CN213936152U - Load port and front end module capable of keeping cleanliness of wafers in load box - Google Patents
Load port and front end module capable of keeping cleanliness of wafers in load box Download PDFInfo
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- CN213936152U CN213936152U CN202121542538.7U CN202121542538U CN213936152U CN 213936152 U CN213936152 U CN 213936152U CN 202121542538 U CN202121542538 U CN 202121542538U CN 213936152 U CN213936152 U CN 213936152U
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Abstract
本实用新型实施例公开了一种能够保持装载盒内部晶圆洁净度的装载端口及前端模块，该装载端口包括：壁部，所述壁部形成有开口；与所述开口匹配的对接门，所述对接门用于对装载盒的装载盒门盖进行对接以将装载盒门盖从所述壁部的外侧移动到所述壁部的内侧；设置在所述壁部中的开口气孔列，所述开口气孔列包括设置在所述开口上方的水平开口气孔列和分别设置在所述开口两侧的第一竖直开口气孔列和第二竖直开口气孔列，所述开口气孔列用于以垂直于所述壁部的方式朝向所述壁部的外侧喷射保护性气体。
The embodiment of the utility model discloses a loading port and a front-end module capable of maintaining the cleanliness of wafers inside a loading box. The loading port includes: a wall part, the wall part is formed with an opening; a docking door matched with the opening, The docking door is used for docking the loading box door cover of the loading box to move the loading box door cover from the outer side of the wall portion to the inner side of the wall portion; the row of open air holes arranged in the wall portion, The open air hole row includes a horizontal open air hole row arranged above the opening and a first vertical open air hole row and a second vertical open air hole row respectively arranged on both sides of the opening, and the open air hole row is used for The protective gas is sprayed toward the outside of the wall portion in a manner perpendicular to the wall portion.
Description
Technical Field
The utility model relates to a semiconductor wafer production technical field especially relates to a can keep loading port and front end module of loading box inside wafer cleanliness factor.
Background
In the semiconductor field, wafers are used as key raw materials for chip processing, and are widely applied to the aspects of aerospace, automobiles, medical treatment, intelligent terminals and the like, so that the quality requirements on the wafers are higher and higher. In a wafer manufacturing process, a cassette is generally placed at a load port at the front end of a wafer manufacturing apparatus as a means for carrying wafers. At the same time, the cassette is also used to transport wafers between different processes and equipment. Since the load port infrastructure at the front end of a wafer fabrication facility is typically uniform, the impact of cassette and load port design on wafer quality is critical.
A conventional wafer fabrication facility may be generally divided into two parts, namely, a front-end transport module and a back-end process module. Referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, schematic views of a conventional wafer fabrication apparatus are shown. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the front end transport module of the wafer fabrication apparatus may include a load port 101 and a wafer transport chamber 107, wherein the load port 101 includes a transport tray 103, a load base 104, a control unit 105, a docking door 106, and an actuator 109. Typically, a cassette loaded with wafers is placed onto a transport tray located on the load pedestal 104. The transport tray carrying the cassette is controlled by the control unit 105 to move in the positive X-axis direction in the X-Y coordinate system as shown in fig. 1. Docking door 106 opens a cassette door cover 108 of cassette 102. The transmission device 109 moves the docking door 106 and the loading box door cover 108 to the positive direction of the X axis for 3-5 cm and then moves the docking door and the loading box door cover to the bottommost part (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). At this time, the cassette 102 loaded with the wafers is in an open state, and the robot in the wafer transfer chamber 107 transfers the wafers in the cassette 102 to the process chamber for wafer processing. When the wafer processing is complete, a robot located in the wafer transfer chamber 107 returns the wafer from the process chamber into the cassette 102. The transmission device 109 transmits the docking door 106 and the loading cassette door cover 108 back to the home position, the docking door 106 closes the loading cassette door cover 108, and the transfer tray 103 carries the loading cassette 102 and moves in the X-axis negative direction to the loading home position.
However, in the prior art, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, during the opening and closing of the cassette 102, a docking gap S is formed between the cassette 102 and the load port, such as the gap shown in fig. 3 having a length of 390mm and a width of 350 mm. At this time, contaminants in the air may enter the interior of the cassette 102 and the wafer processing chamber 107 through the gap S, thereby causing contamination, particularly, contamination to the wafers loaded in the interior of the cassette 102.
SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
In order to solve the above technical problem, embodiments of the present invention desirably provide a loading port and a front end module capable of maintaining cleanliness of a wafer inside a loading box, so as to avoid contamination of the inside of the loading box and the wafer loaded inside the loading box when a door of the loading box is opened.
The technical scheme of the utility model is realized like this:
in a first aspect, the present invention provides a load port capable of maintaining the cleanliness of a wafer inside a load cassette, the load port comprising:
a wall portion formed with an opening;
a docking door mated with the opening for docking a cassette door cover of a cassette to move the cassette door cover from an outside of the wall portion to an inside of the wall portion;
an open gas hole array provided in the wall portion, the open gas hole array including a horizontal open gas hole array provided above the opening and a first vertical open gas hole array and a second vertical open gas hole array provided on both sides of the opening, respectively, the open gas hole array being for ejecting a protective gas toward an outer side of the wall portion in a manner perpendicular to the wall portion.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a front end module, the front end module includes:
a wafer conveying device for conveying the wafers loaded in the loading box;
a housing enclosing the wafer transport apparatus;
at least one load port according to the first aspect provided in the housing to enclose the wafer conveyance device together with the housing.
The embodiment of the utility model provides a can keep loading port and front end module of loading box inside wafer cleanliness factor, jet protective gas through opening gas pocket row, can form the protective gas partition wall that surrounds the top surface and two sides of loading the box, be formed with the clearance between loading box and the wall portion and load the box door closure of loading the box and dock with the butt joint door and remove under the inboard condition of wall portion, outside pollution granule can't enter into inside the loading box via this clearance, consequently, the inside of loading the box and the wafer of storage in the inside of loading the box receive the pollution.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wafer manufacturing apparatus according to the prior art.
FIG. 2 is a left side view of the wafer manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the wafer fabrication apparatus of FIG. 1.
Fig. 4 is a schematic front view of a load port according to the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a left side schematic view of the load port of fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a front end module according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 4 in conjunction with fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention provides a load port 200 capable of maintaining wafer cleanliness inside a load cassette 102. it should be noted that two load ports 200 are shown in fig. 4, and the two load ports 200 are the same and are illustrated in a different manner for clarity of the drawings, and more specifically, the load port 200 on the left side is in an unloaded state and the load port 200 on the right side is in a loaded state in fig. 4, and the load ports 200 may include:
a wall portion 210, the wall portion 210 being formed with an opening 211;
a docking door 220 that mates with the opening 211, the docking door 220 for docking a cassette door cover 108 (shown in fig. 5) of a cassette 102 to move the cassette door cover 108 from an outside of the wall 210 (i.e., a right side of the wall 210 in fig. 5 or a side adjacent to the cassette 102) to an inside of the wall 210 (i.e., a left side of the wall 210 in fig. 5 or a side away from the cassette 102);
an open gas hole array 230 provided in the wall portion 210, the open gas hole array 230 comprising a horizontal open gas hole array 231 provided above the opening 211 and a first vertical open gas hole array 232 and a second vertical open gas hole array 233 provided on both sides of the opening 211, respectively, the open gas hole array 230 being for injecting a protective gas such as nitrogen gas towards the outside of the wall portion 210 in a perpendicular manner to the wall portion 210, as schematically shown by the arrow at the position of the loading cassette 102 in fig. 5.
By injecting the protective gas through the open gas hole row 230, a protective gas partition wall surrounding the top surface and both side surfaces of the cassette 102 may be formed, and in a case where a gap is formed between the cassette 102 and the wall portion 210 and the cassette door cover 108 of the cassette 102 is butted against the docking door 220 and moved to the inside of the wall portion 210, external contamination particles cannot enter the inside of the cassette 102 through the gap, thereby preventing the inside of the cassette 102 and the wafers stored in the inside of the cassette 102 from being contaminated.
Referring to fig. 2, since the support 1091 of the transmission 109 for supporting the docking door 106 needs to pass through the wall 1011 of the loading port 101 to receive the driving and guiding of the driving and guiding mechanism 1092 outside the wall 1011, a gap needs to be formed in the wall 1011 so that the support 1091 can move in the vertical direction along the gap, and in this case, after the loading cassette door 108 moves to the bottom, the gap is faced, and the contamination particles can also pass through the gap to contaminate the inner side surface of the loading cassette door 108, which is the surface inside the loading cassette 102 when the loading cassette door 108 is not opened.
Based on this, still referring to fig. 4 in combination with fig. 5, the wall 210 of the load port 200 according to the present invention is further formed with a vertically extending slit 212, such that the docking door 220 can be supported by a support 240 (as shown in fig. 5) passing through the wall 210 via the slit 212 and can move in a vertical direction together with the support 240, and the load port 200 further comprises a slit aperture column 250 provided in the wall 210, the slit aperture column 250 comprising a horizontal slit aperture column 251 and a first vertical slit aperture column 252 and a second vertical slit aperture column 253 opposite to the slit 212 corresponding to the loading cassette door cover 108 docking with the docking door 220 and moving downwards in a vertical direction to a target position together with the docking door 220 (the target position here means that the loading cassette door cover 108 is away downwards from a loading portion of the loading cassette 102 other than the loading cassette door cover 108, such that wafers loaded in the loading section can be removed), the horizontal slit aperture columns 251 being located above the cassette door cover 108 and the first and second vertical slit aperture columns 252, 253 being located on either side of the cassette door cover 108, respectively, the horizontal slit aperture columns 251 being for injecting protective gas towards the inside of the wall portion 210 in a perpendicular manner to the wall portion 210, as schematically shown in fig. 5 by the arrow above the docking door 220, the first and second vertical slit aperture columns 252, 253 being for injecting protective gas towards each other between the wall portion 210 and the cassette door cover 108 in correspondence with the cassette door cover 108 moving to the target position, as schematically shown by the arrow at the position of the slit 212 in fig. 4.
In a state where the cassette door cover 108 of the cassette 102 is docked with the docking door 220 and moved to be opposite to the slit 212, the protective gas may be injected through the horizontal slit gas hole columns 251 to form a protective gas partition wall above the cassette door cover 108 to prevent the contamination particles inside the wall portion 210 from falling on the cassette door cover 108, and the protective gas may be injected through the first and second vertical slit gas hole columns 252 and 253 to form a protective gas partition wall between the inside surface of the cassette door cover 108 and the wall portion 210 such that the contamination particles outside the wall portion 210 cannot enter the inside of the wall portion 210 through the slit 212 to contaminate the inside surface of the cassette door cover 108.
In this way, when the pod door 108 closes the pod 102 again, the inside of the pod 102 and the wafers stored in the inside of the pod 102 are not contaminated.
Still referring to fig. 4, the load port 200 according to the present invention may further include a gas supply unit 260, the gas supply unit 260 being configured to supply the protective gas to the open gas hole array 230 and the slit gas hole array 250, so that the protective gas can be ejected from each gas hole in the open gas hole array 230 and the slit gas hole array 250.
Still referring to fig. 4, the load port 200 according to the present invention may further include a control unit 270, wherein the control unit 270 is configured to send a first control signal to the gas supply unit 260 corresponding to the loading cassette 102 being in position relative to the opening 211, and the first control signal is used for enabling the gas supply unit 260 to supply the protective gas to the open gas hole row 230.
Preferably, the loading compartment door 108 may be opened after the open gas hole row 230 injects the protective gas for 1 to 5 seconds so that the protective gas partition wall is stably formed.
In addition, the control unit 270 is further configured to send a second control signal to the gas supply unit 260 in response to the loading compartment door cover 108 moving to the target position, the second control signal being used to cause the gas supply unit 260 to supply the protective gas to the slit vent array 250.
Preferably, each of the pores in the open pore row 230 and the slit pore row 250 is formed of a stainless steel alloy or a polymeric polymer material.
In order to save space occupied by the load port 200 and to save the amount of protective gas used, it is preferable that the pore size of each of the open pore row 230 and the slit pore row 250 may be 0.05mm to 0.5 mm.
In the case where the pore size of the air holes is set to the above-mentioned value, in order to form a complete or air flow wall without any gap, the distance between two adjacent air holes in the open air hole row 230 and the slit air hole row 250 may be 0.01mm to 0.5 mm.
Referring to fig. 6, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a front end module 10, where the front end module 10 may include:
a wafer transfer device 300 for transferring the wafers loaded in the cassette 102;
a housing 400 surrounding the wafer transfer device 300;
at least one load port 200 according to the present invention disposed in the housing 400 to enclose the wafer transferring device 300 together with the housing 400.
Still referring to fig. 6, the front end module 10 according to the present invention may further include a fan filter unit 500 disposed inside the housing 400, the fan filter unit 500 for providing a downward flow of clean air inside the housing 400, as schematically shown by the dashed arrows in fig. 6.
It should be noted that: the embodiment of the utility model provides an between the technical scheme who records, under the condition of conflict, can make up wantonly.
The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Claims (10)
1. A loadport capable of maintaining wafer cleanliness inside a loadbox, the loadport comprising:
a wall portion formed with an opening;
a docking door mated with the opening for docking a cassette door cover of a cassette to move the cassette door cover from an outside of the wall portion to an inside of the wall portion;
an open gas hole array provided in the wall portion, the open gas hole array including a horizontal open gas hole array provided above the opening and a first vertical open gas hole array and a second vertical open gas hole array provided on both sides of the opening, respectively, the open gas hole array being for ejecting a protective gas toward an outer side of the wall portion in a manner perpendicular to the wall portion.
2. The load port according to claim 1, wherein the wall portion is further formed with a vertically extending slit such that the docking door is supportable by a support penetrating the wall portion via the slit and is movable in a vertical direction together with the support, and the load port further comprises slit air hole columns provided in the wall portion, the slit air hole columns including a horizontal slit air hole column and first and second vertical slit air hole columns, the horizontal slit air hole column being located above the loading cassette door cover and the first and second vertical slit air hole columns being located on both sides of the loading cassette door cover, respectively, opposing the slit in correspondence with the loading cassette door cover being docked with the docking door and being vertically moved downward to a target position together with the docking door, the horizontal slit aperture rows are for ejecting protective gas toward an inner side of the wall portion in a perpendicular manner to the wall portion, and the first vertical slit aperture row and the second vertical slit aperture row are for ejecting protective gas toward each other between the wall portion and the cassette door cover in correspondence with the cassette door cover being moved to the target position.
3. The load port of claim 2, further comprising a gas supply unit to supply the protective gas to the array of open gas holes and the array of slit gas holes such that the protective gas can be ejected from each gas hole of the array of open gas holes and the array of slit gas holes.
4. The load port of claim 3, further comprising a control unit configured to send a first control signal to the gas supply unit corresponding to the cassette being in position relative to the opening, the first control signal for causing the gas supply unit to provide the protective gas to the open gas cell column.
5. The load port of claim 4, wherein the control unit is further configured to send a second control signal to the gas supply unit in response to the load cassette door cover moving to the target position, the second control signal for causing the gas supply unit to provide the protective gas to the slit aperture columns.
6. The load port of any of claims 2-5, wherein each air hole of the array of open air holes and the array of slit air holes is formed from a stainless steel alloy or a polymeric material.
7. The load port of any of claims 2-5, wherein each air hole in the open and slit rows of air holes has a hole size of 0.05mm to 0.5 mm.
8. The load port of claim 7, wherein a spacing between two adjacent air holes in the open air hole column and the slit air hole column is 0.01mm to 0.5 mm.
9. A front-end module, characterized in that the front-end module comprises:
a wafer conveying device for conveying the wafers loaded in the loading box;
a housing enclosing the wafer transport apparatus;
at least one load port according to any one of claims 1 to 8 disposed in the housing to enclose the wafer handling device with the housing.
10. The front end module of claim 9, further comprising a fan filter unit disposed within the housing interior for providing a downward flow of clean air within the housing interior.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202121542538.7U CN213936152U (en) | 2021-07-08 | 2021-07-08 | Load port and front end module capable of keeping cleanliness of wafers in load box |
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| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202121542538.7U CN213936152U (en) | 2021-07-08 | 2021-07-08 | Load port and front end module capable of keeping cleanliness of wafers in load box |
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| CN213936152U true CN213936152U (en) | 2021-08-10 |
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Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWI812114B (en) * | 2021-08-23 | 2023-08-11 | 華景電通股份有限公司 | Purge controlling system |
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2021
- 2021-07-08 CN CN202121542538.7U patent/CN213936152U/en active Active
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWI812114B (en) * | 2021-08-23 | 2023-08-11 | 華景電通股份有限公司 | Purge controlling system |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| GR01 | Patent grant | ||
| GR01 | Patent grant | ||
| TR01 | Transfer of patent right |
Effective date of registration: 20241129 Address after: Room 1-3-029, No. 1888, Xifeng South Road, high tech Zone, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710065 Patentee after: Xi'an Yisiwei Material Technology Co.,Ltd. Country or region after: China Patentee after: XI'AN ESWIN SILICON WAFER TECHNOLOGY Co.,Ltd. Address before: Room 1323, block a, city gate, No.1 Jinye Road, high tech Zone, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710065 Patentee before: XI'AN ESWIN SILICON WAFER TECHNOLOGY Co.,Ltd. Country or region before: China |
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| TR01 | Transfer of patent right |