TWI717119B - Chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment and its use method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment and a use method thereof. The chemical-mechanical planarization equipment includes at least one set of wafer polishing and transmission mechanical arms; the wafer polishing and transmission mechanical arms include: a horizontal transmission mechanism, A vertical transmission mechanism and a wafer grasping device; a polishing turntable, a cleaning turntable and a polishing loading table are arranged in the movable range of the wafer grasping device in the horizontal linear movement direction. The chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment provided by the present invention can directly transfer wafers between the polishing transfer platform, the polishing loading platform and the cleaning transfer platform. Since there is no need for transfer, the number of transfers of the wafer is reduced, and the number of transfers is reduced. The wafer transfer time improves the transfer efficiency and reduces the probability of wafer damage due to transfer.

Description

Chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment and its use method

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, in particular to a chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment and a method of use thereof.

Chemical mechanical planarization equipment usually includes a semiconductor equipment front end module (EFEM), a cleaning unit, and a polishing unit. EFEM mainly includes cassettes for storing wafers, transfer robots, and air purification systems; the cleaning unit mainly includes various megasonic cleaning components, roller brush cleaning components, drying components, and devices for transferring wafers between various components. The polishing unit mainly includes polishing table, polishing head, polishing liquid supply system and polishing pad dressing system.

A wet wafer transfer robot arm that can transfer wet wafers is usually installed between the cleaning unit and the polishing unit. The typical path of wafers in chemical mechanical planarization equipment is as follows. The wafers in the cassette that need to be polished are placed on the polishing turntable by the transfer robot in EFEM, and the wet wafer transfer robot will transfer the wafers to be polished. Transfer to the polishing unit; after the wafer is processed in the polishing unit, it is transferred to the cleaning unit by the wet wafer transfer robot; after the wafer is cleaned, it is returned to the wafer box by the transfer robot in EFEM.

To sum up, in the general chemical mechanical planarization process, the transfer of wafers between various areas, the wafer from the polishing transfer table to the polishing unit of the polishing unit requires two transfer robots and wet wafer transfer robots. The robotic arms are completed together. From the perspective of wafer transfer efficiency, there is still room for improvement.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment and a method of use thereof, which are responsible for the transfer of the entire process of wafers between the polishing transfer station, the polishing loading station and the cleaning transfer station; At the same time as the robotic arm and the wet wafer transfer robotic arm, it also completes the wafer transfer between the polishing load stations.

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, which includes at least one set of wafer polishing transfer robot; the wafer polishing transfer robot includes: a horizontal transmission mechanism and the horizontal transmission A vertical transmission mechanism connected to the mechanism and a wafer grabbing device connected with the vertical transmission mechanism; the vertical transmission mechanism drives the wafer grabbing device to make up and down vertical linear movements; the horizontal transmission mechanism drives the vertical transmission The mechanism moves horizontally and linearly, which in turn drives the wafer grabbing device to make a horizontal linear movement; within the movable range of the wafer grabbing device in the horizontal linear movement direction are arranged a polishing turntable, a cleaning turntable and a polishing loading table .

The above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, wherein, the equipment includes two or more sets of wafer polishing transfer robot arms arranged in parallel and symmetrically.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the wafer grasping devices of the two or more wafer polishing transfer robots are located in different high and low areas when moving along a horizontal straight line simultaneously to avoid collision.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the horizontal distance between the respective vertical transmission mechanisms of the two or more wafer polishing transfer robots in the working state is greater than the diameter of the wafer to prevent the wafer from grabbing The device collided.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the wafer polishing transfer robot arm is installed above the polishing transfer table, the cleaning transfer table and the polishing loading table by hoisting.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the polishing turntable, the cleaning turntable, and the polishing loading table are arranged in sequence along a straight line; the two sides of the polishing turntable are provided with drying units; both sides of the cleaning turntable A cleaning unit is provided; polishing units are provided on both sides of the polishing loading platform.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the horizontal transmission mechanism includes a horizontal guide device, a horizontal drive device and a horizontal movement platform; the horizontal drive device drives the horizontal movement platform to move horizontally along the horizontal guide device ; The horizontal movement platform is connected with the vertical transmission mechanism.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the vertical drive mechanism includes a vertical drive device and a vertical guide device connected to the horizontal drive mechanism; the vertical drive device drives the wafer gripping device along the vertical The guiding device makes vertical linear movement up and down.

In the above chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, the wafer grasping device includes a claw and a pushing claw connected to the vertical transmission mechanism; the pushing claw drives the claw to move horizontally and is connected to the The claws cooperate to pick and place the wafer.

The present invention also provides a method for using the above-mentioned chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, which includes the following steps:

S0: The wafer to be processed is first placed on the polishing turntable;

S1: The horizontal transmission mechanism drives the wafer grabbing device to move above the polishing turntable, and the wafer grabbing device descends along the vertical transmission mechanism to the polishing turntable position to grab the wafer;

S2: The wafer grabbing device carries the wafer up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism, and then is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism along the horizontal straight line to the position of a polishing loading platform;

S3: The wafer picking device carries the wafer down to the corresponding polishing loading platform position along the vertical transmission mechanism, and releases the wafer; at this time, the wafer polishing transfer robot can handle other wafers;

S4: The wafer on the polishing loading platform is placed back on the polishing loading platform after the polishing process is completed on the polishing unit;

S5: The wafer grabbing device is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism to the polishing loading table loaded with polished wafers, and the wafer grabbing device descends to the polishing loading table position along the vertical transmission mechanism to grab the wafers;

S6: The wafer grabbing device carries the wafer up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism, and is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism to the top of the cleaning turntable. The wafer grabbing device descends along the vertical transmission mechanism to the position of the cleaning turntable to release the wafer. round;

S7: The wafer is transferred to the cleaning unit and the drying unit by the cleaning turntable to complete the cleaning process after polishing.

Compared with the conventional technology, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

The wafer transfer mechanical arm provided by the present invention can directly transfer wafers from the polishing transfer station to the polishing loading station. Since no transfer is required, the number of transfers of the wafer is reduced, the wafer transfer time is shortened, and the transfer efficiency is improved , To reduce the probability of wafer damage due to transmission.

The chemical mechanical planarization equipment provided by the present invention can symmetrically arrange two sets of the above-mentioned wafer polishing and transmission mechanical arms. The mechanical arms work independently of each other. According to the polishing requirements, only one set of mechanical arms or two sets can be used at the same time. Workload Choose the amount of use of the robotic arm to make the configuration and use of the robotic arm more flexible, and improve the production capacity and production efficiency of the whole machine.

The following further describes the present invention with specific embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. These embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention and do not limit the protection scope of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the present invention provides a chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, which includes at least one set of wafer polishing transfer robot arm 310; the wafer polishing transfer robot arm 310 includes: horizontal transmission Mechanism 311, a vertical transmission mechanism 312 connected to the horizontal transmission mechanism 311, and a wafer grasping device 313 connected to the vertical transmission mechanism 312; the vertical transmission mechanism 312 drives the wafer grasping device 313 up and down Vertical linear motion; the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 drives the vertical transmission mechanism 312 to perform horizontal linear motion, which in turn drives the wafer picking device 313 to perform horizontal linear motion; at the same time, the wafer polishes and transfers the crystal of the robot 310 A polishing transfer platform 101, a cleaning transfer platform 102, and a polishing loading platform 220 are arranged in the movable range covered by the circular gripping device 313 in the horizontal linear movement direction. The wafer picking device 313 of the wafer polishing transfer robot 310 can reach various positions of the polishing transfer table 101, the cleaning transfer table 102, and the polishing loading table 220 arranged in a straight line.

With the above settings, the wafer 401 can be transferred between the polishing transfer table 101, the polishing loading table 220, and the cleaning transfer table 102, and the entire process of the polishing loading table 220 of the polishing unit 210; At the same time as the wafer robot arm and the wet wafer transfer robot arm, the wafer 401 transfer between each polishing loading station 220 is also completed. Because the wafer 401 can be directly transferred from the polishing transfer station 101 to the polishing loading station 220, the number of transfers of the wafer 401 is reduced, the transfer time of the wafer 401 is shortened, the transfer efficiency is improved, and the wafer is reduced. 401 The probability of damage due to transmission.

On the basis of the foregoing embodiment, the polishing transfer platform 101, the cleaning transfer platform 102, and the polishing loading platform 220 can be arranged in sequence along a straight line. Of course, they can also be specifically arranged according to actual production requirements to improve transmission efficiency. As an example of the specific layout of the chemical mechanical planarization equipment, drying units 501 may be provided on both sides of the polishing turntable 101; at least one cleaning unit may be provided on both sides of the cleaning turntable 102. The number of cleaning units can be greater than or equal to one and can be configured according to actual cleaning requirements; for example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, both sides of the cleaning turntable 102 can be set to include: a first cleaning unit 504, a second cleaning unit 503 and the third cleaning unit 502. Polishing units 210 are provided on both sides of the polishing loading platform 220; the polishing loading platform 220 can be selected in an appropriate number according to production conditions. In order to achieve a simpler and more convenient arrangement, the wafer polishing transfer robot 310 can be installed above the polishing transfer table 101, the cleaning transfer table 102, and the polishing loading table 220 by hoisting or other similar methods.

In order to improve the production capacity and production efficiency of the whole machine, the equipment may include two sets of the wafer polishing and transporting mechanical arms 310 arranged in parallel and symmetrically, so as to realize the transport and pick-up of the wafer 401 at the same time. The two sets of wafer polishing transfer robot arms 310 can work independently without affecting each other. During the horizontal linear movement, the positioning position of the wafer gripping device 313 can be set to two areas, high and low; when it is located in the low area, it should be set higher than possible obstacles such as the polishing head in the polishing unit 210 To avoid collisions. When the wafer gripping devices 313 of the two sets of wafer polishing transfer robot arms 310 move at the same time along a horizontal straight line, they respectively select areas with different heights to avoid collisions between the wafer gripping devices 313, and neither All of them can be located in the high area or the low area, which can be set according to actual needs. In addition, in order to prevent the wafer picking device 313 from colliding, the distance between the respective vertical transmission mechanisms 312 of the two sets of wafer polishing and transporting robot arms 310 in the working state is greater than the diameter of the wafer 401.

The wafer polishing transfer robot 310 in the present invention can realize the picking and placement of the wafer 401 by the wafer grasping device 313, and can realize the wafer 401 in the horizontal straight line by the cooperation of the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 and the vertical transmission mechanism 312. Transmission of various positions in the direction. With the specific size design of the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 and the vertical transmission mechanism 312, the movable range of the lifting and horizontal linear movement of the wafer grasping device 313 can be changed according to actual conditions.

The horizontal transmission mechanism 311 and the vertical transmission mechanism 312 in the present invention are generally composed of a horizontal/vertical guide device/mechanism plus a horizontal/vertical driving device. The horizontal/vertical guiding device can be in the form of linear rolling guide, linear sliding guide, linear rolling bearing, etc.; the horizontal/vertical driving device can adopt linear motors, ball screws, synchronous toothed belts, steel belts, etc. The innovation of the present invention lies in the improvement of the conventional wafer 401 transmission method by the structure and position relationship of the above-mentioned wafer polishing transmission robot arm 310. As for the specific structure of the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 and the vertical transmission mechanism 312, the conventional technology can be used, as long as the wafer picking device 313 can perform horizontal linear movement and vertical linear movement up and down. Specifically, it may be any combination of the specific embodiments of the above-mentioned guiding mechanism and the driving device, and the above-mentioned beneficial technical effects achieved by the present invention can be achieved.

In a more specific embodiment, the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 includes a horizontal guide device 3111, a horizontal drive device 3112, and a horizontal movement platform 3113; the horizontal drive device 3112 drives the horizontal movement platform 3113 along the horizontal guide device 3111 Do horizontal straight motions. The vertical transmission mechanism 312 includes a vertical drive device 3122 and a vertical guide device 3121 connected to the horizontal movement platform 3113; the vertical drive device 3122 drives the wafer picking device 313 to make up and down vertical lines along the vertical guide device 3121 movement. The wafer grasping device 313 includes a claw 3131 and a pushing claw 3132 connected to the vertical driving device 3122; the pushing claw 3132 drives the claw 3131 to move horizontally, and cooperates with the claw 3131 to take Put the wafer 401.

The innovation of the chemical mechanical planarization equipment provided by the present invention lies in the use of the wafer polishing transfer robot 310 provided by the present invention, and the polishing is arranged in the movable range of the wafer gripping device 313 in the horizontal linear motion direction. The turntable 101, the cleaning turntable 102, and the polishing loading table 220. While integrating the wafer transfer robot arm and the wet wafer transfer robot arm, the wafer 401 transfer between the polishing load stations 220 is also completed. You can choose to use only one set of robotic arms or more sets at the same time according to the polishing needs, and you can choose the usage of the robotic arms according to the polishing workload, making the configuration and use of the robotic arms more flexible, and improving the production capacity and production efficiency of the whole machine.

The present invention also provides a specific method of using the above-mentioned chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment in the actual processing of the wafer 401, which specifically includes the following steps:

S0: The wafer 401 to be processed is first placed on the polishing turntable 101;

S1: The horizontal transmission mechanism 311 drives the wafer grasping device 313 to move to the top of the polishing turntable 101, and the wafer grasping device 313 descends to the position of the polishing turntable 101 along the vertical transmission mechanism 312 to grasp the wafer 401;

S2: The wafer grasping device 313 carries the wafer 401 up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism 312, and is then driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 to a position above a polishing loading platform 220 along the horizontal straight direction;

S3: The wafer picking device 313 carries the wafer 401 down to the position of the corresponding polishing loading platform 220 along the vertical transmission mechanism 312, and releases the wafer 401; at this time, the wafer polishing transfer robot 310 can carry other wafers 401;

S4: After the wafer 401 on the polishing loading platform 220 is polished on the polishing unit 210, it is placed back on the polishing loading platform 220;

S5: The wafer picking device 313 is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 to the top of the polishing loading platform 220, and the wafer picking device 313 is lowered to the polishing loading platform 220 along the vertical transmission mechanism 312 to grab the wafer 401;

S6: The wafer grabbing device 313 carries the wafer 401 up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism 312, and is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 to the top of the cleaning transfer table 102, and the wafer grabbing device 313 descends along the vertical transmission mechanism 312 to Clean the position of the turntable 102 and release the wafer 401;

S7: The wafer 401 is transferred to the post-polishing cleaning process by the cleaning turntable 102, and the post-polishing cleaning process is completed by the first cleaning unit 504, the second cleaning unit 503, the third cleaning unit 502, and the drying unit 501, respectively. After step S5, the wafer picking device 313 can also carry the wafer 401 up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism 312, and is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism 311 to the other polishing loading platform 220, and release the wafer 401 in the same manner. , Finish polishing again.

In addition, the use method and steps of the chemical mechanical planarization equipment including multiple sets of wafer polishing and transporting robot arms 310 are the same as above.

In summary, the wafer transfer robot provided by the present invention can directly transfer wafers from the polishing transfer station to the polishing loading station. Since no transfer is required, the number of transfers of the wafer is reduced, and the wafer transfer time is shortened. , Improve the transmission efficiency and reduce the probability of wafer damage due to transmission.

The chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment provided by the present invention can symmetrically arrange two sets of the above-mentioned wafer polishing transfer robot arms. The robot arms work independently of each other, and can choose to use only one robot arm or two sets at the same time according to the polishing requirements. The amount of use of the robotic arm can be selected according to the polishing workload, making the configuration and use of the robotic arm more flexible, and improving the production capacity and production efficiency of the whole machine.

Although the content of the present invention has been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the above description should not be regarded as limiting the present invention. Various modifications and substitutions to the present invention will be obvious after reading the above content by those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be limited by the scope of the attached patent application.

101...polishing turntable 102...Clean the turntable 210...Polishing unit 220...Polish loading table 310...Wafer polishing transfer robot 311...Horizontal transmission mechanism 312…Vertical transmission mechanism 313…wafer picking device 401...wafer 501...drying unit 502...The third cleaning unit 503...Second cleaning unit 504... The first cleaning unit 3111...Horizontal guide 3112...Horizontal drive 3113...Horizontal movement platform 3121…Vertical guide 3122…Vertical drive unit 3131...Claw 3132...Push the claw

Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a wafer polishing transfer robot arm of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer device of the present invention.

101...polishing turntable 102...Clean the turntable 210...Polishing unit 220...Polish loading table 310...Wafer polishing transfer robot 311...Horizontal transmission mechanism 312…Vertical transmission mechanism 313…wafer picking device 401...wafer 501...drying unit 502...The third cleaning unit 503...Second cleaning unit 504... The first cleaning unit

Claims (10)

A chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment, which includes at least one set of wafer polishing transfer robotic arm; the wafer polishing transfer robotic arm includes: a horizontal transmission mechanism, a vertical transmission mechanism connected to the horizontal transmission mechanism, and A wafer grabbing device connected by a vertical transmission mechanism; the vertical transmission mechanism drives the wafer grabbing device to move up and down in a vertical linear motion; the horizontal transmission mechanism drives the vertical transmission mechanism to perform a horizontal linear motion, thereby driving the wafer grasping The device performs horizontal linear movement; a polishing transfer platform, a cleaning transfer platform and a polishing loading platform are arranged in the movable range of the horizontal linear motion direction of the wafer grabbing device. The chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in the first item of the scope of patent application includes two or more sets of the wafer polishing transfer robot arms arranged in parallel and symmetrically. For the chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, the wafer gripping devices of two or more sets of the wafer polishing transfer robot arms are located at different heights when moving simultaneously along a horizontal straight line. Area to avoid collisions. For the chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, the horizontal distance between the vertical transmission mechanisms of two or more sets of the wafer polishing transfer robot arm is greater than the horizontal distance between the vertical transmission mechanism in the working state. The diameter of the circle to prevent collision of the wafer picking device. According to the chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in the first item of the patent application, the wafer polishing transfer robot arm is installed above the polishing transfer table, the cleaning transfer table and the polishing loading table by hoisting. The chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the polishing transfer platform, the cleaning transfer platform and the polishing loading platform are arranged in a straight line; a drying unit is provided on both sides of the polishing transfer platform; A cleaning unit is arranged on both sides of the cleaning turntable; a polishing unit is arranged on both sides of the polishing loading platform. The chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in claim 1, wherein the horizontal transmission mechanism includes a horizontal guide device, a horizontal drive device and a horizontal movement platform; the horizontal drive device drives the horizontal movement platform along The horizontal guiding device performs horizontal linear movement; the horizontal movement platform is connected with the vertical transmission mechanism. The chemical-mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in claim 1, wherein the vertical drive mechanism includes a vertical drive device and a vertical guide device connected to the horizontal drive mechanism; the vertical drive device drives the wafer The grabbing device moves vertically and linearly along the vertical guide device. The chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer equipment described in the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the wafer grasping device includes a claw and a pushing claw connected with the vertical transmission mechanism; the pushing claw drives the claw horizontally Move and cooperate with the claw to pick and place the wafer. A method for using a chemical mechanical planarization wafer transfer device as described in any one of items 1 to 9 of the scope of patent application, which includes the following steps: S0: First place the wafer to be processed on the polishing turntable; S1: The horizontal transmission mechanism drives the wafer grabbing device to move above the polishing turntable, and the wafer grabbing device descends to the polishing turntable position along the vertical transmission mechanism to grab the wafer; S2: The wafer grabbing device carries the wafer up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism, and then is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism to a position above a polishing loading platform in a horizontal linear direction; S3: The wafer grabbing device carries the wafer down along the vertical transmission mechanism to the position corresponding to the polishing loading platform, and releases the wafer; at this time, the wafer polishing and transporting robot handles other wafers; S4: After the wafer on the polishing loading platform is polished on the polishing unit, it is placed back on the polishing loading platform; S5: The wafer grasping device is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism to above the polishing loading platform loaded with polished wafers, the wafer grasping device descends to the polishing loading platform position along the vertical transmission mechanism, and grasps Take the wafer; S6: The wafer grabbing device carries the wafer up to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism, and is driven by the horizontal transmission mechanism to the top of the cleaning turntable. The wafer grabbing device descends to a certain height along the vertical transmission mechanism. The position of the cleaning transfer table to release the wafer; S7: The wafer is transferred to the cleaning unit and the drying unit through the cleaning turntable to complete the cleaning process after polishing.

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