Coating and Developing Apparatus for Abnormal Substrate Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing coating and developing apparatuses for semiconductor and LCD manufacturing face inefficiencies in processing substrates with improperly formed protective films, leading to contamination, equipment damage, and increased operational complexity due to the need for separate protective film removal processes for defective wafers.
Innovation Solution
A coating and developing apparatus with integrated modules for resist coating, protective film formation, inspection, queuing, removal, and development, controlled by a central controller that manages substrate transfer and prioritization, allowing abnormal substrates to be queued and processed separately to prevent contamination and simplify film removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the inspection module detects abnormal substrates and returns them to the carrier, then the normal substrate processing efficiency is maintained, but the abnormal substrates require separate protective film removal processes increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the protective film removal function into the main processing line by adding a protective film removal module that can handle both normal and abnormal substrates in a unified flow. The abnormal substrates are transferred to a queuing module, then to the protective film removal module, and finally to the development module, integrating what was previously a separate process into the main apparatus.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a queuing module as an intermediary between the inspection module and the protective film removal module. This queuing module temporarily holds abnormal substrates and coordinates their transfer to the protective film removal module, enabling smooth integration without disrupting the main processing flow of normal substrates.
2Productivity
If defective wafers with improperly formed protective films are processed through liquid-immersion light exposure, then the exposure process continues without interruption, but contamination occurs and equipment lifespan is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary inspection of the protective film formation before the liquid-immersion light exposure process. The inspection module detects abnormal substrates with improperly formed protective films and transfers them to the protective film removal module before they enter the exposure process, preventing contamination and equipment damage while maintaining exposure continuity for normal substrates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the substrate processing flow into normal and abnormal paths based on inspection results. Normal substrates proceed directly to exposure, while abnormal substrates are diverted to the protective film removal module. This segmentation allows the exposure process to continue without interruption for normal substrates while isolating problematic ones.
3Reliability
If a separate protective film removal module is added to handle abnormal substrates, then contamination is prevented, but the apparatus complexity and operational steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protective film removal module is designed to handle both normal and abnormal substrates universally. It receives substrates from the inspection module (abnormal ones) and can process them through protective film removal and development. This multi-functional design reduces the need for entirely separate processing lines while maintaining contamination prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous processing by implementing a queuing module that buffers abnormal substrates and coordinates their transfer to the protective film removal module. This ensures that the addition of the removal module does not create idle time or disruptions in the overall processing flow, maintaining continuous useful action throughout the system.
Data Source
AI summary
In a coating and developing apparatus applied to liquid-immersion light exposure, substrates without an appropriately formed protective film can be recovered without adversely affecting normal-substrate processing efficiency, and in addition, removal of protective films can be simplified. In the coating and developing apparatus of the present invention, abnormal substrates not appropriately surface-coated with a protective film during liquid-immersion light exposure are queued in a queuing module, instead of being loaded into an exposure unit, and after the immediately preceding substrate has been unloaded from the exposure unit and loaded into a designated module, for example, a pre-developing second heating module, each abnormal substrate is loaded into the designated module in order to prevent so-called “scheduled transfer” from being affected, and a protective-film removing unit is also controlled to process the abnormal substrate.