JP2017005066A - Carrier device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a carrier device capable of suppressing a reduction in cleanliness of a substrate caused by winding up particles.SOLUTION: A carrier device comprises carrying means having an opening means for opening a container for accommodating a substrate, a movable hand for holding the substrate, and a fixed part connected to the movable hand via an arm, and conveying the substrate in the container opened by opening/closing means to a processing chamber, an air flow forming means for forming a flow of cleaned gas around the substrate being conveyed by the carrying means. The processing chamber is arranged to be apart from the opening/closing means and the fixed part in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in which the carrying means pulls out the substrate from the container. The fixed part of the carrying means is disposed at a position apart from the vertically above and vertically below a carrying path of the substrate by the carrying means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer device for transferring a substrate.

  Currently, in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, with the progress of pattern miniaturization, it is possible to manufacture according to a design rule of nanometer order. During such a manufacturing process, if particles adhere to a substrate such as a wafer or an original such as a reticle (mask), the performance of the semiconductor device is remarkably deteriorated, which is a large factor that lowers the product yield. Therefore, a narrow area in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus is kept clean. Wafers and the like are housed in containers such as FOUP (Front-Opening Unified Pods) and SMIF (Standard of Mechanical Interface) pods conforming to the SEMI standard, and are transported between the manufacturing apparatus and the outside. Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate transport system that employs FOUP for substrate transport. On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses a wafer transfer apparatus that employs a SMIF pod for transferring a substrate.

Japanese Patent No. 5316521 JP 2001-358194 A

  Here, in the substrate transfer system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the FOUP disposed on the system, the main body of the transfer robot for transferring the substrate from the FOUP to the process chamber side, and the process chamber are roughly divided. Since they are arranged on one axis, the dimension in the axial direction becomes long. This is disadvantageous for downsizing the entire system. On the other hand, in the wafer transfer apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, the opener on which the SMIF pod is placed has a second axis perpendicular to the first axis along which the main body of the transfer robot and the processing chamber are arranged. The dimensions in the first axis direction are shortened.

  Here, in the substrate transport path in the system, air cleaned by FFU (Fan Filter Unit) is supplied and exhausted by an exhaust fan in order to maintain the cleanliness of the substrate. Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 do not describe any relationship between the air flow caused by the FFU and the exhaust fan and the transfer robot. However, if the transfer robot is simply arranged, the flow of air supplied from the FFU is obstructed by the main body of the transfer robot, and as a result, particles are rolled up in the transfer path and the cleanliness of the substrate is lowered. There is a risk.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus capable of suppressing a decrease in the cleanliness of a substrate due to the winding of particles.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an opening means for opening a container that accommodates a substrate;
A transporting means for transporting the substrate in the container opened by the opening / closing means to a processing chamber, the movable hand holding the substrate; and a fixed portion connected to the movable hand via an arm. And an airflow forming means for forming a flow of a purified gas around the substrate being transported by the transporting means, and the processing chamber transports the open / close means and the fixed portion with respect to the transporting portion. The means is disposed apart from the first direction in which the substrate is drawn out from the container in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and the fixing part of the transport means is separated from the vertically upper and lower parts of the substrate transport path by the transport means It is arranged at a position.

  In another aspect, the present invention includes an opening unit that opens a container that accommodates a substrate, a movable hand that holds the substrate, and a fixed portion that is connected to the movable hand via an arm. A transfer means for transferring the substrate in the container opened by the opening / closing means to a processing chamber; and an airflow forming means for forming a flow of purified gas around the substrate being transferred by the transfer means And the processing chamber is disposed away from the opening / closing means and the fixed portion in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction in which the transport means pulls out the substrate from the container, and the transport means The fixed portion is arranged at a position that does not hinder the flow of gas by the airflow forming means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the conveying apparatus which can suppress the fall of the cleanliness of the board | substrate by the winding of a particle can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the conveying apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of a SMIF pod. It is a figure which shows the state which hand handed over the board | substrate to the process chamber. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conveying apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conveying apparatus which does not employ | adopt this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a transport device 24 according to the present embodiment. The transfer device 24 is provided in a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus (semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25) in a clean room, and loads the substrate 1 (or the original plate) into the processing chamber 11 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and unloads the substrate 1 from the processing chamber 11. It is a device for. The transport device 24 may be a part of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 or may be a separate body. The transfer apparatus according to the present embodiment corresponds to the SMIF pod that is a container compliant with the SEMI standard, and carries in and out the substrate via the SMIF pod. Also, as an example, it is assumed that one substrate is accommodated in the SMIF pod. However, in the present invention, the SMIF pod may accommodate a plurality of substrates.

  In the present embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 is an exposure apparatus. The vertical direction (vertical direction) is the Z axis, and the two axes orthogonal to each other in the plane perpendicular to the Z axis are the X axis and the Y axis. 1A is an XY plan view, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along an FDP (Facial Data Plane) 10 of the SMIF pod 30 shown in FIG. 1A. The FDP is a reference surface defined by the SEMI standard for the substrate storage container. In the present embodiment, the FDP is an XZ plane that passes through the center of the substrate 1. An operator (user) places the SMIF pod 30 on the placement surface of the transfer device 24 while standing in front of the transfer device 24 (lower side in the drawing). In addition, you may mount using not a worker but transport vehicles, such as OHT (Over Head Transfer) not shown. The front surface of the transport device 24 referred to below refers to a surface (lower surface in the drawing) on the side of delivering the SMIF pod 30 to and from the transport device 24, and the delivery direction corresponds to the Y-axis direction.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the SMIF pod (container) 30. 2A is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing the configuration of the holding portion 2, and FIG. 2C is a partial cross-sectional view of the holding portion 2. . The SMIF pod 30 includes a holding unit 2 and a housing 3. The SMIF pod 30 can accommodate the substrate 1 in a sealed space by covering the upper surface with the housing 3 while holding the substrate 1 in the holding unit 2 and sealing the inside. The sealed space in the SMIF pod 30 is kept in a state of higher cleanliness than the environment in the clean room.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the holding portion 2 has a plurality of protruding receiving legs 15 on the upper surface side. In this embodiment, the receiving leg 15 is arrange | positioned at four places, and supports the outer edge part of the board | substrate 1 which is a rectangle. The transfer robot 8 delivers the substrate 1 from the side along the FDP 10 (that is, the transfer robot 8 pulls out the substrate 1 on the holding unit 2 in the X-axis direction). The plurality of receiving legs 15 can deliver the substrate 1 to the holding unit 2 from either the side of the transfer robot 8 facing the FDP 10 or the side along the FDP 10 orthogonal to the FDP 10. It is arranged at a possible interval.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, the receiving leg 15 is in contact with the back surface of the substrate 1 to support the substrate 1 and from the position wider than the outer periphery of the substrate 1 to the center side of the substrate 1. And a guide portion 14 inclined toward the front. In particular, when the substrate 1 is handed over to the holding unit 2, first, the substrate 1 sucked and held by the hand 5 is transported in a horizontal direction at a position higher than the receiving legs 15, and then the holding unit 2 is vertically above the holding unit 2. The relative position to 2 is adjusted. Next, when the hand 5 moves downward in the vertical direction, the substrate 1 also moves downward. At this time, even if there is a deviation in the adjusted relative position, the substrate 1 descends while the position of the outer edge of the substrate 1 is corrected along the slope of the guide portion 14 toward the center of the holding portion 2, and the stand portion 13. It stops when it hits. Further, the stand portion 13 is molded in a shape higher than the thickness of the hand 5. Therefore, the hand 5 can be withdrawn from the lower side of the substrate 1 in a state where the substrate 1 is held by the holding unit 2 by releasing the suction holding immediately before the substrate 1 hits the stand unit 13.

  The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 includes a processing chamber 11 for performing predetermined processing on the substrate 1. In the present embodiment, an image of a pattern formed on an original (reticle) is transferred (exposed) on the substrate in the processing chamber 11. However, the processing chamber 11 may be a place where a station for holding the substrate 1 as a relay is arranged. In the description of the present embodiment, the object to be transferred (accommodated in the SMIF pod 30) is expressed as the substrate 1, but this refers only to the substrate to be processed in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25, that is, the wafer or the like. It is not a thing. For example, if the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 is a lithography apparatus using an original such as an exposure apparatus, an original on which a pattern such as a reticle is formed may be used as an object to be transferred. It is assumed that the object is the original version.

  The transfer device 24 includes a casing 26, an opener (opening / closing means) 4, a transfer robot (transfer means) 8, an FFU (Fan Filter Unit) 27, an FFU 28, an exhaust fan 23, and a control unit 29. . The housing 26 includes a space 26a in which the opener 4 is installed, a space 26b in which the transfer robot 8 is installed, and a space 26c in which an exhaust fan 23 described later is installed.

  The opener 4 is an opening / closing means for separating and combining the holding unit 2 and the housing 3, including a mounting table 16 on which the holding unit 2 of the SMIF pod 30 is mounted and movable in the Z-axis direction. When the SMIF pod 30 is placed on the opener 4, the holding unit 2 holding the substrate 1 is lowered integrally with the mounting table 16. At this time, since the outer dimension of the housing 3 is set to be larger than that of the mounting table 16, the housing 3 does not descend on the mounting position (mounting frame) of the SMIF pod 30 in the transport device 24. As a result, the holding portion 2 and the housing 3 are separated, the sealed state of the SMIF pod 30 is released (the container is opened), and the substrate 1 is exposed in the space 26a.

  The transfer robot 8 has a hand (movable hand) 5 for holding the substrate 1, an arm 6 for moving the hand 5 in a horizontal plane, and horizontal and vertical movements of the arm 6. And a main body (fixed portion) 7 for performing the above. The hand 5, the arm 6, and the main body 7 are connected. In the present embodiment, the opener 4 (SMIF pod 30), the main body 7 and the processing chamber 11 are not arranged on one axis (for example, on the Y axis), and the opener 4 (SMIF pod 30) and the main body 7 are not connected to the processing chamber. 11 are arranged side by side along the surface opposite to 11. That is, the processing chamber 11 is disposed away from the opener 4 and the main body 7 in the Y-axis direction. In the present embodiment, the transport robot 8 pulls out the substrate 1 from the holding unit 2 in the X-axis direction. That is, the hand 5 of the transfer robot 8 enters from a side along the FDP 10 different from the side facing the FDP 10. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the hand 5 has pulled out the substrate 1 from the holding unit 2 (inside the container) along the X direction (first direction) and then delivered it to the processing chamber 11 along the Y direction (second direction). It is a schematic plan view which shows. After the substrate 1 is carried into the processing chamber 11, a desired process (for example, exposure) is performed on the substrate 1 in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25.

  The FFU 27 and the FFU 28 include filters, and supply air (cleaned gas) that is cleaner than air in the environment of the clean room to the internal space of the transfer device 24 to maintain the cleanliness of the substrate 1. The FFU 27 is provided with a supply port in a region of the housing 26 located on the upper surface of the space 26b so as to supply clean air toward the space 26b. By installing the FFU 27 in such a position, it is possible to blow clean air from the upper side to the lower side of the transfer path until the substrate 1 is carried from the holding unit 2 to the processing chamber 11. As a result, a downward wind direction 21a (down flow) is generated, and the periphery of the substrate 1 is always kept clean.

  The FFU 28 is provided with a supply port in a region of the casing 26 located on the side surface of the space 26a so as to supply clean air toward the space 26a. When the mounting table 16 descends, the FFU 28 supplies clean air toward the side surface of the holding unit 2, thereby generating a wind direction 21 that flows along the X direction and releasing the sealing of the SMIF pod 30. In addition, the surrounding particles are prevented from coming toward the substrate 1. Note that a part of the clean air supplied toward the side surface of the holding unit 2 also generates a wind direction 21b that is directed downward in the vertical direction, and is always maintained in a clean state in the same manner as the wind direction 21a in the space 26b. .

  The clean air supplied from the FFUs 27 and 28 is collected after both moving downward in the vertical direction, and is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust fan 23 installed in the space 26c. That is, the FFUs 27 and 28 and the exhaust fan 23 constitute an airflow forming unit that forms a flow of purified gas around the substrate being transported by the transport robot 8. At this time, the exhaust flow rate of the exhaust fan 23 is adjusted so that the internal pressure of the transfer device 24 is higher than the external atmospheric pressure, and air containing particles flows from the outside of the transfer device 24 into the transfer device 24. Suppress it.

  According to this embodiment, the main body 7 is installed in a position that does not hinder the flow of clean air (wind direction 21a) formed by the FFU 27, FFU 28 and the exhaust fan 23 in the horizontal direction. As an example, the main body 7 is disposed at a position away from vertically above and below the substrate transfer path by the transfer robot 8. Here, referring to FIG. 1B, in the space 26b, the positions of the FFU 27 and the main body 7 do not overlap in the X-axis direction, and the clean air supplied from the FFU 27 is not obstructed by the main body 7 and is not obstructed. You can go down.

  The control unit (control means) 29 is composed of, for example, a computer, is connected to each component of the transport device 24 via a line, and controls operation and adjustment of each component based on an operation command from the outside. obtain. Note that the control unit 29 may be shared with a control unit of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25, a control unit that controls the operation of the entire semiconductor manufacturing line, or the like.

  Here, in order to clarify the advantages of the transport device 24, a transport device that does not employ the present invention will be described as a comparative example. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a transport device 34 that does not employ the present invention and is assumed to be connected to the semiconductor manufacturing device 35. Among these, FIG. 5A is a plan view, and FIG. 5B is along a plane that passes through the plane center of the substrate 1 in the SMIF pod 30 shown in FIG. 5A and is perpendicular to the FDP 10. FIG. For simplification of description, the same reference numerals are given to the components of the transport device 34 corresponding to the components of the transport device 24 according to the present embodiment. In the transfer device 34, as shown in FIG. 5A, the opener 4, the main body 7, and the processing chamber 11 are arranged on the Y axis. Particularly in the Y-axis direction, the opener 4 and the processing chamber 11 are separated by a distance obtained by adding the turning diameter of the arm 6 to the size of the main body 7. Further, in the transfer device 34, as shown in FIG. 5B, clean air is supplied to the transfer path of the substrate 1 using the FFU 20, but since the FFU 20 is installed above the main body 7, the cleaning device The air flow path is obstructed by the main body 7. Therefore, the flow of the clean air is disturbed in the transport path, and the particles are wound up. As a result, the cleanliness of the substrate 1 may be lowered.

  On the other hand, in the transport device 24 according to the present embodiment, the opener 4 and the processing chamber 11 are arranged close to each other particularly in the Y-axis direction, so compared to the transport device 34 shown in FIG. The dimension in the Y-axis direction is reduced, and as a result, the entire apparatus is reduced in size. Further, in the transport device 24, clean air is supplied to the transport path of the substrate 1 using the FFU 27. However, since the FFU 27 is installed at a position that does not overlap with the main body 7 in the X-axis direction, the clean air flow path is provided. Is not obstructed by the main body 7. Therefore, the flow of clean air is not easily disturbed in the transport path, and it is difficult for the particles to be rolled up. As a result, the cleanliness of the substrate 1 can be maintained.

  In particular, when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 is an exposure apparatus, the environment around the substrate 1 is required to have a cleanness of about class 10 to class 100. On the other hand, it is possible to install the exposure apparatus in a clean room and make the entire clean room an environment of class 10 to class 100. In this case, however, maintenance and management of the clean room require a large cost. . Therefore, in order to improve the cleanliness around the substrate 1 from the class 10 to the class 100 while suppressing the cleanliness of the entire clean room from the class 500 to the class 1000, the transport device 24 according to the present embodiment is particularly suitable for the manufacturing cost. It is useful from the viewpoint of suppressing Further, when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 25 is an imprint apparatus instead of an exposure apparatus, the environment around the substrate 1 is required to have a higher degree of cleanliness of class 1 or less. Since it is very difficult to achieve such cleanliness in the entire clean room, also in this case, the transport device 24 according to the present embodiment is more useful.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a transport apparatus that can suppress a decrease in the cleanliness of the substrate due to the winding of particles.

  In the above description, the transport device 24 has one opener 4 installed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the transport device 24 may have a plurality of openers 4 installed. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a transport device 24 according to another embodiment having two openers 4a (first opening means) and 4b (second opening means). The installation conditions of the main body 7 of the transfer robot 8 and the positional relationship between the two openers 4a and 4b with respect to the main body 7 are the same as when one opener 4 is installed. Here, the distance L from the front surface of the transport device 24 to the center of the opener 4 is defined by the SEMI standard. Therefore, particularly in the case of the transport device 24 shown in FIG. 4, the two openers 4a and 4b are aligned with each other in order to keep the size of the entire device in the Y-axis direction as small as possible. In this case, the transfer robot 8 (main body 7) is disposed between the two openers 4a and 4b in the X-axis direction. However, although not shown in FIG. 4, when the FFU supplies clean air into the transport device 24, the main body 7 may be disposed so as not to obstruct the flow path. Note that this is the same as the case.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

4 Opener 5 Hand 6 Arm 7 Body 8 Transfer Robot 11 Processing Chamber 23 Exhaust Fan 24 Transfer Device 27 FFU
28 FFU
29 Control unit 30 SMIF pod

Claims (6)

An opening means for opening a container accommodating the substrate;
A transporting means for transporting the substrate in the container opened by the opening / closing means to a processing chamber, the movable hand holding the substrate; and a fixed portion connected to the movable hand via an arm. ,
An airflow forming means for forming a flow of purified gas around the substrate being transported by the transporting means,
The processing chamber is disposed away from the opening / closing means and the fixing portion in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in which the transport means pulls out the substrate from the container,
The transporting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit of the transporting unit is disposed at a position away from vertically above and vertically below the transporting path of the substrate by the transporting unit. An opening means for opening a container accommodating the substrate;
A transporting means for transporting the substrate in the container opened by the opening / closing means to a processing chamber, the movable hand holding the substrate; and a fixed portion connected to the movable hand via an arm. ,
An airflow forming means for forming a flow of purified gas around the substrate being transported by the transporting means,
The processing chamber is disposed away from the opening / closing means and the fixing portion in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in which the transport means pulls out the substrate from the container,
The transporting device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit of the transporting unit is disposed at a position that does not obstruct a gas flow by the airflow forming unit.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening unit includes a mounting table on which the container is mounted. The opening means includes a first opening means and a second opening means,
4. The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing portion of the transport unit is disposed between the first opening unit and the second opening unit. 5. A lithography apparatus for transferring a pattern formed on an original to a substrate,
A lithography apparatus, wherein the original plate is conveyed using the conveyance device according to claim 1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on a substrate to manufacture a semiconductor device,
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that transports the substrate using the transport apparatus according to claim 1.

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