JPH061372B2 - Substrate storage case and mounting device for the storage case - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a case for accommodating a photomask or a reticle used for manufacturing a semiconductor element such as an IC or an LSI.

(Background of the Invention) It is an essential condition that a photomask and a reticle (hereinafter collectively referred to as a mask substrate) have no dust or dust attached thereto in a lithography process of a semiconductor element. Therefore, great care must be taken when storing or maintaining (cleaning) the mask substrate. In recent years, as the minimum line width of semiconductor elements has been reduced to about 1 μm, it has been avoided to handle the mask substrate directly by hand, and the mask substrate is unattended in an exposure apparatus for lithography or a cleaning apparatus for maintenance. I started to carry it. In particular, an apparatus is used in which each mask substrate is housed in a dedicated case in a hermetically sealed state, and the case is attached to an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus to automatically take out the internal mask substrate. An example of such a storage case and its conveying device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-39537.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-95812. In this type of case, the mask substrate is housed horizontally, and a door member (front door) is provided at a position that allows the mask substrate to move horizontally when the mask substrate is inserted or removed. This case is used by mounting a plurality of cases with the front door side facing the back of the device.

By the way, before housing the mask substrate in the case, the case is washed with an acidic or alkaline cleaning liquid to remove dust, dust, oil or the like adhering to the inside of the case.
Therefore, as the material of the case, an acid-resistant and alkali-resistant synthetic resin such as polyacetal or polysulfone is used. These synthetic resins are opaque,
It was not possible to confirm in which case the mask substrate was stored when a plurality of devices were mounted on the device. Also,
The same is true when a large number of cases are simply prepared for storage, and there is a drawback in that the usability is poor.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to obtain a convenient storage case. A further object of the present invention is to provide a storage case mounting device that can quickly check in which of the plurality of storage cases the mask substrate is present even if the storage case installation environment is dark.

(Outline of the invention) The present invention has a substrate (4) such as a mask having a door member (1a) which can be opened and closed at a position where it is inserted and removed substantially parallel to the surface thereof, and the substrate is closed by closing the door member. In a case (1) that stores the substantially sealed state, a notch formed in the side wall of the case other than the door member facing the end surface of the stored board, and an openable and closable case facing the surface of the board. An opening configured with the lid (1b), a transparent member (3) provided in the opening so as to substantially seal the case, and provided near the opening,
A holding member (1d, 1e) for detachably holding the transparent member is provided, and by closing the lid portion (1b), the lid portion (1b) and the end surface (3 ′) of the transparent member are in close contact with each other, The end face (3 ') of the transparent member attached to the holding member (1d, 1e) is the end face of the side wall on the lid side.
The technical point is to place it in the same plane as (1 ').

Further, the present invention has a substrate (4) such as a mask, having a door member (1a) that can be opened and closed at a position where it is inserted and removed substantially parallel to the surface thereof, and the substrate is kept in a substantially sealed state by closing the door member. In the case (1) to be stored, a first transparent window (3) is provided on the first side wall portion of the case facing the end face of the housed substrate, and the end face of the substrate facing the first transparent window is provided with a light. It is a technical point that a second transparent window (6) is provided on the second side wall portion of the case that is orthogonal to the first side wall portion so that the light enters.

Furthermore, in the storage case mounting device related to the specific invention of the present application, the above-mentioned first transparent window (3) and second transparent window (6).
Illumination light (l) which is arranged so as to face the second transparent window when the storage case having the above is held, and which is radiated to the end face of the substrate facing the first transparent window through the second transparent window. The technical point is to provide a light source (7) for generating (1).

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a plurality of cases 1 are mounted so as to be stacked on a case mounting mechanism (library) 2. The case 1 is provided with a front door 1a, as disclosed in JP-A-58-95812. The front door 1a is flipped up by an unillustrated carrier device as indicated by arrow A, and the stored mask substrate is taken out horizontally. Further, the case 1 is provided with an upper lid 1b which can be opened and closed by a hinge 1c. A front door 1a is openably and closably provided at a tip portion of the upper lid 1b opposite to the hinge 1c.
Since the case 1 is attached to the library 2 so that the front door 1a faces the inside of the device, in this embodiment, a window formed by the transparent plate 3 is provided on the back surface opposite to the front door 1a. Second
The drawing is a plan view showing the back surface of the case 1 in an enlarged manner.
The figure is an enlarged perspective view of the window portion. The transparent plate 3 made of acrylic resin or the like is sized so as to cover the entire surface of the notch formed on the back surface, and both ends thereof are held by the U-shaped angle 1d and the lower end thereof is supported by the protruding stopper 1e. . When the mask substrate 4 is housed in the case 1 in such a state, the end surface of the mask substrate 4 can be observed through the transparent plate 3 as shown in FIG. Fig. 3 shows the upper lid 1b
Is opened, and at this time, the transparent plate 3 can be easily removed by sliding it upward as shown in FIG. Further, when the transparent plate 3 is mounted in the pocket formed by the angle 1d and the stopper 1e, the upper end surface 3'of the transparent plate 3 and the upper end surface 1'of the rear wall of the case 1 are set to be substantially flush with each other. There is. In the closed state of the upper lid 1b, the position of the hinge 1c is determined so that the upper lid 1b covers both the upper end surfaces 1'and 3 '. Therefore, by closing the upper lid 1b, the transparent plate 3 is prevented from falling off, dust and dust do not enter the case 1 from the outside, and the mask substrate 4 is housed in a sealed state. When the case 1 is washed, the transparent plate 3 can be removed and the case 1 can be washed as it is with an acid or an alkali.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the window is formed by the transparent plate 3, dust and dust do not enter the case 1, and since the window is on the back surface of the case 1, many cases can be installed. Even when mounted on the library 2, there is an advantage that it is possible to check at a glance whether or not the mask substrate is stored. Further, the transparent plate 3 is preferably a plate material made of acrylic resin in terms of cost, but it may be a glass plate. In this case, it is not necessary to remove the glass plate from the pocket when cleaning the case 1. Further, the entire back surface of the case 1 may be made of a transparent member. By doing so, there is an advantage that the width of the window is widened so that the window can be easily seen from the inside.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the window portion of the case 1.
The transparent plate 3 is provided on the back surface of the case 1, but here it is assumed that a glass plate is fixed (bonded) to the frame body of the case 1. Further, a glass plate 6 constituting a window for lighting is fixed to a part of the side surface orthogonal to the back surface, which is close to the back surface. The light entered through the light-gathering window mainly illuminates the end surface of the mask substrate 4 facing the transparent plate 3. When the case 1 is attached to the library 2, the light source (red LED or the like) 7 provided in the library 2 faces the glass plate 6 of the lighting window as shown in FIG. A plurality of the light sources 7 are provided according to the mounting position of the case 1 so as to illuminate the respective lighting windows of the plurality of cases 1. In this case, the light source 7 may be configured such that when the case 1 is attached, only the light source corresponding to the case is interlocked and turned on. Now, the light l from the light source 7 is transmitted through the glass plate 6 of the lighting window and the mask substrate 4
Illuminates the end face 4a. Since the end surface of the mask substrate 4 is generally rough-finished (frosted glass), the light 1 is diffusely reflected by the end surface 4a. Therefore, when the inside of the case 1 is viewed through the transparent plate 3, the end surface 4a of the case 1 can be observed brightly, and the visibility is further improved. The color (wavelength) of the light 1 from the light source 7
Should be the easiest to understand in the installation environment of the device. However, when this type of case 1 and library 2 are attached to the exposure apparatus, it is desirable to use a light source of a wavelength that does not expose the photosensitive substrate (photoresist-coated wafer or the like) to light.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to immediately confirm in which case the mask substrate exists even in a dark environment.

As described above, in the two embodiments of the present invention, the transparent plate 3 is provided on the opposite side (rear surface) of the front door 1a of the case 1. However, depending on the mounting state of the case 1 to the library 2, It may be provided on the side surface (the surface having the lighting window in FIG. 5). Alternatively, a transparent material having acid resistance and alkali resistance may be selected, and the entire case 1 may be formed and processed with the material.

(Effect of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the case is partially transparent, it is possible to immediately confirm whether or not the mask substrate is housed in a state where the case is attached to the exposure apparatus or the cleaning apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a case and a library according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the back of the case, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the back of the case including a transparent plate. Is a partially enlarged perspective view, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a case according to another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of use of the case of FIG. (Explanation of symbols of main parts) 1 ... Case, 1a ... Front door, 1b ... Top lid, 1d ... Angle, 1e ... Stopper, 2 ... Library, 3 ... Transparent plate,
4 ... Mask substrate

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A case having a door member that can be opened and closed at a position where a substrate such as a mask is inserted and removed substantially parallel to the surface thereof, and the substrate is stored in a substantially hermetically closed state by closing the door member. An opening formed by a notch formed in a side wall of the case other than the door member facing the end face of the housed substrate and a lid part of the case facing the surface of the substrate that can be opened and closed. A transparent member that is provided in the opening so as to substantially seal the case; a holding member that is provided near the opening and that detachably holds the transparent member; The end surface of the transparent member mounted on the holding member is arranged in the same plane as the end surface of the side wall portion on the cover portion side so that the cover portion and the end surface of the transparent member come into close contact with each other by the formation. Board storage case characterized by. 2. The storage case according to claim 1, wherein the cutout portion is provided on a side wall portion of the case facing the door member in the sealed state. 3. A case in which a substrate such as a mask has an openable / closable door member at a position where the substrate is inserted / removed substantially parallel to the surface, and the substrate is stored in a substantially hermetically closed state by closing the door member. The first of the case facing the end face of the housed substrate
A first transparent window provided on a side wall of the case; and a second side wall of the case orthogonal to the first side wall so that light is incident on an end surface of the substrate facing the first transparent window. And a second transparent window provided in the section. 4. A mounting device for removably holding a plurality of cases for accommodating substrates such as masks in a substantially hermetically sealed state so as to be stacked at predetermined intervals, and a side wall portion of the case facing an end surface of the accommodated substrates. A first transparent window provided on the case; a second transparent window provided on a side wall of the case so that light is incident on an end surface of the substrate facing the first transparent window; The second transparent window is disposed so as to face the second transparent window when held, and the first transparent window is provided through the second transparent window.
A transparent window and a light source for generating illumination light emitted to the end face of the substrate facing the transparent window. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the light source is turned on in association with the mounting of the case.