KR100598919B1 - Wet station with double bath and method to operating for double bath thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wet station having a dual treatment tank using continuously the same chemical liquid and a method for operating the dual treatment tank thereof. The wet station determines the life counter and the life time characteristics of the first and second treatment tanks that are continuously provided and are treated with the same chemical solution, and the first and second chemical solutions that are introduced into the first and second treatment tanks, When the chemical liquid of any one of the processing tank of the replacement of the control tank for controlling the input of the wafer into the other processing tank, the wafer is always available to be injected. Therefore, according to the present invention, the wafer input time and the chemical liquid replacement time are determined using the life counter and the life time, and the state in which the wafer can be inserted at all times is improved, thereby improving productivity and process performance.

Semiconductor manufacturing facilities, batch wet stations, dual treatment tanks, wafers, chemicals

Description

WET STATION WITH DOUBLE BATH AND METHOD TO OPERATING FOR DOUBLE BATH THEREOF}

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a wet station of the present invention;

2A-2C illustrate various configurations in accordance with the processing of the bath system shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a view showing a logic table for determining a wafer input and chemical liquid replacement time according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart showing a wafer input and chemical liquid replacement procedure of the wet station according to the present invention; And

5 is a view showing a sequential operation state for the wafer input and chemical liquid replacement of the dual treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: wafer 100: wet station

102: control system 104: controller

106: memory 110, 110a ~ 110c: bath system

112: treatment tank 114: transfer robot

120 to 126, 140 to 142: double treatment tank

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to semiconductor fabrication equipment, and more particularly to batch wet stations and doubles thereof having a double bath using the same chemicals for semiconductor fabrication process processing. It relates to an operation method for wafer input and chemical liquid replacement in a treatment tank.

In general, the wet station of a semiconductor manufacturing facility is a batch processing facility, which includes a plurality of baths according to a semiconductor manufacturing process, and uses the same to set a configuration of a processing tank for various manufacturing processes. Batch sequentially.

The batch wet station sets the configuration so that two treatment tanks for processing the process using the same chemical liquid among the treatment tanks for the purpose of improving throughput. At this time, the chemical liquid has characteristics such as a Life Counter (LC) for supplying the treatment tank to indicate the number of times of use, and a Life Time (LT) for elapsed time to be supplied to the treatment tank. To manage the use of chemicals. For example, the SC-1 series has 10 life counters and a life time of 360 minutes, and the H2SO4 series has 50 life counters and a life time of 1440 minutes. Therefore, the nature of these chemicals is an important factor to be monitored for improved process processing.

In general, in a batch wet station, dual treatment tanks using the same chemical liquid are each treated with chemical liquids of different life counters and lifetimes, so when the wafer is processed from the previous treatment tank to the next treatment tank, the wafer is introduced into one of the processing tanks. Process characteristics will vary depending on whether or not the treatment liquid needs to be replaced. Therefore, during the process, it is very difficult to determine the wafer input or chemical liquid replacement in the dual treatment tank.

In addition, the batch-type wet station interposed the double treatment tank once each and introduced the wafer. However, in this case, since the dual treatment tanks replace the chemical liquid with one life counter difference from each other in the last process treatment, the chemical liquids of either the treatment tank or the dual treatment tank of the dual treatment tank may be replaced at the same time. The phenomenon that the wafer can not be inserted during the required time has occurred. As a result, process management becomes difficult, and the wafer is placed in a standby state for a time required for chemical liquid change, thereby lowering productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an apparatus for operating a dual treatment tank for wafer input and / or chemical replacement in a batch type wet station having a dual treatment tank using the same chemical liquid. .

Another object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, in a batch wet station having a dual treatment tank using the same chemical solution, to provide a method of operating a dual treatment tank for wafer input and / or chemical replacement.

Another object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, to provide a batch-type wet station and a method of operating the same to improve productivity by efficiently treating the operation of the dual treatment tank using the same chemical liquid.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a batch type wet station includes: first and second treatment tanks which are continuously provided and treated with the same chemical liquid; The life counter and the life time characteristics of the first and second chemical liquids introduced into the first and second treatment tanks are determined, and when the chemical liquid of any one of the first and second treatment tanks is replaced, the other It includes a control unit for controlling the input of the wafer into the treatment tank to ensure that the wafer is always inserted.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the control unit is provided with a programmable logic controller.

When the life counters of the first and second chemical liquids are the same, the controller controls the wafer to be introduced into a processing tank having a small life time of the first and second chemical liquids. The control unit may further include the first and second chemical liquids when the life counters of the first and second chemical liquids are less than half of the life counter when the life counters of the first and the second chemical liquids are not the same. If the wafer is introduced into the new chemical liquid, and at least one of the life counters of the first and second chemical liquids is at least half of the life counter, the life counter of the first and the second chemical liquids is larger in the processing tank. Control to input.

According to another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, the operation method of the dual treatment tank of the batch-type wet station having a dual treatment tank including the first and the second treatment tank using the same chemical liquid continuously, Processing the wafer in a processing tank prior to the dual processing tank; Life counter and lifetime characteristics of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks may be changed in order to insert the wafer into one of the first and second processing tanks or to replace any of the processing liquids. Determining each; As a result of the determination, when replacing the chemical liquid of any one of the chemical liquid of the first and the second processing tank, the step of introducing the wafer into the other processing tank.

In the preferred embodiment of the present aspect, the determining may include comparing the quotient and the remainder of the value obtained by dividing the life counters of the chemical liquids of the first and second treatment tanks in half of the life counters, respectively, and the first and the The wafer is introduced into one of the second treatment tanks or the chemical liquid is replaced. At this time, injecting the wafer, when the share of the first processing tank and the second processing tank is "0", the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of the smaller one, and the share of the first and the second processing tank. When all of these are "1", the wafer is introduced into the larger processing tank, and when the share of the first processing tank is "1" and the share of the second processing tank is "0", the wafer is transferred to the first processing tank. Input the wafer, and when the share of the first processing tank is "0" and the share of the second processing tank is "1", the wafer is introduced into the second processing tank, and the share of the first and the second processing tank When the remainder is the same, it is preferable to inject the wafer into a processing tank having a smaller life time of the chemical liquid.

In addition, when the wafer is introduced, the life counters of the first and second processing tanks are updated, and when the chemicals of the first and second processing tanks reach the life counters, the chemicals of the processing tanks are replaced.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, when the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks are all less than half of the life counter, the life counter puts the wafer into the smaller processing tank, and the first and second processing tanks are used. If at least one of them is more than half of the life counter, the life counter inputs the wafer to the larger processing tank to up-count the life counter, and when the processing tank of the up-counted life counter reaches the chemical liquid replacement time, Replace the chemicals in the counted treatment bath.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the wafer input and chemical liquid replacement time are determined using the life counter and the life time, and the wafer is inserted into the dual treatment tank or the chemical liquid is replaced, so that the chemical liquid replacement timing does not overlap between the dual treatment tanks, and the wafer is always Maintain ready-to-feed status.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a batch wet station of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wet station 100 is, for example, a batch wet station that processes pre-diffusion cleaning of a wafer, silicon oxide film, nitride film etching, a resist strip process, and the like. Transfer robots (114 in FIGS. 2A to 2C) for transferring the wafers 10 and the wafers (10 in FIGS. 2A to 2C) and feeding them into the treatment tank 112 or conveying the wafer 10 from the processing tank 112. A treatment tank system 110 including a chemical liquid supply system 108 for supplying and discharging the chemical liquid to the treatment tank 112 and a control system 102 for controlling overall operations of the wet station 100. Include.

The treatment tank system 110 includes a plurality of treatment tanks 112, at least one of which injects the wafer 10 into the treatment tank 112 corresponding to various processes and processes the corresponding processes using the same chemical liquid. Dual treatment tanks (120, 122, 124 or 126).

The chemical liquid supply system 108 is a typical chemical liquid supply system, including, for example, a pipe, a pump, a valve, a heater, and the like, to supply or discharge chemical liquid to the treatment tanks of the treatment tank system 110.

In addition, the control system 102 may include, for example, an operator interface device such as a programmable logic controller (PLC) or a computer, and includes the treatment tank system 110 and the chemical liquid supply system 108. It is connected via an internal bus or network to control their overall operation. The control system 102 includes a controller 104 and a memory 106.

In particular, according to the present invention, the control system 102 uses the life counter (LC) and life time (LT) characteristics of the chemical liquid to insert the wafer into the dual treatment tank or determine the replacement time of the chemical liquid. For example, the SC-1 family has 10 life counters and 360 minutes of life, while the H2SO4 family has 50 life counters and 1440 minutes.

First, the life counter (LC) for the chemical liquid in the double treatment tank is divided by half (LC / 2) of the life counter to find the quotient and remainder. At this time, dividing the life counter LC in half utilizes a phenomenon in which the remainder when not divided and when divided is reversed.

This phenomenon occurs in the life counter LC when the share of all the dual treatment tanks is "0", when the share of the first treatment tank is "1", and when the share of the second treatment tank is "0", the share of the second treatment tank. Is " 1 ", the share of the first treatment tank is " 0 ", the share of all the dual treatment tanks is " 1 ", and the share and the remainder of the dual treatment tank are the same.

Therefore, when the share of both the first and second processing tanks is "0", the wafer is introduced into the smaller processing tank of the first and second processing tanks, the share of the first processing tank is "1", and When the share is "0", the wafer is introduced into the first treatment tank. Moreover, when the share of a 2nd processing tank is "1" and the share of a 1st processing tank is "0", it inputs into a 2nd processing tank, and when the share of both 1st and 2nd processing tanks is "1", the remainder is larger. The wafer is put into a treatment tank of. When the quotient and the remainder of the first and second processing tanks are the same, the life time of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks is compared, and the wafer is introduced into the processing tank having the smaller life time.

As a result, when the wafer is added and the chemical liquid replacement time is determined according to the above-described case, when the wafer is inserted into the processing tank or the chemical liquid is replaced, the chemical liquid replacement timing does not overlap between the dual processing tanks, and the wafer can be always inserted. . Therefore, the wet station of the present invention does not need to put the wafer on standby even during the chemical replacement time. In addition, the wet station may improve the process performance by first using a new chemical in the dual treatment tank, it is possible to fundamentally prevent the life counter and life time of the chemical over.

2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating various embodiments according to a treatment process of the treatment tank system shown in FIG. 1. These figures show some configurations of treatment tank systems according to different processes, each of which includes at least one dual treatment tank using the same chemical liquid.

That is, referring to FIG. 2A, the treatment tank system 110a is configured to, for example, process a photo process, and has a dual treatment tank 120 using the same chemical liquid of the H 2 SO 4 series. Referring to FIG. 2B, the treatment tank system 110b is configured to, for example, process a photo process, and has a dual treatment tank 122 using the same chemical liquid of the SC-1 series.

2C, the treatment tank system 110c is configured to process a strip process, for example, using two dual treatment tanks 124 and 126 using the same chemical liquid of the H 2 SO 4 series and the SC-1 series. Have

Therefore, when the processing tank system 110 (110a to 110c) is completed in the processing tank prior to the dual treatment tank, the wafer 10 is input by determining the chemical liquid characteristics (ie, life counter and life time) of the next dual treatment tank. And / or by adjusting the replacement time of the chemical solution to process the process, it is possible to efficiently control the process processing time, such as the wafer input and / or drug replacement of the dual treatment tank.

3 is a view showing a logic table for determining the wafer input and chemical liquid replacement time according to the present invention. The wafer input in the dual treatment tank of the present invention is based on the preferential use of a new chemical liquid in order to have excellent process characteristics. And when the chemical liquid replacement is necessary, in order to eliminate the waiting time due to chemical liquid replacement, the life counter and the life time of the dual treatment tank are determined, and when the wafer is introduced into one treatment tank, the other treatment tank simultaneously replaces the chemical liquid.

Referring to FIG. 3, the logical table divides the life counter LC of each chemical liquid of the dual treatment tank into half of the life counter LC, and uses the shares 130, 134 and the remainder 132, 136 in the wafer. The selection 138 of the treatment tank to be added is indicated.

That is, the chemical liquid of the first treatment tank BATH1 and the second treatment tank BATH2 has, for example, ten life counters LC. Thus, dividing this by half, and dividing the life counter (LC) by using '5', you can get the quotient and remainder of the current chemical.

If the life counter LC of the current chemical liquid is less than half, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of the smaller life counter LC. If the life counter LC is more than half, the life counter LC is larger. The wafer is introduced into the treatment tank. This is done using experience data to optimize wafer loading and chemical change.

Specifically, when the quotients 130 and 134 of the value obtained by dividing the life counter LC by the half of the life counter LC are compared, when the first and second treatment tanks BATH1 and BATH2 have a quotient of '0', , Put the wafer in the smaller side. When the share of the first treatment tank BATH1 is '1' and the share of the second treatment tank BATH2 is '0', the wafer is introduced into the first treatment tank BATH1. When the share of the second processing tank BATH is '1' and the share of the first processing tank BATH1 is '0', the wafer is introduced into the second processing tank BATH2. When both of the first and second processing tanks BHT1 and BATH2 have a '1' share, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of the larger one. In addition, when the share and remainder of the first and second processing tanks BHT1 and BATH2 are the same, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank having the smaller lifetime LT by comparing the lifetime LT of the chemical liquid.

As a result, when the life counter LC of the first and second treatment tanks BHT1 and BATH2 is less than half, the new chemical liquid is preferentially used, and either one of the first and second treatment tanks BHT1 and BATH2 is used. Is more than half, the wafer is put into the processing tank with the larger life counter. When the wafer is loaded, the life counter LC of the processing tank chemical is up counted, and when the up counted chemical reaches the life counter LC, that is, 10 times, the chemical is replaced. Thus, while one treatment tank is processing, the other can replace the chemical liquid. In addition, by processing the process by another treatment tank during the chemical liquid replacement time, it is possible to eliminate the waiting time due to chemical liquid replacement.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a wafer input and chemical liquid replacement procedure of the wet station according to the present invention. This procedure is a program processed by the controller 104 of the control system 102, which is stored in the memory 106.

Referring to the figure, the control system 102 determines whether the next treatment tank is a double treatment tank using the same chemical liquid in step S202 when the process of the previous treatment tank (process tank) is completed in step S200. As a result of the determination, if it is the dual processing tank, the procedure proceeds to step S204 to determine the processing tank for wafer input and / or chemical liquid replacement using the life counter LC and the life time LT of the dual processing tank. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the treatment tank to insert the wafer and the treatment tank to replace the chemical liquid are determined using the life counter LC and the life time LT of the chemical liquids supplied to the dual treatment tank. As a result of the discrimination, if the next processing tank is not a dual processing tank using the same chemical liquid, the procedure proceeds to step S212 where the wafer is fed into the next processing tank and the subsequent process is performed.

Subsequently, in step S206, the wafer is introduced into one of the dual treatment tanks, and when the other of the dual treatment tanks is the time to replace the chemical liquid in step S208, the chemical liquid of the corresponding treatment tank is replaced in step S210. In this case, if chemical liquid replacement is not necessary, the flow advances to step S204 to proceed to the next step. Although the steps S208 and S210 are sequentially displayed, it is preferable that the steps S208 and S210 are performed simultaneously in time.

In addition, in the above steps (S206 ~ S210), the processing tank into which the wafer is put in advance to use the new chemical solution to improve the process performance, and essentially blocks the case where the life counter and / or life time is exceeded. In particular, during the chemical liquid replacement time of one of the dual treatment tanks, the wafer is introduced into the other treatment tank to eliminate the waiting time.

Therefore, the wet station of the present invention can inject the wafer into any one of the dual processing tanks by preventing the chemical liquid replacement timing between the processing tanks of the dual processing tanks from overlapping.

Subsequently, FIG. 5 is a view illustrating wafer injection and chemical liquid replacement according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, it is assumed on the assumption that the SC-1 series of chemicals, that is, the life counter, is 10 times, and the time required for replacing the chemicals is between 4 run inputs. In the case of the same life counter, it is assumed that the life time of the first processing tank is small.

Referring to the drawings, the dual processing tank having the first and second processing tanks 140 and 142, as shown in FIG. 3, divides the quotient and the remainder of the life counter LC divided by half of the life counter LC. Use to determine wafer input and chemical liquid replacement. Here, the numbers (0 to 9) displayed inside the treatment tank indicate the life counter LC of the chemical liquid currently being processed, the arrow indicates the current wafer input state, and the symbol '×' indicates chemical liquid replacement.

When the life counter LC of the 1st processing tank 140 and the 2nd processing tank 142 is "0", a wafer is input to the 1st processing tank 140 by life time, ie, a small life time. When the life counter LC of the first processing tank 140 is up counted so that the life counter LC is '1' and the life counter LC of the second processing tank 142 is '0', the wafer is removed. 2 is injected into the treatment tank 142.

By repeating this procedure, when the life counters LC of the first and second processing tanks 140 and 142 are both less than half of the life counters LC (in this case, '5'), the life counters LC become smaller. Insert the wafer. If the life counters are the same, the wafer is put in the smaller life time. That is, when the life counters LC of the first and second processing tanks 140 and 142 are both '4', the wafer is introduced into the first processing tank 140 having a small life time LT, and the first The life counter LC of the processing tank 140 is counted up to '5'.

Thereafter, when the life counter LC of any of the first and second processing tanks 140 and 142 becomes more than half of the life counter LC, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank with the larger life counter LC. do. If the life counters LC of the first and second processing tanks 140 and 142 become '9' and '4' by repeating this procedure, the wafer is introduced into the second processing tank 142 in the next procedure. At the same time, the chemical liquid of the first treatment tank 140 is replaced. Since the chemical liquid replacement time takes place between four run inputs, the second treatment tank 142 until the chemical liquid of the first treatment tank 140 is completely replaced, that is, until the life counter LC becomes '7'. Insert the wafer into The time required for chemical liquid replacement is, for example, about 20 spares, and according to the related art, the wafer is kept in the standby state during this time. However, according to the present invention, the chemical liquid replacement time is inputted to the second processing tank 142. The process can be processed. Thereafter, the wafer is introduced or the chemical is replaced using the life counter LC and the life time LT in the same manner.

As described above, the batch-type wet station of the present invention improves productivity and process performance by processing the process by adjusting the wafer input and chemical liquid replacement time of the dual treatment tank using the same chemical liquid continuously.

In addition, by accurately determining the replacement time of the chemical liquid using the life counter and the life time, it is possible to provide an environmentally friendly semiconductor manufacturing equipment which minimizes the amount of the chemical liquid and has less waste liquid treatment.

Claims (9)

In a batch wet station: First and second treatment tanks continuously provided and treated with the same chemical liquid; The life counter and the life time characteristics of the first and second chemical liquids introduced into the first and second treatment tanks are determined, and when the chemical liquid of any one of the first and second treatment tanks is replaced, the other And a control unit for controlling the wafer to be introduced into the processing tank so that the wafer is always loaded. The method of claim 1, The control station is a wet station, characterized in that provided as a programmable logic controller. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The control unit; And when the life counters of the first and second chemical liquids are the same, the wafer is introduced into a processing tank having a small life time of the first and second chemical liquids. The method of claim 3, wherein The control unit; When the life counters of the first and the second chemicals are not the same, if both the life counters of the first and the second chemicals are less than half of the life counters, the wafer is filled with the new chemicals of the first and the second chemicals. Put it in, When at least one of the life counters of the said 1st and said 2nd chemical liquids is more than half of a life counter, it is controlled so that the life counters of a said 1st and said 2nd chemical liquids may inject a wafer into a larger processing tank. Wet station. A method of operating the dual treatment tank of a batch wet station having a dual treatment tank comprising first and second treatment tanks using the same chemical liquid continuously; Determining whether a next processing tank for processing a subsequent process of a wafer is the dual processing tank; If the next treatment tank is the dual treatment tank, determining a life counter and a life time characteristic of the chemical liquids of the first and second treatment tanks, respectively; As a result of the determination, if the life counter and life time characteristics of the chemical liquids need to replace the chemical liquid of any one of the chemical liquids of the first and second treatment tanks, the chemical liquid of the one treatment tank is replaced, and the replacement Injecting the wafer into the other processing tank for a period of time; In the step of injecting the wafer, if the life counters of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks are the same, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank having a small life time of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks, If the life counters of the chemicals of the first and the second treatment tanks are not the same, when the life counters of the chemicals of the first and the second treatment tanks are less than half of the life counters of the chemicals, the life counter is smaller. And injecting the wafer into the processing tank, and when the life counter is larger than half, feeding the wafer into the processing tank of the larger life counter. The method of claim 5, The determining step includes; Comparing the quotient and the remainder of the life counter of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks divided by half of the life counters, respectively, injecting the wafer into one of the first and second processing tanks or replacing the chemical liquids. Dual processing tank operating method of the wet station. The method of claim 6, Inputting the wafer; When the quotient of the value obtained by dividing the life counter of the chemical liquid of the first processing tank and the second processing tank by half of the life counter is "0", the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of the smaller one, When the quotient of the value obtained by dividing the life counters of the chemical liquids of the first and second processing tanks by half of the life counters is "1", the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of the larger one, The quotient of the life counter of the chemical liquid of the first treatment tank divided by half of each life counter is "1", and the quotient of the life counter of the chemical liquid of the second treatment tank divided by half of the life counter respectively is "0". When the wafer is put into the first processing tank, The share of the life counter of the chemical liquid of the first treatment tank divided by half of the life counter is "0", and the share of the life counter of the chemical liquid of the second treatment tank divided by half of the life counter is "1". When the wafer is put into the second processing tank, And when the life counter of the chemical liquid of the first and second treatment tanks is divided by the half of the life counter and the remainder is the same, the wafer is introduced into the processing tank of a smaller life time of the chemical liquid. How to operate the dual treatment tank in the wet station. The method according to claim 5 or 6, Updating the life counters of the first and second processing tanks when the wafer is loaded; and replacing the chemicals of the processing tanks when the chemicals of the first and second processing tanks reach the life counter. How to operate the dual treatment tank in the wet station. delete

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