Multi-position load lock chamber

Details Multi-position load lock chamber Multi-position load lock chamber

2000-12-18

2002-04-09

Lund, Jeffrie R. (Department: 1763)

Material or article handling

Process

Of moving material between zones having different pressures...

C414S800000, C414S806000, C414S810000, C414S937000, C414S939000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06368051

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor wafer processing, and more specifically, to a multi position load lock chamber used in semiconductor wafer processing.
FIG. 1
is an isometric view of a piece of semiconductor manufacturing equipment (an epitaxial reactor
10
). The epitaxial reactor
10
is partitioned into the wafer handling chamber
16
, load locks
14
and
15
, and a process chamber
20
that is isolated from the load locks
14
and
15
and the wafer handling chamber
16
by isolation gate valve
18
.
In operation, cassettes of semiconductor wafers (not shown) are placed in the load locks
14
and
15
through load lock portals
32
and
34
. After loading the wafer cassettes into the load locks
14
and
15
, the load lock portals
32
and
34
are closed to isolate the wafers from the surrounding atmosphere. The load locks are purged by the purge gas that purges out oxygen, moisture and any undesirable particles that may have inadvertently entered the load locks
14
and
15
while the load lock portals
32
and
34
are opened to receive the wafer cassettes.
After completing the purge, the load locks
14
and
15
are opened to the wafer handling chamber by lowering the cassette in an elevator (not shown) which breaks an air tight seal. The wafers are then transported sequentially from the cassettes to the process chamber
20
by a transfer arm
29
that has, for example, a Bernoulli wand end effector
36
.
Subsequent to the purging of the load locks
14
and
15
and wafer handling chamber
16
, the isolation valve
18
is opened. The transfer arm
29
is used to move the wafers from the load lock
14
or
15
into the process chamber
20
for wafer processing. The transfer arm
29
, including a low ingestion Bernoulli wand
36
, is within the wafer handling chamber
16
. In operation, the Bernoulli wand
36
picks up the semiconductor wafers one at a time from the cassettes (not shown) in one of the load locks
14
and
15
. Each wafer is then transported through the open isolation gate valve
18
to a susceptor
38
within the process chamber
20
.
After the processing of the wafer is completed, the isolation gate valve
18
is opened and the Bernoulli wand
36
picks up the wafer and returns it to the slot within the same cassette that the wafer was originally retrieved from.
Although the above system is very successful, there is always a desire by the semiconductor manufacturers to increase the throughput of their equipment. However, factory space comes at a premium so that the use of factory floor area for processing equipment must be maintained at a minimum. Additionally, the semiconductor manufacturers appreciate the advantage of performing both preprocessing and post processing operations on semiconductor wafers without affecting the throughput of the processing equipment or the footprint of the equipment on the factory floor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A machine for manufacturing semiconductor devices has a processing chamber for processing the semiconductor wafer. A transfer chamber has at least two positions. One position facilitates the transfer of a wafer to be processed into the transfer chamber and facilitates the transfer of a processed wafer from the transfer chamber to the location from which the wafer originated. The second position facilitates the transfer of a wafer to and from the processing chamber. A transfer arm simultaneously transfers an unprocessed wafer from the first position to the second position with the transfer of a processed wafer from the second position to the first position.
In other embodiments there are multiple wafer positions identified that enable the increase in the throughput of the semiconductor apparatus over the prior art machines. At each position, prior to processing, there can be preprocessing operations performed such as cleaning of the wafer, gas treatment, measurements and even a processing step. Similarly, at the wafer position following the processing of a wafer, different post processing procedures can be performed such as measuring the results of the processing step, allowing the wafer to cool down prior to returning it to the cassette, or even performing an additional processing step.


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