JP2001182978A - Clean room facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clean room facility in which intrusion of dust from a clean room into a mini-environment is prevented and thereby diffusion of dust into the apparatus room is prevented surely. SOLUTION: A clean air outlet 23 is made in a barrier wall where the load port 20 of a mini-environment 16 is provided so that clean air in the mini- environment is blown from the air outlet toward the upper surface 20a of the enclosure of the load port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clean room facility for a clean room, and more particularly to a technology for preventing dust diffusion in a clean room used in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, the mainstream wafer is φ2.
00 mm. However, as a recent trend in semiconductor device manufacturers, cost reduction is required,
Wafers are increasing in diameter. The year 2000
It is said that φ300 mm wafers will become mainstream after the year.

[0003] The characteristic of the clean room for wafers of φ300 mm is that a closed container (FOUP: Fr
on Opening Unified Pod), a fan filter unit (FFU: Fan F)
ilter Units) to maintain the clean room as a whole. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the initial running cost of the clean room.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of a clean room for a φ300 mm wafer. In this clean room facility, a wafer is stored in a closed container 1 and a self-propelled trolley (AGV: A
automated Guided Vehicle) 2
, The clean room 3 may be low-purity, so that the number of fan filter units 4 arranged on the ceiling 3a can be reduced. Since the door 1a of the closed container 1 is opened and closed only in a highly clean area, the inside of the closed container 1 is kept highly clean. Sealed container 1 that has been transported
Is transferred onto the load port 5, taken out of the sealed container 1 by the transfer machine 6, and conveyed to a manufacturing and cleaning device in the apparatus room 7. Therefore, a particularly high cleanness is required between the load port 5 and the apparatus room 7. Here, by using the mini-environment 8 between them, a highly clean region is locally formed.

[0005]

In the mini-environment 8, since the wafer is transported, high cleanliness is maintained.
External dust contamination must be avoided.

However, there is usually a gap of about 1 mm between the closed container 1 and the load port 5. Therefore, in order to take out the wafer from the closed container 1, the door 1a of the closed container 1
As soon as the air is opened, low-purity air in the surrounding environment is drawn into the mini-environment 8 from the gap between the sealed container 1 and the load port 5, and dust is diffused into the mini-environment 8.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a clean room facility that prevents dust from entering a mini-environment from a clean room and thereby reliably prevents the diffusion of dust into an equipment room. It is intended to provide.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clean room facility, wherein a clean air outlet is provided on a partition wall provided with a load port of a mini-environment provided in the clean room, and the load port is provided from the outlet. The clean air in the mini-environment is blown toward the closed container mounting surface.

In the clean room equipment according to the present invention, the clean air in the mini-environment is blown onto the closed container placed on the load port, whereby the atmosphere near the closed container can be maintained highly pure. When the door is opened and closed, entry of low-purity air from the clean room into the mini-environment is prevented, and entry of low-purity air into the closed container is also prevented.

[0010] In the clean room equipment according to claim 2,
2. The clean room equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a fan filter unit that blows clean air at a high speed above the load port in the mini-environment, and guides the clean air from the fan filter unit to the clean air outlet. It is characterized by having.

[0011] In the clean room equipment of the present invention, since the clean air is blown out from the clean air outlet at a higher speed, the atmosphere near the closed container can be maintained more clean, and when the door of the closed container is opened and closed. In addition, entry of low-purity air from the clean room into the mini-environment is prevented, and entry of low-purity air into the closed container is also prevented.

[0012] In the clean room equipment according to claim 3,
In the clean room equipment according to the second aspect, since the hanging wall is provided around the fan filter unit located above the load port, the clean environment around the load port can be particularly improved.

[0013] In the clean room equipment according to claim 4,
The clean room equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a local exhaust device is installed on a floor around a lower portion of the load port outside the mini-environment, and air around a sealed container placed on the load port is exhausted. It is characterized by doing so.

In the clean room equipment according to the present invention, when the closed container is transported by the self-propelled vehicle, the dust diffused by the self-propelled vehicle is forcibly exhausted from the local exhaust device. In addition, it is possible to maintain high cleanliness, and when opening and closing the door of the closed container, low clean air is prevented from entering the mini environment from the clean room, and low clean air is also allowed to enter the closed container. Is prevented.

[0015] In the clean room equipment according to claim 5,
The clean room equipment according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein an air curtain is formed on the load port-side wafer intake / ejection port of the mini-environment by the high-speed clean air ejected from the fan filter unit. It is characterized by doing.

In the clean room equipment according to the present invention, the air in the mini-environment and the air in the clean room are shut off by the air curtain at the wafer loading / unloading port on the load port side of the mini-environment. However, the pressure difference prevents low-purity air in the clean room from entering the mini-environment.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a clean room facility according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the clean room equipment according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a fan filter unit 11 is installed on a ceiling surface 10a of a clean room 10,
Grating 1 having a large number of through holes formed in floor 10b
2 are laid. Thereby, the clean room 10
The fan filter unit 11 removes the air in the space 13 above the ceiling and blows it out, and the blown clean air is discharged to the underfloor space 14 via the grating 12 together with the dust in the clean room 10. As a result, the cleanliness of the clean room 10 is class 100.
Maintained to a degree.

Inside the clean room 10, the equipment room 1
5 are installed. The apparatus chamber 15 accommodates a manufacturing apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, and the like (not shown), and a wafer is manufactured or cleaned in the apparatus chamber 15.

The entrance 15 on the clean room side of the equipment room 15
A mini-environment 16 is provided at a.
A fan filter unit 17 is provided on the ceiling 16a of the mini-environment 16, and the cleanness inside the mini-environment 16 is maintained at about class 1 by the clean air injected from the fan filter unit 17. A transfer machine 18 is provided inside the mini-environment 16.

On the clean room 10 side of the mini-environment 16, a closed port 19 is placed on the upper surface, and a load port 20 for opening and closing a door of the closed port 19 is provided. The load port 20 has an opener 21 provided with a suction means 21a, and the opener 21 is moved up and down by a driving device.

In the mini-environment 16, a fan filter unit 22 for blowing clean air at high speed is provided on a ceiling 16a located above the load port 20, and an outlet 23 is provided on a partition 16b with the clean room 10. Have been. The outlet 23 is provided with a louver 23 a whose wind direction is set in the direction of the upper surface 20 a of the load port 20.

Further, a local exhaust device 24 is installed below the load port 20 in the clean room 10 and on the floor 10b around it.

A hanging wall 26 is provided around the fan filter unit 22 located above the load port 20.
(Or eye lid). In this case, hanging wall 2
It is preferable that the hanging wall portion 26a of 6 that is parallel to the wall surface of the mini-environment 16 is flush with the wall surface of the mini-environment 16.

Next, the operation of the clean room equipment configured as described above will be described.

In this clean room facility, high-purity clean air is blown from the fan filter unit 17,
The air in the mini-environment 16 is maintained at high cleanliness. Further, highly pure air is also injected downward from the fan filter unit 22 at high speed. A part of the high-purity clean air jetted from the fan filter unit 22 is supplied from the outlet 23 to the upper surface 20 of the load port 20.
It is injected in the direction a to purify the air around the upper surface 20a of the load port 20. At this time, since the hanging wall 26 is provided around the fan filter unit 22 located above the load port 20, the load port 2 through which the wafer is taken in / out from the mini-environment 16.
The cleanliness of the surrounding environment of 0 (dark portion in FIG. 1) can be particularly increased.

Further, the local exhaust device 24 is driven, whereby the atmosphere near the upper surface 20a of the load port 20 in the clean room 10 is exhausted.

The sealed container 19 is carried by the self-propelled carriage 25 and is placed on the upper surface 20 a of the load port 20. At that time, the clean room 10
The dust inside is diffused, but at least the load port 20
Nearby dust is exhausted by the local exhaust device 24.

The closed container 19 placed on the upper surface 20a of the load port 20 has the door 19a sucked by the suction means 21a of the opener 21 and is moved downward by the opener 21. The wafer is taken out from the closed container 19 with the door 19a opened in this way by the transfer machine 18, and the wafer is transferred into the apparatus chamber 15 through the entrance 15a.

At that time, that is, while the door 19a of the closed container 19 is open, high-purity clean air from the fan filter unit 22 is blown at high speed to the closed container 19, whereby the periphery of the closed container 19 is cleaned. Will be maintained. A part of the high-purity clean air from the fan filter unit 22 forms an air curtain at the entrance 16c of the mini-environment 16, thereby shutting off the air in the mini-environment 16 and the air in the clean room 10. I do.

In the above embodiment, reference numeral 26
As shown in the above, a guide plate 26 may be provided in the mini-environment 16 so as to more effectively guide highly purified clean air from the fan filter unit 22 to the outlet 23.

Further, the drive and local exhaust device 24 of the fan filter unit 22 is configured such that the sealed container 19 is taken out from the upper surface 20a of the load port 20 shortly before the sealed container 19 is placed on the upper surface 20a of the load port 20. The drive may be performed only until a short time later.

[0033]

As described above, according to the clean room equipment of the present invention, the clean air is blown out from the outlet of the mini-environment to the vicinity of the closed container, so that the cleanliness in the vicinity of the closed container is maintained at a high level. In addition, an air curtain is formed at the inlet and outlet of the wafer formed between the clean room and the mini-environment to shut off the air between the two rooms, and a local exhaust system is installed on the floor where the self-propelled truck stops. Is installed, the low clean air by AGV traveling is reduced from diffusing to the vicinity of the closed container. Therefore, by these actions, the low clean air of the surrounding environment when opening and closing the door of the closed container is reduced. Very effectively prevents the diffusion of dust contaminants caused by being drawn into the mini-environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a clean room facility according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional clean room facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: clean room, 11: fan filter unit, 12: grating, 15: equipment room, 16: mini environment, 17: fan filter unit, 18
... Transfer machine, 19 ... Closed container, 19a ... Door, 20 ... Load port, 20a ... Top surface, 21 ... Opener, 22 ... Fan filter unit, 23 ... Outlet, 24 ... Local exhaust device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Koji Kato, Inventor Koji Kato, 1-1-1 Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Junta Hirata 1-1-1, Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 14 Hitachi Plant Construction Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Michio Suzuki 1-11-1 Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Plant Construction Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiaki Kobayashi Josui Honcho, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo 5-20-1 F-term F-term in the Semiconductor Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (Reference) 3L058 BE02 BF01 BF06

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A clean air outlet is provided on a partition wall provided with a load port of a mini-environment provided in a clean room, and the mini-environment is directed from the outlet to a surface of the load port on which a closed container is placed. Clean room equipment characterized by blowing clean air inside the ment. 2. A fan filter unit for blowing clean air at a high speed above the load port in the mini-environment is provided, and high-speed clean air from the fan filter unit is guided to the clean air outlet. The clean room equipment according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The clean room equipment according to claim 2, wherein a hanging wall is provided around the fan filter unit located above the load port. 4. A local exhaust device is provided on a floor around the lower portion of the load port outside the mini-environment to exhaust air around a sealed container placed on the load port. The clean room equipment according to claim 1. 5. An air curtain is formed at a wafer loading / unloading port on the load port side of the mini-environment by high-speed clean air ejected from the fan filter unit.
4. The clean room equipment according to any one of 4.