JPS5932369B2 - Alignment device for plate-shaped members - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plate-shaped member, particularly a rollable disc-shaped member such as a silicon wafer or a glass wafer, between narrow grooves formed at a predetermined pitch on an alignment jig. This invention relates to an alignment device for upright support.

For example, as is well known, semiconductor devices such as ICs, transistors, and thyristors are manufactured using circular wafers.
It is formed by repeatedly applying processes such as diffusion and photoengraving to the surface.

Particularly regarding diffusion processing, batch processing is often performed, and for this batch processing, the above-mentioned wafer
A so-called diffusion boat, which is an alignment jig made of quartz, SiC, polysilicon, etc., is used, in which a large number of l sets of narrow grooves are formed at predetermined pitches, each of which is supported upright. Conventionally, loading and unloading of wafers into the diffusion boat has been carried out as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

That is, in FIGS. 1 to 3, 1 is a diffusion boat, 2a and 2b are l groups of thin grooves formed in large numbers at predetermined pitches in this diffusion boat L, and the cap is for transporting wafers between processes. The cassettes 4a and 4b used are l groups of thin grooves, which are similarly formed in large numbers at predetermined pitches in the cassette 1, 5 is a circular wafer with a flat reference surface 5a formed on a part of the circumference, 6 is a vacuum tweezers with a vacuum suction port on one side of the tip. Further, L is a facet aligner consisting of a box 8 capable of receiving and supporting the cassette I, and a rod 9 rotatably driven by a motor 10. In the above structure, the cassette 1 in which the wafers i are loaded and supported between the 1 sets of narrow grooves 4a and 4b is first set in the box 8 of the front aligner.

With this set, each wafer i is lifted somewhat by the rod 9 to the position indicated by the dashed line l in FIG.
The wafers whose edges are in contact with each other start rotating due to frictional conduction, and their reference surfaces 5a contact the rod 9),
Among the frictional forces...5. The force trying to rotate the wafers is attenuated and replaced by the force trying to move the wafers in the tangential direction, and in this way all the wafers i are aligned in the cassette J with each reference plane 5a facing downward. . Next, each of the wafers j whose reference surfaces 5a are aligned in this way is taken out from the cassette J one by one by the vacuum tweezers 6, and placed in the narrow grooves 2a, 2b of each set of the diffusion boat 1. In contrast, the transfer from diffusion boat 1 to cassette J was done in the same way.

However, since the loading and unloading operations performed in this way, that is, the transfer operations, are repeated for each process, it becomes a huge amount of effort and is extremely complicated, considering the number of wafers. Moreover, it is necessary to pick up or pinch the wafer surface one by one, making it impossible to avoid damage to the wafers, and direct or indirect wafer contamination caused by manual intervention becomes a serious problem, reducing manufacturing yield. The disadvantage was that the value decreased. In order to improve these conventional drawbacks, this invention targets wafers and, by extension, a rollable disc-shaped member, and prevents other objects from coming into contact with the wafer surface during loading and unloading operations on the alignment jig. It is designed to be automated depending on the state.

4 to 6 below regarding one embodiment of this invention device.
This will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. In these FIGS. 4 to 6, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 3 indicate the same or corresponding parts.

In this embodiment, the diffusion boat moving mechanism 11 and the cassette moving mechanism 12 each include the diffusion boat L.
and holding the cassette J in place, each narrow groove 2a
, 2b and 4a, 4b, and between these two mechanisms 11 and 12, there is a diffusion boat L held respectively, and each thin groove 2a, 2b of the cassette cap.
4a and 4b, a guide member 13 is installed that extends vertically from the cassette J side) and extends obliquely downward toward the diffusion boat 1 side. ■-shaped grooves 14a and 14b are formed to guide the parts. Further, on the cassette J side, a lifting mechanism 15 and a moving plate 16 are provided for pushing up the way j in the cassette J from its position A to the top position B in the vertical direction of the guide member 13 every time the pitch is fed. is arranged, and on the inclined side of the guide member 13 there is a v around the periphery for supporting the rolling of the way i pushed up to the position B and guiding it to the upright support position C to the diffusion boat L. Shape groove 1
A guide roll 18 having a shape of 9 and a reciprocating mechanism 17 thereof are arranged. Furthermore, on the inclined side of the guide member 13, there is a facet rod 2 at a position where it can contact the peripheral edge of the way/way which is rollingly guided in contact with the lower ■-shaped groove 14a.
0 and this facet rod 20 position...5. A stopper pin 20 is provided to temporarily stop the
These are rotated by the facet motor 23 and cylinder mechanism 24 held by the frame 22 to rotate the former facet rod 20 at that position, and apply the facet aligner action to the wafer j in the process of rolling in the same manner as described above. The latter stopper pin 21 is moved in and out to temporarily stop the wafer 5 at that position.

Therefore, in the configuration of the above embodiment, first, the diffusion boat and cassette moving devices 11 and 12 move the narrow grooves 2a, 2b and 4a, 4 of the diffusion boat 1 and the cassette J.
b are aligned with both open ends of the ■-shaped grooves 14a and 14b of the guide member 13, and the guide roll 18 is set to correspond to position B, and the stopper pin 21 is set in the guide member 1.
Leave it sticking out on the 3rd side.

Next, in this initial set state, when the elevating mechanism 15 is activated to raise the movable plate 16, this movable plate 1
6 is a guide roll that raises the first way in the cassette J from position A to position B with its peripheral edge aligned with the V-shaped grooves 14a and 14b, and waits at the same position B. Let 18 support you.

Then, when this guide roll 18 begins to move to the left in FIG. The peripheral edges are aligned with 14a, 14b and 19 and rolled, and begin to move toward position C. Then, this wafer i is temporarily stopped at that position by the stopper pin 21 located at the protruding position, and at the same time, the facet motor 23 is driven and the facet rod 20 starts rotating.
Once the wafer 5 in the stopped state is oriented as described above so that its reference surface 5a is downward, and when the differential facet motor 23 is stopped, the stopper pin 21 is also moved to the cylinder mechanism. The way δ, which has been pulled in and oriented as shown in FIG. 14a, one narrow groove 2 of the diffusion boat 1
After contacting the narrow groove 2b, as shown in FIG. As a result, the wafer j is transferred to the position C, that is, onto the diffusion boat V, and the wafer j passes through the narrow grooves 2a, 2.
It is supported upright between ``b'' and ``b''. And this...5
During the rolling movement, the elevating play port 6 is returned to its original position, and then the diffusion boat 1 and the cassette J are fed l pitches, and then the guide roll 18 and the stopper pin 21 are moved.
is also returned to its original position, and the transfer of l way 5 is completed, and the subsequent transfers are automatically performed sequentially in the same manner.

And again, contrary to the above, from the diffusion boat 1 to the cassette J
When transferring the wafer to the wafer, the stopper pin 21 is left unprotruded and the orientation of the wafer j by the facet rod 20 is not required, and the other operations are performed by reversing the above. be.
In the above embodiment, the diffusion boat 1 and the cassette 3.
A case has been described in which the movement mechanisms U and Lλ are used to feed the guide member in pitch, but the same effect can be obtained by relatively feeding the trailing side of the guide member in pitch.

Similarly, in the embodiment, the wafer 1 is described as having a reference surface 5a in a part as a disc-shaped member, but any other thin plate having a reference surface, which can be oriented, and which can be rolled can also be used. It goes without saying that this function may be applied to the guide roll 18 instead of the stopper pin 21. As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the transfer including the orientation between the alignment jigs of a rollable disc-shaped member having a partially flat reference surface can be performed on each of the disc-shaped members. This can be done automatically without touching the surface at all, which eliminates inconveniences such as contamination, especially in the case of wafers, and the orientation allows for repeated loading into the diffusion boat. This makes it possible to always limit the part that is supported upright to a fixed position, and for example, parts that are easily damaged during the formation of oxide films or diffusion of impurities can be kept in the same position at all times. This eliminates the risk of damage during transfer, allows work to be carried out smoothly and quickly, and has the advantage of improving the manufacturing yield of wafers and the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the work of transferring the wafer to the alignment jig according to the conventional example, Fig. 2 is a front view of the same wafer,
3 is a sectional view of the same cassette and its aligner box, FIG. 4 is a front view showing an embodiment of the alignment device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the main part taken along line ■-■ in FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view of the main part showing the state of the D-transfer as described above. 1... Diffusion boat (VlJ jig), 2a2b.
...Narrow groove, 3...Cassette (alignment jig)
, 4a, 4b... Thin groove, 5... Way (disk-shaped member), 5a... Reference surface, 11, 1
2...Moving mechanism, 13...Guiding member,
14a, 14b...■-shaped groove, 15...
・Lifting mechanism, 16...Movement plate, 17...
... Reciprocating mechanism, 18 ... Guide roll, 19
・・・・・・■-shaped groove, 20...゜゜facet rod, 21...stopper pin, 23...
・Facet motor, 24...Cylinder mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A large number of narrow grooves, one set at each predetermined pitch, are formed.
An alignment device for transferring a rollable plate-like member having a flat reference surface on a part supported upright in each narrow groove between a set of alignment jigs, wherein each of the above-mentioned alignment jigs is positioned at a predetermined position. A guide member is provided facing each narrow groove of the alignment jig and is inclined downward from one alignment jig side toward the other alignment jig side, and the peripheral edge of the plate-like member is attached to this guide member. A guiding groove is formed, and a movable plate that moves in and out according to the groove position of the guide member is formed on the one alignment jig side, and a guide that is reciprocated between the alignment jigs is formed on the guide member side. A means for temporarily stopping the plate-like member at that position and a facet rod for orienting the once-stopped plate-like member are provided in the middle of the guide member where the roll is disposed,
Furthermore, each alignment jig, the guide member, and the moving plate are configured to be relatively movable at each of the predetermined pitches.