JPS61152348A - Wafer handler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize carrying out of processed wafer placed on a wafer chuck simultaneously with carrying in of unprocessed wafer by providing a centering hand and a centering hand driving part which puts a pressing part in vertical motion. CONSTITUTION:Unprocessed wafers 1a are carried into a wafer chuck 8, while processed wafers 1b are carried out from the wafer chuck 8. A centering hand 2 has centering fingers 2a which hold the wafers 1a successively one by one between them. An arm pushing bar 3, placed in contact with the end part 9 of a wafer push-up arm 87, is supported by means of an arm pushing bar support part 4 through an elastic member. A centering hand driving part 5 puts the centering hand 2 and the arm pushing bar support part 4 in vertical motion. A centering hand support arm 6 supports the centering hand 2. A wafer conveyance finger 7 conveys wafers.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a wafer handler that transports wafers,
In particular, the present invention relates to a wafer handler that operates a wafer push-up mechanism when loading a wafer into a wafer chuck having a wafer push-up mechanism, thereby making it easier to carry out processed wafers.

[Prior Art] In various semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as aligners, coaters, and probers, wafers are held by chucks in order to perform operations such as exposure, resist coating, and blobbing, and after the various processes mentioned above are completed. After that, the wafer is removed from the chuck.

Therefore, it is desirable that the chuck not only have the function of simply adsorbing the wafer, but also have a mechanism that facilitates unloading of the wafer. There are three known conventional chucks equipped with a mechanism for unloading and holding wafers: a Bernoulli type, an air unloading type, and a wafer lift type.

The Bernoulli chuck has a structure in which the wafer is levitated by flowing air over the surface of the wafer to create a negative pressure. In this case, since a large amount of air is blown onto the surface of the wafer, there is a risk that dust will adhere to it, which is not preferable.

Next, in the case of the air transport method, the wafer is similarly levitated by air, and the wafer is taken out from the chuck by blowing air onto the levitated wafer from an air release device provided separately. In this case, the position of the wafer becomes unstable, and the wafer must be positioned again before being returned to the wafer cassette.

Finally, in a wafer lift type chuck, the wafer is lifted from the chuck by the lift, and then a hand is inserted into the backside of the wafer to remove the wafer.

In this case, it is necessary to provide a lift mechanism inside the wafer chuck, which complicates the structure inside the chuck.

Furthermore, the lift mechanism becomes an obstacle when it is necessary to electrically insulate the chuck from the outside. Furthermore, if it is necessary to control the temperature of the chuck, the lift mechanism makes it difficult to uniformly control the temperature.

In view of the above points, the applicant has invented a wafer chuck that has improved the conventional wafer lift type chuck and has a wafer lift mechanism with a simple lever structure, making it easier to carry out wafers from the wafer chuck. Showa 59
A patent application was filed on October 30, 2015 (name of the invention: ``Wafer Chuck'').

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of the wafer chuck according to this prior application, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view thereof.

In the figure, the wafer chuck 8 is composed of a base member 84 having a surface 83 on which the wafer 1 is placed, and three through holes 85 are formed in the base member 84 at positions whose central angles are 120 degrees. has been done. On the back side of the base member 84, three wafer lifting arms 87 that rotate about a fulcrum 86 are installed. The wafer push-up arm 87 has a wafer push-up bin 88 that comes into contact with the wafer 1 placed on the upper surface 83 of the base member 84, and an end portion 9 that comes into contact with a pressing part (not shown) of the wafer handler. In particular, the wafer lifting arms 87 on both sides are bent so that the ends 9 are located adjacent to each other. The wafer push-up bin 88 is normally mounted on the upper surface 8 of the base 84 as shown in FIG.
3, but when the end 9 is pushed down by the pressing part (not shown) of the wafer handler, the wafer pushing arm 87 rotates about the fulcrum 86, so that it protrudes from the upper surface 83 of the base member 84. do.

Therefore, a space is formed between the wafer 1 and the upper surface 83 of the base member 84, making it easier to unload the wafer 1 from the wafer chuck 8.

However, the wafer chuck having such a wafer lifting mechanism is newly developed, and the development of a wafer transport means or device that can effectively utilize it has not yet been known, and its development has been desired.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer handler that can effectively utilize a wafer chuck having a wafer lifting mechanism as described above, and in particular, to provide a wafer handler that can effectively utilize a wafer chuck having a wafer lifting mechanism as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer handler that facilitates the unloading of wafers.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a centering hand that includes a pressing part that presses the end of the wafer lifting arm described above, a centering finger that clamps a wafer to be carried in, and a centering It is equipped with a centering hand drive section that moves the hand and the pressing section up and down.

[Explanation of Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a wafer handler according to an embodiment of the present invention is positioned on a wafer chuck;
The figure is a side view thereof.

In the figure, 8 is the wafer chuck shown in FIG.
1b is an unprocessed wafer carried into the wafer chuck 8;
is the processed wafer being carried out from the top of the wafer chuck 8,
2 is a centering finger 2a that holds the wafer 1a;
It is a centering hand with Reference numeral 3 denotes an arm push bar that comes into contact with the end 9 of the aforementioned wafer push-up arm 87, and is supported by the arm push bar support section 4 via an elastic member.

5 is a centering hand drive unit that moves the centering hand 2 and arm push bar support 4 up and down; 6 is a centering hand support arm that supports the centering hand 2; and 7 is a wafer transfer finger.

Next, the operation of the wafer handler according to the present invention will be explained.

The wafer transfer finger 7 pulls out an unprocessed wafer 1a from a wafer cassette (not shown) and transfers it to below the centering hand 2. Then, the two centering fingers 2a each move uniformly toward the center, thereby sandwiching the wafer 1a so as to be located at the center of the centering hand 2.

Next, in this state, the centering hand 2 is moved to a position facing the wafer chuck 8 on which the processed wafer 1b is mounted. The centering hand 2 picks up the wafer 1b after processing.
When the centering hand drive section 5 moves to a position facing the wafer chuck 8 on which it is mounted and comes to rest, the centering hand drive section 5 descends with respect to the centering hand support arm 6. As a result, the centering hand 2 and the arm push bar support 4 descend, and the arm push bar 3 supported by the arm push bar support 4 comes into contact with the end 9 and pushes it down. Here, the centering hand drive unit 5 is designed to lower itself, but if the structure is such that the centering hand 2 and arm push bar 3 are lowered at the same time, the centering hand drive unit 5 is fixed to the support arm 6. You may do so.

When the end 9 of the push-up arm 87 is pushed down, the wafer 1b is lifted from the wafer chuck, as described above. Then, a gap is created between the wafer 1b and the upper surface 83 of the base member 84 of the wafer chuck 8, and the transfer finger 7 is inserted into this gap to pick up the wafer 1b from the wafer chuck 8 and carry it out.

When the wafer 1b is carried out from above the wafer chuck 8, the centering hand drive section 5 further descends relative to the centering hand support arm 6, and the unprocessed wafer 1a is moved to the wafer push-up bin 8 protruding from the wafer chuck 8.
Place it on top of 8.

Here, the arm push bar 3 is connected to the arm push bar support section 4.
Since the centering hand drive unit 5 is supported through an elastic member, even after the end portion 9 is pushed down to the lowest end, it enters into the push-up support portion 4 and the centering hand drive portion 5 can be lowered. .

For example, the arm push bar 3 is supported by the arm push lever support section 4 via a spring or the like. Further, the arm push bar 3 itself may be formed of an elastic member.

When the wafer 1a is placed on the wafer push-up bin 88,
Subsequently, the centering fingers 28 open outward to release the wafer 1a. And centering hand drive section 5
As the arm push bar 3 rises, the arm push bar 3 rises and separates from the end portion 9. Accordingly, the wafer push-up bin 88 returns to the wafer chuck 8 and the wafer 1a is placed on the base member 83 of the wafer chuck 8, and the operations of loading the wafer 1a and unloading the wafer 1b are completed.

[Application Example of the Invention] In the above-described embodiment, the wafer chuck is of a wafer lift type and has a structure that presses the end of the wafer lifting arm. It is also possible to push up the wafer by pressing a switch that blows out air when the push bar is lowered.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, if the wafer handler according to the present invention is used, the wafer lifting mechanism provided in the wafer chuck is not only used for unloading the wafer, but also can be used to center the wafer when loading the wafer. The wafer can be placed on the wafer chuck without being displaced.

Moreover, according to the present invention, loading of unprocessed wafers and unloading of processed wafers can be performed at the same location and in continuous operation, making it possible to use space effectively and speed up the amount of wafers to be loaded. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a wafer handler according to an embodiment of the present invention positioned on a wafer chuck, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a wafer chuck according to a prior application. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a, Ib... Wafer, 2... Centering hand, 2a... Centering finger, 3... Arm push bar, 4... Arm push bar support part, 5... Centering hand drive part , 6... Centering hand support arm, 7... Wafer transfer finger, 8... Wafer chuck, 9... End of push-up arm, 83... Upper surface, 84
... Base member, 85 ... Through hole, 86 ... Fulcrum, 87 ... Wafer push-up arm, 88 ... Push-up bin.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A wafer handler that carries a wafer into a wafer chuck having a wafer push-up mechanism that pushes up a wafer placed on a wafer chuck by pressing the end of a wafer push-up arm, the wafer a pressing part that presses the end of the push-up arm;
A wafer handler comprising: a centering hand having centering fingers that clamps a wafer; and a centering hand drive section that moves the centering hand and the pressing section up and down. 2. The above-mentioned claim 1, wherein the pressing section comprises an arm pushing bar that comes into contact with an end of the wafer pushing up arm, and an arm pushing bar support section that supports the arm pushing bar via an elastic member. Wafer handler listed.