to the wafer transfer position, and are indirectly cooled.

By the indirect cooling of the lifting pins 165, the wafer W is placed at a predetermined temperature on the lifting pins 165, for example, to a temperature at which the warp of the wafer W does not increase even if it is disposed on the gap pins 163. Cooled. When the wafer W is cooled to the predetermined temperature, the lifting pin 165 descends from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position, and the wafer W is transferred from the lifting pin 165 to the gap pin 163 (Fig. 7). (F)). Further, the lowering operation from the wafer transfer position of the lift pin 165 to the evacuation position is performed, for example, in 2 to 3 seconds.

When the wafer W is transferred to the gap pin 163, the wafer W is directly cooled to 100 ° C as the take-out temperature from the heat treatment apparatus 40, for example, for 20 seconds. The cooling process is thereby completed.

When the cooling process in the cooling unit 160 ends, the wafer W is transferred from the cooling arrangement unit 161 to the wafer transfer device 70 and is taken out of the heat treatment device 40. Thereby, the series of heat treatments is finished.

According to the above example, since the raising / lowering pin 165 elevating by the raising / lowering mechanism 166 is arrange | positioned on the cooling arrangement part 161, the wafer W after heating is received from the heating placement table 151. At this time, once the wafer W is placed on this lifting pin 165, the wafer W immediately after heating is not directly transferred onto the cooling arrangement 161.

 That is, since the heated wafer W is indirectly cooled while being supported on the lift pins 165, it is not rapidly cooled by the cooling arrangement 161. Therefore, when warpage occurs in the heated wafer W, the wafer W is directly placed on the cooling arrangement unit 161 and rapidly cooled, thereby causing a temperature difference within the surface of the wafer W. However, there is no case where the warpage increases.

In addition, the operation of the cooling part 160 in the cooling process shown in the said embodiment is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, after receiving the wafer W from the lifting pin 158 of the heating unit 150, even if the lifting pin 165 is not held at the wafer delivery position, it is controlled to gradually lower the wafer W do. That is, the lifting pin 165 may be lowered from the wafer transfer position to the evacuation position in a time of, for example, about 20 seconds, and the wafer W may be indirectly cooled to a temperature at which bending does not increase during the drop. Then, after reaching such a temperature, the wafer W may be lowered, placed on the gap pin 163 on the cooling arrangement section 161, and then quenched, that is, directly cooled. Thereby, while suppressing an increase in warpage, a shortening of a cooling process can be aimed at.

Further, for example, the lifting pins 165 may be controlled to step down between the wafer transfer position and the evacuation position. In addition, when the raising / lowering pins 165 are gradually lowered in this way, the descending speeds of the lifting pins 165 between the respective steps may be controlled to be uniform, or may be controlled by placing a difference for each step. Also in this case, it is possible to shorten the cooling process while suppressing the increase in warpage.

 Further, the above-described respective control, that is, indirect cooling by the drop control of the lifting pin 165 may be performed based on the shape of the wafer W.

As described above, the cooling time of the wafer W can be arbitrarily and appropriately adjusted by changing the distance between the cooling arrangement 161 and the wafer W during indirect cooling. In addition, the cooling speed of the wafer W can be selected by arbitrarily changing the distance between the cooling arrangement 161 and the back surface of the wafer W. That is, the temperature, material, thickness, degree of warpage, and shape of the wafer W can be controlled to control the distance between the back surfaces of the wafer W and the time of indirect cooling to properly prevent the increase in warpage and make the cooling time appropriate. have.

In the above embodiment, for example, for the wafer W having warpage, the wafer W is indirectly cooled on the lifting pin 165 for 50 seconds, and then cooled directly on the gap pin 163 for 20 seconds. By doing so, the wafer W was controlled to cool to 100 ° C. As a result, for example, as described above, compared to the case where the height of the gap pin 163 is increased and cooled gently to prevent the increase in warpage, the cooling time to a predetermined temperature of the wafer W is 30%. I could shorten it.

In addition, when the target cooling temperature of the wafer W is set higher than 100 ° C, the total cooling time required for indirect cooling and direct cooling is naturally shortened. On the other hand, when the target cooling temperature is set lower than 100 ° C, the cooling time becomes long. In addition, the ratio of indirect cooling and direct cooling can be appropriately set according to the temperature, material, thickness, and degree of warpage of the wafer W.

For example, the time until the wafer W is transferred from the heating table 151 to the cooling arrangement section 161, that is, the time for performing indirect cooling is about half of the time required for the entire cooling process. You may set. By performing such a setting, for the wafer W with warpage, the cooling time of the wafer W can be shorter than in the prior art while suppressing the warpage of the wafer W.

<Second embodiment>

Next, the configuration of the heat treatment apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the outline of the configuration of the heat treatment device 200. In addition to the configuration of the heat treatment device 40 according to the first embodiment, the heat treatment device 200 has a bending shape acquisition mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 8, in addition to the configuration of the heat treatment device 40 in the first embodiment, the heat treatment device 200 in the present embodiment is warped in the upper side of the cooling arrangement 161. It has an acquisition mechanism 210. A laser displacement meter is used, for example, for the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210. The bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 measures the displacement in the height direction within the surface of the wafer W by scanning the upper side of the wafer W disposed on the cooling arrangement unit 161. In addition, the reference value in the height direction of the wafer W in a state where the flat wafer W without warpage is disposed on the cooling arrangement unit 161 is grasped in advance. Then, the amount of warpage of the wafer W is obtained from the difference between the in-plane displacement and the reference value of the wafer W acquired by the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210. The bending shape information of the wafer W acquired by the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 is output to the control device 100. In addition, when acquiring the bending shape information in the said bending shape acquisition mechanism 210, the cooling of the wafer W in the cooling part 160 is not performed.

<Operation of the heat treatment device 200>

Next, the operation of the heat processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment will be described. 9 is a flowchart showing the main operation of the heat treatment apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment. In addition, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted about the operation substantially the same as the heat processing apparatus 40 of 1st Embodiment.

The wafer W transferred to the lift pins 165 is disposed on the gap pins 163 by the drop of the lift pins 165 from the wafer transfer position to the standby position (step S1 in Fig. 9). In addition, the lid 152 of the heating unit 150 rises with this. When the lid 152 of the heating unit 150 rises, the cooling arrangement unit 161 moves to the heating unit 150 side along the rail 169 by the driving mechanism 168. At this time, the bending shape acquiring mechanism 210 acquires the bending shape information of the wafer W on the cooling arrangement portion 161 with the movement of the cooling arrangement portion 161, and the displacement between the information and the reference value Let's compare the car. By this operation, it is specified whether the wafer W disposed on the gap pin 163 has a convex upward shape, a flat shape, or a concave shape (step in FIG. 9 ( S2)).

When the wafer W in which the bending shape information is obtained by the step S2 is a flat shape having no warpage, or when it is specified that the outer edge of the wafer W is located above the concave shape, that is, compared with the reference value, The wafer W is transferred to the heating unit 150, and heat treatment is performed (step S5 in Fig. 9).

On the other hand, when it is specified that the shape of the wafer W in which the bending shape information is obtained in step S2 is convex, that is, compared to a reference value, it is specified that the outer edge of the wafer W is located below, the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 ) Scans the surface of the wafer W. Thereby, the bending shape information on the front surface of the wafer W is acquired, and the difference in displacement between the information and the reference value is compared. By this operation, warpage amount information on the front surface of the wafer W disposed on the gap pin 163 is acquired (step S3 in Fig. 9).

When the warpage amount information on the front surface of the wafer W is acquired, the operating parameters in the cooling process performed thereafter are calculated based on the obtained acquisition result (step S4 in Fig. 9). As the operation parameter, for example, the height of the lifting pin 165 when receiving the wafer W from the heating unit 150, the descending speed from the wafer transfer position of the lifting pin 165 to the evacuation position, etc. Can be lifted.

In addition, the bending information acquisition process for calculating the operation parameters, that is, the shape and the amount of warpage amount information of the wafer W disposed on the gap pin 163 was performed before the thermal processing in the thermal processing apparatus 200. All. Therefore, when a change in the warp shape of the wafer W is predicted by the heat treatment performed after the warp information acquisition process, the operation parameters may be corrected by adding these predicted changes. When performing such a correction, for example, the temperature of the heating plate 153 or the heating time may be used as a correction element.

When the operating parameters in the cooling process are calculated, the wafer W is transferred to the heating unit 150, whereby heat treatment is performed (step S5 in Fig. 9).

When the heating process in step S5 ends, the wafer W is transferred to the cooling unit 160, whereby the cooling process is performed (step S6 in Fig. 9).

In the cooling process of the wafer W, when the shape of the wafer W obtained by the bending shape acquiring mechanism 210 is a flat shape or a concave shape in which the peripheral portion of the wafer W is curved than the inside , As described above, there is no fear that the warp of the wafer W is increased. Therefore, in this case, the indirect cooling of the wafer W is not performed, and the wafer W is directly moved from the lifting pin 158 of the heating unit 150 onto the gap pin 163 of the cooling arrangement unit 161. Is transferred and direct cooling is performed.

The judgment in this case is made as follows, for example. That is, when the wafer W to be cooled has a shape in which the central portion in its surface is not located at the bottom, the wafer W is regarded as a convex wafer, and the wafer W and the cooling arrangement ( 161) Indirect cooling is performed by changing the distance between them.

On the other hand, when the wafer W to be cooled has a shape in which the central portion is located at the bottom of the inside of the wafer, it is regarded as a concave wafer or a flat wafer with no increase in warpage due to rapid cooling, and the lifting pin 165 ), The wafer W may be placed on the gap pin 163 of the cooling arrangement section 161 immediately for direct cooling.

On the other hand, when the wafer W acquired by the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 is a convex wafer W, a cooling process of the wafer W is performed based on the calculated operation parameters. Then, after the cooling process is finished, the wafer W is carried out of the heat processing device by the wafer transfer device 70 (step S7 in FIG. 9). Thereby, the series of heat treatments is finished.

According to this embodiment, since the operating parameters in the cooling process can be determined based on the bending shape information of the wafer W acquired by the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210, the cooling temperature and cooling of the wafer W Time can be controlled more appropriately. Further, it is possible to more appropriately prevent the increase in warpage of the wafer W.

In the above description, the cooling process is controlled to omit indirect cooling when the shape of the wafer W obtained by the bending shape acquiring mechanism 210 is flat or concave, but omission of the indirect process is omitted. It is not limited to this case. For example, even when the shape of the wafer W acquired by the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 is convex, when the prediction that the warping of the wafer W is improved by heat treatment is made, this prediction is made. In addition, indirect cooling may be omitted.

In addition, as described above, when the indirect cooling of the wafer W is unnecessary due to the warp shape of the wafer W, the indirect cooling is omitted, and the cooling arrangement unit (directly from the lift pin 158 of the heating unit 150) 161) By transferring the wafer W onto the gap fin 163 and directly cooling it, the throughput in the cooling process can be improved.

Moreover, according to the said embodiment, although the bending shape acquisition process was performed before heat processing, you may perform it after heat processing and before performing a cooling process.

In addition, in the said embodiment, although the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 was fixed above the heat processing apparatus 40, you may make it the structure which can move the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 side. Moreover, the bending shape acquisition mechanism 210 may be provided outside the heat processing apparatus 40. That is, an independent device for grasping the warp shape of the wafer W may be provided, or a warp shape acquisition mechanism may be provided in another processing device. As described above, the bending shape information used in the above-described embodiment may be acquired before the wafer W is carried into the heat treatment device 40.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, a laser displacement meter was used as the bending shape acquiring mechanism 210. However, if the bending shape of the wafer W can be measured, the present invention is not limited to this.

It should be thought that the embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration and is not restrictive at all points. The above-described embodiment may be omitted, substituted, or changed in various forms without departing from the scope of the appended claims and its main knowledge.

For example, in the above description, the shape of the wafer W is largely divided into three patterns: convex shape, flat shape, and concave shape, and control is performed. For example, the wafer W has a saddle shape, etc. Even if it is deformed as, it may be regarded as a deformation of the convex wafer, and indirect cooling may be performed in the same manner as the convex wafer.

In addition, the following configuration also belongs to the disclosed technical scope.

(1) A substrate cooling device for cooling a substrate after heat treatment,

A cooling arrangement having a cooling mechanism,

A substrate cooling apparatus having a supporting member for directly receiving a substrate after the heat treatment, and supporting the received substrate to elevate the cooling arrangement.

(2) The substrate cooling apparatus according to (1), wherein the substrate is cooled by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement by lifting the support member.

(3) The substrate cooling apparatus according to (2), wherein the substrate is cooled by changing a distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement portion based on the bending shape of the substrate.

(4) When the substrate has a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is not located at the bottom of the substrate, the support member is cooled by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement, (2 ) Or the substrate cooling device according to (3).

(5) When the substrate has a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is located at the bottom of the substrate, the support member cools without changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement (2 ) Or the substrate cooling device according to (3). Here, cooling without changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement includes cooling the substrate after the support member has received the heating by immediately moving the support member onto the cooling arrangement.

(6) The substrate cooling apparatus according to any one of (2) to (5), wherein the lifting speed of the support member is changed.

(7) The substrate cooling apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the cooling arrangement is movable in at least a horizontal direction. Here, the horizontal direction may be only one direction, for example, movement in the X direction.

(8) A substrate cooling method for cooling a substrate after heat treatment,

Direct cooling for cooling by directly placing the substrate on a cooling arrangement having a cooling mechanism,

On the cooling arrangement, a substrate cooling method comprising indirect cooling to support and cool the substrate with a support member for raising and lowering the substrate.

Placing the substrate directly on the cooling arrangement here does not mean directly placing it on the surface of the cooling arrangement, but as described in the above embodiment, the proximity pin (gap pin) provided on the surface of the cooling arrangement. It refers to being placed on.

(9) The substrate cooling method according to (8), wherein the indirect cooling cools the substrate by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement by lifting the support member.

(10) The substrate cooling method according to (9), wherein the indirect cooling is performed based on a bending shape of the substrate.

(11) The indirect cooling is described in any one of (8) to (10), wherein the shape of the substrate is performed when the central portion of the substrate is not located at the bottom of the substrate. Substrate cooling method.

(12) The substrate cooling method according to any one of (8) to (11), wherein the cooling time of the substrate by the indirect cooling is controlled to be less than half of the time required to cool the substrate to a predetermined temperature.

(13) The substrate cooling method according to any one of (8) to (12), wherein the indirect cooling is performed while the cooling arrangement is moving.

(14) The substrate cooling method according to (8), wherein the indirect cooling is not performed when the shape of the substrate is in a shape where the central portion of the substrate is located at the bottom of the substrate.

Claims (16)

A substrate cooling device for cooling a substrate after heat treatment,
A cooling arrangement having a cooling mechanism,
A support member for directly receiving the substrate after the heat treatment, and supporting the received substrate to elevate on the cooling arrangement.
Substrate cooling device having a. According to claim 1,
A substrate cooling apparatus for cooling the substrate by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement by lifting the support member. According to claim 2,
A substrate cooling apparatus for cooling the substrate by changing a distance between the substrate and a cooling arrangement part based on a bending shape of the substrate. The method of claim 3,
A substrate cooling apparatus for determining whether to change a distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement when cooling the substrate above the cooling arrangement, based on the bending shape of the substrate. The method of claim 2 or 3,
When the substrate is in the plane of the substrate and has a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is not positioned at the bottom, the support member cools by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement. The method of claim 2 or 3,
When the substrate has a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is located at the bottom in the plane of the substrate, the support member cools without changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
In the case of cooling the substrate by changing the distance between the substrate and the cooling arrangement, the substrate cooling for changing the lifting operation parameter of the support member in the cooling based on the conditions of the heat treatment before the cooling Device The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
A substrate cooling apparatus for changing the lifting speed of the support member. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cooling arrangement is movable at least in the horizontal direction, the substrate cooling apparatus. As a substrate cooling method for cooling the substrate after the heat treatment,
Direct cooling for cooling by directly placing the substrate on a cooling arrangement having a cooling mechanism,
On the cooling arrangement, a substrate cooling method comprising indirect cooling to support and cool the substrate with a support member for raising and lowering the substrate. The method of claim 10,
The indirect cooling,
A method of cooling a substrate, wherein the substrate is cooled by changing the distance between the substrate and a cooling arrangement by lifting the support member. The method of claim 11,
The indirect cooling is performed based on the bending shape of the substrate, the substrate cooling method. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12,
The indirect cooling,
The substrate cooling method is performed when the shape of the substrate is a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is not located at the bottom of the substrate. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13,
The substrate cooling method is controlled such that the cooling time of the substrate by the indirect cooling is less than half of the time required to cool the substrate to a predetermined temperature. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14,
The indirect cooling is a method of cooling a substrate, wherein the cooling arrangement is performed while moving. The method of claim 10,
The indirect cooling is not performed when the shape of the substrate is a shape in which the central portion of the substrate is located at the bottom in the plane of the substrate.

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