JP2012231045A - Wafer carrier jig - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the generation of a scratch and a chipping by preventing mutual contact between wafers when manually housing or extracting a wafer to/from a wafer carrier.SOLUTION: A wafer carrier jig 1 includes a wafer protection plate group 20 corresponding to a plurality of slots 12 in number provided in a wafer carrier 11 and being fixed in a parallel state at intervals equal to the arrangement intervals of the slots 12. Each wafer protection plate 21 includes: an insertion portion 22 that has a width equal to or smaller than the diameter of a wafer 10 to be housed in the slots 12 and is inserted into the slots 12; and a pair of stoppers 23 that extends to a width direction of the insertion portion 22 and contacts to an opening surface 15 of the slots 12. The insertion portion 22 prevents contact between mutually neighboring wafers 10, to prevent the generation of a scratch or a chipping.

Description

The present invention relates to a jig used in a wafer manufacturing process, and particularly used when a wafer is manually stored in a wafer carrier used for transporting a wafer or when a wafer is manually removed from a wafer carrier. It relates to a jig.

Here, the wafer refers to a semiconductor single crystal wafer such as silicon, gallium arsenide, and gallium phosphorus, an oxide single crystal wafer such as sapphire, lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, GGG (gadolinium gallium garnet), aluminum, It refers to electronic material wafers such as disks for glass hard disks. The wafer is generally disc-shaped, and the wafers referred to in the present invention are all disc-shaped. The wafers handled in the present invention are mainly in the range of 2 to 6 inches in diameter, with the exception of silicon wafers exceeding 10 inches in diameter.

Many wafers are thin, fragile, and prone to wrinkling. In order to handle a wafer having such properties without damaging it, in general, a dedicated wafer carrier for storing the wafers in parallel in units of 25 is often used. As the material of the wafer carrier, a resin that has a small impact on the wafer during transportation, such as polypropylene or PFA (fluororesin), is selected. For example, a wafer carrier manufactured by Entegris (Patent Document 1) is well known.

The wafer carrier has a predetermined number of, for example, 25 strips of parallel groove-like slots at equal intervals, and is a mechanism for inserting and storing one wafer for each slot. These wafers are positioned in a state of being aligned at a predetermined interval so as not to contact each other. For this reason, the wafer carrier is convenient for batch processing by a processing apparatus used in each process of the wafer manufacturing process. For example, in the beveling process of chamfering the outer periphery of the wafer, if the wafer carrier containing the wafer is set at a fixed position of the beveling device, the position of the wafer relative to the beveling device is naturally determined. The position of the wafer can be easily recognized, and handling of the wafer can be automatically performed from the removal of the wafer, processing, and storage in the original slot.

The wafer carrier is also used when shipping the wafer. In this case, a new or washed wafer carrier is used, but it is often stored in units of 25 wafers. Generally, a wafer carrier that is repeatedly handled in a processing process or the like and is handled to a certain extent is made of polypropylene that is sturdy and inexpensive, and PFA that is less likely to generate dust or charge tends to be selected for shipment. Since the wafer carrier does not have a lid, when used for shipping, a case is used in which the wafer is stored together with the wafer carrier, and the wafer is pressed and fixed, and sealed. Furthermore, the case in which the wafer carrier is hermetically sealed is often subjected to exterior packing with aluminum or vinyl using a vacuum or an inert gas purge.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 07-019832

When the wafer is stored in the wafer carrier or taken out from the wafer carrier, there is actually little automatic handling like the beveling device mentioned as an example in the background art, and it is overwhelming when the operator handles it manually. Many. For example, in quality inspections for inspecting dirt and wrinkles on a wafer, an operator manually takes out wafers one by one from the wafer carrier, inspects them, and stores them in the wafer carrier.

In addition, representative wafers may be inspected by sampling the flatness, diameter, etc. of the wafers instead of all. When the wafer is stored in the wafer carrier or taken out from the wafer, the slot interval of the wafer carrier is only a few mm, so it is difficult to pick it up with a finger. Therefore, vacuum tweezers are often used.

The vacuum tweezers is a thin rod-shaped tool having a vacuum chuck with a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm at the tip. The wafer can be easily handled by inserting a vacuum chuck between the slots of the wafer carrier and adsorbing the wafer surface with the vacuum chuck. However, when an operator manually moves a wafer in and out of the wafer carrier, there is a problem that the wafer being handled is brought into contact with an adjacent wafer by being attracted by vacuum tweezers.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slot 12 of the wafer carrier 11 is a pair of grooves 14 provided so as to face each other at substantially the same interval as the diameter of the disk-shaped wafer 10 and to reduce the interval at the back of the slot. 10 is supported by grooves 14 on both sides of the equator portion of the outer periphery. However, in the state where the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 10 is not fitted in the groove 14 while the wafer 10 is being put in and out of the groove 14, the wafer 10 has no support. The wafer 10 attracted by the tweezers 33 comes into contact with the adjacent wafer 10 unintentionally immediately. Since contact leads to generation of wrinkles and chipping, the yield is reduced. If hit strongly, the wafer may break. Naturally, the greater the diameter, the higher the difficulty level. For example, in order to pull out a wafer having a diameter of 6 inches without coming into contact with an adjacent wafer, a suitable skill level and ability are required.

The invention of claim 1 includes a wafer protection plate group corresponding to the number of a plurality of slots provided in the wafer carrier and fixed in parallel with an interval equal to the arrangement interval of the slots. An insertion portion having a width equal to or smaller than the diameter of the wafer accommodated in the slot and inserted into the slot; and a pair of stopper portions extending in the width direction of the insertion portion and in contact with the opening surface of the slot; When the wafer is manually stored in the wafer carrier or taken out from the wafer carrier, the insertion portion is a wafer carrier jig that prevents contact between adjacent wafers and prevents wrinkles and chipping.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, each wafer protection plate has a notch that opens to the opening surface side of the slot so that the tip of vacuum tweezers for storing or taking out the wafer from the wafer carrier can be inserted. A wafer carrier jig characterized by having a relief portion due to the above-mentioned on the opposite side of the insertion portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer carrier jig wherein the material of each of the wafer protection plates is epoxy glass.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer carrier jig in which the stopper portions of the wafer protection plates are connected by a connecting plate, and the wafer protection plates are fixed in parallel with an interval equal to the arrangement interval of the slots. is there.

When the wafer carrier jig according to the present invention is used, a partition wall is provided by a wafer protection plate between adjacent slots of the wafer carrier. When the wafer is manually stored in the slot of the wafer carrier or from the slot, In the case of taking out, contact between adjacent wafers can be prevented, and wrinkles and chipping do not occur on the wafers. Regardless of the skill level and ability of the operator, the effect remains unchanged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, each wafer protection plate is provided with a relief portion by a notch opened on the opening surface side of the slot so that the tip of the vacuum tweezers can be inserted into the wafer carrier without difficulty from the relief portion.

In the invention of claim 3, since the material of each wafer protection plate is a relatively soft epoxy glass with respect to the wafer, even if the wafer and the wafer protection plate come into contact with each other during handling, wrinkles and chipping hardly occur on the wafer. .

In the invention of claim 4, since the stopper portion of each wafer protection plate is connected by a connecting plate, the number of wafer protection plates to be connected is compared with the case where a wafer carrier jig is manufactured by integral molding. Can be easily changed, and it is possible to flexibly cope with wafer carriers having different numbers of stored sheets.

(A) It is a top view of a wafer carrier. (B) It is a side view of a wafer carrier. It is a perspective view of the jig | tool for wafer carriers of this invention. (A) The top view which shows the operation | use form of the jig | tool for wafer carriers of this invention, (b) It is a side view. It is a top view which shows the operation | use form of the jig | tool for wafer carriers of this invention.

The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an example of a wafer 10 and a wafer carrier 11, and shows a state where the wafer 10 is accommodated in the wafer carrier 11. The wafer carrier jig 1 of the present invention is applied to a wafer carrier 11.

In the illustrated example, the wafer carrier 11 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box having an upper surface, and one side surface 16 having a short side has an approximately H shape having notches 17a and 17b on the upper and lower sides, and the other side. The entire side surface 18 of this is closed. The wafer carrier 11 is provided with 25 rows of slots 12 into which the wafers 10 are inserted from above, and a large number of slots 12 are formed in parallel at equal intervals on the inner surface of the side surface 19 facing the long side of the wafer carrier 11. It is constituted by the groove 14. A pair of opposed grooves 14 constitutes one slot 12. The pair of grooves 14 oppose each other at an interval substantially equal to the diameter of the disk-shaped wafer 10, and the interval is reduced below (at the back of the slot).

One wafer 10 is stored in each slot 12. The wafer 10 in the accommodated state is fitted in a pair of grooves 14 facing both sides of the lower outer peripheral portion from the equator portion (horizontal diameter), and supports its own weight by a reduced portion of the interval between the pair of grooves 14. It has been. For this reason, the 25 wafers 10 in the accommodated state are positioned in a state of being aligned at the same interval as the arrangement interval of the slots 12 and are not in contact with each other.

A pair of opening surfaces 15 of the slot 12 of the wafer carrier 11 are provided with wafer transfer fixing pins 12A and 12B and wafer transfer fixing holes 13A and 13B at both ends in the longitudinal direction. These are used for positioning to align the slots 12 of both wafer carriers 11 when the opening surfaces 15 of both wafer carriers 11 are aligned with each other in order to transfer the wafer 10 from the wafer carrier 11 to another wafer carrier 11.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wafer carrier jig 1 according to the present invention. The wafer carrier jig 1 has a plurality of substantially U-shaped wafer protection plates 21, and each of the plurality of wafer protection plates 21 forms a wafer protection plate group 20. The wafer protection plate group 20 includes wafer protection plates 21 corresponding to the number of the plurality of slots 12 included in the wafer carrier 11. In the illustrated example, the wafer protection plate group 20 includes 25 wafer protection plates 21. It is configured. A positioning piece 27 for positioning to be fitted to the transfer fixing pin 12A of the wafer carrier 11 is provided on the outer surface of the outermost one wafer protection plate 21.

Each wafer protection plate 21 is made of an epoxy glass plate having a thickness of about 1 mm, and the interval between adjacent wafer protection plates 21 is matched to the arrangement interval of the slots 12 of the wafer carrier 11. Each wafer protection plate 21 has an insertion portion 22 inserted into the slot 12 and a pair of stopper portions 23 extending in the width direction of the insertion portion 22 and in contact with the opening surface 15 of the slot 12. The insertion portion 22 has a width equal to or smaller than the diameter of the wafer 10 accommodated in the slot 12, and the tip in the insertion direction is processed into a semicircular shape. The pair of stopper portions 23 are formed so as to pass between the pair of opening surfaces 15 of the wafer carrier 11.

The end portion of the stopper portion 23 is fixed from the side surface by wafer protection plate connecting plates 25 and 26, and the plurality of wafer protection plates 21 are in parallel with an interval equal to the arrangement interval of the slots 12 of the wafer carrier 11. It is fixed.

Each wafer protection plate 21 is formed with a relief portion 35 by a notch at a portion opposite to the insertion portion 22. As shown in FIG. 3, when the wafer carrier jig 1 is mounted on the wafer carrier and the wafer protection plate 21 is inserted into the slot 12, the escape portion 35 opens to the opening surface side of the slot 12. The tip of vacuum tweezers 33 for storing the wafer 10 in the wafer carrier 11 from the escape portion 35 or taking it out from the wafer carrier 11 can be inserted into the wafer carrier 11.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation mode of the wafer carrier jig 1 according to the present invention. The wafer carrier jig 1 is mounted on the wafer carrier 11 with the stopper portion 23 in contact with the opening surface 15 of the wafer carrier 11, and the insertion portion 22 of the wafer protection plate group 20 is connected to the slot 12 of the wafer carrier 11. Has been inserted. Further, the outermost one wafer protection plate 21 of the wafer carrier jig 1 is applied to the wafer transfer fixing pin 12B, and the positioning piece 27 provided on the other wafer protection plate 21 is transferred to the wafer of the wafer carrier 11. The position of each wafer protection plate 21 coincides with the position of each slot 12 of the wafer carrier 11 by being fitted and positioned on the fixing pins 12A. In the illustrated example, the wafer carrier jig 1 is designed so that the wafer protection plate group 20 is positioned at the peak portion of the groove 14 of the slot 12 by the above positioning. The longitudinal dimension of the wafer carrier jig 1 is designed to be approximately equal to the distance between the wafer transfer fixing pins 12A and 12B. The protective plate 21 may be sandwiched and positioned.

When the wafer carrier jig 1 is mounted on the wafer carrier 11, the wafer protection plates 21 and the wafers 10 are alternately arranged in the wafer carrier 11, and the wafer 10 is manually attached to the wafer carrier 11 with the vacuum tweezers 33. When storing or taking out from the wafer carrier 11, the wafer protection plate group 20 serves as a guide for guiding the wafer 10 to the position of the slot 12, and serves as a partition that prevents contact with the adjacent wafer 10. Therefore, since the wafers 10 are unlikely to come into contact with each other, wrinkles and chipping do not occur on the wafer 10. This effect is unchanged regardless of the skill level and ability of the operator.

The wafer protection plate group 20 is preferably made of a material relatively soft with respect to the wafer 10 because the wafer 10 comes into contact with the wafer protection plate group 20 when it is stored in the wafer carrier 11 and when it is put in and out. In this example, epoxy glass is used. However, depending on the wafer 10, a softer material can be changed.

Further, when the wafer carrier jig 1 is mounted on the wafer carrier 11, the wafer protection plates 21 and the wafers 10 are alternately arranged in the wafer carrier 11. Compared to the case where the wafer carrier jig 1 is not mounted on the wafer carrier 11, the space in the wafer carrier 11 is reduced, and it becomes difficult to insert the tip of the vacuum tweezers 33 into the slot 12. In the present invention, as described above, the escape portion 35 is provided in the wafer protection plate 21 to secure a space for inserting the vacuum tweezers 33, and the tip of the vacuum tweezers 33 can be inserted into the wafer carrier 11 from the escape portion 35. I did it. Therefore, it can be said that the relief portion 35 has a substantially essential design for the wafer carrier jig 1 according to the present invention.

If a jig for tilting the wafer carrier, such as the wafer carrier tilting jig 30 shown in the figure, is used in combination, handling becomes easier and desirable.

3 is designed so that the wafer protection plate group 20 is positioned at the peak portion of the groove 14 of the slot 12, the positioning piece 27 is provided as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the wafer protection plate 20 group may be designed so as to be positioned in the valley portion of the groove 14 of the slot 12 by adjusting the longitudinal dimension of the wafer carrier jig 1. In this case, the wafer protection plate 21 and the wafer 10 exist in the groove 14 of the slot 12, but the thickness of the wafer 10 is much thinner than the width of the groove 14 of the slot 12. Absent.

Inspection of 100 lithium tantalate wafers with a diameter of 6 inches and a thickness of 0.25 mm (25 wafer storage wafer carrier x 4) with and without using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention Table 1 shows a comparison of the yield with the work. The operator repeatedly took out the wafers one by one from the wafer carrier, inspected, and stored them. When the inspection work was performed using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention, no wrinkles or chipping occurred due to contact with the wafer, whereas when the inspection work was performed without using the jig, the wafer The occurrence of wrinkles and chipping due to the contact of 3 sheets was 3 sheets, and the yield was 97%.

With and without using 500 wafers of lithium tantalate wafers with a diameter of 4 inches and a thickness of 0.20 mm (25 wafer storage wafer carriers × 20) using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention. Table 2 shows a comparison of the yield with the inspection work. The operator repeatedly took out the wafers one by one from the wafer carrier, inspected, and stored them. When the inspection work was performed using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention, no wrinkles or chipping occurred due to contact with the wafer, whereas when the inspection work was performed without using the jig, the wafer The occurrence of wrinkles and chipping due to the contact of 13 sheets was 13 and the yield was 97.4%.

With and without using 200 wafers (25 wafer storage wafer carrier × 8) of a lithium tantalate wafer having a diameter of 4 inches and a thickness of 0.15 mm using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention. Table 3 shows a comparison of the yield with the inspection work. The operator repeatedly took out the wafers one by one from the wafer carrier, inspected, and stored them. When the inspection work was performed using the wafer carrier jig of the present invention, no wrinkles or chipping occurred due to contact with the wafer, whereas when the inspection work was performed without using the jig, the wafer Occurrence of wrinkles and chipping due to the contact of 21 sheets was 21 and the yield was 94.5%.

As described above, when the wafer carrier jig 1 according to the present invention is used, when the wafer 10 is manually stored in the wafer carrier 11 or taken out from the wafer carrier 11, the wafer protection plate group 20 is cured. Since the tool 1 is inserted into the wafer carrier 1, the wafer protection plate group 20 functions as a guide and a partition, prevents contact between the wafers 10 and does not cause wrinkles or chipping. Although the wafer inspection experience of the operator who performed the inspection work in each embodiment is one year, the yield of the work fluctuates depending on the operator's proficiency level and the difference in ability. Since the yield in use also rises and falls as the operator changes, it is not always possible to evaluate the yield improvement level from the above embodiment. However, if the wafer carrier jig according to the present invention is used, The occurrence of wrinkles and chipping due to the contact of the film is eliminated, so that the effect of the present invention is not shaken and is unchanged.

The present invention is not limited to an electronic material wafer as long as it is a wafer-like object that requires the same quality as an electronic material.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wafer carrier jig | tool 10 Wafer 11 Wafer carrier 12 Slot 12A, 12B Wafer transfer fixing pin 13A, 13B Wafer transfer fixing hole 14 Groove 15 Opening surface 16 Side surface 17a, 17b Notch 18 Side surface 19 Side surface 20 Wafer protection plate group 21 Wafer protection plate 22 Insertion section 23 Stopper section 25, 26 Connecting plate 27 Positioning piece 30 Wafer carrier tilting jig 33 Vacuum tweezers 35 Escape section

Claims (4)

A wafer carrier jig,
Corresponding to the number of a plurality of slots provided in the wafer carrier, comprising a wafer protection plate group fixed in a parallel state at an interval equal to the arrangement interval of the slots,
Each of the wafer protection plates has a width equal to or less than the diameter of the wafer accommodated in the slot, and an insertion portion inserted into the slot, and a pair extending in the width direction of the insertion portion and in contact with the opening surface of the slot Having a stopper part,
When the wafer is manually stored in the wafer carrier or taken out of the wafer carrier, the insertion portion prevents contact between adjacent wafers and prevents wrinkles and chipping. Ingredients. Each of the wafer protection plates has a relief portion formed by a notch opening on the opening surface side of the slot so that a tip of vacuum tweezers for storing or taking out the wafer from the wafer carrier can be inserted. The wafer carrier jig according to claim 1, wherein the jig is on the opposite side of the wafer carrier. The wafer carrier jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a material of each wafer protection plate is epoxy glass. 3. The wafer protection plate is fixed in a parallel state at an interval equal to the arrangement interval of the slots by connecting stopper portions of the wafer protection plates with a connecting plate. The wafer carrier jig according to claim 3.

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