CN109518165B

CN109518165B - Atomic layer deposition batch production equipment

Info

Publication number: CN109518165B
Application number: CN201910036498.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑锦; 王新朋; 刘兵武
Original assignee: Nanjing Yuanlei Nano Material Co ltd
Current assignee: Nanjing Yuanlei Nano Material Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-07-02
Filing date: 2019-01-15
Publication date: 2021-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-15
Also published as: CN109518165A; CN209276630U; CN209276631U

Abstract

The invention discloses atomic layer deposition batch production equipment, and relates to the technical field of atomic layer deposition; the wafer processing device comprises a conveying track, a first process cavity and a second process cavity, wherein the first process cavity is connected with the second process cavity through a passage cavity, a first inlet/outlet cavity is arranged on the first process cavity, and a plurality of wafer stations are arranged on the conveying track; the bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity are respectively provided with a conveying structure matched with the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity; and the first process cavity and the second process cavity are both provided with lifting structures for adjusting the height of the metal box, and the metal box is used for conveying wafers to flow. The invention realizes the batch continuous roll-to-roll production, improves the delivery efficiency, has flexible and effective process and solves the practical problem of process integration of the atomic layer deposition batch production.

Description

Atomic layer deposition batch production equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of atomic layer deposition, in particular to atomic layer deposition batch production equipment.

Background

Atomic layer deposition is a process by which a substance can be deposited as a monoatomic film, layer by layer, onto a substrate surface. Atomic layer deposition is similar to ordinary chemical deposition. However, in an atomic layer deposition process, the chemical reaction of a new atomic film is directly related to the previous one in such a way that only one layer of atoms is deposited per reaction.

The large-batch lifting mechanism of the furnace tube in the existing atomic layer deposition batch production equipment has the problems of space waste and growth uniformity, the operation cost is high, in addition, the existing batch wafer transmission mechanism cannot ensure that the vacuum is not damaged when the next step of process is carried out, and the second step effect of the process is difficult to control.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to an atomic layer deposition mass production apparatus, so as to solve the problems mentioned in the background art.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme:

the atomic layer deposition batch production equipment comprises a conveying track, a first process cavity and a second process cavity, wherein the first process cavity is connected with the second process cavity through a passageway cavity, a first inlet/outlet cavity is arranged on the first process cavity, and a plurality of wafer stations are arranged on the conveying track;

the bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity are respectively provided with a conveying structure matched with the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity; and the first process cavity and the second process cavity are both provided with lifting structures for adjusting the height of the metal box, and the metal box is used for conveying wafers to flow.

As a further scheme of the invention: the first switch door is arranged at the communication position of the aisle cavity and the first process cavity as well as the second process cavity, the second switch door is arranged at the communication position of the first inlet/outlet cavity and the first process cavity, the second inlet/outlet cavity is arranged on the second process cavity, the third switch door is arranged at the communication position of the second inlet/outlet cavity and the second process cavity, fourth switch doors are arranged at the bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity, and the metal box is movably arranged on the lifting mechanism.

As a still further scheme of the invention: the number of the wafer stations is three.

As a still further scheme of the invention: and the first inlet/outlet cavity, the second inlet/outlet cavity and the aisle cavity are respectively provided with a vacuum pump.

As a still further scheme of the invention: parallel moving mechanical devices are arranged in the first inlet/outlet cavity, the passageway cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity, and the wafer station comprises a mechanical arm mechanism.

As a still further scheme of the invention: the metal box comprises a plurality of breather pipes, a cross rod is arranged between every two adjacent breather pipes, a plurality of vent holes are formed in the inner side of each breather pipe in an array mode, an air inlet is formed in the bottom of each breather pipe, and each breather pipe is of a hollow structure.

As a still further scheme of the invention: the plurality of vent pipes are not communicated with each other.

As a still further scheme of the invention: the upper vent hole of the vent pipe is gradually reduced from top to bottom.

As a still further scheme of the invention: and protruding guide pipes matched with air inlets on the air pipes are arranged at the bottoms of the first process cavity and the second process cavity.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that: the continuous process is realized by arranging the first process cavity and the second process cavity, the batch production of the wafers is realized, the vacuum environment of the whole equipment is ensured by arranging the first inlet/outlet cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity, the automatic production is realized by arranging the parallel moving mechanical device, the lifting structure, the conveying structure and the conveying track, the working efficiency is improved, and the quality of wafer blowing is ensured by arranging the metal box; the invention realizes the batch continuous roll-to-roll production, improves the delivery efficiency, has flexible and effective process and solves the practical problem of process integration of the atomic layer deposition batch production.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an atomic layer deposition mass production apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a metal box in an ALD batch production facility.

In the figure: the device comprises a first process cavity-1, a first inlet/outlet cavity-2, a passageway cavity-3, a second process cavity-4, a second inlet/outlet cavity-5, a vacuum pump-6, a wafer station-7, a parallel movement mechanical device-8, a lifting structure-9, a conveying structure-10, a conveying track-11, a metal box-12, an air pipe-21, a cross rod-22, an air vent-23, a support rod-24 and an air inlet-25.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Example 1

Referring to fig. 1, in embodiment 1 of the present invention, an atomic layer deposition batch production apparatus includes a first process chamber 1 and a second process chamber 4, the first process chamber 1 and the second process chamber 4 are connected through a passageway chamber 3, a first switch door is disposed at a communication position of the passageway chamber 3 and the first process chamber 1, a first inlet/outlet chamber 2 is disposed on the first process chamber 1, a second switch door is disposed at a communication position of the first inlet/outlet chamber 2 and the first process chamber 1, a second inlet/outlet chamber 5 is disposed on the second process chamber 4, a third switch door is disposed at a communication position of the second inlet/outlet chamber 5 and the second process chamber 4, a fourth switch door is disposed at bottoms of the first inlet/outlet chamber 2, the passageway chamber 3, and the second inlet/outlet chamber 5 for facilitating a metal box 12 to be taken out, a conveying track 11 is further included, the conveying track 11 is provided with a plurality of wafer stations 7, each wafer station 7 comprises a manipulator mechanism, the wafer stations 7 are used for storing wafers and placing the wafers into the metal box 12 through the manipulator mechanisms, and the number of the wafer stations 7 is three.

The bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity 2, the aisle cavity 3 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 are respectively provided with a conveying structure 10 matched with the first inlet/outlet cavity, and the conveying structures 10 are used for conveying the metal boxes 12 on the conveying tracks 11 into the first inlet/outlet cavity 2, the aisle cavity 3 and the fourth inlet/outlet cavity 5 through fourth door closing or outputting the metal boxes 12 in the first inlet/outlet cavity 2, the aisle cavity 3 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 through fourth door closing.

The first process cavity 1 and the second process cavity 4 are both provided with a lifting structure 9 for adjusting the height of the metal box 12, the metal box 12 is movably arranged on the lifting structure 9, parallel moving mechanical devices 8 are arranged in the first inlet/outlet cavity 2, the aisle cavity 3 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5, the parallel moving mechanical devices 8 are arranged to facilitate conveying of the metal box 12, and the metal box 12 is used for conveying of wafers in a flowing mode.

The first inlet/outlet cavity 2, the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 and the aisle cavity 3 are all provided with vacuum pumps 6, and the vacuum pumps 6 are arranged to conveniently extract air in the first inlet/outlet cavity 2 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 when the first inlet/outlet cavity 2 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 need a vacuum state, so that the first inlet/outlet cavity 2 and the second inlet/outlet cavity 5 are in the vacuum state.

Example 2

Referring to fig. 2, the main difference between the embodiment 2 and the embodiment 1 is that the metal box 12 includes a plurality of vent pipes 21, the vent pipes 21 are hollow, the number and the position of the vent pipes 21 are selected according to the size of a wafer, the tops of the vent pipes 21 are connected to each other through a support rod 24, a cross bar 22 is disposed between two adjacent vent pipes 21, the cross bar 22 is disposed to facilitate carrying the wafer, a plurality of vent holes 23 are formed in the inner side of the vent pipes 21 in an array manner, the vent holes 23 are used for blowing air to the wafer on the cross bar 22, and the vent holes 23 are communicated with the interiors of the vent.

The plurality of vent pipes 21 are not communicated with each other, so that mutual pollution of incompatible gases is completely avoided, a better process result is provided for a customer, and the air inlet 25 is arranged at the bottom of each vent pipe 21, so that an air source can blow air to the wafer through the vent holes 23 on the vent pipes 21 conveniently. The upper vent hole 23 of the vent pipe 21 is gradually reduced from top to bottom in diameter, so that the blowing amount of each layer of wafer is equal, protruding guide pipes matched with the air inlets 5 on the vent pipe 1 are arranged at the bottoms of the first process chamber 1 and the second process chamber 4, and the protruding guide pipes are externally connected with an air source.

The metal box 12 can bear the wafer and can realize gas outflow and supply, so that the gas circuit design of the aisle chamber 3 and the second process chamber 4 is simpler and clearer, and the metal box is practical and reliable; the number of air pipes of the atomic layer deposition mass production equipment is reduced, the air inflation effect is ensured, the air passages are separated, and mutual pollution of incompatible gases is completely avoided.

The working principle of the invention is as follows:

the wafer is taken out from any wafer station 7, the wafer is conveyed to the first in/out cavity 2 from the atmospheric environment by the manipulator structure moving at a high speed until the metal box 12 in the first in/out cavity is filled, meanwhile, the first in/out cavity 2 starts to be vacuumized, air is removed, and the whole metal box 12 (loaded with the wafer) is conveyed to the lifting structure 9 in the first process cavity 1 from the first in/out cavity 2 by the parallel movement mechanical device 8, and the position of the metal box 12 is adjusted by the lifting structure 9 to carry out the process; the first process chamber 1 can be specially used for cleaning surface ions of a wafer, and when the process is finished, the whole metal box 12 is conveyed to the passage chamber 3 under vacuum, then conveyed to the lifting structure 9 in the second process chamber 4 from the passage chamber 3, the position of the metal box 12 is adjusted through the lifting structure 9, so that the second inlet/outlet chamber 5 on the metal box 12 is communicated with the protruding conduit at the bottom of the second process chamber 4, uniform air injection is realized, the ALD process is started, and after the process is finished, the metal box is conveyed to the second inlet/outlet chamber 5; the design occupies small space, the process setting is flexible, and the automatic control design is very convenient; the device can continuously place the metal boxes 12, even if the process is not finished in the second process cavity 4, the metal boxes 12 on the other side can bring new wafers from the first in/out cavity 2 into the first process cavity 1 to start to perform a surface cleaning work process; the finished process cartridge 12 can be selectively removed in the first in/out chamber 2, the second in/out chamber 5 or the aisle chamber 3.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are used only for convenience in describing the present invention and for simplicity in description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed in a particular orientation, and be operated, and thus are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality" means two or more. A feature defined as "first," "second," etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the feature.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim concerned.

Furthermore, it should be understood that although the present description refers to embodiments, not every embodiment may contain only a single embodiment, and such description is for clarity only, and those skilled in the art should integrate the description, and the embodiments may be combined as appropriate to form other embodiments understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An atomic layer deposition batch production device comprises a conveying rail (11), a first process cavity (1) and a second process cavity (4), wherein the first process cavity (1) and the second process cavity (4) are connected through a passageway cavity (3), a first inlet/outlet cavity (2) is arranged on the first process cavity (1), and a plurality of wafer stations (7) are arranged on the conveying rail (11);

the device is characterized in that the bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity (2), the aisle cavity (3) and the second inlet/outlet cavity (5) are provided with conveying structures (10) matched with the first inlet/outlet cavity, the aisle cavity and the second inlet/outlet cavity; the first process cavity (1) and the second process cavity (4) are both provided with lifting structures (9) for adjusting the height of the metal box (12);

a first switch door is arranged at the communication position of the aisle cavity (3) and the first process cavity (1) as well as the second process cavity (4), a second switch door is arranged at the communication position of the first inlet/outlet cavity (2) and the first process cavity (1), a second inlet/outlet cavity (5) is arranged on the second process cavity (4), a third switch door is arranged at the communication position of the second inlet/outlet cavity (5) and the second process cavity (4), fourth switch doors are arranged at the bottoms of the first inlet/outlet cavity (2), the aisle cavity (3) and the second inlet/outlet cavity (5), and the metal box (12) is movably arranged on the lifting structure (9); the first inlet/outlet cavity (2), the second inlet/outlet cavity (5) and the passageway cavity (3) are respectively provided with a vacuum pump (6); parallel moving mechanical devices (8) are arranged in the first inlet/outlet cavity (2), the aisle cavity (3) and the second inlet/outlet cavity (5);

the metal box (12) comprises a plurality of vent pipes (21), cross rods (22) are arranged between two adjacent vent pipes (21), a plurality of vent holes (23) are arranged on the inner side of each vent pipe (21) in an array mode, the vent holes (23) of the vent pipes (21) respectively correspond to the positions between two adjacent cross rods (22) up and down, only one vent hole (23) is arranged on a pipe section of each vent pipe (21) corresponding to the position between the adjacent cross rods (22) up and down, an air inlet (25) is arranged at the bottom of each vent pipe (21), and each vent pipe (21) is of a hollow structure; the upper vent hole (23) of the vent pipe (21) is gradually reduced from top to bottom.

2. The atomic layer deposition mass production facility according to claim 1, wherein the wafer stations (7) are three.

3. The atomic layer deposition mass production facility according to claim 1, wherein the wafer station (7) comprises a robot mechanism.

4. The atomic layer deposition mass production facility of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vent tubes (21) are not in communication with each other.

5. The atomic layer deposition mass production facility according to claim 1, wherein the first process chamber (1) and the second process chamber (4) are each provided with a protruding conduit at the bottom for cooperation with an air inlet (25) on a vent pipe (21).