Multi-process combined processing equipment and method for semiconductor device

Abstract

The invention provides multi-process combined processing equipment and method for a semiconductor device. The multi-process combined processing equipment of the semiconductor device comprises a first process cavity, a second process cavity and a transmission cavity. The first process cavity is provided with N first wafer trays used for bearing N wafers to carry out a first process. The process duration of the first process is T1, and N is a positive integer. The second process cavity is provided with M * N second wafer trays which are used for bearing no more than M * N wafers to carry out a second process in a segmented manner. The total process duration of the second process is T2, the preset segment number n of the segmented process duration is a positive integer greater than 1, and M is a positive integer not less than n. And the transmission cavity is provided with a vacuum manipulator which is used for transmitting the wafer after the second process from the second process cavity every other process duration T1, transferring the wafer after the first process from the first process cavity to a corresponding second wafer tray in the second process cavity, and transmitting the wafer to be processed into the first process cavity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor device processing, and in particular to a multi-process joint processing device for a semiconductor device, a multi-process joint processing method for a semiconductor device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] As device spacing continues to shrink, MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) field-effect transistor devices face the challenge of a sharp increase in metal resistivity when selecting suitable interconnect materials and contact metals, resulting in resistance, capacitance (RC) delays and power consumption. Among various metal materials, molybdenum (Mo) metal has low resistivity, shorter mean free path, and lower sensitivity to surface and grain boundary scattering, which prevents its resistivity from increasing sharply when the device size is reduced. Therefore, molybdenum metal is considered to be an ideal choice to replace traditional interconnect metals tungsten (W) and copper (Cu). However, the deposition process of molybdenum metal usually involves multiple processes in combination, and each process requires different temperatures, pressures, gas flows, and types. In order to ensure process stability, existing semiconductor processing equipment is equipped with multiple cavities to complete each stage of the process. In addition, in order to increase production capacity per unit time, a single cavity needs to process multiple wafers simultaneously to achieve high production capacity goals. However, in the above-mentioned multi-cavity combined process, the problem of the large area of ​​a single cavity is highlighted, which not only leads to a significant increase in the overall footprint of the machine, but also greatly increases the equipment maintenance cost, seriously affecting the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process combined processing equipment.

[0003] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides an improved multi-process joint processing equipment and method for semiconductor devices, which is used to adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber and realize assembly line multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the efficiency per square meter of multi-process joint processing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following is a brief summary of one or more aspects to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceivable aspects and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be provided later.

[0005] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices, a multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices and a computer-readable storage medium. The equipment can differentiate the number of wafer trays in the front-end and back-end process chambers according to the difference in process time between the front-end and back-end processes, and perform the back-end processes with longer process time in segments to adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber and realize assembly-line multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing.

[0006] Specifically, the multi-process joint processing equipment for the semiconductor device provided in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention includes a first process chamber, a second process chamber, and a transfer chamber. The first process chamber has N first wafer trays for carrying N wafers for the first process. The process duration of the first process is T1, where N is a positive integer. The second process chamber has M×N second wafer trays for carrying no more than M×N wafers for segmented second process. The total process duration of the second process is T2, and the segmented process duration is T1. The preset number of segments n is a positive integer greater than 1, and M is a positive integer not less than n. The transfer chamber includes a vacuum robot. Whenever the first process chamber completes the first process and the second process chamber completes a segmented process of the second process, the transfer chamber unloads the wafer that has completed the second process from the second process chamber, transfers the wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber to a corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber, and transfers the wafer to be processed into the first process chamber.

[0007] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, a rotating mechanism is further configured in the second process chamber. The M×N wafer trays are arranged around the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism rotates every time the segment process time T2 ′ , the N second wafer trays carrying the wafers that have completed the second process are rotated to the wafer outlet of the second process chamber so that the vacuum robot can transfer the N wafers that have completed the second process, and the N idle second wafer trays are rotated to the wafer inlet of the second process chamber so that the vacuum robot can transfer the N wafers that have completed the first process.

[0008] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes I first process chambers and J second process chambers. I and J are both positive integers, and M is not less than A positive integer.

[0009] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes one transfer chamber, one first process chamber and two second process chambers. The process time T1 is greater than The segmented process duration T2 ′ The first end of the transfer chamber is connected to the first process chamber, and is used to remove the wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber every time the process time is T1, and to transfer the wafer to be processed into the first process chamber. The second end and the third end of the transfer chamber are respectively connected to two second process chambers, and are used to alternately remove the wafer that has completed the second process from each second process chamber every time the process time is T1, and alternately transfer the wafer that has completed the first process into each second process chamber.

[0010] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes two of the transmission chambers, at least one buffer chamber, two of the first process chambers and two of the second process chambers. ′ The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity are respectively connected to the two first process cavities for each segment process time T2. ′ , the wafers to be processed are alternately introduced into each of the first process chambers. The third end of the first transmission chamber is connected to the buffer chamber for each segment process time T2 ′ , take out the wafers that have completed the second process from the buffer chamber, and alternately transfer the wafers that have completed the first process in each of the first process chambers to the buffer chamber. The first end of the second transfer chamber is connected to the buffer chamber, and is used to transfer the wafers that have completed the first process every time the segment process lasts T2. ′ The second end and the third end of the second transmission cavity are connected to two second process cavities respectively, for each segment process time T2 ′ , wafers that have completed the second process are alternately taken out from each of the second process chambers, and wafers that have completed the first process are alternately introduced into each of the second process chambers.

[0011] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes two of the transmission chambers, at least one buffer chamber, two of the first process chambers and two of the second process chambers. ′ The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity are respectively connected to the first process cavity and the second process cavity for each segment process time T2. ′ , the wafers that have completed the second process are transferred from the corresponding second process chamber, the wafers that have completed the first process are transferred from the corresponding first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber, and the wafers to be processed are transferred to the corresponding first process chamber. The third end of the first transfer chamber is connected to the buffer chamber, which is used to transfer the wafers to the corresponding first process chamber every time the segment process lasts T2. ′, take out another wafer that has completed the second process from the buffer chamber, and transfer another wafer to be processed into the buffer chamber. The first end of the second transfer chamber is connected to the buffer chamber, and its second end and third end are respectively connected to another first process chamber and another second process chamber, for each segment process time T2 ′ , the other wafer that has completed the second process in the corresponding second process chamber is transferred to the buffer chamber, the other wafer that has completed the first process is transferred from the corresponding first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber, and the other wafer to be processed in the buffer chamber is transferred to the corresponding first process chamber.

[0012] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the transfer chamber is also connected to a front-end module of the device via a load lock chamber to obtain wafers to be processed from the outside and transfer wafers that have completed the second process to the outside.

[0013] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the multi-process combined processing equipment includes a molybdenum deposition equipment, the first process includes a molybdenum nitride deposition process, and the second process includes a bulk molybdenum deposition process.

[0014] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the total process time T2 of the second process is greater than three times the process time T1 of the first process, and is divided into three sections for segmented execution. The first process chamber has two first wafer trays. The second process chamber has six second wafer trays.

[0015] In addition, the multi-process joint processing method of the above-mentioned semiconductor device provided according to the second aspect of the present invention includes the following steps: whenever the first process chamber of the multi-process joint processing equipment of the semiconductor device provided by the first aspect of the present invention completes the corresponding first process, and the second process chamber of the multi-process joint processing equipment completes a segmented process of the corresponding second process, the wafer that has completed the second process is transferred out of the second process chamber, the wafer that has completed the first process in the first process chamber is transferred from the first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber, and the wafer to be processed is transferred into the first process chamber.

[0016] Furthermore, the computer storable medium provided in accordance with the third aspect of the present invention stores computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices provided in accordance with the second aspect of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or characteristics may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0019] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0021] Reference numerals:

[0022] 11 Transmission cavity

[0023] 111 Vacuum Robot

[0024] 211, 311 First transmission cavity

[0025] 212, 312 Second transmission cavity

[0026] 12, 22, 32 first process chamber

[0027] 13, 23, 33 Second process chamber

[0028] 14, 24, 34 load lock cavities

[0029] 15, 25, 35 device front-end modules DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following specific embodiments illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with the preferred embodiment, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this embodiment. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the embodiment is to cover other options or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In order to provide a deep understanding of the present invention, the following description will include many specific details. The present invention can also be implemented without using these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or blurring the focus of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they may refer to fixed, detachable, or integral connections; mechanical or electrical connections; direct or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; and internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0032] Furthermore, the terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "horizontal," and "vertical" used in the following description should be understood to refer to the orientations depicted in that section and the accompanying drawings. These relative terms are used solely for convenience of description and do not necessarily imply that the devices described herein must be manufactured or operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0033] It will be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various components, regions, layers, and / or portions, these components, regions, layers, and / or portions should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are merely used to distinguish different components, regions, layers, and / or portions. Thus, a first component, region, layer, and / or portion discussed below may be referred to as a second component, region, layer, and / or portion without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

[0034] As mentioned above, the deposition process of metallic molybdenum usually involves the joint implementation of multiple processes, and each process requires different temperatures, pressures, gas flow rates and types. In order to ensure the stability of the process, multiple chambers are configured in existing semiconductor processing equipment to complete each stage of the process. In addition, in existing deposition machines, in order to increase the production capacity per unit time, a single chamber needs to process multiple wafers at the same time to achieve high production capacity goals. However, in the above-mentioned multi-chamber combined process, the problem of a single chamber area being too large is highlighted, which not only leads to a significant increase in the overall footprint of the machine, but also a substantial increase in the equipment maintenance cost, which seriously affects the floor space efficiency of multi-process combined processing equipment. Here, the floor space efficiency is the ratio of the production capacity per unit time (Wafers per Hour per Process, WHP) to the floor space (footprint).

[0035] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices, a multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices and a computer-readable storage medium. The equipment can differentiate the number of wafer trays in the front-end and back-end process chambers according to the difference in process time between the front-end and back-end processes, and perform the back-end processes with longer process time in segments to adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber and realize assembly-line multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing.

[0036] Please refer to Figure 1 . Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0037] exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the multi-process joint processing equipment for the semiconductor device provided by the first aspect of the present invention includes a first process chamber 12, a second process chamber 13 and a transfer chamber 11. The first process chamber 12 (Processing Module, PM) has N (for example: N=2) first wafer trays for carrying N wafers for the first process. Here, the process duration of the first process is T1, and N is a positive integer. The second process chamber 13 has M×N second wafer trays for carrying no more than M×N wafers to perform the second process in segments. Here, the total process duration of the second process is T2, and the segmented process duration is T2. The preset number of segments n is a positive integer greater than 1, and M is a positive integer not less than n.

[0038] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the multi-process combined processing equipment includes a molybdenum deposition apparatus. Here, the first process includes a molybdenum nitride (MoN) deposition process for depositing and growing MoN on a substrate layer. The second process includes a bulk Mo deposition process for converting the MoN produced by the first process into a pure metal thin film, Mo.

[0039] Thus, the multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided by the first aspect of the present invention can be realized by making the back-end segmented process time T2 ′ Less than or equal to the front-end process duration T1, ensuring that the second process chamber 13 can promptly receive wafers that have completed the first process. Furthermore, the combined processing equipment can ensure that the second process chamber 13 can promptly complete the second process on the received wafers by setting M ≥ n, thereby avoiding a backlog of wafers output from the first process chamber 12 and reducing the time and economic costs of secondary transport and storage of wafers.

[0040] In addition, Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the transfer chamber 11 (Transformer Module, TM) has a vacuum robot 111. Whenever the first process chamber 12 completes the first process and the second process chamber 13 completes a segmented process of the second process, the wafer that has completed the second process is transferred from the second process chamber 12, the wafer that has completed the first process is transferred from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13, and the wafer to be processed is transferred into the first process chamber 12.

[0041] Further, in Figure 1In the embodiment shown, a rotating mechanism is further provided in the second process chamber 13. Here, M×N wafer trays are arranged around the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism, and the rotating mechanism rotates every segment process time T2. ′ , the N second wafer trays carrying the wafers that have completed the second process are rotated to the outlet of the second process chamber 13, so that the vacuum robot 111 can transfer the N wafers that have completed the second process, and the N idle second wafer trays are rotated to the inlet of the second process chamber 12, so that the vacuum robot 111 can transfer the N wafers that have completed the first process.

[0042] Specifically, the wafer inlet and wafer outlet of the second process chamber 13 can be an integrated inlet and outlet, or they can be separately arranged at different positions of the second process chamber 13. Correspondingly, the second process chamber 13 can be equipped with a vacuum robot 111 to sequentially take and place wafers from the same inlet and outlet in a time-sharing manner, or it can be equipped with multiple vacuum robots to simultaneously place wafers from the wafer inlet and outlet at different positions.

[0043] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 1 The embodiments of providing a rotating mechanism in the second process chamber 13 shown are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, which are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concepts of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0044] Optionally, in other embodiments, no rotating mechanism is provided in the second process chamber 13 , and the vacuum robot 111 directly extends into the second process chamber 13 to place the wafer on the corresponding second wafer tray.

[0045] In addition, in some embodiments, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes I first process chamber 12 and J second process chamber 13. Here, I and J are both positive integers, and M is not less than A positive integer.

[0046] Specifically, in Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes a transfer chamber 11, a first process chamber 12 and two second process chambers 13. Here, the process time T1 is greater than Segment process time T2 ′ .

[0047] The first end of the transfer chamber 11 is connected to the first process chamber 12. The transfer chamber 11 is configured to remove wafers that have completed the first process from the first process chamber 12 and transfer wafers to be processed into the first process chamber 12 at every process time T1. The second and third ends of the transfer chamber 11 are respectively connected to two second process chambers 13. The transfer chamber 11 is configured to alternately remove wafers that have completed the second process from each second process chamber 13 and alternately transfer wafers that have completed the first process into each second process chamber 13 at every process time T1.

[0048] In this way, the multi-process joint processing equipment provided by the first aspect of the present invention can reduce the demand for internal buffer space of the device by ensuring that the back-end process waits for the front-end process, thereby further reducing the size of the equipment.

[0049] Further, in Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the first process chamber 12 has two first wafer trays, and the second process chamber 13 has six second wafer trays.

[0050] In addition, Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the transfer chamber 11 is further connected to an equipment front-end module 15 (EFEM) via a load lock chamber (LL) 14 to obtain wafers to be processed from the outside and transfer wafers that have completed the second process to the outside.

[0051] Furthermore, in some non-limiting embodiments, the multi-process integrated processing apparatus for semiconductor devices provided in the first aspect of the present invention includes a memory and a controller. The memory includes, but is not limited to, the computer-readable storage medium provided in the third aspect, having computer instructions stored thereon. The controller is connected to the memory and configured to execute the computer instructions stored in the memory to implement the multi-process integrated processing method for semiconductor devices provided in the first aspect of the present invention.

[0052] The working principle of the above-mentioned multi-process joint processing equipment will be described below in conjunction with some embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, and are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concept of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than limiting all functions or all working modes of the multi-process joint processing equipment. Similarly, the multi-process joint processing equipment is also only a non-limiting implementation method provided by the present invention, and does not constitute a limitation on the execution subject and execution order of each step in the multi-process joint processing method for these semiconductor devices.

[0053] like Figure 1As shown, whenever the first process chamber 12 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment for semiconductor devices according to the first aspect of the present invention completes the corresponding first process, and the second process chamber 13 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment completes a segmented process of the corresponding second process, a technician can remove the wafer that has completed the corresponding second process from the second process chamber 13. At the same time, the technician can transfer the wafer that has completed the first process in the first process chamber 12 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13, and then transfer the wafer to be processed into the first process chamber 12.

[0054] Here, the total process time T2 of the second process is greater than three times the process time T1 of the first process, and is divided into three stages for segmentation.

[0055] Specifically, if Figure 1 As shown, technicians can first obtain the first wafer to be processed from the outside through the load lock chamber 14 and the equipment front-end module 15, and transfer the first wafer into the first process chamber 12 through the vacuum robot 111 to perform the first process on the first wafer.

[0056] Afterwards, the technician can use the vacuum robot 111 to transfer the first wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13 to perform the first stage of the second process on the first wafer. At the same time, the technician can obtain the second wafer to be processed from the outside and transfer it into the first process chamber 12 via the vacuum robot 111 to perform the first process on the second wafer.

[0057] Afterwards, the technician can use the vacuum robot 111 to transfer the second wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13 to perform the first stage of the second process on the second wafer. At the same time, the technician can obtain a third wafer to be processed from the outside and transfer it to the first process chamber 12 via the vacuum robot 111 to perform the first process on the third wafer.

[0058] Afterwards, the technician uses the vacuum robot 111 to transfer the third wafer, which has completed the first process, from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13, where the first stage of the second process is performed on the third wafer. At this point, the first wafer begins the second stage of the second process. Simultaneously, the technician can obtain a fourth wafer to be processed from an external source and transfer it into the first process chamber 12 via the vacuum robot 111 to perform the first process on the fourth wafer.

[0059] Next, the technician uses vacuum robot 111 to transfer the fourth wafer, which has completed the first process, from the first process chamber 12 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 13, where the first stage of the second process is performed on the fourth wafer. At this point, the second wafer begins the second stage of the second process. Simultaneously, the technician can obtain multiple wafers to be processed from an external source and perform the aforementioned transfer and processing steps on them sequentially.

[0060] As described above, the multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided by the first aspect of the present invention can adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber by completing different stages of the first process and the second process in different chambers, and realize the simultaneous execution of different processes within the same time period, thereby realizing assembly line-style multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the production capacity per unit time of the multi-process joint processing process and improving the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing. In addition, the multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided by the first aspect of the present invention reduces the equipment's footprint by providing only one first process chamber 23, thereby further improving the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing.

[0061] Please refer to Figure 2 . Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0062] exist Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes two transfer chambers 211-212, at least one buffer chamber 22, two first process chambers 23 and two second process chambers 24. Here, the segmented process time T2 ′ Greater than process time T1.

[0063] The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity 211 are connected to the two first process cavities 23 respectively, for each segment process time T2 ′ , the wafers to be processed are alternately transferred into each first process chamber 23. The third end of the first transmission chamber 211 is connected to the buffer chamber 22, which is used to process the wafers every segment process time T2. ′ , the wafers that have completed the second process are taken out from the buffer chamber 22 , and the wafers that have completed the first process in each first process chamber 23 are alternately transferred to the buffer chamber 22 .

[0064] The first end of the second transmission cavity 212 is connected to the buffer cavity 22 for every segment process time T2 ′ , the wafer that has completed the first process is taken out. The second end and the third end of the second transmission cavity 212 are connected to the two second process cavities 24 respectively, for each segment process time T2 ′, wafers that have completed the second process are alternately taken out from each second process chamber 24, and wafers that have completed the first process are alternately transferred into each second process chamber 24.

[0065] In this way, the multi-process joint processing equipment provided by the first aspect of the present invention can reduce the demand for internal buffer space of the device by ensuring that the front-end process waits for the back-end process, thereby further reducing the size of the equipment.

[0066] Further, in Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the first process chamber 23 has two first wafer trays, and the second process chamber 24 has six second wafer trays.

[0067] In addition, Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the first transfer chamber 211 is further connected to the equipment front-end module 26 via the load lock chamber 25 to obtain wafers to be processed from the outside and to transfer wafers that have completed the second process to the outside.

[0068] The working principle of the above-mentioned multi-process joint processing equipment will be described below in conjunction with some embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, and are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concept of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than limiting all functions or all working modes of the multi-process joint processing equipment. Similarly, the multi-process joint processing equipment is also only a non-limiting implementation method provided by the present invention, and does not constitute a limitation on the execution subject and execution order of each step in the multi-process joint processing method for these semiconductor devices.

[0069] like Figure 2 As shown, whenever the first process chamber 23 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment for semiconductor devices according to the first aspect of the present invention completes the corresponding first process, and the second process chamber 24 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment completes a segmented process of the corresponding second process, a technician can remove the wafer that has completed the corresponding second process from the second process chamber 24. At the same time, the technician can transfer the wafer that has completed the first process in the first process chamber 23 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment from the first process chamber 23 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 24, and then transfer the wafer to be processed into the first process chamber 23.

[0070] Here, the total process time T2 of the second process is greater than three times the process time T1 of the first process, and is divided into three stages for segmentation.

[0071] Specifically, if Figure 2As shown, technicians can first obtain the first wafer to be processed from the outside through the load lock chamber 25 and the equipment front-end module 26, and transfer the first wafer into the first process chamber 23 through the vacuum robot in the first transfer chamber 211 to perform the first process on the above-mentioned first wafer.

[0072] Afterwards, the technician can use the vacuum robot to transfer the first wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 23 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 24 to perform the first stage of the second process on the first wafer. At the same time, the technician can obtain the second wafer to be processed from the outside and transfer it into the first process chamber 23 using the vacuum robot to perform the first process on the second wafer.

[0073] Afterwards, the technician can use the vacuum robot to transfer the second wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 23 to the second transfer chamber 212. After the first stage of the second process of the first wafer in the second process chamber 24 is completed, the technician opens the chamber door of the second process chamber 24 and transfers the second wafer to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 24 to perform the first stage of the second process on the second wafer. At the same time, the technician can obtain a third wafer to be processed from the outside and transfer it to the first process chamber 23 via the vacuum robot to perform the first process on the third wafer.

[0074] Afterward, the technician can use the vacuum robot to transfer the third wafer, which has completed the first process, from the first process chamber 23 to the second transfer chamber 212. After the second stage of the second process of the first wafer in the second process chamber 24 is completed, the technician opens the chamber door of the second process chamber 24 and transfers the third wafer to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 24 to perform the first stage of the second process on the third wafer. At the same time, the technician can obtain multiple wafers to be processed from the outside and perform the above transfer and processing steps on them in sequence.

[0075] As described above, the multi-process joint processing equipment for the above-mentioned semiconductor devices provided by the first aspect of the present invention can adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber by completing different stages of the first process and the second process in different chambers, and realize the simultaneous implementation of different processes within the same time period, and realize assembly line-type multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the production capacity per unit time of the multi-process joint processing process, so as to improve the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing.

[0076] Please refer to Figure 3 . Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of a multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0077] exist Figure 3In the embodiment shown, the multi-process joint processing equipment includes two transfer chambers 311-312, at least one buffer chamber 32, two first process chambers 33 and two second process chambers 34. Here, the segmented process time T2 ′ Greater than process time T1.

[0078] The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity 311 are connected to a first process cavity 33 and a second process cavity 34 respectively, for each segment process time T2 ′ , the wafers that have completed the second process are transferred from the corresponding second process chamber 34, the wafers that have completed the first process are transferred from the corresponding first process chamber 33 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber 34, and the wafers to be processed are transferred to the corresponding first process chamber. The third end of the first transfer chamber 311 is connected to the buffer chamber 32, which is used to transfer the wafers to the corresponding first process chamber every segment process time T2. ′ , another wafer that has completed the second process is taken out from the buffer chamber 32 , and another wafer to be processed is transferred into the buffer chamber 32 .

[0079] The first end of the second transmission chamber 312 is connected to the buffer chamber 32, and the second end and the third end thereof are connected to another first process chamber 33 and another second process chamber 34 respectively, for each segment process time T2 ′ , the other wafer that has completed the second process in the corresponding second process chamber 34 is transferred to the buffer chamber 32, the other wafer that has completed the first process is transferred from the corresponding first process chamber 33 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber 34, and the other wafer to be processed in the buffer chamber 32 is transferred to the corresponding first process chamber 33.

[0080] In this way, the multi-process joint processing equipment provided by the first aspect of the present invention can reduce the demand for internal buffer space of the device by ensuring that the front-end process waits for the back-end process, thereby further reducing the size of the equipment.

[0081] Further, in Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, the first process chamber 33 has two first wafer trays, and the second process chamber 34 has six second wafer trays.

[0082] In addition, Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, the first transfer chamber 311 is further connected to the equipment front-end module 36 via the load lock chamber 35 to obtain wafers to be processed from the outside and to transfer wafers that have completed the second process to the outside.

[0083] The working principle of the above-mentioned multi-process joint processing equipment will be described below in conjunction with some embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments of the multi-process joint processing method are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, and are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concept of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than limiting all functions or all working modes of the multi-process joint processing equipment. Similarly, the multi-process joint processing equipment is also only a non-limiting implementation method provided by the present invention, and does not constitute a limitation on the execution subject and execution order of each step in the multi-process joint processing method for these semiconductor devices.

[0084] like Figure 2 As shown, whenever the first process chamber 33 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment for semiconductor devices according to the first aspect of the present invention completes the corresponding first process, and the second process chamber 34 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment completes a segmented process of the corresponding second process, a technician can remove the wafer that has completed the corresponding second process from the second process chamber 34. At the same time, the technician can transfer the wafer that has completed the first process in the first process chamber 33 of the multi-process integrated processing equipment from the first process chamber 33 to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber 34, and then transfer the wafer to be processed into the first process chamber 33.

[0085] Here, the total process time T2 of the second process is greater than three times the process time T1 of the first process, and is divided into three stages for segmentation.

[0086] Specifically, if Figure 3 As shown, technicians can first obtain the first wafer to be processed from the outside through the load lock chamber 35 and the equipment front-end module 36, and transfer the first wafer into a first process chamber 33 through the vacuum robot in the first transfer chamber 311 to perform the first process on the above-mentioned first wafer.

[0087] At the same time, technicians can obtain a second wafer to be processed from the outside, and transfer the second wafer into another first process chamber 33 via a vacuum robot to perform the first process on the second wafer.

[0088] Afterwards, technicians can use a vacuum robot to transfer the first wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 33 to a corresponding second wafer tray in a second process chamber 34 to perform the first stage of the second process on the first wafer.

[0089] At the same time, technicians can use a vacuum robot to transfer the second wafer that has completed the first process from the first process chamber 33 to the corresponding second wafer tray in another second process chamber 34 to perform the first stage of the second process on the above-mentioned second wafer.

[0090] In addition, technicians can obtain the third wafer and the fourth wafer to be processed from the outside respectively, and transfer the third wafer and the fourth wafer into the two first process chambers 33 respectively via the vacuum robot in the first transfer chamber 311 to perform the first process on the above-mentioned third wafer and the fourth wafer.

[0091] Afterwards, technicians can use a vacuum robot to transfer the third wafer and the fourth wafer that have completed the first process from the two first process chambers 33 to the second transfer chamber 212 respectively, and wait until the first stage of the second process of the first wafer and the second wafer in the second process chamber 34 is completed, open the chamber door of the second process chamber 34, and transfer the third wafer and the fourth wafer to the corresponding second wafer trays in the two second process chambers 24 respectively to perform the first stage of the second process on the above-mentioned third wafer and fourth wafer.

[0092] At the same time, technicians can obtain multiple wafers to be processed from the outside and perform the above-mentioned transmission and processing processes on them in turn.

[0093] As described above, the multi-process joint processing equipment for the above-mentioned semiconductor devices provided by the first aspect of the present invention can adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber by completing different stages of the first process and the second process in different chambers, and realize the simultaneous implementation of different processes within the same time period, and realize assembly line-type multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the production capacity per unit time of the multi-process joint processing process, so as to improve the efficiency per square meter of the multi-process joint processing.

[0094] To sum up, the multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices, the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices and the computer-readable storage medium provided by the present invention can all configure the number of wafer trays in the front-end and back-end process chambers according to the difference in process time between the front-end and back-end processes, and perform the back-end processes with longer process time in segments to adapt to the production capacity of each process chamber and realize assembly-line multi-process joint processing, thereby improving the efficiency per square meter of multi-process joint processing.

[0095] Although the above methods are illustrated and described as a series of acts for simplicity of explanation, it is to be understood and appreciated that these methods are not limited by the order of the acts, as some acts may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other acts from those illustrated and described herein or not illustrated and described herein but understandable to those skilled in the art according to one or more embodiments.

[0096] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0097] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software as a computer program product, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is also properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0098] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices, characterized in that: include: A first process chamber has N first wafer trays for carrying N wafers for a first process, wherein the process duration of the first process is T1, and N is a positive integer; The second process chamber has M×N second wafer trays for carrying no more than M×N wafers to perform the second process in segments, wherein the total process time of the second process is T2 and the segmented process time is T2. The preset number of segments n is a positive integer greater than 1, and M is a positive integer not less than n; and The transfer chamber has a vacuum robot. Whenever the first process chamber completes the first process and the second process chamber completes a segmented process of the second process, the wafer that has completed the second process is transferred from the second process chamber, the wafer that has completed the first process is transferred from the first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber, and the wafer to be processed is transferred into the first process chamber.

2. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second process chamber is further provided with a rotating mechanism, wherein the M×N wafer trays are arranged around the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism, and the rotating mechanism rotates every time the segmented process time T2 ′ , the N second wafer trays carrying the wafers that have completed the second process are rotated to the wafer outlet of the second process chamber so that the vacuum robot can transfer the N wafers that have completed the second process, and the N idle second wafer trays are rotated to the wafer inlet of the second process chamber so that the vacuum robot can transfer the N wafers that have completed the first process.

3. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multi-process joint processing equipment includes I first process chambers and J second process chambers, wherein I and J are both positive integers, and M is not less than A positive integer.

4. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The multi-process joint processing equipment includes one transmission chamber, one first process chamber and two second process chambers, wherein: The process time T1 is greater than The segmented process duration T2 ′ The first end of the transmission cavity is connected to the first process cavity, and is used to take out the wafer that has completed the first process from the first process cavity every time the process time is T1, and transfer the wafer to be processed into the first process cavity. The second end and the third end of the transmission cavity are respectively connected to two second process cavities, and are used to alternately take out wafers that have completed the second process from each second process cavity and alternately transfer wafers that have completed the first process into each second process cavity every process time T1.

5. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The multi-process joint processing equipment includes two transmission chambers, at least one buffer chamber, two first process chambers and two second process chambers, wherein: The segmented process duration T2 ′ The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity are respectively connected to the two first process cavities for each segment process time T2. ′ , the wafers to be processed are alternately introduced into each of the first process chambers, The third end of the first transmission cavity is connected to the buffer cavity for every segment process time T2 ′ , the wafers that have completed the second process are taken out from the buffer chamber, and the wafers that have completed the first process in each of the first process chambers are alternately transferred to the buffer chamber, The first end of the second transmission cavity is connected to the buffer cavity, and is used for every segment process time T2 ′ , then take out the wafer that has completed the first process, The second end and the third end of the second transmission cavity are respectively connected to two second process cavities for each segment process time T2 ′ , wafers that have completed the second process are alternately taken out from each of the second process chambers, and wafers that have completed the first process are alternately introduced into each of the second process chambers.

6. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The multi-process joint processing equipment includes two transmission chambers, at least one buffer chamber, two first process chambers and two second process chambers, wherein: The segmented process duration T2 ′ The first end and the second end of the first transmission cavity are respectively connected to the first process cavity and the second process cavity for each segment process time T2. ′ , the wafers that have completed the second process are transferred from the corresponding second process chamber, the wafers that have completed the first process are transferred from the corresponding first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber, and the wafers to be processed are transferred into the corresponding first process chamber. The third end of the first transmission cavity is connected to the buffer cavity for every segment process time T2 ′ , another wafer that has completed the second process is taken out from the buffer chamber, and another wafer to be processed is transferred into the buffer chamber, The first end of the second transmission cavity is connected to the buffer cavity, and the second end and the third end thereof are respectively connected to another first process cavity and another second process cavity for each segment process time T2. ′ , the other wafer that has completed the second process in the corresponding second process chamber is transferred to the buffer chamber, the other wafer that has completed the first process is transferred from the corresponding first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the corresponding second process chamber, and the other wafer to be processed in the buffer chamber is transferred to the corresponding first process chamber.

7. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that: The transfer cavity is also connected to the equipment front-end module via the load lock cavity to obtain wafers to be processed from the outside and transfer wafers that have completed the second process to the outside.

8. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multi-process joint processing equipment includes a molybdenum deposition equipment, the first process includes a molybdenum nitride deposition process, and the second process includes a bulk molybdenum deposition process.

9. The multi-process combined processing equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that: The total process time T2 of the second process is greater than three times the process time T1 of the first process, and is divided into three sections for segmentation. The first process chamber has two first wafer trays, and the second process chamber has six second wafer trays.

10. A multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Whenever the first process chamber of the multi-process joint processing equipment for semiconductor devices as described in any one of claims 1 to 9 completes the corresponding first process, and the second process chamber of the multi-process joint processing equipment completes a segmented process of the corresponding second process, the wafer that has completed the second process is transferred out of the second process chamber, the wafer that has completed the first process in the first process chamber is transferred from the first process chamber to the corresponding second wafer tray in the second process chamber, and the wafer to be processed is transferred into the first process chamber.

11. A computer storable medium having computer instructions stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the multi-process joint processing method for semiconductor devices according to claim 10 is implemented.

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