JP2006005193A - System for purging gas in vessel and gas purging method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply and efficiently replace oxidizing gas atmosphere in a vessel with nonoxidizing gas atmosphere with a samll amount of inert gas in the vessel mounted on the mounting table of a vessel opening/closing device. <P>SOLUTION: A gas purging system 20 for replacing oxidizing gas atmosphere with nonoxidizing gas atmosphere in a vessel 1 mounted on the mounting table of an opening/closing device 10 of the vessel 1 for a semiconductor wafer or the like comprises a gas purging system 20 in the vessel, an inert gas supplying path 21, an oxidizing gas exhausting path 22 in the vessel 1, and a bypassing path 23 for connecting these. A charging nozzle 24 connected to a purging port 3 for charging provided in the vessel 1 is provided at one end of the charging path 21, and a first valve 26 is provided at an upper stream more than the connection part between the supplying path 21 and the byupassing path 23. A charging/exhausting nozzle 25 coupled to the purging port 4 for charging and exhausting provided in the vessel 1 is provided at one end of the exhausting path 22, a second valve 27 is provided at the downstream side more than the connection part between the exhausting path 22 and the bypassing path 23, and a third valve 28 is provided in the bypassing path 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The invention of the present application relates to a gas purge system and a gas purge method in a container, and in particular, an oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state, such as a semiconductor wafer, is easily converted into a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere. The present invention relates to an in-vessel gas purge system and a gas purge method that can be efficiently replaced.

FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) accommodates a workpiece in a controlled space in order to prevent the workpiece from being contaminated by the external environment when the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is transported between processing devices. It is a forward-opening type container used for transporting. The FOUP opener communicates between the environment in the FOUP and the wafer transfer space in the processing apparatus without exposing the object to be processed to the external environment, and transfers the object to be processed by a robot or the like disposed in the processing apparatus. It is a FOUP opening and closing device that plays a role of enabling the above. These FOUPs and FOs
By using the UP opener, the object to be processed is transported between the processing apparatuses and transferred into the processing apparatus, whereby a high product yield is achieved.

By the way, in recent years, semiconductor wafers have been further miniaturized, and film thickness control on the order of angstroms has been demanded. For this reason, if the wafer is housed and transported in the FOUP held in a clean atmosphere with emphasis on particle management as in the prior art, a natural oxide film is formed on the wafer in the FOUP. There is a possibility that the film thickness control of the wafer in the subsequent process may be hindered.

Therefore, in order to avoid the formation of a natural oxide film on the wafer in the FOUP, the FOUP
It has been proposed to replace the inner atmosphere with an non-oxidizing atmosphere filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas from an oxidizing atmosphere, and various contrivances have been made for this purpose.

In any of these devices, the FOUP is mounted on the mounting table of the FOUP opener, and the oxidizing gas in the FOUP is inactivated by simply switching the valves on the inert gas supply path and the oxidizing gas discharge path. We propose a simple purge system that can be replaced with active gas.
Full consideration has been given to how efficiently gas can be replaced in the FOUP with a small amount of inert gas and in a short time, taking into account the state of opening and closing of the FOUP door. It is not.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-203993 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-121602 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-307623

The invention of the present application solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional gas purge system in a container, and opens / closes the door of the container with respect to the container mounted on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device. An in-container gas purge system and gas purge method capable of efficiently replacing an oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of inert gas The issue is to provide.

The above problems can be solved by the following invention described in each claim of the present application.
That is, the invention described in claim 1 relates to the oxidation in the container placed on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state, such as a semiconductor wafer. An in-vessel gas purge system for replacing an oxidizing gas atmosphere with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere,
An inert gas supply path, an oxidizing gas discharge path in the container, and a bypass path connecting the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each, and at one end of the supply path on the container side An air supply nozzle joined to an air supply purge port provided in the container; a first valve is provided upstream of a connection portion between the supply path and the bypass path; and the discharge path A supply / exhaust nozzle joined to a supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container is provided at one end on the container side, and a second valve is provided downstream of the connection portion between the discharge path and the bypass path. And the bypass passage is provided with a third valve.

Since the invention described in claim 1 is configured as described above, the air supply purge port provided in the container is inactivated simply by placing the container on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device. It is configured to be joined to an air supply nozzle provided at one end of the gas supply path, and to be connected to an air supply / exhaust nozzle provided at one end of the oxidizing gas discharge path. It becomes possible. Thereby, the operation | work which replaces the oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed easily.

In addition, by changing the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves in various ways, it is possible to select the optimum purge pattern according to the open / closed state of the container and perform gas replacement in the container. It is possible to efficiently replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of inert gas.

Further, the invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, in which the supply nozzle and the supply valve are controlled by opening the first valve, opening the third valve, and closing the second valve. A first purge pattern for supplying an inert gas into the container through the gas purge port and supplying an inert gas into the container through the supply / exhaust nozzle and the supply / exhaust purge port, and a first valve By opening the third valve, closing the third valve, and opening the second valve, the inert gas is supplied into the container through the supply nozzle and the supply purge port, and the supply / exhaust purge port and supply / exhaust are supplied. The second purge pattern for discharging the oxidizing gas in the container through the nozzle can be selected, the container door opens, the opened container door starts to close, and the container closes Until the first Jipatan is selected, after the container is closed, the second
This purge pattern is selected.

As a result, the container door is opened, the container door in the opened state begins to close, and the two purge ports (the supply purge port and the supply / exhaust purge port) are closed until the container is closed. A large amount of inert gas is supplied from the exhaust gas to quickly expel the oxidizing gas, and when the container is closed, a small amount of inert gas is supplied from one purge port (purge port for supply air), and the remaining 1
Oxidizing gas is discharged from one purge port (supply / exhaust purge port), creating a one-way flow of inert gas in the container, eliminating the resident area of oxidizing gas, and quickly inerting the container As a whole, it is possible to efficiently replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of inert gas.

In particular, until the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state begins to close and until the container is closed, the oxidizing gas is easily expelled from the container. When the first purge pattern is executed and a large amount of inert gas is supplied from the two purge ports, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas is performed quickly without wasteful consumption of the inert gas.

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply purge port and the supply / exhaust purge port are arranged at both ends of the container bottom wall on the container opening side. It is characterized in that the direction of supplying the inert gas into the container through these purge ports is directed to the back side of the container.

As a result, the inert gas supplied into the container flows in one direction without leaving the inside of the container, and the remaining oxidizing gas is driven out of the container. The operation of replacing the gas atmosphere with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed more efficiently.

Further, the invention described in claim 4 is directed to the oxidation in the container placed on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state such as a semiconductor wafer. In-vessel gas purging method for replacing an oxidizing gas atmosphere with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere, wherein an inert gas is introduced into the container after the container door is opened and the opened container door starts to close. A container internal gas purging method characterized by supplying and discharging the oxidizing gas in the container.

Since the invention described in claim 4 is configured as described above, after the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state starts to close, an inert gas is supplied to quickly As a result, the inside of the container can be efficiently filled in a short time with a small amount of inert gas. Replacement with an oxidizing gas atmosphere becomes possible.

In particular, at the stage where the container door opens and the container door in the open state begins to close,
The oxidizing gas is in a state where it can easily be expelled from the container. At this point, the inert gas is supplied, so that the processing for expelling the oxidizing gas is performed quickly without wasteful consumption of the inert gas. .

As described above, according to the in-container gas purge system of the present invention, simply by placing the container on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device, the purge port for supplying air provided in the container is connected to the inert gas supply path. It is possible to connect to an air supply nozzle provided at one end, and to connect an air supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container to an air supply / exhaust nozzle provided at one end of the oxidizing gas discharge path. Thus, the operation of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be easily performed.

In addition, by changing the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves in various ways, the optimum purge pattern can be selected according to the open / closed state of the container, and the gas in the container can be replaced. It is possible to efficiently replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of inert gas.

Further, according to the gas purging method in the container of the present invention, the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state starts to close, and then the inert gas is supplied to expel the oxidizing gas quickly. The container can be quickly filled with an inert gas, and as a whole, the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container can be efficiently replaced with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere with a small amount of inert gas. It becomes possible to do.

In order to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container mounted on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state with the processing object such as a semiconductor wafer with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere In the in-vessel gas purge system, an inert gas supply path, an oxidizing gas discharge path in the container, and a bypass path that connects the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each other are provided. An air supply nozzle that is joined to an air supply purge port provided in the container is provided at one end of the supply path on the container side, and the first side is provided upstream of the connection portion between the supply path and the bypass path. A valve is provided. In addition, a supply / exhaust nozzle connected to a supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container is provided at one end of the discharge path on the container side, and a second side is provided downstream of the connection part between the discharge path and the bypass path. Provide a valve. Furthermore, a third valve is provided in the bypass path.

In this way, the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves can be changed in various ways, and the optimum gas purge pattern can be selected according to the opening and closing state of the container.

In addition, the air supply purge port and the air supply / exhaust purge port are provided near both ends of the container opening side of the bottom wall of the container, and the direction in which the inert gas is supplied into the container through these purge ports is It is configured to face the inner side of the container.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
1 is a schematic side view of a container and a container opening / closing device to which the gas purge system and gas purging method of the present embodiment are applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view of the container and the container opening / closing device (from the left side of FIG. 1). FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the container and the container opening / closing device, and FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the gas purge system in the container.

In the container gas purge system of this example, the container is FOUP, and the container opening / closing device is FO.
In the case of a FOUP opener that opens and closes a UP, it will be described below as applied to these FOUPs and FOUP openers. In this embodiment, the material to be processed that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state in the FOUP is a semiconductor wafer.

1 to 3, a FOUP 1 in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers 2 are stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction and accommodated in a sealed state is placed on a FOUP mounting table (called a dock plate) 11 of a FOUP opener 10. It is shown that it is installed and connected to the piping system of the FOUP gas purge system 20 which will be described in detail later.

The FOUP opener 10 is disposed in a space opposite to the processing device of the port plate 40 constituting a part of the chamber wall of the processing device, and is integrally attached to the port plate 40. In FIG. 1, the space on the right side of the port plate 40 forms a room A of the processing apparatus, and this room A is filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas, and the room A is maintained in a non-oxidative clean environment. ing.

The FOUP opener 10 has a port door opening / closing device 12 on the room A side of the processing device, and the port door 13 provided in the port door opening / closing device 12 opens and closes an opening 41 formed in the port plate 40. A mechanism for holding a door (not shown) of the FOUP 1 detachably from the FOUP main body is provided inside. When the FOUP 1 moves forward in the direction of the port plate 40 while being placed on the dock plate 11 and the opening side end face is close to the port plate 40, the FOUP door attaching / detaching / holding mechanism of the port door 13 is FOUP. The door is removed from the FOUP body and held, and then the port door opening and closing device 12 is connected to the port door 1.
3 is removed from the opening 41, retracted from the port plate 40, and retracted to a lower region in the room A.

Thus, the opening 41 and the opening of the FOUP 1 are opened, the FOUP door is accommodated in the room A, and preparations for transferring the wafer 2 in the FOUP 1 into the processing apparatus are prepared. When a predetermined process is performed on the wafer 2 in the processing apparatus, the processed wafer 2 is
The data is transferred in the reverse direction and stored in the FOUP 1. Next, the FOUP door is attached to the opening of the FOUP 1 in the reverse order by the operation of the FOUP door attaching / detaching / holding mechanism of the port door opening / closing device 12 and the port door 13, and the FOUP 1 is sealed.

The drive unit of the port door opening / closing device 12 is accommodated in the FOUP opener 10 and is connected to the port door opening / closing device 12 through a vertically long opening (not shown) formed in the port plate 40.
Operate and move it back and forth and up and down.

As described above, since the room A is filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas and the room A is maintained in a non-oxidative clean environment, the FOUP 1 is opened and the internal wafer 2 is placed in the processing apparatus. Prior to the transfer, it is necessary to fill the FOUP 1 with nitrogen N ₂ gas and keep the inside in a clean environment filled with an inert gas (non-oxidizing gas). Further, before the processed wafer 2 is accommodated in the FOUP 1 and the FOUP 1 is sealed, during the standby until the processing of the wafer 2 is completed, water vapor oozes out or particles are generated inside the FOUP 1. However, since they may remain, it is necessary to refill the FOUP 1 with nitrogen N ₂ gas and keep the inside in a non-oxidative clean environment.

In order to meet these needs, the FOUP opener 10 is provided with a piping system of the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP.
As shown in FIG. 4, the piping system includes an inert gas (nitrogen N ₂ gas) supply path 21, an oxidizing gas discharge path 22 in the FOUP 1, and the supply path 21 and the discharge path 22. Are provided in the middle of each of them.

At one end of the supply path 21 on the FOUP 1 side, an air supply purge port 3 provided in the FOUP 1 is provided.
An air supply nozzle 24 is provided to be joined to the first gas valve 26, and a first valve 26 is provided on the upstream side of the connection portion between the supply passage 21 and the bypass passage 23. In addition, at one end of the discharge path 22 on the FOUP 1 side, a supply / exhaust nozzle 25 that is joined to the purge port 4 for supply / exhaust provided in the FOUP 1 is provided, and downstream of the connection portion between the discharge path 22 and the bypass path 23. Is provided with a second valve 27. Further, a third valve 28 is provided in the bypass path 23.

In addition, a first filter 29 is provided in the supply passage 21 downstream of the connection portion between the supply passage 21 and the bypass passage 23, and the first filter 29 is provided downstream of the third valve 28 in the bypass passage 23. Two filters 30 are provided. These filters 29 and 30 remove fine suspended matters in the nitrogen N ₂ gas.

The other end of the supply path 21 is connected to a nitrogen N ₂ gas supply source, and the other end of the discharge path 22 is led to a special processing device by an exhaust device, and the exhaust is finally subjected to harmless processing. And discarded outside the factory. The supply source of nitrogen N ₂ gas is the room A of the processing apparatus in this embodiment. The room A has a larger capacity than the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP of this embodiment, and is maintained at a positive pressure in a state filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas. The room A contains nitrogen N ₂ gas. Therefore, a pump is not necessarily required to supply nitrogen N ₂ gas into the FOUP 1, and the nitrogen N ₂ gas inlet 31 of the supply path 21 is located below the port plate 40. It is provided in the site | part which penetrated the wall of the part.

The purge port 3 for supply air and the purge port 4 for supply and exhaust are not shown in detail, but FOU
The bottom wall 5 of P1 (see FIG. 1) is provided at each of the portions near the both ends of the FOUP 1 on the opening side. And check valves are provided inside them, and these check valves are
It is opened by a gas flow above a predetermined pressure, allowing a one-way flow of the gas. The supply / exhaust purge port 4 is provided with a check valve for both supply and exhaust.

Therefore, the nitrogen N ₂ gas led to the supply nozzle 24 through the supply path 21 is now joined to the supply purge port 3 and the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 to the supply / exhaust purge port 4. As a result of the joining, the check valve in the purge port 3 for supplying air is opened, ejected into the FOUP 1 and supplied into the FOUP 1. At the same time, the oxidizing gas remaining in the FOUP 1 is expelled by the nitrogen N ₂ gas, opens the check valve in the purge port 4 for supply / exhaust, passes through the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 and passes through the discharge path 22. , Discharged outside FOUP1 and discarded.

When nitrogen N ₂ gas is ejected from the supply purge port 3 into the FOUP 1, the direction of the ejection is directed to the back side opposite to the opening side of the FOUP 1 (see FIG. 1). Further, as will be described later, the FOUP gas purge system 20 may be used so that nitrogen N ₂ gas is ejected from the supply / exhaust purge port 4 into the FOUP 1. Similarly, it is directed to the back side opposite to the opening side of the FOUP 1. The direction of nitrogen N ₂ gas ejection in the latter case is opposite to the direction of discharge when oxidizing gas is discharged from the FOUP 1 into the supply / exhaust purge port 4.

The FOUP 1 is placed on the FOUP mounting table (dock plate) 11 of the FOUP opener 10 for joining the air supply nozzle 24 and the air supply purge port 3 and joining the air supply / exhaust nozzle 25 and the air supply / exhaust purge port 4. Therefore, it can be configured to be performed automatically. Since the supply path 21 and the discharge path 22 are formed by elastic hoses, FOUP
When 1 is moved closer to or away from the port plate 40 due to the forward / backward movement of the dock plate 11, these two joint portions can be moved forward / backward together with this, which is convenient. .

Next, the usage pattern of the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP of this embodiment will be described.
According to the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP of this embodiment, the following two purge patterns can be selected according to the open / close state of the FOUP 1 and the like.

In the first purge pattern, the opening of the first valve 26, the opening of the third valve 28, and the closing operation of the second valve 27 cause the FOUP 1 to enter the FOUP 1 through the supply nozzle 24 and the supply purge port 3. supplies the nitrogen _{N 2} gas, even through the supply and exhaust nozzle 25 and the supply and exhaust purge port 4, for supplying nitrogen _{N 2} gas into the FOUP 1.

In the second purge pattern, the first valve 26 is opened, the third valve 28 is closed, and the second valve 27 is opened, so that the FOUP 1 is supplied via the supply nozzle 24 and the supply purge port 3. Nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied to the inside, and the oxidizing gas in the FOUP 1 is discharged through the supply / exhaust purge port 4 and the supply / exhaust nozzle 25.

Then, the first purge pattern is selected until the door of FOUP1 is opened, the door of FOUP1 in the opened state begins to close, and FOUP1 is closed. After the FOUP1 is closed, The FOUP gas purge system 20 can be used to select two purge patterns to purge the FOUP gas.

According to such a form of use, the two FOUP 1 doors open, the FOUP 1 door in the opened state begins to close, and until the FOUP 1 is closed, the two purge ports (supply purge port 3 When a large amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied from the supply / exhaust purge port 4), the oxidizing gas is quickly expelled, and when the FOUP 1 is closed, a small amount of nitrogen N is supplied from one purge port (supply purge port 3). ₂ gas is supplied, and the oxidizing gas is discharged from the remaining one purge port (supply / exhaust purge port 4) to create a one-way flow of nitrogen N ₂ gas in the FOUP 1. eliminate stagnation zone, it is possible to satisfy rapidly nitrogen N ₂ gas within the FOUP 1, as a whole, with a small nitrogen N ₂ gas amount, short time, efficiently oxidized in FOUP 1 It is possible to replace the gas atmosphere in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere.

Particularly, the FOUP 1 door is opened, the FOUP 1 door in the opened state begins to close, and until the FOUP 1 is closed, the oxidizing gas is in a state that is easily expelled from the FOUP 1. Since the first purge pattern is executed and a large amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied from the two purge ports 3 and 4, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas can be performed quickly without wasteful consumption of inert gas. To be done.

Since the FOUP gas purge system of the present embodiment is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
An air supply nozzle provided at one end of a nitrogen N ₂ gas supply path 21 is provided with an air supply purge port 3 provided on the FOUP 1 simply by placing the FOUP 1 on the FOUP mounting table (dock plate) 11 of the FOUP opener 10. 24, and the supply / exhaust purge port 4 provided in the FOUP 1 can be joined to the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 provided at one end of the oxidizing gas discharge path 22. The operation of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere inside with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be easily performed.

Further, by changing various combinations of opening / closing operations of the first to third valves 26, 27, and 28, an optimum purge pattern corresponding to the opening / closing state of the FOUP 1 is selected, and gas replacement in the FOUP 1 is performed. The oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 can be efficiently replaced with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas.

An air supply purge port 3 and an air supply / exhaust purge port 4 are provided near both ends of the bottom wall 5 of the FOUP 1 on the FOUP opening side, and nitrogen N _{2 is} introduced into the FOUP 1 through these purge ports 3 and 4. Since the gas supply direction is directed to the back side of the FOUP 1, the nitrogen N ₂ gas supplied into the FOUP 1 flows in one direction without leaving the FOUP 1 and remains there. Since the oxidizing gas is driven out of the FOUP 1, the work of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed more efficiently.

Further, the F of the present embodiment is performed using the gas purge system in the FOUP of the present embodiment.
According to the OUP gas purge method, the following effects can be obtained.
After the door of FOUP1 is opened and the door of FOUP1 in the opened state starts to close, a large amount of inert gas is supplied from two purge ports (supply purge port 3 and supply / exhaust purge port 4). The FOUP 1 can be quickly expelled and the FOUP 1 can be quickly filled with the inert gas. As a whole, the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 can be efficiently produced in a short time with a small amount of inert gas. Can be replaced with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere.

In particular, at the stage where the door of the FOUP 1 is opened and the door of the opened FOUP 1 begins to close, the oxidizing gas is easily expelled from the FOUP 1.
By supplying a large amount of inert gas from the two purge ports 3, 4, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas is performed quickly without wasteful consumption of the inert gas.
In addition, various effects as described above can be achieved.

The invention of the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, the FOUP 1, the FOUP opener 10, and the semiconductor wafer 2 may be a lower opening type SMIF pod, an SMIF pod opener, and a glass substrate. Further, the nitrogen N ₂ gas may be changed to another inert gas.

Further, in the usage form of the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP, the door of the FOUP 1 is opened, the door of the opened FOUP 1 starts to be closed, and remains in the FOUP 1 even until the FOUP 1 is closed. When the amount of oxidizing gas is small, the FOUP gas purge system 20 can be used to select the second purge pattern and purge the FOUP gas. Even in this case, the oxidizing gas remaining in the FOUP 1 can be quickly discharged.

Furthermore, in some cases nitrogen N ₂ gas into the chamber A of the processing apparatus is not filled, in this case, the source of nitrogen N ₂ gas supplied into the FOUP1 typically nitrogen N ₂ which is deployed as factory equipment It will be obtained from the gas supply piping system.

1 is a schematic side view of a container and a container opening / closing device to which an in-container gas purge system and a gas purge method of the present embodiment are applied. It is a schematic rear view (figure seen from the left side of FIG. 1) of the container and the container opening / closing device, and is a view in which the dock plate is omitted. It is a schematic plan view of the container and the container opening / closing device. It is a block diagram of the gas purge system in the container.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... FOUP (container), 2 ... Semiconductor wafer, 3 ... Supply purge port, 4 ... Supply / exhaust purge port, 5 ... Bottom wall, 10 ... FOUP opener (container opening / closing device), 11 ... FOUP mounting table (dock) Plate), 12 ... port door opening and closing device, 13 ... port door, 20 ... FOUP
Internal gas purge system, 21 ... supply path, 22 ... discharge path, 23 ... bypass path, 24 ... air supply nozzle, 25 ... air supply / exhaust nozzle, 26 ... first valve, 27 ... second valve, 28 ... third Valve, 29 ... 1st filter, 30 ... 2nd filter, 31 ... Gas inlet, 40 ... Port plate, 41 ... Opening.

Claims (4)

In order to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container mounted on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state with the processing object such as a semiconductor wafer with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere In-vessel gas purge system,
An inert gas supply path;
A discharge path for the oxidizing gas in the container;
A bypass path connecting the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each;
At one end on the container side of the supply path, an air supply nozzle that is joined to an air supply purge port provided in the container is provided,
A first valve is provided on the upstream side of the connection portion between the supply passage and the bypass passage,
A supply / exhaust nozzle connected to a supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container is provided at one end of the discharge path on the container side,
A second valve is provided on the downstream side of the connection portion between the discharge passage and the bypass passage,
A gas purge system in a container, wherein the bypass passage is provided with a third valve. By opening the first valve, opening the third valve, and closing the second valve,
First, an inert gas is supplied into the container through the supply nozzle and the supply purge port, and an inert gas is supplied into the container through the supply / exhaust nozzle and the supply / exhaust purge port. Purge pattern of
By opening the first valve, closing the third valve, and opening the second valve,
The inert gas is supplied into the container through the air supply nozzle and the air supply purge port, and the oxidizing gas in the container is discharged through the air supply / exhaust purge port and the air supply / exhaust nozzle. And a purge pattern of
The first purge pattern is selected until the container door is opened, the container door in the opened state begins to close, and the container is closed.After the container is closed, the first purge pattern is selected. The in-vessel gas purge system according to claim 1, wherein two purge patterns are selected. The air supply purge port and the air supply / exhaust purge port are provided near both ends on the container opening side of the bottom wall of the container,
The in-container gas purge system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a direction in which the inert gas is supplied into the container through the purge port is directed to the back side of the container. In order to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container mounted on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state with the processing object such as a semiconductor wafer with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere A gas purging method in the container,
A container characterized in that an inert gas is supplied into the container and an oxidizing gas in the container is discharged after the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state begins to close. Internal gas purge method.

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