TWI524460B - Substrate processing system - Google Patents

Description

Substrate processing system

The present invention relates to a substrate processing system comprising a heat treatment such as baking (baking) on a substrate such as liquid crystal glass, and a substrate processing method applicable to the system.

When heat-treating a substrate such as liquid crystal glass in a color filter manufacturing step or the like, a systemized structure is used in order to efficiently carry in, process, and carry out the substrate.

Here, the control content of the substrate transfer in the conventional substrate processing system will be briefly described with reference to FIG. It is understood that the transport robot 22 that takes out the unprocessed workpiece from the loading portion outside the drawing, for example, is lifted from the uppermost layer of the multilayer frame 166 of the first processing chamber 16 to carry out the processed workpiece, and then, The unprocessed workpiece is moved into the empty layer. Thereafter, the robot arm 22 is transported, and the processed workpiece is transported to the unloading portion outside the drawing. Next, the transport robot 22 takes out the unprocessed workpiece from the carry-in portion, and this time, the processed workpiece is carried out from the second layer of the multi-layer frame 166 from the multilayer frame 166 of the first processing chamber 16, and then the unprocessed workpiece is carried into the workpiece. In the empty layer. The same operation is repeated, and the robot arm 22 is transported. First, the multilayer frame of the first processing chamber 16 is processed from the uppermost layer to the lowermost layer to carry out the workpiece unloading process and the unprocessed workpiece carrying process. After the processing of the finished workpiece and the processing of the unprocessed workpiece are completed in the respective layers of the multilayer frame 166 of the first processing chamber 16 from the uppermost layer to the lowermost layer, the multilayer frame of the second processing chamber 18 is formed in the same manner as described above. 186 from the top to the bottom Each layer of the layer is processed to complete the workpiece unloading process and the unprocessed workpiece loading process.

In such a substrate processing system, when the substrate is subjected to heat treatment, the sublimation property component (for example, a sublimation property contained in a photoresist) coated on the substrate is vaporized, and the sublimate is caused in the furnace. Reduced cleanliness.

Therefore, there are various solutions for exhaust systems that use a duct or the like to suck the generated sublimate from the furnace. For example, there is a heat treatment apparatus which heats the air for ventilation, reduces the upstream portion of the circulating air passing through the workpiece, and discharges a part of the air passing through the workpiece in order to lower the concentration of the sublimation gas (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10- No. 141868).

In the conventional heat treatment apparatus including the heat treatment apparatus of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-141868, if the throughput is to be increased, it is necessary to shorten the time interval for loading the substrate into the furnace as much as possible, but if When the time interval for loading the substrate is shortened, it is necessary to increase the amount of exhaust gas in order to lower the concentration of the sublimate gas.

Further, as the amount of exhaust gas increases, the amount of heat to be discharged or the amount of heat supplied to the gas also increases. As a result, it has been found that in order to maintain the furnace at a set temperature, it is necessary to supply more heat from the heater to the furnace.

Therefore, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus including the heat treatment apparatus of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 10-141868, the power consumption is inevitably increased in proportion to the increase in the production amount, and the production amount is sacrificed in order to reduce the power consumption.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing system and a substrate processing method which can achieve power consumption reduction without sacrificing production amount.

The substrate processing system of the present invention heats the substrate. As an example of a substrate, Examples thereof include a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display and a plasma display, a semiconductor wafer used in a semiconductor device, and the like.

The substrate processing system includes a transfer unit, a plurality of processing chambers, and a control unit. The transport unit has a transport robot arm for transporting the substrate. The plurality of processing chambers are disposed around the transport unit. Each processing chamber has a door that can be opened or closed when the substrate is loaded and unloaded.

The control unit controls at least the conveying unit and the processing chamber. The control unit controls the movement of the transfer robot arm and the door, and causes the transport robot arm to carry in or carry out the same processing chamber in a continuous manner, instead of carrying in or out the plurality of processing chambers in sequence.

In this configuration, different opening or closing operations of the process chamber doors are performed for each tact time or takt time, and the substrates are sequentially loaded or unloaded for different processing chambers. In this way, by changing the order in which the substrate is introduced into the plurality of processing chambers, the amount of sublimate gas generated per unit time in a single processing chamber can be suppressed, and the concentration of the sublimate gas in the furnace can be reduced.

As a result, it has been found that the operation of reducing the amount of exhaust gas and the amount of supplied air can be performed as compared with the conventional one, and the exhaust heat accompanying the exhaust gas can be reduced. That is, energy saving operation can be performed without lowering the production amount. Further, it is also possible to reduce the maintenance frequency of removing the sublimate or the like adhering to the furnace.

According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in power consumption without sacrificing the amount of production.

10, 11‧‧‧ substrate processing system

12‧‧‧Moving Department

14‧‧‧ Moving out

15, 150‧‧‧Transport Department

16‧‧‧First Processing Room

17‧‧‧Processing room

18‧‧‧Second treatment room

20‧‧‧Workpiece

22‧‧‧Transfer robotic arm

30‧‧‧Main Control Department

40‧‧‧ small door

162, 182‧‧‧

164, 184‧‧ ‧ furnace body

165, 185‧‧ ‧ Control Department

166, 186‧‧‧Multi-layer framework

167, 187‧‧ ‧ heat treatment department

168, 188‧‧‧ Ventilation Department

169, 189‧‧‧ Door Drive Department

222‧‧‧Control Department

224‧‧‧Hand Drive Department

225‧‧‧ hands

226‧‧‧Mobile Agency

Fig. 1 is a view showing a conventional substrate processing system for controlling the conveyance of a substrate.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an outline of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the first processing chamber, the second processing chamber, and the transport robot.

4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a substrate processing system.

Fig. 5 is a view showing contents of control performed by the main control unit.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of a substrate processing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing the effect of a substrate processing system having n processing chambers.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural view showing a processing chamber according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a substrate processing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the substrate processing system 10 has a structure in which the color filter can be manufactured. However, the application range of the present invention is not limited to the manufacturing process of the color filter.

The substrate processing system 10 includes a loading unit 12, a carrying-out unit 14, a conveying unit 15, a first processing chamber 16, and a second processing chamber 18. The loading unit 12, the unloading unit 14, and the conveying unit 15 are disposed inside the cleaning unit covered with the transparent member.

The loading unit 12 has a structure as a loading and unloading function of the unprocessed workpiece (substrate) 20. In the present embodiment, the workpiece 20 is a rectangular glass substrate having a long side of about 2.5 meters and a short side of about 2.2 meters. However, the type of the workpiece 20 processed by the heat treatment system 10 is not limited to this. The carry-out portion 14 is a structure that can accommodate the workpiece 20 that has been processed.

The conveying unit 15 is located at a central portion of the heat treatment system 10 and is disposed adjacent to the loading unit 12, the unloading unit 14, the first processing chamber 16, and the second processing chamber 18, respectively. The transport unit 15 is provided inside the transport robot 22 . The transport robot arm 22 transports the workpiece 20 between the carry-in unit 12, the carry-out unit 14, the first processing chamber 16, and the second processing chamber 18. The first processing chamber 16 and the second processing chamber 18 heat-treat the loaded workpiece 20.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the first processing chamber 16, the second processing chamber 18, and the transfer robot 22. The first processing chamber 16 includes a furnace body 164 having an opening for carrying in and out the workpiece 20, and a door 162 for selectively blocking the opening.

The furnace body 164 has a multi-layered frame 166 that supports the workpiece 20 on each layer. The door 162 is constituted by a plurality of baffle sheets which are supported to be vertically movable up and down along a shaft extending in the vertical direction. Each of the baffle sheets is configured to move up and down with each other. For example, the workpiece 20 can be carried into and out of a predetermined layer in the multilayer frame 166 by separating or contacting the adjacent two baffle sheets.

The second process chamber 18 is identical to the first process chamber 16, and also includes at least a furnace body 184, a door 182, and a multi-layer frame 186. These structures are substantially the same as those of the first processing chamber 16, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

The transfer robot arm 22 has a hand 225 that can support the workpiece 20. The transport robot 22 can carry in and out the workpiece 20 with respect to the arbitrary layers of the multilayer frame 166 and the multilayer frame 186 by raising and lowering the hand 225.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the substrate processing system 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the first processing chamber 16 includes at least a door driving portion 169, a ventilation portion 168, a heat treatment portion 167, and a control portion 165. The door drive unit 169 has a structure in which the above-described opening or closing operation of the door 166 can be performed. The ventilating portion 168 has an introduction portion into which the outside air can be introduced into the furnace body 164, and an exhaust portion through which the gas inside the furnace body 164 can be discharged. The ventilation unit 168 sets an exhaust amount and a supply amount suitable for the concentration of the sublimate gas in the room. The heat treatment unit 167 is configured to heat the furnace body 164 at a set temperature (for example, 230 ° C) and heat-treat the workpiece 20 carried into the furnace body 164. The control unit 165 controls the operations of the respective units of the first processing chamber 16 based on the control information supplied from the main control unit 30.

The second processing chamber 18 has at least a door driving portion 189, a ventilation portion 188, a heat treatment portion 187, and a control portion 185. These structures are the same as the door drive unit 169, the ventilation unit 168, the heat treatment unit 167, and the control unit 165 described above, and description thereof will be omitted.

The transport robot 22 includes a moving mechanism portion 226, a hand driving portion 224, and a control portion. 222. The moving mechanism unit 226 includes at least a mechanism that moves the transport robot 22 in the horizontal direction and a mechanism that rotates the transport robot 22 . The hand drive unit 224 allows the hand 225 to perform the lifting operation, the horizontal movement, the turning operation, and the holding or releasing of the workpiece 20. The structure of the control unit 222 controls the operation of each unit of the transport robot 22 based on the control information from the main control unit 30.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining contents of control by the main control unit 30. In the substrate processing system 10 of the present embodiment, the main control unit 30 causes the transfer robot arm 22 to alternately carry in or carry out the first processing chamber 16 or the second processing chamber 18. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, after the processing of the processed workpiece 20 and the processing of the unprocessed workpiece 20 are performed on the respective layers from the uppermost layer to the lowermost layer of the multilayer frame 166 of the first processing chamber 16, The processing of the workpiece 20 that has been processed and the processing of the unprocessed workpiece 20 are not performed on the respective layers from the uppermost layer to the lowermost layer of the multilayer frame 186 of the second processing chamber 18, but sequentially to the first processing chamber 16 The process of carrying out the processing of the workpiece 20 and the process of carrying in the unprocessed workpiece 20 are performed; and the process of carrying out the processing of the workpiece 20 and the process of carrying in the unprocessed workpiece 20 in the second process chamber 18 are performed.

Specifically, the main control unit 30 can take the transfer robot 22 out of the unprocessed workpiece 20 in the carry-in unit 12. Next, the main control unit 30 opens the door 162 of the first processing chamber 16 in accordance with the storage information relating to the position and the order to be loaded, and thereafter, the operation of the transport robot 22 is controlled to carry out the processing from the layer corresponding to the multilayer frame 166. The workpiece 20 is loaded into the same layer that becomes the empty layer. Here, the processed workpiece 20 refers to the workpiece 20 that has been subjected to heat treatment for a predetermined period of time after being carried into the first processing chamber.

Thereafter, the main control unit 30 can cause the transport robot 22 to send the processed workpiece 20 to the carry-out unit 14 and move the transport robot 22 to the carry-in unit 12 beforehand. The unprocessed workpiece 20 in the loading unit 12 is taken out.

Next, the main control unit 30 opens the door 182 of the second processing chamber 18 in accordance with the storage information relating to the position and the order to be carried in. Thereafter, the operation of the transport robot 22 is controlled to carry out the processing from the layer corresponding to the multilayer frame 186. The completed workpiece 20 carries the unprocessed workpiece 20 into the same layer that becomes the empty layer.

Thereafter, the main control unit 30 allows the transport robot 22 to send the processed workpiece 20 to the carry-out unit 14 to move the transport robot 22 to the carry-in unit 12 and take out the unprocessed workpiece 20 from the carry-in unit 12.

The operations of transporting the robot arm 22 and the doors 162, 182 are controlled, and thereafter, the above-described operations of the first processing chamber 16 and the second processing chamber 18 are sequentially performed, and supported in the first processing chamber 16 and the second processing chamber 18 All of the workpieces 20 on the inner multi-layer frames 166, 186 are heat treated for a predetermined period of time.

The example shown therein is that the transport robot 22 is in the uppermost layer of the multi-layer frame 166 → the uppermost layer of the multi-layer frame 186 → the multi-layer frame 166 from the upper second layer → the multi-layer frame 186 from the upper second layer →... ...→The lowermost layer of the multilayer frame 166→the lowermost layer of the multilayer frame 186 is carried in or out in the order of the lowermost layer, but the order of loading or unloading is not limited to this example.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system 11 having six processing chambers 17. The substrate processing system 11 includes a loading unit 12, a carrying-out unit 14, a conveying unit 150, and six processing chambers 17. The substrate processing system 11 has the same basic configuration as the substrate processing system 10 except that the number of processing chambers 17 is six.

In the substrate processing system 11, the robot arm 22 is transported, and it is possible to control the loading or unloading of the six processing chambers 17 in order, instead of continuously loading or unloading the same processing chamber 17.

In the main control unit 30, the processing of the workpiece 20 that has been carried out and processed and the unprocessed workpiece 20 are carried into the empty layer in accordance with the storage information relating to the position and the order to be carried. Processing in the same layer. Thereafter, the main control unit 30 allows the transport robot 22 to feed the processed workpiece 20 to the carry-out unit 14 and move the transport robot 22 to the carry-in unit 12 before taking out the unprocessed workpiece 20 in the carry-in unit 12. Then, the same operation is performed on the next one of the six processing chambers 17. By controlling the movement of the transfer robot arm 22 and the doors 162 and 182, the above-described operations can be sequentially performed on the six processing chambers 17, and all the workpieces 20 supported on the multi-layer racks in the six processing chambers 17 can be specified. Heat treatment of time.

As described above, when there are two processing chambers, the processing of the workpiece 20 that has been processed in the first processing chamber and the loading of the unprocessed workpiece 20 are performed in a pair operation, and thereafter, the same is performed for the second processing chamber. In the paired operation, the operation may be alternately repeated in the first processing chamber and the second processing chamber. Further, in the case where six processing chambers are provided in the substrate processing system, the above-described paired operations are performed in the order of the first to sixth processing chambers, and the same operation is performed thereafter.

When the method is generalized and the number of processing chambers is n, the main control unit 30 performs the paired operation of the workpiece 20 that has been processed in the first processing chamber and the unprocessed workpiece 20. Then, the same operation is performed on the second processing chamber, and the same operation is performed on the n-1th processing chamber, and then the same processing is performed on the nth processing chamber, and then the same operation is performed on the first processing chamber again. Continue this operation in sequence. As a result, it was found that the time for staying indoors can be adjusted to be the same for all the workpieces 20 regardless of the number of processing chambers.

In general, if the number of processing chambers in the substrate processing system is increased, it is better to reduce the amount of exhaust gas and the capacity of the heater. For example, compared to the substrate processing shown in Figure 2 The system 10, the substrate processing system 11 shown in Fig. 6, can further reduce the amount of exhaust gas and the capacity of the heater.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the substrate processing system 11 provided with the plurality of processing chambers, the maximum number of inputs per unit time can be averaged by the order in which the workpieces 20 are dispensed, and the single processing chamber 17 can be suppressed. The amount of sublimate gas generated per unit time. Further, as a result, it has been found that the capacity of the heater can be reduced, and the running cost can be reduced. Further, since the sublimate is easily prevented from adhering to the processing chamber 17, the maintenance performance of the processing chamber 17 can be improved.

Fig. 7 schematically shows the effect of the substrate processing system 10 having n processing chambers. Here, the production amount as the entire substrate processing system 10 is the same as that of the conventional substrate processing system. As shown in FIG. 7, in the substrate processing system 10, the input time interval of the workpiece 20 can be multiplied by n times for each of the first to nth processing chambers (n is the number of processing chambers provided in the system). As a result, it was found that the amount of the sublimation gas generated accompanying the input of the workpiece 20 can be theoretically suppressed to 1/n. Further, the amount of ventilation required to maintain the respective first to nth processing chambers in the respective allowable cleanliness, that is, the amount of exhaust gas, can theoretically be suppressed to 1/n. Therefore, the configuration of the ventilation unit 168 and the ventilation unit 188 can be simplified, and the amount of electric power consumed in the ventilation unit 168 and the ventilation unit 188 can be reduced.

Therefore, since the heater capacity required to maintain the set temperature in each of the first to nth processing chambers can be theoretically suppressed to 1/n, the power consumption of the substrate processing system 10 can be greatly reduced.

For example, in the substrate processing system 10 having the first processing chamber 16 or the second processing chamber 18, if the conventional substrate loading time interval is enlarged from 60 seconds to 120 seconds, the amount of sublimate gas generated can be increased from 30ppm is reduced to 15ppm. Therefore, in the case where the degree of pollution in the room is operated by the same standard as the conventional one, since the amount of exhaust gas can be reduced from 40 m ³ /min to 20 m ³ /min, it can theoretically be used for the supplementary exhaust portion. The heat capacity of the heater is reduced from 90kw to 45kw. That is to say, in theory, the power consumption can be suppressed to about half of the conventional one without lowering the production amount.

Further, in addition to the operations described in the above embodiments, in the substrate processing system of the present invention, various operations can be performed in accordance with the structure of the arm and the hand of the transport robot arm 22. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the transport robot 22 performs the operation of taking the processed unprocessed workpiece 20 into the processing chamber while taking out the processed workpiece 20 from the processing chamber, but can only hold it once at a time. When the robot arm is transported by the single workpiece 20, the transport robot 22 may be carried out by moving the processed workpiece 20 → moving to the carry-out unit 14 → moving to the loading unit 12 → loading the unprocessed workpiece 20 . Further, in this case, it is preferable to close the door of the processing chamber while the transfer robot 22 leaves the processing chamber.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the transport robot 22 has one piece of the workpiece 20 in and out of the processing chamber has been described. However, the transport robot 22 may allow the plurality of (for example, approximately two) workpieces 20 to enter and exit the processing chamber at one time. .

Further, the processing chamber configuration used in the substrate processing system of the present invention is not limited to the above configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the processing chamber can also be applied to the substrate processing system of the present invention, which is provided with a rotatable small door 40 corresponding to each layer, and the small door 40 is opened or closed by the cylinder drive. .

In the above-described embodiment, the number of processing chambers provided in the substrate processing system (10, 11) is two or six. However, the number of processing chambers may be two or more, and is not limited to the above. example of.

The description of the above embodiments is merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. The scope of the present invention is not indicated by the above embodiments, but is represented by the scope of the claims. Further, the scope of the present invention includes all modifications made within the scope and scope of the claims.

16‧‧‧First Processing Room

18‧‧‧Second treatment room

22‧‧‧Transfer robotic arm

166‧‧‧Multi-layer framework

186‧‧‧Multi-layer framework

225‧‧‧ hands

Claims (2)

A substrate processing system having a structure capable of heat-treating a substrate, and comprising: a plurality of processing chambers having a structure capable of heat-treating the substrate; a transfer robot arm that transports only a single substrate at a time; and a loading portion that is stored in the loading portion An unprocessed substrate of the processing chamber; a carry-out portion storing the substrate carried out from the processing chamber; and a control unit for controlling the processing chamber and the transfer robot, the processing chamber having a multi-layer frame for supporting the substrate The door and the door are opened or closed corresponding to a predetermined layer in the multilayer frame when the substrate is loaded and unloaded, and the control unit controls the movement of the transfer robot arm and the door, and moves into a processing chamber for a predetermined period of time. The substrate is carried out from the processing chamber by the transfer robot and stored in the carry-out portion, and then the transfer robot is moved to the carry-in portion to hold the unprocessed substrate, and the unprocessed substrate is carried into the process. After the indoors, the substrate will be moved into another processing chamber for a predetermined period of time, by the above The delivery robot is carried out from the other processing chamber and stored in the unloading unit, and then the transfer robot is moved to the loading unit to hold the unprocessed substrate, and the unprocessed substrate is carried into the other processing chamber. The door is closed while the transfer robot is separated from the processing chamber, and thereafter, the plurality of substrates supported by the plurality of frames in the plurality of processing chambers are sequentially operated by the plurality of processing chambers. The heat treatment is performed for a predetermined period of time. A substrate processing system having a structure capable of heat-treating a substrate, and comprising: a plurality of processing chambers having a structure capable of heat-treating the substrate; and a transfer robot arm configured to transfer at least two substrates at a time; the loading portion And storing the unprocessed substrate that is carried into the processing chamber; the unloading portion storing the substrate carried out from the processing chamber; and the control unit for controlling the processing chamber and the transfer robot, The processing chamber has a multi-layer frame for supporting the substrate on each layer, and a door that can be opened or closed corresponding to a predetermined layer in the multi-layer frame when loading and unloading the substrate, wherein the control unit controls the transfer robot and the above In the operation of the door, the transfer robot holds the at least one unprocessed substrate, and the substrate that has been ejected into the processing chamber for a predetermined period of time is carried out by the transfer robot from the processing chamber and transported. The unprocessed substrate held by the robot arm is carried into the processing chamber, and then the substrate carried out from the processing chamber is stored in the loading portion, and the transfer robot holds at least one unprocessed substrate in the loading portion And the substrate that has passed the predetermined time after being carried into the other processing chamber is carried out from the other processing chamber by the transfer robot, and the unprocessed substrate held by the transfer robot is carried into the other processing chamber. Next, the substrate carried out from the other processing chamber is stored in the carry-out portion, and is placed in the carry-in portion. Said transfer robot gripping arm at least one unprocessed substrate, also after the processing chamber by a plurality of the above-described operation sequentially continue to do so, and all the indoor supporting substrate complex multilayer processing on the frame, a predetermined heat treatment time.