JP3229422B2 - Semiconductor manufacturing 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 semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and, more particularly, to a wafer positioning mechanism in a notched wafer transfer apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a semiconductor wafer 1 generally has a linear portion, that is, a so-called orientation flat 2 (hereinafter, referred to as an orientation flat), as shown in FIG. The movement of the wafer 1 during the manufacturing process involves an operation of transporting a plurality of wafers 1 at a time. The wafers 1 are put into a reaction furnace for performing various processing operations, for example, a film forming process. In order to
It is necessary to transfer the wafer 1 to the film-forming boat while aligning the orientation of the wafer 1, that is, the position of the orientation flat, in order to eliminate variations in the film surface of the wafer 1 and to ensure quality. Therefore, the conventional wafer 1 having the orientation flat 2 accommodates a plurality of wafers 1 in a wafer cassette 7 as shown in FIG.

When a wafer cassette 7 accommodating a plurality of wafers 1 is mounted on an orientation flat aligner 8, the outer periphery of the wafer 1 contacts the drive roller 3 and rotates in the direction of arrow P as shown in FIG. Comes to the position of the drive roller 3, the contact between the wafer 1 and the drive roller 3 is cut off, and the wafer 1 stops. Thus, the orientations of the orientation flats 2 of all the plurality of wafers 1 can be aligned downward.

[0004]

The above prior art relates to a wafer with an orientation flat. Recently, there has been a demand for notched wafers by some users, and creation of a new wafer positioning mechanism has been demanded. The present invention relates to a semiconductor device provided with a notched wafer positioning mechanism suitable for reducing costs by simplifying the mechanism and improving maintainability .
It is intended to provide a manufacturing apparatus .

[0005]

Means for solving the above problems are described in the claims. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a wafer positioning mechanism for aligning a notch position of a notched wafer mounted in an upright position in a predetermined direction. A drive roller disposed so as to be capable of rotating and driving the wafer about a horizontal axis while being in contact with another point on the outer periphery of the wafer; and a contact support state by the stopper and the drive roller. A guide roller having a horizontal axis disposed so as to have a gap between the outer periphery of the wafer and a notch provided on the outer periphery of the wafer with rotation of the wafer when the stopper is engaged with the stopper; A wafer positioning mechanism , wherein the stopper is configured to statically support the wafer.
This is achieved by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided.

[0006]

According to the above arrangement, the notch provided on the outer periphery of the wafer can be positioned so as to be aligned with the direction in which the stopper is provided.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
The notched wafer 10 is accommodated in a cassette (not shown) which substantially conforms to the conventional cassette 7 shown in FIG. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the positioning of the notched wafer 10 is described in principle. FIG. 2 shows the stopper 40 and the notch 20.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a state in which is engaged. FIG. 1 shows a notched wafer 10, notch 20,
Drive roller 30, stopper 40, guide roller 5
0 is a diagram showing an operation or a positional relationship of the sensor 60. FIG.
The notched wafer 10 is mounted on the alignment mechanism as described above, and as shown in FIG.
0 'is moved to the position of 30 and the stopper 40' is also moved to 4
When pushed up to the position of 0, the outer periphery of the notched wafer 10 comes into contact with the drive roller 30 as shown in FIG. As a result, the rotational force of the drive roller 30 is transmitted to the notched wafer 10, and the notched wafer 10 is gently rotated in the direction of arrow Q, whereby the notch 20 is also moved. In this state, the positional relationship between the notched wafers 10 is regulated so that a gap is formed between the notched wafers 10 and the guide rollers 50. The drive roller 30 is preferably made of a material that does not adversely affect the film formation of the wafer and hardly generates particles, for example, a Teflon material . As shown in FIG. 1C, when the notch 20 comes to the position of the stopper 40 with the rotation of the notched wafer 10, the notch 20 engages with the pointed end of the stopper 40. Thus-out notched U E <br/> wafer 10 is deviated to the center position by rotational force in the direction of arrow Q, as shown in FIG. 2, the depth d = 1 the notch 20
mm in the direction of the stopper 40.
Due to this movement, the notched wafer 10 is released from contact with the drive roller 30, a gap is formed between the notch wafer 10 and the drive roller 30, the rotational force from the drive roller 30 is not transmitted to the wafer 10, and the notch 20 and the stopper 40 Stop at the engaged position. That is, the wafer 10 is
0 and the guide roller 50, and the mechanical notch alignment is completed. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1D, the drive roller 30 and the stopper 40 are lowered to the positions of 30 'and 40', respectively.

Although the principle of positioning the notched wafer 10 has been mainly described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1D, the same applies to the processing of a plurality of wafers housed in a cassette in parallel. As shown in ()), it can be confirmed that all the notched wafers 10 housed and mounted in the cassette are positioned by the notches 20. That is, reference numeral 60 denotes a sensor for confirming the alignment, which has a function of detecting a change in position when the stopper 40 and the notch 20 are engaged. As shown in FIG. 1F, when the notch alignment is confirmed, the notched wafer 10 in the cassette is set.
Is completed. In the embodiment, the sensor 60 is provided along with the stopper 40. However, the sensor 60 is not limited to this position, and may be configured to detect a minute change in the position of the notched wafer 10, for example. is there.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the following remarkable effects can be obtained as compared with the conventional orientation flat aligner.

(A) Positioning of a notched wafer can be realized by a simple structure.

(B) The number of components is reduced as compared with the orientation flat aligner, and a positioning mechanism excellent in maintainability and economy can be provided.

(C) Detection and adjustment are extremely easy due to the configuration in which one notch is used to perform one-way alignment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a procedure of a wafer positioning mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing an engagement state of a notch and a stopper in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional orientation flat aligner.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the outline of a conventional wafer and the principle of alignment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wafer 2 ... Orifice flat 7 ... Wafer cassette 8 ... Ortho flat aligner 10 ... Notch wafer 20 ... Notch 3,30 ... Drive roller 40 ... Stopper 5,50 ... Guide roller 60 ... Sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-118944 (JP, A) JP-A-2-181948 (JP, A) JP-A-3-148154 (JP, A) 118443 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wafer positioning mechanism for aligning a notch position of a notched wafer mounted in an upright position in a predetermined direction.
In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: a stopper having a sharp point that contacts a point on the outer periphery of the wafer; and a stopper that contacts the other point on the outer periphery of the wafer and can rotationally drive the wafer about a horizontal axis. a drive roller which is disposed, Oite contact support state <br/> by the drive roller and the stopper, and a guide roller having a horizontal axis which is disposed so as to have a gap between the outer periphery of the wafer The guide roller and the stopper are configured to statically support the wafer when a notch provided on the outer periphery of the wafer is engaged with the stopper as the wafer rotates. It is provided with a positioning mechanism of the wafer
Semiconductor manufacturing equipment . 2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a sensor for detecting engagement between said notch and said stopper.