KR20070083038A - Carrier for wafers - Google Patents

Abstract

A wafer carrier is provided to improve throughput of a semiconductor device and to detect information of wafers in real time by using a detecting unit and a flash memory unit for storing the detected information. A container(102) has a receiving space whose side is opened, and slots(106). The receiving space receives wafers(W). The slots support the wafers in a duplex structure. A detecting unit(110) is mounted on the container. The detecting unit confirms whether the wafers are loaded on each slot and acquires information including temperature and humidity inside the container. A flash memory unit(120) stores the information acquired by the detecting unit. The detecting unit includes a first sensing module(112) and a second sensing module(114). The first sensing module is mounted on the container and detects whether the wafers are loaded on each slot. The second sensing module detects an internal condition of the container including temperature and humidity therein.

Description

Wafer Carrier {Carrier for wafers}

1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a wafer carrier according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for describing a substrate transfer apparatus to which the wafer carrier illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wafer carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating data transmission and reception between the wafer carrier and the semiconductor device manufacturing facility or host computer facility shown in FIG. 3.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 wafer carrier 102 container

104 door 104a key assembly

106: slot 106a: slot guide

108a: locking portion 108b: groove

110: detection unit 112: first sensing module

114: second sensing module 120: flash memory unit

122: flash memory card 124: memory card loading module

130: wireless transceiver 200: semiconductor device manufacturing equipment

300: data host computer equipment W: wafer

The present invention relates to a wafer carrier. More specifically, the invention relates to a hermetic wafer carrier used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.

Recently, there has been a trend to use large diameter wafers having a diameter of 12 inches in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices. Accordingly, semiconductor equipment and associated consumable members are also designed to standardized specifications for 12 inch wafers.

12-inch wafers require upgraded carriers over wafer cassettes that store and transport 6-inch or 8-inch wafers, as their diameter, weight, and cost increase significantly compared to 6-inch or 8-inch wafers. For example, in the case of 12-inch wafers, wafer carriers such as front opening unified pods (FOUPs), which are hermetically sealed containers, are used instead of conventional open cassettes. One example of such an integrated pod is disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,186,311 to Kinpara et al.

The FOUP has a door for opening and closing on its front surface and is configured to receive wafers by opening the door. In addition, the 12-inch wafer is all transferred by the robot system without the operator's direct handling, and the semiconductor device manufacturing facility for processing the wafer is provided with a wafer transfer device including a load port docked with a FOUP.

1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a wafer carrier according to the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a wafer transfer apparatus to which the wafer carrier illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted.

The conventional wafer carrier 10 shown in FIG. 1 is largely comprised of a container 12 in which a plurality of wafers W are received and one surface of which is opened, and a door 14 for sealing the container 12. It is configured to include.

The wafer transfer device 1 shown in FIG. 2 is an EFEM (equipment front end module) provided on one side of a semiconductor device manufacturing facility (not shown) for performing a unit process and on which the wafer carrier 10 is mounted. The wafer transfer device 1 is largely a transfer chamber 20 for blocking the outside air during the transfer of the wafer W, and a transfer robot disposed inside the transfer chamber 20 to transfer the wafer W. It comprises a 22. The load port 24 described above is mounted at one side of the transfer chamber 20.

That is, the wafer carrier 10 described above is supported by the load port 24 and docked to one side of the transfer chamber 20. The door 14 provided at one side of the container 12 is opened by an opener 26 installed in the transfer chamber 20, and the door 14 is separated from the container 12, thereby inside the container 12. Wafers W may be loaded into the semiconductor device manufacturing facility by the transfer robot 22. Although not shown, when the door 14 is opened, the mapping device 28 provided in the transfer chamber 20 performs mapping on the wafers W stored in the container 12, and mapping data. Is transferred to the transfer robot 22, and wafer transfer of the transfer robot 22 is started.

The wafer carrier 10, ie, the FOUP, is an enclosed wafer carrier, which is improved in size, material, stability, and the like, compared to the wafer cassette, and is moved by an automation system inside a semiconductor fabrication fab, rather than by a worker. Nevertheless, the conventional wafer carrier 10 does not perform its own function similarly to the conventional wafer cassette in terms of its function. Therefore, development of a wafer carrier having improved functions, such as throughput and automated recognition of semiconductor devices, is required.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a wafer carrier suitable for implementing multifunction.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer carrier comprising: a container having a storage space open at one side for accommodating wafers and slots for supporting the wafers in multiple layers; And a sensing unit for acquiring data including whether wafers are stored in the slots and a temperature and humidity in the container, and a flash memory unit for storing data obtained by the sensing unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit is mounted inside the container, the first sensing module for detecting whether the respective slots of the wafer and the internal state of the container including the temperature and humidity inside the container It includes a second sensing module for detecting the. The flash memory unit may include a flash memory card storing data and a memory card mounting module to which the flash memory card is mounted. The flash memory unit may further include a wireless transceiver for transmitting and receiving data stored in the flash memory card to a semiconductor device manufacturing facility or a host computer facility. In addition, it may further include a door for opening and closing the open one side of the container.

According to the above, it is possible to independently grasp information such as the wafer storage state of the wafer carrier, the internal temperature or humidity of the wafer carrier, and to wirelessly transmit and receive the information to a semiconductor device manufacturing facility or a data host computer facility. The wafer carrier having can be implemented. Here, by using a flash memory as a device for storing the above information, it is possible to easily implement a wafer carrier having the above-mentioned multifunction.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples and may be implemented in other forms. The embodiments introduced herein are provided to make the disclosure more complete and to fully convey the spirit and features of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following drawings, the size and shape of the flash memory card and memory card mounting module of the flash memory unit, the first sensing module and the second sensing module of the sensing unit, the wireless transceiver, etc. are exaggerated for clarity of the present invention. Or conceptually illustrated, each device may have various additional devices not described herein.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wafer carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the illustrated wafer carrier 100 includes a container 102 having a receiving space open at one side for accommodating wafers W. As shown in FIG. On the inner surface of the container 102, a slot guide 106a for arranging the space where the wafers W are inserted, that is, the slot 106, is disposed.

As shown, the door 104 may be provided at one open side of the container 102. In this case, the door 104 may have a form capable of opening and closing the inside of the container 102. For example, grooves 108b into which the locking portions 108a provided in the door 104 are inserted are respectively formed in the upper and lower inner walls of the inlet side of the container 102, and the door 104 is formed in the door 104. A key assembly 104a may be provided to vertically operate the locking portion 108a. As another example, the door 104 may be provided in a form in which one side thereof is hinged to one side of the container 102.

In addition, the interior of the container 102 is provided with a sensing unit 110 for sensing data including the wafer storage in each of the slots 106, the temperature and humidity inside the container 102. For example, the sensing unit 110 includes a first sensing module 112 and a second sensing module 114. The first sensing module 112 may be installed in each slot 106 to detect a wafer storage state for each slot.

Although not shown in detail, the first sensing module 112 may be configured using sensors such as a proximity sensor, a load sensor, or a light / light receiving sensor. The second sensing module 114 includes a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The second sensing module 114 is mounted inside the container 102 and performs a function of detecting an internal state of the container such as temperature and humidity inside the container 102. Apart from this, a third sensing module (not shown) for detecting whether the wafers W are correctly aligned in the slot 106 may be further provided.

The data obtained by the sensing unit 110 as described above is preferably displayed so that an operator can check in real time using a display unit (not shown) mounted outside the container 102. For example, the display unit may be formed as a typical LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor provided with an operation button or an operation keyboard on one side or a touch screen form in which an operator can easily inquire such data.

On the other hand, the inner surface of the container 102 is provided with a flash memory unit 120 for storing the data obtained by the detection unit 110. The flash memory unit 120 may be connected to the sensing unit 110 to input data sensed by the sensing unit 110 to a flash memory device, and output the data through the display unit described above. Examples of data that may be stored in the flash memory in addition to the data obtained by the sensing unit 110 include a history and a process of unit manufacturing processes performed on the wafers W stored in the wafer carrier 100. Specific recipes, number of particles per process, film thickness, gate CD (critical dimension), specificities, current process steps, and operator precautions in the process to be performed.

The flash memory unit 120 may have a large data storage capacity and a relatively small size and weight compared to other storage media such as a hard disk. Therefore, it has the advantage that it is easy to install in the inner space, such as the wafer carrier 110. In particular, the flash memory unit 120 may store a flash memory unit 120 in which data is stored, and may include a flash memory card 122 and a memory card mounting module 124 on which the flash memory card is mounted. NAND type or NOR type flash memory device may be used as the flash memory card 122, and the memory card mounting module 124 may be detachable and replaceable.

Specifically, the memory card mounting module 124 preferably has a form and function capable of inputting and outputting data to and from the flash memory card 122, and are substantially the same as those of the memory card mounting module 124. A second or third memory card mounting module (not shown) having a function may be provided in a semiconductor device manufacturing facility (not shown) or separately arranged facility (not shown). Accordingly, after removing the flash memory card 124 from the wafer carrier 100, the data of the flash memory card 124 is read from or loaded into the wafer carrier 100 from the memory card mounting module provided in the facilities. Other data, such as process specifics for the wafers W, may be entered.

Alternatively, the wafer carrier 100 may include a wireless transceiver 130 for communicating data wirelessly. For example, the wireless transceiver 130 is connected to the flash memory unit 120 and stores the data stored in the flash memory card 122 in the semiconductor device manufacturing facility or data host computer equipment (shown in FIG. No). In this case, since the flash memory unit 120 may directly wirelessly communicate with the facility, the flash memory unit 120 may not be configured to be separated into the memory card 122 and the memory card mounting module 124 as described above.

Hereinafter, the wireless communication will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating data transmission and reception between the wafer carrier and the semiconductor device manufacturing facility or host computer facility shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, data such as an internal state of the wafer carrier 100, an accommodating state of the wafers W accommodated in the wafer carrier 100, a process history, an unusual matter, or an operation precaution may be used for managing all data. It is sent to the data host computer facility 300 in charge of control, and the data host computer facility 300 determines whether there is an abnormality of the data and transmits it to the flash memory unit 120 attached to the wafer carrier 100.

In addition, the wafer carrier 100 may communicate with the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 200 by using the wireless transceiver 130 described above. For example, a recipe required for a specific process, such as an experimental process, is transmitted to the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 200, and the process history and the specificities performed at the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 200 are described in the flash memory unit 120. Is entered. In some cases, appropriate communication may be performed between the data host computer facility 300 and the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 200.

The above-described communication may be performed by the cable communication or the removable flash memory card 122 described above even if the communication is not wireless. As such, using the flash memory unit 120 and the wireless transceiver 130, a wafer carrier 100 capable of easily acquiring information of the wafers W and managing the acquired data in real time is substantially manufactured. It becomes easy to do it.

According to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, a recent increase in capacity and size of the flash memory device can be installed in the FOUP internal space. Accordingly, a large amount of data, including wafer storage state, temperature, humidity, process history, etc. in a wafer carrier can be stored in the flash memory, and information is provided in real time to a host computer or a manufacturing facility using a wireless transceiver. You can send

Accordingly, the throughput of the semiconductor device can be improved by easily implementing a wafer carrier such as the next-generation FOUP, which is becoming more versatile, and also improves process efficiency by grasping wafer information in real time.

Although the above has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and modified within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. It will be appreciated that it can be changed.

Claims (5)

A container having a receiving space open at one side for accommodating wafers and slots for supporting the wafers in multiple layers; A sensing unit mounted inside the container and configured to acquire data including whether wafers are stored in the respective slots, and temperature and humidity inside the container; And And a flash memory unit for storing data obtained by the sensing unit. The method of claim 1, wherein the detection unit, A first sensing module mounted inside the container and configured to sense whether each of the slots contains a wafer; And And a second sensing module for sensing an internal state of the container including temperature and humidity inside the container. The method of claim 1, wherein the flash memory unit, A flash memory card in which data is stored; And And a memory card mounting module to which the flash memory card is mounted. The wafer carrier of claim 3, further comprising a wireless transceiver for transmitting and receiving data stored in the flash memory card to a semiconductor device manufacturing facility or a host computer facility. The wafer carrier of claim 1, further comprising a door for opening and closing an open side of the container.

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