Resist coating and developing unit

• US 6,313,903 B1
• Filed: 01/28/2000
• Issued: 11/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Ogata, Kunie
• Primary Examiner(s): Adams, Russell
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HUNG
• Application Number:
  US09/493,248
• Time in Patent Office: 648 Days
• Field of Search: 355/27-29, 396/611-612, 414/937-939, 118/52, 118/320
• US Class Current: 355/27
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67178 vertical arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring

Abstract

In a transferring region of a wafer transferring portion that transfers a wafer placed in a carrier loading and unloading portion, a pattern inspecting portion for inspecting a resist pattern and a carrier for accommodating a wafer determined as an unacceptable wafer are disposed. The carrier is conveyed to an external cleaning portion. Resist on the unacceptable wafer is cleaned and removed. The resultant wafer is loaded to the coating and developing unit. The film thickness of a monitor wafer is measured by a film thickness measuring portion disposed in the coating and developing unit. Thereafter, resist on the entire surface of the monitor wafer is removed with thinner supplied from a solvent nozzle. Thus, the monitor wafer is regenerated. Consequently, when the coating and developing unit is operated and a substrate and a monitor substrate that have been processes are inspected, the throughput of the coating and developing unit becomes high and the processes can be automatically performed.

Claims

1. A coating and developing unit for coating resist on a substrate and developing the resist exposed by a exposing unit connected to the coating and developing unit, the coating and developing unit comprising:

a carrier loading and unloading portion that loads and unloads a carrier that accommodates a plurality of substrates;

a coating portion that applies resist on a substrate removed from a carrier transferred from said carrier loading and unloading portion;

a developing portion that develops the resist on the substrate exposed by said exposing unit and forms a predetermined resist pattern;

a conveyor that transfers the substrate among said carrier loading and unloading portion, said coating portion, and said developing portion;

a pattern inspecting portion that inspects a resist pattern formed on the substrate and determines whether or not the resist pattern is acceptable;

a substrate separator that separates a substrate determined as an unacceptable substrate by said pattern inspecting portion from a substrate determined as an acceptable substrate;

a monitor substrate accommodating portion that accommodates a monitor substrate;

a film thickness measuring portion that measures the film thickness of resist on the monitor substrate and determines whether or not the film thickness of the resist is proper; and

a first controller that instructs the conveyor to transfer the monitor substrate accommodated in said monitor substrate accommodating portion to said coating portion and said conveyor to transfer the monitor substrate with resist coated by said coating portion to said film thickness measuring portion,

wherein the monitor substrate is used to determine whether a processing condition results in resist in the proper resist film thickness; and

wherein the monitor substrate accommodating portion only accommodates the monitor substrate; and

wherein the coating and developing unit is an integrated unit.

2. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1,

wherein a transferring position is disposed among the carrier, said coating portion, and said developing portion,

wherein said conveyor has:

a first transferring portion that transfers a substrate between the carrier and the transferring position; and

a second transferring portion that transfers the substrate among the transferring position, said coating portion, and said developing portion, and

wherein said pattern inspecting portion is disposed in a transferring range of which said first transferring portion transfers the substrate.

3. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1, wherein said substrate separator includes:

an unacceptable substrate carrier that accommodates substrate determined as unacceptable substrates; and

said conveyor, and

wherein said conveyor returns a substrate determined as an acceptable substrate to a carrier placed at said carrier loading and unloading portion and transfers a substrate determined as an unacceptable substrate to the unacceptable substrate carrier.

4. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said substrate separator marks a substrate determined as an unacceptable substrate.

5. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said substrate separator is a storing portion that stores correlated information of accommodation positions, carriers, and unacceptable substrates.

6. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 5, wherein said storing portion is a database.

7. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 5, wherein said storing portion is a memory.

8. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 5, wherein said storing portion is a memory that stores a database.

9. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said coating portion has a solvent supply portion that supplies solvent to the monitor substrate, and

wherein resist on the monitor substrate is measured by said film thickness measuring portion and removed with solvent supplied by said solvent supplying portion so as to regenerate the monitor substrate.

10. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a heating portion that heats a substrate before and after resist is coated or before and after the substrate is developed; and

a cooling portion that cools the substrate heated by said heating portion,

wherein at least one of said heating portion and said cooling portion is arranged on a plurality of shelf positions of a shelf, said film thickness measuring portion being disposed at one shelf position of the shelf.

11. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

process history storing portion that stores process history data of each substrate; and

a second controller that receives data stored in said process history storing portion and determines whether or not to remove resist on a substrate whose process has not been completely performed due to a stop of the coating and developing unit so as to regenerate the substrate.

12. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a cleaning portion that cleans a substrate determined as an unacceptable substrate by said pattern inspecting portion and removes resist thereof so as to regenerate the substrate.

13. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

an interface portion that transfers a substrate between the coating and developing unit and said exposing unit,

wherein said pattern inspecting portion is disposed in said interface portion.

14. A coating and developing unit for coating resist on a substrate and developing the resist exposed by a exposing unit connected to the coating and developing unit, the coating and developing unit comprising:

a carrier loading and unloading portion that loads and unloads a carrier that accommodates a plurality of substrates;

a coating portion that applies resist on a substrate removed from a carrier transferred from said carrier loading and unloading portion;

a developing portion that develops the resist on the substrate exposed by said exposing unit and forms a predetermined resist pattern;

a conveyor that transfers the substrate among said carrier loading and unloading portion, said coating portion, and said developing portion;

a monitor substrate accommodating portion that accommodates a monitor substrate;

a film thickness measuring portion that measures the film thickness of resist on the monitor substrate and determines whether or not the film thickness of the resist is proper; and

a first controller that instructs the conveyor to transfer the monitor substrate accommodated in said monitor substrate accommodating portion to said coating portion and said conveyor to transfer the monitor substrate with resist coated by said coating portion to said film thickness measuring portion

wherein the monitor substrate is used to determine whether a processing condition results in the proper resist film thickness; and

wherein the monitor substrate accommodating portion only accommodates the monitor substrate; and

wherein the coating and developing unit is an integrated unit.

15. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 14,

wherein said coating portion has a solvent supplying portion the supplies solvent to the monitor substrate, and

wherein resist on the monitor substrate is measured by said film thickness measuring portion and removed with solvent supplied by said solvent supplying portion so as to regenerated the monitor substrate.

16. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 14, further comprising:

a heating portion that heats a substrate before and after resist is coated or before and after the substrate is developed; and

a cooling portion that cools the substrate heated by said heating portion,

wherein at least one of said heating portion and said cooling portion is arranged on a plurality of shelf positions of a shelf, said film thickness measuring portion being disposed at one shelf position of the shelf.

17. A coating and developing unit for coating resist on a substrate and developing the resist exposed by a exposing unit connected to the coating and developing unit, the coating and developing unit comprising:

a carrier loading and unloading portion that loads and unloads a carrier that accommodates a plurality of substrates;

a coating portion that applies resist on a substrate removed from a carrier transferred from said carrier loading and unloading portion;

a developing portion that develops the resist on the substrate exposed by said exposing unit and forms a predetermined resist pattern;

a pattern inspecting portion that inspects a resist pattern formed on the substrate and determines whether or not the resist pattern is acceptable;

a substrate separator that separates a substrate determined as an unacceptable substrate by said pattern inspecting portion from a substrate determined as an acceptable substrate;

a monitor substrate accommodating portion that accommodates a monitor substrate;

a film thickness measuring portion that measures, the film thickness of resist on the monitor substrate and determines whether or not the film thickness of the resist is proper; and

a conveyor that transfers a monitor substrate accommodated in said monitor substrate accommodating portion to said coating portion, instructs said coating portion to coat resist on the monitor substrate, conveys the resultant monitor substrate to said film thickness measuring portion, and instructs said film thickness measuring portion to determine whether or not the film thickness of the monitor substrate is proper when a substrate determined by said pattern inspecting portion is unacceptable.

18. The coating and developing unit as set forth in claim 17, further comprising:

a conveyor that transfers a monitor substrate accommodated in said monitor substrate accommodating portion to said coating portion, instructs said coating portion to coat resist on the monitor substrate, conveys the resultant monitor substrate to said film thickness measuring portion, and instructs said film thickness measuring portion to determine whether or not the film thickness of the monitor substrate is proper when the coating and developing unit is initialized.