JPH053241A - Conveyer for plate-shaped object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a loss time for centering, eliminate one process and reduce the possibility of producing particles and, further, eliminate an additional aligning means and reduce the cost by a method wherein the centering of a plate-shaped object is achieved when it is held. CONSTITUTION:Tweezers 14 are extended by a driving means and a semiconductor wafer 64 is mounted on the upper surface of the tweezers 14. In this state, the tweezers 14 are horizontally moved toward a conveying table 12 side. When it is restored to a predetermined position, the side wall of the semiconductor wafer 64 is pressed against centering members 18a and 18b. At that time, the side wall of the semiconductor wafer 64 is pressed and held by the inside 16a' of the downslope of a step part 16a and the sides 18a' and 18b' of the centering members 18a and 18b, so that the semiconductor wafer 64 which is housed in an uncentered state can be centered on the tweezers 14. Therefore, an additional centering mechanism is not necessary and, further, a centering time is not necessary either.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate-shaped member transfer device used for transferring a wafer in a semiconductor element manufacturing process or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a plate-shaped body transfer apparatus, an apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer between a wafer carrier accommodating a wafer and various processing apparatuses or between processing apparatuses is known as a wafer transfer apparatus. ..

Further, as such a wafer transfer device, tweezers are provided on a transfer base, the wafer is placed on the upper surface of the tweezers, and the semiconductor wafer is held by temporarily fixing the wafer by vacuum suction or electrostatic attraction. It is known that a semiconductor wafer is transferred by moving a transfer base.

When a semiconductor wafer is transferred using such a wafer transfer device, a plurality of wafer transfer devices may be used. For example, the semiconductor wafer is taken out from the wafer carrier by the first wafer transfer device, and is temporarily placed on a mounting table on which the semiconductor wafer is temporarily mounted for transfer, and then is mounted on this mounting table. In this case, the semiconductor wafer is held by the second wafer transfer device and transferred to the processing device.

[0005]

In the wafer transfer apparatus as described above, when the semiconductor wafer is held by the tweezers provided on the transfer base, the center of the mounting position on the upper surface of the tweezers and the center of the semiconductor wafer are held. And must match exactly. If this is inaccurate, the wafer will be transported in a state where the mounting position is deviated, so that there is a possibility that, for example, the semiconductor wafer cannot be correctly set at the mounting position of the wafer carrier or the processing apparatus. Incorrect loading into the carrier causes damage to the wafer, and loading into the processing device at an illegal position cannot perform uniform processing, resulting in deterioration of yield.

Further, the above-mentioned problem also occurs when a plurality of tweezers is used and one wafer is continuously transferred. For example, such a displacement of the mounting position is likely to occur particularly when the semiconductor wafer mounted on the mounting table by the first transfer device is held and transferred by the second transfer device.

This problem can be solved by providing a mounting table with a semiconductor wafer alignment means. For example, when the semiconductor wafer is transferred from the first transfer device to the second transfer device, after the semiconductor wafer is placed on the mounting table by the first transfer device, the position provided on the mounting table is set. If the centering of the semiconductor wafer is performed by the aligning means and then this semiconductor wafer is held by the second transfer device, the center of the placement position on the upper surface of the tweezers and the center of the semiconductor wafer are accurately aligned. Is possible.

However, when the semiconductor wafer is centered on the mounting table, the semiconductor wafer is not transported during the centering, so that the time required for this centering becomes a loss time, which hinders efficient transportation. Create challenges.

Further, the addition of such a new step increases the cause of generation of particles, which causes a problem that the yield of semiconductor products decreases.

Further, since the alignment means is provided, there is a problem that the cost of the entire processing apparatus becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the center of the mounting position on the upper surface of the wafer holding member and the center of the semiconductor wafer can be accurately aligned with each other. An object of the present invention is to provide at low cost a wafer transfer device that does not require separate positioning means.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A plate-shaped body conveying device of the present invention is a plate-shaped body conveying device for holding and conveying a plate-shaped body, and a plate-shaped body capable of holding the plate-shaped body on its upper surface. When the body holding member, the first positioning member provided in a predetermined holding portion of the plate-shaped body holding member, and the plate-shaped body holding member on which the plate-shaped body is placed move, this plate A second positioning member provided so as to contact the side surface of the plate-like member and position the plate-like member.

[0013]

The plate-shaped body holding member is extended by the driving means to mount the plate-shaped body on the upper surface of the plate-shaped body holding member, and subsequently the plate-shaped body holding member is moved to the transport base side by the driving means. Sometimes, the wafer is sandwiched between the first positioning member and the second positioning member, so that the plate-shaped body is held and centered at the same time.

As described above, since the plate-shaped body conveying device is configured so that it can be centered together when the plate-shaped body is held, it is not necessary to separately perform the centering operation as in the conventional case. Time is lost, and the number of particles is reduced by one step.
Further, since it is not necessary to separately provide the alignment means, the cost can be reduced.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As one embodiment of the present invention, a case where the plate-like material carrying apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a wafer carrying apparatus used in a resist film forming apparatus will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, the resist film forming apparatus according to this embodiment has a loading / unloading unit 30 for loading / unloading a wafer and a processing mechanism unit 40 for processing a wafer.

The loading / unloading unit 30 is a first wafer transfer apparatus 10 as a wafer transfer apparatus (that is, a wafer transfer apparatus having a centering mechanism) according to the present invention.
And an arbitrary number (four in this embodiment) of wafer carriers 32 for accommodating the semiconductor wafers 60, and a wafer mounting means 34 constituted by three standing pins. In the carry-in / carry-out unit 30, a step of taking out the unprocessed semiconductor wafer 60 stored in the wafer carrier 32 by the first wafer transfer device 10, centering it, and carrying it to the mounting means 34 and mounting it. A step of holding and centering the processed semiconductor wafer 60 placed on the placing means 34 and carrying and storing it to the wafer carrier 32 is performed.

On the other hand, the processing mechanism unit 40 includes processing mechanisms 42 to 48 for performing various processes such as resist coating process, baking process, and developing process on the semiconductor wafer 60, and these processing mechanisms 42 to 48. A second wafer transfer device 50 for loading and unloading the semiconductor wafer 60 to and from. The second wafer transfer device 50 includes the adhesion processing mechanism 42, the cooling mechanism 46, and the coating mechanism 4 for the unprocessed semiconductor wafer 60 placed on the placing means 34 according to a predetermined program.
8. The wafer is sequentially and selectively transported to the bake mechanism 44 and the like, and finally, the semiconductor wafer 60 on which all the processing has been completed is mounted on the mounting means 34 again. These process programs are programmable and a processing program suitable for each wafer can be set. In this embodiment, as the second wafer transfer device 50, a device having no centering function is used.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the structure of the first wafer transfer device 10. FIG. 2 (a) is a top view and FIG.
(B) is a front view. 3 is a side view showing the first transfer device 10. FIG. 3 (a) shows a state in which the tweezers 14 as a wafer holding member are not extended (that is, the same state as FIG. 2 (a)). FIG. 3B shows a state in which the tweezers 14 are extended.

The first transfer device 10 includes a transfer base 12 and
Tweezers 14 configured to mount the wafer on the upper surface, and centering members (second positioning members) 18a, 1 supported by mounting fittings 20a, 20b.
8b and an elevating rod 22 for elevating the transport base 12 are provided. Furthermore, this first wafer transfer device 10 can be moved between the vicinity of each wafer carrier 32 and the vicinity of the mounting means 34 by means not shown.

Further, the tweezers 14 is constructed so that it can be automatically moved in the direction indicated by A in the figure by a driving means (not shown). Further, on the upper surface of the tweezers, a step portion (first positioning member) 16a protruding upward from the wafer mounting surface is provided at the tip, and the upper end is higher than the step portion 16a on the side of the centering members 18a and 18b. The pressing portion 16b in which the configured wall portion is formed is
Each is formed.

Next, by using the first transfer device 10 as described above, the semiconductor wafer 6 housed in the wafer carrier 32.
A method of holding 0 and carrying out centering and carrying it to the mounting means 34 will be described.

In FIG. 4A, the semiconductor wafer 62
Shows the case where the wafer carrier 32 is stored in a normal state. Further, the other semiconductor wafers 64 are shown stored in a state in which they are shifted to the inner side of the wafer carrier 32 from the normal state.

As shown in the drawing, the tweezers 14 are moved from the first transfer device 10 which has been moved to the vicinity of the wafer carrier 32 (in this embodiment, the position is, for example, 2 mm from the opening 32a of the wafer carrier 32). A semiconductor wafer 6 to be stretched and held between wafers without contacting the wafers
4 and insert the tweezers 14 into the lifting rod 2
The semiconductor wafer 64 can be mounted by supporting the wafer 64 with 2 (not shown in FIG. 4) and raising it within a range not contacting the upper wafer. Further, in this state, when the tweezers 14 are moved from the extended state to the contracted state, that is, when the tweezers 14 are moved back and forth toward the transport base 12 side (that is, the state shown in FIG. 3A) and returned to a predetermined position. The side wall surface of the wafer 64 contacts the centering members 18a and 18b. At this time, the step 16
a downwardly sloping inner surface 16c 'and the centering member 18
The side surfaces 18a 'and 18b' (see FIG. 2) of a and 18b having an arc shape press against the side wall surface portion of the semiconductor wafer 64 to sandwich it, and the semiconductor wafer 64 that is accommodated in the backside is displaced. Centering can be done on the tweezers 14. That is, when the tweezers 14 holding the semiconductor wafer 64 returns to the side of the transfer base 12, centering is performed at the same time. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, a separate centering mechanism is not required and a centering time is not particularly required.

As can be seen from the figure, the tweezers 14
The space between the inner side surface 16a 'of the stepped portion 16a and the pressing surface 16b' of the pressing portion 16b is determined with a margin in size so that the semiconductor wafer 64 displaced toward the back side can be mounted on the tweezers 14 as it is. There is.

Further, FIG. 4B shows a case where the semiconductor wafer 66 is accommodated in a state of being shifted toward the opening 32a side of the wafer carrier 32.

Even in this case, the height of the pressing portion 16b is made higher than the height of the step portion 16a, and when the tweezers 14 is extended and inserted into the lower side of the semiconductor wafer 64 to be held, the inner surface 16b 'of the pressing portion 16b is formed. Since the semiconductor wafer 66 can be pushed in, the semiconductor wafer 66 stored in the state shifted to the opening 32a side can be held as it is. The method of centering is the same as in the case of FIG.

The semiconductor wafer 60 held in the centered state as described above is conveyed to the vicinity of the mounting means 34 and mounted on the mounting means 34. The placement on the placing means 34 can be performed by extending the tweezers 14 to the placing means 34 and then lowering the tweezers 14 using the elevating rod 22.

On the other hand, the steps of holding the semiconductor wafer 60 placed on the placing means 34, performing centering, and storing it in the wafer carrier 32 can be performed in substantially the same manner.

As described above, in the resist film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, the first wafer transfer apparatus is configured to be able to perform centering when holding the wafer. Therefore, in the state where the semiconductor wafer 60 is held, By moving, centering can be performed at the same time. Therefore, the loss time for centering is eliminated, the number of processes is reduced by one step, and the generation of particles is reduced. Further, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to provide a separate aligning means in the vicinity of the placing means 34, thereby reducing the cost. You can

In the present embodiment, the centering function is provided only in the first wafer transfer apparatus 10, but this function is also provided in the second wafer transfer apparatus 50, and the processing mechanisms 42 to 48 are connected to each other. It is also possible to perform centering when carrying the above.

Further, in this embodiment, the centering is performed by the step portion 16a and the centering members 18a, 18b, but, for example, a plurality of pins are provided.
The centering may be performed by a positioning member having another structure. That is, when the semiconductor wafer 60 is centered by the positioning member provided at the tip of the tweezers 14 and the positioning member fixed to the carrier base 12, the present invention is not dependent on the shape or arrangement of the positioning member. The effect can be obtained.

In addition, in this embodiment, the semiconductor wafer 60 is held only by placing it on the tweezers 14. However, when carrying after centering, the semiconductor wafer 60 is held.
A temporary fixing mechanism such as vacuum suction or electrostatic suction may be provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention is used for the resist film forming apparatus has been described, but it is needless to say that it can be used for other apparatuses.

In addition to the wafer, the plate-like member to be conveyed may be one having a circular side surface, an LCD substrate, a printed circuit board, or a rectangular plate-like member.

In this embodiment, the loading / unloading unit 30
The wafer mounting means 34 is composed of three pins standing at the semiconductor wafer transfer position, and the semiconductor wafer 60 is once mounted on the mounting means 34, and the first wafer transfer device 10 and the second wafer are mounted. Although an example in which a semiconductor wafer is transferred to and from the transfer device 50 has been described, as shown in FIG. 5, the first wafer transfer device 10 and the second wafer transfer device 50 are provided without providing the mounting means 34. It may be possible to directly deliver the data to and from.

The mechanism of the first wafer transfer device 110 in this case may be omitted because it may be almost the same as that of the first wafer transfer device 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment, but each device arranged in series by means not shown. The semiconductor wafer can be moved to the vicinity of the wafer carrier 32 and the semiconductor wafer transfer position between the processing mechanism unit 40 and the second wafer transfer device 50.

In FIG. 5, the semiconductor wafer 60 housed in the wafer carrier 32 is the first wafer transfer device 11.
0, and centering is performed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and in that state,
The first wafer transfer device 110 transfers the second wafer transfer device 50 to the vicinity of the left end of the transfer path. Then, the tweezers 14 of the first wafer transfer device 110 are extended while holding the semiconductor wafer 60, and
Tweezers 52 of the wafer transfer device 50
4, the semiconductor wafer 60 is lifted from below.
The tweezers 14 can be transferred to the tweezers 52.

On the other hand, from the second wafer transfer device 50 to the first
When the second wafer transfer device 50 is transferred to the wafer transfer device 110, the second wafer transfer device 50 is transferred to the vicinity of the left end of the processing mechanism unit 40, and the first wafer transfer device 110 is held with the tweezers 14 extended. The tweezers 52 may be raised from below.

Further, in the case where the semiconductor wafer 60 is directly transferred between the first wafer transfer device 110 and the second wafer transfer device 50 as described above, a plurality of vertically movable wafers can be moved to the first wafer transfer mechanism 110. It is also possible to provide (for example, three) pins (not shown) and use these pins for delivery. For example, the semiconductor wafer 60 placed on the tweezers 14 is supported by these pins by moving the first wafer transfer device 110 to the semiconductor wafer transfer position and then raising these pins, and thereafter. , The tweezers 5 of the second wafer transfer device 50
The semiconductor wafer 60 may be delivered by raising 2 from below the semiconductor wafer 60.

Further, in such a case, when the second wafer transfer device 50 transfers the first wafer transfer device 110 to the first wafer transfer device 110, the first wafer transfer device 11 is temporarily transferred.
The semiconductor wafer 60 may be placed on the plurality of pins provided on the pin 0, and then the pins may be lowered to place the semiconductor wafer 60 on the tweezers 14. Alternatively, as in the case where the plurality of pins are not provided on the first wafer transfer device 110 described above, the first wafer transfer device 110 may be installed in the second wafer transfer device 50 with the tweezers 14 extended. The tweezers 52 may be raised from below.

As described above, it is not indispensable to fix the wafer mounting means 34 at the semiconductor wafer transfer place, but directly between the first wafer transfer device 110 and the second wafer transfer device 50. It is also possible to transfer the semiconductor wafer.

[0043]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to inexpensively provide a wafer transfer apparatus capable of holding a wafer and simultaneously centering the wafer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a schematic configuration of a resist film forming apparatus using a wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a wafer transfer device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a top view and FIG.
(B) is a front view.

FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing a wafer transfer device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 (a) shows a state in which tweezers are not extended, and FIG. 3 (b) shows tweezers. It is a figure which shows the extended state.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are conceptual diagrams for explaining a wafer holding method using a wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing another example of a resist film forming apparatus using the wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 110 First wafer transfer device 12 Transfer base 14 Tweezers 16a Step 16b Pressing parts 18a, 18b Centering members 20a, 20b Mounting bracket 22 Lifting rod
TE038401

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A plate-shaped body transporting device for holding and transporting a plate-shaped body, and a plate-shaped body holding member configured to hold the plate-shaped body on an upper surface, and the plate-shaped body holding member. When the first positioning member provided in a predetermined holding portion of the body holding member and the plate-shaped body holding member on which the plate-shaped body is placed move, they come into contact with the side surface of the plate-shaped body. And a second positioning member provided so as to position the plate-shaped body.