JPH0249721Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer storage container used especially when semiconductor wafers such as silicon wafers for IC are transported by air.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional semiconductor wafer storage containers, which are mainly used to transport semiconductor wafers made of silicon and other ICs, especially semiconductor wafers that have already been processed to form IC circuits, are small and lightweight together with the stored items. However, since it contains extremely high value-added contents, transportation costs are low, but compared to using land or sea routes, which take a long time to transport, the transportation time is extremely short and the transportation time is extremely short. This type of semiconductor wafer storage container is generally handled as air cargo in order to take full advantage of the characteristics of high value-added products, which have almost no burden on manufacturing costs when calculated per unit weight of the stored items. As a common sense requirement, the minimum requirement for aircraft is to have a highly airtight structure that can sufficiently withstand the changes in ambient air pressure that the aircraft is exposed to from takeoff to landing. The reason is that aircraft fly from land (normal pressure) to high altitude (low pressure).
~When passing through a route on land (at normal pressure), the container breathes in response to changes in external pressure, that is, due to the pressure difference between the external pressure and the pressure inside the container, and takes in fine dust from the atmosphere. If this happens, the clean surface of the semiconductor wafer will be contaminated by these dusts, and this will be a major cause of defects in which circuits formed by surface treatment will not function properly. still,
Of course, even when transporting by aircraft, if a cabin with air pressure regulation is used, it is no problem to maintain the same conditions as on the ground.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In conventional semiconductor wafer storage containers having the above-mentioned configuration, in order to achieve a highly airtight structure, the fitting portion between the container body and the lid is made particularly thick or made of a metal frame or the like to ensure sufficient strength. It is also necessary to combine reinforcing members, and this type of semiconductor wafer storage container generally has to be expensive. The fitting part between the container body and the lid is always equipped with auxiliary members such as a certain packing material to maintain a high airtightness, and even if these auxiliary members deteriorate in quality due to changes over time, In such a case, the highly airtight structure that has been painstakingly constructed becomes completely meaningless, so it is necessary to carry out periodic functional inspections or periodic replacement of auxiliary members. In other words, in addition to the introduction (purchase) cost, the conventional semiconductor wafer storage container does not require much cost or effort to maintain its functionality, and even though it is an expensive item, it can only be used for transportation. In addition, because it was limited to storage, etc., it was not widely used. In other words, the wafer tray actually used in the semiconductor wafer processing process and the semiconductor wafer storage container intended for transportation are completely different things, that is, they have completely different purposes of use, and are designed to achieve only the main purpose of each use. Because the semiconductor wafers were manufactured in such a way that they were always accompanied by the complicated work of transferring semiconductor wafers from the wafer tray to the semiconductor wafer storage container or vice versa, the semiconductor production process, which was originally supposed to be efficient, was This was a major problem that hindered productivity.

The present invention was devised in view of the various problems that conventional semiconductor wafer storage containers had as mentioned above, and it can be easily managed and used without much maintenance cost or effort, that is, high productivity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer storage container that does not interfere in any way with maintaining productivity even during the production process of semiconductors.

[Means to solve the problem]

The various problems described above can be solved by using a wafer holding frame made of a synthetic resin material that retains its shape due to its rigidity against external stress, and a wafer holding frame that holds and houses the semiconductor wafer, and a molecular filtration filter with a fine structure. The problem can be solved by a semiconductor wafer storage container characterized by comprising an outer container body that houses the wafer holding frame.

The above-mentioned outer container body is formed in the form of a frame portion made of a material that has a certain degree of shape retention force against external stress, and a sheet attached in the form of a cover so as to be held by the frame portion. A container body made of a material that has a certain degree of shape retention ability against external stress, and one or more molecular filtration filters provided in the shape of a window in this container body part. Alternatively, the opening may be provided with an airtight sealing mechanism such as an airtight fastener, and a part or the whole may be configured in a bag-like manner using a molecular filtration filter. As the molecular filtration filter, a porous polymer film, an ultra-high-density fiber structure in the form of a nonwoven fabric, or a solid structure such as porous activated carbon can be used.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 indicates a semiconductor wafer storage container according to the present invention, which is made of a synthetic resin material, such as Teflon or polypropylene, which has the ability to retain its shape due to its rigidity against external stress. A wafer holding frame 3 that holds and houses a semiconductor wafer 2 for IC, and a structure made of, for example, a porous polymer film, an ultra-high density fiber structure such as a nonwoven fabric, a porous solid structure such as activated carbon, or a combination thereof. Molecular filtration filter 4 with a microstructure that has a filtration action at the molecular size level of
The wafer holding frame 3 is made up of a container main body portion 5 and a lid portion 6, and an outer container body 7 that accommodates the wafer holding frame 3.

Note that the wafer holding frame 3 has been subjected to an appropriate conductive treatment or has been made conductive depending on the processing state of the semiconductor wafer 2 to be accommodated, for example, if the semiconductor wafer 2 has a circuit formed by C-MOS technology or the like. It is also possible to form it from the material which has. Further, in the figure, 8 is a container body portion 5 of the outer container body 7.
a locking mechanism for airtightly fixing the lid portion 6 to the
10 is a fixing protrusion that prevents the wafer holding frame 3 from moving within the outer container body 7, and 10 is a fixing protrusion provided on the lid portion 6 for the same purpose as the fixing protrusion 9 described above. It goes without saying that there may be a plurality of molecular filtration filters 4, and that there is no problem even if the molecular filtration filters 4 are provided not only in the container main body part 5 but also in the lid part 6.

In addition to this embodiment shape, the outer container body 7 also includes a frame portion 11 made of a material that has a certain degree of shape retention force against external stress, as shown in FIG. 3, and is held by this frame portion 11. It may be constructed by a molecular filtration filter 4' formed in a sheet shape attached in a cover-like manner, or an airtight sealing mechanism 12 such as an airtight fastener may be provided at the opening as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to have a bag-like configuration, in part or in whole, with a molecular filtration filter 4''.

[Functions and effects of the invention]

The semiconductor wafer storage container according to the present invention as described above is provided with a molecular filtration filter having a filtration action at the molecular size level in the outer container body, so even if the container is used for air cargo transportation, changes in the external pressure of the container will not be affected by molecular filtration. Only clean air moves freely through the filtration filter and is transmitted to the inside of the container, and the air pressure inside the container and outside the container is the same, that is, there is no pressure difference at the airtight contact area between the container body and the lid. Since almost no load is applied, it has become possible to sufficiently maintain stored items, ie, semiconductor wafers, in a clean state even with a simple airtight structure.
In other words, the effort required to maintain and manage this semiconductor wafer storage container is only required to maintain the minimum level of cleanliness required for handling semiconductors, making it extremely easy to handle. Furthermore, the wafer holding frame of the double structure can be taken out of the outer container and used as is during the semiconductor processing process, so there is no need to transfer the wafer from the container to the tray or vice versa. This is a device with extremely high utility and application value, as it eliminates the need to reserve extra trays for transfer, making it possible to realize an originally efficient semiconductor production process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a semiconductor wafer storage container according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the semiconductor wafer storage container of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a semiconductor wafer storage container according to an example. 3...Wafer holding frame, 4...Molecular filtration filter, 5...Container body part, 6...Lid part,
7...Outer container body.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A wafer holding frame made of a synthetic resin material that retains its shape due to its rigidity against external stress, and equipped with a wafer holding frame for holding and storing a semiconductor wafer, and a molecular filtration filter with a fine structure. 1. A semiconductor wafer storage container comprising: an outer container body for accommodating the wafer holding frame; (2) The outer container body has a frame portion made of a material that has a certain degree of shape retention ability against external stress, and molecules formed in a sheet shape attached in a cover shape so as to be held by this frame portion. The semiconductor wafer storage container according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a filtration filter. (3) a container portion in which the outer container body is made of a material that has a certain degree of shape retention ability against external stress;
The semiconductor wafer storage container according to claim 1, which has been registered as a utility model, and further comprises one or more molecular filtration filters provided in the shape of a window in the container body portion. (4) Utility model registration claim 1, characterized in that the outer container body has an airtight sealing mechanism such as an airtight fastener at the opening and is partially or entirely formed into a bag shape using a molecular filtration filter. The semiconductor wafer storage container described in . (5) The semiconductor wafer storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the molecular filtration filter is a porous polymer film. (6) The semiconductor wafer storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the molecular filtration filter is made of a non-woven ultra-high density fiber structure. (7) The semiconductor wafer storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the molecular filtration filter has a porous solid structure like activated carbon.