JPH02170520A - Coating and developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to grasp the condition of trouble and to cope with the trouble quickly by a method wherein an indicating device, with which the trouble contents stored in advance and the desired information will be indicated for the alarm signal generated in a plurality of processing mechanisms and conveying mechanism, is provided. CONSTITUTION:When an abnormal condition is generated, an alarm signal is transmitted to an alarm control 41 from unit control parts 31 to 33, the name of alarm stored in an alarm name storage part 42 is extracted based on the alarm signal by the alarm control part 41, an alarm message is indicated on an indicating part 43. At the same time, the contents, the data and time of generation and the like of the alarm signal are stored in an alarm content storage part 44 corresponding to the information of a semiconductor wafer in which the contents, data and time and the like of the alarm signal are processed. Moreover, when it is necessary to know the contents of trouble in details, the detailed contents corresponding to each alarm signal stored in an alarm detail storage part 46 can be indicated on the indication part 43. As a result, the hysteresis of the trouble contents of each processing stage can be grasped quickly, the trouble can be coped with speedily.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a coating and developing device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in coating and developing apparatuses, objects to be processed, such as semiconductor wafers, undergo various treatments in multiple processing steps, but in recent years,
As semiconductor wafers become highly integrated, the number of processing steps described above is increasing and becoming more complex.

On the other hand, with the miniaturization of the semiconductor device manufacturing environment, a higher level of cleanliness is required to prevent defects in semiconductor elements due to dust adhesion. There is an increasing need to reduce dust generation.

Therefore, as a resist processing equipment that can easily handle increasingly complex processing steps and can also support higher cleanliness,
A wafer loading/unloading mechanism and multiple processing mechanisms such as a resist coating mechanism, a developing mechanism, a heating mechanism, etc. are arranged and connected, and a wafer transport mechanism automatically transports semiconductor wafers to each processing mechanism according to a predetermined processing procedure to perform a series of processing. A configuration has been developed to do this.

The arrangement configuration of each processing mechanism in such a coating and developing apparatus varies depending on the processing content and installation conditions. For example, each processing mechanism is arranged and connected in a straight line, and the wafer transport mechanism sequentially moves the processing mechanisms from one end to the other. Some are configured to transport semiconductor wafers to each processing mechanism for processing, while others are configured to have multiple processing mechanisms arranged in parallel, with a wafer transport mechanism located in the center, and to transport semiconductor wafers to each processing mechanism for processing. .

In addition, the wafer loading operation in such a coating and developing device is as follows:
A wafer carrier containing a large number of stacked semiconductor wafers at predetermined intervals is placed in a wafer loading mechanism configured to be able to move up and down, and is taken out by a wafer carrying arm and transferred to the wafer carrying mechanism. The processed semiconductor wafer, which has been subjected to a series of processes, is again transferred from the wafer transfer mechanism to the wafer carrier that accommodates the processed wafer by the wafer transfer arm.

By the way, in a coating and developing apparatus in which a plurality of processing mechanisms are connected and arranged to proceed with processing in sequence, each processing mechanism is equipped with, for example, a heating mechanism, a wafer positioning sensor, and a wafer positioning sensor.
Sensors are installed to check each operation, such as a hot plate position sensor, and each sensor confirms whether the specified operation is being performed within each mechanism, and the system is configured to proceed to the next operation. ing.

The device is configured to generate an alarm and stop proceeding to the next operation if the sensor is not confirmed within a predetermined time after an operation is instructed, thereby preventing the device itself from malfunctioning. .

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional coating and developing apparatus, as mentioned above, the process is simply stopped by generating an alarm, or the position and name of the alarm are displayed. Due to the limited amount of time, it takes time to restore the faulty part.
Additionally, there was a problem in that it was not possible to fully grasp the details of the failure.

However, as semiconductor devices have become more highly integrated and the number of processing steps has increased in recent years, it has become important to understand the details of failures that occur in each mechanism and to deal with them. In other words, by understanding the failure details for each semiconductor wafer, it becomes possible to investigate the cause of defects in processed semiconductor wafers, which can be expected to improve yields.
Furthermore, by analyzing the details of the failure and promptly processing it, the operating rate of the device is improved and the processing quality is also improved. Furthermore, by knowing the location and number of alarm occurrences, it is possible to improve the reliability of the device itself.

The present invention has been made in order to address the problems described in the conventional art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to quickly grasp the details of a failure and recover from the failure in a coating and developing device in which a plurality of processing mechanisms are connected by a conveyance mechanism. The object of the present invention is to provide a coating and developing device that enables the following.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problem) In other words, the coating and developing apparatus of the present invention is a coating and developing apparatus that selectively transports the object to be processed to a plurality of processing mechanisms by a transport mechanism and performs desired processing. The present invention is characterized by comprising a display means for displaying pre-stored failure details and desired information regarding the failure in response to alarm signals generated in the plurality of processing mechanisms and transport mechanisms.

(Function) The coating and developing device of the present invention is capable of displaying desired information such as the cause of occurrence and countermeasures along with the details of the failure based on alarm signals generated in each processing mechanism, etc., so that it is possible to grasp the failure state. This can be done easily and can be dealt with quickly.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the resist coating and developing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

A wafer holding mechanism 3 is mounted near the center of the apparatus main body 1 to hold an object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer 2, by suction.
A wafer transport mechanism 4 is provided to move the wafer in the direction.

The wafer transport mechanism 4 is moved and rotated by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) such as a stepping motor and a ball screw connected thereto.

Along one movement path, e.g., the X-direction movement path 5, of this wafer transport mechanism 4, on one side, e.g., the upper side in the figure, there are provided a plurality of wafer processing mechanisms, e.g., for improving the adhesion between the semiconductor wafer 2 and the resist film. A second pre-bake mechanism 7 for heating and evaporating the solvent remaining in the first layer of resist coated on the semiconductor wafer 2; A first cooling mechanism 8 that cools the processed semiconductor wafer 2
On the other hand, on the side of the moving path 5 facing the wafer processing mechanisms 7, 8, 9, there are provided a first resist for coating the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 with a first layer of resist. A coating mechanism 1 and a second coating mechanism 10 for spin-coating a second layer of resist onto the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 are arranged side by side in this order. And each of these wafer processing mechanisms 6.7.
8.9.10 constitutes the first processing device unit 11.

The coating and developing device of this embodiment is configured so that other processing device units similar to the first processing device unit 11 can be added according to the processing process, and when the first processing device unit 11 is added, the first processing device unit A standby mechanism 13 equipped with a mounting table 12 for temporarily waiting the semiconductor wafer 2 is provided on one side of the standby mechanism 11, and a plurality of processing mechanisms, for example, a second pre-bake mechanism, are connected to the standby mechanism 13 according to processing contents. 14, a second cooling mechanism 15 for cooling the semiconductor wafer 2 heat-treated by the second pre-bake mechanism 14, a CE for preventing light diffuse reflection;
A second processing equipment unit 18 is added, which includes a surface coating layer coating mechanism 16 for coating the resist with the L film, a second wafer transport mechanism 17, and the like.

On the other side of the first processing equipment unit 11, there is a sender mechanism 22 equipped with a wafer carrier 21 that stores semiconductor wafers 2 before processing, and a receiver mechanism that includes a wafer carrier 23 that stores semiconductor wafers 2 after processing. 24 and
It is composed of a wafer transfer arm 25 that suction-holds the semiconductor wafer 2 and carries it into or out of the wafer carrier 23, and a transfer arm drive mechanism 26 that moves the wafer transfer arm 25 in the x-y-z and θ directions. A wafer loading/unloading mechanism 27 is arranged.

Then, the unprocessed semiconductor wafer 2 is taken out from the wafer carrier 21 by the wafer transfer arm 25 and placed on the wafer placement table 28, and the semiconductor wafer 2 placed on the wafer placement table 28 is transferred to the first wafer transfer mechanism. 4, and is moved between the processing mechanisms 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to perform desired processing. Furthermore, when processing is performed in the second processing apparatus unit 18, the wafer is first placed on the mounting table 12 of the standby mechanism 13, and then transferred between the processing mechanisms 14, 15, and 16 by the second wafer transport mechanism 17. The robot moves and performs the desired processing. After the processing is completed, the processed semiconductor wafer 2 is placed on the mounting table 28 via the second wafer transport mechanism 17 and the mounting table 12, and is configured to be stored in the wafer carrier 23 by the wafer transport arm 25. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the resist coating and developing apparatus with the above configuration includes a wafer loading/unloading mechanism 27, a first processing unit 11, and a second processing unit when additional processing units are installed.
For each processing device unit 18, a unit control section, for example, a loading/unloading mechanism control section 31, a first unit control section 32, a second unit control section
The operation of each unit control section 31, 32, and 33 is individually controlled by a unit control section 33, and each of these unit control sections 31, 32, and 33 is centrally controlled by a main control section 34.

Processing in each processing mechanism in each processing device unit 11.18 is performed by a recipe control unit 36 extracting a recipe stored in a recipe information storage unit 35 based on semiconductor wafer information sent from a main control unit 34. The information is sent to each unit control section, the loading/unloading mechanism control section 31, the first unit control section 32, and the second unit control section 33, and is sent to each processing mechanism, such as the first pre-bake mechanism 7 and the first coating mechanism 9. Processing is performed in accordance with each semiconductor wafer.

Further, alarm signals generated in the wafer loading/unloading mechanism 27, the first processing device unit 11, and the second processing device unit 18 are configured to be processed as desired by the alarm control system 40. Each processing mechanism 6.7.8.9.10.14 of each processing device unit 11.18
．． 15.16, the wafer transport mechanism 4.17, and the sensor signals for checking the operation of each mechanism 22.24.26 in the wafer loading/unloading mechanism 27 are sent to the respective unit controllers 31, 32, and 33. Desired processing is performed while checking the operation of each part depending on the processing content. Here, if the operation is not confirmed by the sensors of each part, the processing operation will stop in that state, and each unit control part 31, 32
．． 33, the signal is sent to the alarm control section 41 as an alarm signal.

For example, to explain the first pre-bake mechanism 7 in the first processing equipment unit 11 as an example, as shown in FIG. , first unit control section 3
The wafer is moved onto the hot plate 71 in the first pre-bake mechanism 7 according to a command from 2, and stopped at a predetermined position by the wafer positioning sensor 72 (FIG. 1-A). After the first unit control section 32 confirms the signal from the wafer positioning sensor 72, the wafer holding pin 73 is raised to hold the semiconductor wafer 2.
When the upper limit signal is confirmed by the position sensor 74 of the wafer holding pin 73 at the first unit control section 32, the wafer transport mechanism 4 retreats to a predetermined position (FIG. 3-B).

When the retreat position of the wafer transport mechanism 4 is confirmed by the position sensor 75, the hot plate 71 is raised in response to a command from the first unit control section 32, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed on the hot plate 71.
is placed (C in the same figure).

Then, when the position sensor 76 confirms that the hot plate 71 has risen, a baking process is performed for a predetermined period of time. Thereafter, the processed semiconductor wafer 2 is sent out in accordance with the reverse procedure of the above-described semiconductor wafer 2 feeding operation.

Here, for example, if the upper limit position confirmation signal of the hot plate 71 does not reach the first processing device unit control section 32 even after a predetermined period of time, for example, 10 seconds has elapsed after the instruction to raise the hot plate 71,
The signal is transferred to the alarm control unit 41 as an alarm signal.

Similarly, each processing mechanism 6.7.8.9.10 and wafer transport mechanism 4 in the first processing equipment unit 11, and each processing mechanism 14 in the second processing equipment unit 18.
15.16 and the wafer transport mechanism 17, as well as the wafer loading/unloading mechanism 27, for example, position sensors are installed to ensure that predetermined operations are performed, and the signals from each sensor are used to check whether or not the predetermined operations are being performed. Confirmed,
When an abnormality occurs, each unit control section 31.32.3
3 to the alarm control unit 41 as an alarm signal.

When the alarm signal reaches the alarm control section 41, the alarm control section 41 extracts the alarm name stored in advance in the alarm name storage section 42 based on each alarm signal, displays an alarm message on the display section 43, and The content, date and time of the alarm signal are stored in the alarm content storage unit 44 in association with information about the semiconductor wafer 2 being processed when the alarm occurred, such as the loft number and the ID code of the semiconductor wafer 2.

The alarm message displayed at this time is, for example, the fourth
As shown in the figure, the information includes the name of the device where the error occurred, the name of the alarm, etc. From this alarm message screen, you can directly take action against failures, such as retrying, stopping operation, continuing operation, etc.
Although it is possible to instruct initialization etc. from the input unit 45, if you want to know more about the details of the failure, by performing a screen switching operation, each alarm signal stored in the alarm details storage unit 46 can be displayed. Detailed contents corresponding to are displayed on the display section 43.

The alarm message in this alarm detail display is
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the reason for the occurrence, possible causes, countermeasures, etc.

Furthermore, when performing a retry, an operation command is transferred from the alarm control section 41 to the unit control section separately from a series of operations, and only the operation at the failed location is performed. Then, the sensor signal at the time of retry is transferred from each unit control section 31, 32, 33 to the alarm control section 41 separately from the signal for a series of operations, and the result of the retry is displayed on the display section 43. Check the recovery status. When the failure point is repaired, the alarm control section 41 sends instructions to each unit control section 31 so that the series of operations can be continued if the continuation operation is selected.
．． 32.3, a continuation signal is transferred to the control unit.

Since these alarm display and recovery operations are performed for each processing mechanism, other normally operating processing mechanisms continue to operate unless they are linked to the processing mechanism in which the alarm has occurred.

On the other hand, the alarm control unit 41 aggregates the content of the alarm signal, the date of occurrence, the time of occurrence, etc. stored in the alarm content storage unit 44 on a period basis, for example, per month, as necessary, and displays the aggregated information on the display unit 43. Alternatively, it may be printed out from the output unit 47, for example.

Furthermore, by inputting, for example, the lot number of a processed semiconductor wafer 2, the alarm control section 41 is controlled to display on the display section 43 the details of the alarm that occurred when the semiconductor wafer 2 was processed.

Further, the alarm content storage unit 44 can search for alarm content separately from the resist coating and developing device by using an external storage means such as a magnetic disk device, for example.

In this way, in the resist coating and developing apparatus having the above configuration, the content of the alarm, the date of occurrence, the time of occurrence, etc. are stored in correspondence with the semiconductor wafer or lot type.
For example, it is possible to aggregate by lot type or within a certain period of time. Therefore, it is possible to easily grasp the frequency of occurrence of failures in each part of the apparatus and their details, and it is possible to improve the reliability of each part of the apparatus. Further, the cause of defects in semiconductor wafers after processing can be investigated by comparing them with the details of the failure, which can be of great use in improving processing quality.

In addition, by displaying the details of the failure, it becomes possible to take prompt action against the alarm.
Therefore, not only the operating rate is improved, but also a decrease in yield can be prevented.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the coating and developing device of the present invention,
Since it is possible to grasp the details of failures in each processing step, it greatly contributes to improving the reliability of the apparatus and the processing quality, and it is also possible to promptly deal with failures.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the coating and developing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the pre-bake mechanism, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a basic alarm message screen, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a detailed contents alarm message screen. 1...Main body, 2...Semiconductor wafer, 4
...First wafer transport mechanism, 11...First processing equipment unit, 18...Second processing equipment unit, 27...Wafer loading/unloading mechanism , 31
...Carry-in/out mechanism control section, 32...1st
unit control unit, 33...second unit control unit, 34...main control unit, 40...alarm control system, 41...alarm control Section, 42
......Alarm name storage section, 43...Display section, 44...Alarm content storage section, 46...
...Alarm details storage section. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a coating and developing apparatus that selectively transports a workpiece to a plurality of processing mechanisms by a transport mechanism and performs desired processing, the following applies to an alarm signal generated in the plurality of processing mechanisms and the transport mechanism. A coating and developing apparatus characterized by comprising display means for displaying pre-stored failure details and desired information regarding the failure.