JPS637653B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ion implantation apparatus, and particularly to an improvement in a mechanism for loading and unloading a wafer into a vacuum processing chamber.

As is well known, when manufacturing a semiconductor device using an ion implantation apparatus, a wafer is introduced into a vacuum processing chamber, and predetermined ions are implanted into the wafer.

As a conventional technique for introducing a wafer into a vacuum processing chamber, an inclined guide having an inclination angle that descends in the direction of progress of the processing process using the weight of the wafer is provided.
It is led from the atmosphere to the vacuum processing chamber via the preliminary vacuum chamber,
Furthermore, those that are released into the atmosphere through a preliminary vacuum chamber,
There is also a device called a parts feeder in which a wafer is horizontally transferred by applying appropriate vibrations to a transfer guide based on the same principle as that of a device called a parts feeder.

However, although the above technology eliminates the need for a drive source and drive mechanism for transport and has the advantage of making the transport device smaller and cheaper, it requires some processing on the wafer surface because it is a photoresist. In such a case, the wafer may become stuck during transportation, which may damage the wafer.
Furthermore, since the above-mentioned technique does not directly forcibly transport the wafer, it has the disadvantage that it is impossible to avoid snags during transport.

In other words, with conventional wafer transfer techniques, it has been difficult to quickly and reliably produce wafers of good quality.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ion implantation apparatus that can quickly and reliably produce wafers of good quality. Explain in detail.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an outline of the ion implantation apparatus. Reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum processing chamber for performing predetermined ion implantation on wafers that have been transported, and a substrate holder device 2 and a transport belt 3, which will be described later, are provided inside the chamber. Ions to be implanted come from an ion source (not shown) in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper and are implanted vertically. Reference numerals 4 and 5 are preliminary vacuum chambers provided on both sides of the vacuum processing chamber 1 via gate valves 6 and 7, and conveyor belts 8 and 9 are provided in each chamber. 10,11
are gate valves provided between the preliminary vacuum chambers 4 and 5 and the outside air. 12 is a carrier for storing the wafer before ion implantation, 13 is a carrier for storing the wafer after ion implantation, and the carriers 12 and 13 are screw screws 14 and 15, respectively.
It is placed on tables 16 and 17 that move up and down as the wheels rotate. 18 and 19 are conveyor belts. It is assumed that the wafer W moves from the right to the left in the drawing, as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and a predetermined ion implantation is performed within the vacuum processing chamber 1. In addition, in the above, the conveyor belts 3, 8, 9, 18,
It is assumed that the reference numeral 19 is driven by a drive device (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the details of the vicinity of the substrate holder device 2 provided in the vacuum processing chamber 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the wafer W is held by the substrate holder device 2. As shown in FIG. The substrate holder device 2 includes a holder substrate 21 which is provided with a groove 27 in the conveying direction and is rotatable in the X (horizontal) direction and the Y (vertical) direction by rotation of the rotation shaft 22, and which is opposed to the holder substrate 21. a clamp plate 23 which is disposed at the center and has a hole 23a in the center through which ions pass; a support shaft 24 which holds the clamp plate 23 in a vertically movable manner and is driven by a drive device (not shown); and the clamp plate 23. 23 toward the holder substrate 21 side, and a base 26.

A conveyor belt 3 is attached to the substrate holder device 2, and a preliminary vacuum chamber 4 is connected to the substrate holder device 2 by this conveyor belt 3.
The wafer W transported by the transport belt 8 of
is transported to a predetermined position in the substrate holder device 2 (see FIG. 3). Furthermore, when the wafer W is clamped between the holder substrate 21 and the clamp plate 23, the conveyor belt 3 is configured to be positioned within the groove 27 of the holder substrate 21 (see FIG. 4).

Next, the operation of the ion implantation apparatus configured as described above will be explained. Currently, wafers W before ion implantation processing are stored hierarchically inside the carrier 12, and a table 16 on which the carrier 12 is placed
is assumed to be at the upper limit position. On the other hand, Carrier 1
3 is empty, and the table 17 on which the carrier 13 is placed is at the lower limit position.

First, when the gate valve 10 is opened, one wafer W stored in the lowermost stage of the carrier 12 is transported to a predetermined position in the preliminary vacuum chamber 4 by the transport belts 18 and 8. At this time, screw screw 1
4 rotates and the table 16 descends, thereby waiting for the next wafer to be transferred, thereby reducing wasted time. Next, the gate valve 10 is closed, and the inside of the preliminary vacuum chamber 4 is evacuated by a vacuum system (not shown). At this time, it is convenient if the other preliminary vacuum chambers 5 are also evacuated at the same time. A predetermined degree of vacuum (e.g.
10 ^-2 to 10 ^-8 Torr), gate valve 6
is opened, and the wafer W is transported by the transport belts 8 and 3 to a predetermined position on the substrate holder device 2 in the vacuum processing chamber 1. At this time, the gate valve 6 is closed again, and the next wafer is transferred into the preliminary vacuum chamber 4 in preparation for evacuation of the chamber.

Now, in the vacuum processing chamber 1, when the wafer W is placed at a predetermined position on the substrate holder device 2 as shown in FIG. is evacuated to a high vacuum (e.g., 10 ^-6 to 10 ^-7 Torr). Then, the support shaft 24 moves downward, and at this time, as shown in FIG.
The wafer W is located in the groove 27 of the holder substrate 2.
1 and the clamp plate 23. Thereafter, the rotating shaft 22 is rotated in the Y direction, and the substrate holder device 2 is erected, and the wafer W is also rotated approximately 90 degrees and held at the injection position. Then, ions flying from the Z direction are implanted into the wafer W by an ion source (not shown).
When a predetermined amount of ion implantation is performed, the rotating shaft 22
rotates in the X direction, the substrate holder device 2 returns to its original position (horizontal position), the support shaft 24 moves upward, and the wafer W is thereby held by the clamp plate 23.
The grip on is released.

Next, when the gate valve 7 is opened, the implanted wafer W is transported to the preliminary vacuum chamber 5 by the transport belts 3 and 9. Thereafter, the gate valve 7 is closed again to wait for the next wafer to be carried into the vacuum processing chamber 1. Now, when the gate valve 11 is opened, the preliminary vacuum chamber 5 is returned to atmospheric pressure, and the wafer W which has been implanted is transferred to the conveyor belts 9, 19.
It is stored and stored on the top stage of the carrier 13 via the carrier 13. When this storage is completed, the screw screw 15 rotates and the table 17 is raised to stand by for the next storage.

In addition, in order to increase the efficiency of the injection treatment process, the first
As shown in the figure, one wafer W is always carried into each of the vacuum processing chamber 1 and the preliminary vacuum chambers 4 and 5.
It is advisable to arrange for exhaust treatment etc. to be carried out in each chamber.

In the above description, the conveyor belts 3, 8, 9,
The properties required for materials Nos. 18 and 19 are good heat resistance, vacuum resistance, and ion resistance.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, the wafer is transported horizontally by a transport belt, and one of the transport belts is attached to the substrate holder device, thereby holding the wafer in a predetermined position. Since ion implantation can be performed by positioning the wafer and standing the substrate holder device up, the wafer can be transferred quickly and reliably, and there is less wafer damage and dust, making it possible to manufacture high-quality semiconductor devices. can do.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing an ion implantation device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a substrate holder device used in the above device, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the substrate holder device. 1... Vacuum processing chamber, 2... Substrate holder device, 3,
8, 9, 18, 19...Transport belt, W...Wafer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a device in which a wafer is carried in and out of a vacuum processing chamber in a horizontal state by a plurality of conveyor belts driven by a drive device, and ion implantation is performed on the wafer in the vacuum processing chamber, grooves are formed in the transfer direction. A holder substrate provided, a clamp plate disposed opposite to this and having a hole through which ions pass in the center, a support shaft that holds the clamp plate movably up and down, and a support shaft that holds the clamp plate in a vertically movable manner; A substrate holder device is formed with a return spring that presses against the substrate side, one of the conveyor belts is attached to this substrate holder device, and the wafer is conveyed to a predetermined position of the substrate holder device by this conveyor belt. death,
This is sandwiched between the holder board and the clamp plate,
An ion implantation apparatus characterized in that the conveyor belt is positioned within the groove of the holder substrate at this time, and the substrate holder device is configured to be able to stand up in this state.