JPH03147347A - Semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a semiconductor-manufacturing device which can improve productivity by improving working efficiency and operation efficiency by increasing the number of unload cassettes compared with the number of load cassettes. CONSTITUTION:A dry etching device is provided with a load cassette 1 which houses a non-processed substrate 10, first and second unload cassettes 2 and 3 which house an already treated substrate 11, an etching treatment room 4, a post-treatment room 5 for performing post-treatment such as ashing treatment of a photoresist, and a transportation room 6 which houses a means for carrying a substrate between the etching treatment room 4 and the post-treatment room 5. With this configuration, the unload cassette 2 may be replaced by an empty cassette until the top substrate of a third lot is carried out after the first lot substrate has been stored into the unload cassette 2, namely while the substrate is in stored at the unload cassette 3. Thus, it is not necessary to stop the device to replace cassettes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of a cassette-I-to-cassette type.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional cassette-to-cassette type semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the mainstream is one in which one load cassette and one unload cassette are installed. An example of this type of device is the device tDA described in the Tokyo Ohka Kogyo catalogue.
PM-301B, device DMN I-ETCH20000 described in the Perkin-Nilmer catalog, JP-A-63-
No. 1035, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 198122/1983, and the like.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, there was a problem in that no consideration was given to operational efficiency and work efficiency during grave delivery, resulting in decreased productivity. In other words, one cassette is installed on both the loading side and the unloading side, so when the 10th lot of substrates has been unloaded from the loading side cassette and the second lot is loaded, the first lot will be loaded. Processing is finished
After the last board is stored in the unload cassette, it is necessary to replace the unload cassette with an empty cassette before the processing of the first board of the second lot is completed. This has caused problems such as the operator or the transport robot being forced to wait for a long time near the device, or the timing of replacing the unload cassette being delayed, causing the processing of the second lot to stop. Subsequent loft processing stops, especially multiple processing!
When the process is performed continuously within iI, another problem arises in that the substrates that have completed an intermediate process are left for a long time until the next process, causing fluctuations in the process conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can increase operating efficiency 2 and improve productivity.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the number of unload cassettes is greater than the number of load cassettes.

[For production]

The 10th lot of substrates discharged from the load cassette is sequentially stored in the first unloading cassette when the processing is finished, and the second lot of substrates that have been subsequently loaded are stored in the first unloading cassette when the processing is finished. It is stored in the second unload cassette.

As a result, after the last substrate of the first lot is stored in the first unload cassette, until the processing of the first substrate of the third lot is completed, that is, the substrates of the second loft are processed. If this is done while the unloading is carried out and stored in the second unloading cassette, it becomes possible to operate the row continuously without any delay.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on the first factor.

FIG. 1111 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, for example, a dry etching 5It apparatus. The apparatus includes a load cassette 1 that stores unprocessed substrates 10, first and second unload cassettes 2 and 3 that store processed substrates 11, an etching processing chamber 4, and post-processing such as photoresist ashing processing. a post-processing chamber 5 for performing etching, a transfer chamber 6 for accommodating a means for transferring the substrate between the etching process chamber 4 and the post-processing chamber 5, a space between each chamber 4, 5 and the cassette 1, 2.3, and each chamber. a gate valve 7 that partitions between 4 and 5 and the transfer chamber 6;
and conveyance means 8.

Next, a dry etching method using the above apparatus will be explained.

Normally, the load cassette 1 stores 25 unprocessed substrates 10, and the unload cassette 2.3 uses an empty cassette to start the operation. Transport means 8 from load cassette l
The unprocessed substrate 10 carried into the etching chamber 4 via the gate valve 7 is subjected to the desired etching chamber treatment, and then
It is transported to the post-processing chamber 5 via the transport chamber 6 and undergoes post-processing,
Finally, it is carried into the first unload cassette 2. The 25 substrates initially set in the load cassette 1 are sequentially processed by the above means, and then placed in the unload cassette 1.
However, in order to improve the operating efficiency of the equipment,
As soon as the first board is removed from the load cassette, it is desirable to replace the cassette containing the next 25 boards with the load cassette.In this way, the 25th board in the first loft and the 20th board in the Since the 25th board of the first lot is stored in the unload cassette 2 and the cassette is full, the 25th board of the first lot flows through the loading chamber in succession with the first board. It is necessary to prepare another unloading cassette for storage before the first board of the lot is unloaded.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 according to this embodiment, a second unload cassette 3 is provided, and 25
All of the substrates can be stored here, so after the first lot of substrates are completely stored in the unload cassette 2, until the first substrate of the third lot is taken out,
That is, it is sufficient to replace the unload cassette 2 with an empty cassette while the unload cassette 3 stores the substrate.

As described above, according to this embodiment, there is sufficient margin in the timing for exchanging the unload cassette, so that there is no need to wait near the device for cassette exchange, or the device is stopped due to a delay in cassette exchange. This has the effect of eliminating the factors that inhibit work efficiency and improving productivity.

In this embodiment, the number of cassettes on the loading side is one, and the number of cassettes on the unloading side is two, which is larger than that, but the number of cassettes on the loading side is two and the number of cassettes on the unloading side is two. The number of cassettes may be three or four. If the number of cassettes on the unload side is doubled as the number of cassettes on the load side, the cassettes loaded in the next process can also be reliably stored, making it even more reliable from a safety standpoint.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the substrates can be flowed without delay, there is an effect that the operating efficiency 2 work efficiency can be increased and productivity can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a dry etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cassette that includes a load cassette that stores unprocessed substrates, at least one substrate processing section, an unload cassette that stores processed substrates, and means for transporting substrates between these cassettes. - A two-cassette semiconductor manufacturing device characterized in that the number of cassettes that can be installed is greater on the unload side than on the load side. 2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when one of the plurality of unload cassettes is filled with processed substrates, the substrate is stored in the other unload cassette.