JP2002368060A - Substrate support member, substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method, and substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] To suppress the influence of holding by a hand on a substrate, thereby realizing high-quality substrate processing. A hand H21 for unloading a processed substrate from a hot plate of a pre-bake processing unit has a length of 2 mm.
Suction pads P1 to 1 that make line contact with the lower surface of the substrate with the following line width
P4 and support pads Ps1 and Ps2 are provided. Such a hand H21 does not exchange a large amount of heat with the hot substrate after the heat treatment on the hot plate. Therefore, there is no undesired thermal effect on the substrate. Specifically, undesired unevenness does not occur in the resist after the exposure and the development processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
A substrate supporting member used to support a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, a substrate for a magnetic disk, a substrate for a magneto-optical disk, and the like The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for processing a substrate as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display panel, a photolithography process is performed to form a fine thin film pattern on a surface of a substrate. The photolithography process includes substrate cleaning, drying of the substrate after cleaning (dehydration baking), application of a resist on the substrate surface, drying of the resist (prebaking), exposure of a desired pattern, development after exposure, and baking of the resist after development. (Post bake).

A substrate processing apparatus for performing the steps from the resist coating step to the developing step has, for example, a simplified configuration shown in FIG. That is, the substrate is first subjected to a resist coating process by a coater unit, is subjected to a pre-bake process by a hot plate (HP) and a cool plate (CP), is then subjected to an exposure process by an exposure device, and is further subjected to a development process by a development device. receive.
The transfer of the substrate between the units is performed by a substrate transfer mechanism having a hand for holding the substrate. A wet resist is applied to the surface of the substrate before being subjected to the heat treatment by the hot plate. This wet resist is extremely sensitive to temperature changes. Therefore, it is known that unevenness occurs due to heat exchange between the coater unit and a hand for transferring a substrate to a hot plate. Since the resist baked by the hot plate is not so sensitive to temperature, the resist is not largely uneven due to the transfer of the substrate between the units after the hot plate.

[0004] In order to minimize the heat exchange between the substrate and the hand, the hand used for transferring the substrate between the coater and the hot plate is provided only at the edge of the back surface of the substrate. A configuration that holds the substrate in contact has been used. However, recently, productivity has been improved by producing, for example, a plurality of liquid crystal display panels from one substrate. Therefore, the size of the substrate to be processed is large, and the deflection at the center of the substrate cannot be ignored. Therefore, a hand for transporting the substrate from the coater to the hot plate has been provided with a support pin for supporting the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate.

[0005] Since the contact of the support pins causes unevenness of the resist at the corresponding location, the arrangement of the support pins is changed according to the method of mounting the liquid crystal display panel (four or six). In addition, it is necessary to prevent the resist from being uneven in the effective pixel area of the liquid crystal display panel. However, since the operation of changing the arrangement of the support pins is complicated, the productivity is inevitably deteriorated, especially in a production factory in which boards of various types are put in a day.

In order to solve this problem, a configuration in which a simple drying device is disposed between a coater unit and a hot plate as shown in FIG. 20 has been adopted. The simple drying device is a device for drying a resist by air drying or reduced pressure drying. With the introduction of the simple drying device, it is possible to suppress the unevenness of the resist due to the contact of the support pins during the transfer of the substrate between the coater unit and the hot plate.

[0007]

However, it has been found that when this configuration is employed, the baking process on the hot plate becomes insufficient. That is, in the simple drying device, the drying proceeds from the surface of the resist by the air drying process or the reduced pressure drying process, so that a dry film is formed on the surface. Due to the presence of the dried film, the progress of the baking process on the hot plate is slowed, and the baking is insufficient.

That is, vapor such as a solvent is generated from the inside of the resist by baking, and the dried film inhibits the dissipation of the vapor. For this reason, the above remains in the inside of the resist, resulting in insufficient baking. When holding the substrate carrying the resist having such insufficient baking by hand and transporting it from the hot plate to the cool plate, a large amount of the substrate heated by the hot plate and the hand at room temperature Heat exchange takes place. As a result, the resist on the portion of the substrate with which the hand has contacted changes in quality with respect to the other portions of the resist. Therefore, unevenness occurs due to the contact of the hand used to transfer the substrate from the hot plate to the cool plate.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, suppress the influence of holding by a hand on a substrate, and thereby realize a high-quality substrate processing. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate supporting member for supporting a substrate from a lower surface, wherein the substrate has a lower surface of 2 mm or less. A substrate support member having a substrate contact portion that makes line contact with a line width of: According to this configuration, since the substrate supporting member supports the lower surface of the substrate by the substrate contact portion that makes line contact with a line width of 2 mm or less, the amount of heat exchange with the substrate is small. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being affected by heat. This can improve the quality of temperature-sensitive processes.

[0011] The substrate contact portion may include a peripheral wall portion that is circumferentially continuous.
In this case, the peripheral wall portion is, as described in claim 3,
An airtight chamber may be formed by the peripheral wall portion and the lower surface of the substrate. In this case, by exhausting the airtight chamber, the lower surface of the substrate can be sucked and held. In order to perform such adsorption holding well and to reduce the amount of heat exchange with the substrate, as set forth in claim 4, the peripheral wall portion is formed of a wire of 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less. It is preferable that the width makes line contact with the lower surface of the substrate.

[0012] As described in claim 5, a plurality of the substrate contact portions may be provided. In this case, if the extending directions of the plurality of substrate contact portions intersect, the substrate can be stably supported. The substrate contact portion is made of a material having a thermal conductivity of a predetermined value or less (for example, 1 W / (m · K) or less, preferably 0.5 W / (m · K)). Preferably, it is configured. Thereby, the amount of heat exchange between the substrate and the substrate support member can be effectively suppressed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing unit for performing processing on a substrate, and a substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit, wherein the substrate transport mechanism is provided in the first aspect.
A hand that holds the substrate by supporting the lower surface of the substrate with the substrate supporting member, and a driving mechanism that moves the hand with respect to the processing unit. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: According to this configuration, the substrate holding hand provided in the substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit is a substrate supporting member having a substrate contact portion that makes line contact with the lower surface of the substrate with a line width of 2 mm or less. To support the lower surface of the substrate. Therefore, the amount of heat exchange between the substrate and the hand can be reduced, so that the substrate does not have an adverse effect due to the heat exchange. Therefore, if this substrate processing apparatus is applied to a process in which temperature conditions are particularly severe, high-quality substrate processing can be realized.

The substrate transport mechanism may have a function of carrying out a substrate from the processing section and a function of carrying an unprocessed substrate into the processing section. In this case, it is preferable that a hand for carrying in the substrate and a hand for carrying out the substrate are provided, and at least the hand for carrying out the substrate is provided with the substrate supporting member according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Preferably. The invention according to claim 8 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processing unit includes a heat processing unit that heats the substrate.

In this configuration, since the substrate is subjected to the heat treatment in the processing section, when the substrate after the heat treatment is held by the hand for transporting the substrate in an atmosphere at room temperature, for example, a large space is formed between the substrate and the hand. A temperature difference has occurred. However, according to the present invention, since the substrate supporting member that supports the lower surface of the substrate is configured to minimize the heat exchange between the substrate and the hand, a large amount of heat is generated between the substrate and the hand. It is not exchanged between. Therefore, the substrate after the heat treatment is not adversely affected.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the heat treatment section performs a heat treatment on an unexposed substrate having a resist coated on the upper surface. Device. The heat treatment section is a heat treatment section for performing a pre-bake step in a photolithography step. For example, the unexposed substrate applied to the upper surface of the resist may be a substrate that has been subjected to a simple drying process such as an air drying process or a reduced pressure drying process.
In such a substrate, the resist is in a state where a dry film is formed on the surface, and the pre-bake by the heat treatment unit tends to be insufficient. When such a pre-baked substrate is held by a hand at room temperature, if a large amount of heat is exchanged between the substrate and the hand, a distinct unevenness occurs in the substrate after exposure and development processing. However, according to the present invention, since the amount of heat exchange between the substrate and the hand is suppressed to be small, the above-described problem does not occur. Thereby, a favorable photolithography process can be performed.

According to a tenth aspect, when an airtight chamber is formed between the substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate (eg, in the case of the third aspect), the airtight chamber is evacuated. By providing the exhaust means, the substrate can be sucked and held, and the substrate can be transported reliably. Claim 1
The invention described in (1) includes, in addition to the first processing unit which is the processing unit,
The apparatus further includes a second processing unit that performs processing on the substrate, and further includes, in addition to the first substrate transport mechanism that is the substrate transport mechanism,
The apparatus further includes a second substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit, wherein the second substrate transport mechanism contacts the lower surface of the substrate with a wider line width than the first substrate support member that is the substrate support member. 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a hand having a second substrate supporting member for supporting the substrate, and a driving mechanism for moving the hand with respect to the processing unit. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to item 1.

For example, while strict temperature control is required for the substrate after processing by the first processing unit,
It is assumed that the substrate after the processing by the processing unit does not require very strict temperature control. In this case, the second substrate transport mechanism that unloads the substrate from the second processing unit is a second substrate that supports the substrate by contacting with a wider line width than the first substrate support member provided in the first substrate transport mechanism. A hand having a support member is provided. Thus, the substrate can be stably held, so that, for example, the substrate can be transferred at a higher speed than the first substrate transfer mechanism. As a result, it is possible to shorten the transfer tact time of the substrate, which can contribute to the improvement of the productivity of the substrate processing.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing section for performing processing on a substrate, and a plurality of substrate support members, wherein the plurality of substrate support members hold the substrate by supporting the lower surface of the substrate. A hand, and a drive mechanism for moving the hand forward and backward with respect to the processing unit, including a substrate transport mechanism for unloading a substrate from the processing unit, wherein the plurality of substrate support members are provided for the processing unit of the hand with respect to the processing unit. It is arranged at a different position with respect to the retreating direction, and is determined so that the amount of heat exchange between each substrate supporting member and the lower surface of the substrate decreases from the front side in the retreating direction to the rear side in the retreating direction. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that:

According to this configuration, the hand of the substrate transport mechanism has a plurality of substrate support members arranged at different positions in the advancing / retreating direction, and the substrate can be stably held by the plurality of substrate support members. The amount of heat exchange between each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate is determined so as to decrease from the front side in the forward / backward direction of the hand toward the rear side in the forward / backward direction. Therefore, when the processing unit is a heat processing unit that heats a substrate as described in claim 13, the processing unit enters the processing unit more deeply, and as a result, exists in the processing unit for a longer time. The more the substrate support member on the front side in the forward / backward direction, the more easily heat exchange between the substrate and the substrate support member on the rear side in the forward / backward direction,
Heat exchange with the substrate hardly occurs. The substrate support member on the front side in the forward / backward direction has a long stay time in the processing unit, so the temperature difference with the substrate is small, and conversely, the substrate support member on the rear side in the forward / backward direction tends to have a large temperature difference with the substrate. It is in. Therefore, by employing the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being affected by heat from the hand.

The heat treatment section may perform a heat treatment on an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on the upper surface thereof. That is, the heat treatment section may execute a pre-bake step in a photolithography step. In this case, the substrate to be processed in the heat treatment unit may be one obtained by subjecting a resist applied on the substrate to a simple drying process. Therefore, there is a possibility that the pre-bake by the heat treatment section may be insufficient due to the influence of the dry film formed on the surface of the resist. However, even in this case, since the amount of heat exchange between the hand and the substrate is small, the exposure and development processing are performed. Clear resist unevenness does not occur on the subsequent substrate.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the plurality of substrate support members each have a substrate contact portion that contacts a lower surface of the substrate, and a contact area between the substrate contact portion of each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate is: 15. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the number is set so as to decrease from a front side in the forward / backward direction to a rearward side in the forward / backward direction. According to this configuration, since the contact area between the substrate supporting member and the lower surface of the substrate is small on the base end side of the hand, the amount of heat exchange between them is small. On the other hand,
On the tip side of the hand, the substrate contact portion and the lower surface of the substrate are in contact with a relatively large area, so that the substrate can be stably held. Thus, the amount of heat exchange between the hand and the substrate can be suppressed while holding the substrate stably. As a result of the substrate being held stably, the substrate can be transported at a high speed, so that the substrate transport tact can be reduced,
The productivity of substrate processing can be improved.

Specifically, as described in claim 16,
When the substrate contact portion is to contact the lower surface of the substrate in a linear region, the contact line width of the substrate contact portion of each substrate support member, from the front in the retreat direction to the rear in the retreat direction. What is necessary is just to determine so that it may become narrow. Claim 17
In the invention described above, the plurality of substrate support members each have a substrate contact portion that is in contact with a lower surface of the substrate, and the thermal conductivity of the substrate contact portion of each substrate support member is different from the forward / backward direction in the forward / backward direction. 17. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is set so as to become smaller toward a rear side.

Thus, even if the shape or size of the substrate supporting member is the same, an appropriate heat exchange state with the substrate can be set in the substrate supporting member provided at each part of the hand in the forward and backward directions. . Thus, the substrate can be stably supported, and the influence of heat on the substrate from the hand can be suppressed. The invention according to claim 18 further includes a second processing unit that performs processing on a substrate, in addition to the first processing unit that is the processing unit, in addition to the first substrate transportation mechanism that is the substrate transportation mechanism. A second process for unloading the substrate from the second processing unit.
Further comprising a substrate transport mechanism, wherein the second substrate transport mechanism comprises:
A hand having a plurality of substrate support members for supporting the substrate in contact with the lower surface of the substrate, and a drive mechanism for moving the hand forward and backward with respect to the second processing unit; The plurality of substrate support members provided in the transport mechanism are characterized in that the heat exchange amounts with the back surface of the substrate are set substantially equal regardless of the position in the advance / retreat direction with respect to the second processing unit. Claims 12 to 17
A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the above.

For example, the first processing unit executes a process that requires strict temperature control for the processed substrate, and the second processing unit performs less strict temperature control for the processed substrate. Run the process. Therefore, the plurality of substrate support members provided in the second substrate transport mechanism have substantially the same heat exchange amount with the back surface of the substrate regardless of the position in the advance / retreat direction on the hand. As a result, the substrate can be stably held, and the substrate can be transferred at a high speed.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, the driving mechanism of the first substrate transfer mechanism moves the hand at a speed lower than the moving speed of the hand by the drive mechanism of the second substrate transfer mechanism. 19. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a substrate transfer failure by the first substrate transfer mechanism. On the other hand, since the hand of the second substrate transport mechanism can be moved at high speed, the substrate transfer tact can be reduced.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, the first processing section heats an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on its upper surface, and the second processing section heats the substrate heated by the first processing section. 12. A cooling device,
20. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of 18 and 19. According to the present invention, a process that requires strict temperature control, that is, heating a resist on an unexposed substrate,
In the case of performing processing that does not require strict temperature control, such as cooling the substrate heated in the processing unit, the same effect as that described in any of claims 11, 18 and 19 can be realized. .

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the first processing section has a hot plate on which the substrate is placed, and the second processing section has a cool plate on which the substrate is placed. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 20. According to the present invention, a strict temperature control is required, in which a resist on an unexposed substrate is heated with a hot plate, and a very strict temperature control, in which a substrate heated with a hot plate is cooled with a cool plate, is used. In the case of executing the processing that is not necessary, the same effect as the effect described in claim 20 can be realized.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus performs a substrate processing for a photolithography process including a substrate cleaning step, a dehydration baking step, a resist coating step, a pre-baking step, a developing step, and a post-baking step. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first processing unit executes the pre-bake process, and the second processing unit executes the dehydration bake process or the post-bake process. 20. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of 18 and 19.

Before the pre-baking step, a simple drying step of performing a simple drying process on the resist applied on the substrate may be provided. An invention according to claim 23 is a substrate processing system including the substrate processing apparatus and the exposure apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the exposure apparatus receives the substrate on which the pre-baking process has been performed, and exposes a pattern on the substrate, A substrate processing system, wherein a substrate that has been exposed is transferred to a substrate processing apparatus.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing step of processing a substrate in a processing part, and the substrate after the substrate processing step is replaced by the substrate supporting member according to any one of the first to sixth aspects. And carrying out the substrate from the processing section by a hand holding the substrate by supporting the lower surface of the substrate. According to this invention, an effect equivalent to the effect described with respect to the invention of claim 7 can be achieved.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a processing unit, and a plurality of substrate supporting members, wherein the lower surface of the substrate is supported by the plurality of substrate supporting members. Moving the hand holding the substrate forward and backward with respect to the processing unit, thereby carrying out the substrate after the substrate processing step from the processing unit, wherein the plurality of substrate support members perform the processing of the hand. Are arranged at different positions with respect to the forward and backward directions with respect to the portion, and are determined so that the amount of heat exchange between each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate decreases from the forward and backward direction forward side toward the forward and backward direction backward side. A substrate processing method.

According to this method, the same effect as the effect described in the twelfth aspect can be realized. As described in claim 26, the substrate processing step may include a heat treatment step of heating the substrate. In this case, as described in claim 27, the heat treatment step
A step of performing a heat treatment on the unexposed substrate on which the resist is applied on the upper surface may be used.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a first processing unit;
A step of unloading the substrate after the substrate processing step from the first processing unit by a first hand that holds the substrate by supporting a lower surface of the substrate with the substrate support member according to any one of claims 1 to 6; A second substrate processing step of performing processing on the substrate in the second processing unit, and applying the substrate after the second substrate processing step to a lower surface of the substrate with a wider line width than the substrate supporting member of the first hand. And carrying out the substrate from the second processing unit by a second hand provided with a substrate supporting member for supporting the substrate.

According to this method, the same effect as the effect described in the eleventh aspect can be realized. Claim 2
The invention described in Item 9 is a first substrate processing step of performing processing on the substrate in the first processing section, and the first hand is moved forward and backward with respect to the first processing section, so that the first substrate processing step is performed. A step of unloading the substrate from the first processing unit, a second substrate processing step of processing the substrate in the second processing unit,
Moving the second hand with respect to the second processing section to carry out the substrate after the second substrate processing step from the second processing section, wherein the first hand includes the processing section. Has a plurality of substrate support members arranged at different positions with respect to the retreat direction, the amount of heat exchange between each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate, from the retreat direction front side toward the retreat direction rear side A plurality of substrate support members having a heat exchange amount with the lower surface of the substrate which is determined to be substantially equal regardless of the position of the second hand relative to the processing unit in the forward / backward direction. A substrate processing method characterized by using a hand having:

According to this method, the same effect as that described in the eighteenth aspect can be achieved. The invention according to claim 30 is characterized in that the first hand unloads the substrate from the first processing unit at a speed lower than the speed at which the second hand unloads the substrate from the second processing unit. 30. The substrate processing method according to claim 28 or 29. According to this method, the same effect as that described with respect to the nineteenth aspect can be realized.

According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, the first processing section heats an unexposed substrate having a resist applied to the upper surface, and the second processing section is heated by the first processing section. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the substrate is cooled.
31. The substrate processing method according to any one of 8 to 30.
According to the present invention, the same effect as the effect described in claim 20 can be realized. In the invention according to claim 32, the first processing unit has a hot plate on which a substrate is placed,
The substrate processing method according to claim 31, wherein the second processing unit includes a cool plate on which the substrate is placed.

According to the present invention, the same effect as the effect described in claim 21 can be realized. The invention according to claim 33, wherein the substrate processing method is a method for a photolithography process including a substrate cleaning step, a dehydration baking step, a resist coating step, a pre-baking step, a developing step, and a post-baking step. The unit performs the pre-bake step, and the second processing unit includes:
31. The substrate processing method according to claim 28, wherein the dehydration baking step or the post baking step is performed.

According to this method, the same effect as that described with respect to the twentieth aspect of the present invention is achieved. Claim 3
The invention according to 4, wherein the substrate processing method has an exposure step of exposing a pattern to the substrate on which the pre-bake step has been performed,
The substrate processing method according to claim 33, wherein the developing step is performed on the substrate on which the exposure step has been performed.

According to the present invention, the same effect as the effect described in claim 23 can be realized.

[0041]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing a configuration of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This substrate processing system is an apparatus for performing a photolithography process on a substrate to be processed, such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel. The substrate processing system includes a cleaning processing unit 1 for cleaning a substrate surface.
A dehydration baking unit 2 for drying the substrate after the cleaning process, a coating unit 3 for applying a resist to the substrate surface after the dehydration baking process, and a prebake process for drying and curing the resist applied to the substrate surface Part 4
An exposure processing unit 5 for exposing the resist after the pre-baking process with a desired mask pattern, a developing processing unit 6 for developing the exposed resist, and a post-baking process for baking the resist on the substrate surface after the development processing. And a processing unit 7.

Note that such a substrate processing system includes a substrate processing apparatus and an exposure apparatus. Specifically, the cleaning unit 1, the dehydration bake unit 2, the coating unit 3,
A substrate processing apparatus having respective processing units of a pre-bake processing unit 4, a development processing unit 6, and a post-bake processing unit 7;
Are present and connected. That is, the substrate processing apparatus and the exposure apparatus are connected by an intermediary transport apparatus that transports the substrate processed by the pre-bake processing section 4 to the exposure apparatus and transports the substrate processed by the exposure apparatus to the development processing section 6. Have been.

The cleaning processing unit 1 includes, for example, a substrate holding means including a plurality of rollers for horizontally supporting and transporting a rectangular substrate, and a cleaning liquid (chemical solution or pure water) for the held substrate. And a means for supplying a rinse liquid (pure water) when a chemical liquid is supplied as a cleaning liquid. Further, there is also provided a gas ejecting means for blowing off the liquid adhering to the substrate which has been cleaned by receiving the supply of pure water as the cleaning liquid or the substrate which has been supplied to and rinsed with the rinsing liquid. This removes droplets from the substrate. The gas ejecting means has, for example, a slit nozzle that blows out gas from a slit-shaped opening longer than the width of the substrate to blow off the liquid on the substrate.

The structure of the dehydration bake processing unit 2 will be described later. The configuration of the coating processing unit 3 will be described later. The configuration of the pre-bake processing unit 4 will be described later. The exposure processing unit 5 is provided in the exposure apparatus, and receives the substrate after the pre-baking process by the above-described intermediary transport device to expose the mask pattern. The development processing unit 6 receives the substrate that has been subjected to the exposure processing by the above-described intermediary transport device, and supplies a developing solution to the substrate.

The configuration of the post bake processing section 7 will be described later.
The dehydration bake processing unit 2 is provided with a hot plate (H) for evaporating and drying moisture on the substrate surface after the cleaning processing.
P) 21 and a cool plate (CP) 22 for cooling the substrate after the heat treatment to room temperature. Further, the post-bake processing section 7 includes a hot plate 71 for baking the resist after the development processing, and a cool plate 72 for cooling the substrate after the heat processing by the hot plate 71 to room temperature.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view for explaining a detailed configuration of the coating processing unit 3 and the pre-bake processing unit 4. The coating processing unit 3 applies a resist nozzle for supplying a resist to the substrate, a coater unit (SC) 31 such as a spin coater having a rotating unit for rotating the substrate supplied with the resist, and applies an airflow to the coated resist. A simple drying processing unit 32 that has a closed chamber for accommodating air drying or a substrate, and performs a reduced-pressure drying process for evacuating the atmosphere in the chamber and reducing the pressure in the closed chamber; And an end face cleaning section (EBR) 33 for removing the resist adhering to the end face. The simple drying unit 32 may be omitted. Further, the pre-bake processing section 4 includes a hot plate 41 for heating and drying the resist applied by the coating processing section 3 and a cool plate 42 for cooling the substrate after the heat processing by the hot plate 41 to room temperature. ing.

In connection with the pre-bake processing section 4, the substrate is received from the end face cleaning processing section 33 of the coating processing section 3, carried into the hot plate 41, and the substrate after the heat processing by the hot plate 41 is transferred to the cool plate 42. Transport,
Further, the transport robot TR for paying out the substrate after the cooling process by the cool plate 42 toward the exposure processing unit 5
2 are provided. The transfer of the substrate inside the coating processing section 3 is performed by a dedicated transfer mechanism (not shown), and the transfer robot TR2
Does not participate.

As shown in FIG. 1, a transfer robot TR1 is provided in connection with the dehydration bake processing unit 2, and a transfer robot TR3 is provided in connection with the post bake processing unit 7. . Transfer robot TR1
Takes out the substrate after cleaning from the cleaning processing unit 1 and carries it into the hot plate 21 of the dehydration bake processing unit 2, takes out the substrate after the heat treatment by the hot plate 21, carries it into the cool plate 22, and The substrate after the cooling process is carried out and delivered to the coating processing unit 3. Similarly, the transport robot TR3 unloads the processed substrate from the development processing unit 6, loads the substrate on the hot plate 71 of the post-bake processing unit 7, unloads the substrate after the heat processing by the hot plate 71, and cools the substrate. The substrate is carried into the plate 72, and the substrate after the cooling process by the cool plate 72 is discharged.

FIG. 3 shows the transfer robots TR1, TR2, T
It is a figure showing composition common to R3. Transfer robot TR
1, TR2, TR3 are a pair of hands H11, H12;
H22; H31 and H32. These hands H11, H12; H21, H22; H31, H32
It is attached to the base B so as to be able to advance and retreat in the horizontal direction. In the base part B, the hands H11, H2
An advance / retreat drive mechanism (not shown) is provided for independently advancing / retreating the hands H1, H31 and the hands H12, H22, H32. The base part B is rotatably held around a vertical axis by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown).
It is configured to be able to slide along a predetermined horizontal direction as needed. For example, hand H1
1, H21, H31; H12, H22, and H32 are provided so that a processed substrate is unloaded from one processing unit by one hand, and an unprocessed substrate is loaded into the processing unit by the other substrate. The operation is controlled.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the pre-bake processing section 4. The pre-bake processing unit 4 is configured by, for example, stacking heat treatment units 45 in multiple stages in the vertical direction. The heat treatment section 45 is a hot plate or a cool plate. The transport robot TR2 loads the unprocessed substrate S into the heat treatment units 45 stacked in multiple stages,
The processed substrate S is unloaded. Transfer robot TR2
Is configured to be able to travel along a transport path 46 formed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG.
The base B can be moved up and down in the vertical direction. Thereby, the transport robot TR2 can move the substrate from one heat treatment unit 45 to another heat treatment unit 45. The heat treatment unit 45 may be provided on only one side of the transport path 46, but FIG. 4 shows an example in which the heat treatment units 45 are disposed on both sides of the transport path 46.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a detailed configuration of the heat treatment section 45. The heat treatment section 45 includes a treatment chamber 51, a heat treatment plate (hot plate or cool plate) 52 disposed in the treatment chamber 51, and a contact / separation (elevation) of the substrate S with respect to the heat treatment plate 52. A lift pin 53 and an elevating drive mechanism 54 for raising and lowering the lift pin 53 are provided. In the processing chamber 51, an opening 55 for loading / unloading the substrate S is formed in front of the transfer robot TR2. In connection with this opening 55, a shutter 56 is provided,
The shutter is driven by a shutter driving mechanism 57. The opening 55 can be opened and closed by driving the shutter 56. An exhaust duct 59 is connected to the rear of the processing chamber 51 via a damper 58.

When the heat treatment plate 52 is a hot plate for heating the substrate S, for example, a heater is provided inside. Further, the heat treatment plate 52
In the case of a cool plate for cooling the substrate S, for example, a cooling water passage is formed in the heat treatment plate 52, and the cooling water whose temperature is adjusted is circulated through the cooling water passage. The transfer robot TR2 has a hot plate 4
When unloading the heat-treated substrate S from No. 1, the hand H
One hand of H21 and H22 (here, tentatively, hand H21) is used. The configuration of the hand H21 is shown in FIG. That is, the hand H21
Is formed, for example, in a fork shape. That is, the hand H21 has a pair of parallel arms 61 and 62. Adsorption pads P1, P2, P3, and P4 for adsorbing and holding the lower surface of the substrate S are fixed to the upper surfaces of the distal ends and the proximal ends of the arms 61 and 62, respectively. Support pads Ps1, Ps2 for contacting the lower surface of the substrate S and supporting the substrate S are provided in the middle of the arms 61, 62.
Are fixed to the upper surface, respectively. Suction pads P1 to P
4 is connected to an exhaust passage, and this exhaust passage is
It is connected to exhaust means (not shown) such as a vacuum pump.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of the suction pads P1 to P4. The suction pads P1 to P4 are
The main body 65 includes a plate-shaped main body 65 attached to the hand H21, and a peripheral wall 66 that is formed upright from the surface of the main body 65 and that is continuous in a circumferential direction. The peripheral wall portion 66 has a cylindrical shape and is 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm
1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more,
1.0 mm or less). Therefore, the peripheral wall portion 66 has, on its upper surface, a substrate contact portion 66a that contacts the substrate S, and the substrate contact portion 66a is 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, More preferably, 0.5 mm or more, 1.0 mm or less)
Line contact with the line width of This substrate contact portion 66a
Is in contact with the lower surface of the substrate S, the internal space of the peripheral wall 66 forms an airtight chamber.

In the main body 65, a portion corresponding to the center of the peripheral wall 66 is provided with the suction port 6 communicating with the exhaust passage.
7 are formed. Therefore, the substrate S can be sucked onto the hand H21 by evacuating the airtight chamber through the suction port 67 by an exhaust unit such as a vacuum pump. FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of the support pads Ps1 and Ps2. These support pads Ps1, Ps2
Has a rectangular plate-shaped main body 75, and a cross-shaped support wall 76 erected on the surface of the main body 75. The thickness of the support wall 76 is 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or less.
mm or more and 1.0 mm or less), and therefore, 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less) on its upper surface.
It has a substrate contact portion 76a that is in line contact with the lower surface of the substrate S with a line width of 0 mm or less. Since the substrate contact portion 76a is formed in a cross shape, a plurality of linear substrate contact portions
It can also be considered that they are arranged so that the extending directions are orthogonal.

The hand H22 which is not used for unloading the processed substrate S from the hot plate 41 has substantially the same configuration as the hand H21, but has a suction pad and a support provided on the upper surface thereof. In the pad, the line width of the contact portion with respect to the lower surface of the substrate is set to be larger than the line width of the contact portion of the support pad of the hand H21, for example, larger than 2 mm here. That is, the suction pads and the support pads Ps on the hand H22 are the same as the suction pads P1 to P3 and the support pads Ps1 and Ps on the hand H21.
A substrate contact portion having a line width larger than 2 and in line contact with the lower surface of the substrate.

The larger the contact area with the substrate, the more stable the holding of the substrate. Therefore, a control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of the transfer robot TR2 includes the hand H22.
Is driven at a higher speed than the hand H21. This allows
The substrate S does not fall off during the driving of the hand H21,
In addition, the hand H22 that can stably hold the substrate is driven at a high speed, so that the transfer tact of the substrate can be reduced. Since the hand H21 needs to be moved at a low speed only when the hand H21 is holding the substrate, when the hand H21 is advanced toward the hot plate 41 to carry out the substrate from the hot plate 41, Hand H2
1 may be moved at high speed.

The transfer robots TR 1 and TR 1 provided in association with the dehydration bake processing unit 2 and the post bake processing unit 7
TR3 has the same configuration as the transfer robot TR2 described above. However, the suction pads and the support pads provided on the upper surfaces of the hands H11 and H12 of the transfer robots TR1 and TR2;
Like the hand H22, each of the hand H21 has a substrate contact portion that is larger than the line width of the contact portion of the support pad, for example, has a line width of 2 mm or more and linearly contacts the lower surface of the substrate S. . Therefore, the hands H11, H1
2; H31 and H32 are the hands H of the transfer robot TR2.
As in the case of 22, the substrate is driven at a higher speed than when the processed substrate is unloaded from the hot plate 41 by the hand H21. In this way, the transfer tact is shortened.

As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the hot plate 41 of the pre-bake processing section 4
The hand H21 for unloading the processed substrate from
The suction pads P1 to P4 and the support pads Ps1 and Ps2 that are in line contact with the lower surface of the substrate with a line width of 2 mm or less are provided. Accordingly, such a hand H21 does not exchange a large amount of heat with the substrate that has become hot after the heat treatment on the hot plate 41. Therefore, there is no undesired thermal effect on the substrate. Specifically, undesired unevenness does not occur in the resist after the exposure and the development processing.

Next, an improvement of the hand H21 used for carrying out the substrate from the hot plate 41 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The hand H21 has arms 61 and 62
Of the hot plate 41 (heat treatment section) from the front end of the substrate S, and enters the lower part of the substrate S lifted to the substrate transfer height (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5) by the lift pins 53. Then, after receiving the substrate S from the lift pins 53, the substrate S is withdrawn from the processing chamber 51 from the base end side. Therefore, the suction pads P1 to P4 and the support pads Ps1 and Ps2 are
, The staying time in the processing chamber 51 is longer in the forward and backward directions. Therefore, the suction pad or the support pad located on the front side in the reciprocating direction is closer to the processing chamber 51.
Since the heat is received in the inside, the temperature difference from the substrate S is reduced.

Therefore, on the hand H21, it is preferable that the contact area of the suction pad or the support pad with respect to the substrate is increased toward the front side in the reciprocation direction (the end side of the arms 61 and 62). Specifically, the line width of the substrate contact portion of the suction pads P1, P3 is LA, and the support pads Ps1, Ps
2, the line width of the substrate contact portion is LB, and the suction pads P2, P
Assuming that the contact line width at the substrate contact portion of No. 4 is LC, LA
It is preferable that the line width of each contact portion is determined so that the relationship>LB> LC is satisfied. Thus, the suction pads P1 and P3 having a large contact line width can stably hold the substrate, and the suction pads P having a small contact line width.
2, heat exchange between P4 and the substrate can be suppressed. With this configuration, even if the hand H21 is moved at a high speed, the substrate does not fall off the hand H21,
Further, a large amount of heat exchange does not occur between the hand H21 and the substrate.

Each of the line widths LA, LB, and LC may be 2 mm or less. For example, only the line width LA (or the line widths LA and LB) is larger than the line width LC. Determined to be larger than 2mm, line width LB
And LC (or line width LC only) is 2 mm
The following may be used. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a suction pad that can be applied instead of the suction pads P1 to P4. The suction pad of FIG. 9A is configured such that a rectangular peripheral wall 661 is formed on a rectangular plate-shaped main body 65 in a plan view, and a suction port 67 is formed inside the peripheral wall 661. The top surface of the peripheral wall portion 661 is in contact with the lower surface of the substrate at a line width of 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less). Is formed. When the substrate contact portion 661A contacts the lower surface of the substrate, the internal space of the rectangular peripheral wall portion 661 becomes an airtight chamber. Therefore,
By exhausting through the suction port 67, the substrate can be sucked and held.

The suction pad shown in FIG.
This is an example in which a plurality of suction ports 671 are formed inside a substantially circular peripheral wall portion 66 in plan view. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a support pad that can be used in place of the support pads Ps1 and Ps2. In FIG. 10A,
A support pad having a configuration in which four wall-shaped members 761 each having a linear substrate contact portion 761a are arranged on the surface of a rectangular plate-shaped main body 75 is shown. Four wall members 7
61, a pair is arranged on a straight line in plan view,
The other pair is arranged on a straight line that intersects substantially orthogonally to them. In other words, the four wall-like members 76
1 is provided on the main body 65 so as to form a substantially cross shape. The substrate contact portion 761a has a line width of 2 mm (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less). With this configuration, the substrate can be stably supported from the lower surface, and large heat exchange with the substrate can be prevented.

The support pad shown in FIG.
A plurality of (five in this embodiment) arc-shaped wall-shaped members 762 arranged in a ring shape along the circumference of one circle
It is provided on the main body 75. The top surface 762a of each arc-shaped wall member 762 has a line width of 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 m
It is configured to have a line width of not less than m and not more than 1.0 mm, more preferably not less than 0.5 mm and not more than 1.0 mm) so as to make line contact with the lower surface of the substrate. With this configuration, the substrate can be stably supported, and a large amount of heat exchange does not occur between the substrate and the support pad.

An arc-shaped wall-shaped member 762 arranged circumferentially
May be smaller than the example of FIG.
May be more. FIG. 10C shows an example in which a larger number of arc-shaped wall members 762 are arranged in a ring along one circumference than in the case of FIG. 10B. In the suction pads P1 to P4, the support pads Ps1 and Ps2, and each of the pads shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, at least the substrate contact portion that contacts the lower surface of the substrate is made of a material having low thermal conductivity. Is preferred. Examples of such a material include a resin, a ceramic material, use of a composite material of a resin and a ceramic material, a composite material having a heat blocking effect in which rubber and metal are laminated, and a composite material in which resin and metal are laminated. . Specifically, the following can be exemplified.

(A) PEEK (Poly ether e)
(b) MC nylon (Mono Cast Nylon) (c) PI resin (Polyimide resin) (d) Fluororesin (e) PP (Polypropylene) (f) PE (Polyethylene) (g) UPE (ultra high molecular)
r weight Polyethylene (h) HDPE (high density Polye)
(ylene) (i) PPS (Poly Phenylene Sulf)
(j) Ceramic (alumina, zirconia, etc.) (k) GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinfo)
rced Plastics) (l) CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinf)
(orced Plastics) (m) A composite material of a contact portion having low thermal conductivity such as rubber and resin and a durable body such as metal (SUS, aluminum, etc.) made of a material having relatively low thermal conductivity. And the thermal conductivity are as follows. (Unit: W / (m · K)) PEEK 0.25 MC nylon 0.23 PI resin 0.87 GFRP 0.38 FIG. 11 shows the hands H11, H12; H21, H22 of the transfer robots TR1, TR2, TR3; It is a perspective view showing other examples of composition of a hand which can be used as H31 and H32. The hand H includes three arms 91, 92, and 93 extending in parallel along the direction in which the hand H moves. The pair of outer arms 91 and 93 are formed longer than the central arm 92. The pair of outer arms 91 and 93 have, at the distal end and the proximal end thereof, a substrate regulating member 101 that regulates the end surface of the substrate S and supports the edge of the lower surface thereof.
102, 103, 104 are fixed on the upper surface. On the other hand, the tip of the central arm portion 91 is provided with a suction pad 105 which is in contact with the back surface of the substrate S and suction-holds the lower surface of the substrate S.
Is provided. The configuration of the suction pad 105 is the same as the configuration of the suction pads P1 to P4 described above.

Particularly, in the transfer robot TR2, the hand H21 shown in FIG. 11 is used for unloading the processed substrate from the hot plate 41.
Is applied, the suction pad 105 has a line width of 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less) of the substrate contact portion that contacts the back surface of the substrate S. The following is preferred. Needless to say, a suction pad having a structure shown in FIG. 9A or 9B can be applied to the suction pad 105.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative view showing another configuration example of the coating processing section 3. In the above embodiment, the coater processing unit 3
After applying a resist by 1 and then performing simple drying of the resist by a simple drying processing unit 32, cleaning of the end surface of the substrate is performed by an end surface cleaning processing unit 33.
On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 12, the order of the end face cleaning process and the simple drying process is reversed. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows still another configuration example of the coating processing unit 3. In the configuration of FIG. 13, the end face cleaning process is omitted.

In addition, since the simple drying process does not necessarily need to be performed in the coating processing unit 3, the coating processing unit 3
May be constituted only by the coater processing unit 31. FIG. 14 is an illustrative view showing another configuration example of the pre-bake processing unit 4. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the heat treatment unit is configured in multiple stages has been described. However, the heat treatment unit is arranged in a plane, and the substrate is processed progressively. The invention can be applied. That is, the flat bake processing unit 200 shown in FIG.
2, 203 and a cool plate 204.
Then, at least hot plates 201, 202, and 2
03 are respectively housed in a housing. An unexposed substrate having a resist applied to its surface is carried into the hot plate 201 from the entrance conveyor 205. Then, the hot plate 2 is moved at regular intervals by a dedicated transport mechanism.
The substrates are sequentially fed to 01, 202, 203 and the cool plate 204. And cool plate 20
The substrate is transferred from the fourth conveyor to the exit conveyor 206, and the substrate is discharged from the exit conveyor 206 toward the exposure unit.

FIG. 15 shows hot plates 201 and 202.
FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of a dedicated transfer mechanism provided between the hot plate 202 and the hot plate 202 and between the hot plate 203 and the cool plate 204 and used for transferring a substrate therebetween. is there. For example, on the outer side of a pair of opposing sides of the rectangular substrate S, a swing arm 210 swinging around a vertical axis is provided.
Are provided. A suction pad 2 for holding the lower surface of the substrate S by suction is provided on the upper surface of the tip of the swing arm 210.
11 are provided. The substrate S is held by rotating the swing arms 210 so that the suction pads 211 face the back surfaces of the four corners of the substrate S, and raising the swing arm 210 in this state. Four swing arms 210
Is integrally movable along the arrow 212 direction,
Thereby, between the hot plates 201 and 202, 20
The substrate is transported between the substrates 2 and 203 and between the hot plate 203 and the cool plate 204.

In a dedicated transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate S from the hot plate 203 to the cool plate 204,
The suction pad 211 has a line width of 2 mm or less (preferably 0.1 mm or more.
0 mm or less, more preferably 0.5 mm or more, 1.0 m
m or less) in line contact with the lower surface of the substrate. That is, the suction pads 211 correspond to the suction pads P1 to P described above.
4 or 9 (A) or (B). Therefore, when unloading the substrate S from the hot plate 203 to the cool plate 204, a large amount of heat exchange does not occur between the dedicated transfer mechanism and the substrate S.

The exclusive transfer mechanism reciprocates between the housing in which the hot plate 203 is accommodated and the cool plate 204. When the exclusive transfer mechanism exits from the housing, a group of suction pads is used. “a” retreats from the housing later in time than the group “b” of the suction pads 211. Conversely, when the dedicated transport mechanism enters the housing, the suction pad group a enters the housing before the suction pad 211 group b. Therefore, a pair of suction pads 21 located near the hot plate 203
One group a receives more heat from the hot plate 203 than the group b of the pair of suction pads 211 located on the cool plate 204 side. Therefore, it is preferable that the line width La of the substrate contact portion of the suction pad 211 of the group a is set to be larger than the line width Lb of the substrate contact portion of the substrate suction pad 211 of the group b. In this case, the line width La is larger than the line width Lb, and 2 m
It may be larger than m. With such a configuration, the transfer of the substrate from the hot plate 203 to the cool plate 204 can be stably performed, and a large heat exchange between the substrate S and the dedicated transfer mechanism can be prevented.

It should be noted that instead of the suction pad 211, the substrate S
A support pad that supports the substrate S in contact with the back surface of the substrate S may be used. Such a support pad may have a configuration like the above-described support pads Ps1 and Ps2, or may have a configuration shown in FIG. The substrate processing system shown in FIG. 1 specifically includes a substrate having each processing unit of a cleaning processing unit 1, a dehydration baking processing unit 2, a coating processing unit 3, a pre-baking processing unit 4, a developing processing unit 6, and a post-baking processing unit 7. There are a processing device and an exposure device having an exposure processing unit 5, each of which is connected by an intermediate transfer device.

As shown in FIG. 16, a first substrate processing apparatus 811 having a cleaning processing unit 1, a dehydration baking processing unit 2, a coating processing unit 3, and a pre-baking processing unit 4, an exposure apparatus 812 having an exposure processing unit 5, and a developing process A second substrate processing apparatus 813 having a unit 6 and a post-bake processing unit 7, and a first substrate processing apparatus for transporting a substrate between the first substrate processing apparatus 811 and the exposure apparatus 812.
An intermediary transport device 814, and a second intermediary transport device 8 that transports the substrate between the second substrate processing device 813 and the exposure device 812.
15 is a substrate processing system 810.

In this case, the transport robot TR2 is applied in the pre-bake processing section 4 of the first substrate processing apparatus 811. As shown in FIG. 17, a first substrate processing apparatus 821 including a cleaning processing unit 1, a dehydration baking processing unit 2, a coating processing unit 3, and a pre-baking processing unit 4, an exposure processing unit 5, a developing processing unit 6, and a post-baking processing unit 7. A third substrate processing apparatus 822 having a first substrate processing apparatus 821 and a third intermediate transport apparatus 82 for transporting a substrate between the first substrate processing apparatus 821 and the third substrate processing apparatus 822.
3 may be provided as the substrate processing system 820.

Also in this case, the transfer robot TR2 is applied in the pre-bake processing section 4 of the first substrate processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 18, a first processing unit having a cleaning processing unit 1, a dehydration baking processing unit 2, a coating processing unit 3, and a pre-baking processing unit 4
A substrate processing apparatus 831; an exposure apparatus 832 having an exposure processing section 5; a second substrate processing apparatus 833 having a development processing section 6 and a post-bake processing section 7;
The substrate processing system 830 includes a fourth intermediate transfer device 834 that transfers a substrate between the second substrate processing device 833 and the exposure device 832, while transferring a substrate between the second substrate processing device 833 and the exposure device 832.

The fourth intermediary transport device 834 receives the substrate from the pre-bake 4, and transfers the received substrate to the exposure device 53.
Hand over to 2. The substrate that has been subjected to the exposure processing by the exposure device 532 is transferred to the development processing unit 6. Also in this case, the transfer robot TR2 is applied in the pre-bake processing unit 4 of the first substrate processing apparatus. While some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be embodied in other forms. For example, in the above embodiment, the substrate support pad is formed in a cross shape or a ring shape in plan view, but any other two-dimensional shape may be adopted. Further, the rear surface of the substrate may be supported by a single linear (one-dimensional) wall-shaped member instead of the two-dimensional shape.

The same applies to the structure of the suction pad.
In addition to the circular ring shape or the rectangular ring shape, one having a peripheral wall portion of any shape can be adopted. In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view for explaining a detailed configuration of a coating processing unit and a pre-bake processing unit;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration common to a transfer robot.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration example of a pre-bake processing unit.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a detailed configuration of a heat treatment unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration example of a hand.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of a suction pad.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of a support pad.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a suction pad that can be applied instead of the suction pad of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a support pad that can be used in place of the support pad of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another configuration example of the hand of the transfer robot.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative view showing another configuration example of the coating processing unit;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative view showing still another configuration example of the coating processing unit;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative view showing another configuration example of the pre-bake processing unit;

FIG. 15 is a simplified plan view showing a configuration of a dedicated transfer mechanism of a flat bake processing unit.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative view showing a configuration example of a substrate processing apparatus that performs a first substrate processing apparatus and a second substrate processing apparatus via first and second intermediary transfer apparatuses.

FIG. 17 is an illustrative view showing a configuration example of a substrate processing apparatus that performs a first substrate processing apparatus and a third substrate processing apparatus via a third intermediary transfer device.

FIG. 18 is an illustrative view showing still another configuration example of the substrate processing apparatus that performs the first substrate processing apparatus and the second substrate processing apparatus via a fourth intermediary transfer device.

FIG. 19 is an illustrative view showing a configuration example of a substrate processing apparatus for performing a process from a resist coating process to a developing process;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative view showing another configuration example of the substrate processing apparatus;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning processing part 2 Dehydration baking processing part 3 Coating processing part 4 Prebaking processing part 5 Exposure processing part 6 Developing processing part 7 Post baking processing part 21 Hot plate 22 Cool plate 31 Coater processing part 32 Simple drying processing part 33 Edge cleaning processing part 41 Hot plate 42 Cool plate 45 Heat treatment unit 46 Transfer path 51 Processing chamber 52 Heat treatment plate 61, 62 Arm 65 Main unit 66 Peripheral wall 66a Substrate contact unit 67 Suction port 67 Suction hole 71 Hot plate 72 Cool plate 75 Main unit 76 Support wall Unit 76a Substrate contact unit 91, 92, 93 Arm unit 101, 102, 103, 104 Substrate regulating member 105 Suction pad 200 Bake processing unit 201, 202, 203 Hot plate 204 Cool plate 205 Inlet conveyor 206 Outlet conveyor 2 0 swing arm 211 substrate suction pad 661 rectangular peripheral wall portion 661A substrate contact portion 671 suction port 761 wall-shaped member 761a substrate contact portion 762 arc-shaped wall-shaped member 762a top surface 810,820,830 substrate processing system 811,821,831 1 substrate processing apparatus 812, 832 exposure apparatus 815, 833 second substrate processing apparatus 814 first intermediate transfer apparatus 815 second intermediate transfer apparatus 822 third substrate processing apparatus 823 third intermediate transfer apparatus 834 fourth intermediate transfer apparatus H11, H21 , H31, H12, H22, H32 Hand LA, LB, LC Line width Ps1, Ps2 Support pad P1, P2, P3, P4 Suction pad TR1, TR2, TR3 Transfer robot S Substrate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) H01L 21/027 H01L 21/30 502J 562 F term (reference) 3C007 AS24 BT11 BT14 CY34 DS03 EV05 FT08 FT11 FU09 5F031 CA02 CA05 DA17 FA01 FA02 FA11 GA06 GA08 GA13 GA15 GA32 GA43 GA48 GA50 HA33 MA23 MA24 MA27 MA30 5F046 AA17 CD01 CD05 DA26 JA22 JA24 KA07 LA11 LA13

Claims (34)

[Claims] 1. A substrate supporting member for supporting a substrate from a lower surface, the substrate supporting member having a substrate contact portion that makes line contact with a lower surface of the substrate with a line width of 2 mm or less. 2. The substrate supporting member according to claim 1, wherein said substrate contact portion includes a peripheral wall portion that is continuous in a peripheral shape. 3. The substrate supporting member according to claim 2, wherein the peripheral wall forms an airtight chamber by the peripheral wall and the lower surface of the substrate. 4. The peripheral wall portion is 0.1 mm or more and 1.0 mm or more.
4. The substrate supporting member according to claim 3, wherein the substrate supporting member is in line contact with the lower surface of the substrate with the following line width. 5. The substrate supporting member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the substrate contact portions are provided, and the extending directions of the plurality of substrate contact portions intersect. 6. The substrate supporting member according to claim 1, wherein said substrate contact portion is made of a material having a thermal conductivity of a predetermined value or less. 7. A processing unit for performing a process on a substrate, and a substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit, wherein the substrate transport mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A hand holding a substrate by supporting the lower surface of the substrate with the substrate supporting member; and a drive mechanism for moving the hand with respect to the processing unit. Substrate processing equipment. 8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said processing section includes a heat processing section for performing heat processing on the substrate. 9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said heat treatment section performs a heat treatment on an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on its upper surface. 10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising exhaust means for exhausting gas in an airtight chamber formed between said substrate support member and a lower surface of the substrate. apparatus. 11. The apparatus further includes a second processing section for performing processing on a substrate in addition to the first processing section as the processing section, wherein the second processing section performs processing on the substrate. A second substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit, wherein the second substrate transport mechanism contacts the lower surface of the substrate with a line width equal to or greater than the first substrate support member that is the substrate support member. 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a hand having a second substrate supporting member for supporting the substrate, and a driving mechanism for moving the hand with respect to the second processing unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the above. 12. A processing unit for processing a substrate, a plurality of substrate support members, and a hand for holding the substrate by supporting a lower surface of the substrate with the plurality of substrate support members; A driving mechanism for moving the substrate forward and backward with respect to the processing unit, and a substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit, wherein the plurality of substrate support members are at different positions with respect to the direction of advance and retreat of the hand with respect to the processing unit. Are located,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the amount of heat exchange between each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate is determined so as to decrease from the front side in the forward / backward direction to the rear side in the forward / backward direction. 13. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said processing section includes a heat processing section for performing heat processing on the substrate. 14. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said heat processing section performs heat processing on an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on its upper surface. 15. A plurality of substrate support members each having a substrate contact portion that contacts a lower surface of a substrate, and a contact area between the substrate contact portion of each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate is defined from the front side in the advance / retreat direction. 13. The air conditioner according to claim 12, wherein the distance decreases toward the rear side in the forward / backward direction.
15. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of items 14 to 14. 16. The substrate contact portion contacts the lower surface of the substrate in a linear region, and the contact line width of the substrate contact portion of each substrate supporting member is changed from the front side in the advance / retreat direction to the rear side in the advance / retreat direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is set so as to become narrower as going toward. 17. A method according to claim 17, wherein each of said plurality of substrate support members has a substrate contact portion in contact with a lower surface of the substrate, and wherein a thermal conductivity of the substrate contact portion of each substrate support member is set such that a thermal conductivity of said substrate contact member from said forward / backward direction is forward. 17. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the size of the substrate processing apparatus is set to be smaller toward a rear side. 18. The apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a second processing section for performing processing on the substrate in addition to the first processing section as the processing section, wherein the second processing section performs processing on the substrate. A second substrate transport mechanism for unloading the substrate from the second processing unit, wherein the second substrate transport mechanism has a plurality of substrate support members that contact the lower surface of the substrate and support the substrate; A drive mechanism for moving the hand forward and backward with respect to the second processing unit, wherein the plurality of substrate support members provided in the second substrate transport mechanism are positioned in the forward and backward directions with respect to the second processing unit. 18. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the amount of heat exchange with the back surface of the substrate is set to be substantially equal regardless of the above. 19. The driving mechanism of the first substrate transfer mechanism moves the hand at a speed lower than the moving speed of the hand by the drive mechanism of the second substrate transfer mechanism. 19. The substrate processing apparatus according to 11 or 18. 20. The first processing section heats an unexposed substrate having a resist applied to the upper surface thereof, and the second processing section cools the substrate heated by the first processing section. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 11, 18, and 19, wherein: 21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the first processing section has a hot plate on which the substrate is placed, and the second processing section has a cool plate on which the substrate is placed. Substrate processing equipment. 22. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a substrate processing for a photolithography process including a substrate cleaning step, a dehydration baking step, a resist coating step, a pre-baking step, a developing step and a post-baking step. The processing unit executes the pre-bake process, and the second processing unit executes the dehydration bake process or the post-bake process. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the above. 23. A substrate processing system comprising the substrate processing apparatus and an exposure apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the exposure apparatus receives the substrate on which the pre-bake step has been performed, exposes a pattern on the substrate, and completes the exposure. A substrate processing system, wherein the substrate is transferred to a substrate processing apparatus. 24. A substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a processing section, and the substrate after the substrate processing step is supported on a lower surface of the substrate by the substrate supporting member according to any one of claims 1 to 6. And carrying out the substrate from the processing section by a hand holding the substrate. 25. A substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a processing unit, and a hand having a plurality of substrate support members and holding the substrate by supporting a lower surface of the substrate with the plurality of substrate support members. Moving the substrate after the substrate processing step out of the processing unit by moving the substrate back and forth with respect to the processing unit, wherein the plurality of substrate support members are different with respect to a direction in which the hand advances and retreats with respect to the processing unit. Is located in the position,
A substrate processing method, wherein the amount of heat exchange between each substrate support member and the lower surface of the substrate is determined so as to decrease from the front side in the advance / retreat direction to the rear side in the advance / retreat direction. 26. The substrate processing method according to claim 24, wherein the substrate processing step includes a heat processing step of heating the substrate. 27. The substrate processing method according to claim 26, wherein said heat treatment step is a step of performing a heat treatment on an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on its upper surface. 28. A first substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a first processing section, and the substrate after the first substrate processing step is a substrate supporting member according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A step of unloading the substrate from the first processing unit by a first hand that holds the substrate by supporting the lower surface of the substrate, a second substrate processing step of performing processing on the substrate in the second processing unit, The substrate after the processing step is unloaded from the second processing unit by the second hand including the substrate supporting member that supports the substrate with respect to the lower surface of the substrate with a line width wider than the substrate supporting member of the first hand. And a substrate processing method. 29. A first substrate processing step of performing processing on a substrate in a first processing section, and a substrate after the first substrate processing step by moving a first hand back and forth with respect to the first processing section. By carrying out processing of the substrate in the second processing unit; and moving the second hand forward and backward with respect to the second processing unit, And carrying out the substrate after the two-substrate processing step from the second processing unit. The first hand has a plurality of substrate support members arranged at different positions with respect to the advancing / retreating direction with respect to the processing unit. The amount of heat exchange between each substrate supporting member and the lower surface of the substrate,
A hand that is determined so as to decrease as it goes from the front to the rear in the forward / backward direction to the rearward to the rearward in the forward / backward direction. The second hand is connected to the lower surface of the substrate regardless of the position in the forward / backward direction with respect to the processing unit. A substrate processing method comprising using a hand having a plurality of substrate support members having substantially equal heat exchange amounts. 30. The first hand unloads a substrate from the first processing unit at a speed lower than a speed at which the second hand unloads a substrate from the second processing unit. 30. The substrate processing method according to 28 or 29. 31. The first processing section heats an unexposed substrate having a resist applied on the upper surface thereof, and the second processing section cools the substrate heated in the first processing section. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 28 to 30, wherein: 32. The apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the first processing section has a hot plate on which the substrate is placed, and the second processing section has a cool plate on which the substrate is placed. Substrate processing method. 33. The substrate processing method is a method for a photolithography process including a substrate cleaning step, a dehydration baking step, a resist coating step, a pre-baking step, a developing step, and a post-baking step. 31. The substrate processing method according to claim 28, wherein the pre-bake step is performed, and wherein the second processing unit performs the de-hide bake step or the post-bake step. . 34. The substrate processing method according to claim 30, further comprising an exposure step of exposing a pattern on the substrate on which the pre-bake step has been performed, and wherein the developing step is performed on the substrate on which the exposure step has been performed. A substrate processing method according to claim 33.