Efem and load port

Abstract

There is provided an EFEM that includes a shield gas curtain apparatus 6 that forms a gas curtain capable of shielding an opening 23 when an internal space 5S of a purge container 5, in which the humidity is reduced to a predetermined value by means of a bottom purge apparatus 25 provided in a load port 2, is brought into communication with an internal space 3S of a wafer transport chamber 3, the gas curtain being formed of a shield curtain gas blown immediately downward from a location near the opening 23 of the load port 2 and being closer to the wafer transport chamber 3 than the opening 23 at a higher height than an upper edge of the opening 23. The EFEM thus configured can prevent and suppress a rapid increase in the humidity in the purge container, in which the humidity in the interior space is reduced by performing the bottom purging, occurring immediately after a lid of the purge container is opened, so that quality degradation due to the moisture adhered on a wafer can be avoided.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to an EFEM composed of a wafer transport chamber and a load port, and to a load port.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]In a semiconductor manufacturing process, wafers are processed in a clean room to improve yield and quality. Today, however, when the trends of high integration of devices and circuit miniaturization along with the adoption of larger wafers have progressed, it has become difficult to manage small dusts in an entire clean room in view of costs as well as from a technical point of view. Accordingly, instead of increasing the cleanliness of the entire interior of such a clean room, a system that incorporates “mini-environment system,” which locally increases the cleanliness only around wafers, has been adopted recently for transporting and otherwise processing wafers. The mini-environment system includes a storage container known as a Front-Opening Unified Pod (FOUP...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024]According to the present invention, an EFEM and a load port can be provided, which include a bottom purge apparatus for bottom purging and a shield gas curtain apparatus that forms a gas curtain, and operate these apparatuses to prevent and suppress a rapid increase in t...

Problems solved by technology

Today, however, when the trends of high integration of devices and circuit miniaturization along with the adoption of larger wafers have progressed, it has become difficult to manage small dusts in an entire clean room in view of costs as well as from a technical point of view.

As miniaturization of semiconductor devices on a wafer or the like progresses, there is growing concern about quality degradation due not only to contamination but also to moisture adhered on a wafer in these days, leading to a necessity of keeping a clean and low humidity environment around wafers.

It has been found that when the lid of the FOUP is opened at the door section of the load port while a low humidity environment is maintained inside the FOUP, which is a purge container, once the bottom purging is performed to replace the atmosphere in the FOUP with the predetermined gas, the internal space of the FOUP is brought into communication with that of the wafer transport chamber through the opening of the load port, and the gaseous atmosphere in the wafer transport chamber enters the internal space of the FOUP, which may result in a rapid increase in the humidity in the FOUP.

Such a rapid increase in the humidity in the FOUP,...

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