JPH07273171A - Handling apparatus for disc-like object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an apparatus for handling, e.g. replacing or carrying, a disc-like object, e.g. a semiconductor wafer or an information disc, quickly and accurately without contaminating the object during production or during inspection process after production. CONSTITUTION:The disc-like object handling apparatus comprises a stage 40 for rotating a disc-like object, e.g. a semiconductor wafer 1, while sucking from the underside at a plurality of points on its outer periphery. A centering guide disposed at a height variable relatively to the stage 40 guides the outer periphery of the object 1 while supporting the guide 1 from the underside at a plurality of points on its outer periphery through shoes 30. A carrying arm 50 carries the object 1 while sucking the object 1 at the outer periphery on the inside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk-shaped object used for replacing or moving a disk-shaped object such as a semiconductor wafer or information disk in the manufacturing process thereof or in the inspection process after manufacturing. Related to the handling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the process of manufacturing a VLSI, the generation of dust from a manufacturing apparatus has become a problem with the progress of automation and unmanned operation. In particular, it is known that dust adhering to the back surface of a disk-shaped wafer is transferred to the surface of the lower wafer in the container for storing the wafer and contaminates the wafer to deteriorate the yield. When aligning the orientation flat (orientation flat) in a certain direction, in the conventional apparatus, the vicinity of the center of the wafer is suctioned and held from the lower side and rotated. In such a configuration, the centrifugal force and the inertial force when starting and stopping the rotation are problems. In order to prevent the displacement of the wafer due to this inertial force, it is necessary to increase the suction area or the suction force. Recently, as wafers have become larger (larger diameter), the inertia at the time of rotation stop has become considerably large and cannot be ignored. The surface may be scratched due to the displacement, and on the other hand, this is also a cause of dust generation. Therefore, it is necessary to support the wafer over a considerable area, but the contact portion between this device and the wafer is a major cause of dust generation and adhesion. There is a measure to reduce the rotational speed to reduce the influence of inertial force,
This causes a decrease in handling efficiency.

First, the problem of the conventional device will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the wafer 1 is placed on the centering guide 300 of the conventional wafer handling apparatus. FIG. 13 is a sectional view of FIG. 12, showing a state immediately after the wafer 1 is placed. In FIG. 14, the wafer 1 is placed and the orientation flat stage 4 is used to align the orientation of the orientation flat of the wafer.
00 is rotating. In FIG. 15, the transfer arm 1011 moves from the orientation flat stage 400 to the wafer 1
It is a top view which shows the state just before receiving. FIG. 16 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. FIG. 17 shows a state immediately after the transfer arm 1011 receives the wafer 1 from the orientation flat stage 400 in the next step of FIG.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which an operator has placed the wafer 1 on the centering guide 300 with tweezers or the like.
As shown by the broken line in FIG. 13, when the edge of the wafer 1 hits the guide inclined surface 301 of the centering guide 300, it is guided by this inclined surface and slides down to the state shown by the solid line. In this state, the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 may not always be the desired direction. The orientation flat stage 400 is supported on a base 1000 by a rotary / linear motion bearing 700 so as to be vertically and rotatably supported. In this state, the orientation flat stage 400 is raised by a mechanism (not shown) so as to come into contact with the back surface of the wafer 1. When the vacuum path 402 provided in the orientation flat stage 400 is connected to the negative pressure source, the wafer suction groove portion 401 of the orientation flat stage 400 sucks and holds the central portion of the wafer 1. The orientation flat stage 400 is further raised and temporarily stopped in the state shown in FIG. In this state, the orientation flat stage 400 is rotated by a mechanism (not shown). The base 1000 is provided with an orientation flat detection sensor 800, which projects light onto the back surface of the wafer 1 and detects reflected light. Since the light is not reflected by the orientation flat 1a, the position of the orientation flat 1a can be detected. The orientation of the orientation flat 1a can be adjusted to a fixed direction by rotating the wafer 1 and measuring the angle at which the reflected light returns after the reflected light disappears and reversing the angle by ½ of the angle. Next, FIG. 15 and FIG.
Backside of wafer 1 and centering guide 3 as shown in
00 and the upper end portion 313 and a gap B between the transfer arm 10 and
11 is made to enter from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 15 by a guide mechanism (not shown) and stopped. The transfer arm 1011 is provided with a suction hole 1012, and a negative pressure is connected to the suction hole 1012 through a passage provided inside and suctioned. Subsequently, the vacuum suction of the orientation flat stage 400 is released, the orientation flat stage 400 is lowered, the wafer 1 is received on the transport arm 1011 and the transport arm 1011 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG.

In the apparatus as described above, the orientation flat stage 400 and the transfer arm 1011 are in contact with the central portion of the back surface of the wafer. FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the state in which dust is attached to the wafer by the apparatus described above in relation to the apparatus. As shown in the lower side of FIG. 19, this dust adheres to the back surface of the wafer and contaminates the wafer. The black dots in the figure show the dust distribution measured by the particle counter. When this wafer (the lower side of FIG. 19) is placed in a wafer basket or the like, the surface of the lower surface of the wafer shown in FIG.
As shown in the upper drawing of FIG. 9, dust spreads, falls, and is transferred. The dust itself adhering to the back surface of the wafer does not cause much problem, but it is extremely unfavorable that the front surface of the lower wafer is contaminated in this way.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned apparatus, the wafer 1 may be displaced by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the wafer 1 on the orientation flat stage 400 during the alignment of the orientation flat 1a and the inertial force at the time of starting / stopping. There is. In order to prevent this, it is conceivable to implement one or two or more of the following three ways. 1) Increase the vacuum suction force to increase the holding force. However, in the semiconductor industry, it is said that it is preferable to adsorb as weakly as possible in order not to generate an adsorption trace due to the adsorption force of the wafer. 2) Increase the adsorption area to increase the holding force. If the adsorption area is increased, the area of contact between the wafer and the device increases, which increases the area of adhesion of dust and the like, which is not preferable. 3) Decrease the rotation speed to reduce centrifugal force and inertial force at start / stop. If the rotation speed is lowered, the time required for orientation flat alignment becomes longer, which is not preferable. An object of the present invention is to quickly handle a disc-shaped object such as a semiconductor wafer or an information disc, which is replaced or transported in the process of its production or in the process of inspection after the production without contaminating the disc-shaped object. An object of the present invention is to provide a disc-shaped object handling device that can be accurately performed in. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disc-shaped object handling device in which only a very limited portion of the inner portion of the disc-shaped object adjacent to the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object is brought into contact with the handling device. .

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a disk-shaped object handling device according to the present invention basically comprises an inner side which guides the outer circumference of the disk-shaped object and is close to the outer circumference of the disk-shaped object. It is composed of a centering guide that supports the portion at a plurality of positions from the lower surface, and a transport arm that sucks and supports the inner circumference of the disk-shaped object and moves. Further, the disk-shaped object handling device according to the present invention is provided with a stage which is supported by suction at an inner portion close to the outer periphery of the disk-shaped object from a lower surface at a plurality of positions and rotates, and a relative height position of which is variable with respect to the stage. A centering guide that guides the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object and supports an inner portion close to the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object at a plurality of locations from the lower surface, and a transfer arm that suction-supports and moves the outer periphery inner side of the disc-shaped object, It can also consist of

[0008]

According to the above structure, the disk-shaped object handling device holds the vicinity of the outer periphery of the back surface of the disk-shaped object,
It is possible to hold and move a disk-shaped object with a smaller area than in the past. As a result, the disk-shaped object handling device can reduce the contact area and minimize the amount of dust adhered due to the contact. If the disk-shaped object is a process wafer, the outer peripheral portion of the wafer is a portion that is removed as a non-product portion when cut into individual chips, so if there is dust adhesion or scratches on this portion. Does not cause any problem.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment in which the disc-shaped object handling device according to the present invention is configured as a wafer handling device. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the orientation flat alignment stage in which the rotary stage of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is in the original state. The centering guide has a plurality of guide shoes 30 and guides the outer circumference of the wafer, which is a disk-shaped object, and supports the inner portion near the outer circumference of the wafer 1 at a plurality of locations from the lower surface. The transfer arm 50 moves while supporting the inside of the outer periphery of the wafer 1 by suction. The centering guide is associated with the stage 40 that rotates by suctioning and supporting the inner portion near the outer periphery of the disk-shaped object at a plurality of points from the lower surface, and the relative height position is variably provided with respect to the stage 40 between the centering guide and the stage 40. It can be configured to deliver the wafer 1. The stage 40 has a plurality of suction bases 42 and can hold the wafer 1 at this portion.

The rotary stage 40 is attached to the rotary stage shaft 49.
Are provided integrally. A rotary / linear motion bearing 60 provided on the unit base 100 supports the rotary stage shaft 49 of the rotary stage 40 so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. The suction stage 42 is provided on the rotary stage 40. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the suction stage of the rotary stage, and FIG. 4 is a cutaway view of the suction stage shown in FIG.
The rib 41 of the rotary stage 40 is provided with a stage vacuum path 43 connected to the rotary stage shaft 49, and the suction table 42 is connected to a negative pressure source (not shown) via the vacuum path 43. An arc-shaped suction groove 46 is formed on the top surface of the suction table 42.
Are surrounded by the edge portion 47, and the suction groove 46 is communicated with the stage vacuum path 43. The rotary stage 40 is brought into contact with the back surface of the wafer 1 only at a portion 47 surrounding the suction groove 46. The five suction bases 42 are arranged at positions where the wafer 1 does not flutter on the suction base 42 regardless of the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1. In addition, the rotary stage 40
A centering guide is provided in relation to the. The centering guide has six centering guide shoes 30.
I have FIG. 5 shows one of the centering guide shoes 30 of the centering guide in an enlarged scale. A centering guide bevel 32 is provided on the top surface 31 of the centering guide shoe. A wafer receiving portion 33 of the centering guide is provided on the slope 32 of the centering guide. The extremely narrow wafer receiving portion 33 supports the lower surface of the wafer 1. Guide shoes 34, 34 are provided on each shoe 30 of the centering guide, and the guide shafts 34, 34 are slidably fitted to bearings 49, 49 provided on the rotary stage 40. A stopper block 36 is fixed to the lower ends of the guide shafts 34, 34, and springs 35, 35 are provided between the stopper block 36 and the lower ends of the rotary stage 40. As a result, the bottom surface of the shoe 30 of the centering guide is urged toward the rotary stage 40. The centering guide is provided by the centering guide shoe 30 regardless of the position angle of the orientation flat 1a.
Are arranged on the centering guide 30 so as not to flutter.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the transfer arm, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view thereof. At the tip of the transfer arm 50, a suction hole 51 is provided along the inner periphery of the wafer 1 and two suction holes 52 and 53 are provided at the abdominal portion at positions corresponding to the inner side of the orientation flat 1a. The suction block having the suction holes 51, 52, 53 rises above the upper surface of the transfer arm and contacts the back surface of the wafer 1 only at the peripheral edge surrounding the suction holes. The suction holes 51, 52 and 53 are connected to a vacuum source (not shown) via a vacuum path 54 provided in the transfer arm 50. The center of each suction hole is located at a position pulled inward by 4 to 5 mm from the outer periphery of the wafer 1. Transport arm 5
0 is three-dimensionally moved in a horizontal state by a mechanism not shown.

Next, the wafer handling operation of the apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The initial state shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to the origin position shown in FIG. (1) The wafer receiving portion 33 of the shoe 30 of the centering guide is located at a position higher than the top surface of the suction table 42 by the gap G, and when the wafer 1 is placed on the wafer receiving portion 33, the suction table 42 is attached to the wafer 1. Not in contact with the back side. The stopper block 36 connected to the shoe 30 of the centering guide via the guide shaft 34 does not fall into the hole 112 provided in the unit base 100. The stopper block 36 is shown in FIG.
It shows the state of depression. (2) An operator sandwiches the wafer 1 with tweezers, introduces the wafer 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow H in FIG. 2, and places it on the shoe 30 of the centering guide. At this time, the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 is not always constant. (3) The wafer 1 placed on the shoe 30 of the centering guide is guided by the slope 32 of the shoe 30 and settles in the position of the wafer 1 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. (4) The suction groove portion 46 of the suction table 42 provided on the rotary stage 40 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) of a vacuum source via a solenoid valve to start vacuum suction. (5) The rotary stage 40 is also guided by the rotary / linear motion bearing 60 to be raised by a mechanism (not shown), and the top surface of the suction table 42 sucks and holds the back surface of the wafer 1, and the gap K shown in FIG. And gap M (stopper block 3
It is stopped after ascending to a height where a gap between the lower surface of 6 and the upper surface of the unit base 100) is obtained. (6) The orientation flat detection sensor 70 (see FIG. 2) at this position
The optical axis of is coincident with the outer peripheral end face of the wafer 1, and the irradiation light is reflected and returned. However, when it corresponds to the orientation flat 1a, the reflected light does not return. In Figure 2, θ2 +
θ3 = 180 °, θ3 is the angle between the arrow H in FIG. 2 and the optical axis of the detection sensor 60, and θ1 is the angle occupied by the orientation flat. This θ1 is obtained by the angle from when the reflected light does not return until it returns. According to these angle setting conditions, the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 is aligned with the E or F direction, the rotation of the rotary stage 40 is stopped, and at the same time, the vacuum suction holding of the wafer 1 is released. (7) The rotation stage 40 is guided by the rotation / bearing 60 by means of a mechanism (not shown) and moves down to the state shown in FIG. (8) The transfer arm 50 enters from the direction E in FIG. 2 by a guide mechanism (not shown). At this time, if the operator accidentally arranges the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 in the direction as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer arm 50 moves between the gap P shown in FIG. 8 and the gap J shown in FIG. Enter more.
However, on the other hand, when the orientation flat 1a is arranged in a direction other than this, the centering guide shoe 30 or the suction platform 42 prevents the transport arm 50 from entering. In order to avoid these, when the centering guide shoe 30 obstructs the entrance of the transport arm 50, the unit base 100 is provided with a base groove 112, and the block 36 fixed to the lower end of the centering guide shoe is provided with the base groove 112. 5 and 10
Then, the clearance N sufficient for the transfer arm 50 to enter is obtained. On the other hand, when the suction table 42 blocks the entrance of the transfer arm 50, the wafer receiving portion 33 of the shoe of the centering guide shoe 30 and the top of the suction table 42 are stopped at the lowering stop position of the rotary stage 40 as shown in FIG. The surface is also dimensioned so that a gap G sufficient for the entrance of the transfer arm can be obtained. Note that the base groove 117 provided in the front side H direction in FIG. 2 has the outer periphery of the wafer 1 and the tip of the transfer arm substantially at the same position as shown in FIG. This is provided in order to avoid the risk of colliding with the guide inclined portion 32 when the amount is equal to or more than the fixed amount. (9) The approaching transport arm 50 stops approaching at a predetermined position, and immediately thereafter, it is connected to a vacuum source (not shown), and vacuum suction is started by the suction holes 51, 52 and 53. (10) The transport arm 50 that has entered and is in a stopped state starts to rise by a predetermined amount by a mechanism (not shown). (11) The transfer arm 50 scoops the wafer 1 during the ascending process, and ascends to a predetermined position and stops (FIG. 1).
1). (12) The transfer arm 50 retracts in the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. 2, and transfers and stores the wafer to a wafer storage container (not shown) in the next transfer step (not shown). (13) The rotary stage 40 moves up to the position shown in FIG. 9 by a mechanism (not shown). (14) The rotating stage 40 is guided by the rotating / bearing 60 by a mechanism (not shown) and descends to stop in the state of FIG. 8 to the original state of FIG. 2 and return to the state of operation (2).

Various modifications can be made to the embodiments described in detail above within the scope of the present invention. Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to a semiconductor wafer handling apparatus having an orientation flat, it can be similarly applied to a positioning means other than an orientation flat, for example, one using a notch. Further, it can be similarly applied to the processing and handling of disk-shaped objects other than semiconductor wafers, for example, information disks.

[0014]

As described above, the disk-shaped object handling device according to the present invention is a centering device that guides the outer circumference of a disk-shaped object and supports the inner portion near the outer circumference of the disk-shaped object at a plurality of locations from the lower surface. The guide is composed of a guide and a transfer arm that moves by suctioning and supporting the inner circumference of the disk-shaped object. Therefore, the disk-shaped object localized by the centering guide can be transferred and transferred between the transfer arm and the centering guide. At this time, only a part of the outer circumference of the disk-shaped object contacts the device, and There is no risk that any major part will come into contact with the device and become contaminated. Further, the disk-shaped object handling apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a stage that sucks and supports an inner portion near the outer periphery of the disk-shaped object from a lower surface at a plurality of points, and a relative height position relative to the stage. From a centering guide that guides the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object and supports an inner portion near the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object at a plurality of positions from the lower surface, and a transfer arm that suctions and moves the inner periphery of the disc-shaped object. It is configured. Therefore, the disk-shaped object can be transferred between the centering guide and the stage and between the centering guide and the transfer arm, and the angular position of the disk-shaped object can be adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of a disk-shaped object handling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an orientation flat alignment stage in which the rotary stage is in the origin state in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a suction table of a rotary stage.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the rotary stage shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the structure of a centering guide.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a transfer arm.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the transfer arm shown in FIG.

8 is an explanatory view showing a height relationship between a centering guide and a suction table before a wafer is placed, and corresponds to a cross section taken along line B-C in FIG.

9 is an explanatory view showing a height relationship between a centering guide and a suction table during an orientation flat aligning operation with a wafer placed thereon, which corresponds to a cross section taken along line B-C in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a state immediately before the transfer arm goes to pick up a wafer in the next step of the state shown in FIG. 9, and shows the mutual relationship of the guide shoes.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a state immediately after a wafer is picked up by a transfer arm.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of an orientation flat alignment stage of a conventional wafer handling apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the wafer handling apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which a wafer is placed and orientation flat alignment is performed in the next step of the state shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a state that is a step subsequent to the step shown in FIG. 14 and immediately before the transfer arm receives the wafer from the orientation flat stage.

16 is a cross-sectional view in the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state after the transfer arm receives the wafer from the orientation flat stage in the process subsequent to the state of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view showing a state in which dust is attached to the wafer shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a transfer distribution of dust attached when a wafer is handled by the conventional apparatus shown in FIGS. 12 to 18;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 wafer 1a wafer orientation flat 30 centering guide shoe 31 shoe top surface 32 shoe slope 33 shoe wafer receiving portion 36 block 40 rotary stage 41 rotary stage rib 42 suction table 43 stage vacuum path 44 sleeve 50 transfer arm 60 rotation / Bearing 70 Orientation flat sensor 300 Centering guide 301 Guide inclined part 313 Guide upper end 400 Orientation flat stage 401 Wafer suction groove 402 Vacuum path 700 Rotation / linear motion bearing 800 Orientation flat detection sensor 1000 Base 1011 Transfer arm 1012 Suction hole

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 20, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The rotary stage 40 is attached to the rotary stage shaft 49.
Are provided integrally. A rotary / linear motion bearing 60 provided on the unit base 100 supports the rotary stage shaft 49 of the rotary stage 40 so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. The suction stage 42 is provided on the rotary stage 40. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the suction stage of the rotary stage, and FIG. 4 is a cutaway view of the suction stage shown in FIG.
The rib 41 of the rotary stage 40 is provided with a stage vacuum path 43 connected to the rotary stage shaft 49, and the suction table 42 is connected to a negative pressure source (not shown) via the vacuum path 43. An arc-shaped suction groove 46 is formed on the top surface of the suction table 42.
Are surrounded by the edge portion 47, and the suction groove 46 is communicated with the stage vacuum path 43. The rotary stage 40 is brought into contact with the back surface of the wafer 1 only at a portion 47 surrounding the suction groove 46. The five suction bases 42 are arranged at positions where the wafer 1 does not flutter on the suction base 42 regardless of the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1. In addition, the rotary stage 40
A centering guide is provided in relation to the. The centering guide has six centering guide shoes 30.
I have FIG. 5 shows one of the centering guide shoes 30 of the centering guide in an enlarged scale. A centering guide bevel 32 is provided on the top surface 31 of the centering guide shoe. A wafer receiving portion 33 of the centering guide is provided on the slope 32 of the centering guide. The extremely narrow wafer receiving portion 33 supports the lower surface of the wafer 1. Guide shoes 34 , 34 are provided on each shoe 30 of the centering guide, and the guide shafts 34 , 34 are slidably fitted to bearings 149 , 149 provided on the rotary stage 40. A stopper block 36 is fixed to the lower ends of the guide shafts 34, 34.
Springs 35, 35 are provided between the lower end of 6 and the lower end of the rotary stage 40. This enables the centering guide shoe 3
The bottom surface of 0 is urged toward the rotary stage 40. The centering guides are arranged by the centering guide shoes 30 in such a position that the wafer 1 does not flutter on the centering guides 30 regardless of the position angle of the orientation flat 1a.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Next, the wafer handling operation of the apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The initial state shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to the origin position shown in FIG. (1) The wafer receiving portion 33 of the shoe 30 of the centering guide is located at a position higher than the top surface of the suction table 42 by the gap G, and when the wafer 1 is placed on the wafer receiving portion 33, the suction table 42 is attached to the wafer 1. Not in contact with the back side. The stopper block 36 connected to the shoe 30 of the centering guide via the guide shaft 34 does not fall into the hole 112 provided in the unit base 100. The stopper block 36 is shown in FIG.
It shows the state of depression. (2) An operator sandwiches the wafer 1 with tweezers, introduces the wafer 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow H in FIG. 2, and places it on the shoe 30 of the centering guide. At this time, the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 is not always constant. (3) The wafer 1 placed on the shoe 30 of the centering guide is guided by the slope 32 of the shoe 30 and settles in the position of the wafer 1 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. (4) The suction groove portion 46 of the suction table 42 provided on the rotary stage 40 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) of a vacuum source via a solenoid valve to start vacuum suction. (5) The rotary stage 40 is guided by the rotary / linear motion bearing 60 to be raised by a mechanism (not shown), and the top surface of the suction table 42 sucks and holds the back surface of the wafer 1 .
Gap K and M shown in 9 (stopper block 36
Is stopped to reach a height at which a gap between the lower surface of the unit base 100 and the upper surface of the unit base 100 is obtained. (6) The orientation flat detection sensor 70 (see FIG. 2) at this position
The optical axis of is coincident with the outer peripheral end face of the wafer 1, and the irradiation light is reflected and returned. However, when it corresponds to the orientation flat 1a, the reflected light does not return. In Figure 2, θ2 +
θ3 = 180 °, θ3 is the angle between the arrow H in FIG. 2 and the optical axis of the detection sensor 60, and θ1 is the angle occupied by the orientation flat. This θ1 is obtained by the angle from when the reflected light does not return until it returns. According to these angle setting conditions, the orientation of the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 is aligned with the E or F direction, the rotation of the rotary stage 40 is stopped, and at the same time, the vacuum suction holding of the wafer 1 is released. (7) The rotation stage 40 is guided by the rotation / bearing 60 by means of a mechanism (not shown) and moves down to the state shown in FIG. (8) The transfer arm 50 enters from the direction E in FIG. 2 by a guide mechanism (not shown). At this time, if the operator accidentally arranges the orientation flat 1a of the wafer 1 in the direction as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer arm 50 moves between the gap P shown in FIG. 8 and the gap J shown in FIG. Enter more.
However, on the other hand, when the orientation flat 1a is arranged in a direction other than this, the centering guide shoe 30 or the suction platform 42 prevents the transport arm 50 from entering. In order to avoid these, when the centering guide shoe 30 obstructs the entrance of the transport arm 50, the unit base 100 is provided with a base groove 112, and the block 36 fixed to the lower end of the centering guide shoe is provided with the base groove 112. 5 and 10
Then, the clearance N sufficient for the transfer arm 50 to enter is obtained. On the other hand, when the suction table 42 blocks the entrance of the transfer arm 50, as shown in FIG. 8, at the lowering stop position of the rotary stage 40, the wafer receiving portion 33 of the shoe of the centering guide shoe 30 and the top of the suction table 42. The surface is also dimensioned so that a gap G sufficient for the entrance of the transfer arm can be obtained. The base groove 117 provided in the front side H direction in FIG. 2 has the outer periphery of the wafer 1 and the tip of the transfer arm at substantially the same position as shown in FIG. This is provided in order to avoid the risk of colliding with the guide inclined portion 32 when the amount is equal to or more than the fixed amount. (9) The approaching transport arm 50 stops at a predetermined position, and immediately thereafter, it is connected to a vacuum source (not shown), and vacuum suction is started by the suction holes 51, 52 and 53. (10) The transport arm 50 that has entered and is in a stopped state starts to rise by a predetermined amount by a mechanism (not shown). (11) The transfer arm 50 scoops the wafer 1 during the ascending process, and ascends to a predetermined position and stops (FIG. 1).
1). (12) The transfer arm 50 retracts in the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. 2, and transfers and stores the wafer to a wafer storage container (not shown) in the next transfer step (not shown). (13) The rotary stage 40 moves up to the position shown in FIG. 9 by a mechanism (not shown). (14) The rotating stage 40 is guided by the rotating / bearing 60 by a mechanism (not shown), descends, stops in the state of FIG. 8, becomes the origin state of FIG. 2, and returns to the state of the operation (2).

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Explanation of code

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Explanation of Codes] 1 wafer 1a wafer orientation flat 30 centering guide shoe 31 shoe top surface 32 shoe slope 33 shoe wafer receiving portion 36 block 40 rotary stage 41 rotary stage rib 42 suction base 43 stage vacuum path 44 sleeve 49 Rotation stage shaft 50 Transfer arm 60 Rotation / linear motion bearing 70 Orientation flat sensor 300 Centering guide 301 Guide inclined part 313 Guide upper end 400 Orientation flat stage 401 Wafer suction groove 402 Vacuum path 700 Rotation / linear motion bearing 800 Orientation flat detection sensor 1000 Base 1011 Transport Arm 1012 suction hole

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 5

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 5]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G11B 7/26 7215-5D

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A centering guide that guides the outer circumference of a disk-shaped object and supports an inner portion near the outer circumference of the disk-shaped object from a lower surface at a plurality of points, and moves by sucking and supporting the inner circumference of the disk-shaped object. A disk-shaped object handling device composed of a transfer arm. 2. A stage which rotates by suctioning and supporting an inner portion near the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object from a lower surface at a plurality of points, and a stage whose relative height position is variably provided with respect to the stage and which surrounds the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object. A centering guide that guides and supports an inner portion near the outer periphery of the disc-shaped object from a lower surface at a plurality of points, and a transfer arm that suctions and moves the inner periphery of the disc-shaped object to move the disc-shaped object. Handling equipment.