JP2002093892A - Substrate-processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a loaded wafer from sliding down off a boat, because of malfunction of a device or because the boat is overturned, or tilted, due to external vibrations on a boat-exchanging device. SOLUTION: A substrate-processing apparatus is provided which comprises boats 41 and 46, which hold a prescribed number of substrates to be processed, placement stages 67 and 69 for temporarily holding the boats, and a boat- exchanging device 47 for delivery of the boats with the placement stage. Tilt suppressing plates 93 and 97, which suppress overturning of the boat are provided above the placement stage and the upper end of the boat, for lifting/ lowering.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a film forming process, an impurity diffusion process, and the like on a substrate to be processed such as a silicon wafer. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus such as a vertical diffusion CVD apparatus having a vertical furnace for performing a process and preventing a substrate to be processed loaded in a boat from falling due to external vibration or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional vertical CVD apparatus employs a two-boat system having two boats into which wafers are loaded in order to increase the use efficiency of a film forming process chamber and improve production efficiency. While the wafer loaded in the first boat is being heat-treated in the film forming chamber, the wafer is transferred to another second boat, and immediately after the heat treatment of the first boat is completed, the boat is replaced. It is sent to a film processing chamber and heat-treated.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the boat exchange apparatus.

A rotating arm 3 is fixed to a rotating shaft 2 of a boat rotating mechanism 1.
The lower ends of the boats 6 and 7 can be disengaged from the stages 4 and 5. The lower part of the first boat 6 holding the heat-treated wafer 8 is engaged with the stage 4, and the lower part of the second boat 7 holding the unheated wafer 8 is engaged with the stage 5. . The rotation arm 3 is rotated by the boat rotation mechanism 1 via the rotation shaft 2, and the heat-treated first boat 6 is transferred from directly below the vertical furnace 9 (film formation chamber) to the wafer transfer port 1.
1 and the unheated second boat 7 is moved from the wafer transfer port 11 directly below the vertical furnace 9. Thus, the first boat 6 loaded with the processed wafer 8 and the second boat 7 loaded with the unprocessed wafer 8 are replaced immediately after the completion of the heat treatment of the first boat 6.

The processed wafers 8 are transferred from the first boat 6 to the empty wafer cassette 13 by the wafer transfer machine 12, and the unprocessed wafers 8 are transferred from the wafer cassette 13 to the empty boat 6. Is transferred.

[0006]

However, the wafer 8
When exchanging the first boat 6 and the second boat 7 loaded with, for example, the boat rotation mechanism 1 or the wafer transfer machine 12
When an unexpected malfunction or vibration such as an earthquake is applied to the first boat 6 and the second boat 7, the boat in the wafer transfer port 11 is inclined, and the wafer loaded in the boat is tilted. 8 may fall. In extreme cases, the boat may tip over and cause total damage to the boat and wafers.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the boat overturns or tilts due to the malfunction of the apparatus or the influence of external vibration on the boat changing apparatus, and the loaded wafer slides off the boat. The purpose is to prevent the problem.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a boat for holding a required number of substrates to be processed, a mounting table for temporarily holding the boat, and a boat exchange apparatus for transferring the boat to and from the mounting table. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate processing apparatus provided with a tilt-inhibiting plate for preventing the boat from tipping over from the boat upper end above the mounting table.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The vertical diffusion CVD apparatus 15 has a housing 16, an opening 17 is provided on one side in the longitudinal direction of the housing 16, and a cassette transfer stage 18 is provided adjacent to the opening 17 from the outside. On the cassette transfer stage 18, two substrate storage cassettes 19 can be placed. The substrate storage cassette 19 is a sealable container made of plastic. Inside the substrate storage cassette 19, for example, 25 substrates (wafers) are loaded in multiple stages.

A cassette loader 21 is installed facing the opening 17. The cassette loader 21 is capable of gripping the substrate storage cassette 19 and transferring the gripped substrate storage cassette 19 to the cassette transfer stage 1.
8, cassette opener 22, cassette storage shelf 2 to be described later
3, the substrate storage cassette 19 can be moved by the cassette loader 21 to the cassette opener 22, the cassette storage shelf 2
3 can be transported.

The opening 17 of the cassette loader 21
The cassette opener 22 is provided on the opposite side to the above. The cassette opener 22 is eccentrically located on one side surface 24 side in the width direction of the housing 16.

The cassette opener 22 has an elevating table 25 on which the substrate storage cassettes 19 can be mounted on the upper and lower stages. The cassette opener 22 has a door opening / closing mechanism 26; The door opening / closing mechanism 26 opens the door 27 of the mounted substrate storage cassette 19.

The rotatable cassette storage shelf 23 is provided above the cassette opener 22, and the substrate storage cassette 19 is transported to the cassette storage shelf 23 by the cassette loader 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette opener 2
2 on the opposite side of the cassette loader 21
9 are installed. The substrate transfer device 29 is also eccentrically located on the one side surface 24 in the width direction similarly to the cassette opener 22. The substrate transfer machine 29 has a tweezer 31. The tweezer 31 can move forward and backward and can rotate. The substrate transfer machine 29 can be moved up and down by a substrate transfer machine elevator 28.

A notch aligning device 32 is provided between the cassette opener 22 and the substrate transfer device 29. The notch aligning device 32 is connected to the other side surface 33 of the housing 16 in the width direction.
The wafers 8 in the substrate storage cassette 19 are arranged close to each other.

A boat elevator 35 is provided on the back side of the substrate transfer machine elevator 28. The boat elevator 35 is also located close to the one side surface 24 in the width direction. The boat elevator 35 has a lifting arm 36, which can be raised and lowered by a lifting drive motor 37.

As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
6, a furnace port cap 38 is provided, the furnace port cap 38 has a boat table 39 of a required height, and a position where the boat table 39 is most lowered is a boat transfer position 40. The first boat 41 has a circular hole 4 at the bottom.
It is placed concentrically at 3. The first boat 41 has three columns 42 made of quartz. Slots (not shown) are formed in the columns 42 at a predetermined pitch, and 100 to 200 wafers 8 are loaded in the slots. I can do it.

A reactor 44 is provided above the furnace port cap 38.
The reaction furnace 44 has a furnace port (not shown) at a lower portion, and a load / unload position 45 is provided below the furnace port, and the first boat 41 or the second boat 46 is provided at the furnace port.
Are alternately loaded / unloaded, and the furnace port cap 38 is fitted to the furnace port, and the reaction furnace 44 is hermetically closed by the furnace port cap 38. The reaction furnace 44 has a heater (not shown).
Thereby, the wafer 8 is processed in the presence of the reaction gas.

A boat changing device 47 is installed near the boat elevator 35 and near the other side surface 33 in the width direction. Further, a boat inclination suppressing device 50 is provided above the boat exchanging device 47.

The boat changing device 47 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The frame 48 is formed in a U-shape by a top plate 49, a bottom plate 51 and a side plate 52, and the vertical side plate 5
The bottom plate 51 is horizontally fixed to the lower end of the second plate 2, and the upper plate 49 is horizontally fixed to the upper end of the side plate 52.
A guide shaft 53 is provided between the upper plate 49 and the bottom plate 51.
The upper end of the guide shaft 53 is fixed to the upper plate 49, and the lower end is fixed to the bottom plate 51. The upper arm ball screw 54 is connected to the guide shaft 5.
3, the upper end of the upper arm ball screw 54 is rotatably supported by the upper plate 49, and the lower end is rotatably supported by the support member 55. It is stuck to. An upper arm motor 56 is fixed to the lower side of the support member 55, and the upper arm motor 56 is connected to the upper arm ball screw 54 via an upper arm reducer 57.

An upper slide block 58 is slidably fitted to the guide shaft 53, and the upper arm ball screw 54 is screwed thereto.

An upper arm support 59 is fixed to the side surface of the upper slide block 58. The upper arm support 59 is L-shaped.
A rotary device 61 for the upper arm is provided in the horizontal portion, and for example, a direct drive motor is used for the rotary device 61 for the upper arm. The upper arm rotating shaft 62 of the upper arm rotating device 61 is upward, and the upper arm 63 is fixed to the upper arm rotating shaft 62. The upper arm 6
Reference numeral 3 denotes a crank shape, which is fixed to the upper arm rotating shaft 62 at the upper horizontal portion, has a required length at the vertical portion, and has a second boat seat 64 at the lower horizontal portion. It is notched and provided in an oval shape.

A required portion of the periphery of the second boat seat 64 is formed in a flange shape, and a boat support projection 65 is protruded from the hollow portion. The second boat 46 is mounted on the seat 64 in a bottom outer peripheral annular groove 66.

As shown in FIG. 7, the upper arm 63 is moved by the upper arm rotating device 61 to the upper arm rotating shaft 6.
2 can be rotated by 180 ° about the center of rotation.
One end of the rotation trajectory of the boat seat 64 (rotation angle 0 °)
Is closest to the substrate transfer machine 29 and becomes a boat-side substrate transfer position 30, and a transfer boat mounting table 67 is installed at the boat-side substrate transfer position 30. The transfer boat mounting table 67 is installed on the floor concentrically with the second boat seat 64 at the boat-side substrate transfer position 30, and
When the boat seat 64 is lowered, the second boat seat 64
Are mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67 with a required gap.

The middle of the rotational movement trajectory of the second boat seat 64 (rotation angle 90 °) is the boat transfer position 40, and the second boat seat 64 is lowered at the boat transfer position 40. The second boat seat 64 is fitted on the boat table 39 with a required gap.

The other end (rotation angle 180 °) of the rotational movement trajectory of the second boat seat 64 is a boat standby position 68, and a standby boat mounting table 69 is installed at the boat standby position 68. The standby boat mounting table 69 is installed on the floor of the housing 16 concentrically with the second boat seat 64 at the boat standby position 68, and the second boat seat 6
When the boat 4 is lowered, the second boat seat 64 is fitted to the waiting boat mounting table 69 at a required space at the boat waiting position 68.

A lower slide block 71 is slidably fitted to the guide shaft 53. The lower slide block 71 is located below the upper slide block 58, and the lower slide block 71 is screwed to a ball screw 72 for a lower arm. The lower arm ball screw 72 is rotatably supported by the bottom plate 51 at the lower end. The upper part of the lower arm ball screw 72 is a support member 7.
3, and the supporting member 73 is fixed to the side plate 52. The lower arm ball screw 7
The upper end of 2 is connected to a lower arm motor 75 via a lower arm speed reducer 74.

In substantially the same manner as in the case of the upper slide block 58, an L-shaped lower arm support 76 is fixed to the side surface of the lower slide block 71, and the lower arm support 76 is mounted on a horizontal portion of the lower arm support 76. A device 77 is provided,
A direct drive motor is also used for the lower arm rotating device 77. The rotating shaft 78 for the lower arm of the rotating device 77 for the lower arm is upward, and the rotating shaft 78 for the lower arm is concentric with the rotating shaft 62 for the upper arm and can rotate at least 90 °, The lower arm 79 is fixed to the lower arm rotation shaft 78. The lower arm 79 is bent in two steps in a crank shape. The lower arm 79 has an upper horizontal portion, a vertical portion, and a lower horizontal portion. Rotating shaft for arm 7
8, the vertical portion has a required length, and the lower horizontal portion is provided with a first boat seat 81 cut out in a semi-elliptical shape. The first boat seat 81 is cut away in the opposite direction to the second boat seat 64 so that the cut portions can face each other. The periphery of the first boat seat 81 is formed in a flange shape, and a boat support projection 82 is protruded at a required position of the hollowed portion. The first boat 41 is provided in the receiving seat 81 with the bottom outer peripheral annular groove 66.
It is to be placed at.

The lower arm 79 is rotatable by 90 ° about the lower arm rotation shaft 78 as a center of rotation by the lower arm rotation device 77. One end (rotation angle) of the rotation movement orbit of the first boat seat 81 is formed. 0 °) is the substrate transfer machine 2
9, the boat-side substrate transfer position 30 which is closest to the boat 9;
When the first boat seat 81 is lowered, the first boat seat 81 is fitted on the transfer boat mounting table 67 with a required gap.

Further, the first boat seat 81 and the second boat seat
The length of the vertical part of the lower arm 79 and the upper arm 63 is set so that the boat seat 64 does not interfere.

The other end (rotation angle 90 °) of the rotational movement trajectory of the first boat seat 81 becomes the boat transfer position 40, and the first boat seat 81 is lowered at the boat transfer position 40. At this time, the first boat seat 81 is fitted to the boat table 39 with a required gap.

Next, the boat inclination suppressing device 50 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The boat inclination suppressing device 50 is provided above the boat exchanging device 47.

The boat tilt suppressing device 50 includes boat tilt suppressing units 85 and 86 provided right above the transfer boat mounting table 67 and the standby boat mounting table 69, respectively. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 83 denotes a clean unit.

Since the boat tilt suppressing unit 85 and the boat tilt suppressing unit 86 have the same structure, the boat tilt suppressing unit 86 will be described below.

A tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 is fixed to the wall surface of the housing 16 via a fixing block 94. The tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 has a vertical axis and includes a rod 96 projecting downward. At the lower end of the rod 96, a circular inclination suppressing plate 97 is provided. The tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 is driven in synchronization with the motor 56 for the upper arm, and the second boat 46 is driven by the motor 56 for the upper arm through the upper arm 63 so that the second boat 46 is driven by ΔH.
Just rise. The tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 is driven in synchronization with the tilt suppressing plate 9 via the rod 96.
7 increase by ΔH. The driving mode of the upper arm motor 56 and the tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 is such that the gap g between the upper end of the second boat 46 and the tilt suppressing plate 97 is kept constant.

The gap g is a value at which when the second boat 46 is inclined, the upper end of the second boat 46 comes into contact with the inclination restraining plate 97 to prevent further inclination. The angle of inclination in a state of contact with the inclination suppressing plate 97 is set to a value smaller than the angle (friction angle) at which the wafer 8 starts to slide down with respect to the second boat 46. Furthermore, it is preferable that the second boat 46 has a value for restoring to the upright state when there is no external force for inclining the second boat 46.

The boat tilt suppressing unit 85 is, like the boat tilt suppressing unit 86, a fixed block 90,
It is constituted by an inclination suppressing cylinder 91, a rod 92, and an inclination suppressing plate 93.

The operation will be described below.

The first boat 41 is at the boat-side substrate transfer position 3
0, the first boat 41 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 6
7 and the second boat 46 is in the boat standby position 68
The second boat 46 is mounted on a stand-by boat mounting table 69 (see FIG. 9). In this state, the inclination suppressing plates 93 and 97 are in a lowered state.

The substrate storage cassette 19 is placed on the cassette transfer stage 18 by an external transfer device (not shown).
Inside the substrate storage cassette 19, 25 wafers 8 are loaded vertically and at a required pitch. Since the substrate storage cassette 19 is a closed container, it prevents intrusion of particles from the outside of the substrate storage cassette 19, and even if the substrate storage cassette 19 is outside the housing 16,
Particle contamination is prevented.

The substrate storage cassette 19 is placed on a cassette opener 22 by a cassette loader 21 or transferred to a cassette storage shelf 23. A door 27 of the substrate storage cassette 19 on the elevating table 25 is opened by a door opening / closing mechanism 26.

The substrate transfer machine 29 is raised and lowered to a predetermined height by the substrate transfer machine elevator 28, the tweezer 31 is advanced, and the wafer 8 inside the substrate storage cassette 19 is gripped by the tweezer 31 and the tweezer 31 is held. The wafer 8 is unloaded by the tweezers 31.

The tweezer 31 rotates, and after the height thereof is adjusted, the tweezer 31 enters the first boat 41, and the wafer 8
Are loaded in the first boat 41 in a horizontal posture.

The above operation is repeated, and the first boat 4
A required number of wafers 8, for example, 172 wafers, are loaded in the inside of the wafer 1.

Since the first boat 41 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67, the wafer 8
Even in the case of a large diameter of 2 inches, since the weight of the first boat 41 and the wafer 8 is stably supported by the transfer boat mounting table 67, the influence of the bending of the lower arm 79 is eliminated, and The first boat 41 does not tilt, and there is no fear that the wafer 8 comes into contact with the pillar 42 of the boat, so that the substrate transfer can be performed safely. Further, since the change in the vertical position due to the slight bending is not taken into account, the teaching work at the time of transferring the substrate becomes easy, and the working time is shortened.

Further, the inclination suppressing plate 93 descends, and the gap between the upper end of the first boat 41 and the inclination suppressing plate 93 becomes g.
When the first boat 41 is tilted, an external force acts on the first boat 41 due to an earthquake or the like, and even when the first boat 41 is tilted, the upper end abuts against the tilt prevention plate 93, thereby preventing the first boat 41 from falling down. Since the inclination angle of the first boat 41 does not exceed the friction angle between the first boat 41 and the wafer 8, the wafer 8 does not slide down.

When the lower arm ball screw 72 is rotated by the lower arm motor 75 via the lower arm reducer 74, the lower slide block 71 moves the guide shaft 53.
And the lower arm 79 is also raised, so that the lower arm 79 is at a level that does not interfere with the transfer boat mounting table 67, and the first boat 41 is raised via the first boat seat 81. Is done. The lower arm motor 7
In synchronism with 5, the tilt suppressing air cylinder 91 is driven, and the tilt suppressing plate 93 rises while maintaining the gap g.

The rotation shaft 78 for the lower arm is rotated, and the lower arm 79 and the first boat 41 rotate 90 ° to reach the boat transfer position 40.

The boat transfer position 40 is located below the load / unload position 45, and the elevating arm 36, the furnace port cap 38 and the boat table 39 are connected to the first boat seat 81.
Is located below. The first boat seat 81 is lowered by the lower arm motor 75, and the first boat 41 is lowered.
Is placed on the boat table 39. When the first boat seat 81 is further lowered, the first boat seat 81 is separated from the first boat 41.

When the lower arm 79 is rotated 90 ° in the opposite direction by the lower arm rotating device 77, the first
The boat seat 81 returns to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30.

In the boat elevator 35, a lifting drive motor 37 is driven, and the furnace port cap 38, the boat table 39, and the first boat 41 are raised via the lifting arm 36, and the first boat 41 is moved. The wafer 8 is loaded into the reaction furnace 44 and processed.

When the ball screw 54 for the upper arm is rotated by the motor 56 for the upper arm via the speed reducer 57 for the upper arm, the upper arm 63 is raised, and the transfer boat mounting table 67 and the standby The second boat 46 is raised via the upper arm 63 and the second boat seat 64 at a level which does not interfere with the boat mounting table 69.
The tilt suppressing air cylinder 91 is driven in synchronization with the upper arm motor 56, and the tilt suppressing air cylinder 91 is driven.
Moves the inclination restraining plate 93 through the rod 92 to the gap g.
Hold and be raised.

The rotation shaft 62 for the upper arm is rotated, the upper arm 63 and the second boat 46 are rotated by 180 °, and the second boat seat 64 and the second boat 46 are moved to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30. Reach.

When the second boat seat 64 is lowered,
The second boat seat 64 is fitted to the transfer boat mounting table 67 with a required gap, and the second boat 46 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67. Further, the tilt suppressing air cylinder 91 is driven in synchronization with the tilt suppressing plate 9.
3 descends to hold the gap g. When the second boat seat 64 is further lowered, the second boat seat 64 is separated from the second boat 46.

The upper arm 63 is moved 18 degrees in the opposite direction to the above.
When rotated by 0 °, the second boat seat 64 returns to the boat standby position 68.

In parallel with the processing, the first boat is transferred to the second boat 46 at the boat-side substrate transfer position 30.
The same substrate transfer as the boat 41 is performed. Since the second boat 46 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67, even when the wafer 8 has a large diameter of 12 inches, the weight of the second boat 46 and the wafer 8 is reduced by the transfer. Since the substrate is stably supported by the mounting boat mounting table 67, the substrate can be transferred safely and quickly.

After being processed in the reaction furnace 44, the first boat 41 is unloaded by the boat elevator 35, and the first boat 41 is lowered to the boat transfer position 40.

When the upper arm 63 is in the boat standby position 6
8 to the boat transfer position 40, and the upper arm 6
3 rises and receives the first boat 41 loaded with the processed substrate through the second boat seat 64, and the upper arm 63 is moved by the upper arm rotating device 61 to the boat transfer position 40. The first boat 41 is rotated by 90 ° in the opposite direction from the above to the boat standby position 68, and the first boat 41 is mounted on the boat mounting table 69 to be in a standby state. At this time, the inclination suppressing plate 97 above the boat standby position 68 follows the movement of the first boat 41 and descends from the rising position.

The lower arm 79 is lifted, the second boat 46 is lifted via the first boat seat 81, the lower arm 79 is rotated 90 °, and the second boat 46 is moved to the boat transfer position 40. And the first boat seat 8
When the boat 1 is lowered, the second boat 46 is moved to the boat table 3
9. When the first boat seat 81 is further lowered, the first boat seat 81 is moved to the second boat 46.
Separate from. The lower arm 79 moves 9 in the opposite direction to the above.
When rotated by 0 °, the first boat seat 81 returns to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30.

The furnace port cap 38 and the boat table 3 are moved by the boat elevator 35 through the elevating arm 36.
9 and the second boat 46 rises, and the second boat 46
Is loaded into the reaction furnace 44, and the wafer 8 is processed.

In parallel with the processing, the upper arm 63
Rotates while supporting the first boat 41 via the second boat seat 64, moves the first boat 41 to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30, and moves the first boat 41 for the transfer. It is mounted on the boat mounting table 67. The tilt restraint plate 93
Follows the movement of the first boat 41 and descends from the ascending position. After the placement, the upper arm 63 is rotated by 180 ° in the opposite direction, and the second boat seat 64 returns to the boat standby position 68.

In the state where the first boat 41 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67, the processed wafers 8 are discharged to the substrate storage cassette 19 by the substrate transfer machine 29, and when the discharge is completed, Unprocessed wafers 8 are loaded into the first boat 41 from another substrate storage cassette 19.

When the processing of the second boat 46 is completed, the second boat 46 is pulled out of the reaction furnace 44 by the boat elevator 35 and the boat transfer position 4
It is lowered to zero. The upper arm 63 rotates to the boat transfer position 40, and the second boat 4
6 is placed, and is moved to the boat standby position 68 by the rotation of the upper arm 63. Following the movement of the second boat 46, the inclination suppressing plate 97 descends from the raised position.

The lower arm 79 is connected to the first boat seat 8
90 ° with the first boat 41 supported via 1
The first boat 41 rotates to move the first boat 41 to the boat transfer position 40, and the first boat 41 is placed on the boat table 39. After placing the first boat 41, the lower arm 7
9 is rotated 90 ° in the opposite direction, and the first boat seat 81 returns to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30.

By the boat elevator 35, the furnace port cap 38, the boat table 3
9 and the second boat 46 rise, and the first boat 4
1 is loaded into the reaction furnace 44, and the wafer 8 is processed.

In parallel with the processing, the upper arm 63
Rotates through 180 ° while supporting the second boat 46 via the second boat seat 64, and the boat standby position 68
The second boat 46 is moved to the boat-side substrate transfer position 30 from above, and the second boat 46 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67. The inclination suppressing plate 93 is moved up and down by the inclination suppressing air cylinder 91 in accordance with the vertical movement of the second boat 46.

After the mounting, the upper arm 63 is rotated by 180 ° in the opposite direction, and the second boat seat 64 returns to the boat standby position 68. In a state where the second boat 46 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67, the processed wafers 8 are transferred to the substrate storage cassette 1 by the substrate transfer machine 29.
When the payout is completed and the payout is completed, the unprocessed wafers 8 are loaded into the second boat 46 from another substrate storage cassette 19. The inclination suppressing plate 93 is in a lowered state.

By repeating the above operations, the wafer 8 is efficiently processed.

In the course of the rotational movement between the boat-side substrate transfer position 30 and the boat standby position 68, the load / load
Since there is an unloading position 45, the boat exchanging device 47 can be installed beside the reaction furnace 44, and the distance between the substrate transfer machine 29 and the reaction furnace 44 becomes shorter,
Since the length of the vertical diffusion CVD device 15 is reduced without changing the width of the vertical diffusion CVD device 15, the area occupied by the vertical diffusion CVD device 15 is reduced, and the cost of the device is reduced. The housing is effectively used.

It should be noted that the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the boat exchanging apparatus in the above embodiment, and a plurality of boats are referred to as a first boat and a second boat for convenience of explanation. Any one of the boats may be the first boat or the second boat, the two arms may be rotated by 180 °, and the boat stand-by position is not provided at the boat stand-by position. The boat at the position may be supported by an arm, and the transfer of the boat at the boat transfer position may, of course, be performed by a lifting operation of the boat elevator.

The semiconductor manufacturing process according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described one, and various manufacturing processes can be considered.

In the above embodiment, the inclination suppressing plate 9
3. Although the inclination suppressing plate 97 is moved up and down by the air cylinder, it is needless to say that other driving means such as a motor and a solenoid can be used. Although the cylinder was driven, the first boat 41,
When the second boat 46 is mounted on the transfer boat mounting table 67 and the standby boat mounting table 69, the tilt suppressing plates 93 and 97 may be lowered from the raised position.

[0077]

As described above, according to the present invention, a boat for holding a required number of substrates to be processed, a mounting table for temporarily holding the boat, and a boat for transferring the boat to and from the mounting table In a substrate processing apparatus having an exchange device,
Since the inclination restraining plate for restraining the boat from tipping over from the upper end of the boat is provided above the mounting table so as to be able to ascend and descend, unexpected vibrations from the outside such as malfunction of the boat changing device and earthquake are applied. Even in this case, the boat that has been tilted on the boat changing device stops in contact with the overturn prevention member, is prevented from overturning, and damage to the boat or damage to the loaded wafer is avoided.

The gap between the overturn prevention member and the boat is
By setting the gap so that the friction angle of the substrate loaded in the boat is larger than the inclination angle of the boat when the boat is stopped by the overturn prevention member when the boat is tilted, The allowable tilt angle due to vibration from the wafer becomes smaller than the friction angle of the wafer loaded in the boat, the wafer does not fall out of the boat, and the wafer in the process is prevented from being damaged, and the substrate processing An excellent effect that the reliability of the device is improved and the operation rate is improved is exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the embodiment from another direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the boat exchanging device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the boat exchanging device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the boat exchanging device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the boat exchanging device and the boat elevator according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the first boat on the transfer boat mounting table and the second boat on the standby boat mounting table in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the second boat on the transfer boat mounting table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the boat inclination suppressing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the boat inclination suppressing device.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of the operation of the boat inclination suppressing device.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 16 Case 29 Substrate Transfer Machine 30 Boat-side Substrate Transfer Position 35 Boat Elevator 41 First Boat 44 Reactor 46 Second Boat 47 Boat Exchange Device 50 Boat Tilt Suppression Device 61 Upper Arm Rotating Device 63 Upper Arm 67 Transfer Boat mounting table 68 Boat standby position 69 Standing boat mounting table 79 Lower arm 85 Boat tilt suppressing unit 86 Boat tilt suppressing unit 91 Tilt suppressing air cylinder 95 Tilt suppressing air cylinder 93 Tilt suppressing plate 97 Tilt suppressing plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a boat for holding a required number of substrates to be processed; a mounting table for temporarily holding the boat; and a boat exchange device for transferring the boat to and from the mounting table. And a tilt-suppression plate for preventing the boat from tipping over the boat upper end above the mounting table so as to be able to move up and down.