JPS6253948B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a wafer storage jig.

Wafer storage jigs are widely used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, but due to advances in manufacturing equipment in recent years, most manufacturing equipment has installed wafer storage jigs inside the manufacturing equipment to automatically take out and process wafers. After that, it is stored in a jig, a so-called cassette-to-cassette method.

In these manufacturing equipment, flat notches (hereinafter referred to as
The wafers are often placed in a storage jig in a matched state, but at this time, the wafer rotates due to vibration etc. in the storage jig, causing the matched OF to shift, causing mechanical trouble. This often results in loss of uniformity.

In addition, when wafers placed in a storage jig are transported, the storage jig and the edges of the wafer constantly come into contact with each other, resulting in scratches on the grooves of the wafer and the storage jig, which become dust and adhere to the wafer surface. This tends to lead to a decrease in yield.

Furthermore, as the diameter of the wafers increases, the contact between the wafers in the storage jig increases, so it is recommended to increase the spacing between the structural parts to prevent scratches and to ensure sufficient penetration of liquid between wafers during wet processing. If this is the case, there is a drawback that the number of wafers that can be stored in a storage jig of a fixed size is reduced.

The present invention was devised to eliminate these drawbacks, and has a wafer holding part on the top of the wafer storage jig to suppress the movement of the wafer, which prevents the above drawbacks. Therefore, it is possible to keep the wafers parallel to each other, so even in the case of large diameter wafers, problems caused by contact between wafers can be solved.

That is, a feature of the present invention is that a plurality of pairs of grooves facing each other are provided at an interval wider than the diameter of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer having a partially flat cut, and a plurality of wafers are inserted into these grooves. In the wafer storage jig, a rectangular opening is provided in the side member forming the groove portion over almost the entire length in the longitudinal direction, and the wafer storage jig is rotatable within the opening, and is stored by a spring action. A wafer holding plate is provided above the wafer that is movable and has a groove corresponding to the groove of the side member, and when storing the wafer, the wafer is moved to the upper part of the stored wafer by the action of the spring. Each wafer is inserted into the groove of the holding plate, so that the wafers are kept parallel to each other, and the plurality of wafers stored at intervals are simultaneously held and held by the wafer holding plate. This wafer storage jig is capable of transferring wafers by applying force to the wafer holding plate, rotating it, and moving it out of the upper part of the wafer.

The present invention will be explained below using examples.

1 and 2 illustrate the principle of the invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes plates installed in the jig in parallel to each other and having grooves 2 on their inner surfaces. Reference numeral 3 designates a plate that interconnects the two plates, 4 a plate that presses the wafer, and 5 a spring 6 that presses the plate that presses the wafer.

When storing the wafer, the wafer 6 is held down below the storage jig by the upper part of the wafer 4, so that the wafer does not move or rotate. When moving the wafer, it can be easily moved by pressing the lower part of 4, and it is also possible to install a mechanism for moving 4 in the manufacturing equipment. Further, 4 may be present not only on one side but also on both sides.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention.

Reference numeral 7 denotes plates installed in the jig in parallel with each other and having grooves 8 on their inner surfaces. Reference numeral 9 denotes a plate that interconnects the two plates, 10 a plate for holding down a wafer and having a groove 11 corresponding to the groove 8, and 12 a wafer. When the wafers are stored, the wafers 12 are held parallel to the grooves 8 by the ten grooves 11, so that appropriate parallel spacing is maintained between the wafers, and even large diameter wafers can be subjected to uniform wet processing. As described above, according to the present invention, the wafers do not shift and the generation of dust can be minimized, and the wafer spacing can be kept constant and parallel, so even wet processing etc. can be uniformly processed, and large diameter wafers can be processed. It is fully compatible with cassette-to-cassette conversion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the principle of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. FIG. 3 is a top view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1, 7... storage jig main body, 2, 8...
Groove portion, 3, 9... Connection plate, 4, 10... Wafer holding plate, 5... Spring, 11... Groove portion of holding plate, 6, 12...
A semiconductor wafer is shown.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pairs of grooves facing each other are provided at an interval wider than the diameter of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer having a partially flat cut, and a plurality of wafers are accommodated in these grooves. In the wafer storage jig, a rectangular opening is provided in the side member forming the groove portion over almost the entire length thereof, and the side member is rotatable within the opening, and the upper part of the storage wafer is movable by a spring action. A wafer holding plate is provided, which has a groove corresponding to the groove of the side member, and when storing the wafer, the grooves of the wafer holding plate, which are moved above the stored wafer by the action of the spring, are provided. A plurality of wafers are inserted, and a plurality of wafers, which are kept parallel to each other and stored at intervals, are simultaneously held and held by the wafer holding plate, and when transferring wafers, a force is applied to the wafer holding plate. In addition, the wafer storage jig is characterized in that it can be transferred by rotating it and moving it out of the upper part of the wafer.