JP2000296984A - Handling device for component in semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a handling device which can remove the lid unit, etc., of a handling chamber, for example and carry components to an area adjacent to a semiconductor manufacturing device. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a guide rail 12 arranged on top of a semiconductor manufacturing device 5, a running body 14 movably attached to the guide rail 12, a horizontal arm 20 rotatably mounted on the running body 14, a lifting wire whose one end hangs from the free end of the horizontal arm 20 and the other end is extended to the running body, a wire winding electric driving means and a tool 46 to connect components and the wire. In this constitution, the components are lifted by a electric driving. In addition, the running body 14 can be made to run and the horizontal arm 20 can be turned by light force. Therefore, a heavy lid unit can be handled by even only one operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handling apparatus used when a component in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is removed and transported to another position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as semiconductor devices have become larger in capacity, higher in integration, and higher in speed, single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses have become mainstream in order to meet the demand for higher throughput. The single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus connects a plurality of processing chambers around a base block called a main frame monolith, and transfers a wafer to each processing chamber via a transfer chamber in the main frame block. That is, they are transported one by one and processed. There are various types of processing chambers depending on the processing contents, and all of them have a removable lid unit. For example, in the case of an etching processing chamber 1 as shown in FIG. 4, the etching processing chamber 1 includes a chamber main body 2, an upper chamber 3 detachably connected to an upper portion thereof, and a lid unit 4 detachably connected to the upper chamber 3. Is common.

In such a single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, when performing wet cleaning or other maintenance of each processing chamber, upper components such as a lid unit and an upper chamber are removed and the processing chamber is adjacent to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It will be transported to the maintenance area. However, since the upper chamber and the lid unit are heavy, such removal / transport operation is relatively troublesome. In particular, with the sophistication of the processing chamber, the lid unit incorporates important equipment such as a plasma source, a heat source, and a magnetron unit. Because of the tendency to increase, it was necessary to pay sufficient attention when handling the lid unit.

[0004] For this reason, in the related art, when removing and transporting the lid unit, the upper chamber, and the like, the operation has been performed using a hand truck type handling device.

[0005]

The conventional handling apparatus described above basically has a hand-held traveling body provided with a lift mechanism. In order to use such a handling apparatus, a sufficient space for moving and setting the handling apparatus around the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is required. Further, when there are steps or obstacles on the floor of the clean room where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed, there is a problem that it takes time to set up the handling apparatus. Further, the single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is usually surrounded by a frame having a skeleton structure used for installing gas pipes, etc., and this frame is used for a handling device arranged outside the frame. It may become an obstacle and hinder work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to remove a component of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, for example, a lid unit of a processing chamber, and transport the same to an adjacent area of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is to provide a handling device which can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a handling apparatus according to the present invention lifts a component in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and transports the component to an area adjacent to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. A guide rail disposed above the vehicle, a traveling body movably attached to the guide rail, a horizontal arm rotatably mounted on the traveling body in a horizontal direction, and a horizontal arm arranged along the horizontal arm, one end of which is horizontal. A lifting wire suspended from the free end of the arm and the other end extending to the traveling body, attached to the traveling body,
A winding drum to which the other end of the wire is connected, an electric motor attached to the traveling body, which rotationally drives the winding drum, and a tool attached to the one end of the wire and connecting the component to be handled and the wire. It is characterized by having.

[0008] In the handling device having the above structure, the tool suspended from the free end of the horizontal arm by a wire is provided by moving the traveling body along the guide rail and rotating the horizontal arm with respect to the traveling body. Can be placed above the components to be handled. Lifting of a heavy component such as a lid unit is performed by a driving force of an electric motor. Even when the component is suspended at the end of the wire, the traveling body and the rotation of the horizontal arm can be performed manually, so that the component can be reliably and easily transported to the adjacent area of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. it can.

The handling apparatus according to the present invention has such an operation and effect. Therefore, the present invention is applicable to a single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided with a plurality of processing chambers each having a lid unit which must be removed by wet cleaning or the like. Especially effective.

When a frame surrounding the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided, it is preferable that the guide rail is attached to the frame. Thereby, all the components of the handling apparatus according to the present invention will be arranged above the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, regardless of the state around the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
Lifting / transporting of component parts becomes possible.

[0011]

1 to 3 show a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Handling device 10 in this embodiment
Is applied to a single wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5 exemplarily shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured and sold by Applied Materials, Inc. of the United States under the name of "Centura (registered trademark)", and has a main frame. A monolith 6 is provided with two DPS (Decoupled Plasma Source) etching processing chambers 1a and 1b.
It is a base connection. Each processing chamber 1a, 1b
It is the one shown in FIG.
An upper chamber 3 is detachably mounted thereon, and a lid unit 4 is further detachably mounted thereon. The upper chamber 3 is made of machined aluminum and weighs about 26 kg. The lid unit 4 is
A heat source composed of a large number of halogen lamps, a non-coupled plasma source, and a control unit for them are built in and weigh about 36 kg. A frame 7 having a skeleton structure for disposing a gas pipe (not shown) of the apparatus 5 is provided around the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5 so as to substantially surround the apparatus 5. ing. Reference numeral 8 is a load lock chamber.

The component handling apparatus 10 according to the present invention for such a single-wafer multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5 has a linear guide suspended between the side beams 7R and 7L on the upper portion of the frame 7. A rail 12 is provided. There are two guide rails 12, which are arranged in parallel with each other. The pair of guide rails 12 support the traveling body 14.
The traveling body 14 includes a plate-shaped traveling body main body 16 and the traveling body main body 1.
And a slider member 18 fixed to the lower surface of the guide rail 12 and slidably engaged with the guide rail 12.
Along one side beam 7R (7L) and the other side beam 7L (7R).
The contact portion between the guide rail 12 and the slider member 18 is preferably made of an oil-free wear-resistant material in order to suppress generation of particles.

The traveling body 16 extends between the guide rails 12, and a horizontal arm 20 is supported at the center thereof so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. More specifically,
A vertically extending sleeve 22 extends through a central portion of the body 16, and a cylindrical body 24 extending upward from the end of the horizontal arm 20 is supported through a bearing 26 in the sleeve 22. . The bearing 26 is also preferably a wear-resistant oil-free type.

As described above, the horizontal arm 20 is rotatable with respect to the traveling body 14, and the traveling body 14 is
2, the position of the traveling body 14 with respect to the guide rail 12 and the position (angle) of the horizontal arm 20 with respect to the traveling body 14 are adjusted.
Can be arranged at any position within the range shown by the dashed line in FIG. This range can be appropriately changed by changing the length of the horizontal arm 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the movement range of the free end of the horizontal arm 20 can reach above the outermost circumference of all the processing chambers 1a and 1b.
The range is set so as not to reach the column 7P of the frame 7. In addition,
Since the traveling of the traveling body 14 and the rotation of the horizontal arm 20 are performed manually, as shown by reference numeral 28 in FIG.
It is preferable to provide a handle on the side surface of the camera.

The horizontal arm 20 is a tubular body, inside which a plurality of pulleys 30 are arranged as shown in FIGS. A wire 32 for lifting a chamber component such as the lid unit 4 is wound around these pulleys 30. One end of the wire 32 extends above the traveling body 16 through the cylindrical body 24, and the other end is a horizontal arm. 20 is suspended from an opening 34 on the lower surface of the free end.

The end of the wire 32 extending above the traveling body 14 is connected to a winding drum 36. The winding drum 36 is fixed to the upper end of the cylindrical body 24 of the horizontal arm 20 and is rotatably supported by a support 38 that is rotated integrally with the horizontal arm 20. The winding drum 36 is driven by an electric motor 40 also fixed to the support body 38 by a suitable deceleration transmission mechanism 42.
Is driven to rotate. Preferably, the winding drum 36, the electric motor 40, and the transmission mechanism 42 are entirely covered by a cover 44 attached to the support 38.

On the other hand, the other end of the wire 32 hanging from the free end of the horizontal arm 20 is provided with a tool 46 for connecting the components of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5 to the wire 32 for lifting.
Is attached. The tool 46 may be non-removably secured to the end of the wire, but may be removably connected to the end of the wire 32 through suitable means so that it can be replaced depending on the component being handled. Is preferred.

The illustrated tool 46 includes the lid unit 4 and the upper chamber 3 of the etching chamber 1 shown in FIG.
And three lifting rods 48 are radially arranged, and a gripper 52 for gripping a handle 50 of the lid unit 4 is provided at the tip of each rod 48. The tool 46 has four screws,
By screwing these screws (not shown) into screw holes (not shown) formed in the upper surface of the upper chamber 3, connection with the upper chamber 3 is possible. When the upper chamber 3 is fixed, the rod 48 can be bent upward, so that interference with the upper chamber can be prevented. When the tool 46 is suspended, the wire 32 is in tension between the pulleys 30 and the electric motor 40
, The tool 46 can be moved up and down by rotating the winding drum 36 in either the forward or reverse direction.

Next, using the handling device 10 having the above structure,
A procedure for removing the lid unit 4 in the one etching processing chamber 1a from the upper chamber 3 and transporting the lid unit 4 to the maintenance area 9 outside the frame 7 will be described.

First, the fixing of the lid unit 4 of the etching chamber 1a to be disassembled is released by removing the fixing bolt and nut. Next, the traveling body 14 is manually
Is moved along the guide rail 12, and the horizontal arm 20 is rotated so that the free end of the horizontal arm 20 is disposed directly above the target etching processing chamber 1a (see FIG. 1A).

Next, the electric motor 40 is controlled to unwind the wire 32 from the winding drum 36, lower the tool 46, and engage the grippers 52 of the tool 46 with the ring-shaped handle 50 of the lid unit 4.

Thereafter, the electric motor 40 is controlled so that the winding drum 36 rotates in the reverse direction, and the tool 46 is pulled up to lift the lid unit 4. The winding drum 36 and the electric motor 40 are covered by a cover 44.
And the wire 32 and the pulley 30 extending therefrom are surrounded by the cylindrical body 24 and the horizontal arm 20, so that the winding drum 36, the electric motor 40, the wire 32, the pulley 30, etc. The particles do not scatter in the clean room due to the movement.

When the lid unit 4 has risen from the upper chamber 3 by a predetermined height, the traveling body 14 is moved to the guide rails 12.
, The horizontal arm 20 is rotated to the outside of the frame 7, and the lid unit 4 suspended by the wire 32 is disposed above the maintenance area 9 (FIG. 1B). reference). Then, the electric motor 40 is driven to draw out the wire 32 from the winding drum 36, and the lid unit 4
To the maintenance area 9.

As described above, although the lid unit 4 of the DPS etching processing chamber 1 weighs as much as 36 kg,
An electric motor 40 is used for lifting from the upper chamber 3, and even when such a heavy lid unit 4 is suspended, the horizontal arm 20 and the traveling body 14 can be moved with a light force. Therefore, the lid unit 4 can be transported by only one worker. Further, since all the components of the handling device 10 are disposed above the semiconductor manufacturing device 5, regardless of the state of the periphery of the semiconductor manufacturing device 5, for example, whether there is a step on the floor surface or the size of the surrounding space,
The lid unit 4 can be handled. Further, when the horizontal arm 20 and the tool 46 are stored inside the frame 7 when not in use, other operations around the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are not hindered.

When returning to the upper chamber 3 from the maintenance area 9 and reattaching the same, the reverse procedure is performed. It will be easily understood that the disassembly of the etching processing chamber 1b has the same procedure.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, the lid unit 4 and the upper chamber 3 are handled.
Other components of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 5 may be handled similarly. Of course, in such a case, another tool would be used. Further, when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is of another form, the mounting position, shape, and the like of each component are appropriately changed according to the form. Further, when the frame 7 is not provided, another measure such as hanging the guide rail 12 from the ceiling may be used.

[0028]

As described above, when a component such as a lid unit of a processing chamber in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is disassembled, it can be easily and reliably transferred to an adjacent area of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Become. Therefore, operations such as wet cleaning in the processing chamber, maintenance and replacement of components can be performed quickly, and the operating time of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a component handling apparatus according to the present invention, and a diagram showing an operation mode thereof.

2 is a detailed view of the handling device shown in FIG. 1, and is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure of an etching processing chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Etching process chamber, 3 ... Upper chamber (component), 4 ... Lid unit (component), 5 ... Semiconductor manufacturing equipment, 7 ... Frame, 9 ... Maintenance area, 10 ... Handling equipment, 12 ... Guide rail, 14 ... running body, 20 ... horizontal arm, 32 ... wire, 36 ... winding drum, 40 ... electric motor,
46 tools.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takayuki Nakamura 14-3 Shinzumi, Narita-shi, Chiba Pref. Nogedaira Industrial Park Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeru Takehiro 14-3 Shinzumi, Noizumi, Narita-shi, Chiba Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shunichi Tomita 14-3 Shinizumi, Narita-shi, Chiba Pref. In Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. DA09

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A handling device for lifting a component in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and transporting the component to an area adjacent to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the guide rail is disposed above the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and is movable on the guide rail. A traveling body attached to the traveling body, a horizontal arm rotatably attached to the traveling body in a horizontal direction, disposed along the horizontal arm, one end hanging down from a free end of the horizontal arm, and the other end being A lifting wire extending to the traveling body, a winding drum to which the other end of the wire is connected, an electric motor for rotating the winding drum, and a component attached to the one end of the wire to be handled And a tool for connecting the wire to the component. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is a single-wafer multi-chamber type. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail is attached to the frame when a frame surrounding the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided. .