JP4635972B2 - Load lock device, method using the same, and wafer bonding system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a load lock apparatus for a wafer bonding apparatus and a wafer bonding system for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit by superimposing a plurality of wafers. In particular, the present invention relates to a load lock device and a wafer bonding system capable of efficiently performing bonding processing on a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses.

  In recent years, notebook computers and mobile phones that use semiconductor integrated circuits have become increasingly sophisticated. As a result, there is an increasing demand for higher density and higher functionality of semiconductor integrated circuits.

  One method for increasing the density and functionality of semiconductor integrated circuits is to stack wafers. In order to stack the wafers, a bonding electrode is formed on the surface of the wafer on which the circuit has been formed, and the electrodes of two wafers or an already stacked wafer and another wafer to be stacked are brought into contact with each other and bonded. is necessary. When bonding the electrodes of the wafer, the important points are to bring the electrodes into uniform contact and to activate the electrode bonding surface. In order to bring the electrodes into uniform contact, it is necessary to increase the flatness of the joint surface. Moreover, in order to activate the electrode bonding surface, for example, heating is performed.

  In order to bond the wafer in this way, an apparatus for bonding the wafer while applying pressure and heating has been developed (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Since the pressurization and heating of the wafer are preferably performed in a vacuum, the wafer bonding apparatus is installed in a vacuum chamber. Therefore, a load lock device is used to move the wafer before the bonding process from the atmospheric atmosphere to the vacuum chamber, and to move the bonded wafer from the vacuum chamber to the atmospheric atmosphere. The load lock device is a device that can store an object such as a wafer in a sealed interior and switch the interior from an air atmosphere to a vacuum atmosphere or from a vacuum atmosphere to an air atmosphere.

  In order to efficiently bond the wafers, it is necessary to continuously bond the wafers using a wafer bonding apparatus. In order to continuously bond the wafers by the wafer bonding apparatus, the load lock apparatus takes out the bonded wafer from the wafer bonding apparatus in the vacuum chamber to the atmosphere, and vacuums the wafer before the bonding process from the atmosphere. It is necessary to supply the wafer bonding apparatus in the chamber. Further, it is more efficient if a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses can continuously perform the wafer bonding process by the load lock device.

  However, a load lock device that can efficiently perform a bonding process on a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses has not been developed.

JP 2005-302858 JP

  There is a need for a load lock device and a wafer bonding system that can efficiently perform bonding processing on a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses.

  The load lock device according to the present invention receives wafers that have been bonded from a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses and supplies the wafers before bonding to the plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses. The load lock device according to the present invention includes a gate with the plurality of wafer bonding devices and a gate with an atmospheric atmosphere on at least a part of side surfaces. The load lock device according to the present invention includes at least a pair of storage chambers, and when one of the pair of storage chambers stores a wafer before bonding processing to be supplied to a predetermined wafer bonding apparatus, the other is a predetermined wafer bonding The bonded wafer received from the apparatus is stored. A pair of storage chambers are arranged vertically, and one and the other storage chamber move vertically to the gate position, and transfer wafers horizontally between the predetermined wafer bonding apparatus or the atmosphere through the gate. It is configured to be able to do so.

  According to the load lock device of the present invention, one of the pair of storage chambers is moved to the gate with the wafer bonding apparatus, and the wafer subjected to the bonding process is received from the wafer bonding apparatus and stored, and before the bonding process The operation of supplying the stored wafer to the bonding apparatus by moving the other of the pair of storage chambers storing the wafer to the gate of the wafer bonding apparatus can be efficiently performed.

  In addition, the load lock device includes a gate with a plurality of wafer bonding devices and a gate with an atmospheric atmosphere on at least a part of the side surfaces, and the pair of storage chambers are arranged in a vertical direction with each other. The wafer bonding apparatus can be arranged in a compact manner.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, the load lock device has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the gates to the three wafer bonding devices are arranged on the three side surfaces of the rectangular parallelepiped, and the gate with the air atmosphere on the other side surfaces. Is arranged.

Accordingly, the load lock device and the three wafer bonding apparatuses can be arranged in a compact manner. According to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the pair of storage chambers cools the bonded wafer. Equipment for.

  In the load lock device, by cooling the processed wafer stored in the storage chamber while switching from the vacuum atmosphere to the air atmosphere, the cooling time by the wafer bonding apparatus is shortened and the throughput of the wafer bonding apparatus is improved. be able to.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the pair of storage chambers includes an apparatus for heating the wafer before the bonding process.

  In the load lock device, by heating the stored unprocessed wafer during switching from the air atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere, the heating time by the wafer bonding device can be shortened and the throughput of the wafer bonding device can be improved. .

  A wafer bonding system according to the present invention includes the load lock device according to the present invention and a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the load lock apparatus which can make a several wafer bonding apparatus implement efficiently a joining process is obtained.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of an entire load lock device and a wafer bonding system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the load lock device 101 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the load lock device 101 has a rectangular horizontal cross section. Three vacuum chambers 201, 203, and 205 are arranged adjacent to each other on three side surfaces of the rectangular parallelepiped. The wafer bonding apparatus in the vacuum chamber performs wafer bonding processing by a heating / pressurizing process. For this reason, the vacuum chamber is also referred to as a heating and pressurizing chamber. The three side surfaces include three gates that connect the load lock device 101 and the three vacuum chambers 201, 203, and 205 of the wafer bonding apparatus, respectively. The other side surface of the rectangular parallelepiped is in contact with the air atmosphere. The other one side surface includes a gate for connecting the load lock device 101 and the atmospheric atmosphere.

  In the present embodiment, the horizontal cross section of the load lock device is rectangular, but generally it may be polygonal depending on the number of adjacent heating and pressurizing chambers.

  FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the entire load lock device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the load lock apparatus 101 includes a first storage chamber 103 and a second storage chamber 105 that store wafers.

  In the present embodiment, the number of storage chambers of the load lock device is two, but may generally be three or more. In order to continuously operate the wafer bonding apparatus in the heating and pressurizing chamber, a storage chamber for receiving the wafer from the wafer bonding apparatus in the heating and pressurizing chamber, and a wafer for supplying the wafer to the wafer bonding apparatus in the heating and pressurizing chamber. Since a pair of storage chambers are required, it is preferable to provide an even number of storage chambers.

  In the present embodiment, the load lock device 101 includes a gate 111 at a predetermined height. In FIG. 2, only the gate on one side of the load lock device 101 is shown for simplicity. Actually, four gates are provided on four side surfaces of the load lock device 101. The four gates are arranged so that the wafer can be moved in the horizontal direction between the three vacuum chambers 201, 203 and 205 and the air atmosphere. In the present embodiment, the four gates are arranged at the same height.

  In the present embodiment, an arm for moving the wafer in the horizontal direction through the gate is provided on the wafer bonding apparatus and the atmosphere side.

  The first storage chamber 103 and the second storage chamber 105 are arranged in the vertical direction so that they can be moved in the vertical direction by the driving device 107. The drive device 107 may be a pneumatically driven cylinder.

  In general, a pair of storage chambers for receiving a wafer and for supplying a wafer are preferably arranged vertically with respect to each other. Furthermore, a plurality of pairs of storage chambers may be arranged in the vertical direction with respect to each other or in the horizontal direction with respect to each other.

  In the present embodiment, the wafer to be bonded may be held and aligned by the wafer holder WH. In the present specification and claims, the wafer held by the wafer holder is also simply referred to as a wafer.

  In FIG. 2A, the driving device 107 is controlled so that the first storage chamber 103 is positioned at the gate 111. The first storage chamber receives and stores the wafer holder WH through the gate 111.

  In FIG. 2B, wafer holders WH are stored in first storage chamber 103 and second storage chamber 105, respectively.

  In FIG. 2C, the driving device 107 is controlled so that the second storage chamber 105 is positioned at the gate 111.

  Thus, in the load lock device 101, the state in which the first storage chamber 103 is at the position of the gate 111 (upward state) and the state in which the second storage chamber 105 is at the position of the gate 111 (downward state). Have

  The first storage chamber 103 and the second storage chamber 105 may include either or both of an apparatus for heating a stored wafer and an apparatus for cooling the stored wafer. The heating device may be an electric heater, and a sensor such as a thermocouple or a resistance temperature detector may be installed so that the temperature can be controlled based on the measured value from the sensor. The apparatus for cooling may be a water cooled chiller, a gas purge or a combination thereof.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation (process) of the load lock device 101 according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, the cooling buffer represents the first storage chamber 103. This is because, as will be described later, the first storage chamber 103 receives and cools the bonded wafer. The heating buffer represents the second storage chamber 105. This is because the second storage chamber 105 receives and preheats the wafer before the bonding process, as will be described later. GV represents a gate. Y arm represents an arm for transferring a wafer.

  As an initial state, the wafers W1, W2, and W3 are bonded in the wafer bonding apparatuses of the heating and pressurizing chambers 201 (No. 1), 203 (No. 2), and 205 (No. 3).

  In step 1 of the load lock apparatus 101, the load lock apparatus 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. 1 to receive the wafer W1 that has been subjected to the bonding process. The wafer W4 before the bonding process is supplied to 1.

  4 to 7 are diagrams showing the state of the load lock device 101. FIG.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an initial state of the load lock device 101. The load lock device 101 is in the raised state, and the first storage chamber 103 is at the height of the gate. The first storage chamber 103 is empty, and the second storage chamber 105 stores the wafer W4 before the bonding process.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation in the process 1 of the load lock device 101.

  In step S8010 of FIG. 8, the first storage chamber 103 of the load lock device 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. 1 receives a wafer W1 that has been bonded.

  4B shows that the first storage chamber 103 of the load lock device 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. 1 is a diagram showing a state where a bonded wafer W1 is received from 1. FIG.

  In FIG. 4C, the load storage device 101 is in the raised state, the first storage chamber 103 stores the wafer W1 that has been bonded, and the second storage chamber 105 stores the wafer W4 that has not been bonded. FIG.

  In step S8020 in FIG. 8, the load lock device 101 starts the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 2 from the second storage chamber 105. 1 is shifted from the rising state to the lowering state so that the wafer W4 before the bonding process can be supplied.

  In FIG. 5A, the load lock device 101 is in the lowered state, the first storage chamber 103 stores the wafer W1 after the bonding process, and the second storage chamber 105 stores the wafer W4 before the bonding process. FIG.

  In step S8030 of FIG. 8, the second storage chamber 105 of the load lock device 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. The wafer W4 before the bonding process is supplied to 1.

  FIG. 5B shows that the second storage chamber 105 of the load lock device 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a wafer W4 before bonding processing is supplied to 1. FIG.

  In step S8040 of FIG. 8, the load lock device 101 shifts from the lowered state to the raised state so that the first storage chamber 103 can next transfer the wafer W1 subjected to the bonding process to the atmospheric air.

  In step 2 of the load lock device 101, the pressure in the load lock device is brought close to the atmospheric atmosphere with all the gates closed. In this step, it is preferable that the bonded wafer W1 stored in the first storage chamber 103 is cooled.

  In step 3 of the load lock device 101, nitrogen purge is performed in a state where the pressure in the load lock device is sufficiently close to the atmospheric atmosphere.

  In Step 4 and Step 5 of the load lock device 101, the load lock device 101 transfers the wafer 1 that has been bonded to the atmospheric atmosphere and receives the wafer W5 before the bonding processing from the atmospheric atmosphere.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a state in which the load lock device 101 is in the raised state and the first storage chamber 103 holds the wafer W1 that has been bonded.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the load lock device 101 in steps 4 and 5.

  In step S9010 of FIG. 9, the first storage chamber 103 of the load lock apparatus 101 delivers the wafer W1 that has been bonded to the atmospheric atmosphere.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the first storage chamber 103 of the load lock apparatus 101 has transferred the wafer W <b> 1 that has been bonded to the atmospheric atmosphere.

  In step S9020 of FIG. 9, the load lock apparatus 101 shifts from the rising state to the lowering state so that the second storage chamber 105 can receive the wafer W5 before the bonding process from the atmospheric atmosphere.

  In step S9030 of FIG. 9, the second storage chamber 105 receives the wafer W5 before the bonding process from the air atmosphere.

  FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a state in which the load lock device 101 is in the lowered state and the second storage chamber 105 receives the wafer W5 before the bonding process from the atmospheric atmosphere.

  FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a state in which the second storage chamber 105 of the load lock device 101 stores the wafer W5 before the bonding process.

  In step S9040 of FIG. 9, the load lock device 101 shifts from the lowered state to the raised state so that the first storage chamber 103 can receive the next bonded wafer.

  FIG. 7C is a diagram showing a state in which the load lock device 101 is in the raised state and the second storage chamber 105 stores the wafer W5 before the bonding process.

  The operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is an operation in the case where the first storage chamber 103 stores a wafer that has been bonded and the second storage chamber 105 stores a wafer that has not been bonded. The first storage chamber 103 may receive the wafer W5 before the bonding process from the atmospheric atmosphere after the first storage chamber 103 has transferred the bonded wafer W1 to the atmospheric atmosphere. In that case, the load chamber 101 is lifted while the first storage chamber 103 delivers the bonded wafer W1 to the atmosphere and the first storage chamber 103 receives the wafer W5 before the bonding process from the atmosphere. It can be in the state. After the first storage chamber 103 receives the unprocessed wafer W5 from the atmosphere, the load lock device 101 is lowered so that the second storage chamber 105 can receive the processed wafer.

  In step 6 of the load lock device 101, the pressure in the load lock device is brought close to a vacuum with all the gates closed. In this step, it is preferable that the wafer W5 before the bonding process stored in the second storage chamber 105 is heated.

  In step 7 of the load lock apparatus 101, the load lock apparatus 101 is heated and pressurized chamber No. 2 receives the wafer W2 that has been subjected to the bonding process. The wafer W5 before the bonding process is supplied to 2. The operation in step 7 is the same as that in step 1. Thereafter, the same operations as in Steps 1 to 6 are repeated for the three heating and pressurizing chambers.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the wafer bonding apparatus in the heating and pressurizing chamber.

  In step S1010 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus receives a wafer before bonding processing from the load lock apparatus (L / L). In this step, the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1. Heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1 2 and heating and pressurizing chamber no. This corresponds to step 1 of 3. This step corresponds to steps 1, 7, 12, and 17 of the load lock device 101.

  In step S1020 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus heats the received wafer to a predetermined temperature. In this step, the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1. Heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1 2 and heating and pressurizing chamber no. This corresponds to steps 2 to 6 in FIG.

  In step S1030 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus pressurizes the wafer and holds it in a heated and pressurized state. In this step, the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1. Heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1 2 and heating and pressurizing chamber no. This corresponds to steps 7 to 11 in FIG.

  In step S1040 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus stops pressurizing the wafer.

  In step S1050 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus cools the wafer. In this step, the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1. Heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1 2 and heating and pressurizing chamber no. This corresponds to steps 12 to 16 in FIG.

  In step S <b> 1060 of FIG. 10, the wafer bonding apparatus transfers the bonded wafer to the load lock apparatus 101. In this step, the heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1. Heating and pressurizing chamber No. 1 2 and heating and pressurizing chamber no. This corresponds to step 1 of 3. This step corresponds to steps 4 and 5, 9 and 10 and 14 and 15 of the load lock device 101.

  According to the present embodiment, one load lock device can cause the three wafer bonding apparatuses to efficiently perform the bonding process. Further, by heating the wafer before the bonding process and cooling the bonded wafer in the load lock apparatus, the heating / cooling time of the wafer bonding apparatus can be shortened and the throughput can be improved.

It is a top view which shows the structure of the whole load lock apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view showing the composition of the whole load lock device by one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the load lock apparatus by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state of a load lock apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state of a load lock apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state of a load lock apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state of a load lock apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in the process 1 of a load lock apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in process 4 and 5 of a load lock apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a wafer bonding apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Load lock apparatus, 103 ... 1st storage chamber, 105 ... 2nd storage chamber, 107 ... Drive apparatus

Claims (9)

  A load lock device that receives a wafer that has been bonded from a plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses in a vacuum state, and that supplies the wafer before bonding processing to the plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses, wherein the plurality of wafers are mounted on at least some of the side surfaces. A wafer bonding apparatus and a gate with an atmospheric atmosphere, the load lock apparatus includes at least a pair of storage chambers, and one of the pair of storage chambers is a wafer before bonding processing supplied to a predetermined wafer bonding apparatus. The other stores the wafers that have been subjected to bonding processing received from the predetermined wafer bonding apparatus, the pair of storage chambers are arranged vertically, and the one and the other storage chambers are vertically Move to the gate position in the direction so that the wafer can be transferred in the horizontal direction through the gate between the predetermined wafer bonding apparatus or the air atmosphere. Load lock device, characterized in that it made the.   The outer shape is a rectangular parallelepiped, the gate to three wafer bonding apparatuses is arranged on three side surfaces of the rectangular parallelepiped, and the gate to the air atmosphere is arranged on the other side surface. Load lock device.   The load lock device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the pair of storage chambers includes a device for cooling the bonded wafer.   4. The load lock device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the pair of storage chambers includes a device for heating the wafer before the bonding process. 5. A method for supplying a wafer to a wafer bonding apparatus by the load lock device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Receiving a wafer through a gate with an atmospheric atmosphere and storing the wafer in one of the pair of storage chambers;
Supplying the wafer in any one of the storage chambers to the predetermined wafer bonding apparatus through a gate.   6. The method of supplying a wafer to a wafer bonding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the wafer is heated in any one of the storage chambers. A method for taking out a wafer from a wafer bonding apparatus by the load lock device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Receiving a bonded wafer from the predetermined wafer bonding apparatus through a gate and storing the wafer in one of the pair of storage chambers;
And taking out the wafer in any one of the storage chambers through a gate with the air atmosphere.   The method of taking out a wafer from a wafer bonding apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the wafer is cooled in any of the storage chambers. The load lock device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A wafer bonding system comprising the plurality of wafer bonding apparatuses.

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