JP6559813B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and method for controlling atmosphere of substrate mounting portion of substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an atmosphere control of a substrate platform in which a substrate is temporarily placed when a substrate is transferred from a first substrate transport mechanism to a second substrate transport mechanism in a substrate processing apparatus.

  In manufacturing a semiconductor device, various processes are performed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. A substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate includes a plurality of processing units in order to efficiently process a large number of substrates in a short time while keeping the footprint of the apparatus small. In such a substrate processing apparatus, when the external carrier places a substrate container such as a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pot) on the load port, the lid of the substrate container is opened, and the first carrier mechanism is moved from the substrate container. The substrate is taken out and placed on a substrate mounting portion provided as a buffer. The second transport mechanism distributes and transfers the plurality of substrates placed on the substrate platform to the plurality of processing units. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this way, the transfer efficiency is improved by separating the transfer tasks of the first transfer mechanism and the second transfer mechanism, thereby improving the substrate processing throughput of the entire substrate processing apparatus. Depending on the transport schedule of the first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism, the substrate may be left on the substrate platform for a relatively long time, for example, for several minutes.

If the substrate is exposed to the air atmosphere for a long time, the substrate may be adversely affected. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the time during which the substrate is exposed to the air atmosphere as much as possible.

JP 2006-351868 A

  The present invention can prevent or suppress the substrate placed on the substrate platform that mediates the delivery of the substrate between the first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism from being exposed to the atmosphere for a long time. Provide technology.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is provided with a first transfer chamber in which a substrate is transferred, a substrate platform that is provided adjacent to the first transfer chamber, and a substrate platform that is provided adjacent to the substrate platform. A second transfer chamber in which the substrate unloaded from the substrate platform is transferred;
And the substrate platform has openings facing the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, respectively. Of these openings, the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber A substrate processing apparatus is provided in which a gas discharge part for supplying an inert gas to the substrate mounting part is provided in an opening part facing the higher internal pressure .

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a first transfer chamber in which a substrate is transferred, a substrate platform provided adjacent to the first transfer chamber, and adjacent to the substrate platform. In a substrate processing apparatus provided with a second transfer chamber in which the substrate unloaded from the substrate platform is transported, in the atmosphere control method for controlling the atmosphere in the substrate platform, the first Providing a pressure difference so that the internal pressure of one of the transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber is higher than the other internal pressure; and the first of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber An inert gas is discharged from a gas discharge portion installed in the opening of the substrate mounting portion facing one side, and the other of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber is discharged from the low humidity gas by the pressure difference. Flowing toward the opening of the substrate mounting portion facing , An atmosphere control method is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent or suppress the substrate placed based Itano portion is prolonged exposure to the atmosphere.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the substrate processing system which is one Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus by this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the processing unit contained in the substrate processing system shown in FIG. It is a sectional side view which shows schematic structure of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a board | substrate mounting part. It is sectional drawing cut | disconnected by the horizontal surface which shows the structure of a board | substrate mounting part.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system according to the present embodiment. In the following, in order to clarify the positional relationship, the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis that are orthogonal to each other are defined, and the positive direction of the Z axis is the vertically upward direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 1 includes a carry-in / out station 2 and a processing station 3. The carry-in / out station 2 and the processing station 3 are provided adjacent to each other.

  The carry-in / out station 2 includes a carrier placement unit 11 and a transport unit 12. A plurality of carriers C that accommodate a plurality of wafers W in a horizontal state are placed on the carrier placement unit 11.

  The transport unit 12 is provided adjacent to the carrier placement unit 11 and includes a substrate transport mechanism 13 and a delivery unit 14 inside. The substrate transfer mechanism 13 includes a substrate holding mechanism that holds the wafer W. Further, the substrate transfer mechanism 13 can move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and can turn around the vertical axis. The substrate transfer mechanism 13 transfers the wafer W between the carrier C and the delivery unit 14 using the substrate holding mechanism. Do.

  The processing station 3 is provided adjacent to the transfer unit 12. The processing station 3 includes a transport unit 15 and a plurality of processing units 16. The plurality of processing units 16 are provided side by side on the transport unit 15.

  The transport unit 15 includes a substrate transport mechanism 17 inside. The substrate transfer mechanism 17 includes a substrate holding mechanism that holds the wafer W. Further, the substrate transfer mechanism 17 can move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction and can turn around the vertical axis, and transfers the wafer W between the delivery unit 14 and the processing unit 16 using the substrate holding mechanism. I do.

  The processing unit 16 performs predetermined substrate processing on the wafer W transferred by the substrate transfer mechanism 17.

  Further, the substrate processing system 1 includes a control device 4. The control device 4 is a computer, for example, and includes a control unit 18 and a storage unit 19. The storage unit 19 stores a program for controlling various processes executed in the substrate processing system 1. The control unit 18 controls the operation of the substrate processing system 1 by reading and executing the program stored in the storage unit 19.

  Such a program may be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium, and may be installed in the storage unit 19 of the control device 4 from the storage medium. Examples of the computer-readable storage medium include a hard disk (HD), a flexible disk (FD), a compact disk (CD), a magnetic optical disk (MO), and a memory card.

  In the substrate processing system 1 configured as described above, first, the substrate transport mechanism 13 of the loading / unloading station 2 takes out the wafer W from the carrier C placed on the carrier placement unit 11 and receives the taken-out wafer W. Place on the transfer section 14. The wafer W placed on the delivery unit 14 is taken out from the delivery unit 14 by the substrate transfer mechanism 17 of the processing station 3 and carried into the processing unit 16.

  The wafer W loaded into the processing unit 16 is processed by the processing unit 16, then unloaded from the processing unit 16 by the substrate transfer mechanism 17, and placed on the delivery unit 14. Then, the processed wafer W placed on the delivery unit 14 is returned to the carrier C of the carrier platform 11 by the substrate transport mechanism 13.

  Next, a schematic configuration of the processing unit 16 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the processing unit 16.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the processing unit 16 includes a chamber 20, a substrate holding mechanism 30, a processing fluid supply unit 40, and a recovery cup 50.

  The chamber 20 accommodates the substrate holding mechanism 30, the processing fluid supply unit 40, and the recovery cup 50. An FFU (Fan Filter Unit) 21 is provided on the ceiling of the chamber 20. The FFU 21 forms a down flow in the chamber 20.

  The substrate holding mechanism 30 includes a holding unit 31, a support unit 32, and a driving unit 33. The holding unit 31 holds the wafer W horizontally. The support | pillar part 32 is a member extended in a perpendicular direction, a base end part is rotatably supported by the drive part 33, and supports the holding | maintenance part 31 horizontally in a front-end | tip part. The drive unit 33 rotates the column unit 32 around the vertical axis. The substrate holding mechanism 30 rotates the support unit 32 by rotating the support unit 32 using the drive unit 33, thereby rotating the wafer W held by the support unit 31. .

  The processing fluid supply unit 40 supplies a processing fluid to the wafer W. The processing fluid supply unit 40 is connected to a processing fluid supply source 70.

  The collection cup 50 is disposed so as to surround the holding unit 31, and collects the processing liquid scattered from the wafer W by the rotation of the holding unit 31. A drain port 51 is formed at the bottom of the recovery cup 50, and the processing liquid collected by the recovery cup 50 is discharged from the drain port 51 to the outside of the processing unit 16. Further, an exhaust port 52 for discharging the gas supplied from the FFU 21 to the outside of the processing unit 16 is formed at the bottom of the recovery cup 50.

  Next, items related to humidity management in the delivery unit 14 will be described. The substrate processing system 1 includes a first transfer chamber 13A in which a substrate transfer mechanism 13 (hereinafter also referred to as “first transfer mechanism 13”) is disposed, and a substrate transfer mechanism 17 (hereinafter referred to as “second transfer mechanism 17”). The second transfer chamber 17A in which the second transfer chamber 17A is disposed. The first transfer chamber 13A and the second transfer chamber 17A are partitioned by wall bodies shown by thick solid lines in FIGS. The wall includes an outer housing wall of the substrate processing system 1, housing walls of various units such as the processing unit 16, and a partition wall provided in the substrate processing system 1.

  A first opening 147 of the delivery unit 14 that connects the internal space of the delivery unit 14 to the first transfer chamber 13A, and a second opening 148 of the delivery unit 14 that connects the internal space of the delivery unit 14 to the second transfer chamber 17A. Since neither of them has a closing member such as a shutter, the first transfer chamber 13 </ b> A and the second transfer chamber 17 </ b> A are always in communication with each other via the internal space of the delivery unit 14. The arm of the first transfer mechanism enters the delivery unit 14 through the first opening 147, and the wafer W can be placed in the delivery unit 14. The arm of the second transfer mechanism enters the delivery unit 14 through the second opening 148, and the wafer W can be placed in the delivery unit 14.

  In FIG. 4, the rectangular parallelepiped indicated by the alternate long and short dash line is the outer housing wall of the delivery unit 14, that is, the buffer unit, and the rectangle having the vertices at the points A 1, A 2, A 3, and A 4 A rectangle having apexes B1, B2, B3, and B4 corresponds to the second opening 148 of the delivery unit 14.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an FFU 132 is provided on the ceiling wall 131 of the first transfer chamber 13A. The FFU 132 takes in the air in the clean room in which the substrate processing system 1 is installed, removes contaminants such as particles from the taken-in air using a filter, and clean air (clean air) enters the first transfer chamber 13A. Blow out downward.

  An FFU 172 is provided on the front wall 171 of the second transfer chamber 17A on the side close to the first transfer chamber 13A. The FFU 172 takes in the air in the clean room in which the substrate processing system 1 is installed, removes contaminants such as particles from the taken-in air using a filter, and moves the clean air toward the second transfer chamber 17A to the side. Blow out.

An exhaust fan 174 (shown only in FIG. 3) for exhausting air from the second transfer chamber 17A is provided on the rear wall 173 of the second transfer chamber 17A on the side farther from the first transfer chamber 13A. By exhausting by the exhaust fan 174 while blowing clean air from the FFU 172 in the X positive direction (direction from the front wall 171 to the rear wall 173), an air flow flowing in the X positive direction is generated in the second transfer chamber 17A. The main stream of this airflow flows in the horizontal direction (X positive direction) in the vicinity of the loading / unloading port 16a for loading / unloading the wafer W into / from each processing unit 16.

  In the substrate processing stem 1, the internal pressure P1 in the first transfer chamber 13A is adjusted from the internal pressure P2 in the second transfer chamber 17A by appropriately adjusting the supply flow rates of the FFUs 132 and 172 and the exhaust flow rate of the exhaust fan 174. Is also controlled to be higher. Accordingly, the clean air blown out from the FFU 132 into the first transfer chamber 13A flows into the second transfer chamber 17A through the delivery unit 14, and is discharged from the second transfer chamber 17A by the exhaust fan 174.

  The humidity in the atmosphere in the clean room is controlled to about 45%, for example, and the humidity of the clean air blown out from the FFUs 132 and 172 is the same as the humidity in the clean room. Therefore, the humidity in the first transfer chamber 13A, the delivery unit 14, and the second transfer chamber 17A is also approximately 45%.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the delivery unit 14 will be described in detail. The delivery unit 14 is a wafer before processing (after processing) from when the first transport mechanism 13 (second transport mechanism 17) is loaded to when the second transport mechanism 17 (first transport mechanism 13) is unloaded. W is a substrate placement portion on which W is temporarily retained.

  A plurality of wafers W can be placed on the delivery unit 14 at intervals in the vertical direction. The delivery unit 14 has a plurality of slots 142 for holding the wafer W, and only a part of them is shown in FIG. One slot 142 is formed by two protrusions 142a that are adjacent in the vertical direction and extend in the horizontal direction (X direction). The slots 142 are provided in the side walls 149 (see also FIG. 5) on both the left and right sides of the delivery unit 14.

  The delivery unit 14 is divided into upper and lower parts by a partition wall 144, and the upper section 14B is used for placing the processed wafer W in order to place the unprocessed wafer W in the lower section 14A. A plurality of slots 142 are provided in each of the upper section 14B and the lower section 14A.

  The lower section 14 </ b> A has an internal space surrounded by a rectangular tubular body composed of a partition wall 144, a bottom wall of the delivery unit 14, and side walls 149 on both sides of the delivery unit 14. A gas discharge portion 80 is provided in a lower opening portion 147A (which forms a part of the first opening portion 147 described above) that is an inlet of the lower section 14A.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the gas discharge unit 80 has an inverted U-shape (or a square bracket “[” shape) as a whole. The gas discharge part 80 is formed as a hollow tubular member. The gas discharge section 80 includes a pair of vertical portions 811 and 812 located on the left and right sides of the lower opening portion 147A as viewed from the front of the lower opening portion 147A (as viewed from the positive X direction), and the lower opening portion 147A. And a horizontal portion 813 that connects the vertical portions 811 and 812 to each other.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a plurality of low-humidity gases are discharged onto the surfaces 811a and 812a (that is, the first discharge region and the second discharge region) of the vertical portions 811 and 812 facing the lower opening portion 147A. The gas discharge port 82 is formed. When viewed from the front of the lower opening portion 147A, the gas discharge port 82 in the vertical portion 811 discharges low-humidity gas toward the vertical portion 812, and the gas discharge port 82 in the vertical portion 812 faces the vertical portion 811. Discharge low humidity gas.

  The plurality of discharge ports 82 include a plurality of central discharge ports 821 that discharge low-humidity gas in the horizontal direction (Y direction), and a horizontal direction (that is, X negative) inclined from the Y direction toward the first transfer chamber 13A. A plurality of upstream discharge ports 822 that discharge low-humidity gas toward the direction (including the direction component), and a horizontal direction inclined from the Y direction toward the second transfer chamber 17A (that is, a direction including the X positive direction component). And a plurality of downstream discharge ports 823 that discharge low-humidity gas toward the bottom. The plurality of central discharge ports 821, the plurality of upstream discharge ports 822, and the plurality of downstream discharge ports 823 are each arranged in a row in the vertical direction (Z direction).

  4 and 5, in each vertical portion 811, 812, the central discharge port 821, the upstream discharge port 822, and the downstream discharge port 823 are each provided in one row, but may be provided in two or more rows. .

  A gas supply line 842 for supplying low-humidity gas from the low-humidity gas supply source 841 to the gas discharge unit 80 is schematically shown at the center of the upper surface of the horizontal portion 813 of the gas discharge unit 80 (indicated schematically by an arrow in FIG. 4). Is connected. In the internal space of the horizontal portion 813 of the gas discharge unit 80, a rectifying plate (not shown) made of, for example, a punching plate is provided so that the low humidity gas is evenly distributed to the two vertical portions 811 and 812. It has become.

  As shown in FIG. 5 which shows a cross section of the lower section 14A cut along a horizontal plane, the internal space of each vertical portion 811 and 812 is separated from the first space 831 by a rectifying plate 83 made of, for example, a punching plate and extending in the vertical direction. Divided into a second space 832. The low-humidity gas that has flowed from the horizontal portion 813 into the first space 831 of each vertical portion 811, 812 passes through the rectifying plate 83, flows into the second space 832, and is then discharged from the discharge port 82. The flow rate of the low humidity gas from each discharge port 82 is made uniform by the rectifying plate 83.

  The low-humidity gas used here can be, for example, dry air having a dew point temperature of about −40 ° C. or less. The dew point of dry air is preferably about -110 ° C to -120 ° C. As the low-humidity gas, a low oxygen concentration gas (for example, nitrogen gas) whose humidity is controlled can be used instead of dry air. In the following description, it is assumed that the low-humidity gas is dry air.

Together dry air blown out from the discharge port 82 of the two opposing vertical portions 811 and 812 diffuse and collide with each other, thereby so that the dry air in the region near the lower opening minute 147A roughly uniform distribution. Since there is a pressure difference (P1-P2) between the first transfer chamber 13A and the second transfer chamber 17A described above, the dry air flows from the region near the lower opening portion 147A to the wafer W in the lower section 14A of the delivery section 14. It flows toward the area where it is placed and flows out to the second transfer chamber 17A. At this time, there is a flow of relatively high humidity clean air from the first transfer chamber 13A toward the second transfer chamber 17A due to the pressure difference (P1-P2) between the first transfer chamber 13A and the second transfer chamber 17A. Dry air is mixed with clean air. Accordingly, the humidity in the lower compartment 14A is lowered according to the mixing ratio of the dry air to the clean air. At this time, the dry air discharged in the direction inclined toward the first transfer chamber 13A from the upstream discharge port 822 of the two vertical portions 811 and 812 is clean air with high humidity to the lower opening portion 147A. Therefore, the humidity in the lower compartment 14A can be further reduced as compared with the case where there is no upstream discharge port 822.

  The flow rate of the dry air discharged from the gas discharge unit 80 is determined in consideration of the humidity that does not adversely affect the wafer W and the pressure difference between the first transfer chamber 13A and the second transfer chamber 17A. As an example, the inside of the first transfer chamber 13A, the second transfer chamber 17A, and the delivery unit 14 is about 45%, and the pressure difference between the first transfer chamber 13A and the delivery unit 14 is about 1 Pa. Thus, when dry air was discharged from the gas discharge section 80 at a total flow rate of 500 L / min, the humidity in the lower compartment 14A was reduced to about 20%.

  The wafer W immediately after the silicon oxide dry etching process using the fluorine-based gas is stored in the carrier C mounted on the carrier mounting unit (substrate storage container mounting unit) 11. It is assumed that the system 1 is about to execute a chemical cleaning process for removing the fluorine-containing polymer generated by the dry etching process. At this time, as described briefly in the background art section, when the Cu (copper) wiring is exposed by the dry etching process and the fluorine-containing polymer is adhered on the Cu wiring, F in the polymer (Fluorine) reacts with moisture in the atmosphere to generate hydrofluoric acid (HF), which changes the surface state of Cu and may adversely affect the electrical characteristics of the device. Therefore, it is preferable to shorten the time required for such a substrate to be exposed to an air atmosphere containing a relatively large amount of water after the dry etching process and before the wet etching process (chemical solution cleaning process).

The carrier C such as FOUP used in recent years is configured so that the inner space can be sealed in a state purged with an inert gas such as N ₂ gas (this gas contains almost no moisture) or dry air. ing. For this reason, the wafer W is brought into the atmospheric air from the time when it is accommodated in the carrier C after the dry etching process is completed until it is loaded into the carrier mounting unit 11 of the substrate processing system 1 and the lid of the carrier C is opened. The exposure time can be shortened.

  Since the time during which the wafer W is transferred to the first transfer mechanism 13 and the second transfer mechanism 17 is very short, this time can be ignored with respect to device degradation. There is a possibility that the carrier C may be exposed to the atmosphere for a relatively long period of time after the lid of the carrier C is opened until the chemical cleaning process is performed. (A) After the lid of the carrier C is opened, the carrier (B) after the first transfer mechanism 13 places the wafer W on the delivery section 14 until the first transfer mechanism 13 takes out the wafer W (particularly, the wafer W that is finally taken out from the carrier C) from C. This is until the transfer mechanism 17 takes out the wafer W from the delivery unit 14. Although depending on the transfer schedule of the first transfer mechanism 13 and the second transfer mechanism 17, there is a possibility that the wafer W may be left in the delivery unit 14 for a relatively long time, for example, several minutes. Accordingly, if the delivery unit 14 is not provided with a humidity reduction measure, it may adversely affect the device. (Incidentally, the adverse effect on the device related to (a) can be dealt with by supplying nitrogen gas into the carrier C as described in Patent Document 1 described above.)

  According to the above embodiment, since the gas discharge unit 80 supplies dry air to the delivery unit 14, the internal space of the delivery unit 14 can be maintained at a low humidity. For this reason, even if a situation occurs in which the wafer W is left in the delivery unit 14 for a relatively long time, it is possible to prevent deterioration of device components formed on the wafer W due to moisture contained in the clean air, or It can be greatly suppressed.

  Moreover, according to the said embodiment, the opening part 147 (especially lower opening part of 14 A of lower compartments) of the delivery part 14 by the side of the conveyance chamber (1st conveyance chamber 13A in the illustrated embodiment) side of a relatively high pressure. 147A) is provided with the gas discharge section 80, and it becomes easy to uniformly distribute the dry air in the delivery section 14. That is, dry air is discharged by the gas discharge unit 80 so that the entire area in the first opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A) (that is, in a plane parallel to the YZ plane surrounded by the gas discharge unit 80) is filled with dry air. By doing so, the dry air almost uniformly flows in the entire internal space of the delivery section 14 (lower section 14A) on the downstream side of the gas discharge section 80. Therefore, the humidity of the area where the wafer W of the delivery unit 14 (lower section 14A) is placed can be made uniform. When the pressure difference is not used as in the above-described embodiment, dry air is sprayed toward the area of the delivery unit 14 where the wafer W is placed, or a number of jets are placed near the area of the delivery unit 14 where the wafer W is placed. It is necessary to provide a mouth. However, it is difficult to achieve a uniform distribution of dry air with these methods.

  Further, as in the above-described embodiment, if the gas discharge unit 80 is provided in the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A) that is the end of the delivery unit 14, the gas discharge unit 80 is provided in the existing substrate processing system 1. Adding can also be done relatively easily.

  Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the gas discharge unit 80 injects dry gas from the discharge ports 82 of the two vertical portions 811 and 812 on both sides of the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A) in a direction facing each other. ing. For this reason, when the gas injected from the discharge ports 82 on both sides collides, the gas can be uniformly distributed in the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A). Such a discharge method can be realized by using the pressure difference between the first transfer chamber 13A and the second transfer chamber 17A to send dry gas into the delivery unit 14 (lower compartment 14A).

  In the illustrated embodiment, the gas discharge unit 80 is configured to discharge gas in the horizontal direction (Y positive direction and Y negative direction) into the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the gas may be discharged in the positive Z direction (upward) and the negative Z direction (downward) into the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A). In this case, the gas discharge part 80 can be comprised, for example from two horizontal parts each provided with a gas discharge port, and one vertical part which connects horizontal parts.

  When a plurality of wafers W are placed on the delivery unit 14 in the vertical direction as in the illustrated embodiment, the illustrated implementation is performed in order to reduce the humidity near the surface of each wafer W. It is preferable to supply dry air from the left and right sides of the opening 147 (lower opening portion 147A) as in the embodiment. On the other hand, when only one wafer is placed on the delivery part 14, it is preferable to supply dry air downward from the upper part of the opening part 147 (lower opening part 147A).

  When the chemical cleaning process for removing the fluorine-containing polymer generated by the dry etching process is performed in the substrate processing system 1 as described above, there is a problem even if the wafer W after the chemical cleaning process is placed in a relatively high humidity environment. Absent. For this reason, it is not necessary to reduce the humidity in the upper section 14B where the processed wafer W is placed. By supplying dry air only to the lower compartment 14A as in the above embodiment, the amount of expensive dry air used can be reduced and the running cost can be reduced.

  However, for example, when the state of a wafer to be processed in the substrate processing system 1 is different or the processing to be executed is different, it is preferable to reduce the humidity of the upper section 14B where the processed wafer W is placed. There is also a possibility. In this case, the partition wall 144 may be eliminated, and the gas discharge unit 80 surrounding the entire opening 147 of the delivery unit 14 may be provided.

  Even if it is not necessary to reduce the humidity in the region where the processed wafer W is placed, if the consumption of dry air can be allowed to increase, the partition wall 144 is eliminated and the entire opening 147 of the delivery unit 14 is removed. It is also possible to provide a gas discharge unit 80 surrounding the air supply unit and supply dry air to the entire delivery unit 14.

  The delivery unit for placing the unprocessed wafer W and the delivery unit for placing the processed wafer W are formed as completely separate modules (units), and these two modules are connected to the first transfer chamber 13A and the first transfer unit. You may provide in parallel between 2 conveyance chambers 17A. In this case, the gas discharge unit 80 is provided at the delivery unit for placing at least the unprocessed wafer W.

In the above embodiment, the pressure in the first transfer chamber 13A is higher than the pressure in the second transfer chamber 17 A, depending on the type of the substrate processing system, the higher the pressure in the second transfer chamber 17 A There may be cases. In that case, it may be provided a gas discharge portion 80 in the vicinity of the second transfer chamber 17 A of the side opening 148 of the delivery unit 14.

In the above embodiment, the first transport mechanism 13 and the second transport mechanism 17 is the X-axis, Y-axis, although depicted as a multi-axis transport robot having a Z-axis and θ-axis, the first transport mechanism 13 and the The type of the two transport mechanism 17 is arbitrary. For example, at least one of the first transport mechanism 13 and the second transport mechanism 17 may be an articulated transport robot having a θ1 axis, a θ2 axis, a θ3 axis, and a Z axis.

  As described above, the low humidity gas is not limited to dry air, and may be a low oxygen gas such as nitrogen gas. By supplying the low oxygen gas to the delivery unit 14 via the gas discharge unit 80, a compound that can cause a chemical substance attached to the surface of the wafer W in the previous process to react with oxygen in the clean air and cause a decrease in device performance. It can be prevented or suppressed from being generated. Further, it is possible to prevent or suppress the surface of the device component exposed on the wafer surface from being oxidized.

  The above-described embodiment is not limited to the wafer W after dry etching, but can be applied at the time of transporting the wafer W in an arbitrary state that may cause an adverse effect by being exposed to the air atmosphere for a relatively long time.

  In the above embodiment, the substrate is a semiconductor wafer. However, the substrate is not limited to this, and may be another type of substrate such as a glass substrate for liquid crystal display or a ceramic substrate.

W Semiconductor wafer (substrate)
13 First transport mechanism (substrate transport mechanism)
13A First transfer chamber 14 Substrate placing part (delivery part)
147, 148 Opening 16 Processing section (processing unit)
17A Second transfer chamber 17 Second transfer mechanism (substrate transfer mechanism)
80 Gas discharge part 811a, 812a 1st, 2nd discharge area 82 (821, 822, 823) Gas discharge port 821 1st discharge port 822 3rd discharge port 823 2nd discharge port

Claims (5)

A first transfer chamber in which a substrate is transferred;
A substrate platform provided adjacent to the first transfer chamber;
A second transfer chamber that is provided adjacent to the substrate platform and in which the substrate unloaded from the substrate platform is transported;
With
The substrate platform has openings facing the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, and the inside of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber of these openings. A gas discharge part for supplying an inert gas to the substrate mounting part is provided in the opening facing the higher pressure ,
The inert gas discharged from the gas discharge unit flows through the substrate platform due to a pressure difference between the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, and the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber. Substrate processing apparatus, wherein the internal pressure flows out to a lower one .   The substrate mounting part has a support part for mounting a substrate, and the gas discharge part is disposed in a first discharge area and a second discharge area provided to face each other with the opening interposed therebetween. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first discharge region and the second discharge region are provided on both left and right sides of the opening.   A plurality of the support portions are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, and a plurality of gas discharge ports arranged at different height positions are provided in each of the first discharge region and the second discharge region. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: A first transfer chamber in which a substrate is transferred, a substrate platform provided adjacent to the first transfer chamber, and provided adjacent to the substrate platform, and unloaded from the substrate platform. In a substrate processing apparatus comprising a second transfer chamber in which the substrate is transferred, in an atmosphere control method for controlling the atmosphere in the substrate mounting unit,
Providing a pressure difference such that the internal pressure of one of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber is higher than the other internal pressure;
An inert gas is discharged from a gas discharge portion installed at an opening of the substrate mounting portion facing the one of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, and the inert gas is discharged by the pressure difference. and flow toward the opening portion of the substrate platform facing the other of the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, to flow out to the other of said first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber And
An atmosphere control method comprising:

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