EP0381338A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method and apparatus for the transfer of wafers in a vertical cvd diffusion apparatus
Assignee: Kokusai Denki Electric Inc
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Filing: 1990-01-18
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-01-18
Abstract
Abstract Product wafers (1a), dummy wafers (1b) and monitor wafers (1c) are loaded from respective cassettes (7) into a boat (2), in which the wafers are in a predetermined arrangement, in a vertical chemical vapour deposition diffusion apparatus by transferring the product wafers (1a) in batches of five, the dummy wafers (1b) in batches of five or less and the monitor wafers (1c) individually. The wafers (1) are withdrawn from the cassettes (7) by a wafer chuck (29) which is mounted on a rotatable and vertically movable slide mechanism (28). The cassettes (7) are received in a cassette store (19) which is horizontally movably arranged adjacent a transfer elevator (18) which moves the slide mechanism (28) vertically.
Inventors
- 👤 Yasuhiro Harada
- 👤 Toshikazu Karino
- 👤 Ryoji Saito
- 👤 Koji Tometsuka
- 👤 Shoichiro Izumi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:21
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/54; H; H10; H10P; H10P72/00; H10P72/30; H10P72/34; H10P72/3411; H10P72/3412; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S414/00; Y10S414/135; Y10S414/141
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of transferring product wafers, dummy wafers and monitor wafers between respective stores and a boat in which the wafers are in a predetermined arrangement in a vertical chemical vapour deposition diffusion apparatus characterised in that the product wafers (1a) are transferred in batches of five, the dummy wafers (1b) are transferred in batches of five or less and the monitor wafers (1c) are transferred individually.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of transferring product wafers, dummy wafers and monitor wafers between respective stores and a boat in which the wafers are in a predetermined arrangement in a vertical chemical vapour deposition diffusion apparatus characterised in that the product wafers (1a) are transferred in batches of five, the dummy wafers (1b) are transferred in batches of five or less and the monitor wafers (1c) are transferred individually.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the dummy wafers are positioned at the top and bottom of the boat, characterised in that the total number of dummy wafers is a multiple of five.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
72 words
A method as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that a number of dummy wafers (1b) at the bottom of the boat (2) is more than five and that the method includes positioning a multiple of five dummy wafers (1b) at the top of the boat and then transferring a number of dummy wafers (1b) which is less than five from the top of the boat to the bottom of the boat.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
75 words
A method as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the number of dummy wafers (1b) in the bottom of the boat (2) is less than five and that the method includes transferring a batch of less than five dummy wafers (1b) to the top of the boat, transferring the product wafers (1a) and monitor wafers (1c) into the boat and then transferring the appropriate number of dummy wafers to the bottom of the boat.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
102 words
A wafer transfer mechanism for transferring product wafers, monitor wafers and dummy wafers between respective wafer storage cassettes and a boat in a chemical vapour deposition diffusion apparatus, the mechanism comprising a wafer chuck (29), a rotatable slide mechanism (28) for moving the wafer chuck in the radial direction and a transfer elevator (18), characterised in that the transfer elevator (18) is arranged to move the slide mechanism (28) vertically, that a cassette store (19) is situated adjacent the transfer elevator (18) and that the wafer chuck (29) is constructed to engage and retain five wafers (1a, 1b, 1c) at a time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
102 words
A wafer transfer mechanism for transferring product wafers, monitor wafers and dummy wafers between respective wafer storage cassettes and a boat in a chemical vapour deposition diffusion apparatus, the mechanism comprising a wafer chuck (29), a rotatable slide mechanism (28) for moving the wafer chuck in the radial direction and a transfer elevator (18), characterised in that the transfer elevator (18) is arranged to move the slide mechanism (28) vertically, that a cassette store (19) is situated adjacent the transfer elevator (18) and that the wafer chuck (29) is constructed to engage and retain five wafers (1a, 1b, 1c) at a time.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
59 words
A mechanism as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the wafer chuck (29) comprises five chuck plates (53 to 57) adapted to retain a respective wafer by the application of suction, each chuck plate being associated with a valve (59 to 63), e.g. of magnetic type arranged to control the application of the suction by that chuck plate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
37 words
A mechanism as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 characterised in that the cassette store (19) is horizontally movable and comprises a plurality of compartments (24) arranged in a plurality of horizontal rows and vertical columns.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
A mechanism as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, characterised in that the pitch of the chuck plates (53 to 57) may be varied.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
92 words
A mechanism as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the central chuck plate (55) is fixed relative to the chuck (29) and that the remaining chuck plates (53, 54, 56, 57) are in threaded engagement with a threaded shaft, the threads of the chuck plates above the central chuck plate (55) being of the opposite sense of those below the central chuck plate, the pitch of the threads of the two outer chuck plates (53,57) being greater than that of the two chuck plates (54,56) adjacent the central chuck plate (55).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
111 words
A mechanism as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 9, characterised by a slide motor (44) for moving the wafer chuck (29) in the radial direction, a rotary motor (30) for rotating the slide mechanism (28), a controller (76) for controlling the valves (59 to 63) associated with the wafter chuck (29), a controller (75) for controlling the slide motor (44), a controller (74) for controlling the rotary motor (30), a controller (73) for controlling the transfer elevator (18), an input board (70) for inputting the operating parameters and a main controller (71) for controlling the operating sequence of the mechanism and for issuing commands to the controllers (73,74,75).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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