US20090252578A1 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates - Google Patents
Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20090252578A1 US20090252578A1 US12/369,882 US36988209A US2009252578A1 US 20090252578 A1 US20090252578 A1 US 20090252578A1 US 36988209 A US36988209 A US 36988209A US 2009252578 A1 US2009252578 A1 US 2009252578A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- substrate
- holding part
- holding
- transport robot
- passing
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 395
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 title claims description 80
- 238000003672 processing method Methods 0.000 title claims description 13
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 152
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 133
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 claims description 99
- FGUUSXIOTUKUDN-IBGZPJMESA-N C1(=CC=CC=C1)N1C2=C(NC([C@H](C1)NC=1OC(=NN=1)C1=CC=CC=C1)=O)C=CC=C2 Chemical compound C1(=CC=CC=C1)N1C2=C(NC([C@H](C1)NC=1OC(=NN=1)C1=CC=CC=C1)=O)C=CC=C2 FGUUSXIOTUKUDN-IBGZPJMESA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 abstract description 43
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 abstract description 35
- 230000032258 transport Effects 0.000 description 108
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 12
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 6
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 5
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 4
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000007423 decrease Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000008367 deionised water Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000007599 discharging Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000002452 interceptive effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000004973 liquid crystal related substance Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005192 partition Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000009825 accumulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000274 adsorptive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000903 blocking effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000470 constituent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005755 formation reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000007654 immersion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011229 interlayer Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67745—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber characterized by movements or sequence of movements of transfer devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67748—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber horizontal transfer of a single workpiece
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/683—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping
- H01L21/687—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches
- H01L21/68714—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support
- H01L21/68764—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support characterised by a movable susceptor, stage or support, others than those only rotating on their own vertical axis, e.g. susceptors on a rotating caroussel
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/683—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping
- H01L21/687—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches
- H01L21/68714—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support
- H01L21/68785—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. chucks, clamps or pinches the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates, such as semiconductor substrates, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks or the like.
- a substrate processing apparatus consists of processing units for performing these processings and transport robots for transporting the substrates to the processing units.
- a coating unit for performing a resist coating process on the substrates a development unit for performing a development process on the substrates and a transport robot for transporting the substrates between these units is a so-called coater & developer, which is widely used.
- Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2005-93653 discloses a coater & developer in which a plurality of cells are arranged in parallel, one of which is constituted of one transport robot and a plurality of processing units from/to which the transport robot transports substrates, and a substrate passing part is provided between the cells, to pass the substrates from/to the transport robots of the adjacent cells via the substrate passing part.
- the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2005-93653 is one for performing the resist coating process and the development process on substrates, it is possible to apply a like cell structure in which a plurality of cells are connected to one another via the substrate passing parts to devices for performing other types of processings, such as a cleaning device for cleaning substrates with a brush.
- the cleaning device has a construction in which an indexer cell for accumulating unprocessed substrates and processed substrates and a cleaning cell provided with a brush cleaning unit are connected to each other via a substrate passing part.
- the indexer cell and the cleaning cell are provided with respective dedicated transport robots.
- the substrate processing apparatus having such a cell structure as discussed above, if the number of process steps performed in each cell becomes larger, the number of transporting processes using the transport robot increases and the transport becomes a rate-limiting factor.
- some sort of substrate processing is performed in the substrate passing part between the adjacent cells, to reduce the number of process steps to be performed in each cell.
- the substrate passing part also has a function as a substrate processing part as well as the original function of passing substrates between the cells.
- a cleaning device in which a brush cleaning unit is provided in a cell, for example, a process of reversing front and back sides of a substrate may be performed in the substrate passing part. Since the substrate processing which is conventionally performed in the cell is performed in the substrate passing part, the number of process steps to be performed in the cell decreases and the transport load of the transport robot is reduced.
- the transport robot can not load the next substrate into the substrate passing part, in other words, a transport operation for the next substrate can not be started until the substrate processing is finished.
- the simplest method to solve this problem is to increase the number of passing parts each of which also performs some sort of substrate processing, but since the reverse passing part which is a passing part for reversing front and back sides of a substrate has a large size, it is not easy to increase the number of stages for the passing parts for reasons of layout of the whole apparatus. If the vertical-direction operating range of either one of the transport robots which access the substrate passing part is limited, especially, it is very hard to configure a multistage structure of the reverse passing parts for reversing front and back sides of substrates.
- the present invention is intended for a substrate processing apparatus for successively processing a plurality of substrates.
- the substrate processing apparatus comprises a sending side section having a first transport robot, for sending a substrate, a receiving side section having a second transport robot, for receiving the substrate sent out from the sending side section, and a reverse passing part provided between the sending side section and the receiving side section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the substrate passed from the first transport robot and passing the substrate to the second transport robot, which comprises a first holding part for holding a substrate, a second holding part for holding a substrate, and a rotation driving mechanism for rotating the first holding part and the second holding part about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction, and in the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the first holding part and the second holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to the rotary central axis, the rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate the first holding part and the second holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a first position and a second position, the first transport robot is so configured as to pass a
- the first transport robot can start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce a standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- the substrate processing apparatus comprises a) a processing section having a transport robot and a processing part to which a substrate is transported by the transport robot, b) an indexer section having a transfer robot, for passing an unprocessed substrate to the processing section and receiving a processed substrate from the processing section, c) a first reverse passing part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the unprocessed substrate passed from the transfer robot and passing the unprocessed substrate to the transport robot, which comprises c-1) a first holding part for holding a substrate, c-2) a second holding part for holding a substrate, and c-3) a first rotation driving mechanism for rotating the first holding part and the second holding part about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction, and d) a second reverse passing part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the processed substrate passed from the transport robot and passing the
- the transfer robot and the transport robot can each start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the robots to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- the substrate processing apparatus further comprises e) a first rest part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, on which the unprocessed substrate passed from the transfer robot is rested to be passed to the transport robot, and f) a second rest part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, on which the processed substrate passed from the transport robot is rested to be passed to the transfer robot.
- the present invention is also intended for a substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates from a first transport robot of a sending side section which sends the substrates to a second transport robot of a receiving side section which receives the substrates via a reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate.
- the substrate processing method comprises the steps of a) passing a substrate to a first holding part of the reverse passing part at a first position by the first transport robot, b) receiving a substrate from a second holding part of the reverse passing part at a second position by the second transport robot, c) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the reverse passing part 180 degrees about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the first holding part to the second position and move the second holding part to the first position, d) passing a substrate to the second holding part at the first position by the first transport robot, e) receiving a substrate from the first holding part at the second position by the second transport robot, f) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the reverse passing part 180 degrees about the rotary central axis to move the first holding part to the first position and move the second holding part to the second position, and g) repeating the step a) to step f).
- the first transport robot can start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- the present invention is further intended for a substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates between a transport robot of a processing section having a processing part and a transfer robot of an indexer section.
- the substrate processing method comprises the steps of a) passing an unprocessed substrate to a first holding part of a first reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a first position by the transfer robot, b) receiving an unprocessed substrate from a second holding part of the first reverse passing part at a second position by the transport robot, c) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the first reverse passing part 180 degrees about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the first holding part to the second position and move the second holding part to the first position, d) passing an unprocessed substrate to the second holding part at the first position by the transfer robot, e) receiving an unprocessed substrate from the first holding part at the second position by the transport robot, f) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the first reverse passing part 180 degrees about the first rotary central axis to move the first holding part to the first position and move the second holding part to the second position
- the transfer robot can start transfer of the following unprocessed substrate before a reverse process on the preceding unprocessed substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce a standby time of the transfer robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- the substrate processing method further comprises the steps of h) receiving a processed substrate from a third holding part of a second reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a third position by the transfer robot, i) passing a processed substrate to a fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part at a fourth position by the transport robot, j) rotating the third holding part and the fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part 180 degrees about a second rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the third holding part to the fourth position and move the fourth holding part to the third position, k) receiving a processed substrate from the fourth holding part at the third position by the transfer robot, l) passing a processed substrate to the third holding part at the fourth position by the transport robot, m) rotating the third holding part and the fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part 180 degrees about the second rotary central axis to move the third holding part to the third position and move the fourth holding part to the fourth position, and n) repeating the step h)
- the transport robot can start transfer of the following processed substrate before a reverse process on the preceding processed substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus in accordance with the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a view showing the substrate processing apparatus, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is a view showing the substrate processing apparatus, taken along the line B-B of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing a reverse passing part
- FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the reverse passing part
- FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where a transfer arm of a transport robot accesses the reverse passing part
- FIGS. 7 to 12 are illustrations of an operation for transferring a substrate via the reverse passing part.
- FIGS. 13 and 14 are illustrations of a concept of transferring a substrate via the reverse passing part.
- FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1 and
- FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 1 .
- an XYZ rectangular coordinate system in which the Z-axis direction is defined as the vertical direction and the XY plane is defined as the horizontal plane is additionally shown for the purpose of clarifying the directional relationship therebetween.
- the substrate processing apparatus 1 is a cleaning device for performing a scrub cleaning process successively on a plurality of substrates W such as semiconductor wafers or the like, in which two cells (processing sections), i.e., an indexer cell ID and a cleaning cell SP, are arranged in parallel.
- the substrate processing apparatus 1 further comprises a control part 5 for controlling operation mechanisms provided in the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP to perform a cleaning process on the substrates W.
- the indexer cell ID is a cell for passing an unprocessed substrate received from the outside of the apparatus to the cleaning cell SP and unloading a processed substrate received from the cleaning cell SP to the outside of the apparatus.
- the indexer cell ID comprises a plurality of (in this preferred embodiment, four) carrier stages 11 on each of which a carrier C is rested and a transfer robot IR for taking an unprocessed substrate W out from each carrier C and storing a processed substrate W into each carrier C.
- the carrier C storing the unprocessed substrate W therein is loaded onto each of the carrier stages 11 from the outside of the apparatus by an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or the like and rested thereon. Further, the substrate W on which the scrub cleaning process is finished in this apparatus is stored again into the carrier C rested on the carrier stage 11 .
- the carrier C storing the processed substrate W therein is unloaded to the outside of the apparatus also by the AGV or the like.
- the carrier stage 11 serves as a substrate accumulation part for accumulating the unprocessed substrates W and the processed substrates W.
- a FOUP Front Opening Unified Pod
- an SMIF Standard Mechanical Inter Face
- an OC Open Cassette
- the transfer robot IR comprises a transfer arm 12 , an arm stage 13 on which the transfer arm 12 is rested and a movable base 14 .
- the movable base 14 is in threaded engagement with a ball screw 15 extending in parallel to the alignment of the carrier stages 11 (along the Y-axis direction), being provided slidably on two guide rails 16 and 16 . Therefore, when the ball screw 15 is rotated by a not-shown rotation motor, the whole transfer robot IR including the movable base 14 is moved horizontally along the Y-axis direction.
- the arm stage 13 is rested on the movable base 14 .
- a motor for driving the arm stage 13 to rotate about an axis center along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and a motor for driving the arm stage 13 to move up and down along the vertical direction, both of which are not shown, are integrated.
- the transfer arm 12 is mounted on this arm stage 13 .
- the transfer arm 12 is shaped like a fork in a plan view.
- the transfer arm 12 supports a lower surface of the substrate W with its fork-shaped portion.
- the transfer arm 12 can be moved to and fro along the horizontal direction (the direction of the radius of gyration of the arm stage 13 ) with its articulated mechanism bent and stretched by a drive mechanism (not shown) integrated in the arm stage 13 .
- the transfer arm 12 can move horizontally along the Y-axis direction, move up and down, rotate in the horizontal plane and move to and fro along the direction of the radius of gyration. Then, the transfer robot IR causes the transfer arm 12 which supports the substrate W with its fork-shaped portion to access the carrier C rested on the carrier stage 11 and a substrate passing part 50 described later, to thereby transfer the substrate W between the carrier stage 11 and the substrate passing part 50 .
- the cleaning cell SP is provided adjacently to the indexer cell ID. Between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP provided is a partition 19 for blocking the atmosphere, and the substrate passing part 50 is so provided as to penetrate part of the partition 19 . In other words, the substrate passing part 50 is provided at a connecting portion between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP, being interposed therebetween to pass the substrate W from/to these cells.
- the substrate passing part 50 of this preferred embodiment has a construction in which a reverse passing part RVPASS 1 , two stages of return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 , two stages of sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 and a reverse passing part RVPASS 2 are layered in the vertical direction in this order from the upper side.
- the upper reverse passing part RVPASS 1 and two stages of the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 are interposed to pass the processed substrate W from the cleaning cell SP to the indexer cell ID.
- the lower reverse passing part RVPASS 2 and two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 are interposed to pass the unprocessed substrate W from the indexer cell ID to the cleaning cell SP. More detailed discussion on the substrate passing part 50 will be made later.
- the cleaning cell SP is a cell for performing the scrub cleaning process on the substrate W and comprises a front surface cleaning part SS 1 for performing the scrub cleaning process on a front surface of the substrate W, a back surface cleaning part SS 2 for performing the scrub cleaning process on a back surface of the substrate W, reversing parts FR and RF for reversing the front and back sides of the substrate W and a transport robot TR for passing the substrate W from/to the front surface cleaning part SS 1 , the back surface cleaning part SS 2 and the reversing parts FR and RF.
- the front surface cleaning part SS 1 and the back surface cleaning part SS 2 are arranged oppositely to each other with the transport robot TR interposed therebetween.
- the front surface cleaning part SS 1 is disposed on the back side of the apparatus and the back surface cleaning part SS 2 is disposed on the front side of the apparatus.
- a “front surface” of a substrate W refers to one of main surfaces of the substrate W, on which a pattern is formed, and a “back surface” refers to the opposite side of the front surface.
- An “upper surface” of the substrate W is one of the main surfaces of the substrate W, which faces upward, and a “lower surface” is the other surface which faces downward (regardless of whether it is the front surface or the back surface).
- the front surface cleaning part SS 1 has a construction in which four front surface cleaning units SS which have the same construction are layered.
- the front surface cleaning unit SS comprises a spin chuck 21 for holding the substrate W with its front surface facing upward and rotating it about an axis center along the vertical direction, a cleaning brush 22 coming into contact with or coming close to the front surface of the substrate W held on the spin chuck 21 to perform scrub cleaning, a nozzle 23 for discharging a cleaning solution (e.g., de-ionized water) onto the front surface of the substrate W, a spin motor 24 for driving the spin chuck 21 to rotate, a cup (not shown) surrounding the substrate W held on the spin chuck 21 , and the like.
- a cleaning solution e.g., de-ionized water
- the back surface cleaning part SS 2 has a construction in which four back surface cleaning units SSR which have the same construction are layered.
- the back surface cleaning unit SSR comprises a spin chuck 31 for holding the substrate W with its back surface facing upward and rotating it about an axis center along the vertical direction, a cleaning brush 32 coming into contact with or coming close to the back surface of the substrate W held on the spin chuck 31 to perform scrub cleaning, a nozzle 33 for discharging a cleaning solution (e.g., de-ionized water) onto the back surface of the substrate W, a spin motor 34 for driving the spin chuck 31 to rotate, a cup (not shown) surrounding the substrate W held on the spin chuck 31 , and the like.
- a cleaning solution e.g., de-ionized water
- the spin chuck 21 of the front surface cleaning unit SS for performing front surface cleaning may be a vacuum adsorptive one since the substrate W is held from the back side
- the spin chuck 31 of the back surface cleaning unit SSR for performing back surface cleaning has to be one which mechanically holds an edge portion of the substrate W since the substrate W is held from the front side.
- the two reversing parts FR and RF are provided at an end portion ((+X) side end portion) of a transport path in which the transport robot TR is provided on the side opposite to the indexer cell ID.
- the reversing part FR reverses the substrate W with its front surface facing upward 180 degrees upside down to cause its back surface to face upward.
- the reversing part RF reverses the substrate W with its back surface facing upward 180 degrees upside down to cause its front surface to face upward.
- the transport robot TR comprises two transfer arms 42 a and 42 b, an arm stage 43 on which these transfer arms are rested and a base 44 .
- the base 44 is fixed to a frame of the cleaning cell SP. Therefore, the whole transport robot TR does not move in the horizontal direction.
- the arm stage 43 On the base 44 , the arm stage 43 is rested.
- a motor for driving the arm stage 43 to rotate about an axis center along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and a motor for driving the arm stage 43 to move up and down along the vertical direction, both of which are not shown, are integrated.
- the two transfer arms 42 a and 42 b are mounted on the arm stage 43 , being arranged vertically with a space of predetermined pitch. As shown in FIG. 1 , the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b are each shaped like a fork in a plan view. Each of the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b supports a lower surface of the substrate W with its fork-shaped portion.
- transfer arms 42 a and 42 b can be moved to and fro independently of each other along the horizontal direction (the direction of the radius of gyration of the arm stage 43 ) with their articulated mechanisms bent and stretched by a drive mechanism (not shown) integrated in the arm stage 43 .
- the transport robot TR causes the two transfer arms 42 a and 42 b to individually access the front surface cleaning part SS 1 , the back surface cleaning part SS 2 , the reversing parts FR and RF and the substrate passing part 50 , to thereby pass and receive the substrate W to/from these parts.
- an elevation driving mechanism of the transport robot TR other mechanisms such as a belt feeder mechanism using a pulley and a timing belt may be used.
- the control part 5 controls various operation mechanisms provided in the substrate processing apparatus 1 .
- the control part 5 has a constitution of general computer system as hardware. Specifically, the control part 5 comprises a CPU for performing various computations, a ROM for storing a basic program, a RAM which is a readable and writable memory for storing various information, and a magnetic disk for storing control software or data.
- the substrate passing part 50 comprises two stages of the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 , two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 and two stages of reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and RVPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and RVPASS 2 reverse the front and back sides of the substrate W 180 degrees and pass it, and so also have the function as the reversing part as well as the function of passing substrates.
- FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 .
- FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 comprises a support plate 81 , a fixed plate 82 , a pair of linear guides 83 a and 83 b, a pair of supporting members 85 a and 85 b, a pair of cylinders 87 a and 87 b, a first movable plate 86 a, a second movable plate 86 b and a rotary actuator 88 .
- the support plate 81 is provided, extending along the vertical direction. At a center portion of one side of the support plate 81 , the fixed plate 82 is provided perpendicularly thereto, extending along the horizontal direction. Further, at the above one side of the support plate 81 , the pair of linear guides 83 a and 83 b are provided extending therealong, with the fixed plate 82 interposed therebetween. Both the linear guides 83 a and 83 b are provided extending along the vertical direction, in symmetry with respect to the fixed plate 82 .
- the supporting member 85 a extending along the horizontal direction is attached slidably via a connecting member 84 a.
- the cylinder 87 a is connected to the supporting member 85 a and with the cylinder 87 a, the supporting member 85 a is guided by the linear guide 83 a to move up and down along the vertical direction.
- the supporting member 85 a maintains its attitude extending along the horizontal direction always in up-and-down movement.
- the first movable plate 86 a is attached to the supporting member 85 a, facing one side of the fixed plate 82 .
- the supporting member 85 b extending along the horizontal direction is attached slidably via a connecting member 84 b.
- the cylinder 87 b is connected to the supporting member 85 b and with the cylinder 87 b, the supporting member 85 b is guided by the linear guide 83 b to move up and down along the vertical direction.
- the supporting member 85 b maintains its attitude extending along the horizontal direction always in up-and-down movement.
- the second movable plate 86 b is attached to the supporting member 85 b, facing the other side (opposite to the above one side) of the fixed plate 82 .
- the rotary actuator 88 rotates the support plate 81 about a rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction).
- the support plate 81 is rotated, all of the first movable plate 86 a, the second movable plate 86 b and the fixed plate 82 which are connected thereto rotate about the rotary central axis RX while maintaining their mutual positional relation.
- the first movable plate 86 a, the second movable plate 86 b and the fixed plate 82 each have a plate-like shape.
- a plurality of support pins 89 a stand on one side of the fixed plate 82 facing the first movable plate 86 a
- a plurality of support pins 89 b stand on the other side of the fixed plate 82 facing the second movable plate 86 b.
- a plurality of support pins 89 c stand on one surface of the first movable plate 86 a facing the fixed plate 82
- a plurality of support pins 89 d stand on one surface of the second movable plate 86 b facing the fixed plate 82 .
- FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where the transfer arm 42 a of the transport robot TR accesses the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and RVPASS 2 are provided so that the rotary central axis RX may extend along the Y-axis direction.
- the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR cause the transfer arm 12 and the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b, respectively, to access the substrate passing part 50 along the X-axis direction.
- the transfer arm 12 and the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b move toward/from the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 from the horizontal direction perpendicular to the rotary central axis RX (the direction perpendicular to the paper of FIG. 4 ).
- the six support pins 89 a stand at such positions as not to interfere with the transfer arm 42 a which moves from the horizontal direction perpendicular to the rotary central axis RX.
- the arrangement of the support pins 89 a is shown in FIG. 6 , other support pins 89 b, 89 c and 89 d are arranged like the support pins 89 a.
- the transfer arm 42 b of the transport robot TR moves toward/from the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 from the same direction as the transfer arm 42 a does and is prevented from interfering with the support pins 89 a, 89 b, 89 c or 89 d.
- the transfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR has a shape which is slightly different from that of the transfer arm 42 a and 42 b but moves toward/from the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 from the X-axis direction without interfering with the support pins 89 a, 89 b, 89 c or 89 d.
- the fixed plate 82 is provided with optical detection sensors 80 a and 80 b on the above one side and the other side, respectively. Further, a detection sensor 80 c is provided on one surface of the first movable plate 86 a facing the fixed plate 82 and a detection sensor 80 d is provided on one surface of the second movable plate 86 b facing the fixed plate 82 .
- the detection sensors 80 a, 80 b, 80 c and 80 d optically detect whether or not the substrate W is supported by a plurality of support pins 89 a, 89 b, 89 c and 89 d, respectively.
- constituent elements i.e., two stages of the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 and two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 , each have a constitution in which a plurality of (e.g., three) fixed support pins stand on a flat plate. These fixed support pins are arranged at such positions as not to interfere with the transfer arm 12 and the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b which access the substrate passing part 50 . Therefore, the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID and the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP can access the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 and the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 to pass and receive the substrate W. Further, the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 and the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 are each provided with an optical detection sensor for detecting whether or not the substrate W is rested thereon.
- a plurality of (e.g., three) fixed support pins stand on a flat plate. These fixed support pins are arranged at such positions as not to
- the substrate processing apparatus 1 comprises the front surface cleaning part SS 1 for performing front surface cleaning of the substrate W and the back surface cleaning part SS 2 for performing back surface cleaning
- the substrate processing apparatus 1 can perform various patterns of cleaning processes in accordance with purposes. For example, only the front surface of the substrate W may be cleaned, only the back surface may be cleaned conversely, and both of the surfaces may be cleaned. Which type of cleaning is performed can be set by a recipe describing the procedure of transferring the substrates W (a procedure of transferring substrates is referred to as a “flow”) and the processing condition.
- a recipe describing the procedure of transferring the substrates W a procedure of transferring substrates is referred to as a “flow”
- the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be discussed, taking an exemplary case where only the back surface of the substrate W is cleaned.
- the unprocessed substrate W which is stored in the carrier C is loaded onto the carrier stage 11 of the indexer cell ID by the AGV or the like from the outside of the apparatus.
- the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID takes the unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C and transfers it to the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 of the substrate passing part 50 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 which receives the unprocessed substrate W reverses the front and back sides of the substrate W.
- the reversed substrate W is passed to the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP. The operation of passing the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 will be discussed later.
- the transport robot TR transports the unprocessed substrate W which is thereby received to any one of the back surface cleaning units SSR in the back surface cleaning part SS 2 .
- the spin chuck 31 rotates the substrate W with its back surface facing upward while holding it and the nozzle 33 supplies the cleaning solution to the back surface of the substrate W.
- the cleaning brush 32 comes into contact with or comes close to the back surface of the substrate W and scans it in the horizontal direction, to perform the scrub cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W. Since the four back surface cleaning units SSR in the back surface cleaning part SS 2 are concurrent processing units having the same construction, the transport robot TR may transport the substrate W to any one of the back surface cleaning units SSR.
- the transport robot TR takes the substrate W from the back surface cleaning unit SSR and transports it to the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 of the substrate passing part 50 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 which receives the processed substrate W reverses the front and back sides of the substrate W.
- the transfer robot IR stores the processed substrate W after being reversed into the carrier C.
- the substrate W needs to be reversed by the reversing parts FR and RF in the cleaning cell SP.
- the number of transporting steps performed by the transport robot TR increases and the transport robot TR determines the processing speed of the whole substrate processing apparatus 1 .
- the substrates W are transferred between the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID and the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP via the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and RVPASS 2 not only transfer the substrates W between these robots but also reverse them. Therefore, the number of transporting steps to be performed by the transport robot TR decreases. While the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 reverses the substrate W, however, if the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR can not transfer the next substrate W, there arises some standby time in the operations of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR and this disadvantageously reduces the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1 .
- FIGS. 7 to 12 are illustrations of an operation for transferring the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 .
- the transfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR which holds the unprocessed substrate W with its front surface facing upward moves to between the fixed plate 82 and the second movable plate 86 b and stops at a position where the substrate W is present immediately above a plurality of support pins 89 d. Subsequently, the transfer arm 12 moves down until the substrate W is supported by the support pins 89 d. The transfer arm 12 which has passed the unprocessed substrate W moves back out of the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 .
- the cylinder 87 a moves the first movable plate 86 a down while the cylinder 87 b moves the second movable plate 86 b up.
- the substrate W with its front surface facing upward is thereby held by the support pins 89 b of the fixed plate 82 and the support pins 89 d of the second movable plate 86 b.
- the rotary actuator 88 rotates the whole of the first movable plate 86 a, the second movable plate 86 b and the fixed plate 82 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX. Consequently, the front surface and the back surface of the substrate W held by the support pins 89 b and the support pins 89 d are reversed and the back surface of the substrate W thereby faces upward.
- the cylinder 87 a moves the first movable plate 86 a down while the cylinder 87 b moves the second movable plate 86 b up.
- this causes the first movable plate 86 a and the second movable plate 86 b to separate from the fixed plate 82 and the substrate W with its back surface facing upward is held by a plurality of support pins 89 b of the fixed plate 82 .
- the transfer arm 42 b (or the transfer arm 42 a ) of the transport robot TR moves to below the substrate W and moves up, to thereby receive the substrate W. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12 , the transfer arm 42 b which receives the unprocessed substrate W moves back out of the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 . Further, the transfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR which holds the following unprocessed substrate W moves to between the fixed plate 82 and the first movable plate 86 a, and after that, the same procedure is repeated. Thus, the transfer of the substrate W from the transfer robot IR to the transport robot TR via the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 is sequentially performed.
- FIG. 13 is an illustration of a concept of transferring the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 comprises a first holding mechanism 91 consisting of the fixed plate 82 and the first movable plate 86 a and a second holding mechanism 92 consisting of the fixed plate 82 and the second movable plate 86 b.
- the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 are rotated by the rotary actuator 88 about the rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction.
- the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX.
- the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 are rotated as one unit by the rotary actuator 88 while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when the rotary actuator 88 rotates the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 replace each other in position.
- first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 of the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 are present at the vertical positions H 1 and H 2 , respectively, as shown in FIG. 13 , for example, when the rotary actuator 88 rotates the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 180 degrees, the first holding mechanism 91 comes to the vertical position H 2 and the second holding mechanism 92 comes to the vertical position H 1 .
- the rotary actuator 88 further rotates the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 180 degrees, the first holding mechanism 91 comes to the vertical position H 1 and the second holding mechanism 92 comes to the vertical position H 2 again.
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 comprises a third holding mechanism 93 consisting of the fixed plate 82 and the first movable plate 86 a and a fourth holding mechanism 94 consisting of the fixed plate 82 and the second movable plate 86 b.
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 are rotated by the rotary actuator 88 about the rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction.
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX.
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 are rotated as one unit by the rotary actuator 88 while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when the rotary actuator 88 rotates the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 replace each other in position.
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 of the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 are present at the vertical positions H 3 and H 4 , respectively, for example, when the rotary actuator 88 rotates the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees, the third holding mechanism 93 comes to the vertical position H 4 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H 3 .
- the rotary actuator 88 further rotates the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees, the third holding mechanism 93 comes to the vertical position H 3 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H 4 again.
- the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID passes the unprocessed substrate W to the third holding mechanism 93 or the fourth holding mechanism 94 always at the vertical position H 4 .
- the unprocessed substrate W reversed by the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 is passed to the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP from the third holding mechanism 93 or the fourth holding mechanism 94 always at the vertical position H 3 .
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 are dedicated to the loading of the unprocessed substrate W at the vertical position H 4 and dedicated to the unloading of the unprocessed substrate W at the vertical position H 3 .
- the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP passes the processed substrate W to the first holding mechanism 91 or the second holding mechanism 92 always at the vertical position H 1 .
- the processed substrate W reversed by the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 is passed to the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID from the first holding mechanism 91 or the second holding mechanism 92 always at the vertical position H 2 .
- the first holding mechanism 91 and the second holding mechanism 92 are dedicated to the loading of the processed substrate W at the vertical position H 1 and dedicated to the unloading of the processed substrate W at the vertical position H 2 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 provided between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP reverses the unprocessed substrate W received from the transfer robot IR and passes it to the transport robot TR.
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 provided between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP reverses the processed substrate W received from the transport robot TR and passes it to the transfer robot IR.
- the transfer robot IR takes the first unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C and loads it into the fourth holding mechanism 94 of the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 at the vertical position H 4 . Then, after the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 rotate 180 degrees, the transfer robot IR loads the second unprocessed substrate W into the third holding mechanism 93 at the vertical position H 4 . At the point of time when the fourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H 3 , the transport robot TR can unload the first unprocessed substrate W therefrom.
- the substrate W is unloaded from the fourth holding mechanism 94 or not can be detected by the detection sensor 80 b.
- the third holding mechanism 93 and the fourth holding mechanism 94 immediately rotate 180 degrees.
- the control part 5 controls the transfer robot IR to transfer the third unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C to the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 .
- the transfer of the following substrate W starts. This reduces the standby time of the transfer robot IR to a minimum.
- the height of the two layered reverse passing parts also makes it possible to start the transfer of the following substrate W before the process of reversing the preceding substrate W is finished.
- the height of the two layered reverse passing parts disadvantageously becomes higher than the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 ) of this preferred embodiment.
- the height of the reverse passing part for reversing the substrate W of ⁇ 300 mm is at least 300 mm or more and the height of two layered reverse passing parts is 600 mm or more.
- the height of the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 ) having two stages of holding mechanisms with the rotary central axis RX interposed therebetween can be lower than 600 mm. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the height of the whole substrate passing part 50 to a minimum.
- the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP do not move in the horizontal direction, it is relatively easy to increase the range of movement in the vertical direction.
- the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID also moves along the horizontal direction, it is hard to increase the range of movement in the vertical direction up to the level of the transport robot TR.
- one reverse passing part RVPASS 1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS 2 ) can perform the control of transfer like the case where two reverse passing parts each having only one stage of the holding mechanism are provided, it is possible to reduce the respective standby times of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- the substrate passing part 50 can be contained within the range of height where the transfer robot IR having a limiting range of movement in the vertical direction can access, and it is possible to reduce the respective standby times of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR to a minimum and to thereby increase the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1 .
- the same reverse passing parts as those in the above-discussed preferred embodiment may be provided between a sending side cell having a transport robot to send the substrate W and a receiving side cell having a transport robot to receive the substrate W sent from the sending side cell.
- the transport robot of the sending side cell can start the transfer of the following substrate W before the process of reversing the preceding substrate W is finished, and the standby time of the transport robot can be thereby reduced to a minimum. Further, the number of reverse passing parts included in the substrate passing part is minimized and the range of up-and-down movement of the transport robot can be thereby reduced.
- One exemplary construction having the sending side cell and the receiving side cell like above is a coater & developer in which a cell for performing a resist coating process and a cell for performing a development process are arranged in parallel with the substrate passing part interposed therebetween.
- a coater & developer for an immersion exposure apparatus especially, since a reverse process is sometimes performed to clean the back surface of a substrate, if the same reverse passing parts as those in the above-discussed preferred embodiment are provided in the substrate passing part between the cells, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum.
- the reverse passing part has two holding mechanisms in the above preferred embodiment, the number of holding mechanisms is not limited to two.
- the reverse passing part comprises four holding mechanisms.
- the four holding mechanisms are divided by two and arranged in symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX.
- a first holding part 101 consisting of the holding mechanisms 95 and 96 and a second holding part 102 consisting of the holding mechanisms 97 and 98 are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX.
- first holding part 101 and the second holding part 102 are rotated as one unit while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when first holding part 101 and the second holding part 102 rotate 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, the holding mechanisms 95 and 96 and the holding mechanisms 97 and 98 replace each other in position.
- the transport robot When the transport robot concurrently loads two substrates W into the reverse passing part comprising such four holding mechanisms, the substrates W are concurrently passed to the holding mechanisms 95 and 96 or the holding mechanisms 97 and 98 at the vertical positions H 7 and H 8 . Then, when the reversed two substrates W are concurrently unloaded, the substrates W are concurrently passed from the holding mechanisms 95 and 96 or the holding mechanisms 97 and 98 at the vertical positions H 5 and H 6 . This can also minimize the number of reverse passing parts and reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum.
- the reverse passing part may comprise more stages of holding mechanisms. Specifically, if one of the transport robots which transfer the substrates via the reverse passing part (e.g., the transfer robot IR) comprises m transfer arms (m is an integer not less than 1) to concurrently transfer m substrates, and the other transport robot (e.g., the transport robot TR) comprises n transfer arms (n is an integer not less than 1) to concurrently transfer n substrates, each of the first holding part 101 and the second holding part 102 which are arranged in symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX has only to be provided with holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one.
- a flow of performing front surface cleaning of substrates W in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the above-discussed preferred embodiment can be also set.
- the substrate W has only to be passed between the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR via two stages of return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 and/or two stages of sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 .
- the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 there may be a case where no reverse process is performed in the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 and only the transfer of the substrate W is performed.
- the substrate W is loaded and unloaded into/from the reverse passing part RVPASS 1 or RVPASS 2 at the same vertical position. If the case where the reverse process is performed and the case where no reverse process is performed are mixed, however, the control therefor becomes very hard. Therefore, if no reverse process is performed in the substrate passing part 50 , it is preferable that the return rest parts RPASS 1 and RPASS 2 and the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and SPASS 2 should be provided.
- the two reversing parts FR and RF may have the same structure as that of the reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and RVPASS 2 .
- the transfer arms 42 a and 42 b of the transport robot TR in the cleaning cell SP are used for strictly different purposes.
- the upper transfer arm 42 a is dedicated to the transport of the processed substrates W
- the lower transfer arm 42 b is dedicated to the transport of the unprocessed substrates W, to thereby prevent particles and the like on the unprocessed substrates W from being transferred to the cleaned substrates W.
- the transport robot TR usually uses the two transfer arms 42 a and 42 b to perform such a transport as to replace the unprocessed substrate W and the processed substrate W (so-called simultaneous replacement).
- the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP are connected to each other in the above-discussed preferred embodiment, there may be a construction in which a cell dedicated to front surface cleaning is connected to the indexer cell ID and a cell dedicated to back surface cleaning is further connected to the cell for front surface cleaning.
- the reverse passing parts of this preferred embodiment may be provided between the indexer cell ID and the cell for front surface cleaning and between the cell for front surface cleaning and the cell for back surface cleaning.
- the return rest parts RPASS 1 and the RPASS 2 and the sending rest parts SPASS 1 and the SPASS 2 do not always need to be provided, and in the case where only back surface cleaning is performed in the substrate processing apparatus 1 , there may be a construction in which only the reverse passing parts RVPASS 1 and the RVPASS 2 are provided.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Robotics (AREA)
- Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
- Cleaning Or Drying Semiconductors (AREA)
- Exposure Of Semiconductors, Excluding Electron Or Ion Beam Exposure (AREA)
- Exposure And Positioning Against Photoresist Photosensitive Materials (AREA)
Abstract
One of reverse passing parts provided in a substrate passing part comprises a first holding mechanism and a second holding mechanism. The first holding mechanism and the second holding mechanism are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to a rotary central axis and rotate 180 degrees about the rotary central axis, to replace each other in position. A transport robot on the loading side passes a substrate to a third holding mechanism or a fourth holding mechanism at a first vertical position. The substrate reversed in the reverse passing part is passed to a transport robot on the unloading side from the third holding mechanism or the fourth holding mechanism at a second vertical position. Before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, the transport robot on the loading side can start the transfer of the following substrate.
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates, such as semiconductor substrates, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks or the like.
- 2. Description of the Background Art
- As well known, products such as semiconductors, liquid crystal displays or the like are manufactured by performing a series of processings including cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, formation of interlayer insulating films, thermal processing, dicing and the like on the above substrates. Generally, a substrate processing apparatus consists of processing units for performing these processings and transport robots for transporting the substrates to the processing units. For example, an apparatus consisting of a coating unit for performing a resist coating process on the substrates, a development unit for performing a development process on the substrates and a transport robot for transporting the substrates between these units is a so-called coater & developer, which is widely used.
- As one exemplary substrate processing apparatus, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2005-93653, for example, discloses a coater & developer in which a plurality of cells are arranged in parallel, one of which is constituted of one transport robot and a plurality of processing units from/to which the transport robot transports substrates, and a substrate passing part is provided between the cells, to pass the substrates from/to the transport robots of the adjacent cells via the substrate passing part.
- Though the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2005-93653 is one for performing the resist coating process and the development process on substrates, it is possible to apply a like cell structure in which a plurality of cells are connected to one another via the substrate passing parts to devices for performing other types of processings, such as a cleaning device for cleaning substrates with a brush. Specifically, the cleaning device has a construction in which an indexer cell for accumulating unprocessed substrates and processed substrates and a cleaning cell provided with a brush cleaning unit are connected to each other via a substrate passing part. The indexer cell and the cleaning cell are provided with respective dedicated transport robots.
- In the substrate processing apparatus having such a cell structure as discussed above, if the number of process steps performed in each cell becomes larger, the number of transporting processes using the transport robot increases and the transport becomes a rate-limiting factor. In order to solve this phenomenon, some sort of substrate processing is performed in the substrate passing part between the adjacent cells, to reduce the number of process steps to be performed in each cell. Specifically, the substrate passing part also has a function as a substrate processing part as well as the original function of passing substrates between the cells. In a cleaning device in which a brush cleaning unit is provided in a cell, for example, a process of reversing front and back sides of a substrate may be performed in the substrate passing part. Since the substrate processing which is conventionally performed in the cell is performed in the substrate passing part, the number of process steps to be performed in the cell decreases and the transport load of the transport robot is reduced.
- There arises a new problem, however, that if the substrate passing part performs some sort of substrate processing, the transport robot can not load the next substrate into the substrate passing part, in other words, a transport operation for the next substrate can not be started until the substrate processing is finished. The simplest method to solve this problem is to increase the number of passing parts each of which also performs some sort of substrate processing, but since the reverse passing part which is a passing part for reversing front and back sides of a substrate has a large size, it is not easy to increase the number of stages for the passing parts for reasons of layout of the whole apparatus. If the vertical-direction operating range of either one of the transport robots which access the substrate passing part is limited, especially, it is very hard to configure a multistage structure of the reverse passing parts for reversing front and back sides of substrates.
- The present invention is intended for a substrate processing apparatus for successively processing a plurality of substrates.
- According to an aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus comprises a sending side section having a first transport robot, for sending a substrate, a receiving side section having a second transport robot, for receiving the substrate sent out from the sending side section, and a reverse passing part provided between the sending side section and the receiving side section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the substrate passed from the first transport robot and passing the substrate to the second transport robot, which comprises a first holding part for holding a substrate, a second holding part for holding a substrate, and a rotation driving mechanism for rotating the first holding part and the second holding part about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction, and in the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the first holding part and the second holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to the rotary central axis, the rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate the first holding part and the second holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a first position and a second position, the first transport robot is so configured as to pass a substrate to the first holding part or the second holding part at the first position, and the second transport robot is so configured as to receive a reversed substrate from the first holding part or the second holding part at the second position.
- Since the first transport robot can start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce a standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- According to another aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus comprises a) a processing section having a transport robot and a processing part to which a substrate is transported by the transport robot, b) an indexer section having a transfer robot, for passing an unprocessed substrate to the processing section and receiving a processed substrate from the processing section, c) a first reverse passing part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the unprocessed substrate passed from the transfer robot and passing the unprocessed substrate to the transport robot, which comprises c-1) a first holding part for holding a substrate, c-2) a second holding part for holding a substrate, and c-3) a first rotation driving mechanism for rotating the first holding part and the second holding part about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction, and d) a second reverse passing part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the processed substrate passed from the transport robot and passing the processed substrate to the transfer robot, which comprises d-1) a third holding part for holding a substrate, d-2) a fourth holding part for holding a substrate, and d-3) a second rotation driving mechanism for rotating the third holding part and the fourth holding part about a second rotary central axis along a horizontal direction, and in the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the first holding part and the second holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to the first rotary central axis, the third holding part and the fourth holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to the second rotary central axis, the first rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate the first holding part and the second holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a first position and a second position, the second rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate the third holding part and the fourth holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a third position and a fourth position, the transfer robot is so configured as to pass an unprocessed substrate to the first holding part or the second holding part at the first position and as to receive a processed substrate from the third holding part or the fourth holding part at the third position, and the transport robot is so configured as to receive an unprocessed substrate from the first holding part or the second holding part at the second position and as to pass a processed substrate to the third holding part or the fourth holding part at the fourth position.
- Since the transfer robot and the transport robot can each start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the robots to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- Preferably, the substrate processing apparatus further comprises e) a first rest part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, on which the unprocessed substrate passed from the transfer robot is rested to be passed to the transport robot, and f) a second rest part provided between the indexer section and the processing section, on which the processed substrate passed from the transport robot is rested to be passed to the transfer robot.
- It is thereby also possible to transfer the substrates without any reverse process.
- The present invention is also intended for a substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates from a first transport robot of a sending side section which sends the substrates to a second transport robot of a receiving side section which receives the substrates via a reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate.
- According to an aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing method comprises the steps of a) passing a substrate to a first holding part of the reverse passing part at a first position by the first transport robot, b) receiving a substrate from a second holding part of the reverse passing part at a second position by the second transport robot, c) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the reverse passing part 180 degrees about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the first holding part to the second position and move the second holding part to the first position, d) passing a substrate to the second holding part at the first position by the first transport robot, e) receiving a substrate from the first holding part at the second position by the second transport robot, f) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the reverse passing part 180 degrees about the rotary central axis to move the first holding part to the first position and move the second holding part to the second position, and g) repeating the step a) to step f).
- Since the first transport robot can start transfer of the following substrate before a reverse process on the preceding substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- The present invention is further intended for a substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates between a transport robot of a processing section having a processing part and a transfer robot of an indexer section.
- According to an aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing method comprises the steps of a) passing an unprocessed substrate to a first holding part of a first reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a first position by the transfer robot, b) receiving an unprocessed substrate from a second holding part of the first reverse passing part at a second position by the transport robot, c) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the first reverse passing part 180 degrees about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the first holding part to the second position and move the second holding part to the first position, d) passing an unprocessed substrate to the second holding part at the first position by the transfer robot, e) receiving an unprocessed substrate from the first holding part at the second position by the transport robot, f) rotating the first holding part and the second holding part of the first reverse passing part 180 degrees about the first rotary central axis to move the first holding part to the first position and move the second holding part to the second position, and g) repeating the step a) to step f).
- Since the transfer robot can start transfer of the following unprocessed substrate before a reverse process on the preceding unprocessed substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce a standby time of the transfer robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- Preferably, the substrate processing method further comprises the steps of h) receiving a processed substrate from a third holding part of a second reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a third position by the transfer robot, i) passing a processed substrate to a fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part at a fourth position by the transport robot, j) rotating the third holding part and the fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part 180 degrees about a second rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move the third holding part to the fourth position and move the fourth holding part to the third position, k) receiving a processed substrate from the fourth holding part at the third position by the transfer robot, l) passing a processed substrate to the third holding part at the fourth position by the transport robot, m) rotating the third holding part and the fourth holding part of the second reverse passing part 180 degrees about the second rotary central axis to move the third holding part to the third position and move the fourth holding part to the fourth position, and n) repeating the step h) to step m).
- Since the transport robot can start transfer of the following processed substrate before a reverse process on the preceding processed substrate is finished, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to reduce a standby time of a robot to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts.
- These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus in accordance with the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a view showing the substrate processing apparatus, taken along the line A-A ofFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a view showing the substrate processing apparatus, taken along the line B-B ofFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing a reverse passing part; -
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the reverse passing part; -
FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where a transfer arm of a transport robot accesses the reverse passing part; -
FIGS. 7 to 12 are illustrations of an operation for transferring a substrate via the reverse passing part; and -
FIGS. 13 and 14 are illustrations of a concept of transferring a substrate via the reverse passing part. - Hereinafter, detailed discussion will be made on the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to figures.
-
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing asubstrate processing apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention.FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line A-A ofFIG. 1 andFIG. 3 is a view taken along the line B-B ofFIG. 1 . InFIGS. 1 to 3 , an XYZ rectangular coordinate system in which the Z-axis direction is defined as the vertical direction and the XY plane is defined as the horizontal plane is additionally shown for the purpose of clarifying the directional relationship therebetween. Thesubstrate processing apparatus 1 is a cleaning device for performing a scrub cleaning process successively on a plurality of substrates W such as semiconductor wafers or the like, in which two cells (processing sections), i.e., an indexer cell ID and a cleaning cell SP, are arranged in parallel. Thesubstrate processing apparatus 1 further comprises acontrol part 5 for controlling operation mechanisms provided in the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP to perform a cleaning process on the substrates W. - The indexer cell ID is a cell for passing an unprocessed substrate received from the outside of the apparatus to the cleaning cell SP and unloading a processed substrate received from the cleaning cell SP to the outside of the apparatus. The indexer cell ID comprises a plurality of (in this preferred embodiment, four)
carrier stages 11 on each of which a carrier C is rested and a transfer robot IR for taking an unprocessed substrate W out from each carrier C and storing a processed substrate W into each carrier C. - The carrier C storing the unprocessed substrate W therein is loaded onto each of the
carrier stages 11 from the outside of the apparatus by an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or the like and rested thereon. Further, the substrate W on which the scrub cleaning process is finished in this apparatus is stored again into the carrier C rested on thecarrier stage 11. The carrier C storing the processed substrate W therein is unloaded to the outside of the apparatus also by the AGV or the like. In other words, thecarrier stage 11 serves as a substrate accumulation part for accumulating the unprocessed substrates W and the processed substrates W. As the form of the carrier C, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) storing substrates W in an enclosed space, an SMIF (Standard Mechanical Inter Face) pod or an OC (Open Cassette) exposing stored substrates W to air may be used. - The transfer robot IR comprises a
transfer arm 12, anarm stage 13 on which thetransfer arm 12 is rested and amovable base 14. Themovable base 14 is in threaded engagement with aball screw 15 extending in parallel to the alignment of the carrier stages 11 (along the Y-axis direction), being provided slidably on twoguide rails ball screw 15 is rotated by a not-shown rotation motor, the whole transfer robot IR including themovable base 14 is moved horizontally along the Y-axis direction. - The
arm stage 13 is rested on themovable base 14. In themovable base 14, a motor for driving thearm stage 13 to rotate about an axis center along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and a motor for driving thearm stage 13 to move up and down along the vertical direction, both of which are not shown, are integrated. Further, thetransfer arm 12 is mounted on thisarm stage 13. As shown inFIG. 1 , thetransfer arm 12 is shaped like a fork in a plan view. Thetransfer arm 12 supports a lower surface of the substrate W with its fork-shaped portion. Further, thetransfer arm 12 can be moved to and fro along the horizontal direction (the direction of the radius of gyration of the arm stage 13) with its articulated mechanism bent and stretched by a drive mechanism (not shown) integrated in thearm stage 13. - With such a structure, the
transfer arm 12 can move horizontally along the Y-axis direction, move up and down, rotate in the horizontal plane and move to and fro along the direction of the radius of gyration. Then, the transfer robot IR causes thetransfer arm 12 which supports the substrate W with its fork-shaped portion to access the carrier C rested on thecarrier stage 11 and asubstrate passing part 50 described later, to thereby transfer the substrate W between thecarrier stage 11 and thesubstrate passing part 50. - The cleaning cell SP is provided adjacently to the indexer cell ID. Between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP provided is a
partition 19 for blocking the atmosphere, and thesubstrate passing part 50 is so provided as to penetrate part of thepartition 19. In other words, thesubstrate passing part 50 is provided at a connecting portion between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP, being interposed therebetween to pass the substrate W from/to these cells. - The
substrate passing part 50 of this preferred embodiment has a construction in which a reverse passing part RVPASS1, two stages of return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2, two stages of sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 and a reverse passing part RVPASS2 are layered in the vertical direction in this order from the upper side. The upper reverse passing part RVPASS1 and two stages of the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 are interposed to pass the processed substrate W from the cleaning cell SP to the indexer cell ID. On the other hand, the lower reverse passing part RVPASS2 and two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 are interposed to pass the unprocessed substrate W from the indexer cell ID to the cleaning cell SP. More detailed discussion on thesubstrate passing part 50 will be made later. - The cleaning cell SP is a cell for performing the scrub cleaning process on the substrate W and comprises a front surface cleaning part SS1 for performing the scrub cleaning process on a front surface of the substrate W, a back surface cleaning part SS2 for performing the scrub cleaning process on a back surface of the substrate W, reversing parts FR and RF for reversing the front and back sides of the substrate W and a transport robot TR for passing the substrate W from/to the front surface cleaning part SS1, the back surface cleaning part SS2 and the reversing parts FR and RF. In the cleaning cell SP, the front surface cleaning part SS1 and the back surface cleaning part SS2 are arranged oppositely to each other with the transport robot TR interposed therebetween. Specifically, the front surface cleaning part SS1 is disposed on the back side of the apparatus and the back surface cleaning part SS2 is disposed on the front side of the apparatus. A “front surface” of a substrate W refers to one of main surfaces of the substrate W, on which a pattern is formed, and a “back surface” refers to the opposite side of the front surface. An “upper surface” of the substrate W is one of the main surfaces of the substrate W, which faces upward, and a “lower surface” is the other surface which faces downward (regardless of whether it is the front surface or the back surface).
- As shown in
FIG. 2 , the front surface cleaning part SS1 has a construction in which four front surface cleaning units SS which have the same construction are layered. The front surface cleaning unit SS comprises aspin chuck 21 for holding the substrate W with its front surface facing upward and rotating it about an axis center along the vertical direction, a cleaning brush 22 coming into contact with or coming close to the front surface of the substrate W held on thespin chuck 21 to perform scrub cleaning, anozzle 23 for discharging a cleaning solution (e.g., de-ionized water) onto the front surface of the substrate W, aspin motor 24 for driving thespin chuck 21 to rotate, a cup (not shown) surrounding the substrate W held on thespin chuck 21, and the like. - On the other hand, the back surface cleaning part SS2 has a construction in which four back surface cleaning units SSR which have the same construction are layered. The back surface cleaning unit SSR comprises a
spin chuck 31 for holding the substrate W with its back surface facing upward and rotating it about an axis center along the vertical direction, a cleaningbrush 32 coming into contact with or coming close to the back surface of the substrate W held on thespin chuck 31 to perform scrub cleaning, anozzle 33 for discharging a cleaning solution (e.g., de-ionized water) onto the back surface of the substrate W, aspin motor 34 for driving thespin chuck 31 to rotate, a cup (not shown) surrounding the substrate W held on thespin chuck 31, and the like. Though thespin chuck 21 of the front surface cleaning unit SS for performing front surface cleaning may be a vacuum adsorptive one since the substrate W is held from the back side, thespin chuck 31 of the back surface cleaning unit SSR for performing back surface cleaning has to be one which mechanically holds an edge portion of the substrate W since the substrate W is held from the front side. - The two reversing parts FR and RF are provided at an end portion ((+X) side end portion) of a transport path in which the transport robot TR is provided on the side opposite to the indexer cell ID. The reversing part FR reverses the substrate W with its front surface facing upward 180 degrees upside down to cause its back surface to face upward. Conversely, the reversing part RF reverses the substrate W with its back surface facing upward 180 degrees upside down to cause its front surface to face upward.
- The transport robot TR comprises two
transfer arms arm stage 43 on which these transfer arms are rested and abase 44. Thebase 44 is fixed to a frame of the cleaning cell SP. Therefore, the whole transport robot TR does not move in the horizontal direction. - On the
base 44, thearm stage 43 is rested. In thebase 44, a motor for driving thearm stage 43 to rotate about an axis center along the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and a motor for driving thearm stage 43 to move up and down along the vertical direction, both of which are not shown, are integrated. Further, the twotransfer arms arm stage 43, being arranged vertically with a space of predetermined pitch. As shown inFIG. 1 , thetransfer arms transfer arms transfer arms arm stage 43. - With such a structure, the transport robot TR causes the two
transfer arms substrate passing part 50, to thereby pass and receive the substrate W to/from these parts. Further, as an elevation driving mechanism of the transport robot TR, other mechanisms such as a belt feeder mechanism using a pulley and a timing belt may be used. - The
control part 5 controls various operation mechanisms provided in thesubstrate processing apparatus 1. Thecontrol part 5 has a constitution of general computer system as hardware. Specifically, thecontrol part 5 comprises a CPU for performing various computations, a ROM for storing a basic program, a RAM which is a readable and writable memory for storing various information, and a magnetic disk for storing control software or data. - Subsequently, detailed discussion will be made on the
substrate passing part 50. As discussed above, thesubstrate passing part 50 comprises two stages of the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2, two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 and two stages of reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2. Among these parts, the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2 reverse the front and back sides of the substrate W 180 degrees and pass it, and so also have the function as the reversing part as well as the function of passing substrates. -
FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing the reverse passing part RVPASS2.FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the reverse passing part RVPASS2. Though discussion will be made below on the reverse passing part RVPASS2, the reverse passing part RVPASS1 has altogether the same construction as that of the reverse passing part RVPASS2. The reverse passing part RVPASS2 comprises asupport plate 81, a fixedplate 82, a pair oflinear guides members cylinders movable plate 86 a, a secondmovable plate 86 b and arotary actuator 88. - The
support plate 81 is provided, extending along the vertical direction. At a center portion of one side of thesupport plate 81, the fixedplate 82 is provided perpendicularly thereto, extending along the horizontal direction. Further, at the above one side of thesupport plate 81, the pair oflinear guides plate 82 interposed therebetween. Both thelinear guides plate 82. - To the
linear guide 83 a, the supportingmember 85 a extending along the horizontal direction is attached slidably via a connectingmember 84 a. Thecylinder 87 a is connected to the supportingmember 85 a and with thecylinder 87 a, the supportingmember 85 a is guided by thelinear guide 83 a to move up and down along the vertical direction. The supportingmember 85 a maintains its attitude extending along the horizontal direction always in up-and-down movement. Further, the firstmovable plate 86 a is attached to the supportingmember 85 a, facing one side of the fixedplate 82. - Similarly, to the
linear guide 83 b, the supportingmember 85 b extending along the horizontal direction is attached slidably via a connectingmember 84 b. Thecylinder 87 b is connected to the supportingmember 85 b and with thecylinder 87 b, the supportingmember 85 b is guided by thelinear guide 83 b to move up and down along the vertical direction. The supportingmember 85 b maintains its attitude extending along the horizontal direction always in up-and-down movement. Further, the secondmovable plate 86 b is attached to the supportingmember 85 b, facing the other side (opposite to the above one side) of the fixedplate 82. - The
rotary actuator 88 rotates thesupport plate 81 about a rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction). When thesupport plate 81 is rotated, all of the firstmovable plate 86 a, the secondmovable plate 86 b and the fixedplate 82 which are connected thereto rotate about the rotary central axis RX while maintaining their mutual positional relation. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , the firstmovable plate 86 a, the secondmovable plate 86 b and the fixedplate 82 each have a plate-like shape. As shown inFIG. 4 , a plurality of support pins 89 a stand on one side of the fixedplate 82 facing the firstmovable plate 86 a, and a plurality of support pins 89 b stand on the other side of the fixedplate 82 facing the secondmovable plate 86 b. Further, a plurality of support pins 89 c stand on one surface of the firstmovable plate 86 a facing the fixedplate 82, and a plurality of support pins 89 d stand on one surface of the secondmovable plate 86 b facing the fixedplate 82. -
FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where thetransfer arm 42 a of the transport robot TR accesses the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2. In this preferred embodiment, six support pins 89 a, six support pins 89 b, six support pins 89 c and six support pins 89 d are so arranged as to be along the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W. Herein, the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2 are provided so that the rotary central axis RX may extend along the Y-axis direction. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 1 , the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR cause thetransfer arm 12 and thetransfer arms substrate passing part 50 along the X-axis direction. Specifically, thetransfer arm 12 and thetransfer arms FIG. 4 ). - Further, as shown in
FIG. 6 , the six support pins 89 a stand at such positions as not to interfere with thetransfer arm 42 a which moves from the horizontal direction perpendicular to the rotary central axis RX. Though the arrangement of the support pins 89 a is shown inFIG. 6 , other support pins 89 b, 89 c and 89 d are arranged like the support pins 89 a. Thetransfer arm 42 b of the transport robot TR moves toward/from the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2 from the same direction as thetransfer arm 42 a does and is prevented from interfering with the support pins 89 a, 89 b, 89 c or 89 d. Thetransfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR has a shape which is slightly different from that of thetransfer arm - The fixed
plate 82 is provided withoptical detection sensors detection sensor 80 c is provided on one surface of the firstmovable plate 86 a facing the fixedplate 82 and adetection sensor 80 d is provided on one surface of the secondmovable plate 86 b facing the fixedplate 82. Thedetection sensors - Other constituent elements, i.e., two stages of the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 and two stages of the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2, each have a constitution in which a plurality of (e.g., three) fixed support pins stand on a flat plate. These fixed support pins are arranged at such positions as not to interfere with the
transfer arm 12 and thetransfer arms substrate passing part 50. Therefore, the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID and the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP can access the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 and the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 to pass and receive the substrate W. Further, the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 and the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 are each provided with an optical detection sensor for detecting whether or not the substrate W is rested thereon. - Next, discussion will be made on an operation of the
substrate processing apparatus 1. Since thesubstrate processing apparatus 1 comprises the front surface cleaning part SS1 for performing front surface cleaning of the substrate W and the back surface cleaning part SS2 for performing back surface cleaning, thesubstrate processing apparatus 1 can perform various patterns of cleaning processes in accordance with purposes. For example, only the front surface of the substrate W may be cleaned, only the back surface may be cleaned conversely, and both of the surfaces may be cleaned. Which type of cleaning is performed can be set by a recipe describing the procedure of transferring the substrates W (a procedure of transferring substrates is referred to as a “flow”) and the processing condition. In this preferred embodiment, the operation of thesubstrate processing apparatus 1 will be discussed, taking an exemplary case where only the back surface of the substrate W is cleaned. - In the case where only the back surface of the substrate W is cleaned, the flow shown in Table 1 below is set as a recipe and the substrates W are transferred in accordance with this flow.
-
TABLE 1 Step Transfer Target 1 Indexer Cell ID 2 Reverse Passing Part RVPASS2 3 Back Surface Cleaning Part SS2 4 Reverse Passing Part RVPASS1 5 Indexer Cell ID - Specifically, first, the unprocessed substrate W which is stored in the carrier C is loaded onto the
carrier stage 11 of the indexer cell ID by the AGV or the like from the outside of the apparatus. Next, the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID takes the unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C and transfers it to the reverse passing part RVPASS2 of thesubstrate passing part 50. The reverse passing part RVPASS2 which receives the unprocessed substrate W reverses the front and back sides of the substrate W. Subsequently, the reversed substrate W is passed to the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP. The operation of passing the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS2 will be discussed later. - Next, the transport robot TR transports the unprocessed substrate W which is thereby received to any one of the back surface cleaning units SSR in the back surface cleaning part SS2. In the back surface cleaning unit SSR, the
spin chuck 31 rotates the substrate W with its back surface facing upward while holding it and thenozzle 33 supplies the cleaning solution to the back surface of the substrate W. In this state, the cleaningbrush 32 comes into contact with or comes close to the back surface of the substrate W and scans it in the horizontal direction, to perform the scrub cleaning process on the back surface of the substrate W. Since the four back surface cleaning units SSR in the back surface cleaning part SS2 are concurrent processing units having the same construction, the transport robot TR may transport the substrate W to any one of the back surface cleaning units SSR. - After the back surface cleaning is finished, the transport robot TR takes the substrate W from the back surface cleaning unit SSR and transports it to the reverse passing part RVPASS1 of the
substrate passing part 50. The reverse passing part RVPASS1 which receives the processed substrate W reverses the front and back sides of the substrate W. Subsequently, the transfer robot IR stores the processed substrate W after being reversed into the carrier C. - In the above exemplary case, supposing that the substrate W is transferred via the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 and the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2, the substrate W needs to be reversed by the reversing parts FR and RF in the cleaning cell SP. In this case, the number of transporting steps performed by the transport robot TR increases and the transport robot TR determines the processing speed of the whole
substrate processing apparatus 1. - Then, in this preferred embodiment, the substrates W are transferred between the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID and the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP via the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2. The reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2 not only transfer the substrates W between these robots but also reverse them. Therefore, the number of transporting steps to be performed by the transport robot TR decreases. While the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2 reverses the substrate W, however, if the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR can not transfer the next substrate W, there arises some standby time in the operations of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR and this disadvantageously reduces the throughput of the
substrate processing apparatus 1. - For this reason, the transfer of the substrates W via the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2 is performed in the following manner. Herein, discussion will be made on an exemplary case where the substrates W are transferred from the transfer robot IR to the transport robot TR via the reverse passing part RVPASS2.
FIGS. 7 to 12 are illustrations of an operation for transferring the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS2. - First, as shown in
FIG. 7 , thetransfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR which holds the unprocessed substrate W with its front surface facing upward moves to between the fixedplate 82 and the secondmovable plate 86 b and stops at a position where the substrate W is present immediately above a plurality of support pins 89 d. Subsequently, thetransfer arm 12 moves down until the substrate W is supported by the support pins 89 d. Thetransfer arm 12 which has passed the unprocessed substrate W moves back out of the reverse passing part RVPASS2. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 8 , thecylinder 87 a moves the firstmovable plate 86 a down while thecylinder 87 b moves the secondmovable plate 86 b up. The substrate W with its front surface facing upward is thereby held by the support pins 89 b of the fixedplate 82 and the support pins 89 d of the secondmovable plate 86 b. - In this state, as shown in
FIG. 9 , therotary actuator 88 rotates the whole of the firstmovable plate 86 a, the secondmovable plate 86 b and the fixedplate 82 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX. Consequently, the front surface and the back surface of the substrate W held by the support pins 89 b and the support pins 89 d are reversed and the back surface of the substrate W thereby faces upward. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 10 , thecylinder 87 a moves the firstmovable plate 86 a down while thecylinder 87 b moves the secondmovable plate 86 b up. As shown inFIG. 11 , this causes the firstmovable plate 86 a and the secondmovable plate 86 b to separate from the fixedplate 82 and the substrate W with its back surface facing upward is held by a plurality of support pins 89 b of the fixedplate 82. - After that, the
transfer arm 42 b (or thetransfer arm 42 a) of the transport robot TR moves to below the substrate W and moves up, to thereby receive the substrate W. Subsequently, as shown inFIG. 12 , thetransfer arm 42 b which receives the unprocessed substrate W moves back out of the reverse passing part RVPASS2. Further, thetransfer arm 12 of the transfer robot IR which holds the following unprocessed substrate W moves to between the fixedplate 82 and the firstmovable plate 86 a, and after that, the same procedure is repeated. Thus, the transfer of the substrate W from the transfer robot IR to the transport robot TR via the reverse passing part RVPASS2 is sequentially performed. - Though the transfer of the unprocessed substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS2 has been discussed above, the transfer of the processed substrate W from the transport robot TR to the transfer robot IR via reverse passing part RVPASS1 is performed in the same manner.
-
FIG. 13 is an illustration of a concept of transferring the substrate W via the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2. The reverse passing part RVPASS1 comprises afirst holding mechanism 91 consisting of the fixedplate 82 and the firstmovable plate 86 a and asecond holding mechanism 92 consisting of the fixedplate 82 and the secondmovable plate 86 b. Thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 are rotated by therotary actuator 88 about the rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction. Thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Then, thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 are rotated as one unit by therotary actuator 88 while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when therotary actuator 88 rotates thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 replace each other in position. - If the
first holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 of the reverse passing part RVPASS1 are present at the vertical positions H1 and H2, respectively, as shown inFIG. 13 , for example, when therotary actuator 88 rotates thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 180 degrees, thefirst holding mechanism 91 comes to the vertical position H2 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 comes to the vertical position H1. When therotary actuator 88 further rotates thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 180 degrees, thefirst holding mechanism 91 comes to the vertical position H1 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 comes to the vertical position H2 again. In other words, in the reverse passing part RVPASS1, every time when therotary actuator 88 rotates thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 180 degrees, thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 alternately replace each other in position between the vertical positions H1 and H2. - Similarly, the reverse passing part RVPASS2 comprises a
third holding mechanism 93 consisting of the fixedplate 82 and the firstmovable plate 86 a and afourth holding mechanism 94 consisting of the fixedplate 82 and the secondmovable plate 86 b. Thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 are rotated by therotary actuator 88 about the rotary central axis RX along the horizontal direction. Thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 are arranged in vertically symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Then, thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 are rotated as one unit by therotary actuator 88 while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when therotary actuator 88 rotates thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 replace each other in position. - If the
third holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 of the reverse passing part RVPASS2 are present at the vertical positions H3 and H4, respectively, for example, when therotary actuator 88 rotates thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees, thethird holding mechanism 93 comes to the vertical position H4 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H3. When therotary actuator 88 further rotates thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees, thethird holding mechanism 93 comes to the vertical position H3 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H4 again. In other words, in the reverse passing part RVPASS2, every time when therotary actuator 88 rotates thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 180 degrees, thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 alternately replace each other in position between the vertical positions H3 and H4. - For the reverse passing part RVPASS2 which performs such an operation as above, the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID passes the unprocessed substrate W to the
third holding mechanism 93 or thefourth holding mechanism 94 always at the vertical position H4. The unprocessed substrate W reversed by the reverse passing part RVPASS2 is passed to the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP from thethird holding mechanism 93 or thefourth holding mechanism 94 always at the vertical position H3. In other words, thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 are dedicated to the loading of the unprocessed substrate W at the vertical position H4 and dedicated to the unloading of the unprocessed substrate W at the vertical position H3. - On the other hand, for the reverse passing part RVPASS1, the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP passes the processed substrate W to the
first holding mechanism 91 or thesecond holding mechanism 92 always at the vertical position H1. The processed substrate W reversed by the reverse passing part RVPASS1 is passed to the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID from thefirst holding mechanism 91 or thesecond holding mechanism 92 always at the vertical position H2. In other words, thefirst holding mechanism 91 and thesecond holding mechanism 92 are dedicated to the loading of the processed substrate W at the vertical position H1 and dedicated to the unloading of the processed substrate W at the vertical position H2. - Thus, the reverse passing part RVPASS2 provided between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP reverses the unprocessed substrate W received from the transfer robot IR and passes it to the transport robot TR. Similarly, the reverse passing part RVPASS1 provided between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP reverses the processed substrate W received from the transport robot TR and passes it to the transfer robot IR.
- Herein, attention is paid to the control of transfer in order for the transfer robot IR to load the unprocessed substrate W into the reverse passing part RVPASS2. The transfer robot IR takes the first unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C and loads it into the
fourth holding mechanism 94 of the reverse passing part RVPASS2 at the vertical position H4. Then, after thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 rotate 180 degrees, the transfer robot IR loads the second unprocessed substrate W into thethird holding mechanism 93 at the vertical position H4. At the point of time when thefourth holding mechanism 94 comes to the vertical position H3, the transport robot TR can unload the first unprocessed substrate W therefrom. Whether the substrate W is unloaded from thefourth holding mechanism 94 or not can be detected by thedetection sensor 80 b. When the second substrate W is loaded into thethird holding mechanism 93 and the first substrate W is unloaded from thefourth holding mechanism 94, thethird holding mechanism 93 and thefourth holding mechanism 94 immediately rotate 180 degrees. - Then, when it is detected that the first unprocessed substrate W is unloaded from the
fourth holding mechanism 94, thecontrol part 5 controls the transfer robot IR to transfer the third unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C to the reverse passing part RVPASS2. In other words, before the process of reversing the preceding substrate W (herein, the second unprocessed substrate W) is finished, the transfer of the following substrate W (herein, the third unprocessed substrate W) starts. This reduces the standby time of the transfer robot IR to a minimum. - In the case where the transport robot TR loads the processed substrate W into the reverse passing part RVPASS1, the same control of transfer is performed, to thereby reduce the standby time of the transport robot TR to a minimum. This increases the throughput of the whole
substrate processing apparatus 1. - Providing two reverse passing parts (four reverse passing parts in the whole substrate passing part 50) each of which is the same as the reversing part FR or RF having only one stage of the holding mechanism for the substrate W, instead of the reverse passing part RVPASS1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS2), also makes it possible to start the transfer of the following substrate W before the process of reversing the preceding substrate W is finished. The height of the two layered reverse passing parts, however, disadvantageously becomes higher than the reverse passing part RVPASS1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS2) of this preferred embodiment. For example, the height of the reverse passing part for reversing the substrate W of φ300 mm is at least 300 mm or more and the height of two layered reverse passing parts is 600 mm or more. On the other hand, the height of the reverse passing part RVPASS1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS2) having two stages of holding mechanisms with the rotary central axis RX interposed therebetween can be lower than 600 mm. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the height of the whole
substrate passing part 50 to a minimum. - Since the transport robot TR of the cleaning cell SP do not move in the horizontal direction, it is relatively easy to increase the range of movement in the vertical direction. On the other hand, since the transfer robot IR of the indexer cell ID also moves along the horizontal direction, it is hard to increase the range of movement in the vertical direction up to the level of the transport robot TR. In this preferred embodiment, since one reverse passing part RVPASS1 (or the reverse passing part RVPASS2) can perform the control of transfer like the case where two reverse passing parts each having only one stage of the holding mechanism are provided, it is possible to reduce the respective standby times of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR to a minimum while minimizing the number of reverse passing parts. As a result, the
substrate passing part 50 can be contained within the range of height where the transfer robot IR having a limiting range of movement in the vertical direction can access, and it is possible to reduce the respective standby times of the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR to a minimum and to thereby increase the throughput of thesubstrate processing apparatus 1. - While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been discussed, numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, though discussion of the above preferred embodiment has been made taking the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2 for reversing and transferring the substrate W between the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP as an example, the same reverse passing parts as those in the above-discussed preferred embodiment may be provided between a sending side cell having a transport robot to send the substrate W and a receiving side cell having a transport robot to receive the substrate W sent from the sending side cell. The transport robot of the sending side cell can start the transfer of the following substrate W before the process of reversing the preceding substrate W is finished, and the standby time of the transport robot can be thereby reduced to a minimum. Further, the number of reverse passing parts included in the substrate passing part is minimized and the range of up-and-down movement of the transport robot can be thereby reduced.
- One exemplary construction having the sending side cell and the receiving side cell like above is a coater & developer in which a cell for performing a resist coating process and a cell for performing a development process are arranged in parallel with the substrate passing part interposed therebetween. In the coater & developer for an immersion exposure apparatus, especially, since a reverse process is sometimes performed to clean the back surface of a substrate, if the same reverse passing parts as those in the above-discussed preferred embodiment are provided in the substrate passing part between the cells, it is possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot to a minimum.
- Further, though one reverse passing part has two holding mechanisms in the above preferred embodiment, the number of holding mechanisms is not limited to two. For example, if at least one of the transport robots which transfer the substrates via the reverse passing part has two transfer arms to concurrently transport two substrates W, the reverse passing part comprises four holding mechanisms. In this case, as shown in
FIG. 14 , the four holding mechanisms are divided by two and arranged in symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Specifically, a first holdingpart 101 consisting of the holdingmechanisms second holding part 102 consisting of the holdingmechanisms part 101 and thesecond holding part 102 are rotated as one unit while holding the symmetrical positional relation with respect to the rotary central axis RX. Therefore, when first holdingpart 101 and thesecond holding part 102 rotate 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, the holdingmechanisms mechanisms - In the case of
FIG. 14 , if the holdingmechanisms mechanisms part 101 and thesecond holding part 102 rotate 180 degrees about the rotary central axis RX, the holdingmechanisms mechanisms part 101 and thesecond holding part 102 further rotate 180 degrees, the holdingmechanisms 95 to 98 return to their respective original positions. - When the transport robot concurrently loads two substrates W into the reverse passing part comprising such four holding mechanisms, the substrates W are concurrently passed to the holding
mechanisms mechanisms mechanisms mechanisms - The reverse passing part may comprise more stages of holding mechanisms. Specifically, if one of the transport robots which transfer the substrates via the reverse passing part (e.g., the transfer robot IR) comprises m transfer arms (m is an integer not less than 1) to concurrently transfer m substrates, and the other transport robot (e.g., the transport robot TR) comprises n transfer arms (n is an integer not less than 1) to concurrently transfer n substrates, each of the first holding
part 101 and thesecond holding part 102 which are arranged in symmetry with respect to the rotary central axis RX has only to be provided with holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one. The exemplary case discussed in the above preferred embodiment is a case where the first holdingpart 101 and thesecond holding part 102 each have one holding mechanism, in other words, m=n=1. It thereby becomes possible to reduce the standby time of the transport robot while allowing the concurrent transfer of m or n substrates. Further, it is possible to minimize the number of reverse passing parts and reduce the range of up-and-down movement of the transport robot. As a specific construction to increase the number of stages of the holding mechanisms in the reverse passing part, a plurality of multistage structures, one of which is shown inFIG. 4 , have only to be further provided. - Further, a flow of performing front surface cleaning of substrates W in the
substrate processing apparatus 1 of the above-discussed preferred embodiment can be also set. In this case, depending on which process step the front surface cleaning is performed in, there is also a case where no process of reversing the substrate W is performed in thesubstrate passing part 50. In the case where no process of reversing the substrate W is performed in thesubstrate passing part 50, the substrate W has only to be passed between the transfer robot IR and the transport robot TR via two stages of return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 and/or two stages of sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2. Further, there may be a case where no reverse process is performed in the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2 and only the transfer of the substrate W is performed. In this case, the substrate W is loaded and unloaded into/from the reverse passing part RVPASS1 or RVPASS2 at the same vertical position. If the case where the reverse process is performed and the case where no reverse process is performed are mixed, however, the control therefor becomes very hard. Therefore, if no reverse process is performed in thesubstrate passing part 50, it is preferable that the return rest parts RPASS1 and RPASS2 and the sending rest parts SPASS1 and SPASS2 should be provided. - Further, in the
substrate processing apparatus 1 of the above-discussed preferred embodiment, the two reversing parts FR and RF may have the same structure as that of the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and RVPASS2. There is a case where thetransfer arms upper transfer arm 42 a is dedicated to the transport of the processed substrates W and thelower transfer arm 42 b is dedicated to the transport of the unprocessed substrates W, to thereby prevent particles and the like on the unprocessed substrates W from being transferred to the cleaned substrates W. On the other hand, the transport robot TR usually uses the twotransfer arms - In such a case, if a flow that the reverse process is performed after the final cleaning process is set, there arises a situation where the
lower transfer arm 42 b which is originally dedicated to the transport of the unprocessed substrates W must hold the substrate W on which the final cleaning process is finished. In other words, in order for the reversing part to perform simultaneous replacement, thelower transfer arm 42 b first receives the reversed substrate W and then theupper transfer arm 42 a loads the substrate W after being subjected to the final cleaning process. Then, in thesubstrate processing apparatus 1, if the two reversing parts FR and RF have the same structure as that of the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and the RVPASS2, since theupper transfer arm 42 a passes the substrate W after being subjected to the final cleaning process to the reversing part and then thisupper transfer arm 42 a receives the reversed substrate W, it is possible to use thetransfer arms - Further, though the indexer cell ID and the cleaning cell SP are connected to each other in the above-discussed preferred embodiment, there may be a construction in which a cell dedicated to front surface cleaning is connected to the indexer cell ID and a cell dedicated to back surface cleaning is further connected to the cell for front surface cleaning. In this case, the reverse passing parts of this preferred embodiment may be provided between the indexer cell ID and the cell for front surface cleaning and between the cell for front surface cleaning and the cell for back surface cleaning.
- Furthermore, in the
substrate passing part 50 of the above-discussed preferred embodiment, the return rest parts RPASS1 and the RPASS2 and the sending rest parts SPASS1 and the SPASS2 do not always need to be provided, and in the case where only back surface cleaning is performed in thesubstrate processing apparatus 1, there may be a construction in which only the reverse passing parts RVPASS1 and the RVPASS2 are provided. - While the invention has been shown and described in detail, the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive. It is therefore understood that numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims (12)
1. A substrate processing apparatus for successively processing a plurality of substrates, comprising:
a sending side section having a first transport robot, for sending a substrate;
a receiving side section having a second transport robot, for receiving the substrate sent out from said sending side section; and
a reverse passing part provided between said sending side section and said receiving side section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the substrate passed from said first transport robot and passing the substrate to said second transport robot,
said reverse passing part comprising
a first holding part for holding a substrate;
a second holding part for holding a substrate; and
a rotation driving mechanism for rotating said first holding part and said second holding part about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction,
wherein said first holding part and said second holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to said rotary central axis,
said rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate said first holding part and said second holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a first position and a second position,
said first transport robot is so configured as to pass a substrate to said first holding part or said second holding part at said first position, and
said second transport robot is so configured as to receive a reversed substrate from said first holding part or said second holding part at said second position.
2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
said first transport robot comprises m transfer arms (m: an integer not less than 1), being so configured as to transfer m substrates at one time,
said second transport robot comprises n transfer arms (n: an integer not less than 1), being so configured as to transfer n substrates at one time, and
said first holding part and said second holding part each have substrate holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one.
3. A substrate processing apparatus for successively processing a plurality of substrates, comprising:
a) a processing section having a transport robot and a processing part to which a substrate is transported by the transport robot;
b) an indexer section having a transfer robot, for passing an unprocessed substrate to said processing section and receiving a processed substrate from said processing section;
c) a first reverse passing part provided between said indexer section and said processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the unprocessed substrate passed from said transfer robot and passing the unprocessed substrate to said transport robot,
said first reverse passing part comprising
c-1) a first holding part for holding a substrate;
c-2) a second holding part for holding a substrate; and
c-3) a first rotation driving mechanism for rotating said first holding part and said second holding part about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction; and
d) a second reverse passing part provided between said indexer section and said processing section, for reversing a front surface and a back surface of the processed substrate passed from said transport robot and passing the processed substrate to said transfer robot,
said second reverse passing part comprising
d-1) a third holding part for holding a substrate;
d-2) a fourth holding part for holding a substrate; and
d-3) a second rotation driving mechanism for rotating said third holding part and said fourth holding part about a second rotary central axis along a horizontal direction,
wherein said first holding part and said second holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to said first rotary central axis,
said third holding part and said fourth holding part are provided in a symmetrical position with respect to said second rotary central axis,
said first rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate said first holding part and said second holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a first position and a second position,
said second rotation driving mechanism is so configured as to rotate said third holding part and said fourth holding part so that these holding parts alternately replace each other between a third position and a fourth position,
said transfer robot is so configured as to pass an unprocessed substrate to said first holding part or said second holding part at said first position and as to receive a processed substrate from said third holding part or said fourth holding part at said third position, and
said transport robot is so configured as to receive an unprocessed substrate from said first holding part or said second holding part at said second position and as to pass a processed substrate to said third holding part or said fourth holding part at said fourth position.
4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
said transfer robot comprises m transfer arms (m: an integer not less than 1), being so configured as to transfer m substrates at one time,
said transport robot comprises n transfer arms (n: an integer not less than 1), being so configured as to transfer n substrates at one time, and
said first holding part, said second holding part, said third holding part and said fourth holding part each have substrate holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one.
5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
e) a first rest part provided between said indexer section and said processing section, on which the unprocessed substrate passed from said transfer robot is rested to be passed to said transport robot; and
f) a second rest part provided between said indexer section and said processing section, on which the processed substrate passed from said transport robot is rested to be passed to said transfer robot.
6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
said processing part comprises a back surface cleaning unit for cleaning a back surface of a substrate.
7. A substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates from a first transport robot of a sending side section which sends the substrates to a second transport robot of a receiving side section which receives the substrates via a reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate, comprising the steps of:
a) passing a substrate to a first holding part of said reverse passing part at a first position by said first transport robot;
b) receiving a substrate from a second holding part of said reverse passing part at a second position by said second transport robot;
c) rotating said first holding part and said second holding part of said reverse passing part 180 degrees about a rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move said first holding part to said second position and move said second holding part to said first position;
d) passing a substrate to said second holding part at said first position by said first transport robot;
e) receiving a substrate from said first holding part at said second position by said second transport robot;
f) rotating said first holding part and said second holding part of said reverse passing part 180 degrees about said rotary central axis to move said first holding part to said first position and move said second holding part to said second position; and
g) repeating said step a) to step f).
8. The substrate processing method according to claim 7 , wherein
said first transport robot comprises m transfer arms (m: an integer not less than 1) and transfers m substrates at one time,
said second transport robot comprises n transfer arms (n: an integer not less than 1) and transfers n substrates at one time, and
said first holding part and said second holding part each have substrate holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one.
9. A substrate processing method for successively transferring a plurality of substrates between a transport robot of a processing section having a processing part and a transfer robot of an indexer section, comprising the steps of:
a) passing an unprocessed substrate to a first holding part of a first reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a first position by said transfer robot;
b) receiving an unprocessed substrate from a second holding part of said first reverse passing part at a second position by said transport robot;
c) rotating said first holding part and said second holding part of said first reverse passing part 180 degrees about a first rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move said first holding part to said second position and move said second holding part to said first position;
d) passing an unprocessed substrate to said second holding part at said first position by said transfer robot;
e) receiving an unprocessed substrate from said first holding part at said second position by said transport robot;
f) rotating said first holding part and said second holding part of said first reverse passing part 180 degrees about said first rotary central axis to move said first holding part to said first position and move said second holding part to said second position; and
g) repeating said step a) to step f).
10. The substrate processing method according to claim 9 , further comprising the steps of:
h) receiving a processed substrate from a third holding part of a second reverse passing part for reversing a front surface and a back surface of a substrate at a third position by said transfer robot;
i) passing a processed substrate to a fourth holding part of said second reverse passing part at a fourth position by said transport robot;
j) rotating said third holding part and said fourth holding part of said second reverse passing part 180 degrees about a second rotary central axis along a horizontal direction to move said third holding part to said fourth position and move said fourth holding part to said third position;
k) receiving a processed substrate from said fourth holding part at said third position by said transfer robot;
l) passing a processed substrate to said third holding part at said fourth position by said transport robot;
m) rotating said third holding part and said fourth holding part of said second reverse passing part 180 degrees about said second rotary central axis to move said third holding part to said third position and move said fourth holding part to said fourth position; and
n) repeating said step h) to step m).
11. The substrate processing method according to claim 10 , wherein
said transfer robot comprises m transfer arms (m: an integer not less than 1) and transfers m substrates at one time,
said transport robot comprises n transfer arms (n: an integer not less than 1) and transfers n substrates at one time, and
said first holding part, said second holding part, said third holding part and said fourth holding part each have substrate holding mechanisms as many as m or n which is larger one.
12. The substrate processing method according to claim 10 , wherein
said processing part cleans a back surface of a substrate.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US13/365,731 US9022046B2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2012-02-03 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JPJP2008-097113 | 2008-04-03 | ||
JP2008097113A JP5107122B2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2008-04-03 | Substrate processing equipment |
Related Child Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/365,731 Division US9022046B2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2012-02-03 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20090252578A1 true US20090252578A1 (en) | 2009-10-08 |
Family
ID=41133435
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/369,882 Abandoned US20090252578A1 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2009-02-12 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates |
US13/365,731 Active 2029-03-11 US9022046B2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2012-02-03 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/365,731 Active 2029-03-11 US9022046B2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2012-02-03 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US20090252578A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP5107122B2 (en) |
KR (3) | KR101181162B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN101552220B (en) |
TW (1) | TWI376007B (en) |
Cited By (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20120016516A1 (en) * | 2010-07-14 | 2012-01-19 | Eisaku Machida | Substrate processing apparatus, and substrate transport method |
CN102502253A (en) * | 2011-11-18 | 2012-06-20 | 北京七星华创电子股份有限公司 | Conveying system for wafer-shaped object |
US20120305024A1 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2012-12-06 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
US20120305028A1 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2012-12-06 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Buffer units, substrate processing apparatuses, and substrate processing methods |
US20130333731A1 (en) * | 2012-06-18 | 2013-12-19 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
US20140294541A1 (en) * | 2011-11-23 | 2014-10-02 | Nidec Sankyo Corporation | Workpiece transfer system |
US9324602B2 (en) | 2012-06-15 | 2016-04-26 | SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. | Substrate inverting apparatus and substrate processing apparatus |
CN112509955A (en) * | 2019-09-13 | 2021-03-16 | 株式会社斯库林集团 | Substrate processing apparatus |
US11443972B2 (en) | 2016-03-09 | 2022-09-13 | SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus |
Families Citing this family (22)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP5792981B2 (en) | 2011-04-05 | 2015-10-14 | 川崎重工業株式会社 | Plate member reversal system and reversal transfer method thereof |
JP5364769B2 (en) * | 2011-09-26 | 2013-12-11 | 株式会社安川電機 | Transfer robot and substrate processing apparatus |
KR101880457B1 (en) * | 2012-04-13 | 2018-08-17 | 세메스 주식회사 | Apparatus and method for treating substrate |
KR101379232B1 (en) * | 2012-07-18 | 2014-04-07 | 주식회사 로보스타 | Apparatus for reversing wafer |
JP6045869B2 (en) * | 2012-10-01 | 2016-12-14 | 株式会社Screenホールディングス | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
KR101885276B1 (en) * | 2013-04-15 | 2018-09-11 | 주식회사 원익아이피에스 | Flip chamber and system for deposition the thin film having the same |
KR101885273B1 (en) * | 2013-04-15 | 2018-08-03 | 주식회사 원익아이피에스 | Flip chamber and system for deposition the thin film having the same |
JP6005007B2 (en) * | 2013-07-31 | 2016-10-12 | 株式会社 ハリーズ | Transparent plate cleaning system |
JP5799059B2 (en) * | 2013-07-31 | 2015-10-21 | 株式会社 ハリーズ | Thin plate transfer device and thin plate cleaning system |
JP5802735B2 (en) * | 2013-12-27 | 2015-11-04 | ファナック株式会社 | Object transfer system with evacuation device |
CN104201142B (en) * | 2014-07-07 | 2017-02-08 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Mechanical arm and vacuum reaction device |
CN105278259A (en) * | 2015-07-27 | 2016-01-27 | 江苏影速光电技术有限公司 | Stand-alone double-table and multi-station automatic printed circuit board (PCB) exposure equipment and exposure method |
KR102397110B1 (en) * | 2016-06-13 | 2022-05-12 | 도쿄엘렉트론가부시키가이샤 | Substrate transfer device and substrate transfer method |
JP6727049B2 (en) * | 2016-07-12 | 2020-07-22 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Joining system |
JP6727048B2 (en) * | 2016-07-12 | 2020-07-22 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Substrate transfer device and bonding system |
JP6224780B2 (en) * | 2016-07-22 | 2017-11-01 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Substrate processing system |
CN108666231B (en) * | 2017-03-28 | 2022-04-26 | 雷仲礼 | Substrate processing system, substrate transfer apparatus and transfer method |
JP7114424B2 (en) * | 2018-09-13 | 2022-08-08 | 株式会社Screenホールディングス | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD |
JP7175735B2 (en) * | 2018-12-11 | 2022-11-21 | 平田機工株式会社 | Substrate carrier |
KR20200093721A (en) * | 2019-01-28 | 2020-08-06 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Substrate inversion device |
JP7377659B2 (en) * | 2019-09-27 | 2023-11-10 | 株式会社Screenホールディングス | Substrate processing equipment |
CN111604810B (en) * | 2020-07-24 | 2020-11-03 | 杭州众硅电子科技有限公司 | Wafer transmission equipment, chemical mechanical planarization device and wafer transmission method |
Citations (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5498294A (en) * | 1992-11-20 | 1996-03-12 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Apparatus and method for washing substrates |
US5518542A (en) * | 1993-11-05 | 1996-05-21 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Double-sided substrate cleaning apparatus |
US20020059686A1 (en) * | 2000-10-02 | 2002-05-23 | Hidetomo Uemukai | Cleaning processing system and cleaning processing apparatus |
US6874515B2 (en) * | 2001-04-25 | 2005-04-05 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Substrate dual-side processing apparatus |
US6893171B2 (en) * | 2002-05-01 | 2005-05-17 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate treating apparatus |
US20060045722A1 (en) * | 2004-06-22 | 2006-03-02 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate reversing device, substrate transporting device, substrate processing device, substrate reversing method, substrate transporting method and substrate processing method |
US20080156357A1 (en) * | 2006-12-27 | 2008-07-03 | Ichiro Mitsuyoshi | Substrate processing apparatus |
US20080156351A1 (en) * | 2006-12-27 | 2008-07-03 | Ichiro Mitsuyoshi | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
Family Cites Families (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP2001219391A (en) * | 1999-12-01 | 2001-08-14 | Ses Co Ltd | Substrate reversing device and substrate washing system |
JP2002110609A (en) | 2000-10-02 | 2002-04-12 | Tokyo Electron Ltd | Cleaning apparatus |
JP4287663B2 (en) | 2003-02-05 | 2009-07-01 | 芝浦メカトロニクス株式会社 | Substrate processing equipment |
JP2004327674A (en) * | 2003-04-24 | 2004-11-18 | Dainippon Screen Mfg Co Ltd | Substrate inversion unit and substrate treatment apparatus having the same |
JP2005093653A (en) | 2003-09-17 | 2005-04-07 | Dainippon Screen Mfg Co Ltd | Substrate treating device |
KR20070102374A (en) | 2006-04-13 | 2007-10-18 | 엘지전자 주식회사 | Method for electing domain reference point device |
JP5004612B2 (en) | 2007-02-15 | 2012-08-22 | 大日本スクリーン製造株式会社 | Substrate processing equipment |
-
2008
- 2008-04-03 JP JP2008097113A patent/JP5107122B2/en active Active
-
2009
- 2009-02-12 TW TW098104531A patent/TWI376007B/en active
- 2009-02-12 US US12/369,882 patent/US20090252578A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2009-03-24 CN CN2009101302120A patent/CN101552220B/en active Active
-
2011
- 2011-05-04 KR KR1020110042417A patent/KR101181162B1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2011-09-27 KR KR1020110097434A patent/KR101269764B1/en active IP Right Grant
-
2012
- 2012-02-03 US US13/365,731 patent/US9022046B2/en active Active
- 2012-12-20 KR KR1020120149747A patent/KR101256779B1/en active IP Right Grant
Patent Citations (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5498294A (en) * | 1992-11-20 | 1996-03-12 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Apparatus and method for washing substrates |
US5518542A (en) * | 1993-11-05 | 1996-05-21 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Double-sided substrate cleaning apparatus |
US20020059686A1 (en) * | 2000-10-02 | 2002-05-23 | Hidetomo Uemukai | Cleaning processing system and cleaning processing apparatus |
US20050022325A1 (en) * | 2000-10-02 | 2005-02-03 | Hidetomo Uemukai | Cleaning processing system and cleaning processing apparatus |
US6874515B2 (en) * | 2001-04-25 | 2005-04-05 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Substrate dual-side processing apparatus |
US6893171B2 (en) * | 2002-05-01 | 2005-05-17 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate treating apparatus |
US20060045722A1 (en) * | 2004-06-22 | 2006-03-02 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate reversing device, substrate transporting device, substrate processing device, substrate reversing method, substrate transporting method and substrate processing method |
US20080156357A1 (en) * | 2006-12-27 | 2008-07-03 | Ichiro Mitsuyoshi | Substrate processing apparatus |
US20080156351A1 (en) * | 2006-12-27 | 2008-07-03 | Ichiro Mitsuyoshi | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
Cited By (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20120016516A1 (en) * | 2010-07-14 | 2012-01-19 | Eisaku Machida | Substrate processing apparatus, and substrate transport method |
US8744614B2 (en) * | 2010-07-14 | 2014-06-03 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus, and substrate transport method |
TWI459495B (en) * | 2010-07-14 | 2014-11-01 | Dainippon Screen Mfg | Substrate processing apparatus, and substrate transport method |
US20120305024A1 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2012-12-06 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
US20120305028A1 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2012-12-06 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Buffer units, substrate processing apparatuses, and substrate processing methods |
US9153464B2 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2015-10-06 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
US9349626B2 (en) * | 2011-05-31 | 2016-05-24 | Semes Co., Ltd. | Buffer units, substrate processing apparatuses, and substrate processing methods |
CN102502253A (en) * | 2011-11-18 | 2012-06-20 | 北京七星华创电子股份有限公司 | Conveying system for wafer-shaped object |
US10211079B2 (en) | 2011-11-23 | 2019-02-19 | Nidec Sankyo Corporation | Workpiece transfer system |
US20140294541A1 (en) * | 2011-11-23 | 2014-10-02 | Nidec Sankyo Corporation | Workpiece transfer system |
US9412633B2 (en) * | 2011-11-23 | 2016-08-09 | Nidec Sankyo Corporation | Workpiece transfer system |
US9324602B2 (en) | 2012-06-15 | 2016-04-26 | SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. | Substrate inverting apparatus and substrate processing apparatus |
US20130333731A1 (en) * | 2012-06-18 | 2013-12-19 | Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method |
US9643220B2 (en) | 2012-06-18 | 2017-05-09 | SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing method for transferring a substrate |
US11443972B2 (en) | 2016-03-09 | 2022-09-13 | SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. | Substrate processing apparatus |
CN112509955A (en) * | 2019-09-13 | 2021-03-16 | 株式会社斯库林集团 | Substrate processing apparatus |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP2009252888A (en) | 2009-10-29 |
KR20110113164A (en) | 2011-10-14 |
JP5107122B2 (en) | 2012-12-26 |
TWI376007B (en) | 2012-11-01 |
US20120143366A1 (en) | 2012-06-07 |
CN101552220A (en) | 2009-10-07 |
KR101181162B1 (en) | 2012-09-17 |
KR20130014468A (en) | 2013-02-07 |
US9022046B2 (en) | 2015-05-05 |
CN101552220B (en) | 2011-04-13 |
KR20110051177A (en) | 2011-05-17 |
TW201001602A (en) | 2010-01-01 |
KR101256779B1 (en) | 2013-05-02 |
KR101269764B1 (en) | 2013-05-30 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US9022046B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for successively processing a plurality of substrates | |
US7628824B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus for processing plurality of substrates in succession | |
JP7061439B2 (en) | Board reversing device, board processing device and board support device | |
KR101751551B1 (en) | Substrate processing system, substrate transfer method and computer storage medium | |
TWI475629B (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
US8851819B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
US8744614B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus, and substrate transport method | |
US8002511B2 (en) | Batch forming apparatus, substrate processing system, batch forming method, and storage medium | |
US6790286B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
US20180166310A1 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
US20080159832A1 (en) | Substrate transporting apparatus, substrate platform shelf and substrate processing apparatus | |
KR101355693B1 (en) | Substrate carrying equipment | |
US20090087285A1 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
US7934898B2 (en) | High throughput semiconductor wafer processing | |
KR100921519B1 (en) | Substrate transfering apparatus and facility for treating with the same, and method for trasfering substrate with the apparatus | |
KR20130092466A (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
KR100666346B1 (en) | Method and apparatus for wafer cleaning | |
KR100521401B1 (en) | System for wafer cleaning | |
US20090022574A1 (en) | Workpiece loading system | |
KR100555893B1 (en) | Apparatus for wafer cleaning | |
KR102553643B1 (en) | Apparatus for treating substrate and robot for transferring substrate | |
US6854948B1 (en) | Stage with two substrate buffer station | |
WO2009078014A2 (en) | Measurement system and method | |
KR100625308B1 (en) | Apparatus for cleaning substrates | |
JP2003100840A (en) | Substrate processing system |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: DAINIPPON SCREEN MFG. CO., LTD., JAPAN Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MACHIDA, EISAKU;REEL/FRAME:022250/0051 Effective date: 20090202 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |