TWM508790U - Wafer feeding structure for semiconductor process equipment - Google Patents

Description

Inlet and discharge structure of semiconductor vacuum process equipment

The invention is an input and discharge structure, in particular, an input and discharge structure of a semiconductor vacuum processing equipment having a transfer module and a mechanical arm.

Wafer trays are a must-have device for semiconductor process applications, and they are used in a very large amount. Regardless of the size of the wafer or its application, wafer trays must be used for fixing all semiconductor wafers. Wafers are placed for various semiconductor processes.

However, when the wafer tray enters and exits the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment, the vacuum state of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment (generally referred to as vacuum breaking) must be released, and after the wafer tray enters and exits the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment, the semiconductor vacuum processing process is resumed. The device is in a vacuum state. Therefore, the length of time that the input and discharge structure breaks the vacuum of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment greatly affects the efficiency of the overall wafer process.

Most of the feed and discharge structures used today are the feed and discharge structures of a single wafer tray structure. When applied to a semiconductor process, the replacement of the wafer tray and the advancement of the wafer tray into and out of the semiconductor vacuum process equipment must be performed in sequence, so that the semiconductor The vacuum process of the vacuum process equipment is too long, so the efficiency of the semiconductor process cannot be improved.

In view of this, the development and creation of a semiconductor vacuum process equipment that is simple to manufacture, low in cost, short in vacuum time, and directly compatible with existing semiconductor vacuum process equipment, has become the semiconductor industry today. An important topic that is expected in the design of electronic application products.

The present invention is a semiconductor vacuum process equipment feed and discharge structure, which is in gas-tight connection with a semiconductor vacuum process equipment, and provides fast access to the wafer tray from the semiconductor vacuum process equipment. The feeding and discharging structure comprises: a tray 匣; and a conveying module including a robot arm. Through the implementation of the creation and discharge structure of the present invention, the vacuum time of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment can be shortened, the process utilization rate of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment can be improved, and the input and discharge structure is completely compatible with the existing semiconductor vacuum processing equipment, and the construction can be greatly saved. Cost, improve industrial competitiveness.

The invention provides a feeding and discharging structure of a semiconductor vacuum processing device, which is in gas-tight connection with a semiconductor vacuum processing device, and the feeding and discharging structure comprises: a tray 匣, which has one of the inlet and outlet doors that can be closed or opened, and the feeding and discharging The first valve and the one tray frame are disposed opposite to the door, the tray frame is arranged with a first wafer tray and a second wafer tray arranged up and down; and a transfer module is airtightly disposed on the tray and the semiconductor vacuum The process equipment has a mechanical arm for controllably gripping the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray from the tray holder, and is fed into the semiconductor vacuum processing device by a second valve, or by the second valve from the semiconductor The vacuum processing device picks up the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray and places it on the tray holder. With the implementation of this creation, the following advancements can be achieved:

First, the vacuum time of the semiconductor vacuum process equipment is shortened, and the process utilization rate of the semiconductor vacuum process equipment is improved.

Second, it is fully compatible with existing semiconductor vacuum process equipment, saving construction costs and enhancing industrial competitiveness.

In order to make any skilled person understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it according to the content, patent application scope and drawings disclosed in the specification, any skilled person can easily understand the purpose and advantages related to the creation. Therefore, the detailed features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the embodiments.

100‧‧‧Incoming and outgoing structure

10‧‧‧Tray 匣

11‧‧‧In and out the door

12‧‧‧First valve

13‧‧‧Tray rack

14‧‧‧First wafer tray

15‧‧‧Second wafer tray

20‧‧‧Transmission module

21‧‧‧ mechanical arm

22‧‧‧Second valve

30‧‧‧Control Module

50‧‧‧ Vacuuming device

80‧‧‧Processed wafers

90‧‧‧Finished wafers

200‧‧‧Semiconductor vacuum process equipment

1A is a side cross-sectional view showing the feeding and discharging structure of a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a top plan view showing the feeding and discharging structure of a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing a feeding and discharging structure of a control module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical arm clamping a first wafer tray to a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4A is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment for fabricating a wafer to be processed of a first wafer tray as a finished wafer.

4B is a mechanical arm of the present embodiment for gripping and placing the first wafer tray of the finished wafer to the tray holder and clamping the second wafer tray to the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment. Schematic diagram.

FIG. 5A is a schematic view showing the process of replacing the first wafer tray while completing the finished wafer of the second wafer tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the first wafer tray replacement position in which the robot arm will place the wafer to be processed in the embodiment of Figure 5A.

FIG. 5C is a schematic view showing the second wafer tray on which the finished wafer is placed and placed on the tray holder by the robot arm in the embodiment of FIG. 5B.

5D is a schematic diagram of the fifth wafer in the embodiment of FIG. 5, in which the first wafer tray on which the wafer to be processed is placed is placed by the robot arm to the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus, and the first wafer tray is simultaneously replaced.

Figure 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing the feeding and discharging structure of a transfer module connecting vacuuming device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing the feeding and discharging structure of a tray 匣 connecting vacuuming device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, a feed and discharge structure 100 of a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus of the embodiment is in airtight connection with a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200, and the inlet and outlet structure 100 comprises: a tray 10; And a transfer module 20 disposed between the tray 10 and the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200.

As shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, the tray 10 has a door 11 that can be closed or opened, a first valve 12 disposed opposite the inlet and outlet door 11, and a tray holder 13, a tray The first wafer tray 14 and the second wafer tray 15 are placed on the rack 13 in a vertical arrangement.

The first wafer tray 14 and the second wafer tray 15 are used to carry a wafer to be processed 80 or a finished wafer 90. The first wafer tray 14 or the second wafer tray 15 can be made of a metal material, an alloy material or a metal compound material.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, the transport module 20 is airtightly disposed between the tray 10 and the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200. The transport module 20 has a mechanical arm 21 that can be controlled. The first wafer tray 14 or the second wafer tray 15 is taken from the tray holder 13 via the first valve 12, and is fed into the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 by the second valve 22.

Alternatively, the robot arm 21 grips the first wafer tray 14 or the second wafer tray 15 from the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 via the second valve 22 and places it on the tray holder 13.

As shown in Fig. 2, the robot arm 21 can be controlled, moved, rotated, clamped or placed by a control module 30. The control module 30 used may be a PC, an industrial computer, a microcontroller, or the like, or may be a control module 30 including a software program or a hardware component. Moreover, the control module 30 can be built on the robot arm 21, or can be a separate component connected to the mechanical arm 21 electrical and signal.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation of the feeding and discharging structure 100 can be started by the operator from the loading and unloading door 11 to the first wafer tray 14 and the second wafer tray 15 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed. After the arrangement is separately placed on the tray holder 13, the inlet and outlet doors 11 are closed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, after the first valve 12 is opened, the first arm tray 14 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed is taken out from the upper position of the tray frame 13 and opened by the second valve 22. After that will carry the first crystal of the wafer to be processed 80 The round tray 14 is placed in the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200.

As shown in FIG. 4A, next, after the second valve 22 is closed, the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 fabricates the wafer 80 to be processed carried by the first wafer tray 14 into a finished wafer 90.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first arm 12 and the second valve 22 of the robot arm 21 open the first wafer tray 14 carrying the finished wafer 90 from the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200. The second wafer tray 15 carrying the wafer to be processed 80 is taken out from the lower position of the tray holder 13 and placed in the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, after the first valve 12 and the second valve 22 are sealed, the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 can start processing the wafer 80 to be processed on the second wafer tray 15 to become a process. The finished wafer 90; at the same time, the first wafer tray 14 carrying the finished wafer 90 is replaced by the operator from the loading and unloading door 11 to the first wafer tray 14 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the robot arm 21 is used, and then the first wafer tray 14 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed is replaced from the upper position of the tray holder 13 to the lower position of the tray holder 13.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the second wafer tray 15 carrying the finished wafer 90 is taken out from the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 by the robot arm 21 and placed at a position above the tray holder 13.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5D, the first wafer tray 14 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed is replaced by the robot arm 21 from the position above the tray holder 13 to the lower position of the tray holder 13.

When the wafer to be processed 80 carried by the second wafer tray 15 is semiconductor true After the empty process equipment 200 is processed into the finished wafer 90, the above processing method is repeated once more. That is, the second wafer tray 15 carrying the finished wafer 90 is taken out from the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 to the upper position of the tray holder 13 by the robot arm 21, and the wafer to be processed is carried under the tray holder 13 The first wafer tray 14 of the 80 is placed in the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200, and the second wafer tray 15 carrying the finished product wafer 90 can be taken out by the operator via the inlet and outlet door 11, and placed in the bearing to be processed. The second wafer tray 15 of the wafer 80 is placed above the tray holder 13; the second wafer tray 15 at the position above the tray holder 13 is first replaced by the robot arm 21 to a position below the tray holder 13.

Thus, in the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200, there is always a first wafer tray 14 or a second wafer tray 15 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed for processing, and at the same time as the processing, the tray holder 13 The first wafer tray 14 or the second wafer tray 15 carrying the finished wafer 90 can be simultaneously replaced with the first wafer tray 14 or the second wafer tray 15 carrying the wafer 80 to be processed. The vacuum time of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment 200 can be greatly reduced compared with the conventional structure, and the process utilization rate of the semiconductor vacuum processing equipment 200 can be improved, thereby improving the competitiveness of the overall semiconductor industry.

Furthermore, in order to achieve or increase the effect of the vacuum, the transfer module 20 or the tray 10 of the inlet and outlet structure 100 may be further connected to a vacuuming device for feeding the discharge structure 100 or the transfer module 20 or the tray as necessary. When the crucible 10 enters the vacuum state, not only the vacuum state of the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus 200 can be maintained, but also unnecessary pollution can be reduced.

However, the above embodiments are intended to illustrate the features of the present invention, and the purpose of the present invention is to enable those skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and to implement it, and not to limit the scope of the patent of the present invention. Complete the spirit of revealing Equivalent modifications or modifications are still included in the scope of the patent application described below.

100‧‧‧Incoming and outgoing structure

10‧‧‧Tray 匣

11‧‧‧In and out the door

12‧‧‧First valve

13‧‧‧Tray rack

14‧‧‧First wafer tray

15‧‧‧Second wafer tray

20‧‧‧Transmission module

21‧‧‧ mechanical arm

22‧‧‧Second valve

200‧‧‧Semiconductor vacuum process equipment

Claims (7)

An inlet and output structure of a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus, which is in airtight communication with a semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus, the feeding and discharging structure comprising: a tray 具有 having a door opening and closing door that can be closed or opened, opposite to the inlet and outlet door Providing a first valve and a tray holder, wherein the tray holder is arranged with a first wafer tray and a second wafer tray arranged up and down; and a transfer module disposed airtightly on the tray and the semiconductor Between the vacuum processing devices, a mechanical arm is controllably received from the tray holder by the first valve, and is fed into the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray via a second valve The semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus or the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray is placed on the tray holder from the semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus via the second valve. The feeding and discharging structure as described in claim 1, wherein the mechanical arm is controlled by a control module to move, rotate, clamp or place. The feeding and discharging structure according to claim 1, wherein the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray carries a wafer to be processed. The feeding and discharging structure according to claim 1, wherein the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray carries a finished wafer. The feeding and discharging structure according to claim 1, wherein the first wafer tray or the second wafer tray is made of a metal material, an alloy material or a metal compound material. The feeding and discharging structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the conveying module is further connected to a vacuuming device. Incoming and unloading knots as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 The tray is further connected to a vacuuming device.