JPS6112036A - Semiconductor wafer processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the generation of an erroneous setting as well as to improve the producibility of the title processing device by a method wherein the various conditional informations of processing for a semiconductor wafer are recorded on a magnetic card, these informations are read out from the magnetic card, and the processing information of the processing device is automatically set based on the above-mentioned information. CONSTITUTION:When wafer processing is performed, the information of processing condition for the lot wherein a wafer 21 belongs at that time is recorded on the magnetic card formed in the same shape as the wafer 21, said information is read out before the processing of the wafer 21, and the processing condition of each processing device is set based on the above-mentioned information. Accordingly, the wafer processing can be performed automatically by placing a magnetic card in a wafer feeding carrier 22 by the operator of this processing device who is unnecessary to think about the various conditions of processing necessary for each process.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus used in manufacturing ICs, LSIs, etc., and in particular to an apparatus capable of automatically setting various process conditions. It is.

[Technical background of the invention] Semiconductor devices such as ICs and LSIs are sequentially subjected to processes such as diffusion, oxidation, and selective etching in the wafer state, and after this process is completed, a test is performed to determine the quality of each chip. I,
After dividing into each chip, only the good ones are placed in the envelope and completed.

By the way, as shown in Figure 4, the sea urchin fly process includes oxidation, photoresist coating, mask alignment, photoresist development, selective etching, impurity diffusion, ion implantation, vapor phase growth, vapor deposition, wafer testing, dicing, and chip testing. There are various types of processing such as

Conventionally, these various processes have been carried out on paper called a travel sheet, as shown in Figure 5, with information such as product name, lot number, carrier number, name of each process, number of wafers, date, operator name, machine number, and process information. The process is progressed step by step while filling in information such as condition 9M rating and test results. At each process step, operators and operators read the information written on this form and set the process conditions for the corresponding processing equipment, and also write the information generated in each process on this form and send it to the next process. That's what I do.

[Problems with Background Art] However, even if the operator reads the working conditions from the travel sheet and attempts to set the conditions according to the instructions, misreading or setting errors may occur.

As a result, wafer processing is no longer performed under regular conditions.
The drawback is that defects or deviations from specifications occur frequently, resulting in a decrease in productivity.

In addition, in order to control the process, it is necessary to notify various information from the equipment or the operator to the control device (computers are mainly used these days). However, in the past, this had to be done offline, which sometimes led to forgetting or input errors, resulting in incorrect process management. In addition, it is necessary to check offline whether working conditions are being followed, whether information is being collected normally, whether the equipment is operating normally, etc., and the management of equipment that will become increasingly complex in the future is required. Managing these issues is becoming increasingly difficult.

[Objective of the Invention 1 This invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to record various process condition information for a semiconductor way on a magnetic card, and to read this information from the magnetic card. By automatically setting the process conditions of the processing equipment based on this information, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of incorrect settings and improve productivity. An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wafer processing device that can save labor in process control by recording information on a card.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, in this invention, a magnetic card having the same shape as a semiconductor wafer is prepared, and various process condition information for the semiconductor wafer is recorded in advance on the magnetic card. The magnetic card is placed in a wafer carrier together with a semiconductor wafer, and before various processes are performed, the magnetic card is removed from the wafer carrier, various information recorded on the magnetic card is read out, and the process conditions of the processing equipment are determined based on this information. After the settings are made, the semiconductor wafer is taken out from the wafer carrier and processed. Furthermore, by recording management information for each processing device on the magnetic card in advance, process management can be automated.

[Embodiments of the invention] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention.

The processing apparatus 11 performs any one of the process steps shown in FIG. 4 on a semiconductor wafer.

This processing device 11 includes a magnetic card reading/writing device 1.
2 is connected, and the process conditions are set based on the information on the magnetic card read by this device 12. For example, when the processing device 11 is an oxidation device, the magnetic card reading/writing device 12 reads information such as oxidation temperature, time, gas amount, and film thickness, and each process condition is determined based on this information. Set.

The processing apparatus 13 performs any one of the processes shown in FIG. 4 on the semiconductor wafer.

This processing device 13 has a built-in magnetic card reading device 14, and the process conditions are set based on the information of the magnetic card read by this device 14. For example, when the processing device 13 is an impurity diffusion device, the magnetic card reader 14 reads information such as diffusion temperature, time, gas amount, impurity concentration, etc., and each process condition is set based on this information. Ru. Furthermore, in addition to the processing devices 11 and 13, various processing devices (not shown) are provided, each of which is connected to a magnetic card reading/writing device or has a built-in magnetic card reading device.

The display device 15 is the magnetic card reader 14
It displays information such as the diffusion concentration, time, gas amount, and impurity concentration read by the sensor.

Various processing devices including the processing devices 11 and 13 mentioned above and a display device 15 are connected to a host computer 16, which further includes a magnetic tape device 17, a magnetic disk device 18, and a control console 19. etc. are connected.

Information read by each of the magnetic card reading/writing devices 12 and each magnetic card reading device 14 is supplied to each of the processing devices and the host computer 16.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the shape of semiconductor wafers 21 processed in various processing apparatuses including the processing apparatuses 11 and 13 described above, and the structure of a wafer supply carrier 22 that accommodates a plurality of these wafers 21. As shown in the figure, the wafer 21 is provided with a notch 23 for position correction called an orienting flat. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, a magnetic card 25 having the same planar shape as the wafer 21 and having a magnetic recording section 24 formed on its surface is housed in the carrier 22. .

The magnetic recording section 24 of this magnetic card 25 contains the number of the corresponding lot, various process condition information as shown in FIG. is recorded in advance.

In such a configuration, wafers 21 of the same lot are stored in the wafer supply carrier 22 together with the magnetic card 25.
and set in each processing device. For example, assume that the wafer supply carrier 22 is set in one processing apparatus 11 that performs oxidation. In the processing apparatus 11, first, before processing a wafer, the magnetic card 25 is taken out from the wafer supply carrier 22, and various process condition information of the oxidation step recorded in advance, such as oxidation temperature, time, gas amount, and formed film, is loaded onto the magnetic card 25. Information such as thickness is read by the magnetic card reading/writing device 12. Based on the information read here, the conditions of the processing device 11 are set, and then the wafers 21 are taken out one by one from the wafer supply carrier 22.
The oxidation treatment for each wafer 21 is performed based on the conditions set above.

It is also assumed that the wafer supply carrier 22 is set in the processing device 13 that performs impurity diffusion. In the processing apparatus 13, in the same manner as described above, first, before processing the wafer, the magnetic card 25 is taken out from the wafer supply carrier 22, and various process condition information of the impurity diffusion step recorded in advance, such as diffusion temperature, time, Information such as gas amount and impurity concentration is read by the magnetic card reader 14. Based on the information read here, the conditions of the processing device 13 are set, and then the wafers are transferred one by one from the carrier 22 to the sea urchin.
1 is taken out, and impurity diffusion processing is performed on each wafer 21 based on the conditions set above.

In this way, since the process conditions in each processing device are set by reading the corresponding information from the magnetic card 25, each can be set automatically. Therefore, there are almost no reading errors or setting errors as in the prior art, and wafer processing can be performed under regular conditions.

Therefore, the occurrence of defects or deviations from specifications can be suppressed, and productivity can be significantly improved.

Also, the lot number and management information of each processing device are read from the magnetic card and sent to the host computer 16.
When each processing device is processing a wafer, the operating status of each device is sent to the host computer 16. Therefore, you can manage each processing device online, just like when you manage it offline.
Process management can be performed correctly without occasionally forgetting input or making input errors.

When performing the unifly process in this way, process condition information of the lot to which the wafer 21 belongs at that time is recorded on a magnetic card 25 formed in the same shape as the wafer 21, and this information is read before processing the wafer 21. However, since the process conditions for each processing device are set based on this information, the operator can be aware of the various process conditions necessary for each process simply by storing the magnetic card 25 in the wafer supply carrier 22. You can have the process automatically run without any hassle.

Note that it is possible to send information directly from the host computer 16 to each processing device without using a magnetic card. However, with this method, the information processing capacity of each processing device increases and the configuration of each processing device becomes complicated, but with this invention, most of the information is recorded on magnetic cards, so it is quite flexible. be. Furthermore, one magnetic card per loft is always sufficient, and even if it is not possible to construct a large-scale system using a host computer, an automated wafer processing line can be easily constructed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, each process condition when performing a semiconductor wafer process step is automatically set, thereby preventing the occurrence of erroneous operations and thereby increasing productivity. Furthermore, since the management information of each processing device is recorded on this magnetic card, it is possible to provide a semiconductor wafer processing device that can save labor in process control.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a semiconductor wafer and a wafer supply carrier used in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a magnetic card used in the invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram summarizing each process and each condition item, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventionally used travel sheet. 11, 13... Processing device, 12... Magnetic card reading/I loading device, 14... Magnetic card reading device, 1
5...Display device, 16...Host computer, 17...Magnetic tape device 1.18...Magnetic disk device, 19...Control console, 21...
Wafer, 22... Wafer supply carrier, 23... Notch for position correction (orienting flat) 24... Magnetic recording section, 25... Magnetic card. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3y1 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A wafer storage means for storing a semiconductor wafer, and a magnetic recording section which is stored in the wafer storage means and has a shape equivalent to the semiconductor wafer and is provided on the surface thereof, and the magnetic recording section includes at least various processes for the semiconductor wafer. A magnetic recording member on which condition information is recorded, an information reading means for reading the information from the magnetic recording section of the magnetic recording member, and process conditions are set based on this information, and a predetermined process is performed on the semiconductor wafer. 1. A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, comprising a semiconductor wafer processing means.