JP3181128B2 - Semiconductor process 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 wafer transfer cassette and a semiconductor processing apparatus used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a wafer process comprises a combination of several basic steps such as a cleaning step, an oxidation step, an impurity introduction step, a thin film formation step, and the like, which are repeatedly performed with a lithography step as an axis. The processing in each of the above steps is performed by a processing device such as a cleaning device, an oxidation device, an ion implantation device, and a thin film forming device.
Conventionally, the transfer of a wafer between these process devices is performed by a wafer case, and the transfer of the transferred wafer to and from the process device is performed by direct contact with tweezers, vacuum tweezers, a transfer arm, or the like.

[0003] Among the above-mentioned process apparatuses, a conventional anodizing apparatus for making a wafer porous will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a conventional anodizing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, this anodizing apparatus has a lower tank 503 in which a positive electrode 501 is disposed, and an upper tank 504 in which a negative electrode 502 is disposed.
The wafer 512 made of i is mounted between the lower tank 503 and the upper tank 504. Further, upper tank seal 506 and lower tank seal 505 are provided in the upper tank 504 and the lower tank 503 at portions where the wafers 512 come into contact with each other.

When the wafer 512 is mounted on the anodizing apparatus, first, the transfer arm 508 on which the wafer 512 is mounted is moved between the upper tank 504 and the lower tank 503.
The wafer 512 is further moved downward to place the wafer 512 on the lower tank 503. Next, the transfer arm 508 is removed, and the upper tank 504 is lowered and pressed against the wafer 512. Thereby, the upper tank 504 and the lower tank 503 are each sealed.

Then, the sealed upper tank 504 is filled with an HF solution, and an electrical contact is established between the wafer 512 and the negative electrode 502. On the other hand, the lower tank 503 is filled with an electrolyte,
An electrical contact is made between the wafer 512 and the positive electrode 501. When a potential is applied between the electrodes 501 and 502 in this state, the upper surface of the wafer 512 is made porous by the HF solution.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of another example of the conventional anodizing apparatus. This anodizing apparatus has a pressing mechanism 613 provided inside the lower tank 603 so as to be vertically movable by the operation of a lever 613a. Other configurations are the same as those shown in FIG. When mounting the wafer 612 on this anodizing apparatus, the wafer 612 is placed on the pressing mechanism 613 by the transfer arm 608 with the upper end of the pressing mechanism 613 protruding from the upper end of the lower tank 603. The transfer arm 608 is removed. Next, the pressing mechanism 613 is lowered and the wafer 61 is pressed.
2 is placed on the lower tank 603. Thereafter, the upper surface of the wafer 612 is made porous in the same manner as shown in FIG.

[0008]

However, in the above-described wafer process, when a wafer is mounted on a processing apparatus, the wafer is once held by a transfer arm or the like from a wafer case containing the wafer and then transferred to the apparatus. This involves a two-stage operation of mounting and removing, and furthermore, since the transfer arm or the like holds the wafer for each process, there is a problem that particles are easily attached to the wafer and scratches are easily generated. Further, in a process apparatus, there is a problem that a wafer to be carefully handled must be directly handled, and the structure becomes very complicated.

The above-described problems occur not only in the anodization step for a wafer but also in the ion implantation step, the cleaning step, the thin film forming step, and the like.

In particular, in the anodizing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the wafer cannot be placed on the lower tank unless the lower arm seal is provided inside the portion where the transfer arm supports the wafer. The contact area between the liquid and the wafer is reduced. As a result, the electric field at the peripheral edge of the wafer becomes non-uniform, and the speed of making the wafer porous is slower at the peripheral edge of the wafer than at the center.

On the other hand, in the anodizing apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the position of the lower tank seal can be set to the same position as the position where the transfer arm supports the wafer by providing the pressing mechanism. Although the contact area between the electrolyte and the wafer can be increased, the provision of a pressing mechanism in the lower tank causes non-uniformity of the electric field applied to the wafer and disturbance of the liquid flow, and the speed of making the wafer porous increases. There is a problem that the surface becomes uneven. In addition, there is another problem that the configuration of the apparatus becomes complicated by providing the pressing mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor processing apparatus capable of suppressing the attachment of particles to a wafer and the generation of scratches with a simple structure.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor processing apparatus according to the present invention is detachable from a wafer mounting portion.
Transfer cassette consisting of functional plate-shaped member and electrolysis
An upper tank and a lower tank for containing a liquid,
Semiconductor processing equipment that processes wafers using
The wafer transfer cassette includes an opening formed in the plate-shaped member, into which a wafer to be processed can be inserted only from one side of the plate-shaped member, and an outer peripheral edge of the wafer inserted into the opening. parts to support, have a support part which is provided integrally with the inner wall of the opening, the said upper tank
The upper tank and the lower tank in the wafer mounting portion between the lower tank
It is characterized by being sandwiched between and attached.

Further, the support portion may be provided all around the inner wall of the opening, and a seal member may be provided at a contact portion of the support portion with the wafer .

Further, the semiconductor processing device may be
An anodizing apparatus having a pole and a negative electrode may be used.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor processor configured as described above.
In scan device, a wafer to be processed, a wafer carrying cassette
The opening is formed in an opening formed in the flat plate-like member, and the outer peripheral edge is supported by a support portion integrally provided on the inner side wall of the opening. Wafer transfer supporting the wafer in this way
Cassette is placed on the wafer mounting section between the upper and lower tanks.
It is mounted between the tank and the lower tank. As a result, the wafer is charged into the tank while the wafer is set in the wafer transfer cassette.
Fill solution can be filled. That is, once the wafer is set in the opening of the wafer transfer cassette, the wafer process is performed thereafter without contacting the wafer, and the adhesion of particles to the wafer and the generation of scratches are suppressed.

[0017]

[0018]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an anodizing apparatus using a first embodiment of a wafer transfer cassette (hereinafter, referred to as "wafer cassette") of the present invention.
This anodizing apparatus is an example of a processing apparatus used for a wafer process, and includes a wafer 11 in a semiconductor element manufacturing process.
2 to make the surface porous. As shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical lower tank 103 is fixed to a base 100 of the anodizing apparatus via a positive electrode 101. The lower tank 103 contains a lower tank 10 when the wafer 112 is made porous.
An electrolyte circulation path 110 for circulating the electrolyte injected into the lower tank 103 is formed on the upper end surface of the lower tank 103 serving as a wafer mounting portion.
05 is provided.

Above the lower tank 103, a cylindrical upper tank 104 is provided movably in the vertical direction. The upper end of the upper tank 104 is closed by a negative electrode 102 fixed to the upper end surface of the upper tank 104. Is peeling. Similarly to the lower tank 103, the HF solution circulation path 109 for circulating the HF solution injected into the upper tank 104 when the wafer 112 is made porous is provided in the upper tank 104.
Is formed, and an upper tank seal 106 is provided over the entire periphery of the lower end surface of the upper tank 104 at a portion in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the wafer 112. In addition, the upper tank 10
A laminarized mesh 111 for laminarizing the HF solution and the electrolytic solution respectively injected therein is provided inside the lower tank 4 and the lower tank 103.

On the other hand, the wafer cassette 108 on which the wafers 112 are placed is movably provided between the lower tank 103 and the upper tank 104. Below, this wafer cassette 10
8 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the wafer cassette shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer cassette 108 is formed of a plate-shaped member, and has an opening 108 having the same shape as the outer shape of the wafer 112, in the center of which a wafer 112 (see FIG. 1) is fitted.
a is formed. At the lower portion of the inner wall of the opening 108a, a step portion 108b as a supporting portion for supporting the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 112 fitted into the opening 108a is provided.
It is provided integrally over the entire circumference of the inner wall of the opening 108a. A wafer seal 107 is provided on the upper surface of the step portion 108b as a seal member over the entire periphery thereof, and the wafer 112 is placed on the wafer seal 107.

Based on the above-described configuration, the wafer cassette 108 on which the wafers 112 are placed is placed in the lower tank 103 and the upper tank 1.
04 and is placed on the lower tank 103 as it is. When the wafer cassette 108 is placed on the lower tank 103, the upper tank 104 is put on the wafer cassette 108, and a downward force is applied to the upper tank 104 by the weight of the upper tank 104 or by a pressing means (not shown). Thereby, the wafer 1
12 and the upper tank seal 106 adhere to each other, and the inside of the upper tank 104 is sealed. Similarly, the wafer 112 and the wafer seal 1
07, the wafer cassette 108 and the lower tank seal 105 are in close contact, and the inside of the lower tank 103 is sealed.

After sealing the upper tank 104 and the lower tank 103, the upper tank 104 is filled with an HF solution, and the wafer 112 and the negative electrode 1 are filled.
02 and make electrical contact with it. On the other hand, the lower tank 103 is filled with an electrolytic solution to make electrical contact between the wafer 112 and the positive electrode 101. At this time, the HF solution filled in the upper tank 104 is circulated by the HF solution circulation path 109, and becomes a laminar flow by the laminar mesh 111 provided in the upper tank 104, and is applied to the wafer 112.
Similarly, the electrolyte solution filled in the lower layer 103 is circulated through the electrolyte circulation path 110, and becomes a laminar flow by the laminar mesh 111 provided in the lower tank 103, and is applied to the wafer 112. In this state, each of the electrodes 101, 10
When a potential is applied between the two, the upper surface of the wafer 112 is made porous by the HF solution.

As described above, in this embodiment, the wafer 11
2 while the wafer 11 is placed on the wafer cassette 108.
2 can be made porous, the wafer 112
The wafer 112 can be attached to and detached from the anodizing apparatus without touching the surface of the wafer 112, so that contamination and scratches on the surface of the wafer 112 can be suppressed. Also, wafer 1
12 is supported by a small area, an electric field can be uniformly applied to the wafer 112, and the wafer 1
12 can be made uniform in the wafer plane.

It should be noted that the anodization of the wafer 112 causes H
It has been confirmed by experiments that particles increase in the F solution, and the number thereof is 0.2 μm or more and is several thousand in 1 cc of the HF solution. Therefore, in order to reduce the contamination of the surface of the wafer 112 by the particles, it is effective to provide a filtering mechanism in the HF solution circulation path 109 to filter the particles in the HF solution.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the wafer cassette 108 is incorporated in the anodizing step is described.
A plurality of steps can be performed without detaching from the wafer 08, and the occurrence of contamination and scratches on the surface of the wafer 112 can be further suppressed. Further, since it is not necessary to attach and detach the wafer 112 from the wafer cassette 108 between processes,
Since the handling of the wafer 112 is facilitated, the time from the end of the previous process to the start of the next process can also be reduced,
The processing of the wafer 112 can be performed efficiently. For example, when the anodization step described in the present embodiment is completed, the wafer 112 that has been subjected to the anodization is transferred to the wafer cassette 108.
By transferring the wafer 112 to the cleaning apparatus while the wafer 112 is placed on the wafer, the wafer 112 can be cleaned in the next step without having to remove the wafer 112 from the wafer cassette 108. In this case, the cleaning device needs to have a structure in which the wafer 112 can be attached and detached together with the wafer cassette 108. Similarly, when incorporating into other process equipment such as ion implantation equipment and thin film formation equipment,
It is necessary to have a structure in which the wafer 112 can be attached and detached together with the wafer cassette 108.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a wafer cassette which can be used in an anodizing apparatus has been described. However, in this embodiment, when a process which requires a liquid seal is not performed, A wafer cassette used in a process that does not require a liquid seal such as injection, cleaning, and vapor deposition will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of the wafer cassette according to the present invention. Wafer cassette 2 of the present embodiment
In addition to the opening 208a and the step portion 108b similar to those of the first embodiment, a notch 08c is formed from one portion of the side wall of the wafer cassette 208 to the opening 208a. Thus, the wafer can be easily attached to and detached from the wafer cassette 208 using vacuum tweezers or a table.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a wafer cassette according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The wafer cassette 308 of the present embodiment has four openings 308a similar to those of the first embodiment. Each opening 308a
Have step portions 308 similar to those of the first embodiment.
b is formed, and a wafer seal 307 is provided on the upper surface of each step portion 308b. Thus, four wafers can be placed in one wafer cassette 308, so that wafer processing can be performed more efficiently.

In this embodiment, an example of the wafer cassette 308 on which four wafers can be placed has been described, but the number may be increased or decreased as needed. When used in a process that does not require a liquid seal, each wafer seal 307 may be used.
Is not always necessary, and furthermore, each opening 308
The cut 208c described in the second embodiment for each a (see FIG. 3)
May be formed.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

The semiconductor processing apparatus of the present invention, the wafer transportable
A transfer cassette having an opening into which the wafer is inserted, and a support portion for supporting the wafer inserted into the opening ; an upper tank and a lower tank
Between the upper and lower tanks.
Configuration and a child that, if set once the wafer to wafer transfer cassette, since thereafter can be processed to the wafer without contacting the wafer, the particle adhesion and scratches on the wafer occurred Can be suppressed. In addition, wafer transfer between each process is performed for wafer transfer.
Handling of wafers can be performed for each cassette
Can be performed easily and wafer processing can be performed efficiently.
Become so.

In addition, by providing the support portion over the entire inner wall of the opening and providing a seal member at the contact portion of the support portion with the wafer, especially when the semiconductor processing apparatus is applied to an anodizing apparatus, Since the wafer can be supported with a minimum area, the electric field applied to the wafer becomes uniform, and the speed of making the wafer porous can be made uniform within the wafer plane.

[0034]

[0035]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an anodizing apparatus using a wafer transfer cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the wafer cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a wafer transfer cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a wafer transfer cassette according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a conventional anodizing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of another example of the conventional anodizing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Base 101 Positive electrode 102 Negative electrode 103 Lower tank 104 Upper tank 105 Lower tank seal 106 Upper tank seal 107, 307 Wafer seal 108, 208, 308 Wafer cassette 108a, 208a, 308a Opening 108b, 208b, 308b Step 109 HF solution Circuit 110 Electrolyte circuit 111 Laminarized mesh 112 Wafer 208c Cut

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/288

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A flat member detachable from a wafer mounting portion.
Wafer transfer cassette and electrolyte
Comprising an upper tank and a lower tank, and
A semiconductor processing apparatus for processing, wherein the wafer transfer cassette has an opening formed in the plate-shaped member, into which a wafer to be processed can be inserted only from one side of the plate-shaped member; to support the outer peripheral edge portion of the inserted wafers, have a support part which is provided integrally with the inner wall of the opening, to the wafer table between the lower tank and the upper tank Above
It is characterized by being mounted between the tank and the lower tank.
Semiconductor process equipment. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the support portion is provided around the entire inner wall of the opening, and a seal member is provided at a contact portion of the support portion with the wafer.
7. The semiconductor process device according to item 1 . 3. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1, wherein the positive electrode is connected to a negative electrode.
The anodizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the anodizing apparatus has an electrode.
Semiconductor process equipment.