Hudgens, Jeffrey (San Francisco, CA, US)
Carlson, Charles (Cedar Park, TX, US)
Weaver, William Tyler (Austin, TX, US)
Lowrance, Robert (Los Gatos, CA, US)
Englhardt, Eric (Palo Alto, CA, US)
Hruzek, Dean C. (Austin, TX, US)
Silvetti, Mario David (Morgan Hill, CA, US)
Kuchar, Michael (Austin, TX, US)
Katwyk, Kirk Van (Tracy, CA, US)
Hoskins, Van (Round Rock, TX, US)
Shah, Vinay (San Mateo, CA, US)
Plaque It!
Sponsored by: Flash of Genius |
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1. An apparatus for transferring a substrate, comprising: a base having a supporting surface; a reaction member positioned on the base; an actuator coupled to the base; a contact member that is coupled to the actuator, wherein the actuator is adapted to urge the contact member against an edge of a substrate that is also supported at an edge by the reaction member; a brake member assembly comprising: a brake member; and an brake actuating member, wherein the brake actuating member is adapted to urge the brake member against the contact member to create a restraining force that generally inhibits the movement of the contact member during a substrate transferring process.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the restraining force is created by the contact between the brake member and the contact member.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the restraining force is a friction force created between a surface of the contact member and the brake member.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sensor coupled to the contact member and adapted to sense the position of the contact member.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a controller in communication with the actuator and the sensor to sense misplacement of a substrate on the supporting surface.
6. An apparatus for transferring a substrate, comprising: a base having a supporting surface; a reaction member positioned on the base; a contact member assembly comprising: an actuator; and a contact member having a substrate contact surface and a compliant member which is positioned between the contact surface and the actuator, wherein the actuator is adapted to urge the contact surface against a substrate that is positioned against a surface of the reaction member; and a brake member assembly comprising: a brake member; and a brake actuating member adapted to urge the brake member against the contact member to inhibit movement of the contact member during a substrate transferring process; and a sensor coupled to the contact member, wherein the sensor is adapted to sense the position of the contact surface.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the compliant member is a spring.
8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the brake member assembly further comprises a lever arm having a first end coupled to the brake actuating member and a second end coupled to the brake member, wherein the lever arm is coupled to a pivot point and is adapted to generate a braking force that inhibits the movement of the contact member and that is greater than the force generated by the brake actuating member.
9. An apparatus for transferring a substrate, comprising: a robot assembly comprising: a first robot that is adapted to transfer a substrate positioned on a robot blade in a first direction; a first motion assembly having an actuator that is adapted to position the first robot in a second direction; and a second motion assembly that is coupled to the first motion assembly and has a second actuator that is adapted to position the first robot and the first motion assembly in a third direction which is generally perpendicular to the second direction; and a substrate gripping device coupled to the robot blade, wherein the substrate gripping device is adapted to support a substrate and comprises: a reaction member positioned on the robot blade; an actuator coupled to the robot blade; a contact member that is coupled to the actuator, wherein the actuator is adapted to restrain a substrate by urging the contact member against an edge of a substrate positioned between the contact member and the reaction member; and a brake member assembly comprising: a brake member; and a brake actuating member adapted to urge the brake member against the contact member to inhibit movement of the contact member during a substrate transferring process.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the substrate gripping device further comprises a sensor coupled to the contact member and adapted to sense the position of the contact member.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the substrate gripping device further comprises a controller in communication with the actuator and a sensor to sense the misplacement of a substrate on the supporting surface.
12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the substrate gripping device further comprises a compliant member which is positioned between the contact member and the actuator and is adapted to store energy when the contact member is urged against a surface of a substrate by the actuator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to an integrated processing system containing multiple processing stations and robots that are capable of processing multiple substrates in parallel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of forming electronic devices is commonly done in a multi-chamber processing system (e.g., a cluster tool) that has the capability to sequentially process substrates, (e.g., semiconductor wafers) in a controlled processing environment. Typical cluster tools used to deposit (i.e., coat) and develop a photoresist material, commonly known as a track lithography tool, or used to perform semiconductor cleaning processes, commonly described as a wet/clean tool, will include a mainframe that houses at least one substrate transfer robot which transports substrates between a pod/cassette mounting device and multiple processing chambers that are connected to the mainframe. Cluster tools are often used so that substrates can be processed in a repeatable way in a controlled processing environment. A controlled processing environment has many benefits which include minimizing contamination of the substrate surfaces during transfer and during completion of the various substrate processing steps. Processing in a controlled environment thus reduces the number of generated defects and improves device yield.
The effectiveness of a substrate fabrication process is often measured by two related and important factors, which are device yield and the cost of ownership (CoO). These factors are important since they directly affect the cost to produce an electronic device and thus a device manufacturer's competitiveness in the market place. The CoO, while affected by a number of factors, is greatly affected by the system and chamber throughput, or simply the number of substrates per hour processed using a desired processing sequence. A process sequence is generally defined as the sequence of device fabrication steps, or process recipe steps, completed in one or more processing chambers in the cluster tool. A process sequence may generally contain various substrate (or wafer) electronic device fabrication processing steps. In an effort to reduce CoO, electronic device manufacturers often spend a large amount of time trying to optimize the process sequence and chamber processing time to achieve the greatest substrate throughput possible given the cluster tool architecture limitations and the chamber processing times. In track lithography type cluster tools, since the chamber processing times tend to be rather short, (e.g., about a minute to complete the process) and the number of processing steps required to complete a typical process sequence is large, a significant portion of the time it takes to complete the processing sequence is taken up transferring the substrates between the various processing chambers. A typical track lithography process sequence will generally include the following steps: depositing one or more uniform photoresist (or resist) layers on the surface of a substrate, then transferring the substrate out of the cluster tool to a separate stepper or scanner tool to pattern the substrate surface by exposing the photoresist layer to a photoresist modifying electromagnetic radiation, and then developing the patterned photoresist layer. If the substrate throughput in a cluster tool is not robot limited, the longest process recipe step will generally limit the throughput of the processing sequence. This is usually not the case in track lithography process sequences, due to the short processing times and large number of processing steps. Typical system throughput for the conventional fabrication processes, such as a track lithography tool running a typical process, will generally be between 100-120 substrates per hour.
Other important factors in the CoO calculation are the system reliability and system uptime. These factors are very important to a cluster tool's profitability and/or usefulness, since the longer the system is unable to process substrates the more money is lost by the user due to the lost opportunity to process substrates in the cluster tool. Therefore, cluster tool users and manufacturers spend a large amount of time trying to develop reliable processes, reliable hardware and reliable systems that have increased uptime.
The push in the industry to shrink the size of semiconductor devices to improve device processing speed and reduce the generation of heat by the device, has reduced the industry's tolerance for process variability. To minimize process variability an important factor in the track lithography processing sequences is the issue of assuring that every substrate run through a cluster tool has the same “wafer history.” A substrate's wafer history is generally monitored and controlled by process engineers to assure that all of the device fabrication processing variables that may later affect a device's performance are controlled, so that all substrates in the same batch are always processed the same way. To assure that each substrate has the same “wafer history” requires that each substrate experiences the same repeatable substrate processing steps (e.g., consistent coating process, consistent hard bake process, consistent chill process, etc.) and the timing between the various processing steps is the same for each substrate. Lithography type device fabrication processes can be especially sensitive to variations in process recipe variables and the timing between the recipe steps, which directly affects process variability and ultimately device performance. Therefore, a cluster tool and supporting apparatus capable of performing a process sequence that minimizes process variability and the variability in the timing between process steps is needed. Also, a cluster tool and supporting apparatus that is capable of performing a device fabrication process that delivers a uniform and repeatable process result, while achieving a desired substrate throughput is also needed.
Therefore, there is a need for a system, a method and an apparatus that can process a substrate so that it can meet the required device performance goals and increase the system throughput and thus reduce the process sequence CoO.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally provide a cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising a first processing rack comprising a first group of process chambers that have two or more substrate processing chambers that are stacked in a vertical direction, and a second group of process chambers that have two or more substrate processing chambers that are stacked in a vertical direction, wherein the two or more substrate processing chambers in the first and second groups have a first side that is aligned along a first direction, a first robot assembly that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the first processing rack, wherein the first robot assembly comprises a first robot that has a robot blade having a substrate receiving surface, wherein the first robot is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a first plane, wherein the first plane is parallel to the first direction and a second direction which is orthogonal to the first direction, a first motion assembly having an actuator assembly that is adapted to position the first robot in a third direction that is generally perpendicular to the first plane, and a second motion assembly having an actuator assembly that is adapted to position the first robot in a direction generally parallel to the first direction, and a transferring region in which the first robot is contained within, wherein the transferring region has a width that is parallel to the second direction and is between about 5% and about 50% larger than a dimension of a substrate in the second direction when the substrate is positioned on the substrate receiving surface of the robot blade.
Embodiments of the invention further provide a cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising a first processing rack that comprises two or more groups of two or more substrate processing chambers that are stacked in a vertical direction, wherein the two or more substrate processing chambers in the two or more groups have a first side that is aligned along a first direction to access the substrate processing chambers therethrough, a second processing rack that comprises two or more groups of two or more groups of two or more substrate processing chambers that are stacked in a vertical direction, wherein the two or more substrate processing chambers in the two or more groups have a first side that is aligned along a first direction to access the substrate processing chambers therethrough, a first robot assembly positioned between the first processing rack and the second processing rack that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the first processing rack from the first side, wherein the first robot assembly comprises a robot that is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a horizontal plane, a vertical motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the vertical direction, and a horizontal motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the first direction, a second robot assembly positioned between the first processing rack and the second processing rack that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the second processing rack from the first side, wherein the second robot assembly comprises a robot that is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a horizontal plane, a vertical motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the vertical direction, and a horizontal motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the first direction, and a third robot assembly positioned between the first processing rack and the second processing rack that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the first processing rack from the first side or the second processing rack from the first side, wherein the third robot assembly comprises a robot that is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a horizontal plane, a vertical motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the vertical direction, and a horizontal motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to the first direction.
Embodiments of the invention further provide a cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising a first processing rack that comprises two or more groups of two or more vertically stacked substrate processing chambers, wherein the two or more vertically stacked substrate processing chambers in the two or more groups have a first side aligned along a first direction to access the substrate processing chambers therethrough and a second side aligned along a second direction to access the substrate processing chambers therethrough, a first robot assembly that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the first processing rack from the first side, wherein the first robot comprises a first robot that is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a horizontal plane, a vertical motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the first robot in a direction generally parallel to the vertical direction, and a horizontal motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the first robot in a direction generally parallel to the first direction, and a second robot assembly that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the substrate processing chambers in the first processing rack from the second side, wherein the second robot comprises a second robot that is adapted to position a substrate at one or more points generally contained within a horizontal plane, a vertical motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the second robot in a direction generally parallel to the vertical direction, and a horizontal motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the second robot in a direction generally parallel to the second direction.
Embodiments of the invention further provide a cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising two or more substrate processing chambers positioned in a cluster tool, a first robot assembly that is adapted to transfer a substrate to the two or more substrate processing chambers, wherein the first robot comprises a first robot that is adapted to position a substrate in a first direction, wherein the first robot comprises a robot blade having a first end and a substrate receiving surface, wherein the substrate receiving surface is adapted to receive and transport a substrate, a first linkage member that has a first pivot point and a second pivot point;, a motor that is rotationally coupled to the first linkage member at the second pivot point, a first gear attached to the first end of the robot blade and rotationally coupled to the first linkage member at the first pivot point, and a second gear rotationally coupled to the first gear and concentrically aligned with the second pivot point of the first linkage, wherein the gear ratio of the second gear to the first gear is between about 3:1 to about 4:3, a first motion assembly that is adapted to position the first robot in a second direction that is generally perpendicular to the first direction, and a second motion assembly having a motor that is adapted to position the first robot in a third direction that is generally perpendicular to the second direction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIG. 1A is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a cluster tool of the invention;
FIG. 1B is a plan view of the processing system illustrated in FIG. 1A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 1C is a side view that illustrates one embodiment of the first processing rack 60 according to the present invention;
FIG. 1D is a side view that illustrates one embodiment of the second processing rack 80 according to the present invention;
FIG. 1E is a plan view of the processing system illustrated in FIG. 1B, according to the present invention;
FIG. 1F illustrates one embodiment of a process sequence containing various process recipe steps that may be used in conjunction with the various embodiments of the cluster tool described herein;
FIG. 1G is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 1B that illustrates a transfer path of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 2A is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 2B is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 2A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 2C is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 2B that illustrates a transfer path of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 3A is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 3B is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 3A that illustrates a transfer path of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 4A is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 4B is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 4A that illustrates a transfer path of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 5A is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 5B is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 5A that illustrates a transfer path of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 6A is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 6B is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 6A that illustrates two possible transfer paths of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 6C is a plan view of a processing system, according to the present invention;
FIG. 6D is a plan view of a processing system illustrated in FIG. 6C that illustrates two possible transfer paths of a substrate through the cluster tool following the process sequence illustrated in FIG. 1F;
FIG. 7A is a side view of one embodiment of an exchange chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 7B is a plan view of the processing system illustrated in FIG. 1B, according to the present invention;
FIG. 8A is an isometric view illustrating another embodiment of a cluster tool illustrated in FIG. 1A that has an environmental enclosure attached, according to the present invention;
FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the cluster tool illustrated in FIG. 8A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view of one configuration of the according to the present invention;
FIG. 9A is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 10A is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot hardware assembly having a single robot assembly according to the present invention;
FIG. 10B is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot hardware assembly having a dual robot assembly according to the present invention;
FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the robot hardware assembly illustrated in FIG. 10A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 10D is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a robot hardware assembly, according to the present invention;
FIG. 10E is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the robot hardware assembly illustrated in FIG. 10A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11A is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11B illustrates various possible paths of the center of the substrate as it is transferred into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;.
FIG. 11C is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11D is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11E is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11F is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11G is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11H is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11I is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly illustrating various positions of the robot blade as it transfers a substrate into a processing chamber, according to the present invention;
FIG. 11J is a plan view of one embodiment of robot assembly according to the present invention;
FIG. 11K is a plan view of a conventional SCARA robot of robot assembly positioned near a processing rack;
FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view of the horizontal motion assembly illustrated in FIG. 9A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 12B is a cross-sectional view of the horizontal motion assembly illustrated in FIG. 9A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 12C is a cross-sectional view of the horizontal motion assembly illustrated in FIG. 9A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view of the vertical motion assembly illustrated in FIG. 9A, according to the present invention;
FIG. 13B is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot illustrated in FIG. 13A that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 14A is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 15A is an isometric view illustrating one embodiment of a robot that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 16A is a plan view illustrating one embodiment of a robot blade assembly that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 16B is an side cross-section view illustrating one embodiment of the robot blade assembly shown in FIG. 16A that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 16C is a plan view illustrating one embodiment of a robot blade assembly that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool;
FIG. 16D is a plan view illustrating one embodiment of a robot blade assembly that may be adapted to transfer substrates in various embodiments of the cluster tool.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention generally provides an apparatus and method for processing substrates using a multi-chamber processing system (e.g., a cluster tool) that has an increased system throughput, increased system reliability, improved device yield performance, a more repeatable wafer processing history (or wafer history), and a reduced footprint. In one embodiment, the cluster tool is adapted to perform a track lithography process in which a substrate is coated with a photosensitive material, is then transferred to a stepper/scanner, which exposes the photosensitive material to some form of radiation to form a pattern in the photosensitive material, and then certain portions of the photosensitive material are removed in a developing process completed in the cluster tool. In another embodiment, the cluster tool is adapted to perform a wet/clean process sequence in which various substrate cleaning processes are performed on a substrate in the cluster tool.
FIGS. 1-6 illustrate some of the various robot and process chamber configurations that may be used in conjunction with various embodiments of this invention. The various embodiments of the cluster tool 10 generally utilize two or more robots that are configured in a parallel processing configuration to transfer substrates between the various processing chambers retained in the processing racks (e.g., elements 60 , 80 , etc.) so that a desired processing sequence can be performed on the substrates. In one embodiment, the parallel processing configuration contains two or more robot assemblies 11 (elements 11 A, 11 B and 11 C in FIGS. 1A and 1B) that are adapted to move a substrate in a vertical (hereafter the z-direction) and horizontal directions, i.e., transfer direction (x-direction) and a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction (y-direction), so that the substrates can be processed in various processing chambers retained in the processing racks (e.g., elements 60 and 80 ) which are aligned along the transfer direction. One advantage of the parallel processing configuration is that if one of the robots becomes inoperable, or is taken down for servicing, the system can still continue to process substrates using the other robots retained in the system. Generally, the various embodiments described herein are advantageous since each row or group of substrate processing chambers are serviced by two or more robots to allow for increased throughput and increased system reliability. Also, the various embodiments described herein are generally configured to minimize and control the particles generated by the substrate transferring mechanisms, to prevent device yield and substrate scrap problems that can affect the CoO of the cluster tool. Another advantage of this configuration is the flexible and modular architecture allows the user to configure the number of processing chambers, processing racks, and processing robots required to meet the throughput needs of the user. While FIGS. 1-6 illustrate one embodiment of a robot assembly 11 that can be used to carryout various aspects of the invention, other types of robot assemblies 11 may be adapted to perform the same substrate transferring and positioning function(s) without varying from the basic scope of the invention.
First Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 1A is an isometric view of one embodiment of a cluster tool 10 that illustrates a number of the aspects of the present invention that may be used to advantage. FIG. 1A illustrates an embodiment of the cluster tool 10 which contains three robots that are adapted to access the various process chambers that are stacked vertically in a first processing rack 60 and a second processing rack 80 and an external module 5 . In one aspect, when the cluster tool 10 is used to complete a photolithography processing sequence the external module 5 , may be a stepper/scanner tool, that is attached to the rear region 45 (not shown in FIG. 1A) to perform some additional exposure type processing step(s). One embodiment of the cluster tool 10 , as illustrated in FIG. 1A, contains a front end module 24 and a central module 25 .
FIG. 1B is a plan view of the embodiment of the cluster tool 10 shown in FIG. 1A. The front end module 24 generally contains one or more pod assemblies 105 (e.g., items 105 A-D) and a front end robot assembly 15 (FIG. 1B). The one or more pod assemblies 105 , or front-end opening unified pods (FOUPs), are generally adapted to accept one or more cassettes 106 that may contain one or more substrates “W”, or wafers, that are to be processed in the cluster tool 10 . In one aspect, the front end module 24 also contains one or more pass-through positions 9 (e.g., elements 9 A-C FIG. 1B).
In one aspect, the central module 25 has a first robot assembly 11 A, a second robot assembly 11 B, a third robot assembly 11 C, a rear robot assembly 40 , a first processing rack 60 and a second processing rack 80 . The first processing rack 60 and a second processing rack 80 contain various processing chambers (e.g., coater/developer chamber, bake chamber, chill chamber, wet clean chambers, etc. which are discussed below (FIGS. 1C-D)) that are adapted to perform the various processing steps found in a substrate processing sequence.
FIGS. 1C and 1D illustrate side views of one embodiment of the first processing rack 60 and second processing rack 80 as viewed when facing the first processing rack 60 and second processing racks 80 while standing on the side closest to side 60 A, and thus will coincide with the views shown in FIGS. 1-6. The first processing rack 60 and second processing rack 80 generally contain one or more groups of vertically stacked processing chambers that are adapted to perform some desired semiconductor or flat panel display device fabrication processing steps on a substrate. For example, in FIG. 1C the first process rack 60 has five groups, or columns, of vertically stacked processing chambers. In general these device fabrication processing steps may include depositing a material on a surface of the substrate, cleaning a surface of the substrate, etching a surface of the substrate, or exposing the substrate to some form of radiation to cause a physical or chemical change to one or more regions on the substrate. In one embodiment, the first processing rack 60 and second processing rack 80 have one or more processing chambers contained in them that can be adapted to perform one or more photolithography processing sequence steps. In one aspect, processing racks 60 and 80 may contain one or more coater/developer chambers 160 , one or more chill chambers 180 , one or more bake chambers 190 , one or more optical edge bead removal (OEBR) chambers 162 , one or more post exposure bake (PEB) chambers 130 , one or more support chambers 165 , an integrated bake/chill chamber 800 , and/or one or more hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) processing chambers 170 . Exemplary coater/developer chambers, chill chambers, bake chambers, OEBR chambers, PEB chambers, support chambers, integrated bake/chill chambers and/or HMDS processing chambers that may be adapted to benefit one or more aspects of the invention are further described in the commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/112,281, filed Apr. 22, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety to the extent not inconsistent with the claimed invention. Examples of an integrated bake/chill chamber that may be adapted to benefit one or more aspects of the invention are further described in the commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/111,154, filed Apr. 11, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/111,353, filed Apr. 11, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety to the extent not inconsistent with the claimed invention. Examples of a processing chambers and or systems that may be adapted to perform one or more cleaning processes on a substrate and may be adapted to benefit one or more aspects of the invention is further described in the commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/891,849, filed Jun. 25, 2001 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/945,454, filed Aug. 31, 2001 and, which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety to the extent not inconsistent with the claimed invention.
In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1C, where the cluster tool 10 is adapted to perform a photolithography type process, the first processing rack 60 may have eight coater/developer chambers 160 (labeled CD 1 - 8 ), eighteen chill chambers 180 (labeled C 1 - 18 ), eight bake chambers 190 (labeled B 1 - 8 ), six PEB chambers 130 (labeled PEB 1 - 6 ), two OEBR chambers 162 (labeled 162 ) and/or six HMDS process chambers 170 (labeled DP 1 - 6 ). In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1D, where the cluster tool 10 is adapted to perform a photolithography type process, the second process rack 80 may have eight coater/developer chambers 160 (labeled CD 1 - 8 ), six integrated bake/chill chambers 800 (labeled BC 1 - 6 ), six HMDS process chambers 170 (labeled DP 1 - 6 ) and/or six support chambers 165 (labeled S 1 - 6 ). The orientation, positioning, type and number of process chambers shown in the FIGS. 1C-D are not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention, but are intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention.
Referring to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment, the front end robot assembly 15 is adapted to transfer substrates between a cassette 106 mounted in a pod assembly 105 (see elements 105 A-D) and the one or more of the pass-through positions 9 (see pass-through positions 9 A-C in FIG. 1B). In another embodiment, the front end robot assembly 15 is adapted to transfer substrates between a cassette mounted in a pod assembly 105 and the one or more processing chambers in the first processing racks 60 or a second processing rack 80 that abuts the front end module 24 . The front end robot assembly 15 generally contains a horizontal motion assembly 15 A and a robot 15 B, which in combination are able to position a substrate in a desired horizontal and/or vertical position in the front end module 24 or the adjoining positions in the central module 25 . The front end robot assembly 15 is adapted to transfer one or more substrates using one or more robot blades 15 C, by use commands sent from a system controller 101 (discussed below). In one sequence the front end robot assembly 15 is adapted to transfer a substrate from the cassette 106 to one of the pass-through positions 9 (e.g., elements 9 A-C in FIG. 1B). Generally, a pass-through position is a substrate staging area that may contain a pass-through processing chamber that has features similar to an exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A), or a conventional substrate cassette 106 , and is able to accept a substrate from a first robot so that it can be removed and repositioned by a second robot. In one aspect, the pass-through processing chamber mounted in a pass-through position may be adapted to perform one or more processing steps in a desired processing sequence, for example, a HMDS process step or a chill/cooldown processing step or substrate notch align. In one aspect, each of the pass-through positions (elements 9 A-C in FIG. 1B) may be accessed by each of the central robot assemblies (i.e., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, and third robot assembly 11 C).
Referring to FIGS. 1A-B, the first robot assembly 11 A, the second robot assembly 11 B, and the third robot assembly 11 C are adapted to transfer substrates to the various processing chambers contained in the first processing rack 60 and the second processing rack 80 . In one embodiment, to perform the process of transferring substrates in the cluster tool 10 the first robot assembly 11 A, the second robot assembly 11 B, and the third robot assembly 11 C have similarly configured robot assemblies 11 which each have at least one horizontal motion assembly 90 , a vertical motion assembly 95 , and a robot hardware assembly 85 which are in communication with a system controller 101 . In one aspect, the side 60 B of the first processing rack 60 , and the side 80 A of the second processing rack 80 are both aligned along a direction parallel to the horizontal motion assembly 90 (described below) of each of the various robot assemblies (i.e., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, third robot assembly 11 C).
The system controller 101 is adapted to control the position and motion of the various components used to complete the transferring process. The system controller 101 is generally designed to facilitate the control and automation of the overall system and typically includes a central processing unit (CPU) (not shown), memory (not shown), and support circuits (or I/O) (not shown). The CPU may be one of any form of computer processors that are used in industrial settings for controlling various system functions, chamber processes and support hardware (e.g., detectors, robots, motors, gas sources hardware, etc.) and monitor the system and chamber processes (e.g., chamber temperature, process sequence throughput, chamber process time, I/O signals, etc.). The memory is connected to the CPU, and may be one or more of a readily available memory, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk, hard disk, or any other form of digital storage, local or remote. Software instructions and data can be coded and stored within the memory for instructing the CPU. The support circuits are also connected to the CPU for supporting the processor in a conventional manner. The support circuits may include cache, power supplies, clock circuits, input/output circuitry, subsystems, and the like. A program (or computer instructions) readable by the system controller 101 determines which tasks are performable on a substrate. Preferably, the program is software readable by the system controller 101 , that includes code to perform tasks relating to monitoring and execution of the processing sequence tasks and various chamber process recipe steps.
Referring to FIG. 1B, in one aspect of the invention the first robot assembly 11 A is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from at least one side, e.g., the side 60 B. In one aspect, the third robot assembly 11 C is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from at least one side, e.g., the side 80 A. In one aspect, the second robot assembly 11 B is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B and the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. FIG. 1E illustrates a plan view of the embodiment of the cluster tool 10 shown in FIG. 1B, in which a robot blade 87 from the second robot assembly 11 B has been extended into a processing chamber in the first processing rack 60 through side 60 B. The ability to extend the robot blade 87 into a processing chamber and retract the robot blade 87 from the processing chamber is generally completed by cooperative movement of the components contained in the horizontal motion assembly 90 , vertical motion assembly 95 , and robot hardware assembly 85 , and by use of commands sent from the system controller 101 . The ability of two or more robots to “overlap” with one another, such as the first robot assembly 11 A and the second robot assembly 11 B or the second robot assembly 11 B and the third robot assembly 11 C, is advantageous since it allows substrate transfer redundancy which can improve the cluster reliability, uptime, and also increase the substrate throughput. Robot “overlap” is generally the ability of two or more robots to access and/or independently transfer substrates between the same processing chambers in the processing rack. The ability of two or more robots to redundantly access processing chambers can be an important aspect in preventing system robot transfer bottlenecks, since it allows an under utilized robot to help out a robot that is limiting the system throughput. Therefore, the substrate throughput can be increased, a substrate's wafer history can be made more repeatable, and the system reliability can be improved through the act of balancing the load that each robot takes during the processing sequence.
In one aspect of the invention, the various overlapping robot assemblies (e.g., elements 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11 D, 11 E, etc. in FIGS. 1-6) are able to simultaneously access processing chambers that are horizontally adjacent (x-direction) or vertically adjacent (z-direction) to each other. For example, when using the cluster tool configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the first robot assembly 11 A is able to access processing chamber CD 6 in the first processing rack 60 and the second robot assembly 11 B is able to access processing chamber CD 5 simultaneously without colliding or interfering with each other. In another example, when using the cluster tool configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1D, the third robot assembly 11 C is able to access processing chamber C 6 in the second processing rack 80 and the second robot assembly 11 B is able to access processing chamber P 6 simultaneously without colliding or interfering with each other.
In one aspect, the system controller 101 is adapted to adjust the substrate transfer sequence through the cluster tool based on a calculated optimized throughput or to work around processing chambers that have become inoperable. The feature of the system controller 101 which allows it to optimize throughput is known as the logical scheduler. The logical scheduler prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool. The logical scheduler may be adapted to review the list of future tasks requested of each of the various robots (e.g., front end robot assembly 15 , first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, third robot assembly 11 C, etc.), which are retained in the memory of the system controller 101 , to help balance the load placed on each of the various robots. The use of a system controller 101 to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool will improve the cluster tool's CoO, makes the wafer history more repeatable, and can improve the cluster tool's reliability.
In one aspect, the system controller 101 is also adapted to prevent collisions between the various overlapping robots and optimize the substrate throughput. In one aspect, the system controller 101 is further programmed to monitor and control the motion of the horizontal motion assembly 90 , a vertical motion assembly 95 , and a robot hardware assembly 85 of all the robots in the cluster tool to avoid a collision between the robots and improve system throughput by allowing all of the robots to be in motion at the same time. This so called “collision avoidance system,” may be implemented in multiple ways, but in general the system controller 101 monitors the position of each of the robots by use of various sensors positioned on the robot(s) or in the cluster tool during the transferring process to avoid a collision. In one aspect, the system controller is adapted to actively alter the motion and/or trajectory of each of the robots during the transferring process to avoid a collision and minimize the transfer path length.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 1F illustrates one example of a substrate processing sequence 500 through the cluster tool 10 , where a number of process steps (e.g., elements 501 - 520 ) may be performed after each of the transferring steps A 1 -A 10 have been completed. One or more of the process steps 501 - 520 may entail performing vacuum and/or fluid processing steps on a substrate, to deposit a material on a surface of the substrate, to clean a surface of the substrate, to etch a surface of the substrate, or to exposing the substrate to some form of radiation to cause a physical or chemical change to one or more regions on the substrate. Examples of typical processes that may be performed are photolithography processing steps, substrate clean process steps, CVD deposition steps, ALD deposition steps, electroplating process steps, or electroless plating process steps. FIG. 1G illustrates an example of the transfer steps that a substrate may follow as it is transferred through a cluster tool that is configured as the cluster tool shown in FIG. 1B following the processing sequence 500 described in FIG. 1F. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 C following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. In one embodiment, the pass-through step 502 entails positioning or retaining the substrate so that another robot could pickup the substrate from the pass-through position 9 C. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the second robot assembly 11 B, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 where the process step 512 is performed. In one embodiment, the process steps 508 and 512 entail positioning or retaining the substrate so that another robot could pickup the substrate from the exchange chamber 533 . After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the second robot assembly 11 B, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the first robot assembly 11 A. After the process step 516 is complete, the first robot assembly 11 A transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 A following the transfer path A 9 . In one embodiment, the pass-through step 518 entails positioning or retaining the substrate so that another robot could pickup the substrate from the pass-through position 9 A. After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
In one embodiment, process steps 504 , 506 , 510 , 514 , and 516 are a photoresist coat step, a bake/chill step, an exposure step performed in a stepper/scanner module, a post exposure bake/chill step, and a develop step, respectively, which are further described in the commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/112,281, filed Apr. 22, 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein. The bake/chill step and the post exposure bake/chill steps may be performed in a single process chamber or they may also be transferred between a bake section and a chill section of an integrated bake/chill chamber by use of an internal robot (not shown). While FIGS. 1F-G illustrate one example of a process sequence that may be used to process a substrate in a cluster tool 10 , process sequences and/or transfer sequences that are more or less complex may be performed without varying from the basic scope of the invention.
Also, in one embodiment, the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed between positions or processing chambers within in the cluster tool 10 .
Second Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 2A is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and four robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, and 11 D in FIG. 2A) positioned between two processing racks (elements 60 and 80 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in the processing racks. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A is similar to the configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1A-F except for the addition of the fourth robot assembly 11 D and pass-through position 9 D, thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. The cluster tool configuration illustrated in FIG. 2A may be advantageous where the substrate throughput is robot limited, because the addition of the fourth robot assembly 11 D will help to remove the burden on the other robots and also builds in some redundancy that allows the system to process substrates when one or more of the central robots become inoperable. In one aspect, the side 60 B of the first processing rack 60 , and the side 80 A of the second processing rack 80 are both aligned along a direction parallel to the horizontal motion assembly 90 (FIGS. 9 A and 12 A-C) of each of the various robot assemblies (e.g., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, etc.).
In one aspect, the first robot assembly 11 A is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B. In one aspect, the third robot assembly 11 C is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. In one aspect, the second robot assembly 11 B is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B. In one aspect, the fourth robot assembly 11 D is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. In one aspect, the second robot assembly 11 B and fourth robot assembly 11 D are further adapted to access the processing chambers in first processing rack 60 from side 60 B and the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A.
FIG. 2B illustrates a plan view of the embodiment of the cluster tool 10 shown in FIG. 2A, in which a robot blade 87 from the second robot assembly 11 B has been extended into the a processing chamber in the first processing rack 60 through side 60 B. The ability to extend the robot blade 87 into a processing chamber and/or retract the robot blade 87 into a processing chamber is generally completed by cooperative movement of the robot assembly 11 components, which are contained in the horizontal motion assembly 90 , a vertical motion assembly 95 , and a robot hardware assembly 85 , and by use of commands sent from the system controller 101 . As discussed above the second robot assembly 11 B and the fourth robot assembly 11 D along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow “overlap” between each of the robots in the cluster tool, may allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool, and may also use a collision avoidance system to allow robots to optimally transfer substrates through the system. Use of the system controller 101 to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool can improve the cluster tool's CoO, makes the wafer history more repeatable, and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 2C illustrates an example of a sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool configuration illustrated in FIG. 2A. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 C following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the fourth robot assembly 11 D following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the fourth robot assembly 11 D, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 . After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the fourth robot assembly 11 D, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the second robot assembly 11 B. After the process step 516 is complete, the first robot assembly 11 A transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 A following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
In one aspect, the transfer path A 7 may be divided into two transfer steps which may require the fourth robot assembly 11 D to pickup the substrate from the exchange chamber 533 and transfer it to the fourth pass-through position 9 D where it is then picked up and transferred by the second robot assembly 11 B to the process chamber 534 . In one aspect, each of the pass-through chambers may be accessed by any of the central robot assemblies (i.e., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, third robot assembly 11 C and the fourth robot assembly 11 D). In another aspect, the second robot assembly 11 B is able to pickup the substrate from the exchange chamber 533 and transfer it to the process chamber 534 .
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Third Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 3A is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and three robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 A, 11 B, and 11 C in FIG. 3A) positioned around two processing racks (elements 60 and 80 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in the processing racks. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3A is similar to the configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1A-F except for the positioning of the first robot assembly 11 A and pass-through position 9 A on side 60 A of the first processing rack 60 and positioning the third robot assembly 11 C and pass-through position 9 C on the side 80 B of the second processing rack 80 , and thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. One advantage of this cluster tool configuration is that if one of the robots in the central module 25 becomes inoperable the system can still continue to process substrates using the other two robots. This configuration also removes, or minimizes, the need for collision avoidance type control features when the robots are transferring the substrates between processing chambers mounted in a various processing racks, since the physical overlap of robots that are positioned next to each other is eliminated. Another advantage of this configuration is the flexible and modular architecture allows the user to configure the number of processing chambers, processing racks, and processing robots required to meet the throughput needs of the user.
In this configuration the first robot assembly 11 A is adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 A, the third robot assembly 11 C is adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 B, and the second robot assembly 11 B is adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B and the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. In one aspect, the side 60 B of the first processing rack 60 , and the side 80 A of the second processing rack 80 are both aligned along a direction parallel to the horizontal motion assembly 90 (described below) of each of the various robot assemblies (i.e., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, third robot assembly 11 C).
The first robot assembly 11 A, the second robot assembly 11 B and the third robot assembly 11 C along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow “overlap” between the various robots and allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool. Use of a cluster tool architecture and system controller 101 to work together to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool to improve CoO makes the wafer history more repeatable and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool shown in FIG. 3A. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 C following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the second robot assembly 11 B, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the second robot assembly 11 C, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the second robot assembly 11 B. After the process step 516 is complete, the first robot assembly 11 A transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 A following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Fourth Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 4A is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and two robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 B, and 11 C in FIG. 4A) positioned around two processing racks (elements 60 and 80 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in the processing racks. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A is similar to the configurations illustrated in FIGS. 3A except for the removal of the first robot assembly 11 A and pass-through position 9 A on side 60 A of the first processing rack 60 , thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. One advantage of this system configuration is that it allows easy access to chambers mounted in the first processing rack 60 and thus allows one or more processing chambers mounted in the first processing rack 60 to be taken down and worked on while the cluster tool is still processing substrates. Another advantage is that the third robot assembly 11 C and/or second processing rack 80 can be worked on, while substrates are being processed using the second robot assembly 11 B. This configuration may also allow the frequently used processing chambers in a process sequence that have a short chamber processing time to be positioned in the second processing rack 80 so that they can be serviced by the two central robots (i.e., elements 11 B and 11 C) to reduce robot transfer limited bottlenecks and thus improve system throughput. This configuration also removes or minimizes the need for collision avoidance type control features when the robots are transferring the substrates between processing chambers mounted in a processing rack, since the physical encroachment of each robot into the other's space is eliminated. Another advantage of this configuration is the flexible and modular architecture allows the user to configure the number of processing chambers, processing racks, and processing robots required to meet the throughput needs of the user.
In this configuration the third robot assembly 11 C is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 B, and the second robot assembly 11 B is adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B and the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. In one aspect, the side 60 B of the first processing rack 60 , and the side 80 A of the second processing rack 80 are both aligned along a direction parallel to the horizontal motion assembly 90 (described below) of each of the various robot assemblies (i.e., first robot assembly 11 A, second robot assembly 11 B, third robot assembly 11 C).
As discussed above the second robot assembly 11 B and the fourth robot assembly 11 C along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritize tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool. Use of a cluster tool architecture and system controller 101 to work together to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool to improve CoO makes the wafer history more repeatable and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool shown in FIG. 4A. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 C following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the third robot assembly 11 C, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the second robot assembly 11 C, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the second robot assembly 11 B. After the process step 516 is complete, the second robot assembly 11 B transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 B following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Fifth Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 5A is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and four robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 A, 11 B, 11 C and 11 D in FIG. 5A) positioned around a single processing rack (elements 60 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in processing rack 60 . The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A is similar to the configurations illustrated above and thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. This configuration will reduce the substrate transfer bottleneck experienced by systems that have three or fewer robots, due to the use of four robots that can redundantly access the process chambers mounted in the first processing rack 60 . This configuration may be especially useful to remove robot limited type bottlenecks often found when the number of processing steps in a process sequence is large and the chamber processing time is short.
In this configuration the first robot assembly 11 A and the second robot assembly 11 B are adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 A, and the third robot assembly 11 C and the fourth robot assembly 11 D are adapted to access and transfer substrates between the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B.
The first robot assembly 11 A and the second robot assembly 11 B, and the third robot assembly 11 C and the fourth robot assembly 11 D along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow “overlap” between the various robots, may allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool, and may also use a collision avoidance system to allow robots optimally transfer substrates through the system. Use of a cluster tool architecture and system controller 101 to work together to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool to improve CoO makes the wafer history more repeatable and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 5B illustrates an example of a sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool shown in FIG. 5A. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 C following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the third robot assembly 11 C following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the fourth robot assembly 11 D following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the fourth robot assembly 11 D, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the first robot assembly 11 A, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the first robot assembly 11 A. After the process step 516 is complete, the second robot assembly 11 B transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 B following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Sixth Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 6A is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and eight robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, and 11 D- 11 H in FIG. 6A) positioned around a two processing racks (elements 60 and 80 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in the processing rack. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6A is similar to the configurations illustrated above and thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. This configuration will reduce the substrate transfer bottleneck experienced by systems that have fewer robots, due to the use of the eight robots that can redundantly access the process chambers mounted in the processing racks 60 and 80 . This configuration may be especially useful to remove robot limited type bottlenecks often found when the number of processing steps in a process sequence is large and the chamber processing time is short.
In this configuration the first robot assembly 11 A and the second robot assembly 11 B are adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 A and the seventh robot assembly 11 G and the eighth robot assembly 11 H are adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 B. In one aspect, the third robot assembly 11 C and the fourth robot assembly 11 D are adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B. In one aspect, the fifth robot assembly 11 E and the sixth robot assembly 11 F are adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A. In one aspect, the fourth robot assembly 11 D are further adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A and the and the fifth robot assembly 11 E is further adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B.
The robot assemblies 11 A-H along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow “overlap” between the various robots, may allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool, and may also use a collision avoidance system to allow robots optimally transfer substrates through the system. Use of a cluster tool architecture and system controller 101 to work together to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool to improve CoO makes the wafer history more repeatable and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a first processing sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool shown in FIG. 6A. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a pass-through chamber 9 F following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the sixth robot assembly 11 F following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the sixth robot assembly 11 F following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the sixth robot assembly 11 F, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the fifth robot assembly 11 E, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the fifth robot assembly 11 E. After the process step 516 is complete, the fifth robot assembly 11 E transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 E following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
FIG. 6B also illustrates an example of a second processing sequence having transfer steps that are completed simultaneously with the first sequence using different processing chambers found in the second processing rack 80 . As illustrated in FIGS. 1C-D the first processing rack and second processing rack generally contain a number of processing chambers that are adapted to perform the same process step(s) (e.g., CD 1 - 8 in FIG. 1C, BC 1 - 6 in FIG. 1D) that are used to perform a desired processing sequence. Therefore, in this configuration each processing sequence may be performed using any of the processing chambers mounted in the processing racks. In one example, the second process sequence is the same process sequence as the first processing sequence (discussed above), which contains the same transferring steps A 1 -A 10 , depicted here as A 1 ′-A 10 ′, using the seventh and eighth central robots (i.e., elements 11 G- 11 H) instead of the fifth and sixth central robot assemblies (i.e., elements 11 E- 11 F), respectively, as described above.
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Seventh Cluster Tool Configuration
A. System Configuration
FIG. 6C is a plan view of one embodiment of cluster tool 10 that is similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 6A except one of the robot assemblies (i.e. robot assembly 11 D) has been removed to reduce the system width while still providing a high system throughput. Therefore, in this configuration the cluster tool 10 has a front end robot assembly 15 , a rear robot assembly 40 , a system controller 101 and seven robot assemblies 11 (FIGS. 9-11; elements 11 A- 11 C, and 11 E- 11 H in FIG. 6C) positioned around a two processing racks (elements 60 and 80 ), which are all adapted to perform at least one aspect of a desired substrate processing sequence using the various processing chambers found in the processing rack. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6C is similar to the configurations illustrated above and thus like element numbers have been used where appropriate. This configuration will reduce the substrate transfer bottleneck experienced by systems that have fewer robots, due to the use of the seven robots that can redundantly access the process chambers mounted in the processing racks 60 and 80 . This configuration may be especially useful to remove robot limited type bottlenecks often found when the number of processing steps in a process sequence is large and the chamber processing time is short.
In this configuration the first robot assembly 11 A and the second robot assembly 11 B are adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 A and the seventh robot assembly 11 G and the eighth robot assembly 11 H are adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 B. In one aspect, the third robot assembly 11 C and the fifth robot assembly 11 E are adapted to access the processing chambers in the first processing rack 60 from side 60 B. In one aspect, the fifth robot assembly 11 E and the sixth robot assembly 11 F are adapted to access the processing chambers in the second processing rack 80 from side 80 A.
The robot assemblies 11 A- 11 C and 11 E- 11 H along with the system controller 101 may be adapted to allow “overlap” between the various robots, may allow the system controller's logical scheduler to prioritizes tasks and substrate movements based on inputs from the user and various sensors distributed throughout the cluster tool, and may also use a collision avoidance system to allow robots to optimally transfer substrates through the system. Use of a cluster tool architecture and system controller 101 to work together to maximize the utilization of the cluster tool to improve CoO makes the wafer history more repeatable and improves the system reliability.
B. Transfer Sequence Example
FIG. 6D illustrates an example of a first processing sequence of transfer steps that may be used to complete the processing sequence described in FIG. 1F through the cluster tool shown in FIG. 6C. In this embodiment, the substrate is removed from a pod assembly 105 (item # 105 D) by the front end robot assembly 15 and is delivered to a pass-through chamber 9 F following the transfer path A 1 , so that the pass-through step 502 can be completed on the substrate. Once the pass-through step 502 has been completed, the substrate is then transferred to a first process chamber 531 by the sixth robot assembly 11 F following the transfer path A 2 , where process step 504 is completed on the substrate. After completing the process step 504 the substrate is then transferred to the second process chamber 532 by the sixth robot assembly 11 F following the transfer path A 3 . After performing the process step 506 the substrate is then transferred by the sixth robot assembly 11 F, following the transfer path A 4 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A). After performing the process step 508 the substrate is then transferred by the rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 5 , to the external processing system 536 where the process step 510 is performed. After performing process step 510 the substrate is then transferred by a rear robot assembly 40 , following the transfer path A 6 , to the exchange chamber 533 (FIG. 7A) where the process step 512 is performed. After performing the process step 512 the substrate is then transferred by the fifth robot assembly 11 E, following the transfer path A 7 , to the process chamber 534 where the process step 514 is performed. The substrate is then transferred to process chamber 535 following the transfer path A 8 using the fifth robot assembly 11 E. After the process step 516 is complete, the fifth robot assembly 11 E transfers the substrate to a pass-through chamber positioned at the pass-through position 9 E following the transfer path A 9 . After performing the pass-through step 518 the substrate is then transferred by the front end robot assembly 15 , following the transfer path A 10 , to the pod assembly 105 D.
FIG. 6D also illustrates an example of a second processing sequence having transfer steps that are completed simultaneously with the first sequence using different processing chambers found in the second processing rack 80 . As illustrated in FIGS. 1C-D the first processing rack and second processing rack generally contain a number of processing chambers that are adapted to perform the same process step(s) (e.g., CD 1 - 8 in FIG. 1C, BC 1 - 6 in FIG. 1D) that are used to perform a desired processing sequence. Therefore, in this configuration each processing sequence may be performed using any of the processing chambers mounted in the processing racks. In one example, the second process sequence is the same process sequence as the first processing sequence (discussed above), which contains the same transferring steps A 1 -A 10 , depicted here as A 1 ′-A 10 ′, using the seventh and eighth central robots (i.e., elements 11 G- 11 H) instead of the fifth and sixth central robot assemblies (i.e., elements 11 E- 11 F), respectively, as described above.
Also, in one embodiment the cluster tool 10 is not connected to or in communication with an external processing system 536 and thus the rear robot assembly 40 is not part of the cluster tool configuration and the transfer steps A 5 -A 6 and process step 510 are not performed on the substrate. In this configuration all of the processing steps and transferring steps are performed within in the cluster tool 10 .
Rear Robot Assembly
In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1-6, the central module 25 contains a rear robot assembly 40 which is adapted to transfer substrates between an external module 5 and the processing chambers retained in the second processing rack 80 , such as an exchange chamber 533 . Referring to FIG. 1E, in one aspect, the rear robot assembly 40 generally contains a conventional selectively compliant articulated robot arm (SCARA) robot having a single arm/blade 40 E. In another embodiment, the rear robot assembly 40 may be a SCARA type of robot that has two independently controllable arms/blades (not shown) to exchange substrates and/or transfer substrates in groups of two. The two independently controllable arms/blade type robot may be advantageous, for example, where the robot has to remove a substrate from a desired position prior to placing the next substrate in the same position. An exemplary two independently controllable arms/blade type robot may be purchased from Asyst Technologies in Fremont, CA. While FIGS. 1-6 illustrate configurations that contain a rear robot assembly 40 , one embodiment of the cluster tool 10 does not contain a rear robot assembly 40 .
FIG. 7A illustrates one embodiment of an exchange chamber 533 that may be positioned in a support chamber 165 (FIG. 1D) in a processing rack (e.g., elements 60 , 80 ). In one embodiment, the exchange chamber 533 is adapted to receive and retain a substrate so that at least two robots in the cluster tool 10 can deposit or pickup a substrate. In one aspect, the rear robot assembly 40 and at least one robot in the central module 25 are adapted to deposit and/or receive a substrate from the exchange chamber 533 . The exchange chamber 533 generally contains a substrate support assembly 601 , an enclosure 602 , and at least one access port 603 formed in a wall of the enclosure 602 . The substrate support assembly 601 generally has a plurality of support fingers 610 (six shown in FIG. 7A) which have a substrate receiving surface 611 to support and retain a substrate positioned thereon. The enclosure 602 is generally a structure having one or more walls that enclose the substrate support assembly 601 to contr