U.S. patent application number 16/128182 was filed with the patent office on 2019-01-10 for semiconductor device manufacturing platform with single and twinned processing chambers.
The applicant listed for this patent is Applied Materials, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jeffrey C. Hudgens, Sushant S. Koshti, Nir Merry, Michael Robert Rice.
Application Number | 20190013216 16/128182 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51522147 |
Filed Date | 2019-01-10 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190013216 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Merry; Nir ; et al. |
January 10, 2019 |
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE MANUFACTURING PLATFORM WITH SINGLE AND TWINNED
PROCESSING CHAMBERS
Abstract
A transfer chamber for semiconductor device manufacturing
includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region configured
to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates
between processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a
first portion and a second portion of the transfer chamber and
including (a) a first side that couples to two twinned processing
chambers; and (b) a second side that couples to a single processing
chamber; (2) a first substrate handler located in the first portion
of the transfer chamber; (3) a second substrate handler located in
the second portion of the transfer chamber; and (4) a hand-off
location configured to allow substrates to be passed between the
first portion and the second portion of the transfer chamber using
the first and second substrate handlers. Method aspects are also
provided.
Inventors: |
Merry; Nir; (Mountain View,
CA) ; Rice; Michael Robert; (Pleasanton, CA) ;
Koshti; Sushant S.; (Sunnyvale, CA) ; Hudgens;
Jeffrey C.; (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Applied Materials, Inc. |
Santa Clara |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
51522147 |
Appl. No.: |
16/128182 |
Filed: |
September 11, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14180954 |
Feb 14, 2014 |
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16128182 |
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61778206 |
Mar 12, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 21/6719 20130101;
H01L 21/67196 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01L 21/67 20060101
H01L021/67 |
Claims
1. A transfer chamber configured for use during semiconductor
device manufacturing, comprising: a plurality of sides that define
a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport
of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the
plurality of sides including: a first elongated side that couples
to two twinned processing chambers; a second side that couples to a
single processing chamber; and a third side that couples to a load
lock chamber; an extended-reach substrate handler located in the
transfer chamber and configured to transport substrates between the
load lock chamber, the two twinned processing chambers, and the
single processing chamber; and a hand-off location configured to
provide one or more of a transfer location, substrate storage,
chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, pre-processing,
and post-processing.
2. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sides
from a closed polygon shape.
3. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the hand-off location is
configured to allow substrates to be passed between first and
second portions of the transfer chamber at a first elevation and to
provide one or more of the cool-down, substrate heating,
pre-processing, and post-processing at a second elevation that is
different than the first elevation.
4. The transfer chamber of claim 3 wherein the second elevation is
above the first elevation.
5. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach
substrate handler comprises an off-axis handler.
6. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach
substrate handler comprises an extended boom.
7. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach
substrate handler comprises a dual blade robot operative to
simultaneously transport two substrates.
8. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a fourth
elongated side that couples to two twinned processing chambers, the
fourth elongated side opposite the first elongated side.
9. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a fifth side
that couples to a single processing chamber, the fifth side
adjacent to the second side.
10. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a sixth side
that couples to a load lock chamber, the sixth side adjacent to the
third side.
11. A semiconductor processing tool comprising the transfer chamber
of claim 1, the semiconductor processing tool further comprising:
the two twinned processing chambers coupled to the first elongated
side of the transfer chamber, the two twinned processing chambers
configured to share chemical or gas delivery resources; the single
processing chamber coupled to the second side of the transfer
chamber; the load lock chamber coupled to the third side of the
transfer chamber; a second set of twinned processing chambers
coupled to a fourth elongated side of the transfer chamber, the
second set of twinned processing chambers configured to share
chemical or gas delivery resources; and a second single processing
chamber coupled to a fifth side of the transfer chamber.
12. The semiconductor processing tool of claim 11, further
comprising a second load lock chamber coupled to a sixth side of
the transfer chamber.
13. The semiconductor processing tool of claim 11, further
comprising a controller that controls at least a portion of
operations performed by the transfer chamber.
14. A method comprising: providing a transfer chamber having a
plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a
vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality
of processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a first
portion of the transfer chamber and a second portion of the
transfer chamber and including: a first side coupled to two twinned
processing chambers configured to share chemical or gas delivery
resources, and a second side coupled to a single processing
chamber; the transfer chamber further comprising: a first substrate
handler located in the region configured to maintain a vacuum
level; and a hand-off location configured to allow substrates to be
passed between the first portion of the transfer chamber and the
second portion of the transfer chamber; loading a first substrate
into the transfer chamber employing the first substrate handler;
transferring the first substrate to the hand-off location;
retrieving the first substrate from the hand-off location; loading
a second substrate into the transfer chamber; and simultaneously
loading the first and second substrates into the twinned processing
chambers coupled to the first side of the transfer chamber.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein at least a portion of (d) and
(e) occur at the same time.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the first substrate handler is
an extended-reach dual-blade substrate handler having a reach
sufficient to transfer substrates between the first portion and the
second portion and all chambers coupled to the transfer chamber,
the first substrate handler configured to perform the
simultaneously loading the first and second substrates into the
twinned processing chambers coupled to the first side of the
transfer chamber.
17. The method of claim 14 further comprising pre-processing the
first substrate within the hand-off location prior to retrieving
the first substrate from the hand-off location.
18. The method of claim 14 further comprising post-processing the
first substrate within the hand-off location prior to transferring
the first substrate to a single processing chamber.
19. The method of claim 14 further comprising post-processing the
second substrate within the hand-off location.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein the first substrate handler is
located in the first portion of the transfer chamber, and the
method further comprises providing the transfer chamber further
including a second substrate handler located in the second portion
of the transfer chamber, the first and second substrate handlers
configured to perform the simultaneously loading the first and
second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled to
the first side of the transfer chamber.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a divisional of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/180,954, filed Feb. 14, 2014, which claims
priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/778,206,
filed Mar. 12, 2013, each titled "SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
MANUFACTURING PLATFORM WITH SINGLE AND TWINNED PROCESSING
CHAMBERS," and each of which is hereby incorporated by reference
herein in its entirety for all purposes.
FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to semiconductor device
manufacturing, and more specifically to a semiconductor device
manufacturing platform with single and twinned processing
chambers.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Manufacturing of semiconductor devices typically involves
performing a sequence of procedures with respect to a substrate or
"wafer" such as a silicon substrate, a glass plate, etc. These
steps may include polishing, deposition, etching, photolithography,
heat treatment, and so forth. Usually a number of different
processing steps may be performed in a single processing system or
"tool" which includes a plurality of processing chambers or
"reactors". To reduce semiconductor device manufacturing costs,
methods and apparatus for improving efficiency and/or reducing cost
of operation of processing tools are desired.
SUMMARY
[0004] In some embodiments, a transfer chamber configured for use
during semiconductor device manufacturing is provided. The transfer
chamber includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region
configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of
substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the
plurality of sides defining a first portion of the transfer chamber
and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including (a) a
first side that couples to two twinned processing chambers; and (b)
a second side that couples to a single processing chamber. The
transfer chamber also includes (2) a first substrate handler
located in the first portion of the transfer chamber; (3) a second
substrate handler located in the second portion of the transfer
chamber; and (4) a hand-off location configured to allow substrates
to be passed between the first portion of the transfer chamber and
the second portion of the transfer chamber using the first
substrate handler and the second substrate handler.
[0005] In some embodiments, a method is provided that includes (a)
providing a transfer chamber having a plurality of sides that
define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow
transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers,
the plurality of sides defining a first portion of the transfer
chamber and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including
a first side coupled to two twinned processing chambers and a
second side coupled to a single processing chamber; a first
substrate handler located in the first portion of the transfer
chamber; a second substrate handler located in the second portion
of the transfer chamber; and a hand-off location configured to
allow substrates to be passed between the first portion of the
transfer chamber and the second portion of the transfer chamber
using the first substrate handler and the second substrate handler;
(b) loading a first substrate into the transfer chamber employing
the first substrate handler; (c) transferring the first substrate
to the hand-off location; (d) retrieving the first substrate from
the hand-off location with the second substrate handler; (e)
loading a second substrate into the transfer chamber employing the
first substrate handler; and (f) simultaneously loading the first
and second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled
to the first side of the transfer chamber using the first and
second substrate handlers.
[0006] In some embodiments, a transfer chamber configured for use
during semiconductor device manufacturing is provided. The transfer
chamber includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region
configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of
substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the
plurality of sides including (a) a first, elongated side that
couples to two twinned processing chambers; (b) a second side that
couples to a single processing chamber; and (c) a third side that
couples to a load lock chamber. The transfer chamber also includes
(2) an extended-reach substrate handler located in the transfer
chamber and configured to transport substrates between the load
lock chamber, twinned processing chambers and single processing
chamber; and (3) a hand-off location configured to provide on or
more of a transfer location, substrate storage, chuck cover
storage, cool-down, substrate heating, pre-processing and
post-processing. Numerous other embodiments are provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates a top schematic view of an example
processing tool provided in accordance with embodiments of the
invention.
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the
hand-off locations of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in
accordance with embodiments of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates a top schematic view of another example
processing tool provided in accordance with embodiments of the
invention.
[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of
operating the processing tool of FIG. 1 in accordance with
embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a
semiconductor device manufacturing platform, such as a tool and/or
mainframe, is provided that may allow both single processing
chambers and dual or "twinned" processing chambers to be employed.
Twinned processing chambers may provide reduced operation costs by
sharing resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process
control, and the like. In some embodiments, the manufacturing
platform may support up to six processing chambers with either two
or four of the processing chambers being twinned. Other
configurations may be employed.
[0012] In one or more embodiments, hand-off locations are provided
within the tool that allows substrates to be passed from one
portion of the tool to another portion of the tool. In some
embodiments, these hand-off locations may provide active pre-
and/or post-processing. These and other embodiments of the
invention are described below with reference to FIGS. 1-4.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a top schematic view of an example processing tool
100 provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention. With
reference to FIG. 1, the tool 100 includes a transfer chamber 102
having a plurality of sides 104a-104h (forming an octagonal shaped
transfer chamber). Other shapes and/or numbers of sides may be
employed (e.g., forming a closed polygon).
[0014] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, sides 104a and 104d are
elongated to allow coupling of twinned processing chambers 106a,
106b along side 104a and twinned processing chambers 108a, 108b
along side 104d. Other configurations may be employed, such as
coupling non-twinned or "single" processing chambers along the side
104a and/or 104d. In some embodiments, the lengths for the
elongated sides 104a, 104d of transfer chamber 102 that couple to
twinned processing chambers may be about 1100 mm to about 2500 mm.
Other lengths may be employed for the elongated sides 104a and/or
104d.
[0015] Twinned processing chambers 106a, 106a may share resources
such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process control, and the like
(indicated generally by reference numeral 110). For example, such
processing chambers may perform the same process recipe on two
substrates simultaneously in some embodiments. Similarly, twinned
processing chambers 108a, 108b may share resources such as chemical
and/or gas delivery, process control, and the like (indicated
generally by reference numeral 112).
[0016] Single processing chambers 114 and/or 116 may be coupled to
sides 104b and/or 104c of transfer chamber 102. In some
embodiments, the lengths of the sides 104b, 104c of transfer
chamber 102 to which single processing chambers couple may be about
550 mm to about 2500 mm. Other lengths for the sides 104b and/or
104c may be employed. Single processing chambers typically employ
their own resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process
control, etc. (not shown). Fewer or more processing chambers may be
coupled to the transfer chamber 102.
[0017] In some embodiments, load lock chambers 118a, 118b may
couple to sides 104f, 104g of transfer chamber 102, respectively.
Load lock chambers 118a, 118b allow substrates to be supplied to
transfer chamber 102 from substrate carriers 120a, 120b via a
factory interface 122. Load lock chambers 118a, 118b may be, for
example, batch load locks, stacked single substrate load locks or
other suitable load locks.
[0018] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the transfer chamber 102
includes two substrate handlers 124a, 124b for transferring
substrates to and from the load locks 118a, 118b, and to and from
one or more of the processing chambers 106a, 106b, 108a, 108b, 114
and/or 116. For example, first substrate handler 124a may transfer
substrates to and/or from one or more of the load locks 118a, 118b
and processing chambers 106a, 108a (within a first portion 126a of
transfer chamber 102); and second substrate handler 124b may
transfer substrates to and/or from one or more of processing
chambers 106b, 108b, 114 and 116 (within a second portion 126b of
transfer chamber 102). Substrate handlers 124a, 124b may be single
or dual blade robots, for example, that carry one or more
substrates.
[0019] Substrates may be passed between first and second portions
126a, 126b of transfer chamber 102 through use of one or more
hand-off locations 128a, 128b. While two hand-off locations are
shown in FIG. 1, it will be understood that fewer or more hand-off
locations may be employed (e.g., 1, 3, 4, 5, etc.). To transfer a
substrate from the first portion 126a of transfer chamber 102 to
the second portion 126b of transfer chamber 102, the first
substrate handler 124a may place the substrate on hand-off location
128a or 128b and the second substrate handler 124b may retrieve the
substrate from the hand-off location 128a or 128b. The reverse
process may be performed to transfer substrates from the second
portion 126b to the first portion 126a of the transfer chamber
102.
[0020] A controller 130 may be employed to control operation of the
processing tool 100. For example, controller 130 may control
substrate transfers to, from and/or within the processing tool 100,
operation of one or more of the processing chambers 106a, 106b,
108a, 108b, 114, 116, operation of load locks 118a, 118b, etc.
Controller 130 may be an appropriately programmed microprocessor or
microcontroller, hardware circuitry, a combination thereof, etc.
The controller 130 may contain computer program code for performing
any of the methods described herein.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the hand-off
locations 128a, 128b of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
Hand-off locations 128a, 128b may include pedestals or supports
200a, 200b for supporting a substrate being transferred between
substrate handlers 124a and 124b. In the embodiment shown, the
supports 200a, 200b are positioned near a bottom of transfer
chamber 102. However, the supports 200a, 200b may be positioned at
any other location such as in the middle or at the top of transfer
chamber 102 and/or at different locations. Other numbers of
hand-off locations and/or supports may be employed (e.g., 1, 3, 4,
5, etc.).
[0022] Supports 200a, 200b may be formed from glass, aluminum,
ceramic or another suitable material. If desired, lift pins (not
shown) may be employed to raise and/or lower substrates relative to
the supporting surface of supports 200a, 200b.
[0023] In some embodiments, hand-off locations 128a, 128b may
include processing regions 202a and 202b configured to perform one
or more processes on substrates within the hand-off locations 128a,
128b. Example processes include pre- and/or post processing such as
degas, annealing, cool down, plasma treatment, or the like. Other
processes and/or numbers of processing regions 202a and 202b may be
employed.
[0024] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the processing regions 202a,
202b are positioned at an elevation above the supports 200a, 200b.
In other embodiments, the processing regions 202a, 202b may be
located below the supports 200a, 200b or at another suitable
elevation relative to the supports 200a, 200b.
[0025] In some embodiments, processing regions 202a, 202b may
include heaters 204a, 204b for heating substrates loaded into the
processing regions 202a, 202b. Lift pins 206a, 206b may be employed
to lower substrates onto and/or lifting substrates from the heaters
204a, 204b, respectively (e.g., with linear or other motors 208a,
208b).
[0026] In one or more embodiments, shields 210a, 210b may be
employed to isolate the environment within the processing regions
202a, 202b from other portions of the transfer chamber 102. For
example, the shields 210a, 210b may be formed from a metal such as
aluminum, stainless steel or any other suitable material. If
desired, the shields 210a and 210b may form a vacuum seal between
the heaters 204a, 204b and the remainder of transfer chamber 102
and/or form a separately controllable environment. The shields
210a, 210b may be raised and/or lowered to allow substrates to be
placed within and/or removed from processing regions 202a, 202b,
such as by motors 212a, 212b, for example.
[0027] Each processing region 202a, 202b may include separate
controls 214a, 214b for controlling operation of the heaters 204a,
204b, motors 208a, 208b, 212a, 212b, and/or delivery of any
processing gasses or other resources/utilities to processing
regions 202a, 202b. In some embodiments, all or a portion of the
controls 214a, 214b may be implemented by controller 130 of
processing tool 100.
[0028] In general, hand-off location 128a, 128b may be employed for
substrate hand-off operations, substrate storage, chuck cover
storage, cool-down, substrate heating, active pre- or
post-processing, etc.
[0029] In operation, substrates may be delivered to the processing
tool 100 via substrate carriers 120a and 120b at factory interface
122. A robot or other substrate handler (not shown) within the
factory interface 122 may extract a substrate from one of the
substrate carriers 120a, 120b and deliver the substrate to load
lock 118a or 118b. Substrate handler 124a then may extract the
substrate and transfer the substrate to a desired location. For
example, the substrate may be transferred to a hand-off location
128a, 128b for pre-processing and/or to processing chamber 106a or
108a. If the substrate is placed in the hand-off location 128a,
128b, the substrate may be returned to the first substrate handler
124a or transferred to second substrate handler 124b for processing
within one or more of the processing chambers 106b, 108b, 114
and/or 116.
[0030] Controller 130 may be programmed to control operation of
and/or substrate transfers by substrate handlers 124a, 124b, as
well as pre- and post-processing within hand-off locations 128a,
128b (if employed). In some embodiments, substrate transfers by
substrate handlers 124a, 124b may be synchronized to simultaneously
load and/or unload substrates from twinned processing chambers
106a, 106b and/or 108a, 108b.
[0031] As stated, twinned processing chambers 106a, 106b and 108a,
108b may share resources and thus are less expensive to operate. In
some embodiments, these twinned processing chambers may employ
lower throughput processes such as epitaxial grown, etch, chemical
vapor deposition (CVD), or the like. Single processing chambers
114, 116 may employ higher throughput processes, and/or may be
larger-sized processing chambers or processing chambers not well
suited for twinned operation. Examples of processes that may be
employed within single processing chambers 114, 116 include
physical vapor deposition (PVD), rapid thermal processing (RTP),
epitaxial growth, or the like.
[0032] In some embodiments, one of the load lock chambers 118a,
118b may be replaced with an additional processing chamber.
Substrates may then enter and exit the processing tool 100 through
a single load lock chamber.
[0033] FIG. 3 is a top schematic view of an example processing tool
300 provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The
processing tool 300 is similar to the processing tool 100 of FIG.
1, with substrate handlers 124a, 124b of processing tool 100
replaced with a single substrate handler 302 as shown in FIG. 3. In
some embodiments, the single substrate handler 302 may be an
extended reach robot having a reach sufficient to transfer
substrates between all of the load lock chambers 118a, 118b and
processing chambers 106a, 106b, 108a, 108b, 114 and 116. For
example, the substrate handler 302 may be an off-axis substrate
handler, a substrate handler with an extended boom 304 (as shown in
FIG. 3), or the like. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the substrate
handler 302 is a dual blade robot with blades 306a, 306b that may
simultaneously transport two substrates. Fewer or more blades may
be employed.
[0034] The processing tool 300 may operate similar to the
processing tool 100 of FIG. 1. For example, substrates may be
processed simultaneously in twinned processing chambers 106a, 106b
and/or 108a, 108b and/or pre- or post-processed in hand-off
locations 128a, 128b. For example, substrates may be loaded
sequentially into twinned processing chambers 106a, 106b and 108a,
108b in some embodiments. As stated, hand-off locations 128a, 128b
may be employed for substrate hand-off operations, substrate
storage, chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, active
pre- or post-processing, etc.
[0035] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 of operating
the processing tool 100 of FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 4, in
Block 401 a first substrate is loaded into transfer chamber 102
using first substrate handler 124a. In Block 402 the first
substrate is transferred to one of the hand-off locations 128a or
128b. In some embodiments, the first substrate may be pre-processed
while at the hand-off location 128a or 128b, such as by performing
a degas or other process on the substrate.
[0036] In Block 403 the second substrate handler 124b may retrieve
the first substrate from the hand-off location 128a or 128b.
Before, during or after Block 403, the first substrate handler 124a
may load a second substrate into the transfer chamber 102 (Block
404). In some embodiments, the second substrate may be
pre-processed at a hand-off location 128a or 128b, such as by
performing a degas or other process on the substrate.
[0037] In Block 405, the first and second substrates are loaded
into the twinned processing chambers 106a, 106b by substrate
handlers 124a and 124b. In some embodiments this transfer may be
performed simultaneously. For example, controller 130 may direct
substrate handlers 124a and 124b to simultaneously load the
substrates into the twinned processing chambers 106a, 106b for
(simultaneous) processing. In other embodiments the substrates may
be (initially) transferred to the twinned processing chambers 108a,
108b.
[0038] Following processing within the twinned processing chambers
106a, 106b, the first and/or second substrate may be stored,
post-processed, or the like within one of the hand-off locations
128a or 128b and/or transferred to other processing chambers for
further processing. The processing tool 300 of FIG. 3 may operate
similarly with regard to use of the hand-off locations 128a and/or
128b.
[0039] The present invention has been disclosed in connection with
example embodiments thereof. It should be understood that other
embodiments may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention,
as defined by the following claims.
* * * * *