Wafer processing equipment and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides wafer processing equipment and a control method thereof, the wafer processing equipment is used for processing wafers, the wafer processing equipment comprises a first robot and a second robot, the first robot and the second robot are oppositely arranged, and an accommodating space exists between the first robot and the second robot; the hot plate or cold plate module is arranged in the accommodating space; the centering module is arranged in the accommodating space; the wafer box is used for storing wafers, and the wafer box is arranged close to the first robot; the glue uniformizing and developing module is arranged close to the second robot, all the modules are arranged in a centralized mode, the two robots share the process steps, the equipment productivity is improved, the length of the moving path of the first robot and the length of the moving path of the second robot are reduced, and the grabbing efficiency of the first robot and the grabbing efficiency of the second robot are improved; and the occupied area of the wafer processing equipment is reduced, and the equipment layout of a production workshop can be conveniently planned, so that the equipment layout is more reasonable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of wafer processing, and in particular to a wafer processing device and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In the existing semiconductor processing lithography process, the glue coating equipment, lithography equipment and development equipment respectively complete the photoresist coating process, lithography process and development process. With the improvement of semiconductor processing technology, the mainstream market integrates the glue coating and development process on the same equipment. However, in actual use, there is such a problem: the wafer processing equipment only uses one robot, the production capacity bottleneck is on the robot, the production capacity is small, and the floor space is large, resulting in unreasonable space planning of the production workshop. Therefore, it is very necessary to provide a new wafer processing equipment to reduce the floor space of the wafer processing equipment and make the space planning more reasonable. Summary of the invention

[0003] Therefore, the present invention provides a wafer processing equipment to solve the problems of small number of wafers produced per hour, small production capacity and large occupied area of ​​the wafer processing equipment.

[0004] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a wafer processing equipment for processing wafers, the wafer processing equipment comprising: a first robot; a second robot, the first robot and the second robot are arranged opposite to each other, and there is a accommodating space between the first robot and the second robot; a hot plate or cold plate module, the hot plate or cold plate module is used to adjust the temperature of the wafer, and the hot plate or cold plate module is arranged in the accommodating space; a centering module, the centering module is arranged in the accommodating space; a wafer box, the wafer box is used to store wafers, and the wafer box is arranged close to the first robot; and a coating and developing module, the coating and developing module is arranged close to the second robot.

[0005] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: the first robot and the second robot are arranged relatively to each other and cooperate with each other to improve the production efficiency of the wafer processing equipment, the hot plate or cold plate module and the centering module are arranged in the accommodating space, the film box is arranged close to the first robot, and the coating and developing module is arranged close to the second robot, which is convenient for the first robot and the second robot to grasp the wafer. At the same time, each module is centrally arranged, and the two robots share the process steps, which not only reduces the length of the moving path of the first robot and the second robot and improves the grasping efficiency of the first robot and the second robot, but also reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment, facilitates the planning of the equipment layout of the production workshop, and makes the equipment layout more reasonable.

[0006] Furthermore, the wafer box is arranged on the peripheral side of the first robot so that the first robot can grab the wafer in the wafer box.

[0007] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: the wafer box is arranged on the peripheral side of the first robot, reducing the footprint of the wafer processing equipment; at the same time, in the process of the first robot grabbing the wafer, the two robots share the process steps, reducing the length of the movement path of the first robot, thereby improving the movement efficiency of the first robot, and then improving the processing efficiency of the wafer processing equipment.

[0008] Furthermore, the coating and developing module is arranged on the peripheral side of the second robot so that the second robot can grab the wafer in the coating and developing module.

[0009] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: the coating and developing module is arranged on the peripheral side of the second robot, which reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment and, at the same time, reduces the length of the movement path of the second robot, thereby improving the movement efficiency of the second robot and further improving the processing efficiency of the wafer processing equipment.

[0010] Furthermore, the hot plate or cold plate module is arranged close to the second robot.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: the hot plate or cold plate module is arranged close to the second robot, thereby reducing the footprint of the wafer processing equipment; at the same time, in the process of the second robot placing the wafer, the length of the motion trajectory of the second robot is reduced, thereby improving the movement efficiency of the second robot.

[0012] Furthermore, the centering module is arranged between the hot plate or cold plate module and the first robot.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: during the wafer processing, the first robot grabs the wafer from the wafer box and places it on the centering module for centering detection. The centering module is arranged close to the first robot, which reduces the length of the motion trajectory of the first robot, improves the movement efficiency of the first robot, and at the same time, reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment.

[0014] Furthermore, the present invention also provides a control method for wafer processing equipment, the control method comprising: controlling a first robot to clamp a wafer to be processed in a wafer box and place it on a centering module; controlling the centering module to center the wafer to be processed to obtain a centered wafer.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: the wafer box is used to store wafers, the first robot clamps the wafer to be processed in the wafer box, places it on the centering module, and detects the offset of the wafer, thereby obtaining a centered wafer, which is convenient for subsequent processing procedures.

[0016] Furthermore, after controlling the centering module to center the wafer to be processed, the control method also includes: controlling the second robot to clamp the centering wafer and place it on the coating and developing module; controlling the coating and developing module to coat or develop the centering wafer to obtain a coating wafer or a developed wafer; wherein, when controlling the coating and developing module to coat the centering wafer with glue, a coating wafer is obtained; when controlling the coating and developing module to develop the centering wafer, a developed wafer is obtained.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: after obtaining the centered wafer, the surface of the wafer needs to be coated with glue or developed, the second robot clamps the centered wafer from the centered module, and places it in the coating and developing module, and controls the coating and developing module to coat the centered wafer with glue or develop.

[0018] Furthermore, after controlling the coating and developing module to coat or develop the centered wafer, the control method also includes: controlling the second robot to clamp the coating wafer or the developing wafer and place it on a hot plate or a cold plate module; controlling the hot plate or the cold plate module to heat or cool the coating wafer to obtain a dried wafer.

[0019] Compared with the existing technology, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: after the glue is applied on the surface of the wafer, the wafer needs to be dried, the second robot clamps the wafer in the glue spreading and developing module, and places it on a hot plate or a cold plate module, and the hot plate or the cold plate module adjusts the temperature of the wafer to dry the glue on the surface of the wafer.

[0020] Furthermore, after controlling the hot plate or cold plate module to heat or cool the coated wafer, the control method further includes: controlling the first robot to clamp the dried wafer and place it in a wafer box.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the technical effect achieved by adopting this technical solution is as follows: after the wafer is dried, the first robot clamps the wafer and places it in a wafer box, which is convenient for the operator to collect.

[0022] After adopting the technical solution of the present invention, the following technical effects can be achieved: (1) The first robot and the second robot are arranged opposite to each other and cooperate with each other to improve the production efficiency of the wafer processing equipment. The hot plate or cold plate module and the centering module are arranged in the accommodation space, the film box is arranged close to the first robot, and the coating and developing module is arranged close to the second robot, so that the first robot and the second robot can grab the wafer. At the same time, the modules are arranged centrally and the two robots share the process steps, which not only reduces the length of the moving path of the first robot and the second robot and improves the grabbing efficiency of the first robot and the second robot, but also reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment, which is convenient for planning the equipment layout of the production workshop and makes the equipment layout more reasonable; (2) The wafer box is arranged on the side of the first robot, which reduces the floor space occupied by the wafer processing equipment. At the same time, when the first robot grabs the wafer, the two robots share the process steps, which reduces the length of the movement path of the first robot, thereby improving the movement efficiency of the first robot and further improving the processing efficiency of the wafer processing equipment; (3) The coating and developing module is arranged on the side of the second robot, which reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment and also reduces the length of the movement path of the second robot, thereby improving the movement efficiency of the second robot and further improving the processing efficiency of the wafer processing equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A first layout schematic diagram of a wafer processing equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a second layout schematic diagram of wafer processing equipment; Figure 3 is a third layout schematic diagram of wafer processing equipment; Figure 4 Flow chart of the control method.

[0024] Description of reference numerals: 100: wafer processing equipment; 110: first robot; 120: second robot; 130: hot plate or cold plate module; 140: centering module; 150: wafer box; 160: coating and developing module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] The present invention provides a wafer processing device 100. The wafer processing device 100 is as follows: Figure 1As shown, the wafer processing equipment 100 is used to process wafers, and the wafer processing equipment 100 includes: a first robot 110, a second robot 120, a hot plate or cold plate module 130, a centering module 140, a film box 150, and a coating and developing module 160. The first robot 110 and the second robot 120 are arranged opposite to each other, and there is a receiving space 101 between the first robot 110 and the second robot 120; the hot plate or cold plate module 130 is used to adjust the temperature of the wafer, and the hot plate or cold plate module 130 and the centering module 140 are arranged in the receiving space 101, the film box 150 is used to store the wafer, and the film box 150 is arranged close to the first robot 110; the coating and developing module 160 is arranged close to the second robot 120.

[0027] Specific instructions, as attached Figure 1 As shown, the first robot 110 and the second robot 120 are arranged relative to each other. In the prior art, a robot is arranged on the processing equipment to perform grasping and moving. Such a setting will not only increase the load of the robot, but also reduce the production efficiency of the wafer processing equipment. Therefore, the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present invention is provided with two robots, and the first robot 110 and the second robot 120 cooperate with each other to avoid excessive load on one of the robots, thereby ensuring the working efficiency of the wafer processing equipment 100. The space between the first robot 110 and the second robot 120 is a storage space. During the wafer processing, the first robot 110 and the second robot 120 will grab the wafers in the hot plate or cold plate module 130 and the centering module 140. Therefore, the hot plate or cold plate module 130 and the centering module 140 are both arranged in the storage space, which can greatly reduce the length of the movement trajectory of the first robot 110 and the second robot 120, thereby improving the moving speed of the first robot 110 and the second robot 120. The film box 150 is arranged close to the first robot 110, and the coating and developing module 160 is arranged close to the second robot 120, which also reduces the length of the movement trajectory of the first robot 110 and the second robot 120; the two robots share the process steps and reduce the load of the robots. The modules of the wafer processing equipment 100 are compactly arranged to reduce the floor space of the wafer processing equipment 100, so that the space planning of the production workshop is more reasonable.

[0028] For example, the wafer box 150 is disposed on the peripheral side of the first robot 110 so that the first robot 110 can grab the wafers in the wafer box 150 .

[0029] For example, as shown in the attached Figure 1 As shown, the wafer box 150 is arranged on the peripheral side of the first robot 110 , so that the first robot 110 can grab the wafers stored in the wafer box 150 . Meanwhile, the wafer boxes 150 are arranged in a line, so as to reduce the space occupied by the wafer processing equipment 100 .

[0030] Preferably, as attached Figure 2 As shown, the wafer box 150 may also be disposed around the first robot 110 , which can also reduce the space occupied by the wafer processing equipment 100 .

[0031] Specifically, the coating and developing module 160 is disposed on the peripheral side of the second robot 120 , so that the second robot 120 can grab the wafer in the coating and developing module 160 .

[0032] Specifically, the coating and developing module 160 is provided with a plurality of Figure 1 As shown, the coating and developing module 160 is provided with three columns, each column is provided with two, and at the same time, as shown in the attached Figure 2 As shown, the coating and developing module 160 can also be arranged around the second robot 120 to reduce the length of the movement track of the second robot 120 and shorten the movement time of the second robot 120, thereby improving the production efficiency of the wafer processing equipment 100.

[0033] In addition, the coating and developing module 160 can be a coating and developing module, and can be set according to actual production requirements.

[0034] For example, the hot plate or cold plate module 130 is disposed close to the second robot 120 .

[0035] For example, as shown in the attached Figure 1 As shown, the hot plate or cold plate module 130 is arranged close to the second robot 120. During the processing of the wafer, the colloid on the surface of the wafer needs to be dried after the wafer is coated with glue. Therefore, a hot plate or cold plate module 130 needs to be arranged on the wafer processing equipment 100 to dry the colloid on the surface of the wafer. During the movement of the wafer, the second robot 120 needs to grab the wafer and place it on the hot plate or cold plate module 130. Therefore, the hot plate or cold plate module 130 is arranged close to the second robot 120, which reduces the moving distance of the second robot 120 and reduces the footprint of the wafer processing equipment 100. At the same time, it also shortens the movement time of the second robot 120, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the wafer processing equipment 100.

[0036] In addition, there are multiple hot plate or cold plate modules 130 so that multiple wafers can be dried at the same time.

[0037] For example, the centering module 140 is disposed between the hot plate or cold plate module 130 and the first robot 110 .

[0038] For example, as shown in the attached Figure 1As shown, the centering module 140 is arranged between the hot plate or cold plate module 130 and the first robot 110. During the wafer processing, the first robot 110 grabs the wafer from the wafer box 150 and places it on the centering module 140 for centering detection. The centering module 140 is arranged close to the first robot 110 to reduce the length of the motion trajectory of the first robot 110, improve the movement efficiency of the first robot 110, and at the same time, also reduce the footprint of the wafer processing equipment 100.

[0039] The dimensions of the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present invention are 1100mm*1900mm*2200mm, and the dimensions of the equipment in the prior art are 1550mm*1500mm*2100mm. The floor area of ​​the prior equipment is 1.1 times the floor area of ​​the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present application. It can be seen that the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present application has a reduced floor area compared with the prior equipment. At the same time, the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present application adopts two robots to cooperate with each other. Compared with the prior equipment, which only uses one robot for grasping and moving, the wafer processing equipment 100 provided by the present application reduces the load of the robot during operation, improves the production efficiency of the wafer processing equipment 100, and greatly improves the production capacity of the wafer processing equipment 100.

[0040] The wafer processing equipment 100 can also be used with an additional Figure 3 In the layout shown, the first robot 110 grabs the wafer to be processed in the film box and places it in the centering module 140. The centering module 140 centers the wafer to be processed to obtain a centered wafer. The second robot 120 grabs the centered wafer and places it in the coating and developing module 160. The coating and developing module is controlled to coat the centered wafer with glue or develop it, thereby obtaining a coated wafer or a developed wafer. The second robot 120 grabs the coated wafer or the developed wafer and places it in the hot plate module to dry the glue or the developer on the surface of the wafer. The second robot 120 grabs the dried coated wafer or the developed wafer and places it in the cold plate module for cooling. Finally, the first robot 110 grabs the cooled coated wafer or the developed wafer and puts it back into the film box 150 for collection by the operator.

[0041] Alternatively, the first robot 110 grabs the wafer to be processed in the film box 150, places it in the centering module 140 for centering, thereby obtaining a centered wafer, the first robot 110 grabs the centered wafer and places it in the hot plate module for drying to obtain a dried wafer, and then the first robot 110 grabs the dried wafer and places it in the cold plate module to obtain a dried wafer after cooling, the second robot 120 grabs the cooled dried wafer and places it in the coating and developing module 160 to obtain a coating wafer or a developed wafer, the second robot 120 grabs the coating wafer or the developed wafer and places it in the hot plate module, after heating in the hot plate module, the second robot 120 grabs the heated coating wafer or the developed wafer and places it in the cold plate module for cooling, and finally the first robot 110 grabs the cooled coating wafer or the developed wafer and puts it back into the film box 150 for collection by the operator.

[0042] In addition, the number of hot plate modules and cold plate modules is set according to actual production needs and is not limited here.

[0043] The present invention also provides a control method for wafer processing equipment, as shown in the attached Figure 4 As shown, the control method includes: S100, controlling the first robot to clamp the wafer to be processed in the cassette and place it on the centering module; S200, controlling the centering module to center the wafer to be processed to obtain a centered wafer; S300, controlling the second robot to clamp the centered wafer and place it on the coating and developing module; S400, controlling the coating and developing module to coat or develop the centered wafer to obtain a coating wafer or a developed wafer; S500, controlling the second robot to clamp the coating wafer or the developing wafer and place it on the hot plate or the cold plate module; S600, controlling the hot plate or cold plate module to heat or cool the coating wafer or the developing wafer to obtain a dried wafer; S700, controlling the first robot to clamp the dried wafer and place it in a wafer box; Specifically, during the wafer processing, the wafer to be processed is stored in a wafer box, and the first robot grabs the wafer to be processed and places it on the centering module for centering, thereby obtaining a centered wafer. Then, the second robot grabs the centered wafer in the centering module and places it in the coating and developing module for coating or developing. When the coating and developing wafer coats the centered wafer with glue, a coating wafer is obtained. When the coating and developing wafer develops the centered wafer, a developed wafer is obtained. The second robot grabs the coating wafer or the developed wafer and places it on a hot plate or a cold plate module to dry the glue on the surface of the wafer, thereby obtaining a dried wafer. Finally, the first robot grabs the dried wafer, puts it back into the wafer box, and waits for the operator to recycle it. Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer processing equipment, characterized in that: The wafer processing equipment (100) is used for processing wafers, and the wafer processing equipment (100) comprises: First Robot (110); a second robot (120), wherein the first robot (110) and the second robot (120) are arranged opposite to each other, and an accommodation space is provided between the first robot (110) and the second robot (120); A hot plate or cold plate module (130), the hot plate or cold plate module (130) being used to adjust the temperature of the wafer, and the hot plate or cold plate module (130) being arranged in the accommodation space; a centering module (140), the centering module (140) being arranged in the accommodation space, and the first robot (110) and the second robot (120) both being able to take and place the wafer from the hot plate or cold plate module (130) and the centering module (140); a wafer box (150), the wafer box (150) being used to store wafers, the wafer box (150) being arranged close to the first robot (110); A coating and developing module (160), wherein the coating and developing module (160) is arranged close to the second robot (120).

2. The wafer processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer box (150) is arranged on the peripheral side of the first robot (110) so that the first robot (110) can grab the wafer in the wafer box (150).

3. The wafer processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The coating and developing module (160) is arranged on the peripheral side of the second robot (120) so that the second robot (120) can grab the wafer in the coating and developing module (160).

4. The wafer processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hot plate or cold plate module (130) is arranged close to the second robot (120).

5. The wafer processing equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that: The centering module (140) is disposed between the hot plate or cold plate module (130) and the first robot (110).

6. A control method for wafer processing equipment, characterized in that: The control method controls the wafer processing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and the control method comprises: Controlling the first robot to clamp the wafer to be processed in the wafer box and place it on the centering module; The centering module is controlled to center the wafer to be processed to obtain a centered wafer.

7. The control method according to claim 6, characterized in that: After controlling the centering module to center the wafer to be processed, the control method further includes: Controlling the second robot to clamp the centering wafer and place it on the coating and developing module; Controlling the coating and developing module to coat or develop the centering wafer to obtain a coating wafer or a developed wafer; Wherein, the coated wafer is obtained by controlling the coating and developing module to coat the centering wafer with adhesive; When the coating and developing module is controlled to develop the centering wafer, the developed wafer is obtained.

8. The control method according to claim 7, characterized in that: After controlling the coating and developing module to coat or develop the centered wafer, the control method further includes: Controlling the second robot to clamp the coating wafer or the developing wafer and place it on the hot plate or the cold plate module; The hot plate or cold plate module is controlled to heat or cool the coating wafer or the developing wafer to obtain a dried wafer.

9. The control method according to claim 8, characterized in that: After controlling the hot plate or cold plate module to heat or cool the coating wafer, the control method further includes: The first robot is controlled to clamp the dried wafer and place it in the wafer box.

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