JPH11186373A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To perform positioning when an operator places a cassette for storing substrates such as wafers on, for example, a loading / unloading stage of a substrate processing apparatus. Not to be. SOLUTION: For example, three recesses are provided in a pedestal 24 of a closed type cassette 2 having a lid 22, and pins 31 respectively fitted in the recesses are formed on a loading / unloading stage 3, and the recesses and the pins 31 are fitted. , The cassette 2 is positioned.
A key-shaped mark 8 is formed on the carry-in / out stage 3 by, for example, paint at both rear corners of the pedestal 24 along the wheel gap, and positioning is performed when an operator places the cassette 2 on the carry-in / out stage 3. As a guideline.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for taking out a substrate from a cassette, which is a container for transporting a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, and processing the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as "wafers")
A vertical heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating the wafer and a coating / developing apparatus for applying and developing a resist are provided with a loading / unloading port for loading / unloading the wafer into / from the processing unit. A wafer cassette, which is a transfer container storing a predetermined number of sheets, is carried into the carry-in / out port by, for example, an automatic carrying robot. For example, in the case of a vertical heat treatment apparatus, a wafer cassette is transferred from a carry-in / out port to a wafer transfer stage via a stocker inside the apparatus by a cassette transfer machine. Wafers are sequentially taken out of the wafer cassette by a wafer arm.

[0003] Therefore, at the loading / unloading port, the wafer cassette needs to be positioned and placed on the wafer on the mounting table. Therefore, the standardization of the structure of the wafer cassette has recently been promoted. Regarding the positioning method which has been various so far, a concave portion having a predetermined size is formed at three predetermined positions on the bottom of the wafer cassette. On the other hand, an integrated pin is provided on the mounting table to engage with the concave portion, and the concave portion and the pin engage with each other to perform positioning.

[0004]

At the time of maintenance or start-up of the apparatus, an operator places the wafer cassette on the mounting table of the loading / unloading port. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1 to 12 on the mounting table 11 side
Is hidden behind the wafer cassette 13 and cannot be seen. Therefore, it is necessary to move the wafer cassette 13 back and forth and right and left so as to find a position where the pin and the recess engage with each other. Since the wafer cassette has been increased in size as the wafer size has increased, the degree of misalignment due to misalignment of the hand has been large, making it difficult to perform the alignment and increasing the weight of the wafer cassette. This places a heavy burden on workers.

Therefore, guide blocks higher than the engaging pins are provided on the mounting table on the left and right sides by, for example, a fluororesin or the like, and the wafer cassette is fitted between the blocks, or the guides are vertically arranged on the rear surface of the wafer cassette. A method of forming a notch that extends and setting a taper pin that fits the notch on a mounting table is also being studied. However, such a method becomes an obstacle when the wafer cassette is supplied onto the mounting table by the automatic continuation robot and must be removed because, for example, when the maintenance is completed and the operation is restarted, the guide block or the taper pin must be removed each time. Removal work is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is to facilitate positioning when a worker places a cassette for storing substrates such as wafers on a mounting table, and furthermore, to transport cassettes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus which does not hinder the transfer of a cassette by the above.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for taking out a substrate from a cassette, which is a container for transporting a plurality of substrates, and performing processing on the substrate.
A mounting table for mounting the cassette, a positioning engaging portion provided on a bottom surface of the cassette, and a positioning table provided on the mounting table, and engaging with the engaging portion to perform positioning of the cassette; A cassette receiving means for transferring the cassette between the positioning engaged portion to be mounted, the cassette, and the mounting table, and mounting the cassette so as to correspond to at least a part of the contour of the peripheral portion of the cassette positioned on the mounting table. A positioning mark provided on the mounting table and having a height lower than the positioning engaged portion.
, And is provided. In this case, for example, the engaging portion for positioning provided in the cassette is a concave portion,
The engaged portion for positioning provided on the mounting table is a convex portion.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vertical heat treatment apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the entire configuration of a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, exterior parts and internal walls of the apparatus are omitted for convenience of illustration. This heat treatment apparatus includes a loading / unloading stage 3 serving as a loading / unloading port for a cassette 2 which is a container for transporting a substrate, for example, a wafer, and a cassette storage shelf (stocker) 41 serving as a cassette storage unit for temporarily storing the cassette 2. And the wafers in the cassette 2
And the wafer boat 42 is moved to the heat treatment furnace 4
3 is provided with a loading area 44 for loading.

In this embodiment, the carry-in / out stage 3 is characterized, but other parts will be briefly described. The loading / unloading stage 3 is a portion corresponding to a mounting table, and a cassette transfer machine 5 is provided behind the loading stage. The cassette transfer machine 5 includes a lift base 52 that can be moved up and down along a lift guide 51, and a transfer arm that is provided on the lift base 52 and that is a horizontal joint arm that can move back and forth as viewed from the loading / unloading stage 3. 53, and has a role of suspending the cassette 2 and transferring the cassette 2 between the carry-in / out stage 3, the cassette storage shelf 41, and a wafer transfer table 45 described later.

The loading area 44 is surrounded by a wall (not shown) and is sealed from the outside, for example, in a nitrogen gas atmosphere. The holding table 45 for transferring the wafer is provided outside a wall surrounding the loading area. When the cassette 2 is placed on the holding table 45, the lid for closing the opening provided in the above-mentioned wall and the lid of the cassette 2 are simultaneously opened, and the wafer in the cassette 2 is moved by the wafer transfer device 46. W is transferred to the wafer boat 42. Thereafter, the wafer boat 42 is loaded into the heat treatment furnace 43, and a predetermined heat treatment, for example, an oxidation treatment, is performed on the wafer W.

Here, the structure of the cassette 2 will be described. The cassette 2 has a multi-tiered shelf for holding the peripheral portion of the wafer W as shown in a partially cutaway vertical sectional view of FIG. A closed type including a main body 21, a lid 22 that closes an opening (a wafer loading / unloading opening) of the cassette main body 21, and a pedestal 24 attached to the bottom of the cassette main body 21 via, for example, three legs 23. It is configured as a cassette. The three legs 23 are formed at positions that are the vertices of a triangle when viewed from below the cassette 2.

At the portion of the pedestal 24 where the legs 23 are provided, there is formed a disc-shaped concave portion 25 corresponding to a positioning engagement portion formed so as to be recessed into the legs 23 from below. On the other hand, on the surface of the loading / unloading stage (mounting table 3), the recess 25 is located at a position corresponding to the recess 25 at the bottom of the cassette 2 as shown in FIGS.
A pin 31 is provided which is formed in a shape corresponding to the concave portion 25 so as to be engaged with the concave portion 25 and which is a portion to be engaged for positioning. The cassette 2 has three recesses 25 for the loading / unloading stage 3.
Positioning is performed by being placed so as to engage with the three pins 31 on the side.

A mark 6 is provided on the surface of the loading / unloading stage 3 so that the mark can be used as a guide when an operator positions the cassette 2. The mark 6 is provided so as to correspond to at least a part of a circumferential interval of the cassette 2 when the cassette 2 is positioned on the stage 3. In this example, the mark 6 is located on the rear side of the pedestal 24 of the cassette 2. It is formed in a key shape by, for example, a paint along the both-sided wheel gaps.

The operation of the above embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, first, a cassette 2 containing, for example, 13 unprocessed wafers is mounted on an automatic transfer robot (AGV) 7 as a cassette transfer means from another station to a position before the loading / unloading stage 3 of the heat treatment apparatus. Carried. Subsequently, the transfer arm 71 of the automatic transfer robot 7 grasps the loaded cassette 2 and
Is transported above the pins 31 on the loading / unloading stage 3 to a position opposed thereto, from which the cassette 2 is lowered to engage the recesses 25 with the pins 31 (to be fitted in this example).
You. As a result, the cassette 2 is placed on the loading / unloading stage 3 while being positioned.

Then, the cassette 2 on the loading / unloading stage 3
Is temporarily stored in the cassette storage shelf 41 by the cassette transfer machine 5 and then transferred to the wafer transfer table 45, and the wafer W in the cassette 2 is loaded into the heat treatment furnace 43 as described above. A predetermined heat treatment is performed.

On the other hand, when maintenance such as adjustment of the cassette transfer machine 5 is performed, an operator holds the cassette 2 by hand and places it on the loading / unloading stage 3. At this time, the operator places the cassette 2 on the positioning mark 6. The cassette 2 is aligned, and in this example, the rear corners of the pedestal 24 of the cassette 2 are aligned with the left and right key-shaped marks, and the lower portion of the cassette 2 is engaged with the concave portion 25 and the pin 31 to position the cassette 2. It is placed on the loading / unloading stage 3 in the state of being moved.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the operator can place the cassette 2 at a predetermined position on the loading / unloading stage 3 using the positioning mark 6 as a guide. Since the mark 6 does not hinder the transfer by the automatic transfer robot 7, the mark 6 does not have to be removed.

Here, the mark 6 is not limited to the paint, but may be a tape or a band-like plate attached thereto. If the mark 6 is not substantially planar but is lower than the height of the positioning pin 31, an automatic transfer robot is used. Since it does not interfere with the conveyance of the projection 7, a projection such as a plate having a height within the limit may be used. Furthermore, the mark 6 may be formed so as to surround the entire wheel gap of the pedestal of the cassette 2, or the pedestal 24
May be formed along the wheel gap of the cassette body 21 when the cassette body 21 is viewed from above. The cassette 2 has a pedestal 24
Is not provided, for example, a positioning mark may be formed along a part of the annular space on the bottom surface of the cassette body 21. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), a semicircular notch 26 extending vertically along the back of the cassette 2.
On the other hand, a circular mark 61 having a circumference corresponding to the arc of the notch 26 may be provided on the loading / unloading stage 3. In the above description, the cassette mounting table is not limited to the loading / unloading stage 3, and may be, for example, a wafer transfer holding table. In this case, the cassette transfer device 5 corresponds to a cassette transport unit. Further, the cassette is not limited to a closed type cassette, and may be an open cassette without a lid, which is conventionally used, and the processing apparatus to be used is not limited to a vertical heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a unit for applying a resist solution to the surface of a wafer and a unit for developing the exposed wafer are provided. This is an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a case where a wafer is carried using an open cassette in a coating and developing apparatus. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 8 denotes a carry-in / out stage (mounting table).
A mark 82 is formed along the annular space on both sides of the rear part of the vehicle. Reference numeral 83 denotes a pin that engages (fits in this case) with the concave portion on the cassette 81 side. The wafers W in the cassette 81 placed on the loading / unloading stage 8 are taken out one by one by the transfer mechanism 84 and transferred to the main transfer arm 85 for transferring between the processing units.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a substrate processing apparatus, an operator can easily position a cassette for accommodating a substrate such as a wafer on a mounting table, and can use a cassette transporting means. It does not cause any trouble at the time of transportation, so that the positioning member does not have to be attached and detached, for example, at the time of maintenance or every time normal operation is performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an overall configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vertical heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway longitudinal side view showing a cassette and a loading / unloading stage in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cassette and a loading / unloading stage in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a cassette is carried in by the automatic carrying robot in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a plan view showing another example of the positioning mark in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a coating / developing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which a worker places a cassette on a mounting table in the conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 cassette (closed type cassette) 21 cassette body 24 pedestal 25 recess (engagement part) 3 carry-in / out stage 31 pin (engaged part) 5 cassette transfer machine 6, 61 positioning mark 7 automatic transfer robot 8 carry-in / out stage 81 cassette 82 pin

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for taking out a substrate from a cassette which is a container for transporting a plurality of substrates and performing processing on the substrate, wherein: a mounting table for mounting the cassette; and the cassette A positioning engagement portion provided on the bottom surface of the positioning table; and a positioning engaged portion provided on the mounting table, wherein the positioning of the cassette is performed by engaging with the engagement portion. Cassette transfer means for transferring a cassette between the cassette and a cassette transfer means provided on the mounting table so as to correspond to at least a part of a contour of a peripheral portion of the cassette positioned on the mounting table; And a positioning mark having a low height. 2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the positioning engaging portion provided on the cassette is a concave portion, and the positioning engaging portion provided on the mounting table is a convex portion. Processing equipment.