KR102193865B1 - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing microprocessing, wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of process chambers and a transfer unit for transferring a substrate to the plurality of process chambers, and at least one of the plurality of process chambers One process chamber includes a substrate alignment unit that receives a substrate from the transfer unit, aligns the received substrate, and mounts it on a chuck.

Description

Substrate processing equipment {SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and in particular, to a substrate processing apparatus for proceeding with a fine process.

A semiconductor device is a high-density integrated circuit implemented through a process such as deposition and patterning of a thin film on a wafer surface several times and is currently widely used in each industrial field. In the production stage of integrated circuits manufactured by developing and etching circuit patterns on the wafer surface, particles such as fine dust or moisture must be actively removed because they harm the formation of circuit patterns.

Particles generated by external factors can be prevented in advance by purifying the process atmosphere through a clean facility. However, particles of internal factors generated during the manufacturing process cannot be removed in advance. Therefore, a substrate cleaning process is required.

Meanwhile, the substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of process chambers in consideration of processing time between units. Such a plurality of process chambers may be disposed not only on a plane, but also stacked and disposed.

The transfer robot directly transfers the substrate to the chuck in a number of process chambers. The process chamber processes the substrate raised by the transfer robot as it is. The transfer robot is driven at a high speed as possible in a number of axial directions such as X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, θ-axis, etc. to deliver substrates to or to receive from multiple process chambers.

Vibration and deterioration may occur in a transport robot driven in a number of axial directions at high speed. Therefore, positioning (teaching) for each of the plurality of process chambers of the transfer robot is performed with a certain error range in consideration of vibration and deterioration of the transfer robot.

It is not a problem to process the substrate transferred from the transfer robot to the chuck of the process chamber by a general process other than a micro process, but it is not suitable to process the transferred substrate by a micro process because of the teaching error range.

The present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing a fine process despite a positioning error of a transfer robot.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of process chambers and a transfer unit for transferring a substrate to the plurality of process chambers, and at least one process chamber among the plurality of process chambers is It provides a substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate alignment unit that receives a substrate from the unit and aligns the received substrate to be mounted on a chuck.

In addition, the substrate alignment unit includes a hand having a plurality of guides supporting a portion of a side surface and a rear surface of the substrate, and a hand driving unit that moves the hand on the Z axis, and the plurality of guides are horizontally toward the center of the chuck. The supported substrate may be aligned with respect to the center of the chuck by moving by a movement distance set in the direction.

In addition, the set moving distance may be set based on a positioning error range for the at least one process chamber of the transfer unit and a positioning tolerance range for a process to be performed in the at least one process chamber.

In addition, the substrate alignment unit may be provided on one side or corner of the at least one process chamber.

According to the present invention, microprocessing can be performed despite a positioning error of the transfer unit with respect to the process chamber.

In the present invention, since the substrate alignment unit is driven only in the Z-axis direction, there is no fear that the substrate alignment unit is twisted in the X-axis or Y-axis direction from the center of the chuck.

1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a perspective view of a substrate alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an operation state diagram of a substrate alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the shape of the constituent elements in the drawings is exaggerated in order to emphasize a more clear description.

In addition, although the present invention can be applied to all equipment groups undergoing microprocessing, a hazardous cleaning equipment group will be described as an example.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing facility according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a substrate processing facility for processing a substrate includes an index module 10 and a process processing module 20, and the index module 10 includes a load port 120 and a transfer frame 140. The load port 120, the transfer frame 140, and the process processing module 20 are sequentially arranged in a row.

Hereinafter, the direction in which the load port 120, the transfer frame 140, and the process processing module 20 are arranged is referred to as the first direction 12 or the y-axis direction, and when viewed from above, the first direction 12 ) And the direction perpendicular to the second direction (14) or the x-axis direction, and the direction perpendicular to the plane including the first direction (12) and the second direction (14) is the third direction (16) or the z-axis direction. It is called this.

The carrier 18 in which the substrate W is accommodated is mounted on the load port 120. A plurality of load ports 120 are provided, and they are arranged in a row along the second direction 14. In Figure 2, it is shown that four load ports 120 are provided. However, the number of load ports 120 may increase or decrease according to conditions such as process efficiency and footprint of the process processing module 20.

The carrier 18 is formed with a slot (not shown) provided to support the edge of the substrate. A plurality of slots are provided in the third direction 16, and the substrates are positioned in the carrier to be stacked in a state spaced apart from each other along the third direction 16. As the carrier 18, a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) may be used.

The process processing module 20 includes a buffer unit 220, a transfer chamber 240, and processing chambers 260 and 280. The conveyance chamber 240 is disposed in a longitudinal direction parallel to the first direction 12.

The processing chambers 260 and 280 include a first process chamber 260 and a second process chamber 280 in which a substrate is processed and inlets (261 and 281 in FIG. 5) are formed. Include. First process chambers 260 are disposed on one side of the transfer chamber 240 along the second direction 14, and second process chambers 280 are disposed on the other side of the transfer chamber 240. The first process chambers 260 and the second process chambers 280 may be provided to be symmetrical to each other with respect to the transfer chamber 240.

Some of the first process chambers 260 are disposed along the length direction of the transfer chamber 240. In addition, some of the first process chambers 260 are disposed to be stacked on each other. That is, on one side of the transfer chamber 240, the first process chambers 260 may be arranged in an array of a X b (a and b are a natural number of 1 or more, respectively). Here, a is the number of first process chambers 260 provided in a row along the first direction 12, and b is the number of second process chambers 260 provided in a row along the third direction 16. When four or six first process chambers 260 are provided on one side of the transfer chamber 240, the first process chambers 260 may be arranged in an arrangement of 2 X 2 or 3 X 2. The number of first process chambers 260 may increase or decrease.

Similar to the first process chambers 260, the second process chambers 280 may be arranged in an array of M X N (where M and N are a natural number of 1 or more, respectively). Here, M and N may be the same number as a and b, respectively. Unlike the above, both the first process chamber 260 and the second process chamber 280 may be provided only on one side of the transfer chamber 240. In addition, unlike the above, the first process chamber 260 and the second process chamber 280 may be provided in a single layer on one side and the other side of the transfer chamber 240, respectively. Optionally, the first process chambers 260 may be stacked on one side of the transfer chamber 240 and the second process chambers 280 may be stacked on the other side. The first and second process chambers may be the same process chamber. In addition, the first process chamber 260 and the second process chamber 280 may be provided in various arrangements unlike the above.

The buffer unit 220 is disposed between the transfer frame 140 and the transfer chamber 240. The buffer unit 220 provides a space in which the substrate W stays between the transfer chamber 240 and the transfer frame 140 before the substrate W is transferred. The buffer unit 220 is provided with a slot (not shown) in which the substrate W is placed, and a plurality of slots (not shown) are provided to be spaced apart from each other along the third direction 16. In the buffer unit 220, a surface facing the transfer frame 140 and a surface facing the transfer chamber 240 are each opened.

The transfer frame 140 transfers the substrate W between the carrier 18 seated on the load port 120 and the buffer unit 220. The transport frame 140 is provided with an index rail 142 and an index robot 144.

The index rail 142 is provided in a longitudinal direction parallel to the second direction 14. The index robot 144 is installed on the index rail 142 and moves linearly in the second direction 14 along the index rail 142.

The index robot 144 has a base 144a, a body 144b, and an index arm 144c. The base 144a is installed to be movable along the index rail 142. The body 144b is coupled to the base 144a. The body 144b is provided to be movable along the third direction 16 on the base 144a. In addition, the body (144b) is provided to be rotatable on the base (144a). The index arm 144c is coupled to the body 144b, and is provided to move forward and backward with respect to the body 144b. A plurality of index arms 144c are provided to be individually driven. The index arms 144c are disposed to be stacked apart from each other along the third direction 16. Some of the index arms 144c are used when transporting the substrate W from the process processing module 20 to the carrier 18, and other parts are the substrate W from the carrier 18 to the process module 20 Can be used when returning. This can prevent particles generated from the substrate W before the process treatment from adhering to the substrate W after the process treatment during the process of the index robot 144 carrying in and carrying out the substrate W.

The transfer chamber 240 has a transfer unit 500 that transfers the substrate W into and out of the process chambers 260 and 280 through the inlets of the first and second process chambers 260 and 280. According to an embodiment, the transfer chamber 240 transfers the substrate W between the buffer unit 220, the first process chamber 260, and the second process chamber 280.

A guide rail 242 and a transfer unit 500 are provided in the transfer chamber 240. The guide rail 242 is disposed so that its longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction 12. The conveyance unit 500 is installed on the guide rail 242 and moves linearly along the first direction 12 on the guide rail 242. The transfer unit 500 includes a transfer hand 510 and a base 530. The substrate W is placed on the transfer hand 510. The carrying hand 510 is provided to be extendable with respect to the base 530. The transfer hand 510 directly carries the substrate W into or out of the processing chambers 260 and 280 through the inlet. A plurality of conveyance hands 510 may be provided to be stacked. The conveying chamber 240 is provided with a fan unit 246 for generating a downward airflow in the conveying area therein. Downdraft prevents foreign matter such as particles and fumes from floating inside.

The process chambers 260 and 280 may be process chambers for processing different processes, or process chambers for processing the same process. In the following description, it is assumed that the process chambers 260 and 280 have the same configuration, and only the configuration of the process chamber 260 will be described.

The process chamber 260 includes substrate cleaning arms 261 and 262. It has a chuck 263, a chuck pin 264, a substrate alignment unit 265, and a bowl 266.

The substrate alignment unit 265 directly receives the substrate W from the transfer unit 500, aligns the received substrate W and mounts it on the chuck 263. The substrate alignment unit 265 includes a hand 2600 supporting the substrate W, and a hand driving unit 2700 for raising or lowering the hand 2600 on the z-axis.

The chuck pin 264 supports the substrate W placed by the substrate alignment unit 265. A plurality of chuck pins 264 may be provided. When the substrate W reaches the chuck 263 by the substrate alignment unit 265, the chuck pin 264 rises and protrudes along the z-axis of the process chambers 260 and 280. The substrate W supported by the chuck pin 264 is seated on the chuck 263 as the chuck pin descends along the z-axis. When the processing of the substrate W is completed, the chuck pin 264 rises along the z-axis, and the raised chuck pin 264 separates the substrate W from the chuck 263.

The chuck 263 fixes the rear surface of the substrate W using negative pressure while the substrate W is being processed. The chuck 263 may be configured to be rotatable by a motor.

The bowl 266 prevents other fluids including cleaning liquid from splashing in all directions from the substrate W rotated by the chuck 263. The Paul 266 may be connected to a waste liquid pipe for collecting other fluids.

The first and second cleaning arms 261 and 262 may supply or spray a chemical solution to the substrate W, supply or spray a rinse solution or a drying gas to the substrate W, or may include an ultrasonic cleaning member. The chemical solutions used in the cleaning process of the substrate (W) include hydrofluoric acid (HF), sulfuric acid (H3SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), and Sc-1 solution (ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and At least one selected from the group consisting of water (H2O) mixture) may be used. The substrate cleaning means 261 and 262 have at least one chemical liquid supply nozzle, and supply or spray the chemical liquid onto the substrate using any one chemical liquid supply nozzle selected according to the type of the chemical liquid used for processing the substrate. Ultrapure water (DIW: Deionized Water) may be used as the rinse liquid, and isopropyl alcohol gas (IPa: Isopropyl alcohol gas) may be used as the drying gas.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the substrate alignment unit 265 and the substrate alignment unit will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

2 is a perspective view of a substrate alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an operation state diagram of the substrate alignment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The substrate alignment unit 265 includes a hand 2600 supporting the substrate W, and a hand driving unit 2700 that moves the hand 2600 on the z-axis.

The hand 2600 includes a hand body 2630, a hand connection part 2640 structurally connecting the hand body 2630 and the hand driving part 2700.

The hand body 2630 includes at least one first guide 2610 supporting a portion of the side surface and the rear surface of the substrate W. The second guide 2620 is provided on the hand connection part 2640 and is provided at a position opposite to the first guide 2610.

The shape of the hand body 2630 is possible even if it is not a ring shape as long as at least one first guide 2610 can be disposed in a position capable of supporting the substrate. For example, the hand body 2630 may have the shape of the carrying hand 510 of the carrying unit 500 shown in FIG. 1.

The side cross-sections of the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 have a "b" shape, and thus, may support a portion of the side and rear surfaces of the substrate W. Specifically, each of the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 has side support portions 2611 and 2621 capable of supporting the side surfaces of the substrate W, and is bent from the side support portion to extend or protrude from the substrate W. It includes rear support portions 2612 and 2622 supporting a portion of the rear surface.

Since the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 are configured to be movable in the direction of the center of the substrate w, the degree of seating of the substrate can be controlled according to the positions of the first and second guides 2610 and 2620. .

Specifically, the hand body 2630 provided with the first guide 2610 is connected to a moving member provided in the hand driving unit 2700. The moving member may be an LM guide composed of an LM rail and an LM body that can move on the LM rail.

The hand body 2630 provided with at least one first guide 2610 may be fixed to the first LM body 2601, and the first LM rail (not shown) may be fixed to the hand connection part 2640. Accordingly, the hand body 2630 can be moved based on the hand connection part 2640.

The second guide 2620 may be fixed to the second LM body 2623, and the second LM rail 2624 may be fixed to the hand connection part 2640. Accordingly, the second guide 2620 may move in the direction of the second LM rail 2624 based on the hand connection part 2640.

The first LM body 2601 to which the hand body 2630 is fixed and the second LM body 2623 to which the second guide 2620 is fixed may be driven by a step motor, respectively, or may be driven together in a state in which they are interlocked. .

On the other hand, any structure may be taken as long as the first and second guides can be moved horizontally toward the center of the chuck.

Although not shown in the drawing, the ring-shaped hand body 2630 and the hand connection part 2640 may include various sensors. In general, when the substrate is over any one of the first and second guides, a sensor capable of detecting this may be provided to generate a facility interlock.

The hand connection part 2640 is coupled to the hand driving part 2700 and may be moved in the z-axis direction by the hand driving part 2700. Accordingly, the hand body 2630 fixed to the hand connection part 2640 may also move in the z-axis direction.

The hand drive unit 2700 enables the hand connection unit 2640 connected to the hand body 2630 to move in the z-axis direction. The hand driving unit 2700 is preferably driven by a step motor to move the hand 2600 to an accurate position.

The substrate alignment unit 265 may be provided at one side or corner of the process chambers 260 and 280 to avoid interference with the cleaning arms 261 and 262.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that each of the first guide 2610 and the second guide 2620 is one for convenience of description of the substrate alignment unit 265.

The state (a) of FIG. 3 shows the state before the substrate (W) of the substrate alignment unit 265 is delivered, and the state (b) of FIG. 3 is the state that the substrate alignment unit 265 has received the substrate (W). 3C indicates a state when the substrate alignment unit 265 mounts the substrate W on the chuck, respectively.

Referring to the state (a) shown in FIG. 3, the distance L1 between the first guide 2610 and the second guide 2610 in the state before receiving the substrate W from the transfer unit 500 is the substrate ( It is set longer than the diameter of the substrate W so that interference with w) does not occur.

When the substrate W is inserted from the transfer unit 500 to the lower position of the hand 2600, the hand 2600 is moved by the hand driving unit 2700 as shown in (b) of FIG. 3. Descend to a position Thereafter, the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 become L2 because the distance between the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 is narrowed. The distance L2 is a distance in consideration of the teaching error for the hand 2600 of the transfer unit 500. After that, the conveying unit 500 exits the process chamber. On the other hand, when the distance between the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 is L2, the side support portions 2611 and 2621 of the first and second guides are separated from the side surfaces of the wafer by d2 on average. d2 corresponds to the teaching error range for the process chamber of the transfer unit 500. The distance d2 between the side support portions 2611 and 2621 can prevent interference with the first and second guides 2610 and 2620 when the transfer unit 500 exits the process chamber.

Referring to the state (c) shown in FIG. 3, for alignment of the substrate W received from the transfer unit 500, the first and second guides move horizontally by d2-d3 distance toward the center of the chuck. do. That is, the side support portions 2611 and 2621 of the first and second guides are spaced apart by d3 on average from the side surfaces of the wafer.

In this case, if the substrate W is not aligned with respect to the center of the chuck, it may be pushed by the side support portions 2611 and 2621 of the first and second guides to be aligned with the center of the chuck. It is seated on the chuck in the state (c) shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the substrate W may be aligned from the center of the chuck within a positioning error range allowed by the microprocessing. The moving distance is set based on a positioning error range for the at least one process chamber of the transfer unit 500 and a positioning tolerance range for a process to be performed in the at least one process chamber.

In the unloading process of the substrate, the transport unit may take the substrate supported by the substrate alignment unit, and the transport unit may directly take the substrate positioned on the chuck.

The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention can perform microprocessing in spite of a positioning error with respect to the process chamber of the transfer unit.

Since the substrate alignment unit provided in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is driven only in the Z-axis direction, there is no fear that the teaching of the substrate alignment unit is shifted from the center of the chuck in the X-axis or Y-axis direction.

Although the above has been described with reference to embodiments of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the art can variously modify and modify the present invention within the scope not departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the following claims. You will understand that you can change it.

10: index module 20: process processing module
120: load port 140: transfer frame
220: buffer unit 240: transfer chamber
260, 280 first and second process chamber
500: transfer unit 510: transfer hand
2600: hand 2610: first guide
2620: second guide 2630: hand body
2640: hand connection 2700: hand drive

Claims (4)

A plurality of process chambers; And
It includes a transfer unit for transferring the substrate to the plurality of process chambers,
At least one process chamber among the plurality of process chambers,
A substrate alignment unit receiving a substrate from the transfer unit, aligning the transferred substrate, and seating it on a chuck,
The substrate alignment unit,
A ring-shaped hand having at least three guides distributedly arranged to support a portion of a side surface and a rear surface of the substrate, and a hand driving unit for moving the hand on the Z axis,
The guide moves toward the center of the chuck by a moving distance set in a horizontal direction to align the supported substrate with respect to the center of the chuck,
The set moving distance is set based on a positioning error range for the at least one process chamber of the transfer unit and a positioning tolerance range for a process to be performed in the at least one process chamber. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The substrate alignment unit,
A substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that provided at one side or corner of the at least one process chamber.

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