JP6549027B2 - Substrate storage container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate storage container for storing, storing, transporting, transporting, etc. a substrate made of a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal device, a glass wafer, a mask glass and the like.

The substrate storage container in the prior art, as partially shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, is attached to and detached from the container body 1 of the front open box capable of aligning and storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers and the open front 2 of the container body 1 The cover 12 is configured to be freely fitted (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
The semiconductor wafer is, for example, a thin silicon wafer of φ300 mm or 450 mm, and is taken in and out of the container body 1 by a dedicated robot.

  The container body 1 and the lid 12 are respectively molded of a predetermined resin-containing molding material. A pair of support pieces 3 for supporting the semiconductor wafer substantially horizontally is disposed on both sides inside the container body 1, and the pair of support pieces 3 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the container body 1. The plurality of semiconductor wafers are aligned in the vertical direction of the container main body 1 by supporting the semiconductor wafer on the plurality of pairs of support pieces 3. When the plurality of semiconductor wafers are aligned, the uppermost semiconductor wafer faces the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 via a gap. Moreover, the lid 12 is press-fit, fitted, or removed by the lid opening / closing device.

  In the case of transporting a semiconductor wafer from a wafer maker to a device maker and performing predetermined processing and processing using such a substrate storage container, first, a plurality of semiconductor wafers are placed on the horizontally oriented container body 1 by a dedicated robot Align and store, and press fit the lid 12 to the open front 2 of the container body 1 by the lid opening / closing device (see FIG. 6). At this time, the particles P may intrude into the container body 1 from the work environment.

  When the lid 12 is fitted to the front surface 2 of the container main body 1, the container main body 1 is vertically erected to turn the lid 12 upward, and the substrate storage container is packaged in the aluminum laminate bag 30 and packaged in the cardboard box 31. The stored substrate storage container is stored via the plurality of cushioning materials 32 and packaged, and then the packed substrate storage container is transported to the device maker (see FIG. 7). When particles P are present in the container main body 1 during this transportation, the container main body 1 is rubbed against the aluminum laminate bag 30 and charged, and the particles P in the container main body 1 adhere to the inner surface of the container main body 1 There is.

  After transporting the substrate storage container to the device maker, take out the substrate storage container from the cardboard box 31, remove the charge using an ionizer, etc., set the substrate storage container sideways in the clean room lid opening / closing device (see FIG. 8), and If the lid 12 is removed from the front surface 2 of the container body 1 by the lid opening / closing device under clean air downflow of clean room, a plurality of semiconductor wafers are sequentially taken out from the container body 1 by a dedicated robot and the surface of the semiconductor wafer Can be given predetermined processing and processing.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-513442 Revised 2011/102318 gazette

  The substrate storage container in the related art is transported to the device maker as described above, and then discharged by an ionizer or the like, but adheres to the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 when the charge is removed or vibration is applied. The particles P may fall on the uppermost semiconductor wafer, and the particles P may adhere to the surface of the semiconductor wafer to cause contamination, which may adversely affect subsequent processing and processing.

As means for solving such problems, in the related art, a separate adhesion control plate is interposed between the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 and the uppermost semiconductor wafer, and the adhesion control plate makes the ceiling of the container body 1 A method has been proposed to prevent the particles P of the plate 8 from falling onto the uppermost semiconductor wafer.
However, when this method is employed, although the particles P can be prevented from falling onto the uppermost semiconductor wafer, the manufacture of the container body 1 is delayed, and the configuration is increased with an increase in the number of parts. There will be new problems of complexity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to eliminate the possibility that dust adheres to the uppermost substrate from the top of the container main body to cause contamination or adversely affect subsequent processing and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage container capable of preventing the delay in manufacturing the container body and the complication of the configuration of the container body.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a container body of a front open box capable of storing a plurality of substrates, a lid detachably fitted to the open front of the container body, and a container body And adhesion prevention means for restricting adhesion of dust to the substrate ;
On both sides inside the container body, a plurality of support pieces for supporting the substrate substantially horizontally are provided opposite to each other , and the plurality of support pieces are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the container body. Positioners for positioning the container main body are respectively disposed on the front and back sides and the rear center of the bottom plate rear surface,
The adhesion preventing means is provided on the upper portion of the container main body facing the substrate supported by the uppermost support pieces, and is characterized in that the conductivity is imparted.

In addition, an adhesion prevention means can be used as the electroconductive sheet provided in the inner surface of the ceiling plate of a container main body.
The adhesion preventing means may be a conductive polymer conductive layer provided on the inner surface of the ceiling plate of the container body.

  Here, the substrate in the claims includes a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal device, a glass wafer, a mask glass and the like. Also, the container body may be transparent, opaque or translucent. The upper portion of the container body provided with the adhesion preventing means may be at least the inner surface of the ceiling plate among the ceiling plate inner surface, the back wall upper end portion, and the side wall upper end portion of the container body. The adhesion preventing means include conductive thin sheets, cloths, plates, polymers and the like. Moreover, the upper part of the container main body which has electroconductivity may be sufficient.

  When the adhesion preventing means is provided on the upper portion of the container body, the conductive adhesion preventing means is inserted into a mold for the container body, and then a required resin-containing molding material is filled to mold the container body. A conductive adhesion preventing means can be provided on the ceiling plate of the above to provide an electrostatic diffusion function and an antistatic function. Further, the mold for the container main body is filled with the molding material for the container main body and the conductive resin material to mold the container main body, and the ceiling plate of the container main body and the conductive adhesion preventing means are integrated to generate static electricity. It is possible to provide a diffusion function and an antistatic function. Further, the container main body is molded by a mold for the container main body, and a conductive polymer liquid is applied to a ceiling plate of the molded container main body and dried to form a conductive adhesion preventing means, and electrostatic diffusion is realized. It is also possible to provide a function or an antistatic function.

  According to the present invention, the conductive adhesion preventing means in the upper portion of the container main body dissipates the static electricity of the charged dust or prevents the charging of the dust, so that the adhesion of the dust on the upper portion of the container main body is restricted. it can. Therefore, even if the substrate storage container is discharged, vibration or the like is applied, it is less likely that dust drops from the top of the container body to the uppermost substrate.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to effectively eliminate the possibility that dust adheres to the uppermost substrate from the upper part of the container main body to cause contamination or adversely affect subsequent processing of the substrate and the like. . Further, since it is not necessary to interpose a separate adhesion control plate between the upper portion of the container body and the uppermost substrate, it is possible to prevent the delay in manufacturing the container body and the complication of the configuration of the container body. There is. In addition, the container body can be positioned with high accuracy by fitting the plurality of positioning tools to the positioning pins of the lid opening / closing device from above.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, if the adhesion preventing means is a conductive sheet excellent in flexibility, processability, etc., adhesion will occur even if the inner surface of the ceiling plate of the container body is curved or uneven. Preventive measures can be provided along with appropriate. In addition, if the adhesion preventing means is a low outgassing conductive sheet, it is possible to suppress an adverse effect on the container main body and the substrate inside thereof.
According to the third aspect of the invention, since the transparent conductive layer can be formed, there is little trouble in visually recognizing the inside of the container main body from above or obliquely above.

It is perspective explanatory drawing which shows typically the container main body in embodiment of the board | substrate storage container which concerns on this invention. It is plane explanatory drawing which shows typically the container main body in embodiment of the board | substrate storage container which concerns on this invention. It is plane explanatory drawing which shows typically the electroconductive sheet in embodiment of the board | substrate storage container which concerns on this invention. It is perspective explanatory drawing which shows typically the container main body in 2nd Embodiment of the board | substrate storage container which concerns on this invention. It is plane explanatory drawing which shows typically the container main body in 2nd Embodiment of the board | substrate storage container concerning this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the state which fits a cover body to the open front of a container main body. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transport state of a semiconductor wafer typically. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the state which removes a lid from the front of a container main body.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6 to 8, the substrate storage container in the present embodiment includes a plurality of semiconductor wafers W. Attachment that restricts the adhesion of the particles P in the container body 1 to the semiconductor wafer W. The container body 1 capable of being aligned and stored, the lid 12 detachably fitted to the open front face 2 of the container body 1 A prevention means 20 is provided, and the adhesion prevention means 20 is a conductive sheet 21 provided on the upper portion of the container main body 1 facing the uppermost semiconductor wafer W.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of semiconductor wafers W are, for example, silicon wafers of φ 300 mm having a thickness of 775 μm, and 25 sheets are substantially horizontally inserted and stored in the container body 1. The top surface of the semiconductor wafer W faces the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 which is the upper portion of the container body 1 with a gap therebetween. Various processes and processes are appropriately applied to the semiconductor wafer W in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor component (which extends to the 500 to 600 processes).

  The container body 1 and the lid 12 are each formed of a combination of a plurality of parts, each of which has a plurality of parts injection-molded by a molding material containing a required resin. Examples of the resin contained in the molding material include thermoplastic resins such as polycarbonate, cycloolefin polymer, cycloolefin copolymer, polyetherimide, polyether ketone, polyether ether ketone, polybutylene terephthalate, polyacetal, liquid crystal polymer, and alloys of these. Etc.

  To these resins, conductive materials comprising carbon fibers, carbon powders, carbon nanotubes, conductive polymers, etc., and various antistatic agents such as anions, cations, nonionics, etc. are added as necessary. Further, benzotriazole-based, salicylate-based, cyanoacrylate-based, oxalylic acid anilide-based, hindered amine-based ultraviolet absorbers are added, or glass fibers or carbon fibers that improve rigidity are selectively added.

  The container body 1 is formed in a front open box type in which the front surface 2 is opened as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and is gripped by the ceiling transport mechanism of the semiconductor manufacturing plant in a state where the opened front 2 is directed horizontally and horizontally. Then, it is transported between processes, or positioned and mounted on a lid opening / closing device attached to a semiconductor processing apparatus. The container main body 1 is provided with a pair of left and right support pieces 3 for supporting the semiconductor wafer W substantially horizontally on both inner sides thereof, in other words, on the inner surfaces of both side walls. A position restricting portion 4 that restricts excessive insertion of the semiconductor wafer W can be integrally formed on the inner rear portions of both side walls of the container body 1 as necessary.

  The pair of left and right support pieces 3 are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the vertical direction, and between the support pieces 3 and the support pieces 3 adjacent in the vertical direction, the side edge of the semiconductor wafer W floating from the support piece 3 A support groove 5 for supporting is defined. Each support piece 3 is formed in an elongated plate shape that supports the side peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer W. On the front surface of the support piece 3, a step portion 6 for restricting the protrusion of the semiconductor wafer W to the front can be integrally formed as required.

  Positioning tools 7 for positioning the container body 1 are disposed on both the front and back sides of the bottom surface of the bottom surface of the container body 1 and at the rear center, respectively. Each positioning tool 7 is basically formed into a substantially V-shaped cross section exhibiting a flat substantially oval shape, and the concave portion provided with the pair of slopes is directed downward, and the concave portion from the upper side to the positioning pin of the lid opening / closing device The fitting / sliding function functions to position the container body 1 with high accuracy.

  A top flange for transport held by a ceiling transport mechanism of a semiconductor manufacturing plant is detachably mounted at the central portion of the partitioned ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1, and the upper and lower portions of the inner periphery of the front surface 2 of the container body 1 The locking holes 9 for the locking mechanism 16 are respectively drilled or concaved on both sides of the key. A pair of left and right rear retainers 10 capable of supporting the rear of the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer W are formed side by side on the left and right sides of the inner surface of the back wall of the container body 1. Arranged at a pitch of Further, mounting portions 11 are respectively formed at central portions of both side walls of the container main body 1, and grip portions functioning for gripping operation are detachably mounted to the respective mounting portions 11.

  The lid 12 is, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, a lid main body 13 having a dish-shaped cross section which is press-fit and fitted into the open front 2 of the container main body 1, and the open front of the lid main body 13. A cover plate is provided, and a seal gasket 15 for sealing is interposed between the lid 2 and the inner periphery of the front surface 2 of the container body 1 and the lid plate 13 is locked between the lid body 13 and the surface plate 14 A mechanism 16 is interposed.

  A front retainer that resiliently holds a plurality of semiconductor wafers W is mounted on the back surface of the lid body 13 facing the semiconductor wafers W. Further, a seal gasket 15 in pressure contact with the inner periphery of the front surface 2 of the container body 1 is closely fitted to the peripheral edge of the back surface of the lid body 13 via a frame-shaped fitting groove. In the above, an exit hole for the locking mechanism 16 facing the locking hole 9 of the container body 1 is pierced and pierced.

  The front plate 14 is formed in a horizontally long front rectangular shape, and operation holes for the locking mechanism 16 are respectively drilled on both sides. Further, the locking mechanism 16 slides in the vertical direction of the lid 12 with the rotation of each rotation plate, and a pair of left and right rotation plates which are pivotally supported respectively on the left and right sides of the lid body 13 and rotated from the outside, for example. It comprises a plurality of advancing and retracting plates, and a plurality of locking claws 17 which protrude and retract from the projecting and retracting holes of the lid main body 13 with the slide of each advancing and retracting plate and contact and separate the locking holes 9 of the container body 1.

  The adhesion preventing means 20 is, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, formed of a thin conductive sheet 21 containing a conductive agent such as carbon, for example, and the pair of support pieces 3 on which the conductive sheet 21 is positioned at the top. Provided on the ceiling plate 8 of the container main body 1 facing the surface of the semiconductor wafer W supported by the substrate.

  The conductive sheet 21 is made of, for example, a black sheet made of polycarbonate (PC) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK) which is excellent in control of conductivity, and has a thickness of 30, 40, 60, 175, 300 μm, etc. It is provided on the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 with no gap, and functions as an electrostatic discharge function, an electrostatic diffusion function, or an antistatic function to prevent the adsorption of the particles P and prevent the particles P from falling.

  The surface resistivity of the conductive sheet 21 is determined depending on which of the electrostatic discharge function, the electrostatic diffusion function, and the antistatic function is exhibited. The method for providing the conductive sheet 21 is not particularly limited. For example, a welding method using a solvent, an adhesion method using an adhesive material, an inexpensive ultrasonic welding method with a short working time, etc. may be mentioned. Be

  In the above configuration, when the adhesion preventing means 20 is provided on the container main body 1 of the substrate storage container, the conductive sheet 21 is attached to the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the molded container main body 1 by adhesion method, adhesion method, ultrasonic welding method If provided by the like, the conductive adhesion preventing means 20 can be provided on the ceiling of the container body 1 without a gap.

  In the case where the semiconductor wafer W is transported from the wafer maker to the device maker and subjected to predetermined processing and processing using a substrate storage container provided with such adhesion prevention means 20, first, a plurality of container bodies 1 facing horizontally are provided A single semiconductor wafer W is aligned and stored by a dedicated robot, and the lid 12 is press-fit and fitted to the opened front 2 of the container body 1 by the lid opening / closing device (see FIG. 6). At this time, the particles P may intrude into the container main body 1 from the work environment, but since the conductive sheet 21 of the adhesion preventing means 20 exerts the electrostatic diffusion function and the antistatic function, the particles P may be formed on the conductive sheet 21. Is not attracted by static electricity.

  When the lid 12 is fitted to the front surface 2 of the container main body 1, the horizontally oriented container main body 1 is vertically erected to turn the lid 12 upward, and the substrate storage container is packaged with a plurality of aluminum laminated bags 30; The substrate storage container packaged in the cardboard box 31 is stored and packed via a plurality of buffer materials 32, and then the packed substrate storage container is transported to the device maker (see FIG. 7).

  When particles P are present in the container main body 1 during the transportation, the container main body 1 is rubbed against the aluminum laminate bag 30 and charged, and the particles P in the container main body 1 are the inner surface of the container main body 1, specifically May adhere to the surface of the bottom plate, the inner surface of the back wall, and the inner surface of the side wall, but the conductive sheet 21 exhibits an electrostatic diffusion function and an antistatic function, so that the particles P are not attracted to the conductive sheet 21 by static electricity .

  After transporting the substrate storage container to the device maker, take out the substrate storage container from the cardboard box 31, remove the charge using an ionizer, etc., set the substrate storage container sideways in the clean room lid opening / closing device (see FIG. 8), and When the lid 12 is removed from the front surface 2 of the container body 1 by the lid opening / closing device under clean air downflow of clean room, a plurality of semiconductor wafers W are sequentially taken out from the container body 1 by a dedicated robot. It is possible to perform predetermined processing and processing on the surface of.

  At this time, even if the substrate storage container is destaticized by the ionizer or the like, the particles P are not originally attracted to the conductive sheet 21, so the particles P do not fall from the conductive sheet 21 to the uppermost semiconductor wafer W. . Therefore, it is possible to effectively eliminate the possibility that particles P adhere to the surface of the semiconductor wafer W to cause contamination or adversely affect the subsequent processing and processing of the semiconductor wafer W. Moreover, since it is not necessary to interpose the separate adhesion control board between the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 and the uppermost semiconductor wafer W, the production of the container body 1 is not delayed. It is also possible to prevent the complexity of the configuration.

  Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the adhesion preventing means 20 is provided on the top of the container main body 1 facing the uppermost semiconductor wafer W. The transparent conductive layer 22 is made to be transparent.

  The conductive layer 22 is formed by surface-treating the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 with a coating liquid such as a conductive polymer. Examples of the conductive coating solution include a coating solution composed of an organic solvent (organic solvent) capable of dissolving the resin composition and a conductive polymer such as polythiophene or polypyrrole. Such a coating liquid is surface-treated on the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 by a method such as spraying or dipping, and dried to form the conductive layer 22.

  Also in this embodiment, the same function and effect as the above embodiment can be expected, and further, since the conductive polymer can be dissolved and adhered to the resin composition, a transparent antistatic layer can be formed. It is obvious that the visual recognition of the inside of the container body 1 is not hindered.

  In the above embodiment, the conductive sheet 21 is provided on the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 of the container body 1 without a gap, but the conductive sheet 21 may be provided on the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 corresponding to the projected area of the semiconductor wafer W. The conductive sheet 21 may be provided on most of the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8. The conductive sheet 21 may be a single sheet or a plurality of sheets, and it does not particularly ask for a commercial item or a dedicated item.

  Furthermore, as a method of providing the conductive sheet 21, the conductive sheet 21 is inserted into a mold for the container main body 1, and thereafter, a required resin-containing molding material is injected to form the container main body 1. It is also possible to use an insert molding method in which the inner surface of the ceiling plate 8 and the conductive sheet 21 are integrated.

  The substrate storage container according to the present invention is used, for example, in the field of manufacturing semiconductors and liquid crystal displays.

1 container body 2 front 3 support piece 8 ceiling board (upper part of container body)
12 lid 20 adhesion preventing means 21 conductive sheet 22 conductive layer P particle (dust)
W Semiconductor wafer (substrate)

Claims (3)

A container body of a front open box capable of storing a plurality of substrates, a lid which is detachably fitted to the open front of the container body, and an adhesion which restricts adhesion of dust in the container body to the substrate And a substrate storage container to be transported, the substrate storage container comprising:
On both sides inside the container body, a plurality of support pieces for supporting the substrate substantially horizontally are provided opposite to each other , and the plurality of support pieces are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the container body. Positioners for positioning the container main body are respectively disposed on the front and back sides and the rear center of the bottom plate rear surface,
An adhesion preventing means is provided on an upper portion of a container main body facing a substrate supported by a plurality of uppermost support pieces, and is provided with conductivity. The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein the adhesion preventing means is a conductive sheet provided on an inner surface of a ceiling plate of the container body.   The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein the adhesion preventing means is a conductive layer made of a conductive polymer provided on an inner surface of a ceiling plate of the container body.

Images