Patent Publication Number: US-2023154771-A1

Title: Connected processing container and substrate processing method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-188159 filed on Nov. 18, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a connected processing container and a substrate processing method. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a “wafer”) as a substrate is stored in a processing container, and film formation processing, etching processing and the like accompanied by heating are performed on the wafers. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-69314 discloses a substrate processing apparatus comprising a vacuum transfer chamber provided with a robot for transferring wafers, and a plurality of chambers which are connected to the vacuum transfer chamber and process wafers by heating and supplying processing gases. The plurality of chambers are connected so that two of them share sidewalls with each other, and the robot is configured to collectively transfer wafers to two such chambers with shared sidewalls. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a technique capable of stably supporting connected processing containers and capable of suppressing displacement of a substrate transfer position due to thermal expansion. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a connected processing container comprising: a first processing container and a second processing container arranged side by side in a horizontal direction with a gap therebetween and respectively accommodating a substrate for vacuum processing; a first block portion fixed to the first processing container; a second block portion fixed to the second processing container and arranged side by side in the horizontal direction with respect to the first block portion; and a rail portion to which the first block portion and the second block portion are slidably connected, the rail portion being provided so as to straddle the first processing container and the second processing container. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a plan view showing an example of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a longitudinal side view showing an example of a first processing container and a second processing container forming a connected processing container provided in the substrate processing system. 
         FIG.  3    is a rear-side perspective view showing an example of the connected processing container. 
         FIG.  4    is a bottom view showing the first processing container and the second processing container. 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic side view showing the bottom of the first processing container. 
         FIG.  6    is a side view showing a part of the first processing container and the second processing container. 
         FIG.  7    is a longitudinal side view showing a first block portion and a rail portion. 
         FIG.  8    is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining change in a gap between the first processing container and the second processing container. 
         FIG.  9    is a plan view for explaining change in the gap between the first processing container and the second processing container. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A substrate processing system  1  including a connected processing container  5  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the plan view of  FIG.  1   . First, the overview of the substrate processing system  1  will be described. The substrate processing system  1  includes a loading/unloading port  11 , a loading/unloading module  12 , vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14 , a connection module  15 , and a film forming module  3 , and the connected processing container  5  is provided in the film forming module  3 . 
     The connected processing container  5  includes a first processing container  31 A and a second processing container  31 B for respectively storing wafers W as substrates. These processing containers  31 A and  31 B are arranged side by side so as to form a gap  30  and are connected to each other. In the substrate processing system  1 , a transfer mechanism transfers the wafers W collectively into the processing containers  31 A and  31 B constituting the connected processing container  5 , and film formation processing is collectively performed on two wafers W in the processing containers  31 A and  31 B under the same processing conditions. 
     Each part of the substrate processing system  1  will be described below with reference to  FIG.  1   . In  FIG.  1   , description will be made on the assumption that an X direction is the front-rear direction and a Y direction orthogonal to the X direction is the horizontal direction. Four loading/unloading ports  11  are respectively connected to the loading/unloading module  12 , and a transfer container  10  storing the wafer W is placed on each loading/unloading port  11 . The loading/unloading ports  11 , the loading/unloading module  12 , the vacuum transfer module  13 , the connection module  15 , and the vacuum transfer module  14  are provided in this order along the X direction. Two film forming modules  3  are connected having the vacuum transfer module  13  on the front side disposed therebetween in the Y direction. Further, two film forming modules  3  are connected having the vacuum transfer module  14  on the rear side disposed therebetween in the Y direction. 
     The loading/unloading module  12  includes a normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A and a load lock chamber  12 B. The normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A has an atmospheric atmosphere and includes a transfer mechanism  21 , which is a multi joint arm that can move up and down, to transfer the wafers W between the transfer container  10  and the load lock chamber  12 B. The load lock chamber  12 B is configured such that an atmosphere in which the wafer W is placed can be switched between an air atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere and includes two mounting portions  22  arranged in the Y direction. The transfer mechanism  21  of the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A is configured to transfer the wafers W between the two mounting portions  22  and the transfer container  10  and to transfer the wafers W one by one to the two mounting portions  22 . 
     The vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14  are formed identically to each other. These vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14  include a vacuum transfer chamber  23  in which a vacuum atmosphere is formed, and a transfer mechanism  24  is provided in the vacuum transfer chamber  23 . The transfer mechanism  24  is composed of a multi joint arm that can be raised and lowered, and an end effector  25  that forms the tip of the multi joint arm includes two holders  26  that are separated from each other. Since each holder  26  holds the wafers W one by one, the transfer mechanism  24  can collectively transfer two wafers W at a predetermined interval. For example, two end effectors  25  are provided vertically apart. One end effector  25  can receive the wafer W from the module and the other end effector  25  can transfer the wafer W to the module. 
     The connection module  15  is a module on which the wafer W is placed in order to transfer the wafer W between the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14 , and the inside thereof is a vacuum atmosphere. The connection module  15  is provided with two mounting portions  22  arranged in the Y direction, similarly to the load lock chamber  12 B. In addition, the interval between the two mounting portions  22  in each of the load lock chamber  12 B and the connection module  15  corresponds to the interval between the holders  26  of the transfer mechanism  24  so that the transfer mechanism  24  can collectively transfer the wafers W. The mounting portion  22  includes, for example, substrate supporting portions such as pins that support a plurality of positions apart from the center of the wafer W and separated in the circumferential direction of the wafer W so that the wafer W is transferred by the lifting operation of the transfer mechanisms  21  and  24 . 
     A gate valve G is interposed between the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A and the load lock chamber  12 B, between the load lock chamber  12 B and the vacuum transfer module  13 , and between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B constituting the film forming module  3  and the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14 , respectively. The gate valve G opens and closes a transfer port for the wafers W provided in each module, and thus the atmosphere in each module is maintained at the above-mentioned atmosphere. 
     A controller  100  is provided in this substrate processing system  1 . The controller  100  is configured by a computer and has a program. In this program, a group of steps (instructions) is organized such that the operation of each component of the substrate processing system  1  is controlled and transfer of the wafer W and film formation processing, which will be described layer, are performed by outputting a control signal to each component of the substrate processing system  1 . The program is stored in a storage of the computer, for example, a flexible disk, a compact disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk (MO), a non-volatile memory, or the like, read from this storage, and installed in the controller  100 . 
     In the substrate processing system  1  described above, the wafer W is transferred from the transfer container  10  to the film forming module  3  connected to the vacuum transfer module  13  or the vacuum transfer module  14  and processed, and then returned to the transfer container  10 . Therefore, one transfer path is a path through which the wafer W is transferred in the order of the transfer container  10 →the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A→the load lock chamber  12 B→the vacuum transfer module  13 →the film forming module  3 →the vacuum transfer module  13 →the load lock chamber  12 B→the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A→the transfer container  10 . In another transfer path, the wafer W is transferred in the order of the transfer container  10 →the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A→the load lock chamber  12 B→the vacuum transfer module  13 →the connection module  15 →the vacuum transfer module  14 →the film forming module  3 . Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred from the film forming module  3  in the order of the vacuum transfer module  14 →the connection module  15 →the vacuum transfer module  13 →the load lock chamber  12 B→the normal pressure transfer chamber  12 A→the transfer container  10 . 
     Two wafers W are collectively transferred in a section where transfer by the transfer mechanism  24  is performed on each of the transfer paths described above. Accordingly, two wafers W are collectively transferred between the film forming module  3  including the processing containers  31 A and  31 B and the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14 . In addition, two wafers W are collectively transferred as well between the load lock chamber  12 B and the vacuum transfer module  13 , between the vacuum transfer module  13  and the connection module  15 , and between the connection module  15  and the vacuum transfer module  14 . 
     Next, the film forming module  3  including the connected processing container  5  of the present disclosure will be described. The film forming module  3  includes the connected processing container  5  including the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, a gas supply source  39 , an exhaust mechanism  40 , and a gas supply device  42 , and is configured to perform processing of forming a titanium nitride film (TiN film) on the wafer W, for example. In the connected processing container  5 , the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction so that the gap  30  is formed therebetween. The processing containers will be described below. However, since the first and second processing containers  31 A and  31 B are configured in the same manner, the first processing container  31 A will be described as a representative using the schematic diagram of  FIG.  2   . The processing container  31 A includes a stage  32 , sidewall heaters  33 , lifting pins  34 , a lifting mechanism  35 , and a shower head  41 . In the figures showing the connected processing container  5  such as  FIG.  2   , description will be made on the assumption that an X′ direction is the horizontal direction, a Y′ direction is the front-rear direction, and a Z′ direction is the vertical direction using the sub-coordinate shown in  FIG.  1   . 
     The sidewall heater  33  constitutes a heating portion for heating the first processing container  31 A and is embedded in the sidewall of the processing container  31 A. In addition, the stage  32  is circular in a plan view, and the position thereof in the horizontal direction is fixed within the processing container  31 A. A stage heater  36  for heating and processing the wafer W is embedded in the stage  32 . Three lifting pins  34  (only two are shown in the figure) are provided so as to protrude from the upper surface of the stage  32  by the lifting mechanism  35 . Due to the lifting operation of the lifting pins  34 , the wafer W is transferred between the stage  32  and the aforementioned transfer mechanism  24  which has moved to a predetermined transfer position within the processing container  31 A. P in the figure indicates the center of the stage  32 , and the wafer W is placed on the stage  32  so that the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center P. 
     The shower head  41  is provided on the ceiling of the processing container  31 A, and a film forming gas is supplied to the shower head  41  from the gas supply source  39  common to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B via the gas supply device  42  including a valve and the like, for example. Further, one end of an exhaust pipe  38  is connected to the processing container  31 A, and the other end of the exhaust pipe  38  is connected to the exhaust mechanism  40  common to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. The exhaust mechanism  40  includes, for example, a vacuum pump or the like. 
     Next, the overall configuration of the connected processing container  5  will be described. As described above, the connected processing container  5  includes the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B. In addition to these processing containers  31 A and  31 B, the connected processing container  5  includes a supporting portion  50  for supporting the processing containers  31 A and  31 B and a connection portion  6  for connecting the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. In describing the connected processing container  5 ,  FIGS.  2  to  4    will be referred to, and the direction in which the gate valve G is provided will be referred to as the front side.  FIG.  3    is a rear perspective view of the connected processing container  5  with the gate valve G facing the vacuum transfer module  13 , and  FIG.  4    is a bottom view of the connected processing container  5 . In addition, in correspondence with the description of  FIG.  3   , the left side and the right side in the following description are the left side and the right side when viewed from the rear to the front, and the processing container  31 A is positioned on the left side and the processing container  31 B is positioned on the right side, respectively. P 1  in  FIG.  4    and the like indicates a distance between the centers P of the stages  32  (pitch between the stages  32 ) of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     The first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B are formed in a rectangular shape, and are separated from each other without sharing sidewalls. These processing containers  31 A and  31 B are disposed at the same height, and the right sidewall of the processing container  31 A and the left sidewall of the processing container  31 B face each other with the gap  30  interposed therebetween. Each front surface of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is fixed to the vacuum transfer module  13  or  14  via the gate valve G. The dimension (width in the horizontal direction (X′ direction)) of the gap  30  is, for example, 2 mm to 6 mm, more specifically 4 mm when the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are at room temperature (20° C. to 25° C.), and in  FIGS.  2  to  4   , the gap  30  is exaggeratedly drawn large. 
     The supporting portion  50  is provided on a floor on which the substrate processing system  1  is installed, supports the processing containers  31 A and  31 B above the floor, and includes a frame  51 . The frame  51  includes a bottom portion  52 , a horizontal upper plate  53 , and four vertical strut portions  54  ( 541  to  544 ) connecting the bottom portion  52  and the upper plate  53 . The bottom portion  52  is provided directly above the floor, and the upper plate  53  is provided above the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. Two strut portions  541  and  542  of the four strut portions  54  are provided on the left side of the processing container  31 A and separated from each other in the front-rear direction, and the other two strut portions  543  and  544  are provided on the right side of the processing container  31 B and separated from each other in the front-rear direction. Accordingly, if the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are regarded as a set of processing containers, the strut portions  54  ( 541  to  544 ) are provided so as to surround this set. Each strut portion  54  is disposed to be spaced apart from each sidewall of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     A base portion  55 A for supporting the first processing container  31 A is provided between the strut portions  541  and  542 , and a base portion  55 B for supporting the second processing container  31 B is provided between the strut portions  543  and  544 . These base portions  55 A and  55 B are composed of bar-shaped horizontal members extending along the front-rear direction (Y′ direction) under the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. The base portions  55 A and  55 B in this example are formed by bending the short sides of elongated plate members into a substantially L-shape and include horizontal members and vertical members extending downward. For example, the front end side and the rear end side of the vertical members are attached to the strut portions  54  (( 541 ,  542 ) and ( 543 ,  544 )), respectively. 
     Ball casters  7 A and  7 B are interposed between the base portions  55 A and  55 B and the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, respectively. The ball casters  7 A and  7 B, as shown in  FIG.  5    with the ball caster  7 A as an example, consist of a main body  71  provided with a ball receiving portion and a ball portion  72  partially exposed upward from the main body  71  and rotatably held by the main body  71 . The main body  71  is attached to the base portions  55 A and  55 B with a screw  73  and a nut  74 . 
     The ball casters  7 A and  7 B support the processing containers  31 A and  31 B with their respective ball portions  72  in contact with the bottoms of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. For example, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are provided with the ball casters  7 A and  7 B on the front side and the rear side, respectively, and one processing container  31 A ( 31 B) is supported by two ball casters  7 A ( 7 B). In this manner, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are supported by the frame  51  via the base portions  55 A and  55 B and the ball casters  7 A and  7 B at horizontal end positions on the opposite sides of the gap  30  as viewed from the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     Thus, only the left end of the first processing container  31 A and only the right end of the second processing container  31 B are supported. For this reason, the bottom portions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, except for the portions in contact with the ball casters  7 A and  7 B, are floated in the air, and a large space is formed between the bottom portions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B and the bottom portion  52  of the frame  51 . In this space, for example, a facility (gas box) including the gas supply device  42  for distributing the film forming gas supplied from the gas supply source  39  to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, and electrical component for operating each film forming module  3  are stored. Furthermore, the bottom portions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are floated so as not to apply a load to the gas box and the electrical component. 
     Next, the connection portion  6  that connects the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B via the gap  30  will be described with reference to  FIGS.  6  and  7    as well.  FIG.  6    is a side view showing the connection portion  6  and  FIG.  7    is a vertical sectional view taken along line VII-VII in  FIG.  6   . 
     The connection portion  6  includes a first block portion  6 A fixed to the first processing container  31 A, a second block portion  6 B fixed to the second processing container  31 B, and a rail portion  63  to which the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B are slidably connected. 
     The first block portion  6 A is provided at the bottom portion near the right sidewall of the first processing container  31 A, and the second block portion  6 B is provided at the bottom portion near the left sidewall of the second processing container  31 B. The first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction (X′ direction) with the gap  30  interposed therebetween. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2 ,  4 , and  6   , the rail portion  63  is provided so as to straddle the processing container  31 A and the processing container  31 B and extend horizontally below the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. A set of the first block portion  6 A, the second block portion  6 B, and the rail portion  63  constitutes the connection portion  6 , and as shown in  FIG.  4   , the set is provided at two positions on the front side and the rear side of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     The first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B have, for example, a planar upper surface, and as shown in  FIG.  7    by taking the first block portion  6 A as an example, a concave portion  61  having a substantially rectangular vertical cross section is formed at the bottom portion thereof. On the other hand, the rail portion  63  is provided with a convex portion  631  having a shape corresponding to the concave portion  61  and the convex portion  631  is fitted into the concave portion  61 . 
     Rolling members  62  composed of, for example, a roller or a ball is provided at a contact portion between the convex portion  631  of the rail portion  63  and the concave portions  61  of the block portions  6 A and  6 B. In this example, the convex portion  631  of the rail portion  63  has a substantially rectangular vertical cross section, and the rolling members  62  are respectively provided at four corners of the convex portion  631  where the rail portion  63  and the block portions  6 A and  6 B are in contact with each other. 
     The rolling member  62  of this example is formed, for example, so that a large number of rollers each having a rotating shaft tilted with respect to a vertical axis are arranged in a circular pattern in the length direction (X′ direction) of the block portions  6 A and  6 B and the rollers rotate when the block portions  6 A and  6 B slide on the rail portion  63 . As the rolling members  62  rotate between the block portions  6 A and  6 B and the rail portion  63  in this manner, the friction coefficient between the block portions  6 A and  6 B and the rail portion  63  is reduced, and sliding movement is smoothly performed. 
     The connection portion  6 , which is a set of the first block portion  6 A, the second block portion  6 B, and the rail portion  63 , is commercially available as a component called “linear guide” and the like. 
     The first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B are fixed to the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B via cooling plates  8 A and  8 B constituting cooling portions, respectively. As shown in  FIGS.  2 ,  4 , and  6   , the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B are made of, for example, stainless steel plate-like bodies in which cooling medium flow paths  81 A and  81 B are formed. In this example, regions  82 A and  82 B interposed between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B and the block portions  6 A and  6 B are formed in the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B. These regions  82 A and  82 B are larger than the upper surfaces of the block portions  6 A and  6 B in a plan view, and are formed in a shape capable of covering the upper surfaces. Further, as shown in  FIG.  4   , the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B are provided with regions  83 A and  83 B extending along the front-rear direction (Y′ direction). These regions  83 A and  83 B serve to connect the regions  82 A and  82 B corresponding to the front block portions  6 A and  6 B and the regions  82 A and  82 B corresponding to the rear block portions  6 A and  6 B. 
     As shown in  FIG.  7    using the first processing container  31 A as an example, the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B are provided so as to be interposed between the block portions  6 A and  6 B and the bottom portions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B and are fixed by screws  84 . On the other hand, the rail portion  63  is not fixed to the processing containers  31 A,  31 B, and is supported in a suspended state from the block portions  6 A and  6 B when viewed from the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. For this reason, the lower ends of the block portions  6 A and  6 B are configured to extend inward and wrap around to the lower surface side of the convex portion of the rail portion  63  to prevent the rail portion  63  from falling. 
     A rib  64  is provided along the bottom surface of the rail portion  63 , which is a surface opposite to the surface on which the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B slide. The rib  64  is made of, for example, stainless steel, and is fixed to the rail portion  63  by a screw which is not shown, for example. Further, as shown in  FIG.  6   , the rib  64  is formed so that a central portion  641  in the length direction (X′ direction) is thicker than both end portions  642 . The central portion  641  is a region including a portion facing the region where the gap  30  is formed. 
     Further, the connection portion  6  is provided with a stop member  65  for preventing the rail portion  63  from slipping out of the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B. The stop member  65  in this example is attached to the central portion  641  of the front surface and the rear surface of the rib  64 , for example. 
     Furthermore, the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B are provided with height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B for adjusting the height position from the base portions  55 A and  55 B. As shown in  FIGS.  3  and  5   , two height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B are provided for each of the first and second processing containers  31 A and  31 B, for example. For example, the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B are arranged inside the two ball casters  7 A and  7 B in the Y′ direction, respectively.  FIG.  5    shows the positional relationship between the ball caster  7 A and the height adjusting member  75 A on the side of the first processing container  31 A. 
     The height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B extend vertically, and are rod-shaped members formed with a feed screw capable of adjusting the height position by nuts for positioning. The lower ends (base portion sides) of the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B penetrate through holes  56  provided in the base portions  55 A and  55 B, while the upper ends thereof are inserted into the bottom portions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. The through holes  56  have an opening diameter greater than that of the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B, and nuts  761 ,  762 , and  763  for positioning are provided in order from the upper side to the lower side. 
     The adjustment of the height positions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is performed while the processing container  31  is supported on the nut  761 . By adjusting the positions of the lower surfaces of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B with the nuts  762  and  763  of the height adjusting member  75 , the height positions of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are adjusted. 
     After the adjustment of the height positions is completed, the height positions of the ball casters  7 A and  7 B are adjusted, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are supported by these ball casters  7 A and  7 B, and then the nuts  762  and  763  are loosened. The height adjusting member  75  is suspended from the lower surfaces of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B while the wafer W is being processed, with the upper ends thereof inserted into the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     In the film forming module  3  provided with the connected processing container  5  described above, the wafers W can be collectively transferred to the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B by the transfer mechanism  24  on the side of the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14 . Thereafter, vacuum processing is performed on the wafers W stored in these processing containers  31 A and  31 B. In the film forming module  3 , while the substrate processing system  1  is in operation, the inside of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is adjusted to a vacuum atmosphere with a preset pressure by the exhaust mechanism  40  and in order to process the placed wafers W at an arbitrary processing temperature, the stage  32  is heated to the processing temperature by the stage heater  36 . 
     In addition, the sidewall of the processing container  31 A is heated by the sidewall heater  33  to a temperature corresponding to the processing temperature so that the reactivity of film forming gas supplied into the processing container  31 A is ensured. For example, the temperature of the sidewall in forming the TiN film is 170° C. as an example. In a state where such a vacuum atmosphere is formed and heating is performed by each heater, the film forming gas is supplied from the shower head  41  to the wafer W placed on the stage  32  to perform a film forming process of the TiN film, which is vacuum processing. 
     Then, as will be described later, when thermal expansion and/or thermal contraction occur in each of the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B, at least one of the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B is slid horizontally with respect to the rail portion  63 . 
     Next, the operation of the connected processing container  5  will be described. First, the reason for providing the gap  30  between the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B will be described. When the wafer W is processed as described above, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are heated by the sidewall heater  33  to a temperature corresponding to the processing temperature of the wafer W. For example, the sidewalls are heated to a temperature within the range of 50° C. to 170° C. depending on the processing temperature of the wafer W. The sidewalls then thermally expand according to their temperature. 
     A configuration in which the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are coupled without the gap  30  between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, in other words, a configuration in which the sidewalls are shared between the processing containers as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-69314 is assumed. Assuming that the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are coupled in this manner, the pitch P 1 , which is the interval between the centers of the stages  32 , fluctuates depending on the amount of thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. The higher the temperature of the walls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, the larger the pitch P 1 . That is, since the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are coupled to each other, the sidewalls press against each other due to thermal expansion, and the horizontal center of the processing container  31 A is displaced to the left and the horizontal center of the processing container  31 B is displaced to the right, thereby increasing the pitch P 1 . 
     On the other hand, the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14  are kept at room temperature, the distance between the two holders  26  of the transfer mechanism  24  is constant, and the two wafers W are always transferred by the transfer mechanism  24  to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B with a constant interval therebetween. Accordingly, when the pitch P 1  between the centers P of the two stages  32  increases due to change in the temperature of the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, the wafer W is transferred to a position where the center of the wafer W is off the center P of the stage  32 . Further, the front side of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is fixed to the vacuum transfer module  13  via the gate valve G. For this reason, when the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are coupled to each other, a large amount of thermal expansion causes a large amount of stress to be applied to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. As a result, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B may be distorted. The above-mentioned Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-69314 does not describe the problem of thermal expansion of the processing container, and cannot solve the problem. 
     Therefore, in the connected processing container  5 , as described above, the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are separated from each other and the gap  30  is provided. Accordingly, even if the amount of thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B fluctuates, the horizontal positions of the sidewalls facing each other of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B can be changed. That is, even if the amount of thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is large, the sidewalls do not interfere with each other because their positions are displaced on the gap  30  side. Therefore, fluctuation in the pitch P 1  due to thermal expansion is suppressed. 
     The connection portion  6  is provided to connect the processing containers  31 A and  31 B via the gap  30 , and while absorbing expansion and contraction due to thermal expansion and/or thermal contraction of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, as will be described later, tinting at the gap  30  between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is suppressed. 
     Next, referring to the vertical side view of  FIG.  8    and the plan view of  FIG.  9   , the operation of the connection portion  6  will be specifically described together with the state when the amount of thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is changed by changing the output of the sidewall heater  33 . 
     In  FIGS.  8  and  9   , (a) shows a state where the temperature of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is low, and (b) shows a state where the temperature of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is high. For convenience of explanation,  FIGS.  8  and  9    show the position where the first processing container  31 A is supported by the ball caster  7 A, and the position where the second processing container  31 B is provided with the height adjusting member  75 B. The following describes how the temperature of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B increases and the amount of thermal expansion increases, that is, how the state shown in (a) of each figure changes to the state shown in (b). 
     As described above, since the front side of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is fixed to the vacuum transfer modules  13  and  14  via the gate valve G, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B thermally expand with the front side connected to the gate valve G as a base point. That is, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B thermally expand horizontally and rearward without changing the position of the front end connected to the gate valve G, and the positions of the left and right ends and the rear end of the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B change outward. 
     The first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B are connected by the connection portion  6  having the first block portion  6 A, the second block  6 B, and the rail portion  63 . Accordingly, due to thermal expansion, on the sidewall (right sidewall) on the gap  30  side of the first processing container  31 A, the first block portion  6 A slides horizontally (rightward) on the rail portion  63 , thereby moving toward the second processing container  31 B. On the other hand, on the sidewall (left sidewall) on the gap  30  side of the second processing container  31 B, the second block portion  6 B slides horizontally (leftward) on the rail portion  63 , thereby moving toward the first processing container  31 A. 
     (b) of  FIG.  8    and (b) of  FIG.  9    show a state in which the right sidewall of the processing container  31 A and the left sidewall of the second processing container  31 B are closer to each other than in (a) of  FIG.  8    and (a) of  FIG.  9   , and the dimension of the gap  30  is reduced. Accordingly, the first block portion  6 A is moved to the right and the second block portion  6 B is moved to the left. 
     At this time, the first and second block portions  6 A and  6 B move so as to be guided by the rail portion  63 . Further, as described above, the block portions  6 A and  6 B slide with the rolling member  62  reducing the friction coefficient with respect to the rail portion  63 . For this reason, the positions of the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are smoothly moved according to thermal expansion. As a result, thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is absorbed by the movement of the positions of the sidewalls in the gap  30 , and the fluctuation of the pitch P 1  between the centers P of the two stages  32  is suppressed more reliably. 
     On the other hand, the bottom portion of the first processing container  31 A and the second processing container  31 B opposite to the gap  30 , that is, the left end of the first processing container  31 A and the right end of the second processing container  31 B are supported by the ball casters  7 A and  7 B, respectively. Therefore, even if the sidewalls move due to thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, the ball portion  72  rotates at the bottom portion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, and the movement of the sidewalls is not restricted. That is, as shown in the left side of (a) and (b) of  FIG.  8   , the position of the lower surface of the processing container  31 A ( 31 B) supported by the ball caster  7 A ( 7 B) moves. 
     Thus, as shown in (a) and (b) of  FIG.  9   , the left end of the processing container  31 A moves to the left and the right end of the processing container  31 B moves to the right. Accordingly, due to thermal expansion, although the position of the end portion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B on the strut portions  54  side also change, corresponding to this, the positions at which the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are supported by the ball casters  7 A and  7 B rapidly change, thereby absorbing the positional change of the end portion of the processing containers, which also suppresses the fluctuation of the pitch P 1 . 
     Further, in the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B, the through holes  56  formed in the base portions  55 A and  55 B have an opening diameter greater than the diameter of the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B. Accordingly, as shown in the right side of (a) and (b) of  FIG.  8   , the height adjusting member  75 B moves rightward within the through hole  56  as the processing containers  31 A and  31 B thermally expand. In addition, the height adjusting member  75 A which is not shown moves leftward within the through hole  56 . 
     As described above, the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B slide with respect to the rail portion  63  and each component of the ball casters  7 A and  7 B and the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B is moved. Accordingly, positional displacement of the sidewalls of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B due to thermal expansion is absorbed, and fluctuation of the pitch P 1  of the stages  32  is suppressed. 
     Assuming that the left end of the processing container  31 A and the right end of the processing container  31 B are fixed to the frame  51 , the processing container  31 A expands to the right from the left end, and the processing container  31 B expands to the left from the right end. In this case, the pitch P 1  becomes small. However, the left end of the processing container  31 A and the right end of the processing container  31 B are not fixed to the frame  51  as described above in this configuration, thereby preventing such a reduction in the pitch PT. 
     In addition, although the center P of the stage  32  moves back and forth due to thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, the position of a transfer destination of the transfer mechanism  24  can be adjusted back and forth. Therefore, by appropriately setting the position of the transfer destination, the front and rear positions of the center of the wafer W transferred to the stage  32  and the center P of the stage  32  can be aligned. In this way, the transfer mechanism  24  is set so that the amount of entry from the gate valve G into each of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is larger than in the case of non-heating, and then the wafers W are transferred in the substrate processing system  1 . 
     At this time, for example, in order to align the front and rear positions of the transfer mechanism  24 , teaching of the transfer mechanism  24  may be performed before processing the wafer W with a desired processing recipe and a transfer position at the time of performing processing with the processing recipe may be determined. In addition, data regarding a correspondence relationship between the transfer position by the transfer mechanism  24  and the output of the sidewall heater  33  may be stored in a memory constituting the controller  100 , and the transfer position may be determined based on that data each time the processing recipe is changed and the output of the sidewall heater  33  is also changed. 
     Here, a case where the amount of thermal expansion of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B becomes small (the processing containers  31 A and  31 B thermally contract) will be also briefly described. During thermal contraction, since each component such as the first block portion  6 A, the second block portion  6 B, the ball casters  7 A and  7 B, and the height adjusting members  75 A and  75 B moves in the direction opposite to when the amount of thermal expansion increases, the pitch P 1  of the stages  32  does not change as well in this case. Meanwhile, the center P of each stage  32  moves forward compared to before the change in the amount of thermal expansion. Therefore, for the transfer mechanism  24 , the position of a transfer destination is set so that the amount of entry from the gate valve G into each of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B becomes small, and then the wafers W are transferred in the substrate processing system  1 . 
     In this way, by providing the gap  30  and the connection portion  6 , fluctuation in the pitch P 1  due to thermal expansion and thermal contraction can be suppressed. In addition, by supporting the processing containers  31 A and  31 B using the connection portion  6 , the gap  30  is prevented from bending and tilting downward. 
     Only the left end of the processing container  31 A and only the right end of the processing container  31 B are cantilevered on the supporting portion  50 . For this reason, in a configuration in which the connection portion  6  is not provided, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B may be tilted by the gap  30  such that the right side of the processing container  31 A and the left side of the processing container  31 B are lowered. When the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are tilted, the transfer position of the wafer W may be displaced between the transfer mechanism  24  and the stage  32 , and suppressing the tilt of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B also leads to suppressing displacement of the transfer position of the wafer W. 
     In this case, in the configuration of the present disclosure, the lower surface of the cantilevered processing containers  31 A and  31 B on the other end side is supported by the rail portion  63  via the first and second block portions  6 A and  6 B. Accordingly, the tilt of the gap  30  between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B is suppressed, and the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are stably supported. 
     Furthermore, in this example, the rib  64  is provided along the lower surface of the rail portion  63 . Therefore, the rigidity of the rail portion  63  is improved, and the tilt of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B can be further suppressed. Furthermore, since the central portion  641  of the rail portion  63  in the rib  64  is formed thicker than the both end portions  642 , the rigidity of the central portion  641  can be made higher than that of the both end portions  642  while reducing the weight of the rib  64 . Therefore, the rigidity of the central portion of the rail portion  63  to which a large stress is applied is further enhanced, and thus tilt of the gap  30  between the processing containers  31 A and  31 B can be suppressed and the processing containers  31 A and  31 B can be supported more stably. 
     Furthermore, in this example, the first block portion  6 A and the second block portion  6 B are connected to the processing containers  31 A and  31 B through the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B, respectively. Therefore, even when the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are heated by the sidewall heater  33 , the temperature of these block portions  6 A and  6 B can be maintained at a temperature equal to or lower than the heat resistant temperature (for example, 80° C.). Furthermore, the cooling plates  8 A and  8 B also serve to improve the strength of the installation surfaces of the block portions  6 A and  6 B in the processing containers  31 A and  31 B. 
     As described above, according to the connected processing container  5 , the change in the pitch P 1  of the stages  32  is suppressed, and this pitch P 1  and the distance between the centers of the wafers W held by the two holders  26  of the transfer mechanism  24  can be maintained in the same state. Therefore, the film formation processing can be performed with the center of each wafer W transferred by the transfer mechanism  24  aligned with the center of the stage  32 . As a result, occurrence of problems related to the film quality and film thickness of the TiN film due to positional deviation between the wafer W and the stage  32  is prevented. 
     The two processing containers  31 A and  31 B of the connected processing container  5  have a simple structure and are connected by a relatively easily available linear guide (the first block portion  6 A, the second block portion  6 B, and the rail portion  63 ). Since the first and second block portions  6 A and  6 B are fixed to the lower surface of the first and second processing containers  31 A and  31 B and then the rail portion  63  is attached, the connection portion  6  can be attached without requiring the processing containers  31 A and  31 B having a special configuration. Therefore, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B having the connection portion  6  can be easily manufactured. 
     Furthermore, in the connected processing container  5 , the right side of the processing container  31 A and the left side of the processing container  31 B are not supported, and only the left side of the processing container  31 A and the right side of the processing container  31 B are supported by the base portions  55 A and  55 B from below, respectively. Accordingly, as described above, a large space can be formed below the processing container  31 A and the processing container  31 B, and each component constituting the film forming module  3  can be arranged in the space. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the film forming module  3  and the substrate processing system  1  from becoming large. 
     Although two wafers W are processed at once in the substrate processing system  1 , the wafer W is placed so that the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center P of each stage  32 , and processing is performed in the processing containers  31 A and  31 B separated from each other. Therefore, processing can be performed by applying a processing recipe (processing conditions such as the pressure in the processing container  31 , gas flow rate, the temperature of each heater, and the like) used in the single-wafer type film forming apparatus that performs film formation processing on the wafer W one by one. Therefore, it is possible to cut down or reduce the trouble of newly creating or changing the processing recipe for the substrate processing system  1 , which is advantageous. 
     In the above, the present disclosure may be configured such that the first block portion and the second block portion are provided on the upper surface side of each of the first and second processing containers and such that the first and second block portions slidably connected to the rail portion provided above the first and second block portions. 
     Further, concave portion may be formed in the sidewalls of the first and second processing containers on the gap side, respectively, and the first and second block portions may be provided in the concave portion so as to be fixed to the respective processing containers. In this case, the rail portion is provided so as to straddle the two concave portions, and the first and second block portions are slidably connected to the rail portion. 
     Further, in the above example, the case where both the first processing container and the second processing container thermally expand or contract has been described. When only one of the processing containers thermally expands or contracts due to some cause, the block portion provided on the one of the processing containers horizontally slides on the rail portion. In this case as well, the center P of the stage of the two processing containers does not move, and thus the fluctuation of the pitch P 1  can be suppressed. 
     Furthermore, when the temperature of vacuum processing performed in the first processing container and the second processing container is lower than the heat resistant temperature of the first and second block portions and the rail portion, it is not always necessary to provide the cooling portion. Further, if the rigidity of the rail portion is ensured, it is not always necessary to provide the rib. 
     Furthermore, if a movement space is secured on the base portion side, the ball caster may be provided so that the ball comes into contact with the base portion side. Alternatively, the first and second processing containers may be supported by the height adjusting members provided at the base portion without using the ball casters. 
     Furthermore, in each of the examples described above, although the ball casters  7 A and  7 B support the left end of the processing container  31 A and the right end of the processing container  31 B, it may be supported at a position closer to the inside of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B than these ends. However, in order to secure a sufficiently large space under each of the processing containers  31 A and  31 B, it is preferable that the side opposite to the side where the gap  30  is provided is supported. The side where the gap  30  is provided is, for example, a position inside the position of the center P of the stage  32  in the horizontal direction (a position near the center of the connected processing container  5 ), and the side opposite to the side where the gap  30  is provided is, for example, the outside of the position of the center P of the stage  32  in the horizontal direction. That is, it is preferable that the left side of the center P of the processing container  31 A is supported by the ball casters  7 A, and the right side of the center P of the processing container  31 B is supported by the ball casters  7 B. 
     By the way, the connected processing container  5  is not limited to being applied to the film forming module. For example, it can be applied to a module that performs vacuum processing on the wafer W, such as an etching module that supplies an etching gas to etch the wafer W, and an annealing module that heats the wafer W while supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. Further, although the illustrated film forming module  3  is a module that does not perform plasma processing, the connected processing container  5  may be applied to a processing module that performs plasma processing. In the case of performing processing by generating plasma, it is conceivable to perform the processing so as to compensate for a positional deviation between the stage  32  and the wafer W, for example, by adjusting the distribution of the plasma in the plane of the wafer W. However, if plasma is not generated, since such adjustment using plasma cannot be performed, in a module such as the film forming module  3  in which plasma processing is not performed, the effect of the connected processing container  5  of suppressing a positional deviation of the wafer W is particularly effective. 
     Further, it is conceivable that another substrate processing apparatus may be provided outside the substrate processing system  1 , and the processing containers  31 A and  31 B may be heated and thermally expanded by using the substrate processing apparatus as a heat source. In such a case as well, the connected processing container  5  can prevent the transfer position of the wafer W on the stage  32  from being displaced by. That is, since the above-described effects can be obtained even if the processing containers  31 A and  31 B are not provided with the heating portion, the processing containers  31 A and  31 B may not be provided with the heating portion and may perform vacuum processing on the wafer W at room temperature. Furthermore, the number of processing containers constituting the connected processing container is not limited to two, and three or more processing containers may be connected to each other. 
     It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The above embodiments may be omitted, substituted, modified or combined in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.