KR20110049751A - Apparatus and methods for transporting and processing substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and methods for transporting and processing substrates are provided to maximize the usage of a processing chamber while maintain small footprint. CONSTITUTION: In an apparatus and methods for transporting and processing substrates, A process chamber(31) is linearly located along a substrate transfer chamber(32). The substrate transfer chamber includes a discharge unit and an atmospheric unit. An EFEM(Equipment Front End Module)(33) enters to a system(34) through a feeding device. A non-power base is freely lying in a first linear track. A magnetically-coupled follower is attached to the non-power base.

Description

Apparatus and method for transferring and processing substrates {APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR TRANSPORTING AND PROCESSING SUBSTRATES}

The present invention generally relates to novel apparatus and methods for transferring and processing substrates and more specifically wafers.

In the manufacture of semiconductors, conventional tools, referred to as cluster tools, are one of the main units used in the manufacture of wafers. Typical commercial devices generally have a circular center region with chambers attached along the perimeter. The chamber extends outward around its central area. When the wafer is processed, the wafer is first moved from the input / output station around the center chamber to the center chamber and then from that center chamber to the attachment chamber or the surrounding chamber where the processing is performed. In these tools as substantially all manufacturing systems currently used, wafers are typically processed one at a time. The wafer may be moved to the chamber for processing and then back to the central chamber. Further movement and subsequent processing to another surrounding chamber may be followed and then moved back to the central chamber. As a result, the fully processed wafers are moved together out of the tool. This movement is done through an input / output station or chamber connected with a vacuum system, commonly referred to as a load lock, in which the wafer moves from vacuum to the atmosphere. Units of this kind are described, for example, in US Pat. No. 4,951,601.

Another tool indexes the wafer along the central axis and feeds the wafers through the surrounding processing chamber. In this tool, all wafers are fed to the next processing step at the same time. Wafers can be processed independently but cannot be moved independently. All wafers stay at the processing stations for the same time, but the processing at each station can be controlled independently depending on the maximum time allowed by the time allowed for that step. The first described tool may be operated in this manner, but in practice, such a tool may move the wafer so that the wafers do not progress sequentially to adjacent processing chambers, and not all wafers are required to have the same dwell time in the processing chamber. Does not.

When one of these systems is operating, the central region is generally a vacuum, but may be some other preselected or predetermined control environment. For example, such a core may provide gas useful for a process being performed in a processing chamber. Chambers or compartments that exist along the outer surface of the central region may also be generally vacuum, but they may also have a preselected and controlled gaseous environment. In addition, the treatment is generally performed in a vacuum state by moving the wafer from the central chamber to the attachment chamber or compartment in a vacuum state. In general, when the wafer reaches the chamber or compartment for processing, the chamber or compartment is sealed from the central chamber. This prevents the materials and / or gases used in the chamber or compartment from reaching the central region, thereby preventing contamination of the atmosphere in the central region and the attachment treatment chamber, and / or located in the central region to await processing. Or to prevent contamination of the wafer to be further processed. This also allows the processing chamber to be set at a different vacuum level than that used in the central chamber for the particular processing to be performed in that chamber. For example, if the processing technology of the chamber requires a higher vacuum, the seal between the central region and the chamber may further pump the chamber itself to meet the process requirements for the particular process to be performed within that chamber. have. Alternatively, if a lower vacuum is required, the pressure may be increased without affecting the pressure in the central chamber. After processing of the wafer is completed, the wafer is moved back to the center area and discharged out of the system. In this way, the wafer proceeds sequentially through this tool and passes through the chambers and all available processes. Alternatively, the wafer may go through only the selected chamber and be exposed only to the selected process.

In addition, variations on this process are used in facilities provided in the art. However, all of these will depend on the central area or central area, which is essential for the various processes. In addition, since the main use of such equipment is wafer fabrication, it will mainly be described in terms of wafers. However, it should be understood that most of the processes described may be applied to general substrates, and that the technique may also be applied to such substrates and such manufacturing facilities.

Recently, a different system has been described, having a linear shape rather than a circular shape, and in that the wafer moves from one chamber to the next for processing. Since the wafers move in sequence from one chamber to the adjacent chamber, no center is needed as part of the installation. In such a tool, a wafer enters the unit and is typically attached to a chuck that moves with the wafer as it moves through the system. In this unit, the same amount of time is performed in each chamber.

Such a system typically has a smaller footprint in the art and does not include a large center because the footprint is only close to the footprint of the processing chamber. This is the advantage of this type of installation. This system is described in pending published patent application publication no. 2006/0102078 A1. This particular system has a uniform dwell time at each process station. This allows some differences in processing that are limited by the length of the longest dwell period. If an dwell time that is controlled independently at various stations is required, another approach may be preferred. In addition, this type of equipment has the disadvantage that if one station is stopped for repair or maintenance, the entire system itself cannot be used for processing.

The present invention aims at a novel wafer processing unit intended to allow dwell times that are individually controlled at a processing station while maintaining a small footprint. In addition, the present invention may proceed even if one or more stations are suspended for one or another reason. In part, the present invention derives from the recognition that semiconductor manufacturing costs are very expensive and the costs are increasing. When investing in the field, the higher the cost, the greater the risk. The goal is to define a facility which, according to the "Lean" principle of manufacturing, reduces costs to some degree and provides improved systems and services. Therefore, it is an object to maximize the processing chamber while maintaining a small footprint. It is another purpose to maximize the use of the processing station. Another goal is to simplify the robotics and services of these facilities. In addition, the system will provide significant redundancy, including up to 100% availability of the system during processing and even during service of the mainframe. In this case, fewer chambers will be used, but all processes can continue to be used for the processing of the wafer. In addition, the service or processing chamber will be available from both the back or front of the processing chamber. Also, in a preferred embodiment, this processing chamber will be set up in a linear configuration. This ensures a minimal footprint for systems that allow individual programming of wafers at various processing stations.

In general, this processing chamber may have the ability to perform any of the various processes used in connection with wafer processing. For example, in the manufacture of a wafer, the wafer is typically subjected to one or more etching steps, one or more sputtering or physical deposition processes, ion implantation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), heating and / or cooling processes, or the like. Will be returned. The number of processing steps to fabricate a wafer will mean that using conventional devices to perform these various processes may require multiple tools or tools with huge subsystems. However, the instant system offers the advantage that additional functional stations can be added without a significant increase in size or the need to add a new total system.

To achieve these various purposes, the transfer of wafers is configured independently of the chamber design. Thus, the chamber is designed to operate as a chamber with specific processing capabilities, and the transfer system is configured to operate independently of the chamber design and to feed the wafer into and out of the processing chamber. The transfer in the preferred embodiment disclosed relies on a simple linkage arm based on linear and rotational movements coupled through the vacuum wall. In terms of keeping costs low, the chamber design is based on a modular approach. Thus, in one embodiment, the system may have three chambers, or a matching structure may be used, and the system may have six chambers. Alternatively, the matching structure may be repeated in four and eight chambers and also in other multiples, or modules with different numbers of processing stations may be matched.

The system is extensible and also independently scalable to technologies that may be applied as future processes or applications. Linear wafer transfer is used. This enables high throughput in systems with small footprints that do not require more space in the cleaning chamber. In addition, different processing steps can be configured on the same processing platform.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising: an extended substrate transfer chamber having an outlet and an atmospheric section; A first linear track attached to the transfer chamber in the outlet; A second linear track attached to the transfer chamber at the atmospheric pressure; A first base linearly riding on the first linear track; A second base that rides linearly on a second linear track; A speed reducer mounted on the first base, the speed reducer having a magnetically-coupled follower as an input and providing low speed rotation to the output; A rotary motor mounted on a second base and rotating the magnetic driver, the magnetic driver transmitting a rotational motion to the magnetic coupling follower through a vacuum partition; And a robot arm coupled to an output of the reducer. The linear motor may be attached to the second base to transmit linear motion, and the magnetized wheel may be coupled to the second base. A linear motion encoder may be coupled to the second base and a rotary encoder may be coupled to the rotary motor. In a system with two robotic arms, the arm extension may be coupled to one of the robotic arms such that the axes of rotation of the robotic arms coincide.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for providing a robotic arm in a transfer chamber; Magnetically coupling linear motion to the robotic arm through the vacuum partition; Magnetically coupling rotational motion to the robotic arm through the vacuum partition; And reducing the speed of rotational movement in the discharge transfer chamber, a method of transferring a wafer from a loadlock to a processing chamber through the discharge transfer chamber. The method also includes determining a first center point defined as the center of the wafer when the wafer is placed in the load lock; When the wafer is placed in a processing chamber, determining a second center point defined as the center of the wafer; Determining the position of the pivot point of the robot arm; And calculating a combination of linear and rotational movements of the robotic arm such that a wafer disposed on the robotic arm moves only in a straight line between the loadlock and the processing chamber.

According to the present invention, it is possible to maximize the use of the processing chamber while maintaining a small footprint. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to maximize the use of the processing station. In addition, according to the present invention, the robotics and services of such a facility can be simplified. In addition, the present invention can provide significant redundancy, including up to 100% availability of the system during processing and even during service of the mainplane.

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional cluster tool for PVD applications.
2 is a schematic diagram of a system that is characteristic of a conventional system and disclosed in the aforementioned patent application (2006/0102078 A1).
3 is a schematic diagram of a processing system according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic top view for more clearly showing the transfer chamber (in this figure shown in three process station structures, but the number of stations is used for illustration only).
5 is a schematic diagram of a segment of a system from a load lock to a transfer or transfer chamber.
6 is a schematic diagram of a wafer movement mechanism shown outside of an enclosure for this system.
7 is a schematic diagram of a track and drive system used in a preferred embodiment.
7A illustrates an example of a linear motion assembly.
FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4 showing another embodiment of a linear motion assembly.
7C is a cross-sectional view illustrating one example of a linear track in air and a linear track in a vacuum state;
FIG. 7D shows another example of the linear track in air and the linear track in vacuum. FIG.
8 is a schematic diagram of a four station physical vapor deposition (PVD) or sputtering system in accordance with the present invention.
9 is a schematic representation of an eight station system in accordance with the present invention.
10 is a schematic representation of a six chamber system in accordance with the present invention.
11A and 11B are schematic views of two different embodiments of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a cluster tool of the type generally used today. In general, this type of cluster tool includes a processing chamber 21 attached to and centrally disposed around the central chamber 22. In this system, there are two central chambers. Other systems may only have a single central chamber. There may be systems with three or more central chambers except for the inconvenience, but instead the user will generally obtain another system. In operation, a robot is typically located within each central chamber 22. The robot receives the wafer in the system, conveys the wafer from the central chamber to the processing chamber, and also conveys the wafer back to the central chamber after processing. In some conventional systems, a central robot can only access a single wafer and a single chamber at a time. Thus, the robot can be involved or busy in connection during the processing in which the wafer is in a single chamber. The combination of such a single robot involved in processing the station during processing limits the throughput of this type of cluster tool. Newer units use robots with multiple arms. The processing chamber may include any type of processor, and may include, for example, a chamber for physical vapor deposition, a chamber for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or an chamber for etching, or another processing chamber that may be performed on a wafer during its manufacture. You may. This type of tool allows processing for different periods of time, because when the wafer is processed, transfer into the chamber by the robot arm and removal from the chamber is processed and computer controlled regardless of other factors. Because. It is clear that processing can be set for a given sequence for the same time.

Referring now to Figure 2, a wafer processing tool is shown for each chamber in which the dwell time of the wafer in the chamber is the same. In this embodiment, the processors 23 are aligned linearly, in which case the chambers are located adjacent to one another and on top of each other. At its end is an elevator 25 that moves the wafers being processed from one level to another. At its inlet 26, the wafer enters and is positioned on the support to remain constant as it moves through the system. In an embodiment of such a system, the support lifts the wafer to the upper level of the processor, and the wafer then moves in sequence through the processing chamber 23 at that level. Elevator 25 changes the level of the wafer, which in turn moves from one processor chamber to another along another level and then out of the system.

3, the processing chamber 31 is positioned linearly along the transfer chamber 32. The wafer enters the system 34 through an equipment front end module (EFEM) 33 or some equivalent feeding device. EFEM 33 includes a station 30 on which a front front unified pod (FOUP) may be located. The FOUP (not shown) includes a housing or enclosure, where the wafer is accommodated while waiting to enter a processing operation and remains clean. In addition, a feeding mechanism may be associated with the EFEM 33 to place the wafer in the processing system or to remove the wafer temporarily stored in the system after processing. The FOUPs of the wafers are placed on the EFEM, where the wafers enter the system by being lifted one by one by the blades that lift the wafers from the FOUPs in the EFEM 33 and transport the wafers into the loadlock compartment 35. The wafer moves along the transfer chamber 32 from the loadlock compartment 35 and is transferred from the transfer chamber 32 into the processing chamber 31. After the substrate enters the processing chamber, the substrate leaves its support arm and instead remains on the substrate support in the chamber. At this time, the valve is closed to separate the atmosphere of the processing chamber from the atmosphere of the transfer chamber. This allows changes in the processing chamber to be made without contaminating the transfer chamber of the other processing chambers. After the process, the valve is opened to separate the process chamber from the transfer chamber, the wafer is removed from the process chamber, and the load lock is returned to the FOUP on the EFEM 33 or to another process chamber for further processing. ) Along the side. 3, four processing chambers 31 are shown. In addition, four processing power sources 37 and a power distribution unit 36 are shown in FIG. 3. Together they provide the power and electronics for the system to each individual processing chamber. Above the processing chamber 31 is a processing gas cabinet 38 and an information processing cabinet 40. Through these units, it is determined whether the information keyed into the system control movement of the substrate along the transfer chamber 32 and whether the substrate is transferred into the processing chamber for later processing. In addition, these units provide records that occur within the processing chamber. Gas is provided for use in the chamber during processing. Although the robot handling mechanism for feeding the wafer into the system through the processing station of the present system is shown as two arm systems, in fact three or more arms may be present, each set to move independently or together within the transfer travel chamber. Can be.

The processing chamber in the system may perform a different process than described in the manufacture of wafers. Recently, many manufacturers purchase a dedicated system for the entire system only for the sputter or etching process. In essence, there are sufficient sputtering or etching steps in the manufacture of the wafer so that four or more stage systems can be fully dedicated to the sputtering operation. Alternatively, the wafer can be conveyed through a series of operations, resulting in a final process through each different but each required series of operations. For example, at five processing stations, one can anticipate the next busy sequence as appropriate. In the first processing station, the wafer will be subjected to a degassing operation, the second station can be a preclean station, the third station is for example a sputtering station for depositing titanium, and the fourth station is for example nickel A sputter station for depositing vanadium, and a fifth station is a sputter for depositing gold.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a three station system with the top cover removed. The purpose in connection with FIG. 4 is to provide a clearer understanding of the transfer chamber 32. The wafer to be processed enters the present system at the load lock 35. The load lock 35 is a dual level load lock, and can hold and process two wafers at the same time. One level of load lock is on the lower lever and the other level of load lock is on the upper level. In the loadlock, the wafer entering the system enters a vacuum or controlled environment. The processed wafer also passes through the loadlock 35 during its travel, leaves the system, leaves a vacuum or other controlled state of the system, and returns into a FOUP (not shown in FIG. 4). Once the wafer has completed its transition from the non-vacuum state to the vacuum state, the wafer is lifted on the arm 41 moving into the transfer chamber 32. While one such arm can be seen, the other arm is partially covered by the element of the first processing chamber on the left. The visible arm is shown as transferring the wafer into this processing chamber 31 (or otherwise shown as removing the processed wafer from this chamber). The arm 41 moves along the transfer chamber inside via the linear rail 43. In this embodiment, the rails in the transfer chamber 32 hold the support arms above the floor of the transfer chamber 32. In addition, the drive mechanism, which is not visible in FIG. 4, acts as being outside the vacuum state through the walls of the enclosure of the transfer chamber 32. This generally provides not only rotational movement when extending the arm into the chamber or into the loadlock 35, but also provides linear movement to the arm 41. Thus, the arms are used to move the wafer into or out of the transfer chamber 32, to move the wafer into or out of the processing chamber 31, or to move the wafer into or out of the loadlock chamber 35. Move it. By avoiding contact with the base of such a chamber, fewer particles are produced, maintaining the environment in the absence of more impurities or particles. Further details of this transport system will be shown and described with reference to the following figures. In addition, although two arms are shown in FIG. 4, it is readily apparent that the system can have more or less than two arms on the rail and can handle three or more wafer transfer devices at any time.

According to the method of the present invention, the support arm 41 operates using a combination of rotational and linear motions in such a way that the wafer only moves in a straight line. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the arm 41 moves using a combination of the linear movement illustrated by the double head arrow A and the rotational movement illustrated by the double head arrow B. FIG. However, as shown by dashed lines BLl, BLm and BL, the motion is programmed such that the center of the wafer follows a straight line motion. Due to this, all the openings of the load lock 35 and the chamber 31 are only slightly larger than the diameter of the chamber. This also allows for any situation, for example, via the user interface UI (FIG. 3), so that the combined linear arcuate motion of the arm 41 can be programmed to be activated by the controller, so that any type and any combination Can be attached to the transfer chamber 32.

According to one method of the invention, the following process is implemented to calculate the combined linear arcuate arm motion executed by the controller. The central position of the wafer is determined as being in the load lock. The center of the wafer is determined as being located inside each of the attached processing chambers. Pivot points of each arm are determined (as described below, in some embodiments, the pivot points of both arms may coincide). The order of transfer, ie, whether it is necessary to move each wafer between the loadlock and only one or more chambers, is determined. This value can be programmed into the controller using the UI. Then, the linear and rotational motion of each arm is calculated so that the wafer located on each arm moves only in a straight line between the pivot point and the center determined for the loadlock and chamber.

In part, to simplify the combined linear arcuate motion of the arm 41, in one embodiment the following features of the invention are implemented. In FIG. 4, one of the support arms 41, specifically the arm 41 fully exposed in FIG. 4, is connected to the arm extension 41 ′, while the other arm 41 has an internal drive and support mechanism. 45 (see also FIGS. 5 and 6). In the illustrated embodiment, the arm extension 41 'is fixed, i.e., only follows the linear movement of the drive and support mechanism 45, but cannot be rotated. Rather, the rotational movement is imposed on the arm 41 fixed only to the end of the arm extension 41 '. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the straight dashed line BLm is centered at the center of rotation or pivot point of both arms 41 such that the centers of rotation or pivot points of both arms 41 coincide, that is, as shown. To pass through, the arm extension 41 'is fixed. In addition, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the arm 41 may move in a linear direction so that the center of rotation of both arms 41 exactly matches the other arm. With this design, the two arms 41 can be manufactured identically, because they follow the same combined linear arcuate motion from the same pivot point centerline.

Referring now to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 begins with the loadlock 35 and continues to the starting point of the transfer chamber 32, without a cover closing the inner element, comprising a first processing chamber 31, Parts of the system 34 are shown. In FIG. 5, the wafer 42 on the load lock 35 is shown to be held on the arm 41. The other arm 41 is shown extending into the processing chamber 31. As shown, cancers that act independently and may be at different levels may extend to different regions at the same time. The arms move the wafer from the load lock along the transfer chamber 32 into the system and then from the processing chamber to the processing chamber around the system. Eventually, the arms move the wafer along the transfer chamber into the loadlock 35 after processing and then out of the system 34. Then, upon completion of processing, the wafer may be transferred back into the FOUP from the loadlock from which the processed wafer is collected. The wafer in the loadlock or processing chamber is transferred by being lifted on the support surface associated with the arm 41. Lifting the wafer through the lift pins on the support surface allows arm access below the wafer to cause the arm to lift the wafer and move the wafer for the next step in the system. Alternatively, a structure having the property of a shelf that slides under the wafer and supports the wafer during transfer may be used to support and hold the wafer, and from the wafer 41 when brought in or taken out of the chamber or compartment. It can also accept and release. The arms are arranged to pass above and below each other without contact, and can pass through each other. The arms are connected to an internal drive and support mechanism 45. The drive and support mechanism 45 is provided with a linear drive track through which the drive and support mechanism moves in the transfer chamber 32. Movement of the drive and support mechanism 45 is caused by an external driver such as a motor. One type of drive causes the drive and support mechanism 45 to move linearly along the drive track 46. Due to other forms of driving, rotation of the arm 41 may extend from the transfer chamber 32 into the loadlock 35 or the processing chamber 31 while moving the wafer 42 through the system into the system. have. Individual rails 47 (rail 47 are clearly shown in FIG. 6), in which each drive and support mechanism independently performs positioning enable, so that each arm 41 moves and acts independently of the other arms. In the drive track 46. Moving the wafer into the processing chamber has the property of changing into the chamber in its linear drive path. This occurs because in a preferred embodiment the wafer is experiencing two types of motion simultaneously. It is moved linearly and rotated at the same time. The use of other types of drive mechanisms or external motors to drive these mechanisms in the vacuum of the transfer chamber 32 reduces unwanted particles in the enclosed vacuum area.

Referring now to Figure 6, there is shown a drive system used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the rails 47 of the drive tracks 46 can each be seen independently. Also shown is a wafer 42 on one of the support arms 41. In Figure 6 the other support arm is shown as simply extending. The drive and support mechanism 45 rides on one of the rails 47, respectively. This facilitates positioning of the arms 41 at different levels. At the base of each of the drive and support mechanisms 45 is a magnetic head or a magnetically-coupled follower 48. The magnetic driver 50 is positioned away from the magnetic head 48. The magnetic head 48 is located within the vacuum of the transfer chamber, and the wall of the vacuum chamber (shown as 53 in FIG. 7) passes under each of the magnetic heads 48 between the magnetic head 48 and the driver 50. . Thus, the driver 50 is outside the vacuum wall of the transfer chamber 32. As described above, the arm 41 moves the wafer 42 through the processing system into the processing system, and the arms 41 move independently of each other. These arms 41 are driven by a magnetic coupler device that includes a driver 50 and a magnetic head 48. The coupler imparts both linear and rotational motion to the arm 41. The driver 50 is located outside of the vacuum and rides on the outer rail 51 that appears on both sides of the rail system. One set is seen in the opposite relationship, while the other tight lanes appear on the opposite side. Rotation of the arm is conveyed through the magnetic coupler and driven by the rotary motor 52. Although magnetic coupling is shown in FIG. 6 as being used for linear movement and rotation, it can be seen that separate magnetic couplers and drivers may be used. Thus, it is desirable to transfer linear and rotational movements through the same coupler, but it is also possible to use separate couplers for linear movements and other sets for rotational movements.

One type of arm that may be used to move and manipulate a wafer through a transfer chamber 32 including a stop at a processing station 31 is referred to as a SCARA robot, abbreviated as described as a selective compliant articulated assembly robotic arm. do. SCARA systems tend to be faster and clearer than Cartesian systems that they will replace.

It may also include a repulsive magnet that will reduce the attraction created by the kinetic coupling magnet to reduce and / or eliminate the load factor in connection with the magnetic drive system. Magnets that combine rotational and linear motion into a vacuum have a significant amount of attraction. This puts a load on the mechanical mechanism that supports the part. Higher loads mean shorter bearing life and more particle generation. By using magnets located in separate devices that repel each other or in magnetic couplers, the attraction force can be reduced. In fact, inside the magnetic coupler, the innermost magnet is not important in achieving coupling stiffness. However, these internal magnets can be used to generate a repelling force with the coupling magnets used in the attraction force arranged in alternating N-S positions around the diameter of the coupler.

Of course, it can be appreciated that if there is no interest in particle dust in the enclosed chamber, the drive mechanism may be included in the enclosed chamber.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a side view of the tracking and drive system without a cover is shown. In FIG. 7, the vacuum wall or vacuum partition 53 is shown to be in a position between the magnetic couplers 48 and 50 that drive and control the position of the arm 41. The drive track 46 surrounds the rail 47, which provides linear motion imparted by the outer rail 51 to provide the mechanism 45 to the drive and support mechanism 45, thereby providing an arm ( 41). Rotational motion is imparted by the rotary motor 52. In Fig. 7, the side marked Va is in a vacuum state, but the side marked At is in a standby state. As shown in FIG. 7, the magnetic coupler 50 is driven by the rotary motor 52, causing the coupler 48 to follow the same rotational motion due to the magnetic coupling across the vacuum partition 53. However, due to hysteresis in magnetic coupling, the accuracy of the rotational motion of the arm may deteriorate. In fact, due to the length of the arm, small angular errors in the coupler 48 to 50 may cause significant displacement of the wafer located at the end of the arm 41. In addition, due to the length and weight of the arm, and also due to the change in weight depending on whether the arm supports the wafer, the transient motion may last for an unacceptable time length. To avoid these problems, a reduction gear 55 (sometimes referred to as a speed reducer or gear reducer) is interposed between the coupler 48 and the rotary coupler 56 or arm 41. The gear reducer 55 has the rotation of the magnetic coupler 48 as its input and provides an output at a slower rotational speed to operate the arm 41 at a rotational speed slower than the rotational speed of the motor 52. In this particular example, the gear reducer is set to have a deceleration ratio of 50: 1. This greatly increases the accuracy of the angular placement of the arms 41, reduces transient motion, and reduces the moment of inertia of the drive assemblies of the art.

In FIG. 7, the reduction gear assembly 55 is mounted on the base 49. The base 49 is non-powered and rides freely on the linear rail 47. On the other hand, the rotary motor 52 is mounted on the base 54 and rides on the linear rail 51 using mechanical power. Since the mechanical power moves the base 54 linearly, the magnet coupled between the magnetic coupler 50 and the magnetic follower 48 transmits linear motion to its freely riding base 49, thereby providing an arm ( 41) moves linearly. As a result, this arrangement is advantageous in that all power movements, ie linear and rotational movements, are carried out in atmospheric conditions, and no power system resides in a vacuum environment. Hereinafter, various embodiments of power movement in the atmospheric state and free non-power movement in the vacuum state will be described as examples.

7A shows an example of a linear motion assembly. In FIG. 7A, the belt or chain drive is connected to the base 54. The belt or chain 58 rides on the rotor 59 and powers one of the rotors 59 to impart motion in both directions, as shown by arrow C. To control the linear motion, encoder 57a sends a signal to the controller that identifies the linear motion of base 54. For example, encoder 57a may be an optical encoder that reads the encoding provided on linear track 46. In addition, a rotary encoder 47b is provided on the motor 52 and also transmits an encoding of the rotary motion to the controller. The readout of these rotational and linear motions may be used to control the rotational and linear motion of the arm 41 so that the centerline of the wafer moves only in a straight line.

7B is a cross-sectional view near the line A-A of FIG. 4 showing another embodiment of a linear motion assembly. In FIG. 7C, the drive track 46 supports the rails 47, on which wheels 61 and 62 ride. These wheels may be magnetized to provide improved manpower. The wheels 61, 62 are connected to the base 54, on which a rotating motor 52 is mounted. The linear motor 63 is mounted below the base 54 and interacts with the magnet array 64 mounted on the drive track 46. The linear motor 63 exerts a linear motive force to interact with the magnet 64 to move the base 54 in the inward and outward direction of the page. The linear motion of the base 54 is monitored and reported by the encoder 57b, which reads the position / movement encoding 57c provided on the track 46. In this particular embodiment, the encoder 57b has a precision of one thousandth of a thousandth of an inch.

7C is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of linear tracking in an atmospheric state and linear tracking in a vacuum state. The vacuum side is denoted VA, but the atmospheric side is denoted AT and the vacuum partition 53 together with the chamber wall 32 is separated between the two sides. At the atmospheric side, the rider 61 rides on the linear track 47. Since this side is in the atmospheric state, particle generation is not as important as on the vacuum side. Thus, the rider 61 may comprise a wheel or may simply be made of a sliding material such as Teflon. The base 54 is attached to the slider 61 and supports a rotating motor for rotating the magnetic coupler 50. On the vacuum side, the linear track 78 is made to receive the sliding bearing 73, which is attached to the base 70 via the coupler 72. They may be made of stainless steel and should be made to minimize particle production. In addition, covers 74 and 76 are provided to retain any particles produced within the confinement of the bearing assembly. The base 70 extends beyond the bearing assembly and supports the gear reducer 55, which is connected to the magnetic follower 48.

7D shows another example of a linear track in an atmospheric state and a linear track in a vacuum state. In FIG. 7D, the standby side may be configured identically to FIG. 7C. However, to minimize contamination, on the vacuum side, magnetic levitation is used instead of the slider bearings. As shown in FIG. 7D, the active electromagnetic assembly 80 cooperates with the permanent magnet 82 to form a magnetic levitation and allows free linear movement of the base 70. In particular, the permanent magnet 82 maintains an empty space 84 and does not contact the electromagnet assembly 80. As the base 54 moves linearly with the slider 61, the magnetic coupling between the coupler 50 and the follower 48 imparts linear motion to the injured base 70. Similarly, the rotation of the coupler 50 causes the rotation of the follower 48, which transmits the rotation to the gear reducer 55.

8, a processing system according to the present invention is shown. As in the case of FIG. 3, the EFEM 33 receives and stores a wafer for presentation to the system 34 including the processing chamber 31, and in this embodiment, the processing chamber 31 first It is for showing the chamber in which sputter deposition takes place by transferring the wafer to the load lock 35 and then transferring it along the transfer or transfer chamber 32. The processed wafer is then fed back to the loadlock 35 along the transfer chamber 32 and then out of the system to the EFEM 33.

Referring now to Figure 9, eight station processing systems in accordance with the present invention are shown. EFEM 33 feeds the wafer to loadlock 35. The wafer then moves along the transfer chamber 32 from the transfer chamber 32 to the processing chamber 31. In FIG. 9, both sets of transfer chambers are located in the central region and the processing chamber 31 is located on its outer side. In FIG. 10, all of the processing sections are aligned such that one set of processing chambers is a next set of replicas. As such, the processing chambers of the present system are aligned in parallel.

Other variations are readily possible and contemplated. For example, instead of aligning the processing chambers as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the processing chambers may be located one set above another or one set after another. If one set is aligned after another set, the sets can be aligned so that the second set continues on the line following the first set or the second set can be set at some angle with the first set. Since the transfer chamber can feed wafers on each side of the chamber, two sets of processors can be set around a single transfer chamber and fed by the same transfer chamber (as described with reference to the previous figures). See Fig. 11A, which designates the same items, note that Figs. 11A and 11B are provided with an indication of a valve 39 separating the processing chamber 31 from the transfer chamber 32 as described above). If the second set of processors is a continuation of the first set of processors, there may often be an advantage to positioning additional load locks along the system. Of course, it is possible to add an EFEM at the far end and place a loadlock in front of the EFEM so that the wafer can move in a straight line entering and exiting one end (see FIG. 11B, also referred to in the previous figures). And specify the same item as). In the latter case, the wafer can be programmed to enter or exit either or both end (s). It is also possible to arrange the processing chambers along the transfer chamber at intervals or at irregular intervals between the processing chambers. In this aspect, the main feature would be to position the processing chamber to feed the wafer into the individual processing chamber as needed, as indicated by the computer control of the system.

Although the chambers have been described as being under vacuum, in fact, in some cases, there may be an advantage to including a certain gas or other fluid in a limited area. Thus, the term vacuum, as used herein, should be interpreted as a self-limiting environment to include, for example, special gases that may be used in the overall system.

In FIG. 1, the cluster tool includes seven processing chambers. In FIG. 9, the disclosed system includes eight chambers. The overall footprint of the tool of FIG. 1 with a peripheral device is approximately 38 m ² . The overall footprint of the tool of FIG. 9 (with additional processing chambers and peripherals) is 23 m ² . As such, the footprint for a system with more chambers is quite small when the linear arrangement according to the invention is used. In large scale measurements, this improvement is achieved using an improved feeding system shown as transfer chamber 32 in FIG. 9 compared to using a central section as is done in a system of the type shown in FIG. 1.

The linear structure of the present invention is very flexible and conducive to many substrate sizes and shapes. Typically, wafers used in the manufacture of semiconductors are round and about 200 to 300 mm in diameter. The semiconductor industry is always striving to get more devices per wafer and is steadily moving to larger wafer sizes from 75 mm to 100 mm, 200 mm and also 300 mm and to 450 mm diameter wafers. This is in progress. Due to its inherent architecture, the floor space needed in a clean room wafer fab will not grow as large as in a typical cluster tool with processes located around it.

In addition, where it is desirable to increase the output by increasing the size of the cluster tool type (FIG. 1), the add-on for the entire measurement is for increased power, but the increase in size of the system described herein is in a single direction and That is, about the length while keeping the width of the system the same. In a similar process, such as an aluminum process, with respect to throughput during the same time period using a system of the type shown in FIG. 9, which takes up less space than the equipment shown in FIG. 1, the equipment of FIG. It produces almost twice as many wafers (about 170% as fast calculation). Thus, using the disclosed system over conventional units, the wafer output per measured clean room area is significantly improved. It becomes clear that this achieves the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer.

The design of such equipment is not limited to circular substrates. The cluster tool, which moves the wafer in the path described by the arc, has special drawbacks when the substrate is rectangular because the tool needs to be sized to handle a circular substrate engraved with the rectangular shape of the actual substrate, but the linear tool has a real shape. It does not have to be larger in any direction than necessary to pass through. For example, when working on a 300 mm ² substrate, the cluster tool needs to be sized to handle a 424 mm circular substrate, but the linear tool does not need to be larger than required for a 300 mm circular substrate.

In addition, the size of the transfer chamber 32 need only provide that space needed to move the substrate along the inlet chamber into and out of the system from the processing chamber, regardless of the wafer of any other member. Therefore, the width of this chamber should be slightly larger than the size of the substrate to be processed. However, in the system, small members may be processed, or may be processed together as a plurality in the substrate holder.

While the invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments of specific materials and specific steps, those skilled in the art will recognize that variations of these specific embodiments may be practiced and / or utilized and are defined by the appended claims. It is to be understood that such structures and methods may be obtained from an understanding given by the described and illustrated embodiments, as well as a description of the operation, in order to facilitate changes that may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]
21, 31: processing chamber 22: central chamber
25: lift 26: entrance
30: station 32: transfer chamber
33: EFEM 35: compartment
37 processing power 38 processing gas cabinet
40: information processing cabinet 41: cancer
43: linear rail 45: drive and support mechanism
46: drive track 47: rail
48: magnetic coupling follower 50: magnetic driver
51: rail 52: rotation motor

Claims (11)

An extended substrate transfer chamber having an outlet and an atmospheric section;
A first linear track attached to the transfer chamber in the discharge section;
A second linear track attached to said transfer chamber at said waiting portion;
A non-powered base that rides freely on the first linear track;
A power base linearly riding on the second linear track using mechanical power;
Magnetically-coupled follower attached to the non-powered base;
A robot arm attached to the non-powered base;
A rotary motor mounted on the power base and rotating a magnetic driver, the magnetic driver transmitting linear and rotary motion to the magnetic coupling follower through a vacuum partition; And
A reducer mounted on the non-powered base, having a magnetically-coupled follower as input, and providing a slower rotation at the output,
And the reducer is coupled to the robot arm to greatly increase the accuracy of angular placement of the robot arm, reduce transient motion, and reduce the moment of inertia of the robot arm on the non-powered base. The method of claim 1,
Further comprising a linear motor attached to the power base. The method of claim 2,
And a linear motion encoder coupled to the power base and a rotation encoder coupled to the rotary motor. The method of claim 3, wherein
And a magnetized wheel coupled to the power base to provide improved attraction. The method of claim 1,
And the reducer is set to a reduction ratio of 50: 1. The method of claim 1,
And an arm extension coupled between the robot arm and the reducer. The method of claim 1,
And the first linear track comprises a levitation assembly. The method of claim 8,
Load lock openings;
A plurality of processing chamber openings; And
A controller programmed to operate the power base and the rotary motor in a combination of linear and rotary motions such that the substrate positioned on the robot arm moves only linearly between the loadlock opening and the processing chamber opening. Substrate processing system. The method according to claim 6,
And the power base comprises a linear motor. The method according to claim 6,
And the non-powered base comprises a magnetically levitated configuration. The method of claim 10,
And a linear motion encoder coupled to the power base and a rotation encoder coupled to the rotary motor.

Images