Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6682629?dq=system+for+measuring+web+traffic&ei=Lg8FT__TIIr-sQKzxaGRCg
Timestamp: 2017-09-25 23:04:16
Document Index: 397199244

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 98', 'art 98', 'art 98', 'art 99', 'art 99', 'art 99', 'art 99', 'art 101', 'art 101']

Patent US6682629 - Substrate processing unit - Google Patents
The present invention is a processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, having: a transfer port provided in the casing through which the substrate passes when the substrate is carried into the casing by a carrier for carrying the substrate; and an inflow restricting device for controlling...http://www.google.com/patents/US6682629?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6682629 - Substrate processing unit
Publication number US6682629 B2
Application number US 10/001,341
Also published as US20020079056
Publication number 001341, 10001341, US 6682629 B2, US 6682629B2, US-B2-6682629, US6682629 B2, US6682629B2
Inventors Hiroyuki Kudo, Takahiro Okubo, Minoru Kubota
Patent Citations (13), Referenced by (6), Classifications (16), Legal Events (6)
US 6682629 B2
The present invention is a processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, having: a transfer port provided in the casing through which the substrate passes when the substrate is carried into the casing by a carrier for carrying the substrate; and an inflow restricting device for controlling an atmosphere outside the casing to restrict the atmosphere from flowing into the casing through the transfer port. According to the present invention, it is possible to control the atmosphere outside the casing to restrict the atmosphere from flowing into the casing, which restricts the temperature of the substrate in the processing unit from partially varying and the temperature distribution from becoming ununiform within a plane of the substrate.
1. A processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, comprising:
a transfer port provided in said casing, through which the substrate passes when the substrate is carried into said casing by a carrier for carrying the substrate; and
an inflow restricting device for controlling an atmosphere outside said casing to restrict the atmosphere from flowing into said casing through said transfer port;
wherein said inflow restricting device has a current regulating plate for regulating in a direction away from said transfer port a gas current of the atmosphere flowing from bottom to top, and
wherein said current regulating plate has a bottom part located at a position below said transfer port and has a shape increasingly distant from said casing with ascent from the bottom part toward a top part of said current regulating plate, and
wherein said current plate is provided on a shutter for opening/closing said transfer port.
2. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 1,
wherein said inflow restricting device has a guide plate for guiding in a direction away from said transfer port a gas current of the atmosphere flowing from top to bottom, and
wherein said guide plate has a top part attached to said casing at a position above said transfer port and has a shape increasingly distant from said casing with descent from the top part toward a bottom part of said guide plate.
3. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 2,
wherein the bottom part of said guide plate is horizontally formed.
4. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 1 wherein there is a gap between the bottom part of said current regulating plate and said casing.
wherein a guide member is provided between said current regulating plate and said casing, which guides to said gap a part of the atmosphere flowing in through said transfer port.
6. A processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, comprising:
wherein said inflow restricting device has a current regulating plate for regulating in a direction away from said transfer port a gas current of the atmosphere flowing from bottom to top,
wherein said current regulating plate has a bottom part located at a position below said transfer port and has a shape increasingly distant from said casing with ascent from the bottom part toward a top part of said current regulating plate,
wherein there is a gap between the bottom part of said current regulating plate and said casing, and
7. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 6, further comprising:
a gas introducer for introducing a clean gas into said casing to make a pressure in said casing higher than a pressure outside said casing at least when the substrate is carried into said casing.
8. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 7,
wherein said gas introducer has a number of blow-out ports for blowing out gas uniformly into said casing.
9. A processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, comprising:
wherein said carrier has a guide for guiding in a direction, other than the direction of said transfer port, the atmosphere guided by a guide plate,
wherein said carrier has a carrier arm for holding the substrate,
wherein said guide is a horizontal plate provided above said carrier arm, and
wherein an air hole penetrating said horizontal plate is formed in a rear part of said horizontal plate.
10. A processing unit for processing a substrate in a casing, comprising:
wherein a vertical plate is provided on said horizontal plate.
11. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 10,
wherein said vertical plate has a curved shape which is convex toward said transfer port side as viewed from a plan view.
12. A processing unit for processing a substrate as set forth in claim 10,
For example, cooling treatment before the coating treatment is performed in a manner that the wafer is mounted on a cooling plate provided in a casing for a predetermined period to be cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, 23° C. A cooling unit in which such a cooling treatment is performed is provided with an exhaust means for removing impurities, which are produced from the wafer or the like, by sucking an atmosphere in the casing, and therefore the pressure in the casing is lower than that outside the casing. Further the casing is provided with a transfer port through which the wafer is carried in/out, and the transfer port is provided with a shutter for opening and closing the transfer port to keep a predetermined atmosphere within the cooling unit.
In the coating and developing treatment system, air for keeping a clean atmosphere therein is supplied to form a descending current. As the air in this event, the atmosphere in a clean room in which the coating and developing treatment system is located is used, and the temperature of the air when supplied is the same as that in the clean room, for example, 23° C. In the coating and developing treatment system, however, a number of heat treatment units where heat treatment is performed are provided, and thus the temperature of the air varies in the coating and developing treatment system by heat from these heat treatment units.
The present invention is made in consideration of the above-described aspects, and its object is to provide a substrate processing unit which restricts flow of gas into a processing unit such as a cooling unit or the like, the flow of which causes unevenness in temperature within a plane of a wafer or the like.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of a coating and developing treatment system including a cooling unit according to an embodiment;
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a coating and developing treatment system 1 including a substrate processing unit according to the invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system 1, and FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system 1.
In the side surface on the main carrier 13 side of the casing 55 a, provided is a transfer port 96 through which the wafer W passes when carried in/out. At the transfer port 96, a shutter 97 is provided for opening and closing the transfer port 96 and is kept closed other than when the wafer W is carried, thereby keeping a predetermined atmosphere within the casing 55 a.
Outside the casing 55 a and above the transfer port 96, as shown in FIG. 7, a guide plate 98 constituting an inflow restricting device is provided, which controls and guides air flowing from the top toward the bottom in the processing station 3. The guide plate 98 has a top part 98 a bonded to the casing 55 a and has a shape increasingly distant from the casing 55 a with descent from the top part 98 a toward a bottom part 98 b.
Outside the shutter 97, a current regulating plate 99 is provided which controls and regulates the current of air flowing from the bottom toward the top in the processing station 3. The current regulating plate 99 is attached to the shutter 97 by an attachment member 100 at its bottom part 99 a so as to create a gap d and is obliquely provided in a manner to be increasingly distant from the shutter 97 with ascent from the bottom part 99 a toward a top part 99 b. This enables air entering between the current regulating plate 99 and the shutter 97 to be exhausted downward from the gap d. The top part 99 b of the current regulating plate 99, disposed to be at the same level as that of the top part of the shutter 97, does not interfere with the wafer W being carried in/out while the shutter 97 is opened.
Between the current regulating plate 99 and the shutter 97, a guide member 101 is provided which guides air entering between the above-described current regulating plate 99 and the shutter 97 to the gap d. The guide member 101 is of the same shape as that of the current regulating plate 99, that is, a plate shape, which is attached to the shutter 97 at its bottom part 101 a and has a shape increasingly distant from the shutter 97 with ascent therefrom toward a top part 101 b.
Next, the operation of the cooling unit 55 as structured above is explained together with the steps of a photolithography process performed in the coating and developing treatment system 1.
First, the wafer carrier 8 takes out one unprocessed wafer W from the cassette C and carries it to the adhesion unit 56 which is included in the third processing unit group G3. The wafer W, which is coated with an adhesion promoter such as HMDS for improving adhesion to the resist solution in the adhesion unit 56, is carried to the cooling unit 55 by the main carrier 13 where it is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, 23° C.
Thereafter, the wafer W which has been cooled to 23° C. is carried to the resist coating unit 51 or 53 by the main carrier 13, where a resist film is formed on the wafer W. The wafer W is thereafter carried to the pre-baking unit 58 or 59 and the extension and cooling unit 66 in sequence again by the main carrier 13 to undergo predetermined processing.
It should be noted that during the coating and developing treatment, the air supply unit 5 always supplies clean gas at predetermined temperature and humid into the coating and developing treatment system 1 to form a descending current therein. For example, air supplied into the coating and developing treatment system 1 is regulated in temperature to be 23° C. the same as that in a clean room. However, the temperature of the air is sometimes raised to be a temperature higher than 23° C., for example, about 24° C. if the air current reaches in the vicinity of the cooling unit 55 at the bottom, by the influence of, for example, the post-baking units 60 and 61 and the pre-baking units 58 and 59 and the like.
After the completion of the adhesion treatment that is a preceding step, the wafer W is held by the carrier arm 44 of the main carrier 13. Then, the transfer base 47 descends to move the carrier arm 44 to the same level as that of the cooling unit 55. Subsequently, the shutter 97 is opened and the carrier arm 44 moves forward in the R-direction to move the wafer W to a position above the cooling plate 90 in the casing 55 a.
In this event, a part of the air flowing downward in the processing station 3 hits against the guide plate 98, is then guided onto the horizontal plate 49, and is caused to flow in the opposite direction to the transfer port 96 of the cooling unit 55, the negative direction of the R-direction as shown in FIG. 9. Air directly hits against the horizontal plate 49 from above is diffused by the horizontal plate 49 and then flows in every direction, but air toward the transfer port 96 is blocked by the vertical plate 50. Further, when a part of the air enters between the current regulating plate 99 and the shutter 97, the air is guided by the guide member 101 and exhausted from the gap d to below the transfer port 96. As described above, the air in the processing station 3 is guided in a direction away from the transfer port 96 to be restricted from flowing into the casing 55 a.
On the other hand, the wafer W moved to the position above the cooling plate 90 in the casing 55 a is delivered from the carrier arm 44 to the raising and lowering pins 92 which have been raised are kept waiting in advance. At this moment, exhaustion from the exhaust pipe 95 is started to start the purge of the inside of the mechanical chamber M. Then, the wafer W is lowered with descent of the raising and lowering pins 92 to be mounted on the cooling plate 90 which is kept at, for example, 23° C. The carrier arm 44 retreats in the negative direction of the R-direction to be returned again into the case 40. After the carrier arm 44 retreats from the casing 55 a, the shutter 97 is closed.
When the wafer W is mounted on the cooling plate 90, cooling is started for the wafer W to cool it for a predetermined period. After a lapse of the predetermined period, the wafer W having been cooled at 23° C., the raising and lowering pins 92 are raised to finish the cooling of the wafer W.
Though the current regulating plate 99 is attached to the shutter 97 in the above-described embodiment, the current regulating plate 99 may be attached to the casing 55 a at a position below the transfer port 96. In this case, it is also possible to regulate the locally formed ascending current to restrict the ascending current from flowing into the transfer port 96. It should be noted that the guide member 101 may also be attached to the casing 55 a.
Although the horizontal plate 49 above the carrier arm 44 is provided fixed on the transfer base 47 in the above-described embodiment, the horizontal plate 49 may be provided to be movable in the R-direction similarly to the carrier arm 44. In such a case, it is possible that the horizontal plate 49 is moved depending on the strength and direction of the air current to regulate the air in the processing station 3 at a position where the horizontal plate 49 can regulate the air most efficiently.
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US7614840 * Nov 14, 2003 Nov 10, 2009 Tdk Corporation Wafer processing apparatus having dust proof function
US7670095 * Dec 30, 2002 Mar 2, 2010 Tdk Corporation Wafer processing apparatus having dust proof function
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U.S. Classification 156/345.32, 156/345.19, 118/719, 156/345.3, 414/935
International Classification H01L21/00, B65G49/06, H01L21/027, H01L21/677, H01L21/68, B65G49/07
Cooperative Classification Y10S414/135, H01L21/67742, H01L21/67017
European Classification H01L21/67S2D, H01L21/677B2
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:KUDO, HIROYUKI;OKUBO, TAKAHIRO;KUBOTA, MINORU;REEL/FRAME:012670/0276;SIGNING DATES FROM 20020116 TO 20020128