JP2000260858A - Wafer transfer hand and wafer transfer method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress increase in an installation area for a manufacturing device due to larger diameter of a wafer and to allow transportation of a wafer in vertical attitude, by using a wafer carrier hand comprising a plurality of V-like grooves which support the edge part on the down side of circumference of a wafer in vertical attitude. SOLUTION: A transfer handle 20 comprises one fixing claw 24 which is fixed to a plate-like frame 22 directly below a wafer 10 and comprises a V-like groove of almost the same radius as the wafer 10. Two movable claws 26 are provided which comprises a V-like groove of almost the same radius as the wafer 10 and provided to the frame 22 through a gripping actuator 28 at upper two points of the wafer 10. The three claws of the carrier handle 20 grip the wafer 10 and move horizontally in vertical attitude. Since the wafer 10 is held from above and below using movable claws 26, the wafer 10 is surely gripped. Thus, the transportation of a wafer in vertical attitude, including transfer between robots, is allowed even in vacuum.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer transfer hand and a wafer transfer method using the same.
A wafer transfer hand suitable for use in a clean room for manufacturing semiconductors and capable of minimizing an increase in the installation area of a transfer device due to a large diameter wafer, and a wafer transfer using the same. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In normal wafer transfer in the atmosphere, a wafer is fixed by vacuum-suctioning a part of a contact portion with a transfer hand with the back surface of the wafer facing downward. In this method, an inversion operation or the like in which the back surface of the wafer is turned upward can be seen, but when the wafer is operated in the vertical posture, the risk of the wafer dropping increases. Also, since vacuum suction cannot be performed during transfer in a vacuum, the device only rides on the contact portion with the transfer hand and performs operations within the acceleration / deceleration range where the wafer does not move with respect to the hand due to frictional force. And it was impossible to do anything other than a horizontal posture.

[0003] Therefore, a wafer as a raw material is housed in a horizontal attitude in a wafer-fronting cassette having an open front, which is standardized by SEMI such as a so-called FOUP or the like, and is placed in a clean room or the like used for semiconductor manufacturing. For example, in a process in which the wafer should be in a vertical position, such as in a process of cleaning with a fluid containing argon fine particles, the wafer must be transferred in a horizontal position as it is, mainly by using a cylindrical coordinate system robot. I can't get it.

In a decompression container, a fluid containing fine argon particles is sprayed onto the upper surface of a wafer in a horizontal posture from nozzles arranged at substantially equal intervals to move the wafer in the nozzle arrangement direction and a direction perpendicular thereto. The applicant has already disclosed a method of cleaning the wafer surface while applying the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-25211.
4, JP-A-6-283488, JP-A-6-28348
9, JP-A-6-295894, JP-A-6-29589
5, JP-A-7-8929, JP-A-7-45571, JP-A-9-45647, JP-A-9-323072, JP-A-1
It has been proposed and practically used in 0-189516.

[0005]

Conventionally, since a wafer is transported in a horizontal posture, if the wafer diameter is increased by 1.5 times, the transport distance is 1.5 times or more and the occupied area of the transport path is:
2.25 times or more is required. Therefore, the size of a manufacturing apparatus and a clean room in which the apparatus is installed are increased, the cost is increased, and this is a major hindrance to the cost reduction of semiconductors, which is the main purpose of increasing the diameter of a wafer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and minimizes an increase in an installation area of a manufacturing apparatus due to an increase in the diameter of a wafer, and eliminates a limitation on a wafer transfer posture. It is an object of the present invention to enable transfer in a wafer vertical posture.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a wafer is held in a vertical position by using a wafer transfer hand provided with a plurality of V-shaped grooves, which supports a peripheral lower edge portion of the wafer in a vertical position. This problem has been solved by holding or moving in a horizontal direction while maintaining a vertical posture.

The V-shaped groove may be partially movable, and the upper part of the wafer may be gripped so that the wafer can be gripped reliably.

In addition, a plurality of sets of the wafer transfer hands are arranged in proximity to the wafer processing apparatus so that the pre-processed wafer and the processed wafer can be exchanged reliably.

[0010] The wafer transfer hand is used to hold and transfer a wafer in a vacuum, thereby enabling transfer in a vacuum where vacuum suction is not possible.

Also, a wafer transfer hand for holding the lower part of the wafer only by the fixed V-shaped groove, and a wafer transfer hand in which a part of the V-shaped groove is movable and the upper part of the wafer can be gripped. In this case, the wafer can be reliably transferred.

As described above, in the conventional method of vacuum-suctioning a part of the contact portion with the transfer hand, even if the wafer is operated in the vertical position even when the wafer is transferred in the atmosphere, the wafer is dropped. The danger increases. In addition, transporting in a vacuum where vacuum suction is not possible is impossible except for a horizontal posture. Therefore, in the present invention, a wafer transfer hand having a plurality of V-shaped grooves supports an edge portion of a wafer in a vertical position below a circumference, thereby enabling holding and transfer in a vertical position.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, one fixed claw having a V-shaped groove having substantially the same radius as the wafer 10 is fixed to a plate-like frame 22 directly below the wafer 10. 24 and the wafer 1 disposed on the frame 22 via the gripping actuator 28 at two places above the wafer 10.
The wafer 10 is gripped by a total of three claws of the transfer hand 20 provided with two movable claws 26 having a V-shaped groove having substantially the same radius as 0, as shown in a gripped state in FIG. Move horizontally in the same posture.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, in order to enable a cleaning fluid to be sprayed on the entire front and back surfaces of the wafer when cleaning both surfaces of the wafer, a frame-like frame 32 not covering the back surface of the wafer is provided. Two fixing claws 34 having V-shaped grooves having substantially the same radius as the wafer 10 and fixed at two places below the wafer 10,
The process hand 30 includes two movable claws 38 each having a V-shaped groove having substantially the same radius as the wafer 10 and fixed to a movable plate 36 which can be relatively moved by zero. As shown in FIG.
The wafer 10 is scanned in the XY directions while maintaining the vertical posture.

According to the wafer transfer hands 20, 30 of the first and second embodiments, the wafer 10 is gripped from above and below using the movable claws 26, 38, so that the wafer 10 can be gripped reliably. In particular, it is suitable for use in the movement and scanning of the wafer 10 and in a cleaning operation in which a force is applied by a cleaning fluid.

As shown in FIG. 5, a third embodiment of the present invention relates to a supporting hand in which a substantially C-shaped frame 52 is provided with four studs 54 having a circumferential V-shaped groove on the outer peripheral surface. Reference numeral 50 indicates that the wafer 10 is held in a vertical position.

As in the first and second embodiments, when hands are transferred between hands of a type in which the wafer 10 is gripped by a movable claw, as in the case of the wafer transfer hands 20 and 30, the gripping force is shifted due to a positional shift or the like. There is a risk of damage to the wafer 10, but in combination with the support hand 50 of the third embodiment, the risk is eliminated. Further, in the third embodiment, since a gripping actuator is not required, the gripping actuator can be used in the atmosphere or in a vacuum, and is not affected by a change in ambient pressure.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of the structure of a transfer mechanism of a wafer cleaning apparatus in which the hands of the first to third embodiments are combined for actual transfer.

In this wafer cleaning apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, the wafer 10 transported in the atmosphere is introduced into the process chamber 60 for cleaning the front and back surfaces of the wafer 10 in a vacuum while keeping the front and back surfaces in a vertical position. An introduction chamber 70 for introducing the wafer is provided. An entrance on the side of the process chamber 60 and an entrance above the introduction chamber 64 are partitioned from inside and outside of the chamber, respectively, and only when the wafer 10 is loaded. Gate valves 62 and 72 that are opened are provided.

Further, above the introduction chamber 70,
The tip member 86 is rotated in the radius (R-axis) direction, the axis (Z-axis) direction, and the axis rotation via two arms 82 and 83 and a wrist 84 attached to the end of the shaft 81 (see FIGS. 8 to 10). (Θ
A four-axis cylindrical robot for atmospheric transfer (referred to as an atmospheric transfer robot) 80 that can move in four axial directions, i.e., axle) direction and wrist rotation (W-axis) direction, has a body upper part and an arm 82 part lower. The transfer hand 20 according to the first embodiment is attached to the distal end member 86 of the atmospheric transfer robot 80. This atmosphere transfer robot 80 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 0, by rotating the wrist 84 in the W-axis direction, there is also a function of converting the posture of the transport hand 20 from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture.

FIG. 11 shows a side view of the introduction chamber 70.
As shown in FIGS. 14 to 14, a wafer in which a tip member 94 can be moved in a radius (R) direction and an axis (Z) direction via two arms 92 and 93 attached to the tip of a shaft 91 is provided. A cylindrical coordinate system robot (referred to as a vacuum robot) 90 for introducing the robot is mounted such that the trunk is horizontal. The vacuum robot 90 has a third
Two sets of the support hands 50 of the embodiment are attached to face each other.

Inside the process chamber 60, the process hand 30 of the second embodiment is provided.

Hereinafter, the transport operation will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 15, the atmosphere transfer robot 80 moves in the Z-axis direction and the R-axis direction,
The transfer hand 20 is caused to enter the unprocessed wafer slot of the horizontal wafer cassette 8 with the movable claw 26 opened,
After the movable claw 26 is closed and the wafer 10 is grasped, the wafer 10 is pulled out from the cassette 8 in the horizontal direction, and the wrist 84 is rotated to change the posture to the vertical posture. In FIG. 15, reference numeral 100 denotes a mechanism for driving the movable claw 26 of the process hand 30, and the process hand 30 scans in both the X and Y directions so that a cleaning fluid is sprayed on the entire front and back surfaces of the wafer when the wafer 10 is cleaned. This is a wafer drive mechanism for performing

The transfer hand 20 holding the wafer 10 in the vertical position stands by on the gate valve 72 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17, one of the support hands 50 in the introduction chamber 70 supports the processed wafer and stands by under the gate.

In FIG. 16, reference numeral 4 denotes a cassette station, 5 denotes a pot opener for opening the front surface of the cassette 8 from which a wafer is being taken out, 6 denotes a controller, and 9 denotes a replacement cassette.

The atmospheric transfer robot 80 is mounted on a traveling device 110 and supported by a frame 112 so as to support a plurality of cassettes 8 and 9 as shown in FIG.

When the gate valve 72 is opened in the state shown in FIG. 17, the supporting hand 50 held by the vacuum robot 90 does not move, and the unprocessed wafer 10 is moved into the introduction chamber 70 by the downward movement of the atmospheric transfer robot 80 in the Z-axis direction. The movable claw 26 is opened and the grip of the wafer 10 is released.

Next, the atmosphere transfer robot 80 moves to the processed wafer position of the opposite supporting hand 50 by the vertical movement in the Z-axis direction and the movement in the R-axis direction, and closes the movable claw 26 to receive the processed wafer. The gate valve 72 is closed by retracting to the outside of the upper introduction chamber 70 by the upward movement.

The processed wafer taken out into the introduction chamber 70 is converted from a vertical position to a horizontal position by the rotation of the wrist 84, and combined with the Z-axis movement and the R-axis movement,
The cassette 8 moves to the front of the return slot, and enters the return slot of the cassette 8 whose front face is opened by the pot opener 5 by the movement in the R-axis direction. Next, the gripping of the processed wafer is released, and after the wafer is returned by the downward movement in the Z-axis direction, the transfer hand 20 is retracted out of the cassette 8 by the movement operation in the R-axis direction.

On the other hand, after the evacuation in the introduction chamber 20 and the pressure equalization with the cleaning chamber, the supporting hand 50 that has received the unprocessed wafer is moved by the vacuum robot 90 in the R-axis direction.
As shown in FIG.
Into the process chamber 60 through
The wafer is passed from the support hand 50 to the process hand,
The gripping rod 40 of the process hand 30 descends, and the movable claw 38 grips the wafer. Next, with the operation of the vacuum robot 90 in the R-axis direction, the support hand 50 is retracted outside the process chamber 60, and the gate valve 62 is closed. Next, the wafer is driven by the wafer drive mechanism 100 to move the wafer to XY.
Both sides are cleaned while being scanned in the direction.

During the cleaning, the above-described transfer step is performed, and the next processing wafer is waiting in the introduction chamber before the cleaning is completed.

When the cleaning process in the process chamber 60 is completed, the process hand 30 holding the processed wafer
Moves to the transfer position of the process chamber 60, and the gate valve 62 is opened. Then, the support hand 50 and the unprocessed wafer are moved to the transfer position in the process chamber 60 by the operation of the horizontally mounted vacuum robot 90 in the R-axis direction.

Next, the processed wafer is transferred from the process hand 30 to one of the support hands 50, and the unprocessed wafer is transferred from the other of the support hands 50 to the process hand 30.

Next, the supporting hand 50 and the processed wafer are retreated to the introduction chamber 70, the gate valve 72 is closed, and the cleaning processing of the next processing wafer is started.

By repeating the above series of processes, the wafers are washed one after another, and when one cassette is completed, the process proceeds to the next cassette.

In the present embodiment, since the wafer support according to the present invention is used in the process introduction section, it can cope with pressure changes in the introduction chamber and can be held even in vacuum.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to holding and transporting a wafer in a wafer cleaning apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Although the present invention is suitable for carrying and holding a wafer in a vacuum, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is equally applicable to carrying and holding in the atmosphere. it is obvious.

[0041]

According to the present invention, wafer transfer in a vertical posture including transfer between robots can be performed even in a vacuum. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the increase in the installation area of the manufacturing apparatus due to the increase in the diameter of the wafer.

In addition, it is possible to eliminate the restriction due to the transfer posture in a process in which the vertical posture of the wafer is better, such as a double-side cleaning process using a fluid containing argon fine particles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a wafer transfer hand according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the wafer is gripped in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state before grasping a wafer according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the wafer is similarly grasped.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a transfer mechanism of a wafer cleaning apparatus using a combination of the respective embodiments of the wafer transfer hand.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the same internal configuration.

FIG. 8 is a front view for explaining the configuration and operation of an atmospheric transfer robot used in the transfer mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the wrist before rotation.

FIG. 10 is also a side view after rotation of the wrist.

FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating the configuration and operation of a vacuum robot used in the transfer mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the same arm in a contracted state.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a state where the arm is extended.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the arm portion.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state where the atmospheric transfer robot of the transfer mechanism is pulling out a wafer from the wafer horizontal cassette.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a state of waiting on the introduction chamber.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a state of waiting in the introduction chamber.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the transport mechanism as viewed from the opposite side of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 Wafer horizontal cassette 10 Wafer 20, 30, 50 ... Hand 22, 32, 52 ... Frame 24, 34 ... Fixed claw 26, 38 ... Movable claw 28 ... Grip actuator 36 ... Movable plate 40 ... Grip rod 54 ... Stud 80: Atmospheric transfer robot 96: Vacuum robot

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Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wafer transfer hand comprising a plurality of V-shaped grooves for supporting a peripheral lower edge portion of a wafer in a vertical position. 2. The wafer transfer hand according to claim 1, wherein a part of the V-shaped groove is movable and an upper portion of the wafer is also grippable. 3. A wafer transfer method using the wafer transfer hand according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the wafer is held in a vertical position or moved in a horizontal direction while maintaining the vertical position. 4. A wafer transfer method, wherein a plurality of sets of the wafer transfer hands according to claim 1 or 2 are arranged in proximity to a wafer processing apparatus to exchange a pre-processed wafer and a processed wafer. 5. A wafer transfer method, wherein a wafer is held or transferred in a vacuum using the wafer transfer hand according to claim 1. 6. A wafer transfer is performed by a combination of a wafer transfer hand holding a lower portion of a wafer only by a fixed V-shaped groove and the wafer transfer hand according to claim 2. Wafer transfer method.