JPH10106964A - Carrying device for object to be carried such as semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to carry a plurality of workpiece like a semiconductor wafer to be carried sequentially and automatically in a given direction without a standby time in workpiece shifting. SOLUTION: A carrying device includes a container 1, such as a reactive chamber for storing a workpiece like a semiconductor wafer to be carried, first rotating pillars 4a, 4c, and 4e, second rotating pillars 4b, 4d, and 4f elongated from an inlet to an outlet and put alternately in a circumferential direction, driving mechanisms 9a to 9f for driving these rotating pillars 4a to 4f, and a plurality of supporting bodies 10a and 10b put in an elongated direction of the first, and second rotating pillars 4a to 4f. The driving mechanisms 9a to 9f causes alternate rotation of the first rotating pillars 4a, 4c and 4e, and the second rotating pillars 4b, 4d and 4f, clockwise or counterclockwise with a given angle, and thereby the workpiece 3 is carried one by one from the inlet of the container 1 to the outlet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for transporting an object such as a semiconductor wafer, which sequentially transports an object such as a semiconductor wafer in a predetermined direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a heat treatment diffusion apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor in which a single crystal of a semiconductor is formed on a material wafer has been configured as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, which forms a dust-free chamber. Reference numeral 22 denotes a robot which is a transfer device. A semiconductor wafer 25 as a material is housed in a groove provided on a column in a cassette 26 of a carrier stage by a pencil 24 provided at a tip of an arm 23 of the robot 22. The semiconductor wafer 25 is taken out, transferred and loaded into a groove 28 serving as a support portion for storing a semiconductor wafer provided on a column in the boat 27, and the boat 27 in which the loading of the semiconductor wafer 25 is completed is lifted by a lifting means (not shown). Then, the semiconductor wafer 25 is housed in a reaction chamber 29 formed of a quartz tube, and a required heat treatment is performed. 30 is a control device of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,
The operation panel 31 is placed outside the dust-free room. By the way, in a conventional heat treatment and diffusion apparatus for manufacturing semiconductors, about 100 to 150 semiconductor wafers are generally processed at once. That is, a plurality of semiconductor wafers of about 100 to 150 are housed in a column capable of collectively accommodating the semiconductor wafers, and the semiconductor wafers are inserted into a quartz tube of a heat treatment diffusion furnace constituting a reaction chamber and heat treated collectively.

[0003]

By the way, in the conventional apparatus, as described above, about 100 to 150 semiconductor wafers are transferred to a column capable of collectively accommodating them, and the semiconductor wafer is placed in a reaction chamber having a heat treatment furnace. And all the semiconductor wafers were subjected to a batch heat treatment, so that there were the following problems. In other steps of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, so-called one-leaf processing for processing semiconductor wafers or the like one by one is performed.
When 0 to 150 semiconductor wafers are processed at once, the balance between the steps is lost, and the work efficiency is reduced. That is, since the film forming process is not performed while the semiconductor wafer to be processed is transferred into the reaction chamber, the reaction chamber side has a complete waiting time (loss time), and the film forming process is performed in the reaction chamber. Is also a waiting time for the next process. Each time a support with a semiconductor wafer is loaded into or removed from the quartz tube that constitutes the reaction chamber, it is evacuated or returned to atmospheric pressure. When taking out the wafer, it was necessary to cool down to room temperature, which had to be repeated one by one. Furthermore, since the plurality of semiconductor wafers are located at fixed positions inside the quartz tube, it has been difficult to uniformly control the temperature and gas concentration of the semiconductor wafers for all the semiconductor wafers. Therefore, in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, there has been a demand for a transfer apparatus capable of transferring semiconductor wafers one by one sequentially from one side to the other in a container such as a reaction chamber and performing a required heat treatment in the transfer process. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems (problems) of a conventional device and to provide a transfer device for a transferred object such as a semiconductor wafer which meets the above demand.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention conveys an object to be transferred such as a semiconductor wafer, and stores the object to be transferred such as a semiconductor wafer. A container that shuts off and extends from an inlet to an outlet of the container, a plurality of first rotating struts and a plurality of second rotating columns that are built in along the direction from the inlet to the outlet in the container and that are alternately arranged in a circumferential direction. A rotating column, a driving device for driving each of these rotating columns, and a plurality of supports for supporting a transferred object provided in a longitudinal direction of the first rotating column and the second rotating column. In the initial state in which the object to be transported is supported by all the supports attached to the first rotating column and the second rotating column, the section of the first cycle is driven by the operation of the driving device of the second rotating column. Rotate by a predetermined angle to become the second rotating support The support of the metal group is released outward from the object to be transported, and the object to be transported is supported by each of the supports of the first rotating column by the operation of the driving device of the first rotating column, and the direction of the outlet of the container is changed. To move the transferred object one stage, and then
In the second cycle section, the second rotating column is rotated in a direction opposite to the above by a predetermined angle by the operation of the driving device so that the attached support body faces inward to support the transferred object. The first rotating column is rotated by a predetermined angle by the operation of the driving device, the attached support is outwardly released from the object to be transported, and the object to be transported is supported by each support of the second rotating column. The first rotating column is returned one step toward the inlet of the container, and the first rotating column is rotated by a predetermined angle in a direction opposite to the above by the operation of the driving device, so that the attached support is inserted. In the initial state in which the next transported object is transported toward the first direction, and the operations in the respective sections of the first cycle and the second cycle are performed in the following manner. By repeating the basic operation of the rotating column, one transferred object It was constructed from the inlet side of the vessel to continuously transported to the outlet side. In this case, each of the first rotating support and the second rotating support is composed of at least three rotating supports of the same number, and a support attached to each of the first and second rotating supports is provided with a respective rotating support. It is desirable to provide the same number of articles to be conveyed in the container at equal intervals at relative positions in the longitudinal direction of the columns.

As described above, an object to be transferred, such as a semiconductor wafer, is successively transferred one by one from the inlet side to the outlet side of the container. If the object to be transferred is a semiconductor wafer, a predetermined amount is transferred to the semiconductor wafer during the transfer process. The film formation process is performed by heating under the above gas, so that the film formation process of the semiconductor wafer can be performed as a single-wafer process, and the imbalance with other processes in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is eliminated. In addition, as means for carrying an object to be carried such as a semiconductor wafer for performing such one-leaf processing, a plurality of first rotating columns and a second rotating column are provided in the reaction chamber.
And a driving device for these rotating columns are provided, and the clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the first and second rotating columns at a predetermined angle and the vertical movement of the first rotating column are performed in conjunction with each other. In this way, objects to be transferred such as semiconductor wafers transferred to the container are automatically and continuously transferred one by one from the inlet side to the outlet side of the container, and required processing can be performed during the transfer process. it can.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to one embodiment shown in FIGS. In the present embodiment, a case where a semiconductor wafer is used as a transferred object will be described. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a heat treatment / diffusion apparatus for a semiconductor wafer having a built-in apparatus for transferring a transferred object such as a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 performs continuous automatic transfer of a semiconductor wafer disposed in the apparatus. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing a transfer mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a relationship between a rotation operation intermittently performed by a first rotary support and a second rotary support, which are main parts of the transfer mechanism, and a semiconductor wafer support operation. FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a glass tube as a container constituting a reaction chamber for performing a predetermined film forming process on a semiconductor wafer;
A plurality of (six in the present embodiment) rotating columns 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, and 4f are arranged at predetermined intervals in the inside thereof so as to form a U-shape in the circumferential direction. . The U-shape is intended to enable the taking in and out of the semiconductor wafer, but the present invention is not limited to this as long as the semiconductor wafer can be taken in and out even if it is not U-shaped. In addition, these six rotation columns 4a to 4f are provided with supports that project in the horizontal direction at relative positions of the respective rotation columns, and these support members are separated by a predetermined distance D in the longitudinal direction of each rotation column. The number of semiconductor wafers to be accommodated in the reaction chamber is provided. Of these six rotating columns 4a to 4f, 1
Three first rotating struts arranged every other, ie 4a,
In the section of the first cycle where 4c and 4e are driven after the initial state, the supports 10a, 10c and 10e attached to these first rotating columns support the semiconductor wafer and move upward (the outlet side of the reaction chamber). ), And in the subsequent section of the second cycle, the support of the first rotating support is outwardly released from the semiconductor wafer, and the support of the semiconductor wafer is entrusted to the support of the second rotary support. Thus, the first rotating column plays a role of the first rotating column moving downward (toward the inlet side of the reaction chamber). Further, when the first rotating column moves upward in the section of the first cycle as described above, the second rotating columns 4b, 4d, and 4f rotate so that their supports are directed outward, In the section of the second cycle in which the first rotating column moves downward, the role of the second rotating column supporting the semiconductor wafer is shared. For this reason, the first rotating columns 4a, 4c and 4e
At the lower ends of the driving devices 9a, 9c and 9e are provided as shown in FIG. 2, and these driving devices 9a, 9c and 9e are provided.
e, each of the first rotating struts 4 is operated as described above.
a, 4c and 4e in the section of the first cycle, FIG.
As shown in (A), the semiconductor wafer is supported by these supports and moved upward by a predetermined distance D while being kept in the initial state, and is rotated clockwise by 90 degrees in the subsequent second cycle section. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (C), the support operation of the semiconductor wafer is stopped toward the position where the support is released from the semiconductor wafer, and the semiconductor wafer is moved downward by a predetermined distance D. The basic operation of the section is repeatedly performed. Drive units 9b, 9d and 9f are provided at the lower ends of the second rotating columns 4b, 4d and 4f, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle, for example, 90 degrees in the section of the first cycle.
As shown in FIG. 3 (B), the attached support is turned to a position where it is released from the semiconductor wafer, and in the subsequent second cycle, the support is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees to move the support in FIG. (1) basic operation of the first and second cycle sections, in which the semiconductor wafer is supported during the section in which the first rotating column returns to the position capable of supporting the semiconductor wafer and moves downward away from the semiconductor wafer. Is to be repeated. In addition, the first of the second rotating columns
In the second cycle section, the operations of the first cycle section and the second cycle section are performed alternately with the first and second cycle sections of the first rotating support with the initial state interposed therebetween. The rotating column only rotates, and does not move up and down. Returning to FIG. 1 again, reference numeral 5 denotes a conduit for supplying a source gas G for forming a predetermined thin film on the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 3 into the vacuum glass tube 1. A heater 6 as a heater is arranged on an outer peripheral portion of the glass tube 1 so as to perform predetermined heating on the semiconductor wafer 3 transported in the glass tube 1. The semiconductor wafer 3 is automatically and continuously inserted into the glass tube 1 by the wafer loading mechanism 7, and is automatically and continuously removed from the glass tube 1 by the wafer unloading mechanism 8. The wafer loading mechanism 7 has a wafer entrance 7A.
, Valve 7B, load lock chamber 7C, valve 7D
It is composed of Since the load lock chamber 7C is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) through a vacuum pipe 7E to be in a vacuum, the vacuum condition inside the glass tube 1 is maintained, and the wafer is transferred to the load lock chamber 7C. The loading robot 7F is arranged. The wafer unloading mechanism 8 includes a wafer outlet 8A, a valve 8B, a load lock chamber 8C,
Valve 8D, vacuum pipe 8E and transfer robot 8
F. Further, when a problem occurs due to the reaction gas entering the load lock chambers 7C and 8C, an inert gas can be introduced into the load lock chamber to maintain the pressure higher than that in the glass tube. As described above, the heat treatment / diffusion apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, which incorporates the apparatus for transporting an object such as a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention, is configured.

Next, the operation of the apparatus for heat-treating and diffusing semiconductor wafers according to the present invention, which incorporates the apparatus for transporting objects such as semiconductor wafers, will be described with reference to FIGS.
Although FIG. 2 shows only the outlet side above the glass tube 1 constituting the reaction chamber, the operation at the inlet provided below the glass tube 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The basic operation of the automatic transfer mechanism in the heat treatment / diffusion apparatus incorporating a transfer device for a transferred object such as a semiconductor wafer will be described. When the apparatus of the present invention is driven, first, the first wafer of the semiconductor wafer 3 to be processed is transferred by the robot 7F into the glass tube 1 by the wafer loading mechanism 7. In this case, each rotating column 4
As shown in FIG. 3A, all of the first-stage supports 10a to 10f attached to the first to fourth semiconductor substrates a to 4f are in the initial position where the semiconductor wafers are directed inward and support the semiconductor wafer. The wafer 3 is supported. Next, the second rotating support 4
b, 4d and 4f rotate clockwise by a predetermined angle to release the semiconductor wafer with the attached supports 10b, 10d and 10f outward. The first rotating columns 4a, 4c and 4e are shown in FIG. 3 in an initial state supporting a semiconductor wafer.
In the state of the first cycle section shown in (B), the first rotating columns 4a, 4c and 4e move upward by a predetermined distance D while supporting the first semiconductor wafer 3. Next, in the second cycle section, first, the first semiconductor wafer 3 includes the support members 10a, 10c, and 1 of the first rotating column.
0e and the second lower supports 10b, 10d and 10 of the supports directed to the semiconductor wafer 3 by the counterclockwise rotation of the second rotary columns 4b, 4d and 4f.
f (FIG. 3A). After this, the first
Are rotated by 90 degrees clockwise and each support is turned to a position outside the semiconductor wafer to release the semiconductor wafer, and the support of the semiconductor wafer shown in FIG. Leave it to the rotating support,
Is returned downward by a predetermined distance D to prepare for the transfer of the second semiconductor wafer. Next, when the second semiconductor wafer 3 is transferred from the wafer loading mechanism 7 into the glass tube 1 by the robot 7F, the second semiconductor wafer 3 passes through the initial state shown in FIG. The transport of the second semiconductor wafer is performed. By repeating the basic operation consisting of the first and second cycle sections performed between the above-described initial states of the first and second rotating columns, the semiconductor wafers are successively placed one by one from the lower entrance side. The semiconductor wafers which have been transported toward the outlet side and reached the outlet are unloaded one by one to the next step by the wafer unloading mechanism 8. In this manner, the semiconductor wafers 3 conveyed one by one in the glass tube 1 are supplied into the glass tube 1 from the conduit 5 in the course of such conveyance, and are subjected to a predetermined treatment by the gas G and the heat treatment by the heater 6. A film forming process is performed.

[0008] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the case where the transferred object is a semiconductor wafer has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the first rotating support and the second rotating support are respectively three is shown, but the number of each rotating support is not limited to three, and is, for example, four. May be. In addition, the description has been given of the case where the order of rotation of the respective rotating struts is such that the first rotating strut starts from clockwise rotation in the first cycle section and the second rotating strut starts from counterclockwise rotating. However, as long as the direction of the support attached to each rotating column is the same as that described above, the rotating operation of each rotating column for setting the direction of such a supporting member is performed in the reverse order of the above. The operation, that is, the first rotating strut may be started from a counterclockwise rotation in the first cycle section, and the second rotating strut may be started from a clockwise rotation. Further, by making the vertical moving distance of the first rotating support slightly larger than the distance D between the transferred objects, it is possible to avoid friction between the transferred object and the support that occurs when the support rotates. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the container such as the reaction chamber for accommodating the object to be transferred such as a semiconductor wafer is of a vertical type and the case where the container is transferred from the bottom to the top in the container is described. Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention installs a container such as a reaction chamber in a horizontal direction, and moves an object such as a semiconductor wafer in a lateral direction from an inlet side of the container such as a reaction chamber to an outlet side. It goes without saying that it is possible to do so.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first
The first rotating support and the second rotating support alternately share the role of supporting a transferred object such as a semiconductor wafer by being driven in conjunction with each other. Since the transfer of the material from the inlet side to the outlet side of the container such as the reaction chamber is performed, the following excellent effects are obtained. Since all objects to be transferred contained in the container can be automatically transferred continuously from the inlet side to the outlet side of the container, when the object to be transferred is a semiconductor wafer, the film forming process and the transfer of the semiconductor wafer are performed. Are performed simultaneously, so that not only the conventional transfer waiting time can be eliminated, but also the throughput can be performed without lowering. As described above, the transfer device of the present invention is capable of continuously transferring the conveyed objects one by one and performing necessary processing, so that the work system may be unbalanced with other processes. And work efficiency is greatly improved. Since all objects to be transferred sequentially pass through exactly the same path, when the object to be transferred is a semiconductor wafer, the quality of a film formed thereon becomes uniform. In the present invention, such a transport operation is sequentially performed one by one by the interlocking operation of the first and second rotating columns having the support disposed in the container as described above.
The configuration of the transport mechanism may be a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing an overall configuration of a heat treatment / diffusion apparatus for a semiconductor wafer having a built-in transfer device for a transferred object such as a semiconductor wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing in detail a main part of a continuous automatic transfer mechanism for semiconductor wafers in a semiconductor wafer heat treatment / diffusion apparatus having a built-in transfer apparatus for transferring an object such as a semiconductor wafer shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show the relationship between the operation of the first rotating column and the second rotating column, which change in a predetermined order, and the operation of supporting the semiconductor wafer. FIGS. It is a top view.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view showing a configuration of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a heat treatment diffusion apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: glass tube (container) 3: semiconductor wafer (conveyed object) 4a, 4c, 4e: first rotating support 4b, 4d, 4f: second rotating support 10a to 10f: support

Claims (2)

[Claims] An object to be transported such as a semiconductor wafer is stored therein.
A container extending from an inlet to an outlet of the container for blocking the transferred object from the outside, and a plurality of first rotating columns built in the container along the direction from the inlet to the outlet and alternately arranged in the circumferential direction And a plurality of second rotating columns, a driving device for driving each of these rotating columns, the first rotating column, and the second rotating column.
A plurality of supports for supporting a transferred object provided in the longitudinal direction of the rotating column, and the transferred object is firstly supported by all the supporting members attached to the first rotating column and the second rotating column. In the initial state of supporting, in the section of the first cycle, the second rotating column is rotated by a predetermined angle by the operation of the driving device, and the support attached to the second rotating column is transported outward. Released from the object, and by the operation of the driving device of the first rotating support, the transferred object is supported by each support of the first rotating support, and the transferred object is moved one step toward the outlet direction of the container. In the section of the second cycle, the second rotating column is rotated in a direction opposite to the above by a predetermined angle by the operation of the driving device to support the transported object with the attached support body facing inward. After that, the first rotating column is moved to a predetermined angle by the operation of its driving device. And the attached support is turned outward to release it from the object to be transported, and the object to be transported is subjected to the support by the respective supports of the second rotating column, and the first rotating column is moved toward the inlet of the container by one. The initial state in which the first rotating support is rotated by a predetermined angle in a direction opposite to the above by the operation of the driving device, and the attached support is directed inward to transport the next transported object. By repeating the basic operation of the first and second rotating columns in each section so as to perform the operation in each section of the first cycle and the second cycle, one object is transferred. A device for transporting an object such as a semiconductor wafer, wherein the object is continuously transported from an inlet side to an outlet side of the container. 2. The first rotating column and the second rotating column each include at least three rotating columns of the same number, and a support attached to each of the first and second rotating columns is:
2. The apparatus for transporting an object such as a semiconductor wafer according to claim 1, wherein the number of objects to be transported accommodated in the container is provided at equal intervals at relative positions in the longitudinal direction of the respective rotating columns.