Tokyo Electron Limited

Tokyo Electron Kyushu Limited

Issei Ueda

Masami Akimoto

Yoshio Kimura

Shinichi Hayashi

Yasushi Hayashida

Nobuaki Matsuoka

Hikaru Ito

Yuji Matsuyama

Kazuhiko Ito

Mitiaki Matsushita

Naruaki Iida

Masatoshi Kaneda

Yoichi Deguchi

Junya Minamida

Akira Murata

Hiroyuki Kudou

Tadayuki Yamaguchi

Hiroichi Inada

Katsuhiro Morikawa

Osamu Kuroda

Norio Semba

Michiaki Matsushita

Masahiro Yoshida

Yuichi Yamamoto

Akira Miyata

Nobuo Konishi

Shinji Nagashima

Satoshi Morita

Yoshitaka Hara

Takashi Takekuma

Koji Harada

Kazuyoshi Eshima

Keizo Hasebe

Kouzou Kanagawa

Mitsuteru Yano

Yasuhiro Chouno

Koji Mahara

Kouji Harada

Kouji Kimoto

Kensei Yamamoto

Kenji Okumura

Kazuhiko Ohi

A throughput can be improved. A substrate processing apparatus includes processing units arranged in a vertical direction and configured to process substrates; and a substrate transfer device configured to be moved in the vertical direction and perform loading/unloading of the substrates into/from the processing units. Further, the substrate transfer device comprises a first transfer arm and a second transfer arm which are arranged in the vertical direction and configured to be moved in the vertical direction independently, and movement ranges of the first transfer arm and the second transfer arm in the vertical direction are overlapped with each other.

Substrate processing apparatus

A substrate can be appropriately accommodated in a cassette. A substrate transfer device includes a substrate transfer unit that delivers the substrate with respect to the cassette configured to accommodate the substrate; a detection unit that detects the substrate accommodated in the cassette; and a control device than controls the substrate transfer unit. Further, the control device includes a transfer control unit configured to control the substrate transfer unit to accommodate the substrate at a predetermined target accommodation position; a determination unit configured to determine an actual accommodation position for the substrate based on a detection result of the detection unit after the detection unit detects the substrate accommodated in the cassette; and a correction unit configured to correct a predetermined target accommodation position as an accommodation position for another substrate based on a difference between the actual accommodation position and the target accommodation position for the substrate.

Substrate transfer device, substrate processing apparatus, and substrate accommodation method

Provided is a substrate processing apparatus wherein, even if a trouble occurs, it is bound to continue a process for the substrate without stopping the substrate processing apparatus entirely. The substrate processing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes first and second substrate conveying devices configured to convey wafers, and first and second processing blocks provided on the right and left sides of the substrate conveying device and having processing unit arrays each configured to perform the same process. Processing unit arrays on one side and processing unit arrays on the other side are respectively connected to a processing liquid supply system commonly provided with them. And, when any one of substrate conveying devices, processing liquid supply systems has a problem, the process for the wafer can be performed in the processing unit array to which the substrate conveying device and the processing liquid supply system under normal operation belong.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate transit table configured to mount thereon a plurality of substrates; a substrate processing chamber configured to process the substrate one by one; a substrate transfer device capable of loading the substrate into the substrate processing chamber from the substrate transit table and unloading the substrate from the substrate processing chamber to the substrate transit table; and N number of (N is an integer equal to or larger than 3) substrate holding devices provided at the substrate transfer device and configured to hold the substrates one by one. Here, a multiplicity of (2 to N&#x2212;1 number of) substrates are concurrently held by 2 to N&#x2212;1 number of substrate holding devices among the N number of substrate holding devices and one substrate is loaded into the substrate processing chamber.

Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method and storage medium storing substrate processing program

Manufacturing cost or energy consumption of a substrate processing apparatus can be reduced. The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate loading/unloading unit (a substrate transit chamber) that transfers a substrateaccommodated in a carrier; a substrate transfer chamber() communicating with the substrate loading/unloading unit via a substrate loading/unloading port(); a plurality of substrate processing chambersto(to) arranged along the substrate transfer chamber(); a substrate transfer device() provided in the substrate transfer chamber() and configured to transfer the substratebetween the substrate loading/unloading unit and the substrate processing chambersto(to); and a clean air flowing unit() that allows clean air to flow along the substrate transfer chamber().

A coating/developing device includes a processing block having a plurality of coating unit blocks stacked and a developing unit block stacked on the coating unit blocks. Each of the unit blocks is provided with a liquid processing unit for coating a liquid chemical on a substrate, a heating unit for heating the substrate, a cooling unit for cooling the substrate and a transfer unit for transferring the substrate between the units. The liquid processing unit is provided with a coating unit for coating a resist liquid on the substrate, a first bottom antireflection coating (BARC) forming unit for coating a liquid chemical for a BARC on the substrate before the resist liquid is coated thereon, and a second BARC forming unit for coating a liquid chemical for the BARC on the substrate after the resist liquid is coated thereon.

Coating/developing device and method

Provided is a coating and developing apparatus composed of an assembly of plural unit blocks. A first unit-block stack and a second unit-block stack are arranged at different positions with respect to front-and-rear direction. Unit blocks for development, each of which comprises plural processing units including a developing unit that performs developing process after exposure and a transfer device that transfers a substrate among the processing units, are arranged at the lowermost level. Unit blocks for application, or coating, each of which comprises plural processing units including a coating unit that performs application process before exposure and a transfer device that transfers a substrate among the processing units, are arranged above the unit blocks for development. Unit blocks for application are arranged in both the first and second unit-block stacks. Unit blocks for application which a wafer goes through are determined depending on the layering positional relationship between an antireflective film and a resist film. An exposed wafer goes only through the unit block for development without going through any one of the unit blocks for application.

Coating and developing apparatus

A cassette waiting block is connected to a transfer in/out block of a coating and developing treatment system, and in the cassette waiting block, a cassette transfer in/out unit, a cassette waiting unit, a cassette delivery unit, and a substrate processing unit are provided. In the cassette waiting block, a cassette transfer unit for transferring the cassette between the cassette transfer in/out unit, the cassette waiting unit, and the cassette deliver unit, and a transfer unit for transferring the substrate between the cassette in the cassette waiting unit and the substrate processing unit are provided. Each cassette waiting unit has an opening mechanism for opening a port of the cassette.

Substrate processing system

A coating and developing system includes a resist film forming unit block and antireflection film forming unit blocks stacked up in layers to form a resist film and an antireflection film underlying the resist film and an antireflection film overlying the resist film in a small space. The coating and developing system can cope with a case where antireflection films are formed and a case where any antireflection film is not formed. Film forming unit blocks, namely, a TCT layer, a COT layer and a BCT layer, and developing unit blocks, namely, DEV layers, are stacked up in layers in a processing block. The TCT layer, the COT layer and the BCT layer are used selectively in the case where antireflection films are formed and where no antireflection film is formed. The coating and developing system is controlled by a simple carrying program.

Coating and developing system and coating and developing method

A coating and developing system includes a resist film forming unit block and antireflection film forming unit blocks stacked in layers to form a resist film and an antireflection film underlying the resist film and an antireflection film overlying the resist film in a small space. The coating and developing system can cope with either of a case where antireflection films are formed and where any antireflection film is not formed. Film forming unit blocks: TCT layer B, a COT layer Band a BCT layer B, and developing unit blocks: DEV layers Band B, are stacked up in layers in a processing block S. The TCT layer B, the COT layer Band the BCT layer Bare used selectively where antireflection films are formed and any antireflection film is not formed. The coating and developing system is controlled by a carrying program and software.

A coating and developing system includes an auxiliary block, a resist film forming unit block and antireflection film forming unit blocks stacked up in layers to form a resist film and an antireflection film underlying the resist film and an antireflection film overlying the resist film in a small space. The coating and developing system can cope with either a case where antireflection films are formed or a case where no antireflection film is formed. Film forming unit blocks, namely, a TCT layer, a COT layer and a BCT layer, and developing unit blocks, namely, DEV layers, are stacked up in layers in a processing block S. The TCT layer, the COT layer and the BCT layer are used selectively in the case where antireflection films are formed and the case where any antireflection film is not formed. The coating and developing system is controlled by a carrying program.

Coating and developing system and coating and developing method with antireflection film and an auxiliary block for inspection and cleaning

A coating and developing system includes a resist film forming unit block and antireflection film forming unit blocks stacked up in layers to form a resist film and an antireflection film underlying the resist film and an antireflection film overlying the resist film in a small space. The coating and developing system is capable of coping with either of a case where antireflection films are formed and a case where any antireflection film is not formed and needs simple software. Film forming unit blocks, namely, a TCT layer B, a COT layer Band a BCT layer B, and developing unit blocks, namely, DEV layers Band B, are stacked up in layers in a processing block S. The TCT layer B, the COT layer Band the BCT layer Bare used selectively in the case where antireflection films are formed and the case where any antireflection film is not formed. The coating and developing system is controlled by a simple carrying program and simple software.

A CCD camera and a laser displacement measurement apparatus are provided on a transfer apparatus for transferring a wafer between processing units. The transfer apparatus performs a predetermined image pickup in each processing unit with the CCD camera and the laser displacement measurement apparatusto perform monitoring of a required place in the processing unit. According to the above configuration, it is possible to monitor the required place in the processing unit without an increase in number of components and further without consideration of a space for provision of an image pickup means.

Processing system

A substrate processing apparatus comprises a processing section for performing processing for a substrate, a substrate carrier transfer section into/out of which a substrate carrier holding a plurality of substrates is carried, and a substrate transfer mechanism for taking an unprocessed substrate out of the substrate carrier carried into the substrate carrier transfer section to deliver it to the processing section and for receiving a processed substrate from the processing section to deliver it into the substrate carrier placed on the substrate carrier transfer section. The substrate carrier transfer section shifts the position of the substrate carrier between a first position at which the substrate carrier is carried to/from the outside and a second position at which the substrate in the substrate carrier is delivered to/from the substrate transfer mechanism.

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Kumamoto, Japan

Issei Ueda