Substrate treatment system, substrate transfer method and computer storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9984904-B2
Application number	US-201615252374-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2016
Priority date	Nov 4, 2011
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

An interface station of a coating and developing treatment system has: a cleaning unit cleaning at least a rear surface of a wafer before the wafer is transferred into an exposure apparatus; an inspection unit inspecting the rear surface of the cleaned wafer whether the wafer is exposable, before it is transferred into the exposure apparatus; wafer transfer mechanisms including arms transferring the wafer between the units and a wafer transfer control part controlling operations of the wafer transfer mechanisms. When it is determined that a state of the wafer becomes an exposable state by re-cleaning in the cleaning unit as a result of the inspection, the wafer transfer control part controls the wafer transfer mechanisms to transfer the wafer again to the cleaning unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate treatment system comprising a treatment station in which a plurality of treatment units each treating a substrate, and an interface station delivering the substrate between said treatment station and an exposure apparatus provided outside,
said interface station comprising:
a cleaning unit cleaning at least a rear surface of the substrate before the substrate is transferred into said exposure apparatus;
an inspection unit inspecting the rear surface of the substrate whether the substrate is exposable, before the substrate is transferred into said exposure apparatus;
a buffer housing part temporarily housing the substrate which has been inspected in said inspection unit, wherein the buffer housing part is provided between the cleaning unit and the inspection unit; and
a substrate transfer mechanism including an arm transferring the substrate among said cleaning unit, said inspection unit, and said buffer housing part,
wherein said buffer housing part houses the inspected substrate until an inspection result of the inspected substrate is available.

2. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 1 ,
wherein said substrate transfer mechanism includes a first transfer arm transferring the substrate transferred into said interface station to said cleaning unit, and a second transfer arm transferring the substrate which has been cleaned in said cleaning unit to said inspection unit and transferring the substrate which has been inspected in said inspection unit to said buffer housing part.

3. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 1 ,
wherein said substrate transfer mechanism includes a first transfer arm transferring the substrate transferred into said interface station to said cleaning unit, a second transfer arm transferring the substrate which has been cleaned in said cleaning unit to said inspection unit, and a third transfer arm transferring the substrate which has been inspected in said inspection unit to said buffer housing part.

4. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 1 ,
wherein said cleaning unit is provided on either a front side or a back side in said interface station,
wherein said inspection unit is provided on a side opposite to said cleaning unit, and
wherein said buffer housing part is provided between said cleaning unit and said inspection unit.

5. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 2 ,
wherein said cleaning unit is provided on either a front side or a back side in said interface station,
wherein said inspection unit is provided on a side opposite to said cleaning unit, and
wherein said buffer housing part is provided between said cleaning unit and said inspection unit.

6. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 1 ,
wherein said cleaning unit is provided on either a front side or a back side in said interface station,
wherein said inspection unit is provided on a side opposite to said cleaning unit,
wherein said buffer housing part is provided at multiple tiers in an up and down direction between said cleaning unit and said inspection unit,
wherein said first transfer arm is provided to be movable along the up and down direction between said cleaning unit and said buffer housing part, and
wherein said second transfer arm is provided to be movable along the up and down direction between said inspection unit and said buffer housing part.

7. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 2 ,
wherein said cleaning unit is provided on either a front side or a back side in said interface station,
wherein said inspection unit is provided on a side opposite to said cleaning unit,
wherein said buffer housing part is provided at multiple tiers in an up and down direction between said cleaning unit and said inspection unit,
wherein said first transfer arm is provided to be movable along the up and down direction between said cleaning unit and said buffer housing part, and
wherein said second transfer arm is provided to be movable along the up and down direction between said inspection unit and said buffer housing part.

8. The substrate treatment system as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:
a temperature regulation mechanism regulating a temperature of the substrate which has been inspected in said inspection unit and will be transferred into said exposure apparatus, to a predetermined temperature.

9. A substrate transfer method in a substrate treatment system comprising a treatment station in which a plurality of treatment units each treating a substrate, and an interface station delivering the substrate between the treatment station and an exposure apparatus provided outside,
the interface station comprising:
a cleaning unit cleaning at least a rear surface of the substrate before the substrate is transferred into the exposure apparatus;
an inspection unit inspecting the rear surface of the substrate whether the substrate is exposable, before the substrate is transferred into the exposure apparatus;
a buffer housing part temporarily housing the substrate which has been inspected in the inspection unit, wherein the buffer housing part is provided between the cleaning unit and the inspection unit; and
a substrate transfer mechanism including an arm transferring the substrate among the cleaning unit, the inspection unit, and the buffer housing part,
wherein the substrate whose rear surface has been cleaned in the cleaning unit is transferred by the substrate transfer mechanism to the inspection unit, then transferred by the substrate transfer mechanism to the buffer housing part, and housed therein until an inspection result in the inspection unit is available.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program running on a computer of a control unit controlling a substrate treatment system to cause the substrate treatment system to execute the method of transferring a substrate as set forth in claim 9 .

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Nakaharada Masahiro
• Sakata Yoji
• Miyata Akira
• Hayashi Shinichi
• Enokida Suguru
• Nakashima Tsunenaga

Classifications

• H10P74/23

  characterised by multiple measurements, corrections, marking or sorting processes · CPC title

• H10P72/7614

  characterised by a plurality of individual support members, e.g. support posts or protrusions · CPC title

• H10P72/3306

  Horizontal transfer of a single workpiece · CPC title

• H10P72/3202

  Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts · CPC title

• H10P72/0604

  Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring · CPC title