JPH02132840A - Manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to selectively modify treating processes and to obtain a manufacturing device having a high throughput of treatment by a method wherein the process for materials to be treated having a plurality of treating processes arranged opposite to one another is selected in a desired order of process and the materials to be treated are transferred. CONSTITUTION:In a carrying-in/carrying-out mechanism 120, which selects a plurality of processes arranged opposite to one another and transfers wafers W, a tweezers 121 delivers wafers W previous to treatment to tweezers 112 and 113 of a transfer device 110 and an interface to receive wafers W subse quent to treatment is provided at the boundary between a passage 102 and the mechanism 120. The wafers W are subjected to treatment at treating stations 103 to 108 according to a prescribed order. The operation of this device 110 is controlled by a control system. Accordingly, by modifying a program of the control system, the treatments at the treating stations can be arbitrarily set. Thereby, the throughput of the treatments which can correspond to various processes can be increased.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus.

(Prior Art) Manufacturing of semiconductor devices such as ICs includes a large number of microfabrication steps in order to form elements such as transistors on a semiconductor single crystal wafer such as silicon. Among them, PE is used to form a predetermined resist pattern on the surface of the wafer.
P (photoe'ngraving process
s) occupies a very important position. This is because the resist pattern formed with PEP is used as an etching mask and provides the basis of current microfabrication technology.

Formation of a resist pattern in PEP involves a step of applying photoresist to the wafer surface to form a photoresist film with a uniform thickness, a step of selectively exposing a predetermined region of the photoresist film, and a step of selectively exposing a predetermined area of the photoresist film to light. The photoresist film is developed to form a desired resist pattern. Among these, the exposure process is, for example, a step
This is performed using an exposure device such as an and repeat aligner (referred to as a stepper). On the other hand, the step of forming a photoresist film on the surface of the substrate is performed using, for example, the apparatus described below.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in a photoresist film forming apparatus called a track method. As shown in the figure, this device has a preheating step 4 and a cooling step 5, respectively.
, a coating process 6 and a heating process 8. A semiconductor wafer 1 on which a photoresist film is to be formed is housed in a cassette-shaped container 2 and introduced into this apparatus. Semiconductor wafers 1 are taken out one by one from a cassette 2, and sequentially transported to each processing station by a belt transport mechanism 3, where they are subjected to predetermined processing. In the preheating step 4, the wafer 1 is heated to remove moisture. The preheated wafer 1 is cooled in a cooling step 5 and then sent to a coating step 6. In coating step 6,
For example, spinner coater
The photoresist is uniformly applied to the surface of the wafer 1 using a coating device such as er). The wafer 1 coated with photoresist is sent to a heating process 8 equipped with a transport mechanism 7 called a walking beam system. By heating in this heating step 8, the photoresist solution applied to the wafer is stabilized in the form of a film.

After completing the heating step 8, the initial photoresist is deposited on the surface.
The wafer 9 on which IVf4 is formed is transferred to the belt conveyance mechanism 3
The wafers are then stored in a cassette 10 for storing processed wafers.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional apparatus, independent processing stations are arranged in series, and semiconductor wafers to be processed move through these stations in a predetermined order and through one-way traffic. As always, the process must be processed regardless of whether it is necessary or not. For this reason, it has been impossible to arbitrarily change the processing order once set, and it has also been impossible to selectively pass through only a certain processing station.

On the other hand, the processing steps required to form semiconductor elements on the semiconductor wafer 1, including their order, vary depending on the type of IC to be formed on the wafer 1.

Nevertheless, in the conventional photoresist film forming apparatus described above, all processing steps must be performed even on semiconductor wafers that do not require certain processing steps, which is an obstacle to improving throughput.

Therefore, it is desired to have an apparatus that can arbitrarily change which processing stations are used in which order among the processing stations provided in the apparatus, depending on the type of semiconductor wafer 1 to be processed.

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and
The present invention aims to provide a manufacturing apparatus that can selectively change processing steps as necessary and has a high processing throughput.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving 4aM) That is, the present invention makes it possible to arrange a plurality of processing steps facing each other and to select and transport the objects to be processed between the steps arranged facing each other in the desired order of steps. It is characterized by what it did.

(Function) In the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the manufacturing apparatus is capable of transporting objects to be processed by selecting between a plurality of processes arranged facing each other, so that it is possible to select a reward process according to the type of object to be processed. .

(Example) Hereinafter, the manufacturing device of the present invention will be applied to the coating T! An embodiment applied to an A-image device will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a photoresist film coating apparatus 100, and in the figure, 101 is a main body base. A passage 102 extending in the direction of arrow Y (lateral direction) is provided in the center of the base 101. This passage 10
On one side of 2, there is a preheating station 103 for heating an unprocessed semiconductor wafer to remove moisture etc. with HMDS treatment or simply heating it, and a cooling station 103 for cooling the preheated wafer. station 104,
For example, first and second heating stations 105 and 106 each having two heating devices in the vertical direction are provided for heating the wafer after applying a photoresist solution and forming a dry photoresist film. ing. Further, on the other side of the passageway 102, first and second coating stations 107 and 108 are provided, which are used to apply, for example, a photoresist solution to the surface of a wafer that has been preheated and cooled. In addition,
In the figure, a cooling station 104, a preheating station 103, a first heating station 105, a second heating station 105,
106 are described as being arranged in a plane, but this is for convenience; in reality, it is a laminated structure in which two heating devices for the preheating station 103 are provided above and below the cooling station 104. It becomes.

The passage 102 is provided with a handling means such as a wafer transfer device 110 that moves in the Y direction within the passage 102 by a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw. This transport device 110 is a carriage 111
Vacuum tweezers, for example, two tweezers 112 and 113 for suctioning and holding a wafer W, are attached to the carriage 111 in a vertically overlapping manner. The tweezers 112 and 113 can be moved independently in the X direction (vertical direction) and the Y direction (horizontal direction), and the superimposed tweezers 112 and 113 can be moved in parallel in the Z direction (vertical direction) at the same time. It can be rotated in any direction. To enable such parallel movement and rotation of the bin sets 112, 1.13, the carriage 11
1 is provided with a driving mechanism (not shown) such as a stepping motor and a ball screw connected thereto.

The tweezers 112 and 113 hold a wafer with one of the tweezers and transport it to a processing station, and when there is a processed wafer at this processing station, the other tweezers pick up the processed wafer and set the wafer. do. This transport device [110] is used to transport the wafer W to each of the aforementioned processing stations 103-108.

A wafer loading/unloading mechanism 120 is provided on the left side of the base 101. This loading/unloading mechanism 120 includes semiconductor wafers W before processing. Wafer cassette 1 containing
22 and a wafer cassette 123 that accommodates the processed wafer WF. In addition, the loading/unloading mechanism 1
Reference numeral 20 includes tweezers 121 for holding the back surface of the wafer W by suction. This tweezers 121 is
A configuration similar to that of the tweezers 112 and 113 described above allows for parallel movement in the X and Y directions. This tweezers 121 holds the unprocessed wafer W8 in the cassette 1.
The processed wafer WF is taken out from the wafer cassette 22 and stored in the wafer cassette 123.

The tweezers 121 of the loading/unloading mechanism 120 transfer the unprocessed wafer WB to the tweezers 112, 1 of the transfer device 110.
The processed wafer WF is transferred to the tweezers 112 and 113, and the processed wafer WF is received from the tweezers 112 and 113. The interface that enables this delivery is the passage 102 and the loading/unloading mechanism 12.
It is provided on the border with 0.

Further, the tweezers 112 and 113 of the transfer device 110 transfer the wafer W to and from each of the processing stations 103 to 108. Thereby, the wafer W is processed at each of the processing stations 103 to 108 in accordance with a predetermined order. All operations of the transport device 110 are controlled by a control system (not shown). Therefore, by changing the program of the control system, the processing in the processing stations 103 to 10B can be arbitrarily set. That is, it is possible to perform only some of the processes in the processing stations 103-108, or to change the order of the processes.

In Fig. 2 and Fig. 3A to Fig. 3C, the above tweezers 1 are shown.
12, 113, and 121 are described in detail. In these figures, 21 is the tweezers body.

This main body 21 has three fulcrums 22, 23. 24 are provided protrudingly, and the semiconductor wafer W is supported at three points by these supporting points. This three-point support has the effect of preventing dust from adhering to the surface of the tweezers 21. Of these fulcrums 22 to 24, 24 is provided with a suction port opened at its top surface for vacuum suction. Further, for alignment of the wafer W, an arc-shaped guide member 25 corresponding to the periphery of the wafer W and a stopper member 26 are provided.

The semiconductor wafer W is first placed on tweezers in the state shown in FIG. 3A. In this state, the wafer W is not aligned and is not vacuum-adsorbed. Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the tweezers are moved horizontally toward the stopper member 26, so that the orientation flat Wa of the wafer W is brought into contact with the stopper member 26. Thereafter, by further continuing the horizontal movement, the semiconductor wafer W slides on the fulcrums 22 to 24 of the tweezers, and finally comes into contact with the guide member 25 and stops. Therefore, even if the position of the wafer W deviates from the center of the bin set in the state shown in FIG. 3A, the guide member 25
By being guided by the tweezers, alignment can be achieved at a predetermined position in the center of the tweezers.

FIG. 4 shows an interface mechanism 30 provided at the boundary between the passageway 102 and the wafer loading/unloading mechanism 120. This interface mechanism 30 is connected to the tweezers 12
1 and the tweezers 112, 113, the holding member 3 has a function of temporarily waiting for the semiconductor wafer W to be transferred between the holding member 3 and the tweezers 112 and 113, and holds the semiconductor wafer W by a vacuum suction mechanism.
1, and a drive device (for example, an air cylinder) 32 for raising and lowering this holding member. When the tweezers 121 of the loading/unloading mechanism 120 transports the semiconductor wafer W to the position shown in the figure. The holding member 32 rises and lifts and holds the semiconductor wafer W as shown in the figure. Next, the wafer transport device 110 on the resist coating and developing device 100 side
is moved to the position of the interface mechanism 30 shown. Then, by lowering the holding member 3l, the semiconductor wafer W held by the holding member 31 is placed on the tweezers 112 or 113. tweezers 112,
The semiconductor wafer W is transferred from the tweezers 113 to the tweezers 121 in the same manner as described above.

Next, the process of forming a photoresist film on the surface of the semiconductor wafer W using the apparatus 100 of the above embodiment will be explained step by step. This step is performed based on a pre-stored program of the control system described above.

First, one wafer W is taken out from the cassette 122 using the tweezers 121 of the loading/unloading mechanism 120 and transported to the position of the interface mechanism 30 . The transported semiconductor wafer W is passed through the interface mechanism 30 to one of the tweezers, for example, tweezers 112 of the transport device [110], which is waiting at the left end of the passageway 102, and is held by suction. Incidentally, when only semiconductor wafers of the same type are stored in one cassette 122, an ID code may be displayed on the cassette 122, and the manufacturing process program may be selected by reading this ID.

Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the processes at the preheating station 103, the cooling station 104, the first coating station 107, and the first heating station 105 are selected in this order.

First, the tweezers 112 that received the wafer W are moved toward the preheating station 103, and the tweezers 112 that have received the wafer W are moved toward the preheating station 103,
is set in the preheating station 103 and preheated. Preheating is performed using a heater plate, and the wafer W is placed on the heater plate. At this time, the wafer W is not brought into direct contact with the plate, but is supported at three points to provide a 0.3
If it is floated by about +n+n, it is effective against dust. During this time, the tweezers 121 are moved to take out the second wafer W from the cassette 122, and the second wafer W is left on standby in the interface mechanism 30. After the first wafer has been carried into the preloading station 103, the transfer device 110 receives the second wafer W from the interface mechanism 30 using the bin set 112, and holds it on the tweezers 112 by suction. Then, the device waits until the processing of the first wafer at the preheating station 103 is completed.

When the preliminary heating treatment of the first wafer W is completed, the transport device [110] performs the following operation. That is, by first moving the bin set 113 that does not hold any wafers, the first wafer that has undergone preheating processing is taken out from the preheating station 103. After the preheating station 103 is thus emptied, the tweezers 112 holding the second wafer are operated to set the second wafer in the preheating station 103. Next, the tweezers 112 and 113 are moved in the Y direction, the θ direction, and
It moves in the Z direction to the cooling station 104 position, moves the tweezers 113 holding the substrate in the X direction, and sets this first wafer in the cooling station 104. From this operation, two tweezers 112, 1
The advantage of providing 13 is understood. That is, the tweezers are 1
If only one wafer is available, the transfer device 110 first removes the first wafer from the preheating station 103 and sets it in the cooling station 104, and then receives the second wafer from the interface mechanism 30 and places it in the preheating station. This is because the operation of setting the value to 103 must be performed. While the above operation is being performed, the loading/unloading mechanism 120 uses the tweezers 121 to hold the third wafer to be processed next in the interface mechanism 30.

Next, the transfer device 110 holds the third wafer from the interface mechanism 30 in the tweezers 112 . Then, it is kept on standby until the processing at the cooling station 104 is completed. When the first wafer cooling process is finished,
The transport device 51110 takes out the wafer from the cooling station 104 using the tweezers 113 that do not hold the wafer, and then sets it in the first coating station 107 for the programmed photoresist coating process. When the second wafer has been processed at the preheating station 103 during this coating process, the transfer device 110 transfers the tweezers 11 that are not holding the wafer to the second wafer.
3, the wafer is heated to a preheating station 103.
Take it out. Then, the third wafer held in the tweezers 112 is set in the preheating station 103, and at the same time, the second wafer held in the tweezers 113 is set in the cooling station 104.

This operation is the same as described above.

In addition, if the cooling process of the first wafer is completed,
When the preheating process for the second wafer is completed,
It is also possible to program the following operations. That is, first, while the third unprocessed wafer is held in the tweezers 112, the second wafer is taken out from the preheating station 103 using the tweezers 113. 3 held by the tweezers 112
After setting the second wafer in the preheating station 103, the process waits. After the cooling process of the first wafer in the cooling station 104 is completed, this first wafer is taken out with tweezers 112 or 113,
Set in the first coating station 107. This coating is performed, for example, by using a dripping spin coating device for resist solution. When the photoresist coating process for the first wafer is completed at the first coating station 107, the transport device 110 takes out the wafer from the first coating station 107 using the bin set 113. Subsequently, it moves to the right along the Y direction, sets the first wafer taken out in the first heating station 105, and heats it. When the cooling process of the second wafer in the cooling station 104 is completed during this heating process, the transfer device 110 transfers this wafer to the tweezers 11.
3, the photoresist is taken out, and further set in the first coating station 107 to start coating the photoresist.

When the first wafer is processed at the first heating station 105 and a desired photoresist film is formed, the transport device 110 takes out the first wafer using tweezers 113. Subsequently, the transport device [110 moves to the left in the Y direction and transfers the wafer held by the tweezers 113 to the interface mechanism 30. While waiting in the interface mechanism 30, it is effective to prevent dust by not directly contacting the placement part, but by placing it slightly floating. Furthermore, it is more advantageous if the standby mechanism is constituted by a carrier cassette. Semiconductor wafer WF processed in this way
When the wafer is placed on standby by the interface mechanism 30, the tweezers 121 of the loading/unloading mechanism 120 receives the wafer and stores it in a cassette 123. The series of processing operations described above are performed on the unprocessed wafers W in the cassette 122. It can continue until it runs out.

In addition, in the above operation description, the first coating station 10
7 and the first heating station 105, the second coating station 108 and the second heating station 106 may be used instead. In addition, if the photoresist coating process and/or heating process takes more time than other processes, it is also possible to use the two coating stations 107, 108 and/or the two heating stations 105, 106 at the same time. It is.

By the way, when carrying out the above-mentioned photoresist film forming process, it is common to perform a trial process on one wafer in order to confirm whether the programmed process is appropriate. ．． In this case, it is necessary to take out the test wafer WT for which the trial processing has been completed from the cassette 121 for inspection. To facilitate this removal, it is preferable to provide a removable receiver 40 at the base of the cassette 123, as shown in FIG.

A handle 41 is provided at one end of this receiver 40, and a wafer mounting table 42 is provided inside. The test wafer WT that has undergone trial processing is inserted through the opening 43 by the bin set 121 and placed on the mounting table 42 .

Therefore, the test wafers W can be easily taken out by pulling out the receiver 40 as shown.

Note that in the above operation description, the first coating station 10
7 and the first heating station 105, the second application station 108 and the second heating station 106 may be used instead. It is also possible to use the two coating stations 107, 108 and/or the two heating stations 105, 106 at the same time if the photoresist coating process and/or heating process takes more time than other processes. It is.

As is clear from the above description of the operation, the apparatus of the above embodiment can perform optimal combinations of multiple steps necessary for forming a photoresist film on the surface of a semiconductor wafer, including their order. The process can be programmed. Therefore, the most efficient combination process can be selected depending on the type of semiconductor wafer to be processed, and the maximum throughput can be obtained.

Further, the conveying device 110 has two bin sets 112 and 11.
3, each of which operates independently, providing a high degree of freedom in processing. For example, if there is a wafer in the next process station, there is no inconvenience such as not being able to replace the wafer in that process. The m-feeding mechanism 110 does not necessarily need to have two tweezers, and may have three or more.

Furthermore, since the processing stations are arranged along the path 102 on both sides thereof, there is an extremely high degree of freedom in changing the operating program of the transport device 110.

Therefore, it is easy to change the processing program. Furthermore, since the preheating station 103 and the cooling station 104 are stacked one above the other, the floor space required for installation can be reduced.

The apparatus of the above embodiment can also be used as an apparatus for developing a photoresist film exposed in a predetermined pattern to form a resist pattern. In that case, the coating stations 107 and 108 are also provided with a device for applying a developer. The developing device is configured to develop the wafer by ejecting a developer in the form of a jet onto the wafer, which is being rotated at variable speeds, for example.

Further, by using one of the two coating stations 107 and 108 for coating photoresist and using the other for coating developer, it is possible to use the device as an apparatus for both forming and developing a photoresist film. . At this time, an interface mechanism 30 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided at the right end of the passageway 102 so that the wafer can be transferred to and from the exposure device, thereby making the process from resist coating to development a consistent and continuous process. It can be implemented.

In addition, if you want to install multiple processing units in a row, please use the passage 1
The next passage is formed on the extension line of 02,
It is preferable to provide a wafer standby mechanism, such as a carrier station, at this connection portion.

For example, as shown in FIG.
Take out the wafer W in the cassette 122, 12
Loading/unloading machine #l having an arm 120a for loading into 3
The first processing system 150, which has a transport device 110a that transfers the wafer W through the interface mechanism 3o, performs each process in the manner described above. For example, this first processing system 150 includes a HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) processing station 151 and a first
heating station 152, first cooling station 1
53. A first coating station 154 for spin-coating the IMth resist and a second coating station 155 for spin-coating the second layer of resist are provided, and wafers are selectively transferred to these stations for processing. Do this. Further, a plurality of processing stations, such as a second heating station 156, a second cooling station 157, and a third coating layer are used to coat and form a surface coating layer such as a CEL film on the top surface of the resist in order to prevent diffuse reflection of light during the exposure process. A second processing system 159 is provided in which stations 158 and the like are arranged facing each other and a transport device 110b that transports wafers to each of these stations.
A standby mechanism 160 is arranged between the first processing system 150 and the first processing system 150 . This standby mechanism 160 is provided with a mounting table 161 on which one wafer W can be placed, and similarly to the delivery of the wafer W in the interface mechanism 30, the above-mentioned mounting table 161 is used to transport the first processing system 150. Device 1
The wafer W is transferred between the transfer device 10a and the transfer device 110b of the second processing system 159. This standby mechanism 160
The configuration may be such that a buffer cassette (not shown) is provided without providing the mounting table 161, and a plurality of wafers W can be placed on standby using this cassette. With this buffer cassette, the transport mechanism 110a and the transport mechanism 1
Even if there is a difference in the amount of work 10b, it is possible to reduce the waiting time for one of the transport mechanisms.

In this way, by providing two transport mechanisms via the standby machine 9160, it is possible to easily accommodate an increase in the number of processing stations and to achieve high throughput processing.

The number of the transfer mechanisms is not limited to two systems, but may be two or more systems, and the number can be increased as the number of standby mechanisms is increased.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the manufacturing apparatus is applied to a resist coating and developing process, but the present invention is not limited to this, and similar effects can be obtained by, for example, etching process, CVD process, ashing process, etc.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to cope with various processes and to increase processing throughput.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a coating and developing device for explaining one embodiment of the device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams of the bin set in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an interface of the device in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the cassette of FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional coating apparatus. 110...Transportation equipment 1i1 11
2,113... Tweezers 120... Loading/unloading mechanism 160... Standby mechanism Patent applicant Tokyo Electron Co., Ltd. Tel Kyushu Co., Ltd. Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A manufacturing apparatus characterized in that a plurality of processing steps are arranged facing each other, and the objects to be processed between the steps arranged facing each other can be selected and transported in a desired order of steps.