# US 7,607,880 B2 · Wafer processing apparatus having dust proof function

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 7,607,880 B2
- Document ID: US7607880B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 10/706,914
- Filed: 2003-11-14
- Published: 2004-07-29
- Granted: 2009-10-27
- Earliest claimed: 2002-12-30
- Assignees: TDK Corporation
- Inventors: Tsutomu Okabe; Hiroshi Igarashi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7607880B2

## CPC

- H10P 72/3406: {involving removal of lid, door or cover}
- Y10S 414/135: Associated with semiconductor wafer handling
- Y10S 414/139: including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

The wafer processing apparatus includes a chamber that is pressurized to a pressure that is higher than the pressure of the exterior thereof, an opening portion through which the interior and the exterior of the chamber are in communication with each other, and a door that closes the opening portion. When the opening portion is closed by the door, a portion of the opening remains as an aperture uncovered by the door. In conventional semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, the interior of the apparatus is sealed and pressurized in order to keep a high degree of cleanness in the wafer processing portion, and therefore airflow is generated due to a pressure difference between the interior and the exterior of the apparatus. With the above feature of the invention, it is possible to suppress creation of such airflow and prevent dust from entering the wafer processing apparatus to eliminate wafer contamination.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A wafer processing apparatus including a mini-environment portion having a chamber including a chamber wall therein and configured to transfer a wafer between a clean box having a housing with an opening configured to be closed by a lid to house the wafer in the housing and the chamber, wherein the housing has a flange extending from the opening of the clean box toward a side opposite to the opening and in a surface-plane direction of the opening of the clean box around an entire perimeter of the opening of the clean box, said apparatus comprising:
a first opening portion formed on the chamber wall, for communicating with an outside of the chamber, said first opening portion facing the opening of the clean box which allows loading or unloading the wafer between the clean box and the chamber,
wherein when the wafer transferring operation is performed, the clean box is fixed to overlap the flange of the clean box over an outside surface of the wall on which the first opening portion is formed with a first clearance formed around the entire perimeter of said first opening portion, the first clearance being defined by a predetermined constant distance along an entire perimeter of the opening of the clean box between a chamber side surface of the flange and the outside surface of the chamber wall on which the first opening portion is formed
wherein the clean box is settable in a manner where an outermost peripheral edge of the opening of the clean box is positioned closer to a center of said first opening portion in a direction parallel to a plane of the chamber wall than a peripheral edge of said first opening portion in the direction parallel to the plane of the chamber wall so that a part of an airflow from the inside of the chamber at the peripheral edge of said first opening portion in a direction normal to said first opening portion directly hits the chamber side surface of the flange to direct an airflow in the direction along the chamber wall.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a door capable of closing said first opening portion when the wafer is not transferred and opening the first opening portion when the wafer is transferred, wherein when the lid held by the door has been inserted into said first opening portion to close said first opening portion until the door has closed said first opening portion, a second clearance is formed between the door and a perimeter of said first opening portion, the second clearance communicating with the first clearance,
wherein an inside of the chamber is capable of communicating with an outside of the chamber through the first and second clearances.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said second clearance is capable of communicating with the first clearance to form a gas flow path from the chamber to the outside of the chamber.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second clearance extends within said first opening portion around an entire perimeter of said first opening portion along a direction in which said door opens.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first clearance extends between the flange and the wall on which said first opening portion is formed in a direction of the wall on which said first opening portion is formed.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outermost dimension of the first opening portion, in a vertical direction, is greater than an outermost dimension of the opening of the clean box, in the vertical direction.

### Claim 7

A wafer processing apparatus including a mini-environment portion having a chamber therein and configured to transfer a wafer between a clean box having a housing with an opening configured to be closed by a lid to house the wafer in the housing and the chamber, wherein the housing has a flange extending from the opening of the clean box toward a side opposite to the opening and in a surface plane direction of the opening of the clean box around an entire perimeter of the opening of the clean box, said apparatus comprising:
a first opening portion formed on a wall of the chamber, for communicating with an outside of the chamber, the wall opposing to the opening of the clean box which allows loading or unloading the wafer between the clean box and the chamber; and
a door configured to close said first opening portion when the wafer is not transferred and opening the first opening portion when the wafer is transferred,
wherein when the wafer transferring operation is performed, the clean box is fixed to overlap the flange of the clean box over an outside surface of the wall on which the first opening portion is formed with a first clearance formed at the perimeter of said first opening portion, the first clearance being defined by a predetermined constant distance along an entire perimeter of the opening of the clean box between a chamber side surface of the flange and the outside surface of the chamber wall on which the first opening portion is formed,
wherein the clean box is settable in a manner where an outermost peripheral edge of the opening of the clean box is positioned closer to a center of said first opening portion in a direction parallel to a plane of the chamber wall than a peripheral edge of said first opening portion in the direction parallel to the plane of the chamber wall so that a part of airflow from the inside of the chamber at the peripheral edge of said first opening portion in a direction normal to said first opening portion directly hits the chamber side surface of the flange to direct an airflow in the direction along the chamber wall;
wherein when the lid held by the door has been inserted into said first opening portion to close said first opening portion until the door has closed said first opening portion, a second clearance is formed between the door and a perimeter of said first opening portion, the second clearance communicating with the first clearance,
and wherein an inside of the chamber is capable of communicating with an outside of the chamber through the first and second clearances.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the first clearance extends in a direction perpendicular to the wall on which the first opening portion is formed.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second clearance extends within said first opening portion around an entire perimeter of said first opening portion along a direction in which said door opens.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

A wafer processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an outermost dimension of the first opening portion, in a vertical direction, is greater than an outermost dimension of the opening of the clean box, in the vertical direction.