Vertical furnace tube wafer and boat high-efficiency conveying system and vertical furnace tube wafer and boat high-efficiency conveying method

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductors, and provides a vertical furnace tube wafer and boat high-efficiency conveying system and method, and the conveying method comprises the following steps: conveying a to-be-processed boat equipped with a to-be-processed wafer to a material preparation area outside a furnace tube; a post-process wafer boat containing the post-process wafer in the furnace tube is conveyed to a cooling area through a first conveying device according to a first conveying path, meanwhile, a to-be-processed wafer boat is conveyed into the furnace tube from a material preparation area through a second conveying device according to a second conveying path, and the first conveying path and the second conveying path are not crossed; and loading the post-process wafer in the cooled post-process wafer boat into an empty wafer box, changing the post-process wafer boat into an empty wafer boat, loading a to-be-processed wafer into the empty wafer boat from the wafer box to form a to-be-processed wafer boat, and conveying the to-be-processed wafer boat to a material preparation area to wait for the next process period of the furnace tube. The conveying method can limit the idle waiting time of the furnace tube and improve the production efficiency of the furnace tube.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transmission system and method. Background Art

[0002] In semiconductor manufacturing, furnace tubes are commonly used process equipment. For example, furnace tubes are used in doping processes or oxidation processes.

[0003] The processing efficiency of the furnace tube directly affects the output of wafers. The existing means to improve the processing efficiency of the furnace tube is usually to increase the number of wafers that can be accommodated in the furnace tube, that is, to increase the output of wafers per unit time by batch processing of wafers. For example, the furnace tube can usually accommodate 100 or 150 wafers for process processing at the same time to shorten the process time of each wafer process, thereby increasing the output of wafers per unit time.

[0004] The processing efficiency of the furnace tube is not only affected by the process processing time of the furnace tube itself, but also by the wafer transportation, such as the wafer transportation before the furnace chamber process (taking the wafers out of the crystal box and loading them into the crystal boat, and transporting the wafers to the furnace tube) and the wafer transportation after the furnace chamber process (taking the crystal boat out of the furnace tube for cooling, and putting the wafers in the crystal boat back into the crystal box).

[0005] During the operation of the existing furnace tube, due to the limitation of its conveying system, the furnace tube is usually required to be idle and waiting. The idle waiting time in a single process cycle is usually the sum of the wafer conveying time before the furnace chamber process, the wafer conveying time after the furnace chamber process, and the wafer loading and unloading time. For example, after the furnace chamber process is completed, the wafer boat is transported outside the furnace tube for wafer cooling, and then the cooled wafer is taken out of the wafer boat and loaded (the wafer is taken out of the wafer boat and loaded into the wafer box). After loading is completed, the wafer to be processed is taken out of the wafer box and loaded into the empty wafer boat, and then the wafer boat is transported to the furnace tube. Among them, the loading and unloading process of the wafers alone (the process of taking the wafers out of the wafer boat and loading them into the wafer box, and taking the wafers to be processed from the wafer box and loading them into the empty wafer boat) usually takes dozens of minutes. This loading and unloading process greatly prolongs the idle waiting time of the furnace tube in a single process cycle. Since the number of wafers that need to be exchanged is large, the idle time of the furnace tube in the entire wafer processing cycle is relatively long. The idle waiting causes a large amount of process time consumption and makes it impossible for the furnace tube to produce continuously, which seriously affects the wafer output, resulting in the problem of low production efficiency.

[0006] In order to improve the technical problem of the long idle time of the wafer boat, the prior art usually makes improvements in the loading and unloading process of the wafers, shortening the time of taking out the wafers from the wafer boat and loading the wafers, thereby shortening the idle time of the furnace tube. This improvement method can reduce the wafer loading and unloading process from tens of minutes to a few minutes, but the sum of the wafer loading and unloading time, the wafer transportation time before the furnace chamber process, and the wafer transportation time after the furnace chamber process is still more than ten or even dozens of minutes, so the idle waiting time of the furnace tube cannot be ignored.

[0007] In the furnace chamber process, there are usually multiple furnace tubes carrying out mass production at the same time. Therefore, with the accumulation of furnace chamber process times (one process cycle is counted as one time) and the number of furnace tubes, the total idle waiting time of the furnace tubes in a production cycle (such as a quarter) is huge. Even if the idle waiting time of the furnace tube in a single process cycle is shortened by a few minutes, the impact on the wafer output in a production cycle is also very significant.

[0008] Therefore, a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system and method are needed to minimize the idle waiting time of the furnace tube and improve the production efficiency of the furnace tube. Summary of the invention

[0009] The present invention provides a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transmission system and method, which can extremely compress the idle waiting time of the furnace tube and improve the production efficiency of the furnace tube.

[0010] The vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transmission method comprises the following steps:

[0011] Transporting the wafer boat containing the wafers to be processed to the material preparation area outside the furnace tube;

[0012] After the furnace tube completes the furnace chamber process, the post-process wafer boat containing the post-process wafers in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device along the first transport path, and at the same time, the wafer boat to be processed is transported from the preparation area to the furnace tube through the second transport device along the second transport path, the first transport path and the second transport path do not intersect, one cooling zone corresponds to multiple furnace tubes, and each furnace tube is equipped with a first transport path and a preparation area;

[0013] The post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, the post-process wafer boat becomes an empty wafer boat, the wafers to be processed are loaded from the wafer box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube;

[0014] Among them, the first conveying device, the second conveying device, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are configured so that before each process cycle of the furnace tube is completed, a wafer boat to be processed is conveyed to the preparation area corresponding to the corresponding furnace tube, and while the furnace tube is executing the furnace chamber process, at least one post-process wafer boat is cooled at the same time, and / or the post-process wafer is transferred between the post-process wafer boat and the empty wafer box, and / or the wafer to be processed is transferred between the wafer box and the empty wafer boat.

[0015] Optionally, before the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device along the first transport path, the following steps are also included:

[0016] The time of completion of each furnace chamber process is obtained in advance, and the furnace tube that first completes the furnace chamber process is used as the target furnace tube, and the first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits;

[0017] And / or, transporting the wafer boat to be processed to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps:

[0018] The completion time of each furnace chamber process is obtained in advance, the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first is used as the target furnace tube, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the material preparation area corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube;

[0019] And / or, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are determined by the following method:

[0020] There are multiple conveying paths from the preparation area to the corresponding furnace tube and from the furnace tube to the cooling table. The furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first is taken as the target furnace tube, and one of the conveying paths is set as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and another conveying path is set as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path are the shortest and do not cross.

[0021] Optionally, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0022] Preset the furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube so that the furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube is arranged in sequence according to the set time interval;

[0023] The cooling completion time of the wafer boat after the process is preset so that the cooling completion time of at least one wafer boat after the process is located between the process completion times of two adjacent furnace chambers.

[0024] Optionally, a loading and unloading area is also provided outside the furnace tube;

[0025] The first conveying device running to the target furnace tube and waiting further comprises the following steps:

[0026] Detecting whether there is vacancy in the cooling zone;

[0027] If there is no vacancy in the cooling zone, after at least one post-process wafer boat in the cooling zone is cooled, the post-process wafer boat is transported to the loading and unloading zone by the first conveying device, and then the first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits;

[0028] If there is vacancy in the cooling zone, the first conveying device directly moves to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits.

[0029] Optionally, transporting the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube to the cooling zone through a first transport device along a first transport path includes the following steps:

[0030] The first conveying device grasps the processed wafer boat in an upright position;

[0031] The first conveying device conveys the processed wafer boat in an upright posture to the cooling zone according to the first conveying path;

[0032] The method of transporting the processed wafer boat to the loading and unloading area by the first transport device comprises the following steps:

[0033] After the processed wafer boat is cooled in the cooling zone, the first conveying device grasps the upright wafer boat and changes the posture of the processed wafer boat, so that the upright wafer boat is changed to a horizontal posture, and conveys the horizontal wafer boat to the loading and unloading zone.

[0034] Optionally, the post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, and the post-process wafer boat is changed into an empty wafer boat, which includes the following steps:

[0035] The loader clamps the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat in a horizontal position in the loading and unloading area, and the loader clamps multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position in the post-processed wafer boat at one time, and loads the multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position into the empty wafer box at one time, until all the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat are taken out to form an empty wafer boat.

[0036] Optionally, loading the wafers to be processed from the wafer box into an empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and transporting the wafer boat to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps:

[0037] The loading part clamps a plurality of wafers to be processed in an upright position in a wafer box at one time in the loading and unloading area, and loads the plurality of wafers to be processed in an upright position into an empty wafer boat in a horizontal position at one time to form a wafer boat to be processed;

[0038] The first conveying device grasps the wafer boat to be processed in a straight horizontal posture and changes the posture of the wafer boat to be processed, so that the wafer boat to be processed is changed from a horizontal posture to an upright posture, and conveys the wafer boat to be processed in an upright posture to a preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube.

[0039] Optionally, the cooling zone is directly opposite to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube, and / or the material preparation zone is located outside the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube and is arranged adjacent to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber.

[0040] The present invention also provides a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system, comprising a plurality of furnace tubes, a cooling table, a material preparation table, a first conveying device and a second conveying device;

[0041] One cooling stage corresponds to a plurality of furnace tubes;

[0042] The furnace tube is provided with a material preparation platform, which is located outside the furnace tube and is used to place a wafer boat containing wafers to be processed;

[0043] The first conveying device is used to convey the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube to the cooling table according to the first conveying path after the furnace tube completes the furnace chamber process. At the same time, the second conveying device is used to convey the wafer boat to be processed from the preparation area to the furnace tube according to the second conveying path. The first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect.

[0044] Optionally, it also includes a loading member and a loading platform;

[0045] The first conveying device is also used to convey the post-processed wafer boat cooled on the cooling table to the loading table, and the loading device is used to load the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat on the loading table into the empty wafer box, and make the post-processed wafer boat become an empty wafer boat, and the loading device is also used to load the wafers to be processed in the crystal box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed.

[0046] Optionally, the first conveying device is further used to convert the post-process wafer boat in an upright posture after being cooled on the cooling table into a horizontal posture, and convey the post-process wafer boat in a horizontal posture to the loading table;

[0047] The loading part is used to clamp the post-process wafers in an upright state in the post-process wafer boat on the loading table, and clamp multiple wafers at one time, and load the multiple post-process wafers in an upright state into an empty wafer box at one time; the loading part is also used to clamp multiple wafers to be processed in an upright state in the wafer box at one time, and load the multiple wafers to be processed in an upright state into an empty wafer boat in a horizontal state at one time to form a wafer boat to be processed;

[0048] The first conveying device is also used to convert the wafer boat to be processed in a horizontal posture into an upright posture, and convey the wafer boat to be processed in an upright posture to a material preparation table to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube.

[0049] Optionally, the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system further includes a control unit;

[0050] The control unit is used to obtain the time when each furnace chamber process is completed in advance, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to run outside the target furnace tube to wait;

[0051] And / or, the control unit is used to obtain the completion time of each furnace chamber process in advance, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to convey the wafer boat to be processed to the material preparation table corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube;

[0052] And / or, the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system also includes a plurality of tracks arranged in an interlaced manner, the tracks forming a plurality of conveying paths from the preparation table to the corresponding furnace tubes and from each furnace tube to the cooling table, the control unit being used to pre-acquire the completion time of each of the furnace chamber processes, taking the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and setting one of the conveying paths as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and setting another conveying path as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect and are the shortest.

[0053] With such configuration, in the above-mentioned conveying method, when the furnace tube is operating normally, the wafer boat to be processed loaded with wafers waits outside the furnace tube, and after the furnace chamber process is completed, the post-process wafer boat inside it is conveyed out through the first conveying path, and at the same time, the wafer boat to be processed is conveyed to the inside of the furnace tube through the second conveying path, and the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect, so that the wafer boat to be processed and the post-process wafer boat can be conveyed at the same time. This conveying method ensures that the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube and the conveying of wafers before and after the furnace chamber process do not interfere with each other, that is, during the process of the wafer boat to be processed entering the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the post-process wafer boat can be transferred, cooled and loaded, and during the process of the wafer boat to be processed entering the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the wafer boat to be processed in the next cycle waits outside the furnace tube, and the conveying and loading of wafers will not cause the furnace tube to wait idly, which makes the previous process cycle of the furnace tube almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, and the idle waiting time is almost zero, which greatly compresses the idle waiting time between adjacent process cycles of the furnace tube, and helps to improve the output of the furnace tube equipment;

[0054] Moreover, the previous process cycle of the furnace tube is almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, which means that the environment inside the furnace tube will not change drastically due to the furnace tube being idle for a long time, which can reduce the heat loss of the furnace tube caused by long-term idling and waiting, and help improve the process efficiency of the furnace tube and improve energy-saving effects.

[0055] In addition, one cooling zone corresponds to multiple furnace tube equipment. Through reasonable arrangement of the working time of each furnace tube and the cooling end time of the wafer boat after the process, each furnace tube can realize the posture change and transportation of the wafer boat after the process through a first conveying device, which is beneficial to improve the integration of the entire furnace tube system, reduce the volume share of the wafer conveying mechanism of the furnace tube, thereby reducing the space occupied by the furnace tube system in the clean room, and greatly reducing the operating cost of the clean room and increasing the usable space of the clean room. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0057] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the local structure of the vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system of some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 ;

[0058] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the local structure of the vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system of some embodiments of the present invention Figure 2 ;

[0059] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the local structure of the vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system of some embodiments of the present invention Figure 3 ;

[0060] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a process for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0061] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the structure of a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system according to other embodiments of the present invention.

[0062] Among them, in the attached drawings:

[0063] 10-furnace tube; 11-wafer boat receiving tray; 12-transfer room;

[0064] 20-Cooling table;

[0065] 30-Material preparation table;

[0066] 40-first conveying device; 41-conveying arm; 411-first support arm; 412-second support arm; 413-connecting arm; 414-clamping protrusion; 42-conveying driving device;

[0067] 50-loading member; 51-clamping arm; 52-clamping block; 53-clamping drive device; 54-groove;

[0068] 60- loading platform;

[0069] 71-wafer boat to be processed; 711-first wafer boat to be processed; 712-second wafer boat to be processed; 713-third wafer boat to be processed; 72-wafer boat after processing; 721-wafer boat after first process; 722-wafer boat after second process; 73-empty wafer boat; 74-wafer lifter;

[0070] 80-track. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The following is a further detailed description of the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system and method proposed by the present invention in combination with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The advantages and features of the present invention will become clearer according to the following description. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are all in a very simplified form and are not in precise proportions, and are only used to conveniently and clearly assist in explaining the purpose of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0072] As used in the present invention, the singular forms "one", "an" and "the" include plural objects, the term "or" is usually used to include the meaning of "and / or", the term "several" is usually used to include the meaning of "at least one", and the term "at least two" is usually used to include the meaning of "two or more". In addition, the terms "first", "second" and "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first", "second" and "third" can explicitly or implicitly include one or at least two of the features. In addition, as used in the present invention, "installed", "connected", "connected", and one element "set" to another element should be understood in a broad sense, usually only indicating that there is a connection, coupling, matching or transmission relationship between the two elements, and the connection, coupling, matching or transmission between the two elements can be direct or indirect through an intermediate element, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the spatial position relationship between the two elements, that is, one element can be in any orientation such as inside, outside, above, below or one side of another element, unless the content clearly indicates otherwise. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances. In addition, directional terms such as above, below, up, down, upward, downward, left, right, etc. are used with respect to the exemplary embodiments as they are shown in the figures, with the upward or upper direction toward the top of the corresponding figure, and the downward or lower direction toward the bottom of the corresponding figure.

[0073] Please refer to Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system including three furnace tubes 10 , a cooling platform 20 , a material preparation platform 30 , a first conveying device 40 , a second conveying device, a loading piece 50 and a loading platform 60 .

[0074] The material preparation table 30 is independent of the cooling table 20 and the loading table 60. Each furnace tube 10 is equipped with a material preparation table 30. The material preparation table 30 is located outside the entrance and exit of the transfer chamber 12 of the corresponding furnace tube 10 and is arranged adjacent to the entrance and exit of the transfer chamber 12. The material preparation table 30 is used to place the wafer boat 71 to be processed containing the wafers to be processed, so that the wafer boat 71 to be processed waits outside the furnace tube 10 for the next furnace chamber process cycle.

[0075] like Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 There are three furnace tubes 10 in the system to clearly show the structure of the system. Figure 1 Only two material preparation tables 30 are shown. In order to clearly show the wafer boat 71 to be processed, three wafer boats 71 to be processed in different states are shown in this embodiment, namely, the first wafer boat 711 to be processed, the second wafer boat 712 to be processed, and the third wafer boat 713 to be processed, wherein the first wafer boat 711 to be processed and the second wafer boat 712 to be processed are respectively located on two material preparation tables 30. In addition, the third wafer boat 713 to be processed is being transported by the first transport device 40.

[0076] The three furnace tubes 10 are arranged along a direction ( Figure 1 Horizontal arrangement settings (left and right directions in the Figure 1 In the figure, the cooling stage 20 is located on the left side of the loading stage 60. The cooling stage 20 and the loading stage 60 are connected as a whole to form a comprehensive large platform, which is directly opposite to the entrance and exit of the transfer chamber 12 of the three furnace tubes 10. The cooling stage 20 is used to temporarily place the post-process wafer boat 72 after the furnace chamber process is completed in the furnace tube 10, and to cool the post-process wafer boat 72, and the loading stage 60 is used for the transfer of wafers.

[0077] In other alternative embodiments, the cooling stage 20 and the loading stage 60 may be provided separately and independently.

[0078] In this embodiment, there is one cooling stage 20 and one loading stage 60, and three furnace tubes 10. In other alternative embodiments, the number of furnace tubes 10 may be, for example, two, four or more, and one cooling stage 20 and one loading stage 60 correspond to a plurality of furnace tubes 10. In addition, if the number of furnace tubes 10 is large, the number and position of the cooling stage 20 and the loading stage 60 may also be adaptively increased based on the number of furnace tubes 10. For example, a plurality of cooling stages 20 and loading stages 60 may be provided and arranged alternately in one direction.

[0079] Please continue to refer to Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 Two post-process wafer boats 72 are shown, namely a first post-process wafer boat 721 and a second post-process wafer boat 722 .

[0080] After the first process, the wafer boat 721 is placed on the cooling table 20. After the first process, the wafer boat 721 is cooled on the cooling table 20 and flipped by the first conveying device 40 to a horizontal position in preparation for conveying to the loading table 60. When the wafer boat 721 is just conveyed from the furnace tube 10 to the cooling table 20 after the first process, it should be in an upright position.

[0081] The second post-process wafer boat 722 is placed on the loading platform 60, and the loading member 50 is used to load the post-process wafers in the post-process wafer boat 72 on the loading platform 60 into the empty wafer box, and the post-process wafer boat 72 becomes an empty wafer boat 73. The second post-process wafer boat 722 is in a horizontal posture, and the wafers are in an upright posture. The loading port of the second post-process wafer boat 722 in the horizontal posture faces upward; when the corresponding wafer boat is in an upright posture, the corresponding loading port faces the horizontal direction, and the wafer is in a horizontal posture. In this embodiment, the horizontal posture of the wafer boat refers to the posture in which its axial direction is horizontal and the loading port faces upward, and the upright posture of the wafer refers to the posture in which the axial direction of the wafer is horizontal.

[0082] The loading member 50 is used to clamp the upright processed wafers in the second processed wafer boat 722 on the loading platform 60 , and clamp multiple wafers at one time, and load the multiple upright processed wafers into the empty wafer box at one time.

[0083] It should be added that Figure 1 In order to clearly show the states of the post-process wafer boat 72 at different stages during the transportation process, the first post-process wafer boat 721 and the second post-process wafer boat 722 are shown. In the actual transportation process, there may be only one post-process wafer boat on the loading platform 60, and the first post-process wafer boat 721 and the second post-process wafer boat 722 are two states of the post-process wafer boat at different transportation stages.

[0084] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the structure of the loading member 50 and the empty wafer box 73 is shown.

[0085] Combination Figure 1 As shown, the second post-process wafer boat 722 is equipped with a wafer pusher 74. The wafer pusher 74 pushes the multiple upright post-process wafers in the second post-process wafer boat 722 upward and pushes the second post-process wafer boat 722 out, and then clamps the pushed out post-process wafers through the loading part 50.

[0086] Combination Figure 2As shown, the loading member 50 includes a pair of clamping arms 51, a clamping block 52 connected to the clamping arms 51, and a clamping drive device 53. The two clamping arms 51 are mounted on the clamping drive device 53 and driven to move linearly to approach each other to form a clamping state, or move away from each other to form a released state. The clamping drive device 53 is, for example, a double-acting cylinder or two independent cylinders or other known linear drive structures. The clamping drive device 53 can be externally connected to a moving seat, and the moving seat can be driven to move, so that the loading member 50 can move flexibly and its position can be flexibly adjusted based on different usage conditions.

[0087] Combination Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the lower end of the clamping arm 51 is connected with a clamping block 52 with a cross-section that is approximately trapezoidal, and the length direction of the clamping block 52 is horizontal and perpendicular to the linear motion direction of the clamping arm 51. The opposite surfaces of the two clamping blocks 52 are clamping surfaces, which are arc-shaped, so that the width dimension of the clamping block 52 (the dimension along the linear motion direction of the clamping arm 51) gradually increases from top to bottom, that is, the clamping surface is bent outward at the lower position, and this shape is used to adapt to the peripheral arc surface of the wafer. In addition, the clamping block 52 is located on the clamping surface and is conformably provided with a plurality of grooves 54, each of which is arranged along the length direction of the clamping block 52, and the grooves 54 extend vertically and penetrate to the upper and lower end surfaces of the clamping block 52, and the groove bottom of the groove 54 is an arc-shaped structure that is adapted to the clamping surface, so that the groove bottom of the groove 54 is adapted to the peripheral arc surface of the wafer.

[0088] The spacing between the grooves 54 is the same as the spacing between adjacent wafers in the wafer boat and the spacing between adjacent wafers in the wafer box.

[0089] Combination Figure 1 As shown, when a plurality of post-process wafers in an upright state are pushed upward by the wafer pusher 74, the two clamping arms 51 of the loading member 50 are driven away from each other to form a released state, and the loading member 50 is driven to move so that the wafer is located between the two clamping arms 51. The loading member 50 adjusts its position so that each groove 54 corresponds to each post-process wafer one by one. The two clamping arms 51 of the loading member 50 are driven to approach each other to form a clamping state, and the two sides of the post-process wafer are inserted into the groove 54, and the outer periphery of the post-process wafer is in conformal contact with the bottom of the groove 54, so as to achieve clamping of the post-process wafer.

[0090] Preferably, the height of the clamping block 52 is smaller than the radius of the wafer, or even smaller than half of the radius of the wafer. The clamping block 52 is clamped near the middle of the wafer so that the lower part of the wafer is exposed.

[0091] Combination Figure 2 As shown, the loading member 50 clamps the processed wafer and then transfers it to the top of the empty wafer box 73 and moves with the wafer pusher ( Figure 2The processed wafer is aligned with the wafer lifter 74 (not shown), and the processed wafer is transferred to the top of the wafer lifter 74. The wafer lifter 74 moves downward to transfer the processed wafer to the slot of the empty wafer box 73, and then the processed wafer in the upright state in the wafer boat 722 after the second process is transferred to the empty wafer box.

[0092] In this embodiment, the loading member 50 can clamp about half of the wafers in the wafer boat 722 after the second process at one time, and all the wafers can be transferred by clamping twice. In other alternative implementations, the loading member 50 can also be configured to clamp all the wafers in the wafer boat 722 after the second process at one time, and all the wafers can be transferred by clamping once.

[0093] In this embodiment, the post-process wafer boat on the loading platform 60 is in a horizontal state, and the loading port of the wafer boat faces upward, so that the posture of the post-process wafers placed in the post-process wafer boat is consistent with the posture of the wafers when placed in the wafer box, and the loading port of the wafer box also faces upward. Therefore, multiple wafers can be clamped at one time without changing the posture of the wafers to achieve the transfer of wafers between the wafer boat and the wafer box, which helps to improve the loading and unloading efficiency of the wafers.

[0094] In addition, the loading unit 50 is also used to load the wafers to be processed in the crystal box into the empty crystal boat 73 to form the wafer boat 71 to be processed. When all the processed wafers in the second processed crystal boat 722 are taken out, the second processed crystal boat 722 forms an empty crystal boat 73. At this time, the loading unit 50 also loads the wafers to be processed in the crystal box full of wafers to be processed into the empty crystal boat 73 to form the processed crystal boat 72. Then, the processed crystal boat 72 is transported by the first conveying device 40 from the loading platform 60 to the material preparation platform 30 (as shown in FIG. Figure 1 The third process boat 713 is shown in the transport state).

[0095] Please combine the following Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the structure and working process of the first conveying device 40 are introduced.

[0096] Depend on Figure 1 Take the leftmost furnace tube 10 completing the furnace chamber process as an example.

[0097] After the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube 10 is completed, the wafer boat receiving plate 11 in the furnace tube 10 moves downward, and the processed wafer boat ( Figure 1The first conveying device 40 is used to convey the post-process wafer boat in an upright position on the wafer boat receiving tray 11 to the cooling table 20 according to the first conveying path. At the same time, the second conveying device (not shown in the figure) conveys the first wafer boat 711 to be processed in an upright position on the preparation table 30 outside the furnace tube into the wafer boat receiving tray 11 according to the second conveying path, and the wafer boat receiving tray 11 moves upward to close the furnace tube. The second conveying device can adopt existing multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arms and other structures, such as six-degree-of-freedom robotic arms, which will not be described one by one here. The starting point of the first conveying path and the end point of the second conveying path are both inside the furnace tube, so the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect here, which means that the two do not intersect during transportation.

[0098] When the upright post-process wafer boat in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling stage 20, it is still in an upright state. When the post-process wafer boat is cooled to below 300 degrees Celsius, the first transport device 40 converts the upright post-process wafer boat into a horizontal state (such as Figure 1 The loading port of the post-process boat is facing upward, and the post-process boat in a horizontal state is transported to the loading platform 60. At this time, the post-process wafers in the post-process boat are transferred to the empty wafer box (as shown in FIG. 5 ) by the loading unit 50. Figure 1 The state of the wafer boat 722 after the second process is shown in FIG.

[0099] After all the post-process wafers in the post-process wafer boat are taken out, an empty wafer boat 73 is formed. Figure 1 The wafers are transported to the right in the middle, that is, the loading platform 60 has an unloading area and a loading area, wherein the unloading area is used to place the processed wafer boat and transfer the processed wafers inside to the empty wafer box, and the loading area is used to place the empty wafer boat and load the wafers to be processed in the wafer box full of wafers to be processed into the empty wafer boat. Figure 1 The middle loading member 50 fills the empty wafer boat 73 to form a wafer boat to be processed, and then the first conveying device 40 converts the wafer boat to be processed in a horizontal state into an upright state, and conveys the upright wafer boat to the preparation table to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube (such as Figure 1 4. The third wafer boat 713 to be processed is shown in the posture shown in FIG. 7 , at this time, the third wafer boat 713 to be processed is being turned over and transported by the first transport device 40).

[0100] With such configuration, when the furnace tube is operating normally, the wafer boat to be processed loaded with wafers waits outside the furnace tube. After the furnace chamber process is completed, the post-process wafer boat inside is transported out through the first transport path, and at the same time, the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the inside of the furnace tube through the second transport path. The first transport path and the second transport path do not intersect, so that the wafer boat to be processed and the post-process wafer boat can be transported at the same time. This transportation method ensures that the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube and the wafer transportation before and after the furnace chamber process do not interfere with each other, that is, when the wafer boat to be processed enters the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the post-process wafer boat can be transported, cooled and loaded, and when the wafer boat to be processed enters the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the wafer boat to be processed in the next cycle waits outside the furnace tube, and the transportation and loading of wafers do not cause the furnace tube to wait idly, which makes the previous process cycle of the furnace tube almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, and the idle waiting time is almost zero, which greatly compresses the idle waiting time between adjacent process cycles of the furnace tube, and helps to improve the output of the furnace tube equipment;

[0101] Moreover, the previous process cycle of the furnace tube is almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, which means that the environment inside the furnace tube will not change drastically due to the furnace tube being idle for a long time, which can reduce the heat loss of the furnace tube caused by long-term idling and waiting, and help improve the process efficiency of the furnace tube and improve energy-saving effects.

[0102] In order to ensure the flexible movement of the first conveying device 40, the second conveying device and the loading member 50, in this embodiment, a plurality of staggered tracks 80 are also configured. The tracks 80 are connected between the furnace tube 10 and the cooling table 20, the furnace tube 10 and the material preparation table 30, the cooling table 20 and the loading table 60, and the loading table 60 and the material preparation table 30. The plurality of tracks 80 are staggered to form a plurality of conveying paths, and also form a plurality of conveying paths between the units. For example, the tracks 80 are arranged in a mesh structure, and different conveying paths can be formed between the units by selecting different cells.

[0103] The first conveying device 40 , the second conveying device and the loading member 50 are arranged on the track 80 and can be driven to move along the track 80 . By selecting different conveying paths, the first conveying device 40 and the loading member 50 can be flexibly moved.

[0104] Please continue to refer to Figure 4As shown, the first conveying device 40 includes a pair of conveying arms 41, a conveying drive device 42 and a rotation drive device (not shown in the figure), and the two conveying arms 41 are installed on the conveying drive device 42 and driven to move linearly to approach each other to form a clamping state, or to move away from each other to form a release state. The conveying drive device 42 is, for example, a double-acting cylinder or two independent cylinders or other known linear drive structures. The conveying drive device 42 is externally connected to the rotation drive device, and the rotation drive device can drive the conveying drive device 42 to rotate, so as to convert the clamped wafer boat between a horizontal posture and an upright posture.

[0105] The conveying drive device 42 can be externally connected to the moving base, and the moving base can be driven to move along the track 80, so that the first conveying device 40 can move flexibly and its position can be flexibly adjusted based on different usage conditions.

[0106] In the process of rotating the conveying arm 41, the rotating drive device should realize slow rotation to ensure that the wafer is not damaged. For example, the maximum rotation speed v is set. At the beginning of the rotation process, the speed is slowly accelerated from zero to v, and then rotated at a constant speed from the speed v. Finally, at the end of the rotation, the speed v is slowly decelerated to zero, so as to reduce the force on the wafer at the beginning and end of the rotation, thereby protecting the wafer from damage and ensuring that the wafer does not move during the posture conversion process.

[0107] Please continue to refer to Figure 4 As shown, the conveying arm 41 is approximately Z-shaped, and has a parallel first arm 411, a second arm 412 and a connecting arm 413 connected between the arms, wherein the first arm 411 is connected to the output end of the conveying drive device 42, and the second arm 412 extends to the side away from the conveying drive device 42, and is used to clamp the wafer boat to be processed or the wafer boat after processing, wherein the opposite sides of the two second arms 412 are connected with clamping protrusions 414.

[0108] Figure 4 Taking the clamping of the wafer boat 71 to be processed as an example, the wafer boat 71 to be processed is in a horizontal posture, the loading port of the wafer boat 71 to be processed faces upward, and the two axial sides of the wafer boat 71 to be processed each have a groove, which cooperates with the clamping protrusion 414. When the two conveying arms 41 are driven to approach, the two clamping protrusions 414 extend into the grooves on the wafer boat 71 to be processed, respectively, to achieve clamping assembly. Then the conveying arms 41 are driven to rotate, and the wafer boat 71 to be processed is converted from a horizontal posture to an upright posture.

[0109] The groove and the clamping protrusion 414 preferably have a non-circular cross-section, such as a rectangular, regular hexagonal cross-section structure, to ensure that the wafer boat 71 to be processed will not rotate after being clamped.

[0110] In other alternative embodiments, the first conveying device 40 may adopt an existing multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, for example, a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm.

[0111] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system further includes a control unit;

[0112] The control unit is connected in communication with the first conveying device 40 , the second conveying device and the driving structure of the loading member 50 , and is also connected in communication with each furnace tube 10 .

[0113] The control unit is used to obtain the time when each furnace chamber process is completed in advance, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to run outside the target furnace tube to wait;

[0114] The control unit can also be used to pre-acquire the completion time of each furnace chamber process, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to convey the wafer boat to be processed to the preparation area corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube.

[0115] In the above system, one cooling table corresponds to multiple furnace tube devices, and one first conveying device can serve multiple furnace tube devices, and one loading table can serve multiple furnace tube devices. Through the reasonable working time arrangement of each furnace tube and the cooling end time arrangement of the crystal boat after the process, each furnace tube can realize the posture change and conveyance of the crystal boat 72 after the process through a first conveying device, which is beneficial to improve the integration of the entire furnace tube system, reduce the volume proportion of the wafer conveying mechanism of the furnace tube, thereby reducing the occupied space of the furnace tube system in the clean room, and also greatly reduce the operating cost of the clean room and increase the usable space of the clean room.

[0116] In the above system, components such as the cooling table, the material preparation table, the loading table, the first conveying device, the second conveying device, etc. can be flexibly arranged based on the arrangement of the furnace tubes, so that the layout of the entire system is more flexible and can flexibly adapt to various installation conditions.

[0117] In addition, the control unit can also be used to pre-acquire the completion time of each of the furnace chamber processes, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and set one of the conveying paths as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and set another conveying path as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect and are the shortest.

[0118] For example, the control unit first obtains the mesh distribution structure of the track 80, and traverses all paths from the target furnace tube to the cooling table 20 and from the preparation table 30 to the target furnace tube in the mesh track 80 based on the positional relationship of the target furnace tube, the cooling table 20 and the preparation table 30, and generates a set of first conveying paths and a set of second conveying paths, and generates all combinations of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and determines whether the first conveying path intersects with the second conveying path in each combination, retains all combinations in which the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect, and determines the sum of the lengths of the first conveying path and the second conveying path in the remaining combinations, and selects the combination with the smallest sum of lengths as the final first conveying path and the second conveying path.

[0119] The control unit usually includes at least one processor, which can be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc.

[0120] The at least one processor can communicate with a plurality of peripheral devices via the bus subsystem. These peripheral devices may include a storage system, a user interface input device, a user interface output device, and a network interface.

[0121] The network interface provides an interface to an external network and / or other devices. The network interface includes one or more interfaces known in the art, such as LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, other wired and wireless interfaces, and the like.

[0122] User interface input devices may include a furnace console, keyboard, pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, touch pad or graphic tablet, scanner, foot pedal, joystick, touch screen embedded in a display, audio input device such as a voice recognition system, microphone, and other types of input devices. In general, the term "input device" is intended to include a variety of conventional and proprietary devices and methods for inputting information into a control unit.

[0123] The user interface output device may include a display subsystem, a printer, a fax machine, or a non-visual display such as an audio output device. The display subsystem may be a flat panel device, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a touch screen display, etc. The display subsystem may also provide a non-visual display, such as via an audio output device. In general, the term "output device" is intended to include various conventional and proprietary devices and methods for outputting information from a control unit to a user.

[0124] The storage system can store basic programming and data structures that implement various functions of the present invention. For example, as described herein, databases and modules that implement the functions of the method of the present invention can be stored in the storage system. These software modules are usually executed by a processor. In a distributed environment, the software modules can be stored on multiple computer systems and executed by the processors of multiple computer systems. The storage system usually includes a memory subsystem and a file storage system. The memory subsystem usually includes multiple memories, including a main random access memory (RAM) for storing instructions and data during program execution and a read-only memory (ROM) in which fixed instructions are stored. The file storage subsystem provides permanent (non-volatile) storage for program and data files. The file storage system may include a hard disk drive and associated removable media, a compact disk (CD) drive, an optical drive, a DVD, a solid-state memory, and / or other removable media. One or more of these drives may be located at a remote location on other connected computers at other sites connected to the control unit. The modules that implement the functions of the present invention may be stored by the file storage system.

[0125] The bus subsystem provides the means for the various components and subsystems of the control unit to communicate with each other as intended. The various subsystems and components of the control unit do not have to be in the same physical location, but can be distributed at various locations within a distributed network. The bus subsystem can be a single bus or multiple buses can be set up based on the requirements.

[0126] The control unit described above is intended to be used as an example only to illustrate only one embodiment of the present invention. Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, in other alternative embodiments, the control unit may also have certain differences from the configuration of the control unit described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0127] In this embodiment, a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying method is also provided, which comprises the following steps:

[0128] The wafer boat to be processed containing the wafers is transported to the material preparation area outside the furnace tube. The transport process can be completed by the first transport device described above.

[0129] After the furnace tube completes the furnace chamber process, the post-processed wafer boat containing the post-processed wafers in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone (the cooling zone is located on the cooling table) through the first conveying device according to the first conveying path. At the same time, the wafer boat to be processed is transported from the preparation area (the preparation area is located on the preparation table) to the furnace tube through the second conveying device according to the second conveying path. The first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect. A cooling zone corresponds to multiple furnace tubes, and each furnace tube is equipped with a first conveying path and a preparation area. When the second conveying device transports the wafer boat to be processed, it can first determine whether the first conveying device starts to transport, and whether there is a wafer boat in the furnace chamber of the furnace tube. If the first conveying device starts to transport, the second conveying device is ready to start transporting. If there is a wafer boat in the furnace tube, the second conveying device waits. If there is no wafer boat in the furnace tube, the second conveying device starts to transport. The cooling zone is opposite to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube, and the preparation area is opposite to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube. The preparation area is located outside the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube and is adjacent to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber. This ensures that the first conveying path and the second conveying path are shorter, thereby improving conveying efficiency.

[0130] The post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, and the post-process wafer boat becomes an empty wafer boat. The wafers to be processed are loaded from the wafer box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube;

[0131] Among them, the first conveying device, the second conveying device, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are configured so that before each process cycle of the furnace tube is completed, a wafer boat to be processed is conveyed to the preparation area corresponding to the corresponding furnace tube, and while the furnace tube is executing the furnace chamber process, at least one post-process wafer boat is cooled at the same time, and / or the post-process wafer is transferred between the post-process wafer boat and the empty wafer box, and / or the wafer to be processed is transferred between the wafer box and the empty wafer boat.

[0132] In the above-mentioned conveying method, the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not cross, so that the wafer boat to be processed and the wafer boat after the process can be conveyed at the same time. This conveying method ensures that the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube and the wafer conveying before and after the furnace chamber process do not interfere with each other, that is, when the wafer boat to be processed enters the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the wafer boat after the process can be transferred, cooled and loaded, and when the wafer boat to be processed enters the furnace tube for the furnace chamber process, the wafer boat to be processed in the next cycle waits outside the furnace tube, and the conveying and loading of wafers will not cause the furnace tube to wait idly, which makes the previous process cycle of the furnace tube almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, and the idle waiting time is almost zero, which greatly compresses the idle waiting time between adjacent process cycles of the furnace tube, and helps to improve the output of the furnace tube equipment;

[0133] Moreover, the previous process cycle of the furnace tube is almost seamlessly connected with the next process cycle, which means that the environment inside the furnace tube will not change drastically due to the furnace tube being idle for a long time, which can reduce the heat loss of the furnace tube caused by long-term idling and waiting, and help improve the process efficiency of the furnace tube and improve energy-saving effects.

[0134] Furthermore, before the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device along the first transport path, the following steps are also included:

[0135] The time for completing each of the furnace chamber processes is obtained in advance, and the furnace tube that first completes the furnace chamber process is used as the target furnace tube. The first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits. Since the time for the furnace tube to complete the furnace chamber process is almost fixed, it is only necessary to arrange the furnace tube start working time to control the furnace tube completion time, to ensure that each furnace tube is completed in sequence, and then to ensure that there is a time interval between the completion of each furnace tube process. This time interval is used for the transportation of the corresponding crystal boat and the transfer between the wafer and the crystal box in the crystal boat, as well as the transfer between the wafer in the crystal box and the empty crystal boat. Therefore, the entire crystal boat transportation and wafer loading process utilizes the interval between the completion times of the furnace chamber processes of adjacent furnace tubes, without occupying the working time of the furnace tube, thereby reducing the idle waiting time of the furnace tube.

[0136] Before the first conveyor device is transported, it should also be determined whether the first conveyor device is unloaded. If it is unloaded, the wafer boat after the process in the furnace tube is transported. If it is not unloaded, the first conveyor device will transport the wafer boat after the process in the furnace tube after completing the corresponding transport process. Through the arrangement of the time when the furnace chamber process is completed, the first conveyor device is allowed to run to wait outside the target furnace tube, ensuring that after the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube is completed, the first conveyor device is unloaded and waiting, and the wafer boat after the process can be transported immediately.

[0137] Furthermore, the process of transporting the wafer boat to be processed to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps:

[0138] The time when each furnace process is completed is obtained in advance, and the furnace tube that completes the furnace process first is used as the target furnace tube, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the preparation area corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube. By obtaining the target furnace tube in advance, it is ensured that there is a wafer boat to be processed outside the furnace tube that completes the furnace process first, and there is a first transport device waiting, thereby ensuring that the wafer boats of each furnace tube are transported in an orderly manner.

[0139] Furthermore, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are determined by the following method:

[0140] There are multiple conveying paths from the preparation area to the corresponding furnace tube and from the furnace tube to the cooling table. The furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first is taken as the target furnace tube, and one of the conveying paths is set as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and another conveying path is set as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path are the shortest and do not cross.

[0141] In the acquisition process, the control unit can first acquire the mesh distribution structure of the track, and traverse all paths from the target furnace tube to the cooling table and from the preparation table to the target furnace tube in the mesh track based on the positional relationship between the target furnace tube, the cooling table and the material preparation table, and generate a set of first conveying paths and a set of second conveying paths, and generate all combinations of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and determine whether the first conveying path intersects with the second conveying path in each combination, retain all combinations in which the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect, and determine the sum of the lengths of the first conveying path and the second conveying path in the remaining combinations, and select the combination with the smallest sum of lengths as the final first conveying path and the second conveying path.

[0142] Furthermore, a loading and unloading area is provided outside the furnace tube (the loading and unloading area is located on the loading platform);

[0143] The first conveying device running to the target furnace tube and waiting further comprises the following steps:

[0144] Detect whether there is an empty space in the cooling zone. One cooling zone may be provided with one or more empty spaces, and each empty space should be provided for placing a post-process wafer boat in an upright posture and a post-process wafer boat in a horizontal posture;

[0145] If there is no vacant space in the cooling zone, after at least one post-process wafer boat in the cooling zone is cooled, the post-process wafer boat is transported to the loading and unloading area by the first conveying device, and then the first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube to wait; wherein, whether the cooling is completed is judged by the temperature of the post-process wafers in the post-process wafer boat, for example, whether the temperature of the post-process wafer drops below 300 degrees Celsius, if it drops below 300 degrees Celsius, it is considered that the cooling is completed, if it does not drop below 300 degrees Celsius, continue to wait for cooling.

[0146] If there is vacancy in the cooling zone, the first conveying device directly moves to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits.

[0147] Furthermore, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0148] The furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube is preset so that the furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube is arranged in sequence according to the set time interval; the cooling completion time of the wafer boat after the process is preset so that the cooling completion time of at least one wafer boat after the process is located between the two adjacent furnace chamber process completion times. It is ensured that the wafer boat after the process is transported by the first conveying device within the interval between the furnace chamber process completion times of two adjacent furnace tubes. In addition, the time point when the empty wafer boat is loaded and becomes the wafer boat to be processed should also be preset so that the time point is located between the two adjacent furnace chamber process completion times. Then, the process of transporting the wafer boat to be processed on the loading and unloading area to the preparation area through the first device is located between the two adjacent furnace chamber process completion times, so that the furnace tube does not need to be idle and waiting.

[0149] Furthermore, transporting the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube to the cooling zone through the first transport device along the first transport path includes the following steps:

[0150] The first conveying device grasps the processed wafer boat in an upright position;

[0151] The first conveying device conveys the post-process wafer boat in an upright posture to the cooling area along the first conveying path; the temperature of the post-process wafer boat that completes the furnace chamber process in the furnace tube is relatively high, and the mechanical properties of the post-process wafers are relatively poor. During this conveying process, the posture of the post-process wafer boat is maintained unchanged, thereby ensuring the stability of the post-process wafers inside it to prevent wafer damage.

[0152] In addition, the method of transporting the processed wafer boat to the loading and unloading area by the first transport device includes the following steps:

[0153] After the post-processed wafer boat is cooled in the cooling zone, the first conveying device grasps the post-processed wafer boat in an upright posture and changes the posture of the post-processed wafer boat, so that the post-processed wafer boat changes from an upright posture to a horizontal posture, and then conveys the post-processed wafer boat in a horizontal posture to the loading and unloading area. After the post-processed wafer boat is cooled, the temperature of the post-processed wafers decreases and their mechanical properties improve, so changing the posture of the post-processed wafer boat at this time will not damage the post-processed wafers. In addition, when the post-processed wafer boat in a horizontal posture is conveyed to the loading and unloading area, the loading and unloading port of the post-processed wafer boat faces upward, which is convenient for the loading part to grasp multiple post-processed wafers in an upright posture at one time, so as to quickly load the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat into the empty wafer box, thereby improving the loading efficiency.

[0154] Further, the post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, and the post-process wafer boat is converted into an empty wafer boat, which includes the following steps:

[0155] The loader clamps the processed wafer in the processed wafer boat in a horizontal posture in the loading and unloading area;

[0156] The loader clamps multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position in the post-processed wafer boat at one time, and loads the multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position into an empty wafer box at one time, until all the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat are taken out to form an empty wafer boat. The empty wafer box is filled with post-processed wafers and can be moved to the next process equipment by the operator.

[0157] In addition, loading the wafers to be processed from the wafer box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and transporting the wafer boat to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps:

[0158] The loading part clamps multiple wafers to be processed in an upright position in the wafer box at one time in the loading and unloading area; and loads multiple wafers to be processed in an upright position into an empty wafer boat in a horizontal position at one time to form a wafer boat to be processed;

[0159] The first conveying device grasps the wafer boat to be processed in a straight horizontal posture and changes the posture of the wafer boat to be processed, so that the wafer boat to be processed is changed from a horizontal posture to an upright posture, and conveys the wafer boat to be processed in an upright posture to a preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube.

[0160] Please refer to Figure 6 1 is another embodiment of a vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transport system. In this embodiment, the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transport system includes two furnace tubes 10, and the cooling stage 20, the material preparation stage 30 and the loading stage 60 are relatively independently arranged.

[0161] like Figure 6 As shown, the cooling table 20 and the material preparation table 30 are installed on the same conveying platform, which can move along the track 80 and can rotate to switch the positions of the cooling table 20 and the material preparation table 30. Before the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube is completed, the conveying platform runs outside the furnace tube, and the cooling table 20 and the material preparation table 30 are synchronously transported outside the furnace tube to wait, wherein the material preparation table 30 carries a wafer boat 71 to be processed, and the cooling table 20 is empty. After the furnace chamber process of the furnace tube is completed, the post-process wafer boat 72 in the furnace tube is transferred to the cooling table 20, and the wafer boat 71 to be processed on the material preparation table 30 is transferred to the furnace tube.

[0162] In addition, the conveying platform is rotatably arranged to flexibly adjust the positions of the cooling table 20 and the material preparation table 30, thereby facilitating the conveyance of the wafer boat.

[0163] In this embodiment, a cooling platform 20 and a material preparation platform 30 are installed on a conveying platform. One conveying platform can correspond to two furnace tubes or more furnace tubes. When the furnace chamber process of a furnace tube is about to be completed, the conveying platform can be transported to the outside of the corresponding furnace tube and wait.

[0164] Figure 6 Other structures can be used with Figure 1 The contents are kept consistent and will not be repeated here.

[0165] The above description is only a description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any changes or modifications made by a person skilled in the art in the field of the present invention based on the above disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient transmission method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Transporting the wafer boat containing the wafers to be processed to the material preparation area outside the furnace tube; After the furnace tube completes the furnace chamber process, the post-process wafer boat containing the post-process wafers in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device along the first transport path, and at the same time, the wafer boat to be processed is transported from the preparation area to the furnace tube through the second transport device along the second transport path, the first transport path and the second transport path do not intersect, one cooling zone corresponds to multiple furnace tubes, and each furnace tube is equipped with a first transport path and a preparation area; The post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, the post-process wafer boat becomes an empty wafer boat, the wafers to be processed are loaded from the wafer box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube; Among them, the first conveying device, the second conveying device, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are configured so that before each process cycle of the furnace tube is completed, a wafer boat to be processed is conveyed to the preparation area corresponding to the corresponding furnace tube, and while the furnace tube is executing the furnace chamber process, at least one post-process wafer boat is cooled at the same time, and / or the post-process wafer is transferred between the post-process wafer boat and the empty wafer box, and / or the wafer to be processed is transferred between the wafer box and the empty wafer boat.

2. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Before the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device according to the first transport path, the following steps are also included: The time of completion of each furnace chamber process is obtained in advance, and the furnace tube that first completes the furnace chamber process is used as the target furnace tube, and the first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits; And / or, transporting the wafer boat to be processed to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps: The completion time of each furnace chamber process is obtained in advance, the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first is used as the target furnace tube, and the wafer boat to be processed is transported to the material preparation area corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube; And / or, the first conveying path and the second conveying path are determined by the following method: There are multiple conveying paths from the preparation area to the corresponding furnace tube and from the furnace tube to the cooling table. The furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first is taken as the target furnace tube, and one of the conveying paths is set as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and another conveying path is set as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path are the shortest and do not cross.

3. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The following steps are also included: Preset the furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube so that the furnace chamber process completion time of each furnace tube is arranged in sequence according to the set time interval; The cooling completion time of the wafer boat after the process is preset so that the cooling completion time of at least one wafer boat after the process is located between the process completion times of two adjacent furnace chambers.

4. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: A loading and unloading area is also provided outside the furnace tube; The first conveying device running to the target furnace tube and waiting further comprises the following steps: Detecting whether there is vacancy in the cooling zone; If there is no vacancy in the cooling zone, after at least one post-process wafer boat in the cooling zone is cooled, the post-process wafer boat is transported to the loading and unloading zone by the first conveying device, and then the first conveying device runs to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits; If there is vacancy in the cooling zone, the first conveying device directly moves to the outside of the target furnace tube and waits.

5. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The process-treated wafer boat in the furnace tube is transported to the cooling zone through the first transport device according to the first transport path, comprising the following steps: The first conveying device grasps the processed wafer boat in an upright position; The first conveying device conveys the processed wafer boat in an upright posture to the cooling zone according to the first conveying path; The method of transporting the processed wafer boat to the loading and unloading area by the first transport device comprises the following steps: After the processed wafer boat is cooled in the cooling zone, the first conveying device grasps the upright wafer boat and changes the posture of the processed wafer boat, so that the upright wafer boat is changed to a horizontal posture, and conveys the horizontal wafer boat to the loading and unloading zone.

6. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The post-process wafers in the cooled post-process wafer boat are loaded into an empty wafer box, and the post-process wafer boat becomes an empty wafer boat, which includes the following steps: The loader clamps the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat in a horizontal position in the loading and unloading area, and the loader clamps multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position in the post-processed wafer boat at one time, and loads the multiple post-processed wafers in an upright position into the empty wafer box at one time, until all the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat are taken out to form an empty wafer boat.

7. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that: Loading the wafers to be processed from the wafer box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed, and transporting the wafer boat to the preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube includes the following steps: The loading part clamps a plurality of wafers to be processed in an upright position in a wafer box at one time in the loading and unloading area, and loads the plurality of wafers to be processed in an upright position into an empty wafer boat in a horizontal position at one time to form a wafer boat to be processed; The first conveying device grasps the wafer boat to be processed in a straight horizontal posture and changes the posture of the wafer boat to be processed, so that the wafer boat to be processed is changed from a horizontal posture to an upright posture, and conveys the wafer boat to be processed in an upright posture to a preparation area to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube.

8. The method for efficiently transferring wafers and wafer boats in a vertical furnace tube as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The cooling zone is directly opposite to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube, and / or the material preparation zone is located outside the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber of the furnace tube and is arranged adjacent to the entrance and exit of the conveying chamber.

9. A vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system, characterized in that: It includes a plurality of furnace tubes, a cooling table, a material preparation table, a first conveying device and a second conveying device; One cooling stage corresponds to a plurality of furnace tubes; The furnace tube is provided with a material preparation platform, which is located outside the furnace tube and is used to place a wafer boat containing wafers to be processed; The first conveying device is used to convey the processed wafer boat in the furnace tube to the cooling table according to the first conveying path after the furnace tube completes the furnace chamber process. At the same time, the second conveying device is used to convey the wafer boat to be processed from the preparation table to the furnace tube according to the second conveying path. The first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect.

10. The vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient transport system according to claim 9, characterized in that: Also includes a loading piece and a loading platform; The first conveying device is also used to convey the post-processed wafer boat cooled on the cooling table to the loading table, and the loading device is used to load the post-processed wafers in the post-processed wafer boat on the loading table into the empty wafer box, and make the post-processed wafer boat become an empty wafer boat, and the loading device is also used to load the wafers to be processed in the crystal box into the empty wafer boat to form a wafer boat to be processed.

11. The vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient transport system according to claim 10, characterized in that: The first conveying device is also used to convert the post-process wafer boat in an upright posture after cooling on the cooling table into a horizontal posture, and convey the post-process wafer boat in a horizontal posture to the loading table; The loading part is used to clamp the post-process wafers in an upright state in the post-process wafer boat on the loading table, and clamp multiple wafers at one time, and load the multiple post-process wafers in an upright state into an empty wafer box at one time; the loading part is also used to clamp multiple wafers to be processed in an upright state in the wafer box at one time, and load the multiple wafers to be processed in an upright state into an empty wafer boat in a horizontal state at one time to form a wafer boat to be processed; The first conveying device is also used to convert the wafer boat to be processed in a horizontal posture into an upright posture, and convey the wafer boat to be processed in an upright posture to a material preparation table to wait for the next process cycle of the furnace tube.

12. The vertical furnace wafer and wafer boat efficient transport system according to claim 10, characterized in that: The vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system also includes a control unit; The control unit is used to obtain the time when each furnace chamber process is completed in advance, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to run outside the target furnace tube to wait; And / or, the control unit is used to obtain the completion time of each furnace chamber process in advance, take the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and drive the first conveying device to convey the wafer boat to be processed to the material preparation table corresponding to the target furnace tube to wait for the next process cycle of the target furnace tube; And / or, the vertical furnace tube wafer and wafer boat efficient conveying system also includes a plurality of tracks arranged in an interlaced manner, the tracks forming a plurality of conveying paths from the preparation table to the corresponding furnace tubes and from each furnace tube to the cooling table, the control unit being used to pre-acquire the completion time of each of the furnace chamber processes, taking the furnace tube that completes the furnace chamber process first as the target furnace tube, and setting one of the conveying paths as the first conveying path based on the target furnace tube, and setting another conveying path as the second conveying path, so that the first conveying path and the second conveying path do not intersect and are the shortest.

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