JP2006028596A - Plating method and plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the yield at the time of performing continuous plating treatment to a plurality of wafers. <P>SOLUTION: Wafers are conveyed from a loader part 2 to a pre-treatment part 3, so as to be pre-treated, are thereafter conveyed to plating tank parts 5A to 5D, so as to be plating-treated, and are further conveyed to a post-treatment part 6, so as to be post-treated. At the time when loader overtime is generated at the loader part 2, the wafers to which the pre-treatment has been completed are recovered and conveyed to the plating tank parts 5A to 5D, and further, the wafers to which the plating treatment has been completed are recovered and conveyed to the post-treatment part 6. In this way, even at the time when loader overtime is generated at the loader part 2 during the continuous plating treatment to the wafers, ordinary treatment is continued to the wafers which have been already transferred to the plating stage or plating preparation stage, so as to be finished products. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a plating method and a plating apparatus suitable for being applied when a continuous plating process is performed on a workpiece such as a plurality of wafers.

Conventionally, when performing this type of continuous plating process, the work is transferred from the loader part to the pre-processing part and pre-processed, then transferred to the plating tank part and plated, and further to the post-processing part. It was conveyed and post-processed (for example, refer patent document 1).
JP-A-10-18098

  However, in this case, when a loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, there is a disadvantage that the yield at the time of continuous plating processing of the wafer is lowered.

  That is, if the loader unit fails to transport the workpiece from the loader carrier to the orientation flat aligner, or if the orientation flat aligning operation cannot be performed successfully by the orientation flat aligner, loader overtime occurs. In this case, the function of not only the loader unit but the entire plating apparatus is temporarily stopped. As a result, the wafer that is being plated in the plating tank is stopped in the middle of the plating process, or the wafer that is being pre-processed in the pre-processing part is stopped in the middle of the process. There is a high risk of becoming a good product. Therefore, the yield at the time of continuous plating of the wafer is reduced.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a plating method and a plating apparatus capable of improving the yield at the time of continuous plating of a wafer.

First, the invention according to claim 1 is a plating method in which a workpiece is transported from a loader unit to a plating tank unit and plated, and then transferred to a post-processing unit to be post-processed. When a loader overtime is determined in the loader unit and a loader overtime is determined in the loader unit, a workpiece that has been plated in the plating tank unit is collected and transported to the post-processing unit. And a workpiece recovery step.
Further, in the invention according to claim 2, after the work is transferred from the loader part to the pre-processing part and pre-processed, the work is transferred to the plating tank part and subjected to the plating treatment, and further transferred to the post-processing part. A plating method to be processed, wherein a loader overtime determination step for determining presence or absence of a loader overtime in the loader unit, and when the loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, preprocessing is completed in the preprocessing unit And a workpiece recovery step in which the workpiece that has been plated in the plating vessel is recovered and transferred to the post-processing unit. .
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the plating tank section is plural.
The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the workpiece is a wafer.
The invention according to claim 5 is provided with at least a loader part, a plating tank part, and a post-processing part, and is provided with a work transfer means for transferring a work between the loader part, the plating tank part, and the post-processing part. A plating apparatus is provided with loader overtime determining means for determining presence / absence of loader overtime in the loader unit, and when the loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, the plating tank is provided with respect to the workpiece transfer unit. A workpiece collection command means is provided for instructing to collect a workpiece for which plating processing has been completed in the section and to convey it to the post-processing section.
The invention according to claim 6 is provided with at least a loader part, a pretreatment part, a plating tank part, and a post-treatment part, and conveys a workpiece among these loader part, pretreatment part, plating tank part, and post-treatment part. And a loader overtime determining means for determining presence or absence of a loader overtime in the loader unit, and when the loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, the workpiece transfer With respect to the means, the workpiece that has been pretreated in the pretreatment section is collected and conveyed to the plating tank section, and the workpiece that has been plated in the plating tank section is collected and conveyed to the posttreatment section. A workpiece collection command means for commanding to perform is provided.
The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that a plurality of the plating tank sections are provided.
The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the workpiece is a wafer.

  According to the present invention, even if loader overtime occurs in the loader section during continuous plating of wafers, normal processing is continued for a wafer that has already shifted to the plating stage or the plating preparation stage, and a finished product is obtained. It becomes. For this reason, it is possible to improve the yield during the continuous plating process of the wafer.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the plating apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 1, a loader unit 2, a pretreatment unit 3, four plating tank parts 5 (first plating tank part 5 A, second plating tank part 5 B, third plating tank part 5 C, first plating tank part 5 4 plating tank section 5D), post-processing section 6 and unloader section 7 are arranged side by side, and in the vicinity thereof, a transfer robot 9 is connected to loader section 2, pre-processing section 3, plating tank section 5, and rear section. A wafer can be transferred between the processing unit 6 and the unloader unit 7. In the loader unit 2, a loader carrier 2a, an orientation flat aligner 2b, and a transport robot 2c are installed. An unloader carrier 7a is installed in the unloader section 7.

  Moreover, the plating apparatus 1 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10 as shown in FIG. The CPU 10 is connected to a loader unit 2, a pre-processing unit 3, four plating tank units 5, a post-processing unit 6, an unloader unit 7 and a transfer robot 9, as well as a loader overtime determination means 8, a plating power source control. Means 11, an alarm device 15, an input device 14 such as a keyboard, and a storage device 18 such as a magnetic disk are connected. The storage device 18 stores a plating processing program PR1 shown in FIG.

  Since the plating apparatus 1 has the above-described configuration, when performing continuous plating processing on a plurality of wafers using the plating apparatus 1, the operator operates the input device 14 to instruct continuous plating processing. To do. In response to this, the CPU 10 reads the plating processing program PR1 from the storage device 18, and sequentially executes the processing for each wafer according to the following procedure based on the plating processing program PR1. Although the processing for one wafer will be described here, in actuality, the plating processing of each wafer is performed one after another with a predetermined time while using the four plating tank sections 5.

  First, the CPU 10 instructs the loader unit 2 to load a wafer (step S1 of the plating processing program PR1). Then, the loader unit 2 drives the transport robot 2c to pull out one wafer from the loader carrier 2a and place it on the orientation flat aligner 2b.

  Simultaneously with this loading command, the CPU 10 commands the loader overtime determining means 8 to determine whether or not there is a loader overtime in the loader unit 2 (step S2 of the plating processing program PR1). Then, the loader overtime determination unit 8 monitors the time elapsed from the time when the wafer is pulled out from the loader carrier 2a by a sequence timer, and when the predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) elapses, the wafer is aligned with the orientation flat aligner. It is determined by a photoelectric sensor whether or not it is placed on 2b. As a result, if the wafer is placed on the orientation flat aligner 2b when a predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that the loader overtime has not occurred, and a signal to that effect is output to the CPU 10. On the other hand, if the wafer is not placed on the orientation flat aligner 2b when a predetermined time has elapsed, it has failed to transport the wafer from the loader carrier 2a to the orientation flat aligner 2b, or the wafer has been successfully transported. However, the orientation flat aligning machine 2b has failed to perform the orientation flat alignment work, so it is determined that the loader overtime has occurred, and a signal to that effect is output to the CPU 10.

  If the loader overtime does not occur, the CPU 10 instructs the transfer robot 9 to transfer the wafer from the loader unit 2 to the preprocessing unit 3 in order to perform a normal operation. Then, the transfer robot 9 grips the wafer placed on the loader unit 2, transports it to the preprocessing unit 3, and then places it on the preprocessing unit 3.

  When the wafer is thus transferred to the preprocessing unit 3, the CPU 10 instructs the preprocessing unit 3 to perform preprocessing of the wafer (step S3 of the plating processing program PR1). Then, the pretreatment unit 3 applies a chemical to the surface of the wafer in order to facilitate plating of the wafer.

  When the wafer pretreatment is performed in this manner, the CPU 10 selects one of the four plating tank sections 5 that is not in operation (the first plating tank section 5A, the second plating tank section 5B, the third plating tank section 5). The plating tank 5C or the fourth plating tank 5D) is selected, and the transfer robot 9 is instructed to transfer the wafer to the plating tank 5. Then, the transfer robot 9 transfers the wafer from the pretreatment unit 3 to the plating tank unit 5.

  Next, the CPU 10 instructs the plating tank unit 5 and the plating power source control means 11 to perform the plating process on the wafer (step S4 of the plating process program PR1). Then, the plating tank unit 5 performs operations such as supplying and discharging the plating solution, and the plating power source control means 11 performs operations such as energization of the anode electrode. As a result, the surface of the wafer is plated.

  Further, the CPU 10 instructs the transfer robot 9 to transfer the wafer to the post-processing unit 6. Then, the transfer robot 9 transfers the wafer from the plating tank unit 5 to the post-processing unit 6.

  When the wafer is thus transferred to the post-processing unit 6, the CPU 10 instructs the post-processing unit 6 to perform post-processing of the wafer (step S5 of the plating processing program PR1). Then, the post-processing part 6 dries after washing the surface (surface to be plated) of the wafer with water.

  When the wafer post-processing is performed in this way, the CPU 10 instructs the transfer robot 9 to unload the wafer (step S6 of the plating processing program PR1). Then, the transfer robot 9 transfers the wafer from the post-processing unit 6 to the unloader unit 7 and stores it in the unloader carrier 7a.

  Finally, the CPU 10 determines whether or not there is a wafer in the loader unit 2 (step S7 of the plating processing program PR1). As long as there is a wafer in the loader unit 2, a series of operations from loading (step S1 of the plating processing program PR1) to unloading (step S6 of the plating processing program PR1) is repeated, and a series of operations for the last wafer is performed. At the end, the continuous plating process for a plurality of wafers by the plating apparatus 1 is completed.

  On the other hand, when the loader overtime occurs in the loader unit 2, the CPU 10 drives the alarm device 15 to inform the surroundings of the occurrence of the abnormality (step S8 of the plating processing program PR1) and precedes the wafer where the loader overtime has occurred. Since each wafer to be processed, that is, each wafer on the downstream process side from the loader unit 2 has already shifted to the plating stage or the plating preparation stage, control is performed so that normal processing is continued (in the plating processing program PR1). Step S9). Therefore, even if the loader overtime occurs in the loader unit 2 during the continuous plating process of the wafer, the normal process is continued for the wafer that has already shifted to the plating stage or the plating preparation stage, and the finished product (good product). Therefore, the yield at the time of continuous plating of the wafer is improved.

  In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the plating apparatus 1 provided with the four plating tank parts 5 was demonstrated, as long as the number of the plating tank parts 5 is one or more, it does not matter.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the plating process is performed on the wafer has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied when the plating process is performed on a workpiece other than the wafer.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the plating apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the plating method which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Plating apparatus 2 ... Loader part 3 ... Pre-processing part 5 ... Plating tank part 6 ... Post-processing part 7 ... Unloader part 8 ... Loader overtime judgment means 9 ... Conveying robot (work conveyance) means)
10 …… CPU (work collection command means)

Claims (8)

After the workpiece is transported from the loader part to the plating tank part and subjected to the plating treatment, it is a plating method which is transported to the post-processing part and post-processed,
A loader overtime determination step for determining the presence or absence of a loader overtime in the loader unit;
And a workpiece recovery step in which when a loader overtime occurs in the loader portion, a workpiece that has been plated in the plating tank portion is recovered and transferred to the post-processing portion. After the workpiece is transported from the loader unit to the pretreatment unit and pretreated, it is transported to the plating tank unit and plated, and further transferred to the posttreatment unit and post-processed.
A loader overtime determination step for determining the presence or absence of a loader overtime in the loader unit;
When loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, the workpiece that has been pretreated in the pretreatment unit is collected and transported to the plating tank unit, and the workpiece that has been plated in the plating tank unit is collected. And a workpiece recovery step conveyed to the post-processing section.   The plating method according to claim 1, wherein the plating tank section is plural.   The plating method according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is a wafer. At least a loader part, a plating tank part and a post-processing part are provided,
A plating apparatus provided with a work conveying means for conveying a work between the loader part, the plating tank part and the post-processing part,
Loader overtime determination means for determining presence or absence of loader overtime in the loader unit is provided,
When a loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, a workpiece collection command unit that instructs the workpiece conveyance unit to collect a workpiece that has been plated in the plating tank unit and convey it to the post-processing unit. A plating apparatus characterized by being provided. At least a loader part, a pretreatment part, a plating tank part and a post-treatment part are provided,
A plating apparatus provided with a work conveying means for conveying a work between these loader part, pre-processing part, plating tank part and post-processing part,
Loader overtime determination means for determining presence or absence of loader overtime in the loader unit is provided,
When a loader overtime occurs in the loader unit, the workpiece transporting means collects a workpiece that has been pretreated in the pretreatment unit and transports it to the plating tank unit, and plating in the plating tank unit. A plating apparatus, comprising: a workpiece collection command means for commanding to collect a workpiece that has been processed and to convey the workpiece to the post-processing section.   The plating apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the plating tank section is plural.   The plating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the workpiece is a wafer.

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