JPH0817896A - Substrate carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a small device capable of facilitating parallel conditions in chucking and accurately holding a substrate by vacuum-chucking without contaminating the substrate by a method wherein a pad for holding a substrate held by vacuum-chucking and an elastic member for forming a vacuum supply flow path are provided. CONSTITUTION:This embodiment comprises: a pad 1 for holding a substrate by vacuum-chucking; a hand 2 for carrying the substrate held in the hand 1 by vacuum-chucking; and an elastic member 3 for forming a vacuum supply flow path between the pad 1 and the hand 2. For example, the pad 1 is mold- resinous having conduction, and the elastic member 3 is an O-ring elastic member interposed between the pad 1 and the hand 2, and the elastic member 3 is made of rubber having conduction. Further, in the hand 2, a plurality of pads 1 are provided via the elastic member 3 and a detachment of the pad 1 from the hand 2 is prevented by a detachment preventing screw 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus, and more particularly, to a reticle (photomask) in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (exposure apparatus, cleaning apparatus, inspection apparatus, etc.) or in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.
The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device for automatically transferring a substrate such as a wafer or a wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Substrates such as reticles (photomasks) and wafers used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices are usually stored in a desired storage container. Therefore, when it is used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, the substrate is automatically taken out from the storage container by a hand and conveyed to a target processing (exposure, cleaning, inspection, etc.) station. In order to prevent the substrate from dropping from the hand during transportation, the hand generally holds the substrate by a plurality of vacuum suction pads provided on its holding surface.

Conventionally, as a means for holding a substrate by vacuum suction, a flexible rubber suction cup is used so that the substrate can be sucked even if the parallelism error of a plurality of pads on the hand is somewhat large, or the pad is used. In some cases, even with a rigid body, a coil spring or a leaf spring is placed under the pad to absorb the parallelism error between the pads.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a rubber suction cup showing the former conventional example. In this example, the rubber suction cup 11 is directly attached to the hand 12. Lip portion 11a of the rubber suction cup 11
Contacts a substrate (not shown). In-hand vacuum communication groove 12b formed in the hand 12, vacuum introduction hole 12a
The vacuum that is sequentially supplied through the vacuum suction hole 11b is supplied to the vacuum suction groove 11c through the vacuum introduction hole 11b in the rubber suction cup 11, and the substrate is vacuum suctioned to the lip portion 11a of the rubber suction cup 11. In this figure, 13 is a lid for sealing the bottom of the hand 12.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a suction pad showing the latter conventional example. In this example, a metal suction pad 14 is attached to a hand 17 via a compression coil spring 18.
The suction pad 14 can be moved parallel to the hand 17. A nipple 15 having a nipple hole 15a for supplying a vacuum to the vacuum suction groove 14a is fixed to the suction pad 14, and a vacuum supply hose 16 having a hose hole 16a is connected to the nipple 15. The hose 16 passes through a groove 17a formed on the lower surface of the hand 17.

[0006]

By the way, among such conventional examples, those using a rubber suction cup have difficulty in cleaning the rubber suction cup, so that the contact portion with the substrate contaminates the substrate when the substrate is sucked. There was a problem. Also, in the case of a rigid pad so that the suction part can be easily washed, the pad is separated from the hand by the interposition of a coil spring, etc.
In order to connect the vacuum, nipples and hoses had to be attached, the structure was complicated and large, and the function of producing parallelism was impaired due to the rigidity of the hose.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a small-sized substrate which does not contaminate the substrate, facilitates parallel suction, and accurately holds the substrate by vacuum suction. It is to provide a carrier.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, a substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention comprises a pad for holding a substrate by vacuum suction and a hand for transferring the substrate vacuum-held by the pad. And an elastic member that forms a vacuum supply channel between the pad and the hand.

More preferably, the elastic member is an O-ring-shaped elastic member interposed between the pad and the hand, and the pad is prevented from falling off from the hand by a falling prevention screw, The pad is made of conductive mold resin, and the elastic member is made of conductive rubber.

The hand may be provided with a plurality of pads through the elastic member, and the substrate may be used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0011]

According to the present invention, an elastic member is interposed between a pad for vacuum-holding a substrate and a hand for carrying the substrate held by the pad, and a vacuum is supplied to the pad through the elastic member. Holding a substrate. Therefore, unlike the rubber suction cup, the substrate is not contaminated, and the parallelism of the pad when the substrate is sucked can be easily taken out by the deformation of the elastic member, so that the substrate can be held accurately by vacuum suction. It is possible to provide a small substrate transfer device.

By the way, when a substrate (for example, a reticle or a mask used in a semiconductor manufacturing process) conveyed by this type of hand is charged, a semiconductor device manufacturing pattern drawn on the substrate is sparked. Since the light pattern may be destroyed, it is necessary to use a conductive material.

If a conductive mold resin pad is provided at the contact portion with the substrate and an O-ring elastic member made of conductive rubber is placed under the pad, the substrate also comes into contact with the hand through the conductive material. Therefore, the substrate can be prevented from being charged.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a view best showing the features of the substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a pad made of a conductive mold resin, 1a is a vacuum introducing hole penetrating through the pad, and 1b is a substrate placed on the pad 1 (for example, a reticle used in a semiconductor manufacturing process or This is a vacuum suction groove to which a vacuum is supplied when sucking a mask).

Reference numeral 2 is a transfer hand for transferring the substrate sucked and held by the pad 1, and 2a is a pad 1 inside the transfer hand.
The vacuum introducing hole 2a is formed so as to be directed toward, and the vacuum introducing hole 2a is formed so as to be substantially concentric with the vacuum introducing hole 1a of the pad 1. Reference numeral 2b denotes an in-hand vacuum communication groove connected to a vacuum supply source (not shown). The vacuum supplied from the vacuum source through this groove 2b is the vacuum suction of the pad 1 through the vacuum introduction holes 2a and 1a in order. It is supplied to the groove 1b.

Numeral 3 is an O-ring (elastic member) made of a conductive rubber which is interposed between the hand 2 and the pad 1 made of a conductive mold resin to connect them to each other. 2a and the space of the pad 1 facing the vacuum introduction hole 1a are substantially sealed, and a vacuum flow path is formed in this space. 4 is a vacuum communication groove 2b formed in the hand 1
The lids 5 and 5 are fall-preventing screws for preventing the pad 1 from coming off the hand 2, and are provided at the ends of the pad 1, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the whole of the carrying system of the present invention. 6 is the lower tray of the cassette for housing the substrate 9, and 7 is the lower tray 6.
The upper lid 7 and the lower lid 6 are in close contact with each other.
It is a lid opening mechanism that opens and closes. When the upper lid 7 is separated from the lower plate 6 by the lid opening mechanism 8, the hand 2 holds the substrate 9 inside the cassette by vacuum suction, and then removes it from the inside of the cassette and conveys the substrate 9 to the conveyance destination 10. The transport destination 10 is an exposure stage in a semiconductor manufacturing exposure apparatus such as a stepper.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing only the hand 2. As shown in the figure, the hand 2 is provided with four pads 1 made of a mold resin. Each of these pads 1 is constructed as described above with reference to FIG. 4 is shown in FIG.
In the cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a cross section near the O-ring 3 is shown.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of providing the O-ring 3 between the pad 1 and the hand 2, a thin elastic body 1 is provided under the resin pad 1.
c is formed integrally with the pad 1, and this serves as the elastic member 3 of FIG. This embodiment can have a simpler configuration than the embodiment of FIG.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. After the lid opening mechanism 8 opens the cassette accommodating the substrate 9, the hand 2 is moved by a driving mechanism (not shown) to enter the cassette, and only the substrate 9 is taken out from the lower plate 6. The substrate 9 is vacuum-sucked and held by the pad 1 on the hand 2, and the target exposure stage 10 is held as it is.
And is attracted to the exposure stage 10.

Since a pattern to be exposed is drawn in the substantially central portion of the substrate 9, four points around the substrate are vacuum-sucked and held by the suction pads 1 as shown in FIG. Actually, it is difficult to make the four points parallel to each other.
In the prior art example, the substrate 9 was vacuum-adsorbed by the rubber suction cup 11, but it was difficult to clean the rubber, and the substrate 9 was contaminated, and the suction mark was left on the substrate 9.

The suction pad 1 of the present embodiment is a pad made of a rigid molding resin, not rubber, and the O-ring 3 under the pad 1 has an elastic effect so that the parallel alignment required for suction can be easily performed. Is. There is a vacuum suction groove 1b on the upper surface of the pad 1 to facilitate vacuum suction of the substrate 9,
Further, the vacuum passing through the vacuum introduction hole 1a passes through the O-ring 3 without leaking, and is connected to the vacuum source from the hole 2a of the hand 2 through the in-hand vacuum communication groove 2b.

The pad 1 can be freely tilted by the O-ring 3. However, since the pad 1 is only placed on the O-ring 3 and the O-ring 3 is also placed on the hand 2, the captive screw 5 is attached so that it does not slide horizontally. The stopper is effective. That is, the captive screw 5 is not completely closed, but is closed with a gap to the extent that the pad is not pressed down, and a treatment such as a screw lock is applied to prevent loosening.

Since the pad 1 of this embodiment is a conductive mold resin, the substrate 9 is not charged. The O-ring 3 in contact with the pad 1 is also in contact with the metal hand made of conductive rubber. The elastic member is not limited to the O-ring 3, and the same effect as that of the O-ring can be obtained by forming the lower part of the resin pad 1 as an integral but thin elastic body as shown in FIG. 5, for example. It is possible.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With a simple structure in which an elastic member is placed under the pad, it is easy to perform parallel suction, and the substrate can be accurately vacuum-held and held. Furthermore, if the elastic member is a conductive O-ring, it is possible to provide a compact substrate transfer device that does not charge the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the hand of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the present embodiment from a direction different from that in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 pad 2 hand 3 O-ring 5 captive screw 9 substrate

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pad for vacuum-holding a substrate, a hand for transporting the substrate vacuum-held on the pad, and a vacuum supply channel between the pad and the hand. A substrate transfer device having an elastic member. 2. The elastic member is an O-ring-shaped elastic member interposed between the pad and the hand, and the pad is prevented from falling off from the hand by a falling prevention screw. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1. 3. The pad is made of a conductive mold resin, the elastic member is an O-ring elastic member interposed between the pad and the hand, and the elastic member is a conductive rubber. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transfer device is manufactured. 4. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the hand is provided with a plurality of pads through the elastic member. 5. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.