Conveyance system and semiconductor manufacturing method

Abstract

To increase the strength of a floor and prevent occurrence of troubles relating to detection of a location of a mobile object when conveying a substrate by moving the mobile object by a magnetic force in a vacuum atmosphere on the floor.SOLUTION: A conveyance system according to the present disclosure is used in a semiconductor manufacturing device for moving a mobile object equipped with a magnet in a state of being floated from a floor by a magnetic force and conveying a substrate to a processing module for processing the substrate. The conveyance system comprises: a through-hole forming member which is provided with a plurality of through-holes formed in a vertical direction; a plurality of closing members which close the through-holes to form the floor; a housing whose bottom wall is constituted by the floor and the inside of which is exhausted in order to set a movement region for the mobile object formed on the floor to be a vacuum atmosphere; a plurality of electric magnets which are provided on the floor in order to move the mobile object; and magnetic sensors which are respectively provided in the through-hole forming member and each of the closing members at superposed positions in a plan view on the floor, and detect magnetic force by the magnets.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a transport system and a semiconductor manufacturing method.

Background Art

[0002] In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that processes a substrate for semiconductor manufacturing such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter also referred to as a "wafer"), the substrate is transported between a carrier that houses the wafer and a processing module. Regarding this semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, in order to transport the substrate in a clean environment, a device configuration is considered in which a moving body that transports the substrate floats from the floor by magnetic force and moves. Patent Document 1 shows a moving body combined with magnets that floats and moves from a floor provided with an electromagnet.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The present disclosure provides a technique capable of increasing the strength of the floor and preventing the occurrence of problems related to the position detection of the moving body when the moving body provided with a magnet moves while floating from the floor by magnetic force to transport the substrate to a processing module that processes the substrate.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The transport system of the present disclosure is a transport system used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a moving body provided with a magnet moves while floating from the floor by magnetic force and transports the substrate to a processing module that processes the substrate, a through-hole forming member having a plurality of through-holes formed in the vertical direction; a plurality of closing members that form the floor by closing each of the through-holes; The bed forms a bottom wall, and a housing whose interior is evacuated to create a vacuum atmosphere in the movement area of the moving body formed on the bed, a plurality of electromagnets provided on the bed to move the moving body, magnetic sensors respectively provided at positions overlapping in plan view with the through-hole forming member and each of the closing members on the bed to detect the magnetic force of the magnet, and are provided with.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] In the present disclosure, when moving a moving body by magnetic force in a vacuum atmosphere on a bed to convey a substrate, it is possible to increase the strength of the bed and prevent the occurrence of problems related to position detection of the moving body.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 11

Figure 12

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0008] <Semiconductor Manufacturing Apparatus> Hereinafter, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 which is an embodiment of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with the transfer system of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 1. Since the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 is provided in a clean room in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, it is placed in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. As shown in FIG. 1, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, an atmospheric transfer chamber 12, a load lock module 13, and a transfer system 14 are arranged along the front-rear direction. In addition, a plurality of processing modules 11 are provided in the left-right direction of the transfer system 14, respectively.

[0009] Hereinafter, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, the horizontal front-rear direction will be referred to as the "X direction", the left-right direction that horizontally intersects the front-rear direction will be referred to as the "Y direction", and in the front-rear direction, the side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 12 will be referred to as the front side, and the side of the transfer system 14 will be referred to as the rear side for explanation. In addition, the vertical direction is indicated as the Z direction. In addition, in order to distinguish one side and the other side in the X direction, there are cases where positive and negative signs are attached. That is, the +X direction and the -X direction are used to indicate directions that are opposite to each other. Similarly, for the Y direction and the Z direction, there are cases where positive and negative signs are attached.

[0010] On the front side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 12, a load port 121 on which a carrier C for accommodating a wafer W to be processed is placed is provided. The carrier C is, for example, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod). In addition, a load lock module 13 is connected to the rear side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 12. In this example, a plurality of load lock modules 13, for example, two, are provided side by side in the left-right direction.

[0011] The atmospheric transfer chamber 12 has an atmospheric pressure (normal pressure) atmosphere, and a transfer mechanism 122 is provided inside it, which is configured to transfer the wafer W between the carrier C and the load lock module 13. The load lock module 13 is configured to be able to switch between an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and includes a delivery stage 130 on which the wafer W is placed and lift pins 131. The lift pins 131 are provided so as to be able to protrude and retract with respect to the stage 130.

[0012] The processing module 11 is a module for processing the wafer W. In this example, it is configured to be depressurized to a vacuum atmosphere by a vacuum exhaust mechanism (not shown) and process the wafer W under a vacuum atmosphere. Inside each processing module 11, a mounting table 111 and lift pins 112 are provided, and the lift pins 112 are provided so as to be able to protrude and retract with respect to the mounting table 111. The wafer W is placed on the mounting table 111 and a predetermined process is performed. Examples of the process performed on the wafer W include an etching process, a film forming process, an annealing process, an ashing process, etc.

[0013] Regarding the transfer system 14, which will be described in detail later, the wafer W is transferred in a vacuum atmosphere. In FIG. 1, reference numerals G1, G2, and G3 are gate valves interposed between the modules. These gate valves G1 to G3 are each closed except when necessary for the transfer of the wafer W between the modules and between the transfer system 14 and each module connected to the transfer system 14, to separate the atmospheres of the modules from each other.

[0014] <Control Unit> The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 100 which is a computer. The control unit 100 includes a program in which a group of steps (instructions) for transporting and processing the wafer W is assembled, and a control signal is transmitted from the control unit 100 to each part of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the program. By the control signal, pressure control of the load lock module 13, the transfer system 14, and the processing module 11, operation control of each transfer mechanism including the operation of the moving body 2 described later, and operation control of the processing module 11 are performed, and the wafer W is transported and processed as shown in the transfer example described later. The above program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, etc., and is installed from the storage medium to the control unit 100.

[0015] Hereinafter, a transfer example of the wafer W in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described. The wafer W in the carrier C placed on the load port 121 is transported by the transfer mechanism 122 to the load lock module 13 in the atmospheric pressure atmosphere. Then, after switching the inside of the load lock module 13 from the atmospheric pressure atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere, the wafer W in the load lock module 13 is transported to the processing module 11 that executes the processing of the wafer W via the transfer system 14 described in detail later. In the processing module 11, the wafer W placed on the mounting table 111 is heated as necessary to raise the temperature to a preset temperature, and when a processing gas supply unit is provided, a processing gas is supplied into the processing module 11. In this way, a desired process is executed on the wafer W.

[0016] After the processing of the wafer W is executed, the wafer W is transported in the reverse procedure to that during the transportation to the processing module 11, and the wafer W is returned from the processing module 11 to the load lock module 13. Further, after the atmosphere in the load lock module 13 is switched to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere, the wafer W is returned to a predetermined carrier C by the transfer mechanism 122. Note that the wafer W may be transported to and processed by only one processing module 11 from the time it is transported from the load lock module 13 to the transfer system 14 until it is returned to the load lock module 13, or it may be transported between a plurality of processing modules 11 and processed by each processing module 11.

[0017] <Outline of the Configuration of the Transfer System> The schematic configuration of the transfer system 14 will be described. The transfer system 14 includes a housing 31, and the housing 31 is rectangular and elongated in the X direction. The length in the short side direction of the housing 31 is such that the moving bodies 2 described later can pass by side by side in the left-right direction. An exhaust port 34 is open in the housing 31. An exhaust mechanism 33 composed of a vacuum pump or the like performs exhaust through the exhaust port 34, and the inside of the housing 31 is set to a vacuum atmosphere of, for example, 300 Pa or less. An opening for transporting the wafer W is provided in the side wall of the housing 31, and is opened and closed by the above-described gate valves G2 and G3. On the floor 4 forming the bottom wall of the housing 31, a moving body 2 provided with magnets is arranged.

[0018] A large number of electromagnets are provided on the floor 4. The repulsive force between this electromagnet and the magnet of the moving body 2 is utilized, and the moving body 2 moves in a floating state from the floor 4 and transports the wafer W between the load lock module 13 and the processing module 11 and between the processing modules 11. Note that the moving body 2 is also moved in the Z direction and rotated around the Z axis (vertical axis) to change its orientation in addition to the movement in the XY plane by operation control.

[0019] As described above, the space above the floor 4 in the housing 31 is configured as a movement space 30 in which the moving body 2 moves. In addition to the electromagnets, a large number of Hall elements 63, which are magnetic sensors, are provided on the floor 4. The magnetic force of the magnet 23 of the moving body 2 is detected by the Hall element 63. Based on the detection result, the control unit 100 detects the position of the magnet unit 24 (described later), which is a set of magnets 23, according to a predetermined algorithm, and thus detects the position of the moving body 2. Then, by performing position feedback control on the moving body 2, the moving body 2 is arranged at a desired position and moves along a desired path.

[0020] <Moving body> With reference also to the perspective view of FIG. 2, the moving body 2 will be described. The moving body 2 includes a main body portion 21 and a substrate holding portion 22 that protrudes laterally from the main body portion 21, and a wafer W is supported on the substrate holding portion 22. The main body portion 21 includes four magnet units 24 each constituted by nine magnets 23. The magnets 23 are permanent magnets, each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The magnet unit 24 is formed such that the magnets 23 are linearly arranged in the lateral direction and adjacent magnets 23 are in contact with each other, forming a flat rectangular parallelepiped having a length direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the magnets 23.

[0021] Regarding the nine magnets 23 that make up the magnet unit 24, when looking at the length in the arrangement direction of the magnets 23, the lengths of the magnets 23 located at both ends are 1 / 2 of the lengths of the other magnets 23. In FIG. 2, for the sake of illustration, only one of the four magnet units 24 shows the boundary between the magnets 23 by a dashed line, but each magnet unit 24 is configured in the same way.

[0022] These four magnet units 24 are arranged along the sides of a square in a plan view, and both ends are connected to another magnet unit 24 to form a rectangular annular body 25. Supplementing the description of the connection between these magnet units 24, for two adjacent magnet units 24, the connection is made such that the longitudinal end of one magnet unit 24 is located on the extension line of the longitudinal direction of the other magnet unit 24. Due to such connection of the magnet units 24, the annular body 25 is in a horizontal state and has a rotationally symmetric configuration around the vertical axis (Z-axis).

[0023] Continuing the description of the magnet unit 24 with reference to FIG. 3 showing the longitudinal side view of the magnet unit 24 and the floor 4, assume that the arrangement direction of the magnets 23 of one of the four magnet units 24 coincides with the X direction as shown in FIG. 3, and this magnet unit 24 will be described as a representative. In FIG. 3, the directions of the N poles of the nine magnets 23 forming this magnet unit 24 are indicated by arrows. These magnets 23 form a Halbach array in which the directions of the N poles of adjacent ones are different from each other by 90° so that a relatively strong magnetic field is formed below the magnet unit 24. Specifically, the magnets 23 are arranged such that the direction of the N pole changes periodically when viewed in the arrangement direction of the magnets 23. More specifically, in the said arrangement direction, the N poles are directed in the +Z, -X, -Z, +X, +Z, -X, -Z, +X, +Z directions in order.

[0024] With the magnet unit 24 configured in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, directly below the magnet unit 24, a magnetic field with an intensity distribution that changes so as to draw a sine wave for two cycles is formed when viewed from one end to the other end in the arrangement direction of the magnets 23. The length of one cycle of this sine wave is shown as λ.

[0025] <Configuration of the floor> Next, referring to FIG. 4, which is a plan view showing a part of the floor 4, the floor 4 will be described. The floor 4 is composed of a frame 41, a number of case bodies 5, and a number of laminated substrates 6. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the frame 41, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing each part of the floor 4. These FIGS. 5 and 6 will also be referred to as appropriate. The frame 41 includes an outer frame portion 42 and a number of beams 43. As will be described in detail later, the case body 5 has a hollow structure, but the frame 41 does not have a hollow structure and has higher strength than the case body 5. The outer frame portion 42 is configured as a horizontal corner frame to form the edge of the bottom wall of the housing 31, and the short side and long side of the frame are along the X direction and Y direction respectively. For example, the lower end of the side wall of the housing 31 is connected to the upper surface of the outer frame portion 42.

[0026] The beam 43 is formed to extend linearly within the outer frame portion 42, and both ends of the beam 43 are connected to the inner circumference of the outer frame portion 42. For this beam 43, a number of those extending in the X direction are arranged at equal intervals in the Y direction, and a number of those extending in the Y direction are arranged at equal intervals in the X direction. The beam 43 extending in the X direction and the beam 43 extending in the Y direction are located at the same height and are connected to each other to form a lattice beam 44. Therefore, the area surrounded by the outer frame portion 42 by the lattice beam 44 is configured to be partitioned, and each partitioned area forms a through hole 45 that opens in the Z direction (i.e., the vertical direction) in the bottom wall of the housing 31. Each through hole 45 is square in plan view. By the way, in FIG. 1, the exhaust port 34 is shown to open in the outer frame portion 42, but the opening position of the exhaust port 34 is not limited to this position and may open in the side wall of the housing 31, for example.

[0027] <Partition of the moving space by the case body> Each case body 5 is inserted into the above-mentioned multiple through-holes 45 from below the frame 41 to block each of the through-holes 45. The case body 5 is square, and its upper surface forms a square substantially the same size as the through-hole 45. The lower side of the side wall of the case body 5 bulges outward to form a flange 51 which is a square ring. On the flange 51, a seal member 52 which is an angular annular elastic body along the shape of the flange 51 is provided. The upper part of the case body 5 is inserted into the through-hole 45 from below the frame 41 and fitted, and the part outside the region surrounded by the seal member 52 in the flange 51 is screwed to the frame 41 from below, whereby the case body 5 is fixed to the frame 41.

[0028] Supplementarily describing the configuration regarding this screwing and sealing, an annular groove is formed along the hole edge of each through-hole 45 at the lower part of the frame 41. Regarding the seal member 52, its position is fixed by being arranged in this groove. Notches 54 through which screws 53 are inserted are formed at the corners of the flange 51. With the screws 53 screwed into the screw holes formed on the lower surface of the frame 41, the edge of the notch 54 in the flange 51 overlaps the head of the screw 53. Therefore, by tightening the screw 53, the flange 51 is pressed toward the frame 41, the seal member 52 is deformed, and the seal member 52 adheres to the flange 51 by its restoring force. By adhering in such a manner, the moving space 30 in the housing 31 is partitioned from the external space of the housing 31 which is an atmospheric environment, and is sealed against the external space so as to ensure a vacuum environment. The upper surface of the case body 5 and the upper surface of the frame 41 which are screwed in this way are located at the same height. Therefore, in plan view, the upper surface of the case body 5 is accommodated in the through-hole 45. The upper surface of the case body 5 and the upper surface of the frame 41 each form a horizontal plane.

[0029] <Explanation of the laminated substrate of the floor and its split pieces> Before explaining the internal structure of the case body 5, the multilayer substrate 6 provided above the case body 5 and the frame 41 will be described. The multilayer substrate 6 includes the electromagnetic stone and the Hall element 63 described above, and is provided over the entire region where the case body 5 and the lattice beam 44 are provided on the floor 4. The multilayer substrate 6 is configured as a laminate of a coil substrate 61 and a sensor substrate 62. The sensor substrate 62 is laminated and provided on the upper surfaces of each case body 5 and the lattice beam 44, covering the entire upper surfaces thereof. Then, the coil substrate 61 is laminated and provided on the sensor substrate 62, covering the entire upper surface of the coil substrate 61.

[0030] The multilayer substrate 6 is divided into a large number of pieces to facilitate the manufacture of the transport system 14. In other words, a large number of substrates (divided pieces) gather to form the form of the multilayer substrate 6 which is a single large substrate. Specifically, the multilayer substrate 6 is composed of a divided piece 6A that covers the entire upper surface of the case body 5, a divided piece 6B that covers the beam 43 extending in the X direction of the lattice beam 44, and a divided piece 6C that covers the beam 43 extending in the Y direction of the lattice beam 44.

[0031] The divided piece 6A is provided for each case body 5, is formed to have the same size as the upper surface of the case body 5, and covers the entire upper surface. The divided pieces 6B and 6C are formed such that their widths are the same as the width of the beam 43. And, the divided pieces 6C are arranged in a plurality in the Y direction on the beam 43 extending in the Y direction, and the length in the longitudinal direction (the length in the Y direction) is appropriately set so as not to hinder the manufacture of the device. The length in the longitudinal direction (the length in the X direction) of the divided piece 6B is the same as the length of one side of the upper surface of the case body 5 in plan view. By forming the divided pieces 6B and 6C in this way, the entire upper surface of the lattice beam 44 is covered by the divided pieces 6B and 6C.

[0032] Hereinafter, for each of the divided pieces 6A to 6C, there are cases where the upper divided piece forming the coil substrate 61 is described as the upper divided piece 68, and the lower divided piece forming the sensor substrate 62 is described as the lower divided piece 69. The sensor substrate 62 corresponds to the first substrate, and the lower divided piece 69, which is a divided piece thereof, corresponds to the first divided piece. The coil substrate 61 corresponds to the second substrate, and the upper divided piece 68, which is a divided piece thereof, corresponds to the second divided piece. The divided piece 6A provided on the case body 5 corresponds to one divided piece, and the divided piece 6A provided on the lattice beam 44 corresponds to the other divided piece.

[0033] <Floor electromagnet and Hall element> The coil substrate 61 will be described. A drive coil 7 is provided on the coil substrate 61. The drive coil 7 includes a linear A coil 71 indicated by a broken line and a linear B coil 72 indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2. The A coils 71 are arranged at intervals in the Y direction and a large number of them are provided so as to extend along the X direction. Also, the B coils 72 are arranged at intervals in the X direction and a large number of them are provided so as to extend along the Y direction. Each of the A coils 71 and B coils 72 forms an electromagnet, and power supply to each of them is controlled individually.

[0034] Each of these A coils 71 and B coils 72 is composed of coil wires a and b shown in FIG. 3. These coil wires a and b are, for example, laminated alternately with each other, and the coil wires a and b laminated above and below are insulated from each other by an insulating layer (not shown) provided on the coil substrate 61. Therefore, the coil substrate 61 is a laminated structure of the coil wire a, the coil wire b, and the insulating layer. Note that the number of laminations of the coil wires a and b shown in FIG. 3 is an example and can be appropriately changed as needed.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 3, the coil wire a forms the A coil 71 by being electrically connected to the coil wire a arranged on its upper layer side or lower layer side so as to be spiral when viewed in the X-Z longitudinal section. Similarly, the coil wire b forms the B coil 72 by being electrically connected to the coil wire b arranged on its upper layer side or lower layer side so as to be spiral when viewed in the Y-Z longitudinal section. In Fig. 2, the uppermost layer coil wires a and b of the A coil 71 and the B coil 72 are shown. As described above, the coil substrate 61 is configured to be divided into upper split pieces 68 so as to form each of the split pieces 6A to 6C, and the A coil 71 and the B coil 72 are included in each of the upper split pieces 68 that form the split pieces 6A to 6C. In order to show the A coil 71 and the B coil 72, in Fig. 3, the thickness of the coil substrate 61 with respect to the sensor substrate 62 is shown larger than that in Fig. 6.

[0036] The sensor substrate 62 will be described. A large number of Hall elements 63 are embedded in the upper surface of the sensor substrate 62. These Hall elements 63 are arranged in a matrix by being spaced apart along each of the X direction and the Y direction. The intervals between adjacent Hall elements 63 in the X direction are equal to each other, and the intervals between adjacent Hall elements 63 in the Y direction are equal to each other. Also, the interval between adjacent Hall elements 63 in the X direction and the interval between adjacent Hall elements 63 in the Y direction are equal to each other. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 4, the Hall elements 63 are provided so as to be respectively located at the lattice points of a square lattice in a plan view. Note that this square lattice is a virtual lattice.

[0037] The Hall element 63 detects the magnetic force below the magnet unit 24 shown in FIG. 3 described above, and by specifying the position where the intensity distribution of the sine-wave magnetic field described in FIG. 3 is formed, the control unit 100 detects the XY plane position of the magnet unit 24. Further, the control unit 100 detects the position of the magnet unit 24 in the Z direction by specifying the amplitude of the sine wave from the magnetic force detected by the Hall element 63. Arranging the Hall element 63 on the lattice points of the square lattice as described above is to arrange the Hall element 63 so as to be uniformly dispersed on the floor 4 and prevent the complication of the calculations necessary for the above-described position detection of the magnet unit 24.

[0038] This will also be described with reference to FIG. 3 showing the wavelength λ of the intensity distribution of the magnetic field described above. In arranging the Hall element 63 according to the lattice points of the square lattice as described above to simplify the calculations, assuming that the arrangement direction of the magnets 23 is along the X or Y direction, it has been clarified by research that it is necessary to include three or more Hall elements 63 within the range of the wavelength λ. More specifically, when the wavelength λ is assumed to be 40 mm, the distance between the centers of adjacent Hall elements 63 in each of the X and Y directions should be λ = 40 mm / 3 = 13.3 mm or less.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows an example in which three Hall elements 63 are included within the range of the wavelength λ. That is, it shows an example in the case where the relationship is such that the interval between the Hall elements 63 in the X or Y direction is λ / 3. And when the wavelength λ and the number of Hall elements 63 are in such a relationship, the following shows the formula 1 (Equation 1) used for specifying the position of the magnet unit 24 described above. Ba, Bb, and Bc in the formula are the detected values of the magnetic forces detected by three Hall elements 63 arranged continuously in the X or Y direction, respectively. In addition to the parameters (Zr, λc, θa), the formula includes 2π / 3 and 4π / 3 as constants, which are constants determined on the premise that the relationship of the interval between the Hall elements 63 in the X or Y direction being λ / 3 holds, and 2π = λ.

[0040]

Equation

[0041] As described above, the detection substrate 61 is configured to be divided into lower divided pieces 68 so as to form each of the divided pieces 6A to 6C, and the Hall elements 63 are included in each of the lower divided pieces 69 that form the divided pieces 6A to 6C. As shown in FIG. 4, the Hall elements 63 are arranged in a square matrix in the lower divided piece 69 that forms the divided piece 6A. In the lower divided pieces 69 that form the divided pieces 6B and 6C, the Hall elements 63 are arranged in a row along the length direction.

[0042] And since the upper surface of the case body 5 where the sensor substrate 62 is provided and the upper surface of the frame 41 are located at the same height, the heights of the lower divided pieces 69 are the same among the divided pieces 6A to 6C. Therefore, the heights of the Hall elements 63 in the divided pieces 6A, 6B, and 6C are the same. By setting the heights of the Hall elements 63 to be the same in this way, the detection sensitivities of the Hall elements 63 to the magnetic force of the magnet 23 of the moving body 2 are made uniform, and the complication of the calculation for the position detection of the magnet unit 24 is prevented.

[0043] Note that the height of the upper divided piece 68 that forms the coil substrate 61 is also the same among the divided pieces 6A to 6C. Therefore, each of the A coils 71 and the B coils 72 is located above each of the Hall elements 63 and is arranged at a position closer to the moving body 2. With such an arrangement, it is intended to impart buoyancy and moving force to the moving body 2 with the supply power to these relatively few coils.

[0044] Incidentally, as described above, each of the divided pieces 6A to 6C of the laminated substrate 6 includes the drive coil 7 (coil 71 and coil 72) and the Hall element 63. Since the divided piece 6A is provided on the upper surface of the case body 5 provided in the through hole 45 formed by the lattice beam 44, the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 are provided at positions overlapping the through hole 45 in a plan view. Further, since the divided pieces 6B and 6C are provided on the upper surface of the lattice beam 44, the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 are also provided at positions overlapping the lattice beam 44 in a plan view. The frame 41 including the lattice beam 44 is a through hole forming member, and the case body 5 forms a closing member for closing the through hole 45.

[0045] <Inside the case body 5> Return to the description of the case body 5. As shown in FIG. 3, a storage space 55 is formed inside the case body 5, and a control board 56 is provided in the storage space 55. The control board 56 includes a processor, a memory, a program, an input / output interface, and various electronic circuits. The above-mentioned processor is composed of a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, etc. The control board 56 is connected to a control unit 100 provided outside the housing 31, receives a control signal from the control unit 100, executes a program stored in the memory, and is configured to perform each operation described later.

[0046] The control board 56 is connected to a power source (not shown) provided outside the housing 31 via a cable. The illustration of this cable and the power source is omitted. Further, the control board 56 is connected to an upper divided piece 68 and a lower divided piece 69 constituting the divided piece 6A via a cable 58. A through hole through which the cable 58 is inserted is formed in the upper wall of the case body 5 for making such a connection.

[0047] The DC power supplied from the above power source to the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 is controlled by the control board 56. Regarding the power supply to the drive coil 7, the control board 56 receives a control signal from the control unit 100 and performs it on the A coil 71 and / or the B coil 72 selected according to this control signal. A magnetic field is formed on the upper surface of the region where the A coil 71 and the B coil 72 to which power is supplied as described above are arranged, and buoyancy and moving force are applied to the moving body 2 as described above. In addition, the control board 56 also has the role of transmitting the magnetic detection signal received from the Hall element 63 to the control unit 100. The control board 56 is provided for the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 in this way and serves as a control device for controlling their operations. Although only three cables 58 are shown in the figure, the necessary number of cables is provided so that individual power supply to each coil, power supply to each Hall element 63, and signal reception from each Hall element 63 as described above can be performed.

[0048] A flow path 64 through which a cooling fluid such as water flows is provided in the storage space 55 of the case body 5. One end and the other end of the flow path 64 are drawn out to the outside of the case body 5 and connected to a chiller 65 provided outside the housing 31, and a fluid circulation path is formed by the flow path 64 and the chiller 65. The fluid temperature-controlled by the chiller 65 is supplied to the flow path 64, absorbs the heat of the storage space 55 and the wall portion of the case body 5 and rises in temperature, and after being supplied to the chiller 65 and cooled, it is supplied to the flow path 64 again. By such a heat absorption action of the fluid, the control board 56 and the divided pieces 6A are cooled and a temperature rise is prevented. In addition, the divided pieces 6B and 6C are also cooled by the fluid through the lattice beam 44 in contact with the case body 5. By cooling the divided pieces 6A to 6C in this way, in addition to preventing damage and deterioration due to the heat of the divided pieces 6A to 6C, it is possible to prevent the interval between the Hall elements 63 from varying from the design value due to thermal expansion. That is, a decrease in the detection accuracy of the position of the moving body 2 is also prevented.

[0049] Note that, as a cooling mechanism for cooling the case body 5 and the storage space 55 in this way, a fan may be provided instead of the above-described flow path 64. Specifically, a configuration may be adopted in which the atmosphere outside the case body 5 is supplied into the case body 5 by a fan below the case body 5, so that the wall portion of the case body 5 and the storage space 55 are cooled.

[0050] <Supplementary Explanation of Lattice Beam, Case Body, and Stacked Substrate> As shown in FIG. 3, through holes 45 are drilled in the lattice beam 44 in the Z direction. These through holes 45 are provided for each of the divided pieces 6B and 6C. Further, a through hole 59 is provided in the flange 51 of the case body 5 at a position overlapping with the through hole 45. One end of the cable 58 is connected to the upper divided piece 68 and the lower divided piece 69 forming the divided pieces 6B and 6C. Then, the other end of this cable 58 is drawn out to the outside of the housing 31 through the through holes 45 and 59, and is connected to a control board 57 provided outside the storage space 55 of the case body 5 and outside the housing 31. Note that the display of the through hole 59 of the case body 5 is omitted in the figures other than FIG. 3.

[0051] The control board 57 has the same configuration as the control board 56 provided in the storage space 55, and has the same role as the control board 56 except that the object of operation control is the elements of the divided pieces 6B and 6C instead of the elements of the divided piece 6A. Note that, by the control unit 100 and the control boards 56 and 57, it is possible to control the power supply for each unit of one A coil 71 and B coil 72 in each of the divided pieces 6A to 6C.

[0052] <Comparative Form> In order to explain the advantages of the configuration of the above-described conveying system 14, a conveying system in a comparative form will be described. As the conveying system of the first comparative form, it is assumed that the grid beam 44 is not provided on the floor 4. More specifically, in this first comparative form, the floor 4 of the conveying system is formed by the case bodies 5 being adjacent to each other. And in this first comparative form, the dividing piece 6A is stored in the storage space 55 of the case body 5. That is, the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 are provided in the storage space 55. Except for the difference in the configuration of the above floor 4, the conveying system of the first comparative form is assumed to have the same configuration as the conveying system 14. Regarding the Hall element 63 of this first comparative form, when looking at the entire floor 4 in the same way as the conveying system 14, it is arranged to be located on the lattice points of the square lattice.

[0053] By the way, since the movement space 30 in the housing 31 is in a vacuum atmosphere as described above, a pressure difference is formed between the inside and the outside of the housing 31. And since the case body 5 has a hollow structure in order to store devices such as the control board 56 inside, there is a possibility that it is difficult to make the strength of the case body 5 sufficiently high. That is, regarding the conveying system of the first comparative form, it is desirable to take measures so that the deformation and breakage of the floor 4 due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the housing 31 are more reliably prevented.

[0054] For this first comparative form, a configuration in which the above-described grid beam 43 is provided is adopted, and a conveying system having this configuration is taken as the second comparative form. Except that the grid beam 43 is provided in this way, the second comparative form has the same configuration as the first comparative form. Therefore, the Hall element 63 is only included in the storage space 55 of the case body 5. FIG. 7 shows a schematic plan view of the floor 4 of the conveying system of this second comparative form. Regarding this FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 to be described later, similar to FIG. 3, the magnet unit 24 in a state where the arrangement direction of the magnets 23 coincides with the X direction is also shown, but this magnet unit 24 only shows the part forming the magnetic force distribution for 1λ. The symbols attached to each magnet 23 in the figure indicate the direction of the N pole.

[0055] In the transport system of the second comparative form, the lattice beam 44 is provided, so that the floor 4 is reinforced as compared with the first comparative form. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the case bodies 5 are separated from each other by the beam 43 forming the lattice beam 44. Therefore, the Hall elements 63 are not arranged on the lattice points of the square lattice, and a state occurs in which there are less than three Hall elements 63 in the X direction in the region where the magnetic force distribution for 1λ below the magnet unit 24 is formed. Therefore, there occurs a problem that the calculation necessary for detecting the position of the magnet unit 24 becomes complicated or the calculation becomes impossible.

[0056] It is conceivable to take a measure to avoid the problem by adjusting the intervals between the Hall elements 63 in the case body 5 so that the Hall elements 63 are arranged on the lattice points of the square lattice when the entire floor 4 is viewed. However, since the width of the beam 43 forming the lattice beam 44 must be large enough to ensure sufficient strength of the floor 4, it is considered that the separation distance of the case bodies 5 may be relatively large. Therefore, there is a concern that such adjustment of the intervals between the Hall elements 63 in the case body 5 cannot be dealt with.

[0057] <Effect of the transport system of the embodiment> Therefore, in the transport system 14 of the present embodiment, as described above, the Hall elements 63 are provided not only on the case body 5 but also on the lattice beam 44. As a result, as shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 8, with respect to the floor 4, the Hall elements 63 are arranged on the lattice points of the square lattice, and three Hall elements 63 are included directly below the portion forming the magnetic force distribution for 1λ in the magnet unit 24. Therefore, according to the transport system 14, sufficient strength can be ensured for the floor 4, and the position of the moving body 2 can be detected by a simple calculation, and the position can be controlled with high accuracy to transport the wafer W.

[0058] Note that the dashed-dotted line in Fig. 8 indicates the magnetic force distribution in the X direction formed by the magnet unit 24 being displayed. In this magnetic force distribution, the intensities of the magnetic forces detected by the three hall elements 63 directly below the magnet unit 24 are shown as 63A, 63B, and 63C. The double-dashed line in Fig. 8 is the magnetic force distribution in the Y direction formed by the magnet unit 24, and as shown in the figure, this magnetic force distribution is constant in each part.

[0059] In the transport system 14, regarding the hall element 63 provided in the case body 5, instead of providing it in the storage space 55, it is provided on the case body 5 so as to be aligned with the height of the hall element 63 provided on the lattice beam 44. Thereby, as described above, the complication of the calculation for detecting the position of the moving body 2 is surely prevented.

[0060] Furthermore, regarding the drive coil 7 provided in the case body 5, in response to providing the hall element 63 on the case body 5, it is arranged above the hall element 63. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the magnetic force of the drive coil 7 from being attenuated by the hall element 63 and the lower split piece 69 on which the hall element 63 is provided. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to apply buoyancy and moving force to the moving body 2 with less power.

[0061] By the way, in the above-described second comparative form in which the drive coil 7 is not provided on the lattice beam 44, since the moving body 2 crosses a region where the drive coil 7 is not formed during lateral movement, there is a possibility that the force acting on the moving body 2 changes and the moving body 2 vibrates. Also, when the moving body 2 crosses a region where the drive coil 7 is not formed in this way, the supply power to the drive coil 7 in the vicinity of the region is relatively large so that sufficient buoyancy and moving force are applied to the moving body 2. That is, in the second comparative form, there is a possibility that the power consumption for transporting the wafer W becomes large. However, regarding the transport system 14, since the drive coil 7 is also provided on the lattice beam 44, the occurrence of these problems can be suppressed.

[0062] Regarding the drive coil 7 provided on the lattice beam 44 in the conveying system 14 in this way, it is located above the Hall element 63, like the drive coil 7 on the case body 5, and is arranged at the same height as the drive coil 7 on the case body 5. Since the heights of the drive coils 7 are thus aligned between the case body 5 and the lattice beam 44, when causing the moving body 2 to make similar movements at various locations on the floor 4, there is no need to change the power supplied to the drive coil 7 for each location. That is, by aligning the heights of the drive coils 7 in this way, simplification of the calculation for power supply to each drive coil 7 is achieved.

[0063] As described above, it is desirable to provide the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 on each of the case body 5 and the lattice beam 44, but the configuration is not limited to such. For example, in the conveying system 14, instead of providing the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 on the case body 5, these drive coil 7 and Hall element 63 may be provided inside the case body 5 as in the first and second comparative forms. Only one of the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 may be provided inside the case body 5. And although there are the advantages described above by providing the drive coil 7 above the lattice beam 44, a configuration may be adopted where the drive coil 7 is not provided above the lattice beam 44. That is, regarding the drive coil 7, it may be provided only inside the case body 5 or on the case body 5. Also, the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 are not limited to being provided above the lattice beam 44, and these drive coil 7 and Hall element 63 may be provided so as to be embedded in the lattice beam 44.

[0064] <Other configuration examples of the floor> In the floor 4, the laminated substrate 6 composed of the coil substrate 61 and the detection substrate 71 is divided into divided pieces 6A that cover each case body 5, and divided pieces 6B, 6C that cover the lattice beam 44. That is, divided pieces are formed for each case body 5, and the divided pieces for covering the case body 5 and the divided pieces for covering the lattice beam 44 are different. When adopting a configuration in which the laminated substrate 6 is divided, the formation of the divided pieces is not limited to this, and the size of the divided pieces is arbitrary.

[0065] <First Modification Example of the Floor> Regarding the floor 4A which is the first modification example of the floor, the differences from the floor 4 will be mainly described with reference to the longitudinal side view of FIG. 9 and the plan view of FIG. 10. In this floor 4A, the laminated substrate 6 is composed of a split piece 6D which is different in size from the split pieces 6A to 6C. This split piece 6D is rectangular in plan view and is provided for each case body 5 so as to cover the entire upper surface of the case body 5.

[0066] The split piece 6D is provided so as to straddle from the upper surface of the case body 5 to the upper surface of the part of the lattice beam 44 adjacent to the case body 5. And a drive coil 7 and a hall element 63 are provided respectively in the part covering the case body 5 and the part covering the lattice beam 44 in the split piece 6D. In the floor 4A, the drive coil 7 and the hall element 63 are located in the same layout as the floor 4.

[0067] One end of the cable 58 whose each end is connected to the upper split piece 68 and the lower split piece 69 forming the split piece 6D is drawn out to the storage space 56 of the case body 5 below the split piece 6D and is connected to the control board 56. That is, the split piece 6D is connected to the control board 56 in the same manner as the split piece 6A of the floor 4. Since the split piece 6D is formed to straddle from the case body 5 to the lattice beam 44 as described above, the operations of the drive coil 7 and the hall element 63 located on the lattice beam 44 can also be controlled by the control board 56 in the case body 5. Therefore, the control board 57 provided outside the housing 31 for controlling each element of the split pieces 6B and 6C is not provided in this first modification example.

[0068] Regarding the cable 58 connecting the control board 56 and the split piece 6D, if the position where one end is connected to the split piece 6D overlaps the lattice beam 44 in plan view, the cable 58 may be arranged to crawl from above the lattice beam 44 toward the case body 5 and further drawn out from above the case body 5 into the case body 5. By arranging it in that way, the other end of the cable 58 may be connected to the control board 56 in the case body 5.

[0069] <Second Modified Example of the Bed> Regarding the bed 4B which is the second modified example of the bed, centering on the differences from the bed 4A, it will be described with reference to the longitudinal side view of FIG. 11 and the plan view of FIG. 12. The bed 4B includes a case body 5A instead of the case body 5. The shape of the case body 5A is different from that of the case body 5 described above. As the difference between the case body 5A and the case body 5, in the case body 5A, no flange 51 is provided, and instead, a protrusion 81 is formed by the upper part of the side wall protruding outward from the case body 5A. Speaking in detail about this protrusion 81, among the side walls of the case body 5A which form each side of a square in top view, two adjacent sides protrude laterally, thereby being configured as an L-shaped protrusion 81 in top view. That is, different from the flange 51 formed by the entire circumference of the side wall protruding, the protrusion 81 is formed by a part of the side wall protruding. By providing the protrusion 81 in this way, the case body 5A is rectangular in plan view. Among the rectangular region, the region overlapping the above-mentioned side wall in plan view and the square region surrounded by the side wall are defined as the main body region 82. In other words, the region of the upper part of the case body 5A that is not formed as the protrusion 81 is the main body region 82, and this main body region 82 is the region overlapping the through hole 45 in plan view.

[0070] Regarding the case body 5A, the lower surface of the protrusion 81 is connected to the upper surface of the lattice beam 44 and is fixed to each other by screws 53, for example, in the same manner as the case body 5. In addition, the attachment of the case body 5A to the lattice beam 44 may be achieved by inserting the lower part of the case body 5A into the through hole 45 of the frame 41 from above, or by tilting the case body 5A so that the protrusion 81 is passed through from below to above the through hole 45.

[0071] And on the floor 4B, the laminated substrate 6 is provided so as to be divided into divided pieces 6E. Each of these divided pieces 6E is rectangular in plan view and is provided for each case body 5A so as to cover the entire upper surface of the case body 5A. That is, the divided piece 6E is provided so as to straddle from the upper surface of the main body region 82 to the upper surface of the protrusion 81. For this divided piece 6E, a drive coil 7 and a Hall element 63 are provided in each of the part covering the main body region 82 and the part covering the protrusion 81 (which is also the part covering the lattice beam 44). As a result, the drive coil 7 and the Hall element 63 are provided on the floor 4B in the same layout as the floor 4.

[0072] Also, similar to the divided piece 6D of the first modification example, this divided piece 6E is connected to a control board 56 provided in the accommodation space 55 of the case body 5A below the divided piece 6E via a cable 58. Since the entire lower surface of this divided piece 6E is in contact with the upper surface of the case body 5A, there is an advantage that it can be efficiently cooled by the cooling mechanism of the case body 5A for cooling the case body 5A.

[0073] As shown as an example of this floor 4B, the Hall element 63 may be configured to be provided at a position overlapping the lattice beam 44 in the case body instead of being provided on the lattice beam 44. And as described above, the Hall element 63 may be provided inside the case body, or the Hall element 63 may be provided above the case body. From the above, in plan view, the Hall element 63 may be provided at a position overlapping the lattice beam 44 and a position overlapping the through hole 44 formed by the lattice beam 44.

[0074] In each of the above examples, the dividing pieces are provided for each case body, but the configuration is not limited to this, and the dividing pieces may be formed to straddle a plurality of case bodies. Further, although the configuration in which the case body closes the rectangular through-hole 45 formed by the lattice beam 44 is shown, the configuration is not limited to this. By forming circular through-holes at intervals in a floor plate forming the bottom wall of the housing 31 in a plan view and providing the case body 5 formed in a circular shape in plan view in each through-hole, each of the through-holes may be closed to form a floor. And the hall element 63 may be provided in an outer region of the through-hole in the floor plate and, for example, above the case body 5 in the same manner as the floor 4. Since such a configuration can be adopted, the structure of the floor is not limited to the one including the lattice beam.

[0075] Note that, when closing the through-hole provided in the floor, it is not limited to closing it with the case body. For example, use a plate larger than the through-hole to close the through-hole from above the floor. The laminated substrate 6 may be laminated and provided on the upper side of this plate, and the control substrate 56 may be arranged on the lower side of the plate. Further, although the hall element is shown as the magnetic sensor, any sensor can be used as long as it can detect the magnetic force, and a sensor other than the hall element such as a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor may be used. Furthermore, the magnet 23 provided on the moving body 2 is not limited to a permanent magnet, and an electromagnet may be used. Also, in the above example of the electromagnet provided on the floor, the winding shaft extends in the lateral direction, but the use of such an electromagnet is not limited to this. A large number of electromagnets with winding shafts extending in the vertical direction may be distributed and arranged on the floor.

[0076] In each of the above-described examples, the floor 4 is provided with a plurality of through holes 45 and case bodies 5, and a beam 43 is provided between the case bodies 5. However, only one relatively large through hole 45 and case body 5 may be provided. Specifically, for example, a lattice beam 44 may not be provided in the outer frame portion 42 shown in FIG. 5, and only one case body 5 may be provided so as to block the through hole formed by the outer frame portion 42. In that case, the Hall element 63 is provided inside or on the case body 5 and at a position that overlaps the outer frame portion 42 surrounding the case body 5 in a plan view. Also, although the Hall elements 63 have been described as being respectively located at the lattice points of a square lattice, they may be respectively located at the lattice points of a rectangular lattice. Therefore, they are not limited to being located at the lattice points of a square lattice, and may be located at the lattice points of a rectangular lattice.

[0077] So far in the transfer system 14, the substrate has been described as being one for transferring the wafer W. However, the substrate to be transferred is a substrate for semiconductor manufacturing. The substrate for semiconductor manufacturing here includes, in addition to the wafer W, substrates used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, and also includes substrates for flat panel display manufacturing. The substrate for flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing includes various FPDs such as liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, organic EL displays, field emission displays, or electronic papers, and substrates used in the manufacturing processes of the FPDs. The substrates used in semiconductor manufacturing processes and the substrates used in FPD manufacturing processes include substrates that are photomasks used in the exposure processes during the respective manufacturing processes, and dummy substrates that are processed for the purpose of testing and setting processing parameters in substrate processing apparatuses.

[0078] The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The above embodiments may be omitted, substituted, or changed in various forms without departing from the scope and gist of the appended claims.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0079] W Wafer 1 Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 14 Transfer system 2 Moving body 23 Magnet 30 Movement area 31 Housing 41 Frame 63 Hall element 7 Driving coil

Claims

1. In a transfer system used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for transferring a substrate to a processing module that processes the substrate while a moving body equipped with a magnet floats from the floor by magnetic force and moves, a through-hole forming member having through-holes formed in the vertical direction; a closing member that forms the floor by closing the through-holes; a housing whose interior is evacuated so that the floor forms a bottom wall and the moving region of the moving body formed on the floor is in a vacuum atmosphere; a plurality of electromagnets provided on the floor for moving the moving body; magnetic sensors respectively provided at positions overlapping the through-hole forming member and the closing members on the floor in a plan view, for detecting the magnetic force by the magnet; A transfer system comprising:

2. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic sensors overlapping the through-hole forming member and the magnetic sensors overlapping the closing members are located at the lattice points of a rectangular lattice in a plan view.

3. The transfer system according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic sensors overlapping the through-hole forming member and the magnetic sensors overlapping the closing members are located at the same height.

4. The transfer system according to claim 3, wherein each of the electromagnets is provided above each of the magnetic sensors.

5. A plurality of the through-holes and the closing members are provided respectively, The transfer system according to claim 4, wherein the through-hole forming member comprises lattice beams.

6. The closing member is a case body having a storage space inside, The transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the storage space includes control devices for the plurality of electromagnets and the magnetic sensors.

7. A first substrate provided with the magnetic sensors is provided, laminated from above on the case bodies and the lattice beams, A second substrate provided with the electromagnets is provided, laminated from above on the first substrate, The transfer system according to claim 6, wherein the electromagnets are respectively provided at positions overlapping the lattice beams and positions overlapping the through-holes in a plan view.

8. The first substrate is composed of a plurality of first divided pieces each provided with the magnetic sensor, The transfer system according to claim 7, wherein the second substrate is composed of a plurality of second divided pieces each provided with the electromagnet.

9. In a plan view, the upper surface of the case body fits within the through-hole, The first divided piece and the second divided piece are composed of one divided piece covering the upper surface of the case body and another divided piece covering the lattice beam, The one divided piece is connected to the control device in the storage space, The conveying system according to claim 8, wherein a control device connected to the other divided piece is provided outside the storage space.

10. In plan view, the upper surface of the case body is accommodated in the through hole, The first divided piece and the second divided piece are provided for each case body, and are formed across from the upper surface of the case body to the upper surface of the lattice beam. The conveying system according to claim 8.

11. The upper part of the side wall of the case body is provided with a protrusion that protrudes laterally to cover the lattice beam from above, The first divided piece and the second divided piece are provided for each case body, and are formed across from the region where the upper surface of the case body overlaps the through hole to the protrusion. The conveying system according to claim 8.

12. In a semiconductor manufacturing method of conveying a substrate to a processing module and processing it by moving a moving body provided with a magnet in a state of being levitated from the floor by magnetic force, Exhausting the inside of a housing having a bottom wall formed by the floor formed by closing each of the through holes in a through hole forming member having through holes formed in the vertical direction with a closing member, and making the moving region of the moving body formed on the floor a vacuum atmosphere; Moving the moving body by a plurality of electromagnets provided on the floor; Detecting the magnetic force by the magnet with magnetic sensors respectively provided at positions overlapping in plan view with the closing member and the through hole forming member; A semiconductor manufacturing method comprising the steps of.

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