JP3801668B2 - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and substrate transfer method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a substrate transfer method , and more particularly to correction of a dummy substrate repeatedly supplied to a reaction chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, a substrate to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer or glass substrate is accommodated in a cassette and placed on a cassette shelf near the apparatus, and the substrate is taken out from the cassette. Supplying to the reaction chamber is performed.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, a large number of substrates 1 are loaded into a quartz boat 2, and the boat 2 is loaded into a reaction chamber 3, whereby a large number of substrates 1 are loaded. They are placed in the reaction chamber 3 in a state where they are overlapped with each other with a predetermined gap. The substrates 1 loaded in the boat 2 are accommodated in cassettes 4 in a plurality of lots, and a plurality of such cassettes 4 are placed on a cassette shelf 5 installed in the vicinity of the apparatus.
[0003]
Accordingly, the substrate 1 is supplied to the reaction chamber 3 by taking out the substrate 1 from the cassette 4 on the cassette shelf 5 by the transfer machine 6 including a robot arm in a state where the boat 2 is pulled out from the reaction chamber 3. 1 is loaded into the boat 2 by a predetermined number, and then the boat 2 is loaded into the reaction chamber 3 again. For example, in such a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, about 100 substrates 1 are loaded into the boat 2 and loaded into the reaction chamber 3 at once.
[0004]
Here, due to the fact that there is a difference in temperature and reaction gas flow between the upper end and lower end of the reaction chamber 3 and the central portion, the substrate 1 serving as a product is loaded in the central portion of the boat 2, A dummy substrate called a side dummy is loaded on the upper end and the lower end. Further, because a certain number of substrates 1 are not always loaded into the boat 2 due to manufacturing circumstances, etc., if the number of substrates 1 is less than the number that can be loaded into the boat 2, A dummy substrate to be called is loaded into the boat 2.
The reason why the dummy substrates are loaded into the boat 2 in this way is to always load a certain number of substrates into the reaction chamber 3, thereby allowing the temperature in the reaction chamber 3, the reaction gas flow, etc. The film forming process is always performed with a constant quality.
[0005]
The side dummy substrate and the supplementary dummy substrate as described above are each stored in a dedicated cassette (dummy cassette) and are always prepared in the cassette shelf 5, and are taken out from the dummy cassette according to the necessity as described above. The boat 2 is loaded. Since these dummy substrates are not product substrates, they are repeatedly used, and are returned to the dummy cassettes in the cassette shelf 5 and stored after use.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the dummy cassette is always provided in the cassette shelf 5, and the dummy substrate accommodated therein is repeatedly used. Therefore, when the dummy substrate is repeatedly inserted and removed, the dummy cassette is stored in the dummy cassette. A situation occurs in which the substrate jumps out little by little.
Such jumps are accumulated and increased every time the dummy substrate is repeatedly put in and out, and a large positional deviation occurs with respect to the transfer machine 6, and the dummy substrate falls from the boat 2 and causes trouble in the substrate transfer process. There was a problem that.
[0007]
Such a situation can be avoided by performing an operation of returning the dummy substrate that has been jumped out by monitoring by the operator every time the substrate 2 is loaded into the boat 2 (batch processing). In order to make the environment as clean as possible, the need for unmanned and automated operations not only increases work labor, but also causes new serious problems.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a substrate transport method that can prevent troubles caused by jumping out of a dummy substrate and can perform substrate transfer processing smoothly all the time. The purpose is to provide.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a cassette containing a substrate to be processed, a dummy cassette containing a dummy substrate, and a cassette shelf on which the cassette and the dummy cassette are placed. A mechanism is provided for pulling out the cassette from the cassette shelf so that the opening of the dummy cassette faces upward. More specifically, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, a substrate to be processed accommodated in the cassette, and the charging of the substrate taken out from the cassette to the boat, in a semiconductor manufacturing device for supplying to the reaction chamber, a boat A cassette containing a substrate to be processed loaded on the board, a dummy cassette containing a dummy board loaded on the boat, a cassette shelf on which these cassettes and the dummy cassette are placed, and a dummy cassette placed on the cassette shelf A rotation mechanism for rotating the opening upward, a parameter setting means for setting the operation timing of the rotation mechanism as a parameter for the number of times the dummy cassette is used, a counter for counting the number of times the dummy cassette is used, and a parameter setting means. Control means for operating the rotation mechanism based on the set parameter and the count value by the counter, It is characterized in.
[0010]
[Action]
According to the present invention, when the number of times the dummy cassette is used is set by the parameter setting means, the counter automatically counts the number of times the dummy cassette is used, and when the set value is reached, the rotation mechanism is activated by the control means. The The rotating mechanism rotates the dummy cassette so that its opening (dummy substrate insertion / removal port) faces upward, and thereby the dummy substrate jumping out from the opening of the dummy cassette is stored in a regular position in the dummy cassette.
[0011]
Therefore, by setting the parameters at any number of times with the parameter setting means, the dummy substrate is automatically corrected to the state correctly stored in the dummy cassette, and troubles caused by the jumping out of the dummy substrate are prevented in advance. The
[0012]
【Example】
A substrate transfer apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus shown in FIG.
The present embodiment includes the control device shown in FIG. 1 and the rotation mechanism shown in FIG. 2, and the operation of the rotation mechanism is controlled by the control device.
The control device shown in FIG. 1 includes a parameter setting unit 11 that sets a parameter for the number of times a dummy cassette is used, a counter area 13 in a memory 12 that stores the number of times a dummy cassette is used (number of times of dummy charge execution), and a transfer machine. 6 and a substrate transfer control unit 14 that controls the rotation mechanism to be described later, a cassette transfer control unit 15 that controls a transfer mechanism (not shown) of the cassette 4 to the cassette shelf 5, and various electromagnetics of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. An electromagnetic valve control unit 16 that controls the valve, an input / output control unit 17 serving as an interface with an operation unit operated by an operator, and a processor 18 that controls the control units and the memory are provided.
[0013]
The parameter setting unit 11 holds a dummy charge execution number parameter (n) input from the operator via the input / output control unit 17 and the processor 18 and compares it with the actual dummy charge execution number stored in the counter area 13. When the actual dummy charge execution count reaches the set parameter (n), a control signal is transmitted to the substrate transfer control unit 14.
The substrate transfer control unit 14 monitors the operation of the transfer machine 6 and always detects how many times the dummy cassette 4a installed on the cassette shelf 5 has been used. The processor 18 receives the detection signal from the substrate transfer control unit 14, counts how many times the dummy cassette 4 a is actually used, and stores the counted number of times of dummy charge execution in the counter area 13.
That is, the number of times the dummy cassette 4a is used is always counted and stored in the counter area 13, and the parameter setting unit 11 compares it with the set parameter (n).
[0014]
The rotating mechanism for the dummy cassette 4a is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, and is mounted on the mounting table 21 via brackets 22 and 23 and an L-shaped mounting table 21 on which the dummy cassette 4a is mounted. A pair of link arms 24 and 25 and a drive unit (not shown) for driving the link arms 24 and 25 are provided.
This drive unit drives the link arms 24 and 25 under the control of the substrate transfer control unit 14 to move these link arms back and forth and up and down as a unit, and to move these link arms 24 and 25 back and forth alternately. be able to. Therefore, the dummy cassette 4a can be scooped up from the cassette shelf 5 into the mounting table 21 by moving these link arms back and forth and up and down, and the mounting table can be moved back and forth alternately. 21 and the dummy cassette 4a can be rotated 90 degrees.
Since the rotating mechanism takes out the dummy cassette 4a from the back side of the cassette shelf 5, the back surface of the cassette shelf 5 is opened.
[0015]
Illustrating the operation by the above configuration.
First, in this embodiment, a maximum of eight cassettes 4 are stored in the cassette shelf 5, and some of them are always provided in the cassette shelf 5 as dummy cassettes 4 a for side dummy substrates and supplementary dummy substrates.
In this state, the transfer device 6 repeatedly transfers the substrate 1 from the cassette 4 to the boat 2 for each process process, and the dummy substrate 1a is taken out from the dummy cassette 4a in such a transfer process. When the boat 2 is loaded (charged), the number of charges from the dummy cassette 4a is sequentially stored in the counter area 13.
[0016]
When the count value stored in the counter area 13 reaches the parameter value (n) set in advance by the operator, the substrate transfer control unit 14 operates the rotation mechanism to cause the dummy cassette 4a to be corrected.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, after the mounting table 21 is advanced from the back side of the cassette shelf 5 and the dummy cassette 4a is scooped up on the mounting table 21, as shown in FIG. The mounting table 21 is retracted and the dummy cassette 4 a is pulled out from the cassette shelf 5.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5C, the mounting table 21 is rotated 90 degrees so that the opening of the dummy cassette 4a is directed upward. As a result, the dummy substrate 1a protruding from the opening of the dummy cassette 4a is retracted into the cassette 4a by its own weight, and the state where the dummy substrate 1a protrudes from the dummy cassette 4a is eliminated.
[0017]
Thereafter, the mounting table 21 is rotated back to the original position as shown in FIG. 4D, and the dummy cassette 4a is moved from the mounting table 21 to the original position of the cassette shelf 5 as shown in FIG. Return to position.
Therefore, by setting the parameter value (n) to an arbitrary number of times, the dummy substrate 1a jumping out of the dummy cassette 4a is accommodated in a regular position in the dummy cassette 4a, and the transfer machine 6 is transferred from the dummy cassette 4a. However, the dummy substrate 1a can be taken out without any trouble and loaded into the boat 2.
[0018]
The parameter (n) shown in the above embodiment can be arbitrarily set by the operator. For example, if n = 1, the correction operation is performed every time the dummy charge operation is performed. When set to 2, the correction operation is performed once every two dummy charge operations.
Further, when a plurality of side dummy cassettes and supplementary dummy cassettes are permanently installed in the cassette shelf 5, the number of dummy charging operations from each of these dummy cassettes is counted, and the dummy that has reached the set parameter value (n) is counted. The correction operation may be performed only for the cassette, or the correction operation may be performed for all dummy cassettes when the number of dummy charge operations of any dummy cassette reaches the set parameter value (n). Further, without counting the number of dummy charge operations for each dummy cassette in this way, the number of dummy charge operations for all dummy cassettes is accumulated, and the accumulated value reaches the set parameter value (n). In such a case, the correction operation may be performed for all the dummy cassettes.
[0019]
In the above embodiment, the mechanism as shown in FIG. 2 is exemplified as the rotating mechanism. However, any other known mechanism can be used as long as the mechanism can rotate the dummy cassette to make the opening face upward. Can be used with any mechanism. For example, a mechanism for taking in and out the dummy cassette 4a from the cassette shelf 5, a mechanism for transporting the pulled-out dummy cassette 4a between the back position of the cassette shelf 5 and the rotation processing position, and opening the dummy cassette 4a at the rotation processing position A rotation mechanism referred to in the present invention may be configured in combination with a mechanism that rotates the lens so as to face upward. Further, the rotation mechanism can be configured by using a known robot arm, and a non-slip protrusion is provided on the rear surface of the shelf of the cassette shelf 5, and the shelf itself is rotated by nearly 90 degrees to thereby form the dummy substrate 1a. The pop-out may be corrected.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the substrate transport method according to the present invention, since the correction operation for the dummy cassette is automatically performed, the dummy substrate can be maintained in the dummy cassette correctly. In addition, it is possible to prevent troubles in the transfer process due to the jumping out of the dummy substrate. Further, since the correction operation is automatically performed, work labor is reduced, and unmanned and automated processes are promoted to maintain the semiconductor manufacturing environment in a clean state.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a rotation mechanism and its operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing a configuration of a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 substrate,
1a dummy substrate,
2 boats,
4 cassettes,
4a dummy cassette,
5 cassette shelves,
11 Parameter setting section,
13 Counter area,
14 substrate transfer control unit,
21 mounting table,
24, 25 Link arm,

Claims (3)

In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for storing a substrate to be processed in a cassette, loading a substrate taken out from the cassette into a boat, and supplying the substrate to a reaction chamber,
  A cassette containing a substrate to be processed loaded into a boat;
  A dummy cassette containing a dummy substrate to be loaded into the boat;
  A cassette shelf on which these cassettes and dummy cassettes are placed;
  A rotation mechanism for rotating the dummy cassette placed on the cassette shelf and directing the opening upward;
  Parameter setting means for setting the operation timing of the rotating mechanism as a parameter of the number of times the dummy cassette is used;
  A counter for counting the number of times the dummy cassette is used;
  Control means for operating the rotation mechanism based on the parameter set by the parameter setting means and the count value by the counter;
  A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: Loading a boat with a substrate to be processed taken out from a cassette placed on a cassette shelf; and
  Loading a dummy substrate in a dummy cassette placed on the cassette shelf into the boat;
  Supplying the boat to the reaction chamber;
  And after returning to the dummy cassette again after using the dummy substrate,
  A substrate transport method for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein when the number of times of use of the dummy cassette placed on the cassette shelf reaches a preset parameter, the opening of the dummy cassette is directed upward. In the substrate conveyance method of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of Claim 2,
  The parameter is 1,
  A substrate transport method for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the opening of the dummy cassette is directed upward for each step of loading the dummy substrate into the boat.

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