JP2006261502A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect a dislocation of a wafer in a pod opener. <P>SOLUTION: A rotary actuator 60 is installed at a wafer inlet and outlet 50 of a pod opener 20 for opening and closing a door of a pod, and a mapping device 70 and a wafer misregistration detector 80 are installed by a bracket 62 in the arm 61 of the rotary actuator 60. The wafer misregistration detector 80 is comprised of a plurality of limited reflection type sensors 81, and each of the limited reflection type sensors 81 is arranged with a light emitter 82 and a light receiver 83 toward a substantially same direction in such a state of coming into non-contact with a wafer 9. With this arrangement, a detection light 84 from the light emitter 82 is reflected on an outer circumferential face of the wafer 9, and it is determined whether or not the wafer 9 is dislocated, according to whether or not a reflected light 85 is received by the light receiver 83. By detecting the dislocation of the wafer, it is possible to prevent an accident in advance in which tweezers of a wafer transfer device collide with the wafer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for detecting the position of a substrate housed in a carrier. For example, in a method for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as an IC), an integrated circuit including a semiconductor element is provided. The present invention relates to an effective one used in a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus for forming a CVD film such as an insulating film or a metal film on a semiconductor wafer to be fabricated (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) or diffusing impurities.

In a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a batch type CVD apparatus) which is an example of a substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of wafers are handled in a state of being stored in a carrier (wafer storage container).
As a conventional carrier of this type, an open cassette formed in a substantially cubic box shape in which a pair of surfaces facing each other are opened, and a substantially cubic box shape in which one surface is opened, is formed on the opening surface. There is a FOUP (front opening unified pod, hereinafter referred to as a pod) in which a door is detachably mounted.
When a pod is used as a wafer carrier, the wafer is transported in a sealed state, so that the cleanliness of the wafer can be maintained even if particles are present in the surrounding atmosphere. it can. Therefore, since it is not necessary to set the cleanliness in the clean room where the batch type CVD apparatus is installed, the cost required for the clean room can be reduced. Therefore, pods have been used as wafer carriers in recent batch type CVD apparatuses.

In the conventional batch type CVD apparatus, a mapping apparatus for confirming the location of the wafer in the pod (which holding groove the wafer is in) is installed. For example, see Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-7801

  However, in the conventional batch type CVD apparatus, whether or not the wafer is in the pod can be confirmed by the mapping apparatus, but it is impossible to detect the positional deviation of the wafer in each holding groove of the pod. However, there is a problem that the tweezer of the wafer transfer apparatus may collide with a wafer having a positional deviation.

  The objective of this invention is providing the substrate processing apparatus which can detect the position shift of a board | substrate.

Typical means for solving the above-described problems are as follows.
(1) a processing chamber for processing a substrate;
A carrier for storing the plurality of substrates at a predetermined interval;
The detection light projected within a predetermined range from the light projecting means is reflected by the peripheral side portion of the substrate, and the light receiving means receives the reflected detection light so that the substrate is accommodated within the predetermined range. Detecting means for detecting that
Moving means for moving the detecting means to a position facing each of the peripheral side portions of the plurality of substrates housed in the carrier at a predetermined interval;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
(2) a processing chamber for processing a substrate;
A carrier for storing the plurality of substrates at a predetermined interval;
A substrate holder for holding the plurality of substrates at a predetermined interval;
A substrate transfer device that holds the substrate by a substrate holding unit and transfers the substrate between the carrier and the substrate holder;
The detection light projected within the range in which the substrate holding part can be inserted from the light projecting means is reflected on the peripheral side of the substrate, and the light receiving means receives the reflected detection light, whereby the substrate holding part is Detecting means for detecting that the substrate is housed within a range in which insertion is possible;
Moving means for moving the detection means to a position facing each of the peripheral side portions of the plurality of substrate sheets stored in the carrier at predetermined intervals;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

  According to the above (1), since the detection means can detect that the substrate is housed in the predetermined range, for example, the substrate holding of the substrate transfer apparatus that transfers between the carrier and the substrate holder. It is possible to prevent the portion from colliding with the misaligned substrate.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a batch type CVD apparatus, that is, a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, as shown in FIG.
A batch type CVD apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 2 constructed in an airtight chamber structure. A heater unit 3 is installed in a vertical direction at an upper portion of one end portion (hereinafter referred to as a rear end portion) in the housing 2, and a process tube 4 is disposed concentrically inside the heater unit 3. Yes.
Connected to the process tube 4 are a gas introduction pipe 5 for introducing a raw material gas, a purge gas and the like into the process tube 4 and an exhaust pipe 6 for evacuating the inside of the process tube 4.

  A boat elevator 7 is installed at a lower portion of the rear end portion of the housing 2, and the boat elevator 7 is configured to raise and lower a boat 8 arranged directly below the process tube 4 in the vertical direction. The boat 8 as a substrate holder is configured to support a plurality of wafers 9 as substrates in a state where they are horizontally arranged with their centers aligned, and carry in and out of the processing chamber of the process tube 4.

  A pod loading / unloading port (not shown) is opened on the front wall of the housing 2, and the pod loading / unloading port is opened and closed by a front shutter (not shown). A pod stage 11 for performing positioning of the pod 10 is installed at the pod loading / unloading port, and the pod 10 is inserted into and removed from the pod stage 11 through the pod loading / unloading port.

A rotary pod shelf 12 is installed in the upper part of the central portion in the front-rear direction in the housing 2, and the rotary pod shelf 12 is configured to store a total of 16 pods 10. That is, the rotary pod shelf 12 has four steps of shelves formed in a substantially bowl shape and is arranged in the vertical direction so as to be rotatably supported in a horizontal plane, and an intermittent rotation drive device such as a motor (not shown). ) Is rotated in one direction in a pitch feed manner.
Below the pod shelf 12 in the housing 2, a pair of wafer transfer ports 13 for transferring the wafer 9 to the pod 10 as a carrier are arranged in two vertical stages in the vertical direction. Both wafer transfer ports 13 and 13 are respectively provided with pod openers 20 described later.

A pod transfer device 14 is installed between the pod stage 11 in the housing 2, the pod shelf 12, and the wafer transfer port 13. The pod transfer device 14 is configured to transfer the pod 10 between the pod stage 11 and the pod shelf 12, between the pod stage 11 and the wafer transfer port 13, and between the pod shelf 12 and the wafer transfer port 13. Yes.
Between the wafer transfer port 13 and the boat 8, a wafer transfer device 15 is installed as a wafer transfer device for holding and transferring a wafer by a tweezer 15a as a substrate holding unit. The wafer 9 is transferred and transferred (delivered) between the wafer transfer port 13 and the boat 8.
A boat changer 16 is installed beside the boat elevator 7, and the boat changer 16 is configured to replace two boats 8 and 8 with respect to the boat elevator 7.

  Since the pod openers 20 and 20 installed in the upper and lower wafer transfer ports 13 and 13 are configured in the same manner, the configuration of the pod opener 20 will be described as being installed in the upper wafer transfer port 13.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pod opener 20 as a carrier opening / closing device is a base having a side wall vertically standing so as to partition the wafer transfer port 13 and the wafer transfer device 15 in the housing 2. 21 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the base 21 is provided with a wafer loading / unloading port 22 for loading / unloading a wafer. The wafer loading / unloading port 22 is a wafer storage chamber 10c in the pod 10 (see FIG. 10). It is formed in a quadrangle similar to the door 10a that closes the wafer loading / unloading port 10b (see FIG. 10).
Incidentally, since the base 21 is shared by the upper and lower pod openers 20, 20, a pair of wafer loading / unloading ports 22, 22 are formed in the base 21 so as to be vertically arranged in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an angle-shaped support base 23 is fixed horizontally below the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the front surface) of the base 21 on the wafer transfer port 13 side. The shape of the support base 23 in plan view is a substantially square frame shape with a part cut away. A pair of guide rails 24, 24 are arranged on the upper surface of the support base 23 in a direction parallel to the front surface of the base 21 (hereinafter referred to as the left-right direction), and are perpendicular to the front surface of the base 21 (hereinafter referred to as the front-rear direction). The mounting table 27 is supported on the left and right guide rails 24 and 24 through a plurality of guide blocks 25 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. The mounting table 27 is reciprocated in the front-rear direction by an air cylinder device 26 installed on the upper surface of the support table 23.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting table 27 is formed in a substantially square frame shape with a part cut away, and three positioning pins 28 are provided on the upper surface of the mounting table 27, and are apexes of an equilateral triangle. It is arranged in the vertical projection. The three positioning pins 28 are fitted into three positioning recesses (not shown) submerged on the lower surface of the pod 10 when the pod 10 is placed on the mounting table 27 (see FIG. 3). It is like that.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a guide rail 30 is horizontally arranged in the left-right direction below the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the back surface) of the base 21 on the wafer transfer device 15 side. It is laid. The guide rail 30 is supported in a slidable manner so that a laterally movable table 31 formed in an angle shape can reciprocate in the lateral direction. An air cylinder device 32 is installed horizontally on the vertical member of the left / right moving base 31 in the left / right direction, and the tip of the piston rod 32 a of the air cylinder device 32 is fixed to the base 21. That is, the left-right moving table 31 is reciprocated in the left-right direction by the reciprocating operation of the air cylinder device 32.

As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of guide rails 33, 33 are arranged on the upper surface of the horizontal member of the left-right direction moving base 31 so as to extend in the front-rear direction. A rail 34 is slidably supported on the rails 33 and 33 so as to reciprocate in the front-rear direction. A guide hole 35 is formed at one end of the front-rear direction moving table 34 so as to extend in the left-right direction.
A bracket 36 is fixed to one side surface of the left-right direction moving base 31, and a rotary actuator 37 is installed on the bracket 36 in the vertical direction upward. A guide pin 38 standing perpendicularly to the tip of the arm 37a of the rotary actuator 37 is slidably fitted into the guide hole 35 of the forward / backward moving table 34. In other words, the front-rear moving table 34 is configured to be reciprocated in the front-rear direction by the reciprocating rotation of the rotary actuator 37.

As shown in FIG. 5, a bracket 39 is vertically erected on the upper surface of the front-rear moving table 34, and a rectangular flat plate shape that resembles the wafer loading / unloading port 22 slightly on the front surface of the bracket 39. The closure 40 formed in the above is fixed vertically. That is, the closure 40 is reciprocated in the front-rear direction by the front-rear direction moving table 34 and is reciprocated in the left-right direction by the left-right direction moving table 31.
That is, the closure 40 is configured to be able to close the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by advancing and moving a main surface (hereinafter referred to as a front surface) facing the base side against the back surface of the base 21. .

As shown in FIG. 5, around the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the front surface of the base 21, packing that seals the wafer loading / unloading port 10 b of the pod 10 and the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 when the pod 10 is pressed. 54 is laid.
A packing 55 for sealing the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21 when the closure 40 is pressed is laid near the outer peripheral edge of the front surface of the closure 40.
Inside the packing 55 on the outer peripheral edge of the front surface of the closure 40, a packing 56 for preventing foreign matter adhering to the door 10a from entering the installation chamber side of the wafer transfer device 15 is laid.

As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of unlocking shafts 41, 41 are arranged on the left and right on the center line in the vertical direction of the closure 40 and are rotatably supported by being inserted in the front-rear direction. A pair of pulleys 42 and 42 are fixed to the ends of the unlocking shafts 41 and 41 on the main surface (hereinafter referred to as the back surface) side opposite to the base of the closure 40, and both pulleys 42 and 42 are fixed. A belt 43 having a connecting piece 44 is wound around. An air cylinder device 45 is horizontally installed above one pulley 42 on the back surface of the closure 40, and the tip of the piston rod of the air cylinder device 45 is connected to a connecting piece 44 of the belt 43. That is, both unlocking shafts 41 and 41 are configured to be reciprocated by the expansion and contraction operation of the air cylinder device 45.
As shown in FIG. 2, an engaging portion 41a that engages with a lock (not shown) of the door 10a projects perpendicularly to the front end of the closure 40 of both unlocking shafts 41, 41. It is installed.

As shown in FIG. 2, two suction tools (suction cups) 46 that are attracted to the surface of the door 10 a are fixed by suction port members 47 in the vicinity of one diagonal in the front of the closure 40. . The suction port member 47 that fixes the suction tool 46 is constituted by a hollow shaft, and the rear side end of the suction port member 47 is connected to a supply / exhaust passage (not shown).
The outer diameter of the front-side end of the suction port member 47 is set so as to be fitted into a positioning hole (not shown) submerged in the door 10a. That is, the suction port member 47 is configured to also serve as a support pin for mechanically supporting the door 10a by being fitted into the positioning hole of the door 10a.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a pod opener casing 48 is laid on the back surface of the base 21 so as to accommodate the closures 40, 40 of the upper and lower pod openers 20, 20. The horizontal length of the closure accommodating chamber 49 of the pod opener casing 48 is set so as to allow the closure 40 to move sideways and completely open the wafer loading / unloading port 22.
Wafer loading / unloading ports 50 and 50 of the pod opener housing 48 are respectively opened at positions facing the upper and lower wafer loading / unloading ports 22 and 22 on the rear wall of the pod opener housing 48. Each wafer loading / unloading port 50 is a closure. It is formed in a rectangular opening of a size that allows insertion of 40 back portions.
An air supply pipe 52 that supplies nitrogen gas 51 as an inert gas to the closure housing chamber 49 is connected to a part of the rear side wall of the pod opener casing 48 so as to communicate with the closure housing chamber 49. An exhaust pipe 53 for exhausting the nitrogen gas 51 supplied to the closure accommodating chamber 49 is connected to a part of the base 21 forming the front wall of the pod opener casing 48 so as to communicate with the closure accommodating chamber 49. .

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a rotary actuator 60 as a moving means is provided on one side of the wafer loading / unloading port 50 in the pod opener casing 48 so that the rotation axis (not shown) is in the vertical direction. One end of an arm 61 formed in a substantially square shape is fixed to the rotating shaft so as to rotate integrally within a horizontal plane. A bracket 62 is fixed to the tip of the arm 61. The bracket 62 has a mapping device 70, and a wafer position deviation detection device 80 as detection means for detecting that the wafer is stored within a predetermined range. Is installed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the mapping device 70 includes a plurality of pairs of light projecting units 71 and light receiving units 72 facing each other, and the plurality of sets of light projecting units 71 and light receiving units 72 are comb teeth. It is installed on the bracket 62 in a state of being vertically aligned with the shape. The number of sets of the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72 is set so as to correspond to the number of steps of the holding groove 10 d formed in the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10.
The pitch between adjacent sets of the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72 is set to correspond to the pitch of the holding grooves 10d of the pod 10 (typically about 10 mm). In addition, the interval between the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72 in each group is set to be larger than the sum of the thickness of the wafer 9 and the thickness of the tweezer 15a of the wafer transfer device 15.
In each set, the detection light 73 projected by the light projecting unit 71 is configured to be directly received by the light receiving unit 72, and is relatively inserted between the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72. The presence or absence of the wafer 9 is detected based on whether or not the detection light 73 from the light projecting unit 71 is blocked by the wafer 9 thus formed. That is, the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72 are configured to detect the presence or absence of the wafer 9 without contacting the wafer 9.

As shown in FIG. 8, the wafer misalignment detection device 80 includes a plurality of limited reflection sensors 81, and the brackets in a state where the plurality of limited reflection sensors 81 are stacked and vertically aligned. 62. The number of limited reflection sensors 81 is set so as to correspond to the number of steps of the holding grooves 10 d formed in the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10.
The pitch between the adjacent limited reflection sensors 81 and 81 is set so as to correspond to the pitch of the holding grooves 10 d of the pod 10. In addition, each of the limited reflection sensors 81 is disposed so as to correspond between the light projecting unit 71 and the light receiving unit 72 in each set of the mapping device 70.
The limited reflection type sensor 81 includes a light projecting unit 82 and a light receiving unit 83, and only a predetermined distance and width from the light projecting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 83 to the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 as a detection target are detected. The detection light 84 projected from the light projecting unit 82 is configured to receive the reflected light 85 reflected by the detection object within the detection range having a predetermined distance and width by the light receiving unit 83. That is, the limited reflection type sensor 81 is disposed so that the light projecting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 83 are adjacent to each other and face the same direction, and is not in contact with the wafer 9 that is a detection target. The detection light 84 projected from the light projecting unit 82 is reflected by the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 that is the surface facing the detection target object, and whether or not the reflected reflected light 85 is received by the light receiving unit 83 is detected. It is configured to determine whether or not the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 that is an object is within a preset range.
The light projecting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 83 of the limited reflection type sensor 81 are preferably arranged in a parallel direction with respect to the main surface of the wafer 9 that is a detection target. As a result, the limited reflection type sensor 81 can detect the wafer 9 in a wider range.
In particular, the positional deviation of the wafer 9 causes a problem such as a contact between the tweezer 15 a and the wafer 9 due to a positional deviation in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of the wafer 9. If the light projecting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 83 are arranged in the parallel direction, it is possible to detect in a wide range in the parallel direction. On the other hand, the detection range is narrow in the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the wafer 9. That is, by setting the parallel direction in a wide range and the vertical direction in a narrow range, the vertical shift of the wafer 9 can be properly detected in a wider range.
The light projecting unit 82 of the limited reflection sensor 81 is preferably arranged so as to project light along the normal line of the wafer 9 toward the center of the wafer 9 when it is in the correct desired position in the pod 10. When the light projecting method is in the correct desired position in the pod 10, the light projecting unit 82 faces the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9, and the reflected light 85 from the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 is correct and desired. The light is reflected and detected by the light receiving unit 83. However, if the wafer 9 is misaligned, the reflection angle is shifted and the desired reflection does not occur, and no light is received because there is no reflection. That is, this light projection method can more accurately detect a positional shift as to whether or not the position is correct.
Although details will be described later, it is desirable that the wafer position deviation detection device 80 be disposed on both sides of the wafer 9 as a detection target. By disposing the wafer misalignment detection device 80 on both sides of the wafer 9 in this way, for example, when only one side of the wafer 9 is located in a normal range and only the opposite side is located in an abnormal range. Even if it exists, the position shift of the wafer 9 can be detected appropriately and reliably.

Next, the operation of the batch type CVD apparatus according to the above configuration will be described.
In order to facilitate understanding of the description, in the following description, one wafer transfer port 13 is an upper port A and the other wafer transfer port 13 is a lower port B.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pod 10 carried into the pod stage 11 in the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port is appropriately transported to the pod shelf 12 designated by the pod transport device 14 and temporarily. Stored.
The pod 10 stored in the pod shelf 12 is appropriately picked up by the pod transfer device 14, transferred to the upper port A, and transferred to the mounting table 27 of the pod opener 20 as shown in FIG.
At this time, the positioning recesses embedded in the lower surface of the pod 10 are respectively fitted with the three positioning pins 28 of the mounting table 27, whereby the positioning of the pod 10 and the mounting table 27 is executed.

When the pod 10 is mounted on the mounting table 27 and aligned, the mounting table 27 is pushed toward the base 21 by the air cylinder device 26, and as shown in FIG. The opening-side end surface is pressed against the opening edge of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 on the front surface of the base 21. When the pod 10 is pushed in the direction of the base 21, the unlocking shaft 41 of the closure 40 is inserted into the key hole of the door 10a.
Subsequently, the negative pressure is supplied to the suction port member 47 of the closure 40 from the air supply / exhaust passage, whereby the door 10 a of the pod 10 is vacuum-sucked and held by the suction tool 46. In this state, when the unlocking shaft 41 is rotated by the air cylinder device 45, the unlocking shaft 41 releases the locking of the door 10a by the engaging portion 41a engaged with the locking on the door 10a side.

  Next, when the back-and-forth moving table 34 is moved away from the base 21 by the operation of the rotary actuator 37, the closure 40 vacuum-sucks the door 10a of the pod 10 as shown in FIG. 9B. In the held state, the door 10a is pulled out from the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 by retreating to the closure accommodating chamber 49 of the pod opener casing 48. By pulling out the door 10a, the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 is opened.

  When the closure 40 is further retracted by the longitudinal moving table 34, the closure 40 is accommodated in the wafer loading / unloading port 50 provided in the rear wall of the pod opener casing 48, as shown in FIG. By inserting from the inside of the chamber 49, the closure accommodating chamber 49 is sealed.

  When the closure 40 seals the closure storage chamber 49, the nitrogen gas 51 is circulated through the supply pipe 52 and the exhaust pipe 53 in the closure storage chamber 49. The nitrogen gas 51 flowing through the closure storage chamber 49 flows into the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 from the wafer loading / unloading port 10b and then flows out, thereby exhausting the atmosphere of the wafer storage chamber 10c and filling the wafer storage chamber 10c. To do. That is, air and moisture in the atmosphere in the closure housing chamber 49 of the pod opener casing 48 and the wafer housing chamber 10 c of the pod 10 are purged (excluded) by the nitrogen gas 51.

When the closure storage chamber 49 of the pod opener casing 48 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 are purged by the nitrogen gas 51, the left / right moving table 31 moves away from the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the operation of the air cylinder device 32. Is done. As a result, the closure 40 in which the door 10a is vacuum-sucked and held by the suction tool 46 is moved to the retracted position in which the closure housing chamber 49 is separated from the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21, as shown in FIG.
With the retracting movement of the closure 40, the wafer loading / unloading port 50 of the pod opener casing 48, the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21, and the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10 are opened.
At this time, since the closure storage chamber 49 of the pod opener casing 48 and the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 have been purged with the nitrogen gas 51 in advance, air or moisture in the atmosphere is the wafer in the back side space of the base 21. It is not discharged into the installation space of the transfer device 15, and the occurrence of adverse effects such as contamination of the transfer space of the wafer transfer device 15 and an increase in oxygen concentration due to them is prevented.

  When the closure 40 is retracted, as shown in FIG. 10, the bracket 62 is moved by the operation of the rotary actuator 60, and the mapping device 70 and the wafer misalignment detection device 80 are moved to the wafer storage chamber 10 c of the pod 10. It is inserted through the wafer loading / unloading port 50 of the pod opener casing 48, the wafer loading / unloading port 22 of the base 21, and the wafer loading / unloading port 10b of the pod 10.

The mapping device 70 inserted into the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 performs mapping by detecting a plurality of wafers 9 stored in the wafer storage chamber 10c by the operation shown in FIG. Here, the mapping is to confirm the location of the wafer 9 in the pod 10, that is, the holding groove 10d in which the wafer 9 is located.
For example, as shown in the first and third stages of FIG. 7, when the detection light 73 projected by the light projecting unit 71 is blocked by the wafer 9 and is not received by the light receiving unit 72, The controller (not shown) of the mapping device 70 determines that the wafer 9 is held in the first and third holding grooves 10d corresponding to the light receiving portions 72.
For example, when the detection light 73 projected by the light projecting unit 71 is directly received by the light receiving unit 72 as shown in the second stage of FIG. The controller of the mapping device 70 determines that the second holding groove 10d corresponding to the portion 72 is not held.

Each of the limited reflection sensors 81 of the wafer position deviation detecting device 80 inserted into the wafer storage chamber 10c of the pod 10 causes the position deviation of the wafer 9 held in each holding groove 10d by the operation shown in FIG. Each of them is determined whether or not.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the detection light 84 projected by the light projecting unit 82 of the limited reflection type sensor 81 is shown in FIG. 8B. As described above, when the light is reflected by the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 and the reflected light 85 is received by the light receiving unit 83, the wafer 9 in the first holding groove 10d is held within a preset range. The controller (not shown) of the limited reflection type sensor 81 makes the determination.
For example, as shown in the second and third steps of FIG. 8A, the detection light 84 projected by the light projecting unit 82 of the limited reflection type sensor 81 is converted into that shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, if the light does not enter the outer peripheral surface of the wafer 9 or the reflected light 85 is not received by the light receiving portion 83 even if it is incident, the wafer 9 in the second and third stage holding grooves 10d. Is not held within a preset range, the controllers of the second and third stage limited reflection sensors 81 and 81 determine.
When the determination that the wafer 9 is not held within the preset range is output by the limited reflection sensor 81, the tweezer 15a of the wafer transfer device 15 with respect to the wafer 9 in the holding groove 10d to which the determination is output. The controller (not shown) of the wafer misalignment detection device 80 transmits a command to stop the transfer operation by the method (not shown) of the wafer transfer device 15.
In response to this command, the wafer transfer device 15 stops the transfer operation of the wafer 9 by the tweezer 15a, so that damage to the wafer 9 or the tweezer 15a caused when the tweezer 15a collides with the wafer 9 can be prevented. can do.

  When the above operations are completed, the bracket 62 on which the mapping device 70 and the wafer position deviation detection device 80 are installed is returned to the original standby position by the operation of the rotary actuator 60.

When the mapping device 70 and the wafer position deviation detection device 80 are returned to the standby position, the plurality of wafers 9 of the pod 10 opened at the upper port A are sequentially loaded into the boat 8 by the tweezer 15a of the wafer transfer device 15 ( Charged) go.
However, the wafer transfer device 15 stops the transfer operation by the tweezer 15a for the wafer 9 designated by the wafer position deviation detection device 80 to stop the transfer operation by the tweezer 15a of the wafer transfer device 15.

During the loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 in the upper port A, another pod 10 is transferred from the pod shelf 12 to the lower port B by the pod transfer device 14 and transferred. From the positioning operation described above by the opener 20 to the mapping operation and the wafer misalignment detection operation proceed simultaneously.
Thus, if the mapping operation is simultaneously performed in the lower port B, the wafer transfer of the pod 10 waiting in the lower port B is completed simultaneously with the completion of the loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 in the upper port A. The loading operation of the wafer 9 into the boat 8 by the apparatus 15 can be started. That is, since the wafer transfer device 15 can continuously perform the wafer transfer operation without wasting a waiting time for the replacement operation of the pod 10, the throughput of the batch type CVD apparatus 1 can be increased.

In turn, when the loading operation of the wafers 9 into the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 is completed at the upper port A, the empty pod closing operation is executed in a substantially reverse order to the above-described pod opening operation. That is, the door 10a held and retracted by the closure 40 is returned to the position of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the left / right moving table 31 and inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the front / rear moving table 34 to load / unload the pod 10 into / from the wafer. It is inserted into the mouth 10b.
When the door 10a is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 10b, the unlocking shaft 41 is rotated by the air cylinder device 45 to lock the door 10a. When the door 10a is locked, the negative pressure supplied to the suction port member 47 from the air supply / exhaust passage is cut and released to the atmosphere, whereby the vacuum suction holding of the suction tool 46 is released.
Subsequently, the mounting table 27 is moved away from the base 21 by the air cylinder device 26, and the opening side end surface of the pod 10 is separated from the front surface of the base 21.

The empty pod 10 in the upper port A with the wafer loading / unloading port 10b blocked by the door 10a is transferred to the pod shelf 12 by the pod transfer device 14 and temporarily returned.
When the empty pod 10 is carried out from the upper port A, the next real pod 10 is carried into the upper port A.
Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated at the upper port A and the lower port B as many times as necessary.

As described above, the loading operation of the wafer 9 to the boat 8 by the wafer transfer device 15 for the upper port A and the lower port B is alternately repeated, whereby a plurality of wafers 9 are loaded from the pod 10 to the boat 8. Going to be.
In this case, the number of wafers 9 to be batch processed (for example, one hundred to one hundred fifty) is many times the number of wafers 9 (for example, twenty-five) stored in one pod 10. Therefore, a plurality of pods 10 are alternately and repeatedly supplied to the upper port A and the lower port B by the pod transfer device 14.

When a plurality of wafers 9 designated in advance are transferred from the pod 10 to the boat 8, a film forming process which is substantially waiting for the wafer transfer port 13 is executed in the process tube 4. That is, the boat 8 is lifted by the boat elevator 7 and carried into the processing chamber of the process tube 4. When the boat 8 reaches the upper limit, the periphery of the upper surface of the seal cap that holds the boat 8 closes the process tube 4 in a sealed state, so that the processing chamber is hermetically closed.
In a state where the processing chamber of the process tube 4 is hermetically closed, the exhaust pipe 6 is evacuated to a predetermined vacuum degree, heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater unit 3, and a predetermined source gas is predetermined by the gas introduction pipe 5. Only the flow rate is supplied. As a result, a predetermined film is formed on the wafer 9.
When a preset processing time elapses, the boat 8 is lowered by the boat elevator 7 so that the boat 8 holding the processed wafers 9 is restored to the original loading and unloading station (hereinafter referred to as a loading station). It is carried out to.

During the above film forming process, in the upper port A and the lower port B, the removal (discharging) work of the processed wafers 9 held in the other boat 8 is simultaneously performed. That is, the processed wafer 9 of the boat 8 carried out to the loading station is picked up by the wafer transfer device 15, loaded in advance into the upper port A, stored in the empty pod 10 which is opened by removing the door 10 a. .
When the predetermined number of wafers 9 are accommodated in the empty pod 10 at the upper port A, the door 10a held and retracted by the closure 40 is returned to the position of the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the left / right moving table 31. Then, it is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 22 by the back-and-forth moving table 34 and is inserted into the wafer loading / unloading port 10 b of the pod 10.

The pod 10 containing the processed wafer 9 and returned to the pod shelf 12 is transferred from the pod shelf 12 to the pod stage 11 by the pod transfer device 14.
The pod 10 transferred to the pod stage 11 is carried out of the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port, and is carried to the next process such as a cleaning process or a film formation inspection process.
Then, the pod 10 storing the new wafer 9 is carried into the pod stage 11 in the housing 2 from the pod loading / unloading port.

  Thereafter, the wafer loading / unloading method and the film forming method described above are repeated so that a CVD film is formed on the wafer 9 by the batch-type CVD apparatus 1 and an integrated circuit including semiconductor elements is formed on the wafer 9. The film forming process in the manufacturing method is performed.

  According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

1) It is possible to detect that the wafer is not stored in the predetermined range by installing a wafer position deviation detection device in the pod opener that determines whether or not the wafer is stored in the predetermined range. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an accident such as the tweezer of the wafer transfer device colliding with the wafer whose position is shifted.
In particular, the pod is often transported with the wafer held horizontally in the pod, and the wafer is likely to be displaced in the pod as compared to the open cassette. Also, since the pod has a door, it is difficult to check the position of the wafer in the pod, and it is also difficult to visually check whether the wafer is displaced, and the displacement is detected from the outside of the pod. The method is also limited.
However, in the embodiment described above, the door is removed, and the mapping device detects the presence or absence of the wafer, and at the same time, detects the positional deviation of the wafer, immediately before the wafer is removed from the pod by the tweezers. Since the positional deviation of the wafer can be detected, the occurrence of a contact accident between the tweezer and the wafer can be prevented in an efficient and short time.

2) By configuring the wafer misalignment detection device to move together with the mapping device, the wafer mapping operation and the wafer misalignment detection operation can proceed at the same time. Compared to the case of moving separately, the total work time can be shortened.

3) Also, by configuring the wafer misalignment detection device so that it moves together with the mapping device, the number of parts and assembly can be reduced compared to the case where the wafer misalignment detection device and the mapping device are configured to move separately. Since the number of man-hours can be reduced, an increase in the manufacturing cost of the batch type CVD apparatus can be suppressed.

4) The wafer misalignment detection device is set to generate an output when the wafer is stored in a normal range, so that in the unlikely event that the limited reflective sensor fails and is not output, the wafer due to tweezers Therefore, it is possible to prevent a wafer damage accident at the time of the failure of the limited reflection type sensor.
In the case of this output setting, the wafer position deviation detection device does not output even when the wafer is not held in the holding groove, but the mapping device determines that the wafer is not held in the holding groove. Since the wafer transfer operation by the wafer transfer apparatus is stopped, there is no problem.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The wafer misalignment detection device and the mapping device may be configured as shown in FIGS. 11 (a), 11 (b), and 11 (c).
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11A, the two wafer position deviation detection devices 80 and 80 are respectively located at two left and right locations near the outer periphery of the wafer 9 on one side of the mapping device 70. The left and right wafer position deviation detection devices 80 and 80 are configured to determine whether or not the outer peripheral surface of the wafer is within a preset range.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 (b), one wafer position deviation detection device 80 horizontally moves two left and right positions that are spaced apart from each other in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the wafer 9 in order, thereby In FIG. 5, the wafer position deviation detection device 80 is configured to determine whether or not the outer peripheral surface of the wafer is within a preset range.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 (a) and the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 (b), the presence / absence of the wafer and the positional deviation of the wafer are determined according to the relationship shown in Table 1 below. The
If the determination is made as shown in Table 1, even if one side portion of the wafer 9 is located in the normal range and the opposite one side is located in the abnormal range, the wafer misalignment is detected. It is possible to detect the wafer properly and reliably. Further, by comparing with the wafer presence / absence detection information of the mapping device 70, the arrangement state of the wafer in the cassette can be reliably detected.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 (c), two mapping devices 70, 70 are arranged on both sides of one wafer position deviation detection device 80 in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the wafer 9.
Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11C, the presence / absence of the wafer and the positional deviation of the wafer are determined by the relationship shown in the following Table 2.
If the determination is made as shown in Table 2, it is possible to detect a positional deviation on one side of the wafer 9, and also compare and determine the wafer presence / absence detection information of the mapping devices 70 on both sides of the wafer 9. This makes it possible to reliably detect the arrangement state of the wafers in the cassette.
In Tables 1 and 2, “ON” in the mapping device state means “wafer present”, “OFF” means “no wafer”, and “ON” in the wafer displacement detector 80 means “ON”. “The outer peripheral surface of the wafer exists within a preset range” and “OFF” means “the outer peripheral surface of the wafer does not exist within a preset range”. Further, “good” in the determination means “there is a wafer and the wafer is not tilted”, and “bad” means “no wafer or / and the wafer is tilted”.

  The wafer position deviation detection apparatus is not limited to be moved together with the mapping apparatus, but may be configured to be moved by a moving means different from the mapping apparatus.

  The moving means for moving the wafer misalignment detection device is not limited to a configuration using a rotary actuator, but may be a configuration using an XY robot or the like.

  The carrier is not limited to a pod but may be an open cassette.

  In the above embodiment, the case of a batch type vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses.

In addition, the substrate processing apparatus is connected to other substrate processing apparatuses, cleaning apparatuses, etc., and connected to a higher-level centralized terminal apparatus that manages information related to each substrate processing apparatus, cleaning apparatus, etc. Collect information such as the number of wafers stored in the wafer and the holding groove where the wafer is held, and actually detect the wafer in the cassette by the mapping device and wafer misalignment detection device. You may comprise so that the accuracy of detection information may be improved further by comparing with the detection information.
For example, it is a case where information indicating that the 1st to 14th tiers from the bottom of the cassette are “wafer present” and the 15th to 25th tiers from the bottom of the cassette is “no wafer” is obtained from the upper centralized terminal device. Actually, when the 1st to 15th stages are “wafer present” and the 16th to 25th stages are “no wafer”, the information detected by the mapping apparatus is the information from the upper centralized terminal apparatus and the mapping apparatus. Is different from the information of “15th stage”. In this case, even if it is determined by the detection information of the wafer position error detection device that “no position error has occurred”, it is determined as “abnormal” and the wafer is removed from the cassette by the tweezer. Alternatively, the cassette may be set so that the cassette is paid out of the substrate processing apparatus.
In addition, even when the information from the upper centralized terminal device and the detection information from the mapping device completely match, it was determined that “the positional deviation occurred” by the detection information of the wafer positional deviation detection device. In such a case, it may be determined that the condition is “abnormal”, the wafer is stopped from being taken out of the cassette by the tweezer, and the cassette is discharged out of the substrate processing apparatus as it is.

1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing a batch type CVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view seen from the front side which shows a pod opener. It is a perspective view which shows the pod mounting state. It is a partially-omission perspective view seen from the back side which shows a pod opener. It is a perspective view which shows the V section which abbreviate | omitted FIG. It is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a main part. It is a partially omitted side view showing a mapping device. 1A and 1B show a wafer positional deviation detection device, in which FIG. 1A is a partially omitted side sectional view, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the pod opener, in which (a) shows before the door is removed, (b) shows after the door is removed, and (c) is when the chamber is sealed. Is shown. FIG. 5 is a partially omitted plan cross-sectional view showing a mapping operation and a wafer position deviation detection operation. It is each plane sectional drawing which shows other embodiment of arrangement | positioning of a wafer position shift detection apparatus and a mapping apparatus, (a) has each arrange | positioned two wafer position shift detection apparatuses in the two places on the one side of a mapping apparatus. Embodiment, (b) is an embodiment in which one wafer position deviation detection device is configured to horizontally move two locations in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the wafer in order, and (c) is a configuration in which two mapping devices are positioned at the wafer position. The embodiment which has been arranged on both sides of the deviation detecting device is shown.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Batch type CVD apparatus (substrate processing apparatus), 2 ... Housing, 3 ... Heater unit, 4 ... Process tube, 5 ... Gas introduction pipe, 6 ... Exhaust pipe, 7 ... Boat elevator, 8 ... Boat, 9 ... Wafer (Substrate), 10 ... pod (carrier), 10a ... door, 10b ... wafer loading / unloading port, 10c ... wafer storage chamber, 10d ... holding groove, 11 ... pod stage, 12 ... pod shelf, 13 ... wafer transfer port, 14 ... Pod transfer device, 15 ... Wafer transfer device, 15a ... Tweezer (holding unit), 16 ... Boat changer, 20 ... Pod opener (opening / closing device), 21 ... Base, 22 ... Wafer loading / unloading port, 23 ... Support base, 24 ... Guide rail, 25 ... Guide block, 26 ... Air cylinder device, 27 ... Placing table, 28 ... Positioning pin, 30 ... Guide rail, 31 ... Platform moving table, 3 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Air cylinder apparatus, 32a ... Piston rod, 33 ... Guide rail, 34 ... Front-back direction moving stand, 35 ... Guide hole, 36 ... Bracket, 37 ... Rotary actuator, 37a ... Arm, 38 ... Guide pin, 39 ... Bracket, 40 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Closure, 41 ... Unlocking shaft, 41a ... Engagement part, 42 ... Pulley, 43 ... Belt, 44 ... Connection piece, 45 ... Air cylinder device, 46 ... Adsorption tool, 47 ... Suction port member, 48 ... Pod opener housing Body 49. Closure storage chamber 50 Wafer loading / unloading port 51 Nitrogen gas (inert gas) 52 Air supply tube 53 Exhaust tube 54, 55, 56 Packing 60 Rotary actuator (moving means) , 61 ... Arm, 62 ... Bracket, 70 ... Mapping device, 71 ... Light projecting part, 72 ... Light receiving part, 73 ... Detection light, 80 ... Wafer Location shift detecting device (detecting means), 81 ... Reflective type sensor, 82 ... projecting portion, 83 ... receiving unit, 84 ... detection light, 85 ... it reflected light.

Claims (1)

A processing chamber for processing the substrate;
A carrier for storing the plurality of substrates at a predetermined interval;
The detection light projected within a predetermined range from the light projecting means is reflected by the peripheral side portion of the substrate, and the light receiving means receives the reflected detection light so that the substrate is accommodated within the predetermined range. Detecting means for detecting that
Moving means for moving the detecting means to a position facing each of the peripheral side portions of the plurality of substrates housed in the carrier at a predetermined interval;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

Images