JP2001053128A - Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To easily confirm a substrate transfer position from a substrate support pin to a substrate transfer machine at the time of teaching, even when a substrate support pin is provided at a position where it is difficult to see. Be able to do it. SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus transfers a substrate W between a substrate transfer machine and a process substrate support pin 2 provided at a position that is difficult to see by moving the substrate transfer machine. The substrate transfer position of the substrate transfer machine with respect to the process substrate support pins 2 is learned from the transfer position.
In addition to the process substrate support pins 2, learning substrate support pins 27 for supporting the substrate W are provided on the ceiling of the easily visible device. The center of the substrate when the substrate W is placed on the learning substrate support pins 27 and the center of the substrate when the substrate W is mounted on the process substrate support pins 2 are matched. The substrate W is transferred between the learning substrate support pins 27 and the substrate transfer device in place of the process substrate support pins 2, and the substrate transfer device for the process substrate support pins 2 is moved from the substrate transfer position. To learn the substrate transfer position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing method and a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to an improved substrate transfer position learning (teaching) function performed between a substrate support and a substrate transfer machine. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a vertical CVD system as an example of a substrate processing apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the substrate positioning device 10 provided in this device.
The vertical CVD / diffusion device loads wafers in hoop units.
It mainly comprises a loading chamber 11 for unloading, a transfer chamber 12 for exchanging wafers between the loading chamber 11 and the processing chamber 13, and a processing chamber 13 for performing a film forming process on the wafers. A substrate alignment device 10 that can be aligned in a vertical direction is provided in a central transfer chamber 12. The loading room 11
Is provided with an I / O stage (not shown), a hoop loader and a hoop shelf as a storage shelf, a pod opener 28 for opening and closing the lid of the hoop 14, and opening the lid of the hoop 14 on which the wafer is placed horizontally. Thus, a large-sized, for example, 12-inch wafer can be taken out from the hoop 14 sideways.

The hoop 14 in which the wafers are stored in a horizontal state is loaded into the loading chamber 11 from outside the apparatus by a transfer device or manually. The pod is opened through a predetermined path to the position where the pod opener 28 is provided, and the lid is opened. The transfer chamber 12 includes a substrate transfer device 15 that can transfer a plurality of wafers at a time and a substrate positioning device 10 that positions the notches of the plurality of wafers at a time. A plurality of wafers are transferred from the opened hoop 14 to a wafer transfer plate (hereinafter, referred to as a tweezer) 16 of the substrate transfer device 15 by the substrate positioning apparatus 1.
0 are collectively input.

After the substrate alignment, the wafers discharged from the substrate alignment device 10 by the substrate transfer device 15 are transferred to the boat 17 at the boat unloading position. Here, the boat withdrawal position is a position where the boat 17 that performs wafer charging and discharging with respect to the boat 17 is withdrawn (unloaded) from the reaction tube 18. The boat 17 on which the wafer has been transferred is carried into the reaction tube 18 above the processing chamber 13. Thereafter, processes such as CVD film formation, diffusion, and oxidation are performed in the reaction tube 18. When the wafer processing is completed, the boat 17 descends and is carried out of the reaction tube 18,
The wafers on the boat 17 are transferred from the processing chamber 13 to the carry-in chamber 11 by the operation reverse to the above (but not through the substrate alignment device 10), stored in the hoop 14, and carried out of the device. You.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, 19 is a transfer elevator, 20 is a transfer arm, 21 is a boat elevator,
2 is a boat arm.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the structure of a substrate positioning apparatus serving as the above-described process substrate support. This is a substrate positioning apparatus having a five-stage turntable 1 that rotates independently and capable of detecting notches or orientation flats of five wafers at a time. Each turntable 1 is provided with a substrate support pin 2, and after properly supporting a wafer at a predetermined position of the substrate support pin 2, notch alignment is performed. A plate cover 3 that covers the surface of the wafer is provided on the ceiling of the substrate alignment apparatus so that particles do not adhere to the surface of the wafer. Also, three (only two can be seen in the figure) pick-up poles 4 are provided on the outer periphery of the turntable 1 and are integrally attached to the base 5. The base 5 is moved up and down by an air cylinder (not shown). With the raising of the pick-up pole 4, the pick-up support pins 6 pick up the wafer from the substrate support pins 2. The picked-up wafer is returned to the substrate support pins 2 by the lowering of the pick-up pole 4. As a result, the notch of the wafer and the substrate support pins 2 for the tweezers
In the circumferential direction of the substrate (i.e., the overlap between the notch and the substrate support pin 2 and the interference between the tweezer 10 and the substrate support pin 2 when the tweezer is inserted when the wafer is ejected after the notch alignment). Has become.

As shown in FIG. 7, the substrate support pins 2 have a tapered surface for supporting the outer periphery of the wafer W, and support the wafer W by floating it from the turntable 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a substrate transfer machine for loading or unloading substrates from or to the above-described substrate alignment apparatus 10. FIG. 8A shows a mode during single-sheet transport, and FIG.
(B) shows a mode at the time of carrying five sheets at a time. In the case of the batch transfer mode for five wafers, the single wafer slider 21 and the batch slider 22 are simultaneously moved as shown in FIG.
The five tweezers 16 lined up and down make it possible to carry five wafers at once. In the case of the single wafer transfer mode for one wafer, as shown in FIG. 8A, only the single wafer slider 21 can be moved, and one tweezer 16a provided on the single wafer slider 21 allows one wafer to be moved. The transfer of one wafer becomes possible. At this time, the collective slider 22 is held so as not to move. The substrate transfer machine 15 includes a tweezer 16.
To the working height and tweezers 16
Is required to be alternately turned to the pod opener 28 and the boat 17, so that a lifting mechanism and a turning mechanism are provided.

As described above, the vertical CVD / diffusion apparatus includes the substrate transfer device 15, and the substrate transfer device 15 is used to transfer the substrate from the pod opener 28 to the substrate positioning device 10 or the substrate positioning device. The wafer is transferred from 10 to the boat 17. In order for the substrate positioning device 10 to perform accurate substrate positioning, the substrate transfer device 15 needs to teach the substrate transfer position with respect to the substrate positioning device 10. Loading of wafers into the substrate alignment apparatus is performed by a substrate transfer machine in a batch of five wafers. In addition, the discharge of the wafers after the notch alignment is performed in a batch by the substrate transfer machine. Therefore, the teaching operation of the substrate transfer machine is important for smooth notch alignment.
Conventionally, this teaching operation is performed as follows.

[0010] Of the five wafers, the wafer W is manually or automatically placed at a correct predetermined position of the substrate support pins 2 of the lowermost turntable 1 so as not to be displaced. Next, the substrate transfer device 15 is driven in the single-wafer transfer mode, and one tweezer 16 slides under the wafer W placed on the lowermost turntable 1 (FIG. 9A). The tweezers 16 are advanced while visually checking that the wafer W is properly supported at a predetermined position of the tweezers 16. When the edge of the wafer W comes to a predetermined position on the tweezer 16, the substrate transfer device 15 is raised, and the wafer W is placed on the tweezer 16 (FIG. 9B). If the wafer W is correctly placed on the tweezer 16, the substrate transfer position is stored in the controller 23 for controlling the substrate transfer machine 15 shown in FIG. 10, and the teaching is completed. At one time, represent the teaching of five tweezers.

If the wafer W is not correctly placed on the tweezers 16, the substrate transfer device 15 is lowered, and the wafer W is returned onto the substrate support pins 2. Confirm that the wafer is on the substrate support pins 2, correct the position of the substrate transfer device 15 again, visually check that the edge of the wafer W is correctly placed on the predetermined position of the tweezers 16, and check the substrate transfer device. 15 rise again. Substrate transfer machine 1 until wafer W is correctly placed on tweezers 16
Step 5 is repeated.

[0012]

However, in the above-described conventional substrate alignment apparatus, the lower turntable 1 is covered with the upper turntable 1 as shown in FIG. 6, so that the wafer is correctly placed on the tweezers. It is very difficult to visually check whether or not it is on the screen. For this reason, teaching time is long, or teaching cannot be performed accurately. If teaching cannot be performed accurately, problems such as interference between the wafer and the tweezers or between the wafer and the substrate support pins occur, which is not preferable.

In the case where the substrate support pins are provided at positions that are difficult to see as described above, it is considered that a pattern recognition device is used to determine the substrate transfer position. Has not been done.

Further, the above problem is widely common to substrate processing apparatuses other than a substrate alignment apparatus which requires teaching of a substrate transfer machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing method and a substrate processing apparatus which can solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and can easily confirm the state of teaching while visually checking the state.

[0016]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a learning substrate support is provided at a position which is easily visible, separately from a process substrate support which is provided at a position which is difficult to view. The support portion and the process substrate support portion are coaxially arranged such that the centers of the substrates supported by the support portions coincide with each other, and the substrate is previously supported at a predetermined position of the learning substrate support portion, and the substrate is The substrate transfer device is moved so that the substrate can be transferred to a predetermined position of the transfer device, the substrate transfer position at that time is learned by the substrate transfer device, and the substrate transfer performed between the substrate transfer device and the learning substrate support portion. This is a substrate processing method in which learning of the position of the substrate transfer device, which is originally performed between the substrate transfer unit and the substrate transfer unit, is performed by learning the position of the substrate transfer device.

The substrate supporting portion provided with the learning substrate supporting portion is used for transferring a substrate to and from the substrate transfer device and requesting the substrate transfer device to learn the substrate transfer position. If
It can be applied to any substrate support. Examples of the substrate support unit include a substrate alignment device, a boat, and a substrate storage container. The substrate transfer machines include those capable of transferring a plurality of substrates at a time, as well as those capable of transferring a single substrate.

Thus, even when it is difficult to visually check the substrate transfer position from the substrate support to the substrate transfer machine, the visual observation of the substrate transfer position from the learning substrate support to the substrate transfer machine is facilitated. It is possible to easily distinguish whether or not the substrate transfer position on the substrate transfer machine matches a predetermined position. In particular, in the automation of substrate processing, an expensive pattern recognition device is used to determine the substrate transfer position. Thus, inexpensive and reliable discrimination is possible, and the cost of the substrate processing step can be reduced. In addition, since the substrate is transferred to a correct position between the substrate support and the substrate transfer device, interference between the substrate and the substrate transfer device and interference between the substrate and the substrate support can be prevented. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer device which supports a substrate at a predetermined position of a process substrate support provided at a position where it is difficult to view, and transfers the substrate to a predetermined position of the substrate transfer device. In the substrate processing apparatus for causing the substrate transfer device to learn the substrate transfer position at that time, a learning substrate support portion for learning the substrate transfer position in place of the process substrate support portion is provided with a process. It is provided separately from the substrate supporting portion for easy viewing, and is arranged coaxially so that the center of the substrate supported by the learning substrate supporting portion and the center of the substrate supported by the process substrate supporting portion coincide. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that:

A simple structure in which a learning substrate support for supporting a substrate is provided at a position easily visible, separately from the process substrate support, provides a simple structure between the substrate transfer device and the learning substrate support. The transfer position of the substrate can be easily determined visually. Also,
Since the center of the substrate when the substrate is placed on the learning substrate support and the center of the substrate when the substrate is mounted on the process substrate support match, the substrate is supported by the learning substrate support. By performing the learning on the substrate thus obtained, the same learning as the learning performed on the substrate supported by the process substrate supporting portion can be performed.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below by taking a vertical CVD / diffusion apparatus as an example of a substrate processing apparatus. In FIG. 1, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a substrate positioning apparatus provided in the vertical CVD / diffusion apparatus described above. This allows the notches on multiple wafers to be
This is a substrate alignment device capable of detecting a plurality of substrates at once. Here, the number of wafers that can be collectively processed is five.

Five wafers are put into a substrate positioning device by a five-substrate batch transfer machine, and transferred onto each turntable 1. Each turntable 1 is independently rotated by five motors corresponding to the number of wafers, and each optical sensor (not shown) detects a notch on the wafer and aligns the notch at a predetermined position. When notch alignment of all five stages of the turntable 1 is completed, the wafer is unloaded from the substrate alignment device by the substrate transfer device.

Three scoop-up poles 4 are provided upright on the outer periphery of the five-stage turntable 1 so as to be able to move up and down. On the pick-up pole 4, pick-up support pins 6 for supporting the outer peripheral portion of the wafer at a constant pitch in the length direction and picking up the wafer are provided in an arm shape so as to project toward the center of rotation. In addition, a plate cover 3 that covers the surface of the wafer is provided on the ceiling of the substrate alignment apparatus so that particles do not adhere to the surface of the wafer.

A scooping pole 4 for scooping up and retracting the wafer is provided so as to be able to move up and down. Is rotated by a predetermined angle, the process substrate support pins 2 are shifted, and then the wafer is mounted on the turntable 1 again to eliminate the overlap between the notch and the process substrate support pins 2. I am trying to do it. After the alignment (notch alignment), the process substrate support pins 2 are connected to the tweezers 16 of the substrate transfer device 15.
In consideration of such a case, after notch alignment, the wafer is once picked up and retracted, during which only the turntable 1 is rotated, the process substrate support pins 2 are shifted, and the tweezers 16 are moved. To release the approach road.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the embodiment, learning board support pins 27 are provided at easily visible positions on the plate cover 3 of the board positioning apparatus. The three learning substrate support pins 27 are provided at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction of the wafer W, and support the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W. The location of the learning board support pins 27 is arbitrary, but the approach of the tweezers 16 is avoided in order to eliminate interference with the tweezers 16. As shown in FIG. 2, the center N of the wafer W supported by the learning substrate support pins 27 coincides with the center O of the wafer W supported by the process substrate support pins 2 of the turntable 1. As described above, it is arranged coaxially with the process substrate support pins 2. Thereby, the center of the wafer W at a predetermined position on the learning substrate support pins 27, that is, the center of the wafer W when the wafer W is placed as shown in FIG. To do

The wafer W supported by the learning substrate support pins 27 is supported in parallel similarly to the wafer W supported by the process substrate support pins 2. Learning board support pin 27
Has a convex cross-section in the illustrated example, the head is chamfered, falls vertically to the shoulder, and the shoulder is inclined with a taper. The outer peripheral portion of the wafer W is supported at the base between the shoulder and the head. Since the learning substrate support pins 27 are used at the time of teaching, the learning substrate support pins 27 do not require a complicated shape for correcting the mounting position and posture of the wafer, unlike the process substrate support pins 2 used at the time of processing. It may be of a simple shape that can be positioned in a single shot as shown in the figure, and the gap between the wafer W and the learning substrate support pins 27 is set to be extremely small, and here is only 0.2 mm. For this reason, the centering of the wafer can be easily performed only by placing the wafer W at a predetermined position on the learning substrate support pin 27, whether it is a manual or a substrate transfer machine.

The shape of the learning board support pins 27 is as follows.
It is left-right symmetric, simply because it is easy to manufacture. Further, since the wafer supported by the learning substrate support pins 27 does not need to be rotated unlike the wafer W supported by the process substrate support pins 2, the plate cover 3 is not provided with a turntable.

The teaching operation of the substrate transfer machine for such a substrate positioning apparatus is performed as follows.

First, the substrate positioning apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
Learning board support pin 27 provided on plate cover 3
The wafer W is placed at a predetermined position. Next, the five-substrate batch transfer machine 15 shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. At this time, the tweezers 16 at the bottom of the five tweezers are the learning board support pins 27 of the plate cover 3 of the alignment device 10.
And rises to a height that can be inserted below the wafer W placed on the wafer. This is because, in the substrate transfer machine of the embodiment, only the lowermost tweezers 16 can transfer a single wafer.

The orientation of the tweezers 16 is changed from the front of the pod opener 28 to the front of the substrate positioning device 10 by rotating the tweezers 16 of the substrate transfer machine 15 as shown in FIG. Then, all the four tweezers from the top are left at the standby position, only the lowermost tweezer 16a is advanced, and the wafer W placed on the learning substrate support pins 27 of the plate cover 3 on the substrate alignment device 10 is moved. Slide down (Fig. 3 (a)). At this time, the wafer W is not brought into contact with the tweezers 16a as shown in FIG. The wafer W is placed at a predetermined position on the tweezer 16a,
The tweezers 16a are advanced while visually confirming that they are properly supported by the slopes 26 on both sides of the depression 24a.
The reason why the slope 26 is provided on the tweezer 16a and the wafer W is supported by being floated from the depression 24 formed between the slopes is that the edges of the wafer W are line-contact supported by the two slopes 26, so that the particles are supported. This is to prevent contamination by water.

Slope 2 on both sides of depression 24 of tweezer 16a
When the edge of the wafer W arrives at 6, the substrate transfer machine 15 is raised, and the wafer W is placed on the tweezer 16a (FIG. 3).
(B)). As shown in FIG. 3B, if the wafer W is correctly placed at a predetermined position on the tweezer 16a, the substrate transfer position is stored in the controller 23 shown in FIG. The substrate transfer positions of the five tweezers 16 are calculated, transfer data including those substrate transfer positions is created and stored, and teaching is completed.

If the wafer W is not properly placed on the predetermined position on the tweezer 16a, the substrate transfer device 15 is lowered, and the wafer W is placed on the learning substrate support pins 27. Confirm that the wafer W is correctly located at the predetermined position of the learning substrate support pins 27, correct the position of the substrate transfer device 15 again, and visually confirm that the edge of the wafer W is correctly placed on the slope 26 of the tweezers 16. Then, the substrate transfer device 15 is raised. Tweezer 1
3 until the wafer W is correctly placed at a predetermined position on the
The position correcting operation of the substrate transfer device 15 is repeated until the state of (b) is reached.

Plate cover 3 of substrate positioning device 10
If the teaching of the substrate transfer position can be correctly performed by using the learning substrate support pins 27 provided in the above, it means that the teaching of the substrate transfer machine can be performed without using the process substrate support pins. When the correct substrate transfer position is known, the transfer position data is stored in the controller 23.
Sent to The processing means of the controller 23 performs arithmetic processing for calculating the transfer position of the wafer, creates transfer data for all wafers based on the result, and sends the created transfer data to the substrate transfer device 15. . The substrate transfer machine 15 collectively transfers the five wafers W to the substrate support pins 2 of each turntable 1 of the substrate alignment device according to the transfer data.

In the above teaching, since the wafer is placed on the ceiling of the apparatus exposed to the outside, it is very easy to visually check whether the wafer W is correctly placed at a predetermined position on the tweezers 16. . Therefore, the teaching time is shortened, and teaching can be performed accurately. Therefore, it is possible to effectively avoid interference between the wafer and the tweezers due to inaccuracy of the teaching and between the wafer and the substrate support pins. Also,
With a simple configuration in which a learning substrate support pin for mounting a wafer on the ceiling of the apparatus is provided, teaching can be performed easily and visually, so that it is not necessary to employ an expensive pattern recognition device or the like.

[0036]

According to the method of the present invention, the learning of the substrate transfer position can be easily performed, so that the learning time of the substrate transfer machine can be reduced. Further, since learning can be performed accurately, interference between the substrate and the substrate transfer device and interference between the substrate and the substrate support can be prevented.

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the substrate transfer position can be easily learned by the substrate transfer device with a simple structure in which the learning substrate support is provided at a position easily visible. Further, since the substrate centers of the learning substrate support portion and the process substrate support portion are matched, learning of the original process substrate support portion can be performed on behalf of the learning of the learning substrate support portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a substrate positioning apparatus provided in a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the center of a wafer on a learning substrate support pin and the center of a wafer on a process substrate support pin according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a relationship between a tweezer and a wafer at the time of teaching according to the embodiment, in which (a) shows a state in which a tweezer is inserted between a wafer supported by learning substrate support pins and a plate cover; (B) is an explanatory view showing a state where the wafer is correctly placed on the tweezers.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an external view of a conventional substrate alignment device.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a cross-sectional shape of a conventional process substrate support pin.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are perspective views showing different states of use of the substrate transfer machine, wherein FIG. 8A is a perspective view showing a state of single-sheet transfer, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing a state of batch transfer.

9A and 9B are explanatory views showing a relationship between a conventional tweezer and a wafer during teaching, and FIG. 9A shows a state in which a tweezer is inserted between a wafer supported by process substrate support pins and a turntable. FIG. 7B is an explanatory view showing a state where the wafer is correctly placed on the tweezers.

FIG. 10 is a schematic explanatory view of a substrate transfer machine and a control controller for controlling the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Turntable 2 Process substrate support pin (process substrate support part) 27 Learning substrate support pin (learning substrate support part) 16 Tweezer W substrate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3C016 HA13 5F031 CA02 DA17 GA03 GA07 GA47 GA48 GA50 HA08 HA59 JA35 KA14 MA28

Claims (2)

[Claims] A learning substrate support is provided at an easily visible position separately from a process substrate support provided at a position where visual observation is difficult, and the learning substrate support and the process substrate support are provided at a position easily visible. Can be arranged coaxially so that the centers of the substrates supported by them coincide with each other, the substrate is supported in advance at a predetermined position of the learning substrate support portion, and the substrate can be transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate transfer machine. The substrate transfer device is moved so that the substrate transfer position at that time is learned by the substrate transfer device, and the substrate transfer position performed between the substrate transfer device and the learning substrate support portion is learned by the substrate transfer device. A substrate processing method in which learning of a substrate transfer position that is originally performed between the substrate transfer unit and the substrate transfer unit is performed on behalf of the substrate transfer unit. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: supporting a substrate at a predetermined position of a process substrate supporting portion provided at a position where it is difficult to see the substrate;
In the substrate processing apparatus for causing the substrate transfer device to learn the substrate transfer position at that time, a learning substrate support portion for learning the substrate transfer position instead of the process substrate support portion is provided. Separately provided at a position easily visible, and arranged coaxially so that the center of the substrate supported by the learning substrate support portion and the center of the substrate supported by the process substrate support portion coincide with each other. Substrate processing equipment.