Substrate processing apparatus
A substrate processing apparatus includes first and second polishing units for polishing a peripheral portion of a substrate, a primary cleaning unit for cleaning the substrate, a secondary cleaning and drying unit for drying the substrate cleaned in the primary cleaning unit, and a measurement unit for measuring the peripheral portion of the substrate. The measurement unit includes a mechanism for measurement required for polishing in the first and second polishing units, such as a diameter measurement mechanism, a cross-sectional shape measurement mechanism, or a surface condition measurement mechanism.
1. A substrate processing method comprising:
measuring a peripheral portion of a substrate in a measurement unit to obtain a measurement value, said measuring comprising measuring a cross-sectional shape of the peripheral portion of the substrate;
determining first polishing conditions for an upper inclined portion of a bevel portion, a lower inclined portion of the bevel portion, and a side surface of the bevel portion, said determining the first polishing conditions being based on the measurement value obtained by said measuring of the peripheral portion of the substrate in the measurement unit;
predicting a polished shape of the peripheral portion of the substrate by calculating an expected polishing amount based on the cross-sectional shape of the peripheral portion of the substrate and the first polishing conditions;
judging from the predicted polishing shape whether unpolished portions of the peripheral portion of the substrate will be produced at a first boundary between the upper inclined portion of the bevel portion and the side surface of the bevel portion and at a second boundary between the lower inclined portion of the bevel portion and the side surface of the bevel portion;
determining based on said judging that the unpolished portions will be produced; and
determining second polishing conditions for polishing the unpolished portions of the upper inclined portion of a bevel portion, the lower inclined portion of the bevel portion, the side surface of the bevel portion, the first boundary, and the second boundary, the second polishing conditions including the first polishing conditions and additional polishing conditions; and
polishing the peripheral portion of the substrate based on the second polishing conditions by pressing a polishing tape held by a polishing head against the peripheral portion of the substrate in a polishing unit.
2. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a first substrate and the polishing unit is a first polishing unit, said polishing comprising polishing the peripheral portion of the first substrate in the first polishing unit and polishing a peripheral portion of a second substrate in a second polishing unit in parallel to remove contamination and/or surface roughness of the peripheral portions of the first substrate and the second substrate.
3. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the first polishing unit comprises a bevel polishing device for polishing a bevel portion of the first substrate and a notch polishing device for polishing a notch of the first substrate.
4. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the polishing unit is a first polishing unit, said polishing comprising:
polishing the peripheral portion of the substrate in the first polishing unit to remove contamination and/or surface roughness of the peripheral portion of the substrate; and
polishing the peripheral portion of the substrate in a second polishing unit to remove contamination and/or surface roughness of the peripheral portion of the substrate after said polishing in the first polishing unit.
5. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 4 , wherein each of the first polishing unit and the second polishing unit comprises a bevel polishing device for polishing a bevel portion of the substrate and a notch polishing device for polishing a notch of the substrate.
6. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the peripheral portion of the substrate includes a bevel portion and a notch portion of the substrate.
7. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
cleaning the substrate in a cleaning unit after said polishing; and
drying the substrate in a drying unit after said cleaning.
8. The substrate processing method as recited in claim 7 , wherein said measuring further comprises pre-polishing measuring, said substrate processing method further comprising post-polishing measuring comprising measuring the peripheral portion of the substrate in the measurement unit after said drying.