JP2000269314A - Wafer cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to automatically put wafers into a wafer cassette or take them out. SOLUTION: A wafer cassette is constituted of an annular wafer outer periphery contact member 8; cassette cases 2 to 11 which are provided with the member 8 on their upper surfaces, are formed with a wafer insertion hole 5 in each of the side surfaces on one side of the side surfaces vertical to their upper surfaces, are formed with each operating member insertion hole 6 in their lower surfaces and have each space capable of housing one wafer in their interiors; a wafer stage 17 formed with wafer support surfaces 19a which are supported in a vertically movable manner in the interiors of the cases 2 to 11, and support the lower surfaces of the wafers inserted from the holes 5 into the cases 2 to 11, and carrying member housing spaces 19b which can make a wafer carrying member H for supporting the lower surface of each wafer pass through, stage guide members 11 for guiding the vertically movable wafer stage 17 in the vertical directions; and stage energizing springs 24 for making a force to always move upward the stage 17 act on the stage 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a wafer cassette for holding a wafer (silicon wafer) to be drawn, inspected, and observed by an electron beam apparatus or an ion beam apparatus. The wafer cassette is used to transfer a wafer while holding the wafer, or is mounted and used on a stage for drawing, inspecting, and observing the wafer while holding the wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The following technique (J01) is known as a wafer cassette of the kind described above. (J01) Technique described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-172149
A wafer outer peripheral contact member is provided for contacting the outer peripheral portion of the wafer surface, and a wafer surface exposure opening is provided inside the wafer outer peripheral contact member. The lower surface of the cassette case is open for mounting a wafer. To mount a wafer, the cassette case is turned over and the lower surface is directed upward. In this state, the wafer is placed on the back surface of the wafer outer peripheral contact member, the position of the wafer orientation flat or V notch (reference position) is determined and clamped, and the back surface of the wafer is fixed by a holding plate so as not to fall. .

After that, the wafer cassette is turned over and placed on a transfer table of a drawing apparatus. Thereafter, the wafer cassette holding the wafer is transported into the drawing apparatus and drawn. After the drawing, the wafer cassette is transferred to the transfer table, and then the operator takes out the wafer from the wafer cassette.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] (Problem of (J01)) The prior art (J01) has a problem in that automation is not possible because a human is required to attach and detach a wafer to and from a wafer cassette. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has the following content as an object. (O01) To automatically attach and detach a wafer to and from a wafer cassette.

[0005]

Next, the present invention devised to solve the above-mentioned problems will be described. Elements of the present invention are used to facilitate correspondence with elements of the embodiments described later. , The reference numerals of the elements of the embodiment are enclosed in parentheses. The reason why the present invention is described in correspondence with the reference numerals of the embodiments described below is to facilitate understanding of the present invention and not to limit the scope of the present invention to the embodiments.

(A) The wafer cassette according to the present invention has the following requirements to solve the above-mentioned problems. (A01) A ring-shaped wafer outer periphery in contact with an outer peripheral portion of a wafer surface An abutment member (8) and a wafer surface exposure opening (3, 8a) formed inside the wafer outer peripheral abutment member (8) are provided on the upper surface, and a wafer insertion port (5) is provided on one side surface perpendicular to the upper surface. ) Is formed, an operation member insertion opening (6) is formed on the lower surface, and a cassette case (2 to 15) having a space in which a wafer (W) can be stored therein, (A0
2) A wafer stage (17) movably supported inside the cassette cases (2 to 15), which supports a lower surface of the wafer (W) inserted from the wafer insertion opening (5). A surface (19a) is formed on the upper surface,
A transfer member accommodating space (19b) through which a wafer transfer member (H) supporting a lower surface of a wafer inserted from the wafer insertion opening (5) can pass is formed, and a vertically locked member (23) is provided below. Said wafer stage (17),
(A03) a stage guide member (11) for vertically guiding the vertically movable wafer stage (17);
(A04) A stage biasing spring (24) for applying a force for constantly moving the wafer stage (17) upward to the wafer stage (17).

(Operation of the Present Invention) In the wafer cassette (1) of the present invention having the above configuration, the cassette cases (2 to 1)
5) has a space in which a wafer (W) can be stored,
A ring-shaped wafer outer peripheral contact member (8) in which the outer peripheral portion of the wafer surface contacts the upper surface, and a wafer surface exposed opening (3, 8) formed inside the wafer outer peripheral contact member (8).
a) is provided, a wafer insertion opening (5) is formed on one side surface perpendicular to the upper surface, and an operation member insertion opening (6) is formed on the lower surface. The cassette cases (2 to 15) support the wafer stage (17) therein so as to be vertically movable. The stage guide member (11) vertically guides the vertically movable wafer stage (17).
The stage biasing spring (24) is connected to the wafer stage (1).
7) is applied to the wafer stage (17) to constantly move the wafer stage upward. The wafer stage (17) is provided with a vertically locked member (23) at its lower part.

Therefore, the raised and lowered locked member (2)
The wafer stage (17) can be moved up and down by locking the lifting locking member (Sa) to 3) and raising and lowering the lifting locking member (Sa). A transfer member accommodating space (19b) is formed in the wafer stage (17).
7), the wafer transfer member accommodating space (19) is lowered.
The wafer transfer member (H) that can pass through b) is inserted from the wafer insertion port (5) while supporting the lower surface of the wafer. The wafer stage (17) has a wafer support surface (19a) formed on the upper surface, and the wafer (W) transferred by the wafer transfer member (H) inserted from the wafer insertion port (5) is The lower surface is supported by the wafer support surface (19a). Thereafter, the lifting member (Sa) is raised to move the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the wafer supported by the wafer supporting surface (19a) of the wafer stage (17) to the lower surface of the wafer outer peripheral contact member (8). Abut. Next, when the lifting / lowering locking member (Sa) is released from the lifting / lowering locked member (23), the wafer stage (17) is held at the raised position by the stage urging spring (24). The wafer (W) is held at a position in contact with the lower surface of the wafer outer peripheral contact member (8). That is, the wafer (W) is mounted on the wafer cassette (1).

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment (embodiment) of a wafer cassette of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a wafer cassette according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a top view of the wafer cassette, FIG. 1B is a view from the arrow IB of FIG. 1A, and FIG. It is the figure seen from arrow IC of FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the wafer cassette of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A is a plan sectional view of the wafer cassette, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line IIA-IIA of FIG.
1A is a sectional view taken along the line IIB-IIB in FIG. 1A, and FIG.
FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along line IIC-IIC of FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section of the wafer cassette placed on the transfer table, FIG. 3A is a cross sectional view of the wafer cassette before mounting a wafer transferred by the wafer transfer member, and FIG. 3B is transferred by the wafer transfer member. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the wafer cassette on which the loaded wafer is mounted, FIG. 3C is a view showing the wafer transfer member as viewed from the arrow IIIC of FIG. 3B, and FIG. 3D is a state of the wafer support unit when the wafer is not mounted. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by an arrow IV in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a case main body of the wafer cassette, FIG. 5A is a plan view of the case main body, and FIG.
FIG. 5C is a view from the arrow VB of A, and FIG.
It is the figure seen from C. 6A and 6B are explanatory views of a wafer outer peripheral contact member, FIG. 6A is a top view, and FIG.
It is a VIB sectional view. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the case bottom wall.
7A is a top view, and FIG. 7B is VIIB-VIIB of FIG. 7A.
It is a line sectional view. 1 to 3, the wafer cassette 1 has a case main body 2. 3 and 5, the case body 2 has a wafer surface exposed opening 3 formed on the upper surface, and a ring-shaped wafer outer peripheral contact member mounting surface 4 is formed around the wafer surface exposed opening 3. A wafer insertion opening 5 is formed on a side surface of the case body 2. The lower surface of the case main body 2 is circularly opened, and the opening forms an operation member insertion port 6 (see FIG. 3). A ring-shaped case bottom wall mounting surface 7 (see FIG. 3) is formed around the operation member insertion opening 6.

1 to 3, a ring-shaped wafer outer peripheral contact member 8 (see FIG. 6) is fixed to the wafer outer peripheral contact member mounting surface 4 on the upper surface of the case main body 2. In FIG. 6, a wafer surface exposure opening 8a is formed in the ring-shaped wafer outer peripheral contact member 8. 2 and 3, a ring-shaped case bottom wall 9 (see FIG. 7) is fixed to the case bottom wall mounting surface 7 on the lower surface of the case body 2. In FIG. 7, an operation member insertion opening 9a is formed in the case bottom wall 9, and three spring receiving seats 9b are formed on the upper surface of the case bottom wall 9.

FIG. 8 shows a first embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention.
8A is a plan view of the guide roller support member used in FIG. 8A, as viewed from the arrow VIIIA in FIG. 8B, FIG. 8B is a view as viewed from the arrow VIIIB in FIG. 8A, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram viewed from an arrow VIIIC of A. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a roller support shaft supported by the roller support member shown in FIG. 2 to 4, a plurality of stage guide members 11 (see FIGS. 2A and 4) are fixed to the upper surface of the case bottom wall 9. 4, the stage guide member 11 is a guide roller support member 12 (see FIG. 8).
And a roller support shaft 13 supported by the guide roller support member 12, and a guide roller 14 supported by the roller support shaft 13.

In FIG. 8, the guide roller support member 12 includes a pair of shaft support portions 12a, 12a and the shaft support portion 12a.
a, 12a are provided with shaft through holes 12b, 12b. In FIG. 4, a roller support shaft 13 is rotatably supported by the shaft through holes 12b, 12b (see FIG. 8), and a guide roller 14 is supported by the roller support shaft 13. The stage guide members 11 are arranged adjacently at an angle of 90 ° to each other. In FIG. 2A, a cassette carrying connecting member 15 is fixed to the case main body 2. The connecting member 1 for transporting cassettes
Reference numeral 5 denotes a detachably connected cassette transport member (not shown). Incidentally, as the cassette transport connecting member 15, various conventionally known components can be used. The cassette case (2 to 15)
15) is configured.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a wafer stage main body used in the first embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention.
10B is a plan view, FIG. 10B is a sectional view taken along the line XB-XB of FIG. 10A, and FIG. 10C is a sectional view taken along the line XC-XC of FIG. 10A. 11 is an explanatory view of a guided member mounted on the side surface of the wafer stage main body of FIG. 10, FIG. 11A is a top view, a view from arrow XIA of FIG. 11B, and FIG. 11B is a view from arrow XIB of FIG. 11A. FIG. 11C is a view of FIG.
It is the figure seen from arrow XIC of 1B. FIG.
FIG. 12A is an explanatory view of a lifting and lowering locked member attached to the lower portion of the wafer stage main body shown in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12A is a top view, and FIG. 12B is a view seen from the arrow XIIB in FIG. 12A. FIG. 13 is a top view showing a state where the wafer cassette of the present invention is fixed on the transfer table. 2B, 2C, and 3, a wafer stage 17 is disposed inside the cassette case (2 to 15). The wafer stage 17 has a wafer stage body 18.

Referring to FIG. 10, wafer stage body 18
Has a wafer support portion 19 composed of an upper circular plate and a lower cylindrical portion 20. A wafer support surface 19 a is formed on the upper surface of the wafer support 19. A transfer member housing space 19b formed by a concave groove is provided on an upper surface of the wafer support portion 19. Also,
On the lower surface of the wafer support 19, three spring seats 19c are formed. A screw hole 19d is formed in the wafer support 19 so as to penetrate in the vertical direction. A projecting portion 19e projecting upward is formed on an outer peripheral portion of the wafer support surface 19a. As can be seen from FIG. 3A, the transfer member housing space 19b moves to a predetermined position (a position where the wafer is placed on the wafer support surface 19a) after the wafer transfer member H supporting the wafer W enters from the wafer insertion port 5. This is a space for accommodating the wafer transfer member H when it is moved down. That is, when the wafer W on the wafer transfer member H moves down to the position where the wafer transfer member H is moved to the predetermined position and then is stored in the transfer member housing space 19b, the wafer W is positioned on the wafer support surface 19a. Placed on

2 and 3, a mounting hole 20a is formed in a side surface of the cylindrical portion 20 of the wafer stage main body 18.
(See FIG. 3). In FIG. 11, the guided member 21 has a mounting projection 21a, a fixing screw through hole 21b, a pair of guided surfaces 21c, 21c, and a screw hole 21d. The mounting of the guided member 21 on the cylindrical portion 20 is performed by fitting the mounted projection 21a into the mounting hole 20a (see FIG. 3) of the cylindrical portion 20 and fixing the mounting member 21 through the fixing screw through hole 21b. Screw (not shown)
Is fixed to a screw hole (not shown) of the cylindrical portion 20. A fixing screw (not shown) that passes through the screw hole 19d of the wafer support 19 is screwed into the screw hole 21d. In FIG. 4, the pair of guided surfaces 21c, 21c form an angle of 90 ° with each other, and the pair of stage guide members 11,
The guide rollers are guided in the vertical direction by 11 guide rollers 14,.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, a vertically movable locked member 23 is fixed to the lower surface of the wafer stage main body 18. In FIG. 12, the lifting locked member 23 has a locked surface 23a. The wafer stage 17 is constituted by the elements indicated by the reference numerals 18 to 23. FIG.
7, a spring seat 9b on the upper surface of the case bottom wall 9 (FIG. 7)
) And a spring seat 19c on the lower surface of the wafer stage main body 18 of the wafer stage 17, a stage biasing spring (compression spring) 24 is provided. A force for constantly moving the wafer stage 17 is applied to the wafer stage 17. The wafer cassette 1 is composed of the elements indicated by the reference numerals 2 to 24.

In FIG. 13, rollers 26, 26, 26 for receiving the wafer cassette 1 mounted on the transfer table T, and a pressing device for pressing the wafer cassette 1 toward the roller 26 are provided on the upper surface of the transfer table T. Member 27
And a cassette fixing member 28 for pressing and fixing the wafer cassette 1. The cassette fixing member 28 is rotatably supported on a rotating shaft 28a above the transport table T. When the wafer cassette 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the transfer table T, the solenoid S
L is in the ON state and retreats. When the wafer cassette 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the transfer table T, the solenoid SL is turned off, and the pressing side of the cassette fixing member 28 is rotated toward the wafer cassette 1 by a spring 29. ing. The rollers 26, 26,
The wafer cassette 1 is fixed at a predetermined position on the transfer table T by a pressing member 26, a pressing member 27, and a cassette fixing member 28.

In FIG. 3, the transfer table T has an operation member accommodation hole Ta formed in the center thereof, and the operation member S is accommodated in the operation member accommodation hole Ta in a vertically movable and rotatable manner. At the upper end of the operation member S, a locking member Sa is provided. When the wafer cassette 1 is supported on the transfer table T, usually, as shown in FIG.
Thereby, wafer stage 17 is held at the raised position. The ascending position is the following positions (1) and (2). (1) When the wafer W is supported on the wafer stage 17, a position where the upper surface of the wafer W contacts the lower surface of the wafer outer peripheral contact member 8 (see FIG. 3B). (2) When the wafer W is not supported by the wafer stage 17, the projecting portion 19e is connected to the wafer outer peripheral contact member 8
Position where it contacts the lower surface (see FIG. 3D).

The vertically movable and rotatable operating member S
The wafer stage 17 can be raised and lowered by raising and lowering the locking member Sa while being locked to the locked surface 23a of the lifting locked member 23. Then, the wafer W can be automatically moved (without manual operation) between the wafer support surface 19a and the wafer transfer member H with the wafer stage 17 lowered. When the wafer W is not present, the lower surface of the wafer outer peripheral contact member 8 does not hit the wafer supporting surface 19a because the projecting portion 19e contacts as shown in FIG. 3D. Unnecessary scratches and debris do not stick.

Wafer cassette 1 containing wafer W
Is transported to a drawing apparatus (not shown). Next, the reason for transporting the wafer cassette 1 to the drawing apparatus will be described.
When drawing on the surface of the wafer W by the drawing apparatus, drawing from anywhere on the surface of the wafer W is not necessary, and a predetermined position is used as a reference. Therefore, it is necessary to hold the wafer W at an accurate position. Further, from the viewpoint of the drawing apparatus, drawing cannot be performed unless the distance to the wafer W is constant, and the autofocus of the drawing apparatus is allowed only to a few microns. According to the wafer cassette 1 of the present invention, the wafer W accommodated in the wafer cassette 1 is pressed against the lower surface of the wafer outer peripheral abutting member 8 to maintain accurate positional accuracy and close contact with the surface of the wafer W to maintain flatness. You. Since the wafer W is transferred to a drawing stage (not shown) in a state where the wafer W is positioned at a predetermined position of the wafer cassette 1, the wafer W is positioned and set on the drawing stage, so that the wafer W is drawn. Can be easily set at a predetermined position.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 14A is a plan sectional view of FIG.
FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XIVA, and FIG.
FIG. 14C is a cross-sectional view taken along line VB, and FIG. 14C is a view as viewed from the arrow XIVC in FIG. In the description of the second embodiment, components corresponding to the components of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Example 2
Is different from the first embodiment in the following points, but is configured similarly to the first embodiment in other points. The wafer stage 17 'is formed of a circular plate, and has a wafer support surface 17a' formed on the upper surface. The wafer support surface 17a 'is provided with a transfer member housing space 17b' formed by a concave groove. Further, three spring seats 17c 'are formed on the lower surface of the wafer stage 17', and three guided surfaces 17d 'are formed on the side surfaces.

As can be seen from FIG. 14A, in the transfer member housing space 17b ', a wafer transfer member H supporting the wafer W enters from the wafer insertion port 5 and is further moved to a predetermined position (the wafer W is transferred to the wafer support surface 17a'). This is a space for accommodating the wafer transfer member H when it is moved down to the position where the wafer transfer member H is placed. That is, when the wafer W on the wafer transfer member H is lowered to a position where the wafer transfer member H is moved to the predetermined position and is then stored in the transfer member storage space 17b ', the wafer supporting surface 1
7a '.

In FIG. 14, the wafer stage 1
The three guided surfaces 17d 'formed on the side surface of 7'
Are the guide rollers 14 of the stage guide 11.
Are guided up and down. The remaining one guided surface 17d 'is positioned and guided by the positioning guide member 36.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of a positioning guide member used in the second embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention.
15B is a top view, FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XVB-XVB in FIG. 15A, and FIG. 15C is a view seen from the arrow XVC in FIG. 15A. In FIG. 15, the positioning guide member 36
Has a base member 37. The base member 37 is fixed to the upper surface of the case bottom wall 9 with screws. The base member 37 has a spring receiving hole 37a and a guide hole 37b. The roller support shaft 38 is slidably supported in the axial direction through the guide hole 37b. A guided member 39 is provided at a front end of the roller support shaft 38, and a roller 41 is rotatably supported by the guided member 39. A spring seat 42 is fixed to a rear portion of the roller support shaft 38. A compression spring 43 is provided between the spring receiving hole 37a and the spring receiving seat 42. The roller support member 46 is fixed to the upper surface of the case bottom wall 9 with screws. The guide roller 47 is rotatably supported by the roller support member 46. The guide roller 47 is configured such that the guided member 39 is formed in the guide hole 37b.
Guide you to move along.

Therefore, the roller 41 guides the guided surface 17d 'of the wafer stage 17' in the vertical direction while pressing it by the force of the compression spring 43. Other configurations of the wafer cassette 1 of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, when the wafer stage 17 'is lowered, the wafer support surface 1
The wafer W can be automatically moved (without manual operation) between the wafer transfer member 7a 'and the wafer transfer member H.

(Modifications) Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but falls within the scope of the present invention described in the appended claims. Thus, various changes can be made.

[0028]

The above-described wafer cassette of the present invention has the following effects. (E01) It is possible to automatically attach and detach a wafer to and from a wafer cassette.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a wafer cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1A is a top view of the wafer cassette;
B is a view from the arrow IB in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is a view from the arrow IC in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the wafer cassette of FIG. 1; FIG. 2A is a plan sectional view of the wafer cassette of FIG. 2C;
FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line IIA-IIA, and FIG.
2C is a sectional view taken along the line IIC-IIC in FIG. 1A.

3 is a view showing a cross section of a wafer cassette placed on a transfer table, FIG. 3A is a cross sectional view of the wafer cassette before mounting a wafer transferred by a wafer transfer member, and FIG. 3B is a wafer transfer. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a wafer cassette loaded with wafers transferred by the members, and FIG.
The figure which shows the wafer conveyance member in the figure seen from arrow IIIC of B,
FIG. 3D is an enlarged view showing a state of the wafer support when the wafer is not mounted.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by an arrow IV in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a case main body of the wafer cassette, FIG. 5A is a plan view of the case main body, and FIG.
FIG. 5C is a view from the arrow VB of FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a wafer outer peripheral contact member.
6A is a top view, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line VIB-VIB in FIG. 6A.

7 is an explanatory view of a case bottom wall, FIG. 7A is a top view, and FIG. 7B is a sectional view taken along the line VIIB-VIIB of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a guide roller supporting member used in the first embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention. FIG. 8A is a plan view as viewed from an arrow VIIIA of FIG. 8B, and FIG. FIG. 8C is a view from arrow VIIIB of FIG.
FIG. 8 is a view as viewed from arrow VIIIC.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a roller support shaft supported by the roller support member shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a wafer stage main body used in the first embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention.
10B is a plan view, FIG. 10B is a sectional view taken along the line XB-XB of FIG. 10A, and FIG. 10C is a sectional view taken along the line XC-XC of FIG. 10A.

11 is an explanatory view of a guided member mounted on the side surface of the wafer stage main body of FIG. 10; FIG. 11A is a top view, viewed from an arrow XIA in FIG. 11B;
11A is a diagram viewed from the arrow XIB in FIG. 11A, and FIG. 11C is a diagram viewed from the arrow XIC in FIG. 11B.

12 is an explanatory view of a locked member for elevating mounted on the lower portion of the wafer stage main body shown in FIG. 10; FIG. 12A is a top view, and FIG. 12B is an arrow XIIB of FIG. 12A.
FIG.

FIG. 13 is a top view of a state in which the wafer cassette of the present invention is fixed on a transfer table.

14 is an explanatory view of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 14A is a plan sectional view, FIG. 14B is a sectional view taken along line XIVA-XIVA of FIG. 14B, FIG. 14B is a sectional view taken along line XIVB-XIVB of FIG.
FIG. 14C is a view from the arrow XIVC of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of a positioning guide member used in a second embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention.
15B is a top view, FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XVB-XVB in FIG. 15A, and FIG. 15C is a view seen from the arrow XVC in FIG. 15A.

[Explanation of symbols]

H: Wafer carrying member, W: Wafer 1: Wafer cassette, 3, 8a: Wafer surface exposed opening,
Reference numeral 5: Wafer insertion port, 6: Operation member insertion port, 8: Wafer outer peripheral contact member, 11: Stage guide member, 17: Wafer stage, 19a: Wafer support surface, 19b: Transport member accommodating space, 23: Lifting / lowering cover Locking member, 24 ... stage biasing spring, 2-15 cassette case.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5F031 CA02 DA13 HA25 HA30 KA14 MA27 MA33 5F046 AA21 CC08 CD01 5F056 EA13 EA15

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wafer cassette having the following requirements: (A01) a ring-shaped wafer outer peripheral contact member which is in contact with an outer peripheral portion of a wafer surface; and a wafer cassette formed inside the wafer outer peripheral contact member. A cassette case having a wafer surface exposure opening provided on the upper surface, a wafer insertion opening formed on one side surface perpendicular to the upper surface, an operation member insertion opening formed on the lower surface, and a space capable of accommodating a wafer therein; A0
2) A wafer stage supported vertically inside the cassette case and having a wafer support surface formed on an upper surface for supporting a lower surface of a wafer inserted from the wafer insertion port, and being inserted from the wafer insertion port. A transfer member accommodating space through which a wafer transfer member for supporting the lower surface of the wafer can be passed, and a lower stage provided with a locked member for raising and lowering; A stage guide member to guide the
(A04) A stage biasing spring for applying a force for constantly moving the wafer stage upward to the wafer stage.