JPH08288363A - Transferring apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a transferring apparatus having a simple structure, improved space utility, and a reduced manufacturing cost. CONSTITUTION: A front side of a rectangular-plate-shaped susceptor 31 is notched to form a U-shaped notch 33. A tweezer 32 can be inserted into the notch 33. When the tweezer 32 is inserted into the notch 33, the upper surface of the susceptor 31 and the upper surface of the tweezer 32 constitute the same horizontal plane. A wafer 34 can be placed on the upper surfaces of the tweezer 32 and the susceptor 31. The tweezer 32 is mounted on the tip of a robot arm so that it is movable forward, backward, upward, and downward. The tweezer 32, on whose upper surface the wafer 34 is placed, is positioned above the susceptor 31 and then moved downward and inserted into the notch 33. The tweezer 32 constitutes together with the susceptor 31 the same plane and then it is further moved downward. Thus, the wafer 34 is transferred on the upper surface of the susceptor 31.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a transfer device, such as a CV.
The present invention relates to a transfer device for transferring a silicon wafer or the like to a susceptor or the like of a D furnace.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional transfer device of this type will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with a transfer device. This semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a processing chamber 1 for performing processing such as cleaning, plasma etching, and plasma CVD on a processing object such as a silicon wafer or a glass substrate.
And a transfer chamber 3 that can be airtightly closed by a lid 2 that can be opened and closed, and a transfer robot 4 disposed in the transfer chamber 3.

A gate 5 which can be opened and closed is provided on the side wall of the transfer chamber 3.
6 and 7 are provided. The transfer chamber 3 is connected to the processing chamber 1 via a gate 5. The gate 6 is provided as an entrance for carrying in the object to be processed from the load cassette 8, and the gate 7 is provided as an entrance for carrying out the object to be processed to the unload cassette 9.

The transfer robot 4 has an arm 10 which is rotatable and can be expanded and contracted, and a tweezer 11 which is provided at the tip of the arm 10 and which receives and transfers an object to be processed. The object to be processed is mounted on the upper surface and the tweezers 11 are provided at the respective gates 5,
By moving between 6 and 7, the object to be processed is loaded into the load cassette 8 and the unload cassette 9 and the processing chamber 1.
To and from.

Two cassette carrying devices are attached to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and these cassette carrying devices have driving means 12 and 13 and tables 14 and 15, respectively. The tables 14 and 15 are drive means 12 and 13.
Each can be moved up and down. Table 14, 1
A load cassette 8 and an unload cassette 9 are mounted on each of the units 5. The load cassette 8 and the unload cassette 9 are placed in the table 1 at the cassette loading / unloading position (not shown).
It is placed on the surfaces 4 and 15 and is transported to the processing object loading / unloading position facing the gates 6 and 7 by the vertical movement of the tables 14 and 15 and stopped and held.

Here, the transfer device for transferring the wafer 21, which is the object to be processed, between the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 3 is
The processing chamber 1 includes a susceptor 22 and the tweezers 11. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the susceptor 22 is formed of a rectangular plate material such as quartz. The susceptor 22 has three through holes 23A, 23B, and 23C formed at the apex positions of an equilateral triangle at the center of the upper surface thereof. These through holes 23A, 23B, and 23C are formed so as to penetrate in the thickness direction of the susceptor 22, and each of the through holes 23A, 23B, and 23C has three push-up rods 2.
The tips of 4A, 24B, and 24C are loosely penetrated. These three push-up rods 24A, 24B, 24C
Are projected on the upper surface of the support plate 25, and the support plate 25 is the susceptor 2
It is provided so as to be able to move up and down by a drive mechanism provided below 2. On the other hand, the tweezers 11 are formed in the shape of a strip plate, and are configured such that the transfer robot 4 mounts the wafer 21 on the upper surface thereof and moves the wafer 21 toward and away from the susceptor 22.

In this semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the table 14 is moved up and down, and the load cassette 8 is stopped at the processing object loading / unloading position facing the gate 6. The gate 6 is opened, the transfer robot 4 is operated, the wafer 21 is taken out from the load cassette 8 by the tweezers 11, the gate 6 is closed, the gate 5 is opened, the wafer 21 is stored in the processing chamber 1, and the gate 5 is closed. When the processing in the processing chamber 1 is completed, the gate 5 is opened, the processed wafer 21 is taken out by the tweezers 11, the gate 5 is closed, and the gate 7 is opened to put the wafer 21 in the unload cassette 9 and the gate 7 Close.

The wafer 21 is transferred from the tweezers 11 to the susceptor 22 in the following manner. That is, the tweezers 11 with the wafer 21 placed on the upper surface are moved above the susceptor 22 (FIG. 7). In this state, the push-up rods 24A, 24B, and 24C are lifted to bring their front end surfaces into contact with the back surface of the wafer 21 and receive the wafer 21. The wafer 21 is held above and apart from the top surface of the tweezers 11. At this time, the wafer 21 is supported at three points.
After that, the tweezers 11 are retracted and pulled out from below the wafer 21, and the push-up rods 24A, 24B, 24C are further pulled out.
Is lowered to mount the wafer 21 on the upper surface of the susceptor 22. In this way, the wafer 21 is transferred from the tweezers 11 to the susceptor 22, but conversely, the wafer 21 is transferred to the susceptor 2.
When transferring from 2 to the tweezers 11, the procedure is reversed.

[0009]

However, such a conventional transfer device requires the push-up rod and its drive mechanism below the susceptor. For this reason, there have been problems that the structures of the transfer device and the processing chamber are complicated and the space is increased. Also,
There was also a problem that the manufacturing price of the processing room would increase.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device which has a simple structure, is excellent in space utility, and can be manufactured at a reduced cost.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a mounting table on which an object to be processed can be mounted is mounted on the upper surface, and an object to be processed is mounted on the upper surface and can be moved back and forth in the horizontal direction with respect to the mounting table. In the transfer device, which is provided with a tweezer and is capable of transferring an object to be processed between the tweezer and the mounting table, the mounting table and the tweezers are close to each other, and the objects to be processed cooperate with each other on their upper surfaces. Is a wafer transfer device in which at least one of the mounting table and the tweezer can be moved in a direction intersecting with the upper surface thereof.

[0012]

In the transfer device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the object to be processed mounted on the tweezers upper surface is transferred to the upper surface of the mounting table, first, the tweezers are brought closer to the mounting table and above the mounting table. Position it. Then, the tweezers are lowered so that the upper surface thereof is located at the same height as the upper surface of the mounting table. As a result, the tweezers and the upper surfaces of the mounting table cooperate to form one horizontal surface, and the object to be treated is simultaneously mounted and supported on the tweezer upper surface and the mounting table upper surface. Further, when the tweezers are lowered (moved in a direction intersecting with the upper surface), the object to be processed is mounted and supported on the mounting table upper surface apart from the tweezers upper surface. Further, when the object to be processed mounted on the upper surface of the mounting table is transferred to the tweezers, contrary to the above, the tweezers are approached below the susceptor and lifted from below.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 (A) and 1 (B),
In this embodiment, the central portion of the susceptor 31, which is a mounting table, is cut out in a U-shape. That is, in the rectangular plate-shaped susceptor 31, the side on the approaching side of the strip plate-shaped tweezers 32 is cut out in a U shape to form a cutout groove 33 having a predetermined width and a predetermined depth. The width and depth of the notch groove 33 are set to values such that the tweezers 32 can be inserted with a certain gap. That is,
The tweezers 32 are formed so as to be inserted into the cutout grooves 33, and when the tweezers 32 are inserted, the upper surface of the susceptor 31 and the upper surface of the tweezers 32 can form the same horizontal plane.

The tweezers 32 are formed so that a silicon wafer 34, which is an object to be processed, can be mounted on the upper surface thereof, and are attached to, for example, the tip of an arm of a robot (not shown) so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the susceptor 31. It is provided so that it can be moved up and down. In addition, the susceptor 31 is formed so that the silicon wafer 34 can be mounted on the upper surface independently.
Further, other configurations are the same as the conventional ones. For example CVD
The furnace susceptor 31 may be made of quartz or SiC,
It is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing contamination. When the object to be processed is a glass substrate or the like, the mounting table is made of alumina or the like. Further, the susceptor 31 is erected by supporting one or a plurality of positions on the lower surface by vertical members (not shown). It is arranged so as not to interfere with. OF in the figure
Indicates the orientation flat of the silicon wafer 34.

In the transfer device having the above-described structure, the tweezers 32
When the silicon wafer 34 is transferred from the susceptor 31 to the tweezer 32, the silicon wafer 34 is mounted on the upper surface.
Is first moved above the susceptor 31. That is,
The tweezers 32 are positioned directly above the cutout grooves 33. Then, the tweezers 32 are slowly lowered from this state, and the upper surface of the tweezers 32 is positioned at the same height as the upper surface of the susceptor 31. As a result, the silicon wafer 34 is mounted and supported on both the upper surface of the tweezers 32 and the upper surface of the susceptor 31. Further, when the tweezers 32 are lowered, the silicon wafer 34 is supported on the upper surface of the susceptor 31, so that the silicon wafer 34 is transferred from the upper surface of the tweezers 32 to the upper surface of the susceptor 31. The tweezers 32 stop descending at a certain lower position and move away from the susceptor 31. By such a series of movements of the tweezers 32, the transfer of the silicon wafer 34 to the susceptor 31 is completed.

From the upper surface of the susceptor 31 to the tweezers 32,
When the silicon wafer 34 is transferred on the upper surface, the reverse procedure is performed. That is, after depositing, for example, a film on the silicon wafer 34, the tweezers 32 are made to enter immediately below the cutout grooves 33 of the susceptor 31. Then, the tweezers 32 are slowly raised so as to be inserted into the cutout grooves 33 and further raised. As a result, the silicon wafer 34 is transferred from the upper surface of the susceptor 31 to the upper surface of the tweezers 32. After that, the tweezers 32 are retracted to remove the silicon wafer 3
4 is taken out of the processing chamber (CVD furnace) and transferred to, for example, a cassette unloader via the transfer chamber.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the susceptor 41
The cutout grooves 42 and 43 are formed so as to oppose the left side and the right side, which are two opposite sides of the four sides. The susceptor 41 is formed in a V shape as a whole. That is, the shape is such that the front end portion 44 on the tweezer 47 side and the rear end portion 45 on the opposite side thereof are connected by the connecting portion 46. On the other hand, the tweezers 47 are also formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the susceptor 41. That is, the cutout groove 42,
Inward projecting pieces 48 and 49 that can be inserted into 43 are made to face each other and are formed at the tip of the tweezer 47. Tezza 47
And the susceptor 41 approach each other, and a pair of inward protruding pieces 48,
When 49 is inserted into each of the cutout grooves 42 and 43, the upper surface of the tweezer 47 and the upper surface of the susceptor 41 can form the same horizontal surface. The tweezers 47 are vertically movable with respect to the susceptor 41 in this insertion positional relationship. Other configurations and operations are similar to those in the above-mentioned embodiment, and will be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, the susceptor 51 as a whole is formed in a disk shape having a diameter smaller than that of the silicon wafer 34. On the other hand, the tweezers 52 surround the susceptor 51 and can form the same horizontal plane.
It is formed in a C shape. The tips of the curved protruding pieces 53 and 54 of the tweezers 52 face each other with a predetermined distance w. This interval w is formed to be larger than the diameter of the support rod 55 of the susceptor 51. The tip of the tweezers 52 does not interfere with the support rod 55 when entering the space below the susceptor 51. The tweezers 52 support and mount the circumferential portion of the silicon wafer 34 on its upper surface, while the susceptor 51 supports only the central portion of the silicon wafer 34 excluding the circumferential portion on its upper surface. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiment and will be omitted.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the susceptor is divided into two parts. The tweezer 61 can be used as a strip plate without being processed. This susceptor 6 divided into two
The reference numerals 2 and 63 have the same shape, and are separated from each other by a width that allows the tweezers 61 to move vertically between them and that can support the silicon wafer 34. Further, the susceptors 62 and 6 divided into two parts.
The height of 3 is the same. The tweezer 61 is a susceptor 62,
It is a strip plate having a width narrower than 63 intervals. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the above-described embodiment, and will be omitted.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the susceptor (mounting table) is fixed and the tweezers can be moved up and down and moved back and forth has been described. On the contrary, the mounting table is movably fixed and the tweezers are fixed. Alternatively, both may be configured to be operable independently of each other. In short, since the object to be treated can be transferred between the two mounting members, these mounting members are close to each other and their upper surfaces can cooperate to form a single horizontal plane. At least one of the mounting members is configured to be detachable below this one surface.

[0021]

According to the present invention, since the push-up rod and its driving mechanism are not required below the mounting table, the structures of the transfer device and the processing chamber can be simplified, and
The space can also be made very small. In addition, the manufacturing costs of the transfer device and the processing chamber can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a transfer device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a transfer device according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a transfer device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a conventional transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional front view showing a conventional transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31 susceptor (mounting table) 32 tweezers 34 silicon wafer (processing object)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tweezer and a mounting table, comprising: a mounting table on which an object to be processed can be mounted, and a tweezer mounted on the upper surface so as to be movable back and forth in a horizontal direction relative to the mounting table. In the transfer device capable of transferring the object to be processed between and, the placing table and the tweezers are arranged in close proximity to each other so as to support the object to be treated in cooperation with each other on the upper surface thereof, and A transfer device in which at least one of the tweezers is movable in a direction intersecting with the upper surface thereof.