Chamber abnormality processing method and semiconductor process device

Abstract

The present invention provides a chamber abnormality processing method and a semiconductor process device. The chamber abnormality processing method comprises: acquiring the state of any of acid tank chambers and water tank chambers; if the state of the acid tank chamber in which any target device is located is an abnormal state, and a soaking duration of the target device in a solution in the acid tank chamber is greater than an allowable soaking duration of the acid tank chamber, executing a target device protection operation, the target device protection operation being used for protecting the target device to reduce damage to the target device caused by over-soaking, pausing the execution of a cleaning task of the target device, and continuing to execute the cleaning task of the target device only when the state of the acid tank chamber has changed from the abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue processing has been received, so as to prevent the target device, which has undergone the damage caused by over-soaking, from continuing to execute subsequent cleaning tasks, thereby reducing the risk of scrapping the target device.

Description

Chamber abnormality handling method and semiconductor process equipment TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to a chamber abnormality handling method and semiconductor process equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] Generally, a slot cleaning equipment includes a plurality of acid slot chambers and a plurality of water slot chambers, the acid slot chambers are used to clean devices such as wafers by using chemical solutions such as acidic solutions, and the water slot chambers are used to clean devices such as wafers by using water. During the cleaning of devices such as wafers, the slot cleaning equipment will transport the wafers according to the intelligent planned transmission path, so that the acid slot chambers and the water slot chambers clean the wafers according to the intelligent planned order.

[0003] At present, when the chamber where the wafers are located is abnormal, the controller of the slot cleaning equipment will control the chamber to suspend the cleaning task of the wafers until the chamber returns to normal, and then control the chamber to continue the cleaning task of the wafers. However, if the cleaning task is suspended and the chamber where the wafers are located is an acid slot chamber, the wafers will be soaked in the chemical solution in the acid slot chamber for a long time, and if the time for the chamber to return to normal is longer than the allowed soaking time of the wafers, the wafers will be damaged by over-soaking. Moreover, after the chamber returns to normal, the wafers that have been damaged by over-soaking will continue to perform the subsequent cleaning task, which increases the risk of wafer scrap. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application discloses a chamber abnormality handling method and semiconductor process equipment to reduce the probability of over-soaking damage of wafers and the risk of wafer scrap.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application discloses a chamber abnormality handling method applied to a semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment includes acid slot chambers and water slot chambers, and the method includes: acquiring the state of any of the acid slot chambers and the water slot chambers; if the state of the acid slot chamber where any target device is located is an abnormal state, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the acid slot chamber is longer than the allowed soaking time of the acid slot chamber, performing a target device protection operation, the target device protection operation is used to protect the target device to reduce the over-soaking damage of the target device, and to suspend the cleaning task of the target device, and after the state of the acid slot chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received, continue to perform the cleaning task of the target device.

[0006] In some embodiments, the acid tank chamber includes a first acid tank chamber and a second acid tank chamber, the first acid tank chamber has a shorter allowed soaking time than the second acid tank chamber, the performing the target device protection operation includes: if the acid tank chamber is the first acid tank chamber, performing an operation of transferring the target device into the second acid tank chamber or the water tank chamber, or performing an operation of replacing the solution in the first acid tank chamber with a solution of a lower concentration; if the acid tank chamber is the second acid tank chamber, performing an operation of transferring the target device into the water tank chamber, or performing an operation of replacing the solution in the second acid tank chamber with a solution of a lower concentration.

[0007] In some embodiments, further comprising: if the state of the water tank chamber in which any target device is located is an abnormal state, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the water tank chamber is longer than the allowed soaking time of the water tank chamber, performing an operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber, and pausing the cleaning task of the target device, and after the state of the water tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received, continuing the cleaning task of the target device.

[0008] In some embodiments, further comprising: if the state of the acid tank chamber that any target device is about to enter is an abnormal state, determining whether to perform an operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device according to the chamber in which the target device is located and the length of time for which the acid tank chamber is in the abnormal state.

[0009] In some embodiments, the determining whether to perform an operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device according to the chamber in which the target device is located and the length of time for which the acid tank chamber is in the abnormal state includes: if the chamber in which the target device is located is a water tank chamber, and the length of time for which the acid tank chamber is in the abnormal state is shorter than the allowed soaking time, performing an operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and continuing the cleaning task of the target device; if the chamber in which the target device is located is a water tank chamber, and the length of time for which the acid tank chamber is in the abnormal state is longer than the allowed soaking time, performing an operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber, pausing the cleaning task of the target device, and after the state of the acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device may continue cleaning is received, continuing the cleaning task of the target device.

[0010] In some embodiments, the acid tank chamber includes a first acid tank chamber and a second acid tank chamber, the first acid tank chamber has a shorter allowed soaking time than the second acid tank chamber, and the determining whether to perform the operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue performing the cleaning task of the target device according to the chamber in which the target device is located and the length of time that the acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state further includes: if the chamber in which the target device is located is the second acid tank chamber, the acid tank chamber that the target device is about to enter is the first acid tank chamber, and the length of time that the first acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state is shorter than the allowed soaking time thereof, performing the operation of transferring the target device into the first acid tank chamber and continuing to perform the cleaning task of the target device; and if the chamber in which the target device is located is the second acid tank chamber, the acid tank chamber that the target device is about to enter is the first acid tank chamber, and the length of time that the first acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state is longer than the allowed soaking time thereof, performing a target device protection operation, suspending the cleaning task of the target device, and continuing to perform the cleaning task of the target device after the state of the first acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received.

[0011] In some embodiments, the determining whether to perform the operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue performing the cleaning task of the target device according to the chamber in which the target device is located and the length of time that the acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state further includes: if the chamber in which the target device is located is the first acid tank chamber, and the acid tank chamber that the target device is about to enter is the second acid tank chamber, performing the operation of transferring the target device into the second acid tank chamber; if the length of time that the second acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state is shorter than the allowed soaking time thereof, continuing to perform the cleaning task of the target device; and if the length of time that the second acid tank chamber is in an abnormal state is longer than the allowed soaking time thereof, performing a target device protection operation, suspending the cleaning task of the target device, and continuing to perform the cleaning task of the target device after the state of the second acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method further includes: if the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the water tank chamber is longer than the allowed soaking time of the water tank chamber, performing an operation of flushing the target device in the water tank chamber.

[0013] In some embodiments, after the suspending the cleaning task of the target device, the method further includes: issuing a suspension alarm, the suspension alarm being used to indicate whether the target device can continue cleaning.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present application discloses a semiconductor process equipment, comprising an acid tank chamber, a water tank chamber, a single-tank chamber robot, a process transfer robot, and a controller, the single-tank chamber robot is configured to perform a transfer operation of moving a target device into or out of a corresponding one of the chambers, the process transfer robot is configured to perform a transfer operation of the target device between different chambers, and the controller is configured to control the single-tank chamber robot and the process transfer robot to perform a target device transfer operation, the controller comprises at least one processor and at least one memory, the memory stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to implement the chamber abnormality processing method according to any one of the preceding aspects.

[0015] The chamber abnormality processing method and the semiconductor process equipment disclosed by the present application obtain the state of any one of the acid tank chambers and the water tank chambers, if the state of the acid tank chamber in which a target device (such as a wafer) is located is an abnormal state, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the acid tank chamber is greater than the allowed soaking time of the acid tank chamber, a target device protection operation is performed, the target device protection operation is configured to protect the target device to reduce the over-soaking damage of the target device, or reduce the probability of over-soaking damage of the target device, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended until the state of the acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be processed is received, and then the cleaning task of the target device is continued, so as to avoid the target device that has already appeared over-soaking damage to continue to perform the subsequent cleaning task, thereby reducing the risk of target device scrapping. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the background art, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the present application or the background art will be described below.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a tank cleaning equipment.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a planning method of a transfer path of a tank cleaning equipment.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a chamber abnormality processing method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another chamber abnormality processing method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another chamber abnormality processing method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] With reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all the other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a slot cleaning equipment, which includes a storage area, a transmission area and a process area. The process area includes eight chambers, one hand washing chamber, one drying chamber, one process transfer robot (PTR), two double-lifters (D-Lifters) and five single-lifters (S-Lifters).

[0024] The first and second chambers of the eight chambers are acid tank chambers and water tank chambers, respectively, the third chamber is an acid tank chamber, the fourth chamber is an acid tank chamber, the fifth chamber is an acid tank chamber, the sixth chamber is a water tank chamber, the seventh and eighth chambers are acid tank chambers and water tank chambers, respectively. The double-lifter is used to perform wafer transfer operations in two chambers, the single-lifter is used to perform wafer transfer operations into or out of a corresponding chamber, and the process transfer robot is used to perform wafer transfer operations between different chambers. The double-lifter, the single-lifter and the process transfer robot together realize the transmission of wafers and other devices between chambers.

[0025] One of the transmission paths of the slot cleaning equipment is: first, the wafers and other devices are transmitted from the storage area to the process area through the transmission area, then the wafers and other devices are sequentially transmitted from the first chamber to the eighth chamber, so that the first chamber to the eighth chamber sequentially perform the cleaning task of the wafers and other devices, then the wafers and other devices are transmitted to the drying chamber for drying, and then the wafers and other devices are transmitted to the storage area through the transmission area.

[0026] The current slot cleaning equipment is intelligent to plan the transmission path of the wafer and the like according to the state of the chamber. As shown in FIG. 2, the slot cleaning equipment monitors the state of each chamber. If the state of any chamber is an abnormal state, the slot cleaning equipment detects whether the chamber has a wafer and the like. If the chamber has no wafer and the like, the chamber continues to perform the task. If the chamber has a wafer and the like, the slot cleaning equipment continues to monitor the state of the chamber to determine whether the state of the chamber is still an abnormal state. If yes, the chamber stops performing the cleaning task of the wafer and the like. If no, the chamber continues to perform the cleaning task of the wafer and the like. However, if the cleaning task is stopped, the wafer and the like is in the acid tank chamber. Then, the wafer and the like is soaked in the chemical solution in the acid tank chamber for a long time. If the recovery time of the chamber is longer than the allowed soaking time of the wafer and the like, the wafer and the like is damaged by over-soaking.

[0027] Although the wafer and the like can be transferred from the acid tank chamber to the water tank chamber to reduce the over-soaking damage of the wafer and the like when the cleaning task is stopped, if the acid tank chamber is a chamber controlled by a single-slot lifting manipulator and a process transmission manipulator, the process transmission manipulator needs to be occupied when the number of wafers and the like to be transferred is large. If the process transmission manipulator cannot be occupied within the allowed soaking time of the acid tank chamber, the wafer and the like is still damaged by over-soaking.

[0028] In addition, if the wafer and the like cannot be transferred from the acid tank chamber to the water tank chamber, the wafer and the like that has been damaged by over-soaking continues to perform the subsequent cleaning task after the acid tank chamber recovers to normal. This increases the risk of wafer and the like scrap.

[0029] Therefore, the present application discloses a chamber abnormality processing scheme. If the state of the acid tank chamber in which any wafer and the like is located is an abnormal state, and the residence time of the wafer and the like in the acid tank chamber is longer than the allowed soaking time of the acid tank chamber, a target device protection operation is performed to reduce the over-soaking damage of the wafer and the like, and the cleaning task of the wafer and the like is suspended. Until the state of the acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the wafer and the like can continue to be processed is received, the cleaning task of the wafer and the like is continued to avoid the wafer and the like that has been damaged by over-soaking to continue to perform the subsequent cleaning task, thereby reducing the risk of wafer and the like scrap.

[0030] As an embodiment of the disclosure, the embodiment of the disclosure discloses a chamber abnormality processing method applied to a semiconductor process equipment. The semiconductor process equipment includes but is not limited to a slot cleaning equipment. The semiconductor process equipment includes an acid tank chamber and a water tank chamber. The acid tank chamber is used for cleaning a target device by using a chemical solution. The water tank chamber is used for cleaning the target device by using water. The target device includes but is not limited to a wafer.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a chamber abnormality processing method disclosed by an embodiment of the disclosure. The method includes the following steps.

[0032] S101: Obtain the state of any acid tank chamber and water tank chamber.

[0033] In the embodiment of the disclosure, the semiconductor process equipment such as the slot cleaning equipment monitors the state of each acid tank chamber and water tank chamber during the execution of the cleaning task of the target device (such as a wafer), for example, monitors the state of the first chamber to the eighth chamber shown in FIG. 1.

[0034] S102: If the state of the acid tank chamber in which any target device is located is an abnormal state, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the acid tank chamber is greater than the allowed soaking time of the acid tank chamber, perform a target device protection operation to protect the target device to reduce the over-soaking damage of the target device, and pause the execution of the cleaning task of the target device.

[0035] In the embodiment of the disclosure, if the state of the acid tank chamber in which any target device is located is an abnormal state, the target device can be transmitted to the water tank chamber by using a double-slot lifting manipulator and a process transmission manipulator or a single-slot lifting manipulator and a process transmission manipulator. However, if the process transmission manipulator is not preempted or the path between the acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber is not available, the target device will stay in the acid tank chamber. If the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the acid tank chamber is greater than the allowed soaking time of the acid tank chamber, perform a target device protection operation to protect the target device to reduce the over-soaking damage of the target device, and pause the execution of the cleaning task of the target device after performing the target device protection operation.

[0036] S103: Continue to execute the cleaning task of the target device after the state of the acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received.

[0037] In some embodiments of this application, after pausing the cleaning task of the target device, a pause alarm can be issued. This pause alarm is used to indicate whether the target device can continue cleaning, for example, to instruct manual confirmation of whether the target device can continue cleaning. Of course, this application is not limited to this. In other embodiments, pausing the cleaning task of the target device can also be used to confirm whether the target device can continue cleaning through other means.

[0038] If the operator confirms that the target device has suffered over-foaming damage, the operator sends an instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, such as a tank cleaning machine, indicating that the target device cannot be processed further. Upon receiving this instruction, the tank cleaning machine stops the cleaning process for the target device. Conversely, if the operator confirms that the target device has not suffered over-foaming damage, the operator sends an instruction to the tank cleaning machine indicating that the target device can be processed further. Upon receiving this instruction in the acid tank chamber, the tank cleaning machine continues the cleaning process for the target device, thereby reducing the risk of the target device being scrapped.

[0039] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, as shown in Table 1, the task states of semiconductor process equipment such as tank cleaning equipment include idle state, running state, paused state, aborted state, and completed aborted state. Among them, idle state means that the task is in a ready state, running state means that the task is in a running state, paused state means that the task is in a paused state, aborted state means that the task is in a stopped state, and completed aborted state means that the task is completed aborted state.

[0040] Table 1 Status and Status Description of Semiconductor Process Equipment

[0041] To minimize human intervention, traditional tank-type cleaning equipment does not include a pause state in its task status. This means it doesn't pause the cleaning process to instruct operators whether the target device can continue cleaning. Instead, it immediately resumes the cleaning task after a pause, which can lead to target devices that have already suffered over-soaking damage being processed in subsequent stages, increasing the risk of these devices becoming unusable.

[0042] Based on this, in this embodiment of the application, by adding a pause state, when the state of the acid tank chamber where the target device is located is abnormal and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the acid tank chamber exceeds the allowable soaking time of the acid tank chamber, the cleaning task of the target device is paused, so as to instruct the operator to confirm whether the target device can continue to be cleaned, thereby reducing the risk of scrapping the target device.

[0043] Understandably, after pausing the cleaning task of the target device, the tank cleaning equipment can provide two processing options: the first option (Job Abort) stops the task, and the second option (Continue And Ingore) allows the task to continue along its original path. In other words, if the operator confirms that the target device has suffered over-foaming damage, they can choose the first option, which sends a command to the semiconductor process equipment, such as the tank cleaning equipment, instructing the target device to cease processing, thus stopping the cleaning task. If the operator confirms that the target device has not suffered over-foaming damage, they can choose the second option, which sends a command to the semiconductor process equipment, such as the tank cleaning equipment, instructing the target device to continue processing, thus resuming the cleaning task.

[0044] In some embodiments of this application, if the path between the acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber is available, performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to transfer the target device into the water tank chamber. If the path between the acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber is unavailable, performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to replace the solution in the acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration, for example, performing an operation to add water to the solution in the acid tank chamber, which may also be referred to as a makesafe operation.

[0045] It should be noted that the path between the acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber is unavailable if the target device is present in the water tank chamber, or if the dual-tank lifting robot, single-tank lifting robot, or process transfer robot used for transferring the target device between the acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber malfunctions.

[0046] Of course, this application is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the acid bath chamber is divided into a first acid bath chamber and a second acid bath chamber, and the permissible soaking time of the first acid bath chamber is shorter than that of the second acid bath chamber. That is, the first acid bath chamber is a chamber where over-soaking is strictly prohibited, while the second acid bath chamber is a chamber where moderate over-soaking is permitted. The safety level of the water tank chamber is higher than that of the second acid bath chamber, and the safety level of the second acid bath chamber is higher than that of the first acid bath chamber.

[0047] Furthermore, if the acid bath chamber is the first acid bath chamber, and the path between the first acid bath chamber and the second acid bath chamber or the water bath chamber is available, then performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to transfer the target device to the second acid bath chamber or the water bath chamber. If the acid bath chamber is the first acid bath chamber, and the path between the first acid bath chamber and the second acid bath chamber or the water bath chamber is not available, then performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to replace the solution in the first acid bath chamber with a solution of lower concentration, for example, performing an operation to add water to the solution in the first acid bath chamber.

[0048] If the acid bath chamber is the second acid bath chamber, and the path between the second acid bath chamber and the water bath chamber is available, then performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to transfer the target device into the water bath chamber. If the acid bath chamber is the second acid bath chamber, and the path between the second acid bath chamber and the water bath chamber is not available, then performing the target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to replace the solution in the second acid bath chamber with a solution of lower concentration, for example, performing an operation to add water to the solution in the second acid bath chamber.

[0049] Based on this, by increasing the transmission path of the target device in the first acid tank chamber from the single path of transfer to the water tank chamber to two paths of transfer to the second acid tank chamber or the water tank chamber, the probability of removing the target device from the first acid tank chamber is increased, further reducing the probability of over-soaking damage to the target device.

[0050] In some embodiments of this application, if the state of the water tank chamber in which any target device is located is abnormal, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the water tank chamber exceeds the allowable soaking time of the water tank chamber, then the operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the water tank chamber changes from abnormal to normal and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed.

[0051] Understandably, although the water in the water tank chamber has relatively low corrosiveness to the target device, if the target device is immersed in the water in the water tank chamber for a longer period than the allowable immersion time, it may still cause over-soaking damage. Therefore, it is necessary to suspend the cleaning task of the target device and instruct the operator to confirm whether the target device can continue cleaning, in order to reduce the risk of scrapping the target device.

[0052] In some embodiments of this application, as shown in Figure 4, which is a flowchart of another chamber anomaly handling method disclosed in this application, the state of each chamber is monitored. If the state of any chamber in which a target device is located is abnormal, and the immersion time of the target device in the solution in the chamber exceeds the allowable immersion time of the chamber, it is determined whether the chamber is a water tank chamber. If it is a water tank chamber, the operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. If it is not a water tank chamber, it is determined whether the chamber is a first acid tank chamber. If it is a first acid tank chamber, it is determined whether the path between the first acid tank chamber and the second acid tank chamber or the water tank chamber is available. If it is available, the target device is transferred to the first acid tank chamber. If the first acid tank chamber or water tank chamber is not available, the operation is performed to replace the solution in the first acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration, such as adding water to the solution in the first acid tank chamber, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. If the second acid tank chamber is available, it is determined whether the path between the second acid tank chamber and the water tank chamber is available. If it is available, the operation is performed to transfer the target device to the water tank chamber, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. If it is not available, the operation is performed to replace the solution in the second acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration, such as adding water to the solution in the second acid tank chamber, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended.

[0053] In some embodiments of this application, if the state of the acid tank chamber into which any target device is about to enter is abnormal, then based on the chamber in which the target device is located and the duration of the abnormal state of the acid tank chamber, it is determined whether to perform the operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device.

[0054] Because the transmission path of the target device includes multiple consecutive acid bath chambers, if the chamber in which the target device is located is an acid bath chamber, and the acid bath chamber that the target device is about to enter is in an abnormal state, then the risk of over-soaking and scrapping of the target device will increase. Therefore, in some embodiments of this application, if the acid bath chamber that the target device is about to enter is in an abnormal state, a determination is made on whether to perform the operation of transmitting the target device into the acid bath chamber based on the chamber in which the target device is located and the duration of the abnormal state of the acid bath chamber, in order to reduce the risk of over-soaking and scrapping of the target device.

[0055] In some embodiments of this application, if the chamber where the target device is located is a water tank chamber, and the duration of the acid tank chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time, then the operation of transferring the target device to the acid tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed.

[0056] If the target device is located in a water bath chamber, and the acid bath chamber has been in an abnormal state for a longer period than its allowable immersion time, then the operation of keeping the target device in the water bath chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. The cleaning task of the target device resumes only after the state of the acid bath chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue cleaning is received. In this embodiment, the acid bath chamber does not need to be distinguished as either the first acid bath chamber or the second acid bath chamber.

[0057] In other embodiments of this application, the acid bath chamber includes a first acid bath chamber and a second acid bath chamber. If the chamber where the target device is located is the second acid bath chamber, the acid bath chamber into which the target device is about to enter is the first acid bath chamber, and the duration of the first acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time, then the operation of transferring the target device to the first acid bath chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed.

[0058] If the target device is located in the second acid bath chamber, and the target device is about to enter the first acid bath chamber, and the duration of the first acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state exceeds its allowable immersion time, then a target device protection operation is executed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the first acid bath chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device continues.

[0059] The target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to transfer the target device to the water tank chamber, or performing an operation to replace the solution in the second acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration.

[0060] In other embodiments of this application, if the chamber where the target device is located is the first acid bath chamber and the acid bath chamber into which the target device is about to enter is the second acid bath chamber, then the operation of transferring the target device to the second acid bath chamber is performed; if the duration of the second acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable immersion time, then the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed; if the duration of the second acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state is greater than its allowable immersion time, then the target device protection operation is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended, and after the state of the second acid bath chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed.

[0061] The target device protection operation includes: performing an operation to transfer the target device to the water tank chamber, or performing an operation to replace the solution in the second acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration.

[0062] In some embodiments of this application, if the immersion time of the target device in the solution within the water tank exceeds the allowable immersion time of the water tank, a flushing operation can also be performed on the target device within the water tank. This operation can also be called an upflow operation. It is understood that the solution, such as water, within the water tank may become acidic after prolonged standing due to the adsorption of carbon dioxide and other substances from the air. Flushing the target device within the water tank can reduce the acidity of the solution, such as water, within the water tank.

[0063] In some embodiments of this application, as shown in FIG5, FIG5 is a flowchart of another chamber abnormality handling method disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The state of each chamber is monitored. If the state of the acid tank chamber into which any target device is about to enter is abnormal, it is determined whether the chamber in which the target device is located is a water tank chamber. If it is a water tank chamber, it is determined whether the duration of the abnormal state of the acid tank chamber is less than its allowable soaking time. If so, the operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed. If not, the operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended.

[0064] If it is not a water tank chamber, determine whether the acid tank chamber into which the target device is about to enter is the first acid tank chamber. If it is the first acid tank chamber, determine whether the duration of the first acid tank chamber in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time. If so, perform the operation of transferring the target device into the first acid tank chamber and continue to perform the cleaning task of the target device. If not, perform the target device protection operation and suspend the cleaning task of the target device.

[0065] If it is not the first acid bath chamber, perform the operation of transferring the target device to the second acid bath chamber, and determine whether the duration of the second acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time. If yes, continue to perform the cleaning task of the target device; if no, perform the target device protection operation and suspend the cleaning task of the target device.

[0066] As another embodiment of the disclosure in this application, this application also discloses a semiconductor process apparatus. This semiconductor process apparatus includes, but is not limited to, the tank cleaning apparatus shown in FIG1. ​​The semiconductor process apparatus includes an acid tank chamber, a water tank chamber, a single-tank chamber robot, a process transfer robot, and a controller. The acid tank chamber is used to clean the target device using a chemical solution, the water tank chamber is used to clean the target device using water, the single-tank chamber robot is used to perform a transfer operation of moving the target device into or out of a corresponding chamber, the process transfer robot is used to perform a transfer operation of the target device between different chambers, and the controller is used to control the single-tank chamber robot and the process transfer robot to perform the target device transfer operation. The controller includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the memory storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the chamber anomaly handling method disclosed in any of the above embodiments.

[0067] In some embodiments of this application, the semiconductor process equipment further includes a dual-chamber robot, which is used to perform target device transfer operations between two chambers, and the controller is also used to control the dual-chamber robot to perform target device transfer operations.

[0068] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0069] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of several implementation methods described in detail, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this specification, and these all fall within the scope of protection of this specification. Therefore, the scope of protection of this patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for handling chamber abnormalities, characterized in that, Applied to semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment including an acid bath chamber and a water bath chamber, the method includes: Obtain the state of any of the acid tank chambers and the water tank chambers; If the acid bath chamber containing any target device is in an abnormal state, and the immersion time of the target device in the solution within the acid bath chamber exceeds the allowable immersion time of the acid bath chamber, a target device protection operation is executed. The target device protection operation is used to protect the target device to reduce over-soaking damage to the target device, and to suspend the cleaning task of the target device. After the state of the acid bath chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device is resumed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The acid bath chamber includes a first acid bath chamber and a second acid bath chamber. The allowable immersion time of the first acid bath chamber is shorter than the allowable immersion time of the second acid bath chamber. The execution of the target device protection operation includes: If the acid tank chamber is the first acid tank chamber, then the operation of transferring the target device to the second acid tank chamber or the water tank chamber is performed, or the operation of replacing the solution in the first acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration is performed. If the acid tank chamber is the second acid tank chamber, then the operation of transferring the target device into the water tank chamber is performed, or the operation of replacing the solution in the second acid tank chamber with a solution of lower concentration is performed.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: If the state of the water tank chamber in which any target device is located is abnormal, and the soaking time of the target device in the solution in the water tank chamber exceeds the allowable soaking time of the water tank chamber, then the operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the water tank chamber changes from abnormal to normal and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device is resumed.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: If the acid tank chamber into which any target device is about to enter is in an abnormal state, then based on the chamber in which the target device is located and the duration of the abnormal state in the acid tank chamber, it is determined whether to perform the operation of transferring the target device into the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of determining whether to transfer the target device to the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device based on the chamber where the target device is located and the duration of the abnormal state of the acid tank chamber includes: If the target device is located in a water tank chamber, and the duration of the acid tank chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time, then the operation of transferring the target device to the acid tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed. If the target device is located in a water tank chamber, and the duration of the abnormal state in the acid tank chamber exceeds its allowable soaking time, then the operation of keeping the target device in the water tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the acid tank chamber changes from the abnormal state to the normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device is resumed.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The acid bath chamber includes a first acid bath chamber and a second acid bath chamber. The allowable soaking time of the first acid bath chamber is less than the allowable soaking time of the second acid bath chamber. Therefore, determining whether to transfer the target device to the acid bath chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device based on the chamber where the target device is located and the duration of the acid bath chamber's abnormal state further includes: If the target device is located in the second acid tank chamber, the target device is about to enter the first acid tank chamber, and the duration of the first acid tank chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time, then the operation of transferring the target device to the first acid tank chamber is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device continues to be performed. If the target device is located in the second acid bath chamber, and the target device is about to enter the first acid bath chamber, and the duration of the first acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state exceeds its allowable immersion time, then a target device protection operation is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the first acid bath chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device continues to be executed.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The step of determining whether to transfer the target device to the acid tank chamber and whether to continue the cleaning task of the target device based on the chamber where the target device is located and the duration of the abnormal state of the acid tank chamber further includes: If the target device is located in the first acid tank chamber and the acid tank chamber into which the target device is about to enter is the second acid tank chamber, then the operation of transferring the target device to the second acid tank chamber is performed. If the duration of the second acid bath chamber being in an abnormal state is less than its allowable soaking time, then the cleaning task of the target device will continue to be performed. If the duration of the second acid tank chamber in an abnormal state exceeds its allowable soaking time, a target device protection operation is performed, and the cleaning task of the target device is suspended. After the state of the second acid tank chamber changes from an abnormal state to a normal state and an instruction indicating that the target device can continue to be cleaned is received, the cleaning task of the target device continues.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: If the immersion time of the target device in the solution in the water tank chamber exceeds the allowable immersion time of the water tank chamber, then the target device in the water tank chamber is flushed.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After pausing the cleaning task of the target device, the process further includes: A pause alarm is issued, which is used to indicate whether the target device can continue cleaning.

10. A semiconductor process apparatus, comprising an acid tank chamber, a water tank chamber, a single-tank chamber robot, a process transfer robot, and a controller, wherein the single-tank chamber robot is used to perform a transfer operation of moving a target device into or out of a corresponding chamber, the process transfer robot is used to perform a transfer operation of the target device between different chambers, and the controller is used to control the single-tank chamber robot and the process transfer robot to perform the transfer operation of the target device, characterized in that... The controller includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the memory storing a computer program that, when executed by the processor, also implements the chamber abnormality handling method as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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