KR20140003764A - Contactless chuck for transferring a wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

A contactless chuck for transferring a wafer comprises: a cylindrical housing which has a lower panel having at least one through hole around the center; a nozzle which is arranged at the upper part of the through hole in the housing and which forms negative pressure for gripping the wafer in the lower part of the housing by spraying compressed air spirally; and a guide member which is installed at the lower part of the housing for limiting vertical movements of the wafer and guiding the wafer vertically in a way the edge of the wafer is kept upward not to contact the lower side of the lower panel. By preventing the compressed air from being sprayed to the wafer, the wafer is not contaminated due to the compressed air.

Description

A contactless chuck for transferring a wafer,

Embodiments of the present invention relate to non-contact chucks for wafer transfer. More particularly, to a non-contact chuck for holding a wafer by using a negative pressure generated by a flow of compressed air.

In general, semiconductor devices such as memory semiconductor devices, logic circuit devices, light emitting devices, and the like can be formed on a silicon wafer used as a semiconductor substrate by repeatedly performing a series of manufacturing processes. For example, a deposition process for forming a thin film having electrical characteristics on the wafer as described above can be performed by providing a source gas, a reactive gas, and the like on the wafer placed in the vacuum chamber.

As an example of the deposition process as described above, the organometallic chemical vapor deposition is a process of growing a thin film through a decomposition reaction on a surface of a substrate by providing a source gas on a high temperature substrate, It is characteristic to use. Particularly, it can be performed at low temperature in comparison with general chemical vapor deposition, and it has recently been widely used because it can control the uniformity of the thin film and the step coverage.

As an example of the apparatus for performing the metal organic chemical vapor deposition process, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2010-0131055 discloses an apparatus for performing an organometallic chemical vapor deposition process in which a wafer is manually loaded and unloaded by an operator in an organometallic chemical vapor deposition apparatus, An automation technique for solving the problems of the prior art is disclosed.

The apparatus includes a process chamber for providing a reaction space for forming a thin film on a plurality of wafers, a platen having a plurality of susceptors on which the wafers are placed, And a transfer robot for loading and unloading the robot.

The process chamber may include a base on which the platen is mounted and a cover for opening and closing the reaction space, and the transfer robot may grip the wafer to load and unload a single wafer with respect to each of the susceptors A chuck may be provided. At this time, a non-contact chuck may be used as the chuck to prevent the upper surface of the wafer, particularly the upper surface portion where the thin film is formed, from contacting the lower surface of the chuck.

The non-contact chuck can grip the wafer in a non-contact manner by using a negative pressure generated by causing compressed air to flow along the upper surface of the wafer, as disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2010-0131055.

However, when the compressed air is sprayed onto the upper surface of the wafer as described above, the upper surface of the wafer is damaged by the compressed air, or the upper surface of the wafer is contaminated by contaminants contained in the compressed air have. In addition, the injection of the compressed air can float the particles in the process chamber or in the entire system in which the process chamber, etc. are disposed, and the floating particles are dropped onto the wafers loaded on the susceptors Contamination of the wafers may occur.

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a non-contact chuck for wafer transfer capable of preventing contamination of wafers.

According to embodiments of the present invention for achieving the above object, the non-contact chuck for wafer transfer, the cylindrical housing including a lower panel having at least one through hole in the central portion, and the through hole in the housing A nozzle disposed at an upper portion to form a negative pressure for holding the wafer in the lower portion of the housing by injecting compressed air radially; and provided in the lower portion of the housing to limit the horizontal movement of the wafer, The guide member may include a guide member configured to guide the upper edge of the wafer so that the wafer does not contact the lower surface of the lower panel.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the peripheral portion of the lower panel surrounding the central portion of the lower panel may have an upper surface inclined downward toward the central portion, the compressed air injected from the nozzle is the peripheral It can be guided upwardly along the upper surface of the site.

According to embodiments of the present invention, an exhaust port for discharging the air injected from the nozzle may be provided on the upper portion of the housing.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the exhaust pipe may be connected to an exhaust pipe for exhausting the upwardly directed air to the outside.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the nozzle may include an upper disk connected to the compressed air pipe for providing the compressed air and a lower disk coupled to the upper disk by a plurality of connecting members, and the compression Air can be injected radially between the upper and lower disks.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a conical protrusion may be provided on the central portion of the lower disk.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a compressed air pipe for providing the compressed air may be connected to an upper portion of the nozzle, and a plurality of injection holes for injecting the compressed air may be formed on the side of the nozzle.

According to embodiments of the present invention, an inner panel having a plurality of holes or slits formed therein may be arranged in a horizontal direction.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the guide member may have a circular ring shape in which the edge portion of the wafer is inserted, and a hooking protrusion is formed on the inner side of the guide member to restrict the edge portion of the wafer upward .

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the guide member may include a plurality of guide pins for vertically guiding the edge portion of the wafer, and the edge portion of the wafer may be positioned upward A stopping jaw for restricting movement can be formed.

As described above, in the non-contact chuck according to the embodiments of the present invention, the flow of the compressed air injected for forming the negative pressure for grasping the wafer is made only in the housing, that is, the compressed air is not sprayed onto the wafer So that contamination of the wafer, which may be caused by injection of compressed air in the prior art, can be sufficiently prevented.

Further, the movement of the wafer in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction at the lower portion of the non-contact chuck is restricted by using the guide member, so that the wafer can be stably transported.

1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an organometallic chemical vapor deposition apparatus using a non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the process chamber and the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view for explaining another example of the lower panel shown in Fig. 3. Fig.
5 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the guide member shown in Fig.
6 is a schematic perspective view for explaining another example of the guide member shown in Fig.
7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the nozzle shown in Fig.
8 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the nozzle shown in Fig.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments of the invention. However, the present invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described below, but may be embodied in various other forms. The following examples are provided so that those skilled in the art can fully understand the scope of the present invention, rather than being provided so as to enable the present invention to be fully completed.

When an element is described as being placed on or connected to another element or layer, the element may be directly disposed or connected to the other element, and other elements or layers may be placed therebetween It is possible. Alternatively, if one element is described as being placed directly on or connected to another element, there can be no other element between them. The terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various items such as various elements, compositions, regions, layers and / or portions, but the items are not limited by these terms .

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Furthermore, all terms including technical and scientific terms have the same meaning as will be understood by those skilled in the art having ordinary skill in the art, unless otherwise specified. These terms, such as those defined in conventional dictionaries, shall be construed to have meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the related art and the description of the present invention, and are to be interpreted as being ideally or externally grossly intuitive It will not be interpreted.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to schematic illustrations of ideal embodiments of the present invention. Thus, changes from the shapes of the illustrations, e.g., changes in manufacturing methods and / or tolerances, are those that can be reasonably expected. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the specific shapes of the areas illustrated in the drawings, but include deviations in shapes, the areas described in the drawings being entirely schematic and their shapes Is not intended to illustrate the exact shape of the area and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an organometallic chemical vapor deposition apparatus using a non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a process chamber and a transfer robot And is a schematic configuration diagram for explanation.

1 and 2, a non-contact chuck 200 for wafer transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an organometallic chemical vapor deposition apparatus (not shown) for forming a thin film having electrical characteristics on a semiconductor wafer 10, The wafer 10 can be used to transfer the wafer 10 from the wafer 100. In particular, it may be used to load the wafer 10 onto the susceptor 120 to form the thin film, and to unload the wafer 10 from the susceptor 120 after forming the thin film.

The apparatus 100 includes a process chamber 110 providing a reaction space for forming a thin film on a plurality of wafers 10 and a plurality of susceptors 120 on which the wafers 10 are placed, And may include a platen 122 provided therein. A transfer robot 130 for loading and unloading the wafers 10 to the susceptors 10 and a load port 140 for placing the wafers 10 therein ).

The process chamber 110 may include a base 112 on which the platen 122 is mounted and a cover 114 for opening and closing the reaction space. As shown, the base 112 may include a ring-shaped side wall 112A that surrounds the platen 122 and the reaction space includes the platen 122 and the side wall 112A, 0.0 > 114 < / RTI > The cover 114 may be hinged to one side of the base 112 and may be opened or closed by a separate driving unit (not shown). Meanwhile, although not shown, a source gas and a reactive gas for forming a thin film on the wafers 10 may be provided to the reaction space through the cover 114 and / or the side wall 112A.

Although not shown in detail, the platen 122 may be configured to be rotatable and the platen 122 may be provided with a plurality of susceptors 120 on which the wafers 10 are placed, respectively . The susceptors 120 may be arranged circumferentially with respect to the center of the platen 122 and may be configured to be individually rotatable.

The process chamber 110 and the transfer robot 130 may be disposed in a closed space. That is, the process chamber 110 and the transfer robot 130 may be disposed in the wafer handling chamber 150 and the load port 140 may be disposed on one side of the wafer handling chamber 150. The load port 140 may also be disposed in a load chamber 160 that provides an enclosed space between the wafer handling chamber 150 and the load chamber 160. An inner door (Not shown). In addition, an outer door 164 for moving the cassette 20 may be provided at one side of the load chamber 160.

Additionally, a second transfer robot 170 for withdrawing and containing the wafers 10 relative to the cassette 20 may be disposed within the substrate handling chamber 150. The second transfer robot 170 may be disposed adjacent to the inner door 162 to transfer the wafer 10 from the cassette 20 to the transfer robot 130 and transfer the wafer 10 to the transfer robot 130 The wafer 10 transferred by the cassette 20 can be stored in the cassette 20.

A camera 180 for picking up an area 30 in which the wafer 10 is loaded may be disposed on the platen 122. The camera 180 may be fixed on the platen 122 to obtain an image of the wafer load region 30 and at least one susceptor 120 may be located in the wafer load region 30 . The camera 180 may transmit an image obtained from the wafer load region 30 to a control unit (not shown).

The control unit may analyze the image to control the operation of the transfer robot 130 so that the wafer 10 can be accurately loaded on the susceptor 120. [ That is, it is possible to calculate the position coordinates of the susceptor 120 on which the wafer 10 is to be placed from the image, correct the target coordinates of the transfer robot 130 previously set using the position coordinates, The wafer 10 can be transferred using the target coordinates.

The transfer robot 130, as shown in FIG. 1, may be vertically movable and may have the form of a scalar robot having two rotating shafts. The non-contact chuck 200 for gripping the wafer 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be provided at the distal end of the robot arm 132 of the transfer robot 130. The non-contact chuck 200 may be configured to prevent contact with the upper surface of the wafer 10, particularly the area on the wafer 10 where the thin film is to be formed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view for explaining a non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view for explaining another example of the lower panel shown in FIG.

3, the non-contact chuck 200 includes a housing 210 mounted on a distal end of a robot arm 132 of the transfer robot 130, and a non-contact chuck 200 disposed inside the housing 210, (Not shown).

The housing 210 may have a substantially cylindrical shape and a through hole 212A may be formed at a central portion of the lower panel 212 of the housing 210 as shown in FIG. The nozzle 240 may be disposed in the upper portion of the through hole 212A in the housing 210 and may be connected to a pipe 242 for supplying the compressed air. The nozzle 240 may form a negative pressure at a lower portion of the housing 210, that is, at a lower portion of the lower panel 212, by ejecting compressed air radially from an inner lower central portion of the housing 210. Particularly, compressed air radially injected from the nozzle 240 into the housing 210 can generate an airflow upward through the through hole 212A. As a result, in the lower portion of the through hole 212A, A negative pressure can be formed.

As a result, when the non-contact chuck 200 is disposed on the wafer 10 to grasp the wafer 10, the wafer 10 is held by the lower portion of the non-contact chuck 200 by the negative pressure .

3, one through hole 212A is provided at a central portion of the lower panel 212. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of through holes 212C may be formed in the lower panel 212, (Not shown).

Referring to FIG. 3 again, a guide member (not shown) for guiding the wafer 10 in the vertical direction is provided at a lower portion of the housing 210 to limit the movement of the wafer 10 in the horizontal direction while the wafer 10 is gripped, (Not shown). Particularly, the guide member 220 is provided at the edge portion of the wafer 10 to prevent the wafer 10 to be held from contacting the lower portion of the housing 210, that is, the lower surface of the lower panel 212 It can be limited to the upper direction.

Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the guide member shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view for explaining another example of the guide member shown in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 5, the guide member 220 may have a substantially circular ring shape so that an edge portion of the wafer 10 is inserted. At this time, an edge portion of the wafer 10 is inserted into the guide member 220, and a latching protrusion 222 for limiting the edge portion of the wafer 10 upwardly may be formed. That is, the edge portion of the wafer 10 is guided in the vertical direction by the vertical surface of the latching jaw 222, and the movement in the horizontal direction can be restricted, The upward movement can be restricted.

Referring to FIG. 6, the guide member 250 may be formed of a plurality of guide pins 252, as described above. The guide pins 252 may be provided along the circumferential direction of the lower panel 212 and guide pins 252 may be provided on the inner side of the guide pins 252 so as to restrict the edge portions of the wafer 10 upward 254 may be formed. That is, the edge of the wafer 10 is guided in the vertical direction by the vertical surface of the engaging jaws 254, and the movement in the horizontal direction can be restricted, and the horizontal surface of the engaging jaws 254 So that the movement in the vertical upward direction can be restricted.

When the wafer 10 is gripped by a negative pressure generated between the chuck 200 and the wafer 10, the edge of the wafer 10 is held by the engagement protrusion 222 of the guide member 220 The upper surface of the wafer 10, that is, the region where the thin film is formed, may not contact the lower panel 212 of the housing 210 because the upward movement of the wafer is limited.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, the lower panel 212 may have a peripheral portion surrounding the central portion, and the peripheral portion of the lower panel 212 may include compressed air injected in the radial direction from the nozzle 240 And may have an upper surface 212B of an inclined shape toward its central portion so as to be guided upward.

Meanwhile, the nozzle 240 may be positioned such that the compressed air is injected onto a peripheral portion of the lower panel 212 at an upper portion of the through hole 212A. That is, the compressed air injected from the nozzle 240 can be guided upward along the upper surface 212B of the peripheral portion of the lower panel 212 and continue to flow upward from the inside of the housing 210. As described above, the flow of the compressed air forming the negative pressure for holding the wafer 10 is performed inside the housing 210, and the compressed air is not directly injected into the wafer 10 . As a result, even if the compressed air is not provided on the wafer 10, negative pressure for gripping the wafer 10 can be easily formed. Therefore, in the prior art, compressed air The contamination of the wafer 10, which may be caused by the wafer W, can be sufficiently prevented.

The air directed upward from the inside of the housing 210 may be discharged through an exhaust port 214 provided in the upper portion of the housing 210. Alternatively, the exhaust port 214 may be connected to a discharge pipe (not shown) for discharging the air to the outside of the apparatus 100.

3, a cylindrical connecting member 218 for connecting the robot arm 132 and the non-contact chuck 200 may be provided on an upper panel of the housing 210. The exhaust port 214 is provided on the upper panel 216 of the housing 210 but the exhaust port 214 may be provided on one side of the connection member 218. [

When the compressed air injected from the nozzle 240 is guided upward from the inside of the housing 210 as described above, the air in the inside of the housing 210, depending on the position of the exhaust port 214 on the upper portion of the housing 210, A positional deviation may occur at the speed, whereby the negative pressure acting on the wafer 10 may become non-uniform. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the exhaust port 214 is located on the left side, the airflow on the left side may be faster than on the right side, and the airflow may be applied to the wafer 10 The negative pressure can become unstable.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an inner panel 230 having a plurality of holes 232 or slits in a horizontal direction may be provided in the housing 210 to uniformize the flow rate. When the inner panel 230 is mounted in the housing 210 as described above, the nozzle 240 may be mounted at the central portion of the lower surface of the inner panel 230 as shown in FIG. As a result, the deviation of the flow velocity can be reduced by passing through the holes 232 of the inner panel 230 in the air flow inside the housing 210, so that the negative pressure applied to the wafer 10 is stable Can be uniformly generated. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently prevent a process error such that the wafer 10 is detached from the non-contact chuck 200 in the process of transferring the wafer 10.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the nozzle shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the nozzle shown in FIG.

7, the nozzle 240 is connected to the upper disk 244 by a plurality of connecting members 248 and an upper disk 244 connected to the compressed air pipe 242 for supplying the compressed air, And a lower disk 246 coupled to the lower disk 246. The compressed air piping 242 may be connected to a compressed air source, for example, a compressed air tank, for supplying the compressed air through the upper portion of the housing 210.

The compressed air line 242 may be connected to a central portion of the upper disk 244 and the compressed air may be radially injected between the upper disk 244 and the lower disk 246. At this time, on the central portion of the lower disk 246, a conical protrusion 249 for guiding the flow of the compressed air provided through the compressed air pipe 242 in the horizontal direction from the vertical direction may be provided.

Unlike the above, the nozzle 260 for jetting the compressed air may have one disk shape as shown in FIG. In this case, the compressed air pipe 242 may be connected to a central portion of the upper surface of the nozzle 260, and a plurality of ejection holes 262 for ejecting the compressed air radially may be formed on a side surface of the nozzle 260 . For example, a vertical through-hole may be formed at a central portion of the nozzle 260, and the compressed air pipe 242 may be connected to an upper portion of the vertical through-hole. The lower portion of the vertical through- Lt; / RTI > At this time, the upper portion of the stopper 264 preferably has a conical shape in order to radially guide the compressed air provided in the vertical direction as shown in the figure.

The non-contact chuck 200 according to the embodiments of the present invention as described above allows only the flow of the compressed air injected for forming the negative pressure for grasping the wafer 10 to be performed in the housing 210, By preventing the compressed air from being sprayed onto the wafer 10, it is possible to sufficiently prevent contamination of the wafer which may be caused by injection of compressed air in the prior art.

Further, the movement of the wafer 10 in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the lower portion of the non-contact chuck 200 is restricted by using the guide member 220, so that the transfer of the wafer 10 can be performed stably.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

10: wafer 20: cassette
30: Wafer load region 100: Organometallic chemical vapor deposition apparatus
110: process chamber 120: susceptor
122: Platen 130: Transfer robot
132: Robot arm 140: Load port
150: handling chamber 160: load chamber
170: second transfer robot 180: camera
200: Non-contact chuck 210: Housing
212: lower panel 214: exhaust port
216: upper panel 220: guide member
222: latching jaw 230: inner panel
240: nozzle 242: compressed air piping

Claims (11)

A cylindrical housing including a lower panel having at least one through hole at a central portion thereof;
A nozzle disposed in the upper portion of the through-hole in the housing to inject compressed air in a radial direction to form a negative pressure for gripping the wafer at a lower portion of the housing; And
A guide member disposed under the housing to limit horizontal movement of the wafer and to guide the wafer in a vertical direction, and to limit an edge portion of the wafer upward so that the wafer does not contact the lower surface of the lower panel. Non-contact chuck for wafer transfer, comprising. The non-contact chuck of claim 1, wherein the peripheral portion of the lower panel surrounding the central portion of the lower panel has an upper surface inclined downwardly toward the central portion. 3. The non-contact chuck of claim 2, wherein the compressed air jetted from the nozzle is directed upwardly along an upper surface of the peripheral portion. The non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to claim 1, wherein an upper portion of the housing is provided with an exhaust port for discharging the air injected from the nozzle. The non-contact chuck according to claim 4, further comprising an exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust port. 2. The nozzle of claim 1, wherein the nozzle comprises an upper disk connected to the compressed air pipe for providing the compressed air and a lower disk coupled to the upper disk by a plurality of connecting members, wherein the compressed air is the upper disk. And a non-contact chuck for wafer transport, characterized in that it is sprayed radially through the lower disk. 7. The non-contact chuck of claim 6, wherein a conical protrusion is provided on a central portion of the lower disk. The wafer transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein a compressed air pipe for providing the compressed air is connected to an upper portion of the nozzle, and a plurality of injection holes are formed on the side of the nozzle to inject the compressed air. Non-contact chuck for The non-contact chuck for wafer transfer according to claim 1, further comprising an inner panel disposed horizontally inside the housing and having a plurality of holes or slits formed therein. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member has a circular ring shape in which an edge portion of the wafer is inserted, and a hooking protrusion for limiting the edge portion of the wafer upward is formed inside the guide member Contactless chuck for wafer transfer. [2] The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the guide member includes a plurality of guide pins for guiding edge portions of the wafer in a vertical direction, Wherein the wafer is transferred onto the wafer.

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