Substrate processing system

Abstract

A substrate processing system capable of continuously performing batch processing and single wafer processing on a substrate is comparatively easily realized. According to the present invention, by linking an individual batch processing device with a single wafer processing device using a relay device, batch processing and single wafer processing are continuously performed on a substrate. With this configuration, technology cultivated in the individual batch processing device and the single wafer processing device can be reliably utilized, and a substrate processing system capable of continuously performing batch processing and single wafer processing on a substrate is comparatively easily realized.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a substrate processing system that performs a predetermined process on various substrates such as a semiconductor substrate, a substrate for a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electroluminescence) display device, a flat panel display (FPD), a glass substrate for a photomask, and a substrate for an optical disc. BACKGROUND

[0002] Conventionally, there is a device having a batch module and a single module (see Patent Literature 1, for example). The batch module performs a predetermined process on a plurality of substrates at once. The single module performs a predetermined process on one substrate at a time. The batch module and the single module have their own advantages. A substrate processing device having the batch module and the single module has both advantages, thereby realizing a structure having more advantages than a batch substrate processing device or a single substrate processing device.

[0003] The device of Patent Literature 1 has a single processing section related to single substrate processing on the inner side of a loading / unloading section that loads and unloads a cassette, and has a batch processing section related to batch substrate processing on the further inner side of the single processing section. Therefore, according to the device structure, a substrate taken out from the cassette C of the loading / unloading section first passes through the single processing section, and is carried to the batch processing section. The substrate subjected to batch processing by the batch processing section returns to the single processing section. Then, the single processing section performs single processing on the substrate on which batch processing is completed. The device in which the batch module and the single module are integrated realizes a series of substrate processing.

[0004] PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

[0005] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2021-64654 SUMMARY

[0006] PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0007] However, the hardware structure of the above-described apparatus is greatly different from that of the existing substrate processing apparatus, and various problems can occur. As the existing substrate processing apparatus, there are an apparatus that performs batch processing only and an apparatus that performs single wafer processing only. The apparatus that performs batch processing only is a structure that takes out substrates from a cassette that accommodates a plurality of substrates, performs batch processing, and returns the substrates to the cassette. On the other hand, the apparatus that performs single wafer processing only is a structure that takes out substrates from a cassette one by one, performs single wafer processing, and returns the substrates to the cassette. These two apparatuses have long-term practical operation results, and the apparatus structure and operation method are also established. However, in the apparatus structure in which the batch module and the single wafer module are integrated as in Patent Literature 1, unexpected malfunctions can occur in operation. In addition, if the apparatus in which the batch module and the single wafer module are integrated is newly manufactured, the design cost and the manufacturing cost of the apparatus increase.

[0008] The present application has been achieved in view of such a situation, and has an object to comparatively simply achieve a substrate processing system capable of continuously performing batch processing and single wafer processing on a substrate.

[0009] Means for solving the problem

[0010] The present application has the following structure in order to solve the above-described problem.

[0011] (1) A substrate processing system that continuously performs batch processing of processing a plurality of substrates in one batch and single-wafer processing of processing a substrate one by one, characterized by comprising: a batch processing device that performs batch processing; at least one single-wafer processing device that performs single-wafer processing on a substrate processed in batch; and at least one relay device that defines a carry-in position for accepting a substrate processed in batch from the batch processing device and a carry-out position for delivering a substrate accepted at the carry-in position to the single-wafer processing device, the batch processing device including: a first carrier placement shelf that places carriers that receive a plurality of substrates in a horizontal attitude at a prescribed interval in a vertical direction; a transfer block that is adjacent to the first carrier placement shelf; and a batch processing block that is adjacent to the transfer block, the transfer block including: a substrate handling mechanism that takes out a plurality of substrates in one batch from a carrier placed on the first carrier placement shelf; and a first attitude conversion mechanism that converts a plurality of substrates taken out from the carrier in one batch from a horizontal attitude to a vertical attitude, the batch processing block including: at least one batch processing tank that performs immersion processing on a plurality of substrates in a vertical attitude in one batch; and a batch conveyance mechanism that conveys a plurality of substrates in a vertical attitude in one batch between the transfer block, the batch processing tank, and the carry-in position of the relay device, the single-wafer processing device including: a second carrier placement shelf that places the carriers; an indexing block that is adjacent to the second carrier placement shelf; and a single-wafer processing block that is adjacent to the indexing block, the single-wafer processing block including: a plurality of single-wafer processing chambers that perform dry processing on a substrate one by one in a horizontal attitude; and a single-wafer conveyance mechanism that receives a substrate processed in batch in a horizontal attitude one by one from the carry-out position of the relay device, conveys it to the single-wafer processing chambers, the indexing block including: an indexing robot that receives a substrate processed in single-wafer into the carrier placed on the second carrier placement shelf, the relay device including: a second attitude conversion mechanism that converts a plurality of substrates accepted from the batch processing device from a vertical attitude to a horizontal attitude, and a relay conveyance mechanism that conveys a substrate along a substrate conveyance path provided between the carry-in position and the carry-out position.

[0012] [Action and effect] According to the invention of the above (1), by connecting the individual batch processing apparatuses and the single-wafer processing apparatuses with the relay apparatus, a substrate processing system that continuously performs batch processing of multiple substrates and single-wafer processing of one substrate at a time can be configured. That is, the invention has a relay apparatus that determines two positions, a carrying-in position for accepting a substrate processed by a batch processing apparatus and a carrying-out position for delivering the substrate accepted at the carrying-in position to a single-wafer processing apparatus. The relay apparatus accepts a substrate processed by a batch processing apparatus at the carrying-in position and delivers the substrate to a single-wafer processing apparatus via the carrying-out position. In this way, a substrate processing system that continuously performs batch processing and single-wafer processing according to the technology cultivated in individual apparatuses can be configured. In addition, the design cost and manufacturing cost of the system can be suppressed.

[0013] The present specification discloses the following invention in addition to the invention of the above (1).

[0014] (2) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that, in the relay apparatus, the second attitude conversion mechanism is provided on the carrying-in position side, and further has a single-wafer substrate displacement mechanism that takes out one substrate at a time from multiple substrates converted from a vertical attitude to a horizontal attitude by the second attitude conversion mechanism and delivers the substrate to the relay conveyance mechanism, and in the relay apparatus, the relay conveyance mechanism conveys the horizontal-attitude substrates delivered from the single-wafer substrate displacement mechanism to the carrying-out position one at a time.

[0015] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (2), the relay apparatus is configured to collectively convert the attitude of multiple substrates on the carrying-in position side and deliver the attitude-converted substrates to the carrying-out position one at a time via the relay conveyance mechanism. If the single-wafer processing apparatus is configured to take out the substrates one at a time at the carrying-out position of the relay apparatus, the structure of the single-wafer processing apparatus can be simplified, and the number of single-wafer processing chambers that can be mounted can be increased, so that a substrate processing system with a high throughput can be provided.

[0016] (3) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that, in the relay apparatus, the second attitude conversion mechanism is provided on the carrying-in position side, and in the relay apparatus, the relay conveyance mechanism conveys multiple substrates collectively converted from a vertical attitude to a horizontal attitude by the second attitude conversion mechanism to the carrying-out position.

[0017] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (3), the relay device is configured to collectively perform posture conversion on the multiple substrates on the in-feed side, and deliver the posture-converted substrates to the out-feed side via the relay conveyance mechanism. According to such a structure, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system capable of high-speed conveyance of substrates in the relay device and smooth substrate flow.

[0018] (4) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that, in the relay device, the second posture conversion mechanism is provided on the out-feed side, in the relay device, the relay conveyance mechanism conveys the multiple substrates in the vertical posture accepted from the batch processing device to the second posture conversion mechanism, and in the relay device, the second posture conversion mechanism converts the multiple substrates in the vertical posture accepted from the relay conveyance mechanism to the horizontal posture.

[0019] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (4), the relay device is configured to convey the multiple substrates obtained on the in-feed side to the single-substrate processing device side by the relay conveyance mechanism, and convert the posture of the multiple substrates on the out-feed side. According to such a structure, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system capable of high-speed conveyance of substrates in the relay device and smooth substrate flow. Furthermore, by placing the second posture conversion mechanism on the single-substrate processing device side, it is possible to simplify the structure of the batch processing device.

[0020] (5) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay conveyance mechanism is configured by a conveyer belt mechanism.

[0021] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (5), the relay conveyance mechanism in the relay device is configured by a conveyer belt mechanism. According to such a structure, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system capable of conveying substrates in the horizontal posture one by one in a simple and reliable manner.

[0022] (6) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay conveyance mechanism is configured by a robot capable of holding a substrate.

[0023] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (6), the relay conveyance mechanism in the relay device is configured by a robot capable of holding a substrate. According to such a structure, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system capable of reliably conveying multiple substrates.

[0024] (7) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the in-feed side of the relay device has a standby tank that dips the multiple substrates in the vertical posture conveyed from the batch processing device in a liquid.

[0025] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (7), the relay device has, at the carrying-in position, a standby tank that allows a plurality of substrates in a vertical posture carried in from the batch processing device to be immersed in a liquid. If so configured, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system that reliably carries substrates in the relay device without drying the plurality of substrates.

[0026] (8) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay device has a liquid supply portion that supplies a liquid to a substrate carried by the relay carrying mechanism and wets the surface of the substrate with the liquid.

[0027] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (8), the relay device has a liquid supply portion that supplies a liquid to a substrate carried by the relay carrying mechanism and wets the surface of the substrate with the liquid. If so configured, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system that reliably carries substrates in the relay device without drying the plurality of substrates.

[0028] (9) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay device has, at the carrying-in position side, a batch processing device side gate that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path.

[0029] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (9), the relay device has, at the carrying-in position side, a batch processing device side gate that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path of the relay device. According to such a structure, the gaseous medium of the batch processing device and the gaseous medium of the single-wafer processing device can be blocked, and thus it is possible to provide a substrate processing system in which even if an erosive chemical liquid is used in the batch processing device, the various mechanisms possessed by the single-wafer processing device do not malfunction.

[0030] (10) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay device has, at the carrying-out position side, a single-wafer processing device side gate that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path.

[0031] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (10), the relay device has, at the carrying-out position side, a single-wafer processing device side gate that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path of the relay device. According to such a structure, the gaseous medium of the batch processing device and the gaseous medium of the single-wafer processing device can be blocked, and thus it is possible to provide a substrate processing system in which even if an erosive chemical liquid is used in the batch processing device, the various mechanisms possessed by the single-wafer processing device do not malfunction.

[0032] (11) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that, in the relay device, the carrying-out position is in the middle layer of a stack in which the single-wafer processing chambers are stacked in the vertical direction in the single-wafer processing device.

[0033] [Effects] According to the structure of (11), the relay device is positioned in the middle layer of the stack of the single-wafer processing chambers stacked in the vertical direction in the single-wafer processing device. If so configured, the single-wafer processing chamber provided in the upper layer of the stack is arranged close to the unloading position of the relay device, and the substrate can be carried from the relay device to the single-wafer processing chamber by slightly performing the substrate carrying. Therefore, according to this structure, a substrate processing system with high throughput can be provided. In addition, according to this structure, the same effects can be said for the single-wafer processing chamber provided in the lower layer of the stack. In this sense, the throughput in the substrate processing system is high.

[0034] (12) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the unloading position of the relay device and the plurality of single-wafer processing chambers are arranged around the single-wafer carrying mechanism.

[0035] [Effects] According to the structure of (12), the single-wafer carrying mechanism in the single-wafer processing device stays at the unloading position of the relay device and the positions surrounded by the plurality of single-wafer processing chambers, respectively. If so configured, the single-wafer processing chambers can be arranged close to the unloading position. Therefore, according to this structure, the substrate can be carried from the relay device to the single-wafer processing chamber by slightly performing the substrate carrying, and a substrate processing system with high throughput can be provided.

[0036] (13) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the relay device is provided at a position closer to the transfer block side than the batch processing tank of the batch processing device.

[0037] [Effects] According to the structure of (13), the relay device is provided at a position closer to the transfer block side than at least one batch processing tank in the batch processing device. If so configured, even if the sizes of the devices differ between the single-wafer processing device and the batch processing device, the two devices can be bridged by the relay device. This is because the single-wafer processing device extends at least to the rear of the transfer block.

[0038] (14) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the substrate processing system has a carrier carrying mechanism that carries the carrier between the batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device to return the substrate after processing to the same carrier as the carrier housed before processing.

[0039] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (14), there is a carrier conveying mechanism that conveys the carrier between the batch processing device and the single piece processing device to return the substrate after processing to the same carrier as the carrier in which the substrate was housed before processing. If configured in this way, a substrate processing system can be provided that can house the substrate after processing in the same carrier as the carrier to which the substrate belonged before processing, making it easy to manage the substrate.

[0040] (15) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the batch processing device has a first housing that houses each block that makes up the batch processing device, and a first loading port that protrudes from a first wall surface of the wall surfaces that make up the first housing, which is orthogonal to a prescribed direction from the batch processing block toward the transfer block, the single piece processing device has a second housing that houses each block that makes up the single piece processing device, and a second loading port that protrudes from a second wall surface of the wall surfaces that make up the second housing, which is orthogonal to the prescribed direction, the second loading port being located at a position on the same side as the first loading port with respect to the prescribed direction.

[0041] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (15), the batch processing device has a first loading port that protrudes from a first wall surface of a first housing that houses each block that makes up the batch processing device, and a second loading port that protrudes from a second wall surface of a second housing that houses each block that makes up the single piece processing device, the second loading port being located at a position on the same side as the first loading port. If configured in this way, the carrier can be conveyed from the batch processing device to the single piece processing device using a separate carrier conveying mechanism provided in a complete set of equipment that has the substrate processing system, and thus a substrate processing system in which the carrier can be moved easily can be provided.

[0042] (16) In the substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the batch processing device has a first housing that houses each block that makes up the batch processing device, and a first loading port that protrudes from a first wall surface of the wall surfaces that make up the first housing, which is orthogonal to a prescribed direction from the batch processing block toward the transfer block, the single piece processing device has a second housing that houses each block that makes up the single piece processing device, and a second loading port that protrudes from a second wall surface of the wall surfaces that make up the second housing, which is orthogonal to the prescribed direction, the relay device has a relay housing that links the first housing and the second housing, which are separate from each other, in the relay device, the relay housing is provided between a first orthogonal wall surface of the first housing, which is orthogonal to the first wall surface, and a second orthogonal wall surface of the second housing, which is provided at a position that is orthogonal to the second wall surface and opposite the first orthogonal wall surface.

[0043] [Effects] According to the structure of (16), the first housing constituting the batch processing device and the second housing constituting the single-wafer processing device are not shared with a wall surface and are disposed separately from each other, and the relay device is disposed to bridge these housings. If so configured, it is possible to perform device maintenance using the gap between the first housing and the second housing, and it is possible to provide a substrate processing system that is easy to maintain.

[0044] (17) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized by comprising: one batch processing device, first and second single-wafer processing devices, and first and second relay devices, wherein the batch processing device is disposed apart by a gap between the first single-wafer processing device and the second single-wafer processing device, the batch processing device and the first single-wafer processing device are connected via the first relay device, and the batch processing device and the second single-wafer processing device are connected via the second relay device.

[0045] [Effects] According to the structure of (17), the batch processing device is disposed apart by a gap between the first single-wafer processing device and the second single-wafer processing device, and the batch processing device and the first single-wafer processing device are connected via the first relay device. Also, the batch processing device and the second single-wafer processing device are connected via the second relay device. In this way, if a plurality of single-wafer processing devices are provided to the batch processing device, it is possible to suppress throughput reduction that occurs in single-wafer processing.

[0046] (18) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized by comprising: one batch processing device, first and second single-wafer processing devices, and first and second relay devices, wherein the batch processing device, the first single-wafer processing device, and the second single-wafer processing device are arranged in this order apart by a gap, the batch processing device and the first single-wafer processing device are connected via the first relay device, and the batch processing device and the second single-wafer processing device are connected via the second relay device.

[0047] [Effects] According to the structure of (18), the batch processing device, the first single-wafer processing device, and the second single-wafer processing device are arranged in this order apart by a gap, and the batch processing device and the first single-wafer processing device are connected via the first relay device. Also, the batch processing device and the second single-wafer processing device are connected via the second relay device. In this way, if a plurality of single-wafer processing devices are provided to the batch processing device, it is possible to suppress throughput reduction that occurs in single-wafer processing.

[0048] (19) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized by comprising: a gas flow generation unit that causes a gas medium of the relay device to flow into the batch processing device.

[0049] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (19), the batch processing device has a gas flow generation section that causes the gas medium of the relay device to flow into the batch processing device. If so configured, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system that can prevent the various mechanisms of the single-wafer processing device from malfunctioning even if, for example, an etching liquid is used in the batch processing device. This is because the gas flow generation section prevents the gas medium from flowing from the batch processing device to the single-wafer processing device.

[0050] (20) The substrate processing system described in (1), characterized in that the batch processing block has a batch drying chamber that dries a plurality of substrates at once, the single-wafer processing block has a single-wafer processing chamber that can perform liquid processing on a substrate one at a time, and the substrate processing system is configured to be able to select control related to a batch processing mode in which the substrate processing is completed by only the batch processing device, control related to a single-wafer processing mode in which the substrate processing is completed by only the single-wafer processing device, and control related to a mixed processing mode in which the substrate processing is completed using the batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device.

[0051] [Action and effect] According to the structure of (20), it is possible to complete the substrate processing by the single-wafer processing device, by the batch processing device, and by both the batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device. If so configured, it is possible to provide a substrate processing system that can be used in a variety of ways in accordance with the destination of the substrate processing.

[0052] Inventive effects

[0053] According to the present application, by linking the individual batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device using the relay device, batch processing and single-wafer processing are continuously performed on a substrate. If so configured, it is possible to reliably construct a substrate processing system using the device structure that has been cultivated in the batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device, which has high reliability. Therefore, according to the present application, it is possible to predict what kind of trouble will occur in operation, and it is possible to suppress the design cost and the manufacturing cost of the substrate processing system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0054] Figure 1 is a plan view that explains the overall structure of the substrate processing system in Embodiment 1.

[0055] Figure 2 is a plan view that explains the overall structure of the batch processing device in Embodiment 1.

[0056] Figure 3 is a schematic view that explains the structure of the HVC posture conversion section in Embodiment 1.

[0057] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a first posture conversion mechanism in Embodiment 1.

[0058] Figure 5 FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0059] Figure 6 FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0060] Figure 7 FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0061] Figure 8 FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0062] Figure 9 FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0063] Figure 10 FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0064] Figure 11 FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a gate in Embodiment 1.

[0065] Figure 12 FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a relay device in Embodiment 1.

[0066] Figure 13 FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of substrate processing in Embodiment 1.

[0067] Figure 14 FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating a flow of substrate processing in Embodiment 1.

[0068] Figure 15 FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a flow of substrate processing in Embodiment 1.

[0069] Figure 16 FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of substrate processing in Embodiment 1.

[0070] Figure 17 FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating a flow of substrate processing in Embodiment 1.

[0071] Figure 18 FIG. 15 is a plan view illustrating a substrate processing system in Embodiment 2.

[0072] Figure 19 FIG. 16 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a forward / reverse conveyer in Embodiment 2.

[0073] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of the substrate processing of Embodiment 2.

[0074] Figure 21 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of Embodiment 3.

[0075] Figure 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating a handover process of the substrate of Embodiment 3.

[0076] Figure 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of the substrate processing of Embodiment 3.

[0077] Figure 24 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of the substrate processing of Embodiment 3.

[0078] Figure 25 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0079] Figure 26 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0080] Figure 27 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0081] Figure 28 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0082] Figure 29 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0083] Figure 30 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0084] Figure 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0085] Figure 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0086] Figure 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example.

[0087] Figure 34 is a schematic diagram illustrating the substrate processing system of the modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0088] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The substrate processing system of the present invention continuously performs batch processing of multiple substrates W at the same time and single-wafer processing of substrates W one by one. The batch processing device for batch processing and the single-wafer processing device for single-wafer processing are connected by a relay device.

[0089] The substrate processing system of the present invention performs various processes on the substrate W, such as chemical treatment, cleaning, and drying. The substrate processing system employs a hybrid processing method that combines batch processing of multiple substrates W at once with single-sheet processing of substrates W one by one. The batch processing method processes multiple substrates W arranged vertically together. The single-sheet processing method processes substrates W one by one arranged horizontally.

[0090] [Example 1]

[0091] <1. Overall Structure>

[0092] like Figure 1 As shown, the substrate processing system includes a batch processing unit 1 and a single-wafer processing unit 2, each configured separately, and a relay unit 6 connecting the two units 1 and 2. The batch processing unit 1 is for batch processing of multiple substrates at once, while the single-wafer processing unit 2 is for single-wafer processing of substrates one by one. The relay unit 6 is a structure that transports the batch-processed substrates from the batch processing unit 1 to the single-wafer processing unit 2, and is a bridging structure located between the batch processing unit 1 and the single-wafer processing unit 2.

[0093] like Figure 1 As shown, the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2 each have blocks divided by partitions. That is, the batch processing device 1 has: a storage block 3, a transfer block 5 adjacent to the storage block 3, and a batch processing block 7 adjacent to the transfer block 5. Figure 2 This describes the specific structure of the batch processing block 7 in the batch processing device 1. On the other hand, the single-chip processing device 2 has an indexer block 4 and a single-chip processing block 8 adjacent to the indexer block 4.

[0094] The batch processing device 1 has a first housing 1A that houses the blocks constituting the batch processing device 1, and the single-piece processing device 2 has a second housing 2A that houses the blocks constituting the single-piece processing device 2. The first housing 1A has a first loading port 9 that protrudes from a first wall surface constituting the first housing, orthogonal to the Y direction from the batch processing block 7 toward the transfer block 5. The second housing 2A has a second loading port 10 that protrudes from a second wall surface constituting the second housing 2A, orthogonal to the Y direction, and the second loading port 10 is located at the same position as the first loading port 9 in the Y direction.

[0095] In the present specification, the direction in which the stocker 3, the transfer block 5, and the batch processing block 7 of the batch processing apparatus 1 are arranged will be referred to as a "front-rear direction X". The front-rear direction X is also the direction in which the indexing block 4 and the single processing block 8 of the single processing apparatus 2 are arranged. The front-rear direction X extends horizontally. The direction in the front-rear direction X from the transfer block 5 toward the stocker 3 in the batch processing apparatus 1 will be referred to as a "front direction". The front direction is also the direction from the single processing block 8 toward the indexing block 4 in the single processing apparatus 2. The direction opposite to the front direction will be referred to as a "rear direction". The direction that extends horizontally and is orthogonal to the front-rear direction X will be referred to as a "width direction Y". For convenience, one direction of the "width direction Y" will be referred to as a "right direction", and the other direction will be referred to as a "left direction". For convenience, the direction (height direction) orthogonal to the front-rear direction X and the width direction Y will be referred to as a "vertical direction Z". In each drawing, the front, the rear, the right, the left, the upper, and the lower are appropriately indicated as references.

[0096] The substrate processing system of the present application first performs batch processing of the substrate W using the batch processing apparatus 1, and transfers the batch-processed substrate W to the single processing apparatus 2 using the relay apparatus 6. Then, the entire process of the substrate processing is completed by performing single processing of the substrate W using the single processing apparatus 2. Hereinafter, the flow of the substrate W in the substrate processing system of the present application will be described, and the detailed structure of each apparatus will be described in the order of the batch processing apparatus 1, the relay apparatus 6, and the single processing apparatus 2.

[0097] <2. Batch processing apparatus: stocker>

[0098] The stocker 3 has a first loading port 9 that is an entrance when a carrier C is put into the block, in which a plurality of substrates W are housed at a prescribed interval in a horizontal attitude in the vertical direction. The first loading port 9 is a structure that protrudes from the outer wall of the stocker 3 that extends in the width direction (Y direction).

[0099] A plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W are housed in one carrier C in a horizontal attitude at a prescribed interval. The carrier C in which the unprocessed substrates W that are carried into the batch processing apparatus 1 are housed is first placed in the first loading port 9. The carrier C is formed with a plurality of grooves (not shown) that extend in the horizontal direction, in which the faces of the substrates W are housed in a state in which they are separated from each other. The substrates W are inserted one by one into each of the grooves. As the carrier C, for example, there is a closed type FOUP (Front Opening Unify Pod). In the present application, an open type container can also be used as the carrier C.

[0100] The internal configuration of the stocker block 3 will be described. The stocker block 3 has a conveyance storage section ACB that stocks and manages the carriers C. The conveyance storage section ACB has a carrier conveyance mechanism 11 that conveys the carriers C and a shelf 13 on which the carriers C are placed. The number of carriers C that the stocker block 3 can stock is one or more.

[0101] The stocker block 3 has a plurality of shelves 13 on which the carriers C are placed. The shelves 13 are provided to a partition wall that separates the stocker block 3 from the transfer block 5. The shelves 13 have a stock shelf 13b that temporarily places only the carriers C and a carrier placement shelf 13a that is accessed by the first substrate conveyance mechanism HTR of the transfer block 5 to take out the substrates. The carrier placement shelf 13a that is used to take out and store the carriers corresponds to the first carrier placement shelf of the present application. The carrier placement shelf 13a is a structure that places the carriers C from which the substrates W are taken out. In the present embodiment, one carrier placement shelf 13a is provided, but a plurality of carrier placement shelves 13a can be provided. The carrier conveyance mechanism 11 takes in the carriers C that store the substrates W that are not processed from the first loading port 9 and places them on the carrier placement shelf 13a for taking out the substrates. At this time, the carrier conveyance mechanism 11 can temporarily place the carriers C on the stock shelf 13b before placing them on the carrier placement shelf 13a. The number of carrier placement shelves 13a that the stocker block 3 has is one or more. The first substrate conveyance mechanism corresponds to the substrate handling mechanism of the present application.

[0102] <3. Batch processing device: transfer block>

[0103] The transfer block 5 is disposed adjacent to the rear of the stocker block 3. The transfer block 5 has a first substrate conveyance mechanism HTR that can access the carriers C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a for taking out the substrates, an HVC posture conversion section 23 that converts a plurality of substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture, and a pusher mechanism 25. The first substrate conveyance mechanism HTR corresponds to the substrate handling mechanism of the present application. The HVC posture conversion section 23 and the pusher mechanism 25 constitute the first posture conversion mechanism 15 and correspond to the first posture conversion mechanism of the present application. Further, a substrate handover position PP for handing over the plurality of substrates W to the second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR provided in the batch conveyance region R2 is provided in the transfer block 5. The first substrate conveyance mechanism HTR, the HVC posture conversion section 23, and the pusher mechanism 25 are arranged in the Y direction in this order.

[0104] The first substrate transfer mechanism HTR is provided to the right in the rear of the transfer housing section ACB of the stocker block 3. The first substrate transfer mechanism HTR is a mechanism for taking out a plurality of substrates W from the carriers C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a for substrate extraction / housing. The first substrate transfer mechanism HTR has a plurality of (for example, 25) robot hands 51 that transfer a plurality of substrates W. One robot hand 51 supports one substrate W. The first substrate transfer mechanism HTR takes out a plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W from the carriers C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a of the stocker block 3. Also, the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR can transfer the plurality of substrates W held thereby to the support table 23A of the HVC posture conversion section 23. The HVC posture conversion section 23 converts the plurality of substrates W received in the horizontal posture to the vertical posture. The push rod mechanism 25 is a structure that holds the plurality of substrates W in the vertical posture and moves them up and down and left and right.

[0105] Figure 3 The HVC posture conversion section 23 of Embodiment 1 will be described. The HVC posture conversion section 23 has a pair of horizontal holding sections 23B and a pair of vertical holding sections 23C that extend in the longitudinal direction (Z direction). The support table 23A has a support surface that extends in the XY plane that supports the horizontal holding sections 23B and the vertical holding sections 23C. The rotary drive mechanism 23D is a structure that rotates the horizontal holding sections 23B and the vertical holding sections 23C 90° together with the support table 23A. By this rotation, the horizontal holding sections 23B and the vertical holding sections 23C become structures that extend in the left-right direction (Y direction). Also, Figure 4 is a schematic view that explains the operation of the HVC posture conversion section 23. Hereinafter, the operation of the HVC posture conversion section 23 will be described with reference to Figure 3 and Figure 4 The structure of each section will be described.

[0106] The horizontal holding section 23B supports a plurality of substrates W in the horizontal posture from the lower side. That is, the horizontal holding section 23B becomes a comb-shaped structure that has a plurality of protrusions corresponding to the substrates W to be supported. Between the protrusions that abut on each other, there is an elongated recess in which the peripheral edge portion of the substrate W is present. When the peripheral edge portion of the substrate W is inserted into this recess, the lower surface of the substrate W in the horizontal posture comes into contact with the upper surface of the protrusion, and the substrate W is supported in the horizontal posture.

[0107] The vertical holding section 23C supports a plurality of substrates W in the vertical posture from the lower side. That is, the vertical holding section 23C becomes a comb-shaped structure that has a plurality of protrusions corresponding to the substrates W to be supported. Between the protrusions that abut on each other, there is an elongated V groove in which the peripheral edge portion of the substrate W is present. When the peripheral edge portion of the substrate W is inserted into this V groove, the substrate W is sandwiched by the V groove and is supported in the vertical posture. Two vertical holding sections 23C are provided on the support table 23A, and therefore, two portions of the peripheral edge portion of the substrate W are respectively sandwiched by different V grooves.

[0108] 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 a horizontal orientation of the substrate W, surrounding the substrate W to be held. The pair of horizontal holding portions 23B are separated by the diameter of the substrate W to hold one end of the substrate W and the other end, corresponding to the furthest point 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 separated by a distance shorter than the diameter of the substrate W to support a predetermined portion of the substrate W and a specific portion located near that predetermined 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 (leftward) relative to the support platform 23A, compared to the pair of horizontal holding portions 23B.

[0109] The rotary drive mechanism 23D supports the support platform 23A so that it can rotate at least 90° about a horizontal axis AX2 extending in the front-back direction (X direction). When the support platform 23A in the horizontal state rotates 90°, the support platform 23A becomes vertical, and the posture of the multiple substrates W held by the horizontal holding part 23B and the vertical holding part 23C changes from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture.

[0110] like Figure 4 As shown in (f), the push rod mechanism 25 includes: a push rod 25A capable of supporting a vertically positioned substrate W; a lifting and rotating section 25B that rotates and lifts the push rod 25A; a horizontal moving section 25C that moves the lifting and rotating section 25B in the left-right direction (Y direction); and a track 25D that guides the horizontal moving section 25C and extends in the left-right direction (Y direction). The push rod 25A is a structure that supports the lower part of each of multiple (e.g., 50) vertically positioned substrates W. The lifting and rotating section 25B is a structure provided below the push rod 25A and has a retractable mechanism that allows the push rod 25A to lift and lower in the vertical direction. The lifting and rotating section 25B is also capable of rotating the push rod 25A about a vertical axis by at least 180°. The horizontal moving section 25C is a structure that supports the lifting and rotating section 25B and allows the push rod 25A and the lifting and rotating section 25B to move horizontally. The horizontal moving part 25C is guided by the track 25D, enabling the push rod 25A to move from the lifting position near the HVC posture conversion part 23 to the substrate junction position PP. In addition, the horizontal moving part 25C can also displace the vertically positioned substrate W in the arrangement direction of the substrate W by the distance corresponding to the half-pitch of the push rod 25A in the substrate arrangement.

[0111] Here, the operation of the HVC posture conversion section 23 and the push rod mechanism 25 will be described. The HVC posture conversion section 23 and the push rod mechanism 25 arrange, for example, 50 substrates W housed in the two carriers C in a face-to-face manner at a prescribed interval (for example, 5 mm). The 25 substrates W in the first carrier C will be described as first substrates Wl belonging to a first substrate group. Likewise, the 25 substrates W in the second carrier C will be described as second substrates W2 belonging to a second substrate group. Further, in the following description, the first substrates Wl and the second substrates W2 will be collectively referred to as substrates W. Figure 4 Figure 4 In (a) to (f) of FIG. 10, the number of the first substrates Wl is three, and the number of the second substrates W2 is three for ease of illustration.

[0112] Figure 4 (a) of FIG. 10 shows a state in which the first substrates Wl in the horizontal posture are delivered to the HVC posture conversion section 23 by the first substrate transfer mechanism HTR. The device surface (circuit pattern formation surface) of the first substrates Wl at this time faces upward. The 25 first substrates Wl are arranged at a prescribed interval (for example, 10 mm). This 10 mm interval is referred to as a full pitch (standard pitch). The first substrates Wl in this state are held by the horizontal holding section 23B. Further, the push rod 25A at this time is located at a lifted position lower than the support table 23A.

[0113] Figure 4 (b) of FIG. 10 shows a state in which the support table 23A of the HVC posture conversion section 23 is rotated by 90° by the rotation drive mechanism 23D. In this way, in the HVC posture conversion section 23, the posture of the 25 first substrates Wl is converted from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture. The first substrates Wl in this state are held by the vertical holding section 23C.

[0114] Figure 4 (c) of FIG. 10 shows a state in which the push rod 25A is moved from the lifted position to a directly above position set above the lifted position. This lifting movement is performed by the lift-rotation section 25B. In this way, when the push rod 25A moves from the lower side to the upper side of the first substrates Wl, the first substrates Wl supported by the vertical holding section 23C of the HVC posture conversion section 23 are pulled out from the vertical holding section 23C and moved onto the push rod 25A. A groove for holding the substrates W is provided on the upper surface of the push rod 25A. The first substrates Wl are supported by these grooves arranged at equal intervals. The grooves are arranged at a half pitch, and the first substrates Wl are arranged at a full pitch in the HVC posture conversion section 23, and therefore, the grooves holding the first substrates Wl and the empty grooves not supporting the substrates W are alternately arranged on the upper surface of the push rod 25A in the directly above position.

[0115] Figure 4 ​(d) indicates the action of the pusher 25A rotating 180° through the lift-rotation section 25B and the action of the support table 23A of the HVC posture conversion section 23 being reversed 90° through the rotation drive mechanism 23D. The HVC posture conversion section 23 in this state is able to support the second substrate W2. When the pusher 25A is rotated 180°, the substrate W supported by the right end of the pusher 25A moves to the left end of the pusher 25A, and the empty slot at the left end of the pusher 25A moves to the right end of the pusher 25A. The positional relationship of the HVC posture conversion section 23 and the pusher 25A is set so that the substrate W at the right end of the HVC posture conversion section 23 is transferred to the right end of the pusher 25A, and therefore the HVC posture conversion section 23 is able to deliver the second substrate W2 at the right end to the slot at the right end of the pusher 25A regardless of the presence of the first substrate Wl supported by the pusher 25A. The same applies to the other second substrates W2 supported by the HVC posture conversion section 23. That is, the second substrates W2 arranged at intervals of the full pitch at the HVC posture conversion section 23 are able to be arranged in order at the right end of the pusher 25A at intervals of the full pitch. This is because the empty slots are arranged at intervals of the full pitch from the right end in the pusher 25A after rotation. The first substrates Wl on the pusher 25A at this time are fitted into the gaps of the second substrates arranged on the pusher 25A. In Figure 4 (d), the second substrate W2 is supported by the horizontal holding section 23B. Figure 4

[0116] In the state of (d) in FIG. 27, when the pusher 25A at the position directly above returns to the original extraction position, the HVC posture conversion section 23 is able to rotate the support table 23A 90° again. Figure 4

[0117] Figure 4 (e) indicates the state when the support table 23A is actually rotated again. At this time, the pusher 25A is rotated 180°, and therefore, as shown in (f) of FIG. 28, if the pusher 25A is moved to the position directly above again, the second substrates W2 are fitted into the empty slots sandwiched by the first substrates Wl on the upper surface of the pusher 25A without interfering with the first substrates Wl. In this way, a batch (Lot) in which the first substrates Wl and the second substrates W2 are arranged alternately is formed. Furthermore, in (e) of FIG. 28, the second substrates W2 are supported by the vertical holding section 23C. This batch is configured to arrange the substrates W in a face-to-face manner, and therefore, the device faces of the first substrates Wl constituting the batch all face the right in (f) of FIG. 28, and the device faces of the second substrates W2 all face the left in (f) of FIG. 28. Figure 4 Figure 4 Figure 4 Figure 4

[0118] Figure 4 ​​​​​​(f) indicates the case where the pusher 25A is moved again to the directly above position. Also, the lot generated in the pusher 25A is moved to the substrate handover position PP by the horizontal movement section 25C to the left direction (Y direction).

[0119] Further, in the following description, the structure of the arrangement of the processing target substrates is not limited. That is, whether it is a normal lot (arranged at full pitch, for example, 25 substrates W) or the above-described lot batch, the main part of the present application is the same structure. In the following description, the processing target is simply referred to as a lot or a plurality of substrates W.

[0120] The lot batch formed by the HVC posture conversion section 23 and the pusher mechanism 25 is temporarily held, and for this main purpose, a drying lot support section 33 is provided at a position sandwiched by the substrate handover position PP and the relay device 6 described later. When the lot is carried from the drying lot support section 33 to the lot substrate processing block 7, the second substrate carrying mechanism WTR possessed by the lot processing device 1 is used.

[0121] <5. Lot processing device: lot processing block>

[0122] The lot processing block 7 performs lot processing on the above-described lot. The lot processing block 7 is divided into a lot processing region Rl arranged in the width direction (Y direction) and a simultaneous carrying region R2. Each region extends in the front-rear direction (X direction). In detail, the lot processing region Rl is arranged inside the lot processing block 7. The simultaneous carrying region R2 is adjacent to the lot processing region Rl and is arranged at the leftmost side of the lot processing block 7.

[0123] <5.1. Lot processing region>

[0124] The lot processing region Rl in the lot processing block 7 becomes a rectangular region extending in the front-rear direction (X direction). One end side (front side) of the lot processing region Rl is adjacent to the relay device 6. The other end side of the lot processing region Rl extends in a direction away from the transfer block 5, the relay device 6 (rear side). Therefore, the relay device 6 is a device inserted into a position that divides the lot processing device 1 in the middle. When the lot is carried from the lot processing device 1 to the relay device 6, the second substrate carrying mechanism WTR possessed by the lot processing device 1 is used. Therefore, the region in which the second substrate carrying mechanism WTR can move, that is, the simultaneous carrying region R2 is not divided by the relay device 6 but extends in the Y direction along the left end portion of the relay device 6. The relay device 6 is a structure embedded into the inside of the lot processing device 1, but does not reach the left end of the lot processing device 1. This is because the simultaneous carrying region R2 is provided at the left end of the lot processing device 1.

[0125] The batch processing area R1 mainly comprises a batch processing unit for performing batch processing. Specifically, the batch processing area R1 is equipped with a batch drying chamber DC for drying multiple substrates W together, and multiple batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 for impregnating multiple substrates W together in the direction extending from the batch processing area R1. 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 rear of the first batch processing unit BPU1. The third batch processing unit BPU3 is adjacent to the rear of the second batch processing unit BPU2. The fourth batch processing unit BPU4 is adjacent to the rear of the third batch processing unit BPU3. The fifth batch processing unit BPU5 is adjacent to the rear of the fourth batch processing unit BPU4. The sixth batch processing unit BPU6 is adjacent to the rear of the fifth batch processing unit BPU5. 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 configured to be sequentially located away from the relay device 6. Figure 4 For ease of plotting, the second batch processing units BPU2 to the fifth batch processing units BPU5 have been omitted. For more information on this structure, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 4 To understand this, the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 correspond to the batch processing slots of this invention.

[0126] Specifically, the second batch processing unit BPU2 includes: a batch drug treatment tank CHB2, which processes the batches of drugs together; and a lift LF2, which moves the batches up and down between the substrate junction position and the drug treatment position (see reference). Figure 1 The substrate handover position is set above the batch chemical treatment tank CHB2, accessible by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The chemical treatment position is set within the batch chemical treatment tank CHB2, where the batch can be immersed in the chemical solution. The batch chemical treatment tank CHB2 performs acid treatment on the batch. The acid treatment can be phosphoric acid treatment or treatment using other acids. The phosphoric acid treatment etches multiple substrates W constituting the batch. The etching treatment, for example, chemically etches the nitride film on the surface of the substrate W.

[0127] The batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 houses an acid solution such as a phosphoric acid solution. The batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 is provided with a lifter LF2 that moves a batch up and down. The batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 supplies a chemical liquid from the lower side to the upper side, for example, to cause the chemical liquid to convect. The lifter LF2 is raised and lowered in the vertical direction (Z direction). Specifically, the lifter LF2 is raised and lowered between a processing position that corresponds to the inside of the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 and a transfer position that corresponds to the upper side of the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2. The lifter LF2 holds a batch composed of a substrate W in a vertical posture. The lifter LF2 transfers the batch between the transfer position and the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR. When the lifter LF2 is lowered from the transfer position to the processing position while holding the batch, the entire area of the substrate W is located below the liquid surface of the chemical liquid. When the lifter LF2 is raised from the processing position to the transfer position while holding the batch, the entire area of the substrate W is located above the liquid surface of the chemical liquid.

[0128] Specifically, the third batch processing unit BPU3 has a batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB3 and a lifter LF3 that raises and lowers a batch between a substrate transfer position and a chemical liquid processing position. The batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB3 is of the same structure as the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 described above. That is, the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB3 houses the chemical liquid described above and is provided with the lifter LF3. The batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB3 performs the same processing on a batch as the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2. The batch processing apparatus 1 of this example has a plurality of processing tanks that can perform the same chemical liquid processing. This is because phosphoric acid processing takes time compared to other processing. Phosphoric acid processing takes a long time (for example, 60 minutes). Therefore, the apparatus of this example performs acid processing in parallel by a plurality of batch chemical liquid processing tanks.

[0129] The fourth batch processing unit BPU4 to the sixth batch processing unit BPU6 are of the same structure as the second batch processing unit BPU2 and the third batch processing unit BPU3. That is, the fourth batch processing unit BPU4 has a batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB4 and a lifter LF4 that raises and lowers a batch between a substrate transfer position and a chemical liquid processing position. Similarly, the fifth batch processing unit BPU5 has a batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB5 and a lifter LF5 that raises and lowers a batch between a substrate transfer position and a chemical liquid processing position. Also, the sixth batch processing unit BPU6 has a batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB6 and a lifter LF6 that raises and lowers a batch between a substrate transfer position and a chemical liquid processing position. Therefore, a batch is subjected to acid processing in one of the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB2 to the batch chemical liquid processing tank CHB6. If the chemical liquid processing is performed in parallel by five processing units as described above, the throughput of the apparatus is improved.

[0130] Specifically, the first batch processing unit BPU1 has a batch rinsing process tank ONB that houses a rinsing liquid and a lifter LF1 that lifts the batch between a substrate handover position and a rinsing position. The substrate handover position is a position set above the batch rinsing process tank ONB that the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR can access, and the rinsing position is a position set inside the tank of the batch rinsing process tank ONB that can immerse the batch in the rinsing liquid. The batch rinsing process tank ONB is of the same structure as the batch chemical liquid process tank CHB2. That is, the batch rinsing process tank ONB houses a rinsing liquid and is provided with a lifter LF1. The batch rinsing process tank ONB, unlike other process tanks, houses pure water, and is provided for the purpose of cleaning the chemical liquid adhering to the plurality of substrates W. In the batch rinsing process tank ONB, if the resistivity of the pure water in the tank rises to a prescribed value, the cleaning process ends. The purity of the pure water housed in the batch rinsing process tank ONB is only required to be a degree that enables batch rinsing processing of the substrates W.

[0131] Thus, the batch rinsing process tank ONB in the present embodiment is positioned closer to the relay device 6 than the batch chemical liquid process tanks CHB2 to CHB6. By thus configuring, the respective mechanisms constituting the relay device 6 are separated as much as possible from the batch chemical liquid process tanks CHB2 to CHB6, and the relay device 6 is not adversely affected by the acid such as phosphoric acid. In addition, by configuring so that the relay device 6 is close to the batch rinsing process tank ONB, the batch after the rinsing process is immediately transferred into the relay device 6 by being transferred a short distance. Therefore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the transfer of the substrates W can be rapidly completed while maintaining the wet state of the substrates W.

[0132] The batch drying chamber DC is disposed at a position sandwiched by the first batch processing unit BPU1 and the relay device 6. The batch drying chamber DC has a drying chamber that houses a batch of substrates W arranged in a vertical posture. The drying chamber has a non-active gas supply nozzle that supplies a non-active gas into the chamber, and a vapor supply nozzle that supplies a vapor of an organic solvent into the tank. The batch drying chamber DC first supplies a non-active gas to the batch supported in the chamber, and replaces the gaseous medium in the chamber with the non-active gas. Also, the chamber is started to be depressurized. In the state that the chamber is depressurized, a vapor of an organic solvent is supplied into the chamber. The organic solvent is discharged outside the chamber along with the moisture adhering to the substrates W. Thus, the batch drying chamber DC performs drying of the batch. The non-active gas at this time is, for example, nitrogen, and the organic solvent is, for example, IPA (isopropyl alcohol).

[0133] <5.2. Conveying Area>

[0134] The batch processing block 7 has a batch conveyance region R2. The batch conveyance region R2 is a rectangular region extending in the front-rear direction (X direction). The batch conveyance region R2 is provided along the outer edge of the batch processing region Rl, and extends to the transfer block 5 at one end side and extends away from the transfer block 5 at the other end side. Thus, the batch conveyance region R2 is also along the structure of the relay device 6, which is located between the transfer block 5 and the batch processing block 7.

[0135] The batch conveyance region R2 has a second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR that conveys a plurality of substrates W (specifically, a batch) between the substrate handover position PP in the transfer block 5, the drying batch support portion 33, the batch drying chamber DC, the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6, and the conveyance-in position IP in the relay device 6 described later. The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR is configured to reciprocate in the front-rear direction (X direction) throughout the transfer block 5, the relay device 6, and the batch processing block 7. The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR is movable to the substrate handover position PP in the transfer block 5, the drying batch support portion 33, and the conveyance-in position IP in the relay device 6, in addition to the batch conveyance region R2 in the batch processing block 7. The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR corresponds to the batch conveyance mechanism of the present application.

[0136] The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR has a pair of chucks 29 that convey a batch. The pair of chucks 29 is changeable between a closed state in which the chucks 29 are close to each other and an open state in which the chucks 29 are away from each other. The chucks 29 are members extending in the Y direction in which grooves for holding substrates W are arranged at half pitches. The pair of chucks 29 receives a plurality of substrates W constituting a batch in the closed state. Also, the pair of chucks 29 delivers the plurality of substrates W constituting a batch to other members (e.g., lifters LFl and the like) in the open state. The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR hands over a batch between the substrate handover position PP in the transfer block 5 and the lifters LFl to LF6 belonging to the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 in the batch processing block 7, and the batch drying chamber DC. In addition, the second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR hands over a batch between the drying batch support portion 33 and the lifters LFl to LF6 belonging to the batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6 in the batch processing block 7, and the batch drying chamber DC.

[0137] The in-line conveyance region R2 has a guide rail 31X that extends in the X direction to guide the second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR. The second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR is capable of advancing and retreating in the X direction along the guide rail 31X. 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 Y direction in the transfer block 5, and faces the sixth batch processing unit BUP6 in the Y direction in the batch processing block 7. In addition to these, the guide rail 31X faces the dry batch support portion 33 in the Y direction in the transfer block 5, the substrate standby slot 65 in the Y direction in the relay device 6, the batch dry chamber DC in the Y direction in the batch processing block 7, and the first to sixth batch processing units BPU1 to BPU6.

[0138] <6. Relay Device>

[0139] The relay device 6 is a structure that bridges the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2, with the left end portion embedded in the interior of the batch processing device 1 and the right end portion embedded in the interior of the single-wafer processing device 2. The relay device 6 has a substrate W conveyance path that extends in the Y direction, which is connected from the in-line conveyance region R2 of the batch processing device 1 to the single-wafer conveyance region R3 of the single-wafer processing device 2. This conveyance path is a structure that conveys the substrate W in the Y direction (horizontally) without changing the Z-direction position of the substrate W. 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 position in the Z direction.

[0140] The relay device 6 is located at the middle layer of the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2 (see Figure 2 ). Therefore, the relay device 6 bridges the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2 at a position in the air that is away from the floor on which the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2 are disposed. The specific position of the relay device 6 is associated with the configuration of the single-wafer processing device 2, so a detailed explanation is given in conjunction with the explanation of the single-wafer processing device 2.

[0141] The relay device 6 has a relay housing 6A that connects the first housing 1A of the batch processing device 1 and the second housing 2A of the single-wafer processing device 2, which are separated from each other in the Y direction. The relay housing 6A is disposed between the third wall surface 1B and the fourth wall surface 2B, where the third wall surface 1B is a wall surface of the first housing 1A that faces the second housing 2A, and the fourth wall surface 2B is a wall surface of the second housing 2A that faces the third wall surface 1B. The third wall surface corresponds to the orthogonal wall surface of the present invention. The fourth wall surface corresponds to the orthogonal wall surface of the present invention.

[0142] The relay housing 6A has a side wall 62a, a bottom plate 62b, and a top plate 62c that link the batch processing apparatus 1 and the single-wafer processing apparatus 2. The structures of the side wall 62a, the bottom plate 62b, and the top plate 62c will be described in detail in Figure 2 , Figure 12 The relay housing 6A links the housings of the batch processing apparatus 1 and the single-wafer processing apparatus 2, and constitutes one substrate processing system. Thus, the substrate processing system becomes a structure in which the outside gas and the gas medium in the apparatus are isolated. The relay housing 6A extends from the first gate S1 to the second gate S2. Therefore, if the first gate S1 is in the closed state, the batch processing apparatus 1 and the space in the relay apparatus 6 to the right of the first gate S1 are isolated. The first gate corresponds to the batch processing apparatus side gate of the present application. The second gate corresponds to the single-wafer processing apparatus side gate of the present application.

[0143] The relay apparatus 6 has a substrate standby tank 65 that stands by the batch processed batch in pure water, a water-submerged posture conversion section 55 that receives a plurality of substrates W arranged in the Y direction, rotates the received substrates W by 90° in the water, and thereby converts the postures of the plurality of substrates W from the vertical posture to the horizontal posture, a first conveyer mechanism 67 that conveys the substrates W one by one in the Y direction, and a second conveyer mechanism 68 that conveys the substrates W conveyed by the first conveyer mechanism 67 in the Y direction and delivers them to the delivery position OP. These substrate standby tank 65, water-submerged posture conversion section 55, first conveyer mechanism 67, and second conveyer mechanism 68 are arranged in the right direction in this order from the left portion of the batch processing apparatus 1. Hereinafter, each section will be described in detail. In addition, the water-submerged posture conversion section 55 corresponds to the second posture conversion mechanism of the present application. The first conveyer mechanism 67 and the second conveyer mechanism correspond to the relay conveyer mechanism of the present application.

[0144] <6.1. Relay apparatus: Substrate standby tank>

[0145] The substrate standby tank 65 has the same structure as the first batch processing unit BPU1 possessed by the batch processing apparatus 1. That is, the substrate standby tank 65 holds pure water and has a lifter LF65 that lifts the batch. The lifter LF65 is capable of reciprocating between a convey-in position IP for conveying the batch into the relay apparatus 6 and an immersion position for immersing the conveyed batch in the pure water. The convey-in position IP is located above the immersion position and is a position at which the second substrate conveyer mechanism WTR is capable of conveying the substrate. The convey-in position IP is set so that the entire area of the substrate W constituting the batch is located in the air, and the immersion position is set so that the entire area of the substrate W constituting the batch is immersed in the pure water.

[0146] <6.2. Relay apparatus: Full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyer mechanism>

[0147] The full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR is capable of conveying 25 substrates arranged in full pitch between the substrate standby slot 65 and the in-water posture conversion section 55. The substrate standby slot 65 stands by 50 substrates arranged in half pitch, and the full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR picks up 25 of them and conveys them to the in-water posture conversion section 55. The full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR has a pair of chucks 30 like the pair of chucks 29 of the second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR. In the chucks 30, like the chucks 29, grooves are formed at intervals of half pitch, but unlike the chucks 29, the two kinds of grooves are arranged alternately. That is, in the chucks 30, deep grooves that cannot hold a substrate and shallow grooves that can hold a substrate are arranged alternately at intervals of half pitch. Therefore, when it is intended to hold a lot in the lifter LF 65 by the full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR, 25 substrates W are picked up by the shallow grooves that can hold a substrate W, and the remaining 25 substrates remain in the lifter LF 65 without abutting against the deep grooves. The shallow grooves in the chucks 30 are arranged at intervals of twice the interval of half pitch (full pitch), and therefore the full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR picks up 25 substrates W arranged in full pitch from the lot in the lifter LF 65. From the viewpoint of the lot formed by the substrates W arranged face to face, the picked-up substrates W are arranged with the surfaces (device faces) on the right side and the backs on the left side so that the device faces of adjacent substrates W do not face each other. On the other hand, the 25 substrates W that remain in the lifter LF 65 without being picked up are arranged with the surfaces (device faces) on the left side and the backs on the right side so that the device faces of adjacent substrates W do not face each other.

[0148] The pair of chucks 30 of the full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR, like the chucks 29 of the second substrate conveyance mechanism WTR, can take two states, a closed state in which the chucks 30 approach each other in the X direction and an open state in which the chucks 30 separate from each other in the X direction. When the pair of chucks 30 is in the closed state, the chucks 30 sufficiently approach each other with respect to the diameter of the substrate W, and therefore two portions of the lower portion of the substrate W abut against the chucks 30, respectively. In this way, the substrate W is held by the pair of chucks 30. When the pair of chucks 30 in the closed state is set to the open state, the chucks 30 sufficiently separate from each other with respect to the diameter of the substrate W, and therefore the substrate W is released from the chucks 30. Specifically, the case where the pair of chucks 30 is in the open state refers to a period before the plurality of substrates W is received from the lifter LF 65 at the in-feed position IP and a period after the plurality of substrates W is delivered to the push rod 55A described later at the immersion slot upper position.

[0149] The relay device 6 has a guide rail 31Y that extends in the Y direction to guide the full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR. The full-pitch arrangement substrate conveyance mechanism STR is capable of moving in and out in the Y direction along the guide rail 31Y. Therefore, the guide rail 31Y extends from the substrate standby slot 65 to the in-water posture conversion section 55.

[0150] The full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR is capable of moving in the Y direction from the in-feed position IP to the over-dip tank position, where the in-feed position IP is a position where a batch of substrates W is handed over to the lifter LF65 guided by the guide rail 31Y, and the over-dip tank position is a position where the push rod 55A of the water-submerged posture conversion section 55 described later receives a plurality of substrates W. Thus, the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR is capable of transferring a plurality of substrates W from the in-feed position IP to the over-dip tank position in the Y direction. In addition, the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR is also capable of moving to the over-dip tank position without interfering with the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR when the second substrate transfer mechanism WTR moves from the transfer block 5 to the batch processing block 7 (see Figure 2 ).

[0151] <6.3. Relay device: water-submerged conversion section>

[0152] The water-submerged posture conversion section 55 has a dip tank 73 holding pure water, a push rod 55A positioned at the bottom surface of the dip tank 73, and a tank-in-carrier 71 immersed in the dip tank 73. The push rod 55A is capable of being raised from the substrate handover position of the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR set on the liquid surface of the dip tank 73 to the bottom surface of the dip tank 73. The tank-in-carrier 71 receives a plurality of substrates W supported by the push rod 55A, and is capable of being rotated by 90° in one direction or the opposite direction in this state. The posture of the plurality of substrates W in the vertical posture is converted to the horizontal posture by the rotation of the tank-in-carrier 71.

[0153] <6.4. Relay device: conveyer mechanism>

[0154] The first conveyer mechanism 67 is a substrate transfer mechanism elongated in the Y direction having one end extended to the water-submerged posture conversion section 55 and the other end extended to the single piece processing device 2. The first conveyer mechanism 67 receives the substrates W in the horizontal posture one by one from the water-submerged posture conversion section 55, and transfers the substrates W to the single piece processing device 2. The second conveyer mechanism 68 is a substrate transfer mechanism elongated in the Y direction having one end extended to the other end of the first conveyer mechanism 67 and the other end extended to the out-feed position OP of the relay device 6. The second conveyer mechanism 68 receives the substrates W in the horizontal posture transferred by the first conveyer mechanism 67 one by one, and transfers the substrates W to the out-feed position OP set at the end of the relay device 6. The first conveyer mechanism corresponds to the relay transfer mechanism of the present application.

[0155] The first conveyer mechanism 67 and the second conveyer mechanism 68 constitute a substrate conveyer mechanism that conveys the substrate W from the water posture conversion section 55 to the carry-out position OP by cooperation. Therefore, the substrate conveyer mechanism is constituted by a plurality of conveyer mechanisms. The side wall of the second housing 2A constituting the single wafer processing apparatus 2 is positioned at a position where the first conveyer mechanism 67 and the second conveyer mechanism 68 face each other. Therefore, if a plate-shaped member is provided between the first conveyer mechanism 67 and the second conveyer mechanism 68, the single wafer processing apparatus 2 can be set to a state of being separated from the batch processing apparatus 1. Such apparatus separation is realized by the second gate S2 provided between the first conveyer mechanism 67 and the second conveyer mechanism 68. If the single wafer processing apparatus 2 is set to a structure of being separated from the batch processing apparatus 1, it is advantageous in that the substrate processing can be completed by the single wafer processing apparatus 2 alone without passing through the batch processing apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the structure is based on that the substrate W processed in batch is conveyed to the single wafer processing apparatus 2 by the batch processing apparatus 1 and processed there, and therefore, the following description is made with the second gate S2 being set to an open state.

[0156] Further, the relay apparatus 6 has a plurality of nozzles 69 arranged along the first conveyer mechanism 67. The nozzle 69 is a structure that sprays pure water of the same degree of purity as the pure water held in the immersion tank 73 toward the substrate being conveyed. The side wall 62a, the bottom plate 62b, and the top plate 62c constituting the relay housing 6A are a structure that enclose the first conveyer mechanism 67 provided at a position bridging the batch processing apparatus 1 and the single wafer processing apparatus 2. The nozzle 69 is connected to a pure water supply device that supplies pure water via a pipe. The pure water supply device can be located outside the relay apparatus 6 or inside the relay apparatus 6. The nozzle 69 corresponds to the liquid supply portion of the present application.

[0157] <6.5. Operation of the relay apparatus>

[0158] The case where the relay apparatus 6 conveys the substrate W located at the carry-in position IP to the carry-out position OP will be described. Figure 12 (a) of FIG. 6-4 shows the case where the lifter LF 65 holds a plurality of substrates W at the carry-in position IP set above the substrate standby tank 65. The second substrate conveyer mechanism WTR performs substrate conveyance up to the carry-in position IP. The plurality of substrates W placed on the lifter LF 65 are arranged in a face-to-face manner in which the substrate W with the device face facing the right and the substrate W with the device face facing the left are alternately arranged.

[0159] Figure 2 (b) of FIG. 6-4 shows the case where the lifter LF 65 is lowered from the carry-in position IP to the immersion position thereafter. Thereby, the relay apparatus 6 can prevent the substrate waiting for conveyance from drying during the period when the substrate W taken at the carry-in position IP is conveyed one by one.

[0160] Figure 5 (a) indicates a case where, after the above, the plurality of substrates W are delivered from the lifter LF65 to the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR in order to transfer the plurality of substrates to the in-water posture conversion section 55. The lifter LF65 in this case supports the plurality of substrates W at the in-feed position IP, and the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR moves the pair of chucks 30 to a position where the batch can be held, and the chucks 30 are in the closed state. At this time, as described above, the chucks 30 can hold only half of the plurality of substrates W arranged at the half-pitch which constitute the batch. As a result, the batch becomes a state in which the substrates W held by the chucks 30 and the substrates W not held by the chucks 30 are arranged alternately.

[0161] Figure 5 (b) indicates a case where, after the above, the lifter LF65 is lowered from the in-feed position IP to the immersion position. When the lifter LF65 is lowered from the state of (a), the plurality of substrates W arranged at the full-pitch corresponding to half of the substrates W which constitute the batch remain in the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR, and the remaining half of the substrates are returned to the substrate standby groove 65 in the lifter LF65 in the state of being arranged at the full-pitch. Figure 6 When the lifter LF65 is lowered from the state of (a), the plurality of substrates W arranged at the full-pitch corresponding to half of the substrates W which constitute the batch remain in the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR, and the remaining half of the substrates are returned to the substrate standby groove 65 in the lifter LF65 in the state of being arranged at the full-pitch. The device faces of the plurality of substrates W remaining in the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR face the right, and the device faces of the plurality of substrates W held by the lifter LF65 at the immersion position face the left.

[0162] Figure 6 (a) indicates a case where, after the above, the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR is moved from the in-feed position IP to the in-water posture conversion section 55 located on the more downstream side of the substrate transfer. In this state, when the pusher rod 55A provided in the in-water posture conversion section 55 is raised, as described above, the plurality of substrates W arranged at the full-pitch are held by the pusher rod 55A. Figure 6 As shown in (a), the pusher rod 55A is located above the immersion groove 73 in the in-water posture conversion section 55. Also, the pusher rod 55A can collect the plurality of substrates W arranged at the full-pitch from the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR on the spot. The raising and lowering operation of the pusher rod 55A is realized by a pusher mechanism.

[0163] Figure 7 (b) indicates a case where, after the above, the pair of chucks 30 in the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR are in the open state, and are separated from the pusher rod 55A. The pusher rod 55A in this figure is returned to the bottom surface of the immersion groove 73. Even so, the plurality of substrates W held by the pusher rod 55A do not reach the bottom surface of the immersion groove 73. This is because the in-groove carrier 71 is standing by inside the immersion groove 73. The in-groove carrier 71 can hold the plurality of substrates W arranged at the full-pitch interval. Therefore, when the pusher rod 55A located in the air is lowered, the plurality of substrates W held by the pusher rod 55A are delivered to the in-groove carrier 71 located above the bottom surface of the immersion groove 73. The in-groove carrier 71 is located at a determined immersion position in the immersion groove 73 where the plurality of substrates can be immersed in the liquid.

[0164] The in-tank carrier 71 is capable of left-rotation in a state of holding a plurality of substrates W. The rotation axis at this time extends in the X direction, and the rotation angle is 90°. The rotation of the in-tank carrier 71 is realized by the in-tank carrier left-rotation mechanism 57A. The plurality of substrates W is rotated under the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73. Therefore, even in the rotation, the plurality of substrates W maintains the state of being immersed in the immersion tank 73.

[0165] Figure 7 (c) of FIG. 8 indicates a state in which the left-rotation of the in-tank carrier 71 is completed. When the in-tank carrier 71 is left-rotated by 90°, the plurality of substrates W held by the in-tank carrier 71 is also left-rotated by 90°. Thus, as indicated in (c) of FIG. 8, the plurality of substrates W held by the in-tank carrier 71 is changed in posture from the vertical posture to the horizontal posture. Further, the plurality of substrates W whose device faces are oriented to the right is changed in posture so that the device faces are oriented to the upper direction. Figure 7

[0166] The left-rotated in-tank carrier 71 is capable of lifting movement in a state of holding the plurality of substrates W. The lifting movement of the in-tank carrier 71 is realized by the in-tank carrier lifting mechanism 57B. When the in-tank carrier 71 is lifted from the immersion position of the immersion tank 73, the plurality of substrates W in the horizontal posture which are stacked in the vertical direction are lifted. The present embodiment is a structure in which the substrates in the horizontal posture are carried one by one to the single piece processing device 2, and therefore the in-tank carrier lifting mechanism 57B moves the one substrate W located at the upper end of the in-tank carrier 71 to the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73 in order to realize this action. From the structure in which the in-tank carrier 71 holds the 25 substrates W arranged at full pitch, the remaining 24 substrates W held by the in-tank carrier 71 are all located under the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73. Thus, the relay device 6 can prevent the substrate waiting for the carrying from drying during the carrying of the substrates W held by the in-tank carrier 71 one by one.

[0167] Figure 7 (d) of FIG. 8 indicates a state in which the lifting action of the in-tank carrier 71 is completed. The in-tank carrier displacement mechanism 57C moves the in-tank carrier 71 in the Y direction in a state in which the substrate W at the uppermost position among the plurality of substrates W held is located on the liquid surface of the immersion tank 73. In this way, the in-tank carrier 71 approaches the right end of the immersion tank 73, and it is easy to carry the substrate W at the uppermost position into the first conveyer mechanism 67 described later.

[0168] Figure 7 (a) of FIG. 9 indicates a state in which the displacement action of the in-tank carrier 71 is completed. The substrate displacement mechanism 57D is capable of advancing and retreating in the Y direction, and has a plurality of tabs capable of holding the substrate W at the front end. The substrate displacement mechanism 57D is located at a position leftward of the left end of the immersion tank 73 in the initial state so as not to interfere with the push rod 55A located on the bottom surface of the immersion tank 73. As indicated in (b) of FIG. 9, the substrate displacement mechanism 57D is capable of moving the front end to the right end of the immersion tank 73. Figure 7 ​When the in-tank carrier 71 is positioned at the right end of the immersion tank 73, the substrate displacement mechanism 57D extends from the initial position to the right, and holds the substrate W held by the in-tank carrier 71 at the uppermost position in the air. The substrate displacement mechanism 57D further extends to the right from this state, and feeds out the substrate W to the first conveyer mechanism 67. The substrate displacement mechanism 57D ends the holding of the substrate W, and returns to the initial position. Thus, the substrate W held by the substrate displacement mechanism 57D is placed on the first conveyer mechanism 67. The operation of the substrate displacement mechanism 57D is realized by the substrate displacement mechanism control section 57E. The substrate displacement mechanism corresponds to the single-wafer substrate displacement mechanism of the present application.

[0169] The first conveyer mechanism 67 extends from the immersion tank 73 to the second conveyer mechanism 68 in the Y direction, and can convey the substrate W in the horizontal posture in the Y direction from the left to the right. The first conveyer mechanism 67 has a plurality of rollers 67A extending in the X direction, and a belt 67B supported by the rollers 67A. The belt 67B is guided by the roller 67A at the foremost end on the right side through the upper layer of the roller set, and can be wound around the lower layer of the roller set. The belt 67B that has passed through the lower layer of the roller set is guided by the roller 67A at the foremost end on the left side this time, and can be wound around the upper layer of the roller set again.

[0170] Figure 8 (b) of FIG. 6 shows a state in which the substrate W in the horizontal posture is fed by the first conveyer mechanism 67 to the foremost end of the first conveyer mechanism 67. The first conveyer mechanism 67 has two belts 67B that support one end of the substrate W and the other end of the substrate W. The substrate W is conveyed to the right by the two belts that move in the same direction at the same speed, and is further conveyed to the right by the second conveyer mechanism 68 this time. The conveyance of the substrate W is performed by rotating the rollers 67A by the first motor 67C. The first motor 67C drives at least one of the rollers 67A that constitute the first conveyer mechanism 67, and causes the belt 67B to operate. The substrate processing system of the present example can be configured to have one first motor 67C that drives one or a plurality of rollers 67A, or can be configured to have a plurality of first motors 67C that individually drive a plurality of rollers 67A.

[0171] The second conveyor belt mechanism 68 has a structure substantially the same as the first conveyor belt mechanism 67. That is, the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 extends along the Y direction from the right end of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 to the take-out position OP defined within the single-chip processing device 2, and is capable of conveying the horizontally oriented substrate W from left to right along the Y direction. The second conveyor belt mechanism 68 has the same characteristics as the first conveyor belt mechanism 67: multiple rollers 68A extending along the X direction, two belts 68B supporting both ends of the substrate W, the movement of the belts 68B relative to the roller group, and the two belts moving at the same speed in the same direction. The substrate W transport performed by the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 is the same as that performed by the first motor 67C of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67, driven by one or more second motors 68C driving one or more rollers 67A.

[0172] The lifting pins 70 located at the take-out position OP defined in the relay device 6 will be described. At the take-out position OP of the relay device 6, multiple lifting pins 70 are located in the gap between the two belts of the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. These three lifting pins 70 are pins extending in the Z direction and can move freely relative to the base plate 62b of the relay device 6. When the lifting pins 70 are in the retracted state, as... Figure 8 As shown in (c1), the front end of the lifting pin 70 is located below the substrate W being transferred by the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. When the lifting pin 70 is in the extended state, as... Figure 8 As shown in (c2), the front end of the lifting pin 70 supports the substrate W, which is being transferred by the second conveyor mechanism 68, from its lower surface, and moves the substrate W to the take-out position OP set above the second conveyor mechanism 68. The raising and lowering movements of the lifting pins 70 are synchronized among the multiple lifting pins 70, so the substrate W located at the right end of the second conveyor mechanism 68 rises while maintaining a horizontal posture. This movement of the lifting pins 70 is achieved by the lifting pin lifting mechanism 70A. Based on the necessity of maintaining the horizontal posture of the substrate W, the number of lifting pins 70 is three. In this embodiment, it may also be configured to have four or more lifting pins 70.

[0173] Figure 8 (c2) indicates the situation when the substrate W moves to the take-out position OP via the lifting pins 70. The take-out position OP of the relay device 6 is determined to be above the right end of the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. The substrate W delivered from the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 moves along the Y direction via the second conveyor belt mechanism 68, and then moves along the Z direction via the three lifting pins 70 to reach the take-out position OP.

[0174] When the substrate W is raised to the delivery position OP by the lifting pin 70, the second conveyor mechanism 68 is in a stopped state. That is, the second conveyor mechanism 68 is a structure that transports the substrate W received from the first conveyor mechanism 67 to a predetermined position corresponding to directly below the delivery position OP and then stops, while the lifting pin 70 is a structure that raises the substrate W, which is located at the predetermined position, to the delivery position OP and then stops. By setting it in this way, the substrate W can be reliably supported by the lifting pin 70.

[0175] The substrate W sent to the delivery position OP is held by the central robot CR in the monolithic processing device 2 and transported to the monolithic processing chamber. In this way, the substrate W at the delivery position OP does not remain in place for an extended period but is immediately transported to the monolithic processing chamber. When the delivery position OP is empty, it can receive subsequent substrates W. The central robot is equivalent to the monolithic transport mechanism of this invention.

[0176] The above explains how the first substrate W in the batch of substrates W is transported by the relay device 6. That is, in accordance with... Figure 8 (a) to Figure 8 At the time points when the substrates W are sequentially transported (c2), the 25 substrates W in the substrate standby tank 65, which are in a vertical position, are immersed in pure water, and the 24 substrates W in the immersion tank 73 of the underwater posture conversion unit 55, which are in a horizontal position, are immersed in pure water. The method for transporting the remaining 49 substrates W will be described below.

[0177] The transport of the remaining substrate W can be basically achieved by combining the above-described substrate W transport methods. That is, as follows: Figure 5 As shown in (a), the 24 substrates W remaining in the immersion tank 73 of the posture conversion section 55 in water, now in a horizontal position, are transferred one by one to the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 by the substrate displacement mechanism 57D. The substrate W located at the top among the horizontally positioned substrates W arranged on the carrier 71 within the tank is the substrate W to be transferred by the substrate displacement mechanism 57D. This embodiment is a structure in which the carrier 71 is gradually extracted from the immersion tank 73 while the substrate W is transferred to the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 via the substrate displacement mechanism 57D. Therefore, the transfer of the remaining 24 substrates can be completed while only the substrate W to be transferred remains on the liquid surface and the other substrates W are immersed in pure water.

[0178] Next, the method for transporting the 25 remaining substrates in the substrate standby slot 65 will be described. These remaining substrates W are also transported to the underwater attitude conversion unit 55 by the aforementioned full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR. Figure 8 Figure (b) shows the situation where the elevator LF65 is raised to the loading position IP in order to deliver 25 substrates W to the full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR. This figure corresponds to the above.Figure 9 (a) of FIG. 1. In Figure 9 (b) of FIG. 1, the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR is shifted rightward by half a pitch from Figure 6 (a) of FIG. 1. Thus, the position of the shallow slot provided in the chuck 30 coincides with the position of the 25 substrates W remaining in the elevator LF65, and the 25 substrates W are held by the pair of chucks 30. In order to hold the 25 substrates W that are not held in (a) of FIG. 1 by the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR, it is necessary to take measures to shift the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR by half a pitch. The elevator LF65 retreats to the dipping position of the substrate standby slot 65 (see (c) of FIG. 1) after delivering the substrates to the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR. Figure 9 (a) of FIG. 1. The substrate standby slot corresponds to the standby slot of the present application. Figure 6

[0179] Figure 6 (a) of FIG. 1 shows the state after the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR moves to the underwater posture conversion section 55. If the push rod 55A provided in the underwater posture conversion section 55 is raised in this state, the push rod 55A can pick up the plurality of substrates W arranged in a full pitch from the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR at once as shown in (a) of FIG. 1. Figure 9 (a) of FIG. 1 shows the state after the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR moves to the underwater posture conversion section 55. If the push rod 55A provided in the underwater posture conversion section 55 is raised in this state, the push rod 55A can pick up the plurality of substrates W arranged in a full pitch from the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR at once as shown in (a) of FIG. 1.

[0180] Figure 10 (b) of FIG. 1 shows the state after the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR moves away from the push rod 55A. As shown in (b) of FIG. 1, the push rod 55A at this time is rotated 180° about the support post that supports the push rod 55A. In contrast to the push rod 55A before the rotation that arranges the plurality of substrates W in a state in which the device faces leftward, the push rod 55A after the rotation arranges the plurality of substrates W in a state in which the device faces rightward (see (c) of FIG. 1). Figure 10 (b) of FIG. 1 shows the state after the full-pitch arrangement substrate transfer mechanism STR moves away from the push rod 55A. As shown in (b) of FIG. 1, the push rod 55A at this time is rotated 180° about the support post that supports the push rod 55A. In contrast to the push rod 55A before the rotation that arranges the plurality of substrates W in a state in which the device faces leftward, the push rod 55A after the rotation arranges the plurality of substrates W in a state in which the device faces rightward (see (c) of FIG. 1). Figure 10 (c) of FIG. 1 is the same as (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Thus, (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above.

[0181] (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Figure 10 (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Figure 10 (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Figure 10 (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Figure 7 (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. Figure 10 (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above. (c) of FIG. 1 shows the plurality of substrates W are transferred from the dipping slot 73 to the first conveyor mechanism 67 one by one in the same manner as in (a) to (a) of FIG. 1 described above.

[0182] Thus, the substrate processing system of this embodiment is configured such that, relative to a batch of substrates W arranged face-to-face, the push rod 55A is rotated appropriately so that the device faces of all substrates W being moved to the move-out position OP are facing upwards. Specifically, by rotating the substrates W with their device faces facing left by 180°, the device faces are turned to the right. The multiple substrates W with their device faces facing right are rotated 90° to the left, so that they are in a horizontal position with their device faces upwards.

[0183] <6.6. Relay Device: Gate>

[0184] Next, the first gate S1, the second gate S2, and the third gate S3 installed in the relay device 6 will be described. The first gate S1 and the second gate S2 are structures that are orthogonal to the Y direction and block the substrate transport path of the relay device 6 when closed. The third gate S3 is a structure that blocks the distance between the transport position OP and the reference position SP of the central robot CR, which will be described later.

[0185] like Figure 7 As shown in (a), the first gate S1 is located on the loading position IP side of the relay device 6, and by being in the closed state, it divides the relay device 6 into a section equipped with the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 and a section equipped with the underwater attitude conversion unit 55 located upstream of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67. When the first gate S1 is in the closed state, as... Figure 9 As indicated by the arrow in (a), the flow of gas medium is blocked between the zones. Therefore, when the first gate S1 is closed, it is impossible to transport the substrate W across the first gate S1.

[0186] like Figure 11 As shown in (b), the second gate S2 is disposed between the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 and the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 in the relay device 6. The second gate S2 is located in the Y direction at the same position as the fourth wall surface 2B opposite the batch processing device 1, within the partition wall of the second housing 2A constituting the single-chip processing device 2. Therefore, when the second gate S2 is closed, the rectangular opening in the fourth wall surface 2B provided for the embedding of the relay device 6 is closed by the second gate S2. With the second gate S2 closed, the relay device 6 is divided into a section where the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 is disposed and a section where the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 is disposed. When the second gate S2 is closed, as... Figure 11 As indicated by the arrow in (b), the flow of gas medium is blocked between the zones. Therefore, when the second gate S2 is closed, it is impossible to transport the substrate W across the second gate S2.

[0187] like Figure 11As shown in (c), the third gate S3 is a movable plate-shaped structure that intersects the conveying direction (Y direction) of the substrate W in the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. When the third gate S3 is closed, the relay device 6 and the single-chip processing device 2 are separated. When the third gate S3 is closed, as... Figure 11 As indicated by arrow (c), the flow of gas medium is blocked between relay device 6 and single-chip processing device 2. Therefore, when the third gate S3 is closed, it is impossible to transport the substrate W across the third gate S3.

[0188] These first gates S1, second gate S2, and third gate S3 are open only when the substrate W is being transported. Therefore, for example, as in... Figure 11 As described in the description of substrate W transport, each gate is closed until substrate W reaches the carrier 71 in the tank. Alternatively, if the operation of each gate is fast enough relative to substrate transport, the gates can be configured to open and close each time a substrate W is transported. Furthermore, each gate remains closed when the substrate processing system is operated without the relay device 6. The operation methods of this substrate processing system include batch mode and single-wafer mode, as described later.

[0189] <7. Single-chip processing device: Indexing block>

[0190] like Figure 11 As shown, the indexing block 4 has a second loading port 10 for holding a carrier C, which holds multiple substrates W horizontally spaced at specific intervals along the vertical direction. Therefore, the second loading port 10 is a stage for the carrier C. Additionally, sometimes the carrier C for holding multiple substrates W that have undergone single-piece substrate processing is also placed at the second loading port 10. In this embodiment, the single-piece processing apparatus 2 is configured to receive batch-processed substrates W from the relay device 6 without passing through the second loading port 10; therefore, the second loading port 10 holds an empty carrier C for holding both batch-processed and single-piece processed substrates W. Thus, the second loading port 10 serves as an outlet for substrates W in the single-piece processing apparatus 2. Sometimes the carrier C for holding unprocessed substrates W is also placed at the second loading port 10, but this is the case where the second loading port 10 is used as an inlet for substrates W. This loading method relates to the single-piece mode described later. The second loading port 10 is a structure protruding from the outer wall of the indexing block 4, which extends along the width direction (Y direction). The second loading port corresponds to the second carrier mounting shelf of the present invention.

[0191] The internal structure of the indexing block 4 will be described. The indexing block 4 includes an indexing robot IR, which transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one between the carrier C and the monolithic processing block 8 (described later) along a path 24 located on the side of the indexing block 4. The indexing robot IR has a robotic arm at its front end, consisting of a pair of gripping bodies that hold the horizontally oriented substrates W, and an arm supporting the robotic arm. The arm has multiple joints, with its front end connected to the robotic arm and its base connected to a base provided on the arm in the indexing block 4. In this embodiment, the indexing robot IR is configured to receive the monolithically processed substrates W from the path 24 and store them in a second loading port 10 outside the indexing block 4.

[0192] <8. Single-chip processing unit: Single-chip processing block>

[0193] Viewed from the second loading port 10, the monolithic processing block 8 is located inside the indexing block 4. At the center of the monolithic processing block 8 in the Y direction, there is a path 24 accessible to the indexing robot IR, and a central robot CR capable of loading the monolithically processed substrate W onto the path 24. A monolithic transport area R3 extending in the X direction is provided in the monolithic processing block 8, allowing the central robot CR to reciprocate between the path 24 and a reference position SP of the central robot CR set at a position away from the path 24 in the X direction. The central robot CR can move forward and backward in the X direction within the monolithic transport area R3.

[0194] The single-wafer processing block 8 has single-wafer processing chambers 48a, 48b, and 48c capable of drying batch-processed substrates W. Each single-wafer processing chamber is located in a single-wafer processing area R4, which is configured to sandwich a single-wafer transport area R3 in the Y direction. Single-wafer processing chambers 48a and 48b are located to the right of the single-wafer transport area R3 in the single-wafer processing area R4, while single-wafer processing chamber 48c is located to the left of the single-wafer transport area R3 in the single-wafer processing area R4.

[0195] A reference position SP for the central robot CR is set in the single-chip transfer area R3. The reference position SP is located away from path 24 in the X direction. When the central robot CR is at the reference position SP, it can access the single-chip processing chambers 48a, 48b, and 48c, as well as the transfer position OP of the relay device 6. Based on the reference position SP, the single-chip processing chamber 48a is set at the right front, the single-chip processing chamber 48b at the right rear, the single-chip processing chamber 48c at the left rear, and the transfer position OP of the relay device 6 is set at the left front.

[0196] Each of the single-chip processing chambers has an opposing surface that crosses the movement path of the substrate W connecting each of the single-chip processing chambers and the reference position SP, so that the central robot CR can easily access it from the reference position SP. A gate is provided on each opposing surface, and by setting the gate to the open state, an opening is formed on the opposing surface for delivering the substrate W from the central robot CR located at the reference position SP to each of the single-chip processing chambers. Additionally, a third gate S3 is also provided in the relay device 6, which crosses the movement path of the substrate W connecting the delivery position OP and the reference position SP. By setting the gate S3 to the open state, an opening is formed for the central robot CR located at the reference position SP to receive the substrate W from the delivery position OP.

[0197] Figure 5 to 7 This is a view of the single-chip processing block 8 as seen from the batch processing unit 1. As shown in the figure, the single-chip processing chambers are stacked in the Z direction to form a laminate. For example, a single-chip processing chamber 49c is arranged above a single-chip processing chamber 48c, and a single-chip processing chamber 47c is arranged below a single-chip processing chamber 48c. Similarly, another single-chip processing chamber is arranged above a single-chip processing chamber 48a, and other single-chip processing chambers are arranged below a single-chip processing chamber 48a. Another single-chip processing chamber is also arranged above a single-chip processing chamber 48b, and other single-chip processing chambers are also arranged below a single-chip processing chamber 48a.

[0198] Figure 1 The relay device 6 is also positioned to be held between the upper and lower parts of the single-chip processing chamber. Specifically, the single-chip processing chamber 49d is located on the upper side of the relay device 6, and the single-chip processing chamber 47d is located on the lower side of the relay device 6.

[0199] Thus, the single-chip processing block 8 of this embodiment has: a first stack, which is formed by arranging three single-chip processing chambers belonging to single-chip processing chamber 48a in the Z direction; a second stack, which is formed by arranging three single-chip processing chambers belonging to single-chip processing chamber 48b in the Z direction; and a third stack, 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 block 8 of this embodiment has two single-chip processing chambers positioned to sandwich the relay device 6 from the Z direction. Therefore, the single-chip processing block 8 has nine single-chip processing chambers constituting the stack and two single-chip processing chambers positioned above and below the relay device 6, for a total of eleven single-chip processing chambers.

[0200] like Figure 12As shown, the shielding plate 16 is part of the second wall of the monolithic processing device 2, located in a position surrounded by the relay device 6, the monolithic processing chambers 47d and 49d located above and below the relay device 6, and the indexing block 4. The shielding plate 16 is configured to block a rectangular opening that cannot be closed by the relay device 6, which is shorter in the X direction than the monolithic processing chambers 47d and 49d. If the shielding plate 16 is positioned on the side of the indexing block 4, the relay device 6 can be positioned on the reference position SP side of the central robot CR. Therefore, the substrate W received from the delivery position OP can be delivered to the monolithic processing chamber without moving the central robot CR in the X direction.

[0201] Furthermore, the central robot CR, equipped with a robotic arm that holds the horizontally positioned substrate W, can move along the Z-direction while maintaining the orientation of the substrate W. By configuring the central robot CR in this way, the substrate W received from the delivery position OP can be delivered 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 monolithic processing chamber's stack, the delivery position OP becomes the middle position of the monolithic processing block 8 in the Z-direction. With this configuration, the delivery position OP is a nearby position relative to either the upper or lower monolithic processing chambers. Therefore, during substrate transport, the central robot CR does not need to move a long distance in the Z-direction to quickly transport the substrate W from the delivery position OP to the monolithic processing chamber.

[0202] The central robot CR has: a first robotic arm 32a, which is used to hold the substrate W before drying; and a second robotic arm 32b, which is a structure for holding the substrate after drying, and is positioned above the first robotic arm 32a.

[0203] The structure of the single-wafer processing chamber is described. The single-wafer processing chamber is capable of performing substrate drying processing using a rotary drying method. The internal structure of the single-wafer processing chamber is described below. Figure 12 The single-wafer processing chamber 48a will be described in this embodiment. Other single-wafer processing chambers have the same structure. Inside the single-wafer processing chamber, there is a rotary chuck 8a that rotates while the substrate W is held in place. By rotating the substrate, which is mounted on the rotary chuck 8a before drying, the liquid adhering to the substrate W is dispersed and removed from the substrate W due to centrifugal force. In addition to substrate drying, the single-wafer processing chamber of this embodiment also has a liquid nozzle 8b for supplying liquid to the substrate W. The liquid nozzle 8b can rotate between a standby position away from the rotary chuck 8a and a supply position located above the rotary chuck 8a. The single-wafer processing device 2 in the substrate processing system of this embodiment is configured to function as a substrate drying device. The liquid nozzle 8b relates to a variation described later.

[0204] <9. Control Department>

[0205] 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-wafer processing device 2, and a third control unit 136 related to the control of the relay device 6. For details regarding each control unit, please refer to... Figure 12 In addition, although in Figure 1 Although not shown in the diagram, the substrate processing system includes storage units corresponding to each control unit. Control units 131, 132, and 136 are, for example, composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The specific structure of each control unit is not limited; for example, each control unit may be composed of a single processor or individual processors. Alternatively, multiple processors may be used to control the batch processing device 1, as is the case in the single-chip processing device 2 and the relay device 6.

[0206] 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 to BPU6, and the batch drying chamber DC. Controls related to the control unit 132 include, for example, controls related to the central robot CR, each single-wafer processing chamber, and the indexing 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 substrate waiting slot 65, the lifter LF65, the underwater posture conversion unit 55 (second posture conversion mechanism), the substrate displacement mechanism 57D, the first conveyor belt mechanism 67, the second conveyor belt mechanism 68, the pure water supply device, and the lifting pin 70.

[0207] The storage unit stores programs, parameters, and other data related to control. The storage unit can be a single device or composed of individual devices corresponding to each control unit. Furthermore, the substrate processing system of this embodiment does not impose any particular limitation on the structure of the devices implementing the storage unit.

[0208] <10. Blending Mode>

[0209] The following is for reference Figure 1 The flowchart illustrates the substrate processing flow in the hybrid mode. This substrate processing involves first batch processing of substrate W, followed by single-wafer processing. In this embodiment, substrate W is configured to be sequentially transported to a first loading port 9, a storage block 3, a transfer block 5, a batch processing block 7, a relay device 6, a single-wafer processing area R4, an indexing block 4, and a second loading port 10. During this process, batch processing and single-wafer processing are completed (see reference). Figure 1 , Figure 13 ).

[0210] Step S11: The carrier C, which holds unprocessed substrates W arranged in a horizontal position along the height direction, is placed in the first loading port 9 of the batch processing apparatus 1. Then, the carrier C is taken into the storage block 3 and placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a. Before being placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a, the carrier C can also be moved via a storage shelf 13b. The movement of the carrier C at this time is performed by the carrier conveying mechanism 11. The first substrate conveying mechanism HTR removes multiple substrates W in a horizontal position from the carrier C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a and delivers them to the HVC position conversion unit 23. The carrier placement shelf corresponds to the first carrier placement shelf of the present invention.

[0211] Step S12: The HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the posture of the received multiple substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture and delivers them to the pusher mechanism 25. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 receives another set of substrates W from the first substrate transport mechanism HTR, originating from a carrier C different from the carrier C that houses the posture-converted multiple substrates W, and converts the posture of the substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. The posture-converted multiple substrates W are also delivered to the pusher mechanism 25. In this way, a batch grouping is performed on substrates W arranged at full spacing, and substrates W on two carriers are arranged at half spacing on the pusher 25A. The batch generated in this way is transported by the pusher mechanism 25 to the substrate handover position PP determined by the transfer block 5.

[0212] Step S13: The second substrate transport mechanism WTR receives the batch waiting at the substrate handover position PP from the push rod mechanism 25 and delivers it to the lifter LF6 waiting above the batch chemical treatment tank CHB6 in the sixth batch processing unit BPU6. At this time, the batch can also be passed through the drying batch support 33 before being placed on the lifter LF6. The batch is delivered to the lifter LF6 for phosphoric acid treatment. Therefore, it is sufficient to deliver the batch to one of the lifters LF2 to LF6 related to phosphoric acid treatment. Hereinafter, the description will assume that the batch is delivered to the lifter LF6.

[0213] Afterwards, the lift 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 the lift LF6 and is delivered to the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The second substrate transport mechanism WTR delivers the batch to the lift LF1, which is waiting above the batch rinsing treatment tank ONB in ​​the first batch processing unit BPU1. Then, the lift LF1 descends to the immersion position to perform batch rinsing treatment. This completes a series of batch processing steps. The batch after batch processing returns to the air via the lift LF1 and is delivered to the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The second transport mechanism is equivalent to the combined transport mechanism of this invention.

[0214] Step S14: The second substrate transport mechanism WTR delivers the batch processed in batches to the lift LF65, which is waiting at the transport-in position IP. Then, the lift LF65 descends to the immersion position of the substrate waiting tank 65, allowing the batch to wait in pure water. When transporting multiple substrates W from the substrate waiting tank 65 to the immersion tank 73 of the underwater posture conversion unit 55, the lift LF65 first moves the batch from the immersion position to the transport-in position IP. The full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR receives the vertically aligned substrate column from the lift LF65 at the transport-in position IP and transports it in the Y direction (rightward). As described above, the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR cannot transport all 50 substrates W constituting the batch at once; therefore, two transport operations are required to transport all the substrates W constituting the batch to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The second transport operation of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR is performed after all the substrates W transported in the first transport operation have been removed from the immersion tank 73. The underwater posture conversion unit corresponds to the second posture conversion mechanism of the present invention.

[0215] The push rod 55A, located at the bottom of the immersion tank 73 in the underwater posture conversion section 55, rises to receive the substrate array from the fully spaced substrate transport mechanism STR, which is waiting above the immersion tank 73. Then, the push rod 55A descends to deliver the substrate array to the carrier 71 inside the tank.

[0216] Figure 14 The illustration shows the case where multiple substrates W are transported together in steps S11 to S14 above.

[0217] Step S15: The carrier 71 in the slot of the substrate column is rotated to the left, and the posture of the substrate W, which is in a vertical posture, is also converted to a horizontal posture.

[0218] Step S16: The substrate displacement mechanism 57D holds the substrates W held by the carrier 71 in the tank one by one and delivers them to the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 located to the right of the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The first conveyor belt mechanism 67 receives the horizontally positioned substrates W one by one and transports them to the right of the relay device 6. There is no particular limitation on the way the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 receives the substrates W. The first conveyor belt mechanism 67 is elongated, so it can also receive subsequent substrates W from the underwater posture conversion unit 55 before transporting one substrate W. If the transport speed of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 is increased, it can also be configured not to receive subsequent substrates W before transporting one substrate W. The substrates W transported to the right end of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 are now received from the left end of the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 and transported into the single-chip processing device 2. The second conveyor belt mechanism 68 is also elongated like the first conveyor belt mechanism, so the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 can also carry and transport multiple horizontally positioned substrates W at once.

[0219] Thus, the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 and the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 form a structure that transports multiple substrates W at once, but in a sense that they do not transport stacked substrates W, they transport the horizontally oriented substrates W one by one. This is because the Y-direction position of each substrate W transported by the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 and the second conveyor belt mechanism 68 is different.

[0220] The second conveyor belt mechanism 68 transports the substrate W to a position directly below the removal position OP of the relay device 6. Three lifting pins 70 raise the substrate W transported by the second conveyor belt mechanism 68, thereby moving the substrate W to the removal position OP.

[0221] The central robot CR, located at the reference position SP in the single-wafer transport area R3, receives the substrate W from the transport position OP of the relay device 6 and transports it to one of the single-wafer processing chambers (e.g., single-wafer processing chamber 48c) located in the single-wafer processing area R4. At this time, the central robot CR receives the substrate W before drying by a robotic arm used for transporting substrates before drying.

[0222] Step S17: The substrate W received by the single-wafer processing chamber 48c is subjected to single-wafer substrate processing on the spot. Specifically, the single-wafer substrate processing is a rotary drying substrate drying process.

[0223] Step S18: The processed substrate W is received by the robotic arm of the central robot CR for transporting the dried substrate and is transported from the single-wafer processing chamber 48c to path 24. The indexing robot IR receives the processed substrate W from path 24 and delivers it to the carrier C placed in the second loading port 10. Thus, the transport of substrate W is completed.

[0224] Figure 15 The illustration shows the process of transferring horizontally oriented substrates W one by one in steps S15 to S18 above.

[0225] The steps are sometimes performed simultaneously, therefore this will be explained. During the drying process of substrate W in step S17, the horizontal substrate transport described in step S16 also continues. Therefore, steps S16 and S17 are sometimes performed simultaneously. The substrate transport in step S16 is repeated until all 11 single-wafer processing chambers of the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 are in use. Furthermore, when one of the single-wafer processing chambers in use becomes empty, step S16 is performed again. By performing single-wafer substrate processing in parallel in this way, the throughput of the substrate processing system can be improved.

[0226] In step S15, after all the substrates W in a horizontal orientation have been transferred from the relay device 6 to the single-chip processing device 2, the underwater orientation conversion unit 55 can receive a new substrate column. At this point, the fully spaced substrate transport mechanism STR receives the substrate column waiting in the substrate waiting slot 65 from the elevator LF65 and delivers it to the underwater orientation conversion unit 55. Thus, according to this embodiment, step S15 needs to be performed twice to transport one batch. Therefore, step S15 is sometimes executed simultaneously with steps S16 and S17.

[0227] If steps S15, S16, and S17 are repeated appropriately, the substrate drying process in a single-wafer processing chamber can be completed while simultaneously releasing the batch group. The substrate processing in this embodiment ends when all substrates W constituting the batch are returned to the carrier C placed in the second loading port.

[0228] Furthermore, the substrate processing in this embodiment is a structure that processes two carriers C at a time. That is, each of the first carrier C placed in the first loading port 9 of the batch processing device 1 and the substrate W stored in the second carrier C 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.

[0229] In step S15, all substrates W undergoing posture conversion originate from the first carrier C. Therefore, the relay device 6 only transports the substrates W housed in the first carrier C to the monolithic processing device 2. The indexing robot IR then houses all the substrates W transported in this way from the first carrier C into the third carrier C.

[0230] When all the substrates W of the first carrier C are transferred from the underwater posture conversion unit 55, step S15 is executed again. In this case, all the substrates W undergoing posture conversion originate from the second carrier C. Therefore, the relay device 6 only transfers the substrates W stored in the second carrier C to the single-chip processing device 2 this time. The indexing robot IR stores all the substrates W of the second carrier C thus transferred in the fourth carrier C.

[0231] In this way, the substrate W housed in the first carrier C and the substrate W housed in the second carrier C are installed into the respective third carrier C and fourth carrier C without mixing.

[0232] <11. Batch Mode>

[0233] The aforementioned substrate processing involves a hybrid mode of continuous batch processing and single-wafer processing. In addition to the hybrid mode, the substrate processing system of this embodiment can also operate in a batch mode in which only the batch processing device 1 completes the substrate processing and in a single-wafer mode in which only the single-wafer processing device 2 completes the substrate processing.

[0234] The following is for reference Figure 14The flowchart in (a) illustrates the substrate processing flow in batch mode. Regarding this substrate processing, the substrate W is sequentially moved to the first loading port 9, storage block 3, transfer block 5, batch processing block 7, transfer block 5, storage block 3, and the first loading port 9, during which batch processing is completed (see [reference]). Figure 15 ).

[0235] Step S31: The carrier C of the unprocessed substrates W, arranged along the height direction and stored in a horizontal position, is placed in the first loading port 9 of the batch processing device 1. Multiple substrates W are delivered together to the HVC posture conversion unit 23. The process of substrate W at this time is the same as step S11 described above.

[0236] Step S32: The HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the posture of the received multiple substrates W from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture and delivers them to the pusher mechanism 25. The HVC posture conversion unit 23 performs batch assembly, arranging the substrates W on two carriers at the pusher 25A. The pusher 25A moves the batch to the substrate transfer position PP. The process for the substrates W at this time is the same as in step S12 above.

[0237] Step S33: The second substrate transport mechanism WTR receives the batch waiting at the substrate handover position PP from the pusher mechanism 25 and delivers it to the lift LF6 waiting above the batch chemical treatment tank CHB6. The batch is immersed in the batch chemical treatment tank CHB6 and undergoes phosphoric acid treatment. The batch after phosphoric acid treatment is transported by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR and delivered to the lift LF1 waiting above the batch rinsing treatment tank ONB. The batch is immersed in the batch rinsing treatment tank ONB and undergoes batch rinsing treatment. The batch after batch rinsing treatment is delivered to the second substrate transport mechanism WTR. The process for the substrate W above is the same as step S13 above.

[0238] The difference between this step and step S13 described above is that the drying process of the substrate W is also performed by the batch processing device 1. That is, the second substrate transport mechanism WTR, which receives the batch after the batch rinsing process, moves to the area above the batch drying chamber DC and delivers the batch to the batch drying chamber DC. The batch that has undergone drying in the batch drying chamber DC is received again by the second substrate transport mechanism WTR and transported to the substrate handover position PP of the transfer block 5.

[0239] Step S34: After drying, the batch at the substrate transfer position PP is delivered to the push rod mechanism 25. The push rod mechanism 25 brings the push rod 25A closer to the HVC posture conversion section 23. Thus, the batch becomes... Figure 16 The state of (f). Through interaction with that state... Figure 17 The described batch group action is the opposite of the action itself; while releasing the batch group, the posture of the substrate W, which would otherwise be in a vertical posture, is changed to a horizontal posture. That is, inFigure 4 In (f), half of the batch of substrates W supported by the push rod mechanism 25 is received by the HVC posture conversion unit 23 (see reference). Figure 4 (e)). Then, the HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the posture of the received substrate W from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture (see reference). Figure 4 (d)

[0240] Step S35: The multiple substrates W, which have become horizontal in the HVC posture conversion unit 23, are received by the first substrate transport mechanism HTR and returned to the empty carrier C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a. Afterwards, the carrier C is returned to the first loading port 9 by the carrier transport mechanism 11.

[0241] In the above description, the state is that multiple substrates W arranged at full spacing remain in the push rod mechanism 25. The remaining substrates W are rotated 180° by the push rod mechanism 25 (see reference). Figure 4 (d) is received by the HVC posture conversion unit 23 (see reference). Figure 4 (b) Figure 4 (c)). Then, the HVC posture conversion unit 23 converts the posture of the received substrate W from a vertical posture to a horizontal posture (see reference ). Figure 4 (a)). Then, step S35 is performed again. If the carrier C is returned to the first loading port 9, the substrate processing in batch mode ends.

[0242] Figure 4 The illustration shows the batch processing performed in steps S31 to S35 above.

[0243] Furthermore, during batch processing, the first gate S1 is closed. This structure isolates the gas medium inside the batch processing unit 1 from external gases, thus enabling batch processing in a cleaner environment.

[0244] <12. Single-chip mode>

[0245] Next, refer to Figure 4 The flowchart in (b) describes the substrate processing flow in monolithic mode. Regarding this substrate processing, the substrate W is sequentially moved to the second loading port 10, indexing block 4, monolithic processing block 8, indexing block 4, and second loading port 10, during which monolithic processing is completed (see [reference]). Figure 17 ).

[0246] Step S41: The carrier C, which holds the unprocessed substrates W arranged in a horizontal position along the height direction, is placed in the second loading port 10 of the monolithic processing device 2. The indexing robot IR transports the unprocessed substrates W held in the carrier C one by one to the path 24. The central robot CR has access to the path 24, accepts the substrates W on the spot, and moves to the reference position SP separated in the X direction. In this state, the central robot CR delivers the substrates W to the monolithic processing chamber 48c. The substrates W are delivered to the monolithic processing chamber 48c for monolithic processing. Therefore, the substrates W can also be processed by delivering the substrates W to other monolithic processing chambers in the monolithic processing block 8. Hereinafter, it will be described assuming that the substrates W are delivered to the monolithic processing chamber 48c.

[0247] Step S42: The single-wafer processing chamber 48c performs hydrophobic processing and other chemical treatments, as well as drying, on the received substrate W. During the hydrophobic processing of the substrate W, a chemical solution is supplied from the chemical nozzle 8b located at the supply position while the substrate W, supported by the rotary chuck 8a, is rotated. The chemical solution supplied from the chemical nozzle 8b can be a silane coupling agent that forms a hydrophobic protective film on the substrate surface. The drying process for the substrate W is performed using the aforementioned rotary drying method.

[0248] Step S43: The central robot CR receives the substrate W processed at the reference position SP from the single-wafer processing chamber 48c and moves it along the X direction to path 24. The indexing robot IR receives the substrate W placed on path 24 by the central robot CR and transfers it to the original carrier C (the same carrier C that the substrate W belonged to at the time point before processing). If steps S41 to S43 are repeated as appropriate, single-wafer processing of all substrates W stored in carrier C is completed.

[0249] Figure 16 The illustration shows the case where single-chip processing is performed in steps S41 to S43 above.

[0250] Furthermore, during the execution of single-chip mode, the second gate S2 is in a closed state. By setting it up in this way, the gas medium inside the single-chip processing device 2 is blocked from the external gas, thus enabling single-chip processing in a cleaner environment.

[0251] As described above, according to the present invention, by connecting individual batch processing units 1 and individual single-wafer processing units 2 using a relay device 6, a substrate processing system capable of continuously performing batch processing and single-wafer processing can be constructed. The batch processing involves processing multiple substrates W simultaneously, while the single-wafer processing involves processing substrates W one by one. Specifically, the present invention includes a relay device 6 that defines two positions: a loading position IP and a loading position OP. The loading position IP is used to receive batch-processed substrates W from the batch processing unit 1, and the loading position OP is used to deliver the substrates W received at the loading position IP to the single-wafer processing unit 2. The relay device 6 receives substrates W that have completed batch processing in the existing batch processing unit 1 at the loading position IP and delivers them to the existing single-wafer processing unit 2 via the loading position OP. This allows for a relatively simple construction of a substrate processing system capable of continuously performing batch processing and single-wafer processing based on techniques developed in individual units. Furthermore, it also helps to reduce system design and manufacturing costs.

[0252] [Example 2]

[0253] Next, the substrate processing system of Example 2 will be described. For example... Figure 17 As shown, the substrate processing system of this embodiment is configured such that multiple single-wafer processing devices are connected to a batch processing device 1 via a relay device 6. Specifically, single-wafer processing devices 2a and 2b are positioned to be inserted into the batch processing device 1 from the Y direction, and the relay device 6 is a structure that bridges between single-wafer processing devices 2a and the batch processing device 1, and between single-wafer processing devices 2b and the batch processing device 1. Generally, substrate processing requires more time than batch processing. Therefore, if the substrate processing system is composed of multiple single-wafer processing devices and one batch processing device 1, an apparatus that improves the substrate processing speed can be provided.

[0254] The batch processing device 1 of this embodiment has the same structure as the batch processing device of Embodiment 1. That is, the batch processing device 1 of this embodiment has: a storage block 3 with a first loading port 9 for placing a carrier C protruding out, a transfer block 5 disposed adjacent to the storage block 3, and a batch processing block 7. The single-chip processing devices 2a and 2b of this embodiment have the same structure as the single-chip processing device of Embodiment 1. That is, the single-chip processing device 2a of this embodiment has an indexing block 4 with a second loading port 10 for placing a carrier C protruding out, and a single-chip processing block 8 having multiple single-chip processing chambers. The single-chip processing device 2b has the same structure as the single-chip processing device 2a.

[0255] The relay device 6 is transversely cut across the batch processing device 1 in the Y direction, with one end extending into the interior of the single-chip processing device 2a located to the right of the batch processing device 1, and the other end extending into the interior of the single-chip processing device 2b located to the left of the batch processing device 1. The relay block has the same substrate standby slot 65 and underwater attitude conversion part 55 as in Embodiment 1.

[0256] The relay device 6 in this embodiment includes a relay partial transport mechanism LRa that transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one. The relay partial transport mechanism LRa is located to the right of the underwater posture conversion unit 55 and has access to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The relay partial transport mechanism LRa accesses the in-tank carrier 71 that arranges and holds the horizontally oriented substrates W, and receives the uppermost substrate W among the substrates W held by the in-tank carrier 71 above the immersion tank 73. The relay partial transport mechanism LRa has a robotic arm that holds the substrates W, and the robotic arm can move forward and backward in the Y direction, and can also rotate 90° about a rotation axis extending in the Z direction. Thus, the robotic arm can move towards the in-tank carrier 71 or towards the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 described later.

[0257] The sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 is located behind the relay partial transport mechanism LRa and is designed to transport the substrate W delivered from the relay partial transport mechanism LRa to the right or left. When delivering the substrate W from the relay device 6 to the single-wafer processing device 2a, the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 transports the substrate W to the right. When transporting the substrate W from the relay device 6 to the single-wafer processing device 2b, the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 transports the substrate W to the left. In this way, the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 sorts the substrate W by transporting it in the forward or reverse direction. The sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 has the same structure as the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 in Embodiment 1, and has multiple belts and multiple rollers.

[0258] Figure 17 (a) A specific description is given of the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66. The sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 has three or more... Figure 18 The lifting pin is the same as the lifting pin 70 described in (c2). The lifting pin moves freely in and out of the belt in the sorting conveyor mechanism 66, and can reach a relay position NP set above the sorting conveyor mechanism 66 by extending. The relay partial transport mechanism LRa transports the substrate W received from the carrier 71 in the trough to the relay position NP above the sorting conveyor mechanism 66. At this relay position NP, the lifting pin is in standby mode, and therefore, the substrate W maintains a horizontal posture while supported by the lifting pin. When the lifting pin retracts, the substrate W is delivered to the belt constituting the sorting conveyor mechanism 66.

[0259] Figure 19(b) illustrates the case where the substrate W is moved to the right by the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 moving in the forward direction. To the right of the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 is a first conveyor belt mechanism 67a for moving the substrate W to the single-wafer processing unit 2a. The substrate W, moved to the right by the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66, is further moved to the right by this first conveyor belt mechanism 67a. The operation of this sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 is achieved by a forward / reverse motor 66A that drives the rollers. That is, if the forward / reverse motor 66A rotates the rollers in the forward direction, the belt moves in a rightward flow. The control of this forward / reverse motor 66A is achieved by a forward / reverse motor control unit 66B. The forward / reverse motor control unit 66B is part of the third control unit 136.

[0260] Figure 8 (c) indicates the case where the substrate W is moved to the left by the reverse movement of the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66. To the left of the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 is a first conveyor belt mechanism 67b for moving the substrate W to the single-wafer processing device 2b. The substrate W, moved to the left by the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66, is further moved to the left by this first conveyor belt mechanism 67b. The operation of this sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 is achieved by a forward / reverse motor 66A that drives the rollers. That is, if the forward / reverse motor 66A causes the rollers to rotate in the opposite direction, the belt moves in a leftward flow. The control of this forward / reverse motor 66A is achieved by a forward / reverse motor control unit 66B.

[0261] Furthermore, the substrate processing system of this embodiment has a second conveyor belt mechanism 68a at the right end of the relay device 6 and a second conveyor belt mechanism 68b at the left end of the relay device 6. The second conveyor belt mechanism 68a sets the relay device 6 to a move-out position OP1, and the second conveyor belt mechanism 68b sets the relay device 6 to a move-out position OP2. Therefore, the relay device 6 of this embodiment has multiple move-out positions. The right gate S2a corresponds to the second gate S2 of Embodiment 1 and is a structure that blocks the communication between the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2a. The left gate S2b also corresponds to the second gate S2 of Embodiment 1 and is a structure that blocks the communication between the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2b.

[0262] Furthermore, the pathways of the first conveyor belt mechanism 67b and the second substrate transport mechanism WTR intersect in a three-dimensional manner, and the first conveyor belt mechanism 67b and the second substrate transport mechanism WTR will not interfere with each other.

[0263] Figure 19 The substrate process of this embodiment will be described. Figure 19 The diagram shows the process of transporting horizontally oriented substrates W one by one, omitting the process of transporting substrates together. For example... Figure 20As shown, the substrate W, transported from the underwater attitude conversion unit 55 to the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 via the relay local transport mechanism LRa, is first transported forward and then to the single-wafer processing device 2a. If this transport is repeated, all the multiple substrates W from the source carrier C are transported by the single-wafer processing device 2a and processed on-site. The indexing robot IR collects all the processed substrates W into a single carrier C.

[0264] When the sorting conveyor belt mechanism 66 finishes transporting the substrate W of one carrier C, it transports the subsequent substrates delivered by the relay local transport mechanism LRa in the reverse direction. In this way, the substrates W are transported one by one to the single-wafer processing device 2b. If this transport is repeated, all the multiple substrates W from the source carrier C are transported by the single-wafer processing device 2b and processed on the spot. The indexing robot IR collects all the processed substrates W in a single carrier C.

[0265] According to this embodiment, even when the single-wafer processing device 2a is in the process of substrate processing, it is possible to transfer subsequent substrates W from the batch processing device 1 to the single-wafer processing device 2b after transferring a substrate W of a carrier C. With this configuration, multiple single-wafer processing devices can be used to perform single-wafer substrate processing simultaneously and in parallel, thus providing a substrate processing system with high throughput.

[0266] [Example 3]

[0267] Next, the substrate processing system of Example 3 will be described. For example... Figure 20 As shown, the substrate processing system of this embodiment is configured such that multiple single-wafer processing devices are connected to a batch processing device 1 via a relay device 6. Specifically, the single-wafer processing device 2s and the batch processing device 1 are positioned to be sandwiched between the single-wafer processing device 2t in the Y direction, and the relay device 6 is a structure that bridges between the single-wafer processing device 2t and the batch processing device 1, and between the single-wafer processing device 2s and the single-wafer processing device 2t. Generally, substrate processing requires more time than batch processing. Therefore, if the substrate processing system is composed of multiple single-wafer processing devices and one batch processing device 1, an apparatus that improves the substrate processing speed can be provided.

[0268] The batch processing device 1 of this embodiment has the same structure as the batch processing device of Embodiment 1. That is, the batch processing device 1 of this embodiment has: a storage block 3 with a first loading port 9 for placing a carrier C protruding out, a transfer block 5 disposed adjacent to the storage block 3, and a batch processing block 7. The single-wafer processing device 2s of this embodiment has the same structure as the single-wafer processing device of Embodiment 1. That is, the single-wafer processing device 2s of this embodiment has an indexing block 4 with a second loading port 10 for placing a carrier C protruding out, and a single-wafer processing block 8 having multiple single-wafer processing chambers.

[0269] The single-wafer processing device 2t is itself a substrate processing device and also serves as a relay point when transferring substrates W from the batch processing device 1 to the single-wafer processing device 2t. Therefore, unlike the single-wafer processing device 2 of Embodiment 1, the single-wafer processing device 2t does not have a chamber corresponding to the single-wafer processing chamber 48a. That is, the single-wafer processing device 2t has two rectangular openings orthogonal to the Y direction for the purpose of allowing the relay device 6 to pass through. These openings are located at the same position in the X direction, one on the side opposite to the batch processing device 1 and the other on the opposite side. The relay device 6 is embedded into the single-wafer processing device 2t through these openings. Therefore, the single-wafer processing device 2t is configured to place the relay device 6 near the openings instead of placing a single-wafer processing chamber.

[0270] The relay device 6 cuts across the batch processing device 1 along the Y direction and extends into the interior of the single-chip processing devices 2s and 2t, one end of which is located to the right of the batch processing device 1. The relay block has the same substrate standby slot 65 and underwater attitude conversion part 55 as in Embodiment 1.

[0271] The relay device 6 in this embodiment includes a relay partial transport mechanism LRb that transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one. The relay partial transport mechanism LRb is located to the right of the underwater posture conversion unit 55 and has access to the underwater posture conversion unit 55. The relay partial transport mechanism LRb accesses the in-tank carrier 71 that holds the substrates W in a horizontal orientation, and receives the uppermost substrate W among those held by the in-tank carrier 71 above the immersion tank 73. The relay partial transport mechanism LRb has a robotic arm that holds the substrates W, and can move the robotic arm forward and backward in the Y direction, and can also rotate the robotic arm 180° about a rotation axis extending in the Z direction. Thus, the robotic arm can move towards both the in-tank carrier 71 and the multi-stage conveyor belt mechanism 64 described later.

[0272] The multi-stage conveyor mechanism 64 is a two-stage structure extending along the Y direction, consisting of an upper conveyor mechanism 64u and a lower conveyor mechanism 64d. Located to the right of the intermediate local transport mechanism LRb, the multi-stage conveyor mechanism 64 is designed to transport the substrate W delivered from the intermediate local transport mechanism LRb to the single-wafer processing device 2s or 2t. When the substrate W is delivered from the intermediate device 6 to the single-wafer processing device 2t, the lower conveyor mechanism 64d, constituting the multi-stage conveyor mechanism 64, transports the substrate W to the right. When the substrate W is transported from the intermediate device 6 to the single-wafer processing device 2s, the upper conveyor mechanism 64u transports the substrate W to the right. Thus, the multi-stage conveyor mechanism 64 sorts the substrate W by transporting it from the upper or lower side. The upper conveyor mechanism 64u and the lower conveyor mechanism 64d have the same structure as the first conveyor mechanism 67 of Embodiment 1, having multiple belts and multiple rollers.

[0273] Figure 20 The multi-stage conveyor belt mechanism 64 is described in detail below. The multi-stage conveyor belt mechanism 64 has three or more [unclear - possibly referring to components or mechanisms]. Figure 21 The lifting pin is the same as the lifting pin 70 described in (c2). The lifting pin moves freely in and out of the lower-level conveyor belt mechanism 64d, and by extending one stage, it can reach the intermediate position NP2 set above the lower-level conveyor belt mechanism 64d (see reference). Figure 22 (a)). The lifting pin, through a further two-stage extension, can reach the intermediate position NP1 (refer to) set above the upper conveyor belt mechanism 64u. Figure 8 (b)). The intermediate local transport mechanism LRb transports the substrate W received from the carrier 71 in the trough to an intermediate position NP1 above the upper conveyor belt mechanism 64u or an intermediate position NP2 defined by the gap between the upper conveyor belt mechanism 64u and the lower conveyor belt mechanism 64d. When delivering the substrate W to each intermediate position, the lifting pin is on standby, so the substrate W maintains a horizontal posture while supported by the lifting pin. When the lifting pin retracts, the substrate W is delivered to the belt constituting the upper conveyor belt mechanism 64u or the lower conveyor belt mechanism 64d. The multi-stage conveyor belt mechanism 64 corresponds to the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 of Embodiment 1.

[0274] A second conveyor belt mechanism 68, as described in Embodiment 1, is provided to the right of the lower-level conveyor belt mechanism 64d. A delivery position OPd is provided on the second conveyor belt mechanism 68t when the relay device 6 delivers the substrate W to the single-chip processing device 2t. Multiple lifting pins 70, as described in Embodiment 1, are provided at the delivery position OPd to lift the substrate W transported in the Y direction and deliver it to the central robot CR. Figure 22 As shown in (c), the moveout position OPd is determined in the gap between the second conveyor belt mechanism 68t and the through conveyor belt mechanism 68u, which will be described later.

[0275] To the right of the upper conveyor belt mechanism 64u, there is a through conveyor belt mechanism 68u that extends to the right of the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. The through conveyor belt mechanism 68u is a structure that transports the substrate W, which is brought into the single-chip processing device 2t, in the Y direction and delivers it to the outside of the single-chip processing device 2t. The through conveyor belt mechanism 68u is located above the second conveyor belt mechanism 68t.

[0276] A relay conveyor mechanism 61, extending to the right of the through conveyor mechanism 68u, is provided. The relay conveyor mechanism 61 transports the substrate W, which is moved out of the single-chip processing device 2t in the Y direction, to the right.

[0277] A second conveyor belt mechanism 68s, as described in Embodiment 1, is provided to the right of the relay conveyor belt mechanism 61. The second conveyor belt mechanism 68s has a delivery position OPU for the relay device 6 to deliver the substrate W to the single-chip processing device 2s. Therefore, the relay device 6 in this embodiment has multiple delivery positions. Multiple lifting pins 70, as described in Embodiment 1, are provided at the delivery position OPU to extract the substrate W transported in the Y direction and deliver it to the central robot CR. The through conveyor belt mechanism 68u and the relay conveyor belt mechanism 61 have the same structure as the first conveyor belt mechanism 67 in Embodiment 1, and have multiple belts and multiple rollers.

[0278] Furthermore, the right gate Sa corresponds to the second gate S2 in Embodiment 1, which is a structure that blocks the communication between the single-chip processing device 2s and the single-chip processing device 2t. The left second gate S2 is also a structure that blocks the communication between the single-chip processing device 2s and the single-chip processing device 2t, and is located on the side of the single-chip processing device 2t.

[0279] Figure 22 The substrate process of this embodiment will be described. Figure 22 The diagram illustrates the process of transferring horizontally oriented substrates W one by one to the second loading port 10 of the single-chip processing device 2t, omitting the process of transferring the substrates together. For example... Figure 23 As shown, the substrate W, transported from the underwater attitude conversion unit 55 to the lower-level conveyor belt mechanism 64d via the relay local transport mechanism LRb, is first transported to the right and then to the single-wafer processing device 2t. If this transport is repeated, all the multiple substrates W from the source carrier C are transported by the single-wafer processing device 2a and processed on-site. The indexing robot IR collects all the processed substrates W into a single carrier C.

[0280] When the substrate W of one carrier C has been transported, as follows Figure 23 As shown, the intermediate local transport mechanism LRb delivers the substrate W to the upper-level conveyor belt mechanism 64u. Then, the substrate W is sequentially delivered to the through conveyor belt mechanism 68u, the intermediate conveyor belt mechanism 61, and the second conveyor belt mechanism 68s. In this way, the substrate W is transported one by one to the single-wafer processing device 2s. If this transport is repeated, all the multiple substrates W from the source carrier C are transported by the single-wafer processing device 2s and processed on the spot. The indexing robot IR collects all the processed substrates W in a single carrier C.

[0281] According to this embodiment, even when the single-wafer processing device 2t is in the process of substrate processing, it is possible to transfer subsequent substrates W from the batch processing device 1 to the single-wafer processing device 2s after transferring a substrate W of a carrier C. With this configuration, multiple single-wafer processing devices can be used to perform single-wafer substrate processing simultaneously and in parallel, thus providing a substrate processing system with high throughput.

[0282] In addition to the embodiments described above, the present invention can also be modified as follows.

[0283] <Variation Example 1>

[0284] The aforementioned substrate processing system does not have a structure for transporting the carrier C between the batch processing unit 1 and the single-wafer processing unit 2, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. It can also be used as... Figure 23 The substrate processing system is configured as shown. Referring to this figure, the structure of this modified example will be described. In the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 of the present invention, a carrier block 12 with the same structure as the storage block 3 provided in the batch processing apparatus 1 is provided between the indexing block 4 and the second loading port 10. The carrier block 12 has multiple shelves 14 for holding carriers C. The shelves 14 are provided in partitions that separate the carrier block 12 from the indexing block 4. The shelves 14 include a storage shelf 14b for temporarily holding carriers C and a carrier placement shelf 14a for delivering substrates accessed by the indexing robot IR of the indexing block 4. The carrier placement shelf 14a is a structure for holding and storing carriers C, which are objects for storing substrates W. The carrier placement shelf 14a holds and stores processed substrates W arranged vertically. In this modified example, one carrier placement shelf 14a is provided, but multiple carrier placement shelves 14a may also be provided.

[0285] The carrier block 12 of the single-chip processing device 2 and the storage block 3 of the batch processing device 1 are located at the same position in the X direction. A communication path CP is provided between the carrier block 12 and the storage block 3 to allow the carrier C to travel between the two blocks in the Y direction. The communication path CP is located inside the communication block 17 provided between the batch processing device 1 and the single-chip processing device 2. The communication block 17 has side walls and a top plate and is a structure that isolates external gas from the gas medium within the substrate processing system.

[0286] The carrier conveying mechanism 11 in storage block 3 can move to carrier block 12 of single-chip processing device 2 through the communication path CP of communication block 17. Therefore, storage block 3 and carrier block 12 are connected via communication block 17.

[0287] The carrier conveying mechanism 11 can transport the carrier C between the carrier placement shelf 14a and the second loading port 10. When the carrier conveying mechanism 11 moves the carrier C from the carrier placement shelf 14a to the second loading port 10, the batch-processed and single-wafer-processed substrates W are handed over from the substrate processing system. This is because the processed substrates W are stacked on the carrier C placed on the carrier placement shelf 14a. The carrier conveying mechanism 11 can also temporarily place the carrier C on the storage shelf 14b before placing it on the second loading port 10.

[0288] Additionally, the carrier conveying mechanism 11 can also transport empty carriers C remaining on the carrier placement shelf 13a in the batch processing unit 1 to the single-wafer processing unit 2. Initially, multiple substrates W are stored in the carrier C placed on the carrier placement shelf 13a. When the first substrate conveying mechanism HTR visits the carrier C in this state and removes multiple substrates W from the carrier C, the carrier C is empty. The carrier conveying mechanism 11 can then transport the empty carrier C from the carrier placement shelf 13a to the carrier placement shelf 14a or shelf 14b. The empty carrier C transported to shelf 14b is then transported by the carrier conveying mechanism 11 to the carrier placement shelf 14a at an appropriate time.

[0289] Therefore, according to the structure of this modified example, the correspondence between the carrier C and the substrate W can be maintained before and after substrate processing. That is, according to this modified example, when the processed substrate W is moved into the empty carrier C, the carrier C that was the same entity that held the substrate W before processing can be used as the carrier C to move the substrate. In this way, the management of the substrate W becomes easier.

[0290] <Variation Example 2>

[0291] In the above embodiment, three single-chip processing chambers 48a, 48b, and 48c are provided to surround the reference position SP of the central robot CR in the single-chip processing device 2. However, it can also be configured such that the reference position SP is surrounded by four single-chip processing chambers. That is, this modified example has a structure in which the transfer position OP in the relay device 6 is far from the reference position SP.

[0292] Figure 24This modified example will be described in detail. Regarding the substrate processing system of this modified example, as shown in the figure, the reference position SP of the central robot CR is surrounded by four monolithic processing chambers. That is, with the reference position SP as the reference, a monolithic processing chamber 48a is located at the right front, a monolithic processing chamber 48b is located at the right rear, a monolithic processing chamber 48c is located at the left rear, and a monolithic processing chamber 48d is located at the left front. Monolithic processing chamber 48d is located in the middle layer of the fourth stack formed by stacking monolithic processing chambers in the Z direction. In this respect, monolithic processing chamber 48a belongs to the first stack described in the embodiment, monolithic processing chamber 48b belongs to the second stack described in the embodiment, and monolithic processing chamber 48c belongs to the third stack described in the embodiment. Therefore, the monolithic processing block 8 has 12 monolithic processing chambers constituting the stack.

[0293] In the above embodiment, the retraction position OP of the relay device 6 is set to the left front of the reference position SP, but in this modified example, a single-chip processing chamber 48d is provided at this position. The retraction position OP of the relay device 6 is positioned in front of the single-chip processing chamber 48d.

[0294] In this modification, the relay device 6 and the central robot CR are separated from the reference position SP of each single-chip processing chamber. Therefore, a structure is needed to transport the substrate W from the transport position OP of the relay device 6 to the rear of the single-chip processing device 2. In this regard, the single-chip processing device 2 of this modification has a reciprocating mechanism 81 in the single-chip transport area R3 for transporting the substrate W before drying to the rear of the single-chip processing device 2. In this modification, a structure is also needed to transport the substrate W on the reference position SP side to the downstream position P4 (described later) accessible by the indexing robot IR. In this regard, the single-chip processing device 2 of this modification has a reciprocating mechanism 82 in the single-chip transport area R3 for transporting the substrate W after drying to the front of the single-chip processing device 2. The reciprocating mechanism 81 transports the substrate W in one direction, and the reciprocating mechanism 82 transports the substrate W in the opposite direction. The outgoing reciprocating mechanism 81 and the returning reciprocating mechanism 82 have a support for mounting the substrate W and a moving mechanism for moving the support in the X direction. The support is a structure that can only support one horizontally oriented substrate W.

[0295] In the single-wafer processing apparatus 2, the mechanism for reciprocating the substrate W in the single-wafer transport area R3 has a two-stage structure: a lower stage is a destination reciprocating mechanism 81, and an upper stage is a return reciprocating mechanism 82. The destination reciprocating mechanism 81 transports the substrate W before drying, and thus, pure water dripping from the substrate W adheres to it. This pure water may also drip from the destination reciprocating mechanism 81. This dripping pure water does not transfer to the return reciprocating mechanism 82, which transports the dried substrate W. This is because the return reciprocating mechanism 82 is located above the destination reciprocating mechanism 81. Thus, according to this modified example, the dry state of the dried substrate W can be reliably maintained.

[0296] The outgoing reciprocating mechanism 81 extends along the X direction from the receiving position P1 determined in the single-piece transport area R3 to the delivery position P2 accessible to the first manipulator 32a of the central robot CR. The outgoing reciprocating mechanism 81, which stops at the receiving position P1, carries the substrate W. The substrate W, supported by the outgoing reciprocating mechanism 81, is transported in the X direction.

[0297] If the substrate W, which is carried by the reciprocating mechanism 81 for the outgoing route, is transported in the X direction, it stops when it reaches the delivery position P2.

[0298] The reciprocating mechanism 82 of the loop starts from the upstream position P3 accessible by the second manipulator 32b of the central robot CR, and extends along the X direction to the downstream position P4 accessible by the indexing robot IR. The upstream position P3 and the delivery position P2 are at the same position in the X and Y directions, and the upstream position P3 is located above the delivery position P2.

[0299] The reciprocating mechanism 82 for the loop, which stops at the upstream position P3, carries the substrate W. The substrate W, supported by the reciprocating mechanism 82 for the loop, is transported in the X direction.

[0300] The substrate W, carried by the reciprocating mechanism 82 in the loop, is transported in the X direction to the downstream position P4. The downstream position P4 is a position accessible to the indexing robot IR.

[0301] The relay device 6 is equipped with a local robot LR that transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one. The local robot LR can access the delivery position OP of the relay device 6 and the receiving position P1 of the single-chip processing device 2, and delivers the substrates W received at the delivery position OP to the receiving position P1.

[0302] Therefore, in this modified example, the substrate W before drying is transported from the transport position OP to the receiving position P1 via the local robot LR, and from the receiving position P1 to the delivery position P2 via the reciprocating mechanism 81. The substrate W transported to the delivery position P2 is then transported to the monolithic processing chamber via the central robot CR. Figure 25(a) illustrates the process of transferring the substrates W one by one before the drying process.

[0303] In this modified example, the dried substrate W is transported from the monolithic processing chamber to the upstream position P3 via the central robot CR, and from the upstream position P3 to the downstream position P4 via the loop reciprocating mechanism 82. Figure 26 (b) illustrates the process of transferring the dried substrates W one by one.

[0304] As described above, according to this modification, the number of single-chip processing chambers in the single-chip processing device 2 can be increased. This is because the central robot CR, located at the reference position SP, can access four single-chip processing chambers.

[0305] <Variation Example 3>

[0306] In the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment, a single-wafer processing chamber is provided for drying the substrate W by a rotary drying method. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and a structure that uses a supercritical fluid to dry the substrate W can also be adopted. The substrate drying chamber of the single-wafer processing apparatus 2 in this modified example is a supercritical fluid chamber. The supercritical fluid chamber uses carbon dioxide, which is a supercritical fluid, for example to dry the substrate W. As a supercritical fluid, fluids other than carbon dioxide can also be used for drying. The supercritical state is obtained by placing carbon dioxide at an 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 is zero, so the gas-liquid interface does not affect the circuit pattern on the surface of the substrate W. Therefore, if the substrate W is dried using a supercritical fluid, the so-called pattern collapse, which causes the circuit pattern on the substrate W to break down, can be prevented.

[0307] Figure 27 The structure of the single-sheet processing apparatus 2 in this modified example will be described. 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-based drying process. The inlet of the supercritical fluid chamber faces the first wet conveying robot AR1 and the second wet conveying robot AR2, and the outlet faces the single-sheet conveying area R3.

[0308] The single-chip processing device 2 in this modification is characterized by the addition of two robots to the single-chip processing block 8. One of the added robots, a first wet-transfer robot AR1, is positioned within an area sandwiched between a second conveyor belt mechanism 68 and a supercritical fluid chamber 48f located to the left of the single-chip transfer area R3. The other robot, a second wet-transfer robot AR2, is positioned within an area sandwiched between a single-chip processing chamber 48a and a supercritical fluid chamber 48e located to the right of the single-chip transfer area R3.

[0309] Furthermore, the single-piece processing block 8 is provided with a single-piece processing chamber capable of processing pharmaceutical solutions. This single-piece processing chamber is not a supercritical fluid chamber, but rather a pharmaceutical solution processing chamber with a pharmaceutical solution nozzle 8b that supplies pharmaceutical solutions to the substrate W. Two pharmaceutical solution processing chambers are provided in the single-piece processing block 8, one of which is the aforementioned single-piece processing chamber 48a. The other is a single-piece processing chamber 49d located above the second conveyor belt mechanism 68. Figure 27 As explained, the liquid treatment chamber 49d is a structure located on top of the relay device 6. The liquid can be IPA. The liquid treatment chamber has explosion-proof properties sufficient to handle flammable IPA. Thus, the liquid treatment chamber can safely perform the required IPA treatment before supercritical fluid-based drying. However, the liquid used in the liquid treatment chamber of this embodiment is not limited to IPA.

[0310] The position of the chemical treatment chamber can be changed relatively freely, but one of the two chemical treatment chambers is located to the right of the single-sheet transport area R3, and the other is located to the left. With this structure, it is unnecessary for the central robot CR located in the single-sheet transport area R3 to receive the substrate W after IPA processing. That is, the substrate W that has undergone chemical treatment in the chemical treatment chamber is transported to the supercritical fluid chamber by either the first wet transport robot AR1 or the second wet transport robot AR2. Therefore, there is no situation where substrate W waiting for IPA processing is delayed, resulting in reduced throughput.

[0311] The first wet transfer robot AR1 receives substrates W (after chemical treatment) one by one from the monolithic processing chamber 49d, which are in a horizontal position, and transfers them through the aforementioned inlet into one of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the left of the monolithic transfer area R3. Therefore, the substrate transfer manipulator of the first wet transfer robot AR1 can access all the inlets of the monolithic processing chamber 49d and the nearby supercritical fluid chambers. The chambers are stacked in the Z-direction, thus the manipulator can move in the vertical direction. Furthermore, each chamber has a chamber located in front of the first wet transfer robot AR1 and a chamber located behind the first wet transfer robot AR1. Therefore, the manipulator can face both forward and backward.

[0312] The second wet transfer robot AR2 has the same structure as the first wet transfer robot AR1 described above. The second wet transfer robot AR2 receives the substrates W (pre-drying substrates W after chemical treatment) one by one from the monolithic processing chamber 48a, which are in a horizontal position, and moves them through the aforementioned inlet into one of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the left of the monolithic transfer area R3. Therefore, the robotic arm of the second wet transfer robot AR2 for substrate transfer can access all the chambers forming the front laminate and all the chambers forming the rear laminate.

[0313] The central robot CR can access the outlet of the supercritical fluid chamber. The second manipulator 32b of the central robot CR removes the dried substrate W from either the supercritical fluid chamber located on the left or the right side of the monolithic transport area R3 via the aforementioned outlet.

[0314] In addition, the central robot CR can also access the relocation position OP of the relay device 6.

[0315] Furthermore, the central robot CR can also access path 24 for delivering the substrate W to the indexing robot IR.

[0316] Figure 28 The process flow for substrate W in this modified example is shown. This modified example mainly involves two substrate handling methods, which will be described in turn. Figure 12 (a) The first substrate transfer method is described. According to this method, the substrate W located at the transfer position OP in the relay device 6 is first received by the central robot CR and delivered to the single-wafer processing chamber 49d, which serves as the liquid treatment chamber. The substrate W, after IPA treatment, is again received by the first wet transfer robot AR1 in an undried state and transferred to one of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the left of the single-wafer transfer area R3. The dried substrate W is then received by the central robot CR and transferred to the path 24 accessible by the indexing robot IR. Thus, the substrate W transferred into the single-wafer processing block 8 is handed over to the indexing block 4 after single-wafer processing.

[0317] Figure 29(b) The second substrate transfer method will be described. According to this method, the substrate W located at the transfer position OP in the relay device 6 is first received by the central robot CR and delivered to the single-wafer processing chamber 48a, which serves as the liquid treatment chamber. The substrate W, after IPA treatment, is then received by the second wet transfer robot AR2 in its undried state and transferred to one of the supercritical fluid chambers located to the right of the single-wafer transfer area R3. The dried substrate W is again received by the central robot CR and transferred to the path 24 accessible by the indexing robot IR. In this way, the substrate W transferred into the single-wafer processing block 8 is handed over to the indexing block 4 after single-wafer processing.

[0318] The method for drying the substrate W is determined based on the vacancy status of the supercritical fluid chamber.

[0319] Using a certain method, the substrates W located at the transport position OP are treated with a chemical solution and dried before being transported to path 24. The indexing robot IR receives the substrates W held by path 24 and transports them to the empty carrier C. Thus, the substrate processing of this modified example is completed.

[0320] As described above, this modification enables substrate processing without pattern collapse on the device surface by using a supercritical fluid chamber for substrate drying. To dry the substrate in the supercritical fluid chamber, a pretreatment with a chemical solution is first required on the substrate W. According to the structure of this modification, a chemical solution treatment chamber is provided to the left of the single-wafer transport area R3, and another chemical solution treatment chamber is provided to the right of the single-wafer transport area R3, thus enabling reliable pretreatment. The number of chemical solution treatment chambers in this modification is not limited to the above structure; multiple chemical solution treatment chambers can be arranged to the left of the single-wafer transport area R3, or multiple chemical solution treatment chambers can be arranged to the right of the single-wafer transport area R3.

[0321] <Variation Example 4>

[0322] In the above embodiments, the conveyor belt mechanism of the relay device 6 is a structure that transports horizontally oriented substrates W one by one, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 29As shown in (a), the system can also be configured to replace the conveyor belt mechanism with a third substrate transport mechanism OTR capable of moving in the Y direction. The third substrate transport mechanism OTR moves from the first gate S1 through the second gate S2 to the delivery position OP, and can also move in the opposite direction. The third substrate transport mechanism OTR can also receive horizontally oriented substrates W one by one from the in-slot carrier 71 and transport them to the delivery position OP. In this modified example, the delivery position OP is provided with a path 26, through which the third substrate transport mechanism OTR delivers horizontally oriented substrates W one by one to the central robot CR of the single-chip processing device 2. According to this structure, even without providing multiple conveyor belt mechanisms, the second gate S2 can be placed in the middle of the substrate transport path, simplifying the device structure. Furthermore, the third substrate transport mechanism OTR has a robotic arm that holds the substrates W, which directly accesses the in-slot carrier 71 to receive the substrates W. Therefore, this embodiment can omit the in-slot carrier displacement mechanism 57C and substrate displacement mechanism 57D described in the embodiments.

[0323] <Variation Example 5>

[0324] The structure of the above-described variation 4 is a structure in which substrates W are transported one by one from the carrier 71 in the tank of the underwater posture conversion unit 55 to the transport position OP by the third substrate transport mechanism OTR, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 29 As shown in (b), it can also be configured such that, instead of the third substrate transport mechanism OTR, a fourth substrate transport mechanism MTR capable of transporting multiple substrates W together is provided, transporting 25 substrates W arranged at full spacing to the transport-out position OP. A path 26a is provided at the transport-out position OP for the 25 substrates W stacked in the Z direction and held in a horizontal position. The fourth substrate transport mechanism MTR transports the received multiple substrates W to the path 26a. The fourth substrate transport mechanism MTR receives the multiple substrates W in a horizontal position from the tank carrier 71 and transports them to the path 26a while maintaining their position. The multiple substrates W arranged in the path 26a are transported one by one from top to bottom to the single-wafer processing chamber by the central robot CR in the single-wafer processing device 2. With this structure, substrate transport within the relay device 6 can be performed efficiently. Alternatively, a pure water tank can be provided at the location of the path 26a in this modified example to submerge the substrates W awaiting transport by the central robot CR, thereby preventing the substrates W from drying out. In this case, the relay device 6 has a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers path 26a.

[0325] <Variation Example 6>

[0326] The relay device 6 in the above embodiment is configured to receive multiple substrates W arranged face-to-face at the loading position IP, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. It can also be configured to receive multiple substrates W arranged back-to-back at the loading position IP. In this modified example, the batch assembly method performed by the transfer block 5 differs from that in the embodiment. That is, the push rod mechanism 25 provided in the transfer block 5 in the embodiment (see...) Figure 30 When performing batch grouping, do not perform Figure 30 The action of rotating push rod 25A 180° as described in (d) is as follows. By not performing this action, multiple substrates W are assembled in batches without being flipped. Therefore, the device faces of all substrates W in the batch assembly are facing left, arranged in a face-to-back manner. Push rod 25A, which receives the first substrate W, can receive the second substrate W2 into the gap of the first substrate W by displacing half a pitch. The horizontal moving part 25C of push rod mechanism 25 performs the movement of push rod 25A.

[0327] According to this variation, the structure of the embodiment can be further simplified. In the embodiment, it is necessary to rotate the push rod 55A in the underwater attitude conversion unit 55 by at least 180°. In contrast, according to this variation, such complex control is not required. This is because, by simply rotating the carrier 71 in the tank 90° to the left, the device surfaces of all the substrates W constituting the batch are facing upwards.

[0328] <Variation Example 7>

[0329] In the case of a structure in which multiple substrates W arranged in a face-to-back manner are accepted at the loading position IP, such as Figure 4 As shown in (c), the relay device 6 can also be configured to transport batches from the loading position IP to the unloading position OP without changing the orientation, thus simplifying the relay device 6. In this modified example, the substrate transport within the relay device 6 is performed by transporting batches of substrates W arranged in a vertical orientation at half-pitch intervals. That is, the relay device 6 in this modified example has a half-pitch substrate transport mechanism HFTR capable of transporting substrates W arranged at half-pitch intervals instead of the full-pitch substrate transport mechanism STR in the embodiment. The half-pitch substrate transport mechanism HFTR can move from the loading position IP to the unloading position OP, and can also move in the opposite direction. The half-pitch substrate transport mechanism HFTR can access the loading position IP and receive batches from the lifter LF65 of the substrate waiting slot 65 on the spot, and can access the unloading position OP and deliver batches to the in-slot carrier 71 of the underwater orientation conversion unit 55 on the spot. The half-pitch substrate transport mechanism HFTR is a structure in which multiple substrates W are received by a pair of chucks 30a. The chuck 30a has slots arranged at half pitch to hold the substrate W.

[0330] The underwater posture conversion device 56, with the same structure as the underwater posture conversion unit 55 described in the embodiment, is located in the unloading position OP. The underwater posture conversion device 56 has an in-tank carrier 71a capable of accepting 50 substrates arranged at half-pitch. The in-tank carrier 71a is located in an immersion tank 73a in which the batch is immersed in pure water. The push rod 56A is structured to hold the substrates W arranged at half-pitch and can move from the bottom surface of the immersion tank 73a to the top surface of the immersion tank 73a. Figure 4 (a) illustrates the delivery of substrate W from the half-pitch substrate transfer mechanism HFTR to the push rod 56A of the underwater attitude conversion device 56.

[0331] Figure 30 (b) indicates the situation when push rod 56A returns to the bottom surface of impregnation tank 73a. Even so, the multiple substrates W held by push rod 55A will not reach the bottom surface of impregnation tank 73a. This is because the tank carrier 71a is in standby inside impregnation tank 73a. The tank carrier 71a can hold multiple substrates W arranged at half-pitch intervals. The tank carrier left rotation mechanism 58A can rotate the tank carrier 71a 90° to the right while the substrates W are immersed in impregnation tank 73a.

[0332] Figure 31 (c) indicates the situation where, after the carrier 71a rotates to the right, it rises via the carrier lifting mechanism 58B. At this time, the carrier 71a is in a state where only the uppermost substrate W of the substrates W is held above the impregnation tank 73a. The substrate W above the impregnation tank 73a is transported to the monolithic processing chamber by the central robot CR. Therefore, the area above the impregnation tank 73a corresponds to the removal position OP.

[0333] Subsequently, while the in-slot carrier 71a is pulled out by half the width of the gap using the in-slot carrier lifting mechanism 58B, the top substrate W is received by the central robot CR each time. In this way, the substrates W held in the in-slot carrier 71a are transported one by one to the single-chip processing chamber.

[0334] In the batch of substrates W, there is a first substrate W1 originating from a first carrier C and a second substrate W2 originating from a second carrier C. When the indexing robot IR transports substrates W to the second loading port 10, it transports only the first substrate W1 to one of the two carriers C placed in the second loading port 10, and only the second substrate W2 to the other. With this configuration, the first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 are stored in their respective carriers C without being mixed, thus facilitating the management of substrates W.

[0335] As described above, the device structure of this modified example is simpler than that of the embodiment, and can provide a substrate processing unit that is easy to control.

[0336] <Variation Example 8>

[0337] The relay device 6 in the above embodiment has a nozzle 69, but the present invention is not limited to this structure and may also be configured without the nozzle 69 and the associated liquid supply unit.

[0338] <Variation Example 9>

[0339] The relay device 6 in the above embodiment has a first gate S1 and a second gate S2, but the present invention is not limited to this structure and may also be configured to not have one of the first gate S1 and the second gate S2, or both of them.

[0340] <Variation Example 10>

[0341] In the above embodiment, the relay device 6 is located in the middle layer of the laminate formed by the single-wafer processing chambers in the single-wafer processing device 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this structure, and the relay device 6 can also be located in the upper layer of the laminate. If configured in this way, the maintenance space located between the batch processing device 1 and the single-wafer processing device 2 will not be divided by the relay device 6, thus providing an easy-to-maintain substrate processing unit. Similarly, the relay device 6 can also be located in the lower layer of the laminate.

[0342] <Variation Example 11>

[0343] In the above embodiment, the relay device 6 is located behind the transfer block 5, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. The relay device 6 can also be configured to be positioned behind the batch processing block 7.

[0344] <Variation Example 12>

[0345] The substrate processing system of the above embodiment includes: a first housing 1A of the batch processing device 1, a second housing 2A of the single-wafer processing device 2, and a relay housing 6A connecting them; however, the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 31 As shown in (a), it can also be configured as a substrate processing system having a common wall forming the first housing 1A and the second housing 2A and a built-in relay housing 6A. According to this modified example, the relay device 6 is a structure built into the housing of the substrate processing system. With this configuration, a substrate processing system with a small number of components can be provided.

[0346] <Variation Example 13>

[0347] In the structure of the modified example 13 described above, the first housing 1A and the second housing 2A have a common wall surface, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 31As shown in (b), it can also be configured such that each housing has a wall forming the first housing 1A and the second housing 2A, and a relay housing 6A is built in such a way that the side surfaces of the first housing 1A and the second housing 2A are adjacent in the Y direction. By providing a double wall separating the batch processing device 1 from the single-wafer processing device on the first housing 1A side and the second housing 2A side, existing substrate processing devices including housings can be adapted for use in the substrate processing system of the present invention.

[0348] <Variation Example 14>

[0349] In the above embodiments, the first loading port 9 of the batch processing device 1 and the second loading port 10 of the single-chip processing device 2 are located at the same position in the X direction, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 32 As shown in (a), a first loading port 9 is provided on the wall in front of the first housing 1A constituting the batch processing device 1, and a second loading port 10 is provided on the wall behind the second housing 2A constituting the single-chip processing device 2. Thus, the first loading port 9 and the second loading port 10 can be arranged at different positions in the X direction.

[0350] <Variation Example 15>

[0351] In the substrate processing system of the above embodiments, such as Figure 32 As shown in (b), it can also be configured to have an airflow generating unit 83 that generates airflow within the system. A specific structure for the airflow generating unit 83 could be a fan or a pump. The airflow generating unit 83 is provided in at least one of the batch processing unit 1, the single-chip processing unit 2, and the relay unit 6, such that the gas medium from the relay unit 6 flows into the batch processing unit 1. With this configuration, even if the phosphoric acid solution processed in the batch processing unit 1 becomes droplets and floats in the air, it will not reach the single-chip processing unit 2. Thus, the chambers and robotic mechanisms constituting the single-chip processing unit 2 will not be corroded by the acid. The airflow control unit 84 is a structure that controls the airflow generating unit. The airflow control unit 84 is part of the first control unit 131.

[0352] <Variation Example 16>

[0353] The above embodiment features a structure with a push rod 55A in the impregnation tank 73, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. Figure 33 As shown, it can also be configured without push rod 55A. Figure 33 (a) The structure of this modified example, in which the chuck 30 of the full-spacing substrate transport mechanism STR directly delivers multiple substrates W to the in-tank carrier 71 located above the impregnation tank 73, will be described. That is, in this modified example, the in-tank carrier 71 can rise above the impregnation tank 73. The lifting and lowering action of the in-tank carrier 73 is achieved by the in-tank carrier lifting mechanism 55B. When the in-tank carrier 71 moves from... Figure 34When state (a) descends into the immersion tank 73, it becomes... Figure 34 The same state as (b). The subsequent operation of the carrier 71 in the tank is the same as in the above embodiment.

[0354] A batch of 50 substrates W arranged at half-pitch is transported in two parts by a substrate transport mechanism STR capable of transporting 25 substrates W at full pitch. However, this variant has a characteristic structure in the second transport. Figure 34 (b) indicates the state in which the carrier 71 receives the substrate W from the chuck 30 above the impregnation tank 73 during the second transfer. At this time, the device side of the substrate W is entirely facing to the left, which is consistent with... Figure 7 (a) is different.

[0355] like Figure 34 As shown in (c), the in-tank carrier 71 receiving the substrates W arranged in this orientation is first immersed in pure water in the immersion tank 73. Then, the in-tank carrier 71 is rotated 90° within the immersion tank 73. In this way, the device surfaces of the substrates W, which are all facing left, are all facing upwards by rotating to the right (see reference). Figure 34 (d)). The rotation of the in-slot carrier 71 is achieved by the right rotation mechanism 57F of the in-slot carrier. Figure 34 (d) corresponds to the embodiment Figure 34 Figure 34 Figure 7 (c) Afterwards, the operation of the carrier 71 in the tank is the same as in the embodiment described above. According to this variation, a substrate processing system can be constructed without setting the push rod 55A in the impregnation tank 73, thus it is more cost-effective than the embodiment.

[0356] <Variation Example 17>

[0357] The substrate processing system in Modification 7 has push rod 56A, but the present invention is not limited to this structure. The half-pitch substrate transport mechanism HFTR can also deliver multiple substrates W arranged at half pitch to the tank carrier 71 located above the impregnation tank 73, omitting push rod 56A. This modification has the same structure as Modification 16.

[0358] Symbol Explanation

[0359] 1 Batch processing device

[0360] 1A First Shell

[0361] 1B Third wall (orthogonal wall)

[0362] 2 Single-chip processing device

[0363] 2A Second Housing

[0364] 2B Fourth wall (orthogonal wall)

[0365] 3 storage blocks

[0366] 4 indexing blocks

[0367] 5 Transfer Blocks

[0368] 6. Relay device

[0369] 6A relay housing

[0370] 7 Batch Processing Blocks

[0371] 8 Single-chip processing blocks

[0372] 9 First loading port

[0373] 10 Second loading port (second carrier placement shelf)

[0374] 11. Carrier conveying mechanism

[0375] 13a Carrier-mounted shelf (first carrier-mounted shelf)

[0376] 15 First Posture Conversion Mechanism

[0377] 48a Single-chip processing chamber

[0378] 48b Single-chip processing chamber

[0379] 48c Single-chip processing chamber

[0380] 55. Underwater attitude conversion unit (second attitude conversion mechanism)

[0381] 57D Substrate Displacement Mechanism (Single Substrate Displacement Mechanism)

[0382] 65. Substrate standby slot (standby slot)

[0383] 67 First conveyor belt mechanism (intermediate conveying mechanism)

[0384] 68. Second conveyor belt mechanism (relay conveying mechanism)

[0385] 131 Control Department

[0386] 132 Control Department

[0387] BPU1 First Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0388] BPU2 Second Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0389] BPU3 Third Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0390] BPU4 Fourth Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0391] BPU5 Fifth Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0392] BPU6 Sixth Batch Processing Unit (Batch Processing Slot)

[0393] CR Central Robot (Single-piece Conveying Mechanism)

[0394] HTR First Substrate Transfer Mechanism (Substrate Handling Mechanism)

[0395] IP relocation location

[0396] IR Indexing Robot

[0397] OP moved out of the location

[0398] S1 First Gate (Batch Processing Unit Side Gate)

[0399] S2 Second Gate (Single-Piece Processing Unit Side Gate)

[0400] STR full-spacing substrate transport mechanism (relay transport mechanism)

[0401] W substrate

[0402] WTR Second Transport Unit (Combined Transport Unit).

Claims

1. A substrate processing system which continuously performs batch processing of processing a plurality of substrates in one lot and single processing of processing a substrate one by one, characterized by comprising: a batch processing device which performs the batch processing; at least one single processing device which performs the single processing on the substrate processed by the batch processing; and at least one relay device which defines a carry-in position for receiving the substrate processed by the batch processing from the batch processing device and a carry-out position for delivering the substrate received at the carry-in position to the single processing device, wherein the batch processing device comprises: a first carrier placement shelf which places carriers which receive a plurality of substrates in a horizontal attitude at a prescribed interval in a vertical direction; a transfer block which is adjacent to the first carrier placement shelf; and a batch processing block which is adjacent to the transfer block, wherein the transfer block comprises: a substrate handling mechanism which takes out the plurality of substrates from the carriers placed on the first carrier placement shelf; and a first attitude conversion mechanism which converts the plurality of substrates taken out from the carriers from the horizontal attitude to a vertical attitude in one lot, wherein the batch processing block comprises: at least one batch processing tank which performs immersion processing on the plurality of substrates in the vertical attitude in one lot; and a one-lot transfer mechanism which transfers the plurality of substrates in the vertical attitude between the transfer block, the batch processing tank, and the carry-in position of the relay device in one lot, wherein the single processing device comprises: a second carrier placement shelf which places the carriers; an indexing block which is adjacent to the second carrier placement shelf; and a single processing block which is adjacent to the indexing block, wherein the single processing block comprises: a plurality of single processing chambers which perform drying processing on the substrates one by one in the horizontal attitude; and a single transfer mechanism which receives the substrates processed by the batch processing in the horizontal attitude one by one from the carry-out position of the relay device and transfers them to the single processing chambers, wherein the indexing block comprises: an indexing robot which receives the substrates processed by the single processing in the carriers placed on the second carrier placement shelf, wherein the relay device comprises: a second attitude conversion mechanism which converts the plurality of substrates received from the batch processing device from the vertical attitude to the horizontal attitude; and a relay transfer mechanism which transfers the substrates along a substrate transfer path provided between the carry-in position and the carry-out position.

2. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein in the relay device, the second attitude conversion mechanism is provided on the carry-in position side, and further comprises: a single substrate displacement mechanism which takes out the substrates one by one from the plurality of substrates converted from the vertical attitude to the horizontal attitude in one lot by the second attitude conversion mechanism and delivers them to the relay transfer mechanism.

3. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein in the relay device, the second attitude conversion mechanism is provided on the carry-in position side. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ In the relay device, the relay carrying mechanism carries the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture converted to the horizontal posture by the second posture conversion mechanism to the carrying-out position.

4. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein In the relay device, the second posture conversion mechanism is provided on the side of the carrying-out position, In the relay device, the relay carrying mechanism carries the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture accepted from the batch processing device to the second posture conversion mechanism, In the relay device, the second posture conversion mechanism converts the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture accepted from the relay carrying mechanism to the horizontal posture.

5. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay carrying mechanism is constituted by a conveyer belt mechanism.

6. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay carrying mechanism is constituted by a robot capable of holding a substrate.

7. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The carrying-in position of the relay device has a standby tank that dips the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture carried in from the batch processing device in a liquid.

8. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay device has a liquid supply section that supplies a liquid to the substrate carried by the relay carrying mechanism to wet the surface of the substrate with the liquid.

9. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay device has a batch processing device side gate on the side of the carrying-in position that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path.

10. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay device has a single wafer processing device side gate on the side of the carrying-out position that can block the flow of a gaseous medium through the substrate carrying path.

11. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein In the relay device, the carrying-out position is in the middle layer of a stack in which the single wafer processing chambers are stacked in the vertical direction in the single wafer processing device.

12. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The carrying-out position of the relay device and the plurality of single wafer processing chambers are disposed around the single wafer carrying mechanism.

13. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The relay device is disposed at a position closer to the transfer block than the batch processing tank of the batch processing device.

14. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The substrate processing system has a carrier carrying mechanism that carries the carrier between the batch processing device and the single wafer processing device to return the substrate after processing to the same carrier as the carrier in which the substrate was housed before processing.

15. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein The batch processing device has: a first housing that houses each block that constitutes the batch processing device; and a second housing that houses each block that constitutes the single wafer processing device. a first loading port which protrudes from a first wall surface of the wall surfaces constituting the first housing, the first wall surface being orthogonal to a prescribed direction from the batch processing block toward the transfer block, the single-wafer processing apparatus has: a second housing which houses the blocks constituting the single-wafer processing apparatus; and a second loading port which protrudes from a second wall surface of the wall surfaces constituting the second housing, the second wall surface being orthogonal to the prescribed direction, the second loading port is located on the same side as the first loading port with respect to the prescribed direction.

16. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the batch processing apparatus has: a first housing which houses the blocks constituting the batch processing apparatus; and a first loading port which protrudes from a first wall surface of the wall surfaces constituting the first housing, the first wall surface being orthogonal to a prescribed direction from the batch processing block toward the transfer block, the single-wafer processing apparatus has: a second housing which houses the blocks constituting the single-wafer processing apparatus; and a second loading port which protrudes from a second wall surface of the wall surfaces constituting the second housing, the second wall surface being orthogonal to the prescribed direction, the relay apparatus has: a relay housing which links the first housing and the second housing which are separate from each other, in the relay apparatus, the relay housing is disposed between a first orthogonal wall surface of the first housing and a second orthogonal wall surface of the second housing, the first orthogonal wall surface being orthogonal to the first wall surface, the second orthogonal wall surface being disposed at a position which is orthogonal to the second wall surface and opposite to the first orthogonal wall surface.

17. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing system has: one batch processing apparatus, first and second single-wafer processing apparatuses, first and second relay apparatuses, the batch processing apparatus is disposed apart by a gap between the first single-wafer processing apparatus and the second single-wafer processing apparatus, the batch processing apparatus and the first single-wafer processing apparatus are linked via the first relay apparatus, the batch processing apparatus and the second single-wafer processing apparatus are linked via the second relay apparatus.

18. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing system has: one batch processing apparatus, first and second single-wafer processing apparatuses, first and second relay apparatuses, the batch processing apparatus, the first single-wafer processing apparatus, and the second single-wafer processing apparatus are arranged in order apart by a gap, the batch processing apparatus and the first single-wafer processing apparatus are linked via the first relay apparatus, the batch processing apparatus and the second single-wafer processing apparatus are linked via the second relay apparatus.

19. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing system has: a gas flow generation portion which causes a gas medium of the relay apparatus to flow into the batch processing apparatus.

20. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the batch processing block has: a batch drying chamber which dries a plurality of substrates at once, The single-wafer processing block has a single-wafer processing chamber capable of processing a substrate one sheet at a time, The substrate processing system is configured to be capable of selecting control as follows: Control related to a batch processing mode in which substrate processing is completed by only the batch processing device; Control related to a single-wafer processing mode in which substrate processing is completed by only the single-wafer processing device; and Control related to a mixed processing mode in which substrate processing is completed using the batch processing device and the single-wafer processing device. ​

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