KR20030094903A - Equipment for transfer wafer in photo process system using semiconductor manufacture device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wafer transfer apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing photo equipment is provided to be capable of preventing the generation of wafer photo process failure due to the error generated at a transfer robot by using a sub-transfer robot. CONSTITUTION: A wafer transfer apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing photo equipment is provided with a transfer robot(3) for transferring a wafer so as to carry out predetermined processes at a bake after exposure module(17) and cooling plate module(19), a sub-transfer robot(20) for transferring the wafer from the bake after exposure module to the cooling plate module when error is generated at the transfer robot, and a controller(22) for controlling the whole operation for carrying out a photo process and the sub-transfer robot.

Description

EQUIPMENT FOR TRANSFER WAFER IN PHOTO PROCESS SYSTEM USING SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURE DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly, in the semiconductor manufacturing spinner apparatus, the main substrate is transferred to a cooling plate after heating to control the activation state of the photoresist of the wafer which has been exposed. The present invention relates to a wafer transfer device that transfers an auxiliary transfer robot to a cooling plate when an error of the transfer robot occurs.

In general, wafers are manufactured as semiconductor devices as the processes of photolithography, diffusion, etching, deposition, metallization, etc. are repeatedly performed, and the wafers are transferred to the required process equipment until the semiconductor devices are manufactured, and the work according to each process is performed. Will be performed.

Such wafers are usually contained in a plurality of carriers formed so as to be easily transported to be moved to a predetermined position by an operator or other transfer means, and then transferred from the carrier to the inside of the process facility by another transfer system to facilitate the process. Will be placed.

In the process equipment for performing the photolithography process among the above-described processes, various kinds of process apparatuses for performing each unit process are installed, and a transfer system for transferring wafers to each of the above-described apparatuses is provided. .

Here, looking at the process of forming the pattern by the photolithography process, first to uniformly apply a PR (Photo Resist) layer on the upper surface of the wafer, and then reduced projection of the reticle having a predetermined layout on the PR coating layer formed on the wafer Then, by separating and cleaning the unnecessary PR layer, a desired pattern is formed on the wafer.

As described above, each of the process apparatuses for performing the photolithography process constitutes a process facility together with a transfer system for transferring the wafer to a predetermined position, and the wafers introduced into the process facility process each unit process by the transfer system. As it is transferred to the process equipment to be performed, each process is performed to form a desired pattern.

1 is a configuration diagram of an example of a photo equipment for a photolithography process in manufacturing a semiconductor device.

When the carrier is brought in from the port 11 of the facility from the outside, the unit process starts from the transfer robot 1 on the port 11 side and moves to each module in the facility through the transfer robots 2, 3, and 4 in the vicinity. It is supposed to proceed. There are four transfer robots 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the modules in charge of each transfer robot are located in the vicinity. The first transfer robot 1 is in charge of the development module 12 and the hard bake module 13, and the second transfer robot 2 is a vacuum primer in charge of hexamethyldisilizane (HMDS) treatment to ensure good photoresist application. primer) module (15) and coating module (14). The third transfer robot 3 includes a post-exposure bake module 17 for post exposure bake (PEB), a soft bake (S / B) module 16 for soft bake, and a coating module 2. The 4th transfer robot 4 is in charge of the dog, and is in charge of two edge removal modules 18 which remove the photoresist of a wafer edge part. Each robot is in charge of a cooling plate module 19 which serves as both storage and cooling at the position where the respective areas overlap. Each module operates with one or more slots. In this installation, the third transfer robot 3 has six actual working slots in two baking modules 16 and 17, five corresponding slots in two cooling plate modules 19, and one slot in two coating modules. A total of six modules, 13 slots of wafers are taken care of. Usually two operations, input and output, are required per slot. In fact, if a total of 22 operations are required and each operation takes, for example, 3 seconds, it takes 66 seconds in total even if one operation is performed continuously. Compared with other transfer robots, in the present installation, bottle necks in the process are likely to be caused in the third transfer robot 3. And even if only three wafers are finished in the module at the same time, a waiting time of about 15 seconds is required to process the third wafer. Of course, since the number of simultaneous processing wafers is different for each module and the number of wafers that finish the work at the same time is not constant, the waiting time is always different. And if any change occurs during the waiting time, the standard for safe waiting time should be based on the longest waiting time. Otherwise, wafers outside the certain waiting time range are more likely to cause problems.

However, the wafer transfer apparatus of the photo equipment for semiconductor manufacturing as described above has two baking modules 16 and 17 which are in charge of the third transfer robot 3 and six corresponding slots, one of which is a post-exposure bake module 17. After the photoresist is applied to the wafer and exposed to light, the photoresist is then baked at about 145 ° C. The other is a soft bake module 16 for removing the thinner and the like immediately after the photoresist is applied to the wafer. It is in charge of baking about 110 degrees Celsius. In the baking process, the thickness of the photoresist is reduced because the components such as thinner and HMDS are removed. This process is closely related to the temperature and time of baking. These modules have a plurality of slots and at the same time can process several wafers.

However, when the processing of several wafers is completed at the same time, since there is only one third transfer robot 3, the wafers processed in the remaining slots except for one of them are waiting for the turn.

However, when baking is completed at about 110 ° C. to remove thinner and the like, the wafer exposed by the bake module 17 after the exposure, the third transfer robot 3 uses a cooling plate module to cool the wafer heated at a high temperature to room temperature. 19), if an error occurs in the third transfer robot 3, the wafer baked in the post-exposure bake module 17 cannot be transferred to the cooling plate module 19 and stagnated.

If the wafer baked in the post-exposure bake module 17 is not transferred to the cooling plate module 19 and is stagnant, the photoresist film tends to soften due to excessive oxidation, resulting in an increase in the critical dimension and thus accurate pattern. There was a problem that it did not form.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, the wafer is transferred to the auxiliary transfer robot when an error occurs in the transfer robot for transferring the wafer to the cooling plate after the post-exposure baking process is completed in the photo equipment for semiconductor manufacturing The present invention provides a wafer transfer apparatus for preventing photo process defects.

1 is a configuration diagram of an example of a photo equipment for a photolithography process in manufacturing a semiconductor device

2 is a block diagram of a wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1,2,3,4: Transport Robot 5: Boat

10; Wafer 11: Port

12: Developing module 13: Hard bake module

14: coating module 15: vacuum primer module

16: Soft bake module 17: Post-exposure bake module

18: edge removal module 19: cooling plate module

20: auxiliary transport robot 22: controller

The wafer transfer apparatus of the photofabrication equipment for semiconductor manufacturing of the present invention for achieving the above object is a post-exposure bake module for taking over the exposed wafer and baking for a set time at a high temperature to oxidize the exposure site by the acid catalyst reaction, and the post-exposure A cooling plate which receives the wafer baked at a high temperature from the baking module and cools it to room temperature (23 ° C.), a transfer robot which transfers the wafer so as to process the processes performed in the post-exposure bake module and the cooling plate module, and the transfer. When an error occurs in the robot, a subsidiary transfer robot for transferring the baking completed wafer from the post-exposure bake module to the cooling plate module under the control of the controller, and controls the overall operation for the photo process. Within the set time after the process completion signal is generated from the bake module It characterized in that it comprises a controller for controlling the auxiliary transfer robot by detecting a state that is not transferred to the cooling plate module.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram of a wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

After the exposed wafer is taken over and baked for 60 seconds at a high temperature (110 ° C.), the post-exposure bake module 17 for oxidizing the exposed portion by an acid catalyst reaction and the wafer baked at a high temperature from the post-exposure bake module 17 A cooling plate module 19 for receiving and cooling to room temperature (23 ° C.), and a transfer robot 3 for transferring a wafer so as to process a process performed in the post-exposure bake module 17 and the cooling plate module 19. And, when an error occurs in the transfer robot (3) under the control of the controller 22, the auxiliary transfer robot for transferring the baking completed wafer from the post-exposure bake module 17 to the cooling plate module 19 ( 20) and the overall operation for proceeding the photo process, and does not transfer to the cooling plate module 109 within a set time after the process completion signal is generated from the post-exposure bake module 17. It is configured to detect the state to the controller 22 for controlling the auxiliary transfer robot (20).

Referring to Figure 2 described above will be described in detail the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The construction of a photo equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor according to an embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of FIG. 1, but an auxiliary transfer robot 20 is further provided between the post-exposure bake module 17 and the cooling plate module 19.

Since the overall operation of the photolithography process for manufacturing a semiconductor of the present invention has been described with reference to FIG. 1, the description thereof will be omitted and only the operation of transferring wafers from the post-exposure bake module 17 and the cooling plate 19 according to the present invention will be described.

The post exposure bake module (PEB) 17 serves to oxidize a portion exposed by an acid catalyst reaction by baking the wafer exposed in the exposure apparatus at a high temperature (110 ° C.) for about 60 seconds. When the baking is completed in the post-exposure bake module 17, the controller 22 controls the transfer robot 3 to transfer the baking completed wafer from the post-exposure bake module 17 to the cooling plate module 19. When the wafer having been baked by the transfer robot 3 is transferred to the cooling plate module 19, the cooling plate module 19 cools the wafer baked at a high temperature to room temperature (23 ° C.).

At this time, the controller 22 transfers the robot 3 when the wafer does not move to the cooling plate module 19 even after a set time (for example, 3 minutes) elapses after the process completion signal is generated from the post-exposure bake module 17. The auxiliary transport robot 20 is operated by determining that an error has occurred. The auxiliary transfer robot 20 transfers the wafer, which has been baked in the post-exposure bake module 17, to the cooling plate module 19. The auxiliary transport robot 20 is installed between the bake module 17 and the cooling plate module 19 after exposure so that only the Z axis and the θ axis can be driven. Here, the Z-axis is up / down using the air cylinder, and the θ-axis is rotated using the stepping motor so that the auxiliary transfer robot 20 bakes the wafer after the baking is completed in the bake module 17 after the cooling plate module 19. To be transported.

As described above, the present invention allows the transfer robot to transfer to the auxiliary transfer robot so that the wafer after completion of the baking is not stagnated when an error occurs in the transfer robot that transfers the wafer to the cooling plate after the post-exposure baking process is completed in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Since the cause of the line width distribution is eliminated, there is an advantage that can prevent the occurrence of defects in the wafer photo process.

Claims (4)

And a post-exposure bake module which takes over the exposed wafer and bakes it for a set time at high temperature to oxidize the exposed site by an acid catalyst reaction, and a cooling plate module which receives the wafer baked at high temperature from the post-exposure bake module and cools it to room temperature. In the wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, A transfer robot for transferring a wafer so as to process a process in the baking module and the cooling plate module after the exposure; When an error occurs in the transfer robot under the control of the auxiliary auxiliary robot for conveying the baking completed wafer from the post-exposure bake module to the cooling plate module, And a controller for controlling the entire transport to perform the photo process, and detecting a state in which the process completion signal from the post-exposure bake module is not transferred to the cooling plate module within a set time after the process completion signal is generated. Wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor. The method of claim 1, The controller controls to transfer the wafer of the post-exposure bake module to the cooling plate by operating the auxiliary transfer robot when it is not transferred to the cooling plate module within 3 minutes after the process completion signal is generated from the post-exposure bake module. Wafer transfer apparatus of a photo equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, The auxiliary transfer robot transfers the wafer by rotating in a θ axis by using a stepping motor. The method of claim 3, The auxiliary transfer robot transfers the wafer by up / down in the Z axis by using an air cylinder.