JPH0559843U - Board cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The structure of a substrate cassette used in the manufacturing process of a photomask or a reticle is intended to suppress dust generation when the substrate is inserted and removed and prevent dust from adhering to the accommodated substrate. . [Structure] A pair of side plates 11 facing each other and a plurality of pairs of support plates 12 projecting from the respective facing surfaces of the side plate 11 to support the substrate 1 in a substantially horizontal direction are provided. A guide groove 11a that can be stored individually is provided. When the support plate 12 that does not support the substrate 1 is housed in the guide groove 11a, the lower support plate
The substrate 1 supported by 12 can be taken out upward in a horizontal posture. Further, a recess 12b is provided along the edge of the upper surface of the support plate 12 to prevent dust from falling.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a substrate cassette used in a photomask or reticle manufacturing process for manufacturing a semiconductor device or the like.

In recent years, as semiconductor devices have become finer in pattern, minute pattern defects in photomasks and reticles have a great influence on the manufacturing yield of semiconductor devices and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent dust from adhering to the surfaces of photomasks and reticles during the manufacturing process.

[0003]

[Prior Art]

 An example of a conventional substrate cassette will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a substrate accommodated in this substrate cassette. This is a glass substrate, or a photomask or reticle with a mask pattern formed on its surface, or a semi-finished product thereof. Reference numeral 21 denotes a side plate, on one side of which grooves are provided at a constant pitch and a large number of supporting portions 21a are formed in parallel. The upper surface of the support portion 21a forms a slope that descends toward the tip. Reference numerals 22 and 23 are connecting plates that fix two side plates 21 facing each other at regular intervals. Reference numeral 24 is a stopper that supports the substrate 1 when it is held vertically.

In this substrate cassette, a large number (for example, 16 sheets) of substrates 1 are placed on a pair of supporting portions 21 a and held horizontally, and these substrates are mounted on an automatic processing apparatus to load the substrates 1 a. Perform loading and unloading. However, when manually inserting / removing the substrate 1 into / from the substrate cassette, the posture of the substrate cassette was changed so that the substrate 1 was vertical as shown in FIG. 2B.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in such a substrate cassette, it is difficult to avoid sliding the substrate in contact with the supporting portion of the side plate when the substrate 1 is manually inserted / removed, and dust is generated by this sliding (especially, the substrate is not removed). There is a problem that the resist is easily peeled off when the surface is coated with the resist). Further, since the upper surface of the supporting portion of the side plate is an inclined flat surface, there is a problem that attached dust is likely to drop on the lower substrate due to vibration or the like.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a substrate cassette that suppresses dust generation and has no dust attached to the accommodated substrates.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 According to the present invention, there is provided [1] a pair of side plates facing each other and a plurality of pairs of support plates projecting from the respective facing surfaces of the side plates to support a substrate substantially horizontally. The side is provided with a guide groove for individually accommodating the support plate, and the support plate is individually accommodable in the side plate, thereby forming a substrate cassette, and [2] a pair of opposing plates. A substrate cassette having side plates and a plurality of pairs of support plates protruding from respective facing surfaces of the side plates to support the substrate substantially horizontally, and having a recess along an edge of an upper surface of the support plate. It will be achieved.

[0008]

[Action]

 In the substrate cassette of the present invention, since the supporting plate can be housed in the guide groove, the supporting plates that do not support the substrate are successively housed in the guiding groove, so that the uppermost substrate is successively arranged in the lower layers. The board can be taken out upwards in a horizontal position. On the other hand, when the substrate is placed on the substrate cassette, the reverse may be done. Therefore, when the substrate is taken in and out, the substrate and the support plate do not slide to generate dust.

Further, since the recess is provided along the edge of the upper surface of the support plate, the dust attached to the upper surface of the support plate collects in this recess before falling on the lower substrate, and the dust is deposited on the substrate. Fall is suppressed.

[0010]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the substrate cassette according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a substrate accommodated in this substrate cassette. This is a glass substrate, or a photomask or reticle with a mask pattern formed on its surface, or a semi-finished product thereof.

Reference numeral 11 is a side plate, and a large number (for example, 16) of guide grooves 11a are horizontally provided on one surface thereof with a constant pitch. The two side plates 11 form a pair, and the sides of the guide grooves 11a face each other. A bottom plate 15 fixes two side plates 11 facing each other at regular intervals.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a support plate, which is slidably inserted into each of the guide grooves 11a. Protrusions 12a are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and these portions protrude from the guide groove 11a. In the width direction, the thickness is substantially equal to the width of the guide groove 11a on one end side, and the upper surface on the other end side is a sloped surface that is lowered toward the end. However, a recess 12b is provided along the edge thereof.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a guide plate, which is fixed to one end surface of the side plate 11. This has guide holes 13a at the same pitch as the guide grooves 11a of the side plate 11, and the projections 12a of the support plate 12 are fitted into the guide holes 13a to limit the moving range of the support plate 12. A back plate 14 is fixed to the end surfaces of the two side plates 11 to which the guide plates 13 are not fixed. A guide hole (not shown) having the same shape and size as the guide plate 13 is provided in both of the portions in contact with the two side plates 11, and performs the same function as the guide hole 13a.

In this substrate cassette, a large number (for example, 16 sheets) of substrates 1 are placed on a pair of support plates 12 respectively and held horizontally, and these are mounted on an elevator section of an automatic processing apparatus for processing. The substrate 1 is loaded into and unloaded from the unit.

Next, a method of manually inserting / removing the substrate 1 into / from the substrate cassette will be described. When the substrate 1 is inserted, first, only the lowermost support plate 12 is projected from the side plate 11 and all the others are accommodated in the guide groove 11a, and the substrate 1 is placed on the projected support plate 12 from above. Next, the upper support plate 12 is newly projected from the side plate 11, and the next substrate 1 is placed on the support plate 12 from above. By this method, the substrates 1 are sequentially placed from above.

When taking out the substrate 1, first, the uppermost substrate 1 is taken out upward, and then the uppermost support plate 12 is housed in the guide groove 11a. Next, the substrate 1 one lower than the substrate 1 is taken out upward, and the supporting plate 12 supporting it is housed in the guide groove 11a. By this method, the substrate 1 is sequentially taken out upward. However, the lowest support plate 12 does not have to be housed in the guide groove 11a.

As a result of using the substrate cassettes of the above examples, no adhesion of dust on the substrate was observed. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified in various ways.

[0018]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, when the substrate is manually inserted or removed in the manufacturing process of the photomask or reticle, dust generation due to sliding on the substrate is suppressed, and dust on the accommodated substrate is suppressed. It is possible to provide a substrate cassette with no adherence, which contributes to improvement in manufacturing yield of semiconductor devices and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 substrate 11, 21 side plate 11a guide groove 12 support plate 12a protrusion 12b recess 13 guide plate 13a guide hole 14 back plate 15 bottom plate 21a support portion 22, 23 connecting plate 24 stopper

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A pair of side plates (11) facing each other, and a plurality of pairs of support plates (12) projecting from the facing surfaces of the side plates (11) to support the substrate (1) substantially horizontally, The opposite side of the side plate (11) is provided with a guide groove (11a) for individually accommodating the support plate (12), and the support plate (12) can be individually accommodated in the side plate (11). A substrate cassette characterized in that. 2. A pair of side plates (11) facing each other and a plurality of pairs of support plates (12) projecting from the respective facing surfaces of the side plates (11) to support the substrate (1) substantially horizontally, A substrate cassette having a recess (12b) along the edge of the upper surface of the support plate (12).