JP2005079250A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to prevent the occurrence of adverse effects such as deposition of a natural oxide film on a wafer, adhesion of particles, contamination of a space inside a housing, and increase in oxygen concentration when a pod is opened.
In a batch type CVD apparatus that handles a pod 10 in which a door 10a is detachably mounted in a wafer loading / unloading port 10b, a pod opener 20 for detaching the door 10a is provided at a port for loading / unloading a wafer 9 into / from the pod 10. An air supply pipe 65 having a nozzle 66 for ejecting nitrogen gas 64 is inserted into the chamber 60 of the pod opener 20, and the nozzle 66 directs the nitrogen gas 64 from one side to the opposite side of the wafer loading / unloading port 10b. It is configured such that it is injected into the wafer storage chamber 10c with an inclination angle Θ of 30 ° to 30 °, and the flow of the nitrogen gas 64 reaching the opposite side is reflected back to the back side of the wafer storage chamber 10c and returned to the wafer loading / unloading port 10b. Yes.
[Selection] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for opening and closing a carrier having a door. For example, in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as an IC), a semiconductor integrated circuit including a semiconductor element is incorporated. The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) that is effective for use in a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus for forming a CVD film such as an insulating film or a metal film or diffusing impurities.

  In a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a batch type CVD apparatus) which is an example of a substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of wafers are handled in a state of being stored in a carrier (wafer storage container). Conventional carriers of this type include an open cassette that is formed in a substantially cubic box shape with a pair of opposite faces open, and a substantially cubic box shape that is open on one face. There is a FOUP (front opening unified pod, hereinafter referred to as a pod) in which a door is detachably mounted on the surface.

  When a pod is used as a wafer carrier, the wafer is transported in a sealed state, so that the cleanliness of the wafer can be maintained even if particles are present in the surrounding atmosphere. it can. Therefore, since it is not necessary to set the cleanliness in the clean room where the batch-type CVD apparatus is installed, the cost required for the clean room can be reduced. Therefore, pods have been used as wafer carriers in recent batch type CVD apparatuses.

In a batch-type CVD apparatus that uses a pod as a wafer carrier, a pod opening / closing device (hereinafter referred to as a pod opener) that opens and closes a pod wafer loading / unloading port by attaching / detaching a door is used to load / unload a wafer into / from the pod Is installed at the wafer transfer port. This type of conventional pod opener has a mounting table for holding the pod and a closure for holding the door of the pod held by the mounting table, and the closure moves forward and backward with respect to the pod while holding the door. The door is configured to be attached to and detached from the wafer inlet / outlet of the pod (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-7801

  In the conventional batch type CVD apparatus, when the pod is opened by the pod opener, the wafer storage chamber of the pod is exposed to the air atmosphere, so that a natural oxide film is deposited on the wafer stored in the wafer storage chamber. Or particles may adhere. Thus, the wafer storage chamber of the pod may be filled with an inert gas, but the wafer storage chamber of the pod is usually in an air atmosphere. When the pod is opened, the atmosphere in the wafer storage chamber of the pod will enter the inner space of the wafer transfer port in the batch type CVD apparatus when the pod is opened. The problem of increasing the oxygen concentration occurs.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of harmful effects when the pod is opened, such as deposition of a natural oxide film on a substrate, adhesion of particles, contamination of an inner space, and an increase in oxygen concentration. It is in.

Means for solving the above-mentioned problem is a substrate processing apparatus for handling a carrier in which a plurality of substrates are accommodated from a substrate loading / unloading port and a door is detachably attached to the substrate loading / unloading port. A substrate transfer port for inserting and removing the substrate, and a carrier opening and closing device for opening and closing the carrier by attaching and detaching the door to the substrate transfer port. A chamber for covering the substrate loading / unloading port is installed, and an air supply pipe for introducing an inert gas from the substrate loading / unloading port to the inside of the carrier is connected to the chamber,
The air supply pipe ejects the inert gas from one side surface of the carrier toward the other side surface, and the flow of the inert gas reaching the other side surface is reflected to the back side of the carrier. It is characterized by being arranged in.

  According to the above means, when the door is removed and the substrate loading / unloading port of the carrier is opened, an inert gas is supplied to the chamber so that the inert gas is circulated into the carrier from the substrate loading / unloading port. Since it can be purged with an inert gas, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of harmful effects at the time of opening the pod, such as deposition of a natural oxide film on the substrate, adhesion of particles, contamination of the inner space, and increase in oxygen concentration. At this time, the inert gas is ejected from one side of the carrier toward the other side and reaches every corner inside the carrier, so that the air inside the carrier can be reliably discharged and filled.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a batch type CVD apparatus, that is, a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, as shown in FIG. The batch type CVD apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 2 constructed in an airtight chamber structure. A heater unit 3 is installed in the vertical direction above one end (hereinafter referred to as a rear end) in the housing 2, and a process tube 4 is disposed concentrically inside the heater unit 3. . Connected to the process tube 4 are a gas introduction pipe 5 for introducing a raw material gas, a purge gas and the like into the process tube 4 and an exhaust pipe 6 for evacuating the inside of the process tube 4. A boat elevator 7 is installed at a lower portion of the rear end portion of the housing 2, and the boat elevator 7 is configured to raise and lower a boat 8 arranged directly below the process tube 4 in the vertical direction. The boat 8 is configured to support a large number of wafers 9 in a state where they are horizontally aligned with their centers aligned, and to carry in and out of the processing chamber of the process tube 4.

  A pod loading / unloading port (not shown) is opened on the front wall of the housing 2, and the pod loading / unloading port is opened and closed by a front shutter. A pod stage 11 for performing positioning of the pod 10 is installed at the pod loading / unloading port, and the pod 10 is inserted into and removed from the pod stage 11 through the pod loading / unloading port.

  A rotary pod shelf 12 is installed in the upper part of the central portion in the front-rear direction in the housing 2, and the rotary pod shelf 12 is configured to store a total of 16 pods 10. That is, the rotary pod shelf 12 has four steps of shelves formed in a substantially bowl shape and is arranged in the vertical direction so as to be rotatably supported in a horizontal plane, and an intermittent rotation drive device such as a motor (not shown). ) Is rotated in one direction in a pitch feed manner. Below the pod shelf 12 in the housing 2, a pair of wafer transfer ports 13 for transferring a wafer 9 as a substrate to the pod 10 are installed in two vertical stages. Both wafer transfer ports 13 and 13 are respectively provided with pod openers 20 described later.

  A pod transfer device 14 is installed between the pod stage 11 in the housing 2, the pod shelf 12, and the wafer transfer port 13, and the pod transfer device 14 includes the pod stage 11, the pod shelf 12, and the wafer transfer port 13. And the pod 10 between the pod shelf 12 and the wafer transfer port 13. A wafer transfer device 15 is installed between the wafer transfer port 13 and the boat 8, and the wafer transfer device 15 is configured to transfer the wafer 9 between the wafer transfer port 13 and the boat 8. Has been. Further, a boat changer 16 is installed beside the boat elevator 7, and the boat changer 16 is configured to replace two boats 8 and 8 with respect to the boat elevator 7.

  Since the pod openers 20 and 20 installed in the upper and lower wafer transfer ports 13 and 13 have the same configuration, the configuration of the pod opener 20 will be described for the upper wafer transfer port 13.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pod opener 20 as a carrier opening / closing device has a base 21 that forms a side wall vertically standing so as to partition the wafer transfer port 13 and the wafer transfer device 15 in the housing 2. I have. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the base 21 is provided with a wafer loading / unloading port 22 formed in a rectangular shape that is slightly larger than the door 10 a of the pod 10. Since the base 21 is shared by the upper and lower pod openers 20, 20, a pair of wafer loading / unloading ports 22, 22 are opened on the base 21 so as to be vertically arranged in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an angle-shaped support base 23 is fixed horizontally below the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the front surface) of the base 21 on the wafer transfer port 13 side. The shape of the support base 23 in plan view is a substantially square frame shape with a part cut away. A pair of guide rails 24, 24 are arranged on the upper surface of the support base 23 in a direction parallel to the front surface of the base 21 (hereinafter referred to as the left-right direction), and are perpendicular to the front surface of the base 21 (hereinafter referred to as the front-rear direction). The mounting table 27 is supported on the left and right guide rails 24 and 24 through a plurality of guide blocks 25 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. The mounting table 27 is reciprocated in the front-rear direction by an air cylinder device 26 installed on the upper surface of the support table 23.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting table 27 is formed in a substantially square frame shape with a part cut away, and three positioning pins 28 are provided on the upper surface of the mounting table 27, and are apexes of an equilateral triangle. It is arranged in the vertical projection. The three positioning pins 28 have three positioning recesses (not shown) submerged in the lower surface of the pod 10 in a state where the pod 10 is mounted on the mounting table 27 as shown in FIG. ).

  As shown in FIG. 4, a guide rail 30 is horizontally arranged in the left-right direction below the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the back surface) of the base 21 on the wafer transfer device 15 side. The guide rail 30 is supported by a guide rail 30 in a slidable manner so that it can move back and forth in the left-right direction. An air cylinder device 32 is installed horizontally on the vertical member of the left / right moving base 31 in the left / right direction, and the tip of the piston rod 32 a of the air cylinder device 32 is fixed to the base 21. That is, the left-right moving table 31 is reciprocated in the left-right direction by the reciprocating operation of the air cylinder device 32.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of guide rails 33, 33 are arranged on the upper surface of the horizontal member of the left-right direction moving base 31 so as to extend in the front-rear direction. A rail 34 is slidably supported on the rails 33 and 33 so as to reciprocate in the front-rear direction. A guide hole 35 is formed at one end of the front-rear direction moving table 34 so as to extend in the left-right direction. A bracket 36 is fixed to one side surface of the left-right direction moving base 31, and a rotary actuator 37 is installed on the bracket 36 in the vertical direction upward. A guide pin 38 standing vertically on the tip of the arm 37 a of the rotary actuator 37 is slidably fitted into the guide hole 35 of the front-rear direction moving table 34. In other words, the front-rear moving table 34 is configured to be reciprocated in the front-rear direction by the reciprocating rotation of the rotary actuator 37.

  A bracket 39 for supporting the closure 40 is vertically erected on the upper surface of the front / rear moving table 34, and a closure formed in a rectangular flat plate shape that resembles the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the front surface of the bracket 39. 40 is fixed vertically. That is, the closure 40 is reciprocated in the front-rear direction by the front-rear direction moving table 34, and is reciprocated in the left-right direction by the left-right direction moving table 31. The main surface of the closure 40 moving forward and facing the base side (hereinafter referred to as a front surface) comes into contact with the back surface of the base 21 so that the wafer loading / unloading port 22 can be closed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, around the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the front surface of the base 21, a packing 54 that seals the wafer loading / unloading port of the pod 10 and the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 when the pod 10 is pressed. Is laid. A packing 55 for sealing the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 when the closure 40 is pressed is laid near the outer peripheral edge of the front surface of the closure 40. Inside the packing 55 on the outer peripheral edge of the front surface of the closure 40, a packing 56 for preventing foreign matter adhering to the door 10a from entering the installation chamber side of the wafer transfer device 15 is laid. A packing for sealing the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the chamber 60 is laid on the outer peripheral edge of the back surface of the closure 40. For convenience, the chambers to be described later are not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of unlocking shafts 41, 41 are arranged on the left and right on the center line in the vertical direction of the closure 40 and are rotatably supported by being inserted in the front-rear direction. A pair of pulleys 42 and 42 are fixed to the ends of the unlocking shafts 41 and 41 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the back surface) side opposite to the base of the closure 40, and both pulleys 42 and 42 are fixed. A belt 43 having a connecting piece 44 is wound around. An air cylinder device 45 is installed horizontally above one pulley 42 on the back surface of the closure 40, and the tip of the piston rod of the air cylinder device 45 is connected to a connecting piece 44 of the belt 43. That is, the unlocking shafts 41 and 41 are reciprocally rotated by the expansion and contraction operation of the air cylinder device 45. As shown in FIG. 2, an engaging portion 41a that engages with a lock (not shown) of the door 10a is orthogonal to the front end of the closure 40 of both unlocking shafts 41, 41. Projected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, two suction tools (suction cups) 46 that are attracted to the surface of the door 10 a are fixed by suction port members 47 in the vicinity of one diagonal in the front of the closure 40. . The suction port member 47 that fixes the suction tool 46 is constituted by a hollow shaft, and the rear side end of the suction port member 47 is connected to a supply / exhaust passage (not shown). The outer diameter of the front side end of the suction port member 47 is set so as to be fitted into a positioning hole (not shown) submerged in the door 10a. That is, the suction port member 47 is configured to be fitted into a positioning hole of the door 10a and also serve as a support pin for mechanically supporting the door 10a.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, a rotary actuator 50 is installed on one side of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the front surface of the base 21 so that the rotation shaft 50a thereof is vertical. One end of an arm 51 formed in a substantially C shape is fixed to the rotary shaft 50a so as to rotate integrally in a horizontal plane. The arm 51 is inserted through an insertion hole 52 provided in the base 21, and a mapping device 53 is fixed to the tip of the arm 51 on the back side of the base 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a chamber 60 is laid on the back surface of the base 21 so as to accommodate the closures 40, 40 of the upper and lower pod openers 20, 20. The horizontal length 61 is set so as to allow the closure 40 to move sideways and completely open the wafer loading / unloading port 22. Wafer loading / unloading ports 62 and 62 of the chamber 60 are respectively opened at positions facing the upper and lower wafer loading / unloading ports 22 and 22 on the back wall of the chamber 60, and each wafer loading / unloading port 62 is inserted into the back portion of the closure 40. It is formed in a square opening of a size that can be. The wafer loading / unloading port 62 is set so that the mapping device 53 can be inserted from the back side. An exhaust pipe 63 for exhausting the closure housing chamber 61 is connected to a position on the back wall of the chamber 60 opposite to the wafer loading / unloading port 62 so as to communicate with the closure housing chamber 61. An air supply pipe 65 for supplying nitrogen gas 64 as an inert gas is inserted in a position opposite to the exhaust pipe 63 on the back wall of the chamber 60, and is provided at the discharge end of the closure housing chamber 61 of the air supply pipe 65. The nozzle 66 shown in FIG. 8 is connected. As shown in FIG. 8, the nozzle 66 includes a cylindrical main body 67 whose upper end is closed. The lower end opening of the main body 67 is connected to the discharge end of the air supply pipe 65, whereby the nozzle 66 is closed. A pipe is vertically arranged inside the storage chamber 61. In the main body 67 of the nozzle 66, a plurality of jet outlets 68 are opened at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 11, each jet outlet 68 supplies nitrogen gas 64 to the pod 10. Nitrogen that has been blown from one side of the wafer loading / unloading port 10b toward the other side with an inclination angle Θ of 20 ° to 30 ° with respect to the plane of the wafer loading / unloading port 10b into the wafer storage chamber 10c. The flow of the gas 64 is reflected on the back side of the pod 10. As a result, the flow of the nitrogen gas 64 apparently rotates in the direction in which it reflects to the back side after reaching the inner surface on the side opposite to the jet port 68 from the jet port 68 side (counterclockwise in FIG. 11).

  Next, a film forming process by the batch type CVD apparatus according to the above configuration in the IC manufacturing method will be described. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, in the following description, one wafer transfer port 13 is an upper port A and the other wafer transfer port 13 is a lower port B.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the pod 10 carried into the pod stage 11 in the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port is appropriately conveyed to the pod shelf 12 designated by the pod conveying device 14 and stored. . The pod 10 stored in the pod shelf 12 is appropriately picked up by the pod transfer device 14, transferred to the upper port A, and transferred to the mounting table 27 of the pod opener 20 as shown in FIG. . At this time, the positioning recesses embedded in the lower surface of the pod 10 are respectively fitted with the three positioning pins 28 of the mounting table 27, whereby the positioning of the pod 10 and the mounting table 27 is executed.

  When the pod 10 is mounted on the mounting table 27 and aligned, the mounting table 27 is pushed toward the base 21 by the air cylinder device 26, and as shown in FIG. Is pressed against the opening edge of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 in front of the base 21. When the pod 10 is pushed in the direction of the base 21, the unlocking shaft 41 of the closure 40 is inserted into the key hole of the door 10a. Subsequently, the negative pressure is supplied from the air supply / exhaust passage to the suction port member 47 of the closure 40, whereby the door 10 a of the pod 10 is held by vacuum suction by the suction tool 46. In this state, when the unlocking shaft 41 is rotated by the air cylinder device 45, the unlocking shaft 41 releases the locking of the door 10a by the engaging portion 41a engaged with the locking on the door 10a side.

  Next, when the back-and-forth moving table 34 is moved in the direction away from the base 21 by the operation of the rotary actuator 37, as shown in FIG. 10, the closure 40 holds the door 10a of the pod 10 in a vacuum suction-held state. The door 10a is pulled out from the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 by retreating to the 60 closure housing chambers 61. As a result, the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 is opened. When the closure 40 is further retracted by the front / rear moving table 34, as shown in FIG. 10, the closure 40 contacts the wafer loading / unloading opening 62 formed in the back wall of the chamber 60 from the inside of the closure accommodating chamber 61. By contacting, the closure housing 61 is sealed.

  When the closure 40 seals the closure housing chamber 61, as shown in FIG. 11, the nitrogen gas 64 is supplied to the wafer housing chamber 10 c of the pod 10 from the outlet 68 of the nozzle 66 connected to the air supply pipe 65. Then, it is circulated by being exhausted by the exhaust pipe 63. The nitrogen gas 64 flowing through the closure storage chamber 61 flows into the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 from the wafer loading / unloading port 10b and then flows out, thereby exhausting the atmosphere of the wafer storage chamber 10c and filling the wafer storage chamber 10c. . At this time, since the nitrogen gas 64 is injected from the outlet 68 of the nozzle 66 into the wafer storage chamber 10c with an inclination angle Θ of 20 degrees to 30 degrees, it is reflected to the inner side on the opposite side of the wafer storage chamber 10c. After reaching the inner surface, the wafer is returned to the wafer loading / unloading port 10b, and the air in the wafer storage chamber 10c is surely exhausted without stagnation and filled to every corner. As a result, air and moisture in the atmosphere in the closure storage chamber 61 of the chamber 60 and the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10 are purged by the nitrogen gas 64. Furthermore, by making the flow of the nitrogen gas 64 as described above, it is possible to increase the ejection amount and flow velocity of the nitrogen gas 64 and further shorten the purge time in the pod 10. At this time, the oxygen concentration is preferably 20 ppm or less. For reference, when 25 wafers are placed on a 300 mm wafer compatible pod, the size of the nozzle 66 is 9.52 mm diameter, the size of the ejection port 68 is 1 mm diameter, and 13 nozzle ejection ports 68 (2 wafers) And a single nozzle outlet), and the flow rate of nitrogen gas to the air supply pipe was 200 L / min, 0.5 Mpa, the replacement time was shortened and good results were obtained.

  When the closure storage chamber 61 of the chamber 60 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 are purged by the nitrogen gas 64, the left / right moving table 31 is moved away from the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the operation of the air cylinder device 32. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the closure 40 in which the door 10 a is vacuum-sucked and held by the suction tool 46 is moved to the retracted position in which the closure housing chamber 61 is separated from the wafer loading / unloading port 62. With the retracting movement of the closure 40, the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the chamber 60, the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21, and the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 are opened. At this time, since the closure storage chamber 61 of the chamber 60 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 are purged with the nitrogen gas 64 in advance, the wafer transfer apparatus in which air or moisture in the atmosphere is the back side space of the base 21. 15 is not released into the installation space, and the occurrence of adverse effects such as contamination of the transfer space of the wafer transfer device 15 and an increase in the oxygen concentration due to them is prevented.

  When the closure 40 is retracted, as shown in FIG. 12, the mapping device 53 is moved by the operation of the rotary actuator 50, and the mapping device 53 enters the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10 into the wafer loading / unloading port of the chamber 60. 62, the wafer 21 is inserted through the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 and the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10. The mapping device 53 inserted into the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 performs mapping by detecting a plurality of wafers 9 stored in the wafer storage chamber 10c. The mapping is an operation for confirming the location of the wafer 9 in the pod 10 (which holding groove the wafer 9 is in). When the designated mapping operation is completed, the mapping device 53 is returned to the original standby position by the operation of the rotary actuator 50.

  When the mapping device 53 returns to the standby position, the plurality of wafers 9 of the pod 10 opened at the upper port A are sequentially loaded (charged) into the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15. At this time, since adverse effects such as contamination of the transfer space of the wafer transfer device 15 and an increase in oxygen concentration are prevented, adverse effects such as deposition of a natural oxide film and adhesion of particles on the wafer 9 being transferred are prevented. The occurrence of is prevented.

  During the loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 in the upper port A, another pod 10 is transferred from the pod shelf 12 to the lower port B by the pod transfer device 14 and transferred. The mapping operation proceeds simultaneously from the positioning operation described above by the opener 20. When the mapping operation is simultaneously performed in the lower port B as described above, the wafer transfer device for the pod 10 placed in the lower port B at the same time as the operation of loading the wafer 9 into the boat 8 in the upper port A is completed. The loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 by 15 can be started. That is, since the wafer transfer device 15 can continuously perform the wafer transfer operation without wasting a waiting time for the replacement operation of the pod 10, the throughput of the batch type CVD apparatus 1 can be increased.

  In turn, when the loading operation of the wafers 9 into the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 is completed at the upper port A, the empty pod closing operation is executed in a substantially reverse order to the above-described pod opening operation. That is, the door 10a that has been retracted by being held by the closure 40 is returned to the position of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the left / right moving table 31 and inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the front / rear moving table 34. It is inserted in the entrance / exit 10b. When the door 10a is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 10b, the unlocking shaft 41 is rotated by the air cylinder device 45 to lock the door 10a. When the door 10a is locked, the negative pressure supplied to the suction port member 47 from the air supply / exhaust passage is cut and released to the atmosphere, whereby the vacuum suction holding of the suction tool 46 is released. Subsequently, the mounting table 27 is moved away from the base 21 by the air cylinder device 26, and the opening side end surface of the pod 10 is separated from the front surface of the base 21.

  The empty pod 10 in the upper port A with the wafer loading / unloading port 10b blocked by the door 10a is transferred to the pod shelf 12 by the pod transfer device 14 and temporarily returned. When the empty pod 10 is carried out from the upper port A, the next real pod 10 is carried into the upper port A. Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated at the upper port A and the lower port B as many times as necessary.

  As described above, the loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 for the upper port A and the lower port B is alternately repeated, whereby a plurality of wafers 9 are loaded from the pod 10 to the boat 8. Going to be. At this time, the number of wafers 9 to be batch processed (for example, one hundred to one hundred fifty) is many times larger than the number of wafers 9 (for example, twenty-five) stored in one pod 10. A plurality of pods 10 are alternately and repeatedly supplied to the upper port A and the lower port B by the pod transfer device 14.

  When a plurality of wafers 9 designated in advance are transferred from the pod 10 to the boat 8, a film forming step that is substantially waiting for the wafer transfer port 13 is executed in the process tube 4. That is, the boat 8 is lifted by the boat elevator 7 and carried into the processing chamber of the process tube 4 (boat loading). When the boat 8 reaches the upper limit, the periphery of the upper surface of the seal cap that holds the boat 8 closes the process tube 4 in a sealed state, so that the processing chamber is hermetically closed. In a state where the processing chamber of the process tube 4 is hermetically closed, the exhaust pipe 6 is evacuated to a predetermined vacuum degree, heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater unit 3, and a predetermined source gas is predetermined by the gas introduction pipe 5. Only the flow rate is supplied. As a result, a predetermined film is formed on the wafer 9. When a preset processing time elapses, the boat 8 is lowered by the boat elevator 7 so that the boat 8 holding the processed wafers 9 is the original loading and unloading station (hereinafter referred to as a loading station). The boat is unloaded (boat unloading).

  During the above film forming steps, in the upper port A and the lower port B, the removal (discharging) work of the processed wafers 9 held in the other boat 8 is simultaneously performed. That is, the processed wafer 9 of the boat 8 that has been unloaded to the loading station is picked up by the wafer transfer device 15, loaded in advance into the upper port A, and stored in the empty pod 10 that is opened by removing the door 10 a. The When the predetermined number of wafers 9 are accommodated in the empty pod 10 at the upper port A, the door 10a held and retracted by the closure 40 is returned to the position of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the left / right moving table 31. Then, it is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the front / rear direction moving table 34 and inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 10 b of the pod 10. Also in this case, the nitrogen gas 64 is circulated through the supply chamber 65 and the exhaust tube 63 to the closure storage chamber 61, whereby the closure storage chamber 61 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 are purged by the nitrogen gas 64, and the pod The storage chamber 10c is filled with nitrogen gas 64. When the door 10a is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 10b, the unlocking shaft 41 is rotated by the air cylinder device 45 to lock the door 10a. As a result, the nitrogen gas 64 is sealed in the wafer storage chamber 10c. When the door 10a is locked, the negative pressure supplied to the suction port member 47 from the air supply / exhaust passage is cut and released to the atmosphere, whereby the vacuum suction holding of the door 10a of the suction tool 46 is released. Subsequently, the mounting table 27 is moved in a direction away from the base 21 by the air cylinder device 26, and the opening side end surface of the pod 10 is separated from the front surface of the base 21. Next, the processed real pod 10 containing the processed wafer 9 is transferred to the pod shelf 12 by the pod transfer device 14 and returned.

  The pod 10 containing the processed wafer 9 and returned to the pod shelf 12 is transferred from the pod shelf 12 to the pod stage 11 by the pod transfer device 14. The pod 10 transferred to the pod stage 11 is carried out of the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port, and is carried to the next process such as a cleaning process or a film formation inspection process. Then, the pod 10 storing the new wafer 9 is carried into the pod stage 11 in the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port.

  The loading and unloading (pod loading and pod unloading) work of the old and new pods 10 and the replacement work between the pod stage 11 and the pod shelf 12 are carried in and out of the boat 8 in the process tube 4 (boat loading). And boat unloading), and during the film formation process, that is, during the film formation standby step, it is possible to prevent the entire work time of the batch type CVD apparatus 1 from being extended.

  Thereafter, the wafer loading / unloading method and the film forming method described above are repeated to form a CVD film on the wafer 9 by the batch-type CVD apparatus 1, and the film forming process in the IC manufacturing method is performed.

  According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

1) A chamber 60 for covering the wafer inlet / outlet port 10b of the pod 10 is laid on the base 21 of the pod opener 20, and an air supply pipe 65 and an exhaust pipe 63 for allowing nitrogen gas 64 to flow into the closure accommodating chamber 61 are laid in the chamber 60. , The nitrogen gas 64 can be filled into the closure housing chamber 61 of the chamber 60 when the pod 10 is opened by the pod opener 20, so that the atmosphere confined in the wafer housing chamber 10 c of the pod 10 is nitrogen gas. The air in the atmosphere in the closure storage chamber 61 and the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10 can be purged with the nitrogen gas 64 while being exhausted by the nitrogen gas 64.

2) By purging the closure storage chamber 61 of the chamber 60 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 with the nitrogen gas 64, air and moisture in the atmosphere confined in the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 are removed from the back surface of the base 21. Since it can be prevented from being released into the installation space of the wafer transfer device 15 which is the side space, the occurrence of adverse effects such as contamination of the transfer space of the wafer transfer device 15 and an increase in oxygen concentration due to them can be prevented. can do.

3) It is possible to prevent the wafer 9 in the wafer storage chamber 10c from coming into contact with air or moisture in the atmosphere when the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 is opened. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of harmful effects such as adhesion. Furthermore, when the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 is closed, the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 is filled with a nitrogen gas 64 and sealed, thereby suppressing natural oxidation of the wafer being stored.

4) Nitrogen gas 64 is injected from the jet outlet 68 of the nozzle 66 into the wafer storage chamber 10c with an inclination angle Θ of 20 ° to 30 °, and reflected to the inner side on the opposite side of the wafer storage chamber 10c and reflected to the inner surface. By recirculating to the wafer loading / unloading port 10b after reaching the value, the atmosphere in the wafer storage chamber 10c can be surely exhausted without stagnation and the nitrogen gas 64 can be filled to every corner. Further, air and moisture in the atmosphere in the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10 can be purged with the nitrogen gas 64. That is, by injecting nitrogen gas into the wafer storage chamber at an inclination angle Θ, smooth replacement is possible and the purge replacement time can be shortened.

  FIG. 13 is a plan sectional view showing a pod opener of a batch type CVD apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment is different from the above embodiment in that a gate valve 70 for opening and closing the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the chamber 60 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the chamber 60 is closed by the gate valve 70, and the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 is closed by the closure 40. The gas 64 is supplied to the closure accommodating chamber 61 through the air supply pipe 65 and the nozzle 66, and the closure accommodating chamber 61 is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 63, whereby the closure accommodating chamber 61 is purged with the nitrogen gas 64. At this time, the oxygen concentration in the closure accommodating chamber 61 is preferably 20 ppm.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 14, the door 10a of the pod 10 is removed by the closure 40, and the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the pod 10 is opened. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 14, nitrogen gas 64 is supplied through the supply pipe 65, and blown into the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10 from the nozzle 68 at an inclination angle Θ of 20 degrees to 30 degrees. Then, the wafer storage chamber 10 c is purged with the nitrogen gas 64. At this time, the oxygen concentration in the wafer storage chamber 10c is preferably 20 ppm.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 15, the wafer loading / unloading port 62 of the chamber 60 is opened by the gate valve 70. At this time, the inside of the housing 2 on the back side of the chamber 60 is purged with the nitrogen gas 64. As shown in FIG. 15, when the gate valve 70 is retracted from the wafer loading / unloading port 62 and the closure 40 is retracted from the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21, the wafer 9 is moved to the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10. Is taken out by the wafer transfer device 15 through the wafer loading / unloading ports 10b, 22 and 62. The other operations are substantially the same as those in the above embodiment.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  The specific structure of the nozzle that blows an inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the wafer storage chamber of the pod is not limited to the structure of the above embodiment. For example, a plurality of jet outlets are not limited to be arranged at equal intervals in the main body and may be opened vertically in the main body.

  The substrate is not limited to a wafer, but may be a photomask, a printed wiring board, a liquid crystal panel, a compact disk, a magnetic disk, or the like.

  The batch-type CVD apparatus is not limited to use for film formation, but can also be used for other thermal treatment such as oxide film formation or diffusion.

  In the above embodiment, the case of a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses.

1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing a batch type CVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view seen from the front side which shows a pod opener. It is a perspective view which shows the pod mounting state. It is a partially omitted perspective view with the chamber viewed from the back side showing the pod opener. It is a perspective view which shows the V section which abbreviate | omitted FIG. It is the perspective view which laid the chamber seen from the back side which shows a pod opener. FIG. It is the partially cut perspective view seen from the back side which shows a nozzle. It is each partially abbreviated plan sectional view for explaining operation of a pod opener, and shows the state before removing a door. FIG. 6 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view showing the chamber sealed in the same manner. FIG. 6 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view showing the same nitrogen gas purge. It is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing the same mapping. It is a top sectional view showing the pod opener of the batch type CVD apparatus which is one embodiment of the present invention, and shows when the chamber is sealed. FIG. 6 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view showing the same nitrogen gas purge. FIG. 6 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view showing the same when the wafer is taken in and out.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Batch type CVD apparatus (substrate processing apparatus), 2 ... Housing, 3 ... Heater unit, 4 ... Process tube, 5 ... Gas introduction pipe, 6 ... Exhaust pipe, 7 ... Boat elevator, 8 ... Boat, 9 ... Wafer (Substrate) 10 ... Pod 10a ... Door 10b ... Wafer loading / unloading port 10c ... Wafer storage chamber 11 ... Pod stage 12 ... Pod shelf 13 ... Wafer transfer port 14 ... Pod transfer device 15 ... Wafer transfer Loading device, 16 ... boat changer, 20 ... pod opener (opening / closing device), 21 ... base, 22 ... wafer loading / unloading port, 23 ... support base, 24 ... guide rail, 25 ... guide block, 26 ... air cylinder device, 27 ... Mounting table, 28 ... Positioning pin, 30 ... Guide rail, 31 ... Moving table in left / right direction, 32 ... Air cylinder device, 32a ... Piston rod, 33 ... Guy Rails 34: Front / rear moving table 35 ... Guide holes 36 ... Brackets 37 ... Rotary actuators 37a ... Arms 38 ... Guide pins 39 ... Brackets 40 ... Closures 41 ... Unlocking shafts 41a ... Engagement , 42 ... pulley, 43 ... belt, 44 ... connecting piece, 45 ... air cylinder device, 46 ... suction tool, 47 ... suction port member, 50 ... rotary actuator, 50a ... rotating shaft, 51 ... arm, 52 ... insertion hole 53 ... Mapping device, 54, 55, 56 ... Packing, 60 ... Chamber, 61 ... Closure storage chamber, 62 ... Wafer loading / unloading port, 63 ... Exhaust pipe, 64 ... Nitrogen gas (inert gas), 65 ... Air supply pipe, 66 ... nozzle, 67 ... main body, 68 ... spout, 70 ... gate valve.

Claims (1)

A substrate processing apparatus for handling a carrier in which a plurality of substrates are housed from a substrate loading / unloading port and a door is detachably attached to the substrate loading / unloading port, and a substrate transfer port for loading / unloading the substrate to / from the carrier is provided. The substrate transfer port is provided with a carrier opening / closing device that opens and closes the carrier by attaching and detaching the door, and the substrate transfer port is provided with a chamber that covers the substrate loading / unloading port of the carrier. And an air supply pipe for introducing an inert gas from the substrate inlet / outlet to the inside of the carrier.
The air supply pipe ejects the inert gas from one side surface of the carrier toward the other side surface, and the flow of the inert gas reaching the other side surface is reflected to the back side of the carrier. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is disposed on the substrate.

Images