JPH0428623A - Wafer carrier device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a wafer transfer device, the carrier carrying interval can be changed by a small change in the carrier carrying arm, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the processing tank and the amount of chemical solution used. and a carrier carrying arm capable of carrying two carriers at the same time, the carrier carrying arm having a long upper arm portion and a short lower arm portion, the carrier carrying arm being capable of carrying two carriers at the same time, the carrier carrying arm having a long upper arm portion and a short lower arm portion; The arrangement is such that two carriers are carried at a short distance, widened in the transfer means, and then transported by a long upper arm portion to another processing station.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a wafer transport device that transports, for example, a silicon wafer housed in a carrier from a chemical treatment tank to a drying device.

For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing process using silicon wafers, etching and other chemical treatments are performed, cleaning with pure water is performed, and then drying is performed. A plurality of silicon wafers are accommodated in a carrier, so that each carrier can process a plurality of silicon wafers at the same time. Recently, in order to improve productivity, it has become common to process two carriers at the same time in one processing tank. For this reason, the shape of the treatment tank becomes larger, and the amount of chemical solution used in it also increases.
There is a need to reduce the amount of chemical liquid used as much as possible.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a robot transport device has been used to transport a carrier containing silicon wafers from a processing tank to a drying device. The robot transfer device includes a carrier carrying arm that carries carriers, and this carrier carrying arm can simultaneously carry two carriers in a horizontal position at a predetermined interval. Therefore, the robot transport device is designed to simultaneously support two carriers on the carrier support arm, transport the carriers to the processing tank first, and transport them to the drying device after the processing is completed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, there is a demand to reduce the amount of chemical liquid used as much as possible, and in order to satisfy this demand, it is necessary to make the size of the treatment tank as small as possible while ensuring the capacity for two carriers. .

However, it has been found that there are problems with conventional robot transport devices in order to reduce the size of the processing tank.

The carrier holding arm of a conventional robot transfer device carries two carriers at the same time, but does not have a function to change the distance between the two carriers. Therefore, both in the processing tank and the drying device, the carrier supporting arm supports two carriers at the same interval. However, as a drying device for silicon wafers, a spin dryer that performs drying using centrifugal force is usually used. In a spin dryer, it is preferable that the dried material be placed at a position a certain distance from the center of rotation, and the two carriers are placed at a predetermined interval on both sides of the center of rotation. Conventionally, the carrier holding arm of a robot transfer device was arranged with the drying device as a reference.
The treatment tank also supported two carriers at the same interval. Therefore, even if we try to maintain a predetermined distance between the two carriers in the drying equipment to meet the drying requirements, and further reduce the distance between the two carriers in the processing tank to reduce the amount of chemical consumption, the conventional robot transport equipment This was not possible because the carrier carrying arm of the present invention did not have the ability to change the spacing between the two carriers.

If the carrier holding arm of the robot transfer device is equipped with a function to change the distance between two carriers, two
In the drying device, the distance between two carriers can be increased and the distance between the two carriers can be increased. However, in order to provide a carrier carrying interval variable function to the carrier carrying arm, it cannot be achieved by making small changes only to the carrier carrying arm, and the entire structure including control must be made considerably complex.

In addition, normally the cross-sectional area of the constituent materials becomes smaller as you go from the robot body to the distal carrier-holding arm. Therefore, if the carrier-holding arm is provided with a carrier spacing variable function, the overall structure must be made larger. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer transfer device in which the carrier carrying interval can be changed by making a small change only to the carrier carrying arm, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the processing tank and the amount of chemical solution used.

[Means to solve the problem]

A wafer transfer device according to the present invention is a wafer transfer device that transfers wafers housed in carriers from a processing tank that simultaneously processes two carriers to another processing section, and is capable of carrying two carriers at the same time. a carrier-carrying arm having a length of approximately 1.5 mm, the carrier-carrying arm having a long upper arm portion and a lower arm portion shorter than the upper arm portion; a transfer means capable of varying the spacing of the carriers, the carrier carrying arm initially carrying two carriers at a relatively short distance by the short lower arm portion from the processing tank to the transfer means; The present invention is characterized in that two carriers spaced apart from each other in the delivery means are carried by the long upper arm portion and transported to the other processing section.

[For production]

In the above configuration, the carrier carrying arm only needs to have a long upper arm portion and a short lower arm portion, and the carrier carrying arm is not provided with a carrier carrying interval variable function. A transfer means is provided between the processing tank and another processing section, and cooperates with the carrier carrying arm to change the carrier carrying interval. Since this delivery means is in a fixed position, it can be configured much more easily than when the carrier carrying arm is provided with a variable carrier carrying interval function. Also, a short lower arm portion is used in the processing tank, thereby allowing the processing tank to be small enough to allow insertion of the short lower arm portion. At this time, even if the long upper arm portion is longer than the length of the processing tank, it does not get in the way because it is located above the processing tank.

〔Example〕

3 and 4 are diagrams showing a carrier containing a silicon wafer (not shown). The carrier 10 is constructed by connecting two substantially parallel side plates 12 and 14 with a cross spar 16. A plurality of parallel grooves 18 are provided on the inner surface of each side plate 12 and 14, and when a silicon wafer is inserted from above the carrier 10, the opposing side edges of the silicon wafer are supported by the grooves 18 on both sides. It has become. The upper and lower surfaces and the front and back surfaces of the carrier 10 are open, so that chemical treatment and drying can be performed while the silicon wafer is accommodated in the carrier 10. A side plate 12 is provided at the upper end of the outer surface of the side plates 12 and 14, respectively.
, 14 is provided with an engaging protrusion 19 extending parallel to the upper edge thereof, and is adapted to be engaged with a carrier carrying arm of a robot transfer device 28, which will be described later.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a chemical treatment tank, a delivery tank, a drying device, and a robot transfer device according to the present invention. In FIG. 6, three chemical treatment tanks 20, a pure water cleaning tank 22, a delivery tank 24, and a drying device 26 are arranged in a - row. The robot transport device 28 is provided so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow.
Two carriers 10 are simultaneously conveyed between the drying device 24 and the drying device 26.

In addition to arranging the multi-tank and drying device 26 and the robot transfer device 28 on a straight path as in the embodiment, they can also be arranged on a curved path.

Details of the chemical treatment tank 20 are shown in FIG. 1, and details of the delivery tank 24 are shown in FIG. Pure water cleaning tank 2
2 is not shown in detail, but is similar to the chemical treatment tank 20 except that pure water is used instead of a chemical, and after the silicon wafer is processed in the chemical treatment tank 20, it is transferred to the drying device 26. be used properly before hanging. Further, the drying device 26 can be a known spin dryer. Details of the robot transport device 28 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, with a pair of parallel carrier carrying arms 30 shown in a plan view of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the chemical treatment tank 20 is placed on a pedestal 32 and has a size that allows two carriers IO to be arranged at a predetermined distance p. The two carriers 10 are arranged at a predetermined interval p, and each engagement protrusion 1
9 are arranged in a straight line and carried by a common carrier carrying arm 30.

The robot transport device 28 is movable in the direction of the arrow and in the opposite direction as described above. A support block 32 is connected to the body of the robot transport device 28 by a guide rod and a lead screw 36 and is movable in the vertical direction opposite arrow B. The pair of parallel carrier supporting arms 30 are attached to the support block 32 so as to be movable along the guide groove 38, and are movable in the horizontal direction opposite to arrow C. These A.

Details of the drive devices in the B and C directions will be omitted.

Each carrier carrying arm 30 has a rod-shaped upper arm portion 40 and a lower arm portion 42 extending in a vertical plane. These upper arm portions 40 and lower arm portions 42
It has an upright U-shape, with both sides of the upright U-shape of the upper arm portion 40 being supported by the carrier supporting arm 30, and both sides of the upright U-shape of the lower arm portion 42 being upwardly supported. It is supported by arm portion 40. Upper arm portion 40
The U-shaped bottom portions of the lower arm portions 42 each have a length that can simultaneously support two carriers 10 in positions where the engaging protrusions 19 are aligned on a straight line. The lower arm portion 42 is longer than the lower arm portion 42, and the distance p between the two carriers 10 can be increased.

In FIG. 1, the lower arm portion 42 corresponds to the chemical treatment tank 2.
Although the upper arm portion 40 is long enough to be inserted into the chemical processing tank 20, the upper arm portion 40 is longer than the chemical treatment tank 20.

Referring to FIG. 6, the chemical treatment tank 20 and the pure water cleaning tank 2
2, the transfer tank 24 and the drying device 26 are shown in different sizes, which correspond to the sizes of the lower arm part 42 and the upper arm part 40.

In FIG. 1, two carriers 10 are supported on the lower arm portion 42, and the solid line indicates that the carriers 10 are supported on the chemical treatment tank 2.
0, and the two-dot chain line indicates the position where the carrier 10 is placed in the chemical treatment [20]. When the carrier 10 is placed in the chemical processing tank 20 and the lower arm portion 42 is in a position where it can engage with the engagement protrusion 19 (double-dashed line), the upper arm portion 40 is positioned above the chemical processing tank 20. It is located so that it does not come into contact with the chemical treatment tank 20. The two carriers 10 are raised and lowered at the same time by vertical movement opposite to arrow B, and the pair of carrier carrying arms 30 are moved toward or away from each other by horizontal movement opposite to arrow C. Grasp or release the engagement protrusion I9 of the IO. In this way, two carriers 10 can be gripped and transported at the same time. However, since this robot transfer device 28 does not have an element for moving the carrier holding arm 30 in the axial direction, the distance p between the two carriers 10 cannot be adjusted.

FIG. 5 shows a transfer tank 24 in which the distance p between two carriers 10 can be adjusted. Delivery tank 24
The size of the tank is larger than that of the chemical treatment tank 20.
4 into which the upper arm portion 40 can be inserted.

Furthermore, two carriers 10 are placed at the bottom of the transfer tank 24.
A delivery plate 44 is provided which can change the interval between the two. The delivery plate 44 can be moved in the direction of the arrow and in the opposite horizontal direction by a drive means (not shown).

Therefore, when the robot transport device 28 transports the carrier 10 treated in the chemical treatment tank 20 (and pure water cleaning tank 22) to the transfer tank 24, the carrier support arm 30 is caused to move downward and open, and the lower arm portion 42 is moved. Two carriers 10 are each placed on the transfer plate 44. The carrier carrying arm 30 is then further moved downward so that the lower arm portion 42 is inserted close to the bottom of the transfer tank 24 and the upper arm portion 40 is brought into a position below the engagement protrusions 19 of the two carriers 10. . During this time, the transfer plates 44 are driven away from each other, and the distance p between the two carriers 10 increases.

There, the upper arm portion 40 carries two carriers 10, and the robot transfer device 28 transfers the carriers 10 to the drying device 2.
Transfer to 6. The robot transfer device 28 is connected to the transfer tank 24
The two carriers 10 are separated at the interval set in , and the drying device 26 transports the silicon chips accommodated in the carriers 10 in this state.

Thus, according to the invention, the spacing p between the carriers 10
Therefore, in the chemical treatment tank 20 (and pure water cleaning tank 22), the space p between the two carriers 10 can be reduced to reduce the capacity of the chemical treatment tank 20 (and pure water cleaning tank 22). However, the consumption of the chemical solution can be reduced, and the distance p between the two carriers 10 in the drying device 26 can be increased as required. Note that when considering the case where the carrier carrying arm 30 is provided with a spacing adjustment mechanism, it is not easy to provide the spacing adjustment mechanism on the rod-shaped carrier carrying arm 30 located at the tip of the robot structure, and such spacing adjustment is difficult. If a mechanism is provided, it is necessary to control the drive means for it in synchronization with the drive means in the directions of arrows A, B, C and in the opposite direction, which makes the configuration considerably complicated. Since it is only necessary to provide a transfer tank 24 that performs simple movements, this is simpler than adding a movement function to the robot structure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the carrier supporting arm.

The carrier carrying arm 30 is a rod-shaped upper arm portion 4
0 and a lower arm portion 42, each of the upper arm portion 40 and the lower arm portion 42 is divided at the center to reinforce the strength of the central portion, but when viewed as a whole, each has two pieces. carriers 10 can be carried at the same time.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the carrier carrying arm is provided with a length capable of carrying two carriers at the same time, and the carrier carrying arm has a long upper arm portion and a lower lower arm portion that is shorter than the upper arm portion. The structure has an arm part and a transfer means that can change the spacing between the two carriers between the processing tank and another processing section, so it is possible to make small changes only to the carrier holding arm and to fix it. By providing a transfer means that performs simple movement at the position, the carrier carrying interval can be changed, thereby making it possible to downsize the processing tank and reduce the amount of chemical solution used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a robot transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention located in a chemical treatment tank, Fig. 2 is a front view of the robot transport device of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows a carrier. 4 is an internal view of the side wall of the carrier in Figure 3, Figure 5 is a side view showing the robot transfer device located in the delivery tank, and Figure 6 is from the chemical treatment tank to the drying equipment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the carrier holding arm. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Carrier, 20... Chemical solution processing tank, 24... Delivery tank, 28... Robot transfer device, 30... Carrier carrying arm, 40... Upper arm part, 44... Delivery plate. 19... Engaging protrusion, 22... Pure water cleaning tank, 26... Drying device, 42... Lower arm portion,

Claims (1)

[Claims] A separate processing section (26
), the carrier carrying arm (30) is long enough to carry two carriers at the same time, and the carrier carrying arm includes a long upper arm portion (40) and the upper arm. a lower arm portion (42) that is shorter than the lower arm portion, and further includes a transfer means (24) capable of changing the distance between the two carriers between the processing tank and the other processing section; A carrying arm initially carries two carriers at a relatively short distance by the short lower arm portion and transports them from the processing tank to the transfer means, where the two spaced apart carriers are transferred to the transfer means. A wafer transport device characterized in that the wafer is carried by the long upper arm portion and transported to the other processing section.