JP2003344037A - Film thickness measuring apparatus and method, and substrate treating unit and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify a substrate region for measuring a film thickness without utilizing cameras or any expensive hardware for analyzing images. <P>SOLUTION: The distance (edge distance) between the circumferential section of a substrate that is rotated and retained by a retaining means and the rotary axis of the retaining means is detected by a line sensor 26. A distance acquisition means 101 acquires the edge distance of the substrate rotating once, for a plurality of times, and a calculating means 102 calculates the central position of the substrate being retained by the retaining means from a plurality of edge distance. In this case, the crystal direction of the substrate is detected by detecting a specific circumferential section such as orientation flat and notches. From the calculation result of the calculation means 102, a region specifying means 103 specifies the film thickness measurement region near the circumferential section of the substrate. As a result, a film thickness measuring apparatus 24 measures a film thickness. Additionally, an exposure region near the circumferential section of the substrate is specified, thus performing edge exposure by a projection aligner 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to film thickness measurement and edge exposure for semiconductor substrates, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate"). The present invention relates to a processing device for performing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Products such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays are manufactured by subjecting the above-mentioned substrates to a series of treatments such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, interlayer insulating film formation, heat treatment, and dicing. It Then, in order to maintain the quality of the semiconductor product, the film thickness of the substrate is measured after the resist coating process.

Although there are various measurement positions for measuring the film thickness of the substrate, the measurement position may be a flat film thickness region where no pattern is formed. During film thickness measurement, the substrate is transferred by a transfer robot and held at a predetermined position for film thickness measurement, but there is a limit to the operating accuracy of the device, and there is a slight deviation in the holding position. Sometimes. Therefore, in order to measure the film thickness at a desired position, it is necessary to know the accurate position of the held substrate prior to the film thickness measurement process.

Conventionally, the position measurement of the substrate and the film thickness measurement have been performed by the following methods. First, an image of the film thickness measurement target substrate held at a predetermined position is photographed using a camera.
Then, by analyzing the photographed image, the positions of alignment marks and dies formed as a pattern on the substrate are extracted, and thereby the holding state of the substrate and the position of the pattern are grasped. Then, the measurement area of the substrate is calculated from the measured holding state of the substrate, and the film thickness is measured by moving the optical head to the measurement position.

[0005]

The method of determining the film thickness measurement position using the image analysis described above has high accuracy because the measurement position is calculated with reference to the pattern actually formed on the substrate. There are merits. However,
This method requires expensive hardware for image capture processing, and also requires hardware with extremely high arithmetic processing capability for image analysis.

Further, a space for installing a camera and a control unit related to image processing is required. Further, since the image matching process is performed between the pattern registered in advance and the pattern on the photographed substrate, an error occurs in the pattern matching depending on the processing condition, and all lots to be measured cannot be detected. there is a possibility.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to accurately measure the film thickness of a substrate with a low-cost and space-saving apparatus configuration.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 detects a) a holding means for holding a substrate and b) a peripheral portion of the substrate held by the holding means. Detection means, c) area specifying means for specifying a measurement area based on the detection result of the detection means, d) in a state where the substrate is held by the holding means, the film thickness of the substrate in the measurement area. And a film thickness measuring means for measuring.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the film thickness measuring apparatus according to the first aspect, the region specifying means includes c-1) the measurement region included in a region where the pattern of the substrate is not formed. A means for specifying the measurement region is included.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the film thickness measuring apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the holding means includes a-1) means for rotating and holding the substrate, and the detecting means is B-1) a means for arranging a line sensor along a substantially radial direction with respect to a rotation center of the holding means, and b-2) while rotating the substrate by the holding means, using the line sensor, Distance acquisition means for acquiring distance information from the rotation center of the holding means to the peripheral portion of the substrate a plurality of times, b-
3) A calculating means for calculating the substrate center position of the substrate held by the holding means from a plurality of pieces of distance information obtained by the distance obtaining means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the film thickness measuring apparatus according to the third aspect, one of the circumferential edge portions of the substrate is provided on the peripheral edge portion of the substrate to indicate the crystallographic direction of the substrate. The deformed part is formed as a peculiar peripheral portion, the detecting means comprises b-4) means for acquiring the rotational position of the holding means, and the calculating means is b-3-1) the distance acquisition. Distance information in the unique peripheral portion included in the plurality of distance information acquired by means, and the rotational position of the holding means when the distance information in the specific peripheral portion is acquired from the state held in the holding means A means for calculating the position of the unique peripheral portion of the substrate is included.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a processing unit equipped with the film thickness measuring apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the processing unit exposes a peripheral portion of the substrate. Exposure means for
Means for specifying an exposure area based on the position of the substrate center position and the unique peripheral portion calculated by the calculating means,
It is characterized by including.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing unit according to the fifth aspect, the film thickness measuring means and the exposing means are controlled by the same driving mechanism, so that the measuring area and the exposing area are respectively exposed. It is characterized in that film thickness measurement and exposure processing are performed in the region.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of measuring the film thickness of a substrate, which comprises a) a step of holding the substrate on a holding means, and b) a substantially radial direction with respect to a rotation center of the holding means. A step of arranging a line sensor along the line, and c) the substrate is rotated once by the holding means, and the distance information from the center of rotation of the holding means to the peripheral portion of the substrate is acquired a plurality of times by using the line sensor. A distance information acquisition step, d) a calculation step of calculating the substrate center position of the substrate in the state held by the holding means from a plurality of distance information obtained in the distance information acquisition step, and e) in the calculation step. A step of specifying a measurement region based on the calculated substrate center position; and f) measuring a film thickness of the substrate in the measurement region in a state where the substrate is held by the holding means. And wherein the door.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the film thickness measuring method according to the seventh aspect, one edge of the circumferential edge of the substrate is provided to indicate the crystallographic direction of the substrate. Part is deformed peculiar peripheral portion is formed, the calculation step, d-1) distance information in the specific peripheral portion included in the plurality of distance information acquired by the distance information acquisition step,
Calculating the position of the peculiar peripheral portion of the substrate in the state held by the holding means from the rotational position of the holding means when the distance information in the peculiar peripheral portion is acquired,
It is characterized by including.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing method using the film thickness measuring method according to the seventh or eighth aspect, wherein g) based on the substrate center position calculated in the calculating step. A step of identifying an exposure area of the substrate,
h) exposing the exposure region while the substrate is held by the holding means.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <1. Overall configuration of device> Fig. 1
2 is a perspective view showing an overall outline of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is a substrate processing apparatus (so-called coater & developer) that performs a resist coating process and a developing process on a substrate W, and is roughly configured to include an indexer ID and a unit placement section MP.

The indexer ID includes a transfer robot TF and a mounting stage 15. On the mounting stage 15, four carriers C can be arranged and mounted along the horizontal direction. Each carrier C is engraved with a multi-stage storage groove, and one substrate W can be accommodated in each groove in a horizontal posture (with its main surface along a horizontal plane). Therefore, a plurality of substrates W (for example, 25 substrates) can be stored in each carrier C in a horizontal posture and in a state of being stacked in multiple stages at predetermined intervals.

The transfer robot TF is provided with one transfer arm, and the transfer arm can be moved up and down in the height direction, rotated, and moved back and forth in the horizontal direction. . Further, by the transfer robot TF itself moving along the arrangement direction of the carriers C, the transfer arm can be horizontally moved along the arrangement direction of the carriers C. That is, the transfer robot TF can move the transfer arm three-dimensionally.

By such an operation of the transfer robot TF, the indexer ID takes out the unprocessed substrate W from the carrier C capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates W and transfers it to the unit arranging section MP, and also from the unit arranging section MP. The processed substrate W can be received and stored in the carrier C.

In the unit arranging portion MP, a plurality of processing units for performing a predetermined processing on the substrate W are arranged in a two-row configuration. That is, two coating processing units SC are arranged in the front row of the unit arrangement portion MP in FIG. 1. The coating processing unit SC is a so-called spin coater that uniformly coats the resist by dropping the photoresist onto the main surface of the substrate W while rotating the substrate W.

Further, two development processing units SD are arranged at the same height position as the coating processing unit SC, which is the row on the back side of the unit arrangement portion MP in FIG.
The development processing unit SD is a so-called spin developer that performs development processing by supplying a developing solution onto the exposed substrate W. The coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD are arranged opposite to each other with the transport path 14 in between.

Above each of the two coating processing units SC and the two developing processing units SD, a heat treatment unit group 13 is arranged with a fan filter unit (not shown) interposed therebetween (for convenience of illustration, in FIG. 2). (The heat treatment unit group 13 and the substrate processing unit 11 to be described later are omitted). In the heat treatment unit group 13, a so-called hot plate that heats the substrate W to raise it to a predetermined temperature and the substrate W is cooled and lowered to a predetermined temperature, and the substrate W is kept at the predetermined temperature. The so-called cool plate is incorporated. The hot plate includes an adhesion enhancing unit that performs an adhesion enhancing process on the substrate W before the resist coating process and a post-exposure bake unit that performs a baking process on the substrate after the exposure.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, at one corner of the heat treatment unit group 13, a substrate processing unit 11 for detecting the edge portion of the substrate W to perform edge exposure and film thickness measurement is arranged. Although details of the substrate processing unit 11 will be described later, a device group for detecting the edge of the substrate W, a peripheral exposure function of exposing the peripheral region of the substrate W coated with a resist, and a substrate W It has a film thickness measuring function for measuring the film thickness of the resist film which is the applied coating film. The arrangement position of the substrate processing unit 11 is not limited to the position shown in FIG.

A transfer robot TR is provided on the transfer path 14 sandwiched between the coating processing unit SC and the development processing unit SD.
Are arranged. The transport robot TR includes two transport arms, and can raise and lower the transport arm in the vertical direction, rotate in the horizontal plane, and move back and forth in the horizontal plane. As a result, the transfer robot TR transfers the substrate W to and from the transfer robot TF having the indexer ID, while performing a predetermined processing procedure on the substrate W between the processing units arranged in the unit arrangement section MP. It can be circulated and transported. The transport robot TR also plays a role of transporting the substrate W after the resist coating to the substrate processing unit 11 and receiving the substrate W after the exposure or film thickness measurement from the substrate processing unit 11 and transporting the substrate W to a predetermined position. There is.

FIG. 3 shows a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a control system thereof. Under the control of the controller 10, the substrate processing apparatus 1 executes inspection processing such as coating, development and film thickness measurement. Further, the controller 10 performs various arithmetic processing for detecting the edge of the substrate W.

The controller 10 is provided with a CPU which is a main body of the controller 10 and which performs arithmetic processing, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and the like, and control software is stored in the ROM or the hardware.

On the side surface of the substrate processing apparatus 1, an operating section 16 for operating an operator and a monitor 17 for displaying operation guidance and menus are provided. The controller 10 controls the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to a processing procedure based on recipe data recorded on a hard disk or the like.

<2. Configuration of Substrate Treatment Unit> FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit 11 when viewed from above, and FIG. 5 schematically shows the configuration when the substrate processing unit 11 is viewed from the side. It is a figure. As shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.
A spin chuck 21 that is a holding unit that holds the spin chuck, and a rotation driving unit 22 that is a rotation driving unit of the spin chuck 21.
An exposure device 23 that is an exposure device, a film thickness measurement device 24 that is a film thickness measurement device, and an XY drive mechanism 2 that is a drive device.
5 and a line sensor 26 which is an edge detecting means.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spin chuck 21
Is provided on the upper end of the rotary shaft 21c, and
c is driven by the rotation drive unit 22,
It is rotatable about a rotation axis R in a substantially vertical direction. Accordingly, the substrate W is rotationally driven about the rotation center axis R by driving the rotation drive unit 22 in a state where the substrate W is adsorbed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. The suction of the substrate W is performed by using a vacuum suction force provided by a suction pump (not shown) via the air passages 21a and 21b. The transfer robot TR carries in the substrate W onto the spin chuck 21 and discharges the substrate W from the spin chuck 21.

The exposure device 23 includes a first light source unit (not shown), an exposure head portion 23a, and an illuminance sensor 23b. As the first light source unit, for example, a mercury lamp unit is used. The exposure head unit 23a is
Exposure light provided from the first light source unit is selectively applied to the surface of the substrate W of the spin chuck 21 via a lens (not shown) incorporated therein to expose the edge area of the substrate W coated with the resist. To do. The illuminance sensor 23b is
It is used to measure the amount of light applied to the substrate W from the exposure head unit 23a.

In this embodiment, the first light source unit is fixedly provided in the substrate processing unit 11, and the exposure head section 23a is XY movable by an XY drive mechanism 25 described later. . Therefore, the light for exposure given by the first light source unit is given from the first light source unit to the exposure head portion 23a via the first optical fiber (not shown). Also, the illuminance sensor 2
3b is also fixedly provided in the substrate processing unit 11.

As described above, in the substrate processing unit 11, the edge area of the substrate W is exposed. In the present embodiment, the edge region is exposed, and the development process is performed in a later step, so that the edge region is in a bare state. Thereby, in other processing steps, particles are prevented from being generated from the edge portion.

The film thickness measuring device 24 includes a second light source unit (not shown), an optical head portion 24a, and a measurement processing portion (not shown). As the second light source unit,
For example, a halogen lamp unit is used. The optical head portion 24a selectively irradiates the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 with the light for measuring the film thickness, which is given from the second light source unit, and also the substrate W of the light for measuring the film thickness. Receives the reflected light from. The measurement processing unit uses the substrate W based on the reflected light received by the optical head unit 24a.
The film thickness of the resist film provided on the surface is measured.

In the present embodiment, the second light source unit and the measurement processing unit are fixedly provided in the substrate processing unit 11, and the optical head unit 24a has an X head which will be described later.
The Y drive mechanism 25 is provided so as to be movable in XY.
Therefore, the light for measuring the film thickness, which is provided by the second light source unit, is provided from the second light source unit to the optical head portion 24a via the second optical fiber (not shown),
The reflected light received by the optical head section 24a is given from the optical head section 24a to the measurement processing section via a third optical fiber (not shown). Alternatively, as a modified example, the measurement processing unit may be provided integrally with the optical head unit 24a so that the measurement processing unit can be moved XY by the XY drive mechanism 25. In this case, the third optical fiber can be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the film thickness measuring device 24 configured as described above measures the film thickness of the edge region of the substrate W as an example of the measuring region. In the edge region of the substrate W, there is a region where no pattern is formed. Therefore, the film thickness is measured at the edge portion where this pattern is not formed.

The XY drive mechanism 25 includes an X screw shaft 25a,
An X rotation drive unit 25b that rotationally drives the X screw shaft 25a,
The Y screw shaft 25c, the Y rotation drive unit 25d that rotationally drives the Y screw shaft 25c, and the first and second movable bases 25e, 2
5f and.

The X screw shaft 25a and the Y screw shaft 25b are provided in a direction parallel to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and along X and Y directions orthogonal to each other. The first movable base 25e is screwed onto the X screw shaft 25a, and is moved back and forth in the X direction as the X screw shaft 25a is rotated in the normal direction. The second movable base 25f is screwed onto the Y screw shaft 25c, and is moved back and forth in the Y direction as the X screw shaft 25c is rotated forward and backward.

Further, the X screw shaft 25a and the X rotation drive unit 25
b and the first movable table 25e, the second movable table 25e is Y
The second movable base 25e is moved along with the movement in the direction.
Is moved in the Y direction together with. Therefore, the X rotation drive unit 2
By driving the X screw shaft 25a and the Y screw shaft 25c in the forward and reverse directions by the 5b and Y rotation drive unit 25d, the first movable table 25e is two-dimensionally moved in the XY plane parallel to the substrate W.

The first movable table 25e holds the exposure head portion 23a of the exposure device 23 and the optical head portion 24a of the film thickness measuring device 24. Therefore, the XY drive mechanism 2
5, the exposure head unit 23a and the optical head unit 24
By driving a two-dimensionally, the irradiation position of the exposure light and the film thickness measurement position on the substrate W can be two-dimensionally moved.

The line sensor 26 is the spin chuck 21.
The peripheral portion of the substrate W held by is sandwiched from above and below, and the position of the peripheral portion of the sandwiched substrate W is detected. More specifically, the line sensor 26
Includes a plurality of optical sensors (not shown) arranged in a line along the direction of the arrow L (FIG. 4). The direction of the arrow L is a direction passing through the rotation center axis R on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation center axis R, that is, a radial direction with respect to the rotation center axis R. The distance from the rotation center axis R of the peripheral edge of the substrate W is detected by detecting how many of the plurality of light sensors from the rotation center axis R side detect the substrate W. To be done.

Therefore, while the line sensor 26 detects the peripheral portion of the substrate W, the rotation drive unit 22 rotates the substrate W to rotate the rotation axis of the spin chuck 21 and the substrate W.
It is possible to detect the positional relationship with the center of the substrate W, for example, the eccentric position of the center of the substrate W with respect to the rotation center axis R, and further to detect the position of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 based on the positional relationship. You can

<3. Detection of substrate center and unique peripheral edge>
Next, a process of calculating the center position and the like of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 based on the detection information of the line sensor 26 described above will be described. FIG. 6 is a functional block of the controller 10, and particularly shows a function relating to the center position calculation processing of the substrate W. In the figure, the distance acquisition means 101, the calculation means 102, the area specifying means 103, and the exposure area specifying means 104 are the controller 1
This is a function realized by utilizing various hardware resources by executing the control software of 0.

As described above, the line sensor 26 detects the distance from the center of rotation R of the peripheral edge of the substrate W (this distance is hereinafter referred to as the edge distance). Then, the distance acquisition unit 101 moves the substrate W to 1 by the spin chuck 21.
While rotating, the edge distance is acquired from the line sensor 26 at a predetermined interval. That is, the edge distance is acquired a plurality of times during one rotation of the substrate W.

If the substrate center of the substrate W held on the spin chuck 21 is at the exact same position as the rotation center axis R of the spin chuck 21, the distance acquisition means 101.
The edge distance that is acquired a plurality of times is constant except for the singular peripheral portion (the singular peripheral portion will be described later). But,
As described above, since the holding position of the substrate W with respect to the spin chuck 21 may be slightly deviated, in this case, the edge distances obtained a plurality of times are varied.

Therefore, the distance acquisition means 101 sends the edge distance data acquired a plurality of times to the calculation means 102. The calculation means 102 calculates the eccentric distance of the substrate W arranged eccentrically from the plurality of edge distance data. The calculation method is not particularly limited, but for example, the substrate W at the maximum value or the minimum value of the edge distance is
It is calculated by the difference from the radius of. Alternatively, the difference calculated from the maximum value and the minimum value may be averaged.

Further, the calculation means 102 includes a rotation drive unit 22.
To the rotation angle of the spin chuck 21 (this rotation angle is
For example, a specific point on the spin chuck 21 is determined as a relative rotation angle with respect to a reference point in the device. ) Can be entered. Therefore, the calculation means 1
Since 02 can input the rotation angle of the substrate W at each detection time while detecting the edge distance by the line sensor 26, the data is obtained after the relation between the rotation position of the substrate W and the edge distance is provided. It is possible to get it. As a result, the calculation unit 102 uses the calculated eccentric distance and the acquired rotation angle data to determine the spin chuck 2
It is possible to grasp the center position of the substrate W held at 1.

Further, the calculating means 102 can detect the crystallographic direction of the substrate W by detecting the unique peripheral portion. FIG. 7 shows the orientation flat 3 as a unique peripheral portion.
1 is a plan view of the substrate W in which 1 is formed, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the substrate W in which the notch 32 is formed as a unique peripheral portion.

The orientation flat 31 and the notch 32 are formed on the substrate.
Since each of the processing units of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is formed so as to have a specific relationship with the crystal direction of W, each processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs processing in consideration of the crystal direction of the substrate W by detecting these peculiar peripheral portions. Can be done.

Since the substrate W has a peculiar peripheral portion, the edge distance at the peculiar peripheral portion is included in the plurality of edge distances acquired by the distance acquiring means 101. That is, although the edge distance data is a value close to the radius of the substrate W in portions other than the peculiar peripheral portion, although a slight variation occurs due to the deviation of the center position,
In that, a portion having a large difference in value is detected as a unique peripheral portion. Therefore, the calculation unit 102 obtains the rotation angle at which this unique peripheral portion is detected,
The orientation flat forming position or the notch forming position of the substrate W can be detected. The orientation flat position and the notch position will be detected during continuous time, but it is possible to grasp the central position of the orientation flat or notch by, for example, taking the center time of those times. Further, when the orientation flat or notch has a shape as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, it is possible to grasp the position where the edge distance is the largest as the center position of the orientation flat or notch.

When the orientation flat position and the notch position are detected in this way, these peculiar peripheral portions are formed in a specific relationship with the substrate crystal direction, as described above, and therefore the calculating means 102 uses this. It is possible to calculate the crystal orientation of the substrate with reference to the detection position.

When the calculating means 102 calculates the center position and the unique peripheral edge position of the substrate W, the area specifying means 103 specifies the film thickness measurement area based on this information. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the film thickness at the edge portion is measured, the film thickness measurement region is a region near the peripheral portion of the substrate W. Specifically, it is a region having a width extending from the peripheral edge of the substrate W toward the center of the substrate by a predetermined distance. This predetermined distance may be, for example, a distance such that the film thickness measurement region is selected as a region that does not overlap the pattern formed on the substrate W. Alternatively, in order to perform more reliable measurement, a region excluding the vicinity of the substrate edge and the vicinity of the boundary with the pattern formation region may be selected.
Further, the region specifying means 103 selects the region suitable for the film thickness measurement, also taking the crystallographic direction of the substrate into consideration.

When the area specifying means 103 specifies the film thickness measuring area, this specifying information is used as the film thickness measuring device 23 and
It is sent to the XY drive mechanism 25. As a result, the XY drive mechanism unit 25 moves the film thickness measuring device 23 to the target position, and the film thickness measuring device 23 measures the film thickness at the edge portion of the substrate W which is the film thickness measuring region.

When the calculating means 102 calculates the center position and the unique peripheral edge position of the substrate W, the exposure area specifying means 103 specifies the exposure area based on this information.
As described above, in the present embodiment, since the edge area is exposed, the exposure area is an area in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Specifically, it is a region having a width toward the center of the substrate by a predetermined distance from the peripheral portion of the substrate W. Like the film thickness measurement region, the predetermined distance is a pattern in which the exposure region is formed on the substrate. Are selected so that they do not overlap the area of. Further, in order to perform more reliable measurement, a region excluding the vicinity of the substrate edge and the vicinity of the boundary with the pattern formation region may be selected.

When the exposure position specifying means 104 specifies the exposure area, this specification information is used as the exposure device 24 and XY.
It is sent to the drive mechanism 25. As a result, the XY drive mechanism unit 25 moves the exposure device 24 to the target position, and the exposure device 24 performs the exposure processing on the edge portion of the substrate W which is the exposure region.

<4. Processing Flow> Next, the operation of the substrate processing unit 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The substrate W is transported into the substrate processing unit 11 by the transport robot TR, and the substrate W is suction-held by the spin chuck 21 (step S1).

Next, the spin chuck 21 rotates once in response to an instruction from the controller 10. As a result, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 also makes one rotation, and the line sensor 26 detects a plurality of edge distances (step S2). The edge distance data detected by the line sensor 26 a plurality of times is sent to the calculation means 102.

Next, the calculating means 102 calculates the center position of the substrate W and the position of the peculiar peripheral portion by performing the above-mentioned processing from the plurality of edge distance data. That is, the eccentric position of the substrate W and the crystal orientation are calculated (step S
3).

In step S3, if the position of the peculiar peripheral portion, that is, the orientation flat position or the notch position is not detected (NO in the determination in step S4), the process shifts to step S8 to issue an alarm, Stop the measurement.

If the position of the unique peripheral portion is detected in step S3 (YES in the determination in step S4), it is further determined whether the substrate center and the crystal orientation have been calculated (step S5).

When the substrate center and the crystal orientation have not been calculated (NO in step S5), the process proceeds to step S8, an alarm is issued, and the measurement is stopped.

When the substrate center and the crystal direction are calculated (YES in step S5), the calculating means 103 sends the information regarding the calculated substrate center and the crystal direction to the area specifying means 103, and the area specifying means 103. The film thickness measurement region is specified by. Then, the information about the film thickness measurement region is sent to the XY drive unit 25 and the film thickness measurement device 24, and the film thickness of the edge region is measured (step S).
6).

The process of step S6 is repeated until the film thickness measurement is completed at a predetermined point in the film thickness measurement region, and the measurement is completed at all points (step S
If YES, the process ends.

Through the above processing, the film thickness measurement processing is performed on the substrate W, but the data used for detecting this edge region is not used only for the film thickness measurement processing, As described above, it is also used to specify the exposure area when performing the edge exposure processing.

Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the exposure apparatus 23 for performing the edge exposure and the film thickness measuring apparatus 24 for measuring the film thickness are housed in the same unit so that the apparatus can be made compact. Instead, since the same device is used as a device for detecting the edge portion of the substrate W, it is possible to further downsize the device.

Moreover, it is possible to shorten the processing steps by performing the edge exposure and the film thickness measurement by utilizing the information of the substrate center and the peculiar peripheral portion obtained by the common measurement processing and calculation processing. is there.

In the present embodiment, the exposure device 23 and the film thickness measuring device 24 are the same XY drive mechanism 25.
Since it is controlled by this, the device can be made compact and the cost can be reduced also from this point.

When the film thickness is measured by the above processing,
The controller 10 determines whether or not the measured value is within a preset required level, for example, a specified value range.
Then, when it is determined that the film thickness of the resist film is not within the preset required range, the processing conditions for forming the resist film on the substrate W are changed.

Controller 10 for changing processing conditions
As the control mode of, the automatic change mode and the manual change mode are provided. The automatic change mode is a mode in which the controller 10 automatically changes the processing condition based on the measured value of the resist film by the substrate processing unit 11.

On the other hand, in the manual change mode, the controller 10 outputs the film thickness value of the resist film measured by the substrate processing unit 11 via the monitor 17 or the like, and the user judges based on the output film thickness value. In this mode, the change content of the processing condition is determined and the change content is input to the apparatus 1. The change contents are input through the operation unit 16 or the like, and when the change contents are input, the controller 1
0 reflects the changed content in the processing condition. Mode switching between the automatic change mode and the manual change mode is performed via the operation unit 16.

As described above, the controller 10 determines whether or not the processing condition needs to be changed and the change content when the change is necessary, based on the measurement result of the film thickness value of the resist film. Then, when the processing conditions need to be changed, a resist film is formed according to the changed processing conditions, the film thickness of the resist film is measured, and a cycle of reexamining the necessity of changing the processing conditions is used. Repeat until the film thickness value meets a predetermined required level.

As the processing condition changed based on the measurement result of the film thickness of the resist film, the spin rotation speed at the time of spin-coating the resist on the substrate W is assumed, but this is merely an example, and the change The processing conditions to be performed may include other conditions such as a pre-baking temperature described later.
Further, in the above embodiment, the film thickness of the substrate W is measured in the edge region of the substrate W, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the substrate center and the crystal orientation are used as a reference. As an alternative, a region in the substrate W where a circuit pattern in which an alignment mark or the like is formed is not formed may be specified as a film thickness measurement region by the region specifying means, and the film thickness of the region may be measured.

[0073]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the peripheral portion of the substrate is detected and the film thickness of the substrate is measured, the measurement area can be easily detected and specified. This can simplify the film thickness measurement process.

According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to perform the film thickness measuring process with high accuracy in the region where the pattern is not formed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the center position of the substrate is measured by measuring the distance between the peripheral portion of the substrate and the rotation holding means of the substrate using the line sensor, processing such as image analysis is performed. It is possible to detect the peripheral portion of the substrate without the need. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for a camera and expensive hardware for performing image analysis.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the peculiar peripheral edge portion formed on the peripheral edge portion of the substrate is detected, the crystal orientation of the substrate can be detected.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the edge exposure and the film thickness are measured based on the detected information about the peripheral portion of the substrate, so that the apparatus can be made compact and the cost can be reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the film thickness measuring device and the exposure device are controlled by the same drive mechanism.
It is possible to further downsize the device and reduce the cost.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting the peripheral portion of the substrate by using a line sensor to measure the film thickness of the substrate, and detecting the peripheral portion of the substrate without performing image analysis processing. This enables highly accurate film thickness measurement processing in a region where no pattern is formed.

According to the invention described in claim 8, since the peculiar peripheral edge portion formed on the peripheral edge portion of the substrate is detected, the crystallographic direction of the substrate can be detected.

According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the edge exposure and the film thickness are measured based on the detected information about the peripheral portion of the substrate, so that the apparatus can be made compact and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall outline of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of the substrate processing apparatus and its control system in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of the substrate processing unit when viewed from above.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit when viewed from the side.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a controller.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an orientation flat provided on a substrate W.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a notch provided in a substrate W.

9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure using the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Substrate processing equipment 10 controller 11 Substrate processing unit 21 Spin chuck 22 Rotational drive 23 Peripheral exposure device 23a exposure head section 23b Illuminance sensor 24 Film thickness measuring device 25 Optical head 26 line sensor W board

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // G01B 11/06 H01L 21/30 577 562 (72) Inventor Kenji Kamei Horikawa Toujino, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto Uchiru 4-chome Tenjin Kitamachi No. 1 No. 1 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In-house F-term (reference) 2F065 AA12 AA17 AA22 AA30 BB03 BB16 BB17 CC19 FF44 GG03 JJ02 JJ25 MM03 MM04 SS09 2F069 AA46 BB15 CC06 GG04 JJ01 507 07 CA05 JA03 JA05 JA15 JA29 JA34 JA35 JA36 MA26 MA27 PA30 5F046 JA21 JA22

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A) holding means for holding a substrate, b) detecting means for detecting a peripheral portion of the substrate held by the holding means, and c) specifying a measurement region based on a detection result of the detecting means. And a film thickness measuring device for measuring the film thickness of the substrate in the measuring region while the substrate is held by the holding device. . 2. The film thickness measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the area specifying unit specifies the measuring area such that c-1) the measuring area is included in an area where the pattern of the substrate is not formed. A film thickness measuring device comprising: 3. The film thickness measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the holding means includes a-1) means for rotating and holding the substrate, and the detecting means is b-1) Means for arranging the line sensor along a substantially radial direction with respect to the rotation center of the holding means, and b-2) while rotating the substrate by the holding means, from the rotation center of the holding means using the line sensor. A distance acquisition unit that acquires distance information to the peripheral portion of the substrate a plurality of times, and b-3) a substrate center position of the substrate in a state of being held by the holding unit from the plurality of distance information acquired by the distance acquisition unit. A film thickness measuring device, comprising: 4. The film thickness measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the peripheral edge portion of the substrate is a unique peripheral edge portion in which a part of the peripheral edge portion is deformed in order to indicate a crystallographic direction of the substrate. Part is formed, the detection means comprises b-4) means for acquiring the rotational position of the holding means, the calculation means b-3-1) a plurality of acquired by the distance acquisition means Distance information in the peculiar peripheral portion included in the distance information, and the peculiar peripheral portion of the substrate in the state held by the holding means from the rotational position of the holding means when the distance information in the peculiar peripheral portion is acquired. A film thickness measuring device comprising: means for calculating a position. 5. A processing unit in which the film thickness measuring apparatus according to claim 1 is mounted, the processing unit including an exposing unit that exposes a peripheral portion of the substrate. The exposure means is means for specifying an exposure area based on the substrate center position and the unique peripheral edge position calculated by the calculation means,
A substrate processing unit comprising: 6. The substrate processing unit according to claim 5, wherein the film thickness measurement unit and the exposure unit are controlled by the same drive mechanism, so that the film thickness measurement and the exposure region are measured in the measurement region and the exposure region, respectively. A substrate processing unit, which performs an exposure process. 7. A method of measuring a film thickness of a substrate, comprising: a) a step of holding the substrate by a holding means; and b) arranging a line sensor along a substantially radial direction with respect to a rotation center of the holding means. And c) a distance information acquisition step of rotating the substrate once by the holding means and acquiring distance information from the rotation center of the holding means to the peripheral portion of the substrate a plurality of times by using the line sensor. , D) a calculating step of calculating the substrate center position of the substrate in the state held by the holding means from a plurality of distance information acquired in the distance information acquiring step, and e) a substrate center position calculated in the calculating step. And a step of measuring a film thickness of the substrate in the measurement region in a state where the substrate is held by the holding means. Thickness measurement method. 8. The film thickness measuring method according to claim 7, wherein the peripheral edge portion of the substrate is a unique peripheral edge portion in which a part of the peripheral edge portion is deformed in order to indicate the crystal direction of the substrate. Part is formed, the calculating step, d-1) the distance information in the specific peripheral edge portion included in the plurality of distance information acquired in the distance information acquisition step, and the distance information in the specific peripheral edge portion are acquired. And a step of calculating the position of the peculiar peripheral edge portion of the substrate held by the holding means from the rotational position of the holding means at that time. 9. A substrate processing method using the film thickness measuring method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: g) an exposure region of the substrate based on the substrate center position calculated in the calculating step. And a step of: h) exposing the exposure region while the substrate is held by the holding means.