Vacuum processing apparatus

• US 6,484,415 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2001
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Itou, Atsushi, Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Kato, Shigekazu, Nishihata, Kouji
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazarus, Ira S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): O MALLEY, KATHRYN S
• Application Number:
  US09/782,193
• Publication Number:
  US 20010010126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 34/60, 34/92, 342/18, 342/28, 342/29, 342/32, 342/36, 414/939, 414/937, 414/940, 414/217, 414/222.13, 414/785
• US Class Current: 34/92
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 3/006 Processes utilising sub-atmospheric pressure; Apparatus therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/36 Print density control
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/365 by compensation for variation in temperature
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/564 Means for minimising impurities in the coating chamber such as dust, moisture, residual gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67028 for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67736 Loading to or unloading from a conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67748 horizontal transfer of a single workpiece
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/137 including means for charging or discharging wafer cassette
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/139 including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/14 Wafer cassette transporting

Abstract

A wafer conveyor system for used in a vacuum processing apparatus wherein the conveyor structure is provided with a transfer structure and a robot apparatus is arranged on the transfer structure. The robot provides for rotation of the wafer horizontally from a position in a cassette to an opposite postion of the cassette.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette table for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;

at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air,

the first conveyor structure is adapted to travel parallel to the second conveyor structure, and

the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto the cassette table.

2. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure provided with a first robot for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure, the cassette mount unit, the second conveyor structure, the set of lock chambers and the vacuum loader are arranged in tandem in series,

the second conveyor structure is disposed between a set of two cassettes and the set of lock chambers, the set of lock chambers including a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer,

the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot extendable to the wafer horizontally located in the lock chambers,

the lock chambers are each provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and

the second robot faces to a set of wafers disposed in the cassette and transfers the wafers one by one to a lock chamber in which one wafer is to be disposed, and a third robot, of the third conveyor structure is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader so as to face to the lock chambers.

3. The vacuum processing system according to claim 2, wherein the second robot is adapted to travel on a track.

4. The vacuum processing system according to claim 3, wherein the vacuum loader is provided with a set of vacuum processing chambers which are arranged around said conveyor chamber.

5. The vacuum processing system according to claim 3, wherein the second robot is arranged so as to travel in parallel to a traveling direction of the first conveyor structure.

6. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, third conveyor structure, and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure, the cassette mount unit, the second conveyor structure, the set of lock chambers and the vacuum loader are arranged in tandem in series,

the second conveyor structure is disposed between the cassette mount unit and the set of lock chambers which comprise a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer,

the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot extendable to the wafer horizontally located and to the lock chambers, and

the lock chambers are each provided with an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and

a third robot is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the lock chambers.

7. The vacuum processing system according to claim 6, wherein the cassette mount unit has a cassette positioning plane which is a substantially horizontal plane, and the cassette positioning plane is oriented such that a cassette is placed on and moved from the cassette positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of the wafer to be processed substantially horizontal.

8. The vacuum processing system according to claim 6, wherein the second robot has a wafer positioning plane which is a substantially horizontal plane, and the wafer positioning plane is oriented such that a wafer is placed on and moved from the wafer positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of a wafer to be processed substantially horizontal.

9. The vacuum processing system according to claim 6, wherein the third robot has a wafer positioning plane which is a substantially horizontal plane, and the wafer positioning plane is oriented such that the wafer is placed on and moved from the wafer positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of a wafer to be processed substantially horizontal.

10. The vacuum processing system according to claim 6, wherein the at least one vacuum processing chamber includes an etching chamber, a post-processing chamber and a film-formation chamber, and wafers are sequentially processed while passing through each of these processing chambers.

11. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to the cassette mount unit,

the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of cassette tables exposed to the air,

the first robot is adapted to transfer, exposed to the air, a cassette to each of the cassette tables,

the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto a cassette table in a state that a window portion of the cassette, through which wafers are removed from the cassette, faces to the set of lock chambers and a portion of the cassette opposite to the window portion faces to the first conveyor structure, and

the second conveyor structure is disposed between a set of two cassettes and a set of the lock chambers which comprises a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer.

12. The vacuum processing system according to claim 11, wherein the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of two cassette tables, each of which holds one cassette.

13. The vacuum processing system according to claim 12, wherein the set of lock chambers includes a set of a load lock chamber and an unload lock chamber, and the set of cassette tables confront to the set of load lock chamber and unload lock chamber through the second conveyor structure.

14. The vacuum processing system according to claim 11, wherein the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot, which takes out, exposed to the air, a wafer from a cassette held on the cassette mount unit.

15. The vacuum processing system according to claim 11, wherein the first conveyor structure travels on a track, and the set of cassette tables are arranged in parallel to the track.

16. The vacuum processing system according to claim 11, wherein each of the cassettes is provided with a window open to the second conveyor structure, large enough to take out a wafer from the cassette.

17. The vacuum processing system according to claim 16, wherein the second robot is adapted to transfer a wafer from the cassette mount unit to a lock chamber, of the set of lock chambers, without changing a horizontal plane of the wafer.

18. The vacuum processing system comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette, the cassette mount unit having at least one cassette table;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer in the cassette held on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, of the cassette mount unit, exposed to the air,

the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of cassette tables, each of which is adapted to hold one cassette,

the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot, the second robot being adapted to travel along a traveling direction of the first conveyor structure and traveling on a track of the second conveyor structure,

the set of lock chambers includes a load lock chamber and a separate unload lock chamber,

the third conveyor structure includes a third robot which transfers a wafer from the load lock chamber to the conveyor chamber and a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to the unload lock chamber,

the first robot, the second robot and the third robot are arranged in tandem in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the first conveyor structure, and

the set of lock chambers is provided with both an inlet nd an outlet located in a horizontal line, and the third robot is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the set of lock chambers.

19. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding a cassette, the cassette mount unit having at least one cassette table;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer in a cassette held on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table of the cassette mount unit, exposed to the air,

the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of two cassette tables, each of which holds one cassette,

the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot, the second robot being adapted to travel in a traveling direction of the first robot on a track of the first conveyor structure,

the set of lock chambers includes a load lock chamber and a separate unload lock chamber,

the third conveyor structure includes a third robot which is adapted to transfer a wafer from the load lock chamber to the conveyor chamber and a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to the unload lock chamber, and

the wafer is transferred from a cassette on the cassette mount table to the vacuum processing chamber by the second robot and the third robot in a state that a horizontal line is kept in the extent of one cassette height during transportation of the wafer.

20. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette table for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;

at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air,

the first conveyor structure is adapted to travel parallel to the lock chamber over the longitudinal length of the lock chamber, and

the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassete holder onto the cassette table.

21. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette table for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;

at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air, and

the first conveyor structure is adapted to transfer a cassette containing processed wafers, on the cassette table, to the cassette holder of the first conveyor structure, and

the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto the cassette table.

22. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette table for holding a cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;

a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;

at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

a lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air, the cassette holder of the first conveyor structure being adapted to carry a pair of cassettes,

the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto the cassette table.