Substrate placement table, height position adjustment mechanism, and substrate processing device

Abstract

This substrate placing table on which a substrate is placed in a processing container includes: a placing table body; and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the substrate with respect to the placing table body. The lifting mechanism has a plurality of lifting pins that support a substrate inserted in a plurality of insertion holes provided on the placing table body. A height adjustment mechanism for adjusting a height position of the lifting pins includes: a base member which has a cylindrical shape, is attached in a state in which the axial direction is vertical, and has a screw formed on an inner peripheral part; a height adjustment member which is screwed to the inner peripheral part of the base member and moves up and down by being rotated to adjust the height of the lifting pins; and a fixing member which is screwed to a position above the height adjustment member of the inner peripheral part of the base member, and presses and fixes the height adjustment member by being rotated.

Description

SUBSTRATE PLACEMENT TABLE, HEIGHT POSITION ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM, AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a substrate mounting table, a height position adjusting mechanism, and a substrate processing apparatus.

[0002] For example, in a single-wafer substrate processing apparatus, a substrate is processed while being placed on a substrate mounting table in a processing chamber, and a substrate mounting table having a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers lift pins to raise and lower the substrate when transferring the substrate is widely known (e.g., Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] JP 2010-73753 A JP 2022-67067 A

[0004] The present disclosure provides a substrate mounting table, a height position adjusting mechanism, and a substrate processing apparatus that allow height adjustment of lift pins in a narrow space.

[0005] A substrate mounting table according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a substrate mounting table for mounting a substrate in a processing vessel in a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate in the processing vessel, the substrate mounting table including: a mounting table main body; and a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the substrate relative to the mounting table main body, the lifting mechanism including a plurality of lifting pins that are inserted into a plurality of insertion holes provided in the mounting table main body and support and lift and lower the substrate at their tips; a height position adjustment mechanism to which the lifting pins are detachably attached and that adjusts height positions of the lifting pins; a support member that supports the lifting pins via the height position adjustment mechanism; and a support member that lifts and lowers the lifting pins via the support member. and a drive unit for raising and lowering the lifting pins. The height position adjustment mechanism comprises a cylindrical base member that is attached to the support member with its axial direction vertical and has a thread formed on its inner circumference, a height adjustment member that has a first hole portion into which the lifting pins are inserted and is screwed into the inner circumference of the base member and moves up and down when rotated to adjust the height of the lifting pins, and a fixing member that has a second hole portion into which the lifting pins are inserted and is screwed into the inner circumference of the base member at a position above the height adjustment member and is rotated to hold and fix the height adjustment member.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, there are provided a substrate mounting table, a height position adjusting mechanism, and a substrate processing apparatus that allow the height of lift pins to be adjusted in a narrow space.

[0007] 1 is a plan view schematically showing a substrate processing system equipped with a first temperature adjustment device and a second temperature adjustment device, which is a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a first temperature adjustment device; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a second temperature adjustment device; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a height position adjustment mechanism used for a substrate mounting table; FIG. 5 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view showing a state in which lift pins of a height position adjustment mechanism used for a substrate mounting table have been pulled out; FIG. 6 shows an example of a jig used when adjusting the height positions of the lift pins, where (a) is a pin height position adjusting jig and (b) is a fixing jig; FIG. 7 is a process cross-sectional view showing an example of a flow for adjusting the height positions of the lift pins using a pin height position adjusting jig and a fixing jig; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a state in which the pin height position adjusting jig and the fixing jig are attached; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a lift pin height adjustment mechanism that has been commonly used in the past;

[0008] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0009] <Substrate Processing System> FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a substrate processing system, which is a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment and includes a first temperature adjustment device and a second temperature adjustment device.

[0010] The substrate processing system 1 includes a processing section 2 that performs a plurality of processes on a substrate in a vacuum, a transfer section 3 that transfers the substrate into and out of the processing section 2, and a control section 4. The substrate is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a semiconductor wafer.

[0011] The processing section 2 has a plurality of (eight in this example) processing modules PM1 to PM8 that perform film formation processing etc. on the substrates W, and a transport section 12 that has a plurality of transport modules TM1 to TM4 that sequentially transport the substrates W to these plurality of processing modules PM1 to PM8.

[0012] The processing modules PM1 to PM8 perform processing on substrates in a vacuum, such as film formation processing to form films such as magnetic films, and associated processing. When performing film formation processing, it is possible to form a multilayer film by performing film formation processing sequentially in multiple processing modules. Examples of associated processing include cleaning processing and pre-processing. The number of processing modules is not limited to eight, and may be set to the number required depending on the processing.

[0013] The transfer modules TM1 to TM4 each have a hexagonal container 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d that is held in a vacuum, and a transfer mechanism 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d that is provided in each container.

[0014] Each of the transport modules TM1 to TM4 is provided with a first temperature controller 41 and a second temperature controller 42 for controlling the temperature of a substrate, which function as a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment. For example, the first temperature controller 41 heats the substrate, and the second temperature controller 42 cools the substrate. Specifically, the first temperature controller 41 has a function of heating the substrate W to a temperature required for transporting the substrate W to one of the processing modules, and the second temperature controller 42 has a function of cooling the substrate W that has become too hot in one of the processing modules. The first temperature controller 41 and the second temperature controller 42 have the same basic configuration, except for the heating mechanism and cooling mechanism. These devices function as the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, and their detailed configurations will be described later.

[0015] The containers 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , and 30 d are in communication with each other via a first temperature adjustment device 41 and a second temperature adjustment device 42 .

[0016] The transfer section 12 is made up of multiple transfer modules TM1 to TM4 arranged in a row in the Y direction in the drawing, and eight processing modules PM1 to PM8 are connected to each side of the transfer section 12, four on each side, via openable and closable gate valves G. The gate valves G of the processing modules PM1 to PM8 are opened when the transfer mechanism of the transfer module accesses the processing module, and are closed when processing is being performed.

[0017] The loading / unloading unit 3 is connected to one end of the processing unit 2. The loading / unloading unit 3 has an atmospheric transfer chamber (EFEM) 21, three load ports 22, an aligner module 23, and two load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2 connected to the atmospheric transfer chamber 21, and a transfer device (not shown) provided within the atmospheric transfer chamber 21. The number of load ports 22 is not limited to three.

[0018] The atmospheric transfer chamber 21 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with its longitudinal direction aligned in the X direction in the drawing. The load ports 22 are provided on the long side wall of the atmospheric transfer chamber 21 on the side opposite the processing section 2. Each load port 22 has a mounting table 25 and a transfer port 26. A FOUP 20, which is a container for accommodating a plurality of substrates (semiconductor wafers), is mounted on the mounting table 25, and the FOUP 20 on the mounting table 25 is connected to the atmospheric transfer chamber 21 via the transfer port 26 in a sealed state.

[0019] The aligner module 23 is connected to one of the short side walls of the atmospheric transfer chamber 21. In the aligner module 23, alignment of the substrate W is performed.

[0020] The two load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2 are intended to enable transfer of wafers W between the atmospheric transfer chamber 21, which is at atmospheric pressure, and the transfer section 12, which is at a vacuum atmosphere, and are capable of varying the pressure between atmospheric pressure and a vacuum similar to that of the transfer section 12. Each of the two load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2 has two transfer ports, one of which is connected to the long side wall of the atmospheric transfer chamber 21 on the processing section 2 side via a gate valve G2, and the other of which is connected to the container 30a of the transfer module TM1 in the processing section 2 via a gate valve G1.

[0021] The load lock module LLM 1 is used when transporting a substrate W from the load / unload section 3 to the processing section 2 , and the load lock module LLM 2 is used when transporting a substrate W from the processing section 2 to the load / unload section 3 .

[0022] The transfer device in the atmospheric transfer chamber 21 transfers substrates W to the FOUP 20 on the load port 22, the load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2, and the aligner module 23. For example, the transfer device takes out an unprocessed wafer W from the FOUP 20 on the load port 22 and transfers the substrate W to the load lock module LLM1, and also receives a processed substrate W present in the load lock module LLM2 and transfers it to the FOUP 20 on the load port 22.

[0023] In the processing section 2, processing modules PM1, PM3, PM5, and PM7 are arranged in order from the load lock module LLM1 side on one side of the transfer section 12, and processing modules PM2, PM4, PM6, and PM8 are arranged in order from the load lock module LLM2 side on the other side of the transfer section 12. In addition, in the transfer section 12, transfer modules TM1, TM2, TM3, and TM4 are arranged in order from the load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2 sides.

[0024] The transfer mechanism 31a of the transfer module TM1 is accessible to the load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2, the process modules PM1 and PM2, and the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transfer module TM1. The transfer mechanism 31b of the transfer module TM2 is accessible to the process modules PM1, PM2, PM3, and PM4, the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transfer module TM1, and the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transfer module TM2. The transfer mechanism 31c of the transfer module TM3 is accessible to the process modules PM3, PM4, PM5, and PM6, the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transfer module TM2, and the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transfer module TM3. The transport mechanism 31d of the transport module TM4 is accessible to the processing modules PM5, PM6, PM7, and PM8, the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transport module TM3, and the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42 of the transport module TM4.

[0025] The controller 4 controls each component of the substrate processing system 1, such as the transfer modules TM1 to TM4 (transfer mechanisms 31a to 31d), the transfer device in the atmospheric transfer chamber 21, the process modules PM1 to PM8, the load lock modules LLM1 and LLM2, the gate valves G, G1, and G2, and the first and second temperature adjustment devices 41 and 42. The controller 4 is made up of a computer and includes a main controller having a CPU, an input device, an output device, a display device, and a storage device. The storage device is provided with a storage medium in which a processing recipe is stored. The main controller causes the substrate processing system 1 to perform a predetermined operation based on the processing recipe retrieved from the storage medium.

[0026] In the substrate processing system 1 configured as described above, first, the substrate W is removed from the FOUP 20 by the transfer device in the atmospheric transfer chamber 21, and then transferred to the aligner module 23 for alignment before being transferred to the load lock module LLM1. Then, after the load lock module LLM1 is evacuated, the substrate W is removed by the transfer mechanism 31a of the transfer module TM1. The substrate W is then serially transferred to the processing modules PM1, PM3, PM5, PM7, PM8, PM6, PM4, and PM2 by the transfer mechanisms 31a to 31d of the transfer modules TM1 to TM4. In each processing module, the substrate W is subjected to a predetermined process, such as a film formation process.

[0027] In addition, before and after processing in each processing module, as necessary, the first temperature control device 41 of each transport module heats the substrate W to the temperature required for processing, and the second temperature control device 42 cools the substrate W that has become too hot.

[0028] After the processing of the substrate W in the processing module PM2 is completed in this manner, the substrate W is transferred by the transfer mechanism 31a of the transfer module TM1 to the load lock module LLM2, which is held at a vacuum. Then, after the load lock module LLM2 is brought to atmospheric pressure, the substrate W is returned to the FOUP 20 by the transfer device of the atmospheric transfer chamber 21.

[0029] As a result, the substrates W can be transported serially in a U-shape to a plurality of processing modules to perform a series of processing, such as film formation processing.

[0030] <First Temperature Control Device 41> Next, an example of the first temperature control device 41 will be described. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the first temperature control device 41. The first temperature control device 41 has a processing vessel 51 defining a processing chamber, a substrate mounting table 52 on which a substrate W is placed in the processing vessel 51, and a heater 53 as a processing mechanism for processing the substrate.

[0031] The substrate mounting table 52 has a mounting table main body 61 and a lifting mechanism 71 that lifts and lowers the substrate W relative to the mounting table main body 61 using lifting pins 72 .

[0032] The mounting table main body 61 includes a base 62 and an electrostatic chuck 63 disposed thereon. The electrostatic chuck 63 has a structure in which an attraction electrode 64 is embedded in an insulator, and electrostatically attracts the substrate W by applying a DC voltage from a DC power supply (not shown) to the attraction electrode 64. The mounting table main body 61 is also provided with a heater 53 as a processing mechanism. In this example, the heater 53 is embedded in the electrostatic chuck 63. The heater 53 may also be embedded in the base 62. The heater 53 is configured to perform a heat treatment on the substrate W. The mounting table main body 61 is provided with pin insertion holes 65 through which elevating pins 72 of an elevating mechanism 71 (described later) are inserted. The mounting table main body 61 is supported by a support shaft 66 extending from the bottom of the processing vessel 51. The support shaft 66 has a hollow structure, and power supply wires to the attraction electrode 64 of the electrostatic chuck 63 and the heater 53 are inserted therein.

[0033] The lifting mechanism 71 includes three lifting pins 72 (only two are shown) that support and raise and lower the substrate W at their tips, a height position adjustment mechanism 73 that adjusts the height positions of the lifting pins 72, a support arm 74 that supports the lifting pins 72, and a drive unit 75 that drives the lifting pins to raise and lower via the support arm 74. The lifting pins 72 are detachably attached to the height position adjustment mechanism 73, are inserted into pin insertion holes 65 in the mounting table main body 61, and are provided with tips that can protrude and retract relative to the substrate mounting surface. The drive unit 75 raises and lowers the lifting pins 72 via the support arm 74 and the height position adjustment mechanism 73, thereby enabling the substrate W to be raised and lowered. Specifically, with the lifting pins 72 raised by the drive unit 75, the substrate W transported by the transport mechanism is received on the lifting pins 72, and the lifting pins 72 are lowered to lower the substrate W onto the mounting table main body 61. The height position adjustment mechanism 73 will be described in detail later.

[0034] The first temperature control device 41 also has a loading / unloading port for loading and unloading the substrate W, a gate valve for opening and closing the loading / unloading port, an exhaust mechanism for individually exhausting the inside of the processing vessel 51 to control the pressure, and a mechanism for supplying gas to control the pressure (none of which are shown).

[0035] In the first temperature adjustment device 41 configured as described above, the substrate W is loaded into the processing vessel 51 by the corresponding one of the transport mechanisms 31a to 31d of the transport modules TM1 to TM4. The substrate W is then raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 71 to be placed on the mounting table main body 61 and electrostatically attracted by the electrostatic chuck 63. In this state, the processing vessel 51 is evacuated and gas is supplied to control the pressure, and the substrate W is heated by the heater 53 to adjust the temperature of the substrate W to a predetermined temperature. After the processing is completed, the substrate W is unloaded by the corresponding transport mechanism.

[0036] <Second Temperature Control Apparatus 42> Next, an example of the second temperature control apparatus 42 will be described. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the second temperature control apparatus 42. The second temperature control apparatus 42 has a basic configuration similar to that of the first temperature control apparatus 41, but differs in that, instead of the substrate mounting table 52 having a mounting table main body 61 provided with a heater 53 as a processing mechanism in the first temperature control apparatus 41, the second temperature control apparatus 42 is provided with a substrate mounting table 52' having a mounting table main body 61' provided with a coolant flow path for cooling the substrate W as a processing mechanism. Therefore, the same components as those in the first temperature control apparatus 41 in Fig. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted.

[0037] The second temperature control device 42 includes a processing vessel 51 similar to that of the first temperature control device 41, a substrate mounting table 52', and a coolant flow path 54 as a processing mechanism for processing the substrate.

[0038] The substrate mounting table 52 ′ includes a mounting table main body 61 ′ and a lifting mechanism 71 that raises and lowers the substrate W relative to the mounting table main body 61 ′. The lifting mechanism 71 has the same configuration as the lifting mechanism 71 of the first temperature adjustment device 41 .

[0039] The mounting table main body 61' has a base 62' and an electrostatic chuck 63' provided thereon. The electrostatic chuck 63' has a structure in which an attraction electrode 64 is embedded in an insulator. The mounting table main body 61' is also provided with a coolant flow path 54 as a processing mechanism. In this example, the coolant flow path 54 is provided in the base 62'. The coolant flow path 54 may also be provided in the electrostatic chuck 63'. A coolant can be supplied from a coolant source (not shown) to the coolant flow path 54 via a pipe (not shown), thereby performing a cooling process on the substrate W.

[0040] The second temperature control device 42 does not necessarily have to include a gate valve, an exhaust mechanism that individually exhausts the inside of the processing container 51 to control the pressure, and a mechanism that supplies gas for controlling the pressure.

[0041] In the second temperature adjustment device 42 configured as described above, the substrate W is loaded into the processing chamber 51 by the corresponding one of the transport mechanisms 31a to 31d of the transport modules TM1 to TM4. The substrate W is then raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 71 to be placed on the mounting table main body 61' and electrostatically attracted by the electrostatic chuck 63'. In this state, a coolant is circulated through the coolant flow path 54 to cool the substrate W, thereby adjusting the temperature of the substrate W to a predetermined temperature. After the processing is completed, the substrate W is unloaded by the corresponding transport mechanism.

[0042] <Height Adjustment Mechanism 73> Next, the height adjustment mechanism 73 used in the first temperature adjustment device 41 and the second temperature adjustment device 42 will be described in detail.

[0043] Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the height position adjustment mechanism 73, and Fig. 5 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view showing the height position adjustment mechanism 73 with the lift pins retracted. The height position adjustment mechanism 73 pre-adjusts the height positions of the lift pins 72 so that they are at an appropriate height position that allows smooth transfer of the substrate W from the transport mechanism to the mounting table main body. The lift pins 72 are detachably attached to the height position adjustment mechanism 73, and the height positions of the lift pins 72 are adjusted with the lift pins retracted using a pin height position adjustment jig, as described below. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the height position adjustment mechanism 73 has a base member 81, a height adjustment member 82, and a fixing member 83.

[0044] The base member 81 is cylindrical, attached to the support arm 74 with its axial direction vertical, and has a thread formed on its inner periphery.

[0045] The height adjustment member 82 is a height adjustment set screw that adjusts the height position of the lift pins 72, and is cylindrical with a bottom, with a thread formed on its outer periphery and configured as a nut that screws into the inner periphery of the base member 81. When rotated, the height adjustment member 82 moves up and down to adjust the height position of the lift pins 72. A hole 91 extending vertically is formed inside the height adjustment member 82, and the lift pins 72 are inserted into the hole 91 and supported by the height adjustment member 82 during processing operations.

[0046] To adjust the height of the lift pins 72, for example, the lift pins 72 are pulled out of the height adjustment members 82, and a pin height adjustment jig is attached to the height adjustment members 82 from above to adjust the height of the lift pins 72. The height adjustment members 82 are configured to be rotated by the pin height adjustment jig and move up and down, thereby adjusting the height of the pin height adjustment jig and thereby adjusting the height of the lift pins 72. The upper part of the hole 91 is an engagement hole 92 with which the pin height adjustment jig engages, and is configured as a hexagonal hole as shown in FIG. 5 . The hole 91 further has a circular small-diameter portion 93 that communicates with the lower part of the engagement hole 92 and a circular large-diameter portion 94 that communicates with the lower part of the small-diameter portion 93. When the lift pins 72 are inserted, the lateral position of the lift pins 72 is determined by the small-diameter portion 93.

[0047] The fixing member 83 is a fixing set screw for fixing the height adjustment member 82. It is cylindrical, has a thread formed on its outer periphery, and is configured as a nut that screws into the inner periphery of the base member 81 at a position above the height adjustment member 82. When the fixing member 83 is rotated, it presses down on the height adjustment member 82, thereby fixing it using a double-nut effect. A vertically extending hole 95 is formed inside the fixing member 83, and an elevating pin 72 is inserted into the hole 95 during processing. When performing height adjustment using the height adjustment member 82, a fixing jig is attached to the fixing member 83 from above once the position of the height adjustment member 82 has been determined, and the fixing member 83 is rotated by the fixing jig. The upper part of the hole 95 has an engagement hole 96 that engages with the fixing jig, which is configured as a hexagonal hole, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 . This allows the fixing member 83 to be rotated by rotating the fixing jig with its engagement portion engaged in the engagement hole. The hole 95 further has a circular hole 97 that is circular and communicates with the lower part of the engagement hole 96. The circular hole 97 has a diameter that allows the portion of the pin height position adjustment jig that corresponds to the engagement hole 92 to pass through.

[0048] <Adjusting Height Position of Elevator Pin> Next, an example of the operation of adjusting the height position of the elevator pin 72 by the height position adjusting mechanism 73 will be described in detail.

[0049] 6A and 6B show an example of a jig used when adjusting the height position of the lift pins 72, where (a) is a pin height position adjusting jig 101 and (b) is a fixing jig 102.

[0050] The pin height position adjustment jig 101 has an elongated shape simulating the lift pins 72 and is designed, for example, so that its height position when attached to the height position adjustment mechanism 73 is the same as that of the lift pins 72. The pin height position adjustment jig 101 is provided with a protrusion 101a that engages with the engagement hole 92 of the height adjustment member 82. The protrusion 101a may be, for example, hexagonal in shape corresponding to the hexagonal hole of the engagement hole 92. A rotation jig (knob) for rotating the pin height position adjustment jig 101 can be attached to the upper part of the pin height position adjustment jig 101. Note that, in the illustrated example, the pin height position adjustment jig 101 has a portion below the protrusion 101a, but this portion may be omitted.

[0051] The fixing jig 102 has a long cylindrical shape and is formed with an insertion hole therein into which the pin height position adjusting jig 101 is inserted. The lower end of the fixing jig 102 is provided with an engagement portion 102a that engages with the engagement hole 96. The engagement portion 102a has, for example, a hexagonal shape that corresponds to the hexagonal socket of the engagement hole 96. The upper end of the fixing jig 102 is provided with a head portion 102b to which a wrench for rotating the fixing jig 102 can be attached. The size of the engagement hole 96 may be the same as that of the engagement hole 92.

[0052] 7A to 7C are cross-sectional views showing an example of a flow for adjusting the height position of the lift pins 72 using the pin height position adjusting jig 101 and the fixing jig 102 described above.

[0053] First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the lift pin is removed from the height position adjustment mechanism 73.

[0054] 7B, the pin height position adjustment jig 101 is inserted from above into the height position adjustment mechanism 73 from which the lift pins 72 have been removed and attached. At this time, the pin height position adjustment jig 101 is inserted into the height position adjustment mechanism 73 from above, and its protrusion 101a engages with the engagement hole 92 of the hole portion 91. In this state, by rotating the pin height position adjustment jig 101, the height adjustment member 82 is rotated and moved up and down, thereby adjusting the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig 101. As described above, if the pin height position adjustment jig 101 is designed so that its height position is the same as the height position of the lift pins 72, the height positions of the lift pins can be indirectly adjusted by adjusting the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig 101.

[0055] 7(c), the fixing jig 102 is attached to the height adjustment mechanism 73 with the pin height position adjustment jig 101 still attached. The reason for leaving the pin height position adjustment jig 101 attached is to prevent the position of the height adjustment member 82 from shifting after the height position adjustment is complete. At this time, the fixing jig 102 is lowered from above so that the pin height position adjustment jig 101 is inserted into the hole inside it and becomes coaxial, and the engaging portion 102a at the tip of the fixing jig 102 engages with the engaging hole 96. In this state, the fixing jig 102 is rotated to tighten the fixing member 83, and the height adjustment member 82 is fixed by the double nut effect.

[0056] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the state in which the pin height position adjusting jig 101 and the fixing jig 102 are attached. As shown in FIG. 8 , the pin height position adjusting jig 101 and the fixing jig 102 can access the height position adjustment mechanism 73 from above the mounting table main body 61 (61′) via the pin insertion hole 65. The pin height position adjusting jig 101 can adjust the height position of the height adjustment member 82 by rotating the rotating jig (knob) 103 to move the height adjustment member 82 up and down. Furthermore, the fixing jig 102 can be rotated by a wrench 104 attached to the head portion 102b, thereby rotating the fixing member 83 and fixing the height adjustment member 82.

[0057] In this manner, the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig 101 is adjusted to indirectly adjust the height position of the lifting pin 72, and then the pin height position adjustment jig 101 and the fixing jig 102 are removed, and the lifting pin 72 is attached to the height position adjustment mechanism 73 to perform actual processing.

[0058] Conventionally, substrate processing apparatuses have widely used substrate mounting tables having an elevation mechanism that uses elevation pins to elevate a substrate when transferring the substrate. Conventionally, as shown in Fig. 9, a height position adjustment mechanism 173 has generally been used, which includes a base member 181, a height adjustment set screw 182 provided within the base member 181, and a fixing set screw 183 that fixes the height adjustment set screw 182 from the side.

[0059] However, the first temperature control device 41 and the second temperature control device 42 are provided in the transfer module to efficiently perform processes in the processing module, such as heating and cooling processes before and after film formation processes. Furthermore, the substrate mounting table is provided in the processing vessel to enable highly accurate temperature control. Therefore, the space below the mounting table main body 61 (61') is extremely narrow, making it extremely difficult to operate the fixing set screw from the side in that space. While there have been technologies for providing a substrate mounting table capable of temperature control in a transfer module (e.g., Patent No. 5,854,741), there have been no technologies for providing a processing vessel for temperature control in a transfer module, and the problem of being unable to operate the fixing set screw in a narrow space has not been recognized.

[0060] Therefore, in order to solve the newly arising problem described above, the height position adjustment mechanism 73 is structured so that a height adjustment member 82, which is a set screw for height adjustment, and a fixing member 83, which is a set screw for fixing, are threaded vertically onto threads formed on the inner periphery of a cylindrical base member 81. This makes it possible to access and operate the fixing member 83 from above, and even if the space below the mounting table main body 61 (61') is narrow, the fixing member 83 can be easily operated.

[0061] The height of the lifting pins 72 can be easily adjusted, for example, by pulling out the lifting pins 72, attaching a pin height position adjusting jig 101 to the height adjusting member 82 from above, and adjusting the height position by rotating the height adjusting member 82 with the pin height position adjusting jig 101. The height adjusting member 82 can also be easily fixed, for example, by attaching a fixing jig 102 to the fixing member 83 from above and rotating the fixing member 83.

[0062] Furthermore, in the past, because the fixing set screw was operated from the side, it was necessary to remove components such as the mounting table body, which interfered with the operation, when adjusting the height of the lifting pins, which was cumbersome. In contrast, in this embodiment, the fixing jig 102 can access the fixing member 83 of the height position adjustment mechanism 73 from above the mounting table body 61 (61') through the pin insertion hole 65, and the pin height position adjustment jig 101 can also be accessed through the pin insertion hole 65, so there is no need to remove the mounting table body 61 (61').

[0063] Furthermore, because the pin height position adjusting jig 101 and the fixing jig 102 are coaxial, after adjusting the height adjustment member 82 with the pin height position adjusting jig 101, the fixing member 83 can be operated with the fixing jig 102 without removing the pin height position adjusting jig 101. This allows the height adjustment member 82 to be fixed with the fixing member 83 without misalignment, resulting in high precision, and also allows the height position adjustment of the lifting pins 72 and the fixing of the height adjustment member 82 with the fixing member 83 to be carried out efficiently.

[0064] Although the embodiments have been described above, the disclosed embodiments should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The above-described embodiments may be omitted, substituted, or modified in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

[0065] For example, in the above embodiment, a processing system was described in which substrates are transported serially to a plurality of processing modules as processing modules to which a substrate processing apparatus is applied, but this is not limited to this, and the system may also be one in which substrates are transported randomly to a plurality of processing modules.

[0066] Although the substrate processing apparatus has been described using a temperature control device installed in a transfer module as an example, the present invention is not limited to a device installed in a transfer module, nor is it limited to a temperature control device. Any substrate processing apparatus that uses lift pins to raise and lower a substrate and place the substrate on a mounting table main body can be used.

[0067] 1; processing system, 2; processing section, 3; loading / unloading section, 4; control section, 12; transport section, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d; container, 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d; transport mechanism, 41; first temperature control device (substrate processing apparatus), 42; second temperature control device (substrate processing apparatus), 51; processing container, 52, 52'; substrate mounting table, 53; heater (processing mechanism), 54; coolant flow path (processing mechanism), 61, 61'; mounting table main body, 6 5; pin insertion hole, 71; lifting mechanism, 72; lifting pin, 73; height position adjustment mechanism, 74; support arm, 75; drive unit, 81; base member, 82; height adjustment member, 83; fixing member, 91, 95; hole portion, 92, 96; engagement hole, 101; pin height position adjustment jig, 101a; protrusion, 102; fixing jig, 102a; engagement portion, PM1 to PM8; processing module, TM1 to TM4; transport module, W; substrate

Claims

1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing vessel, comprising: a substrate mounting table for mounting a substrate within the processing vessel, the substrate mounting table comprising: a mounting table main body; and a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the substrate relative to the mounting table main body, the lifting mechanism comprising: a plurality of lifting pins which are inserted into a plurality of insertion holes provided in the mounting table main body and which support and raise and lower the substrate at their tips; a height position adjustment mechanism to which the lifting pins are detachably attached and which adjusts height positions of the lifting pins; a support member which supports the lifting pins via the height position adjustment mechanism; and a drive unit which raises and lowers the lifting pins via the support member, the height position adjustment mechanism comprising: a cylindrical base member which is attached to the support member with its axial direction vertical and has a screw formed on its inner periphery; and a height adjustment member which has first holes into which the lifting pins are inserted, which is screwed into the inner periphery of the base member and is rotated to move up and down to adjust the height of the lifting pins. a fixing member having a second hole portion into which the lifting pin is inserted, the fixing member being screwed into the inner peripheral portion of the base member at a position above the height adjustment member, and being rotated to press and fix the height adjustment member.

2. The substrate mounting table of claim 1, wherein the height of the lifting pins is adjusted by attaching a pin height position adjustment jig to the height adjustment member from above while the lifting pins are pulled out, and rotating the height adjustment member using the pin height position adjustment jig to adjust the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig, and the height adjustment member is fixed by attaching a fixing jig to the fixing member from above and rotating the fixing member.

3. The substrate mounting platform of claim 2, wherein the first hole portion of the height adjustment member has an engagement hole with which the pin height position adjustment jig engages, and the second hole portion of the fixing member has an engagement hole with which the fixing jig engages.

4. The substrate mounting table according to claim 2, wherein the pin height position adjusting jig and the fixing jig are accessed from above the mounting table body through the insertion hole to access the height position adjusting mechanism.

5. A substrate mounting table as described in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the fixing jig has an insertion hole into which the pin height position adjustment jig is inserted, and the fixing jig is attached to the fixing member in a state in which the pin height position adjustment jig is inserted into the insertion hole while the pin height position adjustment jig remains attached to the height adjustment member, so that the pin height position adjustment jig is coaxial with the pin height position adjustment jig.

6. A height position adjustment mechanism for adjusting the height position of a substrate mounting table on which a substrate is mounted within a processing vessel of a substrate processing apparatus which processes a substrate within the processing vessel, the height position adjustment mechanism having a plurality of lift pins removably attached for raising and lowering the substrate to mount the substrate on a mounting table main body, the height position adjustment mechanism comprising: a cylindrical base member which is attached to a support member which supports the lift pins with its axial direction vertical and has a thread formed on its inner circumference; a height adjustment member which has a first hole portion into which the lift pins are inserted, which screws into the inner circumference of the base member and moves up and down when rotated to adjust the height of the lift pins; and a fixing member which has a second hole portion into which the lift pins are inserted, which screws into the inner circumference of the base member at a position above the height adjustment member, and which holds down and fixes the height adjustment member when rotated.

7. The height adjustment of the lifting pin is indirectly performed by attaching a pin height position adjustment jig to the height adjustment member from above while the lifting pin is pulled out, and rotating the height adjustment member with the pin height position adjustment jig to adjust the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig, and the height adjustment member is fixed by attaching a fixing jig to the fixed member from above and rotating the fixed member. The height position adjustment mechanism described in claim 6.

8. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising: a processing vessel; a substrate mounting table for mounting a substrate within the processing vessel; and a processing mechanism for processing the substrate, wherein the substrate mounting table comprises: a mounting table main body; and a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the substrate relative to the mounting table main body, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises: lifting pins which are inserted into a plurality of insertion holes provided in the mounting table main body and support and raise and lower the substrate at their tips; a height position adjustment mechanism to which the lifting pins are detachably attached and which adjusts the height positions of the lifting pins; a support member which supports the lifting pins via the height position adjustment mechanism; and a drive unit which raises and lowers the lifting pins via the support member, wherein the height position adjustment mechanism comprises: a cylindrical base member which is attached to the support member with its axial direction vertical and has a thread formed on its inner periphery; a height adjustment member having a first hole portion into which the lift pin is inserted, screwed into the inner periphery of the base member, and rotated to move up and down to adjust the height of the lift pin; and a fixing member having a second hole portion into which the lift pin is inserted, screwed into the inner periphery of the base member at a position above the height adjustment member, and rotated to hold and fix the height adjustment member.

9. A substrate processing apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein the height of the lifting pins is adjusted by attaching a pin height position adjustment jig to the height adjustment member from above while the lifting pins are pulled out, and rotating the height adjustment member using the pin height position adjustment jig to adjust the height position of the pin height position adjustment jig, and the height adjustment member is fixed by attaching a fixing jig to the fixing member from above and rotating the fixing member.

10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processing mechanism is a temperature adjustment mechanism provided in the mounting table body.

11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the temperature adjustment mechanism has a heater for heating the substrate.

12. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the temperature adjustment mechanism has a coolant flow path through which a coolant for cooling the substrate flows.

13. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 12, in a substrate processing system having a plurality of processing modules that perform processing on substrates under vacuum conditions, and a transfer module to which the plurality of processing modules are connected and which transports the substrates to the plurality of processing modules under vacuum conditions.

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