JP3400382B2 - Clean box, clean transfer method and system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to transporting various objects to be processed such as semiconductor wafers in a manufacturing process of semiconductors, electronic component-related products, optical disks, etc. in a clean environment, and particularly To be transported) between various processing devices in a clean state free of contaminants. More specifically, a bottom-down type clean box that has an opening on the bottom surface of the box and removes a transported object inside the box from the bottom surface opening of the box by removing a lid that closes the opening from below, and the clean box. The present invention relates to a transportation method and a device using the.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in manufacturing processes that require a highly clean environment such as semiconductor device manufacturing, a mini-environment (micro Environment) or local clean space is used. To put it simply, this is a container with a clean environment inside only the inside of each processing device in the manufacturing process, and the inside and outside of each processing device (clean device) are transported and stored between the processing devices (clean devices). It is called using a clean box or pod).

FIG. 1 which is also a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention
An example of such a local clean space system in semiconductor manufacturing will be described using. FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 10 as a local clean space (clean apparatus).
The state where the clean box 40 is attached is shown in FIG.

The semiconductor wafer processing apparatus 10 includes an apparatus body 30.
And a load port 20 for loading a semiconductor wafer which is an object to be processed by the apparatus main body 30 into the apparatus from outside the apparatus. In FIG. 1, the apparatus body 30 is on the left side of the straight line A, and the load port is on the right side. The space inside the apparatus 10 including the load port 20 and the apparatus main body 30 is a local clean space.

In such a local clean space system, a clean box (also called a pod), which is a container whose inside is kept clean, is used to transfer semiconductor wafers between different processing devices while keeping the clean state. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a clean box 40 of a bottom opening type is attached to the load port 20. The clean box 40 includes a box body 41 and an opening / closing lid 42. With the clean box 40 placed on the load port 20, the opening / closing lid 42 is removed downward, and the wafer inside is taken out and loaded into the processing apparatus.

In a conventionally used clean box, the opening / closing lid is fixed to the box body by a mechanical lock mechanism. As such a mechanism, for example, a movable pawl (claw) made of metal on the lid member, and a rotary cam for moving the movable pawl between a lock position protruding from the outer periphery of the lid by a predetermined amount and a release position retracted from the outer periphery of the lid. A locking mechanism composed of members is used. When fixing the open / close lid to the box body, the rotary cam member is rotated to set the movable pawl to the lock position, and the movable pawl engages with the hole provided in the box main body at this position so that the open / close lid is closed. Locked in. Such a lock mechanism of the clean box is attached to the load port,
It is operated by rotating the rotating cam member by an opening / closing device provided in the load port, and locks and releases the lid with respect to the main body.

[0007]

Since the clean box needs to be in a closed state in which it is shielded from the outside in order to keep the inside clean, a sealing means such as an O-ring for sealing between the opening / closing lid and the main body box is used. It is provided. However, the mechanical lock mechanism as described above used in the conventional clean box can only apply a pressing force of about several N (Newton) at the maximum, and cannot sufficiently crush the O-ring. Therefore, invasion of dust and other inorganic / organic substances cannot be sufficiently prevented, and a clean space cannot be maintained.

Further, in order to prevent natural oxidation during the waiting time for processing the semiconductor wafer, the air inside the box is filled with nitrogen N _2.
It is also possible to replace it with a non-oxidizing gas such as an inert gas. However, the conventional mechanical lid lock mechanism has a weak sealing force and cannot maintain such a non-oxidizing gas replacement state. .

The present invention is a bottom extraction type clean box having a higher sealing performance than a mechanical lock mechanism,
And a clean transfer method and system using such a clean box, in which the position of the clean box (load port) and the handling device can be easily aligned, and the structure of the access mechanism to the clean box on the side of the clean box handling device is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a clean box and a clean transfer system, which can be simplified.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a clean box according to the present invention has a box body having an opening on a lower surface, a lid member for closing the opening, and a box body or a lid member. An annular groove that is formed so as to surround the opening in at least one side and that defines a suction space that is sealed between the lid member and the box body when the lid member is attached to the box body, and the annular groove. And an intake / exhaust port means for externally evacuating / releasing the vacuum.

In this clean box, if a mechanical latch for preventing the lid member from falling off from the box body is provided, even if the vacuum suction of the annular groove breaks due to some cause during transportation of the box, This is preferable because the lid member does not drop. This mechanical latch may be configured to have a mechanism for opening and closing the latch from the outside.

As described above, when a semiconductor wafer is placed in the air, an oxide film naturally grows on the surface, which is inconvenient. In order to prevent this, the inside of the clean box is replaced with nitrogen or a non-oxidizing gas such as an inert gas. Correspondingly, the clean box of the present invention is provided with valve means for allowing gas to flow in and out in order to replace the gas inside the box.

The valve means for replacing the gas inside the box includes a gas input valve having a valve for introducing a non-oxidizing gas into the box and a valve for discharging the gas inside the box to the outside. And a gas output valve having

In the clean box of the present invention, the intake / exhaust means of the annular groove and the valve means (gas input valve and gas output valve) for gas replacement are provided on one and the same side of the clean box body. As a result, the access direction of the device for receiving the clean box, that is, the means for vacuum exhausting the annular groove to be provided in the load port of the clean device such as a semiconductor wafer processing device or for replacing the gas in the box is the same. Therefore, the load port configuration can be simplified. For example, the above-mentioned means can be configured as a single unit, and the clean box can be accessed in one operation.

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

In the clean transfer system of the present invention, a box body having an opening on the lower surface, a lid member for closing the opening, and at least one of the box body and the lid member are formed so as to surround the opening. An annular groove defining a suction space sealed between the lid member and the box body in a state where the lid member is attached to the box body, and an exhaust gas for exhausting / vacuating the annular groove from the outside. A clean box having a mouth means, and a load port of a clean device having a clean environment inside and having a box lid opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the lid member of the clean box, The box is installed with the lid member facing downward so that the lid member and the box lid opening / closing mechanism on the load port side face each other. Port has a means for evacuating / vacuum release the suction space through the suction-exhaust opening means of the clean box.

In this clean transfer system, the clean box is provided with valve means for allowing gas to flow in and out in order to replace the gas inside the box. The valve means for gas replacement inside the box includes a gas input valve having a valve for introducing a non-oxidizing gas into the box and a gas having a valve for discharging the gas inside the box to the outside. It is preferable to be composed of an output valve. In that case, on the load port side, means for gas displacement cooperating with them, that is, gas supply means cooperating with the gas input valve and gas exhaust means cooperating with the gas output valve are provided.

In the present invention, the inlet and outlet means of the annular groove and the valve means (gas input valve and gas output valve) for gas replacement are provided on the same side surface of the clean box body. Vacuum exhaust of the annular groove on the side of the clean device in cooperation with the intake / exhaust port means and the valve means
It is preferable that the means for releasing the vacuum and the means for replacing the gas in the box are configured on a single unit and the clean box is accessed in one operation.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a local clean space system of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a clean box as an example of a clean transfer system according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the semiconductor processing apparatus 10 is an apparatus main body 30.
And a load port 20 for loading the semiconductor wafer in the clean box 40 into the processing apparatus. The boundary between the device body 30 and the load port 20 is line A in FIG.
Indicated by. The load port 20 is usually the main body 30 of the device.
Although it is configured as a separate device that can be attached to and detached from, the device may be integrated with the device body. The device body 30 and the load port 20 are communicated with each other by an opening provided in a portion indicated by a broken line on the line A in FIG. 1, and a semiconductor wafer is transferred between the load port and the device body through the opening 37. Is done.

Space inside the apparatus main body 30 and the load port 20
The inner space communicates with the above-mentioned opening 37, and the inside of the entire apparatus 10 including both of them forms a local clean space. In order to keep the space clean, a fan intake device 32 with a filter is provided on top of the device 10. This fan intake device 32 generates a descending air flow in the device to keep the space in the device 10 clean. The downward flow is exhausted from the lower surface of the device to the outside.

Further, in FIG. 1, a clean box (hereinafter referred to as a pod) 40 according to the present invention is a load port 2.
1 is placed on the table 21 on the upper surface. Pod 40
Is a hermetically sealed container including a box-shaped pod body 41 having an opening on the lower surface and an opening / closing lid 42 for closing the opening on the lower surface of the body. As will be described in detail later, when the pod 40 is placed on the table 21 of the load port 20 and the wafer W in the pod is taken in and out, an annular groove provided in the table 21 is provided between the pod body 41 and the table 21. It is sealed by the vacuum suction used and maintains a clean space to the outside world.

The pod 40 is a container used for transferring wafers between different processing apparatuses and temporarily storing the wafers. The pod 40 has a carrier 43 fixed on a lid 42. The carrier 43 is a rack-type structure that accommodates a plurality of wafers W in parallel and at equal intervals.

The pod 40 is carried by a transfer means such as an overhead transfer (OHT) system in a factory and placed on the table 21 of the load port 20. In some cases, the pods can be transferred directly by the worker (handheld)
You can go.

First, the details of the pod 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b) and FIG. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are both a pod 40 and a gas replacement unit 50 for the load port 20 attached to the load port 20.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial cross section of the upper part of FIG.
It is a top view of 0.

The pod body 41 is a substantially rectangular container,
A flange portion of two stages, that is, a first flange portion 41a and a second flange portion 41b is provided on the peripheral portion thereof. A groove 46 is provided in a peripheral portion of the upper surface of the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod, in a portion facing the first flange portion 41a of the pod body. The groove 46 is an annular groove 46 formed so as to go around the peripheral portion of the opening / closing lid 42 that contacts the first flange portion of the pod once. On the inside and outside of the annular groove 46 on the opening / closing lid 42, O-rings for sealing the annular groove are attached by a well-known method so as to also make an annular round around the lid peripheral portion.

In the pod of the present invention, the annular groove 46 is evacuated to form an airtight seal between the pod body 41 and the opening / closing lid 42 by vacuum suction. That is, the sealing force is obtained by the pressure difference between the vacuum in the annular groove 46 and the external atmospheric pressure. Annular groove 4
The vacuum exhaust of 6 is performed through the vacuum port 57 (FIG. 3) which is an intake / exhaust port provided on the side surface of the pod body 41. Details of evacuation will be described later.

In the present specification, "evacuation",
Although the terms “vacuum adsorption” or simply “vacuum” are used for convenience, these do not mean perfect vacuum, of course, and states in which the pressure difference is relatively low with respect to atmospheric pressure. Is meant.

On the side surface of the box body, gas ports 55 and 56 for replacing the inside of the container with a non-oxidizing gas (nitrogen gas, inert gas, etc.) are provided side by side at the same height. One of them is a gas input port 55 for introducing gas, and the other is an output port 56 for discharging gas.

In the pod 40 as described above, an object to be conveyed such as a semiconductor wafer W is placed on the carrier 43, and a non-oxidizing clean gas such as nitrogen is adsorbed by the annular groove 46 into the pod. It can be transported and stored in a sealed state.

When the pod 40 is installed on the load port 20, the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod and the elevating table 22 of the load port are positioned so as to be aligned with each other. The elevating table 22 is a part of a mechanism 23 for opening and closing the lid of the pod, and is a table which is located at the top of the table and which can be elevated together with the lid opening / closing mechanism 23. A lid 42 for the pod is provided on the upper surface of the lifting table 22.
A mechanism (not shown) for adsorbing the open / close lid 42 is opened downward, and the carrier 43 provided on the open / close lid 42 is drawn into the load port, as will be described later.
The wafer mounted on the carrier 43 can be transferred to the main body of the semiconductor processing apparatus. Details of the transfer will be described later.

On the upper surface of the load port table 21, the second flange portion 41b of the pod 40 installed at a predetermined position.
A seal groove 26 is provided at a position facing the seal groove 26. The seal groove 26 surrounds the lift table in an annular shape. O-rings 25 are attached to both sides of the seal groove 26 to ensure the airtightness of the seal groove 26. The seal groove is connected to an exhaust means (not shown). When the pod 40 is placed on the load port table, the seal groove is evacuated and the pod body 41 (second flange portion 41b) and the load port table are separated from each other. Airtightly seal the space. Pod 4 by this seal
A system including the inside of the semiconductor processing apparatus 10 and the inside of the semiconductor processing apparatus 10 is sealed to the outside, and the system is maintained as a local clean space.

As described above, the side surface of the pod body 41 is provided with the vacuum port 57 for sucking and exhausting the annular groove 46, the gas input port 55 and the gas output port 56 for replacing the gas inside the box. ing. On the other hand, the load port 20 is provided with a vacuum exhaust / vacuum release mechanism (hereinafter referred to as vacuum mechanism) 53, a gas supply mechanism 51, and a gas exhaust mechanism 52 which cooperate with the respective ports of the pod body on a table (load port table) 21. Gas unit 50
Is provided.

The gas unit 50 is installed on a slider mechanism 29 provided on the load port table 21. The gas unit 50 is moved to the standby position (FIG. 2A) separated from the pod 40 on the load port table 21 by the slider mechanism 29 and each port 5 of the pod 40.
It is translatable between the operating position (FIG. 2 (b)) which is in contact with 5, 56 and 57.

When the gas unit 50 is in the operating position,
The vacuum port 57, the gas input port 55, and the gas output port 56 of the pod 40 are in air-tight contact with the vacuum mechanism 53, the gas supply mechanism 51, and the gas exhaust mechanism 52 of the gas unit 50 in alignment with each other.

Details of the vacuum port 57 and the vacuum mechanism that cooperates with the vacuum port will be described below with reference to FIG. 4, which is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum port 57 provided on the side surface of the pod body 42 includes a valve mechanism for evacuating the annular groove 46. The valve mechanism includes a valve body 61 movably installed in the left-right direction in the drawing. Disc 61
Comprises a closing flange portion 61a closing the end opening 60a of the passage 60 communicating with the annular groove 46, an engaging flange portion 61c on the opposite side, and a cylindrical shaft portion 61b connecting both flange portions. The right side surface (opposite side of the surface facing the passage 60) of the closing flange portion 61a is biased by the coil spring 62 in the left direction in FIG. That is, normally, the valve body 61 has the passage 6
It is pressed in a direction of closing the end opening 60a of 0, and the passage 60 is hermetically sealed by the closing flange portion 61a. In order to ensure airtightness, an O-ring 63 is provided on the left side surface of the closing flange portion 61a so as to surround the opening 60a.

When the gas unit 50 is moved to the operating position, the vacuum port 57 of the pod and the vacuum mechanism 53 of the gas unit 50 are aligned and in contact with each other. An O-ring 68 seals between the vacuum port and the vacuum mechanism 53.

The vacuum mechanism 53 of the gas unit 50 on the load port 20 side has an actuator (air cylinder) 66 for releasing the closing of the passage 60 by the valve body 61. The cylinder portion 66a of the actuator 66 can be moved linearly in the left-right direction in FIG. 4 and can be pivoted about an axis by air pressure. A hook arm 67 is provided on the upper portion of the cylinder portion 66a, and when the pod 40 is placed on the load port table 21, the hook arm 67 is provided.
Is the vacuum port 57 of the opening / closing lid 42 as shown by the solid line in FIG.
Get in.

The actuator 66 pivots and linearly moves the hooking arm 67 to move the tip end of the hooking arm and the engaging flange portion 61c of the valve body 61 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Can be stacked in any direction. When the actuator 66 is actuated in the linear direction in this state to move the hooking arm 67 to the right, the hooking arm 67 engages with the engaging flange 61c, and the entire valve body 61 resists the extension force of the spring 62. Is moved to the right. As a result, the closing of the end opening 60a of the passage 60 by the closing flange 61a is released, and the annular groove 46 is closed by the passage 60.
Through the space S1. In this way, it becomes possible to evacuate the annular groove 46 by means of the conduit 65 communicating with the space S1 and, conversely, to introduce gas into the annular groove 46 that was in a vacuum state to release the vacuum.

The structure of the vacuum port 57 and the vacuum evacuation means is as described above.
2 is installed in the load port in a state where the annular groove 46 and the passage 60 are evacuated. Therefore, the closing flange 61a of the valve body 61 is strongly pressed to the passage 60 side by the pressure difference between the inside and the outside, that is, the pressure difference between the space on the side of the passage 60 and the space S1.
It is difficult to move to open the opening 60a.

Therefore, when the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod 40 is opened, the following process is performed. First, the space S1 is evacuated through the conduit 65 to eliminate or reduce the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the closing flange 61a. Accordingly, the valve body 61 (the closing flange 61
It is possible to release the closure of the passage 60 according to a). After releasing the closing of the passage 60, the atmosphere is released through the pipe 65 or the gas is introduced, and the space S1, the passage 6
0 and annular groove 46 equalize to atmospheric pressure. As a result, the vacuum suction seal between the opening / closing lid 42 and the pod body 41 is released, and the opening / closing lid 42 can be opened.

On the contrary, the opening / closing lid 42 is evacuated by evacuating the annular groove 46.
The process of adsorbing the pod body 41 with each other is as follows. First, with the closing flange 61a opened, the pipe line 65 is connected to a vacuum source, and the annular groove 46 is evacuated through the space S1 and the passage 60. Next, actuator 6
6 is operated to release the engagement between the hook arm and the engagement flange 61c in the reverse order of the above. As a result, the valve body 61 is moved leftward by the force of the spring 62, and the closing flange 61a closes the opening 60a of the passage 60. After that, if the pipe 65 is opened to the atmosphere, the passage 60 side becomes a vacuum,
The space S1 becomes the atmospheric pressure, and the closing flange 61 firmly closes the passage 60 due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside.

Next, a mechanism for replacing the gas inside the pod 40 will be described with reference to FIG.

As briefly described above, the pod body 4
A gas input port 55 and a gas output port 56 for introducing and discharging gas in the pod are provided side by side on the side surface of 1. In the following, these gas ports 55, 5
6 and the gas supply mechanism 5 related to them on the load port side
1. Details of the gas exhaust mechanism 52 will be described. The gas input port 55 and the gas output port 56, the gas supply mechanism 51, and the gas exhaust mechanism 52 have exactly the same structure, and the only difference is the direction of gas flow. Here, the input side, that is, the gas input port 55 and the gas supply mechanism 51 will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 4, the gas input port has a valve assembly 70 fixed to the pod body 41 by screws 78. A valve body 71 is movably installed in the valve assembly 70 in the left-right direction in FIG. Disc 7
1 is urged toward the right side in FIG. 4 by two coil springs 72a and 72b installed around it.
Normally, in this biased state, the peripheral portion of the end surface 71a of the valve body 71 contacts the inner surface 70a of the valve assembly, closing the outer opening 70b of the valve assembly. End face 7 of valve body
In order to ensure the airtightness of this closure around the periphery of 1a, O
A ring 74 is provided. A filter 73 is attached to the opening on the pod side of the valve assembly to prevent contaminants from entering the pod from the outside.

With the gas unit 50 in the operating position, the gas input port 55 and the gas supply mechanism 51 are aligned and in contact with each other. Gas input port 55 and gas supply mechanism 51
An O-ring 75 is used to seal the gap between and.

The gas supply mechanism 51 has an air cylinder 76 for opening the valve assembly 70 of the gas input port 55. The air cylinder has a cylinder pin 77 that can be moved linearly in the left-right direction in FIG. 4 by air pressure. The cylinder pin 77 is aligned with the valve body 71 of the valve assembly 70.

When introducing a non-oxidizing gas such as nitrogen gas into the pod, the air cylinder is operated to move the cylinder pin 77 to the left in FIG. 4, and the valve body 71 is attached with coil springs 72a and 72b. Push against the force to open the end opening 70b of the valve assembly 70. Then, the gas is supplied into the pod through the conduit 79 connected to the gas source.

The gas output port 56 and the gas exhaust mechanism 52 on the gas output side are configured so that the gas flows in through the pipe 79 on the input side, while the gas flows out (is exhausted) on the output side. Except for the points, it is the same as the gas input side, so description will be omitted.

The valve assemblies for both the gas input port and the gas output port are simultaneously opened by the gas supply mechanism 51 and the gas exhaust mechanism 52, and the conduit 7 of the gas supply mechanism 51 is opened.
By supplying the non-oxidizing gas from 9, the inside of the pod 40 can be gas-purged and replaced with the non-oxidizing gas.

The opening / closing lid 42 of the pod is provided with a mechanical latch for preventing the opening / closing lid 42 from falling off the pod body 41. This mechanism is for opening and closing the lid 42 when vacuum suction between the pod body 41 and the opening and closing lid 42 due to the annular groove 46 fails for some reason during transportation of the pod.
Is to prevent the falling off. This latch mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.

The latch mechanism includes a circular rotary cam plate 101 rotatably installed in the center of the opening / closing lid 42. The rotating cam plate has two cam grooves 101a and 101a.
b is formed. The latch mechanism also includes sliding latch members 103 and 104. Latch member 10
3 and 104 are slidable in the vertical direction in the figure by being guided by guide members 106 and 107, respectively. Cam pins 105 and 106 are implanted in the latch members 103 and 104, respectively, and the cam pins 105 and 106 are respectively provided in the cam grooves 101a and 101b of the rotary cam plate 101.
Cam engaged.

As shown in FIG. 5, each cam groove 10
1a and 101b are rotary cam plates 101 depending on their circumferential positions.
The shape is formed so that the distance from the center of the changes. Due to this cam shape, when the rotary cam plate 101 is fully rotated counterclockwise to the position shown in FIG. 5, the respective latch members 103, 104 slide to the outermost positions and the respective tip portions 103a, 104a is an opening / closing lid 4
2 project from the periphery. When the opening / closing lid is attached to the pod body 41, the protruding tip portions 103a, 1
04a overlaps the inside of a tab (not shown) provided on the pod body 41 to latch the opening / closing lid 41 on the pod body 42. On the contrary, when the rotary cam plate 101 is fully rotated clockwise, the latch members 103 and 104 slide to the innermost positions, and the positions shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure. At this time, the tips 103a and 104a of the latch members are retracted from the periphery of the opening / closing lid, and the tabs of the pod body do not cooperate with each other.

The latch mechanism is merely for preventing the opening / closing lid from falling off in an emergency. That is, in practice, the opening / closing lid 42 and the box body are normally strongly attracted to each other by the exhaust of the annular groove 46, and the lid is not locked by this latch mechanism. Therefore, the cooperation between the latch members 103 and 104 and the tab may be a non-contact cooperation here. That is, it suffices that the tip portions 103a and 104a of the latches overlap with each other when viewed from below with the opening / closing lid 42 sucked. Such non-contact is preferable because there is no friction between the latch members 103 and 104 and the tab 110 when the latch mechanism is operated, and particles are not generated.

At the center of the rotating cam plate 101, the cam plate 10
A latch drive unit 109 for rotationally driving 1 is provided. A peripheral hole 101c is formed in the latch driving unit 109.

On the lift table 22 of the lid opening / closing mechanism 23 of the load port 20, the pod 40 is mounted on the load port table 21.
There is provided a latch opening / closing mechanism 120 which is aligned with the latch driving unit 109 when placed at a predetermined position. This is shown in FIG.
Shown in. The latch opening / closing mechanism 120 includes a rotating member 122 that is rotatable about the axis A and an air actuator 121 that rotationally drives the rotating member 122 by air pressure. Two pins 123 are projected on the upper part of the rotating member, and
When 0 is placed at a predetermined position, these pins 123 are fitted into the peripheral holes 101c of the latch drive unit 109 on the pod side.
In this state, the air actuator is operated to rotate the rotary member 1
By rotating 22 the rotary cam plate 101 can be rotated via the latch drive section and the opening / closing lid 42 can be latched and removed.

Subsequently, how the semiconductor wafer is transferred by the pod 40 and transferred to the semiconductor processing apparatus 10 in the clean transfer system of this embodiment will be described below. In this embodiment, the opening / closing lid of the conveyed pod 40 is adsorbed to the pod main body by the vacuum exhaust of the annular groove 46 and hermetically sealed, and the inside of the pod is a non-oxidizing substitution gas substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure. It is assumed that the state is filled with.

A pod 4 that has been transported from another place or another processing device by a transport system such as an OHT or by human power.
0 is placed on the load port 20 so that a positioning hole (not shown) formed on the opening / closing lid 42 on the bottom surface of the pod and a positioning pin (not shown) provided on the lift table of the load port fit together. Get burned.

The subsequent processes are automatically performed by the computer control of the semiconductor processing apparatus 10. Details about each of the following processes have already been given.

When the pod is placed at a predetermined position, the annular groove 26 on the upper surface of the load port table 21 that is in contact with the second flange portion 41b of the pod body 41 is evacuated by a means (not shown) to evacuate the pod body 41 and the load port. Airtightly seal the table. This allows the pod 40 and the device 10
The system consisting of the inside of the is hermetically sealed against the outside world, and this system is secured as a clean space.

At the same time, the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod is adsorbed by the upper surface of the lift table 22 of the load port using a means (not shown). This suction may be a vacuum suction, or a mechanical means may be provided to catch.

Next, in the load port, the latch opening / closing mechanism 120 of the pod opening / closing mechanism 23 releases the mechanical latch of the pod opening / closing lid 42.

Next, the slider mechanism 29 of the load port
Is operated to move the gas unit 50 to an operating position where it contacts each port of the pod.

Next, by the vacuum mechanism 53 of the gas unit 50, the annular groove 46 of the pod opening / closing lid 42 is subjected to the procedure described above.
Is opened to the atmosphere or gas is introduced to release the vacuum suction between the opening / closing lid 42 and the pod body 41.

The opening / closing lid 42 can be detached from the pod body by the above two processes. Then, the elevating table 22 is lowered, and the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod adsorbed to the elevating table 22 is moved downward together with the wafer carrier 43 fixed thereon, so that the opening / closing lid 42 of the pod 40 is opened. Move to the position shown in.

Then, the transfer robot 31 of the apparatus body 30 takes out the wafers W one by one from the carrier 43 through the opening 37 between the apparatus body 30 and the load port 20 by the swing arm 31b. The transfer robot is an elevator 31
It can be lifted and lowered by a, and the wafers in the carrier 43 can be sequentially taken out by changing the height.

Vertical movement of the lifting platform 31a and swing arm 3
By the swing movement of 1b, the transfer robot 31 transfers the wafer W taken out from the carrier to the stage 3 of the processing apparatus 10.
Place on 5.

The processed wafer W, which has been processed by the semiconductor processing apparatus on the stage 35, is returned to the carrier 43 by the transfer robot 31 in the reverse procedure.

When all the wafers in the carrier 43 or the desired number of wafers W have been processed, the load port 2
0 lift table 22 to the uppermost predetermined position, that is, the opening / closing lid 4
2 is raised again until it reaches a predetermined position for closing the pod body 41 again.

The vacuum mechanism 53 of the gas unit 50 evacuates the annular groove 46 of the opening / closing lid 42 to evacuate the opening / closing lid 4.
2 and the pod body 41 are hermetically sealed.

Subsequently, the latch opening / closing mechanism 120 drives the latch driving unit 109 of the opening / closing lid 42 to engage the latches 103 and 104 of the opening / closing lid. Since the latch is applied after the pod is sealed, even if particles are generated due to friction of the mechanisms associated with the latch when the latch is applied, it does not enter the box.

Next, the gas supply mechanism 51 and the gas exhaust mechanism 52 of the gas unit are operated to replace the inside of the pod with a non-oxidizing gas such as nitrogen. If the inside of the semiconductor processing apparatus is in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere, this gas replacement process is unnecessary.

Next, the opening / closing lid 42 is sucked by the lift table 22,
Also, the vacuum suction between the load port table 21 and the second flange 41b of the pod is released. This allows the pod 40 to be transferred to the next processing device or storage location.

In the embodiment described above, the annular groove 46 for providing an airtight seal between the pod body 41 and the opening / closing lid 42 is provided on the opening / closing lid 41 side. It may be provided on the first flange 41a, which is the facing surface.

In this pod of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a sealing force which is several tens of times that of a mechanical lock by vacuum-sucking the opening / closing lid. We conducted an experiment using a pod prepared according to the present invention and found that the oxygen concentration after 168 hours was 1 in a box whose interior was replaced with nitrogen gas.
It could be maintained at 000 ppm, and the increase of the oxide film on the wafer could be completely suppressed.

It has also been found that particles can be effectively prevented from entering the box.

Although the clean box and the clean transfer method of the present invention have been described above in relation to the semiconductor processing apparatus in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the present invention is not limited to this, and the clean box and the clean transfer method can be used in other clean environments. It can be applied to the transportation of various articles to be made.

[0082]

The clean box of the present invention is defined between the box body and the lid member by forming an annular groove surrounding the box opening in one of the lid member of the clean box opened on the lower surface and the box body. By exhausting the vacuum in the closed space and vacuum suction, a sealing force several tens of times higher than that of a conventional mechanical lid lock can be obtained. As a result, even when the inside of the box is replaced with a non-oxidizing gas or the like, there is no gas leakage, and an effective seal is provided for a long time.
Moreover, the invasion of particles can be effectively prevented.

Further, in the clean transfer system of the present invention, the intake and exhaust ports of the clean box and the gas input port and gas output port for gas replacement of the box are provided on the same surface of the box, and various means on the load port side associated therewith. As a single unit, the configuration of the load port can be simplified, and in one operation, the means on the clean box side and the means on the load port side can be brought into a cooperative state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a semiconductor processing apparatus as an embodiment of a clean system using a clean box (pod) of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a side view showing a load port table in which a clean box is placed.

2 (b) is a side view showing a state similar to FIG. 2 (a), showing a state in which the gas unit is in an operating position in contact with the pod. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a clean box.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing each port of the clean box and various mechanisms associated with the port on the gas unit side.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the latch mechanism of the opening / closing lid of the clean box.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a latch opening / closing mechanism of a load port.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Semiconductor Wafer Processing Equipment 20 load port 21 load port table 22 Lifting platform 23 Pod opening / closing mechanism 25 O-ring 26 groove 27 O-ring 30 Device body 31 Transfer Robot 32 fan intake system 35 stages 37 opening 40 pods (clean box) 41 pod body 42 Open / close lid 43 career 45 O-ring 46 annular groove 51 gas supply mechanism 52 Gas exhaust system 53 Vacuum mechanism 55 gas input port 56 Gas output port 57 Vacuum port 60 passage 61 valve 62 coil spring 63 O-ring 65 pipelines 66 actuator 67 Hook arm 70 Valve assembly 71 Disc 72a, 72b Coil spring 73 Filter 76 air cylinder 77 Cylinder Pin 79 pipelines 101 rotating cam plate 101a, 101b Cam groove 103, 104 Latch member 106, 107 guide member 109 Latch drive 120 Latch opening / closing mechanism 121 Air actuator 122 rotating member

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-10-56050 (JP, A) JP-A-11-111805 (JP, A) JP-A-5-95041 (JP, A) JP-A-7- 297257 (JP, A) Tokuyohei 4-505234 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A box body having an opening on a lower surface thereof, a lid member for closing the opening, and a lid member formed on at least one of the box body and the lid member so as to surround the opening, the box body being provided on the box body. an annular groove defining a sealed adsorption space between the cover member and the box body in the mounted state, the intake and exhaust port means for evacuating / vacuum release the adsorption space from the outside, box Internal gas storage
Valve means that allows the inflow and outflow of gas for replacement
However, the intake / exhaust port means and the valve means are both boxed.
Characterized by being provided on the same side surface of the main body
Clean box that. 2. The valve means comprises a gas input valve having a valve for introducing a non-oxidizing gas into the box and a gas output valve having a valve for discharging the gas in the box to the outside. And including:
Clean box as described. 3. The clean box according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanical latch for preventing the lid member from falling off from the box body. 4. The clean box according to claim 3, wherein the mechanical latch has a mechanism for opening and closing the latch from the outside on the lid member side. 5. A box body having an opening on the lower surface, a lid member for closing the opening, and a lid member formed on at least one of the box body and the lid member so as to surround the opening, the box body being provided on the box body. An annular groove that defines a suction space sealed between the lid member and the box body in the mounted state, an intake / exhaust port means for evacuating / releasing the annular groove from the outside, and an inside of the box Of gas replacement
In order to allow the ingress and egress of gas for
The intake / exhaust port means and the valve means are both a box body.
On the same side, and a load port of a clean device with a clean environment inside and a load port having a box lid opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the lid member of the clean box. The clean box is installed with the lid member facing downward so that the lid member and the box lid opening / closing mechanism on the load port side face each other, and the load port is the intake / exhaust port of the clean box. A clean transfer system having means for evacuating / releasing the suction space through means. 6. The valve means comprises a gas input valve having a valve for introducing a non-oxidizing gas into the box, and a gas output valve having a valve for discharging the gas in the box to the outside. And including:
The clean transfer system described in 2. 7. The clean transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the load port has means for cooperating with the valve means to replace the gas in the clean box. 8. The clean transfer system according to claim 6, wherein the load port has a gas supply unit that cooperates with the gas input valve and a gas exhaust unit that cooperates with the gas output valve. 9. The intake / exhaust port means and the valve means are provided on one and the same side of the clean box body, and the means for releasing the vacuum of the load port and the means for replacing the gas inside the box are unitary. 9. The clean transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the clean transfer system is configured as one unit and can access the clean box in one operation. 10. The clean transport unit according to claim 9, wherein the unit is provided on a slider mechanism that can linearly reciprocate, and the clean box is accessed by the movement of the slider mechanism.