JPH04239743A - Layout for effectively utilizing twin boat of semiconductor producing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a decrease in working efficiency by setting a handler arm at the position where the said arm will not touch or interfere with other parts such as a supporting arm or quartz tube that make rising and falling motions. CONSTITUTION:While a robot 4 is moving an untreated wafer to one quartz boat 6 retained by the first arm 5a of a twin boat handler, heating treatment for a wafer in another quartz boat in a heating furnace 12 is completed. At this time, the second arm 5b of the twin boat handler 5 is not located directly below the heating furnace 12 and located at a place not touching nor interfering with the up-and-down movement of a supporting arm 7 and quartz tube 10. Thus, the supporting arm 7 can descend without waiting time, the handier 5 immediately turns when the carrying work to the first quartz boat 6 is completed, and the second arm 5b performs the operation of retaining the quartz boat already heat-treated. By doing this, the production can be increased considerably.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus generally referred to as a CVD apparatus, which is used to manufacture semiconductor devices by chemical vapor deposition technology, and more specifically relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus generally referred to as a CVD apparatus. The robot receives semiconductor thin film substrates called wafers and transfers them to a quartz boat. This is a twin boat handler that moves quartz boats directly below the heating furnace, and is a type of twin boat handler that holds two quartz boats, one at each end of one arm. Concerning the layout that can be used.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the layout of main elements in a frame 1 of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan view of the layout, and FIG. 3 shows a side view. To explain the work process with reference to these figures, the wafers 3 arranged on the carrier stage 2 are moved by the robot 4 to the first arm 5a of the twin boat handler 5, which has a rotating shaft 5c at the center of both arms. The materials are transferred in layers to one of the quartz boats 6, which is held perpendicular to the quartz boat 6.

On the other hand, the other quartz boat 6' houses the wafers that have been heated in the heating furnace 12 (FIGS. 2 and 3).
is held by the second arm 5b of the twin boat handler 5, and when the transfer of the wafer 3 to one of the quartz boats 6 is completed, the twin boat handler 5
The first arm 5a and the second arm
The first arm 5a places the boat 6 on the support table 9 on the support arm 7, and the twin boat handler 5 leaves the boat 6 on the support table 9 as described below. The support arm 7 pivots counterclockwise away from the support table so that it can rise, and stops at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. At this time, the second arm 5
b is moved by rotation to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line under the first arm 5a in FIG. In order to transfer the unprocessed wafer into the quartz boat, it is necessary to further rotate the wafer in the clockwise direction to the position 5a in FIG.

Next, the quartz tube 10 is lowered and the boat 6 on the support arm 7 is housed inside together with the support table 9 and covered, and then the elevator shaft 8 raises the support arm 7. heating furnace 12 (see side view of the device in Figure 3)
The boat 6 is sent inside, the seal shutter 11 seals the bottom of the quartz tube 10, and a compound gas such as phosphorus and boron, which are elements constituting an impurity semiconductor, is introduced.
Impurity elements generated by decomposition of the compound gas are deposited on the wafer surface and further diffused into the wafer, where a heat treatment is performed.

When the support arm 7 is raised, the twin boat handler 5 located at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The empty first arm 5a is located directly below the heating furnace 12 (position 5b in FIGS. 3 and 4), and the robot 4 moves the processed wafer to the position of the boat 6 near the robot 4. The wafer is transferred to the carrier stage 2, and unprocessed wafers are further transferred from the carrier stage 2 to the empty quartz boat 6'.

[0006]Additionally, regarding the operation when the heat treatment is completed, the twin boat handler 5 temporarily rotates counterclockwise to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line (FIG. 2) to avoid contact with the support arm 7. to enable lowering of the support arm 7,
After the quartz tube 10 is raised, the twin boat handler 5 turns clockwise and returns to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2.
Hold the treated quartz boat as shown in , and repeat the above process.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Normally, about 150 wafers are placed on one quartz boat, and the carrier stage 2 carries out the work of transferring unprocessed wafers to the quartz boat, and the work of transferring heat-treated wafers to the quartz boat. The robot 4 is used to transfer the wafer from the quartz boat to the carrier stage 2 and return it. Heating work in a heating furnace is a rate process (Ra
te Process), it requires a certain amount of time, and the holding time is usually 1 to 2 hours.

In the above work process, if the heat treatment time is shorter than the time to transfer the wafer from the carrier stage 2 to the twin boat handler 5, as shown in FIG. Either the first arm 5a or the second arm 5b is located directly below the heater 12 and the support arm 7 cannot be lowered, so it is necessary to wait until the transfer is completed or to remove the wafer after the reaction is completed. If it is not possible to keep the quartz boat in the furnace, it is necessary to interrupt the transfer operation and rotate the twin boat handler 5 to lower the quartz tube containing the quartz boat. There were cases where the process was further delayed and productivity was hindered, and a solution was requested.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the twin boat handler layout of the present invention, when one arm of the handler is in a position for robotically transferring wafers from a carrier stage, the other arm is a supporting arm, a quartz tube, etc. A position that does not contact or interfere with any of the parts that move up and down, i.e., the outer periphery of the quartz tube in the plan view,
Alternatively, by setting the position outside the outer circumference of the side wall of the heating furnace, the boat containing processed wafers can wait without descending until the wafers are transferred by robots. This eliminates the waiting time and the reduction in work efficiency when it is necessary to take out processed wafers even if the transfer work is interrupted.

0010

[Operation] Referring to FIG. 1, while the robot 4 transfers unprocessed wafers to one of the quartz boats 6 held by the first arm 5a of the twin boat handler 5, the heating furnace 12
When the heating process of the wafers in the other quartz boat is completed, the second arm 5b of the twin boat handler 5 is no longer directly under the heating furnace 12, and is not directly below the support arm 7, quartz tube 10, etc. Since the support arm 7 is located in a position where there is no contact interference, the support arm 7 can be lowered without waiting time, and the handler 5 can be lowered immediately after the transfer work to the first quartz boat 6 is completed.
rotates, and the second arm 5b performs an operation of holding the heated quartz boat.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an example of a layout for effectively using the twin boat handler of the present invention in a CVD apparatus. In the conventional layout shown in FIG. 2, the carrier stage 2, twin boat handler 5,
In this layout, the length of the frame 1 in the longitudinal direction is slightly longer L' than L in Fig. 2 to slightly widen the gap between the carrier stage 2 and the heating furnace 12, and the twin boat first arm 5 of handler 5
When a is in a position where the wafer 3 is transferred from the carrier stage 2 by the robot 4, the second arm 5b on the opposite side contacts and interferes with the vertical movement of the support arm 7, quartz tube 10, etc. shown in FIG. In order to ensure safety, the quartz tube 9 should be placed as close to the support table 9 as possible, and as shown by the two-dot chain line outside the outer periphery of the quartz tube 9 in FIG. I set the layout so that it is at the position of the solid line.

0012

[Effects of the Invention] With the twin handler layout as described above, the wafer transfer time between the carrier stage and the twin boat handler can be reduced by moving the quartz boat containing heated wafers into the heating furnace. Since there is no need to wait and it is possible to lower the case at will to shorten the time, the frame volume will increase slightly by making the case length slightly longer, but this will be compensated for and the production volume will be increased. increase can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a layout for effective use of a twin boat handler of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the layout of main elements of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the layout of main components within a frame of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Frame 2: Career stage 3: Wafer 4: Robot 5: Twin boat handler 5a: First arm 5b: Second arm 6,6’: Quartz boat 7: Support arm 8: Elevator shaft 9: Support table 10: Quartz tube 12: Heating furnace

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: One quartz boat is placed on each longitudinal end of a boat handler having two arms, and the quartz boat is transported from a carrier stage to a boat handler. The operation of transferring the wafer to the carrier stage and the operation of taking out the heat-treated wafer from the quartz boat and returning it to the carrier stage are performed using the respective quartz boats by rotating the arm. In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with a twin boat handler that performs alternating operations, when one arm of the twin boat handler is in a transfer position for receiving and receiving the wafer between the carrier stage and the other arm, The arm is located outside the outer periphery of the side wall of the quartz tube attached to the heating furnace in a plan view,
Lifting and lowering movements of the quartz tube housing the quartz boat and lifting and lowering movements of the support arm of the lifting device that lifts and lowers the quartz boat and the quartz tube accompanying the start and end of the heating operation. A layout for effective use of a twin boat handler for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, characterized in that the twin boat handler can be operated without interference or contact with the other arm. 2. When one arm of the boat handler is in a position where a wafer is transferred from the carrier stage by a robot, the other arm is located further outside the quartz tube in a plan view and is connected to a heating furnace. 2. The layout for effective use of a twin boat handler for semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the twin boat handler is located outside the outer periphery of a side wall of the twin boat handler.