JPH01125946A - Device for transferring wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transfer a wafer without damaging the wafer by providing a wafer fixing guide at a stage for placing a wafer holder. CONSTITUTION:A wafer fixing guide 9 is provided on a stage Al. Thus, the position of a wafer holder A5 is specified, and wafers 10 are simultaneously inserted one by one into the wafer insertion grooves 9a of the guide 9. Thereafter, when the wafers 10 are inserted by a wafer supporting rod 4 from the holder A5 into a holder 3, the wafers 10 are always inserted one by one to the wafer guide of the holder 3, thereby eliminating troubles for damaging the wafer 10.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding the improvement of a stage on which a wafer holder is placed in a wafer transfer device, the object is to provide a wafer transfer device equipped with a wafer fixing guide capable of holding a wafer in an accurate position. A position correction guide for correcting the position of the wafer housed in the wafer holder to a predetermined position is provided on the stage portion where the wafer holder is placed, and the position of the wafer housed in the wafer holder is corrected by the position correction guide. and is configured to transfer the wafer to the wafer holding section.

[Industrial application field].

The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device, and particularly to an improvement of a stage on which a wafer holder is placed.

In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, there are many steps in which wafers are transferred between wafer holders, and wafer transfer equipment is used everywhere to reduce the number of steps. In the case of wafer holders used for wafer holders, the spacing between the supporting parts of the wafer holder is wide in order to improve the cleaning effect, and as a result, the precision of the state of support for the wafer is low, and the wafer holder is deformed due to heat treatment etc. There are cases.

When taking out a wafer from such a wafer holder and inserting the wafer into a holding section of a wafer transfer device, problems occur that damage the wafer due to the above-mentioned low precision and deformation.

Under the above circumstances, there is a need for a wafer transfer device that can transfer wafers without damaging the wafers when transferring wafers in the wafer transfer device.

[Conventional technology]

The structure and operation of a conventional wafer transfer apparatus having two stages will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in the schematic arrangement of the wafer transfer device in FIG. 4(a), there is a holding section 3 in the upper center that temporarily holds the wafer 10 during transfer, and the wafer transfer device moves to the left with this as the center. Stage A1 on which the original wafer holder A5 is placed
Then move the wafer holder B6 to the right! A stage B2 is also arranged.

First, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the source wafer holder A5 is placed on the stage A1, and the destination wafer holder B6 is placed on the stage B2. ! do.

When the apparatus is operated, the stage A1 moves to a position directly below the holding part 3, as shown in FIG. 4(b), and the holding part 3 descends from above, as shown in FIG. 4(C). The wafer support rod 4 rises from below while supporting the wafer 10, and the wafer 10 is completely inserted into the holding part 3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4(d), the holding section 3 holds the wafer 10.
The wafer support rod 4 rises while holding it so as not to fall, and the wafer support rod 4 descends.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (114), stage A1 and stage B2 move to the left in the figure, stage B2 is located directly below the holding part 3, and the wafer support rod 4 rises from below, and the holding part The wafer 10 held at 3 is supported. Release the fall prevention mechanism of the wafer 10 in the holding unit 3,
While supporting the wafer 10 with the wafer support rod 4, the wafer 10 is lowered and inserted into the destination wafer holder B6 as shown in FIG. 4(f).

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4(g), the stage B2 is moved to the right and positioned at a regular position so that the wafer holder B6 to be moved can be taken out.

When placing the source wafer holder A5 on the stage A1, the wafer holder A5 is positioned by the holder fixing guide A7 provided on the stage A1, as shown in FIG. When placing the wafer holder B6, the stage B2 is placed as shown in FIG.
The wafer holder B6 is positioned by a holder fixing guide B8 provided above.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The problem with the conventional wafer transfer apparatus described above is that the wafer support rod 4 is
When inserting the wafer 10 into the holding part 3 while supporting the wafer 10, an obstacle may occur that may damage the wafer 10.

That is, although the wafer holder A5 is placed in the correct position with respect to the stage A1 by the holder fixing guide A7, the position of the wafer 10 with respect to the wafer holder A5 is unstable. As shown in FIG. 6, two wafers 10 may enter the one-sheet storage section of the holding section 3, and in that case, the wafers 10 will be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer transfer device that can be installed easily and inexpensively and is equipped with a wafer fixing guide that can hold a wafer in an accurate position.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned problem is that the device, which transfers multiple wafers at once from one wafer holder to another, is equipped with a wafer fixing guide that defines the relative position of the wafer and the stage without going through the wafer holder. Wafer transfer equipment.

[Effect]

That is, in the present invention, a wafer fixing guide is provided on the stage on which the wafer holder is placed, and when the wafer holder is placed on the stage, the wafer is inserted into the wafer insertion groove of the wafer fixing guide, so the wafer holder is not used. Since the relative position between the wafer and the stage is determined accurately, when the wafer is pushed up and inserted into the holder without supporting it with the wafer support rod, the wafer can be accurately aligned with the wafer insertion guide section of the holder. It becomes possible to insert one sheet at a time.

〔Example〕

The structure and operation of a wafer transfer apparatus having two stages will be explained below with reference to FIG.
A second embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 2, and a third embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

The structure and operation of the wafer transfer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention are basically as explained in the conventional technique, except that the holder fixing guide A7 provided on the stage A1 shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a wafer fixing guide 9 which also has the function of positioning the wafer holder A5 is provided on the stage A1. While defining the position of wafer holder A5, the wafers 10 are inserted one by one into the wafer insertion grooves 9a of the wafer fixing guide 9, and then the wafer lO is moved from the wafer holder A5 to the holding part 3 by the wafer support rod 4. When inserted, the wafers 10 are always inserted one by one into the wafer guide section of the holding section 3, and troubles such as damage to the wafers 10 do not occur.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, only a holder fixing guide A7 is provided on the stage A1 to determine the position of the wafer holder A5.

The central part of stage A1 is removed so that table 1a described below can be inserted therein.

The wafer fixing guide 9 is installed on a table la that is provided separately from the stage At and can be moved up and down, and the wafer holder A
After placing the wafer 5 on the stage AI, the table 1a is raised, the wafer 10 is inserted into the wafer insertion groove 9a of the wafer fixing guide 9, and the wafer 10 is held at an accurate position.

In this state, the wafer 10 is supported and pushed up by the wafer support rod 4 as in the first embodiment, and the wafer 10 is inserted into the wafer guide section of the holding section 3.

In the first and second embodiments, the wafer 10 was supported by the wafer insertion groove 9a, but in the third embodiment shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, a vacuum manifold and a wafer suction hole 9b are provided in that part to suction the wafer 10 to determine the position of the wafer 10.

In this way, the irregular position of the wafer 10 within the source wafer holder A5 is correctly defined by the wafer insertion groove 9a of the wafer fixing guide 9 or by the wafer suction hole 9b provided in the wafer fixing guide 9. This makes it possible to smoothly transfer the wafer 10 from the wafer holder A5 to the holding section 3.

Although this embodiment has been described with reference to the case where there are two stages, the number of stages is not limited to two. After transferring the wafer 10, the source wafer holder A5 on the stage is replaced with the destination wafer holder B6, and the wafer holder B is transferred from the holding unit 3.
It is also possible to transfer the wafer lO to 6.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a wafer fixing guide with an extremely simple structure is provided, and the positions relative to each other are fixed via the wafer holder. It has advantages such as being able to set the wafer correctly and transferring the wafer from the wafer holder to the holding part without damaging the wafer, resulting in significant economical and reliability improvements. It is expected to be effective and is extremely useful industrially.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a second embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a third embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. The figure is a side view showing a conventional wafer transfer device, FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the fixed state of the wafer holder, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing problems with the conventional wafer transfer device. In the figure, 1 is stage A, and 1a is table 1. 2 is a stage B1 3 is a holding part 4 is a wafer support rod 5 is a wafer holder A 6 is a wafer holder B1 7 is a holder fixing guide A1 8 is a holder fixing guide B 9 is a wafer fixing guide 9a is a wafer insertion groove , 9b is a wafer suction hole, 10 is a wafer, (a) Front view (bl side view) Figure 1 depicting the first embodiment of the present invention Figure 2 depicting the second embodiment of the present invention Figure 3 (al) Position of the source wafer holder (bl) Movement of the source stage (01 Insertion of the wafer into the holder) Side view showing conventional wafer transfer vIW 4 Figure ((1) (dl upper limit of holding part, lowering of wafer support rod (e)
Removing the wafer from the holder f) Inserting the wafer into the destination wafer holder Side view showing a conventional wafer transfer device Figure 4 ('+03) A side view showing the wafer transfer device.Detailed view of the fixed state of the wafer holder.Figure 5.Diagram showing the problems of the conventional wafer transfer device.Figure 6.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A position correction guide for correcting the position of the wafer housed in the wafer holder to a predetermined position is provided on the stage portion where the wafer holder is placed, and the wafer housed in the wafer holder is moved by the position correction guide. A wafer transfer device, comprising: correcting the position of the wafer and transferring the wafer to a wafer holding section.