SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

To provide a device capable of performing processing using a dummy substrate while reducing an influence on a transport of a product substrate, a system, and a method.SOLUTION: A substrate processing device 1 contains: an indexer block 2; and a processing block 3 adjacent to a lateral direction of the indexer block. The processing block contains processing block layers BL and BU. The indexer block contains: a carrier holding part 25 for holding a carrier C housing a substrate W; and an indexer robot 26. Each processing block layer contains: a plurality of processing units 11L-13U and 21L-23U; substrate mounting parts 6L and 6U temporally holding the substrate which is received from and transported to the indexer robot; dummy substrate housing parts 7L and 7U housing a dummy substrate DW; and main transfer robots 8L and 8U for conveying the substrate. The substrate processing device requests an exchange of the dummy substrate by communicating with a host computer. The host computer carries-in / carries-out a dummy carrier in accordance with the request.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for processing a substrate. Substrates to be processed include, for example, semiconductor wafers, substrates for FPDs (Flat Panel Displays) such as liquid crystal displays and organic EL (Electroluminescence) displays, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for magneto-optical disks, substrates for photomasks, ceramic substrates, substrates for solar cells, etc. [Background technology]

[0002] In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, a substrate processing apparatus is used to process substrates such as semiconductor wafers. An example of such a substrate processing apparatus is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This substrate processing apparatus includes a carrier holding section that holds a carrier that accommodates a substrate, a plurality of processing units that process the substrate, a transport unit that transports the substrate between the carrier and the processing units, and a control unit. When the processing unit is not in use for a predetermined period of time, the control unit requests the host device to load a dummy carrier that holds a dummy substrate. When the dummy carrier is loaded into the carrier holding section, the transport unit transports the dummy substrate from the dummy carrier to the processing unit. The processing unit is cleaned using the dummy substrate.

[0003] The transport unit includes an indexer robot and a main transport robot, with a transfer unit disposed therebetween. The indexer robot transfers the substrate between the carrier and the transfer unit. The main transport robot transfers the substrate between the transfer unit and the processing unit. When the dummy carrier is placed on the carrier holding section, the indexer robot removes the dummy substrate from the dummy carrier and transports it to the transfer unit. The dummy substrate is transported from the transfer unit to the processing unit by the main transport robot. When the unit cleaning process using the dummy substrate is completed, the main transport robot removes the dummy substrate from the processing unit and transports it to the transfer unit. The dummy substrate is transported from the transfer unit to the dummy carrier by the indexer robot. When all the dummy substrates are accommodated in the dummy carrier, the dummy carrier is removed from the carrier holding section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-41506 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In this way, the dummy substrate is introduced from outside the substrate processing apparatus, transported to the processing unit through the same path as the product substrate, and then unloaded from the processing unit and accommodated in the dummy carrier. Therefore, both the indexer robot and the main transport robot are used to transport the dummy substrate, and the dummy substrate is transported through the transfer unit. This causes interference with the transport of the product substrate, reducing the efficiency of transporting the product substrate, and as a result, preventing improvement in productivity.

[0006] In particular, in a substrate processing apparatus configured to process a large number of product substrates in parallel by increasing the number of processing units, the transport load on the indexer robot and main transport robot is large, and reducing this load is the key to improving productivity. In addition, the dummy carrier is carried into the carrier holding section, the dummy substrate is carried from there to the processing unit, and the dummy carrier occupies the carrier holding section until the dummy substrate is accommodated in the carrier after the processing in the processing unit is completed. Therefore, since the dummy carrier continues to occupy the carrier holding section, there is a risk that a waiting time will occur before the product substrate can be carried in. Therefore, from this viewpoint as well, the improvement of productivity is hindered.

[0007] Therefore, one embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate processing system, and a substrate processing method that are capable of performing processing using a dummy substrate in a processing unit while reducing the impact on the transport of product substrates. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention includes a carrier holding section that holds a carrier that houses a substrate or a dummy substrate, a processing unit that processes a substrate and performs a process using the dummy substrate, a dummy substrate accommodation section that houses the dummy substrate, a substrate placement section on which the substrate is placed, a first transport unit that is accessible to the processing unit, the dummy substrate accommodation section, and the substrate placement section, and transports the substrate between the processing unit and the substrate placement section, and transports the dummy substrate between the processing unit, the dummy substrate accommodation section, and the substrate placement section, a second transport unit that is accessible to the carrier holding section and the substrate placement section, and transports the substrate between the carrier holding section and the substrate placement section, and a dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation section. the substrate processing apparatus includes: a memory unit that stores usage history information of the substrate; an expiration date notifying unit that notifies expiration date information of a dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodating unit based on the usage history information stored in the memory unit; a schedule creation unit that creates a transport schedule for the substrate or dummy substrate by the first transport unit and the second transport unit, the schedule creation unit creating a transport schedule for transporting the dummy substrate for which the expiration date information has been notified from the dummy substrate accommodating unit to the carrier holding unit and recovering it; and a transport control unit that controls transport of the substrate or dummy substrate by the first transport unit and the second transport unit in accordance with the transport schedule created by the schedule creation unit.

[0009] According to this configuration, since the substrate processing apparatus is provided with a dummy substrate accommodation section, when it becomes necessary to use a dummy substrate in the processing unit, the dummy substrate can be transported between the dummy substrate accommodation section and the processing unit without the involvement of the second transport unit. Therefore, the transport load of the second transport unit can be reduced, and processing using the dummy substrate can be performed while reducing the impact on the transport of the product substrate. Also, unlike the case of Patent Document 1, the carrier holding section is not occupied for a long period of time by the dummy carrier that accommodates the dummy substrate. This can reduce waiting time for the transport of the carrier that accommodates the product substrate, which can contribute to improving productivity.

[0010] In this embodiment, the usage history information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation section is stored in the storage section, and the expiration date information of the dummy substrate is notified based on the usage history information. Furthermore, a transport schedule (recovery transport schedule) is created for transporting the dummy substrate, for which the expiration date information has been notified, from the dummy substrate accommodation section to the carrier holding section and recovering it. The first transport unit and the second transport unit are controlled based on this transport schedule, so that the dummy substrate, for which the expiration date information has been notified, is transported from the dummy substrate accommodation section to the carrier holding section and recovered. In this way, when the dummy substrate reaches its expiration date, the dummy substrate can be automatically discharged.

[0011] The notification of the expiration date information may be a notification that the dummy substrate can no longer be used, or a notification that the dummy substrate is expected to soon become unusable. The notification of the expiration date information may take the form of a dummy substrate replacement request requesting replacement of the dummy substrate. The dummy substrate replacement request may include a dummy substrate collection request requesting collection of a used dummy substrate. The dummy substrate collection request may be a dummy substrate collection reservation specifying the time when the used dummy substrate will be collected. The dummy substrate replacement request may also include a dummy substrate supply request requesting the supply of an unused dummy substrate. The dummy substrate supply request may be a dummy substrate supply reservation specifying the time when the unused dummy substrate will be supplied.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, the storage section stores at least one piece of information on the number of times the dummy substrate has been used, the duration of use, and a wear state of the dummy substrate as the usage history information. In one embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit stores the usage history information and expiration date threshold information corresponding to the usage history information. In one embodiment of the present invention, the dummy substrate accommodation section accommodates a plurality of dummy substrates, and the storage section stores the usage history information and the expiration date threshold information for each dummy substrate. With this configuration, it is possible to manage the expiration date for each of the plurality of dummy substrates.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the processing units are provided, a correspondence relationship between the plurality of dummy substrates and the plurality of processing units is determined in advance, and the memory unit stores information representing the correspondence relationship. In one specific example, a plurality of dummy substrates are associated one-to-one with a plurality of processing units. As a result, the dummy substrate is not shared by a plurality of processing units, and it is possible to prevent the plurality of processing units from affecting each other via the dummy substrate. For example, even if the processing environment in one processing unit is contaminated, it is possible to prevent the contamination from being carried over to other processing units via the dummy substrate.

[0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, the expiration date notification unit compares the usage history information with the expiration date threshold information and notifies the expiration date information of the dummy substrate based on the result of the comparison. With this configuration, the expiration date information of the dummy substrate can be appropriately notified by comparing the usage history information with the expiration date threshold information. In one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus further includes a notification unit that notifies a user of expiration date information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit based on the usage history information stored in the memory unit. With this configuration, the expiration date information of the dummy substrate can be appropriately notified to the user, and the user's attention can be drawn.

[0015] One embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate processing system including a substrate processing apparatus having the characteristics as described above, a carrier transport unit which transports a recovery dummy carrier for storing used dummy substrates into the carrier holding section, and a host computer which, upon receiving notification of the expiration date information from the expiration date notification section, plans recovery dummy carrier transport to transport the recovery dummy carrier into the carrier holding section by the carrier transport unit, and based on the plan, causes the carrier transport unit to transport the recovery dummy carrier into the carrier holding section, and instructs the substrate processing apparatus to recover and transport the dummy substrate.

[0016] According to this configuration, the substrate processing apparatus notifies the host computer of expiration date information. The host computer then plans the operation of the carrier transport unit and controls the carrier transport unit according to the plan, thereby causing a recovery dummy carrier for recovering a used dummy substrate to be carried into the carrier holding section of the substrate processing apparatus. Therefore, based on the notification of expiration date information from the substrate processing apparatus to the host computer, a recovery dummy carrier can be supplied to the substrate processing apparatus at an appropriate time. In other words, since the recovery dummy carrier is supplied automatically and at an appropriate time, the downtime of the substrate processing apparatus can be shortened and the productivity can be improved.

[0017] Furthermore, since the host computer instructs the substrate processing apparatus to recover and transport the dummy substrate, the substrate processing apparatus can plan and execute the recovery and transport of the dummy substrate in a timely manner, i.e., the transport of the used dummy substrate from the dummy substrate accommodation unit to the recovery dummy carrier. In other words, the timing of the introduction of the recovery dummy carrier and the start of the recovery and transport of the dummy substrate in the substrate processing apparatus can be matched. This shortens the time that the recovery dummy carrier occupies the carrier holding unit, so that the carrier holding unit can be quickly vacated for the carrier that accommodates the product substrate. This allows unprocessed product substrates to be efficiently input into the substrate processing apparatus, and processed product substrates to be efficiently recovered, improving productivity.

[0018] It should be noted that in this specification, "alignment" of timing does not necessarily mean coincidence in time, but rather that corresponding events occur within a given time period that is acceptable from a productivity standpoint. In one embodiment of the present invention, the host computer obtains information regarding the recovery of dummy substrates to the recovery dummy carrier from the substrate processing apparatus, plans the removal of the recovery dummy carrier containing the used dummy substrate from the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit, and causes the carrier transport unit to transport the recovery dummy carrier from the carrier holding portion based on the plan.

[0019] According to this configuration, information on the recovery of the dummy substrate to the recovery dummy carrier is provided from the substrate processing apparatus to the host computer, and the host computer accordingly plans the removal of the recovery dummy carrier by the carrier transport unit and controls the carrier transport unit according to the plan. Therefore, the recovery dummy carrier is automatically and timely removed from the carrier holding part of the substrate processing apparatus. Specifically, the recovery dummy carrier can be removed from the carrier holding part at a timing that matches the completion of the removal of the dummy substrate to the recovery dummy carrier. This shortens the time that the recovery dummy carrier for recovering the dummy substrate occupies the carrier holding part, and the carrier holding part can be quickly vacated for the carrier accommodating the product substrate. This allows the unprocessed product substrate to be efficiently input into the substrate processing apparatus, and the processed product substrate to be efficiently recovered, thereby improving productivity.

[0020] In one embodiment of the present invention, the schedule creation unit further creates a transport schedule for transporting a usable dummy substrate from the carrier holding unit to the dummy substrate accommodating unit, the carrier transport unit operates to transport a supply dummy carrier housing a usable dummy substrate to the carrier holding unit, and the host computer plans a supply dummy carrier transport for transporting the supply dummy carrier to the carrier holding unit by the carrier transport unit, and based on the plan, causes the carrier transport unit to transport the supply dummy carrier to the carrier holding unit, and instructs the substrate processing apparatus to supply and transport a usable dummy substrate.

[0021] According to this configuration, the host computer creates a plan for transporting the supply dummy carrier housing a usable dummy substrate to the carrier holding section of the substrate processing apparatus by the carrier transport unit, and controls the operation of the carrier transport unit according to the plan. Thus, the supply dummy carrier is automatically and timely supplied to the substrate processing apparatus. In the substrate processing apparatus, a transport schedule (supply transport schedule) for transporting the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier to the dummy substrate housing section is created, and the dummy substrate is transported according to the transport schedule. Specifically, the first and / or second transport unit transports the usable dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier to the dummy substrate housing section. In this way, the dummy substrate can be automatically and timely supplied to the substrate processing apparatus, and thus, for example, downtime of the substrate processing apparatus caused by a shortage of usable dummy substrates can be reduced. This contributes to improving productivity.

[0022] Furthermore, since the host computer instructs the substrate processing apparatus to supply and transport the dummy substrate, the substrate processing apparatus can plan and execute the supply and transport of the dummy substrate at the appropriate time, i.e., the transport of the usable dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier to the dummy substrate accommodation section. Therefore, the supply and transport of the dummy substrate in the substrate processing apparatus can be started in accordance with the timing of the introduction of the supply dummy carrier. This shortens the time that the supply dummy carrier occupies the carrier holding section, so that the carrier holding section can be quickly vacated for the carrier accommodating the product substrate. This allows the unprocessed product substrate to be efficiently input into the substrate processing apparatus, and the processed product substrate to be efficiently recovered, improving productivity.

[0023] In one embodiment of the present invention, the host computer obtains information regarding the removal of dummy substrates from the supply dummy carriers from the substrate processing apparatus, plans the removal of the supply dummy carriers from the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit, and causes the carrier transport unit to transport the supply dummy carriers from the carrier holding portion based on the plan.

[0024] According to this configuration, information on the unloading of the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier is provided from the substrate processing apparatus to the host computer, and based on the information, the host computer plans the unloading of the supply dummy carrier and operates the carrier transport unit according to the plan. As a result, the supply dummy carrier can be unloaded from the carrier holding part at a timing that matches the completion of the unloading of the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier. In this way, the supply dummy carrier can be automatically and timely unloaded from the carrier holding part of the substrate processing apparatus. Therefore, the time that the supply dummy carrier for supplying the dummy substrate occupies the carrier holding part can be shortened, and the carrier holding part can be quickly vacated to hold the carrier containing the product substrate. As a result, the unprocessed product substrate can be efficiently input into the substrate processing apparatus, and the processed product substrate can be efficiently collected, thereby improving productivity.

[0025] In one embodiment of the present invention, the carrier transport unit transports a recovery dummy carrier or a supply dummy carrier between the carrier holding section and a dummy carrier storage area different from the carrier holding section. One embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate processing method including the steps of: transporting a substrate between a processing unit and a substrate mounting portion by a first transport unit; processing the substrate transported by the first transport unit in the processing unit; transporting a dummy substrate between the processing unit and a dummy substrate accommodating portion by the first transport unit; performing dummy processing in the processing unit using the dummy substrate transported by the first transport unit; transporting a substrate between a carrier held in a carrier holding portion and the substrate mounting portion by a second transport unit; recording usage history information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodating portion; determining an expiration date of the dummy substrate based on the usage history information; a recovery transport step of transporting a dummy substrate that has reached its expiration date from the dummy substrate accommodating portion to the carrier holding portion and recovering it based on the determination of the expiration date; and a recovery dummy carrier carry-in step of transporting a recovery dummy carrier for accommodating a used dummy substrate into the carrier holding portion by a carrier transport unit based on the determination of the expiration date.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing method further includes a step of transporting the recovery dummy carrier out of the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit at a timing consistent with completion of loading of the dummy substrate into the recovery dummy carrier in the recovery transport process. In one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing method further includes a supply dummy carrier loading process in which a supply dummy substrate containing a usable dummy substrate is loaded into the carrier holding section by the carrier transport unit based on the determination of the expiration date, and a supply transport process in which the usable dummy substrate is transported from the carrier holding section to the dummy substrate accommodating section based on the determination of the expiration date.

[0027] In one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing method further includes a step of transporting the supply dummy carrier from the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit at a timing consistent with completion of unloading of the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier in the supply transport process. In one embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the processing units are provided, and the dummy substrate accommodating portion accommodates a plurality of dummy substrates having a predetermined correspondence with the processing units. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0028] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic elevational view showing the internal configuration of the processing block as viewed from the direction IV in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the substrate placement unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a dummy substrate receiving section. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a configuration example of the processing unit. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration relating to control of the substrate processing apparatus. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the controller related to the dummy process. [Figure 10A-10B] 10A and 10B are flow charts for explaining a process relating to replacement of a dummy substrate in the substrate processing apparatus. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a time chart for explaining an example of a specific operation of replacing the dummy substrate. [Figure 12]FIG. 12 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view showing an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view taken along line II-II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a schematic horizontal sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a schematic elevational view showing a part of the internal configuration as viewed from direction IV in Fig. 1.

[0030] The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an indexer block 2 and a processing block 3 adjacent to the indexer block 2 in the lateral direction (first horizontal direction X). The indexer block 2 includes a plurality of (four in this embodiment) carrier holding parts 25 (load ports) and an indexer robot 26. In the following, for convenience, the side of the carrier holding parts 25 with respect to the first horizontal direction X may be defined as the front, and the opposite side may be defined as the rear.

[0031] The carrier holding parts 25 are arranged along a second horizontal direction Y perpendicular to the first horizontal direction X. Each carrier holding part 25 is configured to receive and hold a carrier C automatically transported by a carrier transport mechanism 300 (an example of a carrier transport unit) provided in a factory. Each carrier holding part 25 is configured to hold one carrier C. The carrier C is a substrate container that contains a substrate W (product substrate) to be processed. An example of the carrier C is a front opening unified pod (FOUP). The carrier C is configured to hold a plurality of substrates W (e.g., 25 substrates) in a stacked state. More specifically, when the carrier C is held by the carrier holding part 25, the carrier C is configured to hold a plurality of substrates W in a stacked state along the vertical direction Z in a horizontal position. The carrier holding part 25 is an example of a container holding part that holds the carrier C, which is a substrate container. The substrate W is, for example, a semiconductor wafer.

[0032] The indexer robot 26 is an example of a second transport unit. The indexer robot 26 is configured to access the carriers C held by the multiple carrier holders 25, load / unload the substrate W, and transport the substrate W between the carrier holders 25 and the processing block 3. In this embodiment, the indexer robot 26 is a multi-joint arm robot equipped with a multi-joint arm 27. Specifically, the indexer robot 26 includes a multi-joint arm 27 to which multiple arms 28 are connected, one or more hands 29 connected to the tip of the multi-joint arm 27, and a base unit 30 that supports the multi-joint arm 27 and moves up and down. The multiple arms 28 and hands 29 constituting the multi-joint arm 27 can swing around a vertical swing axis set at each base end, and although not shown, each arm 28 and hand 29 is provided with an individual actuator (typically an electric motor) for swinging the arm 28 and hand 29.

[0033] The processing block 3 includes a plurality of processing block layers BL, BU stacked in the vertical direction Z. In this embodiment, the processing block 3 includes a first (lower) processing block layer (hereinafter referred to as the "first processing block layer BL") and a second (upper) processing block layer (hereinafter referred to as the "second processing block layer BU") stacked thereon. Hereinafter, when distinguishing between the components of the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU, the components of the first processing block layer BL are designated by reference signs having the letter "L" at the end, and the components of the second processing block layer BU are designated by reference signs having the letter "U" at the end. The same applies to the reference signs in the accompanying drawings.

[0034] The first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU have substantially the same internal configuration in plan view. Therefore, it should be noted that the configuration (arrangement in plan view) of the first processing block layer BL is represented by replacing the letter "U" at the end of the reference numerals in FIG. 1 with the letter "L." The first processing block layer BL includes a plurality of (12 in this embodiment) processing units 11L-13L, 21L-23L, 31L-33L, 41L-43L (hereinafter, the processing units of the first processing block layer BL are collectively referred to as "processing units 11L-43L"), which constitute a first processing unit group. The first processing block layer BL further includes a substrate placement unit 6L, a dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, and a main transport robot 8L. The processing units 11L-43L process the substrates W. In this embodiment, each of the processing units 11L-43L is a single-wafer processing unit that processes the substrates W one by one. The substrate placement unit 6L is a unit for temporarily holding the substrates W transferred between the indexer robot 26 and the first processing block layer BL. The dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L is a unit for holding a dummy substrate DW that can be used in the processing units 11L-43L inside the substrate processing apparatus 1, and provides a waiting area for the dummy substrate DW. The main transport robot 8L is configured to be able to access the substrate placement unit 6L, the processing units 11L-43L, and the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L. The main transport robot 8L is an example of a first transport unit that transports a substrate W between the substrate placement unit 6L and the processing units 11L-43L, and transports a dummy substrate DW between the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L and the processing units 11L-43L.

[0035] The dummy substrate DW is a substrate having the same shape (e.g., circular) and size as the substrate W. The dummy substrate DW is not used in the manufacture of an actual product, unlike the product substrate W supplied from the carrier C. The dummy substrate DW is introduced into the processing units 11L-43L for use in performing pre-processing (preparation processing) for preparing the environment in the processing units 11L-43L, unit cleaning processing for cleaning the inside of the processing units 11L-43L, and the like. Such processing using the dummy substrate DW is hereinafter referred to as "dummy processing." The above-mentioned pre-processing and unit cleaning processing are maintenance processing for maintaining the processing units 11L-43L, and the dummy processing includes such maintenance processing.

[0036] The processing units 11L-43L are arranged on both sides of the transport space 52L, which provides a transport path 51L along which the substrate W is transported by the main transport robot 8L, and face the transport space 52L. In a plan view, the transport space 52L has a certain width in the second horizontal direction Y and extends linearly in a direction away from the indexer block 2 along the first horizontal direction X. The transport space 52L has a height in the vertical direction Z that is approximately equal to the height of the first processing block layer BL. In a plan view, on one side of the transport space 52L, a first liquid supply unit 91, a first processing unit stack S1L, a first exhaust unit 101, a second liquid supply unit 92, a second processing unit stack S2L, and a second exhaust unit 102 are arranged along the transport path 51L in this order from the side closest to the indexer block 2. On the other side of the transfer space 52L, a third exhaust section 103, a third processing unit stack S3L, a third liquid supply section 93, a fourth exhaust section 104, a fourth processing unit stack S4L, and a fourth liquid supply section 94 are arranged along the transfer path 51L in this order from the side closest to the indexer block 2. These are arranged so as to define the transfer space 52L having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

[0037] The first to fourth processing unit stacks S1L-S4L each include multiple stages (three stages in this embodiment) of processing units 11L-13L, 21L-23L, 31L-33L, 41L-43L stacked in the vertical direction Z. The third processing unit stack S3L faces the first processing unit stack S1L across the transfer space 52L. The fourth processing unit stack S4L faces the second processing unit stack S2L across the transfer space 52L. Therefore, the multiple processing units 31L-33L constituting the third processing unit stack S3L face the multiple stages of processing units 11L-13L constituting the first processing unit stack S1L across the transfer space 52L. Similarly, the multiple stages of processing units 41L-43L constituting the fourth processing unit stack S4L face the multiple stages of processing units 21L-23L constituting the second processing unit stack S2L across the transfer space 52L. In this embodiment, the first processing block layer BL includes twelve processing units 11L-13L, 21L-23L, 31L-33L, and 41L-43L, which are arranged in groups of three in four processing unit stacks S1L-S4L.

[0038] The transfer space 52L is partitioned from above by a middle partition 16 arranged at a position aligned with the upper surfaces of the uppermost processing units 13L, 23L, 33L, and 43L of each processing unit stack S1L-S4L, and is partitioned from below by a lower partition 15 arranged at a position aligned with the lower surfaces of the lowermost processing units 11L, 21, 31L, and 41L. All processing units 11L-43L have a substrate loading / unloading opening 37 that opens at a position facing the transfer space 52L. The main transfer robot 8L transports the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW through the transfer space 52L, and loads and unloads the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW into and from each processing unit 11L-43L via the substrate loading / unloading opening 37.

[0039] The substrate placement part 6L is disposed between the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robot 8L. More specifically, the substrate placement part 6L is disposed at the end of the transport space 52L on the indexer robot 26 side in a plan view. In this embodiment, the substrate placement part 6L is located between the first liquid supply part 91 and the third exhaust part 103. The substrate placement part 6L is disposed at a height between the intermediate partition 16 and the lower partition 15 in the vertical direction Z. In this embodiment, the substrate placement part 6L is disposed near the middle height of the height range from the intermediate partition 16 to the upper partition 17. The vertical position of the substrate placement part 6L needs to be within a height range accessible by the indexer robot 26 and within a height range accessible by the main transport robot 8L.

[0040] The substrate mounting portion 6L includes an unprocessed substrate mounting portion 61 on which an unprocessed substrate W is mounted, and a processed substrate mounting portion 62 on which a processed substrate W is mounted. The unprocessed substrate mounting portion 61 and the processed substrate mounting portion 62 are stacked in the vertical direction Z. It is preferable that the unprocessed substrate mounting portion 61 is disposed above the processed substrate mounting portion 62. As shown in an enlarged configuration example in FIG. 5, the unprocessed substrate placement part 61 and the processed substrate placement part 62 include boxes 63, 64 that are open to both the indexer robot 26 side and the main transport robot 8L side along the first horizontal direction X, and substrate holding shelves 65, 66 arranged inside the boxes 63, 64. The substrate holding shelves 65, 66 have a plurality of (for example, 10) substrate support members 67, 68 arranged in the vertical direction Z. Each of the substrate support members 67, 68 is configured to support the peripheral portion of the lower surface of one substrate W from below and hold the substrate W in a horizontal position. Thereby, the unprocessed substrate placement part 61 and the processed substrate placement part 62 can hold a plurality of (for example, 10) substrates W in a horizontal position stacked at intervals in the vertical direction Z on the substrate holding shelves 65, 66, respectively.

[0041] 2, a window 4L corresponding to the substrate placement part 6L is formed so as to penetrate the rear partition 2a of the indexer block 2 and the front partition 3a of the processing block 3, i.e., the adjacent partitions. The indexer robot 26 can access the substrate placement part 6L through this window 4L to load / unload the substrate W onto / from the substrate placement part 6L.

[0042] The dummy substrate accommodating section 7L is provided at a different height from the substrate placement section 6L, and in this embodiment, is disposed below the substrate placement section 6L in the transfer space 52L. The dummy substrate accommodating section 7L is provided so as to overlap with the substrate placement section 6L in a planar view. More specifically, when the substrate W is held on the substrate placement section 6L and the dummy substrate DW is held on the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L, the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L is disposed so that the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW overlap in a planar view. The overlap between the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW in a planar view may be a partial overlap or a total overlap, that is, the dummy substrate DW may overlap almost the entire substrate W.

[0043] The dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L is disposed between the lower partition 15 and the middle partition 16, and is disposed within a height range accessible by the main transport robot 8L. In front of the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, i.e., on the indexer block 2 side, the rear partition 2a of the indexer block 2 and the front partition 3a of the processing block 3, i.e., the partitions adjacent to them, are located. These partitions are not provided with windows corresponding to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L. Therefore, in this embodiment, the indexer robot 26 cannot access the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L.

[0044] As shown in an enlarged configuration example in FIG. 6, the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L includes a dummy substrate holding shelf 71. The configuration of the dummy substrate holding shelf 71 may be substantially the same as the configuration of the substrate holding shelves 65, 66 of the substrate placement section 6L. However, the number of dummy substrates DW that the dummy substrate holding shelf 71 can hold does not have to be equal to the number of substrates that the substrate holding shelves 65, 66 can hold. Specifically, the dummy substrate holding shelf 71 has a plurality of (for example, 12) dummy substrate support members 72 arranged in the vertical direction. Each dummy substrate support member 72 is configured to support the lower surface peripheral portion of one dummy substrate DW from below and hold the dummy substrate DW in a horizontal position. The dummy substrate accommodating section 7L can hold a plurality of (for example, 12) dummy substrates DW on the dummy substrate holding shelf 71 in a horizontal position stacked at intervals in the vertical direction Z. That is, the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L has multiple stages (in this embodiment, the same number as the number of processing units provided in the first processing block layer BL) of slots (hereinafter referred to as "dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12") stacked vertically so as to accommodate one dummy substrate DW in each stage in a horizontal position. A dummy substrate sensor (not shown) may be provided for detecting the presence or absence of a dummy substrate DW in each dummy substrate slot DL1-DL12. In this embodiment, unlike the substrate mounting section 6L, the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L does not have a box surrounding the accommodated dummy substrate DW. Of course, there is no problem if such a box is provided.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 2, the main transport robot 8L is disposed in the transport space 52L. The main transport robot 8L includes a hand 81 that holds one substrate in a horizontal position, and a hand drive mechanism 82 that drives the hand 81. A plurality of hands 81 (for example, two) may be provided. The hand drive mechanism 82 can move the hand 81 in the horizontal directions X and Y and the vertical direction Z, and can rotate the hand 81 around a vertical rotation axis. The hand drive mechanism 82 includes two support columns 83, a vertical movement unit 84, a horizontal movement unit 85, a rotation unit 86, and an advance / retract unit 87. The hand 81 is coupled to the advance / retract unit 87. When a plurality of hands 81 are provided, it is preferable to provide a plurality of advance / retract units 87 corresponding to the hands 81.

[0046] The two columns 83 are arranged at an interval along the first horizontal direction X and are fixed to the side walls of the transfer space 52L. The two columns 83 extend along the vertical direction Z and function as rails that guide the vertical movement of the vertical moving part 84. The vertical moving part 84 has the form of a rail that extends in the first horizontal direction X across the two columns 83 and has both ends connected to the two columns 83. The vertical moving part 84 is configured to move in the vertical direction relative to the columns 83 while being guided by the two columns 83. The horizontal moving part 85 is supported on the vertical moving part 84 and configured to move in the first horizontal direction X relative to the vertical moving part 84 while being guided by the vertical moving part 84. A rotating part 86 is supported on the horizontal moving part 85. The rotating part 86 is configured to rotate around a vertical rotation axis on the horizontal moving part 85. An advancing and retreating part 87 is connected to the rotating part 86. The advancing / retreating portion 87 advances and retreats in a direction horizontal to the axis of rotation, thereby causing the hand 81 to advance and retreat in the horizontal direction.

[0047] With this configuration, the main transport robot 8L can transfer the substrate W between the substrate placement unit 6L and the hand 81 by accessing the substrate placement unit 6L. The main transport robot 8L can also transfer the substrate W or the dummy substrate DW between any processing unit 11L-43L in the first processing block layer BL and the hand 81. The main transport robot 8L can also transfer the substrate W or the dummy substrate DW between the processing unit 11L-43L and the hand 81 by accessing the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L and the hand 81. The main transport robot 8L can transfer the substrate W or DW held by the hand 81 between the substrate placement unit 6L, the processing unit 11L-43L, and the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L in the first processing block layer BL.

[0048] The structure of the second processing block layer BU is almost the same as that of the first processing block layer BL, so that the following mainly describes the different structure and omits redundant explanations as much as possible. The structure of the elements with the same names as those in the first processing block layer BL is substantially the same. The second processing block layer BU includes a plurality of (12 in this embodiment) processing units 11U-13U, 21U-23U, 31U-33U, 41U-43U (hereinafter, the processing units of the second processing block layer BU are collectively referred to as "processing units 11U-43U"), which constitute a second processing unit group. The second processing block layer BU further includes a substrate placement unit 6U, a dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U, and a main transport robot 8U. The first to fourth liquid supply units 91-94 and the first to fourth exhaust units 101-104 are arranged to extend in the vertical direction Z across the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU.

[0049] The arrangement of the multiple processing units 11U-43U in the second processing block layer BU is substantially the same as the arrangement of the multiple processing units 11L-43L in the first processing block layer BL. The second processing block layer BU includes first to fourth processing unit stacks S1U-S4U, each of which includes multiple stages (three stages in this embodiment) of processing units 11U-13U, 21U-23U, 31U-33U, 41U-43U stacked in the vertical direction Z.

[0050] In plan view, the first to fourth processing unit stacks S1U-S4U of the second processing block layer BU are arranged so as to overlap with the first to fourth processing unit stacks S1L-S4L of the first processing block layer BL, respectively. The first processing unit stacks S1L, S1U of the first and second processing block layers BL, BU are stacked in the vertical direction Z to form a first tower T1 in which multiple stages (six stages in this embodiment) of processing units 11L, 12L, 13L, 11U, 12U, 13U are stacked. Similarly, the second processing unit stacks S2L, S2U of the first and second processing block layers BL, BU are stacked in the vertical direction Z to form a second tower T2 in which multiple stages (six stages in this embodiment) of processing units 21L, 22L, 23L, 21U, 22U, 23U are stacked. Further, the third processing unit stacks S3L and S3U of the first and second processing block layers BL and BU are stacked in the vertical direction Z to form a third tower T3 in which multiple stages (six stages in this embodiment) of processing units 31L, 32L, 33L, 31U, 32U, and 33U are stacked. Similarly, the fourth processing unit stacks S4L and S4U of the first and second processing block layers BL and BU are stacked in the vertical direction Z to form a fourth tower T4 in which multiple stages (six stages in this embodiment) of processing units 41L, 42L, 43L, 41U, 42U, and 43U are stacked.

[0051] A transfer space 52U defined in the second processing block layer BU and providing a transfer path 51U overlaps with the transfer space 52L of the first processing block layer BL. The transfer space 52U in the second processing block layer BU is defined from below by a middle partition wall 16, and from above by an upper partition wall 17. The upper partition wall 17 is disposed at a height that matches the upper surfaces of the uppermost processing units 13U, 23U, 33U, 43U of the first to fourth towers T1-T4.

[0052] The arrangement of the substrate placement unit 6U in plan view is the same as that of the first processing block layer BL. That is, the substrate placement unit 6U is arranged between the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robot 8U, and is arranged at the end of the transport space 52U on the indexer robot 26 side. The substrate placement unit 6U of the second processing block layer BU is arranged to overlap the substrate placement unit 6L of the first processing block layer BL in plan view. The substrate placement unit 6U is arranged at a height between the middle partition 16 and the upper partition 17 in the vertical direction Z. In this embodiment, the substrate placement unit 6U is arranged below the intermediate height of the height range from the middle partition 16 to the upper partition 17. More specifically, the substrate placement unit 6U is arranged at the highest position within the height range accessible by the indexer robot 26. The vertical position of the substrate placement unit 6U needs to be within the height range accessible by the indexer robot 26 and the height range accessible by the main transport robot 8U. As in the case of the first processing block layer BL, the substrate placement part 6U includes an unprocessed substrate placement part 61 on which an unprocessed substrate W is placed, and a processed substrate placement part 62 on which a processed substrate W is placed. The configurations of the unprocessed substrate placement part 61 and the processed substrate placement part 62 are the same as in the case of the substrate placement part 6L of the first processing block layer BL (see FIG. 5).

[0053] A window 4U corresponding to the substrate placement part 6U is formed so as to penetrate the rear partition 2a of the indexer block 2 and the front partition 3a of the processing block 3, i.e., the adjacent partitions. The indexer robot 26 can access the substrate placement part 6U through this window 4U to load / unload the substrate W into / from the substrate placement part 6U. The dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U is provided at a different height from the substrate placement unit 6U, and in this embodiment, is disposed above the substrate placement unit 6U in the transport space 52U. The dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U is provided so as to overlap the substrate placement unit 6U in a plan view. More specifically, when the substrate W is held on the substrate placement unit 6U and the dummy substrate DW is held on the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U, the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U is disposed so that the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW overlap in a plan view. The overlap between the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW in a plan view may be a partial overlap or a total overlap, that is, the dummy substrate DW may overlap almost the entire substrate W. The dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U is disposed at a height between the upper partition wall 17 and the middle partition wall 16, and is disposed within a height range accessible by the main transport robot 8U. In front of the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U, i.e., on the indexer block 2 side, there are disposed the rear partition 2a of the indexer block 2 and the front partition 3a of the processing block 3, i.e., the partitions adjacent to them. These partitions 2a, 3a are not provided with a window corresponding to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U. Therefore, the indexer robot 26 cannot access the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U.

[0054] The configuration of the dummy substrate accommodating section 7U may be substantially the same as that of the dummy substrate accommodating section 7L of the first processing block layer BL (see FIG. 6). The dummy substrate accommodating section 7U has multiple stages (in this embodiment, the same number as the number of processing units provided in the second processing block layer BU) of slots (hereinafter referred to as "dummy substrate slots DU1-DU12") stacked vertically so as to accommodate one dummy substrate DW in each stage in a horizontal position. A dummy substrate sensor may be provided for detecting the presence or absence of a dummy substrate DW in each of the dummy substrate slots DU1-DU12.

[0055] The main transport robot 8U is disposed in the transport space 52U. The main transport robot 8U includes a hand 81 that holds one substrate in a horizontal position, and a hand drive mechanism 82 that drives the hand 81. The hand drive mechanism 82 includes two support columns 83, a vertical movement section 84, a horizontal movement section 85, a rotation section 86, and an advance / retract section 87. These configurations are the same as those of the main transport robot 8L of the first processing block layer BL. The main transport robot 8U is configured to be accessible to the substrate placement section 6U, the processing unit 11U-43U, and the dummy substrate accommodation section 7U. The main transport robot 8U is an example of a first transport unit that transports a substrate W between the substrate placement section 6U and the processing unit 11U-43U, and transports a dummy substrate DW between the dummy substrate accommodation section 7U and the processing unit 11U-43U.

[0056] The first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU are partitioned by an intermediate partition wall 16, and the product substrate W or dummy substrate DW cannot be transported beyond this intermediate partition wall 16. In other words, the main transport robot 8L of the first processing block layer BL is configured to be unable to access any of the processing units 11U-43U, the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U, and the substrate placement unit 6U of the second processing block layer BU. Similarly, the main transport robot 8U of the second processing block layer BU is configured to be unable to access any of the processing units 11L-43L, the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, and the substrate placement unit 6L of the first processing block layer BL.

[0057] The liquid supply units 91-94 define liquid piping spaces that accommodate piping for supplying processing liquids used in the processing units 11L-43L; 11U-43U. The liquid piping spaces defined by each liquid supply unit 91-94 penetrate the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU in the vertical direction Z. Each liquid supply unit 91-94 accommodates piping 56 that supplies processing liquids to the six processing units 11L, 12L, 13L, 11U, 12U, 13U; 21L, 22L, 23L, 21U, 22U, 23U; 31L, 32L, 33L, 31U, 32U, 33U; 41L, 42L, 43L, 41U, 42U, 43U that are stacked in six stages in the vertical direction Z at the same position in a plan view to form the towers T1-T4. The liquid supply units 91-94 may further house processing liquid-related devices, such as valves provided midway through the piping, flow meters, tanks for temporarily storing the processing liquid, and pumps for delivering the liquid.

[0058] The exhaust section 101-104 defines an exhaust piping space that accommodates piping for exhausting the atmosphere inside the processing unit. The exhaust piping space defined by each exhaust section 101-104 penetrates the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU in the vertical direction Z. Each exhaust section 101-104 accommodates an exhaust piping 76 for leading exhaust from six processing units 11L, 12L, 13L, 11U, 12U, 13U; 21L, 22L, 23L, 21U, 22U, 23U; 31L, 32L, 33L, 31U, 32U, 33U; 41L, 42L, 43L, 41U, 42U, 43, which are stacked in six stages in the vertical direction Z at the same position in a plan view to form a tower T1-T4, to an exhaust facility outside the substrate processing apparatus 1. The exhaust units 101-104 may further accommodate a switching mechanism 77 that switches the exhaust pipes 76 depending on the type of processing (more specifically, the type of processing liquid) in the processing unit. Although not shown in the figure, the exhaust unit 101 includes actuators that drive the switching mechanism 77.

[0059] The carrier transport mechanism 300 (see FIG. 1) operates to carry a carrier C accommodating an unprocessed product substrate W into the carrier holding part 25 and to carry a carrier C accommodating a processed product substrate W out of the carrier holding part 25. The carrier transport mechanism 300 also operates to carry a supply dummy carrier DC accommodating an unused dummy substrate DW into the carrier holding part 25 and, after the unused dummy substrate DW has been removed from the supply dummy carrier DC, to carry out the dummy carrier DC out of the carrier holding part 25. The carrier transport mechanism 300 also operates to carry a recovery dummy carrier DC for recovering a used dummy substrate DW into the carrier holding part 25 and, after the used dummy substrate DW has been accommodated in the recovery dummy carrier DC, to carry out the recovery dummy carrier DC out of the carrier holding part 25. The dummy carrier DC may have a configuration substantially similar to that of the carrier C for the product substrate W.

[0060] The carrier transport mechanism 300 typically includes an overhead hoist transport (OHT). The carrier transport mechanism 300 transports the carrier C between the carrier storage 350 and the carrier holding unit 25 (load port). The carrier transport mechanism 300 also transports the dummy carrier DC between the dummy carrier storage 351 and the carrier holding unit 25.

[0061] The carrier transport mechanism 300 is controlled by a host computer 150, and transports the carriers C and the dummy carriers DC. The host computer 150 is connected to the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 via a communication line 170 so as to be able to communicate with each other. The controller 110 controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U to transport the substrate W and the dummy substrate DW. The controller 110 also controls each part of the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U to perform substrate processing in the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U and dummy processing using the dummy substrate DW.

[0062] 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a configuration example of processing units 11L-43L; 11U-43U (hereinafter collectively referred to as "processing units 11L-43U"). Processing unit 11L-43U includes a unit partition 36 forming a processing chamber 35, a processing cup 39 arranged in unit partition 36, a spin chuck 40 arranged in processing cup 39, and a nozzle 55 for supplying a processing liquid to substrates W, DW held by spin chuck 40.

[0063] The unit partition 36 includes, for example, a side wall 36a having a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, a top wall 36b defining an upper portion, and a bottom wall 36c defining a lower portion. One surface of the side wall 36a faces the transfer space 52U, extends along the first horizontal direction X and the up-down direction Z, and has a substrate loading / unloading opening 37 for loading / unloading the substrates W, DW. The substrate loading / unloading opening 37 may have a slot shape extending in the first horizontal direction X. A shutter 38 is provided for opening and closing the substrate loading / unloading opening 37. The substrates W, DW are loaded through the substrate loading / unloading opening 37 formed in the unit partition 36 and delivered to the spin chuck 40.

[0064] The spin chuck 40 includes a spin base 45 that holds one substrate W, DW in a horizontal position, and a spin motor 46 that rotates the spin base 45 around a vertical axis of rotation. The spin chuck 40 may be of a vacuum type that holds the lower surface of the substrate W, DW by suction to the upper surface of the spin base 45. Alternatively, the spin base 45 may be of a mechanical type chuck that has a circular planar shape corresponding to the substrate W, DW and includes three or more holding pins spaced apart from each other around its periphery, and that grips the substrate W, DW with the holding pins.

[0065] The processing unit 11L-43U includes one or more nozzles 55 that supply a processing liquid to the substrate W, DW held by the spin chuck 40. In this embodiment, a plurality of nozzles 55 are provided. The plurality of nozzles 55 may include a plurality of chemical liquid nozzles used to eject a plurality of types of chemical liquid, respectively. A processing liquid is supplied from a nozzle 55 to the surface of the substrate W, DW held and rotated by the spin chuck 40. The nozzle 55 is coupled to a processing liquid pipe 56 arranged through the liquid supply units 91-94. The processing liquid pipe 56 is routed through the liquid supply units 91-94 and connected to the processing liquid supply source 54. A valve 59 for opening and closing the flow path is interposed in the processing liquid pipe 56. A pump 60 for sending the processing liquid toward the nozzle 55 is also interposed in the processing liquid pipe 56. The valve 59 and the pump 60 are arranged in the liquid supply units 91-94. The processing liquid supply source 54 supplies a chemical liquid such as an etching liquid and a rinsing liquid such as pure water (deionized water). A plurality of processing liquid pipes 56 and a corresponding plurality of nozzles 55 may be provided depending on the type of processing liquid. A part or all of the plurality of nozzles 55 may have the form of a moving nozzle that moves above the substrate W, DW and along the upper surface of the substrate W, DW. The movable nozzle may have a structure in which a base end of a horizontal nozzle arm 57 is supported by a swing shaft 58 disposed to the side of the spin chuck 40 and the swing shaft 58 is rotated about a vertical axis (see FIG. 1). Some or all of the multiple nozzles 55 may be fixed nozzles whose relative positions with respect to the spin chuck 40 are invariable.

[0066] The atmosphere inside the unit partition 36 is exhausted through an exhaust connection pipe 75 penetrating the unit partition 36. The exhaust connection pipe 75 is connected to exhaust pipes 76 arranged in the exhaust sections 101-104. The exhaust connection pipe 75 may be connected to a plurality of exhaust pipes 76 through a switching mechanism 77. The switching mechanism 77 operates, for example, in accordance with the type of processing liquid (e.g., type of chemical liquid) discharged from the plurality of nozzles 55 so as to guide the exhaust from the exhaust connection pipe 75 to the exhaust pipe 76 that is previously associated with the type of the processing liquid.

[0067] FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration related to control of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a controller 110. The controller 110 may be a computer including a processor 111 (CPU) and a memory 112 (storage unit). The processor 111 executes a program 120 stored in the memory 112. Thereby, the controller 110 has a function as a schedule creation unit that creates a transport schedule for a substrate transport operation in which the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L and 8U transport the substrates W and DW, and a function as a transport control unit that controls the transport of the substrates W and DW based on the created transport schedule. Furthermore, the controller 110 has a function as a substrate processing control unit that realizes a substrate processing operation in which the substrate W is processed by the processing unit 11L-43U. The controller 110 further has a function as a dummy processing control unit that realizes a dummy processing operation in which a dummy process is performed using a dummy substrate DW in the processing unit 11L-43U. For these substrate transport operations, substrate processing operations, and dummy processing operations, the controller 110 controls various control objects provided in the substrate processing apparatus 1. The control objects include drive units provided in the indexer robot 26, the main transport robots 8L and 8U, the processing units 11L-43U, etc. Furthermore, the control objects of the controller 110 include valves 59 and pumps 60 arranged in the liquid supply units 91-94, and actuators arranged in the exhaust units 101-104.

[0068] Various data 130 are stored in the memory 112. The data 130 includes a product recipe 131 for processing a product substrate W, and a dummy processing recipe 132 for dummy processing using a dummy substrate DW. The product recipe 131 is data that specifies the transport operation of the substrate W and the processing content for the substrate W. The dummy processing recipe 132 is data that specifies the transport operation of the dummy substrate DW and the processing content using the dummy substrate DW. When processing the substrate W, the controller 110 controls the control target according to the product recipe 131, and when performing dummy processing, the controller 110 controls the control target according to the dummy processing recipe 132.

[0069] The product recipe 131 may be provided by data communication from the host computer 150 communicably connected to the controller 110 and stored in the memory 112. Similarly, the dummy process recipe 132 may be provided by communication from the host computer 150 and stored in the memory 112. Moreover, these recipes 131, 132 may be input or edited by an operator using a user interface 140 connected to the controller 110. The dummy process recipe 132 may be automatically generated by the controller 110 according to the contents of the product recipe 131. There is no need to be only one type of product recipe 131 or dummy process recipe 132, and a plurality of product recipes 131 or a plurality of dummy process recipes 132 may be stored in the memory 112. The user interface 140 includes, for example, an input device and a display device. The user interface 140 is an example of a notification unit that issues various kinds of warnings to the user. For example, when the dummy substrate DW reaches its expiration date and needs to be replaced, the user interface 140 displays a warning message or the like to notify the user.

[0070] For example, the dummy processing recipe 132 includes a pre-processing recipe that specifies a pre-processing for performing the same processing on the dummy substrate DW as on the product substrate W. The pre-processing recipe may be a recipe in which the substrate to be loaded into the processing unit 11L-43U is replaced from the product substrate W to the dummy substrate DW in the product recipe 131. Such a pre-processing recipe may be automatically generated by the controller 110 based on the product recipe 131. For example, when performing a process of supplying a high-temperature processing liquid to the substrate W, the high-temperature processing liquid can be guided to the nozzle 55 by performing the pre-processing, and the inside of the pipe 56 and the processing unit 11L-43U can be heated by the high-temperature processing liquid. As a result, the processing liquid at an appropriate temperature can be supplied to the product substrate W in an appropriately temperature-controlled environment. In this way, the pre-processing is an example of a preparation process for preparing the processing environment of the processing unit 11L-43U for appropriately processing the product substrate W.

[0071] The dummy processing recipe 132 also includes a unit cleaning recipe for cleaning the inside of the processing unit 11L-43U by holding the dummy substrate DW on the spin chuck 40. In the unit cleaning process performed according to the unit cleaning recipe, the spin chuck 40 holds the dummy substrate DW and rotates, and in this state, a cleaning liquid (chemical liquid or pure water) is supplied to the dummy substrate DW. As a result, the cleaning liquid subjected to centrifugal force on the dummy substrate DW is scattered around the spin chuck 40 to clean the inside of the processing cup 39. If necessary, the processing cup 39 is moved up and down to change the incident position of the cleaning liquid with respect to the inner wall surface of the processing cup 39 up and down, so that the inner wall surface of the processing cup 39 can be efficiently cleaned. Also, the dummy substrate DW can be positioned above the upper end of the processing cup 39 by moving the processing cup 39 up and down or the spin chuck 40 up and down, and the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the inside of the processing chamber 35 outside the processing cup 39 to clean the inside of the processing chamber 35.

[0072] The data 130 stored in the memory 112 further includes a dummy substrate table 133 that associates the multiple processing units 11L-43U with the dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 of the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U. A unique dummy substrate slot number (dummy substrate slot identification information) is assigned to each of the multiple dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12. Then, one dummy substrate slot number is associated with each processing unit 11L-43U. The dummy substrate table 133 associates the multiple (12 in this embodiment) processing units 11L-43U of the first processing block layer BL with the multiple (12 in this embodiment) dummy substrate slot numbers of the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L of the first processing block layer BL in a one-to-one manner. Furthermore, the dummy substrate table 133 provides a one-to-one correspondence between the multiple (12 in this embodiment) processing units 11L-43U of the second processing block layer BU and the multiple (12 in this embodiment) dummy substrate slot numbers of the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U of the second processing block layer BU. Therefore, the dummy substrate table 133 provides a one-to-one correspondence between the multiple (24 in this embodiment) processing units 11L-43U provided in the substrate processing apparatus 1 and the multiple (24 in this embodiment) slot numbers of the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U.

[0073] The data 130 stored in the memory 112 further includes dummy substrate history data 134. The dummy substrate history data 134 includes data (usage history information) representing the use history of the dummy substrate DW accommodated in the dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 corresponding to the multiple dummy substrate slot numbers of the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U, respectively. The use history preferably includes at least one of the number of uses (accumulated number of times) that the dummy substrate DW was used for processing in the processing unit 11L-43U, the usage time (accumulated time) that the dummy substrate DW was used for processing in the processing unit 11L-43U, and the history of the processing contents that the dummy substrate DW received in the processing unit 11L-43U. The history of the processing contents may be information representing the wear state of the dummy substrate DW. The number of uses and the usage time may also be information representing the wear state of the dummy substrate DW. Another example of information representing the wear state of the dummy substrate DW may include the thickness of the dummy substrate DW. The thickness of the dummy substrate DW can be calculated from the usage history information, and can also be detected by, for example, dummy substrate thickness sensors disposed in the dummy substrate accommodation portions 7L and 7U.

[0074] The data 130 stored in the memory 112 includes threshold data 136 (usage expiration threshold information) to be compared with the dummy substrate history data 134 (particularly the usage history information). The threshold data 136 may include a usage count threshold to be compared with the usage count, or may include a usage time threshold to be compared with the usage time. The threshold data 136 may also include a wear state threshold to be compared with the wear state of the dummy substrate DW. For example, the wear state information of the dummy substrate DW may be calculated based on the usage history information of the dummy substrate DW, and the wear state information may be compared with the wear state threshold to determine the expiration date of the dummy substrate DW. The wear state information of the dummy substrate DW may be the thickness of the dummy substrate DW.

[0075] The data 130 stored in the memory 112 further includes unit use history data 135 representing the unit use history of each processing unit 11L-43U. The unit use history data 135 preferably includes the number of substrates processed by each processing unit 11L-43U and the continuous non-use time representing the continuous time during which each processing unit 11L-43U is not used for substrate processing. Since the environment inside the processing unit 11L-43U gradually deteriorates with repeated substrate processing, it is preferable to set an appropriate upper limit for the number of substrates that can be continuously processed without requiring maintenance. In addition, the environment inside the processing unit 11L-43U gradually deteriorates as the time during which the processing unit 11L-43U is not processing substrates W increases. Specifically, the chemical liquid adhering to the inner wall of the processing cup 39 or the like dries and crystallizes, which may cause particles. In addition, when a high-temperature processing liquid that is higher than room temperature is used, if the flow of the processing liquid is blocked for a long period of time due to continued non-use, the temperature of the pipe 56 or the nozzle 55 decreases. Therefore, when the processing liquid is discharged next time, heat of the processing liquid may be lost in the pipe 56 or the nozzle 55, and the temperature of the processing liquid immediately after discharge may become inappropriate. Therefore, it is preferable to set an appropriate upper limit for the duration of non-use as well. By comparing the unit usage history data 135 (number of processed substrates, duration of non-use, etc.) with the corresponding set values, it is possible to determine whether maintenance is required for the processing unit 11L-43U.

[0076] Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the controller 110 related to the dummy processing. The controller 110 executes the processing of Fig. 9 in parallel or sequentially for each of the multiple processing units 11L-43U. The controller 110 judges whether or not the processing of the product substrate W is being performed in the target processing unit 11L-43U (step A1). When the processing of the substrate W is completed in the processing unit 11L-43U and the processed substrate W is unloaded from the processing unit 11L-43U (step A1: NO), the controller 110 refers to the unit usage history data 135 of the processing unit 11L-43U and judges whether or not the number of substrates processed reaches a set value (step A2). When the number of substrates processed is equal to or greater than the set value (step A2: YES), the controller 110 judges that the unit cleaning execution condition (an example of the maintenance execution condition) is satisfied, and executes a unit cleaning process (an example of the maintenance process) according to the unit cleaning recipe to clean the inside of the processing unit 11L-43U (step A3). The controller 110 also resets the number of substrates processed in the processing unit to an initial value (for example, 0) and updates the unit usage history data 135 (step A4).

[0077] The unit cleaning process is an example of a dummy process, and includes a transfer schedule creation step A30, a dummy substrate carrying-in step A31, a dummy processing step A32, and a dummy substrate accommodation step A33. The transfer schedule creation step A30 is a step of creating a transfer plan (transfer schedule) for the dummy process. The dummy substrate carrying-in step A31 is a step of controlling the main transport robots 8L, 8U according to the created transfer schedule. As a result, the main transport robots 8L, 8U carry out the dummy substrate DW from the corresponding dummy substrate slot DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12, transport it to the processing unit 11L-43U, and carry it into the processing unit. The dummy processing step A32 is a step of performing a process using the dummy substrate DW in the processing unit, and here, it is a cleaning process for the inside of the processing unit. The dummy substrate accommodating step A33 is a step in which, after cleaning of the inside of a processing unit, the dummy substrate DW is unloaded from the processing unit in accordance with the transport schedule, and transported to and accommodated in the original dummy substrate slot DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12. The controller 110 refers to the dummy substrate table 133, identifies the dummy substrate slot DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 corresponding to the processing unit 11L-43U, and creates a transport schedule for the dummy substrate loading step A31 and the dummy substrate accommodating step A33.

[0078] After the unit cleaning process is completed, the controller 110 judges whether pre-processing is required to prepare the processing environment (processing conditions) of the processing unit 11L-43U (steps A5 and A6). Specifically, the controller 110 checks whether a processing request (processing reservation) for a product substrate is given from the host computer 150 (step A5). When a processing request for a product substrate is given (step A5: YES), the controller 110 judges whether the non-use duration of the processing unit 11L-43U reaches a set value (step A6). When the non-use duration is equal to or longer than the set value (step A6: YES), that is, when the processing unit 11L-43U has not been used for a product substrate W for a predetermined long time or longer, the controller 110 judges that pre-processing is required, that is, that the pre-processing execution condition (an example of a maintenance execution condition) is satisfied.

[0079] When it is determined that pretreatment is necessary, the controller 110 performs pretreatment according to the pretreatment recipe (step A7). Specifically, the controller 110 refers to the dummy substrate table 133 to identify the dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 corresponding to the processing unit 11L-43U, and creates a transfer schedule for pretreatment based on the identified dummy substrate slots (transfer schedule creation step A70). Then, the controller 110 controls the main transport robots 8L, 8U according to the created transfer schedule, and causes the dummy substrate DW to be removed from the identified dummy substrate slot and transported to the processing unit 11L-43U (dummy substrate carry-in step A71). After the transport, the host computer 150 performs the same processing on the dummy substrate DW in the processing unit 11L-43U as that on the product substrate W (dummy processing step A72). When the processing is completed, the host computer 150 controls the main transport robots 8L, 8U in accordance with the transport schedule to remove the dummy substrate DW from the processing unit 11L-43U, transport it to the original dummy substrate slot, and accommodate the dummy substrate DW in the dummy substrate slot (dummy substrate accommodation step A73). After executing the pre-processing in this manner, the controller 110 resets the non-use duration to an initial value (for example, 0) and updates the unit usage history data 135 (step A8).

[0080] As described above, when a processing request (processing reservation) for the product substrate W is given, the controller 110 executes the pre-processing. The pre-processing includes transport of the dummy substrate DW (step A71) and dummy processing using the dummy substrate DW (step A72). Therefore, the carrier C accommodating the product substrate W is held by the carrier holding part 25, and the pre-processing (dummy substrate carry-in step A71 and / or dummy processing step A72) is executed in parallel with or before the substrate carry-in operation (step A20) in which the indexer robot 26 takes out the substrate W to be processed from the carrier C and transports it to the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U. At this time, the indexer robot 26 is not involved in the transport of the dummy substrate DW. Therefore, the dummy substrate DW is transported inside the processing block 3 and the pre-processing is executed without impeding the transport of the product substrate W by the indexer robot 26.

[0081] 9 shows the step A20 of carrying in the product substrate W by the indexer robot 26 for convenience, but does not mean that the sequence of the step with respect to the pre-processing step A7 is as shown in the figure. As described above, the product substrate carrying in step A20 may be performed (started) prior to or in parallel with the pre-processing step A7, and the product substrate carrying in step A20 may also be performed (started) after the pre-processing step A7.

[0082] The pre-processing recipe specifies a pre-processing to be performed on the dummy substrate DW, which is to be performed on the product substrate W. Therefore, by performing the pre-processing on the dummy substrate DW, the dummy substrate DW is consumed. Specifically, by performing the pre-processing using a chemical solution having an etching effect on the dummy substrate DW, the surface of the dummy substrate DW is etched, and the thickness of the dummy substrate DW is reduced. Therefore, when the pre-processing recipe is performed, the controller 110 updates the dummy substrate history data 134 of the dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 associated with the processing unit 11L-43U (step A9). For example, when the dummy substrate history data 134 includes usage count data, the usage count data is incremented.

[0083] After the pre-processing is completed, the controller 110 executes control according to the product recipe (step A12). Specifically, the controller 110 creates a transfer schedule for the product substrate processing (transfer schedule creation step A120), and controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U according to the transfer schedule. The indexer robot 26 then takes out the product substrate W from the carrier C and places it on the substrate placement units 6L, 6U. The main transport robots 8L, 8U then take out the substrate W from the substrate placement units 6L, 6U and transport it to the processing unit 11L-43U (substrate loading step A121). Then, in the processing unit 11L-43U, processing is performed on the substrate W using a processing liquid (chemical liquid, rinse liquid, etc.) (processing step A122). After that, the main transport robots 8L, 8U take out the processed substrate W and transport it to the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U in accordance with the transport schedule, and the indexer robot 26 stores the processed substrate W in the carrier C (substrate storage step A123). If an unprocessed substrate W remains (if multiple substrates W are being processed continuously) (step A13: YES), the same operation is repeated. If the number of substrates processed in the processing unit reaches a set value (step A14: YES) during that time, the process returns to step A3 and the unit cleaning process is performed. If continuous processing is not being performed (step A13: NO), the process returns and the process from step A1 is repeated.

[0084] If there is no processing request (processing reservation) from the host computer 150 (step A5: NO), the controller 110 judges whether the duration of the standby state, i.e., the duration of non-use, has reached a set value (step A15). If the duration of non-use has not reached the set value, the controller 110 enters a standby state. If the duration of non-use reaches the set value (step A15: YES), the controller 110 executes a preset maintenance process (step A16). The maintenance process may be a unit cleaning process. As in the case of step A3, the unit cleaning process may be a process using a dummy substrate DW (a type of dummy process), or may be a process not using a dummy substrate DW. The maintenance process may be a process similar to the pre-processing. The maintenance process may be another process. The maintenance process is mainly a process for maintaining the environment in the processing chamber 35 of the processing unit 11L-43U in a state suitable for processing the product substrate W, and may be a process preset by the user of the substrate processing apparatus 1. When dummy processing using a dummy substrate DW is performed as a maintenance processing, the maintenance processing includes a transport schedule creation step A160 in which a transport plan (transport schedule) for the processing is created, a step A161 in which the dummy substrate DW is removed from the corresponding dummy substrate slot and loaded into the processing unit in accordance with the transport plan, a step A162 in which dummy processing is performed using the dummy substrate DW in the processing unit, and, after the processing, a step A163 in which the dummy substrate DW is accommodated in the corresponding dummy substrate slot in accordance with the transport schedule.

[0085] When there is no processing request (processing reservation) from the host computer 150, the controller 110 cannot automatically plan pre-processing similar to the product recipe 131. Therefore, even if the maintenance process (step A16) is being performed at any time, when there is a processing request (processing reservation) from the host computer 150, it is preferable to perform the pre-processing (step A7) corresponding to the product processing.

[0086] The dummy substrate DW is introduced into the substrate processing apparatus 1 in advance and accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, 7U. Specifically, for example, a supply dummy carrier DC accommodating the dummy substrate DW is delivered to the carrier holding unit 25 by a carrier transport mechanism 300 (see FIG. 1) provided in the factory. The indexer robot 26 takes out the dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC and transports it to the substrate placement units 6L, 6U. The main transport robot 8L of the first processing block layer BL transports the dummy substrate DW from the substrate placement unit 6L to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L and accommodates it therein. The main transport robot 8U of the second processing block layer BU transports the dummy substrate DW from the substrate placement unit 6U to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U and accommodates it therein. The controller 110 creates a transfer schedule (supply transfer schedule) for introducing the dummy substrate DW, and controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transfer robots 8L, 8U in accordance with the transfer schedule, thereby achieving the transfer operations described above.

[0087] When a new dummy substrate DW is introduced and accommodated in a dummy substrate accommodating portion 7L, 7U, the controller 110 resets the dummy substrate history data 134 corresponding to the dummy substrate slot in which the new dummy substrate DW is accommodated to an initial value. When replacing the dummy substrate DW in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the main transport robots 8L, 8U and the indexer robot 26 transport the dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to the recovery dummy carrier DC held by the carrier holding unit 25. Specifically, when the dummy substrate DW to be replaced is accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L of the first processing block layer BL, the main transport robot 8L transports the dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L to the substrate placement unit 6L. When the dummy substrate DW to be replaced is accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U of the second processing block layer BU, the main transport robot 8U transports the dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7U to the substrate placement unit 6U. The indexer robot 26 transports the dummy substrate DW placed on the substrate placement units 6L, 6U to the recovery dummy carrier DC held by the carrier holding unit 25 and accommodates it therein. When a plurality of dummy substrates DW are to be replaced, the same operation is repeated. The controller 110 creates a transport schedule (collection transport schedule) for replacing (discharging) the dummy substrates DW, and controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L and 8U in accordance with the transport schedule, thereby achieving the transport operation as described above.

[0088] 10A and 10B are flow charts for explaining a process relating to replacement of a dummy substrate in the substrate processing apparatus. Fig. 10A shows an example of a process by the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and Fig. 10B shows an example of a process by the host computer 150. The controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 plans a dummy process (for example, cleaning of a processing unit using a dummy substrate DW; dummy cleaning) (step S1) and updates the dummy substrate history data 134 in the memory 112 (step S2). The controller 110 further compares the dummy substrate history data 134 with the threshold data 136 to determine whether the dummy substrate DW has reached its expiration date (step S3).

[0089] As described above, the dummy substrate history data 134 is created for each slot of the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U, that is, for each dummy substrate DW, and represents the usage history of each dummy substrate DW. In this embodiment, the processing units and the slots of the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U are in one-to-one correspondence, and therefore each dummy substrate DW is used for dummy processing in only one processing unit. Therefore, when the controller 110 plans a dummy processing (step S1), it updates the dummy substrate history data 134 (step S2), and determines whether the dummy substrate DW has reached its expiration date based on the updated dummy substrate history data 134 (step S3). For example, the dummy substrate history data 134 may include usage count data of the dummy substrate DW. When the controller 110 plans a dummy processing for a certain processing unit (step S1), it increments and updates the usage count data of the dummy substrate DW associated with the processing unit (step S2). Then, when the usage count data reaches a predetermined usage count threshold (an example of the threshold data 136), the controller 110 determines that the dummy substrate DW has reached its expiration date (step S3: YES).

[0090] When the dummy substrate DW reaches its expiration date (step S3: YES), the controller 110 plans to replace the dummy substrate DW (step S4). Furthermore, the controller 110 displays on the user interface 140 that the dummy substrate DW has reached its expiration date, and issues a notification to alert the user (step S5). If the dummy substrate DW has not reached its expiration date (step S3: NO), the plan for replacing the dummy substrate (step S4) and the notification to alert the user (step S5) are omitted.

[0091] The controller 110 controls the transport of the dummy substrate DW and the processing in the processing unit according to the dummy processing plan (step S6). Specifically, the controller 110 controls the main transport robots 8L, 8U to transport the dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to the processing unit, and controls the processing unit to perform processing (e.g., chamber cleaning processing) using the dummy substrate DW.

[0092] When replacement of the dummy substrate DW is necessary (step S7: YES), that is, when replacement of the dummy substrate DW is planned (step S4), the controller 110 transmits a dummy substrate replacement request to the host computer 150 (step S8; function of the controller 110 as a usage expiration notification unit). When there is no plan to replace the dummy substrate (step S7: NO), the dummy substrate replacement request is not transmitted.

[0093] When there is a dummy substrate replacement request (step S11: YES), the host computer 150 judges whether or not to start replacing the dummy substrate DW (step S12). For example, when there is processing of a product substrate W that is to be prioritized over replacement of the dummy substrate DW, this judgment is negative and the dummy substrate replacement request is put on hold. When it is judged that replacement of the dummy substrate DW should be started (step S12: YES), the host computer 150 controls the carrier transport mechanism 300 to transport the recovery dummy carrier DC and the supply dummy carrier DC from the dummy carrier storage area 351 to the carrier holding section 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

[0094] More specifically, the host computer 150 judges whether or not there is a dummy carrier DC for recovery in the dummy carrier storage 351 (step S13), and if there is not, performs a process for preparing the dummy carrier DC for recovery (step S14). This process may be an alarm process for prompting the user to prepare the dummy carrier DC for recovery (notification that a dummy carrier DC for recovery is necessary). After this process, the host computer 150 plans the transportation of the dummy carrier DC for recovery by the carrier transport mechanism 300, and instructs the carrier transport mechanism 300 to execute this (step S15). If there is a dummy carrier DC for recovery in the dummy carrier storage 351 (step S13: YES), the process of step S14 is omitted. In addition, the host computer 150 judges whether or not there is a dummy carrier DC for supply in the dummy carrier storage 351 (step S16), and if there is not, performs a process for preparing the dummy carrier DC for supply (step S17). This process may be an alarm process to prompt the user to prepare a supply dummy carrier DC (notification that a supply dummy carrier DC is necessary). After this process, the host computer 150 plans the transportation of the supply dummy carrier DC by the carrier transport mechanism 300, and instructs the carrier transport mechanism 300 to execute this (step S18). If there is a supply dummy carrier DC in the dummy carrier site 351 (step S16: YES), the process of step S17 is omitted.

[0095] The plan for dummy substrate replacement by the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 (step S4) includes creating a recovery transfer schedule for transporting a dummy substrate DW that has reached its expiration date from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to the recovery dummy carrier DC when the recovery dummy carrier DC is held in the carrier holding unit 25. In accordance with this recovery transfer schedule, the controller 110 controls the main transport robots 8L, 8U and the indexer robot 26. As a result, the main transport robots 8L, 8U transport the dummy substrate DW that has reached its expiration date from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to the substrate placement units 6L, 6U, and the indexer robot 26 transports the dummy substrate DW from the substrate placement units 6L, 6U to the recovery dummy carrier DC.

[0096] The plan for dummy substrate replacement by the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 (step S4) includes creating a supply transfer schedule for transporting an unused dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC to the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U when the supply dummy carrier DC is held by the carrier holding unit 25. The controller 110 controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U in accordance with this supply transfer schedule. As a result, the indexer robot transports the unused dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC to the substrate placement units 6L, 6U, and the main transport robots 8L, 8U transport the dummy substrate DW from the substrate placement units 6L, 6U to the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U.

[0097] The operation of collecting the used dummy substrate DW and the operation of supplying the unused dummy substrate DW may be performed separately in time, or some or all of these operations may be performed overlapping in time. FIG. 11 is a time chart for explaining an example of a specific operation. First, the dummy processing operation represented by the checkered blocks in Fig. 11 is as follows: The dummy substrate DW corresponding to the processing unit in which the dummy processing is to be performed is taken out of the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7L, 7U by the main transport robot 8L, 8U and carried into the corresponding processing unit. When the processing using the dummy substrate DW (dummy processing) in the processing unit is completed, the dummy substrate DW is taken out by the main transport robot 8L, 8U and stored in the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7L, 7U.

[0098] If the dummy substrate DW reaches its expiration date due to this dummy processing, the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 plans the dummy processing and transmits a dummy substrate exchange request (expiration date information) to the host computer 150 when the dummy substrate DW is removed from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U (time t1). This triggers the dummy substrate recovery operation shown by the horizontally striped blocks in Fig. 11 to be performed. The dummy substrate DW will reach its expiration date by being used for one more dummy processing. In other words, it will reach its expiration date after the dummy processing performed after time t1.

[0099] The host computer 150, which has received the dummy substrate exchange request, plans and executes the transportation of the recovery dummy carrier DC while the dummy processing is being performed in the substrate processing apparatus 1. That is, when the dummy substrate exchange request is received at time t1, the host computer 150 executes the process for preparing the recovery dummy carrier DC in period T1 (see step S14 in FIG. 10B), and at time t2 after the recovery dummy carrier DC is placed in the dummy carrier placement site 351, commands the carrier transport mechanism 300 to transport the recovery dummy carrier DC. As a result, in period T2 from time t2, the carrier transport mechanism 300 transports the recovery dummy carrier DC from the dummy carrier placement site 351 to the carrier holding unit 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1. That is, the carrier transport mechanism 300 takes out the recovering dummy carrier DC from the dummy carrier storage 351, transports it to the substrate processing apparatus 1, and loads the recovering dummy carrier DC into the carrier holding part LP1 which is one of the plurality of carrier holding parts 25. When the recovering dummy carrier DC is loaded into the carrier holding part 25, at time t3, the host computer 150 instructs the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 to transport and recover the dummy substrate DW.

[0100] It is preferable that the dummy processing operation is completed during the above-mentioned period T2. In other words, it is preferable that the host computer 150 plans the transportation of the collecting dummy carrier DC by the carrier transport mechanism 300 so that the collecting dummy carrier DC is transported to the carrier holding part LP1 while the dummy processing operation is being performed in the substrate processing apparatus 1. It is preferable that the transport of the collecting dummy carrier DC into the carrier holding part 25 is completed almost in synchronization with the end of the dummy processing operation (the accommodation of the dummy substrate DW to be replaced in the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U).

[0101] The controller 110, which has been instructed to collect and transport the dummy substrate DW, creates a collection and transport schedule for transporting the used dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U to the dummy carrier DC for collection after the dummy substrate DW that has been used in the dummy processing and has reached its expiration date is accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U, and transports the dummy substrate DW according to the collection and transport schedule. Specifically, after the used dummy substrate DW is accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U, the main transport robots 8L, 8U take out the used dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U and place it on the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U. The used dummy substrate DW is taken out by the indexer robot 26 and carried into the dummy carrier DC for collection held by the carrier holding part LP1. When the used dummy substrate DW is accommodated in the recovery dummy carrier DC, the controller 110 notifies the host computer 150 at time t5 that the recovery dummy carrier DC is ready for removal. In response to this notification, the host computer 150 instructs the carrier transport mechanism 300 to transport the recovery dummy carrier DC. As a result, the carrier transport mechanism 300 removes the recovery dummy carrier DC from the carrier holding part 25 and transports it to the dummy carrier storage area 351.

[0102] While the used dummy substrate DW is collected in this manner, a dummy substrate supply operation is executed to supply an unused dummy substrate DW to replace the used dummy substrate DW. In Fig. 11, the dummy substrate supply operation is indicated by a block with diagonal lines. The host computer 150 plans and executes the supply of an unused dummy substrate DW to the substrate processing apparatus 1. Specifically, the host computer 150 creates a plan for transporting a supply dummy carrier DC accommodating an unused dummy substrate DW from the dummy carrier placement site 351 to the carrier holding unit 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and instructs the carrier transport mechanism 300 to transport the supply dummy carrier DC according to the plan at time t4. As a result, the carrier transport mechanism 300 takes out the supply dummy carrier DC from the dummy carrier placement site 351, transports it to the substrate processing apparatus 1, and transports it into one of the carrier holding units 25, that is, the carrier holding unit LP2. When the supply dummy carrier DC is transported into the carrier holding unit LP2, the host computer 150 instructs the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 to supply and transport the dummy substrate DW at time t6.

[0103] Figure 11 shows an example in which the recovery dummy carrier DC and the supply dummy carrier DC are held in separate carrier holding parts LP1, LP2, but the supply dummy carrier DC may also be brought into the carrier holding part LP1 from which the recovery dummy carrier DC has been transported, with the plan being to bring in the supply dummy carrier DC after the recovery dummy carrier DC has been transported out.

[0104] The controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1, which has received a supply and transport command for the dummy substrate DW, creates a supply and transport schedule for transporting the unused dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC to the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U, and controls the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U in accordance with the supply and transport schedule. Therefore, the indexer robot 26 takes out the unused dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC and transports it into the substrate placement units 6L, 6U. Thereafter, the main transport robots 8L, 8U transport the unused dummy substrate DW from the substrate placement units 6L, 6U to the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U.

[0105] At time t7 after the unused dummy substrate DW is unloaded from the supply dummy carrier DC, the controller 110 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 notifies the host computer 150 that the supply dummy carrier DC is in a state where it can be unloaded. In response to this notification, the host computer 150 instructs the carrier transport mechanism 300 to transport the supply dummy carrier DC (time t8). As a result, the carrier transport mechanism 300 unloads the supply dummy carrier DC from the carrier holding unit 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and transports it to the dummy carrier storage area 351.

[0106] In this way, the carrier transport mechanism 300 timely transports the recovery dummy carrier DC and the supply dummy carrier DC into and out of the carrier holding part 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 through communication between the controller 110 and the host computer 150 of the substrate processing apparatus 1. This allows the replacement of the dummy substrate DW to be performed automatically and without delay. In addition, the time that the dummy carrier DC occupies the carrier holding part 25 can be shortened, so that the time that the carrier holding part 25 can be used to hold the carrier C that accommodates the product substrate W is extended. This allows productivity to be improved.

[0107] The dummy substrates DW may be replaced one by one, or multiple dummy substrates DW may be replaced at once. In that case, multiple used dummy substrates DW are carried into one recovery dummy carrier DC. Also, a supply dummy carrier DC accommodating multiple unused dummy substrates DW is carried into the carrier holding section 25, and the multiple dummy substrates DW are introduced from the supply dummy carrier DC into the dummy substrate accommodating sections 7L and 7U.

[0108] As described above, according to this embodiment, the processing block 3 laterally adjacent to the indexer block 2 is configured by stacking a plurality of processing block layers BL, BU in the vertical direction Z. Each processing block layer BL, BU is provided with a dummy substrate accommodating portion 7L, 7U that accommodates a dummy substrate DW. Since the dummy substrate DW can be accommodated inside the processing block layers BL, BU, when it becomes necessary to use the dummy substrate DW in the processing unit 11L-43U, the dummy substrate DW can be transported between the dummy substrate accommodating portion 7L, 7U and the processing unit 11L-43U without the involvement of the indexer robot 26.

[0109] Therefore, the transport load of the indexer robot 26 can be reduced, and processing using the dummy substrate DW can be performed while reducing the impact on the transport of the product substrate W. In particular, the transport load of the indexer robot 26, which transports the substrate W between the carrier holder 25 and the processing block layers BL, BU each having a plurality of processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U, is very large. Therefore, by reducing the transport load of the indexer robot 26, the transport efficiency of the product substrate W is improved, and the productivity can be improved accordingly. The main transport robots 8L, 8U of each processing block layer BL, BU are responsible for transporting the substrate W within the processing block layer BL, BU, and therefore have a smaller transport load than the indexer robot 26. Therefore, the main transport robots 8L, 8U are responsible for transporting the dummy substrate DW within the processing block layers BL, BU, which does not pose a major problem in terms of production efficiency.

[0110] Furthermore, since the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U are located within the processing block layers BL, BU, the dummy substrate DW can be transported between the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U and the processing units 11L-43U without passing through the substrate placement units 6L, 6U for substrate delivery between the indexer robot 26 and the processing block layers BL, BU. This reduces interference between the transport of the dummy substrate DW and the transport of the product substrates W, improving the efficiency of transport of the product substrates W and, accordingly, improving productivity.

[0111] Furthermore, unlike the case of Patent Document 1, the carrier holding portion 25 is not occupied for a long period of time by the dummy carrier DC accommodating the dummy substrate DW. This makes it possible to suppress waiting time for carrying in the carrier C accommodating the product substrate W, thereby contributing to improved productivity. In this embodiment, in each processing block layer BL, BU, a plurality of processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U are arranged on both sides of the transport path 51L, 51U along which the substrate W is transported by the main transport robot 8L, 8U, and are arranged stacked in the vertical direction Z. Therefore, the arrangement of the plurality of processing units 11L-43U in the processing block layer BL, BU is designed so that the substrate transport by the main transport robot 8L, 8U can be efficiently performed. This can contribute to improving productivity.

[0112] In this embodiment, the substrate placement units 6L, 6U and the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U are both disposed between the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U. This allows efficient transport of the substrates W between the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U via the substrate placement units 6L, 6U. The dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U can be disposed at positions that do not interfere with the transport of the substrates W by the indexer robot 26 and the main transport robots 8L, 8U. This allows the dummy substrates DW to be held in the processing block layers BL, BU without affecting the transport of the product substrates W.

[0113] More specifically, in this embodiment, the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U and the substrate placement units 6L, 6U are arranged three-dimensionally with different heights. This allows the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to be appropriately arranged in the processing block layers BL, BU by effectively utilizing the space in the processing block layers BL, BU. As a result, the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U are arranged in a manner that does not impede the transport of the product substrates W.

[0114] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U are arranged so as to overlap with the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U in plan view. As a result, the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U are arranged using the space above or below the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U. As a result, the arrangement of the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U that does not impede the transport of the product substrate W is realized, and the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U can be arranged by effectively utilizing the space in the processing block layers BL, BU. As described above, the arrangement in which the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U overlap with the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U in plan view may specifically be an arrangement in which a part or all of the dummy substrate DW accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U overlaps with the substrate W held on the substrate placement parts 6L, 6U.

[0115] More specifically, in this embodiment, a second processing block layer BU (upper processing block layer) is stacked on a first processing block layer BL (lower processing block layer). In the first processing block layer BL, the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7L is located below the substrate placement portion 6L. Meanwhile, in the second processing block layer BU, the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7U is located below the substrate placement portion 6U. This can reduce the height difference between the substrate placement portion 6L of the first processing block layer BL and the substrate placement portion 6U of the second processing block layer BU. This can shorten the substrate transport stroke in the vertical direction Z by the indexer robot 26, thereby reducing the transport load of the indexer robot 26. This can increase the transport efficiency of the product substrate W, contributing to improved productivity.

[0116] In this embodiment, the dummy substrate accommodation section 7L, 7U of each processing block layer BL, BU includes a number of dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12, the same number as the number of processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U included in the processing block layer BL, BU. Each dummy substrate slot DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 is configured to hold one dummy substrate DW. This allows the same number of dummy substrates DW as the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U to be held in each processing block layer BL, BU. Therefore, if it becomes necessary to carry a dummy substrate DW into any of the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U, the main transport robot 8L, 8U can quickly carry the dummy substrate DW into the processing unit and perform dummy processing. Since the indexer robot 26 is not involved in carrying the dummy substrate DW, it is possible to suppress or prevent any influence on the transport of the product substrate W.

[0117] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the multiple processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U of each processing block layer BL, BU correspond one-to-one to the multiple dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 of the processing block layer. The main transport robots 8L, 8U transport the dummy substrates DW between the corresponding dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 and the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U. With this configuration, the dummy substrates DW held in the dummy substrate slots can be used as dedicated dummy substrates for the corresponding processing units. This makes it easier to manage the usage history of the dummy substrates DW.

[0118] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the dummy processing conditions (unit cleaning execution conditions, pre-processing execution conditions, maintenance execution conditions) are satisfied, the controller 110 controls the main transport robots 8L, 8U to transport the dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation units 7L, 7U to the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U, and executes the dummy processing in the processing units. In this way, the dummy processing can be started by transporting the dummy substrate DW in the processing block layers BL, BU, so that the dummy processing can be started promptly while suppressing or preventing any influence on the transport of the product substrates W.

[0119] According to this embodiment, the controller 110 controls each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1 to execute the following steps. That is, in each processing block layer BL, BU, a dummy substrate loading step (steps A31, A71, A161) is executed in which the main transport robot 8L, 8U loads the dummy substrate DW accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, 7U in the processing block layer into one of the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U in the processing block layer. Then, a dummy processing step (steps A32, A72, A162) is executed in which dummy processing is performed using the loaded dummy substrate DW in the processing unit. Furthermore, after the dummy processing, a step is executed in which the main transport robot 8L, 8U takes out the dummy substrate DW from the processing unit and transports it to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, 7U (steps A33, A73, A163). Furthermore, a step is performed in which the substrate W placed on the substrate placement portion 6L, 6U of the processing block layer BL, BU is loaded into one of the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U of the processing block layer BL, BU (step A121). Then, a step is performed in which the loaded substrate W is processed in the processing unit (step A122). This allows the processing using the dummy substrate DW to be performed in the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U of each processing block layer BL, BU while reducing the transport load of the indexer robot 26. This improves production efficiency.

[0120] The controller 110 may control the indexer robot 26 to take out the substrate W from the carrier C held by the carrier holder 25 and to carry it into the substrate placement unit 6L, 6U of one of the processing block layers BL, BU in parallel with or prior to the substrate carry-in step (step A20). This allows the indexer robot 26 to carry the product substrate W into the processing block layers BL, BU while carrying the dummy substrate DW into the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U in each processing block layer BL, BU. The indexer robot 26 does not need to be involved in carrying in the dummy substrate DW, so that the dummy substrate DW can be transported in the processing block layers BL, BU without waiting for the substrate W to be transported by the indexer robot 26 or in parallel with the substrate transport. Therefore, the transport load on the indexer robot 26 can be reduced, and in the processing block layers BL, BU, the dummy substrate DW can be promptly transported to the processing units.

[0121] Furthermore, under the control of the controller 110, the above-mentioned dummy processing step (step A72) may be executed in parallel with or prior to the substrate loading step (step A20) in which the indexer robot 26 loads the product substrate W onto the substrate placement unit 6L, 6U. This reduces the transport load on the indexer robot 26 and allows the dummy processing to be started promptly in the processing block layers BL, BU. For example, when a substrate processing request is received from the host computer 150, the transport of the dummy substrate DW and the subsequent dummy processing can be started at an appropriate time in response to the request. This allows the environment in the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U to be prepared at an appropriate time, so that when the carrier C containing the product substrate W is loaded into the carrier holding unit 25, the processing of the substrate W can be started promptly. This contributes to improving productivity.

[0122] Moreover, in this embodiment, the usage history information (dummy substrate history data 134) of the dummy substrate DW accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U is stored in the memory 112 of the controller 110, and based on that, a dummy substrate exchange request is transmitted to the host computer 150 (notification of expiration date information). Furthermore, a recovery transport schedule is created for transporting the dummy substrate DW to be replaced from the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U to the carrier holding part 25 and recovering it. By controlling the main transport robots 8L, 8U and the indexer robot 26 based on this recovery transport schedule, the dummy substrate DW to be replaced is transported from the dummy substrate accommodation parts 7L, 7U to the carrier holding part 25 and recovered in the recovery dummy carrier DC. In this way, when the dummy substrate DW reaches its expiration date, the dummy substrate DW can be automatically discharged.

[0123] In this embodiment, the dummy substrate exchange request is an example of a notification of expiration date information, and this dummy substrate exchange request notifies that the dummy substrate DW has become unusable or is expected to become unusable soon. In this embodiment, the dummy substrate exchange request is a dummy substrate recovery request that requests the recovery of a used dummy substrate DW. More precisely, the dummy substrate exchange request requests the recovery of a used dummy substrate DW after the completion of the last dummy process, and therefore can also be said to be a dummy substrate recovery reservation that specifies the recovery time of the used dummy substrate DW. Also, in this embodiment, the dummy substrate exchange request is also a dummy substrate supply request that requests the supply of an unused dummy substrate DW. And, in this embodiment, the dummy substrate exchange request requests the supply of an unused dummy substrate DW to replace the dummy substrate DW that becomes used after the completion of the last dummy process, and therefore can also be said to be a dummy substrate supply reservation that specifies the supply time of the unused dummy substrate DW.

[0124] Incidentally, instead of determining that the expiration date has come based on the remaining one dummy process, the threshold data 136 can be determined so that the dummy substrate DW will reach its usage limit after a predetermined number of dummy processes have been performed, which is two or more. This allows a request (reservation) to be made to the host computer 150 for replacement of the dummy substrate DW with some leeway, so that a collection plan for used dummy substrates DW and a supply plan for unused dummy substrates DW can be appropriately executed, and the dummy substrates DW can be collected and supplied in a timely manner.

[0125] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a plurality of dummy substrates DW and a plurality of processing units are associated one-to-one. As a result, the dummy substrate DW is not shared by a plurality of processing units, and it is possible to prevent the plurality of processing units from affecting each other via the dummy substrate DW. For example, even if the processing environment in one processing unit is contaminated, it is possible to prevent the contamination from being carried over to other processing units via the dummy substrate DW.

[0126] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the host computer 150, which has received a dummy substrate exchange request from the substrate processing apparatus 1, plans the operation of the carrier transport mechanism 300 and controls the carrier transport mechanism 300 according to the plan, thereby causing a recovery dummy carrier DC for recovering a used dummy substrate DW to be loaded into the carrier holding section 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1. Therefore, based on a dummy substrate exchange request (notification of expiration date information) from the substrate processing apparatus 1 to the host computer 150, a recovery dummy carrier DC can be supplied to the substrate processing apparatus 1 at an appropriate time. That is, since the recovery dummy carrier DC is supplied automatically and at an appropriate time, the downtime of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be shortened and the productivity can be improved.

[0127] Furthermore, since the host computer 150 commands the substrate processing apparatus 1 to recover and transport the dummy substrate DW, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can plan and execute the recovery and transport of the dummy substrate DW at the appropriate time, i.e., the transport of the used dummy substrate DW from the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, 7U to the recovery dummy carrier DC. In other words, the timing of the loading of the recovery dummy carrier DC and the start of the recovery and transport of the dummy substrate DW in the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be matched. Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus 1 notifies the host computer 150 of the completion of the recovery of the dummy substrate DW to the recovery dummy carrier DC, and in response, the host computer 150 plans the unloading of the recovery dummy carrier DC by the carrier transport mechanism 300 and controls the carrier transport mechanism 300 according to the plan. Therefore, the recovery dummy carrier DC is automatically and timely unloaded from the carrier holding unit 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1. Specifically, the recovery dummy carrier DC can be unloaded from the carrier holding part 25 at a timing consistent with the completion of loading of the dummy substrate DW into the recovery dummy carrier DC. In this way, the time that the recovery dummy carrier DC occupies the carrier holding part 25 can be shortened, so that the carrier holding part 25 can be quickly vacated for the carrier C accommodating the product substrate W. This allows unprocessed product substrates W to be efficiently input into the substrate processing apparatus 1, and also allows processed product substrates W to be efficiently collected, improving productivity.

[0128] Note that "matching" timing does not necessarily mean that the events occur in time, but rather that the corresponding events occur within a certain period of time that is acceptable from the viewpoint of productivity. In this case, the certain period of time is, for example, about one minute. The same applies to the following explanation. Furthermore, the host computer 150 creates a plan for transporting the supply dummy carrier DC housing a usable dummy substrate DW to the carrier holding unit 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 by the carrier transport mechanism 300, and controls the operation of the carrier transport mechanism 300 according to the plan. As a result, the supply dummy carrier DC is automatically and timely supplied to the substrate processing apparatus 1. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, a supply transport schedule for transporting the dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC to the dummy substrate housing units 7L and 7U is created, and the dummy substrate DW is transported according to the supply transport schedule. In this way, the dummy substrate DW can be automatically and timely supplied to the substrate processing apparatus 1, so that the downtime of the substrate processing apparatus 1 caused by, for example, a shortage of usable dummy substrates DW can be shortened. This contributes to improving productivity.

[0129] Furthermore, since the host computer 150 commands the substrate processing apparatus 1 to supply and transport the dummy substrate DW, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can plan and execute the supply and transport of the dummy substrate DW at the appropriate time, that is, the transport of the usable dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC to the dummy substrate accommodation unit 7L, 7U. Therefore, the supply and transport of the dummy substrate DW in the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be started in accordance with the timing of the loading of the supply dummy carrier DC. Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus 1 notifies the host computer 150 of the completion of the unloading of the dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC, and based on this, the host computer 150 plans the unloading of the supply dummy carrier DC and operates the carrier transport mechanism 300 according to the plan. As a result, the supply dummy carrier DC can be unloaded from the carrier holding unit 25 in accordance with the timing of the completion of the unloading of the dummy substrate DW from the supply dummy carrier DC. In this way, the supply dummy carrier DC can be automatically and timely removed from the carrier holding part 25 of the substrate processing apparatus 1. In this way, the time during which the supply dummy carrier DC occupies the carrier holding part 25 can be shortened, and the carrier holding part 25 can be quickly vacated to hold the carrier C accommodating the product substrate W. This allows unprocessed product substrates W to be efficiently fed into the substrate processing apparatus 1, and also allows processed product substrates W to be efficiently collected, thereby improving productivity.

[0130] 12 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and shows the configuration in a vertical cross-section corresponding to the vertical cross-section of FIG. 2. Compared with the first embodiment described above, in this embodiment, the intermediate partition wall 16 that separates the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU is removed. Furthermore, the support pillars 83 that guide the vertical movement of the main transport robots 8L, 8U extend vertically across the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU. This allows the main transport robots 8L, 8U to move vertically with a larger stroke than in the first embodiment. Of course, the controller 110 controls the operations of the main transport robots 8L, 8U so that they do not interfere with each other.

[0131] In this embodiment, the two substrate placement parts 6U, 6L in the first embodiment are replaced with one substrate placement part 6. The substrate placement part 6 is shared by the first processing block layer BL and the second processing block layer BU. That is, the main transport robot 8L of the first processing block layer BL can access the substrate placement part 6 and transports the product substrate W between the substrate placement part 6 and the processing units 11L-43L of the first processing block layer BL. The main transport robot 8L also transports the dummy substrate DW between the substrate placement part 6, the processing units 11L-43L, and the dummy substrate accommodation part 7L. Similarly, the main transport robot 8U of the second processing block layer BU can access the substrate placement part 6 and transports the product substrate W between the substrate placement part 6 and the processing units 11U-43U of the second processing block layer BU. Furthermore, the main transport robot 8U transports the dummy substrate DW between the substrate placement part 6, the processing units 11U-43U, and the dummy substrate accommodation part 7U.

[0132] The substrate placement section 6 includes an unprocessed substrate placement section 61 and a processed substrate placement section 62. However, since the substrate placement section 6 is shared by the first and second processing block layers BL, BU, it is preferable that the unprocessed substrate placement section 61 and the processed substrate placement section 62 each include a substrate holding shelf 65, 66 having more slots than in the first embodiment. The substrate holding shelves 65, 66 included in the substrate placement section 6 may be arranged such that at least one (i.e., a part or all) of the slots is accessible by both main transport robots 8L, 8U. More specifically, the substrate holding shelf 65 (see FIG. 5) of the unprocessed substrate placement section 61 may be arranged such that at least one (i.e., a part or all) of the slots is accessible by both main transport robots 8L, 8U. Similarly, the substrate holding shelf 66 (see FIG. 5) of the processed substrate placement portion 62 may be arranged such that at least one (that is, a part or all) of the slots is accessible by both of the main transport robots 8L, 8U.

[0133] The substrate mounting portion 6 is preferably arranged so as to be accessible by the indexer robot 26. More specifically, the indexer robot 26 is preferably configured so as to be able to access all of the slots of the substrate holding shelves 65, 66 of the substrate mounting portion 6 and to be able to load and unload the product substrates W or dummy substrates DW thereto. Fig. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention, showing the configuration in a vertical cross section corresponding to the vertical cross section of Fig. 2. In the first embodiment, windows 4L, 4U corresponding to the substrate placement portions 6L, 6U are formed in the adjacent partition walls 2a, 3a of the indexer block 2 and the processing block 3, but no windows corresponding to the dummy substrate accommodation portions 7L, 7U are formed. In contrast, in this embodiment, windows 5L, 5U corresponding to the dummy substrate accommodation portions 7L, 7U are added to the partition walls 2a, 3a.

[0134] By providing such additional windows 5L, 5U, when the dummy substrate DW is introduced into the processing block layer BL, BU, the indexer robot 26 can directly access the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7L, 7U to load the dummy substrate DW. Furthermore, when the used dummy substrate DW is removed from the processing block layer BL, BU, the indexer robot 26 can directly access the dummy substrate accommodation portion 7L, 7U to load the dummy substrate. When the dummy substrate DW is loaded / unloaded, the main transport robots 8L, 8U do not need to be involved. Therefore, the transport load of the main transport robots 8L, 8U can be reduced to improve productivity.

[0135] 14 is a schematic plan view showing the internal configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the processing units 11L-43U are divided into a first processing unit group provided in a lower processing block layer BL and a second processing unit group provided in an upper processing block layer BU, with a horizontal intermediate partition wall 16 provided between them. In contrast, in this embodiment, the intermediate partition wall 16 that divides the space in the processing block 3 into upper and lower parts is not provided, and instead, a central partition wall 18 that divides the space in the processing block 3 in the horizontal direction is provided.

[0136] The central partition 18 divides the space in the processing block 3 into left and right in a front view in the first horizontal direction X from the carrier holding part 25 side. The central partition 18 is a flat partition extending along the first horizontal direction X and the up-down direction Z near the center of the processing block 3 in the second horizontal direction Y (left-right direction). The central partition 18 forms a first processing block B1 arranged on one side thereof and a second processing block B2 arranged on the other side thereof. That is, the first processing block B1 and the second processing block B2 are arranged on the sides of each other. The multiple processing units 11L-43U provided in the processing block 3 are divided into a first processing unit group G1 included in the first processing block B1 and a second processing unit group G2 included in the second processing block B2. The arrangement of the multiple processing units 11L-43U is similar to that of the first embodiment, so in Fig. 14, the multiple processing units 11L-43U are given the same reference symbols as in Fig. 1. The first processing unit group G1 is composed of multiple processing units 11L, 12L, 13L, 11U, 12U, 13U; 21L, 22L, 23L, 21U, 22U, 23U forming the first tower T1 and the second tower T2. The second processing unit group G2 is composed of multiple processing units 31L, 32L, 33L, 31U, 32U, 33U; 41L, 42L, 43L, 41U, 42U, 43U forming the third tower T3 and the fourth tower T4.

[0137] A first main transport robot 8A is provided on one side of the central partition 18 in correspondence with the first processing unit group G1. The first main transport robot 8A operates in a first transport space 53A defined between the central partition 18 and the first processing unit group G1, whereby the product substrate W and the dummy substrate DW are transported through the first transport space 53A. Similarly, a second main transport robot 8B is provided on the other side of the central partition 18 in correspondence with the second processing unit group G2. The second main transport robot 8B operates in a second transport space 53B defined between the central partition 18 and the second processing unit group G2, whereby the product substrate W and the dummy substrate DW are transported through the second transport space 53B. The configurations of the first main transport robot 8A and the second main transport robot 8B are substantially similar to those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 12, and therefore the same reference numerals are used for corresponding components, and the description thereof will be omitted. However, in this embodiment, the support pillar 83 that guides the vertical movement is fixed to the central partition wall 18.

[0138] Furthermore, a first substrate placement part 6A is provided at an end of the first transfer space 53A adjacent to the indexer block 2 in correspondence with the first processing unit group G1. Furthermore, a first dummy substrate accommodation part 7A is arranged above and / or below the first substrate placement part 6A so as to overlap partially or entirely with the first substrate placement part 6A in plan view. Similarly, a second substrate placement part 6B is provided at an end of the second transfer space 53B adjacent to the indexer block 2 in correspondence with the second processing unit group G2. Furthermore, a second dummy substrate accommodation part 7B is arranged above and / or below the second substrate placement part 6B so as to overlap partially or entirely with the second substrate placement part 6B in plan view.

[0139] The first main transport robot 8A can access the multiple processing units constituting the first processing unit group G1, the first substrate placement part 6A, and the first dummy substrate accommodation part 7A. As a result, the first main transport robot 8A transports the product substrate W between the multiple processing units constituting the first processing unit group G1 and the first substrate placement part 6A. The first main transport robot 8A also transports the dummy substrate DW between the multiple processing units constituting the first processing unit group G1, the first substrate placement part 6A, and the first dummy substrate accommodation part 7A. In this embodiment, the first main transport robot 8A cannot access any of the second processing unit group G2, the second substrate placement part 6B, and the second dummy substrate accommodation part 7B.

[0140] Similarly, the second main transport robot 8B can access the multiple processing units constituting the second processing unit group G2, the second substrate placement part 6B, and the second dummy substrate accommodation part 7B. As a result, the second main transport robot 8B transports the product substrate W between the multiple processing units constituting the second processing unit group G2 and the second substrate placement part 6B. In addition, the second main transport robot 8B transports the dummy substrate DW between the multiple processing units constituting the second processing unit group G2, the second substrate placement part 6B, and the second dummy substrate accommodation part 7B. In this embodiment, the second main transport robot 8B cannot access any of the first processing unit group G1, the first substrate placement part 6A, and the first dummy substrate accommodation part 7A.

[0141] The indexer robot 26 can access the carriers C, DC held by the carrier holding part 25, the first substrate mounting part 6A and the second substrate mounting part 6B, and transports the product substrate W and dummy substrate DW between them. In this embodiment, the indexer robot 26 cannot access either the first dummy substrate accommodation part 7A or the second dummy substrate accommodation part 7B. Needless to say, the indexer robot 26 cannot access the first processing unit group G1 or the second processing unit group G2 either.

[0142] This fourth embodiment may be modified following the second embodiment (see FIG. 12) and, instead of the first substrate placement part 6A and the second substrate placement part 6B, a substrate placement part commonly accessible by the indexer robot 26, the first main transport robot 8A and the second main transport robot 8B may be provided. For example, a notch may be provided in the end part of the central partition 18 on the indexer block 2 side, and a substrate placement part shared by the first processing unit group G1 and the second processing unit group G2 may be disposed therein.

[0143] Furthermore, the fourth embodiment may be modified following the third embodiment (see FIG. 13) described above, so that the indexer robot 26 can access the first dummy substrate accommodation portion 7A and the second dummy substrate accommodation portion 7B. This allows the indexer robot 26 to load / unload the dummy substrate DW into / from the first dummy substrate accommodation portion 7A and the second dummy substrate accommodation portion 7B, without the involvement of the first main transport robot 8A and the second main transport robot 8B.

[0144] Although four embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be embodied in other forms. For example, in the first embodiment and the like described above, the configuration of the processing block 3 configured by stacking two processing block layers BL, BU has been shown, but the processing block may be configured by stacking three or more processing block layers. In addition, in the first embodiment and the like described above, an example has been shown in which each processing block layer BL, BU has a processing unit arrangement in which three processing block layers are stacked, but the processing units included in each processing block layer may be stacked in two stages, or may be stacked in four or more stages, or all the processing units may be arranged in one stage. Furthermore, in the first embodiment and the like described above, an example has been shown in which the processing units 11L-43U are arranged on both sides of the transport paths 51L, 51U, but the processing units may be arranged on one side of the transport paths 51L, 51U. In addition, in the first embodiment and the like described above, two processing units are arranged along one side of the transport paths 51L, 51U, but one processing unit may be arranged, or three or more processing units may be arranged.

[0145] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment and the like, the dummy substrate accommodating sections 7L, 7U of each processing block layer BL, BU are provided with the same number of dummy substrate slots DL1-DL12, DU1-DU12 as the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U, which correspond one-to-one to the processing units 11L-43L, 11U-43U. However, for example, the number of dummy substrate slots in each processing block layer BL, BU may be made smaller than the number of processing units, so that one dummy substrate slot corresponds to multiple processing units.

[0146] In the above embodiment, an example of a substrate processing apparatus in which a plurality of processing units are divided into a plurality of processing unit groups has been shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus in which one main transport robot transports the substrate W or the dummy substrate DW to a plurality of processing units. Furthermore, the number of processing units may be one. In addition, various design modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0147] C Carrier DC Dummy Carrier W board (product board) DW dummy board 1. Substrate Processing Equipment 2. Indexer Blocks 25 Carrier holding part 26 Indexer Robot 3 Processing Blocks BL 1st processing block layer 11L-13L Processing Unit 21L-23L Processing Unit 31L-33L Processing Unit 41L-43L Processing Unit 6L Substrate placement area 7L Dummy board housing DL1-DL12 Dummy board slot 8L Main transport robot 51L Transport route 52L transport space BU 2nd processing block layer 11U-13U Processing Unit 21U-23U Processing Unit 31U-33U Processing Unit 41U-43U Processing Unit 6U PCB placement area 7U Dummy board housing DU1-DU12 Dummy board slot 8U Main transport robot 51U Transport route 52U transport space B1 First processing block B2 Second processing block G1 First Processing Unit Group G2 Second Processing Unit Group 8A First main transport robot 8B Second main transport robot 6 Substrate placement section 6A First substrate placement section 6B Second substrate placement section 7A First dummy board housing section 7B Second dummy board housing section 110 Controller 150 Host Computer 300 Carrier transport mechanism 351 Dummy Carrier Storage Area

Claims

1. a carrier holding portion that holds a carrier that houses a substrate or a dummy substrate; a processing unit for processing a substrate and performing a process using a dummy substrate; a dummy substrate accommodating portion for accommodating a dummy substrate; a substrate placement section on which a substrate is placed; a first transport unit that is accessible to the processing unit, the dummy substrate accommodation unit, and the substrate mounting unit, and that transports a substrate between the processing unit and the substrate mounting unit, and transports a dummy substrate between the processing unit, the dummy substrate accommodation unit, and the substrate mounting unit; a second transport unit that is accessible to the carrier holding unit and the substrate mounting unit and transports a substrate between the carrier holding unit and the substrate mounting unit; a storage unit for storing usage history information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit; a usage expiration notification unit that notifies information about the expiration date of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodation unit based on the usage history information stored in the storage unit; a schedule creation unit that creates a transport schedule for the substrate or dummy substrate by the first transport unit and the second transport unit, the schedule creation unit creating a transport schedule for transporting the dummy substrate, for which the expiration date information has been notified, from the dummy substrate accommodation unit to the carrier holding unit and recovering it; a transport control unit that controls transport of a substrate or a dummy substrate by the first transport unit and the second transport unit in accordance with a transport schedule created by the schedule creation unit; A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage section stores at least one of information on the number of times the dummy substrate has been used, a usage time, and a wear state of the dummy substrate as the usage history information.

3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit stores the usage history information and expiration date threshold information corresponding to the usage history information.

4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the dummy substrate accommodation unit accommodates a plurality of dummy substrates, and the storage unit stores the usage history information and the expiration date threshold information for each dummy substrate.

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of said processing units, a correspondence relationship between said plurality of dummy substrates and said plurality of processing units is determined in advance, and said storage unit stores information representing said correspondence relationship.

6. 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the expiration date notification unit compares the usage history information with the expiration date threshold information, and notifies expiration date information of the dummy substrate based on a result of the comparison.

7. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an alarm unit that notifies a user of expiration date information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodating section based on usage history information stored in the memory section.

8. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, a carrier transport unit that transports a recovery dummy carrier for accommodating a used dummy substrate into the carrier holding unit; a host computer that receives notification of the expiration date information from the expiration date notification unit, plans a recovery dummy carrier transport for transporting the recovery dummy carrier to the carrier holding unit by the carrier transport unit based on the plan, causes the carrier transport unit to transport the recovery dummy carrier to the carrier holding unit, and commands the substrate processing apparatus to transport and recover a dummy substrate.

9. 9. The substrate processing system of claim 8, wherein the host computer obtains information regarding the recovery of dummy substrates to the recovery dummy carrier from the substrate processing apparatus, plans the removal of the recovery dummy carrier containing the used dummy substrate from the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit, and causes the carrier transport unit to remove the recovery dummy carrier from the carrier holding portion based on the plan.

10. the schedule creation unit further creates a transport schedule for transporting a usable dummy substrate from the carrier holding unit to the dummy substrate accommodation unit, the carrier transport unit operates to transport a supply dummy carrier housing a usable dummy substrate to the carrier holding unit; 10. The substrate processing system of claim 8, wherein the host computer plans a supply dummy carrier transport for transporting a supply dummy carrier to the carrier holding section by the carrier transport unit, and based on the plan, causes the carrier transport unit to transport the supply dummy carrier to the carrier holding section, and instructs the substrate processing apparatus to supply and transport a usable dummy substrate.

11. 11. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the host computer obtains information regarding the removal of the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier from the substrate processing apparatus, plans the removal of the supply dummy carrier from the carrier holding portion by the carrier transport unit, and causes the carrier transport unit to remove the supply dummy carrier from the carrier holding portion based on the plan.

12. The substrate processing system according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the carrier transport unit transports a recovery dummy carrier or a supply dummy carrier between the carrier holding part and a dummy carrier storage area different from the carrier holding part.

13. transporting the substrate between the processing unit and the substrate mounting part by a first transport unit; processing the substrate transported by the first transport unit in the processing unit; transporting a dummy substrate between the processing unit and a dummy substrate accommodation unit by the first transport unit; performing a dummy process in the processing unit using a dummy substrate transported by the first transport unit; transporting a substrate between a carrier held by a carrier holding part and the substrate mounting part by a second transport unit; a step of recording usage history information of the dummy substrate accommodated in the dummy substrate accommodating section; determining a usage period of the dummy substrate based on the usage history information; a recovery and transport step of transporting a dummy substrate that has reached its expiration date from the dummy substrate accommodation unit to the carrier holding unit and recovering the dummy substrate based on the determination of the expiration date; a recovery dummy carrier carrying-in process of carrying a recovery dummy carrier for accommodating a used dummy substrate into the carrier holding section by a carrier transport unit based on the determination of the expiration date of the use; A method for processing a substrate, comprising:

14. 14. The substrate processing method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of unloading the recovery dummy carrier from the carrier holding section by the carrier transport unit at a timing consistent with completion of loading of the dummy substrate into the recovery dummy carrier in the recovery transport step.

15. a supply dummy carrier carrying-in step of carrying a supply dummy substrate housing a usable dummy substrate into the carrier holding section by the carrier transport unit based on the determination of the expiration date; a supply transport step of transporting a usable dummy substrate from the carrier holding part to the dummy substrate accommodation part based on the determination of the expiration date; The method of claim 13 or 14, further comprising:

16. 16. The substrate processing method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of unloading the supply dummy carrier from the carrier holding part by the carrier transport unit at a timing consistent with completion of unloading of the dummy substrate from the supply dummy carrier in the supply transport step.

17. A plurality of said processing units are provided, 17. The substrate processing method according to claim 13, wherein the dummy substrate accommodation section accommodates a plurality of dummy substrates having a predetermined correspondence with the plurality of processing units.

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