JPH02208949A - Semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform reliably the judgement of the good or bad of data in the stage in the middle of inspection by a method wherein inspecting machines for semiconductor wafers are provided with read means, the sampling numbers of the waters and inspection information are prepared and history data is stored. CONSTITUTION:A prescribed treatment is performed on semiconductor wafers 1 and thereafter, the wafers 1 are housed in a cassette 3. Moreover, the wafers 1 are carried in inspecting machines (a first inspecting machine, a second inspecting machine to a (n)th inspecting machine) A1, A2 to An to correspond to processes and an inspection of pattern defect and the like is performed by a wafer defect inspecting device 60 of the machines. Here, the wafers 1 are automatically read the wafer numbers of their numbering parts 2 by wafer number detectors 7 during the transfer to the device 60. Then, inspection information on the result of the pattern defect inspection performed by the device 60 and the water numbers from the detectors 7, which are shown in such a way as to correspond to 1:1, is prepared and is stored in a main computor 8 through a communication line 12. This process is repeated and when wafer numbers identical with the wafer numbers stored in the computor 8 are detected by the detectors 7, the good or bad of data is reliably judged.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and particularly relates to automatic identification of wafer numbers and processing of inspection results when inspecting pattern defects on semiconductor wafers. .

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor wafer inspection machine in a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining its operation. In the figure, 1 is a semiconductor wafer, and 2 is a sample number printing portion of the semiconductor wafer 1. On this portion, the wafer number is printed, for example, in the form of a bar code or the like by stamping or exposure. 3 is a wafer storage cassette that stores the semiconductor wafer 1, A is an inspection machine that inspects the semiconductor wafer 1, and 4 is a transport unit that transports the wafer 1 between the cassette 3 and the inspection machine A. . Here, the above inspection machine A
is composed of an information input terminal 5 for inputting wafer numbers and other information, and a wafer defect inspection device 6 for inspecting defects, etc. of the wafer 1 carried in from the transport section 4, and is used for semiconductor manufacturing. In the apparatus, such an inspection machine is arranged corresponding to each manufacturing processing apparatus at each process stage.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, a person first removes the semiconductor wafer 1 stored in the cassette 3.
The wafer number is read and input into the wafer inspection device 6 from the information input terminal 5. On the other hand, after the number has been inputted, the evaporator 1 is carried into the wafer defect inspection apparatus 6 by the transport section 4, and is inspected for defects therein. After the inspection is completed, the wafer 1 is returned into the cassette 3 by the transport section 4. Such number reading and number input work and defect inspection are performed by each of the above-mentioned inspection machines.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment is configured as described above, so a person inputs the wafer number T11! In addition, it is necessary to manually input the wafer number from the information input terminal 5 to the defect inspection device 6, which poses problems such as difficulty in correlating semiconductor wafers with their inspection results. If the individual semiconductor wafers and their inspection results do not correspond, when inspecting the semiconductor wafers that have gone through a predetermined processing process, the defective areas that occurred in the process before the processing process are inspected many times. Not only does this require time for inspection, but it is also impossible to reliably determine whether each wafer is good or bad at an intermediate stage, and if the process does not proceed to the final test, it may be difficult to determine whether the wafer is good or defective. There were problems such as the inability to determine whether

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to automatically recognize the wafer number.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can store and store inspection results for defects, etc. of individual semiconductor wafers and their wafer numbers in one-to-one correspondence.

[Means to solve the problem]

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of inspection machines arranged for each manufacturing processing apparatus, and the inspection machine is equipped with a reading means for reading the sample number of the semiconductor wafer, and a defect inspection device for the semiconductor wafer. It is comprised of a wafer defect inspection device that performs inspection based on defect history data, receives the output of the reading means, and creates inspection information in which each wafer's sample number and inspection result correspond one-to-one; The inspection machines are connected to the main computer, and the defect history data is created for each semiconductor wafer based on inspection information from each inspection machine.

[Effect]

In this invention, since the semiconductor wafer inspection machine is provided with a reading means for reading the sample number of the semiconductor wafer, the wafer number of the semiconductor wafer can be automatically read without human intervention. The inspection device is configured to inspect the semiconductor wafers for defects, receive the output from the reading means, and create inspection information in which the sample number of each wafer corresponds to the inspection result on a one-to-one basis. Inspection results for individual semiconductor wafers can be obtained during the manufacturing process.

In addition, the above inspection information is stored in the main computer and subjected to predetermined processing to create defect history data for each semiconductor wafer, so when inspecting defects, inspection results can be checked based on the inspection results from previous manufacturing processes. In other words, there is no need to measure locations within the semiconductor wafer that have already been determined to be defective, and even when the process progresses to the final test and is inspected, locations that have already been determined to be defective will not be measured. It becomes possible not to make a judgment, and as a result, the inspection time can be shortened. Moreover, by overlapping inspection results from each manufacturing stage, it is also possible to map defects in semiconductor wafers.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus. In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the same or equivalent parts, and 7 is a wafer number detector placed near the wafer transfer section 4 of the inspection machine Ak, which automatically reads the wafer number of the semiconductor wafer 1. machine (reading means),
Reference numeral 60 is composed of the detector 7, the information input terminal 5, etc., and performs defect inspection of the semiconductor wafer 1, receives the output of the wafer number detector 7, and checks the sample number and inspection result of each wafer. This is a wafer defect inspection device that creates inspection information 1m corresponding to 1m. 8 is a main computer that stores the above inspection information (1) and processes the information IK to update defect history data for each semiconductor wafer, and has the same configuration as the above inspection machine Ak and performs inspection corresponding to each process step. Machines A, -A, and % are connected. 12 is a communication line such as a telephone line connecting the main computer 8 and the wafer defect inspection apparatus 60 of the inspection machines A1 to A.

Next, the operation will be explained.

After the semiconductor wafer 1 has been processed in the first manufacturing process, it is stored in a cassette 3 as shown in FIG. The semiconductor wafer 1 is then carried into an inspection machine A1 corresponding to this process, and its defect inspection device 60 inspects for pattern defects and the like.

That is, the semiconductor wafer 1 is inspected by the wafer defect inspection device 60.
While the wafer is being transported, the wafer number on the number printing section 2 is automatically read by the wafer number detector 7.

Next, in the wafer defect inspection apparatus 60, the wafer 1
Defect inspection is performed and the inspection results are calculated, and the detection output from the wafer number detector 7, that is, inspection information I in which the wafer number and this inspection result correspond one-to-one,
is created. This inspection information 11 is sent to the main computer 8 via the communication line 12 and stored there. When the inspection is completed, the wafer 1 is returned to the cassette 3 by the transport section 4.

Next, a description will be given of when the process advances and the wafer is inspected again.

As in the case of the above process, the wafer 1 stored in the cassette 3 after the second process is transferred to the inspection machine A by the transport section 4.
2 will be carried in. Here too, the wafer number is automatically recognized by the wafer number detector 7 and inspected by the wafer defect inspection device 60 in the same manner as above. During this inspection,
If the wafer number automatically L'l R&ed by the wafer number detector 7 and the wafer number stored in the main computer 8 match, the wafer defect inspection device detects the location determined to be defective in the previous process. At 60, the inspection (scanning) is not performed and the process skips to the next location. When the inspection is completed, the paper is stored in the cassette 3 by the transport section 4. On the other hand, the obtained inspection results are stored in the main computer 8 as inspection information (2) in which the inspection results and the wafer numbers correspond one-to-one, as described above. The main computer 8 also creates defect history data in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers by superimposing the inspection information (1) and I2.

Such semiconductor wafer inspection is performed for each manufacturing process, and the inspection information 1. obtained in each inspection is used. is stored in the main computer 8, and defect history data based on this is also stored.

As described above, in this embodiment, the wafer number detector 7 is installed in the wafer inspection machines A1 to A7 to automatically recognize the wafer number, so there is no need for a person to check the wafer number, and human intervention is eliminated. Inspection is possible even if you do not. In addition, the wafer defect inspection device 60 of the inspection machines A1 to A is used to inspect the semiconductor wafer 1 for defects, and receives the output of the wafer number detector 7, so that the sample number of each wafer and the inspection result are 1:1. Since the configuration is configured to create inspection information corresponding to the above, inspection results for each semiconductor wafer can be obtained at each manufacturing processing stage.

In addition, the wafer defect inspection device 60 is connected to the main computer to store inspection information that corresponds one-to-one between wafer numbers and inspection results. In other words, it is not necessary to measure the parts of the semiconductor wafer that have already been determined to be defective, and during the next inspection, the parts that were determined to be defective at the previous inspection stage can be inspected. is not checked again. This means that even if the process does not proceed to the final test, the defective state of the wafer can be recognized, and defective products can be determined even during the process. Furthermore, it becomes possible to repair defective parts in the next process. In other words, if the same process as the previous process is to be performed in the next process, it is also possible to perform a repair process on the defective location based on the above inspection results.

Furthermore, since defect history data for each semiconductor wafer is created based on the inspection results at each manufacturing stage, wafer manipulating is possible and defect locations can be seen at a glance. As a result, the time required for inspection is reduced, and furthermore,
Even in the photolithography process (particularly exposure technology), processing time can be shortened by not performing photolithography on defective locations.

In the above embodiment, the wafer number detector 7 is separate and independent from the wafer defect inspection device 60, but it may be incorporated into the wafer defect inspection device 60. It has a great effect.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention,
A plurality of inspection machines are arranged for each manufacturing processing device, and the inspection machine is equipped with a reading means for reading the sample number of the semiconductor wafer, and performs defect inspection of the semiconductor wafer based on the defect history data, The system consists of a wafer defect inspection device that creates inspection information with a one-to-one correspondence between the sample number of each wafer and the inspection result based on the read output, and each inspection device is connected to the main computer. Since the defect history data described above is created for each semiconductor wafer based on the inspection information from the inspection machine, the wafer number can be automatically recognized and the semiconductor wafer can be inspected according to its defect status. It is possible,
This has the effect that semiconductor wafer inspection processing and, by extension, manufacturing processing can be carried out efficiently and in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the device, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an inspection machine in a conventional semiconductor manufacturing device. , FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation. 1... Semiconductor wafer, 2... Wafer number printing section, 3
... Wafer storage cassette, 4... Wafer transport section, 5
... Information input terminal, 6,60... Wafer defect inspection device, 7... Wafer number detector, 8... Main computer, A1-A,... Inspection machine, r... Inspection Information, 12 is a communication line. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of manufacturing processing equipment that performs manufacturing processing on semiconductor wafers with sample numbers attached, and arranged corresponding to each of the equipment,
In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with a plurality of inspection machines that inspect processed semiconductor wafers based on inspection history data, the inspection machines are equipped with reading means for reading the sample number, and inspect the semiconductor wafers; a wafer defect inspection device that creates inspection information in which each wafer's sample number and inspection result correspond one-to-one based on the read output, and stores inspection information from each of the inspection machines; A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, further comprising data creation storage means for creating and storing the inspection history data for each semiconductor wafer based on the inspection information.