JPH11102952A - Semiconductor manufacture and equipment therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automate the carriage of a substrate holder between the outside and a load lock chamber, and to improve throughput and the quality of products. SOLUTION: A cassette loaded with a substrate holder 18 and the cassette loaded with a substrate 7 to be processed are individually carried in and carried away, and the substrate holder 18 and the substrate 7 to be processed are individually carried from the cassettes to the load lock chamber. The substrate 7 to be processed is mounted on the substrate holder 18 inside the load lock chamber or both are separated and the substrate holder 18 holding the substrate 7 to be processed is carried between the load lock chamber and a reaction chamber. In such a manner, the carrying-in, mounting and carrying-away of a non-processed substrate holder performed by manual work to a semiconductor manufacturing device are omitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing method for manufacturing a semiconductor by subjecting a substrate to be processed to a heat treatment or a film forming process, and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus forms a reaction chamber for forming various thin films on a substrate to be processed such as a wafer or a glass substrate or performing various processes such as etching to form a large number of semiconductor elements on the surface of the substrate to be processed. I have it.

A substrate to be processed is transported between the outside and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in a state where the substrate is loaded in a substrate cassette. The substrate to be processed is loaded into and unloaded from the inside of the reaction chamber on a transport plate of a substrate transfer machine. The substrates to be processed are placed one by one. However, the substrate to be processed immediately after processing is at a high temperature,
When the transfer plate at room temperature is in contact with the substrate to be processed at a high temperature, the substrate to be processed is locally cooled by the transfer plate due to a temperature difference between the transfer plate and the substrate to be processed, and thermal stress is generated. Slip occurs. Slip causes a decrease in product quality.

Accordingly, the substrate to be processed is held by a substrate holder, the substrate to be processed is placed on the transfer plate via the substrate holder, and the substrate is carried into and out of the reaction chamber, and the processing in the reaction chamber is performed. The transfer is performed consistently, so that the transfer plate of the substrate transfer machine does not directly contact the substrate to be processed during loading and unloading.

First, the wafer cassette 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The wafer cassette 1 has a box-shaped wafer storage case main body 2, a handle portion 4 horizontally fixed to the front surface 3 of the storage case main body 2, and legs formed on the lower surface of the storage case main body 2. 5 is comprised.

The wafer storage case main body 2 has an opening 6 on the upper surface, and grooves are formed in the inner walls on both sides of the wafer storage case main body 2 for receiving a wafer 7 as a substrate to be processed. The opening 6 in a direction parallel to the front 3
Is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the wafer 7 so that the wafer 7 can be loaded and unloaded through the opening 6 along the groove. The lower surface also has an opening 8, and the width of the opening 8 in a direction parallel to the front surface 3 is smaller than the outer diameter of the wafer 7.

Next, a single-wafer-type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for processing one or a plurality of substrates to be processed among conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses will be described with reference to FIGS.

On one side of the transfer chamber 9, two reaction chambers 10, 10 each having a wafer stage (not shown) therein are connected in an airtight manner in two upper and lower stages via a first gate valve (not shown). , The transfer chamber 9 facing the one side surface
On the other side, two load lock chambers 11 and 11 are airtightly connected to each other in two upper and lower stages via a second gate valve (not shown).

A first substrate transfer machine 1 is provided inside the transfer chamber 9.
The first substrate transfer machine 12 has a first advance / retreat mechanism 13 that can be moved up and down and is rotatable.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a first chucking head 14 which can move forward and backward in the horizontal direction.
The first chucking head 14 has a first transport plate 15 extending in the horizontal direction.

The first transport plate 15 has a bifurcated tip 1
6, 16 and the base end portion 17 form a forked fork, and have a shape that does not interfere with the wafer table in the reaction chamber 10 and a wafer shelf 22 described later. The front end 16 receives a wafer holder 18 holding the wafer 7, and the base end 17 is gripped by the first chucking head 14.

The wafer holder 18 has an annular portion 19 having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the wafer 7, a claw portion 20 projecting from the inner peripheral surface of the annular portion 19 toward the center, and the annular portion 1.
9, two pairs of transfer arms 2 protruding from the outer peripheral surface in the direction opposite to the center.
1.

The claw portion 20 is protruded toward the center at a position equally dividing the inner circumference of the annular portion 19 (in the drawing, into three equal portions).
The outer peripheral portion of the wafer 7 can be supported. A pair of right and left transfer arms 21 project from right and left sides in a direction orthogonal to the first transfer plate 15, and can be received on the front end 16.

Inside the load lock chamber 11, there are formed wafer shelves 22 capable of storing a required number of wafers in a vertical direction, for example, the number of wafers corresponding to the number of wafers stored in the wafer cassette 1. 22 is a shelf plate 2 fixed to the inner surfaces of both sides of the load lock chamber 11
3, 23. The shelf plate 23 has a plane L
The wafer holder 1 of the shelf board 23
8 is parallel to the side wall, and the interval between the receiving portions 24, 24 facing each other is the second transport plate 3 described later.
The width is larger than the width of the first mounting portion 33. On the upper surface of each of the receiving portions 24, two projections 25 are respectively protruded, and the projections 25 can be brought into contact with the back surface of the wafer 7, and the height of the projections 25 is the above-mentioned annular shape. The thickness is higher than the sum of the thickness of the portion 19 and the thickness of a second transport plate 31 described later.

A third gate valve (not shown) is provided on the side surface of the load lock chamber 11 on the side opposite to the transfer chamber 9.
A second substrate transfer device 26 is provided in front of the gate valve.

The second substrate transfer device 26 has a second advance / retreat mechanism 27 which can be moved up and down, is rotatable, and is capable of moving back and forth with respect to the load lock chamber 11, and the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is capable of receiving a cassette. And a second chucking head 29 having a portion 28 and capable of moving forward and backward relative to the cassette receiving portion 28. The cassette receiving section 28 includes the cassette receiving section 2.
The cassette receiving plate 30 is provided horizontally so as to form the same plane as the upper surface of the cassette 8, and the upper surface of the cassette receiving portion 28 and the upper surface of the cassette receiving plate 30 form the mounting surface of the wafer cassette 1. Is done. The second chucking head 29 is provided with a plurality of (three in the figure) second transport plates 31 extending in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 9, the second transfer plate 31 is composed of a holding part 32 held by the second chucking head 29 and a mounting part 33 for mounting the wafer 7 thereon. The width of the portion 32 has a strip shape smaller than the width of the placing portion 33 described above.

A rectangular notch 34 for preventing interference with the claw 20 is formed at the distal end of the mounting portion 33, and a distal convex portion 35 is formed to protrude along the outer peripheral edge of the distal end. I have. The base portion of the mounting portion 33 is formed with a base-side convex portion 36 that is flush with the distal-side convex portion 35, and the base-side convex portion 36 and the distal-side convex portion 35 form a central portion. Concave surface 37
Is formed. The length of the concave surface 37 in the longitudinal direction is slightly longer than the outer diameter of the wafer 7, and stepped portions 38 are formed at the four corners of the concave surface 37.
7 and lower than the distal-side convex portion 35 and the proximal-side convex portion 36, and the step 38 allows the outer peripheral edge of the wafer 7 to be supported.

In the vicinity of the second substrate transfer device 26, cassette shelves 39 are provided in two vertical stages, and below the cassette shelves 39, the wafer cassette 1 between the outside and the inside of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided. A cassette stage 40 for exchanging is provided, and a cassette loader port 41 is provided on the cassette stage 40 in a reversible manner.

The wafer cassette 1 containing the wafers 7 in a vertical position is transferred from the outside to the cassette stage 40 by an external transfer device (not shown), and is placed on the cassette loader port 41 of the cassette stage 40. You. The cassette loader port 41 is inverted to bring the wafer 7 stored in the wafer cassette 1 into a horizontal posture.

The cassette receiving portion 28 and the second chucking head 29 of the second substrate transfer device 26 are retracted, and the cassette receiving plate 30 and the second transport plate 31 are moved to the second advance / retreat mechanism. The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is rotated and lowered so as not to protrude from the cassette loader 27 so that the cassette receiving section 28 faces the cassette loader port 41. The cassette receiving portion 28 is advanced, the cassette receiving plate 30 is inserted below the wafer cassette 1, the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly raised, and the wafer cassette 1 is moved to the cassette receiving plate 30. Received above.

The cassette receiving portion 28 is retracted so that the cassette receiving plate 30 does not protrude from the second reciprocating mechanism 27, and the second reciprocating mechanism 27 is rotated and moved up to the cassette shelf 39. To the required position. The cassette receiving portion 28 is advanced, the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly lowered, and the wafer cassette 1 is transferred to the cassette shelf 39.

The cassette receiving portion 28 and the second chucking head 29 are retracted, and the cassette receiving plate 30 and the second transport plate 31 are moved to the second advance / retreat mechanism 2.
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is moved up and down so as not to protrude from the position 7 so as to face a required position of the cassette shelf 39. Advance the second chucking head 29, insert the second transport plate 31 into the cassette shelf 39,
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly raised, and the wafer 7 is received on the second transfer plate 31.

The second chucking head 29 is retracted, and the second transport plate 31 is moved by the second advance / retreat mechanism 2.
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is rotated and moved up and down so that it does not protrude from the second transfer plate 7. The second chucking head 29 is opposed to the wafer holder 18 so that the lower surface is slightly higher. The wafer holder 18 is previously placed on the receiving portion 24 of the shelf plate 23 by a manual operation of an operator so that the transfer arm 21 is orthogonal to the transfer direction of the wafer 7. The second chucking head 2
9, the second transfer plate 31 is inserted into the wafer shelf 22 through the gate valve (not shown), the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly lowered, and the wafer 7 is transferred to the shelf plate 23. On the projection 25.

The first chucking head 14 is retracted, and the first transport plate 15 is rotated so as not to protrude from the advance / retreat mechanism 13 and the first advance / retreat mechanism 13 is moved up and down. The first chucking head 14 is opposed to the wafer shelf 22 so that the upper surface of the first transfer plate 15 is slightly lower than the lower surface of the wafer holder 18 on the receiving portion 24 at the required stage. The first chucking head 14 is advanced, and the first transfer plate 15 is inserted into the wafer shelf 22 through the second gate valve (not shown). The first advance / retreat mechanism 13 is slightly raised, and the wafer holder 18 is moved to the first position via the transfer arm 21.
The wafer 7 is received on the transport plate 15, and further, the first advance / retreat mechanism 13 is raised, and the wafer 7 is held on the wafer holder 18 via the claw 20. Thus, the wafer 7 is held by the wafer holder 18 and transferred onto the first transfer plate 15.

The first chucking head 14 is moved backward, and the first transport plate 15 is moved by the first advance / retreat mechanism 1.
The first advance / retreat mechanism 13 is rotated and moved up and down so that the first advance / retreat mechanism 13 is not protruded from the position 3 so as to face the required first gate valve (not shown) of the reaction chamber 10. The first
The chucking head 14 is advanced, and the wafer holder 18 holding the wafer 7 is transferred onto the wafer table (not shown) through the first gate valve.

The first gate valve (not shown) is closed, and a required process such as a film forming process is performed in the reaction chamber 10 while the wafer 7 is held by the wafer holder 18. After the processing is completed, the first gate valve (not shown) is opened, and the processed wafer 7 is held in the wafer holder 18 while the wafer holder 18 is held.
Is transferred from the reaction chamber 10 to the outside.

The transfer of the wafer 7 from the reaction chamber 10 to the outside is performed in a procedure reverse to the procedure described above.

Since the reaction by-products are deposited on the wafer holder 18 in the process of processing the wafer 7, the wafer holder 18 is taken out of the wafer shelf 22 periodically or manually by a worker at a predetermined operation time, and is cleaned. Maintenance is performed.

[0030]

In the above-described conventional wafer cassette and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the loading and unloading of the wafer holder into and from the load lock chamber are manually performed by an operator. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus must be stopped for the maintenance of the wafer holder, and it takes a long time, and it is difficult to improve the throughput. Further, there is a problem that particles enter the inside of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from the maintenance area via the operator, and the quality of the product cannot be improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to automate the transfer of the wafer holder between the outside and the load lock chamber, thereby improving the throughput and the quality of the product.

[0032]

According to the present invention, a cassette loaded with a substrate holder and a cassette loaded with a substrate to be processed are individually loaded and unloaded, and the substrate holder and the substrate to be processed are individually separated from the cassette. The substrate to be processed is mounted on the substrate holder in the load lock chamber, or both are separated, and the substrate to be processed is held between the load lock chamber and the reaction chamber. The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing method for transporting a substrate holder, a reaction chamber for performing various processes on a substrate to be processed held by the substrate holder, a load lock chamber for storing the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder, and the load lock. A first substrate transfer machine for transporting the substrate holder holding the substrate to be processed between a chamber and the reaction chamber; a substrate cassette loaded with the substrate to be processed; and a substrate holder loaded with the substrate holder. A cassette shelf for accommodating the substrate holder cassette, and a second substrate transfer machine for transferring the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder between the cassette shelf and the load lock chamber. A transfer machine relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a transfer plate capable of receiving the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder, wherein the substrate cassette loaded with the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder cassette loaded with the substrate holder are externally mounted. And the cassette shelf. Further, the substrate to be processed or the substrate holder is received and transported on the transport plate between the cassette shelf and the load lock chamber. Further, the substrate to be processed is transported between the load lock chamber and the reaction chamber while being held on the substrate holder, and various processing is performed on the substrate to be processed in the reaction chamber.

[0033]

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

In FIGS. 1 to 5, components equivalent to those in FIGS. 6 to 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

First, the wafer holder cassette 51 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The wafer holder cassette 51 includes a box-shaped wafer storage case main body 52, a handle 54 horizontally fixed to a front surface 53 of the storage case main body 52, and legs formed on the lower surface of the storage case main body 52. And a unit 55.

The storage case body 52 has an opening 5 on its upper surface.
6, the opening 56 in a direction parallel to the front face 53.
Is larger than the outer diameter of the annular portion 19 of the wafer holder 18 and also has an opening 57 on the lower surface, and the width of the opening 57 in a direction parallel to the front surface 53 is Smaller than the outer diameter.

The front 53 has an upper side 58 having an arcuate shape with the center curved downward, a lower side 59 having a semi-elliptical shape with the center curved upward, and a lower portion at the lower end of the vertical linear portion 60 at the center line. An arc portion 62 curved in the direction of 61 has a shape formed by continuous two sides, and is symmetrical with respect to the center line 61. The facing surface 63 facing the front surface 53 has the same shape as the front surface 53.

The other two side surfaces 64 at right angles to the front surface 53,
Reference numeral 64 denotes a flat surface portion 65 and a curved surface portion 66 which is continuous with the flat surface portion 65 and whose lower end is curved inward. Are formed at equal intervals, and slits 67 having the same width as the groove are formed on the two side surfaces 64 and 64 from the upper surface on the extension of the groove. Thus, the wafer holder 18 is inserted into and taken out of the wafer holder cassette 51 through the opening 56 in parallel with the front surface 53, and the annular portion 1 is removed.
9 is inserted into and removed from the groove, and the transfer arm 21 is inserted into and removed from the slit 67.

The legs 55 have a vertically long strip shape in cross section, and are formed in two rows parallel to a direction perpendicular to the front surface 53.

Next, referring to FIG.
Will be described.

The second transfer plate 68 is composed of a holding portion 69 held by the second chucking head 29 and a mounting portion 70 on which the wafer 7 is mounted, and the width of the holding portion 69 is set as described above. It has a strip shape smaller than the width of the portion 70.

A rectangular notch 71 for preventing interference with the claw 20 is formed at the distal end of the mounting portion 70, and a distal-side convex portion 72 is formed to protrude along the outer peripheral edge on the distal side. I have. A first step surface 73 is formed at the base end of the placement unit 70 and is flush with the distal projection 72, and the first step surface 73 is higher than the base upper surface 74 of the placement unit 70. One step lower. The outer periphery of the distal-side convex portion 72 and the outer periphery of the first step surface 73 each form a part of an arc of a circle slightly larger than the outer peripheral circle of the annular portion 19, and
And the inner circumference of the first step surface 73 are formed so as to form part of an arc of a circle smaller than the outer circumference of the annular portion 19 and larger than the inner circumference of the annular portion 19. .

A concave surface 75 is formed at the center of the mounting portion 70, and the length of the concave surface 75 in the longitudinal direction is slightly longer than the outer diameter of the wafer 7, and the concave surface 75 and the front-side convex portion 72 are formed. A second stepped surface 76 is formed between the concave surfaces 7.
A third step surface 77 which is flush with the second step surface 76 is formed between the first step surface 5 and the first step surface 73. The second step surface 76 and the third step surface 77 are one step higher than the concave surface 75 and one step lower than the first step surface 73. At the four corners of the concave surface 75, step portions 78 are formed so as to protrude, and the upper surface of the step portion 78 is lower than the second step surface 76.

The operation will be described below.

The wafer holder 18 has a transfer arm 21
Is inserted into the slit 67, and the wafer holder cassette 51 is placed in a vertical posture so as to be symmetrical with respect to the center line 61.
To be loaded. The wafer holder cassette 51 is transferred from the outside to the cassette stage 40 by an external transfer device (not shown), and is mounted on the cassette loader port 41 of the cassette stage 40. The cassette loader port 41 is inverted to bring the wafer holder 18 loaded in the wafer holder cassette 51 into a horizontal posture.

The second chucking head 29 of the second substrate transfer machine 26 is retracted, and the cassette receiving plate 3
0 and the second transport plate 68 are not protruded from the second advance / retreat mechanism 27, and the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is rotated and lowered to cause the cassette receiving section 28 to face the cassette loader port 41. . The cassette receiving section 28 is advanced, the cassette receiving plate 30 is inserted below the wafer holder cassette 51, the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly raised, and the wafer holder cassette 51 is placed in the cassette receiving section. Plate 3
0 is received.

The cassette receiving section 28 is retracted, and the cassette receiving plate 30 is not raised from the second advance / retreat mechanism 27. The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is rotated and moved up, and the cassette shelf 39 is moved upward. To the required position. The cassette receiving section 28 is advanced, the second advance / retreat mechanism section 27 is slightly lowered, and the wafer holder cassette 51 is transferred to the cassette shelf 39.

The cassette receiving portion 28 and the second chucking head 29 are retracted, and the cassette receiving plate 30 and the second transport plate 68 are moved by the second advance / retreat mechanism 2.
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is moved up and down so as not to protrude from the position 7 so as to face a required position of the cassette shelf 39. Advance the second chucking head 29, insert the second transport plate 68 into the cassette shelf 39,
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly raised, and the wafer holder 18 is received on the second transfer plate 68.

The second chucking head 29 is retracted, and the second transport plate 68 is moved by the second advance / retreat mechanism 2.
The second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is rotated and moved up and down so as not to protrude from the position 7 so as to face the receiving section 24 at a required stage of the load lock chamber 11. The second chucking head 29 is advanced, the second transfer plate 68 is inserted into the wafer shelf 22 through the gate valve (not shown), the second advance / retreat mechanism 27 is slightly lowered, and the wafer The holder 18 is transferred onto the receiving section 24.

The wafer cassette 1 loaded with the wafers 7 is stored in a cassette shelf (not shown) from the outside by an external transfer device (not shown) in the same procedure as in the prior art.
The paper is transferred from the cassette shelf to the load lock chamber 11.

Further, the wafer 7 is transferred from the load lock chamber 11 to a wafer table 79 in a reaction chamber (not shown) while being held by the wafer holder 18 in the same procedure as in the prior art. A predetermined process is performed in the reaction chamber.

After the processing, the processed wafer 7 is carried out to the outside in a procedure reverse to the procedure described above.

The wafer holder 18 is carried out to the outside in a procedure reverse to the above-described procedure in order to perform maintenance such as cleaning periodically or at a predetermined operation time.

In the above embodiment, the width of the opening 56 in a direction parallel to the front surface 53 is wider than the outer diameter of the annular portion 19 of the wafer holder 18. The outer diameter of the portion 19 may be smaller. Further, the shape of the second transport plate 68 is a strip shape, but may be another shape such as a bifurcated fork shape.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to omit the loading, mounting and unloading of the substrate holder to be manually performed into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. This makes it possible to mechanize the work, and the work efficiency is greatly improved, and it is possible to improve the throughput and save labor. Further, various excellent effects are exhibited such that particles can be prevented from entering the inside of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from the outside such as a maintenance area through an operator and the quality of a product can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a wafer holder cassette according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wafer holder cassette.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second transport plate according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an operation of transferring a wafer holder holding a wafer into a reaction chamber in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a wafer cassette.

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the wafer cassette.

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a second transport plate in a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a wafer shelf in a load lock chamber.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a wafer transfer operation within a wafer shelf in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 9 transfer chamber 10 reaction chamber 11 load lock chamber 12 first substrate transfer machine 15 first transfer plate 26 second substrate transfer machine 31 second transfer plate 39 cassette shelf 40 cassette stage 51 wafer holder cassette 67 slit 68 second transfer plate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Yoshida 3--14-20 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Inside Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichiro Watanabe 3--14-20, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Electric Inside the corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cassette loaded with a substrate holder and a cassette loaded with a substrate to be processed are individually loaded and unloaded,
The substrate holder and the substrate to be processed are individually transported from the cassette to a load lock chamber, and the substrate to be processed is mounted on the substrate holder in the load lock chamber, or both are separated, and the load lock chamber is separated. Transferring the substrate holder holding the substrate to be processed between the substrate and the reaction chamber. 2. A reaction chamber for performing various processes on a substrate to be processed held by a substrate holder, a load lock chamber for accommodating the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder, and a load lock chamber between the load lock chamber and the reaction chamber. A first substrate transfer machine that transports the substrate holder holding the substrate to be processed, a cassette shelf that stores a substrate cassette loaded with the substrate to be processed and a substrate holder cassette loaded with the substrate holder; A second substrate transfer machine that transports the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder between a cassette shelf and the load lock chamber,
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the second substrate transfer machine has a transfer plate capable of receiving the substrate to be processed and the substrate holder.