KR100517083B1 - Apparatus for fabricating semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor, comprising: a wafer wait portion on which a plurality of wafers are loaded; A transfer device for vacuum-sucking the wafers loaded in the wafer standby part and transferring them one by one; At least three heater stages each having a wafer mounted thereon, plasma generators installed on each heater stage to generate plasma and depositing plasma on the wafers placed on the heater stages, and a lower portion of each heater stage. A process chamber including pumping lines for discharging the byproduct generated in the process of depositing the plasma on the wafers; It is installed adjacent to the process chamber, while receiving the wafer transferred by the transfer device in a state of making the inside at atmospheric pressure on the load lock stage installed therein, vacuuming the inside and then the wafer on the load lock stage is A load lock chamber transferred to the process chamber; And a cooling stage installed adjacent to the process chamber and the load lock chamber, the cooling stage having a plurality of passages through which cooling water is circulated, and receiving and cooling a wafer on which the semiconductor process is completed in the processing chamber on the cooling stage. The ashing process throughput of the wafer is increased by having an unload lock chamber in which the wafer cooled on the cooling stage while the inside is made at atmospheric pressure is transferred to the wafer atmosphere by the transfer device.

Description

Apparatus for fabricating semiconductor device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus used for an ashing process in a semiconductor process.

Conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a load lock chamber capable of loading 50 wafers, an atmospheric pressure robot having 25 end effectors capable of moving 25 wafers from a cassette, and a process chamber for an ashing process. It consists of a process chamber, which moves ashed and unashed wafers from the process chamber to the heater stage by using a shuttle blade between the process chamber and the load lock chamber. It consists of seven pins for rotating the wafer, a plasma generator arranged in parallel, and six heater stages.

Problems of such a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are as follows. First, since the wafer is enlarged to 300 mm and the atmospheric robot carries 25 wafers at the same time, when a problem occurs in one wafer, all 25 expensive wafers are affected. In addition, since one pumping line is configured in the process chamber, by-products generated during the ashing process are not discharged quickly, and thus particles are frequently generated. In order for the shuttle blade to transfer the wafer between the process chamber and the load lock chamber, there is a high possibility that particles are generated when the shuttle blade moves along the axis. As one plasma is used for two plasma generators, the ashing process of a large-sized wafer is slow, and since one load lock chamber is used, the entire equipment cannot be used when a load lock chamber occurs. And it is difficult to reduce the temperature of the wafer after processing. In addition, it takes additional time to apply heat without processing in the heater stage in order to reach the optimum temperature for the wafer to process, and as the wafer grows in size, the warpage of the wafer occurs due to the temperature difference between the wafer and the heater stage. I have a problem.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to minimize the breakage of the wafer, to minimize the size of the load lock chamber, to reduce the pumping and atmospheric pressure arrival time, to increase the wafer throughput, and to increase the amount of components during wafer movement between the load lock chamber and the process chamber. The present invention provides a device for manufacturing a semiconductor that removes friction to remove particles and preheats the wafer before the semiconductor process proceeds to the wafer to improve the speed and uniformity of the semiconductor process.

The present invention to achieve the above technical problem,

A wafer waiting portion in which a plurality of wafers are loaded; A transfer device for vacuum-sucking the wafers loaded in the wafer standby part and transferring them one by one; At least three heater stages each having a wafer mounted thereon, plasma generators installed on each heater stage to generate plasma and depositing plasma on the wafers placed on the heater stages, and a lower portion of each heater stage. A process chamber including pumping lines for discharging the byproduct generated in the process of depositing the plasma on the wafers; It is installed adjacent to the process chamber, while receiving the wafer transferred by the transfer device in a state of making the inside at atmospheric pressure on the load lock stage installed therein, vacuuming the inside and then the wafer on the load lock stage is A load lock chamber transferred to the process chamber; And a cooling stage installed adjacent to the process chamber and the load lock chamber, the cooling stage having a plurality of passages through which cooling water is circulated, and receiving and cooling a wafer on which the semiconductor process is completed in the processing chamber on the cooling stage. And an unload lock chamber in which a wafer cooled on the cooling stage while the inside is made at atmospheric pressure is transferred to the wafer atmosphere by the transfer device.

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Preferably, the load lock chamber includes a wafer gripper for holding the wafer when transferring the wafer placed on the load lock stage to the process chamber; A load lock swing arm supporting the wafer gripper; And a rotating device for rotating the load lock swing arm laterally to transfer a wafer placed on the load lock stage into the process chamber, wherein the unload lock chamber transfers the wafer on which the semiconductor process is completed from the process chamber. A wafer gripper for holding the wafer when transferred to the chamber; An unload lock swing arm supporting the wafer gripper; And a rotating device for rotating the unload lock swing arm laterally to transfer the wafer of the process chamber to the unload lock chamber.

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The present invention increases the semiconductor process throughput of a wafer.

In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

The present invention relates to an ashing apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing with high wafer throughput.

1 is a side view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which the plasma generator of FIG. 1 is omitted. A device for manufacturing a semiconductor according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor of the present invention includes a wafer standby part 111, a transfer device 121, a load lock chamber 131, an unload lock chamber 141, and a process chamber 151.

The wafer waiting portion 111 includes one or more cassettes 113 and 114, and a plurality of wafers are loaded in each cassette.

The conveying apparatus 121 includes an atmospheric pressure robot that can move in four axes (X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, rotation). The transfer apparatus 121 is provided with a plurality of arms 123 and 124 and an end effector 127. The end effector 127 vacuum-absorbs the wafers one by one, and prevents the wafer from sliding when the wafers loaded in the cassette are taken out and transferred at a high speed. In the case of transferring a plurality of wafers at the same time, if a problem occurs in the transfer device 121 and one wafer is damaged, the other wafers are also damaged and thus a large loss may occur. Therefore, the mass loss can be prevented by transferring the wafers one by one as in the present invention.

The load lock chamber 131 is installed adjacent to the process chamber 151. Gate valves 133 and 134 are installed in the load lock chamber 131, and a load lock stage 135, a wafer gripper 136, a load lock swing arm 137, and a rotating device 138 are installed therein. The load lock stage 135 is installed inside the wafer gripper 136 and moves up and down.

When the transfer device 121 transfers the first wafer, the gate valve 133 opens, and the transferred wafer is placed on the load lock stage 135. A groove 135a is formed in the load lock stage 135. The end effector 127 of the transfer device 121 is fitted into the groove 135a, and the wafer vacuum-adsorbed to the end effector 127 is loaded into the load lock stage ( 135). After the end effector 127 exits and the gate valve 133 is closed, vacuum pumping is started and the load lock chamber 131 proceeds to a vacuum state, at which time the load lock stage 135 moves downward. The wafer placed on the stage 135 naturally sits on the wafer gripper 136. When the load lock chamber 131 is in a vacuum state, the gate valve 134 opens, and the load lock swing arm 137 rotates laterally by the rotating device 138 to process the wafer placed on the wafer gripper 136 in the process chamber 151. ) Is moved onto the preheating stage 153. After the first wafer is loaded into the process chamber 151, the gate valve 134 closes when the load lock swing arm 137 rotates into the load lock chamber 131. Then, nitrogen gas flows into the load lock chamber 131, whereby the load lock chamber 131 is at atmospheric pressure. The transfer device 121 transfers the second wafer and waits until the inside of the load lock chamber 131 is filled with nitrogen gas in front of the gate valve 133 to reach atmospheric pressure. After the load lock chamber 131 is at atmospheric pressure, the gate valve 133 is opened to transfer the wafers in the same order as the first wafer.

As such, the load lock chamber 131 can be configured to have a small size because only one wafer is transferred and moved out. Therefore, the time that the inside of the load lock chamber 131 becomes a vacuum state and atmospheric pressure is shortened. In addition, since the size of the load lock chamber 131 is small, the size of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is also reduced.

The unload lock chamber 141 is installed adjacent to the process chamber 151. Gate valves 143 and 144 are installed in the unload lock chamber 141, and a cooling stage 145, a wafer gripper 146, an unload lock swing arm 147, and a rotating device (not shown) are installed therein.

When the process of the wafer is completed in the process chamber 151, the gate valve 144 is opened and the unload lock swing arm 147 rotates laterally to enter the process chamber 151. Then, as the unload lock stage 154 moves downward, the wafer loaded in the unload lock stage 154 is moved onto the wafer gripper 146, and the unload lock swing arm 147 rotates to unload the lock chamber ( 141) Come inside. The gate valve 144 is closed and nitrogen gas is injected to bring the interior of the unload lock chamber 141 to atmospheric pressure. At the same time, the cooling stage 145 is moved up so that the wafer above the wafer gripper 146 is moved over the cooling stage 145 to be cooled. A plurality of passages are formed in the cooling stage 145, and cooling water is circulated through the plurality of passages to cool the wafer placed on the cooling stage 145. When the inside of the unload lock chamber 141 reaches the atmospheric pressure, the gate valve 143 opens and the end effector 127 of the transfer device 121 enters to unload the wafer placed on the cooling stage 145 so as to unload the wafer. 111). A groove 145a is formed in the cooling stage 145, and the end effector 127 is inserted into the groove 145a, and the wafer placed on the cooling stage 145 is transferred to the end effector 127. When the gate valve 143 is closed, the unload lock chamber 141 is made into a vacuum again.

Thus, since the unload lock chamber 141 is provided separately and its size is small, the size of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 101 becomes small. In addition, since the size of the unload lock chamber 141 is small, the time to reach the vacuum state and the atmospheric pressure is shortened.

The process chamber 151 includes a plurality of wafer grippers 161 to 165, a preheating stage 153, heater stages 155 to 157, an unload lock stage 154, a preheating apparatus 171, and plasma generators 175. ), Pumping lines 177, arms 181-185 and rotating device 191.

The wafer transferred from the load lock chamber 131 to the process chamber 151 by the load lock swing arm 137 is loaded onto the preheat stage 153. The load lock swing arm 137 then rotates into the load lock chamber 131 and the gate valve 134 closes. When the preheating device 171 is operated, the wafer placed on the preheating stage 153 is heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, 50 to 250 ° C. The preheating device 171 heats the wafer placed on the preheating stage 153 by generating heat with a lamp, such as a halogen lamp.

As such, the wafer placed on the preheating stage 153 by the preheating device 171 is preheated before the process, so that the wafer generated by the temperature difference when the wafers are heated in the heater stages 155 to 157 (waving of wafers). ) And minimizes the time lost as the wafer heats up to process temperature. Thus, the processing throughput of the wafer is increased.

Wafer grippers 161-165 are laterally supported by arms 181-185, and arms 181-185 are rotated laterally by rotating device 191. In the present invention, the arms 181 to 185 are designed to rotate counterclockwise. However, in some cases, the arms 181 to 185 may rotate clockwise. The wafer grippers 161 to 165 have three pins, respectively, to support the wafer from moving. As the wafer grippers 161 to 165 rotate laterally, the wafer placed on the preheat stage 153 is moved to the unload lock stage 154 via the heater stages 155 to 157. As such, the wafer throughput can be increased in a narrow space by moving the wafer while the wafer grippers 161 to 165 rotate.

Plasma generators 175, for example, microwave plasma generators, are provided on the heater stages 155 to 157 to generate plasma in a cylindrical shape. The plasma generators 175 are provided with separate power supplies (not shown), and plasma is generated by the power supplies. As such, as one power supply unit is installed for each plasma generator, the semiconductor processing speed of the wafer is improved, thereby increasing the throughput of the wafer.

The plasma generated by the plasma generators 175 is deposited on the wafers placed on the heater stages 155 to 157 to remove the photoresist formed on the wafers, such as an ashing process. Pumping lines 177 are installed one by one under the heater stages 155 to 157, and the pumping lines 177 are provided with plasma generated by the plasma generators 175 on the heater stages 155 to 157. By-products generated in the process of being deposited on the placed wafers are discharged out of the process chamber 151. As such, one pumping line 177 is installed in each of the heater stages 155 to 157 to quickly discharge the by-products generated during the semiconductor process, thereby reducing the frequency of particle generation in the wafer.

Heater stages 155 to 157 for heating the wafers are provided inside the wafer grippers 162 to 164. Since the heater stages 155 to 157 can be individually adjusted to a predetermined temperature, for example, 50 to 300, the heater stages 155 to 157 can individually set temperature appropriately for the semiconductor process.

For the wafers loaded on the heater stages 155 to 157, the semiconductor process may be efficiently performed by performing plasma generation or gas injection separately.

After the semiconductor process is completed, the wafer is transferred to the unload lock stage 154 and then transferred into the unload lock chamber 141 by the unload lock swing arm 147, and then transferred to the wafer standby part 111 by the transfer apparatus 121. do.

The best embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and the specification. Although specific terms have been used herein, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims or the claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

According to the present invention as described above, there are the following advantages.

First, the size of the load lock chamber 131 and the unload lock chamber 141 is small, so that the time of reaching the vacuum state and the atmospheric pressure state is short, and the semiconductor process proceeds quickly and stably by transferring the wafers one by one.

Second, the unload lock chamber 141 is provided with a cooling stage to increase the wafer throughput by cooling the temperature of the heated wafer in the semiconductor process.

Third, the wafer is not slid by the swing arms 137 and 147 during wafer transfer from the load lock chamber 131 to the process chamber 151 and from the process chamber 151 to the unload lock chamber 141. This does not happen.

Fourth, since pumping lines 177 are disposed under the heater stages 155 to 157 where the semiconductor process is performed, particles caused by by-products generated during the semiconductor process are reduced.

Fifth, the wafer is preheated on the preheating stage 153 before the wafers are moved to the heater stages 155 to 157 where the semiconductor process proceeds, thereby preventing the generation of the wafer and shortening the process time of the semiconductor process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.

1 is a side view of a device for manufacturing a semiconductor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which the plasma generator of FIG. 1 is omitted.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

111: wafer waiting portion, 121: transfer device

131: load lock chamber, 133, 134, 143, 144: gate valves

141: unload lock chamber, 135: load lock stage

145: cooling stage, 136, 146, 161 to 165: wafer grippers

137, 147: swing arms, 151: process chamber

153: preheat stage, 154: unload lock stage

155 to 157: heater stages, 171: preheater

175: plasma generators, 177: pumping lines

Claims (11)

delete A wafer waiting portion in which a plurality of wafers are loaded; A transfer device for vacuum-sucking the wafers loaded in the wafer standby part and transferring them one by one; At least three heater stages each having a wafer mounted thereon, plasma generators installed on each heater stage to generate plasma and depositing plasma on wafers placed on the heater stages, and a lower portion of each heater stage. A process chamber including pumping lines for discharging the byproduct generated in the process of depositing the plasma on the wafers; It is installed adjacent to the process chamber, while receiving the wafer transferred by the transfer device in a state of making the inside at atmospheric pressure on the load lock stage installed therein, vacuuming the inside and then the wafer on the load lock stage is A load lock chamber transferred to the process chamber; And A cooling stage installed adjacent to the process chamber and the load lock chamber and having a plurality of passages through which cooling water is circulated, and receiving and cooling a wafer on which the semiconductor process is completed in the process chamber on the cooling stage, And an unload lock chamber in which the wafer cooled on the cooling stage with the inside made at atmospheric pressure is transferred to the wafer atmosphere by the transfer device. The method of claim 2, wherein the process chamber Wafer grippers for holding the wafers to move laterally the wafers placed on the heater stages; Arms supporting the wafer grippers; And And a rotating device for rotating the arms laterally. The method of claim 2, wherein the process chamber Preheating stage; And And a process chamber comprising a preheating device installed on the preheating stage and heating the wafer placed on the preheating stage to a predetermined temperature before transferring onto the heater stages. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the preheating device comprises a halogen lamp for heating a wafer placed on the preheating stage. delete delete The method of claim 2, wherein the load lock chamber is A wafer gripper for holding the wafer when transferring the wafer placed on the load lock stage to the process chamber; A load lock swing arm supporting the wafer gripper; And And a rotating device for rotating the load lock swing arm laterally to transfer a wafer placed on the load lock stage into the process chamber. The method of claim 2, wherein the unload lock chamber is A wafer gripper for holding the wafer when the wafer having completed the semiconductor process is transferred from the process chamber to the unload lock chamber; An unload lock swing arm supporting the wafer gripper; And And a rotating device for rotating the unload lock swing arm laterally to transfer the wafer of the process chamber to the unload lock chamber. delete 3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising: a load lock swing arm for transversely rotating the wafer on the load lock stage into the process chamber; And And an unload lock swing arm for laterally rotating the wafer having completed the process in the process chamber and transferring the wafer to the cooling stage.