KR101842039B1 - Method of transferring wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

The method of treating the wafer includes determining whether the chamber is in progress, determining the number of standby wafers in the system, withdrawing the wafer, and transferring the withdrawn wafer to a chamber where processing is to be performed. The step of withdrawing the wafer draws out one wafer to be processed when the chamber is in process and there is no standby wafer in the system. When the chamber is in process and there is a standby wafer in the system, the wafer is not withdrawn. When the chamber is not in process and there is no standby wafer in the system, the two wafers to be processed are taken out. If the chamber is not in process and the number of standby wafers in the system is two or more, the wafer is not withdrawn. If the chamber is not in process and there is only one standby wafer in the system, one wafer is taken out of the wafer to be processed.

Description

[0001] METHOD OF TRANSFERRING WAFER [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a wafer processing method, and more particularly, to a wafer processing method for semiconductor wafers.

Generally, the number of wafers to be loaded in a multi-chamber system for performing a plurality of processes simultaneously is judged based on on-line chambers. For example, in a multi-chamber system having a chamber for three A-processes and a chamber for one B-process, wafers for three A-process and one B-process are sequentially taken out and transferred to each chamber . According to this method, the process time is different according to each chamber, and the time taken to take out the wafer is different, so that a transfer accumulation may occur between the wafers in the wafer transfer line. Accordingly, there is a problem that the supply of an appropriate wafer to the empty chamber is not smooth due to the accumulated standby wafer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of processing wafers capable of minimizing the transfer of wafers by a standby wafer in a multi-chamber system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a wafer, the method comprising: determining whether a chamber is being processed; determining a number of standby wafers in the system; withdrawing a wafer; And transferring the wafer to a chamber where processing is to be performed. The step of withdrawing the wafer draws out one wafer to be processed when the chamber is in process and there is no standby wafer in the system. When the chamber is in process and there is a standby wafer in the system, the wafer is not withdrawn. When the chamber is not in process and there is no standby wafer in the system, the two wafers to be processed are taken out. If the chamber is not in process and the number of standby wafers in the system is two or more, the wafer is not withdrawn. If the chamber is not in process and there is only one standby wafer in the system, one wafer is taken out of the wafer to be processed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the method of treating a wafer may further comprise transferring the withdrawn wafer to the chamber. The chamber includes first, second, and third chambers performing the same process, wherein the wafer drawn to perform the same process is placed on a first, second, third, third, first, second , The first, second, third, third, first and second chambers.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the processing method can reduce the deterioration of the overall process efficiency in accordance with the conveyance complexity of the wafer, by keeping one wafer per chamber in the standby wafer.

Further, it is possible to reduce the deterioration in the overall process efficiency due to the conveyed load during the chamber matching of the drawn wafer.

1 is a top view of a multi-chamber system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a wafer processing method using the multi-chamber system of FIG.
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing wafer processing through the wafer processing method of Fig. 2;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are enlarged to illustrate the present invention in order to clarify the present invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a part or a combination thereof is described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

1 is a top view of a multi-chamber system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the multi-chamber system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a first transport unit 110, a first buffer space 120, a second buffer space 130, a second transport unit 140, A third buffer space 150, a third transport unit 160, and first through fourth chambers 170, 180, 190, and 200.

The first transfer unit 110 includes a first transfer robot 115 and is connected to a load port 112 including a carrier 112. Therefore, the wafer 101 loaded on the carrier 112 can be transferred to the first or second buffer space 120, 130 by the first transfer robot 115. The first conveying robot 115 may be configured as a robot having one arm structure. In the present embodiment, a robot having one arm structure is used. However, in addition to the single arm structure, various robots used in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor wafer can be used. For example, a robot having an arm of a double blade structure capable of handling two wafers as one arm, a robot having two or more arms, or a robot employing them in combination may be used.

The first buffer space 120 is connected to the first transfer unit 110 and can store the wafer 101 waiting for a process transferred from the first transfer robot 115. One buffer space can generally accommodate one wafer, but may be formed to accommodate two or more wafers for efficient space utilization as needed.

The second buffer space 130 is connected to the first buffer space 120 and accommodates the wafers 101 waiting for a process transferred from the first transfer robot 115. One buffer space can generally accommodate one wafer, but may be formed to accommodate two or more wafers for efficient space utilization as needed.

The second transfer unit 140 is connected to the second buffer space 130, the third buffer space 150, the first chamber 170 and the second chamber 180, (145). The wafer 101 accommodated in the first or second buffer space 120 or 130 is transferred to the first chamber 170, the second chamber 180, or the second chamber 180 by the second transfer robot 145, 3 < / RTI > buffer space 150 as shown in FIG. The second transport robot 145 may be configured as a robot having one arm structure. Although a robot having one arm structure is used in the present embodiment, various robots used in a conventional manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers other than the single arm structure can be used. For example, a robot having an arm of a double blade structure capable of handling two wafers as one arm, a robot having two or more arms, or a robot employing them in combination may be used.

The third buffer space 150 is connected to the second transfer unit 140 and the third transfer unit 160 and is connected to the third transfer unit 160. The third buffer space 150 is connected to the second transfer unit 140 and the third transfer unit 160, The wafer 101 can be housed. One buffer space can generally accommodate one wafer, but may be formed to accommodate two or more wafers for efficient space utilization as needed.

The third transport unit 160 is connected to the third buffer space 150, the third chamber 180 and the fourth chamber 190 and includes a third transport robot 165. The wafer 101 stored in the third buffer space 150 can be transferred to the third chamber 180 or the fourth chamber 190 by the third transfer robot 165. [ The third conveying robot 165 may be configured as a robot having one arm structure. Although a robot having one arm structure is used in the present embodiment, various robots used in a conventional manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers other than the single arm structure can be used. For example, a robot having an arm of a double blade structure capable of handling two wafers as one arm, a robot having two or more arms, or a robot employing them in combination may be used.

The first to fourth chambers 170, 180, 190, and 200 may be configured to perform various processes on the wafer. For example, the first to fourth chambers 170, 180, 190, 200 may be a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) chamber configured to deposit an insulating film and may be a physical vapor deposition (PVD) ) Chamber. Or an etching process for performing an etching process.

The multi-chamber system 100 according to the present embodiment may include a gate valve 210. The gate valve 210 is connected to the first transfer part 110 and the first buffer space 120, the first buffer space 120 and the second buffer space 130, And the second and third chambers 170 and 180 and the third and fourth chambers 170 and 160 and the third and fourth chambers 170 and 180. The second transfer section 140, the second transfer section 140, the first and second chambers 170 and 180, The first and second electrodes 190 and 200 may be formed. The gate valve 210 may be properly opened and closed to regulate the pressure between the adjacent chambers, the carry section or the buffer spaces.

Although the multi-chamber system 100 according to the present embodiment has been described as being composed of three buffer spaces, three transport sections, and four chambers, the buffer space and the transport sections may be appropriately deformed . For example, in the case of a multi-chamber system including six chambers, one buffer space and one transport section may be extended to the third transport section 160 as compared with the present embodiment.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a wafer processing method using the multi-chamber system of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, a wafer transfer method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step S100 of determining whether a chamber is in progress, a step S200 of determining whether a process is in progress, (S320). If the wafer is not in process, it is determined whether there are two or more waiting wafers (S322). If the process is not in progress, A step S400 of withdrawing the wafer according to the number of wafers and a step S500 of transferring the drawn wafer. Hereinafter, wafer transfer at each step will be described with reference to the first chamber.

In step S100 of determining whether or not the chamber is being processed, it is determined whether the wafer is being processed in the first chamber 170. If the process is in progress, the process proceeds to step S300 in which it is determined whether there is a waiting wafer in the process. Otherwise, if it is not in process, the process proceeds to step S320 .

In the step S300 of determining whether there is a waiting wafer when the process is in progress, it is determined whether there is a waiting wafer corresponding to the process in which the first chamber 170 is in progress. If there is a waiting wafer, the process is terminated. If there is no waiting wafer, the process advances to step S400 in which the wafer is taken out according to the process progress and the number of waiting wafers.

If it is determined that there is a standby wafer in step S320, it is determined whether there is a standby wafer corresponding to a process in which the first chamber 170 is in progress. If there is a waiting wafer, the process proceeds to step S322 in which it is determined whether there are two or more waiting wafers. If there is no waiting wafer, the step of withdrawing the wafer according to the process progress and the number of waiting wafers (S400).

In step S322 of determining whether there are two or more waiting wafers, it is determined whether there are two or more standby wafers corresponding to the process in which the first chamber 170 is in progress. Accordingly, if two or more standby wafers are present, the process is terminated. If the standby wafers are not two or more, the process proceeds to step S400 in which the wafer is taken out according to the progress of the process and the number of waiting wafers.

In step S400 of fetching the wafer according to the progress of the process and the number of waiting wafers, an appropriate number of wafers are taken out according to the progress of the process and the number of waiting wafers. If the process is in progress in the chamber and there is no waiting wafer in the process, one wafer of the process is taken out. If the process is not in progress in the chamber and there is no waiting wafer in the process, two wafers of the process are taken out. If the process is not in progress in the chamber, and there are waiting wafers in the process and there are not more than two wafers in the process, one wafer of the process is taken out. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S500 of transferring the drawn-out wafer.

In the step of transferring the drawn-out wafer (S500), the drawn-out wafer is transferred to the chamber of the corresponding process. The transfer of the drawn wafer to the empty chamber for each corresponding process can be carried out in consideration of preventing the waiting wafer from being laid. For example, when the first and third chambers perform the same process, the first, second, third, first, second, and third chambers may be repeatedly inserted. In order to increase the process efficiency, the first, second, third, third, first, second, first, second, third, third, first and second chambers may be sequentially introduced .

When the series of steps is performed, the same process is performed for the next chamber. For example, the same steps may be sequentially performed on the second chamber, the third chamber, and the fourth chamber 180, 190, 200 after the steps for the first chamber 170 are performed. The order of the chambers in which the steps are performed may be suitably arranged to prevent the accumulation of the atmospheric wafers.

According to the wafer transfer method as described above, the multi-chamber system 100 according to the present embodiment can maintain the number of standby wafers per process in the system to one. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently transfer the wafers by eliminating the waiting wafers that are unnecessarily large in number compared to the number of spare chambers.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing wafer processing through the wafer processing method of Fig. 2;

Referring to FIG. 3, wafer transfer in the first and second chambers when the wafer is in process and the third and fourth chambers are empty will be exemplified. In the present embodiment, the first to third chambers are chambers for the A process, and the fourth chambers are chambers for the B process.

According to the step of determining whether or not the process is proceeding with respect to the first chamber, if it is determined that the process is proceeding, the wafer A1 is being processed. In addition, since there is no waiting wafer on the multi-chamber system, one wafer A3 is taken out from the carrier 114 of the load port 112. [

At this time, the drawn wafer A3 is transferred to the chamber for performing the A process, for example, if the first and second chambers are in process and the third chamber is empty, the wafer is transferred to the third chamber to proceed with the process .

Thereafter, according to the step of discriminating whether or not the process is proceeding with respect to the second chamber, if it is determined that the process is proceeding, the wafer A2 is being processed. In addition, since there is no wafer waiting on the multi-chamber system, one wafer A4 is taken out from the carrier 114 of the load port 112.

At this time, the drawn wafer A4 is transferred to the chamber for performing the A process. For example, if the first, second, and third chambers are in process, there is no chamber to process the A process.

Thereafter, according to the step of determining whether the process is proceeding with respect to the third chamber, whether the process is proceeded or not is judged, the wafer A3 is under process. In addition, since there is one wafer (A4) waiting on the multi-chamber system, the wafer is not taken out.

Thereafter, according to the step of determining the progress of the process with respect to the fourth chamber, if the process progress is determined, the process does not proceed. In addition, since there are no wafers waiting on the multi-chamber system, two wafers B1 and B2 are taken out from the carrier 114 of the load port 112. [

At this time, the drawn wafer B1 is transferred to the chamber for performing the B process, for example, when the fourth chamber is empty, the wafer is transferred to the fourth chamber and the process proceeds. On the other hand, another drawn-out wafer B2 is transferred to the chamber for performing the B process, for example, when there is no chamber in which the B process can proceed when the fourth chamber is in process.

[0050] In step S100, it is determined whether or not the process of the chamber is in progress. In step S200, it is determined whether or not there is a waiting wafer in step S300 or S320. The wafer withdrawing amount is determined through step S322. Therefore, according to the multi-chamber system of the present embodiment, since one wafer level can be maintained in the standby state according to the process, it is possible to reduce the deterioration in the overall process efficiency in accordance with the transferability of the wafer.

The order of the wafers to be introduced into the chamber is generally such that for the first, second and third chambers 170, 1780, 190 performing the A process, the first, second, third, Second, third, and third chambers. In order to increase the process efficiency, the first, second, third, third, first, second, first, second, third, 1 and the second chamber.

As described above, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a multi-chamber system can maintain a single wafer count per process in the system. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently transfer the wafers by eliminating the waiting wafers that are unnecessarily large in number compared to the number of spare chambers.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. It can be understood that it is possible.

100: multi-chamber system 110:
120: first buffer space 130: second buffer space
140: second transport section 150: third buffer space
160: Third conveying section 170: First chamber
180: second chamber 190: third chamber
200: fourth chamber

Claims (2)

A step of determining whether or not the process of the chamber is proceeding
Determining the number of standby wafers in the system
Withdrawing the wafer and
And transferring the drawn wafer to a chamber in which processing is to be performed,
The step of withdrawing the wafer includes:
When the chamber is in process and there is no standby wafer in the system, one wafer to be processed is taken out,
If the chamber is in process and there is a standby wafer in the system, the wafer is not withdrawn,
When the chamber is not in process and there is no standby wafer in the system, two wafers to be processed are taken out,
If the chamber is not in process and the number of standby wafers in the system is two or more,
Wherein when the chamber is not in process and the standby wafer in the system is one wafer, one wafer is withdrawn from the wafer to be processed. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transferring the withdrawn wafer to the chamber,
The chamber includes first, second, and third chambers performing the same process, wherein the wafer drawn to perform the same process is placed in a first, second, third, third, first, second , The first, second, third, third, first, and second chambers.

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