JPH05315434A - Semiconductor wafer retainer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To firmly retain the whole part of a wafer with uniform retaining force when the wafer has warp or unevenness. CONSTITUTION:The title retainer is equipped with the following; a board member 1 having an exhaust vent 15 on one surface, a flexible elastic film member 3 which is fixed on the periphery of the other surface of the board member 1 and has a plurality of suction ports 4, and a spacer member 2 which is inserted between the film member 3 and the board member 1. The film member 3 is transformed in accordance with warp and unevenness of a wafer, and brought into contact with the whole surface of a wafer 5. The susction ports 4 suck the wafer and retain it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer holder that holds and conveys semiconductor wafers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, when holding and holding a semiconductor wafer, tweezers made of a soft material that is hard to attach dust or a holder by vacuum suction so as not to damage or contaminate the semiconductor wafer. It was done in. However, in recent years, with the increase in the diameter of semiconductor wafers, the holding force of the tweezers is weak, and holding tools using vacuum suction have come to be used.

3A and 3B are views showing an example of a conventional semiconductor wafer holder. Conventionally, this type of holder has, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), a suction plate 6 having a suction port for sucking the wafer 5 by vacuum exhaust, or, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), A high pressure fluid is drawn in from the upper part, the fluid is ejected radially from the ejection port 7, and a hollow disc body 9 having an adsorption port 8 having an opening area sufficiently smaller than the opening area of the ejection port 7 is used.

The former holder was used for taking out and storing the wafer from the wafer carrier, and the latter was used for transferring the wafer from one place to another.

[0005]

In the conventional semiconductor wafer holder described above, when the wafer is distorted, the suction holes do not come into contact with all the wafers and can be held because they leak. In the latter, the latter one holds the distorted wafer but adsorbs a part of the outer side of the wafer, so the wafer cannot be held with an even adsorption force and is often dropped and damaged. There was a problem that caused it.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer holder that holds a wafer evenly, even if the wafer is distorted.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A semiconductor wafer holder according to the present invention is provided with a plate member having an exhaust port on one surface, and a plurality of holes formed on the other surface of the plate member by attaching the periphery thereof. And a spacer member inserted into the film member and the plate member.

[0008]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1A and 1B are a plan view and a sectional view of a semiconductor wafer holder showing an embodiment of the present invention. This semiconductor wafer holder, as shown in FIG.
A plate member 1 having an exhaust port 1b communicating with the exhaust path 1a on one surface side, an elastic flexible film member 3 attached to the other surface side of the plate member 1 and having a plurality of suction ports 4, and this film member Spacer member 2 inserted between plate 3 and plate member 1
It consists of and.

Here, the film member 3 is made of, for example, a thin rubber plate or a resin plate, and is subjected to a fluorine processing treatment so as to prevent dust from adhering to the surface. Although not shown in the drawings, the vacuum exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust port 1b is a flexible tube so that the holder can be easily operated. The spacer member 3 is to project from the plate member 1 and to have a hole communicating with the exhaust path 1a.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are sectional views for explaining the operation procedure of the semiconductor wafer holder of FIG. Next, an operation procedure of this semiconductor wafer holder will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the plate member 1 is placed on the wafer 5 while the film member 3 is in contact with the wafer 5. Next, the space formed by the spacer member 2 is evacuated and the wafer 5 is attracted to the film member 3. Next, FIG.
As shown in (c), the semiconductor wafer holder is moved to another location, and air is introduced into the space while contacting the portion on which the held wafer 5 is to be transferred.
To complete the transfer.

With such a flexible film member, even if the wafer 5 is warped or uneven, the film member 3 is deformed according to the surface state of the wafer 5 and comes into contact with the entire surface of the wafer 5,
Since the suction port 4 is closed and sucked, the wafer surface can be held by uniform suction.

Although the spacer member 2 is projected from the plate member 1 in this embodiment, the spacer member 2 may be attached to the film member. In this case, since the self-weight of the film member is increased, the film member and the plate member can be easily separated from each other, so that there is an advantage that the wafer can be released more quickly.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a flexible elastic membrane member having a plurality of suction ports which is attached to the other surface of a plate member having an exhaust port communicating with an exhaust path on one side thereof. By providing a spacer member that is inserted between the film member and the plate member and separates the film member and the plate member at a predetermined interval, the film member is deformed according to the warp or unevenness of the wafer. While contacting the entire surface of the wafer, it can be adsorbed by a plurality of adsorption ports.
Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain a semiconductor wafer holder that can strongly hold the entire surface with a uniform holding force even if the wafer is distorted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer holder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view for explaining an operation procedure of the semiconductor wafer holder of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional semiconductor wafer holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plate member 1a Exhaust path 1b Exhaust port 2 Spacer member 3 Membrane member 4,8 Adsorption port 5 Wafer 6 Adsorption plate 7 Jet port 9 Hollow disk body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plate member having an exhaust port on one surface, a flexible elastic film member having a plurality of holes formed while being attached to the other surface of the plate member by surrounding the periphery thereof, and the film. A semiconductor wafer holder comprising a member and a spacer member inserted into the plate member.