The disclosure relates to a semiconductor processing system and a method for assembling the semiconductor processing system in a room of a semiconductor fabrication plant.
Semiconductor processing systems may comprise at least one, but in many applications more than one equipment modules. For example, semiconductor processing systems comprising a vertical batch furnace may comprise a batch furnace module and a cassette stocker module. The batch furnace module may include at least one process chamber as well as a wafer handling space in which a wafer handling robot may be positioned which may transfer wafers from a wafer cassette to a wafer boat. The batch furnace module may include a boat transfer mechanism to transfer the wafer boat between a loading position and the process chamber. The stocker module may, for example, comprise stocker positions for wafer cassettes and a cassette handler which may transfer wafer cassettes between I/O-ports for wafer cassettes and stocker positions in a wafer cassette stock. The same or another cassette handler may additionally transfer wafer cassettes between stocker positions and a wafer cassette loading/unloading-position. The equipment modules of a semiconductor processing system may have a considerable mass. For example, a batch furnace module may have a mass of more than 5000 kg whereas a cassette stocker module may have a mass of more than 2000 kg. Generally, at a semiconductor fabrication plant of a client, these equipment modules are placed in a room, for example a clean room, on a pedestal which itself may also have a considerable mass of more than 500 kg. The pedestal may also support additional modules, for example one or more gas cabinets which may have a mass of 300 kg or more.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. These concepts are described in further detail in the detailed description of example embodiments of the disclosure below. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
When the pedestal and the various equipment modules arrive at the semiconductor fabrication plant (hereafter FAB), they have to be assembled in a (clean) room where the semiconductor processing system will operate once assembled. When doing so, the various equipment modules may have to be positioned relative reference elements which have been defined by the client. A reference element may for example be a drop-off location of a transport system for semiconductor wafer cassettes and/or a reference line or reference points in the (clean) room in which the semiconductor processing system has to be set up.
It may be a challenge to position high mass equipment modules in the room of the FAB with sufficient accuracy. This challenge may even be even more daunting when the space around the semiconductor processing system is limited, for example caused by a neighboring system which may be at close distance so that a person cannot or can barely move between the semiconductor processing system which has to be assembled and the already present neighboring systems.
In order to alleviate the challenge, it may be an object to provide a method for assembling a semiconductor processing system in a room of a semiconductor fabrication plant. The semiconductor processing system may comprise at least one equipment module and a pedestal. A first equipment module of the at least one equipment module may be movable over the pedestal to bring the first equipment module in an end position. The first equipment module may have a plurality of stop surfaces which are fixedly connected with the first equipment module. The method may comprise placing the pedestal in the room; providing at least two stops; placing the at least two stops on the pedestal and positioning the at least two stops in a horizontal plane defined by an X-direction and a Y-direction relative to reference elements in the room. The thus positioned at least two stops may be connected to the pedestal so that the positions thereof in the X-direction and Y-direction may be fixed relative to the pedestal. The first equipment module may be moved over the pedestal until the stop surfaces of the first equipment module all abut against the stops so as to correctly position the first equipment module in the X-direction and Y-direction relative to the reference elements.
Additionally, an object of the disclosure may be to provide a semiconductor processing system which may comprise at least one equipment module and a pedestal. The pedestal and a first equipment module of the at least one equipment module may be configured to allow movement of the first equipment module over the pedestal to bring the first equipment module in an end position. The pedestal may comprise at least two stops which are positionable in a horizontal plane defined by an X-direction and a Y-direction relative to reference elements in a room of a semiconductor fabrication plant in which the semiconductor processing system may be placed. The at least two stops may be connectable to the pedestal so that the positions thereof in X-direction and Y-direction may be fixed relative to the pedestal. The first equipment module may comprise a plurality of stop surfaces which may be fixedly connected with the first equipment module and which may be configured for abutment against the at least two stops when the first equipment module is moved over the pedestal so as to correctly position the first equipment module in the X-direction and Y-direction relative to the reference elements.
With the method and the semiconductor processing system of the disclosure, the assembly of heavy and bulky equipment modules of a semiconductor processing system may be effected at the client's semiconductor fabrication plant more quickly and very accurately.
For purposes of summarizing the invention and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the invention have been described herein above. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught or suggested herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Various embodiments are claimed in the dependent claims, which will be further elucidated with reference to an example shown in the figures. The embodiments may be combined or may be applied separate from each other.
All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the invention herein disclosed. These and other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of certain embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular embodiment(s) disclosed.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming what are regarded as embodiments of the invention, the advantages of embodiments of the disclosure may be more readily ascertained from the description of certain examples of the embodiments of the disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In this application similar or corresponding features are denoted by similar or corresponding reference signs. The description of the various embodiments is not limited to the examples shown in the figures and the reference numbers used in the detailed description and the claims are not intended to limit the description of the embodiments, but are included to elucidate the embodiments.
Although certain embodiments and examples are disclosed below, it will be understood by those in the art that the invention extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments and/or uses of the invention and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described below. The illustrations presented herein are not meant to be actual views of any particular material, structure, or device, but are merely idealized representations that are used to describe embodiments of the disclosure.
As used herein, the term “wafer” may refer to any underlying material or materials that may be used, or upon which, a device, a circuit, or a film may be formed.
Before describing the method and the advantages which may be obtained with applying the method, first the semiconductor processing system disclosed herein will be described with reference to the figures.
In the most general terms, the present disclosure may provide a semiconductor processing system 10 that may comprise at least one equipment module 12, 14 and a pedestal 20. An example of such a semiconductor processing system 10 is shown in
In an embodiment, an equipment module 12, 14 may include wheels 48 (see
In an embodiment, the semiconductor processing system 10 may additionally comprise an alignment jig 36 (see
In an embodiment, of which an example is shown in the figures, each stop 22, 24 of the at least two stops 22, 24 may comprise a vertically extending cylindrical pin 22, 24. Alternatively, the at least two stops 22, 24 may also be embodied as balls or spheres.
In embodiment, each cylindrical pin may be mounted in a mounting block 32, 34 (see
In an embodiment, the plurality of stop surfaces 26, 28, 30 of the first equipment module 12 may comprise a first vertically extending stop surface 26 and a second vertically extending stop surface 28 which together bound a V-shaped space in which a first stop 22 of the at least two vertically extending stops 22, 24 can be received for abutment against both the first and the second vertically extending stop surfaces. The plurality of stop surfaces 26, 28, 30 of the first equipment module 12 may additionally comprise a third vertically extending stop surface 30 which may be spaced at a distance D (see
In an embodiment, said distance D, which in practice also may be the distance between the first and the second stop 22, 24, may be at least 500 mm. A distance D of that magnitude may provide a stable positioning of the first equipment module 12.
In an embodiment, a first stop 22 of the at least two stops 22, 24 may be adjacent a first lateral side 20A (see
Under “adjacent a first/second lateral side,” one may understand at a distance from the lateral side of less than 250 mm.
In an embodiment, the at least one equipment module of the semiconductor processing system 10 may comprise a second equipment module 14 (see
In an embodiment, of which an example is shown in the figures, the at least two stops 22, 24 may be positioned on the pedestal 20 between the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14.
Optionally, the stops 22, 24, may be removably mounted in the mounting blocks 32, 34 even after they have been accurately positioned and the mounting blocks 32 have been fixed to the pedestal 20. In that way, both equipment modules 12, 14 may be placed on the pedestal 20 from a first end 20C (see
In an embodiment, the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14 may be connected to each other by at least one or two bolts 44 (see
In the example shown in the figures, the second equipment module 14 comprises two chambers 50 in its lateral sides (see
In an embodiment, of which an example is shown in the figures, the first equipment module 12 may be a vertical batch furnace module. The second equipment module 14 may be a semiconductor cassette stocker module.
The disclosure may also relate to a method for assembling a semiconductor processing system 10 in a room of a semiconductor fabrication plant. The method may comprise:
In an embodiment, the method may comprise providing an alignment jig 36 having reference marks 38 and having stop engagement surfaces 37 (see
In an embodiment, the reference elements 40 (see
As described above with reference to the system, each stop of the at least two stops 22, 24 may comprise a vertically extending cylindrical pin and each cylindrical pin may be mounted in a mounting block 32, 34 which is associated with the respective cylindrical pin 22, 24 (see
This fixed connection in the desired position, does not exclude, in an embodiment, that each cylindrical pin 22, 24 may be removably mounted in a cylindrical hole in an associated one of the mounting blocks 32, 34. In such an embodiment, the mounting blocks 32, 34 define the exact fixed position of the cylindrical pins 22, 24. The removability of the cylindrical pins 22, 24 after fixing their position in the X-direction and Y-direction by virtue of the fixed connection of the mounting blocks 32, 34 to the pedestal 20 may, as described above, be helpful when an equipment module 12, 14 has to be moved from one end 20C of the pedestal 20 to the other end of the pedestal 20 and thereby pass over the mounting blocks 32 without being hindered by the cylindrical pins 22, 24.
As described with reference to the semiconductor processing system, the plurality of stop surfaces 26, 28, 30 of the first equipment module 12 may comprise a first vertically extending stop surface 26, a second vertically extending stop surface 28 which, together with the first stop surface 26 may bound a V-shaped space, as well as a third vertically extending stop surface 30 which is spaced at a distance D from an intersection line of the first and second vertically extending stop surfaces 26, 28.
In an embodiment, the method may comprise that during movement of the first equipment module 12 over the pedestal 20, a first stop 22 of the at least two vertically extending stop 22, 24 may be received in the V-shaped space and may finally abut against both the first and the second vertically extending stop surfaces 26, 28 (see
As described with reference to the semiconductor processing system 10, the at least one equipment module of the semiconductor processing system 10 may comprise a second equipment module 14. The second equipment module 14 may also have a plurality of stop surfaces 26′, 28′, 30′ which are fixedly connected with the second equipment module 14 and which are configured for cooperation with the at least two stops 22, 24. With such an embodiment of the semiconductor processing system 10, an embodiment of the method may comprise moving the second equipment module 14 over the pedestal 20 until the stop surfaces 26′, 28′, 30′ of the second equipment module 14 all abut against the stops 22, 24 so as to correctly position the second equipment module 14 in the X-direction and Y-direction relative to the reference elements 40 (see
When the semiconductor processing system 10 is of the embodiment in which the at least two stops 22, 24 are positioned on the pedestal 20 between the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14, an embodiment of the method may comprise that the moving of the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14 may be effected by pulling or pushing the first equipment module 12 and second equipment module 14 towards each other until the stop surfaces 26, 28, 30, 26′, 28′, 30′ of both the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14 abut against the at least two stops 22, 24.
In a further elaboration of this embodiment, the pulling or pushing towards each other of the first and second equipment modules 12, 14 may be effected with at least two substantially horizontally extending bolts 44 (see
The action of pulling or pushing the first equipment module 12 and the second equipment module 14 together may be done after feet 46, (see
In an embodiment, the method may comprise that after positioning the at least one equipment module in the X-direction and Y-direction, the at least one equipment module 12, 14 is vertically positioned in Z-direction. A vertical levelling may be effected by changing the height of the feet 46. The accuracy for the height levelling may, for example, be approximately ±of 0.1 mm which can be obtained by turning the feet 46 which have a threaded stem. After levelling, the equipment modules may optionally be connected with the pedestal 20.
As explained above, after placement of the pedestal 20 in the room of the semiconductor fabrication plant, first the stops 22, 24 are placed on the pedestal and accurately positioned in X- and Y-direction in relation to external reference elements 40. This accurately positioning of the stops 22, 24 is relatively easy because the weight of the stops 22, 24 is such that they can be moved by hand. To make the job even easier, the alignment jig 36 may be used. Once positioned, the stops 22, 24, at least their positions in X-direction and Y-direction may be fixed relative to the pedestal 20. After that, the equipment modules 12 and 14 may be placed on the pedestal 20 and moved until the stop surfaces 26, 28, 30, 26′, 28′, 30′ abut against the stops 22,24. In that situation, the equipment modules are “automatically” aligned with the external reference elements 40 as well. In the end phase of the movement of the equipment modules 12, 14, the positioning is, in fact, achieved by the guidance of the stop surfaces 26, 28, 30, 26′, 28′, 30′ along the stops 22, 24. The force needed for the movement of the first equipment module 12 and the optional second equipment module 14 only has to be generally in the correct direction and the interaction between the stop surfaces 26, 28, 30, 26′, 28′, 30′ and the stops 22, 24 does the accurate positioning. Thus, assembling the heavy and bulky equipment modules 12, 14 of a semiconductor processing system 10 can be effected at the client's semiconductor fabrication plant more quickly and very accurately.
Not all equipment modules of a semiconductor processing system 10 have to be positioned accurately on the pedestal 20. In the example shown in
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described above, in part with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this description are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, it is noted that particular features, structures, or characteristics of one or more of the various embodiments which are described above may be used implemented independently from one another and may be combined in any suitable manner to form new, not explicitly described embodiments. The reference numbers used in the detailed description and the claims do not limit the description of the embodiments, nor do they limit the claims. The reference numbers are solely used to clarify.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63322752 | Mar 2022 | US |