JPH01292815A - Diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To compact an apparatus, by a structure wherein a cassette dam is arranged in such a way that a cassette held by a loading tray is moved up and down, and simultaneously the cassette dam is disposed in the front face section of a boat loader station together with a cassette traverser. CONSTITUTION:A cassette dam 40 is disposed in the front face section of a boat loader station 14, and a loading tray 43 is provided with a lower shelf 43A, and an upper shelf 43B formed apart from the lower shelf 43A by the height corresponding to the size obtained by adding a predetermined space to the size of one cassette 2. In this connection, with the loading tray 43, any vertical level thereof can be positioned by actuating air cylinders in turn. A cassette traverser 70 includes a chuck claw 71, a driver 72 and a cylinder device 73, and it is so arranged as to be capable of either taking out any one of cassettes from a plurality of cassette rows placed on the same loading tray, or putting back a cassette to any position in the loading tray 43. As a result, the apparatus can be compacted.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers that can be preferably used to automatically heat-treat semiconductor wafers in the manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers. .

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 8 shows, for example, a diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers according to the prior art shown in the specification and drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 62-264151. wafer), (2) is this wafer (
This is a cassette that stores 1). <3) is a cassette loading/unloading station that receives cassettes (2) containing unprocessed wafers from the outside and sends processed wafers outside, and is arranged in two rows, one for loading and one for loading. It has been declared.

(4) is a cassette dam for temporarily storing the cassette (2), and (5) is a cassette dam for temporarily storing the cassette (2); 2) cassette traverser A, which can simultaneously transport (
6) is a cassette lifter. (7) is a cassette traverser B that can transport cassettes (2) one by one. (8) is the orientation flat aligner, and the cassette (2
This is a device for aligning the oriented flat of the wafer (1) in ).

(8a) is a collection station provided in the orientation flat aligner (8), and (9) is a cassette transfer device.

(10) is a wafer transfer device, which transfers the wafers housed in the cassette (2) to the boat (11), and vice versa, transfers the wafers held in the boat (11) to the cassette (2). can be transferred to. (12) is a boat transfer device for moving the boat (11) between the wafer transfer device (10) and the boat elevator (13); (14) is a port rotor station; (14) is a port rotor station;
5) is a boat loader, (16) is a diffusion furnace, and 17) is a clean bench. In addition, a control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of each of the above-mentioned devices is also provided.

Next, the operation will be explained. When a plurality of cassettes (2) are set in a cassette loading/unloading station (3), a cassette traverser A (5) temporarily stores the plurality of cassettes (2) in a cassette dam (4).

The cassette dam (4
) from inside the cassette (2) using the cassette traverser A (5).
Take out one cassette and pass it to the cassette lifter (6) at the upper limit position of the cassette lifter (6). When the cassette lifter (6) descends and reaches the lower limit, the cassette traverser B (7) transfers the cassette (2) to the orientation flat aligner ( 8) Carry the cassette (2) upward and align the oriented flat of the wafer.Then, the cassette transfer device (9) moves the cassette (2) to the wafer transfer position 1.
At the same time, the boat transfer device (12) moves the boat (11) to the transfer position and the wafer transfer device (10) removes the cassette (2) from the cassette (2) by a pre-programmed operation. Beau) (11)
The wafer (1) is transferred. While the wafers are being transferred to the first cassette (2), the second cassette (2) is carried to the orientation flat aligner (8) in the same manner as above, and the oriented flat alignment is completed. I'm waiting. When the transfer of the first cassette (2) is completed, the cassette transfer device (9) transports the cassette (2) to the recovery station (8a).
The second cassette (2) is stored in the original position of the cassette dam (4) in a reverse operation to that when it was taken out from the cassette dam (4). In parallel with the above operation, the cassette transfer device (9)
moves the second cassette (2) to the wafer transfer position, and at the same time, the boat transfer device (12) moves the boat (11) to the transfer position, and transfers the wafer (1) to the boat in the same manner as above. Transfer to (11). When the transfer of all wafers (1) is completed by the same transfer procedure, the boat transfer device (12) transports the boat (11) to the connection point (not shown) with the boat elevator (13). , the boat (11) is a boat elevator (13)
is carried to a predetermined shelf in the port rotor station (14), and further inserted into the diffusion furnace (16) by the boat loader (15). A predetermined heat treatment is performed in the diffusion furnace (16), and the processed wafer (1) is returned to the cassette dam (4) in a reverse operation to the insertion operation into the furnace, and is further transferred to the cassette loading/unloading station (3). ) and the series of operations is completed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The prior art or conventional semiconductor wafer diffusion furnace processing equipment described above is configured for the purpose of factory automation (FA), so it requires a loading/unloading station and a large cassette dam. can be,
Therefore, there were problems in that the installation space for the device was large and the cost was high.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers that allows temporary storage of cassettes and saves space even when FA is not required. With the goal.

[Means to solve the problem]

The diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers according to the present invention includes a cassette dam equipped with a storage shelf capable of holding cassettes and an elevating device that vertically raises and lowers the storage shelf, and a port rotor station. It is placed along with a cassette traverser on the front side of the cassette traverser.

[Effect]

The cassette dam of the present invention vertically raises and lowers the cassette held in the storage shelf, so the depth dimension can be extremely reduced, making it possible to arrange the port rotor station, and contributing to the compactness of the device. do.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 7, reference numerals (1) to (17) are the same as those in the prior art device described above, so their explanation will be omitted.

(40) is a cassette dam, which is arranged at the front of the port rotor station (14). This cassette dam (40), as shown in detail in Figs. 2 to 7,
A frame (41) and two bearing guides (42) fixed to the back surface of the frame (41) and provided parallel to each other.
42), and a storage shelf (43) supported so as to be movable up and down along the bearing guide (42) (42).
and three air cylinders (44^) (44B) (4) connected in series to raise and lower this storage shelf (43).
4C). The storage shelf (43) has a lower shelf (43) as shown in detail in FIG.
3^) and the cassette (2) for this lower shelf (43^).
It is equipped with an upper shelf (43B) spaced apart by a height corresponding to the size of one air cylinder plus a predetermined gap, and three air cylinders (44^) to (44C) can be operated in sequence. For example, the lower shelf (43^) can be arbitrarily positioned at four levels, level 1, II, ■, and ■, in the height direction. Further, when the cassette placed on the lower shelf (43^) is at level I, the cassette on the upper shelf (43B) is located at level -. In addition, (4
5) to (48) are also accessories of the cassette dam (40), and as shown in detail in FIG. 3, one end of (45) is fixed to the storage shelf (43), and the other end is Linear motion bearing (
The supporting metal fitting (46) engages with the bearing guide (42) via 45a), and is a linear motion bearing guide fixedly provided at the center of the back surface of the frame (41). Also, (478) and (47B) are air cylinder (44^) and (44B)
, and a connecting fitting that connects the air cylinders (44B) and (44C), and (47C) has one end connected to the storage shelf (43).
), and the other end is fixed to the operating shaft of the air cylinder (44C), (47D) is a connecting fitting that is fixed to the air cylinder (44C).
This is a connecting fitting for fixing the lower end of the frame (44^) to the frame (41). The above connecting fittings (47^) to (47C) are
Both are engaged with the linear motion bearing guide (46) via the linear motion bearing (46a), and by the operation of the lifting device (44), the storage shelf (43) is smoothly moved in the vertical direction in Fig. 4. Configured to move. (48) is a connecting pin.

(70) is a cassette traverser, which is disposed further in front of the cassette dam (40) provided in the front of the port rotor station (14). This cassette traverser ( ) 0) is arranged at approximately the position shown in FIG. 2 with respect to the cassette dam (40). Then, as shown in detail in Figure 6, there are two claws (71^) and (
a chuck claw (71) having a chuck claw (71B); and a drive device (72) that holds the chuck claw (71) and narrows the interval between the claws (71^) (71B) in the direction of arrow A or widens it in the direction of arrow B. , is provided with a cylinder device (73) that lowers this drive device (72) in the direction of arrow C or raises it in the direction of arrow C. The cassette traverser (70) configured as described above takes out any one cassette from a plurality of cassette rows placed on the same shelf,
Alternatively, the cassette can be returned to any position on the storage shelf (43).

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained. In addition, before performing a series of operations, the cassette traverser (7
0) is retracted to a position that does not interfere with the operation of the cassette dam (40) (in the front and back direction of the page in Fig. 5), and the chuck claw (71) is raised in the direction of the arrow, and Leave it open in direction B.

First, remove the cassette (2) from the lower shelf (43^).
When removing I, use three air cylinders (448) to (
44C) Activate everything and insert the desired cassette (2) into the second
The zero-order cassette traverser (70) held at the level ■ position shown in the figure is horizontally moved to the target cassette (2) position (the movement is not shown), and then, as shown in detail in Fig. 7, The chuck claw (71) is attached to the cylinder device (7
3) in the direction of arrow C, and then the drive device (7
2) in the direction of arrow A, and the claws (71^), (
By narrowing the spacing between the claws (71B), these claws (71^) (7
1B) is the concave part (21^) of the cassette (2) (21B)
engage with each other. Install the cylinder in this condition! (73)
When the chuck claw (71) is raised in the direction of the arrow and returned to its original height, the cassette (2) is placed on the lower shelf (43A).
It is fixed at a position as far away as the height shown in FIG.

Next, air cylinder (44^) (44B) or (44
Activate C) to lower the lower shelf (43^) to the level ■ position. In this state, the cassette (2) is on the lower shelf (43
^) and the upper shelf (43B) (see Figure 5), and even if other cassettes are placed on the lower shelf (43B), the cassette traverser will not be interfered with by them. ()0) allows it to be moved in the horizontal direction and transported to the next orientation flat aligner (8).

The operations after this orientation flat aligner (8) are the same as those of the conventional device described above, so the explanation will be omitted.

Next, the case where the cassette (2) is taken out from the upper shelf (43B) will be explained. First, cassette traverser (70
〉 is retracted to the same position as when taking it out from the lower shelf (43^) mentioned above, and the zero-order drive device (44) is moved so that the upper shelf (43B) is at the level ■ position in Fig. 2. In the same way as when taking out the cassette (2) from the lower shelf (43^) described above, drive the cassette traverser (70), grab the desired cassette with the cassette claw (71),
Raise the storage shelf (43) by a distance of 11iL. Then, drive the lifting device (44) to lower the storage shelf (43) so that the upper shelf (43B) is at the level ■. Thereafter, the cassette (2) is transferred to the orientation flat aligner (8) in the same manner as described above.

As mentioned above, according to embodiments of the present invention, the cassette dam (
40) has a simple configuration that includes a storage shelf (43) and a lifting device that raises and lowers this storage shelf (43), resulting in a compact device that can be installed in the front part of the port rotor station (14). was able to obtain.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are merely shown to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and it goes without saying that various changes and modifications can be made within the spirit of the invention. 43) is not limited to two stages, and may be one or three or more stages.
The number of air cylinders constituting 4) may be changed depending on the number of shelves.

Furthermore, although an air cylinder is used as the drive source for the lifting device ff (44), the present invention is not limited to this, and other drive sources may be used, and even one drive source may be used regardless of the number of shelves. Also, the cassette gripping mechanism of the cassette traverser (70) is not limited to that of the embodiment.Also, for convenience of explanation, the sequence of operations has been described in fragments, but the operations between different devices are It goes without saying that some of them can be run in parallel or controlled using a microcomputer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the cassette dam includes a storage shelf capable of holding cassettes, and an elevating device that vertically raises and lowers the storage shelf, and
By arranging the device together with the cassette traverser at the front of the port rotor station, the device can be made compact and inexpensive due to its simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 7 are diagrams showing a diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main part of a cassette dam. Fig. 3 is a top sectional view showing the cassette dam;
Figure 5 is a rear view showing the cassette dam, Figure 5 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the cassette placed on the storage shelf and the cassette traverser, Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the chuck claw of the cassette traverser, Figure 7 This figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 5, and is a diagram for explaining the operation of the chuck claws with respect to the cassette. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a prior art diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers. In the figure, (1) is a semiconductor wafer, (2) is a cassette,
(10) is a wafer transfer device, (12) is a boat transfer device, (13) is a diffusion furnace, (14) is a port rotor station, (40) is a cassette dam, (43) is a storage shelf, (
44) is a lifting device, and (70) is a cassette traverser. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. 1゛Cow guiding monument Lll 2 Force t-vto10= U: Ha transfer V reputation! 13 False scatter r 14 Gai”-to D-Dasteshi 9〉 40: 13T!,, Tota A 70 Near 7t, Totora 111 Pu 43; Power tr To Aiyumi y!

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cassette dam that temporarily stores a plurality of cassettes that can hold semiconductor wafers; a cassette traverser that can take out any cassette from this cassette dam or return the cassette to any position on the cassette dam; A wafer transfer device that transfers semiconductor wafers between a cassette and a boat provided at a predetermined position, a cassette rotor station that temporarily holds the boat holding semiconductor wafers by this wafer transfer device, and this cassette rotor station. In a semiconductor wafer diffusion furnace processing apparatus that includes a diffusion furnace that receives the boat and heat-processes the semiconductor wafer, the cassette dam includes a storage shelf that can hold the cassette, and a storage shelf that moves the storage shelf up and down in the vertical direction. What is claimed is: 1. A diffusion furnace processing apparatus for semiconductor wafers, comprising a lifting device and disposed together with the cassette traverser at the front of the port rotor station.