JPH0429562Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a support device for a wafer cassette jig in semiconductor manufacturing.

In the manufacturing of semiconductors, we are concerned about performance deterioration and defective products due to the adhesion of dust, etc.
As a countermeasure to this, it is desirable to fully automate the process using a predetermined device that is extremely clean.

The present invention is based on determining an ideal initial setting position before rotation of a support device for a wafer cassette jig during ion implantation, plasma etching processing, etc., in order to play a part in this process.

[Prior art]

A conventional support device for a wafer cassette jig during ion implantation will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a conventional wafer cassette jig support device.

In the figure, 1 is a supporting device for a wafer cassette jig (hereinafter abbreviated as cassette holder), which will be described later;
is a wafer cassette jig (hereinafter abbreviated as wafer cassette) arranged and supported by this cassette holder 1;
Reference numeral 3 denotes wafers stored in this wafer cassette 2, and the cassette holder 1 feeds out the wafers 3 one by one while being moved by a drive mechanism not shown.

Incidentally, there is a cassette holder 1 constructed in the same manner on the other side, and this cassette holder 1 is also moved by a drive mechanism not shown, and serves as a receiving side for the wafers 3 sent out.

4 is a carrier, which supports the movement of the cassette holder 1 and supports the cassette holder 1.
is installed. Reference numeral 5 denotes a pre-evacuation chamber for evacuation to a set degree of vacuum, and the pre-evacuation chamber 5 and one end of the carrier 4 are rotatably fixed. 6 is an ion implantation chamber, and 7 is an arrow indicating an ion beam.

The arrows indicate the movements of the husband and wife, and A is carrier 4.
And cassette holders 1 and B indicate the movement of the cassette holder 1, and C and D indicate the flow of the wafer 3.

Next, the operation of the support device configured as described above will be explained.

As shown, the carrier 4 is vertical. Therefore, the cassette holder 1 is also vertical, and the wafer cassette 2 containing the wafers 3 is supported vertically by the cassette holder 3.

From this state, cassette holder 1 is moved to carrier 4.
At the same time, it rotates in the direction of arrow A and comes into contact with the preliminary exhaust chamber 5.

Then, one cassette holder 1 moves in a predetermined direction shown by arrow B by a drive mechanism not shown, and
The wafers 3 are sent one after another from the wafer cassette 2 to the ion implantation chamber 6 through the preliminary air distribution chamber 5 along the path of arrow C passing through the narrow opening. The wafer 3 that has received the ion beam 7 in the ion implantation chamber 6 passes through the path of arrow D and is stored in the other wafer cassette 2. This storage is performed by the cassette holder 1, which moves in a predetermined direction indicated by arrow B by a drive mechanism not shown.

In this manner, when the implantation of the ion beam 7 into all wafers 3 is completed, each cassette holder 1 returns together with the carrier 4 to the vertical position which is the initial setting position.

The above is the operating process, but the following drawbacks arise in this initial setting of the cassette holder 1.

It is wafer cassette 2 containing wafer 3.
The wafer cassette 2 must be placed upright in the cassette holder 1, and there is no reliable jig that can safely transport or move the wafer cassette 2 for such placement. It has the disadvantage of poor workability.

Further, when an operator installs the wafer cassette 2 with bare hands or gloves, the surface of the wafer 3 faces upward, resulting in a large amount of dust adhering to the wafer cassette 2.

Furthermore, when moving the wafer cassette 2, the wafer cassette 2 is in an upright position, so it also has the disadvantage of being extremely unstable.

Furthermore, such a drawback also makes it difficult to fully automate the movement of the wafer 3 during ion implantation and the steps before and after the ion implantation.

[Purpose of invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a cassette holder, ie, a support device for a wafer cassette jig, which allows ideal placement of a wafer cassette in the cassette holder.

[Structure of the idea]

Its characteristic configuration is as follows.

At the end of the processing chamber where semiconductor wafers are processed, two pre-evacuation chambers for evacuating to the set vacuum level are arranged in a V-shaped configuration, and a carrier is routed outside of each pre-evacuation chamber. In a support device for a wafer cassette jig, which is movably mounted and has a support device that supports and moves the wafer cassette jig on each carrier, the initial state of both support devices before rotation is horizontal or close to horizontal. The same point of both carriers is rotatably attached to the same point of the lower end of each pre-evacuation chamber so that they are parallel to each other, and the direction of insertion of the wafer cassette jig into the support device on the delivery side in the initial state is The wafer cassette jig is to be taken out in the same lateral direction with respect to the support device on the receiving side, and the wafers in the wafer cassette jig are in a substantially vertical state at that time.

By doing this, the wafer can be stably placed in the wafer cassette jig, leading to automation, and at the same time, the surface of the wafer can also be turned sideways to reduce dust adhesion.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of a support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that the same functional parts and the same arrow operations as in the conventional example will be described using the same symbols and arrows as in the conventional example.

In the figure, 1 is a supporting device for a wafer cassette jig (hereinafter referred to as a cassette holder, as in the conventional example), and 2 is a wafer cassette jig supported by this cassette holder 1 (hereinafter, as in the conventional example, it is referred to as a wafer cassette jig). ), 3 is this wafer cassette 2.
The wafers housed in the The carrier 4 is rotatably mounted on the outside of the chamber (which is a chamber for exhausting air), and the carrier 4 has a cassette holder 1 mounted thereon which is moved by a drive mechanism not shown.

In this embodiment, the same location of both carriers 4 is placed at the same location at the lower end of each preliminary exhaust chamber so that the initial state of both cassette holders 1 before rotation is horizontal or nearly horizontal and parallel to each other. The wafer cassette 2 is rotatably mounted so that the direction in which the wafer cassette 2 is inserted into the cassette holder 1 on the sending side and the direction in which the wafer cassette 2 is taken out from the cassette holder 1 on the receiving side are in the same horizontal direction as shown by arrow E in the initial state. direction, and the wafers 1 in the wafer cassette 2 at that time are in a vertical state. 7 indicates an ion beam.

The arrows indicate the movements of the husband and wife, and A is carrier 4.
Cassette holders 1 and B move by a drive mechanism not shown, and cassette holders C and D indicate the flow of wafers 3.

In one embodiment of the invention, both carriers 4
The initial setting position of the cassette holder 1 is set to be horizontal or a near-horizontal position, and the wafer cassette 2 containing the wafers 3 almost vertically is placed in the cassette holder 1 from the lateral direction shown by arrow E.

From this initial setting position, both carriers 4 and cassette holder 1 rotate in the direction of arrow A and come into contact with preliminary exhaust chamber 5.

Then, one cassette holder 1 moves in a predetermined direction shown by arrow B, and sends the wafers 3 one after another from the pre-evacuation chamber 5 to the ion implantation chamber 6 along the path of arrow C, receives the ion beam 7, and transfers the wafers 3 to the path of arrow D. The wafers are then stored one after another into a cassette 2 supported by the other cassette holder 1, which is moved by a drive mechanism not shown.

When the ion implantation into all the wafers 3 is completed, the carrier 4 and the cassette holder 1 return to the initially set horizontal or nearly horizontal position, and the wafer cassette 2 is taken out in the direction of arrow E.

Next, an example of application of the cassette holder described above will be explained based on the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the plasma etching apparatus.

In the figure, 8 is a base, 9 is a cassette holder rotatably attached to the base 8, 10 is a wafer cassette, and 11 is a wafer. Here, since the cassette holder 9 is in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, the wafer cassette 10 is stable. At the same time, the wafers 11 can be stored almost vertically with reduced dust adhesion.

12 is a belt conveyor that conveys the wafer 11;
13 is a plasma generation chamber.

Arrows F indicating the respective movements indicate the arrangement direction of the wafer cassette 10, G indicates the rotating direction of the cassette holder 9, H indicates the flow of the wafers 11 on the belt conveyor 12, and I indicates the storage of the wafers 11 after plasma etching. The direction in which the wafer cassette 10 is taken out is shown.

Next, the operation of this plasma etching apparatus will be explained.

First, since the cassette holder 9 is installed horizontally or nearly horizontally, the wafer cassette 10 containing the wafers 11 almost vertically can be stably placed in the cassette holder 9 from the lateral direction as shown by the arrow F.

The cassette holders 9 rotate in the direction of arrow G, become vertical, and are conveyed one after another in the direction of arrow H by the belt conveyor 12, subjected to plasma etching in the plasma generation chamber 13, and returned to the belt conveyor 1 again.
At 2, the wafer is stored in the wafer cassette 10 of the other vertically rotated cassette holder 9.

In this way, when the processing of all the wafers 11 is completed, the cassette holder 9 returns to the horizontal position before rotation, and the wafers 11 that have undergone plasma etching are returned to the horizontal position before rotation.
The wafer cassette 10 containing the wafers is taken out in the lateral direction, ie, in the direction of arrow I.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above in detail, in the present invention, the initial state of the cassette holder, that is, the support device for the wafer cassette jig before rotation, is such that both are horizontal or nearly horizontal and parallel to each other. There is an effect like this.

Inserting and removing a wafer cassette into a cassette holder can be done horizontally or almost horizontally, rather than in an upright position, as is the case with conventional methods, allowing for stable insertion and removal using only a jig without the use of hands. This has the effect of improving work efficiency.

Further, since the wafers are stored in the wafer cassette almost vertically, the surface of the wafers can be turned sideways, which also has the effect of reducing the adhesion of dust.

Furthermore, since the wafer cassette is inserted into and removed from the cassette holder in the same horizontal direction for both cassette holders as described above, this process can be automated.

A wafer cassette jig support device having such an effect can be advantageously used in a semiconductor manufacturing line.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a conventional wafer cassette jig support device, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view showing a wafer cassette jig support device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is another one. 1 is a schematic side view of a plasma etching apparatus illustrating an example of application to FIG. 1... Wafer cassette jig support device (cassette holder), 2... Wafer cassette jig, 3...
Wafer, 4...Carrier, 5...Preliminary air distribution chamber, 6
...Ion implantation room, 7...Ion beam.

Claims (1)

[Claim for Utility Model Registration] At the end of a processing chamber where semiconductor wafers are processed, two preliminary evacuation chambers for evacuating to a set vacuum level are arranged so as to form a rectangular V-shape. The carriers are rotatably mounted on the outside of the exhaust chamber, and each carrier is provided with a support device that supports and moves the wafer cassette jig, one of which is on the sending side and the other on the receiving side. With the wafer cassette jig supported and the carriers in contact with the pre-evacuation chambers, the wafers are sent from within the wafer cassette jig on the delivery side to the processing chamber through one pre-evacuation chamber, and the processed wafers are transferred to the other. In the support device for the wafer cassette jig, which is stored in the wafer cassette jig on the receiving side after passing through the preliminary exhaust chamber of The same point of both carriers is rotatably attached to the same point of the lower end of each pre-evacuation chamber, so that the loading direction of the wafer cassette jig with respect to the supporting device on the sending side in the initial state and the direction with respect to the supporting device on the receiving side in the initial state are determined. 1. A support device for a wafer cassette jig, characterized in that the wafer cassette jig is taken out in the same horizontal direction, and the wafers in the wafer cassette jig are in a substantially vertical state at that time.