JP2014165438A - Substrate position correction method, substrate position correction device, and substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate position correction method capable of correcting a position of a substrate into a regular position in a container.SOLUTION: A MAC (Multi Application Carrier) 11 has: grooves 11e with which end parts of wafers W engage, respectively; and a lid 11b with grooves which engage with end parts of the wafers W, respectively. The grooves 11e and the grooves formed on the lid 11b regulate positions of the wafers W by the engagement when attaching the lid 11b to a main body 11a. The MAC 11 is placed on a placement part 18 of a load port 16 and a bottom part of the main body 11a of the MAC 11 is engaged with a plurality of pins 23. The lid 11b is engaged with an inner lid 20 of the load port 16. Then, the lid 11b is removed from a port 19 together with the inner lid 20, by a lid opening mechanism 21. Here, the respective pins 23 apply ultrasonic vibration to the main body 11a of the MAC 11 before confirmation of positions of the respective wafers W by a mapping sensor 22 and before taking out the respective wafers W by a carrier arm of a loader module 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate position correcting method in a container that accommodates a plurality of substrates, a substrate position correcting device that corrects the position of a substrate accommodated in the container, and a substrate processing system.

  A semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 300 mm (hereinafter simply referred to as “wafer”) is moved and transported while being accommodated in a casing-like container in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device. For example, a container called a FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Box) is used to move from a wafer manufacturing company to a semiconductor device manufacturing company for transport within the semiconductor device manufacturing company (for example, transport between devices in a clean room). A container called FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) is used.

  Each of FOSB and FOUP accommodates a plurality of wafers, and is constituted by a casing-like main body from which one side is removed and an opening is formed, and a lid that closes the lid opening. Further, the FOSB and FOUP have a wafer holding portion made up of a plurality of shelf-like projections on the inner side surface of the main body and the inner surface of the lid, and each end of each wafer is engaged with a groove formed by each shelf-like projection. Hold the wafer. Each wafer accommodated and moved in the FOSB from the wafer manufacturing company is transferred to the FOUP in the semiconductor device manufacturing company.

  On the other hand, various standards for using a wafer of a diameter of 450 mm, which is the next generation wafer, have been determined, but the container for storing the wafer is not limited to FOSB and FOUP, but also MAC (Multi Application Carrier) It has been decided that a container called "" is also used (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  7 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of the MAC, FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the main body, FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the lid, and FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view. It is. For the sake of explanation, in FIG. 7 (B), the lid 11b is usually drawn so that the surface facing the main body side faces the front.

  7A to 7C, the MAC 11 also has a casing-like main body 11a from which one side is removed and an opening is formed, and a lid 11b that closes the lid opening, as in the case of FOSB and FOUP. The main body 11a and the lid 11b have wafer holding portions 11c and 11d in which a plurality of grooves 11e and 11f are formed, respectively, but for the purpose of improving throughput, the movement from the wafer manufacturing company to the semiconductor device manufacturing company and Used for any transfer within a semiconductor device manufacturer.

  Also, in the MAC, when the lid 11b closes the opening of the main body 11a so that the wafers W accommodated by movement and transfer are not displaced, the lid 11b is directed toward the main body 11a by a lever or a spring (none of which is shown). (FIG. 7C). Thus, each wafer W whose end is engaged with each of the grooves 11e and 11f of the wafer holding portions 11c and 11d is a V-shaped bottom (hereinafter simply referred to as “bottom”) that is laid down in each of the grooves 11e and 11f. ) Is pressed to 11g, and the position is fixed by the reaction force received from each bottom 11g (FIG. 8 (A)).

  When a predetermined process is performed on each wafer W, the MAC is mounted on the substrate processing system, and the accommodated wafer W is taken out by removing the lid 11b of the MAC.

  When the MAC lid 11b is removed in the state shown in FIG. 8A, the pressure on the bottom 11g of the wafer W is released in each groove 11e of the wafer holding portion 11c, and the wafer W slides down along the slope of the bottom 11g. The end portion of the wafer W engages with the flat portion of the groove 11e (FIG. 8B). Since the flat portion of the groove 11e is normally formed horizontally, the wafer W is also held horizontally inside the main body 11a.

“Japan Update: SEMI Standards Technical Education Program (STEP) on 450 mm Wafer at SEMICON Japan 2012”, Hirofumi Kanno, SEMI Japan, [Search January 23, 2013], Internet (URL: http: //www.semi .org / jp / node / 17061)

  However, when the MAC lid 11b is removed, the wafer W may not slide down smoothly, and the end of the wafer W may be caught on the slope of the bottom 11g (FIG. 8C). In this case, the wafer W is inclined inside the main body 11a. However, when the wafer W is inclined, the position of the end of the wafer W in the opening of the main body 11a is shifted from the normal position. It is difficult to count the exact number of wafers W by the mapping sensor that counts. Further, when the wafer W is taken out from the main body 11a by the transfer arm, the transfer arm and the wafer W may interfere with each other.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate position correcting method, a substrate position correcting apparatus, and a substrate processing system capable of correcting a position of a substrate in a container to a normal position.

  To achieve the above object, a substrate position correcting method according to claim 1 is a container for accommodating a plurality of substrates, a main body formed in a housing shape and provided with an opening on one side surface, and A cover for covering the opening of the main body, and provided with a substrate holding portion in which a plurality of grooves are formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the main body, and the end portions of the substrates are engaged with the grooves, When the lid is attached to the main body, the lid and each groove is a substrate position correcting method in a container that regulates the position of each substrate, the removing step of removing the lid, and the lid being removed And a vibration applying step for applying vibration to the main body.

  The substrate position correcting method according to a second aspect is the substrate position correcting method according to the first aspect, wherein the vibration applying step is executed before each substrate is taken out from the main body.

  The substrate position correcting method according to claim 3 is the substrate position correcting method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vibration applying step is executed in the main body before confirming the position of each substrate. .

  The substrate position correcting method according to claim 4 is the substrate position correcting method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the vibration applying step, ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body. To do.

  The substrate position correcting method according to claim 5 is the substrate position correcting method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein gas is introduced into the main body in the vibration applying step. To do.

  A substrate position correcting method according to a sixth aspect is the substrate position correcting method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 450 mm.

  In order to achieve the above object, a substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 7 is a container for storing a plurality of substrates, and a main body formed in a housing shape and provided with an opening on one side surface; A substrate holding portion having a cover for covering the opening of the main body, and having a plurality of grooves formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the main body, and an end portion of each substrate is engaged with each groove. When the lid is attached to the body, the lid and each groove is a substrate position correcting device that corrects the position of each substrate in a container that regulates the position of each substrate, and after the lid is removed The vibration is applied to the main body.

  The substrate position correcting apparatus according to an eighth aspect is the substrate position correcting apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body.

  The substrate position correcting device according to claim 9 is the substrate position correcting device according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising: a mounting portion on which the container is mounted, and vibration application to the mounting portion that imparts vibration to the container. A mechanism is provided.

  The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 10 is the substrate position correcting apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein a gas introduction mechanism for introducing gas into the inside of the main body is provided in the mounting portion. It is characterized by.

  The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 11 is the substrate position correcting apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 450 mm.

  In order to achieve the above object, a substrate processing system according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is provided with a substrate unloading device for loading a substrate in which a plurality of substrates are accommodated and unloading each substrate from the container, and a predetermined amount for each substrate. In a substrate processing system including at least a substrate processing apparatus for performing processing, the container includes a main body formed in a casing shape and provided with an opening on one side surface, and a lid that covers the opening of the main body. A substrate holding portion having a plurality of grooves formed on at least a part of the inner side surface of the main body, and when the end of each substrate is engaged with each groove and the lid is attached to the main body, The lid and each groove regulate the position of each substrate, and the substrate carry-out device applies vibration to the main body after removing the lid.

  According to the present invention, vibration is applied to the main body from which the lid for regulating the position of the substrate is removed, so that the substrate can be moved by vibration to eliminate the catch on the bottom of the groove at the end of the substrate. Thus, the position of the substrate in the container can be corrected to a normal position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows schematically the structure of the substrate processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention, FIG. 1 (A) is a top view, FIG.1 (B) is a front view. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a load port in FIG. 1, FIG. 2A is a rear view of the load port viewed from the inside of the loader module, FIG. 2B is a side view, and FIG. (C) is the front view which looked at the load port from the outside of the loader module. It is process drawing of the board | substrate position correction method which the load port of FIG. 2 performs. It is a figure which shows the behavior of the wafer to which the ultrasonic vibration was given, FIG. 4 (A) shows the state to which the ultrasonic vibration is given, and FIG. 4 (B) shows the state after the ultrasonic vibration has been given. Indicates. It is a figure which shows schematically the structure of the modification of the lid opening mechanism in FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the bottom of the groove | channel of the holding part of MAC, FIG. 6 (A) shows a U-shaped bottom, FIG.6 (B) shows an arc-shaped bottom. FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a main body, FIG. 7B is a perspective view of a lid, and FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view. FIGS. 8A and 8B show the behavior of the wafer when the MAC lid is removed, FIG. 8A shows the state before the lid is removed, and FIG. 8B shows the wafer smoothly sliding down along the bottom slope. FIG. 8C shows a state in which the end of the wafer is caught on the bottom slope.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a substrate processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 (A) is a plan view and FIG. 1 (B) is a front view.

  1A and 1B, a substrate processing system 10 includes, for example, a loader module 12 (substrate unloading) for unloading each wafer W from a container that accommodates a plurality of wafers W having a diameter of 450 mm, for example, the MAC 11. Apparatus), a plurality of process modules 13 for performing predetermined processing, for example, dry etching processing, on each wafer W, a transfer module 14 for loading / unloading each wafer W into / from each process module 13, a loader module 12 and a transfer module Two load lock modules 15 that transfer each wafer W between the modules 14 are provided.

  The loader module 12 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped transfer chamber that is open to the atmosphere. The loader module 12 includes a load port 16 to be described later, and a transfer arm (for transferring each wafer W to and from the MAC 11 mounted on the load port 16). (Shown by a broken line) inside the transfer chamber.

  A plurality of process modules 13 are radially arranged and connected around the transfer module 14. The transfer module 14 has a transfer chamber whose pressure is reduced, and a transfer arm (not shown) arranged inside the transfer chamber. ) To transfer each wafer W between each process module 13 and each load lock module 15.

  The load lock module 15 includes a standby chamber in which the interior can be switched between an atmospheric pressure environment and a decompression environment, and the transfer arm of the loader module 12 and the transfer arm of the transfer module 14 deliver each wafer W via the load lock module 15. .

  Each process module 13 has a processing chamber whose inside is depressurized. The wafer W is accommodated in a single wafer and a predetermined process is performed on the wafer W by plasma generated in the processing chamber.

  The loader module 12 has three load ports 16 (substrate position correcting devices) arranged on the surface opposite to the surface to which each load lock module 15 is connected, and each load port 16 corresponds to the attached MAC 11. The lid 11b is removed from the main body 11a so that the inside of the MAC 11 communicates with the inside of the loader module 12.

  2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the load port in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (A) is a rear view of the load port viewed from the inside of the loader module, and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view. FIG. 2C is a front view of the load port as viewed from the outside of the loader module. 2A to 2C, the load port 16 is shown in a state separated from the loader module 12 for the sake of explanation.

  2A to 2C, the load port 16 includes a rectangular parallelepiped main body 17 that is erected in a substantially vertical direction, and the opposite side of the load port 16 from the vicinity of the center of the main body 17 (hereinafter referred to as the load port 16). , Referred to as “outside”)), a base-like mounting portion 18 projecting to the outside, a rectangular opening (port) 19 formed above the mounting portion 18 in the main body 17 and penetrating through the main body 17; An inner lid 20 that is detachably fitted to the port 19, a lid opening mechanism 21 that is provided on the load port 16 side (hereinafter referred to as “inside”) of the main body 17 and is movable in the vertical direction, and an inner side of the main body 17. And a mapping sensor 22 configured to be able to pass in front of the port 19.

  The opening mechanism 21 can move not only in the vertical direction but also in the front-rear direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 2B), and engages with the inner lid 20 to remove the inner lid 20 from the port 19. Further, on the upper surface, the mounting portion 18 is engaged with the bottom portion of the main body 11a of the MAC 11 to determine a position of the MAC 11 with respect to the mounting portion 18, and a purge gas supply port 24 (gas introduction port). Mechanism).

  In the load port 16, the MAC 11 is placed on the placement portion 18, but when the bottom portion of the main body 11 a is engaged with the plurality of pins 23, the lid 11 b and the inner lid 20 are engaged, and the lid 11 b is combined with the inner lid 20. It is removed from the port 19 by the lid opening mechanism 21, whereby the inside of the MAC 11 communicates with the inside of the loader module 12.

  When the inside of the MAC 11 and the inside of the loader module 12 communicate with each other, each wafer W accommodated in the MAC 11 can be visually recognized from the inside through the port 19, but when the mapping sensor 22 passes in front of the port 19. The position of each visible wafer W is confirmed, and the number of wafers W is counted.

  The plurality of pins 23 are configured to vibrate, apply fine vibration, for example, ultrasonic vibration to the main body 11a of the MAC 11, and the purge gas supply port 24 communicates with a purge gas, for example, nitrogen gas supply device (not shown). The purge gas can be ejected, engages with a purge gas inlet (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the main body 11a, and the purge gas is supplied into the main body 11a through the purge gas inlet.

  Next, a substrate position correcting method according to the present embodiment will be described. The substrate position correcting method is executed by each load port 16 of the substrate processing system 10.

  FIG. 3 is a process diagram of the substrate position correcting method executed by the load port of FIG.

  First, the MAC 11 is mounted on the mounting portion 18 of the load port 16, the bottom portion of the main body 11 a of the MAC 11 is engaged with the plurality of pins 23, and the purge gas introduction port on the bottom surface of the main body 11 a is engaged with the purge gas supply port 24. Further, the lid 11b engages with the inner lid 20 (FIG. 3A).

  Next, the lid opening mechanism 21 removes the lid 11b together with the inner lid 20 from the port 19, and the inside of the MAC 11 communicates with the inside of the loader module 12 (FIG. 3B). At this time, the pressure on the bottom 11g of the groove of the holding portion 11c of each wafer W is released, and each wafer W slides down along the slope of the bottom, but some of the wafers W do not slide down smoothly, and the wafers. The end of W is caught on the slope of the bottom 11g (FIG. 8C).

  Next, before confirming the position of each wafer W by the mapping sensor 22 and before taking out each wafer W by the transfer arm of the loader module 12, each pin 23 applies ultrasonic vibration to the main body 11a of the MAC 11, The purge gas supply port 24 supplies the purge gas to the inside of the main body 11a through the purge gas introduction port (FIG. 3C).

  When the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body 11a, as shown in FIG. 4A, the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted to the holding portion 11c and each wafer W, and is caught on the inclined surface of the bottom 11g of the end portion of the wafer W. Is eliminated, the wafer W slides down along the slope of the bottom 11g, the end of the wafer W engages with the flat portion of the groove 11e, and the position of the wafer W is corrected to the normal position (FIG. 4 (B)).

  Moreover, there is a possibility that dust attached to the inner surface of the main body 11a and each wafer W may be peeled off due to ultrasonic vibration applied to the main body 11a and float inside the main body 11a as particles. Since the purge gas supplied to the gas flows so as to pass through the opening of the main body 11a and then through the port 19 as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3 (C), the floating particles are trapped and discharged from the inside of the main body 11a. To do.

  Next, after applying ultrasonic vibration to the main body 11 a for a predetermined time, the mapping sensor 22 confirms the position of each wafer W accommodated in the main body 11 a while passing in front of the port 19 to check the wafer W. The number of sheets is counted (FIG. 3D), and the substrate position correcting method is finished.

  According to the substrate position correcting method of FIG. 3, since the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body 11a from which the lid 11b for regulating the position of the wafer W is removed in the MAC 11, the wafer W is moved by the ultrasonic vibration to move the wafer W. It is possible to eliminate the catch of the end of the groove on the bottom 11g of the groove, so that the position of the wafer W can be corrected to the normal position in the MAC 11.

  In the substrate position correction method of FIG. 3 described above, since the position of each wafer W is corrected to a normal position before the position of each wafer W is confirmed and before each wafer W is taken out from the main body 11a, mapping is performed. The sensor 22 can count the exact number of wafers W and can prevent the wafer W from interfering with the transfer arm of the loader module 12.

  Further, in the above-described substrate position correcting method of FIG. 3, when ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body 11a, purge gas is introduced into the main body 11a. Even if generated, particles can be discharged from the inside of the main body 11a by the introduced purge gas.

  Although the present invention has been described using the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  In the embodiment described above, the case where the MAC 11 is used as a container for storing a plurality of wafers W has been described. However, for example, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a FOUP or FOSB that stores a wafer having a diameter of 300 mm is used. In addition, in the container, even if the lid is not biased toward the main body, or the lid does not regulate the position of each wafer W, the main body has a groove that engages with the end portion of the wafer W. If the holding portion is provided, the present invention can be applied to the container. In particular, when the lid does not regulate the position of each wafer W, vibration may be applied from each pin 23 to the main body without removing the lid from the main body.

  Moreover, the form of the lid opening mechanism 21 of the load port 16 is not limited to the one that can move in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 2A. For example, as shown in FIG. A configuration may be adopted in which the taken out inner lid 20 is moved not to the lower side of the port 19 but to the side of the port 19.

  Further, the bottom 11g of the groove 11e of the holding portion 11c is not limited to a V shape, and the end of the wafer W can be formed in a U shape (FIG. 6A) or an arc shape (FIG. 6B). Since the portion may be caught on the surface of the bottom 11g, the present invention is preferably applied even when the groove 11e of the holding portion 11c has the bottom 11g of these shapes.

W wafer 10 substrate processing system 11 MAC
11a body 11b lid 11c holding portion 11e groove 11g bottom 12 loader module 16 load port 18 placement portion 23 pin 24 purge gas supply port

Claims (12)

A container for storing a plurality of substrates, comprising: a main body formed in a casing shape and provided with an opening on one side; and a lid that covers the opening of the main body, and at least one inner surface of the main body. A substrate holding portion having a plurality of grooves formed in the portion, and when the end of each substrate is engaged with each groove and the lid is attached to the main body, the lid and each groove are each A substrate position correction method in a container that regulates the position of a substrate,
A removal step of removing the lid;
And a vibration applying step for applying vibration to the main body from which the lid has been removed.   2. The substrate position correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the vibration applying step is executed before each substrate is taken out from the main body.   The substrate position correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the vibration applying step is executed before confirming the position of each substrate in the main body.   4. The substrate position correcting method according to claim 1, wherein in the vibration applying step, ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body. 5.   5. The substrate position correcting method according to claim 1, wherein in the vibration applying step, a gas is introduced into the main body.   The substrate position correcting method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 450 mm. A container for storing a plurality of substrates, having a main body formed in a casing shape and provided with an opening on one side surface, and a lid that covers the opening of the main body, and at least an inner surface of the main body A substrate holding part in which a plurality of grooves are formed in part is provided, and when the lid is attached to the main body, the end of each substrate is engaged with each groove, and each of the lid and each groove is A substrate position correcting device for correcting the position of each substrate in a container that regulates the position of the substrate,
A substrate position correcting device for applying vibration to the main body after removing the lid.   The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein ultrasonic vibration is applied to the main body.   9. The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a placement unit that places the container, wherein the placement unit is provided with a vibration applying mechanism that applies vibration to the container.   The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a gas introduction mechanism for introducing gas into the main body is provided in the mounting portion.   The substrate position correcting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 450 mm. In a substrate processing system comprising at least a substrate carry-out device that is mounted with a container that accommodates a plurality of substrates and carries out each substrate from the container, and a substrate processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on each substrate.
The container has a main body formed in a casing shape and provided with an opening on one side surface, and a lid that covers the opening of the main body, and a plurality of grooves are formed on at least a part of the inner side surface of the main body. A formed substrate holding portion is provided, and when the end of each substrate is engaged with each groove and the lid is attached to the main body, the lid and each groove regulate the position of each substrate. ,
The substrate carrying-out apparatus applies vibration to the main body after removing the lid.

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