Teaching method for substrate transport device and substrate processing device

Abstract

To teach the transport arm the correct position for properly positioning the circuit board on the mounting platform of the circuit board processing device. [Solution] The teaching method of the present disclosure is a substrate transport device equipped with a drive control unit that controls a drive mechanism so that a transport arm that transports a substrate moves to a preset position, and includes the steps of: executing a cycle at each of the preset positions which are moved multiple times along a selected reference axis with respect to a mounting table equipped with an edge portion that protrudes from the periphery of the mounting surface; determining a target position for the transport arm to receive the substrate based on the preset position at which it is determined that the substrate is on the edge portion along each of the reference axes; and setting the target position as the preset position for the transport arm to the drive control unit.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure relates to a teaching method for a substrate transport device and a substrate processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, a semiconductor wafer, which serves as the substrate, is placed on a mounting platform and subjected to processes such as the deposition of a metal film. Such processes are sometimes carried out with the wafer placed on a mounting platform located inside a processing container.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes an adhesion processing apparatus for improving the adhesion between a resist and a wafer, in which a hot plate configured as a substrate mounting platform on which a wafer is placed is shown. Regarding the placement of the wafer on the hot plate, a transport arm or the like, which is located outside the adhesion processing apparatus, supports the wafer and places it above the hot plate. Then, support pins protrude from the surface of the hot plate to receive the wafer from the transport arm, and descend to place the wafer on the hot plate. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 2885502 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] This disclosure provides a technology for teaching the setting position of a transport arm so that a substrate can be properly placed on the mounting table of a substrate processing device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The teaching method for the substrate transport apparatus described herein is: The substrate transport device comprises a transport arm for transporting substrates, a drive mechanism for moving the transport arm, and a drive control unit for controlling the drive mechanism so that the transport arm moves to a preset position. When transporting a substrate to a mounting table, which comprises a mounting surface on which a substrate is placed, an edge portion provided along the periphery of the mounting surface so as to protrude from the mounting surface, and a lifting pin configured to extend and retract from the mounting surface and to transfer the substrate between the mounting table and the transport arm, The process involves moving the setting position multiple times along one of the reference axes selected from a plurality of reference axes set to pass through the center and peripheral sides of the mounting surface and extend in different directions from each other, and executing a cycle consisting of the following steps (a) to (d) at each of the setting positions. (a) Step: A step of moving a transport arm holding the substrate at a predetermined holding position toward one of the predetermined positions. (b) Step: A step of transferring the substrate from the transport arm, which has moved to the set position described above, to the mounting stand described above via the lifting pin, (c) Step: The step of receiving the substrate from the stand described above, which has been handed over to the substrate, via the lifting pin to the transport arm, (d) Step; Step of detecting the new holding position of the substrate after it has been received by the transport arm from the stand described above, Based on the new holding position detected in step (d) above, the cycle includes a step of determining whether or not the substrate was in a state of riding up on the edge in step (b) above, A step of determining a target position for transferring the substrate from the transport arm to the aforementioned stand, based on the setting position at which it was determined that the substrate was riding on the edge of each of the plurality of reference axes, The process includes the step of setting the target position as the set position of the transport arm to the drive control unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, it is possible to teach the setting position of the transport arm so that the substrate can be properly placed on the mounting table of the substrate processing device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a plan view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a plan view showing the holding section of the transport mechanism. [Figure 3] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the vacuum transfer chamber and the thin-film deposition module. [Figure 4] Block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus and control unit. [Figure 5] This is a plan view showing the holding section that holds the substrate and the line sensor. [Figure 6A] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the holding portion and lifting pins when the substrate is mounted. [Figure 6B] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the holding portion and the lifting pin when the substrate is mounted. [Figure 7A] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the substrate placed by the holding portion at the first position. [Figure 7B] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the substrate placed by the holding portion at the second position. [Figure 7C] This is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the substrate placed by the holding portion at the third position. [Figure 8] This diagram shows four reference axes used to determine the boundary location. [Figure 9] This diagram shows the procedure for determining the target position of the holding unit 16. [Figure 10] This flowchart shows the cycle process performed during the boundary position identification operation for each reference axis. [Figure 11A] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the first cycle process in the 0° direction. [Figure 11B] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the second cycle process in the 0° direction. [Figure 11C]This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the Nth cycle process in the 0° direction. [Figure 11D] This figure shows the process of identifying the boundary position of the first cycle process in the 180° direction. [Figure 11E] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the Nth cycle process in the 180° direction. [Figure 12A] This figure shows the process of identifying the boundary position of the first cycle process in the 90° direction. [Figure 12B] This figure shows the process of identifying the boundary position of the second cycle process in the 90° direction. [Figure 12C] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the Nth cycle process in the 90° direction. [Figure 12D] This figure shows the process of identifying the boundary position of the first cycle process in the 270° direction. [Figure 12E] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the Nth cycle process in the 270° direction. [Figure 13] This figure shows the process of determining the boundary position of the Nth cycle process in the 270° direction. [Figure 14] This is a plan view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus 1. [Figure 15] Figure 1 shows an example where the amount of displacement D can be smaller than the taper width L. [Figure 16] The second figure shows an example where the amount of displacement D can be smaller than the taper width L. [Figure 17] This figure shows the boundary position identification operation in the second embodiment. [Figure 18] This figure shows the boundary position identification operation for the first and second modified examples of the second embodiment. [Figure 19] This is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the target position in the third embodiment. [Figure 20] This is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the target position in a modified example of the third embodiment. [Figure 21] This graph shows the experimental results of Experiment 1. [Figure 22] This graph shows the experimental results of Experiment 2. [Figure 23] Tables (1) and (2) summarize the experimental results of Experiment 3. [Figure 24] Tables (1) and (2) summarize the experimental results of Experiment 4. [Figure 25] Tables (3) to (7) summarize the experimental results of Experiment 4. [Figure 26] Table (8) summarizes the experimental results of Experiment 4. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] (First Embodiment) Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is configured as a multi-chamber vacuum processing system comprising deposition modules 101 to 104 for depositing films on a substrate W, and a vacuum transport chamber (transport module) 24 for transporting the substrate W to these modules.

[0010] The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes, for example, an atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22 whose interior is maintained at normal pressure. In front of the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22, there is a load port 21 for transferring substrates W to and from a transport container K containing the substrates W. The front wall of the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22 is provided with an opening and closing door 27 that is opened when loading or unloading substrates W to and from the transport container K. A transport mechanism 25 for transporting substrates W is also provided inside the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22.

[0011] Figure 2 is a plan view showing the holding portion 25m of the transport mechanism 25 in a state where it is holding a substrate W. The transport mechanism 25 has a structure similar to the transport mechanism 10 described later, but the upper side of the U-shaped holding portion 25m has a mounting surface for the substrate W, two restricting protrusions 25a provided at the tip of the mounting surface, and a pressing portion 25b provided at the base end of the mounting surface, providing an edge grip function. The transport mechanism 25 is configured to move the pressing portion 25b toward the restricting protrusions 25a when the substrate W is placed on the mounting surface, so that the holding position of the substrate W is restricted by the restricting protrusions 25a and the pressing portion 25b. In this way, by holding the substrate W in a state where it is pressed against the two restricting protrusions 25a, the transport mechanism 25 holds the substrate W with, for example, its center positioned on a preset position such as the center of the holding portion 25m in a plan view.

[0012] Furthermore, viewed from the load port 21 side, an alignment chamber 26 for adjusting the orientation and eccentricity of the substrate W is provided on the left wall of the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22. This alignment chamber 26 determines the orientation of the substrate W and the handover position to the transport mechanism 25 based on notches or orientation flats (not shown) formed on the periphery of the substrate W. For example, when determining the orientation of the substrate W based on a notch, the alignment chamber 26 sets the direction from the tip of the V-shaped cutout of the notch toward the radius as 0°, and the transport mechanism 25 receives the substrate W so that its center aligns with a predetermined position.

[0013] On the wall opposite the load port 21, as viewed from the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22, two load lock chambers 23 are connected side by side. The load lock chambers 23 have a function to switch the internal atmosphere between an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere while a substrate W is contained inside. As viewed from the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22, a vacuum transport chamber 24 is located behind these load lock chambers 23. Each load lock chamber 23 is connected to the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22 and the vacuum transport chamber 24 via a gate valve 29.

[0014] An exhaust mechanism (not shown) is connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 24, creating a vacuum atmosphere inside. Four film deposition modules 101-104 are connected to the side wall of the vacuum transfer chamber 24. The vacuum transfer chamber 24 is also equipped with line sensors 41-43 and two transfer mechanisms 10, each of which transfers the substrate W to the processing modules 101-104 and to the respective load lock chambers 23.

[0015] Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the vacuum transport chamber 24 and the film deposition module 104, and Figure 4 is a block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus 1 and the control unit 5. In Figure 3, for convenience of illustration, the line sensors 41 to 43, which are located on the load lock chamber 23 side in the vacuum transport chamber 24 in Figure 1, are shown on the film deposition module 104 side, and only the two line sensors 41 and 42 are shown.

[0016] Each transport mechanism 10 includes a transport arm 10a configured as a multi-joint arm. For example, the transport arm 10a includes a lower arm member 11, a middle arm member 12, and an upper arm member 13, and a rotating shaft 14 provided at the base of each arm member 11 to 13. Each rotating shaft 14 is connected to a rotating mechanism (not shown) and rotates independently to rotate each arm member 11 to 13. By combining these actions, the upper arm member 13 can move along a desired trajectory while performing rotational and linear movements. In addition, a holding part 16 for holding the substrate W to be transported is provided at the tip of the upper arm member 13.

[0017] The transport arm 10a may include an extension / retraction mechanism, and the linear travel distance may be increased by extending or retracting the upper arm member 13. Such an extension / retraction mechanism and a rotation mechanism constitute the drive mechanism of the transport arm 10a, and a pulse encoder 17 (Figure 4) is connected to a motor (not shown) that drives these drive mechanisms. The transport arm 10a is also connected to a drive control unit 15, which manages coordinates (hereinafter also referred to as "drive system coordinates") for determining the position of the holding unit 16 and controls the rotation mechanism, etc., to move the holding unit 16 to a set position described later.

[0018] The holding portion 16 is provided on the tip side of the upper arm member 13 and is configured to transport the substrate W while holding it horizontally. As shown in Figure 5, which will be described later, the holding portion 16 has a U-shape that opens to the tip when viewed from the base end side of the upper arm member 13 in a plan view. The substrate W can be supported horizontally by being placed in the holding area including the upper surface of the holding portion 16. The holding area is configured to properly hold the substrate W by effectively suppressing displacement of the substrate W in its central area. When the substrate W is properly held in the holding area, it is positioned so that the center C of the substrate W is aligned with the center of the holding area. Hereafter, the position in which the substrate W can be properly held in this manner may be called the proper holding position, and this proper holding position corresponds to the preset holding position in the claims.

[0019] The holding unit 16 is controlled by the drive control unit 15 and the pulse encoder 17, so that the center position of the holding area is managed in the form of polar coordinates (r, θ) with the rotation axis 14 of the lower arm member 11 as the origin. These polar coordinates are correlated with the drive system coordinates of the drive control unit 15. The transport mechanism 10 configured as described above can move the holding unit 16 to a desired position on the drive system coordinates.

[0020] As shown in Figures 1, 3, and 5, the three line sensors 41 to 43 are configured to detect the position of the substrate W held by the holding unit 16. Each line sensor 41 to 43 consists of a pair of light-emitting units 41A to 43A and light-receiving units 41B to 43B. Each light-emitting unit 41A to 43A and light-receiving unit 41B to 43B are provided on the ceiling side and floor side, respectively, of the housing of the vacuum transport chamber 24, facing each other in the vertical direction. Specifically, the light-emitting units 41A to 43A are provided on the upper surface of the light-transmitting windows 45A to 47A, made of, for example, quartz, which are provided on the ceiling of the vacuum transport chamber 24. On the other hand, the light-receiving units 41B to 43B are provided on the lower surface of the light-transmitting windows 45B to 47B, made of, for example, quartz, which are provided on the floor of the vacuum transport chamber 24, facing the light-emitting units 41A to 43A.

[0021] Figure 5 is a plan view showing the holding section 16 that holds the substrate W and the line sensors 41-43. The x and y coordinates in this figure are relative coordinates where the origin is set at the center of the measurement area A1 (described later), and the y axis is set to the direction that the 0° side edge of the substrate W faces when the substrate W, which has been aligned in the alignment chamber 26, is properly held in the holding area of ​​the holding section 16. The light-emitting sections 41A-43A and light-receiving sections 41B-43B of the line sensors 41-43 are spaced apart from each other at positions corresponding to the periphery of the measurement area A1 in a plan view. Each light-emitting section 41A-43A is configured to emit light in a band-like region extending from the inside to the outside of the measurement area A1, and each light-receiving section 41B-43B receives the emitted light at a position corresponding to the band-like region. With this configuration, when the holding unit 16, which holds the substrate W in the holding area, is placed in the measurement area A1, the line sensors 41-43 can detect the positions of three different points along the periphery of the substrate W within the band area. Then, the position calculation unit 44 (Figure 4), connected to the line sensors 41-43, calculates the position (x,y) of the center c of the substrate W from the positions of the three detected points. The position of the measurement area A1 is stored in advance in the drive control unit 15.

[0022] By using these strip-shaped line sensors 41-43, even if the substrate W is held by the holding unit 16 in a position shifted from the proper holding position, the center position of the substrate W in that state can be calculated. The position calculation unit 44, together with the line sensors 41-43, constitutes the position detection unit (position detection mechanism) 4 (Figure 4).

[0023] In this example, the film deposition modules 101 to 104 are configured to deposit the same metal film. The configuration of film deposition module 104 will be briefly described as a representative example of these modules 101 to 104. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, film deposition module 104 consists of a processing container 31 connected to the housing of the vacuum transport chamber 24 via gate valves G1. The processing container 31 has an entrance / exit for loading and unloading the substrate W, and the gate valves G1 open and close this entrance / exit. Inside the processing container 31, a mounting table 32 is provided at the back of the container when viewed from the gate valve G1 side. In the first embodiment, when loading the substrate W from the entrance / exit, the 0° direction of the substrate W is directed towards the front of the direction of travel. In this example, the drive system coordinates managed by the drive control unit 15 are an XYZ coordinate system, as shown in Figure 3, where the Y-axis is set to align with the 0° radial direction of the substrate W when it is loaded into the film deposition module 104. In detail, the drive system coordinates have their origin set to a position that aligns with the center C11 of the substrate W held by the holding unit 16 when it is positioned in the "initial setting position" as described in Figure 11A below.

[0024] As shown in Figure 3, a showerhead 35 for supplying processing gas is provided on the ceiling of the processing container 31, facing the mounting base 32. Processing gas is supplied into the processing container 31 from a gas supply system (not shown) via the showerhead 35. An exhaust pipe 37 with a vacuum pump 36 is connected to the bottom of the processing container 31.

[0025] The mounting table 32 is located at the bottom of the processing container 31 of the film deposition module 104. As shown in Figure 3, a heater 32a, which is a resistance heating element, is embedded inside the mounting table 32. The upper surface of the mounting table 32 has a mounting surface 33 for placing the substrate W, and an edge portion 34 that protrudes from the mounting surface 33 along its periphery. The mounting surface 33 is a circular surface larger than the back surface of the substrate W, and is, for example, a smooth surface with relatively small surface roughness.

[0026] The edge portion 34 is formed in an annular shape so as to be concentric with respect to the mounting surface 33. The upper end portion 34b of the edge portion 34 is flat, and on the inner circumference facing the mounting surface 33, a tapered surface 34a is formed that gradually decreases from the upper end portion 34b toward the mounting surface 33. Therefore, these tapered surface 34a and the upper end portion 34b that constitute the edge portion 34 are also provided concentrically with respect to the mounting surface 33. In addition, the mounting base 32 is provided with, for example, three lifting pins 38 that can be freely projected and embedded relative to the mounting surface 33. The three lifting pins 38 are provided on a lifting plate 39a that is raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism 39 (Figure 4), and they move up and down simultaneously.

[0027] Figures 6A and 6B are longitudinal cross-sectional side views showing the holding part 16 and the lifting pin 38 when the substrate W is placed on it. When placing the substrate W on the mounting table 32, the transport mechanism 10 has the holding part 16, which holds the substrate W, ready to go in a standby position outside the gate valve G1. Then, as shown in Figure 6A, the transport mechanism 10 moves the upper arm member 13 straight into the processing container 31 and places the holding part 16 in a predetermined "setting position". This setting position will be explained later. Next, the protruding lifting pin 38 pushes up and supports the back surface of the substrate W, receiving the substrate W. At this time, the lifting pin 38 is positioned so as not to interfere with the holding part 16, passing through the space inside the U-shape of the holding part 16 in a plan view.

[0028] Next, as shown in Figure 6B, when the holding unit 16 moves in the opposite direction to when it entered the processing container 31 and exits the processing container 31, the lifting pin 38 descends and places the substrate W on the mounting surface 33 of the mounting table 32. After the film deposition process by the film deposition module 104 is completed, the lifting pin 38 transfers the substrate W from the mounting table 32 to the holding unit 16 in the reverse operation of the placement described above, and the holding unit 16 exits the processing container 31. In this way, the lifting pin 38 can transfer the substrate W between the transport mechanism 10 and the mounting table 32.

[0029] In the above-described mounting operation, the setting position of the holding unit 16 must be such that the substrate W, which is transferred to the mounting table 32, is placed within the mounting surface 33. In the first embodiment, the "setting position" of the holding unit 16 is set so that, when viewed from above, the center C of the substrate W held by the holding unit 16 and the center P of the mounting surface 33 are aligned. However, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the control unit 5 and the drive control unit 15 do not know the exact position of the center P of the mounting surface 33. For example, if the processing container 31 is opened and maintenance is performed on the mounting table 32 or the lifting pins 38, the position of the center of the mounting table 32 and the position of the substrate W transferred to the mounting table 32 via the lifting pins 38 may change.

[0030] Therefore, before starting the film deposition process, the substrate processing apparatus 1 identifies the center P of the mounting surface 33 in advance. Then, it positions the holding part 16 above the center P and identifies a target position (target position) where the substrate W can be transferred to the mounting surface 33 via the lifting pin 38. It is necessary to teach the drive control unit 15 in order to set this target position to coincide with the previously described setting position. For example, suppose the diameter of the substrate W is 300 mm, the diameter of the mounting surface 33 is 302 mm, and the width of the tapered surface 34a is 0.35 mm. In this case, if the center of the substrate W is transferred to a position shifted by 1.4 mm from the center P of the mounting surface 33, the film deposition will be carried out with the substrate W resting on the edge 34, as shown in Figure 7C later. When a film is deposited on a substrate W in such a state where the entire back surface is not in contact with the mounting surface 33, for example, uniform temperature control within the plane cannot be achieved, which may reduce the uniformity of the film thickness of the deposited film, or the film may be formed on the back surface of the substrate W. Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the center P of the mounting surface 33 and perform teaching accordingly.

[0031] In this regard, one possible method is to open the processing container 31, have an operator measure the precise position of the center P of the mounting surface 33, manually position the substrate W so that its center coincides with the measured center P, and then perform teaching based on the result of receiving the substrate W with the holding unit 16. Alternatively, instead of positioning the substrate W, one could place a jig that defines the target position inside the processing container 31, and perform teaching by pressing the holding unit 16 against this jig. However, these methods involve working with the processing container 31 open, so there is a risk that particles may enter and remain inside the processing container 31. In addition, in order for an operator to perform the work, a cooling operation inside the processing container 31 is necessary, and although a cooling operation is not normally necessary except during maintenance, this increases the idle time of the substrate processing device 1. Furthermore, teaching performed in a room temperature atmosphere after cooling does not include the effects of the thermal expansion in the mounting table 32 and the lifting pin 38 as described above, making it difficult to perform high-precision teaching. Based on these issues, the inventors of the present invention have developed a teaching method that does not require opening the processing container 31 and does not require cooling the mounting table 32.

[0032] Returning to the description of the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1, as shown in Figure 4, the control unit 5 is connected to the position detection unit 4, the drive control unit 15, the pulse encoder 17, and the lifting mechanism 39, and works in cooperation with these to perform tasks from target position identification to teaching. The control unit 5 is composed of a computer including a center position identification unit 51 for calculating the center P of the mounting surface 33, a program storage unit 52 for storing various programs for operating each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1, a CPU 53, and a memory 54. The program for transporting the wafer is configured so that the holding unit 16 holds the substrate W and transports it to each set position of the film deposition modules 101 to 104 at the transport destination, and specifically has a set of steps for calculating the trajectory of the holding unit 16. The program for identifying the target transfer position of the holding unit 16 has a set of steps for performing various processes as described later.

[0033] Various programs are installed in the program storage unit 52 via a storage medium such as a USB memory stick or DVD-ROM. Based on the signal from the pulse encoder 17, the control unit 5 manages the operation control of the transport mechanism 10 by the drive control unit 15 so that the holding unit 16 moves according to the recipe that constitutes the processing program for the substrate W. In the substrate processing apparatus 1 as described above, the control unit 5, the transport mechanism 10, the drive control unit 15, and the pulse encoder 17 constitute the substrate transport apparatus of this disclosure, in which teaching is performed based on the result of identifying the target transfer position.

[0034] In determining the target handover position, the set positions (the first to third positions described later) shown in Figures 7A to 7C are gradually changed. Then, by utilizing the fact that the behavior of the substrate W differs depending on these set positions, from when it is held in the holding section 16 until it is placed on the mounting table 32 via the lifting pins 38, the relative positional relationship of each set position with respect to the mounting table 32 is determined. Based on these positional relationships, the final target handover position is then determined.

[0035] Figure 7A shows the state after the holding part 16 (not shown in Figures 7A to 7C) is positioned in the first position and the substrate W is placed on the mounting surface 33 via the lifting pin 38. Here, the first position is assumed to be the position where the displacement between the center C of the substrate W and the center P of the mounting surface 33 is smaller. If this assumption is correct, as the lifting pin 38 descends, the substrate W descends toward the mounting surface 33 on the inside of the edge 34. At this time, even if the processing container 31 is in a vacuum atmosphere, as the substrate W approaches the mounting surface 33, it is affected by the gas molecules remaining between the back surface of the substrate W and the mounting surface 33, and the substrate W descends while moving horizontally like a hovercraft. This horizontal movement stops when the peripheral edge of the substrate W hits the tapered surface 34a of the edge 34, and the substrate W is placed on the mounting surface 33 at that position (shown by a dashed line in Figure 7A). Here, an example is shown where the substrate W moves horizontally in the negative direction of the Y-axis (the 180° direction shown in the plan view of Figure 8), but basically the direction of horizontal movement of the substrate W is random. However, if, for example, the mounting surface 33 has a slight incline, the substrate W will move in the downward direction along the incline.

[0036] Figure 7B shows the state after the holding part 16 has been placed in the second position and the substrate W has been placed on the mounting base 32 via the lifting pin 38. Here, the second position is the position where the displacement between the center C of the substrate W and the center P of the mounting surface 33 is assumed to be greater than that of the first position. In the example shown in Figure 7B, the second position is set to a position where it is assumed that the periphery on the 0° side of the substrate W is located above the tapered surface 34a when viewed from above, by shifting it toward the positive direction (0° direction) of the Y axis compared to the first position. If this assumption is correct, when the substrate W is lowered, the end on the 0° direction side described above will come into contact with the tapered surface 34a. However, if the tapered surface 34a is formed to be sufficiently smooth, similar to the mounting surface 33, the substrate W will descend along the tapered surface 34a, then move horizontally, for example in the 180° direction, before being placed on the mounting surface 33.

[0037] Figure 7C shows the state after the holding part 16 has been placed in the third position and the substrate W has been placed on the mounting base 32 via the lifting pin 38. Here, the third position is the position where the displacement between the center C of the substrate W and the center P of the mounting surface 33 is assumed to be greater than that of the second position. In the example shown in Figure 7C, the third position is set to a position where, when viewed from above, the periphery on the 0° side of the substrate W is assumed to be located above the upper end 34b of the edge portion 34, by shifting it further toward the positive direction (0° direction) of the Y axis from the second position. If this assumption is correct, when the substrate W is lowered, the periphery on the 0° direction side, as described above, will come into contact with the upper end 34b of the edge portion 34 and will stop in a state where it is riding on the edge portion 34. For this reason, the substrate W cannot be placed on the mounting surface 33 without horizontal movement as explained in Figures 7A and 7B.

[0038] In this way, by changing the setting position of the holding part 16 from the first position to the third position and transferring the substrate W to the mounting table 32, different results are obtained: the substrate W is placed on the mounting surface 33 (first and second positions), and the substrate W is riding up on the upper end 34b of the edge 34 (hereinafter also simply referred to as "the substrate W is riding up on the edge 34") (third position). Therefore, by changing the setting position in small increments from the first position to the third position and identifying whether or not horizontal movement occurs, a setting position (hereinafter also referred to as the "boundary position") can be identified in which the periphery of the held substrate W can be positioned at the boundary between the tapered surface 34a and the upper end 34b of the edge 34. As described above, if the edge 34 is formed in an annular shape, if the boundary position can be identified at least three points on the edge 34, the center of the edge 34, i.e., the center P of the mounting surface 33, can be identified. As a result, it becomes possible to identify a target position for determining the setting position of the holding part 16 such that the center C of the substrate W is located approximately above the center P of the mounting surface 33.

[0039] Whether or not horizontal movement occurred when the substrate W was transferred to the mounting table 32 can be determined by raising the lifting pin 38 to lift the substrate W on the mounting table 32, receiving the substrate W back into the holding unit 16, and determining the amount of displacement of the substrate W's holding position. That is, the new holding position after receiving the substrate W into the holding unit 16 is considered to be shifted by the distance moved on the mounting table 32 from the holding position before the transfer. Therefore, the position detection unit 4 (line sensors 41-43) is used to determine the amount of displacement of the substrate W before and after the transfer operation to the mounting table 32 (for example, the distance between the center c position of the substrate W before placement and the center c' position of the substrate W after placement). If this displacement amount is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, it can be determined that horizontal movement of the substrate W occurred and the substrate W was placed on the mounting surface 33. On the other hand, if the displacement amount is less than the threshold, it can be determined that horizontal movement of the substrate W did not occur and the substrate W was riding on the upper end 34b of the edge 34.

[0040] Based on the concepts described above, the target position determination operation and teaching operation of the holding unit 16 in the substrate transport device according to the first embodiment will now be explained. Figure 8 shows the four reference axes used to identify the boundary position (the boundary position between the tapered surface 34a and the upper end portion 34b) as described above in the target position determination operation. In Figure 8, the origin of the XY coordinates is, for example, located at the center of the mounting surface 33, and the reference axis M is set in the direction along these XY coordinates. In this way, each reference axis is set to pass through the central side and the peripheral side of the mounting surface 33 and extend in different directions at 90° intervals. The numbers in angle brackets attached to the reference axes in the figure indicate the order in which the boundary position determination operation is performed. Note that this order may be arbitrarily set by selecting from these reference axes. Figure 9 shows the procedure for determining the target position of the holding part 16.

[0041] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the target position determination operation in the first embodiment is performed in the following order: boundary position identification operation in the 0° direction (P1), boundary position identification operation in the 180° direction (P2), Y-coordinate identification operation of the target position (P3), boundary position identification operation in the 90° direction (P4), boundary position identification operation in the 270° direction (P5), and X-coordinate identification operation of the target position (P6). Based on these boundary positions, the position of the target position is determined. Figure 10 is a flowchart of the process of executing the cycle performed in the boundary position identification operation for each reference axis (hereinafter referred to as the cycle process). In the cycle process of the boundary position identification operation for each reference axis, as will be described later, the setting position of the holding unit 16 is moved multiple times along each reference axis while performing each operation in the cycle process shown in Figure 10. Based on each boundary position identified in the cycle process for each reference axis, the target position is determined.

[0042] When executing the cycle process performed in the specific operation (P1) of the boundary position in the 0° direction, first, the substrate W in the transport container K transported to the load port 21 (FIG. 1) is transported by the transport mechanism 25 in the normal pressure transport chamber 22 to the alignment chamber 26 → load lock chamber 23. Note that the substrate W is not limited to being transported in the transport container K, and may be arranged in the normal pressure transport chamber 22 in advance, or a dummy substrate having the same shape as the substrate W may be used.

[0043] The substrate W adjusted to face in a predetermined direction in the alignment chamber 26 is placed on a mounting table (not shown) in the load lock chamber 23 by the transport mechanism 25. For the substrate W placed on the mounting table in the load lock chamber 23, for example, the circumferential edge at 0° is arranged at the position farthest from the gate valve 29 on the vacuum transport chamber 24 side. The load lock chamber 23 delivers the substrate W with the orientation thus set to the holding portion 16 of the transport mechanism 10. The orientation of the held substrate W is such that the circumferential edge at 0° is arranged on the tip side of the holding region of the holding portion 16, and the held substrate W is arranged at an appropriate holding position preset with respect to the holding portion 16.

[0044] Next, the transport mechanism 10 arranges the holding portion 16 holding the substrate W on the measurement region A1 (FIG. 5). The position calculation unit 44 measures the position (x 11 , y 11 ) of the center c of the substrate W by the line sensors 41 to 43 and stores it in the memory 54. The position (x 11 ) of the center c of the substrate W arranged at the appropriate holding position is, for example, (0, 0) in the relative coordinates shown in FIG. 5. Note that since the position of the substrate W is specified in the alignment chamber 26 and the center c of the substrate W before being placed on the mounting table 32 is arranged almost exactly at the appropriate holding position, the measurement by the position calculation unit 44 may not be performed. 11 11 11 11 ] 11 <00,00009> 11 11 11 11 11 11

[0045] Hereafter, in Figure 8 <1> ~ <4> In the process of determining the boundary position on each reference axis shown (hereinafter, any arbitrary reference axis may be referred to as "reference axis M"), in a certain nth cycle process, the center of the substrate W before it is placed on the mounting table 32 is defined as "center c of the substrate W before placement". Mn , and its position (x Mn ,y Mn )" is sometimes indicated. And, similar to the example above, in the nth cycle process, for the substrate W that has been placed on the mounting table 32 and then received again by the holding unit 16, the center and position of the substrate W are indicated as "center c' of the substrate W after placement". Mn , (x' Mn ,y' Mn It may also be indicated as "center c'(x', y') of the substrate W". In addition, if the direction and number of cycles are not specified, it may simply be indicated as "center c'(x', y') of the substrate W". The same applies to the drive system coordinates shown in Figures 11A to 13 below, but in these coordinates, the center of the substrate before mounting and its position are shown in capital letters to distinguish them from the relative coordinate system.

[0046] center c 11 Returning to the measurement of the position, the position calculation unit 44 calculates the center c 11 The substrate W, whose position has been measured, is transported to the mounting table 32 of one of the film deposition modules 101 to 104, which determines the target position of the holding unit 16, in this example being the film deposition module 104. When the gate valve G1 of the film deposition module 104 is opened, the holding unit 16 holding the substrate W is moved toward the initial setting position of the mounting table 32, which will be described later, based on the substrate transport program described above ((a) step: step of moving the transport arm toward the set position).

[0047] Applying this to the example described above, Figures 11A to 11E show the process of determining the boundary position in the Y direction when viewing the mounting stage 32 of the film deposition module 104 from above. Figure 11A shows the position of the substrate W (hereinafter also simply referred to as "substrate W at initial setting position") held by the holding part 16 positioned at the initial setting position before being placed on the mounting surface 33 in the first cycle process in the 0° direction. Similarly, Figures 11B and 11C show the positions of the substrate W at the second setting position and the Nth setting position before being placed on the mounting surface 33 in the second cycle process in the 0° direction, and the Nth cycle process described later. In these figures, the holding part 16 is not shown, the center line of the mounting surface 33 is shown as a dashed line, and the substrate W and its center line are shown as a dotted line. The solid XY coordinates, as previously described, represent the drive system coordinates and clearly show the position change of the substrate W. The center C of the substrate W is supported in the appropriate holding position of the holding part 16 at the initial setting position before being placed on the mounting table 32. 11 The origin is set at the position indicated by c(0,0) in Figure 5. The same specifications for these drawing notations apply to Figures 11D to 12E.

[0048] The transport mechanism 10 transfers the substrate W from the holding unit 16, which has been moved to the initial setting position shown in Figure 11A, to the mounting table 32 via the lifting pin 38 (step S11, (b) process: process of transferring the substrate to the mounting table). As previously described, it is difficult to precisely determine changes in the position of the center of the mounting table 32 due to maintenance or thermal expansion, or changes in the position of the substrate W transferred via the lifting pin 38, from the design drawings of the substrate processing apparatus 1. For this reason, it is necessary to perform a target position determination operation for teaching. The initial setting position of the holding unit 16 is set to a position that is assumed to be relatively close to the target position from the design drawings of the substrate processing apparatus 1, as shown in the first position explained using Figure 7A.

[0049] However, the initial setting position is merely a position assumed to be close to the target position, so the center C of the substrate W is the target position. 11In a plan view, the substrate is positioned offset from the center P of the mounting base 32. The substrate W, lowered by the lifting pin 38, is placed on the mounting surface 33 and then moves horizontally as described using Figure 7A before coming to rest on the mounting surface 33.

[0050] Next, the stationary substrate W is transferred from the mounting surface 33 to the holding unit 16 via the lifting pin 38 (step S12, (c) process: process of receiving the substrate on the transport arm). At this time, the lifting pin 38 is extended to raise the substrate W from the mounting surface 33, and then the substrate W is transferred to the holding unit 16 which has been placed back in its initial setting position. The transferred substrate W is held in the holding unit 16 in a position shifted by the horizontal movement distance on the mounting surface 33 from the proper holding position. In order to detect this amount of shift, the holding unit 16 that holds the substrate W is placed in the measurement area A1, and the position c' of the center of the shifted substrate W is measured. 11 (x' 11 ,y' 11 The center position identification unit 51 measures the center position c' of the substrate W corresponding to the new holding position (step S13, (d) step: step to detect the new holding position). 11 Based on this, when the substrate is transferred from the holding part 16 to the mounting table 32 via the lifting pin 38, it is determined whether or not the substrate W was in a state of riding on the edge 34 (step to determine whether or not it was in a state of riding on the edge). This determination is made based on the center c' of the misaligned substrate W. 11 The position and the center c of the substrate W before it is placed on the mounting base 32. 11 Based on the position, the amount of deviation D from the appropriate holding position, which corresponds to the horizontal movement distance on the mounting surface 33, is detected (step S14).

[0051] For example, the displacement D is calculated based on the following equation (1). Displacement D = {(x' 11 -x 11 -x0) 2 +(y' 11 -y 11 -y0) 2} 1 / 2 …(1) Here, x0 and y0 in the above equation are correction terms to reflect the minute change in the center position of the substrate W that occurs when the substrate W is transferred from the holding part 16 to the lifting pin 38 and then from the lifting pin 38 back to the holding part 16. An example of how x0 and y0 can be determined is when the substrate W, which has been supported in the proper holding position beforehand, is transferred from the holding part 16 to the lifting pin 38, and then, without being placed on the mounting table 32, the substrate W is transferred from the lifting pin 38 back to the holding part 16, and the result of measuring the center position c0(x0,y0) by the position calculation unit 44 is used. Furthermore, for the boundary position determination operation on an arbitrary reference axis M shown in Figure 8, if the cycle process is increased to 2, 3, ... times, the amount of deviation D in any nth cycle process can be expressed by the following equation (1)'. {(x' Mn -x Mn -x0) 2 +(y' Mn -y Mn -y0) 2} 1 / 2 …(1)'

[0052] Based on the displacement amount D expressed above, a determination is made as to whether the substrate W is placed on the mounting surface 33 and has moved horizontally, or whether the substrate W has ridden up onto the upper end 34b of the edge 34 and has not moved horizontally. In making this determination, as previously described, the determination is made based on whether the displacement amount D is greater than or equal to a preset threshold. An example of a threshold used as the basis for the determination is when the width L of the tapered surface 34a is used. Compared to the case where ridden-up occurs as explained using Figure 7C, as explained using Figures 7A and 7B, if horizontal movement of the substrate W occurs before it is placed on the mounting surface 33, it has been empirically understood that the distance of movement is at least greater than the width L of the tapered surface 34a (Figures 7A and 11A, hereinafter also referred to as "taper width L"). Therefore, if the displacement amount D is greater than or equal to the tapered width L, it is considered that the substrate W has moved horizontally after being transferred to the mounting base 32, and it is determined that it has not ridden up onto the upper end 34b of the edge 34. In this example, the 0° direction (shown together in Figure 11A) <1> In the first cycle step of the boundary position determination operation (in the direction), the initial position is the same as the first position explained using Figure 7A, and since the substrate W moves horizontally on the mounting table 32, the amount of displacement D becomes larger than the width L. Therefore, the center position determination unit 51 confirms that a positional displacement of the substrate W has occurred (Yes in step S14).

[0053] Next, the center position identification unit 51 changes the setting position of the holding unit 16 from the initial setting position to the second setting position (step S15). The second setting position is the position of the holding unit 16 where the substrate W is positioned, shifted by a predetermined distance (e.g., 0.1 mm) in the 0° direction from the position of the substrate W at the initial setting position. If it is not possible to determine that the substrate has been overridden, the setting position is moved in small increments along the reference axis (steps S15 to S14). Then, the cycle process of determining whether or not the substrate has been overridden based on the measured amount of displacement D of the center c of the substrate W is repeated until it is confirmed that the substrate has been overridden. This makes it possible to identify the boundary position, which is the setting position when the substrate has been overridden.

[0054] When moving to the second setting position, assuming that the holding part 16 is supporting the substrate W in the correct holding position, the second setting position only needs to be displaced by 0.1 mm in the 0° direction from the initial setting position. However, in the first embodiment, during the first cycle process, the substrate W is held shifted from the correct holding position. As a first method to address this situation, the substrate W can be set to the second setting position by readjusting its position. For example, in the measurement area A1, the center c' of the substrate W... 11 One method involves re-entering the holding unit 16 into the film deposition module 104 after measuring its position, and then re-holding the substrate W using the lifting pins 38. Before re-holding, the holding unit 16 is moved to the initial setting position, which is the previous setting position, and the substrate W is handed over to the lifting pins 38, and the displacement (X' of the substrate W relative to the holding unit 16 is measured. 11 -X 11 ,Y' 11 -Y 11 The holding part 16 is shifted by ) to perform a position correction. Then, by transferring the substrate W from the lifting pin 38 to the position-corrected holding part 16, the substrate W can be placed in the correct holding position.

[0055] As a first method, in addition to the example using the film deposition module 104 as described above, it can also be performed by using the transport mechanism 25 which has an edge grip function. The substrate W is transferred from the transport mechanism 10 to the transport mechanism 25, and the position of the substrate W can be corrected by positioning it using the restricting protrusion 25a and pressing part 25b provided on the holding part 25m as explained with reference to Figure 2. Furthermore, if the substrate W rotates around the center on the stage and requires orientation correction, the orientation and position of the substrate W can be corrected by transferring the substrate W to the alignment chamber 26 and the transport mechanism 25.

[0056] As a second method, it is also possible to transfer the substrate W to the lifting pin 38 at the second setting position without readjusting the substrate W. In this case, since the substrate W is held shifted from the proper holding position during the first cycle process, the displacement of the substrate W (X' 11 -X 11 ,Y' 11 -Y 11Based on the above, the holding part 16 is moved to the second set position after taking into account a position correction in the direction that cancels out the displacement of the substrate W. At this time, the position in which the holding part 16 supports the substrate W is deviated from the appropriate holding position described above, but since the substrate W can be placed in the desired position, a transfer operation can be performed that is no different from when the substrate W is transferred while held in the "pre-set holding position" as described in the claims.

[0057] Here, we will explain the correspondence between the relative coordinates identified using line sensors 41-43 (Figure 5) and the coordinates shown in Figures 11A-13. As already explained, in the proper holding position, the substrate W is held by the holding part 16 such that the center c of the substrate W coincides with the origin (0,0) of the relative coordinates identified by measurement using line sensors 41-43 shown in Figure 5 (indicated as "c(0,0)" in the same figure). Then, in the first cycle process, the center of the substrate W (c(0,0) in the relative coordinate system of Figure 5) coincides with the C shown in Figure 11A. 11 (X 11 ,Y 11 The initial position is set to match the coordinates of ). In the operation from the second cycle process onward, which will be described below, the set position is moved in small increments, based on the state in which the substrate W is held in the appropriate holding position shown in Figure 5.

[0058] In this case, when the substrate W is repositioned using the first method described above, the substrate W is actually held in the appropriate holding position shown in Figure 5. Therefore, c(0,0) identified in the relative coordinate system of Figure 5 is C, which will be explained below. 12 , C 13 ..., C 1N The second setting position and other settings should be adjusted to match the above. On the other hand, even if the substrate W is not repositioned using the second method, the position where the origin (0,0) of the relative coordinate system in Figure 5 coincides with the center c of the substrate W can be determined by calculation. Therefore, the center c(0,0) of the substrate W determined by calculation is the C described below. 12 , C 13 ..., C 1NThe second setting position and other settings should be adjusted to match the above. The previously described "position correction in the direction in which the displacement of the substrate W is canceled out" includes such calculations. If there is concern about the positional displacement of the substrate W during the transport process, it is advisable to measure the position c(x,y) of the center of the substrate W before placing it on the mounting table 32 in each cycle process, and to readjust the substrate W or perform a calculated position correction so that this positional displacement is canceled out. The following explanation will assume that the first method, readjusting the substrate W, is performed.

[0059] Next, as shown in Figure 11B, the substrate W is placed at the second setting position before the second cycle process. When the setting position is shifted by 0.1 mm each as described above, the center position C of the substrate W at the second setting position is... 12 (X 12 ,Y 12 )=(X 11 ,Y 11 The result is +0.1). The center position C of the substrate W before mounting. 12 (X 12 ,Y 12 The center position identification unit 51 stores this information in the memory 54.

[0060] Subsequently, the second cycle process is performed in the same manner as the first cycle process, but the holding unit 16 is moved to the second setting position in order to receive the substrate W via the lifting pin 38 after placement. This allows the substrate W to be held in a position where the amount of displacement relative to the holding position can be detected, similar to the first cycle process. By placing the holding unit 16 in the measurement area A1 after receiving the substrate W, the center position c' 12 (x' 12 ,y' 12 ) is measured. And along with the center position c(0,0) described above, the displacement amount D is ((x' 12 -0-x0) 2 +(y' 12 -0-y0) 2 ) 1 / 2 The value is calculated and compared with the threshold L to determine that the condition is not one where the vehicle is overriding the obstacle.

[0061] The cycle process for determining the boundary position in the 0° direction is repeated until the displacement amount D becomes less than the threshold L. If the number of cycles performed in the last cycle is N, this Nth cycle is performed in the same way as the first cycle described above. The center position determination unit 51 does not determine that the substrate W has been overridden in the N-1th cycle (Yes in step S14), and changes the setting position from the N-1st setting position to the Nth setting position (step S15). The Nth setting position is the position of the holding unit 16 that can be positioned 0.1 mm in the 0° direction from the position of the substrate W at the N-1st setting position, and is set in the same way as the second setting position. As shown in Figure 11C, before the placement in the Nth cycle, the center position determination unit 51 determines the center position C of the substrate W at the Nth setting position. 1N (X 1N ,Y 1N )=(X 11 ,Y 1(N-1) +0.1)=(X 11 ,Y 11 The result is +0.1(N-1), and the center position identification unit 51 is center C 1N The location is stored in memory 54.

[0062] In the Nth cycle process described above, the transfer mechanism 10 first moves the holding unit 16 toward the Nth set position, and the substrate W is transferred from the holding unit 16 positioned at the Nth set position to the mounting table 32 via the lifting pin 38 (step S11). This lowers the substrate W, which is positioned 0.1 mm in the 0° direction from the position of the substrate W held by the holding unit 16 at the N-1 set position, toward the mounting table 32. At this time, the end W1 on the 0° direction of the substrate W is positioned on the upper end 34b. Note that in Figure 11C, for illustrative purposes, the substrate W is shown smaller than it actually is compared to the mounting table 32, so the end W1 on the 0° direction is shown slightly shifted to the negative side in the X direction. The substrate W, which has been lowered vertically by the lifting pin 38, is then placed on the mounting table 32 with the end W1 on the 0° direction resting on the upper end 34b of the edge 34 (Figure 7C). Therefore, the mounted substrate W does not move horizontally on the mounting base 32.

[0063] The substrate W in the state of riding on the edge portion 34 is lifted by the lifting pins 38 and transferred to the holding portion 16 at the Nth set position when re-held, similar to the second cycle process (step S12). Since the substrate W transferred to the holding portion 16 at the Nth set position has not moved horizontally on the placement surface 33, it has hardly deviated from the holding position before placement. Similar to the second cycle process, the holding portion 16 moved to the Nth set position holds the substrate W and moves to the measurement region A1 to measure the position c' 1N (x' 1N , y' 1N ) of the center of the substrate W (step S13). The center position specifying portion 51 detects the deviation amount D from the positions of the centers c 1N , c' 1N before and after the Nth cycle process is carried out.

[0064] The deviation amount D in this Nth cycle process is ((x' 1N - 0 - x0)<00所示的那样,将处于边缘部分34上的基板W用升降销38抬起,并在重新保持时,在与第二次循环过程相同的情况下,在第N设定位置处将其传递到保持部16(步骤S12)。由于传递到第N设定位置处的保持部16上的基板W在载置面33上没有水平移动,因此它几乎没有从载置前的保持位置偏移。与第二次循环过程相同,移动到第N设定位置的保持部16保持基板W,并移动到测量区域A1以测量基板W的中心位置c’ 1N (x’ 1N ,y’ 1N )(步骤S13)。中心位置确定部51检测第N次循环过程实施前后中心c 1N 、c’ 1N 的位置的偏移量D。

[0064] [[ID=] 此第N次循环过程的偏移量D根据上述公式为((x’ 1N - 0 - x0) 2 +(y’ 1N - 0 - y0) 2 ) 1 / 2 。第N次循环过程实施前后基板W的中心c 1N 、c’ 1N 的位置在图5中所示的c(0,0)附近,偏移量D很小,并且小于锥面34a的宽度L。因此,中心位置确定部51在第N次循环过程中,当将基板W传递到载置台32时,判定其处于上端部34b上翘的状态(步骤S14的否,判定基板是否处于边缘上翘的状态的步骤)。然后将第N设定位置确定为边界位置。另外,上翘的判定不限于偏移量D小于阈值L(D < L)的情况,也可以在偏移量D小于等于阈值(D≤L)的情况下判定发生了上翘。然后,中心位置确定部51计算在第N设定位置处载置前基板W的位置相对于初始设定位置处载置前基板W的位置的位移量δ1,并将其存储在存储器54中。位移量δ1在Y方向上为(N - 1)×0.1mm(正值)。由此,结束在0°方向上边界位置的确定(P1)。

[0065] Next, similar to the specific operation (P1) of the boundary position in the above-mentioned 0° direction, the specific operation (P2) of the boundary position in the 180° direction (the direction of <2> shown in FIGS. 11D and 11E) is repeatedly performed in the cycle process up to the Nth cycle process for determining the mounting. FIGS. 11D and 11E are diagrams showing the positions of the substrate W at the first and Nth set positions before mounting in the first and Nth cycle processes in the 180° direction. In this specific operation P2 in the 180° direction, the first set position in the first cycle process is the center C of the substrate W at the initial set position described in the first cycle process in the 0° direction 11 It is set so that the substrate W can be arranged with a shift of 0.1 mm in the 180° direction from C (FIG. 11D). When the shift from the holding position of the position of the substrate W in the holding portion 16 after the Nth cycle in the 0° direction immediately before cannot be ignored, as described above, it may be repositioned and then moved to the first set position

[0066] As shown in FIG. 11D, before mounting in the first cycle process in the 180° direction, the position of the center of the substrate W at the first set position is C 21 (X 21 , Y 21 ) = (X 11 , Y 11 - 0.1). And as shown in FIG. 11E, in the Nth cycle process in the 180° direction, the position of the center of the substrate W at the Nth set position before mounting is C 2N (X 2N , Y 2N ) = (X 11 , Y 2(N-1) - 0.1) = (X 11 , Y 11 - 0.1N). At this time, for the substrate W delivered to the mounting table 32, the end portion W2 on the 180° direction side is located on the upper end portion 34b, and for the substrate W vertically lowered by the lifting pins 38, the end portion W1 on the 180° direction side rides on the upper end portion 34b and does not move horizontally on the mounting table 32 (FIG. 7C).

[0067] The substrate W, which is in this state of resting on the edge 34, is then transferred to the holding unit 16 at the Nth set position when it is picked up again (step S12). At this time, the transferred substrate W has hardly shifted from its holding position before placement. And the center position c' of the substrate W 2N (x' 2N ,y' 2N (Step S13) The center position identification unit 51 measures the center c of the substrate W before and after the Nth cycle process. 2N , c' 2N The amount of displacement D from the position is detected.

[0068] The displacement amount D becomes smaller than the width L of the tapered surface 34a, and the center position identification unit 51 determines that the substrate W was in a state of being mounted during the Nth cycle process (No. in step S14), and identifies the Nth setting position as the boundary position in the 180° direction. The center position identification unit 51 then calculates and stores the displacement amount δ2 from the position of the substrate W at the Nth setting position to the position of the substrate W before placement at the initial setting position. The displacement amount δ2 is -0.1N (negative value) millimeters in the Y direction. With this, the identification of the boundary position in the 180° direction (P2) is completed.

[0069] Next, the operation to determine the Y coordinate of the target position (P3) is performed. Here, the Y coordinate of the center P of the mounting surface 33 is determined based on the initial setting position in the 0° direction. If the planar shape of the mounting surface 33 is circular and the edge portion 34 is formed along the outer circumference of the mounting surface 33, the center position of the mounting surface 33 coincides with the midpoint of the inner edge of the upper end portion 34b determined in the previous determination operations (P1, P2). From the above, the value Yp of the Y coordinate of the center P of the mounting surface 33 is equal to the center position (C) of the substrate W at the initial setting position. 11 (X 11 ,Y 11The value of the Y coordinate of )) is corrected by the correction value "+(δ1+δ2) / 2" obtained from the displacement amounts δ1 and δ2 described above. Therefore, the Y coordinate position of the center P of the mounting surface 33 that corresponds to the target position for transferring the substrate W to the center P of the mounting surface 33 was identified. Thus, in the following identification operation, the Y coordinate of each set position is set to match the Y coordinate of the center P of the mounting surface 33.

[0070] Next, in the 90° direction (as shown in Figures 12A to 12C) <3> (direction), 270° direction (as shown in Figure 12D) <4> The boundary position identification operation (P4, P5) in the X direction is performed in the same way as the boundary position identification operation (P2) in the 180° direction. Figures 11A to 12E show the boundary position identification operation in the X direction in the first embodiment, where the dashed line indicates the common center line of the substrate W and the mounting base 32 in the X direction, and in the boundary position identification operation in the X direction, the setting position is moved in small increments along this center line. Figures 12A, 12B, and 12C show the positions of the substrate W at the 1st, 2nd, and Nth setting positions in the 1st, 2nd, and Nth cycle processes in the 90° direction.

[0071] In this specific operation (P4), the first setting position in the first cycle is determined by shifting the X coordinate of the initial setting position by +0.1 mm in the 90° direction, and setting the target Y coordinate so that it aligns with the center P of the mounting surface 33. Based on this target Y coordinate, the position of the center of the substrate W before mounting at the first setting position is C 31 (X 31 ,Y 31 )=(X 11 +0.1,Y 11 +(δ1+δ2) / 2)=(0.1,(δ1+δ2) / 2) (Figure 12A).

[0072] The second setting position is a position where the substrate W can be positioned 0.1 mm in the 90° direction compared to the position of the substrate W before placement at the first setting position. As a result, as shown in Figure 12B, before placement in the second cycle process, the center position of the substrate W at the second setting position is C 32 (X32 ,Y 32 )=(X 31 +0.1,Y 31 ) = (0.2, (δ1+δ2) / 2).

[0073] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 12C, the position of the center of the substrate W before placement at the Nth setting position is C 3N (X 3N ,Y 3N )=(X 3(N-1) +0.1,Y 31 ) = (0.1N, (δ1+δ2) / 2). Then, at the Nth setting position, the end W3 on the 90° side of the substrate W is located on the upper end 34b, and when this substrate W is placed on the mounting table 32, the end W3 on the 90° side of the substrate W is in a state where it rides up on the upper end 34b and does not move horizontally on the mounting table 32 (Figure 7C). Subsequently, the ride-up is determined based on the result of calculating the displacement amount D as described above, and the identification of the boundary position in the 90° direction (P4) is completed. The displacement amount δ3 from the position of the substrate W before placement at the Nth setting position to the position of the substrate W before placement at the initial setting position is 0.1Nmm (positive value) in the X direction.

[0074] Figures 12D and 12E show the positions of the substrate W at the first and Nth setting positions before placement in the first and Nth cycle processes in the 270° direction. In the boundary position identification operation (P5) in the 270° direction, the first setting position in the first cycle process is set by shifting the X coordinate of the initial setting position by -0.1 mm in the 270° direction, and setting the Y coordinate to align with the Y coordinate of the center P of the mounting surface 33. In other words, the position of the center of the substrate W at the first setting position is C 41 (X 41 ,Y 41 )=(X 11 -0.1,Y 11 +(δ1+δ2) / 2)=(-0.1,(δ1+δ2) / 2) (Figure 12D).

[0075] As shown in Figure 12E, the position of the center of the substrate W before mounting at the Nth setting position is C 4N (X 4N ,Y 4N )=(X 4(N-1) -0.1,Y41 ) = (-0.1N, (δ1+δ2) / 2). At the Nth setting position, the substrate W has its 270° side end W4 positioned on the upper end 34b. When this substrate W is placed on the mounting base 32, the 270° side end W4 of the substrate W rides up on the upper end 34b and does not move horizontally on the mounting base 32 (Figure 7C). Based on the calculation of the displacement amount D described above, the ride-up is determined, and the identification of the boundary position in the 270° direction (P5) is completed. Similar to the displacement amount δ3 in the 90° direction described above, the displacement amount δ4 of the substrate W in the X direction during the boundary position identification operation in the 270° direction is -0.1Nmm (a negative value).

[0076] Next, similar to the operation to determine the Y coordinate of the target position (P3), the operation to determine the X coordinate (P6) is performed. The X coordinate position Xp of the center P of the mounting surface 33 is the center position (C) of the substrate W at the initial setting position. 11 (X 11 ,Y 11 The X-coordinate value of )) is corrected by the correction value "+(δ3+δ4) / 2" obtained from the displacement amounts δ3 and δ4 described above. Therefore, the X-coordinate position of the center P of the mounting surface 33, which corresponds to the target position for transferring the substrate W to the center P of the mounting surface 33, was also determined. In the first embodiment, the target position is determined so that the center of the substrate W held in the holding position coincides with the position (Xp, Yp) of the center P of the mounting surface 33, which was determined by the target position coordinate determination operations (P3) and (P6) (step of determining the target position). The center position determination unit 51 sets the target position as the setting position of the holding unit 16 to the drive control unit 15, which is the drive control unit (step of setting the target position). As a result, the target position of the film deposition module 104 is taught to the drive control unit 15.

[0077] The target position determination and teaching described above are also performed for the film deposition modules 101 to 103 other than the film deposition module 104. As previously described, this target position determination and teaching is performed during periods when no substrate processing, such as film deposition, is being carried out. After the target position determination and teaching for each film deposition module 101 to 104 is completed, the film deposition process is started in the substrate processing apparatus 1. In the first embodiment, the transport path for the substrate W during film deposition in the substrate processing apparatus 1 is as follows: first, the substrate W is transported in the order of transport container K → load port 21 → alignment chamber 26 → atmospheric pressure transport chamber 22 → vacuum transport chamber 24 → one of the film deposition modules 101 to 104. The substrate W that has been deposited in any of the film deposition modules 101 to 104 is transported in the reverse order of the above and returned to the transport container K.

[0078] When transporting the substrate W to one of the deposition modules 101 to 104 along the above transport path, the holding unit 16, which holds the substrate W, is moved to a set position taught by the drive control unit 15, as shown in Figure 13. The substrate W, supported by the holding unit 16, is placed on the center P of the mounting surface 33, then descends towards the center P of the mounting surface 33 via the lifting pin 38, moves horizontally on the mounting surface 33, then comes to rest on the mounting surface 33, and is then placed on the mounting surface 33, after which deposition is performed.

[0079] According to the teaching method of the transport device of the first embodiment, when the transport arm 10a transports the substrate W to the film deposition modules 101 to 104, the setting position of the holding unit 16 can be set based on the target position predetermined by the target position determination of the first embodiment. According to the target position determination of the first embodiment, the holding unit 16 is placed at a temporary setting position on a plurality of predetermined reference axes, and the substrate W is transferred to the mounting table 32, and the position of the center c of the substrate W before and after the transfer is measured by line sensors 41 to 43. Then, the cycle process is repeated on each reference axis while changing the setting position until it is determined that the substrate W has ridden up onto the edge 34, as the amount of displacement D of the position of the substrate W before and after the transfer falls below a threshold. Then, based on the setting position on each reference axis when it is determined that the ridden up has occurred, the position of the center P of the mounting surface 33 is identified. From the position of the center P of the mounting surface 33 identified in this way, the target position where the holding unit 16 should be placed is determined, and by setting this target position as the setting position, the setting position of the holding unit 16 is taught. By setting the substrate W to this position, it can be transferred over the center P of the mounting surface 33 and reliably placed on the mounting surface 33.

[0080] (Modified version of the first embodiment) As shown in the first embodiment, it is preferable to determine the position of the center P of the mounting surface 33 and set a target position such that the center C of the substrate W is positioned on the position of the center P, but this is not a mandatory requirement. For example, the target position may be determined near the center P of the mounting surface 33 as long as it can be reliably placed on the mounting surface 33. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the position of the center P of the mounting surface 33 is determined, but this is not limited to this, and the target position may be determined without determining the center P(Xp, Yp). In this case, the target position is the center C of the substrate W at the boundary position of each reference axis. 1N , C 2N , C 3N , C 4N The center C of the substrate W may be arbitrarily determined to be located within the inner region of the substrate.

[0081] Furthermore, while the boundary position was determined using four reference axes in the first embodiment, it can also be determined using three reference axes. Moreover, in some cases, the boundary position may be determined using only two reference axes. Specifically, for example, it is conceivable that a mounting platform 32 is provided in advance at the position where the transport arm 10a is fully extended. In this case, since the Y coordinate of the target position is predetermined, the boundary position only needs to be determined using two reference axes, such as the 90° and 270° directions.

[0082] In the first embodiment, the setting position is moved in small increments of 0.1 mm, but this movement distance can be set arbitrarily. For example, it is preferable to set the movement distance so that the measurement error expected when determining the boundary position from the diameter difference between the mounting surface 33 and the substrate W is within an acceptable range. If the movement distance is set to be long, the measurement error will be relatively large, and if it is set to be short, the measurement error will be relatively small, but the number of cycle processes will increase and the required time will be extended. The movement distance may also be varied instead of being constant as in the first embodiment. In this case, the movement distance may be set to be long, for example, 0.5 mm when moving towards the initial setting position on each reference axis, and then shortened to, for example, 0.1 mm in the later cycle processes. If an overshoot is suddenly detected when the movement distance is long, for example, a short movement distance of 0.1 mm may be used to find a case where an overshoot is not detected, and the setting position where an overshoot was detected immediately before that may be determined to be the boundary position. As described above, the movement of each setting position can be performed in various ways.

[0083] In the first embodiment, the position and trajectory of the holding portion 16 are set with respect to the holding region, and the center of the holding region and the center C of the substrate W at the holding position are set to be aligned, but they do not have to be aligned. The teaching method in the first embodiment is performed for the setting positions of the film deposition modules 101 to 104, but is not limited to this. For example, it can also be used for the setting positions of mounting tables such as the load lock chamber 23, or the spin chuck in a liquid processing module which is not shown in this disclosure.

[0084] In the first embodiment, the substrate W is transferred between the holding unit 16 and the mounting surface 33, which has a fixed height, by raising and lowering the lifting pin 38. However, the system is not limited to this configuration. As an example, the height of the tip of the lifting pin 38 may be fixed, and the mounting base 32 may be configured to move up and down. In this case, when placing the substrate W, which has been transported to the holding unit 16, onto the mounting base 32, the mounting base 32 is first lowered to a position below the lifting pin 38, causing the lifting pin 38 to protrude from the mounting surface 33. Then, the holding unit 16, which has been positioned at the set position, is lowered to transfer the substrate W to the lifting pin 38. After the holding unit 16 has been removed from the processing container 31, the mounting base 32 is raised to a position above the lifting pin 38, thereby placing the substrate W on the mounting base 32. Conversely, by performing the reverse operation, the substrate W placed on the mounting base 32 can be transferred to the holding unit 16.

[0085] The substrate processing apparatus 1 of this disclosure is not limited to measuring the positional displacement of the substrate W before and after placement using line sensors 41-43. Figure 14 is a plan view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus 1. In the substrate processing apparatus 1A, line sensors 48 and 49, which are arranged in a different configuration and number than the line sensors 41-43 of the first embodiment, are provided in the vacuum transport chamber 24. The line sensors 48 and 49 are provided in the housing of the vacuum transport chamber 24, similar to the line sensors 41-43, and are positioned on both sides of the gate valve G1 in front of each gate valve G1 of the film deposition modules 101-104. As a result, the line sensors 48 and 49 can measure the position of the center c of the substrate W as it passes by, for example, by detecting the peripheral point of the substrate W, which is blocked by the 90° and 270° sides of the substrate W as it moves straight in and out of the loading / unloading ports of the film deposition modules 101-104.

[0086] In the first embodiment, the substrate W is transported by a multi-jointed transport arm 10a, but other transport mechanisms may be used, such as a transport mechanism that moves and transports using magnetic levitation by an electromagnet. In the first embodiment, a tapered surface 34a is provided on the edge 34, but it is not required, and the inner circumference of the edge 34 may be a vertical surface rising from the mounting table 32. In this case, the threshold value for the amount of displacement can be appropriately set to a small value that is sufficient to determine whether the substrate W is riding up. The taper width L is used as the threshold value for the amount of displacement D, but this is not a mandatory requirement. For example, depending on the weight of the substrate W, the shape of the mounting table 32 such as the inclination of the mounting surface 33 and the degree of inclination and surface roughness of the tapered surface 34a, and the positional displacement during transfer with the holding part 16 and the lifting pin 38, the determination of riding up may be made based on criteria other than the taper width L. Cases in which misjudgments occur when riding up is determined based on the taper width L will be explained with reference to Figures 15 and 16.

[0087] Figures 15 and 16 show examples where the displacement amount D can be smaller than the threshold taper width L, even when the substrate W is not riding up. The arrows shown in these figures indicate the direction of movement of the substrate W. Similar to the example explained using Figures 7A to 7C, the mounting table 32 shown in Figures 15 and 16 also has a tapered surface 34a on the inner circumference side of the edge 34, which is positioned downwards as it moves from the periphery towards the center. On the other hand, although not explicitly shown in Figures 15 and 16, the mounting surface 33 of the mounting table 32 is assumed to be an inclined surface in which the height of the mounting surface 33 decreases as it moves from the center towards the periphery where the edge 34 in each figure is provided.

[0088] In this case, as an example, consider the case where the substrate W is transferred to the mounting base 32 from a set position where the peripheral edge of the substrate W is above the tapered surface 34a, as shown in Figure 15(a). At this time, as shown in Figure 15(b), when the peripheral edge of the substrate W comes into contact with the tapered surface 34a, the substrate W slides down toward the mounting surface 33 while its peripheral edge position is restricted by the tapered surface 34a. On the other hand, as previously described, if the height position of the mounting surface 33 is inclined to be lower toward this edge 34, the substrate W, after reaching the mounting surface 33, may come to rest almost horizontally close to the lower end position of the moving tapered surface 34a. Hereafter, the substrate W in the state of being placed on the mounting base 32 and at rest will be referred to as substrate W'. In this case, even though the substrate W' is not riding up onto the edge 34, the amount of displacement D is smaller than the taper width L. For this reason, according to the method of the first embodiment described above, it will be mistakenly judged as riding up onto the edge 34.

[0089] As another example, Figure 16(a) shows a case where the setting position is moved along the reference axis from the center to the periphery of the mounting surface 33, and the peripheral edge of the substrate W is closer than the width L of the tapered surface 34a. In this case, the substrate W placed on the mounting surface 33 moves slightly toward the tapered surface 34a due to the inclined surface of the mounting surface 33 and stops adjacent to the tapered surface 34a (Figure 16(b)). In this case as well, the substrate W' is not riding up, but the amount of displacement D is smaller than the taper width L, and according to the method of the first embodiment described above, it would be incorrectly judged as riding up. As shown in the two examples above, even if the setting position is changed further toward the peripheral edge of the mounting surface 33 along the reference axis, misjudgments may occur in which the correct boundary position cannot be identified. The boundary position identification operation of the second embodiment, which can suppress the occurrence of such misjudgments, will be explained with reference to Figure 17.

[0090] (Second Embodiment) Figure 17 shows an example of boundary position determination operation on a reference axis M in the second embodiment. As shown by the dashed line in Figure 17, this example describes the case where a reference axis M is set to diagonally cross the second quadrant with respect to the XY coordinates passing through the center of the mounting table 32. The position of the substrate in the determination operation from the 1st cycle process to the (N+1)th cycle process is partially extracted and shown. In the same figure, the substrate Wn (solid line) and its center Cn are shown placed at the set position in an arbitrary nth cycle process, and the substrate W'n (double dashed line) and its center C'n are shown in a stationary state after the substrate Wn has been placed on the mounting table 32.

[0091] In the boundary position identification operation in the second embodiment, the first setting position in the first cycle process is set so that the peripheral edge of the substrate W placed at the first setting position is on top of the edge 34. Then, in each cycle process, the setting position is moved along the reference axis M from the peripheral side to the center side of the mounting surface 33 based on a preset movement distance. As a result, the center position of the substrate W at each setting position is C1, C2, ... C along the reference axis M that runs from the peripheral side to the center side of the mounting surface 33. N , C N+1 It is displaced as follows.

[0092] In the example shown in Figure 17, it is assumed that from the 1st to the Nth cycle, the substrate W' is in a state where it is riding on the edge 34 after being placed. Then, in the N+1th cycle, the peripheral edge of the substrate W reaches the tapered surface 34a of the edge 34, and the substrate W slides down along the tapered surface 34a toward the mounting surface 33. In this case, since the substrate W hardly moves in the 1st to Nth cycles, the amount of displacement D becomes a small value and is smaller than the threshold L described later, so it is determined to be riding on the substrate. Then, in the N+1st cycle, the center C is at the N+1th set position. N+1The substrate W on which the substrate is placed does not ride up onto the edge 34, but moves horizontally on the mounting surface 33, and the displacement amount D exceeds the threshold, so it is not determined to be riding up. The center position identification unit 51 repeats the cycle until this N+1th cycle, and identifies the setting position of the Nth cycle, which was last determined to be riding up, as the boundary position. In this second embodiment, in which the setting position is changed along the reference axis M from the peripheral side to the central side of the mounting table 32, as shown in Figure 16, it is possible to avoid executing the cycle process at a position where the distance from the peripheral edge of the substrate W to the inner circumference of the tapered surface 34a is closer than the taper width L. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of misjudgments as explained using Figure 16.

[0093] Furthermore, in order to prevent misjudgment of overhang when the setting position is set such that the peripheral edge of the substrate W is above the tapered surface 34a, as shown in Figure 15, it is preferable to avoid using the width L of the tapered surface 34a as the threshold value. As in the second embodiment explained using Figure 17, when the setting position is moved toward the center from the first setting position where the substrate W is overhanging the edge 34, the threshold value is made narrower than, for example, the width L of the tapered surface 34a. As an example, the threshold value is set to the value obtained by subtracting the distance the setting position moves between cycle processes from the taper width L. This threshold value is the minimum horizontal movement distance (Figure 15(b)) that can be assumed when the peripheral edge of the substrate W moves toward the center of the mounting table 32 along the tapered surface 34a when the peripheral edge of the substrate W is above the tapered surface 34a at the N+1 setting position where the substrate W is not overhanging. Therefore, if the amount of displacement D is greater than the threshold value mentioned above, it can be determined that the substrate W has slid down along the tapered surface 34a, and misjudgment of overhang can be prevented.

[0094] On the other hand, if the threshold is made smaller than the taper width L, there is a possibility of misjudging that the substrate W' that has actually been carried over is not being carried over, so it should be set to the largest possible value. For this reason, the taper width L is preferably at least twice the distance traveled by the set position between cycle processes, and more preferably at least three times the distance traveled, as shown in this example (in the example described above, the width L of the tapered surface 34a = 0.35 mm, and the distance traveled by the set position = 0.1 mm). As explained above, the threshold value compared with the amount of displacement to determine whether or not the substrate W has been carried over the edge 34 is not limited to the width L of the tapered surface 34a adopted in the first embodiment. It is preferable to adjust and set it appropriately according to the arrangement of the equipment, such as the inclination of the mounting surface 33 of the mounting table 32, and the direction of movement of the set position along the reference axis M in the cycle process.

[0095] In the first cycle of the second embodiment, in order for the substrate W' to be securely mounted on the edge 34 after being placed on the mounting table 32, the first setting position can be determined as follows, for example. Specifically, the first setting position is the position obtained by moving the substrate W horizontally toward the outer circumference of the mounting table 32 by a length of "(diameter of mounting table 32 + taper width L × 2) - diameter of substrate W" along a pre-set reference axis M, using the "initial setting position" explained using Figure 11A as a reference.

[0096] (Modified version of the second embodiment) Furthermore, this disclosure is not limited to the case in which a method is employed to determine the boundary position between the tapered surface 34a and the upper end portion 34b using the amount of displacement D from the holding position before and after the substrate W is placed on the mounting table 32, as previously described. Two examples of this will be described below, in which, in each cycle process, the difference Δd between the amount of displacement of the center positions c and c' before and after placement, or the difference Δθ in the direction of displacement of the center positions c and c', is used, based on the center position c' of the substrate W measured by line sensors 41 to 43 after the substrate W is received from the mounting table 32.

[0097] The following describes a first modified example in which overhang is determined based on the displacement difference Δd. Figure 18 shows the relative coordinates used when performing the boundary position identification operation, which is common to both the first and second modified examples of the second embodiment. In this figure, the substrate W is in the proper holding position before being placed on the mounting table 32 in any nth cycle (n=1, ..., N, N+1; the same applies hereafter). n The solid line represents this, and its center c n This shows the substrate W' received from the mounting tray 32. n The center of the dotted line is shown by a dashed line, and its center c' n This shows that, in these modified examples, the setting position is moved from the peripheral side inward, similar to the second embodiment described with reference to Figure 17. Each substrate W'1 to W' received from the mounting table 32 in the 1st to Nth cycle process N Center position c'1~c' N It hardly moves because it rides on the edge 34. Therefore, each substrate W1~W before being placed on the mounting base 32 N Center tag c1~c N Since they are positioned in a similar location, Figure 18 shows the substrates W'1~W' after being received from the mounting base 32. N This is not illustrated.

[0098] In the first modified example, the process is carried out starting from the first cycle, and in the second and subsequent cycles, each substrate W' after being placed on the mounting stage 32 in the current (n) cycle and the previous (n-1) cycle is processed. n-1、 W' n Center position c' n-1 , c' n The difference in displacement Δd is the interval between them. n Determine the following, similar to the first embodiment described using Figure 5, for each center position c'. n-1 , c' n The center position c' of each of these coordinates is calculated from the relative coordinates (x and y coordinates in Figure 18) set with respect to the substrate W which has been aligned in the alignment chamber 26. n-1 , c' n The difference in deviation amount Δd n We calculate the difference in displacement Δd in the N+1th cycle. nHowever, if it exceeds a preset threshold, the substrate W N+1 It is determined that the part has slid down along the tapered surface 34a and is no longer riding on the edge 34.

[0099] Thus, in the first modified example, the central position c', which is a new holding position of the substrate W', is established between the two preceding and succeeding cycle processes. n-1 , c' n The determination of whether or not the object has been run over is made based on the results of comparing the two. The threshold value can be set appropriately according to each situation, as described above, such as the taper width L. Incidentally, the boundary position is not limited to the case where the Nth setting position is adopted. The boundary position may be the position between the Nth setting position in the state where the object has been run over to the edge 34 and the N+1th setting position in which no run-over occurred. Such a method for determining the boundary position can also be applied to the first embodiment described with reference to Figures 8 to 13.

[0100] In the second modification determination step, similar to the first modification, the position of the center c' of the substrate W' at the new holding position in each of the two preceding and succeeding cycle processes is compared. This differs from the first modification in that the presence or absence of overlapping of the substrate W' on the edge 34 is determined based on the difference in the direction in which the center c' moves. The direction in which the center c' moves is determined, for example, by the deviation angle θ of the displacement of the center c' of the substrate W' after placement relative to the center c of the substrate W before placement, with the 90° direction along the x-axis of the relative coordinates (xy coordinates) shown in Figure 18 as the reference direction. The displacement angle θ, which is the deviation angle with respect to the x-axis, is calculated from Arctan(y / x) based on the value of the center position c'(x,y). Then, the center position c' between the two preceding and succeeding cycle processes is determined. n-1 , c' n The displacement angle θ is the direction of the displacement. n-1 θ n Based on these angles, the difference in angle of displacement Δθ n+1 Identify.

[0101] In this way, the displacement angle θ of the center c' is calculated in each cycle step, and in the second and subsequent cycle steps, the displacement angle θ of that cycle step (n steps) is calculated. nAnd the deviation angle θ of the previous (n-1) cycle process. n-1 The difference between these two factors results in a difference in the angle of displacement Δθ. n We calculate the displacement angle difference Δθ in the N+1th cycle. n However, if it exceeds a preset threshold, the substrate W N+1 It is determined that the object has slid down along the tapered surface 34a and is no longer riding on the edge 34. The threshold can be set arbitrarily, taking into account, for example, the inclination shape of the mounting surface 33, but it may be set to ±15 degrees or more, or to ±60 degrees or more.

[0102] In the second modification described above, the central position c' between the sequentially performed cycle processes is n-1 , c' n The angle difference Δθ in the direction of displacement was calculated to determine whether or not the substrate W' was riding up on the edge 34. On the other hand, the determination is not limited to making a determination based on the displacement angle difference Δθ, but a threshold value may be set in advance for the displacement angle θ itself calculated in each cycle process, and the presence or absence of riding up may be determined based on the result of comparison with this threshold value. The first and second modifications described above are preferably applied to the method of the second embodiment in which the setting position of the substrate W is moved from the peripheral side to the central side of the mounting table 32. On the other hand, the application of these first and second modifications to the first embodiment in which the setting position of the substrate W is moved from the central side to the peripheral side of the mounting table 32 is not excluded. Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments and their modifications, various calculation methods for detecting the positional displacement of the substrate W on the mounting table 32 based on the center position c' have been shown, but these are merely examples, and the positional displacement of the substrate W may be detected by other calculation methods based on the center position c'.

[0103] (Third embodiment) Figure 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the target position in the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the process involves checking whether or not abnormal values ​​are included in each boundary position identified in the first and second embodiments, and setting the target position with high accuracy relative to the center position of the mounting table 32. In the third embodiment, for example, boundary positions are identified along four different reference axes, similar to the first embodiment (step S21). However, even if the set position is moved from the center to the periphery as described in the second embodiment to determine whether the substrate W' is riding up, it cannot be said with absolute certainty that no misjudgment has occurred due to some error that occurred during the transfer operation of the substrate W. Therefore, in the third embodiment, it is determined whether or not abnormal values ​​are included in the position estimated to be the inner edge position of the edge portion 34 determined along at least four reference axes (hereinafter also referred to as the "inner edge position").

[0104] The center position identification unit 51 identifies four inner edge positions along four different reference axes (for example, the 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° reference axes shown in Figures 8 and 17) based on the boundary position identification method described in each of the embodiments described above (Step S21, step of identifying four inner edge positions, Table (1) in Figure 23). Next, for each of the four sets of inner edge positions, which are combinations of three inner edge positions selected from the four inner edge positions, the center position of the circle passing through these three inner edge positions is calculated (Step S22, Table (2) in Figure 23), and the center position of each circle is estimated to be the center position of the mounting surface 33 (step of estimating the center position of the mounting base). Then, the variation in the estimated center position of the mounting surface 33 is calculated (Step S23).

[0105] The variation in the center position can be calculated using various methods, for example, the maximum value dX of the difference between the X and Y coordinates of each center position. max dY max Calculate (dX max 2 +dY max 2 ) 1 / 2One example of the calculation method is as follows. Next, the calculated variation of the center position is compared with a preset threshold (step S24) to determine whether there are any outliers in the four inner edge positions (step to determine whether or not there are outliers in the inner edge positions). The threshold is set appropriately by conducting preliminary tests or the like in advance to obtain a variation value that can satisfy the desired accuracy.

[0106] If the variation in the calculated center position is greater than a preset threshold (No. in step S24), it can be assumed that an outlier is present in one of the four inner edge positions. In this case, four new reference axes are set in place of these inner edge positions to identify the four inner edge positions (step S21). At this time, it is not necessary to set all four new reference axes; at least one reference axis may be changed, and a new inner edge position may be identified for the changed reference axis. Then, based on the new inner edge positions, the above process is repeated until the variation in the center position is below the threshold (steps S22-S24).

[0107] If the calculated variation in the center positions is below a preset threshold (Yes in step S24), it is determined that no outliers are included in the four inner edge positions, and the average position of the four center positions is set as the target position (step S25). The average position of the center positions can be, for example, the average value of the X and Y coordinates of each center position. Alternatively, the target position may be set by selecting any center position, or by selecting any position located inside the four center positions. The inner edge positions may be specified as four or more along four or more reference axes.

[0108] (Modified version of the third embodiment) Figure 20 is a flowchart showing a modified version of the third embodiment for determining the target position. In this modified version, the variation in the center position is calculated in the processing of the third embodiment (steps S21 to S23), and if it is determined that an abnormal value is included in the inner edge position (No in step S24), a cycle is executed along the newly set fifth reference axis to identify a new inner edge position (step S31, step to identify the fifth inner edge position). Using the newly identified inner edge position and the four inner edge positions including the abnormal value, the inner edge position with the abnormal value is identified and excluded (step S34). These processes are repeated until it is determined that no abnormal values ​​are included (Yes in step S24). This allows for the efficient setting of four inner edge positions that do not contain abnormal values, and enables the accurate and efficient setting of the target position at the center of the mounting table 32.

[0109] Specifically, in step S34, the identification of the new inner edge position involves running a cycle on a fifth reference axis, which is different from the four reference axes, to identify the fifth inner edge position (inner edge position shown in Table (1) of Figure 24). <5> ). Then, for each of the 10 sets of inner edge positions, which are combinations of 3 inner edge positions selected from the previously identified 4 inner edge positions and a 5th inner edge position, the position of the center of the circle passing through these 3 inner edge positions is calculated (Step S32, Table (2) in Figure 24). The center position thus identified is estimated to be the center position of the mounting surface 33 (Step of estimating the center position of the mounting base). Next, 4 sets of inner edge positions that do not include any one of the 10 sets of inner edge positions are extracted (Tables (3) to (7) in Figure 25), and the variation in the center position of each circle for each combination of the extracted inner edge position sets is calculated (Table (8) in Figure 26).

[0110] The variation in the center position of each circle is calculated in the same way as in the third embodiment, and any inner edge position that is not included in the combination of inner edge position sets that minimizes this variation is determined to be an outlier (step S33, process of determining an inner edge position as an outlier, Table (8) in Figure 26). Then, for the remaining four inner edge positions that have been excluded from being determined to be outliers, steps S22 to S24 described above are performed again to determine whether or not an outlier is included in the four inner edge positions. If it is determined that no outliers are included (Yes in step S24), the target position is set in the same way as in the third embodiment (step S25). If it is determined that an outlier is included (No in step S24), a new fifth reference axis is set again and steps S31 to S34 are performed to identify and exclude the outlier from the five inner edge positions. The above steps S22 to S24 and S31 to S34 are repeated until it is determined that no outliers are included (Yes in step S24). As described above, this modified version allows the target position to be set using the inner edge positions from which the abnormal values ​​have been excluded, by repeatedly adding a fifth inner edge position and excluding the inner edge positions that have been determined to contain abnormal values, until it is determined that no abnormal values ​​are included in the four inner edge positions. [Examples]

[0111] (Experiment 1) Teaching of the setting position shown in the first embodiment was performed.

[0112] A. Experimental conditions Using a substrate processing apparatus 1 similar to that of the first embodiment, an initial setting position was set, and the setting position was moved by 0.1 mm increments during boundary position identification operations in each reference direction of 0°, 180°, 90°, and 270°, and the amount of displacement was calculated for each. For each amount of displacement D at the setting position, the width L of the tapered surface 34a was used as a threshold to determine whether or not there was overlap, and the coordinates of the setting position of the holding part 16 were plotted. The coordinate plot was set as the difference coordinates relative to the initial setting position, with the initial setting position as the origin.

[0113] B. Experimental Results Figure 21 shows the difference coordinates relative to the initial setting position for each setting position; some plots have been omitted for illustrative purposes. For each setting position in the 0° direction, overhang was not detected when its Y coordinate was between 0mm and 0.8mm, but was detected at 0.9mm and 1.0mm. The setting position where the Y coordinate is 0.9mm was determined as the boundary position, and the displacement δ1 was 0.9mm. For each setting position in the 180° direction, overhang was not detected when its Y coordinate is between -0.1mm and -2.5mm, but was detected at -2.6mm. The setting position where the Y coordinate is -2.6mm was determined as the boundary position, and the displacement δ2 was -2.6mm. The Y coordinate of the target position is 0 + (δ1 + δ2) / 2 = (0.9 - 2.6) / 2 = -0.85mm, and this was set as the Y coordinate for each setting position in the 90° and 270° directions.

[0114] For each setting position in the 90° direction, overhang was not detected when the X-coordinate was between +0.1mm and 2.0mm, but overhang was detected at 2.1mm, 2.2mm, and 2.3mm. The setting position where the X-coordinate was 2.1mm was determined as the boundary position, and the displacement δ3 became 2.1mm. For each setting position in the 270° direction, overhang was not detected when the X-coordinate was between -0.1mm and -1.4mm, but overhang was detected at -1.5mm. The setting position where the X-coordinate was -1.5mm was determined as the boundary position, and the displacement δ4 became -1.5mm. The X-coordinate of the target position was 0 + (δ3 + δ4) / 2 = (2.1 - 1.5) / 2 = 0.3mm. The target position (0.3, -0.85) determined as described above was reset to the set position, and when the holding unit 16 was placed at the set position, it was visually confirmed that the center C of the substrate W held at the holding position was positioned on the center P of the mounting surface 33. Then, the substrate W, which was placed on the mounting base 32 via the lifting pin 38, was positioned within the mounting surface 33.

[0115] (Experiment 2) We will examine the trend of the displacement angle difference Δθ shown in the second modified example of the second embodiment to verify whether it is possible to identify the boundary position using this modified example.

[0116] A. Experimental conditions As described in the second modification, the cycle is executed by moving each set position from the center to the periphery of the mounting surface 33 along a single reference axis, and in each cycle step, the center position c' of the substrate W' received from the mounting table 32 is measured by line sensors 41 to 43. Then the displacement angle θ, which is the deviation angle of each center position c', is calculated, and the displacement angle difference Δθ is calculated from the displacement angle θ between preceding and succeeding cycles. The threshold value for the displacement angle difference Δθ was set to 15°.

[0117] B. Experimental Results Figure 22 is a graph showing the experimental results of Experiment 2, with the number of cycles n on the horizontal axis and the difference in displacement angle Δθ on the vertical axis. n The figure shows that, for computational convenience, the displacement angle θ when the number of cycles is 0 was set to 0°. As shown in the figure, for n=1 to 34, the displacement angle difference Δθ n The angle remained stable at less than ±5°. Therefore, for n=1 to 34, the center position c' of each position was determined to be different. n-1 , c' n The angle of the deflection was estimated to be close to 0° and therefore nearly identical, and each center position c' was considered to be approximately the same as the corresponding center position c. At n=35, the displacement angle difference Δθn was 165°, which was significantly larger than the threshold of 15°. Therefore, the center position c' at n=35 35 The angle of the declination becomes approximately 165°, and the corresponding center position c 35 It was inferred that the boundary had moved significantly from its previous position. Therefore, it was inferred that the boundary position was the position set during the 34th cycle.

[0118] (Experiment 3) In the second embodiment, four inner edge positions were identified, and in the third embodiment, the degree of variation in each center position calculated from the three inner edge positions constituting the four sets of inner edge positions was confirmed.

[0119] A. Experimental conditions By identifying the boundary positions as shown in the second embodiment, three boundary positions were identified without misjudgment. Then, using the boundary position identification method shown in the first embodiment, one boundary position was intentionally misjudged and treated as an outlier, thereby identifying four inner edge positions. For each of the four combinations of boundary positions, three of which were selected from these four inner edge positions, the center position of the circle was calculated, and the variation in the center positions of the four circles when one outlier is included was calculated.

[0120] B. Experimental Results Figure 23 shows Tables (1) and (2) illustrating the experimental results of Experiment 4. Table (1) of the second embodiment shows the four inner edge positions. <1> ~ <4> The coordinates of each are shown, and the inner edge position <1> ~ <3> It identifies the inner edge position without misidentification. <4> This was identified through deliberate misidentification. As shown in Table (2) of the same figure, the inner edge position <1> ~ <4> Three of these were selected to create four sets of inner edge position sets, and the center position of the circle passing through the three inner edge positions in each set was calculated from the coordinates of each inner edge position. Then, in order to calculate the variation in the center position of the circle, the maximum value dX of the difference in the X coordinates of each center position was first calculated. max = -1.039 - (-0.665) = 0.374 mm, the maximum value of the difference in the Y coordinate, dY. max =1.630-0.916=0.714mm was obtained. Using these values, the variation in the center position of the circle is (dX max 2 +dY max 2 ) 1 / 2 =(0.374 2 +0.714 2 ) 1 / 2 The calculated value was 0.806 mm.

[0121] By collecting data on the variation in the center position of circles with four boundary positions containing one outlier, and the variation in the center position of circles with four inner boundary positions that do not contain an outlier, it was thought possible to find a threshold for the variation in center position to determine whether an outlier is included in an inner boundary position.

[0122] (Experiment 4) We will verify whether abnormal values ​​can be detected by a modified version of the third embodiment.

[0123] A. Experimental conditions Four boundary locations, including one outlier in Experiment 4. <1> ~ <4> And, newly identified boundary positions that are not outliers <5> Ten sets of inner edge positions and the center positions of the circles were identified. Then, four combinations of inner edge position sets that did not include each of the ten inner edge position sets were extracted, and the variability of the center position of each circle in each combination was calculated. The inner edge positions that were not included in the four inner edge position set with the smallest variability were identified and treated as outliers. <4> We checked to see if we could identify it.

[0124] B. Experimental Results Figures 24 to 26 are tables showing the experimental results of Experiment 4. Table (1) in Figure 24 shows the four inner edge positions of Experiment 4. <1> ~ <4> and inner edge positions that are not abnormal values <5> These are the coordinates of each of them. And as shown in Table (2) of the same figure, these inner edge positions <1> ~ <5> Three of these were selected to create 10 sets of inner edge position sets, and the center position of the circle passing through the three inner edge positions in each set was calculated from the coordinates of each inner edge position. <1> ~ <5> Four sets of inner edge position values ​​that do not include each of the above were extracted (Tables (3) to (7) in Figure 25). Then, the inner edge position <1> ~ <5> The variation in the circle's center position for each inner edge position set that does not include was calculated in the same way as the variation in the circle's center position in Experiment 4 (Table (8) in Figure 26). Among these, the inner edge position <4> The variation in the circle's center position is minimized when the inner edge position set does not include the specified value, and the inner edge position is an outlier. <4> We were able to identify it.

[0125] It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The above embodiments may be omitted, substituted, modified, and combined in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0126] W board 10a Transport arm 15 Drive control unit 17. Pulse encoder 32 Mounting platform 33 Mounting surface 34 Edge 38 Lifting pins 5. Control Unit

Claims

1. A teaching method for a substrate transport device, The substrate transport device comprises a transport arm for transporting substrates, a drive mechanism for moving the transport arm, and a drive control unit for controlling the drive mechanism so that the transport arm moves to a preset position. When transporting a substrate to a mounting table, which comprises a mounting surface on which a substrate is placed, an edge portion provided along the periphery of the mounting surface so as to protrude from the mounting surface, and a lifting pin configured to extend and retract from the mounting surface and to transfer the substrate between the mounting table and the transport arm, The process involves moving the setting position multiple times along one of the reference axes selected from a plurality of reference axes set to pass through the central and peripheral sides of the mounting surface and extend in different directions from one another, and executing a cycle consisting of the following steps (a) to (d) at each of the setting positions. (a) Step: A step of moving a transport arm holding the substrate in a preset holding position toward one of the preset positions. (b) Step: A step of transferring the substrate from the transport arm, which has moved to the set position described above, to the mounting stand described above via the lifting pin, (c) Step: The step of receiving the substrate from the stand described above, which has been handed over to the substrate, via the lifting pin to the transport arm, (d) Step; a step of detecting the new holding position of the substrate after it has been received from the stand described above to the transport arm, Based on the new holding position detected in step (d) above, the cycle includes a step of determining whether or not the substrate was in a state of riding up on the edge in step (b) above, A step of determining a target position for transferring the substrate from the transport arm to the aforementioned stand, based on the setting position at which it was determined that the substrate was riding up on the edge of each of the plurality of reference axes, A method comprising the step of setting the target position as the set position of the transport arm to the drive control unit.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the determination step, if the amount of deviation between the preset holding position and the new holding position of the substrate detected in step (d) is less than or equal to a preset threshold, it is determined that in the cycle, in step (b), the substrate was in a state of riding up on the edge.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein in the step of executing the cycle, the set position is moved along the one reference axis from the central side to the peripheral side based on a predetermined movement distance, and the cycle is repeated until the amount of displacement detected in step (d) is less than or equal to the threshold value.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein in the step of executing the cycle, the set position is moved along the one reference axis from the peripheral side to the central side based on a predetermined movement distance, and the cycle is repeated until the amount of displacement detected in step (d) exceeds the threshold value.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination step involves determining whether the substrate was in a state of riding on the edge, based on the result of comparing the new holding position of the substrate detected in step (d) between the two cycles performed by moving the set position, before and after the set position.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determination step involves determining, between the two cycles, whether or not the substrate was in a state of riding up on the edge, based on the distance between the centers of the substrate at the new holding position of the substrate.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein in the step of executing the cycle, the set position is moved along the one reference axis from the peripheral side to the central side based on a predetermined movement distance, and in the step of determining, the cycle is repeated between the two cycles until the distance between the centers of the substrate at the new holding position of the substrate exceeds a predetermined threshold.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determination step involves determining whether the substrate was in a state of riding up on the edge, based on the difference in the direction in which the center of the substrate moves at the new holding position of the substrate between the two cycles.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the step of executing the cycle, the set position is moved along the one reference axis from the peripheral side to the central side based on a predetermined movement distance, and in the step of determining, the cycle is repeated between the two cycles until the angular difference in the direction of displacement of the center of the substrate at the new holding position of the substrate exceeds a predetermined threshold.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mounting base has a circular planar shape, and at least three of the plurality of reference axes are set.

11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the substrate has a circular planar shape, and in the step of determining the target position, the target position is determined such that the center of the substrate coincides with the center of the stand described above.

12. In the process of executing the cycle, the cycle is executed along four reference axes, The step of determining the target position is: Based on the results of performing the cycle along each of the four reference axes, and determining that the device was in a state of being overriding the edge, the process involves identifying four inner edge positions that are estimated to be the inner edge positions of the edge, based on the first set position at which this determination was made. For each of the four sets of inner edge positions, which are combinations of three inner edge positions selected from the four inner edge positions, the position of the center of the circle passing through these three inner edge positions is identified, and the position of the center of the aforementioned base is estimated. The method according to claim 11, comprising the step of comparing the variation in the center position of the mounting platform estimated from the four sets of inner edge position sets with a preset threshold value to determine whether or not an abnormal value is included in the inner edge position.

13. If, in the aforementioned determination process, it is determined that an abnormal value is included in the inner edge position, The process includes performing the cycle with respect to a fifth reference axis that is different from the four reference axes mentioned above, and determining the position of the fifth inner edge, The step of determining the target position is: For each of the 10 sets of inner edge positions, which are combinations of three inner edge positions selected from the four inner edge positions and the fifth inner edge position, the position of the center of the circle passing through these three inner edge positions is identified, and the position of the center of the base described above is estimated. The method according to claim 12, comprising the step of determining an abnormal value an inner edge position identified along the reference axis that is not included in the inner edge position set that minimizes the variation in the center position of the mounting platform estimated from the 10 sets of inner edge position sets.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of determining the target position includes the steps of estimating the position of the center of the base described above for the remaining four inner edge positions, excluding the inner edge position determined to be an abnormal value, and determining whether or not an abnormal value is included in the inner edge position.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate has a circular planar shape, and in step (d), the center of the substrate held by the transport arm is determined, and a new holding position of the substrate is detected.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein in step (d), the position of the center of the substrate is determined based on the results of detecting at least three different positions along the periphery of the substrate held by the transport arm.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein a tapered surface is formed on the inner circumference of the edge facing the aforementioned surface, which gradually decreases in height from the upper end of the edge toward the aforementioned surface.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mounting platform is provided inside a processing container for processing the substrate.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the processing container constitutes a film deposition processing module for performing film deposition processing on the substrate.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the teaching method is performed during a period when the substrate is not being processed.

21. A substrate processing apparatus for processing substrates, The substrate processing apparatus comprises a processing module having a processing container for processing substrates, a transport module equipped with a transport arm for transporting the substrates, a position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the substrates held by the transport arm, and a control unit. The processing container is provided with a mounting table having a mounting surface on which a substrate is placed, an edge portion provided along the periphery of the mounting surface so as to protrude from the mounting surface, and a lifting pin configured to extend and retract from the mounting surface, which transfers the substrate between the transport arm and the mounting table. When the transport arm transports the substrate, the control unit moves the set position multiple times along one of the reference axes selected from a plurality of reference axes set to pass through the central and peripheral sides of the aforementioned mounting surface and extend in different directions from one another, and at each of the set positions, it executes a cycle consisting of the following steps (a) to (d): (a) A step of moving a transport arm holding the substrate in a preset holding position toward one of the preset positions, (b) A step of transferring the substrate from the transport arm, which has moved to the setting position described above, to the mounting stand described above via the lifting pin, (c) A step of receiving the substrate from the stand described above, via the lifting pin, onto the transport arm. (d) A step in which the position detection mechanism detects the new holding position of the substrate after it has been received from the stand described above to the transport arm, Based on the new holding position detected in (d) above, the cycle includes a step of determining whether the substrate was in a state of riding on the edge in step (b), A substrate processing apparatus configured to output a control signal for performing the following steps: determining a target position for transferring the substrate from the transport arm to the aforementioned stand, based on a setting position at which it is determined that the substrate was riding up on the edge of each of the plurality of reference axes; and setting the target position as the setting position of the transport arm.

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