Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Differential fluid etching apparatus – With means for passing discrete workpiece through plural...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-04
2004-03-23
Hassonzadeh, Parviz (Department: 1763)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Differential fluid etching apparatus
With means for passing discrete workpiece through plural...
C118S719000, C414S935000, C414S939000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06709545
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method to apply a process such as application of a resist agent, exposure and development on the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or liquid crystal display substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
The process of forming a circuit pattern on the surface of semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal display substrates (LCD substrate) and the like includes a wide range of steps. In a substrate processing apparatus, a dedicated processing unit is provided for each step. The system is constituted by a combination of a plurality of these units. The substrate to be processed is moved between each unit by conveyer means. For example, a resist film of a predetermined pattern is formed on a substrate processed by a substrate processing apparatus.
The structure and operation of a conventional substrate processing apparatus shown in
FIG. 16
will be described hereinafter. The substrate processing apparatus includes, in the order from the carry-in side of a substrate towards the back side, a cassette station
1
A, a processing block
1
B, an interface unit
1
C and an exposure device
1
D.
A wafer cassette C in which a wafer W is stored is carried into the substrate processing apparatus from cassette station
1
A. A wafer deliver means not shown is provided between cassette station
1
A and processing block
1
B. Wafer W is transferred from cassette station
1
A to processing block
1
B by the wafer deliver means.
Referring to processing block
1
B, a rack unit
12
is disposed at the front side, left side and rear side about main conveyer means
10
, viewed from the cassette station
1
A side. An agent processing unit
13
is arranged at the right side. Main conveyer means
10
includes a main arm
11
that can move forward and backward, up and down, and rotatable in the horizontal direction. In each rack unit
12
, a plurality of processing units such as a unit for a heating process and a unit for a cooling process are stacked in a plurality of stages. Agent processing unit
13
includes a unit for application, a unit for development, and the like.
Interface unit
1
C functions to deliver wafer W between main conveyer means
10
and exposure device
1
D.
Main conveyer means
10
will be described in detail here. Main conveyer means
10
includes a rotary table that can be rotated for a predetermined angle (&thgr;), and a base elevation mechanism disposed on this rotary table. The base includes an arm
11
that can move forward and backward. Wafer W is held by arm
11
. In the delivery of wafer W between respective units, the base with the forward and backward mechanism and elevation mechanism rotates at a predetermined angle on the rotary table in an integral manner.
Although not shown, the elevation mechanism of main conveyer means
10
includes a guide shaft that guides the upward and downward movement of arm
11
. The frequent up and down movement of arm
11
along the guide shaft causes the surface of the guide shaft to be subjected to friction by arm
11
. The guide shaft is a member that has the high possibility of producing particles among the members constituting main conveyer means
10
. Therefore, during the rotation of main conveyer means
10
, minute contaminants or particles generated by the guide shaft may float out to the atmosphere. The wiring for the power and control of the elevation mechanism of main conveyer means
10
must be arranged so as to withstand the rotary movement since the base thereof including the forward and backward mechanism and elevation mechanism is rotated on the rotary table integrally. There is a problem that the space for installment thereof is increased.
To overcome such problems, the inventor of the present application is studying the structure of the transportation means for wafer W such as that shown in FIG.
17
. Referring to
FIG. 17
, a pair of elevation mechanisms
14
are provided so as to sandwich a shutter unit
16
of agent processing unit
15
stacked in a plurality of stages. A conveyer main unit
18
with arm
11
is supported by a support member
17
. The pair of elevation mechanisms
14
include a guide shaft to guide the up and down movement of support member
17
. Elevation mechanism
14
raises and lowers conveyer main unit
18
via supporting member
17
.
Conveyer main unit
18
includes a rotation mechanism to rotate arm
11
by a predetermined angle (&thgr;), and a forward and backward mechanism to move arm
11
forward and backward. Accordingly, wafer W held by arm
11
can be conveyed to another processing unit (a processing unit other than agent processing unit
15
in the drawing) located around conveyer main unit
18
.
Since the rotation mechanism and elevation mechanism are provided separated from each other according to the above-described structure, the wiring arrangement is simplified.
However, the conveyer means of
FIG. 17
has the pair of elevation mechanism
14
provided in the proximity of shutter unit
16
of agent processing unit
15
. When shutter
16
opens at the time of delivery of wafer W, the wind flow generated by the elevation or forward or backward movement of conveyer main unit
18
will blow up the particles generated at elevation mechanism
14
. There is a possibility that these floating particles will enter agent processing unit
15
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that can prevent intrusion of particles generated in accordance with the operation of an elevation mechanism provided in the transportation means of a substrate into the processing unit.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus includes a processing unit applying a process on a substrate carried into a processing vessel through a conveyer inlet, a conveyer base provided so as to face the conveyer inlet, and having an arm that can move forward and backward to deliver a substrate with respect to the processing unit through the conveyer inlet, a casing having an opening elongated in the vertical direction, a support member extending inside and outside the casing through the opening to support the conveyer base outside the casing, an elevation mechanism provided in the casing to move the support member upward and downward, and discharge means for discharging gas in the casing.
According to such a structure, the elevation mechanism that has the high possibility of generating particles among the members associated with the transportation of a substrate is enclosed by a casing. Also, discharge means is provided in the casing. Therefore, particles generated at the elevation mechanism at the time of the up and down movement of the conveyer base can be prevented from moving towards the conveyer inlet of the agent processing unit.
In a preferable embodiment, the casing includes a first chamber and a second chamber divided by a partition wall having a vent hole. The first chamber includes the opening through which the support member passes. The elevation mechanism is disposed in the first chamber. The discharge means is disposed in the second chamber. Accordingly, the particles generated in the first chamber can be attracted to the second chamber through the vent hole. Then, the particles can further be discharged outside.
In the above case, the partition wall is a perpendicular wall extending, for example, in the vertical direction. The vent hole is a vertical slit of a length corresponding to the distance of the up and down movement of the support member. Accordingly, particles can be discharged from the entire site that readily generates particles such as the guide shaft included in the elevation mechanism. This is particularly advantageous when processing units are stacked in a plurality of stages so that the elevation frequency of the conveyer base is high. The casing may be provided in a pair with the conveyer inlet of the proc
Hassonzadeh Parviz
Moore Karla
Tokyo Electron Limited
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