Substrate Processing System Parallel Transfer Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate processing systems face inefficiencies in transferring substrates between multiple tiers, leading to degraded processing ability due to simultaneous access limitations of substrate transferring apparatuses, resulting in reduced throughput.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing system with multiple substrate processing units divided into groups along the up and down direction, utilizing a first substrate transferring apparatus and multiple second substrate transferring apparatuses, along with a substrate displacing apparatus, to independently transfer substrates between the substrate accommodating part and processing units, allowing simultaneous access and increased efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple substrate transferring apparatuses are disposed to correspond to substrate processing units in multiple tiers, then substrate transfer capability is improved, but substrate accommodating part becomes a bottleneck causing backup
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate accommodating part is divided into multiple accommodating portions (first accommodating portion, second accommodating portions) that can be independently accessed. This segmentation allows multiple substrate transferring apparatuses to operate simultaneously on different portions, eliminating the bottleneck effect and enabling parallel substrate transfer operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate accommodating part is configured with accommodating portions arranged in multiple tiers corresponding to the substrate processing units. This vertical dimensional arrangement allows substrate transferring apparatuses to access different tiers independently, transforming a single-point bottleneck into a multi-level parallel access system.
2Device complexity
If one substrate transferring apparatus alternately transfers substrates to and from substrate processing units, then device complexity is reduced, but processing ability is degraded due to transfer time
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate transferring function is segmented into multiple independent substrate transferring apparatuses, each dedicated to specific substrate processing units. This segmentation enables simultaneous substrate transfer operations to multiple units, dramatically improving processing ability while maintaining manageable system complexity through functional specialization.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple substrate transferring apparatuses are combined with the segmented substrate accommodating part to form an integrated system. The first substrate transferring apparatus handles the first accommodating portion while second substrate transferring apparatuses handle the second accommodating portions, creating a coordinated parallel operation system that maximizes throughput.
Data Source
AI summary
There are disposed two second substrate transferring apparatuses 60a and 60b, which are configured to transfer substrates W between substrate processing units 40 and a substrate accommodating part 30, in the up and down direction so as to correspond to the respective groups to which the plurality of substrate processing units 40 are divided. In addition, there is disposed a substrate displacing apparatus 35 that is configured to displace a substrate W, which has been transferred by a first substrate transferring apparatus 50 to the substrate accommodating part 30 and is not yet processed by the wafer processing unit 40, to another position in the up and down direction in the substrate accommodating part 30, as well as displace a substrate W, which has been processed by the wafer processing unit 40a and transferred by the second substrate transferring apparatus 60a to the substrate accommodating part 30, to another position in the up and down direction in the substrate accommodating part 30.