CN116936421B - Wafer production equipment and wafer production process - Google Patents

Wafer production equipment and wafer production process Download PDF

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Publication number
CN116936421B
CN116936421B CN202311190246.5A CN202311190246A CN116936421B CN 116936421 B CN116936421 B CN 116936421B CN 202311190246 A CN202311190246 A CN 202311190246A CN 116936421 B CN116936421 B CN 116936421B
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China
Prior art keywords
chamber
wafer
air pressure
cooling
subchamber
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CN202311190246.5A
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Chinese (zh)
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CN116936421A (en
Inventor
陈东伟
宋维聪
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Shanghai Betone Semiconductor Energy Technology Co ltd
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Shanghai Betone Semiconductor Energy Technology Co ltd
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
    • C23C14/22—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterised by the process of coating
    • C23C14/56—Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating; Arrangements for maintaining the vacuum, e.g. vacuum locks
    • C23C14/568—Transferring the substrates through a series of coating stations
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
    • C23C14/58—After-treatment
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
    • C23C16/54—Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/56—After-treatment
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
    • H01L21/67161—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterized by the layout of the process chambers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
    • H01L21/67207—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations comprising a chamber adapted to a particular process

Abstract

The application discloses wafer production equipment and a wafer production process, and relates to the technical field of semiconductors. The air pressure in the cooling chamber for cooling the wafer in the wafer production equipment can be always maintained at the air pressure suitable for cooling without repeatedly filling and extracting the protective gas. Before the wafer enters (or is sent out of) the cooling chamber, the air pressure of the first regulating chamber (or the second regulating chamber) is regulated, one wafer can be transferred by one-time air suction and inflation, the efficiency is high, the wafer subjected to film coating can enter the cooling chamber in sequence at shorter time intervals, and the cooling chamber can also simultaneously cool a plurality of wafers, so that the production efficiency can be improved. The wafer production process provided by the application can efficiently cool the wafer and can improve the production efficiency of the wafer.

Description

Wafer production equipment and wafer production process
Technical Field
The application relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to wafer production equipment and wafer production technology.
Background
Wafer processing is sometimes exposed to high temperature environments, such as high temperatures used in aluminum film deposition processes. After the process is finished, a cooling process step is added in the independent cooling cavity. The cooling process steps are generally as follows: the cooling cavity is filled with nitrogen gas, and the pressure is 10 -3 Torr to 5Torr, this process takes 10s; then standing for about 60s, and cooling the wafer after the nitrogen absorbs heat; the cooling chamber is then pumped down to 10 -3 Below the Torr pressure, this process takes about 10s. And then to other chambers, and finally to the pod by the arm in the equipment front end module (Equipment Front End Module, EFEM).
In the existing equipment, the upstream and downstream of the cooling cavity are cavities with high vacuum degree, so that the cooling cavity needs to be pumped to low air pressure before the wafer is sent in and sent out, and gas is filled in when the wafer is cooled. Therefore, the conventional cooling system requires repeated gas extraction, gas charging, and gas maintenance in the cooling chamber, which results in low production efficiency.
Disclosure of Invention
The object of the present application includes, for example, providing a wafer production apparatus and a wafer production process, which can improve the production efficiency of wafers.
Embodiments of the application may be implemented as follows:
in a first aspect, the present application provides a wafer production apparatus, including a first transition chamber, a buffer chamber, a second transition chamber, a transfer chamber, a coating chamber, a first conditioning chamber, a cooling chamber, a second conditioning chamber, and a delivery system, wherein the first transition chamber, the first conditioning chamber, the cooling chamber, and the second conditioning chamber can be filled with or evacuated with a shielding gas to adjust a gas pressure, and the second transition chamber includes an input subchamber and an output subchamber; the first transition chamber, the buffer chamber, the input subchamber, the transmission chamber and the coating chamber are sequentially arranged along the wafer input path, and the coating chamber, the transmission chamber, the output subchamber, the first regulating chamber, the cooling chamber and the second regulating chamber are sequentially arranged along the wafer output path; the transport system is used to transport the wafer along a wafer input path and a wafer output path.
In an alternative embodiment, the transfer system includes a first robot disposed in the buffer chamber for transferring wafers in the first transition chamber to the input subchamber of the second transition chamber.
In an alternative embodiment, the transfer system includes a second robot disposed in the transfer chamber for transferring wafers in the input subchamber to the coating chamber and transferring wafers in the coating chamber to the output subchamber.
In an alternative embodiment, the transfer system includes a third robot disposed in the first conditioning chamber for transferring the wafers in the output subchamber to the first conditioning chamber.
In an alternative embodiment, the transfer system includes a fourth robot disposed in the cooling chamber, the translation mechanism having opposite receiving ends and output ends, the fourth robot being configured to place the wafer in the first conditioning chamber in an upright position at the receiving end of the translation mechanism, the translation mechanism being configured to transfer the wafer from the receiving end to the output end, and the fifth robot being configured to transfer the wafer from the output end to the second conditioning chamber.
In an alternative embodiment, the translation mechanism comprises:
the first translation assembly comprises a first driving piece, a first driving belt and a plurality of first clamping pieces, wherein the first driving piece is used for driving the first driving belt to move along a wafer output path, and the plurality of first clamping pieces are uniformly arranged on the first driving belt at intervals along the extending direction of the first driving belt;
the second translation assembly comprises a second driving piece, a second driving belt and a plurality of second clamping pieces, wherein the second driving piece is used for driving the second driving belt to move along the wafer output path, and the plurality of second clamping pieces are uniformly arranged on the second driving belt at intervals along the extending direction of the second driving belt;
the third translation assembly comprises a third driving piece, a third driving belt and a plurality of third clamping pieces, wherein the third driving piece is used for driving the third driving belt to move along the wafer output path, and the plurality of third clamping pieces are uniformly arranged on the third driving belt at intervals along the extending direction of the third driving belt;
the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece are used for being abutted against two ends of the wafer in the horizontal direction, and the third clamping piece is used for supporting the lower end of the wafer in the vertical posture.
In an alternative embodiment, the fourth robot includes a telescopic robot arm and a chuck disposed at a free end of the telescopic robot arm, the chuck being drivable to turn over at the free end of the telescopic robot arm, the chuck being adapted to clamp the wafer.
In an alternative embodiment, the transport system includes an equipment front end module for introducing wafers into the first transition chamber and removing wafers from the second conditioning chamber.
In a second aspect, the present application provides a wafer production process, using the wafer production apparatus of any one of the preceding embodiments, the wafer production process comprising:
conveying the wafer subjected to film coating from the film coating chamber to an output subchamber of the second transition chamber through the transmission chamber;
adjusting the air pressure of the first adjusting chamber to a first preset air pressure, and conveying the wafer to the first adjusting chamber;
raising the air pressure of the first regulating chamber to a second preset air pressure, and then conveying the wafer from the first regulating chamber to a cooling chamber, wherein the air pressure of the cooling chamber is maintained at a third preset air pressure;
adjusting the air pressure of the second adjusting chamber to a fourth preset air pressure, and conveying the wafer to the second adjusting chamber;
the air pressure of the second regulating chamber is regulated to atmospheric pressure.
In an alternative embodiment, the first preset air pressure is (0.5-2) ×10 -3 The Torr, the second preset air pressure, the third preset air pressure and the fourth preset air pressure are 1-10 Torr.
The beneficial effects of the embodiment of the application include, for example:
the application provides wafer production equipment, which comprises a first transition chamber, a buffer chamber, a second transition chamber, a transmission chamber, a film coating chamber, a first adjusting chamber, a cooling chamber, a second adjusting chamber and a conveying system, wherein the first transition chamber, the first adjusting chamber, the cooling chamber and the second adjusting chamber can be filled with or extracted with protective gas to adjust the air pressure, and the second transition chamber comprises an input subchamber and an output subchamber; the first transition chamber, the buffer chamber, the input subchamber, the transmission chamber and the coating chamber are sequentially arranged along the wafer input path, and the coating chamber, the transmission chamber, the output subchamber, the first regulating chamber, the cooling chamber and the second regulating chamber are sequentially arranged along the wafer output path; the transport system is used to transport the wafer along a wafer input path and a wafer output path. The wafer production equipment provided by the application can realize that the wafer after film coating is conveyed to the output subchamber of the second transition chamber through the conveying chamber, then enters the cooling chamber through the first adjusting chamber for cooling, and the cooled wafer is conveyed to the second adjusting chamber. The gas pressure in the cooling chamber for cooling the wafer can be maintained at a pressure suitable for cooling without repeated filling and extraction of the shielding gas. The wafer only needs to be conditioned by the gas pressure of the first conditioning chamber (or the second conditioning chamber) before it is introduced into (or removed from) the cooling chamber. The first conditioning chamber and the second conditioning chamber are not used to cool the wafer, and thus do not need to remain long after being inflated, but only need to sufficiently send the wafer into (or out of) the cooling chamber. Therefore, one wafer can be transferred by one-time air suction and inflation, the efficiency is high, the wafers subjected to film coating can enter the cooling chamber sequentially at shorter time intervals, and the cooling chamber can cool a plurality of wafers at the same time, so that the production efficiency can be improved.
The wafer production process provided by the application can efficiently cool the wafer and can improve the production efficiency of the wafer.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and other related drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a related art wafer fabrication apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wafer fabrication apparatus according to one embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a translation mechanism for transporting a wafer in accordance with one embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a wafer being held on a translation mechanism according to one embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a fourth robot during wafer picking according to an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a fourth robot after moving a wafer into a cooling chamber according to one embodiment;
fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a fourth robot after turning a wafer 90 ° according to one embodiment.
Icon: 010-wafer production equipment; 020-wafer; 100-a first transition chamber; 200-buffer chambers; 300-a second transition chamber; 310-input subchamber; 320-output subchamber; 400-a transfer chamber; 500-coating chambers; 600-a first conditioning chamber; 700-cooling the chamber; 701-a translation mechanism; 710—a first drive belt; 711-first detent; 720-a second drive belt; 721-a second detent; 730-a third belt; 731-third detents; 740-a telescopic mechanical arm; 750-chuck; 800-a second conditioning chamber; 900-device front end module.
Detailed Description
For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments of the present application. The components of the embodiments of the present application generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.
Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the application, as presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the application, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.
It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further definition or explanation thereof is necessary in the following figures.
In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, if the terms "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate an azimuth or a positional relationship based on the azimuth or the positional relationship shown in the drawings, or the azimuth or the positional relationship in which the inventive product is conventionally put in use, it is merely for convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and it is not indicated or implied that the apparatus or element referred to must have a specific azimuth, be configured and operated in a specific azimuth, and thus it should not be construed as limiting the present application.
Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, if any, are used merely for distinguishing between descriptions and not for indicating or implying a relative importance.
It should be noted that the features of the embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other without conflict.
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wafer production apparatus 010 in the related art. As shown in fig. 1, the wafer production apparatus 010 of the related art includes an apparatus front end module 900, a first transition chamber 100, a buffer chamber 200, a second transition chamber 300, a transfer chamber 400, and a plating chamber 500, which are sequentially connected. The wafer 020 sequentially passes through the equipment front-end module 900, the first transition chamber 100, the buffer chamber 200, the second transition chamber 300, and the transmission chamber 400 to enter the film coating chamber 500 for film coating, which is an input path of the wafer. The wafer after coating is completed needs to be sent out through an output path. First, the wafer after coating reaches the second transition chamber 300 through the transfer chamber 400, and specifically enters the cooling chamber of the second transition chamber 300. Since the cooling chamber is in a high vacuum environment and cannot be cooled efficiently, it is necessary to charge a gas for a certain period of time (e.g., 60 s) to cool the wafer. After cooling, the pressure in the cooling chamber needs to be reduced to be equal to the pressure in the buffer chamber 200 downstream in the transfer direction, so that the wafer can be transferred to the buffer chamber 200. Therefore, the cooling cavity can be inflated, waiting and pumped for cooling one wafer, and the next wafer can enter the cooling cavity, so that the total consumption time for cooling the wafer is long, and the production efficiency is low.
Therefore, the embodiment of the application provides a wafer production device and a wafer production process, by arranging a cooling circuit independently, the output path of the wafer does not pass through the buffer chamber 200 any more, and the cooling chamber 700 does not need to be repeatedly inflated and deflated, so that the cooling efficiency of the wafer is improved, and the production efficiency of the wafer is further improved.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wafer fabrication apparatus 010 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the wafer production apparatus 010 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes a first transition chamber 100, a buffer chamber 200, a second transition chamber 300, a transfer chamber 400, a coating chamber 500, a first conditioning chamber 600, a cooling chamber 700, a second conditioning chamber 800, and a conveying system. In this embodiment, the first transition chamber 100 is a wafer pre-pump chamber (LL). The first transition chamber 100, the first conditioning chamber 600, the cooling chamber 700, and the second conditioning chamber 800 may be filled with or evacuated with a shielding gas to adjust the gas pressure. In this embodiment, the buffer chamber 200, the second transition chamber 300, the transfer chamber 400, and the coating chamber 500 may also be configured to adjust the air pressure. Specifically, the protective gas may be nitrogen, or may be other types of protective gases.
The second transition chamber 300 includes an input subchamber 310 and an output subchamber 320. The first transition chamber 100, the buffer chamber 200, the input subchamber 310, the transfer chamber 400, and the coating chamber 500 are sequentially arranged along the wafer input path. The coating chamber 500, the transfer chamber 400, the output subchamber 320, the first conditioning chamber 600, the cooling chamber 700, and the second conditioning chamber 800 are arranged in sequence along the wafer output path. The transport system is used to transport the wafer along a wafer input path and a wafer output path.
It should be appreciated that when wafers are transferred between two adjacent chambers, the pressure differential between the chambers need to be adjusted to ensure that the pressure differential between the chambers is not excessive, and then the valve assembly is opened to allow the chambers to communicate, so that the wafers can be transferred between the chambers.
In this embodiment, in an alternative implementation, the transport system includes an equipment front end module 900 (EFEM) and the equipment front end module 900 is used to transfer wafers into the first transition chamber 100 and to remove wafers from the second conditioning chamber 800. The pressure of the working environment of the equipment front-end module 900 is atmospheric (about 760 Torr), and the chambers upstream or downstream thereof have a relatively high vacuum, so that the first transition chamber 100 and the second conditioning chamber 800 need to adjust their pressures to the vicinity of the atmospheric pressure before being able to transfer wafers with the equipment front-end module 900. The equipment front end module 900 may include one or more robots to pick up wafers.
In this embodiment, the transfer system includes a first robot (not shown) disposed in the buffer chamber 200 for transferring the wafers in the first transition chamber 100 to the input subchamber 310 of the second transition chamber 300.
Further, the transfer system includes a second robot (not shown) disposed in the transfer chamber 400 for transferring the wafer in the input subchamber 310 to the coating chamber 500 and transferring the wafer in the coating chamber 500 to the output subchamber 320. In this embodiment, the coating chamber 500 is used to perform a coating process on a wafer, which has a higher temperature after coating. Optionally, a plurality of coating chambers 500 may be provided to increase the efficiency of coating the wafer.
Further, the transfer system includes a third robot (not shown) disposed in the first conditioning chamber 600 for transferring the wafer in the output subchamber 320 to the first conditioning chamber 600.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a translation mechanism 701 for transporting a wafer 020 according to one embodiment of the present application; fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a wafer 020 being held on a translation mechanism 701 according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, further, the transfer system includes a fourth robot, a fifth robot (not shown) and a translation mechanism 701 disposed in the cooling chamber 700. The translation mechanism 701 has opposite receiving and output ends, wherein the receiving end is located upstream (along the wafer output path) relative to the output end, the receiving end being proximate to the first conditioning chamber 600 and the output end being proximate to the second conditioning chamber 800. The fourth robot is used to place the wafer 020 in the first conditioning chamber 600 in an upright position at the receiving end of the translation mechanism 701, the translation mechanism 701 is used to transfer the wafer 020 from the receiving end to the output end, and the fifth robot is used to transfer the wafer 020 from the output end to the second conditioning chamber 800.
In this embodiment, a translation mechanism 701 is disposed in the cooling chamber 700, so that a plurality of wafers 020 can be simultaneously transported. And the wafer 020 can be placed on the translation mechanism 701 by the fourth manipulator in an upright posture, so that more wafers 020 can be arranged on the translation mechanism 701 and can be translated at a relatively slower speed, the cooling time of the wafer 020 on the translation mechanism 701 is increased, the wafer 020 is fully cooled, or the length of the translation mechanism 701 is settable to be shorter. After the wafer 020 is moved from the receiving end to the output end of the translation mechanism 701, the cooling is finished, and the fifth robot transfers the wafer 020 to the second conditioning chamber 800. Throughout the process, the air pressure in the cooling chamber 700 may remain stable, and the translation mechanism 701 may maintain a constant delivery rate.
In this embodiment, the translation mechanism 701 includes a first translation assembly, a second translation assembly, and a third translation assembly. The first translation assembly includes a first driving member, a first driving belt 710, and a plurality of first clamping members 711, where the first driving member is used to drive the first driving belt 710 to move along an output path of the wafer 020, and the plurality of first clamping members 711 are uniformly arranged on the first driving belt 710 at intervals along an extending direction of the first driving belt 710. The second translation assembly includes a second driving member, a second driving belt 720, and a plurality of second clamping members 721, wherein the second driving member is used for driving the second driving belt 720 to move along the wafer output path, and the plurality of second clamping members 721 are uniformly arranged on the second driving belt 720 at intervals along the extending direction of the second driving belt 720. The third translation assembly includes a third driving member, a third driving belt 730, and a plurality of third clamping members 731, where the third driving member is used to drive the third driving belt 730 to move along the wafer output path, and the plurality of third clamping members 731 are uniformly arranged on the third driving belt 730 at intervals along the extending direction of the third driving belt 730. The first and second stoppers 711 and 721 are for abutting both ends of the wafer 020 in the horizontal direction, and the third stopper 731 is for supporting the lower end of the wafer 020 in the standing posture. The wafer 020 can be stably held by the first clamp 711, the second clamp 721, and the third clamp 731, and the wafer 020 can be stably conveyed in an upright posture by the synchronous conveyance of the first belt 710, the second belt 720, and the third belt 730.
The first translation assembly, the second translation assembly, and the third translation assembly may be the same or similar structures. Taking the first translation assembly as an example, the first driving belt 710 may be sleeved on a driving wheel and a driven wheel, and the first driving member may drive the driving wheel to rotate so as to drive the first driving belt 710 to move.
After the output end of the translation mechanism 701 is taken away by the fifth robot, the wafer 020 can be restored to be transported in the horizontal posture.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fourth robot in picking up a wafer 020 according to an embodiment of the application; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a fourth robot after transferring a wafer 020 into a cooling chamber 700 according to one embodiment; fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a fourth robot after turning the wafer 020 over 90 ° according to one embodiment. Fig. 5to 7 are all top views, and as shown in fig. 5to 7, the fourth robot includes a telescopic mechanical arm 740 and a chuck 750, the chuck 750 is disposed at a free end of the telescopic mechanical arm 740, the chuck 750 can be driven to turn over at the free end of the telescopic mechanical arm 740, and the chuck 750 is used for clamping a wafer 020.
In this embodiment, the number of the telescopic mechanical arms 740 is two, and the telescopic mechanical arms are symmetrically arranged, which is beneficial to the stability. Chuck 750 may be an air chuck 750. The fourth robot shown in fig. 5 is in a state of extending into the first conditioning chamber 600 and picking up a wafer 020 from the first conditioning chamber 600. After the pickup is completed, the retractable robot 740 is retracted so that the wafer 020 is moved to the cooling chamber 700, resulting in the state shown in fig. 6. To change the wafer 020 from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture, the chuck 750 is turned over by 90 °, resulting in the state shown in fig. 7. The chuck 750 and the wafer 020 may be turned by rotating the telescopic robot 740 around its axis, or by controlling the chuck 750 to turn over with respect to the telescopic robot 740.
The wafer production process provided by the embodiment of the application uses the wafer production equipment 010 of the above embodiment of the application for production, and the wafer production process comprises the following steps:
in step S100, the wafer 020 having been coated is transferred from the coating chamber 500 to the output subchamber 320 of the second transition chamber 300 via the transfer chamber 400.
Specifically, the second robot may be controlled to transfer the wafer 020 coated in the coating chamber 500 to the output subchamber 320 via the transfer chamber 400.
In step S200, the air pressure of the first conditioning chamber 600 is adjusted to a first preset air pressure, and then the wafer 020 is transferred to the first conditioning chamber 600.
Due to the output subchamber 320 tends to have a higher vacuum, so the first predetermined pressure should be close to the pressure of the output subchamber 320 to communicate the two chambers for the wafer 020 to pass through. The first preset air pressure is selected to be (0.5-2) multiplied by 10 - 3 Torr, such as 1X 10 -3 Torr。
In step S300, the air pressure of the first conditioning chamber 600 is increased to a second preset air pressure, and then the wafer 020 is transferred from the first conditioning chamber 600 to the cooling chamber 700, and the air pressure of the cooling chamber 700 is maintained at a third preset air pressure.
Since an excessively high vacuum degree is disadvantageous for heat transfer, the cooling chamber 700 is filled with a certain amount of shielding gas to make the gas pressure higher than that of the output subchamber 320 and the transfer chamber 400. Therefore, in order to enable the transfer of the wafer 020 from the first conditioning chamber 600 to the cooling chamber 700, it is necessary to raise the air pressure of the first conditioning chamber 600 to a second preset air pressure, which is close to (or equal to) a third preset air pressure in the cooling chamber 700. The second preset air pressure and the third preset air pressure can be selected to be 1-10 Torr, such as 5Torr. The air pressure of the cooling chamber 700 can be always maintained at the third preset air pressure, so that the cooling condition in the cooling chamber 700 tends to be stable, and the stable air pressure in the cooling chamber 700 can be continuously filled with the protective gas and simultaneously the gas is pumped out at equal flow rate, so that dynamic balance is maintained, heat is taken away, and the cooling efficiency of the wafer 020 is accelerated.
Specifically, the wafer 020 can be transferred from the first conditioning chamber 600 to the cooling chamber 700 by the fourth robot and placed on the translation mechanism 701 in an upright posture.
During the cooling process of the wafer 020, the wafer 020 is moved from the receiving end to the output end by the translation mechanism 701 at a constant speed, and at the same time, the wafer 020 is gradually cooled, and the speed of the translation mechanism 701 can be adjusted as required.
In step S400, the air pressure of the second conditioning chamber 800 is adjusted to a fourth preset air pressure, and then the wafer 020 is transferred to the second conditioning chamber 800.
The fourth preset air pressure should be close to the air pressure of the cooling chamber 700 so as to be capable of communicating the cooling chamber 700 with the second conditioning chamber 800 to achieve the transfer of the wafer 020. The wafer 020 may be transferred from the cooling chamber 700 to the second conditioning chamber 800 by a fifth robot. Optionally, the third preset air pressure is 1 to 10Torr, for example 5Torr.
In step S500, the air pressure of the second regulating chamber 800 is regulated to the atmospheric pressure.
When the wafer 020 has just moved to the second conditioning chamber 800, the air pressure of the second conditioning chamber 800 is comparable to the cooling chamber 700, but still much lower than the external atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the air pressure of the second conditioning chamber 800 needs to be adjusted to the atmospheric pressure to be able to send the wafer 020 out of the second conditioning chamber 800. After the air pressure of the second conditioning chamber 800 is adjusted to the atmospheric pressure, the wafer 020 in the second conditioning chamber 800 may be taken out by a robot of the apparatus front end module 900.
The cooling chamber 700 of the embodiment of the present application does not need to repeatedly perform the three steps of filling gas, maintaining gas pressure to cool the wafer 020, and exhausting gas, and can cool a plurality of wafers 020 at the same time, so that the cooling efficiency is high. The first adjusting chamber 600 and the second adjusting chamber 800 are not used for cooling the wafer 020, and are mainly used for adjusting air pressure to complete the transportation of the wafer 020, so that the device can be relatively small, the air charging and discharging speeds are high, the air pressure adjusting speed is high, the time interval between the front wafer 020 and the rear wafer 020 entering the cooling chamber 700 is short, and the production efficiency is improved. In the case of having three coating chambers 500 and aluminizing 3 μm, the wafer production process of the embodiment of the present application can be improved to 40pcs/h compared to the conventional process with a processing efficiency of 25 pcs/h.
The above steps describe how the finished wafer 020 is cooled and eventually picked up by the equipment front-end module 900. Before step S100, optionally, the wafer 020 that is not coated may be sent from the equipment front-end module 900 to the first transition chamber 100, and the air pressure of the first transition chamber 100 is adjusted to 1×10 -3 Torr, then a first robot transfers the wafer 020 in the first transition chamber 100 via the buffer chamber 200 to the input subchamber 310 of the second transition chamber 300, and then a second robot in the transfer chamber 400 transfers the wafer 020 in the input subchamber 310 via the transfer chamber 400To the coating chamber 500 for coating.
In summary, the wafer production apparatus 010 provided by the embodiment of the present application includes a first transition chamber 100, a buffer chamber 200, a second transition chamber 300, a transmission chamber 400, a film plating chamber 500, a first adjustment chamber 600, a cooling chamber 700, a second adjustment chamber 800, and a conveying system, wherein the first transition chamber 100, the first adjustment chamber 600, the cooling chamber 700, and the second adjustment chamber 800 can be filled with or extracted with a protective gas to adjust the gas pressure, and the second transition chamber 300 includes an input subchamber 310 and an output subchamber 320; the first transition chamber 100, the buffer chamber 200, the input subchamber 310, the transfer chamber 400, and the coating chamber 500 are sequentially arranged along a wafer input path, and the coating chamber 500, the transfer chamber 400, the output subchamber 320, the first conditioning chamber 600, the cooling chamber 700, and the second conditioning chamber 800 are sequentially arranged along a wafer output path; the transport system is used to transport the wafer along a wafer input path and a wafer output path. The wafer production equipment 010 provided by the application can realize that the wafer 020 after film coating is conveyed to the output subchamber 320 of the second transition chamber 300 through the conveying chamber 400, then enters the cooling chamber 700 through the first adjusting chamber 600 for cooling, and the cooled wafer 020 is conveyed to the second adjusting chamber 800. The gas pressure in the cooling chamber 700 for cooling the wafer 020 can be always maintained at a pressure suitable for cooling without repeatedly charging and discharging the shielding gas. The wafer 020 only needs to be conditioned by the gas pressure of the first conditioning chamber 600 (or the second conditioning chamber 800) before entering (or exiting) the cooling chamber 700. The first conditioning chamber 600 and the second conditioning chamber 800 are not used to cool the wafer 020, and thus they do not need to remain long after being inflated with gas, but only need to sufficiently send the wafer 020 into (or out of) the cooling chamber 700. Therefore, the transfer of one wafer 020 can be completed by one-time air suction and air inflation, the efficiency is higher, the wafers 020 after film coating can enter the cooling chamber 700 in sequence at shorter time intervals, and the cooling chamber 700 can also cool a plurality of wafers 020 at the same time, so that the production efficiency can be improved.
The wafer production process provided by the application can efficiently cool the wafer 020 and can improve the production efficiency of the wafer 020.
The present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily understood by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present application are intended to be included in the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the application is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (8)

1. Wafer production equipment, characterized by comprising a first transition chamber (100), a buffer chamber (200), a second transition chamber (300), a transmission chamber (400), a coating chamber (500), a first regulation chamber (600), a cooling chamber (700), a second regulation chamber (800) and a conveying system, wherein the first transition chamber (100), the first regulation chamber (600), the cooling chamber (700) and the second regulation chamber (800) can be filled with or extracted with a protective gas to regulate the gas pressure, and the second transition chamber (300) comprises an input subchamber (310) and an output subchamber (320); the first transition chamber (100), the buffer chamber (200), the input subchamber (310), the transmission chamber (400) and the coating chamber (500) are sequentially arranged along a wafer input path, and the coating chamber (500), the transmission chamber (400), the output subchamber (320), the first regulating chamber (600), the cooling chamber (700) and the second regulating chamber (800) are sequentially arranged along a wafer output path; the conveying system is used for conveying a wafer (020) along the wafer input path and the wafer output path;
the conveying system comprises a fourth manipulator, a fifth manipulator and a translation mechanism (701) which are arranged in the cooling chamber (700), wherein the translation mechanism (701) is provided with opposite receiving ends and output ends, the fourth manipulator is used for placing a wafer (020) in the first adjusting chamber (600) at the receiving end of the translation mechanism (701) in an upright posture, the translation mechanism (701) is used for conveying the wafer (020) from the receiving end to the output end, and the fifth manipulator is used for transferring the wafer (020) from the output end to the second adjusting chamber (800);
the translation mechanism (701) comprises:
the first translation assembly comprises a first driving piece, a first driving belt (710) and a plurality of first clamping pieces (711), wherein the first driving piece is used for driving the first driving belt (710) to move along the output path of the wafer (020), and the plurality of first clamping pieces (711) are uniformly arranged on the first driving belt (710) at intervals along the extending direction of the first driving belt (710);
the second translation assembly comprises a second driving piece, a second driving belt (720) and a plurality of second clamping pieces (721), wherein the second driving piece is used for driving the second driving belt (720) to move along the output path of the wafer (020), and the plurality of second clamping pieces (721) are uniformly arranged on the second driving belt (720) at intervals along the extending direction of the second driving belt (720);
the third translation assembly comprises a third driving piece, a third driving belt (730) and a plurality of third clamping pieces (731), wherein the third driving piece is used for driving the third driving belt (730) to move along the output path of the wafer (020), and the plurality of third clamping pieces (731) are uniformly arranged on the third driving belt (730) at intervals along the extending direction of the third driving belt (730);
the first clamping piece (711) and the second clamping piece (721) are used for abutting two ends of the wafer (020) in the horizontal direction, and the third clamping piece (731) is used for supporting the lower end of the wafer (020) in the vertical posture.
2. The wafer production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport system comprises a first robot arranged in the buffer chamber (200) for transferring wafers (020) in the first transition chamber (100) to the input subchamber (310) of the second transition chamber (300).
3. The wafer production apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transport system comprises a second robot disposed in the transfer chamber (400) for transferring wafers (020) in the input subchamber (310) to the coating chamber (500) and transferring wafers (020) in the coating chamber (500) to the output subchamber (320).
4. The wafer production apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transport system comprises a third robot disposed in the first conditioning chamber (600) for transferring wafers (020) in the output subchamber (320) to the first conditioning chamber (600).
5. The wafer production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fourth robot comprises a telescopic robot arm (740) and a chuck (750), the chuck (750) being provided at a free end of the telescopic robot arm (740), the chuck (750) being drivable to be turned over at the free end of the telescopic robot arm (740), the chuck (750) being for holding a wafer (020).
6. Wafer production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport system comprises an apparatus front end module (900), the apparatus front end module (900) being adapted to bring wafers (020) into the first transition chamber (100) and to take wafers (020) out of the second conditioning chamber (800).
7. A wafer production process characterized in that production is performed using the wafer production apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the wafer production process comprising:
-transferring the wafer (020) completed with coating from the coating chamber (500) via the transfer chamber (400) to the output subchamber (320) of the second transition chamber (300);
adjusting the air pressure of the first adjusting chamber (600) to a first preset air pressure, and conveying the wafer (020) to the first adjusting chamber (600);
raising the air pressure of the first conditioning chamber (600) to a second preset air pressure, and then conveying the wafer (020) from the first conditioning chamber (600) to the cooling chamber (700), wherein the air pressure of the cooling chamber (700) is maintained at a third preset air pressure;
adjusting the air pressure of the second adjusting chamber (800) to a fourth preset air pressure, and then conveying the wafer (020) to the second adjusting chamber (800);
the air pressure of the second regulating chamber (800) is regulated to atmospheric pressure.
8. The wafer production process of claim 7, wherein the first predetermined gas pressure is 0.5 x 10 - 3 Torr ~2×10 -3 And the Torr, the second preset air pressure, the third preset air pressure and the fourth preset air pressure are 1-10 Torr.
CN202311190246.5A 2023-09-15 2023-09-15 Wafer production equipment and wafer production process Active CN116936421B (en)

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Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20020022200A (en) * 2000-09-19 2002-03-27 윤종용 Infrared assisted wafer-heating asher
CN102246273A (en) * 2008-10-10 2011-11-16 奥塔装置公司 Continuous feed chemical vapor deposition
CN107275257A (en) * 2016-03-30 2017-10-20 芝浦机械电子株式会社 Substrate board treatment and substrate processing method using same

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR101205436B1 (en) * 2011-01-04 2012-11-28 삼성전자주식회사 Chemical Vapor Deposition Apparatus

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20020022200A (en) * 2000-09-19 2002-03-27 윤종용 Infrared assisted wafer-heating asher
CN102246273A (en) * 2008-10-10 2011-11-16 奥塔装置公司 Continuous feed chemical vapor deposition
CN107275257A (en) * 2016-03-30 2017-10-20 芝浦机械电子株式会社 Substrate board treatment and substrate processing method using same

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