CN114613691A

CN114613691A - Cooling structure

Info

Publication number: CN114613691A
Application number: CN202011412238.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐范植; 高建峰; 丁云凌; 刘卫兵; 白国斌
Original assignee: Institute of Microelectronics of CAS; Zhenxin Beijing Semiconductor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Institute of Microelectronics of CAS; Zhenxin Beijing Semiconductor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-04
Filing date: 2020-12-04
Publication date: 2022-06-10

Abstract

The invention discloses a cooling structure, comprising: a base; a bottom plate embedded above the base; the top plate is arranged above the bottom plate, and a cooling cavity is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate; the lower surface of roof is the top in cooling chamber, and the upper surface of roof sets up to the holding tank, and the holding tank is used for placing the wafer. The cooling structure is arranged into a bottom plate and a top plate, and the cooling cavity is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate, so that cooling liquid can circulate in the cooling cavity, and the wafer is rapidly cooled. Then, the wafer can be directly placed in the accommodating groove formed in the top plate, so that the wafer can be in direct contact with the top plate; in the cooling liquid circulation process in the cooling cavity, the cooling effect is better, the cooling time is shortened, and stagnation in the process is avoided.

Description

Cooling structure

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to a cooling structure.

Background

With the development of information technology, the demand of electronic devices has been increasing, and the demand of semiconductor memory devices has also been increasing. Meanwhile, new requirements are provided for improvement of semiconductor production technology, and the operation stability of equipment for producing products is very important for producing products with good quality. The early stages of the manufacturing process for semiconductor memory devices involve processing the wafer. In the process, the wafer is cooled, the cooling structure in the ENDURA system has low efficiency, the required cooling time is long, and the wafer stays too long in the cooling process, so that the process is stopped and defects are generated.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a cooling structure, so that the cooling efficiency of the wafer is improved, the cooling time is shortened, and stagnation generated in the process is avoided.

In a first aspect, the present application provides the following technical solutions through an embodiment of the present application:

a cooling structure, comprising: a base; a base plate embedded above the base; the top plate is arranged above the bottom plate, and a cooling cavity is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate; the lower surface of the top plate is the top of the cooling cavity, the upper surface of the top plate is provided with a containing groove, and the containing groove is used for containing wafers.

Optionally, the lower portion of the top plate has a downward flange, which is connected to the bottom plate and serves as a side wall of the cooling chamber.

Optionally, the method further includes: and the acquisition end of the temperature measurement system is connected to the edge position of the top plate.

Optionally, a lifting mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the accommodating groove and used for lifting the wafer.

Optionally, the lifting mechanism includes: the wafer support device comprises a lifting shaft and a support end, wherein the lifting shaft is fixedly connected with the lower side of the support end, and the upper side of the support end is used for supporting a wafer.

Optionally, the lifting shaft is located at the bottom center of the accommodating groove.

Optionally, the method further includes: and the driving device is connected with the lifting mechanism.

Optionally, the space of the cooling cavity is greater than or equal to 2L.

Optionally, the method further includes: the supporting shaft is fixedly connected below the bottom plate.

Optionally, the method further includes: the fixing frame is fixedly connected with the outer side of the base.

The technical scheme provided in the embodiment of the application at least has the following technical effects or advantages:

compared with the prior art, the cooling structure provided in the embodiment has the following beneficial effects: the cooling structure is arranged into a two-part structure of a bottom plate and a top plate, and a cooling cavity is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate. When the cooling liquid circulates in the cooling liquid, the rapid cooling of the wafer is realized. Then, the lower surface of the top plate is the top of the cooling cavity, and the upper surface of the top plate is provided with an accommodating groove for directly accommodating the wafer, so that the wafer can be in direct contact with the top plate; in the cooling liquid circulation process of the cooling cavity, the cooling device has better cooling effect, shortens the cooling time and avoids stagnation in the process.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the description below are some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cooling structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of the supporting surface structure of the lifting mechanism in the accommodating tank of the cooling structure of the present invention.

Reference numerals: 10-a cooling structure; 11-a base; 12-a base plate; 13-a top plate; 131-a flange; 14-a cooling chamber; 15-a temperature measurement system; 16-a lifting mechanism; 161-support end; 17-a drive device; 18-supporting shaft; 19-a fixed mount; 30-wafer.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the concepts of the present disclosure.

Various structural schematics according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale, wherein certain details are exaggerated and possibly omitted for clarity of presentation. The shapes of various regions, layers, and relative sizes and positional relationships therebetween shown in the drawings are merely exemplary, and deviations may occur in practice due to manufacturing tolerances or technical limitations, and a person skilled in the art may additionally design regions/layers having different shapes, sizes, relative positions, as actually required.

In the context of the present disclosure, when a layer/element is referred to as being "on" another layer/element, it can be directly on the other layer/element or intervening layers/elements may be present. In addition, if a layer/element is "on" another layer/element in one orientation, then that layer/element may be "under" the other layer/element when the orientation is reversed.

Referring to fig. 1, a cooling structure 10 is provided in an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the cooling structure 10 may be embedded in an existing wafer 30 processing tool, such as an ENDURA system. The ENDURA system is exemplified and explained in detail in the present invention.

After the other chambers in the ENDURA system have completed the process, when the wafer 30 needs to be cooled, the wafer 30 may be moved into the cooling structure 10 provided in the present embodiment. Specifically, the cooling structure 10 includes at least a base 11, a bottom plate 12, and a top plate 13. The base 11 may be a cylindrical structure, such as a hollow cylindrical structure, which reduces the mass of the apparatus. The base 11 may be a main body of the cooling structure 10 for carrying other structures. A bottom plate 12 embedded above the base 11, and a top plate 13 disposed above the bottom plate 12. A cooling chamber 14 is formed between the bottom plate 12 and the top plate 13, and the cooling chamber 14 can be filled with a cooling liquid, and the type of the cooling liquid is not limited. Specifically, the upper surface of the top plate 13 is provided with a holding groove for holding the wafer 30, and the accuracy of the holding position can be ensured by holding the wafer 30 in the holding groove. After the placement of the wafer 30 is completed, the wafer 30 is in direct contact with the top plate 13, the lower surface of the top plate 13 is the top of the cooling cavity 14 filled with cooling liquid, when the wafer 30 is cooled, the wafer 30 can be cooled in a manner of being in direct contact with the shell of the cooling cavity 14, the cooling efficiency of the wafer 30 can be greatly improved by directly cooling the wafer 30 through the top plate 13, the cooling time is shortened, the continuity of the working procedure is ensured, and the stagnation of the working procedure is avoided.

Further, the cooling chamber 14 may be formed by having a downward flange 131 at a lower portion of the top plate 13, and connecting the flange 131 to an edge of the bottom plate 12 to serve as a side wall of the cooling chamber 14, which is connected to form a sealed chamber. In addition, a cooling pipeline connected with the cooling cavity 14 can be arranged, and cooling liquid in the cooling cavity 14 is circulated through the cooling pipeline, so that high-efficiency circulating cooling is realized. The volume of the cooling cavity 14 can be 1.8-2.2L, preferably more than or equal to 2L, and a good cooling effect is ensured. When the capacity of the cooling cavity 14 is 2L, the cooling effect can be ensured, and meanwhile, the too large space of the extrusion equipment in the cavity structure is avoided. In addition, the design of the cooling chamber 14 capacity may be determined in this implementation based on the wafer 30 size and cooling effectiveness.

When the wafer 30 is cooled to a certain temperature, the wafer 30 is taken out in time and put into the next process. In order to ensure higher timeliness, a set of temperature measuring system 15 is added in the embodiment, and the collecting end of the temperature measuring system 15 is connected to the edge position of the top plate 13. For example, the collection tip may pass through the lower flange 131 of the top plate 13 and be disposed within the top plate 13 to perform real-time temperature collection of the wafer 30 above the top plate 13. Therefore, the collection end of the temperature measurement system 15 is prevented from being influenced by the cooling cavity 14, and the accurate collection of the temperature of the wafer 30 is ensured. As for the other parts of the temperature measuring system 15, the solution in the prior art can be adopted, and the collecting end can be a temperature sensor.

In contrast to the prior art, the wafer 30 of the present embodiment can be directly placed on the top plate 13 and directly come into contact with the top plate 13. Therefore, the wafer 30 is more easily damaged when the wafer 30 is taken and placed. In this regard, the present embodiment increases the safety of transferring the wafer 30 by adding an elevating mechanism 16. Specifically, at least three lifting mechanisms 16, preferably 3 lifting mechanisms, are disposed at the bottom of the accommodating groove and uniformly distributed at the bottom of the accommodating groove, so as to ensure that all the lifting mechanisms can be stressed during the supporting process, and avoid damaging the wafer 30, as shown in fig. 2. The wafer 30 is lifted by the lift mechanism 16, and then the wafer 30 is transferred. The lifting mechanism 16 may include two portions, a lifting shaft and a support end 161.

The lifting mechanism 16 is located at the bottom of the receiving groove and embedded in the bottom surface of the receiving groove, and the upper surface of the supporting end 161 is flush with the surface of the receiving groove. Support end 161 may be circular in shape, and support end 161 may be circular, oval, square, etc. The lifting shaft can be driven to lift by a driving device 17.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a supporting structure may be disposed on the base 11 to support and fix the bottom plate 12 and the top plate 13. The support structure may be a support shaft 18. Specifically, the support shaft 18 may be fixedly attached below the base plate 12. A fixing frame 19 may be further provided on the outer side of the base 11. The mount 19 is fixedly connected to the outside of the base 11, and the mount 19 may be fixedly connected to other load-bearing components of the ENDURA system to ensure the stability of the cooling structure 10.

After processing the wafer 30 using the ENDURA system, when cooling is required after the wafer 30 is processed, the wafer 30 is transferred to the cooling structure 10 of the present invention and placed in a receiving tank. The cooling chamber 14 is continuously and circularly cooled by a cooling pipeline which is externally connected with the cooling chamber 14. Since the wafer 30 is in direct contact with the upper surface of the top plate 13, the wafer 30 can be rapidly cooled. When the temperature of the wafer 30 is sensed to be lower than 60 ℃ by the pickup end of the temperature measuring system 15, the wafer 30 is cooled and then moved to the next process. While moving, the wafer 30 is moved by the robot arm to the next process chamber.

In summary, the cooling structure 10 provided in the present embodiment has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art: by providing the cooling structure 10 as a two-part structure of the bottom plate 12 and the top plate 13 and forming the cooling cavity 14 between the top plate 13 and the bottom plate 12, a cooling liquid can be circulated therein, thereby achieving rapid cooling of the wafer 30. Then, the lower surface of the top plate 13 is the top of the cooling cavity 14, and the accommodating groove formed on the upper surface of the top plate 13 can directly accommodate the wafer 30, so that the wafer 30 can be in direct contact with the top plate 13; then, through the circulation of the cooling liquid in the cooling cavity 14, the cooling effect is better, the cooling time is shortened, and stagnation in the process is avoided.

In the above description, the technical details of patterning, etching, and the like of each layer are not described in detail. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that layers, regions, etc. of the desired shape may be formed by various technical means. In addition, in order to form the same structure, those skilled in the art can also design a method which is not exactly the same as the method described above. In addition, although the embodiments are described separately above, this does not mean that the measures in the embodiments cannot be used in advantageous combination.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A cooling structure, comprising:

a base;

a base plate embedded above the base;

the top plate is arranged above the bottom plate, and a cooling cavity is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate; the lower surface of the top plate is the top of the cooling cavity, the upper surface of the top plate is provided with a containing groove, and the containing groove is used for containing wafers.

2. The cooling structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lower portion of the top plate has a downward flange connected to the bottom plate and serving as a side wall of the cooling chamber.

3. The cooling structure according to claim 1, further comprising:

and the acquisition end of the temperature measurement system is connected to the edge position of the top plate.

4. The cooling structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lifting mechanism is disposed at the bottom of the receiving tank, and the lifting mechanism is used for lifting the wafer.

5. The cooling structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elevating mechanism comprises: the wafer support device comprises a lifting shaft and a support end, wherein the lifting shaft is fixedly connected with the lower side of the support end, and the upper side of the support end is used for supporting a wafer.

6. The cooling structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the elevating shaft is located at a bottom center position of the receiving groove.

7. The cooling structure according to claim 4, further comprising:

and the driving device is connected with the lifting mechanism.

8. The cooling structure according to claim 1, wherein a space of the cooling cavity is 2L or more.

9. The cooling structure according to claim 1, further comprising:

the supporting shaft is fixedly connected below the bottom plate.

10. The cooling structure according to claim 1, further comprising:

the fixing frame is fixedly connected with the outer side of the base.