CN113257723A - Semiconductor processing equipment - Google Patents
Semiconductor processing equipment Download PDFInfo
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- CN113257723A CN113257723A CN202110771060.3A CN202110771060A CN113257723A CN 113257723 A CN113257723 A CN 113257723A CN 202110771060 A CN202110771060 A CN 202110771060A CN 113257723 A CN113257723 A CN 113257723A
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
- H01L21/67201—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterized by the construction of the load-lock chamber
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
- H01L21/67196—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterized by the construction of the transfer chamber
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67766—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67778—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading involving loading and unloading of wafers
- H01L21/67781—Batch transfer of wafers
Abstract
The invention provides semiconductor process equipment which comprises a wafer transmission area and a wafer storage box storage area, wherein the wafer storage box storage area is provided with a feeding and discharging station, and the feeding and discharging station is provided with a temporary storage device of the wafer storage box and used for lifting the wafer storage box to a preset position after the wafer transmission area carries out wafer taking and placing operation on the wafer storage box positioned at the feeding and discharging station. In the invention, the wafer storage box temporary storage device is arranged at the feeding and discharging station and can be lifted to a preset position after the wafer storage box at the feeding and discharging station finishes the wafer taking and placing operation so as to place the next wafer storage box at the feeding and discharging station, thereby reducing the idle time of the feeding and discharging station, enabling a wafer transmission manipulator to carry out the wafer taking and placing operation on a plurality of wafer storage boxes sequentially loaded at the same feeding and discharging station, further using the redundant feeding and discharging station in the existing machine for additionally storing one wafer storage box, expanding the storage space of the wafer storage box in the storage area of the wafer storage box, improving the transmission efficiency and further improving the productivity of semiconductor process equipment.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of semiconductor process equipment, in particular to semiconductor process equipment.
Background
A Wafer Transfer System (WTS) is an important component of a tank cleaning apparatus, and its main function is to perform rapid and automatic Wafer Transfer between an apparatus loading area and an apparatus processing area. Fig. 1 is a top view structure diagram of a conventional wafer transfer system, which mainly includes: a loading area (Loadport), a storage area of a storage box (FOUP), and a Wafer Transfer area (Wafer Transfer).
The FOUP Robot (Wafer transmission manipulator) is responsible for transmitting a placed FOUP in a Loadport to a FOUP storage area, the Wafer Robot (Wafer transmission manipulator) is responsible for taking out a Wafer in the FOUP storage area and transmitting the Wafer to the Wafer turnover mechanism, the Wafer turnover mechanism converts the horizontal placement of the Wafer into vertical placement, the Wafer is taken down by a PTZ (Process Transfer Zone, Process transmission area), a Wafer notch is aligned through an Aligner (Wafer notch alignment device), and finally the Wafer is taken down by the Process Robot (Process manipulator) to perform Process treatment. After the wafer cleaning is finished, the steps are performed in reverse order to take out the wafer into the FOUP.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide semiconductor process equipment which can improve the productivity, improve the utilization rate of machine space and reduce the manufacturing and maintenance cost of the semiconductor process equipment.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides semiconductor process equipment which comprises a wafer transmission area and a wafer storage box storage area, wherein the wafer storage box storage area is provided with a feeding and discharging station, the feeding and discharging station is provided with a temporary storage device of the wafer storage box, and the wafer transmission area is used for taking out a wafer before process in the wafer storage box of the feeding and discharging station and putting a wafer after process into the wafer storage box of the feeding and discharging station; store up spool box temporary storage device and be used for the wafer transmission district is to being located go up the spool box of unloading station and carry out the wafer and get and put the operation back, will store up the spool box and rise to preset the position, be provided with the spool box manipulator in storing up the spool box storage area, be used for store up spool box temporary storage device will the spool box of unloading station rises to preset the position after, places another spool box last unloading station, and with spool box temporary storage device carries out spool box handing-over, in order to take off the spool box of presetting the position.
Optionally, store up spool box temporary storage device includes lifting unit and snatchs the subassembly, it is used for snatching the subassembly and is located the spool box of unloading the station of going up, lifting unit is used for the drive it descends to snatch the subassembly and can snatch be located store up spool box on the unloading station, perhaps it snatchs to snatch the subassembly store up behind the spool box, the drive it drives to snatch the subassembly store up the spool box and rise to predetermine the position, it still is used for to snatch the subassembly store up the spool box and be located when predetermineeing the position and storing up spool box handing-over, release store up the spool box.
Optionally, the lifting assembly includes a lifting driving mechanism and a cross arm, one end of the cross arm is connected to the lifting driving mechanism, the other end of the cross arm is connected to the grabbing assembly, and the lifting driving mechanism is configured to drive the cross arm to drive the grabbing assembly to lift.
Optionally, the lifting driving mechanism includes a lifting driving portion, a guide rail and a slider, the guide rail is fixedly disposed along a vertical direction, the slider is disposed on the guide rail, and the lifting driving portion is configured to drive the slider to move along the guide rail.
Optionally, the lifting driving mechanism further comprises a fixing plate, the guide rail is fixedly arranged on the fixing plate, and the fixing plate is attached and fixedly arranged on the inner wall of the semiconductor process equipment corresponding to the storage area of the storage box.
Optionally, the lifting driving part is an air cylinder.
Optionally, the lifting driving part is a linear motor.
Optionally, the grasping assembly includes a grasping mechanism fixedly connected to the crossbar and at least one pair of fingers for driving each pair of fingers toward or away from each other.
Optionally, the grabbing assembly comprises a pair of fingers, the grabbing mechanism comprises a bidirectional telescopic cylinder, the bidirectional telescopic cylinder is provided with two output rods with opposite directions, the two output rods are respectively fixedly connected with the fingers, and the bidirectional telescopic cylinder is used for driving the two output rods to extend out or retract back simultaneously, so that the two fingers are close to or away from each other.
Optionally, the finger comprises a first plate-like part and a second plate-like part connected to each other, the first plate-like part being arranged in a vertical direction and the second plate-like part being arranged in a horizontal direction; the top ends of the first plate-shaped parts of the two fingers are fixedly connected with the two output rods of the bidirectional telescopic cylinder respectively, the bottom ends of the first plate-shaped parts are fixedly connected with the second plate-shaped parts, the two second plate-shaped parts extend from the bottom ends of the two first plate-shaped parts to opposite sides respectively, and positioning notches are formed in the edges of the two opposite side edges of the second plate-shaped parts.
In the semiconductor processing equipment provided by the invention, the temporary storage device of the wafer storage box is arranged at the feeding and discharging station, and can lift the wafer storage box to a preset position after the wafer storage box of the loading and unloading station finishes the wafer taking and placing operation, so that the storage box manipulator of the storage area of the storage box can place the next storage box to the feeding and discharging station, thereby reducing the idle time of the loading and unloading stations, leading the wafer transmission manipulator to continuously carry out the wafer picking and placing operation on a plurality of wafer storage boxes loaded in sequence on the same loading and unloading station, and then can only carry out the wafer handing-over through going up unloading station between storage area of storage box and the wafer transmission district, enlarged storage box storage space in the storage area of storage box (unnecessary unloading station can be used to additionally store a storage box in the current board), increased the storage capacity of storage box, improved transmission efficiency to the productivity of semiconductor process equipment has been promoted. In addition, only one loading and unloading station is arranged in the storage area of the storage box, so that the material cost of the other loading and unloading station in the prior art is saved, and the manufacturing and maintenance cost of semiconductor process equipment is reduced.
Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a top view of a conventional wafer transfer system;
fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a temporary storage device of a storage cassette in semiconductor processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3 to fig. 10 are schematic diagrams illustrating the working principle of a temporary storage device of a storage cassette in semiconductor processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a temporary storage device of a storage cassette in semiconductor processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;
figure 12 is a partial view of the cassette buffer of figure 11.
Detailed Description
The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present invention, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.
As shown in fig. 1, a loading/unloading station (LP 5, LP 6) for docking with a wafer transmission area is disposed in a storage area of a wafer storage box, and since only one wafer storage box manipulator is disposed in the storage area of the wafer storage box, in order to improve the transmission efficiency of the wafer storage box, two loading/unloading stations LP5, LP6 are typically disposed in the storage area of the wafer storage box, one of which is used for carrying out wafer picking/placing operations (including loading, i.e., transporting the wafer storage box of a wafer before process to the loading/unloading station, then transporting the wafer through a wafer transport manipulator and a process manipulator, carrying out processes, and unloading, i.e., transporting the wafer after process to the wafer storage box of the loading/unloading station through the wafer transport manipulator of the wafer transmission area, and the wafer storage box manipulator taking the wafer storage box carrying the wafer after process away from the loading/unloading station), the next wafer storage box to be subjected to wafer picking/placing operation can be placed in the other by the wafer storage box manipulator in advance, therefore, the time for waiting for the wafer storage box manipulator to take and place the wafer storage box when the wafer transmission manipulator takes and places the wafer is saved, and the machine table efficiency is improved.
However, although the design of the double loading and unloading stations can improve the smoothness of the connection between the process manipulator and the wafer transmission manipulator and improve the efficiency of the machine, the whole floor area of the cleaning equipment is precious, and the problem of wasting the storage space of the storage box still exists in the design.
In order to solve the above technical problems, as an aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor processing apparatus is provided, which includes a Wafer Transfer (Wafer Transfer) area and a Wafer storage area (FOUP storage area), the Wafer storage area has a loading/unloading station 20, and the loading/unloading station 20 is provided with a temporary storage device (as shown in fig. 2) for the Wafer, the Wafer Transfer area is configured to take out a Wafer before process (i.e., a Wafer to be subjected to a semiconductor process in a process chamber) located in the Wafer storage 10 of the loading/unloading station 20, and place a Wafer after process (i.e., a Wafer which has been subjected to the semiconductor process and transferred from the process chamber) in the Wafer storage 10 located in the loading/unloading station 20. The temporary storage device of the storage box is used for lifting the storage box 10 to a preset position after the wafer transmission area carries out wafer picking and placing operation on the storage box 10 located on the feeding and discharging station 20, and the storage box 10 located on the preset position and the storage box 10 located on the feeding and discharging station 20 are mutually spaced in the height direction. A magazine Robot (FOUP Robot) 30 is disposed in the magazine storage area, and is configured to, after the magazine buffer raises the magazine 10 of the loading/unloading station 20 to a preset position, place another magazine 10 in the loading/unloading station 20, and hand over the magazine with the magazine buffer to take down the magazine 10 of the preset position.
In the semiconductor process equipment provided by the invention, the temporary storage device of the storage box is arranged at the loading and unloading station 20 (the projection size of the loading and unloading station 20 on the horizontal plane corresponds to a single storage box), and the storage box can be lifted to a preset position after the storage box 10 of the loading and unloading station 20 finishes the wafer taking and placing operation, so that the storage box manipulator 30 of the storage area of the storage box can place the next storage box 10 to the loading and unloading station 20, thereby reducing the idle time of the loading and unloading station 20 (the loading and unloading station 20 is only idle when the storage box 10 is lifted by the temporary storage device of the storage box), enabling the wafer transmission manipulator to continuously carry out the wafer operation on a plurality of storage boxes 10 sequentially loaded by the same loading and unloading station 20, further carrying out the wafer handover between the storage area of the storage box and the wafer transmission area through only one loading and unloading station 20, and expanding the storage space of the storage box in the storage area (the redundant one storage box 20 in the existing machine can be used for the additional storage space of the storage box (the additional storage box in the existing machine) And one storage box 10 is stored outside), the storage capacity of the storage box is increased, and the wafer transmission efficiency is improved, so that the productivity of semiconductor process equipment is improved. In addition, only one loading and unloading station 20 is arranged in the storage area of the storage box, so that the material cost (such as a sensor, a positioning assembly and the like for realizing automatic control) of the other loading and unloading station 20 in the prior art is saved, and the manufacturing and maintenance cost of semiconductor process equipment is reduced.
For example, as an optional implementation manner of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the temporary storage device for storing cassettes may include a lifting assembly 100 and a grabbing assembly 200, where the grabbing assembly 200 is used to grab the cassettes 10 located at the loading/unloading station 20, the lifting assembly 100 is used to drive the grabbing assembly 200 to descend until the grabbing assembly 200 can grab the cassettes 10 located at the loading/unloading station 20, or after the grabbing assembly 200 grabs the cassettes 10, the grabbing assembly 200 is driven to drive the cassettes 10 to rise to a preset position, and the grabbing assembly 200 is further used to release the cassettes 10 when the cassettes are located at the preset position and the cassettes are handed over, so that the manipulator 30 of the cassettes takes away the cassettes 10 during the process of handing over the cassettes.
For example, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the lifting assembly 100 includes a lifting driving mechanism 120 and a cross arm 110, one end of the cross arm 110 is connected to the lifting driving mechanism 120, and the other end is connected to the grabbing assembly 200, and the lifting driving mechanism 120 is configured to drive the cross arm 110 to lift the grabbing assembly 200.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the elevation driving mechanism 120 is connected to the grasping assembly 200 through the cross arm 110, and drives the grasping assembly 200 to vertically reciprocate through the cross arm 110, so that the distance between the side surface of the magazine 10 and the elevation driving mechanism 120 is pulled by the cross arm 110, and the safety and stability of the elevation driving mechanism 120 are improved.
The structure of the cross arm 110 is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, as an optional embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 11, the cross arm 110 includes a horizontal plate 111 and a vertical plate 112 that are connected to each other, the horizontal plate 111 is disposed along a horizontal direction, the vertical plate 112 is disposed along a vertical direction, a side of the vertical plate 112 away from the horizontal plate 111 is fixedly connected to the slider 122, and an end of the horizontal plate 111 away from the vertical plate 112 is fixedly connected to (the grabbing mechanism 210 of) the grabbing assembly 200.
In order to enhance the connection strength between the horizontal plate 111 and the vertical plate 112, it is preferable that a plurality of reinforcing ribs are provided at the connection positions of the horizontal plate 111 and the vertical plate 112, as shown in fig. 11, and the reinforcing ribs are connected to both the horizontal plate 111 and the vertical plate 112 and are perpendicular to both the horizontal plate 111 and the vertical plate 112.
In order to improve the transmission stability of the elevating driving mechanism 120 and the position accuracy of the magazine 10, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elevating driving mechanism 120 may include a guide rail and a slider structure, specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the elevating driving mechanism 120 includes an elevating driving part, a guide rail 121 and a slider 122, the guide rail 121 is fixedly disposed along a vertical direction, the slider 122 is disposed on the guide rail 121, and the elevating driving part is used for driving the slider 122 to move along the guide rail 121.
In order to improve the convenience of installing the temporary storage device for the storage cassette on the semiconductor processing equipment and improve the overall stability of the device, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the temporary storage device for the storage cassette further comprises a fixing plate 300, the guide rail 121 is fixedly disposed on the fixing plate 300, and the fixing plate 300 is attached to and fixedly disposed on the inner wall of the semiconductor processing equipment corresponding to the storage region of the storage cassette.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the guide rail 121 of the lifting driving mechanism 120 is fixedly disposed on the fixing plate 300, so that when the temporary storage device of the storage cassette is mounted on the semiconductor processing equipment, the fixing plate 300 can be directly and fixedly mounted on the chamber wall through the fastening member, and the accuracy of the position and the angle of the guide rail 121 is ensured through the cooperation between the plane on the fixing plate 300 and the flat surface of the chamber wall, thereby improving the convenience of mounting the temporary storage device of the storage cassette and the accuracy of the direction in which the temporary storage device of the storage cassette lifts the storage cassette 10. In addition, the guide rail 121 is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the semiconductor process equipment through the fixing plate 300, so that stress generated on the inner wall of the semiconductor process equipment can be effectively dispersed, the service life of the side wall of the semiconductor process equipment is further prolonged, and the transmission stability of the lifting driving mechanism 120 is improved.
The structure of the lifting driving part is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention, as long as the lifting driving part can precisely drive the cross arm 110 in the height direction to move the grabbing assembly 200 by a required distance, for example, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the lifting driving part may be an air cylinder. In another embodiment of the present invention, the elevation driving part may be a linear motor.
The structure of the grasping assembly 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the grasping assembly 200 can grasp and fix the magazine 10, for example, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 and 11, the grasping assembly 200 includes a grasping mechanism 210 and at least one pair of fingers 220, the grasping mechanism 210 is fixedly connected to the crossbar 110, and the grasping mechanism 210 is used for driving each pair of fingers 220 to approach or move away from each other. When the fingers 220 are driven by the grabbing mechanism 210 to approach each other, the fingers are folded to grab and fix the magazine 10 (the protruding structure), and when the fingers 220 are driven by the grabbing mechanism 210 to move away from each other, the fingers are unfolded to release the magazine 10 (the protruding structure) grabbed by the grabbing assembly 200.
The structure of the grabbing mechanism 210 is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention, as long as the grabbing mechanism 210 can drive at least one pair of fingers 220 to close (approach) or open (separate), for example, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 and 11, the grabbing assembly 200 includes a pair of fingers 220, the grabbing mechanism 210 includes a bidirectional telescopic cylinder, the bidirectional telescopic cylinder has two output rods facing opposite directions, and the two output rods are respectively and fixedly connected with the two fingers 220, and the bidirectional telescopic cylinder is used for driving the two output rods to simultaneously extend or simultaneously retract so as to enable the two fingers 220 to approach or separate from each other.
The structure of the finger 220 is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention, and the shape of the finger 220 corresponds to the structure to be grasped on the sheet storage box 10. For example, as an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, 11 and 12, the grabbing component 200 is used for grabbing the square structure 11 on the top of the magazine, and the finger 220 comprises a first plate-shaped part 221 and a second plate-shaped part 222 which are connected with each other, wherein the first plate-shaped part 221 is arranged along the vertical direction, and the second plate-shaped part 222 is arranged along the horizontal direction.
The top ends of the first plate-shaped parts 221 of the two fingers 220 are respectively fixedly connected with the two output rods of the bidirectional telescopic cylinder, the bottom ends of the first plate-shaped parts 221 are fixedly connected with the second plate-shaped parts 222, and the two second plate-shaped parts 222 respectively extend from the bottom ends of the two first plate-shaped parts 221 to opposite sides. The two second plate-like portions 222 are each formed with a positioning notch on an opposite side edge, and the length of each positioning notch (i.e. the dimension along the extending direction of the edge) is smaller than the width of the square structure 11 on the top of the magazine (i.e. the side length of the square).
In the embodiment of the present invention, the grabbing component 200 is used for grabbing the square structure 11 on the top of the magazine, the second plate-shaped portions 222 of the two fingers are respectively folded from two sides to the middle of the square structure 11, and the two second plate-shaped portions 222 with the positioning notches are inserted into the lower portion of the square structure 11, so as to stably limit the square structure 11 in the space surrounded by the two fingers.
In other embodiments of the present invention, the grabbing mechanism 210 may also adopt a link structure to drive two fingers to realize grabbing and releasing actions.
To facilitate understanding of those skilled in the art, the following provides a complete motion analysis of the transport of a single cassette between the cassette robot 30, the loading and unloading station 20, and the cassette buffer in the semiconductor processing equipment provided by the embodiments of the present invention:
as shown in fig. 3, the grabbing component 200 is located at an initial position, and waits for a wafer conveying robot in a wafer conveying area to perform a wafer picking and placing operation on the storage box 10 on the loading and unloading station 20;
after the wafer conveying manipulator carries out wafer taking and placing operations on the wafer storage box 10 on the loading and unloading station 20, as shown in fig. 4, the lifting assembly 100 drives the grabbing assembly 200 to descend to a height at which the grabbing assembly can grab the wafer storage box 10 on the loading and unloading station 20;
as shown in fig. 5, after the grasping assembly 200 reaches the height, the magazine 10 (the top square structure 11) is grasped;
after the grabbing component 200 grabs the magazine 10, as shown in fig. 6, the lifting component 100 drives the grabbing component 200 and the magazine 10 grabbed by the grabbing component to rise to a preset position (the preset position is set to make the magazine 10 located at the preset position and the magazine 10 located on the loading and unloading station 20 mutually spaced in the height direction so as to prevent collision between the front and rear magazines 10), so that the magazine manipulator 30 timely places the next magazine 10 on the loading and unloading station 20, and the wafer taking and placing operation of the wafer transmission manipulator is seamlessly switched between the two magazines 10;
as shown in fig. 7, the cassette storage robot 30 places the next cassette storage 10 onto the loading and unloading station 20, so that the wafer transfer robot is seamlessly switched to the next cassette storage 10;
as shown in fig. 8, the magazine robot 30 moves to a predetermined position and starts the magazine transfer with the gripper assembly 200.
As shown in fig. 9, the grasping assembly 200 releases the magazine 10 during the magazine transfer, and the magazine 10 is transferred to the magazine robot 30;
as shown in fig. 10, the magazine robot 30 takes away the magazine 10 located at the predetermined position, so that the loading and unloading station 20 returns to the initial state shown in fig. 3, and resumes the cycle of fig. 3 to fig. 10 after the wafer loading and unloading operation of the magazine 10 currently on the loading and unloading station 20 is completed.
In the embodiment of the present invention, when the grabbing component 200 and the cassette handling robot 30 perform cassette handing over, the wafer conveying robot starts to take out a wafer before the process from the next cassette 10 on the loading/unloading station 20 or place a wafer after the process into the next cassette 10 (i.e. perform wafer picking and placing operations), so that the wafer conveying robot can continuously perform wafer picking and placing operations on a plurality of cassettes 10 sequentially loaded on the same loading/unloading station 20, thereby expanding the storage space of the cassettes in the storage area of the cassettes, increasing the storage capacity of the cassettes, and improving the productivity of the semiconductor process equipment. In addition, only one feeding and discharging station 20 is arranged in the storage area of the storage box, so that the material cost of the other feeding and discharging station 20 in the prior art is saved, and the manufacturing and maintenance cost of semiconductor process equipment is further reduced.
It will be understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments taken to illustrate the principles of the present invention, which is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the invention, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of the invention.
Claims (10)
1. The semiconductor process equipment is characterized by comprising a wafer transmission area and a wafer storage box storage area, wherein the wafer storage box storage area is provided with a feeding and discharging station, the feeding and discharging station is provided with a temporary storage device of the wafer storage box, and the wafer transmission area is used for taking out a wafer before process in the wafer storage box of the feeding and discharging station and putting the wafer after process into the wafer storage box of the feeding and discharging station; store up spool box temporary storage device and be used for the wafer transmission district is to being located go up the spool box of unloading station and carry out the wafer and get and put the operation back, will store up the spool box and rise to preset the position, be provided with the spool box manipulator in storing up the spool box storage area, be used for store up spool box temporary storage device will the spool box of unloading station rises to after presetting the position, place another spool box go up the unloading station, and with spool box temporary storage device carries out spool box handing-over, in order to take off the spool box of presetting the position.
2. The semiconductor processing equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage box temporary storage device comprises a lifting component and a grabbing component, the grabbing component is used for grabbing the storage box located at the loading and unloading station, the lifting component is used for driving the grabbing component to descend to the position where the grabbing component can grab the storage box located at the loading and unloading station, or after the grabbing component grabs the storage box, the grabbing component is driven to drive the storage box to ascend to the preset position, and the grabbing component is further used for releasing the storage box when the storage box is located at the preset position and is handed over.
3. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the lifting assembly comprises a lifting driving mechanism and a cross arm, one end of the cross arm is connected to the lifting driving mechanism, and the other end of the cross arm is connected to the grabbing assembly, and the lifting driving mechanism is used for driving the cross arm to drive the grabbing assembly to lift.
4. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the lift driving mechanism comprises a lift driving part, a guide rail and a slider, the guide rail is fixedly arranged along a vertical direction, the slider is arranged on the guide rail, and the lift driving part is used for driving the slider to move along the guide rail.
5. The semiconductor processing equipment according to claim 4, wherein the lifting driving mechanism further comprises a fixing plate, the guide rail is fixedly arranged on the fixing plate, and the fixing plate is attached and fixedly arranged on the inner wall of the semiconductor processing equipment corresponding to the storage area of the storage box.
6. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the lift drive is a cylinder.
7. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the lift drive is a linear motor.
8. The semiconductor processing apparatus of any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the gripper assembly comprises at least one pair of fingers and a gripper mechanism, the gripper mechanism being fixedly connected to the crossbar, the gripper mechanism being configured to drive each pair of fingers toward or away from each other.
9. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the gripper assembly comprises a pair of fingers, the gripper mechanism comprises a bi-directional telescopic cylinder having two output rods facing in opposite directions, and the two output rods are respectively fixedly connected to the two fingers, and the bi-directional telescopic cylinder is configured to drive the two output rods to extend or retract simultaneously, so as to move the two fingers closer to or away from each other.
10. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the finger includes a first plate-like portion and a second plate-like portion connected to each other, the first plate-like portion being disposed in a vertical direction and the second plate-like portion being disposed in a horizontal direction; the top ends of the first plate-shaped parts of the two fingers are fixedly connected with the two output rods of the bidirectional telescopic cylinder respectively, the bottom ends of the first plate-shaped parts are fixedly connected with the second plate-shaped parts, the two second plate-shaped parts extend from the bottom ends of the two first plate-shaped parts to opposite sides respectively, and positioning notches are formed in the edges of the two opposite side edges of the second plate-shaped parts.
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| CN117174630A (en) * | 2023-11-02 | 2023-12-05 | 泓浒(苏州)半导体科技有限公司 | High-efficiency semiconductor wafer conveying device |
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