JP2007180180A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more efficiently process a substrate by effectively utilizing a plurality of exposure apparatuses. <P>SOLUTION: A substrate processing system comprises a substrate processing apparatus 1 having a composite processor including an indexer 2 or the like, and two exposure apparatuses 101, 102. The substrate processing apparatus 1 comprises an interface 60 for delivering the substrate for the exposure apparatuses 101, 102, an input device 114 or the like capable of designating with which exposure apparatus exposure processing is done, and a control unit 110 for controlling the interface 60 and the indexer 2 according to designated contents. The control unit 110, when a preceding lot designates only a specific exposure apparatus 101(or 102) and designation of a successive lot includes exposure apparatuses 102(or 101) other than at least the above specified exposure apparatus, controls the system to start conveying-in of substrates of the successive lot before the conveying-in of all substrates of the preceding lot is completed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs certain processing (for example, resist coating processing, development processing, etc.) on a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (LCD) or a plasma display device (PDP), a semiconductor substrate, and a printed circuit board. Is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a substrate processing system that sequentially performs processing such as resist coating processing, exposure processing, and development processing on an LCD or PDP glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate). In this type of substrate processing system, since the time required for the exposure process is generally longer than the other process times, there is a problem that the throughput of the entire system is limited by the exposure process.

Therefore, in recent years, a plurality of exposure apparatuses are provided, and processing is performed while the substrates are distributed to these exposure apparatuses, so that the processing time of the exposure apparatus and a processing apparatus other than the exposure apparatus included in the substrate processing system (substrate) A system that improves the throughput of the entire system by absorbing the difference in processing time with respect to the processing apparatus has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-16978

  In a substrate processing system such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, the same exposure mask is set in each exposure apparatus, and processing is performed while indiscriminately assigning the substrate to each exposure apparatus. In some cases, different exposure masks are set in the respective apparatuses, and the process proceeds.

  Specifically, among the lots to be processed continuously, the exposure mask corresponding to the preceding lot is set on one exposure apparatus, the exposure mask corresponding to the subsequent lot is set on the other exposure apparatus, While supplying (dispensing) the substrate of the previous lot, the processing proceeds using the exposure device on one side. When the supply of the substrate of the corresponding lot is finished, processing is performed using the exposure device on the other side while supplying the substrate of the subsequent lot. The process proceeds in order for each lot.

  Therefore, in this case, the exposure apparatus for processing the subsequent lot is completely idle until the processing of the previous lot is completed, and the merit of having two exposure apparatuses cannot be enjoyed at all. Therefore, it is required to improve this point.

  Even if the same exposure mask is set in each exposure apparatus, each exposure apparatus can be used in accordance with the accuracy of the exposure mask, or by setting different processing times. In the case of using different ones, one exposure apparatus will be completely idle until the processing of the preceding lot is completed in the same manner as described above, which causes the same problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to process a substrate more efficiently by more effectively using a plurality of exposure apparatuses.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes a composite processing unit including an indexer unit that carries in and out a substrate and a plurality of processing units that perform predetermined processing on the substrate while transporting the substrate. A substrate processing apparatus that is used in a state of being connected to a plurality of exposure apparatuses that perform exposure processing on the substrate, the interface unit for taking the substrate in and out of the plurality of exposure apparatuses; Designating means capable of designating exposure processing by each exposure apparatus in units of lots, and causing the interface unit to put in and out the substrate according to the contents designated by the designating means, and let the indexer unit Control means for carrying the substrate into the composite processing section, and this control means is provided by the designation means for two consecutive lots. Compare the specified contents, and if the designation of the preceding lot designates only a specific exposure apparatus, and the designation of the subsequent lot includes an exposure apparatus other than the specific exposure apparatus, the preceding lot to the combined processing unit Before the loading of all the substrates of the lot is completed, the indexer unit is driven and controlled to start loading of the substrate of the subsequent lot (claim 1).

  In addition, the composite processing unit including a plurality of processing units that perform predetermined processing on the substrate while transporting the substrate, and an indexer device that carries the substrate into and out of the composite processing unit and the substrate are subjected to exposure processing. A substrate processing apparatus used in a state of being connected to a plurality of exposure apparatuses for performing an exposure process, an interface unit for taking a substrate into and out of the plurality of exposure apparatuses, and an exposure process for any of the exposure apparatuses for the substrate A designation unit that can specify in units of lots, and the interface unit causes the exposure apparatus to put in and out the substrate in accordance with the contents designated by the designation unit, and the indexer unit to the composite processing unit And a control means for outputting a substrate carry-in command signal. The control means is adapted to specify the designation content by the designation means for two consecutive lots. In contrast, when the designation of the preceding lot designates only a specific exposure apparatus, and the designation of the subsequent lot includes exposure apparatuses other than the specific exposure apparatus, all of the preceding lots to the composite processing unit are Before the substrate loading is completed, the loading command signal is output so as to start the substrate loading of the subsequent lot.

  According to these substrate processing apparatuses, after the substrate is sequentially carried into the composite processing unit by the indexer device, and necessary processing is performed in the composite processing unit, the interface unit performs the processing on the exposure apparatus according to the content specified by the specifying means. The substrate is taken in and out. In such a series of operations, when the specified contents of the exposure apparatus in two consecutive lots satisfy a certain condition, the substrate loading of the subsequent lot is started before the loading of all the substrates of the preceding lot is completed. . Thereby, the substrate of the preceding lot and the substrate of the subsequent lot are alternately carried into the combined processing unit, for example, and the processing is advanced in the combined processing unit in a state where the substrates of both lots are mixed. Then, according to the content specified by the specifying means, the substrate is taken in and out with respect to the specific exposure apparatus for the preceding lot, and with respect to the exposure apparatus other than the specific exposure apparatus for the subsequent lot, A plurality of exposure apparatuses are effectively used.

  In this substrate processing apparatus, for an apparatus connected to a plurality of the exposure apparatuses that perform the exposure process of the same pattern, the designation means performs a first designation with at least one specific exposure apparatus as the designated content And the second designation for processing in all exposure apparatuses can be designated, and when the designation of the preceding lot is the first designation and the designation of the subsequent lot is the second designation, Until the exposure processing of all the substrates in the preceding lot is completed, the interface unit allows the substrate of the subsequent lot to be taken in and out of the exposure apparatus other than the specific exposure device, while the exposure processing of all the substrates in the preceding lot is completed, It is preferable that the substrate of the subsequent lot is distributed to and removed from the entire exposure apparatus by the interface unit (claim 3).

  That is, even when performing exposure processing of the same pattern, there are cases where the exposure apparatus is desired to be specified depending on the accuracy difference of the exposure mask and when it is not. In this case, according to the configuration as described above, the exposure processing of the substrate of the preceding lot is performed using the specific exposure apparatus, while the exposure processing of the subsequent lot is advanced using the remaining exposure apparatus. After the exposure process is completed, the exposure process of the subsequent lot is advanced using all the exposure apparatuses. For this reason, the processing efficiency when performing exposure processing of the same pattern in successive lots is remarkably improved.

  In the substrate processing apparatus as described above, the substrate production order may be changed in the interface unit in order to distribute the substrates to a plurality of exposure apparatuses. In particular, in this apparatus, since the processing is performed in a state where substrates in a continuous lot are mixed in the apparatus, the possibility increases, and it may be considered that the subsequent transportation of the substrate in units of lots may be hindered.

  Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus as described above, the data transfer means for transferring the production data including the information about the processing contents respectively assigned to each substrate between the processing units as the substrate is transported, and the substrate included in one lot Of these, the lot end information writing means for writing the lot end information to the production data of the lot end substrate that is finally transferred to the composite processing unit, and the lot end substrate when the production order of the lot end substrate is changed, It is preferable to further comprise lot end information rewriting means for rewriting the lot end information for the production data of the substrate. Specifically, it is preferable that lot-end information rewriting means is provided in the interface section (claim 5).

  According to this configuration, even when the production order is changed, the lot end substrate can be reliably identified.

  In the description of the claims, “lot” means a single unit of substrates to be processed, and for example, when a plurality of substrates are stored in a cassette and handled, This also includes the case where the cassette is one lot.

  According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the exposure processing is performed on the substrate of the preceding lot using a specific exposure apparatus among a plurality of exposure apparatuses under a certain condition, while the remaining exposure apparatus is used. Thus, it is possible to perform the exposure processing of the substrates of the subsequent lots, and therefore it is possible to efficiently proceed the substrate processing of the continuous lots while effectively using a plurality of exposure apparatuses. Therefore, the efficiency of a series of substrate processing including exposure processing can be significantly improved as compared with the conventional apparatus of this type that always starts processing of the substrate of the subsequent lot after all processing of the preceding lot is completed.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a substrate processing system A including a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The substrate processing system A is responsible for a part of a photolithography process in processing of a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (LCD), for example. The substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention and a pair of exposures connected thereto. The apparatuses 101 and 102 (referred to as the first exposure apparatus 101 and the second exposure apparatus 102 as necessary) are configured to continuously perform processes from cleaning before resist coating to resist coating / exposure / development. It is configured.

  As shown in the figure, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an indexer unit 2, which is a substrate supply unit, a cleaning unit 10, a dehydration bake unit 20, a resist coating unit 30, a prebake unit 40, an interface unit 60, a development unit 80, and a post bake. It has a composite processing unit consisting of each processing unit such as the unit 90, and after performing processing while transporting the substrate supplied from the indexer unit 2 in accordance with a predetermined transport order, it is washed back to the indexer unit 2 again. Each processing unit such as the unit 10 is arranged in a U shape with respect to the indexer unit 2. Specifically, the cleaning unit 10, the dewatering bake unit 20, the resist coating unit 30, and the prebake unit 40 are arranged in a row with respect to the indexer unit 2, and the developing unit 80 and the post bake unit 90 are prebaked so as to be arranged in this row. They are arranged in a line between the unit 40 and the indexer unit 2. As a result, the units are arranged in a U shape with respect to the indexer unit 2, and the interface unit 60 is arranged outside the pre-bake unit 40 (on the right side in FIG. 1).

  The indexer unit 2 carries in (supplies) and carries out (discharges) the substrate. The indexer unit 2 is provided with a cassette mounting unit 2a for mounting a cassette 4 containing a substrate and a substrate transfer device 3, and the substrate transfer device 3 starts from the cassette 4 set on the cassette mounting unit 2a. The substrate is taken out and transferred to the cleaning unit 10, and the processed substrate is received from the post bake unit 90 and returned to the original cassette 4.

  The cleaning unit 10 includes a carry-in unit 11, a UV ozone cleaning unit 12, a water washing unit 13, a droplet removing unit 14, and a carry-out unit 15, and performs a cleaning process while transporting the substrate supplied from the indexer unit 2 in a horizontal posture, for example. It is comprised so that it may give.

The dehydration bake unit 20 includes a carry-in unit 21, a heating unit 22, an adhesion strengthening processing unit 23, and a cooling unit 24. First, the substrate that has been subjected to the cleaning process is subjected to a heating process in the heating unit 22 to obtain moisture. In order to improve the adhesion of the resist solution, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) is applied in the adhesion strengthening processing unit 23. Finally, the cooling unit 24 is configured to cool the substrate.

  The resist coating unit 30 has a carry-in part 31, a spin coater part 32, a vacuum drying part 33, an edge rinse part 34, and a carry-out part 35. First, a uniform resist film is formed on the surface of the substrate in the spin coater part 32. Then, after this is baked under reduced pressure by the reduced pressure drying unit 33, an unnecessary resist film on the peripheral edge of the substrate is removed at the edge rinse unit 34.

  The pre-bake unit 40 includes two processing units 41 each including a heating unit and a cooling unit in multiple stages. A robot 42 interposed between the processing units 41 allows the substrate to be disposed on the processing unit 41. In this way, the substrate is heated and cooled.

  The interface unit 60 transfers the substrate between the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 and the pre-bake unit 40 while taking the substrate in and out of the first exposure apparatus 101 and the second exposure apparatus 102. The interface unit 60 will be described later together with the configurations of the first exposure apparatus 101 and the second exposure apparatus 102.

  The developing unit 80 includes a carry-in unit 81, a developing unit 82, a washing / drying unit 83, and a carry-out unit 84. In the developing unit 82, for example, a developing process is performed while spraying a developer onto the substrate. It is configured.

  The post-bake unit 90 includes a carry-in unit 91, a heating unit 92, a cooling unit 93, and a carry-out unit 94. First, the developer that has been subjected to the heat treatment on the substrate after the development treatment and remains on the substrate. The cleaning liquid is removed by evaporation, and then a cooling process is performed.

  In FIG. 1, reference numerals 7 and 8 denote substrate mounting tables, and transfer of a substrate between the resist coating unit 30 and the pre-bake unit 40 or a substrate between the pre-bake unit 40 and a buffer unit 601 described later. The substrate is temporarily placed at the time of delivery. Reference numeral 70 denotes a conveyor that conveys the substrate after the exposure processing to the developing unit 80.

  On the other hand, the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are arranged side by side (vertical direction in the figure) on the opposite side of the pre-bake unit 40 with the interface unit 60 interposed therebetween. These exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are composed of, for example, an exposure machine such as a reduction projection exposure machine, and perform an exposure process on one or both of the pre-baked substrates conveyed from the pre-bake unit 40. It has become.

  In addition, in the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 of this embodiment, a plurality of types of the same exposure masks are exchangeably mounted, and corresponding exposure masks are set based on production data to be described later.

  The interface unit 60 is disposed between the first exposure apparatus 101 and the second exposure apparatus 102 and the pre-bake unit 40. The interface unit 60 is connected to the first interface unit 60A and the second interface unit 60B. It is configured.

  The first interface unit 60A includes a buffer unit 601 that can store a large number of substrates, a substrate transfer robot 603, and a peripheral exposure device 604. The substrate transfer robot 603 performs exposure processing before and after exposure processing. The substrate is put into and out of the first exposure apparatus 101 while the substrate is accommodated in the buffer unit 601 and temporarily waiting, and the substrate is placed on the delivery stage 605 and the mounting table 8 provided in the buffer unit 601. The substrate is transferred between the pre-bake unit 40 and the second interface unit 60B.

  The second interface unit 60B is configured in substantially the same manner as the first interface unit 60A, and includes a buffer unit 611, a substrate transport robot 613, and a peripheral exposure device 614. Then, the substrate transfer robot 613 takes the substrate before and after the exposure process into the buffer unit 611 and temporarily puts the substrate in and out of the second exposure apparatus 102 while waiting for the transfer stage 605. Then, the substrate is transferred to and from the first interface unit 60A by placing the substrate.

  Next, the control system of the substrate processing system A will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the substrate processing system A configured as described above. As shown in this figure, the substrate processing system A has a host computer 300, and both the substrate processing apparatus 1 and the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are connected to the host computer 300 via a communication line 310. Yes.

  A host computer 300 includes a well-known CPU 301 that executes logical operations, a ROM 302 that stores various programs (BIOS (basic input / output system) that is a basic program) for controlling the CPU 301, and various data during system operation. A RAM 303 for temporarily storing data, an HDD 304 for storing processing programs and work data, and a communication unit 305 for communicating with the outside. A ROM 302 and the like are mutually connected to the CPU 301 via an internal bus 306. It is a connected configuration. Then, the substrate processing system A is comprehensively managed by executing processing such as various calculations in the CPU 301 in accordance with the processing program read from the HDD 304. The host computer 300 is shared by a plurality of substrate processing systems A by connecting a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses 1 and the like configured as described above to the host computer 300 as necessary. It has become so.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 110, a communication unit 111, a job reception unit 113, an input device 114, and the like.

  The control unit 110 includes an external storage device such as a CPU, ROM, RAM, and HDD, and the processing units 2 to 10-90 are connected to the control unit 110, whereby each processing unit 2 is connected. , 10 to 90 are controlled by the control unit 110 in an integrated manner.

  The job reception unit 113 receives a job indicating what processing is performed on the substrate in the composite processing unit, and includes a circuit that receives an instruction input from the input device 114 such as a keyboard. Here, the job includes the parameters of the exposure process, that is, the designation of the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 and the exposure mask. For each production lot (in this embodiment, for each cassette 4) by the operation of the input device 114 by the operator. This designation is possible.

  For example, the control unit 110 stores in advance a combination of exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 to be used and a mask to be used (exposure mask) as a recipe table as shown in FIG. 4, and when the operator inputs a recipe number, exposure is performed. A combination of exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 and masks used for processing is specified.

  Here, for example, in FIG. 4, recipe No. “001” means that only the first exposure apparatus 101 is used to perform exposure processing with the exposure mask No. “1”, and recipe No. “002” is the second. This means that only the exposure apparatus 102 is used to perform the exposure processing with the exposure mask No. “1”, and the recipe No “003” is the exposure mask No. 1 using both the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102. This means that exposure processing is performed. Therefore, in the case where the exposure process is performed with the exposure mask No. “1” using only the second exposure apparatus 102, the operator inputs the recipe No. “002”.

  The job received by the job receiving unit 113 is input to the control unit 110, and the control unit 110 controls each processing unit to proceed with the substrate processing according to the job while the system is operating. Specifically, the control unit 110 controls the indexer unit 2 so as to carry the substrate into the composite processing unit at a predetermined interval according to the job, and corresponds to each substrate every time the substrate is loaded by the indexer unit 2. The unique production data including the contents of the job is transferred to the cleaning unit 10. This data is sequentially transferred between the processing units as the substrate moves, and each processing unit is driven according to this data, so that processing corresponding to the job is performed on the substrate in each processing unit. In particular, with regard to the production data of the final substrate carried into the cleaning unit 10 from the cassette 4, that is, the lot end substrate, a lot end flag (lot end information) is written in the data and transferred to the cleaning unit 10. As a result, the indexer unit 2 detects that the processing of all the substrates in one lot has been completed, and the processed cassette 4 is carried out to a cassette carrying device (not shown) based on the detection.

  In the present embodiment, the input device 114, the job reception unit 113, and the like correspond to a designation unit according to the present invention, and the control unit 110 corresponds to a control unit and a lot end information writing unit according to the present invention. Further, a communication line or the like that connects the control unit 110 and each processing unit so as to communicate with each other corresponds to the data transfer means according to the present invention.

  When a job of a plurality of lots is further received, the control unit 110 selects either “continuous processing” or “mixed processing” based on the recipe number input for two consecutive lots. The indexer unit 2 is controlled according to the form.

  Here, “continuous processing” is a general production form in which processing is performed in order for each lot. In other words, after all the substrates of the preceding lot (referred to as the preceding lot) are loaded into the composite processing unit, the loading of the substrate of the next lot (referred to as the subsequent lot) is started.

  On the other hand, “mixed processing” is a production form in which the loading of the substrate of the subsequent lot is started before the loading of the substrate of the preceding lot to the composite processing unit is completed. This is a production mode in which the processing of both lots is performed in a time-overlapping manner by, for example, alternately carrying them into the composite processing unit.

  Specifically, the control unit 110 determines the production form according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the designation contents of the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 of each lot are read (step S1), and whether or not the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are shared in the preceding lot (for example, designation such as recipe No. “003” in FIG. 4 is performed). (Step S2). If YES is determined here, "continuous processing" is selected as the production mode (Step S3).

  On the other hand, if NO is determined in step S2, that is, if it is determined that the designation of the preceding lot is only one of the first exposure apparatus 101 or the second exposure apparatus 102, both of the subsequent lots are designated. It is determined whether or not the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are shared (step S4). If YES is determined here, "mixed processing" is selected as the production form (step S6).

  When it is determined NO in step S4, that is, when it is determined that the designation of the subsequent lot is only the designation of either the first exposure apparatus 101 or the second exposure apparatus 102, the exposure with the same designation is further performed. It is determined whether or not the device 101 (or 102) is designated (step S5), and if “YES” is determined here, “continuous processing” is selected, and if “NO” is determined, “mixed processing” is selected. .

  The above results are shown in FIG. That is, five types of patterns (a) to (e) are conceivable as designated patterns of the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 of two consecutive lots as shown in FIG. Of these patterns, both exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are designated in the preceding lot as shown in (a) and (b), or exposure apparatus 101 (or 102) common to each lot as shown in (d). ) Is designated, the exposure processing of the subsequent lot cannot be performed until the exposure processing of the preceding lot is completed. In this case, “continuous processing” is selected. On the other hand, as shown in (c), when only one exposure apparatus 101 (or 102) is specified in the preceding lot and both exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are specified in the subsequent lot, or in (e) Thus, when only different exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are designated in each lot, the exposure process of the subsequent lot is performed using the other exposure apparatus 102 (or 101) during the exposure process of the preceding lot. In this case, “mixed processing” is selected.

  When the control unit 110 determines the production mode in this way, the control unit 110 calculates the board loading pitch by the indexer unit 2 based on the contents of the job, and transfers the calculation result to the indexer unit 2. In particular, in the case of “mixed processing”, the loading order and loading pitch of the substrates of each lot are calculated so that the processing of the substrates of successive lots can be efficiently performed. As a result, the indexer unit 2 takes out the substrates from the cassettes 4 of the respective lots based on the result, and carries them into the composite processing unit. With this loading, the control unit 110 sequentially outputs the production data corresponding to each substrate to the cleaning unit 10. To be transferred to.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows a control system of the interface unit 60 in a block diagram.

  As shown in this figure, the interface unit 60 includes an interface control unit 621, a first robot controller 622, and a second robot controller 623 each having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and a LAN / I / F 625. ing.

  The interface control unit 621 is communicably connected to the control unit 110 and other processing units via a LAN / I / F 625, and is based on the production data input via the LAN / I / F 625. The overall drive of the interface unit 60 is controlled. Further, the lot end flag written in the production data is rewritten as necessary. That is, in this embodiment, this interface control unit 621 corresponds to the lot end information rewriting means according to the present invention. This point will be described later.

  The first robot controller 622 and the second robot controller 623 drive and control the substrate transfer robot 603 of the first interface unit 60A and the substrate transfer robot 613 of the second interface unit 60B, respectively, and are input to the interface control unit 621. A substrate is taken in and out of each exposure apparatus 101, 102 based on the production data.

  Here, the lot end flag rewriting control by the interface control unit 621 will be described.

  In the interface unit 60, the substrate is transferred into and out of the two exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 as needed. At this time, the substrate transport time by the first interface unit 60A and the second interface unit 60B and each exposure apparatus Depending on the time difference between the processing times 101 and 102, the production order of the substrates may be changed within the same lot. At this time, if the production order of the lot end substrate in which the lot end data is recorded and the substrate of the same lot that was previously carried into the combined processing unit are switched, the cassette 4 is unloaded from the indexer unit 2 without collecting the substrate. Therefore, the interface control unit 621 monitors whether there is a change in the production order based on the production data, and if the production order of the lot end substrates is changed in the same lot, the change is substantially caused by the change. The lot end flag is rewritten on the substrate that has become the lot end.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing lot end data rewrite control by the interface control unit 621.

  The interface control unit 621 first refers to the production data of the board to be subsequently unloaded from the interface unit 60, and determines whether the board is a lot end board, that is, whether the lot end flag is written in the production data. (Step S11). If YES is determined here, it is determined whether or not another substrate in the same lot exists in the interface unit 60 based on production data corresponding to each substrate (step S12). If NO is determined here In step S14, the board is unloaded. That is, when a change in the production order of substrates occurs, other substrates in the same lot always exist in the interface unit 60. Therefore, if NO is determined in step S12, no change occurs. In that case, the substrate is unloaded as it is.

  On the other hand, if YES is determined in step S12, the lot end flag is deleted from the production data of the substrate (step S13), and the substrate is carried out. That is, when there is another board in the same lot in the interface unit 60, the production order of the board is changed, and the board is no longer a lot end board. In this case, the lot end flag is set from the production data. Delete and carry out the board.

  On the other hand, if NO is determined in step S11, it is determined whether another substrate of the same lot exists in the interface unit 60 (step S15). If YES is determined in this step, the step is performed. The process moves to S14 and the substrate is unloaded. On the other hand, if NO is determined in step S15, the substrate becomes a substantial lot end substrate. In this case, after the lot end flag is written in the production data of the substrate, the substrate is unloaded from the interface unit 60. To do.

  According to the substrate processing system A as described above, when the cassette 4 is set on the cassette mounting unit 2a of the indexer unit 2, the substrates in the cassette 4 are sequentially taken out by the substrate transfer device 3 and carried into the cleaning unit 10. At the same time, the production data of each substrate is transferred from the control unit 110 to the cleaning unit 10. While the production data is sequentially transferred as the substrate is transported, the cleaning unit 10, the dehydration bake unit 20, the resist coating unit 30, the prebake unit 40, the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102, the developing unit 80, and the post bake unit 90 are respectively predetermined. After being processed, it is returned to the cassette 4.

  Here, when the cassette 4 of the subsequent lot is carried into the indexer unit 2 during the processing of the preceding lot, parameters relating to the exposure processing designated for the preceding lot and the subsequent lot, that is, the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 and Based on the specified content of the exposure mask, either “continuous processing” or “mixed processing” is executed.

  For example, when the patterns (a), (b), and (d) in FIG. 6 are applicable, “continuous processing” is executed. Specifically, in the recipe table of FIG. 4, for example, when the designation of the preceding lot is recipe No “003” and the designation of the subsequent lot is recipe No “006” (corresponding to the pattern (b) in FIG. 6). After all the substrates are carried into the composite processing unit from the cassette 4 of the preceding lot, the removal of the substrates from the cassette 4 of the subsequent lot is started. In this case, in the interface unit 60, the substrates are loaded and unloaded while appropriately distributing the substrates to the two exposure apparatuses 101 and 102, and the exposure processing is performed on all the substrates in the preceding lot, and then the substrates in the subsequent lot are similarly used in the two exposure apparatuses. The substrate is taken in and out while being appropriately distributed between 101 and 102.

  On the other hand, if the patterns (c) and (e) in FIG. 6 are applicable, “mixed processing” is executed. Specifically, in the recipe table of FIG. 4, for example, the designation of the preceding lot is recipe No “002” (corresponding to the first designation of the present invention), and the designation of the subsequent lot is recipe No “003” (the first number of the present invention). 2 (corresponding to the pattern (c) in FIG. 6), before all the substrates of the preceding lot are transferred from the cassette 4 to the combined processing unit, the combined processing unit of the substrates of the subsequent lot Carrying in is started. For example, the substrate of the preceding lot and the substrate of the succeeding lot are alternately carried into the composite processing unit, whereby the processing of both lots proceeds with time overlap. In this case, the exposure process proceeds while the substrate of the previous lot is taken in and out of the second exposure apparatus 102 by the interface unit 60, and the exposure process is carried out while being taken in and out of the first exposure apparatus 101 for the substrate of the subsequent lot. It is advanced. When the exposure processing of all the substrates in the preceding lot is completed, as a result of specifying both the exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 for the subsequent lot as described above (recipe No “003”), the remaining substrates in the subsequent lot are The interface 60 performs exposure processing while appropriately allocating the substrates to the two exposure apparatuses 101 and 102.

  Also, when the designation of the preceding lot is recipe No. “002” and the designation of the succeeding lot is recipe No. “004” (corresponding to the pattern (e) in FIG. 6), the “mixing process” is performed in the same manner as described above. Executed. In this case, as a result of specifying only the first exposure apparatus 101 for the subsequent lot (recipe No. “004”), even if the processing of the preceding lot is completed, the remaining substrates of the subsequent lot are subjected to the first exposure. The exposure process proceeds only with the apparatus 101.

  As described above, according to the substrate processing system A, it is possible to designate the exposure apparatuses 101, 102, etc. for each lot (for each cassette 4), and when the designated contents of successive lots satisfy a certain condition. Since the “mixed processing” as described above is executed, and the processing of the substrates of both lots can be proceeded in a time-overlapping state, a plurality of exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are effectively used. By utilizing this, it is possible to efficiently process the substrate. For this reason, only one of the exposure apparatuses operates in comparison with this type of conventional system in which the processing of the substrate of the subsequent lot is started after the processing of all the substrates of the previous lot is always completed regardless of the use status of the exposure apparatus. It is possible to reduce the occurrence of such a state (a state where any one of the exposure apparatuses is idle), and to improve the processing efficiency of the substrate.

  In addition, according to the substrate processing system A, since the interface unit 60 has a lot end flag rewriting function, the production order in the interface unit 60 may be changed in a complicated manner by executing “mixed processing”. Even when such a situation occurs, the indexer unit 2 can reliably detect the lot end substrate. Therefore, while increasing the processing efficiency of the substrate as described above, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a trouble that the cassette 4 is unloaded from the indexer unit 2 without collecting a part of the substrate of the same lot.

  The substrate processing system A described above is an example of a preferred embodiment of the substrate processing system A to which the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention (the substrate processing apparatus 1) is applied. Modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the substrate processing system A of the above embodiment, the indexer unit 2 is integrally included in the substrate processing apparatus 1 so that the indexer unit 2 is directly driven and controlled by the control unit 110. An apparatus (indexer unit 2) that is independent from the substrate processing apparatus 1 may be provided. In this case, the indexer device and the control unit 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 are communicably connected via the communication line 310, so that only a command signal (loading command signal) related to substrate loading is transmitted to the indexer device. What is necessary is just to comprise so.

  In the above-described embodiment, the interface unit 60 has a lot end flag rewriting function. However, for example, in a processing unit other than the interface unit 60, a buffer unit, or the like according to a specific configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1. When the change of order can be detected, the processing unit may have a lot end flag rewriting function.

  In the above embodiment, although not specifically described, it is possible to provide an apparatus that continuously performs exposure processing on a single substrate using both exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 as the contents (recipe) of recipe data. . For example, after the exposure process is performed by the first exposure apparatus 101, a recipe may be provided in which the second exposure apparatus 102 is replaced and the process is performed using another exposure mask. According to this, by specifying the recipe, it becomes possible to perform exposure processing of different patterns (exposure patterns) on the same substrate. For example, the first exposure apparatus 101 performed exposure processing using a large panel. Thereafter, it is possible to adopt a substrate production form in which the second exposure apparatus 102 uses a small panel to perform an exposure process on an unexposed portion of the substrate.

  In the above embodiment, the substrate processing system A in which the two exposure apparatuses 101 and 102 are connected to the substrate processing apparatus 1 as the exposure apparatus has been described. Of course, the number of exposure apparatuses may be three or more. Good.

1 is a schematic plan view showing a substrate processing system including a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of a substrate processing system. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the interface part contained in a substrate processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the recipe table for designating an exposure apparatus and a use exposure mask. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which determines the production form ("continuous process" or "mixed process") of a board | substrate. It is the table | surface which put together the relationship between the designation | designated condition of the exposure apparatus and production form in two continuous lots. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the rewrite control of the lot end flag by an interface control part.

Explanation of symbols

A substrate processing system 1 substrate processing apparatus 2 indexer unit 10 cleaning unit 20 dewatering bake unit 30 resist coating unit 40 prebake unit 60 interface unit 60A first interface unit 60B second interface unit 70 conveyor 80 developing unit 90 post bake unit 101 first Exposure apparatus 102 Second exposure apparatus 110 Control unit 111 Communication unit 300 Host computer 621 Interface control unit 622 First robot controller 623 Second robot controller

Claims (5)

An indexer unit that carries in and out the substrate and a composite processing unit that includes a plurality of processing units that perform predetermined processing on the substrate while transporting the substrate are connected to a plurality of exposure apparatuses that perform exposure processing on the substrate. A substrate processing apparatus to be used in a state in which
An interface unit for taking a substrate in and out of the plurality of exposure apparatuses;
A designation means capable of designating, in units of lots, which exposure apparatus to perform exposure processing on the substrate;
Control means for causing each exposure apparatus to take in and out the substrate according to the contents designated by the designation means, and to cause the indexer section to carry the substrate into and out of the composite processing section,
The control unit compares the designation contents of the two consecutive lots by the designation unit, the designation of the preceding lot designates only a specific exposure apparatus, and the designation of the subsequent lot other than the specific exposure apparatus. When the exposure apparatus is included, the indexer unit is driven and controlled to start loading the substrate of the subsequent lot before the loading of all the substrates of the preceding lot to the combined processing unit is completed. apparatus. The composite processing unit includes a plurality of processing units that perform predetermined processing on the substrate while transporting the substrate, and an exposure process is performed on the indexer device that carries the substrate in and out of the composite processing unit and the substrate. A substrate processing apparatus used in a state of being connected to a plurality of exposure apparatuses,
An interface unit for taking a substrate in and out of the plurality of exposure apparatuses;
A designation means capable of designating, in units of lots, which exposure apparatus to perform exposure processing on the substrate;
Control means for causing each exposure apparatus to load and unload substrates according to the contents specified by the specifying means and for outputting a substrate loading command signal to the composite processing section to the indexer apparatus. ,
The control unit compares the designation contents of the two consecutive lots by the designation unit, the designation of the preceding lot designates only a specific exposure apparatus, and the designation of the subsequent lot other than the specific exposure apparatus. If the exposure apparatus is included, the carry-in command signal is output so as to start carrying in the substrate of the subsequent lot before the carry-in of all the substrates of the previous lot to the composite processing unit is completed. apparatus. In the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
It is connected to a plurality of exposure apparatuses that perform exposure processing of the same pattern,
The designation means can designate at least a first designation for performing processing with only one specific exposure apparatus as a designation content and a second designation for performing processing with all exposure apparatuses,
When the designation of the preceding lot is the first designation and the designation of the succeeding lot is the second designation, the control means performs the following lot by the interface unit until the exposure processing of all the substrates of the preceding lot is completed. When the exposure processing for all the substrates in the preceding lot is completed, the interface unit distributes the substrates in the subsequent lot to and from all the exposure devices. A substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Data transfer means for transferring production data including information on processing contents, which is assigned to each board, between processing units as the board is transported;
Lot end information writing means for writing lot end information to the production data of the lot end substrate that is finally carried into the composite processing unit among the substrates included in one lot;
The board further comprising lot end information rewriting means for rewriting the lot end information with respect to the production data of the board which is substantially the lot end when the production order of the lot end board is changed. Processing equipment. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the interface unit is provided with lot end information rewriting means.

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