System and method for aligning a mask with a substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11538706-B2
Application number	US-202016848645-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2020
Priority date	May 24, 2019
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

An alignment module for positioning a mask on a substrate comprises a mask stocker, an alignment stage, and a transfer robot. The mask stocker houses a mask cassette that stores a plurality of masks. The alignment stage is configured to support a carrier and a substrate. The transfer robot is configured to transfer one of the one or more masks from the mask stocker to the alignment stage and position the mask over the substrate. The alignment module may be part of an integrated platform having one or more transfer chambers, a factory interface having a substrate carrier chamber and one or more processing chambers. A carrier may be coupled to a substrate within the substrate carrier chamber and moved between the processing chambers to generate a semiconductor device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An alignment module comprising: a mask stocker configured house a mask cassette configured to store a plurality of masks, and comprising a first valve assembly; and an alignment chamber directly coupled to the mask stocker, and comprising: an alignment stage disposed within an interior volume of the alignment chamber and configured to support a carrier and a substrate; a transfer robot disposed within the interior volume of the alignment chamber, and configured to transfer a mask of the plurality of masks from the mask stocker to the alignment stage and position the mask over the substrate; and a second valve assembly configured to isolate the interior volume of the alignment chamber from a transfer chamber, wherein the carrier and the substrate are loaded into the alignment chamber via the second valve assembly, and wherein the first valve assembly is configured to isolate an interior volume of the mask stocker from the interior volume of the alignment chamber.

2. The alignment module of claim 1 , further comprising an alignment system comprising one or more cameras, wherein the alignment system is configured to acquire an image of the mask and the substrate.

3. The alignment module of claim 2 , further comprising a controller configured to analyze the image to compare an alignment element on the mask and an alignment element on the substrate, and wherein the alignment stage is further configured to align the substrate with the mask based on the comparison of the alignment element on the mask and the alignment element on the substrate.

4. The alignment module of claim 1 , wherein the alignment stage is configured to:
move the carrier and the substrate vertically toward the transfer robot to position the mask on the carrier; and
move the carrier and the substrate vertically away from the transfer robot to disengage the mask from the carrier.

5. The alignment module of claim 1 , wherein the mask stocker further comprises:
a vertical actuator coupled to the mask cassette and configured to move the mask cassette vertically within the mask stocker to align the mask with the first valve assembly to be transferred out of the mask stocker by the transfer robot via the first valve assembly.

6. The alignment module of claim 1 , further comprising a second mask stocker configured to house a second mask cassette.

7. The alignment module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of masks comprises first type of masks and a second type of masks, wherein the first type of masks differs from the second type of masks.

8. The alignment module of claim 7 , wherein the first type of masks corresponds to organic material deposition and the second type of masks corresponds to metal layer deposition.

9. The alignment module of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of masks has a diameter larger than a diameter of the substrate.

10. A method for operating an alignment module, the method comprising: receiving, via a first value assembly of an alignment chamber of the alignment module, a carrier having a substrate disposed on a surface of the carrier at an alignment stage, the alignment stage is disposed within an interior volume of the alignment chamber; transferring, via a transfer robot disposed within the interior volume of the alignment chamber, a mask from a mask cassette of a first mask stocker of the alignment module to a position over the alignment stage via a second valve assembly of the first mask stocker, wherein the first mask stocker is directly coupled to the alignment chamber, and the second valve assembly of the first mask stocker is configured to isolate an interior volume of the first mask stocker from the interior volume of the alignment chamber; and positioning the mask on the carrier.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
acquiring an image of the mask and the substrate;
analyzing the image to compare an alignment element of the mask and an alignment element on the substrate; and
aligning the mask with the substrate based on the comparison of the alignment element of the mask and the alignment element of the substrate.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein aligning the mask with the substrate comprises moving the alignment stage to adjust a position of the substrate with respect to the mask.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein positioning the mask on the carrier comprises moving the alignment stage vertically toward the transfer robot to position the mask on the carrier.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
receiving, via the first valve assembly, the carrier carrying the substrate and the mask at the alignment stage;
gripping the mask with the transfer robot; and
moving the alignment stage vertically away from the transfer robot to disengage the mask from the carrier.

15. An integrated platform for processing a substrate, the integrated platform comprising: a transfer chamber comprising a substrate transfer robot; a factory interface comprising: a substrate carrier chamber configured to receive a substrate and chuck the substrate to a carrier; and a factory interface transfer robot configured to transfer the substrate and the carrier from the factory interface to the transfer chamber; a plurality of processing chambers and an alignment module coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein the alignment module comprises: a mask stocker configured house a mask cassette storing a plurality of masks, and comprising a first valve assembly; and an alignment chamber directly coupled to the mask stocker and comprising: an alignment stage disposed within an interior volume of the alignment chamber, and configured to support the carrier and the substrate; a transfer robot disposed within an interior volume of the alignment chamber, and configured to transfer a mask of the plurality of masks from the mask stocker to the alignment stage via the first valve assembly, and position the mask over the substrate; and a second valve assembly configured to isolate the interior volume of the alignment chamber from the transfer chamber, wherein the carrier and substrate are loaded into the alignment chamber via the second valve assembly, and wherein the first valve assembly is configured to isolate an interior volume of the mask stocker from the interior volume of the alignment chamber.

16. The integrated platform of claim 15 , wherein the alignment module further comprises an alignment system comprising a camera, wherein the alignment system is configured to acquire an image of the mask and the substrate.

17. The integrated platform of claim 16 , wherein the alignment module further comprises a controller configured to analyze the image to compare an alignment element on the mask and an alignment element on the substrate, and wherein the alignment stage is further configured to align the substrate with the mask based on the comparison of the alignment element on the mask and the alignment element on the substrate.

18. The integrated platform of claim 15 , wherein the mask stocker comprises:
a vertical actuator coupled to the mask cassette and configured to move the mask cassette vertically within the mask stocker to align the mask with the first valve assembly to be transferred out of the mask stocker by the transfer robot via the first valve assembly.

19. The integrated platform of claim 15 , wherein the alignment module further comprises a second mask stocker configured to house a second mask cassette configured to store one or more masks.

20. The integrated platform of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of mas

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Lerner Alexander N
• Karazim Michael P
• Constant Andrew J
• Brodine Jeffrey A
• Vellore Kim Ramkumar
• Moraes Kevin
• Shaviv Roey

Classifications

• H10P72/3218

  Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers · CPC title

• H10P72/1906

  specially adapted for containing masks, reticles or pellicles · CPC title

• H10P72/53 Primary

  using optical controlling means · CPC title

• C23C16/042

  using masks · CPC title

• C23C14/042

  using masks · CPC title