KR20040063469A - Wafer cassette loading unloading equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wafer cassette loading unloading equipment is provided to prevent a wafer from being contaminated or broken by previously determining whether a FOUP(front opening unified pad) adhesion unit is smoothly adhered to a guide of an entrance and whether a gap is formed between the FOUP adhesion unit and the entrance. CONSTITUTION: An equipment body is mounted on a side of process equipment(140). A load part(130) protrudes to a side direction of the equipment body by a predetermined distance so as to place a FOUP. An entrance(110) is formed on a surface of the equipment body so that a wafer in the FOUP can be transferred to the inside of the process equipment. A guide(112) guides the FOUP so that the FOUP can be adhered to the process equipment, mounted on the edge of the entrance. The FOUP placed in the load part is closely adhered to the guide by using a transfer tray(131) installed in the load part. When the FOUP is transferred and adhered to the entrance, an adhesion detecting unit is installed over the guide to detect whether the FOUP is closely adhered to the guide and whether a gap is formed between the FOUP and the guide.

Description

Wafer cassette loading unloading equipment

The present invention relates to a hermetic wafer cassette loading / unloading facility (hereinafter referred to as EFEM (Equipment Front End Module)), and more specifically to a hermetic wafer cassette (hereinafter referred to as FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod)} The present invention relates to an EFEM capable of detecting whether the FOUP is smoothly contacted and whether a gap is generated between the FOUP and the EFEM in the process of being loaded and loaded into the entrance and exit of the EFEM.

Recently, due to the remarkable development of semiconductor manufacturing technology, a semiconductor device having a high integration density and a faster processing speed per unit area has been developed one after another because the circuit line width is much smaller than 1 μm.

However, semiconductor devices having such precise circuit widths are not only very sensitive to manufacturing but also have ultra-fine structures, and thus the yield and quality reliability of the semiconductor devices are rapidly influenced by minute particles or extremely small amounts of contamination.

Therefore, in manufacturing such a semiconductor device, it is very important to block and remove fine particles or trace amounts of contamination beforehand in order to maintain high product yield and high quality reliability.

Therefore, each process of manufacturing semiconductor devices and facilities that perform each process minimize the occurrence factors such as the fine particles and the very small amount of contamination generated from the inside, while preventing the fine particles and the small amount of contamination from the outside in advance. It maintains high product yield and high product reliability.

In particular, the semiconductor manufacturing system for manufacturing a semiconductor device using a wafer of 300 mm or more in recent years in the wafer cassette loading / unloading equipment for loading / unloading the wafer cassette as well as the wafer cassette for transporting the wafer to seal the inside from the outside Mini-environments are implemented to maintain high product yields and high product reliability.

For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing system that manufactures a semiconductor device using a wafer of 300 mm or more, a FOUP for sealing a wafer aligned inside from the outside with a door on the front surface and the FOUP is transferred to each process facility. If necessary, local cleaning is implemented using EFEM, which is installed on one side of each process facility to load / unload the FOUPs transferred in this way, while closing the inside of the FOUP from the outside while opening and closing the door of the FOUP.

At this time, in the case of EFEM, the rod part on which the FOUP is seated, the doorway formed so that the wafer in the seated FOUP can be transferred into the process equipment, the open unit for selectively opening and closing the door, and the rod part It is installed and equipped with a tray for moving and contacting the FOUP to the entrance and exit of the EFEM so that the wafer in the FOUP can be transferred to the inside of the process equipment in a sealed state from the outside, the FOUP with the wafer aligned is the transfer tray of the load unit When the seated FOUP is seated at the door, the seated FOUP is moved and adhered to the entrance of the EFEM by using a moving tray. Then, the door open unit opens the door of the contacted FOUP and transfers wafers in the FOUP into the process equipment. In addition, it prevents traces of contamination in advance and implements local cleaning.

However, such a conventional EFEM determines the movement and closeness of the FOUP by detecting the position of the moving tray with only one position sensor mounted on the rod in moving and contacting the FOUP to the entrance and exit of the EFEM. If the position sensor is not operated or malfunctions, the following process is often performed with a gap between the FOUP and the EFEM, and the wafer in the FOUP is moved. There is a problem that is easily contaminated due to the inflow of external air through.

In addition, when such a position sensor is not operated or malfunctions, the FOUP that is in close contact with the entrance of the EFEM often hits the entrance of the EFEM or closes at an inclined angle after hitting the entrance of the EFEM. Therefore, when the subsequent process proceeds in such a state, the wafer in the FOUP is slid or broken to one side while being loaded or transferred into the process equipment.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is whether or not the FOUP is smoothly adhered to the entrance and exit of the EFEM when the FOUP is loaded into the rod of the EFEM and then moved and adhered to the entrance and exit of the EFEM. It is to provide an EFEM that can detect in advance whether there is a gap between FOUP and EFEM.

1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a hermetic wafer cassette loading / unloading facility according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the sealed wafer cassette seated in the sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility according to the present invention.

3 is a plan view of a sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility in which the sealed wafer cassette shown in FIG. 2 is seated.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the sealed wafer cassette is moved close to the doorway by a predetermined distance in the sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility shown in FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

140: body 110: entrance

112: guide 114: contact sensor

130: load unit 131: moving tray

The present invention for achieving the above object is the installation body is mounted on one side of the process equipment, a rod portion protruded in a direction extending in one direction from the installation body so that the sealed wafer cassette is seated, the wafer in the sealed wafer cassette is the process An entrance formed on one side of the installation body to be transported into the facility, a guide formed at the edge of the entrance and guide the sealed wafer cassette so that the sealed wafer cassette adheres to the installation body, and installed in the rod In the sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility comprising a moving tray for closely contacting the sealed wafer cassette seated on the rod to the guide,

When the sealed wafer cassette is moved and adhered to the doorway, the guide is provided with a closeness detection means for detecting whether the sealed wafer cassette is in close contact with the guide and whether a gap is generated between the sealed wafer cassette and the guide. .

Preferably, the close contact detection means is mounted on the guide, characterized in that a plurality of contact sensors that are operated when pressed by the closed wafer cassette.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the EFEM 100 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in the figure, the EFEM 100, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is mounted on one side of a process facility (not shown) that performs a predetermined unit process, and loads / unloads the FOUP 80 from the outside. 80) Bar to close the inside while opening and closing the door (not shown) of the FOUP (80) bar, EFEM 100 of the present invention in the rectangular box (Box) -shaped equipment directly mounted on one side of the process equipment Body 140 is provided.

At this time, the outer side of the installation body 140 is formed with a rod portion 130 protruded by a predetermined distance extending in one direction from the installation body 140 so that the FOUP 80 is seated, the direction in which the rod portion 130 is formed On the outer surface of the installation body 140 of the entrance (110) is formed so that the wafer (not shown) in the FOUP (80) can be transferred into the process equipment, inside the installation body 140, the entrance 110 and the FOUP ( An entrance opening unit (not shown) for selectively opening and closing the door of the 80, a wafer transfer unit (not shown) for directly transferring a wafer in the FOUP 80 into the process facility, and an interior of the facility body 140. Fan filter unit (not shown) for filtering air and supplying clean air, wafer align unit (not shown) and EFEM (100) for aligning the supplied wafer in a specific direction. The central control unit (not shown) for controlling the overall is installed.

In more detail, the FOUP 80 is moved into the entrance 110 of the EFEM 100 so that the wafer in the FOUP 80 can be transferred into the process facility in a sealed state from the outside. A moving tray 131 for moving and contacting is installed, and a tray conveying unit (not shown) and a moving tray for moving the moving tray 131 in the front and rear directions according to the process progress in the rod part 130. When the FOUP 80 is mounted on the position sensor (not shown) and the movement tray 131 which detects the front and rear movement of the 131 and transmits the sensing data to the central control unit, the seated FOUP 80 is placed. A FOUP fixing unit (not shown) for arbitrarily fixing the bottom of the FOUP 80 seated to prevent slipping while being moved to the entrance 110 of the EFEM 100 is installed.

Here, a plurality of seating protrusions 132 fixed to the upper surface of the moving tray 131 in a state protruding a predetermined length in the upward direction, and a plurality of fixing protrusions 133 selectively protruding to the upper surface of the moving tray 131. When the FOUP 80 is seated on the moving tray 131, the FOUP 80 can be firmly fixed to the moving tray 131. At this time, the plurality of fixing protrusions 133 selectively protruding to the upper surface of the moving tray 131 is connected to the FOUP fixing unit, when the FOUP fixing unit wants to fix the moving tray 131 arbitrarily It selectively protrudes to an upper surface of 131 to fix the FOUP 80 to the moving tray 131.

On the other hand, the inside of the doorway 110 formed on the outer surface of the facility body 140 is connected to the doorway open unit, the door opener for selectively opening and closing the doors of the doorway 110 and the FOUP (80) according to the process progress 155 is installed, the edge portion of the one side (hereinafter referred to as the 'contact portion 85') that the door of the FOUP 80 is mounted on the edge portion of the doorway 110 of the outside of the doorway FOUP FOUP When the 80 is moved in the direction of the doorway 110, a guide plate 112 having a flat plate shape is formed to guide the FOUP 80 to be in close contact with the facility body 140.

In addition, the FOUP 80 is loaded on the rod part 130 of the installation body 140 on the flat plate-shaped guide 112 and then moved to and close to the entrance 110 of the installation body 140. Whether the close contact 85 of the 80 is in close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 and the gap between the close contact 85 of the FOUP 80 and the guide 112 of the doorway 110. It is provided with a close contact detection means that can detect whether or not in advance.

Therefore, the user can detect the movement state of the FOUP 80, such as whether the adhesion of the FOUP (80) and whether the gap is generated through such a closeness detection means, if the movement state as described above is detected in this movement state As a result, the process continues or pauses to solve such problems as wafer contamination and wafer broken.

At this time, the close contact detection means as described above can be implemented in various embodiments, in the present invention is implemented as a plurality of contact sensors 114 mounted on the guide 112 of the doorway 110 in one embodiment.

That is, a plurality of contact sensors 114 are installed on the guide 112 of the doorway 110, and the contact parts 114 of the contact doors 114 of the FOUP 80 are directed toward the doorway 110. When moved, it is operated while being pressed by the close contact portion 85 of the FOU (80) P to detect the moving state of the FOUP 80, such as whether the close contact of the FOUP 80 and whether the gap.

In detail, a plurality of contact sensors 114 are installed on the guides 112 of the doorway 110, and when the FOUP 80 is in close contact with the guides 112 of the doorway 110, a plurality of contacts are provided. Since the sensors 114 are all driven on, the central control unit is in close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 due to the on driving of the plurality of contact sensors 114. When the FOUP 80 does not come into close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 and generates a predetermined gap, the plurality of contact sensors 114 are all driven off. The control unit may detect that a predetermined gap is generated without the FOUP 80 being in close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 by the off driving of the plurality of contact sensors 114.

In addition, when the FOUP 80 is not in close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 but is inclined at an angle, the part of the plurality of contact sensors 114 is driven on and the other part is driven off. Bar, the central control unit is able to detect that the FOUP 80 is inclined at a predetermined angle without being in close contact with the guide 112 of the doorway 110 by the on / off mixed drive of the contact sensor 114. do.

In the above, reference numeral 82 denotes a handle 82 formed to allow the user to lift the FOUP 80, and reference numeral 84 denotes an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport, not shown) for automatically transferring the FOUP 80. It shows the engaging portion 84 formed to lift the FOUP (80).

Hereinafter, the operation and effects of the EFEM 100 which is an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail.

First, a plurality of wafers are aligned, and then the sealed tray 131 is installed on the rod 130 of the present invention EFEM 100 mounted on one side of the process equipment by OHT or a user (not shown). ), The FOUP fixing unit fixes the FOUP 80 to the moving tray 131 by using the fixing protrusion 133.

After the fixing of the FOUP 80 is completed, the tray transfer unit moves the moving tray 131 to bring the FOUP 80 seated on the moving tray 131 into close contact with the entrance 110 of the EFEM 100. . Thus, the FOUP 80 is in close contact with the entrance 110 of the EFEM 100.

Thereafter, the door open unit moves the door opener 155 to open the doors of the door 110 and the FOUP 80, and the wafer transfer unit opens the doors of the open door 110 and the FOUP 80. The wafer aligned in the FOUP 80 is transferred to the wafer alignment unit and then transferred back into the process facility, and the fan filter unit filters the air in the facility body 140 to supply clean air.

Thereafter, when the process is completed in the process equipment, the wafer transfer unit, the door opening unit, and the like are driven in the reverse order of the wafer transfer sequence as described above to unload the wafer, and the process is completed.

At this time, in the EFEM 100 according to the present invention, when the FOUP 80 is loaded on the rod 130 of the installation body 140 and then moved to and close to the doorway 110 of the installation body 140, the FOUP 80 is provided. Gap between the contact portion 85 of the FOUP 80 and the guide 112 of the entrance 110 and the contact 112 of the contact (85) is smoothly in close contact with the guide 112 of the entrance 110. Since there is provided a close contact detection means for detecting whether or not in advance, such as whether the user can detect the state of movement of the FOUP (80) such as whether the close contact of the FOUP (80) and whether the gap is generated through such close contact detection means. When the movement state is detected as described above, the process may be continued or paused according to the movement state to prevent problems such as wafer contamination or wafer broken in the related art.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiments, it is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and variations can be made therefrom. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

As described above, in the EFEM according to the present invention, if the FOUP is loaded into the rod of the installation body and then moved and adhered to the entrance of the installation body, whether the contact of the FOUP is closely adhered to the guide of the entrance and the adhesion of the FOUP. Since there is a close detection means for detecting whether there is a gap between the guide and the guide of the entrance and exit, the user can move the FOUP through the close detection means such as close contact between the FOUP and gap generation. When the movement state is detected as above, the process can be continued or paused according to this movement state to prevent the problems such as wafer contamination or wafer broken in the past. There is.

Claims (2)

A facility body mounted on one side of the process equipment, a rod portion protruded in one direction from the facility body so that the sealed wafer cassette is seated, and the wafer in the sealed wafer cassette can be transferred into the process equipment. An entrance formed on one surface of the installation body, a guide formed at an edge portion of the entrance and guide the sealed wafer cassette so that the sealed wafer cassette is in close contact with the installation body; In the sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility comprising a moving tray for closely holding the seated closed wafer cassette to the guide, On the guide, if the sealed wafer cassette is moved and adhered to the entrance and exit, there is a closeness detecting means for detecting whether the sealed wafer cassette is in close contact with the guide and whether a gap is generated between the sealed wafer cassette and the guide. Sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility, characterized in that provided. According to claim 1, wherein the closeness detection means A sealed wafer cassette loading / unloading facility, characterized in that it is mounted on the guide, the contact sensor being operated when pressed by the sealed wafer cassette.