JP4771421B2 - Holding device and substrate delivery method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a holding device and a substrate delivery method applied to a stage for supporting a substrate or a robot for transferring an object to be processed such as a semiconductor substrate.

  Conventionally, in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, a substrate transfer robot having an articulated arm has been used. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of this type of conventional substrate transfer robot. The substrate transport robot 1 includes a drive unit 2, an articulated arm 3 connected to the drive unit 2, and a hand 4 connected to the tip of the arm 3. The hand 4 supports the back surface of the substrate on its upper surface, transports the substrate between a plurality of processing chambers such as a film formation chamber and an etching chamber, and transfers the substrate to and from a stage, a substrate storage cassette, and the like.

  On the upper surface of the hand 4 configured as a support surface of the substrate, as shown in FIG. These holding portions 5 are formed of an elastic material such as rubber and have a non-slip function with respect to the back surface of the substrate W. Thereby, the stable conveyance attitude | position of the board | substrate W is hold | maintained on the upper surface of the hand 4 (for example, refer patent document 1 below).

  On the other hand, vacuum chucks, electrostatic chucks, mechanical chucks, and the like are known as substrate holding methods on a stage that supports a substrate in a processing chamber. There is also a method for holding the substrate by utilizing the adhesiveness of a rubber material made of fluorine rubber, silicone rubber, or the like. For example, in Patent Document 2 below, a plurality of O-rings are arranged so that their central axes are parallel to the stage surface, and the back surface of the substrate is adhesively supported by the peripheral surfaces of these O-rings, thereby shifting the position of the substrate. A configuration to prevent is disclosed.

JP 9-246353 A JP 2006-86427 A

  In the substrate transport robot having the conventional configuration described above, the configuration in which the plurality of holding portions 5 are arranged on the support surface of the hand 4 can provide a certain anti-slip effect on the back surface of the substrate, but acceleration and vibration above a certain level. However, there is a disadvantage that high-speed conveyance of the substrate cannot be realized. For this reason, the productivity cannot be significantly improved.

  On the other hand, the vacuum chuck system has a problem that it cannot be used in a vacuum atmosphere. In addition, the electrostatic chuck method can be used even in a vacuum atmosphere, but there is a problem in that productivity cannot be improved because it takes time to remove static electricity from the substrate during dechucking (electrostatic chuck release). Furthermore, the mechanical chuck method is advantageous over vacuum chucks and electrostatic chucks in that it can be used in vacuum and can be de-chucked quickly, but the mechanical clamp method has a problem of generating dust. is there.

  Furthermore, in the substrate holding method using the adhesiveness of the elastic material, the elastic material may stick to the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is delivered, and this causes the substrate to vibrate and cause misalignment. There are problems such as generating dust.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. The holding device and the substrate delivery that can improve the holding property of the substrate, do not generate dust, are excellent in productivity, and can smoothly deliver the substrate. It is an object to provide a method.

  In solving the above problems, the holding device of the present invention includes a support surface that supports an object to be processed, and a holding portion that is provided on at least a part of the support surface, and the holding portion has a large voltage. It is characterized by comprising a functional adhesive element whose adhesive strength is variable depending on the thickness.

  Thus, by configuring the holding portion provided on the support surface with the functional adhesive element, it is possible to electrically control the holding force with respect to the object to be processed. Smooth delivery of processed products can be realized.

  In the present invention, examples of the object to be processed include plate-like parts such as a semiconductor substrate and a glass substrate, but of course not limited thereto. The support surface corresponds to the upper surface of a hand that supports a substrate in a transport mechanism such as a substrate transport robot. Further, the support surface can be constituted by the upper surface of the stage on which the workpiece is transferred from the transport mechanism that transports the workpiece. In this case, the functional adhesive element is located above the stage upper surface itself or the stage upper surface. It is provided at the tip of the lifter pin that can project to the rear.

  Here, as the functional adhesive element, an adhesive element utilizing an electrorheological effect can be suitably used. In this element, electrorheological particles are dispersed in a gel-like electrically insulating medium, and the aggregation property of the particles on the surface of the medium is controlled by the magnitude of the voltage. Therefore, if the gel-like medium is made of an adhesive material, the adhesiveness on the surface of the medium can be varied depending on the applied voltage.

On the other hand, the substrate delivery method of the present invention is a substrate delivery method for delivering a substrate between a transport mechanism for transporting a substrate and a stage for processing the substrate,
A functional adhesive element whose adhesive strength is variable depending on the magnitude of voltage is disposed on at least a part of the substrate support surface of the hand of the transport mechanism,
When the substrate is transported by the transport mechanism, the substrate is held by the adhesive force of the functional adhesive element, and when the substrate is transferred to the stage, the adhesive force of the functional adhesive element is lost.

Preferably, the functional adhesive element is also arranged at the tip of the lifter pin that can protrude upward from the upper surface of the stage,
When supporting the substrate with the lifter pin, hold the substrate with the adhesive force of the functional adhesive element of the lifter pin, and when transferring the substrate to the transport mechanism, the adhesive force of the functional adhesive element of the lifter pin Disappear.

  Accordingly, the substrate can be smoothly transferred by preventing the occurrence of vibration and positional deviation of the substrate due to the attachment between the holding portion and the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is transferred. In addition, by increasing the adhesiveness of the holding unit after receiving the substrate, it is possible to maintain a stable transport posture of the substrate and realize high-speed transport of the substrate.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the adhesiveness of the substrate in the holding unit, so that it is possible to improve the holding property of the substrate and realize high-speed conveyance of the substrate. In addition, the substrate can be smoothly transferred without causing a positional shift of the substrate.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. A hand 11 of a substrate transfer robot (transfer mechanism) 10 that transfers a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter also simply referred to as “substrate”) W as an object to be processed, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a stage 12 on which a substrate W is transferred from the substrate transfer robot 10. The substrate transfer robot 10 and the stage 12 are specific examples of the “holding device” according to the present invention.

  The substrate transfer robot 10 shows only the portion of the hand 12. However, like the conventional substrate transfer robot described with reference to FIG. 6, the substrate transfer robot 10 includes a drive unit, an articulated arm, and the like. It is connected to the tip of the arm.

  The hand 11 is formed in a fork shape, and its upper surface is a support surface 11 a that supports the back surface of the substrate W. The support surface 11 a of the hand 11 is provided with a plurality of holding portions 13 that come into contact with predetermined locations on the back surface of the substrate W. These holding | maintenance parts 13 are comprised by the functional adhesive element which can control adhesive force electrically. In addition, although the holding | maintenance part 13 is protrudingly formed with respect to the support surface 11a in the figure, you may be comprised in the same surface as the support surface 11a. Details of the functional adhesive element will be described later.

  On the other hand, the stage 12 is installed inside a vacuum chamber (not shown) that forms a processing chamber such as a film formation chamber or an etching chamber, and a substrate W transferred via the substrate transfer robot 10 is provided on the upper surface thereof. The support surface 12a to which is transferred is configured. The support surface 12a is formed with an area larger than that of the substrate W, and a plurality of lifter pins 14 are disposed at a substantially central portion thereof.

  The lifter pin 14 is retracted inside the stage 12 during normal processing such as substrate processing, and is configured to protrude upward from the upper surface 12a of the stage 12 as shown in FIG. ing. And the holding | maintenance part 15 which consists of a functional adhesive element similarly to the holding | maintenance part 13 of the hand 11 is provided in the front-end | tip part of these lifter pins 14. As shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the holding portion 13 of the hand 11 and the holding portion 15 of the lifter pin 14. The holding parts 13 and 15 can be configured by a functional adhesive element 20 that can change the adhesive force depending on the magnitude of the voltage (see, for example, JP-A-2005-255701).

  This functional adhesive element 20 is an element that utilizes an electrorheological effect (ER effect), and includes a medium 21 made of a gel-like electrically insulating material, electrorheological particles 22 dispersed in the medium 21, and a voltage applied to the particles 22. A pair of electrodes 23a and 23b. The particles 22 are not particularly limited as long as they are dispersed in the medium 21 and exhibit an electrorheological effect. The particles 22 are solid particles such as silica gel, carbon particles, a core material of an organic polymer compound, and a surface layer of electrosemiconductor inorganic particles. The composite type particle | grains which consist of, etc. can be used.

  In particular, in the functional adhesive element 20 in the present embodiment, the medium 21 is made of an adhesive material. Examples of such an adhesive material include a fluorine resin and a silicone resin. Also, one surface 21A of the medium 21 is an electrode forming surface on which the pair of electrodes 23a and 23b is arranged, and the other surface 21B has an adhesive force due to the voltage between the pair of electrodes 23a and 23b. The adhesive force control surface is controlled.

  A predetermined voltage source 24 is connected between the electrode 23a and the electrode 23b, and a voltage OFF state shown in FIG. 2A and a voltage ON state shown in FIG. The voltage source 24 may be a DC power supply or an AC power supply. The arrangement example of the electrodes 23a and 23b is not particularly limited. For example, in addition to the configuration in which the two electrodes 23a and 23b are arranged opposite to each other in parallel as shown in FIG. 3A, as shown in FIG. A configuration example in which the other electrode 23b is disposed on the electrode, a configuration example in which the electrodes 23a and 23b are bent in the electrode formation surface 21A, as shown in FIG. The voltage on / off operation for the electrodes 23a and 23b is performed, for example, in the substrate transport robot 10 and the main body control unit of the stage 12, respectively.

  When the functional adhesive element 20 is in the voltage-off state shown in FIG. 2A, the particles 22 are dispersed with a certain inter-particle distance due to the viscoelasticity of the medium 21, and a stable state in which the particles 22 protrude from the surface of the medium 21 is obtained. . Thereby, the adhesive force of the adhesive force control surface 21B disappears. On the other hand, when the voltage is on as shown in FIG. 2B, the particles 22 generate dielectric polarization and aggregate on the lines of electric force, and the particles 22 distributed on the surface of the medium 21 are buried inside the medium 21. As a result, the adhesive force control surface 21 </ b> B is configured by the surface of the medium 21, whereby a certain adhesive force is expressed. It is also possible to adjust the amount of protrusion of the particles 22 relative to the surface of the medium 21 and change the adhesive force of the adhesive force control surface 21B by changing the magnitude of the voltage.

  Next, a method for transferring the substrate W between the substrate transport robot 10 configured as described above and the stage 12 will be described. Although the delivery of the substrate W is performed in a vacuum atmosphere, the delivery of the substrate in the air may be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate W is supported by the hand 11 of the substrate transport robot 10. At this time, the functional adhesive elements 20 constituting the holding portions 13 provided on the support surface 11a of the hand 11 are in a voltage-on state as shown in FIG. 2B, and the adhesive force control surface 21B is an adhesive medium. Since the constituent material 21 is dominant, it adheres to the back surface of the substrate W with a certain adhesive force. As a result, the substrate W can be supported with a high holding force on the support surface 11a of the hand 11, so that high-speed conveyance is possible and productivity can be improved.

  Next, a transfer method from the substrate transfer robot 11 to the stage 12 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, each lifter pin 14 of the stage 12 stands by in a state of protruding upward from the support surface 12 a of the stage 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate transfer robot 10 stops the substrate W at a position immediately above the lifter pins 14. As shown in FIG. 4, the gap between the forks constituting the hand 11 is configured to be larger than the region where the lifter pins 14 are arranged. Accordingly, when the hand 11 is lowered by a predetermined distance from a position directly above the stage 12, the substrate W supported by the hand 11 comes into contact with the tip of the lifter pin 14 and is transferred from the hand 11 to the lifter pin 14.

  When the substrate is transferred from the hand 11 to the lifter pin 14, the functional adhesive element 20 constituting the holding unit 13 of the hand 11 is switched from the voltage on state shown in FIG. 2B to the voltage off state shown in FIG. The adhesive force of the force control surface 21B is lost. Thereby, sticking between the hand 11 and the substrate W after the transfer of the substrate W onto the lifter pin 14 can be prevented, and a stable transfer operation can be ensured by avoiding the vibration and displacement of the substrate W. it can.

  On the other hand, in the functional adhesive element 20 constituting the holding portion 15 provided at the tip portion of each lifter pin 14, the voltage is turned on (FIG. 2B) when the substrate W is transferred, and on the lifter pin 14. The substrate W is supported with high adhesive strength. The voltage on operation of the holding unit 15 may be performed immediately before the transfer of the substrate W or may be performed immediately after the transfer.

  After the substrate W is transferred from the hand 11 to the lifter pin 14, the hand 11 is retracted from the position immediately above the stage 12 to the outside of the processing chamber. Thereafter, the lifter pins 14 are lowered and the back surface of the substrate W is supported by the support surface 12 a of the stage 12. At this time, the lifter pins 14 continue to support the adhesion of the substrate W, and the lowering operation is stopped when the support surface of the substrate W coincides with the upper surface 12a of the stage 12.

  After the predetermined processing (film formation, etching, etc.) of the substrate W on the stage 12 is completed, the substrate W is transferred to the next process by the substrate transfer robot 10. At this time, the lifter pins 14 protrude upward from the support surface 12 a of the stage 12, and the substrate W is adhesively supported only by the holding portions 15 of the lifter pins 14. Then, the hand 11 of the substrate transport robot 10 moves directly below the back surface of the substrate W, rises a predetermined distance, and receives the substrate W from the tip of the lifter pin 14.

  At this time, the functional adhesive element 20 constituting the holding portion 15 of the lifter pin 14 is switched to a voltage-off state (FIG. 2A), and the adhesive force of the adhesive force control surface 21B is lost, whereby the substrate W to the hand 11 is removed. Transfer can be performed smoothly. On the other hand, the functional adhesive element 20 constituting the holding unit 13 of the hand 11 is switched to the voltage-on state (FIG. 2B), and the substrate W is transported in a state where the back surface of the substrate W is adhesively supported by the adhesive force control surface 21. .

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the adhesive force of the holding portion 13 of the hand 11 and the holding portion 15 of the lifter pin 14 can be arbitrarily adjusted, so that the substrate can be held in a vacuum. Substrate delivery can be performed quickly with almost no time required for dechucking the substrate. Further, since there is no concern that dust is generated when the substrate is delivered, contamination of the processing chamber can be prevented.

  Furthermore, according to this embodiment, since the adhesive force of the holding part 13 of the hand 11 and the holding part 15 of the lifter pin 14 can be arbitrarily adjusted, high-speed conveyance of the substrate W can be realized and productivity can be improved. In addition to ensuring the smooth transfer of the substrate between the hand 11 and the lifter pin 14, it is possible to avoid the vibration and displacement of the substrate during delivery.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, of course, this invention is not limited to this, A various deformation | transformation is possible based on the technical idea of this invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the holding portions 13 are scattered and arranged on a part of the support surface 11a of the hand 11, and the back surface of the substrate W is adhesively supported by these holding portions. For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 5, a functional adhesive element 17 may be provided over the entire support surface 11 a of the hand 11. Thereby, the adhesiveness retention property with respect to the board | substrate W can be improved further.

  In the configuration of FIG. 5, if the functional adhesive elements 17 formed on the entire support surface 11 a are arranged in a matrix so that local voltage driving can be performed for each area, the adhesive support area of the substrate W can be arbitrarily set. For example, an adhesive support region can be defined in accordance with the size of an object to be processed such as the substrate W.

  Similarly, the stage 12 may be provided not only with the front end portion of the lifter pin 14 but also with a holding portion made of the functional adhesive element having the above-described configuration over a part or the entire area of the stage surface 12a. In this case, when supporting the substrate on the stage surface, hold the substrate with the adhesive force of the holding portion of the stage surface, and when transferring the substrate to the transport mechanism, eliminate the adhesive force of the holding portion of the stage surface. Thus, smooth substrate transfer can be realized.

It is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a hand and a stage of a substrate transfer robot as a holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure and effect | action of a functional adhesive element which comprises the holding | maintenance part of the holding | maintenance apparatus (hand and stage) shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of an electrode structure of the functional adhesive element shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a principal part showing a substrate transfer process between the substrate transfer robot and the stage shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of a structure of the hand as a holding | maintenance apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional board | substrate conveyance robot. It is a perspective view which shows the hand of the conventional board | substrate conveyance robot shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 substrate transfer robot 11 hand 11a support surface 12 stage 12a support surface (stage surface)
13 (Hand) holding part 14 Lifter pin 15 (Lifter pin) holding part 17 Holding part

Claims (5)

A support surface that supports the object to be processed and a plurality of lifter pins that can protrude upward from the support surface, and the object to be processed is transferred from the transport mechanism that transports the object to be processed to the support surface. Stage,
A holding device comprising: a holding portion made of a functional adhesive element that is provided at a tip portion of each of the plurality of lifter pins and whose adhesive force is variable depending on the magnitude of voltage . The functional adhesive element includes an electrically insulating adhesive medium, electrorheological particles dispersed in the adhesive medium, and a pair of electrodes for applying a voltage to the adhesive medium. Holding device. One surface of the adhesive medium is an electrode arrangement surface on which the pair of electrodes are arranged,
The holding device according to claim 2 , wherein the other surface of the adhesive medium is an adhesive force control surface in which an adhesive force is controlled by a magnitude of a voltage between the pair of electrodes. A substrate delivery method for delivering the substrate between a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate and a stage for processing the substrate,
The first functional adhesive element whose adhesive force is variable depending on the magnitude of voltage is disposed on at least a part of the substrate support surface of the hand of the transport mechanism,
A second functional adhesive element whose adhesive force is variable depending on the magnitude of the voltage is arranged at the tip of the lifter pin that can protrude upward from the upper surface of the stage,
Wherein when transporting the substrate in the transport mechanism, the first to hold the substrate in adhesive strength of the functional adhesive element, when transferring the substrate to the stage, the first functional adhesive element Disappears the adhesive strength of
When the substrate is supported by the lifter pin, the substrate is held by the adhesive force of the second functional adhesive element, and when the substrate is transferred to the transport mechanism, the second functional adhesive. A substrate delivery method for eliminating the adhesive strength of an element . A third functional adhesive element whose adhesive force is variable depending on the magnitude of voltage is disposed on at least a part of the upper surface of the stage;
When the substrate is supported on the upper surface of the stage, the substrate is held by the adhesive force of the third functional adhesive element, and when the substrate is transferred to the transport mechanism, the third functionality The substrate delivery method according to claim 4 , wherein the adhesive force of the adhesive element is lost.

Images