Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with supporting columns and tables

{
  "publication_number": "US10403531B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with supporting columns and tables",
  "abstract": "In one embodiment, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a container to contain wafers, and supporting tables provided in the container so as to be stacked on one another, and each including a supporting face that comes into contact with a wafer to support the wafer. The apparatus further includes supporting columns to join the supporting tables together and provided at positions where the supporting columns are contained inside outer circumferences of the supporting tables. The apparatus further includes a gas feeder to feed a gas to the wafers on the supporting tables, and a gas discharger to discharge the gas fed to the wafers on the supporting tables. Each of the supporting tables includes a first upper face as the supporting face, and a second upper face provided so as to surround the first upper face at a level higher than a level of the first upper face.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: a container configured to contain a plurality of wafers; a plurality of supporting tables provided in the container so as to be stacked on one another, having annular shapes including outer circumferences and inner circumferences, and each including a supporting face that comes into contact with a wafer to support the wafer; a plurality of supporting columns configured to join the supporting tables together and provided at positions where the supporting columns are contained inside the outer circumferences of the supporting tables; a gas feeder configured to feed a gas to the wafers on the supporting tables; and a gas discharger configured to discharge the gas fed to the wafers on the supporting tables, wherein each of the supporting tables includes a first upper face as the supporting face, and a second upper face provided so as to surround the first upper face at a level higher than a level of the first upper face, and a distance between the outer circumferences of the supporting tables and an inner wall of the container is 10 mm or less, wherein the supporting columns are configured to rotate around a rotational axis.",
    "2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supporting columns are provided at the positions where the supporting columns are contained between the outer circumferences and the inner circumferences of the supporting tables.",
    "3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the inner circumferences of the supporting tables is smaller than a diameter of the wafers.",
    "4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a first arm configured to move while retaining a first wafer in the container; a second arm configured to elevate or lower the first wafer in the container; and a controller configured to control the first and second arms, wherein the controller controls the first and second arms such that: the second arm moves to a lower region of a first supporting table, the first arm retains the first wafer to move to an upper region of the first supporting table, the second arm comes into contact with the first wafer via an opening provided in the first supporting table to elevate the first wafer, the first arm is retracted from the upper region of the first supporting table after the first wafer is elevated, and the second arm lowers the first wafer to place the first wafer on the first supporting table.",
    "5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second arm includes a first plate and a second plate configured to slide along a groove provided in the first plate, and elevates or lowers the first wafer through the slide of the second plate.",
    "6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second arm elevates the first wafer by deforming a portion of the second plate through the slide of the second plate, or elevates the first wafer by deforming a member positioned between the first plate and the second plate through the slide of the second plate.",
    "7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supporting tables are configured to rotate around the rotational axis with the supporting columns."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a wafer conveying apparatus and a wafer conveying method.\n\nIn a batch processing apparatus that simultaneously processes a plurality of wafers with a gas, the gas is required to flow appropriately. Specifically, when the gas flows from a gas feeder to a gas discharger, it is not desirable for the gas to flow around the wafers, and it is desirable for the gas to mostly flow between the wafers. Moreover, when the gas to be fed to a certain wafer flows to another wafer, there is a risk that unevenness in processing between the wafers arises.\n\nFIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a structure of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of a first embodiment; FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing a boat structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a comparative example of the first embodiment; FIGS. 5A to 5D are perspective views and cross-sectional views showing a structure of a wafer conveying apparatus of the first embodiment; FIGS. 6A to 6C are a perspective view and cross-sectional views for explaining operation of the wafer conveying apparatus of the first embodiment; FIGS. 7A to 8C are perspective views showing an operation example of the wafer conveying apparatus of the first embodiment; and FIG.",
  "cpc": [
    "H10P 72/3304",
    "B25J 11/0095",
    "B25J 15/0014",
    "C23C 16/44",
    "C23C 16/4583",
    "H01L 21/67017",
    "H01L 21/67303",
    "H01L 21/67309",
    "H01L 21/67313",
    "H01L 21/67745",
    "H01L 21/67748",
    "H01L 21/68707",
    "H10P 72/0402",
    "H10P 72/12",
    "H10P 72/127",
    "H10P 72/13",
    "H10P 72/3306",
    "H10P 72/7602"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B25J 11/00",
    "B25J 15/00",
    "C23C 16/44",
    "H01L 21/67",
    "H01L 21/673",
    "H01L 21/677",
    "H01L 21/687"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "TOSHIBA MEMORY CORP"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "AISO FUMIKI",
    "FUJITSUKA RYOTA",
    "TAKAHASHI KENSEI",
    "MATSUI TAKAYUKI",
    "IINO TOMOHISA"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-03-08",
  "publication_date": "2019-09-03",
  "grant_date": "2019-09-03",
  "priority_date": "2017-08-31",
  "application_number": "US-201815915792-A",
  "family_id": "65437734",
  "citations": [
    "JP2010177245A",
    "JP2017079289A",
    "JP5565242B2",
    "JPS5565242A",
    "US2012240857A1",
    "US2016322248A1",
    "US2017114464A1"
  ]
}