VACUUM PROCESSING SYSTEM AND VACUUM PROCESSING METHOD OF SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING SUBSTRATE

• US 20110110752A1
• Filed: 09/16/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Shimoda, Atsushi, Chida, Takafumi, Kondo, Hideaki, Nogi, Keita, Nakata, Teruo, TAUCHI, Susumu
• Application Number:
  US12/883,602
• Publication Number:
  US 20110110752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 414/217
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67184 characterized by the presence of more than one transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67196 characterized by the construction of the transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67766 Mechanical parts of transfer devices robots in general in B25J
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67778 involving loading and unloading of wafers

Abstract

The invention provides a vacuum processing system of a semiconductor processing substrate and a vacuum processing method using the same, comprising an atmospheric transfer chamber having a plurality of cassette stands, a lock chamber arranged on a rear side of the atmospheric transfer chamber, and a first vacuum transfer chamber connected to a rear side of the lock chamber, wherein the first vacuum transfer chamber does not have any vacuum processing chamber connected thereto and has transfer intermediate chambers connected thereto, and the transfer intermediate chambers have subsequent vacuum transfer chambers connected thereto, and wherein the wafers are transferred via the lock chamber to the first vacuum transfer chamber to be processed in each of the subsequent vacuum processing chambers, which are further transferred via any of the transfer intermediate chambers connected to the first vacuum transfer chamber to the subsequent vacuum transfer chambers, and the respective wafers transferred to the subsequent vacuum transfer chambers other than the first vacuum transfer chamber are transferred to the respective vacuum processing chambers connected to each of the vacuum processing chambers and processed therein.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing system of a semiconductor processing substrate comprising:

an atmospheric transfer chamber having a plurality of cassette stands arranged on a front side thereof for transferring a wafer stored in a cassette disposed on one of the plurality of cassette stands;

a lock chamber arranged on a rear side of the atmospheric transfer chamber for storing in an interior thereof the wafer transferred from the atmospheric transfer chamber; and

a first vacuum transfer chamber connected to a rear side of the lock chamber to which the wafer from the lock chamber is transferred;

wherein the first vacuum transfer chamber does not have any vacuum processing chamber connected thereto for processing wafers transferred to the first vacuum transfer chamber and has a plurality of transfer intermediate chambers connected thereto, and the plurality of transfer intermediate chambers have subsequent vacuum transfer chambers connected thereto; and

wherein the wafers stored in the cassette are transferred from the cassette via the lock chamber to the first vacuum transfer chamber to be processed in each of the subsequent vacuum processing chambers, which are further transferred via any of the plurality of transfer intermediate chambers connected to the first vacuum transfer chamber to the plurality of subsequent vacuum transfer chambers, and the respective wafers transferred to the plurality of subsequent vacuum transfer chambers other than the first vacuum transfer chamber are transferred to the respective vacuum processing chambers connected to each of the plurality of vacuum transfer chambers and processed therein.

2. The vacuum processing system of a semiconductor processing substrate according to claim 1, wherein

only a single vacuum processing chamber is connected to each of the plurality of subsequent vacuum transfer chambers.

3. The vacuum processing system of a semiconductor processing substrate according to claim 1, wherein

transfer robots are disposed in the interior of each of the respective first and subsequent vacuum transfer chambers, and each transfer robot is composed of a plurality of arms having beam members as multiple joints capable of moving independently around respective axes.

4. A vacuum processing method of a semiconductor processing substrate for processing a semiconductor processing substrate using a vacuum processing system of a semiconductor processing substrate comprising:

an atmospheric transfer chamber having a plurality of cassette stands arranged on a front side thereof for transferring a wafer stored in a cassette disposed on one of the plurality of cassette stands;

a lock chamber arranged on a rear side of the atmospheric transfer chamber for storing in an interior thereof the wafer transferred from the atmospheric transfer chamber; and

a first vacuum transfer chamber connected to a rear side of the lock chamber to which the wafer from the lock chamber is transferred;

wherein the first vacuum transfer chamber does not have any vacuum processing chamber connected thereto for processing wafers transferred to the first vacuum transfer chamber and has a plurality of transfer intermediate chambers connected thereto, and the plurality of transfer intermediate chambers have subsequent vacuum transfer chambers connected thereto; and

wherein the vacuum processing method of the semiconductor processing substrate comprises transferring wafers stored in the cassette to a the lock chamber, transferring the wafers transferred into the lock chamber to the first vacuum transfer chamber, and further transferring the same to each of the plurality of subsequent vacuum transfer chambers via any of the plurality of transfer intermediate chambers connected subsequently to the first vacuum transfer chamber, and thereafter, transferring the respective wafers transferred to the plurality of vacuum transfer chambers to the respective vacuum processing chambers each connected to the respective vacuum transfer chambers.