JP3347560B2 - 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 baking before and after resist coating before and after exposure processing in a photolithography process on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing various types of substrate processing such as development, post-baking, and the like, and in particular, a substrate heating processing section in which a periphery of a hot plate that supports and heats a substrate on an upper surface and is covered with an outer peripheral cover, The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus in which a chemical solution processing section for performing a chemical solution process such as resist coating and development is disposed with a substrate transfer path interposed therebetween.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional substrate processing apparatus of this type includes a substrate heating processing section in which the periphery of a hot plate that supports and heats a substrate on its upper surface is covered with an outer peripheral cover, or a chemical solution processing such as resist coating and development on the substrate. It has a chemical processing section including a spin coater and a spin developer for applying, a substrate transport robot for transporting the substrate in the apparatus, and the substrate transport robot is provided at least between the substrate heating processing section and the chemical processing section. The substrate heating processing section and the chemical solution processing section are arranged to face each other with the substrate transfer path of the substrate transfer robot interposed therebetween.

In order to cool a substrate heated by a substrate heating section to a predetermined temperature near normal temperature, this type of substrate processing apparatus has a substrate cooling plate having a cool plate for supporting and cooling the substrate on its upper surface. A processing unit is provided. Normally, the substrate cooling processing section and the substrate heating processing section are stacked and arranged on a side facing the chemical solution processing section with the substrate transport path interposed therebetween.

In this substrate processing apparatus, various types of substrate processing such as baking before resist coating before and after exposure processing in a photolithography process, resist coating, prebaking, post-exposure baking, development, and postbaking are performed on the substrate. Baking processes such as baking before resist coating, pre-baking, post-exposure baking, and post-baking are processes for heating a substrate to a predetermined temperature and are performed in a substrate heating processing section.After this baking process, the heated substrate is removed from the substrate. It is cooled to a predetermined temperature near normal temperature in the cooling processing section. The resist coating is performed by a spin coater, and the development is performed by a spin developer. The exposure processing itself is performed by an exposure unit dedicated to the exposure processing provided in the present substrate processing apparatus.

[0005] The substrate transfer robot heats the substrate according to a predetermined sequence of substrate processing (for example, bake before resist coating, resist coating, pre-bake, (exposure), bake after exposure, development, post-bake). Transporting the substrate to the unit, substrate cooling processing unit, and chemical solution processing unit (spin coater or spin developer), transferring the substrate before exposure to the exposure unit, and receiving the exposed substrate from the exposure unit. . Thus, a series of substrate processes in the photolithography process are performed on the substrate.

[0006]

However, the prior art having such a structure has the following problems. That is, when the substrate processing apparatus having the above configuration performs various types of substrate processing before and after the exposure processing, the film thickness of the resist applied in the resist coating step becomes non-uniform, A phenomenon that defects are likely to occur has occurred.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of appropriately performing resist coating and development.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present inventors first consider the causes of inconveniences such as nonuniform resist film thickness in the resist coating process and poor development in the developing process. investigated. As a result, it was found that the inconvenience was caused by a thermal influence from the substrate heating section as described below.

For example, in order to perform development properly, it is necessary to perform processing in an atmosphere at a predetermined temperature (around 23 ° C.) near normal temperature, while keeping the entire substrate at the above-mentioned atmosphere temperature. Therefore, a downflow airflow around 23 ° C. in a clean room (this type of substrate processing apparatus is installed in the clean room) is taken into a processing chamber provided with a spin developer for performing a developing process. Atmosphere such as room temperature is set to a predetermined temperature, and in the cooling process in the substrate cooling processing section before the developing process, the entire substrate is cooled to a predetermined temperature near normal temperature suitable for the developing process.

In order to properly apply the resist, it is necessary to perform the treatment in an atmosphere at a predetermined temperature near normal temperature while keeping the entire substrate at the above-mentioned ambient temperature.
Therefore, in the processing chamber where the spin coater for applying the resist is installed, an air stream whose temperature is kept constant regardless of the downflow in the clean room, the atmosphere is specially controlled, and the pre- In the cooling processing in the substrate cooling processing section, the entire substrate is cooled to a predetermined temperature near normal temperature suitable for resist coating.

On the other hand, in the substrate heating section, the substrate is heated to 90 ° C. or higher, and the heat at the time of heating heats the outer peripheral cover around the hot plate. In the conventional substrate processing apparatus, the temperature of the surface of the outer peripheral cover on the side of the chemical processing section is heated to around 40 ° C. A high-temperature atmosphere higher than near normal temperature was radiated to the substrate transport path from the outer peripheral cover on the chemical solution processing section side of the substrate heating section, and it was determined that resist application and development could not be performed properly due to this thermal effect. Was.

More specifically, it is considered that the application and development of the resist are thermally affected by the substrate heat treatment section due to the following behavior.

In this type of substrate processing apparatus, a downflow airflow in a clean room is also supplied to a substrate transfer path other than the processing chamber in which the spin coater is disposed, similarly to the processing chamber in which the spin developer is disposed. While taking in and managing it to be the same as the atmosphere in the clean room,
Dust (particles) generated in a substrate transfer path or the like is caused to flow downward to be eliminated.

When stacking the substrate heating processing section and the substrate cooling processing section, taking into consideration the thermal influence of the substrate heating processing section on the substrate cooling processing section, as shown in FIG. The substrate heat treatment section 11 is stacked on the lower side of the substrate 12.

Accordingly, the surface 10 of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate heating section 11 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 (in FIG. 11, a spin coater SC which is one of the chemical processing sections 2 is shown).
The high-temperature atmosphere radiated from “a” descends as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 11 on a downflow airflow (indicated by a white arrow) in the clean room taken into the substrate transfer path 30, and the substrate is transferred. The substrate W is supported by the robot 3 and heated on the surface of the substrate W conveyed from the substrate cooling processing section 12 to the chemical processing section 2, thereby making the substrate cooling processing section 12 suitable for chemical processing (resist coating and development). It is conceivable that the chemical solution treatment could not be performed in a state where the temperature was adjusted to a temperature, which led to non-uniform resist film thickness and poor development due to one reason. Note that the hatched arrows in FIG. 11 indicate downflow airflows for specially controlling the atmosphere such as the temperature and humidity in the processing chamber SCR of the spin coater SC. Plate and cool plate are shown.

The high-temperature atmosphere from the substrate heating section 11 is applied to a processing chamber of the chemical solution processing section 2 (in FIG.
C inside the processing chamber of the chemical processing section 2 by heating the surface of the chemical processing section 2 on the substrate transfer path 30 side. It is conceivable that even if the atmosphere rises above a temperature atmosphere suitable for the chemical solution treatment, the resist film thickness becomes nonuniform and development failure occurs.

That is, the substrate W itself heated to a temperature suitable for the chemical processing by the high temperature atmosphere from the substrate heating processing unit 11 is heated, or the substrate atmosphere is changed by changing the temperature atmosphere in the processing chamber of the chemical processing unit 2. The present inventors have estimated that the thermal influence from the processing unit 11 causes unevenness in the resist film thickness and poor development.

Such non-uniform resist film thickness in the resist coating step and poor development in the developing step eventually lead to non-uniform line width. In particular, such non-uniformity of the line width is more remarkable in recent substrate manufacturing in which the line width is extremely fine, and is not a problem that can be ignored in the substrate manufacturing in which the line width is increasingly reduced.

The inventors of the present invention have made the following inventions based on the above presumption, and have performed various types of substrate processing before and after the exposure processing. It was confirmed that such a phenomenon was successfully prevented.

That is, among the inventions made by the present inventors, the invention according to claim 1 is a substrate heating processing section in which the periphery of a hot plate that supports and heats a substrate on its upper surface is covered with an outer peripheral cover; In a substrate processing apparatus in which a chemical processing section for performing chemical processing on the substrate is disposed with a transport path of the substrate interposed therebetween, a water cooling pipe is disposed on a surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the chemical processing section side. Then, constant temperature water is caused to flow through the water cooling pipe to cool the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section to near the ambient temperature in the chemical processing section. It is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect, a temperature measuring means for measuring a temperature of a surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section. And control means for adjusting and controlling the temperature of the constant temperature water flowing through the water cooling pipe based on the output from the temperature measuring means.

[0022]

The operation of the present invention is as follows. That is,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the constant temperature water is caused to flow through the water cooling pipe provided on the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section, and the chemical processing section of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section. The side surface is cooled to near the ambient temperature in the chemical processing section. As a result, hot air is not radiated from the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section to the substrate transport path, a high-temperature atmosphere is not generated in the substrate transport path, and thermal effects on the substrate and the chemical processing section are reduced. Can be prevented.

In the invention according to the second aspect, the temperature measuring means measures the temperature of the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section, and outputs the result to the control section. The control means, based on the temperature measurement result output from the temperature measurement means, the temperature of the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section,
The temperature of the constant-temperature water flowing through the water-cooling pipe is adjusted and controlled so that the temperature of the constant-temperature water flowing through the water-cooling tube is maintained near the ambient temperature in the chemical solution processing section.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The outline of an embodiment of the invention described in claim 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the invention according to claim 1 is an outer peripheral cover 1 that covers the periphery of a hot plate HP provided in a substrate heating unit 11.
A water cooling pipe 21 is provided on the surface 10a on the side of the chemical processing section 2 (in the figure, a spin coater SC which is one of the chemical processing sections 2). A constant temperature water is caused to flow through the pipe 21, and the temperature of the surface 10 a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate heating section 11 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 is adjusted to the processing chamber of the chemical processing section 2 (the processing chamber SCR of the spin coater SC,
In the figure, the cooling device is characterized in that it is configured to cool to a temperature near an ambient temperature in a processing chamber (not shown) of a spin developer provided on the back side of the spin coater SC.

Since the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate cooling processing section 12 and the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate heating processing section 11 are usually integrally formed, in FIG. Chemical treatment section 2 of outer peripheral cover 10
A water-cooling tube 21 is provided on the side surface 10a, and constant-temperature water flows through the water-cooling tube 21.

The constant temperature water supply device 22 includes a heater 22
a, constant temperature water is generated by adjusting pure water or the like to an arbitrary temperature by the cooler 22b, the constant temperature water generated by a pump (not shown) is supplied to the water cooling tube 21 and collected, and the constant temperature water is It is configured to circulate in the water supply device 22. The heater 22a and the cooler 22b may be configured by a Peltier element (the heat-absorbing side of the Peltier element is used as a cooler and the heat-radiating side is used as a heater).
2a is provided with a separate heater or the like.

As a result, the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate heating section 11 on the side of the chemical solution processing section 2 is moved from the substrate transport path 3
No hot air is radiated to the substrate transport path 30, and no high-temperature atmosphere is generated in the substrate transport path 30, which can prevent thermal influence on the substrate W and the processing chamber of the chemical liquid processing section 2. 11
It is possible to prevent unevenness in the resist film thickness in the resist coating step and defective development in the developing step, which are caused by the thermal influence from the substrate.

By using pure water as constant temperature water,
As compared with the case where tap water is used, pipe clogging in the cooling pipe 21 is less likely to occur, and labor such as maintenance can be omitted.

Next, an outline of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating section is provided.
A temperature measuring sensor 23 as a temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the surface 10a on the side of the chemical solution processing section 2; and a control section 24 for adjusting and controlling the temperature of constant temperature water flowing through the water cooling pipe 21 based on the output from the temperature measuring sensor 23. It is characterized by having. The temperature control of the constant temperature water is performed by the heater 22 a or the cooler 2 of the constant temperature water supply device 22.
2b is controlled. In addition, the control unit 24
For example, it is constituted by a microcomputer or the like.

Thus, the temperature of the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the substrate heating section 11 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 can be maintained near the ambient temperature in the processing chamber of the chemical processing section 2 by feedback control.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, white arrows and hatched arrows indicate downflow airflows (white arrows) in the clean room taken into the substrate processing apparatus, respectively, as in FIG. , Spin coater SC processing room SCR
A downflow airflow (hatched arrow) for special management of the atmosphere such as temperature and humidity in the inside is shown, and a symbol CP indicates a cool plate.

Next, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0033]

【Example】

<First Embodiment> FIG. 3 is a partially omitted perspective view showing the entire structure of a substrate processing apparatus and an indexer according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing the overall configuration of the substrate processing apparatus, indexer, interface unit (IF unit), and exposure unit (partially omitted) according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a partially omitted front view of a heat treatment unit provided in the first embodiment, as viewed from a chemical treatment unit side. In addition, in order to clarify the positional relationship between the drawings, common X, Y,
The Z axis is illustrated.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the substrate processing apparatus 5 according to the first embodiment includes a
And a heat treatment unit 1 including a substrate cooling processing unit 12 and a spin coater SC for resist coating and a spin developer SD for development (in the figure, first and second spin developers SD1 and SD2 are provided). Chemical treatment unit 2 provided
And a substrate transport robot 3 for transporting the substrate W in the apparatus 5
The substrate transfer robot 3 is provided between the heat treatment section 1 and the chemical processing section 2, and the heat treatment section 1 (the substrate heat treatment section 11 or the substrate The cooling processing unit 12) and the chemical processing unit 12 are arranged to face each other.

The heat treatment section 1 is constituted by arranging a plurality (six in the figure) of heat treatment blocks 1a in which the substrate cooling treatment section 11 is stacked in the Z-axis direction with the substrate cooling treatment section 12 at the bottom. Have been. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate heating processing unit 11 includes a hot plate HP that supports and heats the substrate W on the upper surface, and the substrate cooling processing unit 12 supports the substrate W on the upper surface. A cool plate CP for cooling is provided. The substrate heating processing unit 11 and the substrate cooling processing unit 12 are partitioned by a threshold plate 1b at each stage, and the periphery is covered with an outer peripheral cover 10 for each heat treatment block 1a. As shown in FIG. 3, an arm 31 of the substrate transfer robot 3 is inserted into and removed from the surface 10 a of the outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of the chemical solution processing unit 2, and the substrate W is moved into the substrate heating processing unit 11 and the substrate cooling processing unit 12. Loading / unloading port 1 for loading / unloading
1a and 12a are formed, and for example, as shown by a dotted line in FIG.
(For example, a new outer cover is attached outside the surface of the original outer cover 10 on the side of the chemical solution treatment unit 2 so as to be disposed over the entire surface 10a except for the outer surface 12a, and a space between these two outer covers is provided. Disposed with the water cooling tube 21 interposed therebetween.

Each end of the water-cooled tube 21 disposed on the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a is shown in FIG.
Is connected to the supply side and the recovery side of the constant temperature water supply device 22 described above, so that constant temperature water is circulated in the water cooling pipe 21 and the constant temperature water supply device 22. A temperature sensor 23 is attached to the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a. The temperature of the surface 10a is constantly measured during operation of the device 5, and the result is output to the control unit 24. ing. The controller 24 controls the heater 22 a and the cooler 22 of the constant temperature water supply device 22 based on the output from the temperature sensor 23.
b to control the temperature of the constant temperature water flowing through the water cooling pipe 21 so as to adjust the temperature of the surface 1 of the outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a.
0a is set to the ambient temperature in the processing chamber of the chemical solution processing unit 2 (the surface 10 of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the heat treatment block 1a disposed opposite to the processing chamber SCR of the spin coater SC).
The temperature of a is the temperature in the processing chamber SCR, the outer peripheral cover 1 of the heat treatment block 1a disposed opposite to each processing chamber SDR of each spin developer SD (SD1, SD2).
0 is the temperature in the processing chamber SDR.
I try to keep it.

In the figure, all of the heat treatment blocks 1a have a plurality of substrate heating processing units 11 stacked thereon with the substrate cooling processing unit 12 as a lower stage. In some cases, the heat treatment block 1a is formed by lamination, and in other cases, an empty portion is provided.
Also in the case of such a configuration, the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of the chemical solution processing section 2 is cooled in the same manner as described above.

Referring back to FIGS. 3 and 4, the spin coater SC which constitutes the chemical solution processing section 2 includes a processing chamber SC which is surrounded by an outer periphery.
An atmosphere suitable for resist application is supplied in a down flow into the processing chamber SCR, and the processing chamber SCR is managed so that the atmosphere becomes suitable for resist application.
In addition, each spin developer S constituting the chemical processing section 2
D (SD1, SD2) also each processing chamber SD covered
The atmosphere is controlled by taking in the downflow airflow in the clean room into each processing chamber SDR.

The arm 31 of the substrate transfer robot 3 is provided on the surface of the heat treatment section 1 surrounding the processing chambers SCR and SDR.
Are inserted and removed to form a loading / unloading port 2a for loading / unloading the substrate W into / from each of the processing chambers SCR and SDR. Shutters (not shown) are provided at the loading / unloading port 2a and the loading / unloading ports 11a and 12a of the substrate heating processing sections 11 and the substrate cooling processing sections 12, and are opened only when the substrate W is loaded / unloaded. It has become.

The substrate transfer robot 3 includes an arm 31 for placing and supporting the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W, and an arm support 32 having a built-in drive mechanism (not shown) for moving the arm 31 in one horizontal direction. And the arm support 32 and the arm 31
Drive mechanism (not shown) for rotating the arm around a vertical axis (axis parallel to the Z axis), and a drive mechanism (not shown) for raising and lowering the arm support 32 and the arm 31 in the Z axis direction in the figure.
And a drive mechanism (not shown) for moving the arm support portion 32 and the arm 31 in the X-axis direction in the figure.

A drive mechanism for moving the arm 31 in and out, and a drive mechanism for moving the arm support 32 and the arm 31 up and down and moving the arm 31 in the X-axis direction are well-known single shafts including a screw shaft, a guide shaft, and a motor. The arm support 32 and the arm 31 are rotated around a vertical axis by a directional drive mechanism or the like, and are realized by rotation of a motor or the like.

The substrate transport robot 3 having the above configuration is
The substrate W is placed and supported on the arm 31, and the X
The movement operation in the axial direction and the Z-axis direction, and the direction in which the arm 31 is rotated about the vertical axis and the arm 31 is moved back and forth is determined by the heat treatment unit 1 (arbitrary substrate heating processing unit 11 or substrate cooling processing unit 12) or Operation toward the chemical processing section 2 (spin coater SC or any spin developer SD), arm 31
By appropriately combining the operations of moving the substrate, an arbitrary substrate heating processing unit 11, a substrate cooling processing unit 12, and a spin coater S
The substrate W is transported between C and the spin developer SD.

In the substrate processing apparatus 5, the substrate transport path 30 of the substrate transport robot 3 other than the processing chamber SCR in which the spin coater SC is disposed, and the spin developer SD
The airflow of the downflow in the clean room is taken into the processing room SDR and the like in which is disposed.

The indexer 6 is provided with a loading / unloading table 61 for mounting a transport carrier C for accommodating a plurality of substrates W, and between the carrier C and the substrate transport robot 3 in the substrate processing apparatus 5. It is composed of a substrate loading / unloading robot 62 for transferring the substrate W between them.

The exposure unit 7 performs an exposure process, and includes an exposure machine such as a reduction projection exposure machine (stepper), an alignment mechanism for aligning the substrate W during exposure by the exposure machine, and an exposure unit. A substrate transfer robot and the like (both not shown) for transferring the substrate W in the unit 7 are integrally unitized.

The IF unit 8 is a unit for transferring a substrate W between the substrate processing apparatus 5 and the exposure unit 7, and transfers an unexposed substrate W received from the substrate transfer robot 3 in the substrate processing apparatus 5. The exposed substrate W transferred to the substrate transfer robot in the exposure unit 7 or received from the substrate transfer robot in the exposure unit 7 is
A substrate transfer robot (not shown) for transferring the substrate to the substrate transfer robot 3 is provided.

The indexer 6, substrate processing apparatus 5, and I
The operation of the F unit 8 and the exposure unit 7 will be described below.

A carrier C containing a plurality of substrates W before various types of substrate processing in the photolithography process performed in the substrate processing apparatus 5 and the exposure unit 7 is carried out. (Hereinafter, referred to as AGV) from the previous process and is placed on the carry-in / out table 61 of the indexer 6. The substrate loading / unloading robot 62 transfers the substrate W from the carrier C by one.
The substrates are taken out one by one and sequentially delivered to the arm 31 of the substrate transfer robot 3 in the substrate processing apparatus 5.

Here, in the substrate processing apparatus 5, for example, baking before resist coating, resist coating, and pre-baking are performed as substrate processing before exposure processing, and as substrate processing after exposure processing, for example, baking after exposure, development, Post bake shall be performed.

The substrate transport robot 3 transports the substrate W according to the above processing. That is, the substrate loading / unloading robot 62
When the substrate W is received from the substrate W, the substrate W is transported in the order of the substrate heating processing unit 11, the substrate cooling processing unit 12, the spin coater SC (processing chamber SCR), the substrate heating processing unit 11, and the substrate cooling processing unit 12. Bake before resist coating (substrate heating processing unit 11), cooling processing to a temperature suitable for resist coating after baking before resist coating (substrate cooling processing unit 12), resist coating (spin coater SC), pre-baking (substrate heating processing unit) 11), a cooling process after the pre-bake (substrate cooling processing unit 12) is performed.

When the cooling process after the pre-baking is completed, the substrate transfer robot 3 transfers the substrate W to the substrate transfer robot in the IF unit 8, and the substrate transfer robot transfers the substrate W to the substrate transfer robot in the exposure unit 7.
And exposure processing is performed in the exposure unit 7.

When the exposure processing in the exposure unit 7 is completed, the exposed substrate W is transferred to the substrate transport robot 3 in the substrate processing apparatus 5 via the IF unit 8. When the substrate transport robot 3 receives the exposed substrate W, the substrate W
Are transported in the order of the substrate heating processing unit 11, the substrate cooling processing unit 12, the spin deropper SD (the processing chamber SDR), the substrate heating processing unit 11, and the substrate cooling processing unit 12, and the post-exposure bake (the substrate heating processing unit 11). ), Cooling processing to a temperature suitable for development after post-exposure baking (substrate cooling processing section 12), development (spin developer SD), post-baking (substrate heating processing section 11), cooling processing after post-baking (substrate) The cooling unit 12) is performed.

When the cooling process after the post-baking is completed,
The substrate transfer robot 3 transfers the substrate W to the substrate cooling processing unit 1.
2, the substrate loading / unloading robot 6 of the indexer 6
Hand over to 2. The substrate loading / unloading robot 62 sequentially stores the substrates W received from the substrate transport robot 3 and having been subjected to the respective substrate processes in the photolithography process in the empty carriers C waiting in the loading / unloading table 61. And
Substrate W after each substrate processing in photolithography process
Is stored in the carrier C, the carrier C
Is transported to the post-process of the photolithography process by the AGV.

In this embodiment, during the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 5,
Outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a (heat treatment unit 1)
The surface 10a on the side of the chemical processing section 2 is cooled to near the ambient temperature in the processing chamber of the chemical processing section 2 (the processing chamber SCR of the spin coater SC or the processing chamber SDR of the spin developer SD). The hot air in the inside 11 is not diffused to the substrate transfer path 30 via the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10, and the high-temperature atmosphere of the substrate transfer path 30 generated in the conventional apparatus is eliminated. Does not change, and during the transfer of the substrate from the substrate cooling processing unit 12 to the spin coater SC or the spin developer SD, the substrate W heated to a temperature suitable for a chemical solution treatment (resist coating or development) is heated. There is no influence. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the thickness of the resist applied in the resist application step from becoming non-uniform, and to prevent development failure in the development step.

In the case of the exposure process, there is a temperature of the substrate W suitable for the exposure process. In the cooling process after the pre-bake, the entire substrate W is cooled to such a temperature, and the temperature is controlled in such a manner. It is desired that the substrate W be conveyed to the exposure unit 7 at the same time. In this embodiment, the substrate cooling processing unit 12
Also in transferring the substrate to the F unit 8, there is no thermal influence from the substrate heating unit 11. Atmospheres such as temperature and humidity in the IF unit 8 and the exposure unit 7 are appropriately controlled so that the temperature of the substrate W does not fluctuate during transportation of the units 8 and 7. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the substrate W can be subjected to the exposure processing in a state where the temperature is adjusted to a temperature suitable for the exposure in the substrate cooling processing unit 12, and the exposure at the time of the exposure processing due to the temperature fluctuation is performed. Problems such as unevenness can also be prevented.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 6 is a partially omitted perspective view showing the entire structure of a substrate processing apparatus and an indexer according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. , Indexer, IF unit and exposure unit (some are omitted)
FIG. 8 is a partially omitted front view of the heat treatment unit provided in the second embodiment viewed from the chemical treatment unit side.

In the substrate processing apparatus 5 according to the second embodiment, a separate second substrate transfer robot 4 is provided on the side opposite to the substrate transfer robot 3 with the heat treatment section 1 interposed therebetween. The second substrate transfer robot 4 has the same configuration as the substrate transfer robot 3.

In this embodiment, the substrate transfer robot 3 includes the substrate cooling processing unit 12 and the chemical processing unit 2 (spin coater SC).
And spin developer SD).
The second substrate transport robot 4 transports the substrate between the substrate heating processing unit 11 and the substrate cooling processing unit 12, transfers the substrate W between the substrate loading / unloading robot 62 of the indexer 6, and the inside of the IF unit 8. The substrate W is transferred to and from the substrate transfer robot.

Accordingly, the loading / unloading port 11a of the substrate heating unit 11 is provided only on the second substrate transfer robot 4 side (not shown in FIG. 6).
2 are provided on both sides of each of the substrate transport robots 3 and 4 (in FIG. 6, the substrate transport robot 3
Only the loading / unloading port 12a on the side is shown in the drawing). Also in this embodiment, for example, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 8, a water cooling pipe 21 is provided on the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a on the side of the chemical treatment section 2, and a constant temperature water supply device 22 is provided. Circulates and supplies constant temperature water from the surface 10a
Are cooled to a predetermined temperature.

The transfer of the substrate W between the substrate transfer robot 3 and the second substrate transfer robot 4 is performed via the substrate cooling processing unit 12. That is, the second substrate transport robot 4 for the cooling process after the baking before resist coating or the post-exposure bake transports the substrate W to the substrate cooling processing unit 12,
When the cooling process there is completed, the substrate transport robot 3 takes out the cooled substrate W from the substrate cooling processing unit 12, and
The transfer of the substrate W from the second substrate transfer robot 4 to the substrate transfer robot 3 is performed by transferring the substrate W to the chemical processing section 2, and when the chemical processing (resist coating or development) is completed, the substrate transfer robot 3 Transports the substrate W after the chemical processing to the substrate cooling processing unit 12 (however, in this case, the cooling processing is not performed in the substrate cooling processing unit 12), and the second substrate transport robot 4 performs the substrate cooling processing on the substrate W. By removing the substrate W from the unit 12, the transfer of the substrate W from the substrate transfer robot 3 to the second substrate transfer robot 4 is performed.

The substrate transfer robot 3 performs only the transfer of the substrate between the substrate cooling processing unit 12 and the chemical solution processing unit 2.
Since the substrate W is not transported to the substrate heating section 11, the substrate W between the substrate cooling section 12 and the chemical processing section 2 is not provided.
If the transfer can be performed on the same horizontal plane, the substrate transfer robot 3 does not have to be configured so that the arm 31 can move up and down in the Z-axis direction.

The down-flow airflow in the clean room is also taken into the substrate transfer path 40 of the second substrate transfer robot 4.

The other configurations of the substrate processing apparatus 5 and the configurations of the indexer 6, the exposure unit 7, and the IF unit 8 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the substrate transfer apparatus 5 having such a configuration, similarly to the first embodiment, the unevenness of the resist film thickness caused by the thermal influence from the substrate Developing defects can be prevented.

Next, some modifications of the above embodiments will be described. [Modification 1] In the above embodiments, the temperature measurement sensor 23 and the control unit 24 are provided, but these may be omitted. Outer peripheral cover 10 of heat treatment block 1a during operation of substrate processing apparatus 5
The temperature of the constant temperature water which can cool the temperature of the surface 10a on the side of the chemical processing section 2 to around the atmospheric temperature in the processing chamber of the chemical processing section 2 is previously determined experimentally or empirically. May be set to such a temperature and flow through the water cooling tube 21. In this configuration, even if the temperature of the surface 10a fluctuates somewhat during the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 5, the temperature does not become as high as about 40 ° unlike the conventional apparatus, and the resist coating and developing are not performed. Thermal effects can be sufficiently prevented.

[Modification 2] In each of the above embodiments, the water cooling pipe 21 is also provided on the surface of the outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of the chemical solution processing section 2 of the substrate cooling processing section 12. Outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of chemical treatment section 2 of heat treatment section 11
It is sufficient if it is arranged on the surface.

[Modification 3] In each of the above embodiments, the surface 1 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 of the outer peripheral cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a is used.
Although the water-cooling tube 21 is provided only on the surface 0a, the water-cooling tube 21 may be provided on the surface facing each heat treatment block 1a in addition to the surface 10a, and the surface may be cooled.

[Modification 4] In each of the above embodiments, a water cooling pipe 21 is provided for each outer cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a, a constant temperature water supply device 22 is provided, and the outer cover 10 of each heat treatment block 1a is provided. Surface 10a on the side of chemical treatment section 2
Although the temperature was adjusted (cooled) individually for each, as shown in FIG. 9, all the water cooling pipes 21 disposed on the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of the heat treatment block 1a on the side of the chemical treatment section 2 were connected and connected. A single constant temperature water supply device 22 may circulate and supply constant temperature water at the same temperature. In the case of such a configuration, the temperature of the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 of all the heat treatment blocks 1a on the side of the chemical solution processing section 2 is adjusted by the spin coater SC.
Temperature in the processing chamber SCR and the spin developer S
The temperature of the constant temperature water may be set or adjusted and controlled so as to be an appropriate temperature between the atmosphere temperature in the processing chamber SDR of D. At this time, for example, all the heat treatment blocks 1a
If the temperature of the surface 10a of the outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 is cooled to the ambient temperature in the processing chamber SDR,
There is a case where the ambient temperature in the processing chamber SCR of the spin coater SC is weakened, but it does not affect the resist coating and there is no particular problem. Although FIG. 9 illustrates the heat treatment unit 1 of the first embodiment, the heat treatment unit 1 of the second embodiment can be similarly applied and implemented.

[Modification 5] In the above embodiments, the outer peripheral cover 10 is formed for each heat treatment block 1a. However, the outer peripheral cover 10 may be formed integrally with the entire heat treatment section 1. In this case, for example, the temperature may be controlled (cooled) on the surface 10a of the integral outer peripheral cover 10 on the side of the chemical processing section 2 by configuring as in the fourth modification.

[Modification 6] In the first embodiment, a plurality of substrate transfer robots 3 are installed, and a substrate heating processing section 11, a substrate cooling processing section 12, a chemical processing section 2 (spin coater S
C, transfer of the substrate W between the spin developers SD),
The plurality of substrate transfer robots 3 cooperate with each other to transfer the substrate W to and from the substrate transfer robot 62 in the indexer 6 and to transfer the substrate W to and from the substrate transfer robot in the IF unit 8. It may be configured to perform this.

[Modification 7] In the second embodiment, similarly, a plurality of substrate transfer robots 3 and / or a plurality of second substrate transfer robots 4 may be provided. In the second embodiment, three substrate transfer robots 3 are installed to transfer the substrate W between the spin coater SC and the substrate cooling processing unit 12 opposed thereto, and to cool the first spin developer SD1 and the substrate cooled opposite thereto. The transfer of the substrate W between the processing units 12 and the transfer of the substrate W between the second spin developer SD2 and the substrate cooling processing unit 12 facing the second spin developer SD2 may be shared by the respective substrate transfer robots 3. Each of the substrate transport robots 3 does not need to be configured to be movable in the X-axis direction in the figure. At this time, the second from the indexer 6,
Only the second substrate transfer robot 4 can transfer the substrate W to the substrate heating processing section 11 of the fourth and sixth heat treatment blocks 1a.
In the fourth and sixth heat treatment blocks 1a, only the substrate heating processing section 11 may be laminated, or even if the substrate heating processing section 11 and the substrate cooling processing section 12 are laminated, Reference numeral 12 may be configured exclusively for the second substrate transfer robot 4 by providing a loading / unloading port only on the second substrate transfer robot 4 side.

[Modification 8] In the second embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (1), a substrate transfer unit 13 for transferring the substrate W between the substrate transfer robots 3 and 4 may be separately provided in the heat treatment unit 1. In this case, the substrate W is cooled before the chemical processing in the chemical processing unit 2, but the cooling processing is not performed immediately after the chemical processing. The transfer of the substrate W to the transfer robot 4 is performed via the substrate transfer unit 13, and the transfer of the substrate W from the second substrate transfer robot 4 to the substrate transfer robot 3 is performed via the substrate cooling processing unit 12. If this is done, bidirectional transfer of the substrate W between the substrate transfer robots 3 and 4 can be performed smoothly. The substrate transfer section 13 is provided with a loading / unloading port 13 for loading / unloading the substrate W.
a is provided on both sides of each of the substrate transfer robots 3 and 4, and, for example, a plurality of substrate support pins 13b for mounting and supporting the substrate W are fixedly provided upright. The substrate transport robot 3 places the substrate W on the substrate support pins 13b, and the second substrate transport robot 4 takes out the substrate W, so that the substrate transport robot 3 transfers the substrate W to the second substrate transport robot 4. Delivery of the substrate W is performed. Further, in this configuration, the substrate transport robot 3 transports the substrate between the chemical solution processing section 2, the substrate cooling processing section 12, and the substrate transfer section 13, and the second substrate transport robot 4 performs the substrate heating processing section. 11 and the substrate cooling processing unit 12 and the substrate transfer unit 13, the transfer of the substrate W between the substrate transfer robot 62 of the indexer 6 and the transfer of the substrate W between the substrate transfer robot in the IF unit 8. The transfer of the substrate W is performed.

[Modification 9] In each of the above embodiments, the chemical solution processing section 2 is constituted by one spin coater SC and two spin developers SD (SD1, SD2), but a plurality of spin coaters SC are provided. The present invention can be similarly applied to a substrate processing apparatus provided with one or three or more spin developers SD.

[Modification 10] In the second embodiment,
Substrate W between substrate transfer robot in IF unit 8
Is transferred by the second substrate transfer robot 4, the substrate cooling processing unit 1 by the second substrate transfer robot 4.
When the substrate W whose temperature has been adjusted to a temperature suitable for the exposure processing is transferred from the second substrate 2 to the IF unit 8, the substrate W is thermally affected by the substrate heating processing unit 11. In order to eliminate such inconveniences, a water cooling pipe 21 is also provided on the outer cover 10 of the heat treatment section 1 (each heat treatment block 1a) on the side of the second substrate transfer robot 4, and constant temperature water is also supplied to the water cooling pipe 21 to warm the water. It may be adjusted (cooled). Further, when the substrate transfer robot 3 is configured to transfer the substrate W to and from the substrate transfer robot in the IF unit 8, the outer peripheral cover 10 of the heat treatment unit 1 (each heat treatment block 1a) as in each of the above embodiments. Temperature is controlled (cooled) by the substrate transfer robot 3 from the substrate cooling processing unit 12 to the IF unit 8 so that the temperature is adjusted to a temperature suitable for exposure processing. When the substrate W is transported, the substrate W is not thermally affected by the substrate heating unit 11.

[0075]

As is clear from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, constant-temperature water is supplied to the water cooling pipe provided on the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section. And the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heat processing unit on the side of the chemical processing unit is cooled to near the ambient temperature in the chemical processing unit. No hot air is radiated to the transport path, no high-temperature atmosphere is generated in the substrate transport path, and thermal effects on the substrate and the chemical processing section can be prevented. In addition, nonuniform resist film thickness in the resist coating process and poor development in the developing process can be suitably prevented, and the resulting uneven line width can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the temperature measuring means measures the temperature of the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical solution processing section, and based on the result, the control means performs water cooling. The temperature of the constant temperature water flowing through the pipe is adjusted and controlled. The temperature of the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section is cooled by feedback control, so the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical processing section. Can always be maintained near the ambient temperature in the chemical processing section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the invention described in claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the invention described in claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a partially omitted perspective view showing the entire configuration of the substrate processing apparatus and the indexer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus, an indexer, an interface unit (IF unit), and an exposure unit (partially omitted) according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially omitted front view of a heat treatment section provided in the first embodiment as viewed from a chemical solution treatment section side.

FIG. 6 is a partially omitted perspective view showing an overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus and an indexer according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan sectional view showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus, an indexer, an IF unit, and an exposure unit (partially omitted) according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially omitted front view of a heat treatment section provided in the second embodiment, as viewed from a chemical treatment section side.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a heat treatment section according to a modified example of the first and second embodiments, as viewed from a chemical solution treatment section side.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a modified example in which a substrate transfer section is separately provided in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat treatment part 1a ... Heat treatment block 2 ... Chemical treatment part 3 ... Substrate transfer robot 10 ... Peripheral cover of substrate heating treatment part etc. 10a ... Surface of the peripheral cover such as substrate heating treatment part etc. on the chemical treatment part side 11 ... Substrate heating treatment Unit 12: substrate cooling processing unit 21: water cooling tube 22: constant temperature water supply device 23: temperature measurement sensor (temperature measurement unit) 24: control unit (control unit) 30: substrate transfer path W: substrate SC: spin coater SD (SD1) , SD2)… Spin developer HP… Hot plate

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-244095 (JP, A) JP-A-5-29438 (JP, A) JP-A-63-32921 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027 H01L 21/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A substrate heating processing unit that covers a periphery of a hot plate that supports and heats a substrate on an upper surface with an outer peripheral cover;
In a substrate processing apparatus in which a chemical processing section for performing chemical processing on the substrate is disposed with a transport path for the substrate interposed therebetween, a water cooling pipe is provided on a surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the chemical processing section side. A substrate characterized in that constant-temperature water flows through the water-cooled pipe to cool the surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating section on the side of the chemical processing section to near the ambient temperature in the chemical processing section. Processing equipment. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature measuring means measures a temperature of a surface of the outer peripheral cover of the substrate heating processing section on the side of the chemical solution processing section, based on an output from the temperature measuring section. And a control means for adjusting and controlling the temperature of the constant temperature water flowing through the water cooling pipe.