JPS6379341A - Apparatus for mounting and moving wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the movement and mounting of a wafer and to eliminate breaking, cracking and the like of the wafers, by forming wafer receiving grooves by parallel flat plates, moving the parallel flat plates in the normal direction in parallel, and changing a pitch. CONSTITUTION:The sizes of the parts of stoppers 9 and stoppers 10 are determined so that the pitch of parallel flat plates 7 is approximately equal to the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves of a wafer supporting tool 1. The sizes of the stoppers 9 and the stoppers 10 are also determined so that the pitch of the parallel falt plate 7 is appropriately equal to the wafer receiving grooves of a wafer supporting tool 6. The pitch of the parallel flat plates 7 is made approximately equal to the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves of the wafer supporting tool 1. After wafers 2 are inserted, the parallel flat plates 7 are moved in parallel in the normal directions, and the pitch of the parallel flat plates 7 of each set is made approximately equal to the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves of the wafer supporting tool 6. The wafers 2 are put into the wafer supporting tool 2, and the mounting is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device for transferring a semiconductor wafer used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process from one support to another, and particularly to a wafer transfer device for transferring a semiconductor wafer used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process from one support to another. This relates to a wafer transfer device in which the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves is different.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of wafer transfer device has been configured to push up a wafer from above from a wafer support, hold the wafer in a wafer support, and then change the pitch between the wafers by some method to transfer the wafer. A common method was to transfer the wafer to the desired support.

4(a) and 4(b) are conceptual diagrams of a conventional wafer transfer device, and FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are structural diagrams of a mechanism for changing the pitch between wafers. A detailed explanation will be given below according to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the pusher 15 rises from below the wafer 2 supported by the wafer support 1, and the wafer is placed in the jig 18a in which wafer receiving grooves are provided at the same pitch as the wafer support 1. is carried. Figure 4 (
As shown in b), this jig 16a holds the wafer 2 in the state of the jig 16b while changing the wafer spacing using a mechanism to be described later. This interval is equal to that of the other wafer support 6, and the pusher 17 rises from below the other wafer support 6 to support the wafer. After supporting, the jig 18b releases the holding of the wafer 2, the pusher 17 descends, and the wafer 2 is transferred to the other wafer support 6, thereby completing the transfer of the wafer 2.

The conversion of the wafer spacing is shown in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b).

A link 18 is connected to the upper and lower ends of the jig 17 by a pivot point 19, and when a force is applied in the direction of the arrow 20 in FIG. 5(a), the jig 17 will move as shown in FIG. Wafer spacing becomes smaller.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 3] As explained above, the conventional wafer transfer device pushes up the wafer from the support, holds it in the Shisen holder, and adjusts the wafer spacing between the wafers in the holder to allow free coaxial movement. The holder is transformed from a rectangle to a parallelogram using links connected by a fulcrum, and then the wafer is held from below the holder, and the wafer is released from the holder to move and hold the wafer downward. Since the structure is such that the wafer is transferred to the other support installed under the tool, the larger the change in wafer spacing, the larger the rotation angle of the link from a rectangle to a parallelogram, and the other support is Since the distance between the tool and the holder differs greatly between the left and right wafers, the distance over which the wafers are transferred without a guide becomes long. As a result, the wafer being transferred comes out of the guide, causing damage to the wafer such as cracking or chipping of the wafer, and dust generated when the wafer is destroyed adheres to other wafers.
This has the disadvantage of reducing the yield rate in the semiconductor device manufacturing process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer transfer device that transfers wafers without cracking or chipping the wafers.

[Differences between the invention and the prior art] In contrast to the conventional wafer transfer device described above, the present invention forms a wafer receiving groove with a parallel plate, and changes the pitch by moving the parallel plate in parallel in the normal direction. It has original content.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes one support for supporting a semiconductor wafer,
A wafer transfer device for transferring a semiconductor wafer to another support having a pitch different from that of the wafer receiving groove of the support, comprising: a plurality of parallel flat plates forming a wafer receiving groove for supporting the wafer; a guide for moving each parallel flat plate in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface; a stopper for setting the pitch of each set of parallel flat plates according to the wafer receiving groove pitch of the support and holding each set of parallel flat plates in parallel; This is a wafer transfer device characterized by having the following features.

[Example code] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1(a), (b), (c), and (d) are views showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(a) is a view showing a state where the pitch of the holder 4 is large; (b) is a diagram showing a state in which the pitch of the holder 4 is small. Figure 1 (a), (b)
), the holders 4a, 4b (Fig. 2(a), (
b) ) includes a plurality of parallel flat plates 7. which form wafer receiving grooves for supporting wafers; Guide 8. 1~Brim 9. It has a stopper 10. The two guides 8, 8 are installed in parallel, each parallel plate 7 is provided with a through hole 7a that passes through the plate surface at right angles, and the guide 8 is passed through the through hole 7a of each parallel plate 7 to form the parallel plate. 7 is held by a guide 8 so as to be movable in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the parallel flat plate. The collar 9 and the stopper 10 have small diameter holes 9a and 10a that fit into the end 7b of the parallel plate 7, and large diameter holes 9b and 10b that allow the end 7b of the parallel plate 7 to play. Figure 1 (c
), (d), the end 7b of the upper parallel plate 7 fits into the small diameter hole 9a of the stopper 9, and the end 7b of the lower parallel plate 7 fits into the small diameter hole 9a of the stopper 9.
b is connected to the large diameter hole 10b of the stopper 10 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. Like the stopper 9, the stopper 10 is also fixed to the upper parallel flat plate 7, and connected to the lower parallel flat plate 7 so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the drawing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1(C), the stopper 9. The dimensions of each part of the base 1 to the collar 10 are determined, and the pitch of the parallel plate 7 is approximately equal to the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves of the wafer support 6 as shown in FIG. 1(d). ~ By determining the dimensions of the collar 10, the pitch of the parallel plate 7 is made almost equal to the wafer receiving groove pitch of the work bar support 1, and after loading the wafer 2, the parallel plate 7 is moved in parallel in the normal direction. The pitch of each set of parallel flat plates 7 is made approximately equal to the pitch of the wafer receiving grooves of the wafer support 6, and the wafer 2 is loaded into the wafer support 6 to complete the transfer.

In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the wafer 2 housed in the wafer support 1 is pushed up by the pusher 3 and housed in the holder 4a. After storing the wafer, the holder 4a holds the wafer 2, and the pusher 3 is lowered. The holder 4a moves the parallel plate 7 in parallel along the guide 8, narrowing the pitch, and fixing the parallel plate 7 at that interval using stoppers 9 and 10, as shown in FIG. 1(b).
The wafer 2 is held in the state after pitch conversion (4b in the figure) as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the pusher 5 rises to hold the wafer 2, releases the hold from the holder 4b, and lowers the pusher 5 to carry the wafer 2 into the wafer support 6 and complete the wafer transfer.

Figures 2(a) and (b) show an example in which the wafer is transferred vertically. You can also do this. That is, the wafer 2 in the support 1 is pushed to the left in the drawing by the pusher 11 and inserted into the holder 4a.

After the pusher 11 escapes to the right, the holder 4a performs a pitch change using the method described above and moves downward in the drawing. Furthermore, the wafer 2 in the holder 4b is transferred to the left in the drawing by the pusher 12, and the transfer to the wafer support 6 is completed. Furthermore, in the case of reverse transfer, the pusher 13 and the pusher 14 are used to transfer the wafer from the wafer support 6 to the wafer support 1.
The wafer 2 is transferred to the wafer 2 in the same manner as described above.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the wafer can be transferred from one support that supports the wafer to the other support whose wafer receiving groove pitch is different from that of the support. In the apparatus, wafer receiving grooves are formed on two parallel flat plates forming a set, and each set of parallel flat plates is moved in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the parallel flat plates, so that the pitch of the parallel plates can be adjusted. Even if the wafers are changed, the ends of each parallel plate are aligned in a straight line, and after the wafer spacing is converted, the lower ends of the wafers are aligned in a straight line, and the wafer is received by a pusher or the like and transferred to the other support. wafer transfer is more reliable than conventional methods, and it also reduces wafer contamination due to re-adhesion of dust caused by wafer breaks and cracks, which in turn reduces LSI
This has the effect of improving product yield during the manufacturing process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) show a holder according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 (a), (b), Figure 3 (a), (b) are diagrams showing the transfer process in the present invention, Figure 4 (ah (b)
FIG. 5(a) is a configuration diagram showing a conventional wafer transfer device.
, (b) is a configuration diagram showing a configuration in which the pitch between wafers is changed.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Wafer receiving grooves that support the wafer in a wafer transfer device that transfers the semiconductor wafer from one support that supports the semiconductor wafer to another support that has a pitch different from the wafer receiving grooves of the support. a plurality of sets of parallel flat plates forming a plurality of parallel flat plates, a guide for moving each parallel flat plate in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the plate surface of the parallel flat plates, and a pitch of each set of parallel flat plates according to a pitch of a wafer receiving groove of a support. A wafer transfer device comprising a stopper that is set and holds each set of parallel flat plates in parallel.