KR101530357B1 - equipment front end module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a facility front end module. The facility front end module of the present invention comprises: a container containing portion in which a container accommodating substrates is placed; A frame disposed between the container storage section and the process facility and provided with a transfer robot for transferring the substrate between the process facility and the container placed on the container storage section; A fan filter unit disposed above the frame for blowing clean air over the substrate; Exhaust lines installed under the frame to exhaust polluted air in the frame; And a cyclone module installed on the exhaust line to increase the flow velocity of the exhaust air passing through the exhaust line by pressure reduction due to an increase in the flow rate of the purge gas provided from the outside using the Bernoulli principle; The cyclone module includes: a cylindrical body having an inlet and an outlet; An inner cylinder provided to be spaced apart from the inner side of the cylindrical body and providing a buffer space into which the purge gas flows; A cyclone ring block provided at a lower end of the inner cylinder and having injection openings curved on the outer side so that the purge gas flowing through the buffer space of the inner cylinder is discharged like a whirl toward the outlet of the body; And a supply port for supplying the purge gas into the buffer space.

Description

≪ Desc / Clms Page number 1 > equipment front end module &

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to a facility front end module for transferring wafers into a process facility.

Generally, a gas used in a process chamber or a load lock chamber of semiconductor manufacturing remains on the wafer and can be discharged to the atmosphere. This residual gas can diffuse into the load lock chamber and the equipment front end module (EFEM) and react with moisture in the atmosphere to produce certain byproducts.

Such by-products are adsorbed on the equipment installed inside the front end module of the equipment, and the equipment is corroded. In addition, some of the byproducts contain harmful components to the human body, which may cause a health problem of the operator when the effluent flows out to the front end module of the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facility front end module capable of quickly removing internal fumes and residual gas to maintain internal cleanliness.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited thereto, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container manufacturing apparatus comprising: a container containing part in which a container accommodating substrates is placed; A frame disposed between the container storage section and the process facility and provided with a transfer robot for transferring the substrate between the process facility and the container placed on the container storage section; A fan filter unit disposed above the frame for blowing clean air over the substrate; Exhaust lines installed under the frame to exhaust polluted air in the frame; And a cyclone module installed on the exhaust line to increase the flow velocity of the exhaust air passing through the exhaust line by pressure reduction due to an increase in the flow rate of the purge gas provided from the outside using the Bernoulli principle; The cyclone module includes: a cylindrical body having an inlet and an outlet; An inner cylinder provided to be spaced apart from the inner side of the cylindrical body and providing a buffer space into which the purge gas flows; A cyclone ring block provided at a lower end of the inner cylinder and having injection openings curved on the outer side so that the purge gas flowing through the buffer space of the inner cylinder is discharged like a whirl toward the outlet of the body; And a supply port for supplying the purge gas into the buffer space.

The facility front end module may further include an interface chamber connected to a frame of a facility front end module adjacent to the one side of the frame, and an interface exhaust line connected to the exhaust line may be provided at the bottom of the interface chamber .

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the cleanliness of the inside of the frame can be maintained by quickly removing the fumes or residual gas by the cyclone module installed in the exhaust line.

1 is a perspective view for explaining a facility front end module according to the present invention.
2 is a front view of the equipment front end module shown in FIG.
3 is a perspective view of the cyclone module shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig.
4 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the cyclone module.
5 is a top cross-sectional view of the cyclone module.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each drawing has been partially or exaggerated for clarity. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the respective drawings, the same constituent elements are shown to have the same reference numerals as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

(Example)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a facility front end module according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the facility front end module shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

1 and 2, a facility front end module 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is positioned in front of a process facility (not shown), and the process facility is connected to a load lock chamber (not shown) (Not shown) for performing the process of FIG. For example, the process chamber may be a chamber that performs processes such as chemical vapor deposition, etching, photo, measurement, or cleaning processes.

The facility front end module 10 has a container 100 and a frame 200 in which the container 20 is placed and a container 200 in which the interior is maintained at a high cleanliness level. And transports the wafers between the container 20 and the process facility.

The container 20 is a sealed container 20 having a door so that external air is not introduced into the container 20. For example, a front open unified pod (FOUP) may be used as the container 20.

The container storage portion 100 has a generally flat upper surface and is coupled to the frame 200 in front of the frame 200. One or a plurality of container storage units 100 may be provided. The container 20 may be placed on the container storage unit 100 by a transfer device and the transfer device may be an overhead transfer (OHT), an overhead conveyor (OHC) an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) may be used.

The frame 200 is positioned between the process equipment and the container storage unit 100 and is disposed inside the frame 200 to transfer the containers 20 placed on the container storage unit 100 and the transfer robot 280 may be disposed one or more than one.

The frame 200 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape and a fan filter unit 300 is installed at an upper portion of the frame 200 to form a downward flow in the frame 200. The fan filter unit 300 includes a blowing fan that is rotated by a motor (not shown) and blows air downward in the frame 200, a filter that filters contaminants from air introduced into the frame 200, And an ionizer for removing static electricity in the air introduced into the frame 200 through the filter.

At the lower portion of the frame 200, exhaust lines 400 for discharging contaminated air containing residual gas in the frame 200 are installed. The exhaust line 400 is connected to a main exhaust line 40 installed in the lighting floor 30. For example, the residual gas may include a reactive gas such as BCl3, Cl2, HBr, CF4, CHF3, and the like and gas fumes, and may be introduced into the frame 200 by the substrate unloaded through the process chamber . The exhaust line 400 may be provided with a heating jacket 410 for heating exhaust air.

On the exhaust line 400, a cyclone module 500 is installed. The cyclone module 500 uses the Bernoulli principle to increase the flow rate of the exhaust air passing through the exhaust line 400 to the main exhaust line 40 by reducing the pressure due to the increase of the flow rate of the purge gas supplied from the outside Lt; / RTI >

On the other hand, the facility front end module 10 is provided with an interface chamber 600 on one side of the frame 200. The interface chamber 600 is connected to the frame 200 of another adjacent facility front end module 10-1. The interface chamber 600 may be a space for loading and unloading a substrate between the apparatus front end modules 10 and 10-1, and a buffer unit may be provided in which the substrate is received. On the other hand, an interface exhaust line 610 connected to the exhaust line 400 is provided at the bottom of the interface chamber 600.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cyclone module shown in Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the cyclone module, and Fig. 5 is a top cross-sectional view of the cyclone module.

3 to 5, the cyclone module 500 includes a body 510, an inner cylinder 520, a cyclone ring block 530, and a supply port 540.

The body 510 may be cylindrical in shape with an inlet 512 and an outlet 514. A supply port 540 is provided at an upper portion of the body 510. The supply port 530 supplies the purge gas into the buffer space 522 between the body 510 and the inner cylinder 520. The purge gas may be nitrogen gas or CDA (clean dry air). The supply port 540 may be obliquely installed in the body 510 so that the purge gas is supplied to the buffer space 522.

The inner cylinder 520 is formed in a cylindrical shape spaced apart from the inner surface of the body 510. Between the inner cylinder 520 and the body 510 is provided a buffer space 522 into which the purge gas is introduced and an upper portion of the buffer space 522 is closed and a cyclone ring block 530 is provided below the inner space.

The cyclone ring block 530 is installed in the inner tube 520 to be positioned below the buffer space 522. The cyclone ring block 530 is in the form of a ring. The injection holes 532 are formed on the outer surface of the cyclone ring block 530. The injection openings 532 are curved such that the purge gas flowing through the buffer space 522 of the inner cylinder 520 is discharged as a whirl toward the outlet 514 of the body 510.

That is, the purge gas flows into the buffer space 522 through the supply port 530 and is discharged through the injection ports 532 of the cyclone ring block 530 to increase the flow velocity of the exhaust air passing through the body 510 .

The cyclone module 500 flows a purge gas into the body 510 through the cyclone ring block 530 in the form of a cyclone.

As described above, the exhaust of the apparatus front end module 10 inside the frame 200 is performed as follows. Clean air flows into the frame 200 through the fan filter unit 300 installed on the upper part of the frame 200 and is exhausted through the exhaust lines 400 at the lower part of the frame together with the contaminated air inside the frame. In the process of discharging exhaust air through the exhaust lines 400, the flow rate of the exhaust gas is increased by the cyclone module 500 on the exhaust line 400, so that the contaminated air inside the frame 200 can be discharged more quickly.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

10: Facility front end module 200: Frame
500: Cyclone module 510: Body
520: Cyclone wing 530: Supply port

Claims (2)

An apparatus front end module comprising:
A container containing part in which a container accommodating substrates is placed;
A frame disposed between the container storage section and the process facility and provided with a transfer robot for transferring the substrate between the process facility and the container placed on the container storage section;
A fan filter unit disposed above the frame for blowing clean air over the substrate;
Exhaust lines installed under the frame to exhaust polluted air in the frame;
A cyclone module installed on the exhaust line to increase a flow velocity of exhaust air passing through the exhaust line by a pressure decrease due to an increase in flow rate of purge gas provided from the outside using the Bernoulli principle; And
And an interface chamber connected to a frame of a facility front end module adjacent to one side of the frame,
An interface exhaust line connected to the exhaust line is provided at the bottom of the interface chamber,
The cyclone module
A cylindrical body having an inlet and an outlet;
An inner cylinder provided to be spaced apart from the inner side of the cylindrical body and providing a buffer space into which the purge gas flows;
A supply port for supplying the purge gas into the buffer space;
And a plurality of openings formed at the lower end of the inner cylinder so as to be positioned between the buffer space and the outlet and having injection openings curved on the outer side so that the purge gas flowing through the buffer space of the inner cylinder is discharged as a whirl toward the outlet Comprising a cyclone ring block,
Wherein the buffer space is clogged at the top and the bottom is provided with the cyclone ring block.
delete

Images