Vertical Batch Furnace Components

Abstract

A vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers includes a cassette handling space, a wafer handling space, and an inner wall separating the cassette handling space from the wafer handling space. The cassette handling space is provided with a cassette storage configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes. The cassette handling space is also provided with a cassette manipulator configured to transfer wafer cassettes between the cassette storage and a wafer transfer position. The wafer handling space is provided with a wafer manipulator configured to transfer wafers between a wafer boat and a wafer cassette in the wafer transfer position. The inner wall is provided with a wafer transfer opening for the wafer cassette near the wafer transfer position, through which wafers are transferred to and from the wafer cassette. The cassette storage includes a cassette storage turntable having a diameter between 1.1 and 1.6 meters.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to a vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers. Background Art

[0002] The vertical batch furnace assembly may include a cassette handling space having a cassette storage unit configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes. The cassette storage unit may include a cassette storage turntable and associated cassette manipulators. The cassette manipulators may position cassettes on a platform level of the associated cassette storage turntable. The number of platform levels within the cassette storage turntable and the number of wafer cassettes that may be stored on a single platform level may vary depending on the design. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This summary is provided to introduce some concepts in a simplified form. These concepts are further described in detail in the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure below. This summary is neither intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] One object is to provide a vertical batch furnace assembly having improved storage capacity.

[0005] To this end, a vertical batch furnace assembly can be provided. More particularly, a vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers can be provided.

[0006] The vertical batch furnace assembly may include a cassette handling space. The cassette handling space may be provided with a cassette storage configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes containing a plurality of wafers. The cassette handling space may be provided with a cassette manipulator configured to transfer the wafer cassettes between the cassette storage and a wafer transfer position. The vertical batch furnace assembly may include a wafer handling space. The wafer handling space may be provided with a wafer manipulator configured to transfer wafers between a wafer cassette in the wafer transfer position and a wafer boat in the wafer boat transfer position. The vertical batch furnace assembly may include an inner wall separating the cassette handling space and the wafer handling space. The inner wall may be provided with a wafer transfer opening for the wafer cassettes near the wafer transfer position, so that wafers are transferred to and from the wafer cassettes. The cassette storage may include a cassette storage turntable having a diameter between 1.1 and 1.6 meters.

[0007] The advantage of having a box storage carousel with a diameter of between 1.1 and 1.6 meters is that the box storage carousel can extend over the entire width of the tool and in this way can accommodate a large number of boxes.

[0008] Certain objects and advantages of the present invention have been described above for purposes of summarizing the present invention and the advantages achieved over the prior art. It will be understood, of course, that not all such objects or advantages may be achieved according to any particular embodiment of the present invention. Thus, for example, one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be implemented or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one or a group of advantages taught or suggested herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages that may be taught or suggested herein.

[0009] Various embodiments are claimed in the dependent claims and will be further elucidated with reference to the examples shown in the drawings. The embodiments can be combined or applied separately from each other.

[0010] All of these embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of the invention disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of certain embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, the invention not being limited to any particular embodiment disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] While the specification concludes with claims that particularly point out and distinctly claim what are considered to be embodiments of the invention, advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be readily ascertained from the description of certain examples of the embodiments of the present disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 A schematic top view of an example of a vertical batch furnace assembly is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 Shown Figure 1 Along the lines of Figure 1 、 3 and a schematic cross-sectional view of line II in FIG4 ;

[0014] Figure 3 Shown Figure 1 Along the lines of Figure 2 and 4 A schematic cross-sectional top view of line III in FIG; and

[0015] Figure 4 Shown Figure 1 Along the lines of Figure 1 、 2 and a schematic cross-sectional view along line IV in 3 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] In this application, similar or corresponding features are indicated by similar or corresponding reference numerals. The description of the various embodiments is not limited to the examples shown in the drawings, and the reference numerals used in the detailed description and the claims are not intended to limit the description of the embodiments, but are included to clarify the embodiments by reference to the examples shown in the drawings.

[0017] Although certain embodiments and examples are disclosed below, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention encompasses the specific disclosed embodiments and / or uses of the invention and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the disclosed invention should not be limited by the specific disclosed embodiments described below. The illustrations presented herein are not meant to be actual views of any specific material, structure, or device, but are merely idealized representations used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] As used herein, the term "wafer" may refer to any underlying material or materials that may be used, or materials upon which devices, circuits, or films may be formed.

[0019] In the most general terms, the present disclosure provides a vertical batch furnace assembly 10 for processing wafers, an example of which is shown in FIG. Figure 1-4 . The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include a cassette handling space 26. The cassette handling space 26 may be provided with a cassette stocker configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes 16 containing a plurality of wafers. The cassette handling space 26 may be provided with a cassette manipulator 28 configured to transfer the wafer cassettes 16 between the cassette stocker and the wafer transfer position 24. The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include a wafer handling space 30. The wafer handling space 30 may be provided with a wafer manipulator 32 configured to transfer wafers between the wafer cassettes 16 in the wafer transfer position 24 and the wafer boat 12 in the wafer boat transfer position 34.

[0020] The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include an inner wall 20 that separates a cassette handling space 26 from a wafer handling space 30. The inner wall 20 may be provided with a wafer transfer opening 22 for the wafer cassettes 16 adjacent a wafer transfer location 24, through which wafers are transferred to and from the wafer cassettes 16. The cassette stocker may include a cassette storage carousel 18 having a diameter between 1.1 and 1.6 meters.

[0021] The effects and advantages of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 have been described in the Overview section and are incorporated herein by reference.

[0022] In one embodiment, the cassette storage carousel 18 may have at least one platform level 70. The cassette storage area may have a storage capacity of 5 to 8 wafer cassettes 16 on each platform level 70. For example, the cassette storage carousel 18 may have a diameter of approximately 1.1 to 1.2 meters to have a storage capacity of 5 wafer cassettes 19 on each platform level 70. In another example, the cassette storage carousel 18 may have a diameter of approximately 1.3 to 1.5 meters to have a storage capacity of 6 wafer cassettes 16 on each platform level 70. Alternatively, Figure 3 As shown, the cassette storage carousel 18 may have a diameter of approximately 1.4 to 1.6 meters to have a storage capacity of approximately eight wafer cassettes 16 per platform level 70, with four wafer cassettes 16 shown.

[0023] In one embodiment, the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 can be provided with a substantially rectangular footprint having two opposing short sides defining a width 36 of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and two opposing long sides defining a length 38 of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10. The width 36 of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 can be 1.65 meters or less.

[0024] By having a generally rectangular footprint, multiple vertical batch furnace assemblies 10 can be arranged adjacent to each other, thereby making optimal use of the available floor space. There can be no unused space between adjacent vertical batch furnace assemblies having a rectangular footprint. A width 36 of less than 1.65 meters is advantageous given the interchangeable widths of vertical batch furnace assemblies from other manufacturers / brands.

[0025] In one embodiment, the vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10 may further include a first processing chamber 56 for processing wafers contained in the wafer boat 12. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10 may further include a second processing chamber 58 for processing wafers contained in the wafer boat 12. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10 may further include a single wafer boat manipulator 60.

[0026] The wafer boat handler 60 may include a rotatable table 72 having a plurality of wafer boat support surfaces 74, each configured to support a wafer boat 12. The rotatable table 72 may be rotated by an actuator about a substantially vertical central axis 76. The rotatable table 72 may be rotated to transfer each wafer boat support surface 74 to a first wafer boat loading / receiving position 62, in which the wafer boat handler 60 is configured to vertically load a wafer boat 12 from the rotatable table 72 into a first processing chamber 56 and receive a wafer boat 12 from the first processing chamber 56 onto the rotatable table 72. The rotatable table 72 may also be rotated to transfer each wafer boat support surface 74 to a second wafer boat loading / receiving position 64, in which the wafer boat handler 60 is configured to vertically load a wafer boat 12 from the rotatable table 72 into a second processing chamber 58 and receive a wafer boat 12 from the second processing chamber 58 onto the rotatable table 72. The wafer boat handler 60 may include a first wafer boat lift assembly 78 configured to transfer the wafer boat 12 between the first wafer boat loading / receiving position 62 and the first processing chamber 56. The wafer boat handler 60 may also include a second wafer boat lift assembly 78' configured to transfer the wafer boat 12 between the second wafer boat loading / receiving position 64 and the second processing chamber 58. The rotatable table 72 may further be rotatable to transfer each wafer boat support surface 74 to a cooling position 80, in which the wafer boat handler 60 is configured to cool the wafer boat 12. The rotatable table 72 may also be rotatable to transfer each wafer boat support surface 74 to an intermediate position 82. A boat transfer mechanism 84 may be provided to transfer the wafer boat 12 on the wafer boat support surface 74 in the intermediate position 82 to the boat transfer position 34, and vice versa.

[0027] A single wafer boat handler 60 can thus be configured to load wafer boats 12 into both the first processing chamber 56 and the second processing chamber 58, and to receive wafer boats 12 from both the first processing chamber 56 and the second processing chamber 58. With this configuration, the vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10 can utilize the wafer boat handler 60 to load wafer boats 12 into / receive wafer boats 12 from the first processing chamber 56, and vice versa, for the second processing chamber 58. Therefore, the vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10 does not require a second wafer boat handler 60 to load wafer boats 12 into / receive wafer boats 12 from the second processing chamber 58. The space not required to accommodate such a second wafer boat handler 60 can be used to reduce the width 36 of the vertical batch processing furnace assembly 10.

[0028] In one embodiment, the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further include at least one cassette access port 48. The at least one cassette access port 48 provides an inlet into the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and an outlet from the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 for exchanging wafer cassettes 16 between the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and the outside world. The at least one cassette access port 48 may be disposed in a wall 85 defining the cassette handling space 26. The wall 85 may be located at or near a short side of the substantially rectangular footprint of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10. The cassette handler 28 may be configured to transfer wafer cassettes 16 between the cassette stocker, the wafer transfer position 24, and the at least one cassette access port 48.

[0029] Such a cassette manipulator 28 can handle all wafer cassette transfers within the cassette handling space 26. This can provide an efficient and cost-effective way of transferring wafer cassettes.

[0030] In one embodiment, the cassette manipulator 28 may be provided with a cassette manipulator arm 50 and an elevator mechanism 52 configured to reach wafer cassettes 16 at different vertical heights within the cassette stocker.

[0031] Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in part with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. By studying the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims, those skilled in the art can understand and implement variations of the disclosed embodiments when practicing the claimed invention.

[0032] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0033] Furthermore, it should be noted that the specific features, structures, or characteristics of one or more of the various embodiments described above can be used independently of one another and can be combined in any suitable manner to form new, not fully described embodiments. The reference numerals used in the detailed description and claims do not limit the description of the embodiments or the claims. Reference numerals are used for clarity only.

[0034] Reference numerals

[0035] 10 – Vertical Batch Furnace Assembly

[0036] 12-Wafer Boat

[0037] 16 – Wafer Box

[0038] 18-Box Storage Carousel

[0039] 20 – Inner wall

[0040] 22 – Wafer transfer opening

[0041] 24 – Wafer transfer position

[0042] 26 – Box Manipulation Space

[0043] 28 – Box Manipulator

[0044] 30-Chip manipulation space

[0045] 32 – Wafer Manipulator

[0046] 34 – Wafer boat transfer position

[0047] 36 – Width (of vertical batch furnace assembly)

[0048] 38 – Length (of vertical batch furnace assembly)

[0049] 48 – Box entry and exit port

[0050] 50 – Box Manipulator Arm

[0051] 52–Lifting mechanism

[0052] 56-First processing chamber

[0053] 58-Second processing chamber

[0054] 60-Wafer Boat Manipulator

[0055] 62 - First wafer boat loading / receiving position

[0056] 64 - Second wafer boat loading / receiving position

[0057] 70–Platform level

[0058] 72 – Rotatable table

[0059] 74 – Wafer boat support surface

[0060] 76–Central Axis

[0061] 78 and 78' – Wafer Boat Lift Assembly

[0062] 80 – Cooling position

[0063] 82 – middle position

[0064] 84-Wafer boat transfer mechanism

Claims

1. A vertical batch furnace assembly (10) for processing wafers, comprising: a cassette handling space (26) provided with a cassette storage and a cassette manipulator (28), wherein the cassette storage is configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes (16) provided with a plurality of wafers, and the cassette manipulator (28) is configured to transfer the wafer cassettes (16) between the cassette storage and the wafer transfer position (24); a wafer handling space (30) comprising a rectangular shape and provided with a wafer manipulator (32) configured to transfer wafers between a wafer cassette (16) in a wafer transfer position (24) and a wafer boat (12) in a wafer boat transfer position (34); An inner wall (20) separates a cassette handling space (26) from a wafer handling space (30), and a wafer transfer opening (22) for a wafer cassette (16) is provided near a wafer transfer position (24), and wafers are transferred to or from the wafer cassette (16), wherein the cassette storage device includes a cassette storage turntable (18) having a diameter between 1.1 and 1.6 meters, a first processing chamber for processing wafers contained in the wafer boat; a second processing chamber for processing wafers contained in the wafer boat; and A single wafer boat manipulator comprising a rotatable table having a plurality of wafer boat support surfaces, each wafer boat support surface configured to support a wafer boat, wherein the rotatable table is rotated by an actuator about a substantially vertical central axis to transfer each wafer boat support surface to: a first wafer boat loading / receiving position in which the wafer boat handler is configured to vertically load a wafer boat from the rotatable table into the first processing chamber and receive a wafer boat from the first processing chamber onto the rotatable table; and a second wafer boat loading / receiving position in which the wafer boat handling apparatus is configured to vertically load a wafer boat from the rotatable table into the second processing chamber and receive a wafer boat from the second processing chamber onto the rotatable table, wherein the cassette storage carousel includes a platform level configured to accommodate five or more wafer cassettes, wherein the vertical batch furnace assembly is provided with a rectangular footprint having two opposing short sides defining a width (36) of the vertical batch furnace assembly (10) and two opposing long sides defining a length (38) of the vertical batch furnace assembly (10), wherein the width (36) of the vertical batch furnace assembly (10) is 1.65 meters or less, and wherein the cassette manipulator is provided with a pivotable cassette manipulator arm and a lifting mechanism, the pivotable cassette manipulator arm being configured to reach wafer cassettes at different vertical heights within the cassette stocker, and The box storage turntable is arranged between the lifting mechanism and the inner wall, and there is no overlap between the lifting mechanism and the box storage turntable in a direction spanning between two relatively short sides.

2. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein: The cassette storage carousel (18) has at least one platform level (70) and has a storage capacity of between 5 and 8 wafer cassettes (16) per platform level (70).

3. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 2, wherein: The diameter of the cassette storage carousel (18) is 1.1 to 1.2 meters, and the storage capacity of each platform level (70) is 5 wafer cassettes (16).

4. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 2, wherein: The diameter of the cassette storage carousel (18) is 1.3 to 1.5 meters, and the storage capacity of each platform level (70) is 6 wafer cassettes (16).

5. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 2, wherein: The diameter of the cassette storage carousel (18) is 1.4 to 1.6 meters, and the storage capacity of each platform level (70) is 8 wafer cassettes (16).

6. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein: The wafer boat handler (60) includes a first wafer boat lift assembly (78) configured to transfer the wafer boat (12) between the first wafer boat loading / receiving position (62) and a first processing chamber (56).

7. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein: The wafer boat handler (60) includes a second wafer boat lift assembly (78') configured to transfer the wafer boat (12) between the second wafer boat loading / receiving position (64) and a second processing chamber (58).

8. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein: The rotatable stage (72) is rotatable to transfer each wafer boat support surface (74) to: A cooling position (80) in which the wafer boat manipulator (60) is configured to cool the wafer boat (12).

9. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein: The rotatable table (72) is rotatable to transfer each wafer boat support surface (74) to the intermediate wafer boat position (82), wherein the vertical batch furnace assembly further includes a boat transfer mechanism (84) configured to transfer a wafer boat (12) on the wafer boat support surface (74) in the intermediate position (82) to the boat transfer position (34), and vice versa.

10. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, further comprising at least one cassette access port (48), the at least one cassette access port (48) being provided in a wall (85) defining the cassette manipulation space (26), wherein The cassette manipulator (28) is configured to transfer wafer cassettes (16) between a cassette stocker, a wafer transfer location (24), and at least one cassette access port (48).

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