JPH0513548A - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a wafer transfer device to narrow the pitches between ring-shaped wafer support plates. CONSTITUTION:A transfer device W transfers wafers W to a wafer container 50 from a wafer holding jig 10 for heat treatment in which a plurality of ring- shaped wafer support plates 11 are arranged in the vertical direction. The title device is provided with a transfer means, for transferring the wafers carried out from the container 50 onto each of the plates 11 and for transferring the wafers W carried out from respective plates 11 to the container 50, and a wafer push-up mechanism 20 that can be elevated within a space surrounded by the plates 11 of the jig 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a wafer container called a carrier or a cassette is used when a semiconductor wafer or the like is transferred in a semiconductor element manufacturing process. This wafer storage container is made of a lightweight and inexpensive resin or the like, and is configured to be able to store a plurality of wafers, for example, 25 wafers.

On the other hand, when a large number of wafers are batch-processed by a heat treatment apparatus or the like, the wafers cannot be heat-treated while being stored in the resin-made wafer storage container as described above, and are chemically stable. In addition, it is necessary to transfer the wafer to the wafer holder for heat treatment made of quartz glass or the like having excellent heat resistance and then perform the heat treatment.

7 and 8 show an example of a wafer holder for heat treatment. 7 is an explanatory view of the heat treatment wafer holder as seen from above, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line C--O--C of FIG. This heat treatment wafer holder 60 includes four columns 61,
It is composed of a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates 65. Grooves 62 are formed on the support column 61 at a constant pitch, and the ring-shaped wafer support plate 65 is held by the support column 61 by fitting the peripheral edge of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 65 into the groove 62. 65A is a wafer supporting surface, and the lower surface of the wafer W is a wafer supporting surface.
The ring-shaped wafer support plate 65 by being contacted with 65A
Supported by.

Here, the number of wafers processed by one batch process is determined by the number of ring-shaped wafer support plates arranged in the wafer holder for heat treatment. However, in the vertical type wafer holder for heat treatment as described above, since the height is limited from the viewpoint of the capacity and transportability of the heat treatment furnace,
In order to process a large number of wafers by one batch processing, it is necessary to make the pitch between the ring-shaped wafer supporting plates as small as possible.

On the other hand, as a means for transferring the wafer from the wafer storage container to the heat treatment wafer holder, a transfer means as shown in FIG. 12 is used. This transfer means includes a wafer transfer fork 91 (hereinafter referred to as “transfer fork 91”) and a wafer push-up fork 95 (hereinafter referred to as “push-up fork 95”). The transfer fork 91 is a plate-shaped body having an upper surface that is in contact with the lower surface of the wafer, and the push-up fork 95 is a plate-shaped body that has three protrusions 98 that are in contact with the lower surface of the wafer on its upper surface. ..
The transfer fork 91 is connected to the fork holding mechanism 92 and can reciprocate in the direction indicated by the arrow X, and the push-up fork 95 is connected to the fork holding mechanism 96 and reciprocates in the direction indicated by the arrow X. Is possible. Further, the fork holding mechanism 92 and the fork holding mechanism 96 are capable of reciprocating movement along the axis 97 in the direction indicated by the arrow Z and rotational movement around the axis 97 indicated by the arrow θ. The fork 91 and push-up fork 95 are capable of reciprocating movement in the Z direction and rotational movement in the θ direction, respectively.

As a method of transferring the wafer from the wafer storage container to the heat treatment wafer holder, the wafer is unloaded from the wafer storage container by the transfer fork 91.
The fork holding mechanism 92 is rotated in the θ direction until the tip of the transfer fork 91 faces the heat treatment wafer holder.
As shown in FIG. 9, the transfer fork 91 supporting the wafer W is attached to the ring-shaped wafer support plates 65 (651) and 65 (65).
2) Insert it between and and push up the fork 95.
Is inserted between the ring-shaped wafer support plates 65 (652) and 65 (653). The push-up fork 95 is raised until the protrusion 98 contacts the lower surface of the wafer W, and in this state, the transfer fork 91 is retracted from the heat treatment wafer holder 60. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 10, the wafer W is supported by the push-up fork 95. Lower the push-up fork 95. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the wafer W is supported by the ring-shaped wafer support plate 65 (652). The push-up fork 95 is withdrawn from the heat treatment wafer holder 60. Here, FIGS. 9 to 11 are cross-sectional views taken along the line D-D in FIG. 7, and a part thereof is omitted.

The wafer W is transferred from the wafer accommodating container to the heat treatment wafer holder 60 by repeating the above operation at each arrangement level of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 65.

[0009]

However, when the wafer is transferred as described above, the projection 98 is carried in the operation of loading / unloading the wafer to / from the heat treatment wafer holder 60.
Push-up fork 95 having a ring-shaped wafer support plate
The pitch between the ring-shaped wafer support plates 65 cannot be reduced because it is necessary to insert the ring-shaped wafer support plates 65. For example, the heat treatment wafer holder 60 needs a pitch of about 13 to 14 mm. In such a wafer holder for heat treatment,
It is not possible to process a large number of wafers in one batch process.

The present invention has been made under the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide a wafer transfer device capable of reducing the pitch between ring-shaped wafer support plates. ..

[0011]

A wafer transfer device of the present invention transfers a wafer between a wafer holder for heat treatment in which a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates are vertically arranged and a wafer storage container. A wafer transfer device for mounting, wherein a wafer carried out from a wafer storage container is carried into each of a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates, and a wafer carried out from each of the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates is placed in a wafer storage container. And a wafer pushing-up mechanism provided so as to be able to move up and down in a space surrounded by a plurality of ring-shaped wafer supporting plates of the heat treatment wafer holder.

[0012]

The wafer push-up mechanism can separate the lower surface of the wafer from the ring-shaped wafer support plate,
As a result, a gap into which the transfer means is inserted can be secured. Moreover, since the wafer push-up mechanism is provided so as to be able to move up and down in the space surrounded by the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates, it is not necessary to insert the push-up means between the ring-shaped wafer support plates, and the ring-shaped wafer support plate can be supported. The pitch between the plates can be reduced. Further, the space surrounded by the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates can be effectively used, and the space efficiency of the entire apparatus is improved.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing an embodiment of a wafer transfer device of the present invention. The wafer transfer apparatus of this embodiment transfers the wafer W between the heat treatment wafer holder 10 and the wafer storage container 50 that are carried in and out of a heat treatment apparatus (not shown). Wafer holder 10 for heat treatment,
Although not shown in FIG. 1 and composed of four columns 12, a plurality of, for example, 60 ring-shaped wafer support plates 11 are provided and mounted on a holder mounting table 15. The wafer storage container 50 is placed on a storage container mounting table 55, and a plurality of wafers are stored in the wafer storage container 50 in a state where they are vertically arranged at the same pitch. Reference numeral 20 denotes a wafer push-up mechanism, which is in a standby state in the holder mounting table 15 in this figure. 30 is a transfer means, the transfer means 30, the transfer fork 31, a fork holding mechanism 32,
And a shaft 37. The transfer fork 31 is a plate-shaped body having an upper surface that is in contact with the lower surface of the wafer, and is connected to the fork holding mechanism 32 so that it can reciprocate in the direction indicated by the arrow X. Further, the transfer fork 31 can reciprocate in the Z direction and rotate in the θ direction via the fork holding mechanism 32.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the heat treatment wafer holder 10 mounted on the holder mounting table 15 as seen from above, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. Grooves 13 are formed on the support columns 12 at a constant pitch, and the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 is held by the support columns 12 by fitting the periphery of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 into the grooves 13. 11A is a wafer supporting surface, and the lower surface of the wafer W is supported by the ring-shaped wafer supporting plate 11 by being brought into contact with the wafer supporting surface 11A. The wafer pushing-up mechanism 20 is composed of a raising and lowering means (not shown), a wafer pushing-up board 21 which can be moved in the vertical direction by the raising and lowering means, and projections 22 formed at three positions on the wafer pushing-up board 21. It can be raised and lowered in a space P surrounded by the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11. Here, examples of the elevating means include, but are not limited to, a ball screw mechanism and the like.

The heat treatment wafer holder 10 of this example holds a 6-inch wafer, and an example of its dimensions is as follows. The outer diameter of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11: φ156 mm The inner diameter of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11: φ123 mm The outer diameter of the wafer support surface 11A: φ153 mm The thickness of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11: 3 mm (however, the wafer support surface 11A side is 2 mm) Pitch between ring-shaped wafer support plates 11: 9.525 mm

Here, as a method of transferring the wafer from the wafer storage container 50 to the heat treatment wafer holder 10, the transfer fork 31 carries out the wafer W from the wafer storage container 50 and transfers the wafer W. The fork holding mechanism 32 is turned in the θ direction until the tip of the fork faces the heat treatment wafer holder 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the transfer fork 31 supporting the wafer W is attached to the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 (11
Insert between 1) and 11 (112). The wafer push-up board 21 of the wafer push-up mechanism 20 is raised until the protrusion 22 contacts the lower surface of the wafer W, and in this state, the transfer fork 31 is withdrawn from the heat treatment wafer holder 10. As a result, the wafer W is supported by the wafer push-up mechanism 20 as shown in FIG. The wafer push-up board 21 of the wafer push-up mechanism 20 is lowered. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the wafer W is ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 (112).
Supported by. In the carry-out operation described above, the transfer fork 31 is driven only by reciprocation in the X direction and rotation in the θ direction. It should be noted that FIGS. 4 to 6 are cross-sectional views taken along the line BB in FIG. 2, and a part thereof is omitted.

The wafer W is transferred from the wafer container 50 to the heat treatment wafer holder 10 by repeating the above-described operation at each arrangement level of the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11.

The transfer of the wafer W from the heat treatment wafer holder 10 to the wafer storage container 50 is the reverse operation of the above, that is, the wafer W supported by the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 is pushed up. This is performed by pushing up by the mechanism 20, separating the lower surface from the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11, inserting the transfer fork 31 into this gap, and carrying out the wafer.

According to the wafer transfer apparatus of this embodiment, the lower surface of the wafer can be separated from the ring-shaped wafer support plate 11 by the wafer push-up mechanism 20, whereby the wafer transfer fork 31 is inserted. The gap can be secured. Moreover, the wafer push-up mechanism 20
A space P surrounded by a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates 11
Since it is provided inside, the pitch between the ring-shaped wafer support plates 11 can be reduced. Therefore, by using the heat treatment wafer holder 10 having such a ring-shaped wafer support plate 11, a large number of wafers can be processed by one batch process. Further, the space P can be effectively used, and the space efficiency of the entire wafer transfer device is improved.

[0020]

According to the heat treatment wafer holder of the present invention, the pitch between the ring-shaped wafer support plates of the heat treatment wafer holder can be reduced. Therefore, by using the wafer holder for heat treatment having such a ring-shaped wafer support plate, a large number of wafers can be processed by one batch process. Further, the space surrounded by the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates can be effectively used, and the space efficiency of the entire apparatus is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing an embodiment of a wafer transfer device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a heat treatment wafer holder mounted on a holder mounting table as seen from above.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AOA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2 showing a wafer transfer operation according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2 showing a wafer transfer operation according to this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2, showing a wafer transfer operation according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the heat treatment wafer holder as seen from above.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-O-C of FIG. 7.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 7, showing a conventional wafer transfer operation.

FIG. 10 is a DD view of FIG. 7 showing a conventional wafer transfer operation.
FIG.

FIG. 11 is a DD view of FIG. 7 showing a conventional wafer transfer operation.
FIG.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory perspective view showing a conventional transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Wafer holder for heat treatment 11 Ring-shaped wafer support plate 12 Pillar 13 Groove 15 Holder mounting table 20 Wafer pushing-up mechanism 21 Wafer pushing-up board 22 Protrusion 30 Transfer means 31 Transfer fork 32 Fork holding mechanism 37 Shaft 50 Wafer storage Container 55 Storage container mounting table 60 Wafer holder for heat treatment 61 Post 62 Groove 65 Ring wafer support plate 91 Transfer fork 92 Fork holding mechanism 95 Push-up fork 96 Fork holding mechanism 97 Shaft 98 Protrusion W wafer

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A wafer transfer apparatus for transferring a wafer between a wafer holder for heat treatment and a wafer storage container, wherein a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates are vertically arranged. And a transfer means for loading the wafer carried out from the wafer storage container into each of the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates, and loading the wafer carried out from each of the plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates into the wafer storage container, A wafer transfer device, comprising: a wafer push-up mechanism that is capable of moving up and down in a space surrounded by a plurality of ring-shaped wafer support plates of a heat treatment wafer holder.