Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Generic control system – apparatus or process – Sequential or selective
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-19
2001-10-30
Grant, William (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Generic control system, apparatus or process
Sequential or selective
C700S121000, C700S297000, C700S299000, C700S300000, C219S486000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311091
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for coating resist onto a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and an LCD substrate (liquid crystal display) and developing the resist-coated film pattern-exposed.
In a photolithographic process for manufacturing a semiconductor device and an LCD, a substrate is coated with resist, exposed to light and developed. The series of processes as mentioned is usually carried out by using a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus has a plurality of heating units including a preliminary heating unit and a dry unit. Each of the heating units has a hot plate installed therein.
The hot plate has a built-in electrical resistance heater, which generates heat when current is supplied thereto. To warm up a hot plate, which is cold at the time the apparatus is started up, to a required temperature, it takes about several to ten minutes after power supply is started. However, to stabilize the temperature of the hot plate, approximately 30 minutes is required after the initiation of the power supply. During the start-up period in which a cold hot-plate is warmed up to a predetermined temperature, a large power consumption is required, whereas in the stable condition after the hot plate reaches the predetermined temperature, power is supplied intermittently. Hence, required power consumption is a reactively low.
In the processing apparatus, i.e., a coating/developing apparatus, a wafer W is loaded into processing units in a predetermined order. The wafers are loaded into each of the processing units one by one in accordance with the predetermined order. Therefore, it may be sufficient if each processing unit is warmed up to the stable state by the time the wafer W is loaded therein.
However, in a conventional coating and developing apparatus, power is supplied to each of the built-in heaters of a plurality of processing units simultaneously at the time the apparatus is started up. Hence, a large amount of power is consumed at the start-up time. In this connection, electric parts having a large capacity (tolerance) must be used in a power supply cable and a breaker, etc. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the apparatus inevitably increases. Since the power supply cable and the breaker must have a capacity nearly 4 times larger than the power-consumption at a normal operation time, the breaker may not properly work if a large power is consumed when abnormality accidentally takes place during the normal operation time, failing in security control.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus without consuming a large amount of power at the time the apparatus is started up.
According to the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for coating resist onto a substrate and developing the coated resist, comprising:
a power supply equipped with a main switch which is turned-on and turned-off;
a plurality of electric appliances operated substantially in the same manner when power is supplied from the power supply;
a power distribution circuit for supplying power to each of the plurality of electric appliances; and
a control section connected to the power distribution circuit, for controlling power-supply timing to the plurality of electric appliances;
in which the control section stagger power-supply timing to each of the electric appliances when the main switch is turned on.
Each of the electric appliances has a heater for heating the substrate or a cooler for cooling the substrate. In addition, each of the electric appliances has an air conditioner for supplying clean air around the substrate to be processed. Furthermore, each of the electric appliances has a temperature controlling mechanism for controlling temperature of a processing solution for processing the substrate.
It is preferable that the control section should determine power supply order to each of the electric appliances on the basis of the usage order of the plurality of electric appliances.
It is further preferable that the apparatus of the present invention should comprise a plurality of processing units each having one of the electric appliances; in which at least two of the plurality of processing units have a heating mechanism. In this case, it is further preferable that the control section should supply power to each of the heating mechanism in accordance with the usage order of the heating mechanisms.
According to the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for coating resist onto a substrate and developing a coated resist, comprising:
a power supply equipped with a main switch which is turned-on and turned-off;
a plurality of thermal processing mechanisms for heating or cooling the substrate when power is supplied from the power supply;
a power distribution circuit equipped with a plurality of switches for turning-on/off power supply to each of the plurality of thermal processing mechanisms;
a temperature detector or detecting temperature of each of the thermal processing mechanisms;
control means for controlling ON/OFF of the switch on the basis of detection temperature detected by the temperature detector; and
inhibition means for inhibiting each of the switches of the power distribution circuit not to be turned-on when power supply is initiated to the heating mechanisms by turning on the main switch.
It is desirable that the inhibition means should release the ON-inhibition of each of the switches of the power distribution circuit at time intervals.
It is also desirable that the inhibition means should release the ON-inhibition of each of the switches of the power distribution circuit, at time intervals.
It is further desirable that the inhibition means should release the ON-inhibition to each of the switches of the power distribution circuits in accordance with the usage order of the heating mechanism.
According to the present invention, the starting-up times for a plurality of the heating means, at which power is continuously supplied thereto, do not converge on one time. It is therefore possible to prevent a large power consumption at the starting-up time of the apparatus.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
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Grant William
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
Rodriguez Paul
Tokyo Electric Limited
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