TW200827264A - Method and system for sharing overhead external buffers in semiconductor manufacturing - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for sharing overhead external buffers in semiconductor manufacturing is disclosed. The method is applied to first and second fabrications (FAB), comprising at least first and second inter overhead shuttle vehicles (Inter OHS), first and second intra overhead transport vehicles (Intra OHT), and first and second overhead buffers (OHB), respectively. A front opening unified pod (FOUP) is obtained using the first Intra OHT of the first FAB, located on the first OHB, and taken using the first Inter OHS of the first FAB.

Description

200827264 IX. Description of the Invention: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing system, and more particularly to a processing system and method for a shared storage location for semiconductor manufacturing. [Previous Technology #?] Currently, wafer transfer between fabrics (FAB) needs to be bridged through the Stocker to turn the Front Opening Unified Pod (F0UP) into a wafer. The round factory passed to another fab. In addition, when the wafer cassette (F0UP) is transferred between the Intra-bay and the Inter-bay, it is also required to be bridged through the Stocker. The 苐1 diagram shows a schematic diagram of the wafer cassette transfer between the wafers. Fab 1 (FAB-1) and Fab 2 (FAB-2) have an Inter Overhead Shuttle Vehicle (Inter OHS) 110, 210 and a fab area, respectively. Intra Overhead Transport Vehicle (Intra OHT) 120, 220. When the Float Shuttle (Inter OHS 1) in the fab section of the fab 1 acquires a wafer cassette (FOUP), it is transferred to the Intm OHT 110 in the fab area. Next, if the wafer cassette (FOUP) is to be transported from the fab 1 to the fab 2, the Intra OHT 110 in the fab area of the U-Fab 1 is the wafer. The FOUP is transferred to the Fab 1 (FAB-1) Overhead Buffer (OHB) 130, which is then stored by a relay wafer.

Client's Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final/Alex Chen 5 200827264 (Relay Stocker) robotic arm transfers the wafer cassette (FOUP) to the fab 2 Suspended temporary storage device (OHB) 230. Next, the Intra OHT 220 in the fab area of the fab 2 acquires the wafer cassette (FOUP) from the self-suspending temporary storage unit (OHB) 230. As mentioned above, the transfer of wafer cassettes between different fabs must be carried out as a transfer device through a robot arm temporary storage device, which will increase the transfer time and maintenance cost of the robot arm, and the wafer storage (Stocker) Will take up a lot of factory space. Accordingly, the present invention provides a processing system and method for a semiconductor manufacturing shared storage location, which can reduce the actual footprint of a wafer store by using a suspended temporary storage device (0ΗΒ) as a transfer station. Areaprint and transfer time and reduce the maintenance cost of the robot arm. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for processing a shared storage location, which is applicable to a wafer cassette transfer between a first fab and a second wafer waste, wherein the first A fab includes at least a first fab suspension wagon, a first fab suspension car and a first suspended staging device, the second fab A suspension shuttle comprising at least a second fab section, a suspended transport vehicle in a second fab zone, and a second suspended temporary storage device, the processing method comprising the following steps. Acquiring a wafer cassette by the suspended transport vehicle in the first fab area, placing the wafer cassette on the first suspended temporary storage device, and by the first fab interval The suspended shuttle removes the wafer cassette from the first suspended temporary storage device.

Client's Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 6 200827264 The processing method of the shared storage location of the embodiment of the present invention further includes the second wafer The suspended shuttle of the factory section obtains a wafer cassette, and places the wafer cassette on the second suspended temporary storage device, and the suspended transport vehicle in the second fab area The wafer cassette is removed from the second suspended temporary storage device. The method for processing the shared storage location of the embodiment of the present invention further includes placing a wafer cassette in the first suspended temporary storage device or the second suspension by the suspended shuttle of the first fab section And detaching the wafer directly from the first suspended temporary storage device or the second suspended temporary storage device by using a suspension shuttle of the/second fab section box. The method for processing the shared storage location of the embodiment of the present invention further includes placing a wafer cassette on the second suspended temporary storage device by the suspended shuttle of the first fab section, and by using a floating shuttle of the first fab section The suspended transport vehicle in the second fab area directly removes the wafer cassette from the second suspended temporary storage device. The embodiment of the present invention further discloses a processing system for a shared storage location, comprising at least a first suspended temporary storage device, a suspended transport vehicle in a first fab area, and a first fab interval. Suspended shuttle. The suspended transport vehicle in the first fab region takes a wafer cassette and places the wafer cassette on the first suspended temporary storage device. The first fab suspension shuttle shuttles the wafer cassette from the first suspended temporary storage device. The embodiment of the present invention further discloses a processing system for a shared storage location, comprising at least a second suspended temporary storage device, a suspended suspension shuttle in a second fab section, and a second fab zone. Suspended transport vehicle. The

Clienfs Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT's Docket No : 0532-A4103 5-TW/Draft-Final/Alex Chen 7 200827264 Difficult to hang in the fab area* The wafer cassette is placed in the first shuttle - Crystal, and the inside of the suspended transport vehicle, the duplex storage device. The second fab area is removed from the wafer cassette. The embodiment of the present invention is arbitrarily embedded in the first-suspension temporary storage device, and includes at least one device, a first-wafer C storage device, and a second suspended temporary storage device. Suspension shuttle in the interval: The hanging shuttle and the second fab will place the wafer cassette in the first-j-fab area of the suspended shuttle a along the hanging temporary storage device or the second suspended temporary clothes罝 „ 亥 亥 亥 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Shuttle car and a flute-曰. The storage suit, the first 曰nitr*p/ in the fab area, and the suspended transport truck in the factory area of the Japanese yen. The hanging type temporary storage device. A wafer cassette is placed in the second hanging white. The hanging transport vehicle in the Japanese yen waste area directly takes the wafer gold from the remote m temporary storage device. [Embodiment] In order to make the present invention The objects, features, and advantages will be more apparent and understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. FIG. The technical features of the different embodiments are invented, and the configuration of the components in the embodiments is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Lienfs Docket No. : PT.AP-808 , TT5s Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW/Draft-Final/Alex Chen 8 200827264 The part of the drawing is repeated for the sake of simplicity and does not mean that between different embodiments Correlation. The present invention discloses a processing system and method for a shared storage location for semiconductor manufacturing. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a processing system for a shared storage location according to an embodiment of the present invention. The processing system of the shared storage location includes at least a first fab (FAB-1) and a second fab (faB-2). The first crystal 1 and the second fab respectively have wafers Inter OHS 31 〇 and 4! 〇, Intra OHT 320 and 420 in the fab area and Suspended Storage Unit (OHB) 33〇 and 430 It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present invention, the transfer between the fabs is described, but the actual implementation is not limited thereto. In the prior art, when the wafers between the two fabs The round box (FOUP) transmission is achieved by a robotic arm that relays the wafer storage. In the embodiment of the present invention, the wafer cassette (FOUP) is transported by an interlaced shuttle (Inter 0HS) v in the fab area or an intra〇HT in the fab. The following is explained in a number of different embodiments. First, the first embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 2, when the wafers of the first fab are completed in a wafer in a wafer cassette (FOUP), The in-flight transport vehicle (lntra OHT) 320 acquires the pod (FOUP) from the load-port of the machine 1 and places it on the suspended temporary storage device (0HB) 330. . Next, in the fab section of the Inter OHS 310 self-suspending temporary storage unit (0HB) 330

Client's Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No · 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 9 200827264 The wafer cassette (FOUP) is taken away, so that it will not have to be transferred via the relay wafer storage robot To transfer. Next, a second embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 2, when the wafer factory (Inter OHS) 310 obtains a wafer cassette (FOUP), the wafer cassette (FOUP) is placed in a suspension. On the temporary storage unit (OHB) 330. Next, the wafer tray (FOUP) is removed from the Intra OHT 320 self-suspending temporary storage unit (OHB) 330 in the fab and can be transferred to the loading of the machine 2.埠 Execute the process so that it will not have to be transferred (by the robotic arm of the relay wafer storage. Next, the third embodiment, referring to Figure 2, to transfer the wafer cassette (FOUP) between the two fabs, A wafer cassette (FOUP) can be placed in a suspended temporary storage unit (OHB) 330 or a suspended temporary storage unit by an inter-distribution shuttle (Inter OHS) 310 of the fab of the first fab. OHB) 43 0'''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 430 removes the wafer cassette (FOUP). Or, the fab interval Inter OHS 310 places the wafer cassette (FOUP) in a suspended temporary storage unit (OHB) 430 Then, the Intra OHT 420 direct self-suspension buffer (OHB) 430 in the fab of the second fab removes the wafer cassette (FOUP). According to the above method, it can be known that the wafer cassette (FOUP) does not have to be transported via the robotic arm of the relay wafer storage, so that the transfer time can be shortened, and more space is available in the fab for the placement machine. And reduce the robot arm

Client’s Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT’s Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW/Draft-Final/Alex Chen 10 200827264 Maintenance costs. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the steps of the shared storage location method of the first embodiment of the present invention. First, a wafer cassette (FOUP) is obtained by a suspension cart (Intra OHT1) in a first fab (step S31), and the yen box (FOUP) is placed in a first suspension The temporary storage device (〇hb 1 ) is on (step S32). Then, the wafer cassette (F0UP) is removed from the first suspension type temporary storage device (〇hb 1) by a first fab suspension shuttle (InterOHS 1) (step S33) ). Figure 4 is a flow chart showing the steps of the shared storage location method of the second embodiment of the present invention. First, a second wafer fab suspension shuttle (Inter 〇HS 2) takes a wafer cassette (FOUP) (step S41), and the wafer cassette (F0UP) is placed in a second suspension On the temporary storage device (〇hB2) (step S42). Then, the wafer cassette (FOUP) is removed from the second suspended temporary storage device (〇hb 2) by a suspended transport vehicle (Intra 0HT 2) in a second fab (steps) S43). Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps of the method for sharing the storage location of the third embodiment of the present invention. Place a wafer cassette (FOUP) in a first suspended temporary storage device (〇hb 1 ) or a second suspension by a first fab suspension shuttle (Inter 〇HS 1 ) On the temporary storage device (0HB 2) (step S51), and then directly from the first suspended temporary storage device (0HB 1) by a second fab suspension shuttle (lnter 〇HS 2 ) ) or the second suspended temporary storage

Clienfs Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 11 200827264 The device (OHB 2) takes the cassette (F〇up) (step S52). Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing the steps of the method for sharing the storage location of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. A wafer cassette (FOUP) is placed on a second suspension type storage device (〇hb 2 ) by a first fab suspension shuttle (Inter 〇HS J ) (step S61) Then, the wafer cassette (FOUP) is taken directly from the 5Hai-suspension temporary storage device (〇hb 2 ) by means of a suspended transport vehicle (Intra 0HT 2) in a second fab area (step S62). While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is defined as $ as defined in the scope of the patent application. [Simple Description of the Drawings] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of wafer cassette transfer between fabs. The $2 diagram shows the architecture of the processing system of the shared storage location of the embodiment of the present invention. The $3 diagram shows a flow chart showing the steps of the shared storage location method of the first embodiment of the present invention. The $4 diagram shows a flow chart showing the steps of the shared storage location method of the second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps of the method for managing the shared storage location of the third embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the steps of the shared storage location method of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Clienfs Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW/Draft-Final/Alex Chen 12 200827264 [Main component symbol description] 110, 210, 310, 410~ Fab suspension Shuttle shuttles 120, 220, 320, 420~ suspended transport vehicles 130, 230, 330, 430 in the fab area - suspended temporary storage devices FAB ~ wafers %,

Clients Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT^ Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 13

Claims (1)

200827264 X. Patent application scope: crystal round crystal. 1. A method for processing a shared storage location, which is suitable for wafer cassette transfer between a round factory and a second fab, wherein the first factory includes a suspension shuttle of at least a - crystal-interval Suspended transport vehicles in the round factory area and the first-suspension temporary storage I, ^ two fabs include at least a section U-type shuttle-type transport vehicle and temporary storage device, the processing method includes the following steps: Box; placing the wafer cassette on the first suspended temporary storage device by taking a wafer from the suspended transport vehicle in the first fab area; and by using the first fab section The wafer cassette is removed from the suspended shuttle type temporary storage device. The method of processing the shared storage location of the brother coin 2. The method is applicable to the wafer cassette transfer between a first round factory and a second fab, wherein the first wafer crystal factory includes at least one Suspended one (2) in a fab area. Suspended transport vehicles in the round factory area - the first crystal door, the first suspension door, the first suspension (10) To the >'-suspension shuttle in the second fab section, the suspended transport vehicle in the second fab area, and the second suspended temporary storage belt, the processing method comprises the following steps: a cassette; the wafer cassette is placed on the second suspended temporary storage device by the suspension shuttle of the second fab section, and the second wafer is Suspended transport vehicles in the area from the second suspension Clienfs Docket No. · PT.AP-808 TT5s Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW/Draft-Final/Alex Chen 14 200827264 Take the round box away. . 3. A method for processing a shared storage location, which is applicable to a wafer cassette transfer between a first fab and a second fab, wherein the first fab includes at least a - wafer Suspension shuttles in the factory area, (four) type transport vehicles and m-type temporary storage devices in the first round of the Hualien area, and the two-spot fabs include at least the second fab suspension wagon a suspended transport vehicle in the second wafer waste area and a second suspended temporary storage device, the processing method comprising the following steps: the suspended shuttle through the first-wafer section a wafer cassette placed on the first (IV) temporary storage device or the H-th temporary storage device; and a suspended shuttle directly from the first suspended storage device by the second fab section The device or the second suspended temporary storage device removes the wafer cassette. k 4. A method for processing a shared storage location, which is suitable for a wafer cassette transfer between a first fab and a second fab, wherein the first crystal; the factory includes at least one first wafer a suspended shuttle in the plant area, a suspended transport vehicle in a first fab area, and a first suspended temporary storage device, the second fab including at least one second fab suspension a hanging shuttle, a suspended transport vehicle in a second fab zone, and a second suspended temporary storage device. The processing method includes the following steps: a suspension shuttle through the first fab section The vehicle places a wafer cassette on the second suspended temporary storage device; and the vehicle is directly taken from the second suspended temporary storage device by the suspended transport vehicle in the second wafer Wafer box. Client's Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT5s Docket No : 0532-A4103 5-TW / Draft-Final/Alex Chen 15 200827264 5 · A common storage storage system, including: a first suspension a storage device; a suspension truck in a first fab for acquiring a wafer cassette and placing the wafer cassette on the younger suspension device, and a first A suspended shuttle in the fab section for removing the wafer cassette from the first suspended temporary storage device. 6. A processing system for a shared storage location, comprising: f a second suspended temporary storage device; a second fab suspension shuttle for obtaining a wafer cassette and The wafer cassette is placed on the second suspended temporary storage device; and a suspended transport vehicle in the second fab is used for the wafer from the second suspended temporary storage device Take away the box. 7. A processing system for a shared storage location, comprising: a first suspended temporary storage device; a second suspended temporary storage device; a suspended suspension shuttle in a first fab interval, a suspended shuttle for placing a wafer cassette on the first suspended temporary storage device or the second suspended temporary storage device, and a second fab interval for directly The first suspended temporary storage device or the second suspended temporary storage device takes the wafer cassette away. 8. A processing system for shared storage locations, including: Client's Docket No.: ΡΤ.ΑΡ_808 TT5s Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 16 200827264 A second suspended temporary storage device; a first fab suspension shuttle for placing a wafer cassette on the second suspended temporary storage device; and a suspended transport vehicle in the second fab area, It is used to remove the wafer cassette directly from the second suspended temporary storage device. % Client’s Docket No. : PT.AP-808 TT’s Docket No : 0532-A41035-TW / Draft-Final / Alex Chen 17