JP3697275B2 - Interface box and its clean room for local cleaning - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to an interface box and a clean room for local cleaning in order to keep the inside of a manufacturing apparatus installed in a clean room at a super clean level.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The demand for cleanliness in clean rooms for semiconductor manufacturing is becoming stricter. However, even in the gigabit generation, if a clean room centered on the current vertical laminar flow method is adopted, the initial cost and running cost will be enormous. Expected. In order to improve the yield, it is said that it is necessary to focus on how to prevent wafer surface contamination rather than the cleanliness of the circulating air in the clean room. Furthermore, it is necessary to take measures against not only particulate contamination but also molecular contamination such as gas and ions in the air.
[0003]
From these viewpoints, it is necessary to localize the clean space in the future clean room. In the United States, “mini-environment” represented by SMIF (Standard Mechanical InterFace) has been developed. In Japan, The concept of “Closed Manufacturing System” (Break through for scientific semiconductor manufacturing in 2001-A proposal from Tohoku Univer-sity, REARIZE INC. No.71, May, 1992) was announced by Tadahiro Ohmi et al. .
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in today's semiconductor mass production factories, manufacturing systems are frequently improved and maintained to improve yields, and these systems are hardly adopted. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a new concept of clean space that matches the actual situation of mass production.
[0005]
For the next generation semiconductor (64-256 MB) clean room, the present inventors supply high cleanliness (fine particles and gas countermeasures) air to a sealed space separating a wafer processing area and a person, We have developed a local cleaning system that is compatible with manufacturing equipment and can reduce the overall running cost.
[0006]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to provide an interface box for local cleaning that can achieve ultra-cleaning in a manufacturing apparatus in a clean room that has been cleaned in all rooms, and the clean room.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 in order to achieve the above object, is connected to the manufacturing apparatus installed on the access in the clean room floor, in the interface box in locally cleaned for entering and exiting the treatment material to the manufacturing equipment, the To install a box main body connected to the carry-in / out entrance of the manufacturing apparatus on the access floor, to form a processing material carry-in / out chamber in the box main body, and to put the treatment material into / out of the box main body on the front side the door is provided in the exhaust to該搬and out chamber upper portion of the box body, and a blower and a chemical filter and a ULPA filter is provided, the further lower portion of the box body of the transport room, the super-clean air transport room below the floor chambers of the clean room Rutotomoni an exhaust system provided for, to characterized in that the pressure in the transport room and higher than the pressure of the clean room space It is an interface box in a local clean.
[0008]
In the invention of claim 2, a blower for sucking clean air in the clean room is disposed in the box body at the upper part of the carry-in / out chamber, and the chemical filter and the ULPA filter partition the blow-out flow path between the blow-out port and the carry-in / out chamber. It is an interface box in the local cleaning of Claim 1 arrange | positioned by these.
[0009]
In the invention of claim 3, a chemical filter is provided at the suction port on the upper surface of the box body, and clean air in the clean room is sucked into the box body at the upper part of the carry-in / out chamber through the chemical filter and cleaned through the ULPA filter. 2. The interface box for local cleaning according to claim 1, wherein a fan unit with a filter to be converted is disposed.
[0010]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the interface box for local cleaning according to the first aspect, wherein the loading / unloading chamber has a mounting table made of a perforated plate for mounting the processing material and exhausting the ultra-clean air to the exhaust system. is there.
[0011]
The invention according to claim 5 is the interface box in the local cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the box body below the mounting table is partitioned forward and backward, and an exhaust system is formed in the front chamber.
[0012]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the exhaust system has a differential pressure damper for exhausting the exhaust system while maintaining the pressure in the carry-in / out chamber at a slightly higher pressure than the clean room. It is.
[0013]
The invention of claim 7, a clean room space clean air the entire surface vertical laminar flow is circulated, and various manufacturing apparatus is arranged on floor of the clean room space, arranged under the floor Chang server under floor of the clean room space And an exhaust means including a vacuum pump for suctioning and exhausting the air in the various manufacturing apparatuses to the outside, and a box body installed on the access floor and connected to the various manufacturing apparatuses. the Rutotomoni upper transport room is formed to loading and unloading the treated material has a super clean air supply means and the filter with a blower unit and chemical filter and ULPA filter is disposed, the ultraclean air in the transport room at the bottom in the above under the floor Chan have a exhaust system to exhaust into play, higher than the pressure of the pressure of the clean room space within the transport room A clean room in locally cleaned, characterized in that a chromatography face box.
[0014]
[Action]
According to the above configuration, by flowing ultra-clean air through the blower, chemical filter, and ULPA filter into the processing material carry-in / out chamber in the box body, molecular contamination can be prevented from clean room circulating air to the manufacturing apparatus and when the processing material is stored. Prevents molecular contamination.
[0015]
Therefore, if this interface box is connected to the inlet / outlet of the processing material of the manufacturing apparatus, or if the outlet / inlet is the same, the interface box is connected to the inlet / outlet, so that the local ultra-cleaning of the manufacturing apparatus can be performed in the clean room. Can be achieved.
[0016]
According to the second aspect, the filter area of the chemical filter can be freely set by unitizing the ULPA filter and the blower and providing the chemical filter at the suction port.
[0017]
According to claim 5, by forming an exhaust system in the front chamber at the lower part of the box body, the ultra-clean air flowing in the carry-in / out chamber is divided into front and rear, and in the front ultra-clean air flow, when the processing material is put in and out As the air curtain and behind, it acts as a maintenance of the cleanliness in the manufacturing apparatus, so that the clean room and the manufacturing apparatus are reliably separated.
[0018]
According to the sixth aspect, the flow of the ultra-clean air in the carry-in / out chamber can be optimized by providing the differential pressure damper in the exhaust system.
[0019]
According to the seventh aspect, the ultra-clean air from the inside of the interface box is directly exhausted to the underfloor chamber, so that the interface box can be freely connected according to the arrangement even if the arrangement of the manufacturing apparatus is changed. .
[0020]
【Example】
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0021]
First, the entire configuration of the clean room in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0022]
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a clean room space formed in the building 11, which is surrounded by a side wall 13 on an access floor 12 provided in the building 11, and a ceiling wall 14 is provided on the upper portion thereof to form a partition. The The ceiling wall 14 is provided with a fan unit (FFU) 15 with a filter aligned.
[0023]
Clean air is blown out from the blower unit 15 with a filter into the clean room space 10, flows through the clean room space 10 in a laminar flow state, flows into the underfloor chamber 19 through the lower access floor 12, and is dried around the side wall 13. The air is conditioned by the coil 16, flows into the ceiling chamber 18 through the circulation channel 17 on the outer periphery of the side wall 13, is again sucked into the blower unit 15 with a filter, and is circulated into the clean room space 10.
[0024]
In the underfloor chamber 19, an outside air duct 19A for introducing outside air into the underfloor chamber 19 is disposed, and the air in the underfloor chamber 19 can be exhausted to the outside of the building 11 by the accessory device 20 via the exhaust duct 20A. It is like that.
[0025]
In the clean room space 10, a large number of manufacturing apparatuses 21 and the like that perform cleaning processing of processing materials such as semiconductor wafers and liquid crystal substrates and film formation by CVD are arranged. An interface box 24 of the present invention for carrying in / out the semiconductor wafer cassette 23 is connected. In addition, the board | substrate for manufacturing a liquid crystal may be sufficient as this processing material.
[0026]
In the underfloor chamber 19, an exhaust means 28 including a vacuum pump 25 and ducts 26 and 27 for keeping the inside of the manufacturing apparatus 21 at a high vacuum is disposed.
[0027]
The interface box 24 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
[0028]
First, the ULPA filter 29 is provided on the ceiling wall 14 in the upper part of the clean room space 10. However, the ULPA filter 29 may be provided separately from the blower or integrally with the blower unit 15.
[0029]
A manufacturing apparatus 21 is disposed on the access floor 12 of the clean room space 10, and an exhaust duct 26 for exhausting the interior of the manufacturing apparatus 21 is connected to the underfloor chamber 19 below the access floor 12.
[0030]
The interface box 24 connected to the carry-in / out port 22 of the manufacturing apparatus 21 is installed on the access floor 12 and includes a box main body 30 connected to the carry-in / out port 22 of the manufacturing apparatus 21. A carry-in / out chamber 31 for temporarily storing the semiconductor wafer cassette 23 is formed.
[0031]
On the front surface of the box main body 30, an openable / closable door 32 for moving the semiconductor wafer cassette 23 in and out of the carry-in / out chamber 31 is provided. The box main body 30 above the carry-in / out chamber 31 has a blower from above. 33, the chemical filter 34, and the ULPA filter 35 are provided in order.
[0032]
The loading / unloading chamber 31 has a mounting table 36 made of a perforated plate on which a plurality of semiconductor wafer cassettes 23 are mounted. The box body 30 below the mounting table 36 has a superposition that has passed through the mounting table 36 from the loading / unloading chamber 31. An exhaust system 37 for exhausting clean air to the underfloor chamber 19 is provided.
[0033]
The exhaust system 37 divides, for example, the box body 30 below the mounting table 36 into two parts in the front and the rear, and is formed in front thereof, and the ultra-clean air that has passed through the mounting table 36 is indicated on the access floor as indicated by an arrow 38 in the figure. 12 is formed so as to be exhausted to the underfloor chamber 19 through 12.
[0034]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0035]
In FIG. 1, the circulating air flow in the ceiling chamber 18 is ultra-cleaned by the ULPA filter 29 and flows into the clean room space 10 as indicated by an arrow 39 in the figure, and becomes a vertical laminar flow from the access floor 12 to the floor below. It flows into the chamber 19.
[0036]
This clean room space 10 is contaminated at the molecular level by various manufacturing apparatuses and devices, and this molecular contaminant flows into the manufacturing apparatus 21 and easily adheres to the semiconductor wafer as a molecular level contaminant.
[0037]
At this time, the interface box 24 is connected to the manufacturing apparatus 21, and when the semiconductor wafer cassette 23 is put in and out, the carry-in / out chamber is once stored in the carry-in / out chamber 31 of the interface box 24 and shut off from the clean room space 10. Molecular contamination can be prevented by loading / unloading the semiconductor wafer cassette 23 in 31 into / from the manufacturing apparatus 21 through the loading / unloading port 22 automatically or manually.
[0038]
That is, clean air in the clean room space 10 is sucked into the carry-in / out chamber 31 of the interface box 24 by the blower 33, and hydrocarbons, alkaline gas, and acidic gas in the sucked clean air are adsorbed and removed by the chemical filter 34. Then, the sub-micron fine particles are removed by the ULPA filter 35, and the ultra-clean air flows into the carry-in / out chamber 31 as indicated by the arrows in the figure, and is normally passed to the underfloor chamber 19 by the exhaust system 37 through the mounting table 36. It is flowing (for example, a flow rate of about 0.2 m / sec). Therefore, even if the opening / closing door 32 is opened and closed when the cassette 23 is put in and out, the flow of the ultra-clean air indicated by the arrow becomes an air curtain, and the air in the clean room space 10 is prevented from flowing into the manufacturing apparatus 21 side. The
[0039]
The pressure in the carry-in / out chamber 31 is maintained slightly higher than the air pressure in the clean room space 10, and the ultra-clean air flows through the exhaust system 37 at the front of the box body 30 to the lower underfloor chamber 19 and partly. Is divided into air flowing into the manufacturing apparatus 21 through the carry-in / out port 22, and the air flow in the front forms an air curtain, so that the front ultra-clean air flow is used as an air curtain when the cassette is put in and out, and in the rear By acting as a maintenance of the cleanliness in the manufacturing apparatus, separation between the clean room and the manufacturing apparatus is ensured.
[0040]
FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
[0041]
In FIG. 2, the clean room is a fan unit 15 with a filter so that the air in the underfloor chamber 19 is circulated to the ceiling chamber 18 through the circulation channel 17 as described with reference to FIG. 3. Ultra-clean air is configured to flow into the clean room space 10 from a ULPA filter (not shown) provided in the unit 15.
[0042]
The interface box 24 is provided with a chemical filter 34 at the suction port on the upper surface of the box body 30, and clean air in the clean room is sucked into the box body 30 above the carry-in / out chamber 31 through the chemical filter 34 and the ULPA filter 35. The blower unit 40 with a filter to be cleaned is disposed, and the box body 30 below the mounting table 36 has a slightly higher pressure in the carry-in / out chamber 31 as the exhaust system 37 than the pressure in the clean room space. A slight differential pressure damper 41 is provided for evacuating while maintaining the pressure.
[0043]
In the example of FIG. 2, since the chemical filter 34 can be attached to the suction port on the upper surface of the box body 30, the filter area can be set freely, and by providing the slight differential pressure damper 41 as the exhaust system 37, The differential pressure between the clean room space 10 and the carry-in / out chamber 31 can be adjusted satisfactorily, and the super-clean air flow described with reference to FIG. 1 can be reliably controlled.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
In short, according to the present invention, by supplying ultra-clean air to the processing material carry-in / out chamber in the box body using a blower, a chemical filter, and a ULPA filter, molecular contamination prevention from clean room circulating air to the manufacturing apparatus and storage of the processing material are performed. It can prevent molecular contamination at the time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Clean Room Space 21 Manufacturing Equipment 23 Semiconductor Wafer Cassette (Processing Material)
30 Box body 31 Carry-in / out chamber 32 Open / close door 33 Blower 34 Chemical filter 35 ULPA filter 37 Exhaust system

Claims (7)

Connected to the manufacturing equipment installed on the access floor in the clean room, and connected to the carry-in / out entrance of the manufacturing equipment on the access floor in the interface box in the local cleaning for entering and exiting the processing material to the manufacturing equipment A box body is installed , a processing material loading / unloading chamber is formed in the box body, and an opening / closing door is provided on the front surface of the box body to allow the processing material to enter and leave the loading / unloading chamber. in, and a blower and a chemical filter and a ULPA filter is provided, the further lower portion of the box body of the transport room, Rutotomoni provided an exhaust system for exhausting the ultraclean air transport room below the floor chamber of the clean room, the pressure in the transport room interface board in locally cleaned, characterized in that it has higher than the pressure of the clean room space Box.   2. A blower for sucking clean air in a clean room is arranged in the box body at the upper part of the carry-in / out chamber, and a chemical filter and a ULPA filter are arranged between the blow-out port and the carry-in / out chamber so as to partition the blow-out flow path. Interface box for local cleaning as described.   A blower unit with a filter that is provided with a chemical filter at the suction port on the upper surface of the box body, sucks clean air in the clean room through the chemical filter into the box body at the upper part of the carry-in / out chamber and cleans it through the ULPA filter. The interface box in the local cleaning according to claim 1, which is arranged.   2. The interface box for local cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the carry-in / out chamber has a mounting table made of a perforated plate for mounting a processing material and exhausting ultra-clean air to an exhaust system.   2. The interface box for local cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the box body below the mounting table is partitioned forward and backward, and an exhaust system is formed in the front chamber.   2. The interface box for local cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust system has a differential pressure damper for exhausting while keeping the pressure in the carry-in / out chamber at a slightly higher pressure than the clean room. A clean room space clean air the entire surface vertical laminar flow is circulated, and various manufacturing apparatus is arranged on floor of the clean room space, arranged under the floor Chang server under floor of the clean room space, the various manufacturing apparatus Exhaust means including a vacuum pump for sucking air to the outside while sucking, and a box body installed on the access floor and connected to various manufacturing apparatuses, and carrying out processing materials into and out of the box body enter the can Rutotomoni upper is formed, has a super clean air supply means and the filter with a blower unit and chemical filter and ULPA filter is arranged, to exhaust the ultraclean air in the transport room at the bottom to the floor Chang Bas the exhaust system is closed, the pressure within the transport room higher than the pressure of the clean room space interface box Clean room in locally cleaned, characterized in that it comprises and.

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