JPH10116890A - Single wafer cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent dust such as particles, etc., from being adhered to a wafer by rotating in normal/reverse directions such a plurality of fixing mechanisms form the outside of a case that are integrated with a cassette on the outer circumference of a rotary body, brought into contact with the outer circumference of the wafer at a plurality of points, and used to fix the wafer on the respective supporting members. SOLUTION: An entrance for wafer W for evaluation is provided on the front of a case 1, and an open/close door 1A is attached thereto. A plurality of supporting posts 4 are erected around a center shaft 3 erected at the center of the lower surface 1B within the case 1. The posts 4 are fitted loose with loose-fitting holes 5A corresponding to the respective posts 4 of a rotary body 5, and the body 5 is rotated in normal/reverse directions in the specified range. Fixing mechanisms 6, which the brought into contact with the outer circumference of the wafer W and fixes them, are fitted in accordance with corners of the case 1, on the outer circumference of the body 5, and the respective mechanisms 6 are rotated integrally together with the body 5. The body 5 and mechanisms 6 are rotated in normal/reverse directions in a range of circular hole 5B through a guide pin 6E.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a single wafer cassette, and more particularly to a single wafer cassette for storing monitor wafers and master wafers used in a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as "wafer") inspection apparatus. Regarding cassettes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an inspection apparatus such as a probe apparatus is used for performing an electrical inspection of each of a large number of IC chips formed on a wafer. The probe device 10 includes, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a cassette mounting portion 11 for mounting the wafer W stored in the cassette C, and tweezers 12 for transporting the wafer W of the cassette mounting portion 11. Loader 13 provided with
Prober unit 1 for inspecting wafer W carried through wafer 2
4, a controller 15 for controlling the prober unit 14 and the loader unit 13, and a display device 16 also serving as an operation panel for operating the controller 15.

The loader section 13 has a sub-chuck 17 for performing the so-called pre-alignment, that is, for aligning the direction of the wafer W with reference to the orientation flat.
Are arranged. Accordingly, the tweezers 12 unloads the wafer from the cassette, pre-aligns the wafer W with the sub chuck 17, and then transfers the wafer W to the prober unit 14.

A prober section 14 has a main chuck 18 on which a wafer W can be moved in X, Y, Z, and θ directions, and a wafer W mounted on the main chuck 18 at an inspection position. Alignment mechanism 19 for accurate alignment, and probe needle 20A for performing electrical inspection of wafer W aligned by alignment mechanism 19
And a probe card 20 having the same. Further, a test head 21 is rotatably disposed in the prober unit 14, and the test head 2 which is turned on the prober unit 14 is provided.
1, a probe card 20 is electrically connected to a tester (not shown), and a predetermined signal from the tester is transmitted / received to / from the wafer W on the main chuck 18 via the probe card 20 and formed on the wafer W. The electrical test of the plurality of IC chips is sequentially performed by a tester.

By the way, when inspecting the wafer W,
A master wafer is used when various parameters such as various inspection conditions and a wafer size of a wafer to be inspected are determined and set in the probe device 10. In addition, the amount of dust such as particles in the device can be checked,
When checking the conduction performance of the probe needle 20A or the like, an aluminum wafer, a gold wafer, or the like is used as a monitor wafer. Further, when an inspection failure occurs during the inspection process of the wafer W, it may be checked whether or not the device itself has a cause using, for example, a master wafer. The wafer used in such a case must be stored and used in a clean state.

Therefore, conventionally, such an evaluation wafer is stored or transported in a case with a cover so as to prevent dust such as particles from adhering as much as possible. Further, since wafers are generally handled in a clean room, they are often stored and transported in a cassette used in a wafer processing step. When performing various evaluations using the evaluation wafer, the operator carries the case or the cassette to the probe device 10, takes out the evaluation wafer from the case or the cassette, mounts the evaluation wafer on the unload table 22 of the probe device 10, and Is to be evaluated.

[0007]

However, conventionally, a monitor wafer or the like is stored in a case or a cassette with a cover, and an operator takes out the evaluation wafer from the case or the cassette and mounts it on the probe device 10 at the time of use. However, when the evaluation wafer is transported or mounted on the probe device 10, the evaluation wafer directly comes into contact with the outside air, and dust such as particles easily adheres to the evaluation wafer, thereby lowering the reliability of the evaluation result. There was a problem that.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is intended to prevent dust such as particles from adhering to a wafer and to obtain a highly reliable evaluation by mounting a wafer together with a cassette in an inspection apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a single wafer cassette capable of performing the above.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a single wafer cassette including an opening / closing door for opening and closing a wafer entrance formed on one side of a case, and an opening / closing opening of the opening / closing door. A plurality of support members that support a single wafer housed at a plurality of locations on the back surface thereof and are provided upright on the lower surface in the case; and a hole in which these support members are loosely fitted. A rotating body that rotates in the forward and reverse directions about a central axis of the rotating body; and a plurality of bodies that are integrated with the outer circumference of the rotating body and that contact the outer circumference of the wafer at a plurality of locations to fix the wafer on each of the support members. Fixing mechanism,
An operation member for fixing or releasing the wafer by rotating these rotating mechanisms forward and backward from outside the case is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the single wafer cassette according to the first aspect, the fixing mechanism includes a box fixed to an outer periphery of the rotating body;
A contact body accommodated in the box so as to be able to move forward and backward, and an elastic body for urging the contact body in a radial direction of the wafer in the box body; An elongated hole inclined with respect to the tangent line is formed, and a pin erected in the case is fitted into the elongated hole movably in the longitudinal direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a single wafer cassette which is housed via an opening / closing door for opening / closing a wafer entrance formed on one side of the case, and the opening / closing door. A plurality of support members supporting one wafer at a plurality of locations on the back surface thereof and standing on the lower surface in the case, and contacting the periphery of the wafer on these support members at a plurality of locations, and A plurality of fixing mechanisms fixed to the lower surface, a rotating body that rotates in the forward and reverse directions about the center axis of the case so as to operate each fixing mechanism inside these fixing mechanisms, and And an operation member extending outward through an operation port formed on one side surface of the electronic device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the single wafer cassette according to the third aspect, the fixing mechanism comprises a box fixed to an outer periphery of the rotating body;
A contact body accommodated in the box so as to be able to move forward and backward, and an elastic body for urging the contact body in a radial direction of the wafer in the box body; An elongated hole inclined with respect to the tangent line is formed, and a pin erected on the rotating body is fitted into the elongated hole movably in the longitudinal direction.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the single wafer cassette C of the present embodiment is a flat, substantially square case 1 made of a transparent, hardly dustable, and hardly charged material, for example, a polycarbonate resin or an acrylic resin. It is formed so as to accommodate only one evaluation wafer W. When the evaluation wafer W is mounted on the unload table 21 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) of the probe device 10, the single wafer cassette C is mounted on the unload table 21.

The front surface of the case 1 (left surface in FIG. 1)
An entrance for taking in and out the evaluation wafer W is formed in
An opening / closing door 1A is attached to the entrance so as to be freely opened and closed. This opening / closing door 1A is attached via a shaft 2 to the front end of the both side surfaces which follow the lower end of both ends, and FIG.
As shown in (1), the door is rotated around the shaft 2 to open and close the entrance. Further, for example, the upper end of the door 1A slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the case 1, and the protrusion is operated to open the door 1A. The door 1A is configured to automatically close the entrance by a spring. Therefore, when the single wafer cassette C is mounted in the unload table 22, the single wafer cassette C is detected by, for example, a sensor (not shown) provided in the loader unit 13, and an opening / closing operation mechanism (not shown) operates. The opening / closing door 1A is opened, and the tweezers 12 are driven to take out or store the evaluation wafer W from the single wafer cassette C as indicated by a virtual line in FIG.

A central shaft 3 is provided upright at the center of the lower surface 1B in the case 1. A plurality (seven in FIG. 1) of support posts 4 are provided around the central axis 3 at regular intervals from the central axis 3 and at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. These support posts 4
The evaluation wafers W formed at the same height and accommodated in the case 1 are horizontally supported from the back surface thereof.

A rotating body 5 is rotatably mounted on the central shaft 3, and the rotating body 5 is connected to the central shaft 3 as described later.
Can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions within a predetermined range around. In addition, loose fitting holes 5A corresponding to the respective support posts 4 are formed in the rotating body 5 at seven places, and these loose fitting holes 5A are formed.
Each of the support posts 4 is loosely fitted so that the rotating body 5 can rotate forward and backward within a predetermined range.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) in an enlarged manner, the evaluation wafer W is fixed at four positions on the outer periphery of the rotating body 5 by being in contact with the outer periphery of the evaluation wafer W. The fixing mechanisms 6 are mounted corresponding to the corners of the case 1 so that each fixing mechanism 6 rotates together with the rotating body 5. Each fixing mechanism 6 includes a rectangular box 6A and a contact body 6 that is accommodated in the box 6A and that can reciprocate in the radial direction of the rotating body 5.
B, and a spring 6C provided between the rear end of the contact body 6B and the side surface of the box 6A. The spring 6C constantly urges the contact body 6B toward the central axis 3, and the wafer for evaluation is provided. It is configured to make elastic contact with W. There is a gap between the upper surface of the box 6A and the inner surface of the case 1,
The evaluation wafer W is taken in and out through this gap.

A long hole 6 inclined with respect to the tangent line of the evaluation wafer W is provided in a protruding portion of the contact body 6B from the box 6A.
D is formed. Further, an arc-shaped hole 5B formed corresponding to the long hole 6D is formed in the rotating body 5, and a guide pin 6E erected on the lower surface of the case 1 penetrates the arc-shaped hole 5B. The fixing mechanism 6 rotates in the forward and reverse directions within the range of the arc-shaped hole 5B according to the guide pin 6E. Further, the guide pin 6E has a long hole 6D of the contact body 6B.
Through the contact member 6 as the fixing mechanism 6 rotates forward and reverse.
B moves forward and backward in the box 6A as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2B to fix and release the evaluation wafer W. The width of the long hole 6D is set to be larger than the diameter of the guide pin 6E, so that the contact body 6B elastically contacts the evaluation wafer W as described above. Moreover, a tapered surface 6F inclined toward the wafer is formed at the tip of the contact body 6B so that the evaluation wafer W does not come off the contact body 6B when the contact body 6B elastically contacts the evaluation wafer W. is there.

The rotating body 5 is provided with an operating lever 7 for rotating the rotating body 5. This operation lever 7
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), it protrudes outward from the rotating body 5 via an operation port 1C at the center of the rear surface (the surface facing the door). Further, a pair of projections having, for example, a tapered surface 5C are formed on the rotating body 5 so as to sandwich the operation lever 7, and a constant diameter is provided on the lower surface of the case 1 from each tapered surface 5C in the radial direction of the rotating body 5. Are provided at a distance from each other. Each stopper 8 is formed with a tapered surface 8A that elastically engages with each tapered surface 5C. Therefore, when the operation lever 7 is operated as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1A, the tapered surface 5C of the projection engages with and engages with the tapered surface 8A of the stopper 8, and the contact member 6B of the fixing mechanism 6 is used for evaluation. The state in which the wafer W is fixed or released can be stably maintained.

Next, the usage of the single wafer cassette will be described. First, when the evaluation wafer W is stored in the single wafer cassette C, when the operation lever 7 located in the middle of the operation port 1C (see FIG. 1A) is operated downward, the rotating body 5 And the tapered surface 5C of the rotating body 5 engages with the tapered surface 8A of the stopper 8,
At this position, the rotating body 5 is fixed. With this rotation, the contact body 6B of the fixing mechanism 6 enters the box 6A against the urging force of the spring 6C by the action of the long hole 6D and the guide pin 6E, and the four contact bodies 6B are brought into contact with the evaluation wafer W. Retreat to a position where it does not come in contact with. In this state, after opening and closing the door 1A and opening the entrance, when the evaluation wafer W is inserted from the entrance, the evaluation wafer W is placed on the support post 4, and the opening and closing door 1A is automatically set via a spring. Close to.

Next, when the operating lever 7 is operated in the reverse direction, the rotating body 5 rotates counterclockwise and the contact body 6B
Gradually comes out of the box 6A by the action of the long hole 6D and the guide pin 6E, and comes into elastic contact with the evaluation wafer W. Then, the operation lever 7 is provided with the tapered surface 5C of the projection and the stopper 8.
Is fixed by the action, the evaluation wafer W can be reliably fixed in a state where the evaluation wafer W is pressed against the support post 4 side by the tapered surface 6F of each contact body 6B.

When the evaluation wafer W is mounted on the probe device 10, the single wafer cassette C is carried to the probe device 10, and the unload table 22 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) is pulled out from the loader section 13, and the evaluation A single wafer cassette C containing a wafer W is mounted.
At this time, the operation lever 7 is operated in advance to release the wafer from the contact body 6B. The operation lever 7 is connected to the loader unit 13.
It may be made to operate automatically within.

Then, when the unload table 22 returns into the loader section 13, the single wafer cassette C is detected by the sensor, and the opening / closing operation mechanism is operated to open the door 1A of the single wafer cassette C, and open the opened state. maintain. Subsequently, the tweezers 12 enter the single wafer cassette C from the entrance and exit, take out the evaluation wafer W from the single wafer cassette C, and perform a predetermined evaluation on the probe device 10. When the prescribed evaluation is completed,
The tweezers 12 is driven to return the evaluation wafer W to the original position. Thereafter, the tweezers 12 withdraws from the single wafer cassette C, and the door 1A automatically closes. Thereafter, the unload table 22 is pulled out of the loader unit 13 to take out the single wafer cassette C, and the single wafer cassette C is stored in the original place.

According to the present embodiment as described above,
Once the evaluation wafer W is once stored in the single wafer cassette C, the evaluation wafer W is in an environment completely shielded from the outside air, and dust such as particles does not enter the single wafer cassette C and is always clean. It is possible to handle the evaluation wafer W under an appropriate environment, and to perform highly reliable evaluation.

In the above-described embodiment, the fixing mechanism 6 includes the rotating body 5
The mechanism for fixing the evaluation wafer W by rotating together with the fixing mechanism 6 has been described. However, as shown in FIG.
May be fixed to the lower surface 1 </ b> B and separated from the rotating body 5, and a guide pin 6 </ b> E may be provided on the rotating body 5. In this case, by operating the operation lever 7, the contact member 6B of the fixing mechanism 6 can be moved forward and backward by the guide pin 6E on the rotating body 5, and the same operation and effect as in the above embodiment can be expected. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the rotating body 5 with an arcuate hole.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and such an invention is included in the present invention unless departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0027]

According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, dust such as particles on the wafer is prevented from adhering to the wafer, and the wafer is mounted on the inspection apparatus together with the cassette to achieve high reliability. A single wafer cassette that can be evaluated can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a single wafer cassette of the present invention, wherein (a) is a plan view showing a state in which an upper surface of a case is removed, and (b) is a view taken along line BB of (a). It is sectional drawing.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a fixing mechanism shown in FIG. 1;
(A) is a plan view showing a state where the upper surface of the box is removed,
(B) is a side view which shows the state which removed the side of the box.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a stopper of the rotating body shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing one embodiment of a single wafer cassette of the present invention, and is a view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a probe device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the probe device shown in FIG. 5, with the prober section cut away.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an outline of the inside of the probe device shown in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 1A Opening door 1B Lower surface of case 3 Center shaft 4 Support post (support member) 5 Rotating body 5A Free fitting hole 6 Fixing mechanism 6A Box body 6B Contact body 6C Spring (elastic body) 6D Long hole 6E Guide pin (pin) 7 Operation lever (operation member) W Evaluation wafer C Single wafer cassette

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01L 21/66 B65D 85/38 R

Claims (4)

[Claims] An opening / closing door for opening / closing a wafer entrance formed on one side surface of a case, and a single wafer stored through the opening / closing opening of the opening / closing door is supported at a plurality of locations on the back surface thereof. A plurality of support members erected on a lower surface in the case, a rotating body having holes in which the support members are loosely fitted, and rotating in forward and reverse directions about a center axis of the case; A plurality of fixing mechanisms integrated with the outer periphery of the body and in contact with the outer periphery of the wafer at a plurality of locations to fix the wafer on each of the support members; and fixing these mechanisms and the rotating body to the outside of the case. A single-wafer cassette comprising: an operating member for rotating the wafer forward and backward to fix or release the wafer. 2. The fixing mechanism comprises: a box fixed to an outer periphery of the rotating body; a contact body housed in the box so as to be able to move forward and backward; A long hole is formed in the projecting portion of the contact body and is inclined with respect to a tangent to the outer periphery of the wafer, and a pin provided in the case stands in the long hole. 2. The single wafer cassette according to claim 1, wherein the single wafer cassette is movably fitted in a longitudinal direction. 3. An opening / closing door for opening / closing a wafer entrance formed on one side surface of a case, and a single wafer stored through the opening / closing door of the opening / closing door being supported at a plurality of locations on the back surface thereof. A plurality of support members erected on the lower surface in the case, a plurality of fixing mechanisms that contact the periphery of the wafer on these support members at a plurality of locations and are fixed to the lower surface in the case; A rotating body that rotates in the forward and reverse directions about the center axis of the case so as to operate each fixing mechanism inside the mechanism, and an outer side from the rotating body through an operation port formed on one side of the case. A single wafer cassette, comprising: 4. The fixing mechanism includes: a box fixed to the outer periphery of the rotating body; a contact body housed in the box so as to be able to move forward and backward; An elastic body biasing in the direction, and a long hole is formed in a protruding portion of the contact body with respect to a tangent to the outer periphery of the wafer, and a pin provided on the rotating body in the long hole. The single wafer cassette according to claim 3, wherein the single wafer cassette is movably fitted in the longitudinal direction.