Gluing and developing equipment and wafer processing system

Abstract

The utility model provides a gluing and developing device and a wafer processing system, and the gluing and developing device comprises a gluing and developing process module which is used for carrying out photoresist coating process treatment on the front surface of a wafer and carrying out developing process treatment on the wafer subjected to the photoetching process treatment; the interface module is connected with the gluing and developing process module, and the interface module comprises a film covering unit; the film coating unit is used for coating a smooth film layer on the back surface of the wafer; the film coating unit is integrated on the interface module of the gluing and developing equipment, so that the back surface of the wafer can be coated with a smooth film layer. The smooth film layer can effectively reduce the friction force when the bearing table of the photoetching machine adsorbs the wafer, can reduce the abrasion of the bearing table of the photoetching machine, and further can greatly reduce the maintenance cost of the photoetching machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of wafer processing equipment, in particular to a gluing and developing device and a wafer processing system. Background Art

[0002] In wafer manufacturing, coating and developing equipment is a key processing device in the integrated circuit chip manufacturing process. It often operates in conjunction with the photolithography machine to complete the wafer photoresist coating, curing, post-exposure baking, development, and hardening processes. The quality of its architectural design directly affects the equipment's production capacity, stability, ease of operation and maintenance, and cost control.

[0003] In the chip manufacturing process, keeping the back of the wafer clean is very important for the photolithography process. When the back of the wafer is contaminated by particles, it will wear out the carrier of the photolithography machine, thereby increasing the maintenance cost and maintenance time of the photolithography machine, and seriously reducing the chip yield. Therefore, how to improve the cleanliness of the wafer back before photolithography is an important process. The commonly used method at present is to set a back washing unit inside the coating and development equipment to clean the wafer back before the photolithography process. The cleaning tool usually adopts diamond grinding + physical cleaning, which can not only clean up the particles generated by the previous process in the coating and development equipment, but also clean up the wafer back particles left by the previous equipment of the coating and development equipment. However, diamond grinding will cause problems on the wafer back surface, such as local scratches and flatness changes, which will also damage the wafer and reduce the chip yield. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to propose a glue coating and developing device and a wafer processing system to solve the technical problem of how to reduce the friction when the photolithography machine carrier adsorbs the wafer, thereby reducing the wear of the photolithography machine carrier.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the first aspect of the present invention provides a coating and developing device for use in conjunction with a photolithography device. The coating and developing device comprises a coating and developing process module for applying photoresist to the front surface of a wafer and a developing process for the wafer after the photolithography process. The device also comprises an interface module connected to the coating and developing process module, the interface module including a coating unit for coating a smooth film layer on the back surface of the wafer.

[0006] The above solution achieves the following technical effects: by integrating the coating unit into the interface module of the coating and developing device, a smooth film layer can be coated on the back of the wafer. The smooth film layer can effectively reduce the friction force when the lithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer, thereby enabling the wafer to smoothly expand during the absorption and leveling process, ultimately achieving extremely small overlay errors; further, by effectively reducing the friction force when the lithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer, the wear of the lithography machine carrier can be reduced, thereby greatly reducing the maintenance cost of the lithography machine; further, the smooth film layer can also effectively eliminate static electricity on the back of the wafer, preventing static electricity from corroding the lithography machine carrier, thereby effectively extending the life of the lithography machine carrier, thereby improving the overall life of the lithography machine.

[0007] Preferably, it also includes: a back wash unit and a forward wash robot; wherein, the back wash unit is arranged in the interface module; the back wash unit is used to clean the back side of the wafer; the forward wash robot is arranged in the interface module, and the forward wash robot is used to transfer the wafer processed by the back wash unit to the coating unit for processing.

[0008] Through the above scheme, the technical effect achieved is: by integrating the back washing unit and the coating unit in the interface module and setting the coating unit after the back washing unit, it is possible to complete the coating of the smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer and avoid the smooth film layer being damaged by the process of the back washing unit, thereby achieving protection of the lithography machine carrier.

[0009] Preferably, the interface module also includes: a cache unit and a back wash robot; wherein, the cache unit is arranged between the back wash unit and the coating unit, and the cache unit is used to temporarily store the wafers; the back wash robot is arranged between the back wash unit and the cache unit, and the back wash robot is used to transfer the wafers from the back wash unit to the cache unit.

[0010] The technical effect achieved through this solution is that the cache unit acts like a reservoir, accommodating operational differences between different units. This prevents a brief delay or failure in a single unit from bringing the entire production line to a standstill, ensuring the continuity and stability of the production process.

[0011] Preferably, the interface module further includes: a cooling unit, wherein the cooling unit is used to receive the wafer from the coating unit and perform cooling processing on the wafer.

[0012] The technical effect achieved by the above scheme is: by setting the cooling unit to receive the wafer from the coating unit and cooling the wafer, the wafer reaches a temperature suitable for the photolithography process, which is convenient for the next step of photolithography process.

[0013] Preferably, the interface module further includes an interface robot; the interface robot is arranged on one side of the cooling unit, and is used to transfer the wafer that has undergone cooling treatment from the cooling unit to the lithography equipment.

[0014] Through the above solution, the technical effect achieved is: the setting of the interface robot realizes the automatic transfer of the wafer that has undergone cooling treatment from the cooling unit to the lithography equipment.

[0015] Preferably, the coating unit includes a process chamber for accommodating the wafer, and the process chamber includes: a spraying part for spraying the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the back side of the wafer; and a heating part for heating the back side of the wafer to promote the material to form the smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer.

[0016] Through the above scheme, the technical effect achieved is: the material used to form the smooth film layer is coated on the back of the wafer by vapor deposition through the spraying part, which helps the material used to form the smooth film layer to be evenly deposited on the back of the wafer to form a thin layer of smooth film layer.

[0017] Preferably, the spraying part includes a central spraying hole and an edge spraying hole; wherein, the central spraying hole is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the center of the back of the wafer; the edge spraying hole is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the edge of the back of the wafer.

[0018] Through the above scheme, the technical effect achieved is: by respectively setting the central spray hole and the edge spray hole in the spraying part, two spraying methods are realized, namely spraying on the back center of the wafer and spraying on the edge of the back of the wafer, which helps to form the material of the smooth film layer more evenly deposited on the back of the wafer.

[0019] Preferably, the heating portion includes a plurality of heaters, and the heaters are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the heating portion.

[0020] Through the above scheme, the technical effect achieved is: by setting multiple heaters in the heating part and arranging the heaters at equal intervals around the circumference, it is beneficial to evenly bake and heat the back side of the wafer, thereby making the smooth film layer formed on the back side of the wafer more uniform.

[0021] Preferably, the coating unit includes a supply portion, which is used to provide the material for forming the smooth film layer to the spraying portion; the central spraying hole and the edge spraying hole are both connected to the supply portion.

[0022] The technical effect achieved by the above solution is: by providing the supply part, the material for forming the smooth film layer is continuously supplied to the spraying part, thereby ensuring the stability and sustainability of the operation of the coating unit.

[0023] The second aspect of the present invention provides a wafer processing system, comprising: a photolithography apparatus and a coating and developing apparatus as described in the first aspect of the present invention. The coating and developing apparatus is used to apply photoresist to wafers; the photolithography apparatus is used to apply photolithography to wafers that have been subjected to the photoresist coating process in the coating and developing apparatus; and the coating and developing apparatus is further used to apply development to the wafers after the photolithography process.

[0024] The technical effect achieved by the above scheme is as follows: the wafer processing system can not only realize the photoresist coating process, photolithography process and development process of the wafer by adopting the above-mentioned coating and development equipment, but also can coat a smooth film layer on the back of the wafer before the wafer is subjected to the photolithography process. The smooth film layer can effectively reduce the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer, thereby enabling the wafer to smoothly expand during the absorption and leveling process, and ultimately achieve extremely small overlay error; further, by effectively reducing the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer, the wear of the photolithography machine carrier can be reduced, thereby greatly reducing the maintenance cost of the photolithography machine; further, the smooth film layer can also effectively eliminate static electricity on the back of the wafer, prevent static electricity from corroding the photolithography machine carrier, thereby effectively extending the life of the photolithography machine carrier, thereby improving the overall life of the photolithography machine.

[0025] In summary, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the present invention realizes the process of coating a smooth film layer on the back of the wafer by adding a coating unit in the wafer coating and developing equipment; by coating the smooth film layer on the back of the wafer to reduce the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier in the photolithography equipment adsorbs the wafer, the wafer can be smoothly expanded during the flattening process, and finally achieve extremely small overlay error; further, by reducing the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier in the photolithography equipment adsorbs the wafer, the wear of the photolithography machine carrier can be effectively reduced, thereby reducing the photolithography machine wear. The maintenance cost and maintenance time of the machine are reduced; in addition, the process of coating a smooth film layer on the back of the wafer can also eliminate static electricity on the back of the wafer, prevent static electricity from corroding the lithography machine carrier, thereby increasing the life of the carrier, and reducing the cost of using the lithography machine; since the process treatment of the back washing unit will damage the smooth film layer on the back of the wafer, this solution arranges the coating unit in the process after the back washing unit, so that it can complete the process of coating the smooth film layer on the back of the wafer, and avoid the smooth film layer being damaged by the back washing process, thereby protecting the lithography machine carrier. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic top view of the structure of the glue coating and developing device in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic top view of the cross-sectional structure of the glue coating and developing device in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0028] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Enlarged view of the middle interface module;

[0029] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of the laminating unit according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0030] Reference numerals:

[0031] 1-Cassette module; 2-Coating and developing process module; 3-Interface module;

[0032] 31- backwash robot; 32- frontwash robot; 33- interface robot; 34- backwash unit; 35- laminating unit; 36- cache unit; 37- cooling unit;

[0033] 321-top cover; 322-bottom cover; 323-center spray hole; 324-edge spray hole; 325-heater; 326-support column; 327-gap;

[0034] 4-Photolithography equipment;

[0035] 5-Wafer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention. Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used herein should be the usual meanings understood by people with ordinary skills in the field to which the present invention belongs. The words "including" and similar words used in this article mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word cover the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Unless otherwise specified, the "connection" described in this article can be a direct connection or an indirect connection, that is, a connection through an intermediate.

[0037] See also Figure 1-4 The first embodiment of the present invention provides a glue coating and developing device, which is used in conjunction with a photolithography device 4. In this embodiment, the photolithography device 4 is a photolithography machine.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the coating and developing equipment includes:

[0039] The coating and developing process module 2 is used to perform a photoresist coating process on the front side of the wafer 5, and to perform a developing process on the wafer 5 after the photolithography process. Figure 4 As shown, the front side of wafer 5 refers to Figure 4 The side of wafer 5 facing upwards, the back side of wafer 5 refers to Figure 4 The side of the wafer 5 faces downward.

[0040] The interface module 3 is connected to the coating and developing process module 2 . The interface module 3 includes a coating unit 35 . The coating unit (BACS) is used to coat a smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer 5 .

[0041] The film box module 1 is connected to the glue coating and developing process module 2. The film box module 1 is provided with a film feed loading port (not shown) and a film return loading port (not shown); the film feed loading port is used to store the wafer 5 to be moved to the glue coating and developing process module 2; the film return loading port is used to store the wafer 5 from the glue coating and developing process module 2.

[0042] In this embodiment, by integrating a coating unit 35 into the interface module 3 of the coating and developing device, a smooth film layer can be applied to the backside of the wafer 5. The smooth film layer effectively reduces the frictional force when the lithography machine carrier adsorbs the wafer 5, thereby enabling the wafer 5 to smoothly expand during the adsorption process, ultimately achieving minimal overlay error. Furthermore, by effectively reducing the frictional force when the lithography machine carrier (not shown) in the lithography equipment 4 adsorbs the wafer 5, the wear of the lithography machine carrier can be reduced, thereby significantly reducing the maintenance cost of the lithography machine. Furthermore, the smooth film layer can effectively eliminate static electricity on the backside of the wafer 5, preventing static electricity from corroding the lithography machine carrier, thereby effectively extending the life of the lithography machine carrier, and thus improving the overall life of the lithography machine.

[0043] See also Figure 2 、 Figure 3 In this embodiment, it also includes: a back washing unit 34 and a forward washing robot 32; wherein, the back washing unit 34 is arranged in the interface module 3; the back washing unit 34 is used to clean the back side of the wafer 5; the forward washing robot 32 is arranged in the interface module 3, and the forward washing robot 32 is used to transfer the wafer 5 processed by the back washing unit 34 to the coating unit 35 for processing.

[0044] In this embodiment, by integrating the back washing unit 34 and the coating unit 35 in the interface module 3 and arranging the coating unit 35 after the back washing unit 34, it is possible to complete the coating of the smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer 5 and prevent the smooth film layer from being damaged by the process of the back washing unit 34, thereby achieving protection of the lithography machine carrier (not shown).

[0045] See also Figure 2 、 Figure 3 In this embodiment, a further improvement is that the interface module 3 also includes: a buffer unit (BF) 36 and a backwash robot 31; wherein the buffer unit 36 ​​is arranged between the backwash unit 34 and the laminating unit 35, and the buffer unit 36 ​​is used to temporarily store wafers; the backwash robot 31 is arranged between the backwash unit 34 and the buffer unit 36, and the backwash robot 31 is used to transfer the wafer 5 from the backwash unit 34 to the buffer unit 36.

[0046] In this embodiment, the buffer unit 36 ​​acts like a "reservoir" to adjust the working differences between different units. This can prevent the entire production line from being stalled due to a short delay or failure of a unit, ensuring the continuity and stability of the production process.

[0047] See also Figure 3 In this embodiment, the interface module 3 further includes a cooling unit 37 for receiving the wafer 5 from the coating unit 35 and cooling the wafer 5. It is worth mentioning that the wafer transfer between the coating unit 35 and the cooling unit 37 is performed by the forward cleaning robot 32. In this embodiment, the cooling unit 37 is provided to receive the wafer 5 from the coating unit 35 and cool the wafer 5 so that the wafer 5 reaches a temperature suitable for the photolithography process, facilitating the next step of the photolithography process.

[0048] See also Figure 3 In this embodiment, the interface module 3 further includes an interface robot 33 ; the interface robot 33 is disposed on one side of the cooling unit 37 and is configured to transfer the cooled wafer 5 from the cooling unit 37 to the photolithography apparatus 4 . In this embodiment, the interface robot automatically transfers the cooled wafer 5 from the cooling unit 37 to the photolithography apparatus 4 .

[0049] In this embodiment, the coating unit 35 includes a process chamber for accommodating the wafer 5. The process chamber includes a spraying unit for spraying a material for forming a smooth film onto the back side of the wafer 5; and a heating unit for heating the back side of the wafer 5 to promote the formation of a smooth film on the back side of the wafer 5. In this embodiment, the material for forming the smooth film is applied to the back side of the wafer 5 by vapor deposition via the spraying unit. This helps the material for forming the smooth film to be evenly deposited on the back side of the wafer 5, forming a thin smooth film.

[0050] Furthermore, the process chamber includes a top cover 321 and a bottom cover 322. The top cover 321 is disposed above the bottom cover 322. The top cover 321 and the bottom cover 322 are disposed opposite each other to form the process chamber. The wafer 5 is placed horizontally in the process chamber. The spraying unit and the heating unit are both disposed on the bottom cover 322 and face the back of the wafer 5.

[0051] In this embodiment, the spraying section includes a central spraying hole 323 and an edge spraying hole 324. The central spraying hole 323 is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the center of the back of the wafer 5, while the edge spraying hole 324 is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the edge of the back of the wafer 5. In this embodiment, by providing the central spraying hole 323 and the edge spraying hole 324 in the spraying section, two spraying methods are implemented: spraying onto the center of the back of the wafer 5 and spraying onto the edge of the back of the wafer 5, respectively. This helps to deposit the material for forming the smooth film layer more evenly on the back of the wafer 5.

[0052] In this embodiment, the heating section includes multiple heaters 325, which are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the heating section. In this embodiment, by providing multiple heaters 325 in the heating section and arranging the heaters 325 at equal intervals around the circumference, it is beneficial to evenly bake and heat the back side of the wafer 5, thereby making the smooth film layer formed on the back side of the wafer 5 more uniform.

[0053] Specifically, a central spray hole 323 is provided at the center of the bottom cover 322, and there is one central spray hole 323; a plurality of edge spray holes 324 are provided, and the plurality of edge spray holes 324 are evenly spaced around the edge of the bottom cover 322. Furthermore, a plurality of heaters 325 are evenly spaced around the bottom cover 322.

[0054] Furthermore, the bottom cover 322 is provided with a plurality of support columns 326 for supporting the wafer 5. Under the support of the support columns, a gap 327 is formed between the wafer 5 and the bottom cover 322. The material for forming the smooth film layer is sprayed from the central spray hole 323 and the edge spray holes 324, enters the gap 327, and is deposited on the back side of the wafer 5 by vapor deposition.

[0055] In this embodiment, the coating unit 35 includes a supply portion (not shown), which is used to provide the spraying portion with material for forming a smooth film layer; the central spraying hole 323 and the edge spraying hole 324 are both connected to the supply portion.

[0056] In this embodiment, by providing a supply part, it is possible to continuously supply the material for forming a smooth film layer to the spraying part, thereby ensuring the stability and sustainability of the operation of the coating unit 35 .

[0057] In this embodiment, the material used to form the smooth film layer is gaseous hexamethyldisilazane.

[0058] Furthermore, the coating and developing module includes a liquid treatment module and a heat treatment module. The heat treatment module is provided with a film removal unit (not shown). The film removal unit is used to remove the smooth film layer coated on the back of the wafer.

[0059] See also Figure 2 、 Figure 3 The second embodiment of the present invention provides a wafer processing system, comprising: a photolithography device 4 and a coating and developing device as described in the first aspect of the present invention.

[0060] Among them, the coating and developing equipment is used to perform photoresist coating process on the wafer 5; the photolithography equipment 4 is used to perform photolithography process on the wafer 5 after the photoresist coating process in the coating and developing equipment; the coating and developing equipment is also used to perform development process on the wafer 5 after the photolithography process.

[0061] The above solution achieves the following technical effects: by adopting the above-mentioned coating and developing equipment, the wafer 5 processing system can not only realize the photoresist coating process, photolithography process and development process of the wafer 5, but also coat a smooth film layer on the back of the wafer 5 before the photolithography process. The smooth film layer can effectively reduce the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer 5, thereby enabling the wafer 5 to smoothly expand during the absorption and leveling process, and ultimately achieving extremely small overlay error; further, by effectively reducing the friction force when the photolithography machine carrier absorbs the wafer 5, the wear of the photolithography machine carrier can be reduced, thereby greatly reducing the maintenance cost of the photolithography machine; further, the smooth film layer can effectively eliminate static electricity on the back of the wafer 5, preventing static electricity from corroding the photolithography machine carrier, thereby effectively extending the life of the photolithography machine carrier, and thus improving the overall life of the photolithography machine.

[0062] The above is only a specific implementation of the embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. Any changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiment of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A coating and developing device, used in conjunction with a photolithography device, characterized by: include: A coating and developing process module, used for performing a photoresist coating process on the front side of the wafer, and for performing a developing process on the wafer after the photolithography process; An interface module is connected to the coating and developing process module, and the interface module includes a coating unit; the coating unit is used to coat a smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer.

2. The coating and developing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: a backwash unit, provided in the interface module; The back washing unit is used to clean the back side of the wafer; A forward cleaning robot is provided in the interface module, and is used for transferring the wafer processed by the back cleaning unit to the coating unit for further processing.

3. The coating and developing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The interface module also includes: a cache unit, disposed between the backwash unit and the laminating unit, and used for temporarily storing wafers; A backwash robot is disposed between the backwash unit and the buffer unit, and is used to transfer the wafer from the backwash unit to the buffer unit.

4. The coating and developing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The interface module further includes a cooling unit, which is used to receive the wafer from the coating unit and cool the wafer.

5. The coating and developing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The interface module also includes an interface robot; The interface robot is arranged at one side of the cooling unit and is used to transfer the wafer that has undergone cooling treatment from the cooling unit to the photolithography equipment.

6. The coating and developing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The coating unit includes a process chamber for accommodating the wafer, and the process chamber includes: a spraying unit, used for spraying the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the back side of the wafer; The heating part is used for heating the back side of the wafer to promote the material to form the smooth film layer on the back side of the wafer.

7. The coating and developing device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The spraying portion includes a central spraying hole and an edge spraying hole; The center spray hole is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the center of the back side of the wafer; the edge spray hole is used to spray the material for forming the smooth film layer onto the edge of the back side of the wafer.

8. The coating and developing device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The heating portion includes a plurality of heaters, and the heaters are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the heating portion.

9. The coating and developing device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The coating unit includes a supply part, which is used to provide the material for forming the smooth film layer to the spraying part; the central spraying hole and the edge spraying hole are both connected to the supply part.

10. A wafer processing system, characterized in that: include: A photolithography device and a coating and developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9; Wherein, the coating and developing equipment is used to perform photoresist coating process on wafers; The photolithography equipment is used to perform a photolithography process on the wafer after the photoresist coating process in the coating and developing equipment; The glue coating and developing equipment is also used to perform a developing process on the wafer after the photolithography process.

Images