JPH0846012A - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Corrected) [Purpose] Preventing contamination of the object to be processed by preventing the uniform flow of clean air inside the semiconductor manufacturing equipment from being disturbed even when the cassette in which the object to be processed is loaded and unloaded. In addition, the object to be processed is conveyed without disturbing the uniform flow of clean air to improve the throughput. The double shutters 22 and 23 form an independent space, and the cassette stage 7 is housed in the space, or the second shielding means is inside a cassette transfer stage provided at a cassette loading / unloading port. A shutter provided in the first or second shielding means, or when one of the first and second shielding means is closed, the other shielding means is opened.
Alternatively, an independent uniform flow of clean air is formed in each of the partitioned spaces, or the clean air flow in the first space is directed from one side surface of the device to the downstream side of the mechanism drive section and to the opposite side surfaces. And a second clean air stream descends from the top and exits from the front of the device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for improving the flow of clean air for keeping the inside of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus clean.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Maintaining a clean atmosphere in a semiconductor manufacturing process has a great influence on improvement of product quality and yield. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided in a clean room and a clean unit is provided in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus so that a steady flow of clean air is formed inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

A conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

A reaction furnace 2 is installed in the upper part of a rear part of a housing 1 of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and a boat elevator 3 is installed in the lower part of the reaction furnace 2. The boat elevator 3 charges a boat 4 into the reaction furnace 2. It is designed to be pulled out. A buffer cassette storage shelf 27 is provided on the front side of the reaction furnace 2, and a cassette storage shelf 5 is provided below the buffer cassette storage shelf 27.
Is provided, a wafer transfer machine 6 is provided between the cassette storage shelf 5 and the boat elevator 3, and the housing 1
A cassette transfer stage 7 is provided on the inner front surface, and a cassette carrier 8 is provided between the cassette transfer stage 7 and the cassette storage rack 5.

A cassette carry-in / carry-out port 9 is provided which can be opened / closed so as to be in contact with the cassette transfer / receive stage 7, and the cassette transfer stage 7 is provided through the cassette carry-in / carry-out port 9.
The wafer cassette 10 is exchanged between the device and the outside of the apparatus.

When manufacturing a semiconductor in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the cassette loading / unloading port 9 is opened, and a wafer cassette 10 loaded with a wafer to be processed from outside the apparatus is passed through the cassette loading / unloading port 9. , The cassette transfer stage 7 is closed, the cassette loading / unloading port 9 is closed, the wafer cassette 10 is transferred from the cassette transfer stage 7 to the cassette storage shelf 5 by the cassette transfer device 8, and the wafer transfer device 6 performs the above-mentioned operation. The wafer is transferred to the boat 4 mounted on the boat elevator 3 and loaded into the reaction furnace 2 by the boat elevator 3. Diffusion or CVD (Chemical) in the reaction furnace 2
Necessary processing such as Vapor Deposition) is performed.

After the wafer is processed, the above-described loading operation is reversed and the wafer is unloaded.

As described above, a clean air flow is formed because the inside of the apparatus must be kept clean.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a clean unit 1 is provided with an air intake 11 at the top of the housing 1 and a blower 13 and an air filter 14 on the side surface of the housing 1.
2 is provided, and an exhaust unit 15 is provided on the opposite side surface of the housing 1 facing the clean unit 12. The air taken in from the air intake 11 passes through the cassette storage shelf 5 to reach the cassette carrier 8, further descends the cassette transfer stage 7, flows along the bottom, and cleans the unit 12. After being sucked from the lower part, the exhaust unit 1 is cleaned by the clean unit 12.
The air is blown toward the exhaust gas 5, and the exhaust unit 15 exhausts it from an exhaust port (not shown) provided at the back of the housing 1.

[0010]

With the above-mentioned conventional clean air flow in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a uniform flow is formed when the cassette loading / unloading port 9 is closed, but there is no particular problem. When the cassette loading / unloading port 9 is opened for loading / unloading the wafer cassette, disturbance air flows into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from the outside due to the differential pressure inside / outside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and the clean air flow in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is disturbed. To be done.

For this reason, particles emitted from a worker standing in front of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are entrained, particles emitted from a drive system inside the apparatus are entrained, and the like, causing contamination inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. .

In particular, since the wafer is completely exposed in the space where the wafer is transferred from the cassette storage shelf 5 to the boat 4, the wafer is easily contaminated with particles.

In view of the above situation, the present invention prevents the uniform flow of clean air inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from being disturbed even when the cassette loaded with the processing object is carried in and out of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The present invention aims to prevent the contamination of the product and to convey the object to be processed without disturbing the uniform flow of clean air to improve the throughput.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is provided with a first space for accommodating a boat elevator, a wafer transfer machine, and a cassette storage shelf, and a cassette carrier adjacent to the first space. Or a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus has a cassette loading / unloading port on the front surface, and the cassette loading / unloading port has a second blocking means. Alternatively, the first shielding means is a shutter that opens and closes the opening, or the second shielding means is a double shutter including an internal shutter that opens and closes the opening and another shutter. The shutter forms an independent space, and the cassette transfer stage is housed in the space, or the second shielding means is a shutter provided inside the cassette transfer stage provided at the cassette loading / unloading port, or Is also the first and second shielding When one of the steps is closed, the other shielding means is opened, or an independent uniform flow of clean air is formed in each of the divided spaces, or the first space is also formed. Clean air flow from one side of the device to the opposite side, with the mechanism drive part on the downstream side, and the second clean air flow descends from the top,
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that flows out from the front surface of the apparatus.

[0015]

The inside of the apparatus is divided into the first space and the second space, and the disturbance air can be prevented from flowing into the inside, especially the first space, so that the contamination of the object to be processed inside the apparatus can be prevented. By providing the second shielding means in the second space, the transfer of the object to be processed and the transfer operation of the wafer cassette to the outside of the apparatus can be performed in parallel, the throughput is improved, and the wafer is further partitioned. A uniform flow of clean air is formed in each of the first space and the second space, and a shutter for partitioning the first space and the second space is for opening and closing the cassette loading / unloading port. Since the air is not opened at the same time, the air outside the semiconductor manufacturing equipment is not trapped inside, especially in the elevator room, and the uniform flow due to the inflow of disturbance air is not disturbed. Is prevented from staying Improved internal cleanliness, wafer contamination by adhesion of particles can be prevented.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 5, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the figure, 1 is a housing of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,
A clean room 16 is connected to the front of the housing 1.

A reaction furnace 2 is provided above the rear part of the housing 1, a boat elevator 3 is provided below the reaction furnace 2, and a cassette storage shelf 5 is provided so as to face the boat elevator 3, and the boat is further provided. A wafer transfer machine 6 is provided between the elevator 3 and the cassette storage shelf 5. The boat 4, the boat elevator 3, the wafer transfer machine 6, and the cassette storage shelf 5 are stored in an elevator chamber 17.

A cassette carry-in / carry-out port 9 is provided on the front portion of the housing 1 adjacent to the clean room 16, and the cassette carry-in / carry-out port 9 is opened and closed by a shutter 22 which opens and closes vertically. A cassette transfer stage 7 is provided adjacent to the cassette loading / unloading port 9. A buffer cassette storage shelf 27 is provided above the cassette storage shelf 5, and a cassette carrier 8 is provided between the buffer cassette storage shelf 27, the cassette storage shelf 5 and the cassette transfer stage 7. The mechanism chamber 18 accommodates the cassette carrier 8 and the buffer cassette storage shelf 27.

An opening internal shutter 23, which is opposed to the shutter 22 and opens and closes vertically, is provided, and the opening internal shutter 23 and the shutter 22 form an independent space for accommodating the cassette transfer stage 7.

The reaction furnace 2 and the mechanism chamber 1 are provided in the housing 1.
8, a first clean unit 19 is provided, a second clean unit 20 is provided above the cassette transfer stage 7, and a third clean unit is provided along the lower side wall of the reaction furnace 2. 21 is provided. Further, a partition wall 24 that is continuous with the first clean unit 19 and partitions the mechanism room 18 and the elevator room 17 is provided, a communication port 25 is formed in the partition wall 24, and the communication port 25 is opened and closed left and right. The shutter 26 is provided.

The partition wall 24 is closed by the shutter 26, and the shutter 22 is opened in a state where the opening internal shutter 23 is closed, and the wafer cassette 10 is loaded into the cassette transfer stage 7 through the cassette loading / unloading port 9. After closing the shutter 22 and aligning the orientation flat of the wafer by an orientation device (not shown), the opening internal shutter 23 is opened, and the wafer cassette 10 of the cassette transfer stage 7 is moved to the inside of the mechanism chamber 18 by the cassette carrier 8. It is conveyed to the buffer cassette storage shelf 27, and after the conveyance is completed, the opening internal shutter 23 is closed. This series of wafer cassette transfer operations is processed in a required number, for example, in the reaction furnace 2 2
The number of wafer cassettes 10 for a batch is repeated.

Next, with at least one of the shutter 22 and the internal shutter 23 in the opening being closed, the shutter 26 is opened and the wafer cassette 10 is transferred from the buffer cassette storage shelf 27 to the cassette storage shelf by the cassette carrier 8. Transport to 5.

When a required number of wafer cassettes, for example, one batch of wafer cassettes to be processed in the reaction furnace 2 are transferred to the cassette storage shelf 5, the shutter 26 is closed and the wafer transfer machine 6 operates the cassettes. The wafers in the wafer cassette 10 stored in the storage rack 5 are transferred to the boat 4.

During the transfer of the wafers to the boat 4, the above-described operation is repeated to load the next batch of wafer cassettes 10 into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In addition, the empty cassette in the cassette storage shelf 5 is replaced with the cassette in the buffer cassette storage shelf 27.

The transfer of processed wafers is the reverse of the above-described operation. After all processed cassettes for storing processed wafers (hereinafter referred to as processed cassettes) are stored in the buffer cassette storage shelf 27, the number of batches is increased. The cassette is transported to the cassette storage shelf 5. After being transported, the shutter 26
Is closed and while the wafer is transferred to the boat 4, the processed cassette is carried out of the apparatus.

Thus, while the wafers are being transferred between the boat 4 and the cassette storage shelf 5, the next batch or processed wafer cassettes can be carried in and out of the apparatus, and the throughput can be improved. improves.

Next, the flow of clean air in this embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, the elevator room 17 and the mechanism room 1
Two defined spaces 8 are formed, and two systems of air flow are formed (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

First, in the mechanism chamber 18, the air sucked from the air intake port 28 on the upper surface of the apparatus is sent out through the first clean unit 19, flows into the mechanism chamber 18, and part of the flow is the second clean unit 20. After passing through the cassette transfer stage 7, it is discharged into the clean room 16 outside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus through the exhaust port 29 provided at the lower part of the front surface of the apparatus. The remaining flow descends in the mechanism chamber 18 for accommodating the buffer cassette storage shelf 27 and the cassette transporter 8 and joins with the flow passing through the cassette transfer stage 7.
It flows out from the exhaust port 29 into the clean room 16. The air flowing out into the clean room 16 is
It joins with the air flow in the clean room 16 and circulates under and behind the housing 1.

In the elevator room 17, air is taken in from the air intake 30 below the rear part of the housing 1, and the third
A parallel flow of air is sent to the opposite side through the clean unit 21, flows into the elevator chamber 17, is discharged from the exhaust port 31 on the rear surface of the lower part of the housing 1, and rises and circulates behind the housing 1. . The boat elevator 3 and the drive unit 32 (see FIG. 5) of the wafer transfer machine 6 are located on the downstream side of the air flow in the elevator chamber 17, and particles generated in the drive unit are immediately exhausted by the exhaust fan 33. It is configured to be discharged from the mouth 31.

As described above, the partition wall 24 and the shutter 2
An elevator room 17 and a mechanism room 18 defined in the housing 1 are formed by 6, and an independent air flow can be formed in each room, and the elevator room 17 and the mechanism room 18 are completely isolated from the outside. Can be maintained in That is, due to the double shutter structure of the opening internal shutter 23 and the shutter 22, either one of the cassette loading / unloading port 9 and the opening internal shutter 23 is surely closed at the time of loading / unloading the wafer cassette, so that the inside of the mechanism chamber 18 is opened. It is possible to prevent the disturbance air from flowing in and the disturbance air from flowing into the elevator room 17.

Further, the mechanism room 18 and the elevator room 17
Is separated by the partition wall 24 and the shutter 26. If at least the shutter 26 is closed when the wafer cassette is loaded into the cassette transfer stage 7, the elevator even if the cassette loading / unloading port 9 is completely opened. The chamber 17 keeps a closed space, maintains a uniform independent clean air flow, and is not affected by disturbance air.

Thus, the mechanism room 18 and the elevator room 1
7. The uniform flow is stable without the change of the clean air flow in each affecting the other.

In the above embodiment, the cassette loading / unloading port 9
On the other hand, the shutter 22 and the opening internal shutter 23
Although a double shutter is provided, the cassette loading / unloading port 9
If the shutter 26 is closed at the time of opening, either the opening internal shutter 23 or the shutter 22 may be omitted. In the case where the shutter 22 is omitted, if the shutter 23 is closed even while the shutter 26 is open, it is possible to prevent the intrusion of air from the clean room and receive the cassette from the external transfer device.
It is not necessary to strictly consider the timing of interaction with the external transport device, and it is possible to reduce the wasteful time without waiting for the external transport device. Further, in the above embodiment, the air in the mechanism room 18 is discharged from the front side, but the elevator room 1
It is also possible to provide a duct independent of 3, and to discharge through the duct. Further, instead of the shutter 26, an air flow film, a so-called air curtain, may be used.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the elevator room for accommodating the boat elevator and the wafer transfer machine and the mechanism room for accommodating the cassette carrier are partitioned, and the disturbance air is prevented from flowing into the interior. As a result, the transfer of the object to be processed inside the device and the transfer operation of the wafer cassette to the outside of the device can be performed in parallel, the throughput is improved, and the elevator room and the mechanism room are further divided. Each is designed to form a uniform flow of clean air.
Furthermore, since the shutter that separates the elevator room and the mechanism room is designed not to open at the same time as the opening and closing of the cassette loading / unloading port, the air outside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is not trapped inside, especially in the elevator room, Also, since the uniform flow due to the inflow of disturbance air is not disturbed, the retention of particles is prevented, the cleanliness inside the device is improved, and the wafer is prevented from being contaminated due to the adhesion of particles. To do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the embodiment of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the flow of air in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the flow of air in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the flow of air in the conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a partial explanatory view showing the flow of air in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Case 2 Reactor 7 Cassette Transfer Stage 17 Elevator Room 18 Mechanism Room 19 First Clean Unit 20 Second Clean Unit 21 Third Clean Unit 22 Shutter 23 Inner Shutter of Opening 24 Partition Wall 26 Shutter

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A boat elevator in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,
A first space for accommodating a wafer transfer machine and a cassette storage shelf, and a second space adjacent to the first space and accommodating a cassette carrier.
1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a first shielding unit that divides the space into a space. 2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus has a cassette loading / unloading port on the front surface, and the cassette loading / unloading port has a second shielding means. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first shielding means is a shutter that opens and closes the opening. 4. The second shielding means is a double shutter including an internal shutter for opening and closing the opening and another shutter.
3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the double shutter forms an independent space, and the cassette transfer stage is housed in the space. 5. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second shielding means is a shutter provided inside a cassette transfer stage provided at a cassette loading / unloading port. 6. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when one of the first and second shielding means is closed, the other shielding means is opened. 7. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an independent uniform flow of clean air is formed in each of the partitioned spaces. 8. The clean air flow in the first space flows from one side surface of the apparatus to the side surface facing the mechanism driving section on the downstream side, and the second clean air flow drops from the upper side and flows out from the front surface of the apparatus. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7.