JP5717505B2 - Wafer storage container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wafer storage container for storing a standardized semiconductor wafer when storing, transporting, or the like.

  In general, a wafer storage container is provided with a container body for storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers arranged in parallel. In the container main body of such a wafer storage container, a wafer loading / unloading opening for loading / unloading a semiconductor wafer is formed on the front side. A lid for closing the wafer loading / unloading opening is provided so as to be detachably attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening from the front.

  In order to hold the semiconductor wafer in the container main body so that it does not rattle, a rear retainer is disposed in the rear region as viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening in the container main body, and the lid side retainer is disposed on the inner wall portion of the lid body. Is provided. By the back side retainer and the lid side retainer, the outer edge of the semiconductor wafer near the front and rear ends is elastically held.

  However, the lid retainer does not hold the semiconductor wafer unless the lid is attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening of the container body. Only the rear retainer can hold only the rear end side of the semiconductor wafer in the container body.

  Therefore, until the lid is attached to the container body, the wafer temporary placement portion for temporarily placing the side edge portion of each semiconductor wafer in the container body is viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening side in the container body. At the left and right sides. When the semiconductor wafer is held by the rear side retainer and the lid side retainer, the semiconductor wafer floats away from the temporary wafer placement portion (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-214269 A

  The semiconductor wafer elastically held by the back side retainer and the lid side retainer in the wafer storage container is not damaged by an impact applied during normal transportation or the like. However, if the wafer storage container is accidentally dropped sideways (side-down), the outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor wafer stored inside the wafer storage container is placed on the back wall (back surface) of the temporary wafer placement unit. There is a possibility that the semiconductor wafer will be damaged by hitting it strongly against the plate.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer storage container in which a semiconductor wafer stored therein is not easily damaged even when the wafer storage container is accidentally dropped in a horizontal direction.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wafer storage container of the present invention includes a container body for storing a plurality of standardized semiconductor wafers having a predetermined weight arranged in parallel, and a semiconductor wafer in the container body. A wafer loading / unloading opening formed on the front surface of the container body for loading / unloading, a lid body detachably attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening to close the wafer loading / unloading opening, and the back side as viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening in the container body And a rear retainer that individually positions and holds the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers in the region, and a plurality of semiconductor wafers that are provided on the inner wall portion of the lid and are individually elastically positioned and held. When the lid retainer and the lid are not attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening, A wafer temporary placement section for temporarily placing the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers in a horizontal state in the placement, and the wafer temporary placement portion temporarily places the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers individually. A plurality of rib-like wafer temporary placement plates arranged in parallel to each other, and a back plate integrally connecting the plurality of wafer temporary placement plates at the back of the plurality of wafer temporary placement plates, and a plurality of semiconductor wafers When the load of 35 times the weight of the plurality of semiconductor wafers acts on the wafer storage container in a direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafer from the side, the temporary wafer placement portion is in contact with the semiconductor wafer. In this case, an elastic deformation assisting portion for increasing the elastic deformation amount of the temporary wafer placement portion is formed in the temporary wafer placement portion so as to be elastically deformed within a displacement amount of 2.5 mm to 10 mm.

  In addition, elastic deformation assistance is achieved by forming the width of the central area of each wafer temporary placement plate to be narrower than the width of both ends by the temporary placement plate notch formed by notching the central area of each wafer temporary placement plate. A part may be formed.

  In that case, the temporary placement plate notch portion may be formed by notching each wafer temporary placement plate in a circular arc shape, and the temporary placement plate notch portion is at least on the right side of the center of the semiconductor wafer when viewed from above. It may be formed over the entire range of ± 10 ° centered on.

  Further, the elastic deformation assisting portion may be formed by forming a plurality of cuts in each wafer temporary placement plate, and the placement allowance of each wafer temporary placement plate for placing the semiconductor wafer temporarily is determined as the wafer. The elastic deformation assisting part may be formed by forming it smaller in the central region than both end positions in the front-rear direction of the temporary placement plate.

  In addition, the outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor wafer abuts on the back plate to prevent the semiconductor wafer from protruding from the wafer temporary placement plate to the back when the semiconductor wafer moves laterally along the temporary wafer placement plate. When the wafer contact portion is viewed from above, a wafer contact portion formed at a lateral position at the center of the semiconductor wafer and a temporary plate connecting portion other than the wafer contact portion are formed. It may be formed somewhere in a region of ± 5 ° centered at least on the exact side of the center of the semiconductor wafer.

  In that case, a back plate notch portion in which the back plate is notched between the wafer contact portion and the temporary placement plate connecting portion may be formed, and an elastic deformation assisting portion may be formed by the back plate notch portion. The thickness of the wafer abutting portion may be thinner than that of the temporary placement plate connecting portion, thereby forming an elastic deformation assisting portion.

  According to the present invention, when a load that is 35 times the weight of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is applied from the side in a direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, the wafer temporary container is in a state where a plurality of semiconductor wafers are stored. An elastic deformation assisting portion for increasing the amount of elastic deformation of the temporary wafer placement portion is formed in the temporary wafer placement portion so that the placement portion elastically deforms within a displacement range of 2.5 mm to 10 mm at the contact portion with the semiconductor wafer. As a result, even if the wafer storage container is accidentally dropped sideways, all the semiconductor wafers stored in it are not damaged at all, or are excellent in that they are extremely difficult to be damaged. Play.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the wafer storage container which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a plane half sectional view of the wafer storage container concerning the 1st example of the present invention. It is a plane half sectional view in the state where the impact acted on the wafer storage container concerning the 1st example of the present invention from the side. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows schematically the principal part of the drop test apparatus of the wafer storage container of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale plane sectional view of the wafer temporary placement part of the wafer storage container concerning the 2nd example of the present invention. It is a partial expanded plane sectional view of a wafer temporary storage part of a wafer storage container concerning a 3rd example of the present invention. It is a partial expanded plane sectional view of a wafer temporary storage part of a wafer storage container concerning a 4th example of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wafer storage container according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan half sectional view of a right half when the wafer storage container is viewed from above. Reference numeral 1 denotes a known container body for storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers W formed in a thin disk shape in a state of being arranged in parallel.

  The container body 1 is arranged in a state where each semiconductor wafer W is stored in a horizontal orientation when the semiconductor wafers W are taken in and out. The semiconductor wafer W is standardized, and the individual semiconductor wafers W are formed to have the same predetermined weight. For example, the weight of one semiconductor wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm is 125 grams.

  In the container main body 1, a large number (for example, 25) of semiconductor wafers W are stored in a direction in which the surfaces face each other with a gap therebetween. However, FIG. 1 shows a state in which only one semiconductor wafer W is stored at the lowest position in the container body 1.

  A wafer loading / unloading opening 2 for loading / unloading the semiconductor wafer W is formed in the front surface of the container body 1. As described above, in this case, the surface of the container body 1 on which the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 is formed is referred to as “front surface”.

  A lid 3 for closing the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 is provided so as to be detachable from the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 from the front. Reference numeral 4 denotes an elastic seal member attached to the lid 3 in order to seal between the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 and the outer edge of the lid 3. The lid 3 is provided with a known locking mechanism or the like for locking the state where the lid 3 is attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening 2, and description thereof will be omitted.

  A rear retainer 5 for individually positioning and holding the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers W in the container main body 1 is disposed on the left and right sides of the rear region viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 in the container main body 1. ing. The rear retainer 5 may be a known one, and for example, a portion for holding each semiconductor wafer W is formed in a horizontal V-groove shape.

  7 is a known rear damper formed in a groove shape parallel to the inner surface of the rear wall of the container body 1 in order to restrict excessive deformation of each semiconductor wafer W when a large impact is applied from the outside. The rear damper 7 may be omitted and the rear retainer 5 may be disposed at that position.

  On the other hand, on the inner wall portion of the lid 3, a known lid side retainer 6 for elastically pressing and holding the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers W from the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 side to the back side retainer 5 side. Is provided.

  In the lid side retainer 6, for example, when the lid 3 is attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 of the container main body 1, the V-groove-shaped portion that comes into contact with the outer peripheral portion of each semiconductor wafer W has springiness and is elastically deformed. Although it is provided with a configuration that is easily supported by a support member, it is a well-known one and its illustration is omitted.

  The outer edges of a plurality of semiconductor wafers W that are horizontal when the lid 3 is not attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 are individually placed on the left and right sides as viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 in the container body 1. A wafer temporary placement unit 10 for temporary placement is provided.

  Each semiconductor wafer W is placed in a state of being temporarily placed on the wafer temporary placement portion 10 on both the left and right sides in the container body 1 in a state where the lid 3 is not attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening 2. Maintain a substantially horizontal state.

  The wafer temporary placement unit 10 includes a plurality of rib-shaped wafer temporary placement plates 11 arranged side by side in parallel in order to temporarily place the outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers W individually, and a plurality of wafer temporary placement plates. 11 is provided with a back plate 12 for integrally connecting all of the wafer temporary placement plates 11 together.

  In the wafer temporary placement portion 10 of this embodiment, 25 wafer temporary placement plates 11 formed in the same shape are arranged in parallel at equal intervals, and all the wafer temporary placement plates 11 and the back plate 12 are provided. For example, it is integrally formed of a plastic material such as polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyetheretherketone, or the like, or a material obtained by adding carbon or other additives to such a plastic material.

  The wafer temporary placement plate 11 is formed in a multistage shelf shape that protrudes inward of the container body 1 from the back plate 12 side, and the semiconductor wafer W is held by the back side retainer 5 and the lid side retainer 6. In this state, the wafer is placed in a space between the wafer temporary placement plate 11 and the wafer temporary placement plate 11 adjacent to each other, and is separated from each wafer temporary placement plate 11.

  FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view showing a state in which the semiconductor wafer W is held by the back side retainer 5 and the lid side retainer 6 in the container main body 1. However, since the figure is symmetrical, only the right half is shown, and the left half is not shown.

  The wafer temporary placement plate 11 shown in the figure with hatching so that it can be easily distinguished from other members has a central region cut away (temporary placement plate cutout portion 11X). If temporary placement plate notch portion 11X is not formed, wafer temporary placement plate 11 has a shape in which the inner edge forms a concentric circle with the outer periphery of semiconductor wafer W, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

In this embodiment, the temporary placement plate notches 11X are formed by notching each of the temporary wafer placement plates 11 in an arc shape, and as shown in FIG. A temporary plate notch portion 11X is formed in the entire range of ± 10 ° centered on the exact side of the center O. That is, the temporary placement plate cutout portion 11X is formed in the range of θ ≦ 20 °.

  As a result, the width of the central region of each wafer temporary placement plate 11 is formed to be narrower than the width of both ends, and the placement allowance A for temporarily placing the semiconductor wafer W becomes the front-rear direction of the wafer temporary placement plate 11 ( It is formed smaller in the central region than both end positions in the vertical direction in FIG. If the temporary placement plate cutout portion 11X is not formed as shown by the two-dot chain line, the placement allowance A becomes a uniform size as a whole.

  On the back plate 12 that integrally connects all the wafer temporary placement plates 11, the semiconductor wafer W is moved to the side (left and right in FIG. 2) along the wafer temporary placement plate 11. A wafer contact portion 12A formed at a lateral position of the center O of the semiconductor wafer W in order to prevent the temporary placement plate 11 from protruding to the back portion (right side in FIG. 2), and the wafer contact portion 12A. A temporary placement plate coupling portion 12B, which is a portion other than the above, is formed. In addition, the above-mentioned back side retainer 5 is also fulfill | performing the function of the backplate 12 (temporary-placement board connection part 12B).

  The wafer contact portion 12A is formed with a gap from the outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor wafer W. However, when the semiconductor wafer W moves sideways, the wafer contact portion 12A comes into contact with the wafer contact portion 12A and is viewed from above. In some cases, as shown in FIG. 2, it is formed in somewhere within a range of ± 5 ° centered at least on the exact side of the center O of the semiconductor wafer W (that is, a region of θ ≦ 10 °).

  Between the wafer contact portion 12A of the back plate 12 and the temporary placement plate connecting portion 12B (and the rear side retainer 5), a back plate notch portion 12X in which the back plate 12 is cut is formed. The back plate 12 is formed in the cross-sectional shape illustrated in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows the wafer storage container configured as described above in a state where the container body 1 is filled with, for example, 25 semiconductor wafers W and the wafer loading / unloading opening 2 is closed by the lid 3. The internal state when it is dropped is shown in the figure, and a large impact acts in the direction of arrow F (or the opposite direction) on the container body 1 and the members inside thereof.

  Then, the semiconductor wafer W elastically held by the back side retainer 5 and the lid side retainer 6 moves sideways in the container body 1 while elastically deforming the lid side retainer 6. Then, the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer W abruptly abuts on the wafer contact portion 12A of the back plate 12, and the semiconductor wafer W elastically deforms the entire wafer temporary placement portion 10 to the side, and at the same time, the wafer contact with the semiconductor wafer W. When a large reaction force acts from the contact portion 12A side and the reaction force becomes excessive, the semiconductor wafer W is damaged.

  If the wafer temporary placement unit 10 is not elastically deformed at all, there is a possibility that the semiconductor wafer W is easily damaged due to an immediate impact on the semiconductor wafer W. If the portion 10 is elastically deformed by being pressed by the semiconductor wafer W, the impact acting on the semiconductor wafer W is absorbed and the semiconductor wafer W is hardly damaged.

  Therefore, the inventor conducted an experiment on how much the wafer temporary placement portion 10 is elastically deformed to avoid damage to the semiconductor wafer W. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the main part of the experimental apparatus. Table 1 below shows the experimental results.

  Based on the knowledge so far, the standard that the semiconductor wafer W is damaged by the impact from the side is 30G (30 times its own weight of the semiconductor wafer W), and if the impact of 30G acts on the semiconductor wafer W, the semiconductor wafer W may be damaged. . However, there is variation due to the storage state and the like, which is not constant.

  Therefore, a slightly severer 35G drop acceleration determined the drop test height applied to the semiconductor wafer W, and it was confirmed how much the wafer temporary placement unit 10 should be deformed based on the drop height. . Reference numeral 11 'shown in FIG. 4 denotes a wafer temporary placement plate arranged in parallel with 25 sheets. Reference numeral 12 'denotes a back plate for integrally connecting all the wafer temporary placement plates 11'.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the model device of the temporary wafer placement unit 10 ′ is placed on a triangular pyramid base on the surface plate 100, a load corresponding to 35 G is vertically applied by a push-pull gauge, and the back at the load point at that time is applied. The elastic deformation amount x of the plate 12 'was measured. There are five types of model apparatuses, and the notch depth Z of the temporary placement plate notch 11X ′ is different. The larger Z is, the easier the wafer temporary placement 10 ′ is elastically deformed.

  Then, in a state where 25 semiconductor wafers W are stored in the container main body 1 incorporating such a model apparatus, the semiconductor wafer W is dropped from a height at which a dropping speed of 35G is applied to confirm the state of damage to the semiconductor wafer W. .

  The results are as shown in Table 1, and it was found that the elastic deformation amount (displacement amount) x needs 2.5 mm to 10 mm. That is, when a load 35 times the weight of the plurality of semiconductor wafers W acts on the wafer storage container in a state where the plurality of semiconductor wafers W are stored in a direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafers from the exact side, It is necessary for the portion 10 to be elastically deformed within a displacement amount of 2.5 mm to 10 mm at the contact portion with the semiconductor wafer W.

  In the wafer storage container of the present invention, in accordance with the above experimental results, a load of 35 times the weight of the plurality of semiconductor wafers W on the wafer storage container in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers W are stored The wafer temporary placement portion so that the wafer temporary placement portion 10 is elastically deformed within a displacement of 2.5 mm to 10 mm at the contact portion with the semiconductor wafer W when acting in a direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafer W. An elastic deformation assisting portion for increasing the amount of elastic deformation 10 is formed by the temporary placement plate cutout portion 11X of the wafer temporary placement plate 11 and the backplate cutout portion 12X of the back plate 12.

  As a result, even when the wafer storage container is accidentally dropped sideways and received a strong impact, all the semiconductor wafers W stored therein are not damaged at all or are hardly damaged.

  In the above embodiment, the elastic deformation assisting portion for increasing the amount of elastic deformation of the wafer temporary placement portion 10 is the temporary placement plate notch portion 11X of the wafer temporary placement plate 11 and the back plate notch portion 12X of the back plate 12. However, the elastic deformation assisting portion may be formed by only one of them.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the amount of elastic deformation may be increased by making the thickness of the wafer contact portion 12A of the back plate 12 thinner than the temporary plate connecting portion 12B. As shown, the elastic deformation assisting portion may omit the back plate notch portion 12X.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the elastic deformation assisting portion may be formed by providing a plurality of notches as the temporary placement plate cutout portion 11 </ b> X at intervals.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container main body 2 Wafer taking-in / out opening 3 Cover body 5 Back side retainer 6 Cover side retainer 10 Wafer temporary placement part 11 Wafer temporary placement board 11X Temporary placement board notch part (elastic deformation assistance part)
12 Back plate 12A Wafer contact portion 12B Temporary plate connecting portion 12X Back plate notch (elastic deformation assisting portion)
W Semiconductor wafer

Claims (9)

A container body for storing a plurality of standardized semiconductor wafers having a predetermined weight arranged in parallel, and a wafer formed on the front surface of the container body for loading and unloading the semiconductor wafer into and from the container body A loading / unloading opening; a lid that is detachably attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening from the front to close the wafer loading / unloading opening; and a plurality of semiconductor wafers in a region in the back as viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening in the container body. A rear retainer that positions and holds the outer edge portions individually, and a lid retainer that is provided on the inner wall portion of the lid body and pushes the plurality of semiconductor wafers into the rear retainer side to individually position and hold them individually. When the lid is not attached to the wafer loading / unloading opening, the left side when viewed from the wafer loading / unloading opening in the container body A wafer temporary part for temporarily placing the outer edge portion of the plurality of semiconductor wafers in the horizontal state individually in both sides of the position is provided,
The wafer temporary placement unit includes a plurality of rib-shaped wafer temporary placement plates arranged in parallel to temporarily place outer edge portions of the plurality of semiconductor wafers individually, and a back portion of the plurality of wafer temporary placement plates. And a back plate for integrally connecting the plurality of temporary wafer placement plates,
When the load of 35 times the weight of the plurality of semiconductor wafers is applied from the side in a direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafer in the wafer storage container in which the plurality of semiconductor wafers are stored, An elastic deformation assisting portion for increasing the amount of elastic deformation of the wafer temporary placement portion is provided in the wafer temporary placement portion so that the elastic deformation of the wafer temporary placement portion is performed in a range of displacement of 2.5 mm to 10 mm at the contact portion with the semiconductor wafer. A wafer storage container formed.   2. The wafer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the width of the central region of each of the wafer temporary placement plates is set to be opposite by the temporary placement plate notch formed by notching the central region of each of the wafer temporary placement plates. A wafer storage container in which the elastic deformation assisting part is formed by forming it narrower than the width.   3. The wafer storage container according to claim 2, wherein the temporary placement plate notch is formed by cutting each temporary wafer placement plate into an arc shape. 4. The wafer storage container according to claim 2, wherein the temporary placement plate notch is centered in a direction orthogonal to the diameter of the semiconductor wafer passing through the center of the semiconductor wafer from the wafer insertion / removal opening toward the inner side of the container body. As a wafer storage container formed over the entire range of ± 10 ° .   2. The wafer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the elastic deformation assisting portion is formed by forming a plurality of cuts in each of the temporary wafer placement plates.   2. The wafer storage container according to claim 1, wherein a placement margin of each of the wafer temporary placement plates for temporarily placing the semiconductor wafer is smaller in a central region than both end positions in the front-rear direction of the wafer temporary placement plate. A wafer storage container in which the elastic deformation assisting part is formed. 2. The wafer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor wafer is prevented from protruding from the wafer temporary placement plate to the back portion when the semiconductor wafer moves laterally along the temporary wafer placement plate. Therefore, a wafer contact portion formed at a lateral position of the center of the semiconductor wafer and a temporary plate connecting portion other than the wafer contact portion are formed so that the outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor wafer contacts. The wafer contact portion is formed within a range of ± 5 ° centering on a direction orthogonal to the diameter of the semiconductor wafer passing through the center of the semiconductor wafer from the wafer insertion / removal opening toward the back side of the container body. Wafer storage container.   8. The wafer storage container according to claim 7, wherein a back plate notch portion is formed by notching the back plate between the wafer contact portion and the temporary plate connecting portion, and the back plate notch portion provides the elasticity. A wafer storage container in which a deformation assisting part is formed.   8. The wafer storage container according to claim 7, wherein the thickness of the wafer contact portion is thinner than that of the temporary placement plate connecting portion, thereby forming the elastic deformation assisting portion.

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