Patent ID: 8757180
Filing Date: 2014-06-24
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
1. A substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate having a top surface and a back surface, comprising: a processing region in which the substrate is processed; a carrying in and out region through which the substrate is carried into or carried out from said processing region; and an interface region through which the substrate is transferred between said processing region and said carrying in and out region, said processing region including a processing section that processes the substrate, and a first transport device that rotates around a vertical axis and transports the substrate between said interface region and said processing section, said first transport device having first and second supporters that are provided one above the other at a predetermined distance from each other, said first and second supporters being configured to support substrates, respectively, said interface region including first and second substrate platforms arranged in a stacked manner so as to be adjacent to each other and on which the substrate is placed, third and fourth substrate platforms arranged in a stacked manner so as to be adjacent to each other and on which the substrate is placed, and first and second reversing devices that reverse the top surface and the back surface of the substrate, said first and second substrate platforms and said third and fourth substrate platforms being arranged in a stacked manner such that said first and second substrate platforms are positioned above said third and fourth substrate platforms, in that order, said first reversing device being provided immediately above an upper substrate platform of said first and second substrate platforms in a stacked manner so as to be adjacent to said upper substrate platform, said second reversing device being provided immediately below a lower substrate platform of said third and fourth substrate platforms in a stacked manner so as to be adjacent to said lower substrate platform, each of said first and second reversing devices being configured to support two substrates one above the other at said predetermined distance from each other and to simultaneously reverse a top surface and a back surface of each of the two substrates, said interface region, said processing section and said first transport device being arranged so that the rotation angle of said first transport device during the transport of the substrate between said interface region and said processing section is 90 degrees, said substrate processing apparatus further comprising a controller that is configured to control said first transport device, wherein said first transport device is moved up and down while supporting the two substrates with said first and second supporters to transport the two substrates simultaneously between said first and second substrate platforms and said first reversing device, and wherein said first transport device is moved up and down while supporting the two substrates by said first and second supporters to transport the two substrates simultaneously between said third and fourth substrate platforms and said second reversing device; and wherein each of said first and second supporters of said first transport device is configured to be capable of advancing withdrawing in a horizontal direction, and each of said first and second supporters advances/withdraws in a first advancing/withdrawing direction with respect to said first, second, third and fourth substrate platforms during transfer or receipt of the substrate to or from said first and second substrate platforms and said third and fourth platforms and in a second advancing/withdrawing direction that is perpendicular to said first direction during carrying in/out of the substrate to/from said processing section.