JP2009076646A - Substrate holding tool - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate holding tool which can increase a rigidity while avoiding increase in the weight of a frame, prevent positional displacement or collapse upon lamination, eliminate the need for provision of a special transportation container or the like, and facilitate handling works. <P>SOLUTION: A resilient holding layer 3 is stuck onto a frame 2 having a hollow to cover the hollow, and the holding layer 3 is formed thereon with recesses 4 which removably hold a semiconductor wafer W having a large diameter and increase the rigidity of the frame 2 in its front-to-back thickness direction. The recesses 4 of the frame 2 are formed by bending the outer peripheral edge of the frame 2 to have a nearly mountain-shaped cross section. Since the recesses 4 are bent to the nearly mountain shape section to increase the rigidity of the frame 2, the large warpage or deformation of the frame 2 can be prevented even when the frame 2 is required to have a large diameter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate holder for holding a substrate made of a semiconductor wafer or the like.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 to 14, a conventional substrate holder 1 used in a semiconductor dicing process or the like includes a hollow frame 2A and a holding layer 3 that is bonded to the frame 2A in a tensioned state and covers the hollow. The semiconductor wafer W is detachably held on the holding layer 3, is stacked in a vertical direction, or is stored in a coin-type transport container 20 in a stacked state (see Patent Document 1). ).

As shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, the frame 2A is formed in a plane substantially ring shape having a diameter larger than that of the semiconductor wafer W using a predetermined material such as SUS, and is formed on a flat thin plate. The flexible holding layer 3 is bonded to the back surface via an adhesive. Further, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the transport container 20 includes a substantially bottomed cylindrical container body 21 for aligning and storing a plurality of stacked substrate holders 1, and an open upper portion of the container body 21. And a planar circular lid body 22 that is detachably fitted to the body.
JP 2002-240883 A

  The conventional substrate holder 1 is configured as described above, and the frame 2A is simply formed on a flat plate. Therefore, when the diameter of the frame 2A is required to increase with the increase in the diameter of the semiconductor wafer W, There is a problem that warpage and deflection increase. In order to solve this problem, the frame 2A may be thickened to increase the rigidity. However, this may increase the weight of the frame 2A and hinder the handling.

  Further, since the frame 2A of the conventional substrate holder 1 is not provided with any stacking structure or misalignment prevention structure, if a guide or the like is not provided when the plurality of substrate holders 1 are stacked, the position shifts. There is a problem that it may collapse, or a dedicated transport container 20 must be prepared and stored.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, the conventional substrate holder 1 is difficult to hold because there is no unevenness or gap in the outer peripheral edge because the frame 2A is a flat plate. Therefore, when handling with the dedicated robot 23, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a plurality of stacked substrate holders 1 are vacuum-sucked one by one with the suction pads 24 from above, and the substrate holder 1 Must be taken out in order.

  Further, when one substrate holder 1 is taken out from the middle stage of the plurality of stacked substrate holders 1, as shown in FIG. 17, the plurality of substrate holders 1 are placed in dedicated cassettes 25 opened at the front and rear. In addition to transferring and aligning and storing, a gap for handling is formed between the substrate holder 1 and the substrate holder 1 arranged in the vertical direction, and the middle stage substrate holder 1 can only be taken out using this gap. There is also.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and can increase rigidity without increasing the weight of the frame, prevent positional displacement and collapse, omit a dedicated transport container, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate holder that can be provided with convenience.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a holding layer covering the hollow is attached to the frame, and the substrate is detachably held on the holding layer,
A feature is that uneven portions are formed in the thickness direction of the front and back of the frame.
Note that the concavo-convex portion of the frame can be formed by bending the outer peripheral edge portion of the frame into a substantially mountain-shaped cross section.

Moreover, the uneven | corrugated | grooved part of a flame | frame can be formed by projecting a protrusion piece from the front and back of the outer periphery part of a flame | frame, respectively.
Furthermore, the concavo-convex part of the frame can be formed by projecting the projecting piece from either one of the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the frame and projecting a plurality of projecting pieces from the other.

  Here, the frame in the claims does not particularly ask for a ring shape or a frame shape as long as it is hollow. The holding layer may be an adhesive elastomer or a thin film of other materials as long as it has elasticity and flexibility. The substrate is mainly a large-diameter semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 300 mm or 450 mm, but is not limited to this. For example, a large liquid crystal substrate or various glass substrates may be used. The concavo-convex part may be endless or not. Further, the protruding piece may be tapered or formed in other shapes.

  According to the present invention, the rigidity can be increased without causing an increase in the weight of the frame, and the positional deviation or collapse of the substrate holder can be prevented, or the transport container dedicated to the substrate holder can be omitted. There is an effect. In addition, there is an effect that the handling work of the substrate holder can be facilitated.

  Further, the projections and depressions of the frame are formed by protruding the protruding pieces from the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the frame, or the protruding pieces are protruded from either the front or back of the outer peripheral edge of the frame, and the other If it forms by making a some protrusion protrude from, the variation of an uneven | corrugated | grooved part can be changed as needed.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a substrate holder according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A substrate holder 1 according to this embodiment covers a hollow portion of a round frame 2 as shown in FIGS. An elastic holding layer 3 is attached, and a large-diameter semiconductor wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm is detachably held on the holding layer 3 to improve the strength and rigidity of the frame 2 in the thickness direction of the frame 2. An endless concavo-convex portion 4 is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the frame 2 is formed into a substantially ring-shaped flat surface having a diameter larger than that of a thin semiconductor wafer W by using a molding material containing a metal such as SUS or a predetermined resin, and is flat and lightweight. The peripheral portion of the flexible holding layer 3 is bonded to the back surface of the thin film with an adhesive. A molding material containing a predetermined resin is prepared, for example, by mixing and kneading carbon fiber, calcium carbonate, etc. excellent in strength and rigidity to PPS and nylon resin, etc. excellent in fluidity, dimensional stability, and precision molding. The A plurality of positioning notches are formed on the front surface side of the frame 2, and a recessed hole for the RFID tag is selectively formed on the rear surface portion.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the holding layer 3 is made of, for example, an olefin-based single layer thin elastomer or the like, and is formed in a planar circle having a diameter larger than that of the semiconductor wafer W. It is peeled off for later recycling of the frame 2. The surface of the holding layer 3 is mirror-finished by mirror transfer of a film or a roll when, for example, close contact with the semiconductor wafer W is required without a gap.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the concavo-convex portion 4 is formed into a substantially ring shape by bending the outer peripheral edge portion of the frame 2 into a substantially mountain-shaped cross section that is easy to grip in the thickness direction, in other words, a substantially V-shaped cross section. It is formed and exhibits a stacking function and a shift prevention function when a plurality of substrate holders 1 are stacked.

  When stacking a plurality of such substrate holders 1, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the substrate holders 1 are stacked in the vertical direction so that the uneven portions 4 of the adjacent frames 2 are fitted to each other. It ’s fine. At this time, due to the fitting between the concavo-convex portions 4, a handling gap or step is generated between the frames 2 adjacent in the vertical direction.

  Further, when it is desired to transport, transport and handle a plurality of substrate holders 1, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a bottom plate 10 and a top plate 11 having the same size as the substrate holder 1 are prepared. If a plurality of substrate holders 1 stacked between the bottom plate 10 and the top plate 11 are sandwiched, and a plurality of clamp jigs 12 are fitted and locked at the peripheral edge portions, a plurality of substrate holders are held. The tool 1 can be integrally transported, transported and handled.

  From the viewpoint of reducing the number of components, the bottom plate 10 and the top plate 11 may use a common disc component, but may also use different components. The clamp jig 12 is bent and formed into a substantially U-shaped cross section using a material having a spring property.

  According to the above, since the uneven portion 4 of the frame 2 is bent into a substantially mountain shape in cross section and the rigidity in the bending direction of the frame 2 is remarkably increased, an increase in the diameter of the frame 2 is required with an increase in the diameter of the semiconductor wafer W, for example. However, it is possible to effectively suppress and prevent the warp and the deflection of the frame 2 from increasing, and to greatly improve the design. In addition, since it is not necessary to increase the rigidity by increasing the thickness of the frame 2, it is possible to prevent the frame 2 from increasing in weight and hindering handling. In addition, since the concave and convex portions 4 of the substrate holders 1 adjacent to each other interfere with each other and exhibit a stacking function and a misalignment prevention function, the substrate holders 1 may be displaced or collapsed when the plurality of substrate holders 1 are stacked. Very few.

  In addition, since it is possible to prevent displacement in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, there is no need to prepare, store, transport, transport and the like for a dedicated transport container 20 as in the past, and to reduce running costs. Is possible. In addition, since the uneven portion 4 forms an uneven portion on the outer peripheral edge of the frame 2 and a gap for handling is formed between the plurality of frames 2, the handling work by gripping the outer peripheral edge is greatly expected. it can. Therefore, even when handling by the edge clamp type dedicated robot 23, it is not necessary to vacuum-suck the plurality of stacked substrate holders 1 one by one with the suction pads 24 from above and to sequentially take out the substrate holders 1. .

  Further, even in the case of random access in which one substrate holder 1 is extracted from the middle stage of a plurality of stacked substrate holders 1, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. it can. Therefore, it is not necessary to transfer and align the plurality of substrate holders 1 in a dedicated cassette 25 as shown in FIG. In addition to these, as shown in FIG. 7, the handling of the robot 23 can be greatly diversified.

  Next, FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the uneven portion 4 of the frame 2 is moved up and down from the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the frame 2. It is formed by projecting in the direction.

These front and back projecting pieces 5 and 5A are formed in an endless tapered shape having a substantially planar shape, and are adjacent to each other, and exhibit a stacking function and a misalignment prevention function when a plurality of substrate holders 1 are stacked. . The other parts are substantially the same as those in the above embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, it is obvious that the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be expected, and the variation of the uneven portion 4 can be diversified.

  Next, FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the concavo-convex portion 4 of the frame 2 is moved upward with the protruding piece 5 tapering from the outer peripheral surface of the frame 2 upward. In addition to projecting, a pair of tapered projecting pieces 5A are respectively projected downward from the back surface.

The protrusion 5 on the front surface is formed so as to be positioned between the pair of protrusions 5 and 5A on the back surface, and exhibits a stacking function and a shift prevention function when the substrate holder 1 is stacked together with the protrusion 5A on the back surface. The other parts are substantially the same as those in the above embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.
Also in this embodiment, the same effect as the said embodiment can be anticipated, and the variation of the uneven | corrugated | grooved part 4 can be increased with a simple structure.

  The uneven portions 4 positioned in the inner and outer directions of the frame 2 may be formed by bending the outer peripheral edge of the frame 2 into a substantially C-shaped, U-shaped, W-shaped cross section, or the like. Further, a plurality may be formed by bending. Moreover, although the uneven | corrugated | grooved part 4 may be provided endlessly in the circumferential direction of the flame | frame 2, you may provide multiple uneven | corrugated | grooved parts 4 which perform the same function at intervals.

It is a perspective explanatory view showing an embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention typically. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically the state where a plurality of substrate holders are laminated in an embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is a partial cross section explanatory view showing typically the state where a plurality of substrate holders are laminated in the embodiment of the substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically a transportation form in an embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically a bottom board, a top board, a clamp jig, etc. in an embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically the state of handling a plurality of laminated substrate holders in an embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a state in which one of the middle stages of the substrate holders stacked from the state of FIG. 6 is taken out by two robots. It is a partial cross section explanatory view showing typically a 2nd embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is a partial cross section explanatory view showing typically a 3rd embodiment of a substrate holder concerning the present invention. It is perspective explanatory drawing which shows the conventional board | substrate holder typically. It is a perspective explanatory view showing the lamination state of the conventional substrate holder typically. It is a partial cross section explanatory view showing typically the lamination state of the conventional substrate holder. It is perspective explanatory drawing which shows the conventional transport container typically. FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 13. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically the state where the conventional substrate holder is handled by the robot. It is perspective explanatory drawing which shows the state which handled the conventional board | substrate holder typically. It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically the state where a plurality of substrate holders were transferred and aligned and stored in a dedicated cassette.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate holder 2 Frame 3 Holding layer 4 Concavity and convexity 5 Projection piece 5A Projection piece 20 Transport container 23 Robot 24 Suction pad 25 Cassette W Semiconductor wafer (substrate)

Claims (4)

A substrate holder that attaches a holding layer covering the hollow to the frame and holds the substrate detachably on the holding layer,
A substrate holder, wherein uneven portions are formed in the front and back thickness direction of the frame.   2. The substrate holder according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion of the frame is formed by bending the outer peripheral edge portion of the frame into a substantially mountain-shaped cross section.   The board | substrate holder of Claim 1 which formed the uneven | corrugated | grooved part of the flame | frame by projecting a protrusion piece from the front and back of the outer periphery part of a flame | frame, respectively.   2. The substrate holder according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion of the frame is formed by projecting a projecting piece from one of the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the frame and projecting a plurality of projecting pieces from the other.

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