JPS6211002Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a mechanical chuck used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and is particularly suitable for carrying wafers into and out of the equalizing ring. Concerning improvements to mechanical chucks.

[Prior art]

The prior art will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In Figures 1 to 3, mechanical chuck 10
is a drive unit 11, a plurality of shafts 12 which are provided radially, and which are opened and closed in the radial direction by the drive unit 11;
When the wafer 40 is closed, the wafer 40 is grasped, and the shaft 12 is
When the shaft 12 opens, the wafer 40 is released.
and a wafer placement part 13 at the lower end.
It is composed of a claw 14 having a diameter.

The equalizing ring 20 is made of quartz, and has pawl guide grooves 21 arranged at intervals corresponding to the pawls 14, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The claw guide groove 21 is composed of an upper guide surface 22 and a lower guide groove 23, and the width of the guide groove 23 is as follows:
If it is made wider, the uniformity of etching will be impaired.
It is extremely narrow.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electrode 30 installed in a processing chamber (not shown) in which a wafer 40 is etched is provided with a protruding wafer stand 31 having a size smaller than the diameter of the wafer 40. An equalizing ring 20 is mounted on the stand 31 so that the claws 14 and the claw guide grooves 21 correspond to each other.

First, as shown in FIG.
The wafer is carried into the interior and placed on the wafer table 31,
After that, the wafer 40 after the etching process is completed.
The removal from the equalization ring 20 is carried out as follows.

The mechanical chuck 10 is moved by a known moving means (not shown), for example, from a preliminary chamber (not shown) provided in the processing chamber to the processing chamber, and as shown in FIG. It stops when it reaches the position corresponding to the guide groove 21. In this state, the claws 14 are opened to a size larger than the diameter of the wafer 40 by opening the shaft 12 in the radial direction by the drive unit 11, and then the mechanical chuck 10 is lowered by a known elevating means (not shown). However, when the wafer placement portion 13 of the claw 14 becomes below the back surface of the wafer 40, it stops. In this case, the claw 14 comes into contact with the guide surface 22 of the claw guide groove 21, is guided by the guide surface 22, enters the guide groove 23, and then is guided by the guide groove 23 and descends.

After the mechanical chuck 10 has been lowered in this manner, the pawl 14 is closed by closing the shaft 12 in the radial direction with the drive part 11, and the wafer 4 is thereby closed.
0 is grabbed by the claw 14. Thereafter, the wafer 40 gripped by the claws 14 is transported out of the equalizing ring 20 by raising the mechanical chuck 10 using a known elevating means. Thereafter, in this state, the mechanical chuck 10 is moved from the processing chamber to the preliminary chamber by a known moving means.

Furthermore, the wafer 40 is carried into the equalization ring 20 and placed on the wafer platform 31 by performing the operations reverse to those described above.

With such a mechanical chuck, when carrying a wafer into the equalizing ring, the lowering of the claw cannot be well guided by the claw guide groove due to the dimensions of the claw and the claw guide groove, resulting in damage to the claw. Another drawback was that the wafer could be damaged.

[Purpose of invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanical chuck that can prevent damage to the claws or wafers by eliminating the drawbacks of the prior art described above.

[Summary of the idea]

In the present invention, a claw that opens and closes in a radial direction to grip and release a wafer is formed to correspond to the equalizing ring mounted on the wafer pedestal when the claw moves back and forth relative to the wafer pedestal. The device is characterized by being provided with a claw guide tool that guides the insertion and removal of the claw into the guide groove in which the claw is inserted and removed. This provides better guidance.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 4, parts and the like that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

In FIG. 4, the claw 14 has a claw guide tool 15 corresponding to the claw 14, in this case corresponding to the guide surface 22 of the claw guide groove 21 formed in the equalizing ring 20.
is provided. In this case, the claw guide tool 15
is formed by being bent integrally with the claw 14, and its radial dimension is similar to that of the claw guide groove 2 when the claw 14 grips the wafer 40 and carries it into the equalizing ring 20.
The size is such that it always comes into contact with the guide surface 22 of No. 1 and can be guided by the guide groove 23.

The wafer 40 gripped by the claws 14 as the claws 14 close is carried into the equalizing ring 20 by lowering a mechanical chuck (not shown) using a known elevating means (not shown). In this case, the claw 14 is connected to the claw guide groove 2 by the claw guide tool 15.
After contacting the guide surface 22 of No. 1, the guide surface 22
It enters the guide groove 23 while being guided by the guide groove 23, and is then guided down by the guide groove 23, so that it descends smoothly. Furthermore, the wafer 40 can be conveniently removed from the equalizing ring 20 by performing the reverse operation.

Such a mechanical chuck provides the following effects.

(1) Since the claws are well guided in their descent and ascent by the claw guide grooves via the claw guide tool, damage to the claws or damage to the wafer can be prevented.

(2) Since the claw guide tool is formed by being bent integrally with the claw, the claw guide tool can absorb displacement due to the dimensional tolerance of the wafer, and the gripping force can be alleviated.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention has the effect of preventing damage to the nails or damage to the wafer because the nail guide tool can guide the insertion and removal of the nails into and out of the nail guide grooves well.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a partially cutaway vertical cross-sectional view of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment to which a conventional mechanical chuck is applied;
The figure is a plan view taken along line A-A in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 1.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the vicinity of the claw of the mechanical chuck according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Mechanical chuck, 11... Drive unit, 12... Shaft, 14... Claw, 15... Claw guide tool, 20... Equalization ring, 21... Claw guide groove, 22... Guide surface, 23... Guide groove, 30
...Electrode, 31...Wafer stand.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A guide groove is formed in a pawl that opens and closes in a radial direction to grip and release a wafer, and is formed in an equalizing ring surrounding the wafer table when the pawl moves back and forth with respect to the wafer table, corresponding to the pawl. A mechanical chuck characterized in that it is provided with a claw guide tool that guides the insertion and removal of the claw into and out of the mechanical chuck.