Substrate processing equipment

Abstract

To enhance maintainability of a rotation mechanism for transmitting rotational driving force generated by a motor to a substrate holding unit by a power transmission unit in a substrate processing apparatus equipped with the rotation mechanism.SOLUTION: In a substrate processing apparatus, a chamber includes a transport opening for transporting a substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and a substrate holder, and a maintenance opening which is provided on the opposite side of the substrate holder to the transport opening. A rotation mechanism also includes a motor for generating a rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holder, and a power transmission unit that connects the motor and the substrate holder to transmit the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder. The motor and the power transmission unit are arranged on the opposite side of the substrate holder to the transport opening so as to face the maintenance opening, so that the rotation mechanism is allowed to be accessed from the outside through the maintenance opening.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in an internal space of a chamber to perform substrate processing.

Background Art

[0002] As this type of substrate processing apparatus, for example, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this apparatus, a holding unit is disposed in an internal space of a casing (corresponding to an example of the "chamber" of the present invention). This holding unit rotates about a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction while horizontally holding a substantially disk-shaped substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, receiving a rotational driving force from a rotational driving unit (corresponding to the "rotation mechanism" of the present invention).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 above includes a pulley attached to a lower end portion of a rotation axis extending downward from a holding unit, a drive belt wound around the pulley, and a motor that rotates the rotation axis via the pulley by applying a driving force to the drive belt. That is, a power transmission unit is constituted by two pulleys and a drive belt, and the power transmission unit transmits the driving force generated by the motor to the holding unit. Therefore, when a problem occurs in the power transmission unit, such as elongation or breakage of the drive belt, during the operation of the substrate processing apparatus, maintenance work such as adjustment of the power transmission unit or replacement of components constituting the power transmission unit is required as appropriate. However, the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is not configured in consideration of maintenance work, and it is necessary to exert a great deal of labor for maintenance work, and there is room for improvement.

[0005] This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to improve the maintainability of a rotation mechanism in a substrate processing apparatus equipped with a rotation mechanism that transmits rotational driving force generated by a motor to a substrate holding part via a power transmission part. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] This invention The first aspect The substrate processing apparatus comprises a chamber having an internal space, a substrate holding part rotatably mounted around a vertically extending axis of rotation while holding a substrate substantially horizontally at a predetermined processing position in the internal space, a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holding part around the axis of rotation, and a processing mechanism for performing substrate processing on a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the substrate held by the substrate holding part rotated by the rotation mechanism, the chamber having a transport opening for transporting the substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding part, and a maintenance opening provided on the opposite side of the transport opening with the substrate holding part in between, the rotation mechanism having a motor that generates rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holding part, and a power transmission part that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holding part by connecting the motor and the substrate holding part. In a plan view from above the chamber, the substrate holding section is positioned in a processing location offset from the center of the internal space towards the transport opening on the transport path. The motor and power transmission unit are positioned on the opposite side of the transport opening from the substrate holding unit, and facing the maintenance opening, so that the rotating mechanism can be accessed from the outside through the maintenance opening. A second aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a chamber having an internal space; a substrate holding part rotatably provided around a vertically extending axis of rotation while holding a substrate substantially horizontally at a predetermined processing position in the internal space; a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holding part around the axis of rotation; a processing mechanism for performing substrate processing on a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate held by the substrate holding part rotated by the rotation mechanism; a plurality of base support members erected vertically upward from the bottom wall of the chamber; and a plurality of base support members at spaced positions spaced upward from the bottom wall of the chamber. The chamber comprises a base member supported by the upper end of the member and forming a gap with the bottom wall, and has a transport opening for transporting a substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding part, and a maintenance opening provided on the opposite side of the transport opening with the substrate holding part in between, and the rotating mechanism comprises a motor that generates rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holding part, and a power transmission part that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holding part by connecting the motor and the substrate holding part, and the motor and the power transmission part are opposite to the substrate holding part The motor is positioned opposite the transport opening, and has a rotating shaft that rotates in conjunction with the generation of rotational driving force, and is positioned with the rotating shaft extending vertically downward. The power transmission unit has a first pulley attached to the rotating shaft, a second pulley attached to the lower end of the substrate holder, and an endless belt stretched between the first and second pulleys. The base member has a first holding portion that holds the motor with the rotating shaft positioned so as to hang downwards from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall while being spaced upwards from the bottom wall, and a second holding portion that holds the substrate holder with the lower end of the substrate holder positioned so as to hang downwards from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall while being spaced upwards from the bottom wall. The first pulley is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft at a position below the base member, the second pulley is attached to the lower end of the substrate holder at a position below the base member, and the endless belt is positioned below the base member. A maintenance opening is formed in the chamber such that the motor and power transmission unit are visible from the maintenance opening, so that the motor and power transmission unit can be accessed from the outside through the maintenance opening.A key feature is that the motor and power transmission unit can be accessed by utilizing the gap formed between the bottom wall of the chamber and the base member. A third aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a chamber having an internal space; a substrate holding part rotatably provided around a vertically extending axis of rotation while holding a substrate substantially horizontally at a predetermined processing position in the internal space; a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holding part around the axis of rotation; a processing mechanism for performing bevel processing on a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding part rotated by the rotation mechanism; and a substrate observation mechanism for observing the processing state at an observation position on the peripheral edge of the substrate, wherein the chamber has a transport opening for transporting the substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding part, and on the opposite side of the transport opening with the substrate holding part in between The rotating mechanism has a maintenance opening provided, and includes a motor that generates rotational driving force to rotate the substrate holder, and a power transmission unit that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder by connecting the motor and the substrate holder, and the substrate observation mechanism has a light source unit that irradiates illumination light toward the observation position, and an imaging unit that images the peripheral edge of the substrate, and the motor, power transmission unit, light source unit and imaging unit are arranged on the opposite side of the transport opening from the substrate holder, and facing the maintenance opening, so that the rotating mechanism and the observation mechanism can be accessed from the outside through the maintenance opening.

[0007] In this configuration, a maintenance opening is provided in the chamber. The motor and the power transmission unit connected to the motor are positioned to face this maintenance opening. This allows an operator to access the rotating mechanism from the outside through the maintenance opening and perform maintenance work. In other words, by adopting this layout structure, it is possible to improve the maintainability of the rotating mechanism. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This invention aims to improve the maintainability of a rotation mechanism in a substrate processing apparatus equipped with a rotation mechanism that transmits rotational driving force generated by a motor to a substrate holding part via a power transmission part. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows the configuration of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 3] This diagram schematically shows the configuration of the chamber and the components that are mounted within it. [Figure 4] This is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit installed on the base member. [Figure 5] This is a perspective view showing the configuration of the holding and rotating mechanism. [Figure 6] This diagram shows the dimensional relationship between the substrate held in the spin chuck and the rotating cup. [Figure 7] This diagram shows a portion of the rotating cup section and the fixed cup section. [Figure 8] This is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the top protective heating mechanism. [Figure 9] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the top protective heating mechanism. [Figure 10] This diagram schematically shows the configuration of the nozzle movement section. [Figure 11] This diagram schematically illustrates the configuration and operation of the centering mechanism. [Figure 12] This is a perspective view showing the observation head of the substrate observation mechanism. [Figure 13] Figure 12 is a perspective view of the disassembled and assembled observation head. [Figure 14] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing a beveling process as an example of a substrate processing operation performed by the substrate processing apparatus shown in Figure 2. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This is not a view showing the appearance of the substrate processing system 100, but a schematic view showing the internal structure thereof in an easy-to-understand manner by excluding the outer wall panel and some other components of the substrate processing system 100. This substrate processing system 100 is, for example, installed in a clean room and is a single wafer type apparatus that processes a substrate W having circuit patterns or the like (hereinafter referred to as "patterns") formed only on one main surface one by one. Then, in the processing unit 1 equipped in the substrate processing system 100, substrate processing with a processing liquid is executed. In this specification, the pattern formation surface (one main surface) on which patterns are formed out of both main surfaces of the substrate is referred to as the "front surface", and the other main surface on which no patterns are formed on the opposite side is referred to as the "back surface". Also, the surface directed downward is referred to as the "lower surface", and the surface directed upward is referred to as the "upper surface". Further, in this specification, the "pattern formation surface" means a surface on which an uneven pattern is formed in an arbitrary region on the substrate.

[0011] Here, as the "substrate" in the present embodiment, various substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for photomasks, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, substrates for FED (Field Emission Display), substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, and substrates for magneto-optical disks can be applied. In the following, a substrate processing apparatus mainly used for processing semiconductor wafers will be taken as an example and described with reference to the drawings, but it can be similarly applied to the processing of various substrates exemplified above.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 100 has a substrate processing area 110 for processing the substrate W. An indexer unit 120 is provided adjacent to this substrate processing area 110. The indexer unit 120 has a container holding portion 121 that can hold a plurality of containers C (such as FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) pod, OC (Open Cassette) that accommodate a plurality of substrates W in a sealed state). Further, the indexer unit 120 includes an indexer robot 122 for accessing the container C held by the container holding portion 121 to take out an unprocessed substrate W from the container C or store the processed substrate W in the container C. A plurality of substrates W are accommodated in each container C in a substantially horizontal posture.

[0013] The indexer robot 122 includes a base portion 122a fixed to the apparatus housing, an articulated arm 122b provided rotatable about a vertical axis with respect to the base portion 122a, and a hand 122c attached to the tip of the articulated arm 122b. The hand 122c has a structure capable of placing and holding the substrate W on its upper surface. Since an indexer robot having such an articulated arm and a hand for holding a substrate is known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0014] In the substrate processing area 110, a mounting table 112 is provided so that substrates W from the indexer robot 122 can be placed on it. In a plan view, a substrate transfer robot 111 is positioned approximately in the center of the substrate processing area 110. Furthermore, multiple processing units 1 are arranged so as to surround this substrate transfer robot 111. Specifically, multiple processing units 1 are positioned facing the space in which the substrate transfer robot 111 is located. The substrate transfer robot 111 randomly accesses the mounting table 112 for these processing units 1 and transfers substrates W between the mounting table 112 and the processing unit 1. On the other hand, each processing unit 1 performs a predetermined process on the substrate W and corresponds to a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, these processing units (substrate processing apparatus) 1 have the same function. Therefore, parallel processing of multiple substrates W is possible. Note that if the substrate transfer robot 111 can directly receive substrates W from the indexer robot 122, the mounting table 112 is not necessarily required.

[0015] Figure 2 shows the configuration of a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the chamber and the configuration mounted in the chamber. In Figures 2, 3 and the following diagrams, the dimensions and number of parts may be exaggerated or simplified for ease of understanding. The chamber 11 used in the substrate processing apparatus (processing unit) 1 has, as shown in Figure 3, a rectangular bottom wall 11a in a plan view from vertically above, four side walls 11b to 11e erected around the bottom wall 11a, and a ceiling wall 11f covering the upper ends of the side walls 11b to 11e. By combining these bottom wall 11a, side walls 11b to 11e and ceiling wall 11f, a roughly rectangular parallelepiped internal space 12 is formed.

[0016] Base support members 16, 16 are fixed to the upper surface of the bottom wall 11a with fasteners such as bolts, spaced apart from each other. In other words, the base support members 16 are erected from the bottom wall 11a. A base member 17 is fixed to the upper ends of these base support members 16, 16 with fasteners such as bolts. This base member 17 has a smaller planar size than the bottom wall 11a and is made of a metal plate that is thicker and has higher rigidity than the bottom wall 11a. As shown in Figure 2, the base member 17 is lifted vertically upward from the bottom wall 11a by the base support members 16, 16. In other words, a so-called raised floor structure is formed at the bottom of the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. The upper surface of this base member 17 is finished so that a substrate processing unit SP for performing substrate processing on a substrate W can be installed, as will be described in detail later, and the substrate processing unit SP is installed on this upper surface. Each part constituting this substrate processing unit SP is electrically connected to a control unit 10 that controls the entire device and operates in accordance with instructions from the control unit 10. The shape of the base component 17, and the configuration and operation of the circuit board processing unit SP will be described in detail later.

[0017] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a fan filter unit (FFU) 13 is mounted on the ceiling wall 11f of the chamber 11. This fan filter unit 13 further purifies the air in the cleanroom where the substrate processing device 1 is installed and supplies it to the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. The fan filter unit 13 is equipped with a fan and filter (e.g., a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter) for taking in air from the cleanroom and sending it into the chamber 11, and supplies the clean air through an opening 11f1 provided in the ceiling wall 11f. This creates a downflow of clean air into the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. In addition, a perforated plate 14 with numerous outlet holes is provided directly below the ceiling wall 11f to uniformly disperse the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 13.

[0018] As shown in Figure 3, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, a transport opening 11b1 is provided in the side wall 11b facing the substrate transport robot 111, one of the four side walls 11b to 11e, thereby connecting the internal space 12 with the outside of the chamber 11. As a result, the hand (not shown) of the substrate transport robot 111 can access the substrate processing apparatus SP through the transport opening 11b1. In other words, the provision of the transport opening 11b1 allows for the loading and unloading of substrates W into and out of the internal space 12. A shutter 15 for opening and closing this transport opening 11b1 is attached to the side wall 11b.

[0019] A shutter opening / closing mechanism (not shown) is connected to the shutter 15, which opens and closes the shutter 15 in response to an opening / closing command from the control unit 10. More specifically, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, when an unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the chamber 11, the shutter opening / closing mechanism opens the shutter 15, and the unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the substrate processing apparatus SP in a face-up position by the hand of the substrate transport robot 111. In other words, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck (reference numeral 21 in Figure 5) of the substrate processing apparatus SP with its upper surface Wf facing upwards. After the substrate is loaded, when the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 moves away from the chamber 11, the shutter opening / closing mechanism closes the shutter 15. Then, within the processing space of the chamber 11 (corresponding to the sealed space 12a which will be described in detail later), beveling of the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W is performed by the substrate processing apparatus SP as an example of the "substrate processing" of the present invention. Furthermore, after the beveling process is completed, the shutter opening / closing mechanism opens the shutter 15 again, and the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 removes the processed substrate W from the substrate processing unit SP. In this embodiment, the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 is maintained at a normal temperature. In this specification, "normal temperature" means a temperature range of 5°C to 35°C.

[0020] As shown in Figure 3, the side wall 11d is located on the opposite side of the side wall 11b, with the substrate processing unit SP (Figure 2) installed on the base member 17 in between. A maintenance opening 11d1 is provided in this side wall 11d. During maintenance, the maintenance opening 11d1 is opened, as shown in the figure. This allows the operator to access the substrate processing unit SP from outside the device through the maintenance opening 11d1. On the other hand, during substrate processing, a cover member 19 is attached to close the maintenance opening 11d1. Thus, in this embodiment, the cover member 19 is detachably attached to the side wall 11d.

[0021] Furthermore, a heating gas supply unit 47 is attached to the outer surface of the side wall 11e for supplying heated inert gas (nitrogen gas in this embodiment) to the substrate processing unit SP. This heating gas supply unit 47 incorporates a heater 471.

[0022] As described above, the shutter 15, lid member 19, and heating gas supply unit 47 are arranged on the outer wall side of the chamber 11. In contrast, the substrate processing unit SP is installed on the upper surface of the raised base member 17 inside the chamber 11, i.e., the internal space 12. The configuration of the substrate processing unit SP will be described below with reference to Figures 2, 4 to 12.

[0023] Figure 4 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit installed on the base member. Hereafter, in order to clarify the arrangement and operation of each part of the device, a coordinate system in which the Z direction is the vertical direction and the XY plane is the horizontal plane is used as appropriate. In the coordinate system in Figure 4, the horizontal direction parallel to the transport path TP of the substrate W is called the "X direction", and the horizontal direction perpendicular to it is called the "Y direction". More specifically, the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the transport opening 11b1 and the maintenance opening 11d1 are called the "+X direction" and "-X direction", respectively, the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the side walls 11c and 11e are called the "-Y direction" and "+Y direction", respectively, and the directions toward the vertically upward and vertically downward are called the "+Z direction" and "-Z direction", respectively.

[0024] The substrate processing unit SP includes a holding and rotating mechanism 2, a scattering prevention mechanism 3, an upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, a processing mechanism 5, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a lifting mechanism 7, a centering mechanism 8, and a substrate observation mechanism 9. These mechanisms are mounted on a base member 17. In other words, the holding and rotating mechanism 2, the scattering prevention mechanism 3, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, the processing mechanism 5, the atmosphere separation mechanism 6, the lifting mechanism 7, the centering mechanism 8, and the substrate observation mechanism 9 are arranged relative to each other in predetermined positions, with the base member 17 having higher rigidity than the chamber 11 as the reference point.

[0025] Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the holding and rotating mechanism. The holding and rotating mechanism 2 includes a substrate holding section 2A that holds the substrate W in a substantially horizontal position with its surface facing upward, and a rotating mechanism 2B that synchronously rotates the substrate holding section 2A holding the substrate W and a part of the anti-scattering mechanism 3. Therefore, when the rotating mechanism 2B is activated in response to a rotation command from the control unit 10, the substrate W and the rotating cup section 31 of the anti-scattering mechanism 3 are rotated around a rotation axis AX that extends parallel to the vertical direction Z.

[0026] The substrate holding section 2A is equipped with a spin chuck 21, which is a disc-shaped member smaller than the substrate W. The spin chuck 21 is positioned so that its upper surface is approximately horizontal and its central axis coincides with the rotation axis AX. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the center of the substrate holding section 2A (corresponding to the central axis of the spin chuck 21) is offset in the (+X) direction from the center 11g of the chamber 11. That is, in a plan view from above the chamber 11, the substrate holding section 2A is positioned such that the central axis of the spin chuck 21 (rotation axis AX) is located at a processing position shifted by a distance Lof from the center 11g of the internal space 12 toward the transport opening 11b1. In order to clarify the arrangement of the various parts of the apparatus described later, in this specification, the virtual lines that pass through the center (rotation axis AX) of the offset substrate holding section 2A and are perpendicular to the transport path TP, and the virtual lines that are parallel to the transport path TP, are referred to as the "first virtual horizontal line VL1" and the "second virtual horizontal line VL2," respectively.

[0027] As shown in Figure 5, a cylindrical rotating shaft portion 22 is connected to the lower surface of the spin chuck 21. The rotating shaft portion 22 extends vertically in the Z direction with its axis aligned with the rotation axis AX. A rotating mechanism 2B is also connected to the rotating shaft portion 22.

[0028] The rotating mechanism 2B includes a motor 23 that generates rotational driving force to rotate the substrate holding portion 2A and the rotating cup portion 31 of the anti-scattering mechanism 3, and a power transmission portion 24 for transmitting the rotational driving force. The motor 23 has a rotating shaft 231 that rotates in conjunction with the generation of rotational driving force. The motor 23 is mounted on the motor mounting portion 171 of the base member 17 in a position where the rotating shaft 231 extends vertically downward. More specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the motor mounting portion 171 is a portion cut out in the (+X) direction, facing the maintenance opening 11d1. The width of this motor mounting portion 171 (Y-direction size) is approximately the same as the Y-direction width of the motor 23. Therefore, the motor 23 is movable in the X direction while its side surface is engaged with the motor mounting portion 171.

[0029] At the motor mounting portion 171, a motor fixing bracket 232 is connected to the base member 17 by fastening members 233 such as bolts or screws in order to fix the motor 23 to the base member 17 while positioning it in the X direction. As shown in Figure 5, the motor fixing bracket 232 has a horizontal portion 2321 and a vertical portion 2322, and has a roughly L-shape when viewed from the side in the (+Y) direction. Although not shown in Figure 5, a through hole for inserting the rotating shaft 231 is provided in the center of the horizontal portion 2321 of the motor fixing bracket 232. With the rotating shaft 231 inserted vertically downward through this through hole, the horizontal portion 2321 supports the motor 23. The vertical portion 2322 is configured to engage with the motor 23 which is supported from below by the horizontal portion 2321. Two fastening members 234 such as bolts or screws are attached to this vertical portion 2322, spaced apart from each other in the Y direction. The tip of each fastening member 234 extends in the (+X) direction, passing through the vertical portion 2322, and each tip is screwed into the motor mounting portion 171. Therefore, by rotating the fastening member 234 forward or backward, the motor fixing bracket 232 moves in the X direction while supporting the motor 23. This makes it possible to position the motor 23 in the X direction. After positioning, the motor 23 is firmly fixed to the base member 17 integrally with the motor mounting portion 171 by the operator rotating the fastening member 233 forward.

[0030] A first pulley 241 is attached to the tip of a rotating shaft 231 that protrudes downward from the base member 17. A second pulley 242 is attached to the lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A. More specifically, the lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A is inserted through a through hole provided in the spin chuck mounting portion 172 of the base member 17 and protrudes downward from the base member 17. The second pulley 242 is provided on this protruding portion. An endless belt 243 is stretched between the first pulley 241 and the second pulley 242. Thus, in this embodiment, the power transmission portion 24 is composed of the first pulley 241, the second pulley 242 and the endless belt 243.

[0031] When a power transmission unit 24 having such a configuration is used, a long timing belt can be selected as the endless belt 243, thereby extending the lifespan of the endless belt 243. However, maintenance work such as adjusting the spacing between the first pulley 241 and the second pulley 242 and replacing the endless belt 243 is still necessary due to the movement of the motor 23 in the X direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, in a plan view from above the chamber 11, the transport opening 11b1, the substrate holding unit 2A, the power transmission unit 24, the motor 23, and the maintenance opening 11d1 are arranged in this order, along the second virtual horizontal line VL2 and in a straight line. In other words, the power transmission unit 24 and the motor 23 are arranged to face the maintenance opening 11d1. Therefore, when the lid member 19 is removed from the chamber 11 and the maintenance opening 11d1 is opened, the power transmission unit 24 and the motor 23 are exposed to the outside through the maintenance opening 11d1. As a result, maintenance work by the operator becomes easier, and the efficiency of maintenance work can be improved.

[0032] Furthermore, while the other mechanisms described below are positioned above the base member 17, the power transmission unit 24 is positioned below the base member 17. By adopting this arrangement, maintenance work by the operator can be performed more efficiently without considering interference with other mechanisms.

[0033] As shown in Figure 5, a through-hole 211 is provided in the center of the spin chuck 21, communicating with the internal space of the rotating shaft 22. A pump 26 is connected to the internal space via piping 25, which has a valve (not shown) interposed therein. The pump 26 and the valve are electrically connected to the control unit 10 and operate in response to commands from the control unit 10. This allows negative pressure and positive pressure to be selectively applied to the spin chuck 21. For example, when the substrate W is placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21 in a substantially horizontal position and the pump 26 applies negative pressure to the spin chuck 21, the spin chuck 21 attracts and holds the substrate W from below. On the other hand, when the pump 26 applies positive pressure to the spin chuck 21, the substrate W becomes removable from the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. Also, when the suction of the pump 26 is stopped, the substrate W becomes able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0034] A nitrogen gas supply unit 29 is connected to the spin chuck 21 via a pipe 28 located in the center of the rotating shaft 22. The nitrogen gas supply unit 29 supplies ambient temperature nitrogen gas, supplied from a utility in the factory where the substrate processing system 100 is installed, to the spin chuck 21 at a flow rate and timing corresponding to the gas supply command from the control unit 10, causing the nitrogen gas to circulate radially outward from the center on the lower surface Wb side of the substrate W. In this embodiment, nitrogen gas is used, but other inert gases may also be used. The same applies to the heated gas discharged from the central nozzle, which will be described later. Also, "flow rate" refers to the amount of fluid, such as nitrogen gas, that moves per unit time.

[0035] The rotating mechanism 2B not only rotates the spin chuck 21 integrally with the substrate W, but also has a power transmission unit 27 (Figure 2) to rotate the rotating cup portion 31 in synchronization with the rotation. The power transmission unit 27 has an annular member 27a (Figure 5) made of a non-magnetic material or resin, a spin chuck-side magnet (not shown) built into the annular member, and a cup-side magnet (not shown) built into the lower cup 32, which is a component of the rotating cup portion 31. As shown in Figure 5, the annular member 27a is attached to the rotating shaft portion 22 and is rotatable around the rotating shaft AX together with the rotating shaft portion 22. More specifically, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, the rotating shaft portion 22 has a flange portion that protrudes radially outward at a position directly below the spin chuck 21. The annular member 27a is arranged concentrically with respect to the flange portion and is connected and fixed by bolts (not shown).

[0036] On the outer edge of the annular member 27a, multiple spin chuck-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. In this embodiment, in one pair of adjacent spin chuck-side magnets, the outer and inner poles are arranged to be the north and south poles, respectively, while in the other pair, the outer and inner poles are arranged to be the south and north poles, respectively.

[0037] Similar to these spin chuck-side magnets, multiple cup-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals. These cup-side magnets are housed in the lower cup 32. The lower cup 32 is a component of the splash prevention mechanism 3, which will be described next, and has an annular shape. That is, the lower cup 32 has an inner circumferential surface that can face the outer circumferential surface of the annular member 27a. The inner diameter of this inner circumferential surface is larger than the outer diameter of the annular member 27a. The lower cup 32 is positioned concentrically with the rotation axis 22 and the annular member 27a, with the inner circumferential surface facing the outer circumferential surface of the annular member 27a at a predetermined distance (=(inner diameter - outer diameter) / 2). Engagement pins and connecting magnets are provided on the upper surface of the outer circumferential edge of the lower cup 32, and these connect the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32, and this connected body functions as the rotation cup portion 31.

[0038] The lower cup 32 is supported on the upper surface of the base member 17 by bearings (not shown in the drawing) so that it can rotate around the rotation axis AX in the above-described configuration. On the inner peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, as described above, the cup-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. The arrangement of two adjacent cup-side magnets is the same as that of the spin chuck-side magnets. That is, on one side, the outer and inner sides are arranged so that they are the north pole and south pole, respectively, and on the other side, the outer and inner sides are arranged so that they are the south pole and north pole, respectively.

[0039] In the power transmission unit 27 configured in this way, when the annular member 27a rotates together with the rotating shaft 22 by the motor 23, the lower cup 32 rotates in the same direction as the annular member 27a while maintaining an air gap (the gap between the annular member 27a and the lower cup 32) due to the magnetic force between the spin chuck-side magnet and the cup-side magnet. As a result, the rotating cup portion 31 rotates around the rotation axis AX. In other words, the rotating cup portion 31 rotates in the same direction as the substrate W and in sync with it.

[0040] The splash prevention mechanism 3 includes a rotating cup portion 31 that can rotate around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer circumference of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, and a fixed cup portion 34 that is fixedly provided to surround the rotating cup portion 31. The rotating cup portion 31 is provided so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer circumference of the rotating substrate W, by connecting the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32.

[0041] Figure 6 shows the dimensional relationship between the substrate held by the spin chuck and the rotating cup portion. Figure 7 shows a part of the rotating cup portion and the fixed cup portion. The lower cup 32 has an annular shape. Its outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the substrate W, and in a plan view from vertically above, the lower cup 32 is rotatably positioned around the rotation axis AX, protruding radially from the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. In this protruding region, that is, the upper peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, engaging pins (not shown) and flat lower magnets (not shown) are alternately attached vertically upward along the circumferential direction.

[0042] On the other hand, as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 6, the upper cup 33 has a lower annular portion 331, an upper annular portion 332, and an inclined portion 333 connecting them. The outer diameter D331 of the lower annular portion 331 is the same as the outer diameter D32 of the lower cup 32, and the lower annular portion 331 is located vertically above the peripheral edge 321 of the lower cup 32. On the lower surface of the lower annular portion 331, in the region corresponding to the vertically above the engagement pin, a recess opening downward is provided so as to be able to fit with the tip of the engagement pin. Also, the upper magnet is attached in the region corresponding to the vertically above the lower magnet. Therefore, with the recess and the upper magnet facing the engagement pin and the lower magnet, respectively, the upper cup 33 can engage with and disengage from the lower cup 32.

[0043] The upper cup 33 is vertically movable by the lifting mechanism 7. When the upper cup 33 is moved upward by the lifting mechanism 7, a transport space for loading and unloading the substrate W is formed vertically between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32. On the other hand, when the upper cup 33 is moved downward by the lifting mechanism 7, the recess fits over the tip of the engagement pin, and the upper cup 33 is positioned horizontally relative to the lower cup 32. Also, the upper magnet approaches the lower magnet, and the attractive force generated between them connects the positioned upper cup 33 and lower cup 32 to each other. As a result, as shown in the partially enlarged view of Figure 4 and Figure 7, the upper cup 33 and lower cup 32 are vertically integrated while forming a gap GPc that extends horizontally. The rotating cup portion 31 is then rotatable around the rotation axis AX while maintaining the gap GPc.

[0044] In the rotating cup portion 31, as shown in Figure 6, the outer diameter D332 of the upper annular portion 332 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter D331 of the lower annular portion 331. Comparing the inner diameters d331 and d332 of the lower annular portion 331 and the upper annular portion 332, the lower annular portion 331 is larger than the upper annular portion 332, and in a plan view from vertically above, the inner surface of the upper annular portion 332 is located inside the inner surface of the lower annular portion 331. The inner surfaces of the upper annular portion 332 and the lower annular portion 331 are connected by the inclined portion 333 around the entire circumference of the upper cup 33. For this reason, the inner surface of the inclined portion 333, that is, the surface surrounding the substrate W, is an inclined surface 334. In other words, as shown in Figure 7, the inclined portion 333 surrounds the outer circumference of the rotating substrate W and is capable of collecting droplets scattered from the substrate W, and the space enclosed by the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 functions as a collection space SPc.

[0045] Furthermore, the inclined portion 333 facing the collection space SPc is inclined upward from the lower annular portion 331 toward the periphery of the substrate W. As a result, as shown in Figure 7, droplets collected in the inclined portion 333 flow along the inclined surface 334 toward the lower end of the upper cup 33, i.e., the lower annular portion 331, and can then be discharged to the outside of the rotating cup portion 31 through the gap GPc.

[0046] The fixed cup portion 34 is provided so as to surround the rotating cup portion 31 and forms a discharge space SPe. The fixed cup portion 34 has a liquid receiving portion 341 and an exhaust portion 342 provided inside the liquid receiving portion 341. The liquid receiving portion 341 has a cup structure that opens so as to face the opening of the gap GPc on the opposite side of the substrate (the left-hand side opening in Figure 7). In other words, the internal space of the liquid receiving portion 341 functions as a discharge space SPe and is in communication with the collection space SPc via the gap GPc. Therefore, the droplets collected by the rotating cup portion 31 are guided to the discharge space SPe along with the gaseous components via the gap GPc. The droplets are then collected at the bottom of the liquid receiving portion 341 and discharged from the fixed cup portion 34.

[0047] Meanwhile, the gaseous components are collected in the exhaust section 342. This exhaust section 342 is separated from the liquid receiving section 341 via a partition wall 343. A gas guide section 344 is positioned above the partition wall 343. The gas guide section 344 extends from directly above the partition wall 343 into the discharge space SPe and the exhaust section 342, respectively, covering the partition wall 343 from above and forming a labyrinthine flow path for the gaseous components. Therefore, the gaseous components of the fluid flowing into the liquid receiving section 341 are collected in the exhaust section 342 via the above flow path. This exhaust section 342 is connected to an exhaust unit 38. As a result, the exhaust unit 38 operates in response to commands from the control unit 10, adjusting the pressure in the fixed cup section 34, and efficiently exhausting the gaseous components in the exhaust section 342. Furthermore, the pressure and flow rate of the discharge space SPe are adjusted by precise control of the exhaust unit 38. For example, the pressure in the discharge space SPe becomes lower than the pressure in the collection space SPc. As a result, droplets in the collection space SPc are efficiently drawn into the discharge space SPe, and the movement of droplets from the collection space SPc can be promoted.

[0048] Figure 8 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the top surface protection heating mechanism. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the top surface protection heating mechanism shown in Figure 8. The top surface protection heating mechanism 4 has a shut-off plate 41 positioned above the upper surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. This shut-off plate 41 has a disc portion 42 held in a horizontal position. The disc portion 42 incorporates a heater 421 that is driven and controlled by a heater drive unit 422. This disc portion 42 has a diameter slightly shorter than that of the substrate W. The disc portion 42 is supported by a support member 43 such that its lower surface covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, excluding the peripheral edge Ws, from above. Reference numeral 44 in Figure 8 indicates a notch provided on the peripheral edge of the disc portion 42, which is provided to prevent interference with the processing liquid discharge nozzle included in the processing mechanism 5. The notch 44 opens radially outward.

[0049] The lower end of the support member 43 is attached to the center of the disc portion 42. A cylindrical through-hole is formed so as to penetrate vertically through the support member 43 and the disc portion 42. A central nozzle 45 is inserted vertically through this through-hole. As shown in Figure 2, this central nozzle 45 is connected to a heating gas supply unit 47 via piping 46. The heating gas supply unit 47 heats ambient temperature nitrogen gas supplied from the factory where the substrate processing system 100 is installed using a heater 471 and supplies it to the substrate processing unit SP at a flow rate and timing corresponding to the heating gas supply command from the control unit 10.

[0050] If the heater 471 is placed in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11, the heat radiated from the heater 471 may adversely affect the substrate processing unit SP, particularly the processing mechanism 5 and the substrate observation mechanism 9, as will be described later. Therefore, in this embodiment, the heating gas supply unit 47 having the heater 471 is placed outside the chamber 11, as shown in Figure 4. In this embodiment, a ribbon heater 48 is attached to a part of the piping 46. The ribbon heater 48 generates heat in response to a heating command from the control unit 10 to heat the nitrogen gas flowing through the piping 46.

[0051] The heated nitrogen gas (hereinafter referred to as "heated gas") is then pumped towards the central nozzle 45 and discharged from the central nozzle 45. For example, as shown in Figure 9, when the heated gas is supplied with the disc portion 42 positioned in a processing position close to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, the heated gas flows from the center to the periphery of the space SPa sandwiched between the upper surface Wf of the substrate W and the disc portion 42 with the heater built in. This prevents the surrounding atmosphere from entering the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent droplets contained in the atmosphere from being trapped in the space SPa sandwiched between the substrate W and the disc portion 42. In addition, the upper surface Wf is heated overall by the heating by the heater 421 and the heated gas, making the in-plane temperature of the substrate W uniform. This suppresses warping of the substrate W and stabilizes the contact position of the processing liquid.

[0052] As shown in Figure 2, the upper end of the support member 43 is fixed to a beam member 49 that extends along the first virtual horizontal line VL1. This beam member 49 is connected to a lifting mechanism 7 attached to the upper surface of the base member 17, and is raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 7 in response to a command from the control unit 10. For example, in Figure 2, when the beam member 49 is positioned downward, the disc portion 42 connected to the beam member 49 via the support member 43 is in the processing position. On the other hand, when the lifting mechanism 7 raises the beam member 49 in response to a lifting command from the control unit 10, the beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 rise together, and the upper cup 33 also rises in conjunction, separating from the lower cup 32. This widens the space between the spin chuck 21 and the upper cup 33 and disc portion 42, making it possible to load and unload the substrate W into and out of the spin chuck 21.

[0053] The processing mechanism 5 includes a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F (Figure 4) located on the upper side of the substrate W, a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B (Figure 2) located on the lower side of the substrate W, and a processing liquid supply unit 52 that supplies processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B. Hereafter, in order to distinguish between the upper processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F and the lower processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B, they will be referred to as "upper nozzle 51F" and "lower nozzle 51B," respectively. Also, although two processing liquid supply units 52 are shown in Figure 2, they are identical.

[0054] In this embodiment, three upper nozzles 51F are provided, and a processing liquid supply unit 52 is connected to them. The processing liquid supply unit 52 is configured to supply chemical solutions such as SC1 and DHF, or functional water (such as CO2 water) as processing liquids, and SC1, DHF, and functional water can be discharged independently from the three upper nozzles 51F.

[0055] Each top nozzle 51F is provided with a discharge port (not shown) on the lower surface of its tip for discharging processing liquid. As shown in the enlarged view in Figure 4, the lower parts of multiple top nozzles 51F (three in this embodiment) are positioned in the notches 44 of the disc portion 42 (see Figure 6), with each discharge port facing the peripheral edge of the top surface Wf of the substrate W. The upper part of each top nozzle 51F is mounted to the nozzle holder 53 so as to be movable in the radial direction D1 (a direction in which the nozzle discharge elevation angle is tilted by approximately 45° and the rotation angle by approximately 65° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1). This nozzle holder 53 is connected to the nozzle moving part 54.

[0056] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the nozzle moving section. As shown in Figure 10, the nozzle moving section 54 is attached to the upper end of the lifter 713a of the lifting section 713, which will be described later, while holding the nozzle head 56 (= upper nozzle 51F + nozzle holder 53). Therefore, when the lifter 713a extends or retracts vertically in response to a lifting command from the control unit 10, the nozzle moving section 54 and the nozzle head 56 move vertically in the Z direction accordingly.

[0057] Furthermore, in the nozzle moving section 54, a base member 541 is fixed to the upper end of the lifter 713a. A linear actuator 542 is attached to this base member 541. The linear actuator 542 has a motor (hereinafter referred to as the "nozzle drive motor") 543 that functions as a drive source for nozzle movement in the radial direction X, and a motion conversion mechanism 545 that converts the rotational motion of a rotating body such as a ball screw connected to the rotation axis of the nozzle drive motor 543 into linear motion to move the slider 544 back and forth in the radial direction D1. In addition, the motion conversion mechanism 545 uses a guide such as an LM guide (registered trademark) to stabilize the movement of the slider 544 in the radial direction D1.

[0058] A head support member 547 is connected to a slider 544, which is driven to reciprocate in the radial direction X, via a connecting member 546. This head support member 547 has a rod shape that extends in the radial direction X. The (+D1) end of the head support member 547 is fixed to the slider 544. On the other hand, the (-D1) end of the head support member 547 extends horizontally toward the spin chuck 21, and a nozzle head 56 is attached to its tip. Therefore, when the nozzle drive motor 543 rotates in response to a nozzle movement command from the control unit 10, the slider 544, head support member 547, and nozzle head 56 move together in the (+D1) or (-D1) direction, and by a distance corresponding to the amount of rotation. As a result, the upper nozzle 51F mounted on the nozzle head 56 is positioned in the radial direction D1. For example, as shown in Figure 10, when the top nozzle 51F is positioned at a preset home position, a spring member 548 provided in the motion conversion mechanism 545 is compressed by the slider 544, applying a biasing force to the slider 544 in the (-X) direction. This allows control of the backlash included in the motion conversion mechanism 545. In other words, since the motion conversion mechanism 545 has mechanical parts such as guides, it is practically difficult to eliminate the backlash along the radial direction D1, and if this is not given sufficient consideration, the positioning accuracy of the top nozzle 51F in the radial direction D1 will decrease. Therefore, in this embodiment, by providing the spring member 548, when the top nozzle 51F is stationary at the home position, the backlash is always biased towards the (-D1) direction. This provides the following effects. In response to a nozzle movement command from the control unit 10, the nozzle movement unit 54 drives the three top nozzles 51F together in direction D1. This nozzle movement command includes information about the nozzle movement distance. Based on this information, when the top nozzle 51F is moved by the nozzle movement distance specified in the radial direction D1, the top nozzle 51F is precisely positioned at the beveling position.

[0059] The discharge port 511 of the top nozzle 51F, positioned at the beveling position, is directed toward the peripheral edge of the top surface Wf of the substrate W. Then, in response to a supply command from the control unit 10, the processing liquid supply unit 52 supplies the processing liquid corresponding to the supply command from among three types of processing liquids to the top nozzle 51F for that processing liquid, and the processing liquid is supplied from the top nozzle 51F to a preset position from the end face of the substrate W.

[0060] Furthermore, the lower sealing cup member 61 of the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is detachably fixed to some of the components of the nozzle moving section 54. In other words, when beveling is performed, the upper nozzle 51F and nozzle holder 53 are integrated with the lower sealing cup member 61 via the nozzle moving section 54 and are raised and lowered vertically in the Z direction by the lifting mechanism 7. On the other hand, when calibration is performed, the lower sealing cup member 61 is removed, and the upper nozzle 51F and nozzle holder 53 are reciprocated radially in the D1 direction by the nozzle moving section 54 and raised and lowered vertically in the Z direction by the lifting mechanism 7.

[0061] In this embodiment, a lower nozzle 51B and a nozzle support 57 are provided below the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 in order to discharge the processing liquid toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface Wb of the substrate W. The nozzle support 57 has a thin-walled cylindrical portion 571 extending in the vertical direction and a flange portion 572 having an annular shape that is folded radially outward at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 571. The cylindrical portion 571 has a shape that allows it to be freely inserted into the air gap formed between the annular member 27a and the lower cup 32. As shown in Figure 2, the nozzle support 57 is fixedly positioned such that the cylindrical portion 571 is freely inserted into the air gap and the flange portion 572 is positioned between the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the lower cup 32. Three lower nozzles 51B are attached to the upper peripheral edge of the flange portion 572. Each lower nozzle 51B has a discharge port (not shown) that opens toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface Wb of the substrate W, and is capable of discharging the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply unit 52 via the piping 58.

[0062] The processing liquid discharged from the upper nozzle 51F and lower nozzle 51B performs beveling on the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Furthermore, a flange portion 572 extends to the vicinity of the peripheral edge Ws on the lower side of the substrate W. Therefore, nitrogen gas supplied to the lower side via the piping 28 flows along the flange portion 572 into the collection space SPc. As a result, backflow of droplets from the collection space SPc back onto the substrate W is effectively suppressed.

[0063] The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 includes a lower sealed cup member 61 and an upper sealed cup member 62. Both the lower sealed cup member 61 and the upper sealed cup member 62 have a cylindrical shape with openings at the top and bottom. Their inner diameters are larger than the outer diameter of the rotating cup portion 31, and the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is positioned to completely surround the spin chuck 21, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, the rotating cup portion 31, and the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 from above. More specifically, as shown in Figure 2, the upper sealed cup member 62 is fixedly positioned directly below the punching plate 14 such that its upper opening covers the opening 11f1 in the ceiling wall 11f from below. Therefore, the downflow of clean air introduced into the chamber 11 is divided into air that passes inside the upper sealed cup member 62 and air that passes outside the upper sealed cup member 62.

[0064] Furthermore, the lower end of the upper sealing cup member 62 has a flange portion 621 that is folded inward into an annular shape. An O-ring 63 is attached to the upper surface of this flange portion 621. Inside the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61 is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction.

[0065] The upper end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 611 that is folded outward and has an annular shape. This flange portion 611 overlaps with the flange portion 621 when viewed from a vertically upward plane. Therefore, when the lower sealing cup member 61 descends, as shown in the partially enlarged view in Figure 4, the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is locked to the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 via the O-ring 63. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at its lower limit. At this lower limit, the upper sealing cup member 62 and the lower sealing cup member 61 are connected in the vertical direction, and the downflow introduced into the upper sealing cup member 62 is guided toward the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21.

[0066] The lower end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 612 that is folded outward into an annular shape. In a plan view from vertically above, this flange portion 612 overlaps with the upper end of the fixed cup portion 34 (the upper end of the liquid receiving portion 341). Therefore, at the lower limit position, as shown in the partially enlarged view in Figure 3, the flange portion 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is locked to the fixed cup portion 34 via the O-ring 64. As a result, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 are connected in the vertical direction, and a sealed space 12a is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61, and the fixed cup portion 34. Beveling of the substrate W can be performed within this sealed space 12a. In other words, by positioning the lower sealing cup member 61 at the lower limit position, the sealed space 12a is separated from the outer space 12b (atmosphere separation). Therefore, beveling can be performed stably without being affected by the outside atmosphere. Furthermore, although a processing liquid is used for beveling, it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid from leaking from the sealed space 12a to the outer space 12b. Therefore, the degree of freedom in selecting and designing the components to be placed in the outer space 12b is increased.

[0067] The lower sealing cup member 61 is configured to be movable vertically upward. Furthermore, as described above, the nozzle head 56 (= upper nozzle 51F + nozzle holder 53) is fixed to the middle portion of the lower sealing cup member 61 in the vertical direction via the head support member 547 of the nozzle movement unit 54. In addition, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 is fixed to the middle portion of the lower sealing cup member 61 via the beam member 49. In other words, as shown in Figure 4, the lower sealing cup member 61 is connected to one end of the beam member 49, the other end of the beam member 49, and the head support member 547 at three different locations in the circumferential direction. The lifting mechanism 7 raises and lowers one end of the beam member 49, the other end of the beam member 49, and the head support member 547, and the lower sealing cup member 61 moves up and down accordingly.

[0068] As shown in Figures 2 and 4, multiple (four) projections 613 are provided on the inner circumferential surface of the lower sealing cup member 61, facing inward as engaging portions that can engage with the upper cup 33. Each projection 613 extends to the space below the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. Furthermore, each projection 613 is attached so as to move downward away from the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33 when the lower sealing cup member 61 is positioned at its lower limit. Then, as the lower sealing cup member 61 rises, each projection 613 can engage with the upper annular portion 332 from below. Even after this engagement, the lower sealing cup member 61 can rise further to detach the upper cup 33 from the lower cup 32.

[0069] In this embodiment, the lower sealing cup member 61 begins to rise together with the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 and nozzle head 56 by the lifting mechanism 7, and then the upper cup 33 also rises together. As a result, the upper cup 33, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 and nozzle head 56 move upward away from the spin chuck 21. The movement of the lower sealing cup member 61 to the retracted position creates a transport space for the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 to access the spin chuck 21. Loading of the substrate W into the spin chuck 21 and unloading of the substrate W from the spin chuck 21 can then be performed through this transport space. Thus, in this embodiment, access to the substrate W into the spin chuck 21 is possible with minimal upward movement of the lower sealing cup member 61 by the lifting mechanism 7.

[0070] The lifting mechanism 7 has two lifting drive units 71 and 72. In the lifting drive unit 71, a first lifting motor (not shown) is attached to the first lifting mounting portion 173 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The first lifting motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 and generates rotational force. Two lifting units 712 and 713 are connected to this first lifting motor. The lifting units 712 and 713 simultaneously receive the rotational force from the first lifting motor. The lifting unit 712 raises and lowers the support member 491 that supports one end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction Z according to the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor. The lifting unit 713 raises and lowers the head support member 547 that supports the nozzle head 56 in the vertical direction Z according to the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor.

[0071] In the lifting drive unit 72, a second lifting motor (not shown) is attached to the second lifting mounting portion 174 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The lifting unit 722 is connected to the second lifting motor. The second lifting motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10, generating rotational force which is supplied to the lifting unit 722. The lifting unit 722 raises and lowers the support member 492 that supports the other end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction according to the amount of rotation of the second lifting motor.

[0072] The lifting and lowering drive units 71 and 72 synchronously move the support members 491, 492, and 54, which are fixed to the side surface of the lower sealing cup member 61 at three different locations in the circumferential direction, in the vertical direction. Therefore, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, the nozzle head 56, and the lower sealing cup member 61 can be raised and lowered stably. In addition, the upper cup 33 can be raised and lowered stably in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the lower sealing cup member 61.

[0073] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of the centering mechanism. The centering mechanism 8 performs the centering process while the suction by the pump 26 is stopped (i.e., while the substrate W is able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin base 21). This centering process eliminates the eccentricity, and the center of the substrate W coincides with the rotation axis AX. As shown in Figures 4 and 11, the centering mechanism 8 has a single contact part 81 located on the transport opening 11b1 side (right side in Figure 11) with respect to the rotation axis AX in a contact movement direction D2 that is tilted at approximately 40° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1, a multi-contact part 82 located on the maintenance opening 11d1 side (left side in Figure 11), and a centering drive unit 83 that moves the single contact part 81 and the multi-contact part 82 in the contact movement direction D2.

[0074] The single contact portion 81 has a shape that extends parallel to the contact movement direction D2, and its tip on the spin chuck 21 side is finished to be able to contact the end face of the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. On the other hand, the multi-contact portion 82 has a roughly Y-shape when viewed from above vertically, and each tip of the bifurcated portion on the spin chuck 21 side is finished to be able to contact the end face of the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. These single contact portion 81 and multi-contact portion 82 are movable in the contact movement direction D2.

[0075] The centering drive unit 83 includes a single-movement unit 831 for moving the single-contact portion 81 in the contact movement direction D2, and a multi-movement unit 832 for moving the multi-contact portion 82 in the contact movement direction D2. The single-movement unit 831 is attached to the single-movement mounting portion 175 (Figure 3) of the base member 17, and the multi-movement unit 832 is attached to the multi-movement mounting portion 176 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. When the centering process of the substrate W is not being performed, the centering drive unit 83 positions the single-contact portion 81 and the multi-contact portion 82 away from the spin chuck 21, as shown in column (a) of Figures 4 and 11. As a result, the single-contact portion 81 and the multi-contact portion 82 are separated from the transport path TP, effectively preventing them from interfering with the substrate W being transported into and out of the chamber 11.

[0076] On the other hand, when performing the centering process of the substrate W, in response to the centering command from the control unit 10, the single moving unit 831 moves the single contact unit 81 toward the rotation axis AX, and the multi-moving unit 832 moves the multi-contact unit 82 toward the rotation axis AX. As a result, the center of the substrate W coincides with the rotation axis AX, as shown in column (b) of Figure 11.

[0077] Figure 12 is a perspective view showing the observation head of the substrate observation mechanism. Figure 13 is an exploded and assembled perspective view of the observation head shown in Figure 12. The substrate observation mechanism 9 comprises a light source unit 91, an imaging unit 92, an observation head 93, and an observation head drive unit 94. The light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are arranged side by side at the optical component mounting position 177 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The light source unit 91 irradiates illumination light toward the observation position in response to illumination commands from the control unit 10. This observation position corresponds to the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W, and corresponds to the position where the observation head 93 is positioned in Figure 12.

[0078] The observation head 93 is capable of reciprocating between an observation position and a position separated from the observation position radially outward from the substrate W. An observation head drive unit 94 is connected to the observation head 93. The observation head drive unit 94 is attached to the base member 17 at the head drive position 178 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. Then, in response to a head movement command from the control unit 10, the observation head drive unit 94 reciprocates the observation head 93 in a head movement direction D3 that is inclined at approximately 10° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1. More specifically, when the substrate W is not being observed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 to a retracted position for positioning. As a result, the observation head 93 is separated from the transport path TP, effectively preventing the observation head 93 from interfering with the substrate W being transported into and out of the chamber 11. On the other hand, when the substrate W is being observed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 to the observation position in response to a substrate observation command from the control unit 10.

[0079] As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the observation head 93 includes a diffuse illumination section 931 having five diffuse surfaces 931a to 931d, a guide section 932 composed of three mirror members 932a to 932c, and a holding section 933.

[0080] The holding portion 933 is made of, for example, PEEK (polyetheretherketone), and as shown in Figures 12 and 13, a notch 9331 is provided at the end on the substrate W side. The vertical size of the notch 9331 is wider than the thickness of the substrate W, and as shown in Figure 12, when the observation head 93 is positioned at the observation position, the notch 9331 extends into the peripheral Ws of the substrate W and into a region radially inward from the peripheral Ws. Furthermore, the holding portion 933 is finished in a shape that allows it to be fitted together with the diffuse illumination portion 931. Moreover, the holding portion 933 has mirror support portions 933a to 933c that support the mirror members 932a to 932c from the back side, respectively. Therefore, the diffuse illumination portion 931 and the holding portion 933 are fitted together and integrated while holding the mirror members 932a to 932c.

[0081] The diffuse illumination section 931 is made of, for example, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the diffuse illumination section 931 has a plate shape that extends horizontally, and, similar to the holding section 933, a notch 9311 is formed at the end on the substrate W side. As shown in Figure 12, this notch 9311 has an inverted C shape when viewed from the circumferential direction of the substrate W. In addition, the diffuse illumination section 931 has an inclined surface along the notch 9311. The inclined surface is a tapered surface that is finished to be inclined in the direction in which the illumination light travels (horizontal direction perpendicular to direction D3) as it approaches the notch 9311. In particular, the vertically upper region, the lateral region, and the vertically lower region of this tapered surface of the notch 9311 function as diffuse surfaces 931a to 931c, respectively. Furthermore, in the notch 9311, the regions of the mirror members 932a and 932c located on the rotation axis AX side function as diffusion surfaces 931d and 931e, respectively.

[0082] When the observation head 93 configured in this way is positioned at the observation position, the diffusion surfaces 931a to 931e are positioned within the illumination area (the thick dashed area in Figure 12) provided by the light source unit 91. When the light source unit 91 is turned on in response to an illumination command from the control unit 10 in this positioning state, illumination light is shone onto the illumination area. At this time, the diffusion surfaces 931a to 931e diffusely reflect the illumination light, illuminating the peripheral Ws of the substrate W and its adjacent areas from various directions. Here, a portion of the illumination light directed toward the upper surface of the substrate W, including the peripheral Ws, is reflected by the upper surface of the peripheral Ws and the adjacent areas of the peripheral Ws (upper surface areas adjacent radially inward to the peripheral Ws). This reflected light is then reflected by the reflective surface of the mirror member 932a and guided to the imaging unit 92. Furthermore, a portion of the illumination light that is diffused downwards toward the lower surface of the substrate W, including the peripheral portion Ws, is reflected by the lower surface of the peripheral portion Ws and the adjacent region of the peripheral portion Ws (the lower surface region adjacent radially inward to the peripheral portion Ws). This reflected light is reflected by the reflective surface of the mirror member 932c and then guided to the imaging unit 92. A portion of the illumination light that is diffused downwards toward the side surface (end face) Wse of the substrate W is reflected by the side surface Wse of the substrate W. This reflected light is reflected by the reflective surface of the mirror member 62b and then guided to the imaging unit 92.

[0083] The imaging unit 92 has an observation lens system composed of an object-side telecentric lens and a CMOS camera. Therefore, of the reflected light guided from the observation head 93, only the light rays parallel to the optical axis of the observation lens system are incident on the sensor surface of the CMOS camera, and an image of the peripheral Ws and adjacent regions of the substrate W is formed on the sensor surface. In this way, the imaging unit 92 images the peripheral Ws and adjacent regions of the substrate W and acquires top, side, and bottom images of the substrate W. The imaging unit 92 then transmits the image data showing these images to the control unit 10.

[0084] The control unit 10 includes an arithmetic processing unit 10A, a storage unit 10B, a reading unit 10C, an image processing unit 10D, a drive control unit 10E, a communication unit 10F, and an exhaust control unit 10G. The storage unit 10B is composed of a hard disk drive or the like and stores a program for executing bevel processing by the substrate processing device 1. This program is stored, for example, on a computer-readable recording medium RM (e.g., an optical disk, magnetic disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.), read from the recording medium RM by the reading unit 10C, and stored in the storage unit 10B. Furthermore, the provision of this program is not limited to the recording medium RM; for example, the program may be provided via a telecommunications line. The image processing unit 10D performs various processing on the image captured by the substrate observation mechanism 9. The drive control unit 10E controls each drive unit of the substrate processing device 1. The communication unit 10F communicates with a control unit that integrates and controls each part of the substrate processing system 100. The exhaust control unit 10G controls the exhaust unit 38.

[0085] Furthermore, the control unit 10 is connected to a display unit 10H (for example, a display) that shows various information and an input unit 10J (for example, a keyboard and mouse) that receives input from the operator.

[0086] The arithmetic processing unit 10A uses a CPU (= Central Processing Unit) and RAM (= Random The system consists of a computer with Access Memory, etc., and controls each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the program stored in the memory unit 10B, and performs bevel processing. The bevel processing by the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to Figure 14.

[0087] Figure 14 is a flowchart showing a beveling process performed as an example of substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in Figure 2. When the substrate processing apparatus 1 bevels the substrate W, the calculation processing unit 10A uses the lifting drive units 71 and 72 to raise the lower sealed cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 together. During the rise of the lower sealed cup member 61, the projection 613 engages with the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33, and thereafter, the upper cup 33 rises together with the lower sealed cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 and is positioned in the retracted position. This creates a transport space above the spin chuck 21 that is sufficient for the hand (not shown) of the substrate transport robot 111 to enter. Furthermore, the arithmetic processing unit 10A moves the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 to a retracted position away from the spin chuck 21 using the centering drive unit 83, and moves the observation head 93 to a standby position away from the spin chuck 21 using the observation head drive unit 94. As a result, as shown in Figure 4, among the components arranged around the spin chuck 21, the nozzle head 56, light source unit 91, imaging unit 92, motor 23, and multi-contact unit 82 are located on the maintenance opening 11d1 side (lower side in the figure) of the first virtual horizontal line VL1. In addition, the single-movement unit 831 and the observation head 93 are located on the transport opening 11b1 side of the first virtual horizontal line VL1, but are outside the movement area of ​​the substrate W along the transport path TP. In this embodiment, because such a layout structure is adopted, it is possible to effectively prevent the components arranged around the spin chuck 21 from interfering with the substrate W when the substrate W is loaded into or out of the chamber 11.

[0088] Once the completion of the transport space and prevention of interference with the substrate W are confirmed, the arithmetic processing unit 10A requests the substrate transport robot 111 to load the substrate W via the communication unit 10F, and waits for the unprocessed substrate W to be transported to the substrate processing device 1 along the transport path TP shown in Figure 4 and placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. Then, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 21 (step S1). At this point, the pump 26 is stopped, and the substrate W is able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0089] Once the loading of the substrate W is complete, the substrate transport robot 111 moves away from the substrate processing device 1 along the transport path TP. Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the centering drive unit 83 so that the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 are close to the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. This eliminates the eccentricity of the substrate W relative to the spin chuck 21, and the center of the substrate W coincides with the center of the spin chuck 21 (step S2). Once the centering process is complete, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the centering drive unit 83 so that the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 are separated from the substrate W, and also operates the pump 26 to apply negative pressure to the spin chuck 21. As a result, the spin chuck 21 attracts and holds the substrate W from below.

[0090] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a downward command to the lifting drive units 71 and 72. In response, the lifting drive units 71 and 72 lower the lower sealing cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 together. During this downward movement, the upper cup 33, which is supported from below by the projection 613 of the lower sealing cup member 61, connects to the lower cup 32. This forms the rotating cup portion 31 (= the connected body of the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32).

[0091] After the rotating cup portion 31 is formed, the lower sealing cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 move further down as a single unit, and the flange portions 611 and 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are locked to the flange portion 621 and fixed cup portion 34 of the upper sealing cup member 62, respectively. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at the lower limit position (position in Figure 2) (step S3). After the above locking, as shown in the partially enlarged view of Figure 4, the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 and the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are in close contact via the O-ring 63, and the flange portion 612 and fixed cup portion 34 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are also in close contact via the O-ring 63. As a result, as shown in Figure 2, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 are connected in the vertical direction, and a sealed space 12a is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34, and the sealed space 12a is separated from the outside atmosphere (outer space 12b) (atmosphere separation).

[0092] In this atmosphere-separated state, the lower surface of the disc portion 42 covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W from above, excluding the peripheral edge Ws. The upper nozzle 51F is positioned within the notch 44 of the disc portion 42 with its discharge port 511 facing the peripheral edge of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. Once the preparation for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate W is complete, the calculation processing unit 10A gives a rotation command to the motor 23, and the spin chuck 21 and rotating cup portion 31 that hold the substrate W start to rotate (step S4). The rotation speed of the substrate W and the rotating cup portion 31 is set to, for example, 1800 revolutions per minute. The calculation processing unit 10A also drives and controls the heater drive unit 422 to raise the heater 421 to a desired temperature, for example, 185°C.

[0093] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a heating gas supply command to the heating gas supply unit 47. As a result, nitrogen gas heated by the heater 471, i.e., the heating gas, is pumped from the heating gas supply unit 47 towards the central nozzle 45 (step S5). This heating gas is heated by the ribbon heater 48 as it passes through the piping 46. This prevents the heating gas from dropping in temperature during gas supply via the piping 46, and it is discharged from the central nozzle 45 towards the space SPa (Figure 9) sandwiched between the substrate W and the disc portion 42. As a result, the entire upper surface Wf of the substrate W is heated. Heating of the substrate W is also performed by the heater 421. Therefore, over time, the temperature of the peripheral Ws of the substrate W rises and reaches a temperature suitable for beveling, for example, 90°C. The temperature of areas other than the peripheral Ws also rises to approximately the same temperature. In other words, in this embodiment, the in-plane temperature of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W is approximately uniform. Therefore, warping of the substrate W can be effectively suppressed.

[0094] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the processing liquid supply unit 52 to supply processing liquid to the upper nozzle 51F and the lower nozzle 51B. That is, a stream of processing liquid is discharged from the upper nozzle 51F so as to hit the upper peripheral edge of the substrate W, and a stream of processing liquid is discharged from the lower nozzle 51B so as to hit the lower peripheral edge of the substrate W. This performs beveling on the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W (step S6). Then, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A detects the elapsed processing time required for the beveling of the substrate W, it issues a supply stop command to the processing liquid supply unit 52 and stops the discharge of processing liquid.

[0095] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a command to stop supplying the heating gas supply unit 47, stopping the supply of nitrogen gas from the heating gas supply unit 47 to the central nozzle 45 (step S7). The arithmetic processing unit 10A also issues a command to stop rotation to the motor 23, stopping the rotation of the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup unit 31 (step S8).

[0096] In the next step S9, the arithmetic processing unit 10A observes the peripheral Ws of the substrate W to inspect the results of the beveling process. More specifically, the arithmetic processing unit 10A positions the upper cup 33 in a retracted position, similar to when the substrate W is loaded, to form a transport space. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the observation head drive unit 94 to bring the observation head 93 close to the substrate W. The arithmetic processing unit 10A illuminates the peripheral Ws of the substrate W via the observation head 93 by turning on the light source unit 91. The imaging unit 92 receives the reflected light reflected from the peripheral Ws and adjacent areas and images the peripheral Ws and adjacent areas. In other words, while the substrate W is rotating around the rotation axis AX, the imaging unit 92 acquires multiple images of the peripheral Ws, and from these images, it acquires a peripheral image of the peripheral Ws along the rotation direction of the substrate W. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the observation head drive unit 94 to retract the observation head 93 from the substrate W. In parallel with this, the arithmetic processing unit 10A checks whether the beveling process has been performed well, based on the captured peripheral Ws and adjacent region images, i.e., the peripheral image. In this embodiment, as an example of this check, the processing width processed by the processing solution from the edge face of the substrate W toward the center of the substrate W is checked from the peripheral image (post-processing check).

[0097] After inspection, the arithmetic processing unit 10A requests the substrate transport robot 111 to unload the substrate W via the communication unit 10F, and the processed substrate W is discharged from the substrate processing device 1 (step S10). These steps are repeated.

[0098] In the above-described embodiment, the motor mounting portion 171 and the spin chuck mounting portion 172 correspond to examples of the "first holding portion" and "second holding portion" of the present invention, respectively.

[0099] As described above, in this embodiment, since the various parts of the device are arranged as described above, the following effects and advantages can be obtained.

[0100] (A) In conventional substrate processing equipment, the substrate W is held by the spin chuck 21, which functions as a substrate holder, and substrate processing is performed by accessing the spin chuck 21. In contrast, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the substrate holder 2A is positioned in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 at a processing position offset from the center 11g of the internal space 12 towards the transport opening. This offset (distance Lof) reduces the transport distance and transport time of the substrate W along the transport path TP, thereby saving power.

[0101] (B) Even without widening the internal space 12 of the chamber 11, the area of ​​the spin chuck 21 on the opposite side of the transport opening, that is, the area on the opposite side of the transport opening 11b1 across the first virtual horizontal line VL1, widens by the above offset amount, increasing the design freedom for the arrangement of the processing mechanism 5. However, as shown in Figure 10, in a substrate processing apparatus configured to move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B in the radial direction D1 of the substrate W by the nozzle moving unit 54, the nozzle moving unit 54 requires a certain amount of stroke in the direction of movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B. Therefore, for example, if the direction of movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B is set to the same direction as the transport path TP, it is possible that the processing mechanism, especially the nozzle moving unit 54, will not fit in the internal space 12, even though the area on the opposite side of the transport opening is widened. However, in this embodiment, as described above, the nozzle moving unit 54 is configured to move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F in the radial direction D1 of the substrate W, which is inclined with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1. This optimizes the arrangement of the spin chuck 21, nozzle head, and nozzle moving part 54 within the chamber 11, allowing for efficient beveling without using a chamber 11 with an unnecessarily large internal space 12. As a result, the amount of exhaust from the internal space 12 by the exhaust unit 38 can be suppressed, reducing environmental impact and power consumption.

[0102] (C) In the above embodiment, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, a heater 471 for obtaining heating gas to heat the substrate W is attached to the outer wall (side wall 11e) of the chamber 11. In other words, the heater 471 is located outside the chamber 11. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the heat generated by the heater 471 from affecting the various mechanisms located in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. In particular, the light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are susceptible to the effects of heat, so in this embodiment, the light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are positioned at a distance from the mounting location of the heater 471. Therefore, by adopting the above layout structure, the light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are less susceptible to the effects of heat generated by the heater 471. As a result, a decrease in observation accuracy due to the effects of temperature changes is prevented, and the peripheral part of the substrate can be observed with high precision. Furthermore, regarding the heat effects from the heater 471, the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B are also similar, so the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B are positioned at a distance from the mounting location of the heater 471. More specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the light source unit 91, imaging unit 92, and processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B are arranged on the opposite side of the heater 471, with the second virtual horizontal line VL2 in between, in a plan view from above the chamber 11. By adopting this arrangement, the distance from the heater 471 to the light source unit 91, imaging unit 92, and processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B is increased, thereby reliably suppressing the thermal influence from the heater 471.

[0103] (D) In ​​addition, although less than that from the heater 471, heat is also emitted from the piping 46 for supplying heated gas (inert gas heated by the heater 471) to the central nozzle 45 and from the ribbon heater 48 positioned around the piping 46. Therefore, in this embodiment, the piping 46 and the ribbon heater 48 are arranged in a configuration that makes them susceptible to the heat influence from the heater 471 across the second virtual horizontal line VL2 in a plan view from above the chamber 11 (on the opposite side of the light source unit 91, imaging unit 92, and processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B, and on the opposite side of the transport opening 11b1 across the first virtual horizontal line VL1). This suppresses the influence of heat emitted from the piping 46 and the like on the above configuration.

[0104] (E) In the above embodiment, the power transmission unit 24 is composed of two pulleys 241 and 242 and an endless belt 243, and the substrate holder 2A and the motor 23 are connected by the power transmission unit 24. Therefore, the power transmission unit 24 transmits the driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder 2A. Consequently, if a malfunction occurs in the motor 23 or the power transmission unit 24 as the substrate processing device 1 operates, for example, if the endless belt 243 stretches or breaks, maintenance work such as adjusting the power transmission unit 24 or replacing the parts that make up the power transmission unit 24 will be necessary as appropriate. In such cases, the operator can remove the cover member 19 from the chamber 11 and open the maintenance opening 11d1, thereby exposing the power transmission unit 24 and the motor 23 to the outside through the maintenance opening 11d1. Then, the operator can perform maintenance work through the maintenance opening 11d1. As a result, the efficiency of maintenance work can be improved.

[0105] (F) As described above, the substrate holding section 2A is positioned in a processing location offset from the center 11g of the internal space 12 toward the transport opening, thereby expanding the area on the opposite side of the transport opening 11b1 across the first virtual horizontal line VL1, that is, the area facing the maintenance opening 11d1. For this reason, maintenance work through the maintenance opening 11d1 becomes easier compared to the case without the offset. The same applies to the maintenance work on the light source section 91 and the imaging section 92 described below.

[0106] (G) As shown in Figure 4, the light source unit 91 and imaging unit 92 of the substrate observation mechanism 9 are also positioned to face the maintenance opening 11d1. Therefore, the operator can access the light source unit 91 and imaging unit 92 through the maintenance opening 11d1. Consequently, maintenance work on the light source unit 91 and imaging unit 92 can also be easily performed.

[0107] (H) As shown in Figure 5, the motor 23 is held on the base member 17 with its rotating shaft 231 positioned so as to be separated upward from the bottom wall 11a of the chamber 11 and hanging down from the lower surface of the motor mounting portion 171 (Figure 3) of the base member 17 toward the bottom wall 11a (Figure 3). The lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A is also held on the base member 17 with its lower end positioned so as to be separated upward from the bottom wall 11a (Figure 3) and hanging down from the lower surface of the spin chuck mounting portion 172 (Figure 3) of the base member 17 toward the bottom wall 11a. Furthermore, the power transmission portion 24 (= first pulley 241 + second pulley 242 + endless belt 243) is positioned below the base member 17. By adopting this arrangement, maintenance work can be performed efficiently without considering interference with other mechanisms. In addition, the endless belt 243 can be replaced by utilizing the gap formed between the lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A, the rotating shaft 231 of the motor 23, and the bottom wall 11a. In other words, the endless belt 243 can be replaced without removing the first pulley 241 and the second pulley 242.

[0108] (I) In addition, the lower end of the substrate holder 2A may be extended vertically downward for reasons such as providing a port (not shown) in the center of the substrate holder 2A for connecting pipes 25, 28, etc. In this case, the gap SPx formed between the lower end of the substrate holder 2A and the bottom wall 11a becomes narrower. Therefore, for example, as shown in Figure 15, a counterbore 11a1 may be provided in the area of ​​the bottom wall 11a of the chamber 11 that faces the lower end of the substrate holder 2A, thereby widening the gap SPx.

[0109] (J) The base member 17 is positioned at a spaced position above the bottom wall 11a of the chamber 11, forming a so-called elevated structure within the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. The upper surface of the base member 17 is finished as a mounting surface for installing the substrate processing unit SP. By adopting such an elevated structure layout, even if processing liquid leaks and accumulates on the bottom wall 11a of the chamber 11, it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid from coming into contact with the substrate processing unit SP. Therefore, there is no necessity to construct the base member 17 from a resin material, and by constructing it from a material with higher rigidity than the bottom wall 11a, the mounting surface of the base member 17 can be used as a reference base, and the substrate processing unit SP can be installed on this mounting surface. Therefore, the substrate processing unit SP can be installed with better maintainability than conventional devices in which the bottom wall is made of resin material considering the chemical resistance of the processing unit. Furthermore, since the substrate processing unit SP is positioned higher than the bottom wall 11a in the vertical direction Z, it becomes unnecessary to attach additional components such as covers to the substrate processing unit SP to prevent adverse effects from the processing liquid. As a result, even though the substrate processing unit SP, which processes the substrate W using a chemical solution as the processing liquid, is located in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11, substrate processing can be performed on the substrate at low cost and with good maintainability while avoiding adverse effects from leakage of the processing liquid.

[0110] In the embodiments described above, the motor mounting portion 171 and the spin chuck mounting portion 172 correspond to examples of the "first holding portion" and "second holding portion" of the present invention, respectively.

[0111] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made to those described above without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having a raised floor structure in which a substrate processing unit SP is installed on the upper surface of a base member 17. Also, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having a rotating cup section 31. Also, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having an upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a centering mechanism 8, and a substrate observation mechanism 9. However, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, the present invention can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that does not have these configurations, that is, a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of a substrate W in the internal space 12 of a chamber 11 to process the peripheral edge.

[0112] Furthermore, while the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus that performs beveling as an example of "substrate processing," the present invention can be applied to any substrate processing apparatus that performs substrate processing on a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a rotating substrate. [Industrial applicability]

[0113] This invention can be applied to all types of substrate processing apparatus that perform substrate processing by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in the internal space of a chamber. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 1…Substrate processing equipment 2... Holding and rotating mechanism 2A...Board holding part 2B... Rotation mechanism 5…Processing mechanism 11... Chamber 11a...Bottom wall 11a1... Counterbore section 11b1...Opening for transport 11d1…Maintenance opening 11g… (center of the chamber) 12…Interior space 16…Base support member 17…Base component 21... Spin Chuck 22... Rotating shaft section 23…motor 24...Power transmission section 231…(Motor) Rotating shaft 241...First Pulley 242... Second pulley 243... Endless belt AX... Rotation axis TP... Transport route VL1…First virtual horizon VL2...Second virtual horizon W... Circuit board

Claims

1. A chamber having an internal space, A substrate holding portion is provided at a predetermined processing position within the internal space, rotatable around a rotation axis extending vertically while holding the substrate substantially horizontally. A rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holding portion around the rotation axis and The device comprises a processing mechanism that applies a substrate treatment to a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the substrate held in the substrate holding part which is rotated by the aforementioned rotating mechanism, The chamber has a transport opening for transporting the substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding portion, and a maintenance opening provided on the opposite side of the transport opening, with the substrate holding portion in between. The rotation mechanism includes a motor that generates a rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holder, and a power transmission unit that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder by connecting the motor and the substrate holder. In a plan view from above the chamber, the substrate holding portion is positioned on the transport path at a processing location offset from the center of the internal space toward the transport opening. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the motor and the power transmission unit are arranged on the opposite side of the transport opening from the substrate holding unit, and facing the maintenance opening, so that the rotating mechanism can be accessed from the outside through the maintenance opening.

2. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, A substrate processing apparatus in which, in a plan view from above the chamber, the transport opening, the substrate holding section, the power transmission section, the motor, and the maintenance opening are arranged in this order parallel to the transport path.

3. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, The motor has a rotating shaft that rotates in conjunction with the generation of the rotational driving force, and is arranged in a position in which the rotating shaft extends vertically downward. The power transmission unit includes a first pulley attached to the rotating shaft, a second pulley attached to the lower end of the substrate holder, and an endless belt stretched between the first pulley and the second pulley. A substrate processing apparatus that allows access to the endless belt through the maintenance opening.

4. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, A substrate processing apparatus wherein the motor is positioned such that, in a horizontal direction parallel to the transport path, the distance between it and the substrate holding portion can be adjusted through the maintenance opening.

5. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, Multiple base support members are erected vertically upward from the bottom wall of the chamber, The system further comprises a base member supported by the upper ends of the plurality of base support members at a spaced position spaced upward from the bottom wall, The base member has a first holding portion that holds the motor in a position where the motor's rotating shaft is spaced upward from the bottom wall and hangs down from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall, and a second holding portion that holds the substrate holding portion in a position where the lower end of the substrate holding portion is spaced upward from the bottom wall and hangs down from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall. The first pulley is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft, The second pulley is attached to the lower end of the substrate holding portion. The endless belt is positioned below the base member in the substrate processing apparatus.

6. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5, A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the bottom wall is provided with a counterbore in a region facing the lower end of the substrate holding portion.

7. A chamber having an internal space, A substrate holding portion is provided at a predetermined processing position within the internal space, rotatable around a rotation axis extending vertically while holding the substrate substantially horizontally. A rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holding portion around the rotation axis, A processing mechanism that applies substrate processing to a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the substrate held in the substrate holding part which is rotated by the aforementioned rotation mechanism, Multiple base support members are erected vertically upward from the bottom wall of the chamber, A base member is supported by the upper ends of the plurality of base support members at a spaced position above the bottom wall of the chamber, forming a gap between it and the bottom wall, Equipped with, The chamber has a transport opening for transporting the substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding portion, and a maintenance opening provided on the opposite side of the transport opening, with the substrate holding portion in between. The rotation mechanism includes a motor that generates a rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holder, and a power transmission unit that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder by connecting the motor and the substrate holder. The motor and the power transmission unit are positioned on the opposite side of the transport opening from the substrate holding unit. The motor has a rotating shaft that rotates in conjunction with the generation of the rotational driving force, and is arranged in a position in which the rotating shaft extends vertically downward. The power transmission unit includes a first pulley attached to the rotating shaft, a second pulley attached to the lower end of the substrate holder, and an endless belt stretched between the first pulley and the second pulley. The base member has a first holding portion that holds the motor in a position where the motor's rotating shaft is spaced upward from the bottom wall and hangs down from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall, and a second holding portion that holds the substrate holding portion in a position where the lower end of the substrate holding portion is spaced upward from the bottom wall and hangs down from the lower surface of the base member toward the bottom wall. The first pulley is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft at a position below the base member. The second pulley is attached to the lower end of the substrate holding portion at a position below the base member. The endless belt is positioned below the base member. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the maintenance opening is formed in the chamber such that the motor and the power transmission unit are visible from the maintenance opening, thereby allowing access to the motor and the power transmission unit from the outside through the maintenance opening using the gap formed between the bottom wall of the chamber and the base member.

8. A chamber having an internal space, A substrate holding portion is provided at a predetermined processing position within the internal space, rotatable around a rotation axis extending vertically while holding the substrate substantially horizontally. A rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holding portion around the rotation axis, A processing mechanism that applies a bevel treatment to a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the substrate held in the substrate holding part which is rotated by the aforementioned rotation mechanism, A substrate observation mechanism for observing the processing status of the observation position at the peripheral edge of the substrate, Equipped with, The chamber has a transport opening for transporting the substrate along a transport path between the outside of the chamber and the substrate holding portion, and a maintenance opening provided on the opposite side of the transport opening, with the substrate holding portion in between. The rotation mechanism includes a motor that generates a rotational driving force to rotate the substrate holding portion, The system includes a power transmission unit that transmits the rotational driving force generated by the motor to the substrate holder by connecting the motor and the substrate holder, The aforementioned substrate observation mechanism is A light source unit that directs illumination light towards the observation position, It has an imaging unit for imaging the peripheral edge of the substrate, A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the motor, the power transmission unit, the light source unit, and the imaging unit are arranged on the opposite side of the transport opening from the substrate holding unit, and facing the maintenance opening, thereby allowing access from the outside to the rotating mechanism and the observation mechanism through the maintenance opening.

Images