US-12623353-B2 - Substrate treating apparatus with posture turning unit

US12623353B2US 12623353 B2US12623353 B2US 12623353B2US-12623353-B2

Abstract

A substrate treating apparatus includes a substrate holder that holds a treatment substrate group, a second transport mechanism configured to pull out and transport a divided substrate group from the treatment substrate group held by the substrate holder, and an underwater posture turning unit to turn the orientation of the divided substrate group from vertical to horizontal. A center robot takes and transports one substrate from the divided substrate group to the one substrate to a single-wafer processing unit. A lifting and lowering unit moves the substrate holder and the second transport mechanism upward/downward relatively. An alignment direction relative moving unit moves the substrate holder and the second transport mechanism horizontally in an alignment direction where the treatment substrate group is aligned. The second transport mechanism includes paired chucks having holding grooves and passing grooves arranged alternately.

Inventors

Tadashi Maegawa

Assignees

SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230822
Priority Date: 20220824

Claims (3)

1 . A substrate treating apparatus provided with a batch processing unit configured to perform treatment on a plurality of substrates collectively, and a single-wafer processing unit configured to perform treatment on the plurality of substrates one by one, the substrate treating apparatus comprising: a vertical substrate holder configured to hold a treatment substrate group treated in the batch processing unit and constituted by the plurality of substrates arranged in a vertical posture at a given pitch, the vertical substrate holder having holding grooves; a vertical substrate transporting robot configured to pull out the plurality of substrates by two times from the treatment substrate group, held by the vertical substrate holder, to generate divided substrate groups, and capable of transporting separately the divided substrate groups pulled out by two times; a posture turning unit configured to turn each posture of the divided substrate groups, transported by the vertical substrate transporting robot, from vertical to horizontal collectively; a horizontal substrate transporting robot configured to take one substrate from each of the divided substrate groups, whose posture is turned to horizontal by the posture turning unit, and to transport the one substrate to the single-wafer processing unit; a relative lifting and lowering unit configured to move the vertical substrate holder and the vertical substrate transporting robot upward and downward relatively; and an alignment direction relative moving unit configured to move the vertical substrate holder and the vertical substrate transporting robot relatively horizontally in an alignment direction where the treatment substrate group is aligned, the vertical substrate transporting robot including: one-paired chucks configured to grip two sides of each outer edge of the substrates in the treatment substrate group individually; plural-paired holding grooves provided in the one-paired chucks in such a manner so as to face each other and configured to hold the substrates one by one in the vertical posture; and plural-paired passing grooves provided in the one-paired chucks in such a manner so as to face each other and configured to pass the substrates one by one in the vertical posture, wherein the holding grooves and the passing grooves are alternately arranged one by one in the alignment direction of the treatment substrate group, the relative lifting and lowering unit performs relative lifting and lowering movement two times to each of the vertical substrate holder and the vertical substrate transporting robot at a given substrate delivery position, the vertical substrate transporting robot takes a first divided substrate group, in which the substrates are aligned alternately, from the vertical substrate holder by a first relative lifting and lowering movement while holding with the holding grooves, and transports the taken first divided substrate group to the posture turning unit, while the vertical substrate transporting robot passes a residual second divided substrate group through the passing grooves by the first relative lifting and lowering movement, thereby keeping the second divided substrate group held with the vertical substrate holder, the alignment direction relative moving unit moves the vertical substrate transporting robot and the vertical substrate holder, from which the first divided substrate group is taken out and which holds the second divided substrate group, relatively horizontally by the given pitch in the alignment direction of the treatment substrate group, and after the horizontal movement, the vertical substrate transporting robot receives the second divided substrate group, held with the vertical substrate holder by the second relative lifting and lowering movement, while holding with the holding grooves, and transports the received second divided substrate group to the posture turning unit, the posture turning unit includes: an in-tank carrier having a front opening configured to pass the divided substrate groups individually, two side walls where the plural-paired substrate holding grooves for accommodating each of the divided substrate groups passing the front opening face one another, and a back wall having a back opening whose area is smaller than an area of the front opening and facing the front opening; a carrier lifter having a carrier supporting portion configured to support the in-tank carrier, and a carrier lifting mechanism configured to move the carrier supporting portion upward and downward; an immersion tank configured to accommodate the in-tank carrier and the carrier supporting portion, and to store an immersion liquid; a carrier rotating mechanism configured to rotate the in-tank carrier around a horizontal axis, the in-tank carrier being immersed in the immersion liquid within the immersion tank, for collectively turning each posture of the divided substrate groups from vertical to horizontal; a pusher configured to hold, from below, each of the divided substrate groups held by the vertical substrate transporting robot; a pusher lifting mechanism configured to move the pusher upward and downward; and a pusher rotating mechanism configured to rotate the pusher around a vertical axis, wherein when the front opening of the in-tank carrier is directed upward, the pusher can pass the back opening and the front opening of the in-tank carrier and move upward and downward between a position adjacent to a bottom face of the immersion tank and a position above the immersion tank, and when the pusher is changed from a state above the in-tank carrier to a state below the in-tank carrier, the in-tank carrier receives the divided substrate groups from the pusher individually.
2 . The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a control unit, wherein the control unit causes the pusher lifting mechanism to move the pusher upward to the above of the in-tank carrier whose front opening is directed upward, whereby the first divided substrate group is received from the vertical substrate transporting robot by the pusher, the control unit causes the pusher rotating mechanism to rotate the pusher, holding the first divided substrate group, by 180 degrees around the vertical axis, the control unit causes the in-tank carrier to move upward relatively, whereby the first divided substrate group rotated by 180 degrees is accommodated in the in-tank carrier, and the control unit causes the carrier rotating mechanism to rotate the in-tank carrier immersed in the immersion liquid within the immersion tank around the horizontal axis, whereby a posture of the first divided substrate group is turned from vertical to horizontal.
3 . The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier rotating mechanism includes: two shafts configured to grip the in-tank carrier and release gripping of the in-tank carrier, and a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the two shafts around the horizontal axis.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-133227 filed Aug. 24, 2022, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a substrate treating apparatus for performing predetermined treatment on a substrate, such as a semiconductor substrate, a substrate for flat panel display (FPD) like liquid crystal display and organic electroluminescence (EL) display, a glass substrate for photomask, and an optical disk substrate. BACKGROUND ART Such currently-used apparatus of this type include one having a batch treatment unit, a single-wafer treatment unit, and a rotating mechanism (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2016-502275A). The batch treatment unit performs treatment on a plurality of substrates collectively. The single-wafer treatment unit performs treatment on substrates one by one. In the batch treatment unit, treatment is performed in such a state that the substrates are in a vertical posture. On the other hand, in the single-wafer module, the treatment is performed in such a state that the substrates are in a horizontal posture. Accordingly, the rotating mechanism turns the substrates in the vertical posture after the treatment by the batch treatment unit to the horizontal posture before the substrates are transported to the single-wafer module (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2016-502275A). Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-064652A discloses a substrate processing system including a rinse liquid bath, a single-substrate-type processing part, a six-axis articulated robot, and a first holder. The first holder can hold a plurality of substrates in a vertical posture arranged at a small pitch. Moreover, the first holder is movable between baths. Moreover, the first holder is movable upward and downward, and can immerse the plurality of substrates in deionized water within the rinse liquid bath. In the rinse liquid bath, a second holder is provided. The second holder has holding grooves and passing grooves arranged at a large pitch. The holding grooves and the passing grooves are arranged alternately. The first holder is moved downward in the rinse liquid bath. When the first holder is moved lower than the second holder, the second holder receives substrates, arranged at a larger pitch, from the first holder. That is, the substrates are held in the deionized water within the rinse liquid bath by either the first holder or the second holder. The articulated robot firstly picks up a substrate in the vertical posture that is held by the second holder in the deionized water within the rinse liquid bath, and then transports the substrate to the single-substrate processing part. After the substrate held by the second holder is transported, the first holder is moved upward to a position slightly lower than the second holder. Next, the articulated robot picks up the substrate in the vertical posture that is held by the first holder in the deionized water within the rinse liquid bath, and then transports the substrate to the single-substrate processing part. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-056341A discloses a substrate processing apparatus provided with a posture changing mechanism (posture changing device and a rotation mechanism). SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem However, the currently-used substrate treating apparatus possess the following drawback. The batch processing unit performs treatment on a plurality of substrates collectively. The substrates are arranged at a pitch of 5 mm, for example. Accordingly, when the substrates are transported to the single-substrate processing part, a hand in a horizontal posture of a horizontal substrate transporting robot cannot enter a gap between two adjacent substrates arranged at the pitch. This may result in impossible taking of one substrate with the hand. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a way to widen the gap. It is noted that, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-064652A, the first holder and the second holder holds a plurality of substrates one above the other by in the deionized water within the rinse liquid bath. This can widen the gap between the two adjacent substrates. On the other hand, the rinse liquid bath is elongated (deepens) in an up-down direction. Moreover, there needs operation of taking the substrates in the vertical posture from the deionized water even with a function that the first holder moves upward and downward, leading to a complex construction. The present invention has been made regarding the state of the art noted above, and its one object is to provide a substrate treating apparatus that allows a horizontal substrate transporting robot to easily take out one substrate from a plurality of substrates subjected to treatment collectively. Solution to Pr