Station and method for measuring particle contamination of a transport carrier for conveying and storing semiconductor substrates at atmospheric pressure

1. Station for measuring particle contamination of a transport carrier for conveying and storing semiconductor substrates at atmospheric pressure, said transport carrier comprising a rigid casing ( 2 ) containing an aperture and a removable door ( 3 ) allowing the aperture to be closed, the measuring station comprising:

a controlled environment chamber ( 4 ) comprising at least one load port ( 8 ) capable of coupling to the rigid casing ( 2 ) or to the door ( 3 ) of the transport carrier, in order to move the door ( 3 ) into the controlled environment chamber ( 4 ); and

a measuring module ( 5 ) comprising a particle measuring unit ( 14 ),

characterized in that said measuring module ( 5 ) comprises:

a casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) configured to couple to the rigid casing ( 2 ) coupled to the controlled environment chamber ( 4 ) in the place of the door ( 3 ), thereby defining a first measuring volume (V 1 ), said casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) comprising at least one injecting nozzle ( 20 ) and a first sampling orifice ( 12 ) connected to the particle measuring unit ( 14 ); and

a hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ) configured to couple to the door ( 3 ), thereby defining a second measuring volume (V 2 ) between a measuring face ( 22 ) of the measuring module ( 5 ) and the opposite door ( 3 ), said measuring face ( 22 ) comprising at least one injecting nozzle ( 23 ) and a second sampling orifice ( 24 ) connected to the particle measuring unit ( 14 ).

2. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ) has a generally frame-like shape.

3. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the door ( 3 ) is capable of being moved in the direction of the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ).

4. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the measuring module ( 5 ) comprises a module-moving mechanism ( 15 ; 26 ) configured to move the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) between a rest position and a measuring position in the coupled rigid casing ( 2 ).

5. Measuring station according to claim 3 , characterized in that the measuring module ( 5 ) comprises a module-moving mechanism ( 15 ; 26 ) configured to move the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) between a rest position and a measuring position in the coupled rigid casing ( 2 ), and further characterized in that the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) and the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ) are arranged adjacent to each other, in that the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) is capable of being translated into the coupled rigid casing ( 2 ), and in that the door ( 3 ) is capable of being translated in the direction of the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ).

6. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the sampling line ( 19 ) of the particle measuring unit ( 14 ) comprises a valve-comprising device ( 29 a , 29 b ) for selectively switching between the first and second sampling orifices ( 12 , 24 ).

7. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) comprises at least two injecting nozzles ( 20 ) configured to direct a gas jet onto at least two separate locations on the rigid casing ( 2 ) coupled to the controlled environment chamber ( 4 ), the respective orientations of the injecting nozzles ( 20 ) being fixed relative to the coupled rigid casing ( 2 ).

8. Measuring station according to claim 7 , characterized in that it comprises a processing unit ( 27 ) configured to control selective injection of the gas into the injecting nozzles ( 20 , 23 ).

9. Measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) comprises a measuring head ( 13 ) protruding from a base of the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ).

10. Measuring station according to claim 9 , characterized in that said measuring head ( 13 ) has a generally parallelepipedal shape with five faces, and in that each of the five faces of the measuring head ( 13 ) protruding from the base of the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) comprises at least one injecting nozzle ( 20 ).

11. Method for measuring particle contamination of a transport carrier for conveying and storing semiconductor substrates at atmospheric pressure, implemented in a measuring station according to claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises:

a step in which the measuring module ( 5 ) couples to the rigid casing ( 2 ), thereby defining a first measuring volume (V 1 ) between the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) and the coupled rigid casing ( 2 ) in order to measure contamination of the internal walls of the rigid casing ( 2 ); and

a step in which the door ( 3 ) couples to the measuring module ( 5 ), thereby defining a second measuring volume (V 2 ) between said measuring face ( 22 ) and the opposite door ( 3 ) in order to measure contamination of the door ( 3 ).

12. Measuring method according to claim 11 , characterized in that a first interstice is left between the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ) and the rigid casing ( 2 ) coupled to the casing-measuring interface ( 16 ), the gas jet injected into the injecting nozzles ( 20 ) being parameterized to generate a leakage gas flow, through the first interstice, directed towards the exterior of the rigid casing ( 2 ), and in that a second interstice is left between the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ) and the rigid casing ( 2 ) coupled to the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ), the gas jet injected into the injecting nozzles ( 23 ) being parameterized to generate a leakage gas flow, through the second interstice, directed towards the exterior of the hollow, door-measuring interface ( 21 ).