JPS61224430A - Wafer transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatize completely the process to cover to such an extent that carriers, wherein wafers are housed, are loaded, the wafers are transferred on the quartz port CONSTITUTION:When carriers 1, wherein wafers are housed, are placed on a loading position (a) by the robot andso forth, a loading mechanism 10 effects index-feeding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device, and particularly to a wafer transfer device for transferring wafers from a wafer carrier to a quartz boat for semiconductor processing (
For example, it is used to transfer wafers from a quartz boat that has been sent to a heat treatment process and then transferred to a carrier after undergoing a semiconductor processing process.

(Technical Background of the Invention) When manufacturing semiconductor devices, heat treatment, etching treatment,
Processes such as cleaning treatment or photoresist treatment are repeatedly performed. Therefore, there were many opportunities to transfer semiconductor wafers between the wafer carrier and the quartz boat.

A wafer carrier for storing wafers has a structure as shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, for example.

However, a large number of wafer guide grooves 2 are cut into the inner surface of the carrier 1, and the wafer 3 can be placed in these grooves. Further, the quartz boat used in the semiconductor processing process is, for example, of a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. That is, a large number of grooves 5 are cut into the upper surface of the quartz boat 4, in which the wafers 3 can be placed.

Wafers are normally transferred between the carrier and the quartz boat manually using a bottle set or the like. However, if it is done manually, impurities easily get mixed in,
In addition, the wafer is easily damaged (thereby reducing the product yield).

Therefore, a wafer transfer apparatus has been proposed, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-126128.

According to this device, wafers can be automatically transferred between the kit rear and the quartz boat without human intervention. However, from the loading and unloading of carriers to the semiconductor processing process using quartz boats,
-m is not automatically performed. For this reason, it is not possible to sufficiently improve product yield or reduce costs.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.The wafers are loaded into a Kyrelia and transferred to a quartz boat, and after processing steps such as heat treatment, the wafers are transferred to a carrier again and the wafers are processed. The present invention provides a wafer transfer device that can completely automate the process up to unloading a carrier containing wafers.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a loading mechanism, an unloading mechanism, and a loading mechanism that transfers carriers sent to a delivery position by the loading mechanism to a transfer position, and unloads carriers returned to the transfer position. means for transferring the wafers to the transfer mechanism; means for transferring the wafers between the carrier and the quartz boat at the transfer position; an elevator mechanism for transferring the quartz boat between its own home position and the semiconductor processing equipment; A wafer transfer device is provided that includes a stage for moving a quartz boat to and from a home position of an elevator mechanism.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the same embodiment.

The loading mechanism 10 is for transporting the carriers 1, and the carriers 1 placed at a loading position a by a robot or the like (not shown) are sequentially index-fed to a position @b. A transfer mechanism 12 is provided adjacent to the loading mechanism 10 for transferring the carrier 1 to the delivery position c. This transfer mechanism 12 includes a guide member 12a that extends to the delivery position c while in position;
A slider 12b guided by this guide member 12a and moved by a motor (not shown), and a lid 1 attached to this slider 12b for lifting the carrier 1.
It is equipped with 2c.

A carrier moving stage 13 for switching the delivery position C is provided at a position adjacent to the transfer mechanism 12. This carrier movement state 13 is necessary because the wafer capacity of a normal quartz boat is multiple times the wafer capacity ω of the carrier 1.

The carrier moving stage 13 moves along the guide rail 14b when the threaded rod 14a is rotated by a motor (not shown).
The carrier is moved in the direction of the arrow in the figure along the arrow to transport the carrier between the delivery position C and the transfer position.

When the carrier 1 containing the wafers comes from the delivery position Mc to a predetermined transfer position, a carrier holder (not shown) etc. is operated to rotate and lift the carrier 1, and the action of the wafer holder 20 moves the carrier 1 to the boat moving stage. It is set in the quartz boat 4 on the top 18. The wafer transfer operation from the carrier 1 to the quartz boat 4 is performed, for example, by the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 126128/1983.

The boat moving stage 18 moves the quartz boat 4 between the position [d] and the home position e of the elevator 15.
move. Note that the drive l1ea is similar to the mechanism of the carrier moving stage 13.

The elevator mechanism 15 includes an operating rod 15a that is driven up and down and rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown), two parallel link rods 15b connected to this, and a support rod 15C connected to the link rod and parallel to the operating rod 15a. and a support 15d which is fixed to the tip of the support rod 15C and configured to be placed on the handle of a quartz boat. By the action of this elevator mechanism 15, the boat moving stage 18
The quartz boat is transferred between the upper position e (home position of the elevator mechanism 15) and the entrance position @f of the quartz tube 25. The quartz fork 24 is for inserting the quartz boat that has come to the inlet position f into the quartz tube 25 of the diffusion furnace.

A transfer mechanism 22 is provided at a position facing the transfer mechanism 12 for transferring the carrier 1 returned from the transfer position C to the delivery position to an unloading mechanism 23. The transfer mechanism 22 includes a guide member 22a, a slider (not shown), and a cover 22C that is fixed to the slider and is extendable and retractable.
It is equipped with The unloading mechanism 23 has the same configuration as the loading mechanism 10, and index-feeds the carrier 1 to the unloading position Q.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment will be explained. It is assumed that the quartz boat 4 has a capacity for four cups of the carrier 1 and processes only one quartz boat's worth of wear.

First, when a carrier 1 containing wafers is placed at a loading position a by a robot (not shown) or the like, the loading mechanism 10 sequentially indexes the carrier 1 to a delivery position. The first carrier 1 that came to the delivery position
is transferred by the transfer mechanism 12 to the first position @ of the transfer position C (the position when the wafer movement stage 13 is at the frontmost position). Then, due to the action of the wafer holder 20,
The wafers stored in carrier 1 are moved to boat moving stage 1
The quartz boat 4 is transferred to the frontmost side of the quartz boat 4 at the transfer position d above the quartz boat 8.

Carrier-1, which has been emptied by the transfer of the wafer, is transferred to the unloading mechanism 23 by the action of the transfer mechanism 12 and the transfer mechanism 22. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated four times while the carrier moving stage 13 moves by 1/4.

The quartz boat 4 containing the wafers in this manner is transported by the boat moving stage 18 to the home position e of the elevator mechanism 15. And elevator mechanism 1
5 lifts the quartz boat 4 to the entrance position f of the quartz tube 25. Quartz boat 4 arrives at entrance position f
The quartz tube 25 is opened by the action of the quartz fork 24.
and undergoes predetermined processing (for example, diffusion processing).

When the above processing is completed, the quartz boat 4 is returned to the entrance position If by the action of the quartz fork, supported by the elevator mechanism 15, and placed on the boat moving stage 18. Then, it is carried by the boat moving stage 18 to the transfer position d on the boat side. At this time, the empty carrier 1 is transferred to the carrier side position C by the loading mechanism 10.
Import until.

Next, while the processed wafers in the quartz boat 4 are sequentially transferred to four carriers in 1/4 increments using the wafer receiver 20 etc., the carriers containing the processed wafers are sequentially transferred by the transfer mechanism 22 and the unrope ink mechanism 23. do.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a carrier containing unprocessed wafers is loaded and transferred to a quartz boat, and after processing steps such as heat treatment, the processed wafers are transferred to the carrier again, and the processed wafers are transferred to the carrier. It is possible to obtain a wafer transfer position that can completely automate the process up to unloading the stored carrier. Therefore, contamination of impurities and damage to the wafer can be suppressed, thereby improving product yield and reducing costs.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carrier containing wafers, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a quartz boat containing wafers. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Wafer carrier, 3... Wafer, 4... Quartz boat, 10... Loading mechanism, 12... Transfer mechanism, 13... Carrier movement stage, 15...
Elevator mechanism, 18... Boat movement stage, 24
...Quartz fork, 25...Quartz tube, a...
・Opening position, B...Delivery position, C...
Transfer position on carrier side, d... Transfer position on quartz bow 1~ side, e... Home position of elevator mechanism, f...
Inlet position of quartz tube. Applicant's agent Kiyoshi Inomata Figure 2 Figure 3 Proceedings...Authentic visit dated July 2, 1985 Michibe Uga, Commissioner of the Patent Office 1, Indication of case 1985 Patent Application No. 65439 2, Name of the invention: Wafer transfer device 3, relationship with the amended person case Patent applicant (307) Toshiba Corporation 4, agent (zip code 100) Telephone Tokyo, 3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo ( 211) 2321 Representative June 10, 1988 (shipment date June 25, 1985) 6. Subject to amendment

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A wafer transfer device that transfers semiconductor wafers between a carrier that stores a plurality of semiconductor wafers and a quartz boat used in a semiconductor processing device, the carrier being loaded. a loading mechanism on which the carrier to be unloaded is placed; an unloading mechanism on which the carrier to be unloaded is placed; and a loading mechanism for transferring the carrier index-fed to the delivery position by the loading mechanism to a transfer position, and transferring the carrier to a transfer position. means for transferring the carrier returned to the position to the unloading mechanism; means for transferring wafers between the carrier at the transfer position and the quartz boat; A wafer transfer apparatus comprising: an elevator mechanism that transfers the quartz boat between the transfer position and a home position of the elevator mechanism; and a movement stage that transfers the quartz boat between the transfer position and a home position of the elevator mechanism.