KR20070059495A - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Semiconductor device fabricating equipment is provided to effectively secure a space required for the equipment by installing an aligning module for aligning a center of the wafer at a load lock chamber. A load lock chamber includes a carrier support module(160) carrying in or out a carrier(C) which is loaded with plural wafers(W), and an aligning module(170) for aligning the wafer when a portion of the wafer protrudes. The wafer is transferred in and treated in a process chamber. A transfer chamber is provided with a transfer robot for transferring the wafer into the process chamber from the carrier. The aligning module has a first movable member(171) disposed on a front upper portion of the carrier and a second movable member(173) disposed under the first movable member.

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment

1 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor device manufacturing equipment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a portion cut along a line II ′ of the load lock chamber illustrated in FIG. 1.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

100: semiconductor device manufacturing equipment

110: process chamber

130: transfer chamber

135: transfer robot

150: load lock chamber

160: carrier support module

170: alignment module

171: first moving body

172: First guide rail

173: second mobile body

174: second guide rail

175: buffer member

The present invention relates to a device for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device manufacturing equipment that employs a multi-chamber to manufacture a plurality of semiconductor devices.

In general, a semiconductor device stacks at least one conductive layer, semiconductor layer, non-conductive layer, etc. by selectively repeating a process such as photolithography, etching, ashing, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition, ion implantation, and metal deposition on a wafer. To be combined.

At this time, in most of the process units as described above, the operation is performed at a high vacuum degree for a very precise operation, and to perform the process simultaneously in a plurality of process chambers in order to increase the efficiency and space utilization of the process. Semiconductor device manufacturing equipment adopting multichambers is used.

In addition, the above-described semiconductor device manufacturing equipment includes a plurality of process chambers in which a predetermined unit process is performed, a load lock chamber in which a wafer in which a preceding process is performed to perform a predetermined process in such a plurality of process chambers is held, and a wafer between each chamber. There is provided a transfer chamber in which a transfer robot is disposed to transfer the same.

On the other hand, in the load lock chamber, a carrier in which a plurality of wafers, for example, 25 wafers are stored, is carried in and out from the outside. However, in the process of carrying the carrier into the load lock chamber, the wafer accommodated in the carrier often protrudes to the front side when the carrier is transferred.

As such, when the wafer protrudes a predetermined portion during the transfer of the carrier, that is, the center position of the wafer is distorted, the wafer is damaged when the wafer is transferred from the load lock chamber to the process chamber. Therefore, in the conventional semiconductor device manufacturing facility, an alignment chamber is further provided for adjusting the center position of the wafer before transferring the wafer to the process chamber. However, in this case, the conventional semiconductor device manufacturing equipment has a problem in that the space is further secured by the alignment chamber described above.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus capable of efficiently securing space by providing an alignment module that can align the center of a wafer in a load lock chamber. It is.

The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a carrier support module for carrying and carrying a carrier containing a plurality of wafers, and when the wafer accommodated in the carrier when the carrier is carried in a predetermined portion of the wafer A load lock chamber having an alignment module for aligning the centers of the center, a process chamber in which a wafer of a carrier is transferred and a predetermined process is performed, and a transfer chamber in which a transfer robot for transferring a wafer from the carrier to the process chamber is disposed.

In this case, the alignment module may include a first movable body disposed on the front surface of the carrier carried in the carrier support module, and a second movable body disposed below the first moving body.

In addition, a first guide rail may be provided at an upper side of the carrier support module, and the first moving body may be vertically moved along the first guide rail when centering the wafer.

A second guide rail may be provided below the first mover, and the second mover may horizontally move toward the wafer along the second guide rail when the center of the wafer is aligned.

The second movable member may be provided with a buffer member to prevent damage to the wafer when the second movable member is horizontally moved toward the wafer for center alignment of the wafer.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided to ensure that the disclosed subject matter is thorough and complete, and that the spirit of the invention will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cut portion along a line II ′ of the load lock chamber illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a load lock chamber 150 in which a wafer W, which has undergone a preceding process, is temporarily waiting, and a wafer W of the load lock chamber 150. Process chamber 110 to provide a process environment with a predetermined condition such as a reaction gas or a radio frequency to perform a predetermined process, and a transfer that passes through the wafer of the load lock chamber 150 before being transferred to the process chamber 110. It consists of a chamber 130.

Here, a plurality of process chambers 110 are installed such that the process of the wafer W of the load lock chamber 150 is performed in several places at once. In addition, a heating apparatus (not shown) for heating the process chamber 110 to a predetermined temperature and the process chamber 110 are maintained at a predetermined pressure in the process chamber 110 so that a predetermined process can be performed smoothly. The main body may be provided with a plurality of devices such as a vacuum exhaust device (not shown), and a reaction gas supply device (not shown) for supplying the reaction gas required for performing the process into the process chamber 110.

Then, the transfer chamber 130 is installed between the load lock chamber 150 and the plurality of process chambers 110, the transfer robot 135 for transferring the wafer in accordance with the process is disposed. In detail, the transfer robot 135 transfers the wafer W of the load lock chamber 150 in which the preceding process is completed to the process chamber 110 according to the progress of the process, or the wafer W in which the predetermined process is completed in the process chamber 110. ) Is transferred to the load lock chamber 150.

In addition, the transfer robot 135 disposed in the transfer chamber 130 includes a robot body 136 that is lifted and rotated, and a robot arm 137 that is mounted on the robot body 136 and expands and contracts as the process proceeds. . In addition, a slit valve 115 is provided between the transfer chamber 130 and the process chamber 110 to selectively communicate with each other. That is, the process chamber 110 and the transfer chamber 130 may be blocked through the slit valve 115 to seal the inside of the process chamber 110.

On the other hand, the load lock chamber 150 is carried in and out of the carrier (C) containing a plurality of wafers (W), carrier support (not shown) is provided with a carrier support (not shown) to be seated carrier (C) Module 160 is provided.

At this time, in the process of bringing the carrier C into the load lock chamber 150, the center of the wafer W accommodated in the carrier C may not be aligned. In order to prevent the center of the wafer W from being aligned, the load lock chamber 150 is provided with an alignment module 170 for aligning the center of the wafer W.

Specifically, the alignment module 170 is disposed above the front surface of the carrier support module 160, that is, in the direction in which the wafer W is transferred by the transfer robot 135. In addition, the alignment module 170 may include a first movable member 171 moving vertically in the load lock chamber 150 and a second member disposed below the first movable member 171 and moved in a horizontal direction. It consists of the movable body 173.

Here, the first moving body 171 is disposed on the upper surface of the carrier (C), the carrier (C) and the carrier when the carrier (C) is disposed at a position where the first moving body 171 does not collide. In addition, a first guide rail 172 is provided at an upper side of the carrier support module 160 so that the first movable body 171 can be vertically moved. That is, normally, the first body 171 is disposed on the uppermost side of the first guide rail 172, and vertically moves downward along the first guide rail 172 when the center of the wafer W is aligned. do.

In addition, the second movable member 173 protrudes toward the front of a predetermined portion when the carrier C is loaded to serve to align the center of the wafer W where the center is not aligned. At this time, the second movable body 173 is disposed below the first movable body 171, and the second guide rail 174 is disposed below the first movable body 171 so that the second movable body 173 can be horizontally moved. Is provided. That is, the second mover 173 moves horizontally from right to left to move the wafer W protruding from the predetermined partial carrier C to its original position.

In addition, the second movable member 173 is provided with a buffer member 175 for preventing damage to the wafer W in contact with the second movable member 173 when the wafer W is aligned in the center.

Hereinafter, the operation and effects of the semiconductor device manufacturing equipment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, in order to perform a predetermined process using the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the present invention, a carrier C in which a plurality of wafers W are stored is placed on a carrier support (not shown) of the load lock chamber 150. Settle down.

The wafer W is transferred to the process chamber 110 by a transfer robot 135 disposed in the transfer chamber 130 to perform a predetermined process.

Thereafter, when the process is completed, the transfer robot 135 transfers the wafer W on which the process is completed, to the carrier C seated in the load lock chamber 150.

The carrier C seated in the load lock chamber 150 is transferred to a position where the subsequent process is performed to continue the subsequent process.

Meanwhile, when the carrier C is seated with the carrier support of the load lock chamber 150, a part of the wafer W accommodated in the carrier C may protrude forward while leaving its position in the seating process. As such, when the wafer W is out of position, the center of the wafer W is not aligned, and when the center of the wafer W is not aligned, the wafer W is transferred when the wafer W is transferred using the transfer robot 135. W) is damaged.

Therefore, in the present invention, the process of aligning the center of the wafer W through the alignment module 170 of the load lock chamber 150 is performed. Here, in the process of aligning the center of the wafer W, the first moving body 171 disposed above the front surface of the carrier support module 160 is lowered along the first guide rail 172. Thereafter, the second moving body 173 disposed below the first moving body 171 is moved toward the wafer W along the second guide rail 174. As described above, when the second movable body 173 is moved toward the wafer W, the wafer W protruding from the carrier C by a predetermined portion is moved inside the carrier C due to the movement of the second movable body 173. Is moved to the location.

At this time, when moving to the position of the wafer (W), the second moving body (173) is provided with a buffer member 175 to prevent the wafer (W) from being damaged.

When the centers of the wafers W are aligned, the first moving body 171 and the second moving body 173 of the alignment module 170 are moved to their original positions.

On the other hand, the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated drawings, which are merely exemplary, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

As described above, the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes an alignment module for aligning the center of the wafer in the load lock chamber without providing an alignment chamber, thereby providing a space in which the semiconductor device manufacturing equipment is installed. There is an effect that can be secured efficiently.

Claims (5)

A load support including a carrier support module for carrying in and carrying out a carrier containing a plurality of wafers, and an alignment module for aligning a center of the wafer when the wafer accommodated in the carrier protrudes a predetermined portion when the carrier is loaded. chamber; A process chamber in which a wafer of the carrier is transferred and a predetermined process is performed; And And a transfer chamber having a transfer robot for transferring a wafer from the carrier to the process chamber. The method of claim 1, And the alignment module includes a first moving body disposed on an upper surface of the carrier and a second moving body disposed below the first moving body. The method of claim 2, A first guide rail is provided on an upper side of the carrier support module, and the first movable body is vertically moved along the first guide rail when the center of the wafer is aligned. The method of claim 3, wherein A second guide rail is provided below the first mover, and when the center of the wafer is aligned, the second mover moves along the second guide rail to the wafer side. The method of claim 4, wherein And the buffer member is provided in the second movable member to prevent damage of the wafer when the second movable member is horizontally moved to the wafer side for center alignment of the wafer.

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