Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorMasami Akimoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A substrate which has been subjected to heat processing in any of hot plate units is transferred to a normal cooling unit by a transfer device and subjected to cooling processing to some extent, and then transferred to a high accuracy cooling unit and subjected to cooling processing with high accuracy, and thereafter transferred to any of coating units or a developing units. Thereby, the substrate can be subjected to the cooling processing with high accuracy and thereafter to coating processing with no increase in apparatus cost and with no decrease in throughput.
Claims18
A substrate processing apparatus for applying a coating solution to a substrate and performing heat processing and subsequent cooling processing for the substrate, comprising:
- a coating processing unit for applying the coating solution to the substrate;
- a heat processing unit for performing the heat processing for the substrate;
- a plurality of first cooling processing units for performing the cooling processing for the substrate;
- a second cooling processing unit, which is temperature-controlled more accurately than the first than the first cooling processing unit, the second cooling processing unit being provided near the coating processing units, for performing the cooling processing for the substrate, said first and second cooling processing units respectively including a plurality of Peltier elements, the number of Peltier elements in each of said first cooling processing units being smaller than the number of Peltier elements in said second cooling processing unit;
- and
- a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate between said units,
- wherein the substrate which has been subjected to the heat processing by said heat processing unit is subjected to the cooling processing in one of said first cooling processing units or said second cooling precessing unit, and
- wherein when the substrate is transferred to said coating processing unit, the substrate is cooled in said second cooling processing unit at all times and then directly transferred to said coating processing unit.
A substrate processing apparatus for applying a coating solution to a substrate and performing heat processing and subsequent cooling processing for the substrate, comprising:
- a coating processing unit for applying the coating solution to a substrate;
- a heat processing unit for performing the heat processing for the substrate;
- a plurality of first cooling processing units for performing the cooling processing for the substrate;
- a second cooling processing unit, which is temperature-controlled more accurately than the first cooling processing units, the second cooling processing unit being provided near the coating processing unit for performing the cooling processing for the substrate, said first and second cooling processing units being respectively supplied with a cooling water, and the cooling water which has been supplied to said second cooling processing unit being supplied to said first cooling processing units as a cooling water;
- and
- a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate between said units,
- wherein the substrate which has been subjected to the heat processing by said heat processing unit is subjected to the cooling processing in one of said first cooling processing units or said second cooling processing unit, and
- wherein when the substrate is transferred to said coating processing unit, the substrate is cooled in said second cooling processing unit at all times and then directly transferred to said coating unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.