Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Masayoshi Shiga

Kenji Hashinoki

Masami Ohtani

Joichi Nishimura

Koji Hashimoto

Yasufumi Koyama

Kazuhiro Nishimura

LEDs in an LED display part are arranged so as to have approximately the same placing form as containers. When a chemical solution in a container is exhausted, a corresponding LED of the LED display part lights up. Prior to an operation of replacing the container, an operator allows a bar code reader to read a bar code of an unused container. A bar code reader collator collates the bar code data of the unused container with the bar code data of a container corresponding to the lighting LED, which is already registered in a data base. When the bar code reader collator judges that the chemical solutions in the both containers are identical, the display of the LED is changed from a lighting-up display to a flashing display. This makes it easy to recognize the disposing position of the empty container to be replaced, thereby effectively preventing incorrect replacement of the container.

Substrate processing apparatus

A substrate processing apparatus for performing a resist coating process and a development process includes an inspection block for making an inspection on a substrate having undergone the development process. The inspection block has an inspection unit for making a predetermined inspection and a transport robot for transferring a substrate to and from the inspection unit. When a substrate to be inspected is transported to the inspection block, the transport robot transports the substrate to the inspection unit. When a substrate not to be inspected is transported to the inspection block, the transport robot transports the substrate directly to the outlet of the inspection block. At this time, a substrate not to be inspected is allowed to pass a preceding substrate to be inspected, at the inspection block. Thus provided is a substrate processing apparatus capable of improving the transport efficiency, to thereby achieve a higher throughput.

Substrate processing apparatus for performing photolithography

Substrate processing parts are stacked and arranged in a multistage manner around a transport robot arranged at the center of a processing area. Rotary application units are arranged on a second layer through an indexer and the transport robot. Rotary developing units are stacked above the rotary application units respectively on a fourth layer located above the second layer. Multistage thermal processing units and an edge exposure unit are horizontally arranged in line above the indexer. In place of the processing units, inspection units performing a macro defect inspection and pattern line width measurement may be arranged in the upside region of the indexer space.

An inspection unit is provided in a substrate processing apparatus performing resist coating processing and development processing on a substrate. In the inspection unit, a film thickness measuring device, a line width measuring device, an overlay measuring device and a macro defect inspection device are successively stacked and arranged from below. The inspection unit is provided on an intermediate portion of a substrate transport path formed in the substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processed in the substrate processing apparatus is selectively introduced into each inspection part. Therefore, the apparatus can properly inspect the substrate at need while suppressing reduction of the throughput. Thus provided are a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate inspection method capable of properly inspecting a substrate while suppressing reduction of the throughput.

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Kyoto, Japan

Masayoshi Shiga