KR20070070435A - Apparatus for transferring a substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate transfer apparatus is provided to properly control a driving motor which rotates a mapping arm by using a sensor detecting rotation of the mapping arm and a controller. A substrate transfer chamber(112) is located between a load port supporting a receptacle and a substrate processing module. A substrate transfer robot(118) is disposed in the substrate transfer chamber to transfer a substrate. A door opener(120) is disposed in the substrate transfer chamber to open and close a door of the receptacle. A first sensor has a light emitting portion(134a) and a light receiving portion(134b) for scanning the substrates received in the receptacle. Mapping arms(132a,132b) are rotatably installed on an upper portion of the door opener. A second sensor(144) detects positions of the mapping arms.

Description

Apparatus for transferring a substrate}

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate transfer apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view for explaining the mapping unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: semiconductor substrate 20: FOUP

22: FOUP door 102: substrate processing module

104: load lock chamber 110: substrate transfer device

112: substrate transfer chamber 112b: substrate transfer chamber door

116: fan filter unit 118: substrate transfer robot

120: door opener 130: mapping unit

130a: drive unit 132a: first mapping arm

132b: second mapping arm 134: first sensor

134a: light emitting portion 134b: light receiving portion

136: gear assembly 138: first sensor beam

142: blocking member 144: second sensor

146 control unit 148 second sensor beam

The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring a 300 mm semiconductor substrate such as an equipment fron end module (EFEM).

In general, a semiconductor device includes a fabrication (FAB) process for forming an electrical circuit on a silicon wafer used as a semiconductor substrate, a process for inspecting electrical characteristics of the semiconductor devices formed in the fab process, and the semiconductor device. They are each manufactured through a package assembly process for encapsulating and individualizing the epoxy resin.

The fab process includes a deposition process for forming a film on a semiconductor substrate, a chemical mechanical polishing process for planarizing the film, a photolithography process for forming a photoresist pattern on the film, and the photoresist pattern. An etching process for forming the film into a pattern having electrical characteristics, an ion implantation process for implanting specific ions into a predetermined region of the semiconductor substrate, a cleaning process for removing impurities on the semiconductor substrate, and the film or pattern It consists of unit processes, such as an inspection process for inspecting the surface of the formed semiconductor substrate.

Such semiconductor substrate processing processes are performed in a high vacuum state to prevent contamination of the semiconductor substrate. In addition, in order to improve the productivity of the semiconductor device, the semiconductor substrate processing facility includes a load lock chamber which is kept in a low vacuum state, a process chamber for performing a processing process, and a substrate transfer for transferring a semiconductor substrate between the load lock chamber and the process chamber. Chamber.

Recently, a facility for performing a processing process (for example, a deposition process, a dry etching process, and the like) of a semiconductor substrate having a diameter of 300 mm includes a semiconductor substrate in addition to a substrate processing module including a process chamber for performing the processing process. A load port for supporting a carrier for accommodating the material, namely a front opening unified pod (hereinafter referred to as 'FOUP'), and a substrate transfer device for transferring a semiconductor substrate between the load port and the load lock chamber. do. The substrate transfer apparatus includes a substrate transfer chamber connecting the load port and the load lock chamber, a substrate transfer robot disposed inside the substrate transfer chamber and transferring the semiconductor substrate between the FOUP and the load lock chamber, and supported by the load port. And a door opener for opening the door of the FOUP downward.

Here, the substrate transfer robot grips the substrates stored in the FOUP individually and transfers them to the load lock chamber. Therefore, a mapping step for acquiring the storage information of the substrates in the FOUP is necessary before the substrate transfer robot grips the substrate. A mapping device for performing the mapping step is installed on top of the door opener.

The mapping device may include a sensor including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit for scanning a storage state of semiconductor substrates stored in the FOUP when the door opener descends, a pair of mapping arms on which the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are mounted, respectively; And a driving part for providing a horizontal rotational force to the mapping arms, and a fixing pin for stopping the mapping arm in a predetermined position.

That is, the mapping arms which are rotated horizontally to be in the mapping ready state are forcibly blocked by the fixing pins. Accordingly, the motor of the drive unit is configured to idle in the state where the mapping arms are blocked by the fixing pins. This may act as a cause of damage to the motor or the accessory connected to the motor.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to detect the rotation of the mapping arm to stop the motor providing the rotational force in a predetermined position, the occurrence of failure in the mapping step is suppressed and the life of the substrate can be extended It is to provide a transfer device.

A substrate transfer apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is disposed between a load port for supporting a container for storing a plurality of substrates and a substrate processing module for processing the substrates and the substrates are transferred A substrate transfer chamber providing a space, a substrate transfer robot disposed in the substrate transfer chamber for transferring the substrates, a door opener disposed in the substrate transfer chamber for opening and closing the door of the container in a vertical direction; A first sensor including a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion for scanning the storage state of the substrates stored in the container while the door opener descends while opening the door of the container, and the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the first sensor are respectively mounted. And the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are disposed adjacent to the substrates stored in the open container. A pair of mapping arms rotatably disposed on top of the existing door opener, and a second sensor for sensing the positions of the mapping arms for positioning the mapping arms at predetermined positions adjacent to the substrates, respectively. do.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a driving unit for providing a driving force for rotating the mapping arms, a gear assembly for transmitting a driving force between the drive unit and the mapping arms so that the mapping arms rotate simultaneously, and the mapping arms It may further include a blocking member for blocking one of the mapping arms to limit the rotation, and a control unit for controlling the drive unit in accordance with the detection signal of the second sensor. In addition, the second sensor may include a proximity sensor embedded in the blocking member.

As described above, the rotation of the mapping arm is not forcibly cut off at the preset position by using the blocking member, and the mapping arm is moved to the position by using the proximity sensor embedded in the blocking member and a controller connected to the proximity sensor. It can be easily located at.

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 following embodiments and may be implemented in other forms. The embodiments introduced herein are provided to make the disclosure more complete and to fully convey the spirit and features of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of each device or film (layer) and regions has been exaggerated for clarity of the invention, and each device may have various additional devices not described herein.

Example

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a substrate transfer apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating the substrate transfer apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the substrate transfer apparatus 110 is connected to a substrate transfer chamber 112 and a side of the substrate transfer chamber 112 to block outside air during transfer of the semiconductor substrate 10. And a load port 114 for supporting the FOUP 20 for accommodating the plurality of semiconductor substrates 10, and disposed in an upper portion of the substrate transfer chamber 112 to clean the inside of the substrate transfer chamber 112. A fan filter unit 116 for supplying air and a substrate transfer robot 118 for transferring the semiconductor substrate 10 in the substrate transfer chamber 112.

On the other hand, the inside of the substrate transfer chamber 112 is provided with a door opener 120 for opening and closing the FOUP door 22 supported by the load port 114, the FOUP (20) is provided above the door opener 120 A mapping unit 130 for sensing the semiconductor substrates 10 loaded therein is provided.

The load lock chamber 104 of the substrate processing module 102 is connected to the other side of the substrate transfer chamber 112, and a differential pressure gauge (not shown) for measuring the differential pressure between the internal pressure and the external pressure of the substrate transfer chamber 112. ) Is provided on one side wall of the substrate transfer chamber 112. A plurality of through holes are formed in the bottom panel 112a of the substrate transfer chamber 112, and clean air supplied into the substrate transfer chamber 112 is discharged through the plurality of through holes.

When the FOUP 20 is loaded on the load port 114 and the FOUP door 22 is in close contact with the substrate transfer chamber door 112b, the FOUP door 22 and the substrate transfer chamber door 112b are connected to the door opener ( 120). Specifically, the door opener 120 is configured to move in the vertical direction by the first drive unit 120a connected to the lower portion thereof.

On the upper side of the door opener 120, a mapping unit 130 for performing mapping for confirming location information of the semiconductor substrates 10 accommodated in the FOUP 20 is performed. ) Is integrated with. Specifically, the mapping unit 130 has a pair of first mapping arms 132a and second mapping arms 132b. Light emitting units 134a and light receiving units 134b for scanning the storage states of the semiconductor substrates 10 are mounted at ends of the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b, respectively.

The first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b are adjacent to the semiconductor substrates 10 in which the light emitter 134a and the light receiver 134b are accommodated in the FOUP 20 opened by the door opener 120. Rotate horizontally to be placed or spaced apart. To this end, although not shown in detail, a drive unit 130a which provides a driving force for rotating the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b, the drive unit 130a and the first and second mapping arms. Gear assembly 136 is provided to transfer the driving force between 132a and 132b. Accordingly, the gear assembly 136 simultaneously rotates the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b by the driving force transmitted from the driving unit 130a. On the other hand, when the mapping is not performed, the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b are arranged in a linear standby state.

When the door opener 120 grips the FOUP door 22 to move downward to open the FOUP door 22, the first and second parts of the mapping unit 130 connected to an upper side of the door opener 120 may be moved. The second mapping arms 132a and 132b enter the FOUP 20 by horizontally rotating (eg, about 90 °) by the driving unit 130a from the above-described standby state. In this case, the light emitting portion 134a of the first mapping arm 132a and the light receiving portion 134b of the second mapping arm 132b are disposed adjacent to the semiconductor substrate 10 and positioned to face each other. Accordingly, the first sensor beam 138 irradiated from the light emitter 134a may be accurately received by the light receiver 134b.

Subsequently, the door opener 120 moves downward while holding the FOUP door 22, and the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b are lowered in conjunction with the door opener 120 while FOUP ( 20 is scanned from the uppermost slot (not shown) to the lowermost slot (not shown). Therefore, whether or not the semiconductor substrate 10 is stored in all slots in the FOUP 20 can be easily detected by the above-described mapping unit 130.

Meanwhile, a blocking member 142 is provided to limit the rotation of the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b that move after the FOUP door 22 is opened. The blocking member 142 may include a fixing pin disposed on a rotation path of one of the mapping arms 132a and 132b of the mapping arms 132a and 132b. For example, the fixing pin 142 may include a fixing pin. The body is installed on the rotation path of the first mapping arm 132a so as to protrude upward.

In addition, a second sensor 144 is installed to accurately position each of the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b at a preset position, that is, a mapping preparation position. For example, the second sensor 142 may be embedded in a groove formed on one side of the fixing pin 144 to face the first mapping arm 132a at the mapping preparation position. The second sensor 144 includes a proximity sensor. Examples of the proximity sensor include an ultrasonic sensor having a long detection distance and high reliability, an infrared sensor that detects a thermal change, or uses a reflector.

Although not shown in detail, the second sensor 144 and the driver 130a may be a controller 146 for controlling rotational driving to the mapping arms 132a and 132b according to a detection signal of the second sensor 144. )

Hereinafter, the function of the second sensor 144 will be described in more detail.

When the first mapping arm 132a approaches the mapping preparation position, the first mapping arm 132a is detected by the second sensor beam 148 irradiated from the embedded second sensor 144. The detection signal of the second sensor 144 is transmitted to the controller 146 connected to the driver 130a. Accordingly, the driving of the driving unit 130a is stopped by the control unit 146 so that the first and second mapping arms 132a and 132b can be accurately positioned at a predetermined position for preparing the mapping.

According to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, the operation of the drive motor that provides the driving force for rotating the mapping arm can be appropriately controlled by the proximity sensor and controller for detecting the rotation of the mapping arm. Therefore, the occurrence of failure in the substrate transfer apparatus including the mapping arm can be suppressed and the service life can be easily extended.

Although described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

Claims (3)

A substrate transfer chamber disposed between a load port for supporting a container containing a plurality of substrates and a substrate processing module for processing the substrates, the substrate transferring chamber providing a space in which the substrates are transferred; A substrate transfer robot disposed in the substrate transfer chamber for transferring the substrates; A door opener disposed in the substrate transfer chamber to open and close the door of the container in a vertical direction; A first sensor including a light emitting part and a light receiving part for scanning the received state of the substrates stored in the container in association with the door opener; As long as the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the first sensor are mounted, the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are rotatably disposed on the upper side of the door opener so that the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are disposed adjacent to the substrates stored in the container opened by the door opener. Pair of mapping arms; And And a second sensor configured to sense the positions of the mapping arms to respectively position the mapping arms at predetermined positions adjacent to the substrates. The driving apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a driving unit providing a driving force for rotating the mapping arms, a gear assembly transmitting a driving force between the driving unit and the mapping arms such that the mapping arms rotate simultaneously, and the rotation of the mapping arms. And a blocking member for blocking one of the mapping arms to limit and a controller for controlling the driving unit according to a detection signal of the second sensor. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second sensor comprises a proximity sensor embedded in the blocking member.

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