JP2002184771A - Heat treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the workability and safety during maintainance of a vertical type heat treatment apparatus. SOLUTION: For members for keeping the spaces between shelf boards 51 of a front carrier stocker 26 so disposed as to opposite with a door 25 for maintenance in a carrier transportation area Sa, reinforcing shafts 55 are used which can be relatively easily assembled with (or removed from) the shelf boards 51 and are elastic and demountable. Since it is possible for the worker to open the door 25 for maintenance and then easily remove the reinforcing shafts 55 from the shelf boards 51 of the front carrier stocker 26, an easy and efficient maintenance of equipment installed in the carrier transportation area Sa is available. In order to keep a carrier transfer 28 from operating during the maintenance, transmission sensors 71 are provided on side boards 52 between each shelf board 51 of the front carrier stocker 26 to stop and control the operation of the carrier transfer 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus used in a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, there is a vertical heat treatment apparatus for performing batch processing as one of apparatuses for performing heat treatment on an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a "wafer"). This apparatus holds a plurality of wafers in a stacked state with a holder, for example, a boat, and loads the boat into a vertical heat treatment furnace to carry out diffusion treatment, oxidation treatment, or C treatment.
Various heat treatments such as VD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) treatment are performed. In general, such a heat treatment apparatus includes a carrier transfer chamber in which a carrier containing a wafer is transferred, in order to stabilize a processing environment of the wafer,
A wafer processing chamber for taking out wafers from a carrier, transferring the boats to a boat, carrying the boat into a heat treatment furnace, and performing heat treatment is partitioned by partition walls.

The above-mentioned carrier transfer chamber is provided with an openable and closable maintenance door communicating with the outside of the apparatus from the transfer chamber and a position facing the maintenance door in the transfer chamber for temporarily storing the carrier. A front carrier stocker, which is a storage shelf that can be placed, for example, in a form in which carriers are arranged in two rows horizontally and four rows vertically, and a storage shelf having a similar configuration, wherein the space between the partition wall and the front carrier stocker is provided. A rear carrier stocker disposed opposite to the front carrier stocker so as to be sandwiched between the carrier carrier and a carrier mechanism called a carrier transfer that carries in or out the carrier to each carrier stocker while moving up and down between the front and rear carrier stockers. Is mainly provided.

Here, when maintenance or the like is performed in the carrier transfer chamber configured as described above, the carrier transfer chamber and the wafer processing chamber are partitioned by a partition wall.
Access to the carrier transfer chamber from the wafer processing chamber side is not possible, and repair or the like is performed through the above-described maintenance door. That is, the operator opened the maintenance door, removed the intermediate reinforcing plate supporting the shelf so as to partition between the shelves of the front carrier stocker facing the door in the room at the center, and further removed the intermediate reinforcing plate. When the operator puts the upper body into the carrier transfer chamber from between the shelves, maintenance of the rear carrier stocker and other equipment in the room is performed. Further, in such a heat treatment apparatus, an apparatus having a safety mechanism for controlling a carrier transfer so as not to be erroneously operated during maintenance of a carrier transfer chamber has been developed.

[0005]

However, such a conventional heat treatment apparatus has the following problems during maintenance in the carrier transfer chamber. That is, the mounting structure of the intermediate reinforcing plate with respect to the carrier stocker main body is such that the intermediate reinforcing plate, that is, a plate-shaped member is assembled in an upright posture with respect to the plane of the shelf plate of the carrier stocker. It is a relatively complicated structure that requires a notch to be fitted. For this reason, the work of removing the intermediate reinforcing plate from the carrier stocker main body becomes difficult, and the workability at the time of maintenance or the like is reduced. On the other hand, there has been a demand for more securely functioning a safety mechanism for stopping and controlling the operation of the carrier transfer during maintenance to improve safety during maintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of improving workability and safety during maintenance of the apparatus.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises a storage container transfer chamber in which a storage container storing an object to be processed is transferred; A heat treatment apparatus having a processing chamber partitioned by a partition and taking out and transporting the object to be processed from the storage container and performing a heat treatment, wherein the door is openable and closable from the storage container transfer chamber to the outside of the apparatus. A first storage shelf provided in the storage container transfer chamber at a position facing the door portion and on which the storage container is mounted; and a shelf on which the storage container is mounted, wherein the storage container transfer is performed. The first storage shelf is sandwiched between the first storage shelf and the partition in the room.
A second storage shelf facing the storage shelf, and a detachable reinforcing shaft provided at least in the first storage shelf and supporting a space between the shelves of the storage shelf. .

[0008] The heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a shelf plate as a member which is disposed opposite to the door in the storage container transfer chamber and which supports between the shelf plates of the first storage shelf for placing the storage container of the object to be processed. In contrast, a detachable reinforcing shaft that can realize a relatively simple assembly (and removal) structure is applied. That is, according to the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, for example, an operator opens the door of the storage container transfer chamber from the outside of the apparatus, puts the upper body from between the shelves of the first storage shelf into the inside of the apparatus, and removes the equipment. When performing maintenance work such as repairing, the reinforcing shaft can be easily removed from between the shelves of the first storage shelf, so that maintenance of devices inside the apparatus including the second storage shelf and the like can be performed. Can be performed efficiently.

Further, the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the reinforcing shaft is extensible. According to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, the work of removing the reinforcing shaft from between the shelves of the first storage shelf can be performed more easily, so that the efficiency of maintenance work inside the apparatus can be further improved. it can.

The heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention further comprises a storage container transport mechanism for loading and unloading the storage container to and from each of the storage shelves while moving up and down between the first and second storage shelves. The apparatus further comprises a sensor attached to a side plate of the storage shelf, and control means for stopping and controlling the operation of the storage container transport mechanism based on a detection result by the sensor.

That is, the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
As described above, the operator opens the door from outside the device and
When performing maintenance work such as repairing equipment by inserting the upper body from the space between the shelves of the storage shelves in the apparatus, the arrangement position of the first storage shelf to which the sensor is attached inside the apparatus, that is, the second position A worker is detected at a position in front of the vertically movable storage container transport mechanism located in front of the storage shelf, and the operation of this transport mechanism is stopped and controlled, so that maintenance can be performed more safely. it can. Further, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, the sensor is not attached to, for example, ducts or the like that may be removed during maintenance for work.
Since it is attached to the side plate of the first storage shelf that is not likely to be removed by mistake, safety during maintenance can be further enhanced.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these drawings, the vertical heat treatment apparatus 1 is an apparatus capable of performing various heat treatments such as a diffusion treatment, an oxidation treatment, or a CVD treatment on a wafer W, and a casing that forms an outer shell. In the case 10, a carrier transfer area Sa as a storage container transfer chamber, a loading area Sb configuring a wafer processing chamber, and a heat treatment area Sc are defined by partition walls 12 and 13, respectively.

In the loading area Sb, carrier 1
The wafer W stored in 4 (storage container) is transferred (transferred) to the wafer boat 16, and the wafer boat 16 is loaded into or unloaded from the heat treatment furnace 18. Here, clean air purified by a filter or the like is supplied to the carrier transport area Sa to form an air atmosphere. Also,
The loading area Sb is also supplied with clean air to form an air atmosphere, or is filled with nitrogen gas or the like to form an inert gas atmosphere.

The carrier 14 is a so-called closed-type carrier that accommodates a plurality of wafers W and
IMS (Front-opening Interface Mechanical Standar
d) It is sealed by the door 15. For details, Career 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a plurality of wafers W having a predetermined diameter, for example, 300 mm in diameter, which are arranged in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction in a horizontal state, for example,
It is made of a plastic container capable of storing about 25 sheets or 25 sheets and being portable. In addition, carrier 14
Has an outlet for the wafer W formed on the front surface thereof,
A FIMS door 15 for airtightly closing the door is detachably provided.

A carrier loading / unloading port 20 for loading / unloading the carrier 14 by an operator or a transport robot is provided on a front portion of the case 10. The carrier loading / unloading port 20 is provided with a load port 22 for loading or unloading the carrier 14 into or from the carrier transport area Sa. The transport mechanism 24 provided on the load port 22 moves the carrier 14 on the load port 22 and transports the carrier 14 into the carrier transport area Sa.

In the carrier transport area Sa, a front carrier stocker 26 and a rear carrier stocker 29, which are storage shelves on which a plurality of carriers 14 are placed, are provided above the load port 22 and above the partition wall 12 side. Is provided. Further, the partition 1 in the carrier transport area Sa
On the second side, a carrier mounting portion (FIMS port) 27 for mounting the carrier 14 and transferring a wafer is provided. Further, in the carrier transport area Sa, a carrier transfer mechanism 2 that is a storage container transport mechanism for transporting the carrier 14 between each of the load port 22, each of the carrier stockers 26 and 29, and the carrier mounting portion 27 is provided.
8 are provided.

The carrier transfer 28 includes an elevating mechanism 28a provided on one side of the carrier transport area Sa,
Elevating arm 28b moved up and down by elevating mechanism 28a
And an arm 28c provided on the lifting arm 28b
And a transfer arm 28d provided on the arm 28c to support and transfer the bottom of the carrier 14.
The partition wall 12 is provided with a door 30 formed in a shape corresponding to the wafer outlet of the carrier 14 so as to be openable and closable.
By opening the door 30 with the carrier 14 in contact with the door 30, the wafer W in the carrier 14 can be put in and out of the loading area Sb.

In the heat treatment area Sc, there is provided a heat treatment furnace 18 for accommodating the wafer boat 16 holding the wafer W and performing a predetermined heat treatment. A lid 32 is provided above and behind the loading area Sb so as to be able to move up and down by a boat elevator 34. On the lid 32, for example, a wafer boat 16 made of, for example, quartz and holding a large number of, for example, about 100 or 150 wafers W at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction can be placed. By moving the lid 32 up and down by the elevating mechanism 34, the wafer boat 16 holding the wafer W can be carried in and out of the heat treatment chamber of the heat treatment furnace 18. In the vicinity of the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace 18, a shutter 36 for shielding the furnace port when the lid body 32 is lowered and the wafer boat 16 after the heat treatment is carried out is provided so as to be capable of opening and closing in a horizontal direction. .

On one side of the loading area Sb, there is provided a boat stage 38 which is a boat mounting portion for mounting the wafer boat 16 for transferring the wafer W or the like. Also, behind the boat stage 38,
A standby stage 40 for mounting the wafer boat 16 holding the wafer W is provided. Further, the carrier placement unit 2 is located below the loading area Sb.
Boat stage 38, standby stage 40, and lid 32, disposed between the boat 7 and the boat elevator 34
A boat transfer mechanism 42 for transferring the wafer boat 16 therebetween is provided.

The boat transport mechanism 42 has a first arm 42a which can be turned and raised and lowered, and a substantially C-shaped plane which is supported by the tip of the first arm 42a so as to be able to turn horizontally and which can support the boat 16 vertically. Arm 42b having an opening
And Above the boat transport mechanism 42, the carrier 14 on the carrier receiver 27 and the boat stage 38
A transfer mechanism 44 for transferring the wafer W to and from the upper wafer boat 16 is provided. The transfer mechanism 44 is mounted on an elevating mechanism 44a, a first arm 44b connected to the elevating mechanism 44a and rotatable horizontally, a second arm 44c connected to the first arm 44b and rotatable horizontally, and a second arm 44c. It is composed of a movable support arm 44d. The support arm 44d is in the form of a plurality of, for example, two or five thin plate forks, and moves with the wafer W placed thereon.

Next, the vertical heat treatment apparatus 1 according to this embodiment
In which the maintainability in the carrier transport area (carrier transport chamber) Sa provided by the apparatus is taken into account, that is, the components and arrangement of the carrier transport area Sa, and the structure of the front and rear carrier stockers 26 and 29 described above. Will be described in detail. That is, the carrier transport area Sa, the loading area Sb, and the heat treatment area S
c is defined by the partition wall 12,
Carrier transport area S from loading area Sb side
a, the maintenance door 25 which can be opened and closed from the inside of the carrier transport area Sa to the outside of the apparatus (the case 10) is provided on the entire surface of the apparatus, that is, the carrier transfer 28 connects the carrier 14 to the area Sa.
It is provided on the surface on the side that is carried in.

The front carrier stocker 26 is provided at a position opposite to the maintenance door 25 in the carrier transport area Sa, on the back side facing the loading / unloading surface of the carrier 14 by the carrier transfer 28. On the other hand, the rear carrier stocker 29 is positioned such that the loading / unloading surface of the carrier 14 by the carrier transfer 28 faces the loading / unloading surface of the carrier 14 of the front carrier stocker 26 so as to be sandwiched between the partition wall 12 and the forward carrier stocker 26. It is provided in. The front carrier stocker 26 is a storage shelf on which the carriers 14 can be placed in two rows horizontally and four rows vertically, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2 and the side view of FIG. Shelf plates 51 arranged in multiple stages in the horizontal direction, side plates 52 arranged in the vertical direction to support both ends of each shelf plate 51, and a top plate 53 holding the upper end surface of each side plate 52 (see FIG. 1) ), And between the respective shelves 51 at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the shelves via a PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) 54 which is an insulating resin having excellent mechanical strength. And a reinforcing shaft 55. The rear carrier stocker 29 has the same structure as the front carrier stocker 26, but a transmission type sensor 71 described later.
It is composed in the form of deleted.

The front carrier stocker 26 described above has a lower surface of the lowermost shelf 51 supported by ribs 56 and 57 joined to the case 10 forming the outer shell of the apparatus main body. More specifically, the ribs 56 and 57 are provided at two points on the bottom surface of the shelf 51 directly below the reinforcing shafts 55 and at two corners on the rear surface of the bottom surface of the shelf 51 opposite to the loading / unloading surface of the carrier 14. And at least four points are supported. Further, in this support structure, the rear side of the bottom surface of the shelf 51 opposite to the loading / unloading surface of the carrier 14 is fastened to the rib 56 via the bolt 58. On the other hand, the loading / unloading surface side of the carrier 14 on the bottom surface of the shelf board 51 is supported in a state where the tip of the bolt 59 and the upper surface of the rib 57 are in contact with each other. Can be adjusted. Note that the rib 57 is provided on the transfer arm 28 at the tip of the carrier transferer 28 for transferring the carrier 14 while supporting it.
The moving trajectory d is arranged so as to escape in the height direction. The front carrier stocker 26 supported by such a support structure is configured so that rigidity (mechanical strength) is maintained even when a maximum of eight carriers 14 are placed on the individual shelf boards 51. Have been.

Next, the structure of the reinforcing shaft 55 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in these figures,
The reinforcing shaft 55 is formed in a substantially hexagonal column shape, and has a two-piece structure including an upper shaft portion 60 and a lower shaft portion 61. One end of the upper shaft portion 60 has a sliding protrusion 6 formed in a cylindrical shape.
2, and a male screw 63 is formed at the other end. On the other hand, a female screw 64 is formed at one end of the lower shaft portion 61, and a rotation preventing protrusion 65 formed in a quadrangular prism shape is formed at the other end. That is, the reinforcing shaft 55 can be expanded and contracted by appropriately adjusting the tightening amount of the male screw 63 of the upper shaft portion 60 with respect to the female screw 64 of the lower shaft portion 61, and furthermore, the reinforcing shaft 55 is The lower shaft 61 can be fastened to the desired length via the nut 66.

Here, a round hole rotatably fitted to the sliding projection 62 of the upper shaft portion 60 is provided on the bottom surface of the above-mentioned shelf 51, while the upper surface of the shelf 51 is provided on the upper surface of the shelf 51. ,
A square hole is formed to fit in the rotation preventing protrusion 65 of the lower shaft portion 61 so as to be able to be inserted and withdrawn. This makes it possible to easily attach and detach the reinforcing shaft 55 to and from the shelf 51 by adjusting the amount of tightening between the male screw 63 and the female screw 64 and by loosening and tightening the nut 65.
Therefore, an operator from the outside of the apparatus can use the maintenance door 2
In the case where the device 5 is opened and the upper body is inserted into the carrier transfer area Sa from the space between the shelves 51 of the front carrier stocker 26 to maintain the equipment, the reinforcing shaft 55 can be easily removed from the shelves 51. This maintenance work can be performed quickly.

Next, a safety mechanism for controlling the carrier transfer 28 so as not to operate during maintenance will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the front carrier stocker 2
In each of the six side plates 52, a pair of transmission sensors 71 including a light emitting device 71a and a light receiving device 71b are provided on opposing surfaces (inner wall surfaces) of the side plates between the respective shelf plates 51.
The transmission sensor 71 detects an operator who intends to perform repair work or the like from between the shelf boards 51 at the time of maintenance, and the light reception amount on the light receiver 71b side has changed from “bright” to “dark”. In this case, a predetermined detection signal is output.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the vertical heat treatment apparatus 1 is provided with a control device 72 for generally controlling the operations of the boat transport mechanism 42, the transfer mechanism 44, the carrier transfer 28 and the like. I have. The transmission sensor 71 is configured to output a detection signal to the control device 72, and the control device 72 moves up and down between the front and rear carrier stockers 26 and 29 while receiving the detection signal. The operation of the moving carrier transfer 28 is stopped and controlled. Thereby, safety at the time of maintenance is ensured.

As described above, in the vertical heat treatment apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operator opens the maintenance door 25 and further easily removes the reinforcing shaft 55 from the shelf 51 of the front carrier stocker 26. Therefore, maintenance of devices in the carrier transport area Sa including the rear carrier stocker 29 can be efficiently performed.
Further, according to the vertical heat treatment apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the maintenance work is performed, the position of the side plate 52 of the front carrier stocker 26 to which the transmission type sensor 71 is attached, that is, from the rear carrier stocker 29 At a position in front of the vertically movable carrier transfer 28 which is arranged in front of the maintenance door 25 side.
Since the worker is reliably detected and the operation of the carrier transfer 28 is controlled to be stopped, the maintenance can be performed in a safer manner.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, as the object to be processed, for example, a glass substrate, an LCD substrate, or the like can be applied other than the wafer.

[0030]

As described above, the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is arranged to face the door portion in the storage container transfer chamber and to set the space between the shelves of the first storage shelf for mounting the storage container of the object to be processed. As a supporting member, a detachable reinforcing shaft capable of realizing a relatively simple assembling / removing structure with respect to a shelf board is applied. For example, an operator opens a door portion of a storage container transfer chamber from outside the apparatus. However, since the reinforcing shaft can be easily removed from between the shelves of the first storage shelf, maintenance and the like of devices inside the apparatus such as the second storage shelf can be efficiently performed. Further, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, when maintenance work or the like is performed as described above, the position of the side plate of the first storage shelf inside the apparatus, that is, the position closer to the front than the second storage shelf (window portion). Side), the worker is reliably detected at the position in front of the vertically movable storage container transport mechanism and the operation of this transport mechanism is stopped and controlled.
Maintenance can be performed in a more secure manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a front carrier stocker included in the vertical heat treatment apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a support structure of the carrier stocker of FIG. 2 with respect to a heat treatment apparatus main body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a reinforcing shaft that supports between shelf boards of the carrier stocker of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vertical heat treatment apparatus, 10 ... Case, 12 ... Partition wall, 14
... Carrier, 25 ... Maintenance door, 26 ... Front carrier stocker, 28 ... Carrier transfer, 29 ... Back carrier stocker, 51 ... Shelves, 52 ... Side plate, 55 ...
Reinforcement shaft, 60: upper shaft portion, 61: lower shaft portion, 62: sliding protrusion, 63: male screw, 64: female screw, 65: rotation prevention protrusion, 71: transmission sensor, 71
a: light-emitting device, 71b: light-receiving device, 72: control device, Sa:
Carrier transport area, Sb ... Loading area, Sc
... heat treatment area, W ... wafer.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5F031 CA02 DA08 DA17 FA01 FA11 FA12 FA15 GA43 GA49 JA22 MA02 MA28 NA02 NA04 NA09 PA02 PA06 5F045 AA03 AA20 BB20 DP19 DQ05 EN05

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage container transport chamber in which a storage container storing an object to be processed is transported, and a partition is defined from the storage container transport chamber, and the object is taken out of the storage container, transported, and heat-treated. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a treatment chamber for performing the following steps: a door portion that is openable and closable communicating from the storage container transfer chamber to the outside of the device; and a storage unit provided at a position facing the door portion in the storage container transfer chamber, A first storage shelf on which a container is placed; and a shelf on which the storage container is placed, the first storage shelf being sandwiched between the first storage shelf and the partition wall in the storage container transfer chamber. A second storage shelf opposed to the first storage shelf; and a detachable reinforcing shaft provided at least in the first storage shelf and supporting a space between the shelves of the storage shelf. Heat treatment equipment. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing shaft is extendable and contractible. 3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage container transport mechanism transports the storage container to or from each of the storage shelves while moving up and down between the first and second storage shelves. A heat treatment apparatus further comprising: a sensor attached to a side plate of the first storage shelf; and control means for stopping and controlling the operation of the storage container transport mechanism based on a detection result by the sensor. .