JP2014110374A - Front chamber lift arrangement mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a front chamber lift arrangement mechanism for preventing contamination of a processing substrate which is caused by fine particles generated by a substrate lifting motor mechanism 238 with a simple and inexpensive structure in a small manufacturing apparatus.SOLUTION: An apparatus front chamber 120 of a small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 is separated by a division plate 201 in an airtight manner to provide an anti-pollution chamber 210 and a drive chamber 220. A wafer lifting mechanism 230 includes: a lifting body 231 on which a semiconductor wafer 131 is placed; and a wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 which moves up and down the lifting body 231. The lifting body 231 is disposed in the anti-pollution chamber 210, and the wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 is disposed in the drive chamber 220. The wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 moves up and down a lifting shaft 232 and thereby moves up and down the lifting body 231 in a state where the anti-pollution chamber 210 and the drive chamber 220 are maintained in an airtight state. Thus, fine particles occurring in the wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 does not contaminate the semiconductor wafer 131.

Description

  The present invention relates to a front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism of a small manufacturing apparatus used in a process of manufacturing a device (semiconductor device or the like) using a small-diameter processing substrate (for example, a semiconductor wafer or the like).

  A conventional manufacturing apparatus will be described with an example of an apparatus used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, that is, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

  Conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are premised on manufacturing a small number of semiconductor devices in large quantities. In order to manufacture the same type of semiconductor devices in large quantities and at low cost, it is desirable to use a large-diameter semiconductor wafer. By using a large-diameter semiconductor wafer, a large number of semiconductor devices can be manufactured at the same time, making it easy to manufacture a large number of the same type of semiconductor devices and to reduce the manufacturing cost per chip. Become. For this reason, a very large manufacturing apparatus has been used in the conventional semiconductor manufacturing process. Accordingly, the semiconductor manufacturing factory is also very large, and expensive construction is required for the construction and operation of the factory.

  In a general semiconductor manufacturing process, a sealed wafer transfer container is used when a semiconductor wafer is transferred between the processing apparatuses. The wafer transfer container is set in the front chamber of the processing apparatus in a state where the semiconductor wafer is accommodated. Then, this semiconductor wafer is carried into the front chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Subsequently, the semiconductor wafer is transferred from the front chamber to the processing chamber and subjected to desired film forming processing, processing processing, inspection processing, and the like. Thereafter, the semiconductor wafer is transferred to the wafer transfer container via the front chamber and stored again.

  In order to ensure a sufficient yield of semiconductor devices, the semiconductor wafer is prevented from being contaminated by fine particles during the process of transferring from the wafer transfer container to the processing chamber via the front chamber and the process of returning from the process chamber to the wafer transfer container. It is necessary to. As a technique for preventing such contamination, for example, techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below are known.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,970 US Pat. No. 4,674,939

  In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for high-mix low-volume production of semiconductor devices. In addition, when a semiconductor device is prototyped in research and development, it is desired to manufacture one or several semiconductor devices. In order to satisfy such demand, a technique for manufacturing a semiconductor device at low cost using a small-diameter semiconductor wafer is desired.

  Further, as described above, when a large-scale factory manufactures a large number of products of the same product type, it is very difficult to adjust the production amount according to market demand fluctuations. This is because a small amount of production cannot secure a profit commensurate with the operating cost of the factory. Furthermore, the semiconductor manufacturing factory requires a large amount of construction investment and operation costs, and therefore has a drawback that it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to enter.

  For these reasons, there is a demand for a technique for performing low-volume production of a wide variety of semiconductor devices at low cost using a small-diameter semiconductor wafer or a small manufacturing apparatus in a small-scale manufacturing factory or the like.

  However, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus using the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is not suitable for a small manufacturing apparatus because the size of the front chamber becomes large.

  Such a problem occurs not only in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus but also in an apparatus for manufacturing an electronic device by processing a sapphire substrate, an aluminum substrate, or the like, an apparatus for manufacturing an optical device, or the like.

  The subject of this invention is providing the front chamber elevator arrangement | positioning mechanism of the small manufacturing apparatus which performs low-cost production of many kinds of semiconductor devices using a small-diameter semiconductor wafer.

  The small-sized manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention places a processing chamber for performing a desired process on a processing substrate, a front chamber for loading and unloading the processing substrate between the processing chamber, and the processing substrate. In addition, a front chamber lift arrangement mechanism of a small manufacturing apparatus provided with a substrate lift mechanism provided in the front chamber of the apparatus, wherein the substrate lift mechanism includes a lift body on which the processing substrate is placed; A substrate raising / lowering motor mechanism for raising and lowering the raising / lowering body, and the front chamber of the apparatus is provided with a cleaning chamber on the upper side, and a driving chamber separated airtightly from the cleaning chamber is provided below. Provided on the side, wherein the elevating body is arranged in the clean chamber, and the substrate elevating motor mechanism is arranged in the drive chamber.

  In the front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism of the present invention, a partition plate that separates the device front chamber into the clean chamber and the drive chamber, a through hole provided in the partition plate, and a lower surface of the lift body A substrate raising / lowering bellows whose upper end is hermetically fixed and whose lower end is hermetically fixed to the upper surface of the partition plate so as to surround the outer edge of the through hole, and which can be expanded and contracted in the lifting direction, and the through hole and the substrate It is preferable that a lifting shaft that passes through a lifting bellows and is connected and fixed to the lower surface of the lifting body is lifted and lowered by the substrate lifting motor mechanism.

  According to the present invention, the substrate elevating motor mechanism can raise and lower the elevating body in a state where the cleaning chamber and the drive chamber are kept airtight, thereby processing the substrate by the fine particles generated by the substrate elevating motor mechanism. Contamination can be prevented.

  Furthermore, while keeping the cleaning chamber and the drive chamber airtight using the substrate lifting bellows, and by raising and lowering the lifting body using the lifting shaft penetrating this substrate lifting bellows, with a very simple structure, The processing substrate can be prevented from being contaminated by fine particles generated by the substrate lifting motor mechanism at a low cost.

It is a perspective view which shows notionally the whole structure of the small sized manufacturing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows roughly the structure of the apparatus front chamber which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a left view which shows roughly the whole internal structure of the apparatus front chamber which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a front view which shows roughly the whole internal structure of the apparatus front chamber which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 4 which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 4 which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a side view which shows the structure of the conveyance arm which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the structure of a transfer arm according to the first embodiment. It is a top view which shows the state which decomposed | disassembled the conveyance arm which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. 8 which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the small manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the small manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the small manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the small manufacturing apparatus which concerns on the same Embodiment 1. FIG.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described taking as an example the case where the present invention is applied to a front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view conceptually showing the overall configuration of the small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view schematically showing the structure of the apparatus front chamber 120. 3 to 6 are schematic views showing the internal structure of the apparatus front chamber 120. FIG. 3 is a left side view, FIG. 4 is a front view, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 4.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, the small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment accommodates a processing chamber 110 and an apparatus front chamber 120 as a front chamber. The processing chamber 110 and the apparatus front chamber 120 are configured to be separable. Thereby, the apparatus front chamber 120 can be made common to various types of processing chambers 110, and thus the manufacturing cost of the entire small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be reduced.

  The processing chamber 110 receives the semiconductor wafer 131 from the front chamber 120 through a wafer transfer port (not shown). Then, a known process (that is, film formation, etching, inspection process, etc.) is performed on the semiconductor wafer 131. A detailed description of the processing chamber 110 is omitted. In the first embodiment, a semiconductor wafer 131 having a small diameter of 20 mm or less (for example, 12.5 ± 0.2 mm) is used.

  On the other hand, the apparatus front chamber 120 is a room for taking out the semiconductor wafer 131 accommodated in the wafer transfer container 130 and transferring it to the processing chamber 110.

  The apparatus front chamber 120 has a casing composed of a top plate 120a, side plates 120b-120e, etc. formed of metal or the like, and the front side of the top plate 120a protrudes from the side plate 120b. A back plate 120f is provided on the back side (see FIG. 4). A gap between the top plate 120a and the back plate 120f forms an air supply path 120g for introducing air from the outside into the apparatus front chamber 120 (details will be described later).

  On the top plate 120a of the front chamber 120 of the apparatus, a container mounting table 121 (see FIG. 3) for mounting the wafer transfer container 130, and a pressing lever 122 for pressing and fixing the mounted wafer transfer container 130 from above ( 2). As will be described later, the semiconductor wafer 131 carried into the apparatus front chamber 120 from the wafer transfer container 130 passes through the transfer port 120h (see FIG. 3) and is transferred to the processing chamber 110 using the transfer arm 123. . In addition, an operation button 124 and the like for operating the small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 are provided on the top plate 120a of the apparatus front chamber 120.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the front chamber 120 is driven by a partition plate 201 that houses a clean chamber 210 into which semiconductor wafers 131 are carried in and out, and motor mechanisms 238, 245, 249 described later. The chamber 220 is partitioned in an airtight manner.

  Further, in the front chamber 120 of the apparatus, a wafer lifting mechanism 230 that loads and unloads the semiconductor wafer 131 to and from the wafer transfer container 130 set on the container mounting table 121, and the processing chamber 110 using the transfer arm 123. A horizontal transfer mechanism 240 for carrying in / out the semiconductor wafer 131 is provided.

  First, the structure of the wafer lifting mechanism 230 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The wafer elevating mechanism 230 has a substantially cylindrical elevating body 231 on which the semiconductor wafer 131 is placed. A mounting portion 231 a having a reduced diameter is formed on the upper surface of the elevating body 231. For example, three protrusions 231b are provided on the upper surface of the mounting portion 231a. And the delivery bottom part 132 of the wafer conveyance container 130 is hold | maintained in the state which mounted the semiconductor wafer 131 on these protrusion 231b (it mentions later for details). As shown in FIG. 5, the lifting body 231 is supported by a lifting shaft 232 so as to be movable up and down.

  The elevating shaft 232 passes through the opening hole 201a of the partition plate 201 and a wafer elevating bellows 233 (details will be described later) and is connected and fixed to the lower surface central portion of the elevating body 231. Yes.

  The wafer elevating bellows 233 is provided to maintain the airtightness between the clean chamber 210 and the drive chamber 220. The upper end of the wafer elevating bellows 233 is airtightly fixed to the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the elevating body 231. Further, the lower end of the wafer elevating bellows 233 is airtightly fixed on the upper surface of the partition plate 201 so as to surround the outer edge of the opening hole 201a. The wafer lifting bellows 233 expands and contracts in the vertical direction as the lifting body 231 moves up and down.

  Further, the elevating shaft 232 is supported by a support member 234 formed in a substantially L shape. The lower end of the lifting shaft 232 is supported and fixed to the upper plate portion 234a of the support member 234. The side plate portion 234b of the support member 234 is fixedly supported by a nut 236 described later. A screw shaft 235 is screwed onto the nut 236.

  The screw shaft 235 is disposed in the drive chamber 220 along the vertical direction. The upper end of the screw shaft 235 is rotatably supported on the lower surface of the partition plate 201. On the other hand, the lower end of the screw shaft 235 is supported in a state of being connected to the rotation shaft of the wafer lifting / lowering motor mechanism 238.

  The nut 236 is raised along the guide member 237 when the wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 rotates the screw shaft 235 in one direction, and is lowered along the guide member 237 when rotated in the other direction. .

  Next, the structure of the horizontal transport mechanism 240 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The horizontal transfer mechanism 240 includes a transfer arm 123, a mechanism for raising and lowering the transfer arm 123, and a mechanism for extending and retracting the transfer arm 123.

  A mechanism for raising and lowering the transfer arm 123 includes a slide mechanism 241 and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the slide mechanism 241 includes a guide plate 241a and a slide plate 241b. The guide plate 241 a is fixed to the upper surface of the partition plate 201. The slide plate 241b moves up and down as guided by the guide plate 241a. A lift plate 242 is fixed to the slide plate 241b, and the lift plate 242 is disposed substantially horizontally.

  The arm elevating bellows 243a and 243b are provided to maintain the airtightness between the clean chamber 210 and the drive chamber 220. The upper ends of the arm elevating bellows 243a and 243b are airtightly fixed to the lower surface of the elevating plate 242. The lower ends of the arm elevating bellows 243a and 243b are airtightly fixed to the upper surface of the partition plate 201 so as to surround the outer edges of the opening holes 201b and 201c. These arm elevating bellows 243a and 243b expand and contract in the vertical direction as the elevating plate 242 moves up and down.

  The elevating shaft 244 moves the elevating plate 242 up and down. The upper end portion of the elevating shaft 244 is press-fitted into a press-fitting hole 242 a provided on the lower surface of the elevating plate 242. On the other hand, the lower end of the lifting shaft 243 is in contact with and supported by the upper surface of a plate 245d (details will be described later) provided in the arm lifting motor mechanism 245.

  The arm lifting / lowering motor mechanism 245 includes a motor 245a. When the motor 245a rotates the cam 245b, the rotating plate 245c moves up and down while rotating, so that the plate 245d moves up and down.

  The support bases 246 a and 246 b have a substantially cylindrical shape, and are mounted and fixed on the upper surface of the elevating plate 242.

  A base plate 700 (details will be described later) of the transfer arm 123 is placed and fixed on the upper surfaces of the support bases 246a and 246b.

  A mechanism for expanding and contracting the transfer arm 123 includes an arm extension motor mechanism 249 and the like.

  The arm expansion / contraction motor mechanism 249 rotates the drive shaft 248 and thereby expands / contracts the transport arm 123. The arm telescopic motor mechanism 249 is fixed to a plate 245d that moves up and down. Therefore, the arm telescopic motor mechanism 249 and the drive shaft 248 also move up and down as the plate 245d moves up and down.

  7 to 10 are schematic views showing the structure of the transfer arm 123. FIG. 7 is a side view, FIG. 8 is a plan view, FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an exploded state, and FIG. It is C sectional drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the transfer arm 123 moves the first slide arm 710, the second slide arm 720, the third slide arm 730, and the fourth slide arm 740 vertically on the base plate 700. It has a laminated structure. The transfer arm 123 carries the semiconductor wafer 131 into the processing chamber 110 via the transfer port 120h of the front chamber 120 and the connecting portion 140 that hermetically connects the front chamber 120 and the processing chamber 110. (See FIG. 8).

  As shown in FIG. 9, pulleys 701 and 702 are provided at both ends of the base plate 700. A belt 703 is wound between the pulleys 701 and 702. The pulley 701 is connected to the drive shaft 248 described above, and rotates according to the rotation of the drive shaft 248.

  Further, the base plate 700 includes a slide member 704. The slide member 704 is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction by the guide rail 705. Further, the slide member 704 holds the belt 703 and is connected and fixed to the bottom surface of the first slide arm 710 provided in the upper stage.

  In addition, the base plate 700 includes a transmission member 706. The transmission member 706 is disposed behind the pulley 702 (on the right side in FIGS. 7 to 9) and is fixed to the base plate 700. The transmission member 706 holds the belt 713 of the first slide arm 710 provided in the upper stage. Further, the transmission member 706 contacts the right side surface of the upper first slide arm 710 and guides the movement of the first slide arm 710.

  Pulleys 711 and 712 are rotatably provided at both ends of the first slide arm 710, and a belt 713 is wound between the pulleys 711 and 712.

  Further, the first slide arm 710 includes a slide member 714. The slide member 714 is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction by the guide of the guide rail 715. Further, the slide member 714 sandwiches the belt 713 and is connected and fixed to the bottom surface of the second slide arm 720 provided in the upper stage.

  In addition, the first slide arm 710 includes a transmission member 716. The transmission member 716 is disposed behind the pulley 712 (on the right side in FIGS. 7 to 9) and is fixed to the first slide arm 710. The transmission member 716 holds the belt 723 of the second slide arm 720 provided in the upper stage. Further, the transmission member 716 contacts the left side surface of the upper second slide arm 720 to guide the movement of the second slide arm 720.

  Similar to the first slide arm described above, pulleys 721 and 722 are rotatably provided at both ends of the second slide arm 710, and a belt 723 is wound between the pulleys 721 and 722.

  The slide member 724 of the second slide arm 710 is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction by guidance of the guide rail 725. The slide member 724 sandwiches the belt 723 and is connected and fixed to the bottom surface of the upper third slide arm 730.

  Further, the transmission member 726 of the second slide arm 720 is disposed behind the pulley 722 (on the right side in FIGS. 7 to 9) and is fixed to the second slide arm 720. The transmission member 726 holds the belt 733 of the third slide arm 730 provided in the upper stage. Further, the transmission member 726 contacts the right side surface of the third slide arm 730 and guides the movement of the third slide arm 730.

  Pulleys 731 and 732 are provided at both ends of the third slide arm 730. The pulleys 731 and 732 are rotatably provided. A belt 733 is wound between the pulleys 731 and 732.

  Further, the slide member 734 of the third slide arm 730 is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction by the guide of the guide rail 735. Further, the slide member 734 holds the belt 733.

  The fourth slide arm 740 includes a horizontal plate 741 that extends in a direction perpendicular to the extending and contracting direction of the transport arm 123. The horizontal plate 741 is connected and fixed to the slide member 734 of the third slide arm 730 described above.

  Further, the fourth slide arm 740 includes a hand portion 742 that is fixed to the tip of the horizontal plate 741 and extends in the extending / contracting direction of the transport arm 123.

  A suction hole 743 for vacuum-sucking a semiconductor wafer 131 (not shown in FIGS. 7 to 10) is provided at the tip portion of the hand portion 742. The suction hole 743 is connected to the suction hole 745 via the suction pipe 744 (see FIG. 9). The suction hole 745 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) through a resin pipe (not shown).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the apparatus front chamber 120 includes an air supply valve 251 and an exhaust valve 252.

  The air supply valve 251 is provided on the back plate 120f (see FIG. 4). The air supply valve 251 introduces clean air or the like from which fine particles have been removed by filtering or the like into the air supply path 120g from the outside.

  The exhaust valve 253 is fixed to the lower side of the exhaust port 201d. An exhaust pipe 257 is connected to the exhaust valve 253.

  Next, the container mounting table 121 will be described.

  As described above, the wafer transfer container 130 is set on the container mounting table 121. Then, the delivery bottom portion 132 of the wafer transfer container 130 is carried into the clean chamber 210 with the semiconductor wafer 131 placed thereon. As the wafer transfer container 130, for example, the transfer container disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-131470 can be used.

  On the other hand, when the wafer transfer container 130 is not set, the opening of the container mounting table 121 is closed by the upper end portion of the elevating body 231 (not shown).

  Next, the operation of the small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, when the wafer transfer container 130 is not set, the elevating body 231 rises to the highest position and closes the carry-in port 121a of the container mounting table 121. Thereby, it is possible to prevent external dust and the like from being mixed into the clean chamber 210 from the carry-in port 121a. In this state, the wafer transfer container 130 is set on the container mounting table 121 (see FIG. 11). At this time, the delivery bottom portion 132 of the wafer transfer container 130 is held by the elevating body 231 by, for example, an attractive force of an electromagnet (not shown).

  After the wafer transfer container 130 is set on the container mounting table 121, the wafer transfer container 130 is pressed and fixed onto the container mounting table 121 by pushing down the lever 122.

  Next, when the wafer lift motor mechanism 238 is driven, the screw shaft 235 starts to rotate. As a result, the nut 236 descends, and as a result, the elevating body 231 descends as the elevating shaft 232 descends (see FIG. 12). In the first embodiment, since the cleaning chamber 210 is sealed from the driving chamber 220 by the wafer lifting bellows 233, even if fine particles are diffused due to the driving of the wafer lifting motor mechanism 238 and the screw shaft 235, There is no possibility that the inside of the clean chamber 210 is contaminated.

  When the elevating body 231 is lowered, the delivery bottom portion 132 of the wafer transfer container 130 is lowered while being held by the elevating body 231 (see FIG. 12). As a result, the semiconductor wafer 131 is carried into the apparatus front chamber 120 while being placed on the delivery bottom portion 132. When the delivery bottom portion 132 is lowered, the lid portion 133 closes the container mounting table 121 as it is. For this reason, even if the delivery bottom part 132 is carried into the apparatus front chamber 120, the possibility that fine particles enter the apparatus front chamber 120 is small.

  When the elevating body 231 descends to a predetermined position and stops, next, the wafer expansion / contraction motor mechanism 249 is driven, whereby the drive shaft 248 starts to rotate, and thereby the pulley 701 of the base plate 700 starts to rotate. (See FIGS. 9 and 13).

  When the pulley 701 rotates, the belt 703 rotates. As described above, the slide member 704 holds the belt 703 and is connected and fixed to the bottom surface of the first slide arm 710. Therefore, when the belt 703 rotates, the slide member 704 is guided by the rail 705 and moves in the extending direction (left direction in FIG. 9). As a result, the first slide arm 710 also moves in the extending direction.

  Further, as described above, the transmission member 706 is fixed to the base plate 700 and holds the belt 713 of the first slide arm 710. For this reason, when the first slide arm 710 moves in the extending direction, the belt 713 of the first slide arm 710 starts to rotate.

  When the belt 713 rotates, the slide member 714 of the first slide arm 710 is guided by the rail 715 and moves in the extending direction. Accordingly, the second slide arm 720 moves relative to the first slide arm 710 in the extending direction. When the second slide arm 720 moves relatively, the belt 723 of the second slide arm 720 is rotated by the transmission member 716 of the first slide arm 710.

  When the belt 723 rotates, the slide member 724 of the second slide arm 720 is guided by the rail 725 and moves in the extending direction. As a result, the third slide arm 730 moves in the extension direction relative to the second slide arm 720. When the third slide arm 730 moves relatively, the belt 733 of the third slide arm 730 is rotated by the transmission member 726 of the second slide arm 720.

  When the belt 733 rotates, the slide member 734 of the third slide arm 730 is guided by the rail 735 and moves in the extending direction. As a result, the fourth slide arm 740 moves in the extension direction relative to the third slide arm 730.

  In this way, the transport arm 123 can be extended by the rotation of the drive shaft 248. In the first embodiment, since the clean chamber 210 is sealed from the drive chamber 220 by the arm lifting bellows 243b, even if the arm telescopic motor mechanism 249 or the drive shaft 248 is driven and the fine particles are diffused, the clean chamber is cleaned. There is no possibility that the inside of the chamber 210 is contaminated.

  First, the transfer arm 123 extends to the position of the elevating body 231 and stops in a state where the tip end portion (portion where the suction hole 743 is provided) enters the gap between the semiconductor wafer 131 and the delivery bottom portion 132. Then, by further driving the wafer lift motor mechanism 238 to slightly lower the lift body 231 again, the semiconductor is placed on the suction hole 743 provided in the hand portion 742 (see FIG. 9) of the fourth slide arm 740. A wafer 131 is placed. Further, the semiconductor wafer 131 is vacuum-sucked to the hand portion 742 by exhausting from the exhaust hole 745.

  Subsequently, the rotation of the drive shaft 248 is resumed, and the transfer arm 123 is extended into the processing chamber 110. Then, the semiconductor wafer 131 is transferred onto the wafer mounting table 111 in the processing chamber 110 (see FIG. 14).

  Then, the extension of the transfer arm is stopped by stopping the rotation of the drive shaft 248, and then the suction of the semiconductor wafer 131 is stopped by stopping the exhaust from the exhaust hole 745.

  Next, the arm lifting / lowering motor mechanism 245 is driven to slightly rotate the cam 245b. As a result, the rotating plate 245c is lowered and the plate 245d is also lowered. As a result, the entire transfer arm 123 and the horizontal transfer mechanism 240 are slightly lowered. As a result, the semiconductor wafer 131 is mounted on the wafer mounting table 111. In the first embodiment, since the transfer arm can be lifted and lowered using the arm lift motor mechanism 245, it is not necessary to provide a lift mechanism on the wafer mounting table 111.

  Subsequently, the transfer arm 123 contracts and returns to the clean chamber 210. Thereby, the transfer of the semiconductor wafer 131 from the wafer transfer container 130 to the processing chamber 110 is completed. Thereafter, desired processing is performed on the semiconductor wafer 131 in the processing chamber 110.

  The transfer of the semiconductor wafer 131 from the inside of the processing chamber 110 to the wafer transfer container 130 is performed by an operation reverse to the above description.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the wafer lifting / lowering motor mechanism 238 can lift and lower the lifting / lowering body 231 while the clean chamber 210 and the drive chamber 220 are kept airtight. Thereby, contamination of the semiconductor wafer 131 by the fine particles generated by the wafer lifting / lowering motor mechanism 238 can be prevented.

  In the first embodiment, the airtightness between the clean chamber 210 and the drive chamber 220 is realized by using the wafer lifting bellows 233. Then, the lifting / lowering body 231 is lifted / lowered using the lifting / lowering shaft 232 penetrating the wafer lifting / lowering bellows 233. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the contamination of the semiconductor wafer due to the fine particles generated by the wafer lifting / lowering motor mechanism can be prevented with a very simple structure and at a low cost.

  In the first embodiment, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus using a semiconductor wafer has been described as an example. However, the present invention is applicable to other types of substrates (for example, insulating substrates such as a sapphire substrate and conductive materials such as an aluminum substrate). The present invention can also be applied to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a device from a conductive substrate.

  In the first embodiment, a semiconductor device is taken as an example of “device”. However, the present invention is also applied to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing other types of devices (for example, optical devices such as optical elements and optical integrated circuits). Can be applied.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to an apparatus that processes a substrate, but also to an apparatus that performs other steps in the manufacturing process (for example, a device inspection step). The “processing chamber” of the present invention includes one that performs these other steps.

  In this embodiment, the first to fourth slide arms 710 to 740 of the transfer arm 123 are stacked in the vertical direction. However, a plurality of slide arms may be stacked in the horizontal direction. It may be a configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Small semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 110 Processing chamber 120 Apparatus front chamber 121 Container mounting stand 123 Transfer arm 130 Wafer transfer container 131 Semiconductor wafer 132 Delivery bottom part 133 Cover part 201 Partition plate 210 Clean room 220 Drive room 230 Wafer raising / lowering mechanism 231 Lifting body 231a Placement portion 231b Protrusion 231c Protrusion tip 231d O-ring 232 Elevating shaft 233 Wafer elevating bellows 234 Support member 235 Screw shaft 236 Nut 237 Guide member 238 Wafer elevating motor mechanism 240 Horizontal transport mechanism 241 Slide mechanism 242 Elevating plates 243a, 243b Arm elevating Bellows 244 Lift shaft 245 Arm lift motor mechanism 246a, 246b Support base 248 Drive shaft 249 Arm telescopic motor mechanism 251 Air supply valve 252 Exhaust valve 253 Exhaust Trachea 700 Base plate 701, 702, 711, 712, 721, 722, 731, 732 Pulley 703, 713, 723, 733 Belt 704, 714, 724, 734 Slide member 705, 715, 725, 735 Guide rail 706, 716 726, 736 Transmission member 710 First slide arm 720 Second slide arm 730 Third slide arm 740 Fourth slide arm

Claims (2)

A processing chamber for performing a desired process on the processing substrate; an apparatus front chamber for carrying the processing substrate into and out of the processing chamber; and a chamber for mounting the processing substrate. In addition, it is a front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism of a small manufacturing apparatus provided with a substrate elevation mechanism,
The substrate lifting mechanism includes a lifting body on which the processing substrate is placed, and a substrate lifting motor mechanism that lifts and lowers the lifting body,
In the front chamber of the apparatus, a cleaning chamber into which the processing substrate is carried is provided on the upper side, and a driving chamber that is airtightly separated from the cleaning chamber is provided on the lower side.
The lifting body is disposed in the clean chamber, and the substrate lifting motor mechanism is disposed in the drive chamber.
A front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism characterized by that. A partition plate for separating the front chamber of the apparatus into the cleaning chamber and the drive chamber;
A through hole provided in the partition plate;
A substrate lifting bellows that can be expanded and contracted in the lifting direction, with an upper end airtightly fixed to the lower surface of the lifting body and a lower end airtightly fixed to the upper surface of the partition plate so as to surround the outer edge of the through hole.
An elevating shaft that penetrates the through hole and the substrate elevating bellows and is connected and fixed to the lower surface of the elevating body,
Raising and lowering the elevating body by raising and lowering the elevating shaft by the substrate elevating motor mechanism;
The front chamber elevator arrangement mechanism according to claim 1.

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