Substrate conveyance method and substrate conveyance device, exposure apparatus using same, and device manufacturing method

An exposure apparatus comprising:

• an illumination optical system that illuminates a reticle with light from a light source section;
• a reticle stage system that is movable with the reticle mounted thereon;
• a projection optical system that guides light from the reticle to a substrate;
• a substrate stage system that is movable with the reticle mounted thereon;
• and
• a substrate conveyance device that conveys the substrate to the substrate stage system,
• wherein the substrate conveyance device comprises a supporting mechanism comprising a hand for holding the substrate by a suction mechanism and a support section for movably supporting the hand, and a control system for controlling the operation of the supporting mechanism, and
• wherein, when the supporting mechanism and a mounting section are installed on two different reference platforms, the control system comprises a position adjustment sequence for the execution of an suction time monitoring process in which the suction pressure of the suction mechanism is upward raised to a predetermined threshold value after the lifting of the hand from the standby position on the mounting section is initiated in a vacuum suction state and its driving time is monitored;
• an adjustment determining processing of determining whether or not the adjustment of the receiving position of the substrate is necessary based on the monitor time period that has been obtained by the suction time monitoring processing;
• and a position setting processing of automatically setting the receiving position to the position at which a tolerance range is satisfied, if it has been determined in the adjustment determining processing that the monitor time period and the suction pressure of the suction mechanism are not in a predetermined tolerance range.

A device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:

• exposing a substrate using an exposure apparatus;
• and
• developing the substrate,
• wherein the exposure apparatus comprises:
• an illumination optical system that illuminates a reticle with light from a light source section;
• a reticle stage system that is movable with the reticle mounted thereon;
• a projection optical system that guides light from the reticle to a substrate;
• a substrate stage system that is movable with the reticle mounted thereon;
• and
• a substrate conveyance device that conveys the substrate to the substrate stage system,
• wherein the substrate conveyance device comprises a supporting mechanism comprising a hand for holding the substrate by a suction mechanism and a support section for movably supporting the hand, and a control system for controlling the operation of the supporting mechanism, and
• wherein, when the supporting mechanism and a mounting section are installed on two different reference platforms, the control system comprises a position adjustment sequence for the execution of a suction time monitoring processing in which the suction pressure of the suction mechanism is upward raised to a predetermined threshold value after the lifting of the hand from the standby position on the mounting section is initiated in a vacuum suction state and its driving time is monitored;
• an adjustment determining processing of determining whether or not the adjustment of the receiving position of the substrate is necessary based on the monitor time period that has been obtained by the suction time monitoring processing;
• and a position setting processing of automatically setting the receiving position to the position at which a tolerance range is satisfied if it has been determined in the adjustment determining processing that the monitor time period and the suction pressure of the suction mechanism are not in a predetermined tolerance range.

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

• a processing unit that performs predetermined processing for a substrate;
• a conveyance unit that is supported independently from the processing unit and includes a conveyance hand capable of transferring the substrate from and to the processing unit;
• a suction section that is provided either at the processing unit or the conveyance hand and is capable of suctioning the substrate under reduced pressure;
• a detection section that detects pressure in the suction section;
• a determination section that determines whether or not the adjustment of the position at which the substrate is transferred is necessary based on information, which is obtained by the detection section, relating to pressure changes during the transfer;
• and
• an adjustment section that adjusts the position at which the transfer is performed if the determination section determines that the adjustment is necessary.