JPH08213444A - Substrate carrier system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify the structure of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment and thereby reduce the facility cost by making a substrate carrier system in such a structure that it may receive and carry substrates which have different attitudes. CONSTITUTION: At necessary points on an upper face of a substrate mounting board 3, external substrate receiving and mounting members 38 on which a substrate 4 is received and mounted are installed. Then, at necessary points inside the external substrate receiving and mounting members 38, internal substrate receiving and mounting members 39 where a substrate is received and mounted are installed. The height of the tops of the internal substrate receiving and mounting members is set lower than substrate receiving and mounting faces of the external substrate receiving and mounting members. In the case that a major axis of a substrate to be received and mounted is the same as the longitudinal direction of the substrate mounting board, the substrate is received and mounted on the external substrate receiving and mounting members. In the case that the major axis crosses at right angles with the longitudinal direction of the substrate mounting board, the substrate is received and mounted on the internal substrate receiving and mounting members.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device provided in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows a substrate manufacturing apparatus provided in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, particularly a substrate processing apparatus adopting a single wafer processing method.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The substrate transfer device has a transfer robot 28 for placing and transferring the substrate.
First joint arm 1 rotatably provided about a vertical axis
The second joint arm 2 is provided on the first joint arm 1 so as to be bendable and extendable, and the substrate mounting plate 3 is provided on the second joint arm 2 so as to be bendable and extendable. Further, substrate receiving pins 38 are planted at the four corners of the upper surface of the substrate placing plate 3, and the planting positions of the substrate receiving pins 38 match the longitudinal directions of the substrate placing plate 3 and the substrate 4. Thus, the substrate 4 is set at a position where it can be received.

The substrate receiving pin 38 has a truncated cone whose diameter is smaller than that of the pedestal, and the substrate 4 is placed on the peripheral portion of the cylindrical pedestal.

Then, the first and second joint arms 1, the second joint arm 2 and the substrate mounting plate 3 are bent and extended, and the first joint arm 1 is rotated, so that the substrate 4 mounted on the substrate mounting plate 3 is moved. From the processing chamber to another processing chamber.

A schematic structure of a single-wafer type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a substrate transfer operation will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, 5 is a load substrate storage chamber, 6 is a first substrate transfer device, 7 is a load lock chamber, 8 is a second substrate transfer device, 9 is a preheating chamber, 10 is a third substrate transfer device, and 11 is First
Processing chamber, 12 is a second processing chamber, 13 is a first standby chamber, 14 is a fourth substrate transfer device, 15 is a third processing chamber, 16 is a fourth processing chamber, 17 is a second standby chamber, and 18 is a fifth. Substrate transfer device, 19
Is a fifth processing chamber, 20 is a sixth processing chamber, 21 is a seventh processing chamber,
22 is a sixth substrate transfer device, 23 is an unload lock chamber,
Reference numeral 24 denotes a seventh substrate transfer device, and 25 denotes an unload substrate storage chamber. The substrate transfer device shown by 6, 8, 10, 14, 18, 22, and 24 has the same configuration as the substrate transfer device described in FIGS.

An orientation flat (a portion where the corners of the substrate 4 are blackened in the figure), that is, a chamfered portion 29 is formed on the substrate 4 for confirming the posture.

The first substrate transfer device 6 is installed in the load substrate storage chamber 5
The substrate 4 is taken out of the load lock chamber 7, is loaded into the load lock chamber 7, and after the load lock chamber 7 has a vacuum atmosphere, the second substrate transfer device 8 transfers the substrate 4 from the load lock chamber 7 to the preheating chamber 9. After being heated to near the processing temperature in the preheating chamber 9, the third substrate transfer device 10 takes out the substrate 4 from the preheating chamber 9 and carries it into the first processing chamber 11 and the second processing chamber 12. First processing chamber 1
The substrate 4 that has been processed in the first and second processing chambers 12 is loaded into the first standby chamber 13 by the third substrate transfer device 10, and the fourth substrate transfer device 14 transfers the substrate 4 removed from the first standby chamber 13 to the first standby chamber 13. Three
It is carried into the processing chamber 15 and the fourth processing chamber 16. Third processing room 1
5, the substrate 4 which has been processed in the fourth processing chamber 16 is taken out by the fourth substrate transfer device 14 and transferred to the second standby chamber 17, and the fifth substrate transfer device 18 transfers the substrate 4 from the second standby chamber 17.
It is taken out and carried into the fifth processing chamber 19, the sixth processing chamber 20, and the seventh processing chamber 21. A fifth processing chamber 19, a sixth processing chamber 20,
The substrate 4 that has been processed in the seventh processing chamber 21 and completed in the seventh processing chamber 21 is taken out by the sixth substrate transfer device 22 and transferred to the unload lock chamber 23. Then, it is carried out to the unload substrate storage chamber 25 by the seventh substrate transfer device 24.

The substrate transfer device 6, 8, 10, 14, 1
8, 22 and 24 convey the substrate 4 by the cooperation of bending and stretching of the conveying robot 28, but as described above, the substrate placing plate 3 receives the substrate 4 only in a posture in which the longitudinal directions are aligned. Since it cannot be mounted and the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the transfer robot 28 are restricted, it may depend on the structure and arrangement (for example, the structure shown in FIG. 21) of the substrate transfer device and the processing chamber in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In some cases, the postures of the substrates 4 stored in the load substrate storage chamber 5 and the unload substrate storage chamber 25 do not match.

In the case where it is required that the postures of the substrates 4 in the load substrate storage chamber 5 and the unload substrate storage chamber 25 are the same,
As shown in FIG. 22, the posture of the substrate 4 has been adjusted by further adding a third standby chamber 26 and an eighth substrate transfer device 27.

[0012]

The conventional substrate transfer apparatus described above does not have a function of adjusting the attitude of the substrate by itself. Therefore, when it is necessary to adjust the attitude of the substrate, the waiting chamber and the substrate transfer apparatus are used. I was dealing with it by adding a device. Therefore,
The substrate transfer device itself need only always transfer the substrate in the same posture. However, adding a standby room or the like complicates the configuration of the entire facility and makes the device expensive. Therefore, there is a demand for a transfer system that can change the posture of the substrate without adding a standby chamber, etc.In order to meet this demand, the substrate transfer device itself can transfer and receive substrates with different postures without any problems. There is a need for a configuration that can.

In view of the above situation, the present invention aims at simplifying the structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and reducing the equipment cost by allowing the substrate transfer apparatus to receive and transfer even substrates having different attitudes.

[0014]

According to the present invention, an outer substrate receiver for receiving a substrate is provided at a required position on the upper surface of a substrate mounting plate.
An inner substrate receiver for receiving a substrate is provided at a required position inside the outer substrate receiver, and the height of the apex of the inner substrate receiver is lower than the substrate receiving surface of the outer substrate receiver. It is characterized by setting.

[0015]

When the long axis of the substrate to be received matches the longitudinal direction of the substrate placing plate, the outer substrate receiver receives the substrate, and the long axis of the substrate is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the substrate placing plate. If so, the inner substrate receiver receives the substrate.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 and those having the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals.

A support column 31 is vertically provided on a base 30 of the substrate transfer device, and a shelf plate 32 is fixed to the lower end of the support column 31 to form the shelf plate 3.
An elevating cylinder 33 is provided on the lower surface of 2. An elevating base 34 is provided so as to be able to ascend and descend using the pillar 31 as a guide, and four rods 35 are erected on the elevating base 34. The rod 35
Penetrates the base 30 so that it can be raised and lowered, and the rod 35
The receiving piece 36 is fixed to the upper end of the. As shown in FIG. 1, the receiving piece 36 is located at the corner of the substrate 4 at the homing position of the transfer robot 28. Two positioning pins 37 are provided on the receiving piece 36. The positioning pin 37 is
At the homing position of the transfer robot 28, the substrate 4 is brought into contact with the substrate 4 so as to sandwich it, and the receiving posture of the substrate 4 is determined.

Outer substrate receiving pins 38 are planted at the four corners of the upper surface of the substrate mounting plate 3, and inner substrate receiving pins 39 are planted at four locations inside the outer substrate receiving pins 38. . The outer substrate receiving pin 38 and the inner substrate receiving pin 39 have columnar pedestals 38a and 39a, respectively, on which frustoconical conical portions 38b and 39b are formed. The conical portions 38b, 3
The diameter of the bottom surface of 9b is set to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the pedestal portions 38a and 39a, so that the substrate 4 can be mounted on the upper peripheral portions of the pedestal portions 38a and 39a.

Further details will be described with reference to FIG.

The height of the top of the inner substrate receiving pin 39, that is, the upper surface of the conical portion 39b is set lower than the height of the pedestal portion 38a of the outer substrate receiving pin 38.

Since the height of the substrate mounting plate 3 is determined by the mounting height of the transfer robot 28, the chamber 42 provided in the substrate transfer device 6, 8, 10, 14, 18, 22, 24 or the like. The distance X between the upper end of the frontage W and the upper surface of the substrate mounting plate 3 is naturally determined. Therefore, the height of the outer substrate receiving pin 38 is determined within the range of the distance X, and the height Y of the inner substrate receiving pin 39 is such that the outer substrate receiving pin 38 receives the substrate 4. It is determined in consideration of the bending amount Z of the substrate 4 in the state.

The outer substrate receiving pin 38 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 4 is mounted when the major axis of the substrate 4 is in the vertical direction in the figure, and the inner substrate receiving pins 39 are used when the major axis of the substrate 4 is in the horizontal direction in the figure. It is supposed to be posted.

Next, referring to FIGS. 5 to 16, the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present embodiment is the seventh semiconductor manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG.
The operation when the substrate transfer device 24 is provided will be described.

5 to 6 show the case where the posture of the substrate is rotated by 180 °.

The transfer robot 28 of the seventh substrate transfer device 24
Picks up the substrate 4 from the unload lock chamber 23, takes it in the seventh substrate transfer device 24, and rotates 90 ° in the state where the transfer robot 28 receives the substrate in the seventh substrate transfer device 24 (FIG. 5, FIG. 6).

The lifting cylinder 33 is a lifting base 34,
The receiving piece 36 is lifted via the rod 35 to move the receiving piece 3
The substrate 4 is picked up by 6 and loaded. The transfer robot 2
Only 8 rotates 180 °. The elevating cylinder 33 lowers the receiving piece 36 and receives the substrate 4 on the substrate placing plate 3 (see FIGS. 7 and 8).

The transfer robot 28 extends to carry the substrate 4 into the unload substrate storage chamber 25. Thus, the posture of the substrate 4 is the same as the posture of the substrate 4 in the load substrate storage chamber 5 (see FIGS. 9 and 21).

10 to 16, the unload lock chamber 23, the seventh substrate transfer device 24, and the unload substrate storage chamber 25 are linearly arranged so that the substrate 4 is at a right angle to the substrate mounting plate 3. The case where the substrate 4 is placed in the direction of and the case where the substrate 4 is conveyed by changing the direction by 90 ° will be described.

The transfer robot 28 is extended to receive the substrate 4 from the unload lock chamber 23, and the seventh substrate transfer device 24
The substrate 4 is taken in (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The substrate 4 is mounted on the substrate mounting plate 3 via inner substrate mounting pins 39.

While the transfer robot 28 receives the substrate 4, it rotates counterclockwise in the figure by 75 °, and in that state, the elevating cylinder 33 raises the receiving piece 36 to an intermediate position and stands by. The transfer robot 28 rotates 15 ° counterclockwise in the figure with the substrate 4 placed thereon. The receiving piece 36 further raises the receiving piece 36, and the receiving piece 36 moves to the outer substrate receiving pin 38.
The substrate 4 is mounted on the substrate (see FIGS. 12 and 13).

Only the transfer robot 28 is rotated by 90 °, the receiving piece 36 is lowered by the elevating cylinder 33, and the substrate 4 is transferred onto the substrate mounting plate 3. The transfer robot 28 extends and transfers the substrate mounting plate 3 to the unload substrate storage chamber 25. The transfer robot 28 is shortened, the substrate mounting plate 3 is returned to the homing position, further rotated by 180 °, and the preparation for the transfer of the next substrate is completed.

The position of the chamfered portion 29 of the substrate 4 is the same as that of the substrate 4 stored in the load substrate storage chamber 5.

The substrate elevating mechanism for adjusting the posture of the substrate 4 may be provided only in the final substrate transfer device, in the substrate transfer device at an appropriate position, or in all the substrate transfer devices. Needless to say. Also, the correction posture of the board is 90
The angle can be changed to 180 °, 270 °, 180 °, and an arbitrary angle can be changed according to the configuration of the device.

Also, in the above embodiment, the outer substrate receiving pin 3
8. The inner board receiving pins 39 are respectively implanted at four locations, but as shown in FIG. 17, it is not limited to four locations and may be implanted at a plurality of locations. If decided, it is possible to support substrates of multiple sizes. Further, in the above embodiment, the pins are used as the receivers for receiving the board,
In place of the outer substrate receiving pin 38 and the inner substrate receiving pin 39, a rod-shaped outer substrate receiving table 40 in which a triangular prism is laid sideways,
Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained by providing a pair of inner substrate receiving bases 41 each having a height lower than that of the outer substrate receiving bases 40 and receiving the substrates on the longer sides.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the substrate transfer device can receive substrates having different attitudes, so that a standby chamber and a substrate transfer device are not separately provided for adjusting the attitude of the substrate. Various advantageous effects such that the posture of the substrate can be adjusted within the range of the operation regulation of the substrate transfer apparatus, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be simplified, or the units constituting the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be freely arranged. Exert.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of a substrate transfer device according to the previous embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an application example of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a plan view showing another application example of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a side view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the conventional example.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of unit arrangement of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of unit arrangement of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 board mounting plate 4 board 38 outer board receiving pin 39 inner board receiving pin

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An outer substrate receiver for receiving a substrate is provided at a required position on an upper surface of a substrate mounting plate, and an inner substrate receiver for receiving a substrate is provided at a required position inside the outer substrate receiver. A substrate transfer apparatus, wherein the height of the apex of the inner substrate receiver is set lower than the substrate receiving surface of the outer substrate receiver.