JP2000150331A - Alarm device for semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alarm device for semiconductor manufacturing equipment for providing a lamp tower to be recognizable visually from a distant place and confirming the present conditions of the equipment by lightening of a lamp while a given step like ion implantation is carried out. SOLUTION: An alarm device includes a logic combining means 10 for receiving at least one signal for each condition of a given semiconductor manufacturing equipment and combining the logic, driving means 12, 14, and 16 for receiving an input as logical combination and driving a lamp, and lamps 18, 20, and 22 of a given number corresponding with 1:1 ratio to that of driving signals. Then a lamp tower 24, in which the lamps 18, 20, and 22 are lightened and recognizable according to each condition of the manufacturing equipment by using the driving signal, so a state of processing progress of each equipment can be easily judged visually from a distant place, and an erroneous accident can be dealt with easily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility, and more particularly, to a method for installing a lamp tower which can be easily visually recognized from a long distance by installing a lamp tower. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility in which a current state of a facility for performing a semiconductor manufacturing process is checked by lighting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a semiconductor device manufacturing facility sets at least one or more process conditions for sequentially performing a corresponding semiconductor manufacturing process. A predetermined film may be sequentially oxidized, embodied into a predetermined circuit pattern through vapor deposition and etching, or an impurity may be ion-implanted into a selected portion of the semiconductor substrate or a predetermined film formed on the semiconductor substrate. Several processes are performed for each corresponding facility, such as changing electrical characteristics or performing a test.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing process performed in each of the above-described manufacturing facilities, a small process accident can cause a large accident. Therefore, process conditions or equipment conditions are constantly checked. The signal based on the result of the check is transferred to a monitoring system online to be used for monitoring a process state or an equipment state on an operation panel of the equipment.

[0004]

However, through the on-line monitoring system described above, it is possible to confirm the progress of the process and the state of the equipment in the manufacturing equipment on the operation panel. However, there is a problem that the equipment state cannot be accurately identified even if it is slightly away from the apparatus.

[0005] In particular, when an error occurs in the equipment while the operator is located far from the operation panel for inspection of the equipment or the like, the operator cannot quickly recognize the error. The error state is maintained, and a large number of defective products are generated, or the equipment may be broken.

In order to solve this problem, when an error occurs in the equipment, an alarm sound can be generated. However, the alarm sound cannot be easily heard due to the noise around the equipment, and besides the error of the equipment, the alarm sound cannot be heard. It was not an effective way to identify the various stages of equipment. Accordingly, there is a need for an alarm device that can easily identify the progress state of equipment with the naked eye even at a long distance away from the operation panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to be able to easily determine the state of a facility even with a long distance from an operation panel for monitoring the process state or the state of the facility of a specific manufacturing facility for performing a predetermined semiconductor process. An object of the present invention is to provide an alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility for attaining one or more input signals for each state of a specific semiconductor manufacturing facility. Equipped with union means.

The result of the logical combination is inputted to the driving means and outputted as at least one driving signal for driving the lamp, and the outputted driving signals correspond one-to-one. A number of lamps are driven, and the lamps are installed in a lamp tower and are displayed so as to be classified according to each state of the manufacturing equipment according to each of the driving signals.

[0010] The number of output signals of the logical combination means and the driving section of the driving means have a number corresponding one-to-one with the number of lamps installed in the lamp tower, and the lamps emit different colors. Is installed as follows.

Preferably, each input signal of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment is a logical combination of the alarm device through a photocoupler which can electrically insulate the input and output in order to prevent interference between the manufacturing equipment and the alarm device. Configured to be input to the means.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment to which the alarm device of the present invention is applied basically includes a loading chamber for loading a cassette accommodating a wafer on which a specific process is performed, a process chamber in which the specific process is performed, and The cassette includes a load lock chamber which is transferred and waits while connecting the charging chamber and the process chamber.

[0013]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention installs a lamp tower so that an operator can easily identify the state of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment visually from a long distance from the operation panel, and lighting of each lamp of the lamp tower is performed by each of the manufacturing equipment. To configure a logic circuit so that it is displayed differently for each state.

Accordingly, the present invention can be applied to various processes included in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, such as a wafer processing process such as an oxidation process, a deposition process, a photo process, an etching process, an ion implantation process, and a diffusion process. Not only that, the single crystal wafer manufacturing process and the wafer processing process (fabricatio) before the wafer processing process are further performed.
The present invention can be generally applied to an inspection process, a cutting process, a bonding process, and the like for a wafer after performing n).

An embodiment of the alarm device of the present invention represents a case where the present invention is applied to an ion implantation facility in a semiconductor manufacturing facility, and an ion implantation system (model name: VARIAN 350D / 300XP) manufactured by Varian is used. used. An ion implanter is a device that basically implants impurity ions with a specific charge onto a semiconductor wafer and changes the electrical characteristics of the impurity-implanted portion. It extracts the impurity ions generated from the ion source and performs mass spectrometry. After selecting and accelerating only specific impurity ions having a preferable mass by passing through a vessel, accelerated implantation is performed on a wafer on an end station located in a process chamber where an ion implantation process is performed.

At this time, the process chamber is maintained in a specific vacuum state, and is connected to a load lock chamber for holding the wafer in order to effectively perform loading and unloading of the wafer for performing the process into the process chamber. You.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing each chamber of an ion implantation facility to which one embodiment of the present invention is applied. Referring to FIG. 1, a load lock chamber 6 is connected to a process chamber 8 where a wafer on which an ion implantation process is to be performed is located, and a cassette accommodating the wafer is mounted in the load lock chamber 6. An input chamber 4 input by an operator through the entrance 2
Are connected.

Gates are formed between the loading chamber 4 and the load lock chamber 6 and between the load lock chamber 6 and the process chamber 8 so that wafers can be smoothly transferred to each of the chambers. Each vacuum line (not shown) is installed.

Referring to FIG. 1, the state of the equipment classified based on the wafer transfer stage before and after the ion implantation process is as follows. 1) First state (without cassette): A state in which a cassette accommodating a wafer to be processed in the charging chamber 4 is not loaded.

2) Second state (cassette load): a state in which the cassette is loaded into the loading chamber 4 and is present. 3) Third state (loading): the cassette present in the charging chamber 4 is transferred to the load lock chamber 6 by the transfer means, and the wafers stored in the cassette are continuously loaded into the process chamber 8 until immediately before ion implantation. Indicates a continued state.

4) Fourth state (ion implantation): A state in which the ion implantation step for the wafer in the process chamber 8 proceeds. 5) Fifth state (ion implantation error): Indicates a state in which an ion implantation error has occurred during the ion implantation process.

6) Sixth state (waiting for ion implantation): Indicates a state immediately after the ion implantation step for one wafer is completed and immediately before the ion implantation step for the next wafer is performed.

In the process opposite to the third state other than the first to sixth states, the wafer is located in the load lock chamber 6 after the ion implantation process for the last wafer is completed. The state from the unloading to the cassette to the transfer of the cassette into the charging chamber 4 may be indicated as a seventh state (unloading).

Here, the seventh state (unloading) is a state opposite to the third state (loading), and is included in the third state without being divided into a separate equipment state. You can also. Further, the third state and the seventh state are the same as the sixth state together with the sixth state in which the ion implantation is not performed (the fifth state indicating an ion implantation error is excluded), that is, the sixth state. It can also be classified by including it in the state. )

When the operator pushes the start button on the operation panel to perform the ion implantation process after loading the cassette into the loading chamber 4, the ion is continuously loaded from the third state (loading). Since the implantation process is performed, even if the operator is located at a long distance from the operation panel, during the subsequent ion implantation equipment process and equipment state, the ion implantation standby state where no significant ion implantation is performed, It is sufficient to be able to identify only the ion implantation state in which the implantation process proceeds and the ion implantation error state when an error occurs during the ion implantation process.

The division of the equipment state described above is only one embodiment for the ion implantation equipment, and it can be divided into more or less equipment states for the same ion implantation equipment. Naturally,
Further, other semiconductor manufacturing equipment other than the ion implantation equipment can be divided into various process states and equipment states according to the characteristics of the manufacturing equipment and the manufacturing process performed in the manufacturing equipment.

In the ion implantation apparatus to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied, four input signals are set in order to represent each of the equipment states, for example, the first to sixth states. That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, the four input signals are combined to change the state of the six facilities to another color installed in the lamp tower.
Displayed as being divided into three lamps.

However, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the number of input signals, the number of equipment states, the number of lamps, and the like can be arbitrarily set. The first to sixth
Waveform diagram and truth table (tru) of four input signals with respect to state
3) is shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, the start signal A in the input signal is a signal generated when the cassette is loaded for the ion implantation process in the ion implantation equipment or during the ion implantation. And in the sixth state (low level in the waveform diagram of FIG. 3). Next, the preparation signal B is a signal generated when the work can always be performed in the equipment, and is generated in the second state, the third state, the fourth state, the fifth state, and the sixth state.

Next, the re-drive signal C is a signal indicating that the next operation can be performed after the equipment has completed the operation, and is generated in the first state and the fourth state. Next, the standby signal D is a signal generated when the equipment requests a restart due to an error during the operation, and is generated in the first state, the second state, and the fifth state.

In FIG. 3, it can be seen that the truth table in the waveform diagram of each input signal indicates that the high level is "1" and the low level is "0". FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an alarm device of a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is mainly composed of an input unit, a logic combination unit 10, driving units 12, 14, 16 and a lamp tower 24.

The input section receives the four input signals A-
In the portion where D is input, it is possible to receive the input of an electrical signal monitored by the operation panel of the ion implantation equipment to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied, but the alarm device of the present invention which is preferably an auxiliary device A photocoupler (not shown) may be installed at the input unit to prevent electrical interference by preventing interference signals from flowing back and causing malfunction due to a signal failure of the main ion implantation equipment. it can.

The photocoupler converts an electric signal into an optical signal by using a light emitting diode and transmits the optical signal. The received optical signal is restored to an electric signal by a phototransistor.

The logic combination unit 10 is configured to perform a determination on a current process and equipment status by combining input signals for each equipment status input through the input unit. A combiner 34 is formed in the logic combiner 10. The combiner 34 receives, from the input unit, input signals AD according to the respective equipment states in a non-inverted state A.
1, B1, C1, D1 or inverters 26, 28, 3
It is configured to be input to the inversion states A2, B2, C2, and D2 via 0 and 32, respectively, and to perform a logical combination operation for obtaining a result like the output signal in FIG. Have been.

That is, after the input signals A, B, C, and D for the respective equipment states are input to the respective non-inverted or inverted states, and are logically combined by the combiner 34, the signals are divided into three types. The signals are output through the output terminals Q1, Q2, and Q3.

The output signals logically combined from the combiner 34 correspond to the output terminals Q1, Q2, Q3 one-to-one.
The three driving units 12, 14, 16 are output to the three driving units 12, 14, 16, and the three driving lamps 12, 14, 16 are installed on the lamp tower 24 in a one-to-one correspondence with the driving units.
A drive signal for driving each of the transistors 20 and 22 is output.

More specifically, the result of logically determining the input signal input to the combiner 34 with respect to the specific equipment state of the manufacturing equipment, the result of the logical determination being made through the first driving unit 12 through the first output terminal Q1, and then to the lamp A drive signal for driving, for example, the first lamp 18 that emits yellow light in the tower 24 is output, and the second lamp 20 that emits green light after passing through the second drive unit 14 through the second output terminal Q2. And outputs a driving signal for driving the third signal through the third output terminal Q3.
After passing through the driving unit 16, a driving signal for driving the third lamp 22 that emits red light is output.

At this time, each lamp 1 of the lamp tower 24 is
Reference numerals 8, 20, and 22 perform lighting and extinguishing operations according to the driving signals of the driving units 12, 14, and 16, respectively. That is, in order to light the lamps 18, 20, and 22, the combiner 34 outputs the corresponding output terminals Q1, Q2,
The corresponding driving units 12, 14, and 16 are provided from Q3 to the corresponding driving units 12, 14, and 16, respectively.
A high-level drive signal is output to 8, 20, 22 to light each of the lamps 18, 20, 22.

On the contrary, the combination unit 34 is connected to each of the lamps 18,
In order to turn off the light sources 20 and 22, a high-level signal is output from the corresponding output terminals Q 1, Q 2 and Q 3 to the corresponding drive units 1.
2, 14, 16 and each driving unit 12, 14, 16,
Outputs a low-level drive signal to each of the corresponding lamps 18, 20, and 22 to turn off each of the lamps 18, 20, and 22.

For example, a description will be given of a fourth state indicating an ion implantation state. The equipment state becomes the fourth state, and the first lamp 18 which emits yellow light is turned on as shown in FIG. Since the second lamp 20 that emits green light is turned on (ON) and the third lamp 22 that emits red light is turned off (OFF), the input signal “A” is supplied to the combiner 34 with “0”. "B" is input with "0", "C" is input with "0", and "D" is input with "1".

Subsequently, as a result of the logical combination in the combiner 34, the first output terminal Q1 and the second output terminal Q2 corresponding to each lamp are determined to be in a low level state, and the third output terminal Q3 is determined to be in a high level state. Alternatively, the first driver 12 and the second driver 14 are supplied with low-level signals, and the third driver 16 is supplied with high-level signals.

The first driving unit 12 and the second driving unit 14 receiving the low level signal output a high level driving signal to each of the first lamp 18 and the second lamp 20 to output the first lamp 18 and the second driving signal. 2 Turn on each lamp 20 (O
N), the third driving unit 1 receiving the input of the high level signal
Reference numeral 6 outputs a low-level drive signal to turn off the third lamp 22 (OFF).

On the other hand, for the first state, the second state, the third state, the fifth state, and the sixth state other than the fourth state described above, the input corresponding to each state as shown in FIG. After the signals (A to D) are input, the corresponding lamps are turned on or off through the above-described process.

On the other hand, in order to blink a specific lamp in the lamp tower 24, for example, a pulse signal B having a predetermined frequency is supplied to the third output terminal Q3 of the combiner 34.
An OR gate 36 for combining LK with the output signal of the third output terminal Q3 may be formed, and a blanking signal for blinking the third lamp 22 may be supplied to the third drive unit 16. Of course, it is needless to say that the entire lamp can be configured to perform a blinking operation instead of lighting according to the same principle.

On the other hand, the selection of the ON / OFF state of each lamp and the selection of the color of each lamp represented by the output signal of FIG. 3 can be arbitrarily determined according to the intention of the designer. In this embodiment, due to the nature of the process performed in the ion implantation facility, the worker usually checks the first and second states on the operation panel and then presses the start button of the ion implantation facility to start the ion implantation operation. Then, the equipment state is shifted to the third state with the operation of the start button, and thereafter, the operator can move the entire wafer contained in the cassette, for example,
While the ion implantation process is being performed on 25 wafers, the wafers may be located far from the operation panel for on-site inspection of equipment.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is sufficient for the operator to easily identify the process and the state of the ion implantation equipment with naked eyes even at a long distance after the third state. Thus, the first state and the second state are simplified without display, and only the third state, the fourth state, the fifth state, and the sixth state are displayed so as to be distinguished by the lamps emitting the three different colors. You can also.

In this embodiment, as described above, in the third to sixth states of the ion implantation process, the third state and the sixth state are changed to the ion implantation state (fourth state) and the ion implantation error state. Since it is considered that the alarm function can be sufficiently performed even if only the (fifth state) is classified, the lamp of the same color is emitted from the lamp tower. On the other hand, in the first and second states before the ion implantation process is substantially performed in the present embodiment, the green lamp 20 is turned off, and the ion implantation process starts from the third state to the sixth state. Until the green lamp 20 is continuously lit, the yellow lamp 18 is additionally lit when a substantial ion implantation process is performed on the wafer with the green lamp 20 lit. The yellow lamp 18 is turned off when an ion implantation error occurs,
In general, the red lamp 22 for notifying the emergency state is turned on.

In particular, in the present embodiment, when the ion implantation error state (fifth state) occurs, it is very important that the operator take quick action, so that the red lamp 22 is configured to perform the blinking operation as described above.

As described with respect to the above embodiment, in this embodiment, in the ion implantation facility during the semiconductor manufacturing process,
For loading and unloading of wafers for performing the process, the process and the equipment state are divided into first to sixth states, and four input signals A, B, and
Three distinct lamps 18, 20, 2 through C, D
It was configured to be identified by only 2.

However, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be applied to various manufacturing facilities for performing a semiconductor manufacturing process within the scope of the present invention. It is possible to set an appropriate number of processes and equipment conditions within a range that satisfies the alarm function so as to meet the characteristics of the above, and also variously select the number and waveform of the input signals and the waveforms and the corresponding lamps. be able to.

[0051]

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if an operator is located far from the operation panel of the manufacturing equipment, the operator can judge the condition of the sea area equipment with the naked eye at the site, and quickly take measures even in an emergency. Since it can be performed, the operation rate of the equipment is maximized, and the safety of the process is achieved, thereby increasing the yield.

Although the present invention has been described in detail only with respect to the specific examples described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the technical idea of the present invention. It is to be understood that such variations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing each chamber of an ion implantation facility to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of an alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing input signals input to each equipment state of an ion implantation equipment to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied and display results of a lamp tower based on the input signals.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Entrance 4 Input chamber 6 Load lock chamber 8 Process chamber 10 Logic unit 12, 14, 16 Drive unit 18, 20, 22 Lamp 24 Lamp tower 26, 28, 30, 32 Inverter 34 Combiner 36 OR gate

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A logic combination means for receiving and inputting at least one input signal for each state of a specific semiconductor manufacturing facility and performing a logic combination, and for driving a lamp in response to an input of the result of the logic combination. Driving means for outputting at least one or more drive signals, and a number of lamps corresponding one-to-one to each of the output drive signals, wherein the lamps are classified according to each state of the manufacturing equipment according to each of the drive signals. A warning device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility, comprising: a lamp tower displayed to be displayed. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the number of output signals of said logical combination means and the number of driving units of said driving means correspond to the number of lamps installed in said lamp tower on a one-to-one basis. An alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility as described in the above. 3. The alarm device for semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, wherein lamps emitting different colors are installed in said lamp tower. 4. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 1, wherein an input signal for each state of said semiconductor manufacturing facility is input to said logical combination means through a photocoupler. 5. The semiconductor manufacturing facility, comprising: an input chamber into which a cassette accommodating a wafer on which a specific process is to be performed; a process chamber in which the specific process is performed; The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 1, further comprising: a load lock chamber connecting the cassettes and transferring and waiting the cassette. 6. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 5, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing facility is an ion implantation facility for performing an ion implantation process. 7. Each state of the manufacturing equipment input to the logical combination means is a first state indicating that there is no cassette in the input chamber.
And a second state indicating that a cassette has been inserted into the charging chamber, and the cassette has been transferred from the charging chamber to the load lock chamber, and a wafer in the transferred cassette has been transferred to the process chamber. A third state indicating a state immediately before the ion implantation after being loaded at the step performing position, a fourth state wherein an ion implanting step is performed on the wafer loaded at the step performing position, and an ion implanting step for the wafer When an error occurs,
A fifth state indicating an error state; and, after the wafer on which the ion implantation process is completed is unloaded into the cassette of the load lock chamber, the next wafer in the cassette is loaded into the process chamber until immediately before ion implantation. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 5, further comprising: a sixth state indicating a standby state. 8. After the ion implantation process for the last wafer in the cassette is completed, the wafer is transferred to a cassette waiting in the load lock chamber, and then the cassette is transferred to the loading chamber. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 7, further comprising a seventh state indicating the state of (i). 9. The semiconductor of claim 8, wherein the input signals for the third, sixth, and seventh states are the same, and the corresponding lamps on the lamp tower are displayed the same. Alarm device for manufacturing equipment. 10. The alarm device for semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 7, wherein four input signals are input for each of said states. 11. The four input signals include a start signal generated in the third state, the fourth state, and the sixth state, and a start signal generated in the second state, the third state, the fourth state, the fifth state, and the second state. Sixth
A ready signal generated in the state, a re-drive signal generated in the first state and the fourth state, and a standby signal generated in the first state, the second state, and the fifth state. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 10, wherein: 12. The alarm device according to claim 10, wherein the lamp tower is provided with three lamps that emit different colors. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the three lamps are red, green, and yellow respectively, and the green lamp is continuously lit during the third to sixth states.
3. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to 2. 14. The alarm device for a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to claim 13, wherein in the fifth state, the green lamp is turned on and the red lamp is turned on at the same time. 15. The red lamp is turned on and off by outputting a driving signal connected to the red lamp and combining a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency with a logical combination result of the logical combination means. 15. The alarm device according to claim 14, wherein the blanking operation is performed as described above.