KR20070073506A - A substrate transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate transfer apparatus is provided to prevent damage to a substrate by detecting vibration of a blade during process. A substrate transfer apparatus(100) includes a transfer robot and a sensing unit(140). The transfer robot includes a blade(110) and a robot arm unit(120). The blade includes a hand part(112) and a finger part(114) extended from a front end of the hand part. The finger part includes a first finger(114a) and a second finger(114b). The robot arm unit is coupled to a rear end of the hand part, and moves the blade. The sensing unit is mounted on the blade, and senses vibration of the blade. The sensing unit includes a light emitting sensor(142) mounted on one of the first finger and the second finger; and a light receiving sensor(144) mounted on the other of the first finger and the second finger.

Description

Substrate transfer device {A SUBSTRATE TRANSFER APPARATUS}

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a substrate transfer system equipped with a substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: substrate transfer device 126: third arm

110: blade 130: drive unit

112: hand portion 140: detection portion

114: finger portion 142: light receiving sensor

120: robot arm part 144: light emitting sensor

122: first arm 150: control unit

124: second arm

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

As semiconductor chip size and circuit line width design rules become more sophisticated, the importance of pollution prevention, in particular, prevention of contamination by molecular pollutants in the air, which affects the film quality of semiconductor devices, has increased significantly.

Conventionally, the semiconductor manufacturing process is performed in a clean room, and an open substrate container is mainly used for storing and transporting wafers. However, in recent years, in order to reduce the cost of clean room maintenance, foreign substances in the air are maintained only in the process equipment and in some of the equipment related to the process equipment, in other regions, relatively low cleanliness is maintained, and low cleanliness is maintained. However, closed wafer containers are used to protect the substrate from chemical contamination. As a representative example of such a sealed wafer container, a front open unified pod (hereinafter referred to as "poop") is mainly used.

In addition, as the diameter of semiconductor substrates is recently increased from 200 mm to 300 mm, semiconductor chips are manufactured by a fully automated system, and SEMI standards are connected to process equipment for the automation and cleaning environment of such semiconductor manufacturing processes. It provides a substrate transfer system, EFEM (equipment front end module), which serves as an interface between the facilities.

A typical substrate transfer system has a frame with a load port on which the foot is placed and a substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate between the foot and the process equipment. High cleanliness is maintained in the part where the process equipment is disposed, and low cleanliness is maintained in the external environment where the load port is located, and the process facility is separated from the external environment by the boundary wall.

The substrate transfer apparatus installed in the substrate transfer system includes a blade on which the substrate is seated, a robot arm portion having at least one robot arm to move the blade, and a robot arm drive portion for driving the robot arm portion. The wafers are transferred to each other.

However, in the substrate transfer apparatus having the above configuration, when the substrate is moved by mounting the substrate on the upper surface of the blade, the blade shakes or shakes. This is a phenomenon that occurs because the blade rotates and linear movement during the process. When the blade is shaken or shaken during the process, the substrate is separated from the blade or collides with slots installed to mount the substrate in the cassette, thereby damaging the substrate.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a substrate transfer apparatus for preventing damage to the substrate during the process.

Another object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer apparatus for detecting whether the blade shakes.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer apparatus for preventing contamination due to breakage of a substrate.

The substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is formed by combining a hand portion and a finger portion having first and second fingers extending from the front end of the hand portion and the blade for seating the substrate and the rear end of the hand portion It includes a transfer robot having a robot arm for moving the blade and a sensing unit installed on the blade for detecting whether the blade shakes.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit includes a light emitting sensor installed on one of the first finger or the second finger and a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the first finger or the second finger.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit includes a light emitting sensor installed on one of the finger portion or the hand portion and a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the finger portion or the hand portion.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, any one of the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor is disposed at a position where vibration is less than that of the other sensor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor are fixedly installed on the lower surface of the blade.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate transfer apparatus determines whether the light receiving sensor receives an optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensor, and if the light receiving sensor does not receive the optical signal, the process of the substrate transfer apparatus. It further comprises a control unit for stopping the progress.

Substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a frame having a load port on which the cassette is seated, the first and second provided in the frame, and extending from the hand portion and the front end of the hand portion A finger having a finger portion is formed to include a blade for seating a substrate and a robot arm portion coupled to the blade to move the blade, a robot installed on the blade includes a sensing unit for detecting whether the blade shakes. Here, the substrate transfer apparatus transfers the substrate between the cassette and the process equipment.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit includes a light emitting sensor installed on one of the first finger or the second finger and a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the first finger or the second finger.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit includes a light emitting sensor installed on one of the finger portion or the hand portion and a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the finger portion or the hand portion.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor are fixedly installed on the lower surface of the blade.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, any one of the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor is disposed at a position where vibration is less than that of the other sensor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate transfer apparatus determines whether the light receiving sensor receives an optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensor, and if the light receiving sensor does not receive the optical signal, the process of the substrate transfer apparatus. It further comprises a control unit for stopping the progress.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. These embodiments are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shapes of elements in the drawings and the like are exaggerated to emphasize clearer explanations.

(Example)

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a substrate transfer system according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate transfer system 10 according to the present invention includes a foot 11, a load port 12, a door driver 20, a door 22, a frame 30, and a substrate transfer apparatus 100. ).

The foot 11 is a wafer moving means in which a plurality of substrates are sealed to prevent particles from being contaminated. The inside of the foot 11 is provided with a slot (not shown) for mounting a plurality of substrates (W). As the semiconductor manufacturing process proceeds, since the substrate W that does not meet a predetermined standard is removed, a slot in which the substrate is empty may be generated in the pull 11.

The load port 12 is provided with a push seat (not shown) on its top surface. In the process, the foot 11 is seated in the foot seat. The load port 12 is provided with a door 22 for opening and closing the entrance and exit for transferring the substrate between the foot 11 and the frame 30, and a door driver 20 for operating the door 22. The door driver 20 includes a motor (not shown) and an EL guide (not shown). The door driver 20 drives the door 22 up and down to open and close the door.

Frame 30 is installed so that one side is adjacent to the foot 11 seated on the foot mounting portion, the other side is adjacent to the process equipment (40). A substrate transfer device 100 for transferring a plurality of substrates W mounted on the foot 11 is provided inside the frame 30. Detailed description of the substrate transfer device 100 will be described later. In addition, the inside of the frame 30 may further include an exhaust port (not shown) for exhausting particles to prevent contamination by the particles and a fan (not shown) for inducing particle flow.

 The process facility 40 is arranged adjacent to the frame 30. Process equipment 40 includes, for example, a load lock chamber (not shown) and a transfer chamber (not shown) and a process chamber (not shown). The process chamber performs a predetermined semiconductor process on a wafer, and the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber have a function of transferring the substrate W between the EQM 30 and the process chamber.

In the substrate transfer system 10 having the above-described configuration, the substrate transfer apparatus 100 provided in the frame 30 draws the substrate W from the foot 11 and moves it to the process facility 40. Substrates that have finished the predetermined process at 40 are sequentially brought back into the foot 11 by the substrate transfer apparatus 100.

Hereinafter, the substrate transfer apparatus 100 provided in the substrate transfer system 10 having the above configuration will be described in detail.

2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

2 and 3, the substrate transfer apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a transfer robot having a blade 110 and a robot arm portion 120, a driver 130, a detector 140, and a controller ( 150).

The blade 110 loads and unloads the substrate W by mounting the substrate W during the process. To this end, the blade 110 has a hand 112 and a finger 114. The hand part 112 is provided with a seating surface on which a portion of the substrate W is seated. At the front of the hand portion 112, a finger portion 114 extending from the hand portion 112 is provided. And, the rear end of the hand portion 114 is coupled to the first robot arm 112 of the robot arm portion 120.

The finger portion 114 protrudes from the front end of the hand portion 112. The finger portion 114 has first and second fingers 114a and 114b which are symmetrical to each other to stably support the substrate W. The substrate W is seated on the upper surfaces of the first and second fingers 114a and 114b and the hand portion 112.

The robot arm portion 120 includes first to third rotational shafts 121, 123, and 125 and first to third arms 122, 124, and 126. One end of the first arm 122 is coupled to the hand portion 112 of the blade 110, and the other end is coupled to one end of the second arm 124 by the first rotation shaft 121. The first arm 122 and the second arm 124 rotate at a predetermined angle about the first axis of rotation 121 as a central axis. Also, in the same manner, the second arm 122 has one end connected with the first arm 122, and the other end is coupled with one end of the third arm 126 by the second rotation shaft 123, and the second arm has a second arm. The 122 and the third arm 126 perform a predetermined rotational movement with the second axis of rotation 123 as the central axis. The third arm 126 is coupled to the drive unit 130 by the third rotation shaft 125. In the robot arm 120 having the above-described configuration, the first to third arms 122, 124, and 126 organically rotate the blades 110 linearly and rotationally to transfer the substrate.

In the present embodiment, the robot arm unit 120 has first to third arms 122, 124, and 126 that operate organically with respect to each other. However, the configuration of the robot arm unit 120 may have a different structure. Can be. For example, the robot arm 120 may be made of one arm that linearly reciprocates the blade 110.

The driver 130 drives the robot arm 120. To this end, the drive unit 130 is provided with a drive means (not shown) such as a motor therein. The driver 130 drives the first to third arms 126 organically to linearly and rotationally move the blade 110 coupled to the first arm 122.

The detector 140 detects whether the blade 120 is shaken. To this end, the sensing unit 140 includes light emission and light reception sensors 142 and 144. Here, any one of the light emitting sensor 142 and the light receiving sensor 144 is disposed at a position where vibration is less than that of the other sensor. In one embodiment, the light emitting sensor 142 is fixed to the lower side of the hand 112, the light receiving sensor 144 is fixed to the lower side of the front end of the second finger (114b). In this case, the light emission and light reception sensors 142 and 144 may be disposed to face each other in a diagonal direction from the lower side of the blade 120. That is, when the light emitting sensor 142 is installed at a portion adjacent to the first finger 114a at the lower side of the hand part 112, the light receiving sensor 144 is installed at the front lower side of the second finger 114b. On the contrary, when the light emitting sensor 142 is installed at a portion adjacent to the second finger 114b at the lower side of the hand part 112, the light receiving sensor 144 is installed at the front lower side of the first finger 114a. This is to more effectively measure whether the blade 120 is shaken, but the arrangement of the light emitting and light receiving sensors 142 and 144 may be variously applied. In addition, in the above-described example, the light emitting sensor 142 is installed in the hand portion 112 region, and the light receiving sensor 144 is described in the finger portion 114 region, but the light emitting sensor 142 is the finger portion. The light receiving sensor 144 may be installed in the area of the hand part 112.

Here, as another embodiment of the present invention, both the light emitting and light receiving sensors 142 and 144 of the sensing unit 140 may be installed in the finger unit 114. For example, the light emitting sensor 142 is fixed to an area adjacent to the hand part 112 at the lower side of the first finger 114a, and the light receiving sensor 144 is fixed to the lower side of the front end of the second finger 114b. On the contrary, the light emitting sensor 142 may be fixed to an area adjacent to the hand part 112 at the lower side of the second finger 114b, and the light receiving sensor 114 may be fixed to the lower side of the front end of the first finger 114a. have. In addition, the light emission and light reception sensors 142 and 144 may exchange positions thereof.

In the sensing unit 140 having the configuration as described above, the light emitting sensor 142 emits an optical signal to the light receiving sensor 144 during the process. The light receiving sensor 144 receives the optical signal and transmits the received optical signal to the controller 150. In the process, the area of the blade 120 adjacent to the hand part 112 or the hand part 112 in the finger part 114 is less shaken than the front end of the finger part 114. Therefore, since the light emitting sensor 142 or the light receiving sensor 144 fixed to the hand part 112 during the process has less vibration, the light emitting sensor 142 or the light receiving sensor 144 is provided with a reference for determining whether the blade 120 is shaken. Since the fixed position of the light emitting sensor 142 or the light receiving sensor 144 is shaken by the shaking of the blade 120, the shake of the blade 120 is provided as a reference. Therefore, when the blade 120 is shaken during the process, since the light receiving sensor 144 does not receive the optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensor 142, the detection unit 140 may detect shaking and shaking of the blade 120. Can be.

In the above-described embodiments, the light emitting sensor 142 and the light receiving sensor 144 are disposed below the blade 120 to detect whether the blade 120 is shaken. This is not limited. An object of the present invention is to detect the shaking of the blade 120, the configuration of the above-described sensing unit 140 may be applied in various ways. For example, a plurality of light emitting sensors and light receiving sensors may be provided, and positions of each of the light emitting sensors and the light receiving sensors may be variously arranged in the substrate transfer apparatus 100.

The controller 150 controls the driver 130 by determining whether the light receiving sensor 144 of the sensing unit 140 receives the optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensor 142. For example, during the process, the light receiving sensor 144 receives an optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensors 142 and 152, and the controller 150 determines whether the light receiving sensor 144 receives the optical signal. If the light receiving sensor 144 does not receive the optical signal, the driving of the driving unit 130 is stopped to stop the process of the substrate transfer device 100. In addition, the controller 150 may generate an alarm so that an operator may recognize whether the blade 140 is shaken and the process progress stop state of the substrate transfer device 100, or the blade 110 may be a microcomputer (not shown). This will indicate the occurrence of tremors.

The substrate transfer apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration detects the shaking of the blade 120 that mounts the substrate W and performs loading and unloading. Therefore, damage to the substrate W due to the shaking of the blade 120 is prevented.

As described above, the substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the shape of the blade, the position of the detection unit or the optical signal reception sensitivity measurement unit and the coupling method, etc. can be variously applied within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. The technical idea of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer device that detects the shaking or shaking state of the blade seating the substrate to prevent damage to the substrate caused by the shaking of the blade.

As described above, the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a sensing unit for detecting the shaking and shaking of the blade, it is possible to monitor the shaking and shaking of the blade loading and unloading the substrate.

In addition, the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention prevents breakage of the substrate during the process.

In addition, the substrate iso device according to the present invention prevents contamination of equipment due to breakage of the substrate.

Claims (9)

In the apparatus for transferring a substrate, A transfer robot having a hand portion and a finger portion having first and second fingers extending from a front end of the hand portion, the blade for seating a substrate, and a robot arm portion coupled with a rear end of the hand portion to move the blade; And a sensing unit installed on the blade to detect whether the blade is shaken. The method of claim 1, The detection unit, A light emitting sensor provided on one of the first finger and the second finger; And a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the first finger and the second finger. The method of claim 1, The detection unit, A light emitting sensor installed on one of the finger portion and the hand portion; And a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the finger part and the hand part. The method of claim 2 or 3, And one of the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor is disposed at a position where vibration is less than that of the other sensor. The method of claim 4, wherein The substrate transfer device, And determining whether the light receiving sensor receives an optical signal emitted from the light emitting sensor, and if the light receiving sensor does not receive the optical signal, further comprising a control unit which stops the process of the substrate transfer device. Substrate transfer device. In the substrate transfer apparatus for transferring the substrate between the cassette and the semiconductor processing equipment, A frame having a load port on which the cassette is seated; A finger portion provided inside the frame and having first and second fingers extending from a front end of the hand portion and the hand portion is formed to include a blade for seating a substrate and a robot arm portion coupled with the blade to move the blade. A transfer robot; And a sensing unit installed on the blade to detect whether the blade is shaken. The method of claim 6, The detection unit, A light emitting sensor provided on one of the first finger and the second finger; And a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the first finger and the second finger. The method of claim 6, The detection unit, A light emitting sensor installed on one of the finger portion and the hand portion; And a light receiving sensor installed on the other of the finger part and the hand part. The method according to claim 7 or 8, Any one of the light emitting sensor and the light receiving sensor is disposed at a position where vibration is less than that of the other light emitting sensor or the light receiving sensor.

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