System and substrate processing system

Abstract

This invention provides a system and a substrate processing system that can transport substrates to the module mounting area with high positional accuracy using a substrate transport device that utilizes magnetic levitation. [Solution] The system comprises a transport chamber to which a module having a mounting section for placing a substrate is connected, and a substrate transport device for transporting the substrate to the module. The substrate transport device comprises a transport unit having a substrate holding section for holding the substrate and a base for moving the substrate holding section along the bottom of the transport chamber, a plurality of tiles arranged below the bottom wall of the transport chamber, a plurality of electromagnetic coils housed inside each of the plurality of tiles and generating a magnetic field when powered, and a linear drive unit that magnetically levitates the base with the generated magnetic field, the plurality of tiles including a first tile that is physically connected to the module, and a gap is formed between the first tile and the transport chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a system and a substrate processing system.

Background Art

[0002] For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, when processing a semiconductor wafer as a substrate, a substrate processing system including a plurality of processing chambers, a transfer chamber connected to the processing chambers, and a substrate transfer device provided in the transfer chamber is used.

[0003] In such a substrate processing system, as a substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate, a device having a planar motor using magnetic levitation and a substrate transfer unit (substrate carrier) for transferring a substrate disposed above the upper surface of the planar motor has been proposed (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this technology, the planar motor is used as the bottom surface of the transfer chamber, and the substrate is carried into and out of the processing chamber with the substrate placed on the substrate support portion of the substrate transfer unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The present disclosure provides a system and a substrate processing system capable of transferring a substrate to a mounting portion of a module with high positional accuracy by a substrate transfer device using magnetic levitation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A system according to one aspect of the present disclosure comprises a transport chamber to which a module having a mounting section for placing a substrate is connected, and a substrate transport device for transporting the substrate to the module, wherein the substrate transport device comprises a transport unit having a substrate holding section for holding the substrate and a base for moving the substrate holding section along the bottom of the transport chamber, a plurality of tiles arranged below the bottom wall of the transport chamber, a plurality of electromagnetic coils housed inside each of the plurality of tiles and generating a magnetic field when powered, and a linear drive unit for magnetically levitating the base with the generated magnetic field, wherein the plurality of tiles include a first tile that is physically connected to the module, and a gap is formed between the first tile and the transport chamber. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, a system and a substrate processing system are provided that can transport substrates to the module mounting section with high positional accuracy using a substrate transport device that utilizes magnetic levitation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a schematic plan view showing a substrate processing system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the transport unit and planar motor of a substrate transport device. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view illustrating the driving principle of a planar motor. [Figure 4] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of tiles in a substrate processing system according to one embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of tiles in a substrate processing system according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of tiles in a conventional substrate processing system. [Figure 7] This is a schematic plan view illustrating the state of thermal expansion in a conventional substrate processing system. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing a substrate processing system according to one embodiment.

[0010] The substrate processing system 100 of this embodiment performs processing on multiple substrates in a continuous manner. The substrate processing is not particularly limited and can include various processes such as film deposition, etching, ashing, and cleaning. The substrate is not particularly limited, but semiconductor wafers are an example.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the substrate processing system 100 is a multi-chamber type system and comprises multiple processing chambers 110, a vacuum transport chamber 120, two load lock chambers 130, an atmospheric transport chamber 140, a substrate transport device 150, and a control unit 160.

[0012] The vacuum transport chamber 120 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and its interior is depressurized into a vacuum atmosphere. Multiple processing chambers 110 are connected to opposing walls on the long side via gate valves G. Two load lock chambers 130 are connected to one wall on the short side of the vacuum transport chamber 120 via gate valve G1. An atmospheric transport chamber 140 is connected to the opposite side of the two load lock chambers 130 from the vacuum transport chamber 120 via gate valve G2. The processing chambers 110 and load lock chambers 130 function as modules that handle the loading and unloading of substrates W and have a mounting section on which the substrates W are placed.

[0013] The substrate transport device 150 within the vacuum transport chamber 120 is used to transport substrates W to and from the processing chamber 110 and the load lock chamber 130, and comprises a planar motor (linear unit) 10 and a transport unit 20. Details of the substrate transport device 150 will be described later.

[0014] Between the processing chamber 110 and the vacuum transfer chamber 120, communication is established by opening the gate valve G, enabling the transfer of the substrate W by the substrate transfer device 150, and blocked by closing the gate valve G. Also, between the load lock chamber 130 and the vacuum transfer chamber 120, communication is established by opening the gate valve G1, enabling the transfer of the substrate W by the substrate transfer device 150, and blocked by closing the gate valve G1.

[0015] The processing chamber 110 has a mounting table 111 having a mounting position for mounting the substrate W, and performs desired processing (film forming processing, etching processing, ashing processing, cleaning processing, etc.) on the substrate W mounted on the mounting table 111 in a state where the inside is depressurized to a vacuum atmosphere.

[0016] The load lock chamber 130 has a mounting table 131 for mounting the substrate W, and controls the pressure between atmospheric pressure and vacuum when transferring the substrate W between the atmospheric transfer chamber 140 and the vacuum transfer chamber 120.

[0017] The atmospheric transfer chamber 140 has an atmospheric atmosphere, and for example, a downflow of clean air is formed. Also, a load port (not shown) is provided on the wall surface of the atmospheric transfer chamber 140. The load port is configured such that a carrier (not shown) in which the substrate W is accommodated or an empty carrier is connected. As the carrier, for example, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) or the like can be used.

[0018] Also, an atmospheric transfer device (not shown) for transferring the substrate W is provided inside the atmospheric transfer chamber 140. The atmospheric transfer device takes out the substrate W accommodated in a load port (not shown) and mounts it on the mounting table 131 of the load lock chamber 130, or takes out the substrate W mounted on the mounting table 131 of the load lock chamber 130 and accommodates it in the load port. Between the load lock chamber 130 and the atmospheric transfer chamber 140, communication is established by opening the gate valve G2, enabling the transfer of the substrate W by the atmospheric transfer device, and blocked by closing the gate valve.

[0019] The control unit 160 is composed of a computer and includes a main control unit with a CPU, an input device, an output device, a display device, and a storage device (storage medium). The main control unit controls the operations of each component of the substrate processing system 100. For example, it controls the processing of the substrate W in each processing chamber 110, the opening and closing of the gate valves G, G1, G2, etc. The control of each component by the main control unit is based on a processing recipe, which is a control program stored in a storage medium (such as a hard disk, optical disk, semiconductor memory, etc.) built into the storage device.

[0020] Also, in this embodiment, the control unit 160 has a transport control unit 70 that controls the substrate transport device 150.

[0021] Next, the substrate transport device 150 according to this embodiment will be described in detail based on FIGS. 2 to 5 in addition to the above-mentioned FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the transport unit and the planar motor of the substrate transport device, FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the driving principle of the planar motor, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the tile arrangement in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing the tile arrangement in this embodiment.

[0022] As described above, the substrate transport device 150 has a planar motor (linear unit) 10 and a transport unit 20.

[0023] The planar motor (linear unit) 10 linearly drives the transport unit 20 (the mover). The planar motor (linear unit) 10 has a plurality of tiles 11 (stators) arranged along the bottom of the vacuum transport chamber 120. Specifically, the plurality of tiles 11 are spread under the bottom wall 121 of the vacuum transport chamber 120. A plurality of electromagnetic coils 12 are arranged in each tile 11, and a linear drive unit 13 that individually supplies power to the plurality of electromagnetic coils to generate a magnetic field and linearly drives the transport unit 20 is connected to the plurality of electromagnetic coils 12. The linear drive unit 13 is controlled by the transport control unit 70.

[0024] The transport unit 20 has an end effector 50, which is a substrate holder that holds the substrate W, and a base 30, with the end effector 50 mounted on the base 30. The end effector 50 can access the mounting table 111 of the processing chamber 110 and the mounting table 131 of the load lock chamber 130. Although the figure shows an example with one transport unit 20, two or more transport units 20 may be provided.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3, the base 30 is constructed by arranging multiple permanent magnets 35 within it and is driven by the magnetic field generated when current is supplied to an electromagnetic coil 12 located within the tile 11 of the planar motor 10. As the base 30 is driven, the end effector 50 that holds the substrate W is moved.

[0026] The base 30 is configured to magnetically levitate from the surface of the tile 11 by directing the current supplied to the electromagnetic coil 12 of the planar motor (linear unit) 10 in such a direction that the resulting magnetic field repels the permanent magnet 35. By stopping the current to the electromagnetic coil 12, the levitation of the base 30 is stopped, and it rests on the floor surface of the bottom wall 121 of the vacuum transport chamber 120.

[0027] Furthermore, by individually controlling the current supplied from the linear drive unit 13 to the electromagnetic coil 12 by the transport control unit 70, the base 30 can be moved (linearly and pivotally) along the floor surface of the vacuum transport chamber 120, where multiple tiles 11 are arranged, while magnetically levitating, and its position can be controlled. The amount of levitation can also be controlled by controlling the current. The position control of the base 30 by the transport control unit 70 is performed based on the position of the tiles 11.

[0028] In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, among the multiple tiles 11 of the planar motor 10, those located in positions corresponding to the processing chamber 110, which has a mounting table 111 on which the substrate W is placed (hereinafter referred to as tile 11A), are connected to the processing chamber 110 and not to the vacuum transport chamber 120. The processing chamber 110 is a module that requires particularly high transport accuracy because the substrate W is placed on the mounting table 111, which is the mounting section, and processing is carried out there.

[0029] On the other hand, among the multiple tiles 11 of the planar motor 10, those that do not correspond to the processing chamber 110 (hereinafter referred to as tile 11B) are connected to the vacuum transport chamber 120.

[0030] Multiple tiles 11A are provided to correspond to multiple processing chambers 110, and tiles 11B are provided between tiles 11A so as to be adjacent to tiles 11A.

[0031] Thus, since tile 11A, which corresponds to processing chamber 110, is connected to processing chamber 110, even if the vacuum transport chamber 120 expands due to external heat, for example, the position of tile 11A does not follow the thermal expansion of the vacuum transport chamber 120, but follows the corresponding processing chamber 110. On the other hand, tile 11B, which does not correspond to processing chamber 110, is connected to the vacuum transport chamber 120, so it expands thermally in accordance with the vacuum transport chamber 120.

[0032] Furthermore, a gap 11a is formed between adjacent tiles 11, and this gap 11a has the function of absorbing the thermal expansion of the tiles 11. For example, the amount of thermal expansion of a tile 11A connected to the processing chamber 110 and a tile 11B not connected to the processing chamber 110 are different, but the gap 11a between them can absorb the difference in thermal expansion. The width of the gap 11a is set appropriately according to the amount of thermal expansion of the tiles, and a width of about 1 mm or less is sufficient.

[0033] Next, an example of the operation of the substrate processing system 100 will be described. Here, as an example of the operation of the substrate processing system 100, the operation in which a substrate W housed in a carrier attached to the load port is processed in the processing chamber 110 and then housed in an empty carrier attached to the load port will be described. The following operations are performed based on the processing recipe of the control unit 160.

[0034] First, the substrate W is removed from the carrier connected to the load port by an atmospheric transport device (not shown) in the atmospheric transport chamber 140, and the gate valve G2 is opened to transport it into the atmospheric load lock chamber 130. After closing the gate valve G2, the load lock chamber 130 into which the substrate W has been transported is made into a vacuum state corresponding to the vacuum transport chamber 120. Next, the corresponding gate valve G1 is opened, and the substrate W in the load lock chamber 130 is removed by the end effector 50 of the transport unit 20, and the gate valve G1 is closed. Then, after opening the gate valve G corresponding to one of the processing chambers 110, the end effector 50 transports the substrate W into that processing chamber 110 and places it on the mounting table 111. Finally, the end effector 50 is moved out of the processing chamber 110, the gate valve G is closed, and then processing such as film deposition is performed in that processing chamber 110.

[0035] After processing in processing chamber 110 is completed, the corresponding gate valve G is opened, and the end effector 50 of the transport unit 20 removes the substrate W from the processing chamber 110. Then, after closing gate valve G, gate valve G1 is opened, and the substrate W held by the end effector 50 is transported to the load lock chamber 130. After that, gate valve G1 is closed, and the load lock chamber 130 into an atmospheric environment is opened, then gate valve G2 is opened, and the substrate W is removed from the load lock chamber 130 by an atmospheric transport device (not shown) and stored in the carrier of the load port (neither shown). The above processing is performed simultaneously and in parallel for multiple substrates W using multiple processing chambers 110. At this time, by providing multiple transport units 20 and having each transport unit 20 simultaneously transport the substrates W, more efficient processing can be achieved.

[0036] In the above description, we have described a parallel transport case in which a substrate W is transported by the substrate transport device 150 to one of the processing chambers 110, and while a substrate W is being transported in that processing chamber 110, another substrate W is transported to another processing chamber 110. However, the system is not limited to this. For example, it may also be a serial transport case in which one substrate W is sequentially transported to multiple processing chambers 110.

[0037] During the above process, the substrate W is transported by a substrate transport device 150 having a planar motor (linear unit) 10 and a transport unit 20. In the substrate transport device 150, the transport control unit 70 individually controls the current supplied from the linear drive unit 13 to the electromagnetic coil 12, thereby magnetically levitating and moving (linear movement and rotation) the base 30 and controlling its position. The transport position control at this time is performed with the position of the tile 11 as the reference.

[0038] Incidentally, the stator tile 11 has conventionally been attached to the vacuum transport chamber 120, as shown in Figure 6.

[0039] The vacuum transport chamber 120 is a large container to which multiple modules, such as the processing chamber 110 and the load lock chamber 130, are connected. It is subject to relatively large deformation due to changes in atmosphere and vacuum, as well as thermal expansion due to external heat sources. Consequently, the displacement of the tiles 11 due to the deformation and thermal expansion of the vacuum transport chamber 120 is also relatively large. For example, when heat is applied from an external heat source, as shown in Figure 7, the vacuum transport chamber 120 expands in the direction opposite to the load lock chamber 130, which mainly lacks modules and has low rigidity, and the tiles 11 are displaced in the same direction. Consequently, the access position of the transport unit 20 to the processing chamber 110 is also displaced in the same way.

[0040] On the other hand, the processing chamber 110, one of the modules connected to the vacuum transport chamber 120, requires high transport accuracy when transporting the substrate W to the mounting table 111 in order to perform high-precision processing on the substrate W. Furthermore, the processing chamber 110 is a module that is less prone to positional changes due to seismic fixing and other factors.

[0041] Therefore, conventionally, displacement of the tiles 11 due to thermal expansion and deformation of the vacuum transport chamber 120 sometimes caused problems with misalignment when transporting the substrate W to the processing chamber 110 and placing it on the mounting table 111.

[0042] In contrast, in this embodiment, among the multiple tiles 11 of the planar motor 10, the tile 11A located in a position corresponding to the processing chamber 110 where high substrate transport accuracy is required is connected to the processing chamber 110 but not to the vacuum transport chamber 120. Therefore, the tile 11A does not displace in accordance with the thermal expansion or deformation of the vacuum transport chamber 120, but displaces in accordance with the processing chamber 110 to which it is connected.

[0043] Thus, even if thermal expansion or deformation occurs in the vacuum transport chamber 120, the tile 11A, which serves as the reference for position control of the transport unit 20 when transporting the substrate W to the mounting table 111 in the processing chamber 110, displaces in accordance with the processing chamber 110 to which it is connected. Therefore, there is almost no positional misalignment when transporting the substrate W to the processing chamber 110.

[0044] Furthermore, since the tile 11B that does not correspond to the processing chamber 110 is displaced in accordance with the thermal expansion and deformation of the vacuum transport chamber 120, the amount of displacement differs between tile 11A and tile 11B. However, since a gap 11a is formed between them, the difference in the amount of displacement can be absorbed.

[0045] Furthermore, from the viewpoint of improving the transport accuracy of the transport unit 20 in the vacuum transport chamber 120, regardless of whether the tiles are 11A or 11B, an external sensor may be provided to detect deformation of the vacuum transport chamber 120, and control may be added to correct the absolute position of the transport unit 20 (base 30) based on this. Specifically, the positional displacement of the tile 11 may be calculated from the amount of deformation detected by the external sensor, fed back to the transport control unit 70, and the current distribution of the electromagnetic coil may be adjusted to cancel the positional displacement of the tile 11, thereby correcting the absolute position of the transport unit 20.

[0046] Although embodiments have been described above, the embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The above embodiments may be omitted, replaced, or modified in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

[0047] For example, in the above embodiment, a configuration in which the end effector is directly attached to the base is shown as the transport unit of the substrate processing system, but a link mechanism may be provided between the base and the end effector. Also, two or more bases may be used.

[0048] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a processing chamber where transport accuracy is particularly required was used as an example of a module that handles the loading and unloading of substrates and has a mounting section for placing the substrates, but it is not limited to this. Such a module may be the load lock chamber described above, or it may be any other module.

[0049] Furthermore, while semiconductor wafers were used as an example of substrates, other substrates such as FPD (flat panel display) substrates, quartz substrates, and ceramic substrates may also be used. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 10; Planar motor 11, 11A, 11B; Tiles 11a; gap 12; Electromagnetic coil 13; Linear drive unit 20; Conveyor unit 30; Bass 35; Permanent magnet 50; End effector (board holder) 70; Conveying control unit 100; Substrate processing system 110; Processing room 120; Vacuum transfer chamber 130; Load lock room 140; Atmospheric transport room 150; Substrate transport device 160; Control Unit W; substrate

Claims

1. A transport chamber to which a module having a mounting section for placing a circuit board is connected, A substrate transport device for transporting substrates to the module, It has, The substrate transport device is A transport unit having a substrate holding section for holding a substrate, and a base for moving the substrate holding section along the bottom of the transport chamber, Multiple tiles arranged below the bottom wall of the transport chamber, Each of the aforementioned tiles is housed inside a plurality of electromagnetic coils that generate a magnetic field when powered, A linear drive unit that magnetically levitates the base using the generated magnetic field, It has, The system comprises a plurality of tiles, including a first tile that is physically connected to the module, with a gap formed between the first tile and the transport chamber.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein gaps are formed between adjacent tiles of the plurality of tiles.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of tiles include a second tile positioned not adjacent to the module, and the second tile is physically connected to the transport chamber.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the first tile and the second tile are provided adjacent to each other, and a gap is formed between the first tile and the second tile.

5. The system according to claim 2 or claim 4, wherein the width of the gap is 1 mm or less.

6. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the module is a processing chamber for processing the substrate, and a mounting table is provided as the mounting section described above.

7. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a plurality of the aforementioned modules.

8. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, A module having a mounting section on which a circuit board is mounted, A substrate processing system equipped with the following features.

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