Wafer transfer device and CMP apparatus having the same

Abstract

The utility model discloses a wafer transmission device and have the CMP equipment of this transmission device relates to wafer manufacturing technical field. The wafer transmission device includes: track, along the lateral and vertical of CMP equipment and be located in the CMP equipment, slider, set up on the track and move along the track, the slider is configured with wafer clamping mechanism to the wafer of clamping to be transmitted, the track at least includes horizontal section and vertical section, and two are connected as a whole, the wafer clamping mechanism moves between horizontal section and vertical section with the slider to realize the overturning of wafer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and more particularly to a wafer transport device and a CMP device having the transport device. Background Technology

[0002] The integrated circuit industry is the core of the information technology industry, playing a crucial role in promoting the digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. Chips are the carriers of integrated circuits, and chip manufacturing involves processes such as integrated circuit design, wafer fabrication, wafer processing, electrical measurement, dicing, packaging, and testing. Among these, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the five core processes in wafer fabrication.

[0003] Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is an ultra-precision surface finishing technique that achieves global planarization. In CMP, the wafer is typically held in place by the bottom surface of a support head, with the side of the wafer containing the deposited layer resting against the upper surface of a polishing pad. The support head rotates in the same direction as the polishing pad under the actuation of a drive assembly, applying a downward load to the wafer. Polishing fluid is supplied to the upper surface of the polishing pad and distributed between the wafer and the pad, allowing the wafer to undergo chemical and mechanical polishing through a combination of chemical and mechanical processes.

[0004] Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) equipment typically includes polishing and cleaning units. Existing CMP equipment features horizontally arranged polishing and cleaning units, requiring a large floor space and limiting the number of CMP units that can be placed in a fab. Secondly, existing CMP equipment has a large number of wafer storage stations, increasing wafer turnover and posing a risk of cross-contamination. Furthermore, the transport systems in CMP equipment often use standard robotic arms, and the large number of these arms complicates wafer turnover and increases overall equipment costs. In addition, existing CMP equipment cannot simultaneously handle single-pad, dual-pad, and triple-pad polishing processes and has a competitive advantage in wafer per hour (WPH). Utility Model Content

[0005] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a wafer transfer device and a CMP device having the transfer device to at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of this application, a wafer transport apparatus is provided for wafer transport in a CMP device, comprising:

[0007] The track is set horizontally and vertically along the CMP equipment and is located within the CMP equipment;

[0008] A slider is disposed on the track and moves along the track. The slider is equipped with a wafer clamping mechanism to clamp the wafer to be transferred.

[0009] The track includes at least a horizontal section and a vertical section, which are connected as one unit. The wafer clamping mechanism moves between the horizontal and vertical sections by means of a slider to achieve wafer flipping.

[0010] In some embodiments, the track further includes a transition section disposed between the horizontal section and the vertical section, wherein the horizontal section is disposed along the length direction of the CMP device and the vertical section is disposed along the height direction of the CMP device; the wafer clamping mechanism moves between the horizontal section and the vertical section, causing the wafer it clamps to rotate 90°.

[0011] In some embodiments, the track includes a pair of parallel horizontal segments and a pair of parallel vertical segments connected by the transition segment to form a ring structure; when the wafer moves between the opposite horizontal or vertical segments, the wafer held by the wafer clamping mechanism is rotated 180°.

[0012] In some embodiments, the slider is positioned above or to the side of the track and moves along the track by electromagnetic drive.

[0013] In some embodiments, a vertical segment of the track is disposed adjacent to the front unit of the CMP device, and the front robot arm of the front unit picks up and places wafers from the horizontal segment of the track.

[0014] In some embodiments, the number of sliders is multiple, and they are spaced apart along the length direction of the track.

[0015] In some embodiments, the slider reciprocates along the track to transfer a wafer held on the wafer clamping mechanism.

[0016] In some embodiments, the wafer clamping mechanism includes a pair of clamping arms spaced apart along the length of the track; at least one clamping arm is movable along the length of the track to clamp or release the wafer.

[0017] In some embodiments, the track is a U-shaped structure comprising two horizontal segments and a vertical segment disposed between the horizontal segments; the opening of the track faces the front unit of the CMP device, and the lower horizontal segment is adjacent to the front unit.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the embodiments of this application, a CMP apparatus is provided, which includes a pre-processing unit, a polishing unit, a cleaning unit, and the wafer transfer device described above, wherein the wafer transfer device is disposed across the polishing unit and the cleaning unit to transfer a wafer between the two.

[0019] In some embodiments, the polishing unit and the cleaning unit are stacked vertically, with the polishing unit located below the cleaning unit.

[0020] In some embodiments, the horizontal segment of the track extends at least to one cleaning module of the cleaning unit.

[0021] In some embodiments, the cleaning unit includes multiple cleaning modules and a drying module, with a transfer robot configured between each module to transfer wafers between the modules.

[0022] In some embodiments, the turnover robot can grasp wafers from the wafer clamping mechanism on the track and transfer the wafers to the cleaning module or drying module of the cleaning unit.

[0023] In some embodiments, the cleaning module and drying module of the cleaning unit are arranged along the outer periphery of the top of the CMP equipment, and the drying module is arranged adjacent to the front unit.

[0024] In some embodiments, the polishing unit includes a plurality of polishing modules arranged horizontally along the length of the CMP device.

[0025] In some embodiments, the polishing module includes a polishing disk, a polishing assembly, and a loading assembly, wherein the loading assembly is disposed to the side of the polishing disk and the polishing assembly is disposed above the polishing disk and the loading assembly to transfer wafers between the loading assembly and the polishing disk.

[0026] In some embodiments, the wafer transfer device is disposed adjacent to the loading assembly, and the loading pallet of the loading assembly is movable in a vertical direction to support the wafer on the wafer clamping mechanism.

[0027] In some embodiments, the CMP equipment includes two parallel sub-CMP equipments, each sub-CMP equipment including a front-end unit, a polishing unit, a cleaning unit, and a wafer transfer device, wherein the two sub-CMP equipments share a front-end unit.

[0028] In some embodiments, the polishing unit, cleaning unit, and wafer transfer device of the sub-CMP equipment are symmetrically arranged along the horizontal centerline of the CMP equipment.

[0029] The beneficial effects of this utility model include:

[0030] a. The provided wafer transfer device is equipped with a track, which is set along the horizontal and vertical sides of the CMP equipment. The wafer clamping mechanism on the track can flip the wafer during the movement, so that the CMP equipment does not need to be equipped with a special wafer flipping mechanism, effectively simplifying the structure, reducing the number of wafer handovers, and thus controlling cross-contamination defects caused by wafer transfer.

[0031] b. The polishing and cleaning units of the CMP equipment are arranged vertically. Compared with traditional CMP equipment, this eliminates the horizontal arrangement of polishing and cleaning units, reduces the floor space of the polishing and cleaning units, and shrinks the size of the CMP equipment, which helps to enhance the flexibility of equipment layout in the Fab plant.

[0032] c. The transfer of wafers between adjacent polishing modules is achieved through a wafer transfer device, which can save on the number of robotic arms required and control the cost of CMP equipment;

[0033] d. The drying module of the cleaning unit is located close to the front unit to shorten the wafer transport path, reduce cross-contamination of wafers, and enable the dried wafers to be quickly transferred to the wafer loading cassette of the front unit.

[0034] e. The loading tray of the loading assembly can move vertically to support the wafers on the wafer clamping mechanism from bottom to top, so as to facilitate the interaction between the loading assembly and the carrier head;

[0035] f. The polishing unit is equipped with two or more polishing modules, which are arranged at intervals along the length of the CMP equipment to accommodate single-disc, dual-disc, and multi-disc polishing processes.

[0036] g. The CMP device includes two sub-CMP devices, which are arranged in parallel and operate independently to improve the fault tolerance of the CMP device operation;

[0037] h. The cleaning module and drying module of the cleaning unit are set along the outer periphery of the top of the CMP equipment to expand the operating space for installation and maintenance of the cleaning module and drying module and improve the convenience of operation;

[0038] i. The provided CMP equipment does not require a traditional buffer station. Wafers can be buffered on the wafer clamping mechanism, which effectively simplifies the structure, controls secondary contamination of wafers at the buffer station, and helps ensure the quality of wafer polishing. Attached Figure Description

[0039] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0040] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 2 yes Figure 1A magnified view of a section at point A in the middle;

[0042] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer transmission device provided in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a CMP device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a polishing module provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer transport path provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between the wafer clamping mechanism, the loading assembly, and the carrier head provided in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a CMP device provided in another embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0048] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art should fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0049] The terminology used in this application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” used in this application and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0050] It should be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc., may be used in this application to describe various information, this information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, without departing from the scope of this application, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this application, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is also called chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), and a wafer is also called a substrate; their meanings and practical functions are equivalent.

[0051] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer transfer device 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The wafer transfer device 1 is used for wafer transfer in a CMP device and includes:

[0052] Track 10 is set along the horizontal and vertical directions of the CMP device and is located within the CMP device; here, the horizontal direction is the length direction of the CMP device, and the vertical direction is the height direction of the CMP device.

[0053] The slider 20 is set on the track 10 and moves along the track 10. The slider 20 is equipped with a wafer clamping mechanism 30 to clamp the wafer W to be transferred.

[0054] The track 10 includes a horizontal section 11 and a vertical section 12, which are connected as one unit. The wafer clamping mechanism 30 moves between the horizontal section 11 and the vertical section 12 with the help of the slider 20 to achieve wafer flipping.

[0055] In this invention, the track 10 includes at least a horizontal segment 11 and a vertical segment 12, which are integrally formed. The wafer clamping mechanism 30 moves along the track 10 with the aid of a slider 20 to achieve the wafer flipping action. That is, the wafer flipping action is achieved during the wafer transport process.

[0056] The application of the wafer transfer device 1 provided by this utility model eliminates the need for CMP equipment to be specially configured with a wafer flipping mechanism, effectively simplifying the structure and reducing the number of wafer transfers, thereby controlling cross-contamination defects caused by wafer transfer.

[0057] Furthermore, the track 10 also includes a transition section 13, which is disposed between the horizontal section 11 and the vertical section 12, wherein the horizontal section 11 is disposed along the length direction of the CMP equipment and the vertical section 12 is disposed along the height direction of the CMP equipment; the wafer clamping mechanism 30 moves between the horizontal section 11 and the vertical section 12, so that the wafer it clamps is rotated 90°.

[0058] Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, track 10 includes a pair of parallel horizontal segments 11 and a pair of parallel vertical segments 12, which are connected in a ring structure by four transition segments 13. When the wafer moves between opposing horizontal segments 11 or vertical segments 12, after passing through two transition segments 13, the wafer held by the wafer clamping mechanism 30 flips 180°. That is, after the wafer moves from one horizontal segment 11, through one transition segment 13, through one vertical segment 12 and another transition segment 13 to another horizontal segment 11, the wafer flips 180°.

[0059] Furthermore, the slider 20 is positioned on the side of the track 10, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it moves along the track 10 via electromagnetic drive. The wafer clamping mechanism 30 is connected to the slider 20 and biased on one side of the track 10, so that components such as the robot and loading assembly can directly interact with the wafer clamping mechanism 30, thereby reducing wafer turnover, suppressing particulate contamination during transmission, and ensuring wafer transmission efficiency.

[0060] Understandably, the slider 20 is also positioned above the track 10 to shorten the thickness dimension of the wafer transfer device 1, making it suitable for applications with limited space.

[0061] Since the wafer transport device 1 is used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, which has high cleanliness requirements, special treatment is needed for the materials and processing technology of the track 10 and slider 20 to ensure the cleanliness of the application space, so as to avoid the generation of dust and other particulate matter during wafer transport. It should be noted that the slider 20 can also adopt other driving methods to make the slider 20 move smoothly on the track 10.

[0062] In this invention, there are multiple sliders 20, which are spaced apart along the length of the track 10 to prevent wafers on adjacent wafer clamping mechanisms 30 from interfering with each other and breaking. The sliders 20 reciprocate along the track 10 to transfer the wafers held on the wafer clamping mechanism 30. It is understood that in some embodiments, there may also be one or two sliders 20, which move along the track 10 to transfer the wafers through the wafer clamping mechanism 30.

[0063] Figure 2 yes Figure 1The enlarged view at point A shows the composition and connection of the wafer clamping mechanism 30. The wafer clamping mechanism 30 includes a pair of clamping arms 301, which are spaced apart along the length of the track 10. At least one clamping arm 301 is movable along the length of the track 10 to clamp or release the wafer. The clamping arms 301 can be equipped with devices such as cylinders, linear motors, or electric cylinders to realize the movement of the clamping arms 301.

[0064] It should be noted that the inner side of the clamping arm 301 is equipped with abutting claws. The abutting surface of the abutting claws adopts an arc structure with an opening facing inward, and the size of the arc structure is matched with the wafer to ensure that the clamping arm 301 can reliably clamp the wafer.

[0065] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a wafer transfer device 1 provided in another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the track 10 has a U-shaped structure, that is, the track 10 is a track structure with one open end.

[0066] Specifically, the track 10 includes a pair of horizontal segments 11 and a vertical segment 12. The horizontal segments 11 include a first horizontal segment 111 and a second horizontal segment 112, and the vertical segment 12 is disposed between the first horizontal segment 111 and the second horizontal segment 112. The wafer clamping mechanism 30 moves sequentially through the first horizontal segment 111, the vertical segment 12, and the second horizontal segment 112, rotating the clamped wafer W by 180°. The second horizontal segment 112 is disposed above the first horizontal segment 111, and the slider 20 drives the wafer clamping mechanism 30 to move horizontally. The vertical length of the vertical segment 12 is the vertical height of the wafer transfer.

[0067] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a CMP device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The CMP device 100 includes a front-end unit 2, a polishing unit 3, a cleaning unit 4, and a wafer transfer device 1. In this embodiment, the CMP device 100 is configured with... Figure 1 The wafer transfer device 1 shown is arranged across the polishing unit 3 and the cleaning unit 4. A vertical segment 12 of the track 10 is adjacent to the front unit 2 of the CMP equipment and is arranged vertically, so that the front robot arm of the front unit 2 can directly pick up and place wafers from the horizontal segment 11 of the track 10, thereby shortening the transfer path and improving the wafer transfer efficiency.

[0068] It should be noted that front-end unit 2 is the Equipment Front End Module (EFEM), a core component of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It is primarily used for automated wafer transfer and cleanroom environment control between the equipment and wafer cassettes (such as FOUP / FOSB). The EFEM typically contains a front-end robotic arm responsible for transferring wafers between the wafer cassette and the equipment.

[0069] Furthermore, the polishing unit 3 and the cleaning unit 4 are stacked vertically, as shown below. Figure 4 As shown, polishing unit 3 is located below cleaning unit 4. Compared with traditional CMP equipment, the horizontal arrangement of polishing unit 3 and cleaning unit 4 is eliminated, reducing the floor space occupied by polishing unit 3 and cleaning unit 4, shrinking the size of CMP equipment, and enhancing the flexibility of equipment layout in the fab plant.

[0070] In this invention, the polishing unit 3 includes multiple polishing modules 31, which are arranged horizontally along the length of the CMP equipment 100. Figure 4 In the illustrated embodiment, the polishing unit 3 is configured with two polishing modules 31, which are arranged laterally at intervals along the CMP equipment 100. This polishing unit 3 is capable of performing both single-disc and dual-disc polishing processes. It is understood that three, four, or other polishing units 3 can also be provided to meet the requirements of diverse polishing processes and improve the applicability of the CMP equipment.

[0071] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a polishing module 31 provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The polishing module 31 includes a polishing disk 311, a polishing component 312, and a loading component 313. The loading component 313 is disposed on the side of the polishing disk 311, and the polishing component 312 is disposed above the polishing disk 311 and the loading component 313 to transfer wafers between the loading component 313 and the polishing disk 311.

[0072] The polishing assembly 312 is equipped with a carrier head 3122, which can press the loaded wafer against the polishing pad above the polishing disk 311. The carrier head 3122 slides laterally to achieve chemical mechanical polishing. The loading assembly 313 is the load cup, which is located near the wafer transport device 1 and can interact with the carrier head 3122 and the wafer clamping mechanism 30.

[0073] The polishing assembly 312 includes a support frame 3121 and two carrier heads 3122 suspended below the support frame 3121. The support frame 3121 rotates to move the wafers loaded on the carrier heads 3122 between the loading / unloading assembly 313 and the polishing pad 311. That is, while the carrier head 3122 is polishing the polishing pad above the polishing pad 311, the other carrier head 3122 can interact with the loading / unloading assembly 313 to pre-load the wafers to be polished, thereby shortening the waiting time and improving work efficiency.

[0074] Understandably, a carrier head 3122 can also be configured below the support frame 3121. If the polishing time of a single wafer is long and the efficiency requirement for wafer loading is not high, the waiting time generated by the carrier head 3122 loading the wafer can be ignored. That is, the support frame 3121 can swing around a fixed point to move the carrier head 3122 between the polishing disk 311 and the loading assembly 313.

[0075] It should be noted that the polishing module 31 in this utility model can also adopt a platform structure, that is, the bearing head 3122 is set on the slide rail on the equipment frame, and the bearing head 3122 moves along the slide rail to realize the horizontal movement of the polishing process.

[0076] Figure 5 The loading assembly 313's loading tray 3131 is movable in a vertical direction to support the wafer on the wafer clamping mechanism 30 from bottom to top. The loading tray 3131 is provided with a limiting post that abuts against the edge of the wafer to define the placement position of the wafer.

[0077] The loading assembly 313 can be configured with a linear module such as a cylinder, electric cylinder, or linear motor to achieve vertical movement of the loading tray 3131. It should be noted that a loading cleaning mechanism (not shown) is also required on the outer periphery of the loading tray 3131, which can spray liquids such as deionized water toward the wafer to achieve wafer cleaning and moisturizing. The loading cleaning mechanism can be a separate mechanism and should not interfere with the position of the vertically moving loading tray 3131.

[0078] As a variation of this embodiment, when the loading component 313 interacts with the wafer clamping mechanism 30, the loading component 313 can also be positioned above the wafer clamping mechanism 30. However, this requires configuring a rotational degree of freedom for the loading disk 3131. Figure 5 The loading tray 3131 shown is rotated 180° to grab the wafer on the wafer clamping mechanism 30 from top to bottom, and then the loading tray 3131 is rotated again to interact with the carrier head 3122.

[0079] In this invention, the cleaning unit 4 includes multiple cleaning modules 41 and drying modules 42, with a transfer robot 5 configured between each module to transfer wafers between them. The transfer robot 5 can pick up wafers from the wafer clamping mechanism 30 on the track 10 and transfer the wafers to the cleaning module 41 or drying module 42 of the cleaning unit 4.

[0080] Figure 4 In the embodiment shown, the cleaning unit 4 includes two cleaning modules 41 and one drying module 42. The number of turnover robots 5 is three, which are arranged on both sides of the cleaning module 41 to be responsible for transferring wafers between the various functional modules.

[0081] Furthermore, the drying module 42 is positioned adjacent to the front unit 2 to shorten the wafer transport path and reduce cross-contamination of the wafers, so that the dried wafers can be quickly transferred to the wafer loading pod of the front unit 2, which is also called a front-opening unified pod (FOUP).

[0082] The following is combined with Figure 4 The CMP device 100 is shown. A brief description of the wafer transfer process within the CMP device 100 is provided, such as... Figure 6 As shown, dashed lines with arrows represent wafer transport paths.

[0083] First, one of the wafer clamping mechanisms 30 moves to its initial position. The initial position means that the track 10 is located on the upper horizontal segment 11 and close to the front unit 2, with the clamping arms 301 moving away from each other, so that the wafer clamping mechanism 30 is in the open state;

[0084] Next, the front-mounted robotic arm of the front unit 2 grips the wafer from the wafer loading cassette to transfer the wafer to the starting position. The gripping arm 301 closes, and the wafer gripping mechanism 30 is in a closed state to realize the loading of the wafer. At this time, the front side of the wafer is facing up. The front side of the wafer refers to the side with the device layer.

[0085] Next, the wafer clamping mechanism 30, carrying the wafer, moves along the vertical segment 12 to the horizontal segment 11 below, with the front side of the wafer facing down; the wafer clamping mechanism 30 stops at the interaction position, as shown below. Figure 7 As shown in (a) in the figure. The so-called interaction position refers to the position of the loading component 313 of the polishing module 31, so that the loading component 313 can interact with the carrier head 3122;

[0086] Before the wafer clamping mechanism 30 moves to the loading assembly 313, the loading tray 3131 moves downward so that the loading tray 3131 is below the moving trajectory of the wafer clamping mechanism 30, so as to prevent the wafer clamping mechanism 30 from interfering with the loading tray 3131.

[0087] Next, the loading tray 3131 of the loading assembly 313 moves upward, and the loading tray 3131 supports the wafer held by the wafer clamping mechanism 30 from below, such as Figure 7 As shown in (b); the clamping arms 301 of the wafer clamping mechanism 30 are far apart from each other, as... Figure 7 As shown in (c), the wafer is placed on the loading tray 3131, thereby realizing the interaction between the wafer clamping mechanism 30 and the loading tray 3131;

[0088] Next, the loading tray 3131 supporting the wafer moves downwards again, as... Figure 7As shown in (d), the wafer clamping mechanism 30 is vertically staggered with the loading tray 3131 so that the wafer clamping mechanism 30, after unloading the wafer, can continue to move forward along the track 10. Figure 7 (e) shows the state of the wafer clamping mechanism 30 after it has moved forward along the track 10 to unload the wafer;

[0089] Next, the loading tray 3131 supporting the wafer moves upward to facilitate interaction with the carrier head 3122; specifically, the elastic membrane of the carrier head 3122 attracts the wafer on the loading tray 3131 so that the wafer to be polished is moved above the polishing tray 311 by the swing of the support frame 3121, thereby performing chemical mechanical polishing on the wafer.

[0090] Next, the polished wafer moves along the horizontal segment 11 below the displacement, through the vertical segment 12, to the horizontal segment 11 above the displacement; during this process, the wafer is rotated 180°, that is, the wafer changes from facing forward to facing forward;

[0091] Next, the turnover robot 5 clamps the wafer from the wafer clamping mechanism 30 and transfers the wafer to the cleaning module 41 in the cleaning unit 4 to perform roller brush cleaning, two-fluid cleaning and other treatments on the wafer to remove contaminants remaining on the wafer surface.

[0092] The cleaned wafers are transferred by the turnover robot 5 to the drying module 42 to peel off the water film on the wafer surface and obtain a surface-dried wafer.

[0093] Finally, the front-end robotic arm in front-end unit 2 directly picks up the wafer from drying module 42 to place the wafer in wafer loading cassette.

[0094] It should be noted that the drying module 42 is equipped with a switch door (not shown) on the side near the front unit 2 to facilitate the gripping of the front robotic arm.

[0095] Depend on Figure 6 As shown in the provided wafer transfer path diagram, the transfer of wafers between adjacent polishing modules 31 is achieved through wafer transfer device 1, which can save on the number of robotic arms required and control the cost of CMP equipment.

[0096] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a CMP device 100 provided in another embodiment of the present invention. The CMP device 100 includes two sub-CMP devices, namely a first sub-CMP device 100A and a second sub-CMP device 100B, which are arranged in parallel and operate independently to improve the fault tolerance of the CMP device 100. That is, if one sub-CMP device fails, the other sub-CMP device can operate normally.

[0097] The sub-CMP equipment includes a front-end unit 2, a polishing unit 3, a cleaning unit 4, and a wafer transfer device 1. Two sub-CMP equipments share one front-end unit 2. The cleaning unit 4 is vertically stacked above the polishing unit 3 to reduce the floor space required.

[0098] The polishing unit 3, cleaning unit 4, and wafer transfer device 1 of the first sub-CMP equipment 100A and the second sub-CMP equipment 100B are symmetrically arranged along the horizontal center line L of the CMP equipment 100, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown.

[0099] In this embodiment, the wafer transfer device 1 adopts... Figure 3 The technical solution shown has the opening of the track 10 facing the front unit 2 of the CMP equipment 100, and the horizontal section 11 located below is adjacent to the front unit 2, so that the front robot arm of the front unit 2 can place the wafer on the wafer clamping mechanism 30 of the horizontal section 11.

[0100] Furthermore, the horizontal segment 11 of the track 10 extends at least to one cleaning module 41 of the cleaning unit 4, so that the turnover robot 5 can transfer the wafers from the wafer holding mechanism 30 to the cleaning module 41. That is, the upper horizontal segment 11 of the track 10 extends into the cleaning unit 4.

[0101] As a variant of this embodiment, the track 10 of the wafer transfer device 1 can also extend to the drying module 42 of the cleaning unit 4, so that the turnover robot 5 disposed between the cleaning modules 41 can directly transfer the wafer between the wafer clamping mechanism 30 of the track 10 and the cleaning module 41. After cleaning, the turnover robot 5 transfers the cleaned wafer to the drying module 42 for wafer drying and peeling off the water film on the wafer surface.

[0102] Figure 8 In the embodiment shown, the cleaning module 41 and the drying module 42 of the cleaning unit 4 are arranged along the outer periphery of the top of the CMP equipment 100 to expand the operating space for installation and maintenance of the cleaning module 41 and the drying module 42 and improve the convenience of operation.

[0103] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0104] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, all equivalent technical solutions also fall within the scope of the embodiments of this application, and the patent protection scope of the embodiments of this application should be defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer transport device for wafer transport in CMP equipment, characterized in that, include: The track is set horizontally and vertically along the CMP equipment and is located within the CMP equipment; A slider is disposed on the track and moves along the track. The slider is equipped with a wafer clamping mechanism to clamp the wafer to be transferred. The track includes at least a horizontal section and a vertical section, which are connected as one unit. The wafer clamping mechanism moves between the horizontal and vertical sections by means of a slider to achieve wafer flipping.

2. The wafer transport device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The track also includes a transition section disposed between the horizontal section and the vertical section, wherein the horizontal section is disposed along the length direction of the CMP equipment and the vertical section is disposed along the height direction of the CMP equipment; the wafer clamping mechanism moves between the horizontal section and the vertical section, causing the wafer it clamps to rotate 90°.

3. The wafer transport device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The track includes a pair of parallel horizontal segments and a pair of parallel vertical segments, which are connected by the transition segment to form a ring structure; when the wafer moves between the opposite horizontal or vertical segments, the wafer held by the wafer clamping mechanism is rotated 180°.

4. The wafer transport device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The slider is positioned above or to the side of the track and moves along the track via electromagnetic drive.

5. The wafer transport device as described in claim 3, characterized in that, One vertical section of the track is located adjacent to the front unit of the CMP equipment, and the front robot arm of the front unit picks up and places wafers from the horizontal section of the track.

6. The wafer transport device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The number of sliders is multiple, and they are spaced apart along the length of the track.

7. The wafer transport device as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The slider reciprocates along the track to transfer the wafer held on the wafer clamping mechanism.

8. The wafer transport device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The wafer clamping mechanism includes a pair of clamping arms spaced apart along the length of the track; at least one clamping arm is movable along the length of the track to clamp or release the wafer.

9. The wafer transport device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that, The track has a U-shaped structure, which includes two horizontal sections and a vertical section between the horizontal sections; the opening of the track faces the front unit of the CMP device, and the lower horizontal section is adjacent to the front unit.

10. A CMP device, characterized in that, The device includes a pre-processing unit, a polishing unit, a cleaning unit, and a wafer transfer device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the wafer transfer device is disposed across the polishing unit and the cleaning unit to transfer a wafer between the two.

11. The CMP equipment as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The polishing unit and the cleaning unit are stacked vertically, with the polishing unit located below the cleaning unit.

12. The CMP equipment as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The horizontal section of the track extends at least to one cleaning module of the cleaning unit.

13. The CMP equipment as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The cleaning unit includes multiple cleaning modules and drying modules, and a transfer robot is configured between each module to transfer wafers between the modules.

14. The CMP equipment as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The turnover robot can grab wafers from the wafer clamping mechanism on the track and transfer the wafers to the cleaning module or drying module of the cleaning unit.

15. The CMP equipment as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The cleaning module and drying module of the cleaning unit are arranged along the outer periphery of the top of the CMP equipment, and the drying module is arranged adjacent to the front unit.

16. The CMP equipment as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The polishing unit includes multiple polishing modules arranged horizontally along the length of the CMP equipment.

17. The CMP equipment as described in claim 16, characterized in that, The polishing module includes a polishing disk, a polishing assembly, and a loading assembly. The loading assembly is disposed to the side of the polishing disk, and the polishing assembly is disposed above the polishing disk and the loading assembly to transfer wafers between the loading assembly and the polishing disk.

18. The CMP equipment as claimed in claim 17, characterized in that, The wafer transfer device is located adjacent to the loading assembly, and the loading disk of the loading assembly can move vertically to support the wafers on the wafer clamping mechanism.

19. The CMP equipment as described in claim 16, characterized in that, The CMP equipment includes two parallel sub-CMP equipments, each sub-CMP equipment comprising a front-end unit, a polishing unit, a cleaning unit, and a wafer transfer device, wherein the two sub-CMP equipments share a front-end unit.

20. The CMP equipment as described in claim 19, characterized in that, The polishing unit, cleaning unit, and wafer transfer device of the sub-CMP equipment are symmetrically arranged along the horizontal centerline of the CMP equipment.

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