JP2000228437A - Batch transfer equipment of semiconductor substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent breakage and contamination caused by mutual contact of semiconductor substrates and transfer parts during transfer by a container unit in a semiconductor manufacturing process. SOLUTION: Since a groove is provided to an end part of an arm 5, an arm 6, a chuck 7 and a chuck 8 for holding an outer circumferential part of a semiconductor substrate 4, position relation between semiconductor substrates can be held, the semiconductor substrate 4 is prevented from coming into contact with each other, and breakage and contamination can be restrained. Since the chuck 7 and the chuck 8 are positioned mutually at most at a substrate loading pitch of a container 3, closely spaced transfer is realized and operativity is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the transfer of a semiconductor substrate between a storage container and a process jig.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a semiconductor substrate is generally transferred between a storage container and a jig, and a transfer device for performing these operations is provided with a base for fixing the storage container and the jig. Incorporates a robot to transfer. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional transfer device for transferring from a storage container to a cleaning jig.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the robot chuck. Transfer device 10
1 includes a table 109 on which the storage container 103 is placed and a jig 15
A table 102 for mounting the semiconductor substrate 1 and a robot 105 for transferring the semiconductor substrate 104 are arranged. The table 102 is provided with a vertically protruding plate 108 for transferring the substrate 104 between the robot 105 and the jig 151.
Has a chuck 10 for holding the semiconductor substrate 104 by suction.
6, a chuck rotating mechanism 107 is provided. A groove 110 is formed in the chuck 106 so that the semiconductor substrate 10
4 is configured to be able to be sucked and held from the back surface in a state where 4 is placed.

[0003]

However, in such a transfer apparatus 101, the robot 105 takes out from the storage container 103 for each sheet of the semiconductor substrate 104 and then moves between the jig 151. Therefore, there is a problem that the working efficiency is deteriorated.

In the cleaning and heat treatment steps of the semiconductor substrate, the jigs 151 are densely arranged at a pitch equal to or less than a groove pitch for accommodating the semiconductor substrate 104 provided in the accommodating container 103 in order to improve work efficiency. Are often used for improving workability, and the chuck 106 of the robot 105 operates near the semiconductor substrate 104 already arranged, and high operation accuracy is required. The chuck 106 and the semiconductor substrate 104 come into contact with each other due to the decrease in accuracy, and the semiconductor substrate 104
There is a problem that damage and contamination often occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is easy to quickly transfer a semiconductor substrate between a storage container and a jig. An object of the present invention is to enable transfer of a pitch narrower than a standard pitch of a storage container in order to increase transfer density.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an arm for taking out or taking in a semiconductor substrate from a storage container, and an arm for grasping the semiconductor substrate. It has a chuck in which plates with groove shapes are stacked, a structure in which the chucks cross each other as needed to increase the substrate density, and a chuck rotating structure that can give an angle according to the jig. Things.

In this structure, the arm has a groove corresponding to a groove pitch for storing the semiconductor substrate in the storage container.
The semiconductor substrate is moved upward after holding the semiconductor substrate in the groove, and after moving in a horizontal direction after breaking the contact between the semiconductor substrate and the storage container, it is possible to prevent contamination by dust generated when the semiconductor substrate comes into contact with the container. Becomes possible. After the arm removes the semiconductor substrate in the storage container from the storage container, all the semiconductor substrates in the storage container are collectively collected by using two pairs of chucks in which plates whose ends match the end surfaces of the semiconductor substrate are stacked. Can be transferred.

Also, since a structure in which one pair and two pairs of chucks cross each other can be easily formed, the semiconductor substrates of the two storage containers are synthesized at a pitch smaller than the groove pitch of the storage containers,
It is also possible to increase the density of the semiconductor substrate in the jig. Further, by having a turntable that allows the chuck to rotate after grasping the semiconductor substrate, the inclination of the semiconductor substrate corresponding to the jig can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, not only the semiconductor substrate can be transferred from the storage container to the jig, but also the transfer in the opposite direction from the jig to the storage container can be performed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A semiconductor substrate batch transfer apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the batch transfer apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a mechanism for taking out the semiconductor substrate 4 from the storage container, and a side view showing two embodiments. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a mode in which the jig for the diffusion process receives the semiconductor substrate taken out by the arm. FIG. 6 is a side view and a plan view showing a mode in which the chuck receives the semiconductor substrate taken out by the arm. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a turntable for tilting the semiconductor substrate held by the chuck to a predetermined angle.

A driving mechanism (not shown) is provided in the batch transfer apparatus 1.
A mechanism 2 including an arm 5 and an arm 6 is provided for taking out the semiconductor substrate 4 from the storage container 3 that operates according to the driving force given from the armature. The grooves 14 of the storage container 3 for storing the semiconductor substrate 4 are provided on the end faces of the arms 5 and 6.
Grooves 13 are provided at a pitch equal to that of the container 3. The grooves 13 are driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) and move in two directions 15 to hold the semiconductor substrate 4.
Then, the semiconductor substrate 4 is slightly lifted in the upward direction 16 so as not to contact the semiconductor substrate 4. The arm 5 and the arm 6 are provided in at least one pair in order to stably hold the semiconductor substrate 4.

Further, by driving a driving mechanism (not shown), the arm 5 and the arm 6 move in the storage container 3 while holding the semiconductor substrate 4 and maintaining the mutual positional relationship, and move the semiconductor substrate out of the storage container 3. 4 finishes moving and stops.

As described above, according to the batch take-out mechanism according to the present embodiment, the semiconductor substrates 4 in the storage container 3 can be taken out and stored collectively as compared with the conventional single-wafer transfer apparatus. Therefore, one or a plurality of semiconductor substrates 4 are not moved by repetitive operation, and the work efficiency can be improved. Further, since the semiconductor substrate is stably held in the groove 13 provided in the arm 5 and the arm 6, the semiconductor substrate 4 is not damaged.

FIG. 5 shows a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 50 provided with the above-described batch take-out mechanism. This semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5
0, grooves 52 are formed at a predetermined pitch so that the semiconductor substrate 4 can be held on each of the four columns, and a semiconductor processing jig 51 that operates to sandwich the semiconductor substrate 4 and a collective unloading mechanism are provided. In between, the semiconductor substrate 4 is exchanged. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having such a structure, in the conventional single-wafer transfer apparatus, each time one semiconductor substrate 4 is stored, the semiconductor processing jig 51 performs a clamping operation to drop the already stored semiconductor substrate 4. This requires a more complex structure. On the other hand, the transfer is performed collectively by using the take-out mechanism described in the present embodiment.

Next, a mechanism by which the chucks 7 and 8 receive the semiconductor substrate 4 taken out of the storage container 3 by the arms 5 and 6 will be described. The end faces of the pair of chucks 7 and 8 in contact with the semiconductor substrate 4 are provided with the semiconductor substrate 4.
A groove 19 having a curvature and a cross-sectional shape equal to the above is formed. Further, the number of chucks 7 and the number of chucks 8 corresponding to the number of stored sheets are stacked using the spacer 12 and the fixed shaft 11. The arms 5 and 6 allow the semiconductor substrate 4 taken out of the storage container 3 to be correctly held by the chucks 7 and 8 stacked at the same pitch as the storage pitch formed by the spacers 12.

Further, the chucks 7 and 8 are arranged at the same pitch as the chucks 7, and when the semiconductor substrate 4 is transferred between the chuck 7, the chuck 8 and the arm 5, the arm 6 is located at an intermediate position between the stacked chucks 7 and 8. And the chucks 7 and 8 hold the semiconductor substrate 4,
After moving, it moves in the vertical direction 17, and the next semiconductor substrate 4
By providing the chuck 9 and the chuck 10 that can transfer the data, the batch transfer is performed densely at a half pitch of the groove pitch 14 of the storage container 3.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the embodiment described above, the semiconductor substrate 4 stored in the two storage containers 3 is transferred in a horizontal posture. However, the chuck 7, the chuck 8, the chuck 9, and the reversing table 19 May be provided to transfer the semiconductor substrate 4 to the jig in a vertical posture or an arbitrary angle.

[0018]

As described above, according to the transfer apparatus of the present invention, since the outer peripheral portion of the semiconductor substrate is held and transferred collectively to each storage container, the conventional single wafer Unlike a device that is transferred every time, the semiconductor substrate or the semiconductor substrate holder is prevented from contacting another semiconductor substrate already installed, and damage and contamination of the semiconductor substrate can be suppressed.
Moreover, by holding the outer peripheral portion, the concentricity of each of the semiconductor substrates that are collectively transferred is corrected.
Transfer to the next process jig is performed with high accuracy. In addition, since the back surface that is likely to cause cross-contamination on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, which is the semiconductor formation surface, is not held, the yield of semiconductor products per semiconductor substrate can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional single-wafer semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus including a partial cutout.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a robot chuck used in the above-described device, including a partially cut-away view.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a semiconductor substrate batch transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a schematic plan view and a form view showing a semiconductor substrate unloading method according to the present invention. FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a method of delivering the jig to a jig according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view and a plan view showing a form of a stacked chuck of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a chuck having a rotation function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Batch transfer apparatus 3 Storage container 4 Semiconductor substrate 5 Arm 6 Arm 7 Chuck 8 Chuck 9 Chuck 10 Chuck 11 Fixed shaft 12 Spacer 19 Reversal table 50 Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 51 Semiconductor processing jig

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a transfer apparatus for batch-transferring a semiconductor substrate between a semiconductor substrate storage container and each process jig for inter-process movement with respect to a semiconductor substrate, a transfer device for holding the semiconductor substrate from before and after an opening of the storage container. With two or more arms with multiple grooves,
The batch transfer device, wherein the arm moves upward after holding the semiconductor substrate, breaks contact between the semiconductor substrate and the storage container, and then slides toward the container outlet. 2. The arm slides and takes out the semiconductor substrate from the storage container. After that, two sets of chucks, the number of which is equal to the number of storages for grasping the side surface of the semiconductor substrate, and further, the chuck is rotated to move the semiconductor substrate in the vertical direction. 2. The batch transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is held at an arbitrary angle. 3. A storage container having another pair of chucks which can be crossed by moving up and down with another chuck at a half pitch of a groove pitch for accommodating the substrate of the chuck and the storage container. The batch transfer apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the semiconductor substrate is synthesized or decomposed.