KR20080027977A - Process equipments for semiconductor memory fabricating - Google Patents

Abstract

Process equipment for use in fabrication of a semiconductor device is provided to prevent or minimize corrosion of the equipment by removing deionized water at high rotation using a cleaning chamber in an EFEM. An EFEM(Equipment Front End Module)(120) has a frame locally maintained in high cleanness. The frame is provided with a robot for transferring a wafer from FOUP(Front Opening Unified Pod) to a process equipment, and a door opening/closing member. A fan filter unit is installed over the frame to blow a clean air in the frame. A loadlock chamber is interposed between process chambers(112,114,116) and the EFEM, and has rod ports(122,124,126,128) for supporting the FOUP, a transfer robot for transferring a semiconductor substrate between the FOUP and the loadlock chamber, and a substrate transfer chamber disposed between the rod port and the loadlock chamber.

Description

Process equipments for semiconductor memory fabricating

1 is a schematic diagram of a process facility for manufacturing a conventional semiconductor device

2 is a schematic diagram of a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic view of the cleaning chamber of FIG.

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

112,114,116 Process chamber 120 EFEM

122,124,126,128: Loadport 130: Fuzzy Storage

140: cleaning chamber

The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a cleaning chamber.

As the size of semiconductor chips and design rules for circuit line width become more sophisticated, the importance of pollution prevention is increasing. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past, semiconductor manufacturing processes have been carried out in clean rooms maintained with relatively high cleanliness and open containers have been mainly used for the storage and transport of wafers. However, in recent years, in order to reduce the maintenance cost of the clean room, high cleanliness is maintained only in the inside of the process facility and in some facilities related to the process facility, and relatively low cleanliness is maintained in the remaining areas.

In addition, as a container, an airtight container is used instead of an open container to prevent the wafer contained therein from being contaminated by foreign matters in the air in an area where low cleanliness is maintained. There is a front open unified pod ("FOUP").

The FOUP incorporates a carrier equipped with a plurality of slots and a transfer tool such as a carrier box for carrying the carrier when the wafer having a diameter of 300 mm is used due to the weight of the wafer. will be.

However, since the FOUP is bulky, when it is loaded into the low vacuum load lock chamber, the time for forming the pressurization from the low pressure to the low pressure and from the low vacuum to the normal pressure becomes long, thereby lowering the yield per unit time. Thus, the 300 mm wafer processing equipment has a separate substrate transfer module, such as an equipment front end module (EFEM), between the FOUP and the load lock chamber, which loads the FOUP onto the load port of the substrate transfer module and wafers. Each one is adopted to transfer to the load lock chamber through the substrate transfer module.

1 shows a schematic diagram of an etching facility which is a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a conventional FOUP and EFEM.

As shown in FIG. 1, in front of the processing facility 10 is provided a substrate transfer system, such as a modular EFEM 20, for transferring wafers from the FOUP into the processing facility.

The EFEM 20 has a frame that is locally maintained at a high degree of cleanness, and within the frame, a robot for transferring a wafer from a FOUP to a process facility and a door switch for opening and closing the FOUP are disposed. A fan filter unit (not shown) is installed at an upper portion of the frame to blow clean air downward in the frame.

And a process chamber 12, 14, 16, which is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate, and a load lock chamber disposed between the process chambers 12, 14, 16, and the EFEM 20. The EFEM 20 may include load ports 22, 24, 26, 28 for supporting the FOUP for accommodating the semiconductor substrate, a transfer robot for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the FOUP and the load lock chamber, And a substrate transfer chamber disposed between the load port and the load lock chamber. In addition, when the bromine (HBr) component and the chlorine (Cl) gas remain on the wafer during the etching process in the process equipment, there is a problem that this portion is not etched. In order to prevent this, a side storage 30 for acid exhaust is provided at one side of the EFEM 20.

However, despite such side storage 30, the problem of using bromine or chlorine gas still occurs. In other words, bromine or chlorine gas meets the moisture in the air and is highly corrosive, causing corrosion of the equipment. Particles are generated where corrosion progresses. Therefore, there is a need for a countermeasure.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device that can overcome the above-mentioned conventional problems.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device that can increase the process efficiency.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device capable of increasing wafer quality.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process facility for manufacturing a semiconductor device that can prevent or minimize process defects.

According to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving some of the above technical problems, the process equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention, the process chamber and the process proceeds; An EFEM module for transferring wafers into the process facility; It is provided on one side of the EFEM module is provided with a cleaning chamber for removing residual gas and pure water.

The cleaning chamber may include a rotating plate on which a wafer is placed and a rotating plate for rotating the wafer, and an air supply unit for supplying air to the wafer. In addition, the process facility may be an etching facility.

According to the above configuration, the process efficiency can be increased, and the quality of the wafer can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, without any other intention than to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a process equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in front of the process facility is a substrate transfer system such as EFEM 120 as a module for transferring wafers from the FOUP into the process facility.

The EFEM 120 has a frame that is locally maintained at a high degree of cleanness, and a robot for transferring a wafer from a FOUP to a process facility and a door switch for opening and closing the FOUP are disposed in the frame. A fan filter unit (not shown) is installed at an upper portion of the frame to blow clean air downward in the frame.

And a process chamber 112, 114, 116, which is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate, and a load lock chamber disposed between the process chambers 112, 114, 116, and the EFEM 120. Here, the EFEM 120 includes load ports 122, 124, 126 and 128 for supporting the FOUP for accommodating the semiconductor substrate, a transfer robot for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the FOUP and the load lock chamber, and a load port and load lock. And a substrate transfer chamber disposed between the chambers. In addition, when the bromine (HBr) component and the chlorine (Cl) gas remain on the wafer during the etching process in the process equipment, there is a problem that this portion is not etched. In order to prevent this, a side storage 130 for acid exhaust is provided on one side of the EFEM 20.

In addition, the cleaning chamber 140 is provided at one side of the EFEM 20 in which the side storage 130 is not provided.

A schematic of the cleaning chamber is shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning chamber 140 is structurally provided at one side of the EFEM 120. The cleaning chamber 140 includes a rotating plate 146 and an air supply unit 142.

The rotating plate 146 rotates the wafer when the wafer is placed to remove moisture or other foreign matter.

The air supply unit 142 supplies air for wafer drying.

In addition, there is a pedestal 148 which is foldable up and down to facilitate wafer transfer, and a door 150 for communication with the EFEM 120. In addition, a DI supply 144 for supplying DI water may be added.

As described above, the cleaning chamber 140 may remove DI water at a high speed rotation, dry the wafer to remove gas condensation, and prevent or minimize equipment corrosion. Therefore, process efficiency and wafer quality can be improved. It also has the effect of extending the life of the installation.

The description of the above embodiments is merely given by way of example with reference to the drawings for a more thorough understanding of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In addition, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the basic principles of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by adding a cleaning chamber to the EFEM, DI water can be removed at high speed, the wafer can be dried to remove gas condensation, and facility corrosion can be prevented or minimized. . Therefore, process efficiency and wafer quality can be improved. It also has the effect of extending the life of the installation.

Claims (3)

In process equipment for manufacturing semiconductor devices: A process chamber in which the process proceeds; An EFEM module for transferring wafers into the process facility; Process equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor device, characterized in that provided on one side of the EFEM module having a cleaning chamber for removing residual gas and pure water. The method of claim 1, The cleaning chamber has a wafer on which the wafer is rotated, and a processing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, characterized in that it comprises an air supply for supplying air to the wafer. The method of claim 1, The process equipment is a process equipment for manufacturing a semiconductor device, characterized in that the etching equipment.

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