JP3181455B2 - Transfer arm device and processing chamber assembly device using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer arm device used in, for example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a processing chamber assembly device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a process of carrying an object such as a semiconductor wafer into a vacuum processing chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and performing the process under a reduced pressure atmosphere is often used. In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs processing on an object to be processed under a reduced-pressure atmosphere as described above, every time an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is carried in and out of a vacuum processing chamber,
When the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is returned to the normal pressure, it takes a lot of time to start the processing by reducing the pressure inside the vacuum processing chamber again, which causes a decrease in throughput (the number of workpieces that can be processed within a unit time). Become. For this reason, in many cases, a pre-vacuum chamber, that is, a so-called load lock chamber, having a smaller internal volume than the vacuum processing chamber is provided adjacent to the vacuum processing chamber.

For example, a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (eg, an etching apparatus) for processing an object to be processed under a reduced pressure atmosphere
Then, a load lock chamber is provided adjacent to the vacuum processing chamber of this apparatus, and an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is loaded into the vacuum processing chamber by the transfer arm through the load lock chamber.
Let them be carried out. In this way, an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is carried into and out of the vacuum processing chamber without returning the vacuum processing chamber to normal pressure, thereby improving the throughput of the entire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

A conventional transfer arm for transferring the object to be processed is generally of the articulated arm type.
The two arm portions are connected in series so as to be able to bend, respectively, and power is transmitted between them to expand and contract the entire arm portion. Also, as transfer arms of other shapes,
There is also known a frog-leg type transfer arm that can be bent like a so-called frog foot. The transmission of the power of these transfer arms is, for example, a steel belt, a chain belt or a cock belt or the like which is formed with a large number of irregularities inside the belt between the two pulleys so as to mesh with the irregularities formed on the pulleys. By rotating these belts, the articulated arm expands and contracts.

[0005]

In the semiconductor manufacturing process, a transfer arm is used to load and unload semiconductor wafers processed in the vacuum processing chamber. This operation will be described. For example, when the processing of the wafer is completed, the transfer arm is extended to take out the processed wafer from the vacuum processing chamber, the wafer is held, and then the wafer is retracted and housed in the load lock chamber. . Then, the entire transfer arm is turned, and the transfer arm is directed to a cassette chamber for storing processed wafers or a vacuum processing chamber to be processed next in the case of a cluster tool device. Then, the transfer arm is extended again, and the processed wafer is placed in the cassette or the next vacuum processing chamber. Next, after the empty transfer arm is retracted, the transfer arm is turned again to direct the transfer arm to a wafer cassette or the like accommodating the unprocessed wafer, and the transfer arm is extended to hold the unprocessed wafer. . Then, after the transfer arm is retracted, it is turned again to direct it to the corresponding vacuum processing chamber, and the unprocessed wafer is placed in the vacuum processing chamber by extending the arm, whereby the next processing is performed. It becomes possible.

As described above, in the conventional transfer arm, the transfer arm has a large number of expansions and contractions after the processing of one wafer is completed and before a new unprocessed wafer is placed in the vacuum processing chamber. In such a case, the process and the turning process must be performed, and during that time, the vacuum processing apparatus is not operated while being stopped, which causes a decrease in throughput. In particular, in a so-called cluster device in which a plurality of vacuum processing chambers are assembled and connected, the loading and unloading of wafers is frequently performed. However, there is a problem that the operation efficiency of the cluster device is not sufficient, the operation time of the vacuum processing chamber is shortened, and the advantages of the cluster device cannot be fully utilized.

[0007] The present invention focuses on the above problems,
It was created to solve this effectively. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer arm device capable of handling two workpieces without increasing an occupied area, and a processing chamber assembly device using the same.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first arm portion and a second arm portion flexibly supported by the first arm portion are provided. The two transfer arms, which are supported by the second arm portion so as to be bent and hold the object to be processed at the tip, are symmetrically arranged on the same rotation axis with respect to the center of rotation. The first and second arm portions of the two transfer arms are connected to an independently operable telescopic drive system .
The center of the object to be processed held by the arm is in the turning state
Reciprocating in 180 ° opposite directions on a straight line passing through the heart
The object to be processed held by the third arm portion
Each is positioned in the same horizontal plane, and the degenerate mode of the two transport arms, is mounted on the third arm portion
In order to avoid interference with the object to be processed, an interference preventing step is formed on each of the third arms.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a plurality of processing chambers for processing an object to be processed and a common transfer chamber commonly connected to carry in and out the object to be processed are provided. The transfer arm device according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured such that a transfer arm device according to the first invention is provided in the common transfer chamber to transfer the object to and from each of the processing chambers.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the two transfer arms are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of rotation on the same rotation axis, so that they can be extended and contracted in directions opposite to each other by 180 degrees. . Therefore, by individually driving the telescopic drive systems provided on the individual transfer arms, the transfer arms including the first, second, and third arm portions are individually expanded and contracted. Turns are performed integrally,
The direction is made.

The objects to be processed held by the two transfer arms need to be exactly aligned with the processing chamber or the like. Therefore, they need to be symmetrically held in the same horizontal plane and on a straight line passing through the center of rotation. However, in order to avoid interference between the third arm of one of the transfer arms and the object held by the other transfer arm when the transfer arms are retracted, each third arm has an interference prevention step. Since the portion is formed, the object to be processed does not interfere with the other transfer arm.

According to the second invention, the transfer arm device of the first invention is provided in the processing chamber collecting device. Therefore, the transfer arm device is provided in a common transfer chamber commonly connected to a plurality of processing chambers. Therefore, when the processing of the object to be processed is completed in one processing chamber, the object to be processed is held in one transfer arm while the object to be processed is held in the other transfer arm. Then, immediately after this, the unprocessed object held by one of the transfer arms can be set in the processing chamber. Such an operation can be similarly performed between the processing chambers, so that the loading / unloading operation of the object to be processed can be performed quickly, and the downtime of the vacuum processing chamber can be shortened to increase the throughput. It can be improved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a transfer arm device according to the present invention and a processing chamber assembling apparatus using the same will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the transfer arm device according to the first invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one transfer arm of the transfer arm device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the transfer arm device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the operation of one transfer arm shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a side view showing a contracted state of the transfer arm device, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a drive system of the transfer arm device. 7, FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing a power transmission mechanism of one transfer arm, FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a processing chamber assembly device having the transfer arm device of the first invention, and FIG. 9 is a processing chamber assembly shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of an apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the transfer arm device 2 is constructed in a substantially similar manner, and has first and second transfer arms 4, 6 arranged point-symmetrically with respect to the center of rotation. As described later, a semiconductor wafer W to be processed is
For example, the transfer is performed between a cassette chamber and a vacuum processing chamber, and is provided in a load lock chamber or the like, which is a common transfer chamber that can be evacuated. Each of the transfer arms 4 and 6 has first arm portions 8A and 8B that are extendable and contractable so as to be able to turn in a minimum necessary space and to transfer the wafer W to a distant place, and a second arm. It is mainly constituted by sections 10A and 10B and third arm sections 12A and 12B, and the wafer W is placed and held on the distal ends of the third arm sections 12A and 12B.

More specifically, the first arm portions 8A and 8B of the transfer arms 4 and 6 are connected to a three-axis type magnetic seal bearing 14 as shown in FIG. The magnetic seal bearing 14 is provided inside a turning shaft 16 having a relatively large diameter.
Two rotation shafts, that is, telescopic shafts 18A and 18B are provided, one telescopic shaft 18A is connected to the base end of the first arm 8A, and the other telescopic shaft 18B is
The base end of the other first arm 8B is connected. The distal ends of the first arms 8A and 8B are connected to the respective base ends of the second arms 10A and 10B so as to be bent. The distal ends of the second arms 10A and 10B are connected to the distal ends of the second arms 10A and 10B. The base ends of the third arm portions 12A and 12B are connected to bendable, so that both can be extended and contracted.

In order to enable such an operation, a belt or the like is connected to the rotating shaft 16 as shown in FIG.
A belt and the like are connected to the rotation shafts of the extension / contraction motors 22A and 22B as extension / contraction drive systems, and can be individually controlled. Also, the motors 22A, 22B
Is fixed on the atmosphere side of the magnetic seal MG so as to move with the turning shaft 16.

To minimize the turning radius of these transfer arms, that is, the area occupied by turning, the first arm portions 8A and 8B and the second arm portion 10 in the case of three joints.
It is preferable to set the ratio of the length of A, 10B and the length of the third arm portions 12A, 12B to 1: 1: 2. The longitudinal centers of the portions 12A and 12B are set so as to be located, and the first, second and third arms are formed into an equilateral triangle with an angle θ of 60 degrees (see FIG. 3). .

The power transmission mechanism of each arm is substantially the same as the conventional structure, which will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a power transmission mechanism of one transfer arm, for example, the first transfer arm 4. Casing 2 of first arm 8A
4 is connected to a telescopic shaft 18A interlocked with a telescopic motor 22A, and a first proximal pulley 26 provided on the outer periphery thereof via a bearing is connected to the turning shaft 16. For example, a chain belt 30 or the like is stretched between the first distal pulley 28 and the first proximal pulley 26, and a rotation shaft of the first distal pulley 28 is connected to the casing 24. The second arm 10A is supported by a second proximal pulley 32 via a bearing via a bearing, and the distal end thereof is connected to a casing 34 of the second arm 10A. The second tip pulley 36 of the second arm portion 10A is supported by the casing 34 via a bearing, and the pulley 3
For example, a chain belt 38 is stretched between the second base pulley 32 and the second base pulley 32. The rotation shaft of the second tip pulley 36 is connected to the thin plate-shaped third arm 14.
A is directly connected to the base end of A.

Therefore, by driving the expansion / contraction motor 22A to rotate forward and backward, the entire transfer arm 4 expands and contracts. Here, the ratio of the diameters of the first proximal pulley 26, the first distal pulley 28, the second proximal pulley 32, and the second distal pulley 36 is set to 2: 1: 1: 2. The angle α (see FIG. 3) of the joint between the first arm 8A and the second arm 10A is larger than the angle of the other parts by two.
It changes at twice the speed, and as a result, the third
Arm portion 12A linearly moves on a straight line parallel to a straight line passing through the turning center O1. Since the two transfer arms 4 and 6 having substantially the same configuration are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to the rotation center O1 as described above, the rotation centers S1 and S2 of the telescopic shafts 18A and 18B of each arm are naturally taken as a matter of course. S2
(See FIG. 3) are arranged at positions that are point-symmetric with respect to the turning center O1, and each of the third arm portions 12A, 12B.
Are set so as not to exceed the bisector 40, which is the boundary between the two transfer arms, in principle so as not to interfere with each other. However, when the wafers are transferred between the vacuum processing chamber and the wafer cassette chamber, the two wafers W held by the third arms 12A and 12B are placed on the same horizontal plane in order to simplify the control. And must be located on a straight line 40 passing through the turning center O1.

For this purpose, each third arm portion 12A, 1
The wafer mounting portions 42A and 42B, which are the tips of 2B, are formed to be wider than the above-mentioned bisector 40 and extended to the area of the transfer arm on the opposite side, and to make the center of gravity of the wafer into the bisector 4
It can be held in a state where it is positioned above zero. When the two transfer arms 4 and 6 are completely retracted in such a state, the protruding wafer mounting portion and the wafer W held thereon interfere with and collide with the third arm portion of the other transfer arm portion. Will be done. Therefore, in order to avoid this interference, each third arm portion 12A, 12A
At the base end side of B, this portion is bent downward into a stepped shape to form interference prevention stepped portions 44A and 44B, so that there is a vertical difference when retracted.

The transfer arm device 2 configured as described above
Is applied to, for example, a processing chamber collecting apparatus in which a plurality of vacuum processing chambers corresponding to each processing are assembled into a cluster apparatus when continuous processing is performed on a wafer. Such a processing chamber assembling apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 46 denotes a load lock chamber as a common transfer chamber capable of evacuating, and the load lock chamber 46 accommodates the multi-joint transfer arm device 2.

The outer periphery of the load lock chamber 46 is divided into eight parts in the circumferential direction, and first to fourth vacuum processing chambers corresponding to processing steps to be continuously performed on the wafer in four directions. 48A to 48D are commonly connected so as to be able to communicate with each other via gates G1 to G4. In the other two adjacent directions, the wafer cassette chambers 52A and 52A capable of evacuating the wafer cassette 50 for housing the wafer cassette 50 therein.
B are connected via gates G5 and G6, respectively, and transfer the wafer W in the cassette to and from the load lock chamber 46.

In the remaining two directions, heating / cooling chambers 54A and 54B which can be evacuated are connected via gates G7 and G8, respectively, so that preheating of the wafer before processing and cooling of the wafer after processing are performed. And so on. Also, a part of the load lock chamber 46 includes:
For example, a position detecting means 56 for aligning the orientation flat (orientation flat) of the wafer using an optical system is provided. Here, the orientation flat is aligned.

The wafer cassette chambers 52A, 52A,
Gate doors G9 and G10 for loading and unloading cassettes are provided on the opposite side of 2B so as to be able to communicate with the atmosphere side, and a multi-joint cassette transfer arm 58 commonly used is provided outside the gate doors G9 and G10. The cassette 50 can be transferred to and from the cassette mounting table 60. The cassette 50 is set at a predetermined position on the cassette mounting table 60 by an autonomous carrier (AGV) or the like.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the above-mentioned assembly apparatus when cut along a line extending to the wafer cassette chamber 52A, the load lock chamber 46, and the first vacuum processing chamber 48A. The cassette 50 is loaded and unloaded via a gate door G9, and a cassette mounting table 64 which can be moved up and down by, for example, a ball screw 62 is disposed inside.
A vacuum exhaust system 66 connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) and a gas supply system 68 for supplying an inert gas or the like into the cassette chamber are connected to the bottom of the cassette chamber 52A.

The cassette chamber 52A is communicated with the load lock chamber 46 through a gate bend G5, in which the multi-joint transfer arm device 2 having the two transfer arms 4 and 6 is housed. Have been. A vacuum evacuation system 70 and an inert gas supply system 72 similar to those described above are also connected to the bottom of the load lock chamber 46 so as to be evacuated.

The load lock chamber 46 is connected to a first vacuum processing chamber 48A through a gate ben G1. As an example of the first vacuum processing chamber 48A, a plasma processing chamber is disposed, and an upper electrode 74 and a lower electrode 78 as a susceptor are disposed inside the first vacuum processing chamber 48A at a predetermined interval. The lower electrode 78 is connected to, for example, 13.56M via a matching circuit 80.
A high frequency power supply 90 for applying a high frequency of Hz is connected, and a plasma can be established between the two electrodes. A reaction gas supply system 92 for supplying a reaction gas to the inside is connected to the ceiling of the processing chamber 48A, and a vacuum exhaust system 94 is connected to the bottom.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, the overall flow of the semiconductor wafer W will be described. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a wafer cassette 50 containing, for example, 25 unprocessed wafers W is set at a predetermined position on a cassette mounting table 60, and this is set by a cassette transfer arm 58. It is accommodated in a cassette room, for example, cassette room 52A via gate door G9. Then, this cassette room 5
The inside of 2A is evacuated by the vacuum evacuation system 66, and when the atmosphere becomes a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere, next, the gate bend G5 is opened to communicate with the inside of the load lock chamber 46, which has been previously made vacuum atmosphere. Then, in this state, one of the two transfer arms 4 and 6 of the transfer arm device 2 in the load lock chamber 46 is extended via the gate bend G5 to transfer one wafer in the cassette 50 to the third one. It is held at the tip of the arm portion 12A or 12B (see FIGS. 3 and 4), and the arm is retracted and taken into the load lock chamber 46. Then, in this state, the transfer arm device 2 is turned by a predetermined angle so as to be directed toward the first vacuum processing chamber 48A.

Next, by opening the gate ben G1, the inside of the load lock chamber 46 communicates with the inside of the first vacuum processing chamber 48A which is maintained in a vacuum state in advance, and the transfer arm is extended. The second arm portion, for example, the tip portion of 8A and the third arm portion, for example, 12A, enter the processing chamber 48A, and the wafer W is placed and held on the lower electrode 74.

Next, the transfer arm is retracted from the processing chamber 48A by retracting the transfer arm, and the gate ben G1 is closed. When the gate chamber G1 is closed and the inside of the processing chamber 48A is sealed in this way, a predetermined plasma processing is performed on the wafer as the first processing.

During this time, if there is a wafer W for which a predetermined process has been completed in another vacuum processing chamber, the transfer arm is turned in the direction of the processing chamber as described above to open the corresponding gate bend and transfer the wafer. The processed wafer W is taken out by extending and retracting the arm, and is again loaded into the vacuum processing chamber to be processed next. When a series of continuous processing is performed on the wafer W in this manner, the gate bend G6 of the other cassette chamber 52B for installing the wafer cassette 50 for accommodating the completely processed wafer is opened, and the same as described above. By expanding and contracting the transfer arm, the processed wafer is stored in the cassette 50.

When the cassette 50 is filled with the processed wafers, the cassette 50
Is moved by the cassette transfer arm 58 to the gate door G10.
Is carried out of the cassette chamber through the cassette mounting table 6
And is transported to the next processing step by the self-propelled transport vehicle.

Next, the expansion / contraction operation, the turning operation of the transfer arm 2 provided in the load lock chamber 46, and the rotation operation of the third arm unit will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the turning operation will be described. When turning the entire transfer arm device 2, the joints of the transfer arms 4 and 6 are bent as shown in FIG. 1 so that the rotation radius of the entire arm is minimized. Make a turn. In this case, each telescopic shaft 18A connected to the respective casing 24 of each first arm portion 8A, 8B,
18B, the two telescopic motors 22A and 22B
Is fixed on the atmosphere side of the magnetic seal so that the base pulley 26 of the magnetic seal moves together with the pivot shaft 16 which is connected in common.
By rotating the turning motor 20, the entire arm portion can be oriented in an arbitrary direction without any expansion or contraction.

Next, the case where the transfer arms 4 and 6 are expanded and contracted will be described. In this case, since the two transfer arms 4 and 6 perform the expansion and contraction operation in the same manner, the operation of one arm will be described as an example with reference to FIG. When performing this expansion / contraction operation, the turning motor 20 is always stopped, that is, the first base pulley 26 is stopped, and expansion / contraction is performed only by forward / reverse rotation of the expansion / contraction motor 22A.

That is, when the rotation motor 20 is fixed and the expansion / contraction motor 22A is rotationally driven, when the first arm 8A rotates in the direction of arrow A1 at the time of contraction in FIGS. The second arm portion 10A rotates at twice the rotation angle in the direction of arrow A2 opposite to the direction of arrow A1, and the third arm 10A
Arm portion 12A rotates at a speed of one time the rotation angle. The reason is that the first proximal pulley 26 and the first distal pulley 28
This is because the diameter ratio between the (second proximal pulley 32) and the second distal pulley 36 is set to 2: 1: 2. As a result, the third arm portion 12A moves linearly on the dashed line 96 passing through the rotation center S1 as shown in the direction of arrow A3. In addition, at the time of extension, it moves in the direction opposite to the above-mentioned arrow.

This movement will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7. First, when the telescopic motor 22A is driven with the first base pulley 26 fixed, the first arm 8A
Rotates around the rotation center S1. At this time, the turning shaft 16 is stopped as described above. Then, the first through the chain belt 30
The driving force is transmitted to the end pulley 28 of the first case, and the first end pulley 28 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the casing 24. Since the first tip pulley 28 is directly connected to the casing 34 of the second arm portion 10A via the rotation shaft, the casing 34 also turns in the opposite direction to the previous casing 24 ( (See arrows A1 and A2 in FIGS. 3 and 4). Here, since the second proximal pulley 32 of the second arm portion 10A is directly connected to the above-mentioned casing 24, the second proximal pulley 32 rotates relatively to its rotation axis. Will do.

When the second proximal pulley 32 rotates relative to the rotation shaft, the second distal pulley 36 rotates by a predetermined angle via the chain belt 40. The second tip pulley 36 rotated in this manner
Is integrally connected to the base portion of the third arm portion 14A, and rotates in the same direction as the second tip pulley 36.

In this case, the third arm portion 14A is
3 and FIG. 4, the second arm 10A is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow A4.
Since the third arm portion 14A rotates in two directions, as a result, the third arm portion 14A moves linearly as indicated by the arrow A3 direction as described above. The most stretched state is
This is when the center of the third arm 14A in the longitudinal direction is located at the rotation center S1 of the transfer arm itself, and the turning radius is minimized, and the transfer arm itself turns in this state.

Here, as described above, the third arm 12
A and 12B reciprocate on a straight line passing through the respective rotation centers S1 and S2, but the third arm portions 12A and 12B
The center of each wafer W held by the wafer mounting portions 42A and 42B at the end of the circle reciprocates on a dashed line 40 passing through the turning center O1. When each arm is retracted most, as shown in FIG. 1, each third arm portion 12A,
12B has an interference prevention step 44 bent in the vertical direction.
Since A and 44B are formed, a vertical difference is provided between the wafer W and the base end of each of the third arm portions 12A and 12B, and they do not collide. Therefore, each wafer W
Is a straight line 4 on the same horizontal plane and passing through the turning center O1.
It will be held above zero. For this purpose, each wafer W
If they are not held on the same horizontal plane or the same straight line,
A moving axis and a rotating axis are further required to perform axis alignment at the time of transfer, but as a result of the above-described configuration, the moving axis and the rotating axis can be eliminated, and two wafers can be simultaneously operated with a simple configuration. be able to.

A case where a processed wafer is transferred from one chamber to another chamber using the transfer arm device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. An unprocessed wafer W is placed in the chamber from which the processed wafer is taken out. Here, for example, a case will be described in which the processed wafer W is replaced with an unprocessed wafer in the first vacuum processing chamber 48A and is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber 48B for the next processing. The point to be considered here is that the second vacuum processing chamber 4
This means that the processed wafer W here also exists in 8B.

First, an unprocessed wafer W preheated in, for example, the heating / cooling chamber 54A is held on one of the two transfer arms, for example, the second transfer arm 6.
The other arm, for example, the first transfer arm 4 is set to the empty state, and both transfer arms 4 and 6 are set to the retracted state. In this state, the empty first transfer arm 4 is first directed to the first vacuum processing chamber 48A by turning the entire transfer arm device 2 about the turning center O1. Then, by opening the gate ben G1 and extending the first transfer arm 4, it is made to enter the first vacuum processing chamber 48A,
The processed wafer W in this is held by the first transfer arm 4. After holding the wafer W, the first transfer arm 4 is completely retracted, and the wafer W is taken out of the first vacuum processing chamber 48A.

Next, the entire transfer arm device 2 is turned by 180 degrees about the turning center O1, so that the second transfer arm 6 holding the unprocessed wafer W is emptied. Orient to processing chamber 48A. And
By extending the second transfer arm 6, an unprocessed wafer W is loaded into the first vacuum processing chamber 48A, and is placed inside. When the loading of the unprocessed wafer is completed, the second transfer arm 6 is retracted, and the gate
Is closed, and the processing in the first vacuum processing chamber 48 is started.

Next, the second transfer arm 6 emptied by turning the entire transfer arm device 2 again is directed to the second vacuum processing chamber 48B. Then, by opening the gate ben G2 and extending the second transfer arm 6, the arm 6 is caused to enter the second vacuum processing chamber 48B,
The processed wafer W in this is held. As described above, when the holding of the wafer is completed, the second transfer arm 6 is retracted, and in this state, the entire transfer arm device 2 is turned to remove the wafer processed in the first vacuum processing chamber 48A. The holding first transfer arm 4 is moved to the second vacuum processing chamber 48.
Orient to B.

Next, by extending the first transfer arm 4, the processed wafer is loaded and placed in the second vacuum processing chamber 48B. Then, when the mounting of the wafer is completed, the first transfer arm 4 is retracted and unloaded, and the gate bend G2 is closed to start the second process. Thereafter, similarly, the processed wafer is taken out by the empty transfer arm, and the wafer held by the other transfer arm is loaded onto the wafer, and the processing is started immediately. Such a wafer transfer process is performed in the cassette chambers 52A and 52A.
The same is performed between B and the heating / cooling chambers 54A, 54B and between the heating / cooling chambers 54A, 54B and each of the vacuum processing chambers 48A to 48D.

As described above, the two independently extendable and retractable transfer arms 4 and 6 are provided so as to be freely rotatable about the same turning center O1, so that the conventional transfer arm provided with only one transfer arm can be used. Compare wafer loading
Transport efficiency such as unloading can be improved. Therefore, the operation rate of the processing chamber can be increased as a whole, and the throughput can be greatly improved. In particular, when the present invention is applied to an aggregation device in which a plurality of processing chambers are gathered, the overall operation rate of each processing chamber can be significantly improved, which can contribute to an improvement in throughput.

The transfer arm itself is provided with a vertical difference in height so as to avoid collision with the wafer without providing the interference prevention step portions 44A and 44B for preventing the collision with the wafer in the arm portion. However, in this case, the number of movable shafts for elevating and lowering the transfer arm itself increases, so that not only one control target shaft is added, which complicates the apparatus, but also causes particles to be generated. Also increases, which is not preferable.

In particular, a transfer arm device used for a common transfer chamber of a cluster tool device in which a plurality of processing chambers are connected,
Should the arm device go down, the entire device cannot be used, so high reliability is required. In this regard, increasing the number of controlled axes even as described above is not preferable in terms of maintaining this reliability. still,
In the above embodiment, the semiconductor wafer has been described as an example of an object to be processed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to another object to be processed, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) substrate. .

[0048]

As described above, according to the transfer arm device of the present invention and the processing chamber assembling apparatus using the same, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited. According to the first aspect of the invention, the two independently extendable and retractable transfer arms are provided so as to be freely rotatable , and furthermore, the arms are provided on the arm portions.
The provision of the interference prevention step allows the
Prevent body from interfering with each other and on the same horizontal plane
On a straight line passing through the center of arm rotation
Since the reciprocating movement is performed in the opposite direction by 180 degrees , two objects can be handled at once without complicating the apparatus itself. Therefore, since the transfer efficiency of the object to be processed can be improved, the operation rate of the processing chamber is increased, and the throughput can be improved. According to the second invention, since the transfer arm device of the first invention is used, the load / unload of the object to be processed in the processing chamber assembling apparatus can be efficiently performed. Can be fully utilized to greatly improve the throughput.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a transfer arm device according to a first invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one transfer arm of the transfer arm device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the operation of the transfer arm device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an operation of one transfer arm shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a retracted state of the transfer arm device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a drive system of the transfer arm device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing a power transmission mechanism of one transfer arm.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a processing chamber assembly device having the transfer arm device of the first invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the processing chamber collecting apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Transfer arm device 4, 6 Transfer arm 8A, 8B First arm 10A, 10B Second arm 12A, 12B Third arm 16 Rotating shaft 18A, 18B Telescopic shaft 20 Rotating motor 22A, 22B Motor (telescopic drive system) 42A, 42B Wafer mounting table 44A, 44B Interference prevention step 46 Load lock chamber (common transfer chamber) 48A to 48D First to fourth vacuum processing chambers 52A, 52B Wafer cassette chamber 54A, 54B Heating / Cooling chamber O1 Center of rotation S1, S2 Center of rotation W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece)

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-30447 (JP, A) JP-A-4-65148 (JP, A) JP-A-2-83182 (JP, A) JP-A-6-69315 (JP) , A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 B65G 49/05-49/07 B25J 9/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A first arm portion, a second arm portion flexibly supported by the first arm portion, and a bendable supported by the second arm portion; Two transfer arms including a third arm for holding the body are symmetrically disposed on the same rotation axis with respect to the center of rotation, and independently provided on each first arm of the two transfer arms. A third arm connected to an operable telescopic drive system;
The center of the object to be processed held by the section passes through the turning center.
Reciprocating in 180 ° opposite directions on a straight line
Then, the object to be processed held by the third arm portion is removed.
Each of the first and second transfer arms is positioned on the same horizontal plane, and when the two transfer arms are retracted, each of the first and second transfer arms is used to avoid interference with the object to be processed mounted on the third arm portion . 3. A transfer arm device, wherein an interference prevention step is formed in the arm of No. 3. 2. A processing chamber assembly apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers for processing an object to be processed and a common transfer chamber commonly connected to carry in and out the object to be processed. 2. A processing chamber assembling apparatus, wherein a transfer arm device defined in claim 1 is provided to transfer the object to and from each of the processing chambers.