JP2541887Y2 - Wafer surface treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] In this invention, a plurality of thin plate-like substrates (hereinafter, referred to as "wafers") such as semiconductors, ceramics, and glasses are stored in containers (hereinafter, referred to as "cassettes"). BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer surface treatment apparatus for performing various surface treatments on a wafer while being housed and housed in a cassette, and particularly relates to a technique of transferring a wafer and transporting and transferring a cassette.

[Conventional technology]

For example, semiconductor devices are manufactured by subjecting a semiconductor wafer to a number of surface treatments such as metal deposition, photoresist coating, pattern baking, development, etching, cleaning, film stripping, and impurity diffusion. Then, depending on the type of processing step, there are a case where wafers are processed one by one and a case where many wafers are processed simultaneously while a large number of wafers are housed in a cassette.

When performing wafer surface treatment with a large number of wafers stored in a cassette, the wafers are transferred from a transfer-only cassette to a processing-only cassette prior to processing, and the wafers are processed after processing is completed. There is a case where it is necessary to transfer from a dedicated cassette to a transport dedicated cassette. For example, a quartz cassette is used in the heat treatment apparatus as a processing cassette, and a fluororesin cassette is used in the chemical immersion processing apparatus. Wafers can be transferred between these processing-dedicated cassettes and transport-only polypropylene cassettes. Done.

Along with this, it may be necessary to transfer or transfer the cassette between a transfer device for transferring wafers between cassettes and a surface treatment device.

Regarding these technologies, conventionally, for example, the magazine "Semicond
uctor World ”, November 1985, pp. 73-84, a transfer line between two types of processing equipment and a transfer line in the equipment were connected via a cassette stocker to exchange cassettes.
There is disclosed a technique for performing storage, lot identification, and the like, and controlling processing timing between processes. Also, 75
The page discloses a flow that connects the wafer entrance and the stocker in the diffusion system, transfers wafers between the transport cassette and the quartz board, and carries the quartz board supporting the wafer into and out of the diffusion furnace. Have been.

In addition, as a wafer transfer device, for example,
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-44566 (title "Object Alignment Apparatus"), a table in which first and second cassettes are placed and through holes are formed at predetermined positions, and a wafer accommodated in the cassettes Vertically moving means vertically moving through the through-hole while holding the wafer, aligning means for clamping and aligning the wafers moved above the cassette by the vertical moving means at a time, and the aligning means. There is disclosed an apparatus constituted by driving means for relatively moving the table.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-104138 (title of "Semiconductor Wafer Transfer Apparatus") discloses that the wafers in the cassettes are collectively held at the respective mounting positions of the first and second cassettes, Moving means, respectively, holding means for holding the wafers moved above one cassette by one vertical moving means at a time, and rotating the holding means by 180 ° above the other cassette. There is disclosed an apparatus provided with a rotating means for transferring a wafer to the other vertical moving means.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

As described above, the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device includes various surface treatment steps. Of these, when performing wafer surface treatment while a large number of wafers are housed in a cassette, depending on the treatment step, the cassette may be processed. Due to problems such as corrosion resistance and dust prevention, a dedicated cassette is used for each processing step. In each surface treatment step, an apparatus for transferring wafers between a transport cassette and a cassette dedicated to the treatment step is known.

However, using the wafer transfer device having the above-described configuration, the transfer line between the processing devices and the surface processing device are connected via the transfer-only cassette (first cassette) and the processing-only cassette (second cassette). In the case of transferring wafers between the transfer cassettes, the wafers that have been transferred from the transfer-only cassette to the processing-dedicated cassette and have been subjected to the required surface treatment, for example, cleaning, by the surface treatment apparatus are returned from the processing-dedicated cassette to the original cassette again. At the time of transfer to the transfer-only cassette, particles that were attached to the transfer-only cassette or the transfer device, for example, the wafer vertical movement means or the wafer clamping means, which touched the wafer before the cleaning process, re-attached to the wafer, There is a problem in that the cleaning effect of the surface treatment device at the corner is weakened.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and is intended for use in transferring a wafer in a surface processing apparatus that performs various types of surface processing on a wafer while a plurality of wafers is housed in a cassette. It is another technical object of the present invention to prevent particles or the like adhering to a transfer-only cassette or the like from re-adhering to a wafer that has been subjected to surface treatment, thereby preventing the wafer from being contaminated.

[Means for solving the problem]

This invention is a means to achieve the above-mentioned subject,
In a wafer surface treatment apparatus having a surface treatment unit for performing a required surface treatment on a plurality of wafers accommodated in a processing-dedicated cassette, for example, a cleaning treatment of the wafers, a conveyance accommodating a plurality of wafers before the surface treatment. A loading wafer transfer unit for transferring a plurality of wafers from a dedicated cassette to a processing dedicated cassette, and a plurality of wafers from a processing dedicated cassette containing a plurality of surface-treated wafers to a cleaning dedicated transfer cassette. A cassette for providing a wafer transfer unit comprising an unloading wafer transfer unit for transferring the wafer, connecting the surface treatment unit to the wafer transfer unit, and cleaning the empty transfer-only cassette after the wafer transfer. The cleaning section is provided in connection with the wafer transfer section. Further, a cassette transfer means dedicated to the surface treatment section is provided along the longitudinal direction of the surface treatment section so that the cassette dedicated to the treatment can be transferred within the surface treatment section. Further, a processing cassette transfer means for transferring a processing cassette between the surface processing section and the wafer transfer section is provided, and a transfer cassette dedicated to transfer between the wafer transfer section and the cassette cleaning processing section. The gist of the invention is to provide a dedicated cassette transfer means for transferring a cassette.

[Action]

In the wafer surface treatment apparatus configured as described above, a plurality of wafers that are accommodated in and carried in the transfer-only cassette from the preceding processing apparatus are transferred from the transfer-only cassette by the transfer-in wafer transfer unit to the processing-only cassette. Transferred to. Then, the empty transfer-only cassette after the wafer transfer is transferred to a cassette cleaning processing unit connected to the wafer transfer unit by the transfer-only cassette transfer unit, and cleaned by the cleaning processing unit. On the other hand, the wafers transferred to the processing cassette are transferred to the surface processing section, and the wafers transferred to the surface processing section are subjected to surface processing while being accommodated in the processing cassette by the cassette transferring means for the surface processing section. It is transported inside the department and subjected to the required surface treatment. As described above, in the surface treatment section, the processing cassette is transferred by the cassette transfer means used only for the surface treatment section, so that particles and the like adhering to the transfer cassette are subjected to surface treatment through the cassette transfer means. It can be prevented from being brought into the unit and mixed into the surface treatment liquid, and there is no concern that the influence of the surface treatment is given to the cleaned transfer-only cassette via the cassette transfer means.

The wafer subjected to the surface treatment in the surface treatment section is transferred from the surface treatment section to the unloading wafer transfer section directly or through another processing dedicated cassette transfer section using a dedicated cassette transfer section. The plurality of wafers having been subjected to the surface treatment in this manner are transferred from the processing-dedicated cassette to the transfer-dedicated cassette in the unloading wafer transfer unit, and are then unloaded.

The transfer-only wafer transfer unit transfers the processed wafers stored in the cassette from the processing-only cassette. The transfer-in wafer transfer unit transfers unprocessed wafers to the processing-only cassette, and then performs cassette cleaning. To use the wafer that has been cleaned and dried by the equipment, the unloading wafer transfer unit is provided separately from the incoming wafer transfer unit, and the unloading wafer transfer unit contacts only the wafers after surface treatment. Since the wafer does not come into contact with the wafer before the surface treatment, the transfer of the processed wafer does not cause the transfer of particles and the like to the wafer via the transfer-only cassette or the wafer transfer unit.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention and showing an entire surface treatment apparatus for a wafer.

This wafer surface treatment apparatus includes a wafer transfer section including a carry-in wafer transfer section 1 and a carry-out wafer transfer section 1 ', a cassette storage shelf 2 provided above the wafer transfer section, and a wafer transfer section 1 at one end. 1 ′, a surface treatment section 3 along one side of the surface treatment section 3
And a cassette transfer unit 4 for exclusive use for processing, which communicates between the other end of the wafer transfer unit 1 and 1 ', and the other side of the surface processing unit 3 to accommodate the cassette for wafer transfer. Shelf 2, wafer transfer units 1, 1 'and cassette transport unit 4,
A cassette transfer device 5 for transferring a cassette between the surface processing unit 3 and the wafer transfer units 1 and 1 '; a cassette transfer device 60 for transferring a cassette in the surface processing unit 3; It comprises a cassette transfer device 70 dedicated to the surface treatment section loader for transferring the cassette between the surface treatment section 4 and the surface treatment section 3. The control panel is not shown in the figure.

The carry-in wafer transfer section 1 includes, for example, a first table (transfer cassette mounting table) 10 for mounting the transfer cassette C ₁ and a second table (processing cassette mount) for mounting the processing cassette C _2. Table 12 is disposed so as to be able to reciprocate in the horizontal direction indicated by each arrow. At the center of the first table 10 and the second table 12, rectangular through holes 14 and 16 are formed, respectively.
At an intermediate position between the first table 10 and the second table 12, an elevating plate 18 having an outer shape slightly smaller than the through holes 14 and 16 is provided so as to be able to move up and down as indicated by arrows. On the upper surface of the elevating plate 18, a plurality of holding grooves into which the lower end of the wafer W is loosely inserted and which holds the wafer W are cut out. The holding groove of the lift plate 18, together with the wafer housing groove and the groove of the same pitch of the longitudinal side inner surface of the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ and process only the cassette C ₂ is Setsu設respectively, each bottom, lift plate 18 is open so that it can penetrate. Reference numeral 24 in the figure, a cassette unloading Iridai for placing preceding processing unit is a carried-in conveyor only the cassette C ₁ transported from the outside of the cassette transfer means (not shown).

A pair of clamping arms 20, 20 are disposed above the lifting plate 18, and the pair of clamping arms 20, 20 are supported by driving means.
By 22, the space between the opposing side surfaces is supported so as to be able to expand and contract, and is moved or rotated. The wafer W stored in the cassette placed on the first table 10 or the second table 12 that has moved to the position of the lifting plate 18 is moved upward from the cassette by the lifting operation of the lifting plate 18, and the upward movement is performed. The wafer W is clamped by the pair of clamping arms 20, 20. Further, wafer holding grooves having the same pitch as the accommodation grooves of the cassettes C ₁ and C _{2 and} the holding grooves of the elevating plate 18 are also formed in the opposing side surfaces of the pair of holding arms 20, 20.

An unloading wafer transfer section 1 'is provided adjacent to the above-described transfer wafer transfer section 1, and these transfer wafer transfer sections 1 and 1' constitute a wafer transfer section. The configuration of the unloading wafer transfer unit 1 'is the same as that of the unloading wafer transfer unit 1, and the unloading wafer transfer unit 1' also has a through hole 14 'formed therein, and the transfer-only cassette C ₁
, A first table (transfer cassette mounting table) 10 ′, and a second table (processing cassette mounting table) 12 ′ in which a through-hole 16 ′ is formed to mount the processing cassette C ₂ . Lifting plate 18 ', a pair of clamping arms 20', 20 ',
In addition, support driving means 22 'are provided.

Although not shown, the wafer transfer units 1, 1 '
In is a cassette cleaning apparatus for cleaning a transport dedicated cassette C ₁ became empty after transferred the wafer to the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ is connected, also, the cassette cleaning device and the wafer sorting unit conveying dedicated cassette transfer device for transferring the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ between 1 and 1 'are provided. Cassette cleaning device is a device using a known cleaning technology, for example, spray type cleaning device, ultrasonic cleaning device, high pressure jet type cleaning device or immersion type cleaning device,
It is configured by combining with a known drying technique, for example, a drying apparatus using hot air, infrared rays, or the like. Further, the cassette transfer device dedicated to transfer may be a mechanism similar to that of the cassette transfer unit 4 or the cassette transfer device 5, or may be configured by a known transfer unit using a belt or the like.

In addition, as a configuration of the loading / unloading wafer transfer unit, for example, as described in JP-B-56-44566,
Two cassettes may be placed on one table. Further, if necessary, without particularly providing a cassette unloading Iridai 24 as above may also be used the first table 10 for conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ carry-wafer sorting unit 1 into the cassette unloading Iridai.

The inside of the cassette storage shelf 2 is divided into a plurality of sections (2 sections × 6 rows = 12 sections in this embodiment), and one side face is opened to serve as a cassette entrance. This cassette storage rack 2, the transport private cassette C ₁ or process dedicated cassette wafer sorting unit 1, 1 'in accordance with the progress status of processing
C ₂ is temporarily stored, transfer cassettes is performed between the wafer sorting unit 1, 1 '. The cassette storage shelf is
It can be omitted.

Surface treatment unit 3, in this embodiment, immersion type surface treatment unit 3
Is connected to the unloading wafer transfer section 1 'at one end thereof, that is, at the processing end position side, and is constituted by a plurality of surface treatment tanks 26, 28, 30,... I have. They processing tanks 26, 28, 30, ... in the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ are sequentially inserted, is immersed, each processing tank 26,2
8,30, in each surface treatment liquid stored in ..., the wafer W in a state of being accommodated in the processing only the cassette C ₂ is immersed. Reference numerals 32 and 33 in the figure are a loader unit and an unloader unit, respectively.

Next, the processing-specific cassette transport unit 4 includes a pair of freely movable wires along one side of the surface processing unit 3 over its entire length.
34, 34 'are stretched, and the cassette mounting base plate 36 is fixed to the wires 34, 34'. Cassette mounting base plate 36
Can reciprocate between the vicinity of the loaded wafer transfer unit 1 and the other end of the surface processing unit 3, that is, the vicinity of the processing start position of the surface processing unit 3. At one end of the cassette transport section 4, a plurality of pairs of cassette holding frames 38, 40, and 42 are disposed so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction indicated by arrows. An optical sensor 44 is provided at each intermediate position between the pair of holding frames 38, 40, and 42, and the presence or absence of the cassette mounting base plate 36 can be detected by the optical sensor 44.
With this arrangement, when the cassette table plate 36 which carries a process dedicated cassette C ₂ travels to the left portion of FIG. 1, the optical sensor 44 detects the presence of the cassette mounting table plate 36, the platform by the detection signal The plate 36 stops, and then a pair of holding frames 38
There rises, the holding frame 38 by floating processing a dedicated cassette C ₂ upward from the base plate 36 holds the processing-dedicated cassette C _2. These holding frames and the light sensor is disposed only required number, also acts as a buffer mechanism dedicated to handling the cassette C _2.

It should be noted that the number of wires is not limited to a pair as in this embodiment, and may be one. Further, instead of the wires and the cassette mounting base plate, the cassette may be transported by a walking beam method.

The cassette transfer device 5 includes a pair of cassette holding fingers 46 that can be opened and closed, and a pair of cassette holding fingers 4.
Clamping drive means 48 for driving the opening and closing of 6, 46; vertical movement drive means 50 for vertically moving the clamping drive means 48; front-rear movement means 52 for moving the vertical movement means 50 in the front-rear direction;
Further, a left-right moving means 54 for moving the front-rear moving means 52 in the left-right direction is provided.

The cassette transfer device 5 allows the cassette loading / unloading table 24
Transfer cassette ₁ between the loading wafer transfer unit 1 and the first table 10 of the loading wafer transfer unit 1, and the transfer cassette C ₁ between the loading wafer transfer unit 1 or the unloading wafer transfer unit 1 ′ and the cassette storage shelf 2. ₁ or processes dedicated cassette C _2, also to transfer respectively process the dedicated cassette C ₂ and between the surface treatment unit 3 and the unloading wafer sorting unit 1 'of the loading wafer sorting unit 1 and the cassette transport part 4 be able to.

The cassette transfer device 60 dedicated to the surface treatment unit includes a pair of cassette holding fingers 61, 61, a swing mechanism 62 for swinging the pair of cassette holding fingers 61, 61, and a swing mechanism 62.
And a horizontal moving means 64 for horizontally moving the elevating means 63 along the surface treatment unit 3. The cassette transporting device 60, the processing tanks from the loader 32 26, 28, 30 ... transfer the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ to the unloader 33 via, by sequentially immersing the processed dedicated cassette C ₂ to a predetermined processing tank The necessary immersion treatment can be performed.

In addition, the cassette transfer device 70 dedicated to the surface treatment unit loader
A pair of cassette holding fingers 71, 71, an opening / closing mechanism 72 for opening and closing the pair of cassette holding fingers 71, 71, elevating means 73 for vertically moving the opening / closing mechanism 72, and moving the elevating means 73 horizontally in the front-rear direction. A pair of clamping fingers 7
And a horizontal moving means 74 for horizontally moving 1, 71 from the front end position of the cassette transport section 4 to the loader 32. The cassette transfer device 70 can transfer cassettes C ₂ which is temporarily stored in the cassette transport part 4 to the loader 32 one set.

 Next, the operation of the above device will be described.

First, the transport private cassette C ₁ accommodating the wafer W from the preceding processing unit is conveyed by the external cassette transfer means not shown, when it is placed on the cassette carrying-out Iridai 24,
The cassette for transfer C ₁ is moved from the cassette loading / unloading table 24 by the cassette transfer device 5 to the first wafer transfer unit 1
It is transferred onto the table 10. Further, if necessary, the transport private cassette C ₁ can also be temporarily stored in the cassette storage shelf 2. At this time, on the second table 12, when the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ that do not accommodate the wafer is required to have been placed, it is not placed, the cassette from the cassette storage rack 2 processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ is placed on the second table 12 on which is transferred by the transfer device 5.

Then, the first table 10 mounted with the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁
Is moved to a position immediately above the elevating plate 18, and then the elevating plate 18 is raised by an elevating means such as an air cylinder (not shown), so that the through-hole 14 of the first table 10 and the transfer-only cassette C ₁ are moved.
Passed through the opening in the bottom, lifting float a plurality of wafers W to be processed only cassette C ₁ treatment from a dedicated cassette C ₁ plate 18
To hold. Then, the elevating plate 18 is further raised to the level of the holding arm 20, and the wafer W is held between the pair of holding arms 20, 20.

While holding the wafer W with the pair of holding arms 20, 20,
The elevating plate 18 descends, and when it has finished descending, the first table 10 moves to the right and, in lieu thereof, the second table 12 moves from the left to a position directly above the elevating plate 18. When the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ is stopped at a position immediately above the elevating plate 18, the elevator plate 18 is raised again, passed through the opening of the through hole 16 and the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ bottom portion of the second table 12, a pair of sandwiching The lower end of the wafer W held between the arms 20, 20 is inserted into the holding groove of the elevating plate 18. Then, expanding the pair of clamping arms 20, 20, a plurality of wafers W to collectively held by the holding groove of the lifting plate 18 upper surface, and then lowers the lift plate 18, the wafer dedicated to handling the cassette C in ₂ W is inserted and accommodated.

Thus the wafer W is accommodated in the processing only the cassette C in _2, the second table 12 is moved from the position immediately above the lifting plate 18 to the left. Then, the process only the cassette C ₂ is sandwiched by the pair of clamping fingers 46, 46 of the cassette transfer device 5, the cassette at the right end position of the cassette transport part 4 from the second table 12 on the cassette transfer device 5 susceptor plate 36 It is transferred and placed on top. When processing only the cassette C ₂ is placed on the cassette table plate 36, thereby running the base plate 36 to the left, the base plate 36 travels to a position of the cassette holding frame 38,
The base plate 40 is stopped by the detection signal of the optical sensor 44. When the cassette mounting base plate 36 stops, the holding frame 38
Was elevated to the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ by the upward movement of the holding frame 38 holds the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ to the holding frame 38 to float from the cassette table plate 36, and temporarily stored. Then, the cassette mounting base plate 36 travels to the original position and returns.

Next, by the cassette transfer device 70, the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ held in the cassette holding frame 42 transported first.
Are transported one by one to the loader 32 of the surface treatment unit 3 while being clamped by a pair of cassette clamping fingers 71, 71. Then, move the cassette transfer device 60 dedicated to the surface treatment unit to the left end,
The cassette transporting device 60, dedicated to processing the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ on the loader 32 and sandwiched by a pair of cassette clamping for finger 61, the required surface treatment tank 26, 28, 30 of the surface treatment unit 3, ... in the sequentially inserting the cassette C _2, then immersed wafers W accommodated in the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ in the surface treatment liquid, subjected to a predetermined surface treatment to the wafer W.

Then, while the surface processing for the wafer W is subjected Transfer the wafer to the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ into the cassette cleaning device (not shown) conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ emptied by conveying a dedicated cassette transporting device transfer to a cassette cleaning device to clean the air conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ in the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ having been subjected to the cleaning process the transport dedicated cassette transferring device by unloading the wafer sorting unit 1 above 'first table 10' Transfer to and place it.

Processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ which required surface treatment containing a wafer that has been subjected to the surface treatment section 3 is placed is transported to the unloader 33 of the surface treatment unit 3. Next, the cassette for processing C ₂ is transferred from the unloader 33 of the surface processing section 3 to the second wafer of the wafer transfer section 1 ′ by the cassette transfer device 5.
The wafer is transferred onto the table 12 ', and the unloading wafer transfer unit 1'
In, the same operation as described above, processed wafers are transferred from the processing-dedicated cassette C ₂ to cleaned conveying dedicated cassette C _1. After that, the cassette C _{1 for} exclusive use containing the processed wafers is transferred to the cassette transfer device 5.
As a result, the wafer is transferred from the unloading wafer transfer section 1 'to the cassette loading / unloading table 24, and is unloaded by an external cassette transport means (not shown).

As described above, in this surface treatment apparatus, the elevating plate 18 and the pair of holding arms 20, 20 of the incoming wafer transfer unit 1 come into contact only with the wafer before surface processing, and the unloading wafer transfer unit 1 'moves up and down. plate 18 'and a pair of clamping arms 20', 20 ', since will contact only with the surface processed wafer, also surface treated wafer is re transferred to that cleaning conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ to be carried out is a surface treated wafer is carried wafer sorting unit 1, portions and in contact with the unprocessed wafer into contact with the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ that remains has been conveyed to accommodate the unprocessed wafer Therefore, dust and the like do not adhere to the surface-treated wafer, and the processing quality of the wafer is significantly improved.

As described above, the unprocessed wafers housed and carried in the transfer-only cassette C ₁ are temporarily transferred to the processing-only cassette C _2, and then subjected to a required surface treatment.
Surface-treated processed wafers, is transferred contrary to the process from a dedicated cassette C ₂ to cleaned conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ is unloaded from the apparatus. In the meantime, each cassette is temporarily stored in the cassette storage shelf 2 as needed.

Incidentally, the cassette transport section 4 may be disposed on the side surface of the surface processing section 3 and on the side opposite to FIG. 1, or may be disposed above the surface processing section 3. Good.

Also, the cassette transfer device 70 dedicated to the surface treatment unit loader is omitted, and the cassette C ₂
May be transferred from the front end position of the cassette transport section 4 onto the loader 32.

Also, placing the loader 32 and the unloader 33 of the surface treatment unit 3 Conversely, a process dedicated cassette C ₂ may be transported and transferred to the contrary to the case in the above embodiment. Also,
In the above embodiment, the carry-in wafer transfer unit 1 and the carry-out wafer transfer unit 1 'are connected. However, both transfer units are separately provided at the entrance and the exit of the surface treatment apparatus. Can also.

In the above embodiment, one cassette is placed on each of the surface treatment unit and the wafer transfer unit. However, an apparatus configured so that two cassettes can be arranged in series may be used. .

Furthermore, an optical sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a cassette is provided at each required position, and the operation of the cassette transfer device 5 can be completely automated.

Further, without providing a separate conveyance dedicated cassette transfer device for transferring the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ into the cassette cleaning device, and double as a cassette transfer device 5 for transferring the conveying dedicated cassette C ₁ to cassette cleaning device You may.

In the above embodiment, the immersion type surface treatment is described as an example. However, the type of the surface treatment may be other types such as heat treatment, and the present invention is applied to various types of wafer surface treatment apparatuses. What you get.

[Effect of the invention]

Since the present invention is configured and operates as described above, according to the wafer surface treating apparatus of the present invention, the wafer that has been subjected to the surface treatment comes into contact with each part of the transfer apparatus that the wafer before the surface treatment touched. The transfer-only cassette can be transferred from the processing-dedicated cassette to the transfer-dedicated cassette without any need for cleaning, and the transfer-dedicated cassette at that time has been cleaned. As a result, there is no fear that particles or the like will reattach to the processed wafer, and the quality of the surface treatment of the wafer is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention and showing an entire surface treatment apparatus for a wafer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Loading wafer transfer part, 1 '... Unloading wafer transfer part 2, ... Cassette storage shelf, 3 ... Surface treatment part, 4
… Processing cassette transfer section, 5… Cassette transfer device, 10… Transfer cassette mounting table, 12… Processing cassette mounting table, 10 ′… Washed transfer cassette mounting table, 12 ′ …… Cassette mounting table for processing only, 60 …… Cassette transfer device for surface treatment section, C ₁
…… Transfer cassette, C ₂ …… Processing cassette, W…
... wafers.

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A loading wafer transfer section for transferring a plurality of wafers from a transfer cassette containing a plurality of wafers before surface treatment to a processing cassette, and containing a plurality of wafers after surface treatment. A wafer transfer unit composed of an unloading wafer transfer unit for transferring a plurality of wafers from the processing-dedicated cassette to the cleaning-dedicated transfer cassette, and a wafer transfer unit connected to the wafer transfer unit and housed in the processing-dedicated cassette. A surface treatment unit for performing a required surface treatment on the plurality of wafers, and a cassette cleaning unit provided in connection with the wafer transfer unit and cleaning an empty transfer-only cassette after the wafer transfer. And a cassette transfer means dedicated to the surface treatment section, which is disposed along the surface treatment section and transfers the cassette dedicated to the treatment in the surface treatment section; Processing cassette transfer means for transferring a processing cassette between the processing section and the wafer transfer section, and transfer dedicated for transferring a transfer cassette between the wafer transfer section and the cassette cleaning processing section. A wafer surface treatment apparatus comprising a cassette transfer means. 2. A wafer surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment section performs a cleaning process on the wafer.