JPH0521307A - Semiconductor aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce operational load of an operator by automatically performing determination and treatment of a wafer whose exposure is interrupted by a device and to accelerate automation of a semiconductor manufacture process by holding exposure data of each exposed wafer in a memory of a control computer. CONSTITUTION:An exposure method, retreatment determination value when exposure is interrupted, a retreatment method and exposure hysteresis for each wafer are held in a memory 7 of a control computer 2 as memory contents. As for a wafer which is fed out of a wafer cassette 4, retreatment is performed automatically for a wafer which requires retreatment based on data held in the control computer 2 when exposure of all the wafers is finished. As for a wafer fed out of a resist application development device 6, it is returned to the resist application development device 6 after a wafer whose exposure is interruped is temporarily contained in the wafer cassette 4 and the wafer temporarily contained in the cassette 4 is retreated when exposure of all the wafers is finished.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvement of a wafer exposure process in semiconductor manufacturing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a wafer exposure process, several tens of circuit patterns are exposed on one wafer by a step-and-repeat method. When one circuit pattern is taken as one shot, the exposure of one wafer is completed only after the exposure of several tens of shots is completed. During the exposure of a single wafer, if the exposure of that shot is not completed due to misalignment or the like in a certain shot, the exposure of that wafer is interrupted there, and the subsequent handling of that wafer is performed by the device. The operator etc. of will be decided.

[0003]

When a wafer whose exposure has been interrupted occurs as described above, the handling of the wafer is determined by an operator or the like, and the processing and judgment criteria are usually as follows. Is. The determination criterion is determined by how many shots of the total shots have been completed. As a process, when the exposure is almost completed, the wafer is considered to be exposed and is sent to the developing process. If the exposure is almost not completed, the part (shot) that has not been exposed is exposed. That is, the exposure process is performed again for the wafer.

[0004] Performing such work artificially by an operator causes a work load and is unreliable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The apparatus automatically judges and treats a wafer whose exposure has been interrupted, reduces the workload of the operator, and further reduces the semiconductor manufacturing process. An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor exposure apparatus that promotes automation of the above.

[0006]

In the normal wafer exposure process, about 25 wafers are collectively treated as one lot, and each lot is exposed. When the exposure processing for one lot is completed, the wafer whose exposure has been interrupted is included in it. To achieve the above object, the present invention has, for example, a numerical value n as a criterion for subsequent treatment of a wafer whose exposure has been interrupted. Let n be the number of exposure completed shots or the ratio of the number of exposure completed shots to the total number of shots. This numerical value n can be set according to the convenience of the user of the apparatus.

With respect to the wafers that have been subjected to the exposure processing, the number of shots or the ratio n1 to n25 to n for which the exposure is completed for each wafer is completed.
Remember n. Then, when the processing is completed for one lot, the judgment value n is compared with n1 to nn for each wafer to automatically re-expose the wafer corresponding to n> nn, n ≧ nn, etc. for nn and thereafter.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a semiconductor exposure apparatus.
The wafer 5 sent from the wafer cassette 4 or the resist coating / developing device 6 is exposed under the exposure lens 3 and sent back to the wafer cassette 4 or the resist coating / developing device 6. In the embodiment, (a) exposure method for each wafer, (b)
Memory 7 of the control computer 2 with the re-treatment judgment value at the time of exposure interruption, (c) re-treatment method (d) exposure history as stored contents
Hold in. With respect to the wafers sent out from the wafer cassette 4, when the exposure of all the wafers is completed, the wafers that need to be reprocessed are automatically reprocessed based on the data stored in the control computer 2. . As for the wafers sent out from the resist coating / developing device 6, the wafers whose exposure has been interrupted are temporarily stored in the wafer cassette 4 and the wafer cassette 4
As in the case of the above wafer, the wafer temporarily stored in the cassette is reprocessed and then sent back to the resist coating and developing apparatus 6.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the method of collectively performing re-treatment at the end of each lot has been described. However, re-treatment may be performed immediately at the time of interruption of exposure for each wafer. In addition, the control computer may store and store whether to perform the re-treatment immediately or later. Furthermore, even for wafers that have handling errors during wafer handling (during transfer) between the wafer cassette and the exposure lens and between the resist coating / developing device and the exposure lens, the wafer is returned to the wafer cassette with the assistance of the operator and re-processed. It may be the target of the treatment wafer. In such a case, a plurality of retreatment determination values may be held, and a retreatment method may be held for each.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reduce human work load in the wafer exposure process and facilitate automation of the semiconductor manufacturing process. This improves the semiconductor manufacturing efficiency (yield).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a semiconductor exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1; semiconductor exposure apparatus, 2; control computer, 3; exposure lens, 4; wafer cassette, 5; wafer, 6; resist coating and developing apparatus, 7; memory.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor exposure apparatus for exposing and transferring a circuit pattern onto a semiconductor wafer, the wafer 1 being subjected to an exposure process.
A semiconductor exposure apparatus comprising a storage means for holding exposure data for each sheet. 2. The semiconductor exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure data includes an exposure method, a reprocessing determination value when the exposure is interrupted, a reprocessing method, and an exposure history. 3. A semiconductor exposure apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a control means for automatically performing a retreatment on the wafer at the time of interruption of the exposure based on the exposure data and performing the retreatment.