JP2011146600A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aligner capable of improving throughput.
An aligner includes a stocker, an alignment mechanism, and an elevating mechanism. The stocker 3 has 25 pairs of support portions 14 and 14. The pair of support portions 14 and 14 are configured to support the wafer 2. The pair of support portions 14 are arranged in the vertical direction so that the wafers 2 are aligned in the vertical direction. The stocker 3 is configured so that a plurality of wafers 2 can be stocked by supporting the wafer 2 on the pair of support portions 14 and 14. The alignment mechanism 4 has a function of adjusting the position of the wafer 2 stocked in this way. The elevating mechanism 5 has a function of elevating the alignment mechanism 4 to the position of the wafer 2 to be aligned.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an aligner for adjusting the orientation of a wafer (ie, alignment).

  In the semiconductor processing apparatus, an alignment apparatus is provided for adjusting (that is, aligning) the direction of the semiconductor wafer. As an alignment apparatus, for example, there is an alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1. The alignment apparatus includes a gripping mechanism that grips and rotates a semiconductor wafer. The gripping mechanism has upper and lower three-layer grip portions of first to third layers, and each grip portion is configured to grip one semiconductor wafer at a time. A notch is formed in the semiconductor wafer held by the grip portion. In the semiconductor wafer, the direction of the semiconductor wafer can be specified by the notch, and two sensors are provided in the alignment apparatus in order to detect the notch. The two sensors are respectively arranged above and below the gripping mechanism.

  In the alignment apparatus configured as described above, one of the first to third layers is opened to hold a semiconductor wafer to be transported later. Then, alignment of the semiconductor wafer is performed with the remaining two layers. In the alignment of semiconductor wafers, the notches of the upper and lower two semiconductor wafers held by the remaining two layers are detected by two sensors, and the semiconductor wafers are aligned based on the detection results. During the alignment, the transfer robot transfers the semiconductor wafer to one vacant layer and causes the alignment apparatus to hold it. Then, the transfer robot picks up the semiconductor wafer that has been aligned by a hand that is freed by gripping and transfers it to a post-processing step or the like.

  In a semiconductor processing apparatus, a plurality of semiconductor wafers may be processed simultaneously in order to reduce time. In the alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1, two sensors are used as described above to simultaneously process two semiconductor wafers at the same time, thereby shortening the alignment time.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-300609

  However, in the alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1, two sensors are arranged above and below the gripping mechanism, respectively. Therefore, it is necessary to wait until the two processed semiconductor wafers are replaced with new semiconductor wafers. . That is, a waiting time for replacing the semiconductor wafer by the alignment apparatus occurs. In addition, when the semiconductor wafer is replaced by the alignment apparatus, it is necessary to replace the wafers one by one as will be described below, and the semiconductor wafer replacement operation takes a long time.

  Hereinafter, the replacement work will be specifically described. For example, when the semiconductor wafer is gripped by the first layer and the second layer and the third layer is vacant, the transfer robot first holds the semiconductor wafer by gripping the vacant third layer and grips the semiconductor wafer. Then, the second layer semiconductor wafer that has been aligned is picked up. After picking up, a new semiconductor wafer is held by the second layer, and the aligned first layer semiconductor wafer is picked up with a free hand. When the semiconductor wafer of the first layer is picked up, the alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1 finally starts alignment.

  As described above, in the alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1, alignment cannot be performed until the semiconductor wafer replacement operation by the transfer robot is completed, a waiting time is generated, and the throughput is increased. The waiting time per semiconductor wafer is not so long as several seconds, but when a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers are transferred, a loss of tens of seconds is lost.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an aligner that can shorten the throughput.

  The aligner according to the present invention includes a stocker having a plurality of holding portions arranged in parallel in the predetermined direction such that each of the wafers can hold the wafer and the wafers held by the respective wafers are arranged in a predetermined direction. An alignment mechanism that adjusts the direction of the wafer held by each part, and an aligner that moves the alignment mechanism in the predetermined direction so that the wafer can be stopped at a position that adjusts the direction of the wafer held by each holding part. A moving mechanism.

  According to this configuration, the alignment device is moved by the alignment moving mechanism to a position for adjusting the direction of the wafer held by each holding unit, thereby adjusting the direction of the wafer held and stocked by each holding unit. Can do. Since the wafer is stocked in the stocker, the wafer can be continuously aligned without waiting for the wafer to be transferred by moving the alignment apparatus by the alignment moving mechanism. Therefore, the waiting time of the alignment mechanism during alignment can be shortened or eliminated. By reducing or eliminating the waiting time of the alignment mechanism, the aligner throughput can be reduced.

  In addition, according to the above configuration, by moving the alignment apparatus using the alignment moving mechanism, it is possible to align the other stocked wafers with the alignment mechanism while stocking the aligned wafers in the stocker as they are. . Thus, the wafers that have been aligned and stocked in the stocker can be carried out one after another without waiting for the alignment mechanism to complete the alignment. Thereby, the waiting time of alignment and the waiting time at the time of conveyance can be shortened or eliminated. Thus, by shortening or eliminating the waiting time during conveyance, the aligner throughput can be shortened.

  In the above invention, the alignment mechanism is capable of mounting the wafer held by the holding unit of the stocker, and rotates the mounted wafer, and a direction detection that detects the direction of the wafer. And a rotation control means for controlling the rotation of the wafer by the wafer rotation mechanism, and the rotation control means adjusts the direction of the wafer to a predetermined position based on the detection result of the direction detection means. It is preferable that the wafer is configured to be rotated by the wafer rotation mechanism.

  According to the above configuration, the alignment of the wafer can be suitably performed by the alignment mechanism.

  In the above invention, the alignment mechanism has two or more wafer rotation mechanisms, and the two or more wafer rotation mechanisms simultaneously handle different wafers among the wafers held by the plurality of holding portions of the stocker. It is preferable that each can be placed.

  According to the above configuration, two or more wafers can be aligned at the same time. Thereby, the number of wafers that can be aligned per unit time can be improved, and the throughput of the alignment unit can be shortened.

  In the above invention, the stocker has a pitch changing mechanism for changing the pitch in the predetermined direction of the holding portions adjacent to each other, and the pitch changing mechanism is configured to set a predetermined first interval and the adjacent holding portion. It is preferable that the pitch can be changed between a second interval inserted by the wafer rotation mechanism between the held wafers.

  According to the above configuration, even if the outer dimension of the wafer rotation mechanism is large, the wafer rotation mechanism can be inserted between the wafers by changing the pitch, and the wafer is placed on the wafer rotation mechanism and rotated. be able to. Thereby, it is not necessary to provide a pitch changing mechanism in a device other than the aligner, for example, a transfer robot.

  In the above invention, the plurality of holding units constitute a holding unit group, the stocker includes a plurality of holding unit groups, and the pitch changing mechanism is provided for each holding unit group, and the holding unit is provided. It is preferable that each unit group is configured to be driven individually.

  If the said structure is followed, since the pitch change mechanism can be driven for every holding | maintenance part group, the pitch of a holding | maintenance part can be changed for every holding | maintenance part group. Accordingly, the holding unit pitch can be set to the first interval for the holding unit group waiting for conveyance, and the holding unit pitch can be set to the second interval for the holding unit group waiting for alignment. As a result, even if the holding unit pitch is different between the conveyance and the alignment, the conveyance and the alignment can be performed at the same time, and the time for waiting for conveyance and waiting for alignment can be shortened or eliminated. Thereby, the throughput of the alignment unit 1 is improved.

  In the above invention, the wafer detecting means capable of detecting the presence / absence of a wafer held by the holding portion, and the wafer detecting means are provided in the aligner moving mechanism and move in the predetermined direction together with the alignment mechanism. It is preferable to be configured.

  According to the above configuration, it can be confirmed which holding unit holds the wafer. Thus, it is possible to prevent the wafer from being inserted into the holding portion and colliding with each other to be damaged even though the wafer is held in the holding portion.

  According to the present invention, the throughput of the aligner can be shortened.

It is a top view which shows the aligner of one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the alignment mechanism provided in the aligner of FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a stocker provided in the aligner of FIG. 1 cut in the horizontal direction and enlarged. It is sectional drawing which abbreviate | omits the structure which cut | disconnects the pitch change mechanism with which the stocker of FIG. 2 is equipped with the cutting line AA. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which changed the pitch of the support part of the stocker of FIG. 4 with the pitch change mechanism. It is an expanded sectional view which expands and shows the alignment mechanism of FIG. It is an operation | movement diagram which shows operation | movement of a pitch change mechanism.

  Below, the aligner 1 which is embodiment of this invention is demonstrated, referring drawings mentioned above. In addition, the concept of directions such as up and down, left and right, and front and rear in the embodiment is used for convenience of explanation, and it is suggested that the arrangement and direction of the configuration of the aligner 1 be limited to that direction. It is not a thing. The aligner 1 described below is only one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and can be added, deleted, and changed without departing from the spirit of the invention. Also, in the following, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout all the drawings, and the duplicate description thereof is omitted.

[Aligner]
As shown in FIG. 1, an aligner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a unit that adjusts, that is, aligns, a circumferential position (hereinafter also simply referred to as “direction”) of a wafer 2. In the present invention, a wafer is a thin plate used in a semiconductor process and is defined as a material for a substrate of a semiconductor device. Wafers include semiconductor wafers and glass wafers. The semiconductor wafer includes, for example, a silicon wafer, a sapphire (single crystal alumina) wafer, and other various wafers. Examples of the glass wafer include a glass substrate for FPD (Flat Panel Display) and a glass substrate for MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems).

  An aligner 1 for aligning wafers is provided, for example, in a semiconductor processing facility. The semiconductor processing facility is provided with a FOUP (FOUP, not shown) for storing the wafer 2 and a transfer robot (not shown) for transferring the wafer 2. In the hoop, a large number of wafers 2 are stored in the vertical direction at a predetermined interval. The transfer robot takes out a plurality of wafers 2 from the hoop, five wafers 2 in this embodiment, and takes out the taken wafers 2 by heat treatment, impurity introduction processing, thin film formation processing, lithography processing, cleaning processing, flattening processing, etc. It is transported to a processing unit that performs various processes. In the semiconductor processing facility, it is necessary to adjust the direction of the wafer 2 before various processes are performed on the wafer 2, and an aligner 1 for aligning the wafer 2 is further provided. The aligner 1 includes a stocker 3, an alignment mechanism 4, and an elevating mechanism 5.

<Stocker>
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the stocker 3 includes a housing 11, a support group 12, and a pitch changing mechanism 13. The housing 11 is a hollow rectangular parallelepiped that is long in the vertical direction, and an insertion hole 11a that penetrates the housing 11 in the left-right direction is formed in an intermediate portion in the vertical direction. The insertion hole 11a is formed wider than the outer diameter of the wafer 2, and is configured to allow the wafer 2 to be inserted. The casing 11 in which such an insertion hole 11a is formed has a pair of hollow columns 11b and 11c in the front-rear direction across the insertion hole 11a. In this manner, the housing 11 having the pair of hollow pillars 11b and 11c is provided with five support portion groups 12.

  Each support portion group 12 that is a holding portion group has a plurality of pairs of support portions 14 and 14. In the present embodiment, the support section group 12 includes five pairs of support sections 14 and 14, and the entire stocker 3 includes 25 pairs of support sections 14 and 14. The pair of support portions 14 and 14 that are holding portions are provided in the housing 11 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction and overlap each other when viewed from above. Of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 provided in this manner, one support portion 14 is disposed along the front hollow column 11b, and the other support portion 14 is disposed along the rear hollow column 11c. ing.

  A pair of support parts 14 and 14 arrange | positioned in this way are formed in plate shape, and are extended in the left-right direction. The pair of support portions 14 and 14 are opposed to each other in the front-rear direction, are fixed to the tips of locking pieces 15 and 15 described later, and protrude from the pair of hollow columns 11b and 11c into the insertion holes 11a, respectively. The distance d1 between the support portions 14 and 14 in the front-rear direction is smaller than the outer diameter R of the wafer 2. The pair of support portions 14 and 14 arranged in this way are provided symmetrically in the front-rear direction, and the upper surface 14a thereof is flat. As a result, the upper surfaces 14a of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 are positioned on substantially the same plane, and the upper surfaces 14a are configured to be able to place the opposing portions of the outer edge portion of one wafer 2 respectively. . By placing the wafer 2 on the two upper surfaces 14 a configured as described above, the wafer 2 can be supported by the pair of support portions 14 and 14.

  In this way, the pair of support portions 14, 14 capable of supporting the wafer 2 has the locking pieces 15, respectively. The locking piece 15 is provided at the front end or the rear end of each support portion 14. The locking piece 15 is a plate-like member that extends away from the insertion hole 11 a, and the upper surface 15 a and the lower surface 15 b of the locking piece 15 are substantially parallel to the upper surface 14 a of the support portion 14. The locking piece 15 having such a shape is disposed in the hollow pillars 11b and 11c, and is disposed symmetrically in the front-rear direction between the pair of support portions 14 and 14. Although it is the locking piece 15 arrange | positioned in this way, the five locking pieces 15 contained in the same support part group 12 are each shifted | deviated and shifted to the left-right direction, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the fixing block 18 is omitted in order to make it easy to understand that the five locking pieces 15 are shifted.

  In this shifting method, the locking piece 15 is arranged so that at least a part thereof overlaps with the adjacent locking piece 15. By arranging in such a manner, the five locking pieces 15 are arranged in a staircase pattern as shown in FIG. Thus, the locking piece 15 arranged at the lowest position among the five locking pieces 15 arranged in a step shape is fixed to the housing 11 so as not to move up and down, and the other four locking pieces. 15 are respectively attached with slide portions 16.

  The slide portion 16 is slidably attached to the linear guide 17. The linear guide 17 extends in the vertical direction, and is provided in each of the pair of hollow columns 11b and 11c. The linear guide 17 is provided for each locking piece 15. Thereby, each support part 14 can be moved up and down along the linear guide 17, and is configured to be able to change the interval between adjacent support parts 14, that is, the pitch p of the support parts 14. And the pitch change mechanism 13 is provided in the support part 14 which can change the pitch p in this way.

  One pitch change mechanism 13 is provided for each support portion group 12 in the front and rear direction. That is, the entire stocker 3 is provided with five pitch changing mechanisms 13 at the front and rear. The front pitch changing mechanism 13 is arranged in the front hollow column 11b, and the rear pitch changing mechanism 13 is arranged in the rear hollow column 11c. The pitch changing mechanism 13 arranged in this way has a fixed block 18 and a lifting block 19. The lower part of the fixed block 18 and the upper part of the elevating block 19 are stepped and have four steps. In the pitch changing mechanism 13 provided for the support portion group 12 disposed at the bottom of the five support portion groups 12, the postures of the fixed block 18 and the elevating block 19 are vertically reversed with respect to the other. However, the configuration other than being inverted is the same. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given and the description is omitted.

  The lower part of the fixed block 18 formed in a step shape and the upper part of the elevating block 19 are partially opposed. Specifically, the third and fourth steps from the bottom of the fixed block 18 are opposed to the first and second steps from the bottom of the lifting block 19. Thus, the upper surface 15a of the locking piece 15 fixed to the housing 11 is fixed to the first stage of the fixed block 18 partially facing the lifting block 19, and the other three stages are Of the five locking pieces 15 arranged in a staircase shape, the upper surface 15a of the second to fourth locking pieces 15 from the bottom is in contact. Further, on the four steps of the elevating block 19, the lower surfaces 15b of the second to fifth locking pieces 15 from the bottom of the five locking pieces 15 arranged in a step shape are respectively placed.

  The fixed block 18 and the elevating block 19 are configured such that all their steps are substantially the same height. Since the heights of the steps are the same, the second to fifth locking pieces 15 are placed on the lifting block 19 and the first to fourth locking pieces 15 are brought into contact with (or fixed to) the fixed block 18. Thus, the five locking pieces 15 are arranged at the same pitch in the vertical direction at the same pitch as the step height. Thus, when the five locking pieces 15 are arranged at the same interval, the five support portions 14 of the support portion group 12 are arranged at the same interval, and the pitches p of the support portions 14 in the support portion group 12 are all the same. become. At this time, the pitch p of the support portion 14 is the maximum pitch p1. Note that the maximum pitch p1 is set wider than the thickness t of the wafer rotation mechanism 24 of the alignment mechanism 4 as described above. In all the support part groups 12, when the pitch p of the support parts 14 reaches the maximum pitch p1, all the support parts 14 are arranged at equal intervals. In this way, the lift block 19 that makes the pitch p of the support portion 14 the maximum pitch p1 is provided with a cylinder mechanism 20 with a linear guide. 4 and 7 show an outline of the configuration of the linear guide-equipped cylinder mechanism 20. Moreover, in FIG. 5, description of the cylinder 20 with a linear guide is abbreviate | omitted.

  The cylinder mechanism 20 with a linear guide is configured by integrating a linear guide 20a and a cylinder mechanism 20b. The cylinder mechanism 20b is an air cylinder mechanism, for example, and is connected to an air pump (both not shown) via a switching valve. The cylinder mechanism 20b is configured to be able to switch expansion and contraction by switching the air flow using a switching valve. The cylinder mechanism 20 with a linear guide is configured such that the elevating block 19 can be moved up and down along the linear guide 20a by expanding and contracting the cylinder mechanism 20b. Thus, the raising / lowering block 19 comprised so that raising / lowering is possible is comprised so that the pitch p of the support part 12 may be expanded by raising, and the pitch p of the support part 12 will be narrowed by descending.

  The pitch changing mechanism 13 having such a configuration is a pair of the support unit group 12 in a state where the cylinder mechanism 20 with the linear guide is extended most (in the case of the pitch changing mechanism 13 at the lowest position, the cylinder is contracted most). The pitch p of the support portions 14 is configured to be the aforementioned maximum pitch p1 (see, for example, FIG. 4). In addition, the pitch changing mechanism 13 has five locking pieces 15 partially in a state where the cylinder mechanism 20 with the linear guide is contracted most (in the case of the pitch changing mechanism 13 at the lowest position). It is arranged in a staircase pattern so that the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 of the support portion group 12 is the minimum pitch p2 (see, for example, FIG. 5). That is, the pitch changing mechanism 13 is configured to change the pitch p of the support portion 14 between the maximum pitch p1 and the minimum pitch p2 by expanding and contracting the cylinder mechanism 20 with a linear guide. The minimum pitch p2 depends on the thickness of the locking piece 15, and is the same as the thickness of the locking piece 15. In the present embodiment, the distance between the wafers 2 accommodated in the hoop is substantially the same. The thickness of the support portion 14 is smaller than the thickness of the locking piece 15.

  The pitch changing mechanism 13 that changes the pitch p in this way is configured to be able to be driven separately from the other pitch changing mechanisms 13 arranged in the same hollow column 11b, 11c. On the other hand, the two pitch changing mechanisms 13 provided for the same support section group 12 are configured to be interlocked. By interlocking in this way, the two pitch changing mechanisms 13 are configured to move the pair of support portions 14 and 14 together and change the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14. Therefore, the pitch changing mechanism 13 is configured to be able to individually change the pitch p of the support portion 14 for each support portion group 12. The stocker 3 having the pitch changing mechanism 13 configured as described above is provided with an alignment mechanism 4.

<Alignment mechanism>
The alignment mechanism 4 is configured as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, and includes a movable body 21, a turntable 22, a rotation unit 23, a wafer rotation mechanism 24, a first drive source 25, and a second drive mechanism. And a drive source 26. The movable body 21 is generally formed in a hollow rectangular parallelepiped, in which a turntable 22, a rotating unit 23, a first drive source 25, and a second drive source 26 are provided. The turntable 22 is formed in a columnar shape, and is provided at the bottom of the movable body 21 so as to be rotatable about an axis L1 extending in the vertical direction. Thus, the rotation part 23 is being fixed to the turntable 22 provided so that rotation is possible.

  The rotating part 23 is generally formed in a cylindrical shape, and two openings 23a and 23b are formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. These two openings 23a and 23b extend in the circumferential direction of the rotating portion 23 and are spaced apart in the vertical direction. Two wafer rotating mechanisms 24 are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion 23 so as to be vertically separated so as to close the openings 23a and 23b. These two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are arranged so as to overlap each other when viewed from above.

  The wafer rotation mechanism 24 has a casing 28. The casing 28 is a hollow plate-shaped casing having a thickness t, and is formed in a strip shape in plan view. An opening 28 a is formed on the base end side of the casing 28, and the inside of the casing 28 and the inside of the rotating part 23 are connected via the opening 28 a and the opening 23 a or 23 b of the rotating part 23. A turntable 29 is provided at the tip of the casing 28.

  The turntable 29 is generally formed in a disc shape. The turntable 29 has a shaft portion 29a extending downward along an axis L2 extending in the vertical direction on the lower surface thereof. The shaft portion 29 a is fitted into a receiving portion 28 a formed in the casing 28. Thereby, the turntable 29 is configured to rotate about the axis L2. A disk-shaped suction pad 30 is attached to the upper surface of the turntable 29, and the suction pad 30 is configured so that the wafer 2 can be placed thereon. Suction holes 31 are formed in the suction pad 30 and the turntable 29 along the axis L2. The suction hole 31 is connected to a suction passage 32 formed in the bottom of the casing 28. The suction passage 32 is further connected to the L-shaped joint 33. The L-shaped joint 33 is connected to a suction means 35 such as a compressor via a tube pipe 34.

  An output side pulley 36 is integrally attached to the lower surface of the turntable 29. The output pulley 36 is fitted with a receiving portion 28a and is configured to rotate about the axis L2 together with the turntable 29. A belt 37 is wound around the output pulley 36. The belt 37 is also wound around a gear mechanism 38.

  The gear mechanism 38 is disposed in the rotating unit 23. The gear mechanism 38 has a double cylinder structure and includes an outer cylinder 41 and an inner cylinder 42. The outer cylinder 41 is generally cylindrical, and is arranged such that its axis substantially coincides with the axis L1 of the rotating portion 23. The lower end portion of the outer cylinder 41 reaches the upper opening 23a of the rotating portion 23, and a first pulley 41a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion. A belt 37 of the upper wafer rotation mechanism 24 is wound around the first pulley 41a. An internal gear 41 b is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the upper end portion of the outer cylinder 41. An inner cylinder 42 is inserted into the outer cylinder 41 formed in this way.

  The inner cylinder 42 is generally cylindrical, and is arranged so that its axis substantially coincides with the axis L <b> 2 of the rotating portion 23. The inner cylinder 42 extends to the lower opening 23b of the rotating portion 23, and a second pulley 42a is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the lower end portion thereof. A belt 37 of the lower wafer rotating mechanism 24 is wound around the second pulley 42a. An outer gear 42 b is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end portion of the inner cylinder 42.

  The outer cylinder 41 and the inner cylinder 42 configured as described above are arranged in the rotation unit 23, and a first drive source 25 and a second drive source 26 are provided on the upper part of the rotation unit 23. ing. The first drive source 25 is, for example, an electric motor, and teeth are cut on the outer periphery of the output shaft 25a. The output shaft 25 a is inserted between the outer cylinder 41 and the inner cylinder 42 and meshes with the internal gear 41 b of the outer cylinder 41. That is, the first drive source 25 has a function of rotating the outer cylinder 41 and rotating the turntable 29 in the upper wafer rotation mechanism 24 via the belt 37.

  The second drive source 26 is, for example, an electric motor, and teeth are cut also on the outer peripheral portion of the output shaft 26b. The output shaft 26 b is inserted between the outer cylinder 41 and the inner cylinder 42 and meshes with the external gear 42 b of the inner cylinder 42. That is, the second drive source 26 has a function of rotating the inner cylinder 42 and rotating the turntable 29 in the lower wafer rotating mechanism 24 via the belt 37.

  A rotation mechanism 43 is attached to the turntable 22 in which the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 configured as described above are provided via the rotation unit 23. The rotation mechanism 43 is provided in the movable body 21. The rotation mechanism 43 is a so-called air cylinder mechanism, and includes a cylinder 43a and a piston 43b. The base end portion of the piston 43b is inserted into the cylinder 43a, and the inside of the cylinder 43a is divided into two spaces by the piston 43b. These two spaces are connected to an air pump (both not shown) via a switching valve. The switching valve can switch the supply destination of the air flowing from the air pump to one space or the other space, and the expansion and contraction of the rotation mechanism 43 is switched by switching.

  The tip of the piston 43b of the rotation mechanism 43 is attached to the outer periphery of the turntable 22 so as to be swingable. The cylinder 43a is attached to the movable body 21 so as to be swingable. When the rotation mechanism 43 attached in this way is extended, the turntable 22 is rotated counterclockwise (see arrow A1 in FIG. 1) about the axis L1 in FIG. 1 and contracted when the turntable 22 is contracted. 1 has a function of rotating clockwise (see arrow A2 in FIG. 1) about the axis L1.

  The alignment mechanism 4 configured in this way is configured such that the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 rotate together when the turntable 22 rotates. The two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are located at a standby position extending in the front-rear direction in a standby state where alignment is not performed. At this time, the piston 43b of the rotation mechanism 43 is most degenerated. On the other hand, when the piston 43b is extended most, the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 move to the alignment position where the target wafer 2 can be aligned. The alignment position is a position where the target wafer 2 is disposed on the suction pad 30 and the axis L2 of the turntable 29 substantially coincides with the axis L3 of the target wafer 2 (see, for example, the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). ).

  As described above, the notch detection sensor 44 is integrally provided in the casing 28 in the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 movable between the standby position and the alignment position. The notch detection sensor 44 which is a direction detection means is, for example, a transmission type sensor. In this transmissive sensor, the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are separated, and the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are arranged so as to face each other in the vertical direction. The notch detection sensor 44 has a function of oscillating laser light from the light projecting unit and detecting the presence or absence of light reception by the light receiving unit.

  The notch detection sensor 44 configured as described above is disposed away from the stocker 3 when the wafer rotation mechanism 24 is in the standby position. On the other hand, when the wafer rotation mechanism 24 moves to the alignment position, the notch detection sensor 44 is disposed so as to cover a part of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 2 directly above the wafer rotation mechanism 24. A part in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer 2 is configured to enter between the light projecting portion and the light receiving portion of the notch detection sensor 44. As described above, the wafer 2 enters between the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit, so that the laser light emitted from the notch detection sensor 44 is blocked by a part of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 2 in the circumferential direction.

  Thus, the notch 2a which is a notch is formed in the outer peripheral edge part of the wafer 2 which blocks | interrupts a laser beam. When the notch 2a is at the laser beam irradiation position, the laser beam is received by the light receiving unit without being blocked. In other words, the notch detection sensor 44 is configured to be able to detect the presence or absence of the notch 2a based on the presence or absence of light reception at the light receiving unit.

  In the above description, a transmissive sensor is used as the notch detection sensor 44, but a reflective sensor may be used. In the case of a reflective sensor, the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are integrated. The reflection type sensor is configured to oscillate laser light from the light projecting unit and receive the laser light reflected by the wafer 2 by the light receiving unit. The reflective sensor is disposed so as to cover a part of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 2 in the circumferential direction when the wafer rotation mechanism 24 moves to the alignment position.

  The alignment mechanism 4 configured as described above is provided with a lifting mechanism 5 as shown in FIG.

<About lifting mechanism>
The elevating mechanism 5 which is an aligner moving mechanism is a so-called ball screw mechanism, and includes a nut 47, a ball screw 48, an elevating drive source 49, a pair of sliders 50, 50, and a pair of linear guides 51, 51. Have. The nut 47 is attached to the left side surface portion of the movable body 21 of the alignment mechanism 4 and is screwed into the ball screw 48. The ball screw 48 is erected so as to extend in the vertical direction. The ball screw 48 rotates about its axis, and has a function of moving up and down the nut 47 screwed into the nut 47 by rotating. That is, the alignment mechanism 4 is configured to move up and down as the ball screw 48 rotates. A ball screw pulley 52 is attached to the upper end of the ball screw 48 that moves the alignment mechanism 4 up and down.

  A belt 53 is wound around the ball screw pulley 52. The belt 53 is further wound around a drive source pulley 54 attached to the output shaft 49 a of the lift drive source 49. The elevating drive source 49 is, for example, an electric motor, and is configured to be able to rotate the output shaft 49a in both forward and reverse directions.

  A pair of sliders 51, 51 are attached to the left side surface portion of the alignment mechanism 4. The pair of sliders 50, 50 are arranged apart from each other so that a nut 47 is arranged between them when viewed from above. The pair of sliders 50, 50 arranged in this way is slidably attached to the pair of linear guides 51, 51. The pair of linear guides 51, 51 are bar-shaped members extending in the vertical direction, and are arranged apart from each other on the left and right, like the pair of sliders 50, 50. The pair of sliders 50 and 50 and the pair of linear guides 51 and 51 have a function of guiding the movable body 21 and smoothly moving it up and down when the ball screw 48 is rotated to raise and lower the movable body 21.

<Control device>
A control device 55 is electrically connected to the first drive source 25 and the second drive source 26 of the alignment mechanism 4 and the lift drive source 49 of the lift mechanism 5. The control device 55 serving as rotation control means has a function of controlling the rotation speed and rotation direction of the first drive source 25, the second drive source 26, and the lift drive source 49 in accordance with command signals, programs, and the like. Yes. Further, the control device 55 controls each switching valve (not shown) connected to the rotating mechanism 43 and the cylinder mechanism 20b of the pitch changing mechanism 13 in accordance with a command signal, a program, and the like, and determines the direction of air flowing therethrough. It also has a switching function. That is, the control device 55 has a function of switching expansion and contraction of the rotation mechanism 43 and the cylinder mechanism 20b of the pitch changing mechanism 13 according to a program or the like. Further, the control device 55 is electrically connected to the notch detection sensor 44. The control device 55 has a function of oscillating laser light from the notch detection sensor 44 and detecting the circumferential position of the notch 2 a on the wafer 2 based on a signal indicating the presence or absence of light received from the notch detection sensor 44. is doing.

<About the operation of the aligner>
Hereinafter, the operation of the aligner 1 during alignment will be described. The transfer robot of the semiconductor processing equipment includes five hands (not shown). The five hands are arranged at the same interval as the interval between the wafers 2 accommodated in the hoop. Therefore, the transfer robot takes out the five wafers 2 from the hoop as they are stored, and transfers them to the aligner 1.

  In the aligner 1, the cylinder mechanisms 20 with linear guides of all the pitch changing mechanisms 13 are in the most contracted state, and the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 is the minimum pitch p2. That is, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 is the same as the interval between the wafers 2 accommodated in the hoop. Therefore, the transfer robot can insert each hand between two pairs of support portions 14 and 14 adjacent to each other vertically without changing the pitch of the five hands. In other words, the transfer robot can push the five wafers 2 into the insertion hole 11a and dispose them on all the pair of support parts 14 and 14 included in the support part group 12.

  When the transfer robot places the five wafers 2 on the pair of support portions 14 and 14, respectively, the hand is lowered to place the wafer 2 on the pair of support portions 14 and 14. By placing the wafer 2 in this way, the wafer 2 is supported and stocked by the pair of support portions 14 and 14. When the wafer 2 is placed by the pair of support parts 14, 14, the transfer robot removes the hand from between the pair of support parts 14, 14. Then, the transfer robot again takes out the five wafers 2 from the hoop, and places the five wafers 2 on the pair of support portions 14 and 14 of the support portion group 12 different from the support portion group 12 on which the wafers 2 were previously placed. . The transfer robot repeats such removal and placement of the wafer 2 to place the wafer 2 on all the pair of support portions 14 and 14. As a result, five wafers 2 are stocked in each support section group 12 of the stocker 3.

  The controller 55 performs an alignment process on the wafer 2 placed on the pair of support portions 14 and 14 in parallel with the transfer operation of the wafer 2. Below, the case where an alignment process is performed in order from the uppermost support part group 12 is demonstrated. However, the alignment process does not necessarily start from the uppermost support portion group 12 but may start from the second, third, and lowermost support portion group 12. In the following, for convenience of explanation, the uppermost support portion group 12 is referred to as a first support portion group 12A, and the second to fifth support portion groups 12 are respectively referred to as a second support portion group 12B and a third support portion. Also referred to as a part group 12C, a fourth support part group 12D, and a fifth support part group 12E.

  In the alignment process, first, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 of the first support portion group 12A is changed from the minimum pitch p2 to the maximum pitch p1. Below, the change of the pitch p of a pair of support parts 14 and 14 by the pitch change mechanism 13 is demonstrated, referring FIG. 7 (a) thru | or (e).

  In the state where the cylinder mechanism 20b is most contracted, as shown in FIG. 7A, the five locking pieces 15 are partially placed and stepped, and the pitch between the pair of support portions 14 and 14 is increased. p is the minimum pitch p2. At this time, the elevating block 19 is lowered to the lowest position, and the locking piece 15 is placed only on the fourth stage. From such a state, the control device 55 switches the air flow direction using the switching valve to extend the cylinder mechanism 20b and raise the lifting block 19.

  When the elevating block 19 is raised, the fifth locking piece 15 from the bottom is lifted by the elevating block 19 as shown in FIG. The fourth locking piece 15 from the bottom is placed on the third stage of the lifting block. Further, when the elevating block 19 is raised, as shown in FIGS. 7C to 7D, the fifth and fourth locking pieces 15 from the bottom are lifted by the elevating block, and the third and second from the bottom. The locking piece 15 is placed on the second stage and the first stage of the lifting block, respectively, and lifted. Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (e), when the second to fourth locking pieces 15 lifted contact the fixed block 18, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 becomes the maximum pitch p1. . At this time, the cylinder mechanism 20b is in the most extended state, and the ascent of the elevating block 19 stops. The raising / lowering of the raising / lowering block 19 stops and the change of the pitch p is complete | finished.

  In addition, it is the pitch change mechanism 13 provided with respect to the 1st support part group 12A thru | or 4th support part group 12D that can change the pitch p of the support part 14 by such operation | movement. In the pitch changing mechanism 13 provided for the fifth support section group 12E, the fixed block 18 and the lifting block 19 are arranged upside down. Therefore, when the lifting block is raised, the pitch p becomes narrower, and the cylinder mechanism 20b. Is extended the most, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 becomes the minimum pitch p2. Conversely, when the elevating block 19 is lowered, the pitch p is widened, and when the cylinder mechanism 20b is contracted most, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 becomes the maximum pitch p1.

  Further, the controller 55 drives the elevating drive source 49 in parallel with the change of the pitch p, and rotates the ball screw 48 to raise or lower the alignment mechanism 4. Then, the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are moved from the top of the first support section group 12 </ b> A to a position substantially the same as the height position of the two wafers 2. Actually, each wafer rotating mechanism 24 moves up to a position where the suction pad 30 is located slightly below the pair of support portions 14 and 14 on which the wafer 2 is placed. After the wafer rotation mechanism 24 is raised to such a position, the alignment mechanism 4 is on standby until the pitch p is changed. When the wafer rotation mechanism 24 is raised to the height position of the wafer 2 and the change of the pitch p is completed, the control device 55 next extends the rotation mechanism 43.

  When the rotation mechanism 43 extends, the wafer rotation mechanism 24 in the standby position rotates counterclockwise (see arrow A1 in FIG. 1). And if it continues extending | stretching as it is, the wafer rotation mechanism 24 will rotate to the alignment position in which the rotation mechanism 43 is the most extended state. At this time, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14, 14 is the maximum pitch p1. That is, since the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 is wider than the thickness t of the wafer rotation mechanism 24, the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 that move to the alignment position are the first and second wafers 2 from the top. And between the second and third. As a result, the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are respectively disposed below the two wafers 2 from above. Further, by moving the wafer rotation mechanism 24 to the alignment position, the notch detection sensor 44 is applied to a part in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral edge portions of the two wafers 2.

  When the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are thus arranged below the wafer 2, the control device 55 drives the lifting drive source 49 to slightly raise the alignment mechanism 4. As a result, the wafer 2 is placed on the suction pad 30 of each wafer rotation mechanism 24. When the wafer 2 is placed on the suction pad 30 in this way, the control device 55 drives the suction means 35 to suck the wafer 2 onto the suction pad 30. When suctioned to the suction pad 30, the control device 55 drives the first drive source 25 and the second drive source 26.

  When the first drive source 25 and the second drive source 26 are driven, the outer cylinder 41 and the inner cylinder 42 rotate, and the turntables 29 of the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 rotate via the belt 37. As the turntable 29 rotates, the suction pad 30 provided thereon also rotates. As the suction pad 30 rotates, the wafer 2 rotates about the axis L2. A notch detection sensor 44 is applied to a part of the outer peripheral edge of the rotating wafer 2 in the circumferential direction.

  The control device 55 oscillates laser light from the light projecting portion of the notch detection sensor 44 while rotating the wafer 2. Then, the control device 55 detects the circumferential position of the notch 2 a on the wafer 2 based on a signal indicating whether light is received from the light receiving portion of the notch detection sensor 44. The detection of the notch 2a is performed at the same time by the two wafer rotating mechanisms 24, and the alignment time can be shortened by performing the detection simultaneously. When the detection of the notch 2a is completed, the control device 55 drives the first driving source 25 and the second driving source 26 again to rotate the suction pad 30, and the detected notch 2a is positioned in a predetermined circumferential direction. The direction of the wafer 2 is adjusted so that the wafer 2 is disposed, that is, the wafer 2 is aligned.

  When the alignment of the two wafers 2 is completed in this way, the control device 55 stops the suction means 35 and releases the wafer 2 that has been attracted. After releasing the wafer 2, the controller 55 drives the elevating drive source 49 to lower the alignment mechanism 4, so that the wafer 2 placed on each wafer rotating mechanism 24 is placed on the pair of support portions 14 and 14. return. The controller 55 lowers the alignment mechanism 4 even after returning to the pair of support portions 14 and 14, and contracts the rotation mechanism 43 when the suction pad 30 is disposed below the pair of support portions 14 and 14. Let

  When the rotation mechanism 43 contracts, the wafer rotation mechanism 24 at the alignment position rotates clockwise (see arrow A2 in FIG. 1). And if it continues to shrink | contract as it is and it will be in the state most contracted, the wafer rotation mechanism 24 will return to a standby position. When returning to the standby position, the control device 55 drives the raising / lowering drive source 49 again to lower the alignment mechanism 4, and the two wafers 2 supported immediately below the two wafers 2 that have just been aligned, That is, the two wafer rotation mechanisms 24 are moved to substantially the same position as the height positions of the third and fourth wafers 2. Also at this time, each wafer rotation mechanism 24 is arranged so that the suction pad 30 is located slightly below the pair of support portions 14 and 14 on which the third and fourth wafers 2 are placed. After the wafer rotation mechanism 24 has moved to such a position, the control device 55 drives the rotation mechanism 43, the first drive source 25, and the second drive source 26 in the same manner as described above, and so on. 2 alignment is performed. When the alignment is completed, the control device 55 lowers the alignment mechanism 4 to return the wafer 2 to the pair of support portions 14 and 14 and return the wafer rotation mechanism 24 to the standby position.

  When the wafer rotating mechanism 24 returns to the standby position in this manner, the alignment is performed for the two wafers 2 immediately below the wafer rotating mechanism 24. However, the wafer 2 to be aligned next is the fifth wafer 2 of the support unit group 12, and the same support unit group 12 has no wafer 2 supported below it. Therefore, the fifth wafer 2 is aligned with the wafer 2 supported on the top of the second support section group 12B. When the alignment of these two wafers 2 is completed, the two wafers 2 are returned to the pair of support portions 14 and 14, and the wafer rotating mechanism 24 is further returned to the standby position.

  When the wafer rotation mechanism 24 is returned to the standby position in this manner, the control device 55 determines that the alignment of the wafers 2 placed on all the pair of support portions 14 and 14 included in the support portion group 12 has been completed. To do. Then, the control device 55 performs alignment on the second and third wafers 2 supported by the pair of support portions 14 and 14 of the second support portion group 12B, and in parallel, the first support portion group 12A. Is driven to change the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 of the first support portion group 12A to the minimum pitch p2. The operation of changing the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 from the maximum pitch p1 to the minimum pitch p2 is the reverse of the operation of changing the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 from the minimum pitch p2 to the maximum pitch p1. Is the operation. Therefore, the operation for changing to the minimum pitch p2 is referred to the operation for changing to the maximum pitch p1, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Thus, in the aligner 1, the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 of the first support portion group 12A is changed to the minimum pitch p2, and the five wafers 2 that have been aligned are stocked. Eventually, the transfer robot thrusts five hands into the insertion hole 11a to take the five wafers 2 to be stocked, and sets the five hands to the five pairs of support portions 14 and 14 of the first support portion group 12A. Place them below. Then, the transfer robot raises the five hands, takes the stock wafer 2 and transfers it to the processing unit that performs various process processes. In the first support section group 12A from which the wafer 2 has been taken in this way, the pitch of the pair of support sections 14 and 14 remains at the minimum pitch p2 until the wafer 2 is placed again by the transfer robot.

  In this way, the aligner 1 first performs an alignment process on the five wafers 2 stocked in the first support group 12A. When the aligner 1 completes the alignment process for all five wafers 2, the aligner 1 returns the pitch p of the pair of support portions 14 and 14 to the minimum pitch p2. The operation of performing the alignment process and returning to the minimum pitch p2 is similarly performed in the second support unit group 12B to the fifth support unit group 12E. These operations are continuously performed in the order of the second support portion group 12B, the third support portion group 12C, the fourth support portion group 12D, and the fifth support portion group 12E, starting from the first support portion group 12A. . Therefore, the aligner 1 can continuously align the wafers 2 stocked on each support unit group 12, and can stock the wafers 2 after the alignment to each support unit group 12.

  The aligner 1 configured as described above can stock the wafers 2 transported by the transport robot in the respective support unit groups 12, so that a plurality of wafers 2 can be continuously received without waiting for the transport of the transport robot. Alignment is possible. Therefore, the waiting time of the alignment mechanism 4 can be shortened or eliminated during alignment. Thus, the throughput of the aligner 1 can be shortened by shortening or eliminating the waiting time of the alignment mechanism 4. Thereby, the time required to manufacture one wafer 2 can be shortened, and accordingly, the number of wafers 2 manufactured per unit time of the semiconductor processing equipment can be improved.

  Further, in the aligner 1, the wafer 2 stocked in any of the second support part group 12B to the fifth support part group 12E while stocking the wafer 2 after the alignment in the first support part group 12A. The alignment mechanism 4 performs alignment. Therefore, the alignment apparatus can sequentially align the wafers 2 without waiting for the wafers 2 to be transferred. Further, the transfer robot can carry out the stocked wafers 2 after completion of alignment without waiting for the completion of the operation of the alignment mechanism 4. Thereby, the waiting time at the time of alignment and the waiting time at the time of conveyance can be shortened or eliminated. Thus, the throughput of the aligner 1 can be shortened by shortening or eliminating the waiting time during alignment and conveyance. Thereby, the time required to manufacture one wafer 2 can be shortened, and accordingly, the number of wafers 2 manufactured per unit time of the semiconductor processing equipment can be improved.

  Further, since the aligner 1 includes the pitch changing mechanism 13, it is not necessary to provide a pitch changing mechanism for changing the pitch of the hand in the transport robot. As a result, the weight of the hand is reduced and the movement of the hand can be accelerated. Moreover, in the aligner 1, since the pitch of a pair of support parts 14 and 14 can be changed only by raising / lowering the raising / lowering block 19, the pitch change mechanism 13 is a simple structure and is low-cost.

  In the aligner 1 of this embodiment, the elevating block 19 and the wafer rotating mechanism 24 may be configured to be switchable between two positions. Therefore, an air cylinder mechanism is employed as a drive source for moving the elevating block 19 and the wafer rotating mechanism 24. Since the air cylinder mechanism is a two-stage control of on / off, drive control is easy. In addition, the air cylinder mechanism is less expensive to manufacture than a servo motor or the like. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the aligner 1 can be suppressed. However, the cylinder mechanism with linear guide 20 and the rotation mechanism 43 which are driving sources for moving the elevating block 19 and the wafer rotating mechanism 24 are not limited to the air cylinder mechanism but may be a servo motor or the like.

  Further, in the aligner 1 of the present embodiment, the number of wafer rotation mechanisms 24, the number of support unit groups 12, and the number of pairs of support units 14 and 14 included in the support unit group 12 are the above-described number and number of sets. It is not limited. For example, the number of wafer rotation mechanisms 24 may be one, or three or more. Moreover, the number of the support part groups 12 may be four or less, and may be six or more. Furthermore, the number of sets of the pair of support portions 14 that the support portion group 12 has may be 4 sets or less, or 6 sets or more.

[Other embodiments]
The aligner 1 further has a wafer detection sensor 60. Wafer detection sensor 60, which is a wafer detection means, is a reflective sensor and has a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit. The light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are integrally provided. The light projecting unit and the light receiving unit provided in this way are attached to the alignment mechanism 4 and are electrically connected to the control device 55. The light receiving unit is configured to receive laser light oscillated from the light projecting unit and reflected by the edge of the wafer 2, and has a function of outputting a signal indicating that the light has been received to the control device 55 when the light is received.

  The control device 55 has a function of detecting the presence or absence of the wafer 2 based on the presence or absence of light reception in the light receiving unit. The control device 55 having such a function detects the presence or absence of the wafer 2 by the wafer detection sensor 60 after the alignment processing is temporarily interrupted due to a processing error or the like. As a specific detection method, the control device 55 raises the wafer detection sensor 60 together with the alignment mechanism 4 by the lifting mechanism 5. Then, the height position at which the wafer 2 is arranged is detected based on the presence or absence of light reception by the light receiving unit, and it is confirmed by which pair of support units 14 and 14 the wafer 2 is supported. Thus, even if the alignment process is temporarily interrupted due to a processing error and the position where the wafer 2 is supported cannot be known, it can be confirmed, and the pair of support parts 14 and 14 on which the wafer 2 is already supported can be confirmed. The transfer robot can transfer a new wafer 2 and prevent the wafers 2 from colliding with each other and being damaged.

  In this embodiment, the wafer detection sensor 60 is a reflective sensor, but may be a transmissive sensor. In this case, the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are provided apart from each other in the front-rear direction.

  The present invention can be applied to an aligner that adjusts (ie, aligns) the direction of a wafer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Aligner 2 Wafer 3 Stocker 4 Alignment mechanism 5 Lifting mechanism 12 Support part group 12A-12E 1st thru | or 5th support part group 13 Pitch change mechanism 15 Locking piece 19 Lifting block 24 Wafer rotation mechanism 44 Notch detection sensor 55 Control apparatus 60 Wafer detection sensor 63 Elevating mechanism

Claims (6)

A stocker having a plurality of holding portions arranged in the predetermined direction so that each of the wafers can hold the wafer and the wafers held by the wafer are arranged in a predetermined direction;
An alignment mechanism for adjusting the direction of the wafer held by the plurality of holding units;
And an aligner moving mechanism for moving the alignment mechanism in the predetermined direction so that the wafer can be stopped at a position for adjusting the direction of the wafer held by each holding unit. The alignment mechanism is
A wafer rotating mechanism capable of placing the wafer held by the holding unit of the stocker and rotating the placed wafer;
Direction detecting means for detecting the direction of the wafer;
Rotation control means for controlling rotation of the wafer by the wafer rotation mechanism,
The rotation control unit is configured to rotate the wafer by the wafer rotation mechanism so as to adjust the direction of the wafer to a predetermined position based on a detection result of the direction detection unit. The aligner according to claim 1. The alignment mechanism has two or more wafer rotation mechanisms,
The two or more wafer rotation mechanisms are configured to be capable of simultaneously mounting different wafers among the plurality of wafers held by a plurality of holding portions of the stocker. 2. The aligner according to 2. The stocker has a pitch changing mechanism for changing the pitch in the predetermined direction of the holding portions adjacent to each other.
The pitch changing mechanism is configured to change the pitch from a predetermined first interval to a second interval inserted by the wafer rotating mechanism between the wafers held by the adjacent holding portions. The aligner according to claim 2 or 3, wherein The stocker includes a plurality of holding unit groups including the plurality of holding units,
The aligner according to claim 4, wherein the pitch changing mechanism is provided for each of the holding unit groups, and is configured to be individually driven for each of the holding unit groups. Wafer detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the wafer;
6. The aligner according to claim 1, wherein the wafer detecting unit is provided in the aligner moving mechanism and is configured to move in the predetermined direction together with the alignment mechanism. .

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