CN2502403Y - Semiconductor process equipment with work piece transfer protection - Google Patents

Abstract

A semiconductor processing equipment with a workpiece transfer protection function. The semiconductor processing equipment includes at least one processing tool including a movable platform for supporting a workpiece, an interface device including an automatic transfer device for transferring the workpiece to and from the movable platform of the processing tool and the interface device, a sensing device for checking whether the movable platform of the processing tool is in a preselected state and generating an output signal, and a control unit for controlling the automatic transfer device according to the output signal.

Description

Semiconductor process equipment with work piece transfer protection

technical field

The utility model relates to a semiconductor process equipment with a workpiece transfer protection function, in particular to a semiconductor process equipment for protecting the process equipment and a standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) automatic transmission device.

Background technique

The need to reduce the manufacturing cost per unit of wafer drives the semiconductor industry to continuously search for ways to increase wafer yield and reduce manufacturing cycle time. As we all know, to increase the total output of a semiconductor wafer manufacturing system is nothing more than ensuring a stable wafer supply to each machine. Thus, the throughput of a fab's material management system affects the number of wafer carriers circulating in the field. As the size of the wafer continues to increase, in order to adapt to the increase in the size and weight of the wafer box, the processing of the wafer tends to be more and more automated. That is to say, the action of the interface device transferring the wafer or wafer boat to the process or measurement equipment becomes more and more important and more complicated.

The handling and fabrication of semiconductor wafers requires extreme care to avoid contamination from surrounding particles or process-generated particles. Because once it is contaminated, the yield of the process will be reduced, so the manufacture of integrated circuits is more expensive and time-consuming. The development of the standard mechanical interface (SMIF) system not only facilitates the manufacture of semiconductor wafers, but also reduces the chance of particles falling onto the wafers during storage and transfer of semiconductor manufacturing processes. The standard mechanical interface (SMIF) system mainly consists of three parts: a closed box, the wafer boat used to transfer or store wafers; a microenvironment, which is the wafer fabrication area that uses ultra-pure gas to surround the wafer boat loading place and process equipment , so that the inner environment of the box and the micro-environment become a reduced clean space; and automatic transfer components, loading/unloading the wafer boat and/or wafer, and transferring it from the airtight box to the process machine without making the wafer in the boat The wafer is contaminated by the external environment. As a result, standard mechanical interface systems provide a continuous ultra-clean environment as wafers move through the fab, providing a robust interface between the operator and the process tool.

Recently automated devices and other machines with standard mechanical interface devices have been designed to integrate the loading and unloading of wafer boats to wafer processing or metrology equipment. Therefore, the operation interface is becoming more and more complex. The use of safety sensors to check whether the interface device is in an appropriate operating state belongs to the control interface of the device itself, and the complex operation interface between the automatic interface device and the process tool will cause a strong burden on the operator and easily lead to operational errors. For example, the safety sensor of the automatic interface device itself cannot check whether the process tool is in a normal state (or reaches the pre-selected state), and when the process tool is in a non-pre-selected state, the operator starts the unloading process without realizing it. Action, it may cause damage to the automatic interface device or process tool, as well as the chip.

Many alarms in the general control interface have their necessary functions, but simplifying the operation interface to reduce the burden on the operator and avoid the operator's misoperation is still the goal of continuous development. Therefore, it is a great expectation in the industry to provide a semiconductor process equipment with a workpiece transfer protection function by using a simple protection device between the process tool and the interface device, so that the equipment will not be damaged due to malfunction.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of this utility model is to provide a semiconductor process equipment with a workpiece transfer protection function, which can display whether the process tool is in an appropriate operating state, and automatically close the interface device when the process tool is not in an appropriate operating state action to avoid damage due to misoperation.

In order to achieve the above object, the semiconductor process equipment with workpiece transfer protection function of the utility model is characterized in that, the semiconductor process equipment includes: a process tool, and the process tool includes a movable platform for supporting a work piece ; an interface device, the interface device includes an automatic transport device for transporting the workpiece between the movable platform and the interface device; a sensing device for checking the process tool Whether the movable platform is in a pre-selected state, and generate an output signal; and a control component, according to the output signal, to control the opening and closing of the automatic conveying device.

The utility model uses a sensor to check whether the movable platform of the process tool is in a preselected state (home), and generates an output signal. The output signal is then sent to the control assembly. If the sensor checks that the movable platform is not in the pre-selected state, the protection function will work, and the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device of the interface device will be turned off, so as to avoid the wafer, process tool, and interface device from being damaged due to misoperation. damage.

In order to better understand the purpose, features and advantages of the utility model, preferred embodiments of the utility model will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a simple diagram of the semiconductor process equipment with workpiece transfer protection function of the utility model;

Fig. 2 is a simple diagram of the circuit connection and signal transmission of the semiconductor process equipment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a simple diagram of the transmission of the semiconductor process workpiece of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the work piece delivery of the semiconductor manufacturing process of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In an embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor process equipment with a workpiece transfer protection function is provided. As shown in FIG. 1 , the semiconductor process equipment 100 for transferring workpieces of the present utility model includes at least one interface device 101 , which has automatic transfer between the movable platform 114 and the interface device 101 for transferring workpieces to and from the process tool 102 device. The focus of the present invention is to use a sensing device 116 to check whether the movable platform 114 of the process tool 102 is in a preselected state, such as whether it reaches the position A, and generate an output signal. If the movable platform 114 moves to a position where the automatic transfer device of the interface device 101 can load/unload (load/unload) workpieces, such as position A, then it is defined to reach a preselected state (home) or a ready state (ready). On the contrary, it is defined as not reaching the pre-selected state (not home) or not ready state (not ready). The control component 118 is used to control the transfer function of the automatic transfer device of the interface device 101 according to the output signal. Although the interface device 101 described in the present invention is related to the standard interface (SMIF) system, the present invention can be applied to any interface device for storing and transferring semiconductor wafers. The process tool 102 may be a wafer process or measurement equipment, such as an etching machine or a surface scanning measurement machine. The term "semiconductor wafer" or "wafer" refers to any wafer substrate that may be produced during any semiconductor wafer manufacturing stage.

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of the circuit connection and signal transmission among the sensing device 116 , the control unit 118 , the display unit 124 , and the interface device 101 in the semiconductor process equipment 100 with the workpiece transfer protection function. The sensing device 116 can detect whether the movable platform of the process tool has reached the state of position A, and output a signal to the control component 118, and the control component 118 can control the automatic transfer device of the interface device 101 according to the output signal, and can simultaneously send the signal displayed on a display unit 124 . For example, when the sensing device detects that the movable platform has not reached the ready position, that is, position A, it outputs a signal to the control component, and the control component turns off the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device of the interface device according to the signal. When the sensing device detects that the movable platform has reached the ready position, that is, position A, it outputs a signal to the control unit, and the control unit activates the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device of the interface device according to the signal.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the protection device of the present invention at least includes a process tool 102 , an interface device 101 , a sensing device 116 , and a control component 118 . The process tool 102 has a movable platform 114 for supporting the workpiece 110 . The workpiece 110 may be a semiconductor wafer carrier having one or more semiconductor wafers, or a wafer, which is a wafer carrier in this embodiment. The movable platform 114 can move vertically or horizontally, so that the process tool 102 can process the workpiece 110 . The interface device 101 includes an automatic transfer device 112 for transferring the workpiece 110 between the movable platform 114 and the interface device 101 . The sensing device 116 is used for checking whether the movable platform 114 of the process tool 102 is in a preselected state, and generates an output signal. The control component 118 controls the opening and closing of the automatic transfer device 112 according to the output signal.

During the transfer of the workpiece, the workpiece is usually loaded with a transfer box (pod) or a standard machine interface pod (SMIF pod). A transfer box or standard machine interface box typically includes a lid portion 120 and a base portion 122 . When the transfer box is placed on the interface device 101, the interface device 101 will first separate the box cover part 120 from the base part 122, and then lower the base part 122 including the workpiece 110 to a position adjacent to the movable platform 114 . According to the detection result of the position of the movable platform by the sensing device 116 , the control device 118 will turn on and off the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device 112 to transfer the workpiece 110 into the process tool 102 and then place it on the movable platform 114 . The sensing device 116 is used to check whether the movable platform 114 of the process tool 102 is in a pre-selected state, such as whether the position A is reached, and generate an output signal. The sensing device 116 may be a switch sensor (or knife switch) for detecting whether the movable platform 114 is in a ready state, and includes all circuitry for sending an output signal to a control unit 118 . Taking the switch sensor as an example, one end of the circuit is grounded, and the other end is connected to the control component 118 . The control component 118 controls the automatic transfer device 112 of the interface device 101 according to the output signal. In addition, the control component 118 can be an external control component for controlling the automatic transfer device 112 , or it can be an internal control component of the interface device 101 itself.

The main point of the present invention is that when the sensing device 116 detects that the movable platform 114 has not reached the ready position, the transfer function of the automatic transfer device 112 will be automatically turned off, so as to achieve the purpose of simplifying the operation interface. That is to say, when the movable platform 114 has not reached the ready position, the control component 118 responding to the output signal will close the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device 112 . When the sensing device 116 detects that the movable platform 114 reaches the ready position, that is, the position A, the control component 118 responding to the output signal will activate the loading/unloading function of the automatic transfer device 112 . Therefore, damage to the process tool and the interface device due to improper operation can be avoided, resulting in an increase in equipment failure time. In addition, the control unit includes a display unit 124, such as a light indicator, which can display the ready status (ready/not ready) of the movable platform. For example, when the movable platform is in the ready state, the light indicator will be on; on the contrary, when the movable platform is not in the ready state, the light indicator will not be on. In this way, the operator can easily know through the display unit Operation timing when a mount/unload needs to be performed. Therefore, damage to the process tool and the interface device due to improper operation can be avoided, resulting in an increase in equipment failure time.

Fig. 4 is the operating flow of the utility model equipment. Firstly, a sensing device is used to detect whether the movable platform in the process tool is at a pre-selected position, and generate an output signal. Then, an output signal is received to determine whether the movable platform is in a preselected position. In addition, when the movable platform is not at the pre-selected position, the automatic transfer of any workpiece to the movable platform is stopped. At the same time, the output signal will be displayed. When the movable platform reaches the pre-selected position, any workpiece is automatically transferred to the movable platform.

Typically standard machine interface systems provide a single load/unload function to transfer workpieces. The single load/unload function is that once a batch of wafers is loaded into the process tool, another batch of wafers will be loaded into the process tool only after the batch of wafers has been processed and unloaded. The semiconductor process equipment of the utility model cooperates with the single loading/unloading function of the interface device, and the operator can easily operate the transmission device, and similar to two crystal boats colliding together to cause fragments, and damage to the process tool and the interface device, the malfunction is just can easily be avoided.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present utility model, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present utility model; all other equivalent changes or modifications completed without departing from the spirit disclosed by the present utility model shall be Included in the patent application scope of the present utility model.

Claims (8)

1. A semiconductor process equipment with workpiece transfer protection function, characterized in that, the semiconductor process equipment includes: A process tool comprising a movable platform for supporting a workpiece; an interface device, the interface device includes an automatic transfer device for transferring the workpiece to and from the movable platform and the interface device; - sensing means for checking whether said movable platform of said process tool is in a preselected state and generating an output signal; and - a control component, controlling the opening and closing of the automatic conveying device according to the output signal. 2. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the workpiece comprises at least one semiconductor wafer carrier. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment of claim 1, wherein the interface device comprises at least one standard mechanical interface device. 4. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing device comprises at least one switch sensor. 5. The semiconductor processing equipment of claim 1, wherein the control assembly turns off the automatic transfer device when the output signal indicates that the movable platform is not in the preselected state. 6. The semiconductor processing tool of claim 1, wherein the control assembly activates the automatic transfer device when the output signal indicates that the movable platform is in the preselected state. 7. The semiconductor processing equipment of claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a display unit to display the preselected state. 8. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment as claimed in claim 7, wherein the display unit comprises at least one light indicator.

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