JP2000208599A - Semiconductor wafer handling unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hold a wafer without touching the wafer surface directly by arranging a planar chuck having an abutting part provided by turning down the forward end side 90 deg. at one end of a robot hand and arranging a holder having a parallel moving pawl, inclined part and a holder on the side facing the abutting part. SOLUTION: A planar chuck 3 having an abutting part provided by turning down the forward end side 90 deg. is arranged at one end of a robot hand 2 such that it can abut arcuately on one end side of a semiconductor wafer 4 and a holder 5 having a parallel moving pawl, inclined part and a holder is arranged on the bottom of the robot hand 2 on the side facing the abutting part. The abutting part at the forward end of the chuck 3 is abutted on one end side of the semiconductor wafer 4 and the pawl of the holder 5 is hooked to the lower surface on the other end side. When the holder 5 is parallel moved to the abutting part side at the forward end of the chuck 3, the wafer 4 is elevated along the inclined face and held at the holder without abutting the chuck 3 directly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus capable of easily handling a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor wafer cassette or in a vapor phase growth apparatus without damaging the semiconductor wafer surface. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a semiconductor wafer is transferred from a semiconductor wafer cassette to another semiconductor wafer cassette, a substantially U-shaped chuck is directly applied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, and the semiconductor wafer is held by a vacuum chuck. ing.

In addition, when a semiconductor wafer is put into or taken out of a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like, the handling apparatus does not perform loading and unloading because the back surface of the semiconductor wafer is vacuum-sucked by a chuck. Are done manually one by one using tweezers.

[0004]

However, in a conventional handling apparatus using a chuck, the chuck directly hits the surface of the semiconductor wafer, causing scratches or dust to adhere to it, resulting in a defect and a decrease in yield. Had led to a decline.

Further, in a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like, since the edge of a semiconductor wafer is inserted and taken out one by one with tweezers sandwiched therebetween, it is very difficult to avoid the above-mentioned problems such as generation of scratches and adhesion of dust. It takes a long time, resulting in a decrease in work efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can hold a semiconductor wafer without directly touching the surface of the semiconductor wafer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus capable of minimizing the size of a semiconductor wafer and easily loading and unloading a semiconductor wafer even in a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus 1 of the present invention, a flat chuck having a contact portion 9 whose one end is turned 90 degrees at one end of a robot hand 2. 3 and a holder 5 having a claw portion 6, an inclined portion 7 and a holding portion 8 capable of moving in parallel to the chuck 3 is provided on the bottom of the robot hand 2 on the side facing the contact portion 9. .

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a side view, and FIG. 5 shows a contact portion at a tip end of a chuck of the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a holder of the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, in a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus 1 of the present invention, a flat plate-shaped chuck 3 having a contact portion 9 whose tip end is turned 90 degrees is provided at one end of a robot hand 2. I do. The contact portion 9 of the chuck 3 has an appropriate width so that one end of the semiconductor wafer 4 can be stably held without being affected by the orientation flat, and the one end of the semiconductor wafer 4 is contacted in an arc shape. Is possible.

[0010] Next, as shown in FIG.
A holder 5 having a claw portion 6, an inclined portion 7, and a holding portion 8 that can move in parallel to the chuck 3 is disposed on the bottom of the robot hand 2 facing the robot hand 2. The claw portion 6 has an acute angle for hanging the lower surface on the other end side of the semiconductor wafer 4. The inclined portion 7 forms a linear inclined surface having an appropriate inclination angle for pulling up the semiconductor wafer 4 hung by the claw portion 6 along the inclined surface. There is no specific value such as the angle of inclination of the inclined portion 7 or the width of the inclined surface, and an appropriate value may be used. The holding section 8 has a groove formed by turning an inclined surface to hold the semiconductor wafer 4 pulled up by the inclined section 7. The mechanism for moving the holder 5 in parallel with the chuck 3 may be any mechanism as long as it is a one-axis linear mechanism, and is not particularly limited.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a claw portion of a holder is hung on an edge of a semiconductor wafer in the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. FIG.

First, a contact portion 9 at the tip end of the chuck 3 is applied to one end of the semiconductor wafer 4 in a semiconductor wafer cassette or a semiconductor wafer 4 in a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like.
The claw portion 6 of the holder 5 is hung on the lower surface on the other end side of the semiconductor wafer 4. FIG. 3 shows this state.

Next, as shown by an arrow a in FIG. 2, the holder 5 is moved in parallel to the contact portion 9 on the distal end side of the chuck 3. At this time, the semiconductor wafer 4 rises along the inclined surface of the inclined portion 7 of the holder 5 as shown by the arrow b in the figure. further,
When the holder 5 reaches the holding unit 8, the movement of the holder 5 is stopped by the control mechanism in the robot hand 2, and the semiconductor wafer 4 can be held by the holding unit 8. FIG. 4 shows this state.

[0014]

As described above, the following effects can be obtained when the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention handles semiconductor wafers in a semiconductor wafer cassette or a semiconductor wafer in a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like. Can play. Since the handling of the semiconductor wafer is performed by the contact portion of the chuck and the holding portion of the holder, the chuck does not directly hit the semiconductor wafer surface. Therefore, generation of scratches and adhesion of dust can be minimized. The semiconductor wafer can be held on the lower surface of the chuck, and the semiconductor wafer is pulled up by the holder, so that the semiconductor wafer can be easily loaded or unloaded into a vapor phase growth apparatus or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a holder of the semiconductor wafer handling device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a claw portion of a holder is hooked on an edge of a semiconductor wafer in the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a semiconductor wafer is held by a holder of a holder in the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an AA enlarged sectional view showing a contact portion at a tip of a chuck of the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor wafer handling device 2 Robot hand 3 Chuck 4 Semiconductor wafer 5 Holder 6 Claw part 7 Inclined part 8 Holding part 9 Contact part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A flat plate-like chuck (3) having a contact portion (9) whose front end is turned 90 degrees is disposed at one end of a robot hand (2), and faces the contact portion (9). A holder (5) having a claw (6), an inclined portion (7), and a holding portion (8), which can move in parallel with the chuck (3), is provided at the bottom of the robot hand (2) on the side. One end of the semiconductor wafer is brought into contact with the contact portion (9) of the chuck (3), the other end is hooked by the claw (6) of the holder (5), pulled up by the inclined portion (7), and held. (8) A semiconductor wafer handling apparatus characterized in that it can hold a semiconductor wafer.