JP2014216413A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing the atmosphere containing particles occurring from a substrate transfer apparatus from coming out of the substrate transfer apparatus.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber for processing a substrate that is held by a substrate holding which holds the substrate, and a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring the substrate to the substrate holder. The substrate transfer apparatus includes a substrate support part for supporting the substrate, and a moving part which connects to the substrate support part and linearly moves the substrate support part in horizontal direction. The moving part includes a gouge part which causes a facing atmosphere to flow to the lower part of the moving part when making linear movement.

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs one step of manufacturing a semiconductor device by processing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) in which an integrated circuit including a semiconductor element is formed, and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for transferring a substrate to a boat as a substrate support in a vertical apparatus for forming an insulating film, a metal film, a semiconductor film, or the like.

One of the manufacturing processes of semiconductor elements is CVD (Chemical Vapor) using vertical equipment.
Deposition) processing. In this method, a plurality of substrates such as silicon wafers stacked on a boat are heated in a processing furnace of a vertical apparatus to perform chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A plurality of product wafers are mounted at the center of the boat, and a plurality of dummy wafers are mounted at the upper and lower ends of the boat. The dummy wafers at the upper and lower ends of the boat are for homogenizing the film forming process of the product wafer. In the middle of the product wafer, one monitor wafer for inspection is arranged at a predetermined interval.

The wafer transfer device transfers a wafer loaded in a wafer container to the boat, and returns the processed wafer to an empty wafer container.
When transferring wafers by a wafer transfer device, a single wafer transfer table for mounting and transferring one wafer at a time, or a batch transfer table for mounting and transferring a plurality of wafers at a time When this is operated, particles generated from friction caused by the operation of the wafer transfer device, particles generated from the gaps between the parts of the wafer transfer device, etc., rise into the substrate processing apparatus or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and the degree of cleanliness within the apparatus There was a problem that would decrease.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a wafer transfer apparatus that transfers a wafer between a wafer container and a boat in a batch type vertical substrate processing apparatus.

JP 2010-205880 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing the atmosphere containing particles generated from the substrate transfer apparatus from being emitted into the substrate processing apparatus or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

A typical configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
A processing chamber for processing a substrate held by a substrate holder for holding a substrate; and a substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate to the substrate holder.
A substrate support unit that supports the substrate; and a moving unit that is connected to the substrate support unit and linearly moves the substrate support unit in a horizontal direction. A substrate processing apparatus having a turning part that flows downward in a moving part.

  According to said structure, it can suppress that the atmosphere containing the particle | grains which generate | occur | produce from a substrate transfer apparatus is put out in a substrate processing apparatus.

It is a top view of the substrate processing apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view in case the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention performs single wafer transfer. It is a perspective view in case the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention performs batch transfer. It is a vertical sectional view in case the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention performs batch transfer. It is a top view of the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the board | substrate transfer apparatus used suitably by embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which modeled the wafer transfer apparatus of the conventional board | substrate transfer apparatus. It is the side view which modeled the wafer transfer apparatus of the conventional board | substrate transfer apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As an example, the substrate processing apparatus in the present embodiment is configured as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs processing steps in a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device (IC: Integrated Circuit). In the following description, a case where a batch type vertical semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a processing apparatus) that performs oxidation, diffusion processing, CVD processing, or the like is applied to the substrate as the substrate processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan perspective view of a processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 2 is a side perspective view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and is a vertical sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the FOUP (substrate container; hereinafter referred to as a pod) 110 is used as a wafer carrier containing a wafer (substrate) 200 made of silicon or the like. 100 includes a housing 111. A front maintenance port 103 as an opening provided for maintenance is opened at the front front portion of the front wall 111a of the casing 111, and front maintenance doors 104 and 104 for opening and closing the front maintenance port 103 are respectively built. It is attached.
A pod loading / unloading port (substrate container loading / unloading port) 112 is opened on the front wall of the casing 111 so as to communicate between the inside and the outside of the casing 111. The pod loading / unloading port 112 is provided with a front shutter (substrate loading / unloading port). It is opened and closed by a carry-out opening / closing mechanism 113). A load port (substrate container delivery table) 114 is installed in front of the front side of the pod loading / unloading port 112, and the load port 114 is configured so that the pod 110 is placed and aligned. The pod 110 is carried onto the load port 114 by an in-process carrying device (not shown), and is also carried out from the load port 114.

A rotary pod shelf (substrate container mounting shelf) 105 is installed at an upper portion of the casing 111 in a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction. The rotary pod shelf 105 stores a plurality of pods 110. It is configured. That is, the rotary pod shelf 105 is vertically arranged and intermittently rotated in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of shelf plates (substrate container mounts) radially supported by the column 116 at each of the four upper and lower positions. And a plurality of shelf plates 117 are configured to hold the pods 110 in a state where a plurality of pods 110 are respectively placed.
A pod transfer device (substrate container transfer device) 118 is installed between the load port 114 and the rotary pod shelf 105 in the housing 111, and the pod transfer device 118 moves up and down while holding the pod 110. A pod elevator (substrate container lifting mechanism) 118a and a pod transfer mechanism (substrate container transfer mechanism) 118b as a transfer mechanism are configured. The pod transfer device 118 includes a pod elevator 118a and a pod transfer mechanism 118b. The pod 110 is transported between the load port 114, the rotary pod shelf 105, and the pod opener (substrate container lid opening / closing mechanism) 121 by continuous operation.

A sub-housing 119 is constructed across the rear end of the lower portion of the housing 111 at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction. A pair of wafer loading / unloading ports (substrate loading / unloading ports) 120 for loading / unloading the wafers 200 into / from the sub-casing 119 are arranged on the front wall 119a of the sub-casing 119 in two vertical stages. A pair of pod openers 121 and 121 are installed in the upper and lower wafer loading / unloading openings 120 and 120, respectively.
The pod opener 121 includes mounting bases 122 and 122 on which the pod 110 is placed, and cap attaching / detaching mechanisms (lid attaching / detaching mechanisms) 123 and 123 for attaching and detaching caps (lids) of the pod 110. The pod opener 121 is configured to open and close the wafer loading / unloading port of the pod 110 by attaching / detaching the cap of the pod 110 placed on the placing table 122 by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123.

  The sub-housing 119 constitutes a transfer chamber 124 that is fluidly isolated from the installation space of the pod transfer device 118 and the rotary pod shelf 105. A wafer transfer mechanism (substrate transfer mechanism) 125 is installed in the front region of the transfer chamber 124, and the wafer transfer mechanism 125 can rotate the wafer 200 in the horizontal direction or operate a wafer transfer device (operating linearly). Substrate transfer device) 125a and wafer transfer device elevator (substrate transfer device lifting mechanism) 125b for raising and lowering wafer transfer device 125a. By continuous operation of the wafer transfer device elevator 125b and the wafer transfer device 125a, a tweezer (substrate holder, also referred to as a plate) 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a is used as a mounting portion for the wafer 200, and a boat (substrate holder) ) 217 is loaded (charged) and unloaded (discharged).

As shown in FIG. 1, the supply chamber 124 is supplied with a clean atmosphere or an inert gas such as clean air 133 supplied to the right end of the transfer chamber 124 opposite to the wafer transfer device elevator 125b. A clean unit 134 composed of a fan and a dustproof filter is installed.
The clean air 133 blown out from the clean unit 134 is circulated through the wafer transfer device 125a and then sucked in by a duct (not shown) to be exhausted to the outside of the casing 111 or on the suction side of the clean unit 134 Is circulated to the primary side (supply side), and is again blown out into the transfer chamber 124 by the clean unit 134. The inside of the transfer chamber 124 is maintained at substantially atmospheric pressure.

In the rear region of the transfer chamber 124, a casing (hereinafter referred to as a pressure-resistant casing) 140 having a confidential performance capable of maintaining a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure (hereinafter referred to as negative pressure) is installed. A load lock chamber 141 which is a load lock type standby chamber having a capacity capable of accommodating the boat 217 is formed by the pressure-resistant housing 140.
A wafer loading / unloading opening (substrate loading / unloading opening) 142 is formed in the front wall 140a of the pressure-resistant housing 140, and the wafer loading / unloading opening 142 is opened and closed by a gate valve (substrate loading / unloading opening / closing mechanism) 143. It has become. A gas supply pipe 144 for supplying nitrogen gas to the load lock chamber 141 and an exhaust pipe 145 for exhausting the load lock chamber 141 to a negative pressure are connected to the pair of side walls of the pressure-resistant housing 140, respectively. Yes.
A processing furnace 202 is provided above the load lock chamber 141. The lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 is configured to be opened and closed by a furnace port gate valve (furnace port opening / closing mechanism) 147.
A furnace port gate valve cover 149 that accommodates the furnace port gate valve 147 when the lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 is opened is attached to the upper end portion of the front wall 140 a of the pressure-resistant housing 140.

As shown in FIG. 1, a boat elevator (substrate holder lifting mechanism) 115 for lifting and lowering the boat 217 is installed in the pressure-resistant housing 140. A seal cap 219 serving as a lid is horizontally installed on an arm 128 serving as a connector connected to the boat elevator 115, and the seal cap 219 supports the boat 217 vertically and closes the lower end of the processing furnace 202. It is configured as possible.
The boat 217 includes a plurality of holding members so that a plurality of (for example, about 50 to 125) wafers 200 are horizontally held in a state where their centers are aligned in the vertical direction. It is configured.

  The processing apparatus of this embodiment includes a controller 240 as a control unit that controls each component of the processing apparatus. The controller 240 includes a drive control unit that controls the substrate transfer mechanism 125, the pod transfer device 118, the boat elevator 115, and the like, a temperature control unit that controls the temperature in the processing furnace 202, and a pressure control that controls the pressure in the processing furnace 202. And a gas flow rate control unit that controls the flow rate of the processing gas supplied into the processing furnace 202.

Next, a schematic operation of the processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. This operation is controlled by the controller 240.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the pod 110 is supplied to the load port 114, the pod loading / unloading port 112 is opened by the front shutter 113, and the pod 110 above the load port 114 is connected to the pod transfer device. 118 is carried into the housing 111 from the pod loading / unloading port 112.
The loaded pod 110 is automatically transported and delivered by the pod transport device 118 to the designated shelf 117 of the rotary pod shelf 105, temporarily stored, and then one pod opener from the shelf 117. It is conveyed to 121 and transferred to the mounting table 122, or directly transferred to the pod opener 121 and transferred to the mounting table 122. At this time, the wafer loading / unloading port 120 of the pod opener 121 is closed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123, and the transfer chamber 124 is filled with clean air 133. For example, the transfer chamber 124 is filled with nitrogen gas as clean air 133, so that the oxygen concentration is set to 20 ppm or less, which is much lower than the oxygen concentration inside the casing 111 (atmosphere).

  The pod 110 mounted on the mounting table 122 has its opening-side end face pressed against the opening edge of the wafer loading / unloading port 120 on the front wall 119a of the sub housing 119, and the cap is removed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123. The wafer loading / unloading port of the pod 110 is opened. Further, when the wafer loading / unloading opening 142 of the load lock chamber 141 whose interior is previously set at atmospheric pressure is opened by the operation of the gate valve 143, the wafer 200 is removed from the pod 110 by the tweezer 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a. Picked up through the loading / unloading port, loaded into the load lock chamber 141 through the wafer loading / unloading opening 142, transferred to the boat 217, and loaded (wafer charging). The wafer transfer device 125 a that has delivered the wafer 200 to the boat 217 returns to the pod 110 and loads the next wafer 110 into the boat 217. The structure of the wafer transfer device 125a will be described in detail later.

  During the loading operation of wafers into the boat 217 by the wafer transfer device 125a in the one (upper or lower) pod opener 121, the other (lower or upper) pod opener 121 has a rotary pod shelf 105 or load port 114. The other pod 110 is transported by the pod transport device 118, and the opening operation of the pod 110 by the pod opener 121 proceeds simultaneously.

When a predetermined number of wafers 200 are loaded into the boat 217, the wafer loading / unloading opening 142 is closed by the gate valve 143, and the load lock chamber 141 is evacuated from the exhaust pipe 145 to be decompressed.
When the load lock chamber 141 is reduced to the same pressure as that in the processing furnace 202, the lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 is opened by the furnace port gate valve 147. At this time, the furnace port gate valve 147 is carried into and stored in the furnace port gate valve cover 149.
Subsequently, the seal cap 219 is raised by the boat elevator 115, and the boat 217 supported by the seal cap 219 is loaded into the processing furnace 202.

After loading, the temperature and pressure in the processing furnace 202 are set to predetermined values, a predetermined processing gas is supplied at a predetermined timing, and arbitrary processing is performed on the wafer 200 in the processing furnace 202.
After the processing, the boat 217 is pulled out by the boat elevator 115, and the gate valve 143 is opened after the pressure inside the load lock chamber 141 is restored to atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the wafer 200 and the pod 110 are discharged to the outside of the casing 111 in the reverse order of the above-described procedure.

Next, the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus 125a according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7 show the moving unit 14 that linearly moves in the horizontal direction and the pedestal unit 15 that supports the moving unit 14 and linearly moves in the substrate transfer apparatus 125a according to the present embodiment. The pedestal portion 15 is provided on a turntable (not shown) that horizontally rotates the pedestal portion 15.
3 and 4 are perspective views showing the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs single wafer transfer. FIG. 6 is a perspective view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs batch transfer. FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs batch transfer.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 61 denotes a batch transfer plate composed of a plurality of plates, which is four in this example. Reference numeral 62 denotes a batch transfer plate fixing portion that fixes and supports the batch transfer plate 61.
51 is a single wafer transfer plate (52), 52 is a single wafer plate fixing portion for fixing and supporting the single wafer transfer plate 51, and 53 is a single wafer fixedly coupled to the single wafer plate fixing portion 52. It is a transfer table. The moving unit 14 includes a batch transfer plate 61, a single wafer transfer plate 51, a batch transfer plate fixing unit 62, a single wafer transfer table 53, a batch transfer table 63 to be described later, and the like.

A pedestal 15 includes a belt 55, a pulley 56a, a pulley 56b, and a motor 57. The upper portion of the pedestal portion 15 is covered with the top plate 17 except for the upper portion of the belt 55.
On the top surface of the top plate 17, two rails, a single-wafer transfer rail 58 and a batch transfer rail 68, are provided along the operation direction of the moving unit 14.
The single wafer transfer table 53 is connected to a part of the belt 55 by a connecting bracket 54. The belt 55 is stretched between a pulley 56a and a pulley 56b. When the belt 55 performs a linear motion in the horizontal direction by a rotation operation of a motor 57 described later, the moving unit 14 performs a linear motion in the horizontal direction. Do.

A single wafer transfer table 53 is movably mounted on the single wafer transfer rail 58. The single wafer transfer table 53 moves linearly along the single wafer transfer rail 58. In this way, the single-wafer transfer plate 51 fixed to the single-wafer transfer table 53 moves linearly along the single-wafer transfer rail 58, so that the single-wafer transfer operation is performed.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a batch transfer table 63 is movably mounted on the batch transfer rail 68. 4 is a perspective view seen from the opposite direction to FIG. The collective transfer table 63 moves linearly along the collective transfer rail 68. Thus, the collective transfer plate 61 fixed to the collective transfer table 63 moves linearly along the collective transfer rail 68, whereby the collective transfer operation is performed.
When performing this collective transfer operation, the single wafer transfer table 53 and the collective transfer table 63 are connected by a connecting pin 64, and the single wafer transfer table 53 and the collective transfer table 63 are transferred individually. By simultaneously linearly moving on the rail 58 and the batch transfer rail 68, the batch transfer operation is performed by the single wafer transfer plate 51 and the batch transfer plate 61. This connection structure will be described later.

  As described above, the substrate transfer device 125a mainly includes a moving unit 14 having a plate for supporting the substrate and linearly moving in the horizontal direction, and a top plate below the moving unit 14 and supporting the moving unit 14. The pedestal 15 has a pedestal 15 and a rotation drive (not shown) that rotates the pedestal 15 in the horizontal direction.

  An exhaust fan 72 is provided inside the pedestal 15 (including a rotation drive unit (not shown) connected to the pedestal and the exhaust unit 71), and the exhaust fan 72 is configured by a pump, for example. Or the exhaust fan 72 is comprised by flexible piping, such as Teflon (trademark) which connects the inside of the base part 15 to the duct of the housing | casing 111, for example.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs single wafer transfer.
As shown in FIG. 5, only the single wafer transfer table 53 supporting the single wafer transfer plate 51 is moved to the protruding position with the single transfer table 63 supporting the single transfer plate 61 in the return position. As a result, only the single wafer transfer plate 51 protrudes.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs batch transfer.
As shown in FIG. 6, the collective transfer table 63 that supports the collective transfer plate 61 and the single wafer transfer table 53 that supports the single wafer transfer plate 51 are simultaneously moved to the protruding position. As a result, both the batch transfer plate 61 and the single wafer transfer plate 51 protrude.

  Here, the protruding position is the position of the moving unit 14 when the substrate transfer device 125a is closest to the pod 110 or the boat 217 when the wafer is transferred to or from the pod 110 or the boat 217. The return position is the position of the moving unit 14 when it is farthest from the pod 110 or the boat 217. The substrate transfer device 125a can be rotated and moved up and down without interfering with the pod 110 and the boat 217 at the return position. In other words, the protruding position is, for example, the position of the moving unit 14 when the wafer 200 placed on the transfer plate is transferred to the boat 217 after inserting the transfer plate into the boat 217, or The position of the moving unit 14 when the wafer 200 placed on the boat 217 is transferred onto the transfer plate.

Therefore, when the moving unit 14 moves to the projecting position, particles generated from friction of each component accompanying the operation, particles generated from a gap between components of the substrate transfer device 125a, and the like are scattered in the pod 110 and the boat 217. Many wafers 200 mounted on the pod 110 and the boat 217 are contaminated.
Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, since the scattering of particles from the substrate transfer apparatus 125a accompanying the wafer transfer operation as described above can be suppressed, the particles are scattered in the pod 110 and the boat 217. Can be suppressed more effectively.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view when the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention performs batch transfer. As shown in FIG. 7, the single-wafer plate fixing portion 52 fixes and supports one single-wafer transfer plate 51. The single-wafer plate fixing unit 52 is fixedly coupled to the single-wafer transfer table 53, and the single-wafer transfer table 53 is supported on the single-wafer transfer rail 58 so as to be linearly movable in the horizontal direction. ing.
Further, the single wafer transfer table 53 is connected to a part of the belt 55 by a connecting metal fitting 54. The belt 55 is supported by pulleys 56a and 56b, and can be linearly operated by a motor (not shown).
Further, the batch transfer plate fixing portion 62 fixes and supports the four batch transfer plates 61. The batch transfer plate fixing unit 62 is fixedly coupled to the batch transfer table 63, and the batch transfer table 63 is supported on the batch transfer rail 68 so as to be linearly movable in the horizontal direction. Yes.

Reference numeral 64 denotes a connecting pin for connecting the batch transfer table 63 and the single wafer transfer table 53. The connecting pin 64 penetrates the batch transfer table 63 and can be fitted into the concave portion of the single wafer transfer table 53 and can be detached from the concave portion of the single wafer transfer table 53.
The batch transfer is a connected state in which the batch transfer table 63 and the single wafer transfer table 53 are connected by the connecting pin 64, and the batch transfer table 63 and the single wafer transfer table 53 are respectively on the batch transfer rail 68. And moving on the sheet transfer rail 58 at the same time.
The single-wafer transfer is performed by moving the single-wafer transfer table 53 on the single-wafer transfer rail 58 in a disconnected state in which the batch transfer table 63 and the single-wafer transfer table 53 are disconnected.

Next, the operation of the substrate transfer apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, when transferring a single wafer using only the single wafer transfer plate 51, the connecting pin 64 is connected to the concave portion of the single wafer transfer table 53 by the action of an air cylinder (not shown). To leave. When a motor (not shown) is driven in this state, the rotational motion of the motor is transmitted to the belt 55, and the linear motion of the belt 55 is transmitted to the single wafer transfer table 53 via the coupling metal 54, and the single wafer plate fixing portion 52 and the single sheet are fixed. The leaf transfer plate 51 is linearly moved in the horizontal direction. Since the connecting pin 64 is disengaged from the single wafer transfer table 53, the batch transfer table 63 does not move, and therefore the batch transfer plate 61 does not move.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when transferring a plurality of wafers (five in this example) using both the single wafer transfer plate 51 and the batch transfer plate 61, as shown in FIG. In addition, the connecting pin 64 is engaged with the concave portion of the single wafer transfer table 53 by the action of the air cylinder 65 (not shown). When a motor (not shown) is driven in this state, the rotational movement of the motor is transmitted to the single wafer transfer table 53 via the belt 55 and the connecting metal 54, and the linear movement of the single wafer transfer table 53 is connected to the connecting pin. It is transmitted to the batch transfer table 63 via 64. Thus, since both the single-wafer transfer plate 51 and the batch transfer plate 61 perform linear motion in the horizontal direction, a plurality of single-wafer transfer plates 51 and the batch transfer plate 61 are used. One (5 in this example) wafers can be transferred at once.

In the above-described substrate transfer apparatus 125a, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically showing the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view schematically showing the substrate transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 8 and 9, the tweezer (plate) is not shown.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, there is no conventional top plate under the single-wafer transfer rail 58 and the batch transfer rail 68. Instead, the atmosphere inside the transfer machine is a substrate. An exhaust unit 71 is provided for exhausting the substrate transfer apparatus out of the substrate transfer apparatus in an air flow in the transfer apparatus. The exhaust unit 71 is located below the transfer unit 14 in the gravity direction. By forming an atmosphere flow as indicated by an arrow in the figure toward the exhaust portion, particles can be guided to the exhaust portion 71 along the atmosphere flow, and exhausted without diffusing particles in the transfer chamber. It becomes possible to do. For example, the structure of the front part (left side in the left-right direction in FIG. 9) of the transfer table 13 which is the lower part of the transfer part 14 is not a plane but a curved part 73 with a curved surface. By adopting a structure having a chamfered shape, when the substrate transfer device 125a moves, the atmosphere in the front portion in the moving direction does not cause particles generated from the rails or the like to move upward, so that the substrate is transferred. It can be guided to the inside of the substrate transfer device 125a, which is the left and right when viewed from the top of the device 125a, and the bottom when viewed from the side. Further, the atmosphere containing the introduced particles rides on the air flow in the substrate transfer device 125a by the function of the exhaust fan 72 and is discharged to the outside from the exhaust fan 72 of the exhaust unit 71. Can be prevented from adhering to the substrate.
Further, the turning portion 73 may be provided on both the front and rear portions of the single wafer transfer table 53 and the collective transfer table 63, or may be provided only on the front side or the rear side.
In addition, the said turning part 73 may be comprised by the flat slope not only in a curved surface. It is only necessary that the atmosphere on the front side in the moving direction of the moving unit 14 is guided to the inside of the transfer device 125a, and the atmosphere may be formed in a polygonal shape having a plurality of inclined surfaces. Further, as can be seen from FIG. 9, since the transfer table 13 has the turning portion 73, the upper portion is wider than the lower portion when viewed from the upper portion of the substrate transfer device 125a. That is, when viewed from the top, the moving section has a tapered shape in which the horizontal cross section becomes narrower toward the tip, and the angle formed by the tapered shape increases toward the top.
Further, in this example, the exhaust part 71 is provided directly on the pedestal part 15, but another constituent part such as a turntable for horizontally rotating the pedestal part 15 may be interposed.

According to the above embodiment, at least the following effects can be obtained.
(1) It is possible to provide a substrate processing apparatus that does not push out the atmosphere containing particles inside the substrate transfer apparatus to the outside of the transfer apparatus.
(2) A substrate transport particleless substrate processing apparatus can be provided.
(3) Since no upper plate is provided under the single-wafer transfer rail 58 and the batch transfer rail 68, particles accumulate between the single-wafer transfer rail 58 and the batch transfer rail 68. This can be suppressed.
(4) An atmosphere containing particles can be effectively processed by being placed on an air flow inside the substrate transfer apparatus.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It cannot be overemphasized that it can change variously in the range which does not deviate from the summary. For example, the transfer rail may be configured on the side surface instead of the upper surface of the pedestal portion.
Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus but also to an apparatus for processing a glass substrate such as an LCD manufacturing apparatus and other substrate processing apparatuses. The processing content of the substrate processing may be not only film formation processing for forming CVD, PVD, oxide film, nitride film, metal-containing film, etc., but also exposure processing, lithography, coating processing, and the like.

(Appendix 1)
The present specification includes at least the following configurations regarding the present invention. That is,
The first configuration is
A substrate container for accommodating a plurality of substrates;
A substrate holder on which a plurality of substrates are loaded;
A processing chamber for accommodating the substrate holder and processing the substrate;
A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between the substrate container and the substrate holder;
The substrate transfer device includes:
A substrate support for supporting the substrate;
A moving part that linearly moves the substrate support part in a horizontal direction;
A pedestal that is below the moving part and supports the moving part;
The moving part has a turning part for guiding the atmosphere of the front part of the moving part into the substrate transfer apparatus before and after the moving direction.

(Appendix 2)
An exhaust section provided at a lower portion of the pedestal;
An exhaust fan provided in the exhaust part,
The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the atmosphere guided into the substrate apparatus is discharged out of the substrate transfer apparatus by the exhaust fan.

(Appendix 3)
A processing chamber for processing the substrate held by the substrate holder for holding the substrate;
A substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate to the substrate holder;
Have
The substrate transfer device includes:
A substrate support for supporting the substrate;
A moving unit coupled to the substrate support unit and linearly moving the substrate support unit in a horizontal direction;
With
The substrate processing apparatus having a turning portion that causes an atmosphere facing the moving portion to flow downward when the moving portion moves linearly.

(Appendix 4)
The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 3, wherein the moving portion is tapered toward the moving direction.

(Appendix 5)
The substrate processing apparatus according to attachment 3, wherein
The turn part is provided one by one on the left and right sides with the acute angle side of the tapered shape.

(Appendix 6)
The substrate processing apparatus according to attachment 3, wherein
The substrate transfer apparatus further includes a single substrate transfer unit for transferring a single substrate and a multiple substrate transfer unit for transferring a plurality of substrates.

(Appendix 7)
The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 6, wherein
The turning portion is provided in each of the single substrate transfer portion and the multiple substrate transfer portion.

(Appendix 8)
The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 5, wherein a rear end side of the moving unit is also tapered.

(Appendix 9)
The substrate processing apparatus according to attachment 3, wherein
The turning portion is also provided on the rear side of the moving portion.

(Appendix 10)
4. The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 3, wherein the bend portion is a bend portion that draws a curve from the lower surface portion on the front side of the moving portion toward the upper surface side of the moving portion.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Tweezer (plate), 12 ... Plate fixing part, 13 ... Transfer table, 14 ... Moving part, 15 ... Pedestal part, 17 ... Top plate, 18 ... Side plate, 51 ... Plate for sheet transfer, 52 ... Sheet Leaf plate fixing part, 53 ... Single wafer transfer table, 54 ... Connecting metal fitting, 55 ... Belt, 56a ... Pulley, 56b ... Pulley, 57 ... Motor, 58 ... Single wafer transfer rail, 61 ... Batch transfer plate 62 ... Collective plate fixing part, 63 ... Collective transfer table, 64 ... Connecting pin, 65 ... Air cylinder, 68 ... Rail for collective transfer, 71 ... Exhaust part, 72 ... Exhaust fan, 73 ... Spiral part, 110 ... Substrate container (pod), 111 ... housing, 115 ... boat elevator, 116 ... post, 117 ... shelf, 118 ... pod transfer device, 124 ... transfer chamber, 125 ... substrate transfer mechanism, 125a ... substrate transfer Device, 1 5b ... substrate transfer device elevating mechanism, 125c ... tweezers (plate), 200 ... wafer, 202 ... heat treatment furnace 217 ... boat.

Claims (2)

A processing chamber for processing the substrate held by the substrate holder for holding the substrate;
A substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate to the substrate holder;
Have
The substrate transfer device includes:
A substrate support for supporting the substrate;
A moving unit coupled to the substrate support unit and linearly moving the substrate support unit in a horizontal direction;
With
The substrate processing apparatus having a turning portion that causes an atmosphere facing the moving portion to flow downward when the moving portion moves linearly.
The substrate transfer device includes an exhaust unit provided at a lower part of the moving unit,
An exhaust fan provided in the exhaust part,
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the exhaust fan discharges the atmosphere that flows downward in the moving unit.