KR20210030726A - Transfer robot and Apparatus for treating substrate with the robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a substrate transport device which can stably transport a warp-deformed substrate. The substrate transport device comprises: a hand plate supporting a substrate; and a vacuum adsorption pad installed on the hand plate and adsorbing and fixing a bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the vacuum adsorption pad can include an elastic layer pad which is elastically deformable to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate.

Description

Substrate transfer robot and substrate processing facility TECHNICAL FIELD [Transfer robot and Apparatus for treating substrate with the robot}

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

In general, a wafer is manufactured through a number of processes such as an ion implantation process, a film deposition process, a diffusion process, and a photolithography process. Among these processes, the photolithography process to form a desired pattern on the wafer is an etching or ion implantation process. A predetermined pattern is formed on a wafer to selectively define a portion and a portion to be protected, and a coating process in which a photoresist layer is formed on the wafer with a predetermined thickness by rotating at high speed after dropping the photoresist on the wafer; and After aligning the wafer with the photoresist layer and the mask, light such as ultraviolet rays is irradiated to the photoresist layer on the wafer through the mast so that the mask or reticle pattern is transferred to the wafer, and the photoresist with the exposure process completed. It consists of a developing process of developing a layer to form a desired photoresist pattern.

In addition, the photolithography process includes a baking process in which the wafer is baked at a predetermined temperature. The baking process includes a pre-baking process to remove moisture adsorbed on the wafer before the application process is performed, and a soft baking process in which the photoresist layer is fixed to the surface of the wafer by drying the photoresist layer after applying the photoresist. And, a post-exposure baiting step of heating the photoresist layer after the exposure step, and a hard baking step of firmly attaching the pattern formed by the developing step onto the wafer.

The transfer robot used in the facility for performing such a photographic process includes adsorption pads that adsorb the substrate with a vacuum. Since there are many processes (baking processes) performed at a high temperature in the equipment performing the photographic process, the substrate may be warped after the high temperature process. In this case, a phenomenon in which the substrate is lifted from the upper surface of the transfer hand occurs, and thus, vacuum adsorption of the substrate is unstable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer robot and a substrate processing facility capable of stably transferring a bent and deformed substrate.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited thereto, and other problems that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a hand plate for supporting a substrate; And a vacuum adsorption pad installed on the hand plate and adsorbing and fixing a bottom surface of the substrate. The vacuum adsorption pad may be provided with a substrate transport apparatus including an elastic layer pad that is elastically deformable to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate.

In addition, the vacuum adsorption pad includes an upper pad in contact with the substrate; And a lower pad in contact with the hand plate, wherein the elastic layer pad may be provided between the upper pad and the lower pad.

In addition, the upper pad may be provided with a material including a peak (PEEK), the lower pad may be provided with a material including PEEK or aluminum, and the elastic layer pad may be provided with a material including silicon. have.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a load port in which the cassette is located; An external transfer source having a support pin for taking over the substrate; And an index robot transferring the substrate between the load port and the transfer source, wherein the index robot includes: a hand plate supporting the substrate; And a vacuum suction pad installed on the hand plate and adsorbing and fixing a bottom surface of the substrate. The vacuum adsorption pad includes an upper pad in contact with the substrate; A lower pad in contact with the hand plate; A substrate processing apparatus including an elastic layer pad that is provided between the upper pad and the lower pad and is elastically deformable due to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate may be provided.

In addition, the upper pad may be provided with a material including a peak (PEEK), the lower pad may be provided with a material including PEEK or aluminum, and the elastic layer pad may be provided with a material including silicon. have.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the elastic layer pad contracts and expands according to the bending of the substrate when it comes into contact with the bent substrate, the upper pad may be in close contact with the bottom surface of the substrate. The substrate can be stably adsorbed and supported regardless of the bending of the substrate.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described effects, and effects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction AA.
3 is a view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from a BB direction.
4 is a perspective view illustrating the index robot shown in FIG. 1.
5 is a perspective view showing the hand shown in FIG. 4.
6 is a plan view showing the hand shown in FIG. 4.
7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the hand shown in FIG. 4.
8 is a perspective view of the vacuum adsorption module.
9 is a view showing a difference in height when the substrate is warped.
10 is a diagram showing the deformation of the silicon pad.
11 is a view showing the deformation of the vacuum adsorption module in the bent deformed substrate.

In the present invention, various transformations may be applied and various embodiments may be provided, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and will be described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific embodiment, it should be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features. It is to be understood that the presence or addition of elements or numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof does not preclude in advance.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, identical or corresponding components are assigned the same reference numerals, and duplicated Description will be omitted.

1 to 3 are views schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 as viewed from above, and FIG. 2 is the apparatus of FIG. (1) is a view viewed from the AA direction, and FIG. 3 is a view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 viewed from the BB direction.

1 to 3, the substrate processing facility 1000 may include an index unit 10, a process processing unit 40, a buffer unit 30, and an interface unit 50.

The index unit 10, the buffer unit 30, the process processing unit 40, and the interface unit 50 may be arranged in a line. Hereinafter, the direction in which the index unit 10, the buffer unit 30, the process processing unit 40, and the interface unit 50 are arranged is referred to as a first direction, and when viewed from above, a direction perpendicular to the first direction is referred to as It is referred to as a second direction, and a direction perpendicular to the plane including the first direction and the second direction is defined as a third direction.

The substrate W is moved in a state accommodated in the container 16. At this time, the container 16 has a structure that can be sealed from the outside. For example, as the container 16, a front open unified pod (FOUP) having a door in the front may be used.

Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

(Index part)

The index unit 10 is disposed in front of the substrate processing facility 1000 in the first direction. For example, the index unit 10 may include four load ports 12 and one index robot 100.

The four load ports 12 are disposed in front of the index unit 10 in the first direction. A plurality of load ports 12 are provided, and they are arranged along the second direction. The number of load ports 12 may increase or decrease according to process efficiency and footprint conditions of the substrate processing facility 1000. A container 16 (eg, a cassette, a FOUP, etc.) in which the substrate W to be provided for the process and the substrate W that has been processed is accommodated is mounted on the load ports 12.

The index robot 100 is disposed in a first direction adjacent to the load port 12. The index robot 100 is installed between the load port 12 and the buffer unit 30. The index robot 100 transfers the substrate between the load port and the transfer source of the buffer unit 30 having a support pin for handing over the substrate. For reference, the carrier source may be a buffer module of the buffer unit. The index robot 100 transfers the substrate W waiting in the buffer module of the buffer unit 30 to the container 16, or transfers the substrate W waiting in the container 16 to the buffer module of the buffer unit 30 Transfer to.

(Process processing department)

In the process processing unit 40, a process of applying a photoresist onto the substrate W before the exposure process and a process of developing the substrate W after the exposure process may be performed.

The process processing unit 40 includes a coating processing unit 401 and a developing processing unit 402. The coating processing unit 401 and the developing processing unit 402 may be disposed so as to be divided into layers therebetween. According to an example, the coating processing unit 401 may be located above the developing processing unit 402. However, unlike this, the position of each processing unit and the type of process module provided to each processing unit may be different according to the type of the substrate to be processed and the processing process.

The coating processing unit 401 includes a process of applying a photoresist, such as a photoresist, to the wafer W, and a heat treatment process such as heating and cooling of the wafer W before and after the resist coating process. The coating processing unit 401 may include a resist coating chamber 410, a bake chamber 420, and a transfer chamber 430.

The resist coating chamber 410, the transfer chamber 430, and the bake chamber 420 may be sequentially disposed along the second direction Y. Accordingly, the resist coating chamber 410 and the bake chamber 420 may be positioned to be spaced apart from each other in the second direction Y with the transfer chamber 430 interposed therebetween. A plurality of resist coating chambers 410 may be provided, and a plurality of resist coating chambers 410 may be provided in each of the first direction X and the third direction Z. In the drawing, an example in which nine resist coating chambers 410 are provided is illustrated, but is not limited thereto. A plurality of bake chambers 420 may be provided in a first direction (X) and a third direction (Z), respectively. In the drawing, an example in which six bake chambers 420 are provided is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The transfer chamber 430 is positioned parallel to the first buffer 320 of the buffer unit 30 in the first direction X. In the transfer chamber 430, an application unit robot 432 and a guide rail 433 are positioned. The transfer chamber 430 has a generally rectangular shape. The coating unit robot 432 includes the baking chambers 420, the resist coating chambers 400, the first buffer 320 of the buffer unit 300, and the first cooling chamber of the second buffer module 500 to be described later. The wafer W is transferred between 520. The guide rail 433 is disposed so that its longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction X. The guide rail 433 guides the applicator robot 432 to linearly move in the first direction X. The applicator robot 432 includes a hand 434, which may have the same shape as the first hand of the buffer transfer robot.

All of the resist application chambers 410 have the same structure. However, the types of photoresists used in each resist application chamber 410 may be different from each other. As an example, a chemical amplification resist may be used as the photo resist. The resist application chamber 410 applies a photoresist onto the wafer W. 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 wafer W. The support plate 412 is provided rotatably. The nozzle 413 supplies photoresist onto the wafer W placed on the support plate 412. The nozzle 413 has a circular tubular shape and can supply a photoresist to the center of the wafer W. Optionally, the nozzle 413 may have a length corresponding to the diameter of the wafer W, and the discharge port of the nozzle 413 may be provided as a slit. In addition, a nozzle 414 supplying a cleaning solution such as deionized water may be further provided in the resist application chamber 410 to clean the surface of the wafer W on which the photoresist is applied.

The bake chamber 420 heats the wafer W. For example, the bake chambers 420 heat the wafer W to a predetermined temperature before applying the photoresist to remove organic matter or moisture from the surface of the wafer W, or the photoresist to the wafer ( A soft bake process or the like performed after coating on W) is performed, and a cooling process or the like of cooling the wafer W after each heating process is performed. 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 cooling water or a thermoelectric element. Further, the heating plate 422 is 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 one bake chamber 420, respectively. Optionally, some of the bake chambers 420 may have only the cooling plate 421 and some of the bake chambers 420 may have only the heating plate 422.

The developing module 402 is a developing process in which a part of the photoresist is removed by supplying a developer to obtain a pattern on the wafer W, and a heat treatment process such as heating and cooling performed on the wafer W before and after the developing process. Includes. The developing module 402 has a developing chamber 460, a bake chamber 470, and a transfer chamber 480. The developing chamber 460, the bake chamber 470, and the transfer chamber 480 are sequentially disposed along the second direction Y. Accordingly, the developing chamber 460 and the bake chamber 470 are positioned to be spaced apart from each other in the second direction Y with the transfer chamber 480 interposed therebetween. A plurality of developing chambers 460 are provided, and a plurality of developing chambers 460 are provided in each of the first direction X and the third direction Z. In the drawing, an example in which six developing chambers 460 are provided is shown. A plurality of bake chambers 470 are provided in a first direction (X) and a third direction (Z), respectively. In the figure, an example in which six bake chambers 470 are provided is shown. However, unlike this, the number of bake chambers 470 may be provided.

The transfer chamber 480 is positioned parallel to the second buffer 330 of the buffer unit 300 in the first direction X. In the transfer chamber 480, a developing unit robot 482 and a guide rail 483 are positioned. The transfer chamber 480 has a generally rectangular shape. The developing unit robot 482 includes the baking chambers 470, the developing chambers 460, the second buffer 330 and the cooling chamber 350 of the buffer unit 300, and the second buffer module 500. 2 Transfer the wafer W between the cooling chambers 540. The guide rail 483 is disposed so that its longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction X. The guide rail 483 guides the developing unit robot 482 to linearly move in the first direction X. The developing unit robot 482 includes a hand 484. This hand 484 may have the same shape as the first hand of the buffer transfer robot.

All of the developing chambers 460 have the same structure. However, the types of developing solutions used in each developing chamber 460 may be different from each other. The developing chamber 460 removes a region of the photoresist on the wafer W to which light is irradiated. At this time, the region irradiated with light in the protective layer is also removed. Depending on the type of photoresist that is selectively used, only the areas of the photoresist and the protective layer that are not irradiated with light may be removed.

The developing 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 wafer W. The support plate 462 is provided rotatably. The nozzle 463 supplies a developer onto the wafer W placed on the support plate 462. The nozzle 463 has a circular tubular shape and can supply a developer to the center of the wafer W. Optionally, the nozzle 463 may have a length corresponding to the diameter of the wafer W, and a discharge port of the nozzle 463 may be provided as a slit. In addition, a nozzle 464 for supplying a cleaning liquid such as deionized water may be further provided in the developing chamber 460 to clean the surface of the wafer W supplied with the developer.

The bake chamber 470 heats the wafer W. For example, the bake chambers 470 have a post bake process for heating the wafer W before the development process is performed, a hard bake process for heating the wafer W after the development process is performed, and heating after each bake process. A cooling process or the like of cooling the resulting substrate is performed. 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 cooling water or a thermoelectric element. Alternatively, 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 bake chambers 470 may have only the cooling plate 471 and some of the bake chambers 470 may have only the heating plate 472.

As described above, in the process processing unit 40, the coating module 401 and the developing module 402 are provided to be separated from each other. In addition, when viewed from above, the application module 401 and the developing module 402 may have the same chamber arrangement.

(Interface part)

The interface unit 50 transfers a substrate between the process processing unit 40 and the exposure apparatus 90. The interface unit 50 may be provided with an interface robot 510 and buffer modules 520 for temporarily waiting for a substrate.

(Buffer part)

1 to 3, the buffer unit 30 is positioned between the index unit 10 and the process processing unit 40. The buffer unit 30 may include a buffer module 310, a heat treatment module 330, and a buffer transfer robot 340.

The buffer module 310 may be disposed at a height (same height) accessible to the index robot 100 of the index unit 10. As an example, the buffer module 310 may include a first buffer module 310-1 and a second buffer module 310-2.

The first buffer module 310-1 is disposed at a height (same height) accessible to the index robot 100 of the index unit 10, and the second buffer module 310-2 is a robot of the coating processing unit 401. 432 can be placed at an accessible height (same height).

Each of the first buffer module 310-1 and the second buffer module 310-2 may temporarily store a plurality of wafers W. The first buffer module 310-1 and the second buffer module 310-2 have the same configuration.

4 is a perspective view illustrating the index robot shown in FIG. 1. 5 to 7 are perspective views, plan views, and cross-sectional views illustrating the hand shown in FIG. 4.

4 to 7, the index robot 100 may include a hand driving unit 110, a hand 120, a rotating unit 170, a vertical moving unit 180, and a horizontal moving unit 190.

Specifically, the hand driving unit 110 horizontally moves the hand 120, and the hand 120 is individually driven by the hand driving unit 110. The hand driving unit 110 includes a connection arm 112 connected to an internal driving unit (not shown), and a hand 120 is installed at an end of the connection arm 112.

In this embodiment, the index robot 100 includes two hands 120, but the number of hands 120 may increase according to the process efficiency of the substrate processing system 1000.

A rotating part 170 is installed under the hand driving part 110. The rotating unit 170 is coupled to the hand driving unit 110 and rotates to rotate the hand driving unit 110. Accordingly, the hands 120 rotate together. A vertical moving part 180 is installed under the rotating part 170, and a horizontal moving part 190 is installed under the vertical moving part 180. The vertical moving unit 180 is combined with the rotating unit 170 to lift and lower the rotating unit 170, and accordingly, the vertical positions of the hand driving unit 110 and the hand 120 are adjusted.

In this embodiment, the hands have the same configuration as each other.

The hand 120 may include a fixed end 122 and a support 130. The fixed end 122 may be fixed to the connection arm 112 of the hand driving unit 110. The support 130 may include a support plate 132 on which a substrate is mounted and a plurality of vacuum adsorption modules 150 for vacuum adsorption of the substrate.

Here, the expression "supporting the substrate" does not mean that the supporting plate directly contacts the bottom surface of the substrate, and portions of the hand in contact with the bottom surface of the substrate may be vacuum adsorption modules.

The support plate 132 is disposed parallel to the ground and has a'U' shape. However, the shape of the support plate 132 is not limited thereto.

Specifically, the support plate 132 may include first and second support bars 133 and 134 and a connection part 135. The first and second support bars 133 and 134 have a rod shape, are spaced apart from each other, are positioned to face each other, and extend in the same direction. Both ends of the connection part 135 are connected to the first and second support bars 133 and 134, respectively.

A vacuum flow path 132a is formed inside the support plate 132. The vacuum flow path 132a formed on the support plate 132 is connected to the vacuum flow path 122a formed at the fixed end 122, and the vacuum flow path 122a formed at the fixed end 122 is vacuumed through the vacuum line VL. It is connected to the pump (P).

Vacuum adsorption modules 150 supporting the substrate W may be detachably installed on the upper surface of the support plate 132. In this embodiment, the support plate 132 includes three vacuum adsorption modules 150, but the number of vacuum adsorption modules 150 may increase or decrease depending on the size and transfer efficiency of the support plate 132. have.

The vacuum adsorption modules 150 may be detachably installed on the upper surface of the support plate 132. The vacuum adsorption module 150 supports the substrate W to be transferred by the hand 120, and the slope of the surface on which the substrate W is mounted can be adjusted according to the shape of the rear surface of the substrate W. That is, the vacuum adsorption module In 150, the surface (upper pad) on which the substrate W is mounted may be bent according to the degree of warpage of the substrate W0. The vacuum adsorption module 150 uses a vacuum pressure provided from the vacuum pump P. Thus, the substrate W can be vacuum-adsorbed.

In this embodiment, the vacuum adsorption modules 150 have the same configuration as each other. Therefore, in the detailed description of the configuration of the vacuum adsorption module 150, one vacuum adsorption module 150 will be described as an example.

8 is a perspective view of the vacuum adsorption module.

7 and 8, a coupling groove 132a is formed on the upper surface of the support plate 132, and the vacuum adsorption module 150 is inserted into the coupling groove 132a.

The vacuum adsorption module 150 has a resilient layer pad 154 that is elastically deformable to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate. As an example, the vacuum adsorption module 150 has a triple pad structure including an elastic layer pad 154, an upper pad 152 in contact with the substrate, and a lower pad 156 in contact with the support plate 132. The elastic layer pad 154 is provided between the upper pad 152 and the lower pad 156. The material of the upper pad 152 may be made of a resin material having excellent heat resistance and mechanical strength, for example, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) + CA. In addition, the lower pad 156 may be made of a material containing PEEK or aluminum, and the elastic layer pad 154 may be made of a material containing silicon. The lower pad 156 is preferably made of a material containing aluminum for adhesion to the support plate 132 made of a ceramic material.

For reference, FIG. 9 is a view showing a height difference when a substrate is warped, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a deformation of a silicon pad.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a difference in height of MAX 40 μm may occur in the substrate at a point 60 mm from the center thereof. In addition, when the elastic layer pad made of silicon is tested based on a thickness of 0.5 mm, δ = 58.82 [㎛] may be deformed. Accordingly, the vacuum adsorption module in which the elastic layer pad is inserted can be deformed larger than the height difference due to the bending of the substrate, thereby stably adsorbing and transporting the curved substrate.

11 is a diagram showing a vacuum adsorption module adsorbing a curved substrate.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the vacuum adsorption module 150 contacts the curved substrate, the elastic layer pad 154 contracts and expands according to the bending of the substrate W, so that the upper pad adheres to the bottom surface of the substrate. Accordingly, the vacuum adsorption module 150 can stably adsorb and support the substrate W regardless of the bending of the substrate W that occurs after high-temperature processing, so that the index robot 100 The yield can be improved.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but to explain the technical idea, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the claims below, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

10: index unit 30: buffer unit
40: process processing unit 50: interface unit
310: buffer module 320: cooling module
330: heating module 340: buffer transfer robot
100: index robot 110: hand drive
120: hand 150: vacuum adsorption module
154: elastic layer pad

Claims (5)

In the substrate transfer device:
A hand plate supporting the substrate; And
A vacuum suction pad installed on the hand plate and adsorbing and fixing a bottom surface of the substrate;
The vacuum adsorption pad
A substrate transport apparatus comprising a resilient layer pad that is elastically deformable in response to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate. The method of claim 1,
The vacuum adsorption pad
An upper pad in contact with the substrate; And
Includes; a lower pad in contact with the hand plate
The elastic layer pad is provided between the upper pad and the lower pad. The method of claim 2,
The upper pad is provided with a material including a peak (PEEK),
The lower layer pad is provided with a material containing PEEK or aluminum,
The elastic layer pad is a substrate transfer device provided with a material containing silicon. A load port in which the cassette is located;
An external transfer source having a support pin for taking over the substrate; And
Including an index robot for transferring the substrate between the load port and the transfer source,
The index robot,
A hand plate supporting the substrate; And
A vacuum suction pad installed on the hand plate and adsorbing and fixing a bottom surface of the substrate;
The vacuum adsorption pad
An upper pad in contact with the substrate;
A lower pad in contact with the hand plate;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising a resilient layer pad provided between the upper pad and the lower pad and elastically deformable due to a height difference due to warpage of the substrate. The method of claim 4,
The upper pad is provided with a material including a peak (PEEK),
The lower layer pad is provided with a material containing PEEK or aluminum,
The elastic layer pad is a substrate transfer device provided with a material containing silicon.

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