Photography – Fluid-treating apparatus – Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-29
2001-09-25
Rutledge, D. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Fluid-treating apparatus
Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
C118S052000, C029S025010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293713
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing various kinds of processing for a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or the like, for example, a substrate processing apparatus for coating the substrate with a resist and developing the exposed substrate.
In the process of fabricating a semiconductor device, there is a series of processing steps of coating a semiconductor wafer which is a substrate to be processed with a photoresist solution, reducing a circuit pattern or the like and exposing a photoresist film by means of photolithography, and performing developing processing. These processing steps are extremely important to high integration of the semiconductor device.
In these processing steps, the semiconductor wafer which has undergone cleaning processing is first subjected to hydrophobic processing in an adhesion processing unit and cooled in a cooling processing unit, and thereafter a photoresist film is formed by coating in a resist coating unit. The semiconductor wafer on which the photoresist film is formed is subjected to pre-bake processing in a hot plate unit, cooled in a cooling processing unit, and then exposed in accordance with a predetermined pattern in an aligner. Subsequently, the exposed semiconductor wafer is subjected to post-exposure bake processing and cooled in a cooling processing unit, and a developing solution is applied and the exposed pattern is developed in a developing unit. Finally, the semiconductor wafer is subjected to post-bake processing in the hot plate unit.
Out of such a series of processing steps, the steps except for exposure processing are performed by a resist coating and developing processing system into which the processing units are integrated. As one proposal for the structure of such a resist coating and developing processing system, there is proposed the structure in which a plurality of processing units for performing the processing are vertically stacked around a transfer path extending in a vertical direction, and the semiconductor wafer is carried into/out of each of the processing units by a main transfer machine which moves vertically in the transfer path and includes an arm moving in a horizontal direction. When a substrate is transferred between a plurality of processing units, such a processing system makes it possible to shorten the transfer route of the substrate and to downsize the system, and consequently the transfer of the substrate can be performed in a short time, thereby raising efficiency of the system.
In the processing system, however, the transfer of the substrate between the processing units is performed by the main transfer machine, and hence the entire processing speed is determined by the capacity of the main transfer machine. However, there is a limit to improvement in the capacity of the main transfer machine, and there is a possibility that the processing system can not sufficiently meet the recent increasing demands for improvement in throughput.
Compliance with these demands by an increase in the number of the main transfer machines is considered, but the system becomes complicated, thereby causing a rise in fabrication costs and complication of control.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of improving substrate processing capacity without causing complication of the apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provides a substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate carrying section configured to carry in and out the substrate, a processing section including a plurality of processing units vertically stacked and configured to subject the substrate to various kinds of processing, a main transfer machine configured to freely move in a vertical direction in the processing section, for transferring the substrate from one of the processing units to another of the processing units, and a secondary transfer machine configured to freely move in a vertical direction in the substrate carrying section, for delivering the substrate between the substrate carrying section and the processing section and transferring the substrate from one processing unit to another processing unit in the processing section when not delivering the substrate.
According to the above structure, instead of transferring the substrate between a plurality of processing units by only the main transfer machine in the processing section, when the secondary transfer machine which ordinarily carries the substrate in and out in the substrate carrying section does not perform ordinary operation, the secondary transfer machine vertically moves to thereby be able to transfer the substrate between the plurality of processing units in the processing section. As a result, the secondary transfer machine can assist the main wafer transfer machine in a part of the transfer process of the main transfer machine, leading to not only improvement in transfer capacity as a whole, but also improvement in substrate processing speed.
The processing section can be structured to have at least two processing unit groups in each of which a plurality of processing units are vertically stacked, and the main transfer machine can be structured to be disposed to be surrounded by the at least two processing unit groups.
In this case, the secondary transfer machine can be structured to be allowed to receive the substrate from one processing unit of one processing unit group, move vertically, and deliver the substrate to another processing unit of the same processing unit group, and also can be structured to be allowed to receive the substrate from any one processing unit of one processing unit group, move horizontally or vertically, and deliver the substrate to any one processing unit of another processing unit group.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for coating a substrate with a resist and subjecting the substrate to developing processing after the resist is exposed in accordance with a predetermined pattern, the apparatus comprising a substrate carrying section configured to carry in and out the substrate, a processing section having a plurality of processing units vertically stacked and configured to subject the substrate to resist coating and developing processing and thermal processing before and after the resist coating and developing processing, a main transfer machine disposed to freely move in a vertical direction in the processing section, for transferring the substrate from one of the processing units to another of the processing units, and a secondary transfer machine disposed to freely move in a vertical direction in the substrate carrying in/out section, for delivering the substrate between the substrate carrying section and the processing section and transferring the substrate from one of the processing units to another of the processing units in the processing section when not delivering the substrate.
According to the second aspect of the invention, in the processing section in which a plurality of processing units are vertically stacked, the processing units subjecting the substrate to resist coating and developing processing and thermal processing before and after the resist coating and developing processing, similarly to the first aspect, the secondary transfer machine can assist the main transfer machine in a part of the transfer process of the main transfer machine. As a result, in resist coating and developing processing requiring many processing units and many processing steps, transfer capacity can be improved as a whole, resulting in improvement in a substrate processing speed.
In this case, the apparatus can be structured to further comprise an interface section in which the substrate is delivered between the processing section and an aligner, and another secondary transfer machine, disposed to freely move in a vertical direction in the interface section, for delivering the substr
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Rutledge D.
Tokyo Electron Limited
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