APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

Abstract

Disclosed is an embodiment of an apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductor devices. A photolithography process may be carried out after cleaning the backside of a wafer by means of an apparatus that includes an illumination module for conducting an optical illumination operation of photolithography to the front side of the wafer, and a cleaning module for conducting a cleaning operation on the wafer backside. Providing the capability of removing particles from the wafer backside and eliminating defocusing effects due to wafer chucking errors, these and other embodiments improve reliability of the photolithography process, as well as productivity and yields for the semiconductor devices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying figures are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the present invention. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a cleaning module of the apparatus for manufacturing the semiconductor devices, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 3A through 3C are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating processing steps in the cleaning module of the apparatus for manufacturing the semiconductor devices, according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing the semiconductor devices, according to an embodiment.

Claims

1. An apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, comprising: a cleaning module configured to conduct a cleaning process on a backside of a wafer, resulting in a cleaned wafer; andan illumination module configured to conduct an optical illumination process of photolithography for a front side of the cleaned wafer.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the cleaning module is a dry cleaning module.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the dry cleaning module is configured to clean the backside of the wafer by means of a shock wave.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the dry cleaning module comprises: a wafer holding section configured to hold the wafer; anda laser irradiation section configured to irradiate a laser beam onto the backside of the wafer that is held by the wafer holder.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the wafer holding section comprises: a wafer chuck configured to horizontally chuck the wafer during operation of the illumination module, wherein the backside of the wafer contacts the wafer chuck; anda wafer holder configured to hold the wafer horizontally without contacting the front side of the wafer, to separate the wafer from the wafer chuck, and to expose the backside of the wafer.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the wafer holder comprises: a horizontally extending first member that co-extends with the front side of the wafer; anda plurality of second members that extend downward from ends of the first member, and that contact edges of the backside of the wafer.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein at least one of the plurality of second members is movable in a predetermined interval from the end of the first member.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the laser irradiation section comprises: a laser source adapted to emit the laser beam in a laser beam path;a mirror interposed within the path of the laser beam and adapted to alter the path of the laser beam emitted from the laser source; anda lens adapted to focus the laser beam onto a specific point on the backside of the wafer.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the wafer holding section comprises a wafer holder configured to hold the wafer, the wafer holder being horizontally movable in a first direction to alter a focusing position of the laser beam, wherein the laser irradiation section comprises a mirror that is controllable to alter a focusing position of the laser beam in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

10. An apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, comprising: a storage unit adapted to store wafers;a laser cleaning unit that exposes the backside of a wafer supplied from the storage unit, the laser cleaning unit being adapted to dry clean the backside of the wafer by irradiating a laser beam onto the backside of the wafer;an illumination unit adapted to conduct an exposure process to the front side of the wafer that has been treated in a dry cleaning operation by the laser cleaning unit; anda transportation unit adapted to carry the wafer between the storage unit, the laser cleaning unit, and the illumination unit.

11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10, further comprising a buffer unit downstream of the cleaning module to temporarily store the wafer.

12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the laser cleaning unit comprises: a wafer holding section configured to hold the wafer and to move a focusing position of the laser beam along a first axis direction; anda laser irradiation section configured to irradiate the laser beam onto the backside of the wafer and to move the focusing position of the laser beam along a second axis direction orthogonal to the first axis direction.

13. The apparatus as set forth in claim 12, wherein the laser irradiation section comprises: a laser source adapted to emit the laser beam;a mirror adapted to move the focusing position of the laser beam along the second axis direction by altering a path of the laser beam emitted from the laser source; anda lens adapted to focus the laser beam, which has passed through the mirror, onto a specific position on the backside of the wafer.

14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 12, wherein the wafer holding section comprises: a wafer chuck operable to ascend and descend, and to horizontally chuck the wafer so that the wafer chuck is in contact with the backside of the wafer; anda wafer holder horizontally movable to make the focusing position of the laser beam move along the first axis direction, the wafer holder adapted to horizontally hold the wafer without contacting the front side of the wafer, to separate the wafer from the wafer chuck, and to expose the backside of the wafer.

15. The apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein the wafer holder comprises a plurality of point contact members configured to contact edges of the backside of the wafer.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of point contact members is moveable.

17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the moveable point contact member is able to move toward the center of the wafer by a predetermined interval when the wafer holder grips the holder.

18. A method for manufacturing semiconductor devices, which includes a photolithography process, the method comprising: providing a wafer as a target for the photolithography process;cleaning, in a dry mode, the backside of the wafer using a laser beam; andconducting the photolithography process to the front side of the wafer.

19. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein conducting the photolithography process to the front side of the wafer is carried out after cleaning the backside of the wafer by the laser beam in the dry mode.

20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 18, wherein the photolithography process comprises an exposure operation to irradiate and focus light onto the front side of the wafer.

21. The apparatus as set forth in claim 18, wherein cleaning the backside of the wafer comprises: controlling a location of an irradiation point of the laser beam on the backside of the wafer in a first direction by moving the wafer; andcontrolling the location of the irradiation point in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction by altering a path of the laser beam.