JPH08222615A - Semiconductor substrate processor and cassette jig - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the vertical movement stop accuracy of a loader and an unloader, and to prevent the conveying trouble and dust generation on a semiconductor substrate by providing a pitch reference line matching the height of a supporting groove for supporting a semiconductor substrate at a cassette jig, detecting it by detecting means and stopping an elevation base. CONSTITUTION: The semiconductor substrate processor comprises a loader 10 having a processing chamber, an elevation base 12 for placing a cassette jig 17 for containing a plurality of semiconductor substrates 21 in parallel with each other, and an elevating mechanism or an unloader. Further, the processor comprises a semiconductor substrate conveying jig 15 for delivering the substrate 21 to be processed from the jig 17 or containing the processed substrate 21 in the jig 17. In such a processor, the jig 17 has a pitch reference line 19 matching the height of a supporting groove for supporting the substrate 21. The detecting means 16 connected to the mechanism detects the line 19 to stop the rising or falling base 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor device manufacturing, and more particularly, to a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus having a loader and an unloader using a cassette jig such as an etching apparatus and an ashing apparatus. It is valid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional cassette jig and loader. The cassette jig 33 is installed on the elevating table 35, and is fixed by a fixing table 34 so as not to move in the front, rear, left and right directions. The lift table 35 is connected to a worm wheel 36 and moves up and down by the rotation of the worm gear 37. The worm gear 37 is connected to the motor 43 via the gear 42.
To rotate. Regarding the mechanism of such a lift,
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-65527, page 2, left column, lines 15 to 31, and FIG.

The cassette jig 33 has one lot, that is, a pitch of 25, and each has a groove (not shown) for holding a semiconductor substrate. The slit plate 38 also has 25 grooves 38a similar to those of the cassette jig.
This detection is performed by the photo sensor 39 and the origin photo sensor 40, but both sensors are shielded from light to OFF and light is transmitted to O.
Issue N signal.

The raising and lowering control of the cassette jig 33 is the control means 4
Do in 1. First, the elevating table 35 at an arbitrary position is raised until the origin photo sensor 40 is turned from ON to OFF,
Let that position be the origin. At this time, the photo sensor 39 is OF
F, and the first slit of the slit plate 38 is above the photo sensor 39. Next, the elevating table 35 is lowered until the photo sensor 39 turns from OFF to ON, and its position is set to N.
o. The pitch is set to 1 and the counter of the control means 41 holds 1. When the elevating table 35 is further lowered and the elevating table 35 is stopped when the photo sensor 39 is turned ON, OFF, and ON, 1 is added to 1 held by the counter of the control means 41 and is held again as 2. Let In addition, the elevating table 35 is raised, the photo sensor 39 is turned on and off,
When it is turned on and stopped, the counter held by the control means 41 is decremented by 1 and the value is held. In this way, the control means 41 is operated for each pitch operation.
The current pitch position is recognized by adding or subtracting the counter value of.

[0005]

However, according to the above conventional technique, there are the following problems. That is, (1) When determining the pitch position of the cassette jig, the error between the cassette jig and the slit plate is added, the stop accuracy in the height direction is poor, and there is a conveyance trouble or a groove between the semiconductor substrate and the cassette jig. Dust is generated due to rubbing.

(2) When the detection sensitivity of the photosensor is lowered or a communication error between the photosensor and the control means occurs, the pitch position of the cassette jig and the pitch position recognized by the control means do not match, and the semiconductor substrate is transferred. Occasionally, troubles such as cracks and overlapping of two sheets occur.

The inventor of the present invention has diligently studied focusing on the fact that the pitch detection is indirectly performed using a slit plate and the pitch is not directly detected by the cassette jig itself.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve vertical movement stop accuracy of a loader and an unloader in a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, and prevent semiconductor substrate transfer troubles and dust generation.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

The outline of the representative one of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows. That is, a loader including a processing chamber for processing a semiconductor substrate, an elevating table for mounting and fixing a cassette jig in which a plurality of semiconductor substrates are housed in parallel with each other, and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the elevating table. Alternatively, a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus including an unloader and a semiconductor substrate transfer jig for unloading a semiconductor substrate to be processed from the cassette jig or accommodating a processed semiconductor substrate in the cassette jig. , The cassette jig is provided with a pitch reference line aligned with the height of a supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate, and the detection means connected to the elevating mechanism detects the pitch reference line. It is intended to stop the lifting platform that is being raised or lowered.

[0011]

According to the above means, the pitch reference line is directly provided on the jig in alignment with the height of the supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate of the cassette jig. Can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the trouble of transporting the semiconductor substrate and the accompanying dust generation.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a lithography processing apparatus such as an exposure apparatus and an etching apparatus, a CVD apparatus,
Sputtering equipment, ion implantation equipment, probe equipment, etc.
The target is general equipment for processing semiconductor substrates stored in a cassette jig one by one, and mainly processing chamber 2, preliminary chambers 4 and 7 for preliminary evacuation, and processing of semiconductor substrates to be processed. The chamber 2 includes a loader section 10 for supplying the chamber 2 and an unloader section 11 for containing a processed semiconductor substrate. The loader unit 10 and the unloader unit 11 are provided with a mechanism for moving the cassette jig up and down in order to take in and out the semiconductor substrate.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the loader unit 10 and the cassette jig 17 of the present invention. The cassette jig 17 accommodating the semiconductor substrate 21 is placed on the elevating table 12, and is fixed by a fixing table 14 so as not to be displaced in the front, rear, left and right directions. The lift table 12 is connected to the lift shaft 13 and moves up and down. On the side surface of the cassette jig 17, the cassette jig 1
The pitch reference line 1 for detecting the stop position by aligning with the support groove 17a of the semiconductor substrate provided inside
9 and pitch position recognition labels 18 for making the lift mechanism recognize the pitch position, 25 sets (one lot) are provided for each pitch. As the pitch position recognition label 18, for example, a recording display means such as a bar code or a magnetic tape is used. The pitch reference line 19 and the pitch position recognition label 18 are alternately arranged in consideration of the installation space of the pitch position recognition label 18. These pitch reference lines 1
9 and the pitch position recognition label 18 are read using a pitch reader 16 provided at a position matching the height of the semiconductor substrate transport jig 15. FIG. 3 shows the reading surface of the pitch reader 16. As described above, since the pitch position recognition labels 18 are alternately arranged, pitch position recognition label reading sensors 22a and 22b serving as recognition means are provided at two positions corresponding to the positions. Further, the pitch reference line reading sensor 23, which serves as a detecting means, is provided so as to lie at both positions. The pitch reference line reading sensor 23 is connected to the elevating mechanism 25, and the elevating mechanism 25 stops when the pitch reference line 19 is detected. On the other hand, the pitch position recognition label reading sensors 22a and 22b are connected to a conveyance control mechanism 24 that controls the operation of the semiconductor substrate conveyance jig 15, and by recognizing the pitch position recognition label 18, the semiconductor substrate conveyance jig is detected. 15 starts the transportation of the semiconductor substrate. A cassette jig individual identification label 20 is provided on the upper surface of the cassette jig 17. A bar code or the like is used for the cassette jig individual identification label 20 to enable individual identification. As a result, it is possible to finely control the periodical replacement for preventing troubles due to deformation and the periodical cleaning for preventing foreign matters from adhering to the semiconductor substrate.

Next, the loader unit 1 of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus 1
The operation of 0 will be described. First, while the pitch reader 16 is reading the pitch No. 1 of the cassette jig 17 by the first pitch reference line 19a and the first pitch position recognition label 18a, the first substrate is transferred by the semiconductor substrate transfer jig 15. The semiconductor substrate is taken out and transported to the preliminary chamber 4.
Next, the elevating table 12 of the cassette jig 17 is lowered and stopped when the second pitch reference line 19b of pitch No. 2 is detected. Here, it is confirmed that the pitch is No. 2 by the second pitch position recognition label 18b, and the second semiconductor substrate is transferred to the cassette jig 17 by the semiconductor substrate transfer jig 15.
Take out from the box and transport. Repeat this to pitch No.2
At 25, the 25th pitch reference line 19c is detected, the 25th pitch position recognition label 18c is read, the 25th semiconductor substrate is transported, and the transportation of one lot of semiconductor substrates is completed. The unloader unit 11 also performs the same operation as the loader unit 10, confirms the pitch position recognition label,
The processed semiconductor substrate is stored in the cassette jig of the unloader unit 11 from the preliminary chamber 7. According to this, it is possible to obtain high stopping accuracy and high reliability without pitch error and the like.

The effects of the present invention will be described below.

(1) The cassette jig is provided with a pitch reference line aligned with the height of the supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate, and the detecting means connected to the lifting mechanism detects the pitch reference line. By stopping the ascending / descending lift table by doing so, the pitch reference line is directly provided on the jig in alignment with the height of the supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate of the cassette jig. Therefore, a highly accurate pitch stop position can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the trouble of transporting the semiconductor substrate and the accompanying dust generation.

(2) The cassette jig is provided with a pitch position identification label corresponding to the pitch reference line for each pitch,
By the recognition means recognizing the pitch position identification label, it is possible to prevent erroneous recognition of the pitch position where the lifting mechanism stops.

(3) By connecting the recognition means for recognizing the pitch position identification label to the transfer control mechanism for controlling the operation of the semiconductor substrate transfer jig, erroneous operation due to erroneous recognition of the semiconductor substrate transfer jig can be prevented. be able to.

(4) By providing the individual identification label on the cassette jig, it is possible to finely control the periodical replacement for preventing troubles due to deformation and the periodical cleaning for preventing foreign substances from adhering to the semiconductor substrate. .

The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the pitch reference line and the pitch position recognition label are arranged alternately, but FIG.
As shown in (a), by arranging the pitch reference lines 27 in the central portion and staggering the pitch position recognition labels 28, the positions of the pitch reference lines 27 are fixed, and the pitch reference lines 27 and Since the recognition label 28 does not overlap with the recognition label 28, the pitch reader 29 (FIG. 4B) detects the pitch reference line 27 and the pitch position recognition label 2
8 can be recognized even more accurately.

[0021]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

That is, by providing the cassette jig with a pitch reference line aligned with the height of the supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate, and detecting means connected to the lifting mechanism detects the pitch reference line. By stopping the ascending / descending platform during ascending or descending, a highly accurate pitch stop position can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the trouble of transporting the semiconductor substrate and the accompanying dust generation.

[0023]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an overall configuration of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a loader unit and a cassette jig of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a reading surface of the pitch reader of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a side view of a cassette jig that is another embodiment of the present invention. (B) is a figure which shows the reading surface of the reader of the cassette jig of (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, 2 ... Processing chamber, 3 ... Exhaust port, 4 ... Spare chamber, 5 ... Transport mechanism, 6 ... Spare exhaust port, 7 ... Spare chamber, 8 ... Transport mechanism , 9 ... spare exhaust port, 10 ... loader section, 11 ... unloader section, 12 ...
… Lifting platform, 13… Lifting axis, 14… Fixed platform, 15…
Semiconductor substrate transfer jig, 16 ... Pitch reader, 17 ...
… Cassette jig, 18 …… Pitch position recognition label, 18
a ... 1st pitch position recognition label, 18b ... 2nd pitch position recognition label, 18c ... 25th pitch position recognition label, 19 ... Pitch reference line, 19a ... 1st pitch reference line, 19b ... 2 pitch reference line, 19c ... 25th
Pitch reference line, 20 ... Cassette jig individual identification label,
21 ... Semiconductor substrate, 22a, 22b ... Pitch position recognition label reading sensor, 23 ... Pitch reference line sensor,
24 ... Transport control mechanism, 25 ... Lifting mechanism, 26 ... Cassette jig, 27 ... Pitch reference line, 28 ... Pitch position recognition label, 29 ... Pitch reader, 30 ... Pitch reference line sensor, 31 ... Pitch position recognition label reading sensor, 32 ... Loader, 33 ... Cassette jig, 34
...... Fixed stand, 35 ...... Lifting stand, 36 ...... Worm wheel, 37 ...... Worm gear, 38 ...... Slit plate, 39
...... Photo sensor, 40 ...... Origin photo sensor, 41 ...... Control means, 42 ...... Gear, 43 ...... Motor, 44 ...... Semiconductor substrate transfer jig

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 2, 1995

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 5

[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional lift mechanism for processing semiconductor substrates.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A processing chamber for processing a semiconductor substrate, an elevator for mounting and fixing a cassette jig in which a plurality of semiconductor substrates are housed in parallel with each other, and an elevator mechanism for raising and lowering the elevator. Equipped loader or unloader,
What is claimed is: 1. A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus comprising a semiconductor substrate transfer jig for unloading a semiconductor substrate to be processed from the cassette jig or for storing a processed semiconductor substrate in the cassette jig. The tool is provided with a pitch reference line aligned with the height of the supporting groove for supporting the semiconductor substrate, and the detecting means connected to the elevating mechanism detects the pitch reference line to move up or down. A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus characterized by stopping an elevating table inside. 2. The cassette jig is provided with a pitch position identification label corresponding to the pitch reference line for each pitch, and a recognition means recognizes the pitch position identification label. Semiconductor substrate processing apparatus. 3. The semiconductor substrate processing according to claim 1, wherein the recognition means for recognizing the pitch position identification label is connected to a transfer control mechanism for controlling the operation of the semiconductor substrate transfer jig. apparatus. 4. A cassette jig for use in the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cassette jig is provided with an individual identification label.