CN114408518A

CN114408518A - Mask plate conveying device for semiconductor chip and conveying method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN114408518A
Application number: CN202210336511.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谢超; 柯汉奇; 黄执祥; 张道谷
Original assignee: Shenzhen Longtu Photomask Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Longtu Optical Mask Co.,Ltd.
Priority date: 2022-04-01
Filing date: 2022-04-01
Publication date: 2022-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2042-04-01
Also published as: CN114408518B

Abstract

The invention discloses a mask plate conveying device for a semiconductor chip and a conveying method thereof, wherein the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip is used for taking out an exposed mask plate from a photoetching machine and conveying the mask plate to post-processing equipment; comprises a main body, a detection mechanism and a transmission mechanism; the main body is movably arranged and is internally provided with a constant temperature cavity; the detection mechanism comprises a sensor for detecting the position information of the main body; the conveying mechanism comprises a controller and a conveying arm, the conveying arm is movably arranged in the constant-temperature cavity and has a plate taking state and a plate placing state, and the controller is electrically connected with the sensor and the conveying arm; when the mask is in the mask taking state, the transmission arm is used for picking up the mask from the photoetching machine and transferring the mask to the constant-temperature cavity; when the mask is in the plate placing state, the transmission arm is used for transferring the mask in the constant-temperature cavity into the post-processing equipment; the exposed mask is transmitted by the transmission device, so that the cleanliness of the mask in the transfer process is ensured, and the quality of the mask is improved; and simultaneously reduces the labor cost.

Description

Mask plate conveying device for semiconductor chip and conveying method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing technology, in particular to a mask plate conveying device for a semiconductor chip and a conveying method thereof.

Background

In the semiconductor processing technology, after pretreatment exposure, a mask needs to be transferred to a post-treatment station for development; in the existing processing process, the mask is basically picked and placed manually, and the mask surface is easily polluted in the manual picking and placing and transferring processes, so that the mask defect is finally formed; and the reciprocating distance movement wastes manpower.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a mask plate conveying device for a semiconductor chip and a conveying method thereof, and aims to solve the problems that in the existing processing process, the surface of a mask plate is polluted, the defect of the mask plate is formed and manpower is wasted due to the fact that the mask plate is picked and placed manually.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mask blank transfer device for a semiconductor chip, which is used for taking out an exposed mask blank from a lithography machine and transferring the mask blank to a post-processing apparatus, the mask blank transfer device for a semiconductor chip comprising:

the main body is movably arranged and provided with a plate taking position for being in butt joint with the photoetching machine and a plate placing position for being in butt joint with the post-processing equipment on the movable stroke, and a constant temperature cavity is arranged in the main body;

the detection mechanism comprises a sensor and a control mechanism, wherein the sensor is used for detecting the position information of the main body; and the number of the first and second groups,

the conveying mechanism comprises a controller and a conveying arm, the conveying arm is movably arranged in the constant-temperature cavity and has a plate taking state and a plate placing state, and the controller is electrically connected with the sensor and the conveying arm;

when the mask is in the plate taking state, the transmission arm is used for picking up the mask from the photoetching machine and transferring the mask to the constant-temperature cavity;

and when the mask plate is in the plate placing state, the conveying arm is used for conveying the mask plate in the constant-temperature cavity into the post-processing equipment.

Optionally, a plate sending window is arranged on one side of the main body in the first horizontal direction;

the conveying mechanism further comprises a conveying door assembly, the conveying door assembly comprises a conveying door and a driver, the conveying door is movably arranged on the plate conveying window along the vertical direction, and an opening position enabling the thermostatic chamber to be exposed from the plate conveying window is formed in the movable stroke of the conveying door;

the controller is electrically connected with the driver and used for controlling the driver to drive the transfer door to move to the opening position when the sensor detects that the main body is located at the plate taking position or the plate placing position.

Optionally, the detection mechanism further includes a positioning assembly, where the positioning assembly is disposed on the transfer arm to position the reticle and/or the chuck clamp of the post-processing apparatus in the lithography machine when the transfer arm is in the plate-taking state and/or the plate-placing state.

Optionally, the conveying arm includes an adjusting arm movably disposed in the constant-temperature cavity, and a plate-taking arm disposed on the adjusting arm, and the plate-taking arm has a pickup end facing away from the adjusting arm in a first horizontal direction;

the locating component comprises an infrared distance meter arranged at the picking end, and the infrared distance meter comprises two infrared transmitters and an infrared receiver which are arranged side by side along the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, the transfer arm comprises:

the adjusting arm comprises a longitudinal adjusting arm, a transverse adjusting arm and a rotary adjusting arm, and the longitudinal adjusting arm is arranged on the bottom wall of the constant temperature cavity and can move up and down; the transverse adjusting arm is arranged on the longitudinal adjusting arm and can move along a first horizontal direction relative to the longitudinal adjusting arm; the rotary adjusting arm is arranged on the transverse adjusting arm and can rotate along the axis of the first horizontal direction; and the number of the first and second groups,

and the plate taking arm is movably arranged in the rotary adjusting arm along the first horizontal direction and is used for lifting the mask plate.

Optionally, the constant-temperature cavity is provided with an initial position, a plate storage position and an end position which are sequentially arranged from top to bottom;

the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip further comprises a mask plate storage support arranged corresponding to the mask plate storage position, the middle of the mask plate storage support is arranged in a hollow mode, and therefore the mask plate on the conveying arm is blanked onto the mask plate storage support in the process that the conveying arm moves from the initial position to the end position.

The invention also provides a mask plate for a semiconductor chip based on the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip, and the mask plate for the semiconductor chip comprises the following steps:

acquiring a first plate placing signal of a mask plate exposed in a photoetching machine;

controlling the main body to move to a plate taking position according to the first plate placing signal so as to enable the main body to be in butt joint with the photoetching machine;

controlling the transmission arm to transfer the mask in the photoetching machine to a constant temperature cavity of the main body;

controlling the main body to move to a plate placing position so that the main body is in butt joint with post-processing equipment;

and controlling the conveying arm to transfer the mask plate on the constant-temperature cavity plate storage support into the post-processing equipment.

Optionally, the step of controlling the transfer arm to transfer the reticle in the lithography machine into the constant temperature chamber of the main body includes:

acquiring a first position information parameter of a mask in the photoetching machine relative to the transmission arm;

calculating a first horizontal movement parameter, a first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a first height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the first position information parameter;

respectively controlling the transmission arm to horizontally move and horizontally rotate inwards according to the first horizontal movement parameter and the first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter, so that the pick-up end of the transmission arm is arranged opposite to the mask plate in the vertical direction and is positioned below the mask plate;

controlling the picking end of the transfer arm to move upwards to pick the mask plate according to the first height moving parameter;

acquiring a pickup completion signal of the transfer arm;

and controlling the conveying arm to transfer the mask plate to a constant temperature cavity of the main body according to the picking completion signal.

Optionally, an infrared distance meter is arranged at the picking end of the conveying arm;

the step of acquiring the actual position information parameter of the mask in the photoetching machine relative to the transmission arm comprises the following steps:

controlling the transmission arm to move along the horizontal direction, and acquiring a plurality of scanning signals corresponding to a plurality of positions of the infrared distance meter for scanning the mask in the photoetching machine along the horizontal direction on the moving stroke of the infrared distance meter;

and calculating a first position information parameter of the mask plate according to a plurality of scanning signals.

Optionally, a chuck clamp is arranged in the post-processing equipment;

after the step of controlling the conveying arm to transfer the mask plate on the constant-temperature cavity plate storage support to the post-processing equipment, the method further comprises the following steps:

acquiring a second position information parameter of the chuck clamp relative to the transmission arm;

calculating a second horizontal movement parameter, a second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a second height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the second position information parameter;

respectively controlling the transfer arm to horizontally move and horizontally rotate inwards according to the second horizontal movement parameter and the second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter, so that the picking end of the transfer arm is arranged opposite to the chuck clamp in the vertical direction and is positioned above the chuck clamp;

and controlling the picking end of the transfer arm to move downwards to place the mask plate on the chuck clamp according to the height moving parameter.

In the technical scheme of the invention, the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip is used for taking out an exposed mask plate from a photoetching machine and conveying the mask plate to post-processing equipment, a main body of the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip is movably arranged and is internally provided with a constant temperature cavity, and a conveying arm is movably arranged in the constant temperature cavity; in an actual production process, the exposed mask is placed on a mask placing window of the photoetching machine, the main body receives a first mask placing signal sent out by the photoetching machine, the main body starts to move, when the sensor detects that the main body moves to the mask taking position (at the moment, the main body is in butt joint with the photoetching machine), a first sensing signal is sent out, the controller receives the first sensing signal and controls the transmission arm to be in a mask taking state, namely the transmission arm is controlled to pick up the mask from the photoetching machine and transfer the mask to the constant temperature cavity, and therefore the transmission arm finishes a mask taking action; after the mask is sent into the constant-temperature cavity, the main body moves again, when the inductor detects that the main body moves to the plate placing position (at the moment, the main body is in butt joint with the post-processing equipment), a second induction signal is sent out, the controller receives the second induction signal and controls the conveying arm to be in a plate placing state, namely the conveying arm is controlled to transfer the mask in the constant-temperature cavity into the post-processing equipment, and therefore the conveying arm completes the plate placing action; the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip can realize the conveying of the mask plate, and the mask plate is not contacted with a human body and the outside in the whole conveying process, so that the mask plate is not polluted, and the quality of the mask plate is improved; meanwhile, the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip can replace manual plate taking and placing, so that the plate taking and placing efficiency is improved, and the processing efficiency is improved; and labor cost can be saved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a reticle transport apparatus for a semiconductor chip according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the docking of the reticle transport for semiconductor chips and the lithography machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the transfer arm of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the transfer arm of FIG. 1 from another perspective;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the plate holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing a plate-taking of the transfer arm of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the positioning of the transfer arm of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of a lay-down of the transfer arm of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a reticle transfer method for semiconductor chips according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a reticle transferring method for semiconductor chips according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a reticle transferring method for a semiconductor chip according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth embodiment of a reticle transferring method for semiconductor chips according to the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention is illustrated by reference numerals:

reference numerals	Name (R)	Reference numerals	Name (R)
				100	Mask plate conveying device for semiconductor chip	312	Plate taking arm
1	Main body	313	Anti-slip projection
				11	Thermostatic chamber	32	Conveying door assembly
2	Detection mechanism	321	Transfer door
				21	Positioning assembly	4	Plate storage support
211	Infrared distance measuring instrument	F1	First horizontal direction
				3	Conveying mechanism	F2	Second horizontal direction
31	Conveying arm	200	Photoetching machine
				311	Adjusting arm	300	Mask plate
3111	Longitudinal adjusting arm	400	Post-processing equipment
				3112	Transverse adjusting arm	401	Chuck clamp
3113	Rotary adjusting arm

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that, if directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, and back … …) are involved in the embodiment of the present invention, the directional indications are only used to explain the relative positional relationship between the components, the movement situation, and the like in a specific posture (as shown in the drawing), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indications are changed accordingly.

In addition, if there is a description of "first", "second", etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, the description of "first", "second", etc. is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the meaning of "and/or" appearing throughout includes three juxtapositions, exemplified by "A and/or B" including either A or B or both A and B. In addition, technical solutions between various embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be realized by a person skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, such a combination should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a mask blank transfer device for semiconductor chips and a transfer method thereof. FIGS. 1-8 illustrate an embodiment of a reticle transport apparatus for a semiconductor chip according to the present invention; fig. 9 to 12 show an embodiment of a reticle transfer method for a semiconductor chip according to the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the mask blank transferring apparatus 100 for a semiconductor chip is used for taking out an exposed mask blank 300 from a lithography machine 200 and transferring the mask blank to a post-processing apparatus 400, and the mask blank transferring apparatus 100 for a semiconductor chip includes a main body 1, a detecting mechanism 2 and a transferring mechanism 3; the main body 1 is movably arranged, and has a plate taking position for being in butt joint with the photoetching machine 200 and a plate placing position for being in butt joint with the post-processing equipment 400 on the movable stroke, and a constant temperature cavity 11 is arranged in the main body 1; the detection mechanism 2 comprises a sensor for detecting the position information of the main body 1; the conveying mechanism 3 comprises a controller (not shown in the figure) and a conveying arm 31, the conveying arm 31 is movably arranged in the thermostatic chamber 11 and has a plate taking state and a plate placing state, and the controller is electrically connected with the sensor and the conveying arm 31; when the mask plate is in the plate-taking state, the transfer arm 31 is used for picking up the mask plate 300 from the lithography machine 200 and transferring the mask plate to the thermostatic chamber 11; when the mask blank is placed, the transfer arm 31 is used to transfer the mask blank 300 in the thermostatic chamber 11 to the post-processing apparatus 400.

In the technical scheme of the invention, the mask plate conveying device 100 for the semiconductor chip is used for taking out the exposed mask plate 300 from the photoetching machine 200 and conveying the mask plate 300 to the post-processing equipment 400, a main body 1 of the mask plate conveying device 100 for the semiconductor chip is movably arranged and is internally provided with a constant temperature cavity 11, and a conveying arm 31 is movably arranged in the constant temperature cavity 11; in an actual production process, the exposed mask 300 is placed on a plate placing window of the lithography machine 200, the main body 1 receives a first plate placing signal sent from the lithography machine 200, the main body 1 starts to move, when the sensor detects that the main body 1 moves to the plate taking position (at this time, the main body 1 is in butt joint with the lithography machine 200), a first sensing signal is sent, the controller receives the first sensing signal and controls the transfer arm 31 to be in a plate taking state, namely, the transfer arm 31 is controlled to pick up the mask 300 from the lithography machine 200 and transfer the mask to the constant temperature cavity 11, and thus, the transfer arm 31 finishes a plate taking action; after the mask blank 300 is sent into the thermostatic chamber 11, the main body 1 moves again, when the sensor detects that the main body 1 moves to the plate placing position (at this time, the main body 1 is in butt joint with the post-processing equipment 400), a second sensing signal is sent out, the controller receives the second sensing signal and controls the conveying arm 31 to be in a plate placing state, namely, the conveying arm 31 is controlled to transfer the mask blank 300 in the thermostatic chamber 11 into the post-processing equipment 400, and thus, the conveying arm 31 completes the plate placing action; the mask plate 300 can be transmitted by the mask plate transmission device 100 for the semiconductor chip, and the mask plate 300 is not contacted with a human body and the outside in the whole transmission process, so that the mask plate 300 cannot be polluted, and the quality of the mask plate 300 is improved; meanwhile, the mask plate conveying device 100 for the semiconductor chip can replace manual plate taking and placing, so that the plate taking and placing efficiency is improved, and the processing efficiency is improved; and labor cost can be saved.

A plate feeding window is arranged on one side of the main body 1 in the first horizontal direction F1; the conveying mechanism 3 further comprises a conveying door assembly 32, the conveying door assembly 32 comprises a conveying door 321 and a driver, the conveying door 321 is movably arranged on the plate feeding window along the up-down direction, and an opening position for exposing the thermostatic chamber 11 from the plate feeding window is arranged on the movable stroke of the conveying door 321; the controller is electrically connected with the driver and is used for controlling the driver to drive the transfer door 321 to move to the opening position when the sensor detects that the main body 1 is at the plate taking position or the plate placing position; it should be noted that, in this embodiment, the main body 1 is provided with the plate sending window, the plate sending window is provided with the delivery door 321, and in an actual processing process, in an initial state, the delivery door 321 covers the plate placing window to keep the thermostatic chamber 11 in a sealed state, so as to ensure the sealing performance and the cleanliness of the thermostatic chamber 11; when the main body 1 moves to the plate taking position or the plate placing position (that is, after the main body 1 is docked with the lithography machine 200 or the post-processing equipment 400), the driver drives the transfer door 321 to move to the open position, at this time, the thermostatic chamber 11 is exposed from the plate feeding window, and the transfer arm 31 can move to take or place the plate; and when the transfer arm 31 transfers the mask plate 300 into the thermostatic chamber 11, the transfer door 321 moves to cover the plate placing window, so that the thermostatic chamber 11 is in the sealed state again, which can ensure that the mask plate 300 does not contact with the outside during the transfer process of the main body 1, thereby preventing the mask plate 300 from being polluted, and improving the quality of the mask plate 300.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in order to ensure that the transfer arm 31 can accurately pick up and place the reticle 300, in the present invention, the detection mechanism 2 further includes a positioning assembly 21, where the positioning assembly 21 is disposed on the transfer arm 31, and is used to position the position of the reticle 300 and/or the position of a chuck clamp of the post-processing apparatus 400 in the lithography machine 200 when the transfer arm 31 is in the plate-picking state and/or the plate-placing state; in order to place the mask 300 after exposure, the accommodating space of a support in the lithography machine 200 for placing the mask 300 is larger than the volume of the mask 300, so that the placement position of the mask 300 can deviate relative to the support, the positioning assembly 21 is arranged on the transmission arm 31 to position the mask 300 before plate taking and plate placing, and then plate taking and plate placing are performed according to positioning information, so that the transmission arm 31 can accurately pick and place the mask 300.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the transferring arm 31 includes an adjusting arm 311 movably disposed in the thermostatic chamber 11, and a plate-taking arm 312 disposed on the adjusting arm 311, wherein the plate-taking arm 312 has a picking end facing away from the adjusting arm 311 in a first horizontal direction F1; the positioning assembly 21 comprises an infrared distance meter 211 arranged at the pickup end, and the infrared distance meter 211 comprises two infrared transmitters and two infrared receivers arranged side by side along a second horizontal direction F2; the infrared distance meter 211 is arranged at the picking end of the plate taking arm 312, in the moving process of the plate taking arm 312, scanning is carried out through the infrared distance meter 211 to obtain scanning signals, the actual position parameters of the mask plate 300 can be calculated according to the scanning signals, and the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to move according to the actual position parameters so as to achieve accurate plate taking and plate placing.

In the present embodiment, the transfer arm 31 includes an adjusting arm 311 and a plate-taking arm 312; the adjusting arm 311 comprises a longitudinal adjusting arm 3111, a transverse adjusting arm 3112 and a rotary adjusting arm 3113, wherein the longitudinal adjusting arm 3111 is arranged on the bottom wall of the thermostatic chamber 11 and can move up and down; the transverse adjusting arm 3112 is disposed on the longitudinal adjusting arm 3111 and is movable along a first horizontal direction F1 with respect to the longitudinal adjusting arm 3111; a rotary adjustment arm 3113 provided in the lateral adjustment arm 3112 and rotatable along an axis of the first horizontal direction F1; the plate taking arm 312 is movably arranged on the rotary adjusting arm 3113 along the first horizontal direction F1, and is used for lifting the mask plate 300; through setting up vertical regulating arm 3111 horizontal regulating arm 3112 and rotatory regulating arm 3113 makes get version arm 312 can follow the level to and move from top to bottom, can also rotate at the level to, make get version arm 312 can accurate activity to the completion is got the version and is put the version action.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the picking end of the plate picking arm 312 is further provided with an anti-slip protrusion 313 to prevent the mask plate 300 from sliding on the plate picking arm 312, so as to improve the stability of plate picking by the plate picking arm 312.

Referring to fig. 5, the constant temperature chamber 11 has an initial position, a plate storage position, and an end position sequentially arranged from top to bottom; the mask plate conveying device 100 for the semiconductor chip further comprises a mask plate storage support 4 arranged corresponding to the mask plate storage position, wherein the middle part of the mask plate storage support 4 is arranged in a hollow manner, so that the mask plate 300 on the conveying arm 31 is blanked onto the mask plate storage support 4 in the process that the conveying arm 31 moves from the initial position to the end position; it should be noted that, after the transfer arm 31 finishes plate taking in the lithography machine 200, the mask blank 300 needs to be sent into the thermostatic chamber 11, and in order to facilitate the transfer arm 31 to send the mask blank 300 from the thermostatic chamber 11 to the post-processing equipment 400, the plate storage support 4 is provided; by such arrangement, the transfer arm 31 can not only conveniently place the mask 300 in the thermostatic chamber 11, but also conveniently pick up the mask 300 by the transfer arm 31 and send the mask 300 to the post-processing equipment 400.

It should be noted that, in order to provide convenience for the transfer arm 31, the middle portions of the support and the plate storage support 4 in the lithography machine 200 are both hollow, so the transfer arm 31 can take the plate from one end of the mask plate 300 on the second horizontal direction F2, which facilitates the plate taking action, and meanwhile, on the support and the plate storage support 4, limit grooves are oppositely arranged on the first horizontal direction F1, so as to limit the displacement of the mask plate 300 on the support and the plate storage support 4 along the first horizontal direction F1, and ensure the stability of placing the mask plate 300.

In order to ensure the success rate of plate taking and plate placing, in the invention, the picking end of the plate taking arm 312 is provided with a sensing assembly for detecting whether the mask plate 300 is placed on the picking end; the plate storage support 4 is provided with a detection assembly for detecting whether the plate storage support 4 is provided with the mask plate 300 or not; through setting up the response subassembly with the detection component can in time detect mask version 300's positional information, can guarantee to get the success rate of version and put the version to improve and get the efficiency of version and put the version.

The specific forms of the sensing assembly and the detecting assembly are not limited in the invention, and the sensing assembly and the detecting assembly can be pressure sensors or contact sensors, and the sensing assembly and the detecting assembly are within the selection range of the invention as long as the placement condition of the mask 300 can be detected.

In an embodiment of the invention, referring to fig. 6 to 8, the transfer process of the mask 300 is as follows:

after the main body 1 is moved to be in butt joint with the photoetching machine 200, the transfer door 321 is moved to an open position, the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to extend into the photoetching machine 200 from the thermostatic chamber 11, the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to move to correspond to the mask plate 300 and move along the first horizontal direction F1, the infrared distance meter 211 arranged at the pickup end of the plate taking arm 312 scans the mask plate 300 along the first horizontal direction F1, the actual position information of the mask plate 300 is calculated according to the scanning information of the infrared distance meter 211, and the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to move according to the actual position information so as to finish the plate taking action; after the plate taking arm 312 finishes taking the plate, the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to movably retract into the thermostatic chamber 11, the mask plate 300 is placed on the plate storage support 4 in the thermostatic chamber 11, and the delivery door 321 moves to cover the plate placing window; subsequently, the main body 1 is moved to the plate placing position again, and is abutted against the post-processing apparatus 400, the transfer door 321 is moved to the open position again, and the adjusting arm 311 drives the plate taking arm 312 to extend into the post-processing apparatus 400 from the thermostatic chamber 11, and transfers the mask plate 300 to the chuck clamp 401 of the post-processing apparatus 400.

Based on the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip, the invention also provides a mask plate conveying method for the semiconductor chip, please refer to fig. 9 to 12, which are four specific embodiments provided by the invention.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a reticle transferring method for a semiconductor chip according to the present invention.

The reticle transfer method comprises the following steps:

s10: acquiring a first plate placing signal of a mask plate exposed in a photoetching machine;

s20: controlling the main body to move to a plate taking position according to the first plate placing signal so as to enable the main body to be in butt joint with the photoetching machine;

s30: controlling the transmission arm to transfer the mask in the photoetching machine to a constant temperature cavity of the main body;

s40: controlling the main body to move to a plate placing position so that the main body is in butt joint with post-processing equipment;

s50: and controlling the conveying arm to transfer the mask plate on the constant-temperature cavity plate storage support into the post-processing equipment.

In this embodiment, the exposed mask is placed on a mask placing window of the lithography machine, the main body receives a first mask placing signal sent from the lithography machine, the main body starts to move, when the sensor detects that the main body moves to the mask taking position (at this time, the main body is in butt joint with the lithography machine), a first sensing signal is sent, the controller receives the first sensing signal and controls the transmission arm to be in a mask taking state, that is, the transmission arm is controlled to pick up the mask from the lithography machine and transfer the mask to the constant temperature cavity, so that the transmission arm completes a mask taking action; after the mask is sent into the constant-temperature cavity, the main body moves again, when the inductor detects that the main body moves to the plate placing position (at the moment, the main body is in butt joint with the post-processing equipment), a second induction signal is sent out, the controller receives the second induction signal and controls the conveying arm to be in a plate placing state, namely the conveying arm is controlled to transfer the mask in the constant-temperature cavity into the post-processing equipment, and therefore the conveying arm completes the plate placing action; the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip can realize the conveying of the mask plate, and the mask plate is not contacted with a human body and the outside in the whole conveying process, so that the mask plate is not polluted, and the quality of the mask plate is improved; meanwhile, the mask plate conveying device for the semiconductor chip can replace manual plate taking and placing, so that the plate taking and placing efficiency is improved, and the processing efficiency is improved; and labor cost can be saved.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the reticle transferring method for semiconductor chips according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The step S30 of controlling the transfer arm to transfer the reticle in the lithography machine into the constant temperature chamber of the main body includes:

s31: acquiring a first position information parameter of a mask in the photoetching machine relative to the transmission arm;

s32: calculating a first horizontal movement parameter, a first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a first height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the first position information parameter;

s33: respectively controlling the transmission arm to horizontally move and horizontally rotate inwards according to the first horizontal movement parameter and the first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter, so that the pick-up end of the transmission arm is arranged opposite to the mask plate in the vertical direction and is positioned below the mask plate;

s34: controlling the picking end of the transfer arm to move upwards to pick the mask plate according to the first height moving parameter;

s35: acquiring a pickup completion signal of the transfer arm;

s36: and controlling the conveying arm to transfer the mask plate to a constant temperature cavity of the main body according to the picking completion signal.

In this embodiment, before the transfer arm takes the reticle, the position of the reticle is detected to obtain a first position information parameter of the reticle in the lithography machine relative to the transfer arm; calculating a first horizontal movement parameter, a first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a first height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the first position information parameter; the transmission arm can move and finish plate taking according to the first horizontal movement parameter, the first horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and the first height movement parameter; the sensing assembly is arranged on the conveying arm, and when the plate taking of the conveying arm is completed, the sensing assembly sends a picking completion signal, and the conveying arm can transfer the mask plate to the constant temperature cavity of the main body; so set up, realized the accurate version of getting of conveying arm.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating a reticle transferring method for a semiconductor chip according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The picking end of the transferring arm is provided with an infrared distance meter;

the step S31 of acquiring the actual position information parameter of the reticle in the lithography machine relative to the transfer arm includes:

s311: controlling the transmission arm to move along a first horizontal direction, and acquiring a plurality of scanning signals corresponding to a plurality of preset positions of the mask in the photoetching machine, which are scanned by the infrared distance meter along the horizontal direction on the moving stroke of the infrared distance meter;

s312: and calculating a first position information parameter of the mask plate according to a plurality of scanning signals.

In this embodiment, the infrared distance meter is disposed at the pickup end of the transfer arm, and when the transfer arm moves in a first horizontal direction, the infrared distance meter can scan the mask plate in the first horizontal direction and correspondingly generate a plurality of scanning signals at a plurality of preset positions, and through digital-to-analog conversion, position parameters of the plurality of preset positions are calculated according to the plurality of scanning signals, and a first position information parameter of the mask plate is calculated according to the position parameters of the plurality of preset positions; by the arrangement, the central position and the horizontal rotation angle of the mask plate can be accurately obtained, so that the transmission arm can keep an orthogonal position relation with the side edge of the mask plate, the mask plate can be stably picked, the picking success rate is ensured, and the picking efficiency is improved.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating a fourth embodiment of the reticle transferring method for semiconductor chips according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

A chuck clamp is arranged in the post-processing equipment;

after the step S50 of controlling the transfer arm to transfer the mask blank on the thermostatic chamber mask blank holder into the post-processing apparatus, the method further includes:

s60: acquiring a second position information parameter of the chuck clamp relative to the transfer arm;

s70: calculating a second horizontal movement parameter, a second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a second height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the second position information parameter;

s80: respectively controlling the transfer arm to horizontally move and horizontally rotate inwards according to the second horizontal movement parameter and the second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter, so that the picking end of the transfer arm is arranged opposite to the chuck clamp in the vertical direction and is positioned above the chuck clamp;

s90: and controlling the picking end of the transfer arm to move downwards to place the mask plate on the chuck clamp according to the height moving parameter.

In this embodiment, before the plate is placed on the transfer arm, the position of the chuck support is detected to obtain a second position information parameter of the chuck support relative to the transfer arm; calculating a second horizontal movement parameter, a second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and a second height movement parameter of the transfer arm according to the second position information parameter; the transfer arm can move and complete plate placement according to the second horizontal movement parameter, the second horizontal direction rotation angle parameter and the second height movement parameter; so set up, realized the accurate version of getting of conveying arm.

It should be noted that the chuck support at least has two preset scanning points arranged oppositely in the first horizontal direction, the infrared distance meter at the picking end of the transfer arm performs positioning scanning on the two preset scanning points to generate a plurality of chuck support scanning signals, position parameters of the plurality of preset scanning points are calculated according to the plurality of chuck support scanning signals through digital-to-analog conversion, and second position information parameters of the chuck support are calculated according to the position parameters of the plurality of preset scanning points, wherein the second position information parameters include the height of the chuck support, the rotation angle in the horizontal direction, a central point and the like, then the transfer arm adjusts the relative position with the chuck support according to the second position information parameters, and transfers the mask plate to the chuck support so as to stably place the mask plate, the plate placing success rate is ensured, and the plate placing efficiency is further improved.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mask plate conveying device for a semiconductor chip is used for taking out an exposed mask plate from a photoetching machine and conveying the mask plate to post-processing equipment, and is characterized by comprising:

2. The reticle transport device for a semiconductor chip according to claim 1, wherein the body is provided with a reticle feeding window at one side in a first horizontal direction;

3. The reticle transport device for a semiconductor chip according to claim 1, wherein the detection mechanism further comprises a positioning assembly, the positioning assembly is arranged on the transport arm to position the reticle and/or a chuck clamp of the post-processing equipment in the lithography machine when the transport arm is in the plate-taking state and/or the plate-placing state.

4. The mask blank conveying device for the semiconductor chip as claimed in claim 3, wherein the conveying arm comprises an adjusting arm movably arranged in the constant temperature cavity and a plate taking arm arranged on the adjusting arm, and the plate taking arm is provided with a picking end back to the adjusting arm in a first horizontal direction;

5. The reticle transport device for a semiconductor chip according to claim 1, wherein the transport arm comprises:

6. The mask blank conveying device for the semiconductor chip as claimed in claim 1, wherein the constant temperature chamber has an initial position, a plate storage position and an end position which are arranged from top to bottom in sequence;

7. A reticle transfer method for a semiconductor chip based on the reticle transfer apparatus for a semiconductor chip according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the step of the reticle transfer method for a semiconductor chip comprises:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of controlling the transfer arm to transfer the reticle within the lithography machine into the thermostatic chamber of the body comprises:

acquiring a pickup completion signal of the transfer arm;

9. The mask blank conveying method for the semiconductor chip as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pick-up end of the conveying arm is provided with an infrared distance meter;

10. The reticle conveying method for a semiconductor chip according to claim 7, wherein a chuck jig is provided in the post-processing apparatus;