JPH08330385A - Substrate carry tweezers - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce cost in maintenance of tweezers and facilitate works in remanufacturing. CONSTITUTION: In a substrate carry tweezers 21 for placing a wafer 1 being an object to be processed by a semiconductor equipment and carrying the wafer to a process chamber, the tweezers 21 are composed of a base end part 22 and top end parts 23a, 23b and these parts is detachably assembled by a screw 27, etc., to constitute the tweezers 21. Thereby, even if a part of the tweezers 21 are damaged, only such part has to be exchanged and also a shape of each part is simplified to facilitate manufacturing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tweezer used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to convey a substrate to be processed into a processing chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is an apparatus for subjecting a substrate to be processed such as a silicon wafer or a glass substrate to a heat treatment or a thin film forming treatment, and there are various types according to the use and purpose of use.

4 and 5 show an example of a conventionally known semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. This semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performs a film forming process on a wafer 1, and a reaction chamber 2 made of quartz forms a processing chamber 3. A flange 4 for introducing and exhausting gas is provided at each end of the reaction tube 2, and the flange 4 on the inlet side is attached to a chamber 5 for accommodating a conveying device, while the flange 4 on the rear end side is a cover plate. Closed by 6. A gas introduction pipe 7a and an exhaust pipe 7b are connected to these flanges 4 so that the reaction gas introduced through the gas introduction pipe 7a is caused to flow into the processing chamber 3 and exhausted from the exhaust pipe 7b. . A heater 8 is provided around the reaction tube 2, and the heater 8 heats the inside of the processing chamber 3 to a predetermined temperature.

A wafer stage 9 on which the wafer 1 is placed is provided in the processing chamber 3, and the wafer 1 loaded from the inlet of the reaction tube 3 is placed on the wafer stage 9. The inlet opening of the reaction tube 2 can be opened and closed by a gate valve 10, and the gate valve 10 is driven by an actuator or the like (not shown). The transfer device housed in the above-mentioned chamber 5 is composed of a robot arm which can be freely rotated and expanded and contracted, and a tweezer 11 for transferring the wafer 1 is attached to the tip of this robot arm. The illustrated tweezer 11 has a tip formed into a bifurcated shape, and the wafer 1 is placed on the tip portion and conveyed.

According to the above semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the wafer 1 is transported by the following operation, and the wafer 1 is transferred.
Is subjected to a film forming process. That is, with the gate valve 10 opened, the robot arm of the transfer device is extended, the tweezers 11 on which the wafers 1 are mounted are inserted into the reaction tube 2, and the wafers 1 on the tweezers 11 are transferred onto the wafer table 9. .

Here, the wafer table 9 is formed with two notches 9a corresponding to the tip shape of the tweezers 11,
The wafer 1 is transferred from the tweezers 11 onto the wafer stage 9 by moving the tweezers 11 from the upper surface side to the lower surface side of the wafer table 9 through the notches 9a. In addition, the wafer 1 is transferred from the wafer table 9 to the tweezers 11.
When the wafer 1 is transferred and the wafer 1 is unloaded from the processing chamber 3, the operation opposite to the above is performed. Then, the gate valve 10 is closed, the reaction tube 2 is heated by the heater 8, the reaction gas is introduced from the introduction tube 7a, and the gas is exhausted from the exhaust tube 7b, so that the wafer 1 is subjected to a predetermined film forming process.

Here, the conventional tweezers 11 described above are
As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the base end portion 12 attached to the robot arm of the transfer device and the forked tip portion 13 on which the wafer 1 is placed are integrally formed. In the figure, 14 is a hole for attachment to a robot arm, and 15 is a step for positioning the wafer 1. Since the thin and fragile wafer 1 is processed, the tweezers 11 are also formed to be relatively thin and delicate, and further, because the tweezers 11 are used in a relatively high temperature environment (for example, 800 ° C.),
The tweezers 11 were made of a material such as quartz, alumina, or silicon carbide that is mechanically brittle but resistant to heat and difficult to bend.

[0008]

As described above, since the tweezers 11 are delicate and fragile, the tweezers 11 may be damaged by some scooping during the carrying process, or may be damaged during the adjustment work of the carrying device. Or, there were many cases where the tweezers were damaged during storage or transportation work.

In this way, if the tweezers 11 are damaged, the wafer 1 will be damaged even if a minute part of the tweezers is damaged. I removed it and replaced it with a new one. Further, if such a replacement tweezer was not prepared, the tweezer had to be remanufactured. For this reason, not only does the cost for maintenance of the tweezers increase, but when remanufacturing, the entire tweezers of delicate and complicated shape must be made,
It was extremely difficult work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer tweezer which can reduce costs and can easily perform work even in remanufacturing.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate transfer tweezer according to the present invention is a substrate transfer tweezer for mounting a substrate to be processed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and transferring the substrate to a processing chamber. , The tweezers are divided into a plurality of parts, and these parts are detachably assembled.

[0012]

In the substrate transport tweezers of the present invention, when a part of the tweezers is damaged, the tweezers can be repaired by removing the parts of the corresponding parts and replacing them with new parts. Therefore, the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where the entire tweezers are replaced. Also, if the shapes of the parts are simplified, the manufacturing work becomes easier than when the entire tweezers are remanufactured.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A substrate transfer tweezers according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The tweezers described below are used in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and its operation are the same as those described above, and will not be described.

FIG. 1 shows a substrate transfer tweezers 21 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a front view thereof, and FIG. 1 (b) is a side view showing its cross section. . The tweezer 21 of this embodiment includes a base end portion 22 attached to a robot arm of a transfer device and a pair of tip end portions 23a and 23b.
, And three parts 22, 23a, 23b are assembled with screws 26. The parts 22, 23a, 23b and the screw 26 are made of a material such as quartz, alumina, silicon carbide or the like, which is strong against heat and hard to bend.

A hole 24 for attaching to the robot arm is formed at the base end of the base end portion 24, and a hole 27 for attaching the pair of tip end portions 23a and 23b is formed at the tip end of the base end portion 24. Has been done. In addition, the tip portions 23a, 23
A screw hole 28 corresponding to the hole 27 is formed at the base end of b. By screwing the screw 26 inserted into the hole 27 into the screw hole 28, the tip portions 23a and 23b are respectively connected to the base end portion 22. It is attached to. Reference numeral 25 in the figure denotes a step for positioning the wafer.

In the tweezers 21 of this embodiment, by removing the screw 26, the tip portions 23a and 23b are connected to the base end portion 2.
It can be removed from 2 and can be easily used for parts 22 and 23.
It can be divided into a and 23b. Therefore, for example, when the tip portion 23a is damaged during wafer transfer processing, only the tip portion 23a needs to be replaced with a new one, which is significantly larger than the conventional case where the entire tweezers are replaced. Cost reduction can be achieved. Further, the base end portion 22 has a wide tip end side, and the tip end portions 23a and 23b have a relatively simple rod shape, and the overall shape of the tweezers 21 is a complicated shape such that the tip end portion is bifurcated. However, since the parts 22, 23a and 23b have a simple shape, it is easy to remanufacture the parts 22, 23a and 23b.

2A and 2B show the main parts of a substrate transfer tweezers 21 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a front view thereof, and FIG. It is a figure.
The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicated description will be omitted. The tweezer 21 of the present embodiment is constructed by assembling the tip end portions 23a and 23b to the base end portion 22 with a pin 36, and the pin 36 is formed of a material such as quartz, alumina, silicon carbide or the like which is strong in heat and is hard to bend. ing.

Therefore, the pin 36 is provided at the tip of the base end portion 24.
A hole 37 for inserting the hole is formed, and a hole 38 corresponding to the hole 37 is formed at the base ends of the tip portions 23a and 23b. That is, the base end portion 22 and the tip end portion 23
The tip portions 23a and 23b are attached to the base end portion 22 by overlapping the a and 23b and inserting the pins 36 into the holes 37 and 38, respectively.

Therefore, in the tweezers 21 of this embodiment, by removing the pin 36, the tips 23a, 2
3b can be removed from the base end portion 22, and can be easily divided into parts 22, 23a, 23b.
Therefore, similar to the above-described embodiment, when some parts are damaged in the wafer transfer process, etc., only this part needs to be replaced with a new one, and the cost can be reduced. Since the parts 22, 23a, 23b have a simple shape, these parts 22, 23a, 23b
It is also easy to remanufacture b.

FIG. 3 shows the essential parts of a substrate transfer tweezers 21 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 (a) is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 (b) is a side view thereof. (C) is A
FIG. The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicated description will be omitted. In the tweezers 21 of this embodiment, the base end 22 has distal ends 23a and 23b.
Is assembled by a clip 46, and the clip 46 is made of a material such as quartz, alumina, or silicon carbide that is strong against heat and is not easily bent.

The tip end of the base end portion 24 and the tip end portions 23a, 23b
The holes 27, 37 and the holes 28, 38 are not formed at the base end of the, and the base end portion 22 and the tip end portions 23a, 23b are overlapped,
The tip portions 23a and 23b are attached to the base end portion 22 by being sandwiched by clips having a U-shaped cross section.

Therefore, in the tweezers 21 of this embodiment, the tip portion 23 can be removed by removing the click 46.
The a and 23b can be removed from the base end portion 22 and can be easily divided into the parts 22, 23a and 23b. Therefore, in the same way as the above embodiment, when some parts are damaged in the wafer transfer process,
Only this part needs to be replaced with a new one, which reduces the cost and allows each part 22, 23a, 23 to be replaced.
Since b is a simple shape, these parts 22, 23
It is also easy to remanufacture a and 23b. In this embodiment, since the holes 27, 37 and the holes 28, 38 are not provided, the base end portion 24 and the tip end portions 23a, 23b have a simpler shape, and the remanufacturing is more difficult than the above embodiment. It's easy.

In each of the above embodiments, the tweezers 2
Although the example in which 1 is divided into three parts of the base end portion 22 and the tip end portions 23a and 23b is shown, it may be divided into an arbitrary number of two or more parts. It can be set arbitrarily, such as dividing a part into two parts.
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the tweezer 21 having a forked end is shown as an example, but the present invention can be applied to tweezers having various shapes such as a flat tweezer and a tweezer.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which parts are assembled by using other members such as screws is shown, but in the present invention, such separate members are not used,
For example, the parts may be assembled with an adhesive to form a tweezers, and the adhesive may be dissolved with a solvent to be decomposed into the parts. Further, in a tweezer of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that heats a substrate to be processed, the tweezer needs to be made of a relatively fragile material, so the present invention is particularly effective, but the tweezer generally has a delicate shape. Therefore, the present invention is effective even when applied to a tweezer of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of a type that does not perform heating.

[0025]

As described above, according to the substrate transfer tweezers of the present invention, the tweezers are divided into a plurality of parts, and these parts are detachably assembled. Therefore, when the tweezers are partially damaged. Only the corresponding parts can be replaced, and the cost for maintenance of the tweezers is greatly reduced compared to the past. Also, by disassembling into parts, the shape of each part can be simplified, and these parts can be easily remanufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a substrate transfer tweezers according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a substrate transfer tweezers according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a substrate transfer tweezers according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional substrate transfer tweezers.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 ... Tweezers, 22 ... Base end parts (parts),
23a, 23b ... Tip (part), 26 ...
Screw, 37 ... pin, 47 ... clip,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate transfer tweezer for mounting a substrate to be processed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and transferring the substrate to a processing chamber, wherein the tweezer is divided into a plurality of parts, and these parts are detachably assembled. A substrate transfer tweezer characterized by being configured.