End station for an ion implantation apparatus
First Claim
1. An end station for an ion implantation apparatus comprising an ion implantation process unit having a wafer holder, said unit being capable of implanting ions in wafers in a high vacuum, and a wafer supply-collection unit for the process unit, the wafer supply-collection unit comprising:
- (a) a plurality of cassettes comprising means for accommodating wafers in a plurality of first positions therein before ion implantation;
(b) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said cassettes for delivery or for accommodating wafers individually;
(c) a plurality of stockers equal in number to the number of cassettes for accommodating wafers from said cassettes in a plurality of positions therein, and for accommodating dummy wafers, which are not to be processed, when required;
(d) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said stockers for accommodating or delivering wafers individually;
(e) means for reciprocally transporting wafers between said cassettes and said ion implantation process unit, said transporting means extending from said plurality of cassettes to the ion implantation process unit via each of said stockers, wherein each of said stockers comprises means for receiving unprocessed wafers from said cassettes and for receiving processed wafers from said ion implantation process unit; and
(f) means for controlling the operation of said means for lifting and lowering each of said cassettes, wherein said controlling means, said means for lifting and lowering each of said stockers, and said means for reciprocally transporting wafers, together comprise means for collecting the wafers from a desired cassette and for replacing said wafers in the same cassette at a plurality of predetermined second positions therein after processing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An end station for ion implantation apparatus comprising an ion implantation process unit having a wafer holder and capable of implanting ions in wafers in a high vacuum, and a wafer supply-collection unit for the process unit. The wafer supply-collection unit comprises:
(a) a plurality of cassettes being capable of accommodating wafers in a plurality of stages,
(b) devices for lifting and lowering the cassette for delivering or accommodating wafers one by one,
(c) stockers equal in number to the number of cassettes for accommodating wafers in a plurality of stages and for accommodating dummy wafers when required,
(d) devices for lifting and lowering the stocker for accommodating or delivering wafers one by one,
(e) devices extending from the cassette to the ion implantation process station via the stocker and capable of transporting wafers in the direction of reciprocation, and
(f) control devices for controlling the operation of the devices described in (b), (d) and (e) above for collecting the wafer from the desired cassette and replacing in the same original supply cassette at its original position after processing thus, enabling the wafer production line to achieve an improved operation efficiency.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An end station for an ion implantation apparatus comprising an ion implantation process unit having a wafer holder, said unit being capable of implanting ions in wafers in a high vacuum, and a wafer supply-collection unit for the process unit, the wafer supply-collection unit comprising:
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(a) a plurality of cassettes comprising means for accommodating wafers in a plurality of first positions therein before ion implantation; (b) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said cassettes for delivery or for accommodating wafers individually; (c) a plurality of stockers equal in number to the number of cassettes for accommodating wafers from said cassettes in a plurality of positions therein, and for accommodating dummy wafers, which are not to be processed, when required; (d) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said stockers for accommodating or delivering wafers individually; (e) means for reciprocally transporting wafers between said cassettes and said ion implantation process unit, said transporting means extending from said plurality of cassettes to the ion implantation process unit via each of said stockers, wherein each of said stockers comprises means for receiving unprocessed wafers from said cassettes and for receiving processed wafers from said ion implantation process unit; and (f) means for controlling the operation of said means for lifting and lowering each of said cassettes, wherein said controlling means, said means for lifting and lowering each of said stockers, and said means for reciprocally transporting wafers, together comprise means for collecting the wafers from a desired cassette and for replacing said wafers in the same cassette at a plurality of predetermined second positions therein after processing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An end station for an ion implantation apparatus comprising an ion implantation process unit having a wafer holder and capable of implanting ions in wafers in a high vacuum, and a wafer supply-collection unit for the process unit, the wafer supply-collection unit comprising:
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(a) a plurality of cassettes, each of said cassettes comprising means for accommodating a plurality of wafers in a plurality of first positions therein before ion implantation, at least one of said cassettes comprising a rack; (b) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said cassettes for delivery or accommodating individual wafers; (c) a plurality of stockers equal in number to the number of cassettes for accommodating wafers from said cassettes in a plurality of positions therein and for accommodating a plurality of dummy wafers, said dummy wafers comprising wafers which are not to be processed by said ion implantation process unit; (d) means for sequentially lifting and lowering each of said stockers for accommodating or delivering wafers individually; (e) means for reciprocally transporting wafers, said transporting means extending from said plurality of cassettes to the ion implantation process unit via each of said stockers, and comprising means for transporting wafers from said cassettes via said stockers to said ion implantation process unit; and (f) means for controlling the operation of said means for lifting and lowering each of said cassettes and said means for lifting and lower each of said stockers, wherein said controlling means, and said means for reciprocally transporting wafers, together comprise means for collecting the wafers from a desired cassette and for replacing said wafers in the same cassette at a plurality of second positions therein after processing, said stockers comprising means for receiving unprocessed wafers from said cassettes and for receiving processed wafers from said ion implantation process unit;
wherein each of said stockers comprises means for supplying at least one of said dummy wafers to at least one position on said wafer holder to satisfy any numerical deficiency in the supply of said wafers from one of said cassettes. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification