Semiconductor transfer and manufacturing apparatus

Details Semiconductor transfer and manufacturing apparatus Semiconductor transfer and manufacturing apparatus

1999-11-30

2004-06-08

Lillis, Eileen D. (Department: 3652)

Material or article handling

Apparatus for moving material between zones having different...

C414S744800, C414S935000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06746195

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a semiconductor transfer and manufacturing apparatus, more particularly, to a semiconductor transfer and manufacturing apparatus equipped with a pressure preserving chamber (load-lock chamber), a vacuum carriage chamber and a carrier robot which transfers wafers between the outside of each apparatus in the atmosphere and a vacuum process chamber.
Recently, faster and smaller semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are demand. For a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a process chamber for processing a wafer in a vacuum, particularly, there is a need for shortening both the time required to transfer wafers within the apparatus and the time required to transfer wafers between the inside and the outside of the apparatus.
FIG. 1
shows a first conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
has a process chamber
12
, a vacuum transfer chamber
13
and two pre-pressurizing chambers (load-lock chambers which will hereinafter be called “L/L chambers”)
14
and
15
. Inside the vacuum transfer chamber
13
is a vacuum. A predetermined process is performed on a workpiece or wafer W inside the process chamber
12
. The wafer W is transferred to the process chamber
12
via the vacuum transfer chamber
13
. The individual chambers
12
to
15
are linked to one another via isolation valves
16
.
Carriers
17
and
18
for retaining the wafers W are mounted at predetermined positions in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
. An external transfer robot
19
which transfers wafers W under atmospheric conditions is provided between the L/L chambers
14
and
15
and the carriers
17
and
18
. The external transfer robot
19
transfers an unprocessed wafer W or a processed wafer W between the carrier
17
or
18
and the L/L chamber
14
or
15
.
An internal transfer robot
20
which transfers wafers within the apparatus
11
(under vacuum) is located in the vacuum transfer chamber
13
. The internal transfer robot
20
comprises a base
21
, an arm section
22
and a hand section
23
. The base
21
, which is horizontally rotatable, supports the arm section
22
. The arm section
22
has a plurality of joints and is protractable and retractable. The hand section
23
moves horizontally according to the protraction/retraction of the arm section
22
. The arm section
22
is also movable up and down. The internal transfer robot
20
has three drive shafts (for vertical movement, turning movement and horizontal movement).
The hand section
23
has a pair of forks
24
on which the wafer W is placed. The internal transfer robot
20
exchanges an unprocessed wafer W placed on one fork
24
with a processed wafer W in the process chamber
12
.
FIGS. 2A
to
2
F illustrate the wafer exchange sequence of the internal transfer robot
20
. In this wafer exchange sequence, an unprocessed wafer W
1
placed on one fork
24
is exchanged with a processed wafer W
2
in the process chamber
12
.
The internal transfer robot
20
exchanges wafers W
1
and W
2
in the following operational sequence.
(1) Extend the arm section
22
until an empty fork
24
reaches a predetermined position in the process chamber
12
(FIGS.
2
A and
2
B).
(2) Lift the arm section
22
up and place a processed wafer W
2
on the fork
24
. Then, retract the arm section
22
(FIGS.
2
B and
2
C).
(3) Turn the arm section
22
180 degrees (FIGS.
2
C and
2
D).
(4) Extend the arm section
22
until an unprocessed wafer W
1
comes to a predetermined position in the process chamber
12
(FIG.
2
E).
(5) Lower the arm section
22
, place the wafer W
1
in the process chamber
12
and then retract the arm section
22
(FIG.
2
F).
By executing the steps (1) to (5), the internal transfer robot
20
exchanges the processed wafer W
2
placed on the hand section
23
, with an unprocessed wafer W
1
in the L/L chamber
14
or
15
. In this manner, wafers W
1
and W
2
are exchanged between the L/L chambers
14
and
15
and the vacuum transfer chamber
13
and between the vacuum transfer chamber
13
and the process chamber
12
in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
.
That is, the single hand section
23
serves as a buffer for exchanging wafers W in this semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
.
FIG. 3
is a schematic plan view of a second conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
31
. The same reference numerals are given to those components of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
31
which are the same as the corresponding components of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
in FIG.
1
.
An internal transfer robot
32
which transfers wafers within the apparatus
31
under the vacuum condition is located in the vacuum transfer chamber
13
. This internal transfer robot
32
has one more set of a drive shaft and an arm than the robot
20
in
FIG. 1
in order to decrease the time required for exchanging wafers W.
That is, the internal transfer robot
32
comprises a base
33
, two arms
34
a
and
34
b
, which respectively support hand sections
35
a
and
35
b
. The base
33
, which is horizontally rotatable, supports the arms
34
a
and
34
b
in a vertically movable manner. The arms
34
a
and
34
b
has a plurality of joints. As the arms
34
a
and
34
b
protract and retract in accordance with the movement of the joints and the hand sections
35
a
and
35
b
each move horizontally. The internal transfer robot
32
has four drive shafts for moving the hand sections
35
a
and
35
b
, namely a single drive shaft for vertical movement, a single drive shaft for turning movement and two drive shafts for horizontal movement.
FIGS. 4A
to
4
D illustrate the wafer exchange sequence of the internal transfer robot
32
. In this operational sequence, an unprocessed wafer W
1
placed on one hand section
35
b
is exchanged with a processed wafer W
2
in the process chamber
12
in the following steps (1) to (3).
(1) Extend the arm
34
a
until the empty hand section
35
a
reaches a predetermined position in the process chamber
12
(FIG.
4
B).
(2) Lift the arm
34
a
up and hold the processed wafer W
2
. Then, retract the arm
34
a
. Extend the arm
34
b
until the unprocessed wafer W
1
comes to a predetermined position in the process chamber
12
(FIG.
4
C).
(3) Lower the arm
34
b
, place the wafer W
1
in the process chamber
12
and then retract the arm
34
b
(FIG.
4
D).
The internal transfer robot
32
simultaneously performs the operation of transferring the processed wafer W
2
to the vacuum transfer chamber
13
from the process chamber
12
and the operation of transferring the unprocessed wafer W
1
from the vacuum transfer chamber
13
to the process chamber
12
. This makes the transfer sequence of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
31
faster than that of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
in FIG.
1
. In addition, unlike the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
in
FIG. 1
, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
31
need not turn the internal transfer robot
32
.
As apparent from
FIGS. 1 and 3
, however, the vacuum transfer chamber
13
accommodates the internal transfer robot
20
or
32
, so that the size of the site area for the vacuum transfer chamber
13
with respect to the site area of the whole semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is greater than that of each of the process chamber
12
and the L/L chambers
14
and
15
. As wafers become larger, the wafer transfer distance increases. The increased transfer distance requires an increase in the arm length of the internal transfer robot, thus resulting in an increased site area for the vacuum transfer chamber
13
. If the vacuum transfer chamber
13
is enlarged to accommodate an increase in the diameter of wafers, therefore, the size of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
11
or
31
increases significantly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which prevents the s

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