KR20100008562A - Substrate transferring method - Google Patents

Substrate transferring method Download PDF

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Publication number
KR20100008562A
KR20100008562A KR1020080069110A KR20080069110A KR20100008562A KR 20100008562 A KR20100008562 A KR 20100008562A KR 1020080069110 A KR1020080069110 A KR 1020080069110A KR 20080069110 A KR20080069110 A KR 20080069110A KR 20100008562 A KR20100008562 A KR 20100008562A
Authority
KR
South Korea
Prior art keywords
wafer
substrate
processed
buffer unit
wafers
Prior art date
Application number
KR1020080069110A
Other languages
Korean (ko)
Inventor
김경모
김병언
Original Assignee
세메스 주식회사
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by 세메스 주식회사 filed Critical 세메스 주식회사
Priority to KR1020080069110A priority Critical patent/KR20100008562A/en
Publication of KR20100008562A publication Critical patent/KR20100008562A/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
    • G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
    • G05B19/418—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS], computer integrated manufacturing [CIM]
    • G05B19/4189—Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS], computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] characterised by the transport system
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
    • H01L21/67766—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
    • H01L21/67778—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading involving loading and unloading of wafers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/45—Nc applications
    • G05B2219/45031—Manufacturing semiconductor wafers

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for transferring a substrate is provided to reduce a substrate transfer time by transferring a plurality of substrates to the buffer unit after successively drawing out the plurality of substrates from a process chamber. CONSTITUTION: A list of processed wafers which are completed is generated(S110). A wafer with a first slot number is searched in a list(S120). A first pickup hand picks up the wafer with a first slot number(S130). A second pickup hand picks up the wafer with a second slot number(S150). A third pickup hand picks up the wafer with the third slot number(S180). A main transfer robot transfers the wafers picked up by the first to third pickup hands to the buffer unit at the same time(S210). The wafer with a first slot number is the oldest wafer in the list.

Description

Substrate Transfer Method {SUBSTRATE TRANSFERRING METHOD}

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, and more particularly to a method for transferring the substrate in the process of processing the semiconductor substrate.

In general, in the substrate manufacturing process, the deposition, etching, coating of photoresist, development, and removal of asher are repeated several times in order to perform fine patterning. Patterning) is made, and as the process progresses, foreign substances are left in the substrate that are not completely removed by etching or ashing. A process for removing such foreign matters is a cleaning process using deionized water or chemical.

Substrate cleaning devices are classified into a batch processor and a single processor. The batch washing apparatus includes a chemical bath, a rinse bath, a dry bath, and the like, which can process 25 sheets or 50 sheets at a time. The batch cleaning device soaks the substrates in each bath for a period of time to remove debris. Such a batch cleaning device has the advantage that the upper and lower portions of the substrate can be cleaned at the same time and at the same time handle a large capacity. However, as the diameter of the substrate increases, the size of the tank increases, and thus the size of the apparatus and the amount of chemical liquid used increase, and at the same time, foreign matters separated from adjacent substrates are reattached to the substrate that is being cleaned in the chemical chamber.

Recently, due to the increase in the diameter of the substrate, sheet type cleaning devices are frequently used. The single sheet cleaning apparatus fixes the substrate with a substrate chuck in a small chamber capable of processing a single substrate, and then rotates the substrate by a motor and nozzles at the top of the substrate. The chemical liquid or pure water is provided to the substrate through. Chemical liquid or pure water is spread over the substrate by the rotational force of the substrate, thereby removing foreign substances adhering to the substrate. This single sheet type washing apparatus has an advantage that the size of the apparatus is smaller than that of the batch washing apparatus and has a homogeneous washing effect.

In general, the single-sheet cleaning device is composed of a structure including a loading / unloading unit, an index robot, a buffer unit, a process chamber, and a main transfer robot from one side. The index robot transfers the substrate between the buffer unit and the loading / unloading unit, and the substrate transfer robot transfers the substrate between the buffer unit and the process chamber.

The buffer unit is provided with a plurality of slots for accommodating a plurality of substrates, and waits for the substrate before cleaning to be put into the process chamber, or waits for the cleaned substrate to be transferred to the loading / unloading unit. The index robot pulls out the substrate from the FOUP seated on the loading / unloading unit and loads the substrate in the buffer unit, and removes the cleaned substrate from the buffer unit and loads the substrate in the pool. The main transfer robot takes out the substrate before cleaning from the buffer unit, provides it to the process chamber, and loads the substrate on which the cleaning has been completed.

At this time, the main transfer robot collects the substrates completed in the process chamber in any order and loads the substrates into empty slots in the buffer unit, so that the transfer efficiency is lowered when the index robot transfers the processed substrates to the release.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer method capable of transferring the substrate efficiently.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a substrate transfer method includes loading substrates processed in a plurality of process chambers in which a substrate is processed, into a buffer unit, and processing substrates currently processed. After sequentially withdrawing from the process chamber according to the order put into the field, the withdrawn substrates are simultaneously transferred to the buffer unit.

According to the present invention described above, the continuous substrate according to the loading order can be continuously stored in the buffer portion, it is possible to efficiently store the substrate, shorten the time required for wafer transfer, and improve productivity. .

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the following, the wafer is described as an example of the substrate, but the technical spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited thereto.

1 is a schematic view of a substrate processing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a buffer unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 1000 of the present invention includes a loading / unloading unit 110, an index robot 200, a buffer unit 300, and a main transfer robot ( 500, a plurality of process chambers 600, and a control unit 700.

The loading / unloading unit 110 includes a plurality of load ports 110a, 110b, 110c and 110d. In this embodiment, the loading / unloading unit 110 has four load ports 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d, but the number of load ports 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d is the substrate. It may increase or decrease depending on the process efficiency and the foot print conditions of the processing system 1000.

Front open unified pods (FOUPs) 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d in which wafers are accommodated are mounted in the load ports 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d. Each of the pools 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d is provided with a plurality of slots for accommodating the wafers in a state in which the wafers are arranged horizontally with respect to the ground. In the pools 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d, wafers that are introduced into the process chamber 600 and processed are received or wafers that are injected into the process chamber 600 to be processed.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a wafer processed by the substrate processing system 1000 is called a processed wafer, and a wafer not yet processed is called a raw wafer.

The index robot 200 is installed between the loading / unloading unit 110 and the buffer unit 300. The index robot 200 includes a plurality of index arms 210 on which wafers are respectively seated. The plurality of index arms 210 may be individually driven, and the raw wafers are picked up from any one of the plurality of load ports 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d and loaded into the buffer unit 300.

In addition, the index robot 200 picks up the processed wafer from the buffer unit 300 and loads the extracted processed wafers into the corresponding pull.

1 and 2, the buffer unit 300 is positioned between an area in which the index robot 200 is installed, and an area in which the plurality of process chambers 600 and the main transfer robot 500 are installed. The buffer unit 300 accommodates the raw wafers transferred by the index robot 200 and stores the processed wafers processed in the process chamber 600.

The buffer part 300 includes the main body 310 and the first and second support parts 320 and 330. In detail, the main body 310 includes a bottom surface 311, first and second sidewalls 312 and 313 vertically extending from the bottom surface 311, and the first and second sidewalls 312 and 313. It may include a top surface 314 coupled to the top of the).

The main body 310 has a front sidewall facing the index robot 200 and a rear sidewall facing the main transfer robot 500 to open and close the wafer. Accordingly, the index robot 200 and the main transfer robot 500 can easily draw and withdraw wafers from the buffer unit 300.

The first and second sidewalls 312 and 313 are disposed to face each other, and the upper surface 314 is partially removed to form an opening 314a.

The first and second support parts 320 and 330 are formed in the body 310. The first support 320 is coupled to the first sidewall 312, and the second support 330 is coupled to the second sidewall 313. The first and second supports 320 and 330 each include a plurality of supports. The supports of each of the first and second supports 320 and 330 are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction, and the wafer is inserted between two supports adjacent to each other in the vertical direction.

The supports of the first support part 320 correspond one to one with the supports of the second support part 330, and the wafer supports the support of the first support part 320 and the support of the second support part 330 corresponding to each other. The end is supported by and is received in the buffer unit 300. In this case, the wafer is disposed to face the bottom surface 311.

Raw wafers stored in the buffer unit 300 are transferred to each process chamber 600 by the main transfer robot 500. The main transfer robot 500 is installed in the transfer passage 400, and the transfer passage 400 is connected to the plurality of process chambers. The main transfer robot 500 includes a plurality of pick-up hands 510 on which wafers are respectively seated, and the plurality of pick-up hands 510 may be individually driven.

The main transfer robot 500 picks up the raw wafer from the buffer unit 300 and then moves along the transfer passage 400 to provide the raw wafer to the process chamber. In addition, the main transfer robot 500 loads processed wafers processed in a plurality of process chambers into the buffer unit 300.

On the other hand, the process chamber 600 for processing the raw wafer to generate the processed wafer is disposed on both sides of the transfer passage 400, respectively. As a processing process performed in the process chamber 600, there is a cleaning process for cleaning the raw wafer.

In this embodiment, the substrate processing system 1000 includes six process chambers, but the number of the process chambers may increase or decrease according to the process efficiency and the footprint of the substrate processing system 1000. . In the plurality of hearing chambers, two process chambers are disposed to face each other with the transfer passage 400 interposed therebetween. That is, three process chambers are disposed at both sides of the transfer passage 400.

Further, in this embodiment, the plurality of process chambers are arranged in a single layer structure, but may be arranged in a multilayer structure in which two or more process chambers are stacked.

On the other hand, the control unit 700 controls the drawing order when the main transfer robot 500 withdraws the processing wafers from the plurality of process chambers 600. That is, the controller 700 draws out the processed wafers currently processed in the plurality of process chambers 600 in the order of being loaded in the initial pool.

For example, when the pools 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d are made up of 25 slots, slot 1 is located below, and slots 1 to 25 are sequentially positioned, slots 25 are located. The raw wafer is introduced into the process chamber 600. The controller 700 stores the slot numbers of the wafers inserted into each of the process chambers, and detects the slot numbers of the processed wafers in the current process chambers to generate a wafer list. The control unit 700 refers to the wafer list and the main transfer device 500 to draw out the processed wafers from the oldest wafer, that is, from the processed wafer having the largest slot number to the processed wafer having the smaller slot number. ).

Hereinafter, a process in which the main transfer robot 500 pulls out a processed wafer will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and the case where the main transfer robot 500 includes three pick-up hands will be described as an example.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the main transfer robot pulls wafers from process chambers in the substrate processing system illustrated in FIG. 1.

1 and 3, first, the control unit 700 generates a wafer list by searching for slot numbers of respective processed wafers currently processed in a plurality of process chambers (step S110).

The controller 700 searches for the oldest processed wafer on the wafer list, that is, the processed wafer having the largest slot number (step S120).

Subsequently, the retrieved processed wafer is set as the processed wafer to be picked up by the first pick-up hand among the plurality of pick-up hands 510 of the main transfer robot 500, and the first pick-up hand of the main transfer robot 500 is the selected processed wafer. Is picked up (step S130).

The controller 700 determines whether or not the processed wafer of the first pick-up hand and the processed wafer in the sequence immediately following the processed wafer of the first pick-up hand exist in the order of slots in the wafer list. Step S140).

In step S140, if there is a processing wafer continuous with the processing wafer of the first pick-up hand, it is set as the processing wafer of the second pick-up hand located immediately below the first pick-up hand, and the second pick-up hand is The processed wafer is picked up (step S150).

In step S140, if there is no processed wafer continuous with the processed wafer of the first pick-up hand, the processed wafer having the largest slot number among the remaining processed wafers except the processed wafer of the first pick-up hand is found on the wafer list. The processing apparatus of the second pick-up hand is set, and the second pick-up hand picks up the processing wafer (step S160).

The controller 700 determines whether or not a processing wafer consecutive to the processing wafer of the second pick-up hand in the wafer list, that is, the processing wafers in the order immediately following the processing wafers of the second pick-up hand in the order of the slot number exists ( Step S170).

In step S170, if there is a processing wafer continuous with the processing wafer of the second pick-up hand, it is set as the processing wafer of the third pick-up hand located immediately below the second pick-up hand, and the third pick-up hand is The processed wafer is picked up (step S180).

In step S170, if there is no processed wafer continuous with the processed wafer of the second pick-up hand, the processed wafer having the largest slot number among the remaining processed wafers except the processed wafer of the second pick-up hand is placed on the wafer list. The processing device of the third pickup hand is set, and the third pickup hand picks up the processing wafer (step S190).

The main transfer robot 500 transfers the processed wafers seated on the first to third pick-up hands to the buffer unit 300, and continuously loads the processed wafers on the buffer unit 300 (step S210). .

As such, the main transfer robot 500 sequentially withdraws processed wafers processed in the plurality of process chambers according to slot numbers of the processed wafers. Accordingly, since the main transfer robot 500 may load the processing wafers in the order of the slot number into the buffer unit 300, the index robot 200 loads the processing wafers into the corresponding pools in one loading operation. can do. Therefore, the substrate processing system 1000 can efficiently transfer wafers, shorten the time required for wafer transfer, and improve productivity.

Although described with reference to the embodiments above, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. I will be able.

1 is a schematic view of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the buffer unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the main transfer robot pulls wafers from process chambers in the substrate processing system illustrated in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: loading / unloading unit 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d: loosening

200: index robot 300: buffer unit

400: transfer passage 500: main transfer robot

600: process chamber

Claims (2)

In the plurality of process chambers in which the substrate is processed, the processed substrates are loaded into the buffer unit, The substrate transfer method, characterized in that the current processing is withdrawn from the process chamber in sequence in the order in which the processing chambers are put, and then the taken out substrates are transferred to the buffer unit at the same time. The method of claim 1, The substrates are stored in a storage container before being loaded into the processing chamber and are loaded into the buffer unit. And injecting the substrate into the processing chamber from the buffer unit, according to the order in which the substrate is loaded.
KR1020080069110A 2008-07-16 2008-07-16 Substrate transferring method KR20100008562A (en)

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KR1020080069110A KR20100008562A (en) 2008-07-16 2008-07-16 Substrate transferring method

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