TW202314944A - Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing system and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing technique of processing a substrate using a treatment fluid and provides an intermediate movable body that is movable between the substrate and a substrate support part in the vertical direction. The movable body supports the underside of the substrate above a substrate support position in the vertical direction while being supported from below by the upper end portion of a lift pin projecting upward from a through hole in the vertical direction. The lift pin retracts into the through hole, so that the movable body transfers the substrate to the substrate support part at the substrate support position and is locked onto the substrate support part to close the through hole. This allows the movable body to block a flow of the treatment fluid to the substrate through the through hole, thereby effectively preventing the adverse effect of the treatment fluid.

Description

Substrate processing device, substrate processing system, and substrate processing method

The present invention relates to a substrate processing technique using a processing fluid to process a substrate.

The entire content of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-149933 is incorporated by citing the specification, drawings, and disclosures in the claims of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-149933 (filed on September 15, 2021) In this article.

Processes for processing various substrates such as semiconductor substrates and glass substrates for display devices include processes for processing the surfaces of the substrates with various processing fluids. Conventionally, treatments using liquids such as chemical solutions and rinse solutions as treatment fluids have been widely performed, but in recent years, treatments using supercritical fluids have also been put into practical use. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-9877 describes an apparatus for carrying a substrate into a processing chamber while being supported by a support tray (corresponding to an example of the "substrate support unit" of the present invention). (processing chamber) processing space in which the substrate is dried by a supercritical processing fluid. This device is provided with a transfer mechanism for transferring substrates between the outside of the processing chamber and the support tray. The transfer mechanism has lift pins that move up and down. The lift pins can move forward and backward freely relative to the through holes provided on the support tray. The upper ends of the lift pins protrude upwards from the supporting surface so as to abut against the lower surface of the substrate to support the substrate. On the other hand, since the lift pins recede toward the through holes, the substrates are delivered to the support tray.

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the through-hole is provided in the support tray, part of the treatment fluid flowing below the support tray flows upward through the through-hole to form an upward flow (symbol F2 in Fig. 4 and Fig. 7 ). . This upward flow may reach the upper surface side of the substrate via the lower surface of the substrate. Due to the upflow, particles may be transported from the lower side of the substrate to the upper surface side of the substrate, and adhere again to the fine pattern formed on the upper surface of the substrate. Also, upwelling sometimes disrupts the flow of process fluid flowing along the upper surface of the substrate, thereby increasing the risk of pattern collapse.

The present invention was made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to effectively prevent adverse effects of the processing fluid flowing into the substrate side through the through-hole provided in the substrate supporting portion when the substrate is processed using the processing fluid.

A first aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate using a processing fluid, comprising: a substrate supporting portion supporting a substrate in a horizontal posture from below at a substrate supporting position in a vertical direction; and a transfer mechanism. , has a lifting pin for lifting and lowering through a through hole provided in the substrate supporting part, and the substrate is handed over to the substrate supporting part by the advancing and retreating of the lifting pin relative to the through hole; and the intermediate moving body can be used in The substrate and the substrate support part move in the vertical direction; the intermediate moving system is supported from below by the upper end of the lift pin protruding vertically upward from the through hole and supports the lower surface of the substrate at a position higher vertically than the substrate support position ; With the lifting pin retreating to the through hole, the substrate is handed over to the substrate supporting part at the substrate supporting position and locked on the substrate supporting part to block the through hole.

Furthermore, a second aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing system comprising: the substrate processing apparatus described above; a substrate storage unit for storing substrates; an intermediate moving body storage unit for storing intermediate moving bodies; and a transfer device for holding the substrate Transport from the substrate storage unit to the substrate processing device, and transport the intermediate moving body from the mobile body storage unit to the substrate processing device; the substrate processing device transfers the intermediate moving body carried out from the intermediate moving body storage unit by the transfer device to the substrate support Part; hand over the substrate carried out from the substrate storage part by the transfer device to the upper contact part of the intermediate moving body supported by the substrate supporting part; process the substrate supported by the intermediate moving body on the substrate supporting part by processing fluid .

Furthermore, the third aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method, which is used to perform processing by the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus, and includes the following steps: handing over the intermediate moving body from the intermediate moving body storage part to the substrate supporting part ; delivering the substrate from the substrate accommodating part to the upper abutting part of the intermediate moving body supported by the substrate supporting part; and treating the substrate supported by the intermediate moving body on the substrate supporting part with a processing fluid.

In the invention thus constituted, a through-hole is provided in the substrate support part in order to transfer the substrate to and from the substrate support part via the lift pins of the transfer mechanism. The through holes serve as flow paths for the processing fluid to flow to the substrate side, but when the substrate is handed over to the substrate supporting part by the lift pins, it will be blocked by the intermediate moving body. Therefore, the inflow of the processing fluid to the substrate side through the through hole is blocked by the intermediate moving body.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a substrate is processed using a processing fluid, it is possible to effectively prevent adverse effects of the processing fluid flowing into the substrate side through the through hole provided in the substrate supporting portion.

Not all of the plurality of constituent elements of the above-mentioned aspects of the present invention are essential, and they are used to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems, or to achieve some or all of the effects described in this specification, and the above-mentioned plural A part of a constituent element is changed, deleted, replaced with a new other constituent element, and a part of a limited content is deleted. Furthermore, in order to solve part or all of the above-mentioned problems, or to achieve part or all of the effects described in this specification, part or all of the technical features included in the above-mentioned aspect of the present invention may be combined with the above-mentioned present invention. A part or all of the technical features included in other aspects of the invention form an independent form of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the shape and positional relationship of each part related to the transfer of the substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 . FIGS. 3A and 3B are partially enlarged views of respective parts during a transfer operation of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 . In addition, in these drawings and the drawings described later, the size and quantity of each part are exaggerated or simplified as needed for easy understanding. Furthermore, in order to uniformly display the directions in each figure, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set as shown in FIG. 1 . Here, the XY plane is a horizontal plane, and the Z direction is a vertical direction. More specifically, the -Z direction is displayed vertically downward.

This substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for processing the surface of various substrates such as semiconductor substrates using a supercritical state processing fluid. Here, as the "substrate" in this embodiment, semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for photomasks, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, and substrates for FED (Field Emission Display) can be applied. , Substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for optical magnetic disks and other substrates. Hereinafter, the substrate processing apparatus used for processing a semiconductor wafer will be described with reference to the drawings as an example, but it can also be similarly applied to the processing of various substrates exemplified above.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a processing unit 10 , a transfer unit 30 , a supply unit 50 , an intermediate moving body 70 , and a control unit 90 . The processing unit 10 becomes the executive body of the supercritical drying process, and the transfer unit 30 receives unprocessed substrates transported by an external transport device not shown and carries them into the processing unit 10, and transfers the processed substrates to the processing unit 10. It is carried out from the processing unit 10 to an external transport device. The supply unit 50 supplies chemical substances and power required for processing to the processing unit 10 and the transfer unit 30 . The intermediate moving body 70 moves integrally with the lift pins 37 of the transfer unit 30 when the transfer unit 30 transfers the substrate, and moves together with the support tray 15 when the processing unit 10 processes the substrate as will be described in detail later.

The control unit 90 controls each part of these devices so as to realize predetermined processing. For this purpose, the control unit 90 is provided with the following members: CPU (Central Processing Unit; Central Processing Unit) 91, which executes various control programs; memory 92, which stores and processes data temporarily; storage (storage) 93 , is to store the control program executed by the CPU 91; and the interface 94 is used to exchange information with the user or external devices. The operation of the device described later is realized by the CPU 91 executing a control program written in advance into the memory 93 so that each part of the device performs a predetermined operation.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the processing unit 10 has a structure in which a processing chamber 12 is installed on a base 11 . The processing chamber 12 is composed of a combination of several metal blocks, and the inside is a cavity to form a processing space SP. The substrate S to be processed is carried into the processing space SP and processed. A slit-shaped opening 121 elongated in the X direction is formed on the −Y side of the processing chamber 12 , and the processing space SP is communicated with the external space through the opening 121 .

A cover member 13 is provided on the (-Y) side of the processing chamber 12 to cover the opening 121 . A flat support tray 15 is attached to the +Y side surface of the cover member 13 in a horizontal posture. The upper surface 151 of the support tray 15 is a support surface on which the substrate S can be placed. As shown in FIG. 2 , in the substrate supporting region of the upper surface 151 , a plurality of (three in this embodiment) through-holes 152 are scattered in the vertical direction Z. As shown in FIG. The through-holes 152 are provided for advancing and retreating the lift pins 37 of the transfer unit 30 described later from the support tray 15 , and the inner diameters of the through-holes 152 are set slightly wider than the outer diameters of the lift pins 37 .

Furthermore, one plug structure body 71 is arranged so as to be detachable from each of the three through-holes 152 , and the intermediate moving body 70 is constituted by these three plug structure bodies 71 . Each plug structure 71 has: a columnar member 72 that can be inserted and removed from the through hole 152 as a whole, and whose lower end is finished so that it can be freely engaged with the upper end of the lift pin 37; and an umbrella member 73 that is It is connected to the upper end portion of the columnar member 72 so as to cover the through hole 152 and the periphery of the through hole 152 from above. As the plug structure 71 , a structure obtained by machining a metal material such as stainless steel and then electropolishing its surface can be used.

Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B , when the lift pin 37 rises toward the through hole 152 in the state where the columnar member 72 of the plug structure 71 is inserted into the through hole 152 , the upper end of the lift pin 37 in the through hole 152 is engaged with the lower surface of the columnar member 72 . When the lift pin 37 further penetrates the support tray 15 through the through hole 152 and rises while maintaining the engaged state, as shown in FIG. 37 move in the vertical direction Z together. Then, when the lift pin 37 moves to a preset rising end, the plug structure 71 is positioned to the loading and unloading position P1 away from the support tray 15 upward. In this way, the lift pin 37 whose upper end is covered by the plug structure 71 can transfer the substrate S to and from the hand H of an external transfer device (for example, transfer robot 111 shown in FIG. 10 ). In addition, in this embodiment, the protruding portion 731 protrudes upward from the center of the upper end of the umbrella member 73 , and abuts against the lower surface of the substrate S for support when the substrate S is handed over to the hand H.

On the other hand, when the lift pin 37 descends through the through hole 152 , the plug structure 71 descends together to the height position P3 of the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15 as will be described in detail below. That is, the intermediate moving body 70 constituted by the plug structure 71 is located between the support tray 15 and the substrate S, and moves in the vertical direction Z in conjunction with the raising and lowering operation of the lift pin 37 . In particular, as shown in FIG. 3B , substrate support at the substrate support position P2 and sealing of the through hole 152 at the height position P3 are sequentially performed while the upper end of the lift pin 37 moves below the height position P3 . That is, at the stage where the protruding portion 731 of the supporting substrate S and the lifting pin 37 move integrally to be lower than the substrate supporting position P2, the substrate S is handed over to a plurality of substrate supports erected from the upper surface 151 of the supporting tray 15. pin 153. The upper end portions of the plurality of substrate support pins 153 are all located at the substrate support position P2 in the vertical direction Z. Thereby, the board|substrate S is positioned at the board|substrate support position P2 in the state which floated by predetermined height (=P2-P3) from the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15. As shown in FIG. A little later, as the lifting pin 37 descends, the plug structure 71 also descends integrally, the columnar member 72 enters the through hole 152 as a whole, and the umbrella member 73 is locked in the through hole 152 at the height position P3. around and block the through hole 152 from above. Thereby, the intermediate moving body 70 completely blocks the three through-holes 152 and is integrated with the support tray 15 .

Next, the lift pin 37 moves downward from the through hole 152 and the plug structure 71 to a position where it does not interfere with the movement of the support tray 15 in the Y direction.

In order to raise and lower the lift pins 37 as described above, the transfer unit 30 including the lift pins 37 further includes a main body 31 , a lift member 33 and a base member 35 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . The elevating member 33 is a columnar member extending in the Z direction, and is movably supported in the Z direction by a support mechanism not shown. A base member 35 having a substantially horizontal upper surface is attached to the upper portion of the lift member 33 , and a plurality of lift pins 37 are erected upward from the upper surface of the base member 35 . The respective upper ends of the lift pins 37 are in contact with the lower surface of the substrate S via the plug structure 71 , thereby supporting the substrate S in a horizontal posture from below. In order to stably support the substrate S, it is desirable to provide more than N (N≧3) lift pins 37 whose upper ends are equal in height, and to provide N through holes 152 and N plug structures 71 correspondingly.

The lifting member 33 is movable up and down by the lifting mechanism 51 provided on the supply unit 50 . Specifically, the elevating mechanism 51 includes, for example, a linear motion mechanism such as a linear motor, a linear guide, a ball screw mechanism, a solenoid (solenoid), and an air cylinder. The mechanism moves the lifting member 33 in the Z direction. The lift mechanism 51 operates according to a control command from the control unit 90 .

The base member 35 moves up and down by the elevation of the elevation member 33, and the plurality of elevation pins 37 moves up and down integrally with this. Thereby, as described above, the transfer of the substrate S between the transfer unit 30 and the support tray 15 is realized via the intermediate moving body 70 .

When the handover of the substrate S is completed and the lift pins 37 retreat downward from the support tray 15 , the intermediate moving body 70 is integrated with the support tray 15 as shown in FIG. 3B . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the support tray 15 is held by the cover member 13 in a cantilever posture. The cover member 13 is supported horizontally in the Y direction by a support mechanism not shown in the figure. The cover member 13 is movable forward and backward relative to the processing chamber 12 by the forward and backward mechanism 53 provided on the supply unit 50 . Specifically, the advancing and retreating mechanism 53 includes, for example, a linear motion mechanism such as a linear motor, a linear guide rail, a ball screw mechanism, a solenoid, and an air cylinder, and such a linear motion mechanism moves the cover member 13 in the Y direction. Therefore, the support tray 15 , the intermediate moving body 70 , and the substrate S move in the Y direction together with the cover member 13 by the advancing and retreating mechanism 53 operating according to the control command from the control unit 90 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , when the support tray 15 is pulled out from the processing space SP through the opening 121 by moving the cover member 13 in the (-Y) direction, the support tray 15 can be accessed. That is, it is possible to place the substrate S on the support tray 15 and take out the substrate S placed on the support tray 15 . On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B , when the cover member 13 moves in the +Y direction, the support tray 15 is accommodated in the processing space SP. When the substrate S is placed on the support tray 15 , the substrate S is carried into the processing space SP together with the support tray 15 in a state where the through-hole 152 is blocked by the intermediate moving body 70 .

When the lid member 13 moves in the +Y direction to close the opening 121, the processing space SP is sealed. In addition, although not shown, a sealing member is provided between the +Y side surface of the cover member 13 and the −Y side surface of the processing chamber 12 to maintain the airtight state of the processing space SP. Furthermore, the cover member 13 is fixed with respect to the processing chamber 12 by the locking mechanism which is not shown in figure. In the state where the airtight state of the processing space SP is ensured in this way, the processing with respect to the board|substrate S is performed in the processing space SP.

In this embodiment, a fluid such as carbon dioxide, which is a substance usable in supercritical treatment, is supplied to the processing unit 10 in a gaseous or liquid state from the fluid supply unit 57 provided in the supply unit 50 . Carbon dioxide is in a supercritical state at relatively low temperature and low pressure, and has the property of dissolving organic solvents that are often used in substrate processing well, so it is a chemical substance suitable for supercritical drying treatment in this respect.

The fluid system is filled in the processing space SP, and when the inside of the processing space SP reaches an appropriate temperature and pressure, the fluid system becomes a supercritical state. In this way, the substrate S is processed by the processing fluid in the processing chamber 12 . A fluid recovery unit 55 is provided in the supply unit 50 , and the treated fluid is recovered by the fluid recovery unit 55 . The fluid supply part 57 and the fluid recovery part 55 are controlled by the control unit 90 .

Fig. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the situation in which the substrate is processed by the processing fluid in the processing chamber in the first embodiment. The difference between the present embodiment and the prior art is that the through-hole 152 is blocked by the plug structure 71 constituting the intermediate moving body 70, while other structures and operations are basically the same. That is, in the prior art, the plug structure 71 is not provided, and the through hole 152 communicates the lower space SP1 of the support tray 15 with the upper space SP2. Therefore, in the processing fluid flowing in the processing chamber 12, a part of the processing fluid F1 flowing in the lower space SP1 will flow into the upper space SP2 through the through hole 152 as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 4 and form an upward flow F2. . This upward flow F2 is further returned to the upper surface side of the substrate S via the lower surface of the substrate S. As shown in FIG. Therefore, if the particles are transported from the lower space SP1 or the upper space SP2 to the upper surface side of the substrate S by the upflow F2, they may reattach to the fine pattern formed on the upper surface of the substrate S. Moreover, the upflow F2 disrupts the flow of the processing fluid F3 flowing along the upper surface of the substrate S, increasing the risk of pattern collapse.

On the other hand, according to the first embodiment, when the treatment fluid is used in the treatment chamber 12 to perform treatment, the through hole 152 is blocked by the plug structure 71 . Therefore, among the processing fluid F1 flowing in the lower space SP1 , the processing fluid flowing into the through hole 152 is blocked by the plug structure 71 as shown by the solid arrow in the figure. Thereby, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of the upward flow F2, so that there is no upward flow. As a result, adverse effects (reattachment of particles and pattern collapse) caused by the processing fluid flowing into the substrate S side can be reliably prevented, and high-quality substrate processing can be performed.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the shapes and positional relationship of each part related to the delivery and transfer of substrates in the second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIGS. 6A and 6B are partially enlarged views of respective parts during the transfer operation of the substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 . The major difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the support tray 15 is not vertically provided with substrate support pins 152 and the upper surface 151 is flat, and the structure of the intermediate moving body 70 is also different, and other structures are basically the same as The first embodiment is the same. Therefore, the following description will focus on different points, and the same symbols will be assigned to the same configurations, and descriptions of the configurations will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the intermediate moving body 70 has: a lower abutting portion 74 that is finished into a shape that can be abutted against the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15; and an upper abutting portion 75 that is abutted from below. The upper surface of the portion 74 protrudes upward and is finished into a shape capable of contacting the lower surface of the substrate S. As shown in FIG. The lower abutting portion 74 has a planar dimension SZ2 (see FIG. 6A ) larger than the planar dimension SZ1 (see FIG. 6A ) of the substrate supporting region 154 (see FIG. 5 ) including all the through holes 152 . Then, the lower abutting portion 74 is disposed so as to cover the substrate supporting region 154 when viewed from vertically above. On the other hand, the upper contact part 75 has a shape corresponding to the hand part H of the conveyance apparatus provided outside. That is, the hand H has arms AR separated from each other in the X direction, and has a tuning fork shape when viewed from vertically above. Therefore, in order to avoid interference with the hand H, when viewed from vertically above, the upper abutting portion 75 has a substantially elliptical shape formed by two parallel lines of equal length and two circular arcs, and the distance between the two parallel lines The interval is narrower than the separation distance of the arms AR. Furthermore, the protrusion height of the upper contact portion 75 from the lower contact portion 74 is higher than the thickness of the arm AR. Therefore, as will be described later, it is possible to perform the handover operation with the hand H and the sealing of the through hole 152 while the intermediate moving body 70 is positioned between the substrate S and the support tray 15 .

For example, as shown in FIG. 6B , when the lift pin 37 rises toward the through hole 152 in a state where the intermediate moving body 70 is placed on the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15, the upper end of the lift pin 37 reaches the upper opening of the through hole 152. The stage abuts against the lower abutting portion 74 of the intermediate moving body 70 to be supported from below. When the supported state is maintained and the lift pins 37 further penetrate the support tray 15 through the through holes 152 and rise, the intermediate moving body 70 moves in the vertical direction Z together with the lift pins 37 as shown in FIG. 6A . Then, when the lift pin 37 moves to a predetermined rising end, the upper contact portion 75 of the intermediate moving body 70 is positioned at the loading and unloading position P1. Thereby, the board|substrate S can be delivered between the intermediate moving body 70 supported by the lift pin 37, and the hand part H of the conveyance apparatus provided outside. That is, when the substrate S is handed over to the hand H, the entire upper surface of the upper abutting portion 75 is abutted against the lower surface of the substrate S to be supported.

On the other hand, when the lift pins 37 descend below the support tray 15 through the through holes 152 , the intermediate moving body 70 is placed on the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15 while supporting the substrate S from below. At this time, the through-holes 152 provided on the support tray 15 are all blocked by the lower contact portion 74 of the intermediate moving body 70 to be sealed. Further, the support tray 15 and the substrate S can move integrally in the Y direction while the through hole 152 is blocked by the lift pin 37 moving downward from the support tray 15 . Then, the cover member 13 supporting the support tray 15 in a cantilever state moves in the +Y direction, whereby the support tray 15, the intermediate moving body 70, and the substrate S are integrally accommodated in the processing space SP. Then, the processing space SP is sealed by moving the lid member 13 in the +Y direction to close the opening 121 . Next, the treatment fluid system is filled in the treatment space SP, and when the temperature and pressure in the treatment space SP reach an appropriate level, the treatment fluid system becomes a supercritical state. In this way, the substrate S is processed by the processing fluid in the processing chamber 12 .

Fig. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the situation in which the substrate is processed by the processing fluid in the processing chamber in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the through hole 152 is blocked by the lower contact portion 74 of the intermediate moving body 70 when the processing fluid is used in the processing chamber 12 . Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, the processing fluid flowing into the through hole 152 among the processing fluid F1 flowing in the lower space SP1 is blocked by the lower contact portion 74 as indicated by the solid arrow in the figure. Thereby, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of the upward flow F2, so that there is no upward flow. As a result, adverse effects (reattachment of particles and pattern collapse) caused by the processing fluid flowing into the substrate S side can be reliably prevented, and high-quality substrate processing can be performed.

Furthermore, in the second embodiment, as shown in the enlarged view (dotted line portion) in FIG. 7 , the processing fluid F3 is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate S supported by the upper contact portion 75 . Here, if the configuration of the intermediate moving body 70 is changed, for example, the protrusion height of the upper contact portion 75 is changed, the distance D between the top surface constituting the processing space SP and the upper surface of the substrate S can be adjusted. Therefore, by adjusting the distance D according to the type and size of the substrate S, the flow velocity and flow rate of the processing fluid F3 can be adapted to the type of the substrate S and the like. As a result, it is possible to cope with various substrates S and has high versatility.

Moreover, in the second embodiment, although the substrate S is supported by the upper abutting portion 75 having a substantially elliptical shape when viewed from above, the shape and number of the upper abutting portion 75 are not limited thereto. For example, The upper abutting portion 75 may also be constituted by a plurality of support pins as described below. Furthermore, a plurality of types of intermediate moving bodies 70 having different heights of upper contact portions 75 may be prepared in advance, and the intermediate moving bodies 70 to be used may be selectively used according to the type of substrate S (third embodiment).

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of a substrate processing system for processing a substrate using a third embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of intermediate moving bodies used in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 8 and containers for accommodating these intermediate moving bodies. The substrate processing system 100 is, for example, a blade-type device, which is installed in a clean room and is used to process substrates S having fine patterns formed on only one main surface one by one. As shown in FIG. 8 , the substrate processing system 100 is provided with: a processing unit 110 having a substrate processing apparatus 1 corresponding to the third embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention and a moving object cleaning apparatus 3 , and the moving object cleaning apparatus 3 is The intermediate moving body 70 used in the substrate processing apparatus 1 for cleaning; and the indexer part 120 are combined with the processing part 110 . The index unit 120 is provided with: a container holding unit 123 capable of holding a substrate container CS (a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) for storing a plurality of substrates S in a sealed state) for accommodating a substrate S, a SMIF ( Standard Mechanical Interface (Standard Mechanical Interface) box, OC (Open Cassette; open crystal box), etc.) and the mobile body container CM for accommodating the intermediate mobile body 70; 123 holds the substrate container CS and the mobile body container CM, which are used to take out the unprocessed substrate S from the substrate container CS, store the processed substrate S into the substrate container CS, and store the intermediate mobile body 70 before use. The intermediate mobile body 70 that has been taken out from the mobile body container CM and cleaned is accommodated in the mobile body container CM or the like. A plurality of substrates S are accommodated in the substrate container CS in a substantially horizontal posture. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9 , a plurality of support pins 751 are erected on the upper surface of the lower contact portion 74 as the upper contact portion 75. The intermediate moving body 70 is accommodated in a horizontal posture with the support pins 751 facing upwards. The mobile body container CM. In this substrate processing system 100, in order to cope with various substrates S, a plurality of types of intermediate moving bodies 70 having support pins 751 having different protrusion heights are accommodated in the container CM for moving bodies.

The indexing robot 122 is provided with: a base part 122a, which is fixed to the device casing; a multi-joint arm 122b, which is provided to be rotatable around a vertical axis relative to the base part 122a; and a hand part 122c, which is mounted on the front end of the multi-joint arm 122b. . The hand 122c has a structure capable of placing and holding the substrate S or the intermediate moving body 70 on the upper surface. Such an index robot having a multi-joint arm and a hand for holding a substrate is well known, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The processing unit 110 is provided with a transfer robot 111 arranged approximately at the center in a plan view, and a substrate processing apparatus 1 and a moving object cleaning apparatus 3 arranged to surround the transfer robot 111 . Specifically, three substrate processing apparatuses 1 and one mobile object cleaning apparatus 3 are arranged to face each other with respect to the space where the transfer robot 111 is arranged. The transport robot 111 randomly accesses these substrate processing apparatuses 1 to deliver the substrate S, and delivers the intermediate moving body 70 to the moving body cleaning apparatus 3 . On the other hand, the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs predetermined processing on the substrate S similarly to the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the second embodiment, and the moving body cleaning apparatus 3 cleans the intermediate moving body 70 used in the substrate processing apparatus 1. deal with. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is the same as the second embodiment ( FIG. 5 ) of the present invention, except that the upper abutting portion 75 of the intermediate moving body 70 is a pin structure, and the moving body cleaning apparatus 3 can use a blade system. Since it is an apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers and the like, detailed configuration descriptions of the substrate processing apparatus 1 and the moving body cleaning apparatus 3 are omitted here.

In the substrate processing system 100 configured in this way, the control device (not shown in the figure) controls each part of the system as follows according to a recipe that predetermines the type of substrate S, processing contents, and the like. Hereinafter, an outline of an operation for processing the n-th substrate S will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11A to 11E .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of processing a substrate by the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 8 . Moreover, FIGS. 11A to 11E are diagrams showing operations performed in a substrate processing apparatus equipped in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 8 . In more detail, FIG. 11A is a diagram schematically showing the receiving operation of the intermediate mobile body, FIG. 11B is a diagram schematically showing the preparation operation for transferring the substrate, and FIG. 11C is a diagram schematically showing the receiving operation of the substrate. Figure 11D schematically shows the preparatory action for storing the substrate and the intermediate moving body in the processing chamber, and Figure 11E schematically shows the storage operation of the substrate and the intermediate moving body in the processing chamber picture.

In the case of processing the nth substrate S, the control device reads the position corresponding to the nth substrate S, uses one of the three substrate processing apparatuses 1 (hereinafter referred to as “substrate processing apparatus 1A”) and The substrate S is treated with a treatment fluid. More specifically, the control device controls each part of the system according to the read prescription, and executes the following series of operations.

The intermediate mobile body 70 corresponding to the prescription is delivered from the mobile body container CM to the substrate processing apparatus 1A (step S1). More specifically, the intermediate mobile body 70 corresponding to the above prescription is, for example, the intermediate mobile body 70 having a support pin 751 with a protrusion height H1, which is selectively taken out from the mobile body container CM by the index robot 122, and transported to the processing section. 110 and temporarily loaded on the buffer 112 . Then, the transport robot 111 accesses the buffer 112 and picks up the intermediate moving body 70 with the hand H. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the intermediate moving body 70 is delivered between the index robot 122 and the transfer robot 111 via the buffer 112 , but the intermediate moving body 70 may be directly transferred between the index robot 122 and the transfer robot 111 . The same applies to transfer of the substrate S in this point. In this way, the hand H of the transfer robot 111 that has received the intermediate moving body 70 accesses the substrate processing apparatus 1A and carries it into the substrate processing apparatus 1A as shown in FIG. 11A . At this time, the upper end portion of the lift pin 37 is positioned lower than the loading/unloading position P1, and the intermediate moving body 70 is loaded into the loading/unloading position P1 in this positioned state. Next, the lift pins 37 are raised to lift the intermediate moving body 70 above the loading and unloading position P1, and the intermediate moving body 70 is received from the hand H. FIG.

After the transfer of the intermediate mobile body 70, as shown in FIG. The upper end portion of the support pin 751 is lower than the loading/unloading position P1. In this way, delivery preparations for the n-th substrate S are performed (step S2).

In parallel with the transfer preparation described above, the n-th substrate S is taken out from the substrate container CS by the index robot 122 , transported to the processing unit 110 and temporarily placed on the buffer 112 . Then, when the transfer preparation of the substrate S is completed, the transfer robot 111 accesses the buffer 112 and picks up the substrate S with the hand H, and the hand H of the transfer robot 111 accesses the substrate processing apparatus 1A as shown in FIG. 11C As shown, it is loaded into the substrate processing apparatus 1A. At this time, the upper end portion of the support pin 751 is positioned lower than the loading/unloading position P1, and the substrate S is loaded into the loading/unloading position P1 in this positioned state. Next, as the lift pins 37 rise, the support pins 751 of the intermediate moving body 70 lift the substrate S higher than the loading and unloading position P1, and receive the substrate S from the hand H (step S3). Thereby, the laminated body in which the board|substrate S is supported by the support pin 751 of the intermediate moving body 70 is formed, and the lift pin 37 supports this laminated body from below.

In order to place this laminate (=intermediate moving body 70+substrate S) on the support tray 15 and accommodate it in the processing chamber 12, the lift pin 37 is lowered through the through hole 152 while supporting the laminate (see FIG. 11D ). . Then, when the lift pin 37 moves below the through hole 152 , the intermediate moving body 70 is placed on the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15 in a state of supporting the substrate S from below. At this time, the through-holes 152 provided on the support tray 15 are all blocked by the lower contact portion 74 of the intermediate moving body 70 to be sealed. And, because the lifting pin 37 is away from the support tray 15 downward, the support tray 15 and the substrate S can move in the Y direction integrally in the state of blocking the through hole 152 (step S4: the storage preparation of the substrate+intermediate moving body is completed ). In addition, in parallel with such storage preparations, as shown in FIG. 11D , the hand H of the transfer robot 111 retreats from the substrate processing apparatus 1A.

In the next step S5, the cover member 13 supported by the support tray 15 in a cantilever state moves in the +Y direction (see FIG. 11E ). Thereby, the support tray 15, the intermediate moving body 70, and the substrate S are integrally accommodated in the processing space SP. Furthermore, since the opening 121 is blocked by the movement of the cover member 13 in the +Y direction, the processing space SP is sealed. Next, the treatment fluid is filled into the treatment space SP, and when the temperature and pressure in the treatment space SP reach an appropriate level, the treatment fluid system becomes a supercritical state. In this way, the substrate S is processed by the processing fluid in the processing chamber 12 (step S6).

When the treatment by the treatment fluid is completed, the cover member 13 moves in the -Y direction. Thereby, the support tray 15, the intermediate moving body 70, and the board|substrate S are taken out from the processing space SP integrally (step S7). Next, the lift pins 37 are lifted up through the through holes 152, and the laminate (=used intermediate moving body 70+processed substrate S) is integrally lifted from the support tray 15 so that the substrate S is positioned above the loading and unloading position P1. . Next, after the hand H of the transfer robot 111 accesses the substrate processing apparatus 1A and is positioned at the loading/unloading position P1, the lift pins 37 descend. Thereby, the board|substrate S is delivered to the hand H from the intermediate moving body 70 at the carrying in and carrying out position P1. Then, the transfer robot 111 that has received the processed substrate S returns to the substrate container CS in the reverse order of the loading of the unprocessed substrate S (step S8 ).

After the processed substrate S is carried out as described above, the used intermediate moving body 70 stays on the lift pins 37 . Therefore, in this embodiment, the intermediate mobile body 70 is handed over to the mobile body cleaning device 3 (step S9), and after being cleaned by the mobile body cleaning device 3 (step S10), the cleaned intermediate mobile body 70 is returned to the mobile The body container CM is prepared for the next use (step S11). In addition, the operation of taking out the intermediate moving body 70 from the substrate processing apparatus 1A is performed by an operation opposite to the operation of transferring from the hand H to the lift pins 37 . Furthermore, the handover from the substrate processing apparatus 1A to the moving object cleaning apparatus 3 is performed only by the transfer robot 111, and the operation of returning the cleaned intermediate moving object 70 from the moving object cleaning apparatus 3 to the moving object container CM is the same as step S8. Similarly, it is performed by the transfer robot 111 , the buffer 112 and the index robot 122 .

In parallel with the transfer from the substrate processing apparatus 1A to the moving object cleaning apparatus 3 by the transfer robot 111 , the sequence for processing the (n+1)th substrate S starts.

As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1A of the third embodiment, the same functional effects as those of the second embodiment can be obtained. And, the used intermediate moving body 70 is reused after cleaning. Therefore, the utilization efficiency of the intermediate moving body 70 can be improved, and the running cost can be reduced.

In addition, in the third embodiment, the intermediate moving body 70 ( FIG. 9 ) provided with the support pin 751 as the upper contact portion 75 is used, and the intermediate moving body 70 ( FIG. 5 ) used in the second embodiment may also be used. .

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the support tray 15 corresponds to an example of the "substrate support part" of the present invention. The transfer unit 30 corresponds to an example of the "transfer mechanism" of the present invention. The container CS for a substrate and the container CM for a moving body correspond to an example of the "substrate storage part" and the "moving body storage part" of this invention, respectively. The transfer robot 111 and the index robot 122 correspond to an example of the "transfer device" of the present invention.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Unless it deviates from the summary, various changes other than the above can be made. For example, the processing chamber 12 of the above-mentioned embodiment executes supercritical drying processing in the internal processing space SP. However, the technical idea of the present invention can also be applied to other substrate processing. In particular, the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that places a substrate to be processed on a support tray and carries it into a processing chamber. The lower side of the support tray generates an upwelling.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned second embodiment and third embodiment, although the intermediate moving body 70 is placed on the upper surface 151 of the support tray 15, the lower surface of the lower contact portion 74 is used to block the lower surface of the support tray 15. However, like the first embodiment, a columnar member that can be inserted into the through hole 152 may protrude downward from the lower surface of the lower contact portion 74 .

Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the support tray 15 was attached to the side surface of the cover member 13 and moved integrally, it is not limited to this. For example, the support tray may be configured to move independently of the cover member. In this case, the cover member may be a door-shaped member that is freely openably and closably attached to the opening of the processing chamber.

In addition, the various chemical substances used in the processing of the above-mentioned embodiment are some examples, and various chemical substances may be used instead as long as it conforms to the technical idea of the present invention described above.

Not all of the plurality of constituent elements of the above-mentioned aspects of the present invention are essential, and they are used to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems, or to achieve some or all of the effects described in this specification, and the above-mentioned plural A part of a constituent element is changed, deleted, replaced with a new other constituent element, and a part of a limited content is deleted. Furthermore, in order to solve part or all of the above-mentioned problems, or to achieve part or all of the effects described in this specification, part or all of the technical features included in the above-mentioned aspect of the present invention may be combined with the above-mentioned present invention. A part or all of the technical features included in other aspects of the invention form an independent form of the present invention.

The present invention is applicable to all substrate processing techniques that use processing fluids to process substrates.

1,1A: Substrate processing device 3: Mobile body cleaning device 10: Processing unit 11: base 12: Processing chamber 13: cover member 15: Support tray (substrate support part) 30: transfer unit (transfer mechanism) 31: Ontology 33: lifting components 35: Base member 37:Lift pin 50: supply unit 51: Lifting mechanism 53:Advance and retreat mechanism 55: Fluid Recovery Department 57: Fluid supply part 70: Intermediate moving body 71: Plug structure 72: columnar components 73: Umbrella member 74: Bottom contact part 75: upper abutment part 90: Control unit 91:CPU 92: memory 93: Storage 94: interface 100: Substrate processing system 110: processing department 111: Handling robot (handling device) 120: Index Department 121: opening 122: Index robot (handling device) 122a: Basal part 122b: multi-joint arm 122c: hand 123: container holding part 151: the upper surface (of the substrate support part) 152: Through hole 153: Substrate support pin 154: substrate support area 731: protruding part 751: support pin AR: arm CM: Container for mobile objects (mobile object storage unit) CS: Substrate container (substrate storage unit) D: Interval F1, F3: process fluid F2: Upwelling H: hand P1: Moving in and out position P2: Substrate support position P3: height position S: Substrate SP: Processing Space SP1: Space below SP2: Upper Space SZ1: (substrate) plane size SZ2: Plane dimension (of the lower contact part) X, Y: direction Z: vertical direction

[ Fig. 1 ] is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. [ Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the shape and positional relationship of each part related to transfer of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1 . [ Fig. 3A] Fig. 3A is a partially enlarged view of each part during a transfer operation of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1 . [ Fig. 3B] Fig. 3B is a partially enlarged view of each part during a transfer operation of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1 . [ Fig. 4 ] is a diagram schematically showing a state in which a substrate is processed with a processing fluid in a processing chamber in the first embodiment. [FIG. 5] It is a figure which shows the shape and positional relationship of each part concerning board|substrate transfer in the 2nd embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of this invention. [FIG. 6A] It is a partial enlarged view of each part in the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 at the time of the substrate transfer operation. [ Fig. 6B] Fig. 6B is a partially enlarged view of each part during a transfer operation of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig. 5 . [ Fig. 7 ] is a diagram schematically showing a state in which a substrate is processed with a processing fluid in a processing chamber in a second embodiment. [FIG. 8] It is a top view which shows an example of the substrate processing system which processes a substrate using the 3rd embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of this invention. [ Fig. 9] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing configurations of intermediate moving bodies used in the substrate processing system shown in Fig. 8 and containers for accommodating these intermediate moving bodies. [ Fig. 10 ] is a diagram showing an operation of processing a substrate by the substrate processing system shown in Fig. 8 . [FIG. 11A] is a diagram schematically showing the pick-up operation of the intermediate mobile body. [ Fig. 11B ] is a diagram schematically showing a preparation operation for transferring substrates. [FIG. 11C] is a diagram schematically showing the receiving operation of the substrate. [ FIG. 11D ] is a diagram schematically showing a preparatory operation for housing a substrate and an intermediate moving body in a processing chamber. [ Fig. 11E ] is a diagram schematically showing the storage operation of the substrate and the intermediate moving body into the processing chamber.

12: Processing chamber

13: cover member

15: Support tray

70: Intermediate moving body

71: Plug structure

152: Through hole

153: Substrate support pin

F1, F3: process fluid

F2: Upwelling

S: Substrate

SP: Processing Space

SP1: Space below

SP2: Upper Space

Claims (10)

A substrate processing apparatus is used to process a substrate using a processing fluid, and has: The substrate supporting part supports the aforementioned substrate in a horizontal posture from below at the substrate supporting position in the vertical direction; The transfer mechanism has lift pins for lifting and lowering through the through-holes provided in the substrate support part, and the transfer of the substrate with the substrate support part is performed by the advance and retreat of the lift pins relative to the through-holes; as well as The intermediate moving body can move in the vertical direction between the aforementioned substrate and the aforementioned substrate support portion; The intermediate moving system is supported from below by the upper end of the lifting pin protruding vertically upward from the through hole, and supports the lower surface of the substrate at a position vertically above the substrate support position; With the lifting pin retreating to the through hole, the substrate is handed over to the substrate support portion at the substrate support position, and locked on the substrate support portion to block the through hole. The substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the substrate support part has a plurality of the through holes; The aforementioned transfer mechanism is for each aforementioned through hole to be provided with a liftable aforementioned lifting pin. The substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein the intermediate moving system has the same number of plug structures as the number of the through holes; Each plug construction system has: The columnar member can be inserted freely relative to the aforementioned through hole as a whole, and the lower end can be freely engaged with the upper end of the aforementioned lifting pin; and The umbrella member is connected to the upper end portion of the columnar member so as to cover the through hole and the periphery of the through hole from above. The substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein a protruding part is provided on the upper part of the umbrella member, and the protruding part protrudes vertically upward and supports the lower surface of the substrate more vertically above the substrate supporting position. . The substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein the substrate support portion has a plurality of substrate support pins protruding vertically upward; The substrate support pin has an upper end portion that is higher in the vertical direction than the upper end of the plug structure in a state that blocks the through hole, and supports the substrate delivered from the lift pin at the upper end portion. The substrate processing apparatus as described in Claim 2, wherein the intermediate moving system has an upper abutting portion capable of abutting against the lower surface of the substrate and a lower abutting portion capable of abutting against the substrate supporting portion, the upper abutment The lower portion and the lower abutting portion integrally move in the vertical direction in accordance with the lifting and lowering of the lift pin. The substrate processing device as described in claim 6, wherein the plurality of through holes are dispersedly arranged in the substrate support area of the substrate support portion for supporting the substrate; When viewed from vertically above, the lower abutting portion has a larger plane size than the substrate supporting region and is arranged to cover the substrate supporting region. The substrate processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the intermediate moving system is made of a metal material. A substrate processing system comprising: The substrate processing device as described in Claim 6 or 7; The substrate housing part accommodates the aforementioned substrate; The moving body storage unit is used to accommodate the above-mentioned intermediate moving body; and a conveying device for conveying the substrate from the substrate storage part to the substrate processing device, and conveying the intermediate moving body from the moving body storage part to the substrate processing device; The substrate processing device delivers the intermediate moving body carried out from the moving body storage part by the transfer device to the substrate supporting part; handing over the substrate carried out from the substrate storage portion by the transfer device to the upper contact portion of the intermediate moving body supported by the substrate support portion; The substrate supported by the intermediate moving body on the substrate supporting part is processed by the processing fluid. A substrate processing method, which uses the substrate processing device as described in claim 6 or 7 to perform the aforementioned processing, and has the following steps: handing over the aforementioned intermediate moving body from the moving body accommodating portion to the aforementioned substrate supporting portion; handing over the aforementioned substrate from the substrate accommodating portion to the aforementioned upper abutting portion of the aforementioned intermediate moving body supported by the aforementioned substrate supporting portion; The substrate supported by the intermediate moving body on the substrate supporting part is processed by the processing fluid.

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