Wafer transfer method for a lithographic apparatus and lithographic apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a photolithography equipment wafer transmission control method and a photolithography equipment. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring different working positions in the photolithography equipment, determining transmission relationships between the working positions, and setting gesture actions corresponding to working actions of the working positions; when a wafer is placed in the photolithography equipment, detecting contact between a user and the photolithography equipment, determining the working action corresponding to the corresponding gesture action if the contact corresponds to the gesture action; determining at least two transmission paths for executing the corresponding working action according to the transmission relationships, and selecting an optimal transmission path from the transmission paths according to a pre-set transmission strategy and executing the optimal transmission path. Through the application, the instruction input of the user to the photolithography equipment is simplified, and the wafer transmission control with the shortest time is realized, so as to further ensure the production capacity of the photolithography equipment.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of system control, and particularly relates to a wafer transmission control method of a photolithography equipment and the photolithography equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing process, productivity is one of the core standards for evaluating the performance of a photolithography equipment, and wafer transmission control in the photolithography equipment is an important factor affecting the productivity. The wafer transmission control refers to the transmission and control of wafers between different workstations in the photolithography equipment. Therefore, how to shorten the wafer transmission control time and accelerate the wafer circulation speed is one of the necessary conditions for realizing the productivity improvement.

[0003] In the prior art, the wafer transmission control process includes the following steps: firstly, a mechanical arm takes the wafer out of a wafer box and places it in a pre-alignment position; then, the pre-aligned wafer is placed on a worktable for exposure; finally, the exposed wafer is placed in the wafer box, thereby completing the entire wafer transmission control process in the photolithography equipment. In the entire wafer transmission control process, the wafers are transmitted in sequence according to the predetermined transmission control sequence at different workstations in the photolithography equipment, that is, the transmission control sequence of the wafers at the workstations is fixed. If a fault occurs at a certain workstation in the transmission control process or the wafer itself has a problem, etc., the wafer needs to be recalled, etc. (that is, the wafer needs to be placed in the wafer box), and then a staff member needs to manually input an instruction to stop the transmission of the wafer and take back the wafer, thereby causing the problem of inconvenient operation. Meanwhile, in the wafer recall process, the wafers are transmitted according to the predetermined transmission control sequence. If the next workstation according to the transmission control sequence stores the remaining wafers, the wafer needs to be transmitted to the next workstation after the remaining wafers are transmitted, thereby causing unnecessary waiting time. For example, if the wafer stored on the worktable needs to be recalled, the mechanical arm needs to transmit the wafer stored on the worktable to the wafer box according to the predetermined transmission control sequence. If the mechanical arm stores the remaining wafers at this time, the mechanical arm needs to wait until the remaining wafers are transmitted, and then the mechanical arm can transmit the wafer stored on the worktable to the wafer box, thereby causing unnecessary waiting time and leading to the problem of long wafer transmission control time, which affects the productivity of the photolithography equipment.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the wafer transmission control method of the photolithography equipment in the prior art to solve the above problems. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application aims to solve the problem of inconvenient operation caused by the staff member manually inputting an instruction to perform the corresponding operation (for example, wafer recall operation) in the prior art, and also solve the problem of unnecessary waiting time caused by taking back the wafer according to the predetermined transmission control sequence and the next workstation storing the remaining wafers, and the problem of long wafer transmission control time caused by the above problems.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present application provides a wafer transfer control method for a lithography device, comprising:

[0007] acquiring different working positions in the lithography device, determining the transfer relationship between the working positions, and setting gesture actions corresponding to working actions of the working positions;

[0008] detecting the contact between the user and the lithography device when the wafer is placed in the lithography device, determining the working action corresponding to the corresponding gesture action if the contact corresponds to the gesture action;

[0009] determining at least two transfer paths for executing the corresponding working action according to the transfer relationship, selecting the optimal transfer path from the transfer paths according to the pre-set transfer strategy and executing.

[0010] As a further improvement of the present application, the different working positions in the lithography device include a wafer box, a mechanical arm, a pre-alignment position and a workbench;

[0011] The wafer box is used to place the wafer, the mechanical arm is used for the transfer of the wafer between the wafer box, the pre-alignment position and the workbench, the pre-alignment position is used for pre-alignment of the wafer, and the workbench is used for exposure of the wafer.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present application, the working action of the working position includes a wafer loading action and a wafer unloading action, and the gesture action includes a wafer loading gesture and a wafer unloading gesture.

[0013] Wherein, the gesture action is realized by voice control or mechanical learning.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present application, the gesture actions corresponding to different working positions are consistent or inconsistent.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present application, the transfer relationship includes the mutual transfer between the working position and the adjacent working position in the lithography device.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present application, the pre-set transfer strategy is determined according to the working time and the working state corresponding to different working positions in the lithography device, and the time consumption corresponding to the transfer path is calculated according to the working time and the working state, and the transfer path with the shortest time consumption is selected as the optimal transfer path.

[0017] As a further improvement of the present application, the mechanical arm includes a first mechanical arm and a second mechanical arm.

[0018] The first mechanical arm is used for the transfer of the wafer between the wafer box and the pre-alignment position and between the wafer box and the workbench, and the second mechanical arm is used for the transfer of the wafer between the pre-alignment position and the workbench.

[0019] As a further improvement of the present application, when the wafer is placed on the second mechanical arm, if the gesture action corresponding to the contact between the user and the lithography equipment is the wafer unloading action of the first mechanical arm, at least two transmission paths for executing the wafer unloading action of the first mechanical arm are determined, the transmission path with the shortest time consumption among the transmission paths is selected as the optimal transmission path according to the transmission strategy, and the wafer unloading action of the first mechanical arm is executed based on the optimal transmission path.

[0020] As a further improvement of the present application, the wafer cassette comprises a first wafer cassette and a second wafer cassette.

[0021] The first wafer cassette is used to place the wafer that is not pre-aligned and / or not exposed, and the second wafer cassette is used to place the wafer that is pre-aligned and exposed.

[0022] Based on the same inventive idea, the present application also discloses a lithography equipment,

[0023] The wafer is transferred using the lithography equipment wafer transfer method according to any one of the above.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0025] Different working positions in the lithography equipment are obtained, the transmission relationship between the working positions is determined, and the gesture actions corresponding to the working actions of the working positions are set, so that the corresponding working actions are executed based on the gesture actions subsequently, thereby simplifying the instruction input of the user to the lithography equipment, and solving the operation inconvenience problem that the user (for example, the worker) manually inputs the instruction to execute the corresponding operation (for example, wafer recall operation) in the prior art; when the wafer is placed on the lithography equipment, the contact between the user and the lithography equipment is detected, if the contact corresponds to the gesture action, the working action corresponding to the corresponding gesture action is determined, at least two transmission paths for executing the corresponding working action are determined according to the transmission relationship, and the optimal transmission path is selected from the transmission paths according to the pre-set transmission strategy and executed, so that the transmission path with the shortest time consumption is selected as the optimal transmission path, thereby shortening the wafer transfer time, and further solving the unnecessary waiting time problem that the next working position stores the remaining wafers due to the wafer retrieval according to the established transfer sequence in the prior art, and the long transfer time problem caused thereby. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 A step schematic diagram of a lithography equipment wafer transfer method shown in the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 A top view of the lithography equipment;

[0028] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of two transmission paths in an embodiment. Detailed implementation manners

[0029] The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that these embodiments are not limitations on the present invention, and any equivalent transformation or substitution in terms of function, method, or structure made by those of ordinary skill in the art based on these embodiments shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0030] Refer Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the present invention shows a specific implementation manner of a wafer transfer control method for a lithography apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "the method"). This method is applied to transfer and control wafers in a lithography apparatus (i.e., a lithography machine). Specifically, different working positions in the lithography apparatus are obtained, the transfer relationship between the working positions is determined, and gesture actions corresponding to the operation actions of the working positions are set, so as to perform corresponding operation actions based on the gesture actions subsequently, thereby simplifying the instruction input of the user to the lithography apparatus and solving the problem of inconvenient operation existing in the prior art where the user (e.g., a staff member) manually inputs instructions to perform corresponding operations (such as wafer recall operations). When a wafer is placed in the lithography apparatus, the contact between the user and the lithography apparatus is detected. If the contact corresponds to a gesture action, the operation action corresponding to the corresponding gesture action is determined, at least two transfer paths for performing the corresponding operation action are determined according to the transfer relationship, and the optimal transfer path is selected from the transfer paths according to a pre-set transfer strategy and executed, so as to select the transfer path with the shortest time consumption as the optimal transfer path, thereby shortening the transfer control time of the wafer, and further solving the problem of unnecessary waiting time existing in the prior art due to retrieving the wafer according to a fixed transfer control sequence while there are other wafers stored in the next working position, and the resulting long transfer control time caused thereby.

[0031] Refer Figure 1 As shown, a wafer transfer control method for a lithography apparatus includes the following steps S1 to S3.

[0032] Step S1: Obtain different working positions in the lithography apparatus, determine the transfer relationship between the working positions, and set gesture actions corresponding to the operation actions of the working positions respectively.

[0033] Exemplarily, refer Figure 2 As shown, the lithography apparatus 100 includes: a cassette 10, a robotic arm (i.e., including a first robotic arm 20 and a second robotic arm 40), a pre-alignment position 30, and a workbench 50. Among them, the cassette 10 is used to store wafers (i.e., including un-pre-aligned and / or un-exposed wafers, as well as pre-aligned and exposed wafers), the robotic arm is used for transferring wafers between the cassette 10, the pre-alignment position 30, and the workbench 50, the pre-alignment position 30 is used to pre-align the wafers, and the workbench 50 is used to expose the wafers.

[0034] The mechanical arm comprises a first mechanical arm 20 and a second mechanical arm 40, the first mechanical arm 20 is used for transferring wafers between a wafer box 10 and a pre-alignment position 30 and between the wafer box 50 and a workbench 50, and the second mechanical arm 40 is used for transferring wafers between the pre-alignment position 30 and the workbench 50. The wafer box 10 comprises a first wafer box 101 and a second wafer box 102, the first wafer box 101 is used for placing wafers that are not pre-aligned and / or not exposed, and the second wafer box 102 is used for placing wafers that are pre-aligned and exposed. The workbench 50 comprises a wafer placing position 501, a body 502 and a wafer taking position 503, the wafer placing position 501 is used for placing wafers that are pre-aligned, the body 502 is used for exposing wafers that are pre-aligned, and the wafer taking position 503 is used for placing wafers that are exposed.

[0035] The first wafer box 101 and the second wafer box 102 are symmetrically arranged on one side of the first mechanical arm 20, and the workbench 50 is arranged on the other side of the first mechanical arm 20 relative to the wafer box 10, so that the first mechanical arm 20 can take wafers from the wafer box 10 and place the wafers on the pre-alignment position 30, and the second mechanical arm 40 can take wafers from the pre-alignment position 30 and place the wafers on the workbench 50. Figure 2 As shown in the view angle, the pre-alignment position 30 and the second mechanical arm 40 are arranged in sequence below the first mechanical arm 20, and the wafer placing position 501 and the wafer taking position 503 of the workbench 50 are arranged on the side close to the second mechanical arm 40 and the side close to the first mechanical arm 20, respectively. The first mechanical arm 20 takes wafers from the wafer box 10 and places the wafers on the pre-alignment position 30, after the pre-alignment is completed, the second mechanical arm 40 places the wafers that are pre-aligned on the workbench 50 for exposure, after the exposure is completed, the first mechanical arm 20 places the wafers that are exposed on the wafer box 10.

[0036] It should be noted that, Figure 2The lithographic apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is exemplarily illustrated by taking the cassette 10 including the first cassette 101 and the second cassette 102 as an example. In an embodiment, fewer cassettes can be configured, and for example, only one cassette is configured, and the un-prealigned and / or un-exposed wafers and the prealigned and exposed wafers are placed in the one cassette at the same time. In practical applications, in order to facilitate the differentiation of the wafers, a preset number of positions from top to bottom of the cassette can be set for placing the un-prealigned and / or un-exposed wafers, and a preset number of positions from bottom to top of the cassette can be set for placing the prealigned and exposed wafers; or, a preset number of positions from bottom to top of the cassette can be set for placing the un-prealigned and / or un-exposed wafers, and a preset number of positions from top to bottom of the cassette can be set for placing the prealigned and exposed wafers; or, when the wafer is gripped by the mechanical arm, the wafer is detected to determine whether the wafer is the un-prealigned and / or un-exposed wafer or the prealigned and exposed wafer, and adaptive adjustment can be made according to specific conditions, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment. In another embodiment, more cassettes can be configured, and independent cassettes are respectively used for storing the un-prealigned and / or un-exposed wafers and the prealigned and exposed wafers, so as to ensure the independent storage of the wafers, and at the same time, the wafers can be respectively stored according to the size of the wafers, different wafers do not interfere with each other, and thus the error condition of the mechanical arm during gripping can be effectively prevented.

[0037] Similarly, the aforementioned mechanical arm including the first mechanical arm 20 and the second mechanical arm 40 is exemplarily illustrated as an example. In an embodiment, fewer mechanical arms can be configured, and for example, only one mechanical arm is configured, and the wafer is transferred between the cassette 10, the prealignment position 30 and the workbench 50 by the one mechanical arm. In another embodiment, more mechanical arms can be configured, and for example, three mechanical arms are configured, and the wafer is transferred between the cassette 10 and the prealignment position 30, the wafer is transferred between the cassette 10 and the workbench 50, and the prealignment position 30 and the workbench 50 are transferred by the three mechanical arms, respectively, and the three mechanical arms do not interfere with each other. In practical applications, one mechanical arm needs to realize the transfer of the wafer between three work positions, and there is a problem of low efficiency, and three mechanical arms respectively realize the transfer of the wafer between three work positions, and there is a problem of excessive accessories, so in the present application, the consideration of both efficiency and energy saving is focused on, and preferably, two mechanical arms are configured. Figure 2The two mechanical arms (i.e., the first mechanical arm 20 and the second mechanical arm 40) are shown, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Meanwhile, in the following description, if not specifically limited, the mechanical arms refer to the first mechanical arm 20 and the second mechanical arm 40 in general, and the cassettes 10 refer to the first cassette 101 and the second cassette 102 in general, and the first cassette 101 is used to place the wafers that are not pre-aligned and / or not exposed, the second cassette 102 is used to place the wafers that are pre-aligned and exposed, the first mechanical arm 20 is used to transfer the wafers between the cassettes 10 and the pre-alignment position 30 and between the cassettes 50 and the workbench 50, and the second mechanical arm 40 is used to transfer the wafers between the pre-alignment position 30 and the workbench 50 are taken as examples for description.

[0038] Specifically, different work positions in the photolithography equipment 100 include the cassettes 10 (i.e., including the first cassette 101 and the second cassette 102), the mechanical arms (i.e., including the first mechanical arm 20 and the second mechanical arm 40), the pre-alignment position 30, and the workbench 50 (i.e., including the upper cassette position 501, the body 502, and the lower cassette position 503). The wafers need to be pre-aligned and then exposed in the photolithography equipment 100, so it can be known that the wafers that are not exposed must be not pre-aligned, and the wafers that are exposed must be pre-aligned and exposed. In an embodiment, the whole photolithography process of the wafers in the photolithography equipment 100 includes that the wafers that are not pre-aligned and not exposed are placed in the first cassette 101, the first mechanical arm 20 takes out the wafers that are not pre-aligned and not exposed from the first cassette 101, and places the wafers in the pre-alignment position 30 to be pre-aligned, after the pre-alignment is completed, the second mechanical arm 40 takes out the wafers that are pre-aligned from the pre-alignment position 30, and places the wafers that are pre-aligned in the upper cassette position 501, places the wafers that are placed in the upper cassette position 501 in the body 502 to be exposed, after the exposure is completed, places the wafers that are exposed in the lower cassette position 503, and the first mechanical arm 20 takes out the wafers that are pre-aligned and exposed from the lower cassette position 503 and places the wafers in the second cassette 102. The work positions are logically sequenced according to the photolithography process, that is, the first cassette 101, the first mechanical arm 20, the pre-alignment position 30, the second mechanical arm 40, the upper cassette position 501, the body 502, the lower cassette position 503, the first mechanical arm 20, and the second cassette 102, so as to determine the transmission relationship between different work positions. The transmission relationship includes the mutual transmission between the work positions in the photolithography equipment 100 and the adjacent work positions. Taking the pre-alignment position 30 as an example, the work positions adjacent to the pre-alignment position 30 are the first mechanical arm 20 and the second mechanical arm 40, that is, the transmission relationship of the pre-alignment position 30 includes the mutual transmission between the pre-alignment position 30 and the first mechanical arm 20 and the mutual transmission between the pre-alignment position 30 and the second mechanical arm 40, and the like.

[0039] Meanwhile, the gesture actions corresponding to the operation actions of the workstations are set respectively, the operation actions of the workstations include: wafer-up action and wafer-down action, and the gesture actions corresponding to the wafer-up action and wafer-down action include: wafer-up gesture and wafer-down gesture; wherein, the gesture actions are realized by voice control or mechanical learning. For example, taking voice control as an example, in an embodiment, the voice corresponding to the wafer-up action of the pre-alignment workstation 30 is set as "wafer-up", and the voice corresponding to the wafer-down action of the pre-alignment workstation 30 is set as "wafer-down", when the user inputs "wafer-up" by voice, the pre-alignment workstation 30 performs wafer-up action, and when the user inputs "wafer-down" by voice, the pre-alignment workstation 30 performs wafer-down action, thereby simplifying the instruction input of the user to the lithography equipment, and solving the problem of inconvenient operation in the prior art that the user (for example, the operator) manually inputs instructions to perform corresponding operations (for example, wafer recall operation and the like).

[0040] It should be noted that, in the present application, the gesture actions corresponding to different workstations can be set to be consistent or inconsistent. In an embodiment, the gesture actions corresponding to different workstations are set to be consistent, and taking the wafer-up action of different workstations as an example, when the user inputs "wafer-up" by voice, the lithography equipment 100 detects the workstations where the wafers inside are located, and according to the lithography process, the wafers are transmitted to the next workstation of the workstations where the wafers are located. If the workstations where the wafers are located are the pre-alignment workstation 30, when the lithography equipment 100 receives the "wafer-up" controlled by the user's voice, the wafers stored in the pre-alignment workstation 30 are transmitted to the second mechanical arm 40 to complete the wafer-up action.

[0041] In another embodiment, the gesture actions corresponding to different workstations are set to be inconsistent, the instruction input to the lithography equipment 100 can be realized by different gesture actions, and at the same time, a plurality of workstations can be crossed at one time, and taking the voice corresponding to the wafer-up action of the pre-alignment workstation 30 as an example, when the user inputs "wafer-up" by voice, the lithography equipment 100 detects the workstations where the wafers inside are located, and according to the lithography process, the wafers are transmitted from the workstations where the wafers are located to the workstations corresponding to the gesture actions in sequence. If the workstations where the wafers inside are located are the first wafer box 101, according to the lithography process, the wafers are transmitted from the first wafer box 101 to the pre-alignment workstation 30, that is, the wafers are first transmitted to the first mechanical arm 20, and then the first mechanical arm 20 is transmitted to the pre-alignment workstation, thereby realizing the crossing of a plurality of workstations at one time, and simplifying the instruction input of the user to the lithography equipment.

[0042] Step S2, when the wafer is placed in the lithography equipment, the contact between the user and the lithography equipment is detected, if the contact corresponds to the gesture action, the operation action corresponding to the gesture action is determined.

[0043] Specifically, when the wafer is placed in the lithography device 100, the contact between the user and the lithography device 100 is monitored in real time, and the so-called "contact" includes the aforementioned voice control (i.e., can be understood as voice contact) and mechanical learning (i.e., can be understood as mechanical contact). If the contact corresponds to the aforementioned gesture action, the corresponding operation action is determined. Taking the voice setting of "loading" corresponding to the loading action of the pre-alignment position 30 as an example, if the contact corresponds to "loading", the corresponding gesture action is determined as the loading action of the pre-alignment position 30, and the subsequent loading action of the pre-alignment position 30 is performed.

[0044] Step S3: determining at least two transmission paths for performing the corresponding operation action according to the transmission relationship, selecting the optimal transmission path from the transmission paths according to the pre-set transmission strategy and performing.

[0045] Specifically, the work positions are logically sorted according to the lithography process in the aforementioned step S1, i.e., the first cassette 101, the first mechanical arm 20, the pre-alignment position 30, the second mechanical arm 40, the loading position 501, the body 502, the unloading position 503, the first mechanical arm 20, and the second cassette 102. The corresponding operation action corresponding to the gesture action is determined, and at least two transmission paths for performing the corresponding operation action are determined according to the transmission relationship (i.e., the transmission path for transmitting the wafer from the current work position to the work position corresponding to the operation action), and the optimal transmission path is selected from the multiple transmission paths according to the pre-set transmission strategy and performed. In one embodiment, the pre-set transmission strategy is determined according to the operation time and operation state of the different work positions of the lithography device 100, and the time consumption corresponding to the transmission path is calculated according to the operation and operation state, and the transmission path with the shortest time consumption is selected as the optimal transmission path; wherein the operation state refers to whether the current work position stores the wafer, if yes, the operation state is busy, if not, the operation state is idle; the operation time refers to the time corresponding to the operation of the current work position, the mechanical arm is used for the transmission of the wafer between the cassette 10, the pre-alignment position 30 and the workbench 50, and the operation time of the mechanical arm is the time required for transmission; the pre-alignment position 30 is used for pre-alignment of the wafer, and the operation time of the pre-alignment position 30 is the time required for pre-alignment; the workbench 50 is used for exposure of the wafer, and the operation time of the workbench 50 is the time required for exposure. For example, when the wafer is placed in the second mechanical arm 40, if the gesture action corresponding to the contact between the user and the lithography device is the unloading action of the first mechanical arm 20, at least two transmission paths for performing the unloading action of the first mechanical arm 20 are determined, the transmission path with the shortest time consumption is selected as the optimal transmission path according to the transmission strategy, and the unloading action of the first mechanical arm 20 is performed based on the optimal transmission path.

[0046] Referring to Figure 2 WithFigure 3 As shown, if the corresponding operation action of the corresponding gesture action in step S2 is the wafer unloading action of the first robot arm 20, and at this time the wafer in the lithography equipment 100 is at the second robot arm 40, it can be known from the foregoing sequence that at least two transmission paths of the wafer from the second robot arm 40 to the first robot arm 20, i.e., transmission path 1 of the wafer from the second robot arm 40, the pre-alignment position 30 and the first robot arm 20 in turn, and transmission path 2 of the wafer from the second robot arm 40, the worktable 50 and the first robot arm 20 in turn. The operation time and operation state of the first robot arm 20, the pre-alignment position 30, the second robot arm 40 and the worktable 50 are determined respectively. If the transmission time corresponding to the transmission of the wafer from the second robot arm 40 to the worktable 50 is t1 (i.e., the operation time of the second robot arm 40 between the second robot arm 40 and the worktable 50), the operation time of the worktable 50 is t2, the transmission time corresponding to the transmission of the wafer from the worktable 50 to the first robot arm 20 is t3 (i.e., the operation time of the first robot arm 20 between the first robot arm 20 and the worktable 50), the transmission time corresponding to the transmission of the wafer from the second robot arm 40 to the pre-alignment position 30 is t4 (i.e., the operation time of the second robot arm 40 between the second robot arm 40 and the pre-alignment position 30), and the transmission time corresponding to the transmission of the wafer from the pre-alignment position 30 to the first robot arm 20 is t5 (i.e., the operation time of the first robot arm 20 between the first robot arm 20 and the pre-alignment position 30). If the worktable 50 stores the remaining wafers and the pre-alignment position 40 does not store the wafer, the time consumption of the transmission path 1 is t1+t2+t3, the time consumption of the transmission path 2 is t4+t5, and t1+t2+t3>t4+t5, i.e., the time consumption of the transmission path 1 is greater than that of the transmission path 2, and then the transmission path with the shortest time consumption (i.e., the transmission path 2) is determined as the optimal transmission path, and the wafer unloading action of the first robot arm 20 is performed based on the transmission path 2. By selecting the optimal transmission path based on the time consumption of different transmission paths, the wafer transmission control time is shortened, the unnecessary waiting time caused by retrieving the wafer according to the established transmission control sequence and the remaining wafers stored in the next work position is solved, and the problem of long transmission control time caused thereby is solved, the wafer transmission control with the shortest time consumption is realized, and the production capacity of the lithography equipment 100 is further ensured.

[0047] In combination Figure 2 As shown, based on the same inventive idea, the embodiment also discloses a lithography equipment 100 for wafer transmission control using the above-mentioned wafer transmission control method, which can be specifically referred to the foregoing, and will not be described here.

[0048] The above detailed description merely illustrates feasible implementation manners of the present application, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Equivalent implementation manners or changes made without departing from the spirit of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

[0049] It is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present application. Therefore, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting, the scope of the present application is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description, and all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are intended to be included in the present application. Any reference signs in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the claims involved.

[0050] In addition, it should be understood that although the present specification is described in terms of embodiments, not every embodiment contains only one independent technical solution, and the description manner of the specification is only for the sake of clarity, those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be properly combined to form other embodiments which can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A wafer transfer control method for a photolithography equipment, characterized in that, include: Acquire different work positions within the lithography equipment, determine the transmission relationship between work positions, and set the corresponding gesture actions for each work position's operation. When the wafer is placed in the photolithography equipment, the contact between the user and the photolithography equipment is detected. If the contact corresponds to a hand gesture, the corresponding operation action is determined. Based on the transmission relationship, at least two transmission paths are determined to execute the corresponding operation. According to the pre-set transmission strategy, the transmission path with the shortest time is selected as the optimal transmission path and executed. The lithography equipment includes different working positions: a wafer cassette, a robotic arm, a pre-alignment position, and a worktable. The transmission relationship includes mutual transmission between working positions and adjacent working positions. The wafer cassette is used to place wafers. The robotic arm is used for the transmission of wafers between the wafer cassette, the pre-alignment position, and the worktable. The pre-alignment position is used to pre-align the wafers. The worktable is used to expose the wafers. The robotic arm includes a first robotic arm and a second robotic arm. The first robotic arm is used for the transmission of wafers between the wafer cassette and the pre-alignment position, and between the wafer cassette and the worktable. The second robotic arm is used for the transmission of wafers between the pre-alignment position and the worktable.

2. The wafer transfer control method for photolithography equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The work actions at the workstation include loading and unloading actions, and the hand gestures include loading gestures and unloading gestures. The gestures are implemented through voice control or machine learning.

3. The wafer transfer control method for photolithography equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The hand gestures may be the same or different depending on the work position.

4. The wafer transfer control method for photolithography equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The pre-set transmission strategy is determined based on the operation time and operation status corresponding to different work positions in the lithography equipment, and the transmission path is calculated based on the operation time and operation status, and the transmission path with the shortest time is selected as the optimal transmission path.

5. The wafer transfer control method for photolithography equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that, When the wafer is placed on the second robotic arm, if the gesture action corresponding to the contact between the user and the lithography equipment is the wafer unloading action of the first robotic arm, at least two transmission paths for executing the wafer unloading action of the first robotic arm are determined. According to the transmission strategy, the transmission path with the shortest time is selected as the optimal transmission path, and the wafer unloading action of the first robotic arm is executed based on the optimal transmission path.

6. The wafer transfer control method for photolithography equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tablet box includes: a first tablet box and a second tablet box; The first wafer cassette is used to place unaligned and / or unexposed wafers, and the second wafer cassette is used to place pre-aligned and exposed wafers.

7. A photolithography apparatus, characterized in that, The wafer is transferred and controlled using the wafer transfer method of the lithography equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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