Substrate processing system

Abstract

This invention provides a substrate processing system capable of handling various requirements related to the orientation of the substrate in substrate processing systems equipped with batch processing modules and monolithic modules. The substrate processing system of this invention includes a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM with a rotary table that can adjust the position of the notch in the substrate W at the loading position IP or the unloading position OP. The orientation of the substrate W discharged from the relay device 6 to the monolithic processing device 2 can be arbitrarily changed by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. According to this invention, a substrate processing system capable of handling various requirements related to the orientation of the substrate W can be provided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a substrate processing system for performing specified processing on various substrates such as semiconductor substrates, FPD (Flat Panel Display) substrates, photomask glass substrates, and optical disc substrates for liquid crystal displays or organic EL (Electroluminescence) display devices. Prior Technology

[0002] Previously, such devices included batch processing modules and single-wafer modules (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Batch processing modules perform standardized processing on multiple substrates uniformly. Single-wafer modules perform standardized processing on individual substrates. Each type of module has its own inherent advantages. A substrate processing device incorporating both batch processing modules and single-wafer modules combines the advantages of both, thereby achieving a configuration that is superior to either batch processing or single-wafer processing devices.

[0003] According to the configuration of Patent Document 1, a plurality of substrates are uniformly immersed in a batch processing tank. The substrates after batch processing are transferred one by one to a single-substrate processing unit. Thus, according to the aforementioned configuration, a plurality of substrates housed in a carrier are transported and returned to the carrier in the same transport pattern. The orientation of the plurality of substrates housed in the carrier is consistent with the common direction of the arrangement of devices formed on the substrates. In the prior art substrate processing apparatus, if substrate processing is performed on a plurality of substrates with uniform orientation within the carrier, the substrate processing is performed while maintaining the uniformity of substrate orientation, and the plurality of substrates return to the carrier with consistent orientation. [Previous Technical Documents] [Patent Literature]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2021-64654 Summary of the Invention

[0005] [The problem the invention aims to solve] However, the above configuration cannot fulfill all the requirements sought by the substrate processing apparatus. Indeed, in the previous configuration, since all substrates are transported using the same transport pattern during substrate processing, the substrates discharged from the carrier with uniform substrate orientation and returned to the carrier after substrate processing are uniformly oriented. However, if different transport patterns are used depending on the substrate within the substrate processing apparatus, the orientation of the substrates returned to the carrier after substrate processing may be inconsistent. Thus, if the orientation of the substrates returned to the carrier after substrate processing is inconsistent, there is a risk of problems in subsequent steps.

[0006] The present invention was made in view of this situation, and provides a substrate processing system that can handle various requirements related to the orientation of the substrate in a substrate processing system having batch modules and monolithic modules. [Technical means to solve the problem]

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention adopts the following configuration. That is, the present invention provides a substrate processing system, characterized in that it continuously performs batch processing of multiple substrates and single-wafer processing of substrates, and comprises: a batch processing device for performing batch processing; at least one single-wafer processing device for processing the batch-processed substrates individually; and at least one relay device with two predetermined positions, an infeed position for receiving the batch-processed substrates from the batch processing device, and an outfeed position for transferring the substrates received at the infeed position to the single-wafer processing device; and the batch processing device is capable of uniformly processing multiple substrates in a vertical orientation. The device includes at least one batch processing tank for immersion processing, and the single-wafer processing apparatus is equipped with a plurality of single-wafer processing chambers for drying horizontally oriented substrates one by one; the relay device includes: a posture conversion mechanism that can convert a plurality of substrates from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture at the loading position; a relay conveying mechanism that is disposed between the loading position and the unloading position and can convey horizontally oriented substrates one by one along the substrate conveying path to the unloading position; and a rotation adjustment mechanism that includes a rotary table that can adjust the position of the notch of the substrate by rotating the horizontally oriented substrates one by one at the loading position or the unloading position.

[0008] [Function and Effect] According to the above invention, in a substrate processing system that connects a batch processing device and a single-wafer processing device via a relay device, the requirements of the substrate processing system can be achieved. The relay device of this invention has a rotation adjustment mechanism, which includes a rotating stage that can adjust the position of the notch in the substrate at either the substrate loading position or the substrate unloading position. The orientation of the substrate discharged from the relay device to the single-wafer processing device can be arbitrarily changed by the rotation adjustment mechanism. By changing the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism, the orientation of the batch-processed substrates transferred to the single-wafer processing device can be made consistent in a predetermined direction.

[0009] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is preferable that the batch processing apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism, which supports a first substrate group and a second substrate group in a vertical position, and supports a batch formed by combining the first substrate and the second substrate in such a way that the device surfaces of the first substrate constituting the first substrate group and the device surfaces of the second substrate constituting the second substrate group face each other; the relay device includes a substrate group separation mechanism that can separate the batch into the first substrate and the second substrate; the posture conversion mechanism converts the separated first substrate and the second substrate from a vertical position to a horizontal position. When the orientation of the notch of the first substrate and the orientation of the notch of the second substrate are different after being converted to a horizontal position by the posture conversion mechanism, the rotation adjustment mechanism rotates the second substrate at an angle different from the rotation angle of the first substrate, so that the orientation of the notch of the first substrate is consistent with the orientation of the notch of the second substrate.

[0010] [Function and Effect] Based on this configuration, a substrate processing system can be provided that ensures the orientation of the substrates is consistent in a predetermined direction even when the substrates are arranged face-to-face in a batch. If two substrate groups are combined and arranged with the device faces of the first substrate and the second substrate facing each other, a batch of alternating first and second substrates is formed. Subsequently, if the batch is divided into first and second substrates, the orientation of the notches in the first substrate and the notches in the second substrate will be different. Based on the above configuration, by rotating the substrates using a rotation adjustment mechanism to make the rotation angles of the first and second substrates different, the orientation of the notches in the first substrate and the notches in the second substrate can be made consistent.

[0011] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is preferable that the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a substrate lifting mechanism that allows the substrate to move up and down between an upper first position and a lower second position. The substrate lifting mechanism raises the substrate held by the aforementioned relay conveyor to the aforementioned first position at a position between the aforementioned first position and the aforementioned second position, and receives the substrate from the aforementioned relay conveyor. The received substrate is then lowered to the aforementioned second position and placed on the aforementioned rotary table.

[0012] [Function and Effect] With this configuration, the substrate can move up and down between the upper first position, the middle position, and the lower second position, thereby performing substrate receiving, substrate rotation, and substrate discharge. With this configuration, the structure of the rotation adjustment mechanism can be further simplified.

[0013] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is preferable that the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a substrate shifting mechanism that shifts the substrate in such a way that the center of the substrate located at the aforementioned first position coincides with the rotation center of the aforementioned rotary table.

[0014] [Function and Effect] According to this configuration, the substrate located in the first position is moved so that its center is aligned with the center of the rotary table. With this configuration, the orientation of the substrate can be precisely set to a predetermined orientation, and by placing the substrate in the ideal position, the substrate can be moved more reliably by the single-piece transport mechanism.

[0015] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is preferable that the substrate lifting mechanism has a plurality of support pins that move in and out synchronously, positioned to avoid a plurality of extensions extending from the rotation center of the aforementioned rotary table located in the initial position.

[0016] [Function and Effect] According to this configuration, the substrate lifting mechanism has a plurality of support pins that move in and out synchronously, and is positioned to avoid a plurality of extensions extending from the rotation center of the aforementioned rotary table located in the initial position. By configuring it in this way, a rotation adjustment mechanism that includes both a substrate lifting mechanism and a mechanism for rotating the substrate can be reliably constructed.

[0017] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is even more preferable that the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a pure water supply mechanism for supplying pure water to the received substrate.

[0018] [Function and Effect] Based on this configuration, since the rotary adjustment mechanism has a pure water supply mechanism for supplying pure water to the received substrate, the substrate will not dry out during the operation of the rotary adjustment mechanism.

[0019] Furthermore, in the aforementioned substrate processing system, it is preferable that the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism has a sensor for detecting the position of the notch on the substrate on the rotary table.

[0020] [Function and Effect] Based on this configuration, since the rotation adjustment mechanism has a sensor that detects the position of the notch on the substrate on the rotation table, it can measure and correct the minute orientation deviation visible between the substrates. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to the present invention, a substrate processing system is provided that can handle various requirements related to the orientation of the substrate in a substrate processing system having batch modules and monolithic modules. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0022] Figure 1 is a top view illustrating the overall structure of the substrate processing system of the embodiment. Figure 2 is a top view illustrating the overall configuration of the batch processing apparatus of the embodiment. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the HVC posture conversion unit in the embodiment. Figures 4(a) to (f) are schematic diagrams illustrating the configuration of the first posture conversion mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 6B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 6C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 7C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 9A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 9B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 9C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 10A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 10C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 11A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 11B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 11C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 11D is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 12A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 12B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 12C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 12D is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 13A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 13B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 13C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 14A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 14B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 14C is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the relay device in the embodiment. Figure 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the change in the position of the notch on the substrate in the embodiment. Figure 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating the change in the position of the notch on the substrate in the embodiment. Figure 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 18A is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 18B is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 19 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 20A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 20B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotary adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 21A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 21B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 22A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 22B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 23A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 23B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 24A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 24B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 25A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 25B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 26A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 26B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 27A is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 27B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 28 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism in the embodiment. Figure 29 is a top view illustrating the configuration of the single-chip processing device in the embodiment. Figure 30 is a flowchart illustrating the substrate transfer process of an embodiment. Figure 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate transport of an embodiment. Figure 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate transport of an embodiment. Figure 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating one variation of the present invention. Implementation

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The substrate processing system of the present invention is capable of continuously performing batch processing of multiple substrates W and single-substrate processing of substrates W one by one, and is configured to connect the batch processing device and the single-substrate processing device through a relay device.

[0024] The substrate processing system of this invention performs various processes on substrate W, such as chemical treatment, washing, and drying. The substrate processing system employs a hybrid processing method that combines batch processing of multiple substrates W with single-substrate processing of each substrate W. The batch processing method involves processing multiple substrates W arranged vertically. The single-substrate processing method involves processing substrates W horizontally arranged one by one. The substrate processing system of this invention continuously performs both batch processing of multiple substrates and single-substrate processing. [Example]

[0025] <1. Overall Composition> As shown in Figure 1, the substrate processing system includes a batch processing unit 1 and a single-wafer processing unit 2, each with its own components, and a relay unit 6 connecting the two units 1 and 2. The batch processing unit 1 is related to batch processing of multiple substrates, while the single-wafer processing unit 2 is related to single-wafer processing of substrates one by one. The relay unit 6 is configured to transport the batch-processed substrates from the batch processing unit 1 to the single-wafer processing unit 2, and is a bridging structure positioned between the batch processing unit 1 and the single-wafer processing unit 2.

[0026] As shown in Figure 1, the batch processing device 1 and the single-piece processing device 2 are divided into blocks by partitions. Specifically, the batch processing device 1 includes a stacker block 3, a transfer block 5 adjacent to the stacker block 3, and a batch processing block 7 adjacent to the transfer block 5. Figure 2 shows the specific configuration of the batch processing block 7 of the batch processing device 1. On the other hand, the single-piece processing device 2 includes a transfer block 4 and a single-piece processing block 8 adjacent to the transfer block 4.

[0027] Batch processing apparatus 1 is configured to perform batch processing and has a first housing 1A for housing each block constituting batch processing apparatus 1. Single-wafer processing apparatus 2 is configured to perform single-wafer processing on the batch-processed substrate W and has a second housing 2A for housing each block constituting single-wafer processing apparatus 2. The first housing 1A has a first loading port 9 protruding from a wall surface constituting the first housing, orthogonal to a first wall surface in the Y direction from the batch processing block 7 toward the transfer block 5. The second housing 2A has a second loading port 10 protruding from a wall surface constituting the second housing 2A, orthogonal to a second wall surface in the Y direction, the second loading port 10 being located at the same position as the first loading port 9 in the Y direction. The second loading port 10 can hold a carrier C.

[0028] In this specification, for convenience, the direction in which the stacker block 3, transfer block 5, and batch processing block 7 of the batch processing device 1 are arranged is referred to as the "front-back direction X". The front-back direction X is also the direction in which the transfer block 4 and single-piece processing block 8 of the single-piece processing device 2 are arranged. This front-back direction X extends horizontally. In the front-back direction X, the direction from the transfer block 5 of the batch processing device 1 toward the stacker block 3 is referred to as the "front". The front is also the direction from the single-piece processing block 8 of the single-piece processing device 2 toward the transfer block 4. The direction opposite to the front is referred to as the "rear". The horizontally extending direction orthogonal to the front-back direction X is referred to as the "width direction Y". For convenience, one direction of the "width direction Y" is referred to as the "right", and the other direction is referred to as the "left". For convenience, the direction orthogonal to the front-back direction X and the width direction Y (the height direction) is referred to as the "vertical direction Z". In each diagram, for reference, the front, back, right, left, top, and bottom are appropriately displayed.

[0029] The substrate processing system of the present invention first processes the substrates W in batches using a batch processing device 1, and then transfers the batch-processed substrates W to a single-wafer processing device 2 via a relay device 6. The single-wafer processing device 2 then processes the substrates W individually, completing all the substrate processing steps. Hereinafter, the specific configuration of each device will be described in the order of batch processing device 1, relay device 6, and single-wafer processing device 2, according to the flow direction of the substrates W in the substrate processing system of the present invention.

[0030] <2. Batch processing unit: Stacker block> The stacker block 3 has an entrance, namely the first loading port 9, for loading multiple substrates W into the block by carriers C that are horizontally positioned with predetermined intervals and placed vertically. The first loading port 9 is a structure that protrudes from the outer wall of the stacker block 3 extending from the width direction (Y direction).

[0031] Multiple substrates (e.g., 25) are stacked horizontally with predetermined intervals and housed in a carrier C. The carrier C, which houses the unprocessed substrates W that have been transferred to the batch processing apparatus 1, is first placed at the first loading port 9. The carrier C forms multiple horizontally extending grooves (not shown) that accommodate the substrates W with their surfaces separated from each other. Substrates W are inserted into each of these grooves one by one. For example, a sealed FOPU (Front Opening Unified Pod) can be used as the carrier C. In this invention, an open container can also be used as the carrier C.

[0032] The internal structure of stacker block 3 is described below. Stacker block 3 has a transport and storage unit ACB for storing and managing carriers C. The transport and storage unit ACB has a carrier transport mechanism 11 for transporting carriers C and a rack 13 for placing carriers C. Stacker block 3 can store one or more carriers C.

[0033] The stacker block 3 has a plurality of racks 13 for holding carriers C. The racks 13 are disposed on a partition separating the stacker block 3 from the transfer block 5. The rack 13 includes a storage rack 13b for temporarily holding carriers C and a carrier rack 13a for removing substrates, which is picked up by the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR of the transfer block 5.

[0034] The carrier placement rack 13a is configured to hold a plurality of horizontally positioned substrates with predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. The carrier placement rack 13a is also configured to hold the target carrier C for removing the substrate W. In this embodiment, one carrier placement rack 13a is provided, but a plurality of carrier placement racks 13a may also be provided. The carrier conveying mechanism 11 takes the carrier C containing the unprocessed substrate W from the first loading port 9 and places it on the substrate removal carrier placement rack 13a. At this time, the carrier conveying mechanism 11 may also temporarily place the carrier C on the storage rack 13b before placing it on the carrier placement rack 13a. The stacker block 3 has one or more carrier placement racks 13a.

[0035] <3. Batch Processing Unit: Transfer Block> The transfer block 5 is adjacent to the carrier placement frame 13a. The transfer block 5 is arranged adjacent to the stacker block 3 behind it. The transfer block 5 includes: a first substrate transport mechanism HTR, which can receive the carrier C placed on the substrate removal carrier placement frame 13a; an HVC posture conversion unit 23; and a pushing mechanism 25, which uniformly convert multiple substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 constitutes the first posture conversion mechanism 15. The first posture conversion mechanism 15 uniformly converts the multiple substrates W removed from the carrier C from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. Furthermore, for the transfer block 5, a substrate transfer position PP is provided for uniformly transferring multiple substrates W to the second substrate transport mechanism WTR provided in the unified transport area R2. The first substrate transport mechanism HTR, the HVC posture conversion unit 23, and the pushing mechanism 25 are arranged sequentially in the Y direction.

[0036] The first substrate transport mechanism HTR is configured to uniformly retrieve multiple substrates W from the carrier C placed on the carrier holder 13a. The first substrate transport mechanism HTR is located to the right of the transport and storage section ACB in the stacker block 3. The first substrate transport mechanism HTR is a mechanism for uniformly retrieving multiple substrates W from the carrier C placed on the substrate retrieval / storage carrier holder 13a. The first substrate transport mechanism HTR has multiple (e.g., 25) hands 51 for uniformly transporting multiple substrates W. Each hand 51 supports one substrate W. The first substrate transport mechanism HTR uniformly retrieves multiple (e.g., 25) substrates W from the carrier C placed on the carrier holder 13a in the stacker block 3. Furthermore, the first substrate transport mechanism HTR can transport the held multiple substrates W to the support platform 23A of the HVC posture conversion section 23. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the received horizontal posture of the multiple substrates W into a vertical posture. The pushing mechanism 25 is configured to maintain the multiple substrates W in a vertical posture and move them up, down, left, and right.

[0037] Figure 3 illustrates the HVC posture conversion unit 23 of Embodiment 1. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 includes a pair of horizontal holding portions 23B and a pair of vertical holding portions 23C extending longitudinally (Z direction). The support platform 23A has a support surface that supports the horizontal holding portions 23B and the vertical holding portions 23C extending in the XY plane. The rotation drive mechanism 23D is configured to rotate the horizontal holding portions 23B and the vertical holding portions 23C together with the support platform 23A by 90°. By this rotation, the horizontal holding portions 23B and the vertical holding portions 23C are configured to extend in the left-right direction (Y direction). Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the HVC posture conversion unit 23. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

[0038] The horizontal holding portion 23B supports a plurality of substrates W in a horizontal position from below. That is, the horizontal holding portion 23B has a comb-shaped structure with a plurality of protrusions corresponding to the substrates W to be supported. Between adjacent protrusions, there is an elongated recess where the periphery of the substrate W is located. When the periphery of the substrate W is inserted into the recess, the lower surface of the horizontally positioned substrate W contacts the upper surface of the protrusion, and the substrate W is supported in a horizontal position.

[0039] The vertical holding portion 23C supports a plurality of substrates W in a vertical position from below. That is, the vertical holding portion 23C has a comb-shaped structure with a plurality of protrusions corresponding to the substrates W to be supported. Between adjacent protrusions, there is an elongated V-shaped groove where the periphery of the substrate W is located. When the periphery of the substrate W is inserted into the V-shaped groove, the substrate W is held in a vertical position by the V-shaped groove. Since two vertical holding portions 23C are provided on the support platform 23A, each of the two periphery portions of the substrate W is held by a different V-shaped groove.

[0040] A pair of horizontal holding portions 23B and a pair of vertical holding portions 23C extending longitudinally (Z direction) are arranged along an imaginary circle corresponding to the horizontal orientation of the substrate W, surrounding the substrate W to be held. The pair of horizontal holding portions 23B are spaced apart by the diameter of the substrate W, holding one end of the substrate W and the other end corresponding to the position furthest from that end. Thus, the pair of horizontal holding portions 23B supports the horizontally oriented substrate W. On the other hand, the pair of vertical holding portions 23C are spaced apart by a distance shorter than the diameter of the substrate W, supporting a designated portion of the substrate W and a specific portion located near that designated portion. Thus, the pair of vertical holding portions 23C supports the vertically oriented substrate W. The pair of horizontal holding portions 23B are located at the same position in the left-right direction (Y direction), and the pair of vertical holding portions 23C are located at the same position in the left-right direction (Y direction). The pair of vertical holding portions 23C are positioned on the side that tilts (to the left) relative to the pair of horizontal holding portions 23B when rotated by the support platform 23A.

[0041] The rotary drive mechanism 23D supports the support platform 23A by rotating it at least 90° around a horizontal axis AX2 extending in the front-back direction (X direction). If the support platform 23A in the horizontal state rotates 90°, the support platform 23A becomes vertical, and the posture of the plurality of substrates W held in the horizontal holding part 23B and the vertical holding part 23C changes from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture.

[0042] As shown in Figure 4(f), the pushing mechanism 25 includes: a pusher 25A, which can carry a vertically positioned substrate W; a lifting and rotating part 25B, which rotates and lifts the pusher 25A; a horizontal moving part 25C, which moves the lifting and rotating part 25B in the left-right direction (Y direction); and a track 25D, which extends in the left-right direction (Y direction) to guide the horizontal moving part 25C. The pusher 25A is configured to support the lower part of each of a plurality of (e.g., 50) vertically positioned substrates W. The lifting and rotating part 25B is configured to be located below the pusher 25A and has a mechanism that allows the pusher 25A to move freely in the up-down direction. In addition, the lifting and rotating part 25B can also rotate the pusher 25A at least 180° around a vertical axis. The horizontal moving part 25C is configured to support the lifting and rotating part 25B and move the pusher 25A and the lifting and rotating part 25B horizontally. The horizontal moving part 25C is guided by the track 25D, which allows the pusher 25A to move from the pick-up position near the HVC posture conversion part 23 to the substrate handover position PP. In addition, the horizontal moving part 25C can also shift the vertically oriented substrate W in the pusher 25A by a distance corresponding to half the pitch in the substrate arrangement direction.

[0043] Here, the operation of the HVC posture conversion unit 23 and the pushing mechanism 25 will be explained. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 and the pushing mechanism 25 arrange, for example, a total of 50 substrates W housed in two carriers C, face-to-face with a predetermined interval (e.g., 5 mm). The 25 substrates W in the first carrier C will be described as the first substrate W1 belonging to the first substrate group. Similarly, the 25 substrates W in the second carrier C will be described as the second substrate W2 belonging to the second substrate group. In addition, in Figures 4(a) to 4(f), for ease of drawing, the number of first substrate W1 is 3 and the number of second substrate W2 is 3.

[0044] Figure 4(a) shows the state in which the first substrate W1, which will be in a horizontal position, is uniformly transferred to the HVC posture conversion unit 23 by the first substrate transport mechanism HTR. At this time, the device side (circuit pattern forming side) of the first substrate W1 is facing upward. 25 first substrates W1 are arranged at a specified interval (e.g., 10 mm). This 10 mm interval is called the full pitch (standard pitch). The first substrates W1 in this state are held by the horizontal holding unit 23B. In addition, the pusher 25A is located at a pick-up position below the support stage 23A at this time.

[0045] Figure 4(b) shows the situation when the support platform 23A of the HVC posture conversion unit 23 is rotated 90° by the rotary drive mechanism 23D. In this way, the posture of the 25 first substrates W1 in the HVC posture conversion unit 23 is changed from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. The first substrates W1 in this state are held by the vertical holding part 23C.

[0046] The pushing mechanism 25 supports the first posture conversion mechanism 15 in converting the posture of the first substrate W1 housed in the first carrier C1 into a vertical posture. Figure 4(c) shows the state where the pusher 25A rises from the pick-up position and moves to a position set directly above the pick-up position. This rising movement is performed by the lifting and rotating part 25B. Thus, if the pusher 25A moves from the lower side to the upper side of the first substrate W1, the first substrate W1, supported by the vertical holding part 23C of the HVC posture conversion part 23, is pulled out from the vertical holding part 23C and moved onto the pusher 25A. Grooves for clamping the substrate W are provided on the upper surface of the pusher 25A. The first substrate W1 is supported in these equally spaced grooves. These grooves are arranged with half-pitch spacing. Since the first substrate W1 is arranged with full pitch spacing in the HVC posture conversion unit 23, the grooves that clamp the first substrate W1 on the upper surface of the pusher 25A located at the top position are alternately arranged with the empty grooves that do not support the substrate W.

[0047] Figure 4(d) shows the action of pusher 25A rotating 180° by lifting and rotating part 25B, and the action of support platform 23A of HVC posture conversion part 23 rotating 90° in the opposite direction by rotation drive mechanism 23D. In this state, HVC posture conversion part 23 can support the second substrate W2. If pusher 25A rotates 180°, the substrate W supported by the right end of pusher 25A moves to the left end of pusher 25A, and the empty groove at the left end of pusher 25A moves to the right end of pusher 25A. Since the positional relationship between HVC posture conversion part 23 and pusher 25A is set in such a way that the substrate W located at the right end of HVC posture conversion part 23 is transferred to the right end of pusher 25A, HVC posture conversion part 23 can transfer the second substrate W2 at the right end to the groove at the right end of pusher 25A regardless of whether the first substrate W1 supported by pusher 25A is present. This situation also applies to the other second substrates W2 supported by the HVC posture conversion unit 23. That is, the second substrates W2 arranged in the HVC posture conversion unit 23 with a full pitch gap can be arranged sequentially with a full pitch gap from the right end of the pusher 25A. The reason is that in the rotated pusher 25A, there are empty grooves with a full pitch gap starting from the right end. At this time, the first substrate W1 on the pusher 25A falls into the gap between the second substrates W2 arranged in the pusher 25A. Figure 4(d) shows the situation when the second substrate W2 has been transported to the HVC posture conversion unit 23. In addition, in Figure 4(d), the second substrate W2 is supported by the horizontal holding part 23B.

[0048] If, in the state shown in Figure 4(d), the pusher 25A, which is in the top position, returns to its original picking position, the HVC posture conversion unit 23 can rotate the support platform 23A by 90° again.

[0049] Figure 4(e) shows the situation when the support platform 23A actually rotates again. At this time, since the pusher 25A only rotates 180°, if the pusher 25A is moved to the top position again as shown in Figure 4(f), the second substrate W2 will not interfere with the first substrate W1, and will fall into the empty groove between the first substrates W1 on the upper surface of the pusher 25A. In this way, a batch with alternating arrangement of the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 is formed. In addition, in Figure 4(e), the second substrate W2 is supported on the vertical holding part 23C. Since this batch is formed by the substrates W arranged face to face, the device surfaces of the first substrate W1 constituting the batch all face to the right of Figure 4(f), and the device surfaces of the second substrate W2 all face to the left of Figure 4(f). In this way, the pusher mechanism 25 also supports the first posture conversion mechanism 15 to convert the posture of the second substrate W2 stored in the second carrier C2 into a vertical posture group.

[0050] Figure 4(f) shows the situation when the pusher 25A moves to the top position again. Furthermore, the batch produced in the pusher 25A is transported to the left (Y direction) by the horizontal moving part 25C and moved to the substrate junction position PP.

[0051] In this way, the push mechanism 25 will combine the two substrate groups housed in the carrier C with full spacing, forming a batch of substrates W arranged with half spacing. The device surfaces of the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 of the batch face each other, and the substrates are arranged face-to-face.

[0052] The drying batch support unit 33 is mainly provided for the purpose of temporarily suspending batches assembled by the HVC posture conversion unit 23 and the push mechanism 25, and is located between the substrate transfer position PP and the relay device 6 described later. When the drying batch support unit 33 transfers batches to the batch processing block 7, the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR of the batch processing device 1 is used.

[0053] <5. Batch Processing Unit: Batch Processing Block> Batch processing block 7 is adjacent to transfer block 5. Batch processing block 7 processes the aforementioned batches in batches. Batch processing block 7 is divided into a batch processing area R1 arranged in the width direction (Y direction) and a unified transfer area R2. Each area extends in the front-back direction (X direction). Specifically, batch processing area R1 is located inside batch processing block 7. Unified transfer area R2 is adjacent to batch processing area R1 and is located at the leftmost position of batch processing block 7.

[0054] <5.1. Batch Processing Area> The batch processing area R1 in batch processing block 7 is a rectangular area extending in the front-to-back direction (X direction). One end of the batch processing area R1 (front side) is adjacent to the relay device 6. The other end of the batch processing area R1 extends in the direction away from the transfer block 5 and the relay device 6 (rear direction). Therefore, the relay device 6 is a device inserted to the position where the batch processing device 1 is interrupted midway. When transferring batches from the batch processing device 1 to the relay device 6, the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR of the batch processing device 1 is used.

[0055] The second substrate transfer mechanism WTR uniformly transfers multiple substrates W in a vertical orientation between the transfer block 5, batch processing units BPU1~BPU6, and the transfer position IP of the relay device 6. Therefore, the movable area of ​​the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR, i.e., the uniform transfer area R2, is not interrupted by the relay device 6, but extends in the Y direction along the left end of the relay device 6. The relay device 6 is embedded inside the batch processing unit 1, but does not reach the left end of the batch processing unit 1. This is because the uniform transfer area R2 is provided at the left end of the batch processing unit 1.

[0056] The batch processing area R1 mainly includes a batch processing unit for performing batch processing. Specifically, the batch processing area R1 includes a batch drying chamber DC for uniformly drying multiple substrates W, and multiple batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 for uniformly impregnating multiple substrates W in the direction extending from the batch processing area R1. Batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 uniformly impregnate multiple substrates in a vertical orientation. The configuration of the batch drying chamber DC and the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 will be described in detail. The batch drying chamber DC is adjacent to the relay device 6 from the rear. The first batch processing unit BPU1 is adjacent to the batch drying chamber DC from the rear. The second batch processing unit BPU2 is adjacent to the first batch processing unit BPU1 from the rear. The third batch processing unit BPU3 is adjacent to the second batch processing unit BPU2 from the rear. The fourth batch processing unit BPU4 is adjacent to the third batch processing unit BPU3 from the rear. The fifth batch processing unit (BPU5) is adjacent to the fourth batch processing unit (BPU4) after it. The sixth batch processing unit (BPU6) is adjacent to the fifth batch processing unit (BPU5) after it. Therefore, the batch drying chamber DC, the first batch processing unit (BPU1), the second batch processing unit (BPU2), the third batch processing unit (BPU3), the fourth batch processing unit (BPU4), the fifth batch processing unit (BPU5), and the sixth batch processing unit (BPU6) are arranged sequentially away from the relay device 6. In Figure 1, for ease of drawing, the second batch processing units (BPU2) to the fifth batch processing units (BPU5) are omitted. This configuration can be understood by referring to Figure 2. The batch processing units (BPU1) to (BPU6) correspond to the batch processing tank of the present invention.

[0057] The second batch processing unit (BPU2) specifically includes: a batch chemical treatment tank (CHB2) for uniformly treating batches; and a lift (LF2) for moving the batches between a substrate transfer position and a chemical treatment position (see Figure 2). The substrate transfer position is located above the batch chemical treatment tank (CHB2) that can be picked up by the second substrate transport mechanism (WTR). The chemical treatment position is located within the tank of the batch chemical treatment tank (CHB2) where the batches can be immersed in the chemical solution. The batch chemical treatment tank (CHB2) performs acid treatment on the batches. The acid treatment can be phosphoric acid treatment or treatment using other acids. The phosphoric acid treatment etches the plurality of substrates W constituting the batch. The etching treatment, for example, chemically etches the nitride film on the surface of the substrate W.

[0058] The batch pharmaceutical processing tank CHB2 contains acidic solutions such as phosphoric acid solution. A lift LF2 is attached to the batch pharmaceutical processing tank CHB2 to move batches vertically. The batch pharmaceutical processing tank CHB2 supplies pharmaceutical solution from below, for example, causing convection. The lift LF2 moves vertically (Z-direction). Specifically, the lift LF2 moves between a processing position inside the batch pharmaceutical processing tank CHB2 and a junction position above the batch pharmaceutical processing tank CHB2. The lift LF2 holds the batch of substrates W in a vertical position. At the junction position, the lift LF2 transfers the batch between itself and the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. If the lift LF2 descends from the junction position to the processing position while holding the batch, the entire surface of the substrate W is below the liquid level of the pharmaceutical solution. If the lift LF2 rises from the processing position to the junction position while holding the batch, the entire surface of the substrate W is above the liquid level of the pharmaceutical solution.

[0059] Specifically, the third batch processing unit BPU3 includes: a batch chemical treatment tank CHB3; and a lift LF3 for moving batches between the substrate junction position and the chemical treatment position. The batch chemical treatment tank CHB3 has the same configuration as the batch chemical treatment tank CHB2. That is, the batch chemical treatment tank CHB3 contains the chemical solution and is equipped with the lift LF3. The batch chemical treatment tank CHB3 performs the same processing on the batches as the batch chemical treatment tank CHB2. The batch processing apparatus 1 in this example has a plurality of treatment tanks capable of performing the same chemical treatment. This is because phosphoric acid treatment requires more time than other treatments. Phosphoric acid treatment requires a long time (e.g., 60 minutes). Therefore, the apparatus in this example can perform acid treatment in parallel by using a plurality of batch chemical treatment tanks.

[0060] Batch processing units BPU4 through BPU6 have the same configuration as batch processing units BPU2 and BPU3. Specifically, batch processing unit BPU4 includes a batch chemical treatment tank CHB4 and a lifting mechanism LF4 that moves batches between the substrate junction position and the chemical treatment position. Similarly, batch processing unit BPU5 includes a batch chemical treatment tank CHB5 and a lifting mechanism LF5 that moves batches between the substrate junction position and the chemical treatment position. Furthermore, batch processing unit BPU6 includes a batch chemical treatment tank CHB6 and a lifting mechanism LF6 that moves batches between the substrate junction position and the chemical treatment position. Therefore, batches are acid-treated using any one of the batch chemical treatment tanks CHB2 through CHB6. By performing chemical treatment in parallel with these five processing units, the processing capacity of the apparatus is increased.

[0061] Specifically, the first batch processing unit BPU1 includes: a batch cleaning tank ONB containing cleaning fluid; and a lift LF1 that moves the batch between a substrate transfer position and a cleaning position. The substrate transfer position is located above the batch cleaning tank ONB, which can be picked up by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The cleaning position is located inside the batch cleaning tank ONB, where the batch can be immersed in the cleaning fluid. The batch cleaning tank ONB has the same configuration as the batch chemical treatment tank CHB2 described above. That is, the batch cleaning tank ONB contains cleaning fluid and is equipped with the lift LF1. Unlike other processing tanks, the batch cleaning tank ONB contains pure water, which is provided for cleaning the chemical solution attached to multiple substrates W. In the batch cleaning tank ONB, the cleaning process ends when the resistivity of the pure water in the tank rises to a predetermined value.

[0062] Thus, in this embodiment, the batch cleaning tank ONB is located closer to the relay device 6 than the batch chemical treatment tanks CHB2 to CHB6. This configuration ensures that the components of the relay device 6 are as far separated as possible from the batch chemical treatment tanks CHB2 to CHB6, preventing the relay device 6 from being adversely affected by acids such as phosphoric acid. Furthermore, by placing the relay device 6 and the batch cleaning tank ONB close together, the batches that have completed cleaning are transported only a short distance before being immediately transferred to the relay device 6. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the transfer of the substrate W can be completed quickly while keeping the substrate W moist.

[0063] <5.2. Unified Transfer Area> The unified transport area R2 in the batch processing block 7 is a rectangular area extending in the front-to-back direction (X direction). The unified transport area R2 is set along the outer edge of the batch processing area R1, with one end extending to the transfer block 5 and the other end extending away from the transfer block 5. Therefore, the unified transport area R2 is also configured along the relay device 6 located between the transfer block 5 and the batch processing block 7.

[0064] Within the unified transport area R2, a second substrate transport mechanism WTR is provided for the unified transport of multiple substrates W. The second substrate transport mechanism WTR transports multiple substrates W (specifically, batches) between the substrate handover position PP, the drying batch support unit 33, the batch drying chamber DC, each batch processing unit BPU1~BPU6, and the transport entry position IP in the relay device 6 (described later). The second substrate transport mechanism WTR can reciprocate in the front-back direction (X direction) across the transfer area 5, the relay device 6, and the batch processing area 7. In addition to the unified transport area R2 in the batch processing area 7, the second substrate transport mechanism WTR can also move to the substrate handover position PP, the drying batch support unit 33, and the transport entry position IP in the relay device 6 within the transfer area 5.

[0065] The second substrate transport mechanism WTR includes a pair of clamps 29 for transporting batches. The pair of clamps 29 can be configured to be either closed (closed to each other) or open (separated from each other). The clamps 29 are members extending in the Y direction with grooves arranged at half-pitches to hold the substrates W. When the pair of clamps 29 are closed, they receive multiple substrates W constituting a batch. When the pair of clamps 29 are open, they transfer multiple substrates W constituting a batch to other components (such as elevators LF1). The second substrate transport mechanism WTR transfers batches between the substrate transfer position PP and the drying batch support 33 in transfer block 5, and between the elevator LF65 in the relay device 6, which belongs to the batch waiting slot 65 located at the transfer position IP. In addition, the second substrate transport mechanism WTR transfers batches between the elevators LF1 to LF6 of the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 and the batch drying chamber DC in the batch processing block 7.

[0066] Within the unified transport area R2, a guide rail 31X extending in the X direction guides the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The second substrate transport mechanism WTR can move forward and backward along the guide rail 31X in the X direction. Therefore, the guide rail 31X extends from the batch processing block 7 to the transfer block 5 via the relay device 6. More specifically, the guide rail 31X faces the substrate handover position PP in the transfer block 5 from the Y direction, and faces the sixth batch processing unit BPU6 in the batch processing block 7 from the Y direction. In addition, the guide rail 31X faces the drying batch support 33 in the transfer block 5, the batch standby slot 65 in the relay device 6, the batch drying chamber DC in the batch processing block 7, and the first batch processing units BPU1 to the sixth batch processing units BPU6 from the Y direction.

[0067] <5.3. Other Components> The batch drying chamber DC is positioned between the first batch processing unit BPU1 and the relay device 6. The batch drying chamber DC has a drying chamber for accommodating batches of substrates W arranged in a vertical position. The drying chamber has an inert gas nozzle for supplying inert gas into the chamber and a vapor supply nozzle for supplying vapor of organic solvent into the chamber. The batch drying chamber DC first supplies inert gas to the batches supported in the chamber, replacing the atmosphere in the chamber with inert gas. Then, depressurization is initiated within the chamber. While the chamber is depressurized, vapor of organic solvent is supplied into the chamber. The organic solvent, along with moisture adhering to the substrate W, is discharged outside the chamber. Thus, the batch drying chamber DC performs batch drying. The inert gas at this time can be, for example, nitrogen, and the organic solvent can be, for example, IPA (isopropanol). In this embodiment, the batch drying chamber DC is not used; instead, the substrate W is dried using the single-wafer processing device 2. The batch drying chamber DC is configured for use when the substrate processing device 1 performs substrate processing alone. In this scenario, the batches that have completed their batch cleaning process in the batch cleaning tank ONB do not move to the relay device 6, but instead undergo drying in the batch drying chamber DC, and are then transferred to the substrate transfer position PP. This batch transfer is performed by the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR. Subsequently, the batches follow the path opposite to that described in Figure 4, separating into an arrangement of the first substrate W1 and an arrangement of the second substrate W2. The arrangement of the first substrate W1 is returned to the empty carrier C by the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR, and the arrangement of the second substrate W2 is subsequently returned to the empty carrier C by the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR.

[0068] <6. Relay Device> The relay device 6 is constructed for bridging the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2. Its left end is embedded inside the batch processing device 1, and its right end is embedded inside the single-wafer processing device 2. The relay device 6 has a transport path extending in the Y direction from the unified transport area R2 of the batch processing device 1 to the single-wafer transport area R3 of the single-wafer processing device 2. This transport path is configured to transport the substrate W in the Y direction (horizontally) without changing the position of the substrate W in the Z direction. Therefore, the insertion position of the relay device 6 in the batch processing device 1 and the insertion position of the relay device 6 in the single-wafer processing device 2 are the same in the Z direction.

[0069] The relay device 6 is located in the middle layer between the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2 (see Figure 17). Therefore, the relay device 6 bridges the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2 in an air position away from the bottom surface where the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2 are located. The specific location of the relay device 6 is related to the structure of the single-chip processing device 2, so it will be explained in detail with reference to the description of the single-chip processing device 2.

[0070] The relay device 6 includes a relay housing 6A connected to the first housing 1A of the batch processing device 1 and the second housing 2A of the single-chip processing device 2, which are separated from each other in the Y direction. The relay housing 6A is disposed between a third wall surface 1B, which is opposite to the second housing 2A, in the wall surface constituting the first housing 1A, and a fourth wall surface 2B, which is opposite to the third wall surface 1B, in the wall surface constituting the second housing 2A.

[0071] The relay housing 6A has a side wall 62a, a bottom plate 62b, and a top plate 62c connecting the batch processing unit 1 and the single-wafer processing unit 2. The configuration of the side wall 62a, bottom plate 62b, and top plate 62c is detailed in Figures 2 and 17. The relay housing 6A, connecting the batch processing unit 1 and the single-wafer processing unit 2, constitutes a substrate processing system. This substrate processing system effectively isolates external air from the internal atmosphere of the device.

[0072] The relay device 6 includes: a batch standby tank 65, which allows batches that have been processed to standby in pure water; an underwater posture conversion unit 55, which receives a plurality of substrates W arranged in the Y direction and converts the posture of the plurality of substrates W from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture by uniformly rotating the received substrates W 90° in the water; a relay transport mechanism OTR, which transports the horizontally positioned substrates W one by one to the transport position OP; and a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, which adjusts the orientation of the substrates W. These batch standby tanks 65, underwater posture conversion units 55, relay transport mechanisms OTR, and rotation adjustment mechanisms SRM are arranged sequentially from the left side of the batch processing device 1 towards the right. Each part will be described in detail below. Furthermore, the underwater posture conversion unit 55 corresponds to the posture conversion mechanism of the present invention.

[0073] <6.1. Relay device: Batch standby slot> The batch standby tank 65 immerses the batches that have been processed in pure water. The batch standby tank 65 has the same configuration as the first batch processing unit BPU1 of the batch processing device 1. That is, the batch standby tank 65 holds pure water and has a lift LF5 for lifting the batches. The lift LF5 can move back and forth between the loading position IP for loading the batches into the relay device 6 and the immersion position for immersing the loaded batches in pure water. The loading position IP is a position for receiving the batched substrates from the batch processing device 1. The loading position IP is located above the immersion position and is a position where the substrates can be transported by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The loading position IP is set such that the entire area of ​​the substrate W constituting the batch is in the air, and the immersion position is set such that the entire area of ​​the substrate W constituting the batch is immersed in pure water.

[0074] <6.2. Relay Device: Full-Gap Arrangement Board Transport Mechanism> The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR separates the batch immersed in the batch standby tank 65 into substrate 1 W1 and substrate 2 W2. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR can transport 25 substrates W arranged in full pitch between the batch standby tank 65 and the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The batch standby tank 65 provides standby for 50 substrates W arranged in half pitch. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR picks up half of these 25 substrates and transports them to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR has a pair of clamps 30 identical to one pair of clamps 29 in the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. Like clamps 29, clamps 30 have grooves formed at half-pitch intervals, but differ from clamps 29 in the alternation of the two types of grooves. That is, clamps 30 alternate between deep grooves that cannot hold substrates W and shallow grooves that hold substrates W at half-pitch intervals. Therefore, if the batch located on the elevator LF65 is to be held by the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, 25 substrates W cannot be held by the shallow grooves, and the remaining 25 substrates W cannot be brought into contact with the deep grooves and remain on the elevator LF65. Since the shallow grooves in the chuck 30 are arranged at twice the pitch of half a pitch (full pitch), the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR picks up the 25 substrates W arranged in full pitch from the batch in the elevator LF65. In terms of the batch being composed of substrates W arranged face-to-face, the picked-up substrates W are arranged with the device faces of adjacent substrates W not facing each other, with the front (device face) on the right and the back on the left. On the other hand, the 25 substrates W that are not picked up and remain on the elevator LF65 are arranged with the front (device face) on the left and the back on the right, with the device faces of adjacent substrates W not facing each other. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR is equivalent to the substrate group separation mechanism of the present invention.

[0075] The full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR has a pair of clamps 30, similar to the clamps 29 of the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. It can be in two states: a closed state where the clamps 30 are close to each other in the X direction, and an open state where the clamps 30 are far apart in the X direction. When the pair of clamps 30 are in the closed state, the clamps 30 are sufficiently close to each other relative to the diameter of the substrate W, so that two points on the lower part of the substrate W abut against each of the clamps 30. Thus, the substrate W is held by the pair of clamps 30. If the pair of clamps 30, which would otherwise be in the closed state, is in the open state, the clamps 30 are sufficiently far apart relative to the diameter of the substrate W, so that the substrate W detaches from the clamps 30. Specifically, the pair of clamps 30 are in the open state before the elevator LF65 at the loading position IP receives multiple substrates W, and after transferring multiple substrates W to the pusher (not shown) at the position above the impregnation tank (described later).

[0076] The relay device 6 is equipped with a guide rail 31Y extending in the Y direction to guide the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR can move forward and backward along the guide rail 31Y in the Y direction. Therefore, the guide rail 31Y extends from the batch standby slot 65 to the underwater posture conversion unit 55.

[0077] The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, guided by the free guide rail 31Y, transfers the batch of substrates from the elevator LF65 to the loading position IP. It then moves forward and backward in the Y direction to the underwater posture conversion unit 55, which has a pusher (not shown) to receive multiple substrates W above the immersion tank. In this way, the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR can transport multiple substrates W from the loading position IP to the position above the immersion tank in the Y direction. Furthermore, when the second substrate transport mechanism WTR moves from the transfer block 5 to the batch processing block 7, the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR can also move to the position above the immersion tank without interfering with the second substrate transport mechanism WTR (see Figure 2).

[0078] <6.3. Relay Device: Underwater Conversion Unit> The underwater posture conversion unit 55 converts the plurality of substrates W received from the batch processing device 1 from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture. The underwater posture conversion unit 55 also converts the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2, which were previously in a vertical posture, into a horizontal posture. The underwater posture conversion unit 55 includes an immersion tank 73 holding pure water, a reversing chuck 71 located above the immersion tank 73, and a pair of reversing chuck support mechanisms 72 that hold the reversing chuck 71 and allow it to rise, fall, and rotate. The reversing chuck 71 can rise and fall from its position on the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73, where it intersects with the substrates of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, into the liquid of the immersion tank 73. The reversing chuck 71 can immerse the plurality of substrates W received from the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR in the immersion tank 73, and in this state, rotate 90° in one direction or the opposite direction. The posture of the plurality of substrates W, which were in a vertical posture, is converted to a horizontal posture by the rotation of the pair of reversing chucks 71.

[0079] The reversing chuck 71 can switch between a closed state, in which the plurality of substrates W are held in place by the operation of a pair of reversing chuck support mechanisms 72, and an open state, in which the plurality of substrates W are held in place. Furthermore, the reversing chuck 71 can maintain its positional relationship by rotating 90° in one direction and the opposite direction by the operation of a pair of reversing chuck support mechanisms 72. Moreover, the reversing chuck 71 can maintain its positional relationship by rising and falling from above the immersion tank 73 into the liquid within the immersion tank 73 by the operation of a pair of reversing chuck support mechanisms 72.

[0080] The plurality of V-shaped grooves 71a of the reversing clamp 71 are arranged in a comb-like shape with full spacing. A pair of reversing clamps 71 hold a plurality of substrates W from both sides by inserting them into the V-shaped grooves. When the reversing clamp 71 is in the closed state, the ends of the substrates abut against the deepest part of the V-shaped grooves, and the substrates W will not slip off the reversing clamp 71 even if the reversing clamp 71 rotates in this state. When the reversing clamp 71 is in the open state, the full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR, which holds a plurality of substrates W above the impregnation tank 73 and is ready to receive the substrates W, can receive the substrates W. Furthermore, the reversing clamp 71 can also be in a state between the open and closed states (a half-open state), which will be described below.

[0081] <6.4. Relay Device: Relay Conveying Mechanism> The relay transport mechanism OTR is located between the loading position IP and the unloading position OP. It receives horizontally oriented substrates W one by one from the underwater posture conversion unit 55 and transports the substrates W along the substrate transport path to the unloading position OP. As shown in Figure 1, the relay transport mechanism OTR is guided by a relay track 32Y extending in the Y direction from the underwater posture conversion unit 55 to the rotary adjustment mechanism SRM (described later), and can move in the Y direction. The relay transport mechanism OTR has a hand 103. The relay transport mechanism OTR can receive horizontally oriented substrates W one by one from the reversing chuck 71 with the hand 103 facing the underwater posture conversion unit 55. Furthermore, the relay transport mechanism OTR can use its arm to transport the substrates to the unloading position OP of the rotary adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0082] <6.5. Relay Device: Operation of the Relay Conveying Mechanism> The process of relay device 6 transporting substrate W from loading position IP to loading position OP is described. Loading position OP is a position defined for transferring the substrate W received at loading position IP to single-chip processing device 2. Figure 5A shows the elevator LF65 holding multiple substrates W at loading position IP, which is set above batch standby slot 65. The transport of substrates W up to loading position IP is performed by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The multiple substrates W placed on elevator LF65 are arranged face-to-face, with substrates W with device side facing right and substrates W with device side facing left alternately.

[0083] At this time, if the elevator LF65 descends from the loading position IP to the immersion position, it can prevent the substrate W from drying while it is being transported piece by piece in the relay device 6.

[0084] Figure 5A shows the situation where, in order to transport a plurality of substrates W to the underwater posture conversion unit 55, the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the elevator LF65 to the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR. At this time, the elevator LF65 supports the plurality of substrates W at the loading position IP, and the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR moves a pair of clamps 30 to a position that can hold the batch, and sets the clamps 30 to a closed state. At this time, as described above, the clamps 30 only hold half of the plurality of substrates W that constitute the batch and are arranged at half pitch. As a result, the batch becomes a state in which substrates W held by the clamps 30 and substrates W not held by the clamps 30 are arranged alternately.

[0085] Figure 5B shows the situation when the elevator LF65 descends from the loading position IP to the immersion position. If the elevator LF65 descends from the state shown in Figure 5A, then half of the substrates W constituting the batch, arranged in full-pitch configuration, remain in the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, while the remaining half of the substrates W return to the batch waiting slot 65 in a full-pitch configuration within the elevator LF65. The device faces of the substrates W remaining in the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR face right, while the device faces of the substrates W held by the elevator LF65 in the immersion position face left.

[0086] Figure 6A shows the state when the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR transports multiple substrates W to the space above the impregnation tank 73. At this time, one pair of reversing chucks 71 are located above the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, with a rotation angle of 0° as in the initial state. In the initial state, the reversing chucks 71 extend horizontally and can receive multiple substrates W in a vertical position.

[0087] Figure 6B shows the state where the reverse clamp 71 descends to the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR. The operation of the reverse clamp 71 is realized by the reverse clamp support mechanism 72. Figure 6B shows the state where 25 substrates W are transferred from the clamp 30 of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR to the reverse clamp 71. That is, a pair of reverse clamps 71 remain open and descend to the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR, and then are set to a closed state. Since one of the reverse clamps 71 is in the open state, it is only separated by a distance for the substrate W to pass through, so it can approach the clamp 30 without contacting the substrate W. Then, the reverse clamp 71 is closed by the operation of the reverse clamp support mechanism 72, holding the 25 substrates W. At this time, the 25 substrates W are held by either the clamp 30 or the reverse clamp 71. Then, the clamp 30 is opened and withdraws in the Y direction (left direction). In this way, the transfer of substrates W from the clamp 30 to the reverse clamp 71 is performed. Figure 6C shows the state in which 25 substrates W are transferred to the reversing chuck 71. As shown by the arrow in Figure 6C, the reversing chuck 71 descends below the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73, immersing the 25 substrates W in the pure water maintained in the immersion tank 73.

[0088] Figure 7A shows the reverse chuck 71 rotating 90° while 25 substrates W are immersed in pure water. The operation of the reverse chuck 71 is achieved by the reverse chuck support mechanism 72. Figure 7B shows the state after the reverse chuck 71 has completed its 90° rotation. Thus, the device surfaces of the 25 substrates W, immersed in the immersion tank 73 and facing the Y direction (left direction), rotate 90° to face upwards. If the substrates W are tilted in this way, the substrates W can be positioned horizontally with their device surfaces facing upwards. The horizontally positioned substrates W are then transported with their device surfaces facing upwards.

[0089] Figure 7C shows the situation when the reverse chuck 71 moves one of the 25 substrates W to the surface of the liquid in the immersion tank 73. The operation of the reverse chuck 71 is achieved by the reverse chuck support mechanism 72. According to Figure 7C, only one substrate W is on the liquid surface, while the remaining 24 substrates W are below the liquid surface in the immersion tank 73. This configuration prevents the 24 substrates W from drying out while waiting to be transported. The substrate W on the liquid surface is transported to the removal position OP by the relay transport mechanism OTR while maintaining a horizontal posture. Subsequently, the reverse chuck support mechanism 72 raises a pair of reverse chucks 71 by a height equivalent to the full pitch whenever the relay transport mechanism OTR transports a substrate W. After repeating this operation, all 25 substrates W are transported to the removal position OP by the relay transport mechanism OTR.

[0090] The opening and closing operation of the reversing clamps 71 in each state shown in Figures 5A to 7C will be explained. As mentioned above, in the states shown in Figures 5A to 6A, one pair of reversing clamps 71 is in an open state, rather than a state where the substrate W can be held. Since the reversing clamps 71 in the open state can pass through the substrate W, the reversing clamps 71 can be moved to the position shown in Figure 6B where they do not collide with the substrate W. In Figure 6B, the pair of reversing clamps 71 switches from the open state to the closed state. At this time, the V-grooves of the pair of reversing clamps 71 allow the ends of the 25 substrates W arranged at full spacing to enter and abut. Since the V-grooves are arranged at full spacing, the 25 substrates W arranged at full spacing can be easily stored in each V-grooves. The state in which the substrates W are stored in each V-grooves is explained in detail in Figure 12A. In Figures 6C to 7B, one pair of reversing clamps 71 is in a closed state, which is a state of holding the substrate W. In this state, even if the reverse clamp 71 is rotated, the held substrate W will not fall.

[0091] To achieve the state shown in Figure 7C, it is necessary to allow the relay conveyor OTR to transport the substrate W without causing the substrate W waiting in the impregnation tank 73 to fall. Therefore, according to this embodiment, in the state shown in Figure 7C, the pair of reversing clamps 71 are set to a half-open state. This achieves a state where the substrate W can be removed and supported. The half-open state is explained in detail in Figures 12C and 12D.

[0092] Figure 8A shows the state in which the elevator LF65 holds a plurality of substrates W in the loading position IP set above the batch standby slot 65. The transport of substrates up to the loading position IP is performed by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The 25 substrates W placed in the elevator LF65 are arranged with the device face to the right at full spacing. These substrates W are the same substrates W left in the batch standby slot 65 in Figure 5B. The state of transporting these 25 substrates will be described after Figure 8A. In addition, Figure 8A shows the state when the horizontal substrate transport as described in Figure 7C is completed, and a pair of reverse clamps 71 return to the initial state shown in Figure 5A. In the initial state, one of the reverse clamps 71 extends in the Y direction to guide the substrate W in a vertical position and is located above the immersion tank 73.

[0093] Figure 8B corresponds to Figure 5B above, showing the transfer of 25 substrates W to the clamp 30 of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR. Figure 9A corresponds to Figure 6A above, showing the movement of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR to the position where the 25 substrates W are clamped by the impregnation tank 73 and a pair of reversing clamps 71. Figure 9B corresponds to Figure 6B above, showing the transfer of 25 substrates W from the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR to the pair of reversing clamps 71. Figure 9C corresponds to Figure 6C above, showing the 25 substrates W supported by the pair of reversing clamps 71 above the impregnation tank 73.

[0094] Figure 10A shows the reverse chuck 71 rotating -90° while 25 substrates W are immersed in pure water. The operation of the reverse chuck 71 is achieved by the reverse chuck support mechanism 72. Figure 10B shows the reverse chuck 71 after the -90° rotation is completed. Thus, the device surfaces of the 25 substrates W, immersed in the immersion tank 73 and facing the Y direction (right direction), rotate 90° to face upwards. If the substrates W are tilted in this way, the substrates W can be positioned horizontally with their device surfaces facing upwards. The horizontally positioned substrates W are then transported with their device surfaces facing upwards.

[0095] Figure 10C corresponds to Figure 7C above, showing the state where a pair of reversing chucks 71 are set to a half-open state, with only the substrate W at the uppermost position exposed above the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73. Subsequently, whenever the relay transport mechanism OTR transports substrate W, the reversing chuck support mechanism 72 raises the pair of reversing chucks 71 to a height equivalent to the full pitch. After repeating this operation, all 25 substrates W are transported to the take-out position OP by the relay transport mechanism OTR.

[0096] Next, the state of the relay transfer mechanism OTR conveying the substrate W in a horizontal position from the reverse chuck 71 in the states shown in Figures 7C and 10C will be explained. Figure 11A shows the state of the relay transfer mechanism OTR when it moves to the vicinity of the impregnation tank 73 in order to convey the substrate W. As shown in Figure 11A, the hand 103 of the relay transfer mechanism OTR has a sliding mechanism 102 for moving the hand 103 forward and backward, and a support mechanism 101 for supporting the sliding mechanism 102. The sliding mechanism 102 supports the base of the hand 103, and can move the hand 103 forward as shown in Figure 11B, and can also move the hand 103 backward as shown in Figure 11D. The support mechanism 101 can reciprocate the sliding mechanism 102 and the hand 103 in the Y direction. Furthermore, by rotating the hand 103 180°, the support mechanism 101 can make the hand 103 face the impregnation tank 73 side or the removal position OP side.

[0097] Figure 11B shows the state where hand 103 is inserted between substrate W on the liquid surface and substrate W below the liquid surface via sliding mechanism 102. By positioning hand 103 in the state shown in Figure 11B, it is ready to obtain substrate W in a horizontal position. At this time, sliding mechanism 102 can move from the initial position to the forward position.

[0098] Figure 11C shows a pair of reversing chucks 71 descending to maintain their positional relationship, so that the substrate W on the liquid surface is in contact with the upper surface of the hand 103. In this way, if the hand 103 picks up the substrate W by lowering the reversing chucks 71, the configuration of moving the hand 103 up and down can be omitted, and a relay transfer mechanism OTR can be formed. Therefore, a substrate handling system with a simple device configuration and fewer failures can be provided.

[0099] Figure 11D shows the state when the hand 103, having acquired the substrate W, retracts to the support mechanism 101 of the intermediate transport mechanism OTR via the sliding mechanism 102. Since the pair of reversing chucks 71 are in a half-open state, the hand 103 is allowed to pull out the substrate W and supports the substrate W held in the liquid. At this time, the sliding mechanism 102 moves from the forward position to the initial position.

[0100] The partially open state of the pair of reversing clamps 71 is explained. Figure 12A, as shown in Figures 7B and 10B, is a cross-sectional view illustrating the state of the 25 substrates W after rotating 90° or -90°. At this time, one of the pair of reversing clamps 71 is in a closed state, and both ends of the substrates W reach the deepest part of the V-groove 71a. If the substrates W are fixed by pressing down on both ends of the substrates W by the pair of reversing clamps 71, the 25 substrates W will not slip off the pair of reversing clamps 71.

[0101] Figure 12B is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 11B above. The pair of reversing chucks 71 are in a closed state, and the hand 103 is inserted between the substrates W. In addition, the liquid level of the immersion tank 73 is omitted in Figure 12B and subsequent Figures 12C and 12D.

[0102] Figure 12C shows the state when one of the pair of reversing clamps 71 is slightly separated from the other, becoming a half-open state. When the pair of reversing clamps 71 is in the half-open state, the two ends of the substrate W move from the deepest part of the V-groove and abut against the wall forming the V-groove. If the reversing clamps 71 are not rotated, this state is one in which the substrate W does not slip off the reversing clamps 71, and the substrate W itself is not fixed to the reversing clamps 71. Therefore, if the pair of reversing clamps 71 is set to the half-open state, the substrate W can be held in the liquid and one substrate can be transferred to the hand 103 on the liquid surface. However, since the hand 103 has not yet abutted against the substrate W in the state shown in Figure 12C, the substrate W needs to be lowered relative to the hand 103 in order to transfer the substrate W to the hand 103.

[0103] Figure 12D is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 11C above. Figure 12D shows the pair of reversing clamps 71 slightly lowered from the state in Figure 12C, so that the substrate W abuts against the hand 103. In the state of Figure 12D, the substrate W is placed on the hand 103, located away from the wall of the V-groove 71a of the reversing clamp 71. That is, in the state of Figure 12D, the substrate W is not in contact with the reversing clamp 71. Therefore, if the sliding mechanism 102 is activated in this state, causing the hand 103 to move, the substrate W will be pulled out without abutting against the reversing clamp 71.

[0104] Figure 13A shows the state of the substrate W in a horizontal position obtained from a pair of reversing clamps 71. The substrate processing system of this embodiment has a configuration related to the water retention of the substrate W during the substrate transport path of the relay device 6. The shower head 69 supplies pure water spray to the substrate W. The shower head 69 is also depicted in Figure 1, so it can be understood by referring to it. The tray 105 is a square disc-shaped member inserted into the gap between the hand 103 and the support mechanism 101, holding the pure water supplied from the shower head 69 and dripping from the substrate W. Since the tray 105 obstructs the operation of the sliding mechanism 102, when the sliding mechanism 102 operates as shown in Figures 11B and 11C, the tray 105 retracts from the sliding mechanism 102 in the X direction. The tray moving mechanism 108 is configured to realize the operation of the tray 105.

[0105] Figure 13B shows the relay conveyor OTR conveying substrate W in the Y direction and moving it to the vicinity of the take-out position OP. At this time, the hand 103 holds substrate W and faces the impregnation tank 73 and the reversing chuck 71.

[0106] Figure 13C shows the state of the support mechanism 101 of the subsequent relay conveying mechanism OTR when it rotates 180° around the rotation axis 104 extending in the Z direction. By means of the movement of this support mechanism 101, the hand 103 facing the impregnation tank 73 moves towards the take-out position OP.

[0107] Figure 14A shows the situation when the sliding mechanism 102 slides, moving the hand 103 holding the substrate W to the take-out position OP. At this time, the substrate W is located at the take-out position OP determined within the substrate processing system. Also, at this time, the sliding mechanism 102 can move from the initial position to the forward position.

[0108] The rotary adjustment mechanism SRM is located directly below the take-out position OP. The rotary adjustment mechanism SRM has a plurality of support pins 111 extending in the Z direction (e.g., 3 pins). The support pins 111 can move freely in and out in the Z direction. Each support pin 111 extends and retracts synchronously with its front ends at the same height. The base plate 110 supports the base ends of the support pins 111. In Figure 14A, the front ends of the support pins 111 are located below the take-out position OP.

[0109] Figure 14B shows the situation when the support pin 111 extends, causing the substrate W supported by the hand 103 to move above the take-out position OP. In this way, the substrate W is replaced from the hand 103 to the support pin 111.

[0110] Figure 14C shows the state when the sliding mechanism 102 returns to its initial position from its forward position and the hand 103 retracts from the move-out position OP. The substrate W is supported above the move-out position OP by the support pin 111.

[0111] Thus, each of the substrates W constituting the batch to be moved into the transfer position IP in the relay device 6 is set to a horizontal position and transported one by one to the transfer position OP. The substrates W transported to the transfer position OP are moved above the transfer position OP by the support pin 111 of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, and then the position is adjusted by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0112] <6.6. Relay Device: Regarding the Orientation of the Notch> Regarding the current substrate transport process, the change in the orientation of the notches on substrate W will be explained. As an example, the notches of substrate W housed in carrier C as shown in Figure 1 are all oriented to the left. Figure 15 schematically shows the change in the orientation of the notches. The notch processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment is configured as follows: substrate groups housed in two carriers C are combined to form a batch; after batch processing, the batch combination is released; substrate W is positioned horizontally; and then substrate W is transported one by one to the single-piece processing apparatus 2. In Figure 15, 25 first substrates W1 are housed with full spacing in the first carrier C1, and 25 second substrates W2 are housed with full spacing in the second carrier C2. These first substrates W1 and second substrates W2 are the substrate groups that are subject to batch combination when forming a batch.

[0113] All the notches N1 of the first substrate W1 housed in the first carrier C1 face to the left. Even when the first substrate W1 is held in place by the first substrate transport mechanism HTR, the orientation of the notches N1 does not change. Since the first substrate transport mechanism HTR needs to transfer the first substrate W1 to the HVC posture conversion unit 23, the first substrate W1 is rotated 90° counterclockwise. As a result, the notches N1 facing to the left face the rear side of the substrate processing system.

[0114] The first substrate transfer mechanism HTR then transfers the first substrate W1 to the HVC posture conversion unit 23. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 rotates the transferred substrate by 90°, but since the notch N1 is located on the rotation center axis of the first substrate W1 at this time, the orientation of the notch N1 does not change. Therefore, the orientation of the notch N1 does not change according to the operation of the HVC posture conversion unit 23.

[0115] The first substrate W1, which is set to a vertical position by the HVC posture conversion unit 23, is handed over to the pusher 25A. The pusher 25A then rotates the first substrate W1 180° around the Z-axis, as explained in Figure 3(d). Since the notch N1 is no longer located on the rotation center axis at this time, the orientation of the notch N1 changes. Specifically, the notch N1 that was facing rearwards now faces forward.

[0116] On the other hand, the notch N2 of the second substrate W2 housed in the second carrier C2, like the notch N1, faces left. The orientation of the notch N2 is changed to rearward by the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR and transferred to the HVC posture conversion unit 23.

[0117] As illustrated in Figure 3(e), the second substrate W2, which is transformed into a vertical position by the HVC posture conversion unit 23, is placed on the pusher 25A, which has been rotated 180°. At this time, the orientation of the notch N2 remains unchanged.

[0118] Thus, the notch N1 of the first substrate W1 constituting the batch faces forward, while the notch N2 of the second substrate W2 constituting the batch faces backward. As the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 in the batch are arranged alternately, in each substrate W constituting the batch, the substrate with the notch facing backward and the substrate with the notch facing forward are arranged alternately. The substrates W constituting the batch are arranged face-to-face.

[0119] Figure 16 shows the various batches completed in the batch processing block 7 until they are transformed into a horizontal position by a pair of reversing chucks 71. First, the batches are divided into an arrangement of the first substrate W1 and an arrangement of the second substrate W2. At this time, the orientation of notches N1 and N2 remains unchanged. Next, the orientation of the first substrate W1 is changed first, and the first substrate W1 becomes horizontal. At this time, the first substrate W1 rotates 90°, but since the orientation of notch N1 is consistent with the rotation axis, the orientation of notch N1 remains unchanged. Similarly, the orientation of the second substrate W2 is changed, and the second substrate W2 becomes horizontal. At this time, the second substrate W2 rotates -90°, but since the orientation of notch N2 is parallel to the rotation axis, the orientation of notch N2 remains unchanged. As a result, the apparent inconsistency in orientation between notches N1 and N2 is not eliminated during the operation of the reversing chucks 71. If the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 are directly transferred to the single-wafer processing device 2, the single-wafer processing ends while maintaining the inconsistent orientation of the notches. The first substrate W1 is then returned to the carrier C placed in the second loading section 10. Similarly, the second substrate W2 is returned to another carrier C placed in the second loading section 10. In each carrier C, the orientation of the notches of the substrates W is consistent, but if the carriers C are compared with each other, the orientation of the notches differs by 180°.

[0120] To eliminate this inconsistency, the substrate processing system of the embodiment includes a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM in the relay device 6. The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM has the function of rotating the second substrate W2 by 180° without rotating the first substrate W1, thereby making the orientation of the notches N1 and N2 consistent.

[0121] <6.7. Relay Device: Composition of Rotary Adjustment Mechanism> Next, the configuration of the rotation adjustment mechanism will be explained. When the orientation of the notch on the first substrate W1, which is converted to a horizontal position by the underwater posture conversion unit 55, is different from the orientation of the notch on the second substrate W2, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM rotates the second substrate W2 at an angle different from the rotation angle of the first substrate W1, thereby aligning the orientation of the notch on the first substrate W1 with the orientation of the notch on the second substrate W2. Figure 17 is a view of the single-wafer processing unit 2 from the side of the batch processing unit 1. As shown in the figure, the single-wafer processing chambers are stacked in the Z direction to form a laminate. For example, a single-wafer processing chamber 49c is disposed above the single-wafer processing chamber 48c, and a single-wafer processing chamber 47c is disposed below the single-wafer processing chamber 48c. Similarly, another single-wafer processing chamber is disposed above the single-wafer processing chamber 48a, and other single-wafer processing chambers are disposed below the single-wafer processing chamber 48a. Above the single-wafer processing chamber 48b, another single-wafer processing chamber is also disposed, and below the single-wafer processing chamber 48a, other single-wafer processing chambers are also disposed. Furthermore, the single-wafer processing chambers are configured to process horizontally oriented substrates W one by one, details of which are described below.

[0122] Figure 17 also illustrates the position where the relay device 6 is positioned between the single-chip processing chambers from above and below. That is, the single-chip processing chamber 49d is positioned on the upper side of the relay device 6, and the single-chip processing chamber 47d is positioned on the lower side of the relay device 6.

[0123] Thus, the single-chip processing chamber of this embodiment comprises: a first stacked body, which is formed by arranging three single-chip processing chambers belonging to single-chip processing chamber 48a in the Z direction; a second stacked body, which is formed by arranging three single-chip processing chambers belonging to single-chip processing chamber 48b in the Z direction; and a third stacked body, which is formed by arranging three single-chip processing chambers belonging to single-chip processing chamber 48c in the Z direction. Furthermore, the single-chip processing device 2 of this embodiment has two single-chip processing chambers in which the relay device 6 is positioned sandwiched from the Z direction. Therefore, the single-chip processing device 2 has nine single-chip processing chambers constituting the stacked body, and two single-chip processing chambers disposed above and below the relay device 6, totaling eleven single-chip processing chambers.

[0124] As shown in Figure 17, the shielding plate 16 is part of the second wall 2B of the single-chip processing device 2, located in a position surrounded by the relay device 6, the single-chip processing chambers 47d and 49d located above and below the relay device 6, and the transfer block 4. The shielding plate 16 is arranged to cover the rectangular opening of the relay device 6 that cannot be closed by the relay device 6, which is shorter than the single-chip processing chambers 47d and 49d in the X direction. If the shielding plate 16 is arranged on the side of the transfer block 4, the relay device 6 can be located on the side of the central robot CR1, so the central robot CR1 can be moved in the X direction without moving, and the substrate W received by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM on the transfer position OP can be transferred to the single-chip processing chamber.

[0125] Furthermore, the holding hand of the central robot CR1, which holds the substrate W in a horizontal posture, can maintain the posture of the substrate W while moving in the Z direction. By configuring the central robot CR1 in this way, the substrate W received by the self-rotation adjustment mechanism SRM can be transferred to the monolithic processing chambers located above and below the relay device 6. By placing the relay device 6 in the middle layer of the stacked body of the monolithic processing chamber, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is located in the middle of the monolithic processing block 8 in the Z direction. With this configuration, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is located in a nearby position with respect to either the upper or lower monolithic processing chambers. Therefore, when transporting the substrate, it is not necessary for the central robot CR1 to move a long distance in the Z direction; the substrate W can be quickly transported to the monolithic processing chamber by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0126] The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM includes a plurality of support pins 111 that allow the substrate W to move up and down between an upper first position P1 and a lower second position P2. The plurality of support pins 111 move synchronously, causing the substrate W to move between the first position P1 and the second position P2, i.e., the intermediate position P3. The plurality of support pins 111 raise the substrate W, held by the relay transport mechanism OTR, to the first position P1, and receive the substrate W from the relay transport mechanism OTR. The received substrate W is then lowered to the second position P2, and placed on the rotary table 113. The first position P1, the second position P2, and the intermediate position P3 correspond to the removal positions of this invention. The following is a detailed description of this configuration.

[0127] As shown in Figure 18A, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM has a rotary table 113 for mounting a horizontally oriented substrate W. The rotary table 113 has a circular plate-shaped central portion 113a and three radially extending portions 113b from the central portion 113a. The rotary table 113 can rotate around the central portion 113a, and the rotary table 113 rotates about the Z-axis. The three extension portions 113b rotate with the rotation of the central portion 113a.

[0128] Since the center portion 113a of the rotary table 113 is positioned away from the support pin 111, this point will be explained. The support pin 111 is located at a position away from the periphery of the center portion 113a of the rotary table 113. The three support pins 111 are positioned at the vertices of an equilateral triangle whose center of gravity is the same as the rotation center of the rotary table 113, so that the center portion 113a of the rotary table 113 will not interfere with the support pins 111 even when it rotates.

[0129] The extension 113b of the rotary table 113 is configured to securely hold the horizontally positioned substrate W. It is positioned to avoid the multiple extensions extending from the rotation center of the rotary table 113 in its initial position. The front end of the extension 113b is configured to protrude from the substrate W when the horizontally positioned substrate W is placed on the rotary table 113, and is configured to securely support three portions of the substrate W's periphery. The extension 113b is sufficiently elongated to minimize interference with the support pin 111. When the rotary table 113 rotates, the position of the extension 113b aligns with the position of the support pin 111. Since the support pin 111 is retracted in the initial state, the extension 113b does not immediately collide with the support pin 111 even when the rotary table 113 rotates. However, if the support pin 111 is extended when the extension 113b stops at a position overlapping with the support pin 111, then the support pin 111 and the extension 113b will collide. Therefore, there is an angle range in the rotary table 113 that cannot be stopped. Since the extension 113b in this embodiment is sufficiently elongated, this angle range is minimized.

[0130] Furthermore, the support pins 111 are positioned so as not to interfere with the intermediate transfer mechanism OTR above the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. That is, in the initial state, the three support pins 111 are located in the space between the hand 103 located in the transfer position OP. Therefore, when the support pins 111 receive the substrate W on the transfer position OP, the support pins 111 and the hand 103 will not collide. The support pins 111 in the initial state are located below the second position P2, which is set below the transfer position OP. The second position P2 is detailed in Figure 24A.

[0131] The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM includes a rotary table 113 that, in the take-out position OP, adjusts the position of the notch in the substrate W by rotating the horizontally positioned substrate one by one. Figure 18B shows a more detailed configuration of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. As shown in Figure 18B, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM includes: a rotary table 113 for holding the substrate W, a rotation shaft 114 extending in the Z direction that rotatably supports the rotary table 113, and a rotation shaft drive motor 114m for driving the rotation shaft 114. In Figure 18B, the extension 113b of the rotary table 113 is omitted. The rotation shaft drive motor 114m is attached to the base plate 110 of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0132] At the base of each of the support pins 111, a support pin telescopic mechanism 112 is provided to extend and retract the support pins 111. The support pin telescopic mechanism 112 is attached to the base plate 110. By simultaneously operating the three support pin telescopic mechanisms 112, the front ends of the support pins 111 are kept at the same height while each support pin 111 moves. Therefore, the three support pins 111 can support the extension and retraction of the horizontally positioned substrate W. In Figure 18B, each of the support pins 111 is in the retracted state, with the front ends of each support pin 111 located below the rotary table 113. By simultaneously extending the support pins 111 through the support pin telescopic mechanism 112, each of the support pins 111 becomes the extended state shown in Figure 20B, with the front ends of each support pin 111 located above the rotary table 113. In Figure 18B, the depiction of one of the three support pins 111 is omitted. Support pin 111 and support pin telescopic mechanism 112 are equivalent to the substrate lifting mechanism of the present invention.

[0133] The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM includes a substrate shifting mechanism that moves the substrate W such that the center of the substrate W located at the first position P1 is aligned with the rotation center of the rotary table 113. The substrate shifting mechanism includes a positioning clamp 115 with an L-shaped cross-section and a moving mechanism 115a that moves the pair of positioning clamps 115 radially back and forth on the substrate W. The positioning clamps 115 are located on both the right and left sides of the substrate W, and the pair of positioning clamps 115 are configured to hold both ends of the substrate W. In the initial state, one pair of positioning clamps 115 is in an open state, with the positioning clamps 115 positioned apart from each other. As shown in FIG. 22B, the pair of positioning clamps 115 move closer to each other, thus closing and clamping the substrate W from both sides. Alternatively, the pair of positioning clamps 115 can also be in a semi-open state as shown in FIG. 22A; details of this state will be described below. The positioning clamp support 116 is a component that supports the positioning clamps 115 and has a sliding surface for the positioning clamps 115 to slide. The positioning chuck 115 is located below the front end of the support pin 111 in its extended state. The positioning chuck support 116 is attached to the base plate 110.

[0134] A water supply nozzle 117 is provided for supplying pure water to the device surface of the substrate W. The water supply nozzle 117 is located above the center of the substrate and is configured to spray pure water onto the substrate W. The water supply nozzle 117 is connected to an L-shaped water supply pipe 118a. The water supply pipe 118a is flexible in the Z direction. The operation of the water supply pipe 118a is achieved by a water supply pipe drive mechanism 118b. The water supply pipe drive mechanism 118b is attached to the base plate 110. The water supply nozzle 117, the water supply pipe 118a, and the water supply pipe drive mechanism 118b constitute the pure water supply mechanism of the present invention. The pure water supply mechanism is configured to supply pure water to the substrate W received by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. With this configuration, the substrate W will not dry out during the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0135] The protective component 119 is provided to prevent pure water sprayed from the self-supply nozzle 117 from reaching the various drive mechanisms. The protective component 119 has a circular base plate and a cylindrical body connected to the end of the base plate. A support pin 111 is inserted through a through hole in the base plate of the protective component 119. In the through hole, a waterproof component (not shown) is provided to prevent pure water from leaking through the gap between the support pin 111 and the base plate of the protective component 119.

[0136] <6.8. Relay Device: Operation of Rotary Adjustment Mechanism> The operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM will be explained below. The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM performs the following actions: it receives the horizontally positioned substrate W from the transfer position OP of the substrate W in the relay conveyor OTR, rotates the substrate W by a predetermined angle, and then transfers the substrate W to the central robot CR1 of the single-chip processing device 2. Figure 19 is a flowchart detailing the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. The operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM will be explained below with reference to Figure 19.

[0137] Step S11: First, the relay conveyor OTR conveys the horizontally positioned substrate W to the take-out position OP (intermediate position P3). At this time, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is in its initial state. In the initial state of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, the support pin 111 is in a retracted state, the pair of positioning clamps 115 are in an open state, and the water supply pipe 118a is in an extended state. The take-out position OP is set above the rotary table 113 and below the positioning clamps 115. Therefore, the substrate W located in the take-out position OP is located higher than the front end of the support pin 111 in the retracted state and lower than the front end of the support pin 111 in the extended state. Of course, in the initial state of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, since the support pin 111 and the water supply nozzle 117 are not located in the take-out position OP, the relay conveyor OTR can position the substrate W in the take-out position OP without colliding with these components. Figure 20A shows the state of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM in this step. As shown in Figure 20A, the transfer position OP is sandwiched between the rotary table 113 and the water supply nozzle 117. Symbol 103 in Figure 20A indicates the hand of the relay transfer mechanism OTR. Also, in Figure 20A, the protective member 119 shown in Figure 18B is omitted. Hereinafter, with the protective member 119 appropriately omitted, the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM will be explained.

[0138] Referring to Figures 20A to 28, the situation of notch N2 rotating 180° as shown in Figure 16 will be explained. In Figure 20A, notch N2 is located on the right side of substrate W. The position of notch N2 will be appropriately shown in the figures below.

[0139] Step S12: Figure 20B shows the situation when the substrate W is moved to the first position P1 by extending the support pin 111. When the support pin 111 extends, the front end of the support pin 111 abuts against the substrate W, and then the substrate W is moved upward. In this way, the substrate W is transferred from the hand 103 of the relay transfer mechanism OTR to the support pin 111 of the rotary adjustment mechanism SRM. Afterward, the support pin 111 is in the extended state, and the substrate W is located above the pair of positioning clamps 115. At this time, one of the pair of positioning clamps 115 is in the open state, and the pair of positioning clamps 115 are separated to a degree that allows the substrate W to pass through.

[0140] Step S13: Figure 21A shows the state of the hand 103 of the subsequent relay conveying mechanism OTR when it retracts from the take-out position OP. If the hand 103 retracts in the Y direction, the substrate W can be placed on the rotary table 113 by the extension and retraction of the support pin 111. The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM of the embodiment can align the substrate W in the XY direction before placing the substrate W on the rotary table 113. The following steps S14 to S18 are the alignment process of the substrate W.

[0141] Step S14: Figure 21B shows the state when a pair of positioning clamps 115 are in a half-open state, ready to receive the substrate W. When the pair of positioning clamps 115 are in a half-open state, the substrate W cannot pass between the positioning clamps 115. Therefore, when the substrate W located above the positioning clamps 115 (first position P1) is moved to the lower position, the substrate W abuts against the upper surface of the positioning clamps 115. Since the positioning clamps 115 are in a half-open state, rather than a closed state, the substrate W is no longer held by the positioning clamps 115, but is simply placed on the positioning clamps 115.

[0142] Step S15: Figure 22A shows the situation when the support pin 111 is in the retracted state. When the support pin 111 is in the retracted state, the substrate W supported by the support pin 111 is transferred to the positioning clamp 115. Since there is a gap between the positioning clamp 115 and the periphery of the substrate W, the substrate W is not held by the positioning clamp 115 at this point.

[0143] Step S16: Figure 22B shows the situation when the positioning clamps 115 are in the closed state. When the pair of positioning clamps 115 are in the closed state, both ends of the substrate W abut against the sides of the positioning clamps 115. Thus, the substrate W is held by the pair of positioning clamps 115. At this time, the right end of the substrate W is pushed to the left by the right positioning clamp 115, and the left end of the substrate W is pushed to the right by the left positioning clamp 115. Assuming the substrate W is close to the right positioning clamp 115, the gap between the substrate W and the positioning clamp 115 is different on the left and right, and the substrate W is also pushed by the pair of positioning clamps 115 and falls into the predetermined position. The same situation applies when the substrate W is close to the left positioning clamp 115. That is, the centering of the substrate W is performed by changing the pair of positioning clamps 115 from the half-open state to the closed state. Since the contact portion of the positioning chuck 115 that abuts against the substrate W is arc-shaped, the pair of positioning chucks 115 can center the substrate W not only in the X direction but also in the Y direction.

[0144] Step S17: Figure 23A shows the situation when the support pin 111 is in the extended state. When the support pin 111 is in the extended state, the substrate W abuts against the front end of the support pin 111 and is pushed to the first position P1, thereby disengaging from the positioning clamp 115. In this way, the support pin 111 can obtain the centered substrate W from the pair of positioning clamps 115. Since the positioning clamps 115 in the closed state hold the substrate W with a weak force, the substrate W can easily separate from the positioning clamps 115 when the support pin 111 pushes the substrate W upward. Furthermore, since the positioning clamps 115 are L-shaped, the positioning clamps 115 do not have any components that hinder the rise of the substrate W abutting against the side of the positioning clamps 115. Therefore, the substrate W can be easily disengaged from the positioning clamps 115 by the support pin 111.

[0145] Step S18: Figure 23B shows the state in which the subsequent pair of positioning clamps 115 are in the open state. The positioning clamps 115 in the open state are separated to a degree that allows the substrate W to pass through. Thus, the substrate W is prepared to be moved from the positioning clamps 115 to the rotary table 113.

[0146] Step S19: Figure 24A shows the state after the support pin 111 returns to the retracted state. When the support pin 111 is in the retracted state, the front end of the support pin 111 is located below the upper surface of the rotary table 113. At this time, the substrate W abuts against the rotary table 113 as the support pin 111 retracts, and is no longer supported by the support pin 111. Thus, the substrate W is transferred from the support pin 111 to the rotary table 113. Since the rotary table 113 is located at the second position P2, the substrate W transferred to the rotary table 113 is also located at the second position P2. The substrate W transferred to the rotary table 113 has been centered by the positioning chuck 115. Therefore, when the substrate W is placed on the rotary table 113, the rotation center of the rotary table 113 is aligned with the center of the substrate W.

[0147] Step S20: Figure 24B shows the state when the rotary table 113 is rotated 180° and the notch N2 located at the right end of the substrate W is moved to the left end of the substrate W. Thus, the position of the notch N2 on the second substrate W2 is changed by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. Figures 25A and 25B are top views illustrating step S20. Figure 25A shows the state of the rotary table 113 before rotation, and Figure 25B shows the state of the rotary table 113 after rotation. As shown in Figure 25A, the extension 113b of the rotary table 113 is positioned to avoid the support pin 111. This position is the initial position of the extension 113b, which is set in a manner similar to steps S12, S13, S14, S17, and S18, such that the extension 113b does not collide with the support pin 111 when the support pin 111 is in the extended state. The rotary table 113 rotates 180° around the Z-axis from the state shown in Figure 25A to the state shown in Figure 25B. At this time, since the support pin 111 is in a retracted state, the front end of the support pin 111 does not collide with the extension 113b of the rotary table 113.

[0148] As shown in Figure 25B, the extension 113b of the rotated table 113 is positioned to avoid the support pin 111 after rotation. This position is the position of the extension 113b after the rotation action, and the position after the rotation action is set as follows: as in steps S22 and S23 described later, when the support pin 111 becomes extended, the extension 113b does not collide with the support pin 111.

[0149] Furthermore, since the rotation of the second substrate W2 is performed while alternating between the states in Figure 25A and Figure 25B, this point will be explained. In Figure 25A, the rotary table 113 receiving the substrate W is in its initial position, but after rotating the substrate W by 180°, the rotary table 113 is in the position after the rotation. The rotated substrate W is soon transported by the central robot CR1 of the single-chip processing device 2, and the rotary table 113 remains on the substrate W. Since there are multiple second substrates W2 that require rotation, subsequent second substrates W2 are placed on the rotary table 113. At this time, the rotary table 113 is in the position after the rotation as described in Figure 25B. In this case, the rotary table 113 rotates 180° and returns to its initial position. Then, the second substrate W2 placed on the rotary table 113 rotates 180°, and the position of the notch N2 is adjusted. In this way, the rotary table 113 continuously performs rotation processing on multiple second substrates W2 while alternating between the initial position and the position after the rotation.

[0150] Step S21: Figure 26A illustrates the operation of supplying pure water to the substrate W after its rotation. To supply pure water to the substrate W, firstly, the water supply nozzle 117 is lowered and brought close to the substrate W. Then, pure water is radially emitted from the water supply nozzle 117. The range of the pure water is large enough to supply pure water to the entire substrate W. The pure water supplied to the substrate W drips onto the substrate W and is received by the protective member 119 located at the bottom of the substrate W.

[0151] Step S22: Figure 26B shows the situation when the support pin 111 is extended and the substrate W rises to the first position P1. At this time, the water supply nozzle 117 returns to the initial position determined in the upper part of the positioning chuck 115 in a manner that does not collide with the rising substrate W. In this way, by moving the substrate W away from the rotary table 113, it is ready for the central robot CR1 of the single-chip processing device 2 to pick up the substrate W.

[0152] Step S23: Figure 27A shows the situation when the hand 32 of the central robot CR1 enters the space (middle position P3) between the rotary table 113 and the substrate W. The hand 32 of the central robot CR1, like the hand 103 of the intermediate transfer mechanism OTR, is configured to hold the end of the substrate W in a manner that does not collide with the support pin 111. Thus, the central robot CR1 is prepared to obtain the substrate W.

[0153] Step S24: Figure 27B shows the situation when the support pin 111 is in the retracted state and the substrate W descends. When the support pin 111 is in the retracted state, the front end of the support pin 111 is located below the upper surface of the hand 32 of the central robot CR1, which is waiting at the middle position P3. At this time, the substrate W abuts against the hand 32 as the support pin 111 retracts and is no longer supported by the support pin 111. Thus, the substrate W is transferred from the support pin 111 to the central robot CR1. The central robot CR1 takes the substrate W into the interior of the single-chip processing device 2, and the transfer of the second substrate W2 is completed. Figure 28 is a top view showing the positional relationship between the hand 32 of the central robot CR1 and the support pin 111, corresponding to Figure 18A. As can be seen from Figures 18A and 28, in the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, there are entrances for the hand 103 of the relay transfer robot OTR and exits for the hand 32 of the central robot CR1.

[0154] Next, by repeating steps S11 to S24, the second substrate W2, held by a pair of reversing chucks 71, is completely transferred to the single-wafer processing device 2. Meanwhile, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, when transferring the first substrate W1 to the single-wafer processing device 2, repeats the actions of steps S11 to S19 and steps S21 to S24 as described in FIG. 19, excluding step S20. The difference between the transfer method of the first substrate W1 and the transfer method of the second substrate W2 lies in whether or not the rotation operation of the substrate W as described in FIG. 24B, FIG. 25A, and FIG. 25B is performed.

[0155] <7. Single-chip processing device: Transport block> The transfer block 4 is adjacent to the second loading port 10. As shown in FIG1, the transfer block 4 has a second loading port 10 for holding a carrier C that holds multiple substrates W horizontally with a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. Therefore, the second loading port 10 is a stage for the carrier C. The carrier C that holds multiple substrates W after single-substrate processing is placed at the second loading port 10. Since the single-substrate processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment is configured to receive single-substrate processed substrates W from the relay device 6 without passing through the second loading port 10, the second loading port 10 holds the empty carrier C that holds both batch-processed and single-substrate-processed substrates W. Therefore, the second loading port 10 is used as the outlet for substrates W in the single-substrate processing apparatus 2.

[0156] The internal structure of the transfer block 4 will be described. The transfer block 4 is equipped with a transfer robot IR that transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one between the carrier C and the busbar 24 located on the side of the transfer block 4 in the single-chip processing block 8 described later.

[0157] The transfer robot IR stores the monolithically processed substrate W in the carrier C placed in the second loading port 10. The transfer robot IR has a hand consisting of a pair of holding bodies that hold the substrate W in a horizontal position at its front end, and an arm supporting the hand. The arm has a plurality of joints, with its front end connected to the hand and its base end connected to a base provided on the arm in the transfer block 4. In this embodiment, the transfer robot IR is configured to receive the monolithically processed substrate W from the bus 24a and store it in the second loading port 10 outside the transfer block 4.

[0158] <8. Single-chip processing device: Single-chip processing block> The single-wafer processing block 8 is adjacent to the transfer block 4. That is, when viewed from the second loading port 10, the single-wafer processing block 8 is located on the rear side of the transfer block 4. At the center of the single-wafer processing block 8 in the Y direction, there is a busbar 24a that can be picked up by the transfer robot IR, and a central robot CR1 that can place the single-wafer processed substrate W onto the busbar 24a. The central robot CR1 receives the batch-processed horizontally oriented substrate W one by one from the transfer position OP of the relay device 6 and transports it to the single-wafer processing chamber. On the other hand, the busbar 24b is located behind the central robot CR1 and can be picked up by the central robot CR1 and the central robot CR2. The central robot CR2 is located behind the busbar 24b. Both the central robot CR1 and the central robot CR2 are substrate transport robots that transport horizontally oriented substrate W one by one and can reciprocate in the Z direction. Therefore, the central robots CR1 and CR2 can access any of the single-piece processing chamber, the supercritical fluid chamber, and the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM that constitute the laminate.

[0159] The single-wafer processing block 8 has a plurality of single-wafer processing chambers for drying horizontally oriented substrates one by one. In this embodiment, the single-wafer processing chamber includes a supercritical fluid chamber for drying the substrate W using a supercritical fluid. Therefore, the substrate drying chamber mounted on the single-wafer processing device 2 is a supercritical fluid chamber. The supercritical fluid chamber uses, for example, carbon dioxide, which is a supercritical fluid, to dry the substrate W. Fluids other than carbon dioxide can also be used as supercritical fluids for drying. The supercritical state can be obtained by placing carbon dioxide at its inherent critical pressure and critical temperature. Specifically, the pressure is 7.38 MPa and the temperature is 31°C. In the supercritical state, the surface tension of the fluid becomes zero, so there is no influence of the gas-liquid interface on the circuit pattern on the surface of the substrate W. Therefore, by using a supercritical fluid for drying the substrate W, so-called pattern collapse, where the circuit pattern collapses on the substrate W, can be prevented.

[0160] Figure 29 illustrates the configuration of the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 in this embodiment. The supercritical fluid chamber has an inlet for loading the substrate W before drying and an outlet for unloading the substrate W after drying. The inlet is located in front of or behind the supercritical fluid chamber and has a freely opening and closing gate S5. The outlet is located on the side wall of the supercritical fluid chamber and has a freely opening and closing gate S6. Gates S5 and S6 are closed during the supercritical fluid drying process. The inlet of the supercritical fluid chamber faces the first wet transport robot AR1 and the second wet transport robot AR2, and the outlet faces the single-wafer transport area R3.

[0161] The first wet transfer robot AR1 is positioned within the area enclosed by the rotary adjustment mechanism SRM and the supercritical fluid chamber 48f located to the left of the single-piece transfer area R3. The other robot, the second wet transfer robot AR2, is positioned within the area enclosed by the single-piece processing chamber 48a located to the right of the single-piece transfer area R3 and the supercritical fluid chamber 48e.

[0162] Furthermore, the single-piece processing block 8 is provided with a single-piece processing chamber for chemical treatment. This single-piece processing chamber is not a supercritical fluid chamber, but a chemical treatment chamber with a chemical nozzle that supplies the chemical solution to the substrate W. Two chemical treatment chambers are provided in the single-piece processing block 8, one of which is a single-piece processing chamber 48a. The other is a single-piece processing chamber 49d located above the rotary adjustment mechanism SRM. As illustrated in FIG17, the chemical treatment chamber 49d is configured to be located above the relay device 6. The chemical solution can be IPA (isopropyl alcohol). The chemical treatment chamber has explosion-proof properties capable of handling flammable IPA. Thus, the chemical treatment chamber can safely perform the required IPA treatment before the supercritical fluid drying process. However, the chemical solution used in the chemical treatment chamber of this embodiment is not limited to IPA.

[0163] The positions of the chemical processing chambers can be changed relatively freely, but one of the two chemical processing chambers is located to the right of the single-wafer transport area R3, and the other is located to the left. With this configuration, it is unnecessary for the central robots CR1 and CR2 located in the single-wafer transport area R3 to receive the substrate W after IPA processing. That is, since the substrate W, after being processed in the chemical processing chamber, is transported to the supercritical fluid chamber by the first wet transport robot AR1 or the second wet transport robot AR2, the substrate W waiting for IPA processing will not be retained, thus preventing a reduction in processing capacity.

[0164] The first wet transfer robot AR1 receives substrates W (substrate W after chemical treatment) one by one from the single-wafer processing chamber 49d, which are in a horizontal position before drying. These substrates are then transferred through the aforementioned inlet to any of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the left of the single-wafer transfer area R3. Therefore, the substrate transfer hand of the first wet transfer robot AR1 can pick up all inlets of the single-wafer processing chamber 49d and the nearby supercritical fluid chambers. Since each chamber is stacked in the Z-direction, the hand can move in the height direction. Furthermore, some chambers are located in front of the first wet transfer robot AR1, while others are located behind it. Therefore, the hand can face forward or backward.

[0165] The second wet transfer robot AR2 has the same configuration as the first wet transfer robot AR1 described above. The second wet transfer robot AR2 receives substrates W (substrates W after chemical treatment) in a horizontal position from the single-wafer processing chamber 48a, before drying, and moves them through the aforementioned inlet to any of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the left of the single-wafer transfer area R3. Therefore, the substrate transfer hand of the second wet transfer robot AR2 can handle all chambers forming the front laminate and all chambers forming the rear laminate.

[0166] Central robots CR1 and CR2 can access the outlet of the supercritical fluid chamber. Central robot CR1 has a first hand 32a and a second hand 32b. The first hand 32a is located below the second hand 32b. Therefore, the first hand 32a and the second hand 32b are stacked in the Z direction. The first hand 32a removes the substrate W before drying from the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM and transports it to the monolithic processing chamber 49d. The second hand 32b removes the dried substrate W from either the supercritical fluid chamber located to the left or right of the monolithic transport area R3 via the aforementioned outlet.

[0167] The central robot CR2 has a hand that transports the dried substrate W. The central robot CR2 receives the dried substrate W from a nearby supercritical fluid chamber and transports it to busbar 24b. The substrate W transported to busbar 24b is then transferred to busbar 24a by the second hand 32b of the central robot CR1. The transfer robot IR then stores the substrate W in busbar 24a in a carrier C.

[0168] <9. Control Department> The substrate processing system includes a first control unit 131 related to the control of the batch processing device 1, a second control unit 132 related to the control of the single-chip processing device 2, and a third control unit 136 related to the control of the relay device 6. Refer to Figure 1 for details regarding each control unit. Although not shown in Figure 1, memory units corresponding to each control unit are provided in the substrate processing system. Control units 131, 132, and 136 are, for example, configured as CPUs (Central Processing Units). The specific configuration of each control unit is not limited; for example, each control unit can be configured with a single processor or individual processors. Furthermore, multiple processors can also be used to control the batch processing device 1; the same applies to the single-chip processing device 2 and the relay device 6.

[0169] Controls related to the control unit 131 include, for example, controls related to the carrier conveying mechanism 11, the first substrate conveying mechanism HTR, the first posture conversion mechanism 15, the second substrate conveying mechanism WTR, the batch processing units BPU1~BPU6, and the batch drying chamber DC. Controls related to the control unit 132 include, for example, controls related to the central robot CR1, the central robot CR2, each chamber, the first wet conveying robot AR1, the second wet conveying robot AR2, and the transfer robot IR. Furthermore, controls related to the third control unit 136 include, for example, controls related to the full-spacing substrate conveying mechanism STR, the batch waiting tank 65, the elevator LF65, the underwater posture conversion unit 55 (the second posture conversion mechanism), the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, the relay conveying mechanism OTR, and the pure water supply device.

[0170] The memory unit stores programs or parameters related to memory control. The memory unit can be a single device or individual devices corresponding to different control units. Furthermore, in the substrate processing system of this embodiment, there are no particular limitations on the configuration of the devices implementing the memory unit.

[0171] <10. Substrate Processing Flow> The substrate processing flow of the embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG30. The substrate processing of the embodiment is completed by first batch processing of the substrate W, and then single-wafer processing. The substrate W of this embodiment is configured as follows: it is transported in the order of the first loading port 9, the stacker block 3, the transfer block 5, the batch processing block 7, the relay device 6, the single-wafer processing area R4, the transfer block 4 and the second loading port 10, and batch processing and single-wafer processing are completed during this period (refer to FIG31 and FIG32).

[0172] Step S31: The carrier C, which arranges and stores the unprocessed substrates W in a horizontal position along the height direction, is placed in the first loading port 9 of the batch processing device 1. Then, the carrier C is moved into the stacker block 3 and placed in the carrier placement rack 13a. Alternatively, the carrier C may pass through the storage rack 13b before being placed in the carrier placement rack 13a. The movement of the carrier C is performed by the carrier conveying mechanism 11. The first substrate conveying mechanism HTR uniformly removes multiple substrates W in a horizontal position from the carrier C placed in the carrier placement rack 13a and transfers them to the HVC posture conversion unit 23.

[0173] Step S32: The HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the posture of the received plurality of substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture and transfers them to the pushing mechanism 25. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 receives another set of substrates W from the first substrate transport mechanism HTR, which is a different carrier C from the carrier C that holds the plurality of substrates W after posture conversion, and converts the posture of the substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. The plurality of substrates W after posture conversion are also transferred to the pushing mechanism 25. In this way, the substrates W arranged with full spacing are batched and assembled, and in the pusher 25A, the substrates W of two carrier quantities are arranged with half spacing. The batch thus generated is transported by the pushing mechanism 25 to the substrate handover position PP specified in the transfer block 5.

[0174] Step S33: The second substrate transport mechanism WTR receives the batch waiting at the substrate transfer position PP from the push mechanism 25 and transfers it to the elevator LF6 waiting above the batch chemical treatment tank CHB6 in the sixth batch processing unit BPU6. At this time, the batch may also pass through the drying batch support section 33 before being placed on the elevator LF6. The batch is transferred to the elevator LF6 for phosphoric acid treatment. Therefore, the batch only needs to be transferred to any one of the phosphoric acid treatment elevators LF2 to LF6. The following explanation focuses on the batch transfer to the elevator LF6.

[0175] Subsequently, elevator LF6 descends to the immersion position to perform batch phosphoric acid treatment. After phosphoric acid treatment, the batch returns to the air above the batch chemical treatment tank CHB6 via elevator LF6 and is transferred to the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR. The second substrate transfer mechanism WTR transfers the batch to elevator LF1, which is waiting above the batch cleaning treatment tank ONB in ​​the first batch processing unit BPU1. Then, elevator LF1 descends to the immersion position to perform batch cleaning treatment. This completes a series of batch processing steps. After batch processing, the batch returns to the air above via elevator LF1 and is transferred to the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR.

[0176] Step S34: The second substrate transport mechanism WTR transfers the batch that has been processed in batches to the elevator LF65, which is waiting at the transport position IP. Then, the elevator LF65 descends to the immersion position of the batch waiting tank 65, allowing the batch to wait in pure water. When multiple substrates W are transported from the batch waiting tank 65 to the immersion tank 73 of the underwater posture conversion unit 55, firstly, the elevator LF65 moves the batch from the immersion position to the transport position IP. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR receives the substrate row, now in a vertical position, from the elevator LF65 at the transport position IP and transports it in the Y direction (rightward). As described above, since the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR cannot transport all 50 substrates W constituting the batch at once, two transport operations are required to transport all the substrates W constituting the batch to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The second transport action of the full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR is performed after all the substrates W transported in the first transport action are removed from the impregnation tank 73.

[0177] A pusher (not shown) located at the bottom of the immersion tank 73 in the underwater posture conversion unit 55 rises and receives the substrate row from the full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR, which is waiting above the immersion tank 73. Subsequently, the pusher (not shown) descends to transfer the substrate row to the reversing chuck 71.

[0178] Figure 31 illustrates the situation of uniformly transporting multiple substrates W in steps S11 to S14 above.

[0179] Step S35: By rotating the receiving substrate row's reversing chuck 71 to the left or right, the posture of the substrate W, which was originally in a vertical position, is uniformly converted into a horizontal position.

[0180] Step S36: The third control unit 136 determines whether the substrate W, which is transported to the take-out position OP of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM by the relay transport mechanism OTR, needs to be rotated. If the substrate W at the take-out position OP is the first substrate W1 and rotation of the substrate W is not required, the substrate W does not rotate, and the process proceeds to step S38. If the substrate W at the take-out position OP is the second substrate W2, the process proceeds to step S37.

[0181] Step S37: At the moveout position OP, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM of the substrate W is received, causing the substrate W on the rotary table 113 to rotate 180°.

[0182] Step S38: The substrate W received from the single-wafer processing chamber 49d by the central robot CR1 undergoes IPA processing on-site. The substrate after IPA processing is then transported to the supercritical fluid chamber by the first wet transfer robot AR1.

[0183] Step S39: The substrate W, after drying in the supercritical fluid chamber, is received manually by the central robots CR1 and CR2 and transferred from the supercritical fluid chamber to busbar 24a or busbar 24b. The transfer robot IR receives the processed substrate W from busbar 24a and transfers it to the carrier C placed at the second loading port 10. Thus, the transfer of substrate W is completed. Alternatively, when transferring substrate W to busbar 24b, the central robot CR1 transfers substrate W to busbar 24a. Afterwards, substrate W is transferred to carrier C via the transfer robot IR.

[0184] Figure 32 illustrates the process of transferring the horizontally positioned substrate W piece by piece during steps S35 to S39 above.

[0185] Since the steps are sometimes performed simultaneously, this point is explained. While substrate W is undergoing drying in step S38, the substrate in a horizontal position is also continuously transported to the transfer position OP. The transport of substrates to the transfer position OP is repeated until all 11 single-wafer processing chambers of the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 are in use. Furthermore, when any of the single-wafer processing chambers in use becomes empty, the transport of substrates to the transfer position OP is performed again. In this way, by performing single-wafer processing in parallel, the throughput of the substrate processing system can be increased.

[0186] In step S35, after all the multiple substrates W to be set to a horizontal posture are transferred from the relay device 6 to the single-chip processing device 2, the underwater posture conversion unit 55 can receive a new row of substrates. At this point, the fully spaced substrate transport mechanism STR receives the rows of substrates waiting in the batch waiting slot 65 from the elevator LF65 and transfers them to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. Thus, according to this embodiment, step S35 needs to be performed twice in order to transport one batch. Therefore, sometimes step S35 and step S38 are performed simultaneously.

[0187] If steps S35, S36, S37, S38, and S39 are repeated appropriately, the batch combination can be released, and the substrate drying process of the single-piece processing chamber can be completed. If all substrates W constituting the batch are returned to the carrier C placed at the second loading port, the substrate processing of this embodiment ends.

[0188] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the substrate processing is configured to process two carriers C at a time. That is, the substrate W stored in the first carrier C and the second carrier C placed in the first loading port 9 of the batch processing device 1 is stored in the third carrier C and the fourth carrier C placed in the second loading port 10 of the single-wafer processing device 2.

[0189] In step S35, the substrate W undergoing posture conversion originates entirely from the first carrier C. Therefore, the relay device 6 only transports the first substrate W1 stored in the first carrier C to the single-chip processing device 2. The transfer robot IR then stores all the first substrate W1 from the first carrier C that has been transported in this way into the third carrier C.

[0190] If all substrates W of the first carrier C are transported from the underwater posture conversion unit 55, step S35 is executed again. In this case, all substrates W after posture conversion come from the second carrier C. Therefore, the relay device 6 only transports the second substrate W2 stored in the second carrier C to the single-chip processing device 2. The transfer robot IR stores all the second substrates W2 of the second carrier C transported in this way in the fourth carrier C.

[0191] Thus, the substrate W housed in the first carrier C and the substrate W housed in the second carrier C are not mixed, but are housed in the third carrier C and the fourth carrier C respectively.

[0192] The substrate W held by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is received by the central robot CR1 and finally transferred to the carrier C by the transfer robot IR. During this process, the orientation of the substrate changes in a constant pattern while it is being transported. For example, if the notch of the substrate W held by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM faces forward, it will pass through each chamber or busbar with the notch facing forward or backward, and finally return to the carrier C with the notch facing backward. In the chamber, whether the substrate before processing is partially rotated to end the processing, or whether the substrate before processing is not rotated to end the processing, varies depending on the type. However, each substrate held by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is subjected to the same processing until it reaches the carrier C. As a result, the substrate W stored in the carrier C after substrate processing becomes a state where the notch orientation is uniform.

[0193] In this embodiment, since substrates W1 and W2 with different notch orientations are transported to the delivery position OP by the relay transport mechanism OTR, if no substrate rotation adjustment is performed, the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 will be stored in the carrier C with different notch orientations. However, in this embodiment, since a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM is provided that selectively rotates only the second substrate W2, the second substrate W2 is processed as a single piece with the same notch orientation as the first substrate W1. Therefore, the notch orientations are the same in the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 after substrate processing.

[0194] As described above, according to the configuration of the embodiment, the substrate processing system formed by connecting the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2 with the relay device 6 can achieve the requirements pursued by the substrate processing system. The relay device 6 of the present invention has a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, which includes a rotating stage 113 that can adjust the position of the notch on the substrate W when the relay device 6 obtains the substrate's loading position IP or the substrate's unloading position OP. The orientation of the substrate W discharged from the relay device 6 to the single-wafer processing device 2 can be arbitrarily changed by the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM. By changing the operation of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, the orientation of the substrate W transferred to the single-wafer processing device 2 can be made consistent with a predetermined direction.

[0195] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a substrate processing system can be provided that ensures the orientation of substrates W is consistent in a predetermined direction even when substrates W are arranged face-to-face in a batch. If two substrate groups are combined and arranged with the device faces of the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 facing each other, a batch is formed in which the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 are arranged alternately. Subsequently, if the batch is divided into the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2, a situation arises where the orientation of the notch on the first substrate W1 is different from the orientation of the notch on the second substrate W2. Based on the above configuration, by using a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM to rotate the substrates in a manner where the rotation angles of the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 are different, the orientation of the notch on the first substrate W1 can be made consistent with the orientation of the notch on the second substrate W2.

[0196] According to this embodiment, the substrate W moves up and down between the upper first position P1, the middle position P3, and the lower second position P2, which can perform the receiving, rotation, and discharge of the substrate W. This configuration further simplifies the structure of the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM.

[0197] According to this embodiment, the substrate W located at the first position P1 is moved in such a way that its center is aligned with the center of the rotary table 113 by means of the positioning chuck 115. If configured in this way, the orientation of the substrate W can be precisely set to a predetermined orientation, and by placing the substrate W in the ideal position, the substrate W can be transported more reliably by the central robot CR1.

[0198] Multiple support pins 111 appear and disappear simultaneously, positioned to avoid multiple extensions 113b extending from the rotation center of the rotary table 113 in its initial position. With this configuration, a rotation adjustment mechanism SRM consisting of multiple support pins 111 and a mechanism for rotating the substrate can be reliably constructed.

[0199] The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiments, and may be implemented in the following variations.

[0200] <Example 1 of the variation> The substrate processing system of this embodiment is configured with one relay device 6, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. It can also be configured such that a batch processing device 1 has a plurality of single-wafer processing devices 2, and each single-wafer processing device 2 has a relay device 6. The substrate processing system of this variation is configured with a plurality of relay devices 6.

[0201] <Example 2> The substrate processing system of this embodiment dries the substrate W using a supercritical fluid chamber, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The substrate W can also be dried by spin drying.

[0202] <Example 3> The substrate processing system in this embodiment is configured such that the rotary table 113 rotates the second substrate W2 by 180°, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. It can also be configured such that the first substrate W1 is rotated by 180° without rotating the second substrate W2.

[0203] <Example 4> The substrate processing system of the embodiment is configured not to rotate the first substrate W1, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the first substrate W1 may be rotated -n° and the second substrate may be rotated 180-n°. If configured in this way, even if it is a substrate processing system in which the central robot CR1 receives the substrate from an inclined direction of n° relative to the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM, the substrate W can be housed in the carrier C in the same way as in the embodiment.

[0204] <Example 5> As shown in FIG33, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM of the substrate processing system of the embodiment may also include a sensor 120 for detecting the position of the notch on the substrate W. The sensor 120 uses, for example, a reflective optical sensor or a transmissive optical sensor. With this configuration, since the sensor 120 detects the position of the notch on the substrate W in the rotary table 113, minute orientation deviations visible between the substrates can be measured and corrected.

[0205] <Example 6> In this embodiment, the rotation adjustment mechanism SRM of the substrate processing system is located at the outgoing position OP of the relay device 6, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The rotation adjustment mechanism SRM can also be located at the incoming position IP side. Specifically, the incoming position IP side is the position sandwiched between the underwater posture conversion unit 55 and the relay transport mechanism OTR. According to this variation, the notch alignment is performed before the substrate W is fixed to the relay transport mechanism OTR. This simplifies the configuration of the outgoing position OP of the relay device 6.

[0206] 1: Batch processing device 1A: First outer shell 1B: Third wall 2: Single-chip processing device 2A: Second outer shell 2B: 4th wall 3: Stacker Block 4: Transport Block 5: Transfer Block 6: Relay device 6A: Relay housing 7: Batch processing blocks 8: Single-chip processing block 9: First loading port 10: Second loading port 11: Carrier conveying mechanism 13: racks 13a: Carrier mounting frame 13b: Storage rack 15: First posture conversion mechanism 16: Shielding panel 23: HVC Posture Transition Section 23A: Support Platform 23B: Leveling section 23C: Vertical holding part 23D: Rotary Drive Mechanism 24a: Busbar 24b: Busbar 25: Push Organizations 25A: Pusher 25B: Lifting and Rotating Part 25C: Horizontal moving part 25D: Track 29: Clamping plate 30: Clamping plate 31X: Guide rail 31Y: Guide rail 32:Hand 32a: First move 32b: Second move 32Y: Relay Track 33: Drying Batch Support Department 47c: Single-chip processing chamber 47d: Single-chip processing chamber 48a Single-chip processing chamber 48b: Single-chip processing chamber 48c: Single-chip processing chamber 48e: Supercritical fluid chamber 48f: Supercritical fluid chamber 49c: Single-chip processing chamber 49d: Single-chip processing chamber 51:Hand 55: Underwater posture transition section 62a: Sidewall 62b: Base plate 62c: Top plate 65: Batch standby slot 69: Shower head 71: Reversal Clamping Plate 71a: V-groove 72: Reversal clamp support mechanism 73: Impregnation tank 101: Supporting Organizations 102: Sliding Mechanism 103:Hand 104: Rotation axis 105: Pallet 108: Pallet Moving Mechanism 110: Base Plate 111: Support Sales 112: Support pin telescopic mechanism 113: Rotary table 113a: Central part 113b: Extension 114: Rotation axis 114m: Rotary shaft drive motor 115: Positioning Clamp 115a: Moving mechanism 116: Positioning clamp support body 117: Water supply nozzle 118a: Water supply pipe 118b: Water supply pipe moving mechanism 119: Protective components 120: Sensor 131: Control Department 132: Control Department 136: Control Department ACB: Moving and Storage Department AR1: First Wet Transfer Robot AR2: Second Wet Transport Robot AX2: Horizontal axis BPU1: First Batch Processing Unit BPU2: Second Batch Processing Unit BPU3: Third Batch Processing Unit BPU4: Fourth Batch Processing Unit BPU5: Fifth Batch Processing Unit BPU6: 6th Batch Processing Unit C: Carrier C1: First carrier C2: Second carrier CHB2~CHB6: Batch processing tanks CR1: Central Robot CR2: Central Robot DC: Batch drying chamber HTR: First substrate transport mechanism IP: Moving-in location IR: Transport Robot LF1~LF6: Elevators LF65: Elevator N1: Notch N2: Notch ONB: Batch Cleaning Treatment Tank OP: Move out of the location OTR: Relay Transport Mechanism P1: Position 1 P2: Position 2 P3: Middle position PP: Substrate junction R1: Batch processing area R2: Unified Transfer Area R3: Single-piece transport area R4: Single-chip processing area S11~S24: Steps S31~S39: Steps S5: Stop S6: Brake SRM: Rotary Adjustment Mechanism STR: Full-spacing substrate conveying mechanism W: substrate W1: 1st substrate W2: 2nd substrate WTR: Second substrate transport mechanism X: Forward / backward direction Y: Width direction Z: Vertical direction

Claims

1. A substrate processing system, characterized in that it continuously performs batch processing of a plurality of substrates and single-piece processing of substrates, and comprises: a batch processing device for performing batch processing; at least one single-piece processing device for processing the batch-processed substrates individually; and at least one relay device having two predetermined positions, an infeed position and an outfeed position, the infeed position for receiving the batch-processed substrates from the batch processing device, and the outfeed position for transferring the substrates received at the infeed position to the single-piece processing device; wherein the batch processing device comprises: at least one batch processing tank for uniformly immersing a plurality of vertically oriented substrates; the single-piece processing device comprises: a plurality of single-piece processing chambers for drying horizontally oriented substrates one by one; and the relay device comprises: a posture conversion mechanism for converting the plurality of substrates from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation at the infeed position. The relay conveying mechanism is a mechanism disposed between the aforementioned loading position and the aforementioned unloading position, and can convey the horizontally oriented substrates one by one along the substrate conveying path to the aforementioned unloading position; and the rotation adjustment mechanism is provided with a rotating table, which can adjust the position of the notch of the substrate by rotating the horizontally oriented substrates one by one at the aforementioned loading position or the aforementioned unloading position.

2. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the batch processing apparatus comprises: a substrate holding mechanism that supports a first substrate group and a second substrate group in a vertical position, and supports a batch of the first substrate and the second substrate in a manner in which the device surfaces of the first substrate constituting the first substrate group and the device surfaces of the second substrate constituting the second substrate group face each other; the relay device comprises: a substrate group separation mechanism that can separate the batch into the first substrate and the second substrate; and the posture conversion mechanism uniformly converts the separated first substrate and the second substrate from a vertical position to a horizontal position. When the orientation of the notch of the first substrate and the orientation of the notch of the second substrate are different after being converted to a horizontal position by the posture conversion mechanism, the rotation adjustment mechanism rotates the second substrate by an angle different from the rotation angle of the first substrate, so that the orientation of the notch in the first substrate is consistent with the orientation of the notch in the second substrate.

3. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism comprises: a substrate lifting mechanism capable of lifting the substrate between an upper first position and a lower second position; the substrate lifting mechanism, by means of a position intermediate between the upper first position and the lower second position, raises the substrate held by the relay conveyor to the upper first position, receives the substrate from the relay conveyor, and lowers the received substrate to the lower second position, thereby placing it on the rotary table.

4. The substrate processing system of claim 3, wherein the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a substrate shifting mechanism that shifts the substrate in such a way that the center of the substrate located at the first position is aligned with the rotation center of the aforementioned rotary table.

5. The substrate processing system of claim 3, wherein the substrate lifting mechanism has a plurality of pins that move in and out synchronously, and is positioned to avoid a plurality of extensions extending from the rotation center of the rotary table in the initial position.

6. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a pure water supply mechanism for supplying pure water to the received substrate.

7. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned rotation adjustment mechanism includes a sensor for detecting the position of the notch on the substrate on the rotary table.

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