Substrate heat treatment apparatus, method of installing substrate heat treatment apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9716021-B2
Application number	US-201514601733-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2015
Priority date	Jan 27, 2014
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed is a substrate heat treatment apparatus. The apparatus includes: a conveyance storage unit which includes a first storage section and a second storage section each of which stores a plurality of conveyance containers, and a conveyance mechanism configured to convey the conveyance containers, each of the conveyance containers accommodating a plurality of wafers; and a heat treatment unit including a heat treatment furnace which accommodates a holder configured to hold the plurality of wafers in multiple stages, and performs the heat treatment on the wafers. A mounting stage of a transfer section is provided below the first storage section in the conveyance storage unit. On the mounting stage, the conveyance containers are mounted so that the wafers within the conveyance containers are transferred to the holder in the heat treatment unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate heat treatment apparatus, comprising:
a conveyance storage unit including a first storage section and a second storage section each configured to store a plurality of conveyance containers, and a conveyance mechanism provided within the conveyance storage unit to be extended in a vertical direction and configured to convey the conveyance containers while moving in the vertical direction and being rotated, each of the conveyance containers being configured to accommodate a plurality of wafers;
a carry-in/out unit provided to be attached to the conveyance storage unit from one side of the conveyance storage unit and configured to dispose the conveyance containers such that the conveyance containers are carried into or out of the conveyance storage unit by the conveyance mechanism;
a heat treatment unit provided to be attached to the conveyance storage unit from another side of the conveyance storage unit opposite to the one side and including a heat treatment furnace configured to accommodate a holder configured to hold the plurality of wafers in multiple stages, and to perform the heat treatment on the wafers; and
a transfer section including a mounting stage disposed in a wall of the conveyance storage unit facing the heat treatment unit and below the first storage section, the mounting stage being configured to mount each of the conveyance containers thereon to allow the wafers in each of the conveyance containers to be transferred to the holder of the heat treatment unit,
wherein the first storage section of the conveyance storage unit is disposed in the wall of the conveyance storage unit facing the heat treatment unit, and the second storage section is disposed below the conveyance mechanism and adjacent to the mounting stage, and
the second storage section includes an elevating mechanism configured to change a height of each of the conveyance containers stored in the second storage section in the vertical direction.

2. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the elevating mechanism includes:
a conveyance container support configured to support the conveyance containers;
a position displacement member configured to displace a vertical position of the conveyance container support; and
a guide member configured to guide a vertical movement of the conveyance container support.

3. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the position displacement member includes a ball screw.

4. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the elevating mechanism includes a conveyance container support configured to support the conveyance containers, and
a distance between the conveyance container support and a lower end surface of the elevating mechanism when the conveyance container support is located at a highest position is 1.2 or more times a distance between the conveyance container support and the lower end surface of the elevating mechanism when the conveyance container support is located at a lowest position.

5. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the elevating mechanism is configured to elevate a load of 50 kg or more.

6. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conveyance mechanism is configured to hold the conveyance containers from a top side thereof to convey the conveyance containers.

7. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the carry-in/out unit includes: a first carry-in/out table and a second carry-in/out table disposed above the first carry-in/out table, the conveyance containers being mounted on the first carry-in/out table to be carried into or out of the substrate heat treatment apparatus, and the conveyance containers being mounted on the second carry-in/out table to be carried into or out of the substrate heat treatment apparatus, and
a distance between a conveyance container mounting surface of the first carry-in/out table and a lower end face of the conveyance storage unit is 890 mm or more.

8. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the conveyance storage unit includes a housing including a first housing portion in which the first storage section and the conveyance mechanism are disposed, and a second housing portion below the first housing portion in which the second storage section is disposed, and
the housing of the conveyance storage unit is configured to be divided into at least the first housing portion and the second housing portion.

9. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first storage section includes a plurality of stages of mounting shelves.

10. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the conveyance mechanism is extended along the plurality of stages of mounting shelves all the way.

11. The substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first storage section is arranged on a wall portion of the conveyance storage unit facing the heat treatment unit.

12. A method of installing the substrate heat treatment apparatus of claim 8 , the method comprising:
forming a recess on a base surface;
installing the second housing portion within the recess; and
installing the first housing portion above the second housing portion.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Kikuchi Hiroshi

Classifications

• H10P72/3218

  Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers · CPC title

• H10P72/3404

  Storage means · CPC title

• H10P72/0434 Primary

  mainly by convection · CPC title

• H01L21/67769

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L21/6773

  Electricity · mapped topic