Wafer transport system

Abstract

In order to obtain a wafer transfer device with which it is possible to reduce system resistance and suppress a temperature rise inside a wafer transfer chamber without changing the size of the wafer transfer chamber, this wafer transfer device comprises: a wafer transfer chamber provided with a robot that delivers / receives a wafer between a hoop that contains the wafer and a processing chamber for processing the wafer; a door that is installed for a person to enter and exit the wafer transfer chamber; and a fan and filter unit (FFU) chamber that is installed above the wafer transfer chamber and causes an inert gas to flow into the wafer transfer chamber, wherein a return flow path for the inert gas obtained by making pillars hollow is formed in the pillars that configure the wafer transfer chamber, in order to cause the FFU chamber and the wafer transfer chamber to communicate, the wafer transfer device being characterized in that a duct is provided on the wafer transfer chamber side of the door, and the inert gas inside the wafer transfer chamber flows into the FFU chamber through the duct while the door is closed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device. In particular, in order to reduce the oxygen concentration in the wafer transfer chamber, an inert gas is supplied from a fan and filter unit (hereinafter referred to as FFU) chamber into a sealed and closed wafer transfer chamber to fill it with the inert gas, and the wafer stored in a front opening unified pod (FOUP) is transported to a processing chamber. The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device suitable for such a purpose.

Background Art

[0002] With the progress of wafer microfabrication technology, an ultra-clean environment in the wafer transfer chamber has been required. To achieve this, a device that seals the wafer transfer chamber and fills it with an inert gas has been developed, and related technologies have been patented.

[0003] An inert gas is injected into an FFU chamber installed above the wafer transfer chamber and equipped with an FFU, the inert gas is blown into the wafer transfer chamber by the FFU, the columns constituting the wafer transfer chamber are made hollow to form a flow path for the inert gas to return to the FFU chamber, and a circulation system that returns the inert gas blown into the wafer transfer chamber by the FFU to the FFU chamber is generally used. In the following description, the return flow path formed by making the columns constituting the wafer transfer chamber hollow is referred to as a column return duct.

[0004] As prior art documents related to such a wafer transfer device, Patent Documents 1 and 2 can be cited.

[0005] In Patent Document 1 described above, in a transfer chamber for transferring wafers between the processing chamber side using a transfer robot inside a housing, the housing has a transfer space for accommodating the transfer robot, a gas treatment space for accommodating a gas treatment device, and a return space for returning gas from the transfer space to the gas treatment space, and the transfer space, the gas treatment space, and the gas return space communicate to form a single sealed space to constitute a circulation path, and a plurality of fans are provided in the circulation path to form a circulation flow.

[0006] Furthermore, Patent Document 2, mentioned above, describes a substrate transport device comprising a ventilation drive chamber, a hoop receiving chamber, a drive equipment chamber, and a ventilation duct, wherein the ventilation drive chamber is equipped with a fan at its lower part for blowing air, the hoop receiving chamber is located below the ventilation drive chamber and receives hoops for storing wafers, the drive equipment chamber is located below the hoop receiving chamber, and the ventilation duct connects the hoop receiving chamber and the ventilation drive chamber, circulating air. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-7172 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-34724 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] Typically, the FFU, which houses the fan motor, is located within a sealed wafer handling chamber. This can lead to a problem where the motor and other electrical components of the FFU become heat sources, causing the temperature inside the wafer handling chamber to rise.

[0009] To suppress the temperature rise in the wafer transport chamber, it is necessary to reduce the fan speed and decrease the power consumption of the FFU. However, the fan speed depends on the system resistance, which is determined by the fluid pressure loss that occurs when circulating inert gas between the wafer transport chamber and the FFU chamber.

[0010] Lowering this system resistance allows the inert gas to be circulated with a fan at a lower rotation speed, reducing the FFU's power consumption and suppressing the temperature rise in the wafer handling chamber.

[0011] However, in order to reduce system resistance, it is necessary to enlarge the cross-sectional area of ​​the column return duct and lower the velocity of the inert gas flowing through the column return duct.

[0012] However, increasing the flow path cross-sectional area of ​​the column return duct means that the column return duct will become larger, and consequently the wafer transport chamber will also become larger, which means that more inert gas will need to be injected. Inert gas is generally an expensive gas such as nitrogen gas, and there is a need to minimize the amount injected.

[0013] Therefore, in order to suppress the temperature rise inside the wafer transport chamber, it is necessary to enlarge the wafer transport chamber, but on the other hand, this creates the problem of increasing the amount of inert gas that needs to be injected.

[0014] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and its object is to provide a wafer transport device that can reduce system resistance and suppress temperature rise inside the wafer transport chamber without changing the size of the wafer transport chamber. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] The wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention, in order to achieve the above objective, comprises a wafer transfer chamber equipped with a robot that transfers wafers between a hoop containing wafers and a processing chamber for processing the wafers; a door installed for people to enter and exit the wafer transfer chamber; and a fan and filter unit (FFU) chamber installed above the wafer transfer chamber for circulating inert gas into the wafer transfer chamber. The wafer transfer apparatus is configured such that a return channel for the inert gas is formed in a column constituting the wafer transfer chamber, with the column being hollow, in order to connect the FFU chamber and the wafer transfer chamber. A duct is provided on the wafer transfer chamber side of the door, and when the door is closed, the inert gas in the wafer transfer chamber flows into the FFU chamber through the duct. In addition, the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber passes through a column return duct, which is a return passage for the inert gas, with the column being hollow. The FFU chamber has a floor to support the fan and filter unit (FFU), and an FFU chamber communication hole is formed in the FFU chamber floor to connect the FFU chamber and the column return duct. The door is rotatable, and the door return duct, which has the duct installed in the door, has a ventilation hole for the inert gas to pass through. The duct installed in the door consists of an outer duct and an inner duct, the outer duct is fixed to the door, and the inner duct is configured to slide vertically relative to the outer duct. The door return duct is configured so that the height of the inlet hole for the inert gas to enter the ventilation passage of the duct can be adjusted. Characterized by mosquito, Alternatively, a wafer transport apparatus comprising: a wafer transport chamber equipped with a robot for transferring wafers between a hoop containing wafers and a processing chamber for processing the wafers; a door installed for people to enter and exit the wafer transport chamber; and a fan and filter unit (FFU) chamber installed above the wafer transport chamber for circulating inert gas into the wafer transport chamber, wherein a return channel for the inert gas is formed in a column constituting the wafer transport chamber, with the column being hollow, to connect the FFU chamber and the wafer transport chamber, and a duct is provided on the wafer transport chamber side of the door, and when the door is closed, the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber flows into the FFU chamber through the duct, and the door is rotatable, and The ventilation path formed in the duct is The side opposite to the side on which the aforementioned door is supported by rotation at the corner of the duct but cut and so that the cross-sectional shape is formed into a polygon, or The side opposite to the side on which the aforementioned door is supported by rotation R is provided at the corner of the duct and the cross-sectional shape is formed into a streamline shape.

Advantages of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, without changing the size of the wafer transfer chamber, the system resistance can be reduced and the temperature rise in the wafer transfer chamber can be suppressed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017] [Figure 1] It is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of Example 1 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer chamber constituting Example 1 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is a perspective view showing the operation of opening the door installed in the wafer transfer chamber shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] It is a perspective view showing the wafer transfer chamber in a state where the door provided with the duct in Example 1 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention is opened. [Figure 5] It is a perspective view showing the wafer transfer chamber in which the upper part of the FFU chamber in Example 1 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention is cut. [Figure 6] It is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer chamber constituting Example 2 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention. [Figure 7] It is a perspective view showing a door return duct adopted in Example 2 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention. [Figure 8] It is a perspective view showing a door return duct adopted in Example 3 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a perspective view showing the wafer transfer chamber in a state where the door return duct in Example 1 of the wafer transfer device of the present invention is opened. [Figure 10]This is a perspective view showing an example of a wafer transport chamber in an open state with the door return duct of Embodiment 4 of the wafer transport apparatus of the present invention. [Figure 11] This is a perspective view showing another example of the door return duct in Embodiment 4 of the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention, with the wafer transfer chamber in an open state. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0018] The wafer transport apparatus of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiments. In each embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the same components. [Examples]

[0019] Figure 1 shows a schematic configuration of Embodiment 1 of the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, the wafer transfer device of this embodiment is generally composed of a wafer transfer chamber 1 equipped with a robot 4 that transfers wafers 13 between a hoop 2 in which wafers 13 are stored and a processing chamber 3 for processing wafers 13, and an FFU chamber 5 installed above the wafer transfer chamber 1 that flows inert gas into the wafer transfer chamber 1. In order to connect the FFU chamber 5 and the wafer transfer chamber 1, a return channel for inert gas (the portion of the column return duct 7 described later is the return channel) is formed in the column that makes up the wafer transfer chamber 1, with the column being hollow.

[0021] Specifically, the wafer transport room 1 is equipped with a robot 4 that takes out the wafers 13 stored in the hoop 2 and transports them to the processing room 3 where the wafers 13 are processed. This robot 4 also plays a role in taking out the processed wafers 13 from the processing room 3 and returning them to the hoop 2.

[0022] Above the wafer transport chamber 1 is an FFU chamber 5, and inside this FFU chamber 5 is an FFU 6 equipped with a fan and filter for circulating gas.

[0023] In order to fill the wafer transport chamber 1 with inert gas, inert gas is injected into the FFU chamber 5, and this inert gas is blown into the wafer transport chamber 1 by the FFU 6. The inert gas blown into the wafer transport chamber 1 passes through the column return duct 7, which is formed by hollowing out the columns in the wafer transport chamber 1 (the parts that form spaces between the parts that form spaces at the four corners of the wafer transport chamber 1 and the parts that form spaces at the four corners of the long side as shown in Figure 5 below), and is then blown into the FFU chamber 5.

[0024] Furthermore, the FFU room 5 has an FFU room floor 8 to support the FFU 6, and an FFU room communication hole 9 is formed in this FFU room floor 8 to connect the FFU room 5 and the column return duct 7.

[0025] In this way, a system is established in which inert gas circulates between the wafer transport chamber 1 and the FFU chamber 5.

[0026] Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the wafer transport chamber 1 described above.

[0027] As shown in Figure 2, the wafer transport room 1 is equipped with a door 10 for people to enter and exit the wafer transport room 1. This door 10 is a rotary door, and as shown in Figure 3, the rotary door 10 can be opened by operating as indicated by the arrow.

[0028] In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, a duct 11 is provided on the wafer transport chamber 1 side of the door 10, and when the door 10 is closed (see Figure 5), the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber 1 flows into the FFU chamber 5 through the duct 11. The door equipped with the duct 11 on the rotating door 10 described above is called a door return duct 11a. This door return duct 11a has ventilation holes 12 formed therein for the inert gas to pass through.

[0029] Figure 5 shows the wafer transport chamber 1 with the upper part of the FFU chamber 5 of this embodiment cut off.

[0030] As shown in Figure 5, the floor 8 of the FFU room supporting the FFU 6 has an FFU room communication hole 14a formed in the column return duct 7 to connect the FFU room 5 and the column return duct 7. Furthermore, the duct 11 has an FFU room communication hole 14b formed in the duct 11 to connect the FFU room 5 and the door return duct 11a.

[0031] When the door 10 is closed, the cross-sectional shape of the ventilation passage of the door return duct 11a and the cross-sectional shape of the FFU room communication hole 14b of the duct 11 to the FFU room 5 are approximately the same, allowing the inert gas to return to the FFU room 5 through the duct 11 and the FFU room communication hole 14b. In other words, a circulation system can be constructed in which the inert gas flows through both the column return duct 7 and the door return duct 11a and returns to the FFU room 5.

[0032] Adding the door return duct 11a does not increase the size of the wafer transport chamber 1. In other words, since the velocity of the inert gas flowing through the column return duct 7 can be reduced without changing the size of the wafer transport chamber 1, the system resistance is reduced, and the power consumption of the FFU 6 can be reduced.

[0033] The cross-sectional shape of the FFU room communication hole 14b in the duct 11 leading to the FFU room 5 and the cross-sectional shape of the ventilation passage in the door return duct 11a do not need to be exactly the same; it is sufficient that there are overlapping parts that allow an inert gas to pass through.

[0034] In this embodiment, the wafer transport room 1 is equipped with a revolving door 10 for people to enter and exit, and a duct 11 is attached to this door 10 so that inert gas can pass through the duct 11. Furthermore, there is an FFU room floor 8 at the bottom of the FFU room 5 for installing the FFU 6, and this FFU room floor 8 separates the FFU room 5 from the wafer transport room 1. In the case of a sealed wafer transport room 1, the inert gas returns to the FFU room 5 through the column return duct 7, so an FFU room communication hole 14a is provided in the FFU room floor 8 that separates the FFU room 5 from the wafer transport room 1 at the location of the column return duct 7, and the inert gas can return to the FFU room 5 through this FFU room communication hole 14a and the column return duct 7 which is installed to match it, and the inert gas can circulate between the FFU room 5 and the wafer transport room 1.

[0035] Furthermore, in order to allow the inert gas to return to the FFU room 5 through the door return duct 11a, an FFU room communication hole 14b is provided in the FFU room floor 8 that separates the FFU room 5, where the door return duct 11a is located, from the wafer transport room 1, when the revolving door 10 is closed.

[0036] This allows the inert gas to return to the FFU room 5 not only through the column return duct 7 but also through the door return duct 11a, and since the velocity of the inert gas in each return duct is reduced, the system resistance can be reduced.

[0037] Furthermore, since the structure involves attaching the duct 11 to the door 10, the size of the wafer transport chamber 1 remains unchanged while reducing system resistance. [Examples]

[0038] Figures 6 and 7 show an embodiment 2 of the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention.

[0039] As shown in Figure 6, in this embodiment, an observation window 15 is installed in the door 10 (door return duct 11a) and duct 11, allowing observation of the inside of the wafer transport room 1 from outside the wafer transport room 1.

[0040] Specifically, a door-side observation window 15a is provided on the door 10 (door return duct 11a) side, and a duct-side observation window 15b is provided on the duct 11 side. Transparent acrylic or glass materials are used for the components of the door-side observation window 15a and the duct-side observation window 15b.

[0041] Even with this configuration of the embodiment, the same effects as in Embodiment 1 can be obtained, and moreover, the inside of the wafer transport chamber 1 can be observed from outside the wafer transport chamber 1. [Examples]

[0042] Figure 8 shows an embodiment 3 of the wafer transport apparatus of the present invention.

[0043] In this embodiment shown in the figure, the door return duct 16 is configured such that the height of the inlet hole through which the inert gas enters the ventilation passage of the duct 11 can be adjusted.

[0044] Specifically, the duct 11 installed in the door 10 consists of an outer duct 16a and an inner duct 16b. The outer duct 16a is fixed to the door 10, and the inner duct 16b is configured to slide vertically relative to the outer duct 16a.

[0045] Normally, the inert gas blown into the wafer transport chamber 1 flows through the inlet hole shown in Figure 8 (although not directly visible, the inlet hole is located at the bottom of the inner duct 16b in Figure 8) and through the ventilation passage of the door return duct 16.

[0046] In this embodiment, the door 10 is fitted with two ducts, an outer duct 16a and an inner duct 16b. Furthermore, the outer duct 16a is fixed to the door 10, while the inner duct 16b is designed to slide vertically relative to the outer duct 16a by hand, allowing the height of the entrance hole 17 (the distance between the bottom of the door 10 and the bottom of the inner duct 16b) to be changed.

[0047] While a larger inlet hole height 17 reduces the system resistance for circulating the inert gas, it also reduces the downward flow velocity in the wafer transport chamber 1 at the height where the wafer 13 is transported from the hoop 2 to the processing chamber 3, making it easier for fine particles to adhere to the wafer 13.

[0048] Therefore, by making the inner duct 16b a structure that can slide vertically, as in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same effects as in Embodiment 1, and also to change the inlet hole height 17 while adjusting both the system resistance and the downdraft velocity. [Examples]

[0049] Figures 10 and 11 show an embodiment 4 of the wafer transfer apparatus of the present invention.

[0050] Figure 9 shows the door 10 equipped with the duct 11 of the above-described embodiment 1 in an open state.

[0051] In the configuration of Embodiment 1 shown in Figure 9, if the cross-sectional shape of the airflow path of the door return duct 11a is large, the duct corner 18 may interfere with the wall or pillar of the wafer transport chamber 1 when the door 10 is opened and closed. On the other hand, in order to minimize system resistance, there is a requirement to make the cross-sectional shape of the airflow path of the door return duct 11a as large as possible.

[0052] Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 10, in order to prevent interference between the duct corner 18 shown in Figure 9 and the walls and columns of the wafer transport chamber 1, the ventilation passage formed inside the duct 11 is constructed as a polygonal duct 19, which has a polygonal cross-sectional shape formed by cutting the duct corner 18 shown in Figure 9.

[0053] In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the airflow path of the door return duct 11a to which the polygonal duct 19 is attached is a pentagon, which is a polygon.

[0054] Furthermore, the duct corner 18 shown in Figure 9 may have any streamlined shape as shown in Figure 11. That is, as shown in Figure 11, the ventilation passage formed inside the duct 11 is made up of a streamlined duct 20, which has a streamlined cross-sectional shape formed by adding a radius (R) to the duct corner 18, resulting in a door return duct 20a equipped with a streamlined duct.

[0055] As described above, even with the configuration of this embodiment, the same effects as in Embodiment 1 can be obtained. Furthermore, by installing a polygonal or streamlined duct with a high degree of freedom in shape on the door 10, it is possible to maximize the flow path cross-sectional area of ​​the ventilation passage while preventing interference between the duct and the walls and columns of the wafer transport room 1.

[0056] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail to make the present invention easier to understand, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace parts of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add configurations from other embodiments to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace parts of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0057] 1...Wafer transport room, 2...Hoop (FUOP), 3...Processing room, 4...Robot, 5...FFU (Fan and Filter Unit) room, 6...FFU, 7...Column return duct, 8...FFU room floor, 9...FFU room communication hole, 10...Door, 11...Duct, 11a, 16...Door return duct, 12...Ventilation hole, 13...Wafer, 14a...FFU room communication hole of column return duct to FFU room, 14b...FFU room communication hole of duct to FFU room, 15...Observation window, 15a...Door side observation window, 15b...Duct side observation window, 16a...Outer duct, 16b...Inner duct, 17...Inlet hole height, 18...Duct corner, 19...Polygonal duct, 20...Streamlined duct, 20a...Door return duct equipped with a streamlined duct.

Claims

1. The wafer transport chamber includes a robot that transfers wafers between a hoop containing wafers and a processing chamber for processing the wafers, a door installed for people to enter and exit the wafer transport chamber, and a fan and filter unit (FFU) chamber installed above the wafer transport chamber for circulating inert gas into the wafer transport chamber. A wafer transport apparatus in which, in order to connect the FFU chamber and the wafer transport chamber, a return channel for the inert gas is formed in a column constituting the wafer transport chamber, with the column being hollow, A duct is provided on the wafer transport chamber side of the door, and when the door is closed, the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber flows into the FFU chamber through the duct, The inert gas in the wafer transport chamber passes through a column return duct, which is a return path for the inert gas, with the column being hollow. The FFU room has a floor to support the fan and filter unit (FFU), and the FFU room floor has an FFU room communication hole formed therein to connect the FFU room and the column return duct. The door is of the rotating type, and the door return duct, which has the duct in the door, has ventilation holes formed for the inert gas to pass through. A wafer transfer device characterized in that the duct installed in the door is composed of an outer duct and an inner duct, the outer duct is fixed to the door, the inner duct is configured to slide vertically relative to the outer duct, and the door return duct is configured so that the height of the inlet hole for the inert gas to enter the ventilation passage of the duct can be adjusted.

2. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 1, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that the floor of the FFU chamber has a communication hole formed therein for the column return duct to connect to the FFU chamber, and the door return duct has a communication hole formed therein for the duct to connect to the FFU chamber, in order to connect the FFU chamber and the door return duct.

3. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 2, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that, when the door is closed, the cross-sectional shape of the ventilation passage of the door return duct and the cross-sectional shape of the communication hole of the duct to the FFU chamber are substantially the same.

4. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 1, A wafer transport apparatus characterized in that the door and the duct are equipped with observation windows that allow observation of the inside of the wafer transport chamber.

5. A wafer transfer chamber equipped with a robot for transferring wafers between a hoop containing wafers and a processing chamber for processing the wafers; a door installed for people to enter and exit the wafer transfer chamber; and a fan and filter unit (FFU) chamber installed above the wafer transfer chamber for circulating inert gas into the wafer transfer chamber, A wafer transport apparatus in which, in order to connect the FFU chamber and the wafer transport chamber, a return channel for the inert gas is formed in a column constituting the wafer transport chamber, with the column being hollow, A duct is provided on the wafer transport chamber side of the door, and when the door is closed, the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber flows into the FFU chamber through the duct. A wafer transport apparatus characterized in that the door is of the rotating type, and the ventilation passage formed in the duct is such that the corner of the duct on the side opposite to the side on which the door is rotatably supported is cut to form a polygonal cross-sectional shape, or the corner of the duct on the side opposite to the side on which the door is rotatably supported is rounded to form a streamlined cross-sectional shape.

6. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 5, A wafer transport apparatus characterized in that the inert gas in the wafer transport chamber passes through a column return duct, which is a return passage for the inert gas, by making the column hollow.

7. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 6, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that the FFU chamber has a floor for supporting the fan and filter unit (FFU), and the FFU chamber floor has an FFU chamber communication hole formed therein for connecting the FFU chamber and the column return duct.

8. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 7, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that the door return duct, which has the duct in the door, has ventilation holes formed therein for the inert gas to pass through.

9. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 8, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that the floor of the FFU chamber has a communication hole formed therein for the column return duct to connect to the FFU chamber, and the door return duct has a communication hole formed therein for the duct to connect to the FFU chamber, in order to connect the FFU chamber and the door return duct.

10. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 9, A wafer transfer apparatus characterized in that, when the door is closed, the cross-sectional shape of the ventilation passage of the door return duct and the cross-sectional shape of the communication hole of the duct to the FFU chamber are substantially the same.

11. A wafer transport apparatus according to claim 5, A wafer transport apparatus characterized in that the door and the duct are equipped with observation windows that allow observation of the inside of the wafer transport chamber.

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