JP2006310349A - System and method of manufacturing semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of quick treatment by detecting abnormality when carrying a wafer automatically in a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device. <P>SOLUTION: There are provided a wafer 17 for measurement having a vibration sensor, a memory for holding data detected by the vibration sensor, and a communication circuit for transmitting the data held by the memory; a controller 18 having a communication circuit for receiving the transmitted data, and a comparison circuit for comparing the received data with reference ones; and a FOUP 16 for storing the wafer 17 for measurement. Vibration waveform data that are measured by the wafer 17 for measurement and are being conveyed are fetched by the controller 18 by radio, and the controller 18 detects the abnormality in conveyance for generating an alarm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing system and a manufacturing method, and more particularly to a technique effective when applied to a system for detecting an abnormality during wafer transfer.

  In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, along with an increase in the size of a semiconductor wafer, misalignment of a wafer transfer unit and wafer cracking due to wafer collision have occurred.

  Conventionally, visual and sound confirmations have been performed to detect abnormalities during wafer transfer. When examining in more detail, attach a vibration meter to the wafer, transport the wafer with a robot in the manufacturing apparatus, record the data measured by the vibration meter in the memory of the recorder, and record the waveform of the recorded data. Later, a person checked to determine whether the vibration was normal or abnormal.

  By the way, as a result of examination by the present inventor on the technique for detecting an abnormality during wafer conveyance as described above, the following has been clarified.

  For example, wiring exists between the vibrometer attached to the wafer and the recorder, and the inside of the vacuum chamber or the like cannot be confirmed. In addition, after measurement with the vibrometer, it is necessary to determine whether the person is normal or abnormal, and then the manufacturing apparatus is stopped, so that processing cannot be performed in a short time. In addition, it takes time and effort to set up vibration measurement and check the data after measurement.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of automatically detecting an abnormality during wafer transfer and processing in a short time in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Of the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  That is, a semiconductor device manufacturing system according to the present invention includes a vibration sensor, a memory that holds data detected by the vibration sensor, and a measurement wafer that includes a communication circuit that transmits the data held in the memory, The controller includes a communication circuit that receives transmitted data, a comparison circuit that compares the received data with reference data, and a wafer container that houses a measurement wafer.

  In addition, the semiconductor device manufacturing method according to the present invention uses a measurement wafer including a vibration sensor and a memory for holding data detected by the vibration sensor, and the data detected by the vibration sensor is stored in the measurement wafer. Transfer to the processing chamber from the wafer container and return to the processing chamber while storing in the memory, capture the vibration data being transferred to the controller via wireless communication, compare the acquired vibration data during transfer with the reference data, An alarm is generated when the threshold value is exceeded.

  Of the inventions disclosed in the present application, effects obtained by typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  (1) It is possible to easily confirm whether or not there is a problem with the condition of the wafer transfer system.

  (2) Impact on the wafer due to wafer transfer system misalignment can be measured easily and regularly, eliminating the need to process product wafers in abnormal conditions, which is effective in improving yield and preventing wafer cracking. It is.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor device manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a wafer transfer path in the manufacturing device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a FOUP of FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of an automatic transfer mechanism by OHT (Overhead Hoist Transfer) of (sealed container for wafer), FIG. 4 is a view showing an external structure of the FOUP of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an external structure of the measurement wafer of FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the chip of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the controller of FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a vibration measurement during wafer transfer measured with the measurement wafer of FIG. FIG. 9 is a waveform diagram showing an example, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an abnormality detection method during wafer transfer by the controller of FIG.

  First, an example of the configuration of a semiconductor device manufacturing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The semiconductor device manufacturing system according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a manufacturing apparatus 10, a FOUP 16, a measurement wafer 17, a controller 18, and the like. This manufacturing system is a system in which the measurement wafer 17 and the controller 18 are accommodated in the FOUP 16 and the conveyance / vibration measurement of the measurement wafer 17 and the determination of normality / abnormality are automatically performed.

  The manufacturing apparatus 10 is a manufacturing apparatus such as an etching apparatus or a film forming apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device. For example, a load port 11, a factory interface (FI) robot 12, a load lock (L / L) 13, an internal The robot 14 and the chamber (processing chamber) 15 are configured.

  The load port 11 is an inlet and an outlet of the manufacturing apparatus 10 and is used for placing a wafer container such as a FOUP 16 containing a wafer to be processed.

  The FI robot 12 takes out a wafer to be processed from the FOUP 16 and transfers it to the internal robot 14 via the L / L 13.

  L / L 13 is an entrance for maintaining a vacuum in the chamber 15.

  The internal robot 14 carries the wafer to be processed into the chamber 15 and this area is in a vacuum.

  The chamber 15 is a processing chamber for processing a wafer, and a vacuum is maintained.

  In FIG. 1, a FOUP 16 in which a controller 18 is provided is placed on the load port 11 in order to measure vibration during wafer transfer. Further, the FOUP 16 accommodates a measurement wafer 17, and the measurement wafer 17 is transferred by a robot to measure vibration during transfer. FIG. 1 shows a state where the door of the FOUP 16 is opened.

  An example of the wafer transfer path in the manufacturing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The manufacturing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 is an apparatus having two paths (A, B) in order to increase processing efficiency. The manufacturing apparatus 10 includes load ports 11a and 11b, FI robots 12a and 12b, L / L 13a and 13b, an internal robot 14, and chambers 15a and 15b.

  In the example of the wafer transfer path shown in FIG. 2, the FI robot 12b transfers the wafer from the load port 11b to the internal robot 14 via the L / L 13b, and the internal robot 14 transfers the wafer to the chamber 15a or the chamber 15b. . The processed wafer is taken out of the chamber 15a or the chamber 15b by the internal robot 14, taken out by the FI robot 12a via the L / L 13a, and stored in the FOUP 16 on the load port 11b.

  An example of the automatic transport mechanism of the FOUP 16 in the semiconductor device manufacturing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 10 are shown, and an OHT 31 is installed between the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 10. The FOUP 16 is conveyed to each manufacturing apparatus 10 by the OHT 31, and the FOUP 16 is placed on the load port 11 by the hoist mechanism 32.

  The external configuration of the FOUP 16 will be described with reference to FIG. The FOUP 16 is a sealed wafer container that accommodates a processing wafer and a measurement wafer 17. As shown in FIG. 4, the FOUP 16 includes a FOUP shell 41, a FOUP door 42, a mushroom 43, a registration pin hole 44, a latch key hole 45, a manual hand 46, a side rail 47, and the like.

  The external configuration of the measurement wafer 17 will be described with reference to FIG. The measurement wafer 17 may be made of any material, but preferably has the same weight as the processing wafer (silicon). As shown in FIG. 5, a chip 51 having a vibration sensor is attached to the measurement wafer 17.

  An example of the configuration of the chip 51 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the chip 51 includes, for example, a vibration sensor 61, a vibration waveform recording memory 62, an RF (Radio Frequency) communication circuit (first communication circuit) 63, a control circuit 64, a power supply 65, and the like. ing.

  The vibration sensor 61 is a sensor that detects vibration.

  The vibration waveform recording memory 62 is a memory that holds vibration waveform data detected by the vibration sensor 61.

  The RF communication circuit 63 is a circuit for performing wireless communication, and wirelessly transmits data detected by the vibration sensor 61 and stored in the vibration waveform recording memory 62.

  The control circuit 64 controls the chip 51 such as the start / end of vibration measurement and the communication function.

  The power supply 65 supplies power to each circuit of the chip 51, and includes a battery (battery).

  The configuration of the controller 18 will be described with reference to FIG. The controller 18 captures vibration waveform data being transferred from the chip 51 by wireless communication, and compares it with reference data to detect an abnormality. As shown in FIG. 7, the controller 18 includes an RF communication circuit (second communication circuit) 71, a vibration waveform recording memory 72, a reference waveform recording memory 73, a comparison circuit 74, a control circuit 75, a power supply 76, and the like. Has been.

  The RF communication circuit 71 is a circuit for performing wireless communication, and receives the vibration waveform data transmitted from the chip 51 wirelessly.

  The vibration waveform recording memory 72 is a memory that holds received vibration waveform data.

  The reference waveform recording memory 73 is a memory for holding normal vibration waveform data as a reference.

  The comparison circuit 74 compares the vibration waveform data stored in the vibration waveform recording memory 72 with the reference vibration waveform data stored in the reference waveform recording memory 73, and exceeds a predetermined threshold value. This circuit generates an alarm signal.

  The control circuit 75 is a circuit that controls the entire controller 18 such as reception of waveform data, start / end of waveform data comparison, and generation of an alarm signal.

  The power supply 76 supplies power to each circuit of the controller 18, and includes a battery (battery).

  Further, the controller 18 exchanges information with the manufacturing apparatus 10 on the load port 11 of the manufacturing apparatus 10. For example, when the measured vibration waveform exceeds the threshold value, an alarm signal is sent to the manufacturing apparatus 10 and an alarm is also displayed on the manufacturing apparatus 10 side.

  With reference to FIG. 8, an example of vibration waveform data during wafer transfer measured with the measurement wafer 17 will be described. FIG. 8 shows normal vibration waveform data. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents vibration intensity (acceleration).

  Next, a semiconductor device manufacturing method using the semiconductor device manufacturing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present embodiment automatically carries the measurement wafer 17 for conveyance / vibration measurement and determines normality / abnormality.

  First, an instruction to start the FOUP 16 including the measurement wafer 17 and the controller 18 is given. Specifically, the ID is specified by inputting using the terminal device.

  Subsequently, the FOUP 16 is carried to the load port 11 and the vibration measurement start switch is turned on.

  In a recipe for carrying only, the measurement wafer 17 is taken out from the FOUP 16 and carried to the chamber 15. At that time, the vibration waveform data detected by the vibration sensor 61 is transported while being stored in the vibration waveform recording memory 62.

  Similarly, the measurement wafer 17 is taken out from the chamber 15 and transferred into the FOUP 16. The measurement wafer 17 conveyed in the manufacturing apparatus 10 returns to the FOUP 16.

  Subsequently, the vibration data being conveyed is taken into the controller 18 and stored in the vibration waveform recording memory 72. The controller 18 compares the reference waveform data in the reference waveform recording memory 73 and outputs an alarm signal to the manufacturing apparatus 10 when the measured vibration data exceeds the threshold value. Signal exchange between the controller 18 and the manufacturing apparatus 10 may be performed by the load port 11. In that case, the communication means may be wireless, contact type, or optical communication.

  The manufacturing apparatus 10 receives the alarm signal and issues an alarm also on the manufacturing apparatus 10 side to automatically stop. The stop may be made after confirmation by a person. The above vibration measurement at the time of conveyance is performed once a day, for example, and the conveyance mechanism is checked. Then, a normal semiconductor process is performed to manufacture a semiconductor device.

  With reference to FIG. 9, a method for detecting an abnormality during wafer transfer by the controller 18 will be described. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents time (seconds), and the vertical axis represents the strength of vibration, that is, acceleration (G). Also, the alternate long and short dash line and the solid line indicate vibration waveform data, the alternate long and short dash line indicates a waveform when normal, and the solid line indicates a waveform when abnormal. The dotted line indicates a threshold value, and an alarm is generated when the measured data exceeds this threshold value.

  Therefore, according to the semiconductor device manufacturing system and the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, vibration measurement can be easily performed, and the result can be given as an alarm to the manufacturing apparatus in real time. Further, it can be easily confirmed whether there is no problem in the condition of the transport system. Further, the impact on the wafer due to the displacement of the transfer system can be measured easily and regularly, and it is not necessary to process the product wafer in an abnormal state, which is effective in improving yield and preventing wafer cracking.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the controller 18 is provided in the FOUP 16 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The terminal is outside the FOUP 16, that is, inside the manufacturing apparatus 10 or outside the manufacturing apparatus 10. You may provide in an apparatus.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the chip 51 including the vibration sensor 61 is attached to the measurement wafer 17 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An abnormality in time may be detected.

  In the above description, the case where the invention mainly made by the present inventor is applied to a wafer in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device which is a technical field to which the present invention is applied has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to apply to.

  The present invention is applicable to a semiconductor device production line.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the manufacturing system of the semiconductor device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the wafer conveyance path | route in the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the automatic conveyance mechanism by OHT of FOUP of FIG. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of FOUP of FIG. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the wafer for a measurement of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the chip | tip of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the controller of FIG. FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram showing an example of vibration measurement at the time of wafer conveyance measured with the measurement wafer of FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows the abnormality detection method at the time of wafer conveyance by the controller of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 Manufacturing Equipment 11, 11a, 11b Load Ports 12, 12a, 12b Factory Interface (FI) Robots 13, 13a, 13b Load Lock (L / L)
14 Internal robot 15, 15 a, 15 b Chamber 17 Measuring wafer 18 Controller 32 Hoist mechanism 41 FOUP shell 42 FOUP door 43 Mushroom 44 Registration pin hole 45 Latch key hole 46 Manual hand 47 Side rail 51 Chip 61 Vibration sensor 62, 72 Vibration waveform Recording memory 63, 71 RF communication circuit 64, 75 Control circuit 65, 76 Power supply 73 Reference waveform recording memory 74 Comparison circuit

Claims (5)

A measurement wafer comprising a vibration sensor, a memory for holding data detected by the vibration sensor, and a first communication circuit for transmitting the data held in the memory;
A controller comprising: a second communication circuit that receives data transmitted from the first communication circuit; and a comparison circuit that compares the data received by the second communication circuit with reference data;
A semiconductor device manufacturing system comprising a wafer container for storing the measurement wafer. In the semiconductor device manufacturing system according to claim 1,
A system for manufacturing a semiconductor device, wherein data transmission from the first communication circuit to the second communication circuit is performed wirelessly. In the semiconductor device manufacturing system according to claim 1,
The semiconductor device manufacturing system, wherein the controller generates an alarm signal when a predetermined threshold value is exceeded as a result of the comparison by the comparison circuit. In the semiconductor device manufacturing system according to claim 1,
The semiconductor device manufacturing system, wherein the controller is provided inside the wafer container. A measurement wafer having a vibration sensor and a memory for holding data detected by the vibration sensor is first transferred from the wafer container to the processing chamber while storing the data detected by the vibration sensor in the memory. The transport process of
A second transfer step of transferring the measurement wafer from the processing chamber into the wafer container while storing the data detected by the vibration sensor in the memory;
Capturing vibration data during transfer stored in the memory into a controller provided in the wafer container by wireless communication;
A step of comparing the vibration data being transferred and the reference data captured by the controller;
As a result of the comparison, an alarm is generated when a predetermined threshold value is exceeded.