CN212270224U - Detachable corrugated pipe structure and heating module applying same - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a be suitable for and use in the semiconductor equipment and be used for heating semiconductor wafer's heating module. The heating module comprises a heater, a bellows structure, a linear bearing and a lifting mechanism. The heater comprises a heater body and a locking part, wherein the locking part is positioned at the bottom of the heater body and is provided with a plurality of locking structures. The lifting mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the heater body. The bellows structure is sleeved on the lifting mechanism and is in airtight joint with the locking part of the heater, and the bellows structure comprises a first annular end part, a second annular end part and a bellows part. The first ring-shaped end part is provided with a plurality of locking structures which are jointed with the locking structures of the heater, the second ring-shaped end part is provided with a plurality of locking structures, the bellows part comprises a plurality of ring-shaped reeds which are mutually airtightly jointed, and two ends of the bellows part are respectively airtightly jointed with the first ring-shaped end part and the second ring-shaped end part. The linear bearing is sleeved on the lifting mechanism and is connected with the second annular end of the corrugated pipe structure.

Description

Detachable corrugated pipe structure and heating module applying same

Technical Field

The utility model discloses roughly be about being applied to the heating module of reaction cavity among the semiconductor equipment, especially have the heating module of detachable bellows structure, dismantle the separation with the heater easily.

Background

Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is one of the most widely used processes for depositing thin films in semiconductor processing. In a high vacuum reaction chamber of a PVD apparatus, a target (target) subjected to a negative bias is bombarded by relatively heavy atoms such as argon (Ar) or other inert gas plasma, so that a raw material of the target is ejected and deposited on a wafer (wafer) disposed above a heater to form a film. The wafer for performing the thin film deposition is usually disposed above the heater, and the heater is used to heat the wafer, so as to increase the temperature of the wafer for facilitating the thin film deposition process.

Referring to fig. 1, a heating module 100 for a conventional PVD tool is shown in a perspective view. The heating module 100 includes a heater body 110, a bellows structure (bellows)120, a linear bearing (linear bearing)130, and a lifting mechanism 140. The lifting mechanism 140 is connected to the bottom 111 of the heater body 110, and the bellows structure (bellows)120 and the linear bearing (linear bearing)130 are respectively sleeved in the lifting mechanism 140. The bellows structure 120 includes a bellows portion 124 and an annular end portion 126, and both ends of the bellows portion 124 are welded to the bottom portion 111 and the annular end portion 126 of the heater body 110, respectively. The linear bearing 130 is sleeved on the lifting mechanism 140 and is adjacent to the bellows structure 120. The linear bearing 130 includes a sleeve 132 and a plurality of balls (not shown) disposed between the lifting structure 140 and the sleeve 132. The sleeve 132 of the linear bearing 130 further includes a locking portion 136, and the locking portion 136 has a plurality of locking structures 138 for locking engagement with the annular end portion 126 of the bellows structure 120.

In detail, during the physical vapor deposition process (or sputtering process), the distance between the wafer and the target is maintained to obtain uniform film deposition. When the thin film deposition process is performed, the lifting mechanism 140 is used to lift the heater body 110 and the wafer located above the heater body 110 to a proper position in the vacuum reaction chamber; and lowers the heater body 110 to a default initial position after the thin film process is completed. During the rising of the heater body 110, the distance between the bottom 111 of the heater body 110 and the annular end 126 of the bellows structure 120 increases, and the bellows part 124 is also stretched; conversely, when the heater body 110 is lowered, the distance between the bottom 111 of the heater body 110 and the annular end 126 of the bellows structure 120 is reduced, and the bellows portion 124 is shortened accordingly. After multiple wafer film deposition processes, the bellows portion 124 is easily damaged by the multiple stretching and shrinking operations.

Thus, the high vacuum environment required in the reaction chamber will not continue the deposition of the thin film on the semiconductor wafer due to the leakage of the damaged portion of the bellows portion 124. At this time, the machine tool needs to be stopped to replace the entire heater module 100 including the heater body 110, the bellows structure 120, the linear bearing 130 and the lifting mechanism 140. Since the whole heating module 100 needs to be detached from the equipment, the wafer factory cannot replace the heating module by itself and needs to commission the equipment manufacturer to replace the heating module, and thus, the machine needs to be stopped for too long time, which greatly increases the production cost. On the other hand, if the wafer factory is replaced by itself in order to reduce the downtime, the preparation of the spare parts of the entire heating module 100 needs to be performed in advance, which significantly increases the preparation cost.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, the present invention provides a heating module with a detachable bellows structure, wherein a detachable locking structure is used to engage with an airtight gasket for airtight connection between the bellows structure and the heater. Therefore, the corrugated pipe structure can be conveniently disassembled and the corrugated pipe structure spare parts can be conveniently replaced.

The utility model provides a bellows structure contains first annular tip, bellows portion and second annular tip. The first annular end and the second annular end are provided with a plurality of locking structures. The bellows portion includes a plurality of annular reeds hermetically joined to each other, both ends of the bellows portion are hermetically joined to the first annular end portion and the second annular end portion, respectively, and a longitudinal length of the bellows portion varies with a distance between the first annular end portion and the second annular end portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the outer diameter of the first annular end portion is larger than the outer diameter of the bellows portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the outer diameter of the second annular end portion is larger than the outer diameter of the bellows portion, and the outer diameter of the second annular end portion is larger than the outer diameter of the first annular end portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, one side of the first annular end portion is hermetically connected to the bellows portion, and the opposite side further includes a concave portion and a convex ring, the convex ring is located in the concave portion, and the height of the convex ring is smaller than the depth of the concave portion.

The utility model also provides a heating module is applicable to the heating semiconductor wafer. The heating module comprises a heater, a bellows structure, a linear bearing and a lifting mechanism. The heater comprises a heater body and a locking part, wherein the locking part is positioned at the bottom of the heater body and is provided with a plurality of locking structures. The lifting mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the heater body. The bellows structure is sleeved on the lifting mechanism and is in airtight joint with the locking part of the heater, wherein the bellows structure comprises a first annular end part, a bellows part and a second annular end part. The first annular end has a plurality of locking structures that engage the locking structures of the heater. The second ring-shaped end has a plurality of locking structures. The bellows portion includes a plurality of annular reeds that are in airtight engagement with each other, and the both ends of bellows portion are in airtight engagement with first annular tip and second annular tip respectively. The linear bearing sleeve is arranged on the lifting mechanism and is connected with the second annular end of the corrugated pipe structure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the linear bearing includes a sleeve and a plurality of balls, the balls are disposed between the lifting mechanism and the sleeve, and the sleeve further includes a locking portion engaged with the second annular end of the bellows structure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking portion of the heater further includes a first concave portion and a first convex ring, the first convex ring is located in the first concave portion, and the height of the first convex ring is smaller than the depth of the first concave portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, one side of the first annular end of the bellows structure is hermetically connected to the bellows portion, and the opposite side further includes a second concave portion and a second convex ring, the second convex ring is located in the second concave portion, and the height of the second convex ring is smaller than the depth of the second concave portion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the heating module further includes an airtight gasket disposed in the lifting mechanism, and the airtight gasket is disposed in the accommodating space formed by the first concave portion and the second concave portion, and the first protruding ring and the second protruding ring are respectively embedded into the airtight gasket.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the airtight gasket is a copper gasket.

In the heating module of an embodiment of the present invention, the bellows structure and the heater are hermetically connected by a detachable locking structure and an airtight gasket. Therefore, when the plurality of reeds of the bellows part are damaged due to the fact that the heater is lifted for many times and the high vacuum degree of the chamber space of the reaction chamber cannot be maintained, the disassembly and replacement of the bellows structure can be conveniently carried out. The method can reduce the shutdown maintenance time of the semiconductor film deposition equipment, improve the productivity of the semiconductor film deposition equipment, and greatly reduce the maintenance cost of the equipment and the stock cost of spare parts.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail as follows:

drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heating module used in a conventional PVD equipment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a heating module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a heating module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional and partially enlarged view of a heating module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5(a) to 5(b) are schematic diagrams illustrating different process stages of a heating module applied to a reaction chamber of a PVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 2 shows a perspective exploded view of a heating module 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a heating module 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 2 and 3, an embodiment of the invention discloses a detachable heating module 200, and the heating module 200 is suitable for being applied in a semiconductor device for heating a semiconductor wafer (wafer), such as a vacuum sputtering (Sputter) device or a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) device for Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). The heating module 200 includes a heater 210, a bellows structure 220, a linear bearing (linear bearing)230, and a lifting mechanism 240.

The heater 210 includes a heater body 211 and a locking portion 213, and the locking portion 213 is located at a bottom 212 of the heater body 211. In the present embodiment, the locking portion 213 is, for example, an annular protrusion, and a plurality of locking screw holes 214 and a positioning pin 215 are distributed thereon, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The bottom 212 of the heater body 211 and the center of the locking part 213 form a first concave part 216. The heater 210 is adapted to carry and heat a semiconductor wafer (not shown) such that the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is raised to facilitate the film deposition reaction. In detail, the wafer is supported on lift pins (not shown) on the surface of the heater 210 and spaced apart from the surface of the heater 210 by a suitable distance for uniform heating. The lifting mechanism 240 is, for example, a stainless steel tube, one end of which is disposed in the first recess 216 and connected to the bottom 212 of the heater body 211, and the other end of which is coupled to a motor, so that the motor pushes the lifting mechanism 240 to lift or lower the heater 210 in the reaction chamber.

The bellows structure 220 is disposed around the lifting mechanism 240 and adjacent to the bottom 212 of the heater 210. Bellows structure 220 includes a first annular end 222, a bellows portion 224, and a second annular end 226. The first annular end 222 has a plurality of locking structures 228, such as bolts, that engage with locking screw holes of the locking portion 213 of the heater 210 and are fixed below the locking portion 213 of the heater 210. The first annular end 222 may further include a positioning hole (not shown) for matching and positioning with the positioning pin 215 of the locking portion 213 of the heater 210, so as to facilitate the positioning and locking of the locking portion 213 and the first annular end 222. The second annular end 226 also has a plurality of locking structures 229, such as locking screw holes, for locking connection with the linear bearing 230. Bellows portion 224 is located between first annular end portion 222 and second annular end portion 226, and both ends of bellows portion 224 are hermetically sealed to first annular end portion 222 and second annular end portion 226, respectively. For example, the bellows portion 224 is welded at both ends to the first and second annular ends 222 and 226, respectively. Bellows portion 224 is comprised of a plurality of annular leaves that are in gas-tight engagement with one another and that are expandable to vary with the distance between first annular end 222 and second annular end 226 and remain in gas-tight engagement. The outer diameters of the first and second annular ends 222, 226 are each larger than the outer diameter of the bellows portion 224 to facilitate the provision of the locking structures 228, 229 of the first and second annular ends 222, 226, respectively. The outer diameters of the first annular end portion 222 and the second annular end portion 226 may be selected according to the design, and in the present embodiment, the outer diameter of the first annular end portion 222 is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the locking portion 213 of the heater 210 and is smaller than the outer diameter of the second annular end portion 226, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the heating module 200 and a partial enlarged view of the heater 210 detachably and airtightly combined with the bellows structure 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in the embodiment of the present invention, compared to the conventional heating module 100 in which the bellows portion 124 of the bellows structure 120 is directly welded to the bottom portion 111 of the heater 110 to form the airtight joint, the present invention provides a detachable airtight joint. In detail, an airtight gasket 221, such as a copper gasket or an O-ring, is further included between the heater 210 and the bellows structure 220. As described above, the bottom 212 and the center of the locking portion 213 of the heater body 211 form a first recess 216, and the first recess 216 further includes a first protruding ring 217 therein, and the height of the first protruding ring 217 is smaller than the depth of the first recess 216. Likewise, one side of the first annular end 222 of the bellows structure 220 is hermetically connected to a bellows portion 224, and the opposite side center thereof also forms a second recess 223 and a second male ring 225, the second male ring 225 being located in the second recess 223, and the height of the second male ring 225 being smaller than the depth of the second recess 223. The first recess 216 and the second recess 223 together form a receiving space 218, and the airtight gasket 221 is disposed on the lifting mechanism 240 and located in the receiving space 218. Furthermore, the locking portion 213 of the heater 210 and the first annular end 222 of the bellows structure 220 are locked by the locking structure 228, so that the first protruding ring 217 and the second protruding ring 225 are respectively embedded into two opposite sides of the airtight gasket 221, thereby achieving an airtight connection state.

Referring to fig. 2 to 4, a linear bearing (linear bearing)230 is disposed below the bellows structure 220 and is engaged with the second annular end 226 of the bellows structure 220. The linear bearing 230 includes a sleeve 232 and a plurality of balls 234, the balls 234 are disposed between the lifting mechanism 240 and the sleeve 232, and the lifting mechanism 240 can move linearly and smoothly in the linear bearing 230 to lift and lower the heater 210 by the balls 234 of the linear bearing 230. The sleeve 232 further includes a locking portion 236, and a plurality of locking structures 238 are disposed on the locking portion 236. The locking structures 238 are in locking engagement with locking structures 229 on the second annular end 226 of the bellows structure 220. In the embodiment, the locking structure 238 is, for example, a bolt, and the locking structure 229 is, for example, a locking screw hole, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Fig. 5(a) and 5(b) are schematic diagrams respectively illustrating different process stages of the heating module 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention applied to a reaction chamber of a pvd apparatus. Referring to fig. 5(a), a schematic diagram of a first process stage in which the heating module 200 of the embodiment of the invention is applied to a reaction chamber 300 of a pvd apparatus is shown. In detail, for example, at a stage when the thin film deposition process has not been started or the thin film deposition process has been completed, the heater 211 is disposed at an initial default position in the reaction chamber 300 or has been lowered from the process position in the thin film deposition to the initial position. When the heater 211 is in the initial position, the upper surface of the heater is at a height H1 from the bottom 302 of the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber 300 is formed by a bottom 302, a sidewall 304, and a target 306. the heating module 200 of the present embodiment is secured to the reaction chamber bottom 302 by the second annular end 226 of the bellows structure 220. That is, the heater 211 and the bellows structure 220 of the heating module 200 are disposed in the chamber space 320 of the reaction chamber 300, and the linear bearing 230 is disposed outside the chamber space 320. One end of the lifting mechanism 240 is located outside the chamber space 320 and coupled to a motor (not shown), and the other end extends to the bottom 212 of the heater 211 in the chamber space 320 to lift the heater 211.

Referring to fig. 5(b), a schematic diagram of a second process stage in which the heating module 200 of the embodiment of the invention is applied to a reaction chamber 300 of a pvd apparatus is shown. In detail, for example, at the stage of the thin film deposition process, when the heater 211 is lifted from the initial default position to the process-set position, the height of the upper surface of the heater 211 from the bottom 302 of the reaction chamber 300 is H2, H2> H1. The heater 211 is lifted by the lifting mechanism 240, and the bellows portion 124 of the bellows structure 220 extends its length as the heater 211 is lifted, i.e., the longitudinal length of the bellows portion varies with the distance between the first annular end and the second annular end. Before the thin film deposition process is performed, the chamber space 320 of the reaction chamber 300 needs to be evacuated by a vacuum pump, so that the chamber space 320 is maintained in a high vacuum state for performing the thin film deposition. Bellows portion 124 includes a plurality of annular leaves that are hermetically coupled to each other, and both ends of bellows portion 124 are hermetically coupled to first annular end 222 and second annular end 226 of bellows structure 220, respectively. For example, welding is used to achieve a gas-tight joint between the annular leaves and between the ends of bellows portion 124 and first and second annular ends 222 and 226. As a result, even if the bellows portion 124 is extended or shortened as the heater 211 is raised or lowered, the high vacuum state in the chamber space 320 can be maintained.

The utility model provides a utilize aforementioned removable lock solid structure and collocation airtight gasket to carry out airtight joint between the bellows structure of heating module and the heater. Therefore, when the plurality of reeds of the bellows part are damaged due to the fact that the heater is lifted for many times and the high vacuum degree of the chamber space of the reaction chamber cannot be maintained, the disassembly and the replacement of the bellows structure can be conveniently carried out. On the contrary, the reed of the bellows part of the conventional heating module is directly welded at the bottom of the heater, so that when the reed of the bellows is damaged, the whole set of heating module comprising the heater, the bellows structure, the linear bearing and the lifting mechanism needs to be replaced. Therefore, the utility model provides a heating module not only can reduce semiconductor film deposition equipment's downtime maintenance time, promotes semiconductor film deposition equipment's productivity, more can reduce the cost of equipment cost of maintenance and spare parts stock by a wide margin.

Although the present disclosure has been described with respect to the above specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the present disclosure not be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but that it include other variations and modifications without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.

Description of the symbols

100. 200 heat the heater body of the module 110, 211

111. 212, 302 bottom 120, 220 bellows structure

124. 224 bellows portion 126, 226 second annular end

130. 230 linear bearing 132, 232 sleeve

136. 213, 236 locking parts 138, 228, 229 and locking structure 238

140. 240 lifting mechanism 215 positioning pin

216 first recess 217 first male ring

218 a first annular end portion of the receiving space 222

223 second recess 225 second male ring

234 ball 300 reaction cavity

304 sidewall 306 target

320 chamber spaces H1, H2 height

210 heater 214 locking screw hole

Claims (10)

1. A bellows structure, comprising:

a first annular end portion having a plurality of locking structures thereon;

a second annular end having a plurality of locking structures thereon; and

a bellows portion including a plurality of annular reeds hermetically joined to each other, both ends of the bellows portion being hermetically joined to the first annular end portion and the second annular end portion, respectively, a longitudinal length of the bellows portion varying with a distance between the first annular end portion and the second annular end portion.

2. The bellows structure of claim 1, wherein the first annular end portion has an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the bellows portion.

3. The bellows structure of claim 2, wherein the second annular end portion has an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the bellows portion, and the second annular end portion has an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the first annular end portion.

4. The bellows structure of claim 1, wherein one side of the first annular end is hermetically connected to the bellows portion, and the opposite side further comprises a recess and a collar, the collar being disposed in the recess, and the collar having a height less than a depth of the recess.

5. A heating module adapted to heat a semiconductor wafer, comprising:

the heater comprises a heater body and a locking part, wherein the locking part is positioned at the bottom of the heater body and is provided with a plurality of locking structures;

the lifting mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the heater body;

a bellows structure, which is sleeved on the lifting mechanism and is airtightly jointed with the locking part of the heater, the bellows structure comprises:

a first annular end having a plurality of locking structures thereon for engaging the locking structures of the heater;

a second annular end having a plurality of locking structures thereon; and

a bellows part, which comprises a plurality of annular reeds which are mutually airtightly jointed, wherein two ends of the bellows part are respectively airtightly jointed with the first annular end part and the second annular end part; and

a linear bearing sleeved on the lifting mechanism and connected with the second annular end of the bellows structure.

6. The heating module of claim 5, wherein said linear bearing comprises a sleeve and a plurality of balls disposed between said lift mechanism and said sleeve, said sleeve further comprising a locking portion engaged with said second annular end of said bellows structure.

7. The heating module of claim 5, wherein said locking portion of said heater further comprises a first recess and a first raised ring, said first raised ring being located in said first recess, and said first raised ring having a height less than a depth of said first recess.

8. The heating module of claim 7, wherein said bellows structure further comprises a second recess and a second raised ring on an opposite side of said first annular end portion hermetically sealed to said bellows portion, said second raised ring being disposed in said second recess and having a height less than a depth of said second recess.

9. The heating module as set forth in claim 8, further comprising an airtight gasket disposed in the elevating mechanism, the airtight gasket being disposed in a receiving space formed by the first recess and the second recess, the first protruding ring and the second protruding ring being respectively embedded in the airtight gasket.

10. The heating module of claim 9, wherein said gas-tight gasket is a copper gasket.

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