KR102585551B1 - Semiconductor substrate processing equipment with reduced substrate replacement time - Google Patents

Abstract

The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of the present invention with reduced substrate replacement time includes an EFEM that accommodates a plurality of substrates; A load lock that receives substrates to be processed from the EFEM or transfers the processed substrates back to the EFEM, and waits for three substrates to be supplied or delivered from the EFEM by being placed on a fixing pin and spaced apart to form a triangular arrangement on a plane. chamber; A process chamber that includes the load lock chamber and is radially connected to form a vacuum area, and is equipped with three sets of electrostatic chucks and lift pins so that three substrates can be loaded or unloaded in a triangular arrangement on a plane. ; and loading a substrate from the load lock chamber into the process chamber in a state provided in a vacuum area between the load lock chamber and the process chamber, or unloading a substrate that has been processed in the process chamber back into the load lock chamber. In order to load three waiting substrates into the process chamber at once or unload three processed substrates back into the load lock chamber at once, there is a fork with a three-pronged fork, and each of the three substrates is placed at the end of the fork. It is characterized in that it includes a substrate transfer unit provided with a hand so that the substrate can be moved.

Description

Semiconductor substrate processing equipment with reduced substrate replacement time}

The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time. More specifically, the present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate processing device that transfers and loads three semiconductor substrates arranged in a triangle on a plane at once from the load lock chamber to the process chamber or back to the load lock chamber. Semiconductor substrate processing that can be unloaded, and when loading a substrate, only the substrate that requires teaching among the three substrates is taught quickly and sequentially loaded on the lift pin, thereby reducing substrate replacement time and significantly improving the throughput of overall semiconductor processing. It's about devices.

In general, the substrate transfer unit of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus uses multiple motors to transport robot arms for semiconductor substrates, such as wafers, with an upper arm and a lower arm to enable movement of more than 3 degrees of freedom. lower) It consists of multiple coaxial arms with the arms stacked up and down.

At this time, the outermost axis is coupled to a hub for rotating multiple arms around the central axis of rotation, and the two inner axes can be connected to each other through independent belt and pulley configurations.

One example of a substrate transfer unit with such a multi-arm structure is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 0912432 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Prior Document 1’).

However, since this type of substrate transfer unit with a multi-arm structure is equipped with one hand for each layer, the substrate (wafer) is transferred from the EFEM (Equipment Front End Module) through a loadlock chamber for deposition or etching of a thin film. When transferring to a process chamber (P/M chamber) for processing, etc., the substrate replacement time is inevitably increased because the substrates are transferred and replaced one by one between the EFEM and the process chamber, and in addition, load lock occurs during the substrate replacement time. Since the vacuum atmosphere of the chamber and the vacuum chamber is destroyed to a certain extent, the vacuum atmosphere must be created again every time the substrate is replaced, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the overall throughput for substrate processing, resulting in a significant decrease in the process efficiency of the semiconductor substrate. there was.

For this reason, for faster substrate replacement than before, a substrate transfer unit with a multi-arm structure (domestic registered patent) has a pair of double hands in the upper and lower horizontal directions to enable simultaneous transfer and loading/unloading of two wafers at a time. No. 1338857, hereinafter referred to as ‘Prior Document 2’) has been disclosed.

Figure 1 shows a conventional substrate processing apparatus to which a substrate transfer unit with a double-hand, multi-arm structure is applied.

The substrate transfer unit 10 of the prior art document 2 is disposed in a vacuum chamber and transfers a substrate between a process chamber (P/M chamber) and a space for storing substrates such as wafers, two each at the top and bottom, A total of 4 hands are provided.

That is, the four hands include an upper hand (double hand) having two hands slidably disposed above a linear guide module having a long rectangular shape, and an upper hand (double hand) of the linear guide module below the upper hand. A lower hand (left and right sides of the linear guide module) having a left member disposed on the left and provided with a single hand (single hand) and a right member disposed on the right side of the linear guide module and provided with a single hand (single hand) Includes one single hand each).

Accordingly, the upper and lower hands are configured to move in the forward and backward directions along the linear guide module.

In addition, the semiconductor substrate (wafer) to be processed or the processed substrate is loaded into the EFEM, and the transfer robot (ATM Robot) provided inside the EFEM supplies or processes the substrates to be processed one by one into the load lock chamber (L/L). The prepared substrates are taken out one by one from the load lock chamber.

Therefore, the substrate transfer unit 10 in the vacuum area has multiple pairs of hands on the upper and lower sides, so when loading substrates into the process chamber, the upper or lower hands are individually driven to load up to two substrates at a time. Can be unloaded.

However, the conventional semiconductor substrate transfer unit 10 disclosed in Prior Document 2 includes a linear guide module and increases the load and volume of the arm by sliding the upper and lower hands mounted on the linear guide module in the forward and backward directions. As a result, sagging occurs at the end of the hand over time, which leads to a decrease in structural rigidity and a decrease in the precision of substrate transfer and loading/unloading operations due to sagging.

In addition, recently, in order to increase the throughput, the structure of the process chamber (P/M chamber) was loaded on a lift pin and an electrostatic chuck (ESC) so that three substrates were arranged in a triangular shape on a plane within the chamber. Batch-type process chambers that simultaneously process multiple substrates, such as thin film deposition or etching, have been developed and become popular.

However, in the conventional substrate transfer unit of the single-hand or double-hand structure disclosed in the preceding documents 1 and 2, one or at most two substrates are placed in a batch-type process chamber in which the three substrates are loaded or unloaded in a triangular shape on a plane. Since the substrate must be transferred and loaded/unloaded several times, there is still a long delay in replacing the substrate, and as a result, there is a problem in that the process efficiency and throughput of substrate processing are reduced.

In addition, regular replacement of consumable parts such as electrostatic chucks installed in these process chambers is inevitable. As the center point of the electrostatic chuck is slightly distorted in the process of replacing the electrostatic chuck with a new product, the electrostatic chuck that the substrate is replaced with when loading the substrate is inevitable. A teaching process is necessary to correct the loading position of the board so that it can be accurately placed at the new center point of the chuck.

However, conventionally, using a substrate transfer unit with a single hand arm structure, the transferred substrates are transferred one by one from the load lock chamber to the process chamber, and then teaching and loading are performed repeatedly inside the process chamber. As a result, the substrate is transferred. Since the substrate replacement time inevitably took repeatedly from transfer to loading after teaching, this also remained a problem of delay in substrate replacement time and decreased process efficiency.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 0912432 (registered on August 10, 2009)

Republic of Korea Patent No. 1338857 (registered on November 27, 2013)

Accordingly, the present invention was developed to solve the above problems, and three semiconductor substrates arranged in a triangle on a plane can be transferred and loaded from the load lock chamber to the process chamber at once, or unloaded back to the load lock chamber. , When loading a substrate, only the substrate that requires teaching among the three substrates is taught quickly and sequentially loaded on the lift pin, thereby reducing substrate replacement time and significantly improving the throughput of overall semiconductor processing. The purpose.

According to one embodiment, the present invention for achieving the above object includes an EFEM that accommodates a plurality of substrates; A load lock that receives substrates to be processed from the EFEM or transfers the processed substrates back to the EFEM, and waits for three substrates to be supplied or delivered from the EFEM by being placed on a fixing pin and spaced apart to form a triangular arrangement on a plane. chamber; A process chamber that includes the load lock chamber and is radially connected to form a vacuum area, and is equipped with three sets of electrostatic chucks and lift pins so that three substrates can be loaded or unloaded in a triangular arrangement on a plane. ; and loading a substrate from the load lock chamber into the process chamber in a state provided in a vacuum area between the load lock chamber and the process chamber, or unloading a substrate that has been processed in the process chamber back into the load lock chamber. In order to load three waiting substrates into the process chamber at once or unload three processed substrates back into the load lock chamber at once, there is a fork with a three-pronged fork, and each of the three substrates is placed at the end of the fork. It is configured to include a substrate transfer unit provided with a hand so that the substrate can be moved.

Additionally, according to one embodiment, the fork of the substrate transfer unit has a long middle prong. 'It has a shape.

Additionally, according to another embodiment, a reinforcing bar is further connected between the three prongs of the fork. 'It has a shape.

In addition, according to one embodiment, a rotation chuck having a shape branched into three branches on a plane around the rotation axis of a motor installed upward is coupled to the inside of the load lock chamber, and the rotation chuck rotates by 120 degrees to separate the load from the EFEM. Three boards are sequentially placed on the fixing pins provided at each end of the rotation chuck and supplied, or the three boards placed on the fixing pins are sequentially taken out by the EFEM.

In addition, according to one embodiment, the three sets of lift pins provided inside the process chamber are formed so that the protruding heights of the ends that rise to the maximum from the upper surface of the electrostatic chuck are different for each set for loading the substrate.

As described above, the present invention can transfer and load three semiconductor substrates arranged in a triangle on a plane at once from the load lock chamber to the process chamber or unload them back into the load lock chamber, and when loading the substrates, one of the three substrates By quickly teaching only the substrates that need teaching and loading them sequentially on the lift pins, this has the effect of shortening the substrate replacement time and significantly improving the throughput of overall semiconductor processing.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional semiconductor substrate processing device equipped with a substrate transfer unit of a double hand arm structure.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the substrate transfer unit of Figure 2, where (a) is a top view and (b) is a side view.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the load lock chamber of FIG. 2, where (a) is a main longitudinal cross-sectional view and (b) is a top view.
Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the process chamber of Figure 2, where (a) is a perspective view of the main part and (b) is a side view of the main part.

The terms used in this specification are merely used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “include,” “have,” or “equipped with” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in this specification. It should be understood that this does not preclude the existence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined herein, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains.

Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with the meanings they have in the context of the related technology, and unless clearly defined in this specification, should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense. It shouldn't be.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, the configuration and operational relationship of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of the present invention with reduced substrate replacement time will be examined in detail as follows.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus with a reduced substrate replacement time according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the substrate transfer unit of Figure 2, where (a) is a top view and (b) is a side view, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the load lock chamber of FIG. 2, (a) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main part, (b) is a top view, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the process chamber of FIG. 2. (a) is a perspective view of the lower back, and (b) is a side view of the lower back.

Hereinafter, the configuration of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus with reduced substrate replacement time according to an embodiment of the present invention will be examined with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

First, the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus 100 of the present invention with reduced substrate replacement time is first equipped with an EFEM 110 that accommodates a plurality of semiconductor substrates S on one side of the layout of the apparatus (left in FIG. 2).

In addition, adjacent to one side (right side in FIG. 2) of the EFEM 110, the substrate S to be processed is supplied from the EFEM 110 or the processed substrate S is delivered back to the EFEM 110, and the EFEM 110 A load in which three substrates (S) are spaced apart so that the substrates (S) to be supplied or delivered from (110) are placed in a triangular arrangement on a plane and placed on three sets of fixing pins (123, see FIG. 4) to wait. A lock chamber 120 is provided.

In addition, a plurality of process chambers 130, including the load lock chamber 120, are radially connected to form a sealed vacuum space (VS; see FIG. 2).

Inside the process chamber 130, three sets of electrostatic chucks (ESC1, ESC2, ESC3) and lift pins (LP) are provided so that three substrates (S) can be loaded or unloaded in a triangular arrangement on a plane. do. (see Figure 5)

Here, the process chamber 130 is a vacuum area in which semiconductor substrate processing, such as thin film deposition or etching, is performed on the semiconductor substrate (S) loaded therein. Typically, on one side of the process chamber 130, a semiconductor substrate (S) is placed. ) is provided with an opening/closing valve (131, see FIG. 5) that is selectively opened to enable loading/unloading.

Additionally, a substrate transfer unit 140 is provided in the vacuum area VS between the load lock chamber 120 and the process chamber 130.

The substrate transfer unit 140 lifts three substrates (S) waiting in the load lock chamber 120 at once and transfers and loads them into the process chamber 130, or transfers and loads three substrates (S) that have been processed in the process chamber 130. In order to unload and transfer S) back to the load lock chamber 120 at once, there is a fork 142 branched into three branches, and the three substrates S can be placed on the ends of the fork 142, respectively. A hand 143 is provided.

According to one embodiment, the fork 142 of the substrate transfer unit 140 basically has a long middle fork. 'It can have a shape.

According to another embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, the fork 142 has reinforced mechanical rigidity by further connecting a reinforcing bar 144 between the three prongs of the fork body. 'It can have a shape.

In addition, looking at the configuration of the load lock chamber 120 in more detail with reference to FIG. 4, the inside of the load lock chamber 120 is 3 on a plane centered on the rotation axis (not shown) of the motor 121 installed upward. The rotation chuck 122 having a branched shape is coupled, and while the rotation chuck 122 rotates by 120 degrees, 3 pins are attached to the fixing pins 123 provided at each end of the rotation chuck 122 from the EFEM 110. A sheet of substrates (S) is sequentially mounted and supplied, or three substrates (S) mounted on the fixing pins (123) are sequentially taken out by the EFEM (110).

Also, referring to FIG. 5, the three sets of lift pins (LP) provided inside the process chamber 130 have a protruding height (h1) at the end that is raised to the maximum from the upper surface of the electrostatic chuck (ESC) for loading the substrate (S). , h2, h3) are formed differently for each set.

As described above, the protruding heights (h1, h2, h3) of the three sets of lift pins (LP) are formed differently, so that loading of the substrate (S) can be performed after selective teaching for each of the three sets of lift pins (LP) when necessary. It is possible, and this will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 5 as follows.

First, inside each process chamber 130, there are three electrostatic chucks (ESC1, ESC2, ESC3) arranged in a triangular shape on a plane and three sets of lift pins with different heights (h1>h2>h3) protruding from the electrostatic chucks. (LP) is provided.

Afterwards, three substrates (S1, S2, S3) are placed on the fork 142 and hand 143 of the substrate transfer unit 140 above the electrostatic chuck (ESC1, ESC2, ESC3) and the lift pin (LP). When entering the inside of the chamber 130 through the opening/closing valve 131 of the process chamber 130, the three substrates S1, S2, and S3 are placed on the protruding top of the lift pin LP. (S1, S2, S3) can be loaded at once.

At this time, if teaching is not required for all of the electrostatic chucks (ESC1, ESC2, and ESC3), the fork 142 is lowered as a whole, and three pieces are placed on the top of the lift pin with different protrusion heights (h1>h2>h3). As the substrates are placed sequentially into the first, second, and third substrates (S1, S2, and S3), loading of the substrates (S1, S2, and S3) is completed quickly.

However, assuming that the center point is slightly shifted to the right by 1 mm due to replacement of the second electrostatic chuck (ESC2) among the three electrostatic chucks (ESC1, ESC2, ESC3), in this case, the second substrate (S2 ), it is necessary to teach it 1mm to the right and then load it right before loading it on the lift pin (LP) of the second electrostatic chuck (ESC2).

Therefore, in this case, the fork 142 is first lowered to the top (h1) of the lift pin (LP) of the first electrostatic chuck (ESC1), thereby lifting the first substrate (S1) among the three substrates (S1, S2, and S3). It is loaded by placing it on the top of the pin (LP), and at this time, the remaining two boards (S2, S3) are still loaded on the top (h2, h3) of the lift pin (LP) of the second and third electrostatic chucks (ESC2, ESC3). It is not done.

Subsequently, before loading the second substrate (S2) on the second electrostatic chuck (ESC2) in the above-mentioned state, teaching is first performed to move the fork 142 to the right by 1 mm, and then the fork 142 moves to the second static chuck (ESC2). By descending to the top (h2) of the lift pin (LP) of the chuck (ESC2), the second substrate (S2) is loaded on the top (h2) of the lift pin (LP) of the second electrostatic chuck (ESC2).

Continuing, at this time, only the third board (S3) remains in the left hand (143) of the fork (142). As described above, 1 mm teaching was previously performed from the second board (S2) to the right, so this time, In order for the fork 142 to return to its original position, teaching is performed to the left by 1 mm, and then the fork 142 descends to the top (h3) of the lift pin (LP) of the third electrostatic chuck (ESC3), thereby removing the third and final substrate ( S3) is placed on the top (h3) of the lift pin (LP) for final loading.

Accordingly, after teaching and loading of all three substrates (S1, S2, S3) on the electrostatic chuck (ESC1, ESC2, ESC3) is completed, in this state, the fork (142) retracts through the opening/closing valve (131). By exiting, the loading process of the substrates S1, S2, and S3 is completed.

Conversely, after the processing of the substrates S1, S2, and S3 is completed in the process chamber 130, the process of unloading the substrate and transferring it to the load lock chamber 120 can be performed in the reverse order of the loading process described above. .

In addition, the present invention is not limited to just one embodiment described above, and the same effect can be created even when changing the detailed configuration, number, and arrangement structure of the device, so those skilled in the art will understand the present invention. It is stated that addition, deletion, and modification of various configurations are possible within the scope of the technical idea.

100: Semiconductor substrate processing device (of the present invention) 110: EFEM
120: Load lock chamber (L/L chamber) 121: Motor
122: rotation chuck 123: fixing pin
130: Process chamber (P/M chamber) 131: Open/close valve
140: Substrate transfer unit 141: Arm
142: Fork 143: Hand
ESC: Electrostatic chuck LP: Lift pin
S: substrate

Claims (5)

EFEM storing a plurality of substrates;
A load lock that receives substrates to be processed from the EFEM or transfers the processed substrates back to the EFEM, and waits for three substrates to be supplied or delivered from the EFEM by being placed on a fixing pin and spaced apart to form a triangular arrangement on a plane. chamber;
A process chamber that includes the load lock chamber and is radially connected to form a vacuum area, and is equipped with three sets of electrostatic chucks and lift pins so that three substrates can be loaded or unloaded in a triangular arrangement on a plane. ; and
Provided in the vacuum area between the load lock chamber and the process chamber, a substrate is loaded from the load lock chamber into the process chamber, or a substrate that has been processed in the process chamber is unloaded back into the load lock chamber and left to wait in the load lock chamber. In order to load three substrates at once into the process chamber or unload three processed substrates back into the load lock chamber at once, there is a fork branched into three branches, and each of the three substrates is placed at the end of the fork. It includes a substrate transfer unit provided with a hand to allow
The fork of the substrate transfer unit has a long middle prong. 'Characterized by having a shape,
Semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time. delete According to claim 1,
A reinforcing bar is further connected between the three prongs of the fork. 'Characterized by having a shape,
Semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time. According to claim 1,
Inside the load lock chamber, a rotation chuck of a three-pronged shape is coupled on a plane centered on the rotation axis of a motor installed upward, and the rotation chuck rotates by 120 degrees and is provided at each end of the rotation chuck from the EFEM. Three boards are placed sequentially on a fixing pin and supplied, or three boards placed on a fixing pin are sequentially taken out by the EFEM.
Semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time. According to claim 1,
The three sets of lift pins provided inside the process chamber are characterized in that the protrusion height of the end that rises maximum from the upper surface of the electrostatic chuck is different for each set for loading the substrate.
Semiconductor substrate processing device with reduced substrate replacement time.