JP2001284436A - Substrate heating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a possibility of the interference between an arm of a conveying robot and a substrate by checking the influence due to the thermal expansion in a heating chamber. SOLUTION: In a substrate preheating room H for placing the substrate 2 on a substrate reception part in the heating chamber 5 and heating it, the position in the height direction of the substrate 2 placed on the substrate reception part is detected by a light sensor 10 installed outside a light transmitting window 11 and a modification of the position of the substrate 2 using the detected result allows less interference with the arm of the robot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate heating apparatus mainly used for preheating a substrate (wafer or glass substrate) in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a layout of each room in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In the figure, T is a transfer chamber, and the substrate pre-chambers L1 and L2 for exchanging the substrate with the outside so as to surround the transfer chamber T, the substrate pre-heating chamber H for pre-heating the substrate, Substrate film forming chambers R1, R2, and R3 for performing a film forming process are provided. A transfer robot 12 is provided in the transfer chamber T.
When the arm 2 moves the arm 1, the substrate 2 is transferred between the chambers.

[0003] As a series of flow of substrate processing, first, a substrate which has entered the substrate preparatory chambers L1 and L2 is put into the substrate preheating chamber H by the transfer robot 12 in the transfer chamber T, and 200-400 by the heater heating source. Preheat to a temperature of ° C. The substrate preheating chamber H is provided for improving the yield of the apparatus.
Usually, 1 to 6 substrates can be stored.

When the substrate is heated to a predetermined temperature in the substrate preheating chamber H, the transfer robot 12 in the transfer chamber T is moved again to move the substrate in the substrate preheating chamber H to the substrate deposition chamber R.
1, Put in R2, R3. Then, the substrate film forming chambers R1, R
After performing a predetermined film forming process on the substrate in R2 and R3, the transfer robot 12 puts the film into the substrate preparation chambers L1 and L2 and takes it out of the substrate preparation chambers L1 and L2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are side views showing a schematic configuration of each example of the substrate preheating chamber H. FIG. In the example of FIG. 4, the holding shaft 1 is provided at a lower portion in a heating chamber 5 constituting the substrate preheating chamber H.
3A is arranged, and the substrate holding portion 4 that accommodates the substrate 2 is supported at the upper end of the holding shaft 13A. Further, in the example of FIG. 5, a holding shaft 13B is arranged at the ceiling in the heating chamber 5, and the lower end of the holding shaft 13A suspends and supports the substrate holding unit 4 containing the substrate 2. A substrate receiving portion (not shown) for mounting a predetermined number of substrates 2 at equal intervals in the height direction is provided in the substrate holding portion 4, and the substrate 2 is placed horizontally on each substrate receiving portion. I have.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the relationship between the substrate receiving portion 20, the substrate 2, and the robot arm 1 in a certain stage. The substrate receiving portion 20 is provided with an opening 21 for inserting the arm 1 of the transfer robot and transferring the substrate 2 between the arm 1 and the substrate receiving portion 20. Arm 1 of the transfer robot at a certain height (transport level) on the side
Is inserted and the arm 1 is lifted relatively to the substrate receiving portion 20, so that the substrate 2 can be transferred between the arm 1 and the substrate receiving portion 20 through the opening 21. .

[0007]

The positional relationship between the insertion level (transport level) of the arm 1 and the substrate 2 and the substrate receiving portion 20 at normal temperature, as shown in FIG. While a predetermined distance is maintained between the arm and the upper surface of the arm 1 so as not to interfere with each other, during operation of the apparatus, the temperature in the substrate preheating chamber H is increased by 200 mm due to the heat of the heater heating source. ~ 400 ° C
For example, the substrate holding part 4 and the substrate receiving part 20 are displaced downward due to the influence of heat, and the substrate 2 is distorted downward. In the worst case, as shown in FIG. There is a possibility that the upper surface of the arm 1 of the robot contacts. In such a state, the substrate 2 is not normally taken out of the substrate preheating chamber H, so that the entire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus stops as a transport trouble.

Particularly recently, the size of the substrate 2 has increased,
Since the substrate itself tends to be heavier, and the substrate holding part 4 may be accordingly larger in size and heavier in weight, there is a concern that the above-mentioned problem may become remarkable.

According to the present invention, by taking into account the above circumstances, by checking the influence of thermal expansion in the heating chamber, the possibility of interference between the arm of the transfer robot and the substrate can be eliminated, and the substrate can be reliably loaded and unloaded. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate heating device that performs the following.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate heating apparatus for heating a substrate placed on a substrate receiving portion in a heating chamber, wherein the position of the substrate placed on the substrate receiving portion in the height direction is determined. A sensor for detection is provided.

In this substrate heating apparatus, the position of the substrate in the height direction can be checked by a sensor. Therefore, according to the detection result of the substrate height, the height of the substrate or the height of the arm of the transfer robot is determined. The position can be corrected to the optimum transport level.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a substrate preheating chamber (substrate heating device) H of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view,
(B) is a view on arrow Ia of FIG. (A). FIG. 2 is a side view showing the entire configuration of the substrate preheating chamber H. Inside the heating chamber 5 of the substrate preheating chamber H, the substrate holding unit 4 is suspended from the ceiling of the heating chamber 5 by a holding shaft 13B. Substrate receiving portions (not shown) are provided inside the substrate holding portion 4 so that the substrates 2 can be placed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and the substrate 2 is placed on the upper surface of each substrate receiving portion. Have been. The substrate holding portion 4 has an opening in a frame so that the sensor 2 can detect the substrate 2 placed on each substrate receiving portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, a holding shaft 13B for suspending and supporting the substrate holding portion 4 extends above the heating chamber 5, and is attached to the heating chamber 5 by a flange 15 so as to be vertically slidable. Have been. In this case, the flange 15 guides the holding shaft 13 </ b> B and plays a role of suppressing the shake of the substrate holding unit 4.

The holding shaft 13B is connected to the heating chamber 5
By driving the motor 6 installed outside, it is slid up and down via the gear box 7, the coupling 8, and the ball screw mechanism 9, thereby adjusting the height HW of the substrate holder 4 in the heating chamber 5. I can do it. Here, the motor 6, the gear box 7, the coupling 8, the ball screw mechanism 9, and the holding shaft 13B constitute a mechanism for adjusting the height of the substrate holding unit 4.

Further, in the substrate preheating chamber H, a light transmitting window 11 in which transparent glass is fitted is provided on the side wall of the heating chamber 5, and the height of the lower surface of the substrate 2 in the substrate holding section 4 is provided outside the window. An optical sensor 10 for detecting the position in the vertical direction is provided. Since only the position of the substrate 2 at the transport level needs to be detected, only one set of the optical sensors 10 is provided in the height direction. In this case, three optical sensors 10 arranged in a horizontal direction are installed as one set so that displacement due to bending of the substrate 2 can be detected.

The detection signal of the optical sensor 10 is input to a control device (not shown), and the control device drives the motor 6 in accordance with the detection signal, so that the substrate holding portion 4 The height position is adjusted, and finally, the height of the lower surface of the substrate 2 is automatically corrected to a position that does not interfere with the arm 1 of the transfer robot 12 (see FIGS. 3, 6, and 7). ing.

Next, the operation will be described. When loading and unloading the substrate 2 into and out of the substrate preheating chamber H, the motor 6 is driven, the substrate holding unit 4 is moved up and down by the ball screw mechanism 9, and the height of the substrate 2 on the substrate receiving unit is increased. Adjustment is made so as to correspond to the transfer level of the transfer robot. At this time, the position of the substrate is checked by the optical sensor 10, and the position of the substrate 2 is automatically finely corrected according to the detection result. By doing so, even if the positions of the substrate holding unit 4 and the substrate receiving unit are displaced due to the thermal expansion, or the substrate 2 itself is distorted due to the heat, the height of the arm of the transfer robot can be adjusted. The height of the substrate 2 can be automatically corrected to the appropriate level. Therefore, interference between the arm of the transfer robot and the substrate 2 can be avoided beforehand, and the substrate 2 can be reliably loaded and unloaded.

In the case of the substrate preheating chamber H, since the light transmitting window 11 is provided on the side wall of the heating chamber 5 and the optical sensor 10 is provided outside the window, the sensor 10 has heat resistance. It is not necessary and can be manufactured at low cost.

Although the case where the displacement of the substrate 2 due to the influence of heat is corrected by adjusting the height of the substrate holding portion 4 has been described, the transfer robot side based on the detection result of the displacement of the substrate 2 is described. The height of the arm can be modified.

If the height position of the substrate 2 can be detected, a sensor other than the optical sensor 10 can be used.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the position of the substrate in the heating chamber in the height direction is individually detected by the sensor, it is always optimal for the arm of the transfer robot without being affected by the displacement of the substrate position due to heating or the warpage of the substrate itself. The height position of the substrate can be corrected relative to the transfer level. For this reason, it is possible to prevent troubles such as a mistake in receiving the substrate by the transfer robot that occurred during the transfer of the substrate and damage to the substrate, etc.
The yield of the entire device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a substrate preheating chamber (substrate heating device) H according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG.
FIG. 2 is a view as seen from the arrow Ia in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the overall configuration of the substrate preheating chamber H.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a layout of each chamber in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing an example of a substrate preheating chamber H of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing another example of the substrate preheating chamber H of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a substrate receiving portion 2 in the substrate preheating chamber H at normal temperature.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a relationship between a reference numeral 0, a substrate 2, and an arm 1 of the transfer robot.

FIG. 7 shows a substrate receiving portion 2 in a substrate preheating chamber H at a high temperature.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a relationship between a reference numeral 0, a substrate 2, and an arm 1 of the transfer robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer robot arm 2 Substrate 4 Substrate holding part 5 Heating chamber 10 Optical sensor 11 Light transmission window 13B Holding shaft

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3K058 AA34 AA41 BA19 CA15 CA22 CA31 CA91 CF01 GA06 5F031 CA02 CA05 FA01 FA02 FA12 JA25 JA30 PA18 PA20

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate heating apparatus for heating a substrate placed on a substrate receiving portion in a heating chamber, wherein a sensor for detecting a height position of the substrate placed on the substrate receiving portion is provided. Substrate heating device.