Detection Wafer Selection Method and Coater / Developer for Monitoring the Performance of a Processing Unit

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit and a spin coater / developer. The wafer selection for detecting the performance of a processing unit includes: obtaining the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafer to be processed and the quantity of each type of processing unit, and determining a processing combination; determining the quantity of wafers to be tested corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the quantity of the processing combination; sequentially conveying the wafers to be processed into the spin coater / developer batch by batch for processing; obtaining a record form corresponding to each batch of wafers; and determining, according to the record form and the quantity of wafers to be tested corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations from each batch of wafers as the wafers to be tested. It is possible to clearly obtain the processing effect of each processing unit with the least number of wafers being tested, avoid repeated measurement and missed measurement, thereby improving the efficiency of monitoring the processing unit and reducing the adverse impact of the missed-measured processing unit on the product.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of unit performance detection of a spin coater / developer, and particularly relates to a method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit and a spin coater / developer. Background Art

[0002] Since multiple processing units are used in the process of processing wafers by a spin coater / developer, in order to monitor the performance (processing effect) of each processing unit, it is necessary to perform measurements such as critical dimension measurement (CD Check) on the wafers. However, considering factors such as time and cost, only a part of the wafers in each lot can be measured. The prior art usually only measures the wafers in the middle part of the group, or measures the specified wafers according to the set processing steps and measurement table (Step / Recipe), resulting in low monitoring efficiency and being prone to affecting the product.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit and a spin coater / developer that can efficiently monitor the processing unit and reduce the adverse impact on the product. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit, including: obtaining the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafer to be processed and the number of each type of processing unit, and determining a processing combination; determining the number of test wafers corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the number of the processing combinations; sequentially conveying the wafers to be processed into the spin coater / developer batch by batch for processing; obtaining a record table corresponding to each batch of wafers; and determining the corresponding number of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations from each batch of wafers as the test wafers according to the record table and the number of test wafers corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed.

[0005] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a spin coater / developer, including a spin coater / developer controller and a storage module. The spin coater / developer controller uses the above method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit to determine the corresponding number of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations from each batch of wafers as the test wafers.

[0006] The advantages of the present application are as follows: according to the type of processing units and the number of each type of processing units, a processing combination is determined, and then according to the record table and the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, the corresponding number of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations are determined from each batch of wafers as the wafers to be detected, so as to determine the performance of the processing units corresponding to each wafer. It can clearly obtain the processing effect of each processing unit with the least number of wafers being detected, avoid repeated measurement and missed measurement, thereby improving the efficiency of monitoring the processing units and reducing the adverse impact of the missed-measured processing units on the products. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] By reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, various other advantages and benefits will become clear to those of ordinary skill in the art. The drawings are only for the purpose of showing the preferred embodiments and are not considered to be a limitation of the present invention. Moreover, throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to represent the same components. In the drawings:

[0008] Figure 1 A step schematic diagram of a method for selecting test wafers for monitoring the performance of processing units according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, it should be understood that these descriptions are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and technologies are omitted to avoid unnecessarily confusing the concepts of the present disclosure.

[0010] Various structural schematic diagrams according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings. These figures are not drawn to scale, where for the purpose of clear expression, some details are enlarged and some details may be omitted. The shapes of various regions and layers shown in the figures, as well as their relative sizes and positional relationships, are merely exemplary and may actually deviate due to manufacturing tolerances or technical limitations. Those skilled in the art can design regions / layers with different shapes, sizes, and relative positions according to actual needs.

[0011] In the context of the present disclosure, when a layer / component is referred to as being "on" another layer / component, the layer / component can be directly on the other layer / component, or there can be an intermediate layer / component between them. Additionally, if a layer / component is "on" another layer / component in one orientation, then when the orientation is reversed, the layer / component can be "under" the other layer / component.

[0012] The spin coater and developer, comprising: a spin coater and developer controller (Track Controller) storage module and multiple types of processing units. The spin coater and developer controller determines the wafers to be detected using a detection wafer selection method for monitoring the performance of the processing units. First, the spin coater and developer controller obtains the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafers to be processed and the quantity of each type of processing unit, and determines the processing combinations. After that, the spin coater and developer controller determines the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the quantity of the processing combinations. The wafers to be processed are sequentially transported into the spin coater and developer for processing in batches. After all the wafers in each batch of wafers are sent into the corresponding processing modules, the spin coater and developer can obtain, through the spin coater and developer controller, the record table corresponding to the batch that has been processed currently, and store the record table in the storage module. After all the wafers in the next batch of wafers are sent into the corresponding processing modules, the spin coater and developer controller updates the record table and adds, in the storage module, the record table corresponding to the current batch of wafers. The record table includes the records of the processing units that each wafer has passed through. Through different types of processing units, the spin coater and developer can perform processes such as coating (Coater), developing (Developer), baking (Bake), and wafer edge exposure (Wafer Edge Exposure, WEE) on the wafers. After obtaining the record table of the batch of wafers being processed, the spin coater and developer controller determines, from each batch of wafers, the corresponding quantity of the wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected according to the record table in the storage module and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed. By measuring the critical dimensions of the wafers to be measured that have been processed by different types of processing units, the performance of the processing unit corresponding to each wafer to be measured can be determined. The storage module includes: a hard disk, a memory card, and / or a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), etc.

[0013] Figure 1 The method for detecting the unit performance of the spin coater and developer is shown. The exemplary method starts at operation 101, obtaining the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafers to be processed and the quantity of each type of processing unit, and determining the processing combinations. First, the type of processing unit for processing the wafers to be processed is determined. The type of processing unit is classified according to the specific functions performed, including: a coating unit, a developing unit, a baking unit, a wafer edge exposure unit, etc. Second, the quantity of the processing units used for processing the wafers to be processed in each type of processing unit is determined; according to the type of processing unit and the quantity of each type of processing unit used for processing the wafers to be processed, multiple processing combinations are determined. That is, assuming that only 2 coating-type processing units and 3 developing-type processing units are used to process the wafers to be processed, the quantity of the processing combinations is 2 × 3 = 6 processing combinations.

[0014] Continue with operation 102. Determine the number of wafers to be inspected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the number of processing combinations. Before performing operation 102, it is necessary to first confirm whether there is a preset quantity. If there is a preset quantity and the preset quantity is greater than the number of processing combinations, then use the preset quantity as the total number of wafers to be measured. If the preset quantity is less than the number of processing combinations, then use the preset quantity as the total number of wafers to be measured.

[0015] Continue with operation 103. Convey the wafers to be processed into the spin coater / developer in batches for processing. Continue with operation 104. Obtain the record sheet corresponding to each batch of wafers through the spin coater / developer controller in the spin coater / developer. The record sheet includes: the number of each wafer in each batch of wafers and the number of each type of processing unit for processing each wafer to be processed, where the number of each type of processing unit corresponds to the change of each wafer. The record sheet may also include the specific processing processes of each spin coater / developer, such as spin coating, developing, baking, and wafer edge exposure. When a batch of wafers is processed through the processing units in the spin coater / developer, a record sheet is obtained. After the second batch of wafers is processed through the processing units in the spin coater / developer, update the record sheet to add the labels of the second batch of wafers and the numbers of the processing units corresponding to each wafer label.

[0016] Continue with operation 105. According to the record table and the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, determine the corresponding number of wafers with different processing combinations from each batch of wafers as the wafers to be detected. If there is no preset quantity, then use the number of processing combinations as the total quantity of wafers to be measured; according to the total number of batches and the total quantity of wafers to be processed, determine the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed. Specifically, if there is no preset quantity, or the preset quantity is equal to the number of processing combinations, then according to the record table and the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, sequentially determine the corresponding number of wafers with different processing combinations from each batch as the wafers to be detected, where the processing combinations used for the wafers to be detected in each batch are unique. Assume there is no preset quantity, and the total number of batches of wafers to be processed is 3 batches. According to the 6 processing combinations calculated previously, it can be determined that 2 wafers are selected from each batch as the wafers to be detected for inspection. In each batch, the two wafers serving as the wafers to be detected have different processing combinations, and the wafers to be detected in the current batch must have different processing combinations from those of the wafers to be detected in the previous batch. That is, assume the 2 coating processing units are C1 and C2, and the 3 developing processing units are D1, D2, and D3. Then the 6 processing combinations include C1D1, C1D2, C1D3, C2D1, C2D2, and C2D3. Assume the two wafers to be detected in the first batch have passed through the C1D2 processing combination and the C2D3 processing combination respectively. Then the two wafers serving as the wafers to be detected in the second batch cannot pass through the C1D2 processing combination and the C2D3 processing combination. Assume the two wafers to be detected in the second batch have passed through the C1D1 processing combination and the C2D2 processing combination respectively. Then the two wafers serving as the wafers to be detected in the third batch cannot pass through the C1D2 processing combination, the C2D3 processing combination, the C1D1 processing combination, and the C2D2 processing combination. Then the two wafers to be detected in the third batch can only pass through the C1D3 processing combination and the C2D1 processing combination respectively. If the preset quantity is greater than the number of processing combinations, then according to the record table and the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, sequentially determine the corresponding number of wafers with different processing combinations from each batch as the wafers to be detected, where the processing combinations used for the wafers to be detected in each batch are not unique, and the processing combinations used for each wafer to be detected include all processing combinations. That is, assume the preset quantity is 7, which is greater than the 6 processing combinations. Then 3 wafers can be selected from the third batch as the wafers to be detected, and one of them can have the same processing combination as that of the wafers to be detected in the current batch or the previous batch.

[0017] After operation 105, it further includes: measuring the critical dimensions of the wafers to be detected to determine the performance of the processing units corresponding to the wafers to be detected.

[0018] Embodiments of the present application also include a repeated measurement mode, which is carried out by resetting. The repeated measurement mode will be further described below. Taking a wafer group of 25 wafers as an example, as shown in Table 1, it is assumed that the wafer group needs to be processed using 2 coating units and 3 developing units in a coating and developing machine. The 2 coating units (processing units) are the first coating unit C1 and the second coating unit C2 respectively. The 3 developing units (processing units) are the first developing unit D1, the second developing unit D2, and the third developing unit D3 respectively. The record table obtained after processing the wafers in this wafer group is shown in Table 1.

[0019] Table 1

[0020]

[0021]

[0022] As shown in Table 1, there are 6 processing combinations. If all measurements are to be carried out within 1 batch of wafers, 6 wafers need to be selected as the wafers to be measured. For wafers numbered 1 - 12, only 6 wafers corresponding to numbers 1 - 3 and numbers 7 - 9 need to be measured as the wafers to be detected, or 6 wafers corresponding to numbers 4 - 6 and numbers 10 - 12 need to be measured as the wafers to be detected. If 1 repeated measurement is required, a reset needs to be set at number 13, so that among the wafers numbered 13 - 24, 6 wafers are selected again as the wafers to be detected for repeated measurement. The reset is set as a manually set part. When repeated measurement needs to be carried out on the processing units that have been determined for measurement, according to the record table, a reset is set next to the corresponding wafer number.

[0023] The method in the embodiment of the present application can determine the performance of the processing unit corresponding to each wafer through a record table, and can clearly determine the processing unit corresponding to each wafer; according to the type of the processing unit and the number of each type of processing unit, determine the processing combination, and can determine the minimum number of wafers to be detected; according to the number of batches, determine the number of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, and determine the wafers with different processing combinations corresponding to the corresponding number from each batch of wafers as the wafers to be detected, and perform critical dimension measurement, so as to determine the performance of the processing unit corresponding to each wafer, and can clearly obtain the processing effect of each processing unit under the condition of detecting the minimum number of wafers, avoid repeated measurement and missed measurement, thereby improving the efficiency of monitoring the processing unit and reducing the adverse impact of the missed-measured processing unit on the product. Since multiple processing units are required to process the same type of wafer in a single spin coater / developer, and although the same batch of wafers use the corresponding processing units in sequence, it is very likely that the processing units used by the wafers will change during processing. Therefore, in order to monitor the performance of the processing units, it is necessary to obtain the record table through the spin coater / developer controller, and perform measurements such as critical dimension measurement on the wafers according to the record table to evaluate whether the performance of the processing units is normal. Usually, the critical dimension of the processed layer after the process is measured. Considering factors such as time and cost in measuring the processed layer, usually only some wafers are measured. In this case, the measurement ratios between the processing units may be different. Through the embodiment of the present application, the measurement ratio difference can be eliminated, the monitoring efficiency of monitoring the performance of various processing units can be improved, and the measuring device can be used efficiently at the same time.

[0024] In the above description, no detailed description is made of the technical details such as the patterning and etching of each layer. However, those skilled in the art should understand that various technical means can be used to form layers, regions, etc. of the required shapes. In addition, in order to form the same structure, those skilled in the art can also design methods that are not exactly the same as the methods described above. In addition, although the above embodiments are described separately, this does not mean that the measures in each embodiment cannot be used advantageously in combination.

[0025] The above describes the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art can make various substitutions and modifications, and these substitutions and modifications should fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a test wafer for monitoring the performance of a processing unit, characterized in that, Including: Obtain the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafer to be processed and the quantity of each type of processing unit, and determine the processing combinations; Determine the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the quantity of the processing combinations; Convey the wafers to be processed into a spin coater / developer in batches for processing in sequence; Obtain the record sheet corresponding to each batch of wafers; Determine, from each batch of wafers, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected according to the record sheet and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed; The determining the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the quantity of the processing combinations includes: Take the quantity of the processing combinations as the total quantity of wafers to be measured; Determine the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the total number of batches of wafers to be processed and the total quantity; Before the determining the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed according to the total number of batches of wafers to be processed and the total quantity, it further includes: If there is a preset quantity, take the preset quantity as the total quantity of wafers to be measured, where the preset quantity is greater than the quantity of the processing combinations; The determining, from each batch of wafers, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected according to the record sheet and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed includes: If the preset quantity does not exist, or the preset quantity is equal to the quantity of the processing combinations, then determine, according to the record sheet and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected from each batch in sequence, where the processing combinations used by the wafers to be detected in each batch are unique; The determining, from each batch of wafers, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected according to the record sheet and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed further includes: If the preset quantity is greater than the quantity of the processing combinations, then determine, according to the record sheet and the quantity of wafers to be detected corresponding to each batch of wafers to be processed, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected from each batch in sequence, where the processing combinations used by the wafers to be detected in each batch are not unique, and the processing combinations used by each wafer to be detected include all the processing combinations.

2. The method for detecting wafer selection for monitoring the performance of a processing unit according to claim 1, wherein After the determining, from each batch of wafers, the corresponding quantity of wafers that have undergone different processing combinations as the wafers to be detected, it further includes: Perform critical dimension measurement on the wafers to be detected to determine the performance of the processing units corresponding to the wafers to be detected.

3. The method for detecting wafer selection for monitoring the performance of a processing unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The obtaining the type of processing unit corresponding to the wafer to be processed and the quantity of each type of processing unit includes: Determine the type of processing unit for processing the wafer to be processed; Determine the quantity of the processing units in each type of processing unit that process the wafer to be processed; Determine a plurality of processing combinations according to the type of processing unit and the quantity of each type of processing unit.

4. The method for detecting wafer selection for monitoring the performance of a processing unit according to claim 3, wherein The types of the processing units include: a coating unit, a developing unit, a baking unit, and a wafer edge exposure unit.

5. The method for detecting wafer selection for monitoring the performance of a processing unit according to claim 1, wherein The record table includes: the numbers of each wafer in each batch of wafers and the numbers of each type of the processing units for processing each of the wafers to be processed.

6. A glue coating and developing machine, characterized in that, It includes a coating and developing machine controller and a storage module. The coating and developing machine controller uses the detected wafer selection method for monitoring the performance of the processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5 to determine a corresponding number of the wafers that have undergone different processing combinations from each batch of wafers as the wafers to be detected.

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