Substrate treatment apparatus with virtual dummy wafer function and substrate treatment method
Examples of a substrate treatment apparatus includes a chamber, a substrate support stage located inside the chamber, an elevation device that moves the substrate support stage up and down, a gate valve provided between the chamber and an adjacent chamber that is adjacent to the chamber, and a chamber state controller including a processor and a memory configured to cause the processor to execute a program stored in the memory, or including a dedicated circuitry, to move the elevation device and the gate valve before a next substrate treatment is performed in the chamber, in a state in which no substrate is present in the chamber.
1 . A substrate treatment apparatus comprising:
a chamber;
a substrate support stage located inside the chamber, the substrate support stage configured to move up and down;
a gate valve provided between the chamber and an adjacent chamber that is adjacent to the chamber; and
a chamber state controller including a processor and a memory configured to cause the processor to execute a program stored in the memory, or including a dedicated circuitry, to:
move the substrate support stage and the gate valve before a next substrate treatment is performed in the chamber, in a state in which no substrate is present in the chamber;
execute a dummy pre-recipe, a dummy main recipe and a dummy post-recipe that have the same contents as those of a pre-recipe, a main recipe and a post-recipe, wherein the dummy pre-recipe, the dummy main recipe, and the dummy post-recipe are carried out before the next substrate treatment is performed in the chamber and in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber, and wherein the pre-recipe, the main recipe, and the post-recipe are used in the next substrate treatment, and
execute an operation of moving the substrate support stage and moving the gate valve in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber is performed between processes of the dummy pre-recipe and the dummy main recipe, and between processes of the dummy main recipe and the dummy post-recipe.
2 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when an idle state in which the substrate is not treated in the chamber exceeds a predetermined period, the chamber state controller moves the substrate support stage and moves the gate valve, in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber.
3 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the chamber state controller moves the substrate support stage and moves the gate valve, in the same way as the movement of the substrate support stage associated with the next substrate treatment and the movement of the gate valve associated with the next substrate treatment, in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber.
4 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the chamber state controller executes an operation of moving the substrate support stage and moving the gate valve a plurality of times, in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber.
5 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a wafer transport robot in the adjacent chamber, wherein
the chamber state controller prohibits the wafer transport robot from moving in a state in which no substrate is carried by the wafer transfer robot, when moving the substrate support stage and moving the gate valve, in the state in which no substrate is present in the chamber.
6 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a QCM that has four chambers, where the chamber is one of constituent elements; and a rotation arm provided in the QCM, wherein
the chamber state controller rotates and moves the rotation arm up and down, before the next substrate treatment is performed in the chamber.
7 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the chamber state controller rotates and moves the rotation arm up and down, in the same way as the movement of the rotation arm associated with the next substrate treatment, before the next substrate treatment is performed in the chamber.
8 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the pre-recipe is a recipe for performing pre-coating treatment or cleaning treatment, and
the post-recipe is a recipe for performing cleaning treatment or a process for temperature maintenance.
9 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the main recipe is a recipe for forming an epitaxial film on a substrate.
10 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a heater for raising a temperature in the chamber.
11 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the main recipe is a recipe for subjecting the substrate to PECVD, PEALD or thermal ALD.
12 . The substrate treatment apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a stage heater that raises a temperature of the substrate support stage.