KR100666355B1 - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment of multi-layer structure and method for processing of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing facility of a multilayer structure having a plurality of processing units and a processing method thereof. The semiconductor manufacturing facility includes processing units having the same structure as the upper and lower layers. Therefore, in one flow recipe, the scheduling is optimized in real time to simultaneously process the wafers of one lot into the upper layer and / or the lower layer, and separately, thereby improving the process efficiency and productivity.

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment, multilayer structures, processing units, flow recipes, ports

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment of multi-layer structure and its processing method {SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT OF MULTI-LAYER STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING OF THE SAME}

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a general multilayer structure;

2A and 2B are views showing the process of inputting and processing into one of the upper and lower layers by one flow recipe of the semiconductor manufacturing facility shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a view showing a processing state in a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multilayer structure in which a plurality of processing units according to the present invention are identically configured; And

4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a multilayer structure according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: semiconductor manufacturing equipment

102: control unit (or scheduler)

104: indexer

106, 108: Coater / Developer Module

110: transfer passage

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a multilayer structure having a plurality of processing units and a processing method thereof.

First, a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multilayer structure in which a plurality of processing units are composed of multiple layers is a technology patented by the applicant, for example, Patent Registration No. 10-0348939 (Registration Date August 2, 2002). Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for photolithography process, and "spinner system used in semiconductor manufacturing process" of No. 10-387418 (Registration date June 2, 2003). Accordingly, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention relates to an improved invention of the above-described registered patents in order to improve the efficiency of the multilayer structure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 2 includes a local facility 6, 8 having a plurality of processing units on the left and right sides of the moving passage 12, including the upper layers 6a, 8a and the lower layers 6b, 8b. Are respectively provided. Then, the wafer is input from the indexer 4 having a plurality of ports (not shown) to process the process. It also includes an interface 10 for interfacing the wafers so that one flow is processed in conjunction with the left and right local installations 6 and 8 and inline installations (not shown).

For example, a spinner system of such a semiconductor manufacturing facility 2 provides a flow control method for one lot or a job with only one flow recipe to process the process. This means that even if the semiconductor manufacturing facility 2 has a multi-layer structure, i.e., the upper and lower layers, respectively, a plurality of processing units are configured in the same structure, as shown in Figs. For example, the wafers are not injected and discharged for each layer, but only one layer (ie, an upper layer or a lower layer) is injected. Therefore, despite the semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a multilayer structure, the treatment efficiency is reduced by the same treatment as the conventional single-layer equipment.

This is not a mechanical problem of semiconductor manufacturing equipment but a control problem for processing a process flow. Therefore, when a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multi-layer structure has the same structure in each of the upper and lower layers, work input and discharge must be performed at the same time for each layer, but it is not implemented as a control problem.

In addition, if you want to operate local equipment as a single module in a single direction in a semiconductor manufacturing system that operates the upper and lower layers separately with one recipe, create a new flow recipe for a single module and use it to operate the local equipment. Follows.

And when operating in the form of a task (or lot) written in a single module divided into upper or lower layers, it proceeds according to the registration order of the flow recipe in which the task priority is set, so that one or more tasks that fall behind the priority can be processed. Regardless of the flow, even if it is possible to proceed to the next module, it cannot proceed, resulting in waiting time. For example, even if the same flow recipe can be processed in the upper and lower layers, even if the upper layer (or lower layer) processes the process and the lower layer (or upper layer) is in the standby state, the wafer is not simultaneously introduced into each layer to generate the waiting time and There is a problem that the facility efficiency is lowered.

As described above, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the multilayer structure according to the prior art is determined according to the set flow recipe to determine the operation of the flow. In addition, the work progress priority of the determined flow recipe is determined according to the work registration order.

However, in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment that allows the upper and lower layers to proceed simultaneously, the flow recipe corresponding to each of the upper, lower, and upper layers must be rewritten, and the priorities of the tasks are determined in order of job registration. Because of this, there is a problem that waiting time may occur because a task progress cannot be inserted into a currently progressable module due to the priorities of prior tasks.

For example, one flow recipe is a port (indexer)-> first upper layer-> port-> first lower layer, and another flow recipe is treated as port-> second upper layer-> port-> second lower layer. If you want to process the first upper layer and the second lower layer sequentially, a new flow recipe (for example, port-> first upper layer-> port-> second lower layer or port-> first upper layer-> port, port) -> Second layer-> port, etc.)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem, and to provide a semiconductor manufacturing facility and a processing method thereof for controlling processing units having a multilayer structure using one flow recipe.

Another object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem, and to provide a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multilayer structure having the same processing units and a processing method thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, to provide a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a multi-layer structure for improving the efficiency and productivity of the equipment and its processing method.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention for achieving the above object is characterized by optimizing the priority of the flow recipe for local equipment having a plurality of processing units of the same configuration. According to this feature, the wafer is introduced in response to the priority of the optimized flow recipe, thereby improving the efficiency and productivity of the facility.

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes: an indexer having a plurality of ports including a wafer in a lot unit; At least one multi-layer local facility having a plurality of processing units for processing a process, the same being configured to receive a wafer from the indexer and process the process with the processing units; And a control unit for controlling the indexer to simultaneously input wafers from the indexer to each layer of the local facility when the local facility of each layer processes the process corresponding to the same flow recipe.

In one embodiment, the control part controls the work priority of the flow recipe, in particular when the wafer is introduced into the one of the local facilities by the flow recipe, an empty local one of the local facilities. It is determined whether there is a facility and if there is an empty local facility, the priority of the flow recipe is optimized to simultaneously feed wafers into the one local facility and the empty local facility.

In another embodiment, the one local facility is an upper / lower floor local facility and the empty local facility is a lower / top floor local facility.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a processing method of a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a plurality of local facilities having a plurality of local units configured in the same manner in multiple layers. According to this method, a wafer is introduced into one local facility using one flow recipe. At this time, it is determined whether there is an empty local facility among the local facilities. If there is an empty local one among the local ones, the priority of the flow recipe is optimized. The optimized flow recipe is then used to simultaneously feed wafers into the one local facility and the empty local facility.

In one embodiment, the treatment method; When the wafer is loaded, the local facilities into which the wafer is loaded process the wafer with the same process recipe, or when the wafer is loaded, the local facilities into which the wafer is loaded treats the wafer with different process recipes.

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

3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a multilayer structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 includes an indexer 104 having a plurality of ports (not shown) into which a wafer is loaded and unloaded, and a plurality of processing units (not shown) in the same configuration. Local facilities 106 and 108 having at least one multilayer structure, a transfer passage 110 including a plurality of wafer transfer devices (not shown), and a plurality of flow recipes according to a process are set, and a set flow A control unit (or scheduler) 102 controls the inter-floor flow of the local facilities 106 and 108 in response to the recipe.

For example, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 is a spinner system in which the coater / developer modules 106 and 108 are identically provided as upper and lower layers, respectively, to enable independent control. The flow of each layer is scheduled by the controller 102. In the process, the operation of the port, the wafer transfer device, and the like is prevented and processed to prevent mutual interference. In addition, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 processes a 300 mm wafer as a photolithography processing facility, and also forms a circuit pattern on the wafer by automatically transferring and controlling a series of processes such as photoresist coating, exposure, and development.

Specifically, each of the local installations 106, 108 consists of a plurality of processing units (not shown) consisting of hot plates (HP) and cool plates (CP) of 3 C (Coater) / 3 D (Developper) structure. And, loop wafer transfer prevents accurate process time and wafer congestion.

In addition, the control unit 102 controls the process of the indexer 104 and the local facilities 106 and 108 by setting and registering the job priority of the local facilities 106 and 108. That is, control the work priority of the flow recipe, and if the local facilities 106 and 108 of each floor process the process corresponding to the same flow recipe, respectively, from the indexer 104 to each floor of the local facilities 106 and 108. The indexer 104 is controlled to simultaneously input the wafer. In addition, the control unit 102 determines whether there is an empty local facility among the local facilities 106 and 108 when the wafer is injected into one of the local facilities 106 and 108 by one flow recipe. If there is an empty local facility, the flow recipe is optimized to inject wafers into one local facility and an empty local facility at the same time, and the indexer 104 is controlled using the optimized flow recipe.

For example, in a multi-layer semiconductor manufacturing facility having four ports in an indexer, referring to Table 1 below, in the prior art, the third port after the first and second port proceeds in the order of generating the work of the flow recipe. Proceed. That is, when the third port proceeds after the first and second port progress, the third port waits to increase the total waiting time of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment even though the time points at which each port is registered in the flow recipe are similar. This occurs when the waiting time does not proceed to the empty module, that is, the upper or lower layer.

port Progress module Work (lot) creation order and progress order Order of optimization after priority optimization First port Upper layer One One Second port Upper layer 2 2 Third port substratum 3 One 4th port substratum 4 2

However, after optimizing the priority of the work according to the present invention, the third port proceeds simultaneously when the wafer is inserted into the first port. Therefore, in the treatment method of the present invention, since the first and the third port proceed simultaneously, approximately twice as much production amount and the upper and lower layers are operated respectively, and almost two equipment effects can be obtained.

For example, when a work (or lot) is performed in a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multilayer structure, it is common to proceed with a work procedure set and registered in a flow recipe. Therefore, the port mode (port mode) operates with the configuration information for operating the upper, lower and upper and lower layers, it means to operate the ports using this configuration information.

However, the port mode has each flow in the upper and lower layers in one flow recipe. Therefore, when only the upper layer or the lower layer is to be processed as a flow recipe, control is required for this. Therefore, a new flow recipe corresponding to each single flow must be newly created and operated using the created flow recipe. It is also more efficient to combine existing flow recipes than to create and operate several flow recipes.

Therefore, when the same flow recipe is processed, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 of the multilayer structure of the present invention optimizes work priorities in real time to inject and operate wafers into upper, lower or upper layers.

This allows a flow to be determined (e.g., up, down, or up and down) in a port mode in order to allow a single flow recipe to operate only in a particular module, i.e., a single flow, in a facility system operating up and down, and a single flow. In order to minimize the waiting time due to progress, the progress of the preceding tasks and the flow recipe structure of the prior tasks are identified, and the task priority is rewritten or optimized. Of course, existing flow recipes can be maintained and the work flow sequence of a single flow can be optimized.

4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the multilayer structure according to the present invention. This procedure is a program processed by the controller 102, which is stored in a memory device (not shown) of the controller 102.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step S120, wafers in a unit of lot are introduced into one (upper or lower) local facility according to the work priority of one flow recipe.

When the wafer is loaded into one flow recipe in step S122, it is determined whether there is an empty local facility among the local facilities 106 and 108.

As a result of the determination, if there is an empty local facility, the procedure proceeds to step S124 to rewrite and optimize the priority of one flow recipe, and to use one local facility and an empty local area by using the optimized flow recipe in step S126. Simultaneously feed wafers into the facility.

Subsequently, in step S128, the process is processed in the processing units of the local facilities in which the wafer has been loaded in response to the process recipe of the same or different conditions. These flow recipes may have different flows for each of the upper and lower layers, and also have different process recipes, that is, working environments (eg, temperature, type of chemical, process progress, process conditions, etc.) of each processing unit. Can be.

If there is no empty local facility in step S122, the process proceeds to step S128 to process the process. That is, the wafer is processed in accordance with the priority of the current flow recipe to process the process.

As described above, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention is equipped with processing units having a multi-layered structure, and is controlled to be capable of processing independently in units of each layer, thereby efficiently operating the equipment.

For example, the upper and lower layers are composed of processing units having the same structure, and each floor is scheduled with one flow recipe in one local facility, that is, a module concept, so that the priority of work can be scheduled by using only 6 C (Coating) 6 D (Developing). Facility implementation is possible.

Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention proceeds by simultaneously inserting wafers of one lot into the upper and lower layers, thereby theoretically reducing the time required for one lot in half, thereby improving the facility efficiency by about 200%. That is, since the semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a plurality of local equipments among the track equipments can proceed simultaneously in the upper and lower layers as one single equipment, the effects of two equipments can be obtained.

Therefore, a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a multi-layered structure having local facilities including a plurality of processing units of the present invention allows the flow to be determined on a port when operating the upper and lower layers simultaneously with one flow recipe, thereby maintaining the existing flow recipe. Production can be optimized by allowing wafers to be simultaneously loaded into the top, bottom and / or top and bottom layers and re-establishing job priorities during job registration to minimize the waiting time incurred when operating by the job registration sequence. It can be doubled, and the effect of two units can be seen in one unit.

As described above, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention can minimize the work waiting time by inserting and conveying wafers by optimizing the flow recipe to local equipment having a multilayer structure having a plurality of processing units in the same configuration. .

In addition, the efficiency of the facility is increased by controlling the scaling of multi-storey local installations using optimized flow recipes.

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Claims (7)

In semiconductor manufacturing equipment: An indexer having a plurality of ports having a wafer in a lot unit; At least one multi-layer local facility having a plurality of processing units for processing a process identically configured in an upper layer and a lower layer, receiving a wafer from the indexer and processing the process in the processing units; And a control unit for controlling the wafer to be simultaneously introduced into the upper and lower local facilities when the upper and lower layers each process a process corresponding to the same flow recipe. The method of claim 1, The control unit is a semiconductor manufacturing equipment, characterized in that for controlling the work priority of the flow recipe. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The control unit; When the wafer is introduced into one of the local facilities by the flow recipe, it is determined whether there is an empty local facility among the local facilities, and if there is an empty local facility, the one local facility And optimizing the priority of the flow recipe to simultaneously feed wafers into the empty local facility. The method of claim 3, wherein And wherein said one local facility is a local facility of an upper / lower layer, and said empty local facility is a local facility of a lower or higher layer. In the method of processing a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a plurality of local facilities in a plurality of layers having the same configuration as a plurality of processing units: Injecting the wafer into one local facility using one flow recipe; Determining whether there is an empty local facility among the local facilities; If there is an empty local one of the local facilities, optimizing the priority of the flow recipe; And injecting a wafer into the one local facility and the empty local facility simultaneously using the optimized flow recipe. The method of claim 5, The processing method is; And processing the wafer with the same process recipe when the wafer is loaded, the local facilities loaded with the wafer. The method of claim 5, The processing method is; And processing the wafer with different process recipes when the wafer is loaded and the local facilities into which the wafer is loaded.

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