JPH0529143B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is used in an ion processing apparatus that processes a wafer using an ion beam, such as an ion implantation apparatus, and is used to attach a holder to a holder before and after processing. The present invention relates to a wafer handling device that replaces wafers.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a conventional wafer handling apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a schematic partial sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 4.

It is connected to a rotating shaft 8 that is rotated as shown by arrow B in a processing chamber 2 that is evacuated to a vacuum, and is capable of holding a wafer 14. A holder (also referred to as a platen) 10 is provided which is placed in a horizontal state as shown in the figure for the purpose of replacement. The holder 10 has a base 10a and a wafer holder 10b that holds the wafer 14 between the base 10a and the wafer holder 10b.
At the center thereof, a lifting pin 12 constituting a first wafer lifting means is arranged. Wafer presser 10
b and the lifting pin 12 are moved up and down in a predetermined relationship with each other by the lifting rod 13.

A vacuum preliminary chamber 24 is adjacent to the processing chamber 2 via a gate valve 22, and loading and unloading of wafers 14 into and out of the processing chamber 2 from, for example, the atmosphere side is carried out through this vacuum preliminary chamber 2.
4. A lift pin 20 is provided within the processing chamber 2, a little further from the gate valve 22, and constitutes a second wafer lifting means for placing the wafer 14 and moving it up and down.

Furthermore, wafers 14 can be placed at both ends between the holder 10 and the elevating pins 20 in the processing chamber 2, and are rotated reciprocally as shown by the arrow C by the rotation shaft 18. Two integrated transfer arms 16 are provided.

Further, in the processing chamber 2 and upstream of the ion beam 4 of the holder 10, there is an ion beam 4.
A Faraday cage 6 for beam current measurement is provided.

To explain an example of the operation of the above-mentioned wafer handling device, as a prerequisite, a processed wafer 14 is held in the holder 10 in a horizontal state, and an unprocessed wafer 14 is placed on the lifting pin 20. It is assumed that the transfer arm 16 is at an intermediate position as shown in the figure.

First, the lifting pins 12 and 20 rise together to lift each wafer 14, respectively. Of course, in that case, the wafer presser 10b also rises. Then, the transfer arm 16 rotates 90 degrees counterclockwise and stops.
Lifting pins 12 and 20 are lowered. Thereby, each wafer 14 is placed on the transfer arm 16.

Next, the transfer arm 16 further moves counterclockwise.
After rotating 180 degrees and stopping, the lifting pins 12 and 20 rise together to lift up the wafer 14, respectively.
In this state, the transfer arm 16 rotates 90 degrees clockwise and returns to the intermediate position shown in FIG. Then, the lifting pins 12 and 20 are lowered together. Further, the wafer presser 10b also descends together with the lifting pin 12 to hold the wafer 1.
Hold 4. With this, the replacement of the wafers 14 is completed, and the unprocessed wafer 1 is placed in the holder 10.
4 is held, and the processed wafer 14 is placed on the lifting pin 20.

Next, the holder 10 is rotated approximately 90 degrees to stand up, and the wafer 14 on the holder 10 is irradiated with the ion beam 4 for processing, for example, ion implantation.
When the process is completed, the holder 10 returns to the horizontal state. At an appropriate time in between, the processed wafer 14 on the lift pin 20 is carried out to the vacuum preliminary chamber 24 side, and the next unprocessed wafer 14 is carried onto the lift pin 20 from the vacuum preliminary chamber 24 side. . Thereafter, operations similar to those described above are repeated as necessary.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the wafer handling apparatus as described above, since the transfer arm 16 makes a rotational movement,
There is a problem in that the processing chamber 2 becomes larger due to the need to secure the space.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer handling device that can solve the above problems.

[Means for solving problems]

The wafer handling device of the present invention includes a holder capable of holding a wafer for processing, a first wafer lifting means for moving the wafer up and down on the holder to attach and detach the wafer to and from the holder, and a first wafer lifting means on the front side of the holder. a second wafer elevating means for raising and lowering the wafer supplied by the second wafer elevating means; first and second linear mechanisms; A load arm that passes the wafer to the first wafer elevating means, and a second linear movement mechanism that is vertically connected to the load arm and receives the wafer from the first wafer elevating means and transfers it to the second wafer elevating means. It is characterized by being equipped with an unloading arm for passing.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a wafer handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view taken along the line - in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the holder portion of FIG. 1 viewed from the ion beam side. Parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIGS. 4 and 5 are given the same reference numerals,
In the following, differences from the conventional example will be mainly explained.

In this embodiment, instead of the rotary transfer arm 16 as described above, a first linear movement mechanism 3 is used.
0, the load arm 26 is moved linearly in the front and back direction as shown by arrow D, and a second linear movement mechanism 32 (not shown in the figure) provided below the load arm 26 is moved as shown by arrow E. It is provided with an unload arm 28 that can move linearly in the front and rear directions.

The load arm 26 is used to transfer the unprocessed wafer 14 on the lifting pin 20 onto the holder 10, and has a wafer placement part 26a on one end on which the wafer 14 can be placed, and a wafer placement part 26a on the other end. There is a straight mechanism 3
It has a screw nut 26c that is screwed together with a ball screw 30a that constitutes the
A notch 26b is provided in 6a so as not to interfere with the lifting pins 12 and 20. Further, the back surface of the wafer placement section 26a is formed into an opening as shown in FIG. 3, and the wafer 14 can be placed thereon from either the front or back sides.

The linear mechanism 30 includes the ball screw 30a and a motor 30b that rotationally drives the ball screw 30a.
The rotation allows the load arm 26 to move back and forth.

The unload arm 28 is used to transfer the processed wafer 14 on the holder 10 onto the lifting pins 20, and has the same structure as the load arm 26 described above. Further, the linear movement mechanism 32 for forward and backward movement of the unload arm 28 has the same structure as the linear movement mechanism 30 described above.

Further, the Faraday cage 6 for measuring the beam current of the ion beam 4 is of an integrated type in this example, and is fixed at a position where it can cover the holder 10 which is in an upright state for processing the wafer 14.

In this embodiment, the elevating pin 12 provided in relation to the holder 10 is composed of four pins, but it may be one pin as in the conventional example. In addition, the lifting pin 12 is moved by the lifting rod 13.
wafer holder 10b that can be moved up and down in a predetermined relationship with
is not particularly necessary in FIGS. 2 and 3 and is therefore omitted from illustration.

To explain an example of the operation of the above-mentioned wafer handling device, the precondition is that the processed wafer 14 is held in the holder 10 in a horizontal state;
It is assumed that an unprocessed wafer 14 is placed on the lift pin 20, and the load arm 26 and unload arm 28 are at intermediate positions as shown.

First, the lifting pins 12 and 20 rise together to lift each wafer 14, respectively. Of course, in that case, the wafer presser 10b also rises. And the second
As shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, the load arm 26 retreats to above the lift pin 20, and the unload arm 28 advances to above the holder 10 (FIG. 3 shows this state), and the lift pins 12 and 20 move forward. Descend. Each wafer 14 is thereby placed on the load arm 26 and unload arm 28.

Next, the load arm 26 advances to above the holder 10, and the unload arm 28 retreats to above the lifting pins 20, and the lifting pins 12 and 20 rise together to lift the wafer 14, respectively.
In this state, the load arm 26 and the unload arm 28 return to the intermediate position shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the lifting pins 12 and 20 are lowered together. Further, the wafer holder 10b also descends together with the elevating pins 12 to clamp the wafer 14. By this,
The exchange of the wafers 14 is completed, and the unprocessed wafers 14 are held in the holder 10, and the processed wafers 14 are placed on the lifting pins 20.

Next, the holder 10 is rotated about 90 degrees to stand up, and the wafer 14 on the holder 10 is irradiated with the ion beam 4 for processing, for example, ion implantation, and when the processing is completed, the holder 10 returns to the horizontal state. At an appropriate time in between, the processed wafer 14 on the lift pin 20 is carried out to the vacuum preliminary chamber 24 side, and the next unprocessed wafer 14 is carried onto the lift pin 20 from the vacuum preliminary chamber 24 side. . Thereafter, operations similar to those described above are repeated as necessary.

In this way, in the above wafer handling apparatus, the arms 26 and 28 for transferring the wafer 14 are
Since it has a structure that moves in a straight line, the extra space can be reduced, and therefore the processing chamber 2 can be made smaller.

Furthermore, when using the Faraday cage 6 as in the illustrated example, the Faraday cage 6 does not get in the way at all when the arms 26 and 28 are moved.
It is convenient because there is no need to move it or provide a notch.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, wafers can be exchanged in a small space, so that the processing chamber can be downsized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a wafer handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the holder portion of FIG. 1 viewed from the ion beam side. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a conventional wafer handling device. FIG. 5 is a schematic partial sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 4. 2... Processing chamber, 4... Ion beam, 6... Faraday cage, 8... Rotating shaft, 10... Holder, 12,
20... Lifting pin, 14... Wafer, 26... Load arm, 28... Unload arm, 30, 32... Straight moving mechanism.

[Claims]

1. A device for determining the front and back sides and arrangement direction of a semiconductor device to be determined, which has an asymmetric specific surface on at least a part of its outer surface with a different surface form from other parts, the device irradiating the outer surface of the semiconductor device. a photoelectric conversion means that receives reflected light from the device surface and converts it into an electrical signal; and an inspection area designation unit that sets an asymmetric specific surface area and a comparison surface area, respectively, within a predetermined range of the device surface. , and a comparison section that mutually compares and outputs the signals in each set area, and based on the signal input from the photoelectric conversion means, the comparison output from the comparison section determines the front and back sides and arrangement of the semiconductor device. discriminating means for determining the direction, a binarizing section for binarizing and outputting an image brightness signal of the outer surface of the device is provided in parallel with the inspection area specifying section of the discriminating means, and a binarizing section for outputting the binarized image brightness signal on the outer surface of the device; A device for discriminating the front and back of a semiconductor device and its arrangement direction, characterized by having a counting section that separately counts the binarized signals within the asymmetric specific surface area and the comparison surface area and outputs them to a comparison section. .