Horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism and operation method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism and an operation method thereof. The horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism comprises a rotating cavity chamber, a process cavity chamber and a device to be cooled. A rotary carrying table of the rotary cavity chamber receives the wafer boat or the carrying disc and rotates, so that the long side of the wafer boat rotates from the direction parallel to the first direction to the direction parallel to the second direction. The process chamber receives the boat whose long edge is parallel to the second direction, and performs a vacuum heating process on the wafer in the boat. After the vacuum heating process is completed, the rotating cavity chamber receives the wafer boat and rotates the wafer boat, so that the long edge of the wafer boat is rotated back to the direction parallel to the first direction from the direction parallel to the second direction. And the to-be-cooled carrying platform of the to-be-cooled device receives the wafer boat subjected to the vacuum heating process. When the vacuum of the first wafer boat is not broken on the to-be-cooled carrying platform for cooling, the processing cavity chamber receives the second wafer boat and carries out a vacuum heating process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a transfer mechanism and an operating method of the transfer mechanism, and particularly to a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism and an operating method thereof that shortens wafer manufacturing time by dividing the work flow among a rotating chamber, a process chamber, and a device to be cooled. Background Art

[0002] Generally speaking, operators usually transport the wafer boat box or carrier containing wafers to the heating furnace tube to perform growth or annealing processes on the wafers in the boat box or carrier, such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process and diffusion annealing furnace. However, after the wafers complete the growth or annealing process, the boat box or carrier containing the wafers needs to wait for cooling down to room temperature before it can be taken out and filled with new wafers again. This waiting time for cooling down takes about several hours, so it occupies a large amount of the operating time of the heating furnace tube. In other words, the heating furnace tube needs to wait until the temperature of the first group of boat boxes reaches close to room temperature before it can continue to receive the second group of boat boxes or carriers ready for processing. Such a manufacturing process not only spends a lot of time waiting for the cooling down of the wafers in the boat box, but also reduces the process output (throughput) and increases production costs. Summary of the invention

[0003] One technical implementation of the present disclosure is a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism, which allows the first rectangular carrier to not occupy the rotating chamber and the process chamber during cooling, so that the rotating chamber and the process chamber can then receive the second rectangular carrier ready for the vacuum heating process to shorten the overall cooling waiting time.

[0004] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism, which is used to transport a first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and a second rectangular parallelepiped carrier, and includes a rotating chamber, a process chamber, and a device to be cooled. The rotating chamber has a rotating stage, an input gate valve and an output gate valve arranged on opposite sides of the rotating stage, and a process gate valve arranged on the other side of the rotating stage. The input gate valve and the output gate valve are arranged in a first direction of the rotating stage. The process gate valve is arranged in a second direction of the rotating stage. The first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. The rotating stage is configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and rotate it by means of the input gate valve 111, so that the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier rotates from being parallel to the first direction to being parallel to the second direction. The process chamber is connected to the process gate valve arranged in the rotating chamber. The process chamber is configured to receive a first rectangular parallelepiped carrier whose long side is parallel to the second direction, and to perform a vacuum heating process on the wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier. After the wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier completes the vacuum heating process, the rotating chamber is also configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and rotate it to rotate the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from being parallel to the second direction back to being parallel to the first direction. The device to be cooled is connected to the output gate valve arranged in the rotating chamber and has a carrier to be cooled. After the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier located on the rotating carrier rotates back to be parallel to the first direction, the carrier to be cooled is configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier that has completed the vacuum heating process, and the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier is configured to be cooled in the carrier to be cooled. When the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier is not broken in vacuum for cooling and cooling on the carrier to be cooled, the process chamber is used to receive the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier and perform a vacuum heating process on it.

[0005] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned rotating chamber has a delivery gate valve, and the process gate valve and the delivery gate valve are located on opposite sides of the rotating stage, and the delivery gate valve is arranged in the second direction of the rotating stage.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism further includes a lateral conveying device. The lateral conveying device is connected to a conveying gate valve disposed in the rotating chamber and has a lateral gripper. The lateral gripper is configured to push the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the rotating stage into the process chamber or pull it back from the process chamber to the rotating stage when the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier is parallel to the second direction.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the input gate valve of the rotating cavity chamber is not connected to any conveying device for conveying the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism further includes a wafer boat input device. The wafer boat input device is connected to an input gate valve disposed in the rotating chamber, and has a wafer boat input stage and an input gripper. The input gripper is configured to transfer the first rectangular parallelepiped support member on the wafer boat input stage from the wafer boat input stage to the rotating stage when the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped support member on the wafer boat input stage is parallel to the first direction.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned device to be cooled also has an output grabbing member, which is configured to transfer the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the rotating platform to the platform to be cooled when the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier on the rotating platform rotates back to be parallel to the first direction.

[0010] Another embodiment of the present disclosure is an operating method of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism, which can ensure that the first rectangular carrier will not occupy the rotating chamber and the process chamber during cooling, so that the rotating chamber and the process chamber can then receive the second rectangular carrier ready for the vacuum heating process to shorten the overall cooling waiting time.

[0011] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides an operating method of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism for conveying a first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and a second rectangular parallelepiped carrier, and comprises: after a rotating stage of a rotating chamber chamber receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier, the rotating stage rotates so that the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier rotates from being parallel to a first direction to being parallel to a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction; after a process chamber chamber receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier whose long side is parallel to the second direction, the process chamber chamber performs a vacuum heating process on a wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier; After the wafer in the cube carrier completes the vacuum heating process, the rotating chamber receives the first rectangular carrier and rotates it to rotate the long side of the first rectangular carrier from parallel to the second direction back to parallel to the first direction; the cooling platform of the cooling device receives the first rectangular carrier whose long side is parallel to the first direction and has completed the vacuum heating process, and allows the first rectangular carrier to be cooled on the cooling platform; and when the first rectangular carrier is not breaking the vacuum on the cooling platform for cooling, the process chamber receives the second rectangular carrier and performs a vacuum heating process on it.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the process chamber chamber receiving the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier also includes a transverse grasping member of the transverse conveying device grasping the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and pushing the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the rotating stage into the process chamber chamber.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the operating method of the above-mentioned horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism also includes, after the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier on the wafer boat input stage of the wafer boat input device is parallel to the first direction, the input grasping member of the wafer boat input device grasps the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the wafer boat input stage to the rotating stage.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned device to be cooled platform receiving the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier also includes, after the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier located on the rotating platform rotates back to be parallel to the first direction, the output grasping member of the device to be cooled grasps the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the rotating platform to the platform to be cooled.

[0015] In summary, in the present disclosure, the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism can rotate the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier by means of the rotating stage of the rotating chamber chamber, so that the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier can smoothly enter and exit the process chamber chamber and the device to be cooled. In addition, the to-be-cooled stage of the to-be-cooled device of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism can provide the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier that has completed the vacuum heating process for cooling down here. In other words, the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier can wait for cooling down on the to-be-cooled stage, and when the temperature of the wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier returns to room temperature, the operator can take out the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from the to-be-cooled stage. In this way, the configuration of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism allows the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier to not occupy the process chamber chamber and the rotating chamber chamber when cooling down, so that the process chamber chamber and the rotating chamber chamber can receive the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier that is ready for the vacuum heating process. Such a division of labor process can not only shorten the waiting time for overall cooling, but also increase the manufacturing speed of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] When read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description. It should be emphasized that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale and are only used for illustration purposes. In fact, the size of various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 3 A flow chart of an operating method of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figures 4 to 12 Schematic diagrams are shown of the operation method of the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism at different stages according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] The reference numerals are described as follows:

[0022] 100, 100a: Horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism

[0023] 110: Rotating chamber

[0024] 111: Input gate valve

[0025] 112: Rotating stage

[0026] 113: Output gate valve

[0027] 115: Process gate valve

[0028] 117: Delivery gate valve

[0029] 120: Process chamber

[0030] 130: Device to be cooled

[0031] 132: Stage to be cooled

[0032] 134: Output grabber

[0033] 136: Jingzhou Export

[0034] 140: Horizontal conveying device

[0035] 142: Horizontal grabber

[0036] 150: Crystal boat input device

[0037] 152: Crystal boat input stage

[0038] 154: Input grab piece

[0039] 156: Jingzhou Entrance

[0040] 200: First cuboid bearing member

[0041] 300: Second cuboid bearing member

[0042] 400: The third rectangular parallelepiped bearing member

[0043] 500: Fourth cuboid bearing member

[0044] 210: Long side

[0045] 220: Wafer

[0046] D1: First direction

[0047] D2: Second direction

[0048] S1, S2, S3, S4, S5: Steps DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The following disclosed embodiments provide many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing the different features of the subject matter provided. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present invention. Of course, these examples are only examples and are not intended to be limiting. In addition, the present invention may repeat element symbols and / or letters in each example. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity, and does not itself specify the relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed.

[0050] Spatially relative terms such as "below," "beneath," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like may be used herein for descriptive purposes to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element or feature as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein should likewise be interpreted accordingly.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 , the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 includes a rotating chamber 110, a process chamber 120, and a to-be-cooled device 130. The rotating chamber 110 has a rotating stage 112, an input gate valve 111 and an output gate valve 113 disposed on opposite sides of the rotating stage 112, and a process gate valve 115 disposed on the other side of the rotating stage 112. For example, the input gate valve 111 is disposed on the lower side of the rotating stage 112, the output gate valve 113 is disposed on the upper side of the rotating stage 112, and the process gate valve 115 is disposed on the left side of the rotating stage 112.

[0052] In addition, the input gate valve 111 and the output gate valve 113 are disposed in the first direction D1 of the rotating stage 112. For example, the input gate valve 111 and the output gate valve 113 are disposed in the vertical direction of the rotating stage 112, and the process gate valve 115 is disposed in the horizontal direction of the rotating stage 112. The process gate valve 115 is disposed in the second direction D2 of the rotating stage 112. The first direction D1 is perpendicular to the second direction D2. The process chamber 120 is connected to the process gate valve 115 disposed in the rotating chamber 110. The device to be cooled 130 is connected to the output gate valve 113 disposed in the rotating chamber 110 and has a stage to be cooled 132 and an output gripper 134.

[0053] In some embodiments, the rotating chamber 110 has a delivery gate valve 117, and the process gate valve 115 and the delivery gate valve 117 are located on opposite sides of the rotating stage 112, and the delivery gate valve 117 is disposed in the second direction D2 of the rotating stage 112. For example, the input gate valve 111 is disposed on the lower side of the rotating stage 112, the output gate valve 113 is disposed on the upper side of the rotating stage 112, the process gate valve 115 is disposed on the left side of the rotating stage 112, and the delivery gate valve 117 is disposed on the right side of the rotating stage 112.

[0054] In some embodiments, the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 further includes a transverse conveying device 140. The transverse conveying device 140 is connected to the conveying gate valve 117 disposed in the rotating chamber 110, and the transverse conveying device 140 has a transverse gripping member 142. For example, the transverse conveying device 140 is disposed on the right side of the rotating stage 112. In addition, in this embodiment, the input gate valve 111 of the rotating chamber 110 is not connected to any device for conveying the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 (to be Figure 8 In some embodiments, the rectangular parallelepiped carrier may be a rectangular parallelepiped wafer boat box. In other embodiments, the rectangular parallelepiped carrier may be a carrier plate, but is not limited thereto.

[0055] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 a according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100a shown in FIG. Figure 1 The embodiment shown is different in that the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100a further includes a boat input device 150. The boat input device 150 is connected to the input gate valve 111 of the rotating chamber 110, and the boat input device 150 has a boat input stage 152 and an input gripper 154. For example, the boat input device 150 is connected to the lower side of the rotating chamber 110.

[0056] In the following description, the operation method of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism will be described. The component connection relationship, materials and technical effects described above will not be repeated, but will be described first.

[0057] Please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 A flow chart of an operation method of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 In the invention, the operating method of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism includes the following steps. The operating method of the horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism can be used in the field of conveying the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier. First, in step S1, after the rotating stage of the rotating chamber chamber receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier, the rotating stage rotates so that the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier is rotated from parallel to the first direction to parallel to the second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. Then, in step S2, after the process chamber chamber receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier whose long side is parallel to the second direction, the process chamber chamber performs a vacuum heating process on the wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier. Then, in step S3, after the wafer in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier completes the vacuum heating process, the rotating chamber chamber receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier and rotates to rotate the long side of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier from parallel to the second direction back to parallel to the first direction. Next, in step S4, the to-be-cooled stage of the to-be-cooled device receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier whose long side is parallel to the first direction and has completed the vacuum heating process, and allows the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier to be cooled in the to-be-cooled stage. Next, in step S5, while the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier is being cooled in the to-be-cooled stage without breaking the vacuum, the process chamber receives the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier and performs a vacuum heating process on it. In the following description, the above steps will be described in detail.

[0058] Figures 4 to 12 Schematic diagrams showing the operation method of the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism at different stages according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 can be used to transport the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200. Please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5First, the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 can be placed in the wafer boat input stage 152 of the wafer boat input device 150 through the wafer boat entrance 156 of the wafer boat input device 150, and the long side 210 of the placed first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 is parallel to the first direction D1, and the wafer boat input stage 152 can horizontally transport the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 to a designated position. Then, when the long side 210 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 on the wafer boat input stage 152 of the wafer boat input device 150 is parallel to the first direction D1 and reaches the designated position, the input gripper 154 of the wafer boat input device 150 can grip the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 and transfer the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from the wafer boat input stage 152 to the rotating stage 112 of the rotating chamber 110. In other embodiments, the first rectangular parallelepiped support 200 can also be manually placed on the rotating stage 112 of the rotating chamber 110 through the input gate valve 111, that is, using Figure 1 The structure shown places the first rectangular parallelepiped supporting member 200 into the rotating chamber 110 .

[0059] Please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 After the input gripper 154 of the wafer boat input device 150 transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 to the rotating stage 112 via the input gate valve 111, the rotating stage 112 rotates so that the long side 210 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 rotates from being parallel to the first direction D1 to being parallel to the second direction D2. The first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 with the long side 210 parallel to the second direction D2 makes it easy for the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 to enter and exit the process chamber 120. Next, please refer to Figure 7 and Figure 8 , after the long side 210 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 is parallel to the second direction D2, the lateral gripper 142 of the lateral conveying device 140 can push the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from the rotating stage 112 into the process chamber 120. The process chamber 120 can receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 with the long side 210 parallel to the second direction D2, and perform a vacuum heating process on the wafer 220 in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200. In other embodiments, the lateral gripper 142 of the lateral conveying device 140 may not be used, but the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 may be pushed from the rotating stage 112 into the process chamber 120 by a robot arm (not shown) in the rotating chamber 110. The method of pushing the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from the rotating stage 112 into the process chamber 120 is not limited.

[0060] Please refer to Fig. 9 and Fig.10After the wafer 220 in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 completes the vacuum heating process, the lateral gripper 142 of the lateral conveying device 140 can pull the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 back from the process chamber 120 to the rotating stage 112. In other embodiments, the lateral gripper 142 of the lateral conveying device 140 may not be used, but the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 may be pulled back from the process chamber 120 to the rotating stage 112 by a robot arm (not shown) in the rotating chamber 110. The method of pulling the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 back from the process chamber 120 to the rotating stage 112 is not limited. The rotating chamber 110 may receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 and then rotate it to rotate the long side 210 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from being parallel to the second direction D2 back to being parallel to the first direction D1. The first cuboid carrier 200 with its long side 210 parallel to the first direction D1 makes it easy for the first cuboid carrier 200 to enter and exit the device to be cooled 130 and the wafer boat input device 150 .

[0061] Please refer to Fig.11 and Fig.12After the long side 210 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 on the rotating stage 112 rotates back to be parallel to the first direction D1, the output gripping member 134 of the device to be cooled 130 grips the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 and transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from the rotating stage 112 to the stage to be cooled 132. The stage to be cooled 132 can receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 that has completed the vacuum heating process, and the stage to be cooled 132 can transport the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 horizontally and allow the wafer 220 in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 to wait for cooling in the stage to be cooled 132. In detail, the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 waiting for cooling can be accommodated on the cooling stage 132, so when the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 is cooling down without breaking the vacuum on the cooling stage 132, the process chamber 120 can then receive the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier 300 and perform a vacuum heating process on it to shorten the overall cooling waiting time. The first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 that has completed the cooling down can be taken out through the wafer boat outlet 136 to complete the shipment of the wafer 220 of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200. Then, after the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 is taken out, the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier 300 that has completed the vacuum heating process can be transferred to the cooling stage 132 to cool down in an unbroken vacuum environment, and the process chamber 120 can then receive the third rectangular parallelepiped carrier 400 and perform a vacuum heating process on it. After the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier 300 is taken out after cooling down, the third rectangular parallelepiped carrier 400 that has completed the vacuum heating process can be transferred to the cooling platform 132 to be cooled in an unbroken vacuum environment, and the process chamber 120 can then receive the fourth rectangular parallelepiped carrier 500 and perform a vacuum heating process on it. The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 repeats this operation to shorten the overall process and cooling waiting time.

[0062] In summary, the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 can rotate the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 by means of the rotating stage 112 of the rotating chamber 110, so that the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 can smoothly enter and exit the process chamber 120 and the device to be cooled 130. In addition, the to-be-cooled stage 132 of the device to be cooled 130 of the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 can provide the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 that has completed the vacuum heating process for cooling down. In other words, the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 can wait for cooling down on the to-be-cooled stage 132, and when the temperature of the wafer 220 in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 returns to room temperature, the operator can take out the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 from the to-be-cooled stage 132. In this way, the configuration of the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100 allows the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier 200 to not occupy the process chamber 120 and the rotating chamber 110 during cooling, so that the process chamber 120 and the rotating chamber 110 can simultaneously receive the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier 300 to be subjected to the vacuum heating process. Such a division of labor process can not only shorten the waiting time for the overall cooling, but also improve the manufacturing speed of the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism 100.

[0063] The foregoing summarizes the features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art can better understand the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should understand that they can easily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures to achieve the same purpose and / or achieve the same advantages as the embodiments described herein. Those skilled in the art should also recognize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the concept and scope of the present disclosure, and that they can make various changes, substitutions and modifications here without departing from the concept and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A horizontal vacuum heating process transmission mechanism for conveying a first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and a second rectangular parallelepiped carrier (300), comprising: A rotating chamber (110) comprises a rotating platform (112), an input gate valve (111) and an output gate valve (113) arranged on opposite sides of the rotating platform (112), and a process gate valve (115) arranged on the other side of the rotating platform (112), wherein the input gate valve (111) and the output gate valve (113) are arranged in a first direction (D1) of the rotating platform (112), and the process gate valve (115) is disposed in a second direction (D2) of the rotating platform (112), and the first direction (D1) is perpendicular to the second direction (D2), and the rotating platform (112) is configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped supporting member (200) through the input gate valve (111) and rotate it, so that a long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped supporting member (200) rotates from being parallel to the first direction (D1) to being parallel to the second direction (D2); a process chamber (120) connected to the process gate valve (115) disposed in the rotating chamber (110), wherein the process chamber (120) is configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) whose long side (210) is parallel to the second direction (D2), and to perform a vacuum heating process on a wafer (220) in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200), wherein after the vacuum heating process is completed for the wafer (220) in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200), the rotating chamber (110) is further configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and rotate it, so as to rotate the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from being parallel to the second direction (D2) back to being parallel to the first direction (D1); and A device to be cooled (130) is connected to the output gate valve (113) disposed in the rotating chamber (110) and has a carrier (132) to be cooled, wherein after the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) on the rotating carrier (112) rotates back to be parallel to the first direction (D1), the carrier (132) to be cooled is configured to receive the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) that has completed the vacuum heating process, and the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) is configured to be cooled in the carrier (132) to be cooled; When the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) is cooled on the cooling platform (132) without breaking the vacuum, the process chamber (120) is used to receive the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier (300) and perform a vacuum heating process on it.

2. A horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the rotating chamber (110) has a transfer gate valve (117), and the process gate valve (115) and the transfer gate valve (117) are located on opposite sides of the rotating platform (112), and the transfer gate valve (117) is arranged in the second direction (D2) of the rotating platform (112).

3. The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to claim 2, further comprising: A transverse conveying device (140) is connected to the conveying gate valve (117) arranged in the rotating chamber chamber (110) and has a transverse grasping member (142), wherein the transverse grasping member (142) is configured to push the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the rotating stage (112) into the process chamber chamber (120) or pull it back from the process chamber chamber (120) to the rotating stage (112) when the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) is parallel to the second direction (D2).

4. The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the input gate valve (111) of the rotating chamber (110) is not connected to any conveying device for conveying the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200).

5. The horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: A wafer boat input device (150) is connected to the input gate valve (111) arranged in the rotating chamber (110), and has a wafer boat input platform (152) and an input grasping member (154), wherein the input grasping member (154) is configured to transfer the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the wafer boat input platform (152) to the rotating platform (112) when the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) on the wafer boat input platform (152) is parallel to the first direction (D1).

6. A horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the device to be cooled (130) also has an output grabbing member (134), and the output grabbing member (134) is configured to transfer the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the rotating platform (112) to the to-be-cooled platform (132) when the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) located on the rotating platform (112) rotates back to be parallel to the first direction (D1).

7. An operating method of a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism for transferring a first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and a second rectangular parallelepiped carrier (300), comprising: After a rotating platform (112) of a rotating chamber (110) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped supporting member (200), the rotating platform (112) rotates so that a long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped supporting member (200) rotates from being parallel to a first direction (D1) to being parallel to a second direction (D2), wherein the first direction (D1) is perpendicular to the second direction (D2); After a process chamber (120) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) whose long side (210) is parallel to the second direction (D2), the process chamber (120) performs a vacuum heating process on a wafer (220) in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200); After the wafer (220) in the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) completes the vacuum heating process, the rotating chamber (110) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and rotates it, so as to rotate the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from being parallel to the second direction (D2) back to being parallel to the first direction (D1); A to-be-cooled carrier (132) of a to-be-cooled device (130) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) whose long side (210) is parallel to the first direction (D1) and has completed the vacuum heating process, and allows the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) to be cooled in the to-be-cooled carrier (132); as well as When the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) is cooled on the cooling platform (132) without breaking the vacuum, the process chamber (120) receives the second rectangular parallelepiped carrier (300) and performs a vacuum heating process on it.

8. The method for operating the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the process chamber (120) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and further comprises: A transverse grabbing member (142) of a transverse conveying device (140) grabs the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and pushes the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the rotating carrier (112) into the process chamber (120).

9. The method for operating the horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to claim 7, further comprising: After the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) on a wafer boat input platform (152) of a wafer boat input device (150) is parallel to the first direction (D1), an input grasping member (154) of the wafer boat input device (150) grasps the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the wafer boat input platform (152) to the rotating platform (112).

10. The method for operating a horizontal vacuum heating process transfer mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the to-be-cooled carrier (132) of the to-be-cooled device (130) receives the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and further comprises: After the long side (210) of the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) on the rotating platform (112) rotates back to be parallel to the first direction (D1), an output grasping member (134) of the device to be cooled (130) grasps the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) and transfers the first rectangular parallelepiped carrier (200) from the rotating platform (112) to the platform to be cooled (132).

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