JP2557146B2 - Automatic wafer plating equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic wafer plating apparatus used for plating semiconductor wafers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For plating a wafer, a plating tank called a cup type is generally used in which a plating solution is caused to flow or be jetted, and a pretreatment stage and a posttreatment stage are provided before and after the plating bath. It is used as a plating device. By the way, in the case of wafer plating, the plating time is extremely longer than the pretreatment and posttreatment times. Therefore, in a plating apparatus that combines a pretreatment stage and a posttreatment stage for each plating tank, the play time of the pretreatment tank and the posttreatment tank becomes long, and the efficiency of the entire apparatus is not very good.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, according to the present invention, a large number of plating baths are combined with a small number of pretreatment stages and post-treatment stages, and the small number of pretreatment stages and post-treatment stages are combined with a large number of plating baths. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic wafer plating apparatus that efficiently and efficiently transfers wafers in between.

[0004]

In order to achieve such an object, an automatic wafer plating apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of or a single load stage and an unload stage arranged side by side and carries a wafer. And a supply / recovery section provided with a fixed robot; two rows of plating tanks in which a large number of plating tanks are linearly arranged are provided, and traveling between the plating tank rows is possible for carrying a wafer. A plating treatment section provided with a robot and further provided with a pretreatment stage and a posttreatment stage;
It is equipped with a load stage, an unload stage, and a computer that grasps the operating state information of each plating tank and issues a command to the fixed robot and the traveling robot, and the fixed robot picks up the wafers from the load stage one by one and the traveling robot. Then, the traveling robot preprocesses the wafer at the pretreatment stage while holding the received wafer; sets the preprocessed wafer in the empty plating tank designated by the computer; designated by the computer Recovery of the plated wafer from the plating tank; and post-processing of the wafer in the post-processing stage while holding the recovered wafer; the post-processing wafer is transferred to the fixed robot, and Finally, the fixed robot that received the wafer Door is adapted to fit the wafer to unload stage.

A traveling robot of such an automatic wafer plating apparatus has a chuck that abuts and holds the peripheral surface of the wafer, and is mounted on the vertical arm of the universal arm that is horizontally rotatable and vertically movable. The driven gear and the drive gear mounted on the motor are combined, and a plurality of receiving holes are formed in the driven gear at predetermined intervals, and the rotary positioning pin is fitted in any of the plurality of receiving holes. When the traveling positioning pin is fitted to any one of a plurality of receiving holes provided along the traveling rail and the rotating mechanism which is adapted to perform stop positioning upon rotation, traveling is performed. And a traveling mechanism adapted to be positioned for stop.

[0006]

[Operation] This automatic wafer plating machine is provided with two rows of plating tanks in which a large number of plating tanks are linearly arranged, and a traveling robot that runs between the plating tank rows uses a pretreatment stage and post-treatment. By exchanging the wafer between the stage and a large number of plating tanks, the wafer is efficiently exchanged and the efficiency of the entire apparatus is improved. In addition, the load stage and the unload stage are collectively provided in the supply / recovery section, and a fixed robot dedicated to wafer transfer in this supply / recovery section is provided so that the functions of the robot can be shared. Is more efficient and the efficiency of the entire apparatus is further improved.

The traveling robot is particularly devised in order to satisfy the requirement of accurate positioning which is particularly required due to the characteristics of wafer plating, that is, the requirement of setting the wafer in the plating layer in an extremely accurate positioning state. With the combination of the rotary positioning pin and the receiving hole and the combination of the traveling positioning pin and the receiving hole, the positioning of the stop in the rotation and the positioning of the stop in the traveling can be accurately performed, respectively, and the accurate positioning state of the stop In order to accurately set the wafer on the plating layer, the chuck has a structure in which the peripheral surface of the wafer is brought into contact with and held.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic wafer plating apparatus 1 has a supply / recovery section 2 and a plating processing section 3 which are linearly arranged.

In this example, the supply / recovery section 2 is provided with three load stages 4 and three unload stages 5, one orientation flat aligner 6 and a stationary robot 7. .

The fixed robot 7 is provided with a free arm 8 which horizontally turns, vertically moves, and reversely turns, and the free arm 8 follows a predetermined procedure to load stage 4, orientation flat aligner 6, and unload stage. 5, the wafer is picked up and set for the traveling robot 11 described later. The movable arm 8 of the fixed robot 7 is adapted to adsorb and hold a wafer by an adsorbing means (not shown) unlike a traveling robot 11 described later.

The plating processing section 3 is provided with two rows of plating tank rows 10L in which a large number of plating tanks 10 are linearly arranged, and a traveling robot 11 that runs between the plating tank rows 10L. It is formed by providing a pretreatment stage 12 having a pretreatment tank 12t and a posttreatment stage 13 having a posttreatment tank 13t and a dryer 13d.

As shown in FIG. 6, each of the plating tanks 10 has a cup-like shape in which the plating solution L supplied from the lower supply part 16 which is squeezed into a funnel is overflowed from the upper opening part 17. It has a shape. The placement receiving portion 18 is formed in the opening 17 so as to project inwardly in the shape of an eave, and the elastic member 1 is attached to the placement receiving portion 18.
9 is provided, the wafer U is placed in a state of being pressed against the elastic member 19 by the pressing plate 22 shown in FIG. 2, and the entire circumference thereof is sealed with the plating liquid L with a predetermined width. Has been Further, the tip of the cathode electrode 20 is sandwiched between the wafer U and the elastic member 19. The tip of the cathode electrode 20 is formed by flattening a bundle of fine wires, and the elasticity of the elastic member 19 causes it to be inserted into the elastic member 19 and completely sealed with respect to the plating liquid L. The contact with the wafer U is surely and stably made. In addition, 21
Is an anode electrode, and the plating liquid L rises through a through hole 21h formed therein. Providing the plating tank row 10L in two rows shortens the traveling path of the traveling robot 11 as will be described later to improve efficiency, and further rationalizes the size configuration of the entire apparatus, that is, the ratio of vertical and horizontal sizes. This is to make it more realistic.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the traveling robot 11 is provided with a movable arm 24 provided with a chuck 23, and the movable arm 24 is vertically moved by a vertically moving mechanism 25 and a rotating mechanism 26. It is also horizontally rotatable.
The chuck 23 is provided with a plurality of chuck claws 23h, 23h for abutting and holding the wafer U from the peripheral surface by rotating as indicated by the arrow Y.
Although it consists of h, ...
The wafer U was contacted and held from the peripheral surface.
This is because the wafer U can be accurately grasped and the wafer U can be set on the elastic member 19 of the plating tank 10 in a very accurate positioning state.

The vertical movement mechanism 25 has a short rocking force receiving arm 28 and a long rocking force transmitting arm 29, and a rotary shaft 31 supported by a bearing portion 30 projecting from the body of the traveling robot 11. A swing arm 32 (FIG. 5) swinging as shown by an arrow X in FIG. 3 at a fulcrum, and a rod 3 on a swing force receiving arm 28 for swinging the swing arm 32 up and down.
3L is connected to the air cylinder 33 (FIG. 4), and the tip of the rocking force transmitting arm 29 has the rocking arm 3
The structure is such that the gap between the circular arc locus of 2 and the straight line locus of the vertical axis 27 of the free arm 24 is absorbed.

The rotating mechanism 26 is adapted to rotate the driven gear 34 connected to the vertical axis 27 of the free arm 24 by the drive gear 35 connected to the motor.
The rotation of No. 4 is detected by the rotary encoder 38 via the auxiliary gears 36 and 37. The rotation mechanism 26 is further provided with a rotation positioning pin 39, which is used for positioning the rotation stop pin 3 when the rotation is stopped.
By fitting 9 into any of a plurality of receiving holes 40 formed in the driven gear 34 at a predetermined interval, accurate stop positioning can be performed without any deviation.

Further, the traveling robot 11 is equipped with a traveling mechanism 50 for traveling between the plating tank rows 10L. The traveling mechanism 50 includes a rack gear 51 and a pinion gear 5.
Drive source by combination of 2 and rail 53 and rail 5
3 is formed by a guide means in combination with a running portion 54 that is slidably brought into contact with the upper surface of 3, and further includes a running positioning pin 55 and a receiving hole 56 similar to the above-described rotation positioning pin 39 and the receiving hole 40. (Fig. 4), and the positioning of the stop can be performed with the correct trajectory and with the accuracy without any deviation. Incidentally, FIG.
In FIG. 5, the illustration is partially omitted, so that the correspondence relationships between the drawings do not necessarily match. Pretreatment tank 12t,
As the post-treatment tank 13t and the dryer 13d, those well known in the related art are used.

The operating state of such an automatic wafer plating apparatus 1 is as follows. A plurality of wafers in the form of a cassette are supplied and prepared for each load stage 4, and the fixed robot 7 rotates / positions the universal arm 8 on any of the load stages 4 in accordance with a predetermined procedure. Then, the free arm 8 is rotated and positioned on the orientation flat aligner 6 to set the wafer on the orientation flat aligner 6, and the completion of the orientation flat alignment is waited.
At this time, the picking up of the wafer from the load stage 4 is performed by adsorbing the wafer housed in the cassette from the back side with the back side facing down, and the back surface of the orientation flat aligner 6 with the back side facing down. The wafer is set.

When the orientation flat alignment is completed, the fixed robot 7 picks up the wafer from the orientation flat aligner 6 and hands it to the traveling robot 11. In this case, the fixed robot 7
The swivel arm 8 rotates in reverse, and hands the wafer to the traveling robot 11 with the surface, that is, the surface to be plated, facing down.

The traveling robot 11, which has received the wafer from the fixed robot 7, mounts the free arm 24 on the pretreatment tank 12t.
The wafer is rotated and positioned to the pretreatment tank 12t, and the wafer is held by the universal arm 24 to wait for the end of the pretreatment. The reason why the pretreatment is performed while the wafer is held by the universal arm 24 in this way is that the subsequent plating tank 1
This is to avoid the possibility of a chuck error, including the above-mentioned relationship with the positioning accuracy required for 0. When the pretreatment is completed, the traveling robot 11 moves to the plating tank row 10
One of the selected empty plating tanks running between L
The free arm 24 is stopped and positioned at 0, and the free arm 24 is rotated and positioned on the plating tank 10 to set the wafer in the plating tank 10.

The traveling robot 11 which has completed setting the wafer in the plating tank 10 travels again between the plating tank rows 10L and recovers the plated wafer from any other selected plating tank 10. , And aftertreatment tank 13t
Then, the wafer is put out into the post-treatment tank 13t, and is held by the universal arm 24 to wait for the end of the post-treatment. When the post-processing is completed, the traveling robot 11 dries the wafer 1
3D, and waits for the end of the drying process while being held by the free arm 24, and hands the wafer after the drying process to the fixed robot 7. The fixed robot 7 to which the wafer is handed over puts this wafer on any of the selected unload stages 5.

In the above operation, the plating tank 10 and the load stage 4 and the unload stage 5 are selected. This selection is made by computer management, and each plating tank 10, load stage 4 is always made by a computer. Also, information on the operating state of the unload stage 5 is known, and a command based on this information is issued from the computer to the fixed robot 7 and the traveling robot 11.

[0022]

As described above, the automatic wafer plating apparatus according to the present invention includes a plating processing section having two plating tank rows in which a large number of plating tanks are linearly arranged, a load stage and an unloading unit. It consists of a supply / collection unit that has a load stage all at once, and a robot for the plating processing unit that moves between the plating tank rows to transfer the wafer, and a supply / collection unit that transfers the wafer in a fixed state. Since a fixed robot for use is provided and the functions are assigned to each, the wafers are efficiently exchanged in the plating processing section and the supply / recovery section, and automatic plating processing of a large number of wafers is efficiently performed. be able to.

Further, the traveling robot can accurately perform stop positioning during rotation and stop positioning during traveling by the combination of the rotational positioning pin and the receiving hole and the combination of the traveling positioning pin and the receiving hole, respectively, and In order to set the wafer on the plating layer accurately in this accurate stop positioning state, the chuck structure has a structure that abuts and holds the peripheral surface of the wafer, so the wafer is positioned very accurately within the plating layer. It can be set in the state, and the accurate alignment required for wafer plating can be reliably performed.

[0024]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic wafer plating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a traveling robot.

FIG. 4 is a side view including a partial cross section as viewed in the direction of arrow B in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a swing arm.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a plating tank.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 …… Automatic wafer plating device 2 …… Supply / collection unit 3 …… Plating processing unit 4 …… Load stage 5 …… Unload stage 7 …… Fixed robot 8 …… Free arm 10 …… Plating tank 10L …… Plating Tank array 11 ... Running robot 12 ... Pretreatment stage 13 ... Posttreatment stage 23 ... Chuck 24 ... Flexible arm 26 ... Rotating mechanism 27 ... Vertical axis 34 ... Drive gear 35 ... Drive gear 39 ...... Rotary positioning pin 40 ...... Reception hole 50 ...... Travel mechanism 55 ...... Travel positioning pin 56 ...... Reception hole

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A supply / recovery section in which a plurality of or a single load stage and an unload stage are arranged side by side and a fixed robot for carrying a wafer is provided; and plating in which a large number of plating tanks are linearly arranged. A plating processing section provided with two tank rows, a traveling robot that can travel between the plating tank rows for carrying a wafer, and a pretreatment stage and a posttreatment stage ; Stage and unload stage,
In addition, the operating status information of each plating tank is grasped and the fixed
Equipped with a computer that issues commands to bots and traveling robots
The fixed robot picks up the wafers one by one from the load stage and transfers them to the traveling robot, and then the traveling robot preprocesses the wafer in the pretreatment stage while holding the received wafer ;
Set of preprocessed wafer to free plating tank which is designated by data; wafer in the post-processing stage while retaining and recovered wafer; recovery of the plating processed wafer from the specified plating tank by a computer Post-processing ; each process is sequentially performed , and the post-processed wafer is transferred to a fixed robot, and finally, the fixed robot that receives the wafer stores the wafer in an unload stage. . 2. The traveling robot has a chuck for abutting and holding a peripheral surface of a wafer, which is horizontally rotatable and vertically movable, and a driven gear and a motor mounted on a vertical axis of the movable arm. The driven gear is combined with the driven gear, and a plurality of receiving holes are formed at predetermined intervals in the driven gear. Positioning of the stop in traveling is performed by fitting the traveling positioning pin into any of the plurality of receiving holes provided along the traveling rail and the rotation mechanism adapted to perform stop positioning. The automatic wafer plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a traveling mechanism.