JPS58111315A - Lid opening/closing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the intrusion of dust into a wafer treating apparatus thereby to improve the yield, by pivotally supporting a lid on a moving means which is reciprocatable in the axial direction of the wafer treating apparatus while interlocking with a wafer loading/unloading device. CONSTITUTION:The lid opening/closing devie disposed outside the portion of a wafer treating oven 1 closer to the loading/unloading port has a moving plate 7 linearly reciprocating in the axial direction of the oven 1 along a guide bar 6 provided between supports 5 on respective support plates 4. A lid 9 is supported on the plate 7 so as to be able to pivot between a horizontal and vertical positions. The pivotal motion of the lid 9 is effected by a motor so that the lid 9 opens or closes the loading/unloading port of the oven 1. The lid 9 is constituted by a circular pivoting plate 12 pivotally supported on the moving plate 7, and a circular hermetically sealing plate 14 retained by the pivoting plate 12 through shock-absorbing springs 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lid opening/closing device used for a wafer processing apparatus.

Generally, when performing a diffusion process on a semiconductor wafer during the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, the wafer is manually taken in and out of a quartz tube of a diffusion furnace.

In other words, in conventional ueno processing equipment, the lid is attached to a pull-out rod and moved by a boat loader.

The quartz tube is covered with a lid. Therefore, the lid cannot be closed unless the pull-out rod is inserted a considerable distance to the specified position, and the same is true when pulling out the wafer.Dust gets caught up in the quartz tube when the wafer is taken out and put in, and that dust sticks to the wafer. This results in a decrease in yield.

Furthermore, in the conventional device, it is quite difficult to center the quartz tube and the pull-out rod, and the pull-out rod also has a complicated structure and is expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention has been made to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art, and it is possible to prevent dust from entering the wafer processing equipment, improve yield, and improve temperature distribution within the equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide a lid opening/closing device that can stabilize the operation of the lid.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention has a lid swingably supported on a moving means that can reciprocate in the axial direction of the wafer processing apparatus in conjunction with a wafer loading/unloading device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail according to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic front view showing an embodiment of the lid opening/closing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view thereof.

In this embodiment, a wafer processing furnace 1 for performing a diffusion process on semiconductor wafers is made of a quartz tube, and a flange portion 2 having an O-ring 3 for sealing is formed on the wafer loading/unloading entrance side of the wafer processing furnace 1. ing.

Further, a lid opening/closing device is installed outside the loading/unloading entrance side of the wafer processing furnace 1 (on the left side in FIG. The wafer processing furnace 1 includes a movable table 7 that linearly reciprocates in the axial direction (lengthwise direction) of the wafer processing furnace 1 along the line 6 .

This reciprocating motion of the moving table 7 is performed by rotating the feed screw 8 in either direction by a drive means (not shown).
This reciprocating motion is linked to the wafer loading/unloading operation of the wafer loading/unloading device.

A lid 9 is supported on the movable table 7 so as to be swingable between a horizontal position and an upright position, and the swinging movement of the lid 9 is performed by rotating a shaft 11 with a motor 10. The lid 9 is opened and closed for the number of people carrying out the wafer processing furnace 1.

The lid 9 of this embodiment is connected to a circular rocking plate 12 that is swingably supported on the movable table 7 and a circular sealing plate 14 that is held on the rocking plate 12 via a shock absorbing spring 13. Become. When the lid 9 is closed, the sealing plate 14 contacts the O-ring 3 of the flange portion 2 of the wafer processing furnace 1 to seal the inside of the furnace.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, when the pull-out rod 15 carrying the semiconductor wafers 16 to be diffused is located outside the wafer processing furnace 1 as shown by the solid line in FIG. is in a state of Furthermore, when the moving table 7 is rotated by a drive means (not shown) from the horizontal position on the left side in FIG. 1 as shown by seven people, the moving table 7 is guided by the guide bar 7. It moves in the direction of the wafer processing furnace 1 in conjunction with the loading operation of the pull-out rod 15 of the wafer loading/unloading device.

From there, the moving table 7 moves to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and the pull-out rod 15 and the semiconductor wafer 16 are moved into the wafer processing furnace l as shown by the two-dot chain lines 15A and 16A in FIG. 1, respectively. will be transported to.

Next, when the shaft 11 is rotated by the motor 10, the lid 9 moves from the 9B state to the 9A state to the upright position by approximately 90°.
The lid will swing and the lid will be closed. In this case, the sealing plate 14 of the lid 9 comes into contact with the O-ring 3 of the flange portion 2 of the wafer processing furnace 1, thereby sealing the wafer processing furnace 1. At that time, spring 13
is interposed between the rocking plate 12 and the sealing plate 14, so
The impact force on the sealing plate 14, etc. when the lid is closed is caused by the cough spring 13.
absorbed and relieved. When opening the lid 9, the lid 9 can be quickly and automatically opened by the reverse operation to that described above.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the lid 9 can open and close the lid of the wafer processing furnace 1 by performing horizontal linear movement and swinging movement on the movable table 7 in conjunction with the operation of the wafer loading/unloading device. can be done automatically and quickly.

As a result, it is possible to minimize dust being dragged into and entering the wafer processing furnace 1 during loading and unloading of wafers, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in yield due to dust adhesion to the wafers. Furthermore, by quickly opening and closing the lid, the temperature distribution within the wafer processing furnace 1 becomes uniform and stabilized. Furthermore, this embodiment has a simple structure and can reduce costs.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent dust from entering and adhering to the wafers due to the opening and closing of the lid when loading and unloading wafers, thereby improving the yield as well as ensuring uniform temperature distribution within the wafer processing equipment.・It is possible to stabilize it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic front view of an embodiment of the lid opening/closing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view thereof. 1... Wafer processing furnace, 2... Flange section, 3...
Q+)ng, 7...Moving table, 8...Feed screw, 9
... Lid, 10 ... Motor, 12 ... Rocking plate, 13
... Spring, 14 ... Sealing plate, 15 ... Pull-out rod, 1
6...Semiconductor wafer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A lid opening/closing device that operates at °C in conjunction with a wafer loading/unloading device, which is superior to a moving means capable of reciprocating in the axial direction of the wafer processing device in conjunction with the wafer loading/unloading device. A lid opening/closing device characterized in that the lid is swingably supported. 2. The lid includes a rocking plate rockably supported on the moving means;
2. The lid opening/closing device according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing plate held on the wafer processing apparatus side of the rocking plate via a spring. −