JP2756777B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for forming a uniform coating solution on a surface of a semiconductor wafer or the like (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) and performing a heat treatment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus of this type is conventionally known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-45514 proposed by the present applicant. As shown in FIG. 4, a substrate supply unit 110 that supplies an unprocessed substrate 1, a spin coating processing unit 120 that forms a coating of a coating liquid on each substrate 1 supplied from the substrate supply unit 110, A substrate collection unit 130 for collecting the substrate 1.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 2 in a substrate supply unit 110 denotes a carrier for accommodating a plurality of substrates 1, and 111 denotes a substrate taken out of the carrier 2 or a carrier 2.
Loading robot to be stored in the rotary coating processing unit 12
Reference numeral 121 in 0 denotes a substrate transport robot, reference numeral 123 denotes a rotary coating machine for coating liquid, and reference numeral 127 denotes a heat treatment plate for heating the substrate in close contact with or close to a hot plate in order to volatilize a solvent component in the coating liquid.

In the above conventional example, the substrate 1 on which the film has been formed is recovered in the carrier 2 by the substrate recovery section 130, and the carriers 2 are transported to the heat treatment furnace, where the substrate 1 in the carrier 2 is heat-resistant. The substrate was transferred to a substrate storage boat, and a plurality of substrates 1 were collectively loaded into a heat treatment furnace via the substrate storage boat and heat-treated.

[0005]

In the above conventional example, the carrier from which the substrate has been recovered in the substrate recovery section is carried to a heat treatment furnace,
Since the substrates in the carrier are transferred to the substrate storage boat, the transportation and transfer require labor, and the heat treatment must be stopped during the transfer of the substrates. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus that does not require human labor and improves operation efficiency.

[0006]

The present invention is configured as follows to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, a substrate supply unit that supplies a substrate, a spin coating processing unit that forms a coating of a coating liquid on a substrate supplied from the substrate supply unit, and a plurality of units that perform a heat treatment collectively on a plurality of substrates on which the coating is formed. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate batch processing unit; and a substrate collection unit provided between the spin coating processing unit and a plurality of substrate batch processing units, wherein the substrate collection unit includes a plurality of substrates on which a coating is formed. And a plurality of substrate storage boats loaded into the multiple substrate batch processing unit, and a substrate loading robot for loading and unloading substrates from the substrate storage boat.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a substrate collecting section provided between the spin coating section and the batch processing section includes a plurality of substrate accommodation boats for receiving a plurality of substrates on which a film is formed as one unit. Since a substrate loading robot is provided for loading and unloading substrates to and from the substrate storage boat, the substrates on which the coating is formed in the spin coating section are sequentially stored in the substrate storage boat via the substrate loading robot in the substrate recovery section. The substrates accommodated in the substrate accommodation boat in a plurality of units as described above are loaded into the multiple substrate batch processing unit via the substrate accommodation boat and subjected to heat treatment.

On the other hand, the substrates that have been subjected to the heat treatment are sequentially taken out from another substrate accommodation boat via a substrate loading robot. The substrates on which the coating has been formed in the spin coating section are sequentially accommodated in the empty substrate accommodation boat during the heat treatment, and are ready for the next heat treatment.
In other words, the heat treatment does not need to be stopped while the substrate is taken in and out of the substrate storage boat.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a substrate collecting section is provided between the spin coating section and the multiple substrate batch processing section, and a plurality of substrate storage boats and the substrate loading robot are provided in the substrate collecting section. Since the substrate is taken in and out of the substrate storage boat without intervening, it is not necessary to carry the carrier, and it is not necessary to manually put the substrate in and out. In addition, during the heat treatment in the multiple substrate batch processing unit, the substrates on which the film formation has been completed are sequentially accommodated in another substrate accommodation boat so as to be ready for the next heat treatment. The heat treatment does not need to be stopped during the loading and unloading, and the operation efficiency can be improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spin coating apparatus, and FIG.

The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate supply unit 10 for supplying a substrate 1 and each substrate 1 supplied from the substrate supply unit 10.
A spin coating apparatus 50 comprising a spin coating section 20 for forming a coating of a coating solution on the substrate and volatilizing a solvent component in the coating, and a substrate collecting section 30 for collecting each substrate 1 formed by the spin coating section 20. And a plurality of substrate collective processing apparatuses 40 connected and arranged adjacent to and adjacent to the substrate collecting unit 30, and each substrate 1 having undergone film formation in the spin coating processing unit 20.
Is once collected in the substrate collecting section 30, and the plurality of collected substrates 1 are treated as one unit and heat-treated collectively by the plural-substrate collective processing apparatus 40.

The substrate supply section 10 functions not only as a substrate supply section for supplying the substrate 1 to the spin coating section 20 but also as a substrate collection section for temporarily collecting the substrate 1 as described later. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of carriers 2 for accommodating a large number of substrates 1 in a horizontal position with a vertical interval therebetween are arranged on a carrier mounting table 3. A main operation panel 4 is incorporated on the front surface of the carrier mounting table 3 so that a series of preset processes can be continuously performed.

The substrate supply section 10 is covered with a cover 11 as shown in FIG. 2, and has therein a moisture absorption preventing means 32 as shown in FIG. The moisture absorption preventing means 32 has the same configuration as that provided in the substrate collecting section 30 described later, and the contents thereof will be omitted from the following description.

The substrate supply unit 10 takes out the substrates 1 one by one from the carrier 2 by the substrate loading robot 5 and transfers the substrates 1 to the substrate transport robot 21, and completes the formation of the coating and the volatilization of the solvent component in the spin coating unit 20. The substrate 1 or the substrate 1 that has been subjected to the heat treatment by the multiple substrate batch processing apparatus 40 can be returned to the empty carrier 2 via the substrate transfer robot 21 and the substrate loading robot 5.

The spin coating section 20 has a passage 22 for the substrate transfer robot 21 at the center thereof, two spin coating machines 23 on one side of the passage 22, and three heat treatment plates on the other side. The substrate transport robot 21 transports the substrates 1 one by one and applies a coating solution to the surface of each substrate 1 to form a coating and volatilizes a solvent component in the coating. It is configured as follows.

The spin coater 23 includes a chuck 24 that holds and rotates the substrate 1, a scattering prevention cup 25 provided so as to surround the chuck 24, and a silica-based coating on the surface of the substrate 1 held by the chuck 24. And a coating liquid supply nozzle 26 for supplying a coating liquid for forming a coating film. The coating liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate 1 to form a coating film. In addition, as the coating liquid for forming a silica-based film,
For example, a coating solution in which a silicon compound such as halogenated silane or alkoxysilane is dissolved in an organic solvent such as alcohols or esters, or a coating solution in which silica-based fine particles are dispersed and mixed in an organic solvent is used.

The heat treatment plate 27 is provided with a hot plate 28 on the upper stage and a cool plate 29 on the lower stage. The substrate 1 is brought into contact with or close to the hot plate 28 and the cool plate 29 in order. It is configured to volatilize the solvent component of the coating solution formed on the substrate 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate recovery section 30 is covered with a cover 31 similar to the substrate supply section 10, and as shown in FIG. A plurality of substrate accommodation boats 35 capable of accommodating a large number of substrates 1, and a second substrate loading robot 38 for taking the substrates 1 in and out of the substrate accommodation boat 35. The substrate accommodation boat 35 includes a vertical heat treatment furnace 46 which is a main body of a multiple substrate batch processing apparatus 40 described later.
For example, 50 substrates 1 are loaded as one unit, and are formed of a quartz glass material which is a heat-resistant member.

The moisture absorption preventing means 32 is provided in the substrate collecting section 30.
A transparent film heater 33 attached to the cover 31 as a temperature raising means for raising the temperature of the inside,
The film heater 33 includes a gas discharge pipe 34 having a large number of gas injection holes disposed along the inner surface of the cover 31 as a humidity reducing means for reducing the humidity in the air.
By keeping the inside of the substrate recovery unit 30 at a constant high temperature by the gas discharge pipe 34 and maintaining the temperature, a dry N ₂ gas is supplied to the inside of the substrate recovery unit 30 so that the film formed on the substrate 1 absorbs moisture. It is configured to prevent

The N ₂ gas discharged from the gas discharge pipe 34 is supplied to the vertical heat treatment furnace 4 of the
In the furnace chamber 45 having the chamber 6, it is heated in a heat receiving tube 37 provided along the inner surface of the outer wall 47 where the temperature of the furnace chamber 45 becomes high, and is sent through a pipe 36. With the configuration in which the dry N ₂ gas is heated in this manner, the gas discharge pipe 34 not only functions as a humidity reducing unit,
It also has a function as a temperature raising means for raising the temperature in the substrate recovery section 30, and does not require a special heat source for heating the N ₂ gas.

The multiple substrate batch processing apparatus 40 includes a boat transfer chamber 41 in which a boat transfer robot 42 is installed, and a furnace chamber 45 in which the vertical heat treatment furnace 46 is installed. The substrate storage boat 35 collected and stored is transported by the boat transport robot 42 and loaded into the vertical heat treatment furnace 46, and the large number of substrates 1 stored in the substrate storage boat 35 are heat-treated collectively. I have. Reference numeral 43 in FIG. 1 indicates a passage of the boat transport robot 42.

The substrate 1 that has been subjected to the heat treatment in the vertical heat treatment furnace 46 is returned to the substrate collecting section 30 by the boat transfer robot 42 together with the substrate storage boat 35, and is transferred to the substrate transfer robot 21 by the second substrate loading robot 38. The substrate is transferred, returned to the substrate supply unit 10 by the substrate transfer robot 21, and stored in the carrier 2.

If, for example, it is desired to increase the thickness of the coating liquid and perform heat treatment in the multiple substrate batch processing apparatus 40, the substrate 1 which has been subjected to the coating formation and the volatilization of the solvent component in the spin coating processing section 20 is temporarily removed. The operation of accommodating the substrate supply unit 10 in the carrier 2 is sequentially performed for all the substrates 1 in the carrier 2.
After the first film formation is completed for all the substrates 1 in this manner, the second and subsequent film formations are similarly repeated a predetermined number of times. In this case, each substrate 1 is temporarily collected by the substrate supply unit 10 and waits from the first film formation to the second film formation. That is, in this case, the substrate supply unit 10 also functions as a substrate recovery unit, and serves as both. Therefore, in this embodiment,
The substrate supply unit 10 is also provided with the moisture absorption prevention means 32 as described above, so that the substrate supply unit 10 of the coating liquid film formed on the substrate 1
To prevent moisture absorption.

In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the spin coating processing unit 20 has the spin coating machine 23 and the heat treatment plate 27 disposed therein.
Further, the multiple substrate batch processing apparatus 40 includes a boat transfer chamber 41 in which a boat transfer robot 42 is installed, and a vertical heat treatment furnace 46.
And the furnace chamber 45 in which the
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a main part of the substrate processing apparatus in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus according to a conventional example.

[Description of Signs] 1 ... substrate, 10 ... substrate supply section, 20 ... spin coating section,
Reference numeral 30 denotes a substrate recovery unit, 35 denotes a substrate accommodation boat, 38 denotes a substrate loading robot, and 40 denotes a plurality of substrates collective processing apparatus.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-54-163933 (JP, A) JP-A-59-175122 (JP, A) JP-A-1-270962 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 196414 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 50-113347 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model Showa 61-79681 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate supply section for supplying a substrate, a spin coating section for forming a coating of a coating liquid on a substrate supplied from the substrate supply section, and a plurality of substrates on which the coating is formed are collectively taken as one unit. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of substrate batch processing units for performing heat treatment; and a substrate collection unit provided between the spin coating processing unit and the plurality of substrate batch processing units, wherein the substrate collection unit forms a film. A plurality of substrate receiving boats that receive the plurality of substrates as one unit and are loaded into the plurality of substrate batch processing units, and a substrate loading robot that moves substrates in and out of the substrate receiving boats. apparatus.