One-stop plasma processing system and processing method thereof
Through a one-stop plasma process system, combined with clean handling and cleaning modules, the problems of substrate materials pollution and resource waste in the plasma process are solved, and more efficient processes and better product output are achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310811605.8
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-07-04
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-07
AI Technical Summary
In the plasma process, substrate materials are prone to contaminating the transmission equipment due to dust and fill residues, affecting the process yield and product quality. At the same time, there is a lack of quality monitoring before and after the process, resulting in waste of resources.
Adopt a one-stop plasma process system, including input storage area, clean handling module, buffer unit, process handling module, plasma module, cleaning module and output storage area, and ensures that the clean handling module and cleaning module are cleaned. Clean the substrate and conduct defect detection before and after the process to avoid pollution and waste of resources.
It effectively avoids pollution of substrate materials during the transmission process, improves process efficiency and product quality, and ensures the cleanliness of the process process and the effective utilization of resources.
Smart Images
Figure CN119275125A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to a plasma process system, and more particularly to a one-stop plasma process system and a process method thereof. Background Art
[0002] In a station-based plasma process, a batch of substrate materials is input from the previous station for plasma processing to process or react the substrate materials, such as etching, coating or surface modification. After the plasma process is completed, the entire batch of substrate materials is output to the next station for other processing, and then the next batch of substrate materials is input for plasma processing, and the substrate materials are processed at each station.
[0003] However, when plasma etching is performed on a specific substrate material, dust and filler particles generated during the process may remain on the substrate material, causing the transport equipment responsible for transporting the substrate material to be contaminated, thereby further affecting the entire process production line, affecting the process yield and product quality.
[0004] In addition, in current plasma equipment manufacturing processes, quality control is not performed on products before or after the process, so that defective substrate materials are still used to complete the plasma process, wasting process time and material costs. Improvements are necessary. Summary of the invention
[0005] The main purpose of the present application is to improve the problem that the substrate of the plasma process is easily contaminated during the transmission process.
[0006] The aforementioned purpose does not preclude the existence of other purposes. Any purpose that can be derived from the description, claims, or drawings by a person skilled in the art is also included in the purpose of this application. Therefore, the purpose of this application is not limited to the aforementioned purposes.
[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides a one-stop plasma process system for performing a plasma process on a substrate. The one-stop plasma process system includes an input storage area, a clean handling module, a buffer unit, a process handling module, a plasma module, a cleaning module and an output storage area. The input storage area is used to store the substrate; the clean handling module takes out the substrate from the input storage area; the buffer unit is adjacent to the clean handling module, and the clean handling module takes out or puts the substrate in the buffer unit; the plasma module performs a plasma process on the substrate; the cleaning module performs a cleaning process on the substrate; the process handling module takes out or puts the substrate between the buffer unit, the plasma module and the cleaning module; the clean handling module obtains the cleaned substrate, and the clean handling module places the substrate in the output storage area.
[0008] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a substrate detection module is further included. The clean handling module takes out or puts the substrate between the buffer unit, the cleaning module, the output storage area and the substrate detection module. The substrate detection module is used to perform defect detection on the substrate.
[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the input storage area, the output storage area and the substrate detection module are arranged on the same side of the clean transport module, and the buffer unit is arranged on a side of the clean transport module away from the input storage area.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the buffer unit includes a cleaning completion area and a waiting process area, the clean transfer module takes out or puts in the substrate between the cleaning completion area, the cleaning module, the output storage area and the substrate detection module, and the process transfer module takes out or puts in the substrate between the waiting process area, the plasma module and the cleaning module.
[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the input storage area and the output storage area are arranged on the same side of the clean transport module, and the buffer unit is arranged on a side of the clean transport module away from the input storage area.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the process transfer module is disposed on a side of the buffer unit away from the input storage area, and the plasma module is disposed on a side of the process transfer module away from the input storage area.
[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the inlet of the cleaning module is arranged corresponding to the process transfer module, and the outlet of the cleaning module is arranged corresponding to the clean transfer module.
[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a transport module is further included, and the transport module moves the substrate from the inlet of the cleaning module to the outlet of the cleaning module.
[0015] In another embodiment of the present application, the present application provides a one-stop plasma processing method for performing a plasma processing on a substrate. The one-stop plasma processing method includes the following steps: Step S1: using a clean handling module to obtain a substrate and place it into a buffer unit; Step S2: using a process transfer module to transfer the substrate from the buffer unit to a plasma module for plasma process treatment; Step S3: obtaining the substrate through the process transfer module and placing it in a cleaning module to clean the substrate; Step S4: The substrate is obtained by the clean handling module and placed in an output storage area to complete the plasma process of the substrate and output the substrate.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a step P1 is further included before step S1: using the clean handling module to take out the substrate from an input storage area and place it in a substrate inspection module to perform defect inspection on the substrate.
[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a step P2 is further included after step S3: the clean handling module obtains the substrate and places it in a substrate inspection module to perform defect inspection on the substrate.
[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a step A1 is further included between step S3 and step P2: the substrate is obtained by the clean transport module and placed in a clean completion area.
[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, in step S3, the substrate is moved from the inlet of the cleaning module to the outlet of the cleaning module by a transport module.
[0020] According to the above technical features, this application has the following characteristics: 1. The present application uses a cleaning module to clean the substrate, and uses a clean handling module to place the cleaned substrate in an output storage area, thereby preventing the process handling module contaminated with dust and fillers from contaminating the substrate and subsequent process sites.
[0021] 2. The present application can temporarily store the substrate through the buffer unit to avoid the problem of different time spent on each process, which leads to the need to wait between process modules, thereby improving the efficiency of the production process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a one-stop plasma process system according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a one-stop plasma process system implementation of a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a one-stop plasma process system according to another preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the steps of a one-stop plasma process method according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the steps of a one-stop plasma process method according to another preferred embodiment of the present application.
[0023] Description of Reference Numerals 100:One-stop plasma process system 1:Substrate 10: Input storage area 20: Clean handling module 30: Buffer unit 31: Cleaning completion area 32: Waiting for process area 40: Process transfer module 50: Plasma module 60: Cleaning module 61: Entrance 62: Exit 70: output storage area 80: substrate detection module 90: Transport module 200: One-stop plasma process method S1: Step S2: Step S3: Step S4: Step P1: Step P2: Step A1: Steps. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] In order to facilitate the description of the central idea of the present application in the above invention content, specific embodiments are now used for expression. Various objects in the embodiments are depicted according to the proportions, sizes, deformations or displacements suitable for description, rather than being drawn according to the proportions of actual elements.
[0025] The following describes in detail exemplary embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings, and is not intended to limit the technical principles of the present application to the specific disclosed embodiments. Instead, the scope of the present application is limited only by the claims and covers alternatives, modifications and equivalents.
[0026] See also Figure 1 to Figure 2 As shown, the present application provides a one-stop plasma process system 100 for performing a plasma process on a substrate 1. The one-stop plasma process system 100 includes an input storage area 10, a clean handling module 20, a buffer unit 30, a process handling module 40, a plasma module 50, a cleaning module 60, an output storage area 70 and a substrate detection module 80. The substrate 1 can be input into the present application from the previous station.
[0027] In one embodiment of the present application, the input storage area 10 of the present application can be used to store the substrate 1. The input storage area 10 can be a clean wafer transfer box or other forms. The substrate 1 can be a clean wafer or substrate.
[0028] The clean transport module 20 takes out the substrate 1 from the input storage area 10. In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the clean transport module 20 can be a robot arm.
[0029] The buffer unit 30 is adjacent to the clean handling module 20. The clean handling module 20 takes out or puts in the buffer unit 30. In one actual implementation scenario, the clean handling module 20 can take out the substrate 1 from the input storage area 10 and temporarily place it in the buffer unit 30, thereby allowing the clean handling module 20 to continue other handling operations.
[0030] The plasma module 50 is used to perform a plasma process on the substrate 1. In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the plasma process can be etching, coating, roughening or surface modification of the substrate 1, but the present application is not limited thereto.
[0031] The process transport module 40 can take out or put in the substrate 1 between the buffer unit 30, the plasma module 50 and the cleaning module 60. For example, the process transport module 40 can take out the substrate 1 from the buffer unit 30 and move it to the plasma module 50; the process transport module 40 can also take out the substrate 1 from the plasma module 50 and place it in the cleaning module 60. At the same time, the process transport module 40 entering and exiting the plasma module 50 may be contaminated with dust or fillers. In addition, an actual implementation scenario is illustrated. Assuming that the substrate 1 in the plasma module 50 is still undergoing a plasma process, the plasma module 50 has no extra space to place the substrate 1 that has not yet undergone a plasma process. At this time, the aforementioned substrate 1 can be temporarily placed in the buffer unit 30, waiting for the plasma process to be completed, and the process transport module 40 then takes out the substrate 1 from the buffer unit 30 and continues to move the substrate 1 to the plasma module 50.
[0032] The substrate 1 after the plasma process may be stained with dust and fillers, so the substrate 1 can be cleaned by the cleaning module 60, and the cleaning module 60 can remove the dust or fillers on the substrate 1, thereby obtaining a clean substrate 1. In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the cleaning module 60 can be a wet scrubber, but the present application is not limited thereto.
[0033] Finally, the clean handling module 20 can obtain the cleaned substrate 1 from the cleaning module 60 and transfer it to the output storage area 70, and hand it over to the next station for subsequent processing. In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the output storage area 70 can be a clean wafer transfer box or other forms. In addition, by using the clean handling module 20 to pick up and place the cleaned substrate 1, the process handling module 40 contaminated with dust and fillers will not contaminate the cleaned substrate 1 and the output storage area 70.
[0034] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a substrate detection module 80 is also included. The clean handling module 20 can take out or put in the substrate 1 between the input storage area 10, the buffer unit 30, the output storage area 70 and the substrate detection module 80. The substrate detection module 80 is used to perform defect detection on the substrate 1 to confirm the status of the substrate 1 before and after the plasma process.
[0035] For example, the clean handling module 20 can take out the substrate 1 from the input storage area 10 and place it in the substrate inspection module 80. After the substrate inspection module 80 completes the inspection, if the substrate 1 has no defects, the clean handling module 20 takes out the substrate 1 from the substrate inspection module 80 and places it in the buffer unit 30. The defect inspection method of the substrate 1 can be an automated optical inspection, which uses a high-resolution camera and software to perform optical inspection on the substrate 1. When the substrate 1 is input into the one-stop plasma processing system 100, the substrate 1 can be found to have defects as early as possible, and subsequent corresponding processing can be performed to prevent the substrate 1 from being defective and wasting time in processing the substrate 1. For example, when the substrate inspection module 80 detects a defective substrate 1, the plasma processing of the one-stop plasma processing system 100 can be stopped or paused. Furthermore, a notification about the defect of the substrate 1 can be issued to facilitate the relevant personnel to perform subsequent corresponding processing.
[0036] To further explain, the clean handling module 20 can also take out the substrate 1 from the cleaning module 60 and place it in the substrate detection module 80. After confirming that the substrate 1 has completed the plasma process, the clean handling module 20 takes out the substrate 1 from the substrate detection module 80 and places it in the output storage area 70, and hands it over to the next station for subsequent processes.
[0037] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the buffer unit 30 includes a cleaning completion area 31 and a waiting process area 32. The clean handling module 20 can take out or put in the substrate 1 between the cleaning completion area 31, the cleaning module 60, the output storage area 70 and the substrate inspection module 80. The process handling module 40 takes out or puts in the substrate 1 between the waiting process area 32, the plasma module 50 and the cleaning module 60. Assuming that the cleaned substrate 1 is ready for defect detection, and the substrate inspection module 80 is still inspecting other substrates 1, the substrate inspection module 80 has no extra space to place the cleaned substrate 1. At this time, the substrate 1 can be temporarily placed in the cleaning completion area 31, waiting for the substrate inspection module 80 to complete the inspection, and the clean handling module 20 will continue to move the substrate 1 from the cleaning completion area 31 to the substrate inspection module 80 for subsequent operations.
[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the input storage area 10, the output storage area 70 and the substrate detection module 80 are arranged on the same side of the clean handling module 20, and the buffer unit 30 is arranged on the side of the clean handling module 20 away from the input storage area 10. In this way, when the clean handling module 20 takes out or puts in the substrate 1 between the input storage area 10, the buffer unit 30, the output storage area 70 and the substrate detection module 80, the clean handling module 20 has a better transportation efficiency.
[0039] In another preferred embodiment of the present application, the input storage area 10 and the output storage area 70 are disposed on the same side of the clean transport module 20 , and the buffer unit 30 is disposed on a side of the clean transport module 20 away from the input storage area 10 .
[0040] In another preferred embodiment of the present application, the process transfer module 40 is arranged on the side of the buffer unit 30 away from the input storage area 10, and the plasma module 50 is arranged on the side of the process transfer module 40 away from the input storage area 10, that is, the process transfer module 40 is located between the buffer unit 30 and the plasma module 50. In this way, the process transfer module 40 can have a better transportation efficiency when taking out or putting in the substrate 1.
[0041] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, the cleaning module 60 has an inlet 61 and an outlet 62, the inlet 61 is arranged corresponding to the position of the process transfer module 40, and the outlet 62 is arranged corresponding to the position of the clean transfer module 20. In another preferred embodiment of the present application, a transport module 90 is further included. After the process transfer module 40 takes out the substrate 1 from the plasma module 50 and places it in the cleaning module 60, the transport module 90 can move the substrate 1 from the inlet 61 of the cleaning module 60 to the outlet 62 of the cleaning module 60, and then take out the substrate 1 from the cleaning module 60 through the clean transfer module 20 to complete the cleaning of the substrate 1.
[0042] Please refer to Figure 3 As shown, in the present application, the positional relationship between the cleaning module 60 and the clean handling module 20 and the process handling module 40 can be set according to different actual implementation situations. For example, the cleaning module 60 is set between the clean handling module 20 and the process handling module 40. Under this design, the cleaning module 60 does not need to be Figure 2 The transport module 90 is set up, and the substrate 1 only needs to be placed into the cleaning module 60 through the inlet 61 and fixed, and then taken out from the outlet 62 after cleaning. This can more effectively reduce the area occupied by the entire system and meet the needs of small factory settings.
[0043] See also Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, in one embodiment of the present application, the present application further discloses a one-stop plasma processing method 200 for performing a plasma processing on a substrate 1. The one-stop plasma processing method 200 includes the following steps: Step S1 : Using a clean transport module 20 to obtain a substrate 1 and place it into a buffer unit 30 . The clean transport module 20 can take out the substrate 1 from the input storage area 10 and place it into the buffer unit 30 .
[0044] Step S2: using a process transfer module 40 to transfer the substrate 1 from the buffer unit 30 to a plasma module 50 for plasma process treatment.
[0045] Step S3 : The process transfer module 40 obtains the substrate 1 and places it in a cleaning module 60 to clean the substrate 1 . For example, the process transfer module 40 may take out the substrate 1 from the plasma module 50 and place it in the cleaning module 60 .
[0046] Step S4 : The substrate 1 is obtained by the clean handling module 20 and placed in an output storage area 70 to complete the plasma process of the substrate 1 and output the substrate 1 .
[0047] Please refer to Figure 5 As shown, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, a step P1 is further included before step S1: using the clean handling module 20 to take out the substrate 1 from an input storage area 10 and place it in a substrate inspection module 80 to perform defect inspection on the substrate 1. After the inspection of the substrate 1 is completed, the clean handling module 20 can be used to take out the substrate 1 from the substrate inspection module 80 and place it in the buffer unit 30.
[0048] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, a step P2 is further included after step S3: the substrate 1 is obtained by the clean handling module 20 and placed in a substrate inspection module 80 to perform defect inspection on the substrate 1. In an embodiment of the present application, after the substrate 1 is cleaned, the clean handling module 20 can be used to take out the substrate 1 from the cleaning module 60 and place it in the substrate inspection module 80.
[0049] If the substrate 1 is cleaned, but the substrate detection module 80 is still detecting the previous substrate 1, the present application may also include another preferred embodiment, which may be provided between step S3 and step P2, and is step A1: the substrate 1 is obtained by the clean transport module 20 and placed in a clean completion area 31. In one embodiment of the present application, after the substrate 1 is cleaned, the clean transport module 20 may be used to take out the substrate 1 from the cleaning module 60 and place it in the clean completion area 31, waiting for the substrate detection module 80 to complete the detection.
[0050] In a preferred embodiment of the present application, in step S3 , a transport module 90 is used to move the substrate 1 from the inlet 61 of the cleaning module 60 to the outlet 62 of the cleaning module 60 , so as to transport the substrate 1 .
[0051] In summary, the technical features of this application are as follows: 1. The present application uses a cleaning module 60 to clean the substrate 1, and uses a clean handling module 20 to place the cleaned substrate 1 in an output storage area 70. In this way, the process handling module 40 contaminated with dust and fillers will not contaminate the cleaned substrate 1 and the output storage area 70, thereby outputting a clean substrate 1 and keeping the output storage area 70 clean.
[0052] 2. The present application can temporarily store the substrate 1 through the buffer unit 30 to avoid the problem of different time spent on each process, which leads to the need to wait between process modules. That is, the present application provides a buffer area to improve the efficiency of the production process.
[0053] 3. Through the arrangement of the cleaning completion area 31 and the waiting process area 32 of the present application, the clean substrate 1 can be separated from other substrates 1 that have not yet completed the process, thereby more effectively solving the problem of preventing the substrate 1 from being contaminated.
[0054] 4. The present application uses the cleaning module 60 to remove dust or fillers on the substrate 1, and cooperates with the transport module 90 to move the substrate 1 from the inlet 61 of the cleaning module 60 to the outlet 62 of the cleaning module 60 to obtain a clean substrate 1, thereby preventing dust and fillers from remaining on the substrate 1, thereby affecting the entire process production line.
[0055] 5. The substrate inspection module 80 of the present application can perform defect inspection on the substrate 1 before and after the plasma process, so as to discover defects of the substrate 1 early and prevent the process from continuing even though the substrate 1 has defects, thereby wasting time and material costs for processing the substrate 1.
[0056] 6. By setting the relative positions of the input storage area 10, the clean transport module 20, the buffer unit 30, the process transport module 40, the plasma module 50, the cleaning module 60, the output storage area 70 and the substrate detection module 80, the clean transport module 20 and the process transport module 40 have better transportation efficiency when transporting the substrate 1.
[0057] The aforementioned effects do not prevent the existence of other effects. If a person skilled in the art can derive effects from the description, claims, or drawings, the effects are also included in the effects of the present application. Therefore, the effects of the present application are not limited to the aforementioned effects.
[0058] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present application, and are not used to limit the scope of the present application. All modifications or changes made according to the spirit of the present application are within the scope of protection intended by the present application.
Claims
1. A one-stop plasma processing system for performing a plasma processing on a substrate, characterized in that: The one-stop plasma processing system includes: an input storage area, the input storage area is used to store the substrate; a clean handling module, the clean handling module taking out the substrate from the input storage area; A buffer unit adjacent to the clean transport module, the clean transport module takes out or puts the substrate in the buffer unit; a plasma module, wherein the plasma module performs a plasma process on the substrate; a cleaning module, the cleaning module performs cleaning treatment on the substrate; a process transfer module, which takes out or puts the substrate between the buffer unit, the plasma module and the cleaning module; and An output storage area is provided, where the clean transport module obtains the cleaned substrate and places the substrate in the output storage area.
2. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a substrate detection module. The clean transport module takes out or puts the substrate between the buffer unit, the cleaning module, the output storage area and the substrate detection module. The substrate detection module is used to perform defect detection on the substrate.
3. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The input storage area, the output storage area and the substrate detection module are arranged on the same side of the clean transport module, and the buffer unit is arranged on a side of the clean transport module away from the input storage area.
4. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The buffer unit includes a cleaning completion area and a waiting process area. The clean transport module takes out or puts in the substrate between the cleaning completion area, the cleaning module, the output storage area and the substrate detection module. The process transport module takes out or puts in the substrate between the waiting process area, the plasma module and the cleaning module.
5. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The input storage area and the output storage area are arranged on the same side of the clean transport module, and the buffer unit is arranged on a side of the clean transport module away from the input storage area.
6. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The process transport module is arranged on a side of the buffer unit away from the input storage area, and the plasma module is arranged on a side of the process transport module away from the input storage area.
7. The one-stop plasma processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inlet of the cleaning module is arranged corresponding to the process transport module, and the outlet of the cleaning module is arranged corresponding to the clean transport module.
8. The one-stop plasma process system according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also included is a transport module, which moves the substrate from the inlet of the cleaning module to the outlet of the cleaning module.
9. A one-stop plasma processing method for performing a plasma processing on a substrate, characterized in that: The one-stop plasma process method comprises the following steps: Step S1: using a clean handling module to obtain the substrate and place it into a buffer unit; Step S2: using a process transfer module to transfer the substrate from the buffer unit to a plasma module for plasma process treatment; Step S3: obtaining the substrate through the process transfer module and placing it in a cleaning module to clean the substrate; and Step S4: The substrate is obtained by the clean handling module and placed in an output storage area to complete the plasma process of the substrate and output the substrate.
10. The one-stop plasma process method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The method further includes a step P1 before step S1: using the clean transport module to take out the substrate from an input storage area and placing it in a substrate inspection module to perform defect inspection on the substrate.
11. The one-stop plasma process method according to claim 9, wherein: The method further includes a step P2 after the step S3: obtaining the substrate through the clean transport module and placing the substrate in a substrate inspection module to perform defect inspection on the substrate.
12. The one-stop plasma process method according to claim 11, characterized in that: The method further includes a step A1 between the step S3 and the step P2: obtaining the substrate through the clean transport module and placing the substrate in a clean completion area.
13. The one-stop plasma process method according to claim 9, characterized in that: In the step S3 , the substrate is moved from the inlet of the cleaning module to the outlet of the cleaning module by a transport module.