阅读说明：本技术 支撑单元、具有支撑单元的设备和用设备处理基板的方法 (Support unit, apparatus having the same, and method of processing substrate using the apparatus ) 是由 李承汉 徐钟锡 李银卓 方济午 池硕桓 于 2020-11-04 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明构思的实施例提供一种用于处理基板的设备。本发明构思的实施例包括：在其中具有处理空间的壳体；以及在处理空间内支撑基板的支撑单元,并且该支撑单元包括：支撑板,其支撑基板；加热器构件,其设置在支撑板中并加热基板；以及冷却单元,其设置在加热器构件的下方并冷却支撑板,该冷却单元包括：冷却板,其与加热器构件间隔开的；喷嘴,其设置在冷却板中,并向加热器部件的底表面供应冷却气体；以及驱动器,其使冷却板在与加热器部件间隔开第一距离的待用位置以及与加热器部件间隔开第二距离的冷却位置之间移动,第二距离短于第一距离。(Embodiments of the inventive concept provide an apparatus for processing a substrate. Embodiments of the inventive concept include: a housing having a processing space therein; and a supporting unit supporting the substrate in the processing space, and the supporting unit includes: a support plate supporting the substrate; a heater member disposed in the support plate and heating the substrate; and a cooling unit disposed below the heater member and cooling the support plate, the cooling unit including: a cooling plate spaced apart from the heater member; a nozzle provided in the cooling plate and supplying a cooling gas to a bottom surface of the heater part; and a driver that moves the cooling plate between a standby position spaced apart from the heater block by a first distance and a cooling position spaced apart from the heater block by a second distance, the second distance being shorter than the first distance.)

1. A support unit, comprising:

a support plate supporting the substrate;

a heater member disposed in the support plate and heating the substrate; and

a cooling unit disposed below the heater member and cooling the support plate,

wherein the cooling unit includes:

a cooling plate spaced apart from the heater member;

a nozzle provided in the cooling plate and supplying a cooling gas to a bottom surface of the heater member; and

a driver that moves the cooling plate between a standby position spaced apart from the heater member by a first distance and a cooling position spaced apart from the heater member by a second distance,

wherein the second distance is shorter than the first distance.

2. The support unit of claim 1,

the cooling plate overlaps with the heater member in the standby position and the cooling position when viewed from above.

3. The support unit as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the cooling plate has a mounting groove on an upper surface thereof,

wherein the nozzle is disposed in the mounting groove.

4. The support unit of claim 3,

the cooling unit further includes:

a gas supply member supplying the cooling gas into the mounting groove.

5. The support unit of claim 1,

the driver is disposed in the motor.

6. The support unit of claim 1,

the driver is disposed in the cylinder.

7. An apparatus for processing a substrate, the apparatus comprising:

a housing having a processing space therein; and

a support unit supporting the substrate in the processing space,

wherein the supporting unit includes:

a support plate supporting the substrate;

a heater member disposed in the support plate and heating the substrate; and

a cooling unit disposed below the heater member and cooling the support plate,

wherein the cooling unit includes:

a cooling plate spaced apart from the heater member;

a nozzle provided in the cooling plate and supplying a cooling gas to a bottom surface of the heater member; and

a driver that moves the cooling plate between a standby position spaced apart from the heater member by a first distance and a cooling position spaced apart from the heater member by a second distance,

wherein the second distance is shorter than the first distance.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein,

the cooling plate overlaps with the heater member in the standby position and the cooling position when viewed from above.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein,

wherein the cooling plate has a mounting groove on an upper surface thereof,

wherein the nozzle is disposed in the mounting groove.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein,

the cooling unit includes:

a gas supply member supplying the cooling gas into the mounting groove.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein,

the driver is disposed in the motor.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein,

the driver is disposed in the cylinder.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein,

the cooling gas is air.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein,

processing the substrate includes baking the substrate.

15. A method of processing a substrate using the apparatus for processing the substrate according to claim 7, the method comprising:

a first heating step in which the support plate heats the substrate at a first temperature; and

a cooling step in which the cooling gas is supplied to the support plate to cool the support plate to a predetermined temperature,

wherein in the cooling step, the cooling plate moves toward the heater member and cools the heater member.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

a second heating step, wherein the support plate heats the substrate at a second temperature after the cooling step.

17. The method of claim 16, the second temperature being lower than the first temperature.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein

The cooling plate is located:

a standby position in the first heating step, the standby position being spaced apart from the heater member by a first distance,

a cooling position in the cooling step, the cooling position being spaced apart from the heater member by a second distance,

wherein the second distance is shorter than the first distance.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

wherein the first heating step and the second heating step include baking the substrate.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of selecting the target,

wherein the cooling gas is air.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the inventive concepts described herein relate to a support unit that thermally processes a substrate, a substrate processing apparatus including the same, and a method of processing a substrate using the same.

Background

Generally, in order to manufacture a semiconductor device, various processes, such as cleaning, deposition, photography, and ion implantation processes, are performed. In the above process, the photographic process includes a process of forming a liquid film such as a photoresist on the substrate.

After the liquid film is formed, a baking process of heating the substrate is performed. The baking process is performed at a temperature much higher than room temperature, and a heater that heats the substrate is used for the process.

The chamber performing the baking process heats the substrate using different temperatures according to the substrate. For example, the bake chamber processes a preceding substrate in the bake chamber at a first temperature, and then the bake chamber processes a subsequent substrate conveyed therein at a second temperature lower than the first temperature. Here, after processing a preceding substrate at a first temperature, a cooling process of cooling a heater is required for processing a subsequent substrate at a second temperature lower than the first temperature.

Generally, in the cooling process, a cooling gas is supplied to the heater to cool the heater. When the cooling gas is injected, the flow rate of the cooling gas affects the cooling efficiency. The longer the supply nozzle, the faster the flow rate at the same spray volume. To obtain a faster flow rate, a longer nozzle should be provided, thereby providing a higher toasting chamber.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a substrate processing apparatus and a method for processing a substrate while a heating unit is cooled.

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a substrate processing apparatus and a method for processing a substrate, which can secure a flow rate of a cooling gas for cooling a heating unit.

The objects to be achieved in the inventive concept are not limited to the above objects but other objects not mentioned, which will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art, are not mentioned.

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide an apparatus for processing a substrate. In one exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept, a substrate processing apparatus includes: a housing having a processing space therein; and a supporting unit supporting the substrate in the processing space; and the supporting unit includes: a support plate supporting the substrate; a heater member disposed in the support plate and heating the substrate; and a cooling unit disposed below the heater member and cooling the support plate, the cooling unit including: a cooling plate spaced from the heater member; a nozzle provided in the cooling plate and supplying a cooling gas to a bottom surface of the heater member; and a driver that moves the cooling plate between a standby position spaced apart from the heater member by a first distance and a cooling position spaced apart from the heater member by a second distance, the second distance being shorter than the first distance.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the cooling plate overlaps the heater member in the standby position and the cooling position when viewed from above.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the cooling plate has a mounting groove on an upper surface thereof, and the nozzle is disposed in the mounting groove.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the cooling unit further includes a gas supply member supplying cooling gas into the mounting groove.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the driver is provided in the motor.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the driver is disposed in the cylinder.

Furthermore, the inventive concept provides a method for processing a substrate. Embodiments of the inventive concept include a first heating step of causing the support plate to heat the substrate at a first temperature, and a cooling step of supplying a cooling gas to the support plate to cool the support plate to a predetermined temperature, and in the cooling step, the cooling plate moves toward the heater member and cools the heater member.

Embodiments of the inventive concept also include a second heating step, wherein the support plate heats the substrate at a second temperature after the cooling step.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, the second temperature is lower than the first temperature.

According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, in the first heating step, the cooling plate is located at a standby position spaced apart from the heater member by a first distance, and in the cooling step, the cooling plate is located at a cooling position spaced apart from the heater member by a second distance, and the second distance is shorter than the first distance.

According to embodiments of the inventive concept, when the heating unit is cooled, cooling efficiency may be improved.

According to the embodiments of the inventive concept, the flow rate of the cooling gas for cooling the heating unit may be ensured.

The inventive concept and its implementation can be more easily understood by referring to the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present concept is defined only by the appended claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus, which shows the coating block or the developing block of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing apparatus of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a hand of the transfer robot of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view schematically illustrating the heat treatment chamber of fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a front view illustrating the heat treatment chamber of fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the heating apparatus of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating the substrate supporting unit of fig. 1, and fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the substrate supporting unit of fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a plan view illustrating a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for processing a substrate according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Fig. 12 and 13 are sectional views respectively showing a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the inventive concept will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the inventive concept may be modified in various forms and the scope of the inventive concept should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments of the inventive concept described below. Embodiments of the inventive concept are provided to more fully describe the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shapes of the components in the drawings have been exaggerated to emphasize clearer description.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes an index module 20, a process module 30, and an interface module 40. According to one embodiment, the indexing module 20, the processing module 30, and the interface module 40 are sequentially aligned. Hereinafter, the direction in which the index module 20, the process modules 30, and the interface module 40 are arranged will be referred to as a first direction 12, a direction perpendicular to the first direction 12 will be referred to as a second direction 14, and a direction perpendicular to all of the first and second directions 12 and 14 will be referred to as a third direction 16, when viewed from above.

The index module 20 transfers the substrate "W" from the container 10 to the process module 30, and the index module 20 transfers the completely processed substrate "W" to the container 10. The longitudinal direction of the indexing module 20 is set in the second direction 14. The index module 20 has a load port 22 and an index frame 24. The load port 22 is located at an opposite side of the process module 30 based on the index frame 24. The container 10 having the substrate "W" is placed on the load port 22. A plurality of load ports 22 may be provided, and a plurality of load ports 22 may be arranged along the second direction 14.

The container 10 may be a container 10 for sealing, such as a Front Open Unified Pod (FOUP). The container 10 may be placed on the load port 22 by a transport unit (not shown), such as an Overhead Transfer, Overhead conveyor, or automated guided vehicle, or by a worker.

The indexing robot 2200 is provided inside the indexing frame 24. A guide rail 2300 having a longitudinal direction disposed in the second direction 14 may be disposed in the index frame 24, and the index robot 2200 may be disposed to be movable on the guide rail 2300. The index robot 2200 may include a hand 2220 in which the substrate "W" is positioned, and the hand 2220 may be provided to be movable forward and backward, rotatable about the third direction 16, and movable in the third direction 16.

The process module 30 performs a coating process and a developing process with respect to the substrate "W". The process module 30 has a coating block 30a and a developing block 30 b. The coating block 30a performs a coating process on the substrate "W", and the developing block 30b performs a developing process on the substrate "W". A plurality of coating blocks 30a are provided and the plurality of coating blocks 30a are stacked one on another. A plurality of developing blocks 30b are provided, and the plurality of developing blocks 30b are stacked on each other. According to the embodiment of fig. 1, two coating blocks 30a and two developing blocks 30b are provided. The coating block 30a may be disposed below the developing block 30 b. According to one example, the two coating blocks 30a may perform the same process and may be arranged in the same structure. In addition, the two developing blocks 30a may perform the same process and may be disposed in the same structure.

Referring to fig. 3, the coating block 30a has a heat treatment chamber 3200, a transfer chamber 3400, a liquid treatment chamber 3600, and a buffer chamber 3800. The heat treatment chamber 3200 performs a heat treatment process on the substrate "W". The heat treatment process may include a cooling process and a heating process. The liquid processing chamber 3600 supplies liquid onto the substrate "W" to form a liquid film. The liquid film may be a photoresist film or an antireflection film. The transfer chamber 3400 transfers the substrate "W" between the heat treatment chamber 3200 and the liquid treatment chamber 3600 within the coating block 30 a.

The transfer chamber 3400 has a longitudinal direction parallel to the first direction 12. The transfer robot 3422 is disposed in the transfer chamber 3400. The transfer robot 3422 transfers the substrate "W" among the thermal processing chamber 3200, the liquid processing chamber 3600, and the buffer chamber 3800. According to an example, the transfer robot 3422 may include a hand 3420 in which the substrate "W" is placed, and the hand 3420 may be provided to be movable forward and backward, rotatable about the third direction 16, and movable in the third direction 16. In the transfer chamber 3400, a guide rail 3300 is provided, the guide rail 3300 has a longitudinal direction parallel to the second direction 12, and the transfer robot 3422 is provided movably on the guide rail 3300.

Fig. 4 shows an example of a hand of the transfer unit of fig. 3. Referring to fig. 4, the hand 3420 has a base 3428 and a support protrusion 3429. The base portion 3428 may have an annular ring shape in which a part of the circumference is curved. The susceptor 3428 has an inner diameter greater than the diameter of the substrate "W". Support protrusions 3429 extend inwardly from the base 3428. A plurality of support protrusions 3429 are provided to support an edge area of the substrate "W". According to an example, four support protrusions 3429 may be provided at equal distances.

A plurality of thermal processing chambers 3200 is provided. Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the heat treatment chamber 3200 is arranged along the first direction 12. The heat treatment chamber 3200 is located at one side of the transfer chamber 3400.

Fig. 5 is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of the heat treatment chamber of fig. 1, and fig. 6 is a front view illustrating the heat treatment chamber of fig. 5. The heat treatment chamber 3200 has a housing 3210, a cooling apparatus 3220, a heating apparatus 3230, and a transfer plate 3240.

The housing 3210 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The housing 3210 defines an inlet (not shown) in the sidewall to introduce or remove the substrate "W". The inlet may be maintained in an open state. A door (not shown) may be provided to selectively open or close the entrance. A cooling device 3220, a heating device 3230, and a transfer plate 3240 are disposed inside the housing 3210. The cooling device 3220 and the heating device 3230 are arranged in parallel along the second direction 14. According to embodiments, the cooling device 3220 may be positioned closer to the transfer chamber 3400 than the heating device 3230.

The cooling device 3220 has a cooling plate 3222. The cooling plate 3222 may have a generally circular shape when viewed from above. The cooling plate 3222 has a cooling member 3224. According to an embodiment, the cooling member 3224 may be formed inside the cooling plate 3222 to serve as a fluid channel through which a cooling fluid flows.

The heating unit 3230 is provided in the heating unit 1000, and the heating unit 1000 heats the substrate "W" to a temperature higher than room temperature. The heating device 3230 heats the substrate "W" under a gas atmosphere of atmospheric pressure or lower.

The transfer plate 3240 is provided in a substantially disc shape and has a diameter corresponding to that of the substrate "W". A cutout 3244 is formed on an edge of the transfer plate 3240. The cutout 3244 may have a shape corresponding to the protrusion 3429 formed on the hand 3420 of the described transfer robot 3422, 3424. In addition, a plurality of cutouts 3244 may be provided, which corresponds to the number of protrusions 3429 formed in the hand 3420, and a plurality of cutouts 3244 may be formed at positions corresponding to the positions of the protrusions 3429. When the vertical positions of the hand 3420 and the transfer plate 3240 are changed in a state where the hand 3420 and the transfer plate 3240 are aligned in the vertical direction, the substrate "W" is transferred between the hand 3420 and the transfer plate 3240. Transfer plate 3240 can be mounted on rail 3249 and can be moved along rail 3249 by driver 3246. A plurality of guide grooves 3242 having a slit shape are provided in the transfer plate 3240. The guide groove 3242 extends inward from an end portion of the transfer plate. The longitudinal direction of the guide grooves 3242 is disposed along the second direction 14, and the guide grooves 3242 are positioned to be spaced apart from each other along the first direction 12. The guide grooves 3242 prevent interference between the transfer plate 3240 and the lift pins 1340 when the substrate "W" is transferred between the transfer plate 3240 and the heating device 3230.

The heating of the substrate "W" is performed while the substrate "W" is directly placed on the support plate 1320, and the cooling of the substrate "W" is performed while the transfer plate 3240 on which the substrate "W" is placed is in contact with the cooling plate 3222. The transfer plate 3240 is provided of a material having high thermal conductivity so that heat transfer between the cooling plate 3222 and the substrate "W" is well performed. According to one example, transfer plate 3240 can be provided from a metallic material.

The heating apparatus 3230 disposed in a portion of the heat treatment chamber 3200 may supply gas during heating of the substrate "W" to improve an adhesion rate of photoresist to the substrate "W". According to one example, the gas may be hexamethyldisilane gas.

A plurality of liquid processing chambers 3600 are provided. Some of the liquid processing chambers 3600 may be arranged stacked on top of each other. The liquid processing chamber 3600 is located at the other side of the transfer chamber 3400 opposite the thermal processing chamber 3200. The liquid process chambers 3600 are arranged in line along the first direction 12. Some of the liquid processing chambers 3600 are disposed adjacent to the indexing module 20. These liquid process chambers 3602 are referred to hereinafter as pre-liquid process chambers. The other liquid process chambers 3600 are disposed adjacent to the interface module 40. Hereinafter, these liquid processing chambers are referred to as post-liquid processing chambers 3604.

A first liquid is coated on the substrate "W" in the front liquid process chamber 3602 and a second liquid is coated on the substrate "W" in the rear liquid process chamber 3604. The first liquid may be different from the first liquid. According to one example, the first liquid will form an anti-reflective film and the second liquid will form a photoresist. A photoresist may be coated on the substrate "W" having a pre-formed anti-reflection film. Alternatively, the first liquid may be a photoresist and the second liquid may be for an anti-reflection film. In this case, the anti-reflection film may be coated on the substrate "W" coated with the photoresist. Alternatively, the first liquid and the second liquid may be the same type of liquid, and all of the first liquid and the second liquid may be photoresist.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the heating apparatus of fig. 6. Referring to fig. 7, the heating unit 1000 includes a case 1100, a supporting unit 1300, and a discharging unit 1500.

The case 1100 provides a process space 1110 therein for heat-treating the substrate "W". The processing space 1110 is provided to be isolated from the outside. The housing 1100 includes an upper body 1120, a lower body 1140, and a sealing member 1160.

The upper body 1120 is provided in a cylindrical shape having an opened lower portion. A discharge hole 1122 and an inflow hole 1124 are formed on an upper surface of the upper body 1120. A discharge hole 1122 is formed on the center of the upper body 1120. The discharge holes 1122 are used to discharge gas of the processing space 1110. The plurality of inflow holes 1124 are provided to be spaced apart and arranged to surround the discharge hole 1122. The inflow hole 1124 introduces an external air flow into the processing space 1110. According to an example, the inflow holes 1124 may be four, and the external air flow may be air.

Alternatively, the inflow holes 1124 may be provided in three or more than five, or the external gas flow may be an inert gas.

The lower body 1140 is provided in a cylindrical shape having an opened upper portion. The lower body 1140 is positioned below the upper body 1120. The upper and lower main bodies 1120 and 1140 are positioned to face each other in a vertical direction. The upper body 1120 and the lower body 1140 are combined with each other to form the processing space 1110 therein. The upper and lower main bodies 1120 and 1140 are positioned such that central axes of the upper and lower main bodies 1120 and 1140 are aligned in a vertical direction. The lower body 1140 may have the same diameter as the upper body 1120. That is, the upper end of the lower body 1140 may be positioned to correspond to at least the lower end of the upper body 1120.

One of the upper and lower bodies 1120 and 1140 is moved to the open and blocking positions by the lifting member 1130, and the other is fixed. Embodiments of the inventive concept describe that the position of the lower body 1140 is fixed and the upper body 1120 is moved. The open position is a position where the upper body 1120 and the lower body 1140 are spaced apart from each other to open the processing space 1110. The blocking position is a position in which the processing space 1110 is sealed with respect to the outside by the lower body 1140 and the upper body 1120.

A seal member 1160 is positioned between the upper body 1120 and the lower body 1140. The sealing member 1160 allows the process space to be sealed from the outside when the upper and lower bodies 1120 and 1140 are in contact. The sealing member 1160 may be provided in an annular ring shape. The sealing member 1160 may be fixedly coupled to an upper end of the lower body 1140.

The support unit 1300 supports the substrate "W" in the process space. The support unit 1300 includes a support plate 1320, lift pins 1340, support pins 1360, and a cooling unit 900.

Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating the supporting unit of fig. 7. Referring to fig. 7 and 8, the support plate 1320 is provided in a circular plate shape. The upper surface of the support plate 1320 has a larger diameter than the substrate "W".

The lift hole 1322 is disposed around the center of the upper surface of the support plate 1320, when viewed from above. Each of the lift holes 1322 is arranged to be spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction.

The lift pins 1340 move the substrate "W" up and down on the support plate 1320. A plurality of lift pins 1340 are provided, and each lift pin 1340 is provided in the shape of a pin facing in the vertical direction. A lift pin 1340 is located in each lift hole 1322. A drive member (not shown) moves each lift pin 1340 between an upward movement position and a downward movement position. The driving member (not shown) may be a cylinder.

The support pins 1360 prevent the substrate "W" from directly contacting the seating surface of the support plate 1320. The support pin 1360 is provided in the shape of a pin having a longitudinal direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lift pin 1340. A plurality of support pins 1360 are provided. Each support pin 1360 may be fixedly mounted on the support plate 1320. A support pin 1360 protrudes upward from the support plate 1320. The upper end of the support pin 1360 has a contact surface directly contacting the bottom surface of the substrate "W", and the contact surface of the support pin 1360 may have an upwardly convex shape. Accordingly, a contact area between the support pins 1360 and the substrate "W" may be minimized.

The guide 1380 guides the substrate "W" such that the substrate "W" is in a normal position. The guide 1380 has a diameter greater than that of the substrate "W". The inner surface of the guide 1380 is inclined downward as it approaches the central axis of the support plate 1320. Accordingly, the substrate "W" slides down along the inclined surface of the guide 1380 to a normal position. In addition, the guide 1380 may prevent air from flowing between the substrate "W" and the support plate 1320.

The heater member 1400 heats the substrate "W" placed on the support plate 1320. The heater member 1400 is positioned under the substrate "W" placed on the support plate 1320. The heater member 1420 includes a plurality of heaters 1420. The heater 1420 is located inside the support plate 1320.

The heater 1420 heats different areas of the support surface. When viewed from above, the heater 1420 may define a plurality of heating zones in the support plate 1320. The temperature of each heater 1420 is independently adjustable. For example, the heating zone may be 15. The temperature of each heating region is measured by a measuring member (not shown). The heater 1420 may be a printed pattern or a heating wire. The heater member 1400 may heat the support plate 1320 to a process temperature.

The exhaust unit 1500 forcibly exhausts the inside of the processing space 1110. The discharge unit 1500 includes a discharge duct 1530 and a guide plate 1540. The discharge duct 1530 has a duct shape in which a longitudinal direction is perpendicular to a vertical direction. The discharge duct 1530 is positioned to penetrate the upper wall of the upper body 1120. According to an example, the drain conduit 1530 may be positioned to be inserted into the drain hole 1122. That is, the lower end of the exhaust duct 1530 is located in the processing space 1110, and the upper end of the exhaust duct 1530 is located outside the processing space 1110. The pressure reducing part 1560 is connected to an upper end of the discharge duct 1530. The decompression part 1560 decompresses the discharge pipe 1530. Accordingly, the gas of the process space 1110 is sequentially exhausted through the through-holes 1452 of the guide plate and the exhaust duct 1530.

The guide plate 1540 has a plate shape having a through hole 1452 at the center. The guide plate 1540 has a circular plate shape extending from the lower end of the discharge duct 1530. The guide plate 1540 is fixedly coupled to the discharge duct 1530 such that the through hole 1452 and the inside of the discharge duct 1530 communicate with each other. The guide plate 1540 faces the support surface of the support plate 1320 at the upper end of the support plate 1320. The guide plate 1540 is positioned higher than the lower body 1140. According to an example, the guide plate 1540 may be positioned at a height corresponding to the upper body 1120. When viewed from above, the guide plate 1540 is positioned to overlap the inflow hole 1124, and the diameter of the guide plate is spaced apart from the inner surface of the upper body 1120. Accordingly, a gap is formed between the side end of the guide plate 1540 and the inner surface of the upper body 1120, and the gap is provided in a flow path through which the air current introduced from the inflow hole 1124 is supplied to the substrate "W".

Hereinafter, referring to fig. 9 and 10, the cooling unit will be described. Fig. 9 is a sectional view illustrating the supporting unit of fig. 7, and fig. 10 is a plan view of the cooling plate 920 when viewed from above.

Referring to fig. 9 and 10, the cooling unit 900 includes a cooling plate 920, a driver 970, and a gas supply member 950. The cooling unit 900 cools the support plate 1320. The support plate 1320 is provided with a plate-shaped heater member 1400 including a heater 1420.

The cooling plate 920 is spaced apart from the heater member 1400. The nozzle 952 is provided to the cooling plate 920, and supplies cooling gas to the bottom surface of the heater member 1400. In one example, the plurality of nozzles 952 may be arranged to be spaced apart in a circumferential direction of the cooling plate 920.

The driver 970 moves the cooling plate 920. In one example, the driver 970 is provided in a motor. Alternatively, the driver 970 is provided in the cylinder.

The driver 970 moves the cooling plate 920 between a standby position spaced a first distance from the heater member 1400 and a cooling position spaced a second distance from the heater member 1400. The second distance is set to a shorter distance than the first distance.

When viewed from above, the cooling plate 920 is positioned to overlap the heater member 1400 in the standby position and the cooling position. Accordingly, the cooling plate 920 is provided to cool the entire surface of the heater member 1400.

In one example, the cooling plate 920 is formed with a mounting groove 953 on an upper surface thereof, and a nozzle 952 is disposed in the mounting groove 953. In one example, a plurality of mounting slots 953 are provided. For example, a plurality of mounting grooves 953 are provided along the circumferential direction of the cooling plate 920.

The gas supply member 950 supplies cooling gas into the mounting groove 953. The gas supply member 950 includes a gas supply line 954, a control valve 956, and a nozzle 952. The gas supply member 950 supplies cooling gas into the nozzle 952. In one example, the gas is air. The gas supply line 954 supplies a cooling gas to the nozzle 952. The control valve 956 controls the flow rate of the cooling gas supplied from a gas supply source (not shown) to the gas supply line 954.

Hereinafter, a method for processing a substrate of the inventive concept will be described with reference to fig. 11 to 13. Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for processing a substrate, and fig. 12 and 13 are cross-sectional views illustrating movement of a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Referring to fig. 11, the method for processing a substrate of the inventive concept includes a first heating step S10, a cooling step S20, and a second heating step S30. Examples of the inventive concept include a cooling step S20 for processing a previous substrate to a first temperature in a first heating step S10, and for processing a subsequent substrate to a second temperature in a second heating step S30.

In the first heating step S10, the support plate 1320 heats the substrate at a first temperature. At this time, as shown in fig. 2, referring to fig. 12, the cooling plate 920 is located at a standby position spaced apart from the heater member 1400 by a first distance.

Thereafter, in the cooling step S20, a cooling gas is supplied to the support plate 1320 to cool the support plate 1320 to a predetermined temperature. In the cooling step S20, the cooling gas is supplied to the bottom surface of the heater member 1400 through the gas supply member 950, and the temperature of the support plate 1320 is lowered. The cooling step S20 is continued until the temperature of the support plate 1320 becomes a second temperature lower than the first temperature.

For the cooling step S20, the cooling plate 920 is moved toward the heater member 1400. Referring to fig. 13, in the first heating step, the cooling plate 920 is located at a cooling position spaced apart from the heater member 1400 by a second distance. The second distance is set shorter than the first distance.

After the cooling step S20, the second heating step S30 starts. In the second heating step S30, the support plate 1320 processes the substrate at a second temperature lower than the first temperature. For the second heating step S30, the cooling plate 920 returns to the standby position spaced apart from the heater member 1400 by the first distance.

According to the inventive concept, since the cooling unit 900 is maintained at a predetermined distance from the heater member 1400 in the first heating step S20 or the second heating step S30, when the substrate is heated, the influence of the cooling unit 900 with respect to the heater member 1400 may be reduced, thereby minimizing the heat loss of the heater member 1400.

According to the inventive concept, since the cooling plate 920 is disposed close to the heater member 1400 in the cooling step S20, it is easy to maintain the flow rate of the cooling gas discharged from the nozzle 952.

According to the inventive concept, since the cooling plate 920 is disposed close to the heater member 1400 in the cooling step S20, the cooling gas may be directly supplied from the nozzle 952 to the bottom surface of the heater member 1400, thereby shortening the cooling time.

Referring again to fig. 2 and 3, a plurality of buffer chambers 3800 is provided. A portion 3802 of the buffer chamber 3800 is disposed between the indexing module 20 and the transfer chamber 3400. Hereinafter, these buffer chambers 3802 are referred to as front buffers 3802. A plurality of front bumpers 3802 are provided, and the plurality of front bumpers 3802 are stacked on each other in a vertical direction. Other buffer chambers 3804 of the buffer chambers 3800 are disposed between the transfer chamber 3400 and the interface module 40. Hereinafter, these buffer chambers 3804 are referred to as rear buffers 3804. A plurality of rear bumpers 3804 are provided, and the plurality of rear bumpers 3804 are stacked on each other in a vertical direction. The front cushion 3802 and the rear cushion 3804 temporarily store a plurality of substrates "W". The substrate "W" stored in the front buffer 3802 is introduced and taken out by the index robot 2200 and the transfer robot 3422. The substrate "W" stored in the rear buffer 3804 is introduced and taken out by the transfer robot 3422 and the first robot 4602.

The developing block 30b has a heat treatment chamber 3200, a transfer chamber 3400 and a liquid treatment chamber 3600. Since the heat treatment chamber 3200, the transfer chamber 3400 and the liquid treatment chamber 3600 in the developing block 30b have substantially similar structures and arrangements to those of the heat treatment chamber 3200, the transfer chamber 3400 and the liquid treatment chamber 3600 in the coating block 30a, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. However, all the liquid process chambers 3600 in the developing block 30b supply the same developing liquid, so that the substrate "W" is subjected to the developing process.

The interface module 40 connects the process module 30 with the external exposure apparatus 50. The interface module 40 includes an interface frame 4100, an additional process chamber 4200, an interface buffer 4400, and a transfer member 4600.

The upper end of the interface frame 4100 may be disposed in a fan filter unit that creates a descending airflow therein. The additional process chamber 4200, the interface buffer 4400, and the transfer member 4600 are disposed inside the interface frame 4100. The additional process chamber 4200 may perform a predetermined additional process before the substrate "W" that has been processed in the coating block 30a is transferred to the exposure apparatus 50. Alternatively, the additional process chambers 4200 may perform predetermined additional processes before the substrate "W" that has been processed by the exposure apparatus 50 is transferred to the developing block 30 b. According to one example, the additional process may be an edge exposure process of exposing an edge region of the substrate "W", an upper surface cleaning process of cleaning an upper surface of the substrate "W", or a cleaning process of cleaning a bottom surface of the substrate "W". A plurality of additional process chambers 4200 may be provided, which may be disposed on top of each other. The additional process chambers 4200 may all be configured to perform the same process. Alternatively, some additional process chambers 4200 may be provided to perform different processes.

The interface buffer 4400 provides a space where the substrate "W" temporarily remains during the transfer. The substrate "W" is transferred between the coating block 30a, the additional process chamber 4200, the exposure apparatus 50, and the developing block 30 b. A plurality of interface bumpers 4400 may be provided, and a plurality of interface bumpers 4400 may be provided to be stacked on each other.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept, the additional process chamber 4200 may be disposed on one side of the transfer chamber 3400 based on the longitudinal direction of the transfer chamber 3400, and the interface buffer 4400 may be disposed on the other side of the transfer chamber 3400.

The transfer member 4600 transfers the substrate "W" between the coating block 30a, the additional process chamber 4200, the exposure apparatus 50, and the developing block 30 b. The transfer member 4600 may be provided in one or more robot arms. According to one example, the transfer member 4600 has a first robot 4602 and a second robot 4606. The first robot 4602 transfers the substrate "W" between the coating block 30a, the additional process chamber 4200, and the interface buffer 4400, and the interface robot 4606 transfers the substrate "W" between the interface buffer 4400 and the exposure apparatus 50, and the second robot 4604 may be configured to transfer the substrate "W" between the interface buffer 4400 and the developing block 30 b.

The first and second robot arms 4602 and 4606 may include hands on which the substrates "W" are respectively placed, and the hand 3420 may be provided to be movable forward and backward, and rotatable about the third direction 16, and movable in the third direction 16.

Hands of the index robot 2200, the first robot 4602, and the second robot 4606 may all be provided in the same shape as the hands 3420 of the transfer robots 3422, 3424. Alternatively, the hand of the robot which directly transfers the substrate "W" using the transfer plate 3240 of the heat treatment chamber is provided in the same shape as the hand 3420 of the transfer robot 3422, 3424, and the hands of the other robots may be provided in different shapes.

According to an example, the index robot 2200 may be provided to directly transfer the substrate "W" using the heating apparatus 3230 of the front heat treatment chamber 3200 provided in the coating block 30 a.

In addition, a transfer robot 3422 provided in the coating block 30a and the developing block 30b may be provided to directly transfer the substrate "W" using a transfer plate 3420 located in the heat treatment chamber 3200.

The processing blocks of the above substrate processing apparatus 1 are described as performing a coating processing process and a developing processing process. However, the substrate processing apparatus 1 may include only the index module 20 and the processing block 37 without an interface module. In this case, the process block 37 performs only the coating process, and the film applied on the substrate "W" may be a spin-on hard mask (SOH).

The above description is for illustrative purposes. Moreover, the foregoing describes exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts, and the inventive concepts may be used in various other combinations, modifications, and environments. That is, modifications and adaptations to the present inventive concept may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive concept disclosed in the specification, the scope equivalent to the written disclosure, and/or the skill or knowledge of those skilled in the art. The written embodiments describe the best mode for achieving the technical spirit of the inventive concept and various changes can be made in the detailed application field and purpose of the inventive concept. Therefore, the detailed description of the inventive concept is not intended to limit the inventive concept to the disclosed embodiments. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover other embodiments.