METHOD FOR COOLING OBJECT TO BE PROCESSED, AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING OBJECT TO BE PROCESSED
Provided is a method for cooling an object to be processed. The cooling method is provided with a step of placing the object in a heated state on a stage, and a step of cooling the object by blowing a cooling gas to a region the near-center region of the object placed on the stage, including the center thereof.
Latest Tokyo Electron Limited Patents:
The present invention relates to a cooling method of a target object and an object processing apparatus capable of performing the cooling method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn a manufacturing process of, e.g., semiconductor devices, a high temperature process such as film formation and thermal treatment is performed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer”) as a target object. In order to unload the wafer that has been processed at a high temperature from a processing apparatus, it is necessary to cool the wafer to a secure temperature.
Conventionally, cooling of the wafer is performed in a load-lock chamber that performs pressure conversion between a depressurized state and an atmospheric pressure state, and the wafer is naturally cooled when the depressurized state is converted into the atmospheric pressure state (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication Application No. 2001-319885).
However, in a case where the wafer is naturally cooled while the depressurized state is converted into the atmospheric pressure state, a decrease in temperature of the wafer is started from an edge of the wafer. Accordingly, a temperature difference is generated between the edge and the center of the wafer.
Recently, the wafer has a larger diameter and a temperature difference between the edge and the center tends to increase. Moreover, with the trend of miniaturization of devices, it is strictly required to prevent deformation of the wafer such as warpage of the wafer caused by the temperature difference between the edge and the center.
Accordingly, currently, the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state is performed slowly to suppress an increase in the temperature difference between the edge and the center of the wafer.
By this technique, it is possible to suppress an increase in the temperature difference between the edge and the center and prevent the wafer from being warped or cracked.
However, since the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state is performed slowly, a throughput may be reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a cooling method of a target object capable of improving a throughput while preventing the warpage or crack of the wafer from being generated to exceed the allowable range, and an object processing apparatus capable of performing the cooling method.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling method of a target object including placing the object in a heated state on a stage; and cooling the object placed on the stage by injecting a cooling gas to a near-center region of the object including a center thereof.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an object processing apparatus including a load-lock module for performing pressure conversion between a depressurized state and an atmospheric pressure state; a stage which is provided in the load-lock module and on which a target object is placed; and a cooling gas injection unit which is provided in the load-lock module to face the stage and injects a cooling gas to the object placed on the stage.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof. Further, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.
As illustrated in
The object processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is a cluster tool type (multi chamber type) semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
In this embodiment, the processing unit 2 includes two processing modules (PM) (processing modules 21a and 21b) for performing a process on the wafer W. Each of the processing modules 21a and 21b can be depressurized to a predetermined vacuum level. For example, in the processing modules 21a and 21b, a PVD process, e.g., a sputtering process is performed at a high vacuum level (low pressure), and a specific metal or metal compound film is formed on a target substrate such as a semiconductor wafer W. The processing modules 21a and 21b are connected to one transfer module (TM) 22 via gate valves G1 and G2, respectively.
The loading/unloading unit 3 includes a loading/unloading module (LM) 31. The loading/unloading module 31 is configured such that an inner pressure thereof is adjustable to an atmospheric pressure, or near-atmospheric pressure, e.g., a slightly positive pressure compared to the outside air pressure. In this embodiment, the loading/unloading module 31 has a rectangular shape having long sides and short sides perpendicular to the long sides in its plan view. One of the long sides of the loading/unloading module 31 is adjacent to the processing unit 2. In this embodiment, it is supposed that the long sides are extended in a Y direction, the short sides are extended in an X direction, and a height direction is a Z direction.
The loading/unloading module 31 includes load ports LP on which carriers C for accommodating wafers W therein are attached. In this embodiment, three load ports 32a, 32b and 32c for target substrates are arranged in the Y direction on the long side of the loading/unloading module 31 opposite to the processing unit 2. Although the number of the load ports is three in this embodiment, the number of the load ports may be varied without being limited thereto. Shutters (not shown) are respectively provided at the load ports 32a, 32b and 32c. When the carriers C storing the wafers W or empty carriers C are attached on the load ports 32a, 32b and 32c, shutters (not shown) are opened such that the carriers C can communicate with the loading/unloading module 31 while preventing infiltration of outside air.
Load-lock modules LLM, e.g., two load-lock modules 51a and 51b in this embodiment, are provided between the processing unit 2 and the loading/unloading unit 3. Each of the load-lock modules 51a and 51b is configured such that an inner pressure thereof is switchable between a specific vacuum level and an atmospheric pressure or near-atmospheric pressure. The load-lock modules 51a and 51b are connected to one side of the loading/unloading module 31 opposite to the load ports 32a, 32b and 32c via respective gate valves G3 and G4. The load-lock modules 51a and 51b are also connected to two of the other sides of the transfer module 22 than two sides connected to the processing modules 21a and 21b via respective gate valves G5 and G6.
The load-lock modules 51a and 51b communicate with the loading/unloading module 31 by opening the respective gate valves G3 and G4, and are separated from the loading/unloading module 31 by closing the respective gate valves G3 and G4. Further, the load-lock modules 51a and 51b communicate with the transfer module 22 by opening the respective gate valves G5 and G6, and are separated from the transfer module 22 by closing the respective gate valves G5 and G6.
A loading/unloading mechanism 35 is provided in the loading/unloading module 31. The loading/unloading mechanism 35 performs loading/unloading of the wafer W into/from the carriers C for target substrates. Moreover, the loading/unloading mechanism 35 performs loading/unloading of the wafer W into/from the load-lock modules 51a and 51b. The loading/unloading mechanism 35 has, e.g., two multi-joint arms 36a and 36b and is movable on a rail 37 extending in the Y direction. Hands 38a and 38b are respectively attached to leading ends of the multi-joint arms 36a and 36b. The wafer W is loaded on the hand 38a or 38b when the above-described loading/unloading of the wafer W is performed.
Provided in the transfer module 22 is a transfer mechanism 24 for performing transfer of the wafer W between the processing modules 21a and 21b and the load-lock modules 51a and 51b. The transfer mechanism 24 is located at an approximately central portion in the transfer module 22. The transfer mechanism 24 has, e.g., a plurality of rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arms. In this embodiment, the transfer mechanism 24 has, e.g., two transfer arms 24a and 24b. Holders 25a and 25b are respectively attached to leading ends of the transfer arms 24a and 24b. The wafer W is supported by the holder 25a or 25b when the transfer of the wafer W is performed between the processing modules 21a and 21b and the load-lock modules 51a and 51b as described above.
The control unit 4 includes a process controller 41, a user interface 42 and a storage unit 43.
The process controller 41 has a microprocessor (computer).
The user interface 42 includes a keyboard through which commands are inputted, a display for displaying an operation status of the object processing apparatus 1 and the like in order to allow an operator to manage the object processing apparatus 1.
The storage unit 43 stores control programs for performing a process in the object processing apparatus 1 under control of the process controller 41, various types of data, and recipes for performing a process in the object processing apparatus 1 under processing conditions. The recipes are stored in a storage medium of the storage unit 43.
The storage medium may be a computer-readable medium, e.g., a hard disk, or a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD and a flash memory. Further, the recipes may be appropriately transmitted from another apparatus via, e.g., a dedicated line. Upon receipt of a command from the user interface 42, the process controller 41 retrieves a desired recipe from the storage unit 43, and the process controller 41 executes a process corresponding to the retrieved recipe, so that a desired process is performed on the wafer W in object processing apparatus 1 under the control of the process controller 41.
As illustrated in
At a ceiling wall 53 of the load-lock module 51a or 51b, there is provided a cooling gas injection unit, e.g., a shower head 54 in this embodiment. The shower head 54 is provided to face the cooling stage 52. The wafer W is mounted on the cooling stage 52 such that the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center of the shower head 54.
A cooling gas is supplied into the shower head 54 from a cooling gas supply mechanism 60 through a flow control valve 61. For example, a rare gas or an inert gas such as N2 gas, He gas and Ar gas may be used as the cooling gas. A plurality of cooling gas injection holes 54a are formed on a surface of the shower head 54 facing the cooling stage 52.
Further, in this embodiment, a diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 is set to be smaller than a diameter ΦW of the wafer W. By setting the diameter ΦS to be smaller than the diameter ΦW, the cooling gas 70 can be locally injected to a near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof instead of being injected uniformly to the entire surface of the wafer W.
A gas exhaust port 56 is formed at a bottom wall 55 of the load-lock module 51a or 51b. The gas exhaust port 56 is connected to a gas exhaust unit 62 for evacuating the load-lock module 51a or 51b to a predetermined vacuum level.
Further, a gas inlet port 57 is formed at the bottom wall 55 of the load-lock module 51a or 51b. The gas inlet port 57 is connected to the cooling gas supply mechanism 60 through a flow control valve 63 in this embodiment. The inner pressure of the load-lock module 51a or 51b may be increased to a pressure approximately equal to the inner pressure of the loading/unloading module 31, e.g., an atmospheric pressure or a pressure slightly lower than the inner pressure of the loading/unloading module 31 by introducing the cooling gas from the gas inlet port 57 and the shower head 54.
As illustrated in
The in-surface temperature difference generated in the wafer W will be described in detail with reference to
In
The wafer W is exposed to the air at a time, so that the state of the wafer W is changed from the depressurized state of
As illustrated in
However, since the decrease in the temperature of the wafer W is started from the edge during the cooling, the temperature of the center decreases at the slowest rate. In particular, this tendency appears remarkably in the cooling after the wafer W is exposed to the air at a time, i.e., the wafer W is subjected to the natural cooling. Accordingly, as shown in
In order to prevent the warpage or crack from being generated, pressure conversion is slowly performed from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state, and rapid decrease in the temperature of the edge is suppressed during the cooling to reduce the in-surface temperature difference (see the curve II of
Accordingly, in this embodiment, the cooling gas 70 is locally injected to the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof by using the shower head 54. By this configuration, it is possible to control the temperature decrease in the near-center region of the wafer W to be equivalent to the temperature decrease in the near-edge region of the wafer W.
The spray of the cooling gas 70, i.e., the cooling of the wafer W is performed when the pressure conversion is performed from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state in the load-lock module 51a or 51b. In this case, the cooling gas may be also supplied from the gas inlet port 57 into the load-lock module 51a or 51b to perform the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state.
Further, since the cooling stage 52 has the cooling mechanism 52a for cooling the wafer W in this embodiment, the cooling of the wafer W is performed by using the cooling gas 70 and the cooling mechanism 52a.
As described above, in this embodiment, the cooling gas 70 is locally sprayed to the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof to accelerate the decrease in the temperature of the near-center region of the wafer W. Accordingly, it is possible to cool the wafer W at the faster rate compared to a case where the pressure conversion is slowly performed from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state while the rapid decrease in the temperature of the edge of the wafer W is suppressed during the cooling.
Further, the temperature decrease in the near-center region of the wafer W is controlled to be equivalent to the temperature decrease in the near-edge region of the wafer W. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the wafer W from being warped or cracked to exceed the allowable range.
FIRST EXAMPLEAs shown in
Further, when the wafer W is mounted on the stage 52 such that the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center of the shower head 54, the flow velocity of the cooling gas 70 can be maximized at the center of the wafer W. Further, the flow velocity distribution of the cooling gas 70 may be formed in such a way that the flow velocity is high in the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof and becomes lower as it goes from the near-center region toward the edge of the wafer W.
By such flow velocity distribution, it is possible to efficiently cool the center of the wafer W in which the temperature decreases at the slowest rate, and reduce a cooling effect as it goes toward the edge of the wafer W in which the temperature decreases at the faster rate. Accordingly, it is possible to easily allow the temperature of the center of the wafer W to approximate the temperature of the edge of the wafer W.
Next, an example of setting the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 will be described.
For example, the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 may be set according to the in-surface temperature difference of the wafer W before the start of cooling.
For example, in case of reducing the temperature of a region of the wafer W having an in-surface temperature difference of 20° C. or more, the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 may have a size corresponding to the region having an in-surface temperature difference of 20° C. or more.
It goes without saying that the region of the wafer W, the temperature of which is intended to be reduced, may be varied without being limited to the region having an in-surface temperature difference of 20° C. or more. As for the wafer W that has the diameter ΦW of 300 mm and is heated to a temperature of about 500° C., for example, in a case where the region of the wafer W, the temperature of which is intended to be reduced, is a region having an in-surface temperature difference of 15° C. or more, it is preferable that the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 is set to be 200 mm as shown in
In the same way, the wafer W may be mounted on the stage 52 such that the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center of the shower head 54. In this case, the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof corresponds to a region within an area having a radius of 100 mm from the center of the wafer W.
Further, in the wafer W that has the diameter ΦW of 300 mm and is heated to a temperature of about 500° C., for example, in a case where the region of the wafer W, the temperature of which is intended to be reduced, is a region having an in-surface temperature difference of 22° C. or more, it is preferable that the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 is set to be 100 mm as shown in
That is, the diameter ΦS of the shower head 54 may be set based on the diameter ΦW of the wafer W and the size of the region, the temperature of which is intended to be reduced. Further, the size of the region, the temperature of which is intended to be reduced, may be determined based on the in-surface temperature difference generated in the wafer W while the wafer W is heated.
It is not limited to the wafer W having the diameter ΦW of 300 mm, and the wafer W may have the diameter ΦW of 450 mm.
SECOND EXAMPLEFurther, the flow velocity distribution represented by the curve III of
Further, in case of using the shower head 54, the inside of the shower head 54 may be divided into a plurality of spaces, e.g., two or more concentric spaces such as spaces 54c and 54d as shown in
In case of providing the concentric spaces 54c and 54d, the flow velocity of the cooling gas 70 injected from the space 54c including the center of the shower head 54 may be set to be higher than the flow velocity of the cooling gas 70 injected from the space 54d provided outside the space 54c by varying a flow rate of the cooling gas supplied to the space 54c, for example. That is, the cooling gas 70 is sprayed at the higher flow velocity to a portion particularly close to the center in the near-center region including the center of the wafer W, thereby further improving cooling efficiency of the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof.
In order to control the flow velocity of the cooling gas 70, a flow velocity controller, e.g., a speed controller, may be provided in a supply path of the cooling gas, so that the flow velocity of the injected cooling gas 70 can be controlled by using the speed controller.
Further, if the flow velocity of the injected cooling gas 70 is defined as follows:
Flow velocity of cooling gas=Flow rate of cooling gas/total area of cooling gas injection holes 54a, the flow velocity of the injected cooling gas 70 can be controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling gas 70. In this case, a flow rate controller, e.g., a mass flow controller, may be provided in the supply path of the cooling gas, so that the flow rate of the cooling gas can be adjusted by using the mass flow controller.
Further, in a case where the inside of the shower head 54 is divided into a plurality of spaces, e.g., the spaces 54c and 54d, a first cooling gas having a high cooling effect may be introduced into the space 54c including the center of the shower head 54, and a second cooling gas having a cooling effect lower than that of the first cooling gas may be introduced into the space 54d provided outside the space 54c. For example, He gas and N2 gas may be used as the first gas and the second gas, respectively.
Further, when the first gas is He gas and the second gas is N2 gas, the flow velocity of the He gas may be set to be higher than the flow velocity of the N2 gas, thereby further improving cooling efficiency of the near-center region of the wafer W including the center thereof.
In accordance with the shower head 54 shown in
Further, in accordance with the shower head 54 shown in
In a case where the diameter of the shower head 54 is increased to be equal to the diameter of the wafer W, three or more spaces such as concentric spaces 54d, 54e, 54f and 54g may be formed outside the space 54c including the center of the shower head 54. The flow velocities of the cooling gases injected from the spaces 54d, 54e, 54f and 54g may be sequentially reduced in an outward direction to obtain the flow velocity distribution represented by the curve III of
In order to control the flow velocity of the injected cooling gas 70, as described in the third example, a flow velocity controller such as a speed controller, or a flow rate controller, e.g., a mass flow controller, may be provided in the supply path of the cooling gas, so that the flow velocity or the flow rate of the injected cooling gas 70 can be controlled by using the flow velocity controller or the flow rate controller.
Further, a first cooling gas (e.g., He gas) having a high cooling effect may be introduced into the space 54c including the center of the shower head 54 or the space 54c including the center and the space 54d adjacent to the space 54c, and a second cooling gas (e.g., N2 gas) having a cooling effect lower than that of the first cooling gas may be introduced into the spaces 54d to 54g provided outside the space 54c, or the spaces 54e to 54g provided outside the space 54d.
FIFTH EXAMPLEFurther, the temperature decrease of the wafer W is closely dependent on a distance D between the shower head 54 and the wafer W. For example, if the distance D between the shower head 54 and the wafer W is short, the cooling effect is high, and if the distance D is long, the cooling effect is low. The temperature decrease of the wafer W may be controlled by using this tendency.
Accordingly, as shown in
In case of varying the distance between the shower head 54 and the wafer W, the structure capable of adjusting the vertical level of the stage 52 is used in the fifth example. However, as shown in
Also in the sixth example, it is possible to obtain an advantage of the fifth example by varying the distance D between the wafer W and the shower head 54.
SEVENTH EXAMPLEIn the first to sixth examples, one shower head 54 or one nozzle 54b is installed in the load-lock module 51a or 51b.
However, as shown in
The modification of the seventh example may be applied to any one of the second to sixth examples without being limited to the first example.
Modification Example of Object Processing ApparatusIn the first to seventh examples, the wafer W is cooled in the load-lock module 51a or 51b of the object processing apparatus 1.
However, as shown in
The target object may have a deformation point as a temperature at which rapid deformation occurs. For example, in a case where the target object is the wafer W and is made of silicon, a temperature of about 450° C. is the deformation point. The silicon wafer undergoes rapid deformation when it is heated to exceed the temperature of 450° C. from the temperature of 450° C. or less. On the other hand, the silicon wafer undergoes rapid deformation when it is cooled below the temperature of 450° C. from the temperature of 450° C. or more.
Accordingly, the above-described embodiment may be preferably applied to a cooling process performed after a silicon wafer serving as a target object is heated to a temperature of 450° C. or more.
Further, a physical upper limit of the heating temperature is a melting point of silicon that ranges from about 1410 to 1420° C. or less. Furthermore, a practical upper limit of the heating temperature in an actual process may be 900° C.
As described above, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a cooling method of a target object capable of improving a throughput while preventing the wafer from being warped or cracked to exceed the allowable range, and an object processing apparatus using the cooling method.
Although the present invention has been described using the embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto, and modifications may be appropriately made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Further, the above-described embodiment of the present invention is not the only embodiment.
For example, although the cooling stage 52 having the cooling mechanism 52a for cooling the wafer W is used in the above-described embodiment, the stage may not necessarily include the cooling mechanism 52a.
Further, in the aforementioned embodiment, the gas inlet port 57 is provided in the load-lock module 51a or 51b and, in the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state, the cooling gas is also introduced from the gas inlet port 57 to create an atmospheric pressure state.
However, the gas inlet port 57 may not be provided, and the introduction of the cooling gas from the gas inlet port 57 may not be performed in the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state. In this case, the pressure conversion from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state is performed only by the introduction of the cooling gas from the cooling gas injection unit, i.e., the shower head 54 or the nozzle 54b in this embodiment.
Further, the target object, e.g., the wafer W, after being heated is placed in a high depressurized state having a pressure of 1 Pa and then cooled until the depressurized state is converted into the atmospheric pressure state in the above-described embodiment. However, the cooling process may be performed even when the ambient pressure of the wafer W is not 1 Pa, for example, when the pressure state ranging from 1 to 70000 Pa is converted into the atmospheric pressure state (about 100000 Pa).
In the same way, the cooling process may be performed even when it is not converted into the atmospheric pressure state, for example, when it is converted into a pressure ranging from, e.g., 20000 Pa to an atmospheric pressure.
Further, the semiconductor wafer is used as an example of the target object and the silicon wafer is used as an example of the semiconductor wafer in the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention may be also applied to other semiconductor wafers such as SiC, GaAs, InP wafers without being limited to the silicon wafer.
Further, the target object may be a glass substrate used for the manufacture of a flat panel display (FPD) or solar cell without being limited to the semiconductor wafer. The present invention may be applied to any object capable of being heated.
In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a cooling method of a target object capable of improving a throughput while preventing the wafer from being warped or cracked to exceed the allowable range, and an object processing apparatus using the cooling method.
Claims
1. A cooling method of a target object, comprising:
- placing the object in a heated state on a stage; and
- cooling the object placed on the stage by spraying a cooling gas to a near-center region of the object including the center thereof.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the object that has been heated to a temperature of 450° C. or more is placed on the stage and cooled.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the near-center region of the object including the center thereof corresponds to a region within an area having a radius of 75 mm from the center of the object.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein a flow velocity of the cooling gas is maximized at the center of the object.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling gas includes a first cooling gas having a high cooling effect and a second cooling gas having a cooling effect lower than that of the first cooling gas,
- wherein the first cooling gas is sprayed to the near-center region of the object including the center thereof, and
- the second cooling gas is sprayed to a region outside the near-center region of the object.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object, and the object is cooled using the cooling gas and the cooling mechanism.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object, and the object is cooled using the cooling gas and the cooling mechanism.
8. The method of claim 5, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object, and the object is cooled using the cooling gas and the cooling mechanism.
9. An object processing apparatus comprising:
- a load-lock module which performs pressure conversion between a depressurized state and an atmospheric pressure state;
- a stage which is provided in the load-lock module and on which a target object is placed; and
- a cooling gas injection unit which is provided in the load-lock module to face the stage and sprays a cooling gas to the object placed on the stage.
10. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the object that has been heated to a temperature of 450° C. or more is placed on the stage and cooled.
11. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the cooling gas injection unit is a nozzle.
12. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the cooling gas injection unit is a shower head, and a diameter of the shower head is smaller than a diameter of the object.
13. The object processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the diameter of the shower head is equal to or smaller than 150 mm.
14. The object processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein an inside of the shower head is divided into a plurality of concentric spaces.
15. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the cooling gas injection unit is a shower head, and an inside of the shower head is divided into a plurality of concentric spaces.
16. The object processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the cooling gas includes a first cooling gas having a high cooling effect and a second cooling gas having a cooling effect lower than that of the first cooling gas,
- wherein the first cooling gas is supplied to one or more of the plurality of spaces, including the center of the shower head, and
- the second cooling gas is supplied to the other spaces outside the spaces to which the first cooling gas is supplied.
17. The object processing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the cooling gas includes a first cooling gas having a high cooling effect and a second cooling gas having a cooling effect lower than that of the first cooling gas,
- wherein the first cooling gas is supplied to one or more of the plurality of spaces, including the center of the shower head, and
- the second cooling gas is supplied to the other spaces outside the spaces to which the first cooling gas is supplied.
18. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object.
19. The object processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object.
20. The object processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object.
21. The object processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the stage has a cooling mechanism for cooling the object.
22. The object processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the load-lock module is provided between a loading/unloading module and a transfer module and performs the pressure conversion between the atmospheric pressure state and the depressurized state, the loading/unloading module serving to load/unload the object in the atmospheric pressure state, and the transfer module serving to transfer the object between a plurality of processing modules for performing a process on the object in the depressurized state, and
- wherein cooling of the object is performed when the pressure conversion is performed from the depressurized state to the atmospheric pressure state.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 30, 2010
Publication Date: Feb 23, 2012
Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited (Tokyo)
Inventors: Noritomo Tada (Yamanashi), Takashi Horiuchi (Yamanashi)
Application Number: 13/259,805
International Classification: F28F 7/00 (20060101);