JP2005167210A - Handling and processing system for wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable overall observation of a fault in wafer processing, pairing up with a data network, and to prevent smearing by enabling the utilization of correction/measurement of a relationship between information on actual data and the simulation of wafer processing, prior to the offsetting of the processing beyond control or definite limitation. <P>SOLUTION: The correction/measurement for wafer can be utilized for the relationship between the actual data and the processing simulation, prior to the offsetting of the processing beyond definite limitation. A vertical wafer processor is provided, in which a wafer is allowed to be contacted only at its edges. When a wafer is handled in a vertical manner, air flows vertically across the wafer to partially decrease smearing by fine particles. By handling a wafer in a vertical manner, strain due to the gravity that would have been caused by handling the wafer in a horizontal manner is decreased. Limitation of contact to an edge portion alone of a wafer decreases potentially harmful influence, such as smearing or breakage, that would be caused by contact. Further, by handling a wafer through its edge portion alone, both of the entire surfaces of the wafer can be the coverage of measurement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates generally to wafer handling and measurement equipment, and more particularly to an improved system for handling, processing, and measuring wafers.

  Devices for handling and measuring semiconductor wafers are known. Typical facilities using such devices include wafer manufacturing facilities and semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing industries. This device generally accepts wafers and includes one or more measurement stations that measure the parameters of different wafers, and transfers between measurement stations as well as between packaging and shipping departments of measurement stations and facility personnel. It includes a transfer container for storing wafers therein. Excessive handling and transfer of personnel during processing tends to be detrimental because of the high chance of contamination of the wafer and inadvertent breakage.

  A typical wafer handling apparatus includes some sort of mounting for receiving a measuring wafer, such as a vacuum chuck. Since such a mount is in contact with a relatively large surface area of the wafer, it becomes a potential fouling and reduces the surface area of the wafer that can be used for measurement. In order to obtain useful output data for the measurement station, some plane or reference must be centered on the wafer in a given direction so that the output data can be related to the coordinates of the wafer.

According to the present invention, a vertical wafer processing apparatus is provided, and only the edge of the wafer is brought into contact. When the wafer is handled vertically, particulate contamination is partially reduced because air flows vertically across the wafer. The distortion of a semiconductor wafer may be due to the effect of gravity when the wafer is handled horizontally, but this is also reduced by handling the wafer vertically. Limiting contact to only the edge of the wafer is advantageous because it reduces potentially harmful effects of contact, such as contamination and breakage. Further, if handling is performed at the wafer edge portion, all the both surfaces of the wafer can be made the effective range of measurement.
The wafer processing apparatus includes a wafer processing or measurement station, and in one embodiment has a support bridge to which the rotor portion is attached. The rotor portion includes a housing and a rotor, and the rotor has a holding mechanism such as a hole in the central portion and a plurality of movable grippers (gripping), thereby holding the wafer at the measurement position. A hole in the center of the rotor allows access to both sides of the wafer received for measurement. In one embodiment, a pair of pivotable probe arms is provided with one probe arm located on one side of the wafer. Each probe arm has a pair of wafer measurement probes attached to the side adjacent to the wafer and a pair of reference probes attached to the side facing the wafer measurement probe.

Various types of probe and wafer sensor devices such as probes with capacitive sensors and wafer sensing mechanisms such as other types of optical devices are suitable for use with the devices described above. Such a wafer sensing mechanism is supported by a rotatable arm, such as the probe arm described above, or at the station or otherwise supported. Stations are also used to perform various wafer processing steps such as laser marking, contamination removal, and artifact removal. The above apparatus is flexible and various wafers can achieve the scanning pattern.
The station includes a pair of reference bars adjacent to the front and rear probe arms, respectively. Each reference probe has a signal indicating the distance to the adjacent reference bar. The signal processor receives the reference probe distance signal and the signal from the wafer measurement probe that displays the distance to the adjacent wafer side, and calculates the thickness of the wafer by knowing the predetermined distance between the reference bars. In addition, various types of wafer measurements are made.
The transfer mechanism transfers the wafer vertically to the measurement position of the station. In one aspect, the transfer mechanism includes an extractor that engages the lower edge of the wafer and a guide that engages the top edge of the wafer. With this arrangement, the wafer is firmly and reliably supported for vertical movement from the cassette below the station to the measurement position while still touching its edge.

In accordance with the present invention, a sensor is provided to scan the wafer before it is gripped by the rotor gripper. Using the data measured by the sensor, the position of the plane or reference on the wafer can be ascertained, so that the gripper can rotate the rotor before holding the wafer to ensure avoidance of such plane or reference. Can be rotated.
An additional sensor is provided to remove the rotor's shaking and vibration effects as soon as the wafer measurement results are available. More specifically, three sensors determine the plane of the rotor by measuring the distance from a fixed reference such as the rotor housing to the rotor itself. With this information, the deviation of the rotor plane from the fixed reference plane can be ascertained and therefore the fixed reference plane can be used to correct the probe measurement data.

  An apparatus for batch wafer processing and single wafer transport and measurement is described. Both of these processing systems include a plurality of stations, each having one or more measurement sensors or processing devices associated therewith. The measurement sensor has output data indicating the characteristics or parameters of the measured wafer. The artifact removal processor removes errors in the measured wafer data, and the database stores wafer data that is error free and has been corrected. This arrangement provides a database with unique value as a permanent record. This is because it shows the actual wafer characteristics in the virtual or data domain.

Computer control utilizes one or more characteristic extractors that are measured by one or more measurement sensors and utilize wafer data contained in a database. The convenience of this arrangement is that output data from different types of sensors are combined according to the rules of the extractor to improve the quality of determinable wafer information.
The plurality of databases are coupled via an information hub or via a link that coordinates the wafer source and the user. In addition, multiple information hubs communicate with each other through an information network. Databases linked in this way are spread throughout factories and facilities, such as wafer configuration facilities and semiconductor device fabrication facilities, and are in fact distributed through one or more such facilities. The terminal and wafer data source coupled with the information network may be established in a separate work place or operation system.
If the overall semiconductor processing system has the ability to quickly and easily use the appropriate data available in a large number of substantive databases via an information network in a multi-stage database, the operator of the terminal will become early In order to take correct action, it will be possible to observe and diagnose deviations in factory processing based on the distributed measurement system. For this purpose, a display is described for using wafer information according to desired survey parameters corresponding to data that may or may not be correlated with the plan. This display includes icons indicating the normality of the desired wafer search parameters by coding other icons and changing colors. One display scheme provides different icons for different days of wafer processing. It is possible to activate additional display levels by selecting a day icon that indicates a departure from the normal state. The selection of the icon extends the day of the specific process, and shows a plurality of icons that represent the wafer parameters measured on that specific day. Each icon indicates a deviation of the measured parameter from a specific value or region encoded. This display can be further expanded to obtain icons representative of individual wafers and other useful survey criteria without the need to understand the programming language of the operating system or file management system or database.

  In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the semiconductor wafer processing control system includes real-time wafer processing computer simulation that operates simultaneously with the actual wafer processing sequence. The processor compares the actual wafer output data from the wafer measurement device with the simulated data and obtains a difference according to this comparison. A processor is provided to identify corrective action for the actual wafer processing sequence in response to the difference signal. Such corrective action may be performed in the actual wafer processing sequence before, after, or at the same processing level as the actual wafer data measurement. With this arrangement, the yield is increased, and a processing device is used to perform early real-time detection and wafer processing correction.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a wafer handling and measuring apparatus 10 is shown including a wafer processing station such as a measuring station 12 that receives and measures the characteristics of a substantially circular wafer or disk, such as a semiconductor wafer. . Although the apparatus will be described herein for handling and measuring semiconductor wafers, the apparatus is equally suitable for measuring the properties of substantially circular objects such as rotating magnetic storage disks. Wafers 22a-n are stored in transport cassettes 24a-c during transfer to and from wafer measurement station 12, and then stored at 24d-g. Each cassette 24a-g has a plurality of grooves that are shaped and dimensioned to receive a single wafer and maintain the received wafer in a substantially vertical direction. Such cassettes 24a-g are open at the bottom to facilitate vertical transfer of the wafer being maintained, or have a measurement position within the measurement station 12 as will be described later.

  The measurement station 12 is supported by a substrate 14 which is supported by a measurement table 16. The measurement table 16 includes a conveyor belt along which the cassettes 24a-c are moved to the adjacent transfer table 18. The movement of the cassettes 24a-c along the measurement table 12 is intermittent. For example, once the cassette 24b is aligned substantially perpendicular to the measurement station 12, the cassette 24b is fixed, but the semiconductor wafer contained therein is transferred vertically to the measurement position in the measurement station 12, Processed as measured and returned to cassette 24b. More specifically, the cassette 24b moves or steps progressively along the table 16 so that each built-in wafer is exactly perpendicular to the slot 60 (FIG. 3) of the substrate 14 as will be described later. A line.

  The wafer moving device 23 selectively picks up the measured wafer from the transfer table 18 and places it in one of the storage cassettes 24d-g on the adjacent storage table 20 according to various measured characteristics of the wafer. That is, it is desirable to divide the wafers and store wafers having the same characteristics in the same storage cassette 24d-g for further processing or shipment. The number and arrangement of the transfer table 18, storage table 20, transfer and storage cassettes 24a-g, etc. will vary depending on the particular measurement, handling and equipment in which these operations are performed.

  The transfer mechanism 40 carries the wafers 22a-n vertically from the single cassette 24a-c to the measurement station 12 at a time. More specifically, the transfer mechanism 40 transfers the wafer 22f, which is positioned exactly in line with the slot 60 of the substrate 14 (FIG. 3), from the cassette 24b to the measurement position. This will be described later. Here it is sufficient to say that the wafer is kept substantially vertical during the transfer of the wafer from the cassette to the measuring position. Since wafers 22a-n are also held vertically during transport between the tables 16, 18, and 20 by cassettes 24a-g, wafers 22a-n are vertical during the entire handling and measurement process. Maintained. The longitudinal positioning of the wafers 22a-n is advantageous. This is because granular contamination is partially reduced because air flows thinly and vertically over the wafer. The distortion of a semiconductor wafer may be due to gravity when handling the wafer horizontally, but this also decreases.

  FIG. 2 shows the measurement station 12 and includes a support bridge 42 from which a top wafer support 44 and a bottom wafer transfer support 46 extend. Although not shown in the simplified diagram of FIG. 2, the bottom wafer transfer support 46 is firmly coupled to the measurement table 16. The measurement position maintaining this while measuring a wafer, such as the wafer 22f of the embodiment, is defined by the rotor portion 52 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and in particular by the central hole 88 of the rotor 86. The

  The front reference bar 48 extends along the front surface of the support bridge 42, and similarly the rear reference bar 50 extends along the back surface of the support bridge 42. The front and rear probe arms 54 and 56 (see FIG. 3) are provided between the front and rear reference bars 48 and 50 and the support bridge 42, respectively, so as to measure various characteristics of the wafer at the measurement position as described later. Supports a probe with an operable sensor. The front and rear reference bars 48, 50 provide a fixed reference to accurately align the probe arms 54, 56 as described below with reference to FIG. 3b. It is now sufficient to say that this arrangement ensures that the probe position information is always associated with the fixed reference planes 48, 50.

  Referring to the enlarged view of processing station 12 shown in FIG. 3, wafer transfer mechanism 40 includes an extractor 58 paired with bottom wafer transfer support 46 and a wafer guide 70 paired with the lower end of top wafer support 44. The wafer is transferred vertically from the cassette to the measuring station 12. With this extractor 58, the wafer guide 70 supports the wafer during vertical transfer. The wafer transfer mechanism 40 includes extractor guide means such as a pair of slide rails 61 and 62 as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2 for guiding the extractor 58 with vertical transfer of the wafer.

  As described above, the substrate 14 has the slot 60 through which the wafer is moved by the transfer mechanism 40. That is, the wafer 22f is transferred to the measurement station when the cassette 24b in which the wafer 22f is accommodated is substantially vertically aligned with the wafer 22f that is exactly aligned with the slot 60 under the measurement station 12. It is in. When the wafer extractor 58 is activated, the lower end of the wafer 22f is engaged with the extractor 58 and pushed up from the cassette 24b to the measurement station 12 through the slot 60 as shown in FIG. More specifically, the wafer 22f is pushed up by the extractor 58, and the wafer guide 70 that has been lowered to engage with the upper edge portion of the wafer 22f guides the wafer 22f upward. The wafer 22f is accurately supported and moves vertically by both the extractor 58 and the guide 70 in contact with the wafer.

  FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the portion of the extractor 58. The extractor 58 includes a V-shaped edge contact portion 59 so that only the outer edge of the wafer 22f is engaged or contacted. Generally, the semiconductor wafers 22a-n have a circular edge around the periphery. Contact portion 59 contacts only the outer circular edge of the wafer. Similarly, substantially the same wafer guide 70 contacts only the outer circular edge of the wafer.

  FIG. 4 shows the rotor portion 52, and the circular housing 80 has a concentric mounting flange 82 with a slightly larger diameter. The mounting flange 82 has a plurality of holes 83 for receiving a fixing tool such as a screw, and fixes the rotor portion 52 to the mounting surface of the support bridge 42 of the measurement station 12. A rotor 86 is rotatably positioned in the central hole 84 of the housing 80.

  The central hole 88 of the rotor 86 is shaped and sized to receive a semiconductor wafer 22a-n, such as an embodiment wafer 22f with an orientation flat 25 (FIG. 4). The rotor 86 includes a plurality of grippers (grips) 90, 92, 94 that hold the wafers 22 a-n in place relative to the rotor 86. The rotation of the rotor 86 rotates the held wafer 22f. As will be described, the rotor 86 is rotated before placing the wafer on the rotor 86 and is also rotated during the measurement.

  The housing 80 is shown as consisting of two separate portions 80a, b (FIG. 5) to facilitate manufacturing. For this purpose, the upper and lower housing parts 80a and 80b have a plurality of holes 81, into which the fasteners are received and the housing 80 is assembled. The housing 80 is provided with a gauge block 73, which is used to calibrate the measurement probe. This will be described later.

  The rotor 86 and the housing 80 may be made of a suitable material such as a coated hard aluminum that conveniently removes dirt in consideration of cost and manufacturing. The grippers 90-94 may be any suitable material and are preferably made of silicon carbide that minimizes contamination of the held wafer.

  Referring to the cross-sectional view of the rotor portion 52 in FIG. 5, the rotor 86 is rotated by a DC motor including the stator coil 100 and the magnetic ring 104. A groove 98 is formed in the side wall of the hole 84 of the housing, and the stator coil 100 is disposed therein. The stator coil 100 has a groove 102 as shown. The magnetic ring 104 is provided on the outer surface of the rotor side wall and has a shape for capturing the coil groove 102 of the stator. The magnetic ring 104 fits inside the stator coil groove 102 and thereby operates rotatably. The magnetic ring 104 has a plurality of poles that cooperate therewith and can be constructed of any suitable material including ceramic. The optical encoder 93 controls the speed of the motor, and includes a detector 99 that is paired with the light source and the fixed housing 80. The moving direction of the rotor can be detected by quadrature detection of light reflected by a scale or an index on the adjacent movable rotor 86.

  FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of the rotor portion, and an air bearing 85 is provided between the rotor 86 and the housing 80 to reduce the rotational friction of the rotor 86. For this purpose, the pressure source 111 is paired with the manifold 113, and the manifold is paired with a plurality of holes communicating with the air bearing 85 as shown. The valve 115 is provided at a joint between the manifold 113 and the pressure source 111 and pressurizes or depressurizes the air bearing 85 or is connected to the vacuum source 103 as described later. Each of the pressure source, the vacuum source 111, 103 and the valve 115 is preferably located far from the rotor portion 52, and the valve 115 can be electronically controlled.

  When the rotor 86 rotates, the valve 115 connects the pressure source 111 to the manifold 113 and pressurizes the bearing 85. The vacuum mechanism 103 is connected to a pair of holes or an inlet 117 communicating with the air bearing 85 as shown in the figure, and draws air from the bearing during rotation of the rotor. In this way, air in the bearing is prevented from escaping from it, and it functions to remove or remove contamination of particulates in the air bearing 85 between the housing 80 and the rotor 86. In this way, particulates that may contaminate the wafer being received are removed.

  Each of the three grippers of the rotor 86 is movable, making it easy to position and remove the semiconductor wafer from the measuring section. The grippers 90-94 are moved by a suitable actuator, such as a spring 87 that creates and operates a vacuum in the gap 89 as shown in FIG. 5 or a vacuum actuated diaphragm 119 as shown in FIG. 5A. Different types of grippers are shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A. Considering in particular the vacuum actuated diaphragm 119 of FIG. 5A, this diaphragm 119 is located in a chamber 121 that connects to an air bearing through a groove through a rotor 86 as shown. When the bearing 85 is pressurized, the chamber 121 is also pressurized through the groove 123. When the chamber 121 is pressurized, the diaphragm 119 is bent toward the concave position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5A. In this position, the diaphragm 119 acts on the gripper 90 and pushes it downward to engage the wafer.

  The valve 115 couples the manifold 113 to the vacuum source 103 if the rotor stops rotating and attempts to release the wafer from engagement with the gripper 90. In this way, the inside of the chamber 121 is evacuated through the groove 123, and instead the groove 123 bends the diaphragm toward the convex position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 5A. When diaphragm 119 moves in this manner, gripper 90 moves from the position indicated by the solid line upward to the position indicated by the dotted line, thereby releasing the holding wafer (ie, extractor 58 and guide 70 are in place to support the wafer). That's what it means).

  As is apparent from the description of FIG. 5A, the diaphragm actuator 119 moves the gripper 90 vertically. It may be preferable to move the grippers 90-94 toward and additionally from the orientation flat surface of the wafer, indicated at 101 in FIG. An alternative actuator 129 for moving the grippers 90-94 for this purpose is shown somewhat schematically in FIG. 5B for the example gripper 90. The gripper 90 is coupled to the rotor 86 by a suitable linkage 127. The linkage 127 must be selectively bendable so that the gripper 90 can move from the retracted position A, shown in solid lines in FIG. 5B, through the dotted position B to the dotted position C where the wafer engages the gripper 90. (The linkage 127 is not shown).

  The groove 123 communicates with the actuator 129 by a suitable mechanism, pressure on the chamber 121 lowers the actuator, and vacuum on the chamber raises the actuator. Specifically, in response to the pressure introduced into the groove 123 by the pressure source 111, the actuator 129 moves vertically from the position A ′ indicated by the solid line to the position B ′ indicated by the dotted line, and finally the dotted line. Go to position C ′ (the coupling to the rotor 86 is not shown). In response to the movement of the actuator 129 from the position A ′ to the position B ′, the gripper 90 moves horizontally to the position B as shown by an arrow 89 in contact with the slope of the actuator 129 as shown. Thereafter, the actuator 129 is further lowered to the position C ′, and the adjacent gripper 90 is incidentally moved vertically as indicated by an arrow 97 to the position C where the edge portion of the wafer is engaged. To retract the actuator 129 and release the held wafer, the vacuum source 103 is paired with the groove 123 and the actuator 129 is raised to return the gripper 90 (normally offset to the retracted position A) to the retracted position. The valve 115 must be positioned at the same time.

  When the wafer is lifted to a position that aligns the wafer 22f perpendicularly with the central hole 88 of the rotor (ie, the measurement position with the wafer 22f in the position of FIG. 5), the grippers 90-94 operate as described above. To do. Thereafter, the wafer 22f is held by the gripper 90-94 at the measurement position of FIG. 5, and the wafer guide 70 and the extractor 58 are moved back and forth respectively. The engagement of the grippers 90-94 with the wafer edge is accomplished by pivoting these grippers 90-94, thereby eliminating horizontal and vertical movement of the grippers 90-94 along the axes 97,89.

  FIG. 5C shows an enlarged view of the gripper 90. The gripper 90 has a V-shaped end similar to the wafer extractor 59 of FIG. 3A and is adapted to contact the circular edge of the holding wafer. The thickness of the wafer 22f shown in the embodiment is Tw, and the thickness of the gripper end portion 91 is Tg. Preferably, the gripper edge thickness Tg is less than the wafer thickness Tw, thereby ensuring that the probe arms 54, 56 do not interfere with the gripper 90-94 around the rotor hole 88. Can be rotated.

Various arrangements of the grippers 90-94 are conceivable, such as providing a fixed position near the top of the rotor 86 on the two grippers and positioning one movable at the bottom of the rotor.
With such an arrangement, the wafer 22f rises vertically and engages directly with the fixed upper gripper. Thereafter, the lower movable gripper contacts the lower edge of the wafer and holds the wafer.

  Since the wafer 22f is held along its edge, it is preferable to ensure that its reference or orientation flat 25 (FIG. 4) does not contact the grippers 90-94. For this purpose, a sensor 95 is provided, which scans the wafer 225 before being held by the grippers 90-94. The sensor 95 provides an image of the wafer 22f that is analyzed to identify the position of the orientation flat 25 of the wafer. Various types of sensors are suitable. For example, the sensor 95 may be an optical sensor for scanning the wafer 22f while raising the wafer to the measurement position. Alternatively, the image of the wafer 225 may be obtained by raising the wafer once to the measurement position by the video sensor or camera before being held by the gripper 90-94. With this information, the rotor 86 is rotated before the wafer is held by the gripper 90-94 to ensure that none of the grippers 90-94 touch the wafer orientation flat. This arrangement in which the rotor 86 is rotated so that the grippers 90-94 avoid the wafer orientation flat 25 moves or rotates it in the known orientation flat direction before loading the wafer into the measurement station. There is no need. In many applications, subsequent wafer measurements provide information about the positional relationship between the wafer center and the orientation flat 25. In order to improve the accuracy of determining the orientation flat position, the orientation flat measured by the probe may be used in addition to the orientation flat position determined by the sensor 95.

  When the measurement of the wafer is completed, the operation of the transfer mechanism 40 is “opposite” and the wafer 22f is returned to the cassette 24b. That is, the extractor 58 and the guide 70 move up and down and touch the edge of the wafer 22f. At that time, the grippers 90-94 are actuated to release the edge of the wafer that is now supported by the extractor 58 and guide 70, so that there is no interference when the gripper lowers the wafer into the cassette. When another wafer needs to be measured, the cassette 24b moves along the table 16 so that the wafer and the slot 60 are vertically aligned.

  From the above description of transporting and moving wafers 22a-n to and from the measurement station 12 and handling the wafers in the measurement station, the wafers 22a-n are only along their edges through the transfer and measurement operations. You should see that they are touching. In particular, while the wafers 22a-n are located at the measuring station, they only touch the rounded edges of the edge where the grippers 90, 92, 94 are located. Further, when the wafer 22a-n is transferring between the cassette 24a-n and the measurement station, the extractor 58 and the guide 70 are in contact with only the circular portion of the wafer edge. Since the contact of the wafers 22a-n is only along the edge portion, it is certain that the region where the semiconductor circuit is formed is not damaged. This reduces potentially harmful effects due to contact with the wafer, such as accumulated contamination and breakage. Further, if the contact of the wafers 22a-n being measured is limited to the edge portion, the effective range of measurement extends to the entire usable portion of the wafer.

  Referring to FIG. 3 again, the front and rear rotating probes 54 and 56 are located on opposite sides of the central hole 88 of the rotor 86, respectively. With this arrangement, the front and rear sides of the held wafer can be measured simultaneously. The back side of the wafer can be measured through a hole 88 in the rotor. The rotating probe arms 54 and 56 are pivotally attached to the measurement station 12 so that they can be removed from the path of the rotor 86 required to place and remove the wafer, as described below. Wafers can be traversed during measurements or other types of processing. The measurement station 12 includes a motor 55 (FIG. 3) for rotating the arms 54 and 56. The arms 54 and 56 may be paired so as to rotate together or either, or may be rotated independently.

  The measurement components of the apparatus 10 (ie, including the probes 54 and 56 and the rotor portion 52) may be firmly connected to a wafer transfer device such as the measurement table 16 or the extractor 58. Alternatively, the measurement components may be “not fixed” or “played” so that relative movement between the wafer measurement device and the transfer device is possible. In the latter arrangement, for example, vibration caused by the measurement table 16 is interrupted from the probe arms 54 and 56 and the rotor portion that are allowed to play.

  As will be described later, the rotary probe arms 54 and 56 include a pair of wafer measurement probes 110 and 112 and a pair of reference probes 114 and 116, respectively. Wafer measurement probes 110, 112 include individual wafer measurement probes 110a, b, 112a, b, which extend from respective probe arms 54, 56 toward a rotor 86 interposed therebetween. Thus, each of the wafer measurement probes 110a, b associated with the front probe arm 54 has a corresponding wafer measurement probe 112a, b associated with the rear probe arm 56. The reference probes 114 and 116 are attached to the side facing the wafer measurement probes 110 and 112 and face the adjacent front and rear reference bars 48 and 50 (FIG. 2). In the illustrated embodiment, the wafer measurement probes 110, 112 and the reference probes 114, 116 are capacitive probes, but instead of other types of probes having other than capacitive sensors, as described below. You may use it.

  In one application, each wafer measurement probe 110a, b, 112a, b indicates a capacitance between the probe and the adjacent wafer 22f and provides a signal indicating the distance between the probe and the wafer 22f. Since the probes corresponding to the wafer measurement probes 110a, 112a, 110b, 112b are substantially straight, the resulting distance indication signal can be processed to indicate the thickness of the measured wafer. .

  In particular, referring to the schematic diagram of FIG. 3B, the signal processor 118 obtains distance indication signals from the probes 110, 112, 114, 116 indicating the distances d1, d2, d3, d4. The reference probes 114a and 114b have a signal indicating the distance d1, and the reference probes 116a and 116b output a signal indicating the distance d4. Similarly, the wafer measurement probes 110a and 110b output a signal indicating the distance d2, and the wafer measurement probes 112a and 112b output a signal indicating the distance d3. Since the positions of the reference bars 48 and 50 are fixed, the total distance between the bars 48 and 50 is known. The signal processor 118 obtains the thickness “t” of the wafer 22f as shown in the equation of FIG. 3B, from the distance D, the width w1 between the measured distance d1 -d4 and the known opposing capacitive reference probe. , Subtract w2.

  In addition to wafer thickness, various types of wafer measurements can be made with the above-described apparatus or variations such as micro-roughness, particulate contamination, heavy metal contamination, and coating thickness measurement. Wafer flatness can be measured as described in US Pat. No. 4,860,229 of the assignee of the present invention. Also, the measurement of the unevenness of the wafer can be made as described in the assignee's US Pat. No. 4,750,141.

  Furthermore, it can be said that the apparatus described here is suitable for wafer processing processes other than the measurement of wafer parameters. For example, the wafer may be marked by applying a laser beam to a predetermined wafer position. Alternatively, once particulate contamination is identified at a particular location on the wafer, the wafer can be exposed to ultraviolet light for charge separation and air can be blown onto the wafer to remove the contaminating particles.

  In order to improve the flexibility of the device described above, various probes of different sensor types, such as eddy current probes and surface photovoltage probes, may be attached to the rotating probe arms 54,56. Alternatively, both rotating probe arms 54, 56 may be removed from the measurement station and replaced with other types of wafer sensing and processing equipment (referred to generally as wafer sensors herein). For example, optical measurement can be performed using a laser source for generating a laser beam and a detector for detecting scattered light. Such a wafer detector is connected to the measuring station by suitable means. For example, the device can be supported by a support bridge 42 or mounted inside a housing 709 that covers the measuring station 708 shown in FIG. In order to achieve a preferred scan of the wafer, the laser may be fixed to a holding wafer that is rotated by support bridge 42 and rotor 86. Alternatively, the light beam may be effectively moved relative to the fixed wafer by a plurality of movable mirrors (ie, thereby eliminating the need for wafer rotation) to achieve a preferred scan pattern.

  Various wafer scanning schemes can be achieved with the apparatus described above to obtain the desired wafer scanning pattern. If the measurement station is provided with the rotating probe arms 54, 56 of FIG. 3, the rotor 86 and the holding wafer can rotate relatively fast while the probe arms 54, 56 can traverse the wafer relatively slowly. This type of scanning results in the concentric pattern shown in FIG. 4A when the rotor rotation is intermittent. On the other hand, if the rotation of the rotor is continuous, the spiral shape of FIG. 4B is obtained. Also, to obtain the scanning pattern of FIG. 4C, the wafer may be rotated slowly and the probe arms 54 and 56 may be quickly traversed across the wafer.

  Still another wafer scanning pattern can be obtained using the alternative wafer detection processing apparatus described above. This device is supported by methods other than probe arms 54 and 56. For example, the pattern of FIG. 4D is obtained by using a rotating mirror that reflects a laser beam and applying the beam to the holding wafer while rotating the wafer with a rotor. When the wafer does not rotate at all as in the case where the laser beam scan of the wafer is performed using two movable mirrors, the patterns of FIGS. 4E and 4F are obtained. The patterns shown in FIGS. 4E and 4F move the wafer by moving the light beam horizontally while moving the wafer discontinuously or continuously from the cassette to the measurement station or to the retracted position by the transfer mechanism 40 described above. Is obtained.

  Referring to FIG. 5 again, an additional sensor 120 is provided to compensate for fluctuations and vibrations caused by the rotor 86, thereby improving the accuracy of wafer surface position measurement. The shaking causes the rotor 86 to be inclined, so that the held wafer surface 101 deviates from the fixed reference surface. The swaying of the rotor 86 is eliminated in the wafer thickness measurement (ie, the front and back capacitive probes 110, 112 move the same distance in the opposite direction relative to the wafer). However, when measuring the position of one or both surfaces of the wafer, the absolute distance of each of the front and back probes 110, 112 relative to the wafer is very important.

  In order to eliminate the influence of the rotor fluctuation in measuring the shape of the wafer, three correction sensors 120 are provided and used to determine the plane of the rotor 86. The sway sensor 120 is coupled to a fixed housing 80 at three locations on the periphery of the rotor 86 and measures the absolute distance to the rotor 86. Thereby, the deviation of the rotor surface from the fixed reference position is given to the signal processor 118 and used to compensate the measurement of the wafer surface position.

More specifically, the purpose is to measure the position of the wafer surface (along the z-axis) at a plurality of points x, y with respect to one fixed xy plane such as the measurement position plane 101. In FIG. 5, the x, y, and z axes are shown such that the x axis stands upright from the drawing. If both the wafer support and the surface position sensor make a plurality of measurements and are fixed at z, then the sensor output zo (x, y) is the wafer surface position zw (x, y). It will be expressed accurately. However, a wafer support, such as the rotor 86, may exhibit a strong rigid body motion in the z-direction while scanning multiple points and performing corresponding multiple measurements. Therefore, the (wrong) sensor output is:
Zo (X, Y) = Zw (X, Y) + Zs (X, Y) --- (1)
Here, zs (x, y) corresponds to a change due to the movement of the support related to the probe at the fixed reference position and the wafer surface position of x, y. If the position of the support is measured at three points (x1y1, x2y2, x3y3) around the rotor (by the motion measurement sensor), the change in the position of any point x, y can be calculated. These measurements must be made simultaneously with the measurement of the surface position at position x, y zo (x, y).
The surface is defined as:
Z (X, Y) = aX + bY + C --- (2)
The variables a, b, and c can be calculated by solving the following equation corresponding to the measurement of the unevenness correction sensor performed at the same time as the i-th measurement.
Zs, i (X1, Y1) = aiX1 + biY1 + ci ---- (3)
Zs, i (X2, Y2) = aiX2 + biY2 + ci ---- (4)
Zs, i (X3, Y3) = aiX3 + biY3 + ci ---- (5)
The movement of the wafer support associated with the probe at the i th measurement position can be written as:
Zs (X, Y) = aiX + biY + Ci --- (6)
The position of the wafer surface independent of the support movement can be calculated by the following equation.
Zw (X, Y) = Zo (X, Y) -Zs (X, Y) --- (7)
This equation has a measurement of the desired wafer surface position.

  The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-5 can be calibrated by various techniques. One calibration technique is described in commonly assigned US patent application Ser. No. 08 / 052,384 entitled “Measurement System Calibration Apparatus and Method,” which includes capacitive probes 110, 112 and reference probes 114, 116. Determining one or more parameters for the various measurement elements, and supplying the parameters to the signal processor 118 for use in calculating the measured wafer characteristics.

  As described above, the gauge block 73 of the housing 80 is also used in the measuring device for calibration. Gauge block 73 provides a reference thickness for mastering the probe, thereby comparing the gauge block 73 thickness measurement with probes 110, 112 to a predetermined and known gauge block thickness and calibrating the probe. I do.

  Regardless of the type of wafer measurement or processing equipment at the processing station described above, it is possible to measure from each station without resorting to prior art intermediate handling and human transport between the processing station and another factory site. From the standpoint of recording a permanent database of wafer characteristics, it is a particular advantage to process multiple wafers sequentially through a number of different wafer processing stations in a single step.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram. For example, the bond test assembly 602 is supplied with a cassette 604 of wafers sent from a cassette conveyor 608 that is bundled vertically at an input station 606. Cassette 604 passes through a plurality of test stations, such as flatness station 610, resistivity or conductivity type station 612, and then transitions to output station 614. At the output station, the vertically bundled wafers are sent to the cassette shuttle 618 by the transfer system 616. The cassette shuttle uses a wafer transfer arm 622 to classify the wafer into a plurality of output cassettes in the assembly 620. The transfer arm 622 positions the wafers from the cassettes in the shuttle 618 to the classified output cassettes according to the measurement standards from the measurement stations 610, 612 as identified by the controller 624. Once the wafer is located in the cassette at assembly 620, the filled cassette is transported elsewhere by conveyor system 626 based on the measurement data. Some wafer processing can determine more stringent tolerances for some parameters, while other processes can accept parameters with less stringent control. Classification classifies the wafer according to the desired constraints in order to use the wafer more efficiently.

  Alternatively, the batch processing of wafers and cassettes shown in FIG. 6 may be performed using the single wafer processing technique shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows an array of clean measurement compatible multi-measurement stations using a single wafer for time processing. As shown, the wafer 716 is brought to the transfer station 703 after completing the first step, usually ending at the cleaning station 702. Here, the wafers are transported to individual wafer holders or carriers of the type shown in FIG. 7A.

  In FIG. 7A, the wafer carrier 705 is shown with an outer circular edge 707 that is substantially identical in shape to the wafer and has a central hole 709 that receives the wafer 22f. The carrier 705 includes a plurality of wafer holding portions 711 that enter the central hole 709 as shown. Since the wafer holder 711 is elastic and moves slightly, sufficient pressure can be applied to the wafer edge to securely hold the wafer in the carrier 705, and the holder 711 releases the holding wafer 22f. Move or deflect. For this reason, the wafer holder 711 is preferably composed of a bimetal spring, which engages and releases the wafer in the central hole 709 in response to appropriate heating and cooling of the mobile stations 713, 718. Alternatively, the holding portion 711 may be a magnetostrictive material such as a bimetallic nickel-iron member. This is movable in response to the appropriate magnetic field of the mobile station 703, 718.

  The end portion 713 of the carrier holding portion 711 contacts only with the circular edge of the holding wafer 22f in the same manner as the extractor 58, the guide 70, and the gripper 90-94 described above. That is, the end portion 713 has a V-shaped portion like the portion 91 of the gripper 90 shown in FIG. 5C.

  The wafer carrier 705 is made of an appropriate material in consideration of cost and contamination. For example, the end portion of the carrier 705 from which the holding portion 711 extends may be plastic. Since the mechanism described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5 is suitable for vertical movement of the carrier 705 as described above from the conveyor to the measurement position of the measurement station, the wafer-like outer edge of the carrier 705 shown in FIG. 7A Is convenient. However, it is necessary to know that various shapes and wafer holding devices are suitable for each wafer carrier.

  Wafer 716 is transferred from transfer station 703 along conveyor 704 in carrier 705. The conveyor 704 includes a mechanism that supports the wafer carrier 705 vertically for transfer. From the transfer station 703, the wafer is transported to a measurement area 706, where a plurality of vertical wafer measurement stations 708, 710, 712, 714. . . Works on each wafer in the conveyor chain as described above. When the test sequence is complete, the wafers 716 on the conveyor 704 enter the second transfer station 718. Here, the wafers are removed from the individual wafer carriers 705 and placed into a plurality of cassettes 720 in a cassette transfer station 722 in a sorted and unsorted state for further processing, such as in a semiconductor integrated circuit fab. Or it is transported for shipment to the customer. An advantage of wafer carrier 705 and the attendant individual wafer transport of FIG. 7 is that it is not repeatedly engaged and released to reduce handling and contamination.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a data collection and analysis technique according to the present invention, which collects permanent records of wafer data that has passed multiple sensor tests and provides data for one or more tests to provide a more comprehensive characterization of wafer parameters. Call. As shown, a wafer 802 is attached to a plurality of sensors 804, 808, 810. . . Each of the wafers processed according to the multi-stage measurement station system of FIG. 6 or 7 according to the output of the sensor processed by the signal processing systems 812, 814, 816, and 818, and removes artifacts and errors due to measurement as described below. Data from multiple tests for are collected in a permanent database 820. It is one aspect of the present invention to store data at this level for each wafer. This is because the available data is displayed at the widest level, from which better wafer characteristics and other information can be derived at any time as required.

  Data contained in the permanent database 820 is further processed under the control of the computer controller 822. This controller may include a plurality of characteristic extractors 824, 826, 828. 828 to retrieve data from all locations on the wafer that may detect dimples on the wafer surface. . . Actuate one or more of The data thus extracted is further processed into one or more processing algorithms 830, 832, 834, 836. . . Further processing with one or more rules executed by. For example, if data representing wafer dimples obtained from both thickness and optical reflectivity measurements is derived, the rules used to detect such characteristics are extractors 824, 826, 828. . . It works to process raw data from and determines the presence of dimples at each potential wafer location.

  FIG. 9 illustrates the data analysis system of FIG. 8 in a wider factory environment. Here, the sensors 804. . . 810, a characteristic extractor and rules 824. . . 836. . . As a result, the data analyzed in the step exits the measurement station and is taken into the information network 906 via the INFOHUB ™ 902 at the same time as the wafer shipped at the shipping station 904 for use by subsequent customers. Output information of defects or other characteristics of the wafer being produced. In particular, it is important to recognize that the database 820 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 may be one of multiple databases distributed throughout an entire factory, or one or more factories, or other processing facilities. It is a feature of the present invention to retrieve such information together through the network for distributed user terminals as described below.

  In FIG. 8, sensors 804. . . The sensor data from 810 is signal processor 812. . . Processed at 818. The data in the database 840 is based on the output of a single signal sensor 1002 and can be obtained by calibration or other techniques as fully described in FIG. Sensors 804, 806. . . The output of the sensor 1002 corresponding to one of the signals is a model-based removal signal processor 812, 814. . . Is used in the artifact removal processing device 1004 corresponding to the above. In particular, the artifact removal system 1004 makes many corrections using known techniques, such as disclosed in assignee's US Pat. Nos. 4,931,962; 4,849,916; 4,750,141; 4,217,542; 3,990,005; 3,986,109; and 3,775,679, for example. Has been.

  The causes of the data flaw that causes the measured wafer data to deviate from the indication of “complete” of the measured wafer parameter are classified into a variable type and an invariant type as a whole. To elaborate further, certain artifacts are usually determined by modeling the “rules” of wrinkled data, obtaining details, or obtaining parameters that are coupled to the rules by known techniques such as calibration. It is done. That is, if the rule in which an error has occurred is known, the operation of the rule can be “reversed” on the data measured by the artifact removal processor 1004. Errors that can be corrected by calibration are typical of stationary artifacts, and knowledge of the calibration methodology will know the rules for finding the data, and the calibration process will produce variables that combine with the rules of calibration. For example, when using known calibration techniques to determine that a measured wafer parameter data should accurately indicate the actual wafer parameter, such dimensional factor information. Will be communicated to the artifact removal processor 1004 in order for the artifact model 1008 to use the dimensional factor in the measured data. As yet another example, when the probe limitations are entangled with the measurement data and the actual wafer parameters, such as probe placement, the artifact model 1008 is entangled to untangling the measurement data. Information is passed to the artifact removal processor 1004.

  On the other hand, a non-constant artifact cannot be determined in the same way as a constant artifact, but can still be modeled with an indefinite artifact model 1006. More specifically, the invariant artifact generally refers to the cause of data defects, but this cause can be modeled in response to measurements obtained by the correction sensor 1003. The shaking of the roller 86 is an example of an indefinite artifact when the shaking sensor 120 includes a correction sensor 1003.

  The artifact removal processor 1004 receives data relating to the indefinite artifact from the indefinite artifact model 1006 and data relating to the constant artifact from the constant artifact model 1008 (this data is stored in the database 840 in FIG. 8). The measured wafer data is processed according to the data. The output of the artifact removal system 1004 is substantially flawless wafer data (ie, an approximation of “complete” wafer data). The output from the artifact removal processor 1004 is provided to a database 820 that shows wafer data corrected for all errors and defects to the extent that the system can be accurate. Since this represents an actual wafer in substantial or common data location, it would create a special value database 820 as a permanent record.

  The operation of the present invention for the analysis of data in the permanent record of the actual database 820 is illustrated in FIG. As shown therein, for example, the user of terminal 1102 may determine that there are dimples for all or selected wafers for which data is stored in a substantial database 820 to indicate that controller 822 is present. Can be requested through. For this purpose, the controller 822 uses appropriate characteristic extractors 824, 826. . . (FIG. 8) is activated to look for data indicating that there may be dimples on the wafer based on another measurement that produces output data that can reflect the dimples and extract it. For example, both thickness measurement and optical reflectance measurement can produce output data with anomalies that potentially reflect wafer dimples. The characteristic extractor 824 thus stores data in the database 820 from both the measurement of the thickness indicating the dimple characteristics and the measurement of the optical reflectivity, and retrieves the data therefrom.

  FIG. 12A shows data from various detectors, such as a thickness detector, an optical reflectivity detector, etc., used by a characteristic extractor for detecting wafer wrinkles. More specifically, curve 1203 shows the sensitivity of the thickness measurement data for a particular parameter such as spectral wavelength, and curve 1205 shows the sensitivity of the optical reflectivity measurement for the same parameter. As is apparent from these curves 1203 and 1205, each sensor (thickness sensor and optical sensor) provides data for a specific region of a particular parameter. This region may or may not overlap for each sensor. In other words, only one of the sensors cannot provide wafer characteristic information for the desired accuracy or for the desired area of interest. The controller 822 executes predetermined software rules when the data indicated by the curves 1203 and 1205 is output in order to convey desired wafer information. According to this kind of software rule, the controller 822 combines the data from both sensors and counts the number of dimples on a particular wafer. Different sensor outputs or other more sophisticated techniques may be introduced.

  FIG. 12B shows alternative output data provided by various measurement sensors. Here again, curve 1202 shows the sensitivity of the thickness sensor for a particular parameter, and curve 1204 shows the sensitivity of the optical sensor for that parameter. Know that the degree of sophistication of the software rules enforced by the controller can be varied to achieve the desired level of accuracy and to adapt to the sensitivity or response of the sensor from which the data was extracted as needed Should.

  In another embodiment using data from various sensors, the curves in FIG. 12A or 12B indicate the transformation of the sensor output data area. For example, curves 1202 and 1204 in FIG. 12B show the Laplace transform of output data from different sensors. In this case, the controller 822 activates the filtering software rules to demarcate the thickness and optical data, and to accurately identify the appearance of dimple-like objects and the characteristics of the dimples and other rules. A characteristic conversion curve 1208 is obtained in the vibration region for which the correlation is to be obtained.

  Other analyzes may also utilize a combination of different sensor outputs stored in database 820, but this is also the case for distributed database 820, described below, from the various distribution databases. It is possible to improve the value and accuracy of information processing in this way by analyzing a variety of sensor data using information and the information being searched for becomes a function of multiple sensor outputs.

  In FIG. 13, the database 820'820 "820" '. . . A plurality of databases 820 such as the above are examples distributed from a factory, and may also be data coming from a plurality of distributed data sources, such as factory operation or measurement systems 804'804 "804" ', respectively. is there. For example, table 820. . . In various manufacturing stages, semiconductor processing apparatus operation status data is accumulated along with wafer test data such as circuit test data. Thus, the manufacturing process is distributed over many tables 820 per wafer. The information hub 1502 (INFOHUB) (trademark) is incorporated into the operation of the software and / or hardware body to connect and associate the source and the consumer, and the distributed database 820 '. . . As well as terminals 1504, 1506. . . As well as process controls 1508, 1510. . . And other factory information sources of wafer information, interpreters and utilityizers 1512, 1514. . . Is included.

  In this typical case, when the control and testing apparatus to be made into a network structure and a terminal to use the network structure are provided on another work place and an operation system, as shown in FIG. 14, INFOHUB (trademark) Such a network is connected to various processing control measurement stations 1408, 1410. . . Run towards the etc. If similar converters need to place the terminals 1412, 1414 connected to the information hub 1402, they may be quickly replaced or designed to be placed directly on the network 1402.

  One of the advantages of providing an overall semiconductor processing facility would be a wafer manufacturing facility, a semiconductor device fabrication facility, or a combination of the two as shown in FIG. However, the operator of the user's terminal 1504 corrects early, allowing for the situation where all information is available via the information hub 1502 or, if the information spreads well enough, some of them. In order to carry out the work, it is to observe and diagnose the deviation due to processing in the factory. For example, the access processing hardware and / or software 1506 may be configured according to the plan 1508 and correlated and uncorrelated data to utilize all database records 820 via the measurement system according to the desired exploration parameters. ing. Such a survey shows on the display format 1510 the degree of normality indicated by the color of the icon 1512 and other encodings on a by-time basis, such as daily. For example, one icon corresponds to one day of processing, thereby displaying a day when measurement parameters sensed from the measurement system of FIG. 8 or other process control parameters deviate from normal. In addition, icon 1512 indicates the extent to which a particular measured parameter or other process control parameter has been removed from normal, such as entering a caution, danger, or alarm area.

  An additional display (displayed video) 1514 controls the information processing software to select an icon 1512 that is related to a state that occurs every day, such as one or more icons 1512 indicating separation from a normal state. It is processed and driven by the terminal 1504 below. When the icon 1512 is selected, each icon is separately given a parameter to a display icon 1516 indicating that the shadow, color or other icon 1516 signal indicates data that exceeds the allowable limit. The amount of information displayed on that day will be increased. Similarly, display 1518 can be utilized to analyze the processing steps of a wafer manufacturing or integrated circuit manufacturing process based on data distributed through the present measurement system. In other words, a series of separated icons 1520 indicate the main process in the wafer processing separation state. The icon group 1520 is expanded on the display 1522 with another icon 1524 that indicates the process, shadow, and color of each sub-part of the wafer processing, or other code that indicates the existence and degree of the measurement result exceeding the allowable limit. Yes, thereby keeping the factory error at a local spot.

  Similarly, the measurement system's access processing software can display the entire wafer, eg, with another sensed parameter, such as display 1510, through each icon 1512 displaying the other sensed parameters, as well as through the entire wafer. It is used to provide a display that displays the color and / or shading of the frequency to the extent that it exceeds the tolerance limit that occurs for each parameter. Similarly, the display as indicated above via the access processing software 1506 to indicate the degree of error that has occurred in each icon that separates and displays the wafer through all the characteristics represented by shading and coloring. Can be enlarged. The display shows for each single icon and for a single sensing characteristic that each icon has a localized defect due to the colored or shaded location on the icon, or a location that exceeds the tolerance limit. Further enlargement is possible. In the case of the latter display, the icon should be an actual wafer shape rather than a file shape so that the location of the defect is easily indicated and the appearance of the defect at the same position through several wafers is a clue to error handling. Is preferred.

  FIG. 16 illustrates the use of a type of real-time simulation typically used to represent individual or small numbers of processing steps in semiconductor processing facility planning. As shown therein, the simulation state of the technology is combined into a single large simulation 1602, which is a photoengraving process that has been used many times in each arrangement to produce a typical integrated circuit, It represents the overall factory operation consisting of a series of mini-processes 1604 each showing the actual process such as layer growth or oxidation, diffusion, ion implantation, etching, etc. Step 1604 mimics the actual process 1606 of the real-time factory process 1608 performed through the factory for the development of integrated circuits and other semiconductor wafer processes as accurately as a computer simulation. A series of measurements at the comparison station 1610 is used to compare the results of the actual processing step 1606 with the idealization simulation step 1604 and the deviation data stored in the database 1612. The database 1612 is networked on the information hub 1614 where one or more of the appropriate processes are included to determine a correction process based on the identified deviation of the simulation process 1604 vs. the actual process 1606 in data processing. It is used by the terminal 1616 described above. The correction is stored in the collaborative database 1618 of known correction processes, for example, to overcome each measured deviation, from intelligent processing of the deviations indicated, such as through the use of an artificial brain. It is applied to change the processing of the actual processing step 1606 before or after the known information is known (ie, forward feed or feedback) or to the same extent.

  It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and that aspects incorporating other concepts can be utilized. Accordingly, the invention should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1 is a perspective view of a wafer handling and measuring apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a processing station of the wafer handling and processing apparatus of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing of the processing station of FIG. It is an enlarged view of the extractor shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the apparatus shown in FIG. It is an assembly perspective view of the rotor of the processor shown in FIG. 2 is a representative wafer scanning pattern achievable by the apparatus of the present invention. 3 is an alternative wafer scanning pattern achievable with the apparatus of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a further alternative wafer scanning pattern that can be achieved by the apparatus of the present invention. 6 is another wafer scanning pattern achievable by the apparatus of the present invention. 6 is another wafer scanning pattern achievable by the apparatus of the present invention. 6 is another wafer scanning pattern achievable by the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a rotor portion taken along line 5-5 of FIG. It is an enlarged view of the air bearing and gripper of the rotor part of FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the air bearing of FIG. 5 and an alternative view of a gripper. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the gripper of the rotor portion of FIG. 5 showing engagement with a representative wafer. 1 schematically shows a multi-stage measurement station for processing a plurality of wafers and a plurality of cassettes. It is a schematic diagram of a multistage measurement station type process on a single wafer processing base. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a representative individual carrier using the multi-stage measurement station type process of FIG. 7. It is a block diagram of the data processing using the output of a multistage measurement station and correlated wafer data analysis. It is a processing figure showing organization of a general test station as a part of a semiconductor wafer processing factory. It is a block diagram which processes a sensor output according to FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the process of the wafer data obtained according to FIG. 12 is a graph illustrating the use of the processes of FIGS. 8 and 11 to characterize a wafer based on multiple sensor data. 12 is a graph illustrating an alternative to using the processes of FIGS. 8 and 11 to characterize a wafer based on multiple sensor data. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a data network of a wafer information system based on information collected according to FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a different database environment by extending FIG. 13. It is a processing diagram showing an analytical process in which a semiconductor wafer factory finds and identifies properties such as processing defects and abnormalities. It is a figure of the control system of the semiconductor wafer processing factory using the detection and correction technique of the gap | deviation of real-time simulation.

Explanation of symbols

10 .. Wafer handling and measuring device 12 .... measuring station, measuring table 14 .... substrate 16 .... measuring table 18 .... transfer table 20 ... Storage table 22a-n ... Wafer 23 ... Wafer transfer table 24a-c ... Cassette 24d-g ... Storage cassette 25 ... Orientation flat 40... Wafer transfer mechanism 42... Support bridge 44... Top wafer support 46... Bottom wafer transfer support beam 48. .. Front reference bar 50... Rear reference bar 52... Rotor portions 54 and 56... Probe arm 55... Motor 58. Extractor 59 ... ... Extractor contact part 60 ... Slot 61, 62 ... Rail 70 ... Wafer guide 73 ... Gauge block 80 ... Round housing 80a, b ... upper and lower housing parts 81, 83 ... holes 82 ... concentric mounting flanges 84 ... housing holes 85 ... air bearings 86 ... ... Rotor 87 ... Spring 88 ... Whole 89 in the center of the wafer ... Air gaps 90, 92, 94 ... Gripper (gripping part)
93... Optical encoder 95... Sensor 79... Shaft 98, 121. ... Wafer plane 102 ... Stator coil groove 103 ... Vacuum source 104 ... Magnetic ring 110 ... Wafer measurement probe 110a, b ... Wafer measurement Probe 111 ... Pressure source 112 ... Wafer measurement probe, capacitive probe 112a ... Wafer measurement probe, capacitive probe
113 ... Manifold 114, 116 ... Reference probe 115 ... Valve 117 ... Inlet 118 ... Signal processor 119 ... Diaphragm 120 ... ..Additional sensor, fluctuation correction sensor 121... Chamber 123... Groove 127 .. linkage 129 .. actuator 189 .. shaft 604. 606 ... Input station 608 ... Cassette conveyor 610 ... Flatness station 612 ... Resistivity or conductivity station 614 ... Output station 618 ... -Cassette shuttle 620-Assembly 622-Transfer arm 626-Conveyor system 702-Cleaning station 703-Transfer Station 704 ... Conveyor 705 ... Wafer carrier 706 ... Measurement area 708, 710 ... Wafer measurement station 709 ... Wafer receiving hole 711 ... Wafer holding 712, 714... Wafer measurement station 713... Carrier carrier end 716... Wafer 718... Transfer station 720... Cassette 804'-804 "' .... Measurement system 804 ... Sensor 808 ... Sensor 810 ... Sensor 812 ... Signal processing system 814 ... Signal processing system 816 ... Signal Processing system 818 ... Signal processing system 820 ... Database 822 ... Controller 824 ... Characteristic extractor 826 .... Characteristic extractor 828 ... Characteristic extractors 820 ", 820"'... Database 830 ... Processing operation method 832 ... Processing operation method 834 ... Processing Arithmetic 836 ... Processing Arithmetic 840 ... Collection Path 904 ... Shipping Station 906 ... Network 1002 ... Signal Sensor 1003 ... Correction Sensor 1004 ... Artifact removal processor 1006 ... Variable artefact model 1008 ... Artifact model 1202 ... Curve 1203 ... Curve 1204 ... Curve 1205 ... Curve 1404 ··· Gateway 1408, 1410 ··· Processing control measurement station 1412 ··· Terminals 1414 and 1506 ··· Access processing software 1502 ··· Information hub (IN FOHUB)
1504 ... User terminal 1508 ... Factory process control 1510 ... Display format 1512 ... Icon 1516 ... Icon 1520 ... Icons 1512, 1514 ... Utilityizer 1518 ··· Display 1602 ··· Simulation 1604 ··· Mini process, idealized simulation step 1606 ··· Real process 1608 ··· Real-time factory processing 1610 ··· Comparison station 1612 ··· · Database 1614 ··· Information hub 1616 ··· Terminal

Claims (10)

At least one wafer data generator;
Output data display, and
The wafer data generator receives wafers at predetermined intervals during the wafer processing sequence, and generates output data indicating measurement parameters of the received wafers at the predetermined intervals.
The display includes icons indicating at least one of the following:
Wafer processing equipment.
(a) the degree of conformity of a measurement parameter to a predetermined standard in the wafer,
(b) the degree of conformity to the predetermined standard of the measurement parameters of the plurality of wafers arranged by time,
(c) the degree of conformance of a measurement parameter to a predetermined standard for a predetermined characteristic on a predetermined day of at least one wafer;
(d) The degree of matching of the measurement parameters of at least one wafer after a predetermined interval among the intervals between the wafer processing orders described above. Multiple databases,
A display system,
The database includes data representing sensed parameters of a plurality of wafers in a variety of different manufacturing processes and operating conditions of a plurality of wafer processing systems at different times of processing different wafers;
The display system shows a plurality of icons on the display, each icon representing a processing of a wafer from a plurality of databases as well as a different one of a plurality of first of the wafer condition variables, each icon representing a processing of the wafer Each icon is expandable by operator selection, and a plurality of icons indicate at least one other combined variable, whereby each icon is displayed with a mark indicating the combination of other wafer condition variables. Show another variable,
Wafer data network. A plurality of wafer data generators;
Multiple databases,
An information hub to correlate with this database;
A user terminal connected to this information hub;
A display for displaying accessed wafer data,
Each database includes wafer data from an associated one of the plurality of wafer data generators to provide a permanent wafer database of corrected wafer data;
The user terminal activates an access processor corresponding to the plan and correlated and uncorrelated desired data to access wafer data from one or more of the databases,
The display includes a plurality of related levels, each level including a plurality of icons, each icon representing the date of wafer processing, the specific wafer processed, the position of the wafer processing, and the measured wafer. A search condition selected from the group consisting of parameters, and each icon is coded to indicate the degree of matching of the corresponding search condition with a given standard,
Wafer processing system. A real-time wafer processing system for processing wafers;
A simulated wafer processing system for providing output data indicative of simulated measured wafer parameters;
A comparison processor for providing a difference signal indicative of the difference between the real-time output data and the simulated output data;
The real-time wafer processing system includes a measuring device for measuring wafer parameters and providing output data indicating the measured real-time wafer parameters,
The difference signal indicates a deviation from a desired real-time wafer processing system in the real-time wafer processing system.
Processing control and error correction system for semiconductor wafer factories. A real-time wafer processing system for processing wafers;
A simulated wafer processing system for providing output data indicative of simulated measured wafer parameters;
A comparison processor for providing a difference signal indicating the difference between the real-time output data and the simulated output data;
Including a feedback system for adjusting the real-time wafer processing system in response to the difference signal;
The above real-time wafer processing system measures wafer parameters,
Comprising a measuring device for providing output data indicative of the measured real-time wafer parameters,
Processing control and error correction system for semiconductor wafer factories. A real-time wafer processing system for processing wafers;
A simulated wafer processing system for providing output data indicative of simulated measured wafer parameters;
A plurality of comparison processors;
A database including a correction process for overcoming misalignment during processing of the real-time wafer;
Including a controller,
The real-time wafer processing system includes a measuring device for measuring wafer parameters and providing output data indicating the measured real-time wafer parameters,
Each of the above simulated measured wafer parameters corresponds to one of the measured real-time wafer parameters,
Each of the comparison processors described above compares one of the measured real-time wafer parameters with one of the corresponding simulated measurement wafer parameters and provides a difference signal indicating the difference between the two,
The controller is connected to a database to receive the difference signal, and activates one of the correction steps included in the database in response to the difference signal.
Processing control and error correction system for semiconductor wafer factories. Multiple wafer measurement stations;
Including these measuring stations and correlated transfer devices,
Each measurement station has a measurement position for vertically positioning the wafer for measurement and at least one wafer sensor for supplying measurement output data indicative of the parameters of the wafer;
The transfer device transfers wafers vertically and independently between the plurality of measurement stations.
Wafer handling and measuring equipment. At least one wafer measurement station having a measurement position where the wafer is positioned for measurement;
A plurality of wafer sensors associated with one or more measurement stations;
A database containing output data from each wafer sensor;
A controller, and
Each of the above wafer sensors provides measured output data indicative of different parameters of the wafer,
A controller for recovering and processing the output data from the database supplied by the one or more wafer sensors to supply wafer information as a function of measurement output data of the combined wafer sensors; Actuate,
Wafer measuring device. At least one wafer measuring station for receiving wafers for measurement;
A database,
A wafer output data corrector,
Including a signal processor,
The one wafer measurement station includes at least one wafer sensor for providing wafer output data indicative of wafer parameters;
The database includes wafer output data from at least one wafer sensor to provide a permanent wafer database including wafer parameter information;
The wafer output data corrector removes data errors in the database output data,
The signal processor retrieves the corrected database output data to provide wafer characteristic information in response to the wafer parameter information;
Wafer handling and measuring equipment. A plurality of wafer sensors;
Multiple databases,
Network and
Each of the wafer sensors measures a wafer parameter and provides wafer output data indicating the measured wafer parameter;
Each of the databases includes wafer output data from an associated wafer sensor of the plurality of wafer sensors to provide a permanent wafer database of wafer data;
The network relates a plurality of databases via a plurality of corresponding information hubs, and allows data in the database to be simultaneously accessed from a single network terminal.
Wafer processing system.

Images