JPS62238636A - Semiconductor-wafer conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent contamination and to prevent damage of a wafer, by using a wafer mouting stage for taking the wafer out of a wafer carrier for conveyance and for accommodating the wafer after treatment. CONSTITUTION:A wafer mounting stage 11 has a diameter, which is smaller than a wafer 100 by several mm and also smaller than an interval between the side walls of a wafer carrier 104. The wafer mounting stage is mounted on a belt 103. When the rotating direction of the wafer mounting stage 11 is reversed, the wafer can be freely returned to the wafer carrier. When wax is applied on the upper surface of the wafer during the rotation of the wafer, the outer edge of the wafer is held with pawls, and the wafer is put on the wafer mounting stage 11. Even if the wax is attached to the outer edge of the wafer, the wafer mounting stage is not contaminated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a device for transferring semiconductor wafers, and in particular, to a wafer carrier and a device for processing and processing semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as wafers). Applicable to transportation between processes.

(Prior art) Conventionally, wafers have been conveyed using a belt as shown in Fig. 4, or by using a cylinder to push out the end faces of multiple wafers stored horizontally in a wafer carrier one by one and then tilting the wafers. A means (not shown) is used for sliding the plate-like passageway. The means shown in FIG. 4 is a pulley 102.10 provided on the rotating shaft 101.
For example, the wafer 100 has two belts 103 and 103 stretched across the wafer 2 at an interval smaller than the diameter of the wafer, and the wafer 100 is placed on these belts and transported by the belt running on the rotating shaft 101. . Further, when one end of this belt is connected to the wafer carrier 104, the wafer is transported by the belt to the entrance of the wafer carrier, and the wafer is carried into the wafer carrier through a plurality of ports provided below the wafer carrier. -La 105.105・
Conveyance is accomplished by sequential feeding. 107 is the wafer transport mechanism described above. Note that 106 is a wafer carrier lifting mechanism for moving the wafer carrier up and down when carrying out and storing wafers from the wafer carrier 104. Thereby, for example, when pushing out a wafer, the piston movement of the Rondo can be performed at a fixed position.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The conveyance device using the above conventional means has the following problems.

First, in the case of using the running belt shown in Fig. 4, wax is applied to one main surface (top surface) of a wafer in the semiconductor manufacturing process, for example, and then the wax is transferred to the next process where wax is applied. When etching the main surface (bottom surface) on the side that is not exposed, if even one wafer has wax wrapped around the bottom surface, the belt will be contaminated with wax and the wax will not adhere to the back surface of the next wafer. , there is a serious problem of uneven etching. This wax contamination further spreads to the roller 105, and like the belt contamination, it is difficult to detect and cleaning is time consuming. Further, when the wafer is transferred between the belt and the roller, there is a problem that the wafer slips and wax contamination spreads.

Next, a continuous transport method in which multiple wafers are placed on a long plate and sent by a transport mechanism is also considered, but since there is a rod-shaped part at the bottom of the wafer carrier to connect both side plates, the wafers on the wafer carrier If the wafer carrier becomes full, it becomes a major obstacle to lifting the wafer carrier and filling the wafer carrier below.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an improved structure of a semiconductor wafer transfer device.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) A semiconductor wafer transfer device according to the present invention includes a wafer carrier having a plurality of pairs of horizontal grooves for sliding and storing opposing ends of semiconductor wafers on opposing surfaces of paired side walls. A wafer carrier lifting mechanism (106) that supports the wafer carrier and raises or lowers the wafer carrier by the distance between the upper and lower adjacent grooves.
), a wafer transport mechanism (slow μ) disposed such that one end is located within the wafer carrier from the open side of the wafer carrier and having a reciprocating path; It comprises a wafer mounting table (11) having a diameter smaller than the interval, and a wafer mounting table guide (12) that limits the path of the wafer mounting table on the wafer transport mechanism. According to this invention, processing and processing can be accomplished without contaminating or damaging the main surface of the wafer.

(Function) This invention can be applied to the process of carrying the wafer out of the wafer carrier when processing or processing one main surface of the wafer, or to the process of storing the wafer in the wafer carrier after being carried. This is done using a wafer mounting table without direct contact with belts, rollers, etc. This wafer mounting table does not stick to belts, rollers, etc.
In addition, since there is no contact with the peripheral edge of the wafer (particularly the peripheral edge of the bottom surface), it is possible to prevent contamination caused by liquid gathering around the peripheral edge, especially in rotary coating, and to prevent slippage during transportation between the wafer mounting table and the belt. , rollers, etc., so damage to the wafer can also be prevented. .

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In addition, in the description, parts that are the same as in the prior art are indicated by the same reference numerals as in the prior art in the drawings, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1a shows a partially cutaway perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatus, with the pulley omitted, and the main parts are shown in FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale. In addition, Fig. 2 shows a side view of the main parts of the wafer transport mechanism.
FIG. 3 shows a partially sectional view of the wafer transport mechanism.

In each cycle, a wafer mounting table 11 is formed to have a diameter several I smaller than the wafer and smaller than the spacing between the side walls of the wafer carrier, and is placed on the belt 103. This wafer mounting table is preferably made of, for example, a disc-shaped aluminum plate coated with Teflon resin.

Next, reference numeral 12 denotes a wafer mounting table guide, which is provided so as to surround the path of the wafer mounting table 11 so as to limit the path to a predetermined portion on the wafer transport mechanism 107 . The constituent material of this may be metal or synthetic resin.

Next, in the wafer mounting table 11, if the rotating direction of the rotating shaft 101 is reversed, the moving direction of the belt 103 is reversed, and for example, switching from transporting toward the wafer carrier to transporting away from the wafer carrier is achieved. be done. This makes it possible to unload the wafer from the wafer carrier and return the wafer to the wafer carrier upon completion of processing and processing on the wafer. Processing for the above wafer.

As an example of processing, when wax is coated on the upper surface of a wafer by rotation, the outer edge of the coated wafer is grasped with a nail and placed on the wafer mounting table 11. At this time, even if wax adheres to the outer edge of the wafer, the wafer mounting table 11 will not be contaminated, and even if a slip occurs during transfer from the belt to the roller when storing the wafer in the wafer carrier, the wafer mounting table and the belt will not be contaminated. Just a slip with the roller,
No contamination or damage occurs to the wafer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since wafers are not contaminated or damaged during wafer transport, there is no need to take measures to prevent these, and the manufacturing yield is improved. Furthermore, the present invention has the advantage that it does not require any particularly large-scale modification of the device when put into practice.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1a is a partially cutaway perspective view of a semiconductor wafer transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an enlarged side view of a portion of FIG. 1a, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a part of the wafer transport mechanism, and FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating a conventional semiconductor wafer transport apparatus. 11 Wafer mounting table 12 Wafer mounting table guide 10θ
Wafer 106 Wafer carrier lifting mechanism
Wafer transport mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] A wafer carrier that supports a wafer carrier having a plurality of horizontal grooves in which opposing ends of semiconductor wafers are slid and accommodated on opposing surfaces of paired side walls, and that raises or lowers the wafer carrier by the distance between the upper and lower adjacent grooves. a lifting mechanism; a wafer transport mechanism disposed such that one end thereof is located within the wafer carrier from the open side of the wafer carrier and having a reciprocating path; A semiconductor wafer transfer device comprising a wafer placement table with a small diameter and a wafer placement table guide that limits the path of the wafer placement table onto a wafer transfer mechanism.