Method and system for positioning wafer in semiconductor manufacturing fabrication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9570334-B2
Application number	US-201514674120-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

A method for positioning a wafer in semiconductor fabrication is provided. The method includes sending a wafer into a processing chamber by a transferring module. The method further includes producing a video image in relation to an edge of the wafer by a monitoring module. The method also includes performing an image analysis on the video image to determine if the edge of the wafer is in a correct position. If the edge of the wafer is not in a correct position a shifting value is calculated and the wafer is moved according to the shifting value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing a wafer, comprising:
placing the wafer on a transferring module having two wafer blocks portions, wherein the distance between the first of the wafer block portion and the edge of the wafer is shorter than the distance between the second of the wafer block portion and the edge of the wafer;
transmitting a first positioning data to the transferring module to enable the transferring module to send the wafer into a processing chamber;
recording an image feature in relation to the wafer;
determining a second positioning data based on the image feature;
transmitting the second positioning data to the transferring module to enable the transferring module to place the wafer in a processing position; and
performing a processing operation over the wafer which is located in the processing position.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the image feature comprises a video image in relation to an edge of the wafer.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the video image is produced by a CCD (Charge-coupled Device).

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising projecting a radiation beam toward the transferring module with the wafer mounted thereon, wherein the image feature comprises an image that shows the shape of the reflected radiation beam.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein during the operation of recording an image feature in relation to the wafer, the wafer is held by a robot blade in the processing chamber.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein when the wafer is placed in the processing position, a center of the wafer is aligned with a chucking unit configured to fix the wafer.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the image feature and producing a shifting value, wherein the second positioning data is equal to the sum of the first positioning data and the shifting value.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processing operation comprises supplying a washing liquid over a peripheral area of the wafer.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the peripheral area has a width ranged from about 1 mm to about 2 mm.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processing operation comprises supplying a photoresist over the wafer from a dispending nozzle, and the image feature is recorded by an optical receiver, wherein the dispending nozzle and the optical receiver are moved in the processing chamber by a dispensing module.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising recording image features in relation to different regions of the wafer and determining the second positioning data based on the image features.

12. A method for positioning a wafer, comprising:
sending a wafer into a processing chamber by a transferring module;
producing a video image in relation to the wafer by a monitoring module;
performing an image analysis on the video image to determine if the wafer is in a correct position;
if the wafer is not in the correct position, calculating a shifting value and moving the wafer according to the shifting value;
wherein during the operation of moving the wafer according to the shifting value, the monitoring module continuously produces real-time video images for image analysis.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the image analysis comprises determining if an edge of the wafer shown in the video image overlaps a reference line shown in a template image which designates a correct position.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the reference line is a curve line, and the edge of the wafer has a shape that is compatible with the curve line.

15. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the video image is captured by a CCD (Charge-coupled Device) disposed in the processing chamber.

16. The method as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising producing video images in relation to different regions by different optical receivers of the monitoring module and performing the image analysis on the video images.

17. The method as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising placing the wafer on a transferring module having two wafer blocks portions, wherein the distance between the first of the wafer block portion and the edge of the wafer is shorter than the distance between the second of the wafer block portion and the edge of the wafer.

18. The method as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising performing a processing operation over the wafer which is located in the correct position, wherein the processing operation comprises supplying a photoresist over the wafer from a dispending nozzle and supplying a washing liquid over a peripheral area of the wafer.

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shang Yao-Yuan
• Tseng Kuo-Shu
• Yang Chune-Te
• Chan Chi-Hsin
• CHEN Chung-Jhieh

Classifications

• H10P72/7602

  the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance · CPC title

• H10P72/3302

  Mechanical parts of transfer devices · CPC title

• H10P72/0606

  Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection · CPC title

• H10P72/0448

  Apparatus for applying a liquid, a resin, an ink or the like · CPC title

• H10P72/0414

  using mainly spraying means, e.g. nozzles · CPC title