WO2020001278A1

WO2020001278A1 - Mask transmission device and method

Info

Publication number: WO2020001278A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/091031
Authority: WO
Inventors: 郑教增; 郑锋标
Original assignee: 上海微电子装备（集团）股份有限公司
Priority date: 2018-06-29
Filing date: 2019-06-13
Publication date: 2020-01-02
Also published as: CN110658687B; TWI704639B; TW202002145A; CN110658687A

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention are a mask transmission device and method, and the device comprises: an external library unit and an internal library unit that are placed opposite to each other in a first direction, wherein a pick-and-place manipulator and an exchange manipulator are disposed between the external library unit and the internal library unit, and the pick-and-place manipulator and the exchange manipulator are placed opposite to each other in a second direction, the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction. A safety measure of a system is employed to ensure the safety of a moving part and a mask; a special manipulator structure is employed to improve the reliability and safety of the manipulators and the mask; a mask transmission system may detect the specification of the mask and improve the ability to process the mask; a frontal handover manner of the special manipulator and the exchange manipulator is employed to improve handover accuracy; and a self-compensating second manipulator is employed to improve the mask transmission accuracy and reduce mounting and adjusting requirements.

Description

Mask transmission device and method

Technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of mask transmission, and in particular, to a mask transmission device and method.

Background technique

Photolithography machine is one of the important processing equipment in the manufacture of integrated circuit chips. It is used to transfer the design pattern of the chip from the reticle to the photoresist on the surface of the silicon wafer through exposure. In a chip manufacturing process, multiple different reticles are needed to transfer different patterns to a silicon wafer. As the critical dimensions of integrated circuit chips become smaller and smaller, the manufacturing cost of the reticle is also getting higher and higher. Therefore, in the process of using the reticle, it must be ensured that the reticle is clean and safe. With the continuous increase of the cost of lithography equipment, the productivity requirements of lithography machines are also getting higher and higher. The time requirements for changing the reticle are getting shorter and shorter.

The lithography machine generally includes an illumination system, an exposure system, a workpiece table and a mask table, as well as a mask transfer system and a wafer transfer system for uploading a reticle and a silicon wafer. The mask transfer system transfers the reticle with the chip design pattern to the mask table. At the same time, the wafer transfer system transfers the photoresist-coated silicon wafer from the silicon storage unit to the workpiece table. The lighting system will use The exposed light beam irradiates the surface of the reticle on the reticle, and passes through the projection objective of the exposure system to form an image on the surface of the wafer on the worktable. The photoresist on the surface of the reticle is due to the chip pattern on the reticle. Projection, photochemical reactions occur in some areas, so that the chip pattern on the reticle can be transferred on the photoresist on the surface of the silicon wafer.

The mask transmission system mainly implements the external interface of the reticle, the storage of the reticle, and the transfer of the reticle; whether the reticle is safely and cleanly stored in the reticle transmission system, and the safe, fast and accurate transmission is photolithography Machine to the basic requirements of the mask transmission system.

Due to the expensive cost of the mask plate and the high precision of the plate, this requires high reliability and high security for the mask transmission system. The prior art describes a lithography machine mask transfer system. There are two manipulators in the mask transfer system to realize the mask transfer from the mask storage unit to the mask table. The first manipulator realizes the transfer of the reticle between the reticle storage unit and the second manipulator, and the first manipulator can also realize the reticle from the reticle storage unit to the internal plate library and particles. Transmission between degree detection units. A second robot implements mask transfer between the first robot and the mask table. The pre-alignment measurement system detects the position of the reticle when the first manipulator is handed over to the second manipulator and when the second manipulator is handed over to the mask table. There are several drawbacks to this solution:

1. There are hidden dangers in the mask transmission process;

2. When the first manipulator is handed over to the second manipulator, there will be a large loss of accuracy;

3. The mask specification detection method cannot detect enough mask specification features;

4. If the mask transmission accuracy of the first robot is insufficient, the accuracy cannot be corrected when the second robot is reached;

5. The installation and adjustment of the entire system is very demanding and requires a lot of costs.

Therefore, it is necessary to design a more suitable mask transmission device and method to solve the above problems.

Summary of the invention

In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a mask transmission device and method that can improve the mask transmission accuracy without losing the mask transmission efficiency, and can also ensure the security of the reticle.

In order to achieve the above objective, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

The invention provides a mask transmission device, which includes an external plate unit and an internal plate unit which are oppositely disposed in a first direction, and a pick-and-place plate is provided between the external plate unit and the internal plate unit. A robot hand and an exchange plate robot, the pick-and-place robot and the exchange plate robot are oppositely placed in a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction;

The external plate library unit and the internal plate library unit are both used to receive a mask plate. The external plate library unit includes a lifting platform on which a mask plate bearing platform is installed, and the internal plate library unit includes a plate. frame;

The pick-and-place robot includes a manipulator body, and a first plate fork is mounted on the manipulator body to hold the reticle, and the first plate fork can slide up and down relative to the manipulator body to drive the reticle movement;

The exchange plate manipulator includes a rotary table, a vertical movement mechanism is installed on the rotary table, and a second plate fork is installed at the lower part of the vertical movement mechanism, and the second plate fork can rotate relative to the rotary table to To realize the rotation of the reticle, a suction cup is provided at the lower part of the second plate fork, and the reticle is sucked by the suction cup.

A particle size detection unit is further provided on the side of the internal plate library unit, and the particle size detection unit includes a detection table on which a third plate fork and a detector are installed, and a side of the detector is installed The movement component drives the movement of the third version of the fork through the movement component, thereby realizing the movement of the mask.

A pre-alignment unit is also provided on one side of the exchange version robot, the pre-alignment unit includes an inspection platform, an illumination light source is installed on the inspection platform, and a position detection sensor is correspondingly installed at the lower part of the inspection platform, and the illumination The light source irradiates the light beam onto the reticle carried on the inspection platform, and detects the position of the reticle by the position detection sensor.

The first plate fork includes a claw, and a torque sensor and a clamping component are mounted on the claw, and the clamping component clamps the reticle.

The lifting platform is also installed with a plate cassette unlocking component and a reticle size detecting component, the plate cassette unlocking component is used to perform an unlocking operation on the plate cassette, and the reticle specification detecting component is used for detecting the thickness of the reticle.

The lifting platform is also equipped with a mask safety detection component, which is used to protect the mask plate safety when the plate fork enters the plate library to pick up the plate. The mask safety detection component is composed of a safety positioning pin and an E-shape on the first plate fork. The slot, the 6-slot indexing circle, and the plate fork mechanical limit together form a mask plate mechanical safety protection structure.

The second plate fork includes a fixing frame, one end of which is fixed to the lower part of the vertical movement mechanism, the other end of the fixing frame is fixed to a second plate fork body, and the second plate fork body is installed on the second plate fork body. A leveling component is provided to level the reticle. The main body of the second plate fork is further provided with a support table, a spring is sleeved on the support table, and an upper end of the support table is in contact with the rotary table.

The mask transfer device further includes two gas paths, and the sucker is provided with a vacuum by the two gas paths, the two gas paths are provided independently of each other, and the two gas paths are separately supplied with gas.

The mask transfer device further includes a vacuum pump, a vacuum gas source, and a vacuum bladder. The vacuum gas source provides suction for a suction cup. The vacuum bladder compensates the vacuum gas source. The vacuum gas source and / or the vacuum gas source. The vacuum pump is started when the vacuum air bag fails.

A method for transporting a mask by using any of the above-mentioned mask transport devices includes the following steps:

Step 1: Load the edition box onto the external edition library unit, and move the edition box to the corresponding transfer station through the lifting platform to unlock the edition box;

Step 2: The pick and place robot moves to the transfer station of the external library unit, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the designated slot of the internal library unit;

Step 3: The internal plate library unit adjusts the temperature of the mask and optimizes the cleanliness of the mask.

Step 4: The picking and placing robot moves to the designated slot of the internal library unit, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the swapping robot;

Step 5: The exchange plate robot picks the plate and moves it vertically to the designated station. The exchange plate robot rotates the mask to the mask table side for the mask table to pick up the plate. After the mask table is exposed, it moves to the exchange plate robot to take over. Work station

Step 6: The exchange plate robot picks the plate from the mask table, moves it vertically to the designated station, and rotates the mask plate to the side of the pick and place robot;

Step 7: The pick-and-place robot removes the reticle from the exchange robot and transfers it to the internal library unit junction;

Step 8: The pick-and-place robot places the mask in the designated slot of the internal library unit, the pick-and-place robot retracts, and the internal library unit adjusts the temperature of the mask.

Step 9: The pick and place robot moves to the designated slot, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the transfer station of the external library unit;

Step 10: The vertical plate library unit moves the vertical mechanism to the initial position, puts the mask plate into the plate box, and performs a locking operation on the plate box.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. Adopt system security measures to ensure the safety of moving parts and masks;

2. The use of a special manipulator structure improves the reliability and safety of the manipulator and the reticle;

3. The mask transmission system can detect the specifications of the reticle, which improves the ability to process the mask;

4. Adopt the special hand-to-hand transfer method between the robot and the exchange hand to improve the hand-over accuracy;

5. The self-compensated second manipulator is used to improve the mask transmission accuracy and reduce the installation and adjustment requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a mask transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of an external library unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a pick-and-place plate robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of a first plate fork of a pick-and-place plate robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic structural diagram of an internal repository unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a schematic structural diagram of a granularity detection unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a schematic structural diagram of an exchange version robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a schematic structural diagram of a second version of a fork according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a schematic structural diagram of a pre-alignment component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the air control of the second version of the fork of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

In the picture: 101-external plate unit, 102-pick and place plate robot, 103-internal plate unit, 104-grain size detection unit, 105-exchange plate manipulator, 106-pre-alignment unit, 201-mask stage , 202-lifting table, 203-version box unlocking module, 204-mask security detection module, 205-mask specification detection module, 206-bar code scanning module, 301-robber body, 302-first version fork, 401-card Claw, 402-torque sensor, 403-reticle holding assembly, 501-sealing device, 502-air bath assembly, 503-plate holder, 601-testing table, 602-third edition fork, 603-moving assembly, 701- Vertical motion mechanism, 702-rotation table, 703-second version fork, 801-sucker, 802-leveling assembly, 803-adaptive assembly, 804-fixture frame, 1001-position detection sensor, 1002-light source assembly.

detailed description

The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

In the following, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that all directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relationship between components in a specific posture (as shown in the drawings). The relative positional relationship, movement situation, etc., if the specific posture changes, the directional indication also changes accordingly.

In addition, the descriptions related to "first", "second", etc. in the present invention are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In addition, the technical solutions between the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but must be based on those that can be realized by a person of ordinary skill in the art. When the combination of technical solutions conflicts or cannot be achieved, such a combination of technical solutions should be considered non-existent. , Is not within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention.

The invention provides a mask transmission device used in a lithography system. The lithography system mainly includes an exposure system, a mask table, a workpiece table, a projection objective lens, a silicon wafer transmission device, and a mask transmission device. The exposure system is used to generate the light beam used for exposure, the mask table is used to carry the reticle movement during the exposure process, and the workpiece table is used to carry the silicon wafer movement during the exposure process. As shown in FIG. 1, the mask transfer device includes an external plate library unit 101, a pick-and-place plate robot 102, an internal plate unit 103, a granularity detection unit 104, an exchange plate robot 105 and a pre-alignment unit 106. The external plate library unit 101 is used to receive a reticle. It is an interface between the lithography machine and the outside world for the reticle. It has storage, management, and inspection of the reticle, and transmits the reticle to a specified height. Features of handover reticle. The pick-and-place robot 102 is used to transfer a mask to the external plate library unit 101 and the internal plate library unit 103. The exchange plate robot 105 is used to transfer the reticle to the pick-and-place robot 102, and the exchange plate robot 105 is also used to transfer the reticle to a mask table. The pre-alignment unit 106 includes a coarse pre-alignment measurement system and a fine pre-alignment measurement system. Before the exchange plate robot 105 and the pick-and-place plate robot 102 perform the transfer of the mask plate, the (coarse, fine) pre-alignment The quasi-measurement system measures the position deviation of the reticle. At the same time, the (coarse, fine) pre-alignment measurement system measures the position deviation of the reticle before the transfer robot 105 and the reticle transfer the reticle. In this embodiment, the external library unit 101 and the internal library unit 103 are oppositely disposed in a first direction, and a pick-and-place robot 102 is provided between the external library unit 101 and the internal library unit 103. And the exchange plate robot 105, and the pick-and-place plate robot 102 and the exchange plate robot 105 are placed opposite to each other in a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. For example, the arrangement of the external plate library unit 101, the internal plate library unit 103, the pick-and-place robot 102 and the exchange robot 105 has a rectangular structure or a diamond structure. A granularity detection unit 104 is provided on the internal plate library unit 103 side, and a pre-alignment unit 106 is provided on the exchange plate robot 105 side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the external plate library unit 101 and the internal plate library unit 103 are both used to receive a mask plate. The external plate library unit 101 includes a lifting platform 202 on which a mask is installed. The stencil carrying platform 201 is further provided with a plate cassette unlocking component 203, a mask specification detection component 205 and a mask security detection component 204 on the lifting platform 202. The lifting platform 202 mainly realizes the movement of the plate frame 503 (as shown in FIG. 5) in the plate box between different vertical positions. As shown in FIG. 7, the lifting platform 202 is mainly composed of a vertical movement mechanism 701 and a limiter. Organization. The reticle stage 201 is mainly used to carry 6-inch single- and multi-version process boxes that meet the SEMI standard, and to detect the presence of the process box and the process box cover. The reticle stage 201 mainly includes a SEMI standard box positioning interface. Plate cassette carrier, plate cassette detection sensor assembly, and plate cassette detection sensor assembly. The mask safety detection module 204 is mainly used to protect the mask plate safety when the plate fork enters the plate library to pick up the plate. The mask safety detection module 204 is composed of a safety positioning pin, an E-shaped groove, a 6-slot indexing circle and The plate fork is composed of mechanical limit positions, and through the above components, a mask plate mechanical safety protection is formed together. The mask security detection component 204 further includes a mask plate detection sensor. When the position of the mask plate detached from the center of the plate box is greater than a set value, the letterpress detection sensor is triggered to report a mask plate in a dangerous state alarm. The plate box unlocking component 203 mainly realizes the function of unlocking and closing the plate box. The plate box unlocking component 203 is mainly composed of an unlocking link mechanism, an unlocking pin, and an unlocking movement mechanism. The mask specification detection component 205 is used to detect the reticle thickness and pellicle parameters. As shown in FIG. 6, the mask specification detection component 205 is mainly composed of a detection sensor and a vertical movement component 603. The vertical movement component 603 drives the mask. When the stencil is moved up and down, the reticle and film thickness can be detected. The detection sensor is a dual output sensor, and different detection thresholds for the film and the reticle are set on the detection sensor. When the reticle passes the sensor, a set of regular waveforms are obtained, and the thickness of the reticle is calculated by an algorithm. And film thickness. A barcode scanning component 206 is also installed on the lifting platform 202 for identification of the mask ID. The barcode scanning component 206 mainly includes a barcode reader and a light source component to realize the scanning of the mask barcode.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pick-and-place robot 102 includes a robot body 301. A first plate fork 302 is mounted on the robot body 301 to hold a mask plate. The first plate fork 302 can be opposite to the robot hand. The main body 301 slides up and down to switch the first version of the fork 302 between stations. The pick-and-place robot 102 includes a rotating component, a lifting component, an arm connection component, and a rotating component at the end of the robot. The rotating component is located at the bottom of the robot, the stator is mounted on the frame, and the lifting component is mounted on the motor of the rotating component. The lifting component is composed of a motor component, a transmission mechanism, and a detection component. The transmission mechanism is in communication with the motor component and is driven by the motor component, that is, driven by the motor of the motor component to realize the lifting movement of the plate box bearing component. At the same time, the reticle moves up and down. The movement axis of the lifting assembly is symmetrically arranged on both sides. The two sets of lifting assemblies have the same functional structure. The two sets of lifting assemblies can move in parallel. The two sets of lifting assemblies adopt a vibration isolation structure. Affecting each other, the plate fork assembly realizes vertical movement under the driving of a lifting movement unit. The safety auxiliary component includes a brake mechanism, a lifting tool, and a brake releasing mechanism. The brake mechanism is a normally closed setting. The brake releasing mechanism manually releases the brake mechanism, and the lifting shaft is moved to the required position through the lifting tool. Height, when the manipulator is powered off, the brake can be automatically closed, and the lifting shaft will not fall due to gravity. Lifting tooling is used for manual maintenance. The brake release mechanism manually releases the brake mechanism. The lifting tool moves the lifting shaft to the desired height. If the power is lost, an external voltage drives the brake release mechanism to work. When the brake release mechanism and the lifting tool function At this time, the lifting axis cannot move under the action of the robot controller.

The first plate fork 302 is mainly used for clamping and detecting the reticle, as well as protecting the reticle and the end of the robot. As shown in FIG. 4, the first plate 302 is mainly composed of a claw 401, a torque sensor 402, and a mask. The clamping component 403 is composed of an anti-collision component and an anti-collision detection component. The jaw 401 is mainly used for calibration and support of a mask plate at a work station 102, and the jaw 401 has a station calibration interface feature and a mask support feature. The torque sensor 402 is mainly used to detect the collision of the plate fork from six degrees of freedom. When the detected collision force or torque is greater than a preset threshold, the trigger signal is returned to the plate picker 102. The reticle holding assembly 403 is mainly used for reticle holding and detection of the presence or absence of the reticle. The reticle holding assembly 403 is composed of two working cylinders and two working sensors. When the mask does not exist, the cylinder moves to a station under the action of air pressure. At this time, a sensor is triggered and the state is no mask on the plate fork. When the mask is present, the cylinder is under the action of air pressure due to the mask. In the presence of the cylinder, the cylinder is in the middle of the two stations. At this time, both station sensors are triggered, and the mask is clamped. When the cylinder is under the effect of negative air pressure, the cylinder moves to another station. The position sensor is triggered and the cylinder is retracted. The anti-collision component is mainly used to protect the end of the robot arm and the reticle. The anti-collision component is mainly composed of a positioning component, an adjustment component and a spring component. The anti-collision component is a positioning component composed of a ball rod and a V-shaped block. The contact is restrained, and the ball head rod is fixed on the V block by the spring component. When a collision occurs, the ball head rod is detached from the V block, so that the plate fork and the plate picking arm 102 are elastically twisted. The safety of the plate fork and the pick-and-place robot 102 is guaranteed. The anti-collision detection component is mainly used to detect whether the main body of the plate fork and the pick-and-place robot 102 are disengaged when a plate fork collides. The anti-collision detection component is mainly composed of a sensor and a sensor sensing device.

When the pick-and-place plate robot 102 transfers the mask plate from the external plate unit 101 and the internal plate unit 103, there are three vertical directions: the transfer high position, the transfer position, and the transfer low position inside the external plate unit 101 and the internal plate unit 103. position. The transfer high position is that the mask plate does not contact the plate frame 503 in the external plate unit 101 and the internal plate unit 103. Inside the plate frame 503, the height of the plate plate can be independently held by the pick-and-place robot 102. When the pick-and-place robot 102 is at this height, the external plate unit 101 and the internal plate unit 103 can be freely moved in and out without damaging the mask plate. The transfer position is the height at which the mask plate 503 in the external plate library unit 101 and the internal plate library unit 103 contact the plate fork of the pick-and-place robot. The low position of the handover is the height at which the reticle is in contact with the reticle 503 in the external plate unit 101 and the inner pedestal unit 103. Inside the pedestal 503, the pick-and-place robot 102 plate fork is not in contact with the reticle. When the pick-and-place robot 102 is at this height, the external plate unit 101 and the internal plate unit 103 can be freely moved in and out without damaging the mask plate.

As shown in FIG. 5, the internal plate library unit 103 includes a plate frame 503, and a sealing device 501 is provided on the plate frame 503 to seal the plate frame 503. The sealing device 501 is mainly used to seal the opening and closing of the door and to ensure that the plate frame 503 is in a closed environment. The device has a safety interlocking interface with the plate picking robot 102 to ensure that the device and the plate fork No collisions occur. The sealing device 501 is mainly composed of a rotating mechanism, a connecting rod mechanism and a sealing door. An air bath component 502 is provided inside the sealing device 501, which is mainly used to ensure the cleanliness and temperature adjustment of the reticle. The air bath component 502 It is mainly composed of air bath unit and temperature feedback unit. This component forms a complete closed-loop temperature control system. The plate holder 503 is mainly used for storing the reticle and identifying the storage state of the reticle on the plate holder 503. The plate holder 503 has 12 pieces of 6 inches, and the thickness can be 0.12 inches (3.048mm), 0.15 inches (3.81mm) ), 0.25-inch (6.35mm) reticle capacity, the plate holder 503 mainly consists of a plate holder slot and a detection sensor.

As shown in FIG. 6, the particle size detection unit 104 includes a detection table 601. A third version of the fork 602 and a detector are installed on the detection table 601. A movement component 603 is installed on one side of the detector. The movement component 603 drives the third plate fork 602 to move, thereby realizing the movement of the mask plate. The particle size detection unit 104 is mainly used to detect the particle distribution of the reticle and determine whether it is suitable for exposure. The detector is mainly used to detect the particle size distribution of the reticle and determine whether the particle size requirements are met. It is mainly composed of a light source component 1002 (as shown in Fig. 9), an image acquisition component and a frame component. The third plate fork 602 is mainly used for clamping and detecting the reticle, and the third plate fork 602 is mainly composed of a plate fork body, a leveling component 802 (as shown in FIG. 8), and a mask holding component 403. The moving component 603 mainly realizes the transfer of the reticle between the granularity detection station and the transfer station. The moving component 603 is mainly composed of a Y-axis and a Z-axis moving component 603 which are perpendicular to each other.

As shown in FIG. 7, the exchange plate manipulator 105 includes a rotating table 702 on which a vertical movement mechanism 701 is installed, and a second plate fork 703 is installed in the lower portion of the vertical movement mechanism 701. The second plate fork 703 can be rotated relative to the rotary table 702 to realize the rotation of the mask plate. A suction cup 801 is provided at the lower portion of the second plate fork 703, and the mask plate is adsorbed by the suction plate 801. The exchange plate manipulator 105 is mainly used for two symmetrical 180-degree station movements, so that the pick-and-place plate manipulator 102 and the adaptive suction cup 801 above the mask table are interchanged to form a complete closed-loop motion control system. The vertical movement mechanism 701 is mainly used for the vertical movement of the adaptive version fork. The vertical motion component 603 is mainly composed of a rotating electric machine, a position detection device and a limit device. The component forms a complete closed-loop motion control system. The rotating component is mainly used for the rotation of the vertical mechanism and the adaptive version fork. The rotating component is mainly composed of a rotating electric machine, a position detecting device and a limit device, and the component forms a complete closed-loop motion control system. The second plate fork 703 is mainly used to adsorb the reticle and ensure the transfer accuracy of the reticle; the suction cup 801 is mainly used to attract the reticle. As shown in FIG. 10, the suction cup 801 has two independent vacuum gas paths for mask adsorption. In order to ensure the safety of the vacuum adsorption on the suction cup 801 to the mask adsorption, two vacuum paths are passed on the suction cup 801, and a vacuum pump The vacuum air source and the two vacuum bladders supply the A airway and the B airway, respectively, to ensure that when a vacuum occurs in one way, the other way can still maintain the adsorption of the mask. The vacuum pump is used as a vacuum gas source to supply vacuum when it fails to meet the requirements, and is started in real time to ensure the safety of the adsorption mask on the exchange plate robot arm fork; the vacuum gas source is an external vacuum gas source that is connected to the whole machine or a sub-system; The three-way vacuum airbag realizes the stability of vacuum pressure and the interference between the four-way vacuum between the two plate forks is reduced. It is always used during vacuum supply.

As shown in FIG. 8, the second plate fork 703 includes a fixing frame 804. One end of the fixing frame 804 is fixed to the lower part of the vertical movement mechanism 701, and the other end is fixed to the main body of the second plate fork 703. A leveling assembly 802 is installed on the main body of the second version fork 703 to level the mask. The main body of the second version fork 703 is also provided with a supporting platform, and a spring is set on the supporting platform. The upper end of the supporting table is in contact with the rotating table 702. The second version of the fork 703 is also provided with an adaptive component 803, and the leveling component 802 is mainly used to adjust the level of the suction plate 801 component suction plate, the adjustment component is composed of two adjustment ball heads at 120 degrees each other . The self-adaptive component 803 mainly realizes the self-adaptive handover of the stencil from the suction plate component, the pick-and-place robot 102 and the mask table. The self-adaptive component 803 is mainly composed of three V-shaped grooves that are 120 ° to each other, three positioning ball heads that are 120 ° to each other, and three sensors. Under the action of gravity, the self-adaptive component 803 keeps the suction cup 801 self-adjusting according to the posture of the mask to realize the normal adsorption of the mask under the action of gravity. When the adsorption is left, the center of the mask does not move on the horizontal plane; three The sensor can detect whether the adaptation process is over. The fixing bracket 804 is mainly used for fixing the adaptive version fork on the vertical movement component 603 and providing an interface for sensor installation and cable routing.

As shown in FIG. 9, the pre-alignment unit 106 includes an inspection platform on which an illumination light source is installed, and a position detection sensor 1001 is correspondingly installed at the lower part of the inspection platform. The illumination light source irradiates the light beam onto the mask plate. And calculate the position of the reticle based on the light intensity value detected by the position detection sensor 1001. The pre-alignment unit is mainly used to detect the position error of the mask and feedback the detected position error to the motion compensation system.

The method for carrying out mask transportation by using the above-mentioned mask transfer device is as follows:

Step 1: Load a version box that meets the SEMI standard onto the external version library unit 101;

Step 2: The external plate library unlocking mechanism unlocks the plate box, and the vertical movement component 603 moves the plate frame 503 in the plate box to the corresponding transfer station;

Step 3: The pick-and-place robot 102 moves to the transfer station of the external library unit 101 to pick up the plate and reads the mask ID through the barcode scanning component 206;

Step 4: The pick-and-place robot 102 transfers the reticle to the interface of the granularity detection unit 104, and the plate fork assembly of the granularity detection unit 104 picks up the plates;

Step 5: After the plate fork component of the particle size detection unit 104 is retracted for particle size detection, the plate fork is extended to the transfer station;

Step 6: The pick-and-place robot 102 moves to the transfer station to pick up the plate, and the sealed door of the internal plate library unit 103 is opened;

Step 7: The pick-and-place robot 102 transfers the reticle to the internal library unit 103 for storage, and the pick-and-place robot 102 retracts and closes the sealed door of the internal library unit 103;

Step 8: The internal plate library unit 103 adjusts the temperature of the mask and optimizes the cleanliness of the mask through the air bath component 502;

Step 9: The internal library unit 103 opens the sealed door, and the pick-and-place robot 102 moves to the designated slot for plate picking and transfers the mask to the pre-aligned designated station, and the internal library unit 103 closes the sealed door;

Step 10: The coarse pre-alignment measurement system feeds back the read position error parameter to the pick-and-place robot 102, and the pick-and-place robot 102 performs position compensation according to the error parameter;

Step eleven: The exchange plate robot 105 picks the plate from the pick and place robot 102 and moves it vertically to the designated station. The exchange plate robot 105 rotates 180 ° to rotate the mask plate to the mask table side.

Step 12: The exchange version of the robot hand 105 moves vertically to the initial fine pre-alignment station. The fine pre-alignment measurement system feeds the read position error parameters to the mask table, and the mask table performs position compensation according to the error parameters. When the exchange version robot 105 moves vertically to the mask table, it needs to perform fine pre-alignment multiple times;

Step 13: After the mask table is taken for exposure, it is moved to the handover station of the exchange robot 105;

Step 14: The exchange plate robot 105 picks up the plate from the mask table and moves it vertically to the designated station. The exchange plate robot 105 rotates 180 ° to rotate the mask plate to the pick and place robot 102 side.

Step 15: The pick-and-place robot 102 removes the reticle from the swap robot 105 and transfers it to the internal library unit 103 interface;

Step sixteen: The sealed door of the internal library unit 103 is opened, the pick-and-place robot 102 puts the mask plate into the internal library unit 103, the pick-and-place robot 102 retracts, and the sealed door of the internal library is closed and passes through the air bath assembly 502 Perform mask temperature adjustment;

Step 17: The sealed door of the internal plate unit 103 is opened, the pick-and-place robot 102 takes the specified slot mask and retracted, and the sealed door of the internal plate unit 103 is closed;

Step 18: The unlocking mechanism of the external plate library unit 101 unlocks the plate box, the vertical mechanism moves to the designated transfer station, and the pick-and-place robot 102 places the mask plate at the designated transfer station;

Step 19: The vertical library unit 101 moves the vertical mechanism to the initial position, and the unlocking mechanism performs the locking operation.

The foregoing embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other different forms of changes and modifications can be made on the basis of the above description. Not all implementations can be exhausted here. Any obvious change or variation derived from the technical solution of the present invention is still within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A mask transfer device includes an external library unit and an internal library unit which are oppositely disposed in a first direction, and a pick-and-place robot and an exchange are provided between the external library unit and the internal library unit. Plate manipulator, the pick and place plate manipulator and the exchange plate manipulator are oppositely placed in a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction;

The external plate library unit and the internal plate library unit are both used to receive a mask plate. The external plate library unit includes a lifting platform on which a mask plate bearing platform is installed, and the internal plate library unit includes a plate. frame;

The pick-and-place robot includes a manipulator body, and a first plate fork is mounted on the manipulator body to hold the reticle, and the first plate fork can slide up and down relative to the manipulator body to drive the reticle movement;

The exchange plate manipulator includes a rotary table, a vertical movement mechanism is installed on the rotary table, and a second plate fork is installed at the lower part of the vertical movement mechanism, and the second plate fork can rotate relative to the rotary table to To realize the rotation of the reticle, a suction cup is provided at the lower part of the second plate fork, and the reticle is sucked by the suction cup.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a granularity detection unit is further provided on one side of the internal plate library unit, and the granularity detection unit includes a detection stage on which the detection stage is mounted. The third version of the fork and the detector, a movement component is installed on one side of the detector, and the third component is driven to move by the movement component, thereby realizing the movement of the mask plate.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that a pre-alignment unit is further provided on one side of the exchange plate robot, the pre-alignment unit comprises an inspection platform, and an illumination light source is installed on the inspection platform A position detection sensor is correspondingly installed at the lower part of the inspection platform, and the illumination light source irradiates a light beam onto a reticle carried on the inspection platform, and the position of the reticle is detected by the position detection sensor.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the first plate fork includes a claw, and a torque sensor and a clamping component are mounted on the claw, and the clamping component clamps the mask. stencil.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a plate cassette unlocking module and a mask plate specification detecting module are further installed on the lifting platform, and the plate cassette unlocking module is used to perform an unlocking operation on the plate cassette, And the reticle size detecting component is used for detecting the thickness of the reticle.
The mask conveying device according to claim 1, wherein a mask safety detection component is further installed on the lifting platform, for protecting the mask plate safety when a plate fork enters the plate library to pick up the plate, and the mask The safety detection component consists of the safety positioning pin on the first fork, the E-shaped groove, the 6-slot indexing circle and the fork mechanical limit to form a mask mechanical safety protection structure.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the second plate fork comprises a fixing frame, one end of the fixing frame is fixed to a lower part of the vertical movement mechanism, and the other end of the fixing frame is fixed. There is a second version fork body, and a leveling assembly is installed on the second version fork body to level the reticle. The second version fork body is also provided with a supporting platform, and the supporting platform is sleeved with A spring, the upper end of the support table is in contact with the rotating table.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the mask transfer device further comprises two gas paths, the suction cup is provided with a vacuum by the two gas paths, and the two gas paths are independent of each other. It is provided that the two gas paths are separately supplied with gas.
The mask transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the mask transfer device further comprises a vacuum pump, a vacuum gas source, and a vacuum bladder, wherein the vacuum gas source provides a suction force for a suction cup, and the vacuum bladder is adapted to the The vacuum air source is used for compensation, and the vacuum pump is started when the vacuum air source and / or the vacuum air bag fails.
The method for mask transportation using the mask transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 includes the following steps:

Step 1: Load the version box onto the external version library unit, and move the version box to the corresponding transfer station through the lifting platform to unlock the version box;

Step 2: The pick and place robot moves to the transfer station of the external library unit, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the designated slot of the internal library unit;

Step 3: The internal plate library unit adjusts the temperature of the mask and optimizes the cleanliness of the mask.

Step 4: The picking and placing robot moves to the designated slot of the internal library unit, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the swapping robot;

Step 5: The exchange plate robot picks the plate and moves it vertically to the designated station. The exchange plate robot rotates the mask to the mask table side for the mask table to pick up the plate. After the mask table is exposed, it moves to the exchange plate robot to take over. Work station

Step 6: The exchange plate robot picks the plate from the mask table, moves it vertically to the designated station, and rotates the mask plate to the side of the pick and place robot;

Step 7: The pick-and-place robot removes the reticle from the exchange robot and transfers it to the internal library unit junction;

Step 8: The pick-and-place robot places the mask in the designated slot of the internal library unit, the pick-and-place robot retracts, and the internal library unit adjusts the temperature of the mask.

Step 9: The pick and place robot moves to the designated slot, picks the plate, and transfers the mask to the transfer station of the external library unit;

Step 10: The vertical plate library unit moves the vertical mechanism to the initial position, puts the mask plate into the plate box, and performs a locking operation on the plate box.