JP2001077172A - Substrate processing apparatus, substrate transfer member, and manufacture of electronic component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate transfer member and a method for processing a substrate, which can significantly reduce the volume of a carry-in/carry-out chamber, to improve the production unit time by reduction of suction time and can omit complex air-conditioning adjustments. SOLUTION: A transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate 2 from a carry-in/carry-out chamber 5 to a robot chamber 4 is provided on a side of the chamber 4, the substrate 2 is provided between the chambers 5 and 4, so as to sequentially lowered to a prescribed position through a take-out port 31 which is openable by a gate valve 32 and be taken out one by one by the transfer mechanism from a nearly fixed horizontal position and be sent to the robot chamber 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic component such as a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, an image sensor and the like manufactured by performing various processing steps such as thin film formation and pattern formation on a substrate (wafer). Is applied in the manufacturing process of, especially, several hundred mm in diameter and several hundred m.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate transporter, and a method for manufacturing an electronic component, which are suitable for performing processing in a clean room using a large substrate having a size of m square or more.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, electronic components such as semiconductor devices, liquid crystal display devices, and image sensors are manufactured by performing various processing steps such as thin film formation and pattern formation on a substrate (wafer). In the manufacturing process of such various electronic components, a large number of products are simultaneously manufactured on the same substrate so that the components can be efficiently manufactured at once.
Alternatively, a large-sized substrate is used for manufacturing a large-sized display device or the like.

In the above-described electronic component manufacturing process, a thin film forming process by a CVD method or a sputtering method, an impurity concentration region forming process by a thermal diffusion method, a pattern forming of various thin films are performed on a substrate to be processed. There are usually many processing steps such as steps, and many processing apparatuses are used in these various steps. To manufacture a large number of products simultaneously on the same substrate, we need to increase the number of products to be manufactured.To manufacture large-sized display devices, we aim to further increase the size of parts. Processing devices are being developed and put into practical use year by year or every day so that even larger substrate sizes can be manufactured.

Further, in these electronic parts, tens of thousands of fine patterns on the order of μm are formed.
Similar to the enlargement of the substrate, higher definition is being pursued. For this reason, if foreign substances or gases that cannot be seen are floating during the pattern forming process, these foreign substances and gases cause defects in the chemical reaction during pattern formation. Therefore, in the conventional manufacturing equipment, usually, the entire process including the processing device, the inspection device, and the transport device is housed in a clean room having a cleanliness of, for example, class 1 or 10, and various air conditioning management is performed. By doing so, foreign substances and gases in the process are eliminated.

[0005] However, clean room equipment is
Extremely high construction costs as its cleanliness increases. Also, especially when starting up a large factory that handles large substrates, troubles related to clean room equipment tend to occur frequently, and it is difficult to control and maintain cleanliness at key points. Running costs also increase.
Further, for workers in the process, management of dust-proofing measures such as dust-proof clothes is increased, so that the working environment of the workers themselves is deteriorated.

[0006] As measures for resolving these problems, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-196545 and Hei 7-161
There is a processing apparatus described in JP-A-797-797, JP-A-7-297257 and the like. In each of these publications, a pot (or a pod or a cassette accommodating container), which includes a cassette containing a large number of substrates and a detachable cover unit, is used to carry clean substrates between various processing apparatuses. As a result, the high cleanliness space of the entire line can be reduced, and the equipment cost can be improved.

Here, the structure of the processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-161797 will be described.

[0008] As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the processing apparatus includes a process tube 101, a load lock chamber 1.
02, loading / unloading chamber 103, cassette container port 10
The main part is constituted by 4 and the holder housing chamber 105. The process tube 101 is a processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on a wafer W as an object to be processed. The load lock chamber 102 is a chamber for inserting / removing a wafer boat 106 as a holder holding a large number (for example, 100) of wafers W with respect to the process tube 101, and a transfer mechanism 107 therefor. It has. The loading / unloading chamber 103 is a chamber for loading / unloading the wafer W into / from the load lock chamber 102, and has a cassette housing container port 104 formed therein. Further, the holding body storage chamber 105 is provided in the load lock chamber 102.
Boat 10 arranged between the loading and unloading chamber 103
It is a room for accommodating 6.

The loading / unloading chamber 103 is a HEPA (High Efficiency).
(Ciency Particulate Air) It is placed under an atmospheric atmosphere by a clean gas introduced through a filter 108. In the loading / unloading chamber 103, the cassette housing container port 104 is disposed, and the cassette housing container port 104 has a wafer carrier (cassette) for accommodating a plurality of (for example, 25) wafers W. A cassette housing container 109 in which C is accommodated is installed.

Here, as shown in FIG. 14, the cassette accommodating container 109 is large enough to accommodate one cassette C, and has a container main body 110 having an open lower portion, and an opening capable of sealing the opening. The container bottom 111 is closed. Further, the cassette accommodating container 109 accommodates the cassette C therein and is filled with high-purity clean air or an inert gas which is made positive with respect to the atmospheric pressure, or is evacuated. . As the cassette container 109, for example, a commercially available SMIF
-POD (trademark) is used.

On the other hand, the port 10 for the cassette housing container
4 is formed so that the side wall of the carry-in / out chamber 103 is recessed into the inside of the carry-in / out chamber 103, and the port mounting table 112 on which the container main body 110 is actually mounted is provided with the container main body 110.
A cassette insertion hole 113 which is larger than the inner diameter of the flange 110A and smaller than the outer diameter of the flange 110A is formed. The insertion hole 113 is provided with a container bottom mounting table 114 which is detachable downward from the port mounting table 112 by forming a peripheral edge of the container into a tapered shape by inclining outwardly downward.

Further, the container bottom mounting table 114 is provided in the container shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a vertical movement arm 1 which can be moved vertically (up and down) by a ball screw portion 115.
It is attached to the tip of 16 so as to protrude greatly from the ball screw portion 115. The ball screw 115 is
It is arranged substantially on the side of the container bottom mounting table 114, and only the container bottom 111 and the cassette C mounted on the upper surface thereof are sunk while leaving the container main body 110 above, and are taken into the carry-in / out chamber 103. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 15, the ball screw portion 115 has a horizontally movable arm 117 composed of a multi-joint arm which is positioned below the container bottom mounting table 114 and can be bent up and down in the horizontal direction. An arm assisting member 117A is provided at the tip of the arm assisting member 117A so as to be able to swing in a loose fit state so as to always be in a horizontal state, and claw portions 118 which can be opened and closed are provided at both ends thereof. ing. By opening and closing the claw portion 118 with the horizontal moving arm 117 bent, the side wall of the submerged cassette C can be gripped. Further, as shown in FIG.
A shutter mechanism 119 is provided at the entrance of the shutter 4 to open and close this part to communicate with and block the work area.

In the loading / unloading chamber 103, a carrier transfer 120 is installed via the elevator 121 at a position immediately behind the cassette housing port 104 via an elevator 121. A transfer stage 122 is provided behind the carrier transfer 120, and a carrier stock stage 123 is provided above the transfer stage 122. The carrier stock stage 123 holds the wafer carriers C transported by the carrier transfer 120 from the cassette accommodating container port 104 in a horizontal direction, for example, by 2
It is formed of a plurality of shelves that can be stored in four rows.

Further, the holding body accommodating chamber 10 of the carry-in / out chamber 103 is provided.
On the fifth side, a wafer transfer 124 is supported by a transfer elevator 125 so as to be movable up and down.
The wafer transfer 124 takes out the wafers W in the wafer carrier C on the transfer stage 122 one by one while moving up and down, and stores the wafers W in the wafer boat 106 housed in the holder housing chamber 105, or vice versa. The wafer W is configured to return the wafer W from the wafer boat 106 to the inside of the wafer carrier C on the transfer stage 122.

Further, the carrier stock stage 12
3, an internal HEPA filter 126 is provided, and the high-purity clean air introduced from above is bent sequentially in the horizontal direction and the downward direction to form the port HEPA filter 126.
After passing through the PA filter 127, it flows downward through the cassette accommodating container port 104, circulates indoors, and is exhausted one-through.

The device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-196545 discloses a device as shown in FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b).
The processing device 128 includes a carry-in / out room 129. In the above apparatus, a container 134 is used in which a wafer cassette 131 containing a plurality of wafers 130 is placed on a box door 132 and is housed in a box (box top or pod) 133. Here, JP-A-7-17-1
Unlike the 61797, the wafer 13 is contained in the loading / unloading chamber 129.
0 and a box door 132 on which the wafer cassette 131 is placed.

However, in the case of the apparatus described in JP-A-6-196545, similar to the apparatus described in JP-A-7-161797, the side of the elevating part of the wafer cassette 131 is located in the loading / unloading chamber 129. Lifting mechanism 1 to be arranged
35, a transfer mechanism such as a pre-processing stage 136 on which the wafer cassette 131 loaded into the processing chamber is mounted, and a manipulator arm 137 for transferring the wafer cassette 131 to the pre-processing stage 136 are arranged.

In the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-297257, a plurality of cassettes C stored in cassette storage containers are stored in a container storage stage, and the cassettes C are carried into a holder storage chamber. At some point, it is removed from the cassette housing container. That is, unlike the apparatus described in JP-A-7-161797, in which the cassette C is taken out of the cassette accommodating container in the loading / unloading room and stored in the carrier stock stage, the space requiring high cleanliness can be reduced accordingly. .

Further, with respect to the support of the substrate in the cassette, for example, when the above-mentioned substrate is used for a liquid crystal display device, if the entire surface is supported, problems such as generation of scratches and dust on the substrate occur. In many cases, the two sides facing each other receive a shape of about 10 mm or more at the end.

[0021]

As described above, in the manufacturing process of various electronic parts such as semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices, the size of manufacturing substrates has been increasing, and moreover,
Due to the large number of processes and the number of processing devices, large-scale factory facilities are required. In such a facility, to reduce construction, maintenance, and maintenance costs, to facilitate transport of trucks and other equipment from the manufacturer of the equipment to the factory, and to improve workability in manufacturing and process management, various processes and transfers are required. It is necessary to reduce the size of the mounting device or auxiliary equipment.

However, in the conventional apparatus described in JP-A-7-161797 or JP-A-7-297257, in particular, a backup device for transferring a substrate to a load lock chamber or the like under a stable cleanliness. A loading / unloading room is provided as a room, and the space of the loading / unloading room is extremely tens of times or more (20 times or more in the drawing plane direction and 2 to 3 times or more in the drawing depth direction) the outer peripheral volume of the cassette container. Large space is required. This is especially true for
This is due to the problem described above. A plurality of cassettes and cassette storage containers are housed in the loading / unloading chamber. A cassette and a mechanism for transferring and elevating the cassette accommodating container are housed in the loading / unloading chamber. A mechanism for elevating the cassette or the cassette accommodating container is formed on the side of the cassette or the cassette accommodating container in the loading / unloading chamber. If such an operation / sliding portion is provided in the carry-in / out room, there arises a problem that the quality of the product and the yield are easily reduced due to dust generation or the like. In addition, especially in the case of a liquid crystal display device, a large substrate having a size of several hundred mm square or more is often used. In this case, the weight including the cassette and the like becomes large. Vertical movement arm 1 to withstand large moments
16, the horizontal moving arm 117, the ball screw 115, and the bearing thereof become one size larger and the life is shortened. Further, when the bearing is in the carry-in / out room, the maintenance work time is increased, and the operation rate of the apparatus may be reduced. For example, as in the device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-161797, a plurality of (three in the above-mentioned publications) HEPAs are arranged to stabilize the cleanliness of the loading / unloading room, and the flow rate and position thereof are adjusted. This requires complicated air conditioning adjustment. Accordingly, a space for arranging the HEPA is required even in the loading / unloading room. In particular, a large-sized substrate of several hundred mm square or more is used in a liquid crystal display device, and its thickness is as thin as 0.5 to 1.1 mm.
Warpage of about several tens mm occurs. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the distance between the substrates in order to prevent interference and cracking during the transfer of the substrates, but the cassette and the cassette accommodating container become large and the weight increases, so that the problems of the items (1) to (4) are synergistically performed. To be larger.

As described above, when the volume of the loading / unloading chamber is increased, the evacuation time of the loading / unloading chamber is increased, so that the tact of production is reduced, or a plurality of HEPAs as disclosed in JP-A-7-161797 are used. This causes a problem that complicated air conditioning adjustment for adjusting the air conditioning is required. Therefore, in order to reduce the evacuation time and the like so as not to reduce the tact of production, and to stabilize cleanliness while eliminating the need for complicated air conditioning adjustment as described above, it is necessary to transfer substrates to a load lock chamber or the like. It is necessary to make the volume of the spare room, that is, the carry-in / out room, as small as possible.

In the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-196545, the problems of the above-mentioned items are reduced.
The problem of item (2) similarly exists, and as shown in FIG. 16, the space in the in-plane direction of FIG.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to significantly reduce the volume of a loading / unloading chamber, improve the production tact time by reducing the evacuation time,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate transporter, and a substrate processing method that can omit complicated air conditioning adjustment.

[0026]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention enables a cassette containing a plurality of substrates to be transported while being held in a highly clean atmosphere. A substrate processing apparatus that takes in a carrier into the apparatus through a loading / unloading chamber, transfers the loaded substrate in the carrier directly or through another chamber to a processing chamber, and performs a predetermined process on the substrate in the processing chamber. , An entrance for transfer at the time of taking out or taking in a substrate is provided between the carrying-in / out chamber and the adjacent processing chamber or the separate chamber adjacent to the carrying-in / out chamber, and the entrance is opened and closed. In the state where the entrance is closed by the opening / closing means, the indoor atmosphere can be changed by exhausting gas or introducing gas into the room. A gas introduction / exhaust means for enabling,
An elevating mechanism for elevating and taking in a cassette accommodating a substrate from the loaded transport body; and a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate from the carry-in / out chamber to the adjacent chamber in the adjacent chamber. It is characterized by:

Alternatively, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention provides a transporter capable of transporting a cassette containing a plurality of substrates while maintaining the cassette in a highly clean atmosphere. Take in the equipment through the loading / unloading room,
In the substrate processing apparatus for transferring the captured substrate in the transfer body directly or through another chamber to the processing chamber and performing a predetermined process on the substrate in the processing chamber, the loading / unloading chamber;
Between the processing chamber or the separate chamber and an adjacent chamber adjacent to the carry-in / out chamber, an entrance / exit for transfer when taking out or taking in the substrate is provided, and the entrance / exit can be opened / closed by opening / closing means. A gas introduction / exhaust means for changing the indoor atmosphere by exhausting gas in the room or introducing gas into the room in a state where the entrance is closed by the opening / closing means; A lifting mechanism for raising and lowering a cassette accommodating the substrate from the carrier, and taking in the cassette, and the carry-in / out chamber is provided with an extrusion-type transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate from the carry-in / out chamber to an adjacent chamber; The drive unit of the transfer mechanism is hermetically sealed from the carry-in / out room space and is disposed outside the carry-in / out room.

According to the above configuration, there is no configuration for storing a plurality of cassettes and carriers in the loading / unloading chamber, and the transfer of the substrate from the loading / unloading chamber to the adjacent chamber is arranged on the adjacent chamber side. The transfer is performed by a transfer mechanism or an extruding transfer mechanism in which a driving unit is disposed outside the loading / unloading chamber. In the transfer mechanism of the extrusion type, when the substrate is transferred, the substrate is only reciprocated in the arrangement space of the transferred substrate, and there is no particular need to provide a drive space in the carry-in / out. Further, in order to hermetically shut off the drive unit of the extrusion-type transfer mechanism from the carry-in / out room space, it is preferable to use, for example, a bellows seal or the like.

Therefore, in the loading / unloading chamber, a space for one stroke corresponding to the height of the cassette is sufficient for taking out the cassette from the transporting body, and the volume is about 2 times.
The size of the apparatus can be remarkably reduced to about twice. When the substrate is directly transferred from the loading / unloading chamber to the processing chamber, the processing chamber corresponds to the adjacent chamber, and the substrate is transferred from the loading / unloading chamber to another chamber (for example, a transfer (robot) chamber, a load lock chamber). , Etc.), the separate room corresponds to the adjacent room.

As described above, by reducing the size of the loading / unloading chamber, a large-sized substrate may be used in the process of transporting various electronic components such as a semiconductor device and a liquid crystal display device into a substrate in a clean gas-tight container. Even when the number of processing units and the number of processing units are large, each processing unit can be remarkably reduced in size (to a fraction of the conventional size) and the number of factory facilities can be minimized. As a result, the construction, maintenance, and maintenance costs of the factory can be reduced. In addition, since the processing apparatus is reduced in size, it is easy to transport the apparatus itself from a maker of the processing apparatus to a processing factory by a truck or the like, so that workability such as manufacturing and process management can be improved.

In the carry-in / out room into which the carrier is taken, the room is replaced with a clean gas or evacuated by the gas introduction / exhaust means. At this time, the opening / closing means between the carry-in / out room and the adjacent room is closed, and the carry-in / out room is closed. After the gas in the loading / unloading chamber is replaced or evacuated, the opening / closing means is opened, and the substrate in the cassette is transferred from the loading / unloading chamber to the adjacent chamber by the transfer mechanism.

In the configuration in which the loading / unloading chamber is miniaturized as described above, the evacuation time of the loading / unloading chamber is reduced, so that the manufacturing tact can be suppressed and the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-161797 discloses. Thus, the cleanliness can be stabilized without complicated air conditioning adjustment such as adjusting three HEPAs, and the quality and yield of products can be improved.

Further, when the substrate is transferred between the loading / unloading chamber and the adjacent chamber, the processing apparatus moves the cassette in the transporting body by the elevating mechanism to a predetermined position where the substrate to be taken out faces the entrance. The transfer mechanism sequentially moves the substrates one by one between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber from the substantially constant horizontal position at the entrance.

Conventionally, when a substrate is transferred between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber, that is, when a substrate is extracted from a cassette containing a plurality of substrates, the substrate is aligned with the position of the substrate stacked vertically in the cassette. According to the above configuration, the cassette itself is sequentially moved to the predetermined position by the elevating mechanism, and the substrates are transferred one by one by the transfer mechanism from a substantially constant horizontal position. .

As a result, the above-described transfer mechanism does not require a conventional elevating function, and the transfer mechanism can be simplified. The simplification of the transfer mechanism leads to a reduction in the size of an adjacent room or the like accommodating the transfer mechanism and a reduction in the size of the processing apparatus.

In the method of transferring substrates one by one from a substantially constant horizontal position, the entrance between the loading / unloading chamber and the adjacent chamber only needs to be large enough to carry at least one substrate. Since the entrance can be reduced, the structure of the opening / closing means for opening / closing the entrance / exit can be simplified. Thus, it is possible to reduce the size of the device, shorten the opening / closing time of the entrance / exit, and extend the life of the seal portion.

Further, the processing apparatus is provided with the gas introduction /
After the carrier is loaded into the loading / unloading chamber, the exhaust means evacuates the loading / unloading chamber, and the transfer means transfers the substrate between the loading / unloading chamber and the adjacent chamber under a vacuum atmosphere. Features.

In many processing apparatuses such as a film forming apparatus, a substrate is transferred between an adjacent chamber or the like and a processing chamber in a vacuum atmosphere. If the entrance chamber is evacuated and the substrate transfer between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber is performed in a vacuum atmosphere, the adjacent chamber may be constantly maintained in a vacuum state. This eliminates the need for gas introduction and the like in the adjacent chamber, and facilitates the maintenance of the atmosphere. Further, since the evacuation time of the adjacent chamber is reduced, manufacturing tact time can be suppressed.

Further, in the above processing apparatus, the gas introduction / exhaust means is provided at a stage after the transfer body is loaded into the loading / unloading chamber and before the cassette housing the substrate is taken out of the transfer body. The loading / unloading chamber is replaced with clean gas, and the loading / unloading chamber is evacuated at a stage after the cassette accommodating the substrate is taken out of the carrier.

When taking out the cassette from the carrier in the loading / unloading room, it is necessary to keep the cleanliness of the loading / unloading room high. For this purpose, a method of replacing the loading / unloading chamber with a clean gas or evacuating the vacuum is conceivable.However, since the clean gas is sealed in the transporting body, the transporting body is loaded into the loading / unloading chamber. When the loading / unloading chamber is evacuated at the stage, a pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the carrier. Therefore, in this case, it is necessary that the carrier has a strength enough to withstand the pressure difference, which leads to an increase in the weight and cost of the carrier. Further, if the evacuation is performed directly, a load may be applied to the vacuum filter or the cleaning time may be increased.

On the other hand, according to the above configuration, the loading / unloading chamber is in a clean gas atmosphere before the cassette is taken out of the carrier, and the loading / unloading chamber is taken at a stage after the cassette is taken out of the carrier. Since the entrance is evacuated, there is no pressure difference between the inside and outside of the carrier as described above.
Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the carrier with unnecessarily high strength, which leads to weight reduction and cost reduction of the carrier. Further, the cleaning time can be shortened.

Further, in the above-mentioned processing apparatus, an elevating part (for example, an elevating shaft) of the elevating mechanism is provided at a position substantially immediately below the center of gravity of the substrate or the cassette, and a driving part and a guide receiver of the elevating mechanism are provided. The portion is provided outside the loading / unloading room, and the elevating unit in the loading / unloading room is sealed off from the loading / unloading room space by a bellows.

As described above, by arranging the drive unit and the like of the elevating mechanism outside the loading / unloading chamber and arranging the elevating unit just below the center of gravity of the cassette, maintenance work is facilitated, and the screw unit and the shaft unit are arranged. Because the design strength of the lifting mechanism can be reduced, the lifting mechanism can be downsized. In addition, since the elevating section in the loading / unloading chamber is hermetically sealed from the loading / unloading indoor space by bellows, it is possible to eliminate a decrease in product quality and yield due to dust generation of the sliding section and the like.

Further, since there is no elevating mechanism on the side of the substrate transporter, the carry-in path of the transporter can be reduced, and the mechanism of the transfer device can be simplified. For this reason, the degree of freedom in the design of the loading / unloading chamber is high. For example, an internal pressure gauge for checking the side of the substrate transfer body, an extruding type substrate loading mechanism (transporting mechanism) can be easily attached, and a viewing window for the substrate is provided. Can be easily visually checked for abnormalities of the substrate.

In the substrate carrier of the present invention, a cassette mounting a plurality of substrates is sealed in a closed space formed by a container body and a bottom plate together with a highly clean dry gas, and various substrates are sealed with respect to the substrate. In a substrate transporter that transports between processing devices during a manufacturing process of an electronic component manufactured by performing a processing process, the cassette includes a substrate for mounting and supporting each mounted substrate. A substrate support portion formed by projecting from four places to six places in the substrate surface, and near the tip of the substrate support part, a resin is provided which is in contact with the substrate and supports the substrate. It is characterized in that a pin portion is formed.

When the substrate is supported at two points, the maximum deflection of the substrate is proportional to the cube of the distance between supports and inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness of the substrate in the two-dimensional ideal solution. The amount of warpage of the substrate is extremely increased. For this reason, by warping the substrate supporting portion in the in-plane direction of the substrate and reducing the distance between the supporting points, the warpage of the substrate is reduced, and the vibration is generated due to abnormal vibration at the time of transfer of the substrate or interference due to slight displacement. Defects such as chipping and cracking of the substrate can be reduced. In addition, since the warpage of the substrate is reduced, the distance between the substrates in the cassette is reduced, and the size of the substrate transporter can be reduced. Further, the reduction in the size and weight of the substrate transporter leads to a reduction in the size of the loading / unloading room in the processing apparatus.

In supporting a substrate in a cassette,
It is not preferable to support the line near the two sides of the edge or to support a wide surface (for example, almost the entire surface) because the number of contact portions with the substrate increases and the probability of adhesion of foreign matter or damage increases. If provided, the weight of the entire cassette increases, and it becomes difficult to receive the substrate, which is not preferable. Therefore, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion is a convex projecting portion having about 4 to 6 points. In particular, in the case of a large rectangular substrate such as a liquid crystal, it is preferable that the number of protrusions be about six (in the two-dimensional ideal solution, the warp is about 1/20) in order to achieve a good balance between the reduction in warpage and the weight reduction of the cassette. It can be reduced to about 8.)

The substrate supporting portion is preferably made of aluminum, which can secure rigidity, is relatively lightweight, and is easy to clean on a regular basis, and the contact portion with the substrate does not damage the substrate. A resin such as Teflon, which is in contact with the member and has less wear and spatter, and has high chemical resistance to acidic cleaning materials and the like is preferable.

Further, the carrier is characterized in that the substrate supporting portion has a chevron shape having a smooth curved outer edge in the substrate plane.

In order to secure the weight and rigidity of the substrate supporting portion, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion of the cantilever support structure has a cross-sectional shape such that stress is uniform. In addition, in order to realize a plate material having a uniform thickness so as to facilitate processing and assembling of the plate material or the like, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion has a mountain shape (corrugated shape). In addition, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion has a smooth curved outer edge in order to eliminate corners and the like and prevent damage and dust generation at the time of contact with the substrate.

According to the method of manufacturing an electronic component of the present invention, the above-mentioned substrate carrier is used to hold a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates in an atmosphere of high cleanliness while maintaining the cassette between the above-described substrate processing apparatuses. And electronic components are manufactured by performing processing steps on the substrate by the above-described processing apparatuses.

As a result, the size of the loading / unloading chamber in the processing apparatus can be reduced in the same manner as in the above-described substrate transporter and substrate processing apparatus.

Further, in the above electronic component manufacturing method, the internal pressure of the substrate carrier is set to a positive pressure when the substrate is transported while holding the cassette in the substrate carrier. .

The inside of the carrier may be at a vacuum pressure as long as it is basically a clean gas, but if the internal pressure of the carrier is lower than the surrounding pressure (atmospheric pressure), the O-ring or the like may be damaged. If the airtightness inside and outside the transfer body is broken due to, for example, the service life or the like, there is a possibility that the outside unclean air may enter. Therefore, it is preferable to set the internal pressure of the transfer body of the substrate to a positive pressure.
Further, it is preferable that the pressure is slightly higher than the atmospheric pressure, in order to reduce the time required for a series of operations such as opening the atmospheric pressure and opening the bottom plate when removing the substrate.

[0055]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing apparatus 1 performs single or continuous processing on a substrate as an object to be processed, and includes sputtering, C
It may be any one of pattern formation such as thin film formation such as VD, inspection, resist coating, exposure, patterning, heating, drying, washing, and ion implantation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 1 includes a processing chamber 3 for performing predetermined processing on a substrate 2 which is a processing target, and a transfer mechanism for inserting and removing the substrate 2 into and from the processing chamber 3. 7 (see FIG. 2), and a loading / unloading chamber 5 for loading / unloading a plurality of substrates 2 accommodated in a cassette 8 with respect to the robot chamber 4. The room is adjacent to Entry 5.

The processing chamber 3, the robot chamber 4, and the loading / unloading chamber 5 do not need to be provided one by one for one processing apparatus 1. For example, as shown in FIG. The configuration may be such that the robot room 4 is shared with the transfer room 3 and the loading / unloading room 5. Further, before performing the processing of the substrate 2 in the processing chamber 3, a temperature raising chamber 6 for raising the temperature of the substrate 2 in advance may be provided. The processing chamber 3, the robot chamber 4, the loading / unloading chamber 5, and the heating chamber 6 can be individually evacuated. Further, the processing chamber 3 and the loading / unloading chamber 5 are provided in a continuous manner, and the substrate may be directly transferred from the loading / unloading chamber 5 to the processing chamber 3. In this case, the processing chamber 3 is provided with the loading / unloading chamber 5. Next to the room.

A cassette accommodating container 10 serving as a substrate carrier for accommodating the cassette 8 is carried into the carry-in / out chamber 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the cassette housing container 10 includes a cassette 8 housed therein, a bottom plate 11, and a pod lid (container main body) 12, and the cassette 8 placed on the bottom plate 11 is held by the pod lid 12. It is a configuration that covers. An O-ring 13 is provided between the bottom plate 11 and the pod lid 12 to seal the internal space of the cassette container 10. The cassette accommodating container 10 is filled with an inert gas having a high degree of cleanliness at a slightly higher positive pressure than the atmospheric pressure. In addition, the cassette 8, the bottom plate 1
1. The pod lid 12 is made of aluminum, for example, in order to reduce the weight of the cassette container 10.

The inside of the cassette housing container 10 is
Basically, vacuum pressure may be used as long as the gas is clean, but if the internal pressure of the cassette housing container 10 is smaller than the surrounding pressure (atmospheric pressure), the cassette ring may be damaged due to breakage of the O-ring 13 or the like and life. When the airtightness inside and outside the storage container 10 is broken, there is a possibility that outside unclean air may enter. For this reason, it is preferable that the internal pressure of the cassette housing container 10 be a positive pressure. Also, in order to reduce the time required for a series of operations such as release of the atmospheric pressure at the time of taking out the substrate 2 and opening of the bottom plate 11, it is preferable that the internal pressure of the cassette accommodating container 10 be slightly positive than the atmospheric pressure.

The cassette 8 includes, as shown in FIG.
In order to receive the accommodated substrate 2, a substrate support portion 14 having a thickness of about 3 mm and having a smooth mountain shape or the like is provided, for example, using aluminum as a material. The substrate supporting portions 14 are provided so as to protrude in four to six places (six places in the drawing) in the in-plane direction of the substrate 2 supported thereby, and come into contact with the substrate 2 near the tip of the protruding portion. The pin (pin portion) 15 to be supported is formed of, for example, Teflon resin. For example, when the size of the substrate 2 is 1.1 mm in thickness, 550 mm in width, and 650 mm in length, as shown in FIG. The position of the substrate 2 is received by the pins 15, and the end of the substrate 2 is pressed by the roller 16, so that the warpage of the substrate 2 can be suppressed to about 10 mm or less. Thus, in the cassette 8, the vertical distance between the substrates 2 is set to about 30 mm, and the cassette 8 accommodates 20 substrates 2 in this gap.

That is, when supporting the substrate 2 at two points,
In the two-dimensional ideal solution, the maximum deflection of the substrate is proportional to the cube of the distance between supports and inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness of the substrate.
The larger or thinner the film, the more the amount of warpage increases extremely.
For this reason, by warping the substrate 2 by projecting the substrate support portion 14 in the in-plane direction of the substrate and reducing the distance between the support points, interference due to abnormal vibration or slight displacement during transfer of the substrate 2 or the like. Defects, such as chipping and cracking of the substrate, which occur in the step (1), can be reduced. Further, since the warpage of the substrate 2 is reduced, the distance between the substrates in the cassette 8 is reduced, and the size of the cassette container 10 can be reduced. Furthermore, there is an advantage that the reduction in weight and size of the cassette container 10 also leads to the reduction in the size of the loading / unloading room 5 in the processing apparatus 1.

In the substrate support in the cassette 8, line support near two edges and support on a wide surface (for example, almost the entire surface) increase the number of contact portions with the substrate 2 and increase the probability of adhesion of foreign matter and damage. In addition, the total weight of the cassette 8 increases, which makes it difficult to receive the substrate 2 or the like. Therefore, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion 14 is a convex projecting portion having about 4 to 6 points. In particular, in the case of a large square substrate such as a liquid crystal, the substrate supporting portion 14 is preferably provided at about six places in order to achieve a good balance between the reduction of the warp and the weight reduction of the cassette (in the two-dimensional ideal solution, the warp is reduced to about 6 places). It can be reduced to about 1/8.)

Further, the substrate supporting portion 14 is preferably made of aluminum, which can secure rigidity, is relatively lightweight, and is easy to clean on a regular basis or the like.
It is preferable to use a resin such as Teflon, which does not damage the substrate 2 and has little abrasion or sprinkling on the pin 15 itself, which has high chemical resistance to acidic cleaning materials.

The reason why the substrate supporting portion 14 is formed in a chevron shape is as follows. That is, the substrate support 14
In order to secure the weight and rigidity of the substrate, it is preferable to have a cross-sectional shape such that the stress is uniform in the substrate support portion 14 of the cantilever support structure. In order to facilitate the processing and assembly with a plate material having a uniform thickness, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion 14 has a chevron (corrugated) shape. Further, it is preferable that the substrate supporting portion 14 has a smooth curved outer edge in order to eliminate corners and the like and prevent damage and dust generation at the time of contact with the substrate 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 1 has an elevating mechanism 17 for elevating the cassette 8 accommodating a plurality of substrates 2 in the cassette accommodating container 10 carried into the carry-in / out chamber 5. An elevating part (shaft) 18 of the elevating mechanism 17 is provided almost immediately below the center of gravity of the substrate 2 or the cassette 8, and a guide part (sliding part) 19 and a driving part (not shown) of the elevating mechanism 17 are provided in the loading / unloading chamber. 5 is provided outside. In the loading / unloading chamber 5, the elevating unit 18 is surrounded by a bellows 20 and is isolated from the loading / unloading chamber 5.

As described above, by disposing the guide portion 19 and the driving portion of the elevating mechanism 17 outside the loading / unloading chamber 5, the loading / unloading chamber 5 is compared with the conventional configuration in which the entire lifting mechanism is disposed in the loading / unloading chamber. Can be significantly reduced. More specifically, the size of the loading / unloading chamber 5 can be reduced so as to be about twice as large as the outer peripheral volume of the cassette 8 and at most about three times or less. In addition, since the elevating section 18 in the carry-in / out chamber 5 is hermetically sealed off from the space in the carry-in / out chamber 5 by the bellows 20, deterioration of product quality and yield due to dust generation of the guide section 19 can be eliminated.

It should be noted that the lifting mechanism 17 includes the lifting mechanism 1
The elevating part 18 of 7 is provided almost directly below the substrate 2 or the cassette 8, because the elevating mechanism 17 having a simple structure moves the cassette 8 up and down. That is, when the elevating mechanism is arranged beside the cassette 8 and the cassette 8 is held by the cantilever structure, the cassette 8
It is necessary to increase the size of the shaft and bearings so as to withstand a large moment due to the weight of the cassette. However, if the elevating unit is disposed below the center of gravity of the cassette 8, no moment acts on the shaft, so that the elevating mechanism is small. Can be

Further, since there is no elevating mechanism 17 on the side of the cassette housing container 10, the cassette housing container 10
Can be reduced, and the mechanism of the transfer device can be simplified. For this reason, the degree of freedom in designing the loading / unloading room 5 is high,
For example, an internal pressure gauge for checking, a viewing window for the substrate 2, a push-out type substrate loading mechanism, or the like can be easily attached to the side of the cassette accommodating container 10 or can be visually checked.

The extruding type substrate carrying mechanism is not a robot arm type transferring mechanism 7 as shown in FIG. 2, but a transferring mechanism 40 as shown in FIG. The transfer mechanism 40 includes a piston cylinder 41 as a driving source and an arm 42 reciprocally driven by the piston cylinder 41. The substrate 2 in the cassette 8 is pushed out by the arm 42 to the robot chamber 4 side. Is carried out. For this reason, the transfer mechanism 40 is not on the robot room 4 side, but an adjacent room on the side of the loading / unloading room 5 (the robot arm type transfer mechanism 7 as shown in FIG. The transfer mechanism 40 is disposed on the opposite side of the substrate 2 to be transferred.
Is reciprocated only in the arrangement space in the cassette 8, and there is no particular need to provide a drive space in the carry-in / out room 5. Therefore, even if the transfer mechanism 40 is arranged on the carry-in / out room 5 side, the space of the carry-in / out room 5 does not increase. The piston cylinder 41, which is a driving source of the transfer mechanism 40, is disposed outside the loading / unloading chamber 5, and is sealed off from the space in the loading / unloading chamber 5 by the bellows 43. As a result, it is possible to prevent an increase in the space of the carry-in / out chamber 5 and to prevent a decrease in product quality and yield due to dust generation at the sliding portion of the piston. further,
In the configuration using the transfer mechanism 40, it is preferable to provide the substrate support roller 44 in the substrate transfer path between the carry-in / out chamber 5 and the robot chamber 4.

However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the elevating section is disposed below the center of gravity of the cassette 8, and as shown in FIG. May be used. In this case, a simple cantilever structure inevitably increases the size of the elevating mechanism 21. Therefore, it is preferable to provide the guide lot 23 below the stage 22 holding the cassette 8.

Next, a method of transferring the substrate 2 from the loading / unloading room 5 to the robot room 4 in the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (c).

First, as shown in FIG. 8A, the loading door 24 of the loading / unloading chamber 5 of the processing apparatus 1 is opened in order to load the cassette accommodating container 10. Then, a cassette housing container 1 that houses a cassette 8 on which a plurality of substrates 2 are mounted.
0 is a stage 25 formed on the upper surface of the elevating mechanism 17.
Place on top. At this time, the cassette storage container 10
The cassette 8 is housed in a space formed by the pod lid 12 and the bottom plate 11 in a state sealed with dry air having high cleanliness. The inside of the loading / unloading chamber 5 is in an air atmosphere.

Next, as shown in FIG.
4 is closed, and an inert gas, such as N _{2, which} is slightly more positive than the atmospheric pressure and is clean, is filled under the cassette container 10 through a gas introduction / exhaust pipe 26 provided at a lower portion of the loading / unloading chamber 5. 5. Replace with the atmosphere in 5. Thereafter, by driving the elevating mechanism 17 to lower the stage 25, the bottom plate 11 of the cassette container 10 and the cassette 8 placed on the stage 25 are slightly lowered. At this time, the pod cover 12 of the cassette container 10 is
Bottom portion 27 is in contact with a side wall protruding portion 28 in the carry-in / out chamber 5 via an O-ring 29 or the like (see FIG. 1). As a result, the contact portion acts as a vacuum seal,
The outside and the inside of the pod lid 12 are shut off, and the atmosphere at the top and side of the pod lid 12 is
Do not enter. Therefore, it is possible to reduce foreign substances and the like from flowing from the upper surface of the pod lid 12 exposed to the atmosphere having low cleanliness to the inner surface and the lower surface of the pod lid 12, thereby shortening the time for evacuation or the like. In the processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 as well, after the cassette 8 together with the cassette container 10 is loaded into the loading / unloading chamber 5, the cassette 8 is loaded in the same manner as described above.
Are taken out of the cassette accommodating container 10, but the illustration of the cassette accommodating container 10 is omitted in FIG.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, the gas introduction / exhaust pipes 26 and gas exhaust pipes 30 serving as gas introduction / exhaust means are provided in the upper and lower regions of the loading / unloading chamber 5, ie, outside the pod lid 12. And the interior region is simultaneously evacuated and evacuated. At this time, the bottom 2 of the pod lid 12
If the seal between the inner wall 7 and the side wall protruding portion 28 in the loading / unloading chamber 5 is perfect, it is sufficient to evacuate only the inner region. However, by evacuating the inner region and the outer region simultaneously,
The stage 25 is exposed to the atmosphere during the process due to the consumption of the seal and the like, and the intrusion of ash dust into the internal area of the carry-in / out chamber 5 is reduced. Then, after opening a gate valve (opening / closing means) 32 for opening and closing a substrate transfer port 31 which is a substrate take-out port between the carry-in / out chamber 5 and the robot chamber 4, the transfer mechanism 7 arranged on the robot chamber 4 side opens the gate valve (opening / closing means). The substrate 2 accommodated in the cassette 8 is transferred one by one to the robot chamber 4 by a certain robot. Each time one substrate 2 is transferred, the elevating mechanism 17 lowers the cassette 8 sequentially, and moves the substrate 2 of the next stage.
Is located beside the substrate transfer port 27. The processed substrate 2 is returned to the cassette 8 on the contrary.

In the transfer of the substrate 2 between the loading / unloading room 5 and the robot room 4, the cassette 8 accommodating the plurality of substrates 2 is used.
The operation includes extracting each substrate 2 from the substrate. At this time, conventionally, it has been necessary to raise and lower the transfer mechanism in accordance with the position of the substrates stacked vertically in the cassette. On the other hand, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the cassette 8 itself is sequentially lowered by the elevating mechanism 17 to a predetermined position (that is, the position where the substrate 2 to be taken out faces the take-out port 31), and a substantially constant horizontal Since the substrates 2 are transferred one by one from the position by the transfer mechanism 7, the transfer mechanism 7 does not require a conventional elevating function, and the transfer mechanism 7 can be simplified. The transfer mechanism 7
Simplification leads to downsizing of the robot room 4 for accommodating this, and eventually downsizing of the processing apparatus 1.

Further, as described above, in the method of transferring the substrates 2 one by one from a substantially constant horizontal position, the substrate transfer port 31 between the loading / unloading chamber 5 and the robot chamber 4 has at least one substrate 2. It is sufficient that the substrate transfer port 31 is small, and the configuration of the gate valve 32 can be simplified.

In the process shown in FIG. 8B,
The reason for replacing the atmosphere in the loading / unloading chamber 5 with the inert gas is as follows. That is, when taking out the cassette 8 from the cassette accommodating container 10 in the loading / unloading chamber 5, the inside of the loading / unloading chamber 5 is replaced with a clean gas or a vacuum is used in order to increase the cleanliness in the loading / unloading chamber 5. I need to pull. However, as described above, the inside of the cassette housing container 10 is filled with an inert gas having a high degree of cleanliness in a positive pressure state, and therefore, at the stage when the cassette housing container 10 is carried into the carry-in / out chamber 5. When the loading / unloading chamber 5 is evacuated, a pressure difference is generated inside and outside the cassette housing container 10. Therefore, in this case, it is necessary that the cassette container 10 has a strength enough to withstand the pressure difference, which leads to an increase in weight and cost of the cassette container 10.

On the other hand, if only the inside of the carry-in / out chamber 5 is replaced with a clean inert gas at the stage before the cassette 8 is taken out from the cassette housing container 10, the cassette housing container 10 as described above is not used. There is no pressure difference between inside and outside, and the above problem can be avoided. Further, there is an advantage that the time required for maintenance can be reduced by reducing the load on the vacuum filter and extending the life.

In the step shown in FIG. 8C, after the cassette 8 is taken out from the cassette accommodating container 10, the inside of the loading / unloading chamber 5 is evacuated for the following reason. That is, as described above, the transfer of the substrate 2 between the carry-in / out room 5 and the robot room 4 is performed in a vacuum atmosphere by evacuating the inside of the carry-in / out room 5. Since the transfer of the substrate 2 between the robot chamber 4 and the processing chamber 3 is usually performed in a vacuum atmosphere, the transfer of the substrate 2 between the transfer chamber 5 and the robot chamber 4 is also performed in a vacuum atmosphere. By doing so, the robot chamber 4 only needs to be constantly maintained in a vacuum state.

In this case, in the robot room 4,
Since it is not necessary to introduce gas or the like and only the gas exhaust means needs to be provided, the configuration for maintaining the atmosphere in the robot chamber 4 can be simplified. Further, in the robot room 4, the evacuation time for shifting from the gas introduction state to the vacuum state is not required, so that manufacturing tact can be suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 9, the transfer mechanism 7 has a hand 34 for placing and transporting the substrate 2 at the tip of a robot arm 33. The hand 34 has a substantially U shape, and when transporting the substrate 2, the substrate 2 is placed on two arms and transported. At this time, since the arm portion of the hand 34 supports the inside of the substrate 2 in the cassette 8 at the peripheral edge thereof, the warpage generated is significantly reduced. That is, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), in supporting the peripheral portion of the substrate 2 in the cassette 8, since two fulcrums support near the end, the bending moment due to its own weight is concentrated between the fulcrums.
The amount of deflection (warpage) of the substrate 2 increases. On the other hand, when the substrate 2 is supported by the hand 34 of the transfer mechanism 7, as shown in FIG. 10B, since the fulcrum is located closer to the center of the substrate 2, the bending moment generated between the fulcrums and Since the bending moments generated outside the fulcrum become opposite to each other, the warpage of the substrate 2 is canceled out, so that the warp hardly occurs. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a suction pad 35 is provided on the substrate mounting surface of the hand 34 of the transfer mechanism 7,
By adsorbing the substrate 2, the warpage of the substrate 2 can be further reduced. That is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 10C, the substrate 2 is attracted to the substrate mounting surface, so that the contact surface of the substrate 2 with the substrate mounting surface is kept horizontal. Warpage is further reduced.

Further, when the substrate 2 is stored in the cassette 8, the end of the substrate 2 is pressed by the roller 16 as described with reference to FIG.
When inserting and removing the roller, the roller 16 may be an obstacle. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
By providing the step portion 36 in the hand 34, more stable conveyance is possible. That is, if the substrate 2 is simply placed on the hand 34 of the transfer mechanism 7, if there is an obstacle in the transport direction of the substrate 2, a slip may occur between the hand 34 and the substrate 2 and the transport may be unstable. However, if the substrate 2 is conveyed by being hooked on the step portion 36 of the hand 34, the above-described slip does not occur. The same effect can be obtained when the substrate 2 is transported while being suctioned to the hand 34 by the suction pad 35 as shown in FIG. 8, but the resistance of the roller 16 is particularly low when the substrate 2 is inserted into the cassette 8. Since the transfer becomes larger, the transfer by the stepped portion 36 is less likely to cause a slip, and the transfer can be stably performed. Furthermore, since the warped state of the substrate 2 is different between when the substrate 2 is transferred by the hand 34 and when the substrate 2 is stored in the cassette 8, the shape of the substrate 2 being transported is stored in the cassette 8. It is preferable to provide a guide portion for correcting the shape to be formed.

In the above description, the configuration in which one cassette accommodating container 10 is carried in the carry-in / out room 5 has been described. The capacity of the substrate 2 is adjusted so that the volume of the loading / unloading chamber is (2n + α) times the volume per one of the cassette storage containers 10 (minimum 2n or more, α is dependent on the number of gate valves and the way of the transfer space). The substrate loading time such as evacuation or the like per sheet may be reduced.

[0085]

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is provided with an entrance for transferring the substrate when taking out or taking in the substrate, between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber. Can be opened and closed by an opening / closing means, and can be changed into a room atmosphere by exhausting gas or introducing gas into the room in a state where the entrance is closed by the opening / closing means. / Evacuation means, and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering a cassette accommodating a substrate from the transported transport body, and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate from the transport chamber to the adjacent chamber in the adjacent chamber. Is provided.

Alternatively, in the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, as described above, an entrance for transferring the substrate when taking out or taking in the substrate is provided between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber. Can be opened and closed by an opening / closing means, and can be changed into a room atmosphere by exhausting gas or introducing gas into the room in a state where the entrance is closed by the opening / closing means. / Exhaust means and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering a cassette accommodating a substrate from the transported transport body, and an extruder for transferring the substrate from the transport chamber to an adjacent chamber in the transport chamber. And a drive unit of the transfer mechanism is hermetically sealed from the carry-in / out room space and arranged outside the carry-in / out room.

Therefore, in the loading / unloading chamber, the transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate from the loading / unloading chamber to the adjacent chamber is located on the adjacent chamber side, or an extruding transfer mechanism in which the driving unit is located outside the loading / unloading chamber. It is performed by the mechanism, and in the carry-in / out room,
It is sufficient if there is a space for one stroke corresponding to the height of the cassette in order to take out the cassette from the carrier, and the size of the apparatus can be remarkably reduced to approximately twice the volume of the cassette. In this way, by reducing the size of the loading / unloading room, each processing apparatus can be significantly reduced in size (a fraction of the conventional size).
Below) and minimize the number of factory facilities. As a result, there is an effect that the cost of construction, maintenance, and maintenance of the factory can be suppressed, and workability such as manufacturing and process management can be improved.

Further, in the configuration in which the loading / unloading chamber is miniaturized as described above, the vacuuming time of the loading / unloading chamber is reduced, so that the manufacturing tact can be suppressed and the cleaning can be performed without complicated air conditioning adjustment. The degree of stability can be stabilized, and the effect of improving the quality and yield of the product can be achieved.

Further, when the substrate is transferred between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber, the processing apparatus moves the cassette in the transport body by the elevating mechanism so that the substrate to be taken out faces the entrance. The substrate is sequentially moved to a position, and the substrates are taken out one by one by the above-mentioned transfer mechanism from a substantially constant horizontal position at the entrance and transferred to an adjacent chamber.

As a result, the transfer mechanism does not need a lifting function for raising and lowering the transfer mechanism in accordance with the position of the substrates stacked in the cassette in the vertical direction, as in the prior art, thereby simplifying the transfer mechanism. can do. By simplifying the transfer mechanism, the size of the adjacent room that accommodates it is reduced,
As a result, there is an effect that the size of the processing apparatus can be reduced.

In such a method of transferring substrates one by one from a substantially constant horizontal position, the take-out opening between the carry-in / out room and the adjacent room can be made small. An effect that simplification can be achieved is also exhibited.

Further, the above-mentioned processing apparatus is provided with the above-mentioned gas introduction /
After the carrier is carried into the carry-in / out chamber, the exhaust means evacuates the carry-in / out chamber, and the transfer means performs substrate transfer between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber in a vacuum atmosphere. is there.

Usually, the transfer of the substrate between the adjacent chamber and the processing chamber is performed in a vacuum atmosphere. Therefore, the transfer of the substrate between the loading / unloading chamber and the adjacent chamber is also performed in the vacuum atmosphere. In this case, the adjacent chamber should always be maintained in a vacuum state. Thereby, in the adjacent chamber, the atmosphere can be easily maintained, and the time for evacuation of the adjacent chamber is reduced, so that there is an effect that manufacturing tact can be suppressed.

Further, in the above-mentioned processing apparatus, the gas introduction / exhaust means is provided at a stage after the transfer body is loaded into the transfer chamber and before the cassette for accommodating the substrate is taken out of the transfer body. The inside of the carry-in / out chamber is replaced with clean gas, and the inside of the carry-in / out chamber is evacuated at a stage after the cassette accommodating the substrate is taken out of the carrier.

At the stage before the cassette is taken out from the carrier, the loading / unloading chamber is in a clean gas atmosphere. At the stage after the cassette is taken out from the carrier, the loading / unloading chamber is evacuated. There is no pressure difference between the inside and outside of the carrier due to the pulling. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the carrier with unnecessarily high strength, and it is possible to reduce the weight and cost of the carrier.

Further, in the above-described processing apparatus, the elevating unit (for example, the elevating shaft) of the elevating mechanism is provided at a position substantially immediately below the center of gravity of the substrate or the cassette,
The drive unit and the guide receiving unit of the elevating mechanism are provided outside the carry-in / out room, and the elevating unit in the carry-in / out room is sealed off from the carry-in / out room space by a bellows.

As described above, by arranging the drive unit and the like of the elevating mechanism outside the loading / unloading room and arranging the elevating unit just below the center of gravity of the cassette, maintenance work becomes easy and the elevating mechanism can be downsized. At the same time, since the elevating section in the loading / unloading chamber is hermetically sealed off from the loading / unloading indoor space with bellows, it is possible to eliminate the reduction in product quality and yield due to dust generation of the sliding section and the like.

In the substrate carrier according to the present invention, the cassette is formed by projecting four to six portions in the substrate surface per substrate in order to place and support each substrate to be mounted. And a pin portion made of a resin that abuts on the substrate and supports the substrate is formed in the vicinity of the tip of the substrate supporting portion.

As described above, by projecting the substrate supporting portion in the in-plane direction of the substrate and reducing the distance between the supporting points, the warpage of the substrate is reduced, and the interval between the substrates in the cassette is also reduced.
There is an effect that the size of the substrate carrier can be reduced. Further, the reduction in the size and weight of the substrate transporter leads to a reduction in the size of the loading / unloading room in the processing apparatus.

Further, the substrate supporting portion is formed as a convex projecting portion of about 4 to 6 points (the projecting section is particularly preferably about 6 places), so that a reduction in warpage and a reduction in the weight of the cassette can be achieved in a well-balanced manner. Can be.

Further, if a resin such as Teflon is used for the contact portion with the substrate, the member to be in contact with the substrate is less abraded and sprinkled, and has high chemical resistance to acidic cleaning materials without damaging the substrate. Benefits are obtained.

Further, the above-mentioned carrier has a configuration in which the substrate supporting portion has a chevron shape having a smooth curved outer edge in the substrate plane.

In order to minimize the distance between the substrates and to facilitate the processing and assembly of the plate material and the like, a plate material having a uniform thickness is used. There is an effect that a cross-sectional shape that makes the stress uniform in the substrate supporting portion can be obtained. In addition, since the substrate supporting portion has a smooth curved outer edge, corners and the like can be eliminated, thereby preventing damage and dust generation at the time of contact with the substrate.

The method of manufacturing an electronic component according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing electronic components using the above-described substrate carrier while maintaining a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates in an atmosphere of high cleanliness. And electronic components are manufactured by performing processing steps on the substrate by the above-described processing apparatuses.

As a result, as in the above-described substrate transporter and substrate processing apparatus, the size of the loading / unloading chamber in the processing apparatus can be reduced.

Further, in the method of manufacturing an electronic component, the internal pressure of the substrate carrier is set to a positive pressure when the substrate is transported while holding the cassette in the substrate carrier.

Thus, when airtightness inside and outside of the transport body is broken due to breakage or life of the O-ring or the like, external unclean air can be prevented from entering. Further, it is possible to improve a series of operability such as opening the atmospheric pressure and opening the bottom plate when taking out the substrate, and to shorten the time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, and is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of a processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a cassette storage container used for transferring a substrate between the processing apparatuses.

FIG. 4 shows a cassette in the cassette housing container.
It is a top view showing the shape of a substrate supporting part.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a substrate is supported by the substrate support unit.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a processing apparatus different from the processing apparatus of FIG. 1 and using an extruding transfer mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a loading / unloading chamber different from the processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

8 (a) to 8 (c) are explanatory views showing the operation of taking out a cassette from a cassette accommodating container in the loading / unloading chamber of the processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a substrate mounting portion of a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate between the loading / unloading chamber and the robot chamber in the processing apparatus.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are explanatory diagrams schematically showing a relationship between a fulcrum position for supporting a substrate and a warped state of the substrate.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hand shape as a substrate mounting portion in the transfer mechanism illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of the processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a cassette housing container port of the processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a cassette horizontal moving mechanism of the processing apparatus.

16 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of another conventional processing apparatus different from FIG. 12, in which FIG. 16 (a) is a perspective view and FIG. 16 (b) is a transverse sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing apparatus (substrate processing apparatus) 2 Substrate 3 Processing chamber 4 Robot chamber 5 Loading / unloading chamber 7 Transfer mechanism 8 Cassette 10 Cassette storage container (substrate transfer body) 11 Bottom plate 12 Pod lid (container main body) 14 Substrate support 15 pins (Pin part) 17 Elevating mechanism 18 Elevating part 19 Guide part 20 Bellows 26 Gas introduction / exhaust pipe (Gas introduction / exhaust means) 30 Gas exhaust pipe (Gas introduction / exhaust means) 31 Substrate transfer port (Take out port) 32 Gate valve (Opening / closing means) 40 Transfer mechanism (extrusion transfer mechanism) 41 Piston cylinder (drive section of transfer mechanism) 43 Bellows

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/205 H01L 21/205 21/265 603 21/265 603C (72) Inventor Tadahiro Omi Sendai, Miyagi 2-1-17- 301, Yonegabukuro, Aoba-ku, Yokohama-shi (72) Inventor Yasunobu Tagusa 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka F-term (reference) 3F022 AA08 BB09 CC02 EE05 FF26 KK15 KK20 MM01 MM03 4K029 BD01 KA02 KA09 4K030 GA13 KA28 5F031 CA05 DA01 DA09 FA02 FA03 FA07 FA11 FA12 GA08 GA44 GA47 GA49 HA67 MA04 MA07 MA09 NA02 NA09 5F045 BB08 BB10 BB14 DQ17 EB03 EB08 EB09 EM10 EN04 HA24

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A transporter capable of transporting a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates while maintaining the cassette in a highly clean atmosphere is loaded into the apparatus through a loading / unloading chamber, and the loaded substrate in the transporter is directly transferred to the apparatus. Alternatively, in a substrate processing apparatus for transferring a substrate to a processing chamber via a separate chamber and performing predetermined processing on the substrate in the processing chamber, the loading / unloading chamber and the processing chamber or another chamber adjacent to the loading / unloading chamber An entrance is provided between the adjacent room and the transfer for taking out or taking in the substrate. The entrance is openable and closable by opening and closing means. In this state, the substrate is collected from gas introduction / exhaust means capable of changing the indoor atmosphere by exhausting gas into the room or introducing gas into the room, and the transported body that has been loaded. A substrate raising and lowering mechanism for raising and lowering a cassette to be loaded and taken out, and a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate from the loading / unloading chamber to the adjacent chamber in the adjacent chamber. . 2. A transfer body capable of carrying a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates while maintaining the cassette in a high-purity atmosphere, is taken into the apparatus through a carry-in / out chamber, and the taken-in substrates in the carrier are directly transferred to the apparatus. Alternatively, in a substrate processing apparatus for transferring a substrate to a processing chamber via a separate chamber and performing predetermined processing on the substrate in the processing chamber, the loading / unloading chamber and the processing chamber or another chamber adjacent to the loading / unloading chamber An entrance is provided between the adjacent room and the transfer for taking out or taking in the substrate. The entrance is openable and closable by opening and closing means. In this state, the substrate is collected from gas introduction / exhaust means capable of changing the indoor atmosphere by exhausting gas into the room or introducing gas into the room, and the transported body that has been loaded. The loading / unloading chamber is provided with an extruding type transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate from the loading / unloading chamber to an adjacent chamber. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is hermetically sealed from the carry-in / out room and is disposed outside the carry-in / out room. 3. When transferring a substrate between the carry-in / out room and the adjacent room, the cassette in the carrier is sequentially moved to a predetermined position where the substrate to be taken out faces the entrance by the elevating mechanism. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer mechanism transfers the substrates one by one between the carry-in / out chamber and the adjacent chamber from the substantially constant horizontal position at the entrance. 4. The gas introducing / exhausting means evacuates the loading / unloading chamber after the carrier has been loaded into the loading / unloading chamber, and the transfer means includes a substrate between the loading / unloading chamber and an adjacent chamber. 2. The delivery is performed in a vacuum atmosphere.
4. The apparatus for processing a substrate according to any one of claims 3 to 3. 5. The gas introduction / exhaust means is provided in the loading / unloading chamber at a stage after the transporting body is loaded into the loading / unloading chamber and before a cassette containing a substrate is taken out of the transporting body. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transfer chamber is evacuated at a stage after the cassette accommodating the substrate is removed from the transfer body after being replaced with a clean gas. 6. The lifting unit of the lifting mechanism is provided at a position substantially below the center of gravity of the substrate or the cassette, and a driving unit and a guide receiving unit of the lifting mechanism are provided outside the loading / unloading chamber. 2. The lift section in the loading / unloading chamber is hermetically sealed from a space in the loading / unloading chamber by a bellows.
6. The apparatus for processing a substrate according to any one of items 5 to 5. 7. A cassette having a plurality of substrates mounted thereon is sealed together with a highly clean dry gas in a closed space formed by a container body and a bottom plate, and various processing steps are performed on the substrates. In a substrate transport body that transports between processing devices during a manufacturing process of an electronic component to be manufactured, the cassette includes: a substrate; 6 from 4 places
It has a substrate supporting portion formed by projecting a portion, and a pin portion made of a resin that contacts the substrate and supports the substrate is formed in the vicinity of the tip of the substrate supporting portion. Substrate carrier. 8. The substrate carrier according to claim 7, wherein said substrate supporting portion has a chevron shape having a smooth curved outer edge in the substrate plane. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a cassette accommodating a plurality of substrates is held in an atmosphere having a high degree of cleanliness by using the substrate carrier according to claim 7 or 8. An electronic component manufacturing method for manufacturing an electronic component by transporting the substrate between the processing apparatuses described above and performing a processing step on the substrate by the above processing apparatuses. 10. The electronic component according to claim 9, wherein when transporting the substrate while holding the cassette in which the substrate is accommodated in the substrate transporter, the internal pressure of the substrate transporter is set to a positive pressure. Manufacturing method.