JPH01289263A - Arrangement interval conversion apparatus of semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently execute a transfer operation of a semiconductor wafer by a method wherein a bellows driving mechanism used to expand and contract an interval of two or more bellows mechanisms at a desired interval is provided and an arrangement interval is changed by expanding and contracting this interval. CONSTITUTION:A semiconductor wafer 10 housed in a wafer carrier is raised to the upper part of the carrier from the rear surface of the carrier by means of a wafer elevator stage 11 and, individual chuck bodies 1 are approached to both sides of side faces of the semiconductor arrangement direction. During this operation, individual semiconductor wafers 10 are sandwiched between valley parts 3a of individual bellows 3. After that, driving screws 6 are turned by using a driving motor 9, an interval of coupling sheets 7 is, e.g., approached. Since the driving screws 6 are inverse screws in terms of the center between the coupling sheets, the individual coupling sheets 7 are approached to the center direction at individually equal intervals. By this setup, a transfer operation of the semiconductor wafer 10 can be efficiently executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer array pitch changing device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, semiconductor manufacturing processes include steps in which semiconductor wafers are subjected to batch processing such as heat treatment and etching, and wafer carriers that match the specifications of manufacturing equipment in these steps are used.

For this reason, there are cases where the carrier used in the previous process cannot be used as is in the next process, the semiconductor wafers may be transferred to a quartz boat to withstand the operating temperature, and depending on the type of reaction, the semiconductor wafers may be transferred to different pitches. You may be transferred to another carrier.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, if workers transferred carriers one by one using a bin set, etc., it would waste a huge amount of time in terms of man-hours. In order to respond to completely unmanned and rationalized manufacturing processes, there is a need for a semiconductor wafer array pitch conversion device that can automatically transfer between carriers with different pitches in a short time. Ta.

Additionally, mechanisms for transferring such a large number of semiconductor wafers at once have been considered (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-2
No. 44040, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 54-54-1 (No. 81, etc.), both mechanisms have not yet been put into practical use because of their complex structures and complicated handling.

The present invention aims to improve the efficiency of semiconductor wafer transfer work, and the present invention is an arrangement of semiconductor wafers that can be transferred in a short time even between transfers with different pitches, is easy to operate, and can be fully automated to handle the goods. An object of the present invention is to provide a pitch conversion device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A semiconductor wafer arrangement pitch converting device of the present invention converts the arrangement pitch of a large number of semiconductor wafers arranged at a predetermined arrangement pitch into a different arrangement pitch. The wafer arrangement pitch converting device includes a plurality of bellows mechanisms set at pitch intervals of the semiconductor wafer rows and for holding the semiconductor wafer rows from side faces in the arrangement direction, and expanding and contracting the pitch of the bellows mechanisms to a desired interval. and a bellows drive mechanism for changing the array pitch of the semiconductor wafers by expanding and contracting the bellows mechanism.

(Function) By using the above-described means, the present invention can be transferred in a short time even between transfers with different pitches, for example, between carriers, is easy to operate, and can easily correspond to complete automation.
The efficiency of semiconductor wafer transfer work can be improved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in a plan view showing a semiconductor wafer transfer device according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in a side view of FIG. 1.

A chuck main body 1 having a crescent-shaped cross section and serving as a device casing,
Their curved inner walls are arranged to face each other, and two bellows mechanisms 2 for each chuck body 1 are attached to the inner walls parallel to the longitudinal direction of the chuck body 1.

The bellows mechanism 2 includes a bellows 3 made of a flexible member such as Teflon (trade name) or Diflon (trade name), which is disposed approximately in the center of the chuck body 1, and a bellows 3 that penetrates through this bellows 3, with both ends thereof The bellows 3 is configured to expand and contract along this bellows guide shaft 4.

A slide shaft 5 and a drive screw 6 are sequentially arranged on the inner wall surface of the chuck body 1 of the bellows guide shaft 4 in parallel with the bellows guide shaft 4. Further, both longitudinal end surfaces of the bellows 3, the slide shaft 5 and the drive screw 6 are connected to a connecting plate 7.
are connected by

The contact portion between the connecting plate 7 and the end surface of the bellows 3 is fixed, and the connecting plate 7 and the slide shaft 5 have a structure in which the connecting plate 7 is movable in the axial direction, for example, a hole is formed in the connecting plate 7. It is attached with a structure in which a slide shaft 5 is inserted into the opening, and a connection portion between the drive screw 6 and the connecting plate 7 constitutes a ball screw structure 8.

This drive screw 6 forms threads with opposite pitches across the center.

Further, each drive screw 6 is connected to a drive motor 9, and the rotation of the drive motor 9 causes the drive screw 6 to rotate and the connecting plates 7 to approach each other by a distance of 7M, thereby expanding and contracting the bellows 3. .

The operation of the semiconductor wafer transfer device having such a configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. In addition, regarding the explanation of the operation, the operation of narrowing the arrangement pitch of the semiconductor wafers will be explained.

A plurality of, for example, 25 semiconductor wafers 10 housed in a wafer carrier (not shown) are raised from the carrier f plane to the upper part of the carrier by a wafer lifting table, for example, a wafer pick 11 shaped like a rice scoop.

Then, each chuck body 1 is brought close to both sides of the semiconductor wafer arrangement direction by a chuck body drive mechanism (not shown). At this time, in order to insert each semiconductor wafer 10 into the trough portion 3a of the bellows 3, the pitch of the troughs and peaks of the bellows 3 is set to a pitch of 3/16 inch, for example, by the drive motor 9.
and the drive screw 6 for adjustment.

In this way, each semiconductor wafer 10 is attached to the valley portion 3b of each bellows 3.
After clamping (FIG. 3(a)), the driving screw 6 is rotated by the driving motor 9 to close the distance between the connecting plates 7.

Since the drive screw 6 has a reverse thread across the center between the connecting plates, each connecting plate 7 approaches the center at equal intervals.

As the connecting plate 7 approaches, each bellows 3 contracts, and the arrangement pitch of the semiconductor wafers 10 held between the bellows 3 also narrows to, for example, 1/8 inch (FIG. 3(b)).

After completing the conversion of the wafer arrangement pitch in this way, the wafer is transferred to a wafer carrier having a pitch similar to the arrangement pitch using an elevating mechanism or the like, and the transfer operation is completed.

Note that the operation of converting the arrangement pitch of the semiconductor wafers 10 from a narrow pitch to a wide pitch may be an operation opposite to the above-described operation.

In addition, the bellows 3 has heat resistance, corrosion resistance,
Any relatively soft member that does not damage the semiconductor wafer 10 may be used, and the shape of the bellows 3 is as shown in FIG. However, a structure that holds a semiconductor wafer and has a crystal-like flat part is preferable.

In this way, by using the bellows for the pitch conversion mechanism, it becomes possible to integrate the expansion and contraction mechanism for pitch conversion and the wafer holding mechanism, and the structure of the entire apparatus can be greatly simplified.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the semiconductor wafer array pitch changing device of the present invention, it is possible to transfer between carriers with different pitches in a short time with a simple mechanism, and the operation is easy. Moreover, a pitch conversion device that can be fully automated has been realized, and the efficiency of semiconductor wafer transfer work can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a planar sectional view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the bellows portion of the embodiment. 1... Chuck body, 2... Bellows mechanism, 3... Bellows, 4... Bellows guide shaft, 5... Slide shaft, 6...
- Drive screw, 7... Connection plate, 8... Ball screw mechanism, 9... Drive motor, 10
・・・・・・Semiconductor Ueno 1゜Applicant Chill Sagami Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Sa Suyama - Figure 1 (a) (i)) Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A large number of semiconductor wafers arranged at a predetermined arrangement pitch,
The semiconductor wafer array pitch converting device for converting the array pitch to a different array pitch includes: a plurality of bellows mechanisms set at pitch intervals of the semiconductor wafer rows and for holding the semiconductor wafer rows from a side surface in the array direction; Semiconductor wafer array pitch conversion characterized by comprising a bellows drive mechanism for expanding and contracting the pitch of the bellows mechanism to a desired interval, and configured to change the array pitch of the semiconductor wafers by expanding and contracting the bellows mechanism. Device.