JPS62104132A - Semiconductor wafer transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce an equipment cost, to prevent damages of wafers and to improve a yield rate and quality, by engaging an intermediate buffer, wherein the wafers that are pushed from one holding part are temporarily accommodated and held, with a boat holding part, and moving the buffer up and down. CONSTITUTION:A cassette 102 accommodating wafers is mounted on a cassette holding table 101. The cassette is pushed by using a pushing mechanism 103. The wafers are slidden and moved to an intermediate buffer 106. Then, a movable table 105 is moved, and cut-out parts 110a and 111a of guides 110 and 111 are engaged with supporting posts of a vertical boat 114. Then, the guide parts 110 and 111 are brought closer. The wafers are slidden and moved in the holding grooves in the guides 110 and 111 by the operation of a pushing mechanism 107. The height of the groove 110a is selected so that the wafer is not contacted with the inner surface of the holding grooves, which are formed in the supporting posts of the boat 114. Therefore, even if the wafer is pushed, it is only slidden in the guides 110 and 111 and is not contacted with the boat directly, and silicon chips and the like are not yielded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to the relocation and modification of semiconductor components.
It is particularly used in the oxidation and diffusion process of semiconductor wafers.

[Conventional technology]

In the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices, oxidation and diffusion processes of semiconductor wafers are repeatedly performed.

For this purpose, it is necessary to carry the semiconductor wafer offshore into a diffusion furnace, and the semiconductor wafer is mounted on a boat made of quartz or the like that does not cause any harm to the semiconductor material. ■Since a wafer cassette 1 is used for transfer between steps, the wafers are transferred from the wafer cassette 1 to the boat before being inserted into the diffusion furnace, and a transfer device is used for this purpose. be done.

Hitherto, a horizontal type 6 diffusion furnace has been used, and the manner in which it is transferred will be explained with reference to FIG. 5.

Figure 5 shows conventional wafer transfer! This is a perspective view showing the outline of the apparatus.A movable base 22, which is movable in parallel to the wafer insertion direction, is attached to the side surface of the base 21 of the front chamber 20, which is installed in parallel with the diffusion furnace 10. An upwardly movable wafer support section 23 is mounted on the wafer 22 for holding and transferring the wafer. A wafer cassette 24 containing a plurality of wafers and a boat 25 to be inserted into the diffusion furnace 10 are placed on the upper surface of the base 21 .

A push-up member (not shown) for taking out the wafer is provided in the base 21 at the bottom of the wafer cassette.
The plurality of wafers thus pushed up are held by the I-wafer support section 23, and the movable base 22 is moved to be lowered and placed on the boat 25, thereby achieving wafer transfer.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, such a simple transfer cannot be applied to a vertical diffusion furnace.

However, as the diameter of wafers increases, vertical diffusion furnaces with excellent heat uniformity are increasingly being used. It is inserted vertically without being inserted.

Therefore, after wafers are placed vertically on a boat placed horizontally, a complicated mechanism is required to change the attitude of the boat so that the boat is erected vertically and the wafers are placed horizontally. Furthermore, when changing the attitude of the boat, there is a risk that the boat will fall off and be damaged.

A possible solution to this problem is to tilt the cassette from the beginning so that the wafers are horizontal, and then move the wafers horizontally to transfer them. However, since the material of the boat is El6, quartz chips and silicon chips are generated as the 1-ha slides through the vortex formed on the boat, and these chips are deposited on the wafers below, resulting in quality semiconductor devices. However, there is a problem in that the yield and reliability are significantly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer transfer device that can transfer wafers by horizontal movement from one wafer to another without causing the boats to collide.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a cassette holding section that holds the cassette so that the wafer is horizontal;
Boat 1 holds a vertical boat that can hold wafers horizontally.
- A holding part, an intermediate buffer that moves between both holding parts and stores and holds wafers pushed out from one holding part in one hour, and a boat holding part that engages with the boat holding part and moves up and down. A guide portion is provided for taking out/placing the semiconductor chips 1-1 on the groove.

(Function) If you use a semiconductor wafer transfer device with such a configuration,
The wafers pushed out from the cassette are moved from L-HA 1 and stored in the intermediate buffer section, and then pushed again to be held by the guide section so that the wafers do not come into contact with the holding grooves of the boat. The lowering of the boat allows transfer to the boat 1- without causing sliding in the retaining groove of the boat. This prevents the generation of quartz debris due to the alignment U between the bow 1- and the wafer.

This effect is maintained even if the cassette is deformed by chemicals or the like.

〔Example〕 Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the main structure of a semiconductor wafer transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

First, a cassette 102 that holds a wafer horizontally is positioned and placed at a predetermined position on the cassette holding table 101. The inner surface of the cassette 102 holds i1? r 102 a is formed, and a wafer is placed in this area. A push-out mechanism 103 is provided at the rear of the cassette h 102, and cutouts 102b are formed in the top and bottom plates of the cassette so that the wafers can be sufficiently pushed by the push-out mechanism 103.

In front of the cassette l-102 is a cassette holding table 10.
A movable table 105 is provided that moves between the boat holding table 113 (1 and 23), and on this movable table 105 there is an intermediate buffer 106 on the cassette holding table 101 side and two guides on the boat holding table 113 side. Guide portions 110 and 111 are provided, and these guide portions 110 and 111 are movable in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of movable table 105. These intermediate buffer 106 and guide parts 110, 111 each have a groove for holding a wafer, and the material thereof does not generate dust harmful to silicon r, q IIJ, and has good heat resistance, chemical resistance, and dimensions. Resins with excellent stability, such as fluorinated ethylene resins known as Teflon, etc., are used. The guides 110, 111 also have large cutouts 110aJ3 and 111a to escape the support rods on both sides of the bows 1-114. Furthermore, extrusion mechanisms 107 and 109 are provided for extruding and taking out wafers from the intermediate buffer 106.

Furthermore, a boat holding table 113 for holding a vertical boat 114 is provided, and the boat 114 is held with its insertion side facing the cassette 102 and the intermediate buffer 106. This table is also provided with a pushing mechanism 115 for taking out wafers from the boat 114.

The cassette 1 to the holding table 101, the movable table 105, and the guide 110 are arranged so that these parts maintain the correct positional relationship.
, 111 and 41 respectively position sensors 104, 108, 1
12 are provided, and accurate position control is performed based on detection signals from these sensors.

These operations will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

2(a) to 2(d) are views showing the process of transferring wafers from a cassette to a cassette, and FIGS. 3(a) to 3(c) are views showing the process of transferring wafers from a boat to a cassette.

The cassette 102 containing the f1 wafer 100 is placed on the cassette holding table 101 (FIG. 2(a)).
Push using the extrusion mechanism 103, intermediate buff? The 106-layer wafer is moved for the first time (FIG. 2(b)). Note that at this time, it goes without saying that the holding grooves of the cassette 102 and the holding grooves of the intermediate buffer 106 are adjusted so that n is the same.

Next, the movable table 105 moves, and the notches 110a and 111a of the guides 110 and 111 are opened.
position so that it engages with the column 114a (see Figure 2 (
e)).

Next, the guide parts 110 and 111 approach each other, and the wafer 100 is moved toward the guide 110 by the action of the extruder 4M107.
and is slid into the holding groove of 111 (Fig. 2 (
d)).

At this time, what is important is that the guides 110 and 1'11
-C is the relationship between the holding groove and the holding groove of the boat 114.

FIG. 4 shows the situation. The wafer 100 is engaged with the guide 110 at a height 110a, and the neem 100 crawling at a height of 1108 is at the boat branch 114.
For holding formed in a! The height is selected so that it does not touch the 1IJ116 inner surface. Therefore, even if the wafer 100 is pushed, it only slides within the guides 110 and 111 and comes into direct contact with the boat. 1' etc. do not occur.

After the wafer 100 is brought to the correct position, the movable table 105 is lowered slightly. Then, the lower surface of 1-C 100 is placed directly on the groove 116 of the boat 114, and the guides 110 and 111 are then retracted.

In contrast, FIG. 3 shows how moss is removed from the boat 114 to the cassette 102, which is almost the same as in FIG. 2.

When taking out the wafer 10, the guides 110 and 111 first
After the wafer 100 is engaged with the wafer 100 and floated from the groove of the boat by a slight amount, the pushing mechanism 115 is used to transfer the wafer 100 to the intermediate buffer 106 (FIG. 3(a)). Next, the movable table 105 moves and the extrusion t[
109, the J--HA 100 is stored in the KAHI-HA 102 (FIG. 3(C)), and the transfer is completed.

In the above explanation, both the guides 110 and 111 and the intermediate buffer 106 are provided on the movable table 105, but this is not necessary; in that case, the guides 110 and 111 are movable only in the vertical direction and in the direction across the boat. And it is sufficient.

Further, the shapes of each part in the embodiments are merely examples, and any shape may be used as long as the holding and moving conditions for each part are satisfied.

[Result of invention glue]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to transfer the wafers between the cassette I- and the boat while keeping them horizontal, so there is no need for a mechanism to change the attitude of the boat, and the setup cost can be reduced. .

Once again, use the guide to place the wafer on this! /
Since the wafer is placed on the groove of the boat in the ifi, it is not affected by deformation of the cullet, and damage caused by dropping the wafer can be prevented, and the generation of silicon chips due to the rubbing of the wafer and the boat can be prevented. etc., and it is possible to improve yield and quality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a semiconductor wafer transfer device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing its operation, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the height relationship between the wafer, boat, and guide. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 5, is a perspective view showing a conventional diffusion furnace and a wafer transfer device. 101...Cassette holding table, 102...h cellar 1-1103, 107, 109, 115...extrusion mechanism, 105...movable table, 106...intermediate barafun l, 110.111... Guide, 113...
Boat 1 - Holding Table, 114...Boat. Applicant's agent Mr. Sato Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cassette holding unit that holds a cassette containing semiconductor wafers so that the semiconductor wafers are horizontal;
a boat holder for holding a vertical boat to be inserted into a vertical oxidation/diffusion furnace while holding the semiconductor wafer in a horizontal state; an intermediate buffer part that moves between the holding parts and temporarily stores and holds the semiconductor wafer pushed out from the holding part; and an intermediate buffer part that moves in the vertical direction by engaging with the boat when inserting/unloading the semiconductor wafer; a guide section for taking out and placing the semiconductor wafer on the semiconductor wafer holding groove; an extrusion mechanism that is provided for the cassette holding section, the boat support section, and the intermediate buffer section and pushing the semiconductor wafer in a desired direction; Semiconductor wafer transfer equipment equipped with 2. The semiconductor wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide section moves between the cassette holding section and the boat holding section together with the intermediate buffer section. 3. The guide part and the intermediate buffer part are made of a synthetic resin that generates little dust when the semiconductor wafer slides and has heat resistance and chemical resistance.
3. The semiconductor wafer transfer apparatus according to item 1 or 2. 4. The semiconductor wafer transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the synthetic resin is a fluorinated ethylene resin.