Substrate transfer device

Abstract

To provide a substrate transfer apparatus configured so that the axis of a robot arm can move laterally, minimizing the width.SOLUTION: A substrate transfer apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a moving plate; a load lock chamber disposed at one end of the moving plate; a plurality of processing chambers disposed in a longitudinal direction at opposite ends of the moving plate; and an arm that is connected with the moving plate and that transfers a substrate between one processing chamber among the plurality of processing chambers and the load lock chamber. The moving plate provides a first path along which a first pivot axis of the arm linearly moves in a lateral direction on the moving plate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate transport apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Throughput of equipment used in semiconductor or display processes refers to the amount of wafers or substrates processed per unit time in a single process. This throughput can be determined based on the processing time of the processing chamber, the suction and exhaust speed of the vacuum robot, the cooling / heating time of the wafer, etc. However, there is a limit to maximizing the throughput of equipment based on these factors alone. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2011 / 074754 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems is to provide a substrate transfer device configured so that the axis of the robot arm can be moved laterally to minimize the lateral width. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a substrate transfer device includes a movable plate, a load lock chamber arranged at one end of the movable plate, a plurality of processing chambers arranged along a vertical direction at both ends of the movable plate, and an arm connected to the movable plate to transfer a substrate between any one of the plurality of processing chambers and the load lock chamber, and the movable plate can provide a first path configured so that a first pivot axis of the arm can move linearly laterally on the movable plate.

[0006] According to one embodiment, the position of the first pivot axis on the first path can be determined based on the position of any one of the processing chambers relative to the moving plate.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the moving plate can provide a second path configured to allow linear movement of the first pivot axis longitudinally in the moving plate.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the second path may intersect with the first path.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the moving plate may provide a third path configured to allow linear movement of the first pivot axis in a diagonal direction on the moving plate.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the third path may intersect with the first path.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the path may include a rail.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the path includes a plurality of links, and the first pivot axis can be positioned at any one of the links to transfer the substrate from any one of the processing chambers. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the footprint of a substrate transfer device can be reduced to maximize substrate throughput in a limited space. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1A] 1 is a plan view illustrating one operation of a substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 1B]1B is a plan view illustrating a substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an operation different from that in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1C] 1B is a plan view showing an operation of a substrate transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is different from that shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. [Figure 2] 1 is a plan view of a substrate transfer apparatus configured to allow four-way linear motion in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 1 illustrates a top view of a substrate transfer apparatus configured to allow diagonal motion in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an arm unit including one member according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4B] 4B is a plan view of an arm unit including different components than in FIG. 4A according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, specific details for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, provided that in the following description, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations will be omitted if they may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention.

[0016] In the accompanying drawings, identical or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, in the following description of the embodiments, duplicated descriptions of identical or corresponding components may be omitted. However, the omission of a description of a component does not mean that such a component is not included in a certain embodiment.

[0017] The advantages and / or features of the disclosed embodiments and methods for achieving the same will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, and may be embodied in various different forms. The present embodiments are provided merely to complete the present invention and to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0018] The terms used in this specification will be briefly explained, and the disclosed embodiments will be specifically described. The terms used in this specification have been selected based on the functions of the present invention and are currently widely used. However, these terms may change depending on the intentions of engineers in the relevant field, precedents, the emergence of new technologies, etc. In addition, in certain cases, the applicant may arbitrarily select terms, and in such cases, their meanings will be described in detail in the relevant description of the invention. Therefore, the terms used in this specification should be defined based on the meanings of the terms and the overall content of the present invention, rather than simply by their names.

[0019] In this specification, the singular includes the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, the plural includes the singular unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Throughout the specification, when a certain part "comprises" a certain element, this does not exclude other elements, but means that other elements may also be included, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

[0020] 1A to 1C are plan views illustrating different operations of a substrate transfer apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the substrate transfer apparatus 100 may include at least one of a plurality of processing chambers 112 to 126, a moving plate 130, an arm 140, a load lock chamber 160, an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) 170, and a plurality of Load Port Modules (LPMs) 180.

[0021] The arm 140 can transfer a substrate (e.g., a wafer) obtained from any one of the plurality of LPMs 180 to one target processing chamber (here, the second processing chamber 114) among the plurality of processing chambers 112 to 126 through the load lock chamber 160. The arm 140 can also transfer a substrate processed in a target processing chamber among the plurality of processing chambers 112 to 126 to one of the LPMs through the load lock chamber 160. Meanwhile, in the present invention, the 'target processing chamber' can refer to the processing chamber into which the substrate is loaded or unloaded by the arm 140.

[0022] Multiple substrate transfer apparatuses 100 may be provided within a limited space. Therefore, in order to improve the substrate throughput of the substrate transfer apparatus 100, it may be necessary to reduce the width w of the moving plate 130, which determines the footprint of the substrate transfer apparatus 100. Below, a detailed description will be given of the configuration of the substrate transfer apparatus 100 that is configured to minimize the width w of the moving plate 130 in consideration of the movement of the arm 140, with reference to FIG. 1A .

[0023] The processing chambers 112-126 may be arranged along the edge of the moving plate 130. Specifically, the processing chambers 112-126 may be arranged along the vertical direction on both side edges (i.e., both ends) of the moving plate 130. For example, a first set of processing chambers 112-116 may be arranged along the vertical direction on the edge of one side (left side in FIG. 1 ) of the moving plate 130. As another example, a second set of processing chambers 122-126 may be arranged along the vertical direction on the edge of the other side (right side in FIG. 1 ) of the moving plate 130.

[0024] The load lock chamber 160 may be disposed at one end of the moving plate 130. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the load lock chamber 160 may be disposed at the lower edge (i.e., the bottom end) of the moving plate 130. Although one load lock chamber 160 is illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the substrate transfer apparatus 100 may include two or more load lock chambers. In this case, a substrate to be transferred to one of the processing chambers may be disposed in one load lock chamber, and a substrate obtained from one of the processing chambers may be disposed in another load lock chamber.

[0025] 1A, arm 140 can transfer substrates between a target processing chamber (here, second processing chamber 114) and load lock chamber 160 among the plurality of processing chambers 112-126, as described above. In this case, the substrate must be loaded or unloaded at a specific position within the target processing chamber. To this end, at least a portion of arm 140 (here, third region 140_3) can stop at a predetermined position above the target processing chamber when loading or unloading a substrate. For example, when arm 140 loads or unloads a substrate from sixth processing chamber 126, at least a portion of arm 140 can stop at a specific position 128 above sixth processing chamber 126.

[0026] The arm 140 may include one or more joints. Therefore, the arm 140 may include a plurality of regions 140_1 to 140_3 divided based on the joints. For example, the arm 140 may include a first region 140_1 connected to a moving plate through a joint and a third region 140_3 in which a substrate is accommodated. Additionally, the arm 140 may include a second region 140_2 disposed between the first region 140_1 and the third region 140_3, and both ends of which are connected to the first region 140_1 and the third region 140_3 through joints.

[0027] The joint of the arm 140 may include a pivot axis. Therefore, each of the multiple regions 140_1 to 140_3 of the arm 140 may pivot about a pivot axis. For example, the first region 140_1 may pivot about a first pivot axis p1 relative to the moving plate 130. As another example, the first region 140_1 and / or the second region 140_2 may pivot about a second pivot axis p2. As another example, the second region 140_2 and / or the third region 140_3 may pivot about a third pivot axis p3.

[0028] 1A to 1C, arm 140 can move along path 150 provided by moving plate 130. Specifically, arm 140 can move linearly laterally on moving plate 130 along path 150. In this case, the position of first pivot axis p1 on path 150 can be determined based on the target processing chamber. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, if the target processing chamber is second processing chamber 114, the position of first pivot axis p1 on path 150 can be located at the right end of path 150. As another example, as shown in FIG. 1B, if the processing chamber is fifth processing chamber 124, the position of first pivot axis p1 on path 150 can be located at the left end of path 150. As another example, if the processing chamber is sixth processing chamber 126, the position of first pivot axis p1 on path 150 can be located at the center of path 150.

[0029] Depending on the configuration and operation of the arm 140 described above, the third region 140_3 of the arm 140 can stop at a predetermined position above the second processing chamber 114, which is the target processing chamber, for loading and unloading a substrate. In this case, the width w1 of the moving plate 130 can be configured to be larger than the width w2 of the area that the arm 140 occupies on the moving plate 130. Also, the width w2 of the area that the arm 140 occupies on the moving plate 130 can be configured to be twice the width w2 of the area that the arm 140 occupies on the moving plate 130, which is larger than the width w1 of the moving plate 130. In this case, the width w2 of the area that the arm 140 occupies on the moving plate 130 can be configured to a minimum value determined based on the operating range of the arm 140. With this configuration, the width w1 of the moving plate is also minimized, allowing multiple substrate transfer devices 100 to be arranged in a limited space.

[0030] 2 is a plan view of a substrate transfer apparatus 200 configured to enable four-way linear motion according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may correspond to the substrate transfer apparatus 100 of FIGS. 1A to 1C. That is, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may include at least one of the processing chambers 112 to 126, the arm 140, the load lock chamber 160, the Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) 170, and the load port modules (LPMs) 180 of FIGS. 1A to 1C. Additionally, the moving plate 130 of the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may further include a path 210 configured to enable lateral and vertical motion relative to the moving plate 130.

[0031] 2 is illustrated as one horizontal path and one vertical path intersecting at a single point, but is not limited thereto. For example, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may include horizontal and vertical paths that do not intersect with each other and are arranged independently. In this case, an arm may be arranged on each of the horizontal and vertical paths. Furthermore, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may include two or more horizontal and / or vertical paths.

[0032] 3 is a plan view of a substrate transfer apparatus 300 configured to enable diagonal movement according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the substrate transfer apparatus 300 may correspond to the substrate transfer apparatus 100 of FIGS. 1A to 1C. That is, the substrate transfer apparatus 300 may include at least one of the plurality of processing chambers 112 to 126, the arm 140, the load lock chamber 160, the Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) 170, and the plurality of Load Port Modules (LPMs) 180 of FIGS. 1A to 1C. Additionally, the moving plate 130 of the substrate transfer apparatus 300 may further include a path 310 configured to enable diagonal movement relative to the moving plate 130.

[0033] 3 illustrates one horizontal path and two diagonal paths intersecting at a single point, but is not limited thereto. For example, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may include a horizontal path and a diagonal path that do not intersect with each other and are arranged independently. In this case, an arm may be arranged on each of the horizontal path and the diagonal path. Furthermore, the substrate transfer apparatus 200 may include one or more diagonal paths.

[0034] 4A and 4B are plan views of arm units 410 and 420 including different components according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, arms 412 and 422 and paths 414 and 424 in FIGS. 4A and 4B may correspond to the arms and paths shown in FIGS. 1A to 3, respectively. That is, the arms shown in FIGS. 1A to 3 may be replaced with at least one of arms 412 and 422 in FIG. 4. Also, the paths shown in FIGS. 1A to 3 may be replaced with at least one of paths 414 and 424 in FIG. 4.

[0035] 4A shows an example in which the path 414 includes a rail. In this case, the first pivot axis p1 of the arm 412 can be positioned at any point along the rail included in the path 414.

[0036] 4B shows an example in which the path 424 includes a plurality of links L1 to L3. In this case, the first pivot axis p1 of the arm 422 may be disposed on any one of the plurality of links L1 to L3 included in the path 424.

[0037] Various modifications of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to various modifications without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the examples described herein, but is intended to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0038] Although example embodiments refer to utilizing aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter in the context of one or more stand-alone computer systems, the present subject matter is not so limited, but rather may be implemented in connection with any computing environment, including networked or distributed computing environments. Furthermore, embodiments of the presently disclosed subject matter may be implemented on or across multiple processing chips or devices, and storage may be affected similarly across multiple devices. Such devices may include PCs, network servers, and handheld devices.

[0039] Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to certain embodiments, it should be understood that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains, and such modifications and changes are to be considered to fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 100 Substrate transfer device 112~126 Processing chamber 130 Moving Plate 140 arm 150 routes 160 Load-lock 170 EFEM(Equipment Front End Module) 180 LPM (Load Port Module)

Claims

1. A moving plate; a load lock chamber disposed at one end of the moving plate; a plurality of processing chambers arranged along a longitudinal direction on both ends of the moving plate; an arm connected to the moving plate for transferring a substrate between any one of the plurality of processing chambers and the load lock chamber; Including, the arm includes a first region and a second region divided based on a joint, the first region being configured to pivot about a first pivot axis relative to the moving plate, and the first region and the second region being configured to pivot about a second pivot axis; The substrate transfer apparatus includes a moving plate, the moving plate providing a first path configured to allow the first pivot axis, which is a pivot center of the first region relative to the moving plate, to move linearly in a lateral direction on the moving plate.

2. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position of the first pivot shaft on the first path is determined based on the position of the one of the processing chambers relative to the moving plate.

3. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the moving plate provides a second path configured to allow linear movement of the first pivot axis in the vertical direction on the moving plate.

4. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the second path intersects with the first path.

5. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the moving plate provides a third path configured to allow the first pivot shaft to move linearly in a diagonal direction on the moving plate.

6. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the third path intersects with the first path.

7. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the first or third path includes a rail.

8. 2. The substrate transfer device of claim 1, wherein the first path includes a plurality of links, and the first pivot axis is disposed on any one of the links to transfer the substrate from any one of the processing chambers.

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