CN112397412A

CN112397412A - Semiconductor manufacturing process equipment with static electricity removing device

Info

Publication number: CN112397412A
Application number: CN201910747813.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马志超; 林国豪; 谈文毅
Original assignee: United Semi Integrated Circuit Manufacture Xiamen Co ltd
Current assignee: United Semi Integrated Circuit Manufacture Xiamen Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-14
Filing date: 2019-08-14
Publication date: 2021-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-14
Also published as: CN112397412B8; CN112397412B

Abstract

The invention discloses a semiconductor manufacturing process equipment with a static electricity removing device, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment comprises a liquid processing manufacturing process unit and an air flow system. The liquid treatment manufacturing process unit includes a support table for holding a wafer, a rotation mechanism connected with the support table, and a liquid distributor for distributing a liquid to the surface of the wafer disposed on the support table. The air flow system is used for generating an air flow in the liquid processing manufacturing process unit to directly blow the surface of the wafer disposed on the support table. An ion generator, integrated in the air flow system, provides ions into the air flow.

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing process equipment with static electricity removing device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to semiconductor manufacturing equipment with an electrostatic removal device.

Background

During semiconductor fabrication, static charges can inevitably build up on the substrate (e.g., wafer) or fabrication process equipment. The static charges accumulated on the substrate may be transferred in the substrate to generate current, which may damage the semiconductor devices fabricated on the substrate to cause a reduction in yield, and may generate an electric field, which may attract charged particles or polarized neutral particles to the substrate to cause structural defects. On the other hand, the electrostatic charge accumulated on the fabrication process equipment may not only adsorb electric particles or polarized neutral particles to cause the fabrication process pollution or wafer scratch, but also may even generate electrostatic charge transient discharge (ESD) to damage the semiconductor devices on the substrate, and in severe cases, may also cause the fabrication process equipment to crash (die) to cause scrap.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing process equipment with an electrostatic removing device, which can effectively reduce the electrostatic charges accumulated on the wafer and/or the wafer transferring arm in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

To achieve the above objects, one embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing process apparatus, which includes a liquid treatment manufacturing process unit and an air flow system. The liquid processing and manufacturing process unit comprises a bearing platform, a rotating mechanism and a liquid distributor, wherein the bearing platform is arranged at the lower part of the liquid processing and manufacturing process unit and used for horizontally supporting a wafer during a liquid processing and manufacturing process, the rotating mechanism is connected with the bearing platform and used for enabling the bearing platform to rotate around a rotating shaft, and the liquid distributor is used for distributing a liquid onto one surface of the wafer arranged on the bearing platform. The air flow system is used for generating an air flow in the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit, and the air flow directly blows the surface of the wafer arranged on the bearing table. An ion generator integrated in the air flow system for providing ions into the air flow.

In order to achieve the above object, another embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, including a liquid treatment manufacturing process unit for performing a liquid treatment manufacturing process on a wafer, a temporary storage chamber for storing a cleaning tray for cleaning the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit during a cleaning manufacturing process, and a transfer arm for transferring the wafer or the cleaning tray in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The liquid processing and manufacturing process unit comprises a bearing table, a rotating mechanism, a manufacturing process liquid distributor and a cleaning liquid distributor, wherein the rotating mechanism is connected with the bearing table and used for enabling the bearing table to rotate around a rotating shaft, the manufacturing process liquid distributor is used for distributing manufacturing process liquid to the wafer arranged on the bearing table during the liquid processing and manufacturing process, and the cleaning liquid distributor is used for distributing cleaning liquid to the cleaning disc arranged on the bearing table during the cleaning and manufacturing process. The cleaning tray includes static charge removing material for removing static charge from the transfer arm when the transfer arm contacts the cleaning tray.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a cleaning plate for cleaning semiconductor manufacturing process equipment includes an electrostatic charge removing material for removing electrostatic charges on a transfer arm of the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment when the transfer arm contacts the cleaning plate.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a planar configuration of semiconductor fabrication process equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the semiconductor fabrication process apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid handling manufacturing process unit and an air flow system of a semiconductor manufacturing process apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a schematic configuration of a cleaning disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning process using the cleaning disk of FIG. 4.

Description of the main elements

X-direction 46 ion generator

Y-direction 47 air flow

Z-direction 48 exhaust pipeline

4 unloading block 12a bearing seat

5 manufacturing the opening and closing part of the process block 13a

6 interface block 32a manufacturing process liquid

11 wafer boat 34a cleaning liquid

12 carry portion A1 transfer arm

13 opening/closing part A3 transfer arm

13 transfer part A7 lifting arm

14 process module AX rotation axis

15 processing module D washs dish

16 processing Module D1 surface

17 bottom surface of processing module D2

20 frame D3 side wall

22 base G ground circuit

24-rotating mechanism U1 liquid treatment manufacturing process unit

26 bearing platform U10 shed frame

28 recovery cup U11 shed frame

32 manufacturing process liquid distributor U2 heat treatment manufacturing process unit

34 cleaning liquid distributor U3 temporary storage unit

40 air flow system W wafer

42 air inlet pipe Wa surface

44 air filter device

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. The accompanying drawings are schematic and not drawn to scale, and the same or similar features are generally described by the same reference numerals. The embodiments and figures described herein are for reference and illustration purposes only and are not intended to be limiting of the invention. The scope of coverage of this patent is defined by the claims. The scope of the invention is to be considered as the same as the scope of the claims.

Please refer to fig. 1 and fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a plane defined in an X direction and a Z direction of a semiconductor manufacturing process apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 is a schematic top view illustrating a schematic configuration of a plane defined in the X direction and the Y direction of the semiconductor manufacturing process apparatus 10 of fig. 1. The Z direction is perpendicular to the plane defined by the X and Y directions. The semiconductor fabrication processing tool 10, for example, a coating and developing system for coating (coating) photoresist on a semiconductor substrate (e.g., a wafer) and developing (planarizing) the photoresist after exposure to form a patterned photoresist layer on the semiconductor substrate, includes an unloading block 4, a fabrication process block 5, and an interface block 6.

The unloading block 4 is used for introducing and discharging the wafer W into and out of the semiconductor manufacturing process apparatus 10, and may include a placing part 12, a plurality of susceptor 12a disposed on the placing part 12, a transfer part 13, and an opening and closing part 13a interposed between the placing part 12 and the transfer part 13 and disposed corresponding to each susceptor 12 a. The susceptor 12a is used to fix the wafer boat 11 loaded with the wafers W, and then the wafer boat 11 is moved to the side of the opening/closing part 13a, and after the opening/closing part 13a is opened, the transfer arm a1 of the transfer part 13 takes out the wafers W from the wafer boat 11 through the opening/closing part 13a and transfers the wafers W to the shelf U10 of the fabrication process block 5, or receives the wafers W from the shelf U10 of the fabrication process block 5 and returns the wafers W to the wafer boat 11 through the opening/closing part 13 a.

The fabrication process block 5 may include shelves U10 and U11 for temporarily storing wafers W, and a plurality of process modules, such as

process modules

14, 15, 16, and 17. The

processing modules

14, 15, 16 and 17 may each have different fabrication process objectives. For example, the processing module 14 is for forming an underlayer film, such as a bottom anti-reflective layer (BARC), on the surface Wa of the wafer W; the processing module 15 is used for forming a photoresist layer on the lower layer film; the processing module 16 is for forming an upper layer film, such as a top anti-reflective layer (TARC), on the photoresist layer; the processing block 17 is for performing development processing (leveling) of the exposed photoresist layer. The shelves U10 and U11 may have a multi-layer structure in the vertical direction (Z direction), and lift arms A7 disposed near the shelves U10 or U11 are used to transfer the wafers W between the layers.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of the process module 17, which includes a plurality of liquid processing process units U1, a plurality of thermal processing process units U2, a transfer arm A3 for transferring the wafer W, and shelves U10 and U11 for temporarily storing the wafer W. The liquid handling processing unit U1 is configured to perform a liquid handling processing to provide a processing liquid to the surface Wa of the wafer W. The thermal processing unit U2 has built-in heating and/or cooling plates for performing a heating or cooling process to heat or cool the wafer W. The manufacturing process block 5 further includes at least one temporary storage unit U3 for temporarily storing a cleaning disc (cup wash disc) D. The cleaning tray D may be used to clean an inner wall of the liquid handling manufacturing process unit U1 (e.g., the inner wall of the recovery cup 28) when performing a cleaning manufacturing process.

The interface block 6 is connected to an exposure apparatus (not shown), and the wafer W is transferred between the shelf U11 of the fabrication process block 5 and the exposure apparatus by a transfer arm A1 provided in the interface block 6.

Referring to FIG. 3, a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid handling processing cell U1 and an air flow system 40 of the semiconductor fabrication processing apparatus 10 is shown according to one embodiment of the present invention. The liquid processing manufacturing process unit U1 includes a frame 20, a base 22 disposed in the frame 20, a susceptor 26 for horizontally holding and fixing a wafer W, a rotation mechanism 24 connected to the susceptor 26 for rotating the susceptor 26 about a rotation axis AX to generate centrifugal force to a manufacturing process liquid 32a supplied to the wafer W (or a cleaning liquid 34a supplied to a cleaning tray D), a recovery cup (cup)28 disposed on the base 22 and surrounding the susceptor 26, a manufacturing process liquid dispenser 32 for dispensing the manufacturing process liquid 32a onto a surface Wa of the wafer W disposed on the susceptor 26 during a liquid processing manufacturing process, a cleaning liquid dispenser 34 for dispensing the cleaning liquid 34a onto the cleaning tray D disposed on the susceptor 26 during a cleaning manufacturing process (refer to fig. 5). The air flow system 40 includes an air inlet line 42 disposed in an upper portion of the liquid handling manufacturing process unit U1, an air outlet line 48 disposed in a lower portion of the liquid handling manufacturing process unit, and an air filtration device 44 disposed in an upper portion of the liquid handling manufacturing process unit U1 and connected to the air inlet line 42. The air inlet line 42 is used for providing an air flow 47 to the liquid handling process unit U1 to provide a downward air flow 47 directly blowing on the surface Wa of the wafer W disposed on the susceptor 26. The exhaust duct 48 is configured to exhaust the air stream 47 from the liquid handling manufacturing process unit U1. The air filter 44 is used for filtering the air flow 47 and is integrated with an ion generator 46 for adding ions to the air flow 47 so that the static charges accumulated on the wafer W can be neutralized when the air flow 47 directly blows the wafer W. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ion generator 46 can provide positive ions or negative ions, or alternatively provide positive ions and negative ions to the air flow 47, so as to obtain a better static electricity neutralization effect. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the air flow 47 comprises nitrogen and/or oxygen, and the ion generator 46 can generate nitrogen ions and/or oxygen ions.

Please refer to fig. 4 and 5. Fig. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a cleaning disk D1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning process performed by placing the cleaning tray D on the carrier 26 in the liquid handling process unit U1. The cleaning disk D may be a disk shape having a surface D1, a bottom D2, and a sidewall D3, and the diameter of the cleaning disk may be approximately equal to the diameter of the wafer W, such as 200 mm or 300 mm, or slightly larger or smaller than the diameter of the wafer W according to the requirement of cleaning effect. In some embodiments, the surface D1 of the cleaning disk D may have a design pattern (not shown) to achieve better splash cleaning during the cleaning process. In some embodiments, a cavity may be defined between surface D1 and bottom surface D2 of cleaning disk D, and cleaning fluid may be sprayed through openings (not shown) in side wall D3 of cleaning disk D due to centrifugal force after entering the cavity, thereby achieving better spray cleaning effect.

The cleaning disk D includes an electrostatic eliminating material, such as a metal or an organic conductive material, so that the cleaning disk D can guide the electrostatic charges accumulated on the transfer arm A3 when the transfer arm A3 transfers the cleaning disk D into contact with the cleaning disk D, in addition to the cleaning liquid processing manufacturing process unit U1 when the cleaning manufacturing process is performed. Thereby, the situation that the pollutants or the particles are adsorbed on the transfer arm A3 due to static electricity can be reduced. A ground line G may be provided in the buffer unit U3 to further remove static charges from the cleaning tray D when the cleaning tray D is returned to the buffer unit U3 by the transfer arm A3.

In summary, the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having an air flow system integrated with an ion generator, which can provide an air flow including ions directly to the surface of a wafer during a semiconductor manufacturing process to neutralize electrostatic charges accumulated on the wafer. In addition, a cleaning disc made of static electricity removing material can be arranged in the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment, and static electricity accumulated on the conveying arm can be conveniently guided when the conveying arm grabs the cleaning disc by executing a cleaning procedure. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment provided by the invention can effectively reduce the problems of yield loss or wafer scrap caused by static charge accumulation. The air flow system integrated with the ion generator provided by the present invention is not limited to the coating and developing system applied in the embodiment, and can also be applied in other semiconductor manufacturing process equipment, such as etching equipment. In addition, the cleaning disc made of the static electricity eliminating material can be replaced by a control wafer made of the static electricity eliminating material to be applied to other semiconductor manufacturing process equipment, and static electricity accumulated on the conveying arm can be guided out by directly contacting the conveying arm with the control wafer through the conveying control wafer.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in the claims of the present invention should be covered by the present invention.

Claims

1. A semiconductor fabrication process apparatus, comprising:

the liquid treatment makes the process unit, including:

a susceptor disposed at a lower portion of the liquid treatment fabrication process unit for horizontally holding the wafer during the liquid treatment fabrication process;

the rotating mechanism is connected with the bearing table and is used for enabling the bearing table to rotate around the rotating shaft; and

a liquid dispenser for dispensing a liquid onto a surface of the wafer disposed on the susceptor;

an air flow system for generating an air flow in the liquid handling fabrication process unit, the air flow directly blowing the surface of the wafer disposed on the susceptor; and

an ion generator, integrated in the air flow system, for providing ions into the air flow.

2. The semiconductor fabrication process apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ion generator alternately provides positive ions and negative ions into the air stream.

3. The semiconductor fabrication processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air flow comprises nitrogen.

4. The semiconductor fabrication process apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air flow system comprises:

the air inlet pipeline is arranged at the upper part of the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit and is used for providing the air flow to the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit;

the air filtering device is arranged at the upper part of the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit, is connected with the air inlet pipeline and is used for filtering the air flow; and

and the exhaust pipeline is arranged at the lower part of the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit and is used for exhausting the air flow from the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit.

5. The semiconductor fabrication processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the ion generator is integrated into the air filtration device.

6. A semiconductor fabrication process apparatus, comprising:

the liquid treatment makes the process unit, including:

the bearing table is positioned in the liquid treatment manufacturing process unit;

the rotating mechanism is connected with the bearing table and is used for enabling the bearing table to rotate around the rotating shaft;

a fabrication process liquid dispenser for dispensing a fabrication process liquid onto a wafer disposed on the susceptor during a liquid handling fabrication process; and

a cleaning liquid distributor for distributing cleaning liquid onto the cleaning tray disposed on the carrying table during the cleaning manufacturing process;

a temporary storage chamber for storing the cleaning disc during a period other than the cleaning manufacturing process; and

a transfer arm for transferring the wafer or the cleaning disk in the semiconductor fabrication process equipment, wherein the cleaning disk comprises an electrostatic cleaning material for removing electrostatic charges from the transfer arm when the transfer arm contacts the cleaning disk.

7. The semiconductor fabrication processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the buffer chamber includes a ground line for removing electrostatic charges from the cleaning plate.

8. A cleaning tray for cleaning semiconductor manufacturing process equipment, the cleaning tray comprising static electricity removing material for removing static electricity from a transfer arm of the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment when the transfer arm contacts the cleaning tray.

9. The cleaning tray for cleaning semiconductor fabrication process equipment as recited in claim 8, wherein the static-electricity-removing material comprises a metal or an organic conductive material.

10. The cleaning tray as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cleaning tray is disposed on a susceptor of the semiconductor manufacturing process equipment and rotated at a high speed, and a cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning tray so that the cleaning liquid is sprayed to an inner wall of the substrate rotation manufacturing process apparatus to achieve a cleaning effect.