JPH09172050A - Device for handling semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the contamination of the back of a wafer, to make it possible to perform the centering of the wafer with a hand as a center regardless of the position of orientation flat, and besides to perform orientation flat adjustment. SOLUTION: Constitution is so made that automatic centering of a wafer 1 and orientation flat adjustment may be performed in cooperation with a hand 2, a device being a different device from the hand 2 and provided near the tip of the hand to rotate/drive a wafer 1 or the position of contact with the wafer 1, a robot having the hand 2, and a device provided above it for supporting the wafer 1 temporarily, by making the arm-side grasping part of the hand 2 have a steep slant and making the tip-side grasping part 4 of the hand 2 thin stationary claws, by the use of the principle of a handling device for wafers capable of performing automatic centering of wafers without touching their backs.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handling device using a robot hand (hereinafter, simply referred to as a hand) that conveys circular thin plate-shaped parts, and the handling device and various devices cooperate with each other to provide the circular shape. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a handling device for centering and orienting thin plate-shaped parts, and particularly, a technique effectively applied to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as wafer) handling device for manufacturing a highly reliable semiconductor device. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, wafers are transferred between semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses in a semiconductor manufacturing process by accommodating the wafers in a carrier (hereinafter referred to as a carrier).

In the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the wafer in the carrier is taken out by the handling equipment of the equipment,
If necessary, the centering device, which is a device different from the handling device, corrects the misalignment of the center point of the wafer (centering), and the handling device again sets the wafer on each processing stage. At this time, in addition to the centering device, there is a device having a function of orienting the orientation flat of the wafer in addition to a rotation function. Have a device with.

The handling device repeats the taking out and setting of the wafer between the processing stages in the order of steps. During that time, if there is a processing device that requires centering of the wafer, the handling device will focus on the wafer before setting it on the stage. A matching device is required.

The wafer which has been subjected to the final processing in this manner is stored in the carrier for unloading by the handling device. Further, as described above, the wafer is transferred in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in the order of the processing steps, but the number of handling devices and centering devices varies depending on the required function and configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing device.

There are the following conventional wafer handling devices.

[0007] 1. As a conventional mere carrier device for wafers and a centering device, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-22502 previously filed by the present applicant is known.

[0008] 2. The conventional orientation flat orientation device is
Generally it is as follows.

After the wafer is placed on the flat surface for vacuum suction of the orientation flat aligning device by the hand, the hand is retracted. Next, after the wafer is vacuum-sucked, the plane table is moved in the X and Y directions while the wafer position is detected by the wafer position detection sensor so that the center of the wafer is the center of the hand when the hand comes to pick up the wafer again. Move to position.

Then, after inserting the hand to release the vacuum suction and picking up the wafer by the hand, the center of the rotation axis of the plane table is returned to the center of the hand. Next, the hand descends, the wafer is placed on the flat table, and vacuum suction is performed again. Subsequently, after rotating the plane table to detect the orientation flat position by the orientation flat position detection sensor, the orientation flat position is rotated to a predetermined position and stopped to release the vacuum suction. next,
The hand rises and scoops the wafer.

From the above, the wafer on the hand is
This means that centering and orientation flat direction matching have been completed.

[0012]

However, as a result of examining the above-mentioned prior art, the present inventor has found the following problems.

1. Concerning Prevention of Wafer Contamination In the wafer handling device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-22502, in the hand according to claims 4 and 5, the contact point of the hand tip gripping portion with the wafer operates in vacuum. Since it was connected to the piston, it was possible to move back and forth, leaving behind the possibility of dust generation.

2. Regarding the hand limit size when handling a carrier In the wafer handling apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-22502, the hand according to claim 3 has no moving parts and the possibility of dust generation is extremely low, but Since I am assuming scooping when my heart has not come out in advance,
You cannot scoop it unless you increase the thickness of your hand.

3. Regarding automatic wafer alignment, it is difficult to solve the problems described in points 1 and 2 and further provide an automatic wafer centering function.
It is necessary to have an idea different from the content described in Japanese Patent No. 2502.

4. Regarding the orientation flat orientation method, the conventional method requires another device having a wafer centering function and orientation flat orientation function, which increases the space and cost, and because the wafer back surface is vacuum-sucked,
The problem of contamination on the backside of the wafer is likely to occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer handling apparatus capable of manufacturing a highly reliable semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wafer handling apparatus capable of improving the manufacturing yield of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of preventing wafer contamination.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of overcoming the limited size of the hand when handling a carrier.

[0021] Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of automatic centering using only a hand and a device which functions in cooperation with the hand.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of directing the orientation flat direction to a predetermined direction only with a robot, a hand, and a table supporting a wafer.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0024]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, typical ones are briefly described as follows.

(1) The wafer handling apparatus of the present invention has a center point at a position where the center position of the circle corresponding to the outer peripheral circle of the wafer is projected onto a plane parallel to the wafer surface when the wafer gripping operation is completed. Then, the center line on a plane passing through the center point is set as the center line of the hand, and the center point of a circle having substantially the same diameter in which the wafer outer circumference circle can be fitted is set at the same position as the center point, and the circle and the A hand gripping portion which has a central portion at each of two points intersecting with the center line of the hand, and which can contact only a wafer outer peripheral portion within a predetermined range passing through the respective central portions and symmetrically with the hand center line along the circle. In the wafer handling apparatus described above, the opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand at the center point is at least twice the opening angle made by the points at the both ends of the orientation flat portion of the wafer at the center point of the wafer, Fewer contact points Are also provided at the three points of both ends and the central part, and the opening angle formed by the two end points of the hand-side gripping part at the center point is equal to or larger than the opening angle made by the two end points of the wafer orientation flat part at the center point of the wafer. And the contact points are at least 2
No matter which position of the orientation flat portion is provided on the hand gripping portion, when the wafer is gripped, both hand gripping portions will actually actually contact the wafer first, respectively. A wafer handling apparatus, wherein an angle formed by a line connecting points at points and a line connecting each point with a wafer center point is set to be equal to or larger than a friction angle between a hand gripping portion and a wafer, The cross-sectional shape of the contact part of the grip part on the arm side of the hand is parallel to the wafer that has an arc close to the outer circumferential arc of the wafer that has a center point at the position moved to the hand side from the center point that the wafer holds in the upper part where the wafer enters A steep slope toward a circular arc close to the outer circular arc held by the wafer in a gripped state, and its slope reaches a position close to the circular arc outer periphery of the flat bottom surface of the wafer. Hold it and make it a gentle conical inclined surface closer to the horizontal toward the center of the hand, and make the cross-sectional shape of the contact part of the tip-side gripping part a vertical cylindrical inner surface from the position near the arc outer periphery of the wafer in the gripping state upwards. Alternatively, it is a steeply inclined surface that is close to the inner surface of the cone having a sharp apex angle upward, and is a conical gently inclined surface that has an apex toward the bottom toward the center of the hand and that is close to the horizontal and downward.

(2) The wafer handling apparatus of the present invention has the center point at the position where the center position of the circle corresponding to the outer peripheral circle of the wafer is projected onto the plane parallel to the wafer surface when the wafer gripping operation is completed. Then, the center line on a plane passing through the center point is set as the center line of the hand, and the center point of a circle having substantially the same diameter in which the wafer outer circumference circle can be fitted is set at the same position as the center point, and the circle and the A hand gripping portion which has a central portion at each of two points intersecting with the center line of the hand, and which can contact only a wafer outer peripheral portion within a predetermined range passing through the respective central portions and symmetrically with the hand center line along the circle. In the wafer handling apparatus described above, the opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the arm-side finger portion of the hand at the center point is set to be at least twice the opening angle formed by the points at the orientation flat portion of the wafer at the center point of the wafer. ,Respectively From both ends to a point which has moved over the opening angle of the orientation flat portion toward the center portion and the hand grip portion,
The contact points are at least at both ends and at four points which are moved toward the center from there by the opening angle of the orientation flat portion or more, and the opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the gripping portion on the tip end side of the hand as the center point of the orientation flat portion of the wafer is set. When the wafer is gripped regardless of the position of the orientation flat part on the finger part, the contact points should be at least two points at both ends or one point at the center, with the points at both ends being equal to or less than the opening angle formed at the center point of the wafer. In addition, the angle formed by the line connecting at least one point at which each of the two hand grips will actually contact the wafer first and the line connecting each point with the center point of the wafer is A wafer handling device, which is set to have a friction angle equal to or larger than the friction angle between the gripping portion and the wafer, and the wafer is gripped at the upper portion where the wafer enters the cross-sectional shape of the contact portion of the grip portion on the arm side of the hand. An arc that has a center point at the position moved to the hand side from the center point that it has, and has an arc that is close to the outer circumference arc of the wafer. The steep slope toward the edge of the wafer is maintained until it reaches a position close to the outer circumference of the circular arc on the flat bottom surface of the wafer. The cross-sectional shape of the wafer is a steeply inclined surface close to the vertical cylinder inner surface or the cone inner surface having a sharp apex angle upward from a position near the arc outer circumference of the gripped wafer, and toward the center of the hand downward. It is a conical gently sloping surface with a vertex on the lower side, which is almost horizontal.

(3) The wafer handling apparatus of the present invention is the wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the contact portion of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand is placed in the upper portion of the wafer. Holds the wafer on a parallel plane with an arc close to the outer circumferential arc of the wafer, which has a center point at the position moved to the hand side from the center point held in the gripping state, and from that point onward, a length equal to or greater than the wafer thickness Only a shape close to the vertical surface of the inner surface of the cylinder, and a steep slope toward the outer peripheral arc held by the wafer in the downward direction from there, keeping the gradient to a position close to the outer circumference of the flat bottom surface of the wafer, Toward the lower side, it is a conical gentle slope having an apex toward the center of the hand and near the horizontal.

(4) The wafer handling apparatus of the present invention is the wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the contact portion of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand is at the upper portion of the wafer. Holds an arc near the outer circumference of the wafer with the center point at the position moved to the hand side from the center point held in the gripping state on a plane parallel to the wafer, and from that point, the length equal to or greater than the thickness of the wafer The shape is close to the vertical surface of the inner surface of the cylinder, and from there, it is a steep slope toward the arc that is closer to the outer peripheral arc that the wafer holds in the gripping state, and its slope reaches the position near the upper surface that the wafer holds. Hold it until it reaches a position near the flat bottom surface that holds the wafer in the gripping state, and form a shape close to the inner surface of the arc inner surface, and below that point toward the center of the hand. And it is obtained by a conical gentle slope with vertex downward nearly horizontal.

(5) The wafer handling device of the present invention is the wafer handling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the contact part of the arm side gripping part of the hand is A roller having three or more rollers in which a cylinder and a cone having the same ridge line as that described in any one of claims 1 to 3 are combined, and the ridge line is in contact with the wafer. .

(6) The wafer handling device of the present invention is the wafer handling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and is for carrying the wafer out of a carrier or various wafer processing stages. , After inserting the hand into the lower part of the wafer, or in order to carry the wafer into the carrier or various wafer processing stages, the hand is inserted into the carrier or above the support part of the various wafer processing stages while holding the wafer. After that, at the contact position between the hand and the wafer near the contact point of the tip gripping portion of the hand, a wall perpendicular to the plane of one or more wafers that will contact the outer circumference of the wafer is provided, and the wall is fixed. A structure or a structure in which when the hand further advances in the inserting direction after the wafer contacts the wall, the wall retracts while being in contact with the wafer in the hand advancing direction, After the wall is inserted into the hand, the wall is brought into contact with or separated from the wafer by advancing or retracting in the direction opposite to the hand inserting direction, and at the same time, the contact pressure with the wafer does not become excessive. It is a structure.

(7) The wafer handling apparatus of the present invention is the wafer handling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the wall surface of the wall is a wafer plane from a point near a point above the contact point with the wafer to a wafer plane below. The surface is a right angle, and the upper surface is a surface inclined in the wafer insertion direction.

(8) The wafer handling device of the present invention is the wafer handling device according to claim 5, wherein the wafer is supported on a carrier or a support of various processing stages, When the hand is inserted in the lower part of the wafer near the center of the wafer until the grip center of the hand is located, it is near the contact point of the tip grip of the hand and at the contact point position of the hand and the tip of the hand of the wafer. A cylindrical surface or a lower surface having a ridge that will contact the wafer surface on the support table at a right angle or at an angle close to the height from a height between the bottom surface of the wafer on the support table and higher than the plane. One roller has a conical surface with a sharp apex at the bottom and a downwardly open conical surface with a top at the bottom.
One or a plurality of rollers are provided, and the roller shaft center position is made movable so that the rollers can be brought into contact with or separated from the wafer outer periphery, and at the same time, at least the center position is from the wafer radius to the wafer center from the orientation flat portion. Can be detected more than the distance obtained by subtracting the shortest distance to the roller, the roller can be driven to rotate, and the wafer can be driven to rotate at least 360 ° or more by frictional force by contacting with the outer periphery of the wafer. The wafer can be detected at least at 360 ° or more.

(9) A wafer handling apparatus according to the present invention is the wafer handling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the center position of the wafer is the same when the hand holds the wafer. It passes the rotation center position of the robot arm equipped with the hand, moves at the same time in the front-back direction of the hand, and can rotate 360 ° or more with the wafer center position on the rotation center position of the robot arm. Using a robot that can move the wafer in the up and down direction, the center position of the wafer in the gripped state is supported at two positions near the outer circumference of the wafer at an intermediate position between the center position of the wafer and the center of rotation of the robot arm. A support base is provided so that the wafer center position in the gripped state is lower than the rotation center position of the robot arm and the wafer orientation is near the outer periphery of the wafer. Position can detect is provided with a non-contact type sensor.

According to the above-mentioned means, when the hand holds the wafer, the wafer can be held at the center of the hand regardless of the position of the orientation flat of the wafer by arranging the contact point between the hand and the hand. This eliminates the need for another centering device. This is because the upper surface of the hand is a gentle slope close to the horizontal from the outer circumference of the wafer so that the lower surface of the wafer does not come into contact with the hand when the wafer is gripped.
It is premised that the backside of the wafer is not contaminated.

Then, the hand is inserted slightly ahead of the position where the wafer is placed, and the point of contact between the hand and the arm on the arm side is made to have a steep inclined surface as a vertical surface, and when the hand scoops the wafer, Sliding in the insertion direction of the hand, making the contact surface at the contact point on the tip side of the hand a vertical surface or the inner surface of a cone with a sharp apex angle above the center point of the wafer to catch the tip of the sliding wafer and move the hand at high speed. The wafer can be reliably held. Further, the dimensional limitation of the hand for loading / unloading the wafer to / from the carrier is overcome, and even if the hand is moved at a high speed, the state of securely holding the wafer is maintained. Further, in this method, the cross-sectional shape of the contact point on the arm side is made a vertical surface instead of a steeply inclined surface when the wafer reaches the gripping position, so that the hand can be operated at a higher speed. Furthermore, by replacing the rollers with these cross-sectional shapes, it can be applied to an orientation flat aligning device described later.

Since there is a wafer supporting device in which the wafer may be pushed at the contact point on the hand side of the hand and slip in the inserting direction when the hand is inserted, a wall is provided at the tip position of the hand at this time. The wafer is centered on the hand in conjunction with each other.

Further, when the wafer is taken out from the carrier, an elevator for moving the carrier up and down is often used. However, at this time, the wafer positions are often different from each other.
When the hand is picked up by inclining the upper part of the wall by utilizing the descending motion of the elevator, the wafer is held at a certain position to ensure the grip.

Further, in order to correspond to the above-mentioned hand contact portion made into a roller, a rotatable roller is provided instead of the wall, and the centering of the wafer and the orientation flat alignment can be performed by a simple device in conjunction with the hand. I have to. Also, 360 °
As described above, the rotatable robot is used, and the orientation flat alignment can be performed only by providing the table for temporarily holding the wafer on the upper part thereof.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail together with embodiments with reference to the drawings.

In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, parts having the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

[0041]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and shows an example applied to a scooping-type slant-type wafer handling apparatus, in which (a) is a plan view. , (B) are XX sectional views of (a).

1 is a wafer, 1A is an orientation flat of the wafer 1,
Reference numeral 2 is a hand, 3 is an arm-side gripping portion for gripping the wafer 1, and 4 is an arm-side gripping portion 3 for gripping the wafer 1.
It is a tip side grip portion provided so as to face with.

In the semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the hand 2 is provided with the arm side grip 3 and the tip side grip 4 facing each other.

The hand 2 has a plurality of contact points, for example, three on the arm-side grip 3, and a plurality of contact points, for example, two, on the tip-side grip 4, for contacting the outer peripheral portion of the wafer 1.

These contact points have the same arrangement as that of the configuration of the invention described in claims 1 and 2 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-22502 filed by the present applicant, and the orientation flat 1A of the wafer 1 is arranged. Wherever the wafer 1 is located at a position where the wafer 1 does not stand still due to friction with the contact point and the wafer 1 is eccentric with respect to the hand 2, the wafer 1 moves to automatically contact the hand 2. It is designed to move to the center of the point.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the arrangement of the contact points having the structure of claim 1, wherein each contact point is represented by A, B, B.
It is shown by ', C, C'. Further, C1 and C1 ′ are contact points between the wafer support 50 and the wafer outer periphery, which will be described later, and satisfy the same conditions as the points C1 and C1 ′.

2A and 2B are explanatory views of the positions on the cross section of the contact points on the arm side of the hand 2, where FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG.
FIG. 7A is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. As for the position of the arm-side grip portion 3 of the hand 2, for example, when the points A, B, B'are located at a radius R from the hand center point O, the points A1, B1, B1 'are in the upper and left directions along the slope. The center of the radius is on the center line of the hand, and the radius R is the center of the point moved left S1 from the center point O of the hand. Similarly, the points A2, B2, and B2 'are also located at the radius R centered on the point moved to the left by S2. By doing so, even when the center of the wafer is not in the hand advancing direction of the center position of the hand, the contact point with the wafer 1 that regulates the outer peripheral position of the wafer 1 on the tip side of the hand 2 is defined by the above-mentioned claim 1. If it is at a position that satisfies the above condition, the wafer 1 can be corrected to the center position of the hand. A specific example will be described below.

In FIG. 1, for example, when the hand 2 is inserted, the wafer 1 placed on a wafer support table 50 that supports the wafer 1 is regulated so as not to interfere with the hand 2. This is a state immediately after being grasped by the slope type hand.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the process until the gripping state shown in FIG. 1 is reached. In FIG. 3A, the hand 2 is inserted, and in FIG. 3B, the hand 2 is lifted to scoop the wafer 1. The state where the wafer 1 is taken or the wafer support table 50 is lowered and the wafer 1 is placed on the hand 2 is shown. (C) is a state where the hand 2 is slightly pulled from the above state, (d) is Y of (a)
The -Y sectional view shows an example of a sectional view of the wafer support table 50.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the center of the hand is inserted below the wafer 1 on the wafer support 50 to the center of the wafer 1, the wafer 1 moves horizontally on the wafer support 50. Therefore, the left side of the wafer 1 is moved upward by the steeply inclined surface 3a of the arm 2 of the hand 2, and the right side of the wafer 1 is supported by the upper surface of the wafer support base 50 on the hand tip side (right side).

At this time, if the inner diameter of the wafer support base 50 is larger than the outer circumference of the wafer 1 and the center of the wafer 1 cannot be regulated, the center of the hand 2 is not corrected, but at least the above-mentioned claim. If the contact point satisfying the conditions 1 and 2 is located at the position of C1 or C1 'in FIG. 1A, for example, the centering can be performed by correction.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the hand 2 rises, the right side of the wafer 1 comes into contact with the upper surface of the hand 2, and when the hand 2 further rises, the wafer support table 50 restrains the outer periphery of the wafer. When the wafer 1 is unwound, the left side of the wafer 1 slides down the inclined surface on the arm side of the hand 2, and the right side slides to the position of the tip side grip portion 4 of the hand 2. FIG. 3C shows a state in which the sliding is completed.

The above operation can be basically achieved by the arm-side grip portion 3 of the hand 2 having the steeply inclined surface 3a. Therefore, also in the first embodiment, since the arm-side grip portion 3 is on the steep slope, exactly the same operation is possible.

FIG. 4 clarifies that when the wafer 1 is sandwiched between the slope of the hand and the vertical surface of the wafer support base 50 that contacts the outer periphery of the wafer, the steep slope causes the left side of the wafer 1 to slide up. . A reaction force F is generated from the wafer support table 50, which generates a force F cos φ on the left side of the wafer 1, which is a resistance force μ (F sin φ + W / 2 · co
sφ), the left side of the wafer 1 slides up the slope. Generally, since the value of μ is about 0.1, it is easy to set φ.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 5 shows a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, (b) and (c) are sectional views. The first embodiment is an example for a general wafer processing stage, whereas the second embodiment is for a carrier. The symbols related to the hands are common and will not be repeated.

In FIG. 5, the wafer 1 in the carrier 20 is
The hand 2 and another pusher 21 on the tip side of the hand are provided, and the state is shown in which the hand 2 holds the wafer 1 after the two cooperate to perform the automatic centering of the wafer 1. Further, since the carrier 20 is targeted in FIG. 5, the pusher 21 has a contact portion whose upper portion is tapered. 5A is a plan view of the state where the hand 2 holds the wafer 1 in the carrier, and the pusher 21 is arranged on the right side. FIG. 5B shows a sectional shape of the arm-side grip portion 3 of the hand 2 shown in the first embodiment in which not only the steeply inclined surface 3a but also the upper portion is a vertical surface 3c.
The wafer 1 is held. Furthermore, FIG.
Shows a state in which the wafer 1 is gripped even in the lower part where the height e is a vertical surface 3d.

FIG. 6 shows the process up to the gripping state shown in FIG. 5B, and FIG. 6A shows the state in which the wafer 1 is stored in the carrier 20, and the hand is held there. 2 is inserted, and the wafer 1 is centered between the vertical surface of the upper part of the arm-side grip portion 3 of the hand 2 and the pusher 21 on the tip side of the hand. (B) is a state in which the elevator is lowered from the above state and the wafer 1 is held at the tip side of the hand. (C) is a state in which the hand 2 is pulled backward by the dimension d from the above state. At this time, the wafer 1 slides down the steep slope on the arm side of the hand 2, and the tip side of the wafer 1 is fitted into the hand-side grip portion 4.

FIG. 7 shows changes in the posture of the wafer 1 when the wafer 1 slips on the slope and the ribs 20b of the carrier 20, and FIGS. 7A to 7C are explanatory views thereof.

FIG. 7A shows a state in which the wafer 1 is supported almost horizontally on the contact point T on the rib 20b of the carrier 20. At this time, when the inclined surface of the hand 2 approaches from the left and comes into contact with the wafer 1, a force F is applied to the wafer 1 in the horizontal direction below the dimension h1 from the center of gravity of the wafer 1. on the other hand,
At the position of the contact point with the rib 20b of the carrier 20, between the gravity W of the wafer 1 and the friction coefficient μ, μW that opposes F.
Acts in the horizontal direction at a position h2 below the center position of the wafer 1. Therefore, a force of μFsinφ is generated along the inclined surface, and F changes in the direction of F ′. As a result, the wafer 1 receives a moment in an upward direction on the left side, and
The direction changes to a state close to (c). This state is
On the contrary, F ′ goes below the point O, and the wafer 1 receives a moment in a direction in which the left side faces downward.

FIG. 7B shows a state where the left side of the wafer 1 is slightly lowered. In this case, F and μW oppose each other on substantially the same plane, and the moment for rotating the wafer 1 does not work.
Considering in this way, it is considered that the wafer 1 keeps a substantially horizontal posture on the rib 20b, is pushed by the inclined surface, and moves to the right.

Therefore, even in the case of the hand having only the steeply inclined surface as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it becomes possible to cope with the carrier having severe size restrictions. However, FIGS. 6A and 6B exemplify the hand 2 having a vertical surface on which the arm-side grip portion 3 of the hand 2 can be accurately positioned.

8 to 10 are shown in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (c).
And the ceiling of the ribs 20b of the upper and lower wafers 1 and the carrier 20 in the carrier with strict size restrictions are written 5 times in the vertical direction and 1/2 times in the horizontal direction. It shows that it can be taken out sufficiently. Reference numeral 1d indicates a wafer on the lower side by one step, and 1u indicates a wafer on the upper side by one step.

In FIG. 11, the upper portion of the wall of the pusher 21 is tapered, and the loading and unloading of the wafer 1 in the carrier 20 is aligned before the wafer 1 reaches the position for inserting the hand 2 as the elevator descends. The function is clarified. The spring 21a allows the pusher 21 to retreat with a weak force so that the wafer 1 is not strongly pinched by the hand 2 even if the stop position of the hand 2 is roughly determined.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the pusher 21 for taking out the wafer 1 in the carrier 20 from an arbitrary position.
21c is a pusher contact portion, 21a is the weak spring described above,
Reference numeral 21b is a piston for pushing out the pusher contact portion 21c to the left when necessary to move only the specific wafer 1 to a position close to the holding position of the hand 2 and capable of centering in cooperation with the hand 2. Is. When the elevator moves up and down, the pusher 21 can be returned to a position where it does not contact the wafer 1.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 13 shows a wafer handling apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, (b) and (c) are sectional views.

FIG. 13A shows a case where the hand 2 for taking out the wafer 1 in the carrier 20 is inserted, and the arm-side contact point of the hand 2 is the roller 30. Rollers are arranged, and the contact points are four points A, A ′, B, and B ′. Further, the roller 30 on the front end side of the hand 2 can be brought into contact with or separated from the wafer 1 in the same way as the pusher 21 described above in a device different from the hand 2. The roller 30 shown by the solid line shows the state of being separated from the wafer 1, and the roller 3 shown by the chain line.
0a is a roller 30 shown by a chain line on the outer circumference of the arc of the wafer 1.
“B” shows a state where the wafer 1 is in contact with the outer periphery of the orientation flat 1A. In this way, the roller 30 is rotationally driven so that the orientation flat direction is oriented in a predetermined direction.

FIGS. 13B and 13C show sectional shapes of the arm-side gripping portion 3 of the hand 2, both of which show the state after the gripping is completed after the orientation flat direction alignment. FIG. 13 shows the process until the gripping state is completed.
An example of (b) will be described below.

FIGS. 14 to 18 show that the orientation flat direction can be aligned and gripped within the limited size in the carrier 20 by multiplying the vertical direction by 5 times and the horizontal direction by 1/2. FIG. 14 shows a state where the hand 2 is inserted into the lower part of the wafer 1 and FIG. 15 shows a state where the roller 30 approaches the wafer 1 and contacts the tip side of the hand of the wafer 1.
a or 30b.

In FIG. 16, the elevator is lowered and the wafer 1
Shows the state of being separated from the rib 20b of the carrier 20 while being sandwiched between the rollers 30a of the hand 2. In this state, the roller 30a is rotationally driven to align the orientation flat 1A.

FIG. 17 shows a state in which the roller 30a is retracted, the wafer 1 slides down the slope on the hand side, and is in a state close to a gripping state. However, if the wafer 1 is pulled out in this state, there is a risk that it will come into contact with the rib 20b of the carrier 20. Therefore, it is necessary to further lower the elevator.

FIG. 18 shows that the wafer 1 is the carrier 20.
The state is shown in which the elevator is lowered to almost the middle of the gap between the ribs 20b. Since the gripping is completed at this position, the wafer 1 can be taken out by pulling the hand 2 to the left.

FIG. 19 shows the roller 30 (30a, 30b).
An example is shown in which the roller 30 is rotated at the same time when the wafer is brought into or out of contact with the wafer 1. Reference numeral 31 is a motor unit having a motor for driving a bearing that supports the roller 30, and a sensor plate 37a of the distance sensor 37 is attached to the upper right side of the motor unit. Below the motor unit 31, the shaft 3
The roller 30 is rotatable by means of 2 so that the roller 30 can move toward and away from the wafer 1. Further, the motor unit 31 is connected to the swing cylinder 33 by a shaft 35. The swing cylinder 33 is connected to a fixed object by a shaft 34 so that the push and pull of the swing cylinder 33 is not restricted. Further, a limit device 36 is provided to prevent the swinging distance of the motor portion 31 from being excessively increased by pushing and pulling the swinging cylinder 33. In addition,
The contact points A, A ', B, B'and the fixed portion 2a shown on the left side of the figure are models of the necessary functional portions of the hand 2. In addition, FIG. 19B shows Z of FIG.
Although a -Z cross section is shown, only a part necessary for explanation is shown because the drawing becomes complicated.

As can be understood from the above description,
In order to bring the roller 30 into contact with the wafer 1, the rocking cylinder 33 is extended and the motor unit 31 is tilted to the left. In order to move the roller 30 away from the wafer 1, the rocking cylinder 33 is moved.
Can be reduced and the motor unit 31 can be tilted to the right.
By adjusting the pressing force of the rocking cylinder 33, an excessive force is not applied to the orientation flat 1A, so that the wafer 1 can be rotationally driven by the frictional force with the roller 30. When the wafer 30 is driven by the roller 30, the motor portion 31 swings to the left or right depending on whether the contact point of the roller 30 is the arc portion on the outer periphery of the wafer or the orientation flat 1A.
The swing distance of the roller 30 can be detected by measuring the distance between the distance sensor 37 and the sensor plate 37a.

As described above, when the distance sensor 37 is always sensing, the sensing distance does not change while the roller 30 is in contact with the outer circumference of the arc of the wafer 1, but the distance gradually increases when the roller 30 contacts the orientation flat 1A. , It gradually decreases after reaching the maximum value, and becomes constant again when it contacts the outer circumference of the arc again. When this maximum value is reached, the orientation flat direction faces the direction of the roller 30. Therefore, by further rotating the roller 30 to the required angle from this point, the orientation flat direction can be directed to a predetermined position.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 20 shows a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.
(A) is a plan view, (b) and (c) are side views.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a robot equipped with the hand 2. The robot 40 has a function of allowing the first arm 40a to rotate 360 ° or more on the rotation center 40 of the robot 40. The entire arm is composed of a first arm 40a and a second arm 40b rotatably connected to the first arm 40a. Then, as shown in FIG. 20 (a), the hand attachment center 40d at the end of the second arm 40b bends to each other.
It is designed to move radially through. Further, as shown in FIG. 20A, the entire upper portion of the robot 40 is placed on the lifter 41 so that the entire robot 40 can be moved up and down within the height range of the distance L.

Besides, as shown in FIG. 20A, a temporary wafer placing table 43 is provided on the center of rotation of the entire hand 2. The temporary surface of the temporary wafer placing table 43 is above the height Hc of the robot hand, and above the wafer supporting surface 43a of the temporary wafer placing table 43, which will be described later. So that it is at the position Lh which is the middle of Further, when the arm as a whole rotates about the rotation center 40c in the illustrated posture, the arm 2 is supported at the position of the distance D outside the maximum radius Rh occupied by the hand 2. Further, this temporary wafer placing table 43 has supporting surfaces 43a at two positions in the diameter direction of the wafer 1 for supporting the wafer 1, and the width thereof is the minimum dimension w capable of stably supporting the wafer 1. FIG. 21 shows the details of the temporary wafer placing table 43. (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a side view. In this example, the cross-sectional shape of the support surface is a combination of a steep slope and a gentle slope similar to the hand 2 so as not to contact the back surface of the wafer 1.

In FIGS. 20A and 20B, 42 is an orientation flat sensor for detecting the orientation flat 1A of the wafer 1, which is rotated at the center position of the orientation flat 1A and the hand 2 is above the lifter 41. Is arranged at a height that does not interfere with the hand 2.

With the above arrangement, as shown by the solid line in FIGS. 20A and 20B, at the lower end position of the lifter 41, the hand center O is placed on the robot rotation center 40c,
With the bending of the arm held in the illustrated posture, the entire robot arm can be rotated about the rotation center 40c by 360 ° or more.

Therefore, the orientation flat sensor 42 can detect the orientation flat position within the 360 ° range of the wafer 1. The detected orientation flat position is stored. Next, the orientation flat matching operation will be described step by step.

(1) As shown in FIG. 20A, the wafer 1 is carried to a position where the temporary wafer placing base 43 does not overlap the wafer 1.

(2) Lift the lifter 41 to raise the hand 2
To the upper position.

(3) The wafer 1 is returned to the arm rotation center again.

(4) Since θ1 shown in FIG. 20A is generally 45 °, (a) if the orientation flat direction is adjusted within 45 ° with respect to the hand 2, the wafer with respect to the hand 2 is adjusted. When you want to turn 1 to the right, turn hand 2 to the required angle to the right.

(B) The orientation flat direction is 4 with respect to the hand 2.
If the adjustment is within the range of 5 ° to 135 ° and the wafer 1 is to be rotated to the right with respect to the hand 2, the hand 2 is rotated to the right by 45 °.

(C) The orientation flat direction is 1 with respect to the hand 2.
If the adjustment is within the range of 35 ° to 180 ° and the wafer 1 is to be rotated to the right with respect to the hand 2, the hand 2 is rotated by 45 °.
Turn to the right.

(5) The hand 2 is lowered to deposit the wafer 1 on the temporary wafer placing table 43.

(6) Preparation for changing the holding pattern for the first time (a) The hand 2 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 20 (a).

(B) Turn the hand 2 counterclockwise to the left by a required angle within 90 °.

(C) Turn the hand 2 90 ° counterclockwise.

(7) Changing the first holding time (a) Raise the hand 2 and hold the wafer 1 to complete.

(B) After raising the hand 2 to hold the wafer 1, the hand 2 is returned to the position shown in FIG.

(C) After raising the hand 2 and holding the wafer 1, the hand 2 is turned to the right by a required angle within 45 °.

(8) Preparation for changing the holding pattern for the second time (c) The hand 2 is lowered, and the wafer 1 is temporarily placed on the wafer stand 4.
Deposit in 3.

(9) Second change of pattern (c) Completed in (a) of (6) and then (a) of (7).

To return to the original position, the above (1),
The reverse operation of (2) and (3) is performed.

In this way, with the probability of 3/4, the change is completed the first time.

The inventions made by the present inventor are as follows.
Although specifically described based on the embodiment, the present invention
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0099]

The effects obtained by typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

(1) Contamination can be prevented because the back surface of the wafer is not contacted consistently.

(2) The wafer on the stage where the position of the wafer is regulated can be automatically centered with only the hand.

(3) The wafer on the stage whose wafer position is not regulated can be automatically centered by a coordinated operation with a simple device other than the hand.

(4) Automatic centering and orientation flat alignment of a wafer can be performed even for a wafer in a carrier with strict regulation dimensions.

(5) The orientation gripping of the wafer held by the hand can be performed by the high-performance robot and the simple wafer temporary placing table.

(6) By means of (1) to (5), it is possible to manufacture a simple and compact semiconductor device having high reliability, and it is possible to improve the manufacturing yield of the semiconductor device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show a scooping and slope type wafer handling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

2A and 2B are views for explaining the position on the cross section of a contact point on the arm side of the hand in the wafer handling apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. It is an XX sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the wafer handling apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the process up to the holding state shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the wafer handling apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which the wafer slides up on the slope of the hand.

5A and 5B show a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view and FIGS. 5B and 5C are sectional views.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the process of the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention until it reaches the holding state shown in FIG. 5 (b).

FIG. 7 is a view showing a posture change of a wafer when the wafer slides on a slope and a rib of a carrier in the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and (a) to (c) are explanatory diagrams thereof. Is.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of hand insertion in the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of raising a hand in the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of retreating a hand in the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a specific structure of a lower sequential pusher at the time of handling a carrier in the wafer handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a specific structure of an arbitrary pusher in a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

13A and 13B show a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which FIG. 13A is a plan view, and FIGS. 13B and 13C are sectional views.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of hand insertion in the wafer handling apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of roller contact and centering in the wafer handling apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view illustrating a process of raising and rotating a hand in a wafer handling apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of roller rotation in the wafer handling apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of gripping a hand in the wafer handling apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a view for explaining a specific structure of a roller portion for roller type orientation flat alignment in a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, (a) being a plan view;
(B) is a sectional view.

20A and 20B show a wafer handling apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention, in which FIG. 20A is a plan view, and FIGS. 20B and 20C are side views.

21A and 21B show details of a temporary wafer placing table in the wafer handling apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 21A is a plan view and FIG. 21B is a side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Wafer, 1A ... Wafer orientation flat, 1u ... Wafer 1
Wafer one step above, 1d ... Wafer one step below wafer 1,
1s ... Position of wafer avoiding temporary wafer holder, 2 ... Hand, 2a ... Fixed part, 3 ... Arm side grip, 3a, 4
a ... steeply inclined surface, 3b, 4b ... gentle inclination surface, 3c, 3d ... vertical surface, 4 ... tip side gripping portion, 20 ... carrier, 20b ... carrier rib, 21 ... pusher, 21a ... pusher spring, 21b ... piston , 21c ... Pusher contact part, 3
0, 30a, 30b ... Roller, 31 ... Motor part, 32,
34, 35 ... Shaft, 33 ... Swing cylinder, 36 ... Limit device, 37 ... Distance sensor, 37a ... Sensor plate,
40 ... Robot, 40a ... First arm, 40b ... Second
Arm, 40c ... rotation center, 40d ... attachment center, 4
1 ... Lifter, 42 ... Orientation flat sensor, 43 ... Wafer temporary placing table, 43a ... Wafer supporting surface, 50 ... Wafer supporting table,
A, B, B '... Arm side contact point, A' ... A symmetrical position contact point, C, C '... Tip side contact point, C1, C1' ... Stage-wafer contact point, O ... Hand Center point, φ ... steep slope angle, φ1 ... tip side steep slope angle, ψ ... gentle slope angle, A1, B1, B1 '... hand side intermediate height contact point, A2, B2, B2' ... hand side Contact point of maximum height, S1 ... center of distance of radius of contact point of intermediate height on hand side, S2 ... center of distance of radius of contact point of maximum height of hand side, R ... of contact point on hand side Radius, F ... Horizontal force exerted on wafer, W ... Wafer gravity, μ ... Resistance force, 1 '...
Position where the wafer contacts the pusher, 1 ″ ... Position where the wafer contacts the bottom of the carrier, e ... Height of the vertical surface below the contact point on the hand side, d ... Distance when the hand is pulled, o ... Wafer center of gravity, F '... Change of F, f1 ... Distance between F and o, f2 ...
o, the distance between the wafer bottom surface, D, L, Lh, Lc ...
H ... Height, Rh ... Maximum turning radius of hand, W ... Width of temporary wafer holder, θ ... Rotation angle of arm.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hayami Toba, 3-3 Fujibashi, Tokyo, Ome City, Tokyo 2 Hitachi Tokyo Electronics Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. When a semiconductor wafer gripping operation is completed,
The semiconductor wafer outer circumference has a center point at a position where the center position of a circle corresponding to the outer circumference circle of the semiconductor wafer is projected on a plane parallel to the semiconductor wafer surface, and the center line on a plane passing through the center point is the center line of the hand. The center points of circles of approximately the same diameter that allow the circles to fit are located at the same positions as the above-mentioned center points, and there are center portions at the two points that intersect the circle and the center line of the hand, and the center of each In a semiconductor wafer handling device in which a hand gripping portion that can contact only the outer peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer within a predetermined range along the circle that is symmetrical with respect to the hand center line through the portion, points at both ends of the arm side gripping portion of the hand are The opening angle formed at the center point is not less than twice the opening angle formed at the both ends of the orientation flat portion of the semiconductor wafer at the center point of the semiconductor wafer, and the contact points are provided at least at the both end points and at the three points of the central portion. of The opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the end-side gripping portion with respect to the center point is equal to or larger than the opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the orientation flat portion of the semiconductor wafer with the center point of the semiconductor wafer, and contact points are provided at least at two points on both ends, Regardless of the position of the orientation flat portion on the hand gripping portion, when gripping the semiconductor wafer, both hand gripping portions may actually actually come into contact with the semiconductor wafer first, respectively, at least at one position. A semiconductor wafer handling device in which the angle formed by the line connecting the points and the line connecting each point with the semiconductor wafer center point is set to be equal to or greater than the friction angle between the hand gripping portion and the semiconductor wafer. , A semiconductor window having a center point at a position where the cross-sectional shape of the contact portion of the arm-side grip portion of the hand is moved to the hand side from the center point of the semiconductor wafer in the gripped state in the upper part where the semiconductor wafer enters. (C) A steep slope is formed on a plane parallel to the semiconductor wafer that has an arc close to the outer circumference arc, and from there is a steep slope toward the arc close to the outer circumference arc held by the semiconductor wafer in the gripping state. The bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer is held to a position close to the outer circumference of the circular arc, and is a conical inclined surface close to the horizontal toward the center of the hand. From the position close to the top to the top, the surface becomes a vertical cylinder inner surface or a steep slope close to the inner surface of the cone having a sharp apex angle, and the bottom is a cone-like shape with the apex near the horizontal toward the center of the hand. A semiconductor wafer handling device having a gently inclined surface. 2. When the semiconductor wafer gripping operation is completed,
The semiconductor wafer outer circumference has a center point at a position where the center position of a circle corresponding to the outer circumference circle of the semiconductor wafer is projected on a plane parallel to the semiconductor wafer surface, and the center line on a plane passing through the center point is the center line of the hand. The center points of circles of approximately the same diameter that allow the circles to fit are located at the same positions as the above-mentioned center points, and there are center portions at the two points that intersect the circle and the center line of the hand, and the center of each In a semiconductor wafer handling device having a hand gripping portion that can contact only the outer peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer within a predetermined range that is symmetrical with respect to the hand center line and passes through the hand, the points at both ends of the arm-side finger portion of the hand are The opening angle formed at the center point is at least twice the opening angle formed by the two points of the orientation flat portion of the semiconductor wafer at the center point of the semiconductor wafer, and the opening of the orientation flat portion is made from both ends toward the center portion. Until the point that has moved over the corner a hand grip portion, the four points of points moving the opening angle or orientation flat portion toward the contact point at least at both ends and from there to the center,
The opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the gripping part on the tip side of the hand to the center point is set to be equal to or smaller than the opening angle formed by the points at both ends of the orientation flat portion of the semiconductor wafer at the center point of the semiconductor wafer, and the contact points are at least two points at the two ends or the center. No matter which position of the orientation flat portion is on the finger portion, both hand gripping portions, when gripping the semiconductor wafer, will actually actually come into contact with the semiconductor wafer first, respectively.
With a semiconductor wafer handling device, the angle between the line connecting points and the line connecting each point with the center point of the semiconductor wafer is set to be equal to or greater than the friction angle between the hand grip and the semiconductor wafer. That is, the cross-sectional shape of the contact portion of the grip portion on the arm side of the hand is close to the outer circumferential arc of the semiconductor wafer having the center point at the position moved to the hand side from the center point of the semiconductor wafer in the gripped state in the upper part where the semiconductor wafer enters. It has a circular arc on a plane parallel to the semiconductor wafer, and from there it is a steep slope toward the circular arc close to the peripheral arc that the semiconductor wafer holds in the gripping state, and the gradient is on the circular arc outer periphery of the flat bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer. Keep it up to a close position, and make it a conical, gently-sloping surface that is closer to the horizontal toward the center of the hand, and make the cross-sectional shape of the contact part of the tip side gripping part half of the gripping state. From the position near the outer circumference of the arc of the body wafer, a steeply inclined surface near the inner surface of the vertical cylinder or the inner surface of the cone having a sharp apex angle is formed upward, and downward is formed near the horizontal center toward the center of the hand. A semiconductor wafer handling device having a conical gently inclined surface having 3. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a center point of the contact portion of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand is held by the semiconductor wafer in a gripped state at an upper portion into which the semiconductor wafer enters. Hold the semiconductor wafer on a parallel plane with an arc close to the outer peripheral arc of the semiconductor wafer having the center point at the position moved to the hand side, and from there downward toward the bottom of the inner surface of the cylinder for a length equal to or greater than the thickness of the semiconductor wafer. The shape is close to a vertical surface, and from there it is a steep slope toward the outer circumferential arc held by the semiconductor wafer in the gripping state, and the slope is kept close to the arc outer circumference of the flat bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer, A semiconductor wafer handling device characterized by a conical gentle slope having an apex toward the bottom, which is close to the horizontal and faces the center of the hand. 4. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a center point of the contact portion of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand is held by the semiconductor wafer in a gripped state at an upper portion into which the semiconductor wafer enters. Hold a circular arc close to the outer circumferential circular arc of the semiconductor wafer with the center point at the position moved to the hand side on a plane parallel to the semiconductor wafer, and from there downward toward the inner surface of the cylinder for a length equal to or greater than the thickness of the semiconductor wafer. The shape is close to a vertical surface, and from there it is a steep slope toward the arc that is closer to the outer peripheral arc that the semiconductor wafer holds in the gripped state, and the slope is kept close to the position where the semiconductor wafer holds in the gripped state. From that point, the shape is closer to the flat bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer gripping downward, close to the inner surface of the arc. A semiconductor wafer handling device characterized in that it has a conical gentle slope having an apex on the lower side of the horizontal direction toward the center of the semiconductor wafer. 5. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the arm-side gripping portion of the hand has a cross-sectional shape of any one of claims 1 to 3. Item 3. A semiconductor wafer handling device, comprising: three or more rollers, which are a combination of a cylinder and a cone having a ridge line having the same shape as that described in the paragraph, and contact the semiconductor wafer at the ridge line. 6. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a hand is provided below the semiconductor wafer to carry the semiconductor wafer out of a wafer carrier or various wafer processing stages. Or after inserting the hand into the upper part of the support part of the wafer carrier or various wafer processing stages while holding the semiconductor wafer in order to carry the semiconductor wafer into the wafer carrier or various wafer processing stages, At the contact position between the hand and the semiconductor wafer, near the contact point of the tip grip portion of the hand, a wall perpendicular to the plane of one or more wafers that will contact the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer is provided, and the wall is fixed. Structure or if the hand further advances in the inserting direction after the wafer contacts the wall, the wall contacts the semiconductor wafer in the hand moving direction. Or the wall is contacted with or separated from the semiconductor wafer by advancing or retracting the wall in the direction opposite to the hand insertion direction after inserting the hand into the wall. 1. A semiconductor wafer handling device, characterized in that it has any one of the structures which does not become excessive. 7. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a wall surface of the wall is a surface perpendicular to a wafer plane from a point near a contact point with the semiconductor wafer to a lower surface, and an upper surface is a wafer. A semiconductor wafer handling device having a surface inclined in an inserting direction. 8. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the semiconductor wafer is being supported by a wafer carrier or a support of various processing stages, the hand is placed below the semiconductor wafer. When it is inserted near the center of the semiconductor wafer until the gripping center of the hand is located at the contact point of the tip gripping part of the hand and at the contact point position of the hand tip part of the semiconductor wafer on the support table. From the height which is the same as or higher than the bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer above, the cylindrical surface having a ridge line which will contact the wafer surface on the support at a right angle or at an angle close thereto or a sharp apex downward One roller with a conical surface that has an apex on the bottom
One or a plurality of rollers are provided, and the center position of the roller shaft is made movable so that the roller can be brought into contact with or separated from the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer, and at the same time, at least the center position is from the radius of the semiconductor wafer to the center of the semiconductor wafer. From the distance to the orientation flat portion can be detected, the roller can be rotationally driven, and the semiconductor wafer can be rotationally driven at least 360 ° or more by frictional force by contacting with the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer. A semiconductor wafer handling device characterized in that a semiconductor wafer can detect the rotation angle of a roller by at least 360 ° or more. 9. The semiconductor wafer handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a center position of the semiconductor wafer is a robot arm equipped with the hand in a state where the hand holds the semiconductor wafer. It moves in the front-back direction of the hand at the same time when it passes through the rotation center position, and can rotate 360 ° or more with the semiconductor wafer center position on the rotation center position of the robot arm. Using a robot that can be moved to the center, a narrow support base that supports the semiconductor wafer in the gripped state at two positions near the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer is provided at an intermediate position between the vertical position and the vertical position on the rotation center position of the robot arm. The center position of the provided and held semiconductor wafer is halfway around the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer at the lower position on the rotation center position of the robot arm. Handling apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, characterized in that a non-contact type sensor which can detect the orientation flat position of the body wafer.