KR20100131913A - Processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A processing device is provided to prevent the deterioration of the rate of operation by increasing a maintenance cycle or a replacement cycle. CONSTITUTION: A carrier loading unit(2A,2B) transfers and loads a carrier(C1,C2) which receives a plurality of substrates(S) from the outside. A first transfer device(3) transmits the substrate between the carrier and a load lock chamber and temporarily loads the substrate between the first transfer device and a vacuum transfer chamber(23). Three chambers(4A-4C) are arranged in the vacuum transfer chamber. A support(33) rotatably supports transfer arms(31,32).

Description

Processing Unit {PROCESSING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for performing an etching process or the like on an object to be processed, such as a glass substrate used for a flat panel display (hereinafter referred to as a flat panel display), in particular in the processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a technology for conveying a workpiece.

Some processing apparatuses which perform processing such as etching on a substrate to be processed include a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in the apparatus, and the operation speed of the transport mechanism is set in advance. For example, the operation speed of the conveyance mechanism is determined so as to determine the number of treatments (throughput) per hour to be processed by one device, and to satisfy this.

By the way, in the processing apparatus called the multi-chamber system etc. in which the process chamber which performs vacuum processing, such as an etching process, is connected in multiple numbers to a vacuum conveyance chamber, the load lock chamber which switches between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere is adjacent to said vacuum conveyance chamber, It is installed. And the board | substrate is carried in and out through this load lock chamber, and the inside of a vacuum conveyance chamber or a process chamber is always maintained in the vacuum state. The conveyance mechanism in a vacuum conveyance chamber moves in a vacuum conveyance chamber, and carries in and unloads a board | substrate to each process chamber, and a board | substrate to a load lock chamber.

In order to improve the throughput in such a multi-chamber system, it is important that each process chamber is continued without processing. For this purpose, it is necessary to bring the unprocessed board | substrate into the process chamber before the process chamber completes a process. In the case where the processing time in the processing chamber is short, in order to smoothly supply the unprocessed substrate to the processing chamber, it is possible to quickly switch between the atmospheric atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere of the load lock chamber, and move the inside of the vacuum transfer chamber to each processing chamber. It is also necessary to speed up the operation speed of the transfer mechanism for carrying in and out of the substrate and loading and unloading of the substrate into the load lock chamber.

The processing time in the processing chamber varies depending on the type of processing to be performed. However, the operation speed of the conveyance mechanism is set so that the throughput does not decrease with the operation of the conveyance mechanism even at the time of the shortest processing time among the processes to which implementation is scheduled. For this reason, when the process actually performed is a process with long processing time, a waiting time will generate | occur | produce in the operation of a conveyance mechanism.

On the other hand, parts, such as a bearing of a conveyance mechanism or a linear guide, need to perform maintenance regularly, such as grease up or parts replacement. Attention is drawn to the viewpoint of the consumption of the components constituting the conveying mechanism. Since there is a relationship between the operating speed of the conveying mechanism and the degree of consumption of the component, the higher the operating speed, the higher the consumption rate. It is necessary to perform maintenance regularly at short intervals.

However, such a maintenance is a work which requires a full day in the large conveyance mechanism etc. which convey a rectangular board | substrate, such as FPD, whose long side is 2 m in length. For this reason, in a processing apparatus with high production efficiency, such as a multi-chamber system, component consumption of a conveyance mechanism becomes one of the factors which reduce the production efficiency of an apparatus.

Here, in Patent Document 1, in a coating and developing apparatus for applying and developing a developer onto a wafer, in conveying wafers between processing units having different processing contents distributed and arranged in the apparatus, the conveyance speed of the wafer according to the distance between the processing units The conveying mechanism which can change the is described. In this conveyance mechanism, as the conveyance distance becomes shorter, acceleration and deceleration during wafer conveyance are reduced, thereby suppressing excessive torque fluctuations applied to the motor and preventing generation of vibration. However, Patent Document 1 does not describe the situation that the time of processing executed in the same processing unit changes, and does not pay attention to the problem of component consumption of the conveying mechanism.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-222618: 0058 paragraph, 0064 paragraph, Fig. 1

This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, Comprising: It aims at providing the processing apparatus which suppresses the component consumption of a conveyance mechanism, and has a long maintenance interval compared with the former.

A processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a process module for performing processing on a target object, a front end module on which a target object before being loaded into the process module is placed, and an object to be processed between the process module and the front end module. A processing apparatus having a conveying mechanism for conveying a control signal, said control signal for reducing a conveying speed of said conveying mechanism when a waiting time of said conveying mechanism for which a series of conveying operations are paused in a conveying operation of said conveying mechanism occurs. It is characterized by including a control unit for outputting.

The processing apparatus may further include the following features.

(a) The said process module has a plurality, and when carrying in to-be-processed object into a some process module one by one, the process module which carried in the to-be-processed object for the first time to the said front-end module performed immediately before carrying in the to-be-processed object after the 2nd time With respect to the series of conveying operations of the conveying mechanism, the control unit may output a control signal for reducing the conveying speed.

(b) The controller may determine the rate of decrease of the conveyance speed based on the processing time for the object to be processed in the process module.

(c) The conveying speed may be a loading and unloading speed of the object to be processed with respect to the front end module.

(d) The process module may be a processing chamber for performing a vacuum process, the conveying mechanism may be installed in a vacuum conveying chamber connected to the process module, and the front end module may be a load lock chamber connected to the vacuum conveying chamber.

According to the present invention, the conveyance speed of the conveying mechanism is reduced when a waiting time occurs in a series of operations of the conveying mechanism for conveying the workpiece between the process module and the front end module, so that the conveying mechanism is not operated more severely than necessary. Can be used under more relaxed conditions than before. As a result, the wear and tear of the parts which comprise a conveyance mechanism are suppressed, and the replacement cycle of a component or the maintenance period of a processing apparatus is lengthened, and the fall of the cost required for replacement of a component, or the fall of the apparatus operation rate accompanying maintenance is suppressed. can do.

1 is a perspective view showing an appearance configuration of an etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional plan view of the etching apparatus.
It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of the 2nd conveyance mechanism provided in the vacuum conveyance chamber of the said etching apparatus.
4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the etching apparatus.
5 is a first explanatory diagram showing timings of a transfer operation and a processing operation of a substrate to be executed in the etching apparatus.
6 is a second explanatory diagram showing the timing.
7 is a third explanatory diagram showing the timing.
It is explanatory drawing which showed the content of the operation | movement of the board | substrate to the load lock chamber by the said 2nd conveyance mechanism.
It is explanatory drawing which showed the method of adjusting the operation speed of the conveyance arm provided in the 2nd conveyance mechanism.
10 is a second explanatory diagram showing a method of adjusting the operating speed of the transfer arm.
11 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of adjusting the operation speed of the carrier arm.
12A to 12C are explanatory diagrams showing timings of transfer operations and processing operations of a substrate in an etching apparatus having one processing chamber.
It is 1st explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the timing of the conveyance operation | movement of a board | substrate, and a process operation.
Fig. 14 is a second explanatory diagram showing another example.
15 is a third explanatory diagram showing the another example.
16A to 16C are explanatory views showing another example of the timing of the transfer operation and the processing operation of the substrate in the etching apparatus having one processing chamber.
17 is a plan view of a processing apparatus according to another example.

As an example of the processing apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention, the structural example of the multi-chamber type etching processing apparatus which performs the etching process which is a vacuum process with respect to the glass substrate for FPD which is a to-be-processed object (henceforth a board | substrate) is shown. It demonstrates with reference to 1 and FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an etching apparatus 1, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view showing an internal configuration thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the carrier mounting part 2A, 2B is provided in the etching apparatus 1, The carrier C1, C2 which accommodated the several board | substrate S was conveyed from the outside, I can put it on. Lifting mechanism 21 is provided in each carrier mounting part 2A, 2B, for example, and carriers C1 and C2 can be raised and lowered freely. In this example, the unprocessed substrate S is accommodated in the carrier C1 on one side, and the processed substrate S is accommodated in the carrier C2 on the other side. Hereinafter, the direction in which these carrier mounting parts 2A and 2B are provided is demonstrated as the front side of the etching apparatus 1.

Between the carrier placing parts 2A, 2B, the 1st conveyance mechanism 3 for delivering the board | substrate S between these carriers C1 and C2 and the load lock chamber 22a, 22b mentioned later is provided, have. This 1st conveyance mechanism 3 is provided on the support stand 24, and it is possible to advance and rotate the conveyance arms 31 and 32 and these conveyance arms 31 and 32 which were installed in two steps in the vertical direction. A supporting base 33 is provided.

Two load lock chambers 22a, 22b and a vacuum conveyance chamber 23 stacked up and down are connected in this order from the front side to the inside of these carrier placing parts 2A, 2B or the 1st conveyance mechanism 3, Inside the vacuum conveyance chamber 23, three process chambers 4A-4C which are the substrate processing chambers of a present Example are arrange | positioned. Each of the load lock chambers 22a and 22b separately switches the internal atmosphere between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere, and temporarily serves to temporarily mount the substrate S conveyed between the first conveyance mechanism 3 and the vacuum conveyance chamber 23. Doing As shown in FIG. 2, each of the load lock chambers 22a and 22b has a buffer rack 26 for supporting the substrate S and a positioner for guiding the mounting position of the substrate S. As shown in FIG. ) 25 is excreted. These load lock chambers 22a and 22b correspond to the front end module of this embodiment.

The vacuum conveyance chamber 23 is a space where the board | substrate S is conveyed between the load lock chambers 22a and 22b and each processing chamber 4A-4C, maintaining in a vacuum atmosphere. In the vacuum conveyance chamber 23, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 which is a conveyance mechanism of a present Example is provided, and the board | substrate S is conveyed by the said 2nd conveyance mechanism 5. As shown in FIG. The specific structure of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is mentioned later.

Moreover, between the opening part which loads-in / out the board | substrate S from the said 1st conveyance mechanism 3 into the load lock chamber 22a, 22b, the load lock chamber 22a, 22b, and the vacuum conveyance chamber 23, the vacuum conveyance chamber ( Between 23) and each process chamber 4A-4C, the gate valves G1-G3 comprised by these are hermetically sealed and openable, respectively, are provided.

The processing chambers 4A to 4C are, for example, rectangular processing vessels for etching the substrate S therein. In this example, the processing chambers 4A to 4C are, for example, capable of processing a rectangular substrate S having a size of about 1500 mm on one side and about 1800 mm on the other side, for example, 2.5 m on one side of the cross plane. The sides are about 2.2 m long. Process chambers 4A to 4C correspond to process modules of the present embodiment.

Inside each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C, a mounting table on which the substrate S is placed and a gas supply unit for supplying etching gas such as chlorine gas are faced up and down into the processing chambers 4A to 4C. . The mounting table and the gas supply part serve as lower electrodes and upper electrodes for generating plasma in the processing chambers 4A to 4C, respectively. Then, by applying high frequency power to the mounting table and the gas supply unit, for example, the mounting table side, the etching gas supplied into the processing chambers 4A to 4C is converted into plasma, and the substrate S is etched by the generated active species. Is executed. In addition, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, description of these mounting bases and a gas supply part is abbreviate | omitted for the convenience of illustration.

3 is a perspective view illustrating an external configuration of the second conveyance mechanism 5. The 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 in this example installs two conveyance arms 51 and 52 in two steps in an up-down direction, and these conveyance arms 51 and 52 are independent of the load lock chambers 22a and 22b, or Loading and unloading of the board | substrate S can be performed with respect to process chamber 4A-4C.

The two conveying arms 51 and 52 are stretchable by sliding the arm parts 512 and 522 supported by the support part 53 and the pick parts 513 and 523 supported on the arm parts 512 and 522. It is comprised so that it can rotate by rotating the support part 53, and can raise and lower by elevating the support plate 551 which supports the said support part 53 whole. And each conveyance arm 51 and 52 changes the speed | rate of the operation | movement which slides the arm parts 512 and 522 and the pick parts 513 and 523, and the speed | rate (retraction speed | rate) at which the conveyance arms 51 and 52 expand and contract. You can change it.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the etching apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration. As shown in FIG. 4, the etching apparatus 1 includes a control unit 61 and a memory 62. The branch is equipped with a computer. The control unit 61 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 611 and a program storage unit 612, and the program storage unit 612 is placed on the action of the etching apparatus 1, that is, the carrier placing unit 2A. The board | substrate S is taken out from the carried carrier C1, it passes through the load lock chambers 22a and 22b and the vacuum conveyance chamber 23, and carries in the said board | substrate S to process chamber 4A-4C, and predetermined | prescribed etching process is carried out. After executing the program, a program including a group of steps (commands) for control according to the operation of conveying the substrate S on the opposite path from the time of carrying in and storing the processed substrate in the carrier C2 is recorded. have. This program is stored in, for example, a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnet optical disk, a memory card, and is installed in the computer from these.

Here, in performing the above-described operation, the etching apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment corresponds to the processing recipe to be executed on the processing target substrate S from the plurality of types of recipe data 621 stored in the memory 62. The recipe data 621 to be selected can be selected. Here, the recipe data 621 selected from the plural types includes data having different etching processing time, which is a processing time executed in each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C according to a difference in the material to be etched or the etching depth. Included. Therefore, depending on the processing recipe to be executed, for example, when the second conveyance mechanism 5 is operated at the highest speed, even if the unprocessed substrate S is brought into the processing chamber, the etching treatment in the processing chamber is performed. Since it is not complete | finished, a waiting time may generate | occur | produce in the operation | movement of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5.

Therefore, the control part 61 of the etching apparatus 1 which concerns on a present Example is the operation speed (for example of this example) of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 which conveys the board | substrate S in the vacuum conveyance chamber 23, for example. In this case, for example, a program (arm speed determination program 613) for determining the advancing speed of the transfer arms 51 and 52 is provided, and the time required for the etching process and the second transfer mechanism 5 are provided. Compared with the shortest time required for the predetermined operation of (in this example, the shortest time data 622 stored in the memory 62, for example), a waiting time is generated in the operation of the second conveyance mechanism 5. If it is, the control part 61 outputs a control signal which slows down the operation speed of the conveyance arms 51 and 52 (reduces a conveyance speed), and removes the damage of the components which comprise the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5. It is possible to suppress it. The operation of the etching apparatus 1 having such a function will be described below.

First, after carrying in the board | substrate S to the etching apparatus 1 of this example, the whole operation | movement to carrying out an etching process and carrying out the board | substrate S after a process is demonstrated easily. In starting the processing of the substrate S, for example, when the operator selects the recipe data 621 to be executed in this process through an interface screen not shown, the recipe data 621 is read out to the CPU 611. Then, processing conditions such as processing time are set.

And when the carrier C1 which stored the process target board | substrate S is mounted in 2 A of carrier mounting parts, two conveyance arms 31 and 32 of the 1st conveyance mechanism 3 are moved forward and backward, and are unprocessed. For example, two board | substrates S are carried in to the load lock chamber 22a, 22b simultaneously from the carrier C1 of the one side which accommodated the board | substrate S. As shown in FIG. The board | substrate S carried into load lock chamber 22a, 22b is hold | maintained by the buffer rack 26, and after the conveyance arms 31, 32 are evacuated, the gate valve G1 is closed and load lock chamber 22a is closed. 22b) The inside is evacuated to reduce the inside to a predetermined degree of vacuum. After the evacuation, the positioner 25 is operated to position the substrate S. FIG.

After positioning of the board | substrate S, the gate valve G2 between the load lock chambers 22a and 22b and the vacuum conveyance chamber 23 is opened, and the conveyance arms 51 and 52 of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 are opened. The gate valve G2 is closed after receiving two board | substrates S and carrying it into the vacuum conveyance chamber 23 which becomes a vacuum atmosphere. The load lock chambers 22a and 22b to which the unprocessed substrates were carried out are switched from the vacuum atmosphere to the atmospheric atmosphere, and the new unprocessed substrates are loaded by the first transfer mechanism 3 and then maintained in the vacuum atmosphere. Subsequently, the gate valve G3 is opened between the processing chamber 4A and the vacuum transfer chamber 23 for performing the etching process on the substrate S, and the substrate S is loaded into the processing chamber 4A and the gate valve ( Close G3). Similarly, the board | substrate S is also carried in in the process chamber 4B. After carrying in the board | substrate S also into the process chamber 4B, two unprocessed board | substrates are carried out from the load lock chamber 22a, 22b, and 1 sheet is carried in into the process chamber 4C.

When the substrate S is placed on the mounting table in the processing chambers 4A to 4C and the gate valve G3 is closed, the processing gas is supplied from the gas supply part, and high frequency power is supplied to the mounting table side, for example, the lower electrode. The plasma is formed between the mounting table and the gas supply unit, and the etching process for the substrate S is performed.

When the etching process is completed in the processing chamber 4A, the second transfer mechanism 5 receives the processed substrate S, and carries in the unprocessed next substrate S. Thereafter, the gate valve G2 is opened to receive the unprocessed new substrate S from the load lock chamber 22a, and the processed substrate S is carried in. The load lock chamber 22a into which the processed substrate S is loaded opens the gate valve G1 after switching the vacuum atmosphere to the atmospheric atmosphere. The 1st conveyance mechanism 3 receives the processed board | substrate S from the load lock chamber 22a, and carries in the unprocessed board | substrate S. FIG. The processed board | substrate S is conveyed by the carrier C2 for processed board | substrates, and completes a series of operation | movement with respect to the said board | substrate S. FIG.

Here, the etching apparatus 1 which concerns on a present Example can perform an etching process with respect to several board | substrate S by performing the above-mentioned operation continuously. In the above description, paying attention to the operation at the start of operation of the etching apparatus 1, the operation of carrying the etching process after carrying the substrate S into the apparatus 1 and carrying out from the apparatus 1 is outlined. It was. Next, the conveyance of the board | substrate S after the 2nd time is performed to each process chamber 4A-4C after starting operation, and it is the 2nd in the operation which performs process of the board | substrate S continuously in these process chambers 4A-4C. How the carrying-in operation | movement of these 2nd time subsequent board | substrate S is performed using the conveyance mechanism 5, and the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 (for example, corresponding to the processing time changed according to a process recipe) For example, the method of changing the operating speed of the transfer arm will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 shows the etching process for the second and subsequent substrates S performed in the processing chambers 4A to 4C and the second conveyance mechanism 5 between these processing chambers 4A to 4C and the load lock chambers 22a and 22b. It is a time chart which shows execution timing of the conveyance operation | movement of the board | substrate S. FIG. This time chart shows the operation state of each device when the loading / unloading operation of the substrate S is in a normal state. In addition, in this figure, for convenience of explanation, the process chamber shown with the code | symbol 4A in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 was shown to the 1st process chamber 4A and the code | symbol 4B which gave the 2nd process chamber 4B and 4C the 3rd thing. It represented by the processing chamber 4C.

As described above, the etching apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment compares the etching processing time performed based on the selected processing recipe with the loading / unloading operation of the substrate S by the second conveyance mechanism 5, When waiting time occurs in the carry-in / out operation, the conveyance arms 51 and 52 are provided with the function which slows down the operation speed. Regarding this function, FIG. 5 shows the time chart when the second conveyance mechanism 5 is operated at a preset speed, for example, the highest speed, and the etching processing time in each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C is the same. . In FIG. 5, operations for the respective processing chambers 4A to 4C are divided into three stages in the up and down direction, and in each stage, the chart of the upper side of the second conveyance mechanism 5 for each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C is shown. The operation timing is shown, and the timing of the etching process is shown in the chart on the lower side. In addition, each chart assumes that time advances laterally from left to right.

The column hatched in the chart on the upper end side of each stage opens the gate valve G3 of the process chambers 4A-4C, and finishes processing the board | substrate S, for example, the conveyance arm 52. ) And the substrate on the processing chamber 4A to 4C side until the unprocessed substrate S held in the transfer arm 51 is brought into the processing chambers 4A to 4C and the gate valve G3 is closed. The replacement operation of S) is shown, and the symbol 'PC1' indicates the time required for the operation. In addition, the column hatched by the vertical line similarly to the upper side chart rotates the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5, and opposes the conveyance arms 51 and 52 to the load lock chamber 22a, After opening the gate valve G1 to enter the transfer arm 51 and receiving the unprocessed substrate S from the buffer rack 26, the processed substrate S held by the transfer arm 52 is loaded into the load lock chamber ( The transfer operation of the substrate S on the side of the load lock chamber 22a until the transfer to the buffer rack 26 in 22a and the second conveyance mechanism 5 is rotated again to face the processing chambers 4A to 4C is shown. have. The symbol 'LL1' indicates the time required for this operation, and the time required for the replacement operation of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22b side is also the same. The operation of replacing the substrate S with respect to the load lock chambers 22a and 22b is performed alternately. On the other hand, the column shown in white in the chart on the lower side indicates the etching process performed in each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C, and the symbol 'P1' indicates the time required for this processing.

Hereinafter, the operation of the etching apparatus 1 shown in the time chart of FIG. 5 will be described. First, as shown in the upper end chart with respect to 4A of 1st process chambers, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 performs the operation of replacing the board | substrate S in 4A of 1st process chambers, and 1st process chamber 4A. When the unprocessed substrate S is loaded into the furnace, the first processing chamber 4A starts the etching process with respect to the substrate S, as shown at the lower end thereof. In parallel with this etching process, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 carries in the board | substrate S taken out from the 1st process chamber 4A to the load lock chamber 22a, and the load lock chamber 22a side which receives the unprocessed board | substrate S is received. Run the replacement operation.

When receiving the new board | substrate S, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 takes out the processed board | substrate S in the 2nd process chamber 4B, as shown in the chart of the upper end side of a 2nd stage | paragraph, and a new board | substrate S Carry out a replacement operation that imports. And the 2nd process chamber 4B performs the etching process with respect to the board | substrate S carried in, and the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 performs the replacement operation | movement of the board | substrate S at the side of the load lock chamber 22b in parallel with this. .

In this manner, the third operation chamber 4C is also subjected to the replacement operation of the substrate S, the subsequent etching processing and the replacement operation of the load lock chamber 22a side. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the first processing chamber (at the same timing as when the replacement operation of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22a side with respect to the substrate S received from the third processing chamber 4C is completed. The etching process of 4A is complete | finished, and the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 performs a replacement operation | movement of the next board | substrate S with respect to 4 A of 1st process chambers, without waiting time generate | occur | producing.

In this manner, the etching apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has the first processing chamber 4A → the second processing chamber 4B → the third processing chamber 4C → the first processing chamber 4A →. As described above, the substrate S is loaded in and out in sequence based on a predetermined order. Then, when the substrate S is brought into each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C, the etching process is performed, and in parallel with this, the operation of replacing the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22a and the load lock chamber 22b side is alternately executed. Going.

And in the example shown in FIG. 5, (1) the replacement operation | movement at the load lock chamber 22a side of the board | substrate S taken out from 4 A of 1st processing chambers, and (2) of the board | substrate S in 2nd processing chamber 4B. Replacement operation, (3) replacement operation on the load lock chamber 22b side of the substrate S taken out from the second processing chamber 4B, (4) replacement operation of the substrate S in the third processing chamber 4C, (5 ) It is executed in parallel with the time 'PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 3' required for a series of operations from the third processing chamber 4C to the replacement operation on the load lock chamber 22a side of the substrate S taken out. The etching process time 'P1' in the first processing chamber 4A is the same.

Here, when paying attention to the first processing chamber 4A, the time required for the series of operations (1) to (5) described above can start processing of the substrate S in the first processing chamber 4A. It turns out that it is time after carrying out (it coincides with the start time of operation | movement 1) until carrying in of the next board | substrate S can be started (it coincides with the end time of operation | movement 5). And, as described above, Fig. 5 shows a time chart when the second conveyance mechanism 5 is operated at the highest speed, and the operation time from (1) to (5) and the first processing chamber as in this example. When the processing time 'P1' in 4A coincides, the finished substrate S is taken out from the first processing chamber 4A without generating a waiting time.

On the other hand, the processing in the first processing chamber 4A than the time required for the operations (1) to (5) (since it is a time of the replacement operation performed in parallel with the etching process, hereinafter referred to as "parallel operation time"). When the time 'P1' is short, the replacement operation of the substrate S cannot be started. Therefore, the substrate S that has been processed is not treated in the first processing chamber until the second transfer mechanism 5 finishes the operation of (5). Wait in 4A).

The relationship between the parallel operation time (operation time of (1)-(5)) and etching process time demonstrated above has the same relationship also in other process chambers 4B and 4C. Therefore, after processing of the board | substrate S is able to start in each processing chamber 4A-4C, the time required to carry out the next board | substrate S can start (same as parallel operation time), and each processing chamber 4A. When comparing the etching process time in ˜4C), when there is a relationship between 'parallel operation time ≥ etching process time', the throughput of the etching apparatus 1 is improved as the operation speed of the second conveyance mechanism 5 is increased. .

Therefore, in this case, it is preferable to operate the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 at the maximum speed, and the control part 61 of the etching apparatus 1 which concerns on a present Example is based on the command of the arm speed determination program 613. When the etching process time and the parallel operation time (henceforth the shortest operation time) at the time of operating the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 at the maximum speed are compared, and when there exists a relationship between "shortest operation time ≥ etching process time." The second conveyance mechanism 5 is operated at the highest speed. The detail of the said judgment sequence by the control part 61 is mentioned later.

On the other hand, depending on the processing recipe selected, it may be 'shortest operating time <etching process time'. FIG. 6 shows a time chart when the time "P2" required for the etching process is longer than the shortest operating time "PC1 x 2 + LL1 x 3". In this case, even if the second conveyance mechanism 5 was operated at the highest speed, the etching process of the first processing chamber 4A has not yet been completed at the time when the replacement operation of the load lock chamber 22a of (5) has been completed, Since the replacement operation | movement of the board | substrate S cannot be started in the said process chamber 4A, a waiting time arises in a series of operation | movement of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5.

Thus, when waiting time generate | occur | produces in the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 side, since it is an etching process speed to determine the speed | rate of continuous processing of the board | substrate S in the etching apparatus 1 whole, 2nd conveyance Even if the mechanism 5 is operated at the highest speed, the waiting time becomes long. Therefore, the etching apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment compares the shortest operating time of the parallel operation (operations of (1) to (5)) with the etching processing time, and when the 'shortest operating time <etching processing time' becomes The wear and tear of the parts of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 are suppressed by slowing down the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 with the length of the waiting time of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 which generate | occur | produces on this condition.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the substrate taken out from the third processing chamber 4C as a result of selecting a process recipe that becomes 'shortest operating time (PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 3) <etching processing time P2' is selected. In the case where the waiting time is generated while the operation of replacing (S) in the load lock chamber 22a (operation of (5)) is completed, before the next substrate S can be brought into the first processing chamber 4A. A corresponding example is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 7, for example, the replacement operation of the load lock chamber 22a of (5) is performed so that the parallel operation time (the time required for the operation from (1) to (5)) becomes the same as the etching processing time. The operation speed of the second conveyance mechanism 5 is slowed down, and this operation time is set to 'LL2 (> LL1)'. In other words, in the example of FIG. 7, the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 with respect to the load lock chamber 22a performed just before carrying in the board | substrate S after the 2nd time to 4 A of 1st processing chambers is slowed down. .

As in the example shown in Fig. 7, the operation speed of the second conveyance mechanism 5 according to the operation of (5) is slowed down by the waiting time generated in the case of Fig. 6 'parallel operation time (PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 2 +). LL2) = etching process time P2 ', when the board | substrate S taken out from 3rd process chamber 4C is carried in to the load lock chamber 22a, and a new board | substrate S is received, a waiting time will not generate | occur | produce. The board | substrate S can be carried in immediately to 4 A of 1st process chambers, without giving up.

When the above-mentioned way of thinking is generalized and summarized, when the n process chambers 4 (process modules) are provided to perform the same process with each other (n is an integer of 2 or more), the second conveyance mechanism 5 is the process chamber ( 4, after carrying out the process board | substrate S after carrying out and conveying the board | substrate S conveyed from the load lock chambers 22a and 22b (shear module), the board | substrate S after this process is loaded into the load lock chambers 22a and 22b. ), And then the operation of receiving the new substrate S is controlled so as to execute one cycle in sequence from the first processing chamber 4 to the nth processing chamber 4 in succession, and the transfer mechanism is set in advance. When carrying out said one cycle by conveying at a speed (for example, maximum speed), when the 1st process chamber 4 is processing at the start of the next 1 cycle, and a waiting time is generated, the nth process chamber 4 ) Conveyance operation | movement after carrying out process completed board | substrate S is set previously That is that it outputs a control signal to perform at a slower speed than the speed.

Here, the reason for slowing down the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 by paying attention to the operation | movement of (5) is that if the operation speed according to the operation | movement to (1)-(4) is slowed down, it is the board | substrate to each process chamber 4A-4C. As a result of the slowing-in timing of loading (S), the processing time for one entire cycle from the start of the etching process in the first processing chamber 4A to the end of the etching process in the third processing chamber 4C becomes long, resulting in an etching apparatus ( This is because the throughput of 1) is lowered.

In addition, although the operating time of (5) was adjusted in the example of FIG. 7 so that a parallel operation time and an etching process time may match (the waiting time will disappear), the grade which slows down the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is not limited to this. Do not. For example, if it is in the range of the operating time which is longer than the operating time 'LL1' shown in FIG. 6 and shorter than the operating time 'LL2' shown in FIG. 7, the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is slowed down. The effect can be obtained.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, when the process recipe which becomes "shortest operating time (PC1 * 2 + LL1 * 3) <etching process time P2" is selected, the 2nd conveyance mechanism according to operation of (5) is selected. A method of adjusting the operation speed of (5) will be described. 8 shows the contents of the replacement operation of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22a side. Here, as described above, the operation of replacing the substrate S with the load lock chambers 22a and 22b is performed alternately, while the processing chambers 4A to 4C are three, so the operation of (5) is the load lock chamber 22b. Note that in some cases, the load lock chamber 22a will be described in the following description for convenience. Therefore, the description made using the following FIGS. 8 to 10 also holds for the conveyance operation to the load lock chamber 22b.

According to FIG. 8, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 which received the processed board | substrate S in any one of the process chambers 4A-4C rotates the support part 53, and load carriers 51 and 52 are load lock chambers ( While facing 22a), the gate valve G2 is opened and waits on the load lock chamber 22a side (operation M1, required time A seconds). Subsequently, the transfer arm 51 having no substrate S is extended to enter the load lock chamber 22a (operation M2, time required B seconds), and the unprocessed substrate S is removed from the buffer rack 26. It receives (operation M3, time required C second), and retracts this conveyance arm 51, and takes out the board | substrate S (operation M4, required time B second).

And the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is moved up and down and the conveyance arm 52 holding the processed board | substrate S is moved to the height position of the opening part of the load lock chamber 22a (operation M5), and required time D seconds), the transfer arm 52 is extended to enter the load lock chamber 22a (operation M6, time required B seconds), and then the processed substrate S is placed in the buffer rack 26 ( Operation (M7), duration C seconds). Then, after the transfer arm 52 is retracted and removed from the load lock chamber 22a (operation M8, required time B seconds), the processing chambers 4A to 4C and the transfer arm 51 which carry in the substrate S are subsequently loaded. And 52, the support 53 is rotated, and the gate valve G2 is closed to complete the replacement operation (operation M9, required time A seconds).

Here, the required time 'B' of each of the stretching operations M2, M4, M6, and M8 shown in FIG. 8 represents the required time when the transfer arms 51 and 52 are operated at the highest speed.

Here, in the operation of replacing the substrate S shown in FIG. 8, the time required for the stretching operations M2 and M6 and the retraction operations M4 and M8 of the transfer arms 51 and 52 is constant at B seconds. . Therefore, in the etching apparatus 1 which concerns on a present Example, the expansion speed of the conveyance arms 51 and 52 in these expansion operations is slowed down, for example, the operation time of these M2, M4, M6, M8 is set to 'B' second. (> B sec) 'to set the operating time of (5) to' LL2 '.

Here, in order to slow down the stretching operation of the carrier arms 51 and 52 and to make the operating time 'LL1' of (5) shown in FIG. 6 into the operating time 'LL2' shown in FIG. 7, it corresponds to the waiting time shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to allocate the said time to the above-mentioned stretching operations M2, M4, M6, and M8. This waiting time is the time obtained by subtracting the shortest operating time 'PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 3' from etching process time 'P2' in each of the processing chambers 4A to 4C shown in FIG. 6 to (1) to (5). to be. Therefore, the waiting time allocated to each telescopic operation is 'P2-(PC1 x 2 + LL1 x 3)', and the waiting time when the carrier arms 51 and 52 are operated at the highest speed is the waiting time. Is the new time required for eliminating the waiting time by adding 'B' = B + {P2-(PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 3)} / 4 '.

Next, an example of a method of changing the time required for each extension operation of the transfer arms 51 and 52 from "B to B" will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. 9 shows examples of the stretching operations M2 and M6 of the transfer arms 51 and 52, and FIG. 10 illustrates the retraction operations M4 and M8. The horizontal axis of each figure represents the required time [seconds] required for the stretching operation, and the vertical axis represents the operation speed [m / sec]. In addition, the vertical axis | shaft is a positive value for the speed | rate extended from the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 side to the load lock chamber 22a side, and the speed which is retracted from the load lock chamber 22a side to the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 side to a negative value. It is shown.

For example, in the extending | stretching operation shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary for the operation | movement which extends the conveyance arms 51 and 52 from the standby position on the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 to the delivery position of the board | substrate S in the load lock chamber 22a. In order to change the time set to 'B → B' [second] ', the operating speed of the carrier arms 51 and 52 can be changed to' b → b '[m / sec] (b> b') '. .

At this time, when the accelerations (inclination of the operating speed with respect to the unit time) of the carrier arms 51 and 52 are constant at 'a [m / sec ² ]', the operating speed is' b, b '' The movement distances of the conveyance arms 51 and 52 are shown by the trapezoidal area shown by the solid line and the broken line in FIG. 9, respectively. Therefore, a new operating speed 'b' may be obtained so that the area of the trapezoid in the case where the required time is changed to 'B' is equal to the area of the trapezoid having the operating speed 'b' and the required time 'B'. In addition, when the time added to each stretching operation in the above-described formula of 'B' is 'ΔB = {P2-(PC1 × 2 + LL1 × 3)} / 4', 'b' = b × {B / (B + ΔB)} ', the areas of the two trapezoids become equal.

Then, the acceleration time 'T1' at which the operating speed 'b' of the carrier arms 51 and 52 determined based on such a thinking method is obtained is calculated, and the acceleration arm 51, as much as the time 'T1', is obtained by the acceleration 'a'. 52) by accelerating to the speed 'b', constant motion as time 'B'-2 x T1, and then decelerating by the time 'T1' with the acceleration '-a'. After B '' seconds, the transfer arms 51 and 52 can be stopped at the transfer position of the substrate S. FIG.

In the case of the retraction operation, as shown in FIG. 10, the transfer arms 51 and 52 may be operated by reversing the acceleration direction as in the case of the extension operation.

As described above, the etching apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is capable of changing the operation speed of the second conveyance mechanism 5 in accordance with the etching process time to be executed by the selected process recipe. Fig. 11 shows the flow of the operation executed based on the arm speed determination program 613 in changing this operation speed. At the start of the process of the substrate S in the etching apparatus 1 (starting), if the recipe data 621 to be executed in this process is selected (step S1), it is stored in the selected recipe data 621. The etching process time is compared with the shortest operation time required for the parallel operation from (1) to (5) (step S2). As a result of the comparison, in the case of 'shortest operating time ≥ etching processing time' (step S3; YES), the operating speeds of the transfer arms 51 and 52 are set to the highest speeds (step S4). Finish the change (end).

On the other hand, in the case of 'shortest operating time <etching process time', a new operating time 'B' 'of the transfer arms 51 and 52 in the operation of (5) is calculated from the difference between the processing time and the shortest operating time ( Step S5). Then, the operation speeds of the transfer arms 51 and 52 in the above operation are set in accordance with the calculated operation time (step S6), and the operation of changing the operation speed is completed (end).

Here, in the above description using FIGS. 5 to 11, the case where the preset speed is, for example, the maximum speed of the second conveyance mechanism has been described. However, even when the preset speed is slower than the maximum speed. The same way of thinking holds true. For example, when the operator sets the operation speed within the range up to the maximum speed at the start of the operation of the etching apparatus 1, this becomes the preset speed. In this case, the same operation as described above can be executed by replacing the shortest operating time used in the description of FIGS. 5 to 11 with the operating time corresponding to the set operating speed.

According to the etching apparatus 1 which concerns on a present Example, there exist the following effects. When the conveyance operation | movement of the board | substrate S between the process chambers 4A-4C which are process modules, and the load lock chamber 22a or load lock chamber 22b which is a front end module is performed at a preset speed, a series of 2nd conveyance mechanisms 5 When the waiting time occurs in the operation, the operation speed of the second conveying mechanism 5 is slowed down (reducing the conveying speed), so that the conveying arms 51 and 52 are not excessively operated more than necessary, and thus are relaxed. Can be used under conditions. As a result, the wear and tear of the parts which comprise the conveyance arm 51 are suppressed, and the replacement cycle of a component or the maintenance period of the etching apparatus 1 is lengthened, and the cost of the component replacement or apparatus operation rate accompanying maintenance is long. The fall can be suppressed.

As mentioned above, although the form demonstrated using FIG. 1 thru | or 11 showed the example of the multichamber type etching apparatus 1 which has two load lock chambers, the processing apparatus which can apply this invention is not limited to a multichamber system, For example, the single chamber type etching apparatus 1 in which one process chamber 4A is connected to the one load lock chamber 22 via the vacuum transfer chamber 23 may be sufficient. 12A shows the operation of replacing the substrate S (shortest operating time 'LL1') on the load lock chamber 22 side which is executed during one cycle of tact time in the processing chamber 4A, and the substrate S on the processing chamber 4A side. ) Is a time chart showing the relationship between the replacement operation (shortest operating time 'PC1') and the etching process (processing time 'P1') in the processing chamber 4A. Also in these figures, the diagonally hatched column shows the replacement operation on the process chamber 4A side, the vertically hatched column shows the replacement operation on the load lock chamber 22 side, and the white column shows the etching process. According to this figure, when the relationship of "LL1> P1" is established, since the replacement operation of the board | substrate S determines a tact time, it is preferable to operate the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 at the maximum speed.

On the other hand, when the etching processing time becomes longer according to the processing to be executed and the relationship of LL1 < P2 is established in relation to the new processing time 'P2', the tact time is determined as the etching processing time, and the second conveyance mechanism ( Operating 5) at full speed generates a waiting time (FIG. 12B). Therefore, in this case, as shown in FIG. 12C, the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is changed in the range in which the replacement operation time "LL2" of the board | substrate S in the load lock chamber 22 side does not become longer than an etching process time. By delaying, the waiting time can be eliminated or shortened, and the wear and tear of the component which comprises the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 can be suppressed.

As described above, in the example shown in the time chart of FIG. 7 or 12, when the replacement operation of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22 side is performed, the load lock chamber 22 completes switching from the atmospheric atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere. The case where the operation | movement of the load lock chamber 22 does not interfere with the replacement operation | movement of the board | substrate S by the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is shown. However, after the processed board | substrate S is carried in to the load lock chamber 22, the operation | movement which switches a vacuum atmosphere to an atmospheric atmosphere, and carries out the processed board | substrate S to the carrier C2 side, and the unprocessed new board | substrate S is carried out. It is necessary to perform each operation of the operation | movement on the side of the 1st conveyance mechanism 3 which carries in) and the operation | movement which carries out vacuum exhaust of the inside of the load lock chamber 22, and switches to a vacuum atmosphere, when the new board | substrate S is carried in. These operations are performed in parallel during the period in which the replacement operations of the processing chambers 4A to 4C are being executed. For example, in the case of the multi-chamber system provided with only one load lock chamber 22, the replacement operation of the load lock chamber 22 may not be immediately started. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 13-15, it demonstrates simply that this invention is applicable also in such a case.

FIG. 13 shows that in the etching apparatus 1 having one load lock chamber 22 and three processing chambers 4A to 4C, an operation such as vacuum evacuation on the load lock chamber 22 side is performed in the load lock chamber 22. The time chart in the case of affecting the replacement operation of the substrate S is shown. The structure of the time chart is the same as that of Fig. 5 described above, but the column hatched in the uppermost grayscale indicates the operation of replacing the substrate S at the atmospheric side of the load lock chamber 22 side or vacuum evacuation thereafter. And the symbol 'L1' indicates the time required for the operation. In this example, "L1> PC1 (replacement time of the board | substrate S on the processing chamber 4A-4C side)", and if the operation | movement of the load lock chamber 22 side is not complete | finished, the vacuum of the said load lock chamber 22 will be completed. The replacement operation (column hatched by the vertical lines) of the substrate S from the transfer chamber 23 side cannot be started. Also in this example, it is assumed that the second conveyance mechanism 5 operates at a preset speed, for example, a maximum speed.

Therefore, in the example of FIG. 13, the operation performed in parallel with the etching operation is performed in addition to the replacing operation of the substrate S on the process chambers 4A to 4C and the replacing operation on the load lock chamber 22 side. It is necessary to consider the waiting time until the operation is completed and the replacement operation on the load lock chamber 22 side can be started. For example, referring to the first processing chamber 4A, these times are the waiting time 'L1 until the completion of the operation of the load lock chamber 22 with respect to the first processing chamber 4A and the replacement operation of the substrate S starts. -PC1 ', replacement time' LL1 'on the load lock chamber 22 side by the second conveyance mechanism 5, replacement operation' PC1 × 2 'of the second and third processing chambers 4B, 4C, and load lock chamber 22 ) Is the sum of the waiting time '(L1-PC1) x 2' and the replacement time 'LL1 x 2' on the load lock chamber 22 side. In summary, the parallel operation time is represented by '(L1-PC1) + L1 × 2 + LL1 × 3', and in this example, the parallel operation time is the same as the etching processing time 'P1'.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 14, when the etching process time becomes "P2 (> P1), after completion of the replacement operation | movement of the load lock chamber 22 side of the board | substrate S taken out from 3rd process chamber 4C. A new waiting time is generated in the period before starting the replacement operation of the next substrate S to the first processing chamber 4A. In this case, as shown in FIG. 15, the operation time of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 is set by making LL2 (> LL1) the operation time according to the replacement operation | movement of the load lock chamber 22 in 3rd process chamber 4C. By slowing down the speed, wear and tear of the parts constituting the second conveyance mechanism 5 can be suppressed. In this case, for example, the expansion and contraction speeds of the transfer arms 51 and 52 are such that 'new parallel operation time (L1-PC1) + L1 × 2 + LL1 × 2 + LL2 = etching processing time P2'. LL2 is determined to slow the back to eliminate latency or to shorten the latency. In the case of eliminating the waiting time, for example, the operation time of M2, M4, M6, M8 shown in Fig. 8 is set to 'B' = B + [P2-{(L1-PC1) + L1 x 2 + LL1 x 3 }] / 4 ', the operation time can be adjusted.

Moreover, adjustment of the operation time which slows down the speed | rate of the rotation operation (M1 of FIG. 8) of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 between each process chamber 4A-4C and the load lock chamber 22 can also be performed.

16A to 16C show an example in which the operation of the load lock chamber 22 affects the loading of the substrate S in the single chamber etching apparatus 1. Also in these figures, the hatched columns indicate the replacement operation of the processing chamber 4A, the columns hatched with the vertical line indicate the replacement operation on the load lock chamber 22 side, and the white columns indicate the etching process, and the gray hatched columns indicate the rods. The operation such as vacuum evacuation of the lock chamber 22 is shown. According to Fig. 16A, the operation time of the load lock chamber 22 itself is longer than the replacement time of the processing chamber 4A side, and if this operation is not completed, the operation of replacing the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22 side will be started. Can't. Incidentally, in Fig. 16A, '(L1-PC1) + LL1 = P1', but when the relationship '(L1-PC1) + LL1 ≥ P1' is established, the replacement operation of the substrate S determines the tact time. Therefore, it is preferable to operate the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 at the maximum speed.

On the other hand, when the etching processing time is long and the relationship of (L1-PC1) + LL1 <P2 is established in relation to the new processing time 'P2', the tact time is determined as the etching processing time, and the second conveyance mechanism When (5) is operated at the highest speed, waiting time is generated (Fig. 16B). Therefore, in this case, the replacement operation time 'LL2' of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22 side is newly determined within a range in which the time calculated by '(L1-PC1) + LL2' is not longer than the etching processing time. By slowing down the operation speed of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5, the wear and tear of the component which comprises the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 can be suppressed.

In each of the examples described above, the method of adjusting the replacement time of the substrate S on the load lock chamber 22 side by slowing down the expansion and contraction speed of the transfer arms 51 and 52 is illustrated. The method of slowing down is not limited to this example. For example, the speed according to the operation (M1 of FIG. 8, M9 of FIG. 8) or the lifting operation (M5 of FIG. 8) etc. of the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 in the vacuum conveyance chamber 23 is rotated. By slowing down, the above replacement time may be adjusted.

In addition, although the example which performed the etching process of the board | substrate S by the process chambers 4A-4C was shown in this example, the kind of process performed in these process chambers 4A-4C is not limited to this, For example, For example, you may perform an ashing process or the film-forming process, such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). In the multi-chamber system, the number of the processing chambers 4A is not limited to three examples, but may be two or four or more, and the target object may be a semiconductor wafer or the like.

Further, for example, the loadlock chamber 22 is constituted by the two first and second processing chambers 4A and 4B as processing chambers for etching, and the remaining one third processing chamber 4C as a processing chamber for ashing treatment. ) 1st and 2nd processing chambers 4A and 4B (etching process) → 3rd processing chamber 4C (ashing process) → In the processing apparatus which conveys the board | substrate S in order of the load lock chamber 22, 1st And slowing the operation speed of the second conveyance mechanism 5 when a waiting time occurs in conveying the substrate S from the second process chambers 4A and 4B to the third process chamber 4C. It is included in the technical scope. In this case, for example, the first and second processing chambers 4A and 4B which perform the etching process correspond to the front end module, and the third processing chamber which performs the ashing process corresponds to the process module.

In addition, in the etching apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the etching processing time stored in the recipe data 621 at the start of operation of the apparatus 1 and (1) to (5). Although the determination is made in advance to change the operation speed in the operation of (5) by comparing the shortest operation time required for the parallel operation up to), such determination is made in advance at the start of operation of the etching apparatus 11. It is not limited to this, but may be performed while carrying out a conveyance operation. For example, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 performs the operation | movement of (5) based on the flow of the operation | movement shown in FIG. 8, and arrange | positions the board | substrate S in load lock chamber 22a, 22b (FIG. At the end of M7 of 8, the progress of the processing of the processing chambers 4A to 4C to convey the next substrate S is checked, and when the waiting time is generated, the waiting time is lost or shortened. ), The movement of the retraction operation (M8 of FIG. 8) of the transfer arm 52 and the rotation operation (M9 of FIG. 8) of the support part 53 may be delayed.

In addition, a calculation process may be automatically performed on the relationship between the processing time and the conveying time from time to time so as to change the operation speed of the conveying mechanism 5 to an optimum speed. As a specific example, for example, a plasma is monitored by a monitor or the like for an etching process using plasma, for example, a change in the light emission state of the plasma is detected, and the etching process is performed at a timing (end point) at which the light emission state is changed. By ending the process, there is a method called end point control or the like which can obtain a uniform etching result even when the film thickness or the like is changed. In this case, since the etching process time compared with the conveyance time of the board | substrate S etc. may always fluctuate | varie, for example, one lot (for example, 20 board | substrates S stored in one carrier C1) The average processing time may be temporarily set to the processing time of the next lot, and the conveyance speed of the conveying mechanism 5 may be reduced when the waiting time of the conveying mechanism 5 occurs with respect to the provisional processing time.

In addition, although the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 of the etching apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1-3 is equipped with two or more conveyance arms 51 and 52, for example, it is equipped with only one conveyance arm. This invention is applicable also to a conveyance mechanism. For example, the processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 17 is provided with a first processing chamber 4A (for example, a film for the substrate S) between two carriers C1 and C2 for carrying in and taking out. The coating treatment is performed) and the second treatment chamber 4B (for example, the heating treatment of the applied film is performed) is arranged in a straight line, and between these carriers C1 and C2 and the treatment chambers 4A and 4B. It is a structure which conveys the board | substrate S in the direction of an arrow with three conveyance mechanisms 5A-5C arrange | positioned at.

In this case, the conveyance mechanism 5B performs only the carrying out operation | movement of the board | substrate S with respect to 4 A of 1st processing chambers, and only carrying-in operation of the board | substrate S with respect to 2nd processing chamber 4B. Therefore, like the etching apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the 2nd conveyance mechanism 5 carries out the unprocessed board | substrate S from the load lock chamber 22a, 22b, and carries in the processed board | substrate S ( The replacement operation | movement of S) does not generate | occur | produce, and the conveyance mechanism 5B can convey the board | substrate S with one conveyance arm.

At this time, even if a waiting time occurs in the conveyance operation of the substrate S from the first processing chamber 4A (corresponding to the shear module) to the second processing chamber 4B (corresponding to the process module), the transport mechanism 5B By delaying the conveyance operation | movement of the board | substrate S by (), the conveyance speed is reduced, it is possible to suppress the wear of a component and to lengthen a maintenance period.

S: Substrate
1: etching apparatus
2A, 2B: Carrier Placement Unit
21: lifting mechanism
22, 22a, 22b: load lock room
23: vacuum transfer chamber
3: first conveying mechanism
4A ~ 4C: Processing Room
5: second conveying mechanism
51, 52: carrier arm
61: control unit
613: Cancer Speed Determination Program

Claims (5)

A process module for performing processing on the target object,
A front end module on which the object to be processed before being carried into the process module is placed;
A processing apparatus having a transport mechanism for transporting an object to be processed between the process module and the front end module,
And a control unit for outputting a control signal for reducing the conveying speed of the conveying mechanism when a waiting time of the conveying mechanism in which a series of conveying operations are paused in the conveying operation of the conveying mechanism is generated. .
The method of claim 1,
The said conveyance mechanism with respect to the said front-end module performed in the process module which carried out the 2nd or subsequent process object with respect to the process module which carried in the process object for the first time, when the process object is carried in several by one by the process module in a plurality. For a series of conveying operations, the control unit outputs a control signal for reducing the conveying speed.
The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And the control unit determines a rate of decrease of the conveyance speed based on the processing time for the object to be processed in the process module.
The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The said conveyance speed is a processing apparatus characterized by the speed of carrying in and out of a to-be-processed object with respect to the said front end module.
The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The process module is a processing chamber for performing a vacuum process, the conveying mechanism is provided in a vacuum conveying chamber connected to the process module, and the front end module is a load lock chamber connected to the vacuum conveying chamber. .

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