JPS62180833A - Negative automatic exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve workability, by providing a mark detecting means in the vicinity of a negative take-out port of a cassette so that a negative is promptly detected and discriminated, in case of the captioned device equipped with the mark detecting means which detects a discrimination mark on the negative taken out from the cassette. CONSTITUTION:A negative automatic exchanger for a reticle or the like used for a semiconductor manufacturing process has a reticle carrier 2 in which a reticle cassette 1 containing a reticle 9 sheet by sheet is laminated vertically in plural stages. The reticle 9, being loaded in a saucer 11, is housed in the cassette 1, and a bar code 12 is provided in each reticle 9. A fork 3 is provided on a lift mechanism 4 for taking out said reticle 9, and the taken out reticle 9 is delivered to a reticle hand 8 by a delivery mechanism 7. In the above constitution, a bar code reader head 6 for reading the bar code 12 is set to an end part adjacent to the reticle carrier 2 on the lift mechanism 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an automatic original exchange device for a photomask or a reticle in an exposure apparatus used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and particularly to an improvement in identification mark detection means for an original.

Note that in the present invention and storage, "reticle" includes "mass", and the explanation using a reticle as an example can be similarly applied to a mask. Furthermore, the term "original plate" refers to a shielding body such as a mask or a reticle, on which an original image to be transferred is formed by exposure or printing.

(Background of the Invention) In the semiconductor photolithography process, in order to form a pattern on each chip, a mask with an actual size pattern is placed close to the surface of the urchin and exposed and baked, or a mask with an actual size pattern is exposed and printed on the surface of the substrate. A reticle on which a pattern for one chip, which is about twice as large as the original size, is formed is reduced through optical means and projected onto a wafer to print the pattern. To complete one semiconductor or device, this pattern baking process is usually performed several to several dozen times on one wafer. Specifically, first, a reticle for a certain mask process is set in the exposure apparatus main body, and the pattern baking process is performed on a predetermined number of wafers (for example, 100 wafers). After the baking process has been completed, the reticle is processed as necessary by etching, impurity diffusion, formation of conductor layers, insulating layers, semiconductor layers, and even photoresist coating.Then, the reticle is used for the next mask process. Then, the reticle pattern burning process is performed on all of these wafers. Thereafter, the baking process is repeated in the same manner to obtain a wafer with the desired pattern.

In this case, the pattern or mask (or reticle) used in each printing process is usually different. Therefore, it is necessary to set separate reticles in the exposure apparatus main body for each stage of exposure. For this reason, in the past, when a reticle needed to be replaced, it was done manually, or a reticle changer was installed to automatically change the reticle.

In such an automatic reticle exchange device, it is necessary to detect and determine whether a reticle taken out for exchange is the correct reticle before exposure. For this reason, the reticle is generally provided with a barcode identification mark, and the device is equipped with a barcode reader for reading this barcode.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when detecting a reticle with this type of device,
After removing the reticle from the reticle carrier, transport it to the reticle exposure position 1 of the aligner, perform reticle alignment, and then scan the reticle barcode to decode the reticle information, or move the reticle carrier and reticle exposure position. During this period, a dedicated scanning position was set up for the purpose of barcode reading, and reticle identification was performed here. However, in such a conventional automatic reticle exchange device, many steps are required from taking out the reticle from the reticle carrier to reading the barcode, and the reticle transfer pressure 1fjlf is also long and it takes a lot of time. If the correct reticle is not taken out due to the incorrect storage location of the cassette case, the incorrect storage of the reticle into the cassette case, or a malfunction/operation during reticle loading, it will take a long time to determine whether the reticle is correct or not, and the aligner machine may It had the disadvantage of slowing down in time.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks of the prior art described above, and when automatically exchanging reticles, the reticle taken out is immediately detected and determined, thereby reducing loss dimes when the wrong reticle is taken out. The purpose is to provide an automatic original plate exchange device that can minimize the number of original plates.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic reticle exchange device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view thereof. Reticle cassettes 1 each containing one reticle are stacked vertically in multiple stages and stored in a reticle carrier 2. Reticulation:
As shown in FIG. 3, the reticle 9 is placed in a tray 11, and this tray 11 is housed in the reticle cassette 1. The reticle 9 has a barcode 12 that encodes information such as the product number.
is provided. A fork 3 for taking out the reticle 9 from the reticle cassette 1 is provided on the lifting mechanism 4. The elevating mechanism 4 is movable up and down along the guide column 5 via the guide holder 10. A barcode reader head 6 is installed at an end of the elevating mechanism 4 close to the reticle carrier 1. A reticle delivery mechanism 7 is provided at a position corresponding to the highest position of the lifting mechanism 4. A hand 8 is used to transfer the reticle 9. The barcode reader head 6 is connected to a decoder 13 (FIG. 3) to decode the read information.

As shown in FIG. 3, a second barcode reader head 15 for reading the barcode 14 provided on the reticle cassette 1 may be provided at an appropriate position on the reticle carrier 2.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned automatic reticle exchange device will be explained. The elevating mechanism 4 moves and stops at the selected position of the reticle cassette 1. The fork 3 takes out the reticle 9 along with the saucer 11 horizontally as shown by arrow A from the reticle cassette 1. Subsequently, the elevating mechanism 4 ascends as shown by arrow B, and the reticle 9 is grasped by the hunt 8 via the delivery mechanism 7, and conveyed to an aligner (not shown).

A barcode reader head 6 is attached to the elevator groove 4 that guides the fork movement when the reticle 9 is extracted horizontally from the reticle cassette 1 by the fork 3.
A beam is projected onto the barcode 12 of the reticle 9, and the barcode of the reticle 9 is scanned with the beam by the action of pulling out the fork. The reflected light of the barcode 12 is received again by the detector inside the barcode reader head 6,
The decoder 13 decodes the reticle as signal information, determines whether it is a correct reticle, and transmits the information to the aligner. If the reticle is incorrect, it is returned to reticle cassette 1 and an error message is displayed. If the reticle is correct, the lifting mechanism 4 raises the reticle to the delivery position, delivers it to the reticle hand 8, transports it to the reticle exposure position of the aligner, performs reticle alignment, and begins the exposure process.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the automatic reticle exchange system according to the present invention, since the barcode reader head is disposed near the reticle ejection port of the reticle cassette, the barcode reader head is disposed near the reticle ejection port of the reticle cassette. The code can be read and information about the reticle taken out can be obtained at a very early stage, making it possible to determine whether it is the correct reticle.Thus, if the wrong reticle is taken out, unnecessary transport operations can be minimized. It can be immediately returned to the reticle cassette, reducing lost time and improving the operating efficiency of the device.Furthermore, dust generated during unnecessary transport operations is minimized.

Also, if the reticle carrier is equipped with a barcode reader head for reading barcodes on the reticle cassette,
The cassette can be checked at the time the cassette is stored in the carrier, and erroneous reticle ejection operations can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic reticle exchange device 11 according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the automatic reticle exchange device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the automatic reticle exchange device according to the present invention. It is. 1... Reticle cassette, 2... Reticle carrier, 3... Fork, 4...
・Man, lowering mechanism, 6...barcode reader head, 9...reticle, 12.14...
Barcode, 15...Second barcode reader head. Patent Applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Tatsuo Ito Agent Patent Attorney Tetsuya Ito 1st R! ! J Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cassette that stores an original, a carrier that stores and holds a plurality of cassettes, and an original take-out mechanism that selects a cassette held in the carrier and takes out the original inside;
An automatic original exchange device comprising mark detection means for detecting an identification mark on an original taken out from a cassette, characterized in that the mark detection means is provided near an original ejection opening of the cassette. . 2. The automatic original exchange device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier stores the cassettes in a plurality of vertically stacked layers. 3. A patent claim characterized in that the original take-out mechanism includes a fork that holds the original and moves in the horizontal direction, and the fork is mounted on a lifting mechanism that can move up and down along the cassette in the carrier. The automatic original plate exchange device according to item 2 of the scope. 4. The automatic original exchange device according to claim 3, wherein the mark detection means is provided on the lifting mechanism. 5. Any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a second mark detection means for detecting an identification mark on a cassette housed in the carrier. Automatic original plate exchange device described in . 6. The automatic original plate according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the identification mark is a barcode, and the mark detection means is a barcode reader head. Exchange device.