US5826129A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Substrate processing system
Assignee: Tokyo Electron Ltd
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Filing: 1995-06-29
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Granted: 1998-10-20
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Expires: 2015-06-29
Abstract
Abstract This invention provides a substrate processing system including a cassette station on which at least one cassette containing a plurality of objects is placed, a process station including a plurality of process chambers for performing processing for the objects, and an object conveying unit for loading the objects into the process chambers and unloading the objects from the process chambers, a first object transfer unit for transferring the objects between the cassette station and the process station, and an interface section including an object waiting region where the objects wait, and a second object transfer unit for transferring the objects to the process station, wherein the process chambers in the process station are arranged around the object conveying unit, and the object conveying unit has a rotating shaft almost parallel to the vertical direction and can move up and down in the vertical direction along the rotating shaft and rotate about the rotating shaft.
Inventors
- 👤 Keizo Hasebe
- 👤 Shinji Nagashima
- 👤 Norio Semba
- 👤 Masami Akimoto
- 👤 Yoshio Kimura
- 👤 Naruaki Iida
- 👤 Kouji Harada
- 👤 Issei Ueda
- 👤 Nobuo Konishi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 16:10
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P95/00; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0451; H10P72/0452; H10P72/0456; H10P72/0458; H10P72/0461
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
148 words
A substrate processing system comprising: a cassette station on which at least one cassette containing a plurality of objects is placed; a process station including a plurality of process chambers for performing processing for the objects, and object conveying means for loading the objects into said process chambers and unloading the objects from said process chambers; first object transfer means for transferring the objects between said cassette station and said process station; and an interface section including an object waiting region where the objects wait, and second object transfer means for transferring the objects to said process station, wherein said process chambers in said process station are arranged around said object conveying means, and said object conveying means has a rotating shaft substantially parallel to the vertical direction and can move up and down in the vertical direction along said rotating shaft and rotate about said rotating shaft.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
148 words
A substrate processing system comprising: a cassette station on which at least one cassette containing a plurality of objects is placed; a process station including a plurality of process chambers for performing processing for the objects, and object conveying means for loading the objects into said process chambers and unloading the objects from said process chambers; first object transfer means for transferring the objects between said cassette station and said process station; and an interface section including an object waiting region where the objects wait, and second object transfer means for transferring the objects to said process station, wherein said process chambers in said process station are arranged around said object conveying means, and said object conveying means has a rotating shaft substantially parallel to the vertical direction and can move up and down in the vertical direction along said rotating shaft and rotate about said rotating shaft.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said process chambers are oven-type single wafer processing units or spinner-type single wafer processing units which perform processing for the object while holding the object on chucking means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A system according to claim 2, wherein said oven-type single wafer processing units include a baking unit for pre-baking or post-baking the object and an adhesion unit for performing an adhesion process for the object.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said interface section has an edge exposure device for exposing an outer peripheral portion of the object.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said interface section includes a buffer cassette for temporarily storing the objects.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
41 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said process chambers are arranged in the form of a plurality of blocks in each of which said process chambers are vertically stacked, each of said blocks being integrally movable in a specific direction.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
67 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said process chambers include a baking unit for pre-baking or post-baking the object, and said baking unit having a table on which the object is placed and a support member provided on said table and having a tapered surface, and said support member supporting the object on said tapered surface with the object floating from a surface of said table.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
82 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said process chambers include an adhesion unit for performing an adhesion process for the object, and said adhesion unit having processing gas feeding means for feeding a processing gas into said adhesion unit and exhausting means for exhausting gas from said adhesion unit, and said processing gas feeding means feeding the processing gas into said adhesion unit while said gas exhausting means is exhausting gas from said adhesion unit without essentially evacuating said adhesion unit.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
41 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said process chambers include a developing unit for developing the object, said developing unit including means for supplying a substance which imparts hydrophilic nature to a film formed on a surface of the object.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
85 words
A substrate processing method comprising the steps of: forming a photosensitive film made of a photosensitive material on a surface of a target substrate to be processed; forming a hydrophilic film on a surface of said photosensitive film by supplying an aqueous solution, which makes the photosensitive film hydrophilic, to the photosensitive film, said aqueous solution having a viscosity of at most 10 cp; and performing a development step which includes applying a developing solution to the photosensitive film having said hydrophilic film formed thereon.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
85 words
A substrate processing method comprising the steps of: forming a photosensitive film made of a photosensitive material on a surface of a target substrate to be processed; forming a hydrophilic film on a surface of said photosensitive film by supplying an aqueous solution, which makes the photosensitive film hydrophilic, to the photosensitive film, said aqueous solution having a viscosity of at most 10 cp; and performing a development step which includes applying a developing solution to the photosensitive film having said hydrophilic film formed thereon.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein the development step includes supplying said developing solution onto said hydrophilic film such that a contact angle of said developing solution with respect to the surface of the photosensitive film is not more than 50°.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein said aqueous solution comprises one of polyvinyl alcohol and saccharose.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein the viscosity of said aqueous solution is in a range of from 2 to 3 cp.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein an average thickness of said hydrophilic film is not more than 3000 Å.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein an average thickness of said hydrophilic film is not more than 500 Å.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein said hydrophilic film is formed by supplying said aqueous solution onto said photosensitive film and spreading said aqueous solution on an entire surface of said photosensitive film by rotating the target substrate.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein said hydrophilic film is formed by supplying said aqueous solution onto said photosensitive film while the target substrate is rotated, thereby spreading said aqueous solution on an entire surface of said photosensitive film.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
86 words
A substrate processing method, comprising the steps of: forming a photosensitive film made of a photosensitive material on a surface of a target substrate to be processed; forming a hydrophilic film on a surface of said photosensitive film by supplying an aqueous solution, which makes the photosensitive film hydrophilic, to the photosensitive film, said hydrophilic film having an average thickness of at most 300 nm; and performing a developing step which includes applying a developing solution to the photosensitive film having said hydrophilic film formed thereon.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
86 words
A substrate processing method, comprising the steps of: forming a photosensitive film made of a photosensitive material on a surface of a target substrate to be processed; forming a hydrophilic film on a surface of said photosensitive film by supplying an aqueous solution, which makes the photosensitive film hydrophilic, to the photosensitive film, said hydrophilic film having an average thickness of at most 300 nm; and performing a developing step which includes applying a developing solution to the photosensitive film having said hydrophilic film formed thereon.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said developing step includes applying said developing solution to said photosensitive film such that a stream of the developing solution makes an angle of at most 50° with the surface of the photosensitive film.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said aqueous solution comprises one of polyvinyl alcohol and saccharose.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said aqueous solution has a viscosity which is less than 10 cp.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said aqueous solution has a viscosity in a range of from 2 cp to 3 cp.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said hydrophilic film has an average thickness of at most 50 nm.
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