KR20060065186A - Semiconductor manufacture device having function of fume remove - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a function of removing the fumes remaining on the wafer surface during the etching process in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a fume removal function of the present invention for removing a fume remaining on a separate wafer after the etching process to prevent a process defect is provided at the center of the system main frame and provided with a shelf. A wafer loaded in the load lock chamber and a wafer loaded in the load lock chamber are transferred to the process chamber, and a wafer on which the process is completed is transferred from the process chamber to the process chamber, and the process is completed from the process chamber. A transfer chamber equipped with a transfer robot for transferring the fume removal chamber and the load lock chamber, and the process chamber includes at least one process for performing an etching process on the wafer transferred by the transfer chamber, The fume removing chamber transfers the wafer from which the etching process is completed from the process chamber to the transistor. Take carried by the transfer robot in the buffer chamber to remove fumes remaining in the wafer.

After the etching process is completed in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the process of removing the fumes remaining on the wafer is carried out separately. prevent.

Process equipment, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, fume removal, fume removal chamber

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment with fume removal function {SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURE DEVICE HAVING FUNCTION OF FUME REMOVE}             

1 is a block diagram of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment

2 is a block diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a fume removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention

          Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 and 102: first and second load lock chambers 106 and 108: first and second process chambers

110, 112: third and fourth process chamber 120: transfer chamber

122: transfer robot 124: braid

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 function of removing fumes remaining on a wafer surface during an etching process in a semiconductor manufacturing equipment.                         

In general, a semiconductor device is completed by repeatedly performing a manufacturing process on a silicon wafer, and the semiconductor manufacturing process is performed by oxidizing, masking, photoresist coating, etching, diffusing, and laminating processes of the material wafer. Subsequently, several processes such as washing, drying, and inspection should be carried out afterwards. In particular, the etching process is one of the important processes for substantially forming a pattern on the wafer. The etching process is a photolithography process together with the photoresist coating process. The photoresist is coated on the wafer and the pattern is transferred. In this case, etching is performed according to the pattern to impart the physical characteristics of the device according to the pattern.

The etching process can be roughly divided into wet etching and dry etching, and wet etching is a method in which a wafer is immersed in a wet bath containing chemicals that can effectively remove the top layer of the wafer to be removed, or the chemical is removed. A method of spraying onto the surface of the wafer, a method of flowing chemicals onto the wafer fixedly inclined at an angle, and the like have been developed and used.

In addition, the dry etching may include plasma etching using gaseous etching gas, ion beam etching and reactive ion etching. Among them, reactive ion etching introduces an etching gas into the reaction vessel, ionizes it, accelerates it to the wafer surface, and physically and chemically removes the top layer of the wafer surface. It is possible to form a pattern of widely used.

Parameters to be considered for uniform etching in reactive ion etching include thickness and density of the layer to be etched, energy and temperature of the etching gas, adhesion of the photoresist and the state of the wafer surface, and uniformity of the etching gas. Can be mentioned. In particular, the control of radio frequency (RF), which is the driving force for ionizing the etching gas and accelerating the ionized etching gas to the wafer surface, can be an important variable, and also directly and in the actual etching process. It is considered an easily adjustable variable.

A system for determining whether a wafer exists on a wafer transfer robot braid in a semiconductor manufacturing facility that performs such an etching process and detecting and correcting a wafer position error is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,980,194.

And the conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment for performing the etching process is disclosed in FIG. Referring to FIG. 1, first and second LOAD LOCK CHAMBERs having a shelf (SHELF) positioned at the center of a system main frame and having a wafer (not shown) loading a wafer into the shelf. 10 and 12, and the wafers loaded in the load lock chambers 10 and 12 are transferred to the first and second orient chambers 14 and 16, and the first and second orient chambers 14, The wafer positioned in 16 is transferred to the first to fourth process chambers 18, 20, 22, and 24, and the wafers on which the process is completed are processed from the first to second process chambers 18, 20, 22, and 24. Transfer chamber 30 is provided with a transfer robot 32 for transferring to the first and second load lock chamber (10, 12), and is transported and seated by the transfer robot 32 of the transfer chamber 30 In order to proceed with the process for the first and second orient chambers 14 and 16 which rotate the wafer to detect the position coordinates of the wafer and the transferred wafers. The position, which is divided by four, is composed of the first to the second process chamber (18, 20, 22, 24).                         

Referring to the process operation of the conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment as described above are as follows.

Wafers loaded in a load port (not shown) are transported one by one to the shelf shelves of the first and second load lock chambers 10 and 12 by an ATM robot (not shown). When all of the wafers are transferred to the first load lock chamber 10 or the second load lock chamber 12, the first and second load lock chambers 30 and 32 close the doors and pressurize to prevent impurities from entering. Pull out and vacuum. The transfer robot 32 of the transfer chamber 30 then transfers the wafer loaded on the shelf of the first load lock chamber 10 or the second load lock chamber 12 into the first orient chamber 14 or the second duck. Transfer to enter chamber 16. When the wafer is transferred to the first or second orient chamber 16, the first or second orient chamber 16 senses the position coordinates of the wafer by the laser sensing unit 3 while rotating the wafer. Position coordinate values of the wafer sensed by the first and second orient chambers 14 and 16 are transmitted to a robot controller (not shown). The robot controller reads the position coordinate value with the main controller and compares it with the reference alignment data to send the position correction value to the robot controller. The robot controller positions the wafer located in the first or second orient chambers 14 and 16. To the first or second process chamber (18, 20). Then, the main controller controls the etching process to be performed in the first to fourth process chambers 18, 20, 22, and 24. When the etching process is completed, the controller controls the robot controller to drive the transfer robot 32 in the transfer chamber 30 so that the etching process is performed from the first to fourth process chambers 18, 20, 22, and 24. When complete, the main controller controls the transfer robot 32 of the transfer chamber 30 to be transferred to the first or second load lock chamber 10 and 12 (not shown).

In the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus as described above, the first and second load lock chambers 10 and 12 are unloaded by the first or second load lock chambers 10 and 12 in a state in which fumes remain on the wafer after the etching process. ) And the facility surroundings are corroded by the fume, there is a problem that the process is generated by generating particles.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing facility having a fume removal function to prevent process defects by removing the fumes remaining on a separate wafer after the etching process in the semiconductor manufacturing facility to solve the above problems.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment having the fume removal function of the present invention for achieving the above object is located in the center of the system main frame and provided with a shelf, the load lock chamber for loading a wafer into the shelf, and the load lock chamber Transfer the loaded wafers to the process chamber, transfer the wafers that have completed the process from the process chamber to the process chamber, and transfer the wafers that have completed the process from the process chamber to the fume removal chamber and the load lock chamber. A transfer chamber in which a robot is installed, and the process chamber include at least one to perform an etching process on the wafer transferred by the transfer chamber, and the fume removing chamber is a wafer on which an etching process is completed from the process chamber. Is transported by the transfer robot of the transfer chamber and remains on the wafer. Characterized in that to remove the fume.

The fume removal chamber is characterized in that to remove the fumes remaining on the wafer by spraying ultrapure water (DI) and dried by rotational force.

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 semiconductor manufacturing facility having a fume removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It is located in the center of the system main frame and has a shelf (SHELF), the robot (not shown) and the first and second load lock chamber (LOAD LOCK CHAMBER) (100, 102) loading the wafer to the shelf The wafers loaded in the load lock chambers 100 and 102 are transferred to the first to fourth process chambers 106, 108, 110 and 112, and the first to fourth process chambers 106, 108, 110, Transferring the wafer having completed the process from 112 to the fume removing chamber 116, and transferring the wafer from which the fume has been removed from the fume removing chamber 116 to the first or second load lock chambers 110 and 112. Transfer chambers 120 for which the transfer robot 122 is installed, and the first to fourth divided into four by position to proceed a process (PROCESS) for the wafer transferred by the transfer chamber 120 Process chambers 106, 108, 110, 112, and transfer by the transfer robot 122 of the transfer chamber 120 And the orient chamber 114 which rotates the seated wafer to detect the position coordinates of the wafer, and transfers the wafer from which the etching process is completed from the first to fourth process chambers 106, 108, 110 and 112. It is composed of a fume removal chamber 116 is removed by the transfer robot 122 of 120 to remove the fumes remaining on the wafer.

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

Wafers loaded in a load port (not shown) are transported one by one to the shelf shelves of the first and second load lock chambers 100 and 102 by an ATM robot (not shown). When the wafers are all transferred to the first load lock chamber 100 or the second load lock chamber 102, the first and second load lock chambers 100 and 102 close the door and pressurize the pressure to prevent impurities from entering. Pull out and vacuum. Then, the transfer robot 32 of the transfer chamber 30 transfers the wafer loaded on the shelf of the first load lock chamber 10 or the second load lock chamber 12 to the orient chamber 114. When the wafer is transferred to the orient chamber 116, the orient chamber 114 senses the position coordinates of the wafer by the laser sensing unit while rotating the wafer. Position coordinate values of the wafer sensed by the orient chamber 116 are transmitted to a robot controller (not shown). The robot controller reads this position coordinate value with the main controller and compares it with the reference alignment data to send the position correction value to the robot controller, and the robot controller corrects the wafer located in the orient chamber 114 to perform the first to fourth processes. Transfer to chambers 106, 108, 110, 112. Thereafter, the main controller controls the etching process to be performed in the first to fourth process chambers 106, 108, 110, and 112, and when the etching process is completed, the main controller controls the robot controller to transfer the robot in the transfer chamber 120. 122 is driven to transfer the wafer from which the etching process is completed from the first to fourth process chambers 106, 108, 110, and 112 to the fume removal chamber 116. The fume removal chamber 116 is sprayed with ultrapure water (DI) under the control of the main controller and dried by rotational force to remove the fumes remaining on the wafer. Then, when the fume removal process is completed from the fume removal chamber 116, the main controller controls the transfer robot 122 of the transfer chamber 120 and transfers it to the first or second load lock chambers 100 and 102 again. Control as possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, a process for removing the fumes remaining on the wafer after the etching process is completed in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment is performed separately. There is an advantage that can be minimized to prevent yield and process defects.

Claims (2)

In the semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a fume removal function, A load lock chamber positioned at the center of the system main frame and having a shelf and loading wafers into the shelf; The wafer loaded in the load lock chamber is transferred to the process chamber, the wafer from which the process is completed is transferred to the process chamber, and the wafer from which the process is completed from the process chamber is removed from the fume chamber and the load lock chamber. A transfer chamber equipped with a transfer robot for transferring to The process chamber is provided with at least one or more to proceed with the etching process for the wafer transferred by the transfer chamber, The fume removal chamber is a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a fume removal function, characterized in that for removing the remaining fumes on the wafer received by the transfer robot of the transfer chamber the wafer is completed from the process chamber. The method of claim 1, The fume removal chamber is a semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a fume removal function, characterized in that to remove the fumes remaining on the wafer by spraying ultrapure water (DI) and dried by the rotational force.

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