TWI390662B - Substrate transfer device, substrate processing apparatus and substrate transfer method - Google Patents

Description

Substrate transfer device, substrate processing device and substrate transfer method

The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device, a substrate processing device, and a substrate transfer method.

Through the semiconductor integrated circuit process, an integrated circuit is formed on a processing target substrate such as a semiconductor wafer by repeatedly performing various processes such as forming a film, etching, and heat treatment (hereinafter referred to as a semiconductor wafer for short). A "wafer"). In addition, the wafer that has undergone various processes can be further subjected to a specific post-processing. The subsequent processing may be, for example, a wafer cleaning process (for example, a process for removing a substance deposited on the wafer) or a process of determining a processing result by measurement (eg, film thickness measurement processing or particle measurement processing). ).

The wafer processing described above can be performed in a substrate processing apparatus that includes a processing chamber in which a particular type of processing, such as, for example, plasma processing and measurement processing, can be performed. The substrate processing apparatus can include a transfer robot with a transfer arm that carries the substrate into the processing chamber by rotation and front/rear movement. The wafer is typically transferred from the transfer arm to a table mounted within the processing chamber.

When transferring the wafer as described above, a method is commonly employed in the art, with a plurality of support pins passing through the table being moved up/down for the wafer to be lifted from the arm The support pins are received thereon and the wafer is then placed on the table (see, for example, Patent Reference 1). In another transfer method, the wafer clipped by the small pliers constituting a part of the transfer robot is sent to the table by a rotating arm disposed between the transfer robot and the stage (see Patent Reference) Literature 2).

In order to ensure that the wafer placed on the table is processed in an optimal manner, the wafer must be accurately placed on the table, and misalignment at any position in the horizontal direction is not allowed. . Therefore, in the prior art, if the wafer is aligned in the horizontal direction, the wafer is removed from the table by the transfer robot, and the misalignment is at the transfer arm or The transfer robot is corrected and the wafer is then placed on the table.

In particular, if the wafer transferred by up/down the support pins as described in Patent Reference 1 is deemed to be misaligned, then the wafer on the table Will be lifted by the support pins and the transfer arm will wait for it at the location and take the wafer. The wafer position is then adjusted by manipulating the transfer arm before being placed back on the table.

If the transfer robot itself includes a wafer alignment device as described in Patent Reference 2, the wafer position is corrected at the transfer pliers of the transfer robot, and then the wafer is brought back by the rotary arm. On the table (see Figures 2 and 3 of Patent Reference 2).

The transfer arm or the transfer robot that is busy with the misalignment correction as described above cannot perform another operation (for example, the transfer arm or the transfer robot cannot perform the transfer operation of another wafer). One problem that arises is that the yield of wafer processing can become very poor.

This problem is solved in one of the techniques in which the table is displaced along the X and Y directions to correct the misalignment of the wafer in the horizontal direction without involving the transfer arm. quasi. For example, Patent Reference 3 discloses a method in which a table on which the wafer is placed is rotated and wafer misalignment is detected by using a CCD line sensor to detect the entire wafer. The outer circumferential edge, and then the detected misalignment, is corrected by moving the table in the XY direction.

Further, Patent Reference 4 discloses a method in which when the wafer is supported by a rotary support (carrier arm), the outer edge of the wafer is photographed by a plurality of CCD cameras, the wafer The position is determined from the phase results and any misalignment of the wafer is corrected by moving the table in the X and Y directions.

However, in the method disclosed in Patent Reference 3, the wafer must be lowered onto the table by a wafer lifter to detect wafer misalignment and if any wafer misalignment is If detected, the wafer must be lifted off the table by the wafer lifter and the table must be moved along the X and Y directions to correct the wafer misalignment, and then the wafer must be re-aligned. Lower it to the table. Since the wafer must be raised and lowered multiple times, misalignment correction becomes a time consuming operation, which causes the yield of the wafer processing to be reduced.

There is still another problem in the technique disclosed in Patent Reference 4, that is, if the misalignment of the wafer has reached a level where the CCD camera cannot detect the outer edge of the wafer, the wafer is misaligned. Detection cannot be performed, so the misalignment cannot be corrected by moving the table in the X and Y directions. In addition, since the rotation support member (carrier arm) supporting the wafer does not move in the X and Y directions, positional correction along the X and Y directions cannot be performed by the rotation support member (carrier arm). It is achieved by itself.

Therefore, the wafer must be picked up by the transfer robot or the transfer arm and then returned to the rotary support (carrier arm). Since the transfer robot or the transfer arm cannot be involved in other operations (e.g., transfer of a wafer) during this process, the yield of the wafer process is reduced.

(Patent Reference 1) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H06-097269.

(Patent Reference 2) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H05-343500.

(Patent Reference 3) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H08-008328.

(Patent Reference 4) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-280287.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer apparatus that can be driven in a horizontal direction by a support pin that has received a substrate from the transfer arm. The substrate and thus the proper correction of any substrate misalignment without the use of the transfer arm or transfer robot ultimately improves the yield of the wafer process.

The above object is achieved in one aspect of the present invention by providing a substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate to a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a substrate on which the substrate is placed. Between the tables, the substrate transfer device includes a plurality of support pins disposed at positions spaced apart from each other by a support shaft surrounding a table, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate, a support pin is mounted on the base, and a vertical drive mechanism is used to raise/lower the substrate and a horizontal drive mechanism by driving the support pins up/down through the base. The position of the substrate is adjusted in a horizontal direction by horizontally driving the support pins through the base.

According to the present invention, the substrate transfer device includes a support pin that is movable in a horizontal direction (along the X and Y directions), and a substrate that has been transferred from the transfer arm to the support pins can be used without The support pin under the transfer arm that is supported by the substrate is driven in the horizontal direction. Therefore, misalignment at any position of the substrate can be appropriately corrected. In addition, once the substrate is transferred to the support pins, the transfer arm can immediately perform another operation. Therefore, the yield of the substrate treatment can be improved.

A substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting the horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is preferably disposed adjacent to the table. The position of the substrate along the horizontal direction can be detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism, so that the substrate can be mistyped when the substrate is supported on the support pins. Quasi-judgment. According to the present invention, the support pins, rather than the table, are driven in a horizontal direction, so that when the degree of misalignment of the substrate is too large to be detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism, The substrate can be displaced in the horizontal direction through the support pins while the substrate is still held on the support pins to a position where the misalignment can be detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism. Therefore, even if the substrate is misaligned to a large extent, the substrate position can be detected and the misalignment can be appropriately corrected.

It should be noted that the substrate position detecting mechanism should adopt a structure which can detect the circumferential edge of the substrate at at least two points. The central portion of a dish-shaped substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, can be determined as long as the circumferential edge of the substrate can be detected at at least two locations.

The substrate transfer device may further include a control unit that performs a substrate transfer process for receiving the substrate conveyed by the transfer arm by raising the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism, and the substrate is supported on the substrate Detecting the position of the substrate along the horizontal direction by the substrate position detecting mechanism on the support pins, and correcting the substrate by driving the support pins along the horizontal direction through the horizontal driving mechanism Misalignment and ultimately placing the substrate on the table by lowering the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism.

The above structure allows any misalignment to be properly corrected by detecting the position of the substrate while the substrate is supported on the support pins. In other words, misalignment can be corrected faster than in the prior art because the position of the substrate must be detected in the prior art and any misalignment must be used to reposition the substrate using the transfer arm or support pin. The table is up to be properly corrected. Therefore, the present invention can achieve an improvement in the processing yield of the substrate.

Further, when the substrate is removed from the transfer arm, the substrate can be placed on the support pins in a raised state by lowering the transfer arm. In this example, the substrate can be transferred while the support pins are still held in the raised state.

A plurality of support pins may be disposed at positions around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from each other further in relation to the radius of the table, and the front end of each support pin is allowed to The substrate placement surface beyond the table is projected through the perforations formed on the table and retracted under the substrate placement surface. The structure supports the substrate at a point close to the center of the substrate through the respective support pins, and the substrate can thus be supported away from the treatment when the edge of the substrate placed on the table is processed. The location of the target zone (eg, processing is performed to remove material deposited on the edge of the substrate).

If the table is free to rotate about the support shaft, the support pins should be lowered to ensure that the front ends of the support pins are retracted below the bottom surface of the table when the table is rotated. By lowering the support pins in this manner, it is ensured that the perforations and support pins do not collide with each other when the table is rotated.

Alternatively, a plurality of support pins mounted on the substrate transfer device may be disposed at positions around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from one another at a more outward extent relative to the radius of the table. This structure allows the substrate to be supported on the support pins without the need to form perforations in the table. Furthermore, since the extent to which the support pins are driven in the horizontal direction is not limited by the perforations, the substrate can be displaced to a greater extent in the horizontal direction. That is, the extent to which the substrate is displaced in the horizontal direction can be increased.

The above objects are also achieved in another aspect of the present invention by providing a substrate processing apparatus for performing a specific type of processing on a substrate placed on a table disposed in a processing chamber. And the substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate transfer device disposed adjacent the table for transferring the substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate into and out of the processing chamber and the table. The substrate transfer device in the substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of support pins disposed at positions spaced apart from each other by a support shaft surrounding a table, the support pins supporting the bottom surface of the substrate a substrate, a support pin is mounted on the base, and a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate and a horizontal drive by driving the support pins up/down through the base The mechanism is adapted to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by horizontally driving the support pins through the base.

According to the invention as described above, any misalignment of the substrate can be suitably corrected by displacing the substrate in the horizontal direction through the support pins without using the transfer arm. Therefore, once the substrate is fed to the substrate transfer device, the transfer arm can immediately perform another operation, and finally, the yield of the substrate treatment can be improved. Moreover, because the substrate is accurately placed on the table without any misalignment, this particular type of processing can be performed on the substrate in a stable manner.

The above object can be further achieved in another aspect of the present invention by providing a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing chambers in which specific processing is performed on a substrate and the substrate processing apparatus The substrate is processed by sequentially transferring a substrate through a transfer arm to each of the processing chambers, at least one of which is used as a post-processing chamber in another processing chamber The processed substrate is transferred to the aftertreatment chamber for post-treatment and the post-treatment chamber is provided with a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate to a table disposed in the aftertreatment chamber and the transfer arm between. The substrate transfer device in the substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of support pins disposed at positions spaced apart from each other by a support shaft surrounding a table, the support pins supporting the bottom surface of the substrate a substrate, a support pin is mounted on the base, and a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate and a horizontal drive by driving the support pins up/down through the base The mechanism is adapted to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by horizontally driving the support pins through the base.

The chance of the substrate being transferred to the post-processing chamber having a large misalignment after repeated transfer of the transfer arm into/out of the other processing chamber is quite high. However, with the substrate transfer device according to the present invention, even a large degree of substrate misalignment can be driven by simply supporting the support pins of the substrate in the horizontal direction, as before. Technically removing the substrate from the processing chamber and then placing the substrate back into the processing chamber or placing the substrate back onto the table can be properly and accurately corrected. In other words, a significant benefit can be achieved by the use of a substrate transfer device in accordance with the present invention in addition to the aftertreatment chamber.

The post-treatment chamber can be a cleaning chamber in which material deposited on the circumferential edge of the substrate is removed. The plurality of support pins in the substrate transfer device are preferably disposed at a position around the support shaft surrounding the table, the positions being spaced apart from one another in relation to the radius of the table The inside, and the front end of each support pin is allowed to protrude beyond the substrate placement surface of the table through the perforations formed on the table and retracted under the substrate placement surface. The structure supports the substrate at a point close to the center of the substrate through the respective support pins. Therefore, the substance deposited on the circumferential edge of the substrate can be removed without being blocked by the support pin.

The above object can be attained in another aspect of the present invention by providing a transfer method that can be employed in a substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate to a transfer carrying the substrate The arm and the substrate are placed on a table thereon, the substrate transfer device comprising a plurality of support pins disposed at positions spaced around the support shaft of a table and spaced apart from each other, the supports The pin supports the substrate from the bottom surface of the substrate, a support pin is mounted on the base, and a vertical driving mechanism is used to drive the support pins by driving the base up/down. The substrate and a horizontal drive mechanism are used to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by horizontally driving the support pins through the base. The transfer method includes a receiving step in which the substrate is received from the transfer arm by raising the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism, a detecting step, which is accepted in this step Positioning the substrate along the horizontal direction is detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism while the substrate is still supported by the support pins, a determining step in which the substrate position is used Detecting the position of the substrate detected by the detecting mechanism to determine whether the substrate is misaligned with respect to a predetermined reference position, a placing step in which the substrate is determined by the determined step If not misaligned, the substrate is placed on the table by a lowering of the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism and a correcting/placement step, in which the determined step is determined as The misaligned substrate is precisely aligned by driving the support pins in the horizontal direction through the horizontal drive mechanism, and then the substrate is lowered by lowering the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism Place in On the table.

According to the invention as described above, once the substrate is transferred from the transfer arm to the support pins, any misalignment of the substrate can be driven in the horizontal direction without using the transfer arm. The support pins of the substrate are appropriately corrected. Moreover, once the substrate is transferred to the support pins, the transfer arm can immediately perform another operation. Therefore, the substrate processing yield can be improved.

Further, during the receiving step in which the substrate is received from the transfer arm, the substrate can be placed on the support pins in an elevated state by lowering the transfer arm. In this example, the substrate can be transferred while the support pins remain in the elevated state.

In the detecting step for detecting the position of the substrate, if the substrate cannot be detected by the substrate detecting mechanism, the substrate can be moved in the horizontal direction by the supporting pins The drive is displaced until the substrate position detecting mechanism can detect the position of the substrate. In this example, even if the substrate that has been fed onto the support pins is misaligned to a degree that is undetectable by the substrate position detecting mechanism, it is still supported on the support pins. The substrate can be displaced until the position of the substrate is detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism. Thus, the misalignment can be corrected without having to reposition the substrate under the table.

In accordance with the present invention, misalignment at any location of the substrate can be corrected by displacing the support pins in the horizontal direction without the use of the transfer arm. Thus, the transfer arm can perform another operation (e.g., transfer of another substrate) immediately after it transports the substrate to the substrate transfer mechanism. Furthermore, because any misalignment can be corrected before the substrate is placed on the table, substrate misalignment correction can be done quickly. This thus achieves an improvement in the throughput of the substrate treatment.

The following is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth in the drawings. It is to be understood that the same reference numerals are given to the structural elements that have substantially the same function and structural features in the description and the drawings in order to avoid the need for repeated description of these elements.

First, the substrate transfer device proposed in this embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing how various devices are mounted and FIG. 2 is a side view showing the device of FIG. 1. Described in this embodiment is a method for transferring a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a "wafer"), to a transfer arm (not shown) and a table 112. A substrate transfer device 130 is in between.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate transfer device (elevating unit) 130 of this embodiment is mounted adjacent to a table unit 110 equipped with a table 112 on which the wafer W is placed. on. Further, a substrate position detecting unit 150 for detecting the position of the wafer W is installed near the table unit 110.

The table 112 has a disk shape and its radius is set to be smaller than the diameter of the wafer W, as shown in FIG. The wafer W is placed on a placement surface which is the upper surface of the table 112. The table 112 is mounted to the bottom surface of a processing chamber through a support shaft 114 by the use of fasteners, such as screws. It should be appreciated that the table 112 can be a rotating table. If the table 112 is a rotating table, a stepper motor can be mounted inside the support shaft 114 for rotating the table 112 by driving the stepper motor. Further, the wafer W placed on the placement surface of the table 112 can be vacuum-held on the placement surface by a vacuum chuck function of the table 112. The wafer W that is quickly held on the placement surface in this manner does not fall from the table 112 even when the wafer W is rotated at a high speed. As shown in FIG. 2, the table unit 110 is coupled to a control unit 200 and the rotation of the table 112 is controlled in accordance with control signals provided by the control unit 200.

Now, the structure used in the substrate transfer device 130 will be described in detail with reference to Figs. Figure 3 only provides the structure of the substrate transfer device shown in all of the devices of Figure 1. It should be noted that FIG. 3 does not include the table 112 and the two-point chain line indicates the support shaft 114 of the table 112 for facilitating understanding of the structure used in the substrate transfer device 130.

As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate transfer device 130 includes a plurality of (eg, three) support pins (lift pins) 132A-132C that support the transfer arm (not shown) and the table to be transferred. Wafer W between 112. These support pins 132A-132C are disposed at positions spaced apart from each other around the support shaft 114 of the table 112, as shown in FIG. Preferably, support pins 132A-132C are disposed at equal intervals around the support pins 114 to support the wafer W in a smooth manner. Further, although the number of support pins is not limited to three, it is preferable to have at least three support pins to ensure smooth support of the wafer.

The support pins 132A-132C project straight from a base (lifting base) 134, and the support pins 132A-132C can be driven by the base 134 for simultaneous movement in a vertical or horizontal direction. The base 134 can include a generally annular mounting plate 135 and a support plate 136 that supports the mounting plate 135, as shown in FIG. The support pins 132A-132C are disposed on the top surface of the mounting plate 135 at a specific interval (e.g., at equal intervals) along the circumference of the ring, and the support plate 136 is mounted to constitute a support pin drive. The mechanism 138 is on the table of the X-direction drive mechanism 138X, which will be described in detail later.

It is noted that an opening large enough to allow the mounting plate 135 to be inserted through the side surface of the support shaft 114 is formed on a portion of the annular mounting plate 135. Therefore, even after the support shaft 114 is locked on the bottom surface of the processing chamber, the substrate transfer device 130 can be mounted to pass the mounting plate 135 around the support shaft 114 through the opening. The support pins 132A-132C are placed around the support shaft 114.

Mounting the base 134 to the support pin drive mechanism 138 can move the support pins 132A-132C in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction. In particular, the support pin drive mechanism 138 can include the X-direction drive mechanism 138X for driving the support pins 132A-132C in the X direction through the base 134 and for use the support pins along the Y The Y-direction drive mechanism 138Y that is driven in the direction. The X-direction driving mechanism 138X may include a table that is linearly drivable along the X direction, and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y may include a table that can drive the X-direction driving mechanism in a Y direction perpendicular to the X direction. Drive linearly. It should be noted that the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y constitute a horizontal direction (XY direction) driving mechanism.

In addition, the support pin drive mechanism 138 includes a Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z that is configured to drive the support pins 132A-132C in the Z direction (up/down direction) through the base 134. The Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z may be a table that can drive the X-direction drive mechanism 138X and the Y-direction drive mechanism 138Y linearly up/down.

It is preferred to use a linear actuator to engage these drive mechanisms 138X, 138Y and 138Z. The use of linear actuators ensures re-positioning accuracy of a few microns or more and allows the table to be driven at high speeds. It should be noted that in addition to the linear actuators, each table can be driven by a mechanism that includes a rolling screw and a stepping motor. It should be noted that the substrate transfer device 130 is connected to the control unit 200 as shown in FIG. 2, and the driving of the respective drive mechanisms 138X, 138Y and 138Z is based on the control signal provided by the control unit 200. controlling.

When the Z-direction driving mechanism 138Z in the support pin driving mechanism 138 drives the supporting pins 132A-132C up/down through the base 134, the wafer W can be raised toward the transfer arm or lowered to the On the table 112. In addition, when the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y pass the supporting pins 132A-132C in the horizontal direction (XY direction) through the base 134, they are held on the supporting pins 132A-132C. The position of the wafer W can be adjusted in the horizontal direction.

Thus, once the wafer W is transferred from the transfer arm to the support pins 132A-132C, any misalignment of the substrate can be performed without the use of the transfer arm or transfer robot by horizontal direction. The support pins 132A-132C supporting the substrate are driven to be appropriately corrected to improve the substrate processing yield.

When the table 112 on which the wafer is placed has a relatively large diameter as shown in FIG. 1, the support pins 132A-132C should be disposed at a more inward position with respect to the radius of the table 112. At the office. In addition, the support pins 132A-132C should have a front end that protrudes beyond the substrate placement surface of the table 112 through the perforations formed on the table 112 and retracted under the substrate placement surface. structure. For example, the perforations 113A-113C through which the support pins 132A-132C can pass, respectively, can be formed on the table 112 as shown in FIG.

This structure allows the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C to protrude and retract through the perforations 113A-113C when the support pins 132A-132C are driven up/down in the Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z. In addition, when the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y drive the supporting pins 132A-132C (XY driving) in the horizontal direction, the supporting pins 132A-132C may be in the through holes 113A-113C. Displaced in the horizontal direction, their front ends are simultaneously held over the perforations 113A-113C, respectively, beyond the placement surface of the table.

The structure can support the wafer at a central location near the wafer through the support pins 132A-132C, thus processing the edges of the wafer placed on the table 112 (e.g., as will be described in more detail later) In the cleaning process, the wafer is supported at a position away from the processing target zone.

The opening diameters of the perforations 113A-113C are set to match the diameters of the support pins 132A-132C and to such an extent that the support pins 132A-132C can be moved in the horizontal direction (ie, allow horizontal placement) Range) is preferred. For example, the diameter of the perforations 113A-113C can be set to 10-20 mm.

If the table 112 is free to rotate, the support pins 132A-132C should be lowered to ensure that the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C are retracted below the bottom surface of the table 112 as the table rotates. . By lowering the support pins 132A-132C in this manner, it is ensured that the perforations 113A-113C do not collide with the support pins 132A-132C when the table is rotated.

Furthermore, the description is made by taking an embodiment in which each of the perforations on the table has a single support pin, but the invention is not limited to this example and has a larger number of substrate transfer devices. In the example of the support pin, each of the perforations may have a plurality of support pins therethrough.

(Substrate position detection mechanism)

The substrate position detecting unit equipped with the substrate position detecting mechanism will now be described with reference to Figs. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the structure employed by the substrate position detecting mechanism. Figure 4 does not include the mounting base 156 or table 112 of Figure 1 to provide a clearer understanding of the structure within the substrate position detecting mechanism.

The substrate position detecting unit 150 includes a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting the position of the wafer W along the horizontal direction. The substrate position detecting mechanism is composed of a plurality of (three in this embodiment) image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C for detecting the circumferential edge of the wafer W and respectively disposed with the image capturing mechanisms 152A. The -152C faces the illumination sources 154A-154C, as shown in FIG.

Each of the image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C is constructed using a CCD camera equipped with a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, a focus adjustment lens, and the like. Each of the illumination sources 154A-154C is constructed using an LED unit. It should be noted that each of the illumination sources 154A-154C includes a diffuser plate disposed on its light exiting plane for emitting light at a uniform intensity throughout the plane of light emission.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C and the illumination sources 154A-154C constituting the substrate position detecting mechanism are all mounted on the upright mounting base 156. The mounting base 156 includes a bracket 157 extending from the top surface thereof in the horizontal direction and a bracket 158 extending along the water direction below the bracket 157. The image capture mechanisms 152A-152C are mounted on the upper bracket 157, and the illumination sources 154A-154C are mounted on the lower bracket 158. The image capture mechanisms 152A-152C and the illumination sources 154A-154C are thus disposed above and below the wafer W for sandwiching the circumferential edge of the wafer W therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 4, the optical axes of the illumination sources 154A-154C are adjusted to extend toward the light receiving surfaces of the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C, respectively. In addition, because the height of the wafer W received from the transfer arm by the support pins 132A-132C is higher than the placement surface of the table 112 designated as the acceptance height and the wafer The center of W is aligned with the center of the table designated as the horizontal reference position Wst (where the position of the wafer W is indicated by a 2-point chain line in Fig. 4), so the positions of the respective image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C Both are adjusted to focus on the edge of the wafer at the height of the machine and at the reference location. Moreover, the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C are adjusted such that the area of the wafer at which the wafer can be detected is at the reference position Wst and the measurement fields 153A-153C of the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C, respectively. alignment.

In particular, the measurement fields 153A-153C of the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C are disposed at equal intervals along the circumferential edge of the wafer at the reference position Wst, as shown in Figure 5A. For example, the angle between the measurement fields 153A and 153B and the angle between the measurement fields 153B and 153C are set from the perspective of the center of the wafer positioned at the reference position Wst. The angle between 45 degrees and between the measurement fields 153A and 153C is set to 90 degrees. The angular settings employed by the measurement fields 153A-153C are not limited to those described above and they can be freely changed by adjusting the mounting positions of the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C.

The image capture mechanisms 152A-152C are each coupled to the control unit 200 as shown in FIG. 2 for transmitting image data captured by the image capture mechanisms 152A-152C to the control unit 200. The control unit 200 can detect the edge of the wafer W according to the image data output of the image captured by the image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C in the measurement fields 153A-153B.

For example, when the edge of the wafer W is moved into the measurement field 153A, the area of the wafer W appearing in the measurement field 153A becomes black because the light from the illumination source 154A is blocked on the area. The rest of the area within the measurement field remains bright. Therefore, the appearance of the edge of the wafer W within the measurement field 153A is detected. Therefore, this state is referred to as an edge appearance state (gray state) which is different from a white state in which the entire measurement field is bright and a gray state in which the entire measurement field is dark.

In addition, since the boundary of the bright area and the dark area in the measurement field 153A shows the outline of the wafer W (for example, a circular arc profile, if the example of the wafer is disc-shaped in this example), The profile of the wafer W can be detected from the image output from the measurement field 153A.

Based on the edge profile of the wafer W thus detected, the control unit 200 determines the position of the center of the wafer W via calculation. Then, the control unit 200 refers to the center of the table 112 (the center of rotation, if the table 112 is a transfer table) to determine the degree of misalignment of the wafer in the horizontal direction and the wafer W is mis-aligned. Quasi specific direction. Next, the control unit 200 drives the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y according to the degree of misalignment and the misalignment direction for driving the support pins 132A-132C in the horizontal direction. To adjust the position of the crystal garden along the horizontal direction.

It should be noted that the degree and direction of horizontal misalignment of the wafer W can be determined by comparing image data output and reference image data for wafer position detection from the measurement fields 153A-153C. The reference image data is composed of image data output from the measurement fields 153A-153C by capturing the image of the edge of the wafer W at the reference position Wst and stored in advance. For example, assuming that the wafer W is misaligned with respect to the reference position Wst and the position of the edge of the wafer W is shifted in the image data output from the measurement field 153A, in these cases The ratio of the bright area to the dark area (light/dark ratio) in the image data output from the measurement field 153A is different from the ratio measured when the wafer W is at the reference position Wst. Therefore, any misalignment of the target wafer W can be detected by comparing the measured light/dark ratio of the target wafer W with the light/dark ratio of the wafer measured at the reference position Wst. The degree of misalignment and the specific direction can also be determined according to the brightness/dark ratio.

Then, the support pins 132A-132C are driven according to the degree and direction of the misalignment to match the ratio of the light/dark in the measurement field 153A to the ratio of the wafer at the reference position Wst. The position of the wafer W in the horizontal direction can be adjusted.

Alternatively, the pattern (reference pattern) of the edge contour of the precisely aligned wafer W may be previously stored in a storage mechanism, and then by comparing the pattern of the edge of the detected wafer W with the reference pattern The method is used to determine a specific misalignment direction and extent based on the difference between the edge contour pattern of the wafer W and the reference pattern and to determine whether the target wafer W is misaligned.

In a substrate transfer device, the substrate transfer device 130 of the embodiment of the present invention receives the substrate W onto the support pins in the raised state, and the wafer W is misaligned to a greater extent than The degree of misalignment of the wafer W transferred by the transfer member, the transfer member adjusting the position of the wafer W on an arm (such as a transfer arm) by hooking the edge of the wafer W from above The wafer W is lifted up.

In some cases, the wafer W may be misaligned to a great extent, that is, the circumferential edge of the wafer W cannot be detected in the image data output from any of the measurement fields 153A-153C. To. In particular, the entire measurement field can be represented as a bright region (in this example the measurement fields are determined to be in a white state (or bright state)) or the entire measurement field can be represented as a dark region (here In the example, the measurement fields are determined to be in a black state (or a dark state). In either case, the circumferential edges of the wafer W cannot be detected. Since the position of the wafer W cannot be detected, the degree of misalignment cannot be determined, so wafer misalignment cannot be corrected.

The relationship between the black/white judgment (light/dark judgment) made between the state of the measurement field and the wafer position will now be described. For example, when a given measurement field is determined to be in a white state (the entire measurement field is represented as a bright region), it is assumed that the wafer W does not appear in the particular measurement field. If the wafer is present on the support pins 132A-132C in these cases, the center of the wafer W is substantially misaligned with respect to the measurement field toward the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst. The possibility of quasi-permanence is extremely high. On the other hand, if a given measurement field is determined to be in a black state (the entire measurement field is represented as a dark region), then the center of the wafer W in the measurement field is far from The possibility that the wafer of reference position Wst is misaligned towards the particular measurement field is extremely high.

Therefore, if a given measurement field is determined to be in the white state, misalignment of the wafer can be performed by horizontally driving the support pins 132A-132C from the measurement field. The movement is corrected toward the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst. On the other hand, if a given measurement field is determined to be in the white state, the misalignment of the wafer can be moved by horizontally driving the support pins 132A-132C. The center of the wafer at the reference position Wst is further corrected toward the measurement field. Furthermore, if a white/black determination is made for a plurality of measurement fields, the direction of the misalignment can be evaluated based on a particular combination of white/black states displayed in the determinations. Therefore, the wafer misalignment can be adjusted by judging the direction in which the misalignment needs to be corrected based on a specific combination of the white/black states displayed in the determination results. Therefore, even when the wafer position is detected, the wafer position can be adjusted along the direction in which the misalignment can be roughly corrected.

For example, if the measurement fields 153A-153C are all determined to be in a white state, as shown in FIG. 5A, the center of the wafer W is substantially large in the direction away from all of the measurement fields 153A-153C. Ground misalignment (in the +Y direction in this example). In this case, the misalignment of the wafer W can be horizontally driven by the support pins 132A-132C in the direction of moving all the measurement fields 153A-153C along the center of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 5B. Correction, wherein the direction is a direction determined by integrating a direction (direction vector) extending from a center of the wafer at the reference position Wst toward each of the measurement fields 153A-153C (in this example, the -Y direction) ). It should be noted that although not shown, if the measurement fields 153A-153C are all determined to be in a black state, the wafer misalignment can be moved away from all the measurement fields by moving along the center of the wafer W. The direction of the domains 153A-153C, i.e., the direction in which all of the measurement fields 153A-153C are oriented toward the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst (in this example, the +Y direction), is horizontally driven. The support pins 132A-132C are corrected.

For example, if the circumferential edge of the wafer W cannot be detected in the measurement fields 153B and 153C and the measurement fields 153B and 153C are both determined to be in a white state, and the circumferential edge of the wafer W is at the measurement field If field 153A is detected, as shown in FIG. 6A, the center of wafer W is heavily misaligned in a direction away from the measurement fields 153B and 153C. In this example, misalignment of the wafer W can be achieved by integrating the support pins 132A-132C away from the measurement fields 153B and 153C along the center of the wafer W (ie, by integrating the slaves The center of the wafer at the reference position Wst is driven horizontally toward the determined direction in which the measurement fields 153B and 153C extend, as shown in FIG. 6B.

If the circumferential edge of the wafer W cannot be detected in the measurement fields 153A and 153C, the measurement field 153A is determined to be in a black state and the measurement field 153C is determined to be in a white state while the wafer W is If the circumferential edge is detected in the measurement field 153B, as shown in FIG. 7A, the center of the wafer W is heavily misaligned toward the measurement field 153A but further away from the measurement field 153C (in In this example, the -X direction). In these cases, the misalignment of the wafer W can be moved away from the measurement field 153A but close to the measurement field 153C along the center of the wafer (ie, along by the integration from the measurement field) 153A is oriented in a direction in which the center of the wafer of the reference position Wst extends and a direction determined from a direction in which the measurement field 153A extends toward the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst (in this example, the +X direction) )) The support pins 132A-132C are driven horizontally for correction.

By judging the white/black state of each measurement field, the misalignment of the wafer can detect wafer misalignment according to the determined white/black state as described above and then correct wafer misalignment accordingly. To correct it, even if the wafer W is misaligned to such an extent that the edge of the wafer cannot be detected, it can be corrected. It should be noted that the wafer W can be shifted in a predetermined increment along the misalignment correction direction determined by the white/black determination until the edge of the wafer W appears in all measurement fields 153A-153C. The edge of the wafer W can then be detected to ultimately detect the wafer location by determining the location of the wafer W center. In this example, even if the wafer W is misaligned to a very large extent, the position of the wafer W can be detected with a higher level of accuracy.

The table unit 110, the substrate transfer device 130 and the various components of the substrate position detecting unit 150 are controlled by the control unit 200. The control unit 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) constituting the main body of the control unit, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) CPU performs processing for storing data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) includes A memory area used by the CPU for performing various data processing, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a memory, and a program and various types of data used by the CPU to control various components. Both are stored here.

(wafer transfer processing)

Next, a specific example of wafer transfer or processing performed using the substrate transfer device described above will be described with reference to the drawings. The control unit 200 controls the various components of the substrate transfer device 130 and the substrate position detecting unit 150 according to a specific program read from the storage mechanism. Figure 8 is a flow diagram of a particular example of a transfer process performed when a wafer that has been fed to the transfer arm is placed on the table. 9A-9E provide illustrations of examples of operations performed in the substrate transfer device 130 during wafer processing. It is noted that Cw and Ct in Figures 9A-9E indicate the center of the wafer W and the center of the wafer at the reference position Wst.

In order to transfer the wafer from the transfer arm TA to the table 112, the support pins 132A-132C are first raised in step S110 for placing the wafer W on the transfer arm TA onto the support pins, As shown in Figure 8. In detail, when the transfer arm TA carrying the wafer W is placed above the table 112, the Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z is driven to follow the support pins 132A-132C in the Z (vertical) direction. The rise reaches a specific wafer acceptance height as shown in Figure 9A. When the support pins 132A-132C are raised, their front ends pass through the respective perforations 113A-113C for projecting beyond the placement surface of the table 112 and the front ends continue to move upward until on the transfer arm TA The wafer W is lifted up as shown in FIG. 9B. After the wafer W is placed on the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C, the transfer arm TA is removed from the upper position of the table 112, as shown in FIG. 9B, thus reaching as shown in FIG. 9C. State of the show.

Although the support pins 132A-132C can be raised as in the embodiment described above for taking the wafer W from the transfer arm TA to the support pins 132A-132C, the invention is not limited. For this example. For example, if the transfer arm TA employs a structure that can be moved up/down, the transfer arm TA can be lowered to transfer the wafer W to the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C. In this example, the Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z is first driven to raise the support pins 132A-132C along the Z-axis, and then the transfer arm TA carrying the wafer W is placed on the table 112. Above. The transfer arm TA is then lowered to place the wafer W onto the support pins 132A-132C. Therefore, the wafer W can be transferred while the support pins 132A-132C are still being raised.

It should be noted that if the transfer arm TA is placed over the table 112 as shown in FIG. 9A, the wafer W has been misaligned in the horizontal direction (ie, if the center of the wafer W is If the Cw has been misaligned with respect to the center (reference center) Ct of the wafer at the reference position Wst, the wafer W in the misaligned state is lifted up by the support pins 132A-132C. Start.

The misalignment of the wafer W along the horizontal direction will be detected while the wafer W is being maintained on the support pins 132A-132C and will be processed by subsequent placement processes (steps S120-S140). The support pins 132A-132C are driven in a horizontal direction for correction. Since this allows the transfer arm TA to begin the next operation (e.g., transfer to another wafer) immediately after the wafer is transferred to the support pins 132A-132C, the yield of wafer processing can be improved.

In the wafer placement process, the position of the wafer W is detected by the wafer position detecting unit 150 in step S120. In this step, the position of the wafer W in the horizontal direction is detected while the wafer is still held at the support pins 132A-132C. In particular, the position of the wafer W is detected based on the image data output from the measurement fields 153A-153C as described above, and the image data output is emitted from the illumination source by the image capture mechanism 152A-152C. The 154A-154C's light assists in capturing images produced by the image. For example, the center of the wafer W can be detected to represent the position of the wafer W based on the contour of the circumferential edge of the wafer W detected in the output image data.

Next, a decision is made as to whether or not the wafer W is misaligned in step S130. In detail, the degree of misalignment of the wafer W in the horizontal direction is determined according to the detected wafer position, and if the degree of misalignment is within a predetermined allowable misalignment range, The wafer W is determined to be aligned, and if the degree of misalignment is outside the predetermined allowable misalignment range, the wafer W is determined to be misaligned. .

For example, when the center of the wafer W is detected to represent the position of the wafer W, the center of the wafer W is related to the deviation of the center (reference center) of the wafer at the reference position Wst. It is calculated as the amount of misalignment representing the degree of misalignment of the wafer W. It should be noted that the amount of misalignment of the crystal field W can be calculated by a method different from that described above. For example, the misalignment amount can be calculated by comparing the ratio of the bright area to the dark area (light/dark ratio) of the wafer W to the light/dark ratio of the wafer located at the reference position Wst, or the error The amount of alignment can be calculated by comparing the pattern of the wafer profile with the contour pattern of the wafer at the reference position Wst.

If the decision made in step S130 is that the wafer W is not misaligned, the support pins 132A-132C are simply lowered in step S150 for placing the wafer W on the table 112. On the other hand, if the wafer W is determined to be misaligned, the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y are driven to drive the support pins 132A-132C along the horizontal direction in step S140. To implement the correction of the wafer position. For example, if the wafer W is misaligned in the X direction as shown in FIG. 9C, then only the X direction drive mechanism 138X is driven to drive the support pins 132A-132C in the +X direction. Therefore, the wafer W is placed to align the center Cw of the wafer W with the center Ct of the wafer positioned at the reference position Wst as shown in FIG. 9D.

It should be noted that when the position of the wafer W is corrected, the degree of misalignment and direction of the wafer W may be calculated first, and then the support pins 132A-132C may be based on the calculated mismatch of the wafer W. The quasi-degree and specific direction are driven in the horizontal direction. Alternatively, the support pins 132A-132C can be driven in the horizontal direction by a predetermined increment and the wafer W can be used by the image capture mechanism each time the support pins are driven the predetermined increment The 152A-152C detects and confirms the position of the wafer W and is moved to the reference position.

Once the wafer placement process (steps S120 to S140) is completed, the support pins 132A-132C are lowered in step S150 to place the wafer W on the table 112. In particular, the Z-direction drive mechanism 138Z is driven to lower the support pins 132A-132C to place the wafer W onto the table 112, as shown in Figure 9D. Therefore, the wafer W is placed on the table 112 after being corrected in its horizontal direction. The wafer transfer process ends.

Preferably, the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C are retractable through the perforations 113A-113C to a position below the lower surface of the table 112 when the support pins 132A-132C are lowered. To prevent the support pins 132A-132C from interfering with the rotation of the table 112.

In addition, if the wafer W is misaligned to such an extent that the edge of the wafer W cannot be detected in the image data output corresponding to the measurement fields 153A-153C in the step 120 of the circle 8, then the crystal The misalignment of the circle can be corrected in step S140 by the misalignment correction direction determined by the particular combination of the determined white/black states of the measurement fields 153A-153C as described above. In this example, the wafer misalignment can be corrected even if the wafer W is misaligned to such an extent that the edge of the edge cannot be detected. Alternatively, the wafer edge can be driven in a predetermined increment by the wafer in a predetermined increment to the misalignment correction direction determined by the result of the white/black determination until the edge of the wafer W is moved into all measurement fields 153A- 153C is then detected in step S120, and subsequent processing can be performed.

Furthermore, although the substrate transfer device 130 is used in this embodiment to transfer the wafer W from the transfer arm TA to the table 112 via the process of FIG. 8, the substrate transfer device 130 may also When the crystal material W is transferred from the table 112 to the transfer arm TA, the wafer W is lifted off the table 112 by the support pins 132A-132C, and the position of the wafer W on the support pin is detected. The transfer of the wafer W to the transfer arm TA after the position of the wafer W is corrected is used. By using the substrate transfer device in this process, the wafer W can be moved to a position where the wafer can not simply drive the support pins if it is misaligned to the wafer position. 132A-132C can be at least obtained by the transfer arm TA when it is corrected to a great extent in the horizontal direction.

As described above, the support pins 132A-132C are allowed to be movable in the horizontal direction (XY direction), so that the wafer W that has been placed on the transfer arm TA is sent to the support pins 132A- After 132C, the support pins 132A-132C carrying the wafer W can drive the wafer W in the horizontal direction without using the transfer arm TA. Therefore, misalignment of the wafer W can be appropriately corrected. In addition, the transfer arm TA can immediately perform another operation (eg, transfer of another wafer) after transferring the wafer to the support pins 132A-132C. Therefore, the wafer processing yield can be improved.

In addition, since the wafer W is placed in the horizontal direction through the X-direction driving mechanism 138X and the Y-direction driving mechanism 138Y having high resolution and high-speed driving operation, the wafer W can be quickly placed on the table 112. Place the correct position (reference position) on the surface. Therefore, the wafer processing yield can be further improved, and at the same time, the wafer W placed on the wafer placement surface of the table 112 can be processed in a reliable and accurate manner.

Moreover, the substrate transfer device 130 (which in this embodiment is a device independent of the table unit 110) is allowed to adopt a simple structure. Since the substrate transfer device 130 can be installed in the processing chamber with a high degree of freedom, it can be used in various processing chambers. Further, since the table base unit 110 substrate transfer device 130 is provided by devices independent of each other, the table 112 can be rotated at a high speed. The structure employed in the substrate transfer device 130 (which includes the X-direction drive mechanism 138X and the Y-direction drive mechanism 138Y for driving the support pins 132A-132C along the horizontal direction) enables high-accuracy wafers Position correction of W.

Further, the substrate transfer device 130 in this embodiment corrects misalignment at any position by driving the support pins 132A-132C in the horizontal direction, instead of driving the table in the horizontal direction. Correct the misalignment of the position. Therefore, even if the wafer W is misaligned to a great extent, the edge of the wafer W cannot be detected by the substrate position detecting unit 150, and the wafer supported by the support pins 132A-132C can still be used. The substrate position detecting unit 150 can detect the position of the wafer along the horizontally displaced position. Therefore, even if the wafer W is misaligned to a great extent, the position of the wafer can be detected, and the misalignment can be quickly corrected.

Wafer W can be aligned by detecting an azimuthal flat portion, a gap or the like formed on the wafer W. However, this method requires rotating the wafer W at least one turn. Conversely, misalignment of the wafer in this horizontal direction is detected in this embodiment by using image capture mechanisms 152A-152C without rotating the wafer W. Therefore, the length of time required for misalignment detection can be greatly shortened, thereby improving the wafer processing yield.

In addition, after the wafer is transferred from the transfer arm TA to the support pins 132A-132C, the wafer placement process can be performed immediately on the wafer placement surface on which the wafer W is placed on the table 112. The wafer W was previously placed in the horizontal direction, which shortens the length of time before the placement process is completed. Therefore, wafer processing output can be improved.

Further, the support pins 132A-132C in the substrate transfer device 130 of this embodiment are driven by the direction drive mechanism 138Z to project the front ends of the support pins 132A-132C through the through holes 113A-113C and retract. Although the support pins 132A-132C in the substrate transfer device 130 of this embodiment may have their respective corresponding perforations 113 when their front ends still protrude through the perforations 113A-113C beyond the placement plane of the table 112. The -113C is driven in the horizontal direction by the X-direction drive mechanism 138X and the Y-direction drive mechanism 138Y, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of this example.

For example, the support pins 132A-132C in the substrate transfer device 130 may be disposed around the support shaft 114 of the table 116 as shown in FIG. 10, spaced apart from each other with respect to the radius of the table 116. The location. This configuration allows the substrate to be supported on the support pins without the need to form perforations 113A-113C on the table 116 that allow the support pins 132A-132C to pass through. Further, since the extent to which the support pins 132A-132C are driven in the horizontal direction is not limited to the diameter of the perforations 113A-113C, the support pins 132A-132C can be displaced by a greater extent in the horizontal direction. That is, the extent to which the wafer is displaced in the horizontal direction during wafer misalignment correction or wafer position adjustment can be increased.

It should be noted that the support pins 132A-132C shown in FIG. 10 are disposed in a structure related to the periphery of the table 116. Since the diameter of the table becomes large, the support pins can be set closer to the wafer W. the edge of. Thus, when the present invention is used in a processing chamber and the edges of the wafer W are processed in the processing chamber, support pins 132A-132C are employed in relation to which the table is disposed at a more inner periphery as shown in FIG. The structure is preferred.

Furthermore, although the present invention has been described by way of an example in which the misalignment of the wafer W in the horizontal direction can be detected by the three image capturing mechanisms 152A-152C, the present invention is not limited to this example. The misalignment of the wafer W in the horizontal direction can be detected by a single image capturing mechanism or two image capturing mechanisms. Moreover, in addition to the image capturing mechanism 152A-152C composed of a CCD image sensor or a CCD camera, an image capturing mechanism composed of a more photodetector, an ultrasonic sensor, and the like can be used. use. The support pins 132A-132C in this embodiment are mounted at positions spaced apart from each other on the generally annular mounting plate 135, as shown in FIG. 3, and thus, any misalignment of the wafer The mounting plate 135 will be tilted to cause a change in torque in the support plate 136. Therefore, a torque sensor can be mounted on the support plate 136 for detecting wafer position or wafer misalignment based on changes in torque.

(Application example of substrate transfer device)

Next, an example of a substrate processing apparatus using the above-described substrate transfer device will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the structure employed in the substrate processing apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention.

A substrate processing apparatus 300 includes a processing unit 310 including a plurality of processing chambers having various processes (such as, for example, a film forming process and an etching process) implemented in the processing chambers on the wafer in a low pressure environment, and a transfer unit 320 carries the negative wafer W into/out of the processing unit 310.

First, a structure that can be used in the transfer unit 320 will be described. The transfer unit 320 includes a transfer chamber 330. A plurality of (for example, 25) wafers W stored in each of the helium containers 332 are transferred to the substrate processing apparatus 300 via the transfer chamber. Three gates 331A-331C are mounted corresponding to the three gate valves 333A-333C of the transfer chamber 330, and the helium vessels 332A-332C are respectively disposed on the gates 331A-331C.

In addition, a pre-alignment processing chamber (orienter) 336 for pre-aligning the front wafer and a cleaning chamber 400 representing a post-processing chamber are disposed at the transfer chamber 330, wherein the deposition chamber 330 has been deposited Any material on the wafer W is removed in the clean room after the treatment. A turntable 338 and an optical sensor 339 for detecting the edge of the wafer W placed on the turntable 338 are mounted in the pre-aligned chamber 336 by rotating the wafer W on the turntable 338. The optical sensor 339 is used to detect a gap formed on the edge of the wafer W, and the wafer W can be aligned in the pre-aligned processing chamber. It is noted that a structural example that can be used in the cleaning processing chamber 400 will be described later.

A transfer robot 370 capable of freely sliding along the long side (in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 11) is installed inside the transfer chamber 330. The transfer robot 370 is equipped with transfer arms 337A and 337B to which the wafer W can be carried. The transfer arms 337A and 337B can be bent/stretched, moved up and down, and used to carry the wafer W into/out of the helium containers 332A-332C, the pre-action processing chamber 336, the cleaning chamber 400 And load lock chambers 360M and 360N, which will be described below. It should be noted that the transfer robot 370 equipped with two transfer arms 373A and 373B can take the processed wafer W while simultaneously placing a new unprocessed wafer in the load lock chamber 360M or 360N. W is sent to the pre-action processing chamber 336, which cleans the chamber 400 or the like.

Next, an example of a structure that can be employed in the processing unit 310 will be explained. Processing unit 310 may employ a cluster tool structure, as shown in FIG. That is, the processing unit 310 includes a common transfer chamber 350 having a plurality of (eg, six) processing chambers 340A-340F using a polygon (eg, a hexagon) in which the wafer W is received. For a particular type of processing, the processing chambers are coupled to the transfer chamber 350 via gate valves 344A-344C disposed about the common transfer chamber 350.

The tables 342A-342C on which the ginger circles W are placed are respectively installed in the processing chambers 340A-340C, and the wafers W on the table 342 are stored in advance in the storage medium (for example, in a control unit 500). The treatment formulation or the like is subjected to treatment in such treatment chambers (for example, film formation treatment and etching). It should be noted that the number of process chambers 340 is not limited to the number shown in FIG.

Further, load lock chambers 360M and 360N that exchange wafers with transfer chamber 330 are also disposed around the common transfer chamber 350. At the first and second load lock chambers 360M and 360N, the wafers W are temporarily held by the transfer tables 364M and 364N respectively mounted in the load lock chamber, and after the wafers are subjected to pressure adjustment, they are transferred to the wafers The transfer chamber 350 shared by the vacuum pressure side is located between the transfer chamber 330 on the atmospheric pressure side. Therefore, in order to maintain the necessary degree of airtightness, the load lock chambers 360M and 360N are connected to the common transfer chamber 350 through the gate valves 354M and 354N, and are connected to the transfer chamber 330 through the gate valves 362M and 362N.

A transfer robot 380 that is free to slide along guide rails 384 disposed on the long side of the common transfer chamber 350 is installed in the common transfer chamber 350. The transfer robot 380 is equipped with transfer arms 383A and 383B on which the wafer W can be loaded. Transfer arms 383A and 383B are capable of bending/stretching, moving up and down, and are used to carry wafer W into/out of process chambers 340A-340C and load lock chambers 360M and 360N.

The transfer robot 380 can be slid toward the bottom end of the common transfer chamber 350 for carrying the wafer W into/out of the load lock chambers 360M and 360N and the process chambers 340A and 340F, and can be slid toward the front end of the common transfer chamber 350. It is used to carry in and out of the four processing chambers 340B-340E with the wafer W. It should be noted that the transfer robot 380 equipped with the transfer arms 383A and 383B is capable of taking the processed wafer W while also providing a new, untreated crystal at the processing chambers 340A-340F. The circle W is sent to the load lock chambers 360M and 360N.

It is noted that the substrate processing apparatus 300 includes the control unit 500 which controls the operations performed throughout the basic short processing, including the control of the transfer robots 370 and 370, the gate valves 333, 344, 354 and 362. Operation, pre-aligning the operation of the processing chamber 336 with the cleaning processing chamber 400. The control unit 500 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) constituting the main body of the control unit, a ROM storing data required for the CPU to execute processing, and a RAM including a memory area used by the CPU when performing various data processing. a storage mechanism, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a memory, the program and various types of data used by the CPU to control various components are stored therein, and a liquid crystal display displays an operation screen. A selection screen and the like, an input/output mechanism that allows the operator to input various materials (for example, processing recipes and materials to be edited) and also input various materials (for example, processing recipes and processing logs) to In a particular storage medium, various controllers are used to control the various components that make up the substrate processing apparatus.

The substrate transfer device in this embodiment can be coupled to each of the processing chambers 340A-340F, and the pre-action processing chamber 336 and the cleaning processing chamber 400 are used to transfer the substrate W to the same as described above. Between the transfer arm and the table in the substrate processing apparatus 300. In addition, the substrate transfer device 130 can also be used in a measurement processing chamber (eg, a film thickness measurement processing chamber, a particle measurement processing chamber or the like, not shown), which can be disposed on the substrate. The transfer chamber 330 within the processing device 300 is used to measure the processing results that have been performed on the wafer. A specific configuration example that can be used when the substrate transfer device 130 is used in the cleaning process chamber 400 has been described with reference to this embodiment.

(Operation of substrate processing equipment)

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 300 will be explained. The control unit 500 causes the substrate processing apparatus 300 to be busy in operation in accordance with a particular program. For example, a wafer W that has been carried by the transfer arm 370 from a container of the enamel containers 332A-332C is brought into the pre-alignment processing chamber 336 for acceptance of the positioning process. The wafer W that has undergone the positioning process is then carried out of the pre-alignment processing chamber 336 and brought into the load lock chamber 360M or 360N. If a wafer W that has received all necessary processing appears in the load lock chamber 360M or 360N, the processed wafer W is reacquired and an unprocessed wafer W is transferred to the load lock. indoor.

The circle W that has been loaded into the load lock chamber 360M or 360N is subsequently taken out of the load lock chamber 360M or 360N by the transfer robot 380, which then loads the wafer into the process chambers 340A-340F. Within a particular processing chamber, the wafer receives a particular process within the processing chamber. For example, when the wafer W that has been loaded into the processing chamber is placed on the table that constitutes the lower electrode, a specific processing gas is fed through a shower head constituting an upper electrode, and the processing gas is then applied. The predetermined high frequency power on the electrodes is excited into a plasma, and then the specific process (such as etching or film forming process) is performed on the wafer W with the plasma thus generated. Once the process is complete, the wafer W is carried by the transfer robot 380 out of the process chamber 340 and if the wafer W is to undergo further processing, the transfer robot will carry it into the next process chamber 340.

Unwanted material deposits onto the bottom side of the circumferential edge of the wafer W that has been treated with the plasma generated by the processing gas on the table. For example, when the surface of the wafer W is etched by using a plasma generated by a fluorocarbon (CF) gas, a carbon is formed via a competitive reaction (polymerization reaction). A by-product (deposit) of the fluoropolymer (CF polymer) and the by-product is deposited on the edge of the wafer (eg, at the edge of the back side of the wafer W, which includes a beveled region).

When the wafer W on which these substances are deposited is returned to one of the crucible containers 332A-332C, the edge of the wafer W comes into contact with the holding portion in the crucible container, causing the substance and the crystal The circle separates and falls into the surface of another wafer W underneath the wafer W being returned. This causes a defect in the semiconductor device formed on the underlying wafer W. Therefore, this substance deposited on the edge of the wafer W must be removed by a cleaning process.

In the substrate processing apparatus 300 of this embodiment, the wafer W that has been processed in each processing chamber 340 is transferred to the cleaning processing chamber 400 via the load lock chamber 360M or 360N, and the edge of the wafer W is The wafer W cleaned in the cleaning process chamber 400 and only cleaned is returned to one of the helium containers 332A-332C. Since any substance deposited on the edge of the wafer W is removed through this cleaning process, no undesired material chips are peeled off from the wafer W when the wafer W is returned to the tantalum container 332A. Therefore, the surface of the other wafer W in the crucible container can be kept clean.

(Example of the structure of the cleaning chamber)

A configuration example that can be used in the cleaning processing chamber 400 will be described. In the cleaning process chamber 400 of this embodiment, the substance deposited on the edge of the wafer W placed on the rotating table 112 illuminates a specific light when the wafer W is rotated through the table 112. The end region of the wafer W is removed. This means that the wafer W must be accurately placed on the table 112 to prevent any misalignment in the horizontal direction. How the substrate transfer device 130 is combined with the cleaning process chamber 400 will be described below. The cleaning process chamber 400 can have a structure as shown in FIG. The cleaning processing chamber 400 shown in FIG. 12 includes a table unit 110, a substrate transfer device 130, a substrate position detecting unit 150, and a cleaning processing mechanism 410, all of which are disposed in a container 402.

The cleaning mechanism 410 includes a laser unit 412 and an ozone generator 414. The laser source (not shown) in the lightning unit 412 can be any of a variety of lasers, including semiconductor lasers, gas lasers or solid state lasers. The optical axis of the laser unit 412 is adjusted to illuminate the laser light onto a substance deposited on the back side of the edge of the wafer. The ozone generator 414 generates ozone (O ₃ ) to be used as an oxygen-based reaction gas for decomposing the substance P deposited on the back surface of the edge of the wafer and placing the ozone generated by the milk toward the table. The edge of the wafer W on the stage 112 is jetted by the surface. The operation of the laser unit 412 and the ozone generator 414 is controlled by the control unit 200. It should be noted that an exhaust mechanism (not shown) for sucking out ozone (O ₃ ) and carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and fluorine (F ₂ ) generated by decomposition of the deposition substance P may be set. At a position facing the ozone generator 414.

The cleaning process for cleaning the wafer W in the cleaning process chamber 400 will be described next. In the cleaning processing chamber 400, the substrate transfer device 130 and the substrate position detecting unit 150 are mounted as described above, and thus are placed on the transfer arm 373 of the transfer robot 370 via the transfer cassette 404. The wafer W that has entered the container 402 can then be placed on the wafer placement surface of the table 112 in a precisely aligned state. Even if the wafer W that has been transferred from the transfer robot 370 to the branch pins 332A-332C is misaligned, the misalignment can be corrected by driving the support pins 332A-332C in the X direction without using To the transfer robot 370, the transfer robot 370 can immediately perform the transfer operation of another wafer W.

Then, the edge portion of the back surface of the wafer W can be cleaned by the cleaning mechanism 410. For example, the CF group polymer P deposited on the edge of the wafer W can be removed by placing an oxygen-based reaction gas into a decomposition reaction induced by contact with the CF group polymer P and irradiating the light. It should be noted that different types of light and gases may be used during this process as described below.

For example, when the edge of the wafer W is heated to maintain the temperature to a certain extent (e.g., about 200 ° C), ultraviolet rays may be irradiated onto the CF group polymer P and an oxygen reactive gas stream (such as oxygen (O ₂ )) may be formed near the surface of the CF group polymer P. By this method, the CF group polymer P is decomposed into carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and fluorine (F ₂ ), and thus is removed from the wafer.

Alternatively, laser light may be used to illuminate the CF group polymer P while simultaneously applying ozone (O ₃ ) as an oxygen group reactive gas to the CF group polymer P. In this example, high energy is locally supplied to the CF group polymer P to facilitate the treatment of the decomposition reaction, and the CF group polymer P can be efficiently removed.

Regardless of which of the above methods is used, the deposited material P on the edge of the wafer W can be removed without the need to polish the edge of the wafer W, so that it is not necessary to perform the work of removing the dust generated by the grinding process. And the pollution problem caused by these dusts will not happen. In addition, since the deposited substance P on the edge of the wafer W can be removed without generating plasma, a film (for example, a low-k film) which has been formed on the surface of the wafer W is formed. Can be harmless. In this embodiment, the cleaning process is performed as described above by using laser light in the cleaning process chamber 400.

In detail, the table 112 on which the wafer W is placed is rotated, laser light is emitted from the laser unit 412 toward the back surface of the edge of the wafer W, and ozone (O ₃ ) is output from the ozone generator 414. . By this method, any deposited substance P which has been deposited on the back surface of the edge of the wafer W can be chemically decomposed and removed. When the deposited material P is in an area larger than the diameter of the laser spot, the laser unit 42 is preferably constructed such that the position of the laser spot is movable along the radius of the wafer W. Even if the deposition substance P is a large area, the structure can ensure complete removal of the deposition substance P.

Once the cleaning process is completed, the wafer W is lifted again by the support pins 132A-132C in the vertical direction and transferred to the transfer robot 370 that enters via the transfer cassette 404 of the container 402. The transfer robot 370 carries the wafer W that has undergone the cleaning process via the transfer chamber 330 to the initial helium container 332A, 332B or 332C. Since no deposited substance P is peeled off from the cleaned wafer W, the surface of the other wafer W can be kept in a clean state.

If the table 112 is rotated under the center of rotation of the wafer W placed thereon, the wafer W will be rotated in a decentered state. If the wafer W in the clean room 400 (cleaning process in which the laser light is used to remove the deposited material P on the back side of the edge of the wafer W) is eccentric, then The deposited substance P cannot be completely removed because the diameter of the laser spot is small. However, the substrate transfer device 130 mounted on the clean room 400 can accurately place the wafer W (e.g., within a range of several micrometers or less). Therefore, the cleaning process can be implemented very thoroughly.

In addition, wafers that have been removed from a given helium vessel of the helium containers 332A-332C within the substrate processing apparatus 00 are first loaded into the pre-alignment processing chamber 336 and processing chambers 340A-340F for use. A particular type of treatment is accepted and then loaded into a post processing chamber (such as the cleaning chamber 400) or a measurement processing chamber. The wafer W that has been loaded into the post-processing chamber after being repeatedly carried on the transfer arm into/out of the plurality of processing chambers may have been heavily misaligned. Even if the wafer W has been misaligned to a large extent in these cases, the substrate transfer device 130 of this embodiment can be used without removing the wafer from the post-processing chamber and then placing it. In the post-processing chamber, it is not necessary to reposition the wafer W on the table. Conversely, the substrate transfer device 130 can be used to immediately and accurately correct misalignment by driving the support pins 132A-132C on which the wafer W is supported in the horizontal direction. For this reason, the use of the substrate transfer device 130 in the aftertreatment chamber provides significant benefits.

The present invention has been specifically described with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings, but the invention is not limited to these examples and will be understood by those skilled in the art Various changes in detail can be made without departing from the spirit, scope and teachings of the invention.

130. . . Substrate transfer device

112. . . Table

110. . . Table unit

150. . . Substrate position detecting unit

114. . . Support shaft

200. . . control unit

132A. . . Support pin

132B. . . Support pin

132C. . . Support pin

W. . . Wafer

136. . . Support plate

135. . . Mounting plate

138X. . . X-direction drive mechanism

138Y. . . Y direction drive mechanism

138Z. . . Z direction drive mechanism

134. . . Pedestal

138. . . Support pin drive mechanism

113A. . . perforation

113B. . . perforation

113C. . . perforation

156. . . Mounting base

152A. . . Image capture mechanism

152B. . . Image capture mechanism

152C. . . Image capture mechanism

154A. . . Illumination source

154B. . . Illumination source

154C. . . Illumination source

153A. . . Measurement field

153B. . . Measurement field

153C. . . Measurement field

TA. . . Transfer arm

116. . . Table

300. . . Substrate processing equipment

310. . . Processing unit

320. . . Transfer unit

330. . . Transfer room

332. . .匣 container

331A. . . Platform

331B. . . Platform

331C. . . Platform

333A. . . gate

333B. . . gate

333C. . . gate

332A. . .匣 container

332B. . .匣 container

332C. . .匣 container

338. . . Table

339. . . Optical sensor

336. . . Pre-alignment processing chamber

370. . . Transfer robot

400. . . Cleaning treatment room

373A. . . Transfer arm

373B. . . Transfer arm

360M. . . Load lock room

360N. . . Load lock room

340A. . . Processing room

340B. . . Processing room

340C. . . Processing room

340D. . . Processing room

340E. . . Processing room

340F. . . Processing room

344A. . . gate

344B. . . gate

344C. . . gate

344D. . . gate

344E. . . gate

344F. . . gate

342A. . . Table

342B. . . Table

342C. . . Table

342D. . . Table

342E. . . Table

342F. . . Table

500. . . control unit

354M. . . gate

354N. . . gate

380. . . Transfer robot

260. . . Shared transfer room

350. . . Shared transfer room

383A. . . Transfer arm

383B. . . Transfer arm

402. . . container

410. . . Cleaning agency

412. . . Laser unit

414. . . Ozone generator

1 is a perspective view showing the substrate transfer device, the substrate position detecting unit and the table unit according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a side view showing each device of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure used in the substrate transfer device of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the use of the substrate position detecting unit in the embodiment. The structure in the substrate detecting mechanism; FIG. 5A shows the relationship between the state in each measurement field and the position of the wafer W, which can be judged to be in a white state in the measurement fields (bright State) is observed, and Figure 5B shows the relationship between the support pin and the wafer, which can be observed after the misalignment shown in Figure 5A is corrected; Figure 6A shows in each measurement field The relationship between the state and the position of the wafer W, which can be observed when one of the measurement fields is determined to be in a gray state and the other measurement fields are in a white state (bright state) And, Figure 6B shows the relationship between the support pin and the wafer, which can be seen in the error shown in Figure 6A. It is observed after quasi-correction; FIG. 7A shows the relationship between the state in each measurement field and the position of the wafer W, which can be judged to be in a gray state in one of the measurement fields. One of the measurement fields is determined to be in a black state (dark state) and the other measurement fields are observed in a white state (bright state), and FIG. 7B shows the support pins and wafers. The relationship between this can be observed after the misalignment shown in Fig. 7A is corrected; Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a specific example of wafer transfer processing that can be implemented in this embodiment; Fig. 9A -9E respectively show an example of the operation performed by the substrate transfer device; Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of another structure which can be used in the substrate transfer device in this embodiment; Fig. 11 is a view The cross-sectional view shows an example of the structure of a substrate processing apparatus using the substrate transfer apparatus according to this embodiment; and FIG. 12 is a side view showing that it can be used in the substrate transfer apparatus equipped with this embodiment An example of the internal structure of a clean room.

130. . . Substrate transfer device

112. . . Table

110. . . Table unit

150. . . Substrate position detecting unit

114. . . Support shaft

132A. . . Support pin

132B. . . Support pin

132C. . . Support pin

134. . . Pedestal

138. . . Support pin drive mechanism

138X. . . X-direction drive mechanism

138Y. . . Y direction drive mechanism

138Z. . . Z direction drive mechanism

113A. . . perforation

113B. . . perforation

113C. . . perforation

156. . . Mounting base

152A. . . Image capture mechanism

152B. . . Image capture mechanism

152C. . . Image capture mechanism

154A. . . Illumination source

157. . . bracket

158. . . bracket

W. . . Wafer

Claims (17)

A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a table on which the substrate is placed, the substrate transfer device comprising: a plurality of supports a pin disposed at a position around a support shaft of a table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate; a base on which the support pins are mounted a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base; and a horizontal drive mechanism for driving the horizontally through the base And supporting the pin to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction, wherein a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting a horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is disposed adjacent to the table And wherein the substrate is a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer; and the substrate position detecting mechanism employs a structure that detects the circumferential edge of the substrate at at least two points. A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a table on which the substrate is placed, the substrate transfer device comprising: a plurality of supports a pin disposed at a position around a support shaft of a table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins being supported from the bottom surface of the substrate Supporting the substrate; a base, the support pins are mounted on the base; a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base; a horizontal driving mechanism for adjusting the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by driving the supporting pins horizontally through the base; and a control unit performing substrate transfer processing for transmitting the vertical driving The mechanism raises the support pins to receive the substrate conveyed by the transfer arm, and the substrate position detecting mechanism detects the substrate along the horizontal direction when the substrate is supported on the support pins Positioning, by driving the support pins along the horizontal direction through the horizontal drive mechanism to correct any misalignment of the substrate and ultimately lowering the support pins by the vertical drive mechanism to place the substrate thereon On the table, a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting the horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is disposed adjacent to the table. The substrate transfer device of claim 2, wherein: when the substrate is removed from the transfer arm, the substrate can be lifted up by lowering the transfer arm Placed on the support pins. The substrate transfer device of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of support pins are disposed at positions around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from each other in relation to the table a further inward radius, and the front end of the support pin is allowed to protrude beyond the substrate placement surface of the table via the perforations formed on the table Return to the bottom of the substrate placement surface. A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a table on which the substrate is placed, the substrate transfer device comprising: a plurality of supports a pin disposed at a position around a support shaft of a table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate; a base on which the support pins are mounted a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base; a horizontal drive mechanism for driving the horizontally through the base Supporting the pins to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction, the plurality of support pins being positionable at a position around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from each other at a radius associated with the table Further inwardly, and the front end of the support pin is allowed to protrude beyond the substrate placement surface of the table through the perforations formed on the table and retracted under the substrate placement surface, wherein the table The table can rotate freely around the support shaft And that when the table is rotated, the support pin is lowered to such other front-end down to the position below the bottom surface of the table top support pin. The substrate transfer device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of support pins are disposed at positions around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from each other in relation to the table The more out of the radius. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a specific type of processing on a substrate placed on a table disposed in a processing chamber, wherein: one for transferring the substrate to a substrate is carried in/ a substrate transfer device between the transfer arm of the processing chamber and the table is disposed adjacent to the table; the substrate transfer device includes a plurality of support pins disposed around the support shaft of the table and adjacent to each other In a spaced apart position, the support pins support the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate, a pedestal, the support pins are mounted on the pedestal, and a vertical drive mechanism is used to pass through the pedestal /lowering the support pins to raise/lower the substrate and a horizontal drive mechanism for adjusting the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by driving the support pins horizontally through the base, one of which is used a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting a horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is disposed adjacent to the table, wherein the substrate is a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer; and the substrate The position detecting mechanism adopts a structure which can detect the substrate at Circumferential edges of the two points. A substrate processing apparatus comprising a plurality of processing chambers, wherein a specific type of processing is performed on the substrate in the processing chambers and a substrate is sequentially transferred to the processing chambers through a transfer arm to process a substrate Wherein: at least one of the processing chambers is used as a post-processing chamber, and the substrate that has been processed in another processing chamber is transferred to the post-processing chamber for post-processing And a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate between a table disposed in the aftertreatment chamber and the transfer arm mounted in the aftertreatment chamber; The substrate transfer device includes: a plurality of support pins disposed at a position around the support shaft of the table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate; a pedestal, the pedestal An auxiliary support pin is mounted on the base; a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base; and a horizontal drive mechanism for transmitting the The pedestal horizontally drives the support pins to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction, wherein a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting a horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is set Located adjacent to the table, and wherein the substrate is a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer; and the substrate position detecting mechanism employs a structure that detects the circumferential edge of the substrate at at least two points. A substrate processing apparatus comprising a plurality of processing chambers, wherein a specific type of processing is performed on the substrate in the processing chambers and a substrate is sequentially transferred to the processing chambers through a transfer arm to process a substrate Wherein: at least one of the processing chambers is used as a post-processing chamber, and the substrate that has been processed in another processing chamber is transferred to the post-processing chamber for post-processing And a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate between a table disposed in the post-treatment chamber and the transfer arm installed in the post-treatment chamber; the substrate transfer device includes: a plurality of support pins Between the support shafts of the table and each other In the spaced apart position, the support pins support the substrate from the bottom surface of the substrate; a base on which the support pins are mounted; and a vertical drive mechanism for transmitting through the base /lowering the support pins to raise/lower the substrate; and a horizontal drive mechanism for adjusting the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction by driving the support pins horizontally through the base, wherein thereafter The processing chamber is a cleaning processing chamber, and the substance on the circumferential edge of the substrate is removed in the cleaning processing chamber; and the plurality of supporting pin systems in the substrate transferring device are disposed in the cleaning chamber At a position around the support shaft of the table, the positions are spaced apart from each other further in relation to the radius of the table, and the front end of each support pin can be protruded through a perforation formed on the table The substrate placement surface beyond the table is retracted and retracted under the substrate placement surface. A transfer method that can be employed in a substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a table on which the substrate is placed, the base The material transfer device includes a plurality of support pins disposed at a position around the support shaft of the table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate, and a support pin system of the base Mounted on the base, a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base, and a horizontal drive mechanism for driving horizontally through the base The support pins adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction and a substrate position detecting mechanism is used to detect the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction. The transfer method includes: In a receiving step, the substrate is received from the transfer arm by raising the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism in this step; a detecting step in which the accepted substrate is along the step The horizontal position is detected by the substrate position detecting mechanism when the substrate is still supported by the support pins; a determining step in which the substrate detecting mechanism is detected according to the substrate Detecting the position of the substrate to determine whether the substrate is misaligned with respect to a predetermined reference position; a placing step in which the substrate has not been misjudged if determined by the determined step If possible, the substrate is placed on the table by lowering the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism; and a correcting/placement step in which the determined step is determined to be mistyped The substrate is properly aligned by driving the support pins in the horizontal direction through the horizontal drive mechanism, and then the substrate is placed in the support pin by lowering the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism On the table. The substrate transfer method of claim 10, wherein: during the receiving step in which the substrate is received from the transfer arm, the substrate can be lifted by lowering the transfer arm Placed on the support pins. The substrate transfer method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is not detectable by the substrate detecting mechanism during the detecting step of detecting the position of the substrate; The material can be displaced by driving the support pins along the horizontal direction until the substrate position The detection mechanism can detect the position of the substrate. A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between a transfer arm carrying the substrate and a table on which the substrate is placed, the substrate transfer device comprising: a plurality of supports a pin disposed at a position around a support shaft of a table and spaced apart from each other, the support pins supporting the substrate from a bottom surface of the substrate; a base on which the support pins are mounted a vertical drive mechanism for raising/lowering the substrate by driving the support pins up/down through the base; and a horizontal drive mechanism for driving the horizontally through the base And supporting the pin to adjust the position of the substrate in a horizontal direction, wherein the plurality of support pins are disposed at a position around the support shaft of the table, the positions being spaced apart from each other in relation to the table a further inward radius, and the front end of the support pin is allowed to protrude beyond the substrate placement surface of the table through the perforations formed on the table and retracted under the substrate placement surface, and Where the plurality of support pins are freely Movable in the horizontal direction. The substrate transfer device of claim 13, wherein a substrate position detecting mechanism for detecting a horizontal position of the substrate supported on the support pins is disposed adjacent to the table. The substrate transfer device of claim 14, wherein the substrate is a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer; and the substrate position detecting mechanism adopts a structure that can detect the substrate at at least two points. The edge of the circle. The substrate transfer device of claim 14, wherein a control unit performs a substrate transfer process for receiving the substrate conveyed by the transfer arm by raising the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism The substrate position detecting mechanism detects the position of the substrate along the horizontal direction when the substrate is supported on the support pins, and drives the supports along the horizontal direction through the horizontal driving mechanism. The pins are used to correct any misalignment of the substrate and ultimately the substrate is placed on the table by lowering the support pins through the vertical drive mechanism. The substrate transfer device of claim 13, wherein the table is free to rotate about the support shaft; and when the table is rotated, the support pins are lowered for use of the support pins The front end is lowered below the bottom of the table.