JPS612341A - Wafer transfer jig - 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 [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an article transfer jig for transferring stored articles, for example, an article that can easily transfer a wafer between a plastic cartridge and a quartz jig. Regarding transfer jig.

[Background technology]

As the degree of integration of semiconductor products increases, circuit patterns are becoming increasingly finer. The minimum line width of the TC pattern is about to become 1 μm or less after passing through 3 μm and 2 μm. In semiconductor manufacturing processes under these circumstances, in order to accurately form fine patterns and improve yield (probe yield), it is important to reduce contamination from wafer dust, especially reducing adhering dust. For example, Electronic Materials, 1982.

"Wafer processing system" or 1 Hitachi review by Yoshitomo et al., special issue, pp. 119-116.

Vol, 65. Nn7 (1983), 39-
It is discussed in the article entitled "Particle Detection by Surface Inspection Device" by Ikake et al. on page 42.

Wafers, for example, Electronic Materials, '1975.

As described in the document entitled "Parts Handling System" by Ogi in the July issue, pages 92-99, or in the document by Nagatomo et al., single wafer processing using tweezers, vacuum tweezers, etc., or dump transfer, The entire wafer in the cartridge is handled by batch processing using a transfer machine called .

By the way, in the wafer processing using the tweezers, etc., when the wafer is inserted into and removed from the cartridge or the quartz jig, the wafer may hit the edge of the storage groove and be damaged (creating cracks or chips), or new foreign matter may be generated due to the damage. There are some difficulties it causes.

Furthermore, as described above, when the wafer is handled directly, the tweezers touch it, and the periphery of the wafer comes into contact with the cartridge or quartz jig, resulting in foreign matter adhering to the wafer and contaminating the wafer. These are described in the literature by Nagatomo et al. Note that the state of contamination of wafers due to contact with tweezers is described in detail in the literature by Hikake et al.

However, since wafer handling using tweezers or the like is a single wafer process, it is time consuming and has low workability.

Therefore, the work of transferring wafers between cartridges and quartz jigs is efficiently performed by batch processing using a transfer machine. Furthermore, a document by Yoshitomo Mae et al. shows an example in which dump transfer is superior to tweezers when it comes to chipping around the wafer.

Furthermore, increasing the diameter of wafers is being promoted to improve yields. Large-diameter wafers have a large weight and are difficult to hold with vacuum tweezers, and holding them requires skill. In addition, while holding the wafers with the tweezers and transferring them between the cartridge jigs, there have been accidents where large-diameter wafers fall out of the vacuum pinzettes. It has become clear that the yield is decreasing despite the fact that

The present invention thus relates to a transfer machine (article transfer jig).

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to prevent damage to articles when transferring them.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer jig that hardly causes contamination.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer jig with high article transfer efficiency.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention include:
It will become clear from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the invention]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

That is, the article transfer jig of the present invention lowers the cartridge containing the wafer onto the jig set table of the article transfer jig from above along the guide of the article transfer jig, thereby removing the contents inside the cartridge. The wafer is transferred onto a quartz jig placed in advance on the top surface of the jig setting table, and the quartz jig can be handled freely. In addition, since a pair of insertion holes are pre-prepared on the side of the quartz jig, the quartz jig can be carried to the specified location by inserting a fork into these insertion holes and carrying the fork to the specified location. It looks like this. As a result, during the wafer transfer operation, the wafer does not come into direct contact with tools such as tweezers, and contamination of the wafer can be prevented. Furthermore, by slowly lowering the cartridge relative to the jig setting table, the shock that occurs when the wafer comes into contact with the quartz jig can be alleviated, thereby preventing damage to the wafer and the generation of foreign matter accompanying this. Furthermore, since the wafer transfer operation is performed in a batch process that involves transferring the entire cartridge, high efficiency of the transfer operation can be achieved.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer jig according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cross-sectional view showing a wafer transfer start state, and FIG. 3 is a similar jig. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the set, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing how the wafer is transferred from the cartridge to the quartz jig, and FIG. be.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer transfer jig (article transfer jig) of the present invention consists of a transfer jig main body 1 and a holding jig 2, both of which are made of metal, such as stainless steel. It is formed of. The transfer jig main body 1 includes a base 3 having a rectangular plate-like bottom surface, guides 4 having elongated half-sections vertically installed at the four corners of the base 3, and an upper surface of the base 3 (transfer It consists of a rectangular parallelepiped jig setting table 5 provided at the center (bottom top surface) of the jig main body 1.

The four guides 4 guide a plastic cartridge 7 that accommodates 25 wafers 6. That is, each guide 4 has its perpendicularly opened portion facing inward, and guides the four corners of the cartridge 7. The wafers 6 are housed with their peripheral edges inserted into 25 housing grooves 9 provided vertically in parallel on the inner walls of a pair of side plates 8 of the cartridge 7 facing each other. As described above, the cartridge 7 includes a pair of side plates 8 and a connecting portion 1o that connects both end portions of the side plates 8.
Because it consists of a
The wafer 6 does not fall out from below the cartridge 7. Therefore, the wafer 6 is taken in and out from above the cartridge 7.

On the other hand, the jig setting table 5 provided at the center of the base 3 is
The vertical and horizontal dimensions are smaller than the space area 11 formed by the pair of side plates 8 and the connecting part 10 of the cartridge 7. However, the height of the jig set table 5 is
It is higher than the height of the connecting portion 10 of the cartridge 7. This is to enable the holding jig 2 to hold the quartz jig 12 placed on the jig set table 5 when the cartridge 7 is placed on the base 3, as will be described later. A quartz jig 12, which is a heat treatment jig, is placed on the jig set table 5. This quartz jig 12 includes a pair of rods 13 extending in parallel, a connecting body 14 connecting both ends of these rods I3, and an elongated quartz jig fixed to the upper surface of the rods 13 along the rods 13. It consists of a pedestal rod 15. Also,
The distance between the pair of pedestal rods 5 is wider than the distance between the rods 13, making it easier to receive the wafer 6.

A storage groove 16 (see FIG. 2) is provided on the upper surface of the open pedestal rod 15 for placing and storing 25 wafers 6 therein. Naturally, the pitch of the accommodation groove 16 of the quartz jig 12 and the pitch of the accommodation groove 9 of the cartridge 7 are as follows.
For example, it is the same as 2.5 Mrl or 5 m. Further, this quartz jig 12 also has smaller vertical and horizontal dimensions than the spatial area 11 of the cartridge 7. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of positioning pieces 17 are provided on the upper surface of the jig setting table 5, and the quartz jig 1
It is designed to fit into the inner space portions of both end portions of 2.

On the other hand, the holding jig 2 has a fork shape. That is, the holding jig 2 includes an elongated grip portion 18 and this grip portion 1.
An elongated insertion portion 1 bifurcates at the tip of 8 and extends in parallel.
It consists of 9. The insertion portion 19 of this holding jig 2 is inserted into an insertion hole 20 (see FIG. 2) provided in advance in the quartz jig 12.

The insertion hole 20 is formed by making the rod 13 into a tube.

Next, a method of using such an article transfer jig will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, an empty quartz jig 12 is positioned and mounted on the top surface of the jig setting table 5 using a positioning piece]7, and a cartridge 7 containing a wafer 6 is placed on the top surface of the jig setting table 5. It will be prepared.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the cars 1 to 7 are attached to the transfer jig main body 1 using the guides 4. The cartridge 7 is slowly lowered while being guided by the guide 4 at its four corners and placed on the upper surface of the base 3. When the cartridge 7 is lowered, the wafer 6 housed in the cartridge 7 is moved by passing the jig setting table 5. The cartridge 7 is positioned on the guide 4 of the transfer jig main body 1, and the quartz jig 12 is positioned on the jig set base 5 of the transfer jig main body 1.
Since the cartridge 7 is positioned by a positioning piece 17 provided thereon, the housing groove 9 of the cartridge 7 and the housing groove 16 of the quartz jig 12 correspond to each other.

Therefore, the wafer 6 is transferred from the cartridge 7 to the quartz jig 1.
2, it is accurately accommodated in the accommodation groove 16 of the quartz jig 12. Further, at this time, the quartz jig 12 is exposed above the cartridge 7.

Next, at C, the holding jig 2 is attached to the quartz jig 12.

That is, the operator grasps the grip portion 18 of the holding jig 2 and inserts the insertion portion 19 into the insertion hole 20 of the quartz jig 12. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the holding jig 2 is moved upward and the quartz jig 12 is carried onto the table 21. The holding jig 2 is a quartz jig 12 on the table 21
The process of transferring the wafer 6 from the cartridge 7 to the quartz jig 12 is completed.

In addition, when transferring the wafer 6 from the quartz jig 12 to the cartridge 7, the transfer procedure may be reversed to the above-described transfer procedure. That is, first, an empty cartridge 7 is mounted on the transfer jig main body 1, and then the cartridge 7 containing the wafer 6 is placed on the jig setting table 5 by the holding jig 2. Thereafter, the empty cartridge 7 is slowly lifted.

Then, when the cartridge 7 passes through the quartz jig 12,
The wafers 6 accommodated in the quartz jig 12 enter the accommodation groove 9 of the cartridge 7, and all wafers 6 are placed in the cartridge 7.
will be transferred to.

The embodiments described above are particularly effective techniques when handling wafers with large cross sections. When handling a wafer with a large cross section using vacuum tweezers or the like, the weight of the wafer itself is heavy, and handling is extremely difficult even for experienced users. However, by using the transfer jig of the present invention, excellent effects are obtained even in handling large diameter wafers.

〔effect〕

1. The wafer transfer jig of the present invention automatically transfers from one side to the other by passing through the cartridge 7 and the quartz jig 12 relative to each other. There is no contact between the transfer tools and the like, and the effect is that the wafer 6 is not contaminated.

2. According to the present invention, when transferring the wafer 6 between the cartridge 7 and the quartz jig 12, the speed at which the two are scraped is sufficiently controlled by the operator, and the wafer 6 is placed in the other storage groove. Since the shock at the time of contact can be reduced, occurrence of damage such as cranks, chips, etc. in the wafer 6 can be reduced, and the manufacturing yield can be improved.

3. From 2 above, damage to the wafer 6 can be reduced by:
This means that the generation of foreign matter caused by breakage is reduced, and the effect of eliminating contamination of the working environment can be obtained.

4. According to the present invention, the transfer of the wafers 6 is a batch process in which the entire wafers housed in the cartridge 7 or the quartz jig 12 are transferred at once, so it does not take much time and effort, and the workability is extremely high. This has the effect of increasing the efficiency of the migration work.

5. The article transfer jig of the present invention allows the cartridge 7 to be moved up and down using the guide 4 in the transfer jig main body 1, and the quartz jig 12 to be moved relative to the jig set table 5 by the holding jig 2. Since it is only necessary to perform loading and unloading operations, the operator does not necessarily need to have any skill, and the effect is that anyone can perform the work.

6. The article transfer jig of the present invention allows loading and unloading operations of the quartz jig 12 to the jig set table 5 by the holding jig 2, and loading and unloading operations of the cartridge 7 to the transfer jig main body 1. And since its movements are simple, it can be easily automated using robots.

7. From 1 to 6 above, according to the article transfer jig of the present invention,
By improving the yield of wafer transfer operations, a synergistic effect can be obtained in that transfer operation costs can be reduced.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Nor. For example, even if various commonly used mechanisms are used for the cartridge position guide in the transfer jig main body, the quartz jig holding mechanism, etc., the same effects as in the embodiments described above can be obtained.

[Application field]

In the above description, the invention made by the present inventor is mainly applied to the wafer transfer technology in the semiconductor device manufacturing technology, which is the background field of application, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The present invention can be applied to the work of transferring articles stored in a container that can be passed through in at least one direction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer jig according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cross-sectional view showing a wafer transfer start state, and FIG. 3 is a similar jig. A plan view showing the setting table, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the wafer is transferred from the cartridge to the quartz jig, and FIG. It is.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article transfer jig main body that positions and accommodates a cartridge whose top and bottom are open and from which stored articles are taken in and taken out from the top surface, and an article transfer jig body that is disposed on the bottom upper surface of the article transfer jig main body. and a jig setting table on which a jig capable of placing and accommodating the stored article can be placed and through which the cartridge can pass; and a holding jig that holds the jig; When the cartridge is set in the article transfer jig and lowered, the article to be accommodated in the cartridge is placed on the jig on the jig setting table, and the jig becomes movable by the holding jig. An article transfer jig characterized by: 2. The holding jig consists of a gripping part and a pair of insertion parts extending in two from the end of the gripping part, and the insertion parts are formed by a pair of insertion parts provided in advance on the side of the jig. The article transfer jig according to claim 1, wherein the jig is adapted to be inserted into a hole.