Carrier operation method for wafer tank cleaning equipment

Abstract

The application provides a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning device. An external carrier containing wafers is loaded by at least one wafer loading station, and the external carrier containing wafers is transferred to a wafer transfer device by a carrier transfer system; a plurality of wafers are synchronously transferred from the external carrier to an internal carrier by the wafer transfer device; the internal carrier containing wafers is transferred to a wafer cleaning area by the carrier transfer system for cleaning, and the empty external carrier is transferred to a carrier cleaning area by the carrier transfer system for cleaning; the cleaned external carrier is used as the internal carrier to circulate the internal carrier, or is used as the external carrier to circulate the external carrier outside the wafer tank cleaning device. The carrier operation method can greatly reduce the configuration amount of total carriers, minimize the occupied space of a carrier temporary storage area, and save the cleaning cost and operation cost of the wafer tank cleaning device for the external carrier.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor cleaning, and in particular to a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning device. BACKGROUND

[0002] Wafer tank cleaning process is to place batch wafers carried by a carrier in multiple cleaning tanks according to cleaning procedures, and remove surface contaminants through soaking, spraying, ultrasonic oscillation or chemical reagent circulation.

[0003] Wafers are extremely susceptible to contamination during production, and any tiny dust, particles or chemical residues can cause irreversible damage to the wafers. The cleanliness of the carrier, which is in direct contact with the wafers, directly affects the cleanliness of the wafers. In the existing wafer tank cleaning device, the external carrier used for transporting wafers outside the cleaning device cannot be mixed with the internal carrier used for transporting wafers inside the wafer tank cleaning device, so as to prevent cross contamination between the external carrier and the internal carrier and contamination of the cleaning tank. The external carrier needs to be cleaned regularly by a separate carrier cleaning machine.

[0004] Different sizes of wafers need to be carried by different sizes of carriers. If the number of internal carriers of the cleaning device is not enough and the cleaning process time is long, the number of internal carriers will greatly limit the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning device. In the prior art, a carrier temporary storage area is configured inside or outside the cleaning device to store internal carriers and external carriers, respectively. If a sufficient number of internal carriers of different sizes are configured, since the carriers cannot be directly stacked, for a cleaning device with high throughput, the carrier temporary storage area requires a large space and needs to be configured with a sufficient number of carrier racks.

[0005] It should be noted that the above introduction to the background art is only for the convenience of clearly and completely describing the technical solutions of the present application, and for the convenience of understanding by those skilled in the art. The above technical solutions cannot be considered as known to those skilled in the art just because they are described in the background art section of the present application. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application aims to provide a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning device to solve the problem that the conventional carrier operation method cannot balance the throughput of the wafer tank cleaning device and the space configuration of the carrier temporary storage area.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present application provides a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning equipment, which comprises at least one wafer loading station, at least one internal carrier, a wafer cleaning area and a carrier conveying system, a wafer transfer device and a carrier cleaning area are arranged in at least one wafer loading station, and the carrier operation method comprises the following steps:

[0008] S1, an external carrier containing wafers is loaded by at least one wafer loading station, and the external carrier containing wafers is transferred to the wafer transfer device by the carrier conveying system;

[0009] S2, a plurality of wafers are synchronously transferred from the external carrier to the internal carrier by the wafer transfer device;

[0010] S3, the internal carrier containing wafers is conveyed to the wafer cleaning area by the carrier conveying system for cleaning, and the empty external carrier is transferred to the carrier cleaning area by the carrier conveying system for cleaning;

[0011] S4, the cleaned external carrier is used as an internal carrier for internal carrier circulation, or as an external carrier for external carrier circulation outside the wafer tank cleaning equipment.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present application, in step S1, the size of the wafer is identified during the process of loading the external carrier containing wafers by at least one wafer loading station, and after identifying the size of the wafer, the internal carrier corresponding to the size of the wafer is conveyed to the internal carrier station of the wafer transfer device by the carrier conveying system.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present application, the wafer transfer device is provided with a wafer loading mechanism, a lifting mechanism located below the wafer loading mechanism and a clamping mechanism located above the wafer loading mechanism, and the wafer transfer device adjusts the lifting mechanism and the clamping mechanism to modes suitable for the identified size of the wafer according to the size of the wafer identified in step S1, and then transfers batches of wafers from the external carrier to the internal carrier by the wafer transfer device.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present application, in step S3, the empty external carrier is transferred to the carrier cleaning area for cleaning, which comprises spraying and drying the external carrier, and the spraying parameters of the external carrier containing the wafer identified in step S1 are adjusted.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present application, the step S3 of transferring the empty external carrier to the carrier cleaning area for cleaning includes chemical cleaning by using at least one chemical cleaning agent, and pre-cleaning and rinsing by using deionized water.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present application, the step of transferring the empty external carrier to the carrier cleaning area for cleaning further includes drying the cleaned external carrier by using hot nitrogen gas or by using isopropyl alcohol vapor spraying followed by hot nitrogen gas blowing.

[0017] As a further improvement of the present application, a carrier temporary storage area is configured in at least one of the wafer loading stations, and the circulation of the internal carrier in the step S4 includes the following steps:

[0018] transporting to the carrier temporary storage area by the carrier conveying system;

[0019] transferring from the carrier temporary storage area to the internal carrier station of the wafer transfer device by the carrier conveying system;

[0020] after receiving the wafer to be cleaned, transporting and placing the wafer into the corresponding cleaning tank in sequence according to the wafer cleaning process sequence by the carrier conveying system, supporting the wafer for cleaning, and transporting to the wafer drying area to support the wafer for drying;

[0021] transporting to one of the wafer loading stations by the carrier conveying system to directly load the wafer, or transferring the wafer to the external carrier by the wafer transfer device.

[0022] As a further improvement of the present application, a carrier temporary storage area is configured in at least one of the wafer loading stations, and the carrier conveying system includes a first conveying mechanism and a second conveying mechanism, the second conveying mechanism is configured in parallel above the first conveying mechanism, the first conveying mechanism is configured for the internal carrier carrying the wafer to be cleaned to clean in the wafer cleaning area, and the second conveying mechanism is configured for the internal carrier carrying the cleaned wafer to be conveyed to the carrier temporary storage area above the first conveying mechanism.

[0023] As a further improvement of the present application, the carrier conveying system further includes a carrier lifting mechanism, the carrier lifting mechanism is configured with a primary and secondary part supporting structure, the primary and secondary part supporting structure is configured for the internal carrier and the external carrier to be connected and transferred between the carrier lifting mechanism and the first conveying mechanism, and between the carrier lifting mechanism and the second conveying mechanism.

[0024] As a further improvement of the present invention, the wafers after cleaning in step S4 are directly loaded out by the internal carrier carrying the batch of wafers, or are transferred by the wafer transfer device to the external carrier for loading out.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0026] The wafer tank cleaning equipment carrier operation method provided in this application, by configuring a carrier cleaning area within the wafer loading station, allows external carriers to be cleaned in the carrier cleaning area and then used as internal carriers in a circulation process. This eliminates the limitation on cleaning efficiency caused by insufficient internal carriers due to factors such as large wafer batches and mixed wafer sizes. Furthermore, it significantly reduces the total number of carriers (including internal and external carriers) and minimizes the space occupied by the carrier storage area. Simultaneously, it eliminates the need for a separate carrier cleaning machine to periodically clean external carriers, saving on wafer manufacturing costs. Attached Figure Description

[0027] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a vehicle operation method disclosed in this invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer tank cleaning device provided by the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer loading station provided by the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the wafer loading station from another angle is shown;

[0031] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer transfer device provided by the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 These are schematic diagrams of two other arrangement methods for the wafer tank cleaning equipment provided by the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. Equivalent changes or substitutions in function, method, or structure made by those skilled in the art based on these embodiments are all within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] The application provides a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning device, and the wafer tank cleaning device applied by the method has at least the following basic configuration: at least one wafer loading station, at least one internal carrier, a wafer cleaning area, and a carrier conveying system, and the wafer loading station is provided with a wafer transfer device and a carrier cleaning area.

[0035] The embodiments of the application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific examples and application scenarios.

[0036] In combination with Figures 1 to 6 The application provides a carrier operation method of a wafer tank cleaning device, and the wafer tank cleaning device applied by the method has at least the following basic configuration: at least one wafer loading station, at least one internal carrier, a wafer cleaning area, and a carrier conveying system, and the wafer loading station is provided with a wafer transfer device and a carrier cleaning area.

[0037] S1, the external carrier containing wafers is loaded by at least one wafer loading station, and the external carrier containing wafers is transferred to the wafer transfer device by the carrier conveying system.

[0038] In an embodiment, referring to Figures 2 to 5 As shown in the figure, a wafer tank cleaning device 500 is configured as follows: a guide rail 540, a wafer loading station 510 arranged at one end of the guide rail 540, a wafer transfer station 520 arranged at the other end of the guide rail 540, a wafer cleaning area 530 arranged along the guide rail 540, and a carrier conveying system 550.

[0039] The wafer loading station 510 is provided with a first wafer transfer device 110, a carrier cleaning area 120, and a carrier temporary storage area (not shown), wherein the carrier temporary storage area temporarily stores at least one internal carrier 11 in advance.

[0040] The carrier conveying system 550 includes a first conveying mechanism 551 moving along the guide rail 540, a second conveying mechanism 552 connected between the wafer loading station 510 and the wafer transfer station 520, a first carrier lifting mechanism 553 and a first mechanical arm 554 arranged in the wafer loading station 510, a second carrier lifting mechanism (not shown) and a second mechanical arm (not shown) arranged in the wafer transfer station 520, wherein the second conveying mechanism 552 is arranged in parallel above the conveying space of the first conveying mechanism 551, and the first carrier lifting mechanism 553 and the second carrier lifting mechanism are arranged for lifting and conveying the internal carrier 11 or the external carrier 12 between the first conveying mechanism 551 and the second conveying mechanism 552.

[0041] According to actual application requirements, the functions of the wafer transfer station 520 can be flexibly configured, for example:

[0042] In embodiment 1, the wafer transfer station 520 is not equipped with loading and unloading functions, but only serves as a transfer station for conveying and transferring the internal carrier 11 after wafer cleaning. The wafer 100 can only be loaded and unloaded from the wafer loading station 510. The external carrier 12 that holds the wafer 100 is directly loaded into the first wafer loading and unloading window 512 and placed in the external carrier station 102 of the first wafer transfer device 110.

[0043] In embodiment 2, the wafer transfer station 520 is equipped with loading and unloading functions, but not with a wafer transfer device. The wafer 100 can be loaded and unloaded from either the wafer loading station 510 or the wafer transfer station 520. When the external carrier 12 containing the wafer 100 is loaded from the wafer transfer station 520, it is transferred to the second conveying mechanism 552 by a second robotic arm and a second carrier lifting mechanism. The second conveying mechanism 552 then transfers the wafer to the wafer loading station 510, and finally, via the first carrier lifting device 553 and the first robotic arm 554, it is transferred to the external carrier station 102 of the first wafer transfer device 110.

[0044] In embodiment 3, the wafer transfer station 520 is equipped with loading and unloading functions, and also has a second wafer transfer device (not shown). The structure of the second wafer transfer device is the same as that of the first wafer transfer device 110. The wafer 100 can be loaded and unloaded from the wafer loading station 510 or the wafer transfer station 520. When the wafer 100 is loaded from the wafer loading station 510, the operation method of the external carrier 12 is the same as that in embodiment 1. When the wafer 100 is loaded from the wafer transfer station 520, the external carrier 12 containing the wafer 100 is directly placed in the external carrier station of the second wafer transfer device, and the internal carrier 11 is transferred from the carrier storage area to the internal carrier station of the second wafer transfer device through the carrier conveying system 550. The wafer transfer station 520 can also be equipped with a carrier storage area to facilitate the timely acquisition of internal carriers 11 directly in the wafer transfer station 520. If the wafer transfer station 520 is not equipped with a carrier storage area, the internal carriers 11 will be transferred from the carrier storage area of ​​the wafer loading station 510 to the wafer transfer station 520 by the carrier conveying system 550.

[0045] In other embodiments, the number and arrangement of the wafer loading station 510 and the wafer transfer station 520 in the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500 can be adjusted according to actual needs. For example, refer to Figure 6 As shown in the schematic diagram (a), the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500 can be configured with three workstations, including at least one wafer loading workstation 510, and the other two workstations can be the wafer loading workstation 510 and / or the wafer transfer workstation 520, for example, arranged in a triangular shape, with adjacent workstations connected by a carrier transfer system 550; see reference. Figure 6As shown in the schematic diagram of b, the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500 can be configured with four workstations, at least including one wafer loading workstation 510, and the other three workstations can be wafer loading workstations 510 and / or wafer transfer workstations 520, for example, arranged in a quadrilateral shape, and adjacent workstations are transmitted by the carrier transmission system 550.

[0046] That is, the loading and unloading of the wafer 100 can be configured to be loaded or unloaded in a single direction, or can be loaded and unloaded in multiple directions, with higher flexibility and transmission efficiency.

[0047] In the process of loading the external carrier 12 containing the wafer 100, the size of the wafer 100 is identified, for example, the external carrier 12 is loaded by the first wafer loading and unloading window 512, and the wafer identification device (not shown) is arranged above the first wafer loading and unloading window 512. After identifying the size of the wafer 100, the first robot 554 grips the corresponding size of the internal carrier 11 from the carrier temporary storage area according to the size of the loaded wafer 100, and places the internal carrier 11 in the internal carrier station 101 of the first wafer transfer device 110.

[0048] S2, synchronously transfer multiple wafers from the external carrier to the internal carrier by the wafer transfer device;

[0049] In combination with Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown in the schematic diagram of b, the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500 can be configured with four workstations, at least including one wafer loading workstation 510, and the other three workstations can be wafer loading workstations 510 and / or wafer transfer workstations 520, for example, arranged in a quadrilateral shape, and adjacent workstations are transmitted by the carrier transmission system 550.

[0050] The first wafer transfer device 110 is configured with a wafer loading mechanism 10, a wafer lifting mechanism 20 located below the wafer loading mechanism 10, and a wafer clamping mechanism 30 located above the carrier, and the wafer transfer device 100 adjusts the wafer lifting mechanism 20 and the wafer clamping mechanism 30 to the mode suitable for the identified wafer size, and then transfers the wafer from the external carrier 12 to the internal carrier 11 by the first wafer transfer device 110.

[0051] Referring to Figure 5As shown, in the present embodiment, the wafer loading mechanism 10 is configured with a loading platform 103, and the inner carrier stations 101 and the outer carrier stations 102 are arranged on the loading platform 103. Since the wafer 100 has multiple sizes, common sizes are 6 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches, and different sizes of the wafer 100 need to be carried by different sizes of the carrier. Therefore, the wafer slot cleaning equipment 500 needs to be configured with at least the inner carrier 11 and the outer carrier 12 including 6 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches. The wafer loading mechanism 10 is configured with a carrier clamping device 13 to clamp and fix the inner carrier 11 and the outer carrier 12 of different sizes to prevent displacement of the inner carrier 11 and the outer carrier 12. Further, a carrier rotating assembly (not shown) can also be configured to drive the slot direction of the wafer slot of the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12 to switch between the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction (switched by 90° rotation in the forward or reverse direction).

[0052] The wafer lifting mechanism 20 is configured to simultaneously lift the wafer 100 accommodated in the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12, and is adapted to simultaneously lift batches of wafers 100 of different sizes. For example, a plurality of lifting rack groups are provided, including a lifting rack group suitable for 6-inch wafers, a lifting rack group suitable for 8-inch wafers, and a lifting rack group suitable for 12-inch wafers. By switching the lifting rack group, batches of wafers 100 of different sizes can be simultaneously lifted.

[0053] The wafer clamping mechanism 30 is configured with a clamping structure 31 and a control assembly (not shown) for controlling the clamping structure 31, for batch clamping of the wafers 100 in the inner carrier 11 and the outer carrier 12. The clamping structure 31 is configured with at least two sets of clamping jaws to batch clamp at least two sizes of wafers 100. For example, in an embodiment, the clamping structure 31 is configured with clamping jaw groups for clamping 6-inch wafers, 8-inch wafers, and 12-inch wafers, respectively. The control assembly controls the rotation angle of the clamping structure 31 to switch clamping between the plurality of clamping jaw groups to clamp wafers 100 of different sizes. Further, the individual clamping jaws constituting the clamping jaw group are adjusted in relative spacing and slope by being arranged in at least two clamping blocks in a stepped manner to adapt to wafers 100 of different sizes.

[0054] The first wafer transfer device 110 adopts a batch transfer mode of the wafer clamping mechanism 30 and the wafer lifting mechanism 20 to transfer the wafers 100, so that the wafer transfer device 110 has a smaller occupied space and a higher transfer rate.

[0055] The structure and working principle of the second wafer transfer device arranged in the wafer transfer station 520 are the same as those of the first wafer transfer device 110.

[0056] Step 3, the inner carrier containing the wafer is transferred from the carrier transfer system to the wafer cleaning area for cleaning, and the empty outer carrier is transferred from the carrier transfer system to the carrier cleaning area for cleaning.

[0057] After the wafer 100 is transferred from the outer carrier 12 to the inner carrier 11 by the first wafer transfer device 110 or the second wafer transfer device, the inner carrier 11 containing the wafer 100 to be cleaned is transferred to the wafer cleaning area 530 by the first transmission mechanism 551 for cleaning. The empty outer carrier 12 at the wafer loading station 510 is directly transferred to the carrier cleaning area 120 by the first robot 554 for cleaning; the empty outer carrier 12 at the wafer transfer station 520 is transferred back to the wafer loading station 510 by the second transmission mechanism 552, is lowered by the first carrier lifting device 553, and is then transferred to the carrier cleaning area 120 by the first robot 554 for cleaning.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 5, the wafer slot cleaning equipment 500 is shown. For the inner carrier 11 carrying the wafer 100 to be cleaned, the wafer 100 is cleaned by the first transmission mechanism 551 from the wafer loading station 510 or the wafer transfer station 520, transported along the guide rail 540 to the wafer cleaning area 530, and then cleaned by the cleaning tank. Figures 2 to 4

[0059] The wafer cleaning area 530 includes cleaning tanks (not shown) arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the guide rail 540. For example, the cleaning tanks include a first cleaning tank, a second cleaning tank, a third cleaning tank, a fourth cleaning tank, a fifth cleaning tank, and a sixth cleaning tank. The liquid in the first cleaning tank can be HF (hydrofluoric acid), the liquid in the third cleaning tank can be SC1 (Standard Cleaning 1, a mixture of ammonia, hydrogen peroxide solution, and ultrapure water), the liquid in the fifth cleaning tank can be SC2 (Standard Cleaning 2, a mixture of hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution, and ultrapure water) or SPM (a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide), or other liquids, and the liquids in the second cleaning tank, the fourth cleaning tank, and the sixth cleaning tank can be ultrapure water or other liquids used to clean the liquid (i.e., HF, SC1, SC2, SPM, etc.) remaining on the surface of the wafer 100 and the inner carrier 11 after the previous cleaning process. The number of cleaning tanks and the liquid in the cleaning tanks (e.g., the first cleaning tank, the second cleaning tank, etc.) can be increased or decreased according to process requirements.

[0060] ​Specifically, after the wafer 100 is cleaned in the first cleaning tank by the inner carrier 11, the inner carrier 11 after cleaning is transported into the second cleaning tank by the first conveying mechanism 551 for cleaning, so as to clean the liquid remaining on the wafer 100 and the inner carrier 11 after cleaning in the first cleaning tank, to avoid the liquid remaining on the wafer 100 and the inner carrier 11 from polluting other cleaning tanks (for example, the third cleaning tank, the fifth cleaning tank, etc.), so that the inner carrier 11 is sequentially subjected to the cleaning process in other cleaning tanks (for example, the third cleaning tank, the fourth cleaning tank, etc.) under the driving of the first conveying mechanism 551.

[0061] Further, the wafer cleaning area 530 is further provided with a wafer drying device (not shown) for drying the cleaned wafer.

[0062] The outer carrier 12 is cleaned, including spray treatment and drying treatment of the outer carrier 12. Since the wafer 100 of different sizes corresponds to the outer carrier 12 of different sizes, in an embodiment, the spray parameters of the outer carrier 12 carrying the wafer 100 are adjusted according to the size of the wafer 100 identified, a wider spray angle and spray time are provided for the outer carrier 12 of larger size, and a narrower spray angle and spray time are provided for the outer carrier 12 of smaller size, so as to save the use amount of spray liquid while ensuring the cleaning effect.

[0063] The outer carrier 12 is cleaned, including chemical cleaning by using at least one chemical cleaning agent, and pre-cleaning and rinsing by using deionized water. For example, for the scenario that the outer carrier 12 may have more organic contaminants and particles, SC1 solution can be used to remove the organic contaminants and particles attached to the surface of the outer carrier 12 by oxidation and complexation; for the scenario that the outer carrier 12 may have more metal contaminants, SC2 solution can be used to remove the metal ions attached to the surface of the outer carrier 12; and deionized water can be used for initial rinsing or final flushing in the cleaning step.

[0064] The outer carrier 12 is subjected to drying treatment, which can be performed by using hot nitrogen gas for purging or by using isopropyl alcohol vapor spraying and then using hot nitrogen gas for purging. The water is replaced by atomized high-temperature isopropyl alcohol, and nitrogen gas is discharged, so as to have better drying effect.

[0065] For the case that the wafer transfer station 520 does not have the wafer unloading function as described in the above embodiment 1, the inner carrier 11 carrying the cleaned wafer 100 directly passes through the second carrier lifting mechanism and the second robot in the wafer transfer station 520, and is transferred to the second conveying mechanism 552. The cleaned inner carrier 11 is transferred back to the wafer loading station 510 by the second conveying mechanism 552. The wafer 100 is directly unloaded through the inner carrier 11 at the first wafer loading and unloading window 512 by the cooperation of the first carrier lifting mechanism 553 and the first robot 554.

[0066] For the case that the wafer transfer station 520 has the wafer unloading function as described in the above embodiment 2 and embodiment 3, the cleaned wafer 100 can be directly unloaded by the inner carrier 11 in the wafer transfer station 520, or be unloaded by being transferred to the cleaned outer carrier 12 or the outer carrier 12 provided by the next process through the second wafer transfer device. The idle inner carrier 11 is transferred to the carrier temporary storage area.

[0067] The carrier lifting mechanism (the first carrier lifting mechanism 553 and the second carrier lifting mechanism) can be provided with a sub-mother piece supporting structure for cooperation. The sub-mother piece supporting structure is configured to connect and transfer the inner carrier 11 and the outer carrier 12 between the carrier lifting mechanism and the first conveying mechanism 551, and between the carrier lifting mechanism and the second conveying mechanism 552. Through the cooperation of the embedded design of the sub-mother piece supporting structure and the basic lifting function of the first carrier lifting mechanism 553, the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12 can be quickly loaded and unloaded on the first conveying mechanism 551 and the second conveying mechanism 552.

[0068] The second carrier lifting mechanism is arranged in the wafer transfer station 520. The structure and function principle of the second carrier lifting mechanism are the same as those of the first carrier lifting mechanism 553.

[0069] By arranging the first carrier lifting mechanism 553 in the wafer loading station 510 and the second carrier lifting mechanism in the wafer transfer station 520, the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12 can be quickly transferred to the first conveying mechanism 551 or the second conveying mechanism 552, so as to realize the quick transfer of the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12 between the wafer loading station 510 and the wafer transfer station 520, and further improve the transfer efficiency of the inner carrier 11 or the outer carrier 12 in the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500, thereby improving the operation efficiency of the wafer tank cleaning equipment 500 in performing the cleaning process.

[0070] In step S4, the cleaned outer carrier is used as the inner carrier for the circulation of the inner carrier, or is used as the outer carrier for the circulation of the outer carrier outside the wafer tank cleaning equipment.

[0071] The flow cycle of the inner carrier 11 includes the following steps:

[0072] Step S411, transported to the carrier temporary storage area by the carrier transfer system 550 for temporary storage.

[0073] When the outer carrier 12 is cleaned and dried at the wafer loading station 510, it is transported to the carrier temporary storage area, for example, by the first robot 554 for temporary storage. The carrier temporary storage area is not limited to being arranged only at the wafer loading station 510, and can also be arranged at the wafer transfer station 520.

[0074] Step S412, transferred from the carrier temporary storage area to the inner carrier station of the wafer transfer device by the carrier transfer system 550.

[0075] If the wafer transfer device and the carrier temporary storage area are arranged in the same wafer loading station 510 or wafer transfer station 520, the inner carrier 11 is directly taken from the carrier temporary storage area by the robot in the station and transferred to the inner carrier station of the wafer transfer device. If the wafer transfer device and the carrier temporary storage area are arranged in another station or in different stations, the inner carrier 11 is transferred to the station where it is needed by the second transfer mechanism 552, and then transferred to the desired position by the carrier lifting mechanism and the robot in the station.

[0076] Step S413, after receiving the wafer 100 to be cleaned, the wafer 100 is transported and placed in the corresponding cleaning tank in sequence according to the wafer cleaning process sequence by the carrier transfer system 550, and the wafer 100 is supported for cleaning and transported to the wafer drying area for drying.

[0077] After receiving the wafer 100 to be cleaned, for example, the wafer 100 is transported and placed in the corresponding cleaning tank in sequence according to the wafer cleaning process sequence by the first transfer mechanism 551.

[0078] Step S414, transported to one of the wafer loading stations by the carrier transfer system 550 to directly carry the wafer 100 out, or transferred to the outer carrier 12 by the wafer transfer device.

[0079] According to the principle of proximity, the wafer 100 can be directly carried out in the station with the function of carrying out which is close to the next process. Alternatively, the inner carrier 11 carrying the cleaned wafer 100 still needs to be circulated as an inner carrier, and then the inner carrier 11 is switched (transferred to the outer carrier 12) in the station with the wafer transfer device which is close to the next process, and the empty inner carrier 11 performs the flow cycle of the inner carrier 11.

[0080] The carrier operation method provided by the application is suitable for wafer tank cleaning equipment, and does not worry about the problem of throughput limitation of the wafer tank cleaning equipment caused by insufficient carrier configuration of the carrier temporary storage area. The carrier operation method can greatly reduce the configuration amount of the total carrier (including the internal carrier and the external carrier), and for the same amount of wafer cleaning throughput, the configuration amount of the total carrier can be reduced to close to 1 / 2 of the original total carrier requirement. Moreover, the cleaning cost and operation cost of the wafer tank cleaning equipment for the external carrier can be greatly saved.

[0081] The above series of detailed descriptions are only specific descriptions of the feasible embodiments of the application, and are not used to limit the protection scope of the application. Any equivalent embodiments or changes made without departing from the spirit of the application should be included in the protection scope of the application.

[0082] It is obvious for those skilled in the art that the application is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the application can be realized in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the application. Therefore, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting, the scope of the application is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description, and all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are intended to be included in the application. Any reference signs in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the involved claims.

[0083] In addition, it should be understood that although the present specification is described in terms of embodiments, not every embodiment contains only one independent technical solution, and the description manner of the specification is only for the sake of clarity, those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be properly combined to form other embodiments that those skilled in the art can understand.

Claims

1. A method for operating a carrier in a wafer tank cleaning device, characterized in that, The wafer tank cleaning equipment includes at least one wafer loading station, at least one internal carrier, a wafer cleaning area, and a carrier conveying system. At least one of the wafer loading stations is equipped with a wafer transfer device and a carrier cleaning area. The carrier operation method includes the following steps: S1. An external carrier for holding the wafer is loaded by at least one of the wafer loading stations, the size of the wafer is identified, and the external carrier for holding the wafer is transferred to the wafer transfer device by the carrier transfer system. S2. The wafer transfer device synchronously transfers multiple wafers from the external carrier to the internal carrier. S3. The internal carrier containing the wafer is transferred to the wafer cleaning area for cleaning via the carrier transfer system. The empty external carrier is transferred to the carrier cleaning area for cleaning by the first robot arm configured in the wafer loading station. The cleaning of the external carrier includes spraying and drying the external carrier, and the spraying parameters of the external carrier loading the wafer are adjusted according to the identified size of the wafer. S4. Use the cleaned external vehicle as an internal vehicle for internal vehicle circulation.

2. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S1, after the wafer size is identified, the internal carrier corresponding to the wafer size is transferred by the carrier transfer system to the internal carrier station of the wafer transfer device.

3. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The wafer transfer device is equipped with a wafer loading mechanism, a lifting mechanism located below the wafer loading mechanism, and a clamping mechanism located above the wafer loading mechanism. The wafer transfer device adjusts the lifting mechanism and the clamping mechanism to a mode that matches the identified wafer size according to the wafer size identified in step S1, and then the wafer transfer device transfers a batch of wafers from the external carrier to the internal carrier.

4. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, In step S3, based on the wafer size identified in step S1, the spraying parameters of the external carrier loaded with the wafer are adjusted. A wider spraying angle and spraying time are provided for the external carrier with a larger size, and a narrower spraying angle and spraying time are provided for the external carrier with a smaller size.

5. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S3, the vacant external vehicle is transferred to the vehicle cleaning area for cleaning, including chemical cleaning with at least one chemical cleaning agent and pre-cleaning and rinsing with deionized water.

6. The method for operating the carrier of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that, In step S3, the vacant external vehicle is transferred to the vehicle cleaning area for cleaning, including purging with hot nitrogen or spraying with isopropanol vapor followed by purging with hot nitrogen, in order to dry the cleaned external vehicle.

7. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S4, a carrier temporary storage area is configured within at least one of the wafer loading stations. The internal carrier circulation includes the following steps: The vehicles are transported to the vehicle storage area via the vehicle conveying system for temporary storage. The wafer transfer device transfers wafers from the carrier storage area to the internal carrier station via the carrier transfer system. After receiving the wafers for cleaning, the carrier conveying system transports them sequentially according to the wafer cleaning process and places them into the corresponding cleaning tanks to support the wafers for cleaning, and then transports them to the wafer drying area to support the wafers for drying. The wafer is transported by the carrier conveyor system to one of the wafer loading stations for direct loading, or the wafer is transferred to the external carrier by the wafer transfer device.

8. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, A carrier storage area is configured in at least one of the wafer loading stations. The carrier conveying system includes a first conveying mechanism and a second conveying mechanism. The second conveying mechanism is arranged in parallel above the first conveying mechanism. The first conveying mechanism is configured to carry the internal carrier of the wafer to be cleaned in the wafer cleaning area for cleaning. The second conveying mechanism is configured to carry the internal carrier of the cleaned wafer and convey it to the carrier storage area above the first conveying mechanism.

9. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The vehicle transport system further includes a vehicle lifting mechanism, which is equipped with a mother-daughter support structure. The mother-daughter support structure is configured to connect and transfer the internal vehicle and the external vehicle between the vehicle lifting mechanism and the first transport mechanism, and between the vehicle lifting mechanism and the second transport mechanism.

10. The carrier operation method of the wafer tank cleaning equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, After being cleaned in step S4, the wafers are directly carried out by the internal carrier that holds the batch of wafers.

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