KR100466296B1 - Transfer robot and wafer array system using this robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a transfer robot and a substrate alignment system using the same for aligning the positions of the substrates so that the polished surfaces of the substrates face each other when they are sent to each treatment tank for wet cleaning and wet etching. The substrate alignment system of the present invention includes a substrate holding member having a stage in which a through hole is formed at a position where a carrier is placed, a slot positioned on the through hole and supporting a plurality of substrates accommodated in the carrier, and a plurality of substrates supported on the substrate holding member. A member for separating the substrates from the carrier, a transfer robot for loading / unloading the carrier to / from the stage and for holding a particular row of substrates among the substrates supported by the substrate holding member, and the substrates remaining in the substrate holding member 180 It has a rotating device for reversing degrees.

Description

TRANSFER ROBOT AND WAFER ARRAY SYSTEM USING THIS ROBOT}

The present invention relates to a substrate alignment system, and more particularly, a transfer robot for aligning positions of substrates so that the polishing surfaces of the substrates face each other when they are sent to each treatment tank for wet cleaning and wet etching. A substrate alignment system.

For example, as a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter referred to as a "substrate") as a substrate is washed with a cleaning liquid such as a predetermined chemical liquid or pure water, and particles, organic contaminants, metal impurities, etc. adhered to the surface of the substrate. A cleaning system is used that eliminates the termination of contamination. Among them, wet cleaning systems are widely used because they can effectively remove particles adhering to the substrate, and can also be cleaned by a batch treatment.

However, the conventional cleaning method has generally been that the substrates are cleaned with their surfaces facing the same direction. Here, the back surface of the substrate has a higher degree of contamination than the surface (polishing surface) of the substrate. Therefore, since the substrates are cleaned in a state in which the surface thereof faces the rear surface of the adjacent substrate, the source of contamination on the rear surface of the substrate affects the front surface of the substrate and contaminates the substrate. (The problem that particles adhered to the back surface of the substrate float in the processing liquid and reattach to the surface of the adjacent substrate.) Thus, if the surface of the substrate is contaminated with particles, the amount of the product to the raw material is reduced. Throw it away.

In order to solve this problem, a cleaning system is used that cleans after aligning surfaces of adjacent substrates to face each other.

According to this cleaning system, since the surfaces of the substrates face each other, particles falling off the back surface of the substrate during the cleaning can be prevented from contaminating the surface of the substrate, thereby reducing the ratio of the product to the raw material due to particle contamination. It is possible to prevent.

In the carrying-in part of such a cleaning system, the carrier loaded by the automatic transfer apparatus to the loader part is transferred to the carrier stage by a transfer robot installed inside the cleaning system. Then, the substrates stored in the carrier are pushed upward from the carrier and extracted by the support mechanism. Thereafter, the substrate is transferred to the inverting section. Substrates (for example 50 substrates) transferred to the inverting portion are aligned so that surfaces of neighboring substrates face each other. The aligned substrates are then collectively held by the process robot and conveyed to the cleaning process.

The loading part in which this process is performed is a loader part in which a carrier is placed. A carrier stage having a support mechanism for separating the substrates from the carrier, a transfer robot for transferring the carrier from the loader portion to the carrier stage, a robot arm for holding substrates that do not need to be reversed, and a reversal mechanism for reversing the substrates that need to be reversed. There is a need for instruments consisting of inverting parts. For this reason, the large amount of space for these devices is required at the loading part of the conventional cleaning system.

In addition, since the carrying-in portion is composed of a plurality of mechanisms as described above, the operation of separating the substrates from the carrier in the carrier stage, the transfer of the substrates from the carrier stage to the inverting portion, and the substrates that do not need inversion in the inversion Processing time such as lifting and inverting unlifted substrates is required. In addition, more time is required for the acquisition and delivery of the substrate between these mechanisms.

If the arrangement space of these mechanisms becomes large as described above, the processing time at the carrying-in part also becomes long, thereby making it difficult to improve the throughput.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to provide a new type of substrate alignment system capable of making the work space of the carrying part more compact and simple. Another object is to provide a new type of transfer robot and a substrate alignment system using the same, which can minimize the working time according to the substrate alignment.

1 is a plan view of a wet cleaning system to which a substrate alignment system 100 is applied according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a perspective view of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a side view of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a plan view of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 2;

5 is a plan view showing a state in which carriers are held in a transfer robot;

6 is a partially enlarged view of a second chucking arm;

7A to 7D are views showing a process in which a transfer robot transports carriers;

8 to 14 are views sequentially showing a substrate alignment process in the alignment unit;

15 is a partially enlarged view of a transfer robot with a modified second chucking arm.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

122: loader

130: alignment unit

132 stage

132a: second opening

134: lifting device

136: substrate holding member

137: inverted motor

150: transfer robot

152: base

154: shaft

156: frame

157: first opening

158: first chucking arm

160: second chucking arm

162,164: arm drive unit

In order to achieve the above technical problem, the present invention relates to a transfer robot used when aligning the substrates for transferring the substrates from the carrier in which the plurality of substrates are received at the same pitch interval to the processing unit; A shaft installed on the base to be movable in a vertical axis; A frame moved up and down along the shaft; A pair of first chucking arms mounted to said frame and for gripping a carrier; And a pair of second chucking arms mounted to the frame and for holding a plurality of substrates separated from the carrier.

In the present invention, the first chucking arm and the second chucking arm are installed at different heights on the frame. The second chucking arm has slots that support only a particular row of substrates among the substrates separated from the carrier. The shaft is rotatably mounted to the base. The frame is formed with an opening in which the carrier or substrate is located. Each of the pair of first chucking arms and the pair of second chucking arms are disposed to face each other with the opening therebetween.

According to another feature of the invention, the substrate alignment system of the present invention comprises a stage in which a through hole is formed in the position where the carrier; A substrate holding member having slots positioned on the through hole and supporting a plurality of substrates stored in the carrier; A member for separating the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate holding member from the carrier; A transfer robot for loading / unloading the carrier to / from the stage and for holding a particular row of substrates among the substrates supported by the substrate holding member; And a rotating device for inverting the substrates remaining in the substrate holding member by 180 degrees.

In the present invention, the transfer robot includes a pair of first chucking arms for holding a carrier; It has a pair of second chucking arms for holding the substrates. The second chucking arm has first slots capable of holding only even or odd rows of substrates among a plurality of substrates.

In the present invention, the transfer robot has a first driving part for driving the pair of first chucking arms and a second driving part for driving the pair of second chucking arms. The transfer robot includes a base; A shaft installed on the base to be movable in a vertical axis; And a frame which is moved up and down along the shaft and on which the first chucking arm and the second chucking arm are installed. The shaft is rotatably mounted to the base.

In the present invention, the first chucking arm and the second chucking arm have different heights installed on the frame. A first opening is formed in the frame, and the carrier is positioned at the first opening when the transport robot transports the carrier. When the transport robot grips the substrate, the substrate holding member is formed at the first opening. Is located.

In the present invention, each of the pair of first chucking arms and the pair of second chucking arms are provided to face each other with the first opening therebetween.

In the present invention, the separating member includes a lifting device that separates the substrates from the carrier by lowering the stage.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided to ensure that the disclosed subject matter is thorough and complete, and that the spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art will fully convey. Portions denoted by like reference numerals denote like elements throughout the specification.

1 is a view showing a substrate alignment system 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this embodiment is an example applied to a wet cleaning system for collectively cleaning 50 substrates.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wet cleaning system 100 includes a process unit 110 and a substrate alignment unit (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate alignment system 120) to which a substrate alignment system according to the present invention is applied. The process unit 110 includes a process robot 112 that can hold 50 substrates in a batch, and a plurality of cleaning units 114.

The carrier C in which the substrates w are contained is placed in the loader unit 122 of the substrate alignment system by an automated conveying apparatus (AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or RGV (Rail Guided Vehicle).

In the carrier C, 25 substrates W are stored vertically in the carrier C one by one. It goes without saying that the carrier C is provided with 25 parallel grooves for preservation in a state in which the substrate W is placed vertically. All of these grooves have the same spacing (the same spacing of 6-7 mm, for example, when holding an 8-inch substrate).

In the present embodiment, 25 substrates W are held vertically at the same interval L in the carrier C. FIG. Further, the substrates W housed in the carrier C are all faced in the same direction. An opening is formed in the bottom of the carrier C. The opening of the carrier is for allowing a substrate holding member, which will be described later, to enter the carrier through the opening of the carrier so that 25 substrates can be collectively lifted above the carrier.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the substrate alignment system 120 of the present invention includes a loader unit 122, an alignment unit 130, and a transfer robot 150.

Carriers C containing (preserved) substrates before cleaning are placed in the loader 122 by an automated guided vehicle (AGV) .The transfer robot 150 carries two carriers C. The substrate is moved to the stage 132 of the alignment unit 130. Here, the substrate is a display panel substrate such as a substrate for a photo reticle, a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, a substrate for a plasma display panel, or a hard disk. It means a board | substrate for electronic devices, such as a board | substrate for semiconductors and a semiconductor device.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the transfer robot 150 includes a base 152, a shaft 154, a frame 156, a pair of first chucking arms 158, and a pair of second The chucking arm 160 and arm drives 162 and 164 for opening and closing these arms, respectively, are used as the air cylinders.

The shaft 154 is installed on the base 152 to be elevated and rotatable. The shaft 154 so that the first chucking arm 158 can move the carrier C from the loader portion 122 to the stage 132 or from the stage 132 to the loader portion 122. ) Rotates and lifts around the Z axis. For example, the transfer robot 150 may further include a device that can be freely operated in a three-dimensional space such as X, Y, and Z axes according to the movement path of the carrier C.

The frame 156 is installed on an upper end of the shaft 154 and moves together with the shaft 154. The first opening 157 is formed in the frame 156. This first opening 157 preferably has a sufficient size to allow (through) two carriers C or two substrate retaining members.

The first chucking arm 158 is installed to face each other with the first opening 157 interposed therebetween, and the arm 158 collectively packs two carriers C positioned at the first opening 157. Holding.

The second chucking arms 160 are installed to face each other with the first opening 157 therebetween. The second chucking arm 160 holds only odd-numbered substrates of the 50 substrates supported on the two substrate holding members positioned at the first opening 157.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second chucking arm 160 has an alternating shape between the first slot 160a and the second slot 160b in a shape corresponding to the circumference curvature of the substrate. It is formed. The first slot 160a is formed to support odd-numbered substrates, and the second slot 160b is formed to pass even-numbered substrates without passing through them. The interval between the first slot 160a and the second slot 160b is equal to the pitch interval L of the carrier.

The first chucking arm 158 and the second chucking arm 160 are selectively operated in process steps. These arms 158 and 160 are mounted at different heights on the frame 156 to prevent mutual interference from occurring during operation. As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, the first chucking arm 158 is preferably installed higher than the second chucking arm 160.

As such, the transfer robot 150 of the present invention includes an arm for transferring the carrier C and an arm for transferring only substrates of a specific row (odd rows) among a plurality of substrates on one frame 156. Has structural features. By using a transfer robot having such structural features, it is possible to make the work space according to the substrate alignment more compact and simple.

Meanwhile, the alignment unit 130 includes a stage 132 on which carriers C transferred by the transfer robot 150 are placed, a lifting device 134 for lifting the stage 132, and a carrier C. Two substrate holding members 136 for supporting the substrates therein and an inverting motor 137 for inverting the substrate holding members 136.

The carriers C are transferred to the alignment unit 130 by the transfer robot 150 and are disposed directly above the second opening 132a of the stage 132. A substrate holding member 136 is disposed below the second opening 132a formed in the stage 132, and the second opening 132a is disposed in the substrate holding member 136 when the stage 132 is lowered. It is structured so that they can pass through.

The stage 132 is lowered by the elevating device from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 8 to the position indicated by the dashed line. The elevating device 134 includes a screw rod 134a and a driving unit 134b for rotating the screw rod 134a forward and backward. The drive unit 134b has a conventional configuration consisting of a rotating motor, a drive pulley, a timing belt, and a driven pulley. As the stage 132 descends, the carrier C on the stage also descends, and the substrates stored in each carrier are supported by 25 substrate holding members 136.

The substrate holding member 136 is provided with grooves 136a for supporting 25 substrates. The substrate holding member 136 is provided with an inversion motor 137 for rotating the substrate holding member to reverse the substrates. On the other hand, the substrate holding member 136 is horizontally moved in the Y axis direction.

The substrate alignment system 120 of the present invention having such a configuration implements the function of transferring the carrier C, and the function of holding only substrates of a specific row at the time of inversion of the substrate in one transfer robot. In addition, the substrate alignment system of the present invention has been implemented to perform the operation of separating the substrates from the carrier, and the operation of inverting the substrates separated from the carrier in one place. Accordingly, the substrate alignment system of the present invention can make the work space for surface-to-face alignment so that the polishing surfaces (surfaces) of the neighboring substrates face each other can be more compact and simpler. In addition, the operation time can be shortened by separating the substrates from the carrier and inverting only a specific row of substrates from the separated substrates in one place.

Next, the substrate alignment process in the substrate alignment system of the present invention will be described sequentially with reference to the drawings.

7 and 8, carriers C are placed on the loader unit 122, and the transfer robot 150 moves the carriers C to the stage 132 of the alignment unit. In order to separate the substrates from the carriers, the alignment unit 130 lowers the stage 132 from the solid line position of FIG. 8 to a position indicated by a dashed line. Then, the substrates W are withdrawn from each carrier while being supported by each substrate holding member 136 (shown in FIG. 9). The two groups of substrates withdrawn from each of the carriers C are shown. The substrate holding members are horizontally moved from the position of FIG. 10A to the position of FIG. 10B so that the fields 25 substrates are closely aligned with the pitch spacing L of the carrier. In this state, the second chucking arm 160 of the transfer robot 150 chucks the odd rows of substrates and then rises above the predetermined height to stand by (see FIGS. 11 and 12). The members 136 are rotated 180 degrees by the inversion motor 137 while supporting only even-numbered substrates among the 50 sheets. (FIG. 13) When the rotation of the substrate holding member 136 is completed, The second chucking arm 160 of the transfer robot 150 descends to lower the odd rows of substrates onto the substrate holding member 136. (Figure 14)

Through this process, surface-to-face alignment is performed on the substrate holding member 136 such that surfaces of adjacent substrates face each other. The 50 substrates aligned face to face are collectively transferred to each processing unit of the process unit by the process robot 112. The 50 substrates that have been processed are placed on the substrate holding members 136 by the process robot 112, and the 50 substrates placed on the substrate holding members are each carrier in the reverse order of the above-described steps. Housed in.

In such an alignment operation, after performing the inversion operation of the substrates first, the horizontal movement of the substrate holding members may be performed. In order to preferentially perform the inversion operation of the substrates rather than the horizontal movement of the substrate holding members, it is necessary to change the structure of the second chucking arm of the transfer robot 150.

As shown in FIG. 15, the second chucking arm 160 is formed with first slots and second slots to hold the substrates from the substrate holding members (shown in FIG. 10A) prior to horizontal movement.

As such, the substrate alignment system of the present invention can perform the operation of separating the substrates from the carrier and the operation of face-to-face alignment so that the surfaces of the substrates face each other in one place. The present invention is characterized by having a transfer robot equipped with an arm for transferring a carrier and an arm for transferring only substrates of a specific row. In addition, the present invention is characterized in that the substrate holding member used to separate the substrate from the carrier is reversed.

In this embodiment, the alignment of 50 substrates at one time has been described as an example, but this is only an example, and the substrate alignment system according to the present invention may align 25 substrates, of course.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the substrate alignment system according to the present invention is shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, but this is only an example, and various changes and modifications are possible within the scope without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Of course.

As described above, according to the present invention, a work space in which face-to-face alignment is arranged so that the polishing surfaces (surfaces) of neighboring substrates face each other can be made more compact and simpler.

In addition, the operation time can be shortened by separating the substrates from the carrier and inverting only a specific row of substrates from the separated substrates in one place.

Claims (16)

In a transfer robot used when aligning substrates to transfer substrates from a carrier in which a plurality of substrates are received at equal pitch intervals to a processing unit: A base; A shaft installed on the base to be movable in a vertical axis; A frame moved up and down along the shaft; A pair of first chucking arms mounted to said frame and for gripping a carrier; A pair of second chucking arms mounted to the frame and for holding a plurality of substrates separated from the carrier. The method of claim 1, And the first chucking arm and the second chucking arm have different heights installed on the frame. The method of claim 1, And the second chucking arm has slots for supporting only a particular row of substrates among the substrates separated from the carrier. The method of claim 1, And the shaft is rotatable. The method of claim 1, The frame is a transfer robot, characterized in that the opening is formed in which the carrier or substrate is located. The method of claim 5, wherein And each of the pair of first chucking arms and the pair of second chucking arms face each other with the opening therebetween to chuck a carrier or a plurality of substrates positioned at the opening. A system for aligning substrates during a process of transferring the substrates from a carrier in which a plurality of substrates are received at equal pitch intervals to a processing unit: A stage having a through hole formed at a position where the carrier is placed; A substrate holding member having slots positioned on the through hole and supporting a plurality of substrates stored in the carrier; A member for elevating the stage such that a plurality of substrates supported by the substrate holding member are separated from the carrier; A transfer robot for loading / unloading the carrier to / from the stage and for holding a particular row of substrates among the substrates supported by the substrate holding member; And a rotating device for inverting the substrates remaining in the substrate holding member by 180 degrees. The method of claim 7, wherein The transfer robot A pair of first chucking arms for gripping the carrier; And a pair of second chucking arms for gripping the substrates. The method of claim 8, And the second chucking arm has first slots capable of holding only even or odd rows of substrates among a plurality of substrates. The method of claim 8, The transfer robot A first driving part for driving the pair of first chucking arms; And a second driver for driving the pair of second chucking arms. The method of claim 8, The transfer robot A base; A shaft installed on the base to be movable in a vertical axis; And a frame which is moved up and down along the shaft and on which the first chucking arm and the second chucking arm are installed. The method of claim 11, And the shaft is rotatable. The method of claim 11, And said first chucking arm and said second chucking arm are of different heights mounted on said frame. The method of claim 11, A first opening is formed in the frame, When the transfer robot transports the carrier, the carrier is located in the first opening, And the substrate holding member is positioned at the first opening when the transfer robot grips the substrate. The method of claim 14, And the pair of first chucking arms and the pair of second chucking arms are opposite to each other with the first opening therebetween to chuck the carrier or substrate positioned at the first opening. system. The method of claim 7, wherein The separating member is And an elevating device that separates the substrates from the carrier by lowering the stage.