GB2266992A - Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers - Google Patents

Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2266992A
GB2266992A GB9209727A GB9209727A GB2266992A GB 2266992 A GB2266992 A GB 2266992A GB 9209727 A GB9209727 A GB 9209727A GB 9209727 A GB9209727 A GB 9209727A GB 2266992 A GB2266992 A GB 2266992A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
wafer
waf
movement
loading
moving
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB9209727A
Other versions
GB9209727D0 (en
Inventor
Carl David Monnington Brancher
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Surface Technology Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
Surface Technology Systems Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Surface Technology Systems Ltd filed Critical Surface Technology Systems Ltd
Priority to GB9209727A priority Critical patent/GB2266992A/en
Publication of GB9209727D0 publication Critical patent/GB9209727D0/en
Priority to DE19934314508 priority patent/DE4314508A1/en
Publication of GB2266992A publication Critical patent/GB2266992A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • 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
    • 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
    • H01L21/68—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 positioning, orientation or alignment
    • H01L21/681—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 positioning, orientation or alignment using optical controlling means

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)

Abstract

This invention relates to apparatus for loading or unloading a semi-conductor wafer into and out of a processing chamber 11. The wafer loading mechanism 10 is rigidly attached to the front of the process chamber 11 and includes a frame 12 on which is supported a carriage 13 which in turn carries a wafer spatula 14 and a carriage drive mechanism generally indicated at 15. The frame 12 is open top and bottom so that the cassette 16 can be elevated, and lowered, through the frame by an elevator mechanism 17. Using this arrangement the spatula 14 can pick up a wafer from the cassette 16, which can then be lowered out of the way allowing the spatula 14 access to the process chamber 11. The wafer may be aligned on the spatula by means of a rotatable chuck and a video camera and control means can be provided. <IMAGE>

Description

2266992 Apparatus for Loading Semi-Conductor Wafers This invention relates
to apparatus f or loading or unloading a semi-conductor waf er into and out of a processing chamber.
It is common to load waf ers into processing chambers using a spatula mounted on an arm which is arranged f or movement between a cassette and the processing chamber. In all known cases this is achieved with a combination of rotation and linear movement with the result that the rotational position of the wafer within the processing chamber is often not very accurate. This can be extremely detrimental when attempts are made to manufacture certain devices.
The present invention consists in apparatus f or loading 15 or unloading a semi-conductor wafer into or out of a processing chamber having an inlet port, comprising a wafer carrier means and means for moving the wafer carrier means into the processing chamber along a purely linear path of movement.
In one preferred arrangement the moving means is arranged for moving the wafer carrier means between a withdrawn position and the processing chamber along the path of movement and the apparatus further comprises means f or supporting a wafer holding cassette and for moving it into and out of a waf er loading/ unloading position located in the path of movement of the waf er carrier means at a location 2 between the withdrawn position and the inlet port.
In this arrangement the apparatus may further comprise means for scanning wafer locations in the cassette as it is moved relative to the path of movement, f or example using an optical scanner or a video camera, an image digitizer and appropriate control means.
The apparatus may further comprise alignment means for aligning the waf er on the spatula, for example whilst the cassette is being withdrawn from the path of movement.
In an alternative arrangement the apparatus may comprise a waf er holding cassette and further means for moving the waf er carrier means relative to the path of movement for loading and/or unloading wafers from the cassette. In this case the further means may move the wafer carrier means by rotation, lateral translation, raising or lowering the waf er carrier means. When the wafer carrier means is rotatable, it may load or unload a plurality of processing chambers by acting along respective purely linear paths of movement. 20 In any of the preceding arrangements the wafer carrier moving means may include a carriage f or supporting the waf er carrier means and a linear screw drive drivingly acting on the carriage. Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.
The invention may be performed in a number of ways and a specific example will now be described with.reference to 3 the accompanying drawing, which is a general perspective view of a wafer loading mechanism and a process chamber.
Thus, in its simplest and most preferred embodiment, the invention includes a wafer loading mechanism genexally indicated at 10 which is rigidly attached to the front of a process chamber 11. The mechanism 10 includes a frame 12 on which is supported a carriage 13 which in turn carries a wafer spatula 14 and a carriage drive mechanism generally indicated at 15.
The frame 12 is open top and bottom so that a cassette 16 can be elevated, and lowered, through the frame by an elevator mechanism 17.
The carriage 13 is mounted on the frame 12 by a pair of longitudinal rods, one of which is shown at 18. These rods define a path of movement extending from the withdrawn position illustrated in the drawing to a load/unload position where the spatula is passed through the inlet port (not shown) of the process chamber into the chamber. The carriage 13 is moved along this path of movement by means of a drive screw 19 which is in turn rotated by a motor 20 through a drive belt and pulley assembly generally indicated at 21. Because the motor can be controlled extremely accurately and because the loading/ unloading movement of the spatula is purely linear, the positioning of the wafer can be extremely accurate.
In use, the cassette 16 is elevated into the position indicated in the drawing in which a wafer holding location 22 is disposed in the path of movement between the withdrawn 4 position and the inlet port. The spatula can be driven forward to remove the wafer and then is returned to its withdrawn position. The cassette 16 is lowered to clear the path of movement and the spatula can then be driven into the process chamber 11. The unloading operation simply reverses this sequence. It may be necessary to provide a small downward movement of the cassette once the spatula is located within the cassette in order to provide sufficient frictional contact. The linear movement of the cassette is also advantageous, as it enables easy optical scanning of the locations 22 to determine which contain wafers and which are empty.
It will be understood that the spatula 14 can be moved relative to the cassette to achieve loading and unloading from the cassette and indeed the whole loading mechanism 10 may be rotated, linearly translated, raised or lowered or a combination of these in order to deal with a plurality processing chambers or different geometries. However in these cases the loading mechanism should have a well established location with respect to the or each processing chamber so that the loading movement of the spatula into the processing chamber is purely linear.
As has been mentioned above the apparatus may include alignment means for aligning the wafer on the spatula. In 'A a s"ple version this could comprise a series of radially inwardly projecting slightly inclined rods which could lift the wafer from the spatula allowing it to slide on the rods until centred on the circle defined by the lips of the rods.
For true alignment (i.e. including rotational position) a combination of a rotatable chuck and a video camera could be used. Control means would achieve the appropriate alignment by lifts and rotations of the chuck and linear movements of the spatula.
6

Claims (10)

1. Apparatus for loading or unloading a semi-conductor waf er into or out of a processing chamber having an inlet port, comprising a wafer carrier means and means for moving the wafer carrier means into the processing chamber along a purely linear path of movement.
2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the moving means is arranged for moving the wafer carrier means between a withdrawn position and the processing chamber along the path of movement and further comprising means f or supporting a wafer- holding cassette and for moving it into and out of a waf er loading/ unloading position located in the path of movement of the waf er carrier means at a location between the withdrawn position and the inlet port.
3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, further comprising means for scanning wafer locations in the cassette as it is moved relative to the path of movement.
4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the scanning means is constituted by an optical scanner or a video camera, an image digitizer and control means.
5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising alignment means for aligning the wafer on the spatula.
6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a wafer holding cassette and further means f or moving the waf er carrier means relative to the path of movement for loading 7 and/or unloading wafers from the cassette.
7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the further means moves the waf er carrier means by rotation, lateral translation, raising or lowering or a combination thereof.
8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6 or Claim 7, wherein the further means is arranged to rotate the waf er carrier means and wherein the wafer carrier means can load or unload a plurality of processing chambers by acting along respective purely linear paths of movement.
9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the waf er carrier moving means includes a carriage f or supporting the waf er carrier means and a linear screw drive drivingly acting on the carriage.
is
10. Apparatus for loading or unloading a semi- conductor wafer into or out of a processing chamber having an inlet port substantially as hereinbefore described.
GB9209727A 1992-05-06 1992-05-06 Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers Withdrawn GB2266992A (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9209727A GB2266992A (en) 1992-05-06 1992-05-06 Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers
DE19934314508 DE4314508A1 (en) 1992-05-06 1993-05-03 Device for loading a processing chamber with semiconductor wafers and for unloading the chamber

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9209727A GB2266992A (en) 1992-05-06 1992-05-06 Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9209727D0 GB9209727D0 (en) 1992-06-17
GB2266992A true GB2266992A (en) 1993-11-17

Family

ID=10715052

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9209727A Withdrawn GB2266992A (en) 1992-05-06 1992-05-06 Apparatus for loading semi-conductor wafers

Country Status (2)

Country Link
DE (1) DE4314508A1 (en)
GB (1) GB2266992A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6746196B1 (en) * 1999-01-12 2004-06-08 Tokyo Electron Limited Vacuum treatment device

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR100199293B1 (en) * 1996-11-08 1999-06-15 윤종용 Semiconductor package manufacturing apparatus

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2066570A (en) * 1979-12-21 1981-07-08 Varian Associates Wafer transfer system
GB2156582A (en) * 1984-03-29 1985-10-09 Perkin Elmer Corp Small part transport system
GB2180097A (en) * 1983-03-28 1987-03-18 Silicon Valley Group Wafer handling apparatus
WO1987007077A2 (en) * 1986-05-16 1987-11-19 Eastman Kodak Company Method and apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers
GB2198881A (en) * 1986-12-02 1988-06-22 Teradyne Inc Transporting wafers

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2066570A (en) * 1979-12-21 1981-07-08 Varian Associates Wafer transfer system
GB2180097A (en) * 1983-03-28 1987-03-18 Silicon Valley Group Wafer handling apparatus
GB2156582A (en) * 1984-03-29 1985-10-09 Perkin Elmer Corp Small part transport system
WO1987007077A2 (en) * 1986-05-16 1987-11-19 Eastman Kodak Company Method and apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers
GB2198881A (en) * 1986-12-02 1988-06-22 Teradyne Inc Transporting wafers

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6746196B1 (en) * 1999-01-12 2004-06-08 Tokyo Electron Limited Vacuum treatment device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE4314508A1 (en) 1993-11-11
GB9209727D0 (en) 1992-06-17

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)