Wafer boat conveying device and furnace tube equipment

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer boat conveying device and furnace tube equipment, and the device mainly comprises a rotator which is provided with at least one group of bearing positions, and the bearing positions are used for placing wafer boats; the lifter is used for driving the wafer boat to do lifting motion; the driving device is electrically connected with the rotator and the lifter, the driving device is used for driving the rotator to rotate the bearing position to the first target position so as to drive the wafer boat to rotate to the first target position, and the driving device is further used for driving the lifter to ascend to lift the wafer boat to be separated from the bearing position so as to drive the wafer boat to rotate to the second target position; the wafer boat is moved from the first target position to the second target position; the driving device is further used for driving the lifter to descend so that the wafer boat can fall back to the bearing position. According to the furnace tube equipment, the crystal boats can be fed into the plurality of reaction chambers, namely, the plurality of reaction chambers are processed at the same time, so that the use efficiency of the furnace tube equipment with the plurality of reaction chambers is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a boat transfer device and a furnace tube equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] For the process of processing a batch of wafers by using the furnace tube equipment, the wafers can be first placed on a boat, and then the boat is transferred to a reaction chamber of the furnace tube equipment by using the boat transfer device, and finally all the wafers on the boat are processed in batch.

[0003] Generally, the processing of the wafers in the reaction chamber needs to be heated, and after the processing of the wafers is completed, the boat is transferred from the reaction chamber to a cooling device by using the boat transfer device, and after the wafers are cooled, the boat is moved out of the furnace tube equipment by using the boat transfer device. In this way, during the cooling process of the wafers, the reaction chamber of the furnace tube equipment is in an idle state, that is, the furnace tube equipment is not fully utilized, and the utilization efficiency of the furnace tube equipment is low. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present application is that the use efficiency of the furnace tube equipment is low due to the use of the existing boat transfer device to transfer the boat.

[0005] To solve the above technical problem, the present application provides a boat transfer device, which comprises: a rotator, at least one set of bearing positions is arranged on the rotator, and the bearing positions are used for placing a boat; a lifter, the lifter is used for driving the boat to make lifting motion; a driving device, the driving device is electrically connected with the rotator and the lifter respectively, the driving device is used for driving the rotator to rotate the bearing positions to a first target position, so as to drive the boat to rotate to the first target position, the driving device is also used for driving the lifter to ascend to lift the boat away from the bearing positions, so that the boat moves from the first target position to a second target position; the driving device is also used for driving the lifter to descend, so that the boat falls back to the bearing positions; wherein the first target position is located directly below a reaction chamber of a furnace tube equipment and has the same horizontal height as the rotator, and the second target position is located directly below the reaction chamber, and when the boat moves to the second target position, the boat is placed in the reaction chamber.

[0006] In some embodiments of the present application, the rotator comprises: a rotating disc, at least one pair of bearing positions is arranged on the rotating disc; a transmission mechanism, the transmission mechanism is connected with the rotating disc, and the transmission mechanism is used for driving the rotating disc to rotate around the center axis of the rotating disc; a first motor, the first motor is connected with the transmission mechanism, and the first motor is also electrically connected with the driving device, and the first motor drives the rotating disc to rotate the bearing positions to the first target position based on the driving device.

[0007] In some embodiments of the present application, the bearing position is a concave position.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present application, the number of groups of bearing positions is the same as the number of reaction chambers.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present application, the rotating disc further comprises a positioning hole, which is arranged at a preset position on the rotating disc, the preset position being a position on the center line of the side edge of the bearing position and being a position at a preset distance from the side edge of the bearing position, the positioning hole being adapted to a positioning pin on the bottom of the wafer boat.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present application, the rotating disc further comprises a condenser tube, which surrounds the side edge of the bearing position.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present application, the lifter comprises a lead screw arranged on one side of the rotator, a lifting arm having one end in sliding connection with the lead screw, the lifting arm being used to drive the wafer boat to move up and down, wherein the other end of the lifting arm has a width smaller than the width of the bearing position, and a second motor connected with the lead screw, the second motor being used to drive the lifting arm to move up or down based on the driving device.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present application, the lifter further comprises a first position sensor arranged at the top of the lead screw, the first position sensor being connected with the driving device, the first position sensor being used to detect whether the lifting arm has risen to a second target position, when the lifting arm rises to the second target position, the wafer boat completely enters the reaction chamber, and a second position sensor arranged at the bottom of the lead screw, the second position sensor being connected with the driving device, the second position sensor being used to detect whether the lifting arm has descended to a first starting position, the first starting position having a horizontal height lower than the horizontal height of the rotating disc.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present application, the lifting device further comprises a first limit sensor, the first limit sensor is arranged on the top of the lead screw, the first limit sensor is arranged above the first position sensor, the first limit sensor is connected with the driving device, and the first limit sensor is used to detect whether the lifting arm is raised to a third target position, the third target position being a preset highest position of the lifting arm; and the lifting device further comprises a second limit sensor, the second limit sensor is arranged on the bottom of the lead screw, the second limit sensor is arranged below the second position sensor, the second limit sensor is connected with the driving device, and the second limit sensor is used to detect whether the lifting arm is lowered to a second starting position, the second starting position being a preset lowest position of the lifting arm.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present application, the robot places the wafer boat on the loading position when the pneumatic seal door is in the open state, and the driving device drives the rotator to rotate or drives the lifting arm to rise or fall when the pneumatic seal door is in the closed state; the number of the pneumatic seal doors is adapted to the number of groups of the loading positions.

[0015] To solve the above technical problems, the present application further provides a furnace tube device, comprising the wafer boat conveying device.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the present application sets at least one group of loading positions on the rotator, and the wafer boat can be placed on the loading positions, and the driving device drives the rotator and the lifting device to move the wafer boat to a first target position or a second target position, so as to realize the conveying of the wafer boat between the loading positions and the reaction chambers. In this way, the wafer boat can be sent to multiple reaction chambers, that is, multiple reaction chambers are processed at the same time, so as to improve the use efficiency of the furnace tube device with multiple reaction chambers, and after the wafer boat is processed in the reaction chamber, it can be placed on the idle loading position for cooling, while the unprocessed wafer boat is sent to the reaction chamber, so as to improve the use efficiency of the reaction chamber and improve the use efficiency of the furnace tube device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] The following drawings in detail describe the exemplary embodiments disclosed in the present application. The same reference signs in the drawings represent similar structures in several views of the drawings. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments are non-limiting, exemplary embodiments, the drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and description, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and other ways of embodiments can also achieve the same purpose of the invention in the present application. It should be understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0018] Figure 1is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer boat conveying device according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of positioning hole positions according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of sensor positions according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a first position of a wafer boat according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a second position of a wafer boat according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a third position of a wafer boat according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0024] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiment description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some examples or embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, the present application can also be applied to other similar scenarios without creative labor. Unless it is obvious from the language environment or otherwise stated, the same reference numbers in the drawings represent the same structure or operation. It should be clearly understood that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

[0026] It should be understood that the "module", "circuit" used herein is a method for distinguishing different components, elements, parts, portions or assemblies at different levels. However, if other words can achieve the same purpose, the words can be replaced by other expressions.

[0027] The terminology used in this application is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in this specification, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and / or "includes," "including," mean that the associated integer, step, operation, element, and / or component is present, but not excluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. When describing the different components in this specification, the relationship between them can be direct or indirect. For example, "A and B are connected" can mean A and B are directly connected, or A and B are indirectly connected through other components.

[0028] When using a conventional furnace tube apparatus to process product wafers, and when the boat carrying the product wafers is not fully loaded, the temperature and the concentration of the reaction gas in the reaction chamber are unstable, which can result in the thickness and uniformity of the film on the product wafers not meeting the quality requirements. Therefore, when the number of product wafers to be processed is less than the maximum loading number (which can be any value between 100-150), dummy wafers can be used to fill the empty positions on the boat, so that the boat carrying the product wafers is in a fully loaded state, in order to improve the quality of the film on the product wafers. However, since the amount of reactant used in each processing of the product wafers is fixed, the use of dummy wafers when the number of product wafers to be processed is less than the maximum loading number results in waste of materials.

[0029] In order to avoid waste of materials, a small furnace tube apparatus can be designed, and the maximum loading number of the small furnace tube apparatus is small. The size of the reaction chamber of the small furnace tube apparatus is adapted to the maximum loading number thereof, and compared with the reaction chamber of the conventional furnace tube apparatus, the reaction chamber of the small furnace tube apparatus is smaller. For example, the maximum loading number of the small furnace tube apparatus can be any value between 20-25. Therefore, the temperature control speed of the reaction chamber of the small furnace tube apparatus can be faster, the temperature control effect can be more stable, and the distribution of the reaction gas in the reaction chamber can be more uniform. On the one hand, the possibility of the number of product wafers to be processed being less than the maximum loading number of the small furnace tube apparatus is small, and on the other hand, even if the number of product wafers to be processed is less than the maximum loading number, there is no need to use dummy wafers to fill the empty positions on the boat, which can avoid waste of dummy wafers and reactant materials.

[0030] In a conventional furnace tube device, a mechanical hand can be used to transfer a wafer boat. Since the maximum number of wafer boats to be carried is large, and the material (such as quartz material) used to make the wafer boat is heavy, when the mechanical hand is used to take and transfer the wafer boat in a double wafer boat mode, the wafer boat is prone to shaking, which may cause the product pieces or accompanying pieces on the wafer boat to deviate, or even cause the wafer boat to deviate, thereby preventing the wafer boat from being sent into the reaction chamber. Therefore, a loading area door can be provided near the reaction chamber, and when the wafer boat is transferred to the vicinity of the loading area door, the loading area door is opened to correct the deviated product pieces, accompanying pieces or wafer boat by the mechanical hand. However, after the loading area door is opened, air may react with the product pieces, and dust particles in the air may adhere to the product pieces, which may cause the product pieces to fail or be scrapped.

[0031] In a small furnace tube device, a mechanical hand can also be used to transfer a wafer boat. Since the maximum number of wafer boats to be carried is small, when the mechanical hand is used to take and transfer the wafer boat in a double wafer boat mode, the probability of shaking is low, the probability of opening the loading area door can be reduced, and the yield of product pieces can be improved. After the product pieces are processed in the small furnace tube device, they need to be cooled. When the product pieces are cooled, the reaction chamber of the small furnace tube device is idle, which causes the small furnace tube device to be underutilized and the utilization efficiency of the small furnace tube device to be low.

[0032] Based on the above-mentioned problems that may exist in the use scenario of the small furnace tube device, such as Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer boat transfer device provided by the embodiments of the present application can include:

[0033] A rotator 11, at least one set of bearing positions 111 is arranged on the rotator 11, and the bearing positions 111 are used to place a wafer boat 14;

[0034] A lifter 12, the lifter 12 is used to drive the wafer boat 14 to move up and down;

[0035] A driving device 13, the driving device 13 is electrically connected with the rotator 11 and the lifter 12 respectively, the driving device 13 is used to drive the rotator 11 to rotate the bearing positions 111 to a first target position, so as to drive the wafer boat 14 to rotate to the first target position, the driving device 13 is also used to drive the lifter 12 to rise and lift the wafer boat 14 away from the bearing positions 111, so that the wafer boat 14 moves from the first target position to a second target position; the driving device 13 is also used to drive the lifter 12 to descend, so that the wafer boat 14 falls back to the bearing positions 111;

[0036] The first target position is located directly below the reaction chamber 15 of the furnace tube device and has the same height as the rotator 11, and the second target position is located directly below the reaction chamber 15, and when the wafer boat 14 moves to the second target position, the wafer boat is placed in the reaction chamber 15.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, the rotator 11 can rotate along the central axis, and each of the bearing positions 111 can rotate to the first target position as the rotator 11 rotates.

[0038] In the embodiment of the present application, a group of the bearing positions 111 can include two bearing positions 111, and a group of the bearing positions 111 can include three bearing positions 111. In the embodiment of the present application, the number of bearing positions included in a group of the bearing positions 111 is not limited.

[0039] It can be understood that the number of bearing positions included in a group of the bearing positions 111 can be determined based on factors such as the processing time, the cooling time, and the internal space of the small furnace tube device.

[0040] Suppose that the small furnace tube device includes one reaction chamber, and the rotator 11 is provided with a pair (two) of the bearing positions 111. Before the small furnace tube device is used to process product wafers, one wafer boat 14 is placed on each of the bearing positions 111. After the wafer boat 14 placed on one of the bearing positions 111 is lifted to the reaction chamber, the small furnace tube device can be used to process product wafers, at which time one of the bearing positions 111 is empty, and the other bearing position 111 carries the wafer boat 14 to be processed. After the small furnace tube device finishes processing product wafers, the processed wafer boat 14 falls back to the bearing position 111, the driving device 13 can be used to drive the rotator 11 to rotate the bearing position 111 carrying the wafer boat 14 to be processed to the first target position, and the driving device 13 is used to drive the lifter 12 to lift the wafer boat 14 to be processed to the reaction chamber, at which time one of the bearing positions 111 is empty, and the other bearing position 111 carries the processed wafer boat 14, and the processed wafer boat 14 is cooled on the bearing position 111. After the processed wafer boat 14 is cooled, the bearing position 111 is removed and the wafer boat 14 to be processed is moved in again. In this way, the time during which the reaction chamber 15 of the small furnace tube device is idle can be reduced, and the use efficiency of the small furnace tube device can be improved.

[0041] In the embodiment of the present application, one or more special wafer boats 14 can be set for the reaction chamber 15 according to process requirements, so as to prevent different processes from affecting product wafers, such as ion contamination, film peeling, and tiny particle contamination.

[0042] In some embodiments of the present application, the number of groups of the bearing positions 111 is the same as the number of the reaction chambers 15. For example, a furnace tube arrangement includes two reaction chambers 15, and two groups of bearing positions 111 are arranged on the rotator 11. In this way, the time during which all the reaction chambers 15 of a small furnace tube device are in an idle state can be reduced, and the use efficiency of the small furnace tube device can be further improved.

[0043] In embodiments of the present application, the first target position refers to a spatial position determined based on the rotator 11 and the reaction chamber 15, and each of the bearing positions 111 on the rotator 11 can be rotated to the first target position.

[0044] In embodiments of the present application, before the driving device 13 drives the lifter 12 to ascend and lift the crystal boat 14 away from the bearing position 111, the reaction chamber 15 also needs to be opened, so that when the lifter 12 ascends and lifts the crystal boat 14 to move to a second target position, the crystal boat 14 can be directly sent into the reaction chamber 15.

[0045] In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 The rotator 11 includes:

[0046] A rotating disc 112, at least one pair of bearing positions 111 is arranged on the rotating disc 112;

[0047] A transmission mechanism 113, the transmission mechanism 113 is connected with the rotating disc 112, and the transmission mechanism 113 is used to drive the rotating disc 112 to rotate around a central axis of the rotating disc 112;

[0048] A first motor 114, the first motor 114 is connected with the transmission mechanism 113, and the first motor 114 is also electrically connected with the driving device 13. The first motor 113 drives the rotating disc 112 to rotate the bearing position 111 to the first target position based on the driving device 13.

[0049] In embodiments of the present application, the rotating disc 112 can be integrally formed. The rotating disc 112 is the main body of the rotator 11, and the rotating disc 112 further includes a rotating shaft, a support, and a connection structure, such as a threaded structure, a gear structure, and a hinged structure, etc., which is used to connect the transmission mechanism 113 and the first motor 114.

[0050] In the embodiments of the present application, the transmission mechanism 113 can include a screw structure, a gear structure, or a hinge structure, etc. The transmission mechanism 113 can indirectly connect the rotating disc 112 and the first motor 114, and transmit the rotating force of the first motor 114 to the rotating disc 112 so that the carrier position 111 arranged on the rotating disc 112 can rotate to a first target position.

[0051] In some embodiments of the present application, the carrier position 111 is a concave position. When the lifter lifts the boat 14 to separate the boat 14 from the concave position, the lifter passes through the opening side of the concave position, passes through the rotating disc 112, and moves the boat 14 from the first target position to a second target position. In this way, the driving device 13 can drive the rotating disc 112 to accurately rotate the carrier position 111 to the first target position.

[0052] In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 2 The rotating disc 112 further includes a positioning hole 115 arranged at a preset position on the rotating disc 112. The preset position is on the center line of the side of the carrier position 111 and is a position away from the side of the carrier position 111 by a preset distance. The positioning hole 115 is adapted to a positioning pin at the bottom of the boat 14.

[0053] For example, if the carrier position 111 is a triangle including two sides, two positioning holes 115 are arranged corresponding to each carrier position 111. If the carrier position 111 is a rectangle (a concave position) including three sides, three positioning holes 115 are arranged corresponding to each carrier position 111.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present application, when the boat 14 is placed on the rotating disc 112, the positioning pin is inserted into the positioning hole 115, so that the position of the boat 14 can be prevented from being deviated when the rotating disc 112 rotates.

[0055] In some embodiments of the present application, the rotating disc 112 further includes a condenser tube arranged around the side of the carrier position 111.

[0056] In the embodiments of the present application, the side of the carrier position 111 includes one or more of a first side, a second side, and a third side of the concave position. The number of the sides of the carrier position 111 where the condenser tube is arranged can be determined according to the diameter of the condenser tube, the heat conduction speed of the condensate in the condenser tube, and the contact area of the boat 14 and the rotating disc 112.

[0057] Therefore, the cooling rate of the crystal boat 14 after processing can be reduced, and the time of the small furnace tube device reaction chamber in an idle state can be reduced, and the use efficiency of the small furnace tube device is improved. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 The lifter 12 comprises:

[0058] A lead screw 121 is arranged on one side of the rotator 11.

[0059] A lifting arm 122 is slidably connected to one end of the lead screw 121, and the lifting arm 122 is used to drive the crystal boat 14 to move up and down. The width of the other end of the lifting arm 122 is less than the width of the bearing position 111.

[0060] A second motor 123 is connected to the lead screw 121, and the second motor 123 drives the lifting arm 122 to move up or down based on the driving device 13.

[0061] In the embodiments of the present application, whether the bearing position 111 rotates to the first target position can be determined based on the lead screw 121.

[0062] In the embodiments of the present application, one end of the lifting arm 122 slides up and down along the lead screw 121, and the other end of the lifting arm 122 slides up and down. When the lifting arm 122 slides from top to bottom, when the other end of the lifting arm 122 slides to the bearing position 111, the crystal boat 14 is driven to move up until the crystal boat 14 is lifted off the bearing position 111, so that the crystal boat 14 moves from the first target position to the second target position.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present application, the second motor 123 is connected to the lead screw 121, the lead screw 121 is arranged on one side of the rotator 11, and the lead screw 121 rotates with the rotor of the second motor 123, thereby driving the lifting arm 122 to move up or down.

[0064] It can be understood that during the up and down sliding of the lifting arm 122, the rotating disc 112 cannot rotate to prevent the lifting arm 122 from colliding with the rotating disc 112.

[0065] In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 3 The lifter 12 further comprises:

[0066] A first position sensor 124 is arranged on the top of the lead screw 121, and is connected with the driving device 13. The first position sensor 124 is used to detect whether the lifting arm 122 is raised to a second target position. When the lifting arm 122 is raised to the second target position, the wafer boat 14 is completely entered into the reaction chamber 15.

[0067] A second position sensor 125 is arranged on the bottom of the lead screw 121, and is connected with the driving device 13. The second position sensor 125 is used to detect whether the lifting arm 122 is lowered to a first starting position. The first starting position is lower than the rotary disc 112.

[0068] In the embodiment of the present application, when the lifting arm 122 is lowered to the first starting position, the lifting arm 122 is below the rotary disc 112, and there is a certain distance between the lifting arm 122 and the rotary disc 112. When the rotary disc 112 rotates, the rotary disc 112 does not contact the lifting arm 122.

[0069] In this way, the first position sensor 124 and the second position sensor 125 can accurately position whether the lifting arm 122 reaches the second target position or the first starting position.

[0070] In some embodiments of the present application, the lifter 12 further comprises:

[0071] A first limit sensor 126 is arranged on the top of the lead screw 121, and is arranged above the first position sensor 124. The first limit sensor 126 is connected with the driving device 13. The first limit sensor 126 is used to detect whether the lifting arm 122 is raised to a third target position. The third target position is a preset highest position of the lifting arm 122.

[0072] A second limit sensor 127 is arranged on the bottom of the lead screw 121, and is arranged below the second position sensor 125. The second limit sensor 127 is connected with the driving device 13. The second limit sensor 127 is used to detect whether the lifting arm 122 is lowered to a second starting position. The second starting position is a preset lowest position of the lifting arm.

[0073] In the embodiment of the present application, the second starting position is below the first starting position.

[0074] In the embodiments of the present application, the first limit sensor 126 and the second limit sensor 127 can be arranged on the lead screw 121 to limit the maximum moving range of the lifting arm 122, so that the lifting device 12 is prevented from losing control or the driving device 13 is prevented from driving the lifting device 12 to lose control, and further, the lifting device 12 is prevented from being damaged, the reaction chamber 15 is prevented from being damaged, and the furnace tube equipment is prevented from being unable to process product pieces.

[0075] It can be understood that, by arranging the first position sensor 124, the second position sensor 125, the first limit sensor 126 and the second limit sensor 127, whether the lifting arm 122 reaches a process position or an initial position can be monitored, and a safety protection function is provided for the lifting device 12. Further, when the first limit sensor 126 or the second limit sensor 127 generates a sensing signal, a power-on and power-off protection switch can be arranged to stop power supply to the driving device 13, so as to prevent the moving parts from being damaged.

[0076] In some embodiments of the present application, when the pneumatic sealing door is in an open state, the robot places the wafer boat 14 on the bearing position 111, and when the pneumatic sealing door is in a closed state, the driving device 13 drives the rotator 11 to rotate or drives the lifting arm 12 to ascend or descend; the number of the pneumatic sealing doors is adapted to the number of groups of the bearing positions.

[0077] In the embodiments of the present application, when the bearing position 111 is transferred to a third target position, the pneumatic sealing door is opened. When the pneumatic sealing door is in an open state, the robot can also place wafers on the wafer boat 14, and the robot can also remove wafers from the wafer boat 14.

[0078] It should be noted that the robot can transfer wafers according to a five-plus-one wafer transfer rule. When the number of wafers to be transferred is less than 5, the robot transfers one wafer at a time (single wafer transfer), and when the number of wafers to be transferred is greater than or equal to 5, the robot transfers five wafers at a time (group transfer). When the wafers are transferred in groups, the spacing of the robot for picking and placing wafers is adjusted according to the spacing between the wafer transfer box and the boat slots of the wafer boat 14.

[0079] In the embodiments of the present application, when the furnace tube equipment includes two reaction chambers 15, two pneumatic sealing doors can be arranged. The pneumatic sealing doors can be used to isolate the transfer chamber from the equipment front-end module (EFEM). The wafer boat transfer device provided in the embodiments of the present application can be arranged in the transfer chamber.

[0080] In this way, by starting the sealing door to isolate, reduce the contact time of the boat 14 with the conventional production environment, reduce the possibility of dust particles in the air adhering to the product wafer, reduce the possibility of product wafer failure or scrap.

[0081] In some embodiments of the present application, the lifting arm 122 can also be provided with a third motor, and the third motor is connected with the driving device 13. The third motor is connected with the door plate carrying the boat 14 through a rotating transmission shaft. The driving device 13 is also used to drive the lifter 12 to lift the boat 14 to separate from the bearing position 111, so that after the boat 14 moves from the first target position to the second target position, when the product wafer is processed, the driving device 13 drives the third motor to rotate the boat 14 through the rotating transmission shaft, so that the growing film is more uniform.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the boat 14 can include a door plate, an insulation (heat insulation) plate and a boat body. The door plate is provided with a convex platform, and the insulation (heat insulation) plate is placed on the convex platform. The insulation (heat insulation) plate can be provided with a plurality of grooves. The grooves are used to place the columns below the boat body, and the number of the grooves is the same as the number of the columns, which can be 3, 4 and 5, etc. The boat body is used to place the wafer. The boat 14 containing the wafer can move (rotate, rise or fall) as a whole.

[0083] For example, the case that the boat 14 moves as a whole can include: rotating the boat 14 placed in the bearing position 111 to the first target position, moving the boat 14 from the first target position to the second target position, and moving the processed product wafer out of the first target position.

[0084] Specifically, the process of using the boat conveying device provided by the embodiments of the present application is as follows:

[0085] Firstly, the wafer conveying box containing wafers is moved to the loading port.

[0086] Secondly, the robot takes out the wafers from the wafer conveying box.

[0087] Thirdly, the driving device 13 drives the rotator 11 to rotate the empty boat 14 to the loading / unloading area, opens the pneumatic sealing door, and the robot puts the wafers on the empty boat 14. As shown in the Figure 4 , the empty boat 14 is placed on the bearing position 111.

[0088] Fourthly, as shown in the Figure 5 , the driving device 13 drives the rotator 11 to rotate the boat 14 filled with wafers to the corresponding bearing position 111 to the first target position.

[0089] Fifthly, the driving device 13 drives the lifter 12 to lift the wafer boat 14 filled with wafers to move away from the bearing position 111, so that the wafer boat 14 filled with wafers moves from the first target position to the second target position, as shown, and the wafer boat 14 filled with wafers is placed in the reaction chamber 15. Figure 6 After the processing of the product wafer in the reaction chamber 15 is completed, the driving device 13 drives the rotating disc 112 to rotate the empty bearing position 111 to the first target position, the driving device 13 drives the lifting arm 122 to lower, so that the wafer boat 14 filled with wafers falls back to the empty bearing position 111, and then the driving device 13 drives the lifting arm 122 to continue to lower until the lifting arm 122 falls to the first starting position.

[0090] Sixthly, the processed wafer boat 14 falling back to the bearing position 111 starts to cool, and the driving device 13 drives the rotator 11 to rotate the bearing position 111 corresponding to the other wafer boat 14 filled with wafers to the first target position.

[0091] Seventhly, the driving device 13 drives the rotator 11 to rotate the wafer boat 14 after processing and cooling to the loading / unloading area.

[0092] Eighthly, the pneumatic sealing door is opened, and the manipulator takes out the processed and cooled wafer.

[0093] Ninthly, the manipulator puts the processed and cooled wafer back into the wafer transfer box.

[0094] The beneficial effects brought by the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to: at least one set of bearing positions 111 is arranged on the rotator 11, and the wafer boat 14 can be placed on the bearing position 111, the driving device 13 respectively drives the rotator 11 and the lifter 12 to move the wafer boat 14 to the first target position or the second target position, so as to realize the transfer of the wafer boat 14 between the bearing position 111 and the reaction chamber 15. In this way, the wafer boat 14 can be sent to multiple reaction chambers 15, that is, multiple reaction chambers 15 process at the same time, so as to improve the use efficiency of the furnace tube equipment with multiple reaction chambers 15, and after the wafer boat 14 is processed in the reaction chamber 15, it can be placed on the empty bearing position 111 to cool, while the wafer boat 14 that has not been processed is sent into the reaction chamber 15, so as to improve the use efficiency of the reaction chamber and improve the use efficiency of the furnace tube equipment.

[0095] The embodiments of the present application also provide a furnace tube device, which comprises the wafer boat transfer device described above, so as to improve the use efficiency of the furnace tube equipment.

[0096] It should be noted that different embodiments can yield different benefits and / or advantages, and that some embodiments can yield only one or a few of the benefits and / or advantages set forth above. Some embodiments can yield many of the benefits and / or advantages set forth above.

[0097] In view of the above, after reading and understanding the content of the present application, those skilled in the art can understand that the foregoing content of the present application can be presented only in an exemplary manner and can not be limiting. Although not explicitly stated herein, those skilled in the art can understand that the present application is intended to encompass various reasonable changes, improvements and modifications to the embodiments. These changes, improvements and modifications are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0098] It should also be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, a first element in some embodiments can be called a second element in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of the present application. The same reference numbers or the same reference designators can represent the same element throughout the specification.

Claims

1. A crystal boat transfer device, characterized by, The utility model relates to a kind of rotary device for furnace tube equipment, including: Rotator, at least one set of bearing position is provided on the rotator, and the bearing position is used to place wafer boat; Lifter, the wafer boat is driven to do lifting movement by the lifter; Driving device, the driving device is electrically connected with the rotator and the lifter respectively, the driving device is used to drive the rotator to rotate the bearing position to first target position, to drive the wafer boat to rotate to the first target position, the driving device is also used to drive the lifter to rise and lift the wafer boat to separate from the bearing position, so that the wafer boat moves from first target position to second target position;The driving device is also used to drive the lifter to descend, so that the wafer boat falls back to the bearing position; Wherein, the first target position is located directly below the reaction chamber of furnace tube equipment, and is same as the horizontal height of the rotator, the second target position is located directly below the reaction chamber, and when the wafer boat moves to the second target position, the wafer boat is placed in the reaction chamber.

2. The pod transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The rotator includes: Rotary disc, at least one pair of bearing positions is provided on the rotary disc; Transmission mechanism, the transmission mechanism is connected with the rotary disc, and the transmission mechanism is used to drive the rotary disc to rotate around the central axis of the rotary disc; First motor, the first motor is connected with the transmission mechanism, and the first motor is also electrically connected with the driving device, and the first motor drives the rotary disc to rotate the bearing position to the first target position based on the driving device.

3. The pod transfer apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The bearing position is concave position.

4. The wafer boat transfer device of claim 3, wherein, The number of the set of bearing positions is same as the number of the reaction chamber.

5. The wafer boat transfer apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The rotary disc also includes positioning hole, the positioning hole is arranged on the preset position on the rotary disc, the preset position is on the side edge center line of the bearing position, and is away from the side edge of the bearing position by preset distance, and the positioning hole is matched with the positioning pin at the bottom of the wafer boat.

6. The wafer boat transfer apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The rotary disc also includes condenser pipe, and the condenser pipe surrounds the side edge of the bearing position.

7. The wafer boat transfer apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The lifter includes: Lead screw, the lead screw is arranged on one side of the rotator; Lifting arm, one end of the lifting arm is slidably connected with the lead screw, and the lifting arm is used to drive the wafer boat to do lifting movement, wherein the width of the other end of the lifting arm is less than the width of the bearing position; Second motor, the second motor is connected with the lead screw, and the second motor drives the lifting arm to rise or descend based on the driving device.

8. The wafer boat transfer device of claim 7, wherein, The lifter also includes: First position sensor, the first position sensor is arranged on the top of the lead screw, and the first position sensor is connected with the driving device, and the first position sensor is used to detect whether the lifting arm rises to second target position, when the lifting arm rises to the second target position, the wafer boat completely enters the reaction chamber; Second position sensor, the second position sensor is arranged on the bottom of the lead screw, and the second position sensor is connected with the driving device, and the second position sensor is used to detect whether the lifting arm descends to first starting position, and the horizontal height of the first starting position is lower than the horizontal height of the rotary disc.

9. The wafer boat transfer device of claim 8, wherein, The lifting device further comprises: a first limit sensor arranged at the top of the screw rod, the first limit sensor being arranged above the first position sensor, the first limit sensor being connected with the driving device, the first limit sensor being used for detecting whether the lifting arm is lifted to a third target position, the third target position being a preset highest position of the lifting arm; a second limit sensor arranged at the bottom of the screw rod, the second limit sensor being arranged below the second position sensor, the second limit sensor being connected with the driving device, the second limit sensor being used for detecting whether the lifting arm is lowered to a second starting position, the second starting position being a preset lowest position of the lifting arm.

10. The boat transfer apparatus of claim 7, wherein, When the pneumatic seal door is in an open state, the robot places the wafer boat on the bearing position, and when the pneumatic seal door is in a closed state, the driving device drives the rotator to rotate or drives the lifting arm to lift or lower.

11. A furnace tube apparatus, characterized by, The wafer boat conveying device comprises any one of the wafer boats in claims 1 to 10.

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