KR20050073943A - Apparatus for transfer a semiconductor substrate and equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

At the end of the transfer arm, a 'Y' or 'V' shaped support is extended, the first end of the support is provided with a light emitting portion, and the second end of the support is provided with a light receiving portion. Heaters are attached to the first and second ends, respectively, to heat the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion. By placing a heater on the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion for detecting that the transfer arm is in proximity to the semiconductor, it is possible to prevent foreign substances such as chemical fumes from sticking to the sensor. Therefore, the semiconductor substrate can be accurately transported between the cassette and the process chamber in which the semiconductor substrates are stacked, thereby reducing the process error and increasing the production yield.

Description

A semiconductor substrate transfer device and a semiconductor substrate processing equipment having the same {APPARATUS FOR TRANSFER A SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND EQUIPMENT FOR MANUFACTURING A SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus and a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus capable of accurately transferring a semiconductor substrate between a cassette and a process chamber using a robot arm, and A semiconductor substrate processing facility.

Current research on semiconductor devices is progressing toward high integration, high reliability, and high performance in order to process more data in a short time.

In general, a semiconductor device is formed by repeatedly performing processes such as photographing, etching, deposition, diffusion, ion implantation, and metal deposition on a semiconductor substrate. Through the above processes, the semiconductor substrate is frequently flowed into and out of the process chamber maintained in a high vacuum state until it is manufactured into a semiconductor device.

A semiconductor substrate processing facility including a process chamber can be classified into a batch type and a single wafer type according to how many sheets of semiconductor substrates are loaded.

In the case of the batch type, since dozens of semiconductor substrates are put in one chamber, the process proceeds, so that in case of process failure, the dozens of semiconductor substrates are discarded.

In the case of sheet type, the production yield decreases because one semiconductor substrate is put in one chamber and the process proceeds. However, many semiconductor substrate processing facilities have recently been disposed because the semiconductor substrate is large-sized and suitable for critical processes. The trend is shifting from type to sheetfed. Hereinafter, a conventional sheet type semiconductor substrate processing equipment will be briefly described. Techniques for single wafer semiconductor substrate processing equipment are disclosed in many publications and are not described with reference to the sphere drawings.

The semiconductor processing equipment includes a cassette loading portion, a load lock chamber, a platform, and a process chamber. The cassette loading portion is installed adjacent to the load lock chamber, and the load lock chamber is installed adjacent to the platform. And a plurality of process chambers are installed around the platform. The first robot arm and flat zone aligner are disposed in the load lock chamber, and the second robot arm and stage are disposed in the platform.

The semiconductor substrates are stored in a cassette disposed inside the cassette loading portion. The semiconductor substrate stored in the cassette is conveyed between the load lock chamber and the cassette loading portion by the first robot arm.

The semiconductor substrate introduced into the load lock chamber is transferred to the flat zone aligner and aligned. When the load lock chamber is constructed in a vacuum state, the second robot arm transfers the semiconductor substrate disposed on the flat zone aligner into the platform.

In the platform, a stage for stacking a plurality of semiconductor substrates is installed, and a plurality of semiconductor substrates corresponding to the number of process chambers are stacked on the stage.

Next, the second robot arm moves vertically and rotationally to transfer the semiconductor substrates to the corresponding process chamber, and the semiconductor substrate is processed for the corresponding process in the process chamber.

When the predetermined process is completed in the process chamber, the second robot arm returns the semiconductor substrate from the process chamber to the stage of the platform.

When all the unit processes for the semiconductor substrates stacked on the stage are completed, the second robot arm transfers the semiconductor substrates from the platform to the load lock chamber, and the first robot arm transfers the semiconductor substrates transferred to the load lock chamber to a cassette. Return

Summarizing the foregoing, the semiconductor substrates are stacked on or taken out of the cassette by the first robot arm. The semiconductor substrates are then stacked on or taken out of the stage by the second robot arm.

As described above, in order for the first and second robot arms to accurately select and export the semiconductor substrate from the cassette or the stage, or to stack the semiconductor substrate in a desired space, the first and second robot arms must be able to accurately sense the semiconductor substrate.

In general, the first and second robot arms used an optical sensor to sense the position of the semiconductor substrate. An optical sensor was attached to the first and second robot arm ends, and when the light emitted from the optical sensor was interfered by the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate was recognized as present.

However, as described above, since the processes such as photographing, etching, deposition, diffusion, ion implantation, and metal deposition are repeatedly performed on the semiconductor substrate, chemical fumes remain frequently on the semiconductor substrate. As an example, a corrosive gas such as fluorine may remain on the semiconductor substrate after the etching process. As described above, the optical sensor of the robot arm transferring the semiconductor substrate in which the chemical fumes remain may be damaged by the fume. For example, the fume is stuck to the light emitting part or the light receiving part of the optical sensor, causing malfunction and deterioration of the optical sensor.

Therefore, the robot arm can carry out the wrong semiconductor substrate from the cassette or the support, and the semiconductor substrate can be laminated in the same space even though other semiconductor substrates are already stacked. As a result, the semiconductor substrate may be damaged or damaged, and even damage of the robot arm may be caused, resulting in huge losses in economic and time.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, one object of the present invention is to reduce the performance of the sensor due to the adhesion of foreign matter by heating the sensor for sensing the semiconductor substrate to a predetermined temperature It is to provide a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus that can be prevented.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor substrate processing equipment capable of accurately selecting and conveying a semiconductor substrate using a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus in which a sensor is heated to a predetermined temperature.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a lifter shaft which vertically elevates, an articulated transfer arm connected to an upper end of the lifter shaft, and an end portion of the transfer arm. And a support for supporting the semiconductor substrate from below, a sensor installed at an end of the support to sense the semiconductor substrate, and a heater disposed adjacent to the sensor to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the sensor. In this case, the support has a 'V' or 'Y' shape, and the sensor includes a light emitting portion provided at the first end of the support and a light receiving portion provided at the second end.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a process chamber in which a predetermined process is performed on a semiconductor substrate, a load lock chamber in which semiconductor substrates are stacked, and a load lock chamber and a process And a transfer unit in which a heater is disposed in the sensor for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the chambers and for detecting proximity to the semiconductor substrate.

According to the present invention, a heater may be disposed adjacent to a sensor of a transfer device for sensing a semiconductor substrate, thereby preventing foreign substances such as chemical fumes from being fixed to the sensor. As a result, the transfer device can accurately select and transport the semiconductor substrate and can arrange the semiconductor substrate at the correct position. As a result, breakage and damage of the semiconductor substrate are prevented and the production yield of the process is improved.

Example

1 is a plan view illustrating a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sensor illustrated in FIG. 1. A schematic enlarged view of portion 'A' of FIG. 1 to describe a and heater. In this case, in order to help the understanding of the present invention is shown in Figure 1 cut the support in the horizontal direction, Figure 2 shows a support that is not cut in the horizontal direction, Figure 3 is a heater attached to the support cut in the horizontal direction Shows where to be.

1 to 3, a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lifter shaft 110, a multi-joint transfer arm 120, a support 130, and a sensor 140 and a heater ( 150).

A cylinder (not shown) is connected to the lower portion of the lifter shaft 110. The lifter shaft 110 is elevated in the vertical direction by the cylinder. In this case, the lifter shaft 110 has a shape similar to a general cylinder rod and operates similar to the cylinder rod. The cylinder is not necessarily required for the lifter shaft 110 to move up and down. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the lifter shaft 110 may be lifted and rotated using a motor or gear. On the upper end of the lifter shaft 110, the articulated conveying arm 120 is disposed in the horizontal direction.

The articulated transfer arm 120 has at least two joints. One end of the articulated transfer arm 120 is pivotally connected to an upper end of the lifter shaft 110. Therefore, the articulated conveying arm 120 can rotate, expand and contract in a horizontal direction with respect to the lifter shaft 110. The support 130 is connected to the other end of the articulated transfer arm 120.

The support 130 is made of a plate having a 'V' or 'Y' shape. Support 130 has three ends. The first end 131 and the second end 132 of the support 130 are disposed in parallel to face each other, the third end 133 of the support 130 to the other end of the articulated transfer arm 120 Connected.

Sensors 140 are installed at the first and second ends 131 and 132 of the support 130. The sensor 140 is used to check whether the articulated transfer arm 120 is close to the semiconductor substrate W. FIG. The sensor 140 is preferably an optical sensor, and in some cases, a thermal sensor or an ultrasonic sensor may be used. In the present embodiment, the sensor 140 using light is described, but this does not limit or limit the present invention.

The sensor 140 includes a light emitter 141 and a light receiver 142. The light emitter 141 is installed at the first end 131 of the support 130, and the light receiver 142 is installed at the second end 132 of the support 130.

Light emitted from the light emitter 141 travels in a horizontal direction and is collected by the light receiver 142. If an object is disposed between the first end 131 and the second end 132 of the support 130, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 141 may interfere with the object and hardly be collected by the light receiving unit 142. Only a small amount of light is collected.

The transfer apparatus confirms whether or not the semiconductor substrate W is close by using the above-described interference phenomenon of light. However, even though the semiconductor substrate W is not adjacent between the first end 131 and the second end 132, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 141 may be hardly collected by the light receiving unit 142. . For example, the chemical used in the process may remain in a fume state on the semiconductor substrate W after a predetermined process is completed. When the transfer device transfers the semiconductor substrate W in which the chemical fumes remain, the chemical fume may be buried or adhered to the sensor 140 of the transfer device. Of course, the reliability of the sensor 140 is lowered and may even cause malfunction of the transfer device. Preventing this In the present embodiment, the heater 150 is used to prevent foreign substances such as chemical fumes from sticking to the sensor 140.

The heater 150 is embedded in the first and second ends 131 and 132 of the support 130 or disposed adjacent to the first and second ends 131 and 132. In more detail, the heater 150 is disposed in the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit 141, 142, respectively. The heater 150 may be disposed above, below, or around the light emitter and the light receiver 141 and 142. In this case, it is important to arrange the heater 150 so as not to disturb the progress of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 141 and to prevent the light from being collected in the light receiving unit 142.

The heater 150 emits heat to heat the light emitting part and the light receiving parts 141 and 142. There are various types of heaters 150, which can be selected by those skilled in the art. In this embodiment, a tape heater 150 with a built-in hot wire is used. The tape type heater 150 having a built-in heating wire may have another name as a heat generating tape.

By adjusting the amount of electricity supplied to the heater 150, it is possible to adjust the amount of heat emitted from the heater 150. The heater 150 is connected to the controller 160 to control the amount of heat generated. The controller 160 controls the amount of heat generated by the heater 150 to heat the light emitter and the light receiver 141 and 143 to about 20 to 80 degrees.

The support 130 may be changed in shape depending on the type of the sensor 140. For example, when using the sensor 140 disposed at the same position as the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, or using a sensor such as an ultrasonic sensor instead of an optical sensor, the support 130 may have a rectangular shape. The shape of the support 130 may be selected by those skilled in the art according to the type of sensor 140. In all cases, however, the supporter 130 is installed with the heater 150 adjacent to the sensor 140.

Hereinafter, the conveyance apparatus which concerns on a present Example selects and conveys the semiconductor substrate W correctly, and demonstrates it in detail, for example.

When the semiconductor substrates W stacked on the cassette 170 are to be carried out one by one from the top, the lifter shaft 110 rises in the vertical direction. As the lifter shaft 110 ascends, the articulated transfer arm 120, including the support 130, is also raised. As a result, the support 130 is disposed at a position substantially equal to or slightly higher than the cassette 170. Next, the articulated transfer arm 120 rotates to extend in a horizontal direction to bring the support 130 into the cassette 170. The articulated transfer arm 120 may be extended even in the horizontal direction at the same time as the lifter shaft 110 is raised.

Looking down from the support 130 close to the cassette 170, one end of the semiconductor substrate W stacked on the cassette 170 is interposed between the first and second ends 131 and 132 of the support 130. The arrangement shape to be confirmed can be confirmed.

After the support 130 is close to the cassette 170, the lifter shaft 110 is lowered. As the lifter shaft 110 descends, the support 130 also descends. When the semiconductor substrate W is stacked on the cassette 170, the light of the sensor 140 is interfered with the semiconductor substrate W stacked on the top. In more detail, the light emitted from the light emitting portion 141 of the first first end 131 is collected by the light receiving portion 142 of the second end 132. As the support 130 descends, the support 130 is interfered by the semiconductor substrate W disposed under the support 130. Therefore, a small amount of light emitted from the light emitting part 141 is collected or hardly collected in the light receiving part 142. Accordingly, it can be seen that the semiconductor substrate W is positioned between the first end portion 131 and the second end portion 132.

By calculating the correlation between the point of time when the light of the sensor 140 interferes with the height of the lifter shaft 110, it is possible to determine which layer of the cassette 170 exists in the semiconductor substrate W. FIG.

In this example, only the case where the semiconductor substrates W stacked on the cassette 170 are sequentially taken out from the top will be described. However, the timing at which the light of the sensor 140 is interrupted and the height of the lifter shaft 110 are adjusted. In the calculation, it is obvious that the semiconductor substrate W at the desired position may be checked and only the semiconductor substrate W may be selected.

The lifter shaft 110 descends until the topmost semiconductor substrate W no longer interferes with the light of the sensor 140. At this time, the support 130 is located below the semiconductor substrate (W).

Thereafter, the articulated transfer arm 120 extends further in the horizontal direction to place the support 130 under the semiconductor substrate W. The lifter shaft 110 then rises to lift the semiconductor substrate W onto the support 130. The articulated conveyance arm 120 contracts in the horizontal direction to carry out the semiconductor substrate W from the cassette 170 and then conveys the semiconductor substrate W to the position.

As described above, the semiconductor substrates W stacked on the cassette 170 may be sequentially transported from the top to the bottom. First, after confirming that the semiconductor substrate W is present at a desired position of the cassette 170, an accurate conveyance process may be performed by carrying out the semiconductor substrate W. FIG. In this case, the first and second ends 131 and 132 of the support 130 are heated and warmed to a predetermined temperature by the heater 150. Therefore, the malfunction of the sensor 140 installed in the first and second end portions 131 and 132 is prevented and the process efficiency is increased.

In further development, when the controller 160 receives information from the sensor 140 that the semiconductor substrate W does not exist at the corresponding position of the cassette 170, the controller 160 may warn that a process error has occurred. Furthermore, after confirming that a process error occurs, the controller 160 may stop the process or generate a warning signal. The controller 160 is connected to the sensor 140, the articulated transfer arm 120, and the lifter shaft 110, and the like, and according to the signal measured from the sensor 140, the articulated transfer arm 120 and the lifter shaft ( 110) Furthermore, the progress of the process can be controlled.

When the semiconductor substrate W is stacked on the cassette 170, the reverse operation is performed as described above. The lifter shaft 110 rises in the vertical direction to place the support 130 at a position substantially equal to or slightly higher than the cassette 170. Next, the articulated transfer arm 120 extends in the horizontal direction to bring the support 130 to the cassette 170. The lifter shaft 110 then descends and inspects the cassette 170 as a whole. The sensor 140 transmits information to the controller 160 about which layer of the cassette 170 is not present in the semiconductor substrate (W). The controller 160 determines a position at which the semiconductor substrates W are stacked based on the information. Thereafter, the controller 160 controls the lifter shaft 110 and the articulated transfer arm 120 to bring the support 130 on which the semiconductor substrate W is mounted to the corresponding position of the cassette 170. Thereafter, the support 130 is inserted into the cassette 170, and then the support 130 is lowered to stack the semiconductor substrate W at a corresponding position of the cassette 170.

When the semiconductor substrate W is first taken out from the cassette 170, when the controller 160 stores information on a position where the semiconductor substrate W is taken out of the cassette 170, the cassette 170 is inspected as a whole. The process of making it can be skipped.

As described above, the sensor 140 of the support 130 is used both when the semiconductor substrate (W) is carried out or stacked from the cassette 170. The heater 150 may be disposed on the support 130 to prevent foreign substances such as chemical fumes from being adhered to the sensor 140. Therefore, the reliability of the sensor 140 is increased and the process efficiency is also increased.

Example

4 is a schematic view for explaining a semiconductor substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the semiconductor substrate processing facility includes a cassette loading unit 270, a load lock chamber 280, a process chamber 290, and a transfer device 200.

The cassette loading unit 270 is connected to the load lock chamber 280, and a plurality of process chambers 290 are connected around the load lock chamber 280.

A first gate 281 is installed between the load lock chamber 280 and the cassette loading unit 270, and a second gate 281 is installed between the load lock chamber 280 and the process chamber 290.

The load lock chamber 280 and the cassette loading part 270 are selectively communicated through the first gate 281, and the load lock chamber 280 and the process chamber 290 are selectively communicated through the second gate 282. Communicating.

The transfer device 200 is disposed inside the load lock chamber 280. The conveying device 200 includes a lifter shaft 210, an articulated conveying arm 220, a support 230, and a sensor 240 and a heater 250. Since the transfer apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment is substantially the same as the semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus of the above embodiment, the overlapping description is omitted.

A plurality of cassettes 271 are disposed in the cassette loading unit 270. The cassette 271 is made of a multilayer and the semiconductor substrates W are stacked and stored.

The stage 283 similar to the cassette 271 is disposed in the load lock chamber 280. The semiconductor substrates W to be provided to the process chamber 290 are stored aligned with the stage 283 of the load lock chamber 280. In addition, the semiconductor substrates W having a predetermined process in the process chamber 290 are stored in the stage 283.

In the process chamber 290, processes such as etching, deposition, and diffusion of the semiconductor substrate W are performed. The interior of the process chamber 290 is created in a vacuum state. In order to maintain the inside of the process chamber 290 in a vacuum state, the interior of the load lock chamber 280 connected to the process chamber 290 is maintained at or below the pressure inside the process chamber 290.

Hereinafter, a semiconductor substrate processing process using the semiconductor substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

A plurality of semiconductor substrates W are stacked on the plurality of cassettes 271 disposed in the cassette loading unit 270. Preferably, as many semiconductor substrates W as the number of process chambers 290 are stacked in one cassette 271.

When the first gate 281 is opened, the transfer device 200 rotates and expands in the horizontal direction to approach the cassette 271. Thereafter, the conveying apparatus 200 is vertically raised to be disposed at a position slightly higher than the cassette 271. Then, the existence and position of the semiconductor substrate W stacked on the cassette 271 are checked while descending in the vertical direction. In this case, the transfer apparatus 200 operates almost the same as the semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus of the above-described embodiment and checks the existence and position of the semiconductor substrate W.

Operation of the transfer device 200 will be briefly described again. The sensor 240 installed on the support 230 of the transfer device 200 irradiates light in a horizontal direction. As the lifter shaft 210 of the transfer device 200 descends, the light emitted from the sensor 240 is first interfered by the semiconductor substrate W stacked on top of the cassette 271. From the point where the light emitted from the sensor 240 interferes and the height of the lifter shaft 210 at the point in time, it is possible to know where the semiconductor substrate W is stacked at the cassette 271. The transfer apparatus 200 is sequentially carried out from the semiconductor substrate W stacked on the top of the cassette 271 and stacked on the stage 283 of the load lock chamber 280.

After all the semiconductor substrates W stacked on one cassette 271 are transferred to the stage 283, the first gate 281 is closed. After the first gate 281 is closed, the interior of the load lock chamber 280 is formed in a quasi vacuum state. The reason for forming the inside of the load lock chamber 280 in a semi-vacuum state is to maintain the pressure inside the process chamber 290 which is already formed in a high vacuum state.

When the inside of the load lock chamber 280 is formed in a quasi-vacuum state, the second gate 282 is opened, and the transfer device 200 transfers the semiconductor substrates W stacked on the stage 283 to the corresponding process chamber 290. To each). In this case, the transfer apparatus 200 carries out the semiconductor substrate W from the stage 283 in the same manner as the method of carrying out the semiconductor substrate W from the cassette 271.

When the predetermined process for the semiconductor substrate W is completed in the process chamber 290, the transfer device 200 may transfer the semiconductor from the process chamber 290 in the reverse order of providing the semiconductor substrate W to the process chamber 290. The substrate W is taken out. The transfer apparatus 200 returns the semiconductor substrate W to the position of the initial stage 283. In this case, regardless of the type of process performed in the process chamber 290, the transfer device 200 operates correctly. This is because, as described in the above embodiment, the heater 250 is disposed in the sensor 240 of the transfer apparatus 200 for confirming the existence and position of the semiconductor substrate W.

The heater 250 continuously heats the sensor 240 of the transfer device 200 to a predetermined temperature. Therefore, the chemical gas or the fume leaked from the process chamber 290 to the load lock chamber 280 is not fixed to the sensor 240 of the transfer device 200. In addition, even if chemical fumes remain on the semiconductor substrate W, the semiconductor substrate W may be transferred to the sensor 240 of the transfer device 200 while transferring the semiconductor substrate W from the load lock chamber 280 to the chemical loading unit 270. The chemical fume can be prevented from sticking. Therefore, the desired semiconductor substrate W can be accurately selected among the plurality of semiconductor substrates W, and the semiconductor substrate W can be accurately conveyed to a desired position. Thus, process errors are reduced and production yields are increased.

According to the present invention, by attaching a heater to the sensor of the transfer device for sensing the semiconductor substrate it is possible to prevent foreign matters such as chemical fume adhere to the sensor to prevent the sensor from malfunctioning. Therefore, the transfer apparatus can accurately select the desired semiconductor substrate and transfer it to the correct position. As a result, process errors are reduced and production yields are increased.

As described above, although described with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art various modifications and variations of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below You will understand that it can be changed.

1 is a plan view illustrating a semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view for explaining the semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic enlarged view of portion 'A' of FIG. 1 to describe the sensor and the heater shown in FIG. 1.

4 is a schematic view for explaining a semiconductor substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

110, 210: Lifter shaft 120, 220: Articulated arm

130, 230: support 131: first end

132: second end 140, 240: sensor

141: light emitting part 142: light receiving part

150, 250: Heater 160: Controller

170, 271: cassette 200: feeder

270: cassette loading part 280: load lock chamber

281 ： first gate 282 ： second gate

283: Stage 290: Process chamber

Claims (9)

A transfer unit for transferring the semiconductor substrate; A drive unit for providing a driving force to the transfer unit; A sensor unit installed at one end of the transfer unit to sense that the transfer unit is in proximity to the semiconductor substrate; And And a heater disposed in the transfer unit adjacent to the sensor to heat the sensor. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transfer unit comprises: a transfer arm connected to the driving unit to move in a vertical direction and rotate in a horizontal direction; And a support having a “Y” or “V” shape and extending in a horizontal direction from one end of the transfer arm to contact the bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate. The sensor unit includes a light emitting portion provided at the first end of the support and a light receiving portion provided at the second end of the support so as to face the light emitting portion, And the heaters are disposed at the first and second ends, respectively. The semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heater comprises a heating tape in which a heating wire is embedded. The semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit comprises an optical sensor. The semiconductor substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive unit comprises a cylinder for providing vertical movement force to the transfer unit and a motor for providing rotational force to the transfer unit. A process chamber for performing a predetermined process on the semiconductor substrate; A load lock chamber connected to the process chamber to store a semiconductor substrate; And And a transfer device for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the load lock chamber and the process chamber, the heater being disposed adjacent to a sensor for sensing proximity to the semiconductor substrate. The method of claim 6, wherein the transfer device A transfer unit for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the load lock chamber and the process chamber; A drive unit for providing a driving force to the transfer unit; A sensor unit installed at one end of the transfer unit to sense that the transfer unit is in proximity to the semiconductor substrate; And And a heater disposed in said transfer unit adjacent said sensor for heating said sensor. The transfer apparatus of claim 7, wherein the transfer unit comprises: a transfer arm connected to the driving unit to move in a vertical direction and rotate in a horizontal direction; And a support having a “Y” or “V” shape and extending in a horizontal direction from one end of the transfer arm to contact the bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate. The sensor unit includes a light emitting portion provided at the first end of the support and a light receiving portion provided at the second end of the support so as to face the light emitting portion, And said heater is disposed at said first and second ends, respectively. 8. The semiconductor substrate processing facility of claim 7, further comprising a cassette disposed inside the load lock chamber and stacking and storing the semiconductor substrate.