JP3539814B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs a series of processing such as applying a processing liquid to a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, and a substrate for an optical disk. The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus to be used, and more particularly, to a technique for replacing and transferring two substrates placed in two processing units.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional substrate processing apparatus of this type, for example, an apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-201950 can be mentioned. This apparatus has two processing units including a substrate cooling unit that cools the heat-treated substrate to a predetermined temperature, a substrate coating unit that applies a processing liquid to the cooled substrate, and a substrate cooling unit. A substrate transport unit capable of replacing two substrates placed on the substrate application unit. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a main part of this device, which will be described below.
[0003]
In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a substrate processing apparatus, which is configured such that two substrates mounted on the substrate cooling unit CP and the substrate coating unit SC can be exchanged between the substrate cooling unit CP and the substrate coating unit SC. Provided substrate transfer unit TC. As shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 12A and 12B, the substrate coating portion SC has a substrate supporting height H.₀Although the position of the spin chuck is fixed, the substrate cooling unit CP raises and lowers the substrate support height of the substrate pin 110, thereby cooling the substrate.₁And the standby position H for transferring the substrate_TwoAnd it is configured to be adjustable.
[0004]
Further, the substrate transport section TC is configured to be movable in a horizontal direction (left and right direction in the figure) as shown in the plan view of FIG. 11, and other substrate heat treatment sections, substrate cooling sections, and substrate coating sections (not shown). It is configured to be able to access to such as. The substrate transfer unit TC includes two arms A1 and A2 each having a C-shaped substrate support unit for supporting a substrate, and these arms are separated by a predetermined distance d in the vertical direction, and They are arranged to be able to expand and contract in the same direction (FIG. 12A). These arms A1 and A2 are configured to extend and contract alternately in the same direction. For example, first, the lower arm A2 is extended to the substrate cooling unit CP, and the substrate is transported by a predetermined height. After the section TC is raised to receive the substrate, the lower arm A2 is contracted, and the substrate transfer section TC is turned to the opposite side, and then the upper arm A1 is extended with respect to the substrate application section SC to a predetermined height. Only the substrate transporting unit TC is raised, the substrate of the substrate coating unit SC is received, and the upper arm A1 is contracted to receive two substrates from both processing units SC and CP. Next, the lower arm A2 holding the substrate received from the substrate cooling unit CP is extended, the substrate transport unit TC is lowered by a predetermined height, and the substrate is transferred to the substrate coating unit SC. Is contracted, and the substrate transport section TC is turned again to the opposite side. Then, the upper arm A1 is extended to the substrate cooling section CP, and the substrate is lowered by a predetermined height and transferred to the substrate cooling section CP. Two substrates can be exchanged with the unit SC.
[0005]
Next, an operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 12A, the first substrate W₁Has already been processed in the substrate coating section SC, and the second substrate W_TwoIt is assumed that the cooling process has already been completed in the substrate cooling unit CP, and that the two arms A1 and A2 of the substrate transfer unit TC are in a contracted state.
[0006]
The substrate cooling unit CP causes the support pins 110 to protrude so that the substrate processing position H₁Substrate W_TwoTo the standby position H_Two(FIG. 12B). When the substrate transport section TC extends the lower arm A2, the arm A2_Two(FIG. 12 (c)). In this state, the substrate transfer section TC is moved a predetermined distance L₁(FIG. 13 (a)), and then the arm A2 is contracted._TwoIs carried out of the substrate cooling unit CP (FIG. 13B). In this state, the arms A1 and A2 are turned in the opposite directions by turning the substrate transfer section TC about the rotation center P (FIG. 13C). Then, the substrate transfer section TC is moved to a predetermined height L._Two(FIG. 13D) and extend the arm A1 to complete the substrate W after the coating process.₁(FIG. 14A). In this state, the substrate transfer section TC is moved to a predetermined height L._Three(FIG. 14 (b)), and then the arm A1 is contracted.₁Is carried out of the substrate coating unit SC (FIG. 14C).
[0007]
Next, the substrate W_TwoArm W supporting_TwoIs extended toward the substrate application part SC (FIG. 14D), and the predetermined height L_FourOnly by lowering the substrate transport section TC, the substrate W_TwoIs placed on the substrate coating section SC (FIG. 14E). The arm A2 is contracted (FIG. 15 (a)), and then the substrate transfer section TC is turned again in the opposite direction about the rotation center P (FIG. 15 (b)). In this state, the substrate W₁Is extended (FIG. 15C), and the substrate transfer section TC is moved to a predetermined height L._FiveLowering the substrate W₁Is the standby position H_Two(FIG. 15 (d)).
[0008]
The two arms A1 and A2 of the substrate transport section TC are contracted, and the processed substrate W is processed.₁Is a new substrate W supported by another substrate transport unit (not shown) while being supported by the support pins 110 of the substrate cooling unit CP._Three(FIG. 16A). Then, the support pins 110 are lowered and the substrate W_ThreeProcessing position H where is cooled₁And the cooling process is started (FIG. 16B). Substrate W by substrate coating unit SC_TwoAfter the coating process on the substrate is completed, the substrate transport unit TC moves the predetermined distance L to repeat the above process again.₆(FIG. 16B). This predetermined distance L to be raised₆Is the processing position H of the substrate cooling unit CP.₁And standby position H_TwoIs a distance corresponding to the height at which the arm A2 can advance into the gap between the two. Then, by repeatedly executing the processing from the state shown in FIG. 12A, the substrates are sequentially processed.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problem.
That is, at the time when the coating processing in the coating processing unit SC is completed (FIG. 16B), the processed substrate W_TwoAnd substrate W_ThreeThe height of the substrate transfer part TC is changed by a predetermined distance L₆Only need to be adjusted, so that both substrates W_Two, W_ThreeThere is a vacant time between the transfer and the transfer. This idle time is a wasteful time when sequentially processing the substrates, so that there is a problem that the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is reduced.
[0010]
Further, in the substrate transfer section TC provided in the substrate processing apparatus 100, since both arms A1 and A2 are arranged in the same direction, the substrate transfer section TC receives the substrate between the two processing sections SC and CP almost simultaneously. It cannot be delivered, and the number of times the substrate transport section TC moves up and down and the number of times the arm of the substrate transport section TC expands / contracts increase, resulting in a problem that the number of steps of substrate replacement transport becomes extremely large. As a result, similarly to the above, there is a problem that the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is reduced.
[0011]
Further, as a substrate transfer section (substrate transfer apparatus) TC used in such a substrate processing apparatus 100, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-258148 has been proposed to avoid the above-mentioned problems. ing. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 17, the substrate transfer device TC has two swinging axes P which allow two arms A1 and A2 having a C-shaped substrate support part to be able to advance and retreat in mutually opposite directions.₁, P_TwoAttached to. Further, the substrate transfer device TC itself is configured to be horizontally movable (up and down direction in the figure) and to be able to turn around the rotation center P as an axis. Then, both arms A1 and A2 are connected to their respective pivot axes P₁, P_TwoThe arms A1 and A2 advance from the retracted position (two-dot chain line in the figure) on the substrate transfer device TC to the substrate transfer position (solid line in the figure) located on the opposite side. By raising (or lowering) the predetermined height, two substrates can be transferred between the two processing units almost at the same time, and the number of steps of substrate replacement conveyance can be reduced. ing.
[0012]
However, the substrate transfer device TC configured as described above has the pivot axis P₁, P_Two, The positioning accuracy at the distal ends of both arms A1 and A2 having a certain length from those axes is inevitably deteriorated. It becomes difficult to align with the processing unit, or it is necessary to perform low-speed alignment by swinging both arms A1 and A2 in order to supplement the alignment accuracy, thereby reducing the number of steps related to conveyance. However, there is a problem that the throughput of the substrate transfer is reduced due to the alignment.
[0013]
Further, since the substrate transfer device TC is configured such that the arms A1 and A2 advance and retreat with respect to each processing unit by swinging, as is clear from FIG. The substrate support portions of both arms A1 and A2 move forward and backward from the oblique direction, and therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to increase the opening width in plan view required when moving into and out of each processing unit.
[0014]
Therefore, even if the substrate transfer apparatus TC configured as described above is used for the substrate processing apparatus 100, the throughput of the substrate transfer apparatus 100 cannot be improved, and further, each processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus 100 Therefore, it is inappropriate to use the substrate transport device TC configured as described above in the substrate processing apparatus 100 because the substrate transport device TC configured as described above needs to be modified. By the way, excessively widening the opening width of the processing unit may cause a problem in terms of entry of particles at the time of substrate transfer and retention of a hot atmosphere.
[0015]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and adjusts the substrate support height of at least one of the two processing units to adjust the height required for the transfer and transfer of the substrate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can perform the processing efficiently and improve the throughput of the apparatus.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has the following configuration to achieve such an object.
That is, the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 is disposed between two processing units that perform a predetermined processing on the substrate, and the substrate transfer apparatus is capable of exchanging the respective substrates placed on the two processing units. In a substrate processing apparatus having a unit,
The substrate transfer unit has two arms (upper arm and lower arm) for supporting the substrate, which are disposed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and extends both arms with respect to the two processing units. After the two arms are raised (or lowered) and contracted by moving up and down, the positional relationship between the two arms is exchanged, and both arms are extended and lowered (or raised) to perform a series of operations for contracting. Is configured to be interchangeable between the two processing units,
At least one of the two processing units includes a substrate processing position for processing a substrate, a first standby position positioned above the substrate processing position, and the first standby position substantially equal to the predetermined interval. A height supporting the substrate is adjustable over a second standby position located above the first standby position, and
A control unit that controls extension / retraction operations and up / down operations of both arms of the substrate transport unit and adjusts a substrate support height of the processing unit between a substrate processing position and a second standby position. It is characterized by having.
[0018]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the two processing units include a substrate cooling unit that cools the heat-treated substrate to a predetermined temperature; The substrate cooling unit has a support pin height, a substrate processing position for cooling the substrate, and a substrate transfer unit for transferring the cooled substrate. And a second standby position for receiving a substrate from the substrate transfer unit.
[0021]
[Action]
The operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect is as follows.
The substrate transfer unit extends the two arms substantially simultaneously under the control of the control unit, raises both arms, and transfers, for example, a substrate (first substrate) placed on one processing unit to the upper arm. The substrate (second substrate) placed on the other processing unit is transferred to the lower arm. Then, both arms are contracted. Then, the first substrate is transferred from the upper arm to the other processing unit by exchanging the positional relationship between the two arms to extend and lower the two arms, and to contract the two arms. The second substrate can be transferred to the processing section.
[0022]
At this time, since the upper arm and the lower arm are arranged at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, when the positional relationship between the two arms is exchanged, the height of each arm is displaced by the predetermined interval. Become. For example, in one of the processing units, the upper arm is replaced by the lower arm. Therefore, when viewed from the processing unit, the height of the arm is lowered by a predetermined interval, and the other processing unit is configured to have the upper arm from the lower arm to the upper arm. Since the arm is replaced, the height of the arm is increased by a predetermined interval when viewed from the processing unit. The displacement of the arm height is offset by adjusting the substrate support height of at least one of the processing units. Specifically, the substrate support height of at least one of the processing units is set to a substrate processing position for processing a substrate, a first standby position located above the substrate processing position, and a first standby position. It adjusts over a second standby position located above. Thus, the displacement of the arm height caused when the positional relationship between the two arms is exchanged can be offset by adjusting the substrate support height. Therefore, when sequentially processing the substrates, the next substrate can be exchanged and transported only by adjusting the substrate support height of the processing unit without adjusting the height of the substrate transport unit again, and the substrate can be efficiently processed. Swapping can be performed.
[0023]
The operation of the invention according to the second aspect of the present invention is as follows. The two processing units include a substrate cooling unit for cooling the substrate, which has been subjected to the heat treatment, which is a pre-treatment of the substrate with the chemical solution, to a predetermined temperature, and supplying a chemical to the cooled substrate to perform the chemical process. The substrates are sequentially replaced by a substrate transporting unit located between them, and the substrates are sequentially processed with a chemical solution. The substrate cooling unit includes a substrate processing position for cooling the substrate, a first standby position for transferring the cooled substrate to the substrate transport unit, And a second standby position for receiving the substrate from the substrate transport unit. Therefore, the displacement of the arm height generated at the time of substrate replacement is absorbed by adjusting the height of the support pins of the substrate cooling unit, and the substrate cooled by the substrate cooling unit and the substrate processed by the chemical processing unit are treated with the substrate. Can be replaced efficiently.
[0026]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A substrate processing apparatus that performs a series of processing on a substrate will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus.
[0027]
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate processing apparatus, and a cassette 2 containing a plurality of substrates W is placed on an indexer ID. When the cassette 2 is placed on the indexer ID, the substrates W are sequentially taken out from the cassette 2 and circulated and transported to the respective processing units included in the processing unit groups 3 and 4 so that a series of processing is automatically performed. Has become. The processing unit groups 3 and 4 are arranged in two rows substantially in parallel.
[0028]
An interface IFB used to transfer the substrate W to an external device such as a stepper during the circulation is provided at a position facing the indexer ID with the processing unit groups 3 and 4 interposed therebetween. The processing unit group 3 includes a substrate heat treatment unit HP (see FIG. 2) for performing heat treatment on the substrate and substrate cooling units CP1 to CP3 for cooling the heat-treated substrate, and the processing unit group 4 includes only processing other than the heat treatment. More specifically, it includes a substrate coating unit SC for applying a processing liquid (for example, a photoresist liquid) to a substrate, and substrate developing units SD1 and SD2 for developing a substrate that has been exposed by a stepper. The substrate application section SC and the substrate development section SD (1, 2) correspond to the chemical processing section according to claim 2 of the present invention. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the processing unit group 3 is stacked and disposed above the substrate cooling unit CP1, thereby suppressing the occupied area of the apparatus.
[0029]
The transfer robot TH is provided for transferring a substrate to and from the processing unit group 3, and accesses only the substrate heat treatment unit HP for performing heat treatment and the substrate cooling units CP1 to CP3. The transfer robot TH is arranged so as to be movable along the processing unit group 3 in a section from the vicinity of the indexer ID to the interface IFB, and is also configured to be movable in the vertical direction.
[0030]
Substrate transport of the present inventionPartThe corresponding transfer robot TC is provided for performing the transfer transfer of the substrate between each of the substrate cooling units CP1 to CP3 of the processing unit group 3 and the processing unit group 4. The transfer robot TC is provided so as to be movable along the processing unit groups 3 and 4 in a section from the indexer ID to the interface IFB. The transfer robot TC includes two arms A1 and A2 that can move forward and backward in substantially opposite directions at substantially the same time, and has a C-shaped substrate support portion for supporting a substrate at each end. ing. Further, as will be described later, the transfer robot TC is configured to be able to move up and down and also to be able to turn around the vertical axis P.
[0031]
Note that each robot 5 provided in the indexer ID and the interface IFB transfers the substrate W between the cassette 2 on the indexer ID and the transfer robot TH and between the transfer robot TH and the interface IFB. It is provided for the relay conveyance.
[0032]
In the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above, the transfer robot TH and the transfer robot TC do not directly transfer the substrate, but pass through the transfer unit 6 (see FIG. 2) of the substrate cooling unit CP1. It is configured to indirectly transfer the substrate after performing the cooling process, so that heat when the transfer robot TH accesses the substrate heat treatment unit HP for performing the heat treatment is not conducted to the transfer robot TC. It is configured. This prevents heat transferred from the transfer robot TH from being applied to the substrate when the transfer robot TC transfers the substrate on which the processing liquid is applied, and does not adversely affect subsequent exposure processing and the like.
[0033]
Next, the transfer robot TC will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a drive system of the transfer robot TC.
[0034]
The transfer robot TC has a box-shaped frame 10.SpiralIt is configured to be able to move up and down and turn by a turning mechanism. Note that the lifting mechanism and the turning mechanism are configured by well-known mechanisms that have been used in the related art, and are not illustrated. An elongated opening 11 is formed on the upper surface of the frame 10 so as to face the processing unit groups 3 and 4 arranged opposite to each other. In these openings 11, two movable columns 12 whose base ends are connected to the base ends of the two arms A1 and A2 are loosely inserted. The movable support 12 is supported by a guide rail 13 and is configured to move while sliding on the guide rail 13, and the bottom thereof is connected to one portion of the drive wire 14..
[0035]
The drive wire 14 is stretched around two driven pulleys 15 and wound around a driven pulley 16. The driving pulley 16 is rotatably driven by a motor 17, whereby the movable column 12 moves between the driven pulleys 15 to drive the arm A2 forward and backward (the solid line in the drawing is in an extended state. The dotted line indicates the contracted state). Also, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 1, the openings 11 of the arms A1 and A2 do not interfere with the other support 12 and the arm and the C-shaped substrate supporting portion when they contract. So that it is formed on both sides of the center.
[0036]
The arm A1 has a drive mechanism similar to that of the arm A2, but is driven to advance and retreat in a direction opposite to that of the arm A2. Further, the arm A1 and the arm A2 have different heights of the movable columns 12, and the arm A1 is provided to be higher than the arm A2 by a predetermined distance d. The arms A1 and A2 are the upper arm and the lower arm in the present invention.ToEquivalent to. When the transfer robot TC moves along the processing unit groups 3 and 4 or when the transfer robot TC turns to exchange the positional relationship between the two arms A1 and A2, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The arms A1 and A2 are moved and turned in a contracted state. Thereby, the space on the substrate processing apparatus 1 necessary for the movement of the transfer robot TC can be suppressed, and the space of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be reduced.
[0037]
Next, the substrate cooling units CP (CP1 to CP3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the substrate cooling unit CP.
[0038]
In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes an aluminum plate having a water-cooled jacket by electronic cooling, and has a function of cooling the substrate W to a predetermined temperature (for example, room temperature). Three balls 21 are embedded in the upper surface of the aluminum plate 20 so as to form an equilateral triangle in plan view, and the upper ends thereof are embedded so as to slightly protrude from the upper surface of the aluminum plate 20. That is, a so-called proximity cooling method is used in which the substrate W is not closely attached to the aluminum plate 20 and is cooled with a small gap. The upper ends of these balls 21 are at processing positions H for cooling the substrate.₁Is equivalent to
[0039]
In the vicinity of the ball 21 of the aluminum plate 20, three support pins 22 are provided so as to be able to ascend and descend according to the positional relationship of the vertices of an equilateral triangle in plan view so as not to overlap with these. The lower ends of these support pins 22 are connected by an annular connection member 23, and the three support pins 22 are simultaneously moved up and down. The aluminum plate 20 is supported in the vicinity of its center by a support post 24 passing through the opening of the connecting member 23. The aluminum plate 20 is surrounded by a container 25 for holding a processing atmosphere, and a gas supply unit 26 for supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen is formed at an upper portion of the aluminum plate 20. The inert gas supplied from the gas supply unit 26 is exhausted through an exhaust port 27 formed below the aluminum plate 20 and on the side surface of the container 25. During the cooling process of the substrate, an inert gas is supplied from the gas supply unit 26 and purged through the exhaust port 27.
[0040]
An opening 28 for transferring a substrate is formed on the side surface of the container 25 on the side of the transfer robot TC (left side in the figure). Since the arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are linearly moved forward and backward to move through the opening 28, the opening width of the opening 28 in plan view is at least the arm A1 and A2. Only the width in plan view. An opening 29 that can be opened and closed is formed on the side opposite to the opening 28 and on the side of the transfer robot TH (right side in the figure). Inside the opening 29, a shutter 30 is provided so as to be able to move up and down. The shutter 30 has its lower end bent in the horizontal direction and connected to the rod of the first air cylinder 31. By providing the openable and closable opening 29 on the side of the transfer robot TH involved in the heat treatment, heat can be separated and a cooling atmosphere can be maintained.
In the vicinity of the horizontally bent portion of the shutter 30, two-stage second and third air cylinders 32, 33 for raising the support pin 22 by pushing up the connecting member 23 are provided. It is provided independently.
[0041]
The substrate cooling unit CP thus configured opens the opening 29 by extending the rod of the first air cylinder 31, and transfers the substrate W to and from the transfer robot TH through the opening 29. Further, the connecting member 23 is pushed up by the rod of the second air cylinder 32, and the support pin 22 is moved to the substrate processing position H.₁To the first standby position H_TwoTo rise to. In this state, by extending the rod of the third air cylinder 33, the connecting member 23 is further pushed up, and the support pin 22 is moved to the first standby position H._TwoFrom the second standby position H_ThreeTo rise to. By contracting the rod of each air cylinder in the reverse order to the above, the second standby position H_ThreeTo the first standby position H_TwoThrough the substrate processing position H₁The support pin 22 can be moved downward.
[0042]
Note that the first standby position H_TwoAnd the second standby position H_ThreeThe distance between the arm A1 and the arm A2 is 2d with respect to the above-described predetermined distance d between the arms A1 and A2 in order to cancel the displacement in the height direction of the arms A1 and A2 generated when the transfer robot TC turns. Preferably, there is. Specifically, the first standby position H_TwoIs the substrate processing position H₁From the second standby position H_ThreeIs the substrate processing position H₁It is a position of about 33 mm from. Therefore, the first standby position H_TwoAnd the second standby position H_ThreeIs about 20 mm. These distances are determined by a predetermined distance d between the arm A1 and the arm A2, the thickness of the substrate supporting portion formed at the distal end of both arms A1 and A2, or the spin chuck 40 of the substrate coating portion SC and the substrate. It is set in consideration of the vertical positional relationship between the cooling unit CP and the support pins 22 and the amount of elevation when the substrate W is transferred between the transfer robot TH and the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP. Things.
[0043]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the substrate coating unit SC has a fixed position in the height direction, and a spin chuck 40 for sucking and supporting the substrate W is attached to a rotary motor, and the periphery thereof is used to scatter the processing liquid. It is surrounded by a scattering prevention cup 41 configured to be liftable and lowerable.
[0044]
As shown in FIG. 5, the transfer robot TC, the substrate cooling unit CP <b> 1, and the substrate coating unit SC are controlled by a control unit 50, and the control unit 50 controls the circulation stored in the memory 51. The operation of each unit is controlled based on the route and the processing procedure in each processing unit as described later. Further, the transport robot TH and other robots are also controlled by the control unit 50. The control unit 50 also controls the rotation of the motor 17 of the transfer robot TC, and controls the rotation of the motor 17 to control the arms A1 and A2.2The swivel (not shown) when moved to the evacuation positionStructureThrough frame 10I started to turnI have.
[0045]
Next, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10, a detailed description will be given of the two processing units of the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP1 and the transfer and transfer of the substrate by the transfer robot TC. As shown in FIG. 6A, the arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are in a contracted state (the retracted position), and the substrate coating unit SC has the first substrate W that has already completed the coating process.₁Is placed on the spin chuck 40 (substrate processing position H₀), The substrate cooling unit CP1 includes the second substrate W that has already completed the cooling process._TwoIs placed (substrate processing position H₁) Start the description as if it had been.
[0046]
First, the control unit 50 operates the second air cylinder 32 of the substrate cooling unit CP1 to raise the support pins 22. Thereby, the substrate W_TwoIs the first standby position H_Two(FIG. 6B).
[0047]
Next, the control unit 50 rotates the motor 17 of the transfer robot TC to extend both arms A1 and A2. As a result, the arm A1 moves the first substrate W supported by the spin chuck 40 of the substrate processing section SC.₁Arm A2 moves the substrate processing position H of the substrate cooling unit CP1.₁And the first standby position H_Two(FIG. 7A). That is, the arms A1 and A2 advance to their respective substrate transfer positions almost simultaneously.
[0048]
In this state, the control unit 50 drives a lifting mechanism (not shown) to raise the transfer robot TC (FIG. 7B). Thereby, the first substrate W₁Is transferred from the spin chuck 40 to the arm A1, and the second substrate W_TwoIs the first standby position H_TwoIs transferred to the arm A2 from the support pin 22 located at the position A.
[0049]
Next, the control unit 50 rotates the motor 17 to contract the arms A1 and A2. As a result, both arms A1 and A2 are retracted to the retracted position on the transfer robot TC (FIG. 8A). Further, the control unit 50 drives a turning mechanism (not shown) to rotate the transfer robot TC about the rotation center P in the horizontal plane, exchanges the positional relationship between the two arms A1 and A2, and sets the transfer robot TH to the arm. A1 is the second standby position H_ThreeRaise to a higher position. At this time, the rod of the third air cylinder 33 of the substrate cooling unit CP1 is extended, and the support pin 22 is raised. As a result, the support pin 22 is moved to the first standby position H_TwoSecond standby position H located above_Three(FIG. 8B).
[0050]
When both arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are extended in this state (FIG. 9A), the second substrate W after the cooling process is completed._TwoIs a spin chuck 40 (substrate processing position H)₀) Is moved to a substrate transfer position slightly above the second substrate W after the coating process._TwoIs the second standby position H by the arm A1._ThreeIs moved slightly above the substrate transfer position. Then, by lowering the transfer robot TC, the second substrate W_TwoIs transferred from the arm A2 to the spin chuck 40, and the first substrate W₁From the arm A1 to the second standby position H_Three(FIG. 9B). At this time, the lowering of the substrate transport unit TC is caused by the height of the support pins 22 of the substrate cooling unit CP1 and the second standby position H when the substrate transport unit TC is turned (FIG. 8B)._ThreeAnd the vertical displacements (intervals) of the arms A1 and A2 caused by the turning operation are offset, so that the distance is the same as the distance that has risen (FIG. 6B) without descending over a long distance. Only need to descend. Therefore, the raising / lowering operation of the substrate transport unit TC can be performed efficiently. Further, since both arms A1 and A2 are configured to advance and retreat in directions opposite to each other, it is possible to access the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP1 almost at the same time. The number of steps can be reduced.
[0051]
Next, both arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are contracted. At this time, a new substrate (third substrate) W after the heat treatment is added to the substrate cooling unit CP1._ThreeIs supported by the transfer robot TH and enters from the right side in the drawing, and the second standby position H_ThreeSecond substrate W at_TwoAnd the third substrate W_ThreeIs transferred onto the support pins 22 (FIG. 10A).
[0052]
The control unit 50 drives the transfer robot TC to rotate around the rotation center P, exchanges the positional relationship between the two arms A1 and A2 again, drives the spin chuck 40 of the substrate coating unit SC to rotate, and starts the coating process. The support pins 22 of the cooling unit CP1 are lowered, and the third substrate W_ThreeTo the substrate processing position H₁And the cooling process is started (FIG. 10B). Then, by executing the processing again from the state shown in FIG. 6A, the substrates can be sequentially processed.
[0053]
Since the two arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are arranged vertically displaced from each other by a predetermined distance d, the substrate W₁, W_TwoIs replaced by a predetermined distance d when viewed from the processing units SC and CP1, the height of the support pins 22 of the substrate cooling unit CP1 is changed. The displacement can be canceled by adjusting the height by an interval of 2d. Therefore, the moving distance of the transfer robot TC can be shortened, and the transfer robot TC that has descended as in the conventional example is again moved to the initial state (FIG. 8A) in which the transfer of substrates is started. The operation can be performed from an initial state without the need to raise it. As a result, there is no waste in the elevating operation of the transfer robot TC, the substrate exchange transfer can be performed efficiently, and the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be improved when the substrates are sequentially processed.
[0054]
Further, since the two arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are arranged in opposite directions, it is possible to access the two processing units (substrate coating unit SC and substrate cooling unit CP1) almost simultaneously. . Therefore, the number of times the transfer robot TC moves up and down and the number of times the arm expands and contracts can be significantly reduced as compared to the case where both arms are arranged in the same direction as the conventional example. Incidentally, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 11 as a conventional example, the number of times of ascending and descending (each ascending / decreasing is one) is six times, and the number of times of expansion and contraction of the arm (each of elongating / contracting is one) is eight times. On the other hand, in the transfer robot TC (substrate transfer device) according to the present embodiment, on the other hand, the number of times of elevating and lowering is two times, and furthermore, each time the robot is turned, the number of times of elevating and lowering is four. It can be seen that the number of steps required for the transfer and transfer of the substrate can be extremely reduced. As a result, it is possible to improve the throughput of the transfer robot TC for the replacement and transfer of the substrates, and thus to improve the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1.
[0055]
Further, if the substrate transfer device (see FIG. 17) according to the conventional example described in the section of the conventional problem described above is used in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, first, the arm applies the substrate by swinging. Since it advances and retreats to the part SC and the substrate cooling parts CP <b> 1 to CP <b> 3, it is necessary to remodel the opening 28 of the substrate coating part SC so as to increase the opening width in plan view. For this reason, there arises a problem that particles that adversely affect the processing easily enter into the substrate cooling unit CP through the expanded opening 28, and the retention of the heat treatment atmosphere is reduced. On the other hand, according to the transfer robot TC described above, since the arms A1 and A2 are respectively driven linearly forward and backward, the opening 28 only needs to be at least as wide as the arm in plan view, and the above-described problem occurs. Nothing.
[0056]
Further, since the conventional substrate transfer device moves the two arms in the opposite directions almost simultaneously by swinging, the two arms can be moved in and out of the respective processing units almost simultaneously. Although the number of steps of the arm can be reduced by reducing the number of expansion and contraction of the arm, the swing axis P₁, P_TwoIt becomes difficult to ensure the alignment accuracy between the substrate support part located at the tip end part that is a certain distance away from the substrate and the substrate delivery position of each processing unit, and the arm is moved forward and backward at low speed to compensate for the accuracy. As a result, it becomes impossible to improve the throughput related to the substrate transfer. On the other hand, since the transfer robot TC of the present embodiment described above drives the arms A1 and A2 linearly forward and backward, the positioning accuracy between the substrate support at the distal end thereof and the substrate transfer position of each processing unit is ensured. And the throughput related to the substrate transfer can be improved.
[0057]
From the above, the transfer robot TC configured as described above is suitable for use in the substrate processing apparatus 1 configured as described above.
[0058]
In the above description, the substrate processing position H of the substrate coating unit SC is described.₀Is fixed, and the height of the support pins 22 of the substrate cooling unit CP1 is set to the substrate processing position H.₁, First standby position H_Two, Second standby position H_ThreeHowever, the substrate processing position of the substrate cooling unit CP1 may be fixed, and the substrate supporting height of the substrate coating apparatus SC may be adjustable to three positions.
[0059]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the two processing units of the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP1 have been described as examples, but the substrate development unit SD1 (SD2) and the substrate cooling unit CP2 ((CP3)) The same effect can be achieved in the transfer of substrates. The present invention is not limited to the application and cooling processes, but can be implemented by any device that can simultaneously transfer substrates in various combinations of processing units. It is.
[0060]
Further, in the above embodiment, both arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are configured to advance and retreat to the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP almost at the same time. The driving may be performed with a certain time difference. For example, in a case where the coating process on the substrate in the substrate coating unit SC ends first and the cooling process in the substrate cooling unit CP ends after that, the substrate on the side of the substrate coating unit SC that has finished first One arm may advance first, and the other arm may advance after a certain period of time toward the substrate on the substrate cooling unit CP side that is completed later. With this configuration, the standby time of the transfer robot can be effectively used.
[0061]
Further, in the above embodiment, the two arms A1 and A2 of the transfer robot TC are moved back and forth in directions opposite to each other so as to be able to move back and forth with respect to the substrate coating unit SC and the substrate cooling unit CP which are substantially opposed to each other. Although it is configured to be driven, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration of both arms. For example, when the respective processing units are arranged at a certain angle as viewed from the transfer robot TC, by configuring both arms to be able to advance and retreat so as to substantially match the angle, the same effect as described above can be obtained. The effect can be achieved. However, in such a case, in the above description, the control related to the turning is more complicated than that described above. That is, the substrate is received from both processing units by moving the two arms disposed at a certain angle forward and backward, and then the transfer robot TC is turned by a certain angle, and then one arm is moved forward and backward to move one arm. Then, the transfer robot TC is turned in the reverse direction by an angle almost twice the fixed angle, and the other arm is moved back and forth to the other processing unit to transfer the other substrate. Will do. However, even in the case of such a configuration, the above-described effects can be obtained as compared with the conventional substrate transfer device (FIG. 11).
[0062]
【The invention's effect】
As apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate support height of at least one of the processing units is set at a position above the substrate processing position where the substrate processing is performed and the substrate processing position. By adjusting the first standby position and the second standby position located above the first standby position, the displacement of the arm height caused when the positional relationship between the two arms is switched is reduced by one of the two. The offset can be achieved by adjusting the substrate support height of the processing unit. Therefore, when repeatedly processing a substrate, the next substrate can be exchanged and transported by adjusting the substrate support height of the processing unit without adjusting the height of the substrate transportation unit again, and the substrate exchange can be efficiently performed. Can do it. As a result, wasted time when sequentially processing the substrates can be reduced, and the throughput of the apparatus can be improved.
[0063]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the height of the support pins of the substrate cooling unit is configured to be adjustable from the substrate processing position to the second standby position, the substrate cooling unit, the chemical liquid processing unit, When exchanging substrates between substrates, the displacement of the arm height is offset by the substrate cooling unit, and the substrate cooled by the substrate cooling unit and the substrate that has been processed by the chemical solution are efficiently exchanged and transported. And the throughput of the apparatus can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a drive system of the transfer robot.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a substrate cooling unit.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view for explaining exchange conveyance.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining replacement conveyance.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining replacement conveyance.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining exchange conveyance.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining exchange conveyance.
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a main part of a substrate processing apparatus according to a conventional example.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating the transfer of a substrate by a conventional apparatus.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating the transfer of substrates by a conventional apparatus.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating the transfer of a substrate by a conventional apparatus.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the transfer of substrates by a conventional apparatus.
FIG. 16 is a schematic view illustrating the transfer of substrates by a conventional apparatus.
FIG. 17 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate transfer device according to a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
W… Substrate
1 ... substrate processing equipment
TC: board transfer section
A1, A2 ... Arm
d ... Predetermined interval
CP, CP1 to CP3 ... substrate cooling unit
22… Support pin
31 ... first air cylinder
32 ... second air cylinder
33 ... third air cylinder
H₁  … Substrate processing position
H_Two  … First standby position
H_Three  … Second standby position
SC ... substrate coating part
40… Spin chuck
41 ... shatterproof cup
50 ... control unit

Claims (2)

A substrate processing apparatus which is provided between two processing units that perform a predetermined process on a substrate and includes a substrate transfer unit that can replace each substrate mounted on the two processing units,
In the substrate transport section, two arms (upper arm and lower arm) for supporting the substrate are respectively disposed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and the two arms are extended with respect to the two processing sections. After the two arms are raised (or lowered) and contracted by moving up and down, the positional relationship between the two arms is exchanged, and both arms are extended and lowered (or raised) to perform a series of operations for contracting. Is configured to be interchangeable between the two processing units,
At least one of the two processing units includes a substrate processing position for processing a substrate, a first standby position located above the substrate processing position, and a first standby position located above the first standby position. The height supporting the substrate over the second standby position is adjustable;
A control unit that controls extension / retraction operations and up / down operations of both arms of the substrate transport unit, and adjusts a substrate support height of the processing unit over a substrate processing position and a second standby position. A substrate processing apparatus. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two processing units include a substrate cooling unit that cools the heat-treated substrate to a predetermined temperature, and a chemical processing unit that supplies a chemical to the substrate and performs a chemical processing. And the substrate cooling unit has a height of the support pins, a substrate processing position for cooling the substrate, a first standby position for transferring the cooled substrate to the substrate transport unit, The substrate processing apparatus is configured to be adjustable over a second standby position for receiving from the substrate transport unit.

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