CN114446837A

CN114446837A - Annular distributed semiconductor equipment

Info

Publication number: CN114446837A
Application number: CN202210166130.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄允文; 刘二壮; 刘枫; 蔡斌; 刘涛
Original assignee: Shanghai Pudate Semiconductor Equipment Co ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Pudate Semiconductor Equipment Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-02-23
Filing date: 2022-02-23
Publication date: 2022-05-06

Abstract

The invention provides annular distributed semiconductor equipment which comprises a front-end module with a transfer table, reaction cavity modules with a plurality of reaction cavities and annularly distributed with the transfer table, and transmission modules positioned in the annularly distributed reaction cavities, wherein each transmission module comprises a rotating piece, a mechanical arm is installed on each rotating piece, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer table and the reaction cavities through the rotating operation of the rotating pieces. The annular distributed semiconductor equipment can improve the operation convenience and the applicability of the semiconductor equipment, simplify the layout of the semiconductor equipment, reduce the size of the equipment, reduce the equipment cost, and realize the simultaneous processing of wafer transferring and placing operation in a plurality of process cavities, so that the multi-cavity processing capacity of the semiconductor equipment is greatly enhanced, and the productivity is greatly improved.

Description

Annular distributed semiconductor equipment

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the field of semiconductor equipment, and relates to annular distributed semiconductor equipment.

Background

In the field of semiconductor equipment, a multi-chamber wafer processing apparatus is a common apparatus in semiconductor manufacturing, and generally includes a front end module for loading a wafer to be processed, a wafer transmission module for transmitting the wafer, and a reaction chamber module composed of a plurality of wafer reaction chambers for processing the wafer, and is an integrated semiconductor manufacturing machine.

In an integrated semiconductor manufacturing machine, a plurality of reaction chambers for processing a wafer are generally symmetrically distributed along a straight line on a horizontal plane, and an index rail is disposed at a position of a symmetry axis of the symmetrically distributed reaction chambers, and a robot for transferring the wafer is fixed on the index rail, so that the robot linearly moves by movement of the index rail to transfer the wafer.

Fig. 1 illustrates a typical multi-chamber semiconductor apparatus in the prior art, which is located in a front end module of the semiconductor apparatus, and a wafer cassette 2 is placed on a loading table 1; in a wafer transmission module positioned at the middle end of the semiconductor equipment, a manipulator 3 is positioned in a frame shell 4 and is responsible for transmitting wafers between a wafer box 2 and a transfer table 5; in the reaction cavity module located at the rear end of the semiconductor equipment, a plurality of reaction cavities 6 are arranged at two sides of the semiconductor equipment, a linear index rail 8 is installed in the middle of the semiconductor equipment, and a process manipulator 7 capable of moving back and forth is installed on the linear index rail 8 and is responsible for placing the wafer in the transfer table 5 into the reaction cavities 6 for process treatment and sending the wafer after the process treatment back to the transfer table 5.

With the development of semiconductor manufacturing processes, the above semiconductor devices have technical problems, such as: when the number of the configured reaction cavities is increased or the time for manufacturing a single wafer is shortened, the number of wafers to be carried by the process manipulator in unit time is increased, and when the number reaches a certain degree, the working beat of the manipulator cannot support the configuration of more reaction cavities or the application of shorter process time, so that the yield of the machine is limited, the productivity efficiency of the machine is reduced, and the average wafer yield cost of the machine is increased.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention is directed to an annular distributed semiconductor device, which solves the problems of limited yield and increased wafer yield cost of the prior art.

To achieve the above and other related objects, the present invention provides a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device, comprising:

a front end module comprising a transfer table;

the reaction cavity module comprises a plurality of reaction cavities, and the plurality of reaction cavities and the transfer table are distributed annularly;

the transmission module is located in the annular distribution part and comprises a rotating part, a mechanical arm is installed on the rotating part, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer table and the reaction cavity through the rotating operation of the rotating part.

Optionally, N transfer platforms are included, and N is larger than or equal to 1.

Optionally, the rotating member is provided with M mechanical arms, M is greater than or equal to 1, and the mounting positions of the M mechanical arms correspond to the positions of the reaction chamber and the transfer table, so as to simultaneously transfer a plurality of wafers.

Optionally, the M robot arms are formed by M independent robots.

Optionally, the M mechanical arms are formed by 1 composite manipulator.

Optionally, the rotating member is a rotating member with a lifting function and/or the robot arm is a robot arm with a lifting function.

Optionally, in the annular distribution, the reaction chamber and the transfer table are distributed at equal intervals.

Optionally, the rotating member comprises a disk-type rotating disk or a gantry-type rotating frame.

Optionally, the front-end module further includes a front-end wafer transfer module, where the front-end wafer transfer module includes a loading platform, a wafer cassette, a rack housing, and a manipulator, and the manipulator operates to transfer the wafer in the loading platform and the transfer platform.

Optionally, the transfer table is a movable transfer table, and the movable transfer table is capable of completing both a front-end wafer transfer process and a middle-end wafer transfer process by operation of the movable transfer table.

As described above, the ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device of the present invention includes a front end module having a transfer stage, a reaction chamber module having a plurality of reaction chambers, the plurality of reaction chambers and the transfer stage being annularly distributed, and a transfer module, the transfer module being located inside the annularly distributed reaction chambers, the transfer module including a rotating member, the rotating member being provided with a robot arm, and the wafer being transferred within the transfer stage and the reaction chambers by the rotating operation of the rotating member.

In the annular distributed semiconductor equipment, all process cavities are arranged in an annular divergence shape, the left and right and rear maintenance spaces are sufficient, and the annular distributed semiconductor equipment can be compatible with a front end module of the existing semiconductor equipment, so that the operation convenience and applicability can be improved, and the equipment size can be reduced; furthermore, the rotating piece and the mechanical arm can be flexibly arranged, so that the wafer conveying, picking and placing operation in a plurality of process cavities can be processed simultaneously, the application range of the semiconductor equipment is expanded, the multi-cavity processing capacity of the semiconductor equipment is greatly enhanced, and the productivity is greatly improved; furthermore, the movable transfer table is selected, so that the movable transfer table has the functions of front-end wafer transmission and transfer of middle-end wafers, the transfer table can be omitted, a mechanical arm can be omitted, the layout of the semiconductor equipment can be further simplified, the size of the semiconductor equipment is reduced, and the cost of the semiconductor equipment is greatly reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical multi-chamber semiconductor apparatus in the prior art.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the element reference numerals

1. 110, 120, 130, 140 load stations

2. 210, 220, 230, 240 wafer cassettes

3. 310, 320, 7 robot

4. 410, 420 rack shell

5. 511, 512, 521, 522, 531, 532, 533, 541, 542 and 543 transfer platform

6. 610, 620, 630 and 640 reaction chamber

710. 720, 730, 740 mechanical arm

8 straight line index track

810. 830, 840 disc type rotating disc

820 bracket type rotating frame

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to specific embodiments, and other advantages and effects of the present invention will be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present specification. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways, and its several details are capable of modification in various respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As in the detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings showing the structures are not partially enlarged in general scale for the convenience of description, and the schematic drawings are only examples, which should not limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the three-dimensional dimensions of length, width and depth should be included in the actual fabrication.

For convenience in description, spatial relational terms such as "below," "beneath," "below," "under," "over," "upper," and the like may be used herein to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that these terms of spatial relationship are intended to encompass other orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. Further, when a layer is referred to as being "between" two layers, it can be the only layer between the two layers, or one or more intervening layers may also be present. When "between … …" is used, it is meant to include both endpoints.

In the context of this application, a structure described as having a first feature "on" a second feature may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features are formed in between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact.

It should be noted that the drawings provided in the present embodiment are only for illustrating the basic idea of the present invention, and the drawings only show the components related to the present invention rather than being drawn according to the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation, and the type, quantity and proportion of each component in actual implementation may be changed freely, and the layout of the components may be more complicated.

Example one

As shown in fig. 2, the present embodiment provides a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device including: the system comprises a front-end module, a reaction cavity module and a transmission module, wherein the front-end module comprises transfer tables 511 and 512; the reaction cavity module comprises 8

reaction cavities

610, and 8 reaction cavities 610 and 2 transfer tables 511 and 512 are distributed annularly; the transmission module is located in the annular distribution, the transmission module adopts a rotating part, the rotating part adopts a disc

type rotating disc

810, 4 mechanical arms 710 are installed on the disc type rotating disc 810, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer tables 511 and 512 and the reaction cavity 610 through the rotating operation of the disc type rotating disc 810.

In this embodiment, the number N of the relay stations is set to be N ═ 2, but the present invention is not limited to this, and in another embodiment, the number N may also be 1, 3, and the like, and may be specifically set as needed, and is not limited here too.

The rotating member is a disk type rotating disk 810, but is not limited thereto, and the rotating member may also be a rotating disk or a rotating bracket with other shapes to realize the wafer transmission by the rotation around the center of the rotating member, and the specific shape of the rotating member will not be described here.

In this embodiment, the rotating member is provided with 4 robots 710, and the installation positions of the 4 robots 710 correspond to the positions of the reaction chamber 610 and the transfer tables 511 and 512, so as to simultaneously transport a plurality of wafers, including the process of transferring, taking and placing, but the value of the number M of the robots 710 is not limited thereto, and the number of the robots 710 may also be 1, 2, 3, 5, etc.

Further, in this embodiment, the M robot arms 710 are composed of 4 independent robot arms to realize independent control, but not limited thereto, in another embodiment, the M robot arms may also be composed of 1 compound robot arm to enable the plurality of robot arms 710 to operate in a unified manner.

As an example, in the ring distribution, the reaction chamber 610 and the transfer tables 511 and 512 are equally spaced.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the reaction chamber 610 and the transfer stages 511 and 512 are preferably arranged at equal intervals to improve the convenience of the semiconductor device, but the arrangement of the reaction chamber 610 and the transfer stages 511 and 512 is not limited thereto, and the arrangement may be performed as needed.

As an example, the rotating member may be a rotating member having a lifting function and/or the robot arm 710 may be a robot arm having a lifting function.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the rotating member is preferably a rotating member with a lifting function, that is, the disk type rotating disk 810 can be lifted along the Z axis to drive the robot arm 710 located on the disk type rotating disk 810 to perform a linear motion in the vertical direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the robot arm 710 may also be a robot arm with a lifting function, or the rotating member and the robot arm 710 both have a lifting function, which is not limited herein.

As an example, the front end module may further include a front end wafer transfer module, which may include a loading station 110, a wafer cassette 210, a rack housing 410, and a robot 310, and by operation of the robot 310, wafers are transferred within the loading station 110 and the transfer tables 511 and 512.

Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the wafer cassette 210 is located on the loading platform 110 in the front end module, the robot 310 is located in the rack housing 410, and the wafers are transported in the loading platform 110 and the transfer tables 511 and 512 by the operation of the robot 310. The front-end module may directly adopt a front-end module of an existing semiconductor device, so that the semiconductor device has good compatibility, the structure of the front-end module is not limited to this, and the front-end module may also be improved to further simplify the layout of the semiconductor device, reduce the size of the semiconductor device, and reduce the cost of the semiconductor device, which will not be described herein.

Example two

As shown in fig. 3, the present embodiment provides a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device, and the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is mainly that: in the semiconductor apparatus, the rotating member is a rack-type rotating rack 820, and specifically, the semiconductor apparatus includes:

the system comprises a front-end module, a reaction cavity module and a transmission module, wherein the front-end module comprises transfer tables 521 and 522; the reaction cavity module comprises 8

reaction cavities

620, and 8 reaction cavities 620 and 2 transfer tables 521 and 522 are annularly distributed; the transmission module is located inside the annular distribution, the transmission module adopts a rotating part, the rotating part adopts a support

type rotating frame

820, 4 mechanical arms 720 are installed on the support type rotating frame 820, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer tables 521 and 522 and the reaction chamber 620 through the rotating operation of the support type rotating frame 820.

As for the arrangement of the components in the front end module, the reaction chamber module and the transfer module of the semiconductor device, such as the arrangement of the loading table 120, the wafer cassette 220, the robot 320, the frame shell 420 and the transfer tables 521 and 522, reference may be made to the first embodiment, which is not described herein again.

EXAMPLE III

As shown in fig. 4, the present embodiment provides a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device, and the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is mainly that: in the semiconductor device, the transfer tables 531, 532, 533 are mobile transfer tables, and the mobile transfer tables have a function of completing a wafer transfer process at a front end and a wafer transfer process at a middle end by operating the mobile transfer tables, specifically, the semiconductor device includes:

the system comprises a front-end module, a reaction cavity module and a transmission module, wherein the front-end module comprises the transfer tables 531, 532 and 533; the reaction cavity module comprises 8

reaction cavities

630, and 8

reaction cavities

630 and 3 transfer tables 531, 532 and 533 are distributed annularly; the transmission module is located inside the annular distribution, the transmission module adopts a rotating part, the rotating part adopts a disc

type rotating disc

830, 4 mechanical arms 730 are arranged on the disc type rotating disc 830, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer tables 531, 532 and 533 and the reaction cavity 630 through the rotating operation of the disc type rotating disc 830.

The transfer tables 531, 532, 533 are formed by moving the loading table 130 on which the wafer cassette 230 is loaded in the front module, that is, the transfer tables 531, 532, 533 perform the front wafer transfer process and the middle wafer transfer process, so that the semiconductor device can avoid the arrangement of a robot and the transfer tables, thereby greatly reducing the cost of the device and further reducing the size of the device.

With regard to the arrangement of the components in the front-end module, the reaction chamber module and the transmission module in the semiconductor device, reference may be made to the first embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Example four

As shown in fig. 5, the present embodiment provides a ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device, and the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is mainly that: in the semiconductor device, the loading table 140 in the front module is directly distributed at the periphery of the disk type rotating disk 840, and the wafer cassette 240 can be directly used as the transfer tables 541, 542, 543 after being placed on the loading table 140, and specifically, the semiconductor device includes:

the system comprises a front-end module, a reaction cavity module and a transmission module, wherein the front-end module comprises transfer tables 541, 542 and 543; the reaction cavity module comprises 8 reaction cavities 640, and the 8 reaction cavities 640 and the 3 transfer tables 541, 542 and 543 are annularly distributed; the transmission module is located inside the annular distribution, the transmission module adopts a rotating part, the rotating part adopts a disc

type rotating disc

840, 4 mechanical arms 740 are installed on the disc type rotating disc 840, and wafers are transmitted in the transfer tables 541, 542 and 543 and the reaction cavity 640 through the rotating operation of the disc type rotating disc 840.

The semiconductor equipment is more suitable for small-size wafers, such as 6-inch wafers, 8-inch wafers and the like, and the equipment can be used for eliminating a mechanical arm and a transfer table, so that the equipment cost can be greatly reduced, and the size of the equipment can be further reduced.

With regard to the arrangement of the components in the front end module, the reaction chamber module and the transmission module in the semiconductor device, reference may be made to embodiment one, which is not described herein again.

In summary, the ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device of the present invention includes a front end module having a transfer stage, a reaction chamber module having a plurality of reaction chambers, the plurality of reaction chambers and the transfer stage are distributed in a ring shape, and a transmission module, the transmission module is located inside the ring-shaped distribution, the transmission module includes a rotating member, a robot arm is installed on the rotating member, and a wafer is transmitted in the transfer stage and the reaction chambers by the rotating operation of the rotating member.

The foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and utilities of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any person skilled in the art can modify or change the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications or changes which can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical spirit of the present invention be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A ring-shaped distributed semiconductor device, characterized in that the semiconductor device comprises:

a front end module comprising a transfer table;

2. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the device comprises N transfer tables, wherein N is more than or equal to 1.

3. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the rotating piece is provided with M mechanical arms, M is larger than or equal to 1, and the installation positions of the M mechanical arms correspond to the positions of the reaction cavity and the transfer table so as to simultaneously transmit a plurality of wafers.

4. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein: the M mechanical arms are formed by M independent mechanical arms.

5. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein: m robotic arms constitute for 1 combined type manipulator.

6. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the rotating piece is a rotating piece with a lifting function and/or the mechanical arm is a mechanical arm with a lifting function.

7. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: in the annular distribution, the reaction cavity and the transfer table are distributed at equal intervals.

8. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the rotating member comprises a disc-type rotating disc or a support-type rotating frame.

9. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the front-end module further comprises a front-end wafer transmission module, the front-end wafer transmission module comprises a loading platform, a wafer box, a rack shell and a mechanical arm, and wafers are transmitted in the loading platform and the transfer platform through operation of the mechanical arm.

10. The annular distributed semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein: the transfer table is a movable transfer table, and the movable transfer table can complete the wafer transmission process at the front end and the wafer transfer process at the middle end through the operation of the movable transfer table.