Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present disclosure comprises: a carrier block; a processing block that includes a plurality of processing modules stacked on each other, and a first conveyance mechanism that is shared by the plurality of processing modules and conveys a substrate, the processing block being provided on one of the left and right with respect to the carrier block; a coating film formation module that constitutes one processing module among the plurality of processing modules; a plasma processing block that is a block provided on one of the left and right with respect to the processing block and delivers and receives the substrate to and from the processing block, the plasma processing block having a plurality of plasma processing modules each plasma-processing the coating film of the substrate to modify the coating film; and a second conveyance mechanism that is provided in the plasma processing block and is shared by the plasma processing modules.

Description

Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

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

[0002] In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) serving as a substrate is transported within an apparatus, a coating film is formed by supplying a coating liquid to the wafer, and various processes are performed on the coating film. Patent Document 1 describes a substrate processing apparatus (coating and developing apparatus) that forms a resist film as a coating film and forms a pattern on the resist film by exposure and development.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-83851

[0004] The present disclosure provides a technique relating to an apparatus suitable for forming a high-quality coating film on a substrate.

[0005] The substrate processing apparatus of the present disclosure comprises: a carrier block having a carrier mounting portion on which carriers for storing substrates are placed; a processing block comprising: a plurality of processing modules stacked on top of each other and each processing the substrate; and a first transport mechanism shared by the plurality of processing modules and transporting the substrate, the processing block being disposed on either the left or right side of the carrier block; a coating film forming module which is one of the plurality of processing modules and supplies a coating liquid to the substrate to form a coating film; a plasma processing block which is disposed on either the left or right side of the processing block and through which the substrate is transferred between the processing block and the processing block, the plasma processing block comprising a plurality of plasma processing modules which each plasma-treat the coating film on the substrate to modify the coating film; and a second transport mechanism which is disposed in the plasma processing block and which transfers the substrate to each of the plasma processing modules and is shared by each of the plasma processing modules.

[0006] The present disclosure can provide a technique relating to an apparatus suitable for forming a high-quality coating film on a substrate.

[0007] 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a plasma processing module provided in the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a wafer transfer path in the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 6 is a plan view of a first modified example of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a second modified example of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a third modified example of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 9 is a plan view of a fourth modified example of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 10 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 11 is a plan view of a third embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional front view of an apparatus of the third embodiment; FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a modification of the fourth embodiment; FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional side view of another example of a processing block of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 15 is a plan view of a fifth embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the apparatus of the fifth embodiment; FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the apparatus of the fifth embodiment; FIG. 18 is a plan view of a modification of the apparatus of the fifth embodiment; FIG. 19 is a plan view of a sixth embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 19 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the apparatus of the sixth embodiment; FIG. 19 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a modification of the apparatus of the sixth embodiment. Fig. 10 is a plan view showing a seventh embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus. Fig. 11 is a front view of the apparatus of the seventh embodiment. Fig. 12 is a plan view showing an eighth embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus. Fig. 13 is a front view of the apparatus of the eighth embodiment. Fig. 14 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the apparatus of the eighth embodiment. Fig. 15 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the apparatus of the eighth embodiment. Fig. 16 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a modified example of the apparatus of the eighth embodiment. Fig. 17 is a graph showing the results of an evaluation test.

[0008] First Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1, which is a first embodiment of a substrate transfer apparatus according to the present disclosure, will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 1 . The substrate processing apparatus 1 is installed in an atmospheric environment, transfers wafers W between modules installed within the apparatus, and performs various processes on the wafers W. These processes include forming a coating film by supplying a coating liquid to the wafer W in an atmospheric environment, baking the coating film by heating the wafer W in an atmospheric environment, and plasma processing the coating film after baking in a vacuum environment. The coating film in this example is an organic film primarily composed of carbon, known as an SOC (Spin on Carbon) film.

[0009] To explain the purpose of the above-mentioned plasma treatment, the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device after the formation of an SOC film will be described. Various films, including a resist film, are formed on the SOC film. The resist film is then exposed and developed to form a pattern. After the pattern is transferred to the SOC film by etching, the underlying film (the film formed below the SOC film) is etched using the SOC film as a mask. If the SOC film has low etching resistance, it may be impossible to form a desired mask pattern on the SOC film, or the opening of the mask pattern in the SOC film may widen during etching of the underlying film, potentially preventing the pattern of the underlying film from being formed into the desired shape.

[0010] In order to increase the etching resistance of the SOC film, it is effective to heat the wafer W to a relatively high temperature during baking. However, there are cases where such high-temperature processing is not desirable. Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the SOC film is baked at a relatively low temperature, and then the above-mentioned plasma processing is performed, thereby changing the structure of the SOC film and making it denser. This modifies the SOC film so that it has increased etching resistance.

[0011] The configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described in detail below. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is formed by connecting a carrier block D1, a processing block D2, and a plasma processing block D3 in a horizontal row. In the following description, the direction along the row of blocks is referred to as the left-right direction, with the carrier block D1 side referred to as the left side and the plasma processing block D3 side referred to as the right side. When viewing the carrier block D1 side from the left side and the plasma processing block D3 side from the right side, the near side will be referred to as the front side and the far side will be referred to as the rear side. The left and right sides are the -X and +X sides, respectively, in the figure, and the front and rear sides are the -Y and +Y sides, respectively, in the figure.

[0012] The carrier block D1 includes a plurality of carrier stages 11 arranged in the front-to-rear direction, and a transfer mechanism 12 that transfers wafers W into and out of the carriers C placed on each stage 11. In this example, four stages 11, which are carrier placement units, are arranged in a row in the front-to-rear direction. The carriers C are transfer containers, such as FOUPs (Front Opening Unity Pods), that can store a plurality of wafers W. A transfer area 13 extending in the front-to-rear direction in a plan view is formed so that the transfer mechanism 12 can access the carriers C on each stage 11, and the transfer mechanism 12 moves through the transfer area 13.

[0013] Processing block D2 will be described with reference to its longitudinal side view in Figure 2. Processing block D2 includes a liquid processing unit F1 on the front side and a heating processing unit F2 on the rear side. Between liquid processing unit F1 and heating processing unit F2, a wafer W transfer region 14 extends from side to side in a plan view, and this transfer region 14 is located in the center of processing block D2 in the front-to-rear direction.

[0014] The liquid processing section F1 is formed by stacking a plurality of modules (liquid processing modules) that perform liquid processing on the wafers W. The plurality of liquid processing modules include an SOC film formation module 21 and a backside cleaning module 22. In this example, the liquid processing modules are provided in three stages, two of which are composed of the SOC film formation modules 21 and one of which is composed of the backside cleaning module 22. The SOC film formation module 21, which is a coating film formation module, applies a chemical liquid (coating liquid) for forming an SOC film to the wafers W by spin coating. To this end, the SOC film formation module 21 includes a stage on which the placed wafers W are held by suction, a rotation mechanism that rotates the stage, and a nozzle that dispenses the chemical liquid onto the wafers W.

[0015] The back surface cleaning module 22 is a module that cleans the back surface of the wafer W after plasma processing and includes a holding mechanism that contacts a portion of the back surface of the wafer W to hold the wafer W, and a back surface cleaning mechanism for the wafer W, which is composed of a nozzle, a brush, etc. that supplies a cleaning liquid. The cleaning mechanism cleans the portion of the back surface of the wafer W that is not held by the holding mechanism, and the holding mechanism can switch between holding the peripheral portion and the center portion of the wafer W. During the plasma processing described above, the entire back surface of the wafer W is attracted to the electrostatic chuck 64 described below, and there is a risk that foreign matter will adhere to various portions of the back surface during this attraction. The back surface cleaning module 22, having the above configuration, cleans the entire back surface of the wafer W so as to remove the foreign matter.

[0016] The heating processing unit F2 is configured by stacking multiple heating modules to form a stack, with multiple stacks arranged side by side. In this example, six heating modules form a stack, and three stacks are arranged side by side to form the heating processing unit F2. The heating modules constituting the heating processing unit F2 include heating modules 23 and 24. Heating module 23 bakes the SOC film as described above. While the SOC film is densified by plasma processing, this baking also densifies the SOC film. Heating module 24 heats the wafer W after plasma processing to remove moisture and gas from the SOC film. Heating by this heating module 24 also serves to prevent peeling of the SOC film. Specifically, for example, in an external device of the substrate processing apparatus 1, the SOC film may peel off if the wafer W is exposed to a high temperature that is relatively far from the temperature used for baking the SOC film. However, heating to an appropriate temperature by heating module 24 can prevent this peeling. The heating modules 23 and 24 may be referred to as a pre-plasma processing heating module 23 and a post-plasma processing heating module 24 to distinguish them from each other.

[0017] The heating modules 23 and 24 each include a hot plate that heats the wafer W placed thereon, and a transfer body that can support and move the wafer W to transfer the wafer W between the hot plate and a transfer mechanism 31 (described later). The transfer body has a coolant flow path that cools the wafer W heated by the hot plate before it is received by the transfer mechanism 31 (described later). To avoid the above-mentioned excessively high temperature treatment, the temperatures of the hot plates of the heating modules 23 and 24 are set to, for example, less than 550°C. More specifically, the temperature of the hot plate of the heating module 23 is less than 500°C, and the temperature of the hot plate of the heating module 24 is less than 550°C.

[0018] A transfer mechanism 31 is provided in the transfer region 14. The transfer mechanism 31 includes a base 32, a support 33 that can move forward and backward on the base 32 and support a wafer W, and a moving mechanism 34 that moves the base 32. Only a portion of the moving mechanism 34 is shown. The moving mechanism 34 allows the base 32 to move left and right, move up and down, and rotate about a vertical axis. With this configuration, the transfer mechanism 31 can transfer the wafer W to and from each module of the liquid processing unit F1 and the heating processing unit F2, each module of the tower T1 described below, and a load lock module 4 described below. Therefore, the transfer mechanism 31 corresponds to a first transfer mechanism, and is shared by each liquid processing module stacked to form the liquid processing unit F1 and each heating module stacked to form the heating processing unit F2.

[0019] A tower T1 is provided on the left side of the transfer region 14. The tower T1 is configured by multiple stages of modules on which wafers W are temporarily placed. Some of the multiple temporary placement modules are transfer modules TRS, and others are temperature adjustment modules SCPL. The temperature adjustment module SCPL is provided with a stage having a fluid flow path, and a fluid whose temperature is adjusted by a chiller is supplied to the flow path. This adjusts the temperature of the wafer W placed on the stage.

[0020] A transfer mechanism 35 is provided on the rear side of the tower T1. The transfer mechanisms 12, 31, and 35 access each module of the tower T1, and wafers W can be transferred between these transfer mechanisms. The transfer mechanism 12 has the same configuration as the transfer mechanism 31, except that the transfer mechanism 34 is configured so that the base 32 moves back and forth instead of left and right, and the support 33 has a shape that allows access to the carrier C, and the transfer mechanism 35 does not move the base 32 left and right by the transfer mechanism 34. As described above, the transfer mechanisms 12, 31, and 35 provided in the carrier block D1 and processing block D2, and the transfer mechanism 52 (described later) provided in the plasma processing block D3, constitute a transfer mechanism group.

[0021] In the figure, 36 denotes a housing provided for the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2, which encloses the aforementioned transfer regions and modules formed in the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2. The interior of the housing 36 is an atmospheric atmosphere. The atmospheric atmosphere is an atmosphere maintained at atmospheric pressure or a pressure close to atmospheric pressure by the atmosphere. In addition, 37 denotes a door constituting a load port, which opens and closes an opening formed in the side wall of the housing 36 on the carrier block D1 side to load and unload wafers W into and from the substrate processing apparatus 1. A transfer port 39 is formed in the side wall of the housing 36 on the plasma processing block D3 side (right side), and opens to the transfer region 14. The transfer port 39 is used to transfer wafers W between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing block D3, and is opened and closed by a gate valve G1, which will be described later.

[0022] Next, the plasma processing block D3 will be described with reference to Figure 3, which is a longitudinal front view. The plasma processing block D3 is a block that can form a vacuum pressure atmosphere lower than the pressure inside the housing 36 by exhausting air and includes modules for performing vacuum plasma processing. It is composed of two load lock modules 4, a vacuum transfer module 5, and two plasma processing modules 6. The vacuum pressure is lower than atmospheric pressure. Two load lock modules 4 are provided on the right side of the center between the front and rear of the processing block D2, and these two load lock modules 4 are arranged side by side.

[0023] A vacuum transfer module 5 is provided to the right of the two load lock modules 4. Plasma processing modules 6 are arranged in front and behind the vacuum transfer module 5, with the two plasma processing modules 6 lined up one behind the other. The load lock module 4 is connected to the processing block D2 and the vacuum transfer module 5 via gate valves G1 and G2, respectively. The plasma processing module 6 is connected to the vacuum transfer module 5 via gate valve G3.

[0024] The gate valve G1 opens and closes the transfer port 39 of the housing 36 and the transfer port of the housing 41 provided in the load lock module 4. Closing the gate valve G1 separates the atmosphere in the processing block D2 from the atmosphere inside the load lock module 4 (more specifically, inside the housing 41). When the gate valve G1 is open, wafers W can be transferred between the processing block D2 and the load lock module 4 via the transfer port 39 formed in the housing 36 and the transfer port for wafer W formed in the housing 41.

[0025] Similar to the case between the processing block D2 and the load lock module 4, the gate valves G2 and G3 open and close the transfer ports of the housings between the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5, and between the vacuum transfer module 5 and the plasma processing module 6, respectively, to switch between a state in which a wafer W can be transferred and a state in which the atmospheres are separated. That is, closing the gate valve G2 separates the atmosphere in the load lock module 4 from the atmosphere in the vacuum transfer module 5 (more specifically, in the housing 51 described below). Opening the gate valve G2 allows the transfer of a wafer W between the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5. Closing the gate valve G3 separates the atmosphere in the load lock module 4 from the atmosphere in the plasma processing module 6 (more specifically, in the processing vessel 61, which is the housing described below). Opening the gate valve G3 allows the transfer of a wafer W between the vacuum transfer module 5 and the plasma processing module 6. The gate valves G1 to G3 are all closed except when necessary for transferring a wafer W.

[0026] The configuration of the load lock module 4 will be described. The load lock module 4 includes a housing 41 and a stage 42 located inside the housing 41 on which a wafer W is placed. ２An air supply mechanism for supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen gas and an exhaust mechanism for exhausting the gas are provided. By performing such air supply or exhaust while the gate valves G1 and G2 are closed, the pressure inside the housing 41 can be changed, switching between atmospheric pressure and a desired vacuum pressure. The stage 42 is provided with pins 43 that protrude and retract from the wafer W mounting surface (top surface) of the stage 42, and the transfer mechanism 31 and a transfer mechanism 52 (described later) can transfer the wafer W to the mounting surface via the pins 43. The stage 42 corresponds to a mounting portion to which the wafer W is transferred by each of the transfer mechanisms 31 and 52.

[0027] The vacuum transfer module 5 includes a housing 51 and a transfer mechanism 52 installed within the housing 51. An exhaust mechanism is installed to exhaust the interior of the housing 51, creating a vacuum atmosphere at a desired pressure. The interior of the housing 51 is a vacuum transfer region outside the load lock module 4, where the wafer W is transferred by the transfer mechanism 52. The transfer mechanism 52 is configured as a multi-joint arm and includes a base 52A, a first arm 52B, a second arm 52C, and a third arm 52D. A pivot shaft connected to the base 52A is installed at the base end of the first arm 52B. A pivot shaft connected to the tip end of the first arm 52B is installed at the base end of the second arm 52C. A pivot shaft connected to the tip end of the second arm 52C is installed at the base end of the third arm 52D. The tip end of each of the arms 52B to 52D can pivot around a vertical axis. The third arm 52D forms a support for supporting the wafer W.

[0028] The transfer mechanism 52 is positioned between the plasma processing modules 6 from the front and rear, thereby reducing the lateral length of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The transfer mechanism 52 accesses the load lock module 4 and each plasma processing module 6 and transfers wafers W between these modules. Therefore, the transfer mechanism 52 corresponds to a second transfer mechanism shared by the two plasma processing modules 6.

[0029] Next, the plasma processing module 6 will be described with reference to the vertical cross-sectional side view of FIG. 4 . The plasma processing module 6 includes a processing vessel 61. In the figure, reference numeral 62 denotes a transfer port provided in the sidewall of the processing vessel 61. A stage 63 on which a wafer W is placed is provided within the processing vessel 61. The upper central portion of the stage 63 is configured as an electrostatic chuck 64, to which the backside of the wafer W is attracted during plasma processing, as described above. A focus ring 65 is provided on the upper peripheral edge of the stage 63, surrounding the wafer W on the electrostatic chuck 64, and the focus ring 65 adjusts the distribution of plasma formed in the processing space 60 above the wafer W.

[0030] A temperature adjustment unit 66 is embedded in the stage 63 to adjust the temperature of the wafer W on the electrostatic chuck 64. The temperature adjustment unit 66 is configured with a flow path to which a fluid whose temperature is adjusted by, for example, a heater or a chiller is supplied. Note that, similar to the pins 43 of the load lock module 4, the stage 63 is provided with pins 67 that protrude into and retract from the wafer W mounting surface (the upper surface of the electrostatic chuck 64) of the stage 63 to transfer the wafer W between the transfer mechanism 52 and the stage 63, but these are only shown in FIG. 1 .

[0031] In Fig. 4, reference numeral 68 denotes a support pillar that supports the stage 63 within the processing vessel 61. In Fig. 4, reference numeral 69 denotes an exhaust pipe that has an upstream end that opens at the bottom of the processing vessel 61 and a downstream end that is connected to an exhaust mechanism 71 that is composed of a turbomolecular pump, a dry pump, or the like. The inside of the processing vessel 61 is evacuated to a vacuum atmosphere of a desired pressure by the exhaust mechanism 71. In order to improve the uniformity of exhaust at each portion along the periphery of the stage 63, a baffle plate 73 having a number of through holes 72 drilled in the thickness direction is provided. This baffle plate 73 surrounds the stage 63 and divides the inside of the processing vessel 61 into upper and lower sections.

[0032] The downstream end of a gas supply pipe 74 is connected to the ceiling of the processing vessel 61. A processing gas supplied from a gas supply mechanism 75 provided upstream of the gas supply pipe 74 is discharged into the processing space 60 from a discharge port (not shown) formed in the ceiling via the gas supply pipe 74. The processing gas is, for example, helium gas.

[0033] In the plasma processing module 6, a capacitively coupled plasma is generated using the ceiling of the processing chamber 61 as an upper electrode and the stage 63 as a lower electrode. High-frequency powers of different frequencies are applied to the stage 63 from a first high-frequency power supply 76 and a second high-frequency power supply 77. The first high-frequency power supply 76 is a high-frequency power supply for plasma generation, and by supplying high-frequency power of, for example, 100 MHz, it forms an electric field in the processing space 60 and converts the processing gas into plasma. The second high-frequency power supply 77 is a high-frequency power supply for bias application, and by supplying high-frequency power of, for example, 400 kHz to 13 MHz, it attracts ions in the plasma toward the stage 63.

[0034] The processing procedure for a wafer W in the plasma processing module 6 will be described below. The wafer W is transferred into the processing chamber 61, which has been vacuumed to a predetermined pressure, and placed on the electrostatic chuck 64. Then, a processing gas is supplied to the processing space 60, and power is supplied to the stage 63 from the first and second high-frequency power supplies 76 and 77. This converts the processing gas into plasma, and ions in the plasma are drawn into the stage 63. These ions collide with the SOC film formed on the surface of the wafer W. As a result, the structure of the SOC film changes as described above. The supply of the processing gas is then stopped, and power supply from the first and second high-frequency power supplies 76 and 77 is also stopped, thereby completing the processing, and the wafer W is removed from the processing chamber 61.

[0035] Returning to FIG. 1 , the layout of each component of the substrate processing apparatus 1 will now be described in more detail. The front-to-rear width of the vacuum transfer module 5 is smaller than that of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2. Furthermore, the front-to-rear width from the front end of the front-side plasma processing module 6 to the rear end of the rear-side plasma processing module 6 is the same as or approximately the same as that of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2. The processing block D2 and each plasma processing module 6 are separated from each other on the left and right. Due to this layout, a space 19 is formed between the processing block D2 and each plasma processing module 6, and the load lock module 4 faces this space 19.

[0036] More specifically, the spaces 19 are formed on the front and rear sides of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and the load lock module 4 located on the front side faces the space 19 formed on the front side, while the load lock module 4 located on the rear side faces the space 19 formed on the rear side. Workers can enter the spaces 19 and access the load lock modules 4 facing the spaces 19 to perform work such as maintenance.

[0037] The substrate processing apparatus 1 also includes a control unit 10. The control unit 10 is configured by a computer and includes a program, a memory, and a CPU. The program incorporates steps that enable a series of operations in the substrate processing apparatus 1, which will be described later. The program causes the control unit 10 to output control signals to each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1, which controls the operation of each transfer mechanism and each module, thereby transferring the wafer W along the transfer path, which will be described later, and processing the wafer W in each module. The program is stored in a storage medium, such as a compact disc, a hard disk, or a DVD, and installed in the control unit 10.

[0038] Next, an example of a transfer path and processing procedure for a wafer W in the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 5 . The wafer W, removed from the carrier C on the stage 11, is transferred to the temperature control module SCPL via the transfer module TRS of the tower T1, where it is temperature-controlled and then transferred to the SOC film formation module 21. A chemical solution is applied to the surface of the wafer W to form an SOC film (step S1). The wafer W is then transferred to the plasma pre-treatment heating module 23, where it is heated to bake and densify the SOC film (step S2). The wafer W is then transferred to the temperature control module SCPL and cooled (step S3), and then transferred to the load lock module 4, the interior of which is under atmospheric pressure. When the interior of the load lock module 4 reaches a predetermined vacuum pressure and becomes available for transfer to the vacuum transfer module 5, the wafer W is transferred to the plasma processing module 6 via the vacuum transfer module 5, where it is subjected to plasma processing as described with reference to FIG. 4, thereby changing the structure of the SOC film (step S4).

[0039] The wafer W is then transferred via the vacuum transfer module 5 to the load lock module 4, the interior of which is maintained at a predetermined vacuum pressure. When the interior of the load lock module 4 reaches atmospheric pressure and the wafer W can be transferred to the processing block D2, the wafer W is transferred to the back surface cleaning module 22 in the processing block D2 and subjected to back surface cleaning (step S5). The wafer W is then transferred to the post-plasma processing heating module 24 and subjected to heat treatment to remove moisture and gas from the SOC film (step S6). The wafer W is then transferred to the temperature adjustment module SCPL and cooled (step S7), and then returned to the carrier C via the transfer module TRS.

[0040] As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the processing block D2, which forms, bakes, and densifies an SOC film on a wafer W in an air atmosphere, and the plasma processing module 6, which performs plasma processing on the wafer W in a vacuum atmosphere, are connected to each other via the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5. The wafer W is transferred between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing module 6 and processed.

[0041] Let us assume that a carrier block D1 is provided for each of the processing blocks D2 and the plasma processing modules 6, allowing the processing blocks D2 and the plasma processing modules 6 to individually load and unload wafers W. A transfer mechanism for carriers C provided in a semiconductor manufacturing plant transports carriers C between these devices, thereby performing the series of processes described in FIG. 5 . Compared to a system in which carriers C are transported between multiple devices for processing (a comparative example system), the number of carrier blocks D1 in the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be reduced, thereby reducing the floor space (footprint) required for the aforementioned series of processes. Furthermore, the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is also reduced because a single transfer mechanism 52 transfers wafers W between two plasma processing modules 6.

[0042] Furthermore, in order to perform the series of processes, the system of the comparative example requires time to transport the carrier C between devices using a transport mechanism such as an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport) installed in a semiconductor device manufacturing factory, but this transport time is not necessary in the substrate processing apparatus 1. The number of times that wafers W are loaded and unloaded from the carrier C to perform the series of processes described above is also less when using the substrate processing apparatus 1 than when using the system of the comparative example. Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can improve throughput.

[0043] Furthermore, with regard to the transport mechanism for the carrier C in the above-described factory, it may be difficult for the control unit provided in each apparatus to grasp the operation schedule. Therefore, when using the system of the comparative example, it is difficult to grasp the timing when the wafer W can be moved to the destination between some modules, and it is difficult to create a transport plan for the wafer W. Therefore, the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is advantageous in that it is easy to increase throughput by creating a transport plan between each module and transporting the wafer W to the destination module at the appropriate timing.

[0044] As described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs plasma processing to change the structure of the SOC film, thereby improving the quality of the film. This allows subsequent etching to be performed appropriately, and reduces the decrease in yield of semiconductor devices manufactured from the wafer W. As described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 contributes to improving throughput, reducing footprint, and reducing yield, making it an apparatus suitable for forming high-quality SOC films.

[0045] [Another Example of Transfer Path] The heated wafer W is also cooled in the heating modules 23 and 24. By ensuring that the cooling in the heating module 23 and / or the heating module 24 is sufficient, the wafer W may not be transferred to the temperature adjustment module SCPL in step S3 and / or step S7.

[0046] Therefore, the wafer W may be transferred in the order of the pre-plasma processing heating module 23, the plasma processing module 6, ..., the back surface cleaning module 22, and the post-plasma processing heating module 24, and then returned to the carrier C via the transfer module TRS. Alternatively, the wafer W may be transferred in the order of the pre-plasma processing heating module 23, the temperature adjustment module SCPL, the plasma processing module 6, ..., the back surface cleaning module 22, and the post-plasma processing heating module 24. The wafer W may then be transferred in the order of the pre-plasma processing heating module 23, the plasma processing module 6, ..., the back surface cleaning module 22, the post-plasma processing heating module 24, and the temperature adjustment module SCPL.

[0047] Furthermore, the order of backside cleaning of the wafer W in step S5 and the heating and cooling of the wafer W in steps S6 and S7 may be arbitrary, and backside cleaning may be performed after heating and cooling in that order. That is, the wafer W that has been subjected to the plasma processing in step S4 may be transported in the order of the heating module 24 → the temperature adjustment module SCPL → the backside cleaning module 22, and then returned to the carrier C via the transfer module TRS. As described above, since transport to the temperature adjustment module SCPL can be omitted, the wafer W may be transported in the order of the heating module 24 → the backside cleaning module 22.

[0048] 5, performing the backside cleaning of the wafer W in step S5 before the heating and cooling of the wafer W in steps S6 and S7 can shorten the period during which foreign matter adheres to the wafer W and limit the range over which the foreign matter adheres and moves within the apparatus. This is therefore preferable for maintaining high cleanliness in the processing block D2. Note that after the plasma processing in step S4, the wafer W may be returned to the carrier C without performing the processing in steps S5 to S7.

[0049] 6 shows a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 1A that is a first modification of the first embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 1A differs from the substrate processing apparatus 1 in that inspection modules 25 and 26 are provided at the front and rear ends of the transfer region 13 of the carrier block D1, respectively, allowing the transfer mechanism 12 to transfer wafers W. The heights of the inspection modules 25 and 26 are offset from the height of the door 37 and the opening opened and closed by the door 37 so as not to interfere with the transfer of wafers W between the carrier C and the transfer mechanism 12. For example, the inspection modules 25 and 26 are located above the door 37 and the opening.

[0050] The inspection modules 25 and 26 are modules that capture images of the surfaces (top surfaces) of the wafers W and transmit the captured images to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 determines the presence or absence of abnormalities on the surfaces of the wafers W, such as the presence or absence of foreign matter, from the images, and for wafers W that are determined to have abnormalities, performs processing such as transmitting the determination result to a host computer in the factory.

[0051] The wafers are transported in the order of carrier C → inspection module 25 → tower T1 of processing block D2, and then tower T1 → inspection module 26 → carrier C. Therefore, since the inspection modules 25 and 26 take images of the wafers W before and after processing in processing block D2 and plasma processing block D3, they will be hereinafter referred to as the pre-processing inspection module 25 and the post-processing inspection module 26. Note that only one of the pre-processing inspection module 25 and the post-processing inspection module 26 may be provided, or the arrangement of the pre-processing inspection module 25 and the post-processing inspection module 26 may be reversed.

[0052] 7 shows a longitudinal sectional front view of a substrate processing apparatus 1B according to a second modification of the first embodiment. In the substrate processing apparatus 1B, the right sidewall of the housing 36 is formed so that a region below the gate valve G1 protrudes to the right. As a result, the lower portion of the transfer region 14 forms a protruding region 83 that protrudes rightward relative to the upper portion. Multiple stages 84 for temporarily placing wafers W are provided in the protruding region 83, allowing the transfer mechanism 31 to transfer wafers W to each stage 84. The stages 84 may be configured as temperature adjustment modules SCPL or as transfer modules TRS that do not have a function for adjusting the temperature of wafers W.

[0053] The stage 84 may be used in any manner, but may be used, for example, to hold a wafer W before being transferred to the load lock module 4. Specifically, if a wafer W cannot be transferred to the load lock module 4 after processing in steps S1 to S3 has been completed because the pressure in the load lock module 4 is being changed or for other reasons, the wafer W is transferred to the stage 84 and held there. Then, when the wafer W becomes available for transfer to the load lock module 4, the wafer W is transferred from the stage 84 to the load lock module 4. This prevents the wafer W from stagnating in each processing module on the transfer path up to the load lock module 4, preventing transfer, and increases the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

[0054] Furthermore, in order to improve the removability of moisture from the SOC film after plasma processing, it has been considered to heat-treat the wafer W in the post-plasma-processing heating module 24 after a relatively long time has passed since the plasma processing, when a relatively large amount of moisture has been absorbed into the SOC film. Therefore, the plasma-processed wafer W may be transferred to the stage 84, where it may wait for a predetermined time, and then transferred to the post-plasma-processing heating module 24. As described above, the order of the processing in the post-plasma-processing heating module 24 and the processing in the back surface cleaning module 22 may be arbitrary, and therefore the wafer W transferred to the stage 84 may or may not have undergone back surface cleaning. Therefore, by using the stage 84 in this manner, the quality of the SOC film can be further improved, and a decrease in the yield of semiconductor products can be prevented.

[0055] The substrate processing apparatus 1B described above is advantageous in that it can form a waiting area for the wafer W without increasing the footprint by utilizing the area overlapping below the load lock module 4. Note that the protruding area 83 may be formed in an area overlapping above the load lock module 4 instead of the area overlapping below the load lock module 4, and the wafer W may be placed on standby. In other words, it is sufficient that the load lock module 4 and the stage 84 of the protruding area 83 are arranged to overlap each other in a plan view.

[0056] 8 shows a longitudinal sectional front view of a substrate processing apparatus 1C that is a third modification of the first embodiment. In this substrate processing apparatus 1C, two sets of liquid processing section F1, heating processing section F2, and transport mechanism 31, which are described in the substrate processing apparatus 1, are stacked in two stages. These two sets are referred to as a lower processing section E1 and an upper processing section E2. However, the liquid processing section F1 on each stage is not shown in the figure.

[0057] The plasma processing block D3 is also provided in two stages, allowing wafers W to be transferred between the lower processing unit E1 and the lower plasma processing block D3, and between the upper processing unit E2 and the upper plasma processing block D3. To allow wafers W to be transferred between the carrier C and the lower processing unit E1 and the upper processing unit E2, transfer modules TRS and temperature control modules SCPL are disposed at the respective heights of the lower processing unit E1 and the upper processing unit E2 in the tower T1.

[0058] In this way, by stacking multiple sets consisting of a liquid processing unit F1, a heating processing unit F2, and a transport mechanism 31, and stacking the plasma processing blocks D3 in a number corresponding to the number of sets, it is possible to mount more modules and increase throughput while suppressing an increase in footprint.

[0059] 9 shows a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 1D, which is a fourth modification of the first embodiment. In this substrate processing apparatus 1D, a plasma processing module 6 is connected to the right side of the vacuum transfer module 5 via a gate valve G3. Therefore, the transfer mechanism 52 is shared by three plasma processing modules 6. This configuration can further increase the throughput of the apparatus. However, since the width of the apparatus is longer, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is preferable from the viewpoint of further reducing the footprint.

[0060] As another modification, the substrate processing apparatus 1 may not be provided with the liquid processing unit F1, and wafers W coated with a chemical solution and having an SOC film formed thereon may be stored in a carrier C and transported to the substrate processing apparatus 1 by the above-described factory carrier transport mechanism. Furthermore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, the process of step S1 described in FIG. 5 may not be performed, and the processes from step S2 onward may be performed.

[0061] Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus 1 may be configured such that only the heating module out of the heating modules and liquid processing modules is stacked, and the transport mechanism is shared by the heating module. Note that the above-described modifications can be applied not only to the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, but also to substrate processing apparatuses of other embodiments described later.

[0062] Second Embodiment Next, a substrate processing apparatus 1E according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 10 , focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1. The plasma processing block D3 of this substrate processing apparatus 1E is provided with a vacuum transfer module 5A, which has a different shape from the vacuum transfer module 5, instead of the vacuum transfer module 5. More specifically, the housing 51 of the vacuum transfer module 5A is longer in the front-to-rear direction than that of the vacuum transfer module 5. As a result, the front-to-rear width of the vacuum transfer module 5A is the same as or approximately the same as the front-to-rear widths of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2. The front and rear ends of the vacuum transfer module 5A are the same as or approximately the same as those of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2, respectively.

[0063] Three plasma processing modules 6 are connected to the right side of the vacuum transfer module 5A (the side opposite to the side connected to the load lock module 4) via gate valve G3. The three plasma processing modules 6 are lined up in the front-to-rear direction with a small gap between them. The transfer mechanism 52 delivers wafers W to and from the three plasma processing modules 6.

[0064] By setting the front-to-rear width of the vacuum transfer module 5A to the above size, the vacuum transfer module 5A faces the processing block D2 with a gap therebetween. The load lock module 4 faces a space 85 formed between the processing block D2 and the vacuum transfer module 5. The space 85 corresponds to the space 19 in the substrate processing apparatus 1, and is a space where workers can enter to perform maintenance on the load lock module 4.

[0065] The substrate processing apparatus 1E is provided with more plasma processing modules 6 than the substrate processing apparatus 1A, thereby achieving higher throughput. Even with such a relatively large number of plasma processing modules 6, the transport mechanism 52 is shared by these plasma processing modules 6, thereby reducing the number of transport mechanisms 52 in the substrate processing apparatus 1E and preventing an increase in the footprint. The substrate processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment has a smaller lateral width than the substrate processing apparatus 1E due to the aforementioned layout of the vacuum transport modules 5 and plasma processing modules 6. Therefore, the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is more advantageous from the viewpoint of further reducing the footprint of the apparatus.

[0066] Third Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1F according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 11 and the longitudinal front view of FIG. 12, focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. In the substrate processing apparatus 1F, an atmospheric transfer module 5B is provided on the right side of the processing block D2, instead of the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5. Plasma processing modules 6 are connected to the front and rear of a housing 81 constituting the atmospheric transfer module 5B via gate valves G3. The front-to-rear positional relationship of each plasma processing module 6 relative to the processing block D2 in this substrate processing apparatus 1F is the same as the front-to-rear positional relationship of each plasma processing module 6 relative to the processing block D2 in the substrate processing apparatus 1. In this substrate processing apparatus 1F, the plasma processing block D3 is composed of two plasma processing modules 6 and the atmospheric transfer module 5B.

[0067] The housing 81 is connected to the right side of the processing block D2, and its interior is a transfer area for wafers W, which is under atmospheric conditions. Wafers W can be transferred between the processing block D2 and the atmospheric transfer module 5B through openings provided in the housings 81 and 36. The housing 81 also includes a tower T2 and a transfer mechanism 82. Like the tower T1, the tower T2 is configured by stacking multiple temperature control modules SCPL and multiple transfer modules TRS. In FIG. 12, the stage comprising these SCPL and TRS is indicated as 80. The tower T2 is located to the right of the transfer area 14, facing the transfer area 14, so that the transfer mechanism 31 of the processing block D2 can transfer wafers W to and from each module of the tower T2. Each module of the tower T2 corresponds to a receiver, and the transfer mechanism 82 corresponds to a second transfer mechanism.

[0068] The transfer mechanism 82 has a configuration similar to that of the transfer mechanism 35 provided for the tower T1, and is provided on the right side of the tower T2. In the housing 81, a gate valve G3 and a plasma processing module 6 are provided on the front and rear sides of the transfer mechanism 82, respectively. Therefore, similar to the transfer mechanism 52 of the first embodiment, the transfer mechanism 82 is sandwiched between the plasma processing modules 6 from the front and rear. The transfer mechanism 82 can deliver wafers W to and from each module of the tower T2 and the plasma processing module 6.

[0069] The gas supply mechanism 75 of the plasma processing module 6 of this substrate processing apparatus 1F can switch between supplying the processing gas and the atmosphere into the processing vessel 61. The pressure inside the processing vessel 61 can be changed by supplying the atmosphere and exhausting the atmosphere inside the processing vessel 61, and this pressure change allows the transfer of the wafer W between the atmospheric transfer module 5B and the plasma processing module 6.

[0070] The transfer of the wafer W between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing module 6 will be described in detail below. The wafer W processed in the processing block D2 is transferred to the atmospheric transfer module 5B via the tower T2 and then transferred to the plasma processing module 6, where the processing vessel 61 is at atmospheric pressure. The processing vessel 61 is evacuated to a predetermined vacuum pressure, and plasma processing is performed on the wafer W. Then, when the pressure in the processing vessel 61 is restored to atmospheric pressure by supplying atmospheric air into the processing vessel 61, the wafer W is transferred from the plasma processing module 6 to the atmospheric transfer module 5B and returned to the processing block D2 via the tower T2.

[0071] In the substrate processing apparatus 1F, wafers W are transferred between modules for processing, similarly to the substrate processing apparatus 1. In the substrate processing apparatus 1F, a temperature adjustment module SCPL is also provided in the tower T2, and therefore, wafers W may be transferred to the temperature adjustment module SCPL of the tower T2, instead of the temperature adjustment module SCPL of the tower T1, and their temperature may be adjusted therein.

[0072] Like the substrate processing apparatus 1F, the apparatus may be configured without the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5. The substrate processing apparatus 1E is also configured so that the wafer W is transferred between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing module 6, and the transfer mechanism 82 is shared by the two plasma processing modules 6. Therefore, similar to the substrate processing apparatus 1, the apparatus can have a high throughput and a small footprint.

[0073] However, since the processing vessel 61 of the plasma processing module 6 may be relatively large due to the inclusion of structures necessary for processing the wafers W, the time required for changing the pressure may become longer depending on the volume. Furthermore, in order to prevent foreign matter from remaining in the processing vessel 61 during processing of the wafers W and thereby prevent a decrease in the yield of semiconductor products manufactured from the wafers W, it may be necessary to relatively increase the degree of vacuum (lower the pressure) within the processing vessel 61. In such cases, the time required for this pressure change becomes longer. Therefore, the substrate processing apparatuses 1 to 1D equipped with the load lock module 4 and vacuum transfer module 5 described above are preferable from the viewpoint of achieving higher throughput for the apparatus while preventing a decrease in the yield of semiconductor products.

[0074] Fourth Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1G according to a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 13 , focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1F according to the third embodiment. Like the substrate processing apparatus 1F, the substrate processing apparatus 1G does not have a load lock module 4 or a vacuum transfer module 5. Instead, an atmospheric transfer module 5C is provided on the right side of the processing block D2. Like the atmospheric transfer module 5B of the substrate processing apparatus 1F, the atmospheric transfer module 5C has an atmospheric atmosphere inside. However, the atmospheric transfer module 5C differs from the atmospheric transfer module 5B in the shape of the housing constituting the atmospheric transfer module 5C, the transfer mechanism provided within the housing, and the position to which the plasma processing module 6 is connected. In the substrate processing apparatus 1G, the plasma processing block D3 is composed of the plasma processing module 6 and the atmospheric transfer module 5C.

[0075] The front-to-rear width of the housing 88 of the atmospheric transfer module 5C is longer than the front-to-rear width of the housing 81 of the atmospheric transfer module 5B. Therefore, the front-to-rear width of the atmospheric transfer module 5C is the same as or approximately the same as the front-to-rear widths of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2. The tower T2 and the transfer mechanism 86 are housed within the housing 88, and the transfer mechanism 86 is located to the right of the tower T2. The transfer mechanism 86 has a similar configuration to the transfer mechanism 35 of the processing block D2, except that it moves linearly in the front-to-rear direction instead of the left-to-right direction using the moving mechanism 34. Three plasma processing modules 6 are connected to the right side of the housing 88 via gate valves G3, and as in the second embodiment, the plasma processing modules 6 are arranged in a front-to-rear direction. The transfer mechanism 86 can transfer wafers W to and from each module of the tower T2 and each plasma processing module 6.

[0076] In this substrate processing apparatus 1G, wafers W are transferred along the same route as in the substrate processing apparatus 1F, and the pressure in the processing chamber 61 of the plasma processing module 6 is changed to transfer the wafers W between the plasma processing module 6 and the atmospheric transfer module 5C. In the substrate processing apparatus 1G, wafers W are transferred between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing module 6, and the transfer mechanism 86 is shared by the three plasma processing modules 6, so that the throughput of the apparatus can be increased and the footprint can be reduced, similar to the substrate processing apparatus 1. Note that, as with the reasons described in the second embodiment, the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1G is preferable in consideration of the throughput of the apparatus, and the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1F is preferable in consideration of the footprint of the apparatus.

[0077] The substrate processing apparatus 1G may be provided with a transfer mechanism 52, which is an articulated arm, instead of the transfer mechanism 86, as in the second embodiment. As described above, the transfer mechanism 86 has a configuration in which the base 32 moves linearly back and forth. The linear movement distance is relatively long so that the three plasma processing modules 6 can be accessed. The transfer mechanism 34 includes a drive mechanism, such as a motor or belt, and a cover that prevents particles from scattering from the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism and the base 32 are connected via a connector. If the linear movement distance of the base 32 is long as described above, an opening in the cover for passing the connector must be opened over the movement distance. Therefore, from the viewpoint of suppressing particle scattering near the plasma processing module 6 where wafers W are processed, maintaining the cleanliness of the plasma processing module 6, and more reliably preventing a reduction in the yield of semiconductor products, it is preferable to provide the transfer mechanism 52, which is an articulated arm, rather than the transfer mechanism 86.

[0078] However, when the transfer mechanism 52 is provided, it is necessary to ensure a rotation area for the first to third arms 52B to 52D. Therefore, when the transfer mechanism 52 is provided, there is a risk that the transfer area for the wafer W within the housing 88 will be larger than when the transfer mechanism 86 is provided. Therefore, from the viewpoint of more reliably reducing the footprint of the apparatus, it is preferable to provide the transfer mechanism 86.

[0079] 8, the lower processing unit E1 and upper processing unit E2 each including a liquid processing unit F1, a heating processing unit F2, and a transfer mechanism 31 may be stacked, and the plasma processing modules 6 may also be stacked accordingly. This configuration may also be applied to the substrate processing apparatus 1G equipped with the atmospheric transfer module 5C.

[0080] Specifically, in the example of FIG. 8 , the transfer mechanism 52 that transfers wafers W between the transfer mechanism 31 and the plasma processing module 6 does not move up and down, and therefore the transfer mechanism 52 is provided in two stages. However, the transfer mechanism 99 of the substrate processing apparatus 1G is configured to be movable up and down, and therefore does not need to be provided in two stages as shown in FIG. 14 . That is, the same transfer mechanism 99 can be used to transfer wafers W between the lower processing unit E1 and the lower plasma processing module 6, and between the upper processing unit E2 and the upper plasma processing module 6. Note that, in the substrate processing apparatus 1F of the third embodiment, similar to the example shown in FIG. 14 , the lower processing unit E1 and the upper processing unit E2 can be stacked, and the same transfer mechanism 82 can be used to transfer wafers W between the upper and lower stages.

[0081] [Others] Up to now, the inside of the housing 36 of the carrier block D1 and the processing block D2 has been described as being in an atmospheric atmosphere, but it is not limited to being in an atmospheric atmosphere. For example, if N ２ By providing a supply port for an inert gas such as a gas, the inside of the housing 36 may be filled with an inert gas atmosphere. The atmospheric transfer modules 5B and 5C in the third and fourth embodiments may also be filled with an inert gas atmosphere instead of an atmospheric atmosphere. Although the load lock module 4 has been described as having its pressure changed by supplying an inert gas, the pressure may also be changed by supplying atmospheric air.

[0082] The plasma processing module 6 is not limited to a configuration that performs processing using capacitively coupled plasma, and may be configured to perform processing using, for example, inductively coupled plasma. Furthermore, processing may be performed using so-called remote plasma, in which plasma formed outside the processing vessel 61 is supplied into the processing vessel 61.

[0083] In the first and second embodiments described above, two load lock modules 4 are provided to improve throughput. One of the two load lock modules 4 may be used for transfer from the processing block D2 to the vacuum transfer module 5, and the other may be used for transfer from the vacuum transfer module 5 to the processing block D2. Alternatively, only one load lock module 4 may be provided.

[0084] Alternatively, the carrier block D1, processing block D2, and plasma processing block D3 may be arranged in order from right to left. Therefore, the processing block D2 is provided on one of the left and right sides of the carrier block D1, and the plasma processing block D3 is provided on one of the left and right sides of the processing block D2. In the second and fourth embodiments, the plasma processing module 6 is provided on one of the left and right sides of the housing (transport area) in which the second transport mechanism is provided.

[0085] The number and layout of the transfer mechanisms provided in each block are not limited to those described above and can be changed as appropriate. The configuration of the transfer mechanisms is also arbitrary, and the transfer mechanism 31 of the processing block D2, for example, may be configured as an articulated arm similar to the transfer mechanism 52 of the vacuum transfer module 5.

[0086] As described above, the third arm 52D constituting the transfer mechanism 52 in the first embodiment is a support for the wafer W. A plurality of third arms 52D are provided on the second arm 52C, and one third arm 52D transfers the wafer W to one of the two plasma processing modules 6, while the other third arm 52D transfers the wafer W to the other of the two plasma processing modules 6. In other words, the third arm 52D, which is a support for the wafer W, is used differently depending on the plasma processing module 6. In this case, the first arm 52B and the second arm 52C also serve as support for the wafer W, and therefore the transfer mechanism 52 is shared by the two plasma processing modules 6. In other words, the transfer mechanism being shared by the plurality of plasma processing modules 6 includes a case in which some moving members of the transfer mechanism are shared by each of the plasma processing modules 6, and is not limited to a case in which the entire transfer mechanism is shared by each of the plasma processing modules 6.

[0087] [Module Layout] The number and layout of modules to be arranged are not limited to the above-described examples. Using the vertical cross-sectional side view of FIG. 15 , another example of the module layout in the processing block D2 is shown in comparison with the example of FIG. 2 . In the processing block D2 of FIG. 2 , as described above, a total of six heating modules (23 or 24) are arranged vertically in the vertical cross-sectional side view. The area in which the heating modules are arranged is divided into partitioned regions defined by the height of the liquid treatment modules, and each partitioned region has two heating modules (23 or 24) stacked in the vertical cross-sectional side view. In the processing block D2 shown in FIG. 15 , a total of four heating modules are arranged vertically in the vertical cross-sectional side view. In the processing block D2 of FIG. 15 , partitioned regions are formed in which heating modules are arranged at each height of the liquid treatment modules, but the number of heating modules installed in each partitioned region is one or two in the vertical cross-sectional side view. As described above, the number of heating modules installed in the vertical cross-sectional side view between the partitioned regions may be the same or different.

[0088] For example, if the temperatures of the hot plates (processing temperatures of wafers W) differ between the heating modules, the number of heating modules installed in the divided areas may be different as shown in Fig. 15. Specifically, for a heating module that processes wafers W at a temperature higher than X°C, the number of heating modules installed in the divided area including this heating module is made greater than the number of heating modules installed in the divided area including heating modules that process wafers W at a temperature equal to or lower than X°C, so that heat radiation from other heating modules in the divided area can be effectively utilized. In the example of Fig. 15, one heating module 23 that performs heat processing at X°C or lower (X is a natural number) is installed in the divided area as seen from the vertical side cross section, and two heating modules 24 that perform heat processing at temperatures higher than X°C are installed in the divided area as seen from the vertical side cross section.

[0089] Although the inspection modules 25 and 26 are provided in the carrier block D1 in the example shown, they may be provided in the processing block D2, for example, by replacing some of the heating modules in the heating processing unit F2.

[0090] Fifth Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1H according to a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to the plan view of Fig. 16, the longitudinal side view of Fig. 17, and the longitudinal front view of Fig. 18, focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1F of Fig. 11. Fig. 17 shows a cross section of a processing block D2. Like the processing block D2 of the substrate processing apparatus 1F, the processing block D2 is provided with a liquid processing unit F1 and a heating processing unit F2 on the front (-Y) side and rear (+Y) side of the transfer region 14, respectively. However, the processing block D2 of this substrate processing apparatus 1H is composed of four stories that are stacked on top of each other and partitioned, and each story includes a liquid processing unit F1, a heating processing unit F2, a transfer region 14, and a transfer mechanism 31. The liquid processing unit F1 on one story has a liquid processing module that is not stacked with the other liquid processing modules.

[0091] If we define the transfer from carrier block D1 to plasma processing block D3 as the outbound transfer and the transfer from plasma processing block D3 to carrier block D1 as the return transfer, each story performs either the outbound transfer or the return transfer. Therefore, the story where the outbound transfer is performed is equipped with processing modules for processing wafers W before plasma processing, and the story where the return transfer is performed is equipped with processing modules for processing wafers W after plasma processing. Of the four stories, the lower two are for the outbound transfer and are equipped with an SOC film formation module 21 and a pre-plasma processing heating module 23, while the upper two are for the return transfer and are equipped with a back surface cleaning module 22 and a post-plasma processing heating module 24. Wafers W pass through either the outbound story or the return story. The transfer and processing of wafers W are performed in parallel on each story.

[0092] In the substrate processing apparatus 1H, similar to the substrate processing apparatus 1F, a housing 81 constituting the atmospheric transfer module 5B is connected from the right to the central portion of the front and rear of the processing block D2. The housing 81 is formed so that its long sides extend in the left-right direction (X direction) in a plan view, and its front-to-back width is smaller than that of the processing block D2. The tower T2 is provided at the left end of the housing 81 and includes a transfer module TRS and a buffer module BM. The buffer module BM has multiple upper and lower placement sections, each of which can accommodate a wafer W. Therefore, the buffer module BM can accommodate and retain multiple wafers W. The transfer module TRS is provided at a height that allows wafers W to be transferred between the transfer mechanism 31 on each level and the transfer mechanism 82 provided in the atmospheric transfer module 5B.

[0093] The transfer mechanism 82 of this substrate processing apparatus 1H has the same configuration as the transfer mechanism 31 of the processing block D2, and in addition to the operations performed by the transfer mechanism 82 of the substrate processing apparatus 1F, is capable of moving the base 32 left and right. Therefore, the transfer mechanism 82 of the substrate processing apparatus 1H can transfer wafers W to and from the load lock modules 40 located to the left and right, as will be described later, in addition to transferring wafers W to and from the modules of the tower T2.

[0094] 16 and 18, the housing 81 is provided with an air supply unit configured by, for example, an FFU (fan filter unit), which supplies a desired amount of air into the housing 81. An exhaust path is also opened in the housing 81, and the desired amount of exhaust air from the housing 81 can be achieved by, for example, adjusting the opening of a valve provided in this exhaust path. By this supply and exhaust of air, the pressure inside the housing 81 can be adjusted to atmospheric pressure or a desired pressure close to atmospheric pressure.

[0095] Gate valves G1 are provided on both the front and rear side walls of the housing 81. The left and right positions of these gate valves G1 are different, with the gate valve G1 on the front side of the housing 81 being located on the right side of the tower T2 near the left end of the housing 81, and the gate valve G1 on the rear side of the housing 81 being located at the right end of the housing 81. Load lock modules 40 are provided on both the front and rear sides of the housing 81 and the transfer mechanism 82 inside the housing 81, and are connected to the housing 81 via the gate valves G1.

[0096] A vacuum transfer module 50 is connected to the right side of the load lock module 40 on the front side of the housing 81 via a gate valve G2, and a plasma processing module 6 is connected to the right side of this vacuum transfer module 50 via a gate valve G3. A vacuum transfer module 50 is connected to the left side of the load lock module 40 on the rear side of the housing 81 via a gate valve G2, and a plasma processing module 6 is connected to the left side of this vacuum transfer module 50 via a gate valve G3. In this way, the load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, and plasma processing module 6 are arranged in a line on each of the front and rear sides of the housing 81, and the arrangement directions of these modules are reversed on the front and rear sides of the housing 81.

[0097] The load lock module 40 and the vacuum transfer module 50 have the same configuration as the load lock module 4 and the vacuum transfer module 5, except for differences that will be described later. Therefore, the interior of the housing 41 of the load lock module 40 can be switched between an air atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere when the gate valves G1 and G2 connected to the housing 41 are closed. The interior of the housing 51 of the vacuum transfer module 50 forms a transfer region for the wafer W that is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere during operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1H.

[0098] Similar to the transfer between the modules in the plasma processing block D3 in the first embodiment, the wafer W is transferred between the load lock module 40, the vacuum transfer module 50, and the plasma processing module 6. Specifically, the wafer W is transferred from the atmospheric transfer module 5B, which is in an atmospheric atmosphere, to the load lock module 40, which is in an atmospheric atmosphere, and then transferred from the load lock module 40, which is in a vacuum atmosphere, to the plasma processing module 6 via the vacuum transfer module 50, where it undergoes plasma processing. Then, a transfer operation is performed in the reverse direction of the transfer operation from the atmospheric transfer module 5B to the plasma processing module 6, and the plasma-processed wafer W is returned to the atmospheric transfer module 5B. Because the wafer W is transferred between the vacuum transfer module 50 and the processing chamber 61 of the plasma processing module 6 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere during operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1H, similar to the first embodiment.

[0099] In the following description, the sets of the load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, plasma processing module 6, and gate valves G1 to G3 located at the front and rear sides of the housing 81 may be referred to as a vacuum unit 80. Therefore, the two vacuum units 80 are divided into a first set in which the load lock module 40 is provided on one side, either front or rear, of the wafer W transfer region in the housing 81, and a second set in which the load lock module 40 is provided on the other side, either front or rear, of the wafer W transfer region in the housing 81, and the left and right positions of the load lock module 40 differ between these sets. The load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, and plasma processing module 6 forming the first set are arranged in order from one side to the other, and the load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, and plasma processing module 6 forming the second set are arranged in order from the other side to the other. These vacuum units 80 are configured in the same manner and are located at the same height, except that the modules constituting the vacuum unit 80 are arranged in opposite directions from left to right and the direction in which the gate valve G1 is connected to the load lock module 4 is opposite from front to back, as described above. In the substrate processing apparatus 1H, the two vacuum units 80 and the atmospheric transfer module 5B described above constitute a plasma processing block D3.

[0100] As described above, the load lock modules 40, the vacuum transfer modules 50, and the plasma processing modules 6 are aligned in a row to form the vacuum unit 80, with the front vacuum unit 80 facing the front portion of the processing block D2 and the rear vacuum unit 80 facing the rear portion of the processing block D2. This configuration and arrangement of the vacuum units 80 prevents the front-to-rear width of the substrate processing apparatus 1H from increasing due to the installation of the vacuum units 80.

[0101] Because the gate valve G1 is located at the aforementioned position on the front side of the housing 81, a space 87 is formed between the load lock module 40 on the front side and the processing block D2. For example, to perform maintenance on the load lock module 40 and the tower T2, an operator can enter the space 87 from an area forward of the processing block D2. On the other hand, the rear side of the tower T2 faces the plasma processing module 6 of the rearmost vacuum unit 80 of the two vacuum units 80, and the distance between them is relatively short. If the plasma processing module 6 were not located facing the tower T2 but to the right of the tower T2, the horizontal length of the atmospheric transfer module 5B would be increased, and the horizontal length of the substrate processing apparatus 1H would also be increased. Therefore, arranging the plasma processing module 6 and the tower T2 facing each other as described above contributes to preventing an increase in the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 1H.

[0102] The differences between the load lock module 40 and vacuum transfer module 50 of this embodiment and the load lock module 40 and vacuum transfer module 5 described above will be described. The load lock module 40 has two stages 42 arranged vertically within a housing 41. A wafer W can be placed on each of these two stages 42. The vacuum transfer module 50 has a transfer mechanism 52 similar to the vacuum transfer module 5, but the base 52A of the transfer mechanism 52 has a platform 52E that is rotatable about a vertical axis and can be raised and lowered. Two articulated arms 52F are provided on the platform 52E. Each articulated arm 52F is composed of the first arm 52B, second arm 52C, and third arm 52D described in the first embodiment. The third arm 52D, which supports the wafer W, can be moved forward and backward relative to the load lock module 40 and the vacuum transfer module 5, allowing the wafer W to be transferred to and from these modules. 15, the tip ends of the third arms 52D are directed in the same direction, but for convenience of illustration, they are shown facing in opposite directions in FIG. 17. This transfer mechanism 52 constitutes a third transfer mechanism that transfers wafers W between the load lock module 40 and the vacuum transfer module 5.

[0103] An overview of the transfer path of the wafer W in the substrate processing apparatus 1H described above will now be described. The wafer W unloaded from the carrier C is transferred to the SOC film forming module 21 and then the heating module 23 on the outbound level of the processing block D2, where it is processed, and then transferred to the tower T2. The transfer mechanism 82 transfers the wafer W from the tower T2 to the load lock module 40 of the vacuum unit 80, and the wafer W is transferred to the plasma processing module 6 where it is subjected to SOC film modification processing. Note that, as will be described later, the wafer W transferred to the tower T2 may be transferred to the vacuum unit 80 via the buffer module BM.

[0104] After the plasma processing, the wafer W is transferred to the return floor of the processing block D2 via the tower T2 of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, and is transferred to the back surface cleaning module 22 and the heating module 24 in that order, where it is processed, and then returned to the carrier C. Note that the processing in the back surface cleaning module 22 and / or the heating module 24 does not necessarily have to be performed. Therefore, the wafer W may simply pass through the return floor (without being transferred to a processing module).

[0105] However, plasma processing in the plasma processing module 6 may take a relatively long time. Therefore, it is conceivable that the number of wafers W processed in one of the vacuum units 80 and transferred to the atmospheric transfer module 5B per unit time may be greater than the number of wafers W processed on one of the outgoing levels and transferred to the atmospheric transfer module 5B. In such a case, a wafer W cannot be transferred from the atmospheric transfer module 5B to the vacuum unit 80 because a wafer W is currently being transferred in each vacuum unit 80 or a wafer W is currently being processed in the plasma processing module 6 of each vacuum unit 80.

[0106] When the transfer mechanism 82 receives a wafer W that has been processed on the outbound level from the transfer module TRS of the tower T2 and the wafer W cannot be transferred to the vacuum unit 80, the transfer mechanism 82 transfers the wafer W to the buffer module BM and holds the wafer there. Then, when the wafer W becomes available for transfer to the vacuum unit 80, the transfer mechanism 82 transfers the wafer W from the buffer module BM to the vacuum unit 80. Note that the transfer of the wafer W to the buffer module BM may be performed only when the wafer W cannot be transferred to the vacuum unit 80 as described above, or may be performed uniformly for each wafer W regardless of the transfer status of the wafer W in the vacuum unit 80.

[0107] The pressure inside the load lock module 40 varies between the pressure (αPa) when the wafer W is transferred to the atmospheric transfer module 5B and the pressure (βPa) when the wafer W is transferred to the vacuum transfer module 50, and is set, for example, so that αPa > βPa > the pressure inside the plasma processing module 6. Because a pressure difference is thus created between the load lock module 40 and the plasma processing module 6, particles generated by processing the wafer W in the plasma processing module 6 are unlikely to flow into the atmospheric transfer module 5B.

[0108] Furthermore, in this substrate processing apparatus 1H, the load lock modules 4 are positioned at different left and right positions in the front vacuum unit 80 and the rear vacuum unit 80, so that the load lock modules 4 do not face each other. Therefore, even if particles flow out from the load lock module 4 of one vacuum unit 80 into the atmospheric transfer module 5B, they are prevented from entering the load lock module 4 of the other vacuum unit 80. As a result, particles generated in one vacuum unit 80 are prevented from contaminating the modules of the other vacuum unit 80.

[0109] The pressures in the atmospheric transfer module 5B and the load-lock module 40 may be adjusted so that the pressure in the processing block D2 > the pressure in the atmospheric transfer module 5B > the pressure in the load-lock module 40 (the above-mentioned αPa) during transfer of the wafer W to and from the atmospheric transfer module 5B. The reason for making the pressure in the atmospheric transfer module 5B (the pressure in the housing 81) greater than the pressure in the load-lock module 40 (the pressure in the housing 41) is to prevent particles from flowing from the housing 41 into the housing 81. The reason for making the pressure in the processing block D2 greater than the pressure in the atmospheric transfer module 5B (the pressure in the housing 36) is that, by creating such a pressure difference, the atmospheric transfer module 5B > the load-lock module 40, and the pressure αPa in the load-lock module 40 is set to a relatively small pressure. Note that αPa is the pressure in the load-lock module 40 during transfer of the wafer W to and from the atmospheric transfer module 5B, as described above.

[0110] When αPa is a low value in this way, the amount of pressure change (αPa - βPa) required for transferring the wafer W in the load lock module 40 becomes small. Note that βPa is the pressure inside the load lock module 40 when the wafer W is transferred to the vacuum transfer module 50, as described above. When αPa - βPa is small in this way, the pressure inside the load lock module 40 can be quickly changed between αPa and βPa, thereby improving the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1H. In other words, the pressure inside the processing block D2 > the pressure inside the atmospheric transfer module 5B > the pressure inside the load lock module 40 when transferring the wafer W to and from the atmospheric transfer module 5B (αPa) is set in order to improve the throughput of the apparatus.

[0111] When the pressure inside the housing 81 of the atmospheric transfer module 5B is made negative relative to the pressure inside the processing block D2, the housing 81 is set to an atmospheric atmosphere. That is, the inside of the housing 81 is not set to a vacuum atmosphere, but is set to a pressure between atmospheric pressure (standard pressure) and atmospheric pressure. Specifically, the pressure close to atmospheric pressure is, for example, atmospheric pressure -10 kPa to atmospheric pressure +10 kPa.

[0112] As described above, the load lock module 40 is provided with two stages 63, each of which supports a wafer W. The vacuum transfer module 50 is provided with two articulated arms 52F, each of which includes a third arm 52D for supporting the wafer W. For example, one of the two stages 63 may be used to support a wafer W before plasma processing that is to be transferred to the vacuum transfer module 50, and the other may be used to support a plasma-processed wafer W that is to be transferred to the atmospheric transfer module 5B. Furthermore, for example, one of the two third arms 52D may be used to support a wafer W before plasma processing that is to be transferred to the plasma processing module 6, and the other may be used to support a plasma-processed wafer W that is to be transferred to the vacuum transfer module 50. In other words, the stage 63 and the third arm 52D are used separately for handling a wafer W before plasma processing and a wafer W that has been plasma-processed.

[0113] As described above, foreign matter may adhere to the backside of the wafer W when the electrostatic chuck 64 is attracted to the wafer W in the plasma processing module 6. Therefore, the stage 63 and the third arm 52D may be selectively used as described above to limit the area to which foreign matter is transferred from the backside of the wafer W in the vacuum unit 80, thereby preventing foreign matter from adhering to the wafer W before plasma processing. Instead of selectively using the stage 63 and the third arm 52D, any of the two stages 63 and any of the two third arms 52D may be used to transport the wafer W. Although the transport mechanism 52 of the vacuum transport module 50 has a different configuration from the transport mechanism 52 provided in the first embodiment, the configuration is not particularly limited. For example, a transport mechanism 52 including a single articulated arm may be provided as described in the first embodiment.

[0114] The tower T2 may also include a temperature adjustment module SCPL. The transfer mechanism 82 of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, which receives a wafer W from the transfer module TRS or buffer module BM of the tower T2, transfers the wafer W to the temperature adjustment module SCPL, where the temperature is adjusted, and then transfers the wafer W to the load lock module 40. By transferring the temperature-adjusted wafer W to the plasma processing module 6 via the load lock module 40 in this manner, the time required for the temperature adjustment unit 66 of the stage 63 to adjust the temperature to a predetermined value before the start of plasma processing can be shortened. Therefore, adjusting the temperature of the wafer W before plasma processing using the temperature adjustment module SCPL as described above can increase the throughput of the plasma processing module 6 and, ultimately, the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1H.

[0115] In order to suppress temperature fluctuations of the wafer W after temperature adjustment, the wafer W whose temperature has been adjusted in the temperature adjustment module SCPL is transferred, for example, from the temperature adjustment module SCPL to the load lock module 40. In other words, the wafer W after being unloaded from the temperature adjustment module SCPL is transferred to the load lock module 40 without passing through any other modules.

[0116] Furthermore, the air supply unit that supplies air into the housing 81 may have a mechanism for adjusting the amount of moisture contained in the air, or may be configured to be capable of cooling a flow path through which the air flows before being released into the housing 81, thereby enabling control of the temperature inside the housing 81 to be lower than the temperature outside the housing 81, for example, 20°C. As shown in the evaluation test described below, the temperature of the wafer W during plasma processing is preferably 20°C or approximately 20°C. Therefore, the temperature of the stage 63 of the plasma processing module 6 is also set to, for example, 20°C or approximately 20°C. Therefore, by controlling the temperature inside the housing 81 to the above temperature and adjusting the temperature of the wafer W being transported inside the housing 81 before plasma processing, it is possible to prevent an increase in the time required for temperature adjustment after the wafer W is placed on the stage 63 of the plasma processing module 6.

[0117] The arrangement of the modules in the front and rear vacuum units 80 may be reversed from that shown in the example. That is, the front vacuum unit 80 may be arranged in the order of plasma processing module 6, vacuum transfer module 50, and load lock module 40 from left to right, and the rear vacuum unit 80 may be arranged in the order of load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, and plasma processing module 6 from left to right.

[0118] [Modification of Fifth Embodiment] Fig. 19 shows a plan view of a modification of the substrate processing apparatus 1H. Two plasma processing modules 6 are connected to each vacuum transfer module 50 of each vacuum unit 80 of the substrate processing apparatus 1H shown in Fig. 19 via gate valves G3. Of the two plasma processing modules 6 connected to the vacuum transfer module 50, one is disposed at the position described in Fig. 15, and the other is connected to the vacuum transfer module 50 from the opposite side in the front-to-rear direction from the side on which the atmospheric transfer module 5B is located. Thus, the plasma processing module 6 is connected from the right and front sides to the vacuum transfer module 50 of the vacuum unit 80 located forward of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, and from the left and rear sides to the vacuum transfer module 50 of the vacuum unit 80 located rearward of the atmospheric transfer module 5B.

[0119] As described above, processing in the plasma processing module 6 may take a relatively long time. Therefore, by configuring multiple plasma processing modules 6 connected to one vacuum transfer module 50 in this manner to perform processing in parallel, the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1H can be increased. Note that two plasma processing modules 6 may be connected to only one of the two vacuum transfer modules 50 as shown in FIG. 19, and only one plasma processing module 6 may be connected to the other vacuum transfer module 50 as shown in FIG. 16.

[0120] Among the configurations described in the fifth embodiment and its modifications, those applicable to the embodiments described later can be appropriately applied and implemented. For example, temperature adjustment within the housing 81, temperature adjustment by the temperature adjustment module SCPL of the tower T2 before transport to the vacuum unit 80, pressure control between modules, and proper use of the stage 63 of the load lock module 40 and the third arm 52D of the vacuum transport module 50 may also be applied and implemented in the apparatuses of other embodiments described later. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 19 , two load lock modules 40 may be connected to the vacuum transport module 50. It should be noted that the apparatus configurations described before the configuration of the fifth embodiment can also be appropriately applied and implemented in the apparatus configurations of the fifth and subsequent embodiments.

[0121] Sixth Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1I according to a sixth embodiment will be described, focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1H according to the fifth embodiment, with reference to the plan view of Fig. 20 and the longitudinal side view of Fig. 21. In the substrate processing apparatus 1I, the vacuum units 80 are arranged in front of and behind the atmospheric transfer module 5B, as in the fifth embodiment. However, the rear vacuum unit 80 is configured with a load lock module 40, a vacuum transfer module 50, and a plasma processing module 6 lined up in this order from left to right, as in the front vacuum unit 80. In other words, the modules constituting the front vacuum unit 80 and the rear vacuum unit 80 are lined up in the same direction.

[0122] The left and right positions of each vacuum unit 80 are the same, and the two load lock modules 40, the two vacuum transfer modules 50, and the two plasma processing modules 6 face each other in the front-to-rear direction, sandwiching the atmospheric transfer module 5B therebetween. Since the load lock module 40 is located on the right side of the tower T2, maintenance spaces 87 are formed in front and behind the atmospheric transfer module 5B.

[0123] In this substrate processing apparatus 1I, the base 32 of the transfer mechanism 82 does not move left or right, and the transfer mechanism 82 is sandwiched between two load lock modules 40 in a plan view. Therefore, the transfer mechanism 82 is located to the left (the other of the left and right) of each vacuum transfer module 50. More specifically, the base 32 of the transfer mechanism 82 is located to the left of the vacuum transfer module 50, and is maintained in this state of being located to the left of the vacuum transfer module 50 even when transferring a wafer W to or from each module in a module arrangement area 89 described below.

[0124] The area to the right of the transfer mechanism 82 within the housing 81 is configured as a module placement area 89, in which a large number of modules are stacked. The module placement area 89 is sandwiched between the vacuum transfer modules 50, and is therefore located to the left (the other of the left and right) of the plasma processing modules 6. The transfer mechanism 82 can transfer wafers W to and from each module in this module placement area 89, in addition to each module of the tower T2 and the load lock module 40.

[0125] The transfer path can be set so that the unprocessed wafer W transferred from the outgoing level is transferred to one or more of the modules in the module placement area 89 and then transferred to the vacuum unit 80. Similarly, the transfer path can be set so that the plasma-processed wafer W transferred from the vacuum unit 80 is transferred to one or more of the modules in the module placement area 89 and then transferred to the return level. The modules included in the module placement area 89 are not limited to modules that process the wafer W (processing modules), but may also include modules that only place the wafer W without processing it. Specifically, for example, the module placement area 89 can be arranged with at least one module selected from the group consisting of the inspection module 26, the transfer module TRS, the temperature adjustment module SCPL, and the backside cleaning module 22. FIG. 21 illustrates an example in which all of these modules are arranged.

[0126] Each of these modules provided in the module placement area 89 will now be described. The inspection module 26 takes an image of a wafer W that has been processed on the outgoing story but is not yet plasma processed, or a wafer W that has been plasma processed but is not yet transported to the return story, for inspection. Note that while the inspection module 26 has been described as taking an image of a wafer W that has been processed in the processing block D2 in the embodiments up to the sixth embodiment, in the sixth embodiment and thereafter, the inspection module 26 takes an image of a wafer W that is either before or after plasma processing.

[0127] As described above, the transfer module TRS temporarily stores and retains the transferred wafer W. The temperature control module SCPL, like the temperature control module SCPL of the tower T2, is provided to adjust the temperature of the wafer W before it is loaded into the plasma processing module 6.

[0128] The back surface cleaning module 22, similar to the module described as being provided on the return floor, is a module for cleaning the back surface of a plasma-processed wafer W to remove foreign matter. The plasma-processed wafer W is transferred to this back surface cleaning module 22, for example, after the load lock module 40, for processing. By performing back surface cleaning at a position on the wafer W transfer path closer to the plasma processing module 6 than the return floor, the back surface cleaning module 22 is provided in the module placement area 89 to reduce the amount of foreign matter adhering to the module to which the wafer W is transferred after back surface cleaning and the transfer mechanism that transfers the wafer W to the module. When back surface cleaning is performed in the module placement area 89, the back surface cleaning module 22 does not need to be provided on the return floor. While the back surface cleaning module 22 has been described above as a module for processing a plasma-processed wafer W, the back surface cleaning module 22 in the module placement area 89 may be configured to transfer a wafer W before plasma processing and process the wafer W.

[0129] However, as described above, since the plasma processing module 6 takes a relatively long time to perform processing, there are cases where the wafer W transferred from the outbound level to the atmospheric transfer module 5B cannot be promptly transferred to the vacuum unit 80. The back surface cleaning module 22, the inspection module 26, and the temperature adjustment module SCPL, which are arranged in the module arrangement area 89 and set to transfer the wafer W before plasma processing, can be said to be arranged so that the wafer W waiting in the atmospheric transfer module 5B can be processed using the time until it becomes possible to transfer it to the vacuum unit 80.

[0130] Although it has been described that the module to which the wafer W is transferred in the module arrangement area 89 is preset, this is not a limitation. For example, with respect to the transfer module TRS, when the transfer mechanism 82 transfers the wafer W to the vacuum unit 80, if the transfer to the vacuum unit 80 is possible, the transfer may not be performed to the transfer module TRS, but only if the transfer to the vacuum unit 80 is impossible. In other words, if the transfer to the vacuum unit 80 is impossible, the wafer W is transferred to the transfer module TRS or the buffer module BM and remains there. For example, with respect to a processing module such as the inspection module 26, similarly to the example of the TRS, if the transfer to the vacuum unit 80 is possible, the transfer may not be performed to the processing module, but only if the transfer to the vacuum unit 80 is impossible, for processing.

[0131] According to the substrate processing apparatus 1I described above, modules in the module placement area 89 and buffer modules BM are provided on the right (one of the left and right sides) and left (the other of the left and right sides) of each load lock module 40, respectively, where wafers W are placed and retained before being transferred to the vacuum unit 80. This is preferable because it prevents wafers W from being retained in the processing block D2 and causing a stagnation in the processing in that processing block D2. Note that each module in the module placement area 89 corresponds to a first placement area for placing multiple wafers W, and the buffer module BM corresponds to a second placement area for placing multiple wafers W.

[0132] Furthermore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1I, the transfer mechanism 82 is located to the left (the other of the left and right sides) of the vacuum transfer module 50 of each vacuum unit 80, and the module placement area 89 is located to the left (the other of the left and right sides) of the plasma processing module 6 of each vacuum unit 80. This prevents the lateral distance between the load lock module 4 accessed by the transfer mechanism 82 and the module placement area 89 from becoming too long. This reduces the distance that the base 32 of the transfer mechanism 82 must move laterally to transfer a wafer W between the load lock module 40 and each module in the module placement area 89. In the example described above, this lateral movement is unnecessary. By reducing the lateral movement distance of the base 32, the transfer mechanism 82 can quickly transfer a wafer W between the load lock module 40 and each module in the module placement area 89, thereby increasing the throughput of the substrate processing apparatus 1I. The lateral position of the base 32 of the transfer mechanism 82 does not have to be fixed, and it may be configured to move slightly laterally.

[0133] 16, the rear vacuum unit 80 of the substrate processing apparatus 1I has, arranged from left to right, a load lock module 40, two vacuum transfer modules 50, and two plasma processing modules 6. Even in the case of such an arrangement of modules, as shown in FIG. 22, the plasma processing module 6 may be connected to the vacuum transfer module 50 on the side opposite to the side on which the atmospheric transfer module 5B is located in the front-to-rear direction.

[0134] Seventh Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1J according to a seventh embodiment will be described, focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1I according to the sixth embodiment, with reference to the plan view of FIG. 23 and the front view of FIG. 24 . The atmospheric transfer module 5B of this substrate processing apparatus 1J does not have a module placement area 89 within its housing 81, and the base 32 of the transfer mechanism 82 is movable left and right. Instead of the module placement area 89, the substrate processing apparatus 1J has a module placement area 90 above each vacuum unit 80, and each module described as being disposed in the module placement area 89 can be disposed in this module placement area 90. The plasma processing block D3 of the substrate processing apparatus 1J is composed of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, the vacuum unit 80, and the modules in this module placement area 90.

[0135] In the module placement area 90, a plurality of modules are stacked to form a stack, and a plurality of such stacks are arranged side by side. With this arrangement, the load lock modules 40, vacuum transfer modules 50, and plasma processing modules 6 that constitute the vacuum unit 80 overlap with the modules in the module placement area 90 in a plan view. The transfer mechanism 82 can access each module in the module placement area 90.

[0136] In the substrate processing apparatus 1J described above, wafers W are transferred between modules in the same order as in the substrate processing apparatus 1I of the sixth embodiment and processed. This substrate processing apparatus 1J allows for many modules to be installed in the module placement area 90, thereby improving processing by installing multiple modules of the same type, and diversifying the processes that can be performed before and after plasma processing by installing different types of modules. The positional relationship between the vacuum unit 80 and the module placement area 90 may be reversed on the front and / or rear sides of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, with the module placement area 90 located below the vacuum unit 80. Alternatively, the module placement area 90 may be installed only on either the front or rear side of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, so that the module placement area 90 overlaps only one of the two vacuum units 80 in a plan view.

[0137] Eighth Embodiment A substrate processing apparatus 1K according to an eighth embodiment will be described, focusing on differences from the substrate processing apparatus 1J according to the seventh embodiment, with reference to the plan view of FIG. 25, the front view of FIG. 26, the longitudinal front view of FIG. 27, and the longitudinal side view of FIG. 28. FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A' in FIG. 25. In the substrate processing apparatus 1K, an intermediate block D4 is interposed between the processing block D2 and the atmospheric transfer module 5B, and the intermediate block D4 has the same front-to-rear width and height as the processing block D2. The intermediate block D4 also has a housing 36, similar to the processing block D2, and the interior of the housing 36 is an atmospheric atmosphere.

[0138] The tower T2 is provided in the housing 36 of the intermediate block D4 instead of in the housing 81 of the atmospheric transfer module 5B, and faces the transfer region 14 of the processing block D2. A transfer mechanism 91 is provided on the rear side of the tower T2 in the housing 36 of the intermediate block D4. This transfer mechanism 91 has a configuration similar to the transfer mechanism 35 provided for the tower T1, and is capable of transferring wafers W between the modules included in the tower T2.

[0139] The atmospheric transfer module 5B in the substrate processing apparatus 1K is provided with two transfer mechanisms 82. One of the two transfer mechanisms 82 (hereinafter referred to as transfer mechanism 82A) is capable of raising and lowering a lower region 92A within the atmospheric transfer module 5B, and the other (hereinafter referred to as transfer mechanism 82B) is capable of raising and lowering an upper region 92B within the atmospheric transfer module 5B. In the substrate processing apparatus 1K, the two vacuum units 80 are located at different heights, as shown in FIG. 28 . The front vacuum unit 80 (−Y side) is located at a height that allows the transfer of a wafer W between the load lock module 40 of that vacuum unit 80 and the transfer mechanism 82A, while the rear vacuum unit 80 (+Y side) is located at a height that allows the transfer of a wafer W between the load lock module 40 of that vacuum unit 80 and the transfer mechanism 82B.

[0140] The area above the front vacuum unit 80 is a module placement area 93B, and the areas above and below the rear vacuum unit 80 are module placement areas 94B, 94A. Similar to the module placement area 90 of the substrate processing apparatus 1I, these module placement areas 93B, 94A, 94B are areas in which multiple modules are arranged in the left-right direction. Therefore, the modules arranged in the module placement area 93B overlap the load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, or plasma processing module 6 of the front vacuum unit 80 in a planar view. The modules arranged in the module placement areas 94B, 94A overlap the load lock module 40, vacuum transfer module 50, or plasma processing module 6 of the rear vacuum unit 80 in a planar view. The modules described as being able to be arranged in the module placement area 89 of FIG. 21 can be arranged in these module placement areas 93B, 94A, 94B.

[0141] In each of the module placement areas 93B, 94B, and 94A, multiple modules may be stacked, as in the module placement area 90. However, in the illustrated example, the module placement area 94B is not stacked because its height is relatively small. The transfer mechanism 82A accesses each module in the module placement area 94A, and the transfer mechanism 82B accesses each module in the module placement areas 93B and 94B. In this example, the plasma processing block D3 is composed of the intermediate block D4, the atmospheric transfer module 5B, the vacuum unit 80, and the modules in the module placement areas 93B, 94B, and 94A.

[0142] The transfer of wafers W between the processing block D2 and the plasma processing block D3 will now be described. In the following description, each transfer module TRS provided in the tower T2 is numbered to distinguish them from one another. Some of these TRSs are shown in FIG. 28 . First, a wafer W transferred from the outgoing level to TRS1 of the tower T2 is transferred to TRS2A at the height of the lower region 92A of the atmospheric transfer module 5B and to TRS2B at the height of the upper region 92B. The wafer W in TRS2A is transferred to the front vacuum unit 80 and returned to TRS3A of the tower T2, while the wafer W in TRS2B is transferred to the rear vacuum unit 80 and returned to TRS3B of the tower T2. The wafers W in TRS3A and TRS3B are then transferred to the return level via TRS4 provided at the height of the return level.

[0143] The wafer W can be transferred to a module in the module placement area 94A while being transferred from TRS2A to the vacuum unit 80 and while being transferred from the vacuum unit 80 to TRS2B. The wafer W can be transferred to a module in the module placement area 93B and / or 94B while being transferred from TRS2B to the vacuum unit 80 and while being transferred from the vacuum unit 80 to TRS3B. In this way, the wafer W can be transferred and processed between modules in the substrate processing apparatus 1K in the same order as in the substrate processing apparatuses 1J and 1I described above.

[0144] In the transfer path of the substrate processing apparatus 1K described above, transfer between the TRSs is performed by a transfer mechanism 91. This transfer mechanism 91 transfers wafers W from the forward story to each vacuum unit 80 and also transfers wafers W from each vacuum unit 80 to the return story, so that the transfer mechanism 91 is a transfer mechanism shared by each plasma processing module 6.

[0145] In the substrate processing apparatus 1K, the transfer mechanisms 82A and 82B can transfer wafers W between the modules in the module placement area and the load lock module 40. Therefore, when a wafer W becomes available for transfer, it can be quickly transferred from each module in the tower T2, each module in the module placement areas 93B, 94A, and 94B, and the load lock module 40, which are accessed by the transfer mechanisms 82A and 82B. This prevents the wafer W from being left in a module for an unnecessarily long period of time, thereby preventing a decrease in the throughput of the apparatus. Note that the substrate processing apparatus 1K may be configured such that the vacuum units 80 are stacked on one side of the front or rear of the atmospheric transfer module 5B to allow access by the transfer mechanisms 82A and 82B, and the module placement area accessible by the transfer mechanism 82A and the module placement area accessible by the transfer mechanism 82B are stacked on the other side.

[0146] In the processing block D2 of the substrate processing apparatus 1K, a transfer mechanism 35A is provided at the front side of the tower T1. This transfer mechanism 35A, like the transfer mechanism 35 provided at the rear side of the tower T1, transfers wafers W between the modules constituting the tower T1. In other words, the transfer between the modules of the tower T1 is shared between the transfer mechanisms 35 and 35A, thereby improving throughput. As with the other substrate processing apparatuses described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1K may be provided with only the transfer mechanism 35 of the transfer mechanisms 35 and 35A, or only the transfer mechanism 35A. Furthermore, substrate processing apparatuses other than the substrate processing apparatus 1K may also be provided with the transfer mechanism 35A in addition to the transfer mechanism 35, or may be provided with only the transfer mechanism 35A of the transfer mechanisms 35 and 35A.

[0147] Furthermore, with respect to the tower T2 in the substrate processing apparatus 1K, the transport between the modules provided in the tower T2 may also be shared by two transfer mechanisms. Specifically, a transfer mechanism (referred to as 91A) other than the transfer mechanism 91 may be provided in a region 90 on the front side of the tower T2, which is surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 25 , so that each of the transfer mechanisms 91 and 91A transports wafers W between the modules. While the example in which only the transfer mechanism 91 out of the transfer mechanisms 91 and 91A is provided is shown, only the transfer mechanism 91A may also be provided.

[0148] [Supplementary Information Regarding Each Embodiment] While the processing block D2 of the substrate processing apparatuses 1H-1K has been shown as having four levels, the number of levels may be any number. For example, as shown in the longitudinal front view of FIG. 29, six levels may be provided. Furthermore, not only the total number of levels, but also the number of forward and backward levels may be any number. The number of forward and backward levels may be appropriately determined depending on the number and type of modules installed on each level. In the substrate processing apparatus 1L shown in FIG. 29, of the six levels, the bottom four levels are forward levels and the top two levels. Furthermore, although a transport mechanism 31 has been described as being provided on each level, the transport mechanism 31 may be shared among multiple forward levels. In other words, when multiple forward levels are arranged vertically, the transport regions 14 on these levels may be connected to each other, allowing the transport mechanism 31 to move between levels. Similarly, the transport mechanism 31 may be shared among multiple backward levels. Furthermore, tower T2 may be provided in processing block D2 instead of plasma processing block D3. However, this may increase the length of processing block D2 or reduce the length of liquid processing unit F1 and heating processing unit F2, potentially reducing the number of modules that can be installed. Therefore, it is preferable to provide tower T2 in plasma processing block D3, as in the examples shown so far.

[0149] 29 has the same configuration as the substrate processing apparatus 1H described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 18, except for the number of stories and some of the modules installed therein. Specifically, the substrate processing apparatus 1L does not have the back surface cleaning module 22 on the return path story, but has a cleaning module 102 instead. Furthermore, a reversing module 101 is installed in the tower T2.

[0150] The inversion module 101 includes a holder that suction-holds the wafer W received from the transfer mechanism 31, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the holder about a horizontal axis. With this configuration, the inversion module 101 can switch the wafer W received from the transfer mechanism 31 between a state in which the front surface (the surface on which devices are formed) faces upward and a state in which the back surface faces upward, and the transfer mechanism 31 receives the wafer W again after switching the state.

[0151] The cleaning module 102 has a relatively high foreign matter removal performance by including a stage that supports the wafer W from below, a nozzle that supplies a cleaning liquid to the wafer W from above, and a brush that is pressed against the stage from above and scrubs the wafer W while the cleaning liquid is being supplied to the wafer W. This cleaning module 102 is provided in the liquid processing section F1.

[0152] In the substrate processing apparatus 1L, the wafer W that has been subjected to plasma processing and transferred to the inversion module 101 of the tower T2 is turned backside up and then transferred to the cleaning module 102 on the return level, where the backside is cleaned. That is, foreign matter on the backside of the wafer W is removed by supplying a cleaning liquid and scrubbing with a brush. The wafer W is then transferred to the inversion module 101, where the backside is turned backside down again. The wafer W is then returned to the carrier C, or transferred to the heating module 24, where it is subjected to a heating process after the plasma processing, and then returned to the carrier C.

[0153] In the substrate processing apparatus 1L, the cleaning module 102 may be provided at a location other than the above-described location, for example, by incorporating the cleaning module 102 into the tower T2. The inversion module 101 may be provided in the tower T1. Therefore, the locations of the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102 are not limited to the locations described in FIG. 29 . Furthermore, although an example of application of the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102 to the substrate processing apparatus 1H of the fifth embodiment has been shown as the substrate processing apparatus 1L, the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102 may also be applied to, for example, the substrate processing apparatuses 1I to 1K of the sixth to eighth embodiments, and examples of their arrangement when applied to these apparatuses will be described below.

[0154] When the substrate processing apparatuses 1I and 1J are provided with the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102, they may be provided as modules arranged in the module arrangement areas 89 and 90. When the substrate processing apparatus 1K is provided with the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102, they may be provided in at least one of the module arrangement areas 93B and 94B, and also in the module arrangement area 94A. That is, the inversion module 101 and the cleaning module 102 may be provided at positions accessible to the transfer mechanisms 82A and 82B, respectively, so that the wafers W transferred from each vacuum unit 80 can be inverted and cleaned.

[0155] The plasma processing module 6 will now be described in more detail. It has been confirmed that, when modifying an SOC film, it is preferable to supply a relatively high power from the second high-frequency power supply 77 to the lower electrode (stage 63), e.g., 3000 W or more. The supply of 3000 W or more from the second high-frequency power supply 77 may be performed simultaneously with the supply of power from the first high-frequency power supply 76, or may be performed with the first high-frequency power supply 76 turned off. That is, the second high-frequency power supply 77 may supply 3000 W or more as bias power or as plasma generation power. When performing processing using a relatively high power supply from the second high-frequency power supply 77, if the upper electrode is exposed to the processing space 60, it is preferable that the upper electrode be made of, for example, quartz to prevent etching of the upper electrode. For the same reason, the focus ring 65 is also preferably made of, for example, quartz.

[0156] 4 illustrates an example of the baffle plate 73 that is horizontally annular and surrounds the stage 63. When supplying high power as described above to increase ion attraction and plasma intensity, it is conceivable that metal particles generated by etching the baffle plate 73 may adhere to the wafer W. To prevent this, the baffle plate 73 may not be horizontal, but may be configured as an annular member that slopes downward toward the inner periphery. With this configuration, even if the inner periphery of the baffle plate 73 is close to the wafer W in a plan view, it is far away from the wafer W in a side view, thereby preventing the above-described adhesion of metal particles to the wafer W.

[0157] Furthermore, in each embodiment, the substrate to be processed is not limited to a wafer, but may also be, for example, a substrate for manufacturing a flat panel display or a mask substrate for manufacturing an exposure mask. Therefore, rectangular substrates may also be processed. While an SOC film is exemplified, the formation and plasma processing of other coating films may also be performed using the substrate processing apparatus of each embodiment. The gas used for plasma generation is not limited to He gas and can be selected appropriately depending on the type of film. However, He gas, being an inert gas with a small molecular weight, is preferred in that it easily penetrates into the film, thereby suppressing unwanted reactions in the film and allowing sufficient modification toward the bottom of the film. However, when performing processing using the plasma processing module 6, the supply of high-frequency power for bias application may not be necessary depending on the type of coating film to be modified and the processing conditions.

[0158] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive, and various omissions, substitutions, modifications, and combinations may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

[0159] [Evaluation Test] An evaluation test conducted in connection with the present invention will now be described. In this evaluation test, a study was conducted to determine a suitable wafer temperature during processing by the plasma processing module 6. Specifically, first, multiple wafers were prepared as test pieces having an SOC film formed by heating and baking at a relatively low temperature, and then the wafers were irradiated with helium ions in the plasma processing module 6 while varying the wafer temperature. That is, a plasma of helium gas was generated, and the wafers W were exposed to the plasma. Then, each wafer irradiated with helium ions was subjected to reactive ion etching (RIE) under conditions for etching a silicon oxide film, and the etch rate of the SOC film was measured.

[0160] 30 is a graph showing the etch rate of an SOC film by RIE when the wafer temperature during ion irradiation of the SOC film is changed. The conditions other than the wafer temperature during ion irradiation (when plasma is lit) were: the internal pressure of the processing vessel 61 was 300 mTorr, the power from the first high-frequency power supply 76 was 0 W, and the power from the second high-frequency power supply 77 was 3000 W. The flow rate of helium gas supplied to the processing space 60 was 900 sccm, and the ion irradiation time was 10 seconds. In the figure, the conventional SOC film was not exposed to helium gas plasma.

[0161] As shown in Figure 30, when the wafer temperature is 60°C or less, the etch rate of the SOC film irradiated with helium ions is significantly lower than the etch rate of a conventional SOC film. Therefore, it was found that if the wafer temperature during ion irradiation is set to 60°C or less, the SOC film becomes more densified and its etching resistance is improved compared to that of a conventional SOC film. In particular, considering the recent demand for low-temperature processing in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, it was considered more preferable to set the wafer temperature to 20°C. Therefore, it is preferable to set the temperature of the wafer W during plasma processing to 20°C to 60°C.

[0162] W: Wafer C: Carrier D1: Carrier block D2: Processing block D3: Plasma processing block 11: Stage 21: SOC film forming module 35: Transfer mechanism 52: Transfer mechanism 6: Plasma processing module

Claims

1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a carrier block having a carrier placement section on which a carrier for storing substrates is placed; a processing block provided on one side of the carrier block, the processing block comprising: a plurality of processing modules stacked on top of each other for processing the substrates, and a first transport mechanism shared by the plurality of processing modules for transporting the substrates, the processing block comprising: a coating film forming module which is one of the plurality of processing modules and supplies a coating liquid to the substrate to form a coating film, a plasma processing block provided on the other side of the processing block, the processing block between which the substrates are transferred, the plasma processing block comprising: a plurality of plasma processing modules which plasma-treat the coating films on the substrates to modify the coating films, and a second transport mechanism provided in the plasma processing block for transferring the substrates to each of the plasma processing modules, the second transport mechanism being shared by each of the plasma processing modules.

2. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the plasma processing block is provided with a placement section on which the substrate is placed so that the substrate can be transferred by each of the first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism and the substrate can be transported between the processing block and the plasma processing block.

3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plasma processing block comprises: a load lock module in which the placement section is provided and in which an atmosphere between air and a vacuum is switchable; and a vacuum transfer area outside the load lock module in which the substrate is transferred by the second transfer mechanism.

4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plasma processing modules are provided in front of and behind the second transport mechanism, sandwiching the second transport mechanism therebetween.

5. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plasma processing block has a substrate transport area in which the second transport mechanism is provided, and the plurality of plasma processing modules are provided on one of the left and right sides of the transport area.

6. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the substrate is transferred by each of the first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism, a placement section is provided on which the substrate is placed in order to transport the substrate between the processing block and the plasma processing block, the plasma processing block has a substrate transport area in an atmospheric environment in which the second transport mechanism and the placement section are provided, and a vacuum atmosphere is maintained inside the plasma processing module.

7. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein said plasma processing modules are provided in front of and behind said second transport mechanism, with said second transport mechanism being sandwiched therebetween.

8. A substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein the plasma processing block has a transport area for the substrate to which the second transport mechanism transports the substrate, and the plurality of plasma processing modules are provided on one of the left and right sides of the transport area.

9. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing module includes a coating film forming module that supplies a coating liquid to the substrate to form a coating film, and a heating module that heats the substrate, wherein a plurality of the coating film forming modules and the heating modules are stacked, and wherein a transport mechanism group is provided that includes the first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism, and wherein the transport mechanism group transports the substrate in the following order: the carrier, the coating film forming module, the heating module, the plasma processing module, and the carrier.

10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the transport mechanism group transports the substrate processed in the plasma processing module to the heating module before transporting the substrate to the carrier.

11. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 10, further comprising a temperature adjustment module for cooling and adjusting the temperature of the heated substrate, and the transport mechanism group transports the substrate heated in the heating module to the temperature adjustment module before transporting it to the plasma processing module.

12. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the transport mechanism transports the substrate, which has been heated in the heating module and processed in the plasma processing module, to the temperature adjustment module before being transported to the carrier.

13. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 6, further comprising a first group and a second group each including a load lock module which can be switched between atmospheric and vacuum atmosphere and is connected to a substrate transport area in the plasma processing block having an atmospheric atmosphere, a vacuum transport module which has a vacuum atmosphere transport path for transporting the substrate and is connected to the load lock module, and the plasma processing module which is connected to the vacuum transport module, wherein the load lock module of the first group is provided on one side, either front or rear, of the transport area, and the load lock module of the second group is provided on the other side, either front or rear, of the transport area, and wherein the vacuum atmosphere transport path in the first and second groups is provided with a third transport mechanism which transports the substrate between the load lock module and the plasma processing module.

14. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 13, wherein the first set of load lock modules, the vacuum transfer module, and the plasma processing module are arranged in order from one side to the other side of the left and right, the second set of load lock modules, the vacuum transfer module, and the plasma processing module are arranged in order from the other side to the one side of the left and right, and the left and right positions of the first set of load lock modules and the second set of load lock modules are different.

15. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 14, wherein two of the plasma processing modules are connected to the first or second set of vacuum transfer modules, and one of the two plasma processing modules is connected to the vacuum transfer module from the side opposite to the side on which the second transfer mechanism is located in the front-to-rear direction.

16. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a first placement area and a second placement area for placing a plurality of said substrates are provided on one side, left and right, of said first and second sets of load lock modules, respectively.

17. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first placement area is provided with any one of an inspection module for inspecting the substrate, a back surface cleaning module for cleaning the back surface of the substrate, and a temperature adjustment module for adjusting the temperature of the substrate.

18. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 16 or 17, wherein the second transport mechanism is provided on the other left or right side of each vacuum transport module in the first group and the other group, and the first mounting area is provided on the other left or right side of each processing module in the first group and the other group.

19. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a mounting area for mounting a plurality of the substrates thereon, the mounting area overlapping the one set or the other set in a plan view.

20. A substrate processing method comprising the steps of: placing a carrier for storing substrates on a carrier placement portion of a carrier block; processing the substrate in a plurality of processing modules stacked on top of each other in a processing block provided on one of the left and right sides of the carrier block; supplying a coating liquid to the substrate to form a coating film in a coating film forming module constituting one of the plurality of processing modules; transporting the substrate by a first transport mechanism provided in the processing block and shared by the plurality of processing modules; transferring the substrate between a plasma processing block provided on the left or right side of the processing block and the processing block; modifying the coating film on the substrate by plasma processing in each of the plurality of plasma processing modules provided in the plasma processing block; and transferring the substrate to each of the plasma processing modules by a second transport mechanism provided in the plasma processing block and shared by each of the plasma processing modules.