JP2582578Y2 - Multi-chamber semiconductor processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus capable of simultaneously processing a plurality of semiconductor wafers.

[0002]

Having BACKGROUND ART c E c holder holding the multiple semiconductor wafers and storage chamber capable of storing under reduced pressure, is connected via a storage chamber and a valve and a wafer transfer robot <br/> a transfer chamber, multi-chamber type semiconductor which has a plurality of processing chambers are connected via respective and transfer chamber valve and a plurality of semiconductor wafers can be simultaneously processing <br/> management
Body treatment devices have been known for some time.
In a room-type semiconductor processing device, it can be stored in a storage chamber.
The number of wafer holders was one.

[0003] The wafer holder holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers is carried in through a carry-in / out port of a storage chamber, stored under reduced pressure , and then transferred to each processing chamber by a transfer robot. after the processing of the end, had been carried out from the carry-out entrance of the storage chamber is returned to the holding tube Chang server.

[0004]

In this type of multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus, it is necessary to reduce the pressure of the storage chamber to a predetermined degree of vacuum after closing the loading / unloading port of the storage chamber. Before opening the loading / unloading port of the storage chamber, it is necessary to restore the pressure of the storage chamber from the reduced pressure state. In the above-described conventional multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus, the number of wafer holders stored in the storage chamber is one. Therefore, every time one wafer holder is loaded and unloaded, it is necessary to open and close the loading / unloading port. Therefore, due to the time required for decompression and decompression, the throughput is low,
In addition, there is a problem that the semiconductor wafer is contaminated by scattering of dust in the storage chamber at the time of pressure recovery and pressure reduction .

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus which can prevent contamination of a semiconductor wafer and reduce the processing cost of the semiconductor wafer by an easy method.

[0006]

Multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus according SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention includes a storage chamber capable of storing a wafer holder holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers with reduced pressure, it is connected via a storage chamber and a valve A transfer chamber having a wafer transfer robot and a plurality of semiconductor wafers connected to the transfer chamber via respective valves.
Houses, shall apply in a multi-chamber semiconductor processing device and a plurality of process chambers capable of mutually independent processing, storage
A plurality of wafer holders are supported in the chamber and
Standing wafer holder supporting device is arranged, wherein the wafer transfer robot performs a wafer <br/> transport between storage chamber and the processing chamber by rotation and telescopic arm in the horizontal plane It is assumed that .

[0007] As the wafer transfer robot, there are two types: a type in which a wafer holder is transferred into a processing chamber; and a type in which semiconductor wafers held in a wafer holder are transferred one by one to a wafer holder separately provided in the processing chamber. Is used.

[0008]

According to the multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus of the present invention, a type for transferring a semiconductor wafer held by a wafer holder one by one to a wafer holder separately provided in a processing chamber is used as a wafer transfer robot. Then, to process the semiconductor wafer, the following is performed.

First, a plurality of wafer holders respectively holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers are sequentially loaded from a loading / unloading port of a storage chamber and supported by a wafer holder support device, and then the storage chamber is maintained at a predetermined vacuum level. The pressure is reduced, and these wafer holders are stored in the storage chamber under reduced pressure. Next, the plurality of semiconductor wafers respectively held by the plurality of wafer holders are sequentially transferred to the processing chamber to be processed among the plurality of processing chambers by the transfer robot and processed. And the processed semiconductor wafer is
The wafer is returned to the storage chamber again, is held by the original wafer holder, and is sequentially unloaded from the unloading port of the storage chamber. In this manner, all the semiconductor wafers held by the plurality of wafer holders are processed. In this series of processing, the opening / closing of the loading / unloading port of the storage chamber is performed by opening and closing the semiconductor wafers held by the plurality of wafer holders. Despite being processed, only one time is required for loading and unloading, respectively.

When the semiconductor wafer is transferred from the wafer holder to each processing chamber, the mounting table of the wafer holder supporting device is moved up and down, and the arm of the wafer transfer robot is used to move the wafer.
The sheets are conveyed one by one.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus according to the present invention.
A storage chamber (1) capable of storing a plurality of wafer holders (5) holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers (4) under reduced pressure, and a wafer connected to the storage chamber (1) via a gate valve (6) A transfer chamber (2) equipped with a wafer transfer robot (7) that can transfer semiconductor wafers (4) supported by the holder (5) one by one, a transfer chamber (2) and a gate valve (8) And three processing chambers (3A), (3B), and (3C) that can be connected to each other and can simultaneously process a plurality of semiconductor wafers (4).

The storage chamber (1) and three processing chambers (3A) (3B) (3C) are arranged so as to surround the transfer chamber (2). The storage chamber (1) is provided with a loading / unloading port for loading / unloading a wafer holder (5) holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers (4). The loading / unloading opening of the storage chamber (1) is the gate door (9) except when loading / unloading the wafer holder (5).
Sealed. The storage chamber (1), the transfer chamber (2) and the respective processing chambers (3A) (3B) (3C) are operated by the gate valves (6) (8) independently or in relation to each other to reduce the required pressure. It can be maintained under conditions.

The wafer transfer robot (7) has an arm (10) that is rotatable and extendable in a horizontal plane, and has a finger (11) provided at the tip of the arm (10). ) One by one, and between the wafer holder (5) and a wafer holder (not shown) provided in the processing chambers (3A) (3B) (3C) and each processing chamber (3A) (3B). (3) The semiconductor wafer (4) is transferred between the wafer holders of (3C).

In the storage chamber (1), a wafer holder is provided.
(5) Rotatable wafer holder support device that can support four
(12) is arranged.

The wafer holder (5) has 25 wafer loading shelves arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction.

The wafer holder supporting device (12) includes a prismatic rotating shaft (13), a rotating shaft driving portion (14), and a radially arranged rotating shaft (13) around the rotating shaft (13). It comprises four mounting tables (15) that can rotate and move up and down along the sides thereof.

At a wafer transfer position facing the transfer chamber (2) in the storage chamber (1), a mounting table elevating device (16) for raising and lowering the mounting table (15) stopped here, and an optical type A level detector (17) is provided. The optical level detector (17) is arranged on the transfer reference plane of the semiconductor wafer (4) by the wafer transfer robot (7), and the semiconductor wafer (4)
At the time of transfer, the height of the wafer holder (5) is adjusted.

Rotary axis drive unit of wafer holder support device (12)
The lifting drive (18) of the mounting table lifting device (16) and the mounting table lifting device (16) are both installed outside the storage chamber (1), and the main shaft and the storage chamber (1) are vacuum sealed shaft seals. It has a structure.

The processing by the above multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus is performed as follows.

First, the first and second wafer holders (5) are sequentially loaded from the loading / unloading port of the storage chamber (1) and are supported by the wafer holder support device (12).
Is reduced to a predetermined degree of vacuum, and the two wafer holders (5) are stored in the storage chamber (1) under reduced pressure. At this time, the pressure in the transfer chamber (2) has already been reduced to a predetermined degree of vacuum, and the storage chamber (1) and the transfer chamber
The gate valve (6) between (2) is closed.

Next, by rotating the wafer holder supporting device (12), the first wafer holder (5) is moved to the wafer transfer robot.
The wafer is moved to the position (7), and all the semiconductor wafers (4) held therein are transferred into the first processing chamber (3A) by the wafer transfer robot (7). First processing is performed on the semiconductor wafer (4) held by the tool (5).

Next, all the semiconductor wafers (4) subjected to the first processing are transferred to the second wafer by the wafer transfer robot (7).
Then, the wafer holder support device (12) is rotated to move the second wafer holder (5) to the position of the wafer transfer robot (7). All the held semiconductor wafers (4) are transferred into the first processing chamber (3A) by the wafer transfer robot (7). Then, the semiconductor wafer (4) subjected to the first processing
And the first processing on the semiconductor wafer (4) held by the second wafer holder (5) are performed independently or simultaneously.

Next, all the semiconductor wafers (4) subjected to the second processing are removed by the wafer transfer robot (7) to the third position.
, And all the semiconductor wafers (4) subjected to the first processing are transferred into the second processing chamber (3B) by the wafer transfer robot (7). . Then, the semiconductor wafer (4) subjected to the second processing is subjected to the third processing and the semiconductor wafer subjected to the first processing.
The second process for (4) is performed independently or simultaneously.

Next, the first wafer holder (5) is rotated by rotating the wafer holder support device (12), and the wafer transfer robot is moved.
After being moved to the position of (7), all the semiconductor wafers (4) subjected to the third processing are transferred to the first wafer holder (5) in the storage chamber (1) by the wafer transfer robot (7). ). Further, all the semiconductor wafers (4) subjected to the second processing are transferred to the third wafer by the wafer transfer robot (7).
Is transported into the processing chambers (3A), (3B), and (3C). Then, a third process is performed on the semiconductor wafer (4) subjected to the second process.

Next, after rotating the wafer holder supporting device (12) to move the second wafer holder (5) to the transfer position, all the semiconductor wafers subjected to the third process are processed.
(4) is stored in the storage chamber by the wafer transfer robot (7).
The second wafer holder (5) in (1) holds the wafer.

The above series of operations is performed in each chamber (1) (2) (3A)
Since (3B) and (3C) are performed under reduced pressure, there is no influence from outside air. Finally, the first and second wafer holders (5) are sequentially carried out from the carry-in / out entrance of the storage chamber (1).

Thus, a plurality of wafer holders (5)
All semiconductor wafers (4) held in
Since processing is performed in parallel in multiple processing chambers,
The processing time is shortened accordingly. The opening and closing of the carry-in / out port of the storage chamber only needs to be performed once each for carrying-in and carrying-out. Also, from the wafer holder (5) to each processing chamber (3A)
(3B) When the semiconductor wafer (4) is transferred to (3C), the mounting table (15) of the wafer holder support device (12) moves up and down, so the wafer transfer robot (7) has an elevating mechanism. This is unnecessary, and the cost of the wafer transfer robot (7) can be reduced and the reliability can be increased.

In the above embodiment, the wafer holder supporting device (12) accommodates four wafer holders (5). However, the number of wafer holders (5) to be accommodated is not limited to this, and may be appropriately adjusted. Can be changed. Further, in addition to performing different processes continuously as described above, the same process is performed in a plurality of processing chambers (3A)
It goes without saying that (3B) and (3C) can be carried out independently or in parallel.

[0030]

According to the multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus of the present invention, the opening and closing of the loading / unloading port of the storage chamber in a series of processing is performed even when all the semiconductor wafers held by the plurality of wafer holders are processed. Regardless, only one time is required for loading and unloading, respectively, so the number of times the storage chamber is depressurized to a predetermined degree of vacuum is reduced, and the throughput is improved. Therefore, the processing cost can be reduced by an easy method. In addition, since a plurality of semiconductor wafers can be processed simultaneously in each processing chamber, a large number of semiconductor wafers can be processed very efficiently.
Further, by reducing the number of times of opening and closing of the loading / unloading port, the probability of scattering of dust in the chamber at the time of pressure recovery and pressure reduction can be reduced, and contamination of the semiconductor wafer can be reduced.

Further, since the wafer transfer robot transfers the wafer by means of a rotatable and telescopic arm in a horizontal plane, the wafer transfer apparatus is replaced with a conventional one comprising a transfer belt, a swing mechanism thereof and a rotary arm. In comparison, the transfer mechanism is simple and reliable transfer is possible, and there is no risk of wafer contamination due to dust from the transfer mechanism. Moreover, since the wafer transfer robot is provided in an independent transfer chamber and the processing chamber and the storage chamber are connected via the transfer chamber, the risk of wafer contamination is further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Storage chamber (2) Transfer chamber (3) Processing chamber (4) Semiconductor wafer (5) Wafer holder (6) Gate valve (7) Wafer transfer robot (8) Gate valve (10) Arm (12) Wafer holder support device

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A and storage chamber capable of storing a plurality of reduced pressure the wafer holder holding a semiconductor wafer, a transfer chamber having connected through the storage chamber and the valve and the wafer transfer robot, the transfer chamber and respectively Connected via valves , each carrying multiple semiconductor wafers
A multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus including a plurality of processing chambers that can accommodate and perform processing independently of each other , and includes a storage chamber.
Supports multiple wafer holders in chamber and can rotate freely
And the wafer holder supporting device is arranged such, wherein the wafer transfer robot performs a wafer transportable <br/> feed between storage chamber and the processing chamber by rotation and telescopic arm in the horizontal plane multi-chamber semiconductor processing apparatus according to.